My DM is being pretty cool about allowing crafting in his campaign so I decided to run an Artificer/Cleric multiclass whose passion is making things. Some relevant info:
end game plan is 3 Artificer / 17 Cleric; acting as a front line tank-support (and primary party healer)
currently, level 5; 3 Artificer / 2 Cleric; wears plate and shield (no weapon b/c spellcasting
stats: Wisdom-18 (16+2 racial) & Intelligence-16... everything else is mediocre/dump
saves: proficient in Con/Int
base AC-22 before spells (Blessing of the Forge + Enhanced Defense Infusion)
Right now I'm debating about leveling priorities; capping Artificer at 3 effectively loses an entire ASI to potentially unlock 9th lv spells (if the campaign makes it there).
The leading choices are:
Max Wisdom (cleric spell DC & another spell & wisdom saves)
Max Intelligence (cantrip/melee attack modifer & crafting checks)
Warcaster (melee caster AoO & advantage on Con saves)
I think Warcaster is a must, then all you need to do is paint your holy symbol on your shield and you have your spell focus. It will depend on if you DM gets hung up on that side of spell casting. Then jump in Warhammer flashing and healing the rouge every time he dies with a Bonus action.
Max Wisdom helps with your heals spell and Spiritual Weapon damage but Not Spiritual Guardian or most of your Cantrips. Which is your main Damage output. Warcaster or Resilient Con become more important for keeping you Concentration if you want to Tank lots of hits and keep concentration spells.
Magic Initiate Feat is great too, Booming Blade or Green flame blade. Also find Familiar you help with roleplay side so you are more than just and Tank who heals.
Several sessions in now... figured I'd provide an update.
In practice, my character never does a melee attack unless it's an AOO; I've been doing touch attacks or ranged spell attacks exclusively. That may change at higher levels when smite flavored spells unlock. Also, I haven't hit the next ASI yet, so that choice is still up in the air. Just to circle back on some of your suggestions:
no rogue in the party, but I agree on Healing Word and bonus actions
Resilient Con isn't quite as useful for the build because I started Artificer (already proficient in CON saves)
Find Familiar is less useful for this build because the Battle Smith Artificer comes with a [Tooltip Not Found]
Something that has become painfully clear though is that my DM will quickly have monsters ignore me for squishier folks very early in a fight. I was trying to find a way to punish that... but to no avail as of yet. It would be nice if warcaster + sentinel synergized better in that regard, but they don't. The current plan is to focus more on larger AOE debuffs/control spells rather than buffing my party to pull them back my way. Your suggestion about Booming Blade could also help address that problem.
Depending on the dm you might be able to modify the steel defender to act as a bear trap (aka hunting trap in the game) by modifying its jaws to be able to bite and lock in place afterward. Alternatively, you could simply find a way to weld/strap the trap/traps to the defender instead of modifying its jaws. Considering that you made the creature making a simple modification like that would make sense and it is not overpowered since it takes an action to open the trap/jaws every time you use it (making it less useful in combat considering booming blade is an option). However, You could set this up before combat and that would make it so you would have something that could be used at least once per combat to help detain something (you might be able to strap multiple different traps to it giving it a few more uses but that all depends on how much your dm lets you get away with). Oil might be an option too if you can somehow modify the defender to make oil spills on command but that might be problematic for your team members. The spirit guardians spell will slow the movement of anyone who is affected by it and will do damage to them on their turn every round as well but requires concentration. Perhaps you can put a rope on the dog that attaches to you and can be used to trip/tie up mobs. Do not be afraid to try thinking outside the box and see if the dm will allow it (most DMS encourage it). Warcaster is mainly only useful for the advantage and occasionally for the ability to cast spells as a reaction simply because you can grab 1 item off the floor as a free action once per round using the interacting with objects rule. So, you could drop your weapon (dropping something you are holding on the floor is always a free action and is not counted as the interacting with an object action) to use the hand to cast and pick it back up when you are done casting using the 1 free interact with object action leaving you your movement and any action or bonus action that you did not use casting spells. With that in mind there is no reason not to use a weapon even if you do not get war caster and perhaps even try to attach a cord to the weapon which also attaches to your wrist or belt on the other end (this way nothing can knock the weapon away while its on the floor). If the dm wants proof of that see the thread below which shows all the proof needed https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/rules-game-mechanics/6288-is-dropping-an-item-actionless
Hi!
