PancakeMaster80
2019-02-22, 07:49 PM
Introduction
I week or 2 ago I posted a full tank arcane caster build that made use of sorcerer/warlock/wizard. I’ve been playing an improved version of the build (sorcerer/cleric/warlock) through the white plume mountain adventure as the party’s main tank. The build has been performing very well, even allowing me to solo encounters made for the entire party. I’d like to share what this build does and see if folks have suggestions to improve it, as the is complicated enough that I'm almost certain I'm missing some optimization, that's where you helpful folks come in.
One last note, this build is being made for AL content and will be following those rules, with xanathar's guide to everything as our 1 splat book.
Character Creation
Stats
For this build we'll be using the point buy system with the following stats:
Str - 8
dex - 12
con - 15
int - 8
wis - 13
cha - 15
Race
We'll use the human variant, taking the warcaster feat, +1 to cha and con, and proficiency in acrobatics. This brings our stats to:
Str - 8
dex - 12
con - 16
int - 8
wis - 13
cha - 16
Background
Now we take criminal, as deception and stealth are always useful to have
Class
When it comes to class, we start with sorcerer for con save proficiency and pushing us towards spirit guardians as fast as possible.
Gear
I took the following:
Light crossbow
Arcane focus
Dungeoneer's pack
Two daggers
Sorcerous Origin
Here we take Divine soul, it gives us the following
Full access to the cleric spell list cast as cha based spells.
Cure wounds from our good affinity
Favored by the gods that lets us add 2d4 to a failed saving throw or missed attack once per short/long rest
Spells
Cantrips:
Guidance
Shocking grasp
Spare the dying
Toll the dead
1st level:
Absorb elements
Cure wounds
Shield
Levels 2-5
This build will spend its first 5 levels are a straight sorcerer, at least the way I'm ordering the levels. You have toll the dead for basic damage dealing and shocking grasp for when you become melee.
Level 2
Class features
Font of Magic: key sorcerer ability that will give us more casts of the spells we really want
Spells
1st level:
Healing Word
Level 3
Class features
Metamagic: we take extended spell for things like aid and quickened spell for double casting cantrips or a big spell and a cantrip
Spells
2nd level:
Aid
Level 4
ASI
We take the shield master feat, it’ll be key in a couple levels
Spells
Cantrips:
Blade ward
2nd level:
Spiritual weapon
Level 5
Spells
3rd level:
Replace healing word with counter spell
Spirit guardians
Level 6
Now it’s time for our first multi-class. We’ll be taking 1 level of cleric, giving us the following:
Medium and heavy armor, shield, and weapon proficiencies
Increased healing from life domain
Another caster level for more spell slots
Utility cantrips
Divine Domain
We’ll be taking the life domain, giving us the following:
Heavy armor proficiency – plate is good
Disciple of life – a flat increase in healing is always nice, especially in the late game when we get regeneration
Spells
Cantrips:
Guidance
Mending
Resistance
1st level:
These are the best spells for this build in my opinion, although we can always swap them out due to divine casting
Bless
Healing word
Detect magic
Levels 7-11
Now it’s time for our second multi-class. We’ll be taking 5 levels of warlock, giving us the following:
Eldritch blast/agonizing for turn-to-turn damage
Short rest spell slots to synergize with flexible casting from sorcerer
Pull from grasp of Hadar to trigger spirit guardians twice per turn on a target
Familiar from pact of the chain to give us the help action
Maximized healing dice from gift of the everliving ones
Decent source of healing on bonus action from celestial pact
Level 7
Otherworldly Patron
We take the celestial patron, it gives us the sacred flame and light cantrips and a pool of d6s equal to our warlock level +1 that we can use as a bonus action to heal us or another party member. This feature gets significantly stronger once we unlock pact of the chain to maximize those d6s when spent on ourselves.
