I feel like with the ability to swap ability bonuses from Tasha's, basic human's niche of making very MAD builds possible is almost entirely overshadowed by the half-elf. You could get 16/9/14/16/8/13 with a half elf, the only difference is that one of the 9s becomes an 8 which does not matter. On top of that you get an extra language, darkvision, advantage on saves against charm, and two skill proficiencies or one of the variant abilities, while the human gets nothing besides its stat bonuses.
Here's an idea for a build. The theme for the build is a barbarian that does as much wizardy stuff as you can while raging. The warmage wizard is a perfect example. You can use arcane deflection while raging. A nature cleric's level 6 ability is basically an absorb elements. You can use it while raging too. How would you make a Rage Mage?
I once did a Zealot barbarian with only a 2 level dip in war mage. Once you hit level 16 you're pretty much unkillable because the saves are no longer weak with arcane deflection. Go war mage 1st two levels to get proficiency in wisdom and intellegence saving throws. Going wiz also gives you several handy 1st level spells that you have to cast before combat and rage. Familiar to give you advantage on your attacks and save your reckless attack only if familiar dies. Gift of alacrity lasts 8 hours. Jump spell to do some ridiculous jumps in combat. Raging gives you advantage in str saves. Barbarian gives you advantage in most dex saves. Invest in Resilient Con feat on your character journey. Fill your attunement slots with protection items: cloak, ring etc. Or there's a couple magic items that let you reroll a save in addition to the barbarian ability to do that. Absolutely ridiculously great saves when you add in arcane deflection. Just do minimum int (13) and possibly invest in a headband of intellect later. This allows you to buy 2nd and 3rd level spells scrolls and have a decent chance to cast them out of combat. (ability check plus spell modifier DC 10 plus spell level and get inspiration, or ask a teammate for help on the check if you can for advantage) Spells like mirror image right before combat. Unbelievably powerful character. Just make sure you have a buddy to throw you a healing word from time to time. Zero HP, You're dead! "No I'm not." Hold person cast at you! I save. Smash, kill, live forever.
Barbarian/ Warlock is crazy good. You only have 2 spell slots, and so one turn of combat is always needing melee or cantrips. If you drop Armor of Agathys at the start of combat and then rage, you literally need no more magic. Save the extra spell slot for an emergency casting or for later utility outside of combat.
I have a Chaos Rage Mage. Wild Magic Sorcerer/Wild Magic Barbarian. Non concentration buff in the first round with Mirror Image, then rage and dive in with whatever wild magic it gives us.
The reverse combination [war wizard 2 or 3 + _ paladin x] also works really well with only a 2 level dip. Arcane Deflection is like Flash of Genius but without a limit and can only apply to yourself and limits your actions the next round. Dumping int at 13 and pumping charisma you will have amazing saves [aura and arcane deflection work for saves outside of combat, and could stack with the resistance cantrip accessed via the divine fighting style]. With such amazing saves I think pairing it with ancients paladin would be really good for its magic resistance. And maybe a species that gives you advantage on some type of saves, such as satyr, yuan-ti or gnome.
This multiclass is nostalgic for me. Years back I rolled well and did a Divination Wizard Vengeance Paladin for a campaign. Ran him as an agent who used divination to find criminals and hunt them down. Good video. Keep up the good work.
Funny thing bout power surge. You can get multiple surges for 1 dispel magic.just use your rituals and place some duration cantrips on yourself before dispelling yourself
I mean the Arcane paladin I built for a level 7 pvp tournament has a minimum of +6/+10 to my saves, an AC of 24 (up to 33 with spells and a potion of speed). I would call that more than a "portion" of my power.
Very cool build , it's similar to the Eldritch Knight but with more offensive prowess at least on a single attack and in the early game. And better spell progression to boot
NGL I have one thats KINDA like this? 6 levels oath of conquest paladin and the rest in Abjuration wizard. Name of the game is casting Armor of Agathys at stupid levels simce it counts as an abjuration spell and fuels the arcane ward. Anyone coming after you takes a hefty chunk of cold damage. Throw atop that a pretty solid AC between heavy armor, shield, and shield spell, a buff to saving throws from that aura, and healing, you become a sort of spellcasting tank. And yes the build has access to smites and wxtra attack but I took the fighting style paladins get that grants them cleric cantrips. Worked out fine for me.
I think this is a really interesting idea for a build. War Magic often gets overlooked in favor of the Bladesinger because it feels like a sub class with war in it’s name should get extra attack, and the limitation from arcane deflection can feel bad when you don’t use weapons. When I first saw this video, I assumed it was going to be mainly paladin. Stacking arcane deflection with the Aura of Protection saving throw boost can get insane. That way you could also have extra attack when you don’t want to just cast a cantrip. If you did want to go more wizard, I would go after paladin 6 and spread my ability scores with probably only a 13 and intelligence, and look for a headband of intellect. They aren’t supposed to be super rare, and that could help with feeling super MAD
"I've never seen a single person do a wizard paladin multi-class" I've done two of these and my favorite included a barbarian dip. Rage isn't a hindrance if you're burning 1st and 2nd level slots on smite and saving level 3 slots for Animate Undead. Ancestral Guardian Barbarian stays on theme and will provide your boosted undead with resistance to damage. Outside of combat spells provide more utility than a barbarian would normally get. It was a fun build.
