Good Domain Choices for Firbolg Cleric

[Tokuhara]

So I'm looking to join a game coming up, possibly starting around 5th level. I have access to all books available and am seriously torn on my domain of choice. I'm currently torn between Life, Grave, and Order (leaning towards Order tbh) and at 5th level am grabbing Magic Initiate: Druid (grabbing Shilelagh, Druidcraft, and a spell tbd).

My plan is to be the party's buff machine and primary healer with the option to go into melee if necessary, leaning heavily on Shilelagh to do my heavy lifting.

[tieren]

Go nature domain if you really want cleric, but druid would be better, check out the cool circle spells for a grasslands land druid.

[Tokuhara]

I was going to go Cleric almost entirely for the benefits of Spiritual Weapon/Spirit Guardians as well as the quite strong domain abilities, and mostly because I don't want Wildshape. Plus, Firbolg Druid is a cliche

That being said, Grasslands Druid is nifty. More sneak is always cool.

[tieren]

I was going to go Cleric almost entirely for the benefits of Spiritual Weapon/Spirit Guardians as well as the quite strong domain abilities

Then go with Nature, you get Shillelagh at level 1 as a class ability and don't need to burn an ASI on it at level 4, also get heavy armor proficiency if you want to be wading in to spiritual guardian range, etc...

[Tokuhara]

I had planned on grabbing Magic Initiate mostly to give slightly more tools to work with outside base Cleric spells (Grabbing something that isn't in the Cleric list is always a good tool to have in my pocket)

[Helldin87]

Nature Cleric gets 1 druid cantrip for free at level 1: Shilleagh is the obvious choice. Also you get heavy armor and you have shields at baseline. AC 18 and a 1d8+Wis weapon? yes please. Add to that the divine strike cold, fire, or lightning (versatility is a nice bonus) at level 8 you are looking good!

Clerics are fun and this cleric is druid-y without being a druid.

Another option is to do what you are saying and go for Magic Initiate at level 4 ( I assume level 5 was a typo) and use Order Cleric. The economy of Order is awesome! All of your heals and buffs are THAT much better due to Voice of authority unlocking reactions for allies to attack. Just a nifty subclass overall.

Have fun!

[RogueJK]

I had planned on grabbing Magic Initiate mostly to give slightly more tools to work with outside base Cleric spells (Grabbing something that isn't in the Cleric list is always a good tool to have in my pocket)

Then definitely Nature Cleric. They get a Druid cantrip at 1st level, plus their Domain Spells are all nature-related Druid/Ranger spells, only one of which is normally on the Cleric's spell list (Insect Plague).

That's a total of 10 non-Cleric spells, will allow you to get plenty of Druidy Nature spells without spending an ASI on Magic Initiate. And Nature Clerics are some of the best front-line clerics.

[Tokuhara]

The flavor is that I'm from a more druidic tribe, but after a horrible accident, I was saved by a follower of my god, and joined the clergy to repay that debt. Magic Initiate very much represents my "Druidic Tribe" background (planned on taking Folk Hero or Acolyte to also pay respect to this) while using Cleric to represent my somewhat pious lifestyle.

Order/Grave would very much represent me viewing nature as "ordered" and trying to encourage people to follow that order (he's super anti-undead, hating them from both his Druidic heritage and his Cleric training) while Healing would more come from his desire to help those who are in need.

Edit: and the other major reason behind buying the feat is that, thanks to my rolls, I'm walking in with a 20 Wisdom and a 17 Con. Sure, more Con helps, but 3 more spells (and I'll never turn down Cantrips or a First Level Spell. That'd be silly). Mechanically, the plan is to homage CoDzillas of olde

[RogueJK]

Even better. With a 20 WIS and Shillelagh as your free Druid cantrip the first level of Nature Cleric, you can be wading into melee and cracking skulls right from Level 1, rather than having to wait until Level 4 to grab Shillelagh from Magic Initiate.

