Notes: This subclass is obtainable at level one and gives insane value. If you are bothering to multiclass, you need to get some big bonuses to make it worthwhile. Certain cleric Domains give heavy armor proficiency with a single level, which is a vast improvement over what most bards get. This combination offers excellent synergies if youre willing to pass up the more powerful spells of the eighth and ninth levels. Solid class features at low levels mean you need to invest fewer levels into multiclassing. If youre looking to amp up the Warlocks existing spellcasting with more options, more spell slots, and more flexibility, Sorcerer is the best choice to multiclass into. Warlocks need some of the best low-level spells, but Pact Magic doesnt work very well with them. You get Eldritch Blast and Agonizing Blast Invocation for your ranged attacks, and you can use Charisma for your scimitar attacks. They dont pay off as much as Id like them to, and their benefits can be achieved in other ways. As usual, the Hexblade Warlock is mighty tempting. If you are tired of slinging spells and want to start cleaving orcs in half, multiclassing is the way to go! Rest to adapt to a damage type of choice, gaining resistance (ignored by magical/silvered weapons). This concept was kindly shared by a comment from MadnessOpus: One combination that I would like to point out is Celestial Warlock 14/Draconic Bloodline 6 (with Gold/Brass/Red Ancestor for fire damage: I REALLY, really hope they will update the list with Fizbans Gem Dragons so this could work with Crystal and radiant damage somehow? Feb 5, 2016. One of the worst parts of being an Assassin is dealing with the lackluster subclass features Infiltration Expertise and Infiltrator. That means a potential +5d8 radiant damage added to a melee attack if youre a powerful enough Warlock, no matter how many levels you have in Paladin. Deal bonus damage with an attack once per turn. Reader Stephany suggested this combination. Thats a cool support character concept! Grim Harvest is a fun ability from the Necromancer Wizard that passively siphons life from your victims when you slay them with spells of at least first level. React to attacks with invisibility and teleportation. Acquire a tiny lamp or another small vessel that you can magically enter; you can rest while in the vessel. Although the character's spellcasting will suffer, they'll still have access to a fair bit of magic to overcome even more obstacles, and they'll gain some limited combat potential with Sneak Attack. Gain special Blade Flourishes and increase your movement speed for the turn when you attack. The Temporary Hp granted by fiend pact or Armor of Agathys combined with healing and/or vicious mockery from bard allows you to absorb some attacks yourself in a pinch. Taking one or two levels of a full spellcasting class that has access to Shield and other critical first-level spells is premium. As mentioned earlier, dipping one or two levels can be enough to justify multiclassing. . He brings fresh perspectives on game mechanics, group dynamics, and roleplaying insights for all TTRPG enthusiasts. This weighs down the class and just takes up space on the character sheet. Bonus proficiencies: Medium armor, scimitars. One of the challenges of being a Swashbuckler is trying to beef up your Charisma in addition to other Rogue stats like Dexterity. This provides flexibility when casting and opens doors to some insane combos since Warlock spell slots are always at the maximum level possible. Gain temporary hitpoints when reducing enemies to zero hitpoints. The idea behind this multiclass is to take walock's signature catrip, Eldritch Blast, and modify it with Metamagic. Use the Frightened condition with your Form of Dread, and immobilize the scaredy cats with your Aura of Conquest. Indefinitely charm a humanoid and telepathically communicate on the same plane of existence. (Probably not.) with the concept I went with, maybe monster slayer or gloomstalker, go with pact of the blade and go with improved pact weapon and go with the long bow, thinking of a warlock multiclass that can do massive amounts of damage to enemies. Shoot back to life when you make a death saving throw and deal radiant damage in an area. Metamagic is the class feature that lets you mold spells this way and pops up at Level 3. Great Old One Warlock Multiclass Concepts. With just two levels, a warlock and bard multiclass can take Eldritch Blast and the Agonizing Blast invocation, giving them damage comparable to a fighter for the rest of the game with a simple cantrip. This is more helpful for hordes than the Hexblades Curse which focuses down a single creature. I might not go for three levels if I only want Guidance on my Rogue (or vice versa). The exception would be if I have a fun concept or I want to focus on lower levels of play; after all, most