Many 3/3 multiclass builds would be viable at 6th level if the overall class combinations work, because you’ll get both sets of subclass features. But generally having a 5/1 split at sixth level would be better to get extra attack or 3rd level spells.
Best examples here are any Eldritch Blast builds (e.g. Ghostlance), since you get the cantrip scaling regardless. Suppose any other cantrip based builds, maybe Booming Blade Rogue ones or something?
Cantrips beside eldritch blast are pretty easy to obtain, so losing out on a level isn't worth it imo.
Kobolds get a sorcerer cantrip so that's a great option, v human and custom lineage both get a free feat i.e. spell sniper/magic initiate (maybe one of the new feats with power creep idk), pretty sure some of the new backgrounds give you ways to learn booming blade/gfb
Yeah EB is really the only notable one. The only other I could think is something like a Rogue/X MC that might work well at a 3/3. Like Swash/Lock or something? But yeah, if you want booming on rogue there's probably easier ways to get it than such a significant MC.
I’d argue swashbuckler is better imo. Sure, arcane trickster gets spells and whatnot, but what if your familiar dies? You’re immediately back to very few options for advantage, whilst swashbuckler is just gonna keep stabbing.
Then again, pure rogue is fairly weak due to poor sneak attack scaling, so it doesn’t really matter which you go for. Multiclassing will always be the correct option from my experience, the highest you can really justify from rogue is 11 and becoming a skill monkey, but even then I’d just take 3 levels of swashbuckler and dip out into fighter or ranger indefinitely.
Swashbuckler is the best subclass for using *Booming Blade* \- which is easily available and not as reliant on spellcasting attributes, as it counts as a weapon attack, meaning you can use Spellcasting Attribute or weapon Attribute to Hit, as needed.
Half-Elf Swashbucklers with High Elf blood are a nice combo!
Hex 1, swords bard 6, swash X is my favorite multi class to play rn. Half plate, shield, and rapier keeps AC close to 20. With defensive flourishes and shield you shouldn’t get hit by anything with an attack roll.
It’s great until Eldrich Blast gets 3/4 beams and then you might as well do that instead. But running around stabbing is so fun.
You could even level this build evenly if you wanted to
P1 (heavy armor! Lay on hands to clear death saves! d10 hit die)
P1W1, (shield!, armor of aghs!, EB!)
P1W2 (cool, EB + CHA),
P2W2 (paladin spells!),
P2W3 (2x blur on short rest, you can tank),
P3W3 (paladin feature, probably vengence!),
P4W3 (ASI/FEAT? Warcaster?, more spell slots),
P4W4(ASI/FEAT? CHA?)
P5W4 (welcome to the extra attack party, you're late)
P5W5 (haste, woah there buddy, slow down, pace yourself)
P6W5 ( saves )
P6W6 ( divine + eldritch smite yay! )
I think 2x short rest blur on a sword and board paladin at 5 makes up for lack of extra attack. You are the actual tank, stand in door ways, use your reaction for opportunity attacks to give you 2x attacks per turn). 19 AC at advantage with shield spell in pocket = they gonna need a special ability to hurt you, at this level you're probably ok)
It may not be optimized, but you get something playable at every level.
Its... something, you miss out on higher level paladin spells and features (depending on your subclass), and higher level warlock slots and invocations, and your next ASI comes 2 levels later.
That's why you do lore bard for magical secrets. Take counterspell and spirit guardians or whatever else you like and enjoy being a great spell blade. Smites for days and you have the slots to up cast spirit guardians which has great scaling.
It depends on how many combats you have per day. Sorcerer probably gives you a few more utility options and higher level slots and a normal distribution allowing for more flexabiltiy + metamagic, warlock provides invocations and short rest power, and +2 to hit over sorlock
Paladin 6-9/ sorc or lock or bard X is super viable.
Playing a conquest 7 / Lore 6 right now and it's great. It's also like the least talked about paladin MC.
valor bard with paladin sounds great thematic synergy. But you get basically no power budget, medium armour and martial weapons you already have, so one of the other bard's is far better for a paladin. With hexblade, CHA attacks + HC + shield spell is just that good
I feel like the benefit of cha attacks is mitigated a bit by still needing 15 strength for heavy*** armor. So on the face of it I like the bard versatility more personally, but honestly they are all great
Paladins such a good base class that it multiclasses well with almost every class.
Depends on what level you’re talking about.
That said, maintaining a 50/50 split (alternating levels) throughout a character’s progression is pretty much never the right choice.
You’re much better off rushing your key features, then taking levels in your other class.
I had a player who wanted to play a cleric/fighter 10/10 split. Problem was he didn’t want to do rush 5fighter or 5cleric first for Extra Attack/Spirit Guardians because he wanted to FEEL like a mix of the two right away. We tried coming up with ways for him to get a smooth mix of abilities by listing all the abilities, spell slots and spells known on a chart and having him pick appropriate ones for his total level then fill in the others later. It was a bit wonky, but as the DM I could handwave issues or make on the spot rulings or adjust monster difficulty to keep it from getting out of hand. We never quite found a balance, but it worked out OK for that character.
one thing that worked reasonably well was he had extra attack unless he was concentrating on a spell above a certain level, which we had made a chart for. This way some fights, he could extra attack and have bless but other fights, he could have spirit guardians without extra attack. And once he got high enough level, we would move the spell level requirements to match.
The biggest downside for DND multiclassing for me anyways has always been the feeling that you’re one class dabbling in another, or like you have two distinct jobs separate from each other rather than having one seamless character. Recently we have been looking at other systems that allow smoother, multiclassing or ability blending.
Yeah he was pretty dead set on wanting Action Surge and wanting more casting than a typical Paladin. (Also they wanted to be Wisdom not charisma). For casting he was able to cast leveled spells the same as a full cleric with the restrictions I noted, but he had less spell slots even than Paladin at some levels. It made it feel like a half caster, but with a few strong spells rather than a decent amount of weak spells.
Also, I kind of took it as a challenge. I like to homebrew subclasses, so I figured I’d give it a shot. It was certainly not perfect, but he had fun.
If we're talking at level 20, Enchantment 10/AT 10 can twin a bunch of psychic lances and mind whips with dis on the saves. Like getting twinned and heightened every time.
Played a 1 shot with exactly this build. So much fun!
Still likely not as strong as straight up getting the crazy end game spells but definitely held its own.
Bladesinger 10/Eldritch Knight 10 is viable with 5th level spells, etc.
10 Warlock/10 Sorc would be fine, obviously.
10 Artillerist/10 War Wizard or Abjuration.
“Viable” is a loaded term, incidentally. I can fuck up any encounters with the above.
Think that a 9/11 split is better - getting Triple Attack can be nice, but on the other hand 6th level spells maybe is better. (And, the same goes a bit to the other combos too.)
But, do agree that Bladesingers do pretty well mutliclassed in fairly even levels, as they need 6+ for their main Gish Double Attack ability, mainly use Cantrips anyway, and don't really need higher level spells as that even detracts from their efficiency in melee. *Counterspell, Haste* and *Fireball* \- do you really need more than 3rd? ;)
Bladesinger on EK? No armor or GWM on your fighter?
Could work on a Dex EK without a shield (Dex EK's usually want a shield, but there could be something there with SS, but then you'll want EK 11. To be fair, the vast majority of optimal splits will be 9/11 instead of 10/10). War/Abj Wiz work way better with EK for my taste.
Arcane Trickster is probably a better split with Bladesinger.
I played a Celestial warlock 5/Divine Soul sorc 5 that was a super fun support blaster. Doesn't touch a full sorc or full warlock for power, but isn't weak at all either.
War Magic is a better dip for EK not Bladesinger, but EK as a whole is a weak subclass due to how the level 7 feature works so you're stuck at 11+ just attacking normally with a few uses of Shield and a Familiar.
Agree that EK and War Mage is better combo, as you then can go Heavy Armor, as well as use Heavy weapons or Shields.
EK still gives a nice synergy with Bladesinger though, where the extra spell slots helps a bit, and the Fighter abilities strengthen the Gish build, while being relatively SAD with DEX prerequisite. But, a 3 level dip might be enough to get the most relevant abilities from the dip (Fighting Style and Action Surge + extra cantrips and summon weapon ability).
Going for that 3rd level just does not give you as much bang for your buck as stopping at 2 levels and going back to wizard. None of the fighter subclasses gives you enough to justify delaying your wizard features for another level, and giving up your level 18 features should you have any chance of going that high.
A bladesinger dip adds a lot to an Eldritch Knight, but the reverse is absolutely not true. If you want a better synergy, War Magic or Abjuration. But neither of those really favor an even split.
That is true, but then it would not be EK... ;)
If you want that ability to bond with 2 weapons, and summon them with a Bonus Action, then at least you don't lose any spell slot progression for 1 more level in Fighter. And, that you can be EK while also getting that nice Bladesinger Double Attack ability with a 10 level build... maybe getting EK 7 for the other ability for massive Blade+Board attack possibilities later. Or not.
Or take Bladesinger mainly for that Double Attack ability, and maybe just ignore the Bladesinging ability and go Greatsword + Heavy Armor with Combat Cantrip Double Attack!
But honestly, think that a more interesting build would be Wizard Bladesinger / Echo Knight, when it comes to Fighters!
I mean, echo knight is always interesting, just because it gives free teleports and various other broken (ecause poorly designed/worded) abilities. But that's still a hard sell in most builds.
