Lowest level that sorlockadin comes online?

[Apanthro]

Hi giantitp, long time listener second time caller. I'm currently the proud owner of a level 2 divine soul sorcerer/hexblade by the name of Oar. Currently the plan I wish to follow vis-a-vis leveling is:
Sorcerer 1
Hexblade 2
Hexblade 3
Sorcerer 4
Sorcerer 5

...and after this I'm stumped. I try to play Oar as a gish, with most of my spells geared towards support or social utility. I'd like to pick up pact of the tome if at all possible, although I understand I might need pact of the blade instead for thirsting blade.

I doubt this campaign will go much further than 10. Currently we're playing dragon heist, though that will likely branch into something else after 5. From the research I've done it seems that level 3 sorcerer spell slots should be my top priority. Perhaps take 2 paladin levels at 7?

Str 8 Dex 16 Con 14 Int 8 Wis 13 Cha 16

[Trampaige]

You will never qualify to be a paladin because of your 8 strength, unless your DM house rules it.

[Blood of Gaea]

It comes online at level 3 when you have Agonizing Blast and Hex. After that, it's just getting higher level slots and spells.

[Gtdead]

This combination would come online at 6 as Hexblade 1 (curse)/Paladin 2(smite)/Sorc 3(blur and metamagic), assuming you do this for melee ability. But I really don't see the point. Hexblade 5 already has almost all of these things.

I would omit paladin and go for a sorlock (hex 3, sorc x), agonizing blast, devil's sight, darkness and eldritch blast focus. Your melee abilities will be mostly for flavor, but compared to a lvl 6 lock/sorc/paladin multiclass, it won't be that much worse, if any at all.

[Slider Eclipse]

Well as already said unless you're in a Home game that ignores the Multiclass prerequirements you'll never be a paladin at 8 str.

However, with the question at hand what level the build comes online depends on your weapon choice.

If you're going with a 1 handed weapon like a Scimitar or Rapier then it starts functioning at level 3. Hexblade 1/Paladin 2/Sorcerer or Bard X. you get Hex Warrior at 1st level of Hexblade and your Divine Smite at Paladin 2 which are the key points of the build.

Now, note the above only applies if you're going with a one handed weapon, if you want a Glaive or a Greatsword you're looking to not even entering your Sorcerer/Bard levels until you're Hexblade 3/Paladin 2. This is because you need 3 levels in Hexblade to get Pact of the Blade to allow your weapon to qualify for Hex Warrior's Cha to Hit/Damage effects.

Either way any further levels of Hexblade or Paladin are up to taste. Hexblade can be good up to level 4 for access to Eldritch Blast as a solid Ranged Attack, a Pact of your choice and of course if you're going to level 3 might as well do level 4 to secure a Feat at some point. Paladin remains solid all the way up to Paladin 8. the Oaths can secure some solid spells on your spell list, level 5 gets you Extra attack for even more smiting, level 6 takes your SADness to the next level with Cha to all Saves, level 7 gives an Aura based on your Oath and almost all of them are solid depending on how you're taking the character, and of course like with Hexblade if you're going to level 7 might as well secure level 8 for that Feat.

[Apanthro]

Well as already said unless you're in a Home game that ignores the Multiclass prerequirements you'll never be a paladin at 8 str.

However, with the question at hand what level the build comes online depends on your weapon choice.

If you're going with a 1 handed weapon like a Scimitar or Rapier then it starts functioning at level 3. Hexblade 1/Paladin 2/Sorcerer or Bard X. you get Hex Warrior at 1st level of Hexblade and your Divine Smite at Paladin 2 which are the key points of the build.

Now, note the above only applies if you're going with a one handed weapon, if you want a Glaive or a Greatsword you're looking to not even entering your Sorcerer/Bard levels until you're Hexblade 3/Paladin 2. This is because you need 3 levels in Hexblade to get Pact of the Blade to allow your weapon to qualify for Hex Warrior's Cha to Hit/Damage effects.

Either way any further levels of Hexblade or Paladin are up to taste. Hexblade can be good up to level 4 for access to Eldritch Blast as a solid Ranged Attack, a Pact of your choice and of course if you're going to level 3 might as well do level 4 to secure a Feat at some point. Paladin remains solid all the way up to Paladin 8. the Oaths can secure some solid spells on your spell list, level 5 gets you Extra attack for even more smiting, level 6 takes your SADness to the next level with Cha to all Saves, level 7 gives an Aura based on your Oath and almost all of them are solid depending on how you're taking the character, and of course like with Hexblade if you're going to level 7 might as well secure level 8 for that Feat.

D'oh! How'd I forget that? Still though this is great information, thank you. Sorlockadin is already pretty powerful, being able to dump strength on top of that would probably be too high DPR for the rest of my group. Right now I'm using a rapier and shield, but with quicken and pact of the blade it seems like I could still dish out nearly as much damage.

Would there be any point in picking up a bard archetype as opposed to sinking points into paladin? Again it'd be primarily for support and social utility. Whispers seems handy.

[Apanthro]

This combination would come online at 6 as Hexblade 1 (curse)/Paladin 2(smite)/Sorc 3(blur and metamagic), assuming you do this for melee ability. But I really don't see the point. Hexblade 5 already has almost all of these things.

