Melee caster

[Chewychunga]

About to start a 5e game with some friends and was wanting to play a melee caster.. basically a frontline mage that casts spells in the enemy face with the weapon swing or something
using point buy system ( can see if DM will allow rolls)
wanting to have a decent AC and do decent damage with both spells and melee( perferably both at same time)
Homebrew is allowed but i need to pass it by DM (i personally would perfer non homebrew)
anything else i should know or think of?

[Giant2005]

Paladin 2/Sorcerer X.

[RickAllison]

About to start a 5e game with some friends and was wanting to play a melee caster.. basically a frontline mage that casts spells in the enemy face with the weapon swing or something
using point buy system ( can see if DM will allow rolls)
wanting to have a decent AC and do decent damage with both spells and melee( perferably both at same time)
Homebrew is allowed but i need to pass it by DM (i personally would perfer non homebrew)
anything else i should know or think of?

Artificer Wizard (from Eberron UA) is great for the non-concentration buffs you can get, especially if you discuss with your DM to add other potions to the list. Enchant armor to be better at talking damage, and you can grab resistance for specific threats. I recommend a level of Cleric or starting level in fighter for the armor. Alternatively, a level of Monk gives Wisdom as AC along with Extra Attack and Martial Arts/FoB. This combos well with the 1d4 extra damage on each attack from Potion of Growth.

Alternatively, grab Bladesinger for the bonus to AC, extra damage, and bonuses to Con saves. Also goes well with a level of monk to get an additional attack every turn.

[Fflewddur Fflam]

Paladin 2/Sorcerer X.

I would argue that Pal 4/sorcerer 16 is better. Those Channel Divinities can be really nice and +1 ASI is always good. So you don't get a level 9 spell, you would need to get to 19th level of a P2/S18 build to get there and how many people get to 19th level anyway??

[BrianDavion]

Eldritch knight seems a simple way to do this

[Giant2005]

I would argue that Pal 4/sorcerer 16 is better. Those Channel Divinities can be really nice and +1 ASI is always good. So you don't get a level 9 spell, you would need to get to 19th level of a P2/S18 build to get there and how many people get to 19th level anyway??

I'd be more concerned with having less Twin/Quicken uses for BB or GFB at low levels than I would be missing 9th level spells at high levels.

[Lombra]

Bladesinger if allowed is the simplest choice;
eldritch knight and paladin are more melee and buff-wise oriented;
Pal2,4,6/Sorc18,16,14 offer flexibility in both melee and spellcasting, and depending on the partition of the multiclass you can decide if focusing more on melee/support or magic/blasting

[Grod_The_Giant]

Valor Bard, Eldritch Knight, Bladelock*, Cleric**, Dragon Sorcerer***...


*Usually Fiend Warlock with Pact of the Blade and a level or two of something martial for weapon and armor proficiencies- P Fighter 1 is standard, but Cleric 1 also works and Paladin 2 is a great choice if you can make the fluff work)...
**Arcana Cleric from the Sword Cost Adventurer's Guide is great for this, since it can get you the melee attack cantrips from the same book.
***I'd start with a level or two of the same classes as mentioned for Warlock. Maybe also see about getting the Tough or Inspiring Leader feat, as you won't have great health or the Warlock's easy access to temporary health.

[Corran]

About to start a 5e game with some friends and was wanting to play a melee caster.. basically a frontline mage that casts spells in the enemy face with the weapon swing or something

Well, bladesinger is a caster that can stand his ground in melee well enough, though I dont have any experience with playing a bladesinger to see how that plays out in practice. But there are other ways too.

Favoured soul sorcerer comes to mind, though I think bladesinger is a safer bet. Do not discount clerics. Just pick a domain that gives proficiency with heavy armors and you are good to go. Bladelocks too (perhaps with a starting level or two in fighter).

