Need help deciding how to level a Fighter/Cleric who should have been a Paladin

[WarpedAcorn]

I had a thread before the great purge that had died off and I think its time to cast ressurection on it. The short version is, how should I level my character? The longer version is below.


When my friends and I started back playing D&D about a year and half ago we were all new to 5th Ed, although some of us had previous expierence in other editions. For the first few sessions I played a LG Paladin, but the DM and I discussed the problems that were arising in game between my character and another player's character (CN Assassin-Rogue). So at 2nd Level I switched to a NG Fighter/Cleric.


Fast forward to present. The player who had the CN Assassin is no longer playing with us and my character has basically shifted back to LG (I really envisioned this character as being the classic 2nd Edition noble-knight style Paladin). I did check with the DM to see if I could consolidate my levels back into Paladin, but he will not allow that. So currently my character is:


Human-Variant Fighter (Battlemaster) 4 / Cleric (Light) 1
Str - 17
Dex - 14
Con - 14
Int - 10
Wis - 16
Cha - 13
Background - Noble
Feats - Shield Mastery, Lucky
Fighting Style - Protection
Manuevers - Menacing Strike, Riposte, Precision
Arms & Armor - Longsword +1, Half-Plate +1, Ring of Free Action


Party Composition = Gnome Warlock (Chain) 5, Dragonborn Sorceress (Draconic) 5, Elven Wizard (Bladesinger) 4/Sorcerer (Draconic) 1. So we are super magic heavy, and my character is left to fill the role of the Tank and Combat-Healer. Fortunately the spellcasting has been so strong we haven't run into a situation where anyone other than myself has dropped in combat. The Warlock has a high Con and a lot of HP, and the Bladesinger is hard to hit.




Currently I am about 2k XP away from level 6, and I know I will be taking 1 Level of Fighter to get the 2nd Attack. After that I have toyed with some different ideas.


1) Simply go Cleric the rest of the way until the end of the Campaign (not sure when that will be, but the big bad appears to be an Ancient Green Dragon so I suspect I will have a few levels).
2) Continue leveling as a Fighter. Taking 1 more level gets me an ASI, but taking any more levels isn't worth it unless I plan to focus on this class.
3) Start an illustrious career as a Paladin. I'm thinking that at least 3 levels will be necessary, but I'm also not sure if its at all worth it. The major benefits as I see it are adding Smite Dice and picking up the Dueling Fighting Style, but my Charmisma score means that later abilities aren't going to be worth it.




I'm open to suggestions.

 

[manduck]

Well, I'm no optimization expert but I'll take a stab at it. If you like paladins (and I'm right there with you), you probably want to lean more toward the warrior side than the magic side. I did a little quick scan through some of the guides to see what they suggested for multiclassing. I think I may have something that will help you out. Perhaps shoot for Fighter 11/Cleric 9. You'll end up with three attacks and have access to some good spells through cleric. At cleric 9 you'll get things like Raise Dead and Mass Cure Wounds. You'll still be a pretty formidable fighter too with three attacks and an extra ASI or feats for being a little heavier on the fighter side. You'll also have enough fighter levels to get your superiority dice up to d10s. On the Cleric side, you get up to level 5 spells, some turning, and a few domain features. It's pretty close to paladin, though a bit heavier on the magic side. That should help with the lack of smiting.

 

[mellored]

Dipping paladin will just be spreading yourself too thin.

Unfortunately, light is not a great domain to combo with fighter. Ask your DM if you can switch to life.

I'd go fighter 6, and heavy armor mastery.
Cleric 5 for revivify, and the healer feat (treat it like lay-on-hands).
Fighter 11, for a third attack, with inspiring leader (assuming no one else took it).
Cleric 9 for some extra healing, and +2 Str.

 

[manduck]

Out of curiosity, why won't your DM just let you switch back to paladin? Seems strange that he'd let you switch the first time and not switch back. Especially since you're the one who took the hit for the group and decided to change your character.

 

[WarpedAcorn]

Unfortunately, light is not a great domain to combo with fighter. Ask your DM if you can switch to life.

I was seduced with the idea of throwing Fireballs, so the Light domain blinded me (pun intended) to other options. I really should have gone War.

But yeah, I asked about that idea and he didn't seem keen on it. To be fair I have been using the Warding Flare ability regularly and have avoided some nasty hits because of it.

 

[WarpedAcorn]

Out of curiosity, why won't your DM just let you switch back to paladin? Seems strange that he'd let you switch the first time and not switch back. Especially since you're the one who took the hit for the group and decided to change your character.

