Absurd type build challenge. 2 levels in 10 classes?

[CTurbo]

I've seen the Absurd character mentioned quite a bit lately and inspired by the most recent "What if all 13s..." post, I had the idea of what character I would build if I took 2 levels in 10 different classes using point buy to make sure I qualify for each class taken.

I think 14, 13, 13, 13, 13, 8 is the best array to use. I don't want to dump Con, so I need to decide on what my main stat is going to be and make sure I start with a 16 in it since I'll never get an ASI.

10 classes chosen means 3 classes get left out so I need to figure out what makes the most sense to drop and where my dump stat needs to be. Right off the bat I think Barbarian should be the first class marked the off the list so I should safely be able to dump Str. I'm going to choose Cha as my main stat because magic and Hexblade so with Half-Elf, I can start with 16 Cha, 14 Dex, 14 Con, 13 Int, 13 Wis, 8 Str.

I think the next thing to figure out is if I'm going to use armor or not. Medium armor makes the most sense and offers the highest AC, but a lot of DMs aren't going to allow fancy metal armor and Druid, and I think I want Druid for Wildshape, moar spells, and spells slots. I think 14 dex + infinite Mage Armor I'll get from Warlock + shield for a respectable AC of 17 will work.

I guess next I figure out which 2 other classes I'm going to drop. Monk and Artificer came to mind because I don't feel like Monk adds very much since using a shield cripples it's features, and I don't really like the Artificer although I'll admit that I'm not too familiar with it having never seen it in play.

I guess I can start by listing the classes I know I want for sure.

Warlock(Hexblade) - Cha for everything, Eldritch Blast, Agonizing Blast, Armor of Shadows, 2 short rest slots
Sorcerer(Aberrant Mind) - Con Saves, more spells and slots
Bard - Jack of all Trades, Inspiration Dice, more spells and slots
Fighter - Second Wind, ACTION SURGE, Fighting Style
Rogue - Expertise, Cunning Action, Sneak Attack(I guess lol)
Druid(Moon) - Wildshape, more spells and slots
Cleric(Peace) - Emboldening Bond, Channel Divinity, more spells and slots
Wizard (Diviner) - PORTENT, Find Familiar, more spells and slots

That means I have to choose 2 more classes out of Paladin, Ranger, Artificer, and Monk.

Paladin makes the most sense. You don't gain a whole lot here but the main thing is Divine Smite and more spells and slots but I guess another Fighting Style and Lay on Hands too.
I'll take Ranger last for the utility is brings along with a few more spells and slots and a 3rd Fighting Style.

So I'd know pretty much all cantrips and 1st level spells in the game that are worth taking. Many great rituals, and even though I only know 1st level spells, I have two 5th level slots and a single 6th level slot to use to upcast or smite with. I'd be good at almost every skill with the weak point being Athletics, but I could choose that as one of my Expertise if I wanted to bolster that weakness.

Three Fighting Styles would be Blind Fighting, Dueling, and Close Quarters Shooter.

Eldritch Blast is my go-to for damage, but I won't be too bad if I need to strike with a Rapier considering Booming Blade and Smites along with other various add-ons like Hex, Sneak Attack, Hex Curse, Favored Foe, etc

Should be a pretty reasonable character and possibly fun to play.

I think I'll do this thought experiment again using medium armor and I'll just trade Druid for Artificer.

What build would you make?

[JNAProductions]

Paladins need a 13 in Strength for the multiclass.

[CTurbo]

Paladins need a 13 in Strength for the multiclass.

Oh yeah good call. I was thinking only Barbs had the Str requirement.

[RogueJK]

Intelligence is probably the best option for a dump stat. Only Wizard and Artificer require it. I'd then also leave out Barbarian, because Rage doesn't play nice with spellcasting, and you're going to have a bunch of spellcasting.

So that'd look something like:

Standard Half-Elf
STR 13
DEX 13+1
CON 13+1
INT 8
WIS 14+2
CHA 13

Stars Druid 2 (Starting Class)
Twilight Cleric 2
Marid Genie Warlock 2
Paladin 2
Clockwork Soul Sorcerer 2
Fighter 2
Rogue 2
Bard 2
Ranger 2
Monk 2

You've got WIS-based Booming Shillelagh melee attacks with bonus cold damage, and lots of upper level Divine Smite spell slots.
You've got WIS-based Cantrip + Archer Form ranged attacks with bonus cold damage (plus free Guiding Bolts).
You've got WIS-based Druid and Cleric 1st level damage and debuff spellcasting, many of which can be upcast into your higher level slots.
You've got a bunch of CHA-based Bard/Sorcerer/Paladin utility and buff spellcasting that don't care about your middling CHA score, plus upcastable Magic Missile.
And you've got a large amount of skill proficiencies, plus Expertise in 3 skills, plus Jack of All Trades in everything else.

