Paladin / Sorcerer Multi class Build (Advice)

[Nosta]

I am Thinking of playing a Paladin / Sorcerer and could use some Advice

First Race

Variant Human or Dragon Born (I Admit the Dragon Born is more for flavor)

Game should Start at level 5 and should get to level 10 (Short I know)

So with that In mind How should I spread out the levels for this

I want her to be Able to Nova with Smites and spells

Also I Really want to go Great - Sword But am concern about Ac so I wondering how to fix it

[Rallek25]

What subclasses were you considering?
From what I read so far I'd suggest
Paladin 6/ Sorcerer 4. You won't have access to 3rd lvl spells, but with 6 paladin you have aura of protection which helps you and your party for saving throws.

[Corran]

I am Thinking of playing a Paladin / Sorcerer and could use some Advice

First Race

Variant Human or Dragon Born (I Admit the Dragon Born is more for flavor)

Game should Start at level 5 and should get to level 10 (Short I know)

So with that In mind How should I spread out the levels for this

I want her to be Able to Nova with Smites and spells

Also I Really want to go Great - Sword But am concern about Ac so I wondering how to fix it
Due to level cap and due to you wanting to go with a great weapon, I think going with a singleclass vengeance paladin is your best bet. If you are concerned for defense, perhaps dip one level into sorcerer or warlock for shield, absorb elements and a ranged attack. I wouldn't do it before haste (ie lvl 9) though. Vhuman is better, but dragonborn can work well too. Pick resilient con and GWM as your feats (PAM is another good feat, but you mentioned greatsword and dragonborns will only have two feats up to that point anyway).

[Rallek25]

I do have a suggestion about you wanted to do damage and having a good AC. It wouldn't happen until lvl 9 or 8 depending on how you go about leveling, but you could just use the spell Shadow Blade. It does 2d8 per attack which is better than 2d6. You could pick up dueling as your fighting style and do some decent damage. Obviously you can't use GWM, but it does good damage and you can smite when you crit. You also get advantage when in dim lighting so that will help. If you really want to nova then go Divine Soul sorcerer and pick up Sacred Weapon.
You can do 5d8 + 4 (dueling) + modifiers, all in one attack round. Upcast those and you can do somewhere around 8d8-10d8. I can't remember the exact numbers

[Quietus]

For this, I would probably go with a build mixing Vengeance paladin and Divine Soul Sorcerer, with Variant Human base.

Variant human : Using point buy, get 15+1 str, 14 con, 15+1 cha, and buy a 10 in Wis or Int. GWM for your feat.
Vegeance Paladin 3 : For proficiencies, smite, and bonus action channel divinity to get advantage on someone recharging on short rest
Divine Soul Sorcerer X : This is where the rest of your levels go. At level 5, you don't have metamagic yet, so you can immediately dump your 2 sorcery points into an extra level 1 spell slot. Use your 1/short rest 2d4 to land that clutch smite, or pass a save that you really need.


For spells, If you have access to SCAG, get Booming Blade/Green Flame Blade. Pick up Shield and Absorb Elements, and on the Paladin list you'll want to keep Bless memorized. For most fights you'll use those first level spells to either bump your rolls with bless or for defense. Because of multiclass rules, you'll also have a couple of second level slots, and that's what I would use for smites for now. As you level up you'll get a better feel for where to spend spells, particularly as you pick up metamagic next level and can go nova very, very quickly if needed.

[Benny89]

6/14 build is what I recommend. Best overall build for Sorcadin is Vengeance mixed with Divine Soul Sorcerer. Vengeance gives you VoE, which is great for bosses and your main job as Paladin or any Paladin off-spring is destroying single targets. But Vengeance also gives you Hunter's Mark (great spell for Sword n Shield Sorcadin!), Misty Step and Hold Person, two among best spells. Divine Soul gives you access to Cleric spells, including Spirit Guardians (one of best spells in game and probably best spell for Sorcadin), Death Ward, Holy Weapon, Heal, Greater Restoration, Sanctuary etc.