Eldritch knight (fighter subclass) and paladin get access to some spells but I dont know if they get enough to give you the feel of an actual caster. If however you are satisfied with a few weapon cantrips (BB/GFB) and some buffs, with the occassional blasting spell, perhaps you should look at that options too (if you go with a paladin multiclass, I would recommend going for at least paladin 6 for aura of protection).

If you end with a character that will have access to high level spell slots, do consider to take at least one level in warlock for the spell armor of agathys. I've found that this spell is solid gold for melee characters who have more spell slots than hp, figuratively.

TL;DR
Have a look at all these options, decide what you want, and start a new thread if you want help with finalising the build.

[Democratus]

Sounds like a war cleric.

[Sir cryosin]

A Drow dragon sorcerer you get pluses to the two abilitys you need then you are pro with rapier. So your ac is 13+ dex mod you get 1hp every lv of sorcerer. Use sp and any low lv spell slots for sp if needed. You will have pro in con saves. And some good spells like greenflame blade and quicken it to attack again. And using shield spell greater invisibility, haste, and what not.

[Coyote81]

Fighter 2/Abjurer Wizard 18 is also a good mix, makes for a tanky wizard, with high AC and using sword attacks like booming blade, you can punish people for leaving you, but no enemy wants to attack your high AC, especially with Shield as an option to make your AC climb into the mid 20's.

Other then Paladin (Which a lot of people like staying away from due to alignment issues) I think this is the best frontline caster setup.

[Biggstick]

About to start a 5e game with some friends and was wanting to play a melee caster.. basically a frontline mage that casts spells in the enemy face with the weapon swing or something
using point buy system ( can see if DM will allow rolls)
wanting to have a decent AC and do decent damage with both spells and melee( perferably both at same time)
Homebrew is allowed but i need to pass it by DM (i personally would perfer non homebrew)
anything else i should know or think of?

Dwarf Nature Cleric is great at this. Take Shillelagh, max out Wisdom, pick up Warcaster, get Resilient Con, and you're set. Sample build would look something like this:

10
10
15 (+2)
8
15 (+1)
13

Go Hill Dwarf for the +1 Wisdom and +hp per level. You don't need to worry about Str for your heavy armor. You're depending on your Wisdom for all of your spells as well as your attack stat by utilizing Shillelagh. The 13 Cha is up for debate, but the option is there in case you want to MC a level or 3 of Sorc for Shield or BB/GFB. If/When you decide to pick up the Sorc level(s), make sure you have taken the Warcaster feat by then, so you can actually utilize the Shield spell + have awesome reaction attacks with BB.

Once you have 8 levels of Cleric, you've really gotten to the good part of being a Nature Cleric. I'd consider this +3 levels of Sorc to be a great place as a melee spell caster.

[spartan_ah]

Check out the profane soul blood hunter. A classic melee caster

[Regulas]

Don't bother multi-classing it's not as good as it seems (delayed casting) and builds typically assume higher level then you'll probably reach, just take any of the melee caster classes/sub-classes.

I like Eldritch knight variant human. Take Magic initiate as bonus and Ritual caster at 4. You now have a ton of cantrips and rituals to cast plus a few extra spells, while otherwise being a full on fighter. You're pretty much just a better version of a Bladelock.

In general though there's a ton of melee heavy casters, from Bladsinger, Storm Sorcerer, Valour Bard, a lot of clerics, etc. etc. etc. Booming Blade or Greenfire blade acts as your main attack cantrip with extra spells on the side when needed.

[R.Shackleford]

About to start a 5e game with some friends and was wanting to play a melee caster.. basically a frontline mage that casts spells in the enemy face with the weapon swing or something
using point buy system ( can see if DM will allow rolls)
wanting to have a decent AC and do decent damage with both spells and melee( perferably both at same time)
Homebrew is allowed but i need to pass it by DM (i personally would perfer non homebrew)
anything else i should know or think of?

