How should I level up from here?

[ButzSanchez]

So I've been in a campaign that's been going for a good 3 years now and my half-orc Sorcadin has been pretty helpful to the party thus far. I've built him with the theme of protection in mind, focusing on spells and abilities that increase survivability. He's currently a level 7 Oath of Ancients pally and 4th level Divine Soul sorcerer with Twinned spell and Quickened Spell. I've got staple spells for the Sorcadin like Booming Blade, Shield, and Absorb Elements, as well as Warcaster.

Originally I planned him to be a big nova damage build, but as I've played I've found my party seems to also build more toward dps and found that some of the base paladin toolkit is ridiculously well suited to tanking and buffing, and that these abilities have pulled our butts out of the fire on more than one occasion. I think given the rest of the party's focus on damage, I want to push him more toward survivability, buffing/debuffing, that kind of thing.

So I'm kind of at a crossroads and I'm here to pose two major questions; One, my immediate dilemma is I'm about to level again and I'm having trouble deciding whether I want to take another level in Sorcerer or Paladin. If I take Paladin I can raise my Charisma from 18 to 20 and fully power my aura of protection, as well as bolster my spells. But if I take Sorcerer 5 now, I get to pick up some cool new spells from either the Sorcerer or Cleric spell list. I'm thinking Haste and either Life Transference or Enemies Abound. All three are twinnable and have their own advantages. Whatever level I pick now, I'll pick the other on my next level.

However that brings me to my second dilemma. Where do I go from there? Do you have any recommendations for how I should balance future levels? Should I focus on Sorcerer and pick up more spell slots, sorcery points, and varied spells? Or should I focus on Paladin and get stronger passive abilities and access to some of the cool stuff in the Paladin spell list? And what spells should I keep an eye out for that really benefit from being twinned?

I mostly wanna see if there are some angles I haven't considered or interesting combinations worth looking at.

[Bobthewizard]

I'd take Sorcerer to 5 next. 3rd level spells are great. If you don't have a cleric, consider spirit guardians. If you don't have someone else to cast them, counterspell, hypnotic pattern and fear are great. If you find mobility is an issue, fly or thunder step can be lifesavers.

I like haste cast by a back-row sorcerer on their martial allies. I'm not a big fan of it on a tank. If you lose concentration, 2 people lose a turn.

Have you read this guide (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?502673-Unlimited-Blade-Works-The-Guide-to-the-Ultimate-Paladin-Sorcerer-Multiclass). It gives a good breakdown of your options.

[RSP]

If your goal is to be more of a buffer and battlefield controller, Sorc levels will be what you want from here on out.

I’m the immediacy, though, I could see taking Pally 8 for the ASI. An eventual Pally 8/Sorc 12 split isn’t bad.

Unless something on the later Paladin levels feels like a must have to you, I’d suggest Sorc levels the rest of the way for spell selection and slots.

[Gignere]

Do you find yourself running out of spell slots or spell points? If yes sorcerer, if not Paladin.

Do you find you wished you had a spell on the sorcerer/cleric list and say gosh if I had those spells things will be so much easier for myself or the party? If yes sorcerer, no Paladin.

Are you dying for an ASI and can’t wait another 3 levels? Yes go Paladin, no sorcerer.

I think that’s the type of analysis you should be going through to determine which class to level up next. You know the style and composition of your DM/party better than any of us. What might make sense for one group or white board optimization may not apply to your circumstances.

So context is very important.

[Deen]

If you didn't build yourself for DPS/Accuracy then go Sorcerer. Paladin gets amazing effects at level 10,11,14,15 (for some Oaths) but mostly it's about getting Improved Divine Smites and Greater Steed (Pegasus or other flying animal). This however only works best for Paladins made for pure DPR (PAM, Revenant Blades, Elven Accuracy crit-fishers etc.).

Since you are classic Sorcadin (sword n board, only two attacks without quicken which you can do only twice so totally not cost-effective) you are pretty much just super tanky and you should stick to what you do best - tank and support. So focus on getting that Sorcerer levels and pick the following spells:

1. Haste - with Twin you can cast two Hastes on two party members. Pick martials of course. They will FREAKING LOVE YOU
2. Spirit Guardians - when there is a lot of enemies to kill, simply pop Spirit Guardians and go to town.
3. Spiritual Weapon - will cover your bonus action attacks without need to waste Sorc Points.
4. Counterspell/Revivify later - by being a support/tank you can now also either protect team from enemy magic attacks or make sure they will get ressurected if they die. Since you will never know more than 3 x 3rd level spells I would pick Haste, Spirit Guardians and either Counterspell or Revivify depending if your team already covers it or not. Second Counterspell is never bad thing, second Revivify is overkill.
5. Remember you can cast Extended Aid/Death Ward before long rest end and give allies huge buffs.
6. Always have Absorb Elements + Shield prepared and Guidance for supporting team skill checks.

