Sorlock Healer, Perhaps?

[tkuremento]

Very recently my eyes have been opened to multiclassing Favored Soul Socerer and Celestial Warlock. How would it work, what would be the good cutoff points? Would you go Chain or Tome? Would a level 1 dip into Life Cleric be worth it despite the 13 wis required?

[Hypersmith]

It works all right. Got one in my game actually. Even though he's only level 4 it works just dandy

[PeteNutButter]

Generally if you want to heal as a primary role, then taking that life cleric level is practically mandatory. It is the only thing that makes your spells heal harder. It also comes with the added benefit of heavy armor, which can't be ignored as, no one gets healed if the healer is dead from his crap AC.

That being said if you do take the level in cleric, it really starts to reduce the effect of favored soul, as the level 1 healing spells are already known from cleric. It then runs into the same issue life cleric/bards run into. Should you take Healing Word/Cure Wounds as Sorcerer spells so that you can add your cha to the spell instead of wisdom. The warlock healing isn't effected by the life cleric so it might be not needed. Also that 13 wis is MAD, like you said.

After all that is done, you then are looking at 3 classes, with at least 5 levels in sorcerer before you really benefit from having cleric spells on your sorcerer list, spells like mass healing word and revivify make you a good healer, but would be coming online later if you multiclass so much.

The only thing that keeps this build from falling apart under it's own weight is metamagic. Things like extended scaled up Aid before a long rest so its basically a buff from yesterday going 8 hours into today. Twin heals/buffs etc. By the time you are mixing in warlock, you are further behind. It seems to me like the Celestial and Favored Soul are the kind of mix that seem like they would synergize but mostly end up redundant. They both give you access to cha cure wounds. The warlock healing scales with warlock levels. The real strength of sorcerer (metamagic) scales with sorcerer levels. Spell slots are slowed down by mixing the two.

To Sum up it looks like this:

Pros:
-Metamagic Cheese on Cleric Spells (all favored souls can do this)
-High quantity of healing magic, with short rest slots
-Can do some "burst healing" with the bonus action warlock ability and spells
-Can Cheese Warlock slots into more sorcerer slots via sorcery points and short rests

Cons:
-Low Quality of spells/healing as slots are lower level
-MAD with cleric
-Low hit dice and AC without cleric

Overall it can work, but would probably be better with just one or the other for the majority of play time.

[Tetrasodium]

Very recently my eyes have been opened to multiclassing Favored Soul Socerer and Celestial Warlock. How would it work, what would be the good cutoff points? Would you go Chain or Tome? Would a level 1 dip into Life Cleric be worth it despite the 13 wis required?

a 1 level dip in life cleric would grant Light armor, medium armor, & shields for cleric itself. bless & cure wounds as free always prepped domain spells, full access to the cleric first level spells, 3 cleric cantrips (plenty of useful ones to compliment most any build), Heavy armor proficiency, and disciple of life. Cleric is a full progression caster like sorcerer & counts the same as a level or sorcerer for spell slot progression with the phb164/165 chart & rules. Warlock uses different rules for spell slots when multiclassing & those are laid out on the same pages.

With regards to the "despite 13 wis required" thing, starting as a life cleric & jumping to sorcerer or warlock from there works fine with a hypothetical 8 wis as long as you have the charisma to jump into sorc/warlock. because cure wounds adds your wis mod to the amount healed & cleric preped spell slots are cleric level+wis based, having a decent value for wis is not a bad idea & starting with one level of cleric over starting sorc is going to give you a starting 8+conmod hp vrs 6+conmod & different starting gear. since both warlock & cleric are d8 hitdie, that would be the same but starting gear would differ

edit: I made a mistake "To qualify for a new class, you must meet the ability score prerequisites for both your current class and your new one" you need to meet the 13wis both ways, but there are still benefits of taking one class or the other first or at different levels to tak advantage of spike peaks

[Vaz]

Life Cleric 1/Druid 1/Warlock 2/Sorcerer 16

Comes online a bit later than the rest but gives you 2 Short Rest spell slots which generate 60HP every short rest and typical shenanigans outside of that.

@Tetra, you still need Wis 13 to multiclass out of Cleric also.

[Squiddish]

Don't forget, if you're going with the starter spells UA you have the healing draught spell.

[tkuremento]

Generally if you want to heal as a primary role, then taking that life cleric level is practically mandatory. It is the only thing that makes your spells heal harder. It also comes with the added benefit of heavy armor, which can't be ignored as, no one gets healed if the healer is dead from his crap AC.

That being said if you do take the level in cleric, it really starts to reduce the effect of favored soul, as the level 1 healing spells are already known from cleric. It then runs into the same issue life cleric/bards run into. Should you take Healing Word/Cure Wounds as Sorcerer spells so that you can add your cha to the spell instead of wisdom. The warlock healing isn't effected by the life cleric so it might be not needed. Also that 13 wis is MAD, like you said.

After all that is done, you then are looking at 3 classes, with at least 5 levels in sorcerer before you really benefit from having cleric spells on your sorcerer list, spells like mass healing word and revivify make you a good healer, but would be coming online later if you multiclass so much.

The only thing that keeps this build from falling apart under it's own weight is metamagic. Things like extended scaled up Aid before a long rest so its basically a buff from yesterday going 8 hours into today. Twin heals/buffs etc. By the time you are mixing in warlock, you are further behind. It seems to me like the Celestial and Favored Soul are the kind of mix that seem like they would synergize but mostly end up redundant. They both give you access to cha cure wounds. The warlock healing scales with warlock levels. The real strength of sorcerer (metamagic) scales with sorcerer levels. Spell slots are slowed down by mixing the two.

To Sum up it looks like this:

Pros:
-Metamagic Cheese on Cleric Spells (all favored souls can do this)
-High quantity of healing magic, with short rest slots
-Can do some "burst healing" with the bonus action warlock ability and spells
-Can Cheese Warlock slots into more sorcerer slots via sorcery points and short rests

Cons:
-Low Quality of spells/healing as slots are lower level
-MAD with cleric
-Low hit dice and AC without cleric

Overall it can work, but would probably be better with just one or the other for the majority of play time.

What would you specifically suggest for the split and would you yourself consider the Cleric dip worth it though? This is also assuming point buy even though a majority of games I get into end up being roll for scores...


Life Cleric 1/Druid 1/Warlock 2/Sorcerer 16

Comes online a bit later than the rest but gives you 2 Short Rest spell slots which generate 60HP every short rest and typical shenanigans outside of that.

@Tetra, you still need Wis 13 to multiclass out of Cleric also.

Can you elaborate on the level of Druid? I'd almost rather a third level of Warlock for Tome or Chain. I'd avoid Blade because I probably don't want to be front-line and then I'd be tempted to take 5 levels instead of 3 for the extra attack invocation.


Don't forget, if you're going with the starter spells UA you have the healing draught spell.