My DM is being pretty cool about allowing crafting in his campaign so I decided to run an Artificer/Cleric multiclass whose passion is making things. Some relevant info:
Right now I'm debating about leveling priorities; capping Artificer at 3 effectively loses an entire ASI to potentially unlock 9th lv spells (if the campaign makes it there).
The leading choices are:
I'd love any feedback, thanks!
I think Warcaster is a must, then all you need to do is paint your holy symbol on your shield and you have your spell focus. It will depend on if you DM gets hung up on that side of spell casting. Then jump in Warhammer flashing and healing the rouge every time he dies with a Bonus action.
Max Wisdom helps with your heals spell and Spiritual Weapon damage but Not Spiritual Guardian or most of your Cantrips. Which is your main Damage output. Warcaster or Resilient Con become more important for keeping you Concentration if you want to Tank lots of hits and keep concentration spells.
Magic Initiate Feat is great too, Booming Blade or Green flame blade. Also find Familiar you help with roleplay side so you are more than just and Tank who heals.
Several sessions in now... figured I'd provide an update.
In practice, my character never does a melee attack unless it's an AOO; I've been doing touch attacks or ranged spell attacks exclusively. That may change at higher levels when smite flavored spells unlock. Also, I haven't hit the next ASI yet, so that choice is still up in the air. Just to circle back on some of your suggestions:
Something that has become painfully clear though is that my DM will quickly have monsters ignore me for squishier folks very early in a fight. I was trying to find a way to punish that... but to no avail as of yet. It would be nice if warcaster + sentinel synergized better in that regard, but they don't. The current plan is to focus more on larger AOE debuffs/control spells rather than buffing my party to pull them back my way. Your suggestion about Booming Blade could also help address that problem.
Thanks for the feedback.
If you're proficient with Con saves already, you can't take the Resilient feat for Con in the first place.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Depending on the dm you might be able to modify the steel defender to act as a bear trap (aka hunting trap in the game) by modifying its jaws to be able to bite and lock in place afterward. Alternatively, you could simply find a way to weld/strap the trap/traps to the defender instead of modifying its jaws. Considering that you made the creature making a simple modification like that would make sense and it is not overpowered since it takes an action to open the trap/jaws every time you use it (making it less useful in combat considering booming blade is an option). However, You could set this up before combat and that would make it so you would have something that could be used at least once per combat to help detain something (you might be able to strap multiple different traps to it giving it a few more uses but that all depends on how much your dm lets you get away with). Oil might be an option too if you can somehow modify the defender to make oil spills on command but that might be problematic for your team members. The spirit guardians spell will slow the movement of anyone who is affected by it and will do damage to them on their turn every round as well but requires concentration. Perhaps you can put a rope on the dog that attaches to you and can be used to trip/tie up mobs. Do not be afraid to try thinking outside the box and see if the dm will allow it (most DMS encourage it). Warcaster is mainly only useful for the advantage and occasionally for the ability to cast spells as a reaction simply because you can grab 1 item off the floor as a free action once per round using the interacting with objects rule. So, you could drop your weapon (dropping something you are holding on the floor is always a free action and is not counted as the interacting with an object action) to use the hand to cast and pick it back up when you are done casting using the 1 free interact with object action leaving you your movement and any action or bonus action that you did not use casting spells. With that in mind there is no reason not to use a weapon even if you do not get war caster and perhaps even try to attach a cord to the weapon which also attaches to your wrist or belt on the other end (this way nothing can knock the weapon away while its on the floor). If the dm wants proof of that see the thread below which shows all the proof needed https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/rules-game-mechanics/6288-is-dropping-an-item-actionless