I really enjoy magic and playing full spell casters. I also enjoy being in the thick of combat instead of hiding around the edges, as many casters do. Now with Xanathar's out, I am looking for some ideas on class combinations or builds that might allow a combination of the above play styles – a spell focused character who likes to get in close? What I'm not looking for is a gish or a melee combatant that uses some kind of weapon.
For example, I was thinking about a wizard (maybe an Abjurer) with a dip into fighter for heavy armor and shield. Perhaps a feat in Heavy Armor Master or Combat Caster. But I'm open to any suggestions? What spells are particularly useful when you're in close? What advantages, if any, might a caster get when in close? What are builds or tactics to help make a caster more survivable in close?
I'm currently trying to figure out a build using point buy to play up to about level 12.
Many thanks for the help and ideas. If there is a better place to post this, please let me know.
Recently in my campaign we failed to stop the summoning of a demon lord and had to 'recruit' high level characters to fight him for us (we were only level 5.) It was a fun way for the group and DM to playtest some newer classes and monsters. I went with Xanathar's Warmage, and boy was that a blast. I went toe to toe with this demon lords second in command, steadily increasing my armor class with the warmage features (plus 2 if you're concentrating on a spell! And can't forget shield.) All while casting save spells. If you want to be in melee, I highly suggest playing a war wizard and either spending a spell slot for mage armor and have a high dex or get armor from another class dip (or even start as another class such as warrior to get heavy armor off the bat. Or be a dwarf. They get this stuff free as a race feature.) Then your spells should be baised around controlling the battlefield. Less spell attacks and more saving throws, that way you avoid the disadvantage of range attacks in melee. And of course get war mage. You're gonna want that advantage on concentration checks.
Anything should be good, just make sure to give yourself one square (5 ft) away from an opponent, they should not be able to attack you like that unless, maybe they have reach. My Wizard is usually up in the action, unless things start going bad. I have to kite him out to see around other characters though, then close the gap.
How about a cleric? Tempest is particularly good, as is War. Death, Forge, Light, and possibly Nature also work well. Inflict wounds is your friend for most such builds.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
I believe 5th Ed gives the most options for being a Combat Caster. I agree with Matthias. Cleric's have been the combat caster since 3rd Ed: heavy armor, good weapons, full casters. I believe in this edition it's much much more about a few decisions in attributes. The first is to ask "What makes someone viable in combat?" Once we answer that question we can move forward clearly. Most people would say HP and AC, which I can't argue with!
How do you get AC? By race: Lizardfold (+2 Con, +1 Wis) great for Divine Casters plus they start with 13+Dex(+Shield) AC. Dragonborn anything with the Dragon Hide feat (gives 13+Dex(+Shield) AC.). Any race that gives you a Dex bonus. Keep in mind IF you have Armor Proficiency then you need no Dex for Heavy, a +2 for Medium, and as much Dex as you can get for Light. Mountain Dwarf gets Light and Medium Armor Proficiency
By class: Caster with no armor: Wizard, Sorcerer Caster Classes with Light Armor: Bard, Warlock, Bladesinger Caster Classes with Medium Armor: Druid (metal is an issue), All Clerics, Bard (select schools), Hexblade Warlock, Caster Classes with Heavy Armor: Cleric (a few Domains) Caster Classes with Natural Armor: Dragon Sorcerer, Armor of Shadows Innvocation for Warlock, Any Sorcerer who memorized Mage Armor and has the Extended Spell metamagic. This costs 1 spell a day and 1 sorcery point for 16 hours of good AC. Caster Classes with Shields: Cleric, Druid, Bard (select schools), Hexblade Warlock, Bard (select schools) Weirdly enough War Mage, doesn't give armor proficiency or shield.
By feat: Medium Armor Proficiency gives Medium Armor and Shields, but you need Light Armor Proficiency 1st. (giving Shields makes it an almost decent buy) Crossbow Expert. Makes your ranged spells equally good in melee. Not a great guy for 1 ability, but it's there.
How to get good HP: By Class: not play a Wizard or Sorcerer (exclusion is Dragon Sorcerer which gets +1 hp/lvl). They only have d6 HP. By Race: Hill Dwarf gets +1 hp/lvl By Feat: Tough (I think it's a bad feat personally, but it exists) A Dragon Blooded Hill Dwarf with the Tough feat would have 7+Con Mod per level. That's probably more then the Fighter has!
Gaining Temporary HP or Ablative. This is where Casters can really pull ahead. They have a lot of ways to gain Temporary HP or Ablative HP. Arcane Ward for an Abjuration Wizard is ablative HP. It's layered ontop, doesn't cause Concentration checks, but doesn't gain the benefits of Resistance. I don't know any other sources of Ablative HP, but I'm sure they exist.
Temporary HP is extra HP. Race: I don't know a single race that has this.
