The goal is to fill the Tank roll, having the best possible defenses while dealing enough damage to not be ignorable. This is my take on the build, trying to make it viable in actual play as early as possible.
Highest stat in charisma. Minimum 13 strength to multiclass out of Paladin. Next highest available stat in constitution. Preferably non-negative dexterity and wisdom, and intelligence isn't needed at all (this character isn't the brains of the oporation)
For the standard array after the racial ability bonuses: 13, 10, 16, 8, 12, 16
L1: Paladin for the heavy armor proficiency.
L2: Hexblade Warlock: to use Charisma as your ability score for Melee attack rolls and damage.
L3-10: Vengeance Paladin: Divine Smite, Vow of Emnity for advantage, two ASIs, and gaining the ability to cast Haste on yourself.
L11-13: Vengeance Paladin: Immunity to fear, an extra 1d8 on all melee weapon attacks, and another ASI.
L14-20: Aberrant Mind Sorcerer: This could really be any type of sorcerer or bard for the spell slots, but I went with sorcerer for the metamagic, particularly Subtle Spell so Haste doesn't get counterspelled, and the Aberrant Mind because it's one of the two sorcerer subtypes that grants extra spells known over and above the base sorcerer, giving this character more versatility. This also includes one ability score increase, and gives the character the ability to summon aberrations at level 20.
For the 4 ability score increases: I'm taking warcaster and +2 Charisma twice. The last one could be a strength bonus to move up to full plate armor without the movement penalty, or I might take a feat, yet to be determined.
At L20 (without any magical equipment)
The attack bonus is +11
The Armor Class is 24 = 15 (chainmail) + 2 (shield) +2 (Haste) +5 (Shield spell)
strength saves are at +7
dexterity saves are at +5
constitution saves are at+8 (concentration checks made at advantage)
intelligence saves are at +4
wisdom saves are at +12
charisma saves are at +16
with Haste, the character has 3 attacks per turn, and can quicken an Eldritch Blast for another four attacks.
The melee attacks against a boss deals (weapon damage) +5 (Cha) + 1d8 (Improved divine smite) + minimum 2d8 (for L1 divine smite) + 6 (for hexblade's curse), being a critical hit on a 19 or 20. (with a non-magical longsword that's 4d8+11, for an average of 29 per hit, or 87 if all three hit.
The Eldritch Blasts each deal 1d10 + 6 (hexblade's curse), for an average of 46 if all four hit.
At a +11 to hit at advantage (and critting on a 19-20), that could very easily be 133+ damage per turn for multiple turns against a boss.
Conceptually, my thought is a Reborn whose a devotee of the Raven Queen, with the Hexblade and Paladin levels all being in service to her, rather than them being conflicting allegiances.
EDIT:
Dropped a feat for +2 strength to not have the movement penalty for wearing the plate armor. Thanks to ThelonelyMagi and Gruntler for pointing that out.
Exchanged the other feat for warcaster to solve the juggling weapons and spells problem, with the added benefit of freeing up an Invocation. Thanks to ThelonelyMagi for the suggestion.
Corrected total number of hits to 3 (Haste only granting one attack on the extra action, not a full attack action as I thought). Thanks to Jhfffan for the correction.
Currently dropping a second level of Warlock for the 7th level of Sorcerer. I'm not sure how I feel about this one.
Your 20 movement speed may get annoying. I've being playing a Dwarf Sorcadin recently and the 25 speed has driven me nuts on more than one occasion when I am just 5 ft shy from engaging the enemy for some righteous smiting.
Your 20 movement speed may get annoying. I've being playing a Dwarf Sorcadin recently and the 25 speed has driven me nuts on more than one occasion when I am just 5 ft shy from engaging the enemy for some righteous smiting.
20ft? The Reborn has 30ft, and with Haste that increases to 60ft. This character shouldn't have difficulty reaching opponents slower than a Tabaxi Monk, and for the ones he can't reach, he can still Eldritch Blast with an action and bonus action, using the hasted action for movement if necessary.
EDIT: I'd missed the movement penalty for the heavy armor. I've fixed it by using an ability score increase to increase the strength from 13 to 15.
For your character, could you use a polearm for the reach to make up that distance?
Your 20 movement speed may get annoying. I've being playing a Dwarf Sorcadin recently and the 25 speed has driven me nuts on more than one occasion when I am just 5 ft shy from engaging the enemy for some righteous smiting.
20ft? The Reborn has 30ft, and with Haste that increases to 60ft.
Plate armour requires 15 strength but the character described only has 13, so their walking speed would be reduced by 10 feet.
Your 20 movement speed may get annoying. I've being playing a Dwarf Sorcadin recently and the 25 speed has driven me nuts on more than one occasion when I am just 5 ft shy from engaging the enemy for some righteous smiting.
20ft? The Reborn has 30ft, and with Haste that increases to 60ft.
Plate armour requires 15 strength but the character described only has 13, so their walking speed would be reduced by 10 feet.
I missed that... that's exactly the type of critique I was looking for. Thanks! I can fix that by dropping sentinel for the +2 strength. The character can use chainmail until he gets that ability score increase.
Your 20 movement speed may get annoying. I've being playing a Dwarf Sorcadin recently and the 25 speed has driven me nuts on more than one occasion when I am just 5 ft shy from engaging the enemy for some righteous smiting.
20ft? The Reborn has 30ft, and with Haste that increases to 60ft. This character shouldn't have difficulty reaching opponents slower than a Tabaxi Monk, and for the ones he can't reach, he can still Eldritch Blast with an action and bonus action, using the hasted action for movement if necessary.
EDIT: I'd missed the movement penalty for the heavy armor. I've fixed it by using an ability score increase to increase the strength from 13 to 15.
For your character, could you use a polearm for the reach to make up that distance?
Not really, because like your character I am the tank and the AC from a shield is too precious to give up. Also you may want to consider Warcaster if you are planning on a sword and board build.
Edit: Although in hindsight I could of maybe used a whip, but the image of a whippy dwarf just does not work for me I'm more a warhammer type of dwarf.
Your 20 movement speed may get annoying. I've being playing a Dwarf Sorcadin recently and the 25 speed has driven me nuts on more than one occasion when I am just 5 ft shy from engaging the enemy for some righteous smiting.
20ft? The Reborn has 30ft, and with Haste that increases to 60ft. This character shouldn't have difficulty reaching opponents slower than a Tabaxi Monk, and for the ones he can't reach, he can still Eldritch Blast with an action and bonus action, using the hasted action for movement if necessary.
EDIT: I'd missed the movement penalty for the heavy armor. I've fixed it by using an ability score increase to increase the strength from 13 to 15.
For your character, could you use a polearm for the reach to make up that distance?
Not really, because like your character I am the tank and the AC from a shield is too precious to give up. Also you may want to consider Warcaster if you are a planning sword and board build.
Edit: Although in hindsight I could of maybe used a whip, but the image of a whippy dwarf just does not work for me I'm more a warhammer type of dwarf.
Very good point on the Warcaster feat. That also frees up an invocation for something else.
Any chance your Dwarf could get his hands on a Dwarven Thrower? It's "very rare" but it sounds like it would solve your range problem if the DM allows it.
Your 20 movement speed may get annoying. I've being playing a Dwarf Sorcadin recently and the 25 speed has driven me nuts on more than one occasion when I am just 5 ft shy from engaging the enemy for some righteous smiting.
20ft? The Reborn has 30ft, and with Haste that increases to 60ft.
Plate armour requires 15 strength but the character described only has 13, so their walking speed would be reduced by 10 feet.
I missed that... that's exactly the type of critique I was looking for. Thanks! I can fix that by dropping sentinel for the +2 strength. The character can use chainmail until he gets that ability score increase.
The good news is that you can get plenty of playtime in before taking the +2 strength ASI. This will allow you to see if your DM will penalize you as a tank for having a high AC by moving creatures around you instead of having them engage you. If you pick up a Polearm along the way, you'll have a an option to toggle your AC between 16 and 18. If having the greater reach and lower AC makes you a more attractive target, you can forgo the +2 Strength to get either a constitution boost for more HP and better saves (including better concentration checks for haste), Polearm Master for more AOs and the BA attack, or sentinel for more stickiness. You can also stick with the +2 strength to still pick up plate with the polearm to give you the 18 AC that having a shield would give you, should you be taking more damage than you want or to increase your threat range if you've found that 18 works well. This would give you a larger threat range and a small bump in damage to further increase your "aggro" ability.
Of course, if your DM doesn't seem to worry about having lots of attacks fail against you with your high AC, you can continue with the plan as described above.
Note: Haste shouldn't give you two attacks as it explicitly only gives you one extra attack. Thus, you'd only have 3 attacks with Haste after Paladin 5 (6th level according to your build) unless you were using two weapon fighting (at the cost of a shield) or picked up quicken spell and something like Booming Blade for a bonus action attack. Of course, your DM may not rule that way and may grant you the extra attack bonus on the hasted attack so YMMV.
Additionally, hexblade's curse isn't a passive bonus, it's a once per rest toggle that lasts for a minute that doesn't transfer from enemy to enemy at warlock 2. The way that you were describing it made it sound like you were thinking of it as being more of a passive ability, so just keep that in mind if that's what you were thinking.
Your 20 movement speed may get annoying. I've being playing a Dwarf Sorcadin recently and the 25 speed has driven me nuts on more than one occasion when I am just 5 ft shy from engaging the enemy for some righteous smiting.
20ft? The Reborn has 30ft, and with Haste that increases to 60ft.
