Arcane Archer Fighter with a Dao Genie Warlock dip and the Crusher feat is a fun little combo, if not the most power gaming build.
Apply Hex (Strength) with a bonus action, attack and apply Grasping Shot with an arrow, move your target 5 ft with the Dao bludgeoning damage and Crusher to proc the extra damage. Now you and your allies can keep shoving them around to proc an extra 2d6 of slashing damage per turn, and because of Hex they have disadvantage to remove the brambles.
I mostly disagree. 5 feet per turn isn’t really enough to justify Spike Growth, unless you have an entire party built on forced movement. If you’re using Repelling Blast or Grasp of Hadar to achieve the forced movement, suddenly you’re juggling attack stats if you want to apply Grasping Shot as well. The 2d6 slashing damage isn’t substantial compared to the Spike Growth strat so it could be ignored at that point, but then the Fighter levels are largely pointless.
Arcane Archer + Battlesmith is also really good to make an INT SAD archer.
But battlesmith is a good subclass on its own, so I guess it doesn’t quite fit the OP’s prompt.
Conjuration wizard + thief rogue.
Conjure things with your action and interact with them as your bonus action.
Good for clever shenanigans, nit great otherwise lol
Really most Barbarian Rogue combos are a pretty good answer for this. The base classes are already such a good mix that the subclasses are hard to have that much dissonance or conflict with each other.
Scout Rogue suddenly becomes a decent pick for crying out loud, who would normally pick *scout*!? It's not terribly weak, but it's bland and hard to mix with, but a bunch of Barbarian subclasses can make full use out of it
Off the top of my head, I remember there being three but Tiger Totem is the only one I remember rn. It stacks movement speed, which you can actually use to reposition up to half your speed as a reaction, so more speed = more good. Coincidentally grappling is easy when you're a Barbarian with Rogue's Expertise in Athletics, and they also make you move at half speed which again means making your full speed even higher more valuable.
Ancestral Guardian Ranged Barbarians. You lose your Reckless Attacks going ranged, but can Steady Aim and then when your opponent closes with you because they have disadvantage against everyone else, you scurry away.
Giants barb with a double bladed scimitar and revenant blade works great for this.
One of the few subclasses you want to take to barb 6 in the general barb + rogue build sphere.
I've seen some people go bear totem which keeps you a bit tankier while having a lot of mobility to naturally due to base barb speed boosts and moving half your movement as a reaction with rogue. It kind of lets you dive into enemy backline and position as needed with minimal risk.
I've also seen elk totem with wood elf. Making your base movement speed 50 ft at level 3 and 60 at level 5. This means your reaction movement from scout would let you move 30 ft which would allow for a bit squishier hit and run playstyle.
> Scout Rogue suddenly becomes a decent pick for crying out loud, who would normally pick scout!? It's not terribly weak, but it's bland and hard to mix with, but a bunch of Barbarian subclasses can make full use out of it
I would. How else would I outbeastmaster a beastmaster ranger with my rogue riding a war elephant?
Totem Barb 5/6 into full rogue (basically any subclass) is also incredibly solid. You get to have resistance to everything along with evasion/uncanny dodge
Yeah, it's maybe one of the tankiest builds in the entire game, at least in terms of damage mitigation. Throw in a source of TempHP like an Artilarist's eldritch canon and *maybe* an Abjuration Ward and that's basically everything all at once by level, what, 15?
I'm playing a barbarian bounty hunter and I'm thinking of dipping a bit into rogue for mechanics or sorcerer for rp reasons. But I want it to be obnoxious. (Dm approved) imagine Barny from Andy Griffith
Perfectly understandable, but as good as a +1 weapon is, this is 4 attacks at advantage, most of them will hit anyway, and between Rage and Sneak Attack you won't feel the pain of that extra point of damage as much as you'd expect on a regular build. You can also invest in secondary effects caused by your attacks, with a Dao dip and both of crusher and slasher, which is at least something?
But you're still right that not being able to simply pick up a stronger weapon while everyone else can is an issue, but it's an issue both subclasses have to an extent already, and they're at the very least the two classes not named artificer best suited to creatively using other items for what it's worth.
If you get a nice dm they might let the insignia of claws work for you. How it's always been ruled at tables I've ran or played at. Playing this MC with spores druid multiclass atm. It kicks butt.
Attack with psychic blade, it disappears after attacking so second attack with beast claw, which gets you a third attack with beast claw, bonus action attack with offhand psychic blade.
Sneak Attack requires a finesse weapon but you are still allowed to use STR with finesse weapons, so you can add rage damage to the psychic blade and sneak attack without help using Reckless Attack.
Barbarian rogue is already a really solid MC, it's so synergistic at basically any mix between the two, in addition to reckless attack giving you your sneak attack basically for free, but this specific mix also lets you make 4 attacks, between the psychic blades and the claws
18+ in strength, expertise, and advantage on strength checks (rage) make them the ideal candidate for grapple/shoving too.
Strength-based intimidation is not uncommon. If you play with a DM that allows in-combat intimidation checks to inflict the frightened condition, it can be equally effective.
A rogue/barb that has access to these tools has an impressive amount of versatility in combat in addition to their four attacks.
I'm sure it won't be as good, but im currently building an armorer soulknife for similar interactions (gauntlets being a free hand, I can punch and stab to my heart's content)
Psi warrior is strong, but once it’s out of resources it’s just a fighter. Soul knife improves its damage, gives it more to do out of combat, gives a free weapon of an unusual damage type, and because their resource pools are determined by proficiency, they don’t lose much by being multiclassed. I don’t think either are mid, though. They’re just Powerful together, and not even a caster
Yeah, that’s the only downside. I think rules as written, you can’t make 2 attacks with the knife, and can’t make the bonus action knife attack if you used a different weapon? A chill dm would just let you get off the combo attack, since you’re a fighter sacrificing more damage dice for a weird element and the bonus attack, but idk, maybe the build isn’t perfect. I was looking for a different rogue subclass that uses the bonus action, so what am I left with, thief?
> and can’t make the bonus action knife attack if you used a different weapon?
With Extra Attack you could throw a dart/dagger (just using these as examples because of also having finesse+thrown), throw a psychic blade, and then bonus action throw another, because your last attack was with a psychic blades and your hands will be free since you yeeted any weapon you had in them by that point.
Thrown Weapon Fighting aids in keeping your hands free, especially if you end up with Fighter 11, and gives all of those throws +2 damage still.
Oh, that’d be broken. I’d allow it as a dm, for the hell of it, but officially they’re 2 different types of pools, that they accidentally named the same thing. I’m playing one in a oneshot, and there’s no stuff to use my soul knife dice on in the dungeon, so I’m just gonna have us in telepathy the whole time
Alchemist Artificer + Mutant Bloodhunter
Use the Sagacity mutagen to up your Intelligence past the maximum of 20. Combo it with the Alchemical Savant ability of Alchemists to give it a nice boost.
Blood Hunter 6+ / Barbarian 2 grabs you the basics. Blood Hunter’s high-level features generally trump Barbarian’s.
Giant Barbarian 6 / Mutant Blood Hunter 3 is better if you’re planning to use Giant Barbarian, though.
Brrroken. It'd be hard to pull off though. Barbarians require 13 Str to multiclass in/out of the class and Bloodhunters require 13 Dex & Int to multiclass in/out. But it might be worth a try if someone rolled high in their stats.
Bonus points for being thematically cohesive. The alchemist that makes weird elixirs also has crazy concoctions he directly injects into himself. "Uhh no... this one's not for you sorry" *jabs needle into vein*
I always am partial to these two builds, trying to combine some of the weakest subclasses together to make something decent.
Storm Barbarian/Alchemist Artificer
https://www.reddit.com/r/3d6/comments/ic11q3/two_wrongs_make_a_right_2_alchemical_boogaloo
Rage Mage - Battlerager Barbarian/ Four Elements Monk
https://www.reddit.com/r/3d6/comments/gbm0oa/two_wrongs_make_a_right_a_battleragerfour
Only thing i can imagine is to use genies wrath (warlock lvl1), that allows you to add your proficiency modifier as fire damage on top of a attack damage roll, allowing you to add 1d8 of fire damage from enhanced bond (wildfire lvl6). this would already be on top of any sheleilei damage, and you still have a bonus action to teleport away with the wildfire companion.
at 1 lvl dip cost, you can turn your normal wildfire druid into a fire damage dealing machine.