Class: Celestial Warlock at 10th lvl gets Temp HP. Any Warlock with Fiendish Vigor can cast False Life at will for 1d4+4 Temp HP.
Feat: Inspiring Leader gives Temp HP to 6 creatures every Short/Long Rest.
Spells: There are a lot of spells that do this. Look up Necromancy. Most only last an Hour though, so they only have utility when you KNOW you're entering combat.
Making Enemies regret attacking you: This is an umbrella section. Any Race like Tiefling that gets Hellish Rebuke or Class like Tempest that has an ability to deal damage when the enemy attacks you in melee. This makes you LESS of a target, because every time they attack you they take automagic damage. It's a really good deterrent.
With a Multiclass I'm a fan of taking a Caster class with Shield proficiency. Then have an open hand for casting and a shield for defense. Shocking Grasp is a pretty good melee spell and they lose their ReAction so you can move out of melee freely! Otherwise if your open hand and melee weapon there are quite a few options like Booming Blade, Green Flame Blade, and Shilelagh for melee combat spells. Also any spell that is Save Or works in melee. That said, I personally think Save Or spells are less good then attack spells in a lot of situations, but that's a personal opinion. IE: Having Advantage doesn't help you, it's VERY hard to give DisAdvantange on them, etc... This post is WAY to long already and I've made those comments in other posts.
Side note on Warcaster: Only important if you plan on using Concentration spells as part of your build OR have both hands already used (ie: duel wielding or weapon and shield)
Concentration is a really big incentive not to take damage so you have to find a compelling reason to deliberately put yourself in harm's way. Most of those reasons are going to be situational, so I'd start getting comfortable with the idea of not being in the front lines full time.
Look for situations where the party would really benefit from spells like Shocking Grasp, Earth Tremor, Thunderwave, Warding Wind, Spirit Guardians, or Vampiric Touch. You'll want class features or spells you can use to defend yourself in a pinch, like Shield, the abjurer's Arcane Ward, War Magic's Arcane Deflection, Bladesinging, Light Cleric's Warding Flare, Warlock's Eldritch Sight or Shadow Sorcery's Eyes of the Dark combined with Darkness. Even when it makes sense to get in close range, you still want to avoid losing concentration as much as possible. War Caster or the Resilient Feat (taking Constitution saves) is highly recommended.
If you don't plan on using melee weapons, make sure you have at least one cantrip that isn't a ranged attack. Shocking Grasp is a great choice for arcane classes, since you can move away without provoking if you hit.
I don't think the AC and HP gained from multi-classing are worth the delay of getting higher-level spells, and I don't think playing a cleric can cover quite the same feel of the "Eat my spells!" style character as a wizard can.
For me, it mostly comes down to choosing spells that fit what is desired - with everything else, even subclass, being a matter of preference.
Sorted by level, spells that I'd recommend for this sort of character are:
InquisitiveCoder, It might be sinking a lot into a concept, but if you want to use Concentration spells and spell that have a melee attack like Vampiric Touch. Do you think a melee spell effect would count for the "melee attack" requirement of the Mobile feat? Then the character could dash in, make the attack, and pull out.
I very much agree with IquisitiveCoder here. I don't think Concentration spells are great for melee characters, because you're going to be fighting losing the spell. Anything that keeps you from losing the spell is a bonus.
InquisitiveCoder, It might be sinking a lot into a concept, but if you want to use Concentration spells and spell that have a melee attack like Vampiric Touch. Do you think a melee spell effect would count for the "melee attack" requirement of the Mobile feat? Then the character could dash in, make the attack, and pull out.
I very much agree with IquisitiveCoder here. I don't think Concentration spells are great for melee characters, because you're going to be fighting losing the spell. Anything that keeps you from losing the spell is a bonus.
A melee spell attack is, by definition, a melee attack, a spell attack, and an attack. The Mobile feat doesn't specify weapon, just melee attack, so a melee spell attack works with it.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
With the Sorceror and Wizard there are some pretty good magic items that back you up. Most say stuff like cannot be wearing armor and it gives you bonus AC. The items will be what help you out and I think a little bit of multiclassing.
I disagree, maybe not so much as the AC and Hp, but the other abilities and such. It’s kind of like why get a one big spell that insta-kills when you can get a level 5 you can use to fill up those level 6 to 9 slots that just wreck the game. All depends on the play style though.
You can also get some of the other spells you may not have gotten without multiclassing, or blowing a feat position that might not give you as much.
You can also use the Sorceror points to make some range spells melee, I believe as well. This would make you a great force to be reconned with.
Pretty sure you have that turned around. The only metamagic I know of that alters the range of a spell is distant spell, which makes a range of 5 feet or greater have twice the range, or a range of touch into a 30 foot range.
Thank you all for the many replied. It has taken me a while to respond.