I would omit paladin and go for a sorlock (hex 3, sorc x), agonizing blast, devil's sight, darkness and eldritch blast focus. Your melee abilities will be mostly for flavor, but compared to a lvl 6 lock/sorc/paladin multiclass, it won't be that much worse, if any at all.

Would you recommend keeping with the original plan? Sorcerer 1, Warlock 2,3 Sorcerer 4,5 Warlock 6, Sorcerer X?

[Slider Eclipse]

D'oh! How'd I forget that? Still though this is great information, thank you. Sorlockadin is already pretty powerful, being able to dump strength on top of that would probably be too high DPR for the rest of my group. Right now I'm using a rapier and shield, but with quicken and pact of the blade it seems like I could still dish out nearly as much damage.

Would there be any point in picking up a bard archetype as opposed to sinking points into paladin? Again it'd be primarily for support and social utility. Whispers seems handy.


Not particularly, Bard is better as a Sorcerer alternative. Especially for a more Support/Melee focused build as you have things like College of Swords that can really make you effective in close quarters as well as straight access to any spell in the game thanks to Magical Secrets.

In general each class has it's reason for being in the build

Hexblade gives you Cha to Hit and Damage so you can keep everything up to par at later levels, Eldritch Blast for a very solid ranged attack at any time, and Hexblade's Curse for that one guy you really need to get rid of ASAP. It also gives a handful of handy utility spells like Armor of Agathys or Hex.

Paladin is there for the Smites, giving you a way to really make some damage when you strike. if you really push into Paladin it's also there to keep you and your teammates save with that Cha to Saves feature. Oath can also really help out with things. My personal favorite is Vengeance as you get access to Hunter's Mark for a less necrotic version of Hex as well as Bane for more someone with more Support focus in mind. Advantage for an entire fight once per short rest is also very handy as is Misty Steps for when you need to get somewhere specific.

Sorcerer is for cycling your Smite's and anyone who wants to cast spells while keeping up the attacks via Metamagic. the main point here however is to get full Spellcasting access so you have plenty of Spell Slots to feed into your Divine Smites.

Bard gives you Full Spellcasting like Sorcerer for those sweet sweet Smite Slots, but it also helps you be more Paladin-y with it's access to Healing spells and generally solid support on it's spell list. Bardic Inspiration also helps a lot with the Support concept of the build. Furthermore you have Magical Secrets to pick up the really good spells like Healing Spirit or even some of the nicer Paladin Spells you're likely not going to be able to naturally pick up from the class such as the higher level Smite spells that can help lock down specific targets or any of the Aura spells that can really help support the party. The big bread winner though is if you go College of Swords, with that you really become a solid frontline support unit as you can suddenly ensure you're exactly where you need to be to help the party at a moment's notice and be a solid tank with one of the highest possible AC's in the game.

Note that Sorcerer and Bard share a similar basis for the general idea here, they're there to get you the spell slots for Divine Smite and define what you're attempting to go for, Bard functions as a solid tank/support role while Sorcerer is for doing more Smites in general or for doing both spellcasting and smiting in the same round.

[Chronos]

If you want to be Tomepact but still do melee, consider making Shillelagh one of your extra cantrips. If Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide is on the table, you'll probably also want Booming Blade.

[Gtdead]

Would you recommend keeping with the original plan? Sorcerer 1, Warlock 2,3 Sorcerer 4,5 Warlock 6, Sorcerer X?

I advocated for the devil's sight build because you have already picked one level of each class, so my recommendation would be Sorc 1 -> Lock 3 -> Sorc x. Darkness is extremely powerful because it gives you both offensive and defensive advantage. Against tough targets with high AC, it's better than hex offensively. Just make sure to use it right, because you can blind your team mates with it.

However, depending on your party, getting sorc 5 may be more important, because lvl 3 spells are a huge power up. If you have a barbarian and a fighter for example, twinning a haste is one of those things that only sorc can do and it allows your party to deal some serious damage.

If I was playing a sorlock, I'd maybe do something like Sorc 8 -> Lock 3, beacuse I want the lvl 3 and 4 spells with the highest spell dc I can get.

[Throne12]

If you want to be Tomepact but still do melee, consider making Shillelagh one of your extra cantrips. If Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide is on the table, you'll probably also want Booming Blade.

Why Shillelagh? They are a Hexblade there can use cha for attack already.


Side note to op.
Attacking with BB or GFB then quicken another one. Then use warlock short rest slots to turn into sp.

[Fryy]

Hex 1 / Sor X - If you want to be a utility caster, then 1 level of Hexblade is enough for the medium armor and shield. Quicken would enable on round 1 either quicken-bless +attack or quicken-spirit guardians +dodge for example.

Hex 2 / Sor X - If you want to be also a high single target damage dealer than you really want 2 levels of warlock for Agonizing Blast specifically. You also want Quicken to double your blasts for a round.

Hex 5 - If you want to mostly swing a melee weapon then you want Hexblade 5 for 2 attacks with Thirsting Blade.

There is a great guide for a Divine Soul sorlock. Just google 5e sorlock tormented soul.

You will like the spells 'shield' and 'absorb elements'. If you wear a shield you will need the war caster feat to cast either as a reaction.