Might I ask, why do you want to do this? After level 5 your character is going to be extremely weak compared to either a straight-classed cleric or a straight-classed fighter. Not to mention that War Cleric is arguably the weakest cleric subclass. A straight paladin is superior to a Fighter-Cleric in essentially every single way.
I have a fantasy I’m trying to go for - frontline melee character that throws out a melee attack and cast a spell other than smite or a weapon buff - multiple attacks and a spell.
There is an old trick i remember where you could get like 23 AC from combining Cavalier and Forge Cleric, but it doesn’t seem to be what you are after.
Human V. (HAM) Cavalier 6+/Forge Cleric 6+ 16, 10, 16, 8, 14, 10
You can do a similar yet simpler build with Forge Cleric on any fighter you start with to get +2 AC at level 7, but again not what you are going for.
Human V. Fighter 1/Forge Cleric 6+ 16, 10, 14, 8, 16, 8
Honestly, if extra hits after a spell are what you are going for, I’m having a difficult time figuring out why not just take an Eldritch Knight? It’s not exactly what you may want with different spells and lack of the ability that grants a bonus attack, but still it is more baked in than what you are suggesting.
Between the three options… it’s kind of hard to pick. On one hand you typically want as much of a full class as possible so you don’t fall behind. On the other hand… action surge. Either way you are one level behind everyone else by taking fighter first, but it’s still such a good strategy that even I plan to use it for my Warlock.
Sorry I can’t be of more help. I realize this was more of a brain storm than a helpful post. :(
I appreciate the thoughts! Eldritch fighter feels too limited to me - takes too long to get stronger spells, and has to be level 7 before it can cast and hit, except though action surge. I'm wanting to turn on the hit and spell combo early, technically level 5 I could do three attacks or a spell and two attacks with the war/fighter build - but only in short rest bursts. Still, sounds fun. My problem with a lot of gish builds is they tend to feel too focused. Like the builds utilize smite a lot, but I want to cast spells more than just smiting (and I've played paladins a lot lol).
I feel like this can be just as strong as an eldritch knight, or atleast, fills that fantasy with in the time span I'm thinking? But perhaps not.
Also Paladins get access to most of the same spell list as Cleric, you don't need to smite ever as a paladin, I played with a Redemption Pally who in campaign from level 2-7 used Smite once.
If you are playing 2024 Rules:
EK-6 + Wizard-1 + Feats: Dual Wielder + Warcaster + Nick + Vex weapon = can have a +4 DEX & +4 INT, be making 4 attacks per turn normally, and cast a spell then make 4 attacks using Action Surge. With nearly the same spellslots as your builds.
If it's a war cleric, it will also have its extra attack. Perhaps not at the same level, doesn't seem that far off though. Plus, at level 5, a War cleric/fighter does more of the gish thing than a level 5 eldritch knight - not getting to cast a spell and attack until level 7 and only a cantrip at that.
If it's a war cleric, it will also have its extra attack. Perhaps not at the same level, doesn't seem that far off though. Plus, at level 5, a War cleric/fighter does more of the gish thing than a level 5 eldritch knight - not getting to cast a spell and attack until level 7 and only a cantrip at that.
2024 War Domain Cleric doesn't have Extra Attack. They get a limited number (Wisdom Modifier) of uses of a Bonus Action Weapon or Unarmed Strike attack per Short or Long Rest as part of the Level 3 "War Priest" feature.
If you are set on a Cleric-Fighter despite all advice this is the only way to make it comparably powerful to alternatives:
Level 1-5 - Cleric, Feat: Warcaster, Spells: Spiritual Weapon, Shield of Faith, Spirit Shroud / Spiritual Guardians -> Spiritual Weapon gets you a bonus action attack that you can combo with hitting people with a weapon for you Action, Shield of Faith makes up for your inability to hold a shield before you get Warcaster, Spiritual Guardians gives you solid damage until you get enough attacks for Spirit Shroud to be worth it.
Level 6-10 - Fighter, this gets you Action Surge so you can set up Spiritual Guardians & attack on your first turn, pick up GWM/Dual Wielder for your second feat at level 9 (Dual Wielder is better if you want to swap to Spirit Shroud), then at level 10 you'll have enough attacks for Spirit Shroud / the Attack Action to be worth using.
Rather than War Domain, I'd strongly urge you towards Light Cleric for its AoE Channel Divinity which will give you something to do with your Action Surge when you run out of 3rd level spells.