Is that actually good? Just having 16 in CHA would give the edge to Cure Wounds via either CHA class, albeit only slightly. And Cure Wounds can be scaled, meaning it would save me a spell known. I understand a benefit would be handing them out to the party so they could use them despite distance.

[PeteNutButter]

What would you specifically suggest for the split and would you yourself consider the Cleric dip worth it though? This is also assuming point buy even though a majority of games I get into end up being roll for scores...

It's hard to say. I'd probably do it, just because I hate the feeling of missing out on what could be what I'm doing but slightly better. Also I'm a sucker for heavy armor. Hill dwarf would put you behind on cha, but make you so much less MAD, allowing you to dump dex and str. Human Variant wouldn't hurt either.

Lately I've been seriously considering dumping str on heavy armor characters and just dealing with the 20ft movement speed. It's only 5 feet slower than a lot of races, which can be pretty irrelevant if you aren't melee, but are also not scared of getting caught in melee.



Is that actually good? Just having 16 in CHA would give the edge to Cure Wounds via either CHA class, albeit only slightly. And Cure Wounds can be scaled, meaning it would save me a spell known. I understand a benefit would be handing them out to the party so they could use them despite distance.

The potion lasts for 24 hours and warlock slots come back on a short rest, so it's a great way to get ahead of healing if you start the day with a short rest[or five].

[Citan]

Very recently my eyes have been opened to multiclassing Favored Soul Socerer and Celestial Warlock. How would it work, what would be the good cutoff points? Would you go Chain or Tome? Would a level 1 dip into Life Cleric be worth it despite the 13 wis required?
Hi!
It works very well, or maybe extremely well in fact. :)
After all, anywant wants a decent WIS anyways so it's not like you were really gimping yourself.
I wonder though why you would still go "Favored Soul" specifically if you are ready to dip, unless it's mainly to get more spell known.

What would you specifically suggest for the split and would you yourself consider the Cleric dip worth it though? This is also assuming point buy even though a majority of games I get into end up being roll for scores...
Can you elaborate on the level of Druid? I'd almost rather a third level of Warlock for Tome or Chain. I'd avoid Blade because I probably don't want to be front-line and then I'd be tempted to take 5 levels instead of 3 for the extra attack invocation.

If you are ready to wait one level further because you want to be a great healer, I'd totally concur with this.
Level of Druid is here mainly for Goodberry, since it has been officially ruled that you can apply Life domain bonus on this.
So paired with Warlock's short rest slots, you could, by level 4, cast 2 Life Goodberries every short rest, each creating 10 berries that each heal for 1+2+1=4 HP.
So 80 HP per short rest.
Now don't be mistaken, that's useless in fight. But you can provide largely more than enough out-of-combat healing to preserve even a large party over a harsh day of encounters (especially since they still have their hit die).
You also get some nifty other abilities: Wild Shape, if you like the concept, will give you some many great things to do in exploration/social side (like, paired with Comprehend Languages, sneak in as a mouse and spy your enemies without hassle whoever they are ^^).
Produce Flame which can replace Light some way, Guidance always nice, Thorns Whip which can be useful even in spite of low WIS (it's a melee attack so you can get advantage or help with Bless for example).
And a bunch of situationally useful spells that you can use with a free mind knowing you have short-rest slots (Longstrider, Jump, Fog Cloud etc).

The true question would rather be: would your party need THAT MUCH healing?
The Life Goodberries make the difference between Life and Death until characters are level 5 or so, but even then, having 2 casts per day should be generally enough. This particular Druid/Cleric/Warlock combo makes the concept overkill, unless you are a very small group trying to tackle a very hard campaign.
Now, you can use short rests on any spell you know, so it's not like you are forced to cast Goodberries. ^^

In your stead, I'd decide mainly depending on whether I'm really interested in the global Druid package or not (Wild Shape, Longstrider, Jump etc).
(I'd go for it myself, because I like Wild Shape and I appreciate having mobility increases and more generally getting 3-4 more available spells which I can freely change every long rest, but it's totally a matter of taste).

As for the Favored Soul domain...
a) If you are talking about the old one, most of what you get at low level (including especially proficiencies and spells) is trumped by Life Cleric dip. I'd suggest in that case...
- If you want Favored Soul for Extra Attack, to pick another domain that provides a mix of offense and defense instead, unless you really want Raise Dead: for example, Tempest or Light would provide auto-known spells that are always useful.
- Otherwise, pick another Sorcerer Origin, such as Shadow: extra resilience and hound imposing disadvantage on your spells is extremely good.

b) If you are talking about the "recent" Favored Soul, then all is fine because Life Cleric brings many useful things without overlap.
And honestly, you don't care about casting Healing Words as a Cleric spell (14 WIS) instead of a Sorcerer spell (16/18/20 CHA): at low levels, the Life Domain benefit
makes the cast plain better as a Cleric spell. By the time you have 20 CHA, healing 2 points more per cast wouldn't make any difference anyways.

[Vaz]

Druid lets you take Goodberry as a known spell, which you can then cast from your Short Rest Warlock Slots. Life Cleric gives you +2 when you heal with a spell, and as each Goodberry gives you +1 healing every time you eat one, Life Cleric+Goodberry = 30HP. It does put you typically 2 levels behind the rest of the typical spellcasting progression, but considering that you're healing and using Eldritch Blast, Sorcerer allows you to do well with that. Also Shadow Sorcerer is resilient ASF, or Favoured Soul gives you the ability to reroll poor Healing rolls, while allowing you to spend excess Sorcery Points on free 1st level spells which you can burn for Shield or Goodberry.

You can technically pick up Goodberry through Magic Initiate, but that means you can only cast it 1/day rather than 6/day (using 2 Short Rests, 1 Long as the typical metric), or even 7/day if you have Rod of the Pactkeeper. to regain up to 180 hit points over the course of that day without using any of your important spell slots (which still have the progression of 18 spellcaster levels, if only 1 maximum spell level behind.

In combat, you can still heal with higher level spells.

[tkuremento]

Hi!
It works very well, or maybe extremely well in fact. :)
After all, anywant wants a decent WIS anyways so it's not like you were really gimping yourself.
I wonder though why you would still go "Favored Soul" specifically if you are ready to dip, unless it's mainly to get more spell known.

If you are ready to wait one level further because you want to be a great healer, I'd totally concur with this.
Level of Druid is here mainly for Goodberry, since it has been officially ruled that you can apply Life domain bonus on this.
So paired with Warlock's short rest slots, you could, by level 4, cast 2 Life Goodberries every short rest, each creating 10 berries that each heal for 1+2+1=4 HP.
So 80 HP per short rest.
Now don't be mistaken, that's useless in fight. But you can provide largely more than enough out-of-combat healing to preserve even a large party over a harsh day of encounters (especially since they still have their hit die).
You also get some nifty other abilities: Wild Shape, if you like the concept, will give you some many great things to do in exploration/social side (like, paired with Comprehend Languages, sneak in as a mouse and spy your enemies without hassle whoever they are ^^).
Produce Flame which can replace Light some way, Guidance always nice, Thorns Whip which can be useful even in spite of low WIS (it's a melee attack so you can get advantage or help with Bless for example).
And a bunch of situationally useful spells that you can use with a free mind knowing you have short-rest slots (Longstrider, Jump, Fog Cloud etc).

