So, I'm a really fan of a meele warlock and I want to give it a try with multi-classing for my first run. There are several ideas with other classes, but I guess with weapons/armory in mind Ranger would be my first pick an here is why:

1. Ranger get Light & Medium Armor Proficiency with Level 1. Moreover you also get Heavy Armor Proficiency when you choose Ranger Knight as favored enemy.
2. Ranger get Martial Weapon Proficiency, so you can choose between a lot of different weapons.
3. You could go Dual-Wielding later, this will need you to take Dual-Wielder Feat at Level 4.

When choosing one of the options of Natural Explorer I am not yet sure what to take, because this decision might depend very much on the played content and rest of your party.
- Beast Tamer - you can cast "Find Familiar" as a ritual - this could be useful for scouting or some smalladvantages in combat
- Urban Tracker - this could be useful if you don't have any other party member that can do this
- Resistance against Cold / Fire / Poison damage - this might be useful in a second run and/or trying tactical mode.

So my first thought was Beast Tamer for the familiar, even if the familiar will not scale with your level (not sure if it will level as multi-class), since you only need 1 Level as a Ranger for all the benefits above.
There is also the option to go for a resistance build, especially if you plan to go for the 3 levels for Ranger:
You choose a race which provides 1 resistance, then you choose a resistance from the Ranger class and use Blade Ward which you can get as a Cantrip from Warlock (or as a High Elf, High Half-Elf).

What Race to pick?
As far as I know all races will get +2 for your main ability and +1 for your second one.
(Not sure if there are other infos, if so, please share)

Just for info:
Warlock: saving throw proficiency for Charisma (Deception, Intimidation, Performance, Persuation) and Wisdom (Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Perception, Survival).
Ranger: saving throw proficiency for Strength (Athletics) and Dexterity (Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand, Stealth).
Weak Skills are based on Intelligence: Arcana, History, Investigation, Nature, Religion

So for content, you should take a race that could give some boni for the weak skills.
For combat it should be a race with Darkvision.
For a resistance build it should be a race that provides a resistance.
My prefered races currently are:
- Half-Orc (Mencaing=proficiency in Intimidation, Relentless Endurance=can't die at 0 HP, Savage Attacks=crit attacks provide extra dmg)
- Halfling (Lucky=1 rolls will be rerolled), not sure which subclass, maybe Strongheart for poison resistance
- Human (if there is still +1 each ability)


RANGER PART
Reasons to go higher in Ranger levels, up to level 3 for Gloom Stalker (or Hunter with Colossus Slayer/Horde Breaker)
on level 2:
- Class passive: Defence for +1 AC or Two-Weapon Fighting Style for dmg modifier to the dmg of the off-hand
- spells: Jump and Cure Wounds / Goodberry (early game only) / Speak with Animals (for content)
on level 3:
- Gloom Stalker features: Gloom Stalker Magic (Disguise Self) + Umbral Sight
There is no need to go for level 5 since you get your extra attack with Warlock level 5 and as far as I know they would not stack - correct me please if I am wrong here.

WARLOCK PART
For Warlock you want to go Warlock at least to level 5:

on level 1:
choosing your Patron
a) The Fiend - I played a lot of fiend warlock in other games and while the HP-bonus is nice early game, it does not really matter when you have heavy armor and other buffs to give your HP pool a higher value.
Yes, Fireballs are nice, but only if the conditions are right e.g. groups must stack / no fire resistance.
So my choice would be one of b) or c).
b) The Great Old One (GOO) - Mortal Reminder (When you land a Critical Hit against a creature, that creature and any nearby enemies are Frightened until the end of their next turn.)
A frightened creature can't move and has Disadvantage on Ability Checks and Attack Rolls.
As of patch 9 there's no Saving Throw to resist being frightened. (Source: Fextralife Wiki)
I don't have any informations what else you get with GOO in higher levels besides the Expanded Spell List (Level 1 Spells): Dissonant Whispers and Tasha’s Hideous Laughter.
c) The Archfey
Fey Presence: AE charm/frighten 1 per long rest
Warlock Level 6: Misty Escape: 1 escape button per long rest
Warlock Level 10: counter-charm - only useful if you stay at level 1 in Ranger
I like b) the most, because of the passive feature and the 2 extra spell options, so I will go GOO.

Cantrips: Eldrich Blast + Blade Ward or Chill Tough (the preventing of regaining HP can be huge)
Spells: Armour of Agathys (AoA) (here I need to know if it scales in BG3 or not) + Hex

on level 2:
Eldritch Invocation:
- Devil's Sight (24m see in (non)(magical) darkness)
- Repelling Blast (4.5m knockback)
Spell: Protection from Evil and Good

on level 3:
Choose Pact: Choose pact of the blade.
Spells:
Remove AoA if it does not scale, otherwise keep it. Take Darkness for Hex and replace Protection from Evil and Good for Misty Step. If you have kept AoA, you must choose between AoA and Protection from Evil and Good.
Your concecration spell is no longer Hex - it is now Darkness.
You cast Darkness around yourself and always have advantage against mobs in meele range.
Misty Step is an escape option or can be used to reach locations out of combat.
If you have chosen Repelling Blast on level 2 your positioning will matter a lot more, but you are able to get some twists in certain fights (escpacially in combination with Misty Step).
Why not Agonizing Blast (dmg +CH modifier) on level 2? Early game your meele attacks will do a lot more damage than a single EB. Moreover, you should have the fire sword from the ship.

on level 4:
Feat time!
You could choose Dual-Wielder, depending on your playstyle and loot at this point.
Another good choice is "Skilled" for content.
Other Feat options are: Mobile, Tough (boosting HP)
Not sure if those work, but Fextalife listed them for Warlocks
Martial Adept
Shield Master (just because you can, you know;),
Cantrip: Chill Touch, Mage Hand if no other party member has it
Spell: Mirror Image or Shatter

on level 5:
Eldritch Invocation: Thirsting Blade for extra attack
Spell: Counterspell
By the time you are Ranger 1 / Warlock 5 you shoul be able to get to Act II.
On Warlock Level 7 you can finally take Agonizing Blast when you shoot 2 EBs at a time.

Abilities: Yep, there are abilities. CH should be at least 16 to get +3 modifier. Also Wisdom should be at least +2 modifier. There should be an item ingame that sets your INT to 17, so maybe we risk it to chip some points from INT to the other abilities. Ideas?


I'd appreciate any feedback concerning the Ranger / Warlock project!