At 2nd level he allowed a blanket "respec" for everyone since we were all new and learning the system. So that is where the initial "fix" came in. I would assume he's not for switching back to the Paladin because I've already swapped once and doesn't want to set a precedent where people are changing classes every few levels. I would also want to swap my ability scores as well, so that is another rub.

Also, I didn't push it super hard because I'm also REALLY enjoying the Battlemaster and being able to do these different maneuvers. >_>;;

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Yea.. life cleric or war cleric would fit better. But light cleric has its benefits too. You won't get the level 8 ability that increases damage but you will have a reliable ranged attack and some defensive tricks... and you can throw fireballs which is freaking awesome. My advice lvl 5 foghter, then level 5 cleric and then just whatever fits better.

 

[Blue]

Light clerics get some nifty blasting - but with being behind a bunch of caster levels, lower saves becasue of lower wisdom, that it conflicts with your action to attack and use your battlemaster stuff and because it looks like you already have a lot of castery damage in the party and need tankiness, its not super enticing to advance. The lack of other healing making getting some mroe cleic slots and spell levels might be a bit interesting, but I don't think it's worth it.

Fighter 5 will give you extra attack, which is right up your ally. I'm just as interested in fighter 6 for an ASI - your 17 Str can turn in a +4 modifier either with the ASI or a feat that also grants +1 Str, and I think that's worthwhile. Fighter 7 feature isn't that appealing, but it will give you two more maneuvers and another superiority die. If you do go for 7th, 8th for another ASI is a big benefit.

Feat thoughts: Heavy Armor Master will give you +1 STr and increase your tankiness, but it's not a huge deal. It would require you to swap from half-plate +1 to normal full plate, but that's an absolutely even wash - same AC, disadvantage on stealth, same movement speed. Not sure it brings enough over just taking the ASI.

After you get your character's Str mod to +4, Inspiring Leader will let you hand out temp HPs to the others, which will reduce the healing you need to do.

Paladin multiclassing seems like it will bring you little. You want your spell slots for healing, you don't have a great Chr for aura, it just isn't bringing you much. And that's assuming your next ASI is +1 Str/+1 Chr.

Barbarian is quite tanky but conflicts hard with your classic noble paladin, no good. If you wanted to play going into some Holy Fury it might work. Raging gives some resistances, you can get more at 3rd. But that's you take some reskinning even if a holy fury was in-character for you. As a mechanical option it's decent for what role you fit int he party, but continuing fighter is also good for it.

The other classes that you qualify for with multiclassing (all but wizard) don't seem to advance your party niche or fit your theme particularly well.

Hope this was helpful.

 

[pdegan2814]

I would probably go to Fighter 6 to get that ASI/Feat, then take Cleric up to 4. With the ASI, I'd suggest getting that Str to 18 by putting one point in it, then putting the other point in either Wis or Con, whichever save you AREN'T proficient in(depends on which one is your Lvl 1 class). Then at Cleric 4, take Resilient in that same 2nd stat, so you'll have both Wis and Con save proficiency(being both the healer and the tank, being good at both those saves is doubly important). Cleric 4 gets you the full allotment of Level 1 & 2 spell slots, giving you some decent healing capabilities. Plus you'll get your domain's Channel Divinity power, Radiance Of The Dawn. After that, if you want more casting then continue with Cleric, if more combat than stick with Fighter. Going to Fighter 8 gets you a quick ASI/Feat plus additional BattleMaster capability. Cleric 6 lets you extend your Warding Flare to others up to 30ft away, which if your party is caster-heavy may come in handy quite a bit. The Healer or Inspiring Leader feats can provide some help as well, Healer is a bit better in terms of how many HP it grants, but it's after the fact during a Short Rest. Inspiring Leader creates a nice pre-combat buffer, though it'll conflict with any Temp HP your casters might be able to whip up for themselves. Might be best if one of the Sorcerers or the Warlock takes Inspiring Leader(since they'll be boosting Charisma anyway) and you take Healer.

 

[manduck]

At 2nd level he allowed a blanket "respec" for everyone since we were all new and learning the system. So that is where the initial "fix" came in. I would assume he's not for switching back to the Paladin because I've already swapped once and doesn't want to set a precedent where people are changing classes every few levels. I would also want to swap my ability scores as well, so that is another rub.

Also, I didn't push it super hard because I'm also REALLY enjoying the Battlemaster and being able to do these different maneuvers. >_>;;

That makes more sense than I initially thought. As long as you're having fun, that's what counts. I think the Battlemaster maneuvers are pretty great too. The nice thing is that your core character concept still works and you can carve out a nice, unique spot in the party.