I have seen a paladin Wizard multiclass at level 20 deal so much more damage than most multiclass options. Other than the other 4lock/4echo knight/12 Bladesinger. This allows Bladesong, echo, eldritch, and even spirit shroud
I once made a warforged wizard bladesinger lvl 17, paladin lvl 2, barbarian lvl 1. It was for a one shot where we were OP AF and we literally had to stop a fallen God, a classic like H.P. Lovecraft. I had some bad saves but with the skill upgrades I had a ridiculous CA, crazy damage with the constant smites. Obviously you didn't enter Rage, but you wanted the barbarian when you had a +7 to dexterity and a +7 to con.
I'm not sure if you do this already or not, but if you use D&D Beyond, could you start posting these kinds of builds so we can actually see the builds? I love your builds, and it'd be nice to see a visual with them. If not, keep doing the great work regardless.
Make sure you are aligned with your DM on the casting rules for Somatic and material component. With staff and shield, you could not cast wizard spells that require both (raw).
I've been trying to figure out a great build, or as you put it 'chassis' for the War Magic Tradition because it looks great. One concern I have is that you can only get one reaction a turn, so are you saving that reaction for the Arcane Deflection or casting counterspell or using the War Caster feat to cast a spell or if you take polearm master so you can weaponize your bonus action. In this case this seems like a you have almost too many choices, which is rare to have. Like I said I love the chassis of this I might experiment with it during at an AL event. Thank you for the content and idea.
Hey mate, always love your work, look forward to your build releases! Had a thought for this one, it would be worth considering Tensers Transformation for this build, as would give extra attack to a single attack build, would work well with war magic as the war magic reaction is not a spell, nor is smites (plus all the other things like 50 temp HP, advantage on all rolls, extra 2d12 on hit) Let me know if that would suit the build :)
How would you build a pacifist? Retribution paladin+ peace cleric? Whas thinking about Vinland Saga philosophy "i have no enemy" and try to avoid most conflict. Probabily the main character is a rogue mong i guess
I would change only 1 thing: give 1 point to WIS and take it from CON, so you can get to 10 WIS and 16 CON if you take resilient instead or added to war caster
isn't half-elf just better than human even in this case because you get +2, +1, +1 which is basicly the same but you get all the extra racial features too!
Which elves get +2,+1,+1? I'm pretty sure they either get a +2,+1 or a +1,+1,+1, but correct me if i'm wrong. EDIT: wizards have a lot more flexibility after the fact. Bigger spell list, more spells learned at once, and ritual casting. Sorcerers let you do specific things really well, but you can't change it up very easily. A wizard can completely change what they're built for.
@@aidencaterwall9146 +2 +1 + 1 is for half elves, at least in the 5th edition PHB. I haven't been following the one d&d releases, so can't speak to that
So the first thing I see with this build is that you never increase either DEX or WIS. This makes those two attribute bonuses superfluous, even wasted. It also means you can have the exact same attribute *BONUSES* by playing a half-elf and using the Tasha's optional rule for a ability score increases, like so: STR 15+1, DEX 8, CON 12+2, INT 15+1, CHA 13 (9+0+4+9+0+5=27 points). The only real reason to play "normal" human is if you want to eventually expend one of your four ASIs bumping your DEX and WIS mods from -1 to +0, something I don't see as terribly optimal. The second thing I see in this build is that, though you did a *REALLY* good job optimizing the two classes you chose, it's nothing you couldn't do (and do better and likely sooner) going Paladin 2/Hexblade1/Swords Bard or Paladin 6/Hexblade 1/Swords Bard. And unlike this build, either of those would have defensive capabilities that either reset on a short rest or are always active. And since both of the above builds rely entirely on CHA (beyond the 15 STR needed for platemail), you'd have more room for feats or building up CON.
Nice,looks like a characther i played in Skyrim,mixing heavy armor with magic. Still for the race i would have take Half-elf or variant human,maybe Custom lineage.
I think that's a little to OP. I do like the idea, but Power Surge would have to be nerfed a little to balance the fact that it would be being charged up a lot more.
I have seen many bladesinger paladins. Mostly with rolled stats on optimization ~forums. The game you get god stats, this is the build. But the dex variant is the way to go generally. I have playtested but only in oneshots. A lot of fun potential to tap. Rolled stats and custom lineage is the key. If you cannot.. its kind of difficult to play. Doable and fun but a lot less rewarding. This is a very different build from the heavily armoured variant which gets away with dumping dex.