campaigns end by level ten. Youll be able to charm specific targets in a room with a bit of time investment without visible spellcasting or revealing yourself. You are the animal whisperer because you gain a familiar from Pact of the Chain, at-will Speak with Animals with the Beast Speech invocation, and max healing in your familiars presence with the Gift of the Ever-Living Ones invocation. For example, if you are a Cleric multiclassing as a Rogue, youll need a Wisdom score of 13 or higher, and a Dexterity score of 13 or higher. I recommend flavoring the Undead Warlock as if its a manifestation of your history as a pickled fey creature. Perform a ritual with allies to learn a spell from any spell list with a level equal to the number of participants in the ritual. Resist radiant damage and deal more radiant and fire damage. Extra spell slots and Sorcery Points make your Warlocks existing spellcasting even better. I love hearing about your characters, and Ive been known to add my favorite concepts from reader comments to my articles. In addition, even a small amount of Metamagic can make a spellcaster more flexible. Eventually, enhance your ability to create items by ignoring gold cost limitations and creating more at once. Overall, multiclassing into Cleric improves areas Warlock is weak at rather than building on existing strengths. Without requiring concentration or spell slots to do so, youll gain invisibility and a flying speed so you can be a stealth jet. Sorcerer is an easy one due to the Charisma overlap, but even Wizard can work. Charm or frighten creatures in a small area. Warlocks and Sorcerers pair well together for many reasons, so this is a powerful build. Bring allies into your vessel and short rest in ten minutes with a PB healing boost. Other classes like Druid and Paladin have excellent level-twenty abilities. Their range of skills, abilities, and spells sets them apart from nearly every other D&D class in terms of versatility. Rangers dont get much above fifteenth level, freeing you up for multiclass dips for better features. Bonus cantrips: Guidance cantrip (extended to 60 feet). How about Spirit Bard & Mastermind Rogue? The Death Domains damage bonuses can be significant for striking down threatening foes while still concentrating on other spells. This is an optimal build that gives armor, shields, Eldritch Blast, Invocations (Agonizing Blast), and subclass perks from the Hexblade. You could freely communicate telepathically with nearby creatures with GOOs telepathy, and create a long-distance communication link with a chosen creature with AMs telepathy. Perhaps your eloquence comes from a deal you made with a magical instrument to become a renowned storyteller, performer, and ambassador. Youll be using Metamagic for Twinned Spell to deal a lot of damage with Eldritch Blast. Lets take a look at the most effective Warlock multiclass builds. Become proficient with medium armor, shields, and martial weapons. Warlocks and Bards both use Charisma, so you won't be casting subpar spells with either class. Summary of subclass features: Treat your Persuasion and Deception ability check rolls of nine or lower as tens. You dont have to suddenly tell people that youre two classes. The secondary class may be referred to as a dip into that class if the concept only needs 1-3 levels in the second class. Warlock has some of the best early-level bonuses that a player can get. Barbarian is a great pickup for any Warlocks who want to play tank. The same goes for Eldritch Blast. So if you have 14 levels in Bard and 6 in Sorcerer, youre a level 20 character and can no longer gain EXP or levels as youre maxed out. Many classes benefit more from multiclassing than from investing twenty levels in a single class. This concept also has impressive defensive options, particularly from the Fighter levels for armor. Goes without saying that Elemental Adept: Fire is a no-brainer for your first ASI, although Moderately Armored might come in handy then or later. However, you can always choose your favorite class or a class that is more representative of your characters roleplay. All you need is your bow and a target worthy of your attention. This character has a beguiling power as a Warlock that pairs well with the Paladins Aura of Conquest. So if youre planning to multiclass, youll want to do your research on the class you want to take. Power build! The Pact of the Blade also grants you the ability to summon your weapon, so you can go into a social situation unarmed. If they used their spellcasting primarily outside of combat, or emphasized spells without Concentration, they could still combine the two classes in useful ways. Step 3: A mini guide for the more popular options, explainations, pact choices, spell choices etc. There are also several subclasses that specifically get medium or heavy armor. Could be