Cleric/Sorcerer help

[minute]

I'm currently playing a level 5 light cleric and for story reasons may end up multiclassing into sorcerer at some point. Unfortunately, I can't tell you when exactly that will be (it also may not happen at all); I've told the DM the situation in which I would want to take the first level of sorcerer, so it's up to him when and how that situation eventually comes up.

Regardless, are there any good cleric/sorcerer builds out there? I'd likely do a homebrew subclass, since for whatever reason there are no official pyromancer sorcerer subclasses. It will likely have a similar 1st level ability as the UA Phoenix subclass (Mantle of Flame).

So, things I wanna know: what metamagic options should I choose? Should I try to do the multiclass sooner rather than later so I can lean into the sorcerer levels a bit more? Is the metamagic adept feat something I should be looking at as a bit of a precursor to the multiclass?

[RogueJK]

Cleric/Sorcerer can be tricky to pull off, especially if you plan on taking more than 1 or 2 levels of one or the other class. Most Cleric/Sorcerer multiclass builds involve a primary class and then just a level or two in the other. For example, something like Sorcerer 1/Cleric X gets you CON save proficiency (from starting as Sorcerer), some useful 1st level Sorcerer subclass abilities, a few Sorcerer utility cantrips, and access to defensive 1st level Sorcerer spells like Shield and Absorb Elements. It only requires a 13ish CHA, since you won't be taking any CHA-dependent Sorcerer attack/save spells.

Or something like a Tempest Cleric 2/Storm or Blue Draconic Sorcerer X gets you a Lighting/Thunder-based Sorcerer blaster with the ability to occasionally maximize your AoE blast damage, plus wear Medium/Heavy Armor, and only requires a 13ish WIS since Sorcerer is your primary focus and you can just stick to non-WIS-dependent Cleric spells.

However, a build like a Light Cleric 5/Sorcerer X or similar would be tougher to pull off. You're heavily hampering your upper level spellcasting, which will be fairly painful when you get into Tier 3 and 4. Plus you'd require both a high WIS and high CHA, to be able to utilize both your Cleric and Sorcerer spellcasting, so there's a lot of competition for your ASIs and it'll take longer to fully max out your spellcasting stat(s).


Post-Tasha's, Sorcerer 2/Cleric X with the Metamagic Adept feat is also now a decent option for a Cleric/Sorcerer combo, getting you the metamagic benefits of Sorcerer 3 without requiring you to delay Cleric by another level. So in your case, since you're wanting metamagic options, your best bet to dip Sorcerer may be to do something like Light Cleric 5 -> Sorcerer 1 -> Cleric to 8 and take the Metamagic Adept feat -> Sorcerer to 2 -> Cleric X from there. Or just Cleric 8 -> Sorcerer 2 -> Cleric X, if you don't mind waiting on the Sorcerer stuff. This will limit the impact to your higher level Light Cleric spellcasting and abilities, while still getting you some Sorcerer flavor, 1st level subclass features, utility cantrips and 1st level defensive spells, 4 refillable sorcery points, and two known metamagic options.


As for Metamagic choices, Sorcerer/Clerics (and Divine Soul Sorcerers) benefit a bit more than other Sorcerers from the Extended and Twinned metamagics. The Cleric spell list has a number of useful single-ally buffs that are even handier when twinned to two allies, as well as a number of moderately long duration buffs that can last even longer if extended. While those are likely the two best options, I find Subtle Spell to be a useful metamagic option for sneaky casting especially in social situations, and as a Light Cleric, if you find yourself primarily operating as an AoE blaster you might consider Empowered.


Regarding a Pyromancer subclass, there's a semi-official WotC Pyromancer subclass for the Sorcerer that was published on Page 9 of Plane Shift - Kaladesh, one of their Magic The Gathering 5E supplements: https://media.wizards.com/2017/downloads/magic/Plane-Shift_Kaladesh.pdf

But I agree that the old UA Phoenix Sorcerer has a much more useful 1st level subclass ability.

[Salmon343]

Multiclassing two main casters is very hard to pull off, especially if they use different casting stats. Although your spell slot progression is unchanged, your spell level progression in either class is gimped. Every 2 levels puts you one spell level behind, and after 3 levels you don't get 9th level spells. What I'd recommend is going Divine Soul Sorcerer - which gets access to the Cleric spell list (while it technically doesn't get access to Tasha's Bonus Spells for Clerics, that's clearly a design oversight IMO so can easily be house-ruled to work) - and trading some of your levels in. This is on the assumption that you go Sorcerer main following.

Looking at Light Cleric 5, the unique feature you get at level 5 is Destroy Undead. Before that, its only Channel Divinity at level 2. So I'd recommend you work something with your DM that lets you trade in 3 Cleric levels, letting you be Light Cleric 2 | Divine Soul Sorcerer X from now on. You're only one spell level behind (which isn't too bad), and you keep all the nifty Light Cleric features you already have, at the cost of Destroy Undead. Unless that's a pivotal part of your character, I don't think that's worth the extra three levels...

If the idea is to only take a few levels in Sorcerer and continue on in Cleric, I'd recommend going for either two or three levels in Sorcerer. If you take metamagic adept you can afford to take only two, if not you'll want three. Metamagic is the cornerstone of a Sorcerer build, its what makes them feel like super special awesome magical beings, and as a multiclassed spellcaster, it gives you something to do with your higher level slots - convert them to sorcery points. Metamagic adept doesn't allow you to do that - you need the font of magic class feature from Sorcerer 2. The third level of Sorcerer gives you even more metamagic options, but isn't strictly necessary if you're happy with only two. You've gotta weigh that up against being a level behind in spells known progression.

Those are my recommendations! But the crux of the matter is, when multiclassing casters, less is more. You need to have a good reason to go above a 1/2 level dip, and an amazing reason to go above a 3 level dip.

[ff7hero]

I just got done playing a super fun Divine Soul14/Tempest Cleric6. If I was doing it again, I'd probably flip it to the Cleric18/Sorc2 with Metamagic Adept mentioned earlier, but I managed to reap the benefits of my relatively deep Sorc Point pool by quickening spells while activating my 9th Level Call Lightning over the course of a long battle.