Forge Cleric multiclass help

[Nishant]

So, got into a bigger group lately, and I've gotten the okay on a forge cleric. I'll be playing the role of a tank, to a certain degree, with monstrous AC. Now, I want to multiclass a bit to open up my options. Paladin will give me smite, defense style, and another channel divinity. With that in mind, I've been trying to figure out how many levels I should take in each, and would like advice on the matter.

Going on most cleric levels to least, we have;

17 cleric/ 3 paladin
14 cleric/ 6 paladin
13 cleric/ 7 paladin
10 cleric/ 10 paladin
8 cleric/ 12 paladin

Oath wise, I'm thinking devotion or vengeance. So, what do you think? I have a few options, as far as feats go, since I rolled quite well. That'd leave more options open for some of the other players as well, since they plan to play a death cleric. So, what should I do?

stats wise I've got 16 str, 6 dex, 18 con, 11 int, 18 wis, and 15 cha, and am playing as a protector Aasimar

[BigONotation]

I'd go straight cleric with those stats and get War Caster at 4th. The Forge Cleric gets extra AC from two sources, Shield spell, Spiritual Weapon, Spirit Guardians at 5th. You don't need to multiclass.

[Nishant]

That's true. Any other feats i should grab, if I'm going pure cleric?

Also, i just realized we'll be quite the large party, anywhere from 7-10 players

[Sir cryosin]

Two levels of fighter, paladin, or ranger, is all you should take. Why fighter because of fighting style I'll go with +1 to AC it's your thing having high AC and you get the all mighty action surge. Why paladin well it quite simple smite. And ranger for hunters mark and fighting style. Now what ever one you pick will give you access to martial weapons and a fighting style. Now for a feats warcaster and magic initiative. You have a very nice AC so you might be in melee so pick up green flame blade to give you a bit more melee damage. Then I would pick Eldritch blast. Then the first lv spell is yes you guest it it's hex.

[Nishant]

Two levels of fighter, paladin, or ranger, is all you should take. Why fighter because of fighting style I'll go with +1 to AC it's your thing having high AC and you get the all mighty action surge. Why paladin well it quite simple smite. And ranger for hunters mark and fighting style. Now what ever one you pick will give you access to martial weapons and a fighting style. Now for a feats warcaster and magic initiative. You have a very nice AC so you might be in melee so pick up green flame blade to give you a bit more melee damage. Then I would pick Eldritch blast. Then the first lv spell is yes you guest it it's hex.

If i take magic initiate, then i probably shouldn't take levels in ranger, right?

[imaginary]

Funny, I was thinking of a similar character.

That said, something important to remember about tanks is that smarter enemies can learn or just ignore them if they are hard to hit. Why go for the fully plate armored tank when you can pick off the squishy guys.

So a tank also needs one of two things. Either to be a big enough threat (damage-wise for example) so that she can't be ignored, or be sticky enough that it is hard for enemies to get away or go after someone else.

That said, I don't know how threatening an offensive cleric can be relative to other classes? Multi-classing certainly opens up options. Paladin's nova options cool and go with your theme. Personally I love the paladin's 6th level protection aura, I can't remember which oath, but it is one of the best party support power out there. But battlemaster fighters have great options too.

Feats can be another way to create stickiness.

One last thing to consider is getting proficiency in CON saves if you're going to be a front line cleric. For me I also decided I definitely wanted War Caster to help with the concentration spell, but you can get away with putting your holy symbol on your shield and still be able to cast while carrying a weapon.

Let us know what you come up with.

~imaginary

[djreynolds]

I like cleric and EK, better than paladin. Its crazy, but you can grab resilient con whenever and just use your cleric spells. You only need EK for some of the defensive spells like absorb elements and the shield spell.

And its easier on the cleric portion. This way you can focus on str, con and wis, and leave charisma

[Gignere]

I think in actual game play you will realize besides having just enough strength to use plate armor, it is a kind of a wasted stat for a cleric especially one without martial weapons proficiency after level 5. Just layering spiritual weapon, sacred flame, and spirit guardians will be massive DPR. Just having these spells will make you into a goddamn sticky tank but this is contingent on having a great wisdom. The only time that you actually swing a weapon is during fights that are so easy that you don't even plan to burn spell slots. For those fights just sacred flame or having spirit guardians (this can last 2 - 3 encounters per cast) is already good enough DPR contribution from the cleric.