To answer some questions
Yes, clearly a close combat (full) caster is not an optimal build or concept. Who would really want to go into melee or open themselves up to attack if they don’t have to? Still, conceptually I like the idea of a caster who isn’t afraid of close combat, or moreover stays close to it to protect the party or engage directly. And there will also be many circumstances where melee is simply unavoidable. But I also like the idea of a caster to actively seeks out close combat simply to play against the stereotype. There is an excitement, as well as tactical opportunities which I enjoy.
I was thinking of avoiding melee weapons for a few reasons. a) So the character can cast while using a shield (though the War Caster feat solves this). b) And, melee attacks for casters are far less effective due to generally lower physical attributes available benefits, and I’d rather focus feats and class abilities around casting. It seems like a caster character would be far better off casting close range cantrips or other spells than swinging a weapon.
Why in Close
Based on what has been said, I see a few reasons to be in close as a caster.
1) Touch and close range spells There are a number of effective spells that benefit from being in close:
Inflict Wounds
Vampiric Touch
Burning Hands
Shocking Grasp
Thunderwave
2) Combat medic You can provide better party healing and support when you can closer (such as with Cure Wounds), rather than out on the fridges of combat. I’m curious what other healing or buff spells require you to be close?
3) Auras Spells like Spirit Guardians and Warding Wind (in certain instances) make a strong case for plowing into combat. Aura of Vitality is also helpful in close. Are there other aura or radius type spells that would benefit or harm those near by if directly engaged?
AC and HP
Given how important AC and HP are to survivability in close combat, a number of good ideas were mentioned for increasing them. And Wizards have notoriously lower HP.
Armor – Heavy Armor & Shield gives better AC than most dex based options and requires less investment. Medium armor + Dex has a slightly lower investment.
Defensive Spells – Shield, Shield of Faith, ...
Defensive Class Abilities – War Wizard (2 or more levels for the AC and save bonus), Blade Singer, ...
Temporary HP – Abjurer (for the damage reduction), Leadership feat (which requires high Chr), False Life, ...
High Con Stat/Race – Dwarves, Lizardfolk, Dragon Sorcerer (extra +1/lvl to HP), ...
Dissuasion – Hellish Rebuke (Tiefling), Fire Shield, Armor of Agathys, ...
Replenish HP – Vampiric touch, Aura for Vitality...
If I’ve missed any spells or options, please feel free to suggest options.
Feats
There are a number of useful feats out there for close combat casters.
War Caster – Concentration is important for a good number of spells. Being in close means taking more hits. So having advantage and/or prof for Concentration saves is likely important. It also let’s you carry an all important shield and still cast with a weapon or staff in hand.
Heavy Armor Master – This could certainly boost survivability in close, though it becomes less effective over time. The +1 to Str is nice.
Crossbow Expert – Somewhat different use of the feat, but per the rules, it would allow ranged spell attacks in melee.
Race
Variant Human of course provides the extra feat, which this build could use.
Half-Orc or Goliath could grant the Str bonus needed for heavy armor, and Con for extra HP. But it would slow down mental stat progression. Still, it could be fun to play against type.
Multiclass
I also like the idea of dipping into another class. Though personally I think anything more than a level or two really takes away from spell progression and the opportunity cost is too high.
I love warlocks, but for this concept, I don’t really consider them a full caster and they simply don’t have enough spells to rely primarily on magic. Still, they are worth dipping into for some of their other amazing abilities. But the opportunity cost of dipping in 2 or 3 levels into Warlock is high for a caster.
I’d really like two things for being in close. Heavy armor prof and access to the Shield spell. To get these, it usually requires some multi-classing.
Narrowing It Down
Okay, so I’m narrowing down on the following options based on all the great ideas people had. At this point, I am imagining a heavily armored character. Though I do liked the Blade Singer idea and other mobile characters, it doesn’t quite fit with the vibe I’m going for.
Storm Warrior (thanks @Citan for the inspiration) Tempest Cleric 1 or 2 / Storm Sorcerer 1+
I’m imagining a character focused around the theme of lightening and storms. Perhaps a bit of Storm Giant blood in their background, maybe even re-skin a Goliath to be a Half-Giant.
Heavy armor and shield for AC.
Wrath of the Storm (Cleric 1st) to push melee attacks agains you.
Tempestuous Magic (Sorcerer 1st) for mobility.
Heart of the Storm (5th Sorcerer) to auto-damage those near by.
The Elemental Adept feat to focus on lightening/storm perhaps.
Spirit Guardian Tank War Mage 2 / Forge Cleric 1+
I’m imagining a tank of a cleric striding into battle with vengeful spirits surrounding him. He stays close to his allies and waits for his enemies to come to him.
Levels in War Mage grant him access to the Shield spell and arcane cantrips like Booming Blade. It also grants him great bonus to AC and save should he need it. His spell levels known is slowed, but his caster progression is still maxed.
