When to break Sorcadin

[Naez]

Putting together a Sorcadin for a PbP, going Paladin of vengeance with great weapon fighting style and probably gonna take Great Weapon Mastery at my level 4, and Resilient Con as my next feat after that, and maybe Warcaster eventually. We rolled for stats and I rolled really well (18, 18, 17, 16, 15, 12) so the straight ASIs aren't that important. Using Half-elf to get a stat spread of 19, 16, 18, 12, 15, 20. When I get Resilient (Con) that will make Con a 19, then the next ASI I can boost Str and Con to 20.

I'm planning on going at least 6 levels in paladin before taking levels of sorcerer, but was thinking maybe going 8 levels so I can get another feat/ASI in and earlier.

Break at 6: 4 feats/ASIs, level 14 Sorcerous origin as a capstone, 2 more sorcery points, one more spell known, Spell slots as a level 17 full caster, 8 Paladin spells Prepared. Uses of ASIs (in Order): GWM, Res(Con), ASI (+1 Str and Con), Warcaster

Break at 8: 5 feats/ASIs, 5th feat/ASI as capstone, 7th level Oath Feature, Spell slots as a level 16 full caster, 9 Paladin spells prepared. Uses of ASIs (in Order): GWM, Res(Con), ASI (+1 Str and Con), Warcaster, Medium Armor Master?

[Corran]

If you are going all the way up to paladin 8, then there is little reason to stop there and not go up to paladin 9. Paladin 9 gets you 3rd level paladin spells, among which you can find haste (oath spell), which is one of the best tools on a GWM vengeance paly or sorcadin IMO.

Now, that said, I would probably not go up to that many levels in paladin if I was playing a vengeance GWM sorcadin, and I would just stick with 6 levels in paladin. You'll get haste 2 levels later than if you were going pure vengeance paly, but the main benefit of a GWM vengeance sorcadin over a GWM vengeance paly, is that he gets to twin haste and thus boost the dpr of their allies too.

Generally, GWM vengeance palys will produce better dpr than GWM vengeance sorcadins (or at least that's the conclusion I have come to; will spare you the analysis unless you ask for it). But as I said earlier, the thing the vengeance GWM sorcadin has going for him, is to twinn haste. Granted, you will start doing so from level 11+, and you'll probably have to burn through some spell slots to do this more than once (though keep in mind that bless is a very good spell to fall back to when you are running low on resources, and not just then sparing further analysis on this for now).

So, I guess my point is, if you want to play a GWM vengeance sorcadin, stop your paladin progression at 6 levels (unless the party would reeeeeally profit from you taking your 3rd level paladin spells), and then start taking levels in sorcerer. This means that you will rely almost exclusively on bless for the first 10 levels of your career, which is not necessarily a bad thing, as bless is a really good spell and it is cheap (you'll only need to quicken it when not using vow of enmity, otherwise you cast itt as an action). And even after you get access to haste and greater invisibility, bless still remain a good option and there will be circumstances when you will prefer to use it instead of haste and grater invisibility (but again, sparing more in depth thoughts on this for now).

What sorcerer origin are you thinking of getting? Is UA alowed? Strongly suggest getting vhuman instead of halfelf for your build.

[Drackolus]

Don't plan for level 20; you'll likely never see it, and even if you do, it will only be for a fraction of the campaign.

As the level 7 vengeance paladin ability is kinda lousy for what you're going for, and your asi's won't do a ton for your overall build, I'd switch after 6.

If you don't have the stealth skill, medium armor master is largely wasted. Just wear full plate. And honestly? It's probably still not worth it. I'd actually probably use your extra +1 to round that wisdom to a 16 and then use the asi you get at level 4 sorcerer (10) to pump the 18 str to 20.
Another option is going vuman, getting your gwm that way, increasing your cha and str to 19 with your two stat increases, and then using your level 4 asi to increase both to 20. Then you can increase your con to 18 with resilient con at 10. A +3 to con is more than enough for your character's entire career, so I wouldn't worry about evening it out until later, if ever. That is the fastest way to get "online" and have your two major stats maxed.

If you're still set on medium armor master, you could also start with sorcerer as your 1st level, allowing you to skip res:con altogether. You'd only miss out on 4 hp, which will quickly be covered up, especially with that high con score.

[SharkForce]

i would agree that paladin 9 is a better stopping point than paladin 8. not just for haste either (although it's great). aura of vitality is good, being able to switch in dispel magic for the occasion that you need it is nice, magic circle, revivify, remove curse, crusader's mantle (if there are hordes of summoned creatures), there are just several level 3 paladin spells worth being able to switch out for, and if you're going to 8 anyways i'd keep going to 9.

i would also agree that level 6 is probably the better place to stop unless you're *really* desperate for ASIs.

[Naez]

What sorcerer origin are you thinking of getting? Is UA alowed? Strongly suggest getting vhuman instead of halfelf for your build.

UA isn't allowed. Only PHB and Volo's are acceptable resources. I was thinking Draconic Origin as I don't much care for Wild as it relies on the DM asking you to roll Wild Magic Surge, and I'd like not to have to rely on the DM to remember have that, especially in a PbP.

[CaptainSarathai]

It's PBP?
Why even optimize? Every PBP I've been part of has ended way low in level (or just a few levels after start) and they can hardly handle combat because you're so slowed down.
The major question is what level you'll be getting to. Sorcadins really aren't that great at anything below about 10th level. You want 6 levels of Paladin. You can get away with as few as 2 levels, but I wouldn't. Then you want 4-6 levels of Sorcerer in there.