Magic assassin build help

[Sir cryosin]

I like the night blades, magic assassins. But I don't care for the arcane trickster archtype. So I was thinking rogue swashbuckler 3, and bladelock rest, or sorcerer. What one would be a better fit. I like bladelock for refreshing spell slots, hex, armor of agathys, invocations. Ect.... I like sorcerer for meta magic to guicken two GFB or BB.

So anyhow what do ya'll have to add and what would be a good mc I'm leaning against warlock.

[Specter]

Through Warlock you can get Extra Attack at level 5. That's a big selling point, because damage is damage.
Sorcerer's Quicken is amazing too, but with multiclassing your sorcery points won't be too high, so watch out for that.

Why Swashbuckler instead of, you know, Assassin?

Personally, I'd go either Assassin and Bladelock (for Hex and some other spells), but Assassin/EK (for Action Surge, Fighting Style and some other defensive spells) is another option.

But flavor should be accounted for too: does this dude have a natural connection to magic or did he pact his way into it?

[DivisibleByZero]

Half elf
Criminal / Urchin / Urban Bounty Hunter
Paladin 2 / Favored Soul Sorcerer (Trickery domain) X

This has everything you're looking for, including extra attack, but uses smites instead of sneak attack (and he can also heal via pally).
Grab the Tough feat and your paltry sorcerer HP effectively become that of a fighter.

[Corran]

I think you wont have the assassin feeling unless you select the actual assassin as your roguish archtype. Other than that, both the sorcerer and the warlock (fiend - for dark one's own luck, mostly - can add to initiative) have some goodies. I personaly think that the sorcerer is better for the job (1 level dip in warlock for hex and AoA), though I could see the warlock levels (in case of warlock instead of sorcerer) pairig nice with 3 fighter levels and your base (assassin 3) for a GWM assassin. Whatever the case, you will probably want at least 13 levels in your spellcasting class, in order to finally get access to etherealness (or even teleport, so you can use scrry and die tactics if you take scrying from either warlock or FS sorcerer-light or knowledge). Other useful spells that you can take along the way include, and are not limited to : Hex, armor of agathys, shield, feather fall, disguise self, alter self, hold person, darkness, invisibility, misty step, mirror image, blink, haste, counterspell, polymorph, banishment, dimension door, improved invisibility, scrying, creation, disintegrate, etherealness, teleport, etc. Throw in an AoE spell of sorts if you feel like it too. So make your spell list picking from the above mostly. Recommended feats: Alert and lucky.



Half elf
Criminal / Urchin / Urban Bounty Hunter
Paladin 2 / Favored Soul Sorcerer (Trickery domain) X

If allowed homebrew UA, I would do the same, with the difference of going shadow sorcerer instead of FS (I lose scrying this way, but I gain darkness as a bonus spell, thus I have more room for spells, and I also get to see inside darkness, so I can go vhuman instead of halfelf for the feat, and be able to replicate the devil's sight darkness combo of the warlock). I would also add 3 levels of rogue (assassin), to be able to make the most of surprise attacks and to use cunning action with the aformentioned darkness trick (or with improved inv), aiming for paladin1/sorcerer2/rogue2 @lvl5, assassinate @lvl6, metamagic @7, smites @8, and I would take my 14th level as a warlock, and then finishing on as sorcerer, for a total of paladin2/rogue3/sorcerer14/warlock1 (starting as paladin). Dont want to bother with extra attack, as I will rely on scag cantrips (GFB, but mainly BB with disengage from cunning action, for hit-and-run tactics).

[Jjj111]

I'd go eladrin (if DM allows) assassin with warlock initiate at level 4. This gives you once a day hex and eladrin gives you misty step.

At level 5, once a day you can, hex from the shadows, misty step up to the target, auto critical with TWF (2 short swords) for 14d6 + 2*dex. (1d6 short sword + 3d6 sneak attack + 1d6 hex) + (1d6 sword + 1d6 hex) all times 2 because of critical.

Alternatively, you could go assassin 3, fighter X. Variant human for warlock magic initiate. Dueling style for +2 damage per attack.

At level 5 when you get fighter 2, you don't have misty step, but you get all that math above plus action surge for another attack. At level 8, you're an assassin machine. You would get 5 effective attacks due to extra attack and action surge. All 5 proc hex, the first attack is still sneak attack and all the dice get doubled. It's brutal.

[Sir cryosin]

Through Warlock you can get Extra Attack at level 5. That's a big selling point, because damage is damage.
Sorcerer's Quicken is amazing too, but with multiclassing your sorcery points won't be too high, so watch out for that.

Why Swashbuckler instead of, you know, Assassin?

Personally, I'd go either Assassin and Bladelock (for Hex and some other spells), but Assassin/EK (for Action Surge, Fighting Style and some other defensive spells) is another option.

But flavor should be accounted for too: does this dude have a natural connection to magic or did he pact his way into it?

Swashbuckler because I can add charisma to initiative and easier sneak attack and free disengage. I don't want a paladin, sorc that's a gish not a nightblade. I'll be a using a shortsword and casting GFB and BB on top of my sa. I like warlock for hex, pact of the blade for a magic weapon and the invocations free alter self, silent image, and few other invocations. I'm thinking of half-elf for extra skills ,darkvision. Now what contract should I pick fiend is a good pick but I played two mc characters with fiend contracts. Fey looks good but so does a great old one but great old one seam very situational.

[DivisibleByZero]

all that

I can personally attest that the pal2/fsSorcX is a blast.
I went with Mobile and played him like a magical skirmishing holy assassin of Tymora.
Honestly it was one of the most fun-to-play characters I've had for 5e.

As to the SCAG cantrips: yeah, GFB is good, but when you want to nova three divinely smiting scimitars are WAY BETTER! :smallbiggrin:
Simply put, when you want to nova in melee, having extra attack is better than not having it, SCAG cantrips included.