Would a cleric multiclassing after level 5 or 7 be viable?

[staffoforcus]

I'm really underwhelmed by the cleric spell list after level 4. There are some good options, but a lot of it seems incredibly situational and super reliant on monetary components, so I was thinking about multiclassing into druid or bard (I have a 14 CHA) to at least get some more utility options at lower levels. I've always been told it's never a good idea to multiclass full casters, especially clerics, but I honestly can't see myself enjoying higher levels of play as a cleric. I'd like to be able to do more than just upcast bless, spiritual weapon, or spirit guardians. I'm worried I'll end up regretting it though.

[Man_Over_Game]

I'm really underwhelmed by the cleric spell list after level 4. There are some good options, but a lot of it seems incredibly situational and super reliant on monetary components, so I was thinking about multiclassing into druid or bard (I have a 14 CHA) to at least get some more utility options at lower levels. I've always been told it's never a good idea to multiclass full casters, especially clerics, but I honestly can't see myself enjoying higher levels of play as a cleric. I'd like to be able to do more than just upcast bless, spiritual weapon, or spirit guardians. I'm worried I'll end up regretting it though.

It kinda depends on what you're looking for. Cleric spells really start to leverage zoning effects at later levels, and if you're trying to escape that by leveling into Druid or Bard then you're going to have a bad time.

[OldTrees1]

If you multiclass a full caster into another full caster after level 5/7, then:

At 11th character level, what spell do you see yourself casting out of your 5th and 6th level slots? Are you content with that?
You would have 3rd/3rd level spells known or 4th/2nd level spells known.

At 15th character level, what spell do you see yourself casting out of your 7th and 8th level slots? Are you content with that?
You would have 3rd/5th level spells known or 4th/4th level spells known.

Personally I see Aid and Spiritual Guardians as worth upcasts and I expect the 15th level question might be answered by the new class. However what you want is the important part.

[RogueJK]

Into something like a Ranger, Fighter, or Rogue? Perhaps. Depends on the build. You could potentially remain competitive at higher levels with 5-7 levels of Cleric and then some Martial levels, provided you're okay with being a martial character supplemented by spellcasting, rather than the other way around. For example, Ranger 5/Cleric X is a viable combination that I've personally played, so I could see Cleric 5/Ranger X working similarly. And some folks like to duck out of Rogue or Fighter after 11/12/13ish anyway, as they feel the upper level abilities aren't quite worth it. Paladin could potentially work too.

But into another full caster? Probably not. Casters rely almost solely on having high level spells to stay competitive at higher levels. I think you're really going to miss the higher level spells in Tier 3 and Tier 4 play.


It also depends on how long you foresee the campaign running. A campaign that ends at Tier 2 with a Cleric 5/Whatever 5 has some possible multiclass combos that wouldn't be viable with a campaign that goes to Tier 3 or 4 with a Cleric 5/Whatever 10 or 15.

[Frogreaver]

I'm really underwhelmed by the cleric spell list after level 4. There are some good options, but a lot of it seems incredibly situational and super reliant on monetary components, so I was thinking about multiclassing into druid or bard (I have a 14 CHA) to at least get some more utility options at lower levels. I've always been told it's never a good idea to multiclass full casters, especially clerics, but I honestly can't see myself enjoying higher levels of play as a cleric. I'd like to be able to do more than just upcast bless, spiritual weapon, or spirit guardians. I'm worried I'll end up regretting it though.

High level clerics are primarily about summoning/party buffing/information gathering with some light control and some better healing and status effect removal.

Personally I would rather have high level cleric spells than low level Druid or bard spells. Bards spells get more interesting starting early tier 3 but that’s going to be a long time to wait. The lower charisma is also rough as so much of the bards spells and abilities key off that. Personally I don’t find higher level Druid spells that interesting - though tier 1 entangle has been amazing (but it compete with spirit guardians and bless making it more situationally good.)

[quindraco]

I'm really underwhelmed by the cleric spell list after level 4. There are some good options, but a lot of it seems incredibly situational and super reliant on monetary components, so I was thinking about multiclassing into druid or bard (I have a 14 CHA) to at least get some more utility options at lower levels. I've always been told it's never a good idea to multiclass full casters, especially clerics, but I honestly can't see myself enjoying higher levels of play as a cleric. I'd like to be able to do more than just upcast bless, spiritual weapon, or spirit guardians. I'm worried I'll end up regretting it though.