V. human tempest cleric (Magic Initiate: Druid: Frost Bite + Shillelagh + Farie Fire).

[Quintessence]

A Drow dragon sorcerer you get pluses to the two abilitys you need then you are pro with rapier. So your ac is 13+ dex mod you get 1hp every lv of sorcerer. Use sp and any low lv spell slots for sp if needed. You will have pro in con saves. And some good spells like greenflame blade and quicken it to attack again. And using shield spell greater invisibility, haste, and what not.

Sunlight sensitivity will bone you though :(

[R.Shackleford]

Sunlight sensitivity will bone you though :(

Sorcerers don't need attack rolls and they have the shield spell/staying the Hell away from things tactics going for them.

[Ashrym]

Valor Bard does what you want and can do it well by picking up shillelagh at 10th level via secrets (rely on slightly lower DEX in the meantime) as a CHA based build. A spell followed by an attack at 14th level is when the build really comes online. A lore bard or tome warlock can do something similar by picking up shillelagh and green flame blade (or something similar) earlier but skip the bonus action attack, and both would likely be looking at a feat to upgrade AC.

Those are pretty straight forward options.

[Quintessence]

Sorcerers don't need attack rolls and they have the shield spell/staying the Hell away from things tactics going for them.

He wants a melee caster...

[Sir cryosin]

Sunlight sensitivity will bone you though :(

If it get to being a problem just get a pair of sunglasses or take a clath and cut a slit in it just like people do to combat snow blindness.

[RulesJD]

If it get to being a problem just get a pair of sunglasses or take a clath and cut a slit in it just like people do to combat snow blindness.

If you OR YOUR TARGET are in sunlight.

The slight idea won't help you and I would never let a player get away with "I put on sunglasses" to avoid the Drow restriction. Otherwise, what's the point of the restriction in the first place?

Alternatively, fine. You don't suffer from the restriction. But the slit/glasses severely restrict your view and so you have disadvantage on all perception checks and enemies have advantage against hitting you because you can't see their attacks coming.

[R.Shackleford]

He wants a melee caster...

Being within 5' of a creature doesn't cause an issue when you cast Frostbite.

There is also Sword Burst spell.

I wouldn't choose Drow for this sort of PC but it isn't like sorcerers needs attack rolls to be a melee caster.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Otherwise, what's the point of the restriction in the first place?
Flavor? It's hardly an overpowered race. If you're that concerned about a finicky level of balance that 5e lacks all over the goddamn place, lower the Darkvision range to 60ft and remove the light sensitivity. Boom.

[ThaKaptin]

Flavor? It's hardly an overpowered race. If you're that concerned about a finicky level of balance that 5e lacks all over the goddamn place, lower the Darkvision range to 60ft and remove the light sensitivity. Boom.

This is what we do. It's no fun playing a class that gets disadvantage on all attacks when most campaigns spend a LOT of time outside. Drizzt didnt seem to have any problems at all hitting his targets on the surface, why should I? It's a stupid restriction anyway for a race that is usually played for role play and flavor reasons.

[elusiverufus]

About to start a 5e game with some friends and was wanting to play a melee caster.. basically a frontline mage that casts spells in the enemy face with the weapon swing or something
using point buy system ( can see if DM will allow rolls)
wanting to have a decent AC and do decent damage with both spells and melee( perferably both at same time)
Homebrew is allowed but i need to pass it by DM (i personally would perfer non homebrew)
anything else i should know or think of?

Had to make this account just to reply what iv got, i ended up wanting a similar concept for a dwarf who was rejecting his magical heritage due to his family background being rouyal guard soldiers and trust magic as much as they trust elves... in the end i went with a 2nd lvl dip into Barb and the rest into Sorc (only up to lvl 5 so far)
this works with mountain dwarf +2 str/con while using the armor to hide his dragon scales from the dragon sorc arch type.
Stats
rolled 9-11-13-14-16-18 Distribution. Str 18 Dex 13 Con 20 Int 9 Wis 11 Cha 14 AC 19 without armor
Point buy 10-10-10-13-14-15 Distribution. Str 16 Dex 13 Con 17 Int 10 Wis 10 Cha 10 AC 17 without armor

