Hello all
I have been trying to plan a character's 20 levels, and I thought I would get your feedback.
Race: Variant Human
Starting Stats:
Str: 12
Dex: 16
Con: 14
Int: 8
Wis: 10
Cha: 14
Feats:
Dual Wielder
Proposed Level Progression:
1 Paladin 11 Paladin
2 Paladin 12 Paladin
3 Paladin 13 Paladin
4 Paladin 14 Paladin
5 Figher 15 Paladin
6 Rogue 16 Paladin
7 Rogue 17 Paladin
8 Rogue 18 Fighter
9 Rogue 19 Fighter
10 Rogue 20 Fighter
The character would dual wield rapiers beginning at level 5--at that level he would pick up the Two-Weapon Fighting feature from the Fighter class. The Rogue levels are to add some bonus damage (Sneak Attack), and the Uncanny Dodge class feature. In order to hold on to an ASI, 4 levels of fighter are taken, which nets 4 Superiority Dice if Battle Master is taken. The 11 levels of Paladin are for the Improved Divine Smite and some of the defensive class features.
Thanks for any and all help!!
At a glance, I'd say take Paladin at 5th level, so you get the Extra Attack much, much sooner. Otherwise, you are waiting until 11th character level to get it (once you are finally paladin class level 5). Mutliclass rules are clear about the fact you don't get this feature merely by being Paly 4 / Fighter 1.
You can also start dual-wielding at level 1, even without the fighting style. You simply don't get to add the DEX mod to your off-hand rapier attacks until you do have the fighting style, but that doesn't stop you from dual-wielding.
Gruff_Ironfist wrote:
I think Fighter 2/Rogue 3 or Ranger 3/Rogue 2 will put out more damage in the low levels than trying to squeeze in Paladin, unless that is a prerequisite of Adv.League (I don't know anything about AL).
If pure Paladin, after you switch progressions, I'd also suggest going straight to Paladin 6 by 6th character level, as that aura is amazing and very useful early on.
I'm also not (personally) sold on the idea of Fighter Battle Master as the best investment. Rather than Fighter 4, you could grab 3 levels of Ranger for Hunter's Mark spell and Hunter archetype and Colossus Slayer or Horder Breaker, whichever damage add you like more. And it still leaves you able to get 1 level of Fighter for another fighting style (+1 AC from Defense) or 1 more level of Rogue for another 2 Expertise skills or 1 more level of Paladin for a feat.
If getting fighter 1, it is hard to pass up Action Surge at Fighter 2.
Gruff_Ironfist wrote:
Coredump00 wrote:
Any other comments or suggestions? I value your feedback
Why the four levels of fighter? I can possibly get the one level dip for Two-Weapon fighting (although it only adds +5 damage to one attack per round, and thus really isn't worth it), two for Action surge but four? You're probably better off ignoring Fighter completely. Pick up some more rogue or Paladin why not?
Yunru wrote:
Eh, one of paladin, then three of another. Could be Rogue, if you've high Cha and your table thinks invocation prerequisites works off of character level, three in Warlock to add Cha to your damage.
EDIT: Hell, 1 in Paladin and 3 in Fighter gets you the dice and the ABI, but you can get the ABI earlier.
Yunru wrote:
You might want to prioritize the elements of the build you think are most important. This will help plot out when to take various class levels for their features. For example, if you think Improved Divine Smite is very important, recognize that your build in the original post doesn't get that until 17th level. Thus, you don't get to enjoy it that long (for just 4 levels). This feels kind of late for something like that.
Additionally, it is worth taking time to make sure you'll enjoy the character at different levels of play, especially after you've locked in your AL build.
If you really want heavy Paladin in the mix, I would recommend Paladin 11 (vengeance) / Fighter 2 / Rogue 3 (assassin) / Ranger 3 (hunter) for 19 levels, then for level 20 you get another ASI from either Paladin 12, Rogue 4 or Ranger 4. But it honestly won't matter at that point (grin). Instead of Uncanny Dodge class ability from Rogue (which uses a reaction to halve damage), take the Defensive Duelist feat (which uses a reaction to make an attack possibly miss altogether, and works with your finesse/rapier). This build gets you the Improved Divine Smite, burning paly slots for divine smites, vow of enmity, +2d6 sneak dice, action surge, colussus slayer (or horder breaker), hunter's mark, cunning action, expertise, second wind, LoHands, and the 2 paly auras. You also get 3 fighting styles (defense +1 AC from paladin, two-weapon fighting from fighter, and +2 archery ranged attacks from ranger for thrown/returning weapons or bow attacks).
While the build has huge benefit in class features, you are weak on ASI. You'll only get 3 of them (human variant and two more from paladin 4th/8th). So its pretty light there. Personally, I'd probably dual-wield scimitars (which are both light and finesse, allowing you to skip DW feat), and grab Defensive Duelist and then pump DEX from 16 to 20 with the other two ASIs. This boosts attack, damage, DEX saves, DEX skills and AC.
Just some thoughts.
Gruff_Ironfist wrote:
You cannot multiclass at all unless your strength is 13 so you'll find to spend an ability boost to do this. You have to meet the multiclass stat requirements for ALL classes, even the one you start with.
ppaladin123 wrote:
ppaladin123 wrote:
Tal-eth wrote: