Paladin multiclass ideas please

[Ohdin]

I creates the a thread dumb paladin, or stumbling paladin. Once all was said and done i choose a low dex over a low int. I choose dex because Dwarf being a mountain sounds reasonable. My Next question/thread what do I multi class into? Fighter seems like the right choice but which archetype? Fighter for the fighting style, action surge, second wind for the small heal oneself but I wouldn't known which archetype to choose. Sorc/lock sounds fun to increase smite uses and I could use shield too. "you get a smite, you get a smite, you all get a smite!!!!" Im trying to plan future character lvls and since I'm going oath of ancients so it won't be till about lvl7 so I can get my two auras.

[Foxhound438]

most paladin multiclasses I see actually want levels in casting classes over fighter levels:

Bard: inspiration is a great way to fill your bonus action, expertice can enable a decent grappling strategy, and magical secrets brings a plethora of boons- all that on top of fast spell progression

Sorcerer: metamagic (quicken) and the general damage-focus of the class's spell list helps the paladin deal with crowds. Hightened control spells do a lot of good as well, especially with hold person into an auto-crit smite. All that plus cantrips for ranged damage, and once again faster spell slot progression

Warlock: Short rest spell slots to get smites through the day, eldritch blast for great ranged damage, and certain invocations make for good tricks. chain pact boon is great for scouting with sprite as your familiar.



Fighter really doesn't do as much as any of those: you already have a fighting style, you have some health gain in LOH, but having split levels makes second wind really bad. Yes it's a better action type, but average 8 hp isn't great. Action surge loses a lot of late game power when you have to also throw long rest resources (spell slots) to make the damage match that which a pure fighter could have with improved extra attack. Battle master brings some nice tricks, but at the same time so do spells.



There's also the secret option, pure paladin. At no point have I ever looked at a paladin and thought that 3 levels in something else would be better than just more paladin levels. 5th level pure class is honestly way better than anything else if it isn't warlock/sorcerer (since cantrips scale on total level), at that point you definitely want aura of prot at 6, and then your 3rd level spells (including blinding smite) come on at the same time you would get battlemaster tricks from there, and at that point you're 2 levels off of improved divine smite, and then it's 2 more levels to L4 slots (max smite) from there even if you were to take full caster levels, and now you're 2 levels off of an oath feature (ancients is particularly strong there, as is vengeance), and at that point you can stick another 2 levels for 5th level spells (destructive wave is particularly cool), and then you're 3 levels away from paladin transformations, which are arguably some of the best abilities in the game.

[Arkhios]

Bard: inspiration is a great way to fill your bonus action, expertice can enable a decent grappling strategy, and magical secrets brings a plethora of boons- all that on top of fast spell progression

Bard is in my honest opinion the most thematically appropriate combination with Oath of the Ancients. Music, Stories, Laughter, and generally enjoying life. All that speaks Bard to me.
Not to mention that Jack of all Trades slightly mitigates your otherwise low initiative (because Initiative Check = Dexterity Check)


Sorcerer: metamagic (quicken) and the general damage-focus of the class's spell list helps the paladin deal with crowds. Hightened control spells do a lot of good as well, especially with hold person into an auto-crit smite. All that plus cantrips for ranged damage, and once again faster spell slot progression
If you're allowed to use Unearthed Arcana, Stone Sorcery would be really appropriate to you as a dwarf, and quite powerful too, with your Con 18.


Warlock: Short rest spell slots to get smites through the day, eldritch blast for great ranged damage, and certain invocations make for good tricks. chain pact boon is great for scouting with sprite as your familiar.
Honestly, I feel combining Paladin with Warlock is a bit power-creep-ish. Most of the Patrons are in collision-course with paladins' tenets, and while Archfey is the most thematically appropriate patron for Oath of the Ancients, I'm not sure why would a proud dwarf make deals with feyfolk.

That said, I agree that Paladin is perfect class to go pure. Every new level for the majority of time grants something very great to wait for.


Note: I do have a paladin of the ancients as well, though human, and I have been wrestling with these same thoughts.
Paladin is hands down my favorite class both flavorwise and mechanically.

[Mandragola]

On these boards there's almost an assumption that multiclassing is required. However, paladins get great class features all the way to level 11 and improved divine smite.

I've got a level 13 vengeance paladin and he's lots of fun. GWM with a pretty ordinary +1 greatsword still does ok damage compared to the rest of the party. I honestly haven't been that impressed by my 4th level spells, but the other high level stuff is clearly good.

I'd probably benefit most from a fighter or warlock mc. Battle master is lots of fun and scales really nicely. Our valour bard went warlock at level 11 and now he's a serious damage dealer. But that honestly feels a bit wrong for his character, and I think the same would be true for mine.

I don't think multiclassing is very well designed in 5th. There are a few combos that are just a bit wrong - notably sorceror/warlock.

And along with that some classes seem to stop advancing after level 11 or so, meaning that multiclassing looks very attractive. Our moon Druid has a good time as an elemental but that's never going to get better, and the beasts she can turn into are vast, and very impractical.

[MrStabby]

Depending on levels you are looking at and the stats you have, you could go for all of them!