The true question would rather be: would your party need THAT MUCH healing?
The Life Goodberries make the difference between Life and Death until characters are level 5 or so, but even then, having 2 casts per day should be generally enough. This particular Druid/Cleric/Warlock combo makes the concept overkill, unless you are a very small group trying to tackle a very hard campaign.
Now, you can use short rests on any spell you know, so it's not like you are forced to cast Goodberries. ^^

In your stead, I'd decide mainly depending on whether I'm really interested in the global Druid package or not (Wild Shape, Longstrider, Jump etc).
(I'd go for it myself, because I like Wild Shape and I appreciate having mobility increases and more generally getting 3-4 more available spells which I can freely change every long rest, but it's totally a matter of taste).

As for the Favored Soul domain...
a) If you are talking about the old one, most of what you get at low level (including especially proficiencies and spells) is trumped by Life Cleric dip. I'd suggest in that case...
- If you want Favored Soul for Extra Attack, to pick another domain that provides a mix of offense and defense instead, unless you really want Raise Dead: for example, Tempest or Light would provide auto-known spells that are always useful.
- Otherwise, pick another Sorcerer Origin, such as Shadow: extra resilience and hound imposing disadvantage on your spells is extremely good.

b) If you are talking about the "recent" Favored Soul, then all is fine because Life Cleric brings many useful things without overlap.
And honestly, you don't care about casting Healing Words as a Cleric spell (14 WIS) instead of a Sorcerer spell (16/18/20 CHA): at low levels, the Life Domain benefit
makes the cast plain better as a Cleric spell. By the time you have 20 CHA, healing 2 points more per cast wouldn't make any difference anyways.

Unless I am mistaken, Wild Shape requires 2 levels into Druid, not just the 1. For all future reference, I am talking about the newest iteration of any given subclass of UA as I feel that tends to "overwrite" the previous so to speak.

To me the question then becomes the build order and feats/ASI, as well as specific point buy and suggested races. And if possible the breakdown would be in order of gaining said levels because simply stating the level 20 split isn't that helpful moving forward, is a level or two in warlock more important than a level in cleric or do I get that right after sorcerer? Etc etc etc

I'm generally not that great at finding the split unless I need a class to get one of their specific abilities, then the split is then or the next level if an ASI.

[Citan]

Unless I am mistaken, Wild Shape requires 2 levels into Druid, not just the 1. For all future reference, I am talking about the newest iteration of any given subclass of UA as I feel that tends to "overwrite" the previous so to speak.

To me the question then becomes the build order and feats/ASI, as well as specific point buy and suggested races. And if possible the breakdown would be in order of gaining said levels because simply stating the level 20 split isn't that helpful moving forward, is a level or two in warlock more important than a level in cleric or do I get that right after sorcerer? Etc etc etc

I'm generally not that great at finding the split unless I need a class to get one of their specific abilities, then the split is then or the next level if an ASI.
Oooops. You're right there. Don't know why I was persuaded you got it level 1 and 2nd level was just creating a big difference if you took Moon.

Well then, it's really up to you.
The only probable thing whatever your character ends as would be...
a) Start Sorcerer, because you want Constitution proficiency and cantrips, and you are a Charismatic character first and foremost.
b Then take Life Cleric 1 immediately, because you want heavy armor and shield to help survive especially at lower levels: use Bless/Shield of Faith as your concentration spell of choice, while wielding cantrips.

Beyond that it's really up to you in fact, there is no "bad" way to level up per se: just double check features in Sorcerer and Warlock classes, my a short-list to see the two you want the most in each class and their level, then build around.
For example, if you want to be a fullcaster but don't care about Sorcerer's 18th level ability (1/long rest half-HP restore), you can safely dip one level into Warlock somewhere before/after getting at least 3rd level spells into Sorcerer.

If you want to be a party healer/buffer instead, then going Warlock 11 could be a good idea: 12d6 bonus action healing is nice, along with Beacon of Hope learned from Sorcerer along the way. 10th level auto-THP on short rest is a nice one too.

Another tactic for the same effect would be taking more Sorcerer levels instead, grabbing Prayer of Healing somewhere to use together with Warlock's short-rest slots and Sorcerer's level 6 Empowered Healing. As for THP, just grab Inspiring Leader. ;)

Sorry to be blunt, but we seriously cannot build your character for you from scratch: too many combinations possibles.

If you want some advice, you must at least provide the following.
- Melee character, ranged, versatile ?
- Primary goal: heal, buff, damage, control? Or a mix?
- Do you want to be a very powerful spellcaster (aka high-level spells) or are you fine with being limited to lower-level spells?
- Do you prefer having very few spells because it's easier to manage, or as many spells as possible for more options?
- Do you want to it be primarily fun, or primarily optimized?
- Any specific desire about the character itself (alignement, race, skills, or just quirks of behaviour or specific goal)?
- Are there some features in any class you REALLY REALLY want?

Choices of classes, subclasses, spells and invocations all heavily vary depending on all of this. :)

[DivisibleByZero]

Since no one has mentioned it, as far as I could see, I will.
UA material is not tuned for multiclassing. So if you have questions about how it would work, don't ask random people on a forum. Ask your DM.

[tkuremento]

Since no one has mentioned it, as far as I could see, I will.
UA material is not tuned for multiclassing. So if you have questions about how it would work, don't ask random people on a forum. Ask your DM.

Because I am a person that makes various character concepts ahead of time, I have different characters that have varying levels of sources. This character will be filed under UA for now. No DM I've had yet hasn't disallowed UA multiclassing when it is subclasses. I have characters that use PHB, EE, SCAG, and Volo's and characters that even use specific mixes of them. I don't have many UA characters though. Not much stands out besides Inquisitive Rogue for ranged sneak attack without advantage.

[tkuremento]

Sorry to be blunt, but we seriously cannot build your character for you from scratch: too many combinations possibles.

If you want some advice, you must at least provide the following.
- Melee character, ranged, versatile ?
- Primary goal: heal, buff, damage, control? Or a mix?
- Do you want to be a very powerful spellcaster (aka high-level spells) or are you fine with being limited to lower-level spells?
- Do you prefer having very few spells because it's easier to manage, or as many spells as possible for more options?
- Do you want to it be primarily fun, or primarily optimized?
- Any specific desire about the character itself (alignement, race, skills, or just quirks of behaviour or specific goal)?
- Are there some features in any class you REALLY REALLY want?

