Okay here is my theory this class can do a little bit of everything and is a glass cannon melee/ranged with control spells.
Because of hexblade lock it is kinda a smiting pally but doesn't have the full extent (holy smite), I get branding smite for extra damage combined with the xanathar's Eldritch smite for crit damage. At 10 lore bard you also get banishing smite but that would be endgame. You get hex, can grab contagion at 10 bard, counterspell/haste at lore bard 6 or cs/slow for buffing and protecting party. Plus other controlling type spells like tashi's dance, dissonant whisper's etc.
Without shield (spell) you have a 19 ac in mundane gear only studded leather +5 Dex bonus, + 2 ac from shield for a somewhat protection against incoming attacks. The 5th lvl rogue ability is primarily for survivability sense you don't have a big hp pool.
You have big burst damage first turn and then with cutting words and viscous mockery help your party avoid attacks. You aren't the best skill monkey but dependant on race/background can have proficiency's in 10-12 skills. While you don't have the best stuff due to not going deep into any one class you provide a great versatile party member that can be a good catch all as needed.
Thoughts? Oh and hello to all this is my first post. 😊
Why are you taking Dex so high as a warlock? Stop at 14 dex to qualify for rogue multiclassing and fill out your Hexblade medium armor proficiency, or 16 if you really wanna squeeze one more AC out with Medium Armor Master (I wouldn’t). Focusing just on Cha frees you up for other feats, or from the need to round your class levels out in multiples of four, which might let you justify trying to squeeze in a couple levels of Paladin for heavy armor and real smites.
Dex is more for ac and rogue options, my character is currently lvl 9 in a tomb campaign and I have 14 con, 20 Dex, 20 Cha due to half elf plus three very good attribute rolls (14, 15, and 16) with my low stats are 11 str and 12 int (I rolled above average to very good so I am aware of that). Currently split 5 rogue/4 bard at 9.
With medium armor your Dex bonus is only +2 and disadvantage to stealth so heavier armor than studded leather doesn't make sense. And with shield from expanded spell list of hexblade I can hit ac 24 if I really need it (big bad bosses).
I have bookmark +3 dagger, ring of winter, and green gloves of something that gives +5 to sleight of hand/pick locks, and a +1 magic hand crossbow.
Why are you taking Dex so high as a warlock? Stop at 14 dex to qualify for rogue multiclassing and fill out your Hexblade medium armor proficiency, or 16 if you really wanna squeeze one more AC out with Medium Armor Master (I wouldn’t). Focusing just on Cha frees you up for other feats, or from the need to round your class levels out in multiples of four, which might let you justify trying to squeeze in a couple levels of Paladin for heavy armor and real smites.
He'd only get heavy armor if he started Paladin, which he later says he didn't. So that's not an option. Otherwise I generally agree, but can't fault the OP for wanting a stealthier, rogue focused build either.
I got a potion of Dex I drank and gained 2 Dex for doing something heroic in the pirates cove otherwise I would be a 18 Dex 20 Cha.
But I like the damage potential I have it isn't the greatest but it is still high first turn. With branding smite at lvl 16-17 if my toon survives on a crit hit from assassin 2d6 becomes 4d6, 3d6 sneak becomes 6d6, expending a 3rd lvl lock spell slot for Eldritch smite is 3d8 which becomes 6d8 force damage so I figure it's enough damage lol. Plus a 2d4 +8 if using bookmark or 2d6 +1(maybe 6) forget if hand crossbow's get Dex damage bonus.
Okay here is my theory this class can do a little bit of everything and is a glass cannon melee/ranged with control spells.
Because of hexblade lock it is kinda a smiting pally but doesn't have the full extent (holy smite), I get branding smite for extra damage combined with the xanathar's Eldritch smite for crit damage. At 10 lore bard you also get banishing smite but that would be endgame. You get hex, can grab contagion at 10 bard, counterspell/haste at lore bard 6 or cs/slow for buffing and protecting party. Plus other controlling type spells like tashi's dance, dissonant whisper's etc.