I am building different spellcaster/barbarian multiclasses where the only rule is that you need to use rage in battle (most of the time). I have done druid and paladin already. Could you try to do the barb/sorcerer cus im at a bit of a loss there
Shadow Sorcerer 9 / Zealot Barbarian 11? Or Sorcerer 14 / Barbarian 6? The Harbinger leads his Hounds of Darkness against those who are marked for death.
Wouldn't variant human with the additional feat work better? Even if we don't select a feat that offers +1 in a stat, we could have 15 8 12 15 8 13 before the racial improvements. Drop 2 pts of con but then take the tough feat to balance out or any other feat for that matter.
The problem is that making weapon attacks simply isn't worth it with this build, only one melee attack is pretty poor, even with BB or GFB, spending a spell slot on a single attack per round just isn't very good. You are better off using that spell slot to cast a shutdown spell and use the defensive options to maintain concentration. Imagine playing as a cool battlemage character and you buff yourself with a smite spell, you swing and manage to hit, pumping a divine smite into it. You do pretty great damage to one target, and that's it, but if you miss? You do absolutely nothing on your turn. Instead, using one of those spell slots to cast Bless, or Hypnotic pattern, or even web, hell even Fireball, are all simply better options.
You can't have a staff in one hand, a shield in the other, and still cast the Shield spell, you need a hand free for the somatic component (SC) for the spell. If a spell has a material component (MC), you can use the hand that's holding your spell casting focus for the SC, but the Shield spell doesn't have a MC, so you must have a free hand to cast it. The only ways around this rule are being an artificer, which adds your tool kit as a MC to all your spells, or the meta-magic subtle spell, which removes the need for spell components. This is one of the most commonly made mistakes when multi=classing arcane spell casters and martials, as it's a pretty big speed bump for power builds. You can either two-hand the staff for attacks and cast Shield for defense, or one hand it and use a physical shield - or switch back and forth depending on how many spell slots you have left.
This doen't work as advertised until you have war caster... until then you can't do somatic components with your hands full, and thus shield and absorb elements are not available to you in combat with spear and shield. -- cool idea, needs refining... **According to the players handbook, If a spell requires a somatic component, the caster must have free use of at least one hand to perform these gestures.**
The wizard side should be minimal Int and focused on non save spells. The score doesnt matter if there are no saves. Wiz non save spells are almost all personal buff spells. Now you have a paladin who doesn't need str, they can instead be Dex focus with Mage Armor. If you dipped into Bladesinger you get a few minutes a day with a little more AC. Now you are Dex 1st, Cha/Wis next, Int just enough to multi class with Con considered and Str a dump taking Paladin as first class to avoid stat requirement. We have an agile paladin, with a small set of buffs, access ro a ton of rituals and Prof minutes worth of zoomies. And you've only consumed 3 levels so far to do it. A 3rd level in Bladesinger gives ya 2nd level spells, so thats nice. Just stop before the Extra attack that's wasted on the Pali. This leaves you with several levels worth of Paladin. Take that Mariner fighting style. +1AC and movement types help anyone, but a no armor dex type the most. Now your AC is 15(Mage Armor) +Dex +2(Bladesong) +1(Mariner). Easily over 20 by level 4(Wiz 2, Pali 2). Blademaster with a rapier will go a long way here and gives a situational +1AC. Access to the Shield spell amplifies this all. Level 6(2 Wiz 4 Pali w feat and fighting style) and you are rocking. Oath of Vengeance with the extra movements would go well with Bladesinger. Since you should have the Cha a one level dip into Undead Warlock would stack nicely. The terror dervish paladin
This build sounds bad but is actually so good i'm impressed, however, TRUE CHALLENGE: an elemental monk build that is actually strong and cool, and with very limited multiclass because i hate it. Great video as always
I could be missing something, but is there a reason why you wouldn’t go paladin 3 and then go wizard for the rest of it? I feel like the subclass is worth it just cuz it gives u some more tools, and you still get 9th level spells. Am I missing somethin?
The big problema for This build os The fact of The both hands are busy with one shield and one staff. This situation does not allow be possíble The castig magics, like "shield" or "absorb elements" for exemple.
The idea of a bladesinger paladin has been a thing for a while now... alllllll those attacks can alll be smites.... I've played it a few times... u can also UA-cam search nuclear wizard for a build.
To multi-class a paladin requires a min 13 in strength and Charisma, and to multi into Wizard you need a 13 in Int. Investing more into dex for finesse weapons spreads your scores way too thin, you'd be left with a flat Con modifier, and no one wants that.
I'd suggest not bumping your Str at all and use that ASI for the Shield Master Feat. This allows you to add at least a +2 to your Dex saving throws and then you can use your reaction to take half damage, or no damage in a successful save, rather than full and half damage. This compliments the low D6 HP this character gets for most of its career. I can see area effect spells and abilities being the downfall of this character.