Choices of classes, subclasses, spells and invocations all heavily vary depending on all of this. :)

That's fine. I want to be a primarily ranged healer. I don't necessarily care about being a blast caster either, and will be fine contributing with EB on turns I damage. I guess secondarily it would be buff and tertiarily would be control, with damage as only an afterthought at beast. I don't necessarily care about having big slots either, it should be a fun character. That is why I was looking at at least three levels of Warlock for Tome or Chain. Chain could make for some fun familiar stuff but Tome could be versatile for having more cantrips and a bunch of rituals.

Really, most of my characters are a concept. My Bard chef was a chef because OOH a cooking UA feat, my Inquisitive Rogue X/EK3 was because OOH throwing dagger sneak attack with a return mechanic, and my Lizardfolk Monk was because OH biting monk :D

I also had a tiefling cleric because reasons, a gnome wizard with the DM allowing a badger familiar, and many other things. I generally don't care about optimization in 5e. If this was Pathfinder though....

[rbstr]

I don't see any point in Celestial Warlock 2 for all these builds. All you get is EB+Agonizing and another invocation. Your bonus spells are redundant, your healing light is 2d6/day max. Better off taking a patron that's not so superfluous.

Now, if you want to be more Warlock the Celestial is one that's better in larger part IMO. You get bonus-action heals per level and by taking at least level 10 you get party-wide THP that goes up with level too.

CelestialX/LifeCleric 1 could be fun. It's more of a combat-medic sort of build. Attack stuff w/ action. Chuck bonus-action healing light. Can burn short rest slots on extra-effective heals (or that new Elixir spell) if you have any left before a short rest.
Either start as Cleric or take it level 2.
Standard EB-lock works fine and you can dump STR, plus you get medium armor and shield prof. You can go with the Chain pact and deliver cure wounds at a distance!
You could also build this for decently effective blade-pact melee. Rapier/Shield+med armor or even a strength build in heavy armor.

Another fun option is Lore Bard to 6 to poach Aura of Vitality.

[tkuremento]

I don't see any point in Celestial Warlock 2 for all these builds. All you get is EB+Agonizing and another invocation. Your bonus spells are redundant, your healing light is 2d6/day max. Better off taking a patron that's not so superfluous.

Now, if you want to be more Warlock the Celestial is one that's better in larger part IMO. You get bonus-action heals per level and by taking at least level 10 you get party-wide THP that goes up with level too.

CelestialX/LifeCleric 1 could be fun. It's more of a combat-medic sort of build. Attack stuff w/ action. Chuck bonus-action healing light. Can burn short rest slots on extra-effective heals (or that new Elixir spell) if you have any left before a short rest.
Either start as Cleric or take it level 2.
Standard EB-lock works fine and you can dump STR, plus you get medium armor and shield prof. You can go with the Chain pact and deliver cure wounds at a distance!
You could also build this for decently effective blade-pact melee. Rapier/Shield+med armor or even a strength build in heavy armor.

Another fun option is Lore Bard to 6 to poach Aura of Vitality.

So you are suggesting I could instead go Celestial Warlock 13/Lore Bard 6/Life Cleric 1? Seems doable. I was kinda hoping for a little bit of Metamagic use though~ :P Preferably Twinned and Extended IMO, though I could be wrong :P

But 13 Warlock would allow for 7th level spell thing, though again never expect to get 20 levels in any game I play unless the character starts at a much higher level

[rbstr]

If you want to be a sorcerer, why not just be Favored Soul + lifecleric mix? That works fine.
If you need EB+Agonizing then do the two-level dip. I'd go Fey for the 1/rest Fear/Charm I guess.

I'm not a big fan of muticlassing more than one extra class. The lore bard idea would be more for a mix with any one of the three sorc, warlock, cleric.
In particular when it gets kinda cheesy to justify it, like the goodberry thing above. These berries are supposed to satisfy you a day worth of food. Stuffing everyone full of them to put up huge HP healed numbers bothers me.

[tkuremento]

If you want to be a sorcerer, why not just be Favored Soul + lifecleric mix? That works fine.
If you need EB+Agonizing then do the two-level dip. I'd go Fey for the 1/rest Fear/Charm I guess.

I'm not a big fan of muticlassing more than one extra class. The lore bard idea would be more for a mix with any one of the three sorc, warlock, cleric.

I'm alright multiclassing however many it takes to get the concept across. Just look at the Maximum Cantrips!!! thread, I'd totally build a character like that if allowed :P

[Citan]

That's fine. I want to be a primarily ranged healer. I don't necessarily care about being a blast caster either, and will be fine contributing with EB on turns I damage. I guess secondarily it would be buff and tertiarily would be control, with damage as only an afterthought at beast. I don't necessarily care about having big slots either, it should be a fun character. That is why I was looking at at least three levels of Warlock for Tome or Chain. Chain could make for some fun familiar stuff but Tome could be versatile for having more cantrips and a bunch of rituals.

Really, most of my characters are a concept. My Bard chef was a chef because OOH a cooking UA feat, my Inquisitive Rogue X/EK3 was because OOH throwing dagger sneak attack with a return mechanic, and my Lizardfolk Monk was because OH biting monk :D

I also had a tiefling cleric because reasons, a gnome wizard with the DM allowing a badger familiar, and many other things. I generally don't care about optimization in 5e. If this was Pathfinder though....

Hi again. Well that is much better now we can properly plan away. Sorry if I am too "concise" currently on smartphone and I hate typing on these...

Soooo. Key words here are "ranged healer" and "no big spells" which means many ways to build a solid gish. : )

...
Well yeah sorry ill come back later it is really excruciatingly painful... Xd

[tkuremento]

Hi again. Well that is much better now we can properly plan away. Sorry if I am too "concise" currently on smartphone and I hate typing on these...

Soooo. Key words here are "ranged healer" and "no big spells" which means many ways to build a solid gish. : )

...
Well yeah sorry ill come back later it is really excruciatingly painful... Xd

That's fine, and when I say ranged healer I don't mean I have to heal from range, I mean that my primary method of attack when not buffing or healing will be ranged via cantrips. With less slots and less BIG slots, I'd want to not control and buff all the time and thus doing damage means the guy goes down faster. But I wouldn't waste spells known on damaging spells either :P just a cantrip or two.

[Citan]

That's fine, and when I say ranged healer I don't mean I have to heal from range, I mean that my primary method of attack when not buffing or healing will be ranged via cantrips. With less slots and less BIG slots, I'd want to not control and buff all the time and thus doing damage means the guy goes down faster. But I wouldn't waste spells known on damaging spells either :P just a cantrip or two.
Back to laptop \o/

So...
Drawing board with following imperatives.
Heal > Buff > Control > > Utility > Damage
Heal implies you must be resilient.
Buff and control imply great concentration.
All this also mean having enough fuel to last a day.
Also you still need decent damage options for both ranged and melee (that is just a matter of survival and basic efficiency).


