Fighter multiclass for equipment optimization?

[hildr]

Long story short, this is my first ever adventure. Characters were rolled randomly, and I probably didn't choose the best skills/feats/etc, because I had no idea what I was doing at the time. That's okay, because I'm having a blast. :smallsmile:

*For reference, I am the only melee character, and the defacto tank for our party.*
TWF, DW, Battlemaster, sentinel, max STR, plate armor

I just leveled up, and I can't decide if I should go 11 Fighter, or 10/1 Barbarian. Our party recently acquired a breastplate that gives resistance to ALL elemental damage, and it was heavily hinted that it is supposed to be useful in a later part of our campaign. Nobody else is proficient with this armor. Donning it would require me to ditch my plate armor(along with 4AC), but then I also would be able to take advantage of all the benefits of raging if I were to take a level of barbarian.

TL;DR - Is it silly to alter the course of my "training" just for a specific piece of equipment? I can obviously postpone the barbarian dip if 3 attacks is more valuable to me at 11th lvl. Would the trade-off work out mathematically?

[Specter]

As long as you can provide some rationalization for the multiclass, Barbarian works great for you.
- Rage resistance to physical damage
- Rage's bonus damage to all attacks (in your case 3, which is a lot)
- The breastplate's elemental resistance (making you essentially a Bearbarian with 1 Barb level)

The only downside is not being able to attack with the offhand weapon in the round you rage.

[PeteNutButter]

Long story short, this is my first ever adventure. Characters were rolled randomly, and I probably didn't choose the best skills/feats/etc, because I had no idea what I was doing at the time. That's okay, because I'm having a blast. :smallsmile:

*For reference, I am the only melee character, and the defacto tank for our party.*
TWF, DW, Battlemaster, sentinel, max STR, plate armor

I just leveled up, and I can't decide if I should go 11 Fighter, or 10/1 Barbarian. Our party recently acquired a breastplate that gives resistance to ALL elemental damage, and it was heavily hinted that it is supposed to be useful in a later part of our campaign. Nobody else is proficient with this armor. Donning it would require me to ditch my plate armor(along with 4AC), but then I also would be able to take advantage of all the benefits of raging if I were to take a level of barbarian.

TL;DR - Is it silly to alter the course of my "training" just for a specific piece of equipment? I can obviously postpone the barbarian dip if 3 attacks is more valuable to me at 11th lvl. Would the trade-off work out mathematically?

Don't switch at level 11, at the very least wait another level. Level 11 is a nice power boost giving you a third attack.

I wouldn't switch at all, as a breastplate can be worn regardless of what class you are. Assuming your dex is only 10 (and thus you'd lose 4 AC) it's probably only worth wearing that breastplate on a few fights.

What's the rest of your party like? Anyone in light armor can take a feat to grab it, and anyone can MC into a lot of classes to grab medium armor proficiency.

What are your ability scores?

[hildr]

Don't switch at level 11, at the very least wait another level. Level 11 is a nice power boost giving you a third attack.

I wouldn't switch at all, as a breastplate can be worn regardless of what class you are. Assuming your dex is only 10 (and thus you'd lose 4 AC) it's probably only worth wearing that breastplate on a few fights.

What's the rest of your party like? Anyone in light armor can take a feat to grab it, and anyone can MC into a lot of classes to grab medium armor proficiency.

What are your ability scores?

I may wait until 12th level to make the dip if I do at all. My party all already have sweet magical armor. I'm the only one without any added bonuses on my armor, so they are hesitant to make any changes for only a slight upgrade.

I got lucky on ability score rolls. In the breastplate, my AC would be down from 19 to 16 (14+1(dex)+1:Earlier I forgot to account for 1AC for DW)

STR- 20
DEX- 13
CON - 18
INT - 11
WIS - 15
CHA - 12

[QuintonBeck]

Not mechanical and totally up to DM adjudication but if it's a magical breastplate is there any reason you can't just keep wearing all the non-magical plate pieces of your plate armor and swap in the magical breastplate? If your existing plate is specifically made to go together with its own complimentary pieces could you not instead commission armguards/greaves/pauldrons/whatever-else of the non-magical variety to turn that breastplate into the center-piece of a magical suit of plate?

Personally I'd rather stick fighter and be plate tank than pick up barb levels and become the battle raging medium armor frontliner but that's just me.

[DarkKnightJin]

Not mechanical and totally up to DM adjudication but if it's a magical breastplate is there any reason you can't just keep wearing all the non-magical plate pieces of your plate armor and swap in the magical breastplate? If your existing plate is specifically made to go together with its own complimentary pieces could you not instead commission armguards/greaves/pauldrons/whatever-else of the non-magical variety to turn that breastplate into the center-piece of a magical suit of plate?

Personally I'd rather stick fighter and be plate tank than pick up barb levels and become the battle raging medium armor frontliner but that's just me.

I like this solution. It's simple, it's clean, and it should totally work. It might look a little ramshackle until they xan get to an outfitter and have something made to tie it all together without looking like you mugged a silverware merchant..

[hildr]

Not mechanical and totally up to DM adjudication but if it's a magical breastplate is there any reason you can't just keep wearing all the non-magical plate pieces of your plate armor and swap in the magical breastplate? If your existing plate is specifically made to go together with its own complimentary pieces could you not instead commission armguards/greaves/pauldrons/whatever-else of the non-magical variety to turn that breastplate into the center-piece of a magical suit of plate?

Personally I'd rather stick fighter and be plate tank than pick up barb levels and become the battle raging medium armor frontliner but that's just me.

My DM probably won't let me do that... though I suppose it's worth asking! :smallcool:

**Edit: So I asked him, and he said either breastplate OR plate suit. If I had additional pieces crafted, then it would be considered heavy armor and would defeat the purpose of dipping into barbarian.

[QuintonBeck]

My DM probably won't let me do that... though I suppose it's worth asking! :smallcool:

Can't hurt to ask!

It should work technically from an armorer standpoint and you say all your companions already have magic armor so if it doesn't work and you don't want to leave your plate it's sort of a dud magic item. I mainly DM and I'd allow it (though I'd probably just have it be magic plate to start with since that's what your character uses) but I can see arguing that integrating it messes up the magic properties or something. Still, it's a fun game of imagination and wizardry, first priority should be player enjoyment. It doesn't seem like you want to go Barb so don't feel pressured to for a magic item. At least, not this magic item. Resistance is nice, not getting hit is better :smallwink:

[hildr]

... At least, not this magic item. Resistance is nice, not getting hit is better :smallwink:

Hahaha good point. He said no anyway... I guess I'll just truck on and let them try to hit me. :smallcool:

[DarkKnightJin]

Not sure what your DM was thinking, by 'dropping' some non-Plate armor if you've been using full plate for a while.
Maybe he got sick of you being so hard to hit, but didn't know how to do anything about it without seeming like he's picking on you.

Just speculation. Don't go runnong off and accusing him.