Plate armour requires 15 strength but the character described only has 13, so their walking speed would be reduced by 10 feet.
I missed that... that's exactly the type of critique I was looking for. Thanks! I can fix that by dropping sentinel for the +2 strength. The character can use chainmail until he gets that ability score increase.
The good news is that you can get plenty of playtime in before taking the +2 strength ASI. This will allow you to see if your DM will penalize you as a tank for having a high AC by moving creatures around you instead of having them engage you. If you pick up a Polearm along the way, you'll have a an option to toggle your AC between 16 and 18. If having the greater reach and lower AC makes you a more attractive target, you can forgo the +2 Strength to get either a constitution boost for more HP and better saves (including better concentration checks for haste), Polearm Master for more AOs and the BA attack, or sentinel for more stickiness. You can also stick with the +2 strength to still pick up plate with the polearm to give you the 18 AC that having a shield would give you, should you be taking more damage than you want or to increase your threat range if you've found that 18 works well. This would give you a larger threat range and a small bump in damage to further increase your "aggro" ability.
Of course, if your DM doesn't seem to worry about having lots of attacks fail against you with your high AC, you can continue with the plan as described above.
Note: Haste shouldn't give you two attacks as it explicitly only gives you one extra attack. Thus, you'd only have 3 attacks with Haste after Paladin 5 (6th level according to your build) unless you were using two weapon fighting (at the cost of a shield) or picked up quicken spell and something like Booming Blade for a bonus action attack. Of course, your DM may not rule that way and may grant you the extra attack bonus on the hasted attack so YMMV.
Additionally, hexblade's curse isn't a passive bonus, it's a once per rest toggle that lasts for a minute that doesn't transfer from enemy to enemy at warlock 2. The way that you were describing it made it sound like you were thinking of it as being more of a passive ability, so just keep that in mind if that's what you were thinking.
That's a good point regarding AC and NPC behavior.
... I and my group have somehow missed that bit in parentheses limiting the extra attack action to one additional attack every time we've read the rules for Haste. Cutting melee damage output by a quarter of what I thought doesn't break the character, but I'm a little disappointed.
I could have been clearer regarding Hexblade's Curse, which I do know is good for a single target per use. That calculation is operating on the assumption that there will only be one boss fight between short rests in which Hexblade's Curse and the Vow of Emnity would be used to take down the boss as quickly as possible, after which this character's static damage along with the rest of the party should be able to handle what's left.
Defense wise I think you might actually get more mileage out of levels of sorcerer stopping at Vengeance at level 6 instead of 10.
You could pick up Absorb elements which is resistance a lot of common damage types as a reaction if you got AoE'd.
And getting closer to a HUGE defensive option against casters: Counterspell.
Completely nullifying damage by just straight up cancelling a spell is massive for not just you but the whole party.
This is partially campaign dependent though...if you are not fighting a lot of casters then these become less valuable but the best builds are typically tailored to the campaign.
I think Ancients Paladin is more tanky IMO: Worst save is a +4 INT, AC 20, Resistance to damage from Spells (and everyone within 10ft)
Spell being cast? Counterspell!
Breath weapon that isnt technically a spell? Absorb Elements!
Big hit incoming? Shield spell for AC 25!
Really don't want to be hit? Smite then cast Sanctuary as a BA....they have to hit a WIS 18 save to even target you. If they manage you can always shield too.
Plus with Divine soul sorcerer you have access to Spiritual Guardians too so you can lock down people near you who can't even hit you but will face the wrath of smite if they try to run.
I was actually building towards something like this (Pal 9/Hex 1/Divine Soul 11) but ended up ditching it and am currently a straight up Pal 7/Hex 1 and planning to go all the way up to Pal 13 ASAP before I even think about going into anything else.
A few points to consider:
If you ever want to use a two-handed reach weapon, you can't do that unless you reach at least Hexblade 3 to pick up the Blade Pact and Improved Pact Weapon, otherwise, you can't use it as your Hex weapon.
I'm currently playing something like this with rolled stats but didn't get high enough, current stats are 13/14/17/11/12/20 at level 8 and I've been stuck with a 20 ft movement speed for 4 levels now and let me tell you this. Though the 20 ft speed is annoying at times (it actually made me unable to attack only once so far), it is usually a non-issue, especially when you consider Find Steed, letting you move up to 60 feet in pretty much anything that isn't a dungeon where that 20 ft is much less dramatic. Furthermore, the 7th level Oath of Vengeance reactive ability and Misty Step also give you enough mobility that dropping an ASI in STR isn't worth it IMO but your mileage will vary and this will obviously depend on your campaign and what kind of environments you usually fight in. We're currently playing Curse of Strahd and it hasn't really been an issue as I said.
If you ever want to go into Sorcerer as a Pal 6+ and Hexblade, by definition, you simply can't be online early. The only way to "be online early" is by doing something like Pal 1 -> Hex 1 -> Pal 2 -> Sorcerer 1-5, making yourself "online" by level 8 with Divine Smite, Hexblade's Curse/Hex Warrior, Metamagic and 3rd level spells and then go on from there. You won't get Extra Attack until 3 more levels though at level 11 which is already really late. If you want Extra Attack ASAP, you'd need to go Pal 1 -> Hex 1 -> Pal 2-5 -> Sorc 1-5, you still wouldn't be "online" until level 11. Level 12 if you want to get an extra Paladin level for Aura of Protection.
A more sensible way to build this up for a more offensive character is to ditch the shield, use a two-handed weapon and go Pal 1 -> Hex 1 -> Pal 2 -> Hex 2-5 -> Sorc 1-5, again, online by level 12. You lose alot in defensive abilities but you also gain a ton of offensive presence, more spell slots to smite with and more options with metamagic such as Quicken Hold Person and whatnot. You also still get your "Extra Attack" at level 6 thanks to the Thirsting Blade invocation, get to use a 2-handed reach weapon as an Hex weapon and get more short rest spell slots to smite with. You can also pick up Eldritch Smite to double-down on those smites making things completely ridiculous when you crit.
This next point is based on my personal experience placing a Hexadin, a big thing to keep in mind, unless you KNOW you're heading into combat right this second and can cast it before initiative is rolled, I no longer stack Vow of Enmity and Hexblade's Curse on the same target anymore. Why? Well, both use your Bonus Action for one, so you can't cast both of them + Hex/Hunter's Mark. Meaning, to do the most damage, you'd need 2 to 3 turns to set-up depending what you want to concentrate on. That's alot of turns and the few times I tried to stack both, my target ended up dying before it made any difference. Now, I tend to start with Hexblade's Curse due to the constant increased damage and increased threat range and, when appropriate, I use Vow of Enmity, often on a different target that has not been damaged yet or that is harder to hit. Although, this sometimes ends up in me not using it at all, I still get to use the Harness Divine Power optional rule and recover a spell slot before a short rest when the Channel Divinity would recover anyway so its not completely wasted. Furthermore, if you do end up going into Sorcerer, your Bonus Action will be even less available if you want to try to pull a Quickened spell. Say you want to cast a Quicken Hold Person early on, you're looking at 3+ turns to set-up. Most of the time, combat will be pretty much over by then. I've never had combat last over 4 turns so far.
Personally, unless you're already starting at level 12+, I wouldn't even consider multiclassing for more then 2-3 levels in any class that isn't your main class due to how long it takes and how often you're playing catch-up. Heck, that 1 level of Hexblade is annoying enough when (currently at level 8) all my allies gained their 2nd ASI while I'm not getting that until next level, they're also all going to be unlocking really cool stuff such as 3rd/5th level spells at level 9 while I'm just going to be getting my ASI. If you do something like a Pal 1 -> Hex 1 -> Pal 2-7 -> Hex 2 -> Pal 8-12 -> Sorc 1-6, you have to think about your progression throughout and everything you delay in the process, the first 3 aren't bad, its once you start dipping back into Hex and considering Sorc that it goes downhill very, very fast:
You're not getting your 1st ASI until level 5.
You're not getting 2nd level spells and Extra Attack until level 6.
You're not getting Aura of Protection until level 7.
You're not getting your 2nd ASI until level 10!
You're not getting your 3rd level spells until level 11!
You're never getting Soul of Vengeance at all!! Being able to make a free attack every round against the target of your Vow makes you a more effective tank by encouraging them to target you or possibly suffer a blow from you which you can unload a smite with.
You're essentially trading 4th level pally spells for that first level of Sorcerer, so, a handful of cantrips and some 1st level spells, but you're getting this at level 15...
You're essentially trading Soul of Vengeance for the Metamagic options which is fine, Metamagic is cool and all, but you're not actually getting any of them until character level 17 when you unlock 2nd level sorc spells... at level 17.
You're not getting your 4th ASI until level 18 and you're never getting a 5th ASI!
You're not getting 3rd level sorc spells until level 19... and that's only if your campaign ever goes that far. Most campaigns don't even get past level 15.
Sanvael in that thread made a very important comment that has stuck with me since:
"I'll reiterate: forget about what you'd be at level 20. You spend 19/20 of your adventuring life below level 20, and most campaigns end long before that. It's a bit like building your career choices around what you'll do aged 95."
That thread and breaking it all down was eye-opening for me, as I hope it will be for you. A sorclockadin is fine if Sorc is your main class and/or if you start at a higher level. But if your campaign starts at level 1, I would not bother. Obviously, this is just my personal advice based on my personal experience, do with it what you will, but I'd think twice about this plan of yours before you regret it later on. FYI, my current goal is reaching Pal 13/Hex 1 before I even consider a 2nd level of Hexblade and I'm not even sure if I'm willing to take it yet.
