Metamagic coming up, need help deciding which to pick...

[samcifer]

So we're only 1k xp left to hit lv. 5 and as a Divine Soul 2 / Hexblade 2 and getting my 3rd sorc level, I find that I'm not sure which route to go on meta magic.

So for what I Have for spells:

Racial (Dispater Tiefling): Thaumaturgy, Disguise Self, Invisibility.

HB: Eldritch Blast and Minor Illusion - Shield, Expeditious Retreat and Hellish Rebuke.
+ Med. armor, shield, and +1 ac necklace for 19 ac and a +2 longsword,

DS: Cure Wounds (starter power) Chromatic Orb, Magic Missile, Lesser Restoration (might not be as needed since we're not going to be around poisons and disease, but like having the option if it comes up), Shatter.

MM: Quicken + one other. Reason: Lesser Resto. is 1 Action, so if I Quicken it, I can still attack during the same turn if needed. Also, at Lv. 5, I get 2 EB beams per turn, so I can lay down 4 beams for a nova/multi-hit turn if needed. I don't have much to do as a bonus action, so...

I was thinking Twinned or maybe Subtle for my other MM. We're on a boat heading back home and going from an island with lots of dangers to a citadel in a bandit-filled wasteland, so subtle might be handy, but as our encounters with spellcasters has been few and far between, not sure if subtle is the way to go. Since I'm 2 levels behind on casting due to the 2 levels of HB, I'll mostly have 5 (6 with the DS starting feature of an extra spell) Lv 1 spells to work with. I decided to drop hex as most battles only last 2 or 3 rounds. (In the last two battles, I was only able to attack once in the second and in the first, I protected (FG&E) myself and the rest of the party killed the bad guy before I got a second turn to attack, hence part of my desire to take Quicken so I don't loose out on attacking again).

The rest of the party consists of: Human 2H weapon fighter, Longtooth Shifter (wolf) Totem Barbarian, Firbolg Moon Druid, and a Human Artificer (high damage sniper). I'm kind of a Jack of All Trades caster who prefers range, but can melee if needed (tho I haven't gotten the chance to yet).

So which MM should I go for?

[TheUser]

How many levels of warlock do you intend to take?

[samcifer]

How many levels of warlock do you intend to take?

A third at most. May wait until after I unlock lv. 5 spells, but no sooner than after the second level of lv. 3 spells.

[TheUser]

A third at most. May wait until after I unlock lv. 5 spells, but no sooner than after the second level of lv. 3 spells.

I am not sure about Quicken then.

Usually quicken facilitates multi-classes that have extra attack, using quicken to cast another cantrip isn't that great (until level 11+) and beyond that it's a bit hard to do things like hide with your medium armor or mix things up too much because of the limitations put on spells as bonus actions.

Given that you will have Spiritual Weapon gobbling up your bonus actions as well it may be less than ideal.

If you take Spirit Guardians (the premier of cleric spells) you may also want empowered spell.

Seeing as you have a host of single target spells already, Twinned Spell does seem like a gimme.

You might want to consider Heightened Spell. With your ability to recharge up to 4 sorcery points in 1 short rest (3 levels of warlock) it makes it a much more attractive option especially with some of the more crippling options that the Cleric Spell list provides (bestow curse being one of them).

[samcifer]

I am not sure about Quicken then.

Usually quicken facilitates multi-classes that have extra attack, using quicken to cast another cantrip isn't that great (until level 11+) and beyond that it's a bit hard to do things like hide with your medium armor or mix things up too much because of the limitations put on spells as bonus actions.

Given that you will have Spiritual Weapon gobbling up your bonus actions as well it may be less than ideal.

If you take Spirit Guardians (the premier of cleric spells) you may also want empowered spell.

Seeing as you have a host of single target spells already, Twinned Spell does seem like a gimme.

You might want to consider Heightened Spell. With your ability to recharge up to 4 sorcery points in 1 short rest (3 levels of warlock) it makes it a much more attractive option especially with some of the more crippling options that the Cleric Spell list provides (bestow curse being one of them).

But if I didn't pick Spiritual Weapon? What about then?

[TheUser]

But if I didn't pick Spiritual Weapon? What about then?

Then you should probably go and pick Spiritual Weapon because it's awesome and doesn't even require concentration....

[Meepo_]

Personally, I find subtle spell to be loads of fun. In noncombat situations you can get away with using illusions, even on pages, which can let you do all sorts of shenanigans (or actually useful things like distractions). If you’re okay with a metamagic that’s not solely for combat, subtle is an amazing pick.

[samcifer]

Personally, I find subtle spell to be loads of fun. In noncombat situations you can get away with using illusions, even on pages, which can let you do all sorts of shenanigans (or actually useful things like distractions). If you’re okay with a metamagic that’s not solely for combat, subtle is an amazing pick.

True, but the chances of that coming up aren't that high, right? I'm thinking of combat effectiveness for now and we've only really encountered one enemy magic-user so far, so I was thinking of being silenced or counterspelled. That's what makes me consider Twinned over Subtle. Since I'm 2 levels behind, I won't gain another MM until level 12, which is a long ways away. As for Heightened, I was thinking of going with a lv. 5 Bestow Curse as a possibility, but the only save/suck spell I'm considering using is Banishment as my character is adverse to using Enchantment spells as he hates using magic to play head games and he has a more blaster/pyromaniac mentality to combat magic.

[UrielAwakened]

Quicken Eldritch Blast + Hex is amazing. You get to spam as much damage as anyone plus you have tons of utility spells.

Quicken + Twin is probably your best bet. Pick up Heighten at higher levels when you start running into stuff with advantage against magic.

[samcifer]

Quicken Eldritch Blast + Hex is amazing. You get to spam as much damage as anyone plus you have tons of utility spells.

Quicken + Twin is probably your best bet. Pick up Heighten at higher levels when you start running into stuff with advantage against magic.

Yeah, that's the way I was leaning. I was thinking of Bestow Curse to cover the effect of Heighten and was considering Distant and Subtle for my other mms later on. Empower is okay, but I'd rather have MMs for something other than damage as the rest of the party has that covered. If I could get a 5th, Empowered would be it. Careful's out because I'd be using damaging AoEs and Extended is pointless.

I wish enlarged was a MM option. Sad that it was left out of 5th ed.

[samcifer]

Then you should probably go and pick Spiritual Weapon because it's awesome and doesn't even require concentration....

Well... After re-reading the card, I have to admit that SW is sounding better. While the movement of the weapon is a sticking point for me (if it could move 30' per turn instead of only 20') the fact that I can make it take whatever form I wish is appealing. I'd make it shape itself into a middle-aged African American mother who's tired o' yo' sass and is coming to beat some manners into you. I'd make every attack a series of slaps to the head and do 1 dmg. per slap depending on what I roll.

Combining that with a lv. 5 EB, I can either attack up to three different targets or do 3 attacks to a single one. Of course that would make using Quicken harder to do, so I might go with Distant instead to add range to Cure Wounds as well as my AoEs since there's been times when I needed to hit several enemies on a ship, but was too far away to do anything other than EB one from 300' away via Eldritch Spear.