Unlimited Blade Works: The Guide to the Ultimate Paladin/Sorcerer Multiclass (2024)

I am the bone of my sword
Why Be a Sorcadin? The Pros and Cons

Pro Number 1: Insane Nova Damage. (Image by Ufotable)

The Sorcadin is a wonderful gish build that’s good at pretty much almost anything, but to make its characteristics easier to read and understand, let’s break it up into several parts.Pros:

1. Insane Nova Damage
2. Versatility via High-Level Spells
3. Strong Both Martially and Magically
4. Fills in Any Party Role

Neutral:

1. Aren’t Sorcadins squishy?
2. Don’t they get Extra Attack late?

Cons:

1. Running Out of Resources
2. Doesn’t Work at Low Levels
3. Lower Stats (Point-Buy only)

Let’s delve further:

Spoiler: Pros

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Pro 1: Insane Nova Damage
If you like slamming in mass damage into your enemies once in a a while, Paladin is always a good class choice.

If you like slamming in mass damage into your enemies with eerie frequence, Sorcadins are the class for you.

For those who don’t know, “Nova” refers to when a character chunks out a massive amount of damage in one round, often involving using up a lot of resources. Often considered the antonym of “DPR”, or “Damage Per Round”, which (though its name is self-explanatory) refers to the average damage a character inflicts each round.

Pure Paladins are already considered the big bosses of Nova damage in 5e. This is because of the

Divine Smite ability, which is also the key mechanic in the Sorcadin build, but Sorcadins make it go even further by smiting using the more high-level Sorcerer Spell Slots as high-grade fuel. The synergy of a Paladin multiclassing with Caster is something of a miracle or phenomenon, but Sorcerers are generally the best choice if you’re gonna go many levels into Caster, due to Metamagic.

Spells like

Hold Person make Sorcadins even more hilarious to use. Auto-Crit makes Smite damage so devastating that the Sorcadin can basically incapacitate a high-CR boss in one or two rounds on his own.

For instance, let’s take a look at what happens if the Sorcadin uses Hold Person as a bonus action, and proceeds to make two critical attacks (Extra Attack), expending two level 4 spell slots on it for the Smites (maximum damage). This is something the Sorcadin will be able to do from level 11 or higher (if you go Paladin 6/ Sorcerer 5).

Assuming his STR is 16 and the weapon is a Longsword, the original damage is 1d8+3+5d8 per hit, but with critical this becomes 12d8+3=

57 damage per hit.

Two hits (sorta guaranteed with the enemy paralyzed), and that’s

114 damage, more than enough to swipe the floor with your enemies (or at least what’s left of them). I mean, not that you will want to pull this off often - high-level Smites should be reserved for special bosses you really wanna kill quickly - but the fact you have such a devastating trick up your sleeve is very relaxing, not to mention amusing.

Of course, you don’t necessarily need to do such a resource-consuming combo to show that your Nova damage is boss, though - what’s given above is just an example of what Sorcadins can do when the dire need arises (or when you

roll crit from the start). Simply put, you can Smite more frequently and more effectively than Pure Paladins, because you have more spell slots. That’s already quite strong enough an ability. Sorta ironic that those who multiclassed from Paladin can smite better than pure Paladins, but who cares, that’s exactly why we’re here.

If required, you can do other interesting stuff like use Quickened Spell on Fireball, and after most of the mobs have been cleared, proceed to clean up the leftovers using your normal action attack(s). Because that’s another way of showing how simply awesome you are. Other classes can’t do that.

Pro 2: Versatility via High-Level Spells
Spells are like a toolkit. You can blast, you can buff, you can debuff, you can fly, you can basically do everything you want using spell slots.

Sorcadins have the almighty spells like

Bless from being a Paladin, but you also get other goodies like aforementioned Fireball and Hold Person. Apart from those, let’s see... Mirror Image, Suggestion, Hypnotic Pattern, Wall of Fire, Greater Invisibility, Polymorph... At higher levels, Animate Objects is a complete nosebleeder, Hold Monster allows you to incinerate anything with that aforementioned 116-damage combo, Mass Suggestion can solve a session or completely alter an campaign on its own, and Reverse Gravity makes you feel like a superhero, which in fact you already are.

And guess what. The best part of it is that you can cast all of these using a Bonus Action with

Quickened Spell.

^ How you feel like when you use Quickened Spell. ^
(Image Copyright Disney/Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM.)

Pro 3: Strong Both Martially and Magically
So, Casters are versatile. It’s just like how roses are red and violets are blue.

