Should I Still Play the Arcana Cleric Frontliner?

[NecessaryWeevil]

Hi, so I was excited to play the Arcana Cleric Frontliner from this post (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?583957-An-Eclectic-Collection-of-Fun-and-Effective-Builds) after the DM's campaign house rules and party composition made me reconsider my Paladin. But this build is intended as a tank and now it turns out everyone is running a melee build (except perhaps for the control-oriented sorceror but he's stated that he still intends to be in the thick of things also). So, wondering - can this build still shine if tanks are unnecessary?

[sophontteks]

Hi, so I was excited to play the Arcana Cleric Frontliner from this post (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?583957-An-Eclectic-Collection-of-Fun-and-Effective-Builds) after the DM's campaign house rules and party composition made me reconsider my Paladin. But this build is intended as a tank and now it turns out everyone is running a melee build (except perhaps for the control-oriented sorceror but he's stated that he still intends to be in the thick of things also). So, wondering - can this build still shine if tanks are unnecessary?
Do you know what the sorcerer plans to roll when he dies? :smallbiggrin:

[Yakmala]

About a year ago, I became the 6th member of a party where 4 of the 5 members were full time melee builds. It was the perfect opportunity to play a Barbarian build I hadn’t tried before... Wolf Totem. It worked out great! I was giving the majority of the party advantage on their melee attacks every round.

[Keravath]

If the others aren't also clerics you will do fine. Spirit guardians, spiritual weapon, heals, bless, other party support AND the ability to stand in the front line using booming blade to keep up with melee damage. Honestly, you should be fine. It may be a melee character but it is also a full caster.

You should be able to "shine" but if the others include GWM/PAM fighters they may do more damage but they won't have the all round utility. (e.g. PAM paladin, GWM barbarian ...)

[Eldariel]

The good thing about casters is that you can be whatever the hell you want to. So just pick spells based on what you want. Arcane frontliner is fine; but I would take e.g. Chill Touch as my second cantrip to give me some ranged prowess. 120' isn't an awful lot but it isn't awful either, compared to your usual 60'. And you at least get to add Wis to it. Firebolt is fine too but Chill Touch rider and the fact that Necrotic > Fire would make me prefer Chill Touch.

But yeah, Arcana Cleric is always good and while it dips in performance on Tier 3, it's still a full caster and you have stuff like Summon Celestial to help out with your ranged stuff now. That single spell actually makes a huge difference, rounding you out eventually. You can also round out the frontline overall with the help of stuff like Sanctuary, Warding Bond, etc. and play the CC caster too when needed (Command upcast is actually pretty good for a variety of circumstances, for example).

[Sparky McDibben]

If you're playing a support class, then you need to be where your party is. Ergo, I would argue that a support class that can really hold their own in close combat is crucial for this party, and that sounds exactly like the build you described.

[RogueJK]

If you're playing a support class, then you need to be where your party is. Ergo, I would argue that a support class that can really hold their own in close combat is crucial for this party, and that sounds exactly like the build you described.

That depends on the style of support class. It's entirely possible to play a support backliner, as long as you're not relying on things such as touch spells or on auras that require you to remain within a certain proximity of your allies or enemies.

There's nothing specific to the Arcana Cleric that requires it to be a frontliner, but it can certainly do well in that role if you set it up for that.