D&D 5E Clerics in 5e - how do they play? The mega-buffs are gone...

[Rhenny]

I really like playing clerics in 5e. I've played a light cleric, a war cleric and a tempest cleric (all at low to mid levels). I never feel like a healbot and I can contribute in a number of ways throughout a campaign or game session.

I've always been a fan of wizards because they had so many schools which create a variety of characters, flavorwise and through mechanics. Now the cleric is more similar because of the domains and the way they use different channel divinity powers and domain spells. This definitely started with 3e, but 5e seems to have gone a little further.

One thing that is different about 3e/3.5e/Pathfinder for clerics is that 5e clerics kind of feel a little more capable in combat. Because they don't need to use strength or dexterity for melee or ranged weapons and they can rely on their cantrips for unlimited use (and use their wisdom bonus as their bonus to proficiency), they can get some licks in even when they don't use their spell slots. Also, even if they only have a +2 bonus in either strength or dex, when they use the corresponding weapon and get +4 to hit at first level, they can use a weapon and not feel that inferior to the fighters. It is also possible to play a cleric even if you don't have an exceptionally high wisdom score since 5e does not limit which spells you can acquire as a result of wisdom score.

 

[Kobold Stew]

I love playing Clerics in 5e. The style of play is very different than in 3.x, but they are rich -- there are so many ways to individuate them; so many unique builds. I have played (low levels mainly, and so particularly limited spell selection) half a dozen, and each has felt like he or she was in a different, unique niche.

What strikes me most is that there are viable builds for clerics featuring almost any pair of stats --

WIS and STR/INT/CON/DEX/CHA -- any combination can fit with more than one domains.

Plus with the customization of backgrounds, I really feel that Clerics are the most robust and adaptable of the basic classes.

 

[Fanaelialae]

As an aside Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, etc., all fall under the 2nd level spell Enhance Ability.

 

[CapnZapp]

My campaign has a level 8 Tempest Cleric.

Spirit Guardians plus AC 21 plus War Caster plus Resilient makes him almost single-handedly a win button against low level trash mobs.

He's basically immune to melee from any creature with less than ~30 hp, since they take the spirit damage twice before getting to make any attacks: once when they charge him (and doesn't quite get close, because Spirit difficult terrain) and once at the start of their next turn.

The occasional bruiser doesn't get any further now that party members have learned to inflict enough damage to leave them with less than 3d8 hp

And with his defenses, puny ranged attacks like spears and shortbows have a very low chance of breaking his concentration. First they need to hit. Assuming he's dodging actively, that weeds out anyone not rolling two d20 with 16 or better on both dice: 96% of the attacks miss.

Then each individual attack almost never increase the concentration save DC above 10. With a +5 modifier and advantage, that's the exact same math (only in reverse): 96% of all concentration checks succeed.

Last session I thought to give the Mob Attacks rules in the DMG a whirl so I threw five dozen Gnolls at them. The first crucial bunch got fried with a Fire Wall spell.

The rest was all the Cleric and his spirit guardians. One round fourteen(14) Gnolls hurled javelins at him.

No effect whatsoever. (I mean, he was critted twice I think, so he took some damage, but the spell held). The piles of dead gnoll rose so high I had to improvise difficult terrain all around. Not a single time did I get to use the mob attack variant...

So when the 5E designers talk about bounded accuracy that clearly doesn't apply to him... His one Spirit Guardian spell easily took the top spot, dealing perhaps 600 points of damage all by itself (I sure didn't do an exact count)

The others, on the other hand, they were very grateful. Fighting five dozen gnolls would have been a very bloody fight, and they would have had to spend all their high level spell slots.

Thanks to the Cleric saying "I'll handle the unlimited Gnolls, you go back to check out the rear" they could make this a decidedly average encounter, resource-spending-wise...

 

[CapnZapp]

As an aside Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, etc., all fall under the 2nd level spell Enhance Ability.

And since they no longer help out with any important combat stat, that's a very good thing (the fact you don't have to memorize/prepare six different spells)

 

[Sacrosanct]

I have a 13th level Tempest cleric right now (my highest level 5e PC), and I really enjoy playing it. I think there is enough options there to make each cleric feel different, but would honestly like to have seen 2e's spheres come back. Then again, I have always found clerics fun to play (I play AD&D and pretty much skipped 3e and 4e, FWIW).

 

[Ancalagon]

And since they no longer help out with any important combat stat, that's a very good thing (the fact you don't have to memorize/prepare six different spells)

So I was wrong (it's still there) but I was right (it's no longer a combat buff)?

 

[iserith]

My human light cleric Wanda Curelight and minotaur tempest cleric Sacred Cow are super fun.

Would recommend.

 

[mellored]

They lost much (but not all) of their buff power, and in-combat healing isn't too good, unless your life.

They are more well rounded instead. Some blasting, some control, some buffing, some healing, some tanking. The role for many classes has been more generalized.

That said, bless is still good at level 20.

 

[Ancalagon]

Part of the reason I was asking is because of my growing realization how different they would be with all that buffing off the board.

I was also asking out of another concern though - some players sometimes feel like they "have" to be the cleric, and if they asked "how do they play in 5e" I wanted to be able to give an accurate answer. In 2nd ed it wasn't so great...