The Specialist

[Grog Logs]

I've been toying around with the idea for a future PC: The Specialist. The Specialist focuses on spells and other ability that debilitate a monster based on its type (e.g., fey, fiend) or other features (e.g., wearing armor made of metal)

In terms of spells that are good at this I'm looking at the following:

Cantrips: Chill Touch, Shocking Grasp
1st Level: Protection from Evil and Good
2nd Level: Blindness/Deafness, Heat Metal, Hold Person, Shatter, Silence
3rd Level: Dispel Magic
4th Level: Blight, Locate Creature
5th Level: Dispel Evil and Good.

To obtain these spells, I'm learning towards Bard 10 / Divination Wizard 2 / Knowledge Cleric 2 / Monster Slayer Ranger X. But, I am also considering Bard 10+ / Monster Slayer Ranger 3+ to keep things simpler.

The Bard is to limit multiclassing as many of the spells are on the Bard list and Magic Secrets can get the rest. The Divination Wizard is optional for the (hopefully) auto-fail saving throw. The Cleric is to use Turn Undead, but I am willing to drop it, with the Knowledge Domain being for flavor and to get access to more skills. The Ranger is to have something that targets Monstrosities, as they are the only frequent monster type that are not covered by the above spells.

Question 1) Is there a better way to accomplish this goal?
Question 2) How effective do you think this would be in actual play?
Question 3)What Bard subclass would fit this theme best (flavor and/or mechanics)?
Question 4)I tend to prefer melee vs. range. If I obtained the War Caster Feat and Constitution Saving Throw Proficiency (probably via Fighter 1-2), would I be able to maintain Concentration more often than not when I was hit? If not, I could find a way to live with fighting at range.

[Man_Over_Game]

It's a cool thought, but I'd personally choose to just go straight Monster Slayer. It focuses more on attacking than subpar casting that may often not be relevant. Plus, the mechanics of the class match the flavor of the concept you're going for.

The Arcane Cleric also has a number of options going for it, having a Cantrip for any problem, the Cleric spell list, and a counter to a lot of different monster types.

My biggest concern with your concept is that there's never 1 thing that you're actually more proficient at doing. Having a plethora of options on this one character will not be as effective as a plethora of PC's having a niche solution that's occasionally perfect for the job.

A Devotion Paladin, for instance, is a lot more than someone who kills Undead, he just happens to be better at killing Undead than most. In your case, your main specialty is using your Action for a niche spell effect that may disable an effect of a single creature, and you inherently don't do that any better than anyone else could (like, say, a Bladesinger with Advantage on Concentration saving throws).

There isn't any synergy. It'd be the equivalent of building your character so it'd be proficient in every Skill, only to be told you're probably only ever going to be using one at a time. Sure, it works as a one-man-army, but there's not as much need to generalize when you have 3+ party members who can do many of those niche things themselves.

[Malbrack]

Man_Over_Game pretty much covered it. You want to multiclass for 2 reasons: (1) To pick up utility your party doesn't have otherwise or (2) To add synergy to a build. So to address 1, it is not clear that your party needs you to pick up all this utility. To address 2, you're delaying the progress of your main class by a lot to grab all these dips. You'll likely be weaker overall for it.

Rather than go 2 Divination Wizard for Portents, maybe consider the Lucky feat? (I know Portents and Lucky aren't the same, but my point is that a dip isn't always the answer.) Honestly, a Lore Bard can do most of what you want here, without the need to multiclass and delay learning higher level spells.

Edit: To add a bit, compare the difference between 5 Bard / 2 Wizard / 2 Cleric vs. 9 Bard. The first build only has level 3 Bard spells and only level 1 Wizard and Cleric spells. The 9 Bard has level 4 and 5 Bard spells: things like Greater Invisibility, Animate Objects, Hold Monster, etc. I'm not sure I'd want to trade away those powerful spells for Portents and some cantrips and level 1 spells. Nevermind that Bard, Wizard, and Cleric all use different casting stats.

[Aaron Underhand]

I played a lore bard vHuman with a one level dip in Wizard - I'd always meant to go Wiz 2 for divination, but it was never worth it.
For party utility reasons his level 1 feat was Healer, but if healing is covered I would recommend moderately armoured from level 1.

Lucky is an excellent feat for this build - I'd take it over resilient Con, or Warcaster. Another I'd recommend is Alert (though I picked up a weapon of warning, just before I was going to take that).

Int 14 was all I needed, though a headband of intellect can be a nice boost.

As for extra skills - with jack of all trades it's unlikely to give much benefit

[Great Dragon]

As pointed out, Bard looks like your best bet.
For 'solo' melee, consider Swords.
For more aid to the party, consider Valor.