Currently playing a cleric in a west marches type campaign, currently level 2 (order domain) and I wanted to multi class into ranger or bard, I wanted to ask what the best subclasses and level distributions would be if I wanted to do this?
#Ranger/Bard with Cleric Multiclass?
rancid dagger
eternal forum
Are you multiclassing strictly for character purposes or do you want to multiclass to make your character more powerful?
rancid dagger
Well I’m multiclassing because I wanna play one of those classes aswell, id just like to choose a good option. Character wise it would make more sense for them to be a bard though
eternal forum
Multiclassing means sacrifice. You're better off creating another character of that class instead of slapping on levels of another class without forethought
Higher level features are borderline necessary (except for a few specific circumstances) to play at those higher levels. That's how the game was intended.
If you multiclass you really have to consider whether or not you can afford to dump those levels on an unrelated class, starting from level 1 again.
And while spell slots do progress at the same rate, if you pick 2 'full casters', your spell selection does not. You would still be stuck on level 1 spells, even if you went bard. This also means that further down the line you're getting those big level 3 spells later, and you're not a class that can easily compensate Playing early Tier 2 without those
That said
If you decide you want to do it anyway, first you need to check if you even qualify for these classes. Ranger - 13 wis and 13 dex minimum. Bard - 13 cha minimum.
If you do, then which one is better, or viable at all, depends on your stat distribuition. These two classes are not really good for dipping only one or two levels.
Ranger will be much harder to make work. A lot of its features rely on and support making weapon attacks. As an Order Cleric you might have 15 strength or above, so that's a start, but I wouldn't really advise going that route.
Bards viability quite depends on how high your cha is. There are spells that ignore ability scores here, but you won't get far with this.
The specifics really depend on your stat distribution and what you actually want to achieve. Do you want to fit one of those classes identity? Do you want a fusion of Cleric and that class? If so, how do you see playing it?
rancid dagger
I have 15 dex 15 wis 15 cha. I’d like a fusion of cleric and the class, but a bit more lenience on the not-cleric class
eternal forum
Thing is
You can't have your cake and eat it too. The playstyle of a cleric and ranger are inherently different, bard less so, but your progression is gonna be slowed.
If you wanted something cleric-like and bard you could start a new char a level of Divine Soul Sorcerer (they get cleric spells) and go the rest into bard. That way you don't need to spread your stats so thin.
They way your character is set up now (I'm assuming point buy) is not the greatest, to say the least
If you're allowed to respec I can help you with that, but as is stands, it's gonna be a bit difficult to do anything good here until wayy later levels and as westmarches go, you're probably gonna need to spend at least a couple months playing with something weak to get anywhere close to a decent character if you wish to multiclass right now.
Unless you're a dwarf I'm quite at a loss here without looking at the actual build you already have.
If you wanna discuss in VC I could try and help you build for what you want exactly. I'm free rn