fun. Any bard could benefit from this combination, but the Eloquence Bard stands out for the recommendation. The versatility and variability of bards makes them one of the more open classes to play, and this extends to their multiclassing. Fighter is great for DPS Hexblade Warlocks. Manage Settings A good assassin will find a way to invest in Charisma for social skill checks, but it gets crowded sharing stats with Dexterity and Constitution. It depends on the big picture that Im going for with the character. Riding the line between life and death, youve been resurrected for a chance at revenge. The goal was not to remove multiclassing but to rebalance the game so that multiclassing was no longer necessary to achieve the most effective base power. Turn an attack into necrotic damage once per turn, and add extra damage while transformed. Blade Flourishes use your Bardic Inspiration until level fourteen when they can perpetuate themselves with 1d6. Flavor the Celestial Warlock like your pact is with an angel of Mother Earth. Making use of most of the druid's features requires either a high Wisdom score or many levels in druid, both of which undermine the effectiveness of the bard part of the multiclass. I would also choose the Tomb of Levistus Invocation because I find that the Tundra option is my favorite storm type for the Storm Herald. As a DM, I always make a big effort to accommodate the players desires and storylines, and I encourage all DMs to be flexible and work with their players to provide them with the best experience they can muster. RELATED: D&D: 5 Must-Have Spells For Level 1 Bards (& 5 To Avoid). If that doesnt sound fun, pick another Sorcererous Origin. Undead Warlock levels can give you the classic Eldritch Blast with Invocations plus Form of Dread! Id describe the temporary hitpoints gained as a phasing effect as attacks phase through you until your temporary hitpoints deplete. If you want six levels of Bard, youll gain the Mantle of Majesty feature to seduce people and take them out back to rob them as you command them to empty their pockets. Kinda have an idea for a character who made a deal with a magical being for the power over fire to get vengeance on those who destroyed her village. Why not a celestial warlock and divine soul Sorcerer, but have it choose an evil God, how does that sound? 5E Guide: How to Multiclass. I cant say I recommend this build, but its kinda funny. The two Warlock levels are important for Invocations. By this point, youll have access to Smite, which you can use Warlock spell slots on. The bard can get any ranger spells they want through Magical Secrets, all without having to worry about their Wisdom score on top of everything else. Some of them will be for fun and others will be for optimal character builds. Sorcerers that are highly optimized will commonly take Paladin levels along with the Hexblade Warlock to have melee options and other interesting options. Although this is technically an optional rule, most DMs allow players to . However, Paladin auras are the real prize for Sorcerers. Picking up the Shield spell in this way could be useful, for example. The Oath of the Watchers demands a Paladin to know the lore about otherworldly monsters, so the Lore Bard is a fine fit! Wide variety of spells, including high-output damage, strong defense, and lifesaving utility. Your Channel Divinity at Level 2 is usually quite good too, and they cover a wide variety of effects, so you can choose one that suits your playstyle. Picking a class can be hard. It will gain armor and shields, powerful Eldritch Blast augmentations, more spells, and saving throw buffs. Heavy armor will be better than the usual Hexblade medium armor, plus you get a shield. Assuming they're comfortable fighting in close combat, a bard with access to Divine Smite can use it more frequently and more powerfully than a paladin of the same level can, due to the bard's better spellcasting. Clerics also get subclasses at level one, so some of them will provide massive value for one level of investment. Each Patron also comes with specific features that are only available to Warlocks of this particular patron. Lets talk about Warlocks and how they can multiclass effectively. Fighter levels can be tempting for armor and Action Surge, but you could go for other martial classes like Paladin for the armor perks, too. You also get Pact Magic and a few Warlock cantrips, including the ever-powerful eldritch blast. Fortunately, not much else in Sorcerer will benefit you, so you could stop there and put the rest of your levels into Warlock. Are you more afraid of Fireballs or Dominate Person? If you dont want to do the usual Hexblade dip, you might go with the Great Old One. There is an interesting match-up where you combine the Warlocks Pact of the Blade with the Bards College of Valor or College of Swords