Forge Cleric just boosts his AC even higher. He relies on magic for battlefield control and damage output.
The concept is a bit MAD, he needs high Wis 16+, Int 13 and Str 15, which doesn’t leave a lot for Con.
Taking Heavy Armor Master could help with Str and tanking, and War Caster for in close casting.
Combat Medic Life Cleric 1 / Lore Bard 3+
Being a close combat caster doesn’t always have to be about offense. I tried to figure out what makes a good “Combat Medic”. By definition, someone whose primary job is to protect the party and aid fallen comrades. Someone is brave and capable enough to run into combat to save a life, or stand next to their ally to keep the enemies at bay. Someone who is a survivor, and who puts others before themselves. Who can support and re-energize others between their battles when rest does not avail itself. Who can keep the gods of death at bay, at least long enough to attain the party's objectives.
A Lore Bard can “steal” Goodberry and Aura of Vitality at Bard 6. Aura of Vitality is most helpful when in close combat, or out of combat entirely and is boosted by Disciple of Life. For out of combat healing, Discipline of Life & Goodberry combine to provides 40 HP of healing per 1st level spell.
A Lore Bards, while they don’t have access to a ton of healing spells, can steal good ones at higher levels. What they gain instead is access to a number of other spells which can be used for damage mitigation.
A level in life cleric not only combos with multiple spells and improves overall healing, but grants some more heal spells and access to heavy armor.
Since Chr is the primary stat for Bards, this build would also work great with Inspiring Leader for even more temp HP for the party. War Caster would likely be needed to help with concentration spells. But Shield Master is also tempting for both its defensive and tactical capabilities.
VHuman or Half-elf for the Chr bonus or feat.
Alas, this build doesn’t get access to the Shield spell for AC. And is also a bit MAD.
I kinda imagine a fit old man with a white beard striding into battle in heavy armor, a metal plated spell book, and arcane spells etched on the inside of his large shield.
The primary advantage of this spells is full access and progression for wizard spells, with a few defensive cleric spells to boot. Though with a slight delay in spell level progression. Spells like Booming Blade, Vampiric Touch, Burning Hands, Shocking Grasp, Thunderwave, and even Inflict Wounds are effective in close combat.
Lots of AC. Access to the Shield spell, and can use heavy armor, a shield, and a bonus from Forge Cleric as well.
Alas, this build is also a bit MAD, Int 16+, Wis 13 and Str 15, plus whatever is left in Con.
Overall HP for this build is quite low. Temporary HP or damage reduction become crucial. The Tough feat would be helpful. The Heavy Armor Master feat might also give a bit of a needed boost, at least for low to mid level games.
As an Abjuration Wizard, Arcane Ward and Armor of Agathys help with HP.
Gnome might be good race, not only for the intelligence, but the Svirfneblin Magic feat would allow additional spells AND the ability to recharge your Arcane Ward using the Non-detection spell. (Thanks @Sigreid)
Anyway, what do you guys thing of any of the above builds or do you have any better ideas for a heavily armored close-combat caster?
I built a Dragonborn sorcerer class that does this pretty effectively.
The class is as follows.
Level 5 White Dragon Dragonborn Sorcerer
I picked Dragonborn because I thought it would be flavorful for the theme I was going for. There are likely more efficient options but having the strength boost for weapon attacks if things really drag out is nice and the charisma boost is obviously helpful for the sorcerer class. The most important part aside from the charisma boost is the dragon resilience which boosts your base AC significantly.
I chose the white dragon as my Dragonborn breath attack option for cold damage. Also being a dragonborn precludes the need for mage armor taking up a spell slot.
Extended spell & Twinned spell as metamagic options (I'll explain why further down)
I chose charisma as my highest score and dexterity as the second highest score for the dragonborn armor class boost. with a shield I go up to AC17 because my DM is lenient about two handed spellcasting (casting shield as a reaction gets AC up to 22 which is VERY good for a level 5)
As a sorcerer you have access to shield which is the classic combat defense spell but beyond that there are many cool options I'll list below.
My typical combat game plan revolves around misty step and thunderstep. Those are key for not provoking attacks of opportunity. If you're trying to conserve spell slots, shocking grasp does an effective enough job of ensuring that you can exit combat without issue especially with twin spell if you are surrounded and engaged. As a note, shocking grasp can be twin cast if you have multiple targets in range. Not something you always want to spend your sorcery points on as it's just a cantrip but if you need it in a pinch it can save your life.
At the beginning of combat depending on what the encounter looks like, the game plan is to cause disruption and get in initial hits with AOE spells such as thunderwave, thunderclap, and thunderstep. You want to maximize the amount of damage that you can get in when the two parties are still separate. Rarely are you using actual weapon attacks. Using these spells as combat goes on becomes less viable as there are usually melee engagements with your party members and you definitely do not want to hit them. As a side note, misty step in, and getting one of your party members out of a troublesome melee engagement with thunderstep out is VERY rule of cool and also very effective.
