Paladin or Cleric?

[Marywn]

I've been wanting to make a Whip master build, and I wanted it to be related to either Paladin or cleric. It's hard to choose which one is better to pick than the other

[Deathtongue]

What are you trying to accomplish with a Whip Master build? Typically they're used to gain a reach weapon that only occupies one hand, but I'm still wondering what's your overall goals. Are you looking to prioritize offense? Are you looking for defense?

[Marywn]

I'm looking to go offensive, I currently play two support characters with really good abilities. I felt its time I start playing offensively, also because Castlevania from Netflix and whips are cool.

[Man_Over_Game]

I'm looking to go offensive, I currently play two support characters with really good abilities. I felt its time I start playing offensively

Sure, but why offensively with a WHIP?

The main difference between a fighting Cleric and a fighting Paladin is that the Paladin is a Warrior that occasionally casts spells, and the Cleric is a spellcaster that occasionally is a Warrior. Even something like a Tempest Cleric or a War Cleric will occasionally resort to casting spells about 1/3 of the time, when you might never see a Paladin cast a spell other than Find Steed.

[Edit] Whips are cool. Good enough reason for me!

A few questions to answer:


Do you like to fight tactically or simply?
Do you like high damage, or being tanky?

[Marywn]

Fighting simply is cool, but I can think of so many things i could do with a whip. and probably High damage since I've played so. many. tanks.

[Man_Over_Game]

Because I've played so much martial stuff like swords and bows, That I wanted to try something different. I like to try new things and see how far I can take it with a whip

To make the most out of the Whip, you'll want to rely on some kind of on-hit bonus, or some reason to abuse the mobility it gives you.

Booming Blade is a great example of this. You can combine Spell Sniper, Booming Blade, and the Whip to lock enemies in place or suffer tons of damage. This goes well with the Tempest Cleric, which gains bonuses to Thunder damage, can knock enemies back after being struck, and starts with the Whip as a proficient weapon. Get War Caster when you can, and now you can cast Booming Blade when enemies try to flee from you.

Or you can always go the classic Twinned Booming Blade Paladin Sorcerer build. Get 2, 6, or 7 levels into Paladin, putting the rest of the levels into Sorcerer, and just smite people from 10 feet away.

[stoutstien]

Either class can use the whip just fine. barring any multiclassing, the Paladin might come out slightly ahead do the multiattack and duelist fighting style.
The Martial adept feat can get you some short rest maneuver to toss on top of the attacks.

[Deathtongue]

Sure, but why offensively with a WHIP?Aside from it being a basic fantasy archetype, there are defensible gameplay reasons to use a whip. Most notably, it synergizes very powerfully with an Oath of Conquest Paladin who wants to be able to use a shield.

If you have some other means of boosting your round-by-round offense, you'll do even better. How do you feel about subbing in a level of Hexblade? You could pick up the Shield and Hex Spells along with Hexblade's Curse, which will greatly boost your round-by-round offense without dipping too heavily into your stock of smite fuel. 20 - 25 AC at level 5 while dealing 2 x 1d4 + 1d6 + 4-9 damage (depending on weapon options) with an option to smite is nothing to sneeze at.

You mentioned wanting something more offense oriented. If you went duelist style, chose your whip as your Hexblade weapon, put the +2 into Charisma, and then Hex'd someone (no Hexblade curse) you'd be looking at ~24 damage by level 5 if both attacks hits, no smites or magical weapons. It'd be a good alternative to Wrathful Smite when you meet enemies you can't frighten or you want to conserve spell slots.

[CheddarChampion]

Go Paladin, Oath of Conquest.
At level seven you can lockdown enemies at 10 feet and whip away. Wrathful smite is great for this and works with a whip.
Whip and shield obviously. Be the dominator/dominatrix.

Edit: I didn't see deathtongue's response.

[CTurbo]

I played a Spell Sniper/Booming Blade/Whip using Tempest Cleric and it was a great character. I added Sentinel and War Caster eventually and it was really strong.

[Marywn]

I was thinking of Trevor Belmont when I was thinking of this character, so If thats any indication of where I wanted this character to go

[GreyBlack]

If you want high damage, Paladin is your best bet. Paladins smiting through your whip might be what you're after.

[Man_Over_Game]

I was thinking of Trevor Belmont when I was thinking of this character, so If thats any indication of where I wanted this character to go

Trevor Belmont's addition to his team is his experience, his knowledge, and his general ability to maneuver around enemies. He's not a caster, he doesn't rely on his holy power much, and he's not nearly as physically apt as Alucard.

So my recommendation is the Monster Slayer Ranger. Not only does the Bonus Action marking effect work well with a Whip, but the abilities of the subclass work well at almost any range, and they do well to keep the Ranger mobile.

A Cleric might have better buffs, and a Paladin might deal more damage, but nothing is going to give you that "Belmont" feel more than a Monster Slayer.

[Marywn]

Trevor Belmont's addition to his team is his experience, his knowledge, and his general ability to maneuver around enemies. He's not a caster, he doesn't rely on his holy power much, and he's not nearly as physically apt as Alucard.

So my recommendation is the Monster Slayer Ranger. Not only does the Bonus Action marking effect work well with a Whip, but the abilities of the subclass work well at almost any range, and they do well to keep the Ranger mobile.

A Cleric might have better buffs, and a Paladin might deal more damage, but nothing is going to give you that "Belmont" feel more than a Monster Slayer.
Oh Crap, I forgot ranger actually was an option! This fits with exactly what I though would work, Thanks xanather!

[Deathtongue]

Ranger's a fine choice, especially Gloomstalker Ranger. Turn the tables on those overconfident monsters.

[Marywn]

The Belmont feel, the whip being used in unique ways, I want to try to expand on that.
I'll probably make a Thread about it, so i can try to supply this character with authentic Belmont tactics and techniques while using my own headcannon to try think of some more unique options