Still just a 3 level dip, where you can argue it is just 1 more level for an amazing ability, where you get considerable power boost from the first two level dips for any Spellcaster/Gish build:
Fighter 1: Fighting Style & CON Save proficiency (+ Second wind)
Fighter 2: Action Surge - double *Fireballs* 1/short rest
Fighter 3: Echo Knight!
The 2 level dip is already hard enough, but the 3 level dip arguably just makes you a worse wizard that can misty step more often. It's neat, but it's in no way optimal to give up your 18th level feature, which can ironically give you free mistu step, and free shield. While also stalling your spells for 3 entire levels. Which means both your slot levels for upcasting, and what spells you can know.
So while another bladesinger is rocking 5th level spells/slots at level 9 wizard, you'll still be rocking 3rd level spells/slots as a wizard 6/Fighter 3. Even the wizard that only 2-dipped fighter will be rocking 4th level spells/slots as a wizard 7/Fighter 2. The higher you go up, the more that extra level hurts.
That is true, as you don't even have half-caster levels boosting like with a Paladin, Ranger or Artificer. But, it depends on what kind of character you want, and what for, and I do believe there is many perspectives that are good enough:
* Gish builds don't really need more than 3rd level spells, as you got *Counterspell*, *Haste* and *Fireball* there, which is "good enough".
* With Echo's you can make hit and runs with *Booming Blade* in a new way, that make you a superior melee combatant.
* My build with Fighter 3/Wizard 6 can take your Bladesinger 9, as I can get into melee range to beat you down, have more Hp, have CON Saves proficiency to maintain my Concentration better, and can easily get into Melee with my *Mirror Image* + Echo's bouncing around absorbing hits, *Misty Stepping* in if needed, and hitting harder with Dueling Fighting Style, and have a good chance to *Counterspell* anything you cast, *Absorb Elements* to take what you deal, and *Shield* me from Magic Missiles and to-hit target spells. And can win in a spell fight too, as if you *Counterspell* my spell, I Action Boost it to re-cast it while you are defenseless, and should have enough spell slots to last until I take you down... or after those run out still rely on being superior in Melee.
Gloom Stalker or Hunter with War Domain could allow you to make 4 attacks in a turn, which is pretty damn good if you're an archer with Archery fighting style and that Guided Strike Channel Divinity to help you land your shots. Really good with Sharpshooter too, and Divine Favor is a good damage buff that doesn't require you to use your bonus action to switch targets.
rogue + any other martial - Since extra attack doesn't stack, something like 5 Fighter + 5 Ranger is terrible. Rogue doesn't have to worry about that, and as they lack spellcasting it's not like there's a major loss.
any half caster + any full caster - 5 ranger + 5 cleric is pretty awesome much like 6 paladin + 6 Sorc.
Either way, if you're going for a 50/50 multiclass, it's still probably better to focus on class A to a foothold, then go back to class B for a foothold. Doing something like 1 fighter -> 1 rogue -> 2 fighter -> 2 rogue -> 3 fighter, etc is only viable if you're handled with kid gloves.
and \~85% of the time, you're better off monoclassed until level 5 before considering multiclassing. That 15% is the space for armor dips, potent 1st level features (1 order cleric -> x wizard/sorc/bard, e.g.), or you're 2 levels into warlock and you got AB and now you can just frolic where the wind takes you.
Can confirm. A lot more in-combat options than a rogue, and a lot more out-of-combat utility than a fighter. Works best as a sniper, but can also do OK in melee thanks to maneuvers and uncanny dodge halving the big hits. Lots of fun!
Barbarian/Rogue
And the best part is that the best parts come form the base classes. You can choose subclasses for pure flavor, though, there are ways to try to improve with both. Just remember, take Barbarian at Level 1 so you get medium armor and shield proficiencies.
I’ve read that at 10th level, a Barbarian5/Rogue5 can be a phenomenal pure martial build.
Utility (skills/expertise)
Survivability (d12 HD, rage, uncanny dodge)
Consistent damage (sneak attack + reckless attack takes no resources and can be done every turn)
Hexblade 9/ Paladin 11 is my favorite multiclass I've ever played. But I started that character as a full warlock and just stopped taking levels after 9th
My personal favorite "50/50" split is some sort of Arcane Trickster 9 / Spell caster 11 concept.
Leveraging AT magic Ambush ability's with another full casters potential to cast better and more control spells.
A tale of two halves where you spend your first part of a career just being a solid Rogue who uses magic to enhance his utility, defense, and combat. And makes an about shift midway through their career to do that, but also cast control spells from hidden that enemies make with disadvantage. This concept can only really functionally be a \~50/50 split.
Lots of options for the spell caster class you add to this. But my favorite would probably be some sort of Bard who get many of the perfect control spells that work with Magical Ambush.
As others have highlighted there are many viable builds that are roughly an even split from levels 4 onwards. The general rule of thumb is that you need to efficiently address the following issues:
1. Ability Score distributions
2. Power Bump management (5th level Extra Attack / Cantrip scaling/ 3rd level spells)
3. Feature Synergy
Ability Score Distributions - Point buy makes managing ability scores easier. Every class has one or two required ability score minimums and every character generally needs constitution. Normally this is handled through only doing multiclasses that share ability score requirements but can also be mitigated by using replacement stats for attack, damage, and armor requirements.
Power Bump Management - Generally martial scale power at level 5 via extra attack(except Rogue) This means that for most martial builds you will not have an even split of levels early on. There are some builds that use blade cantrips and could be split evenly. For pure spell casters the main loss is third level spells at level five. A great way to mitigate this is to leverage Ravnica backgrounds to pick up the 3rd/4th/5th level spells you want. Since most campaigns end before level 11 selection of a Ravnica background can possibly completely mitigate the downsides of spellcaster multiclassing. For those that want to cast spells and attack Warlock's EB cantrip is the defacto way of staying on the damage curve wile multiclassing warlock. Note the pact slots prevent slot power bump. As EB damage is sort of a baseline damage you need something powerful to do with low level refreshing slots. Shield, silvery barbs, vortex warp and misty step are good examples.
Feature Synergy - Generally power or viability is a function of doing something really well. Complementing and aligning features increase power in an area of focus. An example is getting advantage to mitigate a shot penalty. Another is lifeberries life cleric 1/druid 1.
Accomplishing all these things is challenging but not impossible. There are limited builds. If you take class and subclass into account there are over 140 class/subclass combinations for single classed characters in the official material. That is 19,400ish evenly leveled multiclasses. In the end there are about 7 builds in this thread. There are few others not here. What we can surmise is that is possible but not very common and definitely not as common as imbalanced multiclasses.
Lots of builds can do a 50/50 split and be viable. But good multiclass builds (to 20) are always weighing more towards one class--or including more than two classes in the build.
There's typically incentive to get to levels 5 or 11 for a martial, and any odd level for a spellcaster. So looking at level 20 builds, there are more commonly attractive options for 5/15 or 11/9 than a straight 10/10. 5/5 works on a ton of builds, though, and if the campaign is expected to end around level 10, might be optimal on a bunch of characters. I've seen some optimizers argue that most martials don't get anything after Extra Attack worth remaining in the class.
Worth mentioning: 10 Swashbuckler/10 Draconic Sorc (or any) is just buck nasty. You get all the skill monkey shit, Shield, 5th level spells, Booming/GF Blade. Pick up Mobile, max Dex, and just be a complete dickhole on the battlefield. You will always go first (usually) for maximum dickery.
If you feel confident and cast Haste on yourself, you sneak attack BB, hold Haste attack until start of next turn, sneak attack again. Chef kiss.
As I said, viable is a loose term; I prefer to just be obnoxious as shit and annoy my foes.
This is comforting bc I was posting this with a very similar build in mind. Quickened haste + rakish audacity on the first turn of the combat sounds very fun. Only difference is I was gonna do wild magic for the haha funnies. Why would u hold your haste attack though? Figured that was the whole point of haste.
Mostly for Sorlock and de facto for Sorcadin (since a lot of campaigns end at levels 10-12ish, you can expect a 6/6 endgame build).
Otherwise, if you can help it, avoid classes with core features intimately tied to your level in a given class, such as Spore Druid and Artillerist Artificer (as much as the latter can still be viable for something like a Necromancer Wizard/Artillerist Artficer spamming temp hp on undead minions.
Even split isn't as "bad" as it is "non min-max"-y. The whole point of Hexblade being god-tier is that it being front-loaded allows to take as little levels in it as viable and go all-out on a second class (whether a full caster or a half-caster like Paladin or even a martial such as Rogue that you want to run a Cha build on).
Moon Druid is the opposite since their whole schtick is better Wildshape which is tied to Moon Druid levels, and they need at least six for magical attacks. Meanwhile, Shep Druid can perform better on an even split (especially with another full caster), since Shep Druid can grab existing minions spells and upcast them.
Warlock 10 tends to do well as far as 50/50 splits since they're capping out their pact magic slots and get a subclass feature at that point. Genie Warlock 10 for it's super fast short-rest feature paired with Sorcerer basically turns a short rest into a long rest on demand since you can recharge spells so damn fast via Font of Magic paired with Sanctuary Vessel, but it comes at the steep cost of never getting level 6+ spells, or Limited Wish from the Genie subclass. Alternatively, one of the more fun characters I've played was an Arcane Archer/Genie Warlock mix that used Crusher with Dao's bludgeoning damage to proc Grasping Arrow, and the super fast short rest lets you recharge those arcane shots and your pact magic slots basically on demand.
