Help with Battle Master --> War Cleric Transition

[Diebo]

My friend has a fifth-level Battle Master Half-Orc fighter. Our party (fighter, barbarian, sorcerer, bard, rogue/ranger) lacks a healer, and it is starting to be pretty noticeable.

We just earned enough experience to go to level six. The fighter is sword-and-board, strength 18, wisdom 14, 21 AC with plate/shield/defense. He is attracted to War Cleric as a possible multi-class.

What would you recommend for level 6:
1. Go fighter for the ASI, get strength up to 20; or
2. Go fighter for the ASI, get shield master; or
3. Go fighter for the ASI, bring wisdom to 16; or
4. Go war cleric 1; or
5. ??

We're in a big tower filled with undead (zombies) at the moment, if that helps. Zombies are like Weebles; they wobble but they don't fall down (or stay dead).

Level 8 spells would be possible if he goes cleric 15 (assuming we get to 20, which we could) but that is a long way away (it's taken us a real-time year to get to level 6).

[Specter]

I'd take the Healer feat, personally. Battlemaster also gets Rally, which could help.

[Grubble]

I would advise against Shield Master. A lot of the "clericy" things you'll eventually do will be using your bonus action. (War God attack, Spiritual Weapon, Healing Word, Sanctuary)

I've played this exact class, although I went cleric 3 first to get 2nd level spells quickly. The majority of what I'd cast was bless, with an occasional healing word to bring someone back, and spiritual weapon.

[Corran]

Besides the fighter, the bard could take inspiring leader for his next feat (or be allowed to retrain his ASI of level 4 to it), and the rogue/ranger could retrain one of his spells to goodberry. Also, if he is a thief rogue of at least 3 levels, he could be the one to grab the healer feat and use his bonus action in combat to heal people with the healer's kit, combat-medic-like.

As for the fighter, starting taking levels in cleric is probably a good idea, if the player likes the roleplaying aspect of it ofc.

[Joe the Rat]

#4. Start building up the cleric angle. If he focuses on buffs and heals vs. attack spells, wisdom isn't as critical. If you find yourself lagging for the stats, it's a quick pop back to fighter for the ASI.

If it's more about healing between fights, the Healer feat (as Specter suggests) can help a fair bit. Telling your straight class bard to learn cure wounds (or if he's a Lore bard, grab prayer of healing via magical secrets) is also an option.

[Corran]

Telling your straight class bard to learn cure wounds (or if he's a Lore bard, grab prayer of healing via magical secrets) is also an option.
Yes, that's a good idea. To add to that, aura of vitality is a good option too, that the bard could grab.

[Diebo]

Great ideas. I was already thinking goodberry. I like the idea of the bard re-flavoring their 4th level ASI to inspiring leader. Let's just say that dual wielding isn't working out too well for that character. They are too squishy, and it does so little damage.

Excellent point on shield master and bonus action.

Ugh, I'd have to give up sharpshooter or something, but the rogue/ranger is a logical choice for healer feat. Or I could take healing word (or whatever that spell is, no PHB handy) as Ranger 1 spell. Could an arcane trickster mage-hand feed a goodberry into someone's mouth as a bonus action? How about someone unconscious?

In terms of RP, with all the undead we've been fighting, and the wounds we've been receiving, that half orc fighter spends a lot of time praying to the gods of war. He's doing war god's work as it is, I can see one taking a fancy to his cause. It could be a lot of fun.

[Corran]

In terms of RP, with all the undead we've been fighting, and the wounds we've been receiving, that half orc fighter spends a lot of time praying to the gods of war. He's doing war god's work as it is, I can see one taking a fancy to his cause. It could be a lot of fun.
With so many undead enemies, protection from good and evil will indeed be a godsent gift to the fighter!:smallwink:

[Biggstick]

My friend has a fifth-level Battle Master Half-Orc fighter. Our party (fighter, barbarian, sorcerer, bard, rogue/ranger) lacks a healer, and it is starting to be pretty noticeable.

We just earned enough experience to go to level six. The fighter is sword-and-board, strength 18, wisdom 14, 21 AC with plate/shield/defense. He is attracted to War Cleric as a possible multi-class.

What would you recommend for level 6:
1. Go fighter for the ASI, get strength up to 20; or
2. Go fighter for the ASI, get shield master; or
3. Go fighter for the ASI, bring wisdom to 16; or
4. Go war cleric 1; or
5. ??

We're in a big tower filled with undead (zombies) at the moment, if that helps. Zombies are like Weebles; they wobble but they don't fall down (or stay dead).

Level 8 spells would be possible if he goes cleric 15 (assuming we get to 20, which we could) but that is a long way away (it's taken us a real-time year to get to level 6).

Someone else mentioned it above with Inspiring Leader for your Bard. That should absolutely be picked up by the Bard instead of whatever he grabbed at level 4. Inspiring Leader plus Song of Rest turns your party into a great short rest machine.