I’m a

big fan of Casters for this reason.

But at the very same time, I’m

not a fan of them.

The hell is wrong with you Gastronomie!? You’re contradicting yourself! Well, my point is that while I like having a massive arsenal of possible I WIN buttons stored in my suitcase, I don’t like the idea of standing in the backrow, never taking damage, munching on a sandwich and shooting magical shotguns while the frontliners hack away at the goblins. This may sound like I’m masoch*st or bloodthirsty or perhaps even insane, but I personally prefer it when I’m taking damage on the frontlines as well. Feels more... Alive. More dangerous. Thrilling. ...Wait, what am I, Kenpachi or something?

WHY YES I AM.

Anyhow, back on topic: Sorcadins are awesome in how they can be both frontline warriors and versatile casters. Two jobs are better than one. And unlike how Bladelocks need to think which job to do (hack-slash or spellcast) during a particular turn, being a Sorcadin, you don’t need to ever think You can just used Quickened Spell to do both jobs in the same turn, because you’re just way too boss to consider choosing between options. The hell with action economy, you don’t need to care about that stuff.

If you’re my type of player who wants to be versatile and almighty but still wants to feel how your sharp blade slices through flesh and bone and hacks off the heads of the kobolds, and proceed to bathe in the blood of both yourself and your mutilated enemies, Sorcadins are the class for you. (And if you want to be a reliable tank, going Paladin 6 or more is recommended.)

Even if you aren’t my type, the Sorcadin is guaranteed to be enjoyable to play, since you always have something powerful you can do, be it slice or be it cast. And oh boy do you feel amazing.

Pro 4: Fills in Any Party Role

^ Being a Paladin, you excel at protecting your allies from certain death. ^
(Image by Ufotable)

I’ve already talked about this a bit in 2., but let’s explain about this even deeper. (This will also be delved into in the upcoming section, “Possible Party Roles of a Sorcadin”.)

First off, Paladins are healers, with the ever-useful

Lay On Hands ability, as well as good healing spells like Cure Wounds. My advice is that you should always have at least one healing spell prepared. Another advice, this given mainly to beginners, is to not heal during fights, unless it’s to wake up someone with 0 HP. This is sorta similar as in Pokemon, or any other game which is a mix of combat and adventuring - better to attack or buff during fights, and save the healing for after the battle is over, in order to not waste your turns.

Apart from that, this is MaxWilson’s idea, but if you happen to go all the way up to Paladin 9 (this becomes a more Paladin-centered build, sorta similar in mechanics to an Eldritch Knight) there’s also a really interesting combination of

Aura of Vitality + Extended Spell. Takes some out-of-combat time, but heals a whooping total of 40d6=140 HP for just a level 3 slot and 1 Sorcery point. Amazing synergy here. The problem here is that you get only a very limited number of Metamagic options, though.

That’s for the healing. But Sorcadins can also

buff.

As aforementioned, Sorcadins have access to

Bless, arguably one of the strongest low-level spells in the entire game. This can also be upcast to suit your party needs. HOWEVER, you are actually probably better to leave Bless to your other party members, like a Lore Bard or Cleric. Why? Because you have even better things to concentrate on. Let’s look into those in the “Choosing Your Spells” section, later on in the guide.

To avoid losing your concentration on Bless easily, take the

War Caster feat (or Resilient (CON) for some cases) as soon as possible.

See Also

jibs the level 7 Halfling Rogue by BusjoeRetrospective: Wizards of the Coast's Gamma WorldMay I have some more BG3? - or - 31 Days of BG3 - PinkHummingbird441 (Balloonicorn441)Dracula, The Hunters' Journals: 15 May, Jonathan Harker's Journal (Cont.)

Just, be aware that if you’re gonna take it using Variant Human, your first level automatically needs to be Sorcerer (Paladin level 1 doesn’t have spellcasting, so you can’t choose War Caster), meaning that it might get a bit difficult for you to gain Heavy Armor proficiency. Not a problem with DEX builds, but could get in the way of certain STR builds, so make sure not to forget it.
NOTE: It’s generally the better choice to start Paladin for the WIS saves.

You could also get proficiency in CON saves in one way or another as you level up. Most likely

Resilient. It isn't a "requirement" (due to the upcoming ability), especially if you have War Caster, but still strong.

