Why no Cleric with Extra Attack?

[jaappleton]

So, there's a few casters that get the Extra Attack feature.

Pact of the Blade Warlocks can get it
Swords Bards
Valor Bards
Bladesingers
If you want to go back to the very first UA for 5E, the first rendition of the Favored Soul also had it.

....But... Never a Cleric.

Why? Would it be too OP? Moreso than any of the above options?

[Frozenstep]

It's called spiritual weapon.

No but really, I think even the clerics suited for martial combat still don't get it because it sets them apart. Their spells do the talking for them in melee range, with spiritual weapon and spirit guardians being very effective. At 8th level, they get divine strike, which helps as well.

The others get extra attack because it suits the kinds of spells they might be wanting to pick up, like shadow blade. The spells are meant to augment the existing attacks.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

It's called spiritual weapon.

Now, that Dual Wilder.

[Willie the Duck]

So, there's a few casters that get the Extra Attack feature.

Pact of the Blade Warlocks can get it
Swords Bards
Valor Bards
Bladesingers
If you want to go back to the very first UA for 5E, the first rendition of the Favored Soul also had it.

Well, I think the original UA Favored Soul is a pretty good argument that not every class will be balanced by having a 2x attack option.


....But... Never a Cleric.

Why? Would it be too OP? Moreso than any of the above options?

I suspect that that was the fear that originally drove the designers to make clerics different in this regard. They have an alternate avenue towards combat damage output, and it is a single (or no) attack while simultaneously pulling up the Spiritual Guardian/Spiritual Weapon beatdown. I know those are just spells (which you do not have to memorize, or as a DM allow), but they very clearly (at least to me) are the method by which the cleric makes up for their single attack (much like Sneak Attack is for Rogues, who also have no 2x attack option).

5e is moving back towards a 3e-like model after 4e, so I'm sure there was a strong incentive not to make the same (CoDzilla) mistakes as 3e did, and make clerics* be almost as good at fighting as a fighter, as well as getting spells on top of that. I don't know that they swung the dial too far, but I do think that a 2x attack cleric archetype would be possible without being too powerful (perhaps as an alternate war domain cleric that people actually would take for more than just a dip).
*and druids, but that's not pertinent to the discussion at hand

[Zalabim]

I think it's because they get the heavier armor proficiency. They don't get extra attack so they don't have essentially everything the fighter gets plus full spellcasting.

[Dalebert]

Considering every single cleric has a melee dmg boost, seems like you could come up with a balanced version that just gets extra attack in place of that.

[stoutstien]

Quite a few homebrews of war cleric domains that have extra attack as the 6th lv feature. Don't think it breaks anything.
As for why, who knows.

[nickl_2000]

I'm guessing that it is a design choice. There also isn't a Druid with Extra attack (outside of wildshaping of course). Maybe they just didn't want divine full casters to have that option?

[jaappleton]

Considering every single cleric has a melee dmg boost, seems like you could come up with a balanced version that just gets extra attack in place of that.

I mean, obviously the lv8 feature would have to be altered on a Cleric that got Extra Attack.

And I think it'd have to be limited to Medium Armor proficiency.

But... I really don't think it'd be that big of a deal. What am I missing?

[Corran]

Because they wanted to take away our maces and have us spam silly cantrips! What's next, will they have us wearing robes too?!:smallsmile:

[jaappleton]

I'm guessing that it is a design choice. There also isn't a Druid with Extra attack (outside of wildshaping of course). Maybe they just didn't want divine full casters to have that option?

This is interesting to me, because with the inclusion of Spores Druid, we've seen Wild Shape used to augment physical abilities instead of shape changing.

I'm very curious to see if we'll eventually see a Druid that to spend Wild Shape to become a 'warrior', get extra attack, etc for a period of time.

[Max_Killjoy]

I mean, obviously the lv8 feature would have to be altered on a Cleric that got Extra Attack.

And I think it'd have to be limited to Medium Armor proficiency.

But... I really don't think it'd be that big of a deal. What am I missing?

Maybe they just wanted to be picky about where they handed out extra attacks, in part because it's a big part of the Fighter's class shtick?

[jaappleton]

Maybe they just wanted to be picky about where they handed out extra attacks, in part because it's a big part of the Fighter's class shtick?

Quite possible. I never played it, but in 3.X, wasn't it that Clerics basically out-did Fighters in essentially every category? Maybe they just wanted to avoid that altogether?

