Best multiclass combo for Smite spam Paladin?

[Benny89]

Warlock 14/6 Pala or maybe 14 Sorc/6 Pala. Or maybe something else? The goal is to have as many Smites as possible rain upon enemies. Novas all day along, everyday.

[Wildarm]

Warlock 14/6 Pala or maybe 14 Sorc/6 Pala. Or maybe something else? The goal is to have as many Smites as possible rain upon enemies. Novas all day along, everyday.

Warlock is your best bet for Smite Spam. Warlock 11 gets you 3 5th Level smites per short rest. I'd go Warlock 11/Pally 9 and you'll get 3rd level Paladin spell slots as well.

Is smiting all you want to be doing with your character though? There's many better tactical options out there for a Sorladin or Padlock.

[Speely]

Sorcerer will give you more smites overall, per long rest.

Warlock will give you more high-level slot smites per long rest, and this goes up with every short rest beyond 2.

Another thing to consider is that as a Warlock, you can use Eldritch Smite for 6-9ish of your smites per long rest. It's a better smite.

I would warn against Warlock because you give up metamagic, but it doesn't sound like you are going to be casting spells at all, so in that case I will def recommend Warlock, since you get really useful Invocations that require no spell slots. And a better smite option if you are just going to pour slots into smiting instead of casting spells.

I will say that being a level 14 caster opens up enough other possibilities than smite spamming that you might want to consider the versatility proper spellcasting offers rather than being a one-trick pony. In this sense, either Warlock or Sorcerer could work, but Sorcerer wins because metamagic and more spells per day.

[Hecuba]

Warlock 14/6 Pala or maybe 14 Sorc/6 Pala. Or maybe something else? The goal is to have as many Smites as possible rain upon enemies. Novas all day along, everyday.

Watlock wins out, in large part because of Hexblade's Cha-as-melee-stat benefit and the fact that you can stack Eldrich smite on one hit per round.

Alternately, Whisper Bard gets you a quasi-smite powered off of bardic inspiration you can stack on top, while still providing lots of tasty spell slots.

Any of the CHA-based primary casters will also get you shadow blade, which is generally a better use of your concentration that the bonus action concentration smite - frees up your bonus action, can apply to more than one hit a round, and has the advantage riders, only burns one slot for the duration instead of one a round.

Edit: Sorcerer is not without it's advantages either- you can quicken the SCAG melee cantrips to get a 3rd melee attack to smite with, if that's the direction you want to go.

The absolute strongest smiter would probably be some Baccob-forsaken mixture of all of the above.

[Benny89]

the fact that you can stack Eldrich smite on one hit per round.
Edit: Sorcerer is not without it's advantages either- you can quicken the SCAG melee cantrips to get a 3rd melee attack to smite with, if that's the direction you want to go.

How does Eldrich Blast stack with Smite?

And what is SCAG?

[Jerrykhor]

How does Eldrich Blast stack with Smite?

And what is SCAG?

Eldritch Smite is Warlock's version of Divine Smite. Its an invocation on Xanathars.

SCAG=Sword coast adventurers guide

[Speely]

Watlock wins out, in large part because of Hexblade's Cha-as-melee-stat benefit and the fact that you can stack Eldrich smite on one hit per round.

Alternately, Whisper Bard gets you a quasi-smite powered off of bardic inspiration you can stack on top, while still providing lots of tasty spell slots.

Any of the CHA-based primary casters will also get you shadow blade, which is generally a better use of your concentration that the bonus action concentration smite - frees up your bonus action, can apply to more than one hit a round, and has the advantage riders, only burns one slot for the duration instead of one a round.

I would say that a character using a melee-focused ability like shadow blade on an "every class character" is a bad idea. Your concentration save is going to be atrocious because of your ability spread, and if it's not, it means you are either a Bladesinger or took the Warcaster feat (how?) Not to mention that this character will see very few ASIs, so they are pretty much screwed at doing anything well. Wizard 2 for Bladesinger seems like a must just for Concentration, but how much is such a scattered character going to be concentrating? With all the martial classes you are diving into, you would be losing out if you didn't scrap it up a bit.

This is a losing game, not just because it's mechanically bankrupt, but also because it's thematically sloppy and antisocial. One of the best things about D&D is that it's a group game. Anything that diminishes that sucks. Additionally, I dare someone to make an "all class" character that can deal with one other single-class character. I will go on record saying that I could be more effective with literally any subclass as a single-class character than any all-class character.

