I've been playing a Tiefling Cleric of War named Atonement. I recently began to use the Guiding Bolt spell and so far it's been devastatingly effective. Granted we've been fighting a legion of vampires who are vulnerable to Holy Damage but regardless I wanted to ask about your experience with the Spell. Feel free to add any interesting stories regarding the use of the spell!!
My poor halfling cleric has a tendency to roll horribly whenever she tries to use Guiding Bolt, but when it actually hits the spell has been very useful - especially the part where the next attack against a creature hit by it has advantage. The one time that I rolled a Nat20 on it (and then a bunch of 5s and 6s for the damage, cast at a higher level) will never fade from my memory, though. My cleric is knowledge domain and usually sticks to defense/healing, so it was hilarious watching her utterly destroy something for once.
Yeah, the fact that they're vulnerable to radiant damage is probably why its so effective. If your dm sent nonevil creatures against you guys it would be nowhere near as effective, going from avg of 24 dmg per turn down to 12.
I've found it to be nice, since it is one of the few ranged spells which can be cast at higher levels as a life domain cleric. It helps to still be in the fray while keeping myself available to heal my party members and not go face to face with danger.
I nat 20'd twice in a row on some rust monsters recently at level 3, and it was spectacular. I'm playing a UA Grave Cleric, and I had gone into this combat telling my party "we have to put them down quickly and cleanly, they shouldn't suffer" etc., annnndd then I rolled two nat 20s and one shot two rust monsters. :D
I remember my party members thinking this was a bit overpowered when I first used it, and I used it fairly regularly. I think the fact it's a ranged attack helps balance it a little, and you only add 1d6 for every extra level of casting so it loses its "wow" factor pretty rapidly - still, advantage on the next attack is always nice!
I have a War Cleric/Battle Master Fighter character and between the Guiding Bolt + Action Surge to attack + attacking as a bonus action in one turn paired with some maneuvers I have dealt some pretty serious injuries to some enemies. Paired with the right circumstances Guiding Bolt can be pretty damned useful (especially against annoying displacer beasts)
I find that I have a love hate relationship with this spell. It all comes down to your roll. If you hit it is freaking fantastic..but you have to hit. It also helps..if the person that rolls after you is not cursed by the dice gods. Nothing like actually hitting with it..and then the next person rolls a 1 for damage against that target.
With my War Cleric I found it useful up to a certain level, around 4-5 when other spells come online.
At lower levels when you really needed to hit and do some damage this spell in with channel divinity to add a +10 to hit roll and then 4-5 D6, then if its against vulnerable to radiant. I had a good roll against a couple non-undead and did 18-20 damage when I was level2.
Obviously this tails off as you have more useful spells or if need to heal etc but when you are up against it at lower levels and just need to hit or take down a enemy it can help alot.
My go to spell when a tough monster comes along. (My party is only at lvl 5 so it is perfect right now.) I can see it being less effective as time goes on.
I had wonderful results using Guiding Bolt as a War Cleric. Guided Strike, War Priest, and the UA feat Fell-handed all have very good synergy with Guiding Bolt.
Hitting with guided bolt as my action gave me advtange on my War Priest melee attack, which via the Fell-handed feat allowed me to knock prone creatures of any size if both rolls would have hit the creature. Since Guided Strike's +10 can be applied to any attack roll, I could with a high degree of certainty have GB land and then trigger Fell-Handed.
On boss encounter's this was extremely powerful, especially when I went right after the NPC.
I'd often burn a 5th level slot to cast Guilding Bolt (8d6), optioning using the +10 from Guided Strike depending on the roll. Then I'd burn a War Priest (again, optionally using +10 from Guided Strike) hitting for 1d8 warhammer + 2d8 divine strike +5 (+3 from str, +1 from Fell handed, +1 hammer) for an average total damage of 32 spell damage and 19.5 melee damage plus a prone monster for my party to wail on.
Know what's crazy? I have played 3 different Life Clerics. 2 is currently at level 3 (two different campaigns) and one is at level 5... I have never used Guiding Bolt. I think I may have to try this spell out soon!
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I've been playing a Tiefling Cleric of War named Atonement. I recently began to use the Guiding Bolt spell and so far it's been devastatingly effective. Granted we've been fighting a legion of vampires who are vulnerable to Holy Damage but regardless I wanted to ask about your experience with the Spell. Feel free to add any interesting stories regarding the use of the spell!!