[KorvinStarmast]

Quite possible. I never played it, but in 3.X, wasn't it that Clerics basically out-did Fighters in essentially every category? Maybe they just wanted to avoid that altogether? Ya think? :smallwink:

[Dalebert]

Maybe they just wanted to be picky about where they handed out extra attacks, in part because it's a big part of the Fighter's class shtick?

But rangers get it, barbarians get it, warlocks can get it, Bards can get it, druids can get it. Still, only fighters can get four attacks, not counting bonus action.

[LibraryOgre]

Quite possible. I never played it, but in 3.X, wasn't it that Clerics basically out-did Fighters in essentially every category? Maybe they just wanted to avoid that altogether?

"I have special abilities that are more powerful than your entire class!" (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0346.html)

[Willie the Duck]

But... I really don't think it'd be that big of a deal. What am I missing?

I don't think you are specifically missing anything. They chose this alternate way of building clerics (and druids) that does not include an extra attack. They haven't specifically stated a design reason or goal, but they really haven't given a discrete 'why' for most design decisions (and when they start doing so, I have a whole bunch of questions :smalltongue:). I think, overall, the overall average of clerics turns out to be pretty solid, although the war domain cleric is pretty unimpressive (although I wonder if I'd say that if paladins and tempest domain clerics weren't such runaway hits). The decision to make a cleric's most-obvious damage contribution being the Spirit Guardians/Spiritual Weapon combo is an interesting choice, but not necessarily a bad one (mostly I dislike it for flavor, rather than practical, reasons. I like a good ol' mace/hammer-swinging cleric).


Quite possible. I never played it, but in 3.X, wasn't it that Clerics basically out-did Fighters in essentially every category? Maybe they just wanted to avoid that altogether?

So sorta like this?:

5e is moving back towards a 3e-like model after 4e, so I'm sure there was a strong incentive not to make the same (CoDzilla) mistakes as 3e did, and make clerics* be almost as good at fighting as a fighter, as well as getting spells on top of that. I don't know that they swung the dial too far, but I do think that a 2x attack cleric archetype would be possible without being too powerful (perhaps as an alternate war domain cleric that people actually would take for more than just a dip).
*and druids, but that's not pertinent to the discussion at hand

[Contrast]

My guess would be that they felt that the 'holy warrior' design space was occupied by paladin.

So they focused on finding other ways to make clerics feel 'fighter'y rather than just jamming extra attack on them and calling it a day.

[Dork_Forge]

I think there's a mixture between not stepping on the Paladin's toes and that Clerics get a damage boost at 8th level, that and Extra attack would set them above the martial classes in terms of reliable damage output.

[Chronos]

War clerics might not get Extra Attack, but they do get a way to make a second attack as a bonus action (albeit a limited number of times per day).

[sambojin]

They also get an almost definite hit from their channel divinity. This sounds pretty bad as a mono-class, but for something that really wants to hit sometimes (Paladins, Moon Druids, other druids for a high% restrain through little wildshape even later on, Battlemasters, Rogues), it's golden.

Yeah, it's the dippy multiclass problem, because you sort of want to be the one ending up with the +10. But between 5 bonus action attacks a day, and three "auto-hits" a day, War is still pretty nice. And at 6th, you get to hand out the +10 "auto" to others, like an bard-o-war that actually does decent work, taking some of the dippyness away and just making it amazing. 2 per short rest, which is some pretty good accuracy you're throwing around.

Is it extra-attack good? Nope. But between spell slots, your bonus attacks, your +10's and your "even more extra armour through Shield of Faith or lotsa +d4s through Crusaders Mantle" (for extra attack blender parties), you're pretty well off.

Hell, just having your Divine Strikes doing the same damage as the weapon you're holding is handy. Holding a magic weapon by 8th lvl? Great, nearly nothing resists your extra d8s.

Hold Monster isn't amazing as a "capstone" spell at lvl9, but you can bet you'll use it to keep those damage numbers "comparably good" sometimes.

They're alright. The could have probably had something more, but they're not bad in any way. If at any time someone in your party (even you) needs to hit something with a weapon attack, you can make it so. Since this happens about 30-40000 times a day, you are very useful. Not just for you, but the entire party. Every day. Best combat opener ever is knowing that a thingy will work.

[sambojin]

War Clerics are actually so good in some parties that their abilites are almost broken. Is Portent good? Lucky? Pass without Trace?

Well, that's kinda what they do with weapon attacks. "Hold up, yes, that hits due to my Channel Divinity. Sorry DM". It's total BS sometimes....
It can even slow down the game a bit.

