MultiMultiMulti Classing: 4 or more classes

[Melphizard]

Greetings my fellow build creators!

Every now and again I find myself thinking "what haven't I played" and have to sit around for a while just trying to think of something interesting to do. Today I have realized that I've never gone beyond using 3 classes in a multiclass for a theoretical build so I wished to send this idea out to the forums.
Note: I'm an Adventurer's League player who's played for many years so in a sense when it comes to magical items it's more of a choose then look-for.


Rules:
1. You have up to 20 levels with which to multiclass however you wish
2. You must use at least 4 classes in your build
3. You may incorporate 6 magical items of very rare or lower
4. Preferably stick to Forgotten Realms books (so no Eberron, Ravnica, ect)

My current idea thus far (inconclusive): 3 Barbarian (Totem Warrior), 2 Fighter, 2 Paladin, 3 Ranger (Gloomstalker), 10 Artificer (Battlesmith)
^ The above concept allows for you to infuse multiple stat-boosters that can allow some minor dumpstats for certain things such as con.


I hope for the build to be functional in a sense but since this is a gimick I don't expect it to outdps a GWM Sorcadin. So what ideas do you think you can create with this?

[Amnestic]

Horn tooting, both my Oni (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25297236&postcount=1318) use 4 classes

Specifically Rune Knight Fighter 11, Fiend Warlock 2, Zealot Barbarian 4, Conquest Paladin 3 and Battlesmith Artificer 12/Rune Knight Fighter 4/War Magic Wizard 2/Knowledge Cleric 1, though not in that order.

Coming up with another one off the top of my head, Shadow Monk 9/Arcane Trickster Rogue 5/Gloomstalker Ranger 4/Twilight Cleric 2 - again probably not in that order.

Twilight Cleric serving as a source of Dim Light for monk teleport. Could trade arcane trickster out for assassin if you wanted the more potent first turn nova but to no one's great surprise, getting some additional spell flexibility (even if you dump Int you can blow the slots on Shield) is nice.

[AsuraKyoko]

One I came up with a while ago is a Bugbear Grave Cleric 2/Assassin Rogue 5/Paladin 2/Hexblade Warlock 11

The build is designed to do exactly one thing in combat (though you can easily do other things too, it's hardly helpless): sneak up to a boss and obliterate it in one hit.

While hidden, our sneaky Bugbear uses Channel Divinity to give the boss vulnerability to all damage from the next attack against it. Then, on his next turn, he casts Banishing smite with one of his Warlock slots and attacks the target with Booming Blade. When he hits, he spends 2 more Warlock spell slots to use both Eldritch Smite and Divine Smite. Because of Assassin, this attack automatically is a critical hit, doubling all damage dice. The rough damage calculation:



Dice
Average
Source


2d6+13 Piercing
20
Shortsword


4d6 Cold
14
Wakened Dragon's Wrath Shortsword


6d8 Thunder
27
Booming Blade


12d8 Force
54
Eldritch Smite


12d8 Radiant
54
Divine Smite


10d10 Force
55
Banishing Smite


6d6 Piercing
21
Rogue's Sneak Attack


4d6 Piercing
14
Bugbear's Sneak Attack



259
Total



The initial hit does 259 damage, and the target has vulnerability, which doubles it to 518 damage total. This comes just shy of killing an Ancient Red Dragon in one hit, but it does bring it below the 50 hp threshold required to banish it, which gives the rest of the party plenty of time to prepare a kill box and finish it off the instant it returns.

Other than the magic weapon, there are several other magic items that can help, the most notable being Illusionist's Bracers, which gets our bugbear friend the ability to make two attacks a turn with Booming Blade. Another magic item that can help (but is out of scope for the rarity) is the Rakdos Riteknife, which bumps up the damage a bit and has some neat utility and flavor besides.

Outside of The Killshot, you bring some general value as a Warlock, and have some other minor utility spells elsewhere.

[Khrysaes]

I had a Spell-less variant revised ranger gloomstalker ranger 3/shadow monk 6/Battlemaster 6/Swords bard 5 build once.



The main idea was to be invisible and teleport in darkness while having 5 inspiration dice and a bunch of superiority dice and maneuvers that recharge on a short rest.

I also made a
1 arcana cleric/2 hexblade warlock/2 lore mastery wizard(UA)/Artillerist Artificer X
Hexblade was to have shield and short rest uses of my Turret. Lore Mastery was for the type changing on spells, which can still be used. I had a lot of cantrips.

Finally,

I made a life cleric 1/Hexblade Warlock 2/Druid 1/Alchemist Artificer 5+

We ruled that the Moon Sickle item worked with goodberry, so too then did the alchemist level 5 ability.

each goodberry healed 4+intelligence modifier +1d4 hp.

The warlock levels were the same, using them to use the alchemist potion on a short rest, also getting shield.

[Gtdead]

Take a fairly standard EK 11/GS3 build and apply the Paladin 2/Assassin 3 "addon". Finish it off with a dip into a full caster or artificer for more spells for more spell slots.

With upcasted 3rd level shadowblade, 8 attacks thanks to action surge and all the spell slots used for smites, it deals 24d8+40+28d8+2d6 = 241 dice damage + 40 flat damage. Double dice damage on crit, apply Eleven Accuracy and you deal about 400~ dpr against 25 AC. That's enough damage to oneshot 98% of the published monsters.

