I'm fairly new to D&D and am going into a campaign (Dungeon of the Mad Mage) with some more experienced players and would like to be usefull. The team is comprised (I believe) of a paladin (death knight maybe), a druid, a fighter/warlock, and a bard. I was thinking of playing a cleric, warlock or some combination of the two. I want to be helpful to the party, but I'd prefer not to be designated to just support. Any advice would be appreciated.
Clerics can be very effective damage dealers at mid level (around 5-7). You can out dps a fighter at level 3 with spiritual weapon.
Warlock's are very customisable and generally know for the consistent power and resource independence of their agonizing blast. Warlock's get a lot fewer spells per encounter though.
My advice is to pick whichever one will be more fun. I personally love playing Warlock’s, that’s probably my favorite class, but that’s just me.
A Celestial Patron Warlock will give you ranged healing as a bonus action, effective damage with Eldritch Blast and Sacred Flame, and if you take Pact of the Tome you can be almost as versatile a spellcaster out of combat as a Wizard if you also take the Book of Ancient Secrets Invocation and your DM let’s you find ritual spells. The problem that you’ll have is picking your spells and Invocations, that’s a very difficult decision to make when you’re playing a Warlock and no two Warlock’s that I’ve played have been the same, or even close to the same as a result.
Warlocks are easier to learn as they have limited casting ability. I'd go with cleric even though they are harder to learn with the expansive spell list and that you can prepare whatever you like every day. I'm not a fan of straight single class warlock at all, but that's just my opinion. I do have a bardlock that LOVE to play, but I couldn't handle a single class warlock with only 2 spell slots even though they are a short rest.
Either a celestial warlock or a cleric would be a great benefit to any party. So there is no wrong answer to your dilemma.
My recommendation would be to set aside the class for a moment and focus on the character's backstory. Why would the character choose either path? Where did he/she come from? What opportunities for learning were around there? Considering that both the celestial warlock and the cleric are strong support roles, the character must be very empathetic and caring for others (at least for their team). If he's from a big city, maybe he gravitated to a major temple and became a cleric. If he's from a remote area with few temples, maybe he was approached in the wild by a unicorn and tasked with a great quest, and with the celestial powers to accomplish the quest.
The character's race may also be a factor in the decision. If he's an aasimar, celestial warlock seems like an obvious choice. If he's from a race with a strong sense of law and tradition, like a dwarf, then it may be more likely that he joined the well-established temple and became a cleric.
The important thing to remember is that a character's backstory determines not only where they came from, but WHY they chose the path they chose. Don't force a class on a character. Write a good backstory and then let the character determine the class.
Also remember that no character is ever "designated to just support", especially not a cleric! Warlocks have lots of cool special abilities - their invocations and pact boons - which make them incredibly customizable. Clerics have the largest number of subclasses (domains) of any class, each with their own cool special abilities, which means that every cleric is an absolute beast at whatever needs to be done. Plus - consider that your decision should not be based solely on which class would be better in a fight, since the vast majority of your character's time will be spent outside of battle rather than in battle.
The bottom line is that whichever class you choose, the character will still be you. Revel in that! Find your role in the party, play up your strengths and your weaknesses, both in combat and in social settings. But most importantly.... have fun!
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Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
I agree with the replies above that either class will work, and to think about what you think would be more fun to take! There's really no wrong answer here, and both a cleric or celestial warlock will offer you some really nice healing options. There are two things I'll point out to keep in mind that might help in your decisions.
First, you have a paladin, druid and bard in the party. That's three other characters that have access to healing abilities and spells, so you shouldn't feel like you NEED to be a healer.
Second, if you pick a cleric you can swap out your spells every long rest. This gives you a LOT of flexibility to adapt to the situation you are in as well as change things up if you are unhappy with the role you are playing. It's really only the Life and Grave clerics that are really focused on healing, all the others have a variety of offensive options. You can always wake up in the morning and stack healing/support spells and be the prime buffer and healer, or pick all the fire spells and blast your enemies to ash!
If you're worried about being stuck in the "support role" with a cleric then you should re-read the class and sub-class features. Too many sub-classes get wrecking-ball status with heavy armor and martial weapons. And just because you take a support role doesn't mean you need to be just a heal-bot.
There are lot's of ways to "be of help" to your party and both your choices are good ones. But you should always start with what you want to play and go from there.
Just wanted to throw another option into the mix: Divine Soul Sorcerer/Circle of Life Cleric multiclass can be a lot of fun as well, and Sorc's Metamagic options can really change up traditional healer/support gameplay.
