Fighter 1/Tempest Cleric

[Master O'Laughs]

So, I already posted about trying to do bladesinger wizard but did not have the rolls to allow multi-classing as I wanted. My new idea with my 17, 17, 17, 10, 8, 7 rolls is to make a fighter 1 for extra health and tunnel fighting style. I would then go tempest cleric.

I am thinking
Vuman

STR 17+1
DEX 10
CON 17
INT 8
WIS 17+1
CHA 7

Feats:
LVL 1: Spell Sniper (booming blade)
LVL 5: Warcaster
LVL 9: Polearm Master

The idea is the first baddie to enter my threat range will take a booming blade and if he continues moving he takes the extra damage. I will still have unlimited regular OoAs.

Does it sound good or am I gimping myself?

[Gtdead]

If your DM allows Polearm master to work with Warcaster sure. According to sage advice these two don't work together, you have to do a normal attack with your reaction.

[eastmabl]

What kind of rolls do you need to have to pull off bladesinger? Three 17s is about as good as you're ever going to get.

Put the 17s in Int, Dex and Con. Put the 10 in Wis and dump Str and Cha. You'll be FINE.

[busterswd]

Few problems I can see:

Level 1 Fighter can't cast spells, so he doesn't fulfill the Spell Sniper pre-reqs, nor can he do Warcaster. You could grab Magic Initiate to get Booming, but you'd lose the extra bonuses from Spell Sniper.

Also, as mentioned, Polearm Master is RAI for hitting things with a Polearm.


I will still have unlimited regular OoAs.

You only get one reaction per round, regardless of whether it's your bog standard Opportunity Attack for someone leaving your threatened, your Warcaster replacement, or your Polearm Master perk for them entering range.

[Master O'Laughs]

The bladesinger was wanting to start with 1 level of barbarian to get ridiculous levels of AC and be nigh un-hittable while unarmored. and to get Con saves. But Barbarian needs a 13 STR to m/c.

I am aware of the the polearm master/warcaster thing and I would argue with my DM that with booming blade, I make an attack with my polearm with a spell attached.

Am I trying to do too much as a cleric? I could switch it to Polearm master 1st level, spell sniper 5th and warcaster 9th. Or is the whole combo (if allowed) too much to accomplish and I am better off just sticking to a warhammer and smashing things with booming blade from magic initiate?

[HoarsHalberd]

You also need magic initiate to get booming blade as a cleric. So yes. You are doing too much as a cleric.

[Master O'Laughs]

You also need magic initiate to get booming blade as a cleric. So yes. You are doing too much as a cleric.

What is good chassis then to use booming blade in conjunction with a polearm? The basis of what I want to do is pole arm shenanigans while also using booming blade.

[busterswd]

What is good chassis then to use booming blade in conjunction with a polearm? The basis of what I want to do is pole arm shenanigans while also using booming blade.

I don't know that it's worth this much investment. The only thing you're getting out of this is guaranteeing that you'll get that tic of booming blade penalty damage (if you go before the target in initiative, you get the same net damage) and you're using two ASI to do so.

Additionally, Booming Blade has a range of 5 feet, which I just noticed; it seems pretty explicit you won't be able to mix the two.

[HoarsHalberd]

What is good chassis then to use booming blade in conjunction with a polearm? The basis of what I want to do is pole arm shenanigans while also using booming blade.

Eldritch Knight. Gets wizard cantrips, so guaranteed access to booming blade. Level 1 feat PM. Level 4 feat warcaster, level 6 feat spell sniper and you're ready. Two levels earlier than any other option for your build comes on line to boot.

[Gtdead]

I don't know that it's worth this much investment. The only thing you're getting out of this is guaranteeing that you'll get that tic of booming blade penalty damage (if you go before the target in initiative, you get the same net damage) and you're using two ASI to do so.

Additionally, Booming Blade has a range of 5 feet, which I just noticed; it seems pretty explicit you won't be able to mix the two.

He took spell sniper, so now it's 10 feet range.


Am I trying to do too much as a cleric? I could switch it to Polearm master 1st level, spell sniper 5th and warcaster 9th. Or is the whole combo (if allowed) too much to accomplish and I am better off just sticking to a warhammer and smashing things with booming blade from magic initiate?

You can do it with bladelock. I'm not sure if it's worth the trouble since bladelock can work pretty well without booming blade.
Assuming that everything hits and perfect setup, a lvl bladelock 1/fighter 19 can potentially do up to
8.7+5 (str) + 4 (lifedrinker) + 7d8 (booming blade) + 1d6 (hex) = 52.7 dpr / GWM for 72.7, double that with AoO booming blade for 105.7 / GWM for 123.7 (forces you to stay at 16 charisma)
Without it he can do
2x (8.7+5+5) (main attack)+ 3+5+5 (bonus polearm master attack) + 3d6 (hex) = 60.9 dpr / GWM for 90.9, reaction additional 22.2 for 83.1 dpr / GWM for 123.1

Rushing feats for the booming blade build will leave you at 16 str for a long time and the progression is slower.

