Warlock/Sorcerer - Should I switch to sorcerer at warlock 3 or at warlock 5?

[Stormjack]

I have a 3rd level Warlock that's advancing to 4th level. I intend to multiclass into Sorcerer either at this time or after achieving 5th level Warlock. Will it be a bad decision to continue up to a level 5 Warlock or should I switch to Sorcerer now?

I'm role-playing him as a gambling swashbuckler. Since this character has a Privateer background, and a high Dexterity, I selected the Blade pact with Rapier as his pact weapon. He is a half-elf with a 20 Charisma and the Archfey patron. His invocations are Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast. Repelling Blast seemed attractive for this character since it could be used to push a sailor overboard.

My present intent is to go with 2 more levels of Warlock, then switch to Sorcerer for the remainder of this PCs career. At Warlock 4 he'll take the Lucky feat. At Warlock 5 he'll get 2 Eldritch Blasts, and will take the Devil's Sight invocation. When he switches to Sorcerer, I'm leaning toward the draconic bloodline for Draconic Resilience and Elemental Affinity. The principal reasons that I'm leaning for these 2 Warlock levels are the Lucky Feat and 2 Eldritch Blasts.

Typically our group's campaigns end around levels 14-16. This is our first campaign with 5e rules. We stick with core books only. Is this a wrong-headed path, and if so, what are the compelling reasons to switch to Sorcerer now? Thanks.

[Gignere]

I have a 3rd level Warlock that's advancing to 4th level. I intend to multiclass into Sorcerer either at this time or after achieving 5th level Warlock. Will it be a bad decision to continue up to a level 5 Warlock or should I switch to Sorcerer now?

I'm role-playing him as a gambling swashbuckler. Since this character has a Privateer background, and a high Dexterity, I selected the Blade pact with Rapier as his pact weapon. He is a half-elf with a 20 Charisma and the Archfey patron. His invocations are Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast. Repelling Blast seemed attractive for this character since it could be used to push a sailor overboard.

My present intent is to go with 2 more levels of Warlock, then switch to Sorcerer for the remainder of this PCs career. At Warlock 4 he'll take the Lucky feat. At Warlock 5 he'll get 2 Eldritch Blasts, and will take the Devil's Sight invocation. When he switches to Sorcerer, I'm leaning toward the draconic bloodline for Draconic Resilience and Elemental Affinity. The principal reasons that I'm leaning for these 2 Warlock levels are the Lucky Feat and 2 Eldritch Blasts.

Typically our group's campaigns end around levels 14-16. This is our first campaign with 5e rules. We stick with core books only. Is this a wrong-headed path, and if so, what are the compelling reasons to switch to Sorcerer now? Thanks.

EB like all cantrips based on character levels not class. So it should not be a consideration when deciding to multi or not.

[Jerrykhor]

Cantrips are based on character level, not class level, so he will get 2 EBs the moment he hit level 5.

[Citan]

I have a 3rd level Warlock that's advancing to 4th level. I intend to multiclass into Sorcerer either at this time or after achieving 5th level Warlock. Will it be a bad decision to continue up to a level 5 Warlock or should I switch to Sorcerer now?

I'm role-playing him as a gambling swashbuckler. Since this character has a Privateer background, and a high Dexterity, I selected the Blade pact with Rapier as his pact weapon. He is a half-elf with a 20 Charisma and the Archfey patron. His invocations are Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast. Repelling Blast seemed attractive for this character since it could be used to push a sailor overboard.

My present intent is to go with 2 more levels of Warlock, then switch to Sorcerer for the remainder of this PCs career. At Warlock 4 he'll take the Lucky feat. At Warlock 5 he'll get 2 Eldritch Blasts, and will take the Devil's Sight invocation. When he switches to Sorcerer, I'm leaning toward the draconic bloodline for Draconic Resilience and Elemental Affinity. The principal reasons that I'm leaning for these 2 Warlock levels are the Lucky Feat and 2 Eldritch Blasts.

Typically our group's campaigns end around levels 14-16. This is our first campaign with 5e rules. We stick with core books only. Is this a wrong-headed path, and if so, what are the compelling reasons to switch to Sorcerer now? Thanks.
Hi!
From what I understand, you chose your Pact essentially for fluff (my hat down to you for that ;)), so you will usually use either Eldricht Blast at range, and Booming Blade / Green Flame Blade in melee?
In this case, I'd suggest you choose mainly on how you currently use your spells and if/how Warlock's 3rd level spells interest you.
1) You are not specially interested in Warlock's 3rd level known, but you use your 2nd level spell very often? Start Sorcerer now up to 5th level so you get 3rd level spells you want, then finish your Warlock dip. Now you can use these interesting 3rd level spells on a short rest basis.

2) Warlock's 3rd level interest you, but you also often use 2nd level spells such as Mirror Image?
Then either starting Sorcerer up to 3, then Warlock up to 5, or directly Sorcerer up to 5 will be good.

3) You just want a specific 3rd level spell from Warlock, OR you really want another invocation? Finish Warlock before starting Sorcerer.

My general opinion is that starting Sorcerer as early as possible is better, because you can use both metamagic and spell conversion with your Warlock spell slots. And then priority is to get higher spells as fast as possible. ;)

[jaappleton]

There is merit to taking Warlock 5. You'd have two Warlock short rest slots that are third level spell slots. That's two fireballs every short rest.

Though it greatly slows down your Sorcerer progression, but... Honestly, how far do you think your campaign will go? Plan according to that. You think it'll go to level 15? Plan for that. Is it ending at level 9? Plan differently.