Any other levels in warlock are causing druid to suffer
edit: Genie warlock also gives you access to green flame blade, allowing you to deal extra fire damage to a nearby target, which as well triggers the enhanced bond feature
Not crazy powerful subclasses with synergy mostly undead warlock edition:
X Glamour Bard / 2 Undead Warlock: Let’s you do damage, fear, push, and command a target in a single round.
X Armorer Artificer / 1 Undead Warlock: Disadvantage versus EVERYONE.
X Spores Druid / 6 Long Death Monk: WIS based Monk with great suite of abilities. Their level 6 mass fear can be brutal if you’re the solo frontliner or your other frontliner has excellent WIS saves. Pro tip, make it an Earth Genasi and run through your own Entangles.
I'd like to add 7+ Fey Wanderer Ranger / 1+ Undead Warlock. This turns Beguiling Twist from a niche (if neat) feature into an absolute menace. You don't need more than the 13 CHA for the multiclass but having some charisma is also thematic for the Fey Wanderer to stack with Otherworldly Glamor.
Hmm... 2 niche class/subclass, with a great synergy...
How about Champion Fighter 5, Shadow Sorcerer X?
- Crit Fishing is not a good gimmick, but the classic advantage from the darkness spell is always fun.
- Additionally the rest of the spellslot can for quickened spell. And by level 11, the hound of I'll omen can substitute the fighters 3rd extra attack.(or haste)
Alternatively have you tried Wisdom Based Fey Wanderer Ranger 5, War Cleric X.
- With Maxed Wisdom, you gain +5 in Cha Skills and 5 Bonus Action attacks. And with Druidic Warrior you get Shiellelagh Wis attacks.
Rune Knight Fighter 7/Soulknife 3 Grappler build. Here, I'll link it. An even more disadvantaged class that makes a good combo would be the Giant Barbarian 7 /Soulknife 3. I suppose Rune Knight and Giant Barbarian are stronger in terms of those classes' subclasses, but they're still melee subclasses, which makes them underpowered compared with casters
BTW, this whole build is similar to one mentioned in a recent Treantmonk youtube video.
[https://www.dndbeyond.com/sheet-pdfs/Nick27613\_122602888.pdf](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sheet-pdfs/Nick27613_122602888.pdf)
EDIT: Here's a brief description of all most of the abilities this character has:
[https://docs.google.com/document/d/11ZtqVEMBw3sr4fMdD5YDkxSzwHxMKs-aXumFwsa\_RbY/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/document/d/11ZtqVEMBw3sr4fMdD5YDkxSzwHxMKs-aXumFwsa_RbY/edit?usp=sharing)
Classic barman build with Alchemist Artificer 3 and Warlock 1(3) seems like one the best examples. Alchemist is inarguably the worst Artificer Subclass, but some levels in Warlock help making an at least reasonable quantity of potions (and if you go Warlock 2 and a 4 hour Rest Race now you are cookin). Still not as good as an optimazed build, but not that bad!
This enters gimmicky territory, so beware, but adding Peace Cleric into the mix will give you the abilitity to grant +3d4 to your party Attack and Save Rolls! Using Bless and Emboldening Bond along with your supply of Boldness Potions you can make sure not your GWM and SS users will miss. Probably better to take Bless with Fey Touched tho, won't make you unbelievably MAD and Bond is just once per Turn anyway.
Disclaimer: Peace Cleric dip is very strong on its own, so maybe this route does not count for the question :p Fey Touched is fair game tho.
An Eldritch Knight 5-7 or 11 (depending upon where along the martial - caster spectrum you hope to reside as well as the expected ending level of your campaign) / Cleric X multiclass (presumably War domain in this example but other "average or worse" domains can be interesting for various mechanical or flavor reasons) makes for a fun take on the holy warrior concept with access to GWM, PAM or Sharpshooter and the best cleric spells in a longer campaign or mid-to-higher level one shot.
The War domain channel divinity can help negate a few GWM or SS misses per day (depending on short rest availability) and the War Priest feature let's you make WIS mod # of extra attacks per day as a Bonus Action, as well as Clerics gaining a sprinkle of extra Divine Strike damage for a pseudo-smite once per turn at cleric level 8 that increases at Cleric 14. Additionally, a Fighter's action surge assists with getting a spell / buff or series of attacks off in a pinch.
Playstyle is akin to a paladin but with better, higher level spell casting from the mid-game on due to CON save proficiency from starting fighter and mixing a full casting class with a 1/3rd caster, as well as access to invaluable spells such as Shield, Absorb Elements, Spirit Guardians, etc. Flavor wise, you can take Cleric 1 with your second character level but I'd personally recommend waiting until reaching Fighter level 5 before taking the leap, then possibly going back to Fighter for 1-2 levels.
Dump Intelligence, which is not required for this multiclass, and focus your ability score points on one of STR / DEX depending on your armor and weapon preferences, then WIS followed by CON. Resilient: WIS makes for a solid feat choice after you've maxed out your primary attacking stat, especially if you possess an odd Wisdom score, War Caster is another strong feat selection.
Pick up spells that don't rely on your EK spell DC with all Fighter level choices (the aforementioned spells as well as Booming Blade, Magic Missile, Mirror Image, Blur, etc if you get to Fighter 7+) and for Cleric spell options make liberal use of Spirit Guardians, Holy Weapon, as well as other general Cleric staples.
Swashbuckler/battlemaster.
Both are good subclasses but neither are one of the best subclass for their respective class, let alone compared to other classes subclasses.
Plus it really achieves the duelist theme well and allows for some double sneak attacks with riposte/brace. And it levels pretty well if you do fighter 5/rogue X.
A friend of mine played this and was basically played Dread Pirate Roberts.
If it wasn't such a short campaign he said he planned on taking Swords Bard for more sword fighting "techniques"
Yea I did this on a one-shot. 5 Battlemaster/5 swords bard/hexblade dip for CHA to attack. Burned a Feat for an extra technique. LOTS of short rest manuevers/techniques for a lot of options with a SAD.
Was pretty fun. Not super strong, but totally fun. And on a short rest, good to go again.
Battlemaster is probably the best fighter sub, and swashbuckler is up there for rogue too, one could argue it is the best (not that rogue subclasses are that good to begin with) so i dont get your point.
Druid/Warlock has more synergy than you think: Druids don't need WIS for their best spells, so you can focus on CHA for Eldritch Blast, which pairs REALLY WELL with all the battlefield control on the Druid spell list. Hexblade goes even further, giving Druid a huge bump with the Shield spell. It's actually a crazy good build
Mastermind rogue and wolf totem barbarian (bonus points if you can take the UA feat tandem tactian) make for a decent "warlord" type build. You give melee allies advantage by being close to enemies and ranged allies advantage with the help action. Personally, I would combine with the fey hobgoblin for a few more options.
Champion Fighter gets much better when paired with Barbarian and is actually a pretty great melee combatant that gets a lot of extra durability from Rage and can critfish more reliably with Reckless Attack. With a Half-Orc it's a really nice combination, with the Piercer and Orcish Ferocity feats being able to improve their critifshing damage while raising Strength with their ASIs as a Fighter which they can afford to do. Taking +1 ASI Strength feats still allows you to max out Strength by Champion Fighter 8, and Barbarian makes you a better tank with Rage and a better critfisher with Reckless Attack.
Advantage on most Dexterity saves will also help you out at higher levels with Danger Sense, which is an underrated feature that goes well with Indomitable from Fighter to reroll saving throws.
Having a reasonable Dexterity for Unarmored Defense or wearing medium armor means you'll also have a decent Stealth and Initiative with 14 Dexterity and the Remarkable Athlete feature from Champion, allowing you to go on Stealthier tasks a bit more to offer some protection for a squishier character in case anyone is discovered. Proficiency in Stealth would actually be decent on this character if wanting full proficiency from it.
I think it depends a lot on how much you value Rage as a feature. The damage resistance at early levels makes up for a slightly delayed Extra Attack, because of how prominent physical attacks are from Levels 1-6.