I could be a friggin Beastmaster Ranger and own any all-class character. Just the Ranger base kit would roll over them. Yikes.

[Lille]

I would say that a character using a melee-focused ability like shadow blade on an "every class character" is a bad idea. Your concentration save is going to be atrocious because of your ability spread, and if it's not, it means you are either a Bladesinger or took the Warcaster feat (how?) Not to mention that this character will see very few ASIs, so they are pretty much screwed at doing anything well. Wizard 2 for Bladesinger seems like a must just for Concentration, but how much is such a scattered character going to be concentrating? With all the martial classes you are diving into, you would be losing out if you didn't scrap it up a bit.

This is a losing game, not just because it's mechanically bankrupt, but also because it's thematically sloppy and antisocial. One of the best things about D&D is that it's a group game. Anything that diminishes that sucks. Additionally, I dare someone to make an "all class" character that can deal with one other single-class character. I will go on record saying that I could be more effective with literally any subclass as a single-class character than any all-class character.

I could be a friggin Beastmaster Ranger and own any all-class character. Just the Ranger base kit would roll over them. Yikes.

I don't think anyone was talking about an "all-class character" until you brought it up, BTW.

[Speely]

I don't think anyone was talking about an "all-class character" until you brought it up, BTW.

Damnit, you are right. I was literally responding to the wrong post. Hah :)

I need less tabs. Smh.

[BarneyBent]

Haven’t crunched any numbers but what about Paladin 2/Warlock 5/Sorcerer X? You get metamagic, divine smites, Eldritch smites, and Agonizing Blast as a backup if you get stuck out of melee. Plus SADness for CHA with Hexblade.

[thoroughlyS]

Warlock 14/6 Pala
Warlock's best break points in regards to smiting are 11th and 17th level, because they gain an additional spell slot. Warlock 12-14 don't really add anything to the mix here, because you're only gaining the slotless mystic arcana. Looking at the other side of the equation, Paladin 6 is good for a lot of reasons, but none of them relate to divine smite. Therefore, the optimum progression for these classes would be Paladin 2/Warlock 17/Paladin +1. I say "for this build" because it doesn't actually get you the most smites or the most damage, just the biggest smites (and only by 1d8). From 4th through 12th level, you'll have two smites per short rest which grow in damage from 2d8 to 6d8, plus two 2d8 smites per long rest. After that, you only ever gain more slots at 13th (6d8), 19th (6d8), and 20th (2d8) levels.

14 Sorc/6 Pala.
This is the more traditional approach (aside from level break), and for good reason. Paladin 2/Sorcerer X gains more spell slots at almost every level (except for 13th, 15th, and 17th level). On top of the spell slots, you also have Font of Magic, which does three key things. Firstly, it provides even more slots. Secondly, it allows you to convert higher level spell slots (which cap at 5d8 damage) into multiple lower level slots. The math on slots-to-points-to-slots actually works out to producing a number of smite dice equal to the slot's previous level (when converting to 1st-level and 2nd-level slots). For example, at Paladin 2/Sorcerer 10 you get your first 6th-level spell slot. Expending it to smite would yield 5d8 damage. However, you could instead convert it to 6 sorcery points and convert those back into two 2nd-level spell slots (worth a total of 6d8 damage). Lastly, sorcery points can be used for metamagic, which has niche uses in a smite build. Compared to the build above, you get many more smites (which end up dealing more dice worth of damage in total) at the cost of never dealing 6d8 smite damage.

Or maybe something else?
While warlock provides limited opportunities for smiting, it has a host of benefits which many players enjoy. Going Paladin 2/Warlock 11/Sorcerer 7 provides two invocations, 6d8 smites, and a smooth spell slot progression over the entire career. You technically lose out on 8 spell slots, but only 2d8 of damage.

For all the builds above, there are a few ideas to take into consideration:

You don't need Extra Attack if you go with two-weapon fighting or a SCAG cantrip (or both).
If you want to go Hexblade, it should be your first level, but then follow the builds above.

[JakOfAllTirades]

I'm AFB, but I think there's another break point at Warlock level 20. Their capstone ability lets them recover all their pact magic spell slots in one minute, IIRC. So there's up to four more 5th level snores, am I right?

