Friends recently started a 5e campaign starting at lvl 1. Of everyone in my group, two of us are familiar with the game (the other is our DM), while everyone else is completely new. To that end, I kind of want to make sure they have a good time and get the most out of their character choices. To that end, I decided to be the healer, a war cleric, alongside a Assassin Rogue, a Devotion Paladin, a Champion Fighter and a Land Druid (at least that’s what they’re aiming for). Not sure if this information is helpful, but I figured it couldn’t hurt.
The idea for the character was to be a follower of Helm and served as a mercenary field medic/chaplain. While Helm isn’t exactly a war domain god, the character’s role on the battlefield as a “guard of the wounded” has her playing equally in the war domain as well as the life domain.
Given her role as a combat medic, I’ve been toying with the idea of putting some points into more martial classes to fit her story. Originally, I was thinking some levels into Hunter Ranger, for the Wisdom spellcasting, fighting style, and Colossus Slayer. I’m however wondering if Fighter or Rogue would be a better fit for the character.
I’m open to any input. I’m also open to other ideas if you have them.
Mechanically, for what you have in mind for the character, I don't see you gaining much by multiclassing since the War Domain is already very focused on martial abilities. Heavy armor, all martial weapons, pseudo extra attack, etc.... But if it fits how you envision the character, go for it!
That being said, I would recommend not multiclassing until after 6 levels of cleric: Three 3rd level slots, Channel Divinity improvement, and the ASI would all be hard to justify delaying. For the ASI, you might consider the Great Weapon Master feat as it works well with the War Domain Channel Divinity.
Based on what you describe, if you're looking to multiclass for some martial emphasis, Fighter seems like the right way to go. It says "battlefield" to me more than Ranger or Rogue. As with any multiclassing though, pay close attention both to what you'll be giving up from your primary class, and what you'll be delaying. Having a Paladin and a Druid in the party does take a bit of the burden off you as a healer, so taking some Fighter levels shouldn't be a big problem.
I’m thinking the same thing after thinking about it more. I’m leaning towards 6 levels of battle master to keep my ASI, some maneuvers, and an extra attack.
I’m looking at Dueling Fighting style, second wind, and action surge. I was considering 6 lvls to get some battle Master maneuvers and extra attack, but I don’t think I’m willing to sacrifice spell slots for it.
I’m looking at Dueling Fighting style, second wind, and action surge. I was considering 6 lvls to get some battle Master maneuvers and extra attack, but I don’t think I’m willing to sacrifice spell slots for it.
If you want extra attack without worrying about spell slots as much, 5 levels if ranger gets it and some extra low level spells that cleric cant usually get, and still gets level 9 slots (not level 9 spells, but meh).
I did a war cleric build in a similar vain. The idea was holy mercenary. Human and by 4th level had polearm master and war caster. At 6th level switched to fighter and took battle master. That is as far as I got.
He was a beast in low level combat and a healer to boot. Individually was a great character mechanically and fun to roleplay. But in party mechanics, if that is important, staying cleric would have been more effective.
If you're going to multiclass with a martial character anyway, I think you've overemphasizing "soldier" and under-emphasizing "medic/chaplain." War cleric gets you more attacks when making the attack action, more accurate attacks, the ability to make others more accurate, the ability to deal more damage, and the ability to take less. None of that sounds like a medic to me.
As Jesse mentioned, if you just take War Cleric alone, you're already enough of a hybrid so you can just stop there. If you want that extra attack feature, then multiclassing 5 ranger like Dx recommends is the best martial class for your purposes, since it will only cost you ~3 levels of caster spell slot progression, rather than 5.
But. If you're really planning on going Battlemaster for several levels and getting maneuvers and all of that, then you really don't need to still be a War Cleric too, it's very redundant. Grave Domain will let you spend more time fighting, since it's acceptable (encouraged, even) to not waste time healing until your party members drop, and also lets you negate criticals which is a potentially party-saving feature. Life domain also heals very effectively, and includes ways to spread healing out on yourself and others. Order Domain will make your healing feel like fighting by handing out off-turn attacks to your party, and also lets you cast some spells as Bonus Actons instead of Actions to free you up for more of the fighting you clearly want to do.
I'd very much encourage a Grave, Life, or Order cleric over a War cleric if you're already going to be multiclassing Fighter, and if you're trying to build a character that's about more than just making yourself more awesome in combat.
