Warlock 5/Swarmkeeper Ranger X... for literally no reason other than Cloak of Flies and Grasp of Hadar invocations. Flavor synergy
I am currently doing this, Swarm Keeper Ranger 4 Genie patron warlock (will go Talisman Pact) 1. Combined with the crusher feet and booming blade for max shenanigans. It is awesome fun.
Best part is you can take Cleric at any time, even at Level 19. Does not affect spell slots, grants (Wisdom Bonus +1+2) extra spells known, weapons and armor, darkvision out to 300 ft and advantage on initiative, cleric spells, AND faerie Fire.You are given up 2 extra spells known (that must be third level) and two extra 3rd level slots you get as your crappy signature spell capstone wizard ability.
You might be tempted to get a 2nd level of Cleric so you can channel to get 1d6+2 temp hitpoints and end charm and fear. But you are giving up 2 free known 9th level wizard spells and an ASI, which might not be worth it.
Best part is you can take Cleric at any time, even at Level 19. Does not affect spell slots, grants (Wisdom Bonus +1+2) extra spells known, weapons and armor, darkvision out to 300 ft and advantage on initiative, cleric spells, AND faerie Fire.You are given up 2 extra spells known (that must be third level) and two extra 3rd level slots you get as your crappy signature spell capstone wizard ability.
You might be tempted to get a 2nd level of Cleric so you can channel to get 1d6+2 temp hitpoints and end charm and fear. But you are giving up 2 free known 9th level wizard spells and an ASI, which might not be worth it.
If you are wanting a cheesy cleric dip at high levels I would go for Peace domain. Everyone in the party (up to 6 people, 7 with an ioun stone of mastery) having 1d4 added to an attack roll, saving throw or ability check once per turn (not round) is huge and it stacks with bless or guidance.
It works for any class that can afford 13 wis and is not desperate about getting their capstone. I have a 19 monk 1 peace cleric. I can double up emboldening bond and bless as I havenothing else to use concentration on.
The Tasha's clerics are broken I do not know how they got through.
Arcane Trickster 18 / Bladesinger 2. From the Trickster’s perspective you double your casting at the expense of learning 4th-level spells. So no greater invisibility, but all the 1st-level spells, many of them as Rituals, double the cantrips, and double the daily array of 1st-level spells available per day due to the Wizard’s preparation of spells. And you get an extra 4th-level slot to boot for upcasting.
I considered a Peace Cleric but chose Twilight over it. It only gets the emboldening bond, the 1d4 once per turn requires you to be within 30 ft of another player. We tend to spread out a lot. While it is better than a Bless (>3, skills, and duration long enough to cast before battle), it is sufficiently similar to make it equivalent 80% of the time.
Faeire Fire (advantage) and Advantage on Initiative make it an even trade with the emboldening bond. Throw in the armor and my mind was made up.
It was a close call, but Twilight is better in my opinion.
P.S. Emboldening bond and other Tasha stuff was play tested via UA. They weakened them a bit, but they are still strong.
I considered a Peace Cleric but chose Twilight over it. It only gets the emboldening bond, the 1d4 once per turn requires you to be within 30 ft of another player. We tend to spread out a lot. While it is better than a Bless (>3, skills, and duration long enough to cast before battle), it is sufficiently similar to make it equivalent 80% of the time.
Faeire Fire (advantage) and Advantage on Initiative make it an even trade with the emboldening bond. Throw in the armor and my mind was made up.
It was a close call, but Twilight is better in my opinion.
P.S. Emboldening bond and other Tasha stuff was play tested via UA. They weakened them a bit, but they are still strong.
The big thing about emboldening bond over bless is it isn't concentration. It isn't doing to go down if you get caught in the breath of an ancient dragon and you can use concentration for other things.
Faerie Fire is a great spell at low levels but as a Wizard your Wisdom save DC isn't going to be great. Again it comes down to concentration, with 19 levels of wizard you should be using your concentration for things like Wall of Force, Eyebite or Reverse Gravity.