[DevilMcam]

I would go for Sword bard 18/Paladin2

You get full casting (and lvl 9 spells) magical secrets for thoses amazing high level spells.
You can use your bardic inspiration for imrpoved mobility/defense and your slots on smites.

Should you need it you still have the crazy amazing bard spell list to work with

[Corran]

Paladin 11/ Spellcaster 9 (either warlock or sorcerer; warlock has slots that recharge on short rests, sorcerer can turn high level slots into smite slots, ie <=4). If you want to spam smites, then you want 11 paladin levels for improved divine smite.

[Benny89]

Paladin 11/ Spellcaster 9 (either warlock or sorcerer; warlock has slots that recharge on short rests, sorcerer can turn high level slots into smite slots, ie <=4). If you want to spam smites, then you want 11 paladin levels for improved divine smite.

How many slots for 5d8 (6d8 with Improves Smites) would I get from this combo (11/9)?

[Amdy_vill]

Warlock 14/6 Pala or maybe 14 Sorc/6 Pala. Or maybe something else? The goal is to have as many Smites as possible rain upon enemies. Novas all day along, everyday.

you could do a 3 warlock 6 paladin and 11 sorcerer even without coffeelock this is still good. my best suggestion for smite spamming is just 2 paladin and the rest as a full caster.

[Aett_Thorn]

I would go for Sword bard 18/Paladin2

You get full casting (and lvl 9 spells) magical secrets for thoses amazing high level spells.
You can use your bardic inspiration for imrpoved mobility/defense and your slots on smites.

Should you need it you still have the crazy amazing bard spell list to work with

I was going to suggest this very same multi class. You get almost full spellcasting for a ton of slots, extra attack from Swords Bard (and you can go dual-weapon fighting style for an off-hand attack smite as well), and you can tack on some flourishes for extra dice damage on some attacks. Seems like the best of all worlds here.

[Keravath]

A lot of folks seem to suggest paladin 2 + full caster for smiting. However, that doesn't make much sense to me since in order to smite you need to attack and hit (ideally crit). The more attacks you have, the more smites you can use (if the goal is doing combat damage using smites). With one attack (even using SCAG cantrips) if you miss you do nothing. So, personally, I would tend to prioritize extra attack as extremely relevant to a build based on smites ... which means 5 paladin ... and if you are going to 5 you might as well go to 6 for the aura ... at that point it is too useful to pass up.

If you just want attacks on which to burn smites .... extra attack + two weapon fighting + haste will give four possible uses in each combat round. On the other hand, sword and board with haste will only have 3 but with a better AC.

There are lots of options but I would still say that more attacks = more smites.

Another route to that would be 2 paladin/5 warlock/13 sorcerer since a pact of the blade warlock with thirsting blade can also get an extra attack (probably hexblade for SADness). You could also go with 2 paladin/5 fighter/13 sorcerer but that would reduce the spell slots available (could also go 2 paladin/6 fighter/12 sorcerer for the extra feat).

[Spiritchaser]

Provided you aren’t limited to PHB+1 My favourite build for this is vengeance paladin 6, sorcerer (draconic or divine are great, but whatever.)

Take control flames

Run shadow blade

Quicken green flame blade or booming blade (the combination of control flames, the SCAG cantrips and shadow blade preclude this being PHB + 1)

As often as not you’ll have dim light or darkness for advantage and when you can’t, you’ll often have vow of enmity.

I think this works even better if you have a Dex sorcadin with Elven Accuracy, but such creatures almost NEED rolled stats, heroic arrays or other shinanigans...

[Guy Lombard-O]

A lot of folks seem to suggest paladin 2 + full caster for smiting. However, that doesn't make much sense to me since in order to smite you need to attack and hit (ideally crit). The more attacks you have, the more smites you can use (if the goal is doing combat damage using smites). With one attack (even using SCAG cantrips) if you miss you do nothing. So, personally, I would tend to prioritize extra attack as extremely relevant to a build based on smites ... which means 5 paladin ... and if you are going to 5 you might as well go to 6 for the aura ... at that point it is too useful to pass up.

If you just want attacks on which to burn smites .... extra attack + two weapon fighting + haste will give four possible uses in each combat round. On the other hand, sword and board with haste will only have 3 but with a better AC.

