D&D 5E Tank or heals focus

Jacob Schmidt · Apr 30, 2017

Hi all, new to both 5e and to the community. I've gm'd some Pathfinder, but I've finally found a game to play in. The DM had the 4 us role our pcs separately so no chance at party optimization. I went mountain dwarf life cleric, figuring I'd help on the front lines and have heals and some utility. Had luck with the dice, ended with: STR 18 Dex 12 Con 17 Int 10 Wis 17 Cha 10
We had our first session, all our players are brand new to dnd. We have a wizard, ranged fighter, and an extremely squishy rogue. Leaving me as both only front line/tank and only heals. We hit level 2 at the end of the session, so here is my predicimate... do I stay the course and keep pumping levels in life cleric, or do I multiclass and grab some fighter levels to hold up better on the front lines? Or a third option I'm not thinking of yet. All advice welcome and appreciated. Thanks.

Yunru · Apr 30, 2017

You should be fine. The rest of your party works at range, so your job is to get in their first and not let the enemy pass. Unfortunately the only way to do that is basically hope

At fourth level, I recommend picking up either Sentinel (to help keep enemies adjacent), or Heavy Armor Master if you find yourself being overwhelmed.

Stick with Cleric. They do solid enough damage, especially with Spectral Weapon (2nd level spell), and with the amount of bonus action healing they have access to, you're also not going down easy.

Blue · Apr 30, 2017

Stick with cleric. 5e doesn't have a lot of class mechanics for tank, fighter wouldn't make you more defender-y, just doing more damage. But higher level spells will be your friend - spiritual guardian, spectral hammer, lots of others that can help with that with you up front, and you keep getting better and better at healing as well.

I know you put your highest in STR, but that will wither after about 4th level unless you are willing to basically abandon cleric and get (at least) 5 levels in a class that grants extra attack. I wouldn't suggest it with your ability scores.

Yunru · Apr 30, 2017

Blue said:
I know you put your highest in STR, but that will wither after about 4th level unless you are willing to basically abandon cleric and get (at least) 5 levels in a class that grants extra attack. I wouldn't suggest it with your ability scores.

If he can get Booming Blade it'll be good enough. Especially with Sentinel.

Blue · Apr 30, 2017

Yunru said:
If he can get Booming Blade it'll be good enough. Especially with Sentinel.

Completely agree with you that high STR will be nice with Sentinel. But with INT 10 and CHR 10, I don't see how he's getting booming blade.

Yunru · Apr 30, 2017

Blue said:
Completely agree with you that high STR will be nice with Sentinel. But with INT 10 and CHR 10, I don't see how he's getting booming blade.

Magic Initiate's a possibility, if quite expensive.

Jacob Schmidt · Apr 30, 2017

Right on. I was l leaning Warcaster at 4th but I really like the look of sentinel. Thanks for all the input.

Moraine · May 1, 2017

Check your favorite spells. If you are the only front-liner, you will need Warcaster for rolling concentration with advantage.

mellored · May 1, 2017

Life clerics are one of the tankiest classes, you have a lot of HP in your spells and abilities.

Sentinel at 4 is a good idea, but see how your DM runs monsters first. If enemies are staying next you anyways, it's a waste.

I suggest the next choices should be heavy armor master (19 Str), resilient Con (18 Con), and then +1 Str/+1 Wis (20 Str, 18 Wis).