My party also has a Fighter (tank), a Sorcerer, a Monk and a Rogue.
*Things to take in account: My DM already lets me use spells wielding shield and weapon. He also let me have booming blade as a cantrip.
Should I grab Warcaster or Resilient(con) and why?
EDIT: More important information> We are running Curse of Strahd campaign and the DM said our "endgame level" would be around level 10. EDIT2: Another sugestion would be going for +2Wis at lvl4 .
Warcaster is, in my opinion, a better first choice.
The situation you will find yourself making CON saves the most will be if you have a concentration spell active and go in the middle of the fray (as it seems your character might enjoy doing), and having advantage over a fixed bonus is preferable, at least at lower levels. On top of that, you would also be able to use your Booming Blade whenever you are granted an opportunity attack, which is quite the treat being able to deal weapon damage AND 1d8 thunder damage (they would likely continue moving after your attack, so the 1d8 damage is basically granted).
You can always take Resilien (CON) at 4th level, just to further improve your concentration checks, but the first one should be Warcaster (the fact that your DM already allows you to cast with your hands otherwise occupied is inconsequential in this case, imho).
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Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
*Things to take in account: My DM already lets me use spells wielding shield and weapon. He also let me have booming blade as a cantrip.
That reduces the significance of War Caster... significantly.
Should I grab Warcaster or Resilient(con) and why?
Even before the substantial nerf to War Caster your DM is using, I would've said Resilient. War Caster is a great feat (when it's used in a RAW game), don't get me wrong, but it's not even a close comparison to Resilient in terms of pure mechanical benefit to you. There are charts and analyses I could link but I'm too tired to go find them. Suffice to say, that the Concentration check is a relatively minor consideration given the low DC, whereas Constitution is one of the most targeted saving throws, and the consequences of a failed Con save are generally far more dire than those of a Dexterity save.
...and having advantage over a fixed bonus is preferable, at least at lower levels.
No it's not. The benefit of Advantage relies heavily on several variables, one of those being the bonus to the roll, and the other being the target DC. Advantage is mostly wasted on Concentration checks due to the low DC. The character has to take more 22+ points of damage before the DC gets raised by 1 or more points. At that point, they're far better off with more hit points than advantage to maintain a spell. And since having Con proficiency and a higher Constitution bonus also work to make the Concentration check an almost non-factor, it's by far the superior choice, at any level.
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"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
...and having advantage over a fixed bonus is preferable, at least at lower levels.
No it's not. The benefit of Advantage relies heavily on several variables, one of those being the bonus to the roll, and the other being the target DC. Advantage is mostly wasted on Concentration checks due to the low DC. The character has to take more 22+ points of damage before the DC gets raised by 1 or more points. At that point, they're far better off with more hit points than advantage to maintain a spell. And since having Con proficiency and a higher Constitution bonus also work to make the Concentration check an almost non-factor, it's by far the superior choice, at any level.
I see your point. My reasoning was that if you roll a 1, unless you have a really high bonus to begin with (and +4 is not really such a high bonus), you still fail while with advantage the chances of rolling two extremely low results is quite more unlikely. Don't get me wrong, I do agree that more HP is nice, but if you noticed I suggested to take Resilient at 4th level. 1 more HP at level 1 and 4 HP at level 4 do not really change much, imho. And in any case the increase would be retroactive, so he would get those 4 HP anyway at 4th level when taking the Resilient feat.
If the campaign plan is to go against creatures with a lot of CON save abilities, the whole thing changes drastically, obviously, and Resilient indeed becomes the better initial choice.
Don't get me wrong, I do agree that more HP is nice, but if you noticed I suggested to take Resilient at 4th level.
OP is asking about what they should take for their 4th-level feat...
If the campaign plan is to go against creatures with a lot of CON save abilities, the whole thing changes drastically, obviously, and Resilient indeed becomes the better initial choice.
Con is the most targeted saving throw when you combine monster and spell attacks. So assuming a random distribution from all monster sources (actually, I haven't incorporated Mordy's yet so it might change), then odds are Con is going to be targeted plenty.
I'm in the Warcaster camp. In most situations, advantage equates to (very roughly) a +4 bonus, which at 4th level is a little better than your proficiency modifier. You can then pick up Resilient (Con) at 8th level, when your Proficiency is higher.