There are lots of options but I would still say that more attacks = more smites.

Another route to that would be 2 paladin/5 warlock/13 sorcerer since a pact of the blade warlock with thirsting blade can also get an extra attack (probably hexblade for SADness). You could also go with 2 paladin/5 fighter/13 sorcerer but that would reduce the spell slots available (could also go 2 paladin/6 fighter/12 sorcerer for the extra feat).

Another option for extra attack and full slot progression is to still go paladin 2, swords or valor bard to at least 10 (pick up haste). Maybe go divine soul sorcerer after 12?

[sithlordnergal]

So, I'll be honest, I generally find Paladin/Sorcerers to be the stronger option when you want a Smite Spam Paladin. Yes, Warlocks gain three 4th level spell slots that come back on a short rest, but that's my issue with it. You only have three 4th level spells that come back on a short rest. If you end up in a battle where those 3 smites didn't do the job, you're now stuck with your Paladin slots, which will be 4/2. During any one battle you only have 9 spell slots that you can burn for smites, and only 3 of those will be maxed out.

Compare that to the Paladin/Sorcerer. If you go Paladin 6/Sorcerer 14, you'll have (4/3/3/3/2/1/1/1/1). That's 19 slots for per long rest, and due to Smite being maxed out on 4th level spell slots, you'll have 9 max level smites that you can use during a battle. So even in your first round of attacks didn't kill the big bad, you can just max smite it again. You won't be tapped out of your strongest attacks after your first round of combat like you would be with a Warlock.

Also, with Paladin/Sorcerers you have access to Quicken Spell, Twinned Spell, Green Flame Blade, Booming Blade, and Haste. If you Twin a Haste on yourself and a buddy, not only will you be a very effective team support, but you'll be able to Smite 4 times the next round with Attack, Extra Attack, Haste Attack, and Quicken Booming/Green Flame Blade. And you'll be able to continue to Quicken your cantrips for 4 more rounds.

That said, the Paladin/Sorcerer does have the issue where all of their abilities come back on a Long Rest, so once you're tapped out, you're tapped out for good. However, if you're experienced with playing a Paladin, your resource management should be pretty good by the time you reach level 20. So it isn't that big of a deal.


EDIT: So, a minor thing I just realized. The Paladin/Sorcerer has 9 spell slots that can be used for maxed out Smites every long rest. Meanwhile, a fully rested Paladin/Warlock has a grand total of 9 spell slots that they can use during every battle. Yes, I know 3 of those spells come back every short rest, but lets be honest. What enemy is going to let you have a Short Rest in the middle of a battle? You effectively have 9 spell slots at the start of the day, with the potential of getting more later on.

Also, in order for the Paladin 6/Warlock 14 to match the number of slots a Paladin 6/Sorcerer 14 has, the group would need to take 3 to 4 short rests every day. At 3 short rests they'd have 18 total spell slots for the day, at 4 short rests they'd have 21 total slots. And they'd need 3 short rests in order to match the 9 max smites that the Paladin/Sorcerer has. 3 short rests is do-able...I haven't seen a DM give more then 2 short rests to a party, but it is do-able. 4 short rests would be pushing it.

[Pex]

This is the more traditional approach (aside from level break), and for good reason. Paladin 2/Sorcerer X gains more spell slots at almost every level (except for 13th, 15th, and 17th level). On top of the spell slots, you also have font of magic, which does three key things. Firstly, it provides even more slots. Secondly, it allows you to convert higher level spell slots (which cap at 5d8 damage) into multiple lower level slots. The math on slots-to-points-to-slots actually works out to producing a number of smite dice equal to the slot's previous level (when converting to 1st-level and 2nd-level slots). For example, at Paladin 2/Sorcerer 10 you get your first 6th-level spell slot. Expending it to smite would yield 5d8 damage. However, you could instead convert it to 6 sorcery points and convert those back into two 2nd-level spell slots (worth a total of 6d8 damage). Lastly, sorcery points can be used for metamagic, which has niche uses in a smite build. Compared to the build above, you get many more smites (which end up dealing more dice worth of damage in total) at the cost of never dealing 6d8 smite damage.