Typically my character has less ac due to flavor with him wearing armor to hide his scale but hope this is an interesting concepts for you. high hp / great AC / fair dps with melee and spell boosting
And if you wanted to munch-kin this build choose a race with strong dex boosts say a half elf and make this a dec/con build instead of a str/con one (there is also the half orc race for in your face melee boosts :-p

[Biggstick]

Had to make this account just to reply what iv got, i ended up wanting a similar concept for a dwarf who was rejecting his magical heritage due to his family background being rouyal guard soldiers and trust magic as much as they trust elves... in the end i went with a 2nd lvl dip into Barb and the rest into Sorc (only up to lvl 5 so far)
this works with mountain dwarf +2 str/con while using the armor to hide his dragon scales from the dragon sorc arch type.
Stats
rolled 9-11-13-14-16-18 Distribution. Str 18 Dex 13 Con 20 Int 9 Wis 11 Cha 14 AC 19 without armor
Point buy 10-10-10-13-14-15 Distribution. Str 16 Dex 13 Con 17 Int 10 Wis 10 Cha 10 AC 17 without armor

Typically my character has less ac due to flavor with him wearing armor to hide his scale but hope this is an interesting concepts for you. high hp / great AC / fair dps with melee and spell boosting
And if you wanted to munch-kin this build choose a race with strong dex boosts say a half elf and make this a dec/con build instead of a str/con one (there is also the half orc race for in your face melee boosts :-p

I don't understand how you have 19 AC or 17 AC in either of those set-ups. With the rolled stat distribution you have on top, you only have 16 or 14 AC unarmored.

Barb Start: 10 + Con(5) + Dex(1) = 16
Sorc Start: 13 + Dex(1) = 14

You don't get to add both unarmored fighting styles together.

[Specter]

Another option is Eldritch Knight 10/Abjurer 10. You should have tons of HP, a ward that recharges with Shield/Absorb Elements and any other abjuration, Extra Attack, Eldritch Strike to give dudes disadvantage and the best Counterspell/Dispel Magic. And also an AC of 26 with shield + Shield.

[Spacehamster]

Favored soul sorc 18 paladin 2 is pretty beastly. :)

[elusiverufus]

I don't understand how you have 19 AC or 17 AC in either of those set-ups. With the rolled stat distribution you have on top, you only have 16 or 14 AC unarmored.

Barb Start: 10 + Con(5) + Dex(1) = 16
Sorc Start: 13 + Dex(1) = 14

You don't get to add both unarmored fighting styles together.

Yeh i realized this after sadly but it does say you can choose which bonus you want o keep and since the barb gives you shield prof you can add 2 onto the 16 or 14 making them much better for a melee caster.

Can i get confirmation if this would stack with the shield spell?

[TheNecrocomicon]

I'm basically building one of these "versatile" combatants right now, right now I and the rest of the party are at 3rd level working our way through HotDQ. My PC is a straight-up Light domain Cleric and I really have no intention of multiclassing. Admittedly I'm new to D&D as of 5e but I did the following:

- We did point buy so I gave the PC 15 Wis., 14 Con., 12 Str., 11 Int., 10 Dex. (a mistake) and 10 Cha., and since he's a Hill Dwarf that bumps both Wis. and Con. to 16 for +3 modifiers on each. The +1 modifier on Str. gives a bonus to attack rolls and damage for melee fighting.

- I started with scale mail and a shield with my holy symbol on it, so normal AC is 16 and that may be the second-highest in the group (after a Paladin who has chainmail and a shield). The downside is that I have crappy Stealth checks and these seem to come up every couple of minutes, but that's fixable with a shift to other medium armour like breastplate that doesn't impose disadvantage on that.

- Between the +1 HP/level racial bonus, the +3 Con. modifier and two somewhat lucky hit die rolls, I now have 34 HP, which may well be the highest in the party -- and that's as a 3rd level caster-class PC, never mind our Paladin and Barbarian.

