Let me know if I'm reading things wrong, but it seems like Spirit Weapon is giving me the benefits of the dual wield feat. It might scale damage slowly, but that's the effect of bonus action move/attack each round, for up to 10 rounds. Right?
And the possible additional benefit of using your spellcasting modifier (Wisdom in the case of Clerics, Charisma in the case of Bards who take this as one of their Secrets) instead of Strength/Dexterity. Most likely, your spellcasting modifier is going to be your highest stat, so this will likely up your chance of hit and damage.
And there's the whole it's magic, so it circumvents resistance/immunity to weapon attacks, and it's force damage so it circumvents the resistance/immunity to bludgeoning/slashing/piercing damage. Granted, it sucks if they are resistant to force damage or magic, but more enemies are resistant to B/S/P than they are to Force.
Oh, AND you get your ability modifier on the off-hand attack, which doesn't happen unless you were a fighter/ranger with two-weapon fighting style or a monk using it's unarmed strike.
It actually works very well with the War Priest ability of the War domain, seeing as that has limited uses. If you don't get long rests regularly enough, this can help so that you get more bonus attacks than you otherwise would.
“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.
Thanks for pointing out those benefits I didn't even think about. The down-side is going to be my casting slots, as opposed to a fighter/ranger's always-on abilities. But I'll run with this, for sure!
Spiritual Weapon is widely superior to TWF/DW. The beauty of the spell in an heavily armored Cleric is that, different from TWF, you don’t need to take an Attack action to then use your bonus action to attack with it. You can use your bonus action any time you want to move and hammer down your foes.
What does it mean?
Dodge action + Spiritual Weapon attack. Assuming you have a regular AC of 19-20 and from now on every attack made against you will have disadvantage, expect not being hit anymore in your life. Of course your damage will not be that good, but you can reinforce that with Spirit Guardians.
We can really go crazy and create an untouchable Forge Cleric who can abuse this strategy. Consider Full Plate, Shield and Blessing of the Forge for a basic AC of 21. Just for the sake of the exercise, let’s suppose this dude has Shield of Faith up for an impressive AC 23. If we consider that being attacked at disadvantage is something like +3~5 to AC, we are talking about an AC of 26~28 just using two spell slots and the right actions from the game.
Is it possible to get the Dual Wield feat and attach, offhand attack, and spirit weapon attack in one turn?
I don't believe so. The Two-weapon fighting rules state that the offhand attack is made using a bonus action. You only get one bonus action per turn. You could either attack with your off hand, or attack with the spiritual weapon, but not both on the same turn.
Just like if you had healing word, which casts as a bonus action -- you could cast healing word, or attack with the spiritual weapon, but not both on the same turn.
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Let me know if I'm reading things wrong, but it seems like Spirit Weapon is giving me the benefits of the dual wield feat. It might scale damage slowly, but that's the effect of bonus action move/attack each round, for up to 10 rounds. Right?
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Yes, with the additional benefit that the weapon can move and attack away from you.
And the possible additional benefit of using your spellcasting modifier (Wisdom in the case of Clerics, Charisma in the case of Bards who take this as one of their Secrets) instead of Strength/Dexterity. Most likely, your spellcasting modifier is going to be your highest stat, so this will likely up your chance of hit and damage.
And there's the whole it's magic, so it circumvents resistance/immunity to weapon attacks, and it's force damage so it circumvents the resistance/immunity to bludgeoning/slashing/piercing damage. Granted, it sucks if they are resistant to force damage or magic, but more enemies are resistant to B/S/P than they are to Force.
Oh, AND you get your ability modifier on the off-hand attack, which doesn't happen unless you were a fighter/ranger with two-weapon fighting style or a monk using it's unarmed strike.
It actually works very well with the War Priest ability of the War domain, seeing as that has limited uses. If you don't get long rests regularly enough, this can help so that you get more bonus attacks than you otherwise would.
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“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.
Thanks for pointing out those benefits I didn't even think about. The down-side is going to be my casting slots, as opposed to a fighter/ranger's always-on abilities. But I'll run with this, for sure!
Chandelierianism: Not just for interns anymore.
Is it possible to get the Dual Wield feat and attach, offhand attack, and spirit weapon attack in one turn?
Spiritual Weapon is widely superior to TWF/DW. The beauty of the spell in an heavily armored Cleric is that, different from TWF, you don’t need to take an Attack action to then use your bonus action to attack with it. You can use your bonus action any time you want to move and hammer down your foes.
What does it mean?
Dodge action + Spiritual Weapon attack. Assuming you have a regular AC of 19-20 and from now on every attack made against you will have disadvantage, expect not being hit anymore in your life. Of course your damage will not be that good, but you can reinforce that with Spirit Guardians.
We can really go crazy and create an untouchable Forge Cleric who can abuse this strategy. Consider Full Plate, Shield and Blessing of the Forge for a basic AC of 21. Just for the sake of the exercise, let’s suppose this dude has Shield of Faith up for an impressive AC 23. If we consider that being attacked at disadvantage is something like +3~5 to AC, we are talking about an AC of 26~28 just using two spell slots and the right actions from the game.
Yeah... Clerics can be really powerful tanks.
I don't believe so. The Two-weapon fighting rules state that the offhand attack is made using a bonus action. You only get one bonus action per turn. You could either attack with your off hand, or attack with the spiritual weapon, but not both on the same turn.
Just like if you had healing word, which casts as a bonus action -- you could cast healing word, or attack with the spiritual weapon, but not both on the same turn.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
The attack with a spiritual weapon is a bonus action.
I think the question is, can they use their action to attack with a weapon, and the bonus action to attack with spiritual weapon?
I know they could use a cantrip as their action, but not sure if they could use a melee or ranged weapon
I don't see why not. There is nothing in the text of the spell that says they can't.
I certainly allow it.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
thanks! i was trying to sneak in a third attack but i decided to go with single wield with a shield and the Luck feat. appreciate the responses!