I would think it a waste if the only reason you're multiclassing sorcerer so much is to use the spell slots for smites. If you're not casting spells it seems rather boring to me to be smiting all day. You do lots of damage to one target, but that's all you're doing. Paladin/Sorcerer multiclass is good, but one should evaluate it with the Sorcerer spells in mind. The versatility gained is well worth not being so hyped about all the smiting you could have been doing if you weren't casting spells.

[thoroughlyS]

I'm AFB, but I think there's another break point at Warlock level 20. Their capstone ability lets them recover all their pact magic spell slots in one minute, IIRC. So there's up to four more 5th level snores, am I right?
That's not really a "break point", because getting that means you're a 20th level warlock and a "break point" is a multiclassing concept. That being said, it does mean a 20th level warlock will output an expected 96d8 over an expected long rest, compared to the Paladin 2/Full Caster 18, which does 95d8.


Paladin 11/ Spellcaster 9 (either warlock or sorcerer; warlock has slots that recharge on short rests, sorcerer can turn high level slots into smite slots, ie <=4). If you want to spam smites, then you want 11 paladin levels for improved divine smite.How many slots for 5d8 (6d8 with Improves Smites) would I get from this combo (11/9)?
If you go full caster (e.g. sorcerer) you would have 7 slots capable of dealing 5d8 damage: three 4th-level slots, two 5th-level slots, and one each of 6th-level and 7th-level. If you go warlock, you would have the two 5th level slots (potentially 6d8 if you take Eldritch Smite) which are regained on a short rest. Again, the warlock lags behind in slots (by at least one) and dice (by at most two 2d8).




I would go for Sword bard 18/Paladin2

You get full casting (and lvl 9 spells) magical secrets for thoses amazing high level spells.
You can use your bardic inspiration for imrpoved mobility/defense and your slots on smites.

Should you need it you still have the crazy amazing bard spell list to work with

I was going to suggest this very same multi class. You get almost full spellcasting for a ton of slots, extra attack from Swords Bard (and you can go dual-weapon fighting style for an off-hand attack smite as well), and you can tack on some flourishes for extra dice damage on some attacks. Seems like the best of all worlds here.

Another option for extra attack and full slot progression is to still go paladin 2, swords or valor bard to at least 10 (pick up haste). Maybe go divine soul sorcerer after 12?
Swords and Valor Bard are other contenders for a smite build. You lose the ability to convert higher level slots into more slots (to maximize dice), but you get Extra Attack. Technically, Extra Attack isn't necessary for a smite build, but it does open up your options significantly. And in the case of Swords Bard, you do get flourishes to supplement your damage output.
Paladin 2/Bard 6/Sorcerer 12 gives you Extra Attack, and starting at 15th level, you can convert your highest level slots into multiple lower level slots. (You could technically start this at 14th level, but you wouldn't be able to convert your highest slot, as it is 7th-level and you can only have 6 sorcery points.)




I would think it a waste if the only reason you're multiclassing sorcerer so much is to use the spell slots for smites. If you're not casting spells it seems rather boring to me to be smiting all day. You do lots of damage to one target, but that's all you're doing. Paladin/Sorcerer multiclass is good, but one should evaluate it with the Sorcerer spells in mind. The versatility gained is well worth not being so hyped about all the smiting you could have been doing if you weren't casting spells.
The subject of the thread was about maximizing smite. I'm simply responding to the initial prompt. There are other benefits to all of the builds discussed, but the only merit being measured is smiting capability.

[Hecuba]

Swords and Valor Bard are other contenders for a smite build. You lose the ability to convert higher level slots into more slots (to maximize dice), but you get Extra Attack. Technically, Extra Attack isn't necessary for a smite build, but it does open up your options significantly. And in the case of Swords Bard, you do get flourishes to supplement your damage output.
Paladin 2/Bard 6/Sorcerer 12 gives you Extra Attack, and starting at 15th level, you can convert your highest level slots into multiple lower level slots. (You could technically start this at 14th level, but you wouldn't be able to convert your highest slot, as it is 7th-level and you can only have 6 sorcery points.)

You can get Extra Attack (thirsting blade) it with Thirsting Blade with Warlock 5 as well - you gain an Eldritch Invocation at 5, and you can use your once-per-level-up trade of a prior Invocation to pick up another. That covers both Eldritch Smite and Thirsting Blade.