I would highly highly recommend u instead replace war wizard with bladesinger. U will get extra attack and better extra attack. U won’t be able to utilize bladesong but who cares tbh. Your in it for the best extra attack in the game
I think he dumped charisma at 13. It doesn’t have a ton of purpose for a wizard if they only go to Paladin 2, whereas 15 strength is needed for full plate, and high int for the primary class dc’s and an initiative bonus
I similarly made a war wizard war cleric that I’d go 10/10 with. Maybe there was a 5th level cleric spell I wanted! Also I’m gonna be of the camp that says since booming blade doesn’t target a creature, you can’t use if for war caster. Even if I’m wrong, in my games I’m right!
> for the mere cost of reducing our spell progression by two whole levels, we get armor proficiency that we could have gained with a cleric 1 dip, but we also get a fighting style and a trap option that allows us to waste a spell slot on melee-only nova that is overrated on classes that make 3 times as many weapon attacks as we do, also in order to make these stats work we need to actively choose not to pick a race > "good" The bare minimum I would expect of a multiclass choice is that it's objectively better than not taking it. In this case, it's a straight downgrade. Investing in Cha instead of Str and taking Hexblade 2 gives you excellent defenses and actually good at-will offense, having 13 Wis and simply taking one level of Cleric gives you every worthwhile feature provided by the Paladin dip except the Defense fighting style on top of one of several good subclass options.
Satyr Ancients Paladin 7 / Swords bard 10- using Magical secrets to grab Counterspell (lore bard can do this at level 6, but swords bard Blade flourishes work better with Paladin) Satyr gives advantage on all saves v spells, and Ancients Paladin aura gives resistance to all damage from spells. Yuan-ti also has advantages on saves v spells, but are humanoid, where a Satyr is fey, making it immune to spells that only target humanoids (charm person or hold person)
I’d also elect a magic advantage race such as satyr [or alternativley, an elf with elven accuracy could be great with ancients cd and ensnaring strike] take 7/8 levels of ancients paladin + remainder in divine soul sorcerer. Possible 2 or 3 levels of fighter [action surge, rune knight?] You could use your cd for concentrationless restrain the caster and then quicken a spell like silence. You could subtle cast preventing most counterspells including in your own counterspell/dispel magic. Spirit guardians. Useful feats/asi options: Shield master- the reaction could be useful for evasion if you can get a good roll; war caster; resilient con or dex; 20 charisma and 18+ strength ideally
Here's's some possible variations to this build, but they've all got tradeoffs. Bladesinger instead of War Magic. A Bladesinger with smites! Scary. You're more MAD because you can't wear heavy armor or use a shield so you have to invest in Dex. The Bladesinger kit would get you better AC without needing to use your reaction, but you would lose out on the +4 to saves. Paladin 6 to get Aura of Protection and make your saves even better. Probably best to only take that if there's no other Paladin in your party, and you'd probably want more Cha to make it worth it, so there's a trade off, but that would also get you Extra Attack and Aid, and a Subclass!
Just go Bladesinger and ignore bladesong with medium armor and shields, and smite in booming blade or green flame blade and/or shadow blade. 13th level, smite with Tenser's Transformation. 2d12 to your weapon attacks and advantage on all your attack rolls. There we go.
It's not "extremely" tanky no matter your AC you don't have a lot of hp to squander. The same issue happens with the bladesinger, one crit and suddenly you're frantically looking for the cleric. You also have to be very selective with your reactions since you're relying on them to cover for your bad saves
I feel like with the ability to swap ability bonuses from Tasha's, basic human's niche of making very MAD builds possible is almost entirely overshadowed by the half-elf.
You could get 16/9/14/16/8/13 with a half elf, the only difference is that one of the 9s becomes an 8 which does not matter. On top of that you get an extra language, darkvision, advantage on saves against charm, and two skill proficiencies or one of the variant abilities, while the human gets nothing besides its stat bonuses.
Here's an idea for a build. The theme for the build is a barbarian that does as much wizardy stuff as you can while raging. The warmage wizard is a perfect example. You can use arcane deflection while raging. A nature cleric's level 6 ability is basically an absorb elements. You can use it while raging too. How would you make a Rage Mage?
I once did a Zealot barbarian with only a 2 level dip in war mage. Once you hit level 16 you're pretty much unkillable because the saves are no longer weak with arcane deflection. Go war mage 1st two levels to get proficiency in wisdom and intellegence saving throws. Going wiz also gives you several handy 1st level spells that you have to cast before combat and rage. Familiar to give you advantage on your attacks and save your reckless attack only if familiar dies. Gift of alacrity lasts 8 hours. Jump spell to do some ridiculous jumps in combat. Raging gives you advantage in str saves. Barbarian gives you advantage in most dex saves. Invest in Resilient Con feat on your character journey. Fill your attunement slots with protection items: cloak, ring etc. Or there's a couple magic items that let you reroll a save in addition to the barbarian ability to do that. Absolutely ridiculously great saves when you add in arcane deflection. Just do minimum int (13) and possibly invest in a headband of intellect later. This allows you to buy 2nd and 3rd level spells scrolls and have a decent chance to cast them out of combat. (ability check plus spell modifier DC 10 plus spell level and get inspiration, or ask a teammate for help on the check if you can for advantage) Spells like mirror image right before combat. Unbelievably powerful character. Just make sure you have a buddy to throw you a healing word from time to time. Zero HP, You're dead! "No I'm not." Hold person cast at you! I save. Smash, kill, live forever.