If you're really worried about healing, why not just have the player go Life Cleric? Any of the Deities in theory could claim some portion of the Life domain, so why not take path that is going to give you the most bang for buck? At level 8 (Fighter 5/Cleric 3) the player's Prayer of Healing will do an average of 15 healing compared to War's average of 11. This only grows with the level of the spell used. Going Life also nets you radiant damage once per turn on your attacks instead of just more of whatever your weapon is. Having radiant damage on for guaranteed one of your attacks per turn is fantastic if you're going to be facing undead through out the campaign.

I might be assuming a bit, but you're also probably the main tank of the group. The level 6 feature of Life will be extremely useful for someone who's on the front lines taking damage, see's an ally fall, pops the Healing Word on the downed ally (at level 1 healing for an average of 7.5 hp), also hitting self for 3 hp of healing, then turning to attack the big bad.

Lastly the Channel Divinity is a nice way to help prop up the group right before they take a short rest. This late in the game it won't be as useful until you get more Cleric levels, but every little bit of hp helps when you don't have a dedicated healer.

If the player does decide to go Cleric after Fighter level 5, then the next two levels are going to be a bit slow for them. It will be at character level 8 that the build starts really being fun.

[Diebo]

Someone else mentioned it above with Inspiring Leader for your Bard. That should absolutely be picked up by the Bard instead of whatever he grabbed at level 4. Inspiring Leader plus Song of Rest turns your party into a great short rest machine.

If you're really worried about healing, why not just have the player go Life Cleric? Any of the Deities in theory could claim some portion of the Life domain, so why not take path that is going to give you the most bang for buck? At level 8 (Fighter 5/Cleric 3) the player's Prayer of Healing will do an average of 15 healing compared to War's average of 11. This only grows with the level of the spell used. Going Life also nets you radiant damage once per turn on your attacks instead of just more of whatever your weapon is. Having radiant damage on for guaranteed one of your attacks per turn is fantastic if you're going to be facing undead through out the campaign.

I might be assuming a bit, but you're also probably the main tank of the group. The level 6 feature of Life will be extremely useful for someone who's on the front lines taking damage, see's an ally fall, pops the Healing Word on the downed ally (at level 1 healing for an average of 7.5 hp), also hitting self for 3 hp of healing, then turning to attack the big bad.

Lastly the Channel Divinity is a nice way to help prop up the group right before they take a short rest. This late in the game it won't be as useful until you get more Cleric levels, but every little bit of hp helps when you don't have a dedicated healer.

If the player does decide to go Cleric after Fighter level 5, then the next two levels are going to be a bit slow for them. It will be at character level 8 that the build starts really being fun.

Good idea on inspiring leader, I'll see if the bard is willing.

And I agree that life domain is the most optimized choice. Yes, the fighter is also a front-liner along with a barbarian. He's been taking lots of damage. Life domain would be super-handy. I think it is more an RP thing; the Half-orc fighter might be more drawn to the war domain. I'll have to talk to the player and see if he's given Life consideration. Either one would be a lot more healing that what we've got right now.

I agree on the lower need for wisdom for a fighter/cleric. Would you go strength to 20 then next at level 8? With 15 cleric levels as the eventual goal?

[Biggstick]

Good idea on inspiring leader, I'll see if the bard is willing.

And I agree that life domain is the most optimized choice. Yes, the fighter is also a front-liner along with a barbarian. He's been taking lots of damage. Life domain would be super-handy. I think it is more an RP thing; the Half-orc fighter might be more drawn to the war domain. I'll have to talk to the player and see if he's given Life consideration. Either one would be a lot more healing that what we've got right now.

I agree on the lower need for wisdom for a fighter/cleric. Would you go strength to 20 then next at level 8? With 15 cleric levels as the eventual goal?

He might be more drawn to the War domain, but I don't really see the benefit of going War if he's looking to assist with healing the party. Life domain is perfect if he's sharing the healing/buffing duties with the Bard. Life domain Channel Divinity + Second Wind + Prayer of Healing + Inspiring Leader + Song of Rest is an incredibly strong short rest combination for a party to pop them back up with the only resource not returning being the level 2 Prayer of Healing. At level 8, this would be an average of 14.5 average hp recovered for self along with 18.5 average hp for the party with an additional 12 temporary hp from Inspiring Leader and then 15 more hp to spread to party members under half hp from the Channel Divinity. This is a total of 33 average hp for self + 12 temp hp + Channel Divinity hp.

If it's the RP he's focused on, maybe the War god that views this mortal as worthy of his power thinks the party needs a bit more recovery power as compared to killing power. Mending wounds is just as much a part of war as causing said wounds.

As for ASI progression, that's really up to the player. 18 Str will serve them well for quite a while. I'd suggest continuing on in Cleric for 15 levels and taking the +2 Str at Cleric 8 at the least. At Cleric 4 (PC level 9), you can take whatever feels good. I personally think Warcaster is a great choice, especially since the PC is sword and board, but if the PC really wants that maxed out Str first, they can pick it up here.