How to make a Tanky Cleric?

[Edgerunner]

2nd lvl Death Domain Half-Orc Cleric and just got to 3rd lvl.
I want my PC to become the Party Tank.
I have an AC of 18 with Scalemail, Shield & 1d8 weapon

With a new level I was tinkering with the idea of dipping one lvl of Wizard for Shield, Absorb Elements and ritual spells for utility.

Any other Ideas or suggestions to Tank him Up???

[Nidgit]

Resilient (Con), Heavy Armor Master, and Tough are both feats that could really help. AC tanking is very effective early on but eventually loses some luster as enemies get more accurate. Clerics are already pretty well suited to tanking if you can up your HP.

[Arkhios]

Resilient (Con), Heavy Armor Master, and Tough are both feats that could really help. AC tanking is very effective early on but eventually loses some luster as enemies get more accurate. Clerics are already pretty well suited to tanking if you can up your HP.

There's just that small issue that Death Domain doesn't grant you heavy armor proficiency, so HAM is of no use to their character.

Tankiness requires that you keep up with you being threatening to your enemies. Too high AC can lead to a situation where you are just basically ignored because you are found too hard to hit. If you can keep your enemies interested in getting you down asap, you are doing your job as a tank.

[MaxWilson]

2nd lvl Death Domain Half-Orc Cleric and just got to 3rd lvl.
I want my PC to become the Party Tank.
I have an AC of 18 with Scalemail, Shield & 1d8 weapon

With a new level I was tinkering with the idea of dipping one lvl of Wizard for Shield, Absorb Elements and ritual spells for utility.

Any other Ideas or suggestions to Tank him Up???

Take Lucky feat to negate critical hits, and consider one or more of Inspiring Leader, Healer, and Sentinel (which allows you to do things like Dodge + Spiritual Hammer, while still punishing enemies who attempt to bypass you because you're hard to hit).

[Edgerunner]

Take Lucky feat to negate critical hits, and consider one or more of Inspiring Leader, Healer, and Sentinel (which allows you to do things like Dodge + Spiritual Hammer, while still punishing enemies who attempt to bypass you because you're hard to hit).

I have a WIS of 18 and A CON of 19. Plan is Resilient Con and a 20 WIS before Sentinel.
Should I grab it earlier?

Is the Dip for Shield and Absorb Elements a good idea?

[Arkhios]

I have a WIS of 18 and A CON of 19. Plan is Resilient Con and a 20 WIS before Sentinel.
Should I grab it earlier?

Is the Dip for Shield and Absorb Elements a good idea?

How is your Intelligence? That might prevent you from dipping in the first place. To put it plain and clear (once again), to multiclass, you must meet the requirements for both (or all) classes you intend to multiclass between. Cleric requires at least Wisdom 13. Wizard, likewise, Intelligence 13. If either one is lacking, no can do.

[Edgerunner]

How is your Intelligence?

15 INT and no stat lower than a 13
Built to MC IMO.

[Arkhios]

15 INT and no stat lower than a 13
Built to MC IMO.

Not sure if "Built to MC" is the right thing to say, if you rolled for the stats. "Lucky to MC" would be more appropriate :smallbiggrin:

[CTurbo]

I would not dip Wizard. Take Res(Con), then +2 Wis, then Sentinel, then probably War Caster, then maybe Magic Initiate for Booming Blade.

[djreynolds]

Part of it is you as the player. Working out team tactics ahead of time. Using the terrain to funnel them into the "Hot Gates"

But a good DM will make this difficult.

[Lord8Ball]

Heroism+heavy armor master+ 20 ac from full plate/shield.

[Arkhios]

Heroism+heavy armor master+ 20 ac from full plate/shield.
It's almost funny but still isn't how this is unclear to so many:

There's just that small issue that Death Domain doesn't grant you heavy armor proficiency, so HAM is of no use to their character.

[Nidgit]

It's almost funny but still isn't how this is unclear to so many:
Hey man, you don't have to be a **** about it. Death Domain isn't in PHB or XGtE so it's easy to forget the exact specifics. Given the weapon proficiencies and Divine Strike, it really feels like it *should* have heavy armor.

Anyways, if OP's stats are that high it might be worth looking at Monk for a dip. If your DM is a little stingy on magic shields/armor and DEX is your attack stat, Unarmored Defense might surpass your normal armored AC. Some of those early features are very useful and having some abilities that recharge on a short rest isn't a bad idea. Could end up being a very unique and memorable character.

[opaopajr]

Cast a Consentration-based ugly spell out there, then run around dodging behind cover? Dodging around 3/4 cover is +5 AC & DEX saves, while dodge gives attacker Disadv. AC 23 with +5 to DEX saves and Disadv on attackers (and Adv on DEX saves) sounds good to me, and has already been doable from your PC.