A couple of barbarian levels to get you reckless attack. A few champion levels to get many more crits from the attacks and from which you can smite, then a few levels of a caster class to up the spell slots available. Add more ASIs by taking classes to level 4 if you need to. I would suggest warlock feypact for the casting class if you were just dipping paladin but at 7 levels it is probably better going for sorcerer or bard. Normally I prefer bard for expertise on athletics to show people about but with a shortage of ASIs shieldmaster or PAM are harder to come by (which are both great with shoving). Sorcerer might be your best option if you want to cast the spells or use metamagic but if you have the minimum stats to support other classes it is worth thinking about them. You would need spells that even cast from a low level slot have a powerful impact on the game at high levels (where most things are huge or teleport or have other supernatural abilities that make low level staples like spike growth bad), the spells shouldn't need your casting stat and they should not already be on the paladin list...

[MrFahrenheit]

Paladin is fantastic all the way to 20, to be honest. If you're going to play around with multiclassing, it probably makes more sense to just take 2 levels in paladin, then however many other classes as make sense for max smite capability. Here are some build ideas; I've kept in mind you won't be dumping int...

One example:
Paladin 2/EK 14/lore bard 4: six ASIs/feats, full amount of smites, and three attacks. And a ton of skills.

Another example:
Paladin 2/conjuration or necromancy wizard 18: grab a polearm and PAM, then be a sergeant major standing in the second line behind your troops!

If you want to go primarily paladin and still multiclass, it makes sense to at least get 11 levels for improved divine smite, though I'd recommend 12, given your otherwise being one away from an ASI/feat.

One example:
Paladin 12/lore bard 4/bear totem barbarian 4: nice resistances, skills and full smite. Your low dex will hurt though if it's really dumped.

Another example:
Paladin 12-14/divination wizard 2-4/wild or storm sorcerer 3-4: bite the bullet on converting those fifth, sixth and seventh level slots into a good amount of SP, but then fewer lower level slots, because you have BB, GFB, quickened spell, twinned spell...and portent.

[JAL_1138]

Ditto on Bard or Sorcerer. Charisma-casters MC very well with Paladin. But also agreed that Paladin is a good class to carry straight through to 20.

Can't go wrong with them, really. One of the most fun and versatile classes in 5e, IMO.

[Corran]

If you decide to multiclass, my suggestion is to take at least 7 levels in paladin (ancients).
I would also suggest grabbing resilient dex (probably at level 8), and perhaps even alert if you get tired of almost always going last at initiative (probably at level 12 or 16).



There's also the secret option, pure paladin.
:smallsmile:

[Citan]

I creates the a thread dumb paladin, or stumbling paladin. Once all was said and done i choose a low dex over a low int. I choose dex because Dwarf being a mountain sounds reasonable. My Next question/thread what do I multi class into? Fighter seems like the right choice but which archetype? Fighter for the fighting style, action surge, second wind for the small heal oneself but I wouldn't known which archetype to choose. Sorc/lock sounds fun to increase smite uses and I could use shield too. "you get a smite, you get a smite, you all get a smite!!!!" Im trying to plan future character lvls and since I'm going oath of ancients so it won't be till about lvl7 so I can get my two auras.
Hi!

In summary (also taking into account you have extremely good WIS)
- Tome Warlock 3: get Repelling Blast and Thorns Whip: now you can concentrate on Moonbeam on push or pull enemies into its area. Great when you don't want to smite them in melee for some reason.
- Land Druid 3: extremely good thematically with Ancients Paladin and you get a bunch of great spells: Jump, Longstrider, Healing Words, Thunderwave, Pass Without Trace, Heat Metal, etc... Also Thorns Whip and Produce Flame. Potential problem on heavy armor though, ask DM beforehand.
- Sorcerer (5 minimum imo): Shield, Magic Missile, Blur, Slow/Haste, metamagics (Quickened and either Heightened) and sorcery points. Value comes later though.
- Swashbuckler Rogue: become much better at protecting allies with Expertise in Athletics and possible Shield Master, great mobility...

[Krestus]

Paladins are (IMO) the most multi-class happy class there is. Take 2 levels in Paladin and then... anything. Almost everything you could possibly pick synergizes very well with the class. Why?

It grants you awesome proficiencies,
It grants you a way of doing hip-pocket reliable damage with spell slots,
It has AMAZING first level spells that continue to be extremely useful for the whole of forever

Go with a caster and start gaining serious spell slots. The sorcerer is a fantastic choice. A shield, heavy armor, defense fighting style and you're a great caster with 19 AC right out of the box at level 3 with starting equipment. Use those new spell slots you're gaining for shield of faith all the time once you have enough lol don't like being invincible? use them to do stupid high damage instead. Booming blade + divine smite every attack if you want to outshine the party fighter in every way. Then heal everyone and take ALL the glory

[Ohdin]

We have in part wizard, fighter, ranger, druid, and another all lvl 1 and new players, a rouge and then my pally. I planned on going at least 7 ancients for the two auras my dump stat is dex at a 5. So anything rogue multi class is out of the question

[Arkhios]

We have in part wizard, fighter, ranger, druid, and another all lvl 1 and new players, a rouge and then my pally. I planned on going at least 7 ancients for the two auras my dump stat is dex at a 5. So anything rogue multi class is out of the question

As said above, by me and a few others, Bard would be a good addition to at least 7 ancients (though I'd recommend at least 9th because being able to choose and prepare new up to 3rd level paladin spells every day is tremendously better than picking up two of them with magical secrets later as a lore bard), plus a Bard would also mix well with your party. Pick up spells from bard the rest of your group couldn't have. Also, if you plan to be the tank, Cutting Words is a good way to hinder the chance or outright prevent your enemies from hitting your allies, out to 60 feet range and as a reaction.