Anyway, that's all from me for now but feel free to hit me up with some questions if you want. As I said, I'm currently playing an Hexadin that I started at level 1 up until level 8 now in Curse of Strahd so I've got a decent amount of hands-on experience for the early levels with this type of build. FWIW, I started as a Custom Lineage with +2 in Cha and picked Elven Accuracy as my racial (DM let me) to start at CHA 20 using rolled stats. 1st ASI was War Caster, 2nd ASI will be Shield Master which will be a very good use of my Bonus Action going forward. I suggest you look into that feat if you want to play a Sword/Board. 3rd ASI will round out my CON and will probably be Resilient Constitution or Abherrant Dragonmark to pick up Absorb Elements, I am still undecided and I have not really thought about the 4th ASI yet, its too far ahead, no point in worrying about that now.
I was actually building towards something like this (Pal 9/Hex 1/Divine Soul 11) but ended up ditching it and am currently a straight up Pal 7/Hex 1 and planning to go all the way up to Pal 13 ASAP before I even think about going into anything else.
A few points to consider:
If you ever want to use a two-handed reach weapon, you can't do that unless you reach at least Hexblade 3 to pick up the Blade Pact and Improved Pact Weapon, otherwise, you can't use it as your Hex weapon.
I'm currently playing something like this with rolled stats but didn't get high enough, current stats are 13/14/17/11/12/20 at level 8 and I've been stuck with a 20 ft movement speed for 4 levels now and let me tell you this. Though the 20 ft speed is annoying at times (it actually made me unable to attack only once so far), it is usually a non-issue, especially when you consider Find Steed, letting you move up to 60 feet in pretty much anything that isn't a dungeon where that 20 ft is much less dramatic. Furthermore, the 7th level Oath of Vengeance reactive ability and Misty Step also give you enough mobility that dropping an ASI in STR isn't worth it IMO but your mileage will vary and this will obviously depend on your campaign and what kind of environments you usually fight in. We're currently playing Curse of Strahd and it hasn't really been an issue as I said.
If you ever want to go into Sorcerer as a Pal 6+ and Hexblade, by definition, you simply can't be online early. The only way to "be online early" is by doing something like Pal 1 -> Hex 1 -> Pal 2 -> Sorcerer 1-5, making yourself "online" by level 8 with Divine Smite, Hexblade's Curse/Hex Warrior, Metamagic and 3rd level spells and then go on from there. You won't get Extra Attack until 3 more levels though at level 11 which is already really late. If you want Extra Attack ASAP, you'd need to go Pal 1 -> Hex 1 -> Pal 2-5 -> Sorc 1-5, you still wouldn't be "online" until level 11. Level 12 if you want to get an extra Paladin level for Aura of Protection.
A more sensible way to build this up for a more offensive character is to ditch the shield, use a two-handed weapon and go Pal 1 -> Hex 1 -> Pal 2 -> Hex 2-5 -> Sorc 1-5, again, online by level 12. You lose alot in defensive abilities but you also gain a ton of offensive presence, more spell slots to smite with and more options with metamagic such as Quicken Hold Person and whatnot. You also still get your "Extra Attack" at level 6 thanks to the Thirsting Blade invocation, get to use a 2-handed reach weapon as an Hex weapon and get more short rest spell slots to smite with. You can also pick up Eldritch Smite to double-down on those smites making things completely ridiculous when you crit.
This next point is based on my personal experience placing a Hexadin, a big thing to keep in mind, unless you KNOW you're heading into combat right this second and can cast it before initiative is rolled, I no longer stack Vow of Enmity and Hexblade's Curse on the same target anymore. Why? Well, both use your Bonus Action for one, so you can't cast both of them + Hex/Hunter's Mark. Meaning, to do the most damage, you'd need 2 to 3 turns to set-up depending what you want to concentrate on. That's alot of turns and the few times I tried to stack both, my target ended up dying before it made any difference. Now, I tend to start with Hexblade's Curse due to the constant increased damage and increased threat range and, when appropriate, I use Vow of Enmity, often on a different target that has not been damaged yet or that is harder to hit. Although, this sometimes ends up in me not using it at all, I still get to use the Harness Divine Power optional rule and recover a spell slot before a short rest when the Channel Divinity would recover anyway so its not completely wasted. Furthermore, if you do end up going into Sorcerer, your Bonus Action will be even less available if you want to try to pull a Quickened spell. Say you want to cast a Quicken Hold Person early on, you're looking at 3+ turns to set-up. Most of the time, combat will be pretty much over by then. I've never had combat last over 4 turns so far.
Personally, unless you're already starting at level 12+, I wouldn't even consider multiclassing for more then 2-3 levels in any class that isn't your main class due to how long it takes and how often you're playing catch-up. Heck, that 1 level of Hexblade is annoying enough when (currently at level 8) all my allies gained their 2nd ASI while I'm not getting that until next level, they're also all going to be unlocking really cool stuff such as 3rd/5th level spells at level 9 while I'm just going to be getting my ASI. If you do something like a Pal 1 -> Hex 1 -> Pal 2-7 -> Hex 2 -> Pal 8-12 -> Sorc 1-6, you have to think about your progression throughout and everything you delay in the process, the first 3 aren't bad, its once you start dipping back into Hex and considering Sorc that it goes downhill very, very fast:
You're not getting your 1st ASI until level 5.
You're not getting 2nd level spells and Extra Attack until level 6.
You're not getting Aura of Protection until level 7.
You're not getting your 2nd ASI until level 10!
You're not getting your 3rd level spells until level 11!
You're never getting Soul of Vengeance at all!! Being able to make a free attack every round against the target of your Vow makes you a more effective tank by encouraging them to target you or possibly suffer a blow from you which you can unload a smite with.
You're essentially trading 4th level pally spells for that first level of Sorcerer, so, a handful of cantrips and some 1st level spells, but you're getting this at level 15...
You're essentially trading Soul of Vengeance for the Metamagic options which is fine, Metamagic is cool and all, but you're not actually getting any of them until character level 17 when you unlock 2nd level sorc spells... at level 17.
You're not getting your 4th ASI until level 18 and you're never getting a 5th ASI!
You're not getting 3rd level sorc spells until level 19... and that's only if your campaign ever goes that far. Most campaigns don't even get past level 15.
Sanvael in that thread made a very important comment that has stuck with me since:
"I'll reiterate: forget about what you'd be at level 20. You spend 19/20 of your adventuring life below level 20, and most campaigns end long before that. It's a bit like building your career choices around what you'll do aged 95."
That thread and breaking it all down was eye-opening for me, as I hope it will be for you. A sorclockadin is fine if Sorc is your main class and/or if you start at a higher level. But if your campaign starts at level 1, I would not bother. Obviously, this is just my personal advice based on my personal experience, do with it what you will, but I'd think twice about this plan of yours before you regret it later on. FYI, my current goal is reaching Pal 13/Hex 1 before I even consider a 2nd level of Hexblade and I'm not even sure if I'm willing to take it yet.
Anyway, that's all from me for now but feel free to hit me up with some questions if you want. As I said, I'm currently playing an Hexadin that I started at level 1 up until level 8 now in Curse of Strahd so I've got a decent amount of hands-on experience for the early levels with this type of build. FWIW, I started as a Custom Lineage with +2 in Cha and picked Elven Accuracy as my racial (DM let me) to start at CHA 20. 1st ASI was War Caster, 2nd ASI will be Shield Master which will be a very good use of my Bonus Action going forward. I suggest you look into that feat if you want to play a Sword/Board. 3rd ASI will round out my CON and will probably be Resilient Constitution or Abherrant Dragonmark to pick up Absorb Elements, I am still undecided and I have not really though about the 4th ASI yet, its too far ahead, no point in worrying about that now.
It still provides a lot of oompth for the levels if you go hexblade1/Paladin7. You get extra attack one level later but you can use EB instead if you are really missing the extra attack in a fight.
Great weapon fighting is something you give up as part of this build so yeah no two handers for you but honestly with the extra spell slots for smite I hardly noticed a difference in output...especially as I was critting slightly more with hexblade's curse. I know its not a huge increase but honestly I felt pretty good when it happened!
You could go v.human and pick up PAM and use the BA polearm strike for more smites which would likely increase your output. Not quite to PAM+GWM average but honestly I built it more for defense/hard to kill than pure damage output. This could also help with lack of extra attack for one level.
From Hexadin1/Paladin 7 I go straight sorcerer until the campaign is over and I made it to 15th level (albeit for like 3 sessions) and I felt near unkillable at the end with all the options I had in place. The high level smites keep coming and I could quicken Boomer Blade for some fun area control stuff....Imagine having spirit guardians up and then boomer blading two enemies next to me....they were damned if they moved and had to eat the guardians if they didnt...it was a lot of fun and acted as a true tank as I made it hard to kill me and hard to move away from me.
I was actually building towards something like this (Pal 9/Hex 1/Divine Soul 11) but ended up ditching it and am currently a straight up Pal 7/Hex 1 and planning to go all the way up to Pal 13 ASAP before I even think about going into anything else.
A few points to consider:
If you ever want to use a two-handed reach weapon, you can't do that unless you reach at least Hexblade 3 to pick up the Blade Pact and Improved Pact Weapon, otherwise, you can't use it as your Hex weapon.
