Question on Paladin/Warlock/? multiclass.

[Ihazturtlez]

I am currently a 4th level Hexblade Warlock who is trying to figure out multiclass (2 or 3 classes). I was originally planning on going Barbarian/Paladin after 5th level but realized I dont have the 13 Strength for a Barbarian multiclass. I'd love to go into 3 classes just because it seems like some fun. I will most likely go Paladin for fighting style and channel divinity. Any suggestions?

Strength: 12 Dex: 15 Con: 11 Int: 14 Wis: 8 Cha: 18
Currently have Devil's Sight and Improved Pact Weapon invocations as a Changeling race, and have Mithral 16 AC.

[nickl_2000]

I am currently a 4th level Hexblade Warlock who is trying to figure out multiclass (2 or 3 classes). I was originally planning on going Barbarian/Paladin after 5th level but realized I dont have the 13 Strength for a Barbarian multiclass. I'd love to go into 3 classes just because it seems like some fun. I will most likely go Paladin for fighting style and channel divinity. Any suggestions?

Strength: 12 Dex: 15 Con: 11 Int: 14 Wis: 8 Cha: 18

Sorry, you can't multiclass into Paladin either. Paladin needs 13 str and 13 charisma.

Your multiclass choices as it is currently are:
Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, Bard, Sorcerer

[Ihazturtlez]

Sorry, you can't multiclass into Paladin either. Paladin needs 13 str and 13 charisma.

Your multiclass choices as it is currently are:
Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, Bard, Sorcerer
I didn't realize I need the strength for Paladin also. *sigh* Do you have any ideas for my current options?

[Vogie]

If you want fighting styles, why not Ranger? Revised ranger is preferred but either will do.

Hunter for raw damage amplification
Deep stalker for even more darkvision shenanigans and an extra attack
Horizon walker for force damage on weapons... if you're not TWF
Primeval Guardian for tanking without AoA

You also get more spell slots, which will give you more food for Eldritch Smite, in addition to spells known. if you get up to Ranger 5 before switching back to Warlock (or going yet another direction) you can drop the thirsting blade invocation.


Nevermind, read it wrong... though it said Wis 14, Int 8, instead of the other way around.

[nickl_2000]

It sounds like you are trying to melee it up. So, I'm going to go along with that

Fighter would be a very solid choice. 2 levels will give you action surge, second wind, and a fighting style.
Rogue would net you sneak attack damage (if you are using a finesse weapon), skills, and a reliable bonus action
Bard is probably the best option. 3 levels would net you Valor or Swords (I think swords would be better). Great skills, a fighting style, jack of all trades, and flourishes. Also, you can Eldritch smite with bard spell slots.

[Ihazturtlez]

It sounds like you are trying to melee it up. So, I'm going to go along with that

Fighter would be a very solid choice. 2 levels will give you action surge, second wind, and a fighting style.
Rogue would net you sneak attack damage (if you are using a finesse weapon), skills, and a reliable bonus action
Bard is probably the best option. 3 levels would net you Valor or Swords (I think swords would be better). Great skills, a fighting style, jack of all trades, and flourishes. Also, you can Eldritch smite with bard spell slots.

Would it be worth it at all to take all of these just for fun? Or would it make my character unplayable?

[nickl_2000]

Would it be worth it at all to take all of these just for fun? Or would it make my character unplayable?

worth it? I don't know, that's a question only you can answer. Unplayable? No, definitely not. However, you will likely end up underpowered in combat if you do all 4. On the other hand, you could easily do Warlock 4/Swords Bard 6/Rogue 3+ (Arcane Trickster would be interesting, Scout would be good, Mastermind would be a better team player, but Swashbuckler would probably be best) and be decent.

That would net you
Warlock: 3 cantrips 2 level 2 spells (short rest), 2 invocations
Bard: +1 skill, 2 Attacks, level, 3rd level bard spells, 3 cantrips, sword flourishes, font of inspiration, jack of all trades, and expertise (2 skills)
Rogue: +1 skill, thieves tools, Expertise (2 skills), 2d6+ sneak attack, cunning action, +cha to initiative, sneak when alone

[Ihazturtlez]

That would net you
Warlock: 3 cantrips 2 level 2 spells (short rest), 2 invocations
Bard: +1 skill, 2 Attacks, level, 3rd level bard spells, 3 cantrips, sword flourishes, font of inspiration, jack of all trades, and expertise (2 skills)
Rogue: +1 skill, thieves tools, Expertise (2 skills), 2d6+ sneak attack, cunning action, +cha to initiative, sneak when alone

This actually sounds really fun to play imo. A couple of questions though: Would being in Darkness with my Devil's Sight give me my sneak attack bonus? Also, what is giving me +cha to initiative, is it Swashbuckler?