PS Emboldening bond and other Tasha stuff was play tested via UA. They were found to be extremely strong so they made them stronger. For example in UA Emboldening bond was only for 2 creatures, granted it was for an hour so at levels 1-4 this is strictly a nerf but by the time your proficiency bonus gets to 6, 6 times a day for 10 minutes is much better than once for an hour and 6 people is much better than 2! Another Example is Twilight Sanctuary in UA it was 1d8 in Tasha's it is 1d6+cleric level, so increased temp HP right form level 2 Eyes of the night is a bit more debatable, how much of a nerf is unlimited dark vision to 300ft, in playtesting players were trying to claim they could see in deatil things that were miles away and in dim light that isn't really possible this could be viewed as a clarification as much as a nerf. The limit to wisdom modifier creatures is a definate nerf especially for a wizard taking a dip,a and likely no more than +2 in Wis. On the other hand the duration has increased from 10 minutes to an hour and while in UA you could use in Wis modifier times per day you can ddo it again using a spell slot and at level 20 1st level spell slots are a cheap resource.
Get the Crusher feat and you’ll be able to move your enemies by 5 ft freely thanks to the interaction between the feat and Genie’s Wrath, who causes PB bludgeoning damage. Now you add Grasping Arrow ability from Arcane Archer, that basically causes 2d6 damage on each turn that the opponent moves at least 1 foot. So assuming you hit, we are talking about 1d8 (Longbow) + 3-4 (DEX) x2 (if level 5) + 2d6 (Grasping Arrow initial poison damage) + 2d6 (Grasping Arrow slashing damage for movement) + 2-3 (Genie’s Wrath PB extra damage). Nothing requires a save or any other thing than a regular to hit roll, that you most likely will land because of Archery fighting style.
And this is not even the best part… if your enemy wants to get rid of Grasping Arrow, he needs to spend an action to do an Athletics check against your Arcane Archer DC based on INT (avg 13-14). You can cast the classic Hex spell on your first round, granting disadvantage to the enemies STR rolls, besides adding 1d6 of extra damage on top.
At level 5, this is basically 32.5 avg DPR in the first round and 25.7 from second round onwards assuming you have used all your resources (that are short rest renewable!), with the additional pressure of making enemies probably waste their action to not suffer this extra damage in the long run. For comparison sake, the avg DPR of a Battlemaster with Hand Crossbow CBE / SS using Precision Strike and attacking three times in a row is 33.9. Without Precision Strike is 22.8. This classic build also has battlefield control potential with Menacing Attack and Trip Attack, but we know that most of the SDs will be likely dedicated to Precision Strike, although this a quite efficient resource to manage.
As an alternate to the classic Hexadin, Id recommend Conquest Paladin + Undead Warlock.
You can get some fun stuff by mixing and matching levels, but the main interaction that works comes from having 7 levels in Conquest Paladin (for Aura of Conquest) and 1 level in Undead Warlock (for Form of Dread). Using Form of Dread, you basically get 1 minute of combat during the day where you can lock down opponents with the frightened condition without needing to spend spell slots or channel divinity.
Although not optimized, I like the idea of having 6 levels in Undead Warlock (assuming the campaign goes at least to level 13), because whats more fun than having a Paladin that can deliver fully necrotic smites instead of radiant.
Im keeping this combo in my back pocket for if I ever do a villainous campaign/oneshot and want to use it to effectively make a Death Knight
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews!Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Another one: Beastmaster Ranger (PHB version) + Shadow Magic Sorc
This one is definitely mad, but the focus would be entirely on letting your "pets" do the fighting for you.
Command Beast Companion using your Action / Use a spell to summon creature(s) to command with your Bonus Action / Hound of Ill Omen acts on its own once summoned. It takes a turn or two to setup, but after that point you can have 3+ companions ganging up on someone while you sit in the back to offer support.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews!Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
It doesn’t look like anyone has mentioned this one: Eldritch Knight X/Paladin 2
Most folks know that it’s better for an EK to focus on Abjuration magic because their Evocation options are lackluster and compete with their Extra Attacks. Dipping 2 levels into Paladin gives you:
Access to a fair number of spells that don’t really care how low your spellcasting ability is and are not typically available for the EK.
Asecond fighting style to double up Defense on top of Dueling (or Blindfighting or whatever).
A smidgen of additional healing beyond Second Wind.
Divine Sense for free essentially.
And most importantly a viable offensive option for using those spell slots you got with Divine Smite.
And it does it all while breaking even on your spell slot progression so you don’t lose anything except learning those 4th-level spells you’ll probably never get to learn anyway.
A 2 level dip into Paladin really puts the Knight into an Eldritch Knight.
