Multiclass Spellcaster: Do the involved classes share the same pool of spell slots?

Question

Introduction

The eldritch knight fighter (EK) in my game is contemplating whether to dip into wizard (Wiz) for more magical versatility in combat.

Spell Slots

The multiclassing spellcasting rules (PHB p.164/165) say:

You determine your available spell slots by adding together all your levels in the bard, cleric, druid, sorcerer, and wizard classes, half your levels (rounded down) in the paladin and ranger classes, and a third of your fighter or rogue levels (rounded down) if you have the Eldritch Knight or the Arcane Trickster archetypes. Use this total to determine your spell slots by consulting the Multiclass Spellcaster table.

So a EK6/Wiz5 would add up to a 7th level spellcaster (6/3 + 5). A snippet of the mentioned table shows:

\begin{array}{l} \text{level} & \text{1st} & \text{2nd} & \text{3rd} & \text{4th} & \text{5th} & \text{6th} & \text{7th} & \text{8th} & \text{9th} \\ \hline 1 & 2 & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - \\ 2 & 3 & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - \\ 3 & 4 & 2 & - & - & - & - & - & - & - \\ 4 & 4 & 3 & - & - & - & - & - & - & - \\ 5 & 4 & 3 & 2 & - & - & - & - & - & - \\ 6 & 4 & 3 & 3 & - & - & - & - & - & - \\ 7 & 4 & 3 & 3 & 1 & - & - & - & - & - \end{array}

The table implies that the EK spell slots and the Wiz spell slots are simply one and the same pool of spell slots, but I didn't find an explicit mention of this. Or is this table only for the added class through multiclassing? We’re both unsure of how to interpret this when it comes to expanding spell slots.

Question

Multiclass Spellcaster: do the classes have a shared pool of spell slots? If so, does it matter which class’ spells are cast when expending spell slots?

Our confusion comes from our inexperience with 5e and multiclassing - let alone spellcasters. Are we missing something, or are we just overthinking it?

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Related (but without clear answer to this question):

• How do paladin and ranger class levels add up for multiclass spellcasting?
• Can a multiclass Wizard/Fighter (Eldritch Knight) add EK known spells to the wizard spellbook?

Answer 1

You only have one pool of slots

You cast whatever spells you can cast, in whatever manner you cast them. They use slots, which are a generic resource independent of your specific spellcasting class. There aren't 'Wizard' or 'Cleric' slots, for example - just 'spell slots'. So your PC might cast only Eldritch Knight spells with all their slots or only Wizard spells with all their slots or some combination of both.

So, yes, you should ignore the class tables and just look at the table for multiclass spellcasters.

Answer 2

Yes, there is a shared pool between EK and Wizard

Yes, you should ignore the original spell slots altogether

In general, I think you are overthinking this. Once you multiclass into multiple classes with spell slots (Warlock is an exception), you ignore the original spell slot tables. Just reference the multiclass spell slots per level table. That will show you how many slots you have.

Spells known are still gained normally. For each level you take you get the spells known as described by that class.

Any of the slots you have can be used for any of the spells you know and have prepared. (Provided they are the correct spell level of course)

Firebolt is a cantrip and cannot be cast using spell slots. (You can cast as many cantrips as you want per day, time allowing.)

That said, a spell you know from your first level of EK can be cast using one of the slots you get from your new 'multiclass' spell slots.

Your hypothetical 6EK/5Wiz could cast the magic missile they learned at first level using their one fourth level spell slot. It would generate 6 darts instead of 3 because of the higher spell slot used.

Answer 3

This thread is probably abandoned, but specifically with third casters multiclassing into the class they are taking their spell list from (which I know is very specific) I think it is fine to ignore this rule for up to five levels in the full-caster class. This rule is meant to prevent full and half casters from gaining a lot of power by multiclassing into casters who draw from different spell lists than them. A EK 15 Wiz 5 is essentially an Arcane Paladin and imo one of the coolest characters not currently possible in 5e. This is a pretty specific homebrew though, so I acknowledge it would create balance issues if implemented in the game in general.