I appreciate the thoughts! I suppose I've just been trying to look at an alternative gish in 2025 than the traditional Lockodin/Sorcadin - I've played so very much lol, and know I'll have limited levels, I want to see it turned on sooner than later.
That being said, I'll look more into this build, thank you!
Alternatively, if you want to hit something with a weapon & cast a spell on the same turn as quickly as possible:
Sorcerer + Booming Blade (or True Strike) + Quicken Spell, allows you to use your BA to cast a spell while hitting things with your Action right from 3rd level with full spellcaster progression. You only need 3 levels to do it, and SPs are rechargable enabling you to do it more than once per combat.
A fighter 1 sorc x utilizing Nick weapons could be interesting. Though the sorc subclasses haven't really peaked my interests lol. Maybe theres a spin on them I just haven't considered.
I guess something I haven't really considered is with magic initiate, an eldritch knight fighter or war cleric can turn on as a gish earlier on and still nab some handy spells (shield of faith or booming blade for example) - Fighter early could get action surge to let me fight and cast a spell, then level 7 I could cantrip, cast a spell, and action surge two attacks - or Cleric could roll out a spell and bonus attack by level 3 and keep up spells.
I like the fighter one more I think about it in those senses. I could go dual fighting early on and later go with a big sword once I get extra attack.
TBH, it's completely feasible to go Eldritch Knight + Cleric, because there are enough wizard spells that don't use your INT that the EK spells aren't wasted, and once you have Cleric you can use the EK spellslots for Cleric spells instead. That is if there is something in Cleric that you really really want.
I think the War Cleric extra attack is a trap. Just not enough uses of it, 4 or 5 times per rest. If you short rest enough it's probably fine tho. +10 to hit is nice when you need it, but if you have a magic weapon, a Clockwork Amulet probably does 90% of that. A straight War Cleric running Spirit Guardians is probably just better, or just a fighter with all the appropriate feats.
to me, Cleric War Caster is to keep Spirit Guardians up, other Cleric spells are an order of magnitude less impact.
Yeah, so after a lot of deliberation and talking across different forums - I think I've been convinced that War Cleric or Eldritch Knight on their own work well enough for what I was going for, and I don't need to multiclass. I might be tempted to do split into wizard if I get to lvl 8 of fighter, or if I was starting higher level, maybe war cleric into Eldritch knight if it was going to be a 5/5 split to a 6/6 at least, so I could have all the cool features. A valor bard with a fighter dip could also work for my purposes at those levels. And of course, paladin/Warlock or Sorc exist as the fall back should I deem those other attempts less interesting. But with all the new feats/weapon masteries/fighter stuff - I'll probably have fun enough just playing a solo eldritch - either as a Dragonborn with breath attack to give me a pseudo gish feel early on, or human to snag initiate for some spells at level 1. Both sound like fun to me - not sure what I'll enjoy more.
Now to find a local group willing to run an adventure from levels 8-12ish lol.
War Cleric is a trap, too few uses of the extra attack. Don't create a build around action surge, you get 1. If you want to hit things and cast spells, Eldritch Knight or Blade Singer. A True Strike Cleric can hit things, requires a way to get True Strike - thru Magic Initiate or Species. The Cleric will primarily be casting Spirit guardians and attacking on other turns. Choose a subclass that gets a smite like Forge. Moon Druids get to hit things a lot while moving around their aura of choice.
What about this Fighter/War Cleric build?
OK, so I've looked pali/sor and pali/war, and Bladesinger --- but I want to see if a Fighter/War Cleric
Fighter with action surge early will let me cast a spell, strike with a great sword, and with war cleric, strike again with a bonus action.
OR going with dual wielding, attack three times asap and use vex to buff up my bonus attack, and wait on action surge so I can get warcaster ASAP.
Thoughts?
Human
s16 d10 c14 i8 w17 ch8
Guard(spear/Light crossbow) +**Magic Initiate (**Wizard - booming blade)
Lvl 1: Fighter (con/str saving) - Chainmail, Shield
Option a: (Greatsword build):
Defense, Weapon master: Graze/Push/Nick
lvl 2: Fighter 2- Action surge, Tactical mind
lvl 3: Cleric 1- 3 cantrips, 4spells/2lvl1 slots, thaumaturge +1 cantrip, Arcana(wis)
lvl 4: Cleric 2- 2divinity, +1 spell/1lvl slot
lvl 5: Cleric 3- War domain,+1 spell/1lvl slot/2lvl2 slots
lvl 6: Cleric 4- Warcaster(+1wis), +1spell/1lvl2 slot lvl
lvl 7: Fighter 3- Battle master OR Cleric 5? or??