I would probably go 1st level in Barbarian for slightly more hit points in the long run and having the same saving throw proficiencies as a Fighter. Then I'd go up to Champion Fighter 6, then take my 2nd level in Barbarian, then go the rest of the way in Champion.
For some, getting that 3rd level for a Barbarian subclass and one more use of Rage per long rest could be well worth it. Ancestral Guardian or Bear Totem would be very legitimate choices here for being the ultimate tank for the party. Zealot would be interesting too, for being able to add an additional damage die to an attack that could be a critical hit each turn, and allowing any healers in the party to Revivify them at will.
The 18th Level Champion feature goes really well with the Rage damage resistances, but you could argue that Bear Totem is better at that tier of play when elemental damage and Necrotic damage are going to be really common. So Bear Totem probably works best with Champion in the long run, and you get a couple of out of combat ritual spells from Totem Warrior that you can utilize.
As long as you keep picking subclasses that give you some amount of damage for free on an attack, you can keep up to a high-midrange party's expected damage per attack, roughly keeping up with a Rogue's sneak attack but not having as many requirements and having lots of other potential side benefits. This means you've got stuff like Zealot, Rune Knight, Swarmkeeper or Hunter, Genie, Spores, Swords Bard, ect, all on the same character. Their main synergy is only the ability to hit them with an additional magical effect, but slapping a bunch of those all together isn't *great* but it's still somewhere between good to alright
Sounds pretty fun honestly. Throw in Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade for even more fun.
I imagine it gets a little tedious asking the DM, "Some of that is physical, some psychic, some radiant, some fire, some necrotic... does any of that make a difference?" Different colored dice would be essential haha.
Monk and Cleric PYF subclasses. Personally, I like Life and Ascendant Dragon. Basically, 5 levels monk for offensive utility without using spell slots, saving all those for heals. At around 10, when you can get spirit guardians going, it's a lot of fun.
I also like ranger/clerics, pretty rad synergy if you're a bit careful. Basically you can become a wisdom based paladin of sorts (and I've seen it RPed that they *are*(/believe themselves to be) paladins.
Basically you are mainly using ranger for extra attack, synergistic subclass feature and ideally find a way to capitalize on your fighting style options (druidic warrior to get shillelagh is fun). Cleric gives you heavy armor (with the right subclass).. and everything else.
Druid2/sorcerer3 is a fun little multi-class. Go circle of wildfire & using Tasha's rules to get a familiar so you have 2 pets, and then you can twinned spell dragon breath them both. You can flavor them however you want, I'd personally go with twin smol phoenixes. You now at level 5 have a concentration based, cone shaped, fireball every turn that scales for 2D6 per spell level instead of 1D6 (because twinning)
I played a spirit bard 3/ wildfire druid 8 flavored as a witch doctor. Great buffer/debuffer with decent damage output options (as long as not going into fire resistance/immunity). Was super fun to play, but sadly dead with his corpse cast into the astral sea.
I'm currently playing as a Kenku Arcane Trickster rogue with 3 levels of bard, specializing in the College of Whispers. I also mid/maxed some of her stats so her strength and constitution suck but when your dex and intelligence are high enough... you can get out of alot 😅
And yes, my bird likes to steal the shiny objects.
What about paladin/arcane trickster? You fight with a rapier and can sneak attack and smite all together. Allows you to use wrathful smite and booming blade together to hit an enemy (and sneak attack and smite them, plus the wrathful damage) and if they fail their save they are frightened... And on their turn they flee, taking more damage from booming and provoking an attack of opportunity for another sneak attack+smite.
One of my favorites is Shadow Monk + War Cleric dip. Neither is especially powerful by themselves but if you can see in the dark (Eldritch Adept etc.) then using monk darkness + war cleric bonus action attack + gwm to beat the crap out of someone makes for a great dark knight that doesn't work with either class by itself.
Monks work surprisingly well with heavy weapons and armor, there are plenty of things to spend your Ki on and having heavy weapons and armor makes up for the things you lose as a monk (except extra speed).
It's not a powerhouse build, but I thoroughly enjoyed playing it.
Life Domain Cleric and Alchemist Artificer. You will have a very potent Healing Word but every healing spell is affected by this combo because both Life Domain and the Alchemist boost healing spells. On top of that the Alchemist subclass can boost the necrotic damage options of the Cleric class as well. It's not amazing or anything but it is a easy way to boost healing spells and some damage types (fire, necrotic, acid and poison) from spells. Fire Bolt can potentially do 1d0+5 damage this way.
I personally combined this with the Goblin race for extra damage from Fury of the Small. Pick the poisoner feat to ignore poison resistances and suddenly poison is a viable damage type option as well.
Warlock 2/Abjuration Wizard. As a warlock, you can take an invocation to cast Mage Armor for free at will. Abjuration Wizard gets Arcane Ward which gives you a protective barrier when a 1st level or higher abjuration spell is cast that refreshes when you cast another Abjuration spell.
Thief Rogue X/Daolock 1 with Crusher is pretty fun. But since Daolocks aren't exactly an average or below-average subclass, maybe this doesn't count?
Another option is Wolf Totem Barbarian X/Cavalier Fighter 3 with Sentinel. Sentinel (with possibly grappling too) allows you keep enemies rooted next to you, thereby ensuring that they continue to suffer the effects of both the Wolf Totem and Unwavering Mark.
> Another option is Wolf Totem Barbarian X/Cavalier Fighter 3 with Sentinel. Sentinel (with possibly grappling too) allows you keep enemies rooted next to you, thereby ensuring that they continue to suffer the effects of both the Wolf Totem and Unwavering Mark. It's an option when trying to play as a "tank" character.
You also want to be a centaur with the cavaliers saddle
The question was mixing average or underperforming subclasses. Without the multiclass interaction, Tempest and Evo are average / mid tier .
Scribes you could argue above average, as to why i included evo.
Tempest would be above average if it could learn lightning bolt. Evo is nice but doesn't get close to the top wizard subclasses Div, Chronorgy and Abjuration.
Tempest is absolutely high tier
Scribes basically gets metamagic for free and has barely any resource spending the one place a wizard can spend resource
Evo might not be the best wiz subclass, but its definitely high tier or high mid tier
Already conceded scribes.
https://www.cbr.com/dungeons-dragons-best-clerics-ranked/
Tempest is what 9th out of 12.
How do they come close to forge, life, light peace, twilight...
I would understand if they get lightning bolt, as light clerics get fireball. No prob.
Evo is maybe high mid. So the combo works great. Fits in what they asked.
>Tempest is what 9th out of 12.
How do they come close to forge, life, light peace, twilight...
Fair enough. Hard to think of any cleric as bad. Pretty much all the other classes have a "dud" subclass apart from clerics so it's easy to say all ate high tier
That list is nonsense. The top 2 Clerics are Peace and Twilight.
Tempest is in the next tier, with strong spell options and a strong Channel Divinity feature
Mine is the Nature Cleric 1/Long Death Monk 6. Nature gives you Heavy Armor and Shield which will negate Martial Arts, Unarmored Movement, and Unarmored Defense, but you should have a great AC and Shillelagh and combine that with Wood Elf, Satyr, Centaur, Dhampir, Air Genasi, Leonin or a Dwarf and you can still dump STR and be WIS SAD. Then take Bane and Sanctuary. You can do Hour of Reaping while in Sanctuary and if your opponents are immune to Frighten or you just feel like fighting cast Bane and Shillelagh and do Stunning Strikes on the following rounds to targets that fail their Bane saves.
I’m loving a few of my combos at the moment, lots of fun.
Druid/rogue, artificer/cleric, barbarian/sorc/paladin, barbarian/rogue.
Would be too long to fully describe all in one message, but happy to expand
Barb with Rogue is greater than the sum of the part at later levels. Barn famously has no real way to scale their damage outside of T2 and has no really way to contribute outside of combat at any point. Sneak attack damage from rogue is decent scaling damage and the skill give them a role when they are not raging. Rogues gets extra attack and survivability. I’d recommend rogue 1 / Barb 6 / Rogue X.
Monks are also famous for their issues with scaling, especially 4 elements Monks. If you go Barb 5 then change to 4 elements monk you have the power and killing ability of the Barb at low levels then add the forced movement of water whip and air fist which can be used while raging. It’s a MAD build and you don’t use 70% of the monks kit but at high levels better than a pure monk or barb.