Without shield (spell) you have a 19 ac in mundane gear only studded leather +5 Dex bonus, + 2 ac from shield for a somewhat protection against incoming attacks. The 5th lvl rogue ability is primarily for survivability sense you don't have a big hp pool.
You have big burst damage first turn and then with cutting words and viscous mockery help your party avoid attacks. You aren't the best skill monkey but dependant on race/background can have proficiency's in 10-12 skills. While you don't have the best stuff due to not going deep into any one class you provide a great versatile party member that can be a good catch all as needed.
Thoughts? Oh and hello to all this is my first post. 😊
I've theory crafted something similiar. I've mixed Hexblade, Paladin, Rogue, and Bard together in different ways. Sometimes just Bard and Paladin and other times a mix of three classes. I really like College of Whispers bard or College of lore bard mixed with Rogue or Paladin. Paladin to 6 and Lore bard X gives you a huge support ability while you can dish out high damage. Hexblade 5, Paladin 2, and College of lore or whispers X gives you some huge nova bursts and a lot of utility. The problem is when you start mixing three classes you have levels that start to feel lacking. Sometimes getting to that sweet spot can be difficult because it doesn't come on line until level 8ish to 10ish. I think I want to play a College of Whispers with assassin rogue because our next campaign is suppose to be political intrigue and I want to be a magic assassin. I played a hexblade/swashbuckler and it was crazy good as well. You would booming blade, sneak attack, eldritch smite all on one hit and knock the enemy prone if they lived. You then get a free disengage through swashbuckler fancy footwork ability and you could move away. If the enemy got up it would trigger booming blade secondary damage. It made a great skirmisher.
A couple of things. Hexblade 1 really helps any combination of the classes you listed just because of SAD. If you focus on rogue then booming blade is a great option to add a little more oomph to your damage. Something crazy is that Hexblade 4 for pact of the blade allows for heavy weapon to be used as pact weapon and you can use GWM feat. If you are a half-elf you can combine that with Elven accuracy feat to get super advantage and be a better GWM than a barbarian especially if you use a smite spell, hex, or eldritch smite on top of the GWM.
The point is that there are some crazy interactions and potential for versatility/high damage output thanks to hexblade.
Single Attribute Dependent, meaning its easy to spread your stats where you want them and be flexible with feats/levels staying in multiples of 4. As opposed to Multiple Attribute Dependent, which means you're very tight on where you can put points and what you can do with feats/levels.
It's something like Single Ability Dependency, as opposed to MAD, Multi (or Muliple) Ability Dependency. Constitution is usually hand waved with this, and it usually focuses on offensive abilities, though some consideration is given for AC. I'm not sure that there is a specific level that an ability has to be at for it to be included into the equation. I figure that standard array is the upper limits for SAD builds. Thus if a second ability requires 15 or higher, the build is MAD, but 14 or lower is sad. If a third ability needs to be 14 or higher, then it's MAD. If constitution is the 2nd highest requirement, it's probably not a MAD build.
Basically, the more constraints that you have on which abilities get which scores, the more MAD the build. This usually relates to requiring more ASIs instead of feats to make the build workable.
If you want the TLDR, read Chicken_Champ's post just above this.
Okay thanks for the insight Chicken_Champ and Jhfffan. I probably won't mind being MAD due to only really wanting 1 feat (warcaster). Luckily I don't take much aggro in fights the party composition I'm in is a Barbarian, Cleric, Druid, Monk, and a Warlock. Usually the Barbarian or Dragonbait takes the heat from mobs and I mainly am stealthed opening up on whatever focus fire within movement distance to engage anything that attempts to go after the Cleric or Druid as needed.
I can't get behind any multiclass build involving casting that would not allow access to 9th level spells. Sounds fun, and I have a Bardlock myself that I completely adore, sooooo much fun to play. But he went 1 level bard, 2 warlock for hexblade, then 11 more in lore bard. He will be able to get wish and all the other fun things at higher levels as well as having +16 to persuasion and deception, mask of many faces, and eldritch blast with agonizing blast. Those 2 levels were great for getting some damage and the 2 pact magic slots are great for the short rests.
