Creating a character inDungeons and Dragonscan require commitment, as some campaigns can run for years. Building a character that’s balanced, interesting, and has connections to the world can be difficult. One part of building aDungeons and Dragonscharacter that influences much of their behavior and their role in the party is their class. Choosing a class is a big decision, with each class having appealing features, and it can be tempting to multiclass to get more benefits for a character.
Multiclassing inDungeons and Dragonsis a valid strategy that can result in characters that are both balanced and powerful. With so many different combinations that multiclassing offers, figuring out the right one can be difficult. Multiclassing comes with pros and cons, and some players choose to skip the difficulties that come with multiclassing and instead focus on one class. Both options can create great builds, and sometimes the decision lies with the player character.
The Pros of Multiclassing in Dungeons and Dragons
Enhanced Customization
Roleplaying inDungeons and Dragonssometimes demands a multiclass character. Certain character backstories could align with multiple classes, such as a character who grew up learning a skill and then experienced a life-changing moment that forced them to adapt without forgetting their skills. This could be shown through multiclassing, and ultimately creates a character whose lore synergizes with the game’s mechanics.
Access to Key Abilities
Certain classes have incredibly useful abilities in their early levels, such as Clerics being able to wear heavy armor at level 1, whileWarlocks get access to Eldritch Blast at level 2. These are dips into other classes that grant massive benefits, without detracting from the character’s core class. Another advantage is that these small dips don’t detract from the main class, which means that higher-level abilities and spells will still become available.
Class Synergies
Some classes work extremely well together in a single build. Classes with the same core attribute tend to synergize well, such asPaladin and Sorcerer, who both use Charisma as their core attribute. The Paladin class’s armor proficiencies and weapon use make up for the Sorcerer’s weaknesses, while the Paladin gains the benefits of the Sorcerer’s metamagic and powerful spellcasting.
The Cons of Multiclassing in Dungeons and Dragons
Slow Progression
Splitting a character between two different classes means that progression is far slower than a single-class build. It can also result in missing out on key class abilities that are only gained at the highest levels, such as level 9 spells or other key class abilities.Multiclassing can make a character weakerthan their fellow single-class party members, and this is often especially felt at later levels.
Complexity
Building an efficient character can beoverwhelming for newDungeons and Dragonsplayers, and multiclassing makes this even more complicated. Players need to track resources, different spellcasting modifiers, class features, subclasses, and abilities, and this may be too confusing for players who don’t want to min/max. It may be best to multiclass if the player is familiar with the rules and the classes they want to pursue, and if it fills a gap in the party.
When to Multiclass
Multiclassing inDungeons and Dragonsshould ideally happen for a reason, and not just for the rule of cool. While creating characters that dip into three or more classes sounds like a great time, all of those levels need to be distributed between the level cap of 20. It’s best to consider what core class the character should be, and then what other class could support those abilities and features.