I used my Drow Gloomstalker/Assassin to dip 2 levels into Warlock which completely killed all hope for another Feat. Instead, now he can drop darkness on himself to attack unseen and attack via Devil Sight through an opponent's Darkness too.
Hellish Rebuke is fun too. The lost of the feat cut into my Dex until buffs later but in the end it was worth it. Not the best but really fun.
Druid/monk is a fun and underrated build because it improves the melee potential drastically
Add a metamagic feat for subtle spell and druid wildshape goes brrrrr
Cavalier fighter with a rogue dip especialy with swashbuckler could be fun be a bonking machine who can dance around the batlefield with a sword and shield or any weapon that lets you sneak atacks.
While its best you go for 18 fighter 2 rogue or barb for infinite reactions getting a second subclass is just as fun
Alchemist artificer, fey warlock, elf or reborn race to short rest 4 times making potions at the start of each day, like a coffee lock except instead of infinite spellslots taking a great class to a silly powerful one, it's taking a dodgy subclass to actually usable
Thief rogue/alchemist artificer with healer and/or tavern brawler feat
Just need Fast Hands, and you unlock:
Bonus action alchemy jug acid flasks or poison, alchemist potions, healer kits
Craft caltrops and stuff with tool expertise.
You kind of get forever quickened spell, except with weird choices. If you get tavern brawler, I think you can convince your dm to let you proc sneak attack on acid flasks throws (proficient ranged weapon?). Otherwise, sneak attack on magic stone with a sling.
It's not amazing, but I feel like it's better than the sum of its parts.
A spore Druid monk (the drunk), the spore Druid lets you do more damage with your attacks and gives temporary hit points. The monk part just hits a lot of things and gets you an okay AC.
I really like the storm sorcerer’s features mixed with paladin’s melee capabilities
Tempestuous magic is a bonus action disengage basically, its nice to have. Heart of the storm gives thunderous smite an aoe. Storm’s fury gives you a reaction to being hit
Its pretty cool, and paladin doesnt have any storm themes so its a cool idea
I'm currently playing a Barb/Warlock multiclass and really enjoying the hell out of it. Right now at level 6 I'm Barbarian 1/Warlock 5 and getting ready to tale my second Barb level next.
Build is Strength->Con/Cha->Dex->Wis->Int. Pact of the Blade. Select non concentration and out-of combat spells and invocations that don't care much about Charisma. Most Patrons work well for this. Go Genie for concentration free flight and bonus damage once per turn, Fiend for temp HPs, or if you roll for stats and can swing a big Charisma - go either Fathomless for a weaponized bonus action or Undead for the Form of Dread. It's been really fun to play a Barbarian in combat that can also cast Invisibility out of combat or make good use of Armor of Agathys. Eldritch Smite invocati9n is not casting a spell, so you can Rage and Smite and have a grand old time burning through those two spell slots.
Tempest cleric storm Scorcer lot of fun wading into enemy casting a spell the launching all enemies within 10ft away from you
+max damage fire balls with transmute spell
Alchemist artificer and Barbarian you can use your spell slots to choose the potion you want and give yourself awesome buffs you can’t do on a normal barbarian. Also gives you utility outside of combat as well.
Tempest cleric and depths warlock have some truly great synergy. Really a tempest warlock doesn’t have the right spell list to take advantage of subclass features, depths warlock fixes that
I played a 5 paladin 5 warlock. The spells of warlock that scaled and had short rest refreshes made for some booty blasting smites, and eldritch blast was a great ranged option
I really want to build a Soulknife Rogue 3/Horizon Walker Ranger 11
The idea of Attacking and blinking towards your enemy and killing them leaving no physical marks just sound awesomely terrifying
While you're right that they are great subclasses together, neither of them are considered poor or underperforming subclasses and don't really fit the question. Both are considered around Top 3 subclasses of their respective class by a wide variety of people.
A lot of people praise Fey Wanderer for the Charisma Check bonus, getting good subclass spells like Misty Step, other nice subclass features, and potentially being able to go Wisdom SAD with Druidic Warrior for a fighting style since they aren't heavy on using their bonus action like other Ranger subclasses.
A lot of people tend to agree that Gloom Stalker is the best Ranger subclass and I agree with that. But for someone less focused on Stealth, Fey Wanderer is excellent and they get a lot of other things a martial character would still want. Expertise in Persuasion with the Canny feature plus the Wisdom bonus to Charisma checks at level 3 makes for a very compelling martial party face.
It's not uncommon to see people even mixing Bard and Fey Wanderer Ranger together, because of how impactful the Charisma check bonus can be both for social situations as well as some kinds of magic like Counterspell and Telekinesis.
Fey Wanderer is a neat ranger, a personal favourite of mine, but I don't think a lot of people consider it a high power standout.
I typically see it rated somewhere from 3rd to 5th best ranger. And before you say "well 3rd makes them top 3", "3rd" doesn't necessarily tell the full story (Treantmonk had it 3rd, but had Gloomstalker in A tier, and Fey Wanderer in C tier, which...I think is pretty fair).
Sometimes 3rd best subclass is still relatively niche.
> It's not uncommon to see people even mixing Bard and Fey Wanderer Ranger together, because of how impactful the Charisma check bonus can be both for social situations as well as some kinds of magic like Counterspell and Telekinesis.
That's a cute combo--never seen anyone do it in an actual game, though, so I would say it's fairly uncommon.
Reasons for it being uncommon: It's hard to justify a 3 level dip like that on a full caster. And assuming pointbuy you need CHA, CON, DEX, and WIS...the bonus is probably going to be +1 or +2 in the end.
> and potentially being able to go Wisdom SAD with Druidic Warrior for a fighting style since they aren't heavy on using their bonus action like other Ranger subclasses.
Having high WIS isn't inherently a big goal for rangers, unless the subclass depends heavily on wisdom (cause the main class almost never uses wisdom even when spellcasting).
But sure, I could see a Fey Wanderer Ranger building WIS--they have several subclass features that use WIS. It comes at a pretty big cost though--you're trading damage and range for a boost to subclass features.
Arcane Archer Fighter with a Dao Genie Warlock dip and the Crusher feat is a fun little combo, if not the most power gaming build. Apply Hex (Strength) with a bonus action, attack and apply Grasping Shot with an arrow, move your target 5 ft with the Dao bludgeoning damage and Crusher to proc the extra damage. Now you and your allies can keep shoving them around to proc an extra 2d6 of slashing damage per turn, and because of Hex they have disadvantage to remove the brambles.
This same build also works well if its a 3 level Dao dip for spike growth, to push and pull them through the spikes repeatedly
I mostly disagree. 5 feet per turn isn’t really enough to justify Spike Growth, unless you have an entire party built on forced movement. If you’re using Repelling Blast or Grasp of Hadar to achieve the forced movement, suddenly you’re juggling attack stats if you want to apply Grasping Shot as well. The 2d6 slashing damage isn’t substantial compared to the Spike Growth strat so it could be ignored at that point, but then the Fighter levels are largely pointless.
Arcane Archer + Battlesmith is also really good to make an INT SAD archer. But battlesmith is a good subclass on its own, so I guess it doesn’t quite fit the OP’s prompt.
Conjuration wizard + thief rogue. Conjure things with your action and interact with them as your bonus action. Good for clever shenanigans, nit great otherwise lol
Take the keen mind feat, and now you can conjure any key you've seen. I like it.
Ooh same idea with creation bard
Beast barb/soulknife rogue is awesome.
Really most Barbarian Rogue combos are a pretty good answer for this. The base classes are already such a good mix that the subclasses are hard to have that much dissonance or conflict with each other. Scout Rogue suddenly becomes a decent pick for crying out loud, who would normally pick *scout*!? It's not terribly weak, but it's bland and hard to mix with, but a bunch of Barbarian subclasses can make full use out of it
Can i ask what Barb Subclasses combo with Scout? Never heard of it!
Off the top of my head, I remember there being three but Tiger Totem is the only one I remember rn. It stacks movement speed, which you can actually use to reposition up to half your speed as a reaction, so more speed = more good. Coincidentally grappling is easy when you're a Barbarian with Rogue's Expertise in Athletics, and they also make you move at half speed which again means making your full speed even higher more valuable.