Once melee combat is in full swing, I'll pop out of melee for a bit and target spellcasters or enemies who are using battlefield control effects, charm, frighten, etc. with ice knife. Ice knife twincast is actually unreal at second level. With two separate targets and massive blast and AOE damage, it's definitely my favorite spell to twincast. You can cut down casters with this and since we're currently in Chult in our campaign, chill touch is a great twincast target as undead targets are pretty common. I would recommend substituting this with mind sliver or ray of frost if you have other casters in your group or frostbite if you have a more melee combat focused group.
False life is a must have spell. You will be taking damage playing like this and any bit helps.
Toward the end of combat, I'll pull out shadow blade for enemies that are engaged with allies and lightning bolt or burning hands for those that aren't. You don't want to hurt your party members so using AOE spells is not always ideal. At this point if I have sorcery points left, I am usually taking a quarterstaff attack and then using either a misty step if I'm around teammates, or thunderstep/ if I'm not. Misty step takes up most of 2nd level spell slots so usually by the end of the fight I'm out of second level slots and have to resort to using the shocking grasp method to get out of combat without provoking opportunity
During combat, mirror image is a MUST HAVE. This and shadow blade are the reason that I chose extended spell as having these effects for 2 rounds is completely irreplaceable.
With the shield reaction spell, shocking grasp (with twinned spell), misty step, and thunderstep, you should be able to avoid most hits. Obviously you can't avoid it all but an important part of playing this class is knowing when to step back and take the caster role and hop out of combat so that you can use larger AOE and ranged spells such as ice knife, lightning bolt, witch bolt, or shatter.
Obviously you can make different choices than I have but this is what I use. When I made this class, I realized that there aren't a whole lot of options for melee spell casting. Most of the concept here revolves around being up close and disrupting combat through efficient damage output. Effects like thunderstep, thunderwave, and shatter are definitely the best way to dish out beginning of combat damage. I do not save my higher level spell slots until the end of combat as the options I have access to currently don't serve me well for my game plan toward the end of combat. I will be taking the magic initiate feat and going cleric the next opportunity I get so that I can gain access to inflict wounds which is the ultimate melee spell attack.
As a note, building this class has completely turned my PC into a combat caster. I have few utility spells as I need to expend most spell slots on combat so I would suggest that you be aware of what your party is composed of before going all in on a build like this.
@GavilarForgebound Thanks so much for sharing your build and experience playing them. You build sounds awesome. And I certainly appreciate your tactical advice as well.
Actually you totally inspired me. I'm running an Icewind Dale campaign in a very snowy part of the world. I never thought about playing a white dragonborn or ice sorcerer, which would probably be fantastic. Their cold resistance would help solve some of the cold related challenges. And I love the image of twin ice daggers (though I think by Sage Advice, you aren't supposed to do this).
I had to re-read what I wrote so long again. Thank you so much for sharing your idea. It made me want to build a new character again.
Interestingly, I just checked out the Sage Advice pages. First time I've seen them. There seems to be contradicting information from official sources regarding twincasting ice knife. I'll do more research on that but thanks for bringing it to my attention.
The class is a ton of fun.
Do keep me posted if you wind up making a melee spellcaster. I'm definitely trying to figure out what the right build is for it and there's not a whole lot of resource material on melee spellcaster building specifically. It's a shame there aren't more melee spell attacks. It's a really cool concept that I don't think would be too OP considering the low AC of most builds. As it is, it does play a bit like a glass cannon character. Huge damage output but rapidly becomes the focus of the battlefield.
Hi all,
I really enjoy magic and playing full spell casters. I also enjoy being in the thick of combat instead of hiding around the edges, as many casters do. Now with Xanathar's out, I am looking for some ideas on class combinations or builds that might allow a combination of the above play styles – a spell focused character who likes to get in close? What I'm not looking for is a gish or a melee combatant that uses some kind of weapon.
For example, I was thinking about a wizard (maybe an Abjurer) with a dip into fighter for heavy armor and shield. Perhaps a feat in Heavy Armor Master or Combat Caster. But I'm open to any suggestions? What spells are particularly useful when you're in close? What advantages, if any, might a caster get when in close? What are builds or tactics to help make a caster more survivable in close?
I'm currently trying to figure out a build using point buy to play up to about level 12.
Many thanks for the help and ideas. If there is a better place to post this, please let me know.
