D&D 5E Not Much Ado About Bless

[Bill Zebub]

It's old news. Think I was the trendsetter with my "bless is broken thread" back in 2014. That was about two months after 5E landed we figured out the Great Weapon and sharpshooter feat combo very early.

So you thought 5e was already broken, long before you started a thread on how Tasha's broke 5e?

Where's that meme of Inigo Montoya?

 

[FrogReaver]

In every guide I’ve seen bless is always highly rated.

That said, offensively bless while good isn’t that great. It’s only enough to cause about 1-2 extra attacks to hit per combat. Even with a GWM ally that’s only about 20-40 extra damage in the combat.

Defensively though, the boost to saves is really important, simply because certain save effects are really nasty. It also helps protect the wizards concentration on a well placed wall of force or other strong control spell.

It’s also a great spell to cast by the Paladin when he can’t quite reach an enemy.

The alternative to bless is command/healing word/hold person/blindness deafness/spirit guardians. Situationally any of those spells can be much stronger than bless. Which is why you hear so little about bless being OP.

 

[Umbran]

Good. BA needs to die.

Pathfinder's still there if you want to chase bonuses.

 

[Shiroiken]

It’s the Concentration slot that keeps it from being overly problematic.

Having played a cleric to high level, this is absolutely the truth. I built around Spirit Guardians, which also takes my concentration slot, plus I did a lot of healing. At low levels I'd pull out Bless on a boss fight, but otherwise needed the slots for healing. At mid levels I'd cast it when fighting a solo or paired monsters, since SG is better against a crowd. It was only at higher levels (11+) that I'd have the spell slots to pull it out any combat that I didn't use SG. It's definitely a top tier spell, bending bounded accuracy to the limit, but concentration keeps it under check.

 

[ad_hoc]

It is an action and requires concentration.

The game is designed for the PCs to hit a lot. A lot of things give bonuses to hit and monsters have pretty low AC.

The real problem is GWM and SS.

 

[FrogReaver]

Having played a cleric to high level, this is absolutely the truth. I built around Spirit Guardians, which also takes my concentration slot, plus I did a lot of healing. At low levels I'd pull out Bless on a boss fight, but otherwise needed the slots for healing. At mid levels I'd cast it when fighting a solo or paired monsters, since SG is better against a crowd. It was only at higher levels (11+) that I'd have the spell slots to pull it out any combat that I didn't use SG. It's definitely a top tier spell, bending bounded accuracy to the limit, but concentration keeps it under check.

I did the exact opposite. I built a life cleric around bless and using high level slots for healing spells. Worked fantastic. I only pulled out spirit guardians when there was a real horde I could engage. Basically level 1 and 2 slots for bless and higher slots for healing with an occasional spirit guardians.

 

[ad_hoc]

Though to be fair, if you don't like doing the same thing over and over again, playing a warlock might not be for you...

My favourite character was a warlock and I did different stuff all the time.

I didn't constrain myself to hex and eldritch blast. It isn't as good as people make it out to be. Warlocks have a lot of potential.

 

[Oofta]

Good. BA needs to die.

A core mechanic of the best selling version of D&D needs to die? That's an interesting take.

 

[FrogReaver]

A core mechanic of the best selling version of D&D needs to die? That's an interesting take.

If anything I’d say expand advantage. Give a couple of additional types of advantage and all then to stack (giving more dice to roll for each type).

 

[Vaalingrade]

A core mechanic of the best selling version of D&D needs to die? That's an interesting take.

At one point, every core mechanic of 1e was 'a core mechanic of the best-selling version of D&D'.

Sales aren't quality.