Tinkering with a swarmkeeper ranger/astral arms monk where the swarm and arms are flavored as the same thing
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Refined brawler. A fallen monk who failed to manifest the powers of Ki and then instead focused in mundane unarmed combat.
Monk 1 / Fighter (Battlemaster) X.
Unarmed fighting style. Max DEX, CON 16, WIS 16. Three attacks per turn with 1d8 + DEX; above average AC with WIS mod +3; focus on battlemaster maneuvers that potencializes your great number of attacks like Trip Attack; Parry is also a great maneuver thanks to your maximized DEX.
If you start with vHuman, you can get Resilient WIS as your free feat, max DEX at level 6 and then you are free to innovate at level 8, getting things like Alert, Lucky or even Mobile.
Just makes sure your DM will give you an Eldritch Claw.
There has already been a rogue/artificer combo in this thread, but I’d like to contribute Armorer(infiltrator specifically) and any rogue subclass (I went with inquisitive for RP reasons but arcane trickster and assassin might give better results).
the main reason is that the infiltrator’s lightning beam counts as a simple ranged weapon, meaning it can proc sneak attack. Combined with the stealth benefits along with a great AC from the armor. Not to mention the infusions you can use to boost your stealth and damage. I’m not sure if the ranged weapon infusions work on the lightning beams but since they specifically count as simple ranged weapons, I’m assuming they intended for you to use your infusions to improve it. Otherwise they wouldn’t have specified.
There has already been a rogue/artificer combo in this thread, but I’d like to contribute Armorer(infiltrator specifically) and any rogue subclass (I went with inquisitive for RP reasons but arcane trickster and assassin might give better results).
the main reason is that the infiltrator’s lightning beam counts as a simple ranged weapon, meaning it can proc sneak attack. Combined with the stealth benefits along with a great AC from the armor. Not to mention the infusions you can use to boost your stealth and damage. I’m not sure if the ranged weapon infusions work on the lightning beams but since they specifically count as simple ranged weapons, I’m assuming they intended for you to use your infusions to improve it. Otherwise they wouldn’t have specified.
Forgot to add this, you can get away with only dipping into rogue. 4/16 or 6/14 is my usual spread for multiclassing. Ideally the caster should get the more levels since martials get their core features at earlier levels. So they require much less investment when optimizing builds.
I guess you're being ironic, right? It is probably one of the most played multiclasses after Hexadin.
In fact it seems to me one of the few multiclasses that are actually better than a singleclass. Sorcerer + Warlock is a very powerful combination in any of its iterations. But I don't think it will go into this thread, since it's obviously a well known and used multiclass (and rightfully so).
Arcane Trickster 18 / Bladesinger 2. From the Trickster’s perspective you double your casting at the expense of learning 4th-level spells. So no greater invisibility, but all the 1st-level spells, many of them as Rituals, double the cantrips, and double the daily array of 1st-level spells available per day due to the Wizard’s preparation of spells. And you get an extra 4th-level slot to boot for upcasting.
This multiclass is also one of the few that is effective, but I don't think it's little known either. In any case, it is not at the level of sorcerer + warlock, and I imagine that is why it is not so played. But is it worth it. Of course, it's only worth it if you want to play the arcane triscker in a specific way. It actually looks like a 0-sum multiclass to me. You're not going to be better than singleclass AT, but you're not going to be worse either.
What is not worth it is the opposite (AT3, bladesinger 17). 3 wizard levels is too high a price to pay for anything you're going to get in return.
Warlock 5/Swarmkeeper Ranger X... for literally no reason other than Cloak of Flies and Grasp of Hadar invocations. Flavor synergy
I am currently doing this, Swarm Keeper Ranger 4 Genie patron warlock (will go Talisman Pact) 1. Combined with the crusher feet and booming blade for max shenanigans. It is awesome fun.
Cleric 1 (Twilight) + WIzard 19
Best part is you can take Cleric at any time, even at Level 19. Does not affect spell slots, grants (Wisdom Bonus +1+2) extra spells known, weapons and armor, darkvision out to 300 ft and advantage on initiative, cleric spells, AND faerie Fire.You are given up 2 extra spells known (that must be third level) and two extra 3rd level slots you get as your crappy signature spell capstone wizard ability.
You might be tempted to get a 2nd level of Cleric so you can channel to get 1d6+2 temp hitpoints and end charm and fear. But you are giving up 2 free known 9th level wizard spells and an ASI, which might not be worth it.