Recently in my campaign we failed to stop the summoning of a demon lord and had to 'recruit' high level characters to fight him for us (we were only level 5.) It was a fun way for the group and DM to playtest some newer classes and monsters. I went with Xanathar's Warmage, and boy was that a blast. I went toe to toe with this demon lords second in command, steadily increasing my armor class with the warmage features (plus 2 if you're concentrating on a spell! And can't forget shield.) All while casting save spells. If you want to be in melee, I highly suggest playing a war wizard and either spending a spell slot for mage armor and have a high dex or get armor from another class dip (or even start as another class such as warrior to get heavy armor off the bat. Or be a dwarf. They get this stuff free as a race feature.) Then your spells should be baised around controlling the battlefield. Less spell attacks and more saving throws, that way you avoid the disadvantage of range attacks in melee. And of course get war mage. You're gonna want that advantage on concentration checks.
Anything should be good, just make sure to give yourself one square (5 ft) away from an opponent, they should not be able to attack you like that unless, maybe they have reach. My Wizard is usually up in the action, unless things start going bad. I have to kite him out to see around other characters though, then close the gap.
How about a cleric? Tempest is particularly good, as is War. Death, Forge, Light, and possibly Nature also work well. Inflict wounds is your friend for most such builds.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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Welcome The_Humble_Giant, with your 1st post.
I believe 5th Ed gives the most options for being a Combat Caster. I agree with Matthias. Cleric's have been the combat caster since 3rd Ed: heavy armor, good weapons, full casters.
I believe in this edition it's much much more about a few decisions in attributes.
The first is to ask "What makes someone viable in combat?" Once we answer that question we can move forward clearly. Most people would say HP and AC, which I can't argue with!
How do you get AC?
By race:
Lizardfold (+2 Con, +1 Wis) great for Divine Casters plus they start with 13+Dex(+Shield) AC.
Dragonborn anything with the Dragon Hide feat (gives 13+Dex(+Shield) AC.). Any race that gives you a Dex bonus. Keep in mind IF you have Armor Proficiency then you need no Dex for Heavy, a +2 for Medium, and as much Dex as you can get for Light.
Mountain Dwarf gets Light and Medium Armor Proficiency
By class:
Caster with no armor: Wizard, Sorcerer
Caster Classes with Light Armor: Bard, Warlock, Bladesinger
Caster Classes with Medium Armor: Druid (metal is an issue), All Clerics, Bard (select schools), Hexblade Warlock,
Caster Classes with Heavy Armor: Cleric (a few Domains)
Caster Classes with Natural Armor: Dragon Sorcerer, Armor of Shadows Innvocation for Warlock, Any Sorcerer who memorized Mage Armor and has the Extended Spell metamagic. This costs 1 spell a day and 1 sorcery point for 16 hours of good AC.
Caster Classes with Shields: Cleric, Druid, Bard (select schools), Hexblade Warlock, Bard (select schools)
Weirdly enough War Mage, doesn't give armor proficiency or shield.
By feat:
Medium Armor Proficiency gives Medium Armor and Shields, but you need Light Armor Proficiency 1st. (giving Shields makes it an almost decent buy)
Crossbow Expert. Makes your ranged spells equally good in melee. Not a great guy for 1 ability, but it's there.
How to get good HP:
By Class: not play a Wizard or Sorcerer (exclusion is Dragon Sorcerer which gets +1 hp/lvl). They only have d6 HP.
By Race: Hill Dwarf gets +1 hp/lvl
By Feat: Tough (I think it's a bad feat personally, but it exists)
A Dragon Blooded Hill Dwarf with the Tough feat would have 7+Con Mod per level. That's probably more then the Fighter has!
Gaining Temporary HP or Ablative.
This is where Casters can really pull ahead. They have a lot of ways to gain Temporary HP or Ablative HP.
Arcane Ward for an Abjuration Wizard is ablative HP. It's layered ontop, doesn't cause Concentration checks, but doesn't gain the benefits of Resistance. I don't know any other sources of Ablative HP, but I'm sure they exist.
Temporary HP is extra HP.
Race:
I don't know a single race that has this.
Class:
Celestial Warlock at 10th lvl gets Temp HP.
Any Warlock with Fiendish Vigor can cast False Life at will for 1d4+4 Temp HP.
Feat:
Inspiring Leader gives Temp HP to 6 creatures every Short/Long Rest.
Spells:
There are a lot of spells that do this. Look up Necromancy. Most only last an Hour though, so they only have utility when you KNOW you're entering combat.
Making Enemies regret attacking you:
This is an umbrella section. Any Race like Tiefling that gets Hellish Rebuke or Class like Tempest that has an ability to deal damage when the enemy attacks you in melee. This makes you LESS of a target, because every time they attack you they take automagic damage. It's a really good deterrent.
With a Multiclass I'm a fan of taking a Caster class with Shield proficiency. Then have an open hand for casting and a shield for defense. Shocking Grasp is a pretty good melee spell and they lose their ReAction so you can move out of melee freely! Otherwise if your open hand and melee weapon there are quite a few options like Booming Blade, Green Flame Blade, and Shilelagh for melee combat spells. Also any spell that is Save Or works in melee. That said, I personally think Save Or spells are less good then attack spells in a lot of situations, but that's a personal opinion.