Barbarian/ Warlock is crazy good. You only have 2 spell slots, and so one turn of combat is always needing melee or cantrips. If you drop Armor of Agathys at the start of combat and then rage, you literally need no more magic. Save the extra spell slot for an emergency casting or for later utility outside of combat.
I did a beast barbarian war mage and it worked great.
I have a Chaos Rage Mage. Wild Magic Sorcerer/Wild Magic Barbarian. Non concentration buff in the first round with Mirror Image, then rage and dive in with whatever wild magic it gives us.
Call it a bloodrager
The reverse combination [war wizard 2 or 3 + _ paladin x] also works really well with only a 2 level dip. Arcane Deflection is like Flash of Genius but without a limit and can only apply to yourself and limits your actions the next round. Dumping int at 13 and pumping charisma you will have amazing saves [aura and arcane deflection work for saves outside of combat, and could stack with the resistance cantrip accessed via the divine fighting style]. With such amazing saves I think pairing it with ancients paladin would be really good for its magic resistance. And maybe a species that gives you advantage on some type of saves, such as satyr, yuan-ti or gnome.
my man, just the perfect build for my new character starting dungeon of the mad mage. I rolled 9,9,13,13,17,17, it was meant to be.
I rolled 14, 15, 12, 16, 16, 18
This multiclass is nostalgic for me. Years back I rolled well and did a Divination Wizard Vengeance Paladin for a campaign. Ran him as an agent who used divination to find criminals and hunt them down.
Good video. Keep up the good work.
Tortle works great for smitesingers (bladesinger/paladin) with great AC and certain easy dump stats.
Funny thing bout power surge. You can get multiple surges for 1 dispel magic.just use your rituals and place some duration cantrips on yourself before dispelling yourself
Interesting concept, but my first reaction is still:
Clockwork Soul Sorcadin: "Look what they need to mimic a fraction of our power!"
Wizard alone makes this worth it for me. The spell list alone...
I mean the Arcane paladin I built for a level 7 pvp tournament has a minimum of +6/+10 to my saves, an AC of 24 (up to 33 with spells and a potion of speed). I would call that more than a "portion" of my power.
Very cool build , it's similar to the Eldritch Knight but with more offensive prowess at least on a single attack and in the early game. And better spell progression to boot
NGL I have one thats KINDA like this? 6 levels oath of conquest paladin and the rest in Abjuration wizard. Name of the game is casting Armor of Agathys at stupid levels simce it counts as an abjuration spell and fuels the arcane ward. Anyone coming after you takes a hefty chunk of cold damage. Throw atop that a pretty solid AC between heavy armor, shield, and shield spell, a buff to saving throws from that aura, and healing, you become a sort of spellcasting tank. And yes the build has access to smites and wxtra attack but I took the fighting style paladins get that grants them cleric cantrips. Worked out fine for me.
I think this is a really interesting idea for a build. War Magic often gets overlooked in favor of the Bladesinger because it feels like a sub class with war in it’s name should get extra attack, and the limitation from arcane deflection can feel bad when you don’t use weapons.
When I first saw this video, I assumed it was going to be mainly paladin. Stacking arcane deflection with the Aura of Protection saving throw boost can get insane. That way you could also have extra attack when you don’t want to just cast a cantrip. If you did want to go more wizard, I would go after paladin 6 and spread my ability scores with probably only a 13 and intelligence, and look for a headband of intellect. They aren’t supposed to be super rare, and that could help with feeling super MAD
"I've never seen a single person do a wizard paladin multi-class"
I've done two of these and my favorite included a barbarian dip. Rage isn't a hindrance if you're burning 1st and 2nd level slots on smite and saving level 3 slots for Animate Undead. Ancestral Guardian Barbarian stays on theme and will provide your boosted undead with resistance to damage. Outside of combat spells provide more utility than a barbarian would normally get. It was a fun build.
I have seen a paladin Wizard multiclass at level 20 deal so much more damage than most multiclass options.
Other than the other 4lock/4echo knight/12 Bladesinger. This allows Bladesong, echo, eldritch, and even spirit shroud
Very creative build, I can’t wait to play it!
I once made a warforged wizard bladesinger lvl 17, paladin lvl 2, barbarian lvl 1. It was for a one shot where we were OP AF and we literally had to stop a fallen God, a classic like H.P. Lovecraft. I had some bad saves but with the skill upgrades I had a ridiculous CA, crazy damage with the constant smites. Obviously you didn't enter Rage, but you wanted the barbarian when you had a +7 to dexterity and a +7 to con.