Basically you are asking to tank, read: be an unignorable frontline threat, so as to distract focus fire on the squishies (a.k.a. nuke, medic, striker, support, etc.). Well... OK. But it's not really gonna look the same way as some Tunnel Fighter polearm PAM Sentinal whatever. It's gonna look like casting something as encounter swingy as Fairie Fire and dangling out there like a decoy.

edit: just checked out your Cleric spell list. False Life and Ray of Sickness don't help. But you'd be a perfect Bane dispensory. All attacks and saves for three targets (that fail their CHA save) taking -1d4 for a minute, or your concentration breaks, is a very tanky incentive.

[LudicSavant]

One common and potent cleric tanking strategy that works for any Cleric subtype:

>Wield a shield and wear the best armor and protective items you have access to. Both heavy and medium armor will work (the difference is at most 1 AC).
>Cast Spirit Guardians / Spiritual Weapon.
>Walk into middle of enemy horde.
>Use the Dodge action, so that all attacks vs you have disadvantage.
>Deal damage with SG/SW, and OAs. You can add in attacks or spells too if you don't feel the need to Dodge.
>Prevent enemy movement with SG and OAs.

Essentially, the Cleric's lack of reliance on their Action for their presence on the battlefield means that they can use the Dodge action without missing out on much. The fact that you are the one issuing the Healing Words also means that you're even more difficult to ignore.

Arcana Clerics are especially good at this, because of Booming Blade / Potent Spellcasting applying its bonus multiple times... which means that enemies who try to walk away from a properly built Arcana Cleric have a tendency to explode into little giblets. And the fact that they can turn like half of the Monster Manual. And dispel magic while throwing out those Healing Words to make it even more difficult for the enemy to do anything to the rest of your party while you're still standing. All of these extra defenses are generally more valuable than any difference you'd get out of heavy armor proficiency, for the best tanks must have good defenses against every form of offense... not just direct damage attack rolls.

Also note that at low-mid levels, half-plate and a +1 AC/resistances item is cheaper than, and superior to, full plate.

[Arkhios]

Arcana Clerics are especially good at this, because of Booming Blade / Potent Spellcasting applying its bonus multiple times... which means that enemies who try to walk away from a properly built Arcana Cleric have a tendency to explode into little giblets. And the fact that they can turn like half of the Monster Manual.

Thank you for bringing this up. It gave me an idea.

Start as Fighter for obvious reasons, choose defense fighting style. If v.Human, take Polearm Master at 1st level, and use glaive (or any 2h reach weapon you like and that qualifies for PAM).

now, take at least 8 levels in arcana cleric, and at 4th cleric level, take War Caster feat. Now you can make opportunity attacks with Booming Blade when someone comes within 5 ft. of you, or tries to get away from you.
At 8th cleric level, take Spell Sniper feat. Now you can make opportunity attacks with Booming Blade when someone comes within 10 ft. of you, or tries to get away from you.

Also, remember to cast Spirit Guardians and/or Spiritual Weapon, as LudicSavant suggested. Now, use Dodge action every turn, and watch the fun begin.

[Snowbluff]

A wizard/Sorcerer/3 levels of EK will actually do a cleric a lot of good. Getting Booming Blade, Green Flame Blade, and shield is great for the my Tempest Cleric. ON top of that, if you're not playing AL, you can get Absorb Elements to get resistnace on an elemental attack, which can cut a lot of damage off of an otherwise difficult to avoid attack type. In my experience, this has been going great, and regularly lets my under leveled cleric (he was playing a few levels below the other two party members) punch outside of his weight class.

Potent Spellcasting is only ok for the blade cantrips. Remember that at the same level, any other cleric will already be adding a d8 to their swing. If you can reliably trigger the second effect, it's a lot better, but I still vote for a different cleric type. In short, I cannot express how vastly overrated Arcana Cleric is.

[Vogie]

Maybe a 1 level dip into Hexblade warlock? You'd still get access to Shield, but also Armor of Agathys for your single spell slot, while also stopping the target from regenerating hit points with Chill Touch cantrip if needed, or empowering your strikes with Booming Blade.

[opaopajr]

The challenge is this character is moving into 3rd lvl, so a lot of stuff is not online. And multiclassing often delays going online.

Thankfully 3rd lvl opens up 2nd lvl spells, so Spirit Weapon goes online, and that's a great bit of support advice. SW also does not have Concentration, and lasts a minute. So while Spirit Guardians is not online until 5th lvl, at 3rd lvl you can still cast Bane and Spirit Weapon for both a minute, with only Bane requiring Conc.

This way you can debuff with Bane, have a bonus attack with Spirit Weapon, and save your action for Dodge (ideally behind cover). That's a nasty decoy threat. The challenge is it can burn through slots fast. Maybe you can play up your Death Cleric's feature boosting Chill Touch? But at that point I'd save SW for big fights and rather play keep away with Bane cast & Chill Touch for small fights.

[Specter]

I'd say a level of Fighter can more relevant to what you want. Your AC will jump from 18 to 21 with Defense and heavy armor, and Second Wind doesn't hurt either.