Question about Multiclassing Spellcasting Classes

[DarkSteelWolf]

In the game I'm playing, my first level wizard just multiclassed into a Wizard/Sorcerer, and I can't seem to quite grasp how the table is supposed to work. According to the table, I have 3 spell slots. Is this costing me spells per day, or adding to them? Ordinarily, a first level wizard would have 2 first level spells, and so would a first level Sorcerer, so is this saying I've lost a spell, having a total of 3 spells per day, or gained 2, having 3 spells per day for each class?

[JNAProductions]

In the game I'm playing, my first level wizard just multiclassed into a Wizard/Sorcerer, and I can't seem to quite grasp how the table is supposed to work. According to the table, I have 3 spell slots. Is this costing me spells per day, or adding to them? Ordinarily, a first level wizard would have 2 first level spells, and so would a first level Sorcerer, so is this saying I've lost a spell, having a total of 3 spells per day, or gained 2, having 3 spells per day for each class?

Add up:

All Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, and Wizard levels
Half (rounded down) of each from Paladin and Ranger
One-third (rounded down) of each from Arcane Trickster and Eldritch Knight

Once you have your total, compare that to the multiclassing table. (It's the same table as Spells Per Day for any of the 1X classes, by the way.) That's your total spell slots.

For a definitive answer to your PC, you would have three total 1st level slots. You can cast Wizard spells prepared or Sorcerer spells known from the slots.
If you take another level in either class, you'll get one more 1st level slots (for a total of four) and two 2nd level slots. This DOES NOT allow you to learn 2nd level spells, but does allow you to cast some 1st level spells with greater effect.

[Anymage]

Three spells per day, total. This might be a drawback at level 2. However higher level spell slots tend to be more valuable than lower level ones, even if you're just using them to cast lower level spells to greater effect. The ability to add your levels in spellcasting classes to get those higher level slots works out in your favor.

Note that while higher level slots tend to be more impactful, proper high level spells tend to be even more powerful than a low level spell in the higher slot. The highest level spell you can cast from a give class is based on your level in that class instead of overall. As such, things like evenly splitting wizard and sorcerer levels tends not to work out as well as you might hope.

[J-H]

Here's a spell slot calculator for you:

https://fexlabs.com/5eslots/

[Keravath]

I'd also point out that multiclassing is not costing you spell slots but you don't get any extra by multiclassing.

A level 2 wizard has 3 x 1st level spell slots, a level 2 sorcerer has 3 x 1st level spell slots and a level 1 wizard/1 sorcerer also has 3 x 1st level spell slots for casting their spells.

It would be very unbalanced if a level 1 wizard/ level 1 sorcerer somehow had 3 slots in each class.

In addition, as mentioned, each class prepares spells as if they were single classed.

This means that a level 3 wizard, 2 wizard/1 sorcerer, 1 wizard/2 sorcerer or 3 sorcerer would all have the same number of spell slots - 4 x 1st level and 2x 2nd level.

However, the 3 wizard prepares spells that a level 3 wizard could cast which includes 1st and 2nd level wizard spells. A 2 wizard/1 sorcerer prepares spells that a level 2 wizard and a level 1 sorcerer separately could prepare - which is only level 1 spells. Similarly, a level 1 wizard/2 sorcerer prepares spells that a level 1 wizard and level 2 sorcerer could prepare separately while a level 3 sorcerer prepares spells that a level 3 sorcerer knows which would include both level 1 and 2 spells.

Thus, although each class combination has exactly the same number of spell slots 4 x 1st and 2 x 2nd, only the 3 wizard and 3 sorcerer could prepare 2nd level spells. The other multiclasses can use the 2nd level slots to cast their 1st level spells. In some cases, upcasting increases the effects of a lower level spell cast using a higher level spell slot.

[DammitVictor]

The chart shows your total spells per day for both/all classes. Your spells known/prepared are per class as normal for your respective class levels.

[RogueJK]

Here's a spell slot calculator for you:

https://fexlabs.com/5eslots/

This calculator is very handy when figuring out multiclassed spell slots in general, but it's worth noting that it doesn't calculate Artificer levels correctly. It treats Artificers the same as other half-casters whose spellcasting starts at Level 2, and who calculate their multiclassing slots by their class level halved and rounded down. But Artificers are special since they're the only half caster that gains spellcasting starting at Level 1, and who calculate their multiclassing slots by class level halved and rounded up.

[J-H]

Cool, I didn't know that.
Unfortunately, Arcane Firearm and the Alchemist version both specify "artificer spells" or "using alchemist's supplies as the casting focus," so I don't think you can easily stack their benefits on top of Evoker or Dragon Sorc bonuses to get hyper-damaging cantrips.

[RogueJK]

Cool, I didn't know that.
Unfortunately, Arcane Firearm and the Alchemist version both specify "artificer spells" or "using alchemist's supplies as the casting focus," so I don't think you can easily stack their benefits on top of Evoker or Dragon Sorc bonuses to get hyper-damaging cantrips.

Those specific examples are true, but there are a number of other situations in which it's beneficial for a spellcaster to multiclass into Artificer for a few levels, or an Artificer to multiclass into a spellcaster for a few levels.

Like the ubiquitous 1 level Artificer starting dip for a Wizard who wants armor/shield and CON saving throw proficiency. With any other half caster, taking 1 level does nothing for your spell slots, but 1 level of Artificer is counted as a full level of spellcasting for multiclass spell slot calculations. (Just like the popular Cleric 1 dip for armor/shield without delaying your spell slots, but even better, with the Artificer's INT-based spellcasting, no need to invest in anything else like WIS to meet multiclass minimums, and CON save proficiency to boot.)

Beyond Artificer 1/Wizard X, other good Artificer multiclass caster combos are stuff like War Wizard 2/Battle Smith or Armorer X, Enchanter 2/Battle Smith X, Armorer 3-5/Arcane Trickster Rogue X, Battle Smith 3-5/Wizard X, or Artillerist 3/Wizard X.