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Hello all,
I'm fairly new to D&D and am going into a campaign (Dungeon of the Mad Mage) with some more experienced players and would like to be usefull. The team is comprised (I believe) of a paladin (death knight maybe), a druid, a fighter/warlock, and a bard. I was thinking of playing a cleric, warlock or some combination of the two. I want to be helpful to the party, but I'd prefer not to be designated to just support. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Clerics can be very effective damage dealers at mid level (around 5-7). You can out dps a fighter at level 3 with spiritual weapon.
Warlock's are very customisable and generally know for the consistent power and resource independence of their agonizing blast. Warlock's get a lot fewer spells per encounter though.
My advice is to pick whichever one will be more fun. I personally love playing Warlock’s, that’s probably my favorite class, but that’s just me.
A Celestial Patron Warlock will give you ranged healing as a bonus action, effective damage with Eldritch Blast and Sacred Flame, and if you take Pact of the Tome you can be almost as versatile a spellcaster out of combat as a Wizard if you also take the Book of Ancient Secrets Invocation and your DM let’s you find ritual spells. The problem that you’ll have is picking your spells and Invocations, that’s a very difficult decision to make when you’re playing a Warlock and no two Warlock’s that I’ve played have been the same, or even close to the same as a result.
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Warlocks are easier to learn as they have limited casting ability. I'd go with cleric even though they are harder to learn with the expansive spell list and that you can prepare whatever you like every day. I'm not a fan of straight single class warlock at all, but that's just my opinion. I do have a bardlock that LOVE to play, but I couldn't handle a single class warlock with only 2 spell slots even though they are a short rest.
Either a celestial warlock or a cleric would be a great benefit to any party. So there is no wrong answer to your dilemma.
My recommendation would be to set aside the class for a moment and focus on the character's backstory. Why would the character choose either path? Where did he/she come from? What opportunities for learning were around there? Considering that both the celestial warlock and the cleric are strong support roles, the character must be very empathetic and caring for others (at least for their team). If he's from a big city, maybe he gravitated to a major temple and became a cleric. If he's from a remote area with few temples, maybe he was approached in the wild by a unicorn and tasked with a great quest, and with the celestial powers to accomplish the quest.
The character's race may also be a factor in the decision. If he's an aasimar, celestial warlock seems like an obvious choice. If he's from a race with a strong sense of law and tradition, like a dwarf, then it may be more likely that he joined the well-established temple and became a cleric.
The important thing to remember is that a character's backstory determines not only where they came from, but WHY they chose the path they chose. Don't force a class on a character. Write a good backstory and then let the character determine the class.
Also remember that no character is ever "designated to just support", especially not a cleric! Warlocks have lots of cool special abilities - their invocations and pact boons - which make them incredibly customizable. Clerics have the largest number of subclasses (domains) of any class, each with their own cool special abilities, which means that every cleric is an absolute beast at whatever needs to be done. Plus - consider that your decision should not be based solely on which class would be better in a fight, since the vast majority of your character's time will be spent outside of battle rather than in battle.
The bottom line is that whichever class you choose, the character will still be you. Revel in that! Find your role in the party, play up your strengths and your weaknesses, both in combat and in social settings. But most importantly.... have fun!
Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
Anzio Faro. Lvl 5 Prot. Aasimar Light Cleric.
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InsiderI agree with the replies above that either class will work, and to think about what you think would be more fun to take! There's really no wrong answer here, and both a cleric or celestial warlock will offer you some really nice healing options. There are two things I'll point out to keep in mind that might help in your decisions.
First, you have a paladin, druid and bard in the party. That's three other characters that have access to healing abilities and spells, so you shouldn't feel like you NEED to be a healer.
Second, if you pick a cleric you can swap out your spells every long rest. This gives you a LOT of flexibility to adapt to the situation you are in as well as change things up if you are unhappy with the role you are playing. It's really only the Life and Grave clerics that are really focused on healing, all the others have a variety of offensive options. You can always wake up in the morning and stack healing/support spells and be the prime buffer and healer, or pick all the fire spells and blast your enemies to ash!
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If you're worried about being stuck in the "support role" with a cleric then you should re-read the class and sub-class features. Too many sub-classes get wrecking-ball status with heavy armor and martial weapons. And just because you take a support role doesn't mean you need to be just a heal-bot.
There are lot's of ways to "be of help" to your party and both your choices are good ones. But you should always start with what you want to play and go from there.
Just wanted to throw another option into the mix: Divine Soul Sorcerer/Circle of Life Cleric multiclass can be a lot of fun as well, and Sorc's Metamagic options can really change up traditional healer/support gameplay.