If you are wanting a cheesy cleric dip at high levels I would go for Peace domain. Everyone in the party (up to 6 people, 7 with an ioun stone of mastery) having 1d4 added to an attack roll, saving throw or ability check once per turn (not round) is huge and it stacks with bless or guidance.
It works for any class that can afford 13 wis and is not desperate about getting their capstone. I have a 19 monk 1 peace cleric. I can double up emboldening bond and bless as I havenothing else to use concentration on.
The Tasha's clerics are broken I do not know how they got through.
Arcane Trickster 18 / Bladesinger 2. From the Trickster’s perspective you double your casting at the expense of learning 4th-level spells. So no greater invisibility, but all the 1st-level spells, many of them as Rituals, double the cantrips, and double the daily array of 1st-level spells available per day due to the Wizard’s preparation of spells. And you get an extra 4th-level slot to boot for upcasting.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I considered a Peace Cleric but chose Twilight over it. It only gets the emboldening bond, the 1d4 once per turn requires you to be within 30 ft of another player. We tend to spread out a lot. While it is better than a Bless (>3, skills, and duration long enough to cast before battle), it is sufficiently similar to make it equivalent 80% of the time.
Faeire Fire (advantage) and Advantage on Initiative make it an even trade with the emboldening bond. Throw in the armor and my mind was made up.
It was a close call, but Twilight is better in my opinion.
P.S. Emboldening bond and other Tasha stuff was play tested via UA. They weakened them a bit, but they are still strong.
The big thing about emboldening bond over bless is it isn't concentration. It isn't doing to go down if you get caught in the breath of an ancient dragon and you can use concentration for other things.
Faerie Fire is a great spell at low levels but as a Wizard your Wisdom save DC isn't going to be great. Again it comes down to concentration, with 19 levels of wizard you should be using your concentration for things like Wall of Force, Eyebite or Reverse Gravity.
PS Emboldening bond and other Tasha stuff was play tested via UA. They were found to be extremely strong so they made them stronger.
For example in UA Emboldening bond was only for 2 creatures, granted it was for an hour so at levels 1-4 this is strictly a nerf but by the time your proficiency bonus gets to 6, 6 times a day for 10 minutes is much better than once for an hour and 6 people is much better than 2!
Another Example is Twilight Sanctuary in UA it was 1d8 in Tasha's it is 1d6+cleric level, so increased temp HP right form level 2
Eyes of the night is a bit more debatable, how much of a nerf is unlimited dark vision to 300ft, in playtesting players were trying to claim they could see in deatil things that were miles away and in dim light that isn't really possible this could be viewed as a clarification as much as a nerf. The limit to wisdom modifier creatures is a definate nerf especially for a wizard taking a dip,a and likely no more than +2 in Wis. On the other hand the duration has increased from 10 minutes to an hour and while in UA you could use in Wis modifier times per day you can ddo it again using a spell slot and at level 20 1st level spell slots are a cheap resource.
You have some interesting points Jegpeg, I will think some more about it.
Are you serious? That's the most well-known multi-class combo in the game.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Daolock 1 / Arcane Archer X.
Get the Crusher feat and you’ll be able to move your enemies by 5 ft freely thanks to the interaction between the feat and Genie’s Wrath, who causes PB bludgeoning damage. Now you add Grasping Arrow ability from Arcane Archer, that basically causes 2d6 damage on each turn that the opponent moves at least 1 foot. So assuming you hit, we are talking about 1d8 (Longbow) + 3-4 (DEX) x2 (if level 5) + 2d6 (Grasping Arrow initial poison damage) + 2d6 (Grasping Arrow slashing damage for movement) + 2-3 (Genie’s Wrath PB extra damage). Nothing requires a save or any other thing than a regular to hit roll, that you most likely will land because of Archery fighting style.
And this is not even the best part… if your enemy wants to get rid of Grasping Arrow, he needs to spend an action to do an Athletics check against your Arcane Archer DC based on INT (avg 13-14). You can cast the classic Hex spell on your first round, granting disadvantage to the enemies STR rolls, besides adding 1d6 of extra damage on top.
At level 5, this is basically 32.5 avg DPR in the first round and 25.7 from second round onwards assuming you have used all your resources (that are short rest renewable!), with the additional pressure of making enemies probably waste their action to not suffer this extra damage in the long run.