Spells
Cantrips:
Eldritch blast
Light
Sacred flame
Sword burst
1st level:
Hex
Armor of Agathys
Level 8
Eldritch Invocations
Agonizing blast
Grasp of Hadar
Spells
1st level:
Hellish rebuke
Level 9
Pact Boon
Pact of the chain: gives us a familiar and more importantly, the gift of the ever-living ones invocation
Eldritch Invocations
Replace agonizing blast with gift of the ever-living ones
Spells
2nd level:
Mirror image
Level 10
ASI
We take the lucky feat to give an out against stray crits 3 times per long rest
Spells
2nd level:
Misty step
Level 11
Eldritch Invocation
Agonizing blast
Spells
3rd level:
Daylight
Replace hellish rebuke with dispel magic
Levels 12-20
It’s time to return to sorcerer for the rest of this build.
Level 12
Empowered healing
Not useful for heals targeting us, but could be helpful to give a party member a bit more health
Spells
3rd level:
Catnap
Level 13
Spells
4th level:
Death ward
Level 14
ASI
We increase our cha score by +2, bringing us to 18
Spells
3rd level:
Blink
Level 15
Spells
3rd level:
Bestow curse
Level 16
Metamagic
We’ll take twinned spell, as it lets us heal more than 1 target at a time if needed. It’s not a huge power boost, but it’s the best out of the options available.
Spells
Cantrips:
Message
5th level:
Contagion
Level 17
Spells
6th level:
Heal
Level 18
ASI
We’ll take another +2 cha, bringing us to 20
Spells
5th level:
Mass cure wounds
Level 19
Spells
7th level:
Regenerate
Level 20
Sorcerous Origin
Flying is great, always nice to have it without a magic item
Spells
7th level:
Crown of stars
Strategy
The way I organized the levels this build spends levels 1-5 as a normal back line caster, coming online as a full tank at level 6. If a tank was needed in your party, you could take 1 level in cleric earlier, but I preferred getting to spirit guardians as fast as possible.
After level 6 this build becomes a full tank. During most fights the first round will be spent casting SG then moving towards the enemy. After that the build has several damage cantrips to choose from to fit the situation. Eldritch blast is by far the best at range, with shocking grasp or toll the dead being used against targets the build is in melee with. Quickened spell is especially good at this point, as it lets you cast 2 cantrips in a single round.
And that’s it! Hope you enjoyed reading this, if you have any suggestions, I’d be happy to hear them =).
I week or 2 ago I posted a full tank arcane caster build that made use of sorcerer/warlock/wizard. I’ve been playing an improved version of the build (sorcerer/cleric/warlock) through the white plume mountain adventure as the party’s main tank. The build has been performing very well, even allowing me to solo encounters made for the entire party. I’d like to share what this build does and see if folks have suggestions to improve it, as the is complicated enough that I'm almost certain I'm missing some optimization, that's where you helpful folks come in.
One last note, this build is being made for AL content and will be following those rules, with xanathar's guide to everything as our 1 splat book.
Character Creation
Stats
For this build we'll be using the point buy system with the following stats:
Str - 8
dex - 12
con - 15
int - 8
wis - 13
cha - 15
Race
We'll use the human variant, taking the warcaster feat, +1 to cha and con, and proficiency in acrobatics. This brings our stats to:
Str - 8
dex - 12
con - 16
int - 8
wis - 13
cha - 16
Background
Now we take criminal, as deception and stealth are always useful to have
Class
When it comes to class, we start with sorcerer for con save proficiency and pushing us towards spirit guardians as fast as possible.
Gear
I took the following:
Light crossbow
Arcane focus
Dungeoneer's pack
Two daggers
Sorcerous Origin
Here we take Divine soul, it gives us the following
Full access to the cleric spell list cast as cha based spells.
Cure wounds from our good affinity
Favored by the gods that lets us add 2d4 to a failed saving throw or missed attack once per short/long rest
Spells
Cantrips:
Guidance
Shocking grasp
Spare the dying
Toll the dead
1st level:
Absorb elements
Cure wounds
Shield
Levels 2-5
This build will spend its first 5 levels are a straight sorcerer, at least the way I'm ordering the levels. You have toll the dead for basic damage dealing and shocking grasp for when you become melee.