I'm currently playing something like this with rolled stats but didn't get high enough, current stats are 13/14/17/11/12/20 at level 8 and I've been stuck with a 20 ft movement speed for 4 levels now and let me tell you this. Though the 20 ft speed is annoying at times (it actually made me unable to attack only once so far), it is usually a non-issue, especially when you consider Find Steed, letting you move up to 60 feet in pretty much anything that isn't a dungeon where that 20 ft is much less dramatic. Furthermore, the 7th level Oath of Vengeance reactive ability and Misty Step also give you enough mobility that dropping an ASI in STR isn't worth it IMO but your mileage will vary and this will obviously depend on your campaign and what kind of environments you usually fight in. We're currently playing Curse of Strahd and it hasn't really been an issue as I said.
If you ever want to go into Sorcerer as a Pal 6+ and Hexblade, by definition, you simply can't be online early. The only way to "be online early" is by doing something like Pal 1 -> Hex 1 -> Pal 2 -> Sorcerer 1-5, making yourself "online" by level 8 with Divine Smite, Hexblade's Curse/Hex Warrior, Metamagic and 3rd level spells and then go on from there. You won't get Extra Attack until 3 more levels though at level 11 which is already really late. If you want Extra Attack ASAP, you'd need to go Pal 1 -> Hex 1 -> Pal 2-5 -> Sorc 1-5, you still wouldn't be "online" until level 11. Level 12 if you want to get an extra Paladin level for Aura of Protection.
A more sensible way to build this up for a more offensive character is to ditch the shield, use a two-handed weapon and go Pal 1 -> Hex 1 -> Pal 2 -> Hex 2-5 -> Sorc 1-5, again, online by level 12. You lose alot in defensive abilities but you also gain a ton of offensive presence, more spell slots to smite with and more options with metamagic such as Quicken Hold Person and whatnot. You also still get your "Extra Attack" at level 6 thanks to the Thirsting Blade invocation, get to use a 2-handed reach weapon as an Hex weapon and get more short rest spell slots to smite with. You can also pick up Eldritch Smite to double-down on those smites making things completely ridiculous when you crit.
This next point is based on my personal experience placing a Hexadin, a big thing to keep in mind, unless you KNOW you're heading into combat right this second and can cast it before initiative is rolled, I no longer stack Vow of Enmity and Hexblade's Curse on the same target anymore. Why? Well, both use your Bonus Action for one, so you can't cast both of them + Hex/Hunter's Mark. Meaning, to do the most damage, you'd need 2 to 3 turns to set-up depending what you want to concentrate on. That's alot of turns and the few times I tried to stack both, my target ended up dying before it made any difference. Now, I tend to start with Hexblade's Curse due to the constant increased damage and increased threat range and, when appropriate, I use Vow of Enmity, often on a different target that has not been damaged yet or that is harder to hit. Although, this sometimes ends up in me not using it at all, I still get to use the Harness Divine Power optional rule and recover a spell slot before a short rest when the Channel Divinity would recover anyway so its not completely wasted. Furthermore, if you do end up going into Sorcerer, your Bonus Action will be even less available if you want to try to pull a Quickened spell. Say you want to cast a Quicken Hold Person early on, you're looking at 3+ turns to set-up. Most of the time, combat will be pretty much over by then. I've never had combat last over 4 turns so far.
Personally, unless you're already starting at level 12+, I wouldn't even consider multiclassing for more then 2-3 levels in any class that isn't your main class due to how long it takes and how often you're playing catch-up. Heck, that 1 level of Hexblade is annoying enough when (currently at level 8) all my allies gained their 2nd ASI while I'm not getting that until next level, they're also all going to be unlocking really cool stuff such as 3rd/5th level spells at level 9 while I'm just going to be getting my ASI. If you do something like a Pal 1 -> Hex 1 -> Pal 2-7 -> Hex 2 -> Pal 8-12 -> Sorc 1-6, you have to think about your progression throughout and everything you delay in the process, the first 3 aren't bad, its once you start dipping back into Hex and considering Sorc that it goes downhill very, very fast:
You're not getting your 1st ASI until level 5.
You're not getting 2nd level spells and Extra Attack until level 6.
You're not getting Aura of Protection until level 7.
You're not getting your 2nd ASI until level 10!
You're not getting your 3rd level spells until level 11!
You're never getting Soul of Vengeance at all!! Being able to make a free attack every round against the target of your Vow makes you a more effective tank by encouraging them to target you or possibly suffer a blow from you which you can unload a smite with.
You're essentially trading 4th level pally spells for that first level of Sorcerer, so, a handful of cantrips and some 1st level spells, but you're getting this at level 15...
You're essentially trading Soul of Vengeance for the Metamagic options which is fine, Metamagic is cool and all, but you're not actually getting any of them until character level 17 when you unlock 2nd level sorc spells... at level 17.
You're not getting your 4th ASI until level 18 and you're never getting a 5th ASI!
You're not getting 3rd level sorc spells until level 19... and that's only if your campaign ever goes that far. Most campaigns don't even get past level 15.
Sanvael in that thread made a very important comment that has stuck with me since:
"I'll reiterate: forget about what you'd be at level 20. You spend 19/20 of your adventuring life below level 20, and most campaigns end long before that. It's a bit like building your career choices around what you'll do aged 95."
That thread and breaking it all down was eye-opening for me, as I hope it will be for you. A sorclockadin is fine if Sorc is your main class and/or if you start at a higher level. But if your campaign starts at level 1, I would not bother. Obviously, this is just my personal advice based on my personal experience, do with it what you will, but I'd think twice about this plan of yours before you regret it later on. FYI, my current goal is reaching Pal 13/Hex 1 before I even consider a 2nd level of Hexblade and I'm not even sure if I'm willing to take it yet.
Anyway, that's all from me for now but feel free to hit me up with some questions if you want. As I said, I'm currently playing an Hexadin that I started at level 1 up until level 8 now in Curse of Strahd so I've got a decent amount of hands-on experience for the early levels with this type of build. FWIW, I started as a Custom Lineage with +2 in Cha and picked Elven Accuracy as my racial (DM let me) to start at CHA 20. 1st ASI was War Caster, 2nd ASI will be Shield Master which will be a very good use of my Bonus Action going forward. I suggest you look into that feat if you want to play a Sword/Board. 3rd ASI will round out my CON and will probably be Resilient Constitution or Abherrant Dragonmark to pick up Absorb Elements, I am still undecided and I have not really though about the 4th ASI yet, its too far ahead, no point in worrying about that now.
It still provides a lot of oompth for the levels if you go hexblade1/Paladin7. You get extra attack one level later but you can use EB instead if you are really missing the extra attack in a fight.
Great weapon fighting is something you give up as part of this build so yeah no two handers for you but honestly with the extra spell slots for smite I hardly noticed a difference in output...especially as I was critting slightly more with hexblade's curse. I know its not a huge increase but honestly I felt pretty good when it happened!
You could go v.human and pick up PAM and use the BA polearm strike for more smites which would likely increase your output. Not quite to PAM+GWM average but honestly I built it more for defense/hard to kill than pure damage output. This could also help with lack of extra attack for one level.
From Hexadin1/Paladin 7 I go straight sorcerer until the campaign is over and I made it to 15th level (albeit for like 3 sessions) and I felt near unkillable at the end with all the options I had in place. The high level smites keep coming and I could quicken Boomer Blade for some fun area control stuff....Imagine having spirit guardians up and then boomer blading two enemies next to me....they were damned if they moved and had to eat the guardians if they didnt...it was a lot of fun and acted as a true tank as I made it hard to kill me and hard to move away from me.
Right! That's the very latest level I would ever consider going into sorc though (Pal 7/Hex 1) and only if the aura is really worth it (like for Ancients). As Vengeance, I wouldn't ever go higher then Pal 6 and if I wanted to be online ASAP, as I said, I would do something like Pal 2/Hex 5/Sorc 5 which still doesn't make you "online" until level 12 but at that point, you're going to be very dangerous a good amount of time already and you're already starting to have some fun with Metamagic around level 10 which isn't too bad. As you said, you were really only "online" for 3 sessions and having to make "meh" progression for several levels of sorcerer when you would otherwise be getting very nice higher level abilities was a turn off for me as Aura of Prot was necessary IMO and I REALLY wanted 3rd level spells to get my 2nd ASI, Haste and Aura of Vitality and such ASAP. I didn't want to delay those any more then they already were.
The concept is good on paper when you consider its status as a lvl 15+ character, however, its the progression there that is iffy and OP is saying they want to go up to Pal 12 which is far too late to consider multiclassing into something else at that point IMO hence the huge wall of text as a warning so they know what to expect if they choose to do so anyway.
I was actually building towards something like this (Pal 9/Hex 1/Divine Soul 11) but ended up ditching it and am currently a straight up Pal 7/Hex 1 and planning to go all the way up to Pal 13 ASAP before I even think about going into anything else.
A few points to consider:
If you ever want to use a two-handed reach weapon, you can't do that unless you reach at least Hexblade 3 to pick up the Blade Pact and Improved Pact Weapon, otherwise, you can't use it as your Hex weapon.
I'm currently playing something like this with rolled stats but didn't get high enough, current stats are 13/14/17/11/12/20 at level 8 and I've been stuck with a 20 ft movement speed for 4 levels now and let me tell you this. Though the 20 ft speed is annoying at times (it actually made me unable to attack only once so far), it is usually a non-issue, especially when you consider Find Steed, letting you move up to 60 feet in pretty much anything that isn't a dungeon where that 20 ft is much less dramatic. Furthermore, the 7th level Oath of Vengeance reactive ability and Misty Step also give you enough mobility that dropping an ASI in STR isn't worth it IMO but your mileage will vary and this will obviously depend on your campaign and what kind of environments you usually fight in. We're currently playing Curse of Strahd and it hasn't really been an issue as I said.
