Combat Style & Feat help for my Grave Cleric

[jaappleton]

Marking a Firbolg Grave Cleric.... (and for those that watch, shut it, there’s only so many +2 Wis races! :smalltongue: )

Here’s the rest of the party:

Divine Soul Sorc
Devotion Pally
Berserker Barbarian
Dreams Druid
Sharpshooter Fighter

(Yes, I’m set on Grave Domain)

We’re playing Curse of Strahd, so it’s pretty Undead heavy and thus far, it’s been a bit of a meat grinder.

I have two Feats available to me. Looking for suggestions, but I think it plays into my combat style:

Should I be near the front? Spirit Guardians says yes. SG + Word of Radiance says absolutely. That means I’m typically near the Paladin, I suppose. So if I take Resilient: Con, that puts me at +11 to Con saves. Not bad at all. Or do I instead nab War Caster? My Channel Divinity to inflict Vulnerability on a foe required a Touch, I believe...

So do I stay near the front, or do I hang back? And what Feats do I pick depending on that choice? Thinking War Caster or Res: Con and Lucky.

[Aprender]

If your berserker barbarian goes reckless attack a lot and takes the exhaustion levels from frenzy, you may want to consider mobile just to be there at his side when he dirt naps over and over again. :)

[RulesJD]

You'll be a medium armor + shield wearing tank. Near the front is preferable due to Spirit Guardians as you noted. Additionally, Cure Wounds is actually preferable to Healing Word on a Grave Cleric because it up-casts so well.

That said, Path to the Grave has a 30ft range, as does Sentinel at Death's Door (anti-crit).

[Wildarm]

Marking a Firbolg Grave Cleric.... (and for those that watch, shut it, there’s only so many +2 Wis races! :smalltongue: )

Here’s the rest of the party:

Divine Soul Sorc
Devotion Pally
Berserker Barbarian
Dreams Druid
Sharpshooter Fighter

(Yes, I’m set on Grave Domain)

We’re playing Curse of Strahd, so it’s pretty Undead heavy and thus far, it’s been a bit of a meat grinder.

I have two Feats available to me. Looking for suggestions, but I think it plays into my combat style:

Should I be near the front? Spirit Guardians says yes. SG + Word of Radiance says absolutely. That means I’m typically near the Paladin, I suppose. So if I take Resilient: Con, that puts me at +11 to Con saves. Not bad at all. Or do I instead nab War Caster? My Channel Divinity to inflict Vulnerability on a foe required a Touch, I believe...

So do I stay near the front, or do I hang back? And what Feats do I pick depending on that choice? Thinking War Caster or Res: Con and Lucky.

Res(Con) is definitely a good choice. For the other feat, You're proficient in heavy armor. Perhaps heavy armor master or perhaps Toughness for an extra HP buffer.

Honestly, you have no wizard in your party so I would take Ritual Caster - Wizard would be extremely good for you to pick up since you meet the stat requirement(13 Wis or Int). There are so many good wizard rituals that will make life in Bavaria more bearable.

[RulesJD]

Res(Con) is definitely a good choice. For the other feat, You're proficient in heavy armor. Perhaps heavy armor master or perhaps Toughness for an extra HP buffer.

Honestly, you have no wizard in your party so I would take Ritual Caster - Wizard would be extremely good for you to pick up since you meet the stat requirement(13 Wis or Int). There are so many good wizard rituals that will make life in Bavaria more bearable.

Just a note, Grave Domain are not proficient in Heavy Armor. They were in the UA but the official Xanathar Grave Domain doesn't get heavy, so just medium.

[darknite]

I've got a Grave Cleric who doesn't even wear armor (it doesn't seem appropriate for funerals...) and does the best he can to stay far away from combat.

[jaappleton]

I've got a Grave Cleric who doesn't even wear armor (it doesn't seem appropriate for funerals...) and does the best he can to stay far away from combat.

Not to get sidetracked, but I'd love to see 'variant features' for many classes. Among them being Unarmored Defense for Clerics. Maybe a specific Domain where its 'shielded by faith' or something.

Like the Cleric in your game, I often dislike the imagery of Clerics as armored divine warriors / casters. Sometimes I want to play more of a Priest as opposed to a Cleric, y'know?