Plus, Warcaster with Booming Blade gives you pseudo-sentinel abilities. As a tempest cleric, a lot of things won't want to be next to you, and you're going to deal far more damage with an OA Booming Blade than with whatever melee weapon you wield.
That being said, Resilient isn't the wrong choice. They're really quite close to each other in value.
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Another medical problem. Indefinite hiatus. Sorry, all.
I'm in the Warcaster camp. In most situations, advantage equates to (very roughly) a +4 bonus, which at 4th level is a little better than your proficiency modifier.
That's simply not true. Across levels and DC's, it's actually closer to +2, and even then, that's not a reliable median, because it differs when comparing attacks versus saves versus ability checks. Again, their are two significant variables in calculating the benefit of advantage: the target DC and the bonus to the roll. With the low DC on Concentration checks, advantage is almost negligible because even without any modifiers, you've already got a 55% chance of succeeding on it. With this character's Con increase from 13 to 14 with Resilient, and a +2 proficiency, that then becomes a 75% chance of success. It's roughly 85% with advantage and a +1 Con, but that then is neglecting the 200 monsters (plus the ones in Mordy's) and 45 spells that target Con saves.
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"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
I'm in the Warcaster camp. In most situations, advantage equates to (very roughly) a +4 bonus, which at 4th level is a little better than your proficiency modifier.
That's simply not true. Across levels and DC's, it's actually closer to +2, and even then, that's not a reliable median, because it differs when comparing attacks versus saves versus ability checks. Again, their are two significant variables in calculating the benefit of advantage: the target DC and the bonus to the roll. With the low DC on Concentration checks, advantage is almost negligible because even without any modifiers, you've already got a 55% chance of succeeding on it. With this character's Con increase from 13 to 14 with Resilient, and a +2 proficiency, that then becomes a 75% chance of success. It's roughly 85% with advantage and a +1 Con, but that then is neglecting the 200 monsters (plus the ones in Mordy's) and 45 spells that target Con saves.
You know, without getting into the nitty gritty of how the math works out, I'm gonna concede the point. Primarily, I missed that he was at an Odd Constitution Score. That's enough to tip it back the other way.
That being said, I still maintain that Warcaster+BB is fun, but its not optimal in this example.
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Another medical problem. Indefinite hiatus. Sorry, all.
EDIT2: Another sugestion would be going for +2Wis at lvl4 .
Warcaster is, in my opinion, a better first choice.
The situation you will find yourself making CON saves the most will be if you have a concentration spell active and go in the middle of the fray (as it seems your character might enjoy doing), and having advantage over a fixed bonus is preferable, at least at lower levels.
On top of that, you would also be able to use your Booming Blade whenever you are granted an opportunity attack, which is quite the treat being able to deal weapon damage AND 1d8 thunder damage (they would likely continue moving after your attack, so the 1d8 damage is basically granted).
You can always take Resilien (CON) at 4th level, just to further improve your concentration checks, but the first one should be Warcaster (the fact that your DM already allows you to cast with your hands otherwise occupied is inconsequential in this case, imho).
Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
― Oscar Wilde.
Don't get me wrong, I do agree that more HP is nice, but if you noticed I suggested to take Resilient at 4th level. 1 more HP at level 1 and 4 HP at level 4 do not really change much, imho. And in any case the increase would be retroactive, so he would get those 4 HP anyway at 4th level when taking the Resilient feat.
Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/rkGnrFAQ
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
― Oscar Wilde.
Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
There are two things I forgot to say: We are running Curse of Strahd campaign and the DM said our "endgame level" would be around level 10.
Another sugestion would be going for +2Wis at lvl4 .
I'm in the Warcaster camp. In most situations, advantage equates to (very roughly) a +4 bonus, which at 4th level is a little better than your proficiency modifier. You can then pick up Resilient (Con) at 8th level, when your Proficiency is higher.
Plus, Warcaster with Booming Blade gives you pseudo-sentinel abilities. As a tempest cleric, a lot of things won't want to be next to you, and you're going to deal far more damage with an OA Booming Blade than with whatever melee weapon you wield.
That being said, Resilient isn't the wrong choice. They're really quite close to each other in value.
Another medical problem. Indefinite hiatus. Sorry, all.
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
― Oscar Wilde.
That being said, I still maintain that Warcaster+BB is fun, but its not optimal in this example.
Another medical problem. Indefinite hiatus. Sorry, all.
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
― Oscar Wilde.