How to Multiclass Your Paladin in D&D 5e

Paladins hit like trucks and can take punishment, but their spell progression crawls compared to full casters. Multiclassing opens doors to more spell slots, expanded utility, or doubled-down martial prowess. The real challenge is picking combinations that amplify what your paladin already does well instead of creating a character that’s mediocre at everything.

When you’re juggling multiple ability scores and damage types across classes, tracking rolls with a Dark Heart Dice Set keeps your multiclass calculations organized and honest.

This guide breaks down the mechanical realities of paladin multiclassing—what you gain, what you sacrifice, and which combinations actually deliver at the table.

Paladin Multiclass Prerequisites

Before you dip into another class, you need minimum ability scores in both your current class and your target class. For paladins, that means 13 Strength and 13 Charisma to multiclass out, plus meeting whatever the new class requires to multiclass in.

Common paladin multiclass targets require:

• Warlock: 13 Charisma (already covered)
• Sorcerer: 13 Charisma (already covered)
• Bard: 13 Charisma (already covered)
• Fighter: 13 Strength or Dexterity
• Ranger: 13 Dexterity and 13 Wisdom
• Cleric: 13 Wisdom

Notice that Charisma-based casters align perfectly with paladin stats. That’s not an accident—these combinations work because you’re already investing in the relevant ability scores.

What You Sacrifice When Multiclassing

Every level you take in another class delays your paladin progression. That matters more than many players realize.

Delaying 6th level paladin means waiting for Aura of Protection, arguably the class’s best feature. Your entire party adds your Charisma modifier to every saving throw within 10 feet. That’s massive. Taking two warlock levels before hitting paladin 6 means your party suffers two more levels without that protection.

Extra Attack comes at paladin 5. If you multiclass before that, you’re operating at half effectiveness in combat for longer than you should be. Don’t multiclass before 5th level unless you have a compelling reason.

Spell slot progression also takes a hit. Paladins are half-casters, meaning their spell slots grow slowly. Multiclassing into another half-caster (like ranger) doesn’t fix this—you add class levels together and consult the multiclass spell slot table, which still treats you as a half-caster. Multiclassing into a full caster like sorcerer or warlock gives you more slots, but you still can’t prepare higher-level paladin spells than your actual paladin level allows.

Best Paladin Multiclass Options

Paladin/Warlock (Hexadin)

This is the most popular paladin multiclass for good reason. Warlock gives you short-rest spell slots that recharge between fights, perfect for fueling Divine Smite without draining your long-rest resources.

Take two or three warlock levels. Two gets you Eldritch Invocations—Agonizing Blast turns Eldritch Blast into a reliable ranged option, something paladins desperately need. Three levels opens up Pact of the Blade, letting you use Charisma for weapon attacks instead of Strength. This frees up your Strength score entirely if you’re building Dexterity-focused or want to maximize Charisma.

The Hexblade patron is the obvious choice. Hexblade’s Curse adds your proficiency bonus to damage rolls against one target, and you crit on 19-20 against that target. More crits mean more opportunities to double your Divine Smite damage.

Go Paladin 6 or 7, then dip Warlock, then return to Paladin. You want Aura of Protection online before you start branching out.

Paladin/Sorcerer

Sorcerers give you more spell slots and metamagic, which opens up nova potential. Quickened Spell lets you cast a bonus action spell and still attack with your action. Subtle Spell lets you cast in silence or while bound.

The real synergy is spell slot conversion. Sorcerers can convert spell slots into sorcery points and back again. This gives you flexibility to create more slots for smiting when you need them.

Divine Soul sorcerer fits thematically and mechanically. You gain access to the cleric spell list, filling gaps in the paladin’s toolkit. Bless, Spiritual Weapon, and Aid all become options.

Take Paladin to 6 or 7, then go Sorcerer for the rest. Heavy multiclassing here works because both classes use Charisma and you’re gaining full caster spell slot progression.

Paladin/Bard

Bards bring skills, support spells, and full caster progression. You become a skill monkey with heavy armor and smites—an unusual combination that shores up the paladin’s out-of-combat weaknesses.

Swords or Valor bard makes the most sense. Swords gives you extra attack (redundant if you’re already Paladin 5) and Blade Flourishes that add damage and defensive options. Valor gives you Shield proficiency (already covered) and Combat Inspiration, letting allies add Bardic Inspiration to damage rolls.

The tradeoff is that you’re splitting your resources. Bardic Inspiration competes with spell slots for your limited actions, and you’re taking levels that don’t improve your paladin features. This works better in campaigns that emphasize social encounters and exploration.

Paladin/Fighter

Going deeper into martial prowess instead of magic is a valid choice. Fighter gives you Action Surge, Fighting Style, and faster Extra Attack progression.