Apart from Bless, once you hit Paladin level 6 or higher,

Aura of Protection kicks in, which basically reads “EVERYONE QUICK HUDDLE AROUND THE PALADIN” (and also boosts your concentration saves). Too much huddling together and the enemy might actually make good use of that by casting Fireball or some other AoE* effect, but in general this ability is handy and useful, occasionally saving both your neck and the friends of your necks from certain doom. Not to mention, this ability is persistent, and doesn’t use up resources, unlike a majority of the Sorcadin’s abilities**. This is rare, invaluable, precious, and absolutely adorable.
*AoE = Area of Effect.
**Using Up Resources: We’ll talk more about this characteristic of Sorcadins in “Cons”.

Spells like

Invisibility can also help your teammates, depending on your party build, but aren’t absolutely necessary (especially with the Sorcerer’s limited number of spells). Assassins will spoil their pants with this spell, though, so it’s a nice idea to give it to them.

^ The totally unrequired gif of an Assassin spoiling his pants. ^
(Image by Ufotable)

Twinning Haste, Greater Invisibility or Polymorph is another way of showing how well Metamagic works. Be careful not to ever drop concentration for that Haste, though.

Sorcadins can also

control, debuffing enemies and/or moving them around into positions beneficial for your team. You have access to spells like Command (which can be upcast), Thunderous Smite, Wrathful Smite, Hold Person, Web (combine with Careful Spell and it’s an absolutely amazing combo), Hypnotic Pattern, Wall of Fire, and so on.

Yes, I know. So many options! One of the most difficult parts of creating a Sorcadin is to determine which spells and Metamagic abilities to take, when there’s so many amazing options to choose from.

Spoiler: Neutrals

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Neutral 1: Aren’t Sorcadins squishy?
This is a question that may pop up in the minds of certain readers. Sorcerers have a pretty scrawny Hit Die of d6, meaning that every level the Sorcadin takes in Sorcerer, he loses 2 HP (well, eh, all power comes with a cost anyways). This may seem like a pretty nasty problem for frontline warriors, and indeed, if you keep the Sorcadin as it is, they lag behind Pure Paladins in terms of tankiness. However, there are several ways to get around this, and I don’t believe it’s enough of something that can be classified in “Cons” - and so, here it is, in the “Neutral” box.

Let’s divide the solutions into “Increasing AC”, “Increasing HP”, and “Other Methods”.

Increasing AC

The most straightforward answer is to use the Shield spell. You could call this more than a spell - it’s a part of the Sorcadin’s core abilities.

“Shield” is something Eldritch Knights also have, and the very reason why they’re considered to be the most tanky of all the Fighters;+5 AC one round at the cost of a level 1 slot is just way too juicy to ignore. If you’re trying to optimize your Sorcadin,

there is really no excuse to not taking this spell

.

The Archer supports this statement. It doesn’t work all the time though... (Image Copyright Ufotable)

If you’re going for a STR build, get Plate Armor as soon as possible. If you’re going DEX, use Mage Armor or the Draconic Resilience ability of Draconic Sorcerers to get maximum AC (Studded Leather Armor is another good option if your DM allows you to buy or earn it). Both Plate and Studded Leather are either too expensive or rare to gain at early levels, but buffing AC is great, so be sure to pick them up sooner or later.

If you’re gonna go DEX-based Sorcadin, do keep in mind that since light armor consults your DEX, and you likely wouldn’t be maxing out your DEX until you’re really high-level (unless you rolled godly with stat-rolling), your AC will probably be still lower than that of a STR-based build. In fact, there’s some chance you will want to pump CHA instead of maxing out DEX, so either way, your AC may be 1 or 2 points lower than that of a STR build.

Going

Sword and Board (Longsword/Rapier and Shield) is another way to increase your AC. If you have Longsword+Shield+Plate, for instance, your normal AC will be 20, and when you get hit by an opponent’s strong attack, you can use the Shield spell for AC 25. “Equal to the Tarrasque” sums up how high an AC this is in 5e. (However, if both of your hands are full with separate weapons, and your DM is fussy about rules, you may not be able to cast spells with Material or Somatic components. War Caster solves this problem to some extent, and together with improving your concentration, it’s a mandatory Feat for Sword-and-Board Sorcadins that you should get as fast as possible.)

The Shield of Faith spell increases your AC by 2, but sadly requires concentration. It’s not a bad spell; in fact it’s good... It’s just that there are better options, and there are many attractive contestants who want to be concentrated upon.

Finally, the

Defense Fighting Style is actually a pretty reasonable option for you, if not the best option - you can take it via Paladin 2. It does rob you of Dueling, which is pretty good for Sword and Board builds too, but while obviously strong and still a good option, Dueling is not as effective as it is for other builds, mainly due to how you’re gonna be Green-Flame Blading or Booming Blading for a pretty long part of your career (both of which allow you to attack only once - the +2 damage bonus to each attack is stronger if you have Extra Attack).