And several of your subclass features scale with Proficiency, not class level.

[animorte]

And several of your subclass features scale with Proficiency, not class level.
This here is likely the most important part of the build, whatever is decided to do with it.

Another note, some of the design may benefit from an imbalance in the classes. Some only being 1, others having up to 3 levels. Some subclass features might be worth it.

[CTurbo]

I think 14, 13, 13, 13, 13, 8 is the best array to use. Half-Elf gives me 16 Cha, 14 Dex, 14 Con, 13 Int, 13 Wis, and 8 Str.

Warlock(Hexblade) - Cha for everything, Eldritch Blast, Agonizing Blast, Armor of Shadows, 2 short rest slots
Sorcerer(Aberrant Mind) - Con Saves, more spells and slots
Bard - Jack of all Trades, Inspiration Dice, more spells and slots
Fighter - Second Wind, ACTION SURGE, Fighting Style
Rogue - Expertise, Cunning Action, Sneak Attack(I guess lol)
Druid(Moon) - Wildshape, more spells and slots
Cleric(Peace) - Emboldening Bond, Channel Divinity, more spells and slots
Wizard (Diviner) - PORTENT, Find Familiar, more spells and slots
Ranger - utility, Fighting Style, and more spells and slot


Ok I'm trading Paladin for Artificer since I don't qualify for Paladin with 8 Str.

I lose a Fighting Style(Dueling), Lay on Hands, and Smite so my melee takes a pretty big hit.
I gain more rituals, cantrips, 4 infusions, and some all around utility. I'll take Enhanced Defense for +1 to AC, Enhanced Arcane Focus for +1 for spells, Homunculus Servant, and Replicate Magic Item.

Spell slots stay the same.

[Kane0]

Well, I suppose i'll start with warlock.

Warlock 2 is a fine dip so it'll be fine as a base for a nothing-but-dip character. Best thing to pair it with are other CHA classes so that straight away gives us four of out 10 classes (Bard, Pally, Sorc, Lock).
From there we probably don't want to spread across to other casting stats if we can help it, so that turns us to Fighter and Rogue for our next easy picks which brings us to 6 classes.
The last four are harder. Barbarian works but rage doesn't sync well with all the splashes of casting we will be getting and lack of extra attack, however monk is a source of valuable extra attacks.
Monk means Wisdom, so that by extension leads us to Ranger, Druid and Cleric to round out our final three. Barbarian, Artificer and Wizard got left behind.

To multiclass it all we will need 13s across the board except for INT, standard human will work best for the MADness but it's not mandatory.

You also have a good spread of Tier 1 spells and Tier 2 slots, smites, cunning action, some inspirations, second wind and action surge, three fighting styles, expertise, a familiar if you're using Tasha's and even a bit of Ki should you get caught with your pants down.
The biggest problem you will face is that you will have zero access to ASIs, so your stats will not increase past level 1 unless you read a Tome. Best make sure to pick up Bless and Magic Missile just in case. Shield will get some good use too.

As for subclasses, you only need to choose for Warlock, Sorc, Cleric and Druid. Your actions and bonus actions will be heavily contested already so lets go with some nice passive options where possible
Cleric: Knowledge or Trickery
Druid: Land or Stars
Sorcerer: Clockwork or Divine
Warlock: Genie or GoO

Not useless, but not a powerhouse.

[cyberfunkr]

I don't have time to create a complete build, but I may revisit...