Ancestral Guardian Ranged Barbarians. You lose your Reckless Attacks going ranged, but can Steady Aim and then when your opponent closes with you because they have disadvantage against everyone else, you scurry away.
Oh that is good. I'm going to have to try that sometime
Giants barb with a double bladed scimitar and revenant blade works great for this. One of the few subclasses you want to take to barb 6 in the general barb + rogue build sphere.
I've seen some people go bear totem which keeps you a bit tankier while having a lot of mobility to naturally due to base barb speed boosts and moving half your movement as a reaction with rogue. It kind of lets you dive into enemy backline and position as needed with minimal risk. I've also seen elk totem with wood elf. Making your base movement speed 50 ft at level 3 and 60 at level 5. This means your reaction movement from scout would let you move 30 ft which would allow for a bit squishier hit and run playstyle.
> Scout Rogue suddenly becomes a decent pick for crying out loud, who would normally pick scout!? It's not terribly weak, but it's bland and hard to mix with, but a bunch of Barbarian subclasses can make full use out of it I would. How else would I outbeastmaster a beastmaster ranger with my rogue riding a war elephant?
That's pretty sick honestly, thank you for being the exception to prove the rule
how does that work, I'm not seeing where beastmaster skills come from in the scout build.
Nowhere. It's an uncontrolled mount and you handle it with expertise in animal handling
Totem Barb 5/6 into full rogue (basically any subclass) is also incredibly solid. You get to have resistance to everything along with evasion/uncanny dodge
Yeah, it's maybe one of the tankiest builds in the entire game, at least in terms of damage mitigation. Throw in a source of TempHP like an Artilarist's eldritch canon and *maybe* an Abjuration Ward and that's basically everything all at once by level, what, 15?
apparently scout rogue is also some kind of motorbicycle.
I'm playing a barbarian bounty hunter and I'm thinking of dipping a bit into rogue for mechanics or sorcerer for rp reasons. But I want it to be obnoxious. (Dm approved) imagine Barny from Andy Griffith
I'd love to try this but I'm hesitant because there's sadly no item that just gives all your attacks +1 to hit and to damage.
Perfectly understandable, but as good as a +1 weapon is, this is 4 attacks at advantage, most of them will hit anyway, and between Rage and Sneak Attack you won't feel the pain of that extra point of damage as much as you'd expect on a regular build. You can also invest in secondary effects caused by your attacks, with a Dao dip and both of crusher and slasher, which is at least something? But you're still right that not being able to simply pick up a stronger weapon while everyone else can is an issue, but it's an issue both subclasses have to an extent already, and they're at the very least the two classes not named artificer best suited to creatively using other items for what it's worth.
If you get a nice dm they might let the insignia of claws work for you. How it's always been ruled at tables I've ran or played at. Playing this MC with spores druid multiclass atm. It kicks butt.
What combo do they use?
It's a "4 attacks per turn" build by doing 1 attack with beast claws, and one attack with soul knives. Triggering two "get an extra attack" effects.
I didn't know that's how it worked! That's awesome
Attack with psychic blade, it disappears after attacking so second attack with beast claw, which gets you a third attack with beast claw, bonus action attack with offhand psychic blade. Sneak Attack requires a finesse weapon but you are still allowed to use STR with finesse weapons, so you can add rage damage to the psychic blade and sneak attack without help using Reckless Attack.
Barbarian rogue is already a really solid MC, it's so synergistic at basically any mix between the two, in addition to reckless attack giving you your sneak attack basically for free, but this specific mix also lets you make 4 attacks, between the psychic blades and the claws
It’s so funny that two completely different themes and ideas work together so well
18+ in strength, expertise, and advantage on strength checks (rage) make them the ideal candidate for grapple/shoving too. Strength-based intimidation is not uncommon. If you play with a DM that allows in-combat intimidation checks to inflict the frightened condition, it can be equally effective. A rogue/barb that has access to these tools has an impressive amount of versatility in combat in addition to their four attacks.
I'm sure it won't be as good, but im currently building an armorer soulknife for similar interactions (gauntlets being a free hand, I can punch and stab to my heart's content)
Omfg this sounds so rad.
You are right, but those two are in no way considered Bad subclasses.
Post said average or under.
Psi warrior is strong, but once it’s out of resources it’s just a fighter. Soul knife improves its damage, gives it more to do out of combat, gives a free weapon of an unusual damage type, and because their resource pools are determined by proficiency, they don’t lose much by being multiclassed. I don’t think either are mid, though. They’re just Powerful together, and not even a caster
It's so sad that soul knife doesn't work with extra attack, and is generally janky all around
Yeah, that’s the only downside. I think rules as written, you can’t make 2 attacks with the knife, and can’t make the bonus action knife attack if you used a different weapon? A chill dm would just let you get off the combo attack, since you’re a fighter sacrificing more damage dice for a weird element and the bonus attack, but idk, maybe the build isn’t perfect. I was looking for a different rogue subclass that uses the bonus action, so what am I left with, thief?
> and can’t make the bonus action knife attack if you used a different weapon? With Extra Attack you could throw a dart/dagger (just using these as examples because of also having finesse+thrown), throw a psychic blade, and then bonus action throw another, because your last attack was with a psychic blades and your hands will be free since you yeeted any weapon you had in them by that point. Thrown Weapon Fighting aids in keeping your hands free, especially if you end up with Fighter 11, and gives all of those throws +2 damage still.
Yeah, if you are ignoring cunning action, then there's no other low level rogue dips to give you a BA afaik
God I wish their pools mixed.
Oh, that’d be broken. I’d allow it as a dm, for the hell of it, but officially they’re 2 different types of pools, that they accidentally named the same thing. I’m playing one in a oneshot, and there’s no stuff to use my soul knife dice on in the dungeon, so I’m just gonna have us in telepathy the whole time
Alchemist Artificer + Mutant Bloodhunter Use the Sagacity mutagen to up your Intelligence past the maximum of 20. Combo it with the Alchemical Savant ability of Alchemists to give it a nice boost.
Barbarian + Mutant Bloodhunter also kicks ass. Danger Sense negates the Potency mutagen's penalty to Dexterity saving throws. GWM + Weapon Damage + Strength Damage + Rage Damage + Crimson Rite Damage + Giant or Zealot Damage = Big Numbers.
What level spread?
Blood Hunter 6+ / Barbarian 2 grabs you the basics. Blood Hunter’s high-level features generally trump Barbarian’s. Giant Barbarian 6 / Mutant Blood Hunter 3 is better if you’re planning to use Giant Barbarian, though.
Brrroken. It'd be hard to pull off though. Barbarians require 13 Str to multiclass in/out of the class and Bloodhunters require 13 Dex & Int to multiclass in/out. But it might be worth a try if someone rolled high in their stats.
Blood Hunter is 13 Str or Dex and 13 Int.
You are right, my mistake
huh only 2 skills should be doable. And before multiclassing you have a few full levels of smartbarian.
Bonus points for being thematically cohesive. The alchemist that makes weird elixirs also has crazy concoctions he directly injects into himself. "Uhh no... this one's not for you sorry" *jabs needle into vein*
I always am partial to these two builds, trying to combine some of the weakest subclasses together to make something decent. Storm Barbarian/Alchemist Artificer https://www.reddit.com/r/3d6/comments/ic11q3/two_wrongs_make_a_right_2_alchemical_boogaloo Rage Mage - Battlerager Barbarian/ Four Elements Monk https://www.reddit.com/r/3d6/comments/gbm0oa/two_wrongs_make_a_right_a_battleragerfour
Effreti + wildfire druid. 2 average subclasses for their class, but happen to work really well together.
thematically they work well together but can you expand on mechanical synergy? I dont quite get it
Only thing i can imagine is to use genies wrath (warlock lvl1), that allows you to add your proficiency modifier as fire damage on top of a attack damage roll, allowing you to add 1d8 of fire damage from enhanced bond (wildfire lvl6). this would already be on top of any sheleilei damage, and you still have a bonus action to teleport away with the wildfire companion. at 1 lvl dip cost, you can turn your normal wildfire druid into a fire damage dealing machine. Any other levels in warlock are causing druid to suffer edit: Genie warlock also gives you access to green flame blade, allowing you to deal extra fire damage to a nearby target, which as well triggers the enhanced bond feature
Not crazy powerful subclasses with synergy mostly undead warlock edition: X Glamour Bard / 2 Undead Warlock: Let’s you do damage, fear, push, and command a target in a single round. X Armorer Artificer / 1 Undead Warlock: Disadvantage versus EVERYONE. X Spores Druid / 6 Long Death Monk: WIS based Monk with great suite of abilities. Their level 6 mass fear can be brutal if you’re the solo frontliner or your other frontliner has excellent WIS saves. Pro tip, make it an Earth Genasi and run through your own Entangles.