Analysis of requirements
Just quoting you again for the sake of ease (it's a bother to scroll back and forth to your reply ^^)
"I want to be a primarily ranged healer. I don't necessarily care about being a blast caster either, and will be fine contributing with EB on turns I damage. I guess secondarily it would be buff and tertiarily would be control, with damage as only an afterthought at beast. I don't necessarily care about having big slots either, it should be a fun character."

First, healing.
Life Cleric is mandatory.
Druid will be an option depending on what's left.
Great Cleric spells: Aid (great with Extended), Heroism (nice with Extended), Lesser Restoration (always handy), Beacon of Hope (affects ANY healing so great for your build since affects Warlock healing), Revivify (you aren't a healer without at least that), Raise Dead (you aren't a good healer without at least that), Mass Healing Words (good with Sorcerer's lvl 6 ability).

Other good Cleric spells: Sanctuary, Bless, Shield of Faith, Dispel Magic, Protection from Energy, Silence.

Other sources of HP
False Life: self-only.
Warlock's 10: auto AOE 15 THP on short rest
UA Sheperd Druid 2: WIS+Druid THP on short rest
Inspiring Leader: THP 25 on short rest (you are in enemy zone: cast Silence beforehand ^^).
Bard's Song of Rest.

Second, buff
Cleric: Warding Bond (2) (extremely good buff, ESPECIALLY with Warlock's bonus action heal or Healing Words available), Death Ward (4) (can make a difference and can be Extended), Freedom of Movement (a bit costly but great Twinned or Extended).

Other good spells from other classes: Feather Fall (1), Longstrider, Jump, Haste, Enhance Ability, Enlarge, Fly, Polymorph, Greater Invisibility, Pass Without Trace.

Third, control
Faerie Fire, Command, Compelled Duel, Fog Cloud, Darkness, Wall of X, Plant Growth etc (too many of them really).

Also, Crown Paladin can be great because of channel divinity's "Mass Compelled Duel".

Fourth, damage
same. Let's just note cantrips (for which a Tome Warlock is nearly mandatory ^^): Agonizing Repelling Blast (ranged damage+control), Thorns Whip (melee damage+control), Booming Blade (melee damage+control), Shocking Grasp (melee damage + self escape), Produce Flame (ranged fire damage + utility).

Brainstorming
You obviously cannot be good at all so lets decide arbitrarily to "cap" the spell level of each aspect depending on his priority.
Healing is first, so up to 5th (or 6th if you really want Heroes Feast, or 7th for Resurrection and Regenerate).
If up to 7th level, it means Sorcerer 13. With also at least Warlock 3 and Life Cleric 1, not much customization space left (only 3 levels left). Let's take the easiest and end with Warlock 4 and Life Cleric 3 (ASI, WIS Aid and Warding Bond) OR Crown Paladin 3 (Bless + control) OR Warlock 4 / Sorcerer 15 (8th level and Angelic Wings).
At least that would make leveling easy. ;) Sorcerer 1 > Life Cleric 1 > Sorcerer 6 (you really want that bonus) > Warlock 3 (you expand your cantrip options just before you get that big upgrade) > Crown Paladin 3 > finish Sorcerer. Or if you really don't care about higher level spells dip in all classes first but I'm really afraid you would end frustrated that way.

Let's say you will be so efficient that situations where Resurrection and Regenerate will be to rare to make the investment worthwhile (also remember, "don't really want the big spells").
Means we can cap healing at 5th level (Raise Dead). Meaning Sorcerer (OR Cleric as we'll see) 9th. Many more options.

Let's say we go Sorcerer 9 at least because we really want Metamagic.
Don't forget Life Cleric 1, Warlock 3. Still 7 levels to play with.
Then I'd stronly consider going Cleric at least 3: this allows you to freely change as needed a near half of all spells you really want.
Still 5 levels.
With those levels, you could...
- Go Warlock up to 5, because you really want to get most of all rituals (including Leomund's Tiny Hut)
- Go Warlock up to 7, because you like having a good Fireball, Sacred Flame or GreenFlameBLade/Firebolt for when you really need damage, OR push further your Eldricht Blast (Frost Lance and Kiss of Mephistopheles are both extremely good).
- Get a strong dip in Sheperd Druid 5 (many buffs, Life Goodberry, Conjure Animals for extra versatility, Totem Spirit for even more THP or HP regain). Beware though of the armor requirement, check with DM beforehand.
- Go Cleric 6: all buffs/heal you need and interchangeable, auto-heal self when healing others (great paired with Warding Bond).
- Go Lore Bard 5: some more healing, Cutting Words.
Last option: use all those levels to go Ancient Paladin 7 (double Aura to help protect a few allies and yourself).

If you really want the best balance between efficiency, versatility and fun, I'd suggest the following end goal.
Spells between () should be prepared only when you think they will be useful on that day, or spells that may be worthwhile learning if you like.
Spells with * denotes spell known from features.
Spells in bold denotes spells you should always have as soon as you get them.

A. If you want as many rituals (especially Phantom Seed / LTH) as possible.
Tome Warlock 5: Agonizing (Invocation) Repelling (Invocation) Blast, Booming Blade, Green Flame Blade, Ray of Frost*, Thorn Whips* (+ Light*, Sacred Flame*), Rituals Invocation as the last one, spell known Hex, Misty Step, Suggestion, Counterspell, Fear, Fly.
Sheperd Druid 3: Mending, Mold Earth, (Longstrider), (Jump), Fog Cloud, Goodberry, Pass Without Trace, Enhance Ability.
Cleric 3: Guidance, Spare the Dying, Healing Words, Bless*, (Sanctuary), (Shield of Faith), Aid, Lesser Restoration*, (Warding Bond), (Prayer of Healing -when you get Sorcerer 6+).
Sorcerer 9: Shape Water, Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, Shield, Feather Fall, Knock, (Misty Step), Phantasmal Force / Web, Counterspell, Dispel Magic, (Haste), Slow, Fireball, Death Ward*, (Freedom of Movement*), Greater Invisibility, (Animate Objects / Telekinesis), Raise Dead.
Take Extended Metamagic ASAP, second can be either Twinned (if you focus on single-target buffs) or Quickened (more versatility overall).
Note: if DM wants to restrict your armor because of Druid, drop it entirely and instead go Sorcerer 10 / Bard 2: one more Metamagic, you can still learn some nice buffs. You lose Pass Without Trace and Life Goodberries though, it's a heavy loss. Or sacrifice one Sorcerer spell to get Mage Armor.
If there is any Druid or Lore Bard, drop Druid to 1. They can grab the Exclusive Pass Without Trace in your stead.
If there is any Cleric in your group, drop to Life Cleric 1 and boost Sorcerer instead: it's their job to do all the buff heavy lifting and you can instead have all 3 great metamagics for your character: Extend, Twin, Quicken.
If you don't care about getting Warlock 5 benefits (Agonizing Blast, 3rd level short rest slots, 3rd level rituals), drop one level of Warlock to get the third Metamagic.