I'm not sure if you do this already or not, but if you use D&D Beyond, could you start posting these kinds of builds so we can actually see the builds? I love your builds, and it'd be nice to see a visual with them. If not, keep doing the great work regardless.
I would love using this build with for a shadowblade paladin smiter. Could maintain concentration while in melee combat.
Make sure you are aligned with your DM on the casting rules for Somatic and material component. With staff and shield, you could not cast wizard spells that require both (raw).
I have seen monsters and multiclass do this one, their hole gimmick was that they did every single multiclass
You could also go the route of tortle and take a hexblade dip to just focus on cha/int/con and have a 13 strength
I've been trying to figure out a great build, or as you put it 'chassis' for the War Magic Tradition because it looks great. One concern I have is that you can only get one reaction a turn, so are you saving that reaction for the Arcane Deflection or casting counterspell or using the War Caster feat to cast a spell or if you take polearm master so you can weaponize your bonus action. In this case this seems like a you have almost too many choices, which is rare to have. Like I said I love the chassis of this I might experiment with it during at an AL event. Thank you for the content and idea.
Build ideas, trafalgar law. Good luck if you choose to accept this challenge
I thought you'd go blade singer for the extra attack and similar ac but a nice different flavor to the build
Hey mate, always love your work, look forward to your build releases!
Had a thought for this one, it would be worth considering Tensers Transformation for this build, as would give extra attack to a single attack build, would work well with war magic as the war magic reaction is not a spell, nor is smites (plus all the other things like 50 temp HP, advantage on all rolls, extra 2d12 on hit)
Let me know if that would suit the build :)
How would you build a pacifist? Retribution paladin+ peace cleric? Whas thinking about Vinland Saga philosophy "i have no enemy" and try to avoid most conflict.
Probabily the main character is a rogue mong i guess
I would change only 1 thing: give 1 point to WIS and take it from CON, so you can get to 10 WIS and 16 CON if you take resilient instead or added to war caster
I could see a 3 lvl dip in conquest for an abjuration wizard as worthwhile.😁
What a time to be alive
Interesting. I’ll have to look this up, but I wonder if a scribes wizard can change the damage type of divine smites?
Unfortunately, RAW they cannot. But that would be a cool homebrew for a niche build
isn't half-elf just better than human even in this case because you get +2, +1, +1 which is basicly the same but you get all the extra racial features too!
I fully agree! half elf and triton really shines in situations like this
Which elves get +2,+1,+1? I'm pretty sure they either get a +2,+1 or a +1,+1,+1, but correct me if i'm wrong.
EDIT: wizards have a lot more flexibility after the fact. Bigger spell list, more spells learned at once, and ritual casting. Sorcerers let you do specific things really well, but you can't change it up very easily. A wizard can completely change what they're built for.
@@aidencaterwall9146 +2 +1 + 1 is for half elves, at least in the 5th edition PHB. I haven't been following the one d&d releases, so can't speak to that
@@elliotbryant3459 i totally read elf, not half elf lol
I mean,Paladin-sorc is OP as hell. Full armor,smites that scale very high,metamagic.
So the first thing I see with this build is that you never increase either DEX or WIS. This makes those two attribute bonuses superfluous, even wasted. It also means you can have the exact same attribute *BONUSES* by playing a half-elf and using the Tasha's optional rule for a ability score increases, like so: STR 15+1, DEX 8, CON 12+2, INT 15+1, CHA 13 (9+0+4+9+0+5=27 points). The only real reason to play "normal" human is if you want to eventually expend one of your four ASIs bumping your DEX and WIS mods from -1 to +0, something I don't see as terribly optimal.
The second thing I see in this build is that, though you did a *REALLY* good job optimizing the two classes you chose, it's nothing you couldn't do (and do better and likely sooner) going Paladin 2/Hexblade1/Swords Bard or Paladin 6/Hexblade 1/Swords Bard. And unlike this build, either of those would have defensive capabilities that either reset on a short rest or are always active. And since both of the above builds rely entirely on CHA (beyond the 15 STR needed for platemail), you'd have more room for feats or building up CON.
Nice,looks like a characther i played in Skyrim,mixing heavy armor with magic.
Still for the race i would have take Half-elf or variant human,maybe Custom lineage.
Anyone else think your should get power surges from using Arcane deflection? Since using that feature shuts off your spells? Just me?
What do you mean?
I think that's a little to OP. I do like the idea, but Power Surge would have to be nerfed a little to balance the fact that it would be being charged up a lot more.
I like the concept. Could it also work for a Paladin Cleric multiclass?
I have seen many bladesinger paladins. Mostly with rolled stats on optimization ~forums. The game you get god stats, this is the build. But the dex variant is the way to go generally. I have playtested but only in oneshots. A lot of fun potential to tap.
Rolled stats and custom lineage is the key. If you cannot.. its kind of difficult to play. Doable and fun but a lot less rewarding.