I do want to give some suggestions to would-be crafters:

1. Be a human to get the extra feat and skill. Alternately, be a Custom Lineage for the extra feat and get darkvision. Or some kind of elf, because they get a lot of freebies. Remember, you'll never get an ASI so this would be the only chance to get a feat.
2. Drop monk. You will be using medium armor for defense as your combined Wis + Dex will never match medium armor and a shield. Wearing any armor nullifies EVERY MONK FEATURE. They are the weakest link in any absurd build.
3. Drop barbarian. You are only getting barbarian for rage, but rage will knock out a lot of your potential (no spell casting means in combat, you won't cast Artificer, Bard, Cleric Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Sorcerer, Wizard, nor Warlock spells)
4. Drop paladin. It's the only remaining class that would demand a high Strength score. You'll lose laying of hands, divine smite, and a fighting style. But it would allow you to pump up the more important stats.
5. For Wizard, choose "War". You aren't going to go higher that 14 for Dex (max +2 on armor), but War will give you an advantage on initiative so you can respond quicker to threats. It also gives a once-per-round +2 to AC. The "only cantrips" won't matter since you'll mostly use cantrips (you can only get 1st level spells in each class). Alternately, choose "Bladesinger" if you plan on being a melee absurd.
6. For Warlock, choose "Celestial". More free spells, and Healing Light to make up for losing Paladin's Laying of Hands. Alternately, choose "Hexblade" for wrathful smite and hexblade's curse.
7. For Sorcerer, chose "Aberrant Mind". More free spells, and telepathy. Alternately, choose "Shadow" for the darkvision and getting back up from 0 hp.
8. For Druid, it's a toss up between "Moon" and "Spores". Mostly will depend on play style.
9. For Cleric, it's also a toss up between "Life", "Light", and "Arcana". Life will grant a bonus to healing, Light will give you flare, and Arcana will give you more spells. Pick based on play style as well.

High-level thinking:
1. All Charisma based spell casters have a fixed number of spells per level, whereas Intelligence and Wisdom based casters get more spells with higher stats. So if going with a caster, you're better off getting a minimum 13 (maybe 14) for Cha and boost your Wisdom/Intelligence for better selection. Which also means, get Shillelagh for your attack instead of Hexblade to use Charisma. Of course using Dexterity for ranged attacks/finesse weapons is still an option.
2. Taking Rogue as your first class means you'll get one extra skill proficiency. Taking Sorcerer as your first class means you'll be proficient in Constitution and Charisma saving throws (which is good as those saves are used for the spells that will really screw you up).
3. For Artificer Infusions, don't waste one of the four on Bag of Holding. You'll eventually find/buy one. Get four that will last for the life of the character.
4. Between Fighter and Ranger, you'll want some combination of Archery, Blind Fighting, Defense, and Dueling for your Fighting Styles, depending on how you set up the character.

I think that's enough to go on...

[Kane0]

2. Drop monk. You will be using medium armor for defense as your combined Wis + Dex will never match medium armor and a shield. Wearing any armor nullifies EVERY MONK FEATURE. They are the weakest link in any absurd build.

Not all! You still get your Ki powers like bonus action dodge or two unarmed strikes twice per short rest.

[CTurbo]

I've been thinking about how I'd make a heavy armor version of this build.

I'd go Mountain Dwarf with a 14, 13, 13, 13, 12, 9 spread and start with 16 Cha, 13 Dex, 14 Con, 13 Int, 13 Wis, 9 Str

Fighter 2
Warlock 2(Hexblade)
Paladin 2
Bard 2
Sorcerer 2(Shadow)
Ranger 2
Rogue 2
Cleric 2(Forge)
Wizard 2(War)
Artificer 2

Same spell slots as my above build, but one trades stealth and utility for toughness.

With Plate + Shield + Defense Fighting Style + Blessing of the Forge + Enhanced Defense has my normal AC of 23. Add on +2 from Shield of Faith, and +2 from War Wizard, or +5 for Shield and my AC reaches bonkers levels. Funny enough you still wouldn't carry a weapon most of the time due to not having access to Warcaster.


I've also been trying to think of how I'd do this build effectively using Barbarian.

Half-Elf 16 Cha, 14 Dex, 14 Con, 8 Int, 13 Wis, 13 Str

Barbarian 2
Fighter 2
Rogue 2
Druid 2(Moon)
Paladin 2
Warlock 2(Hexblade)
Sorcerer 2(Shadow)
Bard 2
Cleric 2(Peace)
Ranger 2

The idea here is to be a spellcaster first, but have a combat mode consisting of Raging + Wildshape and a pre-cast Armor of Agathys using the highest slot possible. From there you can lay down smites with as many spell slots as you wish to use. All other times you're a spellcaster and face with tons of utility.