The radiant damage you’re stacking with Paladin levels deserves dice that match the aesthetic—a Dawnblade Ceramic Dice Set captures that holy warrior energy perfectly.

Two fighter levels nets you Action Surge, which translates to four weapon attacks in one turn if you have Extra Attack. That’s four chances to crit and eight weapon dice if you blow all your spell slots on smites. Once per short rest, but devastating when it lands.

Champion fighter adds crit range improvement (19-20 at level 3). Combined with Improved Divine Smite at Paladin 11, you’re fishing for crits more often and dealing obscene damage when they land.

This multiclass sacrifices spell progression entirely. You’re leaning into the paladin’s martial identity and accepting that you’ll never get high-level spells. Works best if your party already has strong spellcasting.

Paladin/Cleric

Clerics offer full caster progression and divine-themed abilities that align with paladin flavor. You gain more spell slots, higher-level spells, and domain features.

War Domain gives you bonus action attacks three times per day, softening the blow of not having Extra Attack yet if you multiclass early (don’t do this). Forge Domain grants armor and weapon bonuses. Life Domain makes your Lay on Hands heal more effectively.

The problem is MAD (Multiple Ability Dependency). Paladins need Strength, Constitution, and Charisma. Clerics need Wisdom for their spell save DC. You’re either accepting a weak Wisdom or sacrificing other stats to pump it up. This multiclass works better if you’re starting at higher levels with more ability score points to distribute.

How to Build a Paladin Multiclass

Start with your paladin levels. Race matters less than ability score distribution. You need 13 Strength and 13 Charisma minimum, but aim higher—16 Strength or Dexterity for attacks, 14 or 16 Charisma for spell save DC and Aura of Protection.

Point buy spread for a hexadin: Strength 15 (+1 from half-elf), Dexterity 10, Constitution 14, Intelligence 8, Wisdom 10, Charisma 15 (+2 from half-elf). This gets you 16/14/16 in your core stats at level 1, and you can grab Polearm Master or Great Weapon Master at level 4.

Take Paladin to 5 or 6 before multiclassing. Extra Attack at 5 is non-negotiable. Aura of Protection at 6 is nearly non-negotiable. After that, branch out.

For warlock dips, stop at 2 or 3 levels. You want the slot recovery and invocations, not high-level warlock features. Return to paladin after your dip to continue progression toward Improved Divine Smite at 11.

For full caster multiclasses (sorcerer, bard, cleric), commit to at least 3-5 levels in the caster class. One level doesn’t give you enough to justify the delayed paladin progression. If you’re going caster, go hard enough to access 2nd or 3rd level spells.

Feats for Multiclass Paladins

Polearm Master pairs disgustingly well with hexadin builds. You make three attacks per turn (two with the polearm, one bonus action with the butt end), giving you three opportunities to smite. Enemies entering your reach trigger opportunity attacks, which you can also smite.

Great Weapon Master adds +10 damage per hit at the cost of -5 to attack. Hexblade’s Curse and Bless offset the penalty. You’re fishing for crits anyway, and GWM gives you bonus action attacks when you crit or drop an enemy to zero.

Resilient (Constitution) protects your concentration on spells like Bless or Haste. Paladins have proficiency in Wisdom saves (good against mind control) but not Constitution saves. Failed concentration checks waste your spell slots and actions.

War Caster gives advantage on concentration checks and lets you cast spells as opportunity attacks. Booming Blade opportunity attacks punish enemies for moving away from you. Not essential, but powerful if you’re going heavy on spellcasting.

Paladin Multiclassing in Play

Multiclass paladins thrive in short adventuring days with multiple short rests. Warlock slots come back on short rests, Action Surge recharges on short rests, and you’re conserving your long-rest paladin slots for critical moments.

In long adventuring days with one or no short rests, pure paladins keep up better. You don’t have the slot recovery that makes warlock dips shine, and you’re falling behind on core class features.

Your role at the table doesn’t change much—you’re still a front-line striker with support capabilities. Multiclassing enhances what you already do rather than transforming you into a different role. Hexadins hit harder. Sorcadins cast more. Bardins skill more. But you’re still wearing heavy armor and swinging weapons.

Plan your multiclass with your DM. Some tables don’t allow multiclassing, and some DMs restrict certain combinations (hexadin, specifically, draws bans because of its power). Know the rules before you build.

Most multiclass builds demand more dice rolls per turn, so a Bulk 10d10 Assorted Ceramic Dice Set ensures you’re never short when advantage, disadvantage, and bonus actions stack up.

Most of the multiclass combinations that work well at actual tables are the ones covered here—not the theorycrafted builds that sound good on paper. Your paladin multiclass only matters if it functions during play with your group. A focused paladin will always outperform a character built around conflicting mechanics.