My poor halfling cleric has a tendency to roll horribly whenever she tries to use Guiding Bolt, but when it actually hits the spell has been very useful - especially the part where the next attack against a creature hit by it has advantage. The one time that I rolled a Nat20 on it (and then a bunch of 5s and 6s for the damage, cast at a higher level) will never fade from my memory, though. My cleric is knowledge domain and usually sticks to defense/healing, so it was hilarious watching her utterly destroy something for once.
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D&D Beyond StaffYeah, the fact that they're vulnerable to radiant damage is probably why its so effective. If your dm sent nonevil creatures against you guys it would be nowhere near as effective, going from avg of 24 dmg per turn down to 12.
I've found it to be nice, since it is one of the few ranged spells which can be cast at higher levels as a life domain cleric. It helps to still be in the fray while keeping myself available to heal my party members and not go face to face with danger.
How do you want to do this?
I nat 20'd twice in a row on some rust monsters recently at level 3, and it was spectacular. I'm playing a UA Grave Cleric, and I had gone into this combat telling my party "we have to put them down quickly and cleanly, they shouldn't suffer" etc., annnndd then I rolled two nat 20s and one shot two rust monsters. :D
In conclusion, yes, I like Guiding Bolt. ;)
It's definitely worth using from time to time, but no more so than another damage-oriented spell like inflict wounds.
I remember my party members thinking this was a bit overpowered when I first used it, and I used it fairly regularly. I think the fact it's a ranged attack helps balance it a little, and you only add 1d6 for every extra level of casting so it loses its "wow" factor pretty rapidly - still, advantage on the next attack is always nice!
I have a War Cleric/Battle Master Fighter character and between the Guiding Bolt + Action Surge to attack + attacking as a bonus action in one turn paired with some maneuvers I have dealt some pretty serious injuries to some enemies. Paired with the right circumstances Guiding Bolt can be pretty damned useful (especially against annoying displacer beasts)
I find that I have a love hate relationship with this spell. It all comes down to your roll. If you hit it is freaking fantastic..but you have to hit. It also helps..if the person that rolls after you is not cursed by the dice gods. Nothing like actually hitting with it..and then the next person rolls a 1 for damage against that target.
With my War Cleric I found it useful up to a certain level, around 4-5 when other spells come online.
At lower levels when you really needed to hit and do some damage this spell in with channel divinity to add a +10 to hit roll and then 4-5 D6, then if its against vulnerable to radiant. I had a good roll against a couple non-undead and did 18-20 damage when I was level2.
Obviously this tails off as you have more useful spells or if need to heal etc but when you are up against it at lower levels and just need to hit or take down a enemy it can help alot.
My go to spell when a tough monster comes along. (My party is only at lvl 5 so it is perfect right now.) I can see it being less effective as time goes on.
I had wonderful results using Guiding Bolt as a War Cleric. Guided Strike, War Priest, and the UA feat Fell-handed all have very good synergy with Guiding Bolt.
Hitting with guided bolt as my action gave me advtange on my War Priest melee attack, which via the Fell-handed feat allowed me to knock prone creatures of any size if both rolls would have hit the creature. Since Guided Strike's +10 can be applied to any attack roll, I could with a high degree of certainty have GB land and then trigger Fell-Handed.
On boss encounter's this was extremely powerful, especially when I went right after the NPC.
I'd often burn a 5th level slot to cast Guilding Bolt (8d6), optioning using the +10 from Guided Strike depending on the roll. Then I'd burn a War Priest (again, optionally using +10 from Guided Strike) hitting for 1d8 warhammer + 2d8 divine strike +5 (+3 from str, +1 from Fell handed, +1 hammer) for an average total damage of 32 spell damage and 19.5 melee damage plus a prone monster for my party to wail on.
Guiding bolt's 4d6 averages to 14 damage. Chromatic orb's 3d8 averages to 13.5 damage. Guiding bolt is good.
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Know what's crazy? I have played 3 different Life Clerics. 2 is currently at level 3 (two different campaigns) and one is at level 5... I have never used Guiding Bolt. I think I may have to try this spell out soon!
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