Sorcadin is great tank support mix so if you like it and feel like you pull your weight thanks to that in team - just go for it and be better at it :)

[KorvinStarmast]

So I've been in a campaign that's been going for a good 3 years now and my half-orc Sorcadin has been pretty helpful to the party thus far. I've built him with the theme of protection in mind, focusing on spells and abilities that increase survivability. He's currently a level 7 Oath of Ancients pally and 4th level Divine Soul sorcerer with Twinned spell and Quickened Spell. I've got staple spells for the Sorcadin like Booming Blade, Shield, and Absorb Elements, as well as Warcaster.
You don't need booming blade if you are a paladin, but it's a nice single swing attack at that level. Two attacks with your weapon, though, seems to me a better use of an attack. Up to you.

as I've played I've found my party seems to also build more toward dps and found that some of the base paladin toolkit is ridiculously well suited to tanking and buffing, and that these abilities have pulled our butts out of the fire on more than one occasion. I think given the rest of the party's focus on damage, I want to push him more toward survivability, buffing/debuffing, that kind of thing.
suggestion: Sorc 5. The support spells you probably want are Haste, slow, and counterspell. If you need revivify, get a scroll. (As a divine soul sorc, you can cast it :smallcool: )

Why Haste? Twin it on two allies. They become blenders.
Why Slow: Wis save, six enemies are debuffed. The down side is that they try to save each round.
Counterspell: Self explanatory.

Once you have those, take your next level in Paladin to max out charisma now (spell save DCs and Aura)
Sorc for the rest.

[ButzSanchez]

I'd take Sorcerer to 5 next. 3rd level spells are great. If you don't have a cleric, consider spirit guardians. If you don't have someone else to cast them, counterspell, hypnotic pattern and fear are great. If you find mobility is an issue, fly or thunder step can be lifesavers.

I like haste cast by a back-row sorcerer on their martial allies. I'm not a big fan of it on a tank. If you lose concentration, 2 people lose a turn.

Have you read this guide (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?502673-Unlimited-Blade-Works-The-Guide-to-the-Ultimate-Paladin-Sorcerer-Multiclass). It gives a good breakdown of your options.

I have read that guide, extensively, but I also wanted to get multiple impressions from people.

We've got a cleric in our party with Spiritual Weapon and Spirit Guardians, and while I recognize how good those spells are I'd rather not ape what makes his character fun for the party. In their place I was thinking potentially Beacon of Hope. While most people look at it's ability to max healing sources, I'm more interested in it's ability to give advantage on Wisdom saves, one of the most common saves in the game. In combination with Aura of Protection, it would give my allies a super strong defense against some of the most debilitating effects in the game.

[RogueJK]

You don't need booming blade if you are a paladin, but it's a nice single swing attack at that level. Two attacks with your weapon, though, seems to me a better use of an attack.

Two attacks are certainly better. However, BB is generally not intended as a replacement for Extra Attack on a 7/X Sorcadin, but as a supplement. (Booming Blade is only a primary attack for 2/X Sorcadins who stop at Paladin 2 and then go straight Sorcerer from there.)

Sorcadins with Paladin 5+ can still potentially make good use of Booming Blade in a couple different ways:

1) Attack + Extra Attack + Bonus Action Quickened BB (Give you the option for the occasional third melee attack, and a third chance to Smite or potentially Critical Smite in a turn)

2) Warcaster feat for BB Opportunity Attacks (Punish enemies for trying to leave your reach to get at squishier allies.)

[KorvinStarmast]

It's generally not intended as a replacement for Extra Attack, but as a supplement. Sorcadins can still make use of Booming Blade in a couple different ways:

1) Attack + Extra Attack + Bonus Action Quickened BB (Give you the option for the occasional third melee attack, and a third chance to Smite or potentially Critical Smite in a turn) Hmm, had not considered that. I need to tell our party Paladin about that.
Thinking: I may ask our DM to retcon my cantrip selection from the level 12 ASI, since I do have warcaster on my bard now.

2) Warcaster feat for BB Opportunity Attacks (Punish enemies for trying to leave your reach to get at squishier allies.) The latter is certainly an excellent application.

[RogueJK]

The Warcaster + Booming Blade combo gets a bit more mileage if you also have Polearm Master and are wielding a Spear/Quarterstaff + Shield. This means you can take your BB Opportunity Attacks when an enemy first moves next to you, netting you bonus damage for PAM's OA-on-approach ability, on top of the option to use it to punish an enemy that tries to move away.

[ButzSanchez]

The Warcaster + Booming Blade combo gets a bit more mileage if you also have Polearm Master and are wielding a Spear/Quarterstaff + Shield. This means you can take your BB Opportunity Attacks when an enemy first moves next to you, netting you bonus damage for PAM's OA-on-approach ability, on top of the option to use it to punish an enemy that tries to move away.
There's a particular combo I've been using as an Oath of Ancients paladin that I enjoy; Moonbeam+Booming Blade. Enemies are damned if they move, damned if they don't. It's not especially high yield damage wise but it puts pressure on foes pretty well.