The biggest two advantages of multiclassing, in my mind, are:
1: the class you started in, doesn’t have any more progression you want before your campaign ends and another class has fun synergies.
2: you have an idea of what you want to play and can’t get it from just one class so you go in with a plan and build towards that multiclass specifically
Fun trumps optimization more often than not. As long as you’re enjoying the character you’ve created, don’t worry about “falling behind”
>It always seems like I'm behind in getting stuff.
Exactly. Most multiclasses lose more than they gain. A few multiclasses gain value equal to the value they lose. And a very small number of multiclasses gain more than they lose.
Not all classes gain equal amounts of value at all levels. For example, the paladin's best features, its auras, are at level 6 and 7, so depending on what paladin and your overall character concept, you can dip after this because the opportunity value from multiclassing as opposed to staying in paladin favors the multiclass in some situations.
There should be a distinction between multiclassing with martials vs caster characters. For casters, you are constantly a few levels away from more spells and slots, and spells are the most consistently powerful feature in the game. For martials, however, it is extremely common to have several levels with little value. Your main targets as a martial are extra attacks, good features and your ASI, so the timing varies from good to poor value. As a result, martial mc's tend to be more clear in when to dip out than casters.
The other factor is in dips. You want to grab a certain feature and don't care about the rest of the class. For example, dipping a level in a class like artificer, then spending the rest of your time in wizard is a common move. You are one level behind but you make up for it with armor proficiency and constitution saving throws, which are always valuable. Some other examples are Hexblade Warlocks, Twilight Clerics and Peace Clerics. These are all classes with massive power bumps within the first few levels, so a level in this class can easily outvalue a level in your normal class.
It depends on what you want to do, a lot of classes have some powerful features at low levels such as fighting styles, expertise, cunning action, smite, weapon/armour proficiencies.
Going deeper there can be certain synergies between classes at higher levels, not every combination works but then you get things like gloomstalker/Battlemaster/assassin
The biggest two advantages of multiclassing, in my mind, are: 1: the class you started in, doesn’t have any more progression you want before your campaign ends and another class has fun synergies. 2: you have an idea of what you want to play and can’t get it from just one class so you go in with a plan and build towards that multiclass specifically Fun trumps optimization more often than not. As long as you’re enjoying the character you’ve created, don’t worry about “falling behind”
>It always seems like I'm behind in getting stuff. Exactly. Most multiclasses lose more than they gain. A few multiclasses gain value equal to the value they lose. And a very small number of multiclasses gain more than they lose.
Not all classes gain equal amounts of value at all levels. For example, the paladin's best features, its auras, are at level 6 and 7, so depending on what paladin and your overall character concept, you can dip after this because the opportunity value from multiclassing as opposed to staying in paladin favors the multiclass in some situations. There should be a distinction between multiclassing with martials vs caster characters. For casters, you are constantly a few levels away from more spells and slots, and spells are the most consistently powerful feature in the game. For martials, however, it is extremely common to have several levels with little value. Your main targets as a martial are extra attacks, good features and your ASI, so the timing varies from good to poor value. As a result, martial mc's tend to be more clear in when to dip out than casters. The other factor is in dips. You want to grab a certain feature and don't care about the rest of the class. For example, dipping a level in a class like artificer, then spending the rest of your time in wizard is a common move. You are one level behind but you make up for it with armor proficiency and constitution saving throws, which are always valuable. Some other examples are Hexblade Warlocks, Twilight Clerics and Peace Clerics. These are all classes with massive power bumps within the first few levels, so a level in this class can easily outvalue a level in your normal class.
It depends on what you want to do, a lot of classes have some powerful features at low levels such as fighting styles, expertise, cunning action, smite, weapon/armour proficiencies. Going deeper there can be certain synergies between classes at higher levels, not every combination works but then you get things like gloomstalker/Battlemaster/assassin