Really depends on your domain - quitting at 5 means bailing just before your L6 domain benefit, and quitting at 7 means you lose an ASI and your L8 domain benefit (which is always the one that buffs cleric cantrip damage or weapon damage, and can be swapped for the one that buffs all cantrips for 4.5 instead of 5 or weapon damage for 4.5 that never scales up and the whole thing only works once per round).

If you have a domain with excellent multiclass scaling, like Peace Cleric (all Peace Cleric abilities are based on proficiency bonus or wisdom modifier), you'll have a much easier time than one without - e.g. the L2 Grave Domain ability scales with Cleric level.

[LudicSavant]

I'm really underwhelmed by the cleric spell list after level 4. There are some good options, but a lot of it seems incredibly situational and super reliant on monetary components, so I was thinking about multiclassing into druid or bard (I have a 14 CHA) to at least get some more utility options at lower levels. I've always been told it's never a good idea to multiclass full casters, especially clerics, but I honestly can't see myself enjoying higher levels of play as a cleric. I'd like to be able to do more than just upcast bless, spiritual weapon, or spirit guardians. I'm worried I'll end up regretting it though.

It sounds like the actual trouble here is not knowing what to do with the Cleric's spell list after 4. The solution to said problem isn't multiclassing, it's learning what to do with those spells.

Here's just a few examples to start:

Summon Celestial does more damage in a 6th or 8th level slot than some entire greatsword-wielding martial characters, for an hour, before even counting the rest of your action economy. That's a Nice Thing that you will not be getting.

As if that wasn't already enough, it's a large flying creature, so you can very possibly ride it. And it's ranged. And it's one of the best damage types in the game (Radiant). And it comes with a little heal too, just in case it wants to pick someone up off the death gate.

Divine Word is a BONUS ACTION save or lose vs celestials, elementals, fey, and fiends... which is to say, a good chunk of high level threats. It also does something against other creatures, basically annihilating anything with 40 hit points or less in a large (65 foot diameter) area, again, as a bonus action. That's handy against mook swarms. Doubly so when comboed with a Light Cleric's Channel Divinity (cuz you can Action Channel Divinity for an AoE comparable to Destructive Wave, then Bonus Action Divine Word to clean up).

Regenerate when used by a Life Cleric gives you a Concentration-free 10 hp / round for 600 rounds. On top of the initial burst heal. Even better, it applies this healing at the best possible time -- the start of a creature's turn, so if it's on the 0hp death gate between your turn and its turn, it still gets to wake up and take its turn. It's basically "don't worry about hit points for an hour."

Regenerate when used by an Arcana Cleric gives you just 1 hp/ round (still enough to heal to full between combats and bump off the death gate every turn), but more importantly removes any spell effects you don't want of level 7 or below. Every turn. Action economy and Concentration free. For an hour.

Sunburst got added to your list by Tasha's and grants the Cleric a genuinely solid giant-size (120 foot diameter) AoE blast, something they didn't have before.

Mass Heal can pick up the entire party from zero to full, instantly. I've seen this take an entire party from being on the brink to just curb stomping their foes.

Heal is an actually solid burst heal that also has some status fixes tied in.

Greater Restoration may not seem like much... until you need it, at which point a common sentiment seems to be OH GOD WHY DO WE NOT HAVE GREATER RESTORATION OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD.

Conjure Celestial (which is indeed a different spell from Summon Celestial) gives you a Couatl which has a broad range of useful abilities and spells all packed into one spell.

Seriously, check out all this stuff a Couatl does with its own resources and action economy:
At will: detect evil and good (1st), detect magic (1st), detect thoughts (2nd)
3/day each: bless (1st), create food and water (1st), cure wounds (1st), lesser restoration (2nd), protection from poison (2nd), sanctuary (1st), shield (1st)
1/day each: dream (5th), greater restoration (5th), scrying (5th)

In addition to being a Matryoshka Doll spell slot, it also has about 100 hit points, 24 AC with Shield, full on immunity to bludgeoning/piercing/slashing/psychic, an attack that makes people save against *unconsciousness* and another that Restrains, a 90 foot fly speed, Shielded Mind, 120 foot Telepathy, shapechanging, and even a whopping 120 foot always-on Truesight (compare to, you know, casting Telepathy or True Seeing).