^ Wearing good armor helps a lot. Be aware of how donning armor in D&D generally takes more time than in this gif. ^
(Image by Ufotable)

Increasing HP

Draconic Sorcerer (close to Gold for DEX builds, due to Draconic Resilience) is one good option for those who want a Sorcadin with a more blasty feel (increasing the damage of Fireball and other AoE spells is marvelous, and also makes the most out of this ability), but it’s not just about that. It also increases your HP by 1 per Sorcerer level, meaning that you don’t lose as much HP from going Sorcerer as you would have if you chose other Origin options.

The

Abyssal Tiefling (UA) race not only boosts your CON and CHA (both important stats for you), but also gives you one extra HP per two levels. It’s not really a very respectable amount, though, so just consider it an extra bonus. Might save your skin occasionally.

There’s also Feats such as Durable or Tough, but, ehhh... Most of the time, I’d honesty just use my ASIs to increase my CON, if I wanted more HP. That way I can be better at concentrating too. And as mentioned later in the Cons of this class (no pun intended), ASIs and Feats are hard to come across, especially for multiclass builds such as this one. One should use them wisely.

If you have high CHA, the

Inspiring Leader Feat does become pretty good, though. Healing a good lot of HP per short rest (technically not healing, but rather giving out temporary HP, but pretty much the same thing) for everyone in the party is quite a nice ability, and makes you more tankier than CON +2.

If you’re going to multiclass Warlock for 2 or more levels, Fiendish Vigor can work as a pretty nice option to give you Temporary HP. It gives you 8 temporary HP in-between every single battle (there’s no limit to the number of times you can cast False Life, so immediately after a fight is over, you can keep on re-using it till you roll a 4 with the 1d4).

Dark One’s Blessing (Fiend Pact) also gives you temporary HP whenever you kill someone.

(Multiclassing into Warlock delays your Caster levels, so it’s obviously not for everyone. However, the spells gained at even a 1 or 2-level dip are pretty powerful (Armor of Agathys etc.), and it’s arguably worth it, depending on what your build goal or role is.)

The simplest answer is to really just heal yourself with Lay On Hands or Cure Wounds (or Aura of Vitality if you’ve gone deep in Paladin). Expect to do this every now and then.

Other Methods

First let’s talk about racial and class abilities.

Certain races give us not only CON bonuses, but also neat abilities that increase your tankiness. Apart from the aforementioned Abyssal Tiefling, Half-Orc is great. It boosts your two main stats, has darkvision, makes you extra aggressive with critical hits, gives you proficiency with a skill you’re gonna be super excellent at, and allows you to recover from fainting once per day. Everything in this package is wonderful for a Sorcadin, and it’s no wonder that the sample character shown in the first page of “Paladin” in the PHB is a Half-Orc. Actually, Half-Orcs make better Sorcadins than Paladins, since the “Relentless Endurance” emergency button is more important to someone with lower HP.

Goliaths are another race well-suited for Sorcadins. Apart from having the same stat bonuses as Half-Orcs, they can reduce the damage you take by 1d12+CON per short rest, which is basically the same thing as being able to heal your HP by 10-ish per short rest by just using a Reaction. That said, this “Stone’s Endurance” ability might compete with the Shield spell for your defensive reaction, so make sure to decide wisely - which to use, at what moment. Ending a short rest without using this ability will make you regret it.

^ Your average Goliath, activating Stone’s Endurance. ^
(Image by Ufotable)

Taking a look at the Sorcerer options, the Shadow Origin (aka the Emo Origin) gives you two ways to make yourself tankier. For one, Strength of the Grave is basically the same ability as Undead Fortitude, which in other words means it’s pretty damn neat (general rule of combat: when an ability the enemy uses is annoying for you, that probably means it’s strong). But what makes Emo Sorcerers really

Mary Sue

powerful is the Eyes of the Dark ability, which I feel is honestly too offhand in terms of Sorcery Points. Not only does it give you Darkvision, it’s basically the infamous Darkness + Devil’s Sight combo, except in a level 1 ability and with a cost that’s astonishingly lighter than a level 2 spell slot. Shadow Sorcerers will have to choose between Bless and Darkness (among many others) for their spell concentration, but if they choose Darkness and target their weapon, they will

have advantage on all their attacks, and also impose disadvantage on all attacks meant for them

. Together with the Shield spell, this thing is now unstoppable.