subclasses. Make it a luck-based character and take a level of Divine Soul Sorcerer flavored as luck. Most players dont foreshadow or roleplay their core class features anyway, so why should it be so difficult to justify what you gain from multiclassing? Multiclassing is daunting for new players, but rewarding for experienced players. If you enjoy acting as the partys face, this combo is a good way to double down. I am once again copying my recommendation for the Assassin Rogue. Sorcerers are your friends! Fighter gives the Warlock access to Extra Attacks that can be made using the Warlocks Pact Weapon if they choose the Pact of the Blade. Youll get more mileage out of this multiclass if youre doing 1-2 combat encounters in an adventuring day. You can use Sanctuary Vessel at Warlock level ten to short rest in ten minutes, meaning you can crank out runes and Action Surge fairly often. Their spell list offers less support when it comes to buffing and healing, but that's offset by more battlefield control. Multiclassing Spellcasters: Do I Get More Spells and Spell Slots? Ultimately, the wizard and bard have little to offer one another. React to give an enemys attack disadvantage against you, which in turn gives you advantage on an attack during your next turn if the enemys attack misses. Having a few spell slots that recharge on a short rest is quite nice for spellcasters. You can find more content on multiclassing in our other articles, particularly our class-level multiclassing combinations article.var pd_tags=new Array;pd_tags["10977679-src"]="poll-oembed-simple"; I hope the article was fun/helpful! If thats your kind of campaign, the low supply of Bardic Inspiration wont matter much. ; The Celestial: Some warlocks swear pacts with celestial creatures, gaining the . A class that uses Charisma for its spellcasting is ideal for the bard, and there is none better than the warlock. Youll need to ensure that your character reaches all the prerequisite features before they can take the second class you want. This will open doors to you that would normally be hidden or impassable, allowing you to find important stolen items, magic items worth stealing, kidnapped children, or any other noun that you seek. Expertise in Stealth allows you to sneak about reliably. Taking up to 3 levels of Sorcerer . Id treat this as a fey feature instead of a godly intervention. The Undead Warlock lacks medium armor and shields, but the Valor Bard can assist with that while gaining other support abilities and spells. Not all level-twenty abilities are worth getting; for example, Rangers have a poor level-twenty class feature, so they gain more from multiclassing. The Wizard levels also give you many first-level spells that are invaluable, such as Shield, Feather Fall, Absorb Elements, Mage Armor, Find Familiar, Fog Cloud, and more! Both are casters with plenty of spells for healing and support, and a fair few for debuffing enemies. Summary of subclass features: Gain a few spell options that Warlocks cant normally learn, but you dont automatically learn them. Interests include: endlessly worldbuilding, seducing Strahd, and finding new and strange ways to caffeinate myself. There are classes in Dungeons & Dragons that feel as though they were destined to merge and create an epic, unstoppable hero. D&D 5e Bard multiclassing image from Wizards of the Coasts Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos.This article contains affiliate links that add gold to our coffers. Use Bardic Inspiration to deal extra psychic damage with your attacks. It has the Paladins armor and aura defenses paired with the 1d10 saving throw bonus and damage resistance of choice from the Warlock. In part, this is due to complementary spellcasting. I typically shy away from recommending multiclass if theyre a characters core class. NEXT: D&D: 10 Characters To Inspire Your Next Bard This is super gimmicky in that it combines subclasses that have bonuses to fire damage spells. for bard spells and bard slots for warlock spells, for purposes of your spellcaster level, warlocks are non-casters. Yes, they stack, and they do it wonderfully. The main way you do this build is mainly play a bard and pick up 2 levels in warlock (either multiclass at bard 3 or bard 5). You can also pretend its the Archfey Warlock Patron, but with a better level-one ability for your purposes. Accursed Specter is a thematically relevant ability even if its not relatively powerful You can also consider sticking to one-to-three levels of Warlock instead of six if you want to not trade out high-level Cleric spells and spell slots. This is a solid build that could be really fun to play. Genies Wrath is also a nice passive buff to damage with attacks, and it scales by Proficiency Bonus. Communicate telepathically with nearby creatures. Laudna from Critical Role is a character utilizing