There's a reason this is a level 7 spell even though it only summons a CR4 creature. They almost certainly had the Couatl in mind when printing this since it's the only CR4 celestial and to say it's unusually good for its CR is an understatement.

___

There's a lot more examples, these are just a few.

[5eNeedsDarksun]

It sounds like the actual trouble here is not knowing what to do with the Cleric's spell list after 4. The solution to said problem isn't multiclassing, it's learning what to do with those spells.

Here's just a few examples to start:

Summon Celestial does more damage in a 6th or 8th level slot than some entire greatsword-wielding martial characters, for an hour, before even counting the rest of your action economy. That's a Nice Thing that you will not be getting.

As if that wasn't already enough, it's a large flying creature, so you can very possibly ride it. And it's ranged. And it's one of the best damage types in the game (Radiant). And it comes with a little heal too, just in case it wants to pick someone up off the death gate.

Divine Word is a BONUS ACTION save or lose vs celestials, elementals, fey, and fiends... which is to say, a good chunk of high level threats. It also does something against other creatures, basically annihilating anything with 40 hit points or less in a large (65 foot diameter) area, again, as a bonus action. That's handy against mook swarms. Doubly so when comboed with a Light Cleric's Channel Divinity (cuz you can Action Channel Divinity for an AoE comparable to Destructive Wave, then Bonus Action Divine Word to clean up).

Regenerate when used by a Life Cleric gives you a Concentration-free 10 hp / round for 600 rounds. On top of the initial burst heal. Even better, it applies this healing at the best possible time -- the start of a creature's turn, so if it's on the 0hp death gate between your turn and its turn, it still gets to wake up and take its turn. It's basically "don't worry about hit points for an hour."

Regenerate when used by an Arcana Cleric gives you just 1 hp/ round (still enough to heal to full between combats and bump off the death gate every turn), but more importantly removes any spell effects you don't want of level 7 or below. Every turn. Action economy and Concentration free. For an hour.

Sunburst got added to your list by Tasha's and grants the Cleric a genuinely solid giant-size (120 foot diameter) AoE blast, something they didn't have before.

Mass Heal can pick up the entire party from zero to full, instantly. I've seen this take an entire party from being on the brink to just curb stomping their foes.

Heal is an actually solid burst heal that also has some status fixes tied in.

Greater Restoration may not seem like much... until you need it, at which point a common sentiment seems to be OH GOD WHY DO WE NOT HAVE GREATER RESTORATION OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD.

Conjure Celestial (which is indeed a different spell from Summon Celestial) gives you a Couatl which has a broad range of useful abilities and spells all packed into one spell.

Seriously, check out all this stuff a Couatl does with its own resources and action economy:
At will: detect evil and good (1st), detect magic (1st), detect thoughts (2nd)
3/day each: bless (1st), create food and water (1st), cure wounds (1st), lesser restoration (2nd), protection from poison (2nd), sanctuary (1st), shield (1st)
1/day each: dream (5th), greater restoration (5th), scrying (5th)

In addition to being a Matryoshka Doll spell slot, it also has about 100 hit points, 24 AC with Shield, full on immunity to bludgeoning/piercing/slashing/psychic, an attack that makes people save against *unconsciousness* and another that Restrains, a 90 foot fly speed, Shielded Mind, 120 foot Telepathy, shapechanging, and even a whopping 120 foot always-on Truesight (compare to, you know, casting Telepathy or True Seeing).

There's a reason this is a level 7 spell even though it only summons a CR4 creature. They almost certainly had the Couatl in mind when printing this since it's the only CR4 celestial and to say it's unusually good for its CR is an understatement.

___

There's a lot more examples, these are just a few.

