I'm new to D&D, but i have fallen in love with the Arcane Trickster. And I was wondering what class would be good to multiclass with. Was looking at Ranger Beast Master. In order to get a Companion. Thoughts or any Advice..
If you’re new to D&D, don’t multi class. Take some time to understand how the basic mechanics work so you can understand what works well together and what doesn’t. Poor multi classing choices is really one of the few ways to make a weaker character.
For example, the base beast master ranger is pretty bad. The options in Tasha’s make it better, but still, not fantastic. And a ranger wouldn’t really work well with an arcane trickster. You’d be too MAD (multiple ability dependent) AT wants dex and int, ranger wants some wis. Everyone wants some con. You’d spread yourself too thin.
If you really want to Multiclass, going Bladesinger would be a good option. Give you some more spells, you get the amazing Bladesong ability and it keeps the same Ability score dependencies (Int and Dex). If you want to be a focused Arcane Trickster, either go Bladesong 2 / AT X or take Bladesong up to 6 and the rest as Arcane Trickster.
Much like Xalthu said, multiclassing is complicated and not recommended for new players. That's not to say you can't multiclass, it's just not recommended.
As an alternative, you could look at some feats. You can take a feat instead of an ability score increase. You get your first one at level 4, then more at higher levels depending on the class. If you want a bit more magic, then look at the "Magic Initiate" feats. They're like pseudo-multiclass options. You get to pick a caster class and learn two cantrips and one first-level spell from that class. Keep in mind that the class you pick determines the ability used for the spells, such as INT for wizard. There are also the "Fighting Initiate" and "Martial Adept" feats which give you a bit more martial prowess. These are sort of like multiclassing into fighter or ranger. There are tons of feats, so it's just a matter of finding one that might give you the extra features that you want.
A major thing to know/consider about multiclassing is that they slow down your progression in a class. Any level taken in another class is one less level taken in your current class. This basically means that your character will sacrifice class-specific power for different abilities. The great thing about feats is that they let you add some extra customization to your character without sacrificing that progression.
I'm new to D&D, but i have fallen in love with the Arcane Trickster. And I was wondering what class would be good to multiclass with. Was looking at Ranger Beast Master. In order to get a Companion. Thoughts or any Advice..
What I'm playing right now that has worked out incredibly well so far (we've only played two sessions) is an Arcane Trickster 8/Peace Cleric 1. Guidance is worth its weight in gold to have on a stick I control, and between Emboldening Bond, Guidance, and Bless, my ability to solve problems with buffs is incredible. I also have Spare the Dying so my familiar owl can save lives. Like most any AT, my primary stat is Dex, so I figured since I wasn't investing in primary Int anyway, I let Int drop all the way to 10 and picked spells that ignore it, like Shadow Blade. I have Wisdom 14 (and Dex 18 and Con 16).
You can do something similar by moving the 14 or 16 to any mental stat: Int 14/16 gets you Wizard (I believe someone already pointed out how good Bladesingers are) and Artificer (theoretically, Armorer with Infiltrator Armor should be fantastic on an AT, but I haven't tried it). Wis 14/16 gets you Cleric (clerics subclass at level 1, so there are many potentially compelling options), Druid (not useful, imho), and Ranger (potentially useful, haven't explored this). Cha 14/16 unlocks some serious awesomeness - Sorcerer (subclasses at level 1, with options like Shadow Magic for Darkvision and survivability, Divine Soul for the cleric spell list, and Clockwork Soul), Warlock (also subclasses at level 1, and both Genie (probably my favorite) and Hexblade can be used for build shenanigans), and Bard (I haven't found a college I think works with AT particularly well, but I might be missing something).
The big thing to warn you about is that if you mix AT with any other caster other than Warlock, you'll nerf your spell slot progression for no clear game balance reason. I accepted this to make my Trickster because I really wanted to try out Cleric shenanigans, but of the above options I just listed, only Warlock won't cause your spell slot progression to be messed up. You can avoid this by only taking a number of AT levels that are a multiple of 3, or by sticking to non-caster multiclasses (and Warlock). This gets even worse if you multiclass into any partial caster that isn't Artificer, as the other class will also be impacted: Ranger, Paladin, and Eldritch Knight.
We'll see how my AT plays out, but if I play AT again, I'll most likely try out multiclassing into Genielock, so my spell slot progression remains stable. What's really nice about that build is that your slots explicitly play nice with each other - you can use any slot you have to cast any spell you have, even though some are per long rest and some per short.