With that in mind, I'll take a crack at a Shar-forsaken build for this:

Edit: let's give her a name - Grace, Might of the Rainbow (https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/story/grace-part-six)
Let's say she's been empowered by Couatls. Gotta love the rainbow serpents.

Paladin 2: Grants Divine Smite. Multiclass spell slots as 1st level caster
Warlock 5 (Hexblade/Pact of the Blade): Grants Eldritch Smite, Extra Attack (Thirsting Blade), Pact Magic (3rd x2)
Sorcerer 7 (origin of choice): Grants Font of Magic to shuffle lower level slots, Quicken SCAG melee cantrips (for 3rd melee attack/round), progresses multiclass spell slots per level.
Bard 5 (College of Whispers): Continues slot progress, grants Psychic Blades for quasi-smite
+1 any of the above: Your choice of a non-smite relevant feature for 20.

You could go lower on Sorcerer (3 would nominally get everything on the list except, but 7 will let you use Font of Magic to make 5th level slots).
That sets your your non-pact magic multiclass spell slots at level 13 or 14, which means 7th level slots.

Presuming you're going full nova and have shadow blade up at 7th level, that should get you to:
1st hit per round: Divine Smite - 4th level, for 5d8; Eldritch Smite - 7th level, for 8d8; Psychic Blade, - 3d6; Shadow Blade - 7th level, 5d8 as the weapon damage.
This would be 18d8+3d6 for an average of 92
Subsequent hit on round: Divine Smite - 4th level, for 5d8; Shadow Blade - 7th level, 5d8 as the weapon damage.
This would be 10d8 for an average of 40
If one of the hits is from the quickened Booming Blade/Green Flame Blade: An additional 3d8 damage
(+Cha bonus for each of the above)


If all 3 attacks hit in the round and charisma is +5, that would carry an average of 201. Maximum would be 361. Min 59 (well, min probably wouldn't involve all 3 hitting, but you get the idea).

Edit: for quick reference, you've blown 3 4ths, a 7th, and a Bardic Inspiration die on this.

[thoroughlyS]

You could go lower on Sorcerer (3 would nominally get everything on the list except, but 7 will let you use Font of Magic to make 5th level slots).
Converting to 5th-level slots (or anything higher than 2nd-level) is actually inefficient, in terms of smite damage output. For example, a 5th-level slot costs 7 sorcery points, and to get that you would have to convert at least a 3rd-level and a 4th-level slot. The 5th-level slot you produce would deal 5d8 damage (the same as the 4th-level slot you converted). You can't use the slot for Eldritch Smite either, because it isn't a warlock spell slot (because it wasn't granted by the warlock class). Even if your DM allows you to expend it for Eldritch Smite, it only does 6d8 damage, compared to the two hits which would generate 4d8 and 5d8. Converting higher level slots to anything larger than 2nd-level is also inefficient, as it would take a 6th-level slot to produce a 4th-level slot.



1st hit per round: Divine Smite - 4th level, for 5d8; Eldritch Smite - 7th level, for 8d8; Psychic Blade, - 3d6; Shadow Blade - 7th level, 5d8 as the weapon damage.
Again, Eldritch Smite specifically requires warlock slots, so you would only be able to produce 4d8 damage from it. You also would only have access to one 7th-level slot. And you can't create more through Font of Magic, because that caps at 5th-level slots. That said, your build would be able to do:

shadow blade (7th-level) 5d8
Divine Smite (4th-level+) 5d8
Eldritch Smite (3rd-level) 4d8
Psychic Blades 3d6
14d8 + 3d6 + CHA + 1 total. 10d8 + CHA + 1, on subsequent hits. After your first turn (casting shadow blade), you could also Quicken booming blade for 13d8 + CHA + 1 damage.

Your first turn would burn one 7th-level slot, two 4th-level slots (if both attacks hit), one 3rd-level warlock slot (if either attack hits), and 1d8 Bardic Inspiration. Furthermore, you'd run out of 4th-level+ slots after six successful hits, run out of warlock slots after your second successful turn, run out of Bardic Inspiration after your fifth successful turn, and run out of Quickened booming blade after four uses. The 4th-level+ figure is actually identical to a Paladin 2/Sorcerer 18 converting higher level slots into more lower level (1st-level and 2nd-level) slots. For every later combat, your shadow blade would deal less damage (especially if you're burning all of your higher level slots to smite).