Remember, it's a flat +10. You can't even compare Bards or BMs to that, or the fact that they get more of it. This is the good stuff. No rolls, no dice, just +10, that hit now happened.

And they can save the odd spell slot with their bonus action attacks occasionally, giving them stuff to do from lvl2/3 or higher slots sometimes, because they figured that they could just War attack through 1-2 encounters a day without casting a spell. This is also very good.


Is there room for Extra Attack Clerics in 5e? Sure, why not?

But War does something different. And it's already very good. The gods of war know what war is about. It's about more than one person fighting well with weapons. War Cleric does that.

[jaappleton]

They also get an almost definite hit from their channel divinity. This sounds pretty bad as a mono-class, but for something that really wants to hit sometimes (Paladins, Moon Druids, other druids for a high% restrain through little wildshape even later on, Battlemasters, Rogues), it's golden.

Yeah, it's the dippy multiclass problem, because you sort of want to be the one ending up with the +10. But between 5 bonus action attacks a day, and three "auto-hits" a day, War is still pretty nice. And at 6th, you get to hand out the +10 "auto" to others, like an bard-o-war that actually does decent work, taking some of the dippyness away and just making it amazing. 2 per short rest, which is some pretty good accuracy you're throwing around.

Is it extra-attack good? Nope. But between spell slots, your bonus attacks, your +10's and your "even more extra armour through Shield of Faith or lotsa +d4s through Crusaders Mantle" (for extra attack blender parties), you're pretty well off.

Hell, just having you Divine Strikes doing the same damage as the weapon you're holding is handy. Holding a magic weapon by 8th lvl? Great, nearly nothing resists your extra d8s.

Hold Monster isn't amazing as a "capstone" spell at lvl9, but you can bet you'll use it to keep those damage numbers "comparably good" sometimes.

They're alright. The could have probably had something more, but they're not bad in any way. If at any time someone in your party (even you) needs to hit something with a weapon attack, you can make it so. Since this happens about 30-40000 times a day, you a very useful. Not just for you, but the entire party. Every day.

I think a mistake being made in what I'm asking, and a lot of the blame relies on myself for not clarifying, is that if a Cleric Domain (or the whole class were redesigned, which is never happening) got Extra Attack, it would have fundamentally changed the Cleric design. They wouldn't get the same lv8 feature (That'd just be insane), and War likely would've received different features as a result.

[Trustypeaches]

Melee clerics trade Extra Attack for Divine Strike.

While this lowers their overall melee damage output, it greatly increases the damage of their opportunity attacks compared to other gishes, allowing to exercise better zone control in melee (which IMO is what the cleric is all about).

[Vogie]

I think a mistake being made in what I'm asking, and a lot of the blame relies on myself for not clarifying, is that if a Cleric Domain (or the whole class were redesigned, which is never happening) got Extra Attack, it would have fundamentally changed the Cleric design. They wouldn't get the same lv8 feature (That'd just be insane), and War likely would've received different features as a result.

100%.

However, of all of the domains, if they swapped Divine Strike with Extra Attack at level 8 on the War Domain, it probably wouldn't break anything. It'd be more powerful from 8-13, but I'm willing to bet most people would rather 2d8 damage at 14 rather than just a second attack.

[Trustypeaches]

100%.

However, of all of the domains, if they swapped Divine Strike with Extra Attack at level 8 on the War Domain, it probably wouldn't break anything. It'd be more powerful from 8-13, but I'm willing to bet most people would rather 2d8 damage at 14 rather than just a second attack.It would probably be the level 6 feature to be in line with other spellcasting classes that get extra attack (Bladesinger/Valor/Swords).

Extra Attack wouldn't break anything, but I think the Cleric's niche in melee is exercising zone of control. Divine Strike gives them stronger opportunity attacks than most other melee classes, with the exception of rogues and smiting Paladin/Warlocks.

[jaappleton]

100%.

However, of all of the domains, if they swapped Divine Strike with Extra Attack at level 8 on the War Domain, it probably wouldn't break anything. It'd be more powerful from 8-13, but I'm willing to bet most people would rather 2d8 damage at 14 rather than just a second attack.

Eh, depends on the build. Polearm Masters and XBow Experts would want the Extra Attack, and especially with Holy Weapon.

....And no. That's not OP. Bards can also steal the same exact setup. In fact, they can actually do it now, while Clerics can't. :smalltongue:

Swapping it at 8th would certainly make things simply, but all others get Extra Attack at lv5 or 6.

Would allowing Extra Attack at 6, and moving the second CD ability to lv8 break things?

[jaappleton]

It would probably be the level 6 feature to be in line with other spellcasting classes that get extra attack (Bladesinger/Valor/Swords).

Extra Attack wouldn't break anything, but I think the Cleric's niche in melee is exercising zone of control. Divine Strike gives them stronger opportunity attacks than most other melee classes, with the exception of rogues and smiting Paladin/Warlocks.

Well, Paladins also get the +1d8. They just wait 'til lv11, as opposed to the Cleric at 8.

[Wildarm]

I think a mistake being made in what I'm asking, and a lot of the blame relies on myself for not clarifying, is that if a Cleric Domain (or the whole class were redesigned, which is never happening) got Extra Attack, it would have fundamentally changed the Cleric design. They wouldn't get the same lv8 feature (That'd just be insane), and War likely would've received different features as a result.

If you wanted to create a Cleric Domain that gives Extra attack, I would focus on replacing the Level 8 feature with Extra Attack. You'd need to tone down the other domain abilities as well. Perhaps a Gladiator Domain:

Domain Spells:

Pick a mix of charm and combat ones

Level 1:

Bonus Proficiency: Performance.
You gain proficiency in all martial weapons and one exotic weapon

Level 2:
Channel Divinity: Natural Entertainer - For the next minute you have advantage on Performance and Intimidation checks.

Level 6:
Channel Divinity: Coup de Grace - When you hit with a melee attack you can choose to treat the hit as a critical hit

Level 8: Extra Attack

Level 14: Trick Fighting - Your expertise in your chosen exotic weapon increases. On your turn, you can treat the weapon as having an additional 5' of reach

Level 17: Blade Crescendo - As an action, once per short rest you can make a single melee attack against all foes within your reach. Foes hit must make Wis save vs your spell DC or be stunned till the end of their next turn.

[sambojin]

@jaapleton No doubt. But I think the class as a whole is better off for not having Extra Attack as standard (though they can pseudo get it through spell use).

Maybe they could make a rage or berserk domain with it at 6th or 8th, but I'm not sure just how much better or worse that would be than just saying "pick a martial class until 5th, then start levelling into War".

Heaps of cool options open still with domains. But I'm glad that the average cleric isn't just another extra attacker. They have gimmicks, but some of them are very good gimmicks, that tend to flavour them well, without ever really sticking them into one role due to their variable spell preparations. Yes, they can all choose Spirit Guardians and Spiritual Weapon, but they don't have to. Whereas if they had extra attack, you'd lose that option to not be a "proper" weapon user, and probably those spells too.

[stoutstien]

Hmm seeing how there is a cha and int full caster with extra attack we ha e a good base line to build a cleric domain

War domain 1.1
Bonus prof - same as printed
Domain spells - same as printed

War priest - once per day you can bless an ally with the power of your God. As an action, Choose a fighting style that the target currently doesn't have and they now benefit from it until the end of their next long rest. You can only have one such blessings active at one time. (Wording needs cleaned up)

Channel Divinity - same as printed

Lv 6 - grants extra attack

Lv 8 - same as printed

Avatar of battle - same as printed


Compared to a sword bard it seems about right for the full caster gish concept.

[sambojin]

Why does everyone want to change War? It is one of the most powerful domains there currently is.

If you've ever played a War Cleric, even a lvl 2 dip one, you'd understand. As a lvl6 War, you really start to feel like a battlefield god.

Damn, make another domain or something. War is fine.

[Toofey]

If you wanted to add extra attack as a cleric path ability wouldn't it be a better fit for 14th level. it pushes the extra attack further down the progression so it's power is less likely to upset game balance, and still lets you play it. Meanwhile the delay getting it helps clerics stay clerics and not become another martial class.

[Digimike]

I don't think it would break anything if it were a class feature, but at the same time I don't think any of my clerics ever felt gimped by not having extra attack. It's quite easy to layer up sources of damage against enemies on a cleric.

[stoutstien]

Why does everyone want to change War? It is one of the most powerful domains there currently is.

If you've ever played a War Cleric, even a lvl 2 dip one, you'd understand. As a lvl6 War, you really start to feel like a battlefield god.

Damn, make another domain or something. War is fine.