Level 2
Class features
Font of Magic: key sorcerer ability that will give us more casts of the spells we really want
Spells
1st level:
Healing Word
Level 3
Class features
Metamagic: we take extended spell for things like aid and quickened spell for double casting cantrips or a big spell and a cantrip
Spells
2nd level:
Aid
Level 4
ASI
We take the shield master feat, it’ll be key in a couple levels
Spells
Cantrips:
Blade ward
2nd level:
Spiritual weapon
Level 5
Spells
3rd level:
Replace healing word with counter spell
Spirit guardians
Level 6
Now it’s time for our first multi-class. We’ll be taking 1 level of cleric, giving us the following:
Medium and heavy armor, shield, and weapon proficiencies
Increased healing from life domain
Another caster level for more spell slots
Utility cantrips
Divine Domain
We’ll be taking the life domain, giving us the following:
Heavy armor proficiency – plate is good
Disciple of life – a flat increase in healing is always nice, especially in the late game when we get regeneration
Spells
Cantrips:
Guidance
Mending
Resistance
1st level:
These are the best spells for this build in my opinion, although we can always swap them out due to divine casting
Bless
Healing word
Detect magic
Levels 7-11
Now it’s time for our second multi-class. We’ll be taking 5 levels of warlock, giving us the following:
Eldritch blast/agonizing for turn-to-turn damage
Short rest spell slots to synergize with flexible casting from sorcerer
Pull from grasp of Hadar to trigger spirit guardians twice per turn on a target
Familiar from pact of the chain to give us the help action
Maximized healing dice from gift of the everliving ones
Decent source of healing on bonus action from celestial pact
Level 7
Otherworldly Patron
We take the celestial patron, it gives us the sacred flame and light cantrips and a pool of d6s equal to our warlock level +1 that we can use as a bonus action to heal us or another party member. This feature gets significantly stronger once we unlock pact of the chain to maximize those d6s when spent on ourselves.
Spells
Cantrips:
Eldritch blast
Light
Sacred flame
Sword burst
1st level:
Hex
Armor of Agathys
Level 8
Eldritch Invocations
Agonizing blast
Grasp of Hadar
Spells
1st level:
Hellish rebuke
Level 9
Pact Boon
Pact of the chain: gives us a familiar and more importantly, the gift of the ever-living ones invocation
Eldritch Invocations
Replace agonizing blast with gift of the ever-living ones
Spells
2nd level:
Mirror image
Level 10
ASI
We take the lucky feat to give an out against stray crits 3 times per long rest
Spells
2nd level:
Misty step
Level 11
Eldritch Invocation
Agonizing blast
Spells
3rd level:
Daylight
Replace hellish rebuke with dispel magic
Levels 12-20
It’s time to return to sorcerer for the rest of this build.
Level 12
Empowered healing
Not useful for heals targeting us, but could be helpful to give a party member a bit more health
Spells
3rd level:
Catnap
Level 13
Spells
4th level:
Death ward
Level 14
ASI
We increase our cha score by +2, bringing us to 18
Spells
3rd level:
Blink
Level 15
Spells
3rd level:
Bestow curse
Level 16
Metamagic
We’ll take twinned spell, as it lets us heal more than 1 target at a time if needed. It’s not a huge power boost, but it’s the best out of the options available.
Spells
Cantrips:
Message
5th level:
Contagion
Level 17
Spells
6th level:
Heal
Level 18
ASI
We’ll take another +2 cha, bringing us to 20
Spells
5th level:
Mass cure wounds
Level 19
Spells
7th level:
Regenerate
Level 20
Sorcerous Origin
Flying is great, always nice to have it without a magic item
Spells
7th level:
Crown of stars
Strategy
The way I organized the levels this build spends levels 1-5 as a normal back line caster, coming online as a full tank at level 6. If a tank was needed in your party, you could take 1 level in cleric earlier, but I preferred getting to spirit guardians as fast as possible.
After level 6 this build becomes a full tank. During most fights the first round will be spent casting SG then moving towards the enemy. After that the build has several damage cantrips to choose from to fit the situation. Eldritch blast is by far the best at range, with shocking grasp or toll the dead being used against targets the build is in melee with. Quickened spell is especially good at this point, as it lets you cast 2 cantrips in a single round.
And that’s it! Hope you enjoyed reading this, if you have any suggestions, I’d be happy to hear them =).