You can then spend that first ASI on something like Resilient (CON) or Warcaster.


A good option for a melee-centric Nature Cleric is to dip 2-5 levels in Ranger. 1 level of Ranger gets you an extra skill, Favored Enemy and Terrain, and Martial Weapon Proficiency (not as useful for a Shillelagh user). 2 levels gets you a Fighting Style and +1 caster level for more spell slots, plus a couple 1st Level Ranger spells known. 3 levels gets you Darkvision and some ambush abilities from Gloomstalker (potentially handy since Firbolgs don't have Darkvision) or extra damage from Hunter, plus another 1st level Ranger spell known. 4 levels gets you another +1 caster level for more spell slots, and an ASI. 5 levels gets you Extra Attack for even more melee goodness, and a Level 2 Ranger spell known. Then continue straight Nature Cleric from there.

This build works from the get-go, but the damage really starts to kick off at Ranger3/Cleric3 (Martial Weapon Attack + Spiritual Weapon + Colossus Slayer + Hunter's Mark), ramps up further at Ranger5/Cleric3 (Martial Weapon Attack + Extra Attack + Spiritual Weapon + Colossus Slayer + Hunter's Mark), really hits its stride at Ranger5/Cleric5 (Martial Weapon Attack + Extra Attack + Spiritual Weapon + Spirit Guardians + Colossus Slayer), and becomes even more of a melee monster at Ranger5/Cleric8 (Martial Weapon Attack + Extra Attack + Spiritual Weapon + Spirit Guardians + Colossus Slayer + Divine Strike). And that's not counting any other other buffs or magic items as sources of even more additional damage. At no time along the way do you feel underpowered or behind the curve. If your DM allows Revised Ranger, it's even better.

But that build is mostly about melee/tanking. If you're wanting to focus primarily on spellcasting and support like healing and buffing, Ranger levels aren't as useful.

[Tokuhara]

My main thing is that I won't NEED all that many ASIs, since my main score is a 20 and I really don't have a secondary score to worry too heavily on (Con is a nice bonus to have, but not immediately necessary). So Resilient was on the list for later. And I forsee buying feats more often than improving 2 scores.

[Man_Over_Game]

@Tokuhara There are an awful lot of Nature Cleric recommendations (3 or so) just in the first few responses, yet you haven't actually made any kind of statement regarding specifically Nature Cleric. It almost seems like it's something you actively don't want.

How do you feel about the Nature Cleric? Because, to be honest, with the way you described the character, the reasons for magic initiate, the background you've chosen and the reasons you're avoiding Druid and picking Cleric, it does feel like a perfectly niche pick.

[McSkrag]

As others have said, Nature Cleric gets you Shillelagh, heavy armor, and a bunch of good flavor and spells.

Then if you take Magic Initiate you could get Booming Blade to help with melee damage and either the Shield spell to keep from getting hit or take Find Familiar for a useful and flavorful spirit animal companion.

Booming Blade is great for melee clerics using Spirit Guardians because you put your enemy in the bad position of taking damage if they move or stay put. It also gives you a strong opportunity attack if you later take War Caster.

[Tokuhara]

I'm very iffy on Nature Cleric. The Channel for it is pretty weak, and Dampen Elements just doesn't tickle me pink. And while I adore the spell list for Nature, there's something about Nature Cleric that screams "Just Play A Druid." That being said, if I decided to go Nature, I do see the value in being a quasidruid.

That being said, the Wizard initiate seems interesting, since the three spells mentioned don't need Int. It's possible to be certain

[RogueJK]

and Dampen Elements just doesn't tickle me pink

Really?

You don't like the idea of Absorb Elements, usable on an ally as well as yourself, without using a spell slot, an unlimited times per day?

It's one of the best mid-level features of any Cleric Domain, IMO.

[RogueJK]

And while I adore the spell list for Nature, there's something about Nature Cleric that screams "Just Play A Druid."