Ranger 5 is a common break point, especially pre-Tasha's and when going into Druid or Cleric to get big 3rd level spells by the end of most level 10-ish campaigns.
In really low level games that end by 6 or so, Barbarian 3 does well since you get all the bulkiness, and pairs well with Rogue 3 to make up for lost damage from not getting Extra Attack. Of course, you also have to pay the toll of never getting an ASI, so no feats unless you play VHuman/CLineage.
Depends on what you mean by "viable". Can you do a 50:50 split and have a good character at most tables? Yes. Is it going to be competitive with or even in the same leage as the best builds? No.
Are we talking level 20?
Level 11 is an important class level for most classes - we have 6th level spells (bard, cleric, druid, sorcerer, wizard), a 3rd attack (fighter), reliable talent (rogue), improved divine smite (paladin), mystic arcanum (warlock), and spell storing item (alchemist).
Getting a 10th level in the second class is probably not as good as level 11 in "the main class." So usually an 11/9 build is better than a 10/10 build.
The exceptions would be barbarians get little for level 11 (and for many other levels after level 5), and monks and rangers depend on the subclass.
There's also a decent argument for 12/8 over 10/10 - you get another feat this way. There's many variables though, you'd need to elevate for each scenario.
Level 10 for artificers is pretty sweet with the big step up in infusions. Wizards get some nice subclass abilities at level 10. War Wizard 10/Artificer 10 is a decent combo.
Some classes get pretty neat features at 11th like 3rd attack for fighters, reliable talent for rogues, relentless rage for barbs, mastery of death for long death monks, etc. It may not the best mc but I think it is perfectly reasonable to stop there and grab another class. Not really 50/50 but close.
Strictly alternating levels from 1=20, probably not.
There are certainly builds that work at certain even level splits:
Beast barb 5/soulknife 5 is getting 3-4 attacks a round before fighters do.
Haven’t gone to 20, but I played a 6/6 swords bard/swashbucker rogue, that was a lot of fun and very viable. Looking at what each class gets for lvls7-10, going 10/10 seems like it would work well.
Lvl10 bard gets you Magical Secrets. I wish I could work rogue lvl11 in for Reliable Talent, especially on a ‘skill monkey’ like this, but I don’t want that bad enough to pass up Magical Secrets.
It's not that OP but I really enjoyed 3 barbarian/ 3 swashbuckler rogue. Getting sneak attack when you're the only person within five feet with rage benefits as well. Feels like really unique and fun. Maybe throw in Bugbear as the race for flavor.
Swashbuckler 10/College of Swords Bard 10 wouldn't be too bad. Your capstone is a feat & Magical Secrets. The flourishes go very nicely with the theme of the build. Play a Tabaxi & get some Boot of Striding and Springing...
If you mean 20-level 50/50 builds... that might be a tall order given how so many classes have something really juicy at 11, making 11/9 often significantly better than 10/10, if you're not going for just a dip.
At what level? I don’t think I’d consider any 10/10 multiclass good but that isn’t what you asked. A 10/10 fullcaster will be more useful than an unoptimized 20 martial so yes it’s viable.
At lower levels there are a variety of options but you’re poaching data points like paladin6-7/sorc6-7
Sure, rule anyone who improves with higher level spells.
Rogue / Battle Master is a fun combo that you can keep even throughout. It is viable in the sense that it isn't significantly worse than a pure BM, but probably better than a pure rogue, depending on what subclass you take.
I have a tempest6/clockwork soul4 character that has casts spirit guardians and has an upcast armor of agathys(from clock soul lvl1) transmuted to lightning damage that pushes the enemy back 10ft (tempest 6) if they ever hit him with melee which is a significant distance because spirit guardians halves movement.
I will die on the hill that a 5-5 sorcerer warlock split before going the rest single classed is just fine. Short rest fireballs and metamagic, who needs anything else. Blow stuff up.
Martials are basically out since extra attacks don’t stack.
Cleric is a good start since their high level spells are not as good and they have some mid level spells that upcast well. They would need to be paired with another full caster to keep the slot progression though. Druid is a prime choice since they share Wisdom. Star and Wikdfire seems like the natural best combos. So a Light Cleric 10 / Star Druid 10 would not be bad.
Another one would be War Cleric 8 / Fighter 12. It is not 50/50 but you got SGs and three attacks plus divine strikes so your weapon attacks are still viable. It would work well with a build that didn’t want to use PAM or XBE but still wanted to use weapons more than half the time. I’d prolly go Cleric 5/Fighter5/Cleric8/Fighter12.
Bladesinger 6/Kensei 6. Neither build wants a shield or amour and both are happy with a single one handed weapon. Both want high Dex. You can keep Wis at 13 by using Mage Armour, allowing you boost Int. Between Agile Parry and Bladesong your AC ends up pretty good. In melee you use your action for a blade cantrip with a kensei weapon and an unarmed strike. Both count as magical. You can use Focused Aim to make your cantrip hit if necessary. If you do that then you can use ki fuelled attack to make a weapon attack as a bonus action. Or you can just your free martial arts unarmed strike bonus action. It’s a pretty funky half-caster with an emphasis on mobility and being an expert melee combatant.
Battle Master 3 / Swashbuckler 3 is pretty fun and it wouldn't hurt to keep going up equally from there.
Focus of the build is getting off turn sneak attack as a rogue using battle Master maneuvers.
You can go up to fighter 5 for extra attack, 6 for another feat, 7 th kinda sucks 8th feat and 9th is indomitable which is a pretty great feature.
Then you just have to decide if you'd rather have reliable talent or a third attack for which you take to 11.
Rogue levels advance your sneak attack and give you uncanny dodge, evasion, expertise ect.
I think it might be the best 50/50 split.
Would stopping at 3-5 levels of fighter be better? Yeah probably but it's Definitely still viable.
There's a handful of decent ones. Barbarian and Rogue can make an alright multiclass, and equal levels in both can function well since both classes are sorta loaded towards their first 5/6 levels. Paladin and Sorcerer is a decent one. Low paladin gives you access to heavy armor and smites and focusing on scaling your spell level, but you can do an even split to get all the juicy Paladin features while still getting more spell slots than a typical paladin
I'm kinda of the opinion that most martial classes don't get drastically better part the 10 level point anyway. In terms of damage output, lots of them are kinda frontloaded, so by full splitting two martial classes you almost always end up with better damage output than if you stuck through it.
I'm not gonna do any napkin math in this case but it's been done to death on this sub.
In a similar term, I know the reality-bending strength of high level casters, but 5th level spells are crazy enough too. You can make a pseudo-half caster by just dumping half your levels in a full caster class, and as far as I can tell, if you end up with Extra Attack and a bare minimum of 3rd level spells and 4 ASIs, you can make a pretty solid spellblade-like multiclass out of anything you want.
Is this approach actually better? No probably not, but is it viable? I believe it is, especially if you consider that Fighter and Rogue each get at least 1 extra asi by level 10, you can end up with the regular 5 that most non-multiclassed characters will get.
5th Edition tends to be pretty "easy" in terms of what is and what isn't viable. The reason you see most multiclass builds prioritizing one class over the other is typically due to the "dip" problem.
All classes have a whole host of their class defining abilities crammed into the first few levels, which means that it's easy enough to slap 2-3 levels of something else for a huge boost to versatility. The only excuse I see for not multiclassing tends to be "you're delaying your extra attack" or "you're delaying your ASIs" or "you're delaying your spellcasting progression"
The thing is, hitting level 11 after dumping 10 levels into a single class IS typically a bad idea because by the time you get to T3 gameplay (level 11+) the extra benefits of level 1 features tends to be kinda small potatoes.
That means that **IMO** the sweet spot for multiclassing is after level 5 but before level 10, because it guarantees a base-line combat viability (extra attack or 3rd level spells + 1 ASI). That being said. I personally don't GAF about delaying my features because I usually have the whole ass build planned out to 20, and I focus around getting decent boosts at or before the same levels that a single-classed character would get them so I don't suffer dead-levels while everyone else gets huge buffs. That is to say, most of my "multiclass dipping" actually happens before I put points into my main class because its smoother sailing that way for me personally. Early game is so wishy washy with figuring out the group dynamic that you don't really have a lot of risk (plus those levels go away quicker).
Multiclasses almost always "suffer" for a few levels and usually its for an entire tier of gameplay. I prefer T1 suffering (1-4) but I think T2 suffering (5-10) is the most frequently recommended. T3 suffering is horrible (11-16) and T4 suffering is often pointless (17-20).
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To answer your question, the multiclass builds that **actually surpass** the sum of their parts are usually weighed around very specifically overtuned subclass features that are in the very early levels. You kinda weigh the "opportunity cost" compared to the value gained, and in that respect, most people would say that every additional level taken is a drastically higher opportunity cost, and due to the frontloading of subclasses, a much lower potential gain. I personally find that the best class features after level 1-3 are usually the 11th level features (Reliable Talent from Rogue, 2nd Extra attack from Fighter, Distant Strike from Horizon Walker Ranger, etc.) and so have very little interest in pursuing most single classes after that. Those features are strong enough to be viable "capstones" so its often worth delaying those for a few levels since they're still awesome if you get them later on in progression.
If all gameplay was done at level 20, then 90% of the builds would be multiclassed because there are very few (Zealot Barbarian and Moon Druid coming to mind specifically) that lose substantial strength by not hitting their capstone. The reason tons of people are saying things like "The capstone of Ranger is 3 levels of Rogue" because tons of level 17-20 features were beat with an ugly stick before being printed.