For comparison sake, the avg DPR of a Battlemaster with Hand Crossbow CBE / SS using Precision Strike and attacking three times in a row is 33.9. Without Precision Strike is 22.8. This classic build also has battlefield control potential with Menacing Attack and Trip Attack, but we know that most of the SDs will be likely dedicated to Precision Strike, although this a quite efficient resource to manage.
There are some hidden gems out there!
As an alternate to the classic Hexadin, Id recommend Conquest Paladin + Undead Warlock.
You can get some fun stuff by mixing and matching levels, but the main interaction that works comes from having 7 levels in Conquest Paladin (for Aura of Conquest) and 1 level in Undead Warlock (for Form of Dread). Using Form of Dread, you basically get 1 minute of combat during the day where you can lock down opponents with the frightened condition without needing to spend spell slots or channel divinity.
Although not optimized, I like the idea of having 6 levels in Undead Warlock (assuming the campaign goes at least to level 13), because whats more fun than having a Paladin that can deliver fully necrotic smites instead of radiant.
Im keeping this combo in my back pocket for if I ever do a villainous campaign/oneshot and want to use it to effectively make a Death Knight
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Another one: Beastmaster Ranger (PHB version) + Shadow Magic Sorc
This one is definitely mad, but the focus would be entirely on letting your "pets" do the fighting for you.
Command Beast Companion using your Action / Use a spell to summon creature(s) to command with your Bonus Action / Hound of Ill Omen acts on its own once summoned. It takes a turn or two to setup, but after that point you can have 3+ companions ganging up on someone while you sit in the back to offer support.
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
It doesn’t look like anyone has mentioned this one: Eldritch Knight X/Paladin 2
Most folks know that it’s better for an EK to focus on Abjuration magic because their Evocation options are lackluster and compete with their Extra Attacks. Dipping 2 levels into Paladin gives you:
A 2 level dip into Paladin really puts the Knight into an Eldritch Knight.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
It puts the smite into knight.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Tinkering with a swarmkeeper ranger/astral arms monk where the swarm and arms are flavored as the same thing
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Refined brawler. A fallen monk who failed to manifest the powers of Ki and then instead focused in mundane unarmed combat.
Monk 1 / Fighter (Battlemaster) X.
Unarmed fighting style. Max DEX, CON 16, WIS 16. Three attacks per turn with 1d8 + DEX; above average AC with WIS mod +3; focus on battlemaster maneuvers that potencializes your great number of attacks like Trip Attack; Parry is also a great maneuver thanks to your maximized DEX.
If you start with vHuman, you can get Resilient WIS as your free feat, max DEX at level 6 and then you are free to innovate at level 8, getting things like Alert, Lucky or even Mobile.
Just makes sure your DM will give you an Eldritch Claw.
Far superior than regulars TWF warriors.
There has already been a rogue/artificer combo in this thread, but I’d like to contribute Armorer(infiltrator specifically) and any rogue subclass (I went with inquisitive for RP reasons but arcane trickster and assassin might give better results).
the main reason is that the infiltrator’s lightning beam counts as a simple ranged weapon, meaning it can proc sneak attack. Combined with the stealth benefits along with a great AC from the armor. Not to mention the infusions you can use to boost your stealth and damage. I’m not sure if the ranged weapon infusions work on the lightning beams but since they specifically count as simple ranged weapons, I’m assuming they intended for you to use your infusions to improve it. Otherwise they wouldn’t have specified.
Forgot to add this, you can get away with only dipping into rogue. 4/16 or 6/14 is my usual spread for multiclassing. Ideally the caster should get the more levels since martials get their core features at earlier levels. So they require much less investment when optimizing builds.
I guess you're being ironic, right? It is probably one of the most played multiclasses after Hexadin.
In fact it seems to me one of the few multiclasses that are actually better than a singleclass. Sorcerer + Warlock is a very powerful combination in any of its iterations. But I don't think it will go into this thread, since it's obviously a well known and used multiclass (and rightfully so).
This multiclass is also one of the few that is effective, but I don't think it's little known either. In any case, it is not at the level of sorcerer + warlock, and I imagine that is why it is not so played. But is it worth it. Of course, it's only worth it if you want to play the arcane triscker in a specific way. It actually looks like a 0-sum multiclass to me. You're not going to be better than singleclass AT, but you're not going to be worse either.
What is not worth it is the opposite (AT3, bladesinger 17). 3 wizard levels is too high a price to pay for anything you're going to get in return.