I play a lv 5 Drow War Cleric and I am considering taking 2 levels in Fighter. There are mainly 2 reasons for this:
Roleplay: This drow is a follower of Lolth and... Well, let's just say that it's a pretty toxic relationship. In her party, there is a fighter whom my drow HATES and butts head with a lot. They actually have a lot in common, but refuses to admit it because their personalities clashes pretty heavily. He is an honest, rowdy himbo and my drow is a deceptive, moody killjoy. But recently, there's been some really nice character development between the two. So RP-wise, it would be very fun to have him teach her how to fight in order to give her options that doesn't rely on Lolth (at least until she can find a new god). Especially since Lolth ****s with her magic as punishment, making her spells sometimes unreliable...
Strategically: Getting that Action Surge is reeeally tempting as a spellcaster... Especially since I am always struggling with which spell to pick in combat, or whether to attack or heal. I checked what I'll lose from the Cleric table and I honestly don't mind dropping the final Ability Score improvment, one extra 7th lv spell slot, and the improved Divine Intervention, assuming that my party ever get to lv 20 that is.
Problem: I have never multiclassed before. I have no idea if this is a good combo, or if I'm completely missing something obvious that I should be aware of or avoid.
*My questions*
Is taking 2 levels in Fighter a good idea in this case?
At what level would it be more advantageous to start multiclassing?
What kind of Fighter subclass would you recommend in this scenario?
War Cleric and Fighter are a good combo... you've already got a lot of the proficiencies you would get from fighter, but now you can also pick a Fighting Style to compliment whatever your preferred fighting system is, and Action Surge is crazy useful for caster class. War Cleric already has some strong focus on Martial Combat The main problem you're going to face is being two levels behind in your spell progression, which makes it hard to decide what to prioritize. I think your best "jumping off" point would be taking 7 levels of Cleric before dipping into Fighter. I say level 7 because that's when you get to 4th level Spells... keep in mind that an Eldritch Knight Fighter only ever gets to 4th level spells... right when you take your first level of fighter you're already as adept of a spellcaster as a max level Eldritch Knight.
Tran simplied it but I will stress when thinking what you will miss out on do not look at cleric 19 an 20. Even if you do get to level 20 it will only be for a tiny part of the campaign (by the way improved divine intervention is a huge boon, while it depends on the dm you should be able to get at least any cleric spell so a extra 9th level spell slot for the final boss fight which can be used for any spell not just one you have prepared)
Two levels of Fighter mean your most powerful spells will always be one level lower, for example at character a cleric 7 fighter 2 has one 4th level spell slot but a level 9 cleric has three 4th level spells and a 5th. Action Surge is great but if you are looking at it strategically you need to balance it against having fewer powerful spells as well as getting you other class feature late.
Think about your play style and what you want to do. If you see your character as a spellslinger you might want to look at the metamagic adept feet from tashas cauldron ( I think...) Can give you quicken spell to cast a spell as a bonus action leaving your action free to bust heads.
If you mainly want to bust heads with a little magic support taking levels in fighter for action surge or even a full five for the second attack can be with it if that's what you want to focus on.
You won't have to worry about sub classes unless you take 3 levels as a fighter. Champion let's you crit on a 19 witch is nice. Battle master gives you maneuvers to do stuff like trip and disarm foes while doing extra damage. Those are probably your best choices though I would like to mention eldrich Knight. You already have attack spells but shield spell and absorb elementals can be really handy.
As ohers have mentioned there are tradeoffs. I like laying out a progress chart like they have in the class description so I can visualize what I'm getting at each level and compare it to what I would get if I didn't multi class.
You list two very strong reasons to multiclass, somethings I think most professional powerbuilders never even think about. the fact that you care about a balance between roleplay and strategy is good. This is, on paper, a very good multiclass. That's a strong combo. Just be ready to be managing a lot of info in combat. Managing one class as a first timer is difficult, managing two your first time is a mammoth task. if you have a good DM I wouldn't be too worried. As far as what level...
depends on how fast you guys level up and how far you expect to go. 7 from @TransmorpherDDS is a good suggestion, but 5 is, appropriately, where you really have to make a decision. I would either say go ahead and multiclass at 5, or wait till 7. Then I would take three levels straight in fighter for the subclass, if that's your goal. From there you can mix and match, and beyond that you can eventually go 5 fighter to get extra attack, or maybe hard focus cleric. As far as subclass, there's three options for me that really stand out for your build: Echo knight, battlemaster, and samurai. each has benefits and drawbacks. For a first timer, echo knight is probably the most complex to multiclass. battlemaster and samurai at low levels are pretty easy to grasp. Other than that, just have fun and work with your Dm. The rest will work itself out eventually
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Hello!