Comparatively, a Paladin 2/Hexblade 11/Sorcerer 7 would have access to everything but Psychic Blades for:

shadow blade (5th-level) 4d8
Divine Smite (4th-level) 5d8
Eldritch Smite (5th-level) 6d8
15d8 + CHA + 1 total. 9d8 + CHA + 1, on subsequent hits. After your first turn (casting shadow blade), you could also Quicken booming blade for 13d8 + CHA + 1 damage.

In essence, this build trades 3d6 Psychic Blades five times per short rest for a 4d8 shadow blade every short rest.

[Benny89]

I highly appreciate all answers here, but it seems multi doesn't really give THAT much more slots as I thouhgt it will. It's more yes, but I don't think it's worth loosing Paladin capstones. Nevertheless - thank you all for your ideas, build propositions and recommendations. It's always new thing to learn about DnD.

So maybe a different question- would 1 level of warlock be worth to dip into 19 levels of Vengeance Paladin? I don't lose any spell slot of Paladin but I get Eldricht Blast, Booming Blade, Hex and I take Hexblade at 1st level so with PAM I can always use my Charisma for attacks and damage.

That would in theory allow me to ignore Strength and put everything into Charisma, ASI Cha later and put other points into WIS and get only enough STR to wear Plate.

I also get Curse from Hexblade which pairs well with Vow of Emity from Vengeance paladin.

Do you think it's worth?

I would probably do like Vuman Paladin 1 then Warlock 1 Hexblade and then all the rest into Paladin.

[Hecuba]

So maybe a different question- would 1 level of warlock be worth to dip into 19 levels of Vengeance Paladin? I don't lose any spell slot of Paladin but I get Eldricht Blast, Booming Blade, Hex and I take Hexblade at 1st level so with PAM I can always use my Charisma for attacks and damage.
[. . . ]
Do you think it's worth?

I would probably do like Vuman Paladin 1 then Warlock 1 Hexblade and then all the rest into Paladin.

In general, yes. The primary pain-point would be delaying Extra attack from 5 to 6, which is a relatively minor concern for a build you expect to play through 20 levels.

The avenging angel capstone isn't quite a ribbon, but it's close: if you care about flight, advantage on demand, or the freightened condition the you're not waiting until 20 to accomplish them once per long rest.
__________
Edit:
Converting to 5th-level slots (or anything higher than 2nd-level) is actually inefficient, in terms of smite damage output.
You caught some significant errors in my build sketch, but more generally it looks like you are considering a far more sustainable combat structure that I was.

If we're maximizing smite in a vacuum, I'd kind of assume we're looking to manage 1 large Nova round for a boss, not several combats with short rests. If we're looking for sustainable smiting, I agree that you use lower slots.


Again, Eldritch Smite specifically requires warlock slots, so you would only be able to produce 4d8 damage from it.

Huh. You are correct, and it seems the coffeelock I've been playing with for some time a has been misusing sorcerer slots for ES. TIL.

(the 7th level slot double usage was just me being inattentive.)

[Deathtongue]

I highly appreciate all answers here, but it seems multi doesn't really give THAT much more slots as I thouhgt it will. It's more yes, but I don't think it's worth loosing Paladin capstones. Nevertheless - thank you all for your ideas, build propositions and recommendations. It's always new thing to learn about DnD.

Hmmm? It's not just slightly more smiting, it's a LOT more smiting.

Paladin 20 has, including Improved Divine Smite, 4 * (3d8) + 3 * (4d8) + 3 * (5d8) + 3 * (6d8) + 2 * (7d8) = 71d8 of smites spread out over 15 attacks.

Paladin 6 / Sorcerer 14, using Font of Magic to convert all Metamagic Points into 4th-level smites (with one 2nd-level smite left over) and all 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th level spells into metamagic points (not the most efficient use, but good luck actually being able to use all of those smites in one workday) gets 44 points for 7 extra 4th-level smites and 1 extra 2nd-level smite. So:

4 * (2d8) + 4 * (3d8) + 3 * (4d8) + 10 * (5d8) + 2 * (6d8) = 84d8 of smites spread out over 22 attacks.

