What's the best build path for a Jack of all Trades character?

[chefcook90]

Gonna try to go for the Jack of all Trades achievement (multiclass a character into every class without using Withers to respec).

Biggest drawbacks of this degree of multiclassing classing is that you don't get any spells above level 1, you don't have access to Extra Attack, you don't get the powerful subclass bonuses that most classes get starting at level 3, and you don't get any Feats.
(EDIT: Another poster pointed out that you can actually get up to level 3 spells, and get them at the time you normally would if you pick a very specific caster path)

Upside is that you will eventually have proficiency in all types of equipment and have every single cantrip and level 1 spell, along with access to almost every non-racial dialogue option in the game.

Now I'm thinking I should start off my first 3 levels in Monk/Bard/Rogue - Monk so I can dump strength and build pure Dex, Bard so I can pick my skill proficiency early on, and Rogue for the extra +2 proficiency to chose from, and then either go Human for extra +1 proficiency choice, or Halfling for the free daily reroll.

BUT if there's a better build out there, I'm open to suggestions.
I'm not sure how choosing to transform into Mind Flayer affects gameplay or the achievement, so I don't know how good a Sorcerer / Warlock / Wizard build that pivots into Illitid powers would work.

I'm ASSUMING that a STR-based melee fighter wouldn't hold up well, cuz no Additional Attacks and no feats, but maybe I'm wrong?

[Moonbane]

Ive heard you can cheese it fairly easilly. Get level 12. recruit Minsc with 12 level ups ready. Level him 1 in each of the classes. Ding, achievement gained.

[chefcook90]

Originally posted by Moonbane:

Ive heard you can cheese it fairly easilly. Get level 12. recruit Minsc with 12 level ups ready. Level him 1 in each of the classes. Ding, achievement gained.

lol damn, it works on recruit-able characters? Thanks for the tip :D

I'll try doing that on my main character first :)

[Mormacil]

DEX + CHA seems to be the way to go, warlock, bard, sorcerer and paladin all work well with that.

[Razorblade]

Going Sorc, Cleric, Bard, Wizard, and Druid will get you 3rd level spell slots, with the ability to learn 3rd level Wizard spells from scrolls. That's about your peak combat potential; welcome to being a Haste-bot for your actually useful party members.

Rogue is nice for Expertise in Persuasion-related skills (particularly Intimidation, which you should always have Advantage on from the Cleric cantrip Thaumaturgy). However, it contributes nothing to combat, since you can't Sneak Attack with spells.

Warlock has the best cantrip, Eldritch Blast, and Cantrips scale based on total character rather than class level, but they have a separate spell slot counter to the others caster classes, meaning you're delaying your progress to 3rd level spells.

As half-casters, Ranger and Paladin combined will give you one extra spell slot. That being said, going Oathbreaker Paladin counts as respeccing, which disables your ability to get the achievement on that character, so I left it for last on my successful run.

Martial classes are completely useless, as you never get an extra attack, meaning best case, you're stuck with the melee damage output of a 1 Barbarian/1 Monk. Fine for the early game technically, but you're delaying your 3rd level spell slots, as well as conversation abilities. Moreover, they don't even provide Heavy Armor like a War Cleric or Ranger Knight.

[LordOfTheBread]

Is there really a jack of all trades even using multiclassing? Unsure.

[chefcook90]

Originally posted by Razorblade:

Going Sorc, Cleric, Bard, Wizard, and Druid will get you 3rd level spell slots, with the ability to learn 3rd level Wizard spells from scrolls. That's about your peak combat potential; welcome to being a Haste-bot for your actually useful party members.

Rogue is nice for Expertise in Persuasion-related skills (particularly Intimidation, which you should always have Advantage on from the Cleric cantrip Thaumaturgy). However, it contributes nothing to combat, since you can't Sneak Attack with spells.

Warlock has the best cantrip, Eldritch Blast, and Cantrips scale based on total character rather than class level, but they have a separate spell slot counter to the others caster classes, meaning you're delaying your progress to 3rd level spells.

As half-casters, Ranger and Paladin combined will give you one extra spell slot. That being said, going Oathbreaker Paladin counts as respeccing, which disables your ability to get the achievement on that character, so I left it for last on my successful run.