[nickl_2000]

Would being in Darkness with my Devil's Sight give me my sneak attack bonus?

If someone can't see you and you can see them, you have advantage (this could be devil's sight + darkness, your invisible and they can't see you, whatever). Anytime you have advantage you get a sneak attack bonus, so yes.



Also, what is giving me +cha to initiative, is it Swashbuckler?
Yup, it's a level 3 swashbuckler ability. Rakish Audacity

[Keravath]

You could spend an ASI to get 13 str and round off either DEX to 16 or CON to 12. That would let you multiclass either paladin or barbarian if you really want to.

Barbarian may not work that well with a hexblade since some of the features are specifically tied to strength attacks ... so hex warrior attacks using charisma would not work with some of the barbarian features.

Alternatively, you could take the polearm master feat if you want to do melee. In combination with the thirsting blade invocation at level 5 you'd have up to three attacks/round though the bonus action attack from polearm master will have some competition with hex and hexblades curse.

If you REALLY want to go the melee route you could look at something like the suggested fighter multiclass ... maybe fighter 11/hexblade 9 in the end ... add in polearm master and you can have 4 attacks/rd.

Bard and hexblade is also a good mix since bard is a full caster. However, as far as I know, the eldritch smite invocation specifically requires warlock spell slots so you won't be able to use bard spell slots for that purpose. Bards are generally a very cool class but I don't know that it would fit your character concept in this case.

[Ihazturtlez]

If someone can't see you and you can see them, you have advantage (this could be devil's sight + darkness, your invisible and they can't see you, whatever). Anytime you have advantage you get a sneak attack bonus, so yes.



Yup, it's a level 3 swashbuckler ability. Rakish Audacity
I ask but one more thing of you. Does order in taking these multiclasses play a huge difference or should I take a certain class first?

[nickl_2000]

I ask but one more thing of you. Does order in taking these multiclasses play a huge difference or should I take a certain class first?

Nah, not really, it depends on what you want first. Since you are already set in Warlock 4.

Bard first will get you inspiration die, jack of all trades, and more casting (if you take it all the way to level 10 you get 2 attacks).
Rogue first gives you cunning action and some bonus damage from sneak.

Both give more skills and expertise quickly, so neither really make a difference.


Really whatever sounds the most fun to you to do first.

[Ihazturtlez]

Nah, not really, it depends on what you want first. Since you are already set in Warlock 4.
Bard first will get you inspiration die, jack of all trades, and more casting (if you take it all the way to level 10 you get 2 attacks).
Rogue first gives you cunning action and some bonus damage from sneak.
Both give more skills and expertise quickly, so neither really make a difference.
Really whatever sounds the most fun to you to do first.
I'll probably go 5th level with Warlock first to get my Thirsting Blade invocation, then afterwards go Rogue because my character already tries to do the sneaky stuff. I'll have him pick up more of a musical and talkative tone as we adventure further. Thank you very much for your input, I actually look forward to playing more than I have before

[nickl_2000]

I'll probably go 5th level with Warlock first to get my Thirsting Blade invocation, then afterwards go Rogue because my character already tries to do the sneaky stuff. I'll have him pick up more of a musical and talkative tone as we adventure further. Thank you very much for your input, I actually look forward to playing more than I have before

If you are doing that, you only need at most 5 levels of bard. 5 levels gives you font of inspiration (where you get your bardic inspirations back at a short rest instead of a long one), and level 3 spells. You could also cut off at level 3 for flourishes and expertise, or level 4 for the additional ASI.


Glad I was able to help out and make your character more fun for you to play.

[Ihazturtlez]

You could spend an ASI to get 13 str and round off either DEX to 16 or CON to 12. That would let you multiclass either paladin or barbarian if you really want to.

Barbarian may not work that well with a hexblade since some of the features are specifically tied to strength attacks ... so hex warrior attacks using charisma would not work with some of the barbarian features.

