Flaming Sphere + Booming Blade

[FrogReaver]

Let's figure out the best way to get this combo working.

My initial thought is something like Fighter 1 / Wizard X

Something like fighter 1 / Light Cleric X or Fighter 1 / Celestial Warlock X also sounds promising.

Or possibly even Sorcerer 1 / Light Cleric X

 

[RangerWickett]

What would the fighter get you? Con saves to maintain concentration?

Go Mountain Dwarf, straight warlock, take Magic Initiate as your 4th level feat, then open up with flaming sphere and wade into battle smacking people with your booming warhammer or battle axe?

 

[FrogReaver]

What would the fighter get you? Con saves to maintain concentration?

Go Mountain Dwarf, straight warlock, take Magic Initiate as your 4th level feat, then open up with flaming sphere and wade into battle smacking people with your booming warhammer or battle axe?

Fighter is for Con saves, good AC and less MAD.

What's magic initiate for?

 

[RangerWickett]

To get Booming Blade, which isn't a warlock cantrip, is it?

 

[RangerWickett]

Oh, n/m, it is. Well.

 

[FrogReaver]

Oh, n/m, it is. Well.

Right, so what do you dislike about the fighter 1 MC options?

 

[RogueJK]

A couple semi-official options (Pyromancer is from Plane Shift: Kaladesh, and Wildfire Druid is UA)...

Option 1:
Dispater/Glasya/Levistus Tiefling
Hexblade Warlock 1/Pyromancer Sorcerer X (Starting Sorcerer at Level 1 for CON saves.)

Focus on CHA, with moderate DEX and CON. Mostly SAD, and lets you really lean into the Fire element, taking the Flames of Phlegethos feat at your first ASI, and stocking up on other fire spells in addition to Flaming Sphere.


Option 2, if you don't want to multiclass:
Variant High Half-Elf with the Booming Blade racial cantrip, or Variant Human with the Magic Initiate Wizard feat for BB, a utility cantrip, and 1/day Find Familiar or Shield
Wildfire Druid

Focus on DEX and WIS. Take Warcaster or Resilient CON at Level 4, alleviating the need to take a level of Fighter. (Still has access to Scimitars for a d6 Finesse weapons, so the loss of 1 point on average of weapon damage isn't worth worrying about not having access to the d8 Rapier.)

 

[Esker]

If you are mostly a cleric, devoting your concentration and often your bonus action to flaming sphere seems bad. A damned if you do combo like this is only as good as the least damaging option, which will typically be 5-8 damage or so to one target, maybe 10-12 or so when you use your bonus action to ram and then lock down. Once you have spirit guardians you can be doing 10 or so to each of multiple enemies, and can add spiritual weapon to one with your bonus action. If there are multiple enemies, spirit guardians comes out ahead of an upcast FS even without SW.

 

[FrogReaver]

If you are mostly a cleric, devoting your concentration and often your bonus action to flaming sphere seems bad. A damned if you do combo like this is only as good as the least damaging option, which will typically be 5-8 damage or so to one target. Once you have spirit guardians you can be doing more than that to each of multiple enemies, so why would you bother with flaming sphere at that point?

Think single target.

Flaming Sphere upcast vs Spirit guardians. Difference in damage is d6 vs d8 damages. That will be less than 1 damage per spell level. You will get around 7-9 damage more from the catch 22. That's more than spiritual weapon will typically give.

Which shows it will do more single target damage than spirit guardians for a single spell slot. Spirit Guardians + Spiritual Weapon + Booming Blade probably comes out close for single target damage.

 

[Esker]

Flaming Sphere upcast vs Spirit guardains. Difference in damage is d6 vs d8 damages. hat will be less than 1

The advantage of FS is the potential of getting the damage twice per round, once with your bonus action and once by forcing them to end their turn next to it or eat thunder. If there is only one target that can potentially yield more damage than SG would give you, but it's rare IME not to be able to catch multiple enemies in your SG aura.