There's nothing quite as satisfying as cracking a game like Dungeons & Dragons with an incredibly well-built character. And since D&D allows for multiclassing, there is an almost endless array of ways to achieve this. But what are some of the best structures to crack your DM brain?
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For this list, we focused primarily on multi-class builds that can give players broken points. In every build, there is room for flexibility in choosing subclasses and level distribution. With that said, here are ten nearly broken characters that you can use for your next campaign.
Not all DMs allow multiclassing. Check with your DM before considering one of the following builds. Additionally, make sure your character meets the skill prerequisites for each multiclass build.
10 Lore and prophecy
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College of lore bard and sorcerer of prophecy |
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For players who love building with high intelligence, this multi-class is a great way to start. First of all, College Lore bards gain proficiency at 3rd level with their three chosen skills. Using these skills in skills like Arcana, Investigation, and History can help a high-intelligence wizard. Plus, with the Jack of All Trades trait you already have, you can add half of your skill points to skills that aren't already using it.
Then, multiclassing into a mage and choosing divination as your school of magic gives you access to new spells. Combine this with the wizard's Portent trait and the bard's Cutting Words trait, and you'll force enemies to constantly reroll d20s.
9 Sorcadin Light and Darkness
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Shadow Sorcerer & Devotion Paladin |
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This is the ultimate combination of paladin and multi-class mage. This combo character is great for combat with a variety of spells at your disposal, plus melee combat capabilities. Plus, playing a role in the struggle between light and dark in this multi-story mix is sure to make for some interesting story moments.
At fifth level, paladins gain access to multi-attack, meaning you could theoretically make two weapon attacks and then use a bonus action spell in one turn. Additionally, both of these subclasses have access to steeds and animal companions in the form of Find Steed and Hound of Ill Omen. These features increase your action economy as the Hound of Ill Omen takes his turn in combat.
8 zealous oath breaker
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Oathbreaker Paladin & Zealot Barbarian |
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For the ultimate melee fighter, consider multi-classing the Oathbreaker and Zealot. The role-playing opportunities for a player torn between breaking a sacred oath and pursuing a barbaric religious life are sure to be interesting story-wise. Additionally, the combination of traits shown here can really help increase your damage on the battlefield.
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Combining the Divine Smites you get from your paladin subclass with the Divine Fury trait on the barbarian zealot allows you to stack your radiant damage. Additionally, the Zealous Presence trait can help reduce damage dealt through Aura of Hate, which rewards enemies' weapon damage, as the Zealous Presence trait gives nearby allies an advantage on attacks.
7 Astral echoes
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Astral Monk & Echo Knight Fighter |
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If you're a player who loves combat, but also wants magic, these few classes are sure to please. This multiclass also makes for a great flare, as both subclasses deal with spiritual projection. Combining fighter abilities like Multi Attack and Second Wind with monk traits like Flurry of Blows will definitely help.
The Echo Knight's Manifest Echo feature, which allows you to quickly change locations on the battlefield, allows for greater mobility. Additionally, the Arms of the Astral Self ability granted to monks allows you to make wider unarmed attacks (an additional five feet). Finally, if you can level up to eleven fighters, having three attacks plus an action wave with this combo can be deadly.
6 coffee lock
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Wizard and warrior |
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This classic multi-class wizard and mage is one that many people are familiar with. Using Sorcery Points to quickly regain spell slots is useful now, but combine that with the Warlock's ability to regain spell slots on a short rest, and you'll never run out of slots or sleep again. For this combo, Warlock Hexblade can be a lot of fun.
While most mages are used to firing spells from the backline, this warrior subclass allows you to get into melee range of your enemies. The expanded spell list for hexblades also gives mages access to paladin spells like Wrathful Smite. Finally, using magic points to accelerate Eldritch burst is tried and true.
5 Arfaiter
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Artificial fighter and alchemist |
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For players looking for a great mix of melee combat and magic, these are the classes for you. There is a lot of flexibility when choosing a subclass for a fighter. However, for this build, you can use the Alchemist subclass for Artificer to minimize overlap in abilities.
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Using the Alchemist subclass gives you access to some great combat spells like Healing Word. At 5th level, the Alchemical Savant grants Intelligence-based modifiers to your healing and damage for spells, making you powerful on the battlefield. Combine this with a few attacks and a second wind for the fighter, and once again, you have plenty of action economy in intense combat scenarios. For more fun, pick up the main combat fighter subclass and pick up maneuvers like Evasive Footwork to make yourself harder to hit in combat.
4 Triple threat
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Barbarian & Fighter & Rogue |
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If you're looking for some elusive tri-classes, this is the ultimate combat-focused option. There is a lot of synergy between Brutal Critical and Improved Critical, which combine to cause more damage on rolls of 19 and 20. Combine that with Rogue's Sneak Attack and Assassinate ability, which gives an advantage against enemies that haven't changed yet, and the combination is instantly lethal.
The trick with multi-class threes is to be careful with level distribution. Getting to at least level seven with a fighter is great so you can access as many archetypes as possible. But, Brutal Critical doesn't kick in until 9th level for a barbarian. For this combo, focusing mainly on barbarians, and adding enough rogue and fighter levels to access things like multi-attack and Assassinate is the way to go.
3 Unruly of eloquence
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Rogue & Bard of Eloquence |
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Rogue and bard combos are always useful. Between skills like Expertise and Jack of All Trades, it's easy to watch your stat block skyrocket. But when it comes to role-playing opportunities with these multi-classes, there's a lot more.
While you can work from various rogue subclasses, using a bard of eloquence allows an already cunning rogue to make very successful persuasion or deception checks. Silver Tongue gives you a base level roll of 10 when it comes to these types of checks, meaning your rogue can certainly talk or fight from any position. For an added charismatic edge, choose the curious rogue subclass to pick lies, as this ability allows you to treat any Insight roll of seven or less as an eight on a d20.
2 borderline rogue
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Rogue and Ranger |
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This multi-class combination offers a lot of flexibility. At its core, what makes the Ranger and Rogue combination so successful is the addition of spells associated with two classes that focus on dealing a lot of damage. It is recommended to work with at least the hunter subclass for the ranger.
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If you also choose Thrown Weapon Fighting for your ranger, this gives your rogue more access to ranged weapon attacks. In addition, the hunter subclass allows multi-attack defense at level seven, meaning they gain a +4 bonus to their armor class for attacks made by the same creature. Combine all of this with the few attacks you've gotten from level five rangers and you've got yourself a very combat ready build.
1 devil fighter
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Warlock fighter and demon |
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For any fighter-based character looking to add a little more offense to their build, consider adding the fiend warlock subclass. There is a lot of flexibility in which fighter subclass you choose for this build. The best thing to consider here is the synergy involved with eliminating enemies.
The fiend subclass gives you Dark One's Blessing, which allows you to gain temporary hit points after reducing a hostile creature to zero hit points. Dark One's Own Luck also allows you to add a d10 to an ability check or saving throw. These combo perks make your fighter stronger in tight combat situations, and adding spells like blind/deafness can give you a healthy advantage. All in all, this build allows for boldness on the battlefield and can give an already steely fighter some arcana-based perks.
Dungeons and dragons
- Original publication date
- 00-00-1974
- designer
- E. Gary Giggs, Dave Arneson
- Number of players
- 2+