Cleric w/ Booming Blade

[Dalebert]

Homebrew cleric archetype will be allowed some sorcerer cantrips. Worthwhile to take Booking Blade and then magic initiate for shillelagh?

[Man_Over_Game]

Homebrew cleric archetype will be allowed some sorcerer cantrips. Worthwhile to take Booking Blade and then magic initiate for shillelagh?

Maybe?

You're still having to rely on Strength/Dex for AC, Constitution for life and Concentration, and Wisdom for casting. Increasing your chance to hit by +1 because your Wisdom has a +1 more modifier than your Strength just doesn't really seem like that big of a deal.

Maybe if the Cleric class in question was a Medium armor class, because your defensive stat won't need to be that big to get the most AC. Otherwise, the 15 into Strength is worth a bigger investment than a few points of damage on a cantrip you're not going to be spamming.

Or, put another way, you're always going to be using +2 AC, but are you always going to be using Booming Booming Blade+Shillelagh?

[Willie the Duck]

So, kind of a sorcerer equivalent to an Arcana cleric?

Short answer, yes for booming blade*. If you are going to bother using your weapon to attack, as opposed to using cantrips (or just plain dodging and letting your level 1+ spells be your contribution), you should get those added d8s.
*Or possibly GFB, if the allowance also lets you use Wisdom as your modifier, like the Arcana Cleric does.

Magic Initiate for Shillelagh is going to depend on how many ASIs you have, and what your stat setup otherwise is. If you're going to be getting a 15+ Strength for plate armor, you might well just find a way to make it 16 and just mace away (or greatsword, depending on your profs). Likewise, if you are going to get a 14+ Dex because you are medium armored, and happen to be a race which gets short swords or rapiers, you might not need it. If you are spending your ASIs on Magic Initiate, it's going to take you a long time to get to 20 Wis anyways, so the actual to-hit difference will not be huge (and you will be both be sacrificing your first bonus action of every combat, and be locking in your weapon choice, which might suck if you stumble upon a +2 spear or mace early on and never run into a magic club or staff).

I tend to think of Magic Initiate to be optimal if 1) you want to do the Booming Blade/Shillelagh trick and will use it often, and 2) you have good uses for that other cantrip and 1st level druid spell. If you intend to do the Spirit Guardians meat grinder a lot, then picking up thorn whip to drag people back in is a nifty use. If you aren't going to be doing that, make sure you have more ideas for MI than just using Wisdom as your attack stat (since you will likely have a 14 or 15+ in an attack stat already, unless you are a hill dwarf).

[Dalebert]

Good points. I should have given more information.

This is in fact a variation on the arcana cleric. I will have a few sorcerer cantrips that count as cleric cantrips for me. My special channeling ability is i can gain one metamagic for 12 hours, e.g. twinning, so I could BB two adjacent enemies for a sorcery point (1/ cleric level). I'm a non-variant human with 14 dex and 16 wisdom, medium armor and martial weapons that are not heavy. Alternatively I've contemplated using a whip and taking spell sniper.

My thought is things would scale better at later levels when my wisdom goes up but my dex likely won't. I'm probably going to take Warcaster and if I take BB then I would plan to be in melee a fair amount.

Note: this archetype is probably too good and if there were sorcerers in the party they'd be annoyed but I've told the DM this and he "doesn't care about balance". *shrug* So this thread is not about how this archetype is too good. That is acknowledged.

[Ventruenox]

Why not just use the Zeal Cleric from PlaneShift: Amonkhet (http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/plane-shift-amonkhet) with Booming Blade? Thunderous Smite with it for extra smackdown. Spell Sniper to use a reach weapon if you like. By the time you reach level 6, fairness is right out the window.

[Dalebert]

I like this homebrew sorccery cleric the DM created. Sticking with that. It's pretty brokenly good.

[CTurbo]

Yes to Booming Blade. Shillelagh is a maybe. Since you're an Arcana Cleric, getting Shillelagh is a decent pick since you already have access to Booming Blade, but I wouldn't bother with this combo for one of the domains that has to spend feats to get both. Nature Cleric for example has access to Shillelagh already so Booming Blade is a good pick.

I love Spell Sniper for Booming Blade with a whip or pole arm for the more melee focused classes like Tempest.