Is it really that important to get a spell you might be able to cast once or twice tops in between long rests? I'm not gonna discount that 7th level spells or higher are powerful by any means. But they are relegated to boss fights or preventing a total party kill as a last straw.
Plus with spells that are say 1-5th level you get good spells but have more than token one of uses to them. Granted for my build I would have tops off the top of my head have two lvl 5's (at work on lunch no book present). But by limiting yourself you learn to appreciate more what you do have.
Though the one thing I don't understand is the absolute over appreciation of Eldritch blast. In the context of being a warlock only I understand it due to limited slots but a cantrip that I almost never hear anyone talking about is chilling touch. Being able to stop someone from healing is much more powerful than a little extra damage. And that would also give me a really tough time in fights deciding what to cast cantrip wise between chilling touch or vicious mockery. Which to me at least is a fun dichotomy instead of blindly always using x cantrip all the time.
As someone who has played multiple characters in tier 4, it's extremely important to be able to cast high level spells as a caster. I have been in fights where nothing under a level 5 spell will have an effect on a creature, a damage threshold, and regeneration every round. Eldritch blast is great, albeit a bit boring. You get to have decent damage, more consistent that one hit spells like chill touch or fire bolt as you have multiple beams, and with agonizing blast you have your charisma modifier to each blast. It can't be overstated how great a cantrip that spell is. Seeing as this build is at level 20, you will feel very under powered compared to other characters at that level. You can get away with more of a dip with martial classes and possible 3 classes, but with casting you need to be able to have access to those high level spells. I'm not saying don't do it, it sounds pretty cool, but I am just pointing out that at tier 4 you'll be taking a back seat in any large fight.
I think that taking a back seat in any large fight heavily depends on the roles that you have selected for yourself in those fights. If your role is heavy damage, that's quite possibly true. If it's support, the breadth of tools available might actually give the character more of a front seat, as they'll influence even more of the fight.
I tend to think that multiclassing is something that you should do on roleplaying grounds, based on your character's personality development, rather than something to do to get ability combos.
I agree with MetagamingPigeon when it comes to spellcasting classes, and I wouldn't just look at Level 20. I think it's worth considering that for each other class you dip into, you're going to feel weak for a while, whilst pure class characters begin to advance into their more potent abilities. This general weakening of your character is something that is worth doing if you're doing it for story reasons, but be prepared to feel inferior to your companions for a bit. This may be more or less of a consideration if you play a lot of sessions or your DM milestone levels you fast.
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Okay here is my theory this class can do a little bit of everything and is a glass cannon melee/ranged with control spells.
Because of hexblade lock it is kinda a smiting pally but doesn't have the full extent (holy smite), I get branding smite for extra damage combined with the xanathar's Eldritch smite for crit damage. At 10 lore bard you also get banishing smite but that would be endgame. You get hex, can grab contagion at 10 bard, counterspell/haste at lore bard 6 or cs/slow for buffing and protecting party. Plus other controlling type spells like tashi's dance, dissonant whisper's etc.
Without shield (spell) you have a 19 ac in mundane gear only studded leather +5 Dex bonus, + 2 ac from shield for a somewhat protection against incoming attacks. The 5th lvl rogue ability is primarily for survivability sense you don't have a big hp pool.
You have big burst damage first turn and then with cutting words and viscous mockery help your party avoid attacks. You aren't the best skill monkey but dependant on race/background can have proficiency's in 10-12 skills. While you don't have the best stuff due to not going deep into any one class you provide a great versatile party member that can be a good catch all as needed.