IE: Having Advantage doesn't help you, it's VERY hard to give DisAdvantange on them, etc... This post is WAY to long already and I've made those comments in other posts.
Side note on Warcaster: Only important if you plan on using Concentration spells as part of your build OR have both hands already used (ie: duel wielding or weapon and shield)
Concentration is a really big incentive not to take damage so you have to find a compelling reason to deliberately put yourself in harm's way. Most of those reasons are going to be situational, so I'd start getting comfortable with the idea of not being in the front lines full time.
Look for situations where the party would really benefit from spells like Shocking Grasp, Earth Tremor, Thunderwave, Warding Wind, Spirit Guardians, or Vampiric Touch. You'll want class features or spells you can use to defend yourself in a pinch, like Shield, the abjurer's Arcane Ward, War Magic's Arcane Deflection, Bladesinging, Light Cleric's Warding Flare, Warlock's Eldritch Sight or Shadow Sorcery's Eyes of the Dark combined with Darkness. Even when it makes sense to get in close range, you still want to avoid losing concentration as much as possible. War Caster or the Resilient Feat (taking Constitution saves) is highly recommended.
If you don't plan on using melee weapons, make sure you have at least one cantrip that isn't a ranged attack. Shocking Grasp is a great choice for arcane classes, since you can move away without provoking if you hit.
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I don't think the AC and HP gained from multi-classing are worth the delay of getting higher-level spells, and I don't think playing a cleric can cover quite the same feel of the "Eat my spells!" style character as a wizard can.
For me, it mostly comes down to choosing spells that fit what is desired - with everything else, even subclass, being a matter of preference.
Sorted by level, spells that I'd recommend for this sort of character are:
Cantrips: poison spray, shocking grasp, sword burst, thunderclap
1st level: burning hands, mage armor, shield, false life, thunderwave
2nd level: dragon's breath, mirror image
3rd level: lightning bolt, vampiric touch
4th level: fire shield, polymorph
5th level: cone of cold
6th level: sunbeam
7th level: prismatic spray
And whatever else floats your boat in regards to utility, smattering of ranged options, or more concentration spells than the few listed.
InquisitiveCoder,
It might be sinking a lot into a concept, but if you want to use Concentration spells and spell that have a melee attack like Vampiric Touch.
Do you think a melee spell effect would count for the "melee attack" requirement of the Mobile feat? Then the character could dash in, make the attack, and pull out.
I very much agree with IquisitiveCoder here. I don't think Concentration spells are great for melee characters, because you're going to be fighting losing the spell. Anything that keeps you from losing the spell is a bonus.
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With the Sorceror and Wizard there are some pretty good magic items that back you up. Most say stuff like cannot be wearing armor and it gives you bonus AC. The items will be what help you out and I think a little bit of multiclassing.
I disagree, maybe not so much as the AC and Hp, but the other abilities and such. It’s kind of like why get a one big spell that insta-kills when you can get a level 5 you can use to fill up those level 6 to 9 slots that just wreck the game. All depends on the play style though.
You can also get some of the other spells you may not have gotten without multiclassing, or blowing a feat position that might not give you as much.
You can also use the Sorceror points to make some range spells melee, I believe as well. This would make you a great force to be reconned with.
Not sure, I’ll have to go back and look. I’m sure there is something that would help.
There are a number of effective spells that benefit from being in close:
You can provide better party healing and support when you can closer (such as with Cure Wounds), rather than out on the fridges of combat. I’m curious what other healing or buff spells require you to be close?
Spells like Spirit Guardians and Warding Wind (in certain instances) make a strong case for plowing into combat. Aura of Vitality is also helpful in close. Are there other aura or radius type spells that would benefit or harm those near by if directly engaged?
Tempest Cleric 1 or 2 / Storm Sorcerer 1+
War Mage 2 / Forge Cleric 1+
Life Cleric 1 / Lore Bard 3+
Forge Cleric 1 / Abjuration Wizard 2+
Anyway, what do you guys thing of any of the above builds or do you have any better ideas for a heavily armored close-combat caster?
I built a Dragonborn sorcerer class that does this pretty effectively.
The class is as follows.
Level 5 White Dragon Dragonborn Sorcerer
I picked Dragonborn because I thought it would be flavorful for the theme I was going for. There are likely more efficient options but having the strength boost for weapon attacks if things really drag out is nice and the charisma boost is obviously helpful for the sorcerer class. The most important part aside from the charisma boost is the dragon resilience which boosts your base AC significantly.
I chose the white dragon as my Dragonborn breath attack option for cold damage. Also being a dragonborn precludes the need for mage armor taking up a spell slot.
