"Best" domain for a 1 level cleric dip for a level 12 Rune Knight

[Spo]

Loving my level 12 half-orc ruin knight for all the utility and damage it brings to the table. Given I have and necessary minimum wisdom to multiclass into a cleric and love some of their first level abilities (like Light domain's ability of warding flare) I was thinking of taking a dip into cleric. Just trying to figure which domain gives me the most bang of the dip buck.

Suggestions please.

[diplomancer]

Peace or twilight. Peace most likely, unless your DM is always springing unexpected combats on your party, so you can't pre-activate your Emboldening Bond reliably.

[kazaryu]

Loving my level 12 half-orc ruin knight for all the utility and damage it brings to the table. Given I have and necessary minimum wisdom to multiclass into a cleric and love some of their first level abilities (like Light domain's ability of warding flare) I was thinking of taking a dip into cleric. Just trying to figure which domain gives me the most bang of the dip buck.

Suggestions please.

i mean, it kinda depends on where you want the bang doesn't it?

knowledge/nature domain gives you some skills boosts which can be good for non combat.

depending on your magic item situation, forge domain lets you turn a weapon or armor into a +1

life cleric gives you some extra spice on the healing spells you're casting

War gives you a BA attack if you don't already have one, and its a better attack than the one granted by PAM

tbh i'd take any of these over light domain.

[MrStabby]

Order or Peace would be my first choices. Forge is good if magic items are rare. If your wisdom is high, war is actually pretty good just for a bundle of extra attacks and divine favour.

[Eldariel]

Twilight is ridiculous. Peace is stupid-good too. Nothing else really comes close.

[Wildstag]

Arcana's probably good, since the two cantrips provide options in combat the Rune Knight might not otherwise get. Plus a free skill proficiency and Magic Missile on the list! Death also works well, since you get a free permanently-twinned Necromantic cantrip.

Honestly, any option that gives a cantrip is top of the list imo.

[BoxANT]

The answer is always Peace.

[tokek]

They are all good. All of them, yes even Trickster. After all maybe the scout of the party would benefit from effectively permanent advantage on their Stealth checks?

A lot of them - e.g. Arcana, Nature - are dependent on whether your party lacks a proficiency and you can use that to fill it in and have a new out of combat role for your character. I don't think a skill proficiency that makes you about as good as the current best character in the party will have much impact or feel very rewarding.

Warding Flare for Light domain is an odd one in that it overlaps very heavily with Storm Rune. If you are finding you run out of uses of Storm Rune then I can see why you would want it.

I'm going to put out an unpopular opinion here - I think Peace Domain is no longer that great as a one level dip when you are already 12th level. The key ability here is a very much weaker version of Bless which is only ever worth taking an action for if instead of bless if you can be sure to use it before combat hence saving the action in combat. Otherwise a single 1d4 per turn is vastly inferior to 1d4 on every attack and save when you are a tier-3 fighter who will be making loads of attacks and attracting loads of hostile spells/effects requiring saves.

I like War domain but your bonus action may already really heavily utilised. Definitely consider it as that bonus action attack can sometimes drop an opponent who would otherwise get to act for another turn. Also Divine Favor is surprisingly good for a level 1 spell when you get as many attacks as a tier-3 fighter, even in a typically short combat it might add 12d4 damage of a good type.

Twilight Domain gives you initiative advantage and amazing darkvision. Initiative advantage can be important so if you don't have other ways to get good initiative rolls this might be worth considering, putting the advantage on a control caster is very often the best use of the ability as they can then shut down parts of the encounter before it really gets going.

[diplomancer]

They are all good. All of them, yes even Trickster. After all maybe the scout of the party would benefit from effectively permanent advantage on their Stealth checks?

A lot of them - e.g. Arcana, Nature - are dependent on whether your party lacks a proficiency and you can use that to fill it in and have a new out of combat role for your character. I don't think a skill proficiency that makes you about as good as the current best character in the party will have much impact or feel very rewarding.

Warding Flare for Light domain is an odd one in that it overlaps very heavily with Storm Rune. If you are finding you run out of uses of Storm Rune then I can see why you would want it.

I'm going to put out an unpopular opinion here - I think Peace Domain is no longer that great as a one level dip when you are already 12th level. The key ability here is a very much weaker version of Bless which is only ever worth taking an action for if instead of bless if you can be sure to use it before combat hence saving the action in combat. Otherwise a single 1d4 per turn is vastly inferior to 1d4 on every attack and save when you are a tier-3 fighter who will be making loads of attacks and attracting loads of hostile spells/effects requiring saves.

I like War domain but your bonus action may already really heavily utilised. Definitely consider it as that bonus action attack can sometimes drop an opponent who would otherwise get to act for another turn. Also Divine Favor is surprisingly good for a level 1 spell when you get as many attacks as a tier-3 fighter, even in a typically short combat it might add 12d4 damage of a good type.

Twilight Domain gives you initiative advantage and amazing darkvision. Initiative advantage can be important so if you don't have other ways to get good initiative rolls this might be worth considering, putting the advantage on a control caster is very often the best use of the ability as they can then shut down parts of the encounter before it really gets going.

I think you're greatly underestimating peace domain, specially for this level. First of all, at this level, you're affecting 5 creatures 5 times per day. Which is better than bless.

Secondly, it's once per turn, not once per round. Now, technically, similar creatures all act in the same turn, but I haven't seen a DM that runs it that way. So, unless a creature is forcing two saves in the same turn (or the DM is blatantly metagaming and having creatures prepare Actions to use it on someone else's turn), which is relatively rare, 1 save per turn is almost as good as every save.

It also lasts longer than Bless, so it can be useful in more than one combat. And doesn't require concentration. So you can stack it with bless, or with any other nice 1st level Concentration spell from the Cleric list. If you have two rounds of prep, Emboldening Bond+ Bless. Only 1 round? Emboldening bond and either shield of faith or one of the many Rune Giant bonus actions.

[Khrysaes]

Arcana's probably good, since the two cantrips provide options in combat the Rune Knight might not otherwise get. