Need help with my sorc/cleric for Storm King's Thunder

[samuraijaques]

Hello playgrounders,

Our group is finishing Out of the Abyss soon and we have Storm King's Thunder ready and waiting. Usually I'm pretty confident in my character building abilities but I have a character concept that I just can't seem to get right. I fell in love with the storm sorcerer/tempest cleric build and have been trying to figure out how to optimize it because I hear SKT has a lot of deadly encounters and I want to be able to at least stand a chance.

Conceptually I was trying to make a heavy armor wearing, lightning slinging, hammer wielding badass but It's been tough and I'm not sure if I can fit all of that on one character.

After the intro session we'll be starting at level 5. Here's what I have so far.

Half-elf
Str 14 Dex 11 Con 14 Int 8 Wis 14 Cha 16

Sorcerer 1/cleric 2/sorcerer 2 for a total of sorcerer 3/cleric 2. This lets me start the game with my channel divinity as well as my metamagic online and ready to go. Going sorcerer first gets me that lovely con save proficiency.

sorcerer:
4 cantrips: booming blade, lightning lure, shocking grasp, minor illusion
2 1st: chromatic orb, shield, absorb elements
1 2nd: shatter
twin and quicken

cleric:
3 cantrips: guidance, mending, light
3 1st: bless, healing word, protection from good and evil/shield of faith
bonus domain spells: fog cloud, thunderwave

I also get a fat stack of skills and languages to play with so I can be useful outside of combat primarily as a party face. I'll be wearing heavy armor with a shield and a warhammer. The shield can be my holy focus but i'll have to get a wrist strap for the warhammer so I can drop it and cast my sorcerer spells.

Is this the best way to go about making this character? Would this build be viable? I really want to make it work but it feels like it's not quite there.

[CTurbo]

As a HUGE fan of the Tempest Cleric, I think it would be just fine as a solo class for what you want. I'd just grab the Magic Initiate feat for a couple of Lightning Cantrips and maybe Find Familiar.


But having said that, I have often wondered about making a Storm or Blue Draconic Sorcerer/ Tempest Cleric multiclass build. I think I prefer Draconic better for the adding of the Cha mod to any Lightning damage spell and the extra hp per level. I love the synergy though. The problem is the extreme madness that you need to make this work. You basically need 4 stats. I think I'd only attempt it if rolling for stats and get a good spread.

[samuraijaques]

My thought was that I only really only need cha at 20. Wisdom only needs to be at 13 but i figured the extra point was worth it for the increased modifier, I'm comfortable with my constitution at 14 considering my AC is going to be very high, the strength of 14 will be my second stat to max and having one less to my attacks than if I started with a 16 doesn't seem that bad especially when I have cantrips that I can use against high AC targets.

I thought about draconic but the storm sorcerer is just too cool to pass up and the extra damage when casting spells ends up being much higher than the dragon sorcerer if you stay in melee range. particularly if you are within 10ft of multiple targets.

[CTurbo]

Ah I see so it's basically going to just be a 2 level Tempest dip then? Yeah that would work. You don't need that high of a Wis score then. I was thinking a more balanced multiclass considering how good Spirit Guardians is for any melee character, and at level 6 you can max lightning and thunder damage twice instead of once not to mention being able to knock back an enemy 10ft with all Lightning damage.

But Tempest 2/Storm Sorc 18 would be great for sure

[samuraijaques]

I considered the more balanced multiclass with taking tempest to 6 but I wanted more of a blaster role so I decided to go primarily sorcerer. The cleric list is really lacking for good damaging spells with a few exceptions like spirit guardians. Spirit guardians doesn't do lightning or thunder damage though so as amazing as it is it doesn't really fit the character theme.

I think i'm going to go
str 8 dex 16 con 14 int 8 wis 13 cha 16

going strength was getting me access to heavy armor but I feel like dexterity is going to get me a lot more. I lose out on one point of AC but the increased initiative is going to be worth it.

[CTurbo]

I agree the Dex is much more useful than Str

[Laserlight]

Look up Lightning Lord build. I'm not convinced that MC is better than single class--falling behind in max spell level is painful--but YMMV.

[djreynolds]

Storm King's Thunder.... Just make sure you have more than just thunder and lightning at your disposal

[samuraijaques]

Look up Lightning Lord build. I'm not convinced that MC is better than single class--falling behind in max spell level is painful--but YMMV.
I think the benefits of the cleric dip are worth it for the survivability. It's hard to use the storm sorcerer class features without getting in melee.


Storm King's Thunder.... Just make sure you have more than just thunder and lightning at your disposal

I was gonna pick up elemental adept. Worst case scenario I'll have backup spells that do other damage in case a monster is resistant to both thunder and lightning.

[djreynolds]

Excellent and keep sacred flame, spirit guardians handy.

Absorb elements is a very good spell, a level of druid could give it to you.

Good luck

[samuraijaques]

Excellent and keep sacred flame, spirit guardians handy.

Absorb elements is a very good spell, a level of druid could give it to you.

Good luck
I'm sticking with create bonfire as my backup since my character is going to be so much higher than my wis. And I got absorb elements from sorcerer lol. Two steps ahead of you :)

[Snowbluff]

Elemental Adept is a bit of a waste. First off not many things resist both lightning and thunder, secondly you'll have other elements at your disposal, and thirdly it competes with an ASI for your casting stat.

[Biggstick]

I've DM'ed the entirety of Storm King's Thunder, just to get that out of the way and you understand where my opinion is coming from.

You're going to be dealing with Giants. Giants hit hard, and they have a high bonus to hit. The only way you're going to have enough AC to not get hit by Giants on the regular is if you're rocking 23 or higher AC. For those who are getting hit, they're going to need some sort of damage mitigation to deal with that situation, of which only Rogues and Barbarians can consistently pull off. What I'm getting at is though your armor will serve you well enough against most creatures you come across, it's going to mean jack-diddly against the Giants. And seeing as how you don't have damage mitigation through resistance, you'll go down super fast in combat.

So what I'm getting at here is that a Cleric dip is typically a solid choice for any primary spell caster (armor/shield proficiency, Healing Word/Bless, same spellcaster level progression), you're dipping two levels for the Channel Divinity. And you're looking to do maximized Thunder/Lightning damage. That'll work great up until you start interacting with creatures "cough, Storm King's Thunder, cough," that are straight up immune to the damage you're trying to do. Oh, and you won't want to be anywhere near melee range on those creatures, so spells like Booming Blade and it's ilk are things you're not going to want to plan around, as you'll be dead before the 2nd round of combat is over.

Building your character around Thunder and Lightning damage is great and all, but you need to have viable alternatives for combat and be willing to relegate yourself (and be fine with it) to casting spells like an up-cast Bless if you want to have success with your particular build in Storm King's Thunder.

Personally, I would say that going straight Sorcerer or Tempest Cleric would work out better for you overall, but if you really want to utilize a solid multiclass for STK, Tempest Cleric 2//Druid 8-9 (depending on if your DM pushes you to 11 or not) is a solid combination. You can wear medium armor that isn't metal (I'll provide a spoiler as to where in STK magical Stone Armor that functions as Breastplate without being metal can be found in STK) and a wooden shield (for a total of 18 AC), you'll still be only dependent on Wisdom for your spell casting modifier, you'll gain relevant attack cantrips with Magic Stone and defensive spells with Absorb Elements/Healing Spirit, and you'll have beast forms for all the relevant utility they provide.

In a place called One Stone, the suggested encounter has you engaging in almost immediate combat with a cultist. This cultist is wearing a Stone Breastplate that is treated with a magical oil. The Stone Breastplate act in the exact same fashion as regular Breastplate, except for the fact that they're made of Stone (and are thus usable by Druids without conflict of the no metal armor clause).
You'll still have access to your Channel Divinity for maximized lightning damage on your Call Lightning, you'll still have Absorb Elements (which will very much so be a useful spell throughout the entirety of STK), you'll have solid attack cantrips (along with the ability to use a Longbow successfully with your proficiency + 2 Dex), and you'll still be able to act very much the part of a Storm Mage by being both a Tempest Cleric and a Druid.

[samuraijaques]

Elemental Adept is a bit of a waste. First off not many things resist both lightning and thunder, secondly you'll have other elements at your disposal, and thirdly it competes with an ASI for your casting stat.
Yeah it's not high on my list of priorities, cha is definitely being maxed first then maybe I'll look into elemental adept. It was just something I was thinking of.


I've DM'ed the entirety of Storm King's Thunder, just to get that out of the way and you understand where my opinion is coming from.