Personally, with the makeup of your party (Assassin Rogue, a Devotion Paladin, a Champion Fighter and a Land Druid) I don't think you are needing a cleric but rather a wizard. The paladin and druid should be plenty healing enough.
If you are really wanting to play a war cleric then there are plenty of options. I played a combat medic character that was a life cleric/way of the hand monk and it was tons of fun. The extra movement that monk gets is perfect for getting to a downed party member and then back out of the thick of things.
If you are really stuck on fighter than why not go with EK? You'll gain access to some great low level wizard spells and with 6 levels you will be adding a few levels to your overall spell slots. A war cleric 14/eldritch knight fighter 6 would be fairly solid. Anytime you can par shield with plate armor is a good time.
One word of warning from my own experience. Delaying raise dead can be more problematic then you might suppose at first. Depending on your DM death can come surprising fast in levels above 9 or 10.
If you're going to multiclass with a martial character anyway, I think you've overemphasizing "soldier" and under-emphasizing "medic/chaplain." War cleric gets you more attacks when making the attack action, more accurate attacks, the ability to make others more accurate, the ability to deal more damage, and the ability to take less. None of that sounds like a medic to me.
As Jesse mentioned, if you just take War Cleric alone, you're already enough of a hybrid so you can just stop there. If you want that extra attack feature, then multiclassing 5 ranger like Dx recommends is the best martial class for your purposes, since it will only cost you ~3 levels of caster spell slot progression, rather than 5.
But. If you're really planning on going Battlemaster for several levels and getting maneuvers and all of that, then you really don't need to still be a War Cleric too, it's very redundant. Grave Domain will let you spend more time fighting, since it's acceptable (encouraged, even) to not waste time healing until your party members drop, and also lets you negate criticals which is a potentially party-saving feature. Life domain also heals very effectively, and includes ways to spread healing out on yourself and others. Order Domain will make your healing feel like fighting by handing out off-turn attacks to your party, and also lets you cast some spells as Bonus Actons instead of Actions to free you up for more of the fighting you clearly want to do.
I'd very much encourage a Grave, Life, or Order cleric over a War cleric if you're already going to be multiclassing Fighter, and if you're trying to build a character that's about more than just making yourself more awesome in combat.
Grave also has Spare the Dying automatically as a 30 ft bonus action. Additionally, you could go with something like Forge Domain and give yourself a +1 weapon or +1 Armor. As others have suggested EK can give you more spell progression while maintaining the fighter feel. An eventual EK 8/Cleric 12 or EK 7/Cleric 13 gives fun options, including being able to Spare the Dying as an action to trigger EKs War Magic to attack with a bonus action.
Death Domain or Light domain can give you more of a blaster feel to couple with fighter's martial prowess if you want to explore that angle more.
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Friends recently started a 5e campaign starting at lvl 1. Of everyone in my group, two of us are familiar with the game (the other is our DM), while everyone else is completely new. To that end, I kind of want to make sure they have a good time and get the most out of their character choices. To that end, I decided to be the healer, a war cleric, alongside a Assassin Rogue, a Devotion Paladin, a Champion Fighter and a Land Druid (at least that’s what they’re aiming for). Not sure if this information is helpful, but I figured it couldn’t hurt.
The idea for the character was to be a follower of Helm and served as a mercenary field medic/chaplain. While Helm isn’t exactly a war domain god, the character’s role on the battlefield as a “guard of the wounded” has her playing equally in the war domain as well as the life domain.
Given her role as a combat medic, I’ve been toying with the idea of putting some points into more martial classes to fit her story. Originally, I was thinking some levels into Hunter Ranger, for the Wisdom spellcasting, fighting style, and Colossus Slayer. I’m however wondering if Fighter or Rogue would be a better fit for the character.
I’m open to any input. I’m also open to other ideas if you have them.
Mechanically, for what you have in mind for the character, I don't see you gaining much by multiclassing since the War Domain is already very focused on martial abilities. Heavy armor, all martial weapons, pseudo extra attack, etc.... But if it fits how you envision the character, go for it!
That being said, I would recommend not multiclassing until after 6 levels of cleric: Three 3rd level slots, Channel Divinity improvement, and the ASI would all be hard to justify delaying. For the ASI, you might consider the Great Weapon Master feat as it works well with the War Domain Channel Divinity.