Option b: (2xlight build) -
Two weapon fighting (vex main hand, nick offhand). Go for warcaster asap.
lvl 2: Cleric 1- 3 cantrips, 4spells/2lvl1 slots, thaumaturge +1 cantrip, Arcana(wis)
lvl 3: Cleric 2- 2divinity, +1 spell/1lvl slot
lvl 4: Cleric 3- War domain,+1 spell/1lvl slot/2lvl2 slots
lvl 5: Cleric 4- Warcaster(+1wis), +1spell/1lvl2 slot
lvl 6: Fighter 2- Fighter 2- Action surge, Tactical mind
lvl 7: Fighter 3- Battle master OR Cleric 5? or??
Option c: Take the great sword build, but do cleric for lvl's 2-6, fighter at lvl 7
Might I ask, why do you want to do this? After level 5 your character is going to be extremely weak compared to either a straight-classed cleric or a straight-classed fighter. Not to mention that War Cleric is arguably the weakest cleric subclass. A straight paladin is superior to a Fighter-Cleric in essentially every single way.
I have a fantasy I’m trying to go for - frontline melee character that throws out a melee attack and cast a spell other than smite or a weapon buff - multiple attacks and a spell.
There is an old trick i remember where you could get like 23 AC from combining Cavalier and Forge Cleric, but it doesn’t seem to be what you are after.
Human V. (HAM)
Cavalier 6+/Forge Cleric 6+
16, 10, 16, 8, 14, 10
You can do a similar yet simpler build with Forge Cleric on any fighter you start with to get +2 AC at level 7, but again not what you are going for.
Human V.
Fighter 1/Forge Cleric 6+
16, 10, 14, 8, 16, 8
Honestly, if extra hits after a spell are what you are going for, I’m having a difficult time figuring out why not just take an Eldritch Knight? It’s not exactly what you may want with different spells and lack of the ability that grants a bonus attack, but still it is more baked in than what you are suggesting.
Between the three options… it’s kind of hard to pick. On one hand you typically want as much of a full class as possible so you don’t fall behind. On the other hand… action surge. Either way you are one level behind everyone else by taking fighter first, but it’s still such a good strategy that even I plan to use it for my Warlock.
Sorry I can’t be of more help. I realize this was more of a brain storm than a helpful post. :(
I appreciate the thoughts! Eldritch fighter feels too limited to me - takes too long to get stronger spells, and has to be level 7 before it can cast and hit, except though action surge. I'm wanting to turn on the hit and spell combo early, technically level 5 I could do three attacks or a spell and two attacks with the war/fighter build - but only in short rest bursts. Still, sounds fun. My problem with a lot of gish builds is they tend to feel too focused. Like the builds utilize smite a lot, but I want to cast spells more than just smiting (and I've played paladins a lot lol).
I feel like this can be just as strong as an eldritch knight, or atleast, fills that fantasy with in the time span I'm thinking? But perhaps not.
You are incorrect, it will not be as strong as an Eldritch Knight.
Compare:
EK-6 + Wizard 1 = 4x1st SS, 2x2nd SS, 2 Feats, 2 Attacks per Action
vs
Cleric-4 + Battlemaster-3 = 4x 1st SS, 3x2nd SS, 1 Feat, 1 Attack per Action
Also Paladins get access to most of the same spell list as Cleric, you don't need to smite ever as a paladin, I played with a Redemption Pally who in campaign from level 2-7 used Smite once.
If you are playing 2024 Rules:
EK-6 + Wizard-1 + Feats: Dual Wielder + Warcaster + Nick + Vex weapon = can have a +4 DEX & +4 INT, be making 4 attacks per turn normally, and cast a spell then make 4 attacks using Action Surge. With nearly the same spellslots as your builds.
If it's a war cleric, it will also have its extra attack. Perhaps not at the same level, doesn't seem that far off though. Plus, at level 5, a War cleric/fighter does more of the gish thing than a level 5 eldritch knight - not getting to cast a spell and attack until level 7 and only a cantrip at that.
2024 War Domain Cleric doesn't have Extra Attack. They get a limited number (Wisdom Modifier) of uses of a Bonus Action Weapon or Unarmed Strike attack per Short or Long Rest as part of the Level 3 "War Priest" feature.
🎵I'm on top of the world, looking down on creation, wreaking death and devastation with my mind.
