Wizard Order of the Scribe / Knowledge Cleric split progression

[supercereal]

I was thinking about an hypotetical Wizard Order of the Scribe 17 / Knowledge Cleric 3.

It should start as a Cleric and take the second level as a Wizard. What should the rest of the progression looks like in your opinion? Granted that I would like to take the remaning 2 level of Cleric as soon as possible I was thinking:

Cleric (Knowledge) 1
Wizard (Scribe) 1
Wizard (Scribe) 2
Wizard (Scribe) 3
Cleric (Knowledge) 2
Cleric (Knowledge) 3
Wizard (Scribe) 4
Wizard (Scribe) 5
.
.
.
Wizard (Scribe) 17

do you have any suggestions?

[LudicSavant]

I was thinking about an hypotetical Wizard Order of the Scribe 17 / Knowledge Cleric 3.

It should start as a Cleric and take the second level as a Wizard. What should the rest of the progression looks like in your opinion? Granted that I would like to take the remaning 2 level of Cleric as soon as possible I was thinking:

Cleric (Knowledge) 1
Wizard (Scribe) 1
Wizard (Scribe) 2
Wizard (Scribe) 3
Cleric (Knowledge) 2
Cleric (Knowledge) 3
Wizard (Scribe) 4
Wizard (Scribe) 5
.
.
.
Wizard (Scribe) 17

do you have any suggestions?

I would recommend just Cleric 1 / Wizard 19. Gaining access to higher level spells known is very important.

[supercereal]

I would recommend just Cleric 1 / Wizard 19. Gaining access to higher level spells known is very important.

I know that this is probably the most efficient split, but I still would like to take 3 whole levels of Cleric

[JNAProductions]

I know that this is probably the most efficient split, but I still would like to take 3 whole levels of Cleric

I'd recommend getting to level 5 in Wizard ASAP. 3rd level spells are a big deal.

[Skemo]

I would recommend just Cleric 1 / Wizard 19. Gaining access to higher level spells known is very important.

Yeah dip casters carefully, I'm running with a Order Cleric 1 / Glamour Bard 14 atm and even that one level dip that delayed spell progression was brutal! Worth it in balance from what I got from Cleric but yeah, make sure the value proposition is significant enough to outweigh the spell attainment delay...

[Evaar]

I know that this is probably the most efficient split, but I still would like to take 3 whole levels of Cleric

Okay. What is it that you get at Cleric 3 that makes it desirable to you?

[supercereal]

Okay. What is it that you get at Cleric 3 that makes it desirable to you?

Apart from flavor/background reason, I like the channel divinity that gives proficiency for 10 minutes in one skill or tools, and it could be very fun if coupled with the Fabricate spell. This requires at least 2 level in Cleric so i guess at that point one more level to have acces to level 2 spells from the cleric list is a sound investment, you gain a lot of cool supportive spell.

Maybe at this point

Cleric (Knowledge) 1
Wizard (Scribe) 1
Wizard (Scribe) 2
Wizard (Scribe) 3
Wizard (Scribe) 4
Wizard (Scribe) 5
Cleric (Knowledge) 2
Cleric (Knowledge) 3

Seems the more reasonable option.

[Evaar]

Apart from flavor/background reason, I like the channel divinity that gives proficiency for 10 minutes in one skill or tools, and it could be very fun if coupled with the Fabricate spell. This requires at least 2 level in Cleric so i guess at that point one more level to have acces to level 2 spells from the cleric list is a sound investment, you gain a lot of cool supportive spell.

Maybe at this point

Cleric (Knowledge) 1
Wizard (Scribe) 1
Wizard (Scribe) 2
Wizard (Scribe) 3
Wizard (Scribe) 4
Wizard (Scribe) 5
Cleric (Knowledge) 2
Cleric (Knowledge) 3

Seems the more reasonable option.

Okay. If that's how you want to do it, it will be a perfectly functional character. You're under no obligation to try to make it better than that.

However, if you're looking to further optimize the build, you'll want to consider your opportunity cost here. Apart from enduring a slower Wizard spell progression, which you WILL feel even with just 1 level and will really feel with a 3 level dip, you're going to have one ASI to use from character levels 1 through 10. Even if you're relying on spells that don't depend on ability scores, it's going to limit your access to valuable feats like Warcaster (which you probably want since you're dipping Cleric and likely plan to use a shield). You can still find a way to get it, like going Variant Human, but you probably need to plan around it.

Also consider how much use you're really getting out of the 2nd level Cleric spells. You probably won't have very high Wisdom, so your save DCs won't be great. Not everything relies on that, though. Also consider whether the spells you're eyeing are going to take your Concentration - you can only Concentrate on one spell at a time, and it's probably not going to be worth using it on a 2nd level Cleric spell when you have access to a 3rd/4th/5th level Wizard spell.

And of course, if you're playing to really high levels, you lock yourself out of features like Spell Mastery. Maybe you aren't going that high, most games don't, but if you are then consider whether you'd rather have 1st and 2nd level Cleric spells competing for your slots, or if you'd like to be able to cast Shield as much as you like without having to use any slots.

But - if you're good with all that, then sure. Cleric 1/Wizard 5/Cleric 3/Wizard X is a reasonable progression path.

[diplomancer]

I'd go Cleric 1 Wizard 7 Cleric 2 Wizard 8 Other cleric level when needed.

You said you want the channel divinity to use with fabricate. Ok. Then get fabricate first, then get the CD. After that, get the ASI feat.

I honestly would just stay wizard after that, but if you must take a 3rd level of cleric, just evaluate that 3rd level against the next level of wizard you are gonna get. I will not be surprised if you will just go straight to wizard 18.