Whatever you choose, you will always probably want to start Sorcerer > Cleric. If you want to take Druid I'd advise taking it right after so you can spam Life Goodberries at low levels when it's the most important (you could even add a level of Warlock if you feel you cannot prepare enough, but honestly I don't see why).
After that it's really up to you: either take Warlock now to get more chances to learn Rituals as you go on your journey and giving you many more cantrips. Good choice if you feel your party is faring well (rarely in danger) but lacking in utility for traveling/exploring/social. Even greater if you think your DM will give you numerous chances to learn rituals and you are in a exploration-heavy campaign.
Or just go straight Sorcerer up to 5/7/9 (depending on how you fare in campaign), learning Cleric spells you deem the most useful (you will swap the level-2 ones after you got Cleric 3), with AID as a priority. Better choice if you feel your party is often in danger.
In fact, I'd probably do this: go Sorcerer at least up to level 7 so I get Prayer of Healing with healing reroll (Sorcerer 6) and Extended upcast of Aid as level 4th spell.
Then I'd go Cleric 3 or Druid 3 depending on whichever exclusive buffs I feel I need the most (Warding Bond / Pass WIthout Trace). Then finish Warlock then Sorcerer.

Build suggestion (shorted, see above for detail about spell choices and such)
So, to sum up: Sorcerer 1 (Shield, Cure Wounds weapon cantrips) > Life Cleric 1 (better healing, Bless, Healing Words) > Druid 1 (Fog Cloud, Goodberry) > Warlock 3 (Rituals, cantrips) > Sorcerer 6 (Prayer of Healing Aid, Enhance Ability, Shatter which you will swap much later) > Druid 3 (Sheperd, Pass Without Trace, Enhance Ability then another) > Cleric 3 (Warding Bond, Aid, Enhance Ability, Prayer of Healing) > Sorcerer finish (including Beacon of Hope, Revivify, Death Ward, Raise Dead).

Basically at low levels, you will spam many Life Goodberries before taking a long rest (you should be able to cast at least 2 times of them).
As soon as you get Aid, (up)cast it Extended before going to long rest.
Of course, you will also take Inspiring Leader feat ASAP.
As soon as you get Prayer of Healing and Sorcerer 6, it becomes one of the best heals you could ever make when you want to heal several people, giving 2d8+3(effect)+4(Life) with a potential reroll (Sorcerer).
When you get Sheperd's, you can use it either for emergency mass 7 THP (Bear) or further enhance healing (2 HP per target on heal with Unicorn).

As a Half-Elf, you can start with the following stats
STR 10 / DEX 14 / CON 14 / INT 8 / WIS 14 / CHA 16.
Since you don't care that much about being offensive, you can safely take a feat with your first ASI and wait much later to bump your Charisma.
In the same idea, since you won't ever be at close range, losing speed if you want to wield heavy armor is not such a big deal.
In fact, you could even go counter-intuitive and instead make WIS as your main stat, with CHA being just at 14 (just adapt by taking Thorn Whip and Produce Flame as offensive cantrips).
Wood-Elf (there are certainly better races outside PHB): STR 10 / DEX 12 / CON 14 / INT 8 / WIS 16 / CHA 14.
This means 2 more prepared spells (one on Cleric, one on Druid) and tad better healing and WIS save. Also make all control/AOE Druid spells usable which is also very interesting since you can interchange them as needed.

Whatever you choose, after you take Inspiring Leader, you can either bump your primary casting stat ( probably recommended to put it at least to 18 by character level 12 unless you really never contribute offense-wise) or take Healer feat (now becomes great) or any other defensive/utility.

Sorry for the very long post, hope that's readable still. ;)

[rbstr]

I would not start with four levels in four different classes.

[Citan]

I would not start with four levels in four different classes.
You, probably not. Me, maybe or probably not in normal cases either. ;)
But OP specifically told he cared about healing first, seem to develop a great taste for cantrips, and didn't care about being otherwise optimized.
While starting 3 (or 4) different classes to start may indeed seem clunky, it will totally not affect his potency to contribute damage-wise (since he relies only on cantrips anyways) but gives him an out-of-combat healing option that should be enough for them to tackle much more difficult encounters than normal or breeze through usual encounters, so it should compensate for a large part the lack of higher level spells.*
It also immediately gives some tactical spells that can stay useful for a number of levels like Fog Cloud, but also situational spells which you can change, and globally many more useful spells available than a plain Sorcerer: sure they are low level spells, but a Bless, Sanctuary or Healing Words are always great to have, as well as some non-concentration buffs (Longstrider / Jump) and spells you can just prepare the day you know they will be useful (Speak with Animals, Detect Spells, etc)

Obviously the usual way would have been to just take the Cleric 1 dip early then go straight Sorcerer 6 at least. Then start taking other multiclasses. But then you get rituals much much more later, so late that you could wonder if it was still worth it (and it's also heavily depending on DM**) Even truer for Life Goodberries trick: when you are character level 8+, you usually have enough gold for potions, enough HP and other ways of healing to make it unappealing. Of course it's not the only thing Druid provides, but it's still one of the main reasons.

In short, I'd say that precisely in case of heavy multiclasses, dips should be taken as early as possible to make the most of them. :)

To OP: makes me think about important things.
* Speak with your DM beforehand about Druid dip, not only because of armor limitations, but also because of Life Goodberries: while an experienced DM will have no problem dealing with that (including cases where you try to cheese or powercreep about it, willingly or not), I'd be wary about grabbing the 4-class combination unless you both agree to artificially limit it to a maximum number per days. Otherwise, with no limits, you could make your party survive anything as long as you all end a fight alive: your DM may try to adapt by restricting short rest in whatever way available (which is bad), or try to crank up encounters and make them much more susceptible to kill you fast to at least give you some kind of danger feeling (which is even worse, because you wouldn't even have Gentle Repose to at least preserve bodies until you can ask a NPC to revive them).
>>> Make sure you and DM are both in agreement on this. If he's wary about it, drop the idea (and the Druid entirely then, unless you like its other spells and features).

** There are several things that could help you learn rituals, check with DM.
a) Can you "self-learn" Cleric and Druid spells that you can prepare which are rituals? I totally see no reason to forbid it, so if it's agreed, it means you have less pressure as to when to take the Ritual Invocations. Although it also means that as soon as you have it, you can have prepped all 1st level Cleric and Druid rituals which is very interesting.
b) Does he intend to provide you ways to learn rituals otherwise on a regular or previsible basis? If yes, you have less pressure too.