Thoughts? Oh and hello to all this is my first post. 😊
Why are you taking Dex so high as a warlock? Stop at 14 dex to qualify for rogue multiclassing and fill out your Hexblade medium armor proficiency, or 16 if you really wanna squeeze one more AC out with Medium Armor Master (I wouldn’t). Focusing just on Cha frees you up for other feats, or from the need to round your class levels out in multiples of four, which might let you justify trying to squeeze in a couple levels of Paladin for heavy armor and real smites.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Dex is more for ac and rogue options, my character is currently lvl 9 in a tomb campaign and I have 14 con, 20 Dex, 20 Cha due to half elf plus three very good attribute rolls (14, 15, and 16) with my low stats are 11 str and 12 int (I rolled above average to very good so I am aware of that). Currently split 5 rogue/4 bard at 9.
With medium armor your Dex bonus is only +2 and disadvantage to stealth so heavier armor than studded leather doesn't make sense. And with shield from expanded spell list of hexblade I can hit ac 24 if I really need it (big bad bosses).
I have bookmark +3 dagger, ring of winter, and green gloves of something that gives +5 to sleight of hand/pick locks, and a +1 magic hand crossbow.
He'd only get heavy armor if he started Paladin, which he later says he didn't. So that's not an option. Otherwise I generally agree, but can't fault the OP for wanting a stealthier, rogue focused build either.
I got a potion of Dex I drank and gained 2 Dex for doing something heroic in the pirates cove otherwise I would be a 18 Dex 20 Cha.
But I like the damage potential I have it isn't the greatest but it is still high first turn. With branding smite at lvl 16-17 if my toon survives on a crit hit from assassin 2d6 becomes 4d6, 3d6 sneak becomes 6d6, expending a 3rd lvl lock spell slot for Eldritch smite is 3d8 which becomes 6d8 force damage so I figure it's enough damage lol. Plus a 2d4 +8 if using bookmark or 2d6 +1(maybe 6) forget if hand crossbow's get Dex damage bonus.
I've theory crafted something similiar. I've mixed Hexblade, Paladin, Rogue, and Bard together in different ways. Sometimes just Bard and Paladin and other times a mix of three classes. I really like College of Whispers bard or College of lore bard mixed with Rogue or Paladin. Paladin to 6 and Lore bard X gives you a huge support ability while you can dish out high damage. Hexblade 5, Paladin 2, and College of lore or whispers X gives you some huge nova bursts and a lot of utility. The problem is when you start mixing three classes you have levels that start to feel lacking. Sometimes getting to that sweet spot can be difficult because it doesn't come on line until level 8ish to 10ish. I think I want to play a College of Whispers with assassin rogue because our next campaign is suppose to be political intrigue and I want to be a magic assassin. I played a hexblade/swashbuckler and it was crazy good as well. You would booming blade, sneak attack, eldritch smite all on one hit and knock the enemy prone if they lived. You then get a free disengage through swashbuckler fancy footwork ability and you could move away. If the enemy got up it would trigger booming blade secondary damage. It made a great skirmisher.
A couple of things. Hexblade 1 really helps any combination of the classes you listed just because of SAD. If you focus on rogue then booming blade is a great option to add a little more oomph to your damage. Something crazy is that Hexblade 4 for pact of the blade allows for heavy weapon to be used as pact weapon and you can use GWM feat. If you are a half-elf you can combine that with Elven accuracy feat to get super advantage and be a better GWM than a barbarian especially if you use a smite spell, hex, or eldritch smite on top of the GWM.
The point is that there are some crazy interactions and potential for versatility/high damage output thanks to hexblade.
Your secret is safe with my indifference - Percy
What is SAD? Sorry new to forum and the lingo, ty for your insight as well.
Single Attribute Dependent, meaning its easy to spread your stats where you want them and be flexible with feats/levels staying in multiples of 4. As opposed to Multiple Attribute Dependent, which means you're very tight on where you can put points and what you can do with feats/levels.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
It's something like Single Ability Dependency, as opposed to MAD, Multi (or Muliple) Ability Dependency. Constitution is usually hand waved with this, and it usually focuses on offensive abilities, though some consideration is given for AC. I'm not sure that there is a specific level that an ability has to be at for it to be included into the equation. I figure that standard array is the upper limits for SAD builds. Thus if a second ability requires 15 or higher, the build is MAD, but 14 or lower is sad. If a third ability needs to be 14 or higher, then it's MAD. If constitution is the 2nd highest requirement, it's probably not a MAD build.