Booming blade build is only better if you can consistently use your AoO and proc the rider effect. The no booming blade build works better with GWM and has better progression.


Cleric isn't really the best class for this. He needs many feats to make it work. Shillelagh from magic initiate, spell sniper for range and BB, PM and WC. Unless you roll some crazy high stats, it's just too ASI starved. It can work but I think that at higher levels, cleric is meant to played as a full caster. Using so many feats to enhance your melee seems kind of a waste in the long run.

I prefer going the Sorceror route for Twin and shield + 1h. A domain with potent cantrips works best for this. Basically everytime that you see 2 enemies in melee range, twin a GFB. At lvl 20 this can do 1d8 (weapon) +5 (wis mod)+3d8 (gfb direct)+5(potent)+4d8 (rider effect)+5(potent) = 51, twinned 102 dpr. Add a hightened guardian spirits to this and you can do nice sustained aoe damage. Bonus points if you are a high Arcana cleric with simulacrum ;p

Someone may argue that GFB doesn't work with Twin spell because it is capable of hitting multiple targets. You should ask your dm to make sure.

[djreynolds]

So, I already posted about trying to do bladesinger wizard but did not have the rolls to allow multi-classing as I wanted. My new idea with my 17, 17, 17, 10, 8, 7 rolls is to make a fighter 1 for extra health and tunnel fighting style. I would then go tempest cleric.

I am thinking
Vuman

STR 17+1
DEX 10
CON 17
INT 8
WIS 17+1
CHA 7

Feats:
LVL 1: Spell Sniper (booming blade)
LVL 5: Warcaster
LVL 9: Polearm Master

The idea is the first baddie to enter my threat range will take a booming blade and if he continues moving he takes the extra damage. I will still have unlimited regular OoAs.

Does it sound good or am I gimping myself?

I might skip fighter totally. It gives only con saves vs having wisdom saves. I would look at hill dwarf, bonus to wis and con, and you can wear heavy armor without strength requirement. Snag magic initiate and get shillelagh and booming blade and use a quarterstaff. See if grabbing 3 levels of ranger could work for you, you might get tunnel fighter out of it and horde breaker as well and still get 17 levels of tempest cleric

[unwise]

I don't think that a level of fighter is adding anything much to a tempest cleric who already has good armor and weapons.

There will be times where you cannot cast a group heal because you are one level too low because of the MC. You might find yourself unable to resurrect or cure an ally because of it. That would feel pretty crappy.

[Biggstick]

So, I already posted about trying to do bladesinger wizard but did not have the rolls to allow multi-classing as I wanted. My new idea with my 17, 17, 17, 10, 8, 7 rolls is to make a fighter 1 for extra health and tunnel fighting style. I would then go tempest cleric.

I am thinking
Vuman

STR 17+1
DEX 10
CON 17
INT 8
WIS 17+1
CHA 7

Feats:
LVL 1: Spell Sniper (booming blade)
LVL 5: Warcaster
LVL 9: Polearm Master

The idea is the first baddie to enter my threat range will take a booming blade and if he continues moving he takes the extra damage. I will still have unlimited regular OoAs.

Does it sound good or am I gimping myself?

Trying to do way too much as a Cleric. You could absolutely run this as a Human Eldritch Knight though. The build you're trying to pull off could be pulled off as early as level 6.

Human Variant, take Polearm Master as your first feat.

17 +1
10
17 +1
17
8
7

Level 1: Polearm Master feat
Level 3: Go Eldritch Knight, take Booming Blade and Shield for sure. Your second cantrip can either be Green Flame Blade or any ranged attack cantrip to cover your weaker ranged attack (Chill Touch or Ray of Frost are good options)
Level 4: War caster feat
Level 6: Spell Sniper feat, if you didn't take a ranged cantrip at level 3, this is the place to take it.

You can still achieve what you're looking for running this build. 7th level grants you access to level 2 spells (like Blur!), as well as War Magic. 8th level also grants you access to another ASI. If you're considering this option, I'd think about putting the 7 into wisdom and taking Resilient (Wis) at 8.

If you're looking to be more of a spell caster though, you can break from Eldritch Knight at level 6 (or 7 if you really want that level 2 spell + War Magic right now) and multiclass into Wizard. Divination in particular is extremely useful, but if that doesn't fit your flavor, any school will get you access to more spells and utility.