Multiclassing Sucks

[Jack Niggleson]

Requiring four levels in one class to get the normal number of feats makes most multiclassing combos pointless. Five levels of fighter for an extra attack? Nah. Three levels of rogue for the assassin's guaranteed first strike crit? Nah. Why even give you the option when every interesting combo is negated by the loss of 2-4 attribute points? Especially since your attribute point selection is so limited at character creation.

Is this actually how it works in 5th edition d&d (I haven't played since 3rd) or is this just some dumb balance thing Larian threw in to suck the fun out of multiclassing?

[zpc]

It really depends what you are aiming for. If min-maxing number of attacks then there are ways to achieve that. If you look for a balanced leader of the pack for the majority of the die rolls multiclassing can also be a godsend.

And there is the fun factor. Having a BardBarian just rocks for Karlach - as she is so a happy gal, she has to wield some music =)

Also love to turn Gale in a WizFighter (2/5 so far) specialized in mage hunting and abjuration (sweet arcane ward for extra tankiness).

Other classes I tend to keep "clean" (paladin, cleric). While paladin and warlock have some nice (bugged) synergies for now, they don't fit from a roleplay perspective.

[GrandMajora]

The only reason I've ever seen the need to multiclass, is back when Prestige Classes were still a thing.

But as far as I'm aware, those don't exist in 5th edition anymore, so dipping into a secondary or even 3rd class just seems like you're crippling yourself down the road.

[Zeyo]

Originally posted by Sentient_Toaster:

Originally posted by BigRockWall:

Multiclassed spell casters are actually much more enjoyable in 5e than 3.x. 1 wiz 11 cleric is the same as 12 wiz 11 cleric, for example. Because of how multiclassed spellcaster spell slots were reimagined.

Still limited to only first-level wizard spells when the DM is ruling things properly.

Yes, high-level spell *slots*. No, to adding high-level wizard spells to their spellbook.

I remember reading up on this when I was considering a wizard multiclass for an artificer. From what I recall, RAW, while the spells you get from leveling wizard are restricted by your wizard level, it doesn't actually restrict you from adding higher level spells to your book by transcribing a scroll or something. You just can't actually cast it unless you have slots of a high enough level - which you can get by multiclassing.

[MetalHev]

I mean, you'll lose a feat and get a trillion other things, since most feat levels have nothing else anyway. Sometimes its worth it, sometimes I'd rather just level the other class to get something more useful.

[dingobean]

Multiclassing would be a lot more fun if Larian had included Variant Human in the game, because then we could raise two stats to 16 and pick a feat at level 1. The flexibility of having your main stat at 18 and a utility feat at level 4 cannot be overstated. Even if you wanted to do a meme build like tavern brawler monk, you could still have 18 strength by level 4 by picking tavern brawler at lvl1 and then a strength boosting half feat like moderately armored or athletic at level 4. Well, I suppose Illithid powers are an okay compromise, but I'd love for the inevitable Enhanced Edition of the game to return racial attribute differences and add more races. The fact we can't play as a goblin is rather puzzling considering they're already in the game. You introduce yourself AFTER foiling a goblin raid, so grove could afford your Goblin OC some benefit of the doubt. If a Drow OC gets to wander the grove, then certainly a non-Absolute affiliated Goblin should be allowed too.

[mutantspicy]

Multiclassing isn't as fun as it was with 3.5. I miss prestige classes. Great for role playing and build a character. My fav multiclass of all time Rogue 4, Master Thrower 5, Sorceror 9. Powerhouse. Solo'd a red dragon. Flying with returning javelins. The prestige brought in the necessary details to finalize the build and worked organically in the campaign. In 5e these kinds of things don't exist. The closest I've seen is with the expanded Bard and Druid sub classes in Xanathar's Guide. That said, you can still multiclass but in ways that don't seem obvious. Now you have to think in terms of Min/Maxing synergy. Nearly every spellcaster class for instance can benefit from 2 levels of Fighter and/or Rogue. extra bonus actions are fanatistic. Action surge perhaps even better. Is it worth slowing down spell progression. Maybe because depending on your creativity, 2nd level spells are deceptively powerful especially when you cast two of them during one turn. Its a choice. But yeah, Monk/ thief and monk /barbarian have natural synergy. 1 lvl of cleric can enhance nearly any build. Especially in BG3 because there is no min 13 for wisdom requiremnt. Many good 1st lvl cleric spells do not require wis saves of course you could just use the feat Magic Initiate cleric so it depends a bit. Mostly I'm just saying its probably better to dip into a class for 1 or 2 lvls rather than view it as a dual class type of thing. Like a druid taking a dip into monk for unarmored defense or barbarian for bear rage. Etc.

