How well can 2 clerics work?

[JobsforFun]

I am in a campaign currently playing a Lizard Folk Forge Domain Cleric I suppose I am more combat oriented with 20 armor, 17 strength, and 18/19 wisdom. I was told that someone else is joining us and is planning on being a life domain cleric, I don't know the person personally and all I know is that he is choosing this domain. We're currently level 6.

(I currently can't remember what classes the party consists of because the DM took a break and we haven't played the campaign in a while but I can ask and see if this helps with my question)

[Alejandro]

To quote OOTS: Go Team Cleric!

I can't imagine how it would be a problem. You can both provide support, buffs, and heals, including to each other, or one of you can fight while the other casts, then switch off, etc.

[Citan]

I am in a campaign currently playing a Lizard Folk Forge Domain Cleric I suppose I am more combat oriented with 20 armor, 17 strength, and 18/19 wisdom. I was told that someone else is joining us and is planning on being a life domain cleric, I don't know the person personally and all I know is that he is choosing this domain. We're currently level 6.

(I currently can't remember what classes the party consists of because the DM took a break and we haven't played the campaign in a while but I can ask and see if this helps with my question)
As well as any two class combinations really.
Your domains make you focus towards very different fields. Just talk together about which spells each other really like to avoid too much overlap, and decide whether you want to be both on front line or you on front line and him on back.

But, really, Cleric have so many good spells to use, you probably won't tip-toe on each other as long as you communicate.
Besides, having some overlap is sometimes useful (= prepare both Bless, it's so useful you want it up ASAP, so the first going into Initiative -before Bless's targets- should probably take responsibility for it).

[solidork]

Will it be tactically good? Yes.

However, a lot of the Cleric's offensive combat potency is baked into a few spells (Spiritual Weapon, Spirit Guardians) so you might wind up doing very similar things when you get down to the business of actually killing things.

[Drackolus]

Heh, lets you cast more commands, shields of faith, spiritual weapons, and spirit guardians while they pick up the healing slack. I don't see what there is to lose :smallwink:

[Zyzzyva]

I can't imagine it'd be a problem. I haven't played two clerics, but I have played Fighter/Fighter/Barbarian/Paladin for a one-shot, and I can tell you, 5e party composition can take some weird stuff and still tick over at least a little.

[Specter]

Very well. Even with the same domain, one cleric can focus on buffing and the other on damage, or buffing and debuffing. Healing should be mainly left for out-of-combat.

[Potato_Priest]

I can't imagine it'd be a problem. I haven't played two clerics, but I have played Fighter/Fighter/Barbarian/Paladin for a one-shot, and I can tell you, 5e party composition can take some weird stuff and still tick over at least a little.

We had

Paladin/Paladin/War Cleric who hardly casts/Melee Ranger for a pretty long stretch of campaign.

Another time, we had

3 Rogues, 1 Monk, 1 bard

Both of these were surprisingly effective (well, the second one was kinda lame once combat started. but we were the KINGS of stealth) I'm sure 2 clerics will be great.

[JobsforFun]

Very well. Even with the same domain, one cleric can focus on buffing and the other on damage, or buffing and debuffing. Healing should be mainly left for out-of-combat.

I don't know the person and I think he is older than us. Most of the people that are playing right now are 17/18 in high school and I think the person joining is older than us and might of been in the military at some point and played some of the older DnD editions and wanted to get into DnD again (I think I might of met him at some point and if its who I was thinking of he was pretty cool). But I can ask since life domain is more healing centered I could focus on some combat stuff.

[JobsforFun]

We had

Paladin/Paladin/War Cleric who hardly casts/Melee Ranger for a pretty long stretch of campaign.

Another time, we had

3 Rogues, 1 Monk, 1 bard

Both of these were surprisingly effective (well, the second one was kinda lame once combat started. but we were the KINGS of stealth) I'm sure 2 clerics will be great.

I guess those 3 rouges had a great surprise party eh?

[Rysto]

If one were looking to optimize the party, I'd go for Light Cleric + melee Cleric of some kind, but in general Clerics are probably versatile enough to make most combinations viable.

[Potato_Priest]

I guess those 3 rouges had a great surprise party eh?

