My DM asked me to plot out my levels ahead and in the end I will be 8 levels Clearic (Death Domain) 12 Levels Paladin (Oath of Crown), assuming they live that long. 2 other players started arguing over mechanics with my character and the DM has yet to rule out of confusion. So please bear in mind how confused I must be. The argument specifically is over the Death Clerics Divine smite and the Improved Divine Strike of a Paladin. Anyone here familiar enough to explain any interaction (if there is any)?
To the best of your ability, what is the central point of debate?
The two being used simultaneously? The amount of damage done? The viability of playing the two classes together?
It is unclear exactly the advice you seek. Could you describe the point of contention and also the points of view of the two camps involved in the debate? Might help us to get a better grip on exactly what you are asking. Hope to be of help down the thread. Hope it works out for you. Let us know, go into greater detail, please.
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Thank you. ChrisW
Ones are righteous. And one day, we just might believe it.
There is no interaction. Both or neither can be used for any given weapon attack. By lvl 20 you would get two attacks per Attack Action (Paladin 5). All weapon attacks would get +1d8 radiant damage from Improved Divine Smite (Paladin 11). Once every turn you can add +1d8 necrotic damage from Divine Strike (Death Cleric 8) to a single successful hit. Additionally for every successful hit you may choose to sacrifice a spell slot (you are a 14th level multiclass caster) to add +2d8-5d8 radiant damage (+1d8 extra vs undead/fiend) using Divine Smite (Paladin 2). Similarly for a successful melee hit you could expend a Channel Divinity Touch of Death (twice per rest) to deal 5+16 necrotic damage which bypasses resistance (Death Cleric 2 & 6). A full power strike against a fiend at that level then could get up to +7d8 radiant and 21+1d8 necrotic bonus along with normal weapon damage. You could then make a second attack that turn at almost the same power level (assuming you have slots and Channel Divinity left) only the +1d8 necrotic could not be repeated.
@chriswalrath the debate was if I could use the Death Cleric Divine Smite with the auto bonus from the improved divine smite damage. @regentCorreon is seemingly in agreeable with one of the other players, although stacking more things on at once than that one suggested o.o assuming I understood his post. Which makes me think I just broke my character :( I just wanted something I thought was interesting Dx but that damage output sounds insane.
Oh sure, at level 20 you will have amassed quite a stock of combat damage boosts (reliant on using up finite resources). But who knows how long it will take you to get there, and what sort of stages of uselessness you will go through on the way. You will also never reach anything very impressive as a spellcaster, since you will know only lvl 3 paladin and lvl 4 cleric spells (despite having spell slots up to lvl 7). You'll also miss out on the God powers of both classes; Divine Intervention and the Paladin's avatar form. A quick examination also suggests that this character will be more than a bit specialised - lots of nova damage, nothing much in the way of protection, social, exploitation, etc. Should be fun to play as a deadly rigid enforcer of the eternal Kingdom of Mortality.
Ok! Thank you for the answers, I was worried it was broken being new to 5th. But yeah the character is a Follower of Wee Jas, so yeah the concept was a sort of enforcer of her laws.
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My DM asked me to plot out my levels ahead and in the end I will be 8 levels Clearic (Death Domain) 12 Levels Paladin (Oath of Crown), assuming they live that long. 2 other players started arguing over mechanics with my character and the DM has yet to rule out of confusion. So please bear in mind how confused I must be. The argument specifically is over the Death Clerics Divine smite and the Improved Divine Strike of a Paladin. Anyone here familiar enough to explain any interaction (if there is any)?
To the best of your ability, what is the central point of debate?
The two being used simultaneously?
The amount of damage done?
The viability of playing the two classes together?
It is unclear exactly the advice you seek. Could you describe the point of contention and also the points of view of the two camps involved in the debate? Might help us to get a better grip on exactly what you are asking. Hope to be of help down the thread. Hope it works out for you. Let us know, go into greater detail, please.
Thank you.
ChrisW
Ones are righteous. And one day, we just might believe it.
There is no interaction. Both or neither can be used for any given weapon attack. By lvl 20 you would get two attacks per Attack Action (Paladin 5). All weapon attacks would get +1d8 radiant damage from Improved Divine Smite (Paladin 11). Once every turn you can add +1d8 necrotic damage from Divine Strike (Death Cleric 8) to a single successful hit. Additionally for every successful hit you may choose to sacrifice a spell slot (you are a 14th level multiclass caster) to add +2d8-5d8 radiant damage (+1d8 extra vs undead/fiend) using Divine Smite (Paladin 2). Similarly for a successful melee hit you could expend a Channel Divinity Touch of Death (twice per rest) to deal 5+16 necrotic damage which bypasses resistance (Death Cleric 2 & 6). A full power strike against a fiend at that level then could get up to +7d8 radiant and 21+1d8 necrotic bonus along with normal weapon damage. You could then make a second attack that turn at almost the same power level (assuming you have slots and Channel Divinity left) only the +1d8 necrotic could not be repeated.
@chriswalrath the debate was if I could use the Death Cleric Divine Smite with the auto bonus from the improved divine smite damage. @regentCorreon is seemingly in agreeable with one of the other players, although stacking more things on at once than that one suggested o.o assuming I understood his post. Which makes me think I just broke my character :( I just wanted something I thought was interesting Dx but that damage output sounds insane.
Oh sure, at level 20 you will have amassed quite a stock of combat damage boosts (reliant on using up finite resources). But who knows how long it will take you to get there, and what sort of stages of uselessness you will go through on the way. You will also never reach anything very impressive as a spellcaster, since you will know only lvl 3 paladin and lvl 4 cleric spells (despite having spell slots up to lvl 7). You'll also miss out on the God powers of both classes; Divine Intervention and the Paladin's avatar form. A quick examination also suggests that this character will be more than a bit specialised - lots of nova damage, nothing much in the way of protection, social, exploitation, etc. Should be fun to play as a deadly rigid enforcer of the eternal Kingdom of Mortality.
The short answer: if you have two different abilities that trigger from the same event (such as hitting with a weapon attack), both abilities apply.
Ok! Thank you for the answers, I was worried it was broken being new to 5th. But yeah the character is a Follower of Wee Jas, so yeah the concept was a sort of enforcer of her laws.