I’ve used Shadow Sorcerer Sorcadins several times, and one thing’s now certain: If a player wants to use Shadow Sorcerer in my games, I will make the cost of Eyes of the Dark 2 Sorcery Points, instead of 1. It’s obviously too much as it is.

Now, let’s move on to the Spells that boost your tankiness (besides Darkness).

Blur is a good option depending on the circ*mstances, bestowing disadvantage on all attacks aimed at you. The fact it’s a concentration spell is really tragic, because otherwise it would have been amazing beyond belief, but that’s how all strong 5e spells work...

...Hmm?

No, let me re-phrase that. That’s how almost all strong 5e spells work.

Take a look at

Mirror Image, or the “Misprint of 5e”, which for some reason or another does not require concentration (you can use it together with other strong spells!!). Casting it before combat is most ideal, but not all DMs permit that, and even if he did, you don’t really see every single combat coming beforehand. You should remember that it also serves as an emergency button when you’re getting low on HP.

See Also

A Party Of Six - CorvidaeCawsNoMore

Oh, and though this also requires concentration,

Greater Invisibility can be also used to gain an effect similar to Darkness + Devil’s Sight. You can also Twin it to make your party love you. Imagine what’d happen if both the Sorcadin [b]and[B] the Assassin are invisible... (Works even better with DEX builds, having Stealth, and GWM builds, which always want to have advantage on their attacks)

Finally, moving on to Feats. Heavy Armor Master is pretty nice an ability, but do be aware that ASIs and Feats are precious for Sorcadins, so you should think twice before taking it (unless it’s taken at level 1 using Variant Human).

And... I think that’s about it for now. Will update if I think up more, if other people suggest good ideas to add.

Neutral 2: Don’t they get Extra Attack late?
Yes, true, if you go Sorcerer for several levels before going Paladin 5, Sorcadins may get Extra Attack at a higher level. Or, builds going Paladin 2 or 3 never get Extra Attack unless they go Favored Soul. And without getting Extra Attack, the Sorcadin’s DPR will be lower than the average Pure Paladin. Right?

Well, the truth is that this is half-right and half-wrong.

I’m not going to say that Sorcadins can get constantly better DPR than a Pure Paladin. However, I am going to point out that the

Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade cantrips (SCAG) are wonderful additions to the Sorcadin’s arsenal, and most definitely make up enough for not having Extra Attack for several levels.

BUUMINGU BUREIDO!!! (Image Copyright Ufotable)

For instance, a STR 18 Paladin with Longsword (one hand) + Dueling + Extra Attack inflicts 2d8+12 damage per turn, dividing 1d8+6 among two targets. The average DPR is 21.

A STR 16, CHA 16 Sorcadin of level 5 or higher but no Extra Attack (with one-hand Longsword and no* Dueling) inflicts 2d8+3 damage to one target, and 1d8+3 damage to another target. These sum up to be 3d8+6, its average DPR being 19.5. The difference is only 1.5 points per round - even with a lower STR score (Sorcadins have less ASIs/Feats than pure builds due to the multiclassing), the Sorcadin can damage just as well as the Paladin.
*NOTE - if you add the damage from Dueling, GFB actually damages more than Extra Attack, but here I didn’t give the Sorcadin Dueling because it’s actually more optimal to give him Defense.

If there’s no two enemies standing next to each other, Booming Blade is just 2d8+3 damage (average 12), so yeah, true, the DPR of Sorcadins lags behind Pure Paladins. But it also makes this guy a nice sentinel (without even taking the Sentinel feat). Zapping the enemy with 2d8 extra damage is fun.

Speaking of Booming Blade, this particular cantrip and

War Caster make a glorious combination, making picking up Booming Blade a must for this build, even if you already have Extra Attack.

Remember how War Caster lets you attack someone with a cantrip when they leave melee range? The basic idea is that when somebody stupid turns his back on you, you attack him with Booming Blade to troll him, and also potentially kill him on the spot. At levels 5 to 10 this inflicts 2d8+STR damage with just that, but it doesn’t end there - since the enemy moved (that was the whole trigger of the opportunity attack anyway), the enemy takes an extra 2d8 thunder damage, for a total of

4d8+STRmod damage for just moving out of your reach. And it gets even upgraded at higher levels, to a maximum of 8d8. Oh god, look, just look at his face as he writhes in agony and falls dead crisping on the floor. Hilarious.

