Help me Build an Archer Cleric

[somehownotsingl]

I sincerely apologize if this build has already received a thread or two. I couldn't find anything in the forums. Feel free to post the link, then give me a few frowney faces of shame ...

I want to build a cleric whose main job is healing/buffing, but who is also somewhat useful attacking. Our party seems to need archery more than another melee guy.

We'll be starting at level three.

One house rule worth knowing: everyone gets one free feat at level one. However, human variant is not allowed (so no starting with two feats!).

Also, multiclassing is allowed, and I've been wondering if a Fighter 1 / Cleric 2 build might be worth it.

Thoughts?

[rhouck]

I sincerely apologize if this build has already received a thread or two. I couldn't find anything in the forums. Feel free to post the link, then give me a few frowney faces of shame ...

I want to build a cleric whose main job is healing/buffing, but who is also somewhat useful attacking. Our party seems to need archery more than another melee guy.

We'll be starting at level three.

One house rule worth knowing: everyone gets one free feat at level one. However, human variant is not allowed (so no starting with two feats!).

Also, multiclassing is allowed, and I've been wondering if a Fighter 1 / Cleric 2 build might be worth it.

Thoughts?

Does it have to be archery, or just any ranged? Keep in mind that you'll never get extra attack (unless you go Fighter 5), so you'll fall behind. Whereas if you do ranged magic (i.e., sacred flame as your bread and butter), that damage scales up (e.g., 2d8 at level 5, and then add your Wis mod at level 8 if you go Light cleric). Starting Cleric 3 also gets you Spiritual Weapon, which is a no concentration, bonus action "ranged" attack. Going Light cleric also gives you a bunch of solid blasty ranged spells for when killing is more important than buffing/healing.

If you are really committed to the archery route, then Sharpshooter plus War domain pair well. Plus War domain at least gives you some extra attacks (although they eat up your bonus action, which conflicts with Spiritual Weapon as well as bonus action spells like Healing Word). I still don't think only a single level dip in Fighter just for +2 from Archery is worth it though, versus starting Cleric 3.

[somehownotsingl]

Thanks! I like some of your suggestions.

And no, I'm not committed to archery. I should have said "ranged."

[Zevox]

Hm, interesting. My first thought: the ideal race is clearly Wood Elf. +2 dex and +1 wisdom is perfect, and you get automatic longbow proficiency, so you don't need to multiclass or take the Tempest or War domain if you don't want to (though if you do want to do one of those things, it is a bit less good, but there is still no other race whose stat bonuses line up with what you'll want so perfectly).

Healing and buffing as your main jobs pushes you towards the Life, War, or maybe Nature Domains. Life is the easy and obvious one, while War gives you martial weapon proficiencies if you want a non-Elf race and some nice buffs on your auto-prepared list, some of which aren't normally on your class list (Stoneskin, Magic Weapon, Crusader's Mantle). Nature at least has one buff spell you don't normally get, Barkskin (which may or may not be useful, depending on the rest of the party), and its Dampen Elements ability is very nice not-really-a-buff defensive tool.

For your free feat, War Caster or Sharpshooter look like the best choices at a glance.

I probably wouldn't multiclass, personally. If your main job is healing/buffing, your ability to to do those will be hampered the more your spell slots/levels fall behind, and Fighter levels would only really be great if you take enough to get Extra Attack, which is a minimum of 5 levels, which is a pretty big hit to your spellcasting. Being an Elf or having the War or Tempest domain will cover you for weapon proficiencies, if that's the main thing you're worried about there.

Edit: Oh, ranged spellcasting is an option too? Then yeah, Light Domain is where it's at for that. Human, Wood Elf, or Hill Dwarf for the wisdom bonus, and just go enjoy being a Cleric that can blast like a Wizard in battle.

[CantigThimble]

Sacred Flame is probably the way to go, with spiritual weapon doing the rest of the work. Also, I really like the free feat house rule! Lots of times I design characters and feel forced to go Vhuman just because the feat fills out the concept so well.

[Mandragola]

A wood elf cleric of light is a very decent option. If what your group needs is ranged damage then they are the most blasty of the clerics, with a very powerful channel divinity. I've cleared rooms with it. Then you can shoot people dead with your longbow just as well as anyone else at that level, pretty much. Do still take sacred flame for zombies, and because eventually you'll be able to add your wisdom mod to damage.

If you like, take a background that gives access to stealth and you can actually be a pretty good scout for the party.

In terms of levelling, it's cleric all the way.

[Chaosvii7]

Personally? I'd go Hunter Ranger 10/Tempest Cleric 10. Storm Cleric's channel divinity gives you the ability to maximize lightning or thunder damage you deal instead of rolling. Get the Ranger's Storm Arrow Spell(Which makes a regular ranged attack roll and NOT a spell attack roll) and use an 8th level slot plus channel divinity to pound devastating bolts of lightning into your targets. Hunter gives you combat versatility, including extra attack, horde breaker, and archery fighting style, plus cleric buffs can keep you pretty stable and versatile when you need to switch styles, deal non-weapon damage, or provide utility to your friends. A lot less focused on pure cleric and moreso on archery tricks, but I think the build remains viable by taking the combat prowess of a ranger and the utility of a cleric and blending it together with their spell selection in particular.