If you ever want to go into Sorcerer as a Pal 6+ and Hexblade, by definition, you simply can't be online early. The only way to "be online early" is by doing something like Pal 1 -> Hex 1 -> Pal 2 -> Sorcerer 1-5, making yourself "online" by level 8 with Divine Smite, Hexblade's Curse/Hex Warrior, Metamagic and 3rd level spells and then go on from there. You won't get Extra Attack until 3 more levels though at level 11 which is already really late. If you want Extra Attack ASAP, you'd need to go Pal 1 -> Hex 1 -> Pal 2-5 -> Sorc 1-5, you still wouldn't be "online" until level 11. Level 12 if you want to get an extra Paladin level for Aura of Protection.
A more sensible way to build this up for a more offensive character is to ditch the shield, use a two-handed weapon and go Pal 1 -> Hex 1 -> Pal 2 -> Hex 2-5 -> Sorc 1-5, again, online by level 12. You lose alot in defensive abilities but you also gain a ton of offensive presence, more spell slots to smite with and more options with metamagic such as Quicken Hold Person and whatnot. You also still get your "Extra Attack" at level 6 thanks to the Thirsting Blade invocation, get to use a 2-handed reach weapon as an Hex weapon and get more short rest spell slots to smite with. You can also pick up Eldritch Smite to double-down on those smites making things completely ridiculous when you crit.
This next point is based on my personal experience placing a Hexadin, a big thing to keep in mind, unless you KNOW you're heading into combat right this second and can cast it before initiative is rolled, I no longer stack Vow of Enmity and Hexblade's Curse on the same target anymore. Why? Well, both use your Bonus Action for one, so you can't cast both of them + Hex/Hunter's Mark. Meaning, to do the most damage, you'd need 2 to 3 turns to set-up depending what you want to concentrate on. That's alot of turns and the few times I tried to stack both, my target ended up dying before it made any difference. Now, I tend to start with Hexblade's Curse due to the constant increased damage and increased threat range and, when appropriate, I use Vow of Enmity, often on a different target that has not been damaged yet or that is harder to hit. Although, this sometimes ends up in me not using it at all, I still get to use the Harness Divine Power optional rule and recover a spell slot before a short rest when the Channel Divinity would recover anyway so its not completely wasted. Furthermore, if you do end up going into Sorcerer, your Bonus Action will be even less available if you want to try to pull a Quickened spell. Say you want to cast a Quicken Hold Person early on, you're looking at 3+ turns to set-up. Most of the time, combat will be pretty much over by then. I've never had combat last over 4 turns so far.
Personally, unless you're already starting at level 12+, I wouldn't even consider multiclassing for more then 2-3 levels in any class that isn't your main class due to how long it takes and how often you're playing catch-up. Heck, that 1 level of Hexblade is annoying enough when (currently at level 8) all my allies gained their 2nd ASI while I'm not getting that until next level, they're also all going to be unlocking really cool stuff such as 3rd/5th level spells at level 9 while I'm just going to be getting my ASI. If you do something like a Pal 1 -> Hex 1 -> Pal 2-7 -> Hex 2 -> Pal 8-12 -> Sorc 1-6, you have to think about your progression throughout and everything you delay in the process, the first 3 aren't bad, its once you start dipping back into Hex and considering Sorc that it goes downhill very, very fast:
You're not getting your 1st ASI until level 5.
You're not getting 2nd level spells and Extra Attack until level 6.
You're not getting Aura of Protection until level 7.
You're not getting your 2nd ASI until level 10!
You're not getting your 3rd level spells until level 11!
You're never getting Soul of Vengeance at all!! Being able to make a free attack every round against the target of your Vow makes you a more effective tank by encouraging them to target you or possibly suffer a blow from you which you can unload a smite with.
You're essentially trading 4th level pally spells for that first level of Sorcerer, so, a handful of cantrips and some 1st level spells, but you're getting this at level 15...
You're essentially trading Soul of Vengeance for the Metamagic options which is fine, Metamagic is cool and all, but you're not actually getting any of them until character level 17 when you unlock 2nd level sorc spells... at level 17.
You're not getting your 4th ASI until level 18 and you're never getting a 5th ASI!
You're not getting 3rd level sorc spells until level 19... and that's only if your campaign ever goes that far. Most campaigns don't even get past level 15.
Sanvael in that thread made a very important comment that has stuck with me since:
"I'll reiterate: forget about what you'd be at level 20. You spend 19/20 of your adventuring life below level 20, and most campaigns end long before that. It's a bit like building your career choices around what you'll do aged 95."
That thread and breaking it all down was eye-opening for me, as I hope it will be for you. A sorclockadin is fine if Sorc is your main class and/or if you start at a higher level. But if your campaign starts at level 1, I would not bother. Obviously, this is just my personal advice based on my personal experience, do with it what you will, but I'd think twice about this plan of yours before you regret it later on. FYI, my current goal is reaching Pal 13/Hex 1 before I even consider a 2nd level of Hexblade and I'm not even sure if I'm willing to take it yet.
Anyway, that's all from me for now but feel free to hit me up with some questions if you want. As I said, I'm currently playing an Hexadin that I started at level 1 up until level 8 now in Curse of Strahd so I've got a decent amount of hands-on experience for the early levels with this type of build. FWIW, I started as a Custom Lineage with +2 in Cha and picked Elven Accuracy as my racial (DM let me) to start at CHA 20. 1st ASI was War Caster, 2nd ASI will be Shield Master which will be a very good use of my Bonus Action going forward. I suggest you look into that feat if you want to play a Sword/Board. 3rd ASI will round out my CON and will probably be Resilient Constitution or Abherrant Dragonmark to pick up Absorb Elements, I am still undecided and I have not really though about the 4th ASI yet, its too far ahead, no point in worrying about that now.
It still provides a lot of oompth for the levels if you go hexblade1/Paladin7. You get extra attack one level later but you can use EB instead if you are really missing the extra attack in a fight.
Great weapon fighting is something you give up as part of this build so yeah no two handers for you but honestly with the extra spell slots for smite I hardly noticed a difference in output...especially as I was critting slightly more with hexblade's curse. I know its not a huge increase but honestly I felt pretty good when it happened!
You could go v.human and pick up PAM and use the BA polearm strike for more smites which would likely increase your output. Not quite to PAM+GWM average but honestly I built it more for defense/hard to kill than pure damage output. This could also help with lack of extra attack for one level.
From Hexadin1/Paladin 7 I go straight sorcerer until the campaign is over and I made it to 15th level (albeit for like 3 sessions) and I felt near unkillable at the end with all the options I had in place. The high level smites keep coming and I could quicken Boomer Blade for some fun area control stuff....Imagine having spirit guardians up and then boomer blading two enemies next to me....they were damned if they moved and had to eat the guardians if they didnt...it was a lot of fun and acted as a true tank as I made it hard to kill me and hard to move away from me.
Right! That's the very latest level I would ever consider going into sorc though (Pal 7/Hex 1) and only if the aura is really worth it (like for Ancients). As Vengeance, I wouldn't ever go higher then Pal 6 and if I wanted to be online ASAP, as I said, I would do something like Pal 2/Hex 5/Sorc 5 which still doesn't make you "online" until level 12 but at that point, you're going to be very dangerous a good amount of time already and you're already starting to have some fun with Metamagic around level 10 which isn't too bad. As you said, you were really only "online" for 3 sessions and having to make "meh" progression for several levels of sorcerer when you would otherwise be getting very nice higher level abilities was a turn off for me as Aura of Prot was necessary IMO and I REALLY wanted 3rd level spells to get my 2nd ASI, Haste and Aura of Vitality and such ASAP. I didn't want to delay those any more then they already were.
The concept is good on paper when you consider its status as a lvl 15+ character, however, its the progression there that is iffy and OP is saying they want to go up to Pal 12 which is far too late to consider multiclassing into something else at that point IMO hence the huge wall of text as a warning so they know what to expect if they choose to do so anyway.
Agree on stopping at 6th level for most paladins. I generally see my games end around 12th level and I have only MC in three classes once and only once and it was Sorlockadin. If we were running a high level one shot then I would likely use this build again but likely not for a full campaign. Not because I do not think its worth it but simply because I have experienced that combo once.
For me it was absolutely worth it to go to sorcerer simply due to the extra utility cantrips, access to cleric/sorcerer spell lists for gems like Absorb Elements (we were fighting a lot of elemental stuff), counterspell ( fought a fair bit of casters and I had a wizard in the party so I could chain with his counterspell), and spirit guardians (you have to get through me to get to the backline!)
That on top of more spell slots and access to higher level sorcerer spells made it an easy decision for me.
Personally I would rush Paladin 5, then take 3 in Warlock. Getting your second attack is really important.
The problem with this approach is that you can't do the "CHA is my only stat approach" as you are then relying on STR for those attacks and would need to pump STR and CHA to 16 and then increase CHA at 4th level I guess for anticipation of the shift to CHA in 2 levels?
Overall with smite and the versatility of EB and the warlock cantrips (Booming blade FTW) you are not at too much of a loss with that extra attack delayed one level....especially if you are in a quick leveling game or have PAM as a v.human.
Personally I would rush Paladin 5, then take 3 in Warlock. Getting your second attack is really important.