And if you really need to damage someone badly, we’ve already covered how Sorcadins excel at it using Divine Smite. We do that better than Pure Paladins anyway.

Finally, to make the damage of the SCAG cantrips better than Extra Attack, you can take the

Draconic Bloodline Sorcerous Origin and choose Fire (by RAW, Blue Dragons correspond to Lightning, and Booming Blade is Thunder, so the two don’t mesh together. I think this is really stupid and ridiculous, so I let Blue Dragons add damage to Thunder spells in my game, but not all DMs in the world are like that). From Sorcerer level 6 and higher, Elemental Affinity increases your Green-Flame Blade damage even more.

All in all, it can be concluded that “lagging behind in average DPR” isn’t that much of a problem for Sorcadins. Either you can catch up with Extra Attack’s damage (GFB), or while you do inflict less damage, you can shine much brighter in other ways to make up for it (BB).

Spoiler: Cons

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Now, as much as I hate to admit it, being a multiclass build, and an especially specialized one at that, the Sorcadin build does have its weak points. Since I don’t want to deceive people into thinking the Sorcadin has no weaknesses, let me explain them - and also give advice on how to solve those problems, or try to protect the Sorcadin by arguing it’s actually a weakness many classes share.

Con 1: Running Out of Resources

The Blond guy conveniently doesn’t run out of abilities. Sadly, you do. (Image by Ufotable)

Let’s take a look at the core abilities of the Sorcadin.

Paladin Abilities

Lay On Hands (Expended, Recharges on a Long Rest)
Divine Smite (Spell Slots Expended, Recharges on a Long Rest)
Spell Slots (Expended, Recharges on a Long Rest)
Aura of Protection (Always There)

Sorcerer Abilities

Font of Magic (Sorcery Points/Spell Slots Expended, Recharges on a Long Rest)
Metamagic (Sorcery Points Expended, Recharges on a Long Rest)
Spell Slots (Expended, Recharges on a Long Rest)

...And you realize a certain tendency...

"ARGGGHHHHHHH FUUUUUUUUUUU"
^ What you’re like after you’ve used up all your resources ^
(Image by Ufotable)

Yes, exactly. Almost all the abilities of the Sorcadin are expended every time you use them. And once they’re gone, you need to wait till a long rest to recover them. Doesn’t matter if a dragon comes pursuing you after what you thought will be the final fight for the day. Once everything is gone, you will need to fight without any resources!

The only ability you have left after you’ve used up everything is Aura of Protection. That, and either the SCAG Blade Cantrips or Extra Attack. EVERYONE HUDDLE AROUND ME!! I CAN’T DO ANYTHING ELSE TO HELP YOU GUYS!!

That said, it’s not like this is unique to the Sorcadin. Both pure Paladins and pure Sorcerers suffer from the exact same problem, as do many other classes. It’s just that the Sorcadin has a lot more options on how to spend these resources, which makes it even more of a perplexing problem in terms of resource management. Since there’s so many options, all of them being so strong and fascinating, it’s surprisingly easy to get mesmerized and use up too many resources, resulting in you having not enough left when you really need it.

How shall I use these spell slots? To smite, or to blast, or to heal, or to protect, or to buff, or to debuff? So many choices. And all of them so strong and fascinating (yes, I know, this is my second time saying this, but that’s because it’s all true and I want to emphasize greatly on it). Making the most out of a Sorcadin requires real-life WIS of the player.

The difficult part is that if you try to economize too much and end the day without using most of your abilities, that’s basically a waste of all your badass abilities.

Then, is the fact that you need to use your resources carefully a “weakness” of the Sorcadin?

No. No, it really isn’t.

First-off, combat-wise, the whole system of D&D is a resource-management game. It’s how D&D classes work in general. It’s not just Sorcadins - every class is like that, at least to some extent.

Second,

Sorcadins strictly have more resources than pure Paladins. Since most pure Paladins can live their adventuring day without dying from resource depletion, you probably wouldn’t have problems either.

Anyhow, what makes this multiclass a bit difficult to use for beginners is rather the fact that

Sorcadins don’t have a back-up option, or a way to restore their lost resources

. Classes like Battle Masters, Monks and Warlocks can easily recover mid-day, even after using too much resources, by taking a short rest - so even if you make a mistake, you can get back from the loss. While Sorcadins can convert Spell Slots into Sorcery Points, and vice versa, the truth is that Sorcadins use both of these resources quite a lot, so it’s sorta uncertain whether it properly works as a “back-up option”.