[Zene]

If you really want the sorcerer levels, start with them now. It'll take a while before they start getting really good, and if you wait you won't have the good stuff long enough to matter. Also if you're playing to 20, going 3/17 gets you Wish at 20.

But staying straight warlock is a totally good route too.

[Joe the Rat]

Don't forget you can change the form of your pact weapon - whip is very swashbucklery, and there are times a little reach isn't a bad thing. If you're using the greenflame/booming cantrips, this becomes more useful with sorcerer.

Since you aren't aiming for thirsting blade, Warlock5 is strictly about a 3rd invocation, and 3rd level slots. You're a half-elf, so you have the main utility of devil's sight (see in normal darkness) already. If you are really interested in the DS/Darkness combo, you'll want to push for this. Otherwise, it can wait.

The other piece is how much you think you're a caster. 3rd level is where some of the iconic spells come into play - Fly and Blink are on the feylock list. 50% unassailable by corporeal beings, and flight are really handy. Repelling blast is awesome in 3 dimensions. There's also Hunger of Hadar - Not so much for the damage infliction as creating a large pseudobarrier/zone of denial. but it's gold with repelling blast. However, you don't get the blasting classics here, so if you have a hankerin' for fireballs, you need sorcerer 5 sooner.

The sooner you start sorcerer, the sooner you can start playing with metamagic, and the sooner you get more spell slots and options. Also note you'll be getting FOUR new cantrips - since you can EB for good at-will range, you can look at more thematic options and fun utility picks. Elemental affinity is a lesser benefit for you, but it does put your elemental cantrips closer to EB. White/Silver, for example gives you a 2d8+CHA ray of frost (about a point and a cha modifier off of EB), which only takes one hit, and reduces movement. quicken that, then throw down the Eldritch blasts to push them away. Awesome escape clause. Whatever dragon color you pick probably ought to be a major motivator for your spell picks. You will get your 3rd level spells at 8th level - War3/Sorc5.

My advice would be to grab Sorcerer1 now. Get your toes wet, fill out your at-will options (make sure you have greenflame blade, booming blade, and something fun like friends, message, or minor illusion by the time you are done) and determine what subtle scale colors you need to complement with your wardrobe. If you find you are really missing Lucky, or really want 3rd level slots, grab more Warlock (lucky at level 5, 3rd level spells and devil's sight at 6), otherwise you are pushing forward with Sorcerer, getting Lucky at 7, and 3rd level spells at 8.

[Stormjack]

Thank you, thank you everyone for some amazing advice. The most impactful thoughts (some abbreviated) that convinced me to run with Sorcerer now are quoted below.

Here is my proposed spell list after taking Sorcerer. I'm going with the Gold Draconic Bloodline (fire). We can only use the core Players Handbook for spell selections.

Cantrips

Eldritch Blast
Fire Bolt
Mage Hand
Message
Minor Illusion
Prestidigitation

Level 1

Burning Hands
Command
Faerie Fire (via patron)
Hex
Sleep (via patron)
(need to pick one more)

Level 2

Calm Emotions (via patron)
Mirror Image
Misty Step
Phantasmal Force (via patron)

As noted above, I need to pick one more Level 1 Sorcerer spell. Right now I'm considering Shield, Chromatic Orb, Shocking Grasp, or Thunderwave. I'm leaning toward Shield since he already has a good attack spell with Eldritch Blast.


EB like all cantrips based on character levels not class. So it should not be a consideration when deciding to multi or not.

Thanks for the clarification. I did not know this.


From what I understand, you chose your Pact essentially for fluff. My general opinion is that starting Sorcerer as early as possible is better, because you can use both metamagic and spell conversion with your Warlock spell slots. And then priority is to get higher spells as fast as possible. ;)

Yes, Pact Blade was selected primarily for role-playing reasons, rather than raw optimization.


If you really want the sorcerer levels, start with them now. It'll take a while before they start getting really good, and if you wait you won't have the good stuff long enough to matter.


Don't forget you can change the form of your pact weapon - whip is very swashbucklery, and there are times a little reach isn't a bad thing. You're a half-elf, so you have the main utility of devil's sight (see in normal darkness) already. Repelling blast is awesome in 3 dimensions. There's also Hunger of Hadar - Not so much for the damage infliction as creating a large pseudobarrier/zone of denial. but it's gold with repelling blast. The sooner you start sorcerer, the sooner you can start playing with metamagic, and the sooner you get more spell slots and options. Also note you'll be getting FOUR new cantrips. Whatever dragon color you pick probably ought to be a major motivator for your spell picks. My advice would be to grab Sorcerer1 now. Get your toes wet, fill out your at-will options. If you find you are really missing Lucky, or really want 3rd level slots, grab more Warlock (lucky at level 5, 3rd level spells and devil's sight at 6), otherwise you are pushing forward with Sorcerer, getting Lucky at 7, and 3rd level spells at 8.

So much good advice here. I really appreciate you taking time to explain this with great tactical ideas.

[Asmotherion]

I get that you may want an aditional invocation, and that 9th level spells don't matter if your campain does not go to high levels, but consider that if your spell progression will be extreamly slow, as you'll only have 3rd level spells by level 10. If on the other hand you're comfortable with this, it's still a viable option, but I'd suggest to take the 2 aditional warlock levels after you have accessed 3rd level sorcerer spells.

Also, please note that Eldritch Blast, as well as any other cantrip, scales with Character Level, not Class level. This means, you get 2 EB at 5th level, 3 at 11 and 4 at 17 no matter if you have 2 or 17 Warlock Levels.