Based on what you describe, if you're looking to multiclass for some martial emphasis, Fighter seems like the right way to go. It says "battlefield" to me more than Ranger or Rogue. As with any multiclassing though, pay close attention both to what you'll be giving up from your primary class, and what you'll be delaying. Having a Paladin and a Druid in the party does take a bit of the burden off you as a healer, so taking some Fighter levels shouldn't be a big problem.
I’m thinking the same thing after thinking about it more. I’m leaning towards 6 levels of battle master to keep my ASI, some maneuvers, and an extra attack.
I’m looking at Dueling Fighting style, second wind, and action surge. I was considering 6 lvls to get some battle Master maneuvers and extra attack, but I don’t think I’m willing to sacrifice spell slots for it.
If you want extra attack without worrying about spell slots as much, 5 levels if ranger gets it and some extra low level spells that cleric cant usually get, and still gets level 9 slots (not level 9 spells, but meh).
I did a war cleric build in a similar vain. The idea was holy mercenary. Human and by 4th level had polearm master and war caster. At 6th level switched to fighter and took battle master. That is as far as I got.
He was a beast in low level combat and a healer to boot. Individually was a great character mechanically and fun to roleplay. But in party mechanics, if that is important, staying cleric would have been more effective.
Everyone is the main character of their story
If you're going to multiclass with a martial character anyway, I think you've overemphasizing "soldier" and under-emphasizing "medic/chaplain." War cleric gets you more attacks when making the attack action, more accurate attacks, the ability to make others more accurate, the ability to deal more damage, and the ability to take less. None of that sounds like a medic to me.
As Jesse mentioned, if you just take War Cleric alone, you're already enough of a hybrid so you can just stop there. If you want that extra attack feature, then multiclassing 5 ranger like Dx recommends is the best martial class for your purposes, since it will only cost you ~3 levels of caster spell slot progression, rather than 5.
But. If you're really planning on going Battlemaster for several levels and getting maneuvers and all of that, then you really don't need to still be a War Cleric too, it's very redundant. Grave Domain will let you spend more time fighting, since it's acceptable (encouraged, even) to not waste time healing until your party members drop, and also lets you negate criticals which is a potentially party-saving feature. Life domain also heals very effectively, and includes ways to spread healing out on yourself and others. Order Domain will make your healing feel like fighting by handing out off-turn attacks to your party, and also lets you cast some spells as Bonus Actons instead of Actions to free you up for more of the fighting you clearly want to do.
I'd very much encourage a Grave, Life, or Order cleric over a War cleric if you're already going to be multiclassing Fighter, and if you're trying to build a character that's about more than just making yourself more awesome in combat.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Personally, with the makeup of your party (Assassin Rogue, a Devotion Paladin, a Champion Fighter and a Land Druid) I don't think you are needing a cleric but rather a wizard. The paladin and druid should be plenty healing enough.
If you are really wanting to play a war cleric then there are plenty of options. I played a combat medic character that was a life cleric/way of the hand monk and it was tons of fun. The extra movement that monk gets is perfect for getting to a downed party member and then back out of the thick of things.
If you are really stuck on fighter than why not go with EK? You'll gain access to some great low level wizard spells and with 6 levels you will be adding a few levels to your overall spell slots. A war cleric 14/eldritch knight fighter 6 would be fairly solid. Anytime you can par shield with plate armor is a good time.
One word of warning from my own experience. Delaying raise dead can be more problematic then you might suppose at first. Depending on your DM death can come surprising fast in levels above 9 or 10.
Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
Check out my homebrew: Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Feats
Main reasoning behind this character was that the Paladin and Druid are new players, and I wanted to give them some room to play how they want.
i typically play martial classes, so this is me dipping my feet into caster classes as well.
Well cleric (and bard) is a great in between of full caster with non-zero martial prowess.
Grave also has Spare the Dying automatically as a 30 ft bonus action. Additionally, you could go with something like Forge Domain and give yourself a +1 weapon or +1 Armor. As others have suggested EK can give you more spell progression while maintaining the fighter feel. An eventual EK 8/Cleric 12 or EK 7/Cleric 13 gives fun options, including being able to Spare the Dying as an action to trigger EKs War Magic to attack with a bonus action.
Death Domain or Light domain can give you more of a blaster feel to couple with fighter's martial prowess if you want to explore that angle more.