Any elf race can work here depending on the party. Mark of Shadow Elf is the most autonomous though because it gives access to PWT (drop concentration after surprise is determined) for the rest of the party, so you can actually force a surprise round on your own. Your stealth score is high, with max dex and expertise, but the problem with surprise isn't your stealth score, is everyone else's. For feats, 2 DEX ASIs and EA.

A variation would be EK12/GS3/Assassin3/Paladin2, which loses a caster level (less smiting) but gains an ASI to spend on Alert or Woof Elf Magic.

You can further augment it through magic items like Sentinel Shield for initiative and a fire giant belt which would be like a +2 shadowblade. This build may be DEX based, but there is no conflict with using giant belts. A mobility boosting item would be nice too.

Paladin 2 is a memelord build. It's fun to theorize but not that good in practice (except Bless I guess) because you will want to use your spell slots and not just wait for this one encounter to unload. The good thing is that you can drop it and still do very respectable damage on a surprise round. And actually the Rogue dip isn't too bad. The GS3/Assassin1 addon gives canny and 2x expertise, Rogue 2 gives you a use for BA, allowing you to Fog Cloud + Hide if you want a strong defense. Going for Rogue 3 at this point is a small price to pay. Something like Fighter14/GS3/Assassin3 or Fighter12/GS5/Assassin3 (PWT access if not possible to gain through other means).

[Segev]

Assassin, Gloomstalker, Battlemaster, Monk, and either Sorcerer or Metamagic adept.

While hidden, subtle cast *hunter's mark* on the target before battle even starts. Use *pass without trace* to assist the hiding if needs be, but you will drop concentration on it for *hunter's mark* just before announcing your attacks.

When you announce attacks, you trigger initiative. Gloomstalker adds your wisdom as well as your dexterity to your initiative, and gives you an extra attack in the opening round with +1d8 damage. Assassin makes every hit on a surprised target a critical hit. Monk lets you flurry of blows for two extra critical hits. Battle Master lets you apply battle dice to damage with the right choices of maneuvers. Action surge lets you make all three attacks (from Extra Attack and Gloomstalker's round-1 extra hit at +1d8 damage) again. This totals eight attacks.

*Hunter's mark* adds +1d6 to each hit.

The critical hits double all dice, so the two Ambush attacks get an extra 2d8, the maeuver-enhanced strikes get the battle dice doubled, and the *hunter's mark* extra damage is 2d6 on all eight attacks.

[Foxydono]

If I had the choice I'd consider two builds:

1. Paladin 7 (Oath of the Ancients), warlock 1 (Hexblade), Fighter 2, Bard 10 (Eloquence). You can play around with almost any subclass except Hexblade to make this work. I'd advice on 10 Bard for magical secrets, my personal favorite is Circle of Power. Start Paladin for proficiency Wis. Of course you can also go sorcerer instead of Bard if you prefer sorcery points, but expertise, bardic inspiration dies and magical secrets are better if you ask me. You can also consider Fighter level 1 or Paladin 6 so you get 6th level spells on your Bard.
Feats: Warcaster, +2 Cha, Skill Expert +1 Cha
Magic Items: +3 sword +2 shield +2 armor (full plate), weapon of warning, Tome of Leadership, Rythm Maker's Drums +3

AC: 25 (30 with shield spell)
HP (with 14 con): 153
Save DC: 23
To Hit: +15 (also spell to hit)
Specials: 5 skills expertise, resistance to spell damage, advantage on saving throws, very good saves +6 to all
Attack: Hexblade curse (crit 19+) and start attacking, if crit = smite. You can even consider going Barbarian for reckless attack and dumping fighter. If you do that go (Half)-Elf and take EA instead of Skill Expert.

You can't really go wrong with the build. You are a perfect face, skill monkey, tank, caster, damage dealer and you can provide a lot of backup through your aura's.

2. Ranger 5 (Gloomstalker), Fighter 3 (champion), Rogue 11 (Arcane Trickster), Cleric 1 (Peace Domain). Less room to play around with this build, reliable talent and peace domain make for an excellent skill monkey. You can of course also take the Knowledge Domain have two more expertise skills. Too bad we don't have excess to third level spells though.
Feats: EA, Crossbow Expert (or use a long bow and take another feat), +2 dex, Sharpshooter
Magic Items: +3 Bow, weapon of warning, Tome of Manuel Quickness, boots of flying, bracers of archery, Rod of Security

AC: 18
HP (with 14 Con): 152
Save DC: low, don't cast spells with save DC
To Hit: +17 (with triple advantage.. or +12 with sharpshooter)
Specials: extra attacks, cunning action, skill monkey, easy crits, easy advantage, sneak attack bonus and just a lot of damage in general. Try not to get in line of fire though.

If you like sneaking around and doing tons of damage, this build is for you!

[Willowhelm]

I’d probably do something based off treantmonk’s build here:

https://youtu.be/H2VcTQH2izY

https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/22587635/jzFcIk

Expertise in 13 skills. Proficiency in all the rest. I’d tweak it to fit the campaign but it’s playable and a little ridiculous. Seems like fun.

[BerzerkerUnit]

Paladin 2
Rogue 3 Assassin
Bard 6 Blade College
Warlock 9 Hexblade is strongest but any Blade pact works

When you have surprise you can generate: 4d8 Rapier+4d6 Sneak+24d8 Eldritch Smite+18d8 Divine Smite+4d8 Blade Flourish. 46d8+4d6+5 damage (50d8 if target is undead) provided you hit with both attacks.

So that's... ~226 damage on average to a single target before magic items.