Before the session, you should probably

ask your DM “how many encounters to expect per day”. Some DMs might not answer (they obviously have the right to do that), but some DMs will, in which case you can set up your plans more wisely, using resources in the most effective ways possible at the just right moment. As a general rule, a small number of encounters means the Sorcadin shines better, though this applies for many, many classes indeed (ALL the casters, excluding Druid and Warlock, belong in here).

Con 2: Doesn’t Work at Low Levels

^ If you think you can do this sort of badass maneuver at low levels, you’re wrong. ^
(Image by Ufotable)

This is something that can be said for most complex Multiclass builds, but I suppose I’d still list it here in “Cons”.

From

Level 6 and higher, I think it’s safe to say that Sorcadins can work fine. Paladin 2/Sorcerer 4 does enough of what the build is supposed to do, though it’s admittedly of a smaller scale than originally intended.

With a

very limited amount of Sorcery Points and slots, you will frequently find yourself running out of resources (as already mentioned in Con 1). Using Quickened Spell will require a lot of thought at these low levels - “is this truly the right way to use it, when you can economize the Sorcery Point resources by just waiting another turn?”

So, it might be harder to capture the distinctive “almighty feel” that the Sorcadin is intended to give you.

My personal opinion is that most casters, regardless of Sorcadin or not, would have more of this “sense of superiority” at higher levels and be overall lackluster at low levels - but this is just my personal opinion (and Citan, who proofread this guide, has pointed that out. Thanks Citan!). However, the fact remains that at least in the Sorcadin’s case, you will be working much, much better at higher levels.

On the bright side, you

have a lot of upcoming goodies to look forward to.

On the duller side, if your campaigns are constantly low-level and the players reset their levels to 1 whenever a short campaign is finished,

you might never be able to bathe in the ultimate glory that high-level Sorcadins can feel.

But don’t worry. You can always just

bide your time and wait, starting Paladin, going all the way to level 6 or 7. And when the right time comes, suddenly scream “I DISCOVERED MY ANCESTOR WAS A DRAGON” or “I BECAME EMO WITH DARKNESS POWERS” and start multiclassing Sorcerer. That’s one way of doing it, and a smart one too, given how amazing the Paladin Auras are.

If you want to go with a Caster-heavy build, going Paladin 2 / Sorcerer X helps you a lot with this problem, since you’re not so many levels late in Caster progression.

Or, you could simply jump into a game that

starts at a higher level. If you see a campaign like “accepting players, starts at level 12”, that is the perfect timing to create a Sorcadin and shove your way into the player list.

Con 3: Lower Stats (Point-Buy only)

If only I had 2 more STR... (Image by Ufotable)

Since you get less chances to take ASI/Feat due to multiclassing, Sorcadins are prone to getting stats lower than their pure-class counterparts.

I’ll say it again: This applies to all multiclass builds. It is not unique to the Sorcadin. END OF THE STORY!!

...No, actually, it isn’t the end of the story. Sadly, but admittedly, this problem is more troublesome for Sorcadins than it is for, say, a Fighter/Rogue or a Sorcerer/Warlock.

This is for two reasons.

1. Sorcadins are MAD.

“MAD” is an abbreviation of “Multiple Ability score Dependent”, meaning that a character requires high scores in multiple stats to work as good as it should. In the Paladin’s case, STR, CON, and CHA are the stats used often, so you want all three to be pretty high... The problem being that it’s really difficult to boost up all of these, with so little chances to get the Ability Score Improvements. Even if you’re going to make a DEX build, you need 13 STR to multiclass in or out of Paladin (perhaps some really generous DMs might say yes to changing the multiclass requirement to 13 DEX, 13 CHA, but don’t count on it), so it gets even more MAD.

Now, keep in mind that there is some argument over exactly how MAD Sorcadins are. The

Hightened Spell Metamagic ability can make your spells devastating even with a low CHA, for instance, so you have a lot of options to get around this problem. However, my personal opinion is that to make the most out of Sorcadins you would probably want high numbers in all of your main three stats. Especially given how Aura of Protection is so amazing...

And well, even when you get a chance to take an ASI/Feat, your first (or even if not first, definitely your second) chance should be almost mandatorily used for...

2. Sorcadins need either War Caster or Resilient (CON) to work
...This.

First, for S&B Sorcadins (be it Longsword or Rapier), the War Caster Feat is beyond good. It is

amazing, and mandatory..

There are three reasons for a S&B build to take War Caster. The first is that it

improves your concentration. The second is the combination with Booming Blade (explained in “Neural 2”). And the third is that it allows you builds to use spells with Somatic components (this does not stand for Great Weapon Master builds though, which is one reason why GWM characters should choose Resilient over this).

