D&D 5E All I do is Bless, Bless, Bless

[meshon]

I've been playing an Order cleric, now at 11th level. It's a heavy combat game and I'm feeling like my contributions are pretty limited. The other PCs are a bard, moon druid, and two barbarians, so my first round is usually bless and a cantrip, then spiritual weapon second round.
In heavy armour I've got the best AC in the party, but my spear isn't much of a contribution to melee and my reaction attacks aren't much of a threat. Con save is +8, so failing concentration checks isn't usually an issue but casting a cantrip is almost always a better option than a melee attack, so why be in melee?
So here I am, heavily armoured with just over 100hp and I hang about in the back with the bard, maintaining concentration on the bless. My main contribution is to make a lot of noise any time the Blessings of the Mocker Gods turn a miss into a hit or make a saving throw succeed. I really have to sell myself to remind everyone I'm contributing!
My healing hardly even matters at this point. I can burn my 6th level slot and just barely mitigate one round of damage on one character.
Bless is almost always the best option for concentration so I barely use spell slots. I end each day with a big chunk of unused potential.
I feel like I'm not doing enough and I'm trying to decide if there's a way to up my game or if I should just talk to the DM about switching to a light domain cleric so that I'm not wasting the heavy armour and radiant melee damage. And I don't think I've ever used the Order domain's channel divinity. Not once.
Thanks for any advice, opprobrium, or commiseration!

Cheers,
Meshon

 

[Warpiglet-7]

I always build “support characters” for melee whether with feats, weapon selection or attribute placement. I have never played a cleric that cannot get in the mix. Booming blade, spiritual guardians, etc.

I refuse to play optimally if it bores me. What’s the point?

secondly, just because it is best does not mean you have to do it. Is that your character’s personality?

I would not stand around inspiring people as a bard either.

it’s not that it is wrong or right but rather about your playing satisfaction. If someone likes inspiring and blessing all the time, great!

if not, don’t. Do what’s fun.

can you cast spiritual guardians? Can you grab a magic weapon with your helpers and start kicking butt? What about grappling or shoving people down so the angelic beings keep up the beat down?

what about other spells?

the worst advice for my enjoyment is conventional advice. Go dex, stand back with
Sacred flame, go dex and throw bless.

no. I refuse. Yawn-tastic (for me).

 

[jgsugden]

I have two Order Clerics - a 100% Cleric of Order, and an archer PC with a mix of classes (Gloom Stalker 5, Divine Soul 7, Cleric of Order 1, Assassin 4, Battlemaster 3).

My Githyanki full time Cleric of Order gets to use bigger weapons, but he stays in the front line to absorb damage more than he is concerned with damage dealing.

He casts Spiritual Weapon and Spirit Guardian a lot, but he also casts out of combat spells like Aid and Death Ward that last and benefit the group and do not require concentration.

However, his go to - the spell he casts more than any other - is healing word using a low level slot. As a Cleric of Order, this allows his allies to make an attack as a reaction. I am not rolling the attack or damage, but it makes a huge difference in the battle to have the rogue make an extra sneak attack, the paladin lay down another extra huge hit, etc... The healing is beside the point. He is about to learn Divine Word, and it will be hilarious hen he casts it and includes a healthy ally in it that will not be effected by it other than getting that attack.

The archer also does a lot of healing words with a bonus action, although she also casts a lot of quickened haste, fireballs, invisiblity, etc...

 

[Kobold Stew]

One of the things about clerics is that each domain can play quite differently. Clerics aren't all about healing. Order is about using others, for good or ill. If you decide to stick with it, then consider the following:
1. Voice of Authority lets your heaviest hitter hit again, as long as they haven't used their reaction. Especially if you are going after the monsters in the initiative round, then casting any spell will allow that attack.
2. What enchantment spells are you using? That's now using your bonus action to trigger Voice of Authority.
3. Your spear does psychic damage. Wade in and start stabbing the spellcaster -- you have the defenses to do that, and the concentration to break the concentration of others.

Maybe this helps?

 

[UngeheuerLich]

My problem with many casting classes that should be melee is the lack of con saving proficiency or some other help in that regard.
A cleric who is hit in melee has a 35% chance to lose their concentration.

Artificer and sorcerers are exception, only the former one is supposed to actually be in melee.

So if you want to mix it up in melee and buff, get the appropriate feat.

Bless is a nice contribution to your party. Especially if you include yourself in the targets, it helps you with concentration so every other spell is less benfical.

But: if you look more closely on bless you might notice a few things:

It takes an action to cast.
It only increases to hit by +2.5 on average (so 1 in 8 attacks it actually makes a difference) , it does not directly increase damage. So to actually be better than other spells, you need a few attacks to male your action investment worth it. And probably helping with a few saving throws too.

A spell like spirit guardians that deals area damage every turn can easily surpass the contribution of bless in many occassions.

Also, being well armored does not necessarily mean you should be in melee. It aalso helps against lurkers and archers who love to disrupt enemy spellcaster. Instead of healing you shoul look at some direct damage spells without concentration to make use of your spell slot. Guiding bolt is a good enough spell. It gives the next one attacking the creature advantage to hit and deals quite some damage.
Flame strike at higher levels deals good enough area dame.

Aid is a big no concentration buff if upcast a bit.

Command is an area of effect action denial debuff if upcast.

Blindness/deafness is also a very powerful debuff without concentration and the list goes on.

Warding bond as a buff (a bit dangerous, because you need to make more concentration saves)

 

[meshon]

I feel like I just got inspiration! Some great advice here, and I'm embarrassed to admit that I somehow forgot about Voice of Authority... I'm really looking forward to tonight's game, thank you very much for the wise words.

 

[el-remmen]

If you are bored doing the optimal thing and are considering changing your character because of that is reason enough to discuss with the DM - but also I can't help but wonder why is every combat set up that you can always do this "boring" "optimum" thing? For me the question is not how is the character built (though obviously that influences it), but what are the goals and contexts of these battles? How often do you have to make sub-optimal choices? How do the foes and the environment and the narrative of the adventure shape what happens in combat? That is what I'd want to talk to the DM about.

I have said it before, but I think D&D combat is more fun when you have to choose among varying sub-optimal choices to try to accomplish some task or goal or tactical consideration than when you have one or two optimum moves that always work - and to me that is matter of adventure and encounter design (and how the foes are played) more than it has to do with what any given character can or cannot do.

 

[aco175]

Does the rest of the party even need bless at 11th level? I would think not at that level that they need much to be competitive. This should allow you to do what you want to and still be around to cast a heal if you feel it is needed.

 

[Shiroiken]

I'll second Spirit Guardians, as my current cleric is based around it. Use Bless for lesser combats, and pull out Spirit Guardians like a barbarian would for rage. With your con save, you shouldn't lose concentration, but even without that good a save, just running up and dodging contributes a lot of damage. As you get higher level, it upcasts very well, adding 1d8 damage each time (I recently cast it as a 7th level spell to devastating effect).

As for melee options, you can still use saving throw cantrips. Word of Radiance is excellent for melee if facing multiple opponents. Toll the Dead is a solid spell anywhere, but in melee you're always close enough to use it on someone.

 

[Stoutstien]

Don't overlook the simple power of dodge+insert cleric spell of choice and hanging out wherever you want. Also all those reaction attacks you are triggering with bless should be credited to your cleric.