Multiclassing and You: 5th edition… edition

Hello all!

Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition is out, and I’ve seen quite a lot of skepticism with respect to the new multiclassing rules. Honestly, I was pretty shocked; multiclassing is still extremely effective if done right, though people seem to be struggling to see that. That being said, let’s take a look at how it works, shall we?

Picking the right classes to combine is certainly the most important part of the process. In keeping with 3rd edition tradition, weapon-based classes tend to combine best, but certain caster combinations (such as Warlock and Sorcerer) can be very powerful indeed. The reason warrior classes combine well is that 5th edition has made it exceptionally difficult to make more than two attacks with a single attack action. Where a barbarian or monk in Pathfinder or 3.5 edition would be able to make flurries of attacks at high level, now only a fighter gets more than two base attacks per round, and only at levels 11 and 20. Thus, the primary reason to stick with a class is to get access to your higher tier class abilities. Here’s the thing though; some of the early-level benefits of other classes are of equal (or greater) value.

Multiclassing Clarifications:

– Your proficiency bonus is equal to that of a character of your total character level, not that of your highest level class

– Your class levels do not stack to determine when you acquire an ability increase / feat

– You cannot combine the Extra Attack class features (or the Thirsting Blade warlock invocation with the Extra Attack feature), or Unarmored Defense class features

– You can gain the benefits of the Fighting Style class feature more than once, but you must select a different style each time

– Spellcasting functions differently depending on combined classes

How to do it:

In most cases, you’re going to want to start off with a warrior class (in this case, by “warrior class” I mean a class that eventually gets the Extra Attack class feature), and once you hit level 5, dip into another class. From there, you can either stick with the second class, or take four levels in it before dipping into another. Below are a few promising examples:

Fighter 5 + Barbarian / Paladin / Ranger / Rogue / Cleric X

This is one of the better and more obvious multiclass combinations; you get to cherry-pick some excellent abilities from two (or more) classes while only slowing down your ability score / feat progression by 1 level. A fighter / barbarian is going to be restricted to medium armor, but will have access to rage and the excellent barbarian archetype abilities, while gaining a fighting style that they otherwise wouldn’t have access to from the fighter side. A fighter paladin can pick up channel divinity and a bit of spellcasting, while still having access to the ever-excellent Action Surge, Second Wind abilities, and two fighting styles, likely bumping up your AC by 1 with the second one.

The others mentioned above are interesting in their own rights, particularly a fighter / cleric, but rogue is the other stand-out. After 5 levels of fighter, you’d be able to dual-wield weapons highly proficiently, making three attacks per round with paired shortswords or rapiers. If you make all your subsequent levels rogue levels, your sneak attack becomes far easier to land every round (since you have three attacks with which to try to apply it), and even when Sneak Attack is unattainable, your damage will be impressive.

Warlock 2 + Sorcerer X

This is a sneaky one. You set back your sorcerer spellcasting progression a bit in favor of increasing your go-all-day effectiveness. The two warlock levels give you two warlock spells slots that recover after just a short rest, but the real gem here is the Eldritch Blast cantrip. If you grab the Agonizing Blast invocation at level 2, your Eldritch Blasts will be doing daunting damage for your whole career, allowing you to branch out into more utility spells, or giving you an impressive backup ability for when you’re low on spells.

Monk 5 + Cleric X

This man or woman of the likely literal cloth gains some solid offensive combat abilities before moving on to spellcasting, and benefits greatly from wisdom in both roles. This multiclass combination lends itself to a more agile character, making it ideally suited to wood elves.

Monk 5 + Rogue X

Another cool way to supplement the rogue’s lack of attacks per round, even RAW you can use a shortsword to apply your Sneak Attack. It would also be quite reasonable for a DM to allow you to apply your Sneak Attack with unarmed attacks as well, though that would require special permission, technically.

Blade Pact Warlock 5 / Rogue X

This is the build of my current D&D character. If you choose a rapier as your pact blade, you have a reliable and powerful weapon for delivering Sneak Attack, with two attacks per round thanks to Thirsting Blade. Taking the Hex spell gives you a way to supplement your damage in a way that makes up for some of the lost Sneak Attack. Wielding a dagger in your off-hand gives you another chance to apply the Hex damage or your once-per-round Sneak Attack. I’ve run the numbers, and overall, the warlock / rogue will out-damage a single-class melee rogue at any level combination.

Other notes:

There are many other options out there, as I’ve only highlighted a few here. Again, the key here is to try not to slow down your ability score / feat progression too much, while picking up the Extra Attack feature as quickly as you can where applicable. Sometimes even a 1 level dip is worthwhile, as many classes provide great entry-level abilities you can benefit from right away, which will more than offset the slower ability progression.

I hope this was helpful, 5th ed fans!

Happy gaming,

Uni