It's powerful in a 5 minute adventuring day. War has the feel of a battle cheerleader with little reason to be on the front lines themselves. Honestly the best part of the domain is the expanded spell list in a summoning/ minions heavy party

[stoutstien]

If you wanted to add extra attack as a cleric path ability wouldn't it be a better fit for 14th level. it pushes the extra attack further down the progression so it's power is less likely to upset game balance, and still lets you play it. Meanwhile the delay getting it helps clerics stay clerics and not become another martial class.

So are valor/ sword bard and bladesinger upsetting game balance with extra attack at 6?
Clerics are supposed to to be the most martial like full caster but instead they are the least and I find that sad.

[AdAstra]

So are valor/ sword bard and bladesinger upsetting game balance with extra attack at 6?
Clerics are supposed to to be the most martial like full caster but instead they are the least and I find that sad.

Clerics are the most martial caster by default. It's only specific subclasses that can beat them at attacking, and usually those have worse armor. Part of the problem is that most 6th level cleric abilities other than maybe Nature are a lot weaker, or at least less applicable than that. Also Clerics at 5th level get Spirit Guardians, which is a very powerful damage and tanking tool, assuming you build for that. Enemies take regular damage and are slowed, encouraging them to attack you and not the squishy wizard, to try and break your concentration. 5e has fairly few tools for making you "sticky" so the most effective way to tank is to be too big a threat to ignore, which Spirit Guardians does in addition to making you more sticky (though if your DM just has monsters line up so the toughest character can take everything this aspect is irrelevant). Sure, Extra Attack Bards could poach it at lvl. 10, but they likely lack the armor class or health to really leverage it.
Plus it scales really well (d8 x # of active rounds). That coupled with spiritual weapon, War Priest, or Wrath of the Storm make for a very competent melee combatant. A Tempest Cleric can hurt you with his action, bonus action, reaction, and at the start of your turn.

[Willie the Duck]

If you wanted to add extra attack as a cleric path ability wouldn't it be a better fit for 14th level. it pushes the extra attack further down the progression so it's power is less likely to upset game balance, and still lets you play it. Meanwhile the delay getting it helps clerics stay clerics and not become another martial class.

I think at that point, a cleric has so many spells, and thus spend such a small number of their rounds making weapon attacks, that it becomes near pointless to gain this ability at this point. You certainly aren't picking weapon feats or putting ASIs into strength because you are going to be 'a cleric who actually attacks' if you have to wait this long for the payoff.

[Pex]

They don't need it.

At third level they're doing Spiritual Weapon/Sacred Flame or Toll The Dead for their basic combat needs. At 5th level they're doing (1d8 + 4) + (2d8 or 2d12) damage if all they want to do is attack. It's enough for them.

[Trustypeaches]

Well, Paladins also get the +1d8. They just wait 'til lv11, as opposed to the Cleric at 8.And then Clerics get another boost at level 14, going up to 2d8.

I think powerful opportunity attacks is a worthwhile niche for clerics to fill among the "martial" full casters. Yes, they don't deal as much damage as Paladins or Rogues, but they'll hit a good deal harder than any Bladesinger, Valor Bard, or Swords Bard.

All that said, it is supremely funny that the best melee Cleric is the Arcana Domain, since they can add their wisdom modifier to both the initial damage and the rider of the SCAG cantrips they can snatch the wizard spell list. Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade dealing (1d8 + WIS) on just the initial hit is basically equivalent to an Extra Attack. And if you land the (2d8 + WIS / 1d8 + WIS * 2) that's going to match or outperform plenty of martial classes, especially once they hit level 11.

Let's do some calculations using an optimized Arcana cleric build.

Variant Human (/w Point Buy)(Starting Feat War Caster)
8 Strength
16 Dexterity
14 Constitution
10 Intelligence
20 Wisdom
8 Charisma

At Level 8
Arcana Cleric (w/o SCAG Rider): Dagger(1d4 + 3) + Booming Blade/Green Flame Blade(1d8 + 5) = 15 DPR
Arcana Cleric (/w BB Rider): Dagger(1d4 + 3) + Booming Blade(1d8 + 5) + BB Rider(2d8 + 5) = 29 DPR
Arcana Cleric (/w GFB Rider): Dagger(1d4 + 3) + Green Flame Blade(1d8 + 5) + GFB Rider(1d8 + 10) = 29.5 DPR
Divine Strike Cleric: Warhammer(1d8 + 3) + Divine Strike(1d8) = 12 DPR (depending on weapon, up to 14.5)