As the power that I've found erupts freely from the ground, I will cackle from the top of the world.🎵
Charisma Saving Throw: DC 18, Failure: 20d6 Psychic Damage, Success: Half damage
If you are set on a Cleric-Fighter despite all advice this is the only way to make it comparably powerful to alternatives:
Level 1-5 - Cleric, Feat: Warcaster, Spells: Spiritual Weapon, Shield of Faith, Spirit Shroud / Spiritual Guardians -> Spiritual Weapon gets you a bonus action attack that you can combo with hitting people with a weapon for you Action, Shield of Faith makes up for your inability to hold a shield before you get Warcaster, Spiritual Guardians gives you solid damage until you get enough attacks for Spirit Shroud to be worth it.
Level 6-10 - Fighter, this gets you Action Surge so you can set up Spiritual Guardians & attack on your first turn, pick up GWM/Dual Wielder for your second feat at level 9 (Dual Wielder is better if you want to swap to Spirit Shroud), then at level 10 you'll have enough attacks for Spirit Shroud / the Attack Action to be worth using.
Rather than War Domain, I'd strongly urge you towards Light Cleric for its AoE Channel Divinity which will give you something to do with your Action Surge when you run out of 3rd level spells.
right, that's what I meant by that
I appreciate the thoughts! I suppose I've just been trying to look at an alternative gish in 2025 than the traditional Lockodin/Sorcadin - I've played so very much lol, and know I'll have limited levels, I want to see it turned on sooner than later.
That being said, I'll look more into this build, thank you!
Alternatively, if you want to hit something with a weapon & cast a spell on the same turn as quickly as possible:
Sorcerer + Booming Blade (or True Strike) + Quicken Spell, allows you to use your BA to cast a spell while hitting things with your Action right from 3rd level with full spellcaster progression. You only need 3 levels to do it, and SPs are rechargable enabling you to do it more than once per combat.
A fighter 1 sorc x utilizing Nick weapons could be interesting. Though the sorc subclasses haven't really peaked my interests lol. Maybe theres a spin on them I just haven't considered.
I guess something I haven't really considered is with magic initiate, an eldritch knight fighter or war cleric can turn on as a gish earlier on and still nab some handy spells (shield of faith or booming blade for example) - Fighter early could get action surge to let me fight and cast a spell, then level 7 I could cantrip, cast a spell, and action surge two attacks - or Cleric could roll out a spell and bonus attack by level 3 and keep up spells.
I like the fighter one more I think about it in those senses. I could go dual fighting early on and later go with a big sword once I get extra attack.
TBH, it's completely feasible to go Eldritch Knight + Cleric, because there are enough wizard spells that don't use your INT that the EK spells aren't wasted, and once you have Cleric you can use the EK spellslots for Cleric spells instead. That is if there is something in Cleric that you really really want.
I think the War Cleric extra attack is a trap. Just not enough uses of it, 4 or 5 times per rest. If you short rest enough it's probably fine tho. +10 to hit is nice when you need it, but if you have a magic weapon, a Clockwork Amulet probably does 90% of that. A straight War Cleric running Spirit Guardians is probably just better, or just a fighter with all the appropriate feats.
to me, Cleric War Caster is to keep Spirit Guardians up, other Cleric spells are an order of magnitude less impact.
Yeah, so after a lot of deliberation and talking across different forums - I think I've been convinced that War Cleric or Eldritch Knight on their own work well enough for what I was going for, and I don't need to multiclass. I might be tempted to do split into wizard if I get to lvl 8 of fighter, or if I was starting higher level, maybe war cleric into Eldritch knight if it was going to be a 5/5 split to a 6/6 at least, so I could have all the cool features. A valor bard with a fighter dip could also work for my purposes at those levels. And of course, paladin/Warlock or Sorc exist as the fall back should I deem those other attempts less interesting. But with all the new feats/weapon masteries/fighter stuff - I'll probably have fun enough just playing a solo eldritch - either as a Dragonborn with breath attack to give me a pseudo gish feel early on, or human to snag initiate for some spells at level 1. Both sound like fun to me - not sure what I'll enjoy more.
Now to find a local group willing to run an adventure from levels 8-12ish lol.
War Cleric is a trap, too few uses of the extra attack. Don't create a build around action surge, you get 1. If you want to hit things and cast spells, Eldritch Knight or Blade Singer. A True Strike Cleric can hit things, requires a way to get True Strike - thru Magic Initiate or Species. The Cleric will primarily be casting Spirit guardians and attacking on other turns. Choose a subclass that gets a smite like Forge. Moon Druids get to hit things a lot while moving around their aura of choice.