Basically, the more constraints that you have on which abilities get which scores, the more MAD the build. This usually relates to requiring more ASIs instead of feats to make the build workable.
If you want the TLDR, read Chicken_Champ's post just above this.
Okay thanks for the insight Chicken_Champ and Jhfffan. I probably won't mind being MAD due to only really wanting 1 feat (warcaster). Luckily I don't take much aggro in fights the party composition I'm in is a Barbarian, Cleric, Druid, Monk, and a Warlock. Usually the Barbarian or Dragonbait takes the heat from mobs and I mainly am stealthed opening up on whatever focus fire within movement distance to engage anything that attempts to go after the Cleric or Druid as needed.
I can't get behind any multiclass build involving casting that would not allow access to 9th level spells. Sounds fun, and I have a Bardlock myself that I completely adore, sooooo much fun to play. But he went 1 level bard, 2 warlock for hexblade, then 11 more in lore bard. He will be able to get wish and all the other fun things at higher levels as well as having +16 to persuasion and deception, mask of many faces, and eldritch blast with agonizing blast. Those 2 levels were great for getting some damage and the 2 pact magic slots are great for the short rests.
Is it really that important to get a spell you might be able to cast once or twice tops in between long rests? I'm not gonna discount that 7th level spells or higher are powerful by any means. But they are relegated to boss fights or preventing a total party kill as a last straw.
Plus with spells that are say 1-5th level you get good spells but have more than token one of uses to them. Granted for my build I would have tops off the top of my head have two lvl 5's (at work on lunch no book present). But by limiting yourself you learn to appreciate more what you do have.
Though the one thing I don't understand is the absolute over appreciation of Eldritch blast. In the context of being a warlock only I understand it due to limited slots but a cantrip that I almost never hear anyone talking about is chilling touch. Being able to stop someone from healing is much more powerful than a little extra damage. And that would also give me a really tough time in fights deciding what to cast cantrip wise between chilling touch or vicious mockery. Which to me at least is a fun dichotomy instead of blindly always using x cantrip all the time.
As someone who has played multiple characters in tier 4, it's extremely important to be able to cast high level spells as a caster. I have been in fights where nothing under a level 5 spell will have an effect on a creature, a damage threshold, and regeneration every round. Eldritch blast is great, albeit a bit boring. You get to have decent damage, more consistent that one hit spells like chill touch or fire bolt as you have multiple beams, and with agonizing blast you have your charisma modifier to each blast. It can't be overstated how great a cantrip that spell is. Seeing as this build is at level 20, you will feel very under powered compared to other characters at that level. You can get away with more of a dip with martial classes and possible 3 classes, but with casting you need to be able to have access to those high level spells. I'm not saying don't do it, it sounds pretty cool, but I am just pointing out that at tier 4 you'll be taking a back seat in any large fight.
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I think that taking a back seat in any large fight heavily depends on the roles that you have selected for yourself in those fights. If your role is heavy damage, that's quite possibly true. If it's support, the breadth of tools available might actually give the character more of a front seat, as they'll influence even more of the fight.
What sourcebook is booming blade from? I don't believe I have seen it in the players handbook.
Sword Coast Adventurers Guide
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I tend to think that multiclassing is something that you should do on roleplaying grounds, based on your character's personality development, rather than something to do to get ability combos.
I agree with MetagamingPigeon when it comes to spellcasting classes, and I wouldn't just look at Level 20. I think it's worth considering that for each other class you dip into, you're going to feel weak for a while, whilst pure class characters begin to advance into their more potent abilities. This general weakening of your character is something that is worth doing if you're doing it for story reasons, but be prepared to feel inferior to your companions for a bit. This may be more or less of a consideration if you play a lot of sessions or your DM milestone levels you fast.