[Naanomi]

I played a Warlock/Fighter/Rogue/Sorcerer once that was all about surprise attack Eldritch Blast optimization... I'm not sure exactly what the modern version of it would be but it shouldn't be too hard to work out

[Milodiah]

I've had great fun combining the various stealth and illusion/misdirection abilities of Warlock invocations with the...roguishness of Rogue, and I've also had an intriguing paladin/rogue who used the information gathering skills of the Inquisitive rogue archetype to better boost his diplomacy and de-escalation abilities as an Oath of Redemption paladin. I figure those would glue together very well, but what else?

I guess a generalist wizard would let me have a big arcane toolbox for dealing with the unexpected; it wouldn't be a huge deal that Int isn't as high as Cha because they're not meant to be big damaging spells that people are rolling saves against, they're more divination and other support.

Kind of an interesting idea, I'm definitely pursuing it when I get home.

[SLOTHRPG95]

The Lorekeeper: Knowledge Cleric 1/Diviner Wizard 2/Lore Bard 3/Tomelock (patron to taste) 3, with the rest to taste. Story-wise a seeker of knowledge in all its forms. Mechanically you'll have okay at-will damage and access to all rituals from Warlock, medium armor and shields and double Knowledge expertise from Cleric, portent and Shield/Absorb Elements from Wizard, and extra skills/expertise (plus BI) from Bard. Personally I'd probably take it Clr 1/Wiz 2/Brd 14/War 3, giving both Peerless Skill and 7th level magical secrets as a capstone.

The Stormlord: Storm Sorcerer 1/Tempest Cleric 1/Storm Herald Barbarian 3/Rune Knight Fighter 7 w/ Storm Rune, rest to taste. Kind of a joke build but if played seriously I'd go Ftr 11/Clr 5/Bar 3/Sor 1, so basically a martial with some magic thrown in at later levels for out-of-combat utility.

[Amnestic]

This one is somewhat dependent on magic items - specifically Amulet of Health and Headband of Intellect to boost your flagging scores.

True Mystic Theurge

Arcana Cleric 5
Diviner Wizard 5
Wildfire Druid 5
Lore Bard 5

...not necessarily in that order, though probably cleric first for armour proficiencies.

3rd level spells from each power source - arcane, divine, primal, music (two of which are Spells Prepared) - and fully levelled spellslots for stupid upcasting. You'd probably use your damaging spells with Wis (Or Int, with the headband) and dedicate your bard spells known towards utility spells or things that don't have a saving throw/attack roll.

The subclasses aren't 'required'. I picked Arcana because of theming and Wildfire because of its decent set of spells and a use for your Wild Shape, but Nature Cleric or Stars/Land druid would be other thematically appropriate alternatives.

[Khrysaes]

This one is somewhat dependent on magic items - specifically Amulet of Health and Headband of Intellect to boost your flagging scores.

True Mystic Theurge

Arcana Cleric 5
Diviner Wizard 5
Wildfire Druid 5
Lore Bard 5

...not necessarily in that order, though probably cleric first for armour proficiencies.

3rd level spells from each power source - arcane, divine, primal, music (two of which are Spells Prepared) - and fully levelled spellslots for stupid upcasting. You'd probably use your damaging spells with Wis (Or Int, with the headband) and dedicate your bard spells known towards utility spells or things that don't have a saving throw/attack roll.

The subclasses aren't 'required'. I picked Arcana because of theming and Wildfire because of its decent set of spells and a use for your Wild Shape, but Nature Cleric or Stars/Land druid would be other thematically appropriate alternatives.

This makes me cringe because you lose the level 6 subclass feature on all four classes.

Edits:
Okay, I was looking at unique spells by each of these classes.

I would drop wildfire druid to 3 or 4, and take arcana cleric and/or lore bard to 6.

Druid's only unique third level spell is Call Lightning, so going 4 druid/6 lore bard and using the magical secrets to get the spell is a net gain, spell wise.

That said I think out of the level 6 features, arcana cleric is probably the best, and if you want to/allowed you can take the Izzet Background to get call lightning on cleric list, so Arcana cleric 6/Diviner wizard 4/Wildfire druid 4/Lore bard 5 could work...

That said, bard straight up DOESN'T have unique 3rd level spells. Just a unique cantrip (vicious mockery), 1st level (dissonant whispers), 4th level (Compulsion), and 9th level (power word heal), so 5 bard isn't really needed, and you can probably go 4 bard too.

Ergo, 6 Arcana cleric/6 Diviner wizard/4 Wildfire Druid/4 Bard (I am not sure I would go lore) is probably better than 5/5/5/5

Especially since Divination wizard 6 allows you to refill your own spell slots.

Alternatively, Cleric has three unique third level spells: Spirit Guardians, Beacon of Hope, Mass Healing word.
Two of which can be chosen by mark of Healing halfling + Orzhov or Boros Backgrounds, meaning you can go lower on cleric if wanted.
Edit: As of Tasha's bard gets mass healing word too, so you don't need mark of healing halfing either.

[Amnestic]

This makes me cringe

Then my job is done.

[MrCharlie]

Not really sure how to get an effective caster out of this, unless we just ignore the spirit of the challenge and do something like wizard 17 cleric 1 bard 1 sorcerer 1, at which point why are you even bothering?

I could probably rock some sort of Paladin/Rogue/Fighter/Ranger build, if only because they have a ton of on-hit effects and attack modifying abilities. Rune knight or Battlemaster, Swashbuckler, Gloomstalker, and Vengeance or Watchers or something for paladin.