This is a very different build from the heavily armoured variant which gets away with dumping dex.
natural armor is your best friend if it doesn't use dex
I am building different spellcaster/barbarian multiclasses where the only rule is that you need to use rage in battle (most of the time). I have done druid and paladin already. Could you try to do the barb/sorcerer cus im at a bit of a loss there
Shadow Sorcerer 9 / Zealot Barbarian 11? Or Sorcerer 14 / Barbarian 6? The Harbinger leads his Hounds of Darkness against those who are marked for death.
In the players guide it says paladin spell slots. Unless it's changed now
Wouldn't variant human with the additional feat work better? Even if we don't select a feat that offers +1 in a stat, we could have
15 8 12 15 8 13
before the racial improvements.
Drop 2 pts of con but then take the tough feat to balance out or any other feat for that matter.
Comes up 1 stat short but manageable as well
Arguably sorcerer is better here due to the ability to quicken the hold spell, giving you crit smites on the same turn while not being as MAD.
How would you stat an Water Genasi Devotion Paladin of Eilistraee Divine Soul with the Defender fighting style
The problem is that making weapon attacks simply isn't worth it with this build, only one melee attack is pretty poor, even with BB or GFB, spending a spell slot on a single attack per round just isn't very good. You are better off using that spell slot to cast a shutdown spell and use the defensive options to maintain concentration. Imagine playing as a cool battlemage character and you buff yourself with a smite spell, you swing and manage to hit, pumping a divine smite into it. You do pretty great damage to one target, and that's it, but if you miss? You do absolutely nothing on your turn. Instead, using one of those spell slots to cast Bless, or Hypnotic pattern, or even web, hell even Fireball, are all simply better options.
You can't have a staff in one hand, a shield in the other, and still cast the Shield spell, you need a hand free for the somatic component (SC) for the spell. If a spell has a material component (MC), you can use the hand that's holding your spell casting focus for the SC, but the Shield spell doesn't have a MC, so you must have a free hand to cast it.
The only ways around this rule are being an artificer, which adds your tool kit as a MC to all your spells, or the meta-magic subtle spell, which removes the need for spell components.
This is one of the most commonly made mistakes when multi=classing arcane spell casters and martials, as it's a pretty big speed bump for power builds. You can either two-hand the staff for attacks and cast Shield for defense, or one hand it and use a physical shield - or switch back and forth depending on how many spell slots you have left.
There's also the warcaster feat
@@aibou2399 ooops. missed that one.
This doen't work as advertised until you have war caster... until then you can't do somatic components with your hands full, and thus shield and absorb elements are not available to you in combat with spear and shield. -- cool idea, needs refining...
**According to the players handbook, If a spell requires a somatic component, the caster must have free use of at least one hand to perform these gestures.**
The wizard side should be minimal Int and focused on non save spells. The score doesnt matter if there are no saves. Wiz non save spells are almost all personal buff spells. Now you have a paladin who doesn't need str, they can instead be Dex focus with Mage Armor. If you dipped into Bladesinger you get a few minutes a day with a little more AC.
Now you are Dex 1st, Cha/Wis next, Int just enough to multi class with Con considered and Str a dump taking Paladin as first class to avoid stat requirement.
We have an agile paladin, with a small set of buffs, access ro a ton of rituals and Prof minutes worth of zoomies. And you've only consumed 3 levels so far to do it.
A 3rd level in Bladesinger gives ya 2nd level spells, so thats nice. Just stop before the Extra attack that's wasted on the Pali.
This leaves you with several levels worth of Paladin. Take that Mariner fighting style. +1AC and movement types help anyone, but a no armor dex type the most. Now your AC is 15(Mage Armor) +Dex +2(Bladesong) +1(Mariner). Easily over 20 by level 4(Wiz 2, Pali 2). Blademaster with a rapier will go a long way here and gives a situational +1AC. Access to the Shield spell amplifies this all.
Level 6(2 Wiz 4 Pali w feat and fighting style) and you are rocking.
Oath of Vengeance with the extra movements would go well with Bladesinger.
Since you should have the Cha a one level dip into Undead Warlock would stack nicely.
The terror dervish paladin
This build sounds bad but is actually so good i'm impressed, however, TRUE CHALLENGE: an elemental monk build that is actually strong and cool, and with very limited multiclass because i hate it. Great video as always
Order of Scribes 10 can make a truckload of spell scrolls so you can spend all your slots on smites. Just saying.
I could be missing something, but is there a reason why you wouldn’t go paladin 3 and then go wizard for the rest of it? I feel like the subclass is worth it just cuz it gives u some more tools, and you still get 9th level spells. Am I missing somethin?
How many smites do you need with one attack a rd?
The big problema for This build os The fact of The both hands are busy with one shield and one staff. This situation does not allow be possíble The castig magics, like "shield" or "absorb elements" for exemple.