For GWM builds, War Caster is not mandatory, but Resilient (CON) certainly is. You can already cast Somatic and Material spells from the start (the creators of this game have confirmed this ruling, and most DMs abide by them), so War Caster is not as attractive, and what’s more frightening is rather the stuff like the

drow with their poisoned crossbows, and other monsters that come target your CON for their dangerous abilities, especially those which bestow advantage on your attacks and severely debuff GWM builds (sure, you can take an action to use Lay on Hands and neutralize drow poison, but it does waste an action). While Resilient (CON) works on these, War Caster doesn’t. This is a very valid reason to take Resilient (CON) over War Caster.

These sorts of Feats that are mandatory for a particular build to work are called

Feat Taxes, and while strong if taken, will slow down your ASI progression, which winds you up with lower ability scores.

Be it Bless, or Darkness, or Hold Person, or Haste, without advantage on concentration, you can easily drop the save, resulting in you wasting not only an action, but also an invaluable spell slot. You never want to drop concentration.

Spoiler: Should you take BOTH War Caster and Resilient (CON)?

Show

My answer is, it’s a good option, but not necessarily the best option either. It’s better for 2/18 builds than it is for 6/14 builds.

The issue here is that, if you go Paladin 6 or higher,

Aura of Protection already boosts your concentration save, so together with your CON, by default you have a +6-ish bonus on your concentration saves (on top of advantage via War Caster). Even if you’re doing the DC 10 save with just War Caster and Aura and with no Resilient, the percentage of failing the save is already only about 4% (assuming you have 16 CON and 16 CHA), and even with a stat of 14 in either, about 6%.

Let’s see the possible merits of going both War Caster and Resilient (CON).

Even if you get higher damage at higher levels with just +6 and War Caster - for instance, 30 damage from the CR 13 Storm Giant’s Greatsword (DC 15) - you can keep concentration for about 80% of the time. Meanwhile, if you take 54 damage from the Storm Giant’s Lightning Strike ability (DC 27), Resilient (CON) could sorta help you at times (with a +6 and advantage, the percentage of success is obviously 0%, while for +11 and advantage, you can succeed about 44% of the time). Not like it comes up very often. (BTW, with a simple +11 and no advantage, your chances of succeeding are

25%.)

However, all the above is based on the assumption you have Aura of Protection. If you don’t, it will be a lot better option for you.

Whether you want proficiency in CON saves is up to you. If you want it, you should probably take Resilient. Technically, there are two other ways to get them, but neither are really recommended:

The first way is to

start first level Sorcerer. The second way is to start first level Fighter (you lag behind in Sorcadin levels, but get an extra fighting style, a self-healing option, and heavy armor proficiency). However, both do not get proficiency in WIS saves, so it’s a trade-off, and one that could potentially end up being fatal. A lot of nasty effects target WIS for their saves...

These sum up to the following conclusion:
“Sorcadins are MAD, and at the same time, they get less ASIs and Feats compared to pure-class builds, and also suffer from Feat Tax, namely either War Caster or Resilient (CON). This makes it rather difficult for them to get high ability scores, and thus they may not be able to make the most out of their abilities.”

Due to this, Sorcadins are one of the classes that work better with

stat-rolling than 27 point-buy.

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t work good in point-buy, of course. Sure, having 16 STR, you might not hit as accurately as a pure Paladin with 18 STR, but the difference pops up only 5% of the time. And sure, having 16 CHA, the saving throws for your spells might be easier than those of the pure Sorcerer with 18 CHA, but again, the difference pops up only 5% of the time. What does this mean?

The difference in Ability Scores isn’t as harmful as one may assume.

Also, if you’re going STR and you optimize your choice of Race, it’s not difficult at all to start with a score of 16 in all 3 important ability scores (STR, CON, and CHA) - the best you can hope for in point-buy - or at least get there with your next ASI (while also getting an 18 somewhere). Even if you go DEX, you can get something like DEX 16, CON 14, CHA 16 from level 1 using Half-Elf. Thus it can be said that the problem of being MAD is not as perplexing as it may seem.

Now, looking at all three “Cons” of the Sorcadin, we can say that while the Sorcadin cannot escape from the unavoidable weaknesses that all casters and multiclass builds in general must face, none of them are fatal or specifically unique to this build, and that they don’t really serve as reasons why you can say this build is a bad option at all.

Sorcadins

remain awesome.