Now for the build itself. 6/14 is ASI-heavy as your first ASI if level 4 and next one level 10. That is a LOT of waiting if you play from level 1. A lot.

So I recommend Variant Human. Ask your DM if you can start with War Caster (normally you can't cause Paladins dont cast spells from level 1, but 9/10 DMs I have played with allow to take it level 1). If you can take War Caster- great, you now have advantage on concentration saves (very important for Paladins and Sorcadins) and you are ready for Sword n Shield build. If you can't - start with PAM. It's more offensive feat and use either Quarterstaff + Shield, Spear + Shield or later (when you take levels in Sorc) a magic staff + shield.

So if you can start with WarCaster, go 16 STR, 14 CON and 16 CHA. At level 4 boost CHA to 18, at level 10 boost it to 20. Now you have War Caster, 20 CHA, Aura +5, Booming Blade on Opportunity Attacks and you can cast spells with shield in hand.

If you start with PAM, boost CHA to 18 at level 4 and Take Warcaster at level 10. Level 14- 20 CHA.

At level 11 build is fully online as you get Hypnotic Pattern, Spirit Guardians and 4th level slots to upcast Spirit Guardians, Spiritual Weapon or Shadow Blade.

Your main strategy in normal encounter is to open it either with Hypnotic Pattern and then gank enemies one by one with party or open it with Quicken Spirit Guardians and divine into enemies. Spirit Guardians will not only do good and unavoidable AOE DPR around you, but also half-enemies speed and if they try to run away from you, then can only do this at 15 feet if disengage or eat Opportunity Attack Booming Blade (War Caster) if they don't - which will hurt them a lot. You can also just summon Spiritual Weapon for addition 2d8 +5 dmg per turn from bonus action. Later you can run around with Holy Weapon 1h duration buff for extra 2d8 dmg to your weapon.

Your defense is super strong. You have 20 AC at least (Plate + Shield). You can boost it with Shield spell (+5 AC) on reaction. You also have Absorb Elements on reaction to reduce elemental dmg by half and you have also Extended Aid on yourself (5 Temp.HP per slot used) and Death Ward. You have also 35 healing from Lay Down Hands. Later you can combo it with Quicken Heal for total 105 heal in 1 turn.

Your strategy in "Ok, that's a boss, no doubt, full smite-mode engaged" is to upcast Shadow Blade (3d8 - 5d8 dmg) and proceed to smite it straight to Kelemvor. Upcasted 4d8 + 3 Shadow Blade (16 STR) will deal 21 dmg. GWM greatsword would deal 2d6 + 13, so 20 dmg (16 STR). So when you need high dmg as sword n shield Sorcadin, no worries- you can summon it. Without -5 penalty to hit.

If particular high priority target is a humanoid (enemy caster, divine user, boss, lich etc)- cast quicken Hold Person -> auto crit his a** with smites.

Enemy caster behind enemy lines? Quicken Dimensional Door or Misty Step into his face and smite him.

Enemy caster casted Force Cage on you? No worries, you need to pass CHA saving throw :D. Which you have +5 from stat, +2-6 from proficiency and +5 from Aura... That is +12 to +16... Just Misty Step out of it.

For Metamagic I recommend Quicken obviously (you can quicken BB or GFB as your 3rd attack) and Extended personally as Extended Aid + Death Ward for whole deal before every long rest (16h duration) is priceless.

For ASIs on level 14 and 18 I recommend either: PAM for more offense (use Spear + Shield) + Inspiring Leader or Shield Master + Inspiring Leader for more tanky approach. If started with PAM you only have 18 ASI so I would take Shield Master personally. I am more of a tanky option fan as you can have when you need 3rd attack, but being able to just ignore 95 dmg dragon breath is something I am kind of fond of :)