The problem with this approach is that you can't do the "CHA is my only stat approach" as you are then relying on STR for those attacks and would need to pump STR and CHA to 16 and then increase CHA at 4th level I guess for anticipation of the shift to CHA in 2 levels?
Overall with smite and the versatility of EB and the warlock cantrips (Booming blade FTW) you are not at too much of a loss with that extra attack delayed one level....especially if you are in a quick leveling game or have PAM as a v.human.
I agree, another way to build a sorcadin (not a sorlockadin mind you) if I wanted to rush to Pal 5 for Extra Attack, I would simply ditch Hexblade completely since you already need a pretty decent amount of STR at that point and I'd just focus on STR for attacks and go Pal 6/Sorc 14 and try to avoid spells where the lower CHA MOD would really make an impact early on. Pal 1-2 -> Sorc 1 -> Pal 3-6 -> Sorc 2-14 is probably what I would do in that case.
You could build it like this with point-buy assuming V. human or CL:
STR 18 -> 15 +2 racial +1 half-feat (HAM or Skill Expert most likely, maybe Piercer depending on what you're going for) DEX 10 CON 14 -> or 15 if CHA 14 and you realled wanted a CON half-feat such as Res: CON, personally, I'd go with 15 and get RES: CON INT 8 WIS 8 (or 10 if you keep both CON/CHA at 14) CHA 14 -> or 15 if CON 14 depending if you really wanted a CHA half-feat or not but I would not
1st ASI = War Caster if going sword/board, Res: Con otherwise (CON 16) 2nd ASI = STR +2 (STR 20) 3rd ASI = CHA +2 or CHA half-feat if starting at 15 (CHA 16) 4th ASI = CHA +2 (CHA 18)
Final stats = 20/10/16/8/8/18
You don't delay your Sorc spells/slots as much this way and end up getting a pretty good amount of them as well. Its probably better then a sorclockadin actually now that I think about it, just alot less SAD and you never get your CHA to 20.
Obviously, if you roll for stats, ignore that last part. :P
Personally I would rush Paladin 5, then take 3 in Warlock. Getting your second attack is really important.
The problem with this approach is that you can't do the "CHA is my only stat approach" as you are then relying on STR for those attacks and would need to pump STR and CHA to 16 and then increase CHA at 4th level I guess for anticipation of the shift to CHA in 2 levels?
Overall with smite and the versatility of EB and the warlock cantrips (Booming blade FTW) you are not at too much of a loss with that extra attack delayed one level....especially if you are in a quick leveling game or have PAM as a v.human.
I agree, another way to build a sorcadin (not a sorlockadin mind you) if I wanted to rush to Pal 5 for Extra Attack, I would simply ditch Hexblade completely since you already need a pretty decent amount of STR at that point and I'd just focus on STR for attacks and go Pal 6/Sorc 14 and try to avoid spells where the lower CHA MOD would really make an impact early on. Pal 1-2 -> Sorc 1 -> Pal 3-6 -> Sorc 2-14 is probably what I would do in that case.
You could build it like this with point-buy assuming V. human or CL:
STR 18 -> 15 +2 racial +1 half-feat (HAM or Skill Expert most likely, maybe Piercer depending on what you're going for) DEX 10 CON 14 -> or 15 if CHA 14 and you realled wanted a CON half-feat such as Res: CON, personally, I'd go with 15 and get RES: CON INT 8 WIS 8 (or 10 if you keep both CON/CHA at 14) CHA 14 -> or 15 if CON 14 depending if you really wanted a CHA half-feat or not but I would not
1st ASI = War Caster if going sword/board, Res: Con otherwise (CON 16) 2nd ASI = STR +2 (STR 20) 3rd ASI = CHA +2 or CHA half-feat if starting at 15 (CHA 16) 4th ASI = CHA +2 (CHA 18)
Final stats = 20/10/16/8/8/18
You don't delay your Sorc spells/slots as much this way and end up getting a pretty good amount of them as well. Its probably better then a sorclockadin actually now that I think about it, just alot less SAD and you never get your CHA to 20.
Obviously, if you roll for stats, ignore that last part. :P
Yeah that's a fair approach as well.
Scoradin seems more fun in the long run as you can get better spells faster with that approach.
I've seen permissive DMs allow paladins to ignore MC requirements and let them dump STR as long as they have a high enough Dex to compensate.
I can definitely tell the train of thought for those suggestions, and they're certainly fine builds, but it doesn't look like we're on the same page regarding what I'm going for. First and foremost, I'm building a tank (strong AC & saves). Utility and spells are nice, but the party should have a full-caster who'll have those spells LONG before the tank is anywhere close to getting them, and the character can't sacrifice efficiency in its primary role to try to fill other roles that other members of the party already have covered, and are doing so better than this character could.
Level 1: needs to be Paladin (1) for the heavy armor proficiency, because this character isn't invested in Dexterity. This level is set-up, and admittedly the character will be kind of rubbish for all of Level 1 (having only a +3 to Attack Rolls, and a +1 modifier on Damage)
Level 2: needs to be Hexblade warlock (1) for the ability to add Charisma to the Attack rolls and melee damage. At this point the character is functional, with its attack bonus and damage now being up to par with other classes. This also grants the shield spell at Level 2.
Level 3: needs to be Paladin (2) for Divine Smite, finally getting that additional damage one level later than a full Paladin. The Blind Fighting fighting style negates the disadvantage for attacking an invisible or blurred enemy, or from being blinded.
Levels 4-7: need to be Paladin (3-6) to get an ability score increase, the second attack and the Charisma bonus to saving throws as soon as possible.
The Vengeance Paladin gives a 1/short rest advantage on ALL attack rolls against a particular creature for a full minute. This is extremely powerful as it drastically increases your ability to land blows against enemies with extremely high AC. And if an enemy has a blur or invisibility effect up, this character is actually attacking at advantage instead of disadvantage, thanks to the Vow and Blind Fighting. That ability to reliably deal heavy damage to bosses is really important, especially since there's no saving throw against the Vow of Emnity, nor concentration to be broken. The Vengeance Paladin also has Haste added to its spell list.
The Ancients Paladin gives a 1/short rest ability to cause a singular enemy to make a strength or dexterity save of ITS CHOICE, that it can repeat every turn until it passes the save. That strikes me as very much inferior to the Vengeance Paladin's option.
At L7, Its worst save is Intelligence at a +3, while its best save is Charisma at a +11, its attack bonus is +7, and it has advantage against an otherwise hard-to-hit target for a minute, once per short rest, and it has a total of 8 smite slots, regaining one on a short rest. It has an armor class of 17 (22 after casting shield), and 30ft of movement.
The next priority is Haste for the extra movement, attack, and +2 to Armor Class. The shortest route to that is taking the next three levels in Vengeance Paladin which grants Haste, the L3 spell slots to cast it, and an ASI to spend on the Warcaster feat. This brings AC up to 19 (24 when casting shield), increases the movement speed to 60ft, and gives an extra action that can be an attack or a 60ft dash. Being able to move 120ft per turn and still attack, very few types of enemies could avoid this character.
At L10, on the first turn of combat, this character uses a Bonus action to put a Vow of emnity on the boss, an action to cast Haste, moves up to 60ft to get in range of the enemy, and then attacking once. on subsequent turns he's attacking three times, and he can use his bonus action on the second turn to put Hexblade's Curse on the boss if needed without losing any real action economy, because this character doesn't have much else to use bonus actions on until later levels.
All things considered, I believe the first 10 levels are pretty much nailed down for this character.
Now, I can skip the second level of Hexblade, because all it gives are two invocations and one spell slot, which aren't really needed anymore in the current version of the charcter build. That leaves me to decide when I want to transition to sorcerer levels. I've already got 10 levels assigned, so I can ignore the L14 abilities for the sorcerer.
Three more levels of Paladin (bringing the class levels to 12) grants another ASI (bringing Charisma up to 20) an extra 1d8 on all melee weapon damage rolls, immunity to fear, and an ability to pursue fleeing enemies on a reaction after making an attack of opportunity.
That leaves 7 levels of sorcerer, which give this character L4 spells known, but more importantly, the spell slots of a L13 caster, a total of 18 spell slots with the highest being L7 slots. Given the ability to up-cast spells with higher slots, and the fact that most of these slots are for smites anyway, this is perfectly fine.
I lean towards Aberrant Mind more than Divine Soul for the wider number of spells known, as well as the ability to summon aberrations directly from sorcery points without needing any verbal, somatic, or material components.
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The goal is to fill the Tank roll, having the best possible defenses while dealing enough damage to not be ignorable. This is my take on the build, trying to make it viable in actual play as early as possible.
Highest stat in charisma. Minimum 13 strength to multiclass out of Paladin. Next highest available stat in constitution. Preferably non-negative dexterity and wisdom, and intelligence isn't needed at all (this character isn't the brains of the oporation)
For the standard array after the racial ability bonuses: 13, 10, 16, 8, 12, 16
L1: Paladin for the heavy armor proficiency.
L2: Hexblade Warlock: to use Charisma as your ability score for Melee attack rolls and damage.
L3-10: Vengeance Paladin: Divine Smite, Vow of Emnity for advantage, two ASIs, and gaining the ability to cast Haste on yourself.
L11-13: Vengeance Paladin: Immunity to fear, an extra 1d8 on all melee weapon attacks, and another ASI.
L14-20: Aberrant Mind Sorcerer: This could really be any type of sorcerer or bard for the spell slots, but I went with sorcerer for the metamagic, particularly Subtle Spell so Haste doesn't get counterspelled, and the Aberrant Mind because it's one of the two sorcerer subtypes that grants extra spells known over and above the base sorcerer, giving this character more versatility. This also includes one ability score increase, and gives the character the ability to summon aberrations at level 20.
