Fighter 1 / Warlock 2 / Sorcerer X

[BlackCoatedMan]

We're doing a Storm King's Thunder, dubbed Storm King's Swagger by our meme obsessed GM, campaign. In said campaign I know that we'll only reach level 11. So I was wondering whether my build could have worked better. Looking back at the campaign's past events...

With Variant Human I ended up with the stats 16, 18, 18, 12, 14, 18 and the feat Alert. Seeing that my rolls were, as the GM put it "bull**** amazing", I decided to be a munchkin.

At level 1 I took Fighter. We breezed through it because we had two sword and board tanks, a paladin, and an archer Fighter.

At level 2 I took Warlock. I blasted things from the back at this point with hex and eldritch blast. Never got in trouble with the paladin and fighter tanking. Arrows could never hit me so there was that as well.

At level 3 I took Warlock. More powerful blasting with agonizing blast and cave exploration being cake with devil's sight. Again, never got in trouble with the paladin and fighter up front.

At level 4 I took Dragon(gold) Sorcerer. Got some spells to save my buns if someone ever broke through the tanks, plus socials. Haven't put it to the test since we just leveled up.

So did the build help my team as much as a solo class of fighter, warlock or sorcerer would? Or was this actually detrimental to the team? I wanted to know the opinions of others since I've always raged as a Half-Orc Barbarian before this point. Also to know if I munchkined it properly.

For future notes, I plan to keep taking sorcerer levels for darkness as a 2nd level spell and metamagic quicken as an ability.

[Ursus the Grim]

We're doing a Storm King's Thunder, dubbed Storm King's Swagger by our meme obsessed GM, campaign. In said campaign I know that we'll only reach level 11. So I was wondering whether my build could have worked better. Looking back at the campaign's past events...

With Variant Human I ended up with the stats 16, 18, 18, 12, 14, 18 and the feat Alert. Seeing that my rolls were, as the GM put it "bull**** amazing", I decided to be a munchkin.

At level 1 I took Fighter. We breezed through it because we had two sword and board tanks, a paladin, and an archer Fighter.

At level 2 I took Warlock. I blasted things from the back at this point with hex and eldritch blast. Never got in trouble with the paladin and fighter tanking. Arrows could never hit me so there was that as well.

At level 3 I took Warlock. More powerful blasting with agonizing blast and cave exploration being cake with devil's sight. Again, never got in trouble with the paladin and fighter up front.

At level 4 I took Dragon(gold) Sorcerer. Got some spells to save my buns if someone ever broke through the tanks, plus socials. Haven't put it to the test since we just leveled up.

So did the build help my team as much as a solo class of fighter, warlock or sorcerer would? Or was this actually detrimental to the team? I wanted to know the opinions of others since I've always raged as a Half-Orc Barbarian before this point. Also to know if I munchkined it properly.

For future notes, I plan to keep taking sorcerer levels for darkness as a 2nd level spell and metamagic quicken as an ability.

[Obligatory soapbox about rolling versus point buy.]

FWIW, I wouldn't bother with Darkness/Devil's Sight if you're being artillery. Advantage on attacks is nice, but so is Hex, and if you're going full Sorcerer, you have even better things to do with your Concentration. Plus, there are times when it might screw with your party (though not as much as people think).

Quicken+Action Surge using Eldritch Blasts and Scorching Rays against a Hexed Target will do absurd amounts of damage. Honestly, with Agonizing Blasts, you don't need much else in terms of damage (though Fireball is obviously good for you.) Quicken is good for obvious reasons, but don't forget to take Twin as your other metamagic. Twinning Haste or Greater Invisibility (or Polymorph) will make you a powerful asset to the team - even if you target yourself with one of them.

[CaptainSarathai]

The build could be super strong. Not seeing what good the level of Fighter does on an Artillery character. You're gonna be running Quicken Agonizing Blasts and that's it. The level of Fighter is just for armor? You could have AC17 just with your Dex and Armor of Shadows or Draconic Resilience.

My current, personal build is aiming for Fighter3/Warlock5+. However, he's built for pure melee dominance.
Your party doesn't need more melee. The level of Fighter puts you behind, but you're still going to be an extraordinary piece of artillery, and yes, better than single-classed Warlock. Maybe better than a single classed Sorcery. And your party wouldn't need another Fighter.

[Flashy]

I'd guess you've probably contributed quite effectively, but you're about to hit the point where you'll feel the multiclass pinch a little more. 5th level is a power break point for single classed characters, and you're 3-4 levels behind on both extra attack and 3rd level spells.

You'll still absolutely be able to contribute, but other people will have serious combat options you don't.

[DeAnno]

Fighter 2 or don't bother IMO. Action Surge wins combats. It's a huge investment for a spellcaster to get it, but Fighter 1 is a terrible middle ground. (Fighter 3 is also great in a variety of circumstances but not in an Eldritch Blast build.)