I'll second Divine Word, as someone who played a Cleric through Out of the Abyss. It is a bit situational, and it helps if you are fighting fiends and the like, but when it works it's incredibly strong.
As for multiclassing, I'd echo what's been said; I can't imagine you'll create a stronger character by dumping Cleric totally after 5 or 7. Perhaps, depending on subclass, a 1-2 level dip in something else could add enough versatility or make you really good at one thing to compensate for the loss of a couple of high level spells.

[Nefariis]

Don't dump, dip

2-3 levels of Paladin can add a lot of utility and really fun super powers.

[Sepaulchre]

Don't dump, dip

2-3 levels of Paladin can add a lot of utility and really fun super powers.

To expand a bit on this, if you have a cleric subclass with a weak or situational channel divinity, you could pick up a paladin subclass with a good CD and use it twice as much. Conquest and Watchers come to mind as complementary, but also perhaps Crown or Redemption. It’s not optimal but it’s an interesting synergy.

[da newt]

Viable - sure, why not? I bet anyone could create an interesting viable PC with 8/12 split Cleric/Druid or any number of other unique combos (maybe Ranger)...

Optimal - I don't think so.

You could build a pretty good quasi Eldritch Knight by adding Ranger, Fighter, Paladin, or Hexblade to your Cleric.

A dip may help round out your PC into something you prefer, but for optimization I don't think you can do any better than sticking to Cleric and leaning into things like what Ludic suggested.



BTW if you provide your stats, equipment, subclass, race etc the hive mind may be able to provide more specific advice.

[Houster]

I'm really underwhelmed by the cleric spell list after level 4. There are some good options, but a lot of it seems incredibly situational and super reliant on monetary components, so I was thinking about multiclassing into druid or bard (I have a 14 CHA) to at least get some more utility options at lower levels. I've always been told it's never a good idea to multiclass full casters, especially clerics, but I honestly can't see myself enjoying higher levels of play as a cleric. I'd like to be able to do more than just upcast bless, spiritual weapon, or spirit guardians. I'm worried I'll end up regretting it though.

What cleric subclass are you? That is very important, as some has stated here. If you are, say a trickery cleric, you are covered in the sense of great mid level spells from other classes.



Clerics have incredible spells as stated here.
For utility, as you requested-
-Enhance ability when upcast targets more people. That can be key in many non combat situations as stealthing, social encounters, climbing, finding clues, taming multiple animals to ride and the list goes on. Don't forget about making your counterspellers beasts(adv), or initiative adv for multiple people(this also applies to your multiclass idea) .
-divination spells such as commune and scrying.
-i second greater restoration and his friends.
-raise dead and friends.
-At these levels(11ish) forbiddance, amazing as many foes will want to teleport on to you or escape through it.
-Heroe's feast the best multi non concentration buff in the game, that lasts past a long rest.
-word of recall is fantastic.
-etherealness is amazing also, very strong exploration spell.

As you can see, utility as a non issue here

For combat goodness beyond spiritual guardians(which scales very well)-
As said here- summon celestial, heal, but also look at harm. Can be truly devastating, I like this spell a lot. As said here, divine word, conjure celestial are great too.
EDIT: just saw bestow curse is non concentration when upcast 5th and above. That's vicious and very very powerful. Spirit guardians up and tagging 1-2 powerful enemies for disadv. against a type of save(wis?), Or no action wis save every round- all of that does not go away- no save at the end of the round, no concentration to break... amazing debuff.
This actually goes both ways, high level cleric and multiclass with other spellcasters.

Firestorm and blade barrier are so-so but maybe it's the imagery you are looking for. They can be useful.

I can't really see what other 3rd-4th level spells from other spellcasters can offer that ups this- in say level 11-14. All the amazing 3rd level spells that scale well like haste, slow, fly and so on, are not as amazing to me as summon celestial, harm, heal, heroe's feast....

That's not to say you could not build something effective with high slots and low spells. Probably take tahsa's mind whip, polymorph, other summon spells...
But thinking of getting polymorph at 14th level... that's hard man. I think you'll have less fun with that than dropping holy word on a minion mob.


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[RogueJK]

What cleric subclass are you? That is very important, as some has stated here. If you are, say a trickery cleric, you are covered in the sense of great mid level spells from other classes.


Other notable subclasses with great 4th/5th level domain spells from non-Cleric spell lists include Twilight and Forge.