Note that I intentionally chose a suboptimal conversion because there's a serious question of whether you'll even make 22 attack rolls (over 11 rounds) in one work day. 22 just seemed like a reasonable upper limit. But wait! Our Paladin/Sorcerer has Quicken Spell for Booming/Greenflame Blade. Not only does Quicken Spell give 'virtual' smite dice, but it makes it more feasible to burn through more slots. Ideally, we want the number of Quicken Spells to match our regular Attack Action Smites, which we get two of in a round barring Haste/OA shenanigans. So let's try this:

The Paladin/Sorcerer converts their 8th and 9th level spell slots into metamagic points, starting off with 31 of them. 22 MM points get reserved for 11 Quicken Spells. The remaining 9 get converted into 3 2nd-level smites. The paladin will just smite with their 6th and 7th level slots, wasting the slots slightly but oh well. Gotta have something for the crits.

11 * 3d8 --> 33d8 'virtual' smites from the Thunder/Fire bonus damage.

4 * (2d8) + 6 * (3d8) + 3 * (4d8) + 3 * (5d8) + 4 * (6d8) = 77d8 of smites spread out over twenty attacks.

So the basic paladin with Divine Smite gets 71d8 extra damage dice, while the Pal 6 / Sorcerer 14 paladin gets 110d8 extra damage dice. More than 50% more 'smiting'.

[thoroughlyS]

I highly appreciate all answers here, but it seems multi doesn't really give THAT much more slots as I thouhgt it will. It's more yes, but I don't think it's worth loosing Paladin capstones.
Deathtongue is right, it is a LOT more smiting. True, taken at face value you only get 6 more slots total. But even just using the slots as-is, you gain the slots faster than going pure Paladin. Unless you're starting at 20th level, that is a benefit in its own right. Furthermore, Sorcerer allows you to convert the higher level slots (which won't do more damage) into many more slots.

At 20th level, a pure Paladin will have:

4 1st-level
3 2nd-level
3 3rd-level
3 4th-level
2 5th-level

At 20th level, a Paladin 2/Sorcerer 18 will have all of that, another 5th-level slot, and can convert their higher level slots into any of the following:

18 1st-level (36d8)
12 2nd-level (36d8)
7 3rd-level (28d8) with 1 spare sorcery point
6 4th-level (30d8)

So maybe a different question- would 1 level of warlock be worth to dip into 19 levels of Vengeance Paladin? I don't lose any spell slot of Paladin but I get Eldricht Blast, Booming Blade, Hex and I take Hexblade at 1st level so with PAM I can always use my Charisma for attacks and damage.
If you plan to use any polearm other than a quarterstaff, then you need to take three levels of Warlock for Pact of the Blade, because Hex Warrior requires a weapon without the two-handed property. This would seriously delay Extra Attack, which isn't build-breaking but impacts the effectiveness of Paladin.




Paladin 20 has, including Improved Divine Smite, 4 * (3d8) + 3 * (4d8) + 3 * (5d8) + 3 * (6d8) + 2 * (7d8) = 71d8 of smites spread out over 15 attacks.
Improved Divine Smite add to every attack made, not just those which use smite. Also, the 5th-level slots would still only add 5d8 damage (6d8 counting Improved Divine Smite).

Paladin 6 / Sorcerer 14, using Font of Magic to convert all Metamagic Points into 4th-level smites (with one 2nd-level smite left over) and all 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th level spells into metamagic points (not the most efficient use, but good luck actually being able to use all of those smites in one workday) gets 44 points for 7 extra 4th-level smites and 1 extra 2nd-level smite.
At 20th level, a Paladin 6/Sorcerer 14 will have the same number of 1st through 5th-level slots as a pure Paladin, and can convert their higher level slots into any of the following:

15 1st-level (30d8)
10 2nd-level (30d8)
6 3rd-level (24d8)
5 4th-level (25d8)

Note that I intentionally chose a suboptimal conversion because there's a serious question of whether you'll even make 22 attack rolls (over 11 rounds) in one work day. 22 just seemed like a reasonable upper limit.A popular estimate is that combats last three rounds. Each round, the character presumably makes three attacks: two from the Attack Action with Extra Attack, and a third from Polearm Master. Characters will usually have a 65% chance to hit when making an attack, meaning they are expected to hit about twice a turn. If they expend a slot every time they hit, they only need to see four combats within a long rest to expend all of their slots.