For the 4 ability score increases: I'm taking warcaster and +2 Charisma twice. The last one could be a strength bonus to move up to full plate armor without the movement penalty, or I might take a feat, yet to be determined.
At L20 (without any magical equipment)
The attack bonus is +11
The Armor Class is 24 = 15 (chainmail) + 2 (shield) +2 (Haste) +5 (Shield spell)
strength saves are at +7
dexterity saves are at +5
constitution saves are at+8 (concentration checks made at advantage)
intelligence saves are at +4
wisdom saves are at +12
charisma saves are at +16
with Haste, the character has 3 attacks per turn, and can quicken an Eldritch Blast for another four attacks.
The melee attacks against a boss deals (weapon damage) +5 (Cha) + 1d8 (Improved divine smite) + minimum 2d8 (for L1 divine smite) + 6 (for hexblade's curse), being a critical hit on a 19 or 20. (with a non-magical longsword that's 4d8+11, for an average of 29 per hit, or 87 if all three hit.
The Eldritch Blasts each deal 1d10 + 6 (hexblade's curse), for an average of 46 if all four hit.
At a +11 to hit at advantage (and critting on a 19-20), that could very easily be 133+ damage per turn for multiple turns against a boss.
Conceptually, my thought is a Reborn whose a devotee of the Raven Queen, with the Hexblade and Paladin levels all being in service to her, rather than them being conflicting allegiances.
EDIT:
Dropped a feat for +2 strength to not have the movement penalty for wearing the plate armor. Thanks to ThelonelyMagi and Gruntler for pointing that out.
Exchanged the other feat for warcaster to solve the juggling weapons and spells problem, with the added benefit of freeing up an Invocation. Thanks to ThelonelyMagi for the suggestion.
Corrected total number of hits to 3 (Haste only granting one attack on the extra action, not a full attack action as I thought). Thanks to Jhfffan for the correction.
Currently dropping a second level of Warlock for the 7th level of Sorcerer. I'm not sure how I feel about this one.
Your 20 movement speed may get annoying. I've being playing a Dwarf Sorcadin recently and the 25 speed has driven me nuts on more than one occasion when I am just 5 ft shy from engaging the enemy for some righteous smiting.
20ft? The Reborn has 30ft, and with Haste that increases to 60ft. This character shouldn't have difficulty reaching opponents slower than a Tabaxi Monk,and for the ones he can't reach, he can still Eldritch Blast with an action and bonus action, using the hasted action for movement if necessary.EDIT: I'd missed the movement penalty for the heavy armor. I've fixed it by using an ability score increase to increase the strength from 13 to 15.
For your character, could you use a polearm for the reach to make up that distance?
Plate armour requires 15 strength but the character described only has 13, so their walking speed would be reduced by 10 feet.
I missed that... that's exactly the type of critique I was looking for. Thanks! I can fix that by dropping sentinel for the +2 strength. The character can use chainmail until he gets that ability score increase.
Not really, because like your character I am the tank and the AC from a shield is too precious to give up. Also you may want to consider Warcaster if you are planning on a sword and board build.
Edit: Although in hindsight I could of maybe used a whip, but the image of a whippy dwarf just does not work for me I'm more a warhammer type of dwarf.
Very good point on the Warcaster feat. That also frees up an invocation for something else.
Any chance your Dwarf could get his hands on a Dwarven Thrower? It's "very rare" but it sounds like it would solve your range problem if the DM allows it.
Its not a big problem I have Sorcerer cantrips, its just not as satisfying as hammer to the face combat lol.
The good news is that you can get plenty of playtime in before taking the +2 strength ASI. This will allow you to see if your DM will penalize you as a tank for having a high AC by moving creatures around you instead of having them engage you. If you pick up a Polearm along the way, you'll have a an option to toggle your AC between 16 and 18. If having the greater reach and lower AC makes you a more attractive target, you can forgo the +2 Strength to get either a constitution boost for more HP and better saves (including better concentration checks for haste), Polearm Master for more AOs and the BA attack, or sentinel for more stickiness. You can also stick with the +2 strength to still pick up plate with the polearm to give you the 18 AC that having a shield would give you, should you be taking more damage than you want or to increase your threat range if you've found that 18 works well. This would give you a larger threat range and a small bump in damage to further increase your "aggro" ability.
Of course, if your DM doesn't seem to worry about having lots of attacks fail against you with your high AC, you can continue with the plan as described above.
Note: Haste shouldn't give you two attacks as it explicitly only gives you one extra attack. Thus, you'd only have 3 attacks with Haste after Paladin 5 (6th level according to your build) unless you were using two weapon fighting (at the cost of a shield) or picked up quicken spell and something like Booming Blade for a bonus action attack. Of course, your DM may not rule that way and may grant you the extra attack bonus on the hasted attack so YMMV.
Additionally, hexblade's curse isn't a passive bonus, it's a once per rest toggle that lasts for a minute that doesn't transfer from enemy to enemy at warlock 2. The way that you were describing it made it sound like you were thinking of it as being more of a passive ability, so just keep that in mind if that's what you were thinking.
That's a good point regarding AC and NPC behavior.
... I and my group have somehow missed that bit in parentheses limiting the extra attack action to one additional attack every time we've read the rules for Haste. Cutting melee damage output by a quarter of what I thought doesn't break the character, but I'm a little disappointed.
I could have been clearer regarding Hexblade's Curse, which I do know is good for a single target per use. That calculation is operating on the assumption that there will only be one boss fight between short rests in which Hexblade's Curse and the Vow of Emnity would be used to take down the boss as quickly as possible, after which this character's static damage along with the rest of the party should be able to handle what's left.
Defense wise I think you might actually get more mileage out of levels of sorcerer stopping at Vengeance at level 6 instead of 10.
You could pick up Absorb elements which is resistance a lot of common damage types as a reaction if you got AoE'd.
And getting closer to a HUGE defensive option against casters: Counterspell.
Completely nullifying damage by just straight up cancelling a spell is massive for not just you but the whole party.
This is partially campaign dependent though...if you are not fighting a lot of casters then these become less valuable but the best builds are typically tailored to the campaign.
Here is my Aubry build: https://ddb.ac/characters/28913993/2LjuW2
I think Ancients Paladin is more tanky IMO: Worst save is a +4 INT, AC 20, Resistance to damage from Spells (and everyone within 10ft)
Spell being cast? Counterspell!
Breath weapon that isnt technically a spell? Absorb Elements!
Big hit incoming? Shield spell for AC 25!
Really don't want to be hit? Smite then cast Sanctuary as a BA....they have to hit a WIS 18 save to even target you. If they manage you can always shield too.
Plus with Divine soul sorcerer you have access to Spiritual Guardians too so you can lock down people near you who can't even hit you but will face the wrath of smite if they try to run.
I was actually building towards something like this (Pal 9/Hex 1/Divine Soul 11) but ended up ditching it and am currently a straight up Pal 7/Hex 1 and planning to go all the way up to Pal 13 ASAP before I even think about going into anything else.
A few points to consider:
Personally, unless you're already starting at level 12+, I wouldn't even consider multiclassing for more then 2-3 levels in any class that isn't your main class due to how long it takes and how often you're playing catch-up. Heck, that 1 level of Hexblade is annoying enough when (currently at level 8) all my allies gained their 2nd ASI while I'm not getting that until next level, they're also all going to be unlocking really cool stuff such as 3rd/5th level spells at level 9 while I'm just going to be getting my ASI. If you do something like a Pal 1 -> Hex 1 -> Pal 2-7 -> Hex 2 -> Pal 8-12 -> Sorc 1-6, you have to think about your progression throughout and everything you delay in the process, the first 3 aren't bad, its once you start dipping back into Hex and considering Sorc that it goes downhill very, very fast:
Honestly, that's alot of sacrifices for questionnable gains that you're all getting very late. I almost fell into the same trap you did in fact, here, check out my thread about this very issue I was also facing -> https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/tips-tactics/119307-support-control-tank-optimization
Sanvael in that thread made a very important comment that has stuck with me since:
"I'll reiterate: forget about what you'd be at level 20. You spend 19/20 of your adventuring life below level 20, and most campaigns end long before that. It's a bit like building your career choices around what you'll do aged 95."
That thread and breaking it all down was eye-opening for me, as I hope it will be for you. A sorclockadin is fine if Sorc is your main class and/or if you start at a higher level. But if your campaign starts at level 1, I would not bother. Obviously, this is just my personal advice based on my personal experience, do with it what you will, but I'd think twice about this plan of yours before you regret it later on. FYI, my current goal is reaching Pal 13/Hex 1 before I even consider a 2nd level of Hexblade and I'm not even sure if I'm willing to take it yet.
Anyway, that's all from me for now but feel free to hit me up with some questions if you want. As I said, I'm currently playing an Hexadin that I started at level 1 up until level 8 now in Curse of Strahd so I've got a decent amount of hands-on experience for the early levels with this type of build. FWIW, I started as a Custom Lineage with +2 in Cha and picked Elven Accuracy as my racial (DM let me) to start at CHA 20 using rolled stats. 1st ASI was War Caster, 2nd ASI will be Shield Master which will be a very good use of my Bonus Action going forward. I suggest you look into that feat if you want to play a Sword/Board. 3rd ASI will round out my CON and will probably be Resilient Constitution or Abherrant Dragonmark to pick up Absorb Elements, I am still undecided and I have not really thought about the 4th ASI yet, its too far ahead, no point in worrying about that now.
