Warlock/ Bard multiclass

Hi all,

Thinking of trying my first multiclass. I'm currently running a level 5 Horned King infernal tiefling warlock from the Crooked Moon. I was thinking of adding a few levels of bard because I wanted to try multi-classing, and we recently lost our Cleric, so it would add a little bit of healing. Just looking for some community feedback about possible builds that would synergize with The Horned King patron.

Basically warlock (especially hexblade) is the total package for a dip of 1-3 levels imho. Eldritch blast for damage, Armor of Ice (temp hp and damage return) and hex are really the only spells you need, and all available at lvl 1 iirc. Sword bard is ok, but you don’t need to go into swords for your subclass with hexblade multi as hexblade gives all the melee proficiencies you will need. If you go deeper to 3 you can even forgo a material blade/store a non artifact/sentient blade that can be summoned using a bonus action.

It’s basically one of the best subclasses for any caster, plus you get to spam Eldritch Blast at pretty much every opportunity and very rarely be wrong in the decision.

If you’re looking for more support with some nice damage options, there’s cleric (twilight/peace/light), but you’ll need to account for needing Wisdom for those spells, and you can only get cleric slots back on a long rest.

Hope this helps!

As a rule, healing isn’t enough of a priority in 5e that you should feel the need to dip for it. Warlocks also suffer for dipping because unlike any other caster, they don’t add their class levels into the aggregate level for multiclass spell slot progression. Being behind on max spell level will have a big impact on your performance relative to character level.

Is the Horned King your patron? I’ve heard a lot of good things about Crooked Moon but have not played it before. What are some features you want to make sure you take?

I'll assume "a few" levels of bard are 3-5 levels so that only the first subclass benefit matters. The best option IMO is Lore Bard because those extra Expertise is really great for giving your character a really unique niche, Eloquence is also very very good if you are the "face" of the party. Valor can be good if you go all the way to Bard-5 because there are so many ways your allies can use the Bardic Inspiration dice they will never go to waste.