D&D 5E Nature cleric advice

[pukunui]

[MENTION=20564]Blue[/MENTION]: Exactly. Having a speed of 15 feet isn't particularly appealing. On top of that, I don't see why I would need to. If I'm wearing heavy armor, there's not really any need to have a decent Dex. So if I'm going to go that route, why not bump Str and just leave Dex at 10 (which is the lowest I can get it as a halfling).

 

[Zardnaar]

@Zardnaar:So you reckon I should ignore the heavy armor and stick with Dex?

@cbwjm @mellored: I'm cool with 8 Int. It fits with the ghostwise's primitive background.

Medium armor, hey everything off wisdom, take polearm master and buff wisdom and stick with 14 dex and 14 con until level 12 or so.

You get two attacks a round, two attempts at landing the 1d8 bonus damage at level 8, AC 19 in the best medium armor and you do not need to buff anything else apart from wisdom which is your to hit, damage and spell DC rolled into 1. If anyone walks up to you you get a free his on them.

Nature clerics are not the best at combat or at spellcasting but can reduce MAD and use Polearm Master as a staff counts and you can shillagh it.

Also you can get 2d8+1d4+8 damage by level 8 with 18 wisdom which is not to bad by cleric standards. YOu have a high chance of flunking concentration spells though so don't use them except for bless (bless+ 2 attacks= nice) and if you want to use spells like Spiritual guardians start as a fighter and MC into cleric (or Sorcerer if you are using medium armor), get the cons save proficinecy and the duelist thing.

Then you can tank around with 2d8+1d4+12 potential damage and are proficient in con saves and can use spells like Spiritual Guardians. Then you can be doing 5d8+1d4+12 potential damage (lvl 9) and probably put the war cleric to shame.

If you take a Sorcerer level you will need 13 charisma but you can pick up shield as a spell and have AC 24 when you need it, you already qualify for the fighter MC with the stats I recommended earlier.

 

[pukunui]

Wouldn't it be 1d8 plus 1d4? I'm not sure shillelagh would override the Polearm Master feat. Has one of the devs said it does? It's not something I could get till 4th level anyway, of course.

 

[Zardnaar]

Wouldn't it be 1d8 plus 1d4? I'm not sure shillelagh would override the Polearm Master feat. Has one of the devs said it does? It's not something I could get till 4th level anyway, of course.

I don't think it does turn the d4 into a d8. Its still a one handed weapon that offers a potental 1d8+1d4+6 damage at level 4 or an wxtra 4 damage with the fighter lev.

 

[Herobizkit]

Yep, as per RAW and confirmed by Jeremy on Twitter, you can totally one hand a d8 shillelagh with polearm master and get the two attacks with it IN ONE HAND. All the more reason to shield up.

 

[mellored]

Wouldn't it be 1d8 plus 1d4? I'm not sure shillelagh would override the Polearm Master feat. Has one of the devs said it does? It's not something I could get till 4th level anyway, of course.

If your playing at higher levels, or boosting Wis first, I would go magic initiate over polearm. Booming Blade/Green flameblade adds 3d8 minimum, which is more than 1d8+5 especially at high levels, and it doesn’t take your bonus action, which you can use for spiritual weapon.

Booming blade + mobility is also a fun combo.

Polearm wins for under level 11.

Edit: If you dip sorcerer, you can pick up booming blade without a feat, along with the con saves. Put that feat into Warcaster instead of polearm, then run in with spiritual guardian. If they try and get out of the area, they get a nasty OA, if they stay, they get guardianed. Toss spiritual weapon on top when you get enough slots and you'll be doing plenty of damage. Just remember to save a few for healing as needed.

 

[Willie the Duck]

Yep, as per RAW and confirmed by Jeremy on Twitter, you can totally one hand a d8 shillelagh with polearm master and get the two attacks with it IN ONE HAND. All the more reason to shield up.

I prefer to think of it as a subtle test to see if your DM has a backbone, and proof that the designers haven't quite gotten all of the 'systems mastery' lunacy of 3e out of their system.

But others may feel differently.

I just consider it ridiculous, not overpowered. Especially not since SCAG came out, and the real way to add power to Shillelagh is to take Magic Initiate and stack Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade on top of it (which doesn't work with PAM).

 

[Zardnaar]

If your playing at higher levels, or boosting Wis first, I would go magic initiate over polearm. Booming Blade/Green flameblade adds 3d8 minimum, which is more than 1d8+5 especially at high levels, and it doesn’t take your bonus action, which you can use for spiritual weapon.

Booming blade + mobility is also a fun combo.

Polearm wins for under level 11.

Edit: If you dip sorcerer, you can pick up booming blade without a feat, along with the con saves. Put that feat into Warcaster instead of polearm, then run in with spiritual guardian. If they try and get out of the area, they get a nasty OA, if they stay, they get guardianed. Toss spiritual weapon on top when you get enough slots and you'll be doing plenty of damage. Just remember to save a few for healing as needed.

Polearm also triggers an AoE every time someone walks up to you and there is a lot less immune to a magical staff to face than fire damage. GFB i also fairly underwhelming at level 1-4 and not that great at 5-10.

GFB+ Spiritual Weapon is kind of sexy though but it helps if you have a high CHa/Int to key it off (and you are back to MAD again) and its not that good for 10 levels. Magic staff also tilts the balance towards PAM.

Either way I would still use medium armor, you won't really have the option of buffing dex that often.

 

[pukunui]

FWIW, I will most likely only be playing this character between levels 3 and 10.

 

[Zardnaar]

FWIW, I will most likely only be playing this character between levels 3 and 10.

Well there is your answer. My wife kind of struggled to make her one work as she used heavy armor and kind of needed a 15 in strength.

Polarm master beats GFB in damage until level 11 and there is quite a bit resistant or immune to fire. Also whenever somoene comes within your reach you get to hit them with the quarterstass and with 2 attacks you also double your chances of getting the extra 1d8 damage at level 8.

Get the following stats before racials.

15
14
12
12
10
9

or

15
14
12
11
10
10

No dump stat.

15 goes into wisdom, 14 into con, 12 into dexterity. After racials you get 16 wisdom and 14 dex. Use medium armor and you do not need to worry about 15 strength or buffing your dexterity. AC 19 in the best armor with shield. Medium armor usually sucks for clerics but you are keying everything off wisdom so it reduced MAD and reduces the need to choose between buffing a physical attack stat or wisdom.

Level 4 Polearm master
Level 8 +2 wisdom.

Level 1-3 use whatever. If you are lucky something like a staff of healing or striking will eventually drop, magic staves are not exactly rare in D&D adventures.

At level 4 you get 2 attacks for 1d8+3 and 1d4+3 + reaction attack (1d8+3) and get to use a shield (AC 17-19 most likely). You get +6 to hit level 5 and +7 to hit level 8.

You are not proficient in con saves so that mmakes spells with concentration hard to use (except for bless assuming you bless yourself). There is not a lot you can do about that unless you change your race or MC as a fighter/sorcerer or take a feat at level 4 or 8.

If you want to be proficient in con saves start as a fighter taking the duellist style or tweak the stat array to get a 13 charisma and start as a Sorcerer for the spell pattern. Pick up sleep and magic missile, retrain sleep out later for shield. Either way you get proficiency ion con saves and pick up a potential +4-+6 damage with PAM or retain your spell pattern being a level behind on ASIs and higher level spells.