Bladesinger/Swords/Valor Bard: Rapier(1d8 + 3) + Extra Attack(1d8 + 3) = 15 DPR (19 with Dueling Fighting Style)
Rogue: Rapier/Light Crossbow(1d8 + 5) + Sneak Attack(4d6) = 23.5 DPR
Greatsword Martial: Greatsword(2d6 + 5) + Extra Attack(2d6 + 5) = 24 DPR
Polearm Martial: Polearm(1d10 + 5) + Extra Attack(1d10 + 5) + PAM Attack(1d4 + 5) = 28.5 DPR

At level 8 the Arcana Cleric's melee damage output compares decently with other melee classes / builds. Without triggering the rider, they match the melee output of other full caster gishes and aren't far behind more dedicated martials. They soundly outdamage Divine Strike cleric subclasses. With the rider, they compare very favorably with the melee damage output of other gishes and martials and soundly outdamage the other gish casters.


At Level 12 (/w Magic Initiate for Shillelagh)
Arcana Cleric (w/o SCAG Rider): Shillelagh(1d8 + 5) + Booming Blade/Green Flame Blade(2d8 + 5) = 23.5 DPR
Arcana Cleric (/w BB Rider): Shillelagh(1d8 + 5) + Booming Blade(2d8 + 5) + BB Rider(3d8 + 5) = 42 DPR
Arcana Cleric (/w GFB Rider): Shillelagh(1d8 + 5) + Green Flame Blade(2d8 + 5) + GFB Rider(2d8 + 10) = 42.5 DPR
Divine Strike Cleric: Warhammer(1d8 + 4) + Divine Strike(2d8) = 17.5 DPR (depending on weapon, up to 20)

Bladesinger/Swords/Valor Bard: Rapier(1d8 + 4) + Extra Attack(1d8 + 4) = 17 DPR (21 with Dueling Fighting Style)
Rogue: Rapier/Light Crossbow(1d8 + 5) + Sneak Attack(6d6) = 30.5 DPR
Greatsword Martial (2 Attacks): Greatsword(2d6 + 5) + Extra Attack(2d6 + 5) = 24 DPR
Polearm Fighter: Polearm(1d10 + 5) + Extra Attack(1d10 + 5) + Extra Attack 2(1d10 + 5) + PAM Attack(1d4 + 5) = 39 DPR

Once the cantrips scale, the Arcana Cleric surges ahead. Without the rider they deal solid DPR that compares with unspecialized martials and the other gishes. With the Rider, they deal massive damage that many other builds can't compare with without expending resources.
Now of course, this is all "resourceless" damage output, of course. A Fighter could action surge and a Paladin can smite and a Bladelock can Hex. Even Swords Bards can "smite" with their Bardic Inspiration. Meanwhile the Cleric is still a full spellcaster and could have Spiritual Weapon/Guardians up.

It's worth considering also that the Arcana Cleric (and all clerics) deal their melee damage in a single attack. This makes them more spikey and inconsistent, but it also means they deal more damage than other melee builds with opportunity attacks. With War Caster, Arcana Clerics have one of the most powerful opportunity attacks in the game with Booming Blade; only rogues and smiting paladins can compete.

[stoutstien]

I think I see extra attack on a cleric In a different light than most people. Extra attack isn't about damaged it's about the opportunity to have more options. Shoving, grapple, disarm, hitting multi foes, and the such are things that extra attack expands.
Single attack is very static

[Chronos]

Just a side note: Divine Strike doesn't work with multiple attacks (however you get them), nor with opportunity attacks. It's "once during your turn".

That said, though, the ability to give others +10 to their attack is huge. My ranger is in a party with a war cleric, and having that available means that I can afford to almost always use my Sharpshooter -5/+10, because if I really need that hit, I can almost guarantee that I'll still get it.

And I don't know how big a deal Extra Attack is, on any full caster, anyway. Our cleric almost never uses his weapon, because spells are so much more effective, and by the time Extra Attack comes online, you've got enough slots to use them.

[Trustypeaches]

Just a side note: Divine Strike doesn't work with multiple attacks (however you get them), nor with opportunity attacks. It's "once during your turn".Ah, you're right.

I thought it was "Once per turn" like Sneak Attack. My bad, Arcana Cleric is officially the best melee cleric.

[sophontteks]

Clerics are holy warriors who rely on the blessings of their god to empower and guide their weapons rather then martial skill. Paladins are the class that relies on martial skill. There isn't really a niche to fill between them.

I don't think its a balance concern. There just isn't a need for it. They have their own unique ability that increases the damage their weapons do instead.