Yeah. 2 of em were assassins, so we killed a lot of things in the first round.

[JobsforFun]

To quote OOTS: Go Team Cleric!

I can't imagine how it would be a problem. You can both provide support, buffs, and heals, including to each other, or one of you can fight while the other casts, then switch off, etc.

I instantly thought of that scene in OOTS when he mentioned the guy joining :smallbiggrin:. What comic number was that on? I couldn't seem to find it.

[mgshamster]

I had a game that had three warlocks and two wild mage sorcerers. Everyone kept forgetting that we had so many duplicate classes. Mostly because your class isn't your complete defining feature of your character.

I'm starting a game that has three battlemasters in it. And another game that has a battlemaster and a champion. And a third game that has two land druids - and you'd never even know they were the same class!

Back in 2e, we once had a game with nothing but clerics. Really fun game.

Just two clerics for you? You'll be fine. You're already different just by having different domains. Do you also worship different gods? Have different backgrounds? Different skills and different favorite spells?

And even if all of those are completely identical mechanics, the personality of the characters should be different enough to make them distinguished.

[JobsforFun]

I had a game that had three warlocks and two wild mage sorcerers. Everyone kept forgetting that we had so many duplicate classes. Mostly because your class isn't your complete defining feature of your character.

I'm starting a game that has three battlemasters in it. And another game that has a battlemaster and a champion. And a third game that has two land druids - and you'd never even know they were the same class!

Back in 2e, we once had a game with nothing but clerics. Really fun game.

Just two clerics for you? You'll be fine. You're already different just by having different domains. Do you also worship different gods? Have different backgrounds? Different skills and different favorite spells?

And even if all of those are completely identical mechanics, the personality of the characters should be different enough to make them distinguished.


I was a wizard in another campaign and another guy was one as well and any magic item the DM threw at us one of us at least knew what it was. Although I ended up becoming a cleric because I don't enjoy the wizard class that much.

[Idkwhatmyscreen]

I often wind up playing the party face and nothing bothers me more then when a new character with a better cha shows up and try's to take over my established role. It has happens twice and both times it lead to some rocky sessions before things settled back down and my role was restored ( Once because the new player did not really know how to role play and was a murder hobo, The other time the monk wanted to try playing an evil warlock and the party was of a high enough level that it did not go over so well when his patron killed a Deva in front of us who was going to save us a bunch of time )

Despite my bad experiences, a new cleric should not lead to the same kinds of role problems if you take the following precautions

1. Make sure you don't have too much overlap in spells, skills, ect. ( The player who was the monk was able to get along fine with my sorcerer while his wizard was still alive, because we kept our spells and out of combat rolls separate execpt in a few instances ( we both had Fireball for example and that is only a good thing)

2. Make sure that you Gods are not incompatible ( Ideally I would ask the Dm if your Forge God can also have the Light domain so the two of you will be the best of buddies ) ( If not then make sure both Gods are in the same Parthenon and like each other )

3. Never let egos be challenged, it is just frustrating ( No " I'm more holy then you" nonsense, you're just asking for trouble) Though most clerics won't challenge each others Egos (where as CHA characters will challenge each other, ever time)

[Theodoxus]

I DM'd a game with a Life and a Death cleric. The Life cleric lived... the Death cleric was sacrificed by his oathbreaker paladin "friend" in Horde of the Dragon Queen to get an answer from a divination pool... but before that happened, the two clerics operated well together (wouldn't say worked, they were of opposing philosophies) but they each had a different combat and exploration aspect they covered without stepping on the other's toes.

I agree with Rysto - if I were to optimize two clerics, I'd definitely have one in heavy and melee (Forge, Life, Tempest, War) and one in medium and caster (Arcana, Know, Light, Trickster) - depending on what the rest of the party make up was. Lacking a Bard? Go knowledge, lacking any arcane? go Arcana. Lacking an evocker? Go light. Lacking a rogue? Go Trickster...

Then your heavy can also cover some of the bases... if you're missing an arcanist completely, an Arcana & Tempest duo covers almost all the slack...

But, even so, clerics might not be the greatest damage dealers (though their attack spells are pretty brutal) they have the utility and staying power to whittle their opponents down and come out nearly unscathed... so, if you want 3 round fights, you'll be hard pressed to see that... but if you want to use the same amount of resources and come out smelling like roses, even if it takes a minute and a half of combat? Clerics are golden.