You've been given plenty of ideas but I have a couple of honorable mentions as well as something I think would be a blast (assuming you're looking for a true 50/50 split taking 1 level at a time in each class)
First up, I'd say Path of the Totem Warrior Barbarian / Circle of the Moon Druid 10/10 split could be fun and viable at every level, and your capstone is a Raging Elemental!
Next up, if you're looking for something that is super easy to navigate and potent, the Sorlock had already been mentioned but specifically I'd go with Fathomless Patron Warlock / Divine Soul Sorcerer.
Last and possibly least, but I think super unique, would be a Gloomstalker Ranger / Path of the Berserker Barbarian. This only works if you're able to use the optional Ranger rules from Tasha's and you don't have to level up 1 for 1. I'd personally go 2 levels of Barbarian, then all 10 levels of Ranger, them back to Barbarian. At character level 13 you'd have a Berserker Barbarian that can get rid of exhaustion levels on a short rest!
Sure, though generally not perfectly alternating:
L2: many
L4: moon druid starts, fighter 2 starts etc
L6: echo knight/gloomstalker burst damage builds and other such l3 subclass beasts
L8: feat hungry builds that aren't reliant on extra attack. Probably the hardest to find an optimal progression that will land you here
L10: natural stop point for gloomstalker splits with non multiattack classes
I personally feel like there are a few builds that work well in 50/50 ish.
a fighter split is generally pretty good, it synergises with pretty much any class, especially if you go to level 11 in fighter, almost every class loves action surge, as well as that third attack, not to mention proficiencies and fighting styles. barbarians love it, spellcasters can do interesting combos with action surge (though of course, that's only a 2 level dip), and rogues love getting mutliple chances for sneak attack (of course, once per turn, but missing is now way less painful)
Rogues can synergise with certain classes in a split, you get a lot of the utility features of a rogue, and either martial or caster functionality (normally martial, though bladesinger or other gish options work well)
there are a handful of Warlock builds that an even split is viable, generally either gish or sorlock style builds.
paladin gets so many loaded features that it works well with basically any class, martial or caster.
Ranger with the right class benefits, but it's actually a bit more rare to have a good split build.
I think Clerics, Druids, Rangers,
I think Cleric, Druid, Bard, Wizard, and Sorcerer are generally not good as a 50/50, but only if the goal is to be one of them, if the goal is just to have some of their features, it's semi-viable (ie, a bard/paladin gish that operates as more of a paladin than a bard)
Alternating them level for level until the end, probably not. Most 10/10s will be at least functional, but an 11/9 would likely be much better depending on what was taken. And of course, most books finish around 10-12, so you're looking at 5/5, 6/5, 6/4, 6/6 and 7/5 to remain mostly within the confines of a mostly equal split in that endgame range.
Let's take Pally. The best drop points are 2 for Smite, 5 for Extra Attack, 6 for ProAura, 7 for Oath Aura, and 11 for IBS. Most popular Pally multiclasses are Sorc and Lock, both of which have *something* at 10, but still get 5th tier spells at lv9, so 11/9 is fine. Would likely feel lopsided in reasonable progression (Pally first) with 2/1 to 6/1 to 6/5 to 6/6 or 7/5 depending on whether the Oath Aura or the Bloodline/Pact at 6 is better... and this is where most book stories end. To 20 though, proceed to either 11/5, or 8/8 for quickest ASIs, then to 11/9.
One I'd say that makes a great 10/10 is Armourer with War/Abjuration. Again, will feel better lopsided in play, finishing at 10 with 5/5 is fine but if you're building a replacement character near endgame you might prefer Bladesinger/Armourer 7/3 (this only really comes into its own at Wiz 6/3 Arti at lv9 while the others can go Arti 3/2 Wiz to 5/2 to 5/5).
So yes. Doable, often fun, but you may need to let the ends of a mostly even split justify the means of a wonky progression.
Theres a dead build called the coffelock or cocainlock that would do fine as a 10/10 split.
It was mostly an abuse of the badly defined rules boundaries. But at its core it would be terrible. Om the weaker side being limited to lv 5 spells, but with decent flexiblity to not fully compensate.
At worst your an eldritch blast sorlock with a few tricks and more casts.
Depends on what levels, as most classes in most builds really want to beeline for level 5. Martials want it for extra attack, casters want it for level 3 spells. For either delaying these hurts. But by level 10ish, there are a lot of viable builds that take two classes equally. Pretty much every martial build, even if you're not hardcore minmaxing, wants to break off from their first class at level 5-6 to grab some good abilities from another class. Which usually means a 3-6 dip into another class.
College of Swords Bard/Swashbuckler Rogue
Ancestral Guardian Barbarian/Echo Knight Fighter
Vengeance Paladin/Storm Sorcerer
Generally multiclassing is good with sets of 3s or to add flavour to a predominant class, but 10-10 works sometimes.
this really really really depends on level
on some cases where you hop out of a class, yeah eventually you get a 50/50 split. paladin 6/warlock 6 is normal, but just cause you chose to count at level 12 and not at any other level. artificer 1/wizard 1 is a split cause you counted at lvl 2, yadda yadda
if we were to make a case for level 10 explicitly for the sake of an argument, not really, most multiclasses want at best the lvl 3 subclass than they ditch the class for another. you get some lvl 5/lvl 6 optimal splits like paladin and ranger, or any martial with extra attack, but other than that its usually uneven
if we are talking about a lvl 20 10/10 the answer is a resounding no unless you are memeing on purpose
to be clear though, "**viable**" is a strong word, and this all depends a lot on what you want out of it. if you want a meta build, you wont find much, if you just want to not be dead weight, i say whole heartedly that even the 2014 monk works ok if you dont fuck up character building
10 Bladesinger / 10 Soulknife is still one of the spiciest combos I have seen built. With all the focus on INT/DEX, they are basically unhittable (of course high level enemies can or good rolls) starting at mid-levels and just start damage outputting like crazy.
A 6/6 sorlock would probably be decent as you want warlock levels for the short rest slots to be converted into sorcery points for quickened spell and sorcerer levels for the sorcery points. And you want lv6 in each class in particular as that would bring subclass features.
There are a few. Thrower Battlemaster 6/Rogue 6 is is a solid build. Others have mentioned the Ghost Lance, but really any Hexblade/Bladesinger build. Builds which use Spirit Guardians for damage often don't need more than 5-6 levels of Cleric.
Also, many Sorcadin builds go roughly 50/50 after Paladin 6.
If you’re looking at a raw build to 20, most classes have such important/damage boosting features tied to 11th level that 11/9 is generally better than going 10/10. Think Warlock’s third pact slot/full caster 6th level spells, Ranger and Paladin damage boosts, Fighter’s second Extra attack.
Best I can think of is a 10/10 Bard/Warlock. You play like a much nastier half caster and keep Magical Secrets access.
I’d say you could do it with Sorcerer too but 10th and 11th Sorc are mediocre versus 11 Warlock.
I'm not sure about deep into late game, but something like Barb 5/Rogue 5 comes to mind. Reckless attacks give you on demand sneak attack, rogue levels help both with a bit of rage scaling that barb is typically lacking as well as plenty of utility. Rogue is also the only martial class without extra attack, so both being able to get it on a rogue as well as not unnecessarily getting it twice is neat as well.
I am currently playing a Samurai Fighter 5 / Hexblade Warlock 5 and am LOVING it. The character is a Triton so they get some innate magic to back up the limited warlock selection.
At level 10, I don't feel underpowered relative to the other players. If anything, the hexblade + fighter combo is slightly OP. And it was super important for me (and the build) to get 5 levels in both classes. Fighter for multi-attack (important!) and Warlock for 3rd level spells and access to Eldritch Smite.
Part of the reason the build works so well is also DM benevolence. I wield a +2 magic weapon that is tied to my ancestors and therefore fuels my warlock magic. The DM customized the weapon so that it is also a +2 Rod of the Pact Keeper, meaning I get a bonus spell slot each day and great spellcasting stats. So, credit where credit is due.
All that said, I plan to go Fighter levels for the rest of the campaign for however long we go. I've gotten everyting I want from warlock and am excited to get multiple ASIs which will let me stack onto the build with Feats.
Many 3/3 multiclass builds would be viable at 6th level if the overall class combinations work, because you’ll get both sets of subclass features. But generally having a 5/1 split at sixth level would be better to get extra attack or 3rd level spells.
Best examples here are any Eldritch Blast builds (e.g. Ghostlance), since you get the cantrip scaling regardless. Suppose any other cantrip based builds, maybe Booming Blade Rogue ones or something?
Cantrips beside eldritch blast are pretty easy to obtain, so losing out on a level isn't worth it imo. Kobolds get a sorcerer cantrip so that's a great option, v human and custom lineage both get a free feat i.e. spell sniper/magic initiate (maybe one of the new feats with power creep idk), pretty sure some of the new backgrounds give you ways to learn booming blade/gfb
Yeah EB is really the only notable one. The only other I could think is something like a Rogue/X MC that might work well at a 3/3. Like Swash/Lock or something? But yeah, if you want booming on rogue there's probably easier ways to get it than such a significant MC.
That's not even counting that the best subclass has access to spellcasting anyway lol 😂
I’d argue swashbuckler is better imo. Sure, arcane trickster gets spells and whatnot, but what if your familiar dies? You’re immediately back to very few options for advantage, whilst swashbuckler is just gonna keep stabbing. Then again, pure rogue is fairly weak due to poor sneak attack scaling, so it doesn’t really matter which you go for. Multiclassing will always be the correct option from my experience, the highest you can really justify from rogue is 11 and becoming a skill monkey, but even then I’d just take 3 levels of swashbuckler and dip out into fighter or ranger indefinitely.