[Wildarm]

Just a note, Grave Domain are not proficient in Heavy Armor. They were in the UA but the official Xanathar Grave Domain doesn't get heavy, so just medium.

Ah... Just googled grave domain Giger's showed it having the proficiency. Must have been scraped from the UA.

So, skip HAM - Take Toughness if you want some extra beef for your Grave cleric. I still say Ritual Caster would be the better choice for the party though. You've got plenty of front line might already and who else is going summon unseen servants to dig graves for you?

[jaappleton]

Ah... Just googled grave domain Giger's showed it having the proficiency. Must have been scraped from the UA.

So, skip HAM - Take Toughness if you want some extra beef for your Grave cleric. I still say Ritual Caster would be the better choice for the party though. You've got plenty of front line might already and who else is going summon unseen servants to dig graves for you?

The Druid with Mold Earth? :smalltongue:

[RulesJD]

Not to get sidetracked, but I'd love to see 'variant features' for many classes. Among them being Unarmored Defense for Clerics. Maybe a specific Domain where its 'shielded by faith' or something.

Like the Cleric in your game, I often dislike the imagery of Clerics as armored divine warriors / casters. Sometimes I want to play more of a Priest as opposed to a Cleric, y'know?

Not sure if any domains get it but you could just find a way to access Mage Armor (Magic Initiate is perfect for this as it's a once/day spell anyways).

[Mercurias]

Not sure if any domains get it but you could just find a way to access Mage Armor (Magic Initiate is perfect for this as it's a once/day spell anyways).

Why not just play a Divine Soul Sorcerer? Charisma would be a better stat for someone going out and preaching anyway.

...Oh no. Please, brain, don't encourage me to make a Sorc/Bard multiclass Evangelist.

As to the original question, I would suggest playing close in melee where your punchy boys can drag things into your Spirit Guardians radius and use you for a flanking bonus. I would roleplay it as your character getting right up in the face of evil while loudly proclaiming the holy word of your god.

[animewatcha]

How much do you plan on putting into your charisma stat?

[jaappleton]

How much do you plan on putting into your charisma stat?

It’s a wonderful 10.

I know what you’re getting at: Paladin is taking Inspiring Leader at 8.

[animewatcha]

No. I level of warlock for eldritch blast cantrip. Invocation for 300 ft range. Choose other cantrips and invocation as you please. Congrats. You can now do a lil ranged warfare. Cantrip go with character level instead of class level so at level 17, you are firing four of them. Can do 1 warlock / cleric 19.

[djreynolds]

Nothing wrong with throwing protection from evil on the barbarian when he fights undead.

I like the frenzied berserker if just for mindless rage, but that is level 6, so until then this is a very good spell

But honestly, spamming the bless spell and dropping sacred flame is going to go along way. Also the paladin has 2 sources of adding magic to their weapon, with magic weapon and sacred weapon... no one else does. But you still have spiritual weapon and this will be important also.

This is what I would be doing, bless, spiritual weapon and healing word and sacred flame and if needed buffing the barbarian til 6th level with protection from good/evil instead of bless.

The paladin's aura at 6th, 7th, and 10th will free you up from having to spam bless and protection from evil and open up spirit guardians.

I like resilient con, war caster is great but your reaction spells are limited as a cleric.

[Missing]

I run a game with a Firbolg Gave Cleric and he gets a lot of mileage out of Spirit Guardians and Spiritual Weapon as well as Spirit Guardians THEN Sanctuary (Though that combo wont fly at all tables, check with your DM). Also for the most part he saves his in combat healing til his friends actually drop to maximize the heal.

As for feats I'll echo the Ritual Caster - Wizard suggestion.

[Agent-KI7KO]

No. I level of warlock for eldritch blast cantrip. Invocation for 300 ft range. Choose other cantrips and invocation as you please. Congrats. You can now do a lil ranged warfare. Cantrip go with character level instead of class level so at level 17, you are firing four of them. Can do 1 warlock / cleric 19.

Warlock 2/Cleric 18

[jaappleton]

Warlock 2/Cleric 18

Curse of Strahd ends between 8-11, depending on how many side quests you wrap up.

[animewatcha]

I see. Sorry for the mistake. Still Ranged warfare can soften mobs before melee.