Undead Warlock with Conquest Paladin is also really fun
IKR. The cause fear goes great with the Aura of Conquest.
I'd like to add 7+ Fey Wanderer Ranger / 1+ Undead Warlock. This turns Beguiling Twist from a niche (if neat) feature into an absolute menace. You don't need more than the 13 CHA for the multiclass but having some charisma is also thematic for the Fey Wanderer to stack with Otherworldly Glamor.
Hmm... 2 niche class/subclass, with a great synergy... How about Champion Fighter 5, Shadow Sorcerer X? - Crit Fishing is not a good gimmick, but the classic advantage from the darkness spell is always fun. - Additionally the rest of the spellslot can for quickened spell. And by level 11, the hound of I'll omen can substitute the fighters 3rd extra attack.(or haste) Alternatively have you tried Wisdom Based Fey Wanderer Ranger 5, War Cleric X. - With Maxed Wisdom, you gain +5 in Cha Skills and 5 Bonus Action attacks. And with Druidic Warrior you get Shiellelagh Wis attacks.
Rune Knight Fighter 7/Soulknife 3 Grappler build. Here, I'll link it. An even more disadvantaged class that makes a good combo would be the Giant Barbarian 7 /Soulknife 3. I suppose Rune Knight and Giant Barbarian are stronger in terms of those classes' subclasses, but they're still melee subclasses, which makes them underpowered compared with casters BTW, this whole build is similar to one mentioned in a recent Treantmonk youtube video. [https://www.dndbeyond.com/sheet-pdfs/Nick27613\_122602888.pdf](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sheet-pdfs/Nick27613_122602888.pdf) EDIT: Here's a brief description of all most of the abilities this character has: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/11ZtqVEMBw3sr4fMdD5YDkxSzwHxMKs-aXumFwsa\_RbY/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/document/d/11ZtqVEMBw3sr4fMdD5YDkxSzwHxMKs-aXumFwsa_RbY/edit?usp=sharing)
Classic barman build with Alchemist Artificer 3 and Warlock 1(3) seems like one the best examples. Alchemist is inarguably the worst Artificer Subclass, but some levels in Warlock help making an at least reasonable quantity of potions (and if you go Warlock 2 and a 4 hour Rest Race now you are cookin). Still not as good as an optimazed build, but not that bad! This enters gimmicky territory, so beware, but adding Peace Cleric into the mix will give you the abilitity to grant +3d4 to your party Attack and Save Rolls! Using Bless and Emboldening Bond along with your supply of Boldness Potions you can make sure not your GWM and SS users will miss. Probably better to take Bless with Fey Touched tho, won't make you unbelievably MAD and Bond is just once per Turn anyway. Disclaimer: Peace Cleric dip is very strong on its own, so maybe this route does not count for the question :p Fey Touched is fair game tho.
I initially read "barman" as "batman" and I was trying to figure out what Batman comics you were reading. Lol this does sound fun though!
The Drunkard Batman, with an stock of drinkable gadgets he uses to defend Gotham with questionable soberness
An Eldritch Knight 5-7 or 11 (depending upon where along the martial - caster spectrum you hope to reside as well as the expected ending level of your campaign) / Cleric X multiclass (presumably War domain in this example but other "average or worse" domains can be interesting for various mechanical or flavor reasons) makes for a fun take on the holy warrior concept with access to GWM, PAM or Sharpshooter and the best cleric spells in a longer campaign or mid-to-higher level one shot. The War domain channel divinity can help negate a few GWM or SS misses per day (depending on short rest availability) and the War Priest feature let's you make WIS mod # of extra attacks per day as a Bonus Action, as well as Clerics gaining a sprinkle of extra Divine Strike damage for a pseudo-smite once per turn at cleric level 8 that increases at Cleric 14. Additionally, a Fighter's action surge assists with getting a spell / buff or series of attacks off in a pinch. Playstyle is akin to a paladin but with better, higher level spell casting from the mid-game on due to CON save proficiency from starting fighter and mixing a full casting class with a 1/3rd caster, as well as access to invaluable spells such as Shield, Absorb Elements, Spirit Guardians, etc. Flavor wise, you can take Cleric 1 with your second character level but I'd personally recommend waiting until reaching Fighter level 5 before taking the leap, then possibly going back to Fighter for 1-2 levels. Dump Intelligence, which is not required for this multiclass, and focus your ability score points on one of STR / DEX depending on your armor and weapon preferences, then WIS followed by CON. Resilient: WIS makes for a solid feat choice after you've maxed out your primary attacking stat, especially if you possess an odd Wisdom score, War Caster is another strong feat selection. Pick up spells that don't rely on your EK spell DC with all Fighter level choices (the aforementioned spells as well as Booming Blade, Magic Missile, Mirror Image, Blur, etc if you get to Fighter 7+) and for Cleric spell options make liberal use of Spirit Guardians, Holy Weapon, as well as other general Cleric staples.
Swashbuckler/battlemaster. Both are good subclasses but neither are one of the best subclass for their respective class, let alone compared to other classes subclasses. Plus it really achieves the duelist theme well and allows for some double sneak attacks with riposte/brace. And it levels pretty well if you do fighter 5/rogue X.
A friend of mine played this and was basically played Dread Pirate Roberts. If it wasn't such a short campaign he said he planned on taking Swords Bard for more sword fighting "techniques"
Yea I did this on a one-shot. 5 Battlemaster/5 swords bard/hexblade dip for CHA to attack. Burned a Feat for an extra technique. LOTS of short rest manuevers/techniques for a lot of options with a SAD. Was pretty fun. Not super strong, but totally fun. And on a short rest, good to go again.
Yeah I found it really shines well if you use the playtest rogue cause rogue gets some maneuver esque stuff too.
Battlemaster is probably the best fighter sub, and swashbuckler is up there for rogue too, one could argue it is the best (not that rogue subclasses are that good to begin with) so i dont get your point.
Bro I'm playing a Swashbuckler Rogue, made it a high elf to get Booming Blade, and I feel *ridiculously* powerful.
Druid/Warlock has more synergy than you think: Druids don't need WIS for their best spells, so you can focus on CHA for Eldritch Blast, which pairs REALLY WELL with all the battlefield control on the Druid spell list. Hexblade goes even further, giving Druid a huge bump with the Shield spell. It's actually a crazy good build
Druid artificer also has some pretty bonker synergies.
Mastermind rogue and wolf totem barbarian (bonus points if you can take the UA feat tandem tactian) make for a decent "warlord" type build. You give melee allies advantage by being close to enemies and ranged allies advantage with the help action. Personally, I would combine with the fey hobgoblin for a few more options.
Champion Fighter gets much better when paired with Barbarian and is actually a pretty great melee combatant that gets a lot of extra durability from Rage and can critfish more reliably with Reckless Attack. With a Half-Orc it's a really nice combination, with the Piercer and Orcish Ferocity feats being able to improve their critifshing damage while raising Strength with their ASIs as a Fighter which they can afford to do. Taking +1 ASI Strength feats still allows you to max out Strength by Champion Fighter 8, and Barbarian makes you a better tank with Rage and a better critfisher with Reckless Attack. Advantage on most Dexterity saves will also help you out at higher levels with Danger Sense, which is an underrated feature that goes well with Indomitable from Fighter to reroll saving throws. Having a reasonable Dexterity for Unarmored Defense or wearing medium armor means you'll also have a decent Stealth and Initiative with 14 Dexterity and the Remarkable Athlete feature from Champion, allowing you to go on Stealthier tasks a bit more to offer some protection for a squishier character in case anyone is discovered. Proficiency in Stealth would actually be decent on this character if wanting full proficiency from it.