[Dalebert]

I love Spell Sniper for Booming Blade with a whip or pole arm for the more melee focused classes like Tempest.

Even if I only ever have a 14 dex?

I've failed to elaborate on why I need Warcaster. I have access to spells like Shield which is great for wading into melee for BB but I can't cast it while holding a shield and a weapon unless I have WC. So now I'm looking at being two feats deep to make this work--WC and spell sniper (for a whip) or WC and magic initiate (for Shillelagh).

[CTurbo]

What is your Wis score? I don't think I'd invest 2 feats into it unless your Wis is already maxed out.

[BarneyBent]

Even if I only ever have a 14 dex?

I've failed to elaborate on why I need Warcaster. I have access to spells like Shield which is great for wading into melee for BB but I can't cast it while holding a shield and a weapon unless I have WC. So now I'm looking at being two feats deep to make this work--WC and spell sniper (for a whip) or WC and magic initiate (for Shillelagh).

War Caster is something you’d want anyway for the saving throw boost. You’d generally want either Resilient (CON) or War Caster - this just makes War Caster the no brainer.

[djreynolds]

Booming Blade and spirit guardians and war caster is one the games best combos.

They take radiant or thunder damage.

Move in with spirit guardians up, hit with booming blade. They stay and take radiant, or leave and take thunder. War caster helps with concentration, using a wizard spell with hands full, and smacking anyone else trying to run off.

Shillelagh is nice. But say you grab war caster at 4th. Your wisdom might be a 16, and your dexterity maybe 14.

I would grab shillelagh after your wisdom is 20.

[Willie the Duck]

I'm a non-variant human with 14 dex and 16 wisdom, medium armor and martial weapons that are not heavy. Alternatively I've contemplated using a whip and taking spell sniper.

My thought is things would scale better at later levels when my wisdom goes up but my dex likely won't. I'm probably going to take Warcaster and if I take BB then I would plan to be in melee a fair amount.


Even if I only ever have a 14 dex?

Okay, ignoring things you're thinking about like Spell Sniper, the ASIs I think I hear you talking about are: War Caster, Magic Initiate, +2 Wisdom, and +2 Wisdom (fifth one open, but this just exemplifies my larger point). Let's map out when you want to take things. You've mentioned that you want to carry a shield, so War Caster kinda has to happen ASAP. That's 4th level. So you could take MI at 8th level. Since you have martial weapons, the d8 shillelagh and the d8 rapier you would otherwise wield with Dexterity are a wash. You have spent an ASI to move your melee attack from a +2 stat to a +3 one. Not bad, but you are 1. locking in your weapon as a club/quarterstaff, 2. dedicating your first bonus action of combat to casting Shillelagh, 3. putting off a +2 wisdom, which will effect all of your spells (including the saves/to-hits/damages for the Spiritual Weapon and Spirit Guardians that make up the rest of the combo). I am not saying that this is a bad decision, merely that it isn't as automatic as you seem to imply. Even with Booming Blade, and your statement that you plan to be in melee a lot, your melee attack won't be the largest component of your combat output. It might be a good idea to wait until you have an 18 or 20 Wisdom (and thus the difference for your melee attack is higher) before grabbing MI.

[Dalebert]

Already convinced that if I do take magic initiate, it should be later in his career. Good points. Not sure that I will want to at all but there's no rush to decide. Agree that war caster should be at 4th. It feels essential.

Can I drop a weapon to cast shield in the meantime?

[Willie the Duck]

Can I drop a weapon to cast shield in the meantime?

AFB, but from what I remember, dropping your weapon is an object interaction*, so it has to occur on your turn.
*correct me if I'm wrong, people with books handy

[nickl_2000]

AFB, but from what I remember, dropping your weapon is an object interaction*, so it has to occur on your turn.
*correct me if I'm wrong, people with books handy

The PHB only points out that drawing or sheathing a sword is considered an object interaction. So, whether dropping a weapon is considered free or an object interaction is up the the DM. My table considers it free since you risk losing the weapon and leaving it around for someone else to use. Check with your DM.

Either way, our table would only let you do it on your turn.

[Dalebert]

Is allow it but I'm obviously not the dm in this case. I think of it as dropping concentration which you can do at anytime. It's less an action and more the lack of action, i.e. no longer maintaining your grip. If someone knocked you unconscious, you'd drop what you're holding.