The main problem is qualifying for the multiclass, as you'd need a 13 in everything except INT. You can do it, but with point-buy you end up with a 12 CON outta the deal.

[Amnestic]

It's definitely going to be nowhere near as effective as someone with actual 9th level spells
but
a) It's funny
and b) The upcasting potential means that you're absolutely happy to drop a 7th level counterspell or a 6th level dispel magic to guarantee shut things down, because...why not?

In a similar but not quite identical vein,

The Half-True Mystic Theurge. Sadly we can't use Bards for this because there's no musical halfcaster we're going Rogue (Arcane Trickster) instead since they've got the same illusion/Enchantment focus.

Since we're not obnoxiously aiming for 3rd level spells anymore, we can be more flexible with our breakpoints.

Armourer Artificer 4 (Arcane)
Ancients Paladin 7 (Divine/Oath)
Swarmkeeper Ranger 4 (Primal)
Arcane Trickster Rogue 5 ('Music')

Again it's MAD as hell: 13 needed in Str, Dex, Int, Wis and Cha to adhere to multiclass requirements so we're gonna be not great at anything until we grab a headband of intellect and use that as our 'attack' stat, pumping all our ASIs into charisma to then bump up our paladin aura. Unlikely to spend too many spell slots on smite since there's anti-synergy between armourer and either paladin (thicc armour) and rogue (infiltrator armour for ranged sneak attack).

An alternative version takes Hexblade in exchange for a level somewhere, switches Artificer from Armourer->Artillerist, uses turrets and pumps cha as their main attack+def stat, but I don't like hexblade shenanigans so skipped.

Is it good?

No, even if you had ideal magic item support.
Can it work?
...sure, probably.

[Xetheral]

Bladesinger Wizard 12/Hunter Ranger 4/Hexblade Warlock 2/Paladin 2

Race: Half-Elf (+1 STR, +1 DEX, +2 CHA)
Starting Class: Paladin
Base Stats: STR 13, DEX 13, CON 8, INT 13, WIS 13, CHA 17
Final Stats: STR 13, DEX 13, CON 19, INT 13, WIS 13, CHA 20
ASIs: Elven Accuracy (CHA), CHA +2, War Caster, [Any]
Magic Items: Staff of Power, Illusionist Bracers, Amulet of Health, Mithral Plate, Shield +3, Eversmoking Bottle (give to familiar)
Class Feature Choices: Blind Fighting Style, Defense Style, Horde Breaker
Invocations: Agonizing Blast, [Any]

HP: 166
AC: 26
Attack Routine:
First Round of Combat: Contingency (Spirit Shroud @ 5th) triggers, Familiar (in full cover under character's cloak) uses action to activate Eversmoking Bottle, PC moves into melee

ACTION: Attack Action

Melee Attack: +13 (triple advantage), 1d6+2d8+5
Eldritch Blast: 4x +13 (triple advantage), 1d10+2d8+5
BONUS ACTION: Illusionist Bracers

Eldritch Blast: 4x +13 (triple advantage), 1d10+2d8+5
HORDE BREAKER

Melee Attack: +13 (triple advantage), 1d6+2d8+5

Average Damage if all 10 attack rolls hit: 193
Repeat without additional resource expenditure for 9 more rounds
Uses 1x 5th and 1x 6th level spell slots per combat
Add spell slot expenditure on Smites and Song of Defense to Taste

[Khrysaes]

Here is a new one I made. Probably not good. MAD as all hell. Best with a Headband of intellect.

Race: Custom Lineage or V human? Doesn't really matter:
Classes: 6 Fire Draconic Sorcerer/5 Alchemist Artificer/1Life Cleric/6 Wildfire Druid/1 Genie warlock/1 (7 wild fire druid or 2 Genie warlock)

The key parts are stacking the bonuses to healing and/or fire damage.

Genie warlock adds proficiency fire damage to one attack roll per turn.
Draconic sorcerer adds charisma mod to damage to fire spells.
Wildfire druid adds a d8 fire damage to fire damage spells while wildfire animal is summoned.
Alchemist Sorcerer adds Intelligence mod to fire damage spells cast using alchemist supplies.

Life cleric adds 2+spell level to healing spells
Alchemist adds intelligence mod to healing spells cast using alchemist supplies
Wildfire druid adds a d8 bonus to healing spells while wildfire animal is summoned.
Druids can wield moon sickle for +1d4 per healing.

You can choose to take 7 druid for 4th level spells, 2 warlock for invocations, and/or drop 1 life cleric and take both, or 3 warlock.

Artificers, through the item all purpose tools, can get elrtich blast as an artificer cantrip if you have the agonizing blast invocation.

Essentially, EB or Firebolt from the artificer, using alchemist supplies as the focus. Add +proficiency fire damage, +charisma fire damage, +charisma(agonizing blast) +intelligence, +1d8 fire damage.

Also works somewhat with Celestial Warlock 6, and/or Artillerist Artificer 5. Artillerist specifies artificer spells.

[nickl_2000]

Half-Elf Gloomstalker Ranger 4 / Druid 2 / Way of Shadow Monk 6 / Scout Rogue 8

Face, Striker, Infiltrator, Trap Finder, emergency healing. You will never be dropping the ninth level spells, but you can go pretty much all day without a problem or running out of resources.