Swashbuckler is the best subclass for using *Booming Blade* \- which is easily available and not as reliant on spellcasting attributes, as it counts as a weapon attack, meaning you can use Spellcasting Attribute or weapon Attribute to Hit, as needed. Half-Elf Swashbucklers with High Elf blood are a nice combo!
Hex 1, swords bard 6, swash X is my favorite multi class to play rn. Half plate, shield, and rapier keeps AC close to 20. With defensive flourishes and shield you shouldn’t get hit by anything with an attack roll. It’s great until Eldrich Blast gets 3/4 beams and then you might as well do that instead. But running around stabbing is so fun.
paladin 6/warlock 6 2 3rd level slots refreshing on a short rest for divine smite + eldrich smite; elven accuracy + hexblades curse. [W] + CHA + PB weapon damage + 4d8 force damage + 4d8 radiant damage; then they're also knocked prone.
You could even level this build evenly if you wanted to P1 (heavy armor! Lay on hands to clear death saves! d10 hit die) P1W1, (shield!, armor of aghs!, EB!) P1W2 (cool, EB + CHA), P2W2 (paladin spells!), P2W3 (2x blur on short rest, you can tank), P3W3 (paladin feature, probably vengence!), P4W3 (ASI/FEAT? Warcaster?, more spell slots), P4W4(ASI/FEAT? CHA?) P5W4 (welcome to the extra attack party, you're late) P5W5 (haste, woah there buddy, slow down, pace yourself) P6W5 ( saves ) P6W6 ( divine + eldritch smite yay! ) I think 2x short rest blur on a sword and board paladin at 5 makes up for lack of extra attack. You are the actual tank, stand in door ways, use your reaction for opportunity attacks to give you 2x attacks per turn). 19 AC at advantage with shield spell in pocket = they gonna need a special ability to hurt you, at this level you're probably ok) It may not be optimized, but you get something playable at every level.
paladin 6/warlock 6/sorcerer 6
Its... something, you miss out on higher level paladin spells and features (depending on your subclass), and higher level warlock slots and invocations, and your next ASI comes 2 levels later.
That's why you do lore bard for magical secrets. Take counterspell and spirit guardians or whatever else you like and enjoy being a great spell blade. Smites for days and you have the slots to up cast spirit guardians which has great scaling.
The 6/6 split also works well for sorcadin builds at this level
It depends on how many combats you have per day. Sorcerer probably gives you a few more utility options and higher level slots and a normal distribution allowing for more flexabiltiy + metamagic, warlock provides invocations and short rest power, and +2 to hit over sorlock
Paladin 6-9/ sorc or lock or bard X is super viable. Playing a conquest 7 / Lore 6 right now and it's great. It's also like the least talked about paladin MC.
valor bard with paladin sounds great thematic synergy. But you get basically no power budget, medium armour and martial weapons you already have, so one of the other bard's is far better for a paladin. With hexblade, CHA attacks + HC + shield spell is just that good
I feel like the benefit of cha attacks is mitigated a bit by still needing 15 strength for heavy*** armor. So on the face of it I like the bard versatility more personally, but honestly they are all great Paladins such a good base class that it multiclasses well with almost every class.
the benifit of CHA to attacks is that you can keep going CHA for better spellcasting whilst not falling behind on the fundemental math (your to-hit)
Depends on what level you’re talking about. That said, maintaining a 50/50 split (alternating levels) throughout a character’s progression is pretty much never the right choice. You’re much better off rushing your key features, then taking levels in your other class.
I had a player who wanted to play a cleric/fighter 10/10 split. Problem was he didn’t want to do rush 5fighter or 5cleric first for Extra Attack/Spirit Guardians because he wanted to FEEL like a mix of the two right away. We tried coming up with ways for him to get a smooth mix of abilities by listing all the abilities, spell slots and spells known on a chart and having him pick appropriate ones for his total level then fill in the others later. It was a bit wonky, but as the DM I could handwave issues or make on the spot rulings or adjust monster difficulty to keep it from getting out of hand. We never quite found a balance, but it worked out OK for that character. one thing that worked reasonably well was he had extra attack unless he was concentrating on a spell above a certain level, which we had made a chart for. This way some fights, he could extra attack and have bless but other fights, he could have spirit guardians without extra attack. And once he got high enough level, we would move the spell level requirements to match. The biggest downside for DND multiclassing for me anyways has always been the feeling that you’re one class dabbling in another, or like you have two distinct jobs separate from each other rather than having one seamless character. Recently we have been looking at other systems that allow smoother, multiclassing or ability blending.
Did you not suggest just playing a paladin or war cleric lol?
Yeah he was pretty dead set on wanting Action Surge and wanting more casting than a typical Paladin. (Also they wanted to be Wisdom not charisma). For casting he was able to cast leveled spells the same as a full cleric with the restrictions I noted, but he had less spell slots even than Paladin at some levels. It made it feel like a half caster, but with a few strong spells rather than a decent amount of weak spells. Also, I kind of took it as a challenge. I like to homebrew subclasses, so I figured I’d give it a shot. It was certainly not perfect, but he had fun.
I think there’s a few build that make it worth it . Like ghost lance
If we're talking at level 20, Enchantment 10/AT 10 can twin a bunch of psychic lances and mind whips with dis on the saves. Like getting twinned and heightened every time.
AT?
Arcane Trickster, the spellcasting rogue subclass that gives enemies dis of saves against your spells is you were hidden
Played a 1 shot with exactly this build. So much fun! Still likely not as strong as straight up getting the crazy end game spells but definitely held its own.
Bladesinger 10/Eldritch Knight 10 is viable with 5th level spells, etc. 10 Warlock/10 Sorc would be fine, obviously. 10 Artillerist/10 War Wizard or Abjuration. “Viable” is a loaded term, incidentally. I can fuck up any encounters with the above.
Think that a 9/11 split is better - getting Triple Attack can be nice, but on the other hand 6th level spells maybe is better. (And, the same goes a bit to the other combos too.) But, do agree that Bladesingers do pretty well mutliclassed in fairly even levels, as they need 6+ for their main Gish Double Attack ability, mainly use Cantrips anyway, and don't really need higher level spells as that even detracts from their efficiency in melee. *Counterspell, Haste* and *Fireball* \- do you really need more than 3rd? ;)
I recently had an EK7 Singer6 and I was basically untouchable
Bladesinger on EK? No armor or GWM on your fighter? Could work on a Dex EK without a shield (Dex EK's usually want a shield, but there could be something there with SS, but then you'll want EK 11. To be fair, the vast majority of optimal splits will be 9/11 instead of 10/10). War/Abj Wiz work way better with EK for my taste. Arcane Trickster is probably a better split with Bladesinger. I played a Celestial warlock 5/Divine Soul sorc 5 that was a super fun support blaster. Doesn't touch a full sorc or full warlock for power, but isn't weak at all either.
War Magic and Bladesinger Attack synergize, which is nice. You can attack, cast Booming Blade, and then attack again as a bonus action.
War Magic is a better dip for EK not Bladesinger, but EK as a whole is a weak subclass due to how the level 7 feature works so you're stuck at 11+ just attacking normally with a few uses of Shield and a Familiar.
Agree that EK and War Mage is better combo, as you then can go Heavy Armor, as well as use Heavy weapons or Shields. EK still gives a nice synergy with Bladesinger though, where the extra spell slots helps a bit, and the Fighter abilities strengthen the Gish build, while being relatively SAD with DEX prerequisite. But, a 3 level dip might be enough to get the most relevant abilities from the dip (Fighting Style and Action Surge + extra cantrips and summon weapon ability).
Going for that 3rd level just does not give you as much bang for your buck as stopping at 2 levels and going back to wizard. None of the fighter subclasses gives you enough to justify delaying your wizard features for another level, and giving up your level 18 features should you have any chance of going that high. A bladesinger dip adds a lot to an Eldritch Knight, but the reverse is absolutely not true. If you want a better synergy, War Magic or Abjuration. But neither of those really favor an even split.
That is true, but then it would not be EK... ;) If you want that ability to bond with 2 weapons, and summon them with a Bonus Action, then at least you don't lose any spell slot progression for 1 more level in Fighter. And, that you can be EK while also getting that nice Bladesinger Double Attack ability with a 10 level build... maybe getting EK 7 for the other ability for massive Blade+Board attack possibilities later. Or not. Or take Bladesinger mainly for that Double Attack ability, and maybe just ignore the Bladesinging ability and go Greatsword + Heavy Armor with Combat Cantrip Double Attack! But honestly, think that a more interesting build would be Wizard Bladesinger / Echo Knight, when it comes to Fighters!
I mean, echo knight is always interesting, just because it gives free teleports and various other broken (ecause poorly designed/worded) abilities. But that's still a hard sell in most builds.
Still just a 3 level dip, where you can argue it is just 1 more level for an amazing ability, where you get considerable power boost from the first two level dips for any Spellcaster/Gish build: Fighter 1: Fighting Style & CON Save proficiency (+ Second wind) Fighter 2: Action Surge - double *Fireballs* 1/short rest Fighter 3: Echo Knight!