[rbstr]

For the first 5 levels the only healering you can really do is toss out HP: you don't have Lesser Restoration until level 6. The earliest you could get revivify is level 8. It only gets worse from there with high level threats and this character's complete lack of answers even close in spell level.
Having a ton of "good" concentration spells seems nice but you can only use one at a time, so the value of each "extra" is severely diminished. You don't get to buff and fog cloud.
He wants to use metamagic, yet your build doesn't see that until level 8.
Your build's first ASI/feat is at level 9.

Think of the opportunity cost of the class features and higher level spells you're giving up vs. dropping the druid and warlock for more sorc. I'd take Font of Magic instead of goodberry cheese alone. Cutting out Warlock levels gives you metamagic at half the level and way more sorcery points. At level 7 you're getting cha added to matching spell damage and you can revivify someone. It's just all together more useful.

[tkuremento]

Druid will be an option depending on what's left.

I don't think I actually want any levels in Druid as it will disallow use of metal armor (to mine understanding and the understanding of many others, rather it be a non-issue).


As a Half-Elf, you can start with the following stats
STR 10 / DEX 14 / CON 14 / INT 8 / WIS 14 / CHA 16.
Since you don't care that much about being offensive, you can safely take a feat with your first ASI and wait much later to bump your Charisma.
In the same idea, since you won't ever be at close range, losing speed if you want to wield heavy armor is not such a big deal.

Whatever you choose, after you take Inspiring Leader

I think I like the Half-Elf more than the Woof-Elf choice here. Also I'm not sure I'd take Inspiring Leader, I know it is a good feat but I don't think it fits the character concept personally. I mean mechanically it does but I was thinking of it in a non-mechanical way.



I would not start with four levels in four different classes.



Agreed actually, I don't think I want any druid, or any paladin. If I were to go bard I'd probably eschew warlock.


After reading all of this (this includes the second post despite not quoting it here) and taking more time to look at the features of all the classes, how does 13 Sorc/6 Warlock/1 Cleric sound? The archetypes being Favoured Soul, Celestial, and Life respectively of course, with Warlock also going Tome (though I wouldn't mind seeing what benefits Chain could have as well). And if not Warlock, I could 6 levels of Lore Bard to pick up any spells I want 3rd level or lower.

Edit: Also btw thank you so much for all this time Citan :o like seriously, and I thank the others too :)

[Citan]

Think of the opportunity cost of the class features and higher level spells you're giving up vs. dropping the druid and warlock for more sorc. I'd take Font of Magic instead of goodberry cheese alone. Cutting out Warlock levels gives you metamagic at half the level and way more sorcery points. At level 7 you're getting cha added to matching spell damage and you can revivify someone. It's just all together more useful.
Plain wrong this: provided DM is not harsh on short rest, using Warlock slots as source for sorcery point ends with much more fuel than pure Sorcerer. :)

I agree with everything else you said though about opportunity cost, especially lacking Lesser Restoration...

But really it wouldn't be so bad as you say: if you really want it you'd get it at level 6, late but just a tad later than a Paladin, whether you upped Warlock for rituals (it's on Celestial list) or Sorcerer for metamagics (learn any Cleric spell). Or even level 5 if you wait later to take even the first Warlock level, so exactly the same as Paladin. Remember, my first suggestion was to keep rituals for later, I just suggested a detailed leveling that directly went Warlock 3 in case rituals were a priority.

Revivify should be really not that needed between out-of-combat healing, Healing Words and Spare the Dying cantrip (which you can use at range through a Familiar invoked by Find Familiar ritual gained as a Warlock if you went the "rituals as a priority" way).
As long as the party would not be careless, I don't see how you could end with people killed unless you are in a party where nobody else can provide any (self-)healing. Which should in fact never happen, unless DM considers that a) berries are "magic items" (absolutely against RAW) or b) you cannot force eat someone that is currently incapacitated (against ROF but totally understandable).
Because you just have to distribute the berries among your fellows: for Paladins and Rangers (which have some healing themselves by the way, especially Paladin who can remove afflictions with Lay on Hands), it's plain better than Cure Wounds (a bit lesser healing but does not cost a slot). For other classes which do not get healing spells, it's the one way besides potions to heal someone else (but ONE potion of healing is 50 gold for 4-10 HP, at low levels it hurts. You can instead get 4-5 HP from a single berry). In the hands of a Thief, it's even better. :)

Finally, on the "too many concentration spells to be efficient", it's also being pessimistic: if you feel you always have too much competition for your concentration, just prepare other spells: Longstrider, Sanctuary and Absorb Elements are always useful, and with decent WIS, Guiding Bolt, Command, Inflict Wounds, Earth Tremor, Ice Knife or Thunderwave are also very usable spells which can all be upcast to take advantage of you multiclassing in only fullcasters. And you still have a great array of cantrips to fall back, including Thorns Whip and Repelling Blast which also help your friends (pull enemies together for a friendlies's AOE, push/pull away enemies to come close to squishies so they can move away without wasting an action on Disengage or risking an OA), or even Mold Earth to shape small covers or Shape Water to create emergency platforms on a water surface...

>>> I (nearly ^^) always make builds that work well. Even if it feels more clunky, or if it seems lackluster at first glance, they always bring a solid contribution to the party. That they are to people's liking is something else entirely, and I won't ever argue on that, to each his/her own taste. :)


I don't think I actually want any levels in Druid as it will disallow use of metal armor (to mine understanding and the understanding of many others, rather it be a non-issue).


I think I like the Half-Elf more than the Woof-Elf choice here. Also I'm not sure I'd take Inspiring Leader, I know it is a good feat but I don't think it fits the character concept personally. I mean mechanically it does but I was thinking of it in a non-mechanical way.






Agreed actually, I don't think I want any druid, or any paladin. If I were to go bard I'd probably eschew warlock.


After reading all of this (this includes the second post despite not quoting it here) and taking more time to look at the features of all the classes, how does 13 Sorc/6 Warlock/1 Cleric sound? The archetypes being Favoured Soul, Celestial, and Life respectively of course, with Warlock also going Tome (though I wouldn't mind seeing what benefits Chain could have as well). And if not Warlock, I could 6 levels of Lore Bard to pick up any spells I want 3rd level or lower.

Edit: Also btw thank you so much for all this time Citan :o like seriously, and I thank the others too :)
If you don't want any Druid it's much simpler, and you should definitely stick with Half-Elf and high Charisma.

As for Warlock, honestly his main benefits are...
- Rituals (since you need WIS anyways, you could get by with only Cleric rituals taken from Ritual Caster: you miss on many good ones, but you can still learn LTH as a Bard).
- Agonizing Repelling Blast: since you don't really care about damage, you can perfectly cope with all the other cantrips from Sorcerer.
- Extra cantrips: it's up to you to whether you need that many.
- A few extra spells, which you can learn as Sorcerer or Bard for most of them.
- Bonus action non-spell healing: good one, but is that really necessary?