Final Stats
8/22/19/12/18/14
AC: 22

Skill Expert and Sharpshooter feats

Magic Items:
LongbowShortbow +3
Manual of Quickness of Action
Amulet of Health
Mantle of Spell Resistance

Expertise: Acrobatics, Nature, Perception, Persuasion, Slight of Hand, Stealth, Survival, Thieves Tools
Prof: Arcana, Deception, Insight, Investigation,

Longbow +3 is the dedicated Monk Weapon

Two attacks: 1d6+19 damage, +12 to hit.
If you happen to miss you can use your focused aim on Ki to make it a hit.

Dread Ambusher and Favored Foe to add some extra damage frequently.
Sneak attack: 4d6

Damage on Round 1: 70
Damage Round 2: 59

If your DM allows you to get a bonus action attack when you use Focused Aim add in an extra 22 damage on those rounds.



-Between wildshape, gloomstalker invisibility, pass without a trace, and stealth you can infiltrate anywhere
-Scout and cunning action makes you impossible to pin down
-Jump spell and step of the wild makes you jumping distance almost silly
-Shadow Step to teleport
-Speed of 45 ft.
-Patient Defense and AC 22 to avoid being hit
-Deflect Missiles, Absorb Elements, and Uncanny Dodge in case you do get hit anyways
-Evasion and to avoid the AoEs
-Charm Person, Expertise in Persuasion (+14), Prof in Deception (+8) to face all you need.


Plus if you needed your ability checks higher, you have Guidance, you have minor illusion for fun, and mending to fix and broken windows. You have healing word for emergence healing and goodberry for using up spell slots. Plus the emergency buttons of Darkness and Fog Cloud in case you do get pinned down and you need to clear out.

[Amnestic]

Longbow +3 is the dedicated Monk Weapon

Longbows are Heavy, so they can't be dedicated monk weapons.

Works with a shortbow though.

[Khrysaes]

Longbows are Heavy, so they can't be dedicated monk weapons.

Works with a shortbow though.

They can be kensei weapons though. I think. Afb

Guns can be dedicated weapons though

[nickl_2000]

Longbows are Heavy, so they can't be dedicated monk weapons.

Works with a shortbow though.

Why so it is, I have no idea why I never noticed that before. I updated the post.


They can be kensei weapons though. I think. Afb

Guns can be dedicated weapons though

They are Kensei weapons, but that would take away all the sweet Way of Shadow casting and goodies. I would rather see a reduction of 2/3 damage per round that lose pass without a trace, silence, darkness, and minor illusion

[Nerdguy88]

Aberrant Sorcerer 6/Celestial Warlock 4/Arcane Trickster Rogue 3/Illusionist Wizard 2/Land Druid 2/Artificer 1/Arcane Cleric 1/Bard 1

The build starts with Wizard and revolves around the idea of someone who just isn't that good at learning high level magic. He flunks of of Wizard school and begins his journey to learn how to do real magic. Complex spells confuse him. Throughout his career he picks up a lot of the low levels spells from all different sources and almost every single cantrip in the game. Eventually he builds/finds a mizzium apparatus which lets you burn a spell slot to cast any spell that is on your class spell list with a skill check.

[Khrysaes]

Aberrant Sorcerer 6/Celestial Warlock 4/Arcane Trickster Rogue 3/Illusionist Wizard 2/Land Druid 2/Artificer 1/Arcane Cleric 1/Bard 1

The build starts with Wizard and revolves around the idea of someone who just isn't that good at learning high level magic. He flunks of of Wizard school and begins his journey to learn how to do real magic. Complex spells confuse him. Throughout his career he picks up a lot of the low levels spells from all different sources and almost every single cantrip in the game. Eventually he builds/finds a mizzium apparatus which lets you burn a spell slot to cast any spell that is on your class spell list with a skill check.

Star druid is better for mizzium apparatus because of the dragon starry form

[Nerdguy88]

Star druid is better for mizzium apparatus because of the dragon starry form

This may be true but the Land Druid gets more cantrips haha.

[Khrysaes]

This may be true but the Land Druid gets more cantrips haha.

Only until the mizzium apparatus at which point land druid is moot

Sragon starry form raises the minimum arcana check from 17 given a 1, +5 int, +6 prof and +6 expertise to 26, which is a 100% chance to cast 8th level spells.

Iou. Stone of mastery or something like vedalkin will raise that to 28/27 respectively

[Nerdguy88]

Only until the mizzium apparatus at which point land druid is moot

Sragon starry form raises the minimum arcana check from 17 given a 1, +5 int, +6 prof and +6 expertise to 26, which is a 100% chance to cast 8th level spells.

Iou. Stone of mastery or something like vedalkin will raise that to 28/27 respectively

These are fair points. I know the original post said we could plan with multiple magic items but I never count on having magic items. I've played with GMs that give them out like candy and GMs that think giving out a single +1 sword to a level 10 party breaks the game. Normally I just play artificers so I can make my own stuff lol.

[Khrysaes]

This may be true but the Land Druid gets more cantrips haha.

I took another look. They actually get the same number of cantrips. Star druid just doesn't get a choice, they get guidance.

[Khrysaes]

I took another look. They actually get the same number of cantrips. Star druid just doesn't get a choice, they get guidance.

Additionally, while it may fit, sorcerer levels are a waste on this build because the only unique spell they get is chaos bolt.

[Nerdguy88]

Additionally, while it may fit, sorcerer levels are a waste on this build because the only unique spell they get is chaos bolt.

Sorcerer/Warlock are there mainly for extra cantrips and coffee lock potential. While it may not be a lot having extra spells slots for pretty much any spell in the D&D could be useful.

[Khrysaes]

Sorcerer/Warlock are there mainly for extra cantrips and coffee lock potential. While it may not be a lot having extra spells slots for pretty much any spell in the D&D could be useful.