- As for stat-raising and/or feats, I want to max out Wis. for sure for the spellcasting bonuses, probably Con. as well for the durability, and maybe put the last improvement into Dex. for improved AC and Stealth help. On the other hand I don't know if War Caster or Resilient or something else might be handy as a feat, but that means sacrificing stat improvements to do it.

It's not nearly as exotic as many of the builds suggested upthread, but it seems to be getting the job done (so far).

[Lombra]

I have recently managed to see in action a Valor Bard at my table and it packs a punch: not the blasty type of caster but the whole party liked to have it in the adventure. He had an AC of 20 with shield + half plate + medium armor master, and used DEX as his melee weapon fighting ability. Lucky rolls granted him DEX to 16 and CHA to 20 by level 6.

[energyscholar]

@OP: You should look at the 5E Grappler's Handbook (http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?468737-The-Grappler-s-Manual-(2-0)-Grappling-in-5th-Edition). There's an entire category of Melee Caster that no one has mentioned. The basic gist is that you FIRST get your foe Prone and Grappled (or Restrained) then they are at the mercy of your DEX SAVE spells.

[Gastronomie]

I'd be more concerned with having less Twin/Quicken uses for BB or GFB at low levels than I would be missing 9th level spells at high levels.It relly depends on what you wanna be, and what you wanna do. 2/18 is one good option, but apart from that,

Paladin 1 to 2 -> Sorc 1 to 7 -> Paladin 3 to 6 -> Sorc 8 to 14

Is another way of doing it.

Aura of Protection is a pretty damn good ability.

[Belac93]

What about a chain warlock? Build yourself like a dex warlock, but use Vampiric touch most of the time. Start as variant human for warcaster, get resilient (con) at level 12 once your charisma is 20, and go to town! You can be dealing 5d6 damage and healing the same amount per round, and warlock spell slots will allow you to cast it a couple times after every short/long rest. Resilient and warcaster will be letting you roll with advantage and +7 to concentration checks, and chain pact means you have advantage on attack rolls, cancelling out the penalties you get from needing 2 feats.

[Oramac]

About to start a 5e game with some friends and was wanting to play a melee caster.. basically a frontline mage that casts spells in the enemy face with the weapon swing or something
using point buy system ( can see if DM will allow rolls)
wanting to have a decent AC and do decent damage with both spells and melee( perferably both at same time)
Homebrew is allowed but i need to pass it by DM (i personally would perfer non homebrew)
anything else i should know or think of?

I'm coming in super late, but as usually I'll throw out the Tempest Sorcerer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?493427-Tempest-Sorcerer-Tank&p=20967045#post20967045) option.

Realistically, you'll end up with a 20 AC, which is still great, and you're a full-caster, so you can still get 9th level spells. Plus, Destructive Wrath combined with an upcast Chromatic Orb/Lightning Bolt and the Elemental Adept Feat is downright nasty.

[R.Shackleford]

I'm coming in super late, but as usually I'll throw out the Tempest Sorcerer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?493427-Tempest-Sorcerer-Tank&p=20967045#post20967045) option.

Realistically, you'll end up with a 20 AC, which is still great, and you're a full-caster, so you can still get 9th level spells. Plus, Destructive Wrath combined with an upcast Chromatic Orb/Lightning Bolt and the Elemental Adept Feat is downright nasty.

You may as well just go straight Tempest Cleric and refluff so you don't have to buy a splat book that just isn't worth the price.

[Oramac]

You may as well just go straight Tempest Cleric and refluff so you don't have to buy a splat book that just isn't worth the price.

I'm guessing you've never played a Storm Sorcerer? It's worth it for Tempestuous Magic alone, imo.

Plus, the MC fit the character I was making. YMMV.

[R.Shackleford]

I'm guessing you've never played a Storm Sorcerer? It's worth it for Tempestuous Magic alone, imo.

Plus, the MC fit the character I was making. YMMV.