[BlackCoatedMan]

[Obligatory soapbox about rolling versus point buy.]

FWIW, I wouldn't bother with Darkness/Devil's Sight if you're being artillery. Advantage on attacks is nice, but so is Hex, and if you're going full Sorcerer, you have even better things to do with your Concentration. Plus, there are times when it might screw with your party (though not as much as people think).

Quicken+Action Surge using Eldritch Blasts and Scorching Rays against a Hexed Target will do absurd amounts of damage. Honestly, with Agonizing Blasts, you don't need much else in terms of damage (though Fireball is obviously good for you.) Quicken is good for obvious reasons, but don't forget to take Twin as your other metamagic. Twinning Haste or Greater Invisibility (or Polymorph) will make you a powerful asset to the team - even if you target yourself with one of them.

Cool stuff, I'll take your advice and check it out.


The build could be super strong. Not seeing what good the level of Fighter does on an Artillery character. You're gonna be running Quicken Agonizing Blasts and that's it. The level of Fighter is just for armor? You could have AC17 just with your Dex and Armor of Shadows or Draconic Resilience.


The AC of 19 has helped a lot, The GM roll pretty high. At least from what the tanks have suffered from melee enemies. I took it thinking of self preservation, and the AC plate mail would give. At the very least those arrows did nothing to me.


I'd guess you've probably contributed quite effectively, but you're about to hit the point where you'll feel the multiclass pinch a little more. 5th level is a power break point for single classed characters, and you're 3-4 levels behind on both extra attack and 3rd level spells.

You'll still absolutely be able to contribute, but other people will have serious combat options you don't.

I think My eldritch blast will give me a second shot though since it cares about total level. I think my eldritch blasts with hex will be comparable to extra attacks?


Fighter 2 or don't bother IMO. Action Surge wins combats. It's a huge investment for a spellcaster to get it, but Fighter 1 is a terrible middle ground. (Fighter 3 is also great in a variety of circumstances but not in an Eldritch Blast build.)

Would that be good later or sooner?

[Citan]

So did the build help my team as much as a solo class of fighter, warlock or sorcerer would? Or was this actually detrimental to the team? I wanted to know the opinions of others since I've always raged as a Half-Orc Barbarian before this point. Also to know if I munchkined it properly.
Well, so far it probably did.
As others said, when you hit level 5, you will feel some difference "as a martial" since your friends will get Extra Attack.
As a blaster, you will be exactly the same as a pure Warlock though, since your Agonizing Blast scales with character.

Contrarily to others, I wouldn't be so hasty to advise dipping Fighter 2 for Action Surge. Why?
Because...
1. You can easily get something quite similar if you take Quicken Metamagic.
2. AND you get short-rest slots which you can convert to metamagic points / long-rest slots as needed.
So the faster you get a few Sorcery Points, the faster you can blow two Eldricht Blast several times per short-rest.

Sure, it's lesser nova than having 3*Eldricht Blast in a single round (Action Surge + Cast a spell action + Quickened Eldricht Blast) in the end.
But it means you have access to better spells much quicker. The leveling is still reasonably "fast", but it should be already several sessions at the same level. So you may enjoy Action Surge if you take it now, but you will regret it later. Consider that it requires nearly same amount of XP to go from 5 to 6, as was required to go from 1 to 5!! And it just goes worse and worse.

Going Sorcerer ASAP means you will get Metamagic at character level 6, not so far, along with good spells that can help winning the encounter much faster/better than a plain additional EB: Blindness, Hold Person, Invisibility, Levitate, Web, Shatter, Dust Devil, Earthbind, etc...
Especially since you have a very good DC already AND you will be good at keeping your concentration.

It also means you are on track for powerful 3rd level spells, including Fireball (which will profit from your Origin) and Slow.

From what I understand, you are a 3-man party, with a Fighter and Paladin. Even if the former goes Eldricht Knight, he will probably blow most slots on Shield or the like, and his spellcasting progression is deadly slow anyways. Paladin will usually cast only Bless or occasional Smite spell, but keep most of his fuel on Divine Smite.
Meaning that you are the only one that can really bring some encounter-altering spells.

Considering that, I would focus solely on Sorcerer now and pick certainly Quicken metamagic as the first. For the second, choose depending on what you plan to use the most as concentration spells...
Buffs (Enhance Ability, Levitate, Invisibility, Haste, Fly)? Twin.
Single-target debuffs (Blindness, Hold, Charm Person, Reduce, Levitate, *Slow*, *Fear* -if really one enemy is your only important target-)? Heightened.
AOE spells that can potentially affect your friends (Burning Hands, Shatter, Fireball, Web, Stinking Cloud)? Careful.

Have fun :)