Heavily armored, buffing, melee Nature Clerics play very differently from light/medium-armored, shapeshifting, controller/summoner caster Druids. Their spell lists just happen to have some overlap, and they both love plants and animals.


and Dampen Elements just doesn't tickle me pink

Really?

You don't like the idea of Absorb Elements, usable on an ally as well as yourself, without using a spell slot, an unlimited times per day?

It's one of the best mid-level features of any Cleric Domain, IMO.


The Channel for it is pretty weak

On that we can agree. But you can't have it all. :smallwink: And you can still use it to Turn Undead just like any other Cleric.

[Tokuhara]

On Dampen: I'm not saying it's bad. Not by any stretch.

I'm saying that it sounds more like a "nice to have" than a "must have." Much like why I chose Firbolg aside from the +2 Wis. Compared to Voice of Authority, it appears to pale in comparison, much like the Divine Strike (sure, hitting the weakness is groovy, but hitting with a rarely resisted/immune element is equally valid).

Again, I'm not immediately opposed to Nature Cleric. I just didn't plan on it initially as the base idea

[Man_Over_Game]

Eh, everyone says the channel sucks, but consider the fact that it's an AoE burst against every creature that can see you (not that you can see) and it makes them friendly.

Why is that important? Because Speak With Animals lets you converse with them, and can even convince them to do you a favor if they're friendly.

Get a bunch of crows to listen to you, have them find someone you're looking for if you give them something they want.
Get a bunch of squirrels to tell you what they saw in the last day in the grove they're in.

Animals are everywhere, more so in a medieval fantasy world than our own. Sure, it doesn't have much combat use, but it does a lot more than that. Note how almost every other Cleric lacks out of combat utility. That's the reason you pick the Nature Cleric.

[Tokuhara]

Eh, everyone says the channel sucks, but consider the fact that it's an AoE burst against every creature that can see you (not that you can see) and it makes them friendly.

Why is that important? Because Speak With Animals lets you converse with them, and can even convince them to do you a favor if they're friendly.

Get a bunch of crows to listen to you, have them find someone you're looking for if you give them something they want.
Get a bunch of squirrels to tell you what they saw in the last day in the grove they're in.

Animals are everywhere, more so in a medieval fantasy world than our own. Sure, it doesn't have much combat use, but it does a lot more than that. Note how almost every other Cleric lacks out of combat utility. That's the reason you pick the Nature Cleric.

I have to agree with you here. It is a better utility than most Cleric utilities. Plus, I never need to actually CAST Speak with Animals or Plants (benefit of a Firbolg nice to have), although it devalues the spell list slightly. And at the very least, I'd have the ability to do the whole "To Me, my X-Men" with local wildlife

[RogueJK]

Plus, I never need to actually CAST Speak with Animals or Plants (benefit of a Firbolg nice to have), although it devalues the spell list slightly.

Keep in mind that a Firbolg's "Speech of Beast and Leaf" is one-way. You can make yourself understood to beasts and plants in a limited manner, but have no capacity to understand them in return.

While the Speak with Animals domain spell is two-way. You can understand them, and they can understand you. It's also a Ritual, so you don't have to spend a spell slot to cast it.

[Tokuhara]

Keep in mind that a Firbolg's "Speech of Beast and Leaf" is one-way. You can make yourself understood to beasts and plants in a limited manner, but have no capacity to understand them in return.

While the Speak with Animals domain spell is two-way. You can understand them, and they can understand you. It's also a Ritual, so you don't have to spend a spell slot to cast it.

That's...fair I guess. Still works as a nice "hey guys, can you do me a solid and [insert action here]? I'll owe you all one"

Again, as I've noticed, most of the abilities of Firbolg are nice to haves (1/short rest invisibility, detect magic, and disguise self, understood by natural flora and fauna, Powerful Build), but not a must have that makes them better than any other race. So combined with Cleric, it does have an air of "I have a dozen or so tricks I can do, and while I'm no god, I'm pretty cool"