It still provides a lot of oompth for the levels if you go hexblade1/Paladin7. You get extra attack one level later but you can use EB instead if you are really missing the extra attack in a fight.
Great weapon fighting is something you give up as part of this build so yeah no two handers for you but honestly with the extra spell slots for smite I hardly noticed a difference in output...especially as I was critting slightly more with hexblade's curse. I know its not a huge increase but honestly I felt pretty good when it happened!
You could go v.human and pick up PAM and use the BA polearm strike for more smites which would likely increase your output. Not quite to PAM+GWM average but honestly I built it more for defense/hard to kill than pure damage output. This could also help with lack of extra attack for one level.
From Hexadin1/Paladin 7 I go straight sorcerer until the campaign is over and I made it to 15th level (albeit for like 3 sessions) and I felt near unkillable at the end with all the options I had in place. The high level smites keep coming and I could quicken Boomer Blade for some fun area control stuff....Imagine having spirit guardians up and then boomer blading two enemies next to me....they were damned if they moved and had to eat the guardians if they didnt...it was a lot of fun and acted as a true tank as I made it hard to kill me and hard to move away from me.
Right! That's the very latest level I would ever consider going into sorc though (Pal 7/Hex 1) and only if the aura is really worth it (like for Ancients). As Vengeance, I wouldn't ever go higher then Pal 6 and if I wanted to be online ASAP, as I said, I would do something like Pal 2/Hex 5/Sorc 5 which still doesn't make you "online" until level 12 but at that point, you're going to be very dangerous a good amount of time already and you're already starting to have some fun with Metamagic around level 10 which isn't too bad. As you said, you were really only "online" for 3 sessions and having to make "meh" progression for several levels of sorcerer when you would otherwise be getting very nice higher level abilities was a turn off for me as Aura of Prot was necessary IMO and I REALLY wanted 3rd level spells to get my 2nd ASI, Haste and Aura of Vitality and such ASAP. I didn't want to delay those any more then they already were.
The concept is good on paper when you consider its status as a lvl 15+ character, however, its the progression there that is iffy and OP is saying they want to go up to Pal 12 which is far too late to consider multiclassing into something else at that point IMO hence the huge wall of text as a warning so they know what to expect if they choose to do so anyway.
Personally I would rush Paladin 5, then take 3 in Warlock. Getting your second attack is really important.
Agree on stopping at 6th level for most paladins. I generally see my games end around 12th level and I have only MC in three classes once and only once and it was Sorlockadin. If we were running a high level one shot then I would likely use this build again but likely not for a full campaign. Not because I do not think its worth it but simply because I have experienced that combo once.
For me it was absolutely worth it to go to sorcerer simply due to the extra utility cantrips, access to cleric/sorcerer spell lists for gems like Absorb Elements (we were fighting a lot of elemental stuff), counterspell ( fought a fair bit of casters and I had a wizard in the party so I could chain with his counterspell), and spirit guardians (you have to get through me to get to the backline!)
That on top of more spell slots and access to higher level sorcerer spells made it an easy decision for me.
The problem with this approach is that you can't do the "CHA is my only stat approach" as you are then relying on STR for those attacks and would need to pump STR and CHA to 16 and then increase CHA at 4th level I guess for anticipation of the shift to CHA in 2 levels?
Overall with smite and the versatility of EB and the warlock cantrips (Booming blade FTW) you are not at too much of a loss with that extra attack delayed one level....especially if you are in a quick leveling game or have PAM as a v.human.
I agree, another way to build a sorcadin (not a sorlockadin mind you) if I wanted to rush to Pal 5 for Extra Attack, I would simply ditch Hexblade completely since you already need a pretty decent amount of STR at that point and I'd just focus on STR for attacks and go Pal 6/Sorc 14 and try to avoid spells where the lower CHA MOD would really make an impact early on. Pal 1-2 -> Sorc 1 -> Pal 3-6 -> Sorc 2-14 is probably what I would do in that case.
You could build it like this with point-buy assuming V. human or CL:
STR 18 -> 15 +2 racial +1 half-feat (HAM or Skill Expert most likely, maybe Piercer depending on what you're going for)
DEX 10
CON 14 -> or 15 if CHA 14 and you realled wanted a CON half-feat such as Res: CON, personally, I'd go with 15 and get RES: CON
INT 8
WIS 8 (or 10 if you keep both CON/CHA at 14)
CHA 14 -> or 15 if CON 14 depending if you really wanted a CHA half-feat or not but I would not
1st ASI = War Caster if going sword/board, Res: Con otherwise (CON 16)
2nd ASI = STR +2 (STR 20)
3rd ASI = CHA +2 or CHA half-feat if starting at 15 (CHA 16)
4th ASI = CHA +2 (CHA 18)
Final stats = 20/10/16/8/8/18
You don't delay your Sorc spells/slots as much this way and end up getting a pretty good amount of them as well. Its probably better then a sorclockadin actually now that I think about it, just alot less SAD and you never get your CHA to 20.
Obviously, if you roll for stats, ignore that last part. :P
Yeah that's a fair approach as well.
Scoradin seems more fun in the long run as you can get better spells faster with that approach.
I've seen permissive DMs allow paladins to ignore MC requirements and let them dump STR as long as they have a high enough Dex to compensate.
I can definitely tell the train of thought for those suggestions, and they're certainly fine builds, but it doesn't look like we're on the same page regarding what I'm going for. First and foremost, I'm building a tank (strong AC & saves). Utility and spells are nice, but the party should have a full-caster who'll have those spells LONG before the tank is anywhere close to getting them, and the character can't sacrifice efficiency in its primary role to try to fill other roles that other members of the party already have covered, and are doing so better than this character could.
Level 1: needs to be Paladin (1) for the heavy armor proficiency, because this character isn't invested in Dexterity. This level is set-up, and admittedly the character will be kind of rubbish for all of Level 1 (having only a +3 to Attack Rolls, and a +1 modifier on Damage)
Level 2: needs to be Hexblade warlock (1) for the ability to add Charisma to the Attack rolls and melee damage. At this point the character is functional, with its attack bonus and damage now being up to par with other classes. This also grants the shield spell at Level 2.
Level 3: needs to be Paladin (2) for Divine Smite, finally getting that additional damage one level later than a full Paladin. The Blind Fighting fighting style negates the disadvantage for attacking an invisible or blurred enemy, or from being blinded.
Levels 4-7: need to be Paladin (3-6) to get an ability score increase, the second attack and the Charisma bonus to saving throws as soon as possible.
The Vengeance Paladin gives a 1/short rest advantage on ALL attack rolls against a particular creature for a full minute. This is extremely powerful as it drastically increases your ability to land blows against enemies with extremely high AC. And if an enemy has a blur or invisibility effect up, this character is actually attacking at advantage instead of disadvantage, thanks to the Vow and Blind Fighting. That ability to reliably deal heavy damage to bosses is really important, especially since there's no saving throw against the Vow of Emnity, nor concentration to be broken. The Vengeance Paladin also has Haste added to its spell list.
The Ancients Paladin gives a 1/short rest ability to cause a singular enemy to make a strength or dexterity save of ITS CHOICE, that it can repeat every turn until it passes the save. That strikes me as very much inferior to the Vengeance Paladin's option.
At L7, Its worst save is Intelligence at a +3, while its best save is Charisma at a +11, its attack bonus is +7, and it has advantage against an otherwise hard-to-hit target for a minute, once per short rest, and it has a total of 8 smite slots, regaining one on a short rest. It has an armor class of 17 (22 after casting shield), and 30ft of movement.
The next priority is Haste for the extra movement, attack, and +2 to Armor Class. The shortest route to that is taking the next three levels in Vengeance Paladin which grants Haste, the L3 spell slots to cast it, and an ASI to spend on the Warcaster feat. This brings AC up to 19 (24 when casting shield), increases the movement speed to 60ft, and gives an extra action that can be an attack or a 60ft dash. Being able to move 120ft per turn and still attack, very few types of enemies could avoid this character.
At L10, on the first turn of combat, this character uses a Bonus action to put a Vow of emnity on the boss, an action to cast Haste, moves up to 60ft to get in range of the enemy, and then attacking once. on subsequent turns he's attacking three times, and he can use his bonus action on the second turn to put Hexblade's Curse on the boss if needed without losing any real action economy, because this character doesn't have much else to use bonus actions on until later levels.
All things considered, I believe the first 10 levels are pretty much nailed down for this character.
Now, I can skip the second level of Hexblade, because all it gives are two invocations and one spell slot, which aren't really needed anymore in the current version of the charcter build. That leaves me to decide when I want to transition to sorcerer levels. I've already got 10 levels assigned, so I can ignore the L14 abilities for the sorcerer.
Three more levels of Paladin (bringing the class levels to 12) grants another ASI (bringing Charisma up to 20) an extra 1d8 on all melee weapon damage rolls, immunity to fear, and an ability to pursue fleeing enemies on a reaction after making an attack of opportunity.
That leaves 7 levels of sorcerer, which give this character L4 spells known, but more importantly, the spell slots of a L13 caster, a total of 18 spell slots with the highest being L7 slots. Given the ability to up-cast spells with higher slots, and the fact that most of these slots are for smites anyway, this is perfectly fine.
I lean towards Aberrant Mind more than Divine Soul for the wider number of spells known, as well as the ability to summon aberrations directly from sorcery points without needing any verbal, somatic, or material components.