[Submortimer]

I'm seeing a ton of Brother Gilbert from Dragonheart here.

*Shoots a guy in the ass*

"Heh, turn the other cheek, brother!"

[numerek]

death domain cleric gets you the second best cantrip damage as long as there is two things to hit. necrotic that ignores resistance(at 6th) is about the 4th best damage type (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?379165-MM-Resistances-Immunities-Vulnerabilities-and-Damage) behind force, radiant, psychic. thunder is pretty close.

[Yorrin]

In terms of archery Wood Elf is definitely the way to go. You're picking between Life, Nature, Tempest, and War. Life is clearly your healing option, Nature is more about buffs and damage prevention, Tempest's free flight at high levels is fantastic, and War is all about stacking on DPS (and is also a good option if you decide to go Aaracokra instead of Wood Elf). Light Armor + Longbow is what you want here for equipment, or Heavy Crossbow if you pick up the Crossbow Mastery feat and are Tempest or War. You definitely want Sharpshooter eventually, and level one is as good a time as any, especially with War.

If you're going the cantrip route instead look to Hill Dwarf with Knowledge, Light, or Death as your Domain. Knowledge is focused on social interaction, and is great for a political intrigue type campaign. Light is your classic blaster-caster, and Death has plenty of debuffs, and is caster with a splash of weapon user, the way Tempest is weapon user with a splash of caster. Medium armor + shield gives you enough of an AC and Hill Dwarf will keep your max HP in a good place. For feats you're going to want to look to Warcaster for your first level.

Multiclassing will hurt you more than it helps, really, at least until after level 8 or 9.

Really, any sort of Cleric can do ranged + healing with no problem, so you might as well focus more on what flavor of Cleric you want to play than trying to eek out some small mechanical advantage out of any one domain.

[Mandragola]

My thinking for clerics is that their weapon attack is kind of a secondary thing. In the end it gets overtaken, when it matters anyway, by spells. You want a good weapon attack to keep you alive through the lower levels, after which it kind of becomes irrelevant and you want to stack wisdom and con, or feats like warcaster and resilient constitution.

Even so a wood elf gives you a lot of good options to create an excellent character at level without sacrificing any power later on. You can start with dex and wis both 16 using standard array, with a con of 14 and a few more points to splash around. You'll technically start with a light crossbow instead of a longbow, though in effect there's no difference. Grab a shield and a shortsword, plus some medium armour, and you've got AC18 in melee and a decent attack too.

With your high wisdom and proficiency in perception you'll be very tough to surprise and your initiative score will be decent. You could potentially pick up stealth but I'm not sure you'd be a good scout, and it would mean losing a bit of AC if you switched to light armour - though actually just one point in studded leather. Could be a plan.

You'll eventually find that spells become a better option than your bow if you go this way so think about whether you'll be happy with that.

[rollingForInit]

Another idea is to flavour Sacred Flame as archery. Carry around a bow, but instead of shooting regular arrows, you conjure arrows of divine fire that you shoot at your enemies. They could be homing arrows, for the whole ignoring cover thing. As it's just flavour, you can say that it's any number of arrows, however many you think feels cool enough.

Or perhaps you can just skip the bow, and conjure a whole spectral bow of divine light.

[Ardantis]

Another idea is to flavour Sacred Flame as archery. Carry around a bow, but instead of shooting regular arrows, you conjure arrows of divine fire that you shoot at your enemies. They could be homing arrows, for the whole ignoring cover thing. As it's just flavour, you can say that it's any number of arrows, however many you think feels cool enough.

Or perhaps you can just skip the bow, and conjure a whole spectral bow of divine light.

I second refluffing Sacred Flame.

[djreynolds]

How about hand axes or daggers? I think cunning action for rouge could be coupled with the healer feat. Maybe a dwarven cleric with a splash of rouge. Strength based with thrown weapons, healing spells, and cunning action with healer feat. Combat medicine. Throw in shield master and you can knock a bad off you buddy and slap on a field dressing, drag him off and then do some more healing. Also a splash of rouge you can add expertise in athletics and medicine. Two skills based in strength and wisdom.

[somehownotsingl]

Hi everyone,

Sorry to be AFK on this thread for so long. Thanks for the great advice. . I do like the idea of being "ranged" via spells vs. a bow. That allows me to take advantage of heavy armor and not worry about DEX too much, as several of you pointed out.

I also like the point several of you made, that the difference between a Life Domain cleric as a heal bot and a cleric of another domain isn't vast. Certainly Life is the best choice for a heal bot, but it's not like the other domains can't still heal decently. I think I will probably go Light Domain and build a blaster, though I haven't decided yet.

Blast from a distance. Wade in and wack people around/rescue comrades when needed. This should be a fun build to play.

[rhouck]

It will be :smallsmile: I really enjoyed playing my Light Cleric and have strongly considered going back to it (currently playing a Paladin). You just have a ton of different options and can adapt to different situations really well.