The question is, what order do you take the levels?
I think it depends a lot on how much you value Rage as a feature. The damage resistance at early levels makes up for a slightly delayed Extra Attack, because of how prominent physical attacks are from Levels 1-6. I would probably go 1st level in Barbarian for slightly more hit points in the long run and having the same saving throw proficiencies as a Fighter. Then I'd go up to Champion Fighter 6, then take my 2nd level in Barbarian, then go the rest of the way in Champion. For some, getting that 3rd level for a Barbarian subclass and one more use of Rage per long rest could be well worth it. Ancestral Guardian or Bear Totem would be very legitimate choices here for being the ultimate tank for the party. Zealot would be interesting too, for being able to add an additional damage die to an attack that could be a critical hit each turn, and allowing any healers in the party to Revivify them at will. The 18th Level Champion feature goes really well with the Rage damage resistances, but you could argue that Bear Totem is better at that tier of play when elemental damage and Necrotic damage are going to be really common. So Bear Totem probably works best with Champion in the long run, and you get a couple of out of combat ritual spells from Totem Warrior that you can utilize.
As long as you keep picking subclasses that give you some amount of damage for free on an attack, you can keep up to a high-midrange party's expected damage per attack, roughly keeping up with a Rogue's sneak attack but not having as many requirements and having lots of other potential side benefits. This means you've got stuff like Zealot, Rune Knight, Swarmkeeper or Hunter, Genie, Spores, Swords Bard, ect, all on the same character. Their main synergy is only the ability to hit them with an additional magical effect, but slapping a bunch of those all together isn't *great* but it's still somewhere between good to alright
Sounds pretty fun honestly. Throw in Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade for even more fun. I imagine it gets a little tedious asking the DM, "Some of that is physical, some psychic, some radiant, some fire, some necrotic... does any of that make a difference?" Different colored dice would be essential haha.
Monk and Cleric PYF subclasses. Personally, I like Life and Ascendant Dragon. Basically, 5 levels monk for offensive utility without using spell slots, saving all those for heals. At around 10, when you can get spirit guardians going, it's a lot of fun.
I also like ranger/clerics, pretty rad synergy if you're a bit careful. Basically you can become a wisdom based paladin of sorts (and I've seen it RPed that they *are*(/believe themselves to be) paladins. Basically you are mainly using ranger for extra attack, synergistic subclass feature and ideally find a way to capitalize on your fighting style options (druidic warrior to get shillelagh is fun). Cleric gives you heavy armor (with the right subclass).. and everything else.
1 level in War Cleric gives you a BA damage boost to all of your weapon attacks and unarmed strikes from Divine Favor twice per day.
Druid2/sorcerer3 is a fun little multi-class. Go circle of wildfire & using Tasha's rules to get a familiar so you have 2 pets, and then you can twinned spell dragon breath them both. You can flavor them however you want, I'd personally go with twin smol phoenixes. You now at level 5 have a concentration based, cone shaped, fireball every turn that scales for 2D6 per spell level instead of 1D6 (because twinning)
Monk/ranger works well together. I prefer the mix of long death and hunter.
I played a spirit bard 3/ wildfire druid 8 flavored as a witch doctor. Great buffer/debuffer with decent damage output options (as long as not going into fire resistance/immunity). Was super fun to play, but sadly dead with his corpse cast into the astral sea.
I'm currently playing as a Kenku Arcane Trickster rogue with 3 levels of bard, specializing in the College of Whispers. I also mid/maxed some of her stats so her strength and constitution suck but when your dex and intelligence are high enough... you can get out of alot 😅 And yes, my bird likes to steal the shiny objects.
What about paladin/arcane trickster? You fight with a rapier and can sneak attack and smite all together. Allows you to use wrathful smite and booming blade together to hit an enemy (and sneak attack and smite them, plus the wrathful damage) and if they fail their save they are frightened... And on their turn they flee, taking more damage from booming and provoking an attack of opportunity for another sneak attack+smite.
One of my favorites is Shadow Monk + War Cleric dip. Neither is especially powerful by themselves but if you can see in the dark (Eldritch Adept etc.) then using monk darkness + war cleric bonus action attack + gwm to beat the crap out of someone makes for a great dark knight that doesn't work with either class by itself. Monks work surprisingly well with heavy weapons and armor, there are plenty of things to spend your Ki on and having heavy weapons and armor makes up for the things you lose as a monk (except extra speed). It's not a powerhouse build, but I thoroughly enjoyed playing it.
Life Domain Cleric and Alchemist Artificer. You will have a very potent Healing Word but every healing spell is affected by this combo because both Life Domain and the Alchemist boost healing spells. On top of that the Alchemist subclass can boost the necrotic damage options of the Cleric class as well. It's not amazing or anything but it is a easy way to boost healing spells and some damage types (fire, necrotic, acid and poison) from spells. Fire Bolt can potentially do 1d0+5 damage this way. I personally combined this with the Goblin race for extra damage from Fury of the Small. Pick the poisoner feat to ignore poison resistances and suddenly poison is a viable damage type option as well.
Warlock 2/Abjuration Wizard. As a warlock, you can take an invocation to cast Mage Armor for free at will. Abjuration Wizard gets Arcane Ward which gives you a protective barrier when a 1st level or higher abjuration spell is cast that refreshes when you cast another Abjuration spell.
You don't need ti Multiclass for this combo. You can Just take a feat, or choose a Human Variant and take the Feat at level 1
Thief Rogue X/Daolock 1 with Crusher is pretty fun. But since Daolocks aren't exactly an average or below-average subclass, maybe this doesn't count? Another option is Wolf Totem Barbarian X/Cavalier Fighter 3 with Sentinel. Sentinel (with possibly grappling too) allows you keep enemies rooted next to you, thereby ensuring that they continue to suffer the effects of both the Wolf Totem and Unwavering Mark.
> Another option is Wolf Totem Barbarian X/Cavalier Fighter 3 with Sentinel. Sentinel (with possibly grappling too) allows you keep enemies rooted next to you, thereby ensuring that they continue to suffer the effects of both the Wolf Totem and Unwavering Mark. It's an option when trying to play as a "tank" character. You also want to be a centaur with the cavaliers saddle
Tempest cleric + evo or scribes wizard.
Do this as a blue or bronze dragonborn and you can use your channel divinity/destructive wrath on your breath weapon. ka-zorp
The question was mixing underperforming subclasses. These can be argued as 3 of the strongest subclasses in the game
The question was mixing average or underperforming subclasses. Without the multiclass interaction, Tempest and Evo are average / mid tier . Scribes you could argue above average, as to why i included evo. Tempest would be above average if it could learn lightning bolt. Evo is nice but doesn't get close to the top wizard subclasses Div, Chronorgy and Abjuration.
Tempest is absolutely high tier Scribes basically gets metamagic for free and has barely any resource spending the one place a wizard can spend resource Evo might not be the best wiz subclass, but its definitely high tier or high mid tier
Already conceded scribes. https://www.cbr.com/dungeons-dragons-best-clerics-ranked/ Tempest is what 9th out of 12. How do they come close to forge, life, light peace, twilight... I would understand if they get lightning bolt, as light clerics get fireball. No prob. Evo is maybe high mid. So the combo works great. Fits in what they asked.
>Tempest is what 9th out of 12. How do they come close to forge, life, light peace, twilight... Fair enough. Hard to think of any cleric as bad. Pretty much all the other classes have a "dud" subclass apart from clerics so it's easy to say all ate high tier
Thats a fair assessment, clerics subclasses in general are very strong
That list is nonsense. The top 2 Clerics are Peace and Twilight. Tempest is in the next tier, with strong spell options and a strong Channel Divinity feature
Fey Wanderer ranger with a dip in Undead Warlock is a cool little combo I've been wanting to play.
Mine is the Nature Cleric 1/Long Death Monk 6. Nature gives you Heavy Armor and Shield which will negate Martial Arts, Unarmored Movement, and Unarmored Defense, but you should have a great AC and Shillelagh and combine that with Wood Elf, Satyr, Centaur, Dhampir, Air Genasi, Leonin or a Dwarf and you can still dump STR and be WIS SAD. Then take Bane and Sanctuary. You can do Hour of Reaping while in Sanctuary and if your opponents are immune to Frighten or you just feel like fighting cast Bane and Shillelagh and do Stunning Strikes on the following rounds to targets that fail their Bane saves.