I'm new to D&D, but i have fallen in love with the Arcane Trickster. And I was wondering what class would be good to multiclass with. Was looking at Ranger Beast Master. In order to get a Companion. Thoughts or any Advice..
If you’re new to D&D, don’t multi class. Take some time to understand how the basic mechanics work so you can understand what works well together and what doesn’t. Poor multi classing choices is really one of the few ways to make a weaker character.
For example, the base beast master ranger is pretty bad. The options in Tasha’s make it better, but still, not fantastic. And a ranger wouldn’t really work well with an arcane trickster. You’d be too MAD (multiple ability dependent) AT wants dex and int, ranger wants some wis. Everyone wants some con. You’d spread yourself too thin.
If you really want to Multiclass, going Bladesinger would be a good option. Give you some more spells, you get the amazing Bladesong ability and it keeps the same Ability score dependencies (Int and Dex). If you want to be a focused Arcane Trickster, either go Bladesong 2 / AT X or take Bladesong up to 6 and the rest as Arcane Trickster.
Thnx for your honest opinion and advice
I'll look into that. Thnx
Also, if you really want a companion, AT can take find familiar. Should have mentioned that the first time.
Much like Xalthu said, multiclassing is complicated and not recommended for new players. That's not to say you can't multiclass, it's just not recommended.
As an alternative, you could look at some feats. You can take a feat instead of an ability score increase. You get your first one at level 4, then more at higher levels depending on the class.
If you want a bit more magic, then look at the "Magic Initiate" feats. They're like pseudo-multiclass options. You get to pick a caster class and learn two cantrips and one first-level spell from that class. Keep in mind that the class you pick determines the ability used for the spells, such as INT for wizard.
There are also the "Fighting Initiate" and "Martial Adept" feats which give you a bit more martial prowess. These are sort of like multiclassing into fighter or ranger.
There are tons of feats, so it's just a matter of finding one that might give you the extra features that you want.
A major thing to know/consider about multiclassing is that they slow down your progression in a class. Any level taken in another class is one less level taken in your current class. This basically means that your character will sacrifice class-specific power for different abilities. The great thing about feats is that they let you add some extra customization to your character without sacrificing that progression.
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What I'm playing right now that has worked out incredibly well so far (we've only played two sessions) is an Arcane Trickster 8/Peace Cleric 1. Guidance is worth its weight in gold to have on a stick I control, and between Emboldening Bond, Guidance, and Bless, my ability to solve problems with buffs is incredible. I also have Spare the Dying so my familiar owl can save lives. Like most any AT, my primary stat is Dex, so I figured since I wasn't investing in primary Int anyway, I let Int drop all the way to 10 and picked spells that ignore it, like Shadow Blade. I have Wisdom 14 (and Dex 18 and Con 16).
You can do something similar by moving the 14 or 16 to any mental stat: Int 14/16 gets you Wizard (I believe someone already pointed out how good Bladesingers are) and Artificer (theoretically, Armorer with Infiltrator Armor should be fantastic on an AT, but I haven't tried it). Wis 14/16 gets you Cleric (clerics subclass at level 1, so there are many potentially compelling options), Druid (not useful, imho), and Ranger (potentially useful, haven't explored this). Cha 14/16 unlocks some serious awesomeness - Sorcerer (subclasses at level 1, with options like Shadow Magic for Darkvision and survivability, Divine Soul for the cleric spell list, and Clockwork Soul), Warlock (also subclasses at level 1, and both Genie (probably my favorite) and Hexblade can be used for build shenanigans), and Bard (I haven't found a college I think works with AT particularly well, but I might be missing something).
The big thing to warn you about is that if you mix AT with any other caster other than Warlock, you'll nerf your spell slot progression for no clear game balance reason. I accepted this to make my Trickster because I really wanted to try out Cleric shenanigans, but of the above options I just listed, only Warlock won't cause your spell slot progression to be messed up. You can avoid this by only taking a number of AT levels that are a multiple of 3, or by sticking to non-caster multiclasses (and Warlock). This gets even worse if you multiclass into any partial caster that isn't Artificer, as the other class will also be impacted: Ranger, Paladin, and Eldritch Knight.
We'll see how my AT plays out, but if I play AT again, I'll most likely try out multiclassing into Genielock, so my spell slot progression remains stable. What's really nice about that build is that your slots explicitly play nice with each other - you can use any slot you have to cast any spell you have, even though some are per long rest and some per short.
Thnx for the information