this combination. Summary of subclass features: You can use a weapon youre proficient with as a spellcasting focus. What are you trying to achieve? . In 3.5, multiclassing was the default. The persona gets you in front of powerful people during a performance. Armor up, see in the dark, and get advantage on Initiative with the Twilight Cleric. Your email address will not be published. Youre a fantastic support character who can also deal big damage and defend yourself. RELATED: 10 Best Feats For Bards In D&D 5e, Ranked. Summary of subclass features: Gain a few spell options that Warlocks cant normally learn, but you dont automatically learn them. This can save you the trouble of taking the Devils Sight Invocation if thats the only reason youd pick it. As a Warlock looking to multiclass, you can improve your spellcasting or branch out into martial fighting. Other concepts will include the Warlock as a secondary class with a minority of level investment. As the bolt approached her heart, her chest glowed a bright blue, and the shot bounced off her magical shield. The Defensive Flourish allows the character to boost its AC until the next rounds turn. The most crucial Paladin features come online at Level 2. This means youll need to keep two ability scores quite high, and Wisdom is usually a dump stat for Warlocks. What multiclass would you suggest for a teithling bard who is male but dresses feminine and even wears makeup, also his background is far traveler. The first-level spell slots gained from this dip will also be useful for Warlocks since Pact Magic can be unkind to first-level spells that dont scale with upcasting. Bards have a similar versatility to the Warlock, which makes them an excellent choice for multiclassing. Use an action and commit concentration to charm or frighten a creature for one minute as it becomes lost in an illusory reality. Multiclassing can be useful for roleplaying as well, so its not merely for min-max-style players. Heal allies with a bonus action with your dice pool of healing. You also get extra Expertise from three Bard levels. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. Sorcerer has an even worse hit die than Warlock (d6). Youll gain Invocations to customize your Rogue further, gaining abilities that can be flavored to be based on your psychic powers. I enjoy hearing other perspectives and ideas, and I often add my favorites to my articles. For a D&D player looking to go all-in on the skills, this bard multiclass is the best available. Soon, youll be able to picture in your head what kind of character you want to build and what classes will jive best with that character. These rankings are meant to help you create an optimized class build, but rememberDnD isnt a game where you need to win to have fun. The Sorcerer class is usually regarded as the best multiclass option, Solar 5e: Stats and Guide for Players & DMs, Eldritch Invocation Guide: The Best Way To Use Agonizing Blast in DnD 5e. However, the real meat of the multiclass comes from how effectively the bard can use Divine Smite. Its a masterful concept for creating a new religion of followers and adorers! For example, if you are a Cleric multiclassing as a Rogue, youll need a Wisdom score of 13 or higher, and a Dexterity score of 13 or higher. Being the face means having proficiency in skills, and expertise in the crucial ones. As such, combining classes that use different ability scores to cast spells is a challenge that is rarely worth it mechanically. A druid doesn't have much use for a bard's abilities, and the bard doesn't get much out of Wild Shape. The secondary class may be referred to as a "dip" into that class if the concept only needs 1-3 levels in the second class. Make a bonus action attack after casting a Bard spell. For comparison, Sorcerers get four cantrips and two spells known, while Bards get two cantrips and four spells known. The bard can fill a lot of roles from support spellcaster to melee combatant. The secondary class may be referred to as a dip into that class if the concept only needs 1-3 levels in the second class. However, this is part of the problem with their multiclass: they're similar, without much to complement one another. Switch onto Warlock to get 6 levels for Radiant Soul to make fire and radiant spells hit extra CHA modifier. Thanks for the feedback. Other concepts will include the Bard as a secondary class with little level investment. . I easily reimagine the Fiend Warlock as being psionic in nature, evidenced by its abilities that dont necessarily need to be tied to fiends. Aside from optimization, multiclassing allows you to bring unique characters to life with outside-the-box specialties. With just one level in Warlock with The Hexblade patron, youll be able to attack with your finesse weapon using Charisma instead of Dexterity or Strength for your weapons attack