Any 5th level and below spell. Yeah.

That said, you would need at most 2 sorcerer/3 warlock(or 1 warlock and a race that doesn't sleep? like warforged or Reborn?)


When I last made a Mizzium apparatus user, I think I made:

2 paladin(1 caster level)/1 cleric/2 Star druid/1 warlock/1 bard/1 wizard/1 artificer/11 levels of full caster classes.

I chose this combination for the uses of Smites and unique spell coverages.

I haven't checked since Fizban's, but last I did, the only unique sorcerer spell was Chaos Bolt, which is capable of being attained through a background(Izzet Engineer), which is also the guild which gives the mizzium apparatus.

1 Warlock is not considered a caster level for the purpose of spell slots.
2 Paladin is 1 caster level. You can change this to 3 warlock if you don't care about unique spells on the paladin list or smites so you can do coffee lock.
Notably, 1 Artificer, and SPECIFICALLY 1 artificer is a full caster level, as they are level divided by 2 rounded up.

So that is four levels and 2 caster levels, meaning 15 other levels HAVE to be full caster levels in order to get 9th level slots. Leaving 1 level available to be a non-caster level.

I don't have ranger levels because I don't think the spells unique to ranger are worth the levels.
Since you probably want High INT, I would give 12 levels of wizard, which also nets 3 ASI.

You can get expertise through
3 bard
1 rogue
1 Ranger with Tasha's alternative class feature
1 Knowledge Cleric
Feats
Racial Features

These are the spells not on the 2 paladin(1 caster level)/1 cleric/2 Star druid/1 warlock/1 bard/1 wizard/1 artificer/11 spell list:
Sorcerer: Chaos Bolt
Ranger: Conjure Barrage, Conjure volley, Cordon of Arrows, Ensaring Strike, Hail of Thorns, Hunter's Mark, Lightning Arrow, Swift Quiver, Zephyr Strike
And Paladin if you choose 3 warlock: Banishing smite, blinding smite, branding smite, circle of power, compelled duel, crusader's mantle, destructive wave, divine favor, Find Steed, Find Greater Steed, searing smite, staggering smite, thunderous smite, wrathful smite.
Some of these can be gained through subclasses, Dragon marked races, or Ravnica Backgrounds

[Amnestic]

Lightning Fist

Artillerist 5 - Arcane Firearm to +1d8 to shocking grasp (or booming blade, or thunderclap)
Tempest Cleric 8 - Channel Divinity to maximise lightning/thunder damage, Blessed Strikes for +1d8 radiant. Also Thunderous Strike to push them away from you.
Blue or Bronze Draconic Sorcerer 6 - +ChaMod to lightning damage.
Djinni Genie Warlock 1 - 1d8 (or Maximised) Thunder damage.

Illusionist Bracers: Lets you do (most of) it again as a bonus action.

[Khrysaes]

Lightning Fist

Artillerist 5 - Arcane Firearm to +1d8 to shocking grasp (or booming blade, or thunderclap)
Tempest Cleric 8 - Channel Divinity to maximise lightning/thunder damage, Blessed Strikes for +1d8 radiant. Also Thunderous Strike to push them away from you.
Blue or Bronze Draconic Sorcerer 6 - +ChaMod to lightning damage.
Djinni Genie Warlock 1 - 1d8 (or Maximised) Thunder damage.

Illusionist Bracers: Lets you do (most of) it again as a bonus action.

The armorer artificer can pair well with tempest cleric too.


Took a look at this:
Thunderbolt strike only pushes a target when doing lightning damage.
Djinni warlock doesn't ad a D8 thunder damage, it adds proficiency bonus thunder damage to ONE roll per turn.
Blessed Strikes adds 1d8 radiant damage once per round.

I would suggest
4 Armorer Artificer
6 Bladesinger
8 Zeal Cleric from Planeshift: Amonkhet
1 Genie Warlock (Djinn)

This will allow you to stack thunder damage
Your weapon, the Guardian Armor gauntlet, does thunder damage.
A creature hit by the gauntlet has disadvantage on attack rolls against targets other than you until the start of your next turn
The armorer Guardian armor can be light, allowing you to use bladesong too.
Because of bladesinger extra attack, you can cast a cantrip as the second attack, using booming blade.
Zeal cleric can use their channel divinity to maximize thunder damage.
Zeal cleric level six is like the Thunderous strike of Tempest cleric, but works on thunder damage instead of lighting.
Zeal cleric level 8 adds 1d8 weapon damage every hit. As noted, our Gauntlets do thunder damage.
EDIT: I mispoke, its not every hit, its once per turn.
As mentioned before, Djinn Warlock adds proficiency bonus thunder damage once per turn.

So up to every turn, with illusionist Bracers, you can do
Action:
Attack 1: 2d8 Thunder damage: Push 10 feet. Impose Disadvantage to attack creatures other than you
Move towards
Attack 2: 1d8 thunder damage + Booming Blade + proficiency: Push 10 feet
Move towards
Bonus Action: 1d8 Thunder Damage + Booming Blade: Push 10 feet
Move Away
Reaction: Warcaster: 2d8 thunder damage + Booming Blade + proficiency: Push 10 feet

Because you moved away and it has disadvantage to attack anything else, if it moves it takes booming blade rider(s)

Then, twice per short rest, one attack can be maximized.

[FabulousFizban]

hallo, my name is Abserd and what is this?

[SLOTHRPG95]

hallo, my name is Abserd and what is this?

