Multi class help

So I just got to level 17 in my game(11 druid and 6 paladin) and apparently I got a 7th level spell slot but no 7th level spells. Im very confused becuase I shouldnt have access to that until druid level 13 correct?. Any help explaining this would be supper helpful.

To expand on the earlier point- missing out on spell progression even when you'd gain the slots per the table is an intentional design aspect of multiclassing- you're delaying or giving up access to higher level spells in exchange for taking features from another class.

Quote from The_Ace_of_Rogues >>

To expand on the earlier point- missing out on spell progression even when you'd gain the slots per the table is an intentional design aspect of multiclassing- you're delaying or giving up access to higher level spells in exchange for taking features from another class.

 

 Expanding a little more, sometimes the loss of having higher level spells prepared will not hinder your character very much. For example, a War Domain Cleric might almost exclusively be casting something like Spirit Guardians before going in to make weapon attacks. All that character would care about is getting higher level spell slots, rather than high-level spells, so the benefits of getting features from other classes (perhaps Quickened Spell and Shield from a Sorcerer multiclass) can boost your strength in combat quite a bit, while still scaling your spell slots for up-casting your favorite spells. This is also why multiclassing Paladins with full-casters like Sorcerer is so popular - it scales up your spell slots for smites much faster.

Quote from Sequilonis >>

Quote from The_Ace_of_Rogues >>

To expand on the earlier point- missing out on spell progression even when you'd gain the slots per the table is an intentional design aspect of multiclassing- you're delaying or giving up access to higher level spells in exchange for taking features from another class.

 

 Expanding a little more, sometimes the loss of having higher level spells prepared will not hinder your character very much. For example, a War Domain Cleric might almost exclusively be casting something like Spirit Guardians before going in to make weapon attacks. All that character would care about is getting higher level spell slots, rather than high-level spells, so the benefits of getting features from other classes (perhaps Quickened Spell and Shield from a Sorcerer multiclass) can boost your strength in combat quite a bit, while still scaling your spell slots for up-casting your favorite spells. This is also why multiclassing Paladins with full-casters like Sorcerer is so popular - it scales up your spell slots for smites much faster.

Mmm, yes and no. Hypothetically you could say that the loss is being offset in other places, but practically speaking there's a fairly narrow window where that's really the case. For comparison, a 6th level Divine Smite is 7d8 damage if you're using 2024 rules- 2014 capped it at 5d8 max dice before creature type or the later class feature. However, the 6th level spell Disintegrate does 10d6 + 40 damage, blowing Divine Smite out of the water for single target output. There's also Chain Lightning that can do 10d8 damage to up to four targets, or Circle of Death that does 8d6 in a very wide radius. 6th level and higher spells really turn up the volume on performance. Now, there could be a case to be made that if you're devoting all your slots to Divine Smite you could come out ahead and that's more number crunching than I want to do, but for those top slots it's almost never a net gain to upcast a lower level spell as opposed to using a spell of that level.

Also, despite the name War Domain Clerics don't really perform well as weapon-users- they typically get 3 to 5 instance of making more than one weapon attack per turn a day or rest depending on iteration, and the 1d8 damage rider doesn't do a ton to offset the shortfall. They can still try for it, but they're unlikely to really be performing at the same level they would if they were casting more than one spell per combat.

At the end of the day character design is up to the player, but casters really rarely get a clear net positive from large splits, even with another caster to try and keep up slot progression. If you're going into tier 3 and 4 you might be able to make a 3 level dip for an opening subclass feature work, but otherwise you're typically gaining less breadth than you're losing in depth.

Also, just as a reminder, next rule for Cantrips:

Cantrips. If a cantrip of yours increases in power at higher levels, the increase is based on your total character level, not your level in a particular class, unless the spell says otherwise.

A consideration for the next level

2024: choosing either Druid 12 or Paladin 7 will get you an 8th level spell slot for your next level

2014: choosing druid 12 would get you an 8th level spell slot, choosing Paladin 7 would not see any spell slot progression.

Quote from The_Ace_of_Rogues >> 

Mmm, yes and no. Hypothetically you could say that the loss is being offset in other places, but practically speaking there's a fairly narrow window where that's really the case. For comparison, a 6th level Divine Smite is 7d8 damage if you're using 2024 rules- 2014 capped it at 5d8 max dice before creature type or the later class feature. However, the 6th level spell Disintegrate does 10d6 + 40 damage, blowing Divine Smite out of the water for single target output. There's also Chain Lightning that can do 10d8 damage to up to four targets, or Circle of Death that does 8d6 in a very wide radius. 6th level and higher spells really turn up the volume on performance. Now, there could be a case to be made that if you're devoting all your slots to Divine Smite you could come out ahead and that's more number crunching than I want to do, but for those top slots it's almost never a net gain to upcast a lower level spell as opposed to using a spell of that level.

Divine Smite has never been the best spell/feature for overall damage, not even in 2014. In 2014 it's power was in how it affected action economy to allow single round huge novas but you'd technically get more overall damage from Spirit Shroud or Holy Weapon. In 2024 Divine Smite is only really worth using if your subclass gives some bonus to using it like Oath of Devotion (half-cover at level 15+) or Oath of Glory (expend channel divinity to distribute temporary HP at level 3+).

However there are certainly builds where you would be better off going for the Smite in 2024; If you're using GWM and a Greatsword you could be comparing up to (2d6+STR+Weapon Enchant+GWM(PB))*2+Divine Smite and then adjust for attack rolls (but you'd have to do that for disintegrate too with saving throws). That would potentially be 4d6+8d8+10+3+12 total, which would be relatively close ~50+25 vs. ~45.5+40 (assuming 7th slot). That there are two further arguments in favor of Divine Smite, first off Disintegrate can miss (DEX save), Divine Smite never misses and 2nd you can save your top slot for a Critical hit with Divine Smite (at 7th level for 2024 to get 16d8 or ~72 damage on smite alone). Personally I don't know why you'd go Druid 11/Paladin 6 just to go for a crit-fishing GWM build but just putting it out for a bit more number crunching, maybe a Bard 11/Paladin 6 could go for such a build tho (and a bard can get disintegrate unlike druid).

There’s a reason I mentioned several other spells. Obviously the risk/reward is greater on Disintegrate, but Chain Lightning runs higher on base d8 count and hits multiple targets. Hypothetically one can try to reserve the slot for a crit, but unless you’re pretty much only having one enemy encounters in a day you’re much more likely to come out ahead on dpr using Chain Lightning on a full or nearly full set of targets. Divine Smite is good in its niche, but once 6th level slots are on the table a build is giving up a lot of other things to be in that niche.