Optimizing dual wielding

[Spacehamster]

so this build starts as 1 lvl fighter where you pick dual wielding style, then go paladin until you get 2nd attack, followed by 1 more fighter level for action surge.
As paladin two pick dueling style(will explain my thoughts on this). At paladin 4 pick the dual wielding feat. This is how combat looks at level 6.

Start combat with just your mainhand weapon equipped, make your two melee attacks for 1d8 + ABI + 2, use your free action to put away mainhand weapon
and with offhand draw your weapon, then use your bonus action to make the offhand attack which is now done with a single weapon resulting in 1d8 + ABI + 2. Then
do the other way around in combat round two with make the offhand attack, put away offhand and draw mainhand and keep alternating between this. :)

[toapat]

1: You only get one free object interaction a Round. Drawing 2 weapons requires the Dual Wielder feat to act as a single object
2: You cant juggle weapons while dual wielding this edition. That bonus attack exists because you have 2 weapons in your hands.
3: Paladin despises Dualweild because it negates one of their major options, which is to expend one of the smite spells during a smite attack to add additional dice to a hit they know has already landed. This also takes the bonus action.

[Spacehamster]

1: You only get one free object interaction a Round. Drawing 2 weapons requires the Dual Wielder feat to act as a single object
2: You cant juggle weapons while dual wielding this edition. That bonus attack exists because you have 2 weapons in your hands.
3: Paladin despises Dualweild because it negates one of their major options, which is to expend one of the smite spells during a smite attack to add additional dice to a hit they know has already landed. This also takes the bonus action.

1: covered by dual wield feat
2: can still make first two attacks for dueling bonus dmg and then draw your offhand for normal offhand attack if you want to play completley by the rules.
3: dualwielding merges amazingly well with the lvl 11 paladin feature of bonus 1d8 dmg on all attacks tho and while it might be sub-optimal for nova it is instead better for sustained dmg when resources run low. :)

[Stan]

It feels like a lot of work for a fishy result. I cannot imagine many DMs going for this. Try picturing this in real life - fighter constantly drawing and sheathing their weapons; how would that be advantageous. I realize it's a game and things can be gamey but this feels silly.

[Spacehamster]

It feels like a lot of work for a fishy result. I cannot imagine many DMs going for this. Try picturing this in real life - fighter constantly drawing and sheathing their weapons; how would that be advantageous. I realize it's a game and things can be gamey but this feels silly.

He draws and sheates things in graceful super fast motions confusing and dazzling his enemies ofc. ;)
And it is a game of sillyness in general, elf ppl, dragon ppl, ppl shooting fireballs with their hands, not very realistic either. :)

[Person_Man]

1: You only get one free object interaction a Round. Drawing 2 weapons requires the Dual Wielder feat to act as a single object
2: You cant juggle weapons while dual wielding this edition. That bonus attack exists because you have 2 weapons in your hands.
3: Paladin despises Dualweild because it negates one of their major options, which is to expend one of the smite spells during a smite attack to add additional dice to a hit they know has already landed. This also takes the bonus action.

Agreed.

Also, its worth mentioning that:


At ECL 5-6 you'll actually be behind your allies (because you're delaying Extra Attack).
Multi-classing into a non-caster class nerfs your already limited spell progression, which fuels Smite and Smite spells.
Action Surge does not synergize well with two weapon fighting or Smite. Both use Bonus Action, not your Action, and the attacks you gain from your extra Action would be limited to a Light weapon (1d6+Str each, not 2d6+Str+reroll 1's and 2's).
If you're looking for better burst damage, you'd probably be better off just getting more spells (Paladin/Full Caster), so that you have more fuel for Smite and Smite spells. If you're looking for better at-will damage, ranged attacks or heavy weapon is the way to go at mid-high levels. (Though TWF is definitely competitive at low-mid levels).

[Spacehamster]

since wizards made dual wield ****, would it break anything to make offhand attack part of your normal attack routine(as it should have from the beginning) letting you use your bonus action for something else?