Finally, someone suggests the ultimate optimized multiclass build!

[KorvinStarmast]

vHuman Monk 6 Druid (Shepherd) 7 Cleric 2 (Life) Rogue 5. (Fixed, thanks Khrysaes :smallsmile: )
Start with Monk: S 8 D 15 C 13 I 10 W 15 Ch 10 vHuman Feat = Resilient Wis.
S 8 D 16 C 14 I 10 W 16 Ch 10
You say 6 items? Up to very rare?

1 Belt of Fire Giant Strength
1 Cloak of Displacement
1 Broom of Flying
1 Book: boost Wisdom
1 Book: Boost Dexterity
1 Headband of Intellect (at high level int saves start to show up)

Yeah, it's ridiculous, but you didn't limit the items. (A lot of the builds I've seen offer "x points for magic items" and each rarity costs a lot more points").

The point of this class is to: be lightweight.
Fear no immunity.
Summon when needed.
Be able to turn undead.
Get some sneak attack benefits, as well as cunning action and dodge. Do a little healing here and there as needed. Have access to 4th level spells, to include Polymorph because it's fun.
Final Wis = 22 Final Dex = 20 Final Con = 14

[Khrysaes]

vHuman Monk 6 Druid (Shepherd) 8 Cleric 1 (Life) Rogue 5.
Start with Monk: S 8 D 15 C 13 I 10 W 15 Ch 10 vHuman Feat = Resilient Wis.
S 8 D 16 C 14 I 10 W 16 Ch 10
You say 6 items? Up to very rare?

1 Belt of Fire Giant Strength
1 Cloak of Displacement
1 Broom of Flying
1 Book: boost Wisdom
1 Book: Boost Dexterity
1 Headband of Intellect (at high level int saves start to show up)

Yeah, it's ridiculous, but you didn't limit the items. (A lot of the builds I've seen offer "x points for magic items" and each rarity costs a lot more points").

The point of this class is to: be lightweight.
Fear no immunity.
Summon when needed.
Be able to turn undead.
Get some sneak attack benefits, as well as cunning action and dodge. Do a little healing here and there as needed. Have access to 4th level spells, to include Polymorph because it's fun.
Final Wis = 22 Final Dex = 22 Final Con = 14

You need 2 cleric to turn undead.

[KorvinStarmast]

You need 2 cleric to turn undead. I'll fix that.

[kazaryu]

Greetings my fellow build creators!

Every now and again I find myself thinking "what haven't I played" and have to sit around for a while just trying to think of something interesting to do. Today I have realized that I've never gone beyond using 3 classes in a multiclass for a theoretical build so I wished to send this idea out to the forums.
Note: I'm an Adventurer's League player who's played for many years so in a sense when it comes to magical items it's more of a choose then look-for.


Rules:
1. You have up to 20 levels with which to multiclass however you wish
2. You must use at least 4 classes in your build
3. You may incorporate 6 magical items of very rare or lower
4. Preferably stick to Forgotten Realms books (so no Eberron, Ravnica, ect)

My current idea thus far (inconclusive): 3 Barbarian (Totem Warrior), 2 Fighter, 2 Paladin, 3 Ranger (Gloomstalker), 10 Artificer (Battlesmith)
^ The above concept allows for you to infuse multiple stat-boosters that can allow some minor dumpstats for certain things such as con.


I hope for the build to be functional in a sense but since this is a gimick I don't expect it to outdps a GWM Sorcadin. So what ideas do you think you can create with this?

ah-ha! i have ideas for this. so the basic build is 4 levels each in:
warlock , sorcerer , wizard , cleric , bard and druid. no matter what you go with, at a minimum you probably want teh sorcerer/warlock levels since that gives you a solid baseline.

so the basics you have EB/AB combo for decent at-will damage, meanwile you have tons of optiosn for utility spells fro both in and out of combat. for the most part i see the character playing like a martial, but with tons of options for utility. The exact build you land on, of course, depends on subclass/mid class options you take:

want a damage dealer?: hexblade, tempest, divine soul: grab quicken and transmuted spell metamagic. divine soul lets you cast spells like inflict wounds as though they're sorcerer spells, transmuted spells lets you target vulnerabilities/avoid resistances and immunities with your HBC/hex empowered scorching rays. for single target burst damage spells like hellish rebuke, you can transmute to thunder/lightning then channel divinity to max out. all around fairly solid damage and its even moderately sustainable. quicken of course lets you EB/EB or scrochingray into an eldrich blast, if you're in a position to spend the sorcerery points. there's also room, if you want to sacrifice an ASI, to go to level 5 to get some 3rd level spells. like sorcerer5 for spirit guardians, or wizard 5 for spirit shroud.

want a controller? repelling blast +diviner+maybe lvl 5 druid for plant growth. repelling blast is some limited at-will control, and diviner makes landing control spells easier

out of combat utility: Goolock, enchanter, druid/bard (maybe sac the cleric levels). getting into places is easy with wildshape, bard levels get you a couple of skill expertise' yada yada.


its a fairly versatile chassis with a lot of customization options, and tons of different ways for youy to combine spells you might not normall consider. like..armor of agathys at 6th level: take a hit and drop a 7th level maxxed out hellish rebuke. you take 10 damage, enemy takes 110. whats the bet they don't try attacking you again? boinus points if you also cast bladeward so you ACTUALLY only take 5 damage. (or..ya know, whatever you take).


and then if you throw in magic items it just goes nuts.
illusionist bracers: hey, now you have at will double EB for when you don't want to/have the spell slots to spend
staff of power: bonus to AC is always nice, but this also gets you limited access to some higher levels spells you may be missing. in particular wall of force and hold monster (especialy if you're a diviner wizard).
cloak of displacement is great for adding layers of defense.
rod of absorption potentially MASSIVLEY increases your available spells lots to do bull**** like up casting armor of agathys. (you can also charge it up yourself some by casting spells into it on purpose. or having an ally do so)

[AIResearch]

I would go with some Wizard 17 build for sure for 9th level Wizard spells.

