What is the best multiclass character?

[BadBird]

Eldritch Knight can work with a ton of different components. Fighter/Wizard tends to be the 'default', but on the martial side there's everything from Urban Bloodrager to Sohei Monk to Inspired Blade Swashbuckler to choose from, and on the casting side, there are advantages to Witch or Arcanist or Sorcerer depending on what someone is going for.

With all the class features available, you can create some surprising combos - like a Divine Favor + Dervish Dance + Flurry of Blows Eldritch Knight with Sohei and Hex Channeler, or a Battering Blast Spell Specialist Arcanist with Urban Bloodrager and curved blade. Crossblooded Fey/Draconic(Esoteric) Sorcerer opens up Psychic spell list picks while granting a flat +2DC to spells like Ego Whip. So, so many options now...

[Inlaa]

Quote:

Druid 4 + Shaping Focus means you can be a medium Air or Earth Elemental all day with a normal medium weapon, which is a pretty awesome base for all kinds of melee characters. Like an air elemental shaped Druid 4/ Unchained Rogue 4/ Weapon Master with a curved blade.

Let's flesh this one out with some numbers, just for clarity's sake.

Rogue 3 = Finesse Training. Let's assume you're a Half-Elf using an Elven Curve Blade (you replaced Skill Focus with EWP).

Druid 4 = Wildshape. Okay... But then you take the Shaping Focus feat. You can turn into a Small Air Elemental for 8 hours a day, and due to the way Elemental Body is written RAW you get the same bonuses as if you were a medium elemental. (Elemental Body needs errata, yo.)

Take a level of Savage Technologist Barbarian or Urban Barbarian.

Let's assume you started off with 18 DEX by the way and treated STR as a dump stat. At level 8 you have 20 DEX outside of Air Elemental form. You also have a +2 DEX item.

BEHOLD: You are now a small-sized air elemental with 26 DEX, which equates to a +8 DEX bonus. When raging, this goes up to 30 / +10. You're wielding an Elven Curve Blade, which means you get to add DEX to attack AND 1.5 DEX to damage. Thus, when attacking, you get +10 to hit from DEX and +15 to damage before any item enchantments or feats or what-have-you are calculated in. Oh, and you're small sized, so +1 extra attack and AC. By the way, that DEX means +10 to your AC, so I guess that's +11 AC just from that, and you could totally be wearing magical bracers of armor or have Mage Armor cast on you... And you have +3 natural armor for being an air elemental...

And you have a fly speed. A good one. Get 2 levels of Ranger and you can get Power Attack on that sword, too.

It's fun.

Alternatively, Earth Elemental setup: Fighter 2 / Barb 2 / Druid 4. Same sort of thing, but you get to do it with Strength. You're slower, but potentially way meaner earlier on since you don't need to dip for Power Attack.

[The Kwisatz Haderach]

UC Monk 2 for bonus feats, Evasion, FoB, and Wis to AC. Barb 2 for fast movement and Rage. Druid 16 with Shaping focus and Feral Combat training: Tentacle. Dragon Style and Dragon Ferocity. WS into a giant octopus. You get a bite with poison, 9 tentacle attacks with the flurry and all the tentacles have grab and construct. As long as your Wis and Str are good you have decent AC, insane full round damage. A giant ranging Octopus with 20’ reach.

[Scott Wilhelm]

Choant wrote:

As it states above, every build I read on here about multiclassing says don't do it, but if you did what's the best build?

I don't think there is a "the best build." Multiclassing is jungle teeming with options.

What do you want your character to be like?

[Soulgear]

2 barb/X oracle/4 rage prophet.

I have one at 16 and I can tell you after playing for 27 years, there is nothing like it.

Nothing really comes close.

If you want to be able to self-heal, self-buff, party-buff, and crush all enemies that come before you, you can do no better than this build.

One round, full attack vs a Storm Giant. 279 damage.

Heal spell? 130 in heals.

Cast "cure" spells on yourself while raging? Yes please.

Base movement of 45? Yes please.

+36 to-hit/+40 damage before dice rolls? Yes please.

Intimidate of 47? Yes please.

Once you play this, all others are mere mortals.

[Scott Wilhelm]

Scott Wilhelm wrote:

Choant wrote:

As it states above, every build I read on here about multiclassing says don't do it, but if you did what's the best build?

I don't think there is a "the best build." Multiclassing is jungle teeming with options.

What do you want your character to be like?

For me, multiclassing is a means to an end. To what end do you wish to build your character?

I like the idea of a Druidzilla Character, so I might take 4+ levels in Druid, some levels in Warpriest, applying Sacred Weapon Damage to my Natural Attacks. I might take levels in Barbarian, taking Beast Totem Feats so I grow Claws and a Bite for when I Wildshape into a Triceratops and and do Claws and Bite Damage on top of my Gore, then taking a level in White Haired Witch, I get a Hair Attack, too.

Or maybe just play a Tengu Warpriest with a dip in Ranger, taking Claws and doing Sacred Weapon Damage with my Claws and Bite, later acquiring a Helm of the Mammoth Lord or Animal Mask and getting my Gore Attack that way. Perhaps dipping a level in Ranger so I can use Wands of Strong Jaw and Gravity Bow and get Endurance so I can sleep in Medium Armor.

Or maybe take a level in Arcanist to get Dimensional Slide and the ability to use a Wand of Swift Girding, so I can Dress in even Heavy Armor as a Standard Action. Maybe take some levels in Ninja to get Vanishing Trick and False Attacker, making Range Touch Attacks vs. Flatfooted AC with Cantrips like Jolt and Acid Splash adding on my Sneak Attack Damage. I'd take the False Attacker Talent to maintain Stealth while sniping. I might take 3 levels in Monk to be a Drunkne Master and replenish my Ki by Drinking. I might start taking levels in Slayer, Bounty Hunger so I can use Dirty Tricks in Combat to Blind my opponents and lock in Sneak Attack Damage that way, giving this nasty little sneak some melee capability as well.

Or what if I want to Grapple? I certainly like to be efficient, so I like to take a level in Monk so I can get 3 good saves, Improved Unarmed Strike, and Improved Grapple all in 1 swell foop. 2 levels in Cavalier, Order of the Penititent is a musthave, because Expert Captor is devastating, but the fastest way to increase your GMB is with 4 levels in Alchemist, taking a Crab Tumor Familiar and a Tentacle. Since you can't get Greater Grapple before level 6, I like the idea of developing some other feature in my character first, like 3 levels in Ranger, taking Precise Shot and using a Wand of Gravity Bow, then being a Grenadier Alchemist and taking Explosive Missile so you have a character who is a good archer at the start, a devastating Grappler later, then continues to grow as both with Alchemal Discoveries while shooting exploding arrows. Exploding arrows are cool.

I also have a build the combines levels in Ranger and Inquisitor, mostly, to use Thunder and Fang, Shield Slam, Greater Bull Rush, and Paired Opportunist, putting Bane on his Klar and generating Attacks of Opportunity for everybody, including himself, looping until everybody's AoO's run out.

So, OP, what do you want to be?

[Slim Jim]

A cavalier with two spoonfuls of barbarian(savage technologist), the Ferocious Beast rage power, and Amplified Rage. Begin kneading in levels of Hunter(primal companion). Bake to a golden-brown.

[Heather 540]

I'm redoing an old bard character of mine, and I decided to make her multiclass. I'll be starting off with a level of Inspired Blade so I can take Fencing Grace from the start. I might dip a level in Fighter for the extra feats and better BAB, but that's not for certain.