Yes I have and they are decent, however you should just use the UA variant.

The book really isn't worth it. Stick with UA and straight Tempest Cleric.

Dragon Sorcerer (Lightning) plus Tempest Cleric is very nice too.

[Oramac]

Yes I have and they are decent, however you should just use the UA variant.

The book really isn't worth it. Stick with UA and straight Tempest Cleric.

Dragon Sorcerer (Lightning) plus Tempest Cleric is very nice too.

UA isn't allowed in Adventure League play, which is where my character is playing. And unfortunately, the Draconic Heritage doesn't fit my character concept at all. If it works for someone else, that would be a fantastic option though.

Personally, I bought the book and have found it quite useful. To each his own.

In either case, we're getting a little off topic here. So we can just agree to disagree. :)

[R.Shackleford]

UA isn't allowed in Adventure League play, which is where my character is playing. And unfortunately, the Draconic Heritage doesn't fit the character concept at all.

Personally, I bought the book and have found it quite useful. To each his own.

I don't see where the OP says they are in AL, just that they are playing HotDQ... Which is like way over for Adventure League.

The book just isn't worth the asking price. You can find snippets of decent stuff but it just isn't worth buying it. Especially if you want a Storm Sorcerer as UA works well enough, dragon sorcerer can be refluffed just fine, and the Tempest Cleric works just fine.

[RickAllison]

I don't see where the OP says they are in AL, just that they are playing HotDQ... Which is like way over for Adventure League.

The book just isn't worth the asking price. You can find snippets of decent stuff but it just isn't worth buying it. Especially if you want a Storm Sorcerer as UA works well enough, dragon sorcerer can be refluffed just fine, and the Tempest Cleric works just fine.

If you have a grievance with SCAG, make your own thread. Don't try to derail this one into oblivion. It is, quite frankly, rude.

[R.Shackleford]

If you have a grievance with SCAG, make your own thread. Don't try to derail this one into oblivion. It is, quite frankly, rude.

Wasn't derailing anything, I don't think people should be pushing someone to buy a book that isn't worth it in order to play a character that you can get the same concept out of from the PHB, SRD, or UA. That's a pretty crappy thing to do to someone when there are viable options readily available.

If SCAG was being sold for a few buck it may be worth it, but I'm going to warn the OP away from sinking money into a product that isn't needed at all. If someone really wants to play the storm sorcerer I would say just use the UA version.

Between Dragon Sorcerer, Tempest Cleric, Evoker Wizard (you may want to multiclass but there are ways to not multiclass with this) , and Bard you can make a good Lightning/Thunder based melee caster.

[Biggstick]

Wasn't derailing anything, I don't think people should be pushing someone to buy a book that isn't worth it in order to play a character that you can get the same concept out of from the PHB, SRD, or UA. That's a pretty crappy thing to do to someone when there are viable options readily available.

If SCAG was being sold for a few buck it may be worth it, but I'm going to warn the OP away from sinking money into a product that isn't needed at all. If someone really wants to play the storm sorcerer I would say just use the UA version.

Between Dragon Sorcerer, Tempest Cleric, Evoker Wizard (you may want to multiclass but there are ways to not multiclass with this) , and Bard you can make a good Lightning/Thunder based melee caster.

SCAG has quite a bit of good stuff in there. I'm not sure where all the hate is coming from tbh.

Most games I've ever played in, UA isn't allowed because of how OP most of the stuff in there is. PHB and SCAG is allowed in pretty much any game I've ever played in, so IMO, it's a decent investment

[Gastronomie]

SCAG has quite a bit of good stuff in there. I'm not sure where all the hate is coming from tbh.

Most games I've ever played in, UA isn't allowed because of how OP most of the stuff in there is. PHB and SCAG is allowed in pretty much any game I've ever played in, so IMO, it's a decent investmentIt depends on whether you play in the Forgotten Realms often or not. If you frequently do, worth it. Otherwise, meh.