Extended spell & Twinned spell as metamagic options (I'll explain why further down)
I chose charisma as my highest score and dexterity as the second highest score for the dragonborn armor class boost. with a shield I go up to AC17 because my DM is lenient about two handed spellcasting (casting shield as a reaction gets AC up to 22 which is VERY good for a level 5)
As a sorcerer you have access to shield which is the classic combat defense spell but beyond that there are many cool options I'll list below.
My typical combat game plan revolves around misty step and thunderstep. Those are key for not provoking attacks of opportunity. If you're trying to conserve spell slots, shocking grasp does an effective enough job of ensuring that you can exit combat without issue especially with twin spell if you are surrounded and engaged. As a note, shocking grasp can be twin cast if you have multiple targets in range. Not something you always want to spend your sorcery points on as it's just a cantrip but if you need it in a pinch it can save your life.
At the beginning of combat depending on what the encounter looks like, the game plan is to cause disruption and get in initial hits with AOE spells such as thunderwave, thunderclap, and thunderstep. You want to maximize the amount of damage that you can get in when the two parties are still separate. Rarely are you using actual weapon attacks. Using these spells as combat goes on becomes less viable as there are usually melee engagements with your party members and you definitely do not want to hit them. As a side note, misty step in, and getting one of your party members out of a troublesome melee engagement with thunderstep out is VERY rule of cool and also very effective.
Once melee combat is in full swing, I'll pop out of melee for a bit and target spellcasters or enemies who are using battlefield control effects, charm, frighten, etc. with ice knife. Ice knife twincast is actually unreal at second level. With two separate targets and massive blast and AOE damage, it's definitely my favorite spell to twincast. You can cut down casters with this and since we're currently in Chult in our campaign, chill touch is a great twincast target as undead targets are pretty common. I would recommend substituting this with mind sliver or ray of frost if you have other casters in your group or frostbite if you have a more melee combat focused group.
False life is a must have spell. You will be taking damage playing like this and any bit helps.
Toward the end of combat, I'll pull out shadow blade for enemies that are engaged with allies and lightning bolt or burning hands for those that aren't. You don't want to hurt your party members so using AOE spells is not always ideal. At this point if I have sorcery points left, I am usually taking a quarterstaff attack and then using either a misty step if I'm around teammates, or thunderstep/ if I'm not. Misty step takes up most of 2nd level spell slots so usually by the end of the fight I'm out of second level slots and have to resort to using the shocking grasp method to get out of combat without provoking opportunity
During combat, mirror image is a MUST HAVE. This and shadow blade are the reason that I chose extended spell as having these effects for 2 rounds is completely irreplaceable.
With the shield reaction spell, shocking grasp (with twinned spell), misty step, and thunderstep, you should be able to avoid most hits. Obviously you can't avoid it all but an important part of playing this class is knowing when to step back and take the caster role and hop out of combat so that you can use larger AOE and ranged spells such as ice knife, lightning bolt, witch bolt, or shatter.
Obviously you can make different choices than I have but this is what I use. When I made this class, I realized that there aren't a whole lot of options for melee spell casting. Most of the concept here revolves around being up close and disrupting combat through efficient damage output. Effects like thunderstep, thunderwave, and shatter are definitely the best way to dish out beginning of combat damage. I do not save my higher level spell slots until the end of combat as the options I have access to currently don't serve me well for my game plan toward the end of combat. I will be taking the magic initiate feat and going cleric the next opportunity I get so that I can gain access to inflict wounds which is the ultimate melee spell attack.
As a note, building this class has completely turned my PC into a combat caster. I have few utility spells as I need to expend most spell slots on combat so I would suggest that you be aware of what your party is composed of before going all in on a build like this.
Hope anyone who reads this finds it helpful!
@GavilarForgebound Thanks so much for sharing your build and experience playing them. You build sounds awesome. And I certainly appreciate your tactical advice as well.
Actually you totally inspired me. I'm running an Icewind Dale campaign in a very snowy part of the world. I never thought about playing a white dragonborn or ice sorcerer, which would probably be fantastic. Their cold resistance would help solve some of the cold related challenges. And I love the image of twin ice daggers (though I think by Sage Advice, you aren't supposed to do this).
I had to re-read what I wrote so long again. Thank you so much for sharing your idea. It made me want to build a new character again.
@The_Humble_Giant
Interestingly, I just checked out the Sage Advice pages. First time I've seen them. There seems to be contradicting information from official sources regarding twincasting ice knife. I'll do more research on that but thanks for bringing it to my attention.
The class is a ton of fun.
Do keep me posted if you wind up making a melee spellcaster. I'm definitely trying to figure out what the right build is for it and there's not a whole lot of resource material on melee spellcaster building specifically. It's a shame there aren't more melee spell attacks. It's a really cool concept that I don't think would be too OP considering the low AC of most builds. As it is, it does play a bit like a glass cannon character. Huge damage output but rapidly becomes the focus of the battlefield.
Thanks for taking the time to respond!