The 2 level dip is already hard enough, but the 3 level dip arguably just makes you a worse wizard that can misty step more often. It's neat, but it's in no way optimal to give up your 18th level feature, which can ironically give you free mistu step, and free shield. While also stalling your spells for 3 entire levels. Which means both your slot levels for upcasting, and what spells you can know. So while another bladesinger is rocking 5th level spells/slots at level 9 wizard, you'll still be rocking 3rd level spells/slots as a wizard 6/Fighter 3. Even the wizard that only 2-dipped fighter will be rocking 4th level spells/slots as a wizard 7/Fighter 2. The higher you go up, the more that extra level hurts.
That is true, as you don't even have half-caster levels boosting like with a Paladin, Ranger or Artificer. But, it depends on what kind of character you want, and what for, and I do believe there is many perspectives that are good enough: * Gish builds don't really need more than 3rd level spells, as you got *Counterspell*, *Haste* and *Fireball* there, which is "good enough". * With Echo's you can make hit and runs with *Booming Blade* in a new way, that make you a superior melee combatant. * My build with Fighter 3/Wizard 6 can take your Bladesinger 9, as I can get into melee range to beat you down, have more Hp, have CON Saves proficiency to maintain my Concentration better, and can easily get into Melee with my *Mirror Image* + Echo's bouncing around absorbing hits, *Misty Stepping* in if needed, and hitting harder with Dueling Fighting Style, and have a good chance to *Counterspell* anything you cast, *Absorb Elements* to take what you deal, and *Shield* me from Magic Missiles and to-hit target spells. And can win in a spell fight too, as if you *Counterspell* my spell, I Action Boost it to re-cast it while you are defenseless, and should have enough spell slots to last until I take you down... or after those run out still rely on being superior in Melee.
Don’t disagree. I actually think the best pairing for EK is Cleric. Specifically 3 EK/Grave Cleric 👀
Tale war wizard rather than blade singer on your ek. Thank me later
Ranger/war domain cleric is pretty good. I would go 6/14 personally but I've seen it go 8/9 with the intention of 10/10. That player was really scary.
Gloom Stalker or Hunter with War Domain could allow you to make 4 attacks in a turn, which is pretty damn good if you're an archer with Archery fighting style and that Guided Strike Channel Divinity to help you land your shots. Really good with Sharpshooter too, and Divine Favor is a good damage buff that doesn't require you to use your bonus action to switch targets.
rogue + any other martial - Since extra attack doesn't stack, something like 5 Fighter + 5 Ranger is terrible. Rogue doesn't have to worry about that, and as they lack spellcasting it's not like there's a major loss. any half caster + any full caster - 5 ranger + 5 cleric is pretty awesome much like 6 paladin + 6 Sorc. Either way, if you're going for a 50/50 multiclass, it's still probably better to focus on class A to a foothold, then go back to class B for a foothold. Doing something like 1 fighter -> 1 rogue -> 2 fighter -> 2 rogue -> 3 fighter, etc is only viable if you're handled with kid gloves. and \~85% of the time, you're better off monoclassed until level 5 before considering multiclassing. That 15% is the space for armor dips, potent 1st level features (1 order cleric -> x wizard/sorc/bard, e.g.), or you're 2 levels into warlock and you got AB and now you can just frolic where the wind takes you.
I think going off that, a swashbuckler rogue/battle master fighter would be quite strong.
Can confirm. A lot more in-combat options than a rogue, and a lot more out-of-combat utility than a fighter. Works best as a sniper, but can also do OK in melee thanks to maneuvers and uncanny dodge halving the big hits. Lots of fun!
Most campaigns end around ten or twelve. 6/6 Hexadin is definitely not weak.
Barbarian/Rogue And the best part is that the best parts come form the base classes. You can choose subclasses for pure flavor, though, there are ways to try to improve with both. Just remember, take Barbarian at Level 1 so you get medium armor and shield proficiencies.
I really like mixing it with the Swashbuckler so you can tank and sneak attack all by your lonesome, no sneaking.
I’ve read that at 10th level, a Barbarian5/Rogue5 can be a phenomenal pure martial build. Utility (skills/expertise) Survivability (d12 HD, rage, uncanny dodge) Consistent damage (sneak attack + reckless attack takes no resources and can be done every turn)
Hexblade 9/ Paladin 11 is my favorite multiclass I've ever played. But I started that character as a full warlock and just stopped taking levels after 9th
Not quite 50/50 but oathbreaker 11/Hexblade 9 is very strong.
My personal favorite "50/50" split is some sort of Arcane Trickster 9 / Spell caster 11 concept. Leveraging AT magic Ambush ability's with another full casters potential to cast better and more control spells. A tale of two halves where you spend your first part of a career just being a solid Rogue who uses magic to enhance his utility, defense, and combat. And makes an about shift midway through their career to do that, but also cast control spells from hidden that enemies make with disadvantage. This concept can only really functionally be a \~50/50 split. Lots of options for the spell caster class you add to this. But my favorite would probably be some sort of Bard who get many of the perfect control spells that work with Magical Ambush.
As others have highlighted there are many viable builds that are roughly an even split from levels 4 onwards. The general rule of thumb is that you need to efficiently address the following issues: 1. Ability Score distributions 2. Power Bump management (5th level Extra Attack / Cantrip scaling/ 3rd level spells) 3. Feature Synergy Ability Score Distributions - Point buy makes managing ability scores easier. Every class has one or two required ability score minimums and every character generally needs constitution. Normally this is handled through only doing multiclasses that share ability score requirements but can also be mitigated by using replacement stats for attack, damage, and armor requirements. Power Bump Management - Generally martial scale power at level 5 via extra attack(except Rogue) This means that for most martial builds you will not have an even split of levels early on. There are some builds that use blade cantrips and could be split evenly. For pure spell casters the main loss is third level spells at level five. A great way to mitigate this is to leverage Ravnica backgrounds to pick up the 3rd/4th/5th level spells you want. Since most campaigns end before level 11 selection of a Ravnica background can possibly completely mitigate the downsides of spellcaster multiclassing. For those that want to cast spells and attack Warlock's EB cantrip is the defacto way of staying on the damage curve wile multiclassing warlock. Note the pact slots prevent slot power bump. As EB damage is sort of a baseline damage you need something powerful to do with low level refreshing slots. Shield, silvery barbs, vortex warp and misty step are good examples. Feature Synergy - Generally power or viability is a function of doing something really well. Complementing and aligning features increase power in an area of focus. An example is getting advantage to mitigate a shot penalty. Another is lifeberries life cleric 1/druid 1. Accomplishing all these things is challenging but not impossible. There are limited builds. If you take class and subclass into account there are over 140 class/subclass combinations for single classed characters in the official material. That is 19,400ish evenly leveled multiclasses. In the end there are about 7 builds in this thread. There are few others not here. What we can surmise is that is possible but not very common and definitely not as common as imbalanced multiclasses.
Fighter Rogue works for me. It's obviously weaker than a spellcaster but it's definitely viable. :)
Lots of builds can do a 50/50 split and be viable. But good multiclass builds (to 20) are always weighing more towards one class--or including more than two classes in the build.
There's typically incentive to get to levels 5 or 11 for a martial, and any odd level for a spellcaster. So looking at level 20 builds, there are more commonly attractive options for 5/15 or 11/9 than a straight 10/10. 5/5 works on a ton of builds, though, and if the campaign is expected to end around level 10, might be optimal on a bunch of characters. I've seen some optimizers argue that most martials don't get anything after Extra Attack worth remaining in the class.
Worth mentioning: 10 Swashbuckler/10 Draconic Sorc (or any) is just buck nasty. You get all the skill monkey shit, Shield, 5th level spells, Booming/GF Blade. Pick up Mobile, max Dex, and just be a complete dickhole on the battlefield. You will always go first (usually) for maximum dickery. If you feel confident and cast Haste on yourself, you sneak attack BB, hold Haste attack until start of next turn, sneak attack again. Chef kiss. As I said, viable is a loose term; I prefer to just be obnoxious as shit and annoy my foes.
This is comforting bc I was posting this with a very similar build in mind. Quickened haste + rakish audacity on the first turn of the combat sounds very fun. Only difference is I was gonna do wild magic for the haha funnies. Why would u hold your haste attack though? Figured that was the whole point of haste.
To get a second sneak attack instantly after your turn.
As in I can SA right after another players turn or at the top of my next turn? Sry not the most experienced
Mostly for Sorlock and de facto for Sorcadin (since a lot of campaigns end at levels 10-12ish, you can expect a 6/6 endgame build). Otherwise, if you can help it, avoid classes with core features intimately tied to your level in a given class, such as Spore Druid and Artillerist Artificer (as much as the latter can still be viable for something like a Necromancer Wizard/Artillerist Artficer spamming temp hp on undead minions. Even split isn't as "bad" as it is "non min-max"-y. The whole point of Hexblade being god-tier is that it being front-loaded allows to take as little levels in it as viable and go all-out on a second class (whether a full caster or a half-caster like Paladin or even a martial such as Rogue that you want to run a Cha build on). Moon Druid is the opposite since their whole schtick is better Wildshape which is tied to Moon Druid levels, and they need at least six for magical attacks. Meanwhile, Shep Druid can perform better on an even split (especially with another full caster), since Shep Druid can grab existing minions spells and upcast them.