I made all my suggestions on the premises that you really wanted Warlock, but honestly Bard is probably a better choice overall: more skills, Cutting Words on short rest, and you can poach good spells with Magic Secrets (you COULD get Goodberry, but as a Bard Aura of Vitality would be much more interesting).
There are some big drawbacks...
- You have to spend a feat on Ritual Caster and your learn less rituals.
- You lose 2*3rd level short rest slots which could be used on many things...
- You cannot "cheese" spell slots from Warlock's short rest into Sorcery Points and Sorcery points back into Sorcerer slots (I'm not sure that is a drawback to be honest, at least you won't make the DM wary ^^).
But overall it gives many great things: Jack of All Trades, Expertise, buffs, Song of Rest, Cutting Words. Less "spellcasty" but more "skillful" without any doubt.

I'd say either go for it, or stick with your initial idea of Warlock / Sorcerer with a tweak: Sorcerer 14 / Warlock 5 / Life Cleric 1: honestly, why would you miss on a chance to get free fly with classy angelic wings? If you were keen on being good at damage, I'd say stick with Warlock 6 for some powerful Fireball at times, but since you are a healer primarily... Wouldn't being an angel of life fit much better? ;)
Honestly both are great options, choosing would be hard for me, see what fits the most your character idea roleplay wise.

If I may though, the fact that you think Inspiring Leader is not fitting is a hint against Bard who is usually someone a bit "overt" (some would say "noisy and invading" XD) imo (but it's arguable for sure). Furthermore, the fact you made a thread about maximum cantrips and the illustrations you gave about how you used them gives me the feeling that you would have plenty of fun and be efficient with all extra cantrips from Warlock.
So because of that I'd say the balance tilts towards Warlock. ;)

[tkuremento]

Plain wrong this: provided DM is not harsh on short rest, using Warlock slots as source for sorcery point ends with much more fuel than pure Sorcerer. :)

I agree with everything else you said though about opportunity cost, especially lacking Lesser Restoration...

But really it wouldn't be so bad as you say: if you really want it you'd get it at level 6, late but just a tad later than a Paladin, whether you upped Warlock for rituals (it's on Celestial list) or Sorcerer for metamagics (learn any Cleric spell). Or even level 5 if you wait later to take even the first Warlock level, so exactly the same as Paladin. Remember, my first suggestion was to keep rituals for later, I just suggested a detailed leveling that directly went Warlock 3 in case rituals were a priority.

Revivify should be really not that needed between out-of-combat healing, Healing Words and Spare the Dying cantrip (which you can use at range through a Familiar invoked by Find Familiar ritual gained as a Warlock if you went the "rituals as a priority" way).
As long as the party would not be careless, I don't see how you could end with people killed unless you are in a party where nobody else can provide any (self-)healing. Which should in fact never happen, unless DM considers that a) berries are "magic items" (absolutely against RAW) or b) you cannot force eat someone that is currently incapacitated (against ROF but totally understandable).
Because you just have to distribute the berries among your fellows: for Paladins and Rangers (which have some healing themselves by the way, especially Paladin who can remove afflictions with Lay on Hands), it's plain better than Cure Wounds (a bit lesser healing but does not cost a slot). For other classes which do not get healing spells, it's the one way besides potions to heal someone else (but ONE potion of healing is 50 gold for 4-10 HP, at low levels it hurts. You can instead get 4-5 HP from a single berry). In the hands of a Thief, it's even better. :)

Finally, on the "too many concentration spells to be efficient", it's also being pessimistic: if you feel you always have too much competition for your concentration, just prepare other spells: Longstrider, Sanctuary and Absorb Elements are always useful, and with decent WIS, Guiding Bolt, Command, Inflict Wounds, Earth Tremor, Ice Knife or Thunderwave are also very usable spells which can all be upcast to take advantage of you multiclassing in only fullcasters. And you still have a great array of cantrips to fall back, including Thorns Whip and Repelling Blast which also help your friends (pull enemies together for a friendlies's AOE, push/pull away enemies to come close to squishies so they can move away without wasting an action on Disengage or risking an OA), or even Mold Earth to shape small covers or Shape Water to create emergency platforms on a water surface...

>>> I (nearly ^^) always make builds that work well. Even if it feels more clunky, or if it seems lackluster at first glance, they always bring a solid contribution to the party. That they are to people's liking is something else entirely, and I won't ever argue on that, to each his/her own taste. :)


If you don't want any Druid it's much simpler, and you should definitely stick with Half-Elf and high Charisma.

As for Warlock, honestly his main benefits are...
- Rituals (since you need WIS anyways, you could get by with only Cleric rituals taken from Ritual Caster: you miss on many good ones, but you can still learn LTH as a Bard).
- Agonizing Repelling Blast: since you don't really care about damage, you can perfectly cope with all the other cantrips from Sorcerer.
- Extra cantrips: it's up to you to whether you need that many.
- A few extra spells, which you can learn as Sorcerer or Bard for most of them.
- Bonus action non-spell healing: good one, but is that really necessary?

I made all my suggestions on the premises that you really wanted Warlock, but honestly Bard is probably a better choice overall: more skills, Cutting Words on short rest, and you can poach good spells with Magic Secrets (you COULD get Goodberry, but as a Bard Aura of Vitality would be much more interesting).
There are some big drawbacks...
- You have to spend a feat on Ritual Caster and your learn less rituals.
- You lose 2*3rd level short rest slots which could be used on many things...
- You cannot "cheese" spell slots from Warlock's short rest into Sorcery Points and Sorcery points back into Sorcerer slots (I'm not sure that is a drawback to be honest, at least you won't make the DM wary ^^).
But overall it gives many great things: Jack of All Trades, Expertise, buffs, Song of Rest, Cutting Words. Less "spellcasty" but more "skillful" without any doubt.

I'd say either go for it, or stick with your initial idea of Warlock / Sorcerer with a tweak: Sorcerer 14 / Warlock 5 / Life Cleric 1: honestly, why would you miss on a chance to get free fly with classy angelic wings? If you were keen on being good at damage, I'd say stick with Warlock 6 for some powerful Fireball at times, but since you are a healer primarily... Wouldn't being an angel of life fit much better? ;)
Honestly both are great options, choosing would be hard for me, see what fits the most your character idea roleplay wise.

If I may though, the fact that you think Inspiring Leader is not fitting is a hint against Bard who is usually someone a bit "overt" (some would say "noisy and invading" XD) imo (but it's arguable for sure). Furthermore, the fact you made a thread about maximum cantrips and the illustrations you gave about how you used them gives me the feeling that you would have plenty of fun and be efficient with all extra cantrips from Warlock.
So because of that I'd say the balance tilts towards Warlock. ;)

Thank you again for all of the advice, I think I could build a pretty good character with all of this, and I do think I'd probably stick with the Warlock over the Bard. Also I didn't make the Maximum Cantrips thread, I simply contributed the highest amount combination discovered so far in said thread.