[Ephemerant]

Some multiclass options are crazy powerful, which makes up for the possible ASI loss. Storm Sorcerer/Tempest Cleric, for example. You can have big Heavy Armor, throw out a Lightning or Thunder spell, and deal automatic max damage. At higher levels that could be a Lightning Bolt with a 6th level spell slot dealing 66 (11d6) damage with one spell.

[Seswatha]

A fun one is White Dragon Sorcerer 1 / Cleric 1 (any heavy armour domain will do) / Abjuration wizard 10. We can still learn and cast all wizard spells from scrolls, lose 1 feat to gain heavy armour, shields and Armor of Agathys spell.

Let's say level 7 we're 1/1/5, our ward can stack up to 10 (starts from 5 after rest). We can upcast Armor of Agathys as a level 4 spell getting 20 temp hp and 20 retaliation damage.

You'll set the ward to 9 after casting Armor of Agathys and then you can cast some other level 1 abjuration like Shield in combat to max it out. You should also have a cleric cast Warding Bond on you or alternatively use Blade Ward in a pinch, it lasts 2 rounds here so not bad. Your long term goal is this armor https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Armour_of_Persistence which has a permanent Blade Ward but it will take a while to get to.

So what do we have here? any damage we take is halved and then reduced by 10, so the enemy will have to deal over 20 damage per hit to do any damage to us at all. Every hit on us is retaliated with 20 damage, or 40 if the enemy is wet, which we should use (we can even cast the spell ourselves). If somehow we lose our 20 temp hp buffer we can recast it at 15 temp hp and retaliation damage a few extra times. Our Ward slowly deteriorates under hits but we can toss an occasional Glyph of Warding or an upcast Armor of Agathys to keep it up.

That's at level 7.

At level 12 we're more or less immune to any damage under 40 per hit (plus have crit immunity from items so can't be a crit either), deal 30/60 retaliation damage to melee from Agathys and another 2d6/4d6 from flame shield for a total max 74 retaliation damage (there are a few other things that we can do to boost it). While maintaining concentration on whichever spells we want since we're not taking damage anyway, maybe occasionally casting an abjuration spell to keep it going or short resting for +10 ward charges.

[Sephiroth]

Originally posted by Abisha:

Multi-classing is like a noob trap.
and no it's not Larian fault it's just that DnD sucks with it.
it never pay's off.

False it was great in Baldurs Gate 1 and 2

It trash in BG3. The people working on BG3 do not know what they are doing.

For example. I unburied like a ton chests after 130 hours... not a single one of them had anything good.... some had such bad loot that they only contained a piece of food.... like imagine that kind of noob mind you would have to have that when making a game... this is what you decided to stick in a hidden buried treasure....

amateurs.

[EvilDonut]

Multiclassing is OP if done right. But i can see the people here have a several lack of brain and can't do that. So yep, you are better off one classing.

[The Vagrant Knight]

rogue 4 + ranger 8 wants a word, friend.

[Hogs Fattman]

I think the big thing with multiclassing is knowing when to start switching into a new class/what to take as your base class.

Keep in mind, you can also respec whenever you want, so you can go something "simpler" to start, grab a few levels, then respec into a completely different build and get around those difficult early levels where you're lacking a key feature.

[Asgo]

the reason multiclassing works in many cases is because lots of classes are frontloaded and get their good features in early levels. As long as you don't clash stat wise too much very much an option - if you choose wisely.

BG3 just makes it easier than DnD in most cases because less of restrictions.

[The Vagrant Knight]

Originally posted by ⓀⒾⓦⒾ‰:

its 2 levels in fighter for a second attack not 5
i stopped reading after that

2 levels in is action surge, not the second attack. Action surge is a second action, but only once every short rest.

lvl 5 is a huge dps boost because of this while action surge can be extremely good, but on average is worse than that second attack.

[KingOfFriedChicken]

People are really into the feats when they are not nearly as powerful as some multi class offers lol