D&D 5E Is Wizard/Cleric Melee possible?

[iserith]

This is a good point; I hadn't thought of it that way.

So I see that a lot of ppl are recommending Haste. Maybe I'm not understanding it, but how do people deal with the exhaustion afterward? Isn't that a pretty massive downside?

The aftereffects of haste only last until the end of your next turn. With a duration of 1 minute (barring any interruption of Concentration), most combats will be over by then.

 

[CydKnight]

Of course it's possible. You won't be as effective as many other builds as a front line combatant but it's certainly possible.

 

[stubblesmcgee]

The aftereffects of haste only last until the end of your next turn. With a duration of 1 minute (barring any interruption of Concentration), most combats will be over by then.

Oh wow I really misread that. I assumed the spell automatically ended after the hasted player had their turn. That really changes things, and now I'm kicking myself for not having taken it earlier.

 

[iserith]

Oh wow I really misread that. I assumed the spell automatically ended after the hasted player had their turn. That really changes things, and now I'm kicking myself for not having taken it earlier.

I happen to be well-versed in haste because in my last campaign, we had a sorcerer who would regularly cast twinned haste on the two damage dealers in the party. It was brutal. For the monsters.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Our sorcerer now has a +9 con saving throw which means auto passing concentration checks barring unusual circumstances.
If you have good concentration checks, haste is the buff spell of choice. Otherwise bless might be the safer bet. Especially because if you include yourself you buff your own concentration.

 

[gargoyleking]

Not quite the same but I have been running g a medium armor toting mountain dwarf wizard. First level he was extra sauishy. But he can definitely pull off a second-rank combat roll especially with Booming Blade being his go-to cantrips for CC.

Squirrels are evil!

 

[Croesus]

...the rest are a paladin and two rogues).

I found myself in a similar situation in our OotA campaign. The party consisted of a paladin who hates to get into melee, a ranger who was designed as an archer, two warlocks and my sorcerer. Three guesses who ended up in melee more often than not? Yeah, the sorcerer. Via a house-ruled sorcerer background, my sorcerer had the shillelagh cantrip, so I could do reasonable damage at lower levels. The Lucky feat and shield spell combined could keep me on my feet for a while. So a spellcaster in the front line can work - for a time.

Once we reached 5th level, my sorcerer became much less effective than a pure melee type. Fortunately, by then the group had convinced the paladin character that he should be in melee, and one warlock got traded out for a barbarian. Otherwise, I'm sure my sorcerer would still be shouting "Fear the twig!" while wading into melee.

 

[dco]

Do it, I tank with my wizard without armor, no problems, only more slots wasted on defensive spells and more shocking grasp for the enemies.
For our adventures normally there is no front line unless we are defending a narrow zone or I can be far behind with line of vision.