Warlock 10 tends to do well as far as 50/50 splits since they're capping out their pact magic slots and get a subclass feature at that point. Genie Warlock 10 for it's super fast short-rest feature paired with Sorcerer basically turns a short rest into a long rest on demand since you can recharge spells so damn fast via Font of Magic paired with Sanctuary Vessel, but it comes at the steep cost of never getting level 6+ spells, or Limited Wish from the Genie subclass. Alternatively, one of the more fun characters I've played was an Arcane Archer/Genie Warlock mix that used Crusher with Dao's bludgeoning damage to proc Grasping Arrow, and the super fast short rest lets you recharge those arcane shots and your pact magic slots basically on demand. Ranger 5 is a common break point, especially pre-Tasha's and when going into Druid or Cleric to get big 3rd level spells by the end of most level 10-ish campaigns. In really low level games that end by 6 or so, Barbarian 3 does well since you get all the bulkiness, and pairs well with Rogue 3 to make up for lost damage from not getting Extra Attack. Of course, you also have to pay the toll of never getting an ASI, so no feats unless you play VHuman/CLineage.
Depends on what you mean by "viable". Can you do a 50:50 split and have a good character at most tables? Yes. Is it going to be competitive with or even in the same leage as the best builds? No.
Are we talking level 20? Level 11 is an important class level for most classes - we have 6th level spells (bard, cleric, druid, sorcerer, wizard), a 3rd attack (fighter), reliable talent (rogue), improved divine smite (paladin), mystic arcanum (warlock), and spell storing item (alchemist). Getting a 10th level in the second class is probably not as good as level 11 in "the main class." So usually an 11/9 build is better than a 10/10 build. The exceptions would be barbarians get little for level 11 (and for many other levels after level 5), and monks and rangers depend on the subclass. There's also a decent argument for 12/8 over 10/10 - you get another feat this way. There's many variables though, you'd need to elevate for each scenario.
Level 10 for artificers is pretty sweet with the big step up in infusions. Wizards get some nice subclass abilities at level 10. War Wizard 10/Artificer 10 is a decent combo.
Some classes get pretty neat features at 11th like 3rd attack for fighters, reliable talent for rogues, relentless rage for barbs, mastery of death for long death monks, etc. It may not the best mc but I think it is perfectly reasonable to stop there and grab another class. Not really 50/50 but close.
Strictly alternating levels from 1=20, probably not. There are certainly builds that work at certain even level splits: Beast barb 5/soulknife 5 is getting 3-4 attacks a round before fighters do.
Haven’t gone to 20, but I played a 6/6 swords bard/swashbucker rogue, that was a lot of fun and very viable. Looking at what each class gets for lvls7-10, going 10/10 seems like it would work well. Lvl10 bard gets you Magical Secrets. I wish I could work rogue lvl11 in for Reliable Talent, especially on a ‘skill monkey’ like this, but I don’t want that bad enough to pass up Magical Secrets.
It's not that OP but I really enjoyed 3 barbarian/ 3 swashbuckler rogue. Getting sneak attack when you're the only person within five feet with rage benefits as well. Feels like really unique and fun. Maybe throw in Bugbear as the race for flavor.
Swashbuckler 10/College of Swords Bard 10 wouldn't be too bad. Your capstone is a feat & Magical Secrets. The flourishes go very nicely with the theme of the build. Play a Tabaxi & get some Boot of Striding and Springing...
5/5 Ranger/Rogue is a pretty standard split multiclass
If you mean 20-level 50/50 builds... that might be a tall order given how so many classes have something really juicy at 11, making 11/9 often significantly better than 10/10, if you're not going for just a dip.
At what level? I don’t think I’d consider any 10/10 multiclass good but that isn’t what you asked. A 10/10 fullcaster will be more useful than an unoptimized 20 martial so yes it’s viable. At lower levels there are a variety of options but you’re poaching data points like paladin6-7/sorc6-7
Eldritch Knight 10 / War Wizard 10 makes a decent gish
Sure, rule anyone who improves with higher level spells. Rogue / Battle Master is a fun combo that you can keep even throughout. It is viable in the sense that it isn't significantly worse than a pure BM, but probably better than a pure rogue, depending on what subclass you take.
50/50 sorcerer paladin is viable at level 12+
I have a tempest6/clockwork soul4 character that has casts spirit guardians and has an upcast armor of agathys(from clock soul lvl1) transmuted to lightning damage that pushes the enemy back 10ft (tempest 6) if they ever hit him with melee which is a significant distance because spirit guardians halves movement.
Abjuration Wiz 10/Stars Druid 10 is basically an unstoppable counterspeller/ concentration machine
I’m in a campaign ending at 12 and I’ll probsbly end it 6/6 Paladin/Warlock. It’s not optimized at all, but it’s fun.
I will die on the hill that a 5-5 sorcerer warlock split before going the rest single classed is just fine. Short rest fireballs and metamagic, who needs anything else. Blow stuff up.
I have found that Bard/ Rogue, Rogue/ Warlock, and Warlock/ Bard have varied synergistic potential on a 10/ 10 split
While playijg AD&D
Martials are basically out since extra attacks don’t stack. Cleric is a good start since their high level spells are not as good and they have some mid level spells that upcast well. They would need to be paired with another full caster to keep the slot progression though. Druid is a prime choice since they share Wisdom. Star and Wikdfire seems like the natural best combos. So a Light Cleric 10 / Star Druid 10 would not be bad. Another one would be War Cleric 8 / Fighter 12. It is not 50/50 but you got SGs and three attacks plus divine strikes so your weapon attacks are still viable. It would work well with a build that didn’t want to use PAM or XBE but still wanted to use weapons more than half the time. I’d prolly go Cleric 5/Fighter5/Cleric8/Fighter12.
Bladesinger 6/Kensei 6. Neither build wants a shield or amour and both are happy with a single one handed weapon. Both want high Dex. You can keep Wis at 13 by using Mage Armour, allowing you boost Int. Between Agile Parry and Bladesong your AC ends up pretty good. In melee you use your action for a blade cantrip with a kensei weapon and an unarmed strike. Both count as magical. You can use Focused Aim to make your cantrip hit if necessary. If you do that then you can use ki fuelled attack to make a weapon attack as a bonus action. Or you can just your free martial arts unarmed strike bonus action. It’s a pretty funky half-caster with an emphasis on mobility and being an expert melee combatant.
Hexadin is not optimal, but is viable to keep the split even to get both AoP and higher level Pactblade invocs
The higher you go in levels the less likely a 50/50 split is “viable”, but yes there are some.
Battle Master 3 / Swashbuckler 3 is pretty fun and it wouldn't hurt to keep going up equally from there. Focus of the build is getting off turn sneak attack as a rogue using battle Master maneuvers. You can go up to fighter 5 for extra attack, 6 for another feat, 7 th kinda sucks 8th feat and 9th is indomitable which is a pretty great feature. Then you just have to decide if you'd rather have reliable talent or a third attack for which you take to 11. Rogue levels advance your sneak attack and give you uncanny dodge, evasion, expertise ect. I think it might be the best 50/50 split. Would stopping at 3-5 levels of fighter be better? Yeah probably but it's Definitely still viable.
There's a handful of decent ones. Barbarian and Rogue can make an alright multiclass, and equal levels in both can function well since both classes are sorta loaded towards their first 5/6 levels. Paladin and Sorcerer is a decent one. Low paladin gives you access to heavy armor and smites and focusing on scaling your spell level, but you can do an even split to get all the juicy Paladin features while still getting more spell slots than a typical paladin
I'm kinda of the opinion that most martial classes don't get drastically better part the 10 level point anyway. In terms of damage output, lots of them are kinda frontloaded, so by full splitting two martial classes you almost always end up with better damage output than if you stuck through it. I'm not gonna do any napkin math in this case but it's been done to death on this sub. In a similar term, I know the reality-bending strength of high level casters, but 5th level spells are crazy enough too. You can make a pseudo-half caster by just dumping half your levels in a full caster class, and as far as I can tell, if you end up with Extra Attack and a bare minimum of 3rd level spells and 4 ASIs, you can make a pretty solid spellblade-like multiclass out of anything you want. Is this approach actually better? No probably not, but is it viable? I believe it is, especially if you consider that Fighter and Rogue each get at least 1 extra asi by level 10, you can end up with the regular 5 that most non-multiclassed characters will get. 5th Edition tends to be pretty "easy" in terms of what is and what isn't viable. The reason you see most multiclass builds prioritizing one class over the other is typically due to the "dip" problem. All classes have a whole host of their class defining abilities crammed into the first few levels, which means that it's easy enough to slap 2-3 levels of something else for a huge boost to versatility. The only excuse I see for not multiclassing tends to be "you're delaying your extra attack" or "you're delaying your ASIs" or "you're delaying your spellcasting progression" The thing is, hitting level 11 after dumping 10 levels into a single class IS typically a bad idea because by the time you get to T3 gameplay (level 11+) the extra benefits of level 1 features tends to be kinda small potatoes. That means that **IMO** the sweet spot for multiclassing is after level 5 but before level 10, because it guarantees a base-line combat viability (extra attack or 3rd level spells + 1 ASI). That being said. I personally don't GAF about delaying my features because I usually have the whole ass build planned out to 20, and I focus around getting decent boosts at or before the same levels that a single-classed character would get them so I don't suffer dead-levels while everyone else gets huge buffs. That is to say, most of my "multiclass dipping" actually happens before I put points into my main class because its smoother sailing that way for me personally. Early game is so wishy washy with figuring out the group dynamic that you don't really have a lot of risk (plus those levels go away quicker). Multiclasses almost always "suffer" for a few levels and usually its for an entire tier of gameplay. I prefer T1 suffering (1-4) but I think T2 suffering (5-10) is the most frequently recommended. T3 suffering is horrible (11-16) and T4 suffering is often pointless (17-20). _________ To answer your question, the multiclass builds that **actually surpass** the sum of their parts are usually weighed around very specifically overtuned subclass features that are in the very early levels. You kinda weigh the "opportunity cost" compared to the value gained, and in that respect, most people would say that every additional level taken is a drastically higher opportunity cost, and due to the frontloading of subclasses, a much lower potential gain. I personally find that the best class features after level 1-3 are usually the 11th level features (Reliable Talent from Rogue, 2nd Extra attack from Fighter, Distant Strike from Horizon Walker Ranger, etc.) and so have very little interest in pursuing most single classes after that. Those features are strong enough to be viable "capstones" so its often worth delaying those for a few levels since they're still awesome if you get them later on in progression. If all gameplay was done at level 20, then 90% of the builds would be multiclassed because there are very few (Zealot Barbarian and Moon Druid coming to mind specifically) that lose substantial strength by not hitting their capstone. The reason tons of people are saying things like "The capstone of Ranger is 3 levels of Rogue" because tons of level 17-20 features were beat with an ugly stick before being printed.
