Single or multiclass?

[grumbaki]

Right now I have a lvl4 hill dwarf tempest cleric. We just reached lvl5. He has...

Str(16) Dex(10) Con(16) Int(10) Wis(16) Cha(8)

His equipment is a silver warhammer, a shield, and fullplate which can be taken on/off as a free action and which gives resistance to lightning/thunder.

So my question is, should I go pure cleric? Or multiclass to fighter?

If I go Fighter (6) then my AC will go up to 21. With shield of faith it becomes 23. Then when he becomes an eldrich knight he can get shield, pushing his AC up to 28.

At which point he gets 2 attacks, with a third from spiritual weapon. He can also get action surge for when casting a spell is absolutely needed.

----

That sounds great to me. Between the AC, healing and HP he sounds like a great tank. Especially as he could summon his weapon, armor and shield so that he never is defenseless.

Or is it more optimal to just go pure Cleric?

[Specter]

Fighter is good, but watch out: you'd need a free casting hand or War Caster to cast Shield.

[Regulas]

If your goal is to be a melee combat specialist (which is what it sounds like) then probably yes you should multiclass.

Pure cleric would give you much stronger spellcasting and as a tempest very high burst dmg potential, but if you're intending to be in melee most of the time then you probably don't need this, though it would almost make me ask why not a Paladin or fighter to begin with.

[Corran]

I'd carry on with cleric. More and higher level spells. Spells are nice.

[Findulidas]

Yeah going full caster if you already were one is often for the best. Full casters become pretty good by themselves.

[Beelzebubba]

Or is it more optimal to just go pure Cleric?

Mechanically optimal? Probably.

But just build the concept. Multi-classing is pretty balanced. You'll have fun either way, choose the one that lets you play something you haven't done before.

[Chugger]

You might miss out if you water down your cleric abilities. Spirit G cast at a higher slot is deadly, if you can keep conc. You can have it up and Spiritual Weapon, so you can attack in your bonus. If you go fighter you hurt your casting, and being a caster hurts your meleeing. Why? Are you using your ASIs to boost Wis or Str? If you boost Str your DC for STs to your spells doesn't keep up. Higher CR monsters have higher bonuses to STs and you need a higher DC to stay competitive via spells. But as monster ACs go up you need more Str to have a higher to hit chance (and to do more damage).

Build your character where it will be 2, 4, 8 levels from now and so on - and see if you like what you see.

Are you going to 20? Clerics get a very powerful cap function at 20. It's kind of like a "wish" - sort of - depending on how DM handles DI. You'll never get that if you take so much as one lvl of fighter.

[djreynolds]

I would grab magic initiate, no requirement needed, and get booming blade.

Then at 8th and 14th level with your divine strikes.... add in additional thunder damage to the booming blade

Divine strike is only used for 1 attack, unlike improved divine smite which is added to all attacks.

So stay pure and grab magic initiate.

There are few enemies that resist thunder damage

[Nifft]

Tempest Cleric is great at level 8, when you add damage to your attacks.

Agree about Booming Blade -- and you can also grab Lightning Lure, which is a fun cantrip for a tank like yourself to pull heat off a squishy. See if you can pull a jerk towards one corner of your square, and then push him away at a 90° angle.

[djreynolds]

Tempest Cleric is great at level 8, when you add damage to your attacks.
.

100%, as long as you are landing that 1 attack, you add 1d8 extra.... as good as 2 attacks.

And I like the lighting lure idea as it synergizes very well with the whole theme