The War Cleric

[Zardnaar]

I tend to disagree. Clerics best spells tend to work in close proximity to enemies. They have good AC. Their AoO's actually hit hard enough to be a deterrent.

It's much easier to build a caster cleric - but I don't find them to be better - especially if you are of the school of though of killing enemies faster is one of the best defenses.

Light cleric can but if you're playing a cleric it's not really your job.

I have filed away your build though as I like it and often get stuck with the cleric and new players seem to love ranged PCs and the charisma classes so yeah might have to but it out in the front lines.

I would want something like 14/16/16 as stats though. 13 con is acceptable early on with HAM.
Even with the default array 14 con is doable for most concepts.

Each type of cleric is often a side helping of blaster, skill monkey, beatstick etc so if I'm a trickery or knowledge cleric I would probably build for support.

 

[Gladius Legis]

Their AoO's actually hit hard enough to be a deterrent.

How? Keep in mind that Divine Strike only works "once on each of your turns," so it's not like Sneak Attack.

 

[FrogReaver]

How? Keep in mind that Divine Strike only works "once on each of your turns," so it's not like Sneak Attack.

I've played it so long that it works on off turn attacks that I'd forgotten that wasn't the actual rule.

 

[Zardnaar]

I've played it so long that it works on off turn attacks that I'd forgotten that wasn't the actual rule.

Think outside the box the arcane cleric is surprisingly good in melee.

Even built as a pure caster you can wander into combat with spirit guardians on and use a dagger plus green flame blade.

It's not ideal but if you have to melee and have 14 Dex it's not that bad lol.

With warcaster in the mix you can gfb on opportunity attacks and add Dex and wisdom to damage at level 8 plus Spirit guardians, plus an extra d8.

And that's not a focused melee build.

 

[Markh3rd]

My war cleric has the benefit of knowing ahead of time what items he's in store for because of AL allowing magic item trades. He will eventually have a +2 halberd, an animated shield, a cloak of protection, +1 plate, a tome of understanding (so 22 wisdom), and a belt of storm giant strength (29 strength).

Base strength starts at 16 and will not go higher due to belt in the future. Variant human feat is resilient con to start with 14 con (will take 2 ASI bumps to total 18 con). Starting wisdom is 16 ( two ASI bumps to 20-tome bumps to 22). One feat taken was GWM.

So by level 19 it's
29 str
18 con (resilient)
10 dex
22 wis (tome of understanding)
10 int
8 cha

AC 22 (Resistance to B/P/S)
HP 183 (203 with Aid)
Halberd +17 to hit, 1d10+11 (6 uses of extra attack)
Spell to hit and dc is +12 and 20 dc.

Of course that's at high level but this season you can get to level 20 play much easier.

What do you think?

 

[Zardnaar]

My war cleric has the benefit of knowing ahead of time what items he's in store for because of AL allowing magic item trades. He will eventually have a +2 halberd, an animated shield, a cloak of protection, +1 plate, a tome of understanding (so 22 wisdom), and a belt of storm giant strength (29 strength).

Base strength starts at 16 and will not go higher due to belt in the future. Variant human feat is resilient con to start with 14 con (will take 2 ASI bumps to total 18 con). Starting wisdom is 16 ( two ASI bumps to 20-tome bumps to 22). One feat taken was GWM.

So by level 19 it's
29 str
18 con (resilient)
10 dex
22 wis (tome of understanding)
10 int
8 cha

AC 22 (Resistance to B/P/S)
HP 183 (203 with Aid)
Halberd +17 to hit, 1d10+11 (6 uses of extra attack)
Spell to hit and dc is +12 and 20 dc.

Of course that's at high level but this season you can get to level 20 play much easier.

What do you think?

In that specific scenario war clerics going to be MVP.

 

[Markh3rd]

Since it's AL and I am playing with friends we are going to work together as a team. One friend is playing a fallen aasimar conquest paladin of Asmodeus that likes to lock enemies down with fear. One is going monster slayer ranger for ranged damage, and the other is going Conjuration wizard. Then of course whatever the other people play may vary.

My intention isn't to be the primary dps, melee or otherwise. But to be a decent frontline partner with the paladin (usually behind him but using a reach weapon, spiritual guardians, and spiritual weapon as appropriate). But also heal and bring other useful cleric spells like greater restoration when needed.

 

[Zardnaar]

Since it's AL and I am playing with friends we are going to work together as a team. One friend is playing a fallen aasimar conquest paladin of Asmodeus that likes to lock enemies down with fear. One is going monster slayer ranger for ranged damage, and the other is going Conjuration wizard. Then of course whatever the other people play may vary.

My intention isn't to be the primary dps, melee or otherwise. But to be a decent frontline partner with the paladin (usually behind him but using a reach weapon, spiritual guardians, and spiritual weapon as appropriate). But also heal and bring other useful cleric spells like greater restoration when needed.

You're going to do that just fine.

 

[Markh3rd]

Do you think GWM is a good choice here? I realize I may not always be able to take advantage of the bonus action attack, but I felt it's added damage was nice and since my to hit will be high (or I can channel divinity to boost it if it's crucial that I need to hit) that it was still a nice pick.

Sentinel requires me to be within 5 feet of the attacker, so with a reach weapon it's not as often to happen, but on occassion it would I'm sure.

PAM competes heavily for my bonus action every round, but on occassion I would get a free hit as the enemy enters my reach.

Anything I'm overlooking?

 

[Esker]

I tend to disagree. Clerics best spells tend to work in close proximity to enemies. They have good AC. Their AoO's actually hit hard enough to be a deterrent.

It's much easier to build a caster cleric - but I don't find them to be better - especially if you are of the school of though of killing enemies faster is one of the best defenses.

Working in close proximity to enemies doesn't mean you're not a caster cleric... Assuming human with HAM and war caster, at levels 5-7 your cantrips will typically be doing more damage than your weapons. You do an average of 13 with toll the dead, vs 10 with a greatsword... but you probably want a shield to help maintain concentration, so more likely 7.5 with a warhammer (I'm ignoring to-hit because it will favor one or the other depending on AC and saves).

At level 8 your weapon gets an extra d8, bringing the warhammer up to 12, 13 plus a to-hit boost if you boost strength... but if you boost wisdom your spiritual weapon gets better and enemies fail their saves vs spirit guardians more often. So the cantrip build is still slightly ahead, even without potent cantrip.

But that's without weapon feats... What do you take? PAM doesn't give you that much when you have spiritual weapon anyway... GWM gives the war cleric some burst potential, but by level 6 they are probably better off using their CD on a martial ally. Booming blade / GFB would be nice, but it seems hard to justify foregoing a Wisdom boost (and the attendant spiritual weapon / spirit guardians damage) for a couple points of damage a round, some of which will be eroded at level 11 when toll the dead scales again.

I might be missing something, but it feels like even the most melee-oriented single-classed cleric (war cleric) has a hard time outdoing even themselves when using a weapon from tier 2 on, let alone a subclass that gets features to support casting (such as potent cantrip).