You're going to be dealing with Giants. Giants hit hard, and they have a high bonus to hit. The only way you're going to have enough AC to not get hit by Giants on the regular is if you're rocking 23 or higher AC. For those who are getting hit, they're going to need some sort of damage mitigation to deal with that situation, of which only Rogues and Barbarians can consistently pull off. What I'm getting at is though your armor will serve you well enough against most creatures you come across, it's going to mean jack-diddly against the Giants. And seeing as how you don't have damage mitigation through resistance, you'll go down super fast in combat.

So what I'm getting at here is that a Cleric dip is typically a solid choice for any primary spell caster (armor/shield proficiency, Healing Word/Bless, same spellcaster level progression), you're dipping two levels for the Channel Divinity. And you're looking to do maximized Thunder/Lightning damage. That'll work great up until you start interacting with creatures "cough, Storm King's Thunder, cough," that are straight up immune to the damage you're trying to do. Oh, and you won't want to be anywhere near melee range on those creatures, so spells like Booming Blade and it's ilk are things you're not going to want to plan around, as you'll be dead before the 2nd round of combat is over.

Building your character around Thunder and Lightning damage is great and all, but you need to have viable alternatives for combat and be willing to relegate yourself (and be fine with it) to casting spells like an up-cast Bless if you want to have success with your particular build in Storm King's Thunder.

Personally, I would say that going straight Sorcerer or Tempest Cleric would work out better for you overall, but if you really want to utilize a solid multiclass for STK, Tempest Cleric 2//Druid 8-9 (depending on if your DM pushes you to 11 or not) is a solid combination. You can wear medium armor that isn't metal (I'll provide a spoiler as to where in STK magical Stone Armor that functions as Breastplate without being metal can be found in STK) and a wooden shield (for a total of 18 AC), you'll still be only dependent on Wisdom for your spell casting modifier, you'll gain relevant attack cantrips with Magic Stone and defensive spells with Absorb Elements/Healing Spirit, and you'll have beast forms for all the relevant utility they provide.

In a place called One Stone, the suggested encounter has you engaging in almost immediate combat with a cultist. This cultist is wearing a Stone Breastplate that is treated with a magical oil. The Stone Breastplate act in the exact same fashion as regular Breastplate, except for the fact that they're made of Stone (and are thus usable by Druids without conflict of the no metal armor clause).
You'll still have access to your Channel Divinity for maximized lightning damage on your Call Lightning, you'll still have Absorb Elements (which will very much so be a useful spell throughout the entirety of STK), you'll have solid attack cantrips (along with the ability to use a Longbow successfully with your proficiency + 2 Dex), and you'll still be able to act very much the part of a Storm Mage by being both a Tempest Cleric and a Druid.
Let's see if I can address all this. Being a tank is not my intention, I understand completely that sorcerer is not the class to do that with. My intention is to be less of a liability in combat than a normal sorcerer and I did that with the cleric dip. With half plate and a shield I will have an AC of 19. I have shield as a spell for times that I get hit anyway. No one thinks it's a good idea to go toe to toe with giants but if and when that inevitably ends up happening I'd like a better chance of survival than an unarmored sorcerer.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?379165-MM-Resistances-Immunities-Vulnerabilities-and-Damage

I ran into that list when I was looking at making this character and as you can see there are only 2 creatures in the game that are immune to thunder, one of which is the storm giant. The other I have no idea, probably an ooze or something. So with the exception of one monster that I understand we will definitely be running into at some point I have a pretty reliable damage type that I can use against anything that is resistant to lightning. And when I'm fighting a storm giant I will have access to literally any other element through chromatic sphere. When we fight giants I will definitely not be using booming blade, I will be throwing as big of a spell as I can muster I assure you.

I already have lots of great alternatives to thunder and lightning damage and am totally okay with casting bless, twinning a haste or laying down some CC. I'm aware that blasting is not always the option and intend to have as diverse of a spell list as possible while still keeping lots of options available that are on theme.

I considered druid as an alternative to the sorcerer but I really wanted to play a blaster and the druid spell damage output really just doesn't quite compare. Not that I wouldn't love having call lightning :P. Going druid also lessens my survivability against monsters with high attack modifiers unless i'm just chilling in beast form all the time for the ablative health in which case I'm not doing the specific thing I wanted to do with this character. Plus sorcerer already gives me absorb elements.

Thanks for the help

[Samayu]

We're heading into the home stretch of STK. I'm Sorc 9 right now. I'm having a problem where this late in the game my only effective spells are buffs. Fireball and the like deal damage, but not much more than our melee guys are doing per round (unless they make their DEX saves, then it's worse), and my usual go-to spells are WIS saves. Having AC12 has not been a problem for me.