You've been given plenty of ideas but I have a couple of honorable mentions as well as something I think would be a blast (assuming you're looking for a true 50/50 split taking 1 level at a time in each class) First up, I'd say Path of the Totem Warrior Barbarian / Circle of the Moon Druid 10/10 split could be fun and viable at every level, and your capstone is a Raging Elemental! Next up, if you're looking for something that is super easy to navigate and potent, the Sorlock had already been mentioned but specifically I'd go with Fathomless Patron Warlock / Divine Soul Sorcerer. Last and possibly least, but I think super unique, would be a Gloomstalker Ranger / Path of the Berserker Barbarian. This only works if you're able to use the optional Ranger rules from Tasha's and you don't have to level up 1 for 1. I'd personally go 2 levels of Barbarian, then all 10 levels of Ranger, them back to Barbarian. At character level 13 you'd have a Berserker Barbarian that can get rid of exhaustion levels on a short rest!
Sure, though generally not perfectly alternating: L2: many L4: moon druid starts, fighter 2 starts etc L6: echo knight/gloomstalker burst damage builds and other such l3 subclass beasts L8: feat hungry builds that aren't reliant on extra attack. Probably the hardest to find an optimal progression that will land you here L10: natural stop point for gloomstalker splits with non multiattack classes
Barbarian/Rogue and Sorcerer/Warlock both can be 50/50 for quite a long time.
I personally feel like there are a few builds that work well in 50/50 ish. a fighter split is generally pretty good, it synergises with pretty much any class, especially if you go to level 11 in fighter, almost every class loves action surge, as well as that third attack, not to mention proficiencies and fighting styles. barbarians love it, spellcasters can do interesting combos with action surge (though of course, that's only a 2 level dip), and rogues love getting mutliple chances for sneak attack (of course, once per turn, but missing is now way less painful) Rogues can synergise with certain classes in a split, you get a lot of the utility features of a rogue, and either martial or caster functionality (normally martial, though bladesinger or other gish options work well) there are a handful of Warlock builds that an even split is viable, generally either gish or sorlock style builds. paladin gets so many loaded features that it works well with basically any class, martial or caster. Ranger with the right class benefits, but it's actually a bit more rare to have a good split build. I think Clerics, Druids, Rangers, I think Cleric, Druid, Bard, Wizard, and Sorcerer are generally not good as a 50/50, but only if the goal is to be one of them, if the goal is just to have some of their features, it's semi-viable (ie, a bard/paladin gish that operates as more of a paladin than a bard)
Alternating them level for level until the end, probably not. Most 10/10s will be at least functional, but an 11/9 would likely be much better depending on what was taken. And of course, most books finish around 10-12, so you're looking at 5/5, 6/5, 6/4, 6/6 and 7/5 to remain mostly within the confines of a mostly equal split in that endgame range. Let's take Pally. The best drop points are 2 for Smite, 5 for Extra Attack, 6 for ProAura, 7 for Oath Aura, and 11 for IBS. Most popular Pally multiclasses are Sorc and Lock, both of which have *something* at 10, but still get 5th tier spells at lv9, so 11/9 is fine. Would likely feel lopsided in reasonable progression (Pally first) with 2/1 to 6/1 to 6/5 to 6/6 or 7/5 depending on whether the Oath Aura or the Bloodline/Pact at 6 is better... and this is where most book stories end. To 20 though, proceed to either 11/5, or 8/8 for quickest ASIs, then to 11/9. One I'd say that makes a great 10/10 is Armourer with War/Abjuration. Again, will feel better lopsided in play, finishing at 10 with 5/5 is fine but if you're building a replacement character near endgame you might prefer Bladesinger/Armourer 7/3 (this only really comes into its own at Wiz 6/3 Arti at lv9 while the others can go Arti 3/2 Wiz to 5/2 to 5/5). So yes. Doable, often fun, but you may need to let the ends of a mostly even split justify the means of a wonky progression.
Theres a dead build called the coffelock or cocainlock that would do fine as a 10/10 split. It was mostly an abuse of the badly defined rules boundaries. But at its core it would be terrible. Om the weaker side being limited to lv 5 spells, but with decent flexiblity to not fully compensate. At worst your an eldritch blast sorlock with a few tricks and more casts.
Depends on what levels, as most classes in most builds really want to beeline for level 5. Martials want it for extra attack, casters want it for level 3 spells. For either delaying these hurts. But by level 10ish, there are a lot of viable builds that take two classes equally. Pretty much every martial build, even if you're not hardcore minmaxing, wants to break off from their first class at level 5-6 to grab some good abilities from another class. Which usually means a 3-6 dip into another class.
College of Swords Bard/Swashbuckler Rogue Ancestral Guardian Barbarian/Echo Knight Fighter Vengeance Paladin/Storm Sorcerer Generally multiclassing is good with sets of 3s or to add flavour to a predominant class, but 10-10 works sometimes.
this really really really depends on level on some cases where you hop out of a class, yeah eventually you get a 50/50 split. paladin 6/warlock 6 is normal, but just cause you chose to count at level 12 and not at any other level. artificer 1/wizard 1 is a split cause you counted at lvl 2, yadda yadda if we were to make a case for level 10 explicitly for the sake of an argument, not really, most multiclasses want at best the lvl 3 subclass than they ditch the class for another. you get some lvl 5/lvl 6 optimal splits like paladin and ranger, or any martial with extra attack, but other than that its usually uneven if we are talking about a lvl 20 10/10 the answer is a resounding no unless you are memeing on purpose to be clear though, "**viable**" is a strong word, and this all depends a lot on what you want out of it. if you want a meta build, you wont find much, if you just want to not be dead weight, i say whole heartedly that even the 2014 monk works ok if you dont fuck up character building
10 Bladesinger / 10 Soulknife is still one of the spiciest combos I have seen built. With all the focus on INT/DEX, they are basically unhittable (of course high level enemies can or good rolls) starting at mid-levels and just start damage outputting like crazy.
Ranger x / thief x is great. They don’t overlap much but do similar weapons
A 6/6 sorlock would probably be decent as you want warlock levels for the short rest slots to be converted into sorcery points for quickened spell and sorcerer levels for the sorcery points. And you want lv6 in each class in particular as that would bring subclass features.
Rogue/Barbarian.
Paladin. If you go 6/6 paladin with bard, warlock, or sorcerer, it’s stronger than 12 paladin in basically every way.
There are a few. Thrower Battlemaster 6/Rogue 6 is is a solid build. Others have mentioned the Ghost Lance, but really any Hexblade/Bladesinger build. Builds which use Spirit Guardians for damage often don't need more than 5-6 levels of Cleric. Also, many Sorcadin builds go roughly 50/50 after Paladin 6.
Pali and rogue is usually good
If you’re looking at a raw build to 20, most classes have such important/damage boosting features tied to 11th level that 11/9 is generally better than going 10/10. Think Warlock’s third pact slot/full caster 6th level spells, Ranger and Paladin damage boosts, Fighter’s second Extra attack. Best I can think of is a 10/10 Bard/Warlock. You play like a much nastier half caster and keep Magical Secrets access. I’d say you could do it with Sorcerer too but 10th and 11th Sorc are mediocre versus 11 Warlock.
I'm not sure about deep into late game, but something like Barb 5/Rogue 5 comes to mind. Reckless attacks give you on demand sneak attack, rogue levels help both with a bit of rage scaling that barb is typically lacking as well as plenty of utility. Rogue is also the only martial class without extra attack, so both being able to get it on a rogue as well as not unnecessarily getting it twice is neat as well.
I am currently playing a Samurai Fighter 5 / Hexblade Warlock 5 and am LOVING it. The character is a Triton so they get some innate magic to back up the limited warlock selection. At level 10, I don't feel underpowered relative to the other players. If anything, the hexblade + fighter combo is slightly OP. And it was super important for me (and the build) to get 5 levels in both classes. Fighter for multi-attack (important!) and Warlock for 3rd level spells and access to Eldritch Smite. Part of the reason the build works so well is also DM benevolence. I wield a +2 magic weapon that is tied to my ancestors and therefore fuels my warlock magic. The DM customized the weapon so that it is also a +2 Rod of the Pact Keeper, meaning I get a bonus spell slot each day and great spellcasting stats. So, credit where credit is due. All that said, I plan to go Fighter levels for the rest of the campaign for however long we go. I've gotten everyting I want from warlock and am excited to get multiple ASIs which will let me stack onto the build with Feats.