Alternatively, you could take the polearm master feat if you want to do melee. In combination with the thirsting blade invocation at level 5 you'd have up to three attacks/round though the bonus action attack from polearm master will have some competition with hex and hexblades curse.

If you REALLY want to go the melee route you could look at something like the suggested fighter multiclass ... maybe fighter 11/hexblade 9 in the end ... add in polearm master and you can have 4 attacks/rd.

Bard and hexblade is also a good mix since bard is a full caster. However, as far as I know, the eldritch smite invocation specifically requires warlock spell slots so you won't be able to use bard spell slots for that purpose. Bards are generally a very cool class but I don't know that it would fit your character concept in this case.
Perhaps I will go until my next ASI and use it to bump both and go Paladin then Rogue after. I've never played a Bard before though so I am interested in it. I'd like to keep some more of my spellcasting ability simply for the fact I find it more fun to do more than swing every round with advantage because of my darkness, but I will read more into PAM and my fighter options.

[Snowbluff]

Some thoughts:

I don't like Improved Pact Weapon. Doesn't do much if you find a magic item, but that's up to your DM.

Bard is good and has easy requirements. If you're going for a short dip, the Swords bard can give you a fighting style.
However, if you're grabbing extra attack from Blade pact, you can go whispers bad for some more damage.

Fighter 2 is good for action surge.

Even if you only go 5 warlock, you can grab some sorcerer. Attack with your weapon as your action, then quicken a spell for some control or burst damage.

[Ihazturtlez]

Some thoughts:

I don't like Improved Pact Weapon. Doesn't do much if you find a magic item, but that's up to your DM.

Bard is good and has easy requirements. If you're going for a short dip, the Swords bard can give you a fighting style.
However, if you're grabbing extra attack from Blade pact, you can go whispers bad for some more damage.

Fighter 2 is good for action surge.

Even if you only go 5 warlock, you can grab some sorcerer. Attack with your weapon as your action, then quicken a spell for some control or burst damage.

I was actually thinking about switching out Improve Pact for another invocation when I hit level 5 (because I can do that) after picking up thirsting blade. I was originally thinking about sorcerer, but I'm not too sure. Would Warlock5/Bard3/Fighter2/Rogue2-4 be anything to be proud of or is that a bunch of mismatched garbage?

[Snowbluff]

I was actually thinking about switching out Improve Pact for another invocation when I hit level 5 (because I can do that) after picking up thirsting blade. I was originally thinking about sorcerer, but I'm not too sure. Would Warlock5/Bard3/Fighter2/Rogue2-4 be anything to be proud of or is that a bunch of mismatched garbage?

Bard hexblade5 with a fighter2 dip is good. I'm doing it personally.

I would say that 5 bard levels should be the minimum. It will give you the short rest recharge on whatever inspiration mantle you choose, which is a hefty buff. I'm planning on taking Eldritch Smite with the build I'm doing, so I'll have 2 eldritch smites, 5 Psychic Blades, and Action Surge on a short rest, which I can do in 10 minutes with Catnap.

The question for me is "How good is the rogue here?" I like rogue 2 for cunning action quite a bit. Having some sneak attack is nice, but bard levels can be better depending on how often you use your inspiration (Whispers bard, for example, has similar scaling to SA) and concentration (at bard 10 you can get holy weapon as a magic secret, which with 2 attacks is 4d8 radiant damage per round for 1 hour).

[Vogie]

I ask but one more thing of you. Does order in taking these multiclasses play a huge difference or should I take a certain class first?

All three start with light armor, so the first you pick will decide your proficiencies and starting skills.

Bard Saving Throws: Dexterity, Charisma, 3 skills
Rogue Saving Throws: Dexterity, Intelligence, 4 skills
Warlock Saving Throws: Wisdom, Charisma, 2 skills

[Snowbluff]

All three start with light armor, so the first you pick will decide your proficiencies and starting skills.

Bard Saving Throws: Dexterity, Charisma, 3 skills
Rogue Saving Throws: Dexterity, Intelligence, 4 skills
Warlock Saving Throws: Wisdom, Charisma, 2 skills

A couple of things:
Bards and rogues give skill profs for MCing.
Hexblades and Swords/Valor Bards give Medium armor REGARDLESS of what order you take your classes in.