and damage rolls. Would undead warlock/death cleric be good? Cleric will also give you proficiency with shields and medium armor, and some subclasses bump that up to heavy armor (which is very difficult to get proficiency with when multiclassing). Blade Flourishes can scale up along with your spellcasting to become a powerful Bard. Lets review which combinations get enough value from dipping and dont require extensive multiclassing. Warlock Multiclass: What Should I Multiclass With? Not to mention Green Flame Blade might come in handy minding our affinity for fire damage. For instance, a Celestial Warlock is a healing Warlock, while a Hexblade Warlock is a melee Warlock. You eventually gain another transformation that causes enemies to make Charisma saves to succeed in attacking you; those who succeed on the save have disadvantage to save against your spells on your next turn. You can read more about this build in Opals article about it. The Sorcerers spell list has lots of these, although the lack of defensive options means this multiclass is definitely a glass cannon. Cantrips scale their damage as you level up, which is better than taking a slight dip into martial classes (whose weapon attack damage dont scale with your level). Making the best use of monk features requires Dexterity and Wisdom, as well as benefitting from a high Constitution. The exception would be if I have a fun concept or I want to focus on lower levels of play; after all, most campaigns end by level ten. One extra HP per Sorcerer level is not bad either for a dip if you start with 16 CON. Both classes are half-decent at melee combat, but when stuck together, you have a legitimate threat on the battlefield. Ill now go through each Bard subclass to list ideas for multiclassing. I like this concept as a power build that plays into the fey trickster archetype. Summary of subclass features: Use Bardic Inspiration for damage or defensive AC boosts. Ranger has more synergy thanks to its spellcasting, but still misses the mark. Add to your Swords Bards combat prowess without sacrificing spellcasting and Charisma. It's also a class that a character might want to start in, even if they prioritize the bard, due to the character only getting proficiency in heavy armor and Constitution saving throws if they start as a fighter. Clerics run into a common problem for a bard multiclass: differing spellcasting ability scores. However, since Bards are a half-melee, half-spellcaster, jack-of-all-trades class, you'll want to consider more than just the primary stat when trying to multiclass into Bard. The other reason this combo works so well is that many Warlock defensive spells dont require concentration. There arent many feasible multiclass options for the Death Domain (others do it better), but this combination is ok if it fits your flavor. Learn well their powers so you can multiclass to claim or enhance their powers. Sounds fun! Being a secondary class does not mean a character wont start at level one as that class; some classes get more armor and hitpoints at level one. High degree of customization through distinct Cleric subclasses. Deal psychic damage equal to psychic damage you take to your attacker. With that concept in mind, I also thought about a warlock ranger as well, any thoughts? Youre a fantastic support character who can also deal big damage and defend yourself. This is bonkers . Learn a greater version of Evards Black Tentacles that gives you temporary hitpoints and cant have its concentration ended by damage taken. However, pretty much any Bard subclass will provide extra bonuses for the Warlock since Bards have proficiencies that Warlocks dont get access to, and the Bard class will increase the raw power of the Warlock class by default. Eldritch Mind is a new Invocation from Tashas that helps with Constitution saving throws to maintain concentration. Mobile Flourish will be helpful after you get six levels in Bladesinging because you can substitute one attack for a cantrip like Booming Blade. Honestly, the Valor Bard has been replaced somewhat by the Hexblade Warlock since you can get armor and shields with only one level of investment. Freely add Bardic Inspiration to an ability check you make if you roll lower than youd like. Eloquence is incredibly strong, so the Order Cleric makes a fine supplement to the characters support abilities. Im imagining The Devil Went Down to Georgia for the backstory. For this reason, I look to the other Warlock subclasses to see which of them might like what the Valor Bard offers. Learn one of two Fighting Styles. You can transform characters with Invocations, but many of them have prerequisites that involve three or more levels of Warlock. Last edited: Feb 5, 2016. Summary of subclass features: Gain a few spell options that Warlocks cant normally learn, but you dont automatically learn them.