[JobsforFun]

I DM'd a game with a Life and a Death cleric. The Life cleric lived... the Death cleric was sacrificed by his oathbreaker paladin "friend" in Horde of the Dragon Queen to get an answer from a divination pool... but before that happened, the two clerics operated well together (wouldn't say worked, they were of opposing philosophies) but they each had a different combat and exploration aspect they covered without stepping on the other's toes.

I agree with Rysto - if I were to optimize two clerics, I'd definitely have one in heavy and melee (Forge, Life, Tempest, War) and one in medium and caster (Arcana, Know, Light, Trickster) - depending on what the rest of the party make up was. Lacking a Bard? Go knowledge, lacking any arcane? go Arcana. Lacking an evocker? Go light. Lacking a rogue? Go Trickster...

Then your heavy can also cover some of the bases... if you're missing an arcanist completely, an Arcana & Tempest duo covers almost all the slack...

But, even so, clerics might not be the greatest damage dealers (though their attack spells are pretty brutal) they have the utility and staying power to whittle their opponents down and come out nearly unscathed... so, if you want 3 round fights, you'll be hard pressed to see that... but if you want to use the same amount of resources and come out smelling like roses, even if it takes a minute and a half of combat? Clerics are golden.

I'll text my friend who mentioned the guy joining and see whats up with his character and what spells he is focusing on. I guess if possible I can ask him if he'd prefer focusing on healing more and I could focus on damage or buffing since I do have 2 spells from forge that give weapons +1 to attack and damage rolls.

Also note I don't think our clerics should have a problem getting along with each other, my character is CG and unless he chooses some evil cleric which I doubt since he is going Life Domain I think we should be okay with different gods. (but who knows I don't really know this person).

I'd imagine having 2 clerics who have healing spells such as mass cure wounds could be annoying for a DM :P

(also quick note, do magic and elemental wepon spells stack? So it would end up being a +2 to attack and damage rolls?)

[Potato_Priest]

(also quick note, do magic and elemental wepon spells stack? So it would end up being a +2 to attack and damage rolls?)

As long as the following conditions are met, any 2 spells will stack
A) They don't both grant temp HP
B) They aren't the same spell
C) You have enough concentration slots to maintain both spells
D) They don't explicitly say that they don't stack

So, elemental and magic weapon are good to go.

[Flashy]

As long as the following conditions are met, any 2 spells will stack
A) They don't both grant temp HP
B) They aren't the same spell
C) You have enough concentration slots to maintain both spells
D) They don't explicitly say that they don't stack

So, elemental and magic weapon are good to go.

Though worth pointing out they're both concentration, so though they could both be cast ON the same person they couldn't both be cast BY the same person.

[Potato_Priest]

Though worth pointing out they're both concentration, so though they could both be cast ON the same person they couldn't both be cast BY the same person.

That's why I mentioned having enough concentration slots to maintain both spells in the criteria.

[Flashy]

That's why I mentioned having enough concentration slots to maintain both spells in the criteria.

Yup I'm an idiot. Totally skipped over the "concentration" and thought you were talking about spell slots.

[coredump]

I have played a few games where 4 of the 5 players were clerics, and it was a complete and total blast. We each picked a different domain, and were travelling together from 'far away lands'.

Worked great tactically, had a really fun time.

[Giant2005]

As long as the following conditions are met, any 2 spells will stack
A) They don't both grant temp HP
B) They aren't the same spell
C) You have enough concentration slots to maintain both spells
D) They don't explicitly say that they don't stack

So, elemental and magic weapon are good to go.

They aren't good to go due to clause D. Both spells specifically only work on nonmagical weapons while also turning the weapon into a magical weapon for the duration. So once one spell has been used, the weapon no longer qualifies for the other due to the nonmagical clause.

As for the OP, Clerics are probably the most diverse class in the game - I'm sure it would be easy enough to make them both work without stepping on each other's toes. Just don't both try to be the standard melee style, Spiritual Weapon, Spirit Guardians type. Spirit Guardians doesn't stack, so you would annoy each other a whole lot.