I’m loving a few of my combos at the moment, lots of fun. Druid/rogue, artificer/cleric, barbarian/sorc/paladin, barbarian/rogue. Would be too long to fully describe all in one message, but happy to expand
Barb with Rogue is greater than the sum of the part at later levels. Barn famously has no real way to scale their damage outside of T2 and has no really way to contribute outside of combat at any point. Sneak attack damage from rogue is decent scaling damage and the skill give them a role when they are not raging. Rogues gets extra attack and survivability. I’d recommend rogue 1 / Barb 6 / Rogue X. Monks are also famous for their issues with scaling, especially 4 elements Monks. If you go Barb 5 then change to 4 elements monk you have the power and killing ability of the Barb at low levels then add the forced movement of water whip and air fist which can be used while raging. It’s a MAD build and you don’t use 70% of the monks kit but at high levels better than a pure monk or barb.
I used my Drow Gloomstalker/Assassin to dip 2 levels into Warlock which completely killed all hope for another Feat. Instead, now he can drop darkness on himself to attack unseen and attack via Devil Sight through an opponent's Darkness too. Hellish Rebuke is fun too. The lost of the feat cut into my Dex until buffs later but in the end it was worth it. Not the best but really fun.
Druid/monk is a fun and underrated build because it improves the melee potential drastically Add a metamagic feat for subtle spell and druid wildshape goes brrrrr
Neither is that bad on their own, but many early fighter and rogue featues synergise really well together.
Cavalier fighter with a rogue dip especialy with swashbuckler could be fun be a bonking machine who can dance around the batlefield with a sword and shield or any weapon that lets you sneak atacks. While its best you go for 18 fighter 2 rogue or barb for infinite reactions getting a second subclass is just as fun
Fathomless warlock + swashbuckler rouge Zealot Barbarian +phantom rouge Paladin + barbarian Thief rouge + artificer alchemist/ druid
Alchemist artificer, fey warlock, elf or reborn race to short rest 4 times making potions at the start of each day, like a coffee lock except instead of infinite spellslots taking a great class to a silly powerful one, it's taking a dodgy subclass to actually usable
Fighter cleric becomes weirdly versatile paladin honestly goes hard
Thief rogue/alchemist artificer with healer and/or tavern brawler feat Just need Fast Hands, and you unlock: Bonus action alchemy jug acid flasks or poison, alchemist potions, healer kits Craft caltrops and stuff with tool expertise. You kind of get forever quickened spell, except with weird choices. If you get tavern brawler, I think you can convince your dm to let you proc sneak attack on acid flasks throws (proficient ranged weapon?). Otherwise, sneak attack on magic stone with a sling. It's not amazing, but I feel like it's better than the sum of its parts.
a bladesinger dip on an artificer (particularly a battlesmith or armorer) is really freaking good.
It’s just a bladesinger with extra stuff tho. Bladesingers are already one of the best wizard subclasses.
Mutant Bloodhunter/Alchemist Artificer is so flavourful. I prefer Armourer to Alchemist, but I think Armourer might be too good for this question.
I’m currently toying with the idea of a 4e monk and light cleric
A spore Druid monk (the drunk), the spore Druid lets you do more damage with your attacks and gives temporary hit points. The monk part just hits a lot of things and gets you an okay AC.
I really like the storm sorcerer’s features mixed with paladin’s melee capabilities Tempestuous magic is a bonus action disengage basically, its nice to have. Heart of the storm gives thunderous smite an aoe. Storm’s fury gives you a reaction to being hit Its pretty cool, and paladin doesnt have any storm themes so its a cool idea
I'm currently playing a Barb/Warlock multiclass and really enjoying the hell out of it. Right now at level 6 I'm Barbarian 1/Warlock 5 and getting ready to tale my second Barb level next. Build is Strength->Con/Cha->Dex->Wis->Int. Pact of the Blade. Select non concentration and out-of combat spells and invocations that don't care much about Charisma. Most Patrons work well for this. Go Genie for concentration free flight and bonus damage once per turn, Fiend for temp HPs, or if you roll for stats and can swing a big Charisma - go either Fathomless for a weaponized bonus action or Undead for the Form of Dread. It's been really fun to play a Barbarian in combat that can also cast Invisibility out of combat or make good use of Armor of Agathys. Eldritch Smite invocati9n is not casting a spell, so you can Rage and Smite and have a grand old time burning through those two spell slots.
Pacifist Princess/Prince
Tempest cleric storm Scorcer lot of fun wading into enemy casting a spell the launching all enemies within 10ft away from you +max damage fire balls with transmute spell
Alchemist artificer and Barbarian you can use your spell slots to choose the potion you want and give yourself awesome buffs you can’t do on a normal barbarian. Also gives you utility outside of combat as well.
Berserker Barbarian / Peace Cleric. Rage-a-holic trying to quit... But it's hard sometimes, ya know?
Tempest cleric and depths warlock have some truly great synergy. Really a tempest warlock doesn’t have the right spell list to take advantage of subclass features, depths warlock fixes that
Cleric 1-2/ wizard 18
I played a 5 paladin 5 warlock. The spells of warlock that scaled and had short rest refreshes made for some booty blasting smites, and eldritch blast was a great ranged option
I had a lot of fun playing a Wild Magic Barbarian × School of War Magic Wizard
I really want to build a Soulknife Rogue 3/Horizon Walker Ranger 11 The idea of Attacking and blinking towards your enemy and killing them leaving no physical marks just sound awesomely terrifying
Beast barbarian 5/6, spore druid x
Fey Wanderer Ranger + Eloquence Bard can get a minimum Persuasion/Deception roll of 22 at level 6.
While you're right that they are great subclasses together, neither of them are considered poor or underperforming subclasses and don't really fit the question. Both are considered around Top 3 subclasses of their respective class by a wide variety of people.
Eloquence, yes. I hadn't heard so much praise from Fey Wanderer.
A lot of people praise Fey Wanderer for the Charisma Check bonus, getting good subclass spells like Misty Step, other nice subclass features, and potentially being able to go Wisdom SAD with Druidic Warrior for a fighting style since they aren't heavy on using their bonus action like other Ranger subclasses. A lot of people tend to agree that Gloom Stalker is the best Ranger subclass and I agree with that. But for someone less focused on Stealth, Fey Wanderer is excellent and they get a lot of other things a martial character would still want. Expertise in Persuasion with the Canny feature plus the Wisdom bonus to Charisma checks at level 3 makes for a very compelling martial party face. It's not uncommon to see people even mixing Bard and Fey Wanderer Ranger together, because of how impactful the Charisma check bonus can be both for social situations as well as some kinds of magic like Counterspell and Telekinesis.
Fey Wanderer is a neat ranger, a personal favourite of mine, but I don't think a lot of people consider it a high power standout. I typically see it rated somewhere from 3rd to 5th best ranger. And before you say "well 3rd makes them top 3", "3rd" doesn't necessarily tell the full story (Treantmonk had it 3rd, but had Gloomstalker in A tier, and Fey Wanderer in C tier, which...I think is pretty fair). Sometimes 3rd best subclass is still relatively niche. > It's not uncommon to see people even mixing Bard and Fey Wanderer Ranger together, because of how impactful the Charisma check bonus can be both for social situations as well as some kinds of magic like Counterspell and Telekinesis. That's a cute combo--never seen anyone do it in an actual game, though, so I would say it's fairly uncommon. Reasons for it being uncommon: It's hard to justify a 3 level dip like that on a full caster. And assuming pointbuy you need CHA, CON, DEX, and WIS...the bonus is probably going to be +1 or +2 in the end. > and potentially being able to go Wisdom SAD with Druidic Warrior for a fighting style since they aren't heavy on using their bonus action like other Ranger subclasses. Having high WIS isn't inherently a big goal for rangers, unless the subclass depends heavily on wisdom (cause the main class almost never uses wisdom even when spellcasting). But sure, I could see a Fey Wanderer Ranger building WIS--they have several subclass features that use WIS. It comes at a pretty big cost though--you're trading damage and range for a boost to subclass features.