That said it can be good for a single level dip into fighter just for martial weapons, fighting style, and constitution proficiency. However this will delay the spells that will make you into an awesome tank.

Given the size of your group, massive fights with tons of mobs is going to be the rule not the exception and spirit guardians is going to be so good that your DM might ban it.

[Sir cryosin]

Ok so playing (TANK) is almost impossible in 5e just because the DM can just work around you. In games tank abilitys root the enemy to you or make them focus on you. You don't have any of that in 5e. Well you have compelling duel and something else but those can and most of the time do fail to work. So with all this in mine here is how I would build this character. I'll take 2 levels in paladin for martial weapons, fighting style +1 AC, and smite. Then I finished in cleric. For feats magic initiative(warlock) for green flame blade, and sword burst and hex. The reason I pick those two cantrips is because they are muilt-target. I would go with a great sword but you sound like you want highest AC so go s&b giving you a 22 AC then 27 with shield spell. For combat you run in and kill everything using green flame blade, sword burst, Spirit Guardians and spiritual weapon. Your melee is not so much lacking then you think you have d8 from weapon, d8 or more from green flame, d8 or more from smite, d8 from spiritual weapon, then a d8 or more from Divine strike. You will be getting all the monsters attention when you roll in, and it will be hard to kill you. I actually like this build I might play it for my next character. Oh also pick up Elemental adept fire so all your fire damage is getting through.

[Smitthy]

I'm thinking of going a similar route. Oath of the Anchients paladin and forge cleric. Super high AC with great magic resist and save auras. My plan is to go 12 pali and 8 forge cleric for the multi attack with additional d8 radiant and d8 fire on attack. That's 3d8 mixed damage per attack before modifiers with a war hammer/shield combo.

Thoughts?

[GorogIrongut]

If you're going Paladin, then you want to take 6 levels to get the Aura...

That said, you might be better served by going Pact of the Blade Warlock.

You get incredibly functionality and customizability for each level you invest up to level 5. You can go blaster. You can go tank. All while keeping Armour of Agathys and Spirit Guardians up. If instead, you want to use your invocations for skills and always on spells, you can. And I'm not afraid to suggest a larger multiclass into warlock because... the later cleric spells leave a lot to be desired. You lose a lot of comparative caster power after a certain level. Warlock can fill that hole.

[imaginary]

I'm thinking of going a similar route. Oath of the Anchients paladin and forge cleric. Super high AC with great magic resist and save auras. My plan is to go 12 pali and 8 forge cleric for the multi attack with additional d8 radiant and d8 fire on attack. That's 3d8 mixed damage per attack before modifiers with a war hammer/shield combo.

Thoughts?

Hey Smitthy. I think you can I are thinking alike. I really loved the Forge Cleric concept. I wanted to build a melee focused caster, and to have full armor and the able to cast the Shield spell is awesome. And I'm not even talking about the other AC bonuses Forge clerics get.

But ultimately I gave up on the idea. If you have a DM who allows Unearthed Arcana content, that is awesome. But I finally admitted that they class is probably a bit unbalanced, and most likely won't make the cut of official classes (though I hope to be proven wrong). As much as I loved the theorycrafting, I realized I won't likely find a group where I could play one.

I ultimately came up with a similar character concept using official sources. More of a combat medic, though still fully armored. Lore Bard/Life Cleric. It sounds like an odd combo, but I really wanted three things. Basically his main focus is party support and healing. He has a level of Cleric for the armor/shield prof and Life domain bonus to healing. With the rest I went Bard to combo with the Leadership feat and Song of Rest. Bard also let’s him take the goodberry spell for additionally out of combat healing. Still have to pick another cross-class spell, perhaps even Shield. With War Caster, he’s designed to be in the thick of combat where he can do the most good healing or aiding others. Though he has limited direct damage ability himself.

That concept aside, back to Forge Clerics. In theory they rock because of their amazingly high AC. (Though in my opinion, AC doesn't keep up with attack bonuses at higher levels, and you won't see as much return for your investment.) More recently I've been leaning towards taking paladin levels to get smite and auras, and then going full caster for the rest to maximize smite. I think Smith is what could make you enough of a threat that baddies will try to attack you even with your AC. I don't think this character's primary benefits is in dishing out melee damage, so I'd be inclined to not put as much into Paladin.