I play a lv 5 Drow War Cleric and I am considering taking 2 levels in Fighter. There are mainly 2 reasons for this:
Roleplay: This drow is a follower of Lolth and... Well, let's just say that it's a pretty toxic relationship. In her party, there is a fighter whom my drow HATES and butts head with a lot. They actually have a lot in common, but refuses to admit it because their personalities clashes pretty heavily. He is an honest, rowdy himbo and my drow is a deceptive, moody killjoy. But recently, there's been some really nice character development between the two. So RP-wise, it would be very fun to have him teach her how to fight in order to give her options that doesn't rely on Lolth (at least until she can find a new god). Especially since Lolth ****s with her magic as punishment, making her spells sometimes unreliable...
Strategically: Getting that Action Surge is reeeally tempting as a spellcaster... Especially since I am always struggling with which spell to pick in combat, or whether to attack or heal. I checked what I'll lose from the Cleric table and I honestly don't mind dropping the final Ability Score improvment, one extra 7th lv spell slot, and the improved Divine Intervention, assuming that my party ever get to lv 20 that is.
Problem: I have never multiclassed before. I have no idea if this is a good combo, or if I'm completely missing something obvious that I should be aware of or avoid.
*My questions*
War Cleric and Fighter are a good combo... you've already got a lot of the proficiencies you would get from fighter, but now you can also pick a Fighting Style to compliment whatever your preferred fighting system is, and Action Surge is crazy useful for caster class. War Cleric already has some strong focus on Martial Combat The main problem you're going to face is being two levels behind in your spell progression, which makes it hard to decide what to prioritize. I think your best "jumping off" point would be taking 7 levels of Cleric before dipping into Fighter. I say level 7 because that's when you get to 4th level Spells... keep in mind that an Eldritch Knight Fighter only ever gets to 4th level spells... right when you take your first level of fighter you're already as adept of a spellcaster as a max level Eldritch Knight.
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Tran simplied it but I will stress when thinking what you will miss out on do not look at cleric 19 an 20. Even if you do get to level 20 it will only be for a tiny part of the campaign (by the way improved divine intervention is a huge boon, while it depends on the dm you should be able to get at least any cleric spell so a extra 9th level spell slot for the final boss fight which can be used for any spell not just one you have prepared)
Two levels of Fighter mean your most powerful spells will always be one level lower, for example at character a cleric 7 fighter 2 has one 4th level spell slot but a level 9 cleric has three 4th level spells and a 5th. Action Surge is great but if you are looking at it strategically you need to balance it against having fewer powerful spells as well as getting you other class feature late.
I find your suggestions really interesting.
Think about your play style and what you want to do. If you see your character as a spellslinger you might want to look at the metamagic adept feet from tashas cauldron ( I think...) Can give you quicken spell to cast a spell as a bonus action leaving your action free to bust heads.
If you mainly want to bust heads with a little magic support taking levels in fighter for action surge or even a full five for the second attack can be with it if that's what you want to focus on.
You won't have to worry about sub classes unless you take 3 levels as a fighter. Champion let's you crit on a 19 witch is nice. Battle master gives you maneuvers to do stuff like trip and disarm foes while doing extra damage. Those are probably your best choices though I would like to mention eldrich Knight. You already have attack spells but shield spell and absorb elementals can be really handy.
As ohers have mentioned there are tradeoffs. I like laying out a progress chart like they have in the class description so I can visualize what I'm getting at each level and compare it to what I would get if I didn't multi class.
You list two very strong reasons to multiclass, somethings I think most professional powerbuilders never even think about. the fact that you care about a balance between roleplay and strategy is good. This is, on paper, a very good multiclass. That's a strong combo. Just be ready to be managing a lot of info in combat. Managing one class as a first timer is difficult, managing two your first time is a mammoth task. if you have a good DM I wouldn't be too worried. As far as what level...
depends on how fast you guys level up and how far you expect to go. 7 from @TransmorpherDDS is a good suggestion, but 5 is, appropriately, where you really have to make a decision. I would either say go ahead and multiclass at 5, or wait till 7. Then I would take three levels straight in fighter for the subclass, if that's your goal. From there you can mix and match, and beyond that you can eventually go 5 fighter to get extra attack, or maybe hard focus cleric. As far as subclass, there's three options for me that really stand out for your build: Echo knight, battlemaster, and samurai. each has benefits and drawbacks. For a first timer, echo knight is probably the most complex to multiclass. battlemaster and samurai at low levels are pretty easy to grasp. Other than that, just have fun and work with your Dm. The rest will work itself out eventually
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