Which is more vital to the party?

[Lord Pendragon]

I'm playing a PC who is strongly considering picking up a cohort. Our party has both a cleric and a wizard, but while both are fun roleplaying-wise and played by great people, they are also both generally tactically weak.

So I'm curious what the general board consensus is. In a dangerous campaign which features undead, demons, a wyrm blue dragon, and all manner of nasties, which would you consider more vital to the party's survival?

 

[MadMaxim]

I voted for a tactically well-played cleric. I think they're pretty much essential to any party, as a cleric is both your medic, buffer and secondary fighter (primary if he casts divine favor, divine power and righteous might in its pre-eratta version). I'm not saying that a tactically well-played wizard cannot pull off that trick (except for the medic part), but clerics just are powerful in many ways.

 

[BSF]

Ouch! Be careful here. You are in danger of overshadowing the role of a PC with an NPC. It is tempting to fill in a role that you perceive as badly filled, but you don't want your cohort to always be more effective than somebody else's character.

 

[S'mon]

If you already have 1 Wizard & 1 Cleric, an additional Cleric adds _far_ more in my experience. Freed of the need to use their slots on heal spells, Clerics are devastatingly powerful. A party with no wizard lacks flexibility at high levels, but there is not the same force multiplier effect from multiple Wizzes.

 

[BSF]

That's a valid point. Any chance the player of the cleric would feel a little more free if there were a cohort to provide the healing backup? Maybe the player would feel free to branch out a little more?

 

[Runesong42]

I would consider picking up a Fighter as a cohort with a Wiz/Cle combo...

But between Wiz and Cleric, I would probably go with a second Cleric IF I were gearing up for some heavy combat. One cleric buffs and heals, one goes melee, and they can trade when things start to get rough.

Then again, two Wizards could drop the bomb on multiple opponents...

Aw, just get a Wiz/Cle cohort.

 

[MonsterMash]

I say Cleric as it is one of the most powerful base classes in the core rules. Its the combination of healing, combat ability, undead turning and other spells which get useful at mid or high levels that make it so powerful.

The other alternative would be another class which can take away the healing burden from the party cleric like a bard or paladin, both of which have their strengths, but neither is as good as a cleric IMO.

 

[Thanee]

What exactly has this to do with ENnies?

Bye
Thanee

 

[Thanee]

For a cohort, the cleric is surely the better choice among those two.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Kae'Yoss]

If you said healing class instead of cleric, I'd have said that.

My suggestion: Let him have a Healer (the Miniatures Handbook base class). He will be a great boon to the cleric in the party, since he will free resources to be used for stuff other than healing, but won't overshadow anyone, as he'll stay largely out of combat.