Pick up Druid 1, Life/Peace/Twilight Cleric 1, and Monk 1 to make taking Wisdom to 20 really good (22 Wisdom with Tome) and then use Headband of Intellect to turn your 13 Int to 19 Int.

Candle of Invocation is a great magic item for you and is AL legal (Illusionist Bracer's and Mizzium Apparatus are not AL legal). The Candle makes all your first level spells at-will.

[Silpharon]

Here's one more for your thread:

The Lightning Sniper, a Nova Specialist
Armorer Artificer 5, Assassin Rogue 3, Divine Soul Sorcerer 5, War Wizard 5, Fighter 2

I wrote all about it here (didn't see this thread at first):
https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?640976-Lightning-Sniper-and-Nova-Specialist

Long story short, lots of stealth, initiative, AC, and damage. Spoiler top nova combo: ~726 average 1-turn damage from a double int-based Eldritch Blast, quickened Scorching Ray with 7th level Spirit Shroud and concentration-less Bestow Curse auto-critted with triple advantage on all 15 attacks. It also does high damage at 300 and 120 ft ranges as well, without burning spell slots (the bread and butter sniper part of the build).

I'm starting a campaign where I plan to go this build, though with some small changes. I got a good starting stat roll that's letting me grab Telekinetic in addition to Elven Accuracy for more bonus action utility. I'm also using a homebrew half-elf Eladrin with the Fey Step trait.

[AIResearch]

Here's one more for your thread:

The Lightning Sniper, a Nova Specialist
Armorer Artificer 5, Assassin Rogue 3, Divine Soul Sorcerer 5, War Wizard 5, Fighter 2

I wrote all about it here (didn't see this thread at first):
https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?640976-Lightning-Sniper-and-Nova-Specialist

Long story short, lots of stealth, initiative, AC, and damage. Spoiler top nova combo: ~726 average 1-turn damage from a double int-based Eldritch Blast, quickened Scorching Ray with 7th level Spirit Shroud and concentration-less Bestow Curse auto-critted with triple advantage on all 15 attacks. It also does high damage at 300 and 120 ft ranges as well, without burning spell slots (the bread and butter sniper part of the build).

I'm starting a campaign where I plan to go this build, though with some small changes. I got a good starting stat roll that's letting me grab Telekinetic in addition to Elven Accuracy for more bonus action utility. I'm also using a homebrew half-elf Eladrin with the Fey Step trait.

I would still go for Wizard 17th build. Wait and see.

[SLOTHRPG95]

I would still go for Wizard 17th build. Wait and see.

Yes but any 17/1/1/1 split is against the spirit of the challenge, arguably moreso for a full caster where you already have 9th level spells and might not even lose the extra 5th/6th/7th level slots.

[AIResearch]

Yes but any 17/1/1/1 split is against the spirit of the challenge, arguably moreso for a full caster where you already have 9th level spells and might not even lose the extra 5th/6th/7th level slots.

A 17/1/1/1 entry is just as valid as any other entry unless the OP adjusts the submission guidelines.

Shepherd or Stars Druid 17/life or twilight or peace cleric 1/ monk 1/ wizard 1 (Staff of Power, Headband of Intellect, Candle of invocation) is also a strong submission. Shepherd is just plain strong and if you go Life Cleric you unlock Regeneration 10 and Greatberries.

[SLOTHRPG95]

A 17/1/1/1 entry is just as valid as any other entry unless the OP adjusts the submission guidelines.

Shepherd or Stars Druid 17/life or twilight or peace cleric 1/ monk 1/ wizard 1 (Staff of Power, Headband of Intellect, Candle of invocation) is also a strong submission. Shepherd is just plain strong and if you go Life Cleric you unlock Regeneration 10 and Greatberries.

Not from the OP but this was brought up further upthread (emphasis added):


Not really sure how to get an effective caster out of this, unless we just ignore the spirit of the challenge and do something like wizard 17 cleric 1 bard 1 sorcerer 1, at which point why are you even bothering?


You can also read through all the posted builds and see that none of them follow a 17/1/1/1 split. If you find such a build to be interesting then that's obviously your perogative, but it does indeed buck the generally established convention of these builds. Again, I think the reason why is somewhat obvious: it's too easy to make a strong build when you start with 17 levels of single-classed full caster. At that point it honestly doesn't matter what your last three levels are, you'll have a powerful character.

[AIResearch]

Not from the OP but this was brought up further upthread (emphasis added):



You can also read through all the posted builds and see that none of them follow a 17/1/1/1 split. If you find such a build to be interesting then that's obviously your perogative, but it does indeed buck the generally established convention of these builds. Again, I think the reason why is somewhat obvious: it's too easy to make a strong build when you start with 17 levels of single-classed full caster. At that point it honestly doesn't matter what your last three levels are, you'll have a powerful character.

I also like Arcana Cleric 17/ Druid 1/ Wizard 1/ Fighter 1. Start Fighter for heavy armor proficiency. Grab Scorpion Armor and Staff of Power.