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<blockquote data-quote="Shadowdweller" data-source="post: 7625426" data-attributes="member: 14563">In the absence of any other factors.&nbsp; But there ARE other factors.No, summoning full stop.&nbsp; Conjure Animals is merely the lowest-level and easiest to use such spell in 5e.&nbsp; Conjure Woodland Beings can be used to summon a swarm of pixies, for example - who can all cast confusion, polymorph, etc albeit with a low save DC.&nbsp; Conjure Elemental specifically allows the caster to control type and is an excellent choice for cramped environments.&nbsp; The risk of being hit is frequently easy to mitigate by hiding behind other targets (aka allies), if not the summons themselves; ducking behind full cover; or if all else fails dropping prone.Not even close.&nbsp; Light clerics remain competitive through a combination of a couple excellent spells (e.g. fireball) and their target-selective channel divinity.&nbsp; Tempest clerics can spike damage once or twice via channel divinity, but lack the area (i.e. number of targets) / variety of energy types / and generally damage of druid blasting spells.&nbsp; Druid blast spells tend to synergize very well...for example Thorn Whip or Thunderwave coupled with Spike Growth.&nbsp; Or Tidal Wave coupled with Conjure Animals.&nbsp; Of course, if you're going to throw in specific domains it's dishonest not to compare them to druid circles.&nbsp; A tempest cleric just doesn't compete with Lightning Bolt (Mountain terrain) or Cone of Cold (Arctic); not to mention fewer spells slots because of the Natural Recovery feature.&nbsp; Circle of Dreams / Shepherd can still typically blast more because they have other class abilities that mitigate the need to use spell slots elsewhere.&nbsp; The clerics' Spirit Guardians / Spiritual Weapon tricks aren't bad but still ultimately pale to a well-played blasting druid.Nope.&nbsp; In combat-healing is horribly inefficient if it can be avoided.&nbsp; But out of combat healing is often important for maintaining combat viability.&nbsp; Druids get Goodberry which is more efficient than Cure Wounds for any non-life cleric even at max wis; and frequently better than cure wounds for a life cleric with max wis, because the berries can be divided between the wounded.&nbsp; And Healing Spirit, which puts all cleric healing spells to shame for out of combat efficiency.&nbsp; Circle of Dreams druids can not only heal for MORE than max health...but don't even lose the ability to cast a non-cantrip spell that round since their healing ability isn't actually a spell.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Shadowdweller, post: 7625426, member: 14563"] In the absence of any other factors. But there ARE other factors. No, summoning full stop. Conjure Animals is merely the lowest-level and easiest to use such spell in 5e. Conjure Woodland Beings can be used to summon a swarm of pixies, for example - who can all cast confusion, polymorph, etc albeit with a low save DC. Conjure Elemental specifically allows the caster to control type and is an excellent choice for cramped environments. The risk of being hit is frequently easy to mitigate by hiding behind other targets (aka allies), if not the summons themselves; ducking behind full cover; or if all else fails dropping prone. Not even close. Light clerics remain competitive through a combination of a couple excellent spells (e.g. fireball) and their target-selective channel divinity. Tempest clerics can spike damage once or twice via channel divinity, but lack the area (i.e. number of targets) / variety of energy types / and generally damage of druid blasting spells. Druid blast spells tend to synergize very well...for example Thorn Whip or Thunderwave coupled with Spike Growth. Or Tidal Wave coupled with Conjure Animals. Of course, if you're going to throw in specific domains it's dishonest not to compare them to druid circles. A tempest cleric just doesn't compete with Lightning Bolt (Mountain terrain) or Cone of Cold (Arctic); not to mention fewer spells slots because of the Natural Recovery feature. Circle of Dreams / Shepherd can still typically blast more because they have other class abilities that mitigate the need to use spell slots elsewhere. The clerics' Spirit Guardians / Spiritual Weapon tricks aren't bad but still ultimately pale to a well-played blasting druid. Nope. In combat-healing is horribly inefficient if it can be avoided. But out of combat healing is often important for maintaining combat viability. Druids get Goodberry which is more efficient than Cure Wounds for any non-life cleric even at max wis; and frequently better than cure wounds for a life cleric with max wis, because the berries can be divided between the wounded. And Healing Spirit, which puts all cleric healing spells to shame for out of combat efficiency. Circle of Dreams druids can not only heal for MORE than max health...but don't even lose the ability to cast a non-cantrip spell that round since their healing ability isn't actually a spell. [/QUOTE]

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