Martial classes are completely useless.

Oh dang, you can actually get up to level 3 spells that way? I always thought the maximum level of your spell slots was locked to your individual class levels not your total caster level.

Glad to have confirmation that martial classes are completely useless - I guess I could skip out on monk then and just go Bard > Rogue for my first two levels lol
And yeah, I really like that persuasion expertise :)
Not to mention lock-picking and trap-disabling.

[Mormacil]

Originally posted by LordOfTheBread:

Is there really a jack of all trades even using multiclassing? Unsure.

There is an achievement for getting a character max level while taking every class once without ever using Withers to change class. So every class will need to be at level 1.

[Kafik]

One level in every class.

[chefcook90]

Originally posted by Mal:

One level in every class.

Yeah, but order matters, and you're stuck with your starting attribute distribution. So far Dex+Cha looks the most promising.

[jonnin]

Gith race lets you adjust which set of skills you have after each rest (short, I think?). You can use that to move from lockpick expert to talk expert or whatever else. Gith also let you use some extra weapons and armor.

From there, my favorite JOAT classes include cleric (light domain gives you a good amount of wizard capability) coupled with monk (some melee capability) or rogue (dual wield offhand attacks, give up the shield?), or if not that, bard dipped into warlock pact of the blade. Ranger is a solid starter as well, coupled with rogue or something else? Paladin can base with sorc, warlock, or bard very nicely.

I believe you can do everything the game needs with 2 classes. D&D only has 4 classes, really: warrior flavors, buff/healing caster, damage caster, and rogue. Rogue was eliminated from the game with slight of hand backgrounds or other ways to deal with locks & traps. Their only other trick is backstabbing and double offhand attacks, not required if you are already good at combat in some other way. Assuming gith trick or slight of hand from background or something and no rogue, you now have to cover healing/buffing/damage magic/combat. The light domain cleric does all that except combat (only 1 attack problem) so doubling up the LDC with anything to get more attacks (monk works excellent here, or DW rogue, or PAM fighter type maybe?) as do the other suggestions. The odd one out is picking up damage casting with enough oomph to matter (no one cares at level 20 if you can cast a 10 point of damage fireball). If you want big endgame magic booms, you need to focus a lot of levels in a class that has it, and pick up ALL other capacity in < 6 levels, and even that is rough until mid act-2.

[LordOfTheBread]

Originally posted by Mormacil:

Originally posted by LordOfTheBread:

Is there really a jack of all trades even using multiclassing? Unsure.

There is an achievement for getting a character max level while taking every class once without ever using Withers to change class. So every class will need to be at level 1.

It is nice for achievement and all but it is also the best way to be weak at everything.

Jack of all trades, master of none.

[Kafik]

Originally posted by chefcook90:

Originally posted by Mal:

One level in every class.

Yeah, but order matters, and you're stuck with your starting attribute distribution. So far Dex+Cha looks the most promising.

I'd start with barbarian and do a martial build. If you started with warlock IMO then charisma / dex is good but then it's just a basic warlock eldritch blast spam instead of splatter enemies up close spam/.

[chefcook90]

Originally posted by jonnin:

Gith race lets you adjust which set of skills you have after each rest (short, I think?). You can use that to move from lockpick expert to talk expert or whatever else. Gith also let you use some extra weapons and armor.

Nah, it's long rest, so it's not all that great unless you know what checks you're in for ahead of time or are compensating for a specific weakness.

[Xanikk]

Bard works really well as jack of all trades. Put your points into DEX and CHA to start. 14 constitution as well. I do college of swords and later multiclass into 2 levels of paladin for smite. This build is a powerhouse and has very useful spells as well for early and mid game. By late game you are a frontline fighter with very high AC. You can respec as Paladin as your first class later on to get heavy armour profeciency by default. I highly recommend this build!

[butbka]

Originally posted by Xanikk:

Bard works really well as jack of all trades. Put your points into DEX and CHA to start. 14 constitution as well. I do college of swords and later multiclass into 2 levels of paladin for smite. This build is a powerhouse and has very useful spells as well for early and mid game. By late game you are a frontline fighter with very high AC. You can respec as Paladin as your first class later on to get heavy armour profeciency by default. I highly recommend this build!

facepalm
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