D&D 5E Clerical Errors: Clerics in 5E

[Zardnaar]

The Death cleric looks like it has a couple nice things going for it. I rather like the spell list, the ability to snag Chill Touch and tag multiple targets gives a very nice ranged option, and bypassing necrotic resistance lets it focus on its specialty without needing to spend a feat. The main issue I see - it is the only Divine Striker not to gain heavy armor. And while False Life helps give a durability boost, that does seem like a key weakness.

It does get martial weapons which is interesting. The only other clerics getting that get heavy armor.

 

[MrMyth]

Put simply once per short rest (twice at level 6) it can maximise lightning or thunder damage. And most of your domain spells have thunder or lightning damage at every level and you can use your higher level spell slots to cast some very large call lightning spells while outside. A level 6 call lightning spell for example deals 60 points of damage per turn per bolt. If the weather is bad you get an extra d10.

I don't believe this actually works - you use the Maximize when rolling damage, not when casting the spell. So you can spend the Channel Divinity to maximize a single bolt, but not every bolt for the entire spell.

 

[MrMyth]

It does get martial weapons which is interesting. The only other clerics getting that get heavy armor.

Yeah, it is a very interesting mix of abilities. It gets Martial Weapons, and a Channel Divinity that keys off melee, and Divine Strike. But it also has a core feature about boosting a cantrip, and a spell list with several debuffing rays and similar effects. There is something to be said for versatility, but that also means it seems a bit weaker in certain roles compared to some of the other domains that really specialize in one approach.

 

[Zardnaar]

I don't believe this actually works - you use the Maximize when rolling damage, not when casting the spell. So you can spend the Channel Divinity to maximize a single bolt, but not every bolt for the entire spell.

I checked this the other day and it seems unclear because I was wondering the same thing. It does seem to maximise the spell each time you roll not the whole spell effect so I think you are right. Still a decent ability though. Our tempest cleric usually uses in of destructive wave (30 damage +5d6) or on call lightning if outside and shatter in a dungeon.

4th level cleric spells seem a bit underwhelming so those slots often get used for lower level spells, 5d6 shatters, 4d10 call lightnings, 4d8 spiritual guardians, 9d6 fireballs etc.

 

[Zardnaar]

I don't believe this actually works - you use the Maximize when rolling damage, not when casting the spell. So you can spend the Channel Divinity to maximize a single bolt, but not every bolt for the entire spell.

Yup I think I was wrong on this one.

OK evaluationg the death clerics. You can use chill touch on two targets as long as they are withing 5' of each other. This is from level 1 so may not work all the time but the death cleric now has the best at will ability in the game short of a war cleric and level 8 light and knowledge clerics and even then you can hit multiple targets. That is a good ability. YOu need a decent wisdom score and you are a cleric.

Touch of Death. This is in effect a smite attack. I don't think it is as good as the war clerics +10 to hit one let alone the light clerics radian dawn. 5+cleric level damage on a melee hit loks good BUT it has to be a melee attack on a class that doesn't get heavy armor and seems to be very MAD at this point.

Default stat array
str 13
dex 14
con 12
wis 15
int 8
cha 10

You will probably need to make your stats look something like this to have a reasonable AC. This gives you AC19 in the best medium armor which is decent enough. Ideally you want racials to get that strength and wisdom up so variant human I suppose.
Str 14
dex 14
con 12
wis 15
int 8
cha 10

You could also go for a wood elf and key things of dex. This gives you speed of 35 and you can use a rapier keyed of dex and AC 19.
Str 13
Dex 14
Con 14
wis 16
int 8
cha 10
This makes you less squishy than the 14 strength option at the cost of a feat (warcaster, tough etc) so seems a bit pointless unless your DM doesn't allow the variant human.

You could also dump strength and run around in studded leather+shield but your AC will be 17 at best and unlikely to be buffed.

If you have a moderate dex score (14) you can also use bows reasonably well regardless of race so that may be a better option some of the time than sacred flamne or chill touch.

The class seems a bit MAD to be honest to use all your features to some extent. Light cleric can easily sit at the back, use radiant dawn, flare and throw fireballs it doesn't have to melee unlike this one. Gauntlets of Ogre power would make this a lot better and you can get some in LMoP.

 

[Joe Liker]

One glaring downside to the Trickery Domain is that its divine strike does poison damage. There are so many enemies immune to that, including; Undead, many Elementals, Angels, Constructs, Demons and Devils.

It's a real shame because it has an awesome spell list and the Channel Divinity ability is pretty cool (and is probably the safest way to apply Contagion)

I agree; poison damage is, without a doubt, an extremely weak damage type at higher levels.

The Trickery domain was the only one I found truly disappointing. I don't mind that it's more useful outside of combat than in combat, but even the out-of-combat stuff is far more situational than it needs to be.

I guess it just doesn't seem that "tricky" to me -- the actual tricks you can do are mild at best, and generally so costly that you might often ignore them because your resources are better spent using your more traditional cleric powers.

 

[MrMyth]

I agree; poison damage is, without a doubt, an extremely weak damage type at higher levels.

The Trickery domain was the only one I found truly disappointing. I don't mind that it's more useful outside of combat than in combat, but even the out-of-combat stuff is far more situational than it needs to be.

I guess it just doesn't seem that "tricky" to me -- the actual tricks you can do are mild at best, and generally so costly that you might often ignore them because your resources are better spent using your more traditional cleric powers.

I'm not too disappointed in the abilities, but the poison does seem weak. And while the level 1 perk is nice, every other Domain seems to get 2-3 perks, so that seems a curious omission.

If I was to fix it, I'd probably give them a bonus skill proficiency at level 1 (choose from Acrobatics, Stealth, Deception or Persuasion), and I'd replace Divine Strike with, say, 2d6 Sneak Attack.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Thanks for the write-up!

I kind of like what they've done with the Death domain. The dual chilled touchcapability of the Death domain really stuck out to me as being very powerful from the moment I saw it. Getting martial weapon proficiency without heavy armor is actually something that I find an interesting and flavorful departure from what is otherwise a predictable pattern. It says that this guy isn't the tyrannical battle cleric (War) but instead is someone who might be hiding behind a cowl and swinging a scythe at you... I guess I see the versatility of options quite appealing, even if it may not be the most effective from a focused build concept. It's probably intentional design. Death domain is supposed to represent a lot of evil deities of varying types, and they probably were careful to make sure it didn't seem outright better than the PHB options (erring on the side of making it seem an average option), so as to avoid everyone wanting to play Death domain clerics for extra power (rather than character concept). Just a guess.