I believe the staff can count as a spellcasting focus, allowing for this specific combo to work. But if we're mistaken, then sorry for the wrong info
The idea of a bladesinger paladin has been a thing for a while now... alllllll those attacks can alll be smites.... I've played it a few times... u can also UA-cam search nuclear wizard for a build.
😎battle mage, I wanna try this in bg3 but I’m scared
wait why don't you just use finesse weapons?
To multi-class a paladin requires a min 13 in strength and Charisma, and to multi into Wizard you need a 13 in Int. Investing more into dex for finesse weapons spreads your scores way too thin, you'd be left with a flat Con modifier, and no one wants that.
I'd suggest not bumping your Str at all and use that ASI for the Shield Master Feat. This allows you to add at least a +2 to your Dex saving throws and then you can use your reaction to take half damage, or no damage in a successful save, rather than full and half damage. This compliments the low D6 HP this character gets for most of its career. I can see area effect spells and abilities being the downfall of this character.
I would highly highly recommend u instead replace war wizard with bladesinger. U will get extra attack and better extra attack. U won’t be able to utilize bladesong but who cares tbh. Your in it for the best extra attack in the game
I don't know why u didn't put one level in hexblade to be less mad
I think he dumped charisma at 13. It doesn’t have a ton of purpose for a wizard if they only go to Paladin 2, whereas 15 strength is needed for full plate, and high int for the primary class dc’s and an initiative bonus
Im a fan of bladesinger for their unique extra attack. You’ll give up some war wizard bulk but open the possibility for polearm master with that staff
Same model but go War Cleric instead. Become a true Templar Knight.
The only difference I do is 5 Paladin and 15 war wizard
Could you replace the War Magic with Bladesong?
I similarly made a war wizard war cleric that I’d go 10/10 with. Maybe there was a 5th level cleric spell I wanted! Also I’m gonna be of the camp that says since booming blade doesn’t target a creature, you can’t use if for war caster. Even if I’m wrong, in my games I’m right!
The fact that you know your wrong and say you basically don't care with an ! too....huge red flag for your players😬
> for the mere cost of reducing our spell progression by two whole levels, we get armor proficiency that we could have gained with a cleric 1 dip, but we also get a fighting style and a trap option that allows us to waste a spell slot on melee-only nova that is overrated on classes that make 3 times as many weapon attacks as we do, also in order to make these stats work we need to actively choose not to pick a race
> "good"
The bare minimum I would expect of a multiclass choice is that it's objectively better than not taking it. In this case, it's a straight downgrade. Investing in Cha instead of Str and taking Hexblade 2 gives you excellent defenses and actually good at-will offense, having 13 Wis and simply taking one level of Cleric gives you every worthwhile feature provided by the Paladin dip except the Defense fighting style on top of one of several good subclass options.
So I like playing casters, but so does my dm, so I dare you to make an anti-mage mage
Satyr Ancients Paladin 7 / Swords bard 10- using Magical secrets to grab Counterspell (lore bard can do this at level 6, but swords bard Blade flourishes work better with Paladin)
Satyr gives advantage on all saves v spells, and Ancients Paladin aura gives resistance to all damage from spells.
Yuan-ti also has advantages on saves v spells, but are humanoid, where a Satyr is fey, making it immune to spells that only target humanoids (charm person or hold person)
I’d also elect a magic advantage race such as satyr [or alternativley, an elf with elven accuracy could be great with ancients cd and ensnaring strike] take 7/8 levels of ancients paladin + remainder in divine soul sorcerer. Possible 2 or 3 levels of fighter [action surge, rune knight?] You could use your cd for concentrationless restrain the caster and then quicken a spell like silence. You could subtle cast preventing most counterspells including in your own counterspell/dispel magic. Spirit guardians.
Useful feats/asi options: Shield master- the reaction could be useful for evasion if you can get a good roll; war caster; resilient con or dex; 20 charisma and 18+ strength ideally
Here's's some possible variations to this build, but they've all got tradeoffs.
Bladesinger instead of War Magic. A Bladesinger with smites! Scary. You're more MAD because you can't wear heavy armor or use a shield so you have to invest in Dex. The Bladesinger kit would get you better AC without needing to use your reaction, but you would lose out on the +4 to saves.
Paladin 6 to get Aura of Protection and make your saves even better. Probably best to only take that if there's no other Paladin in your party, and you'd probably want more Cha to make it worth it, so there's a trade off, but that would also get you Extra Attack and Aid, and a Subclass!
Just go Bladesinger and ignore bladesong with medium armor and shields, and smite in booming blade or green flame blade and/or shadow blade.
13th level, smite with Tenser's Transformation. 2d12 to your weapon attacks and advantage on all your attack rolls. There we go.
It's not "extremely" tanky no matter your AC you don't have a lot of hp to squander. The same issue happens with the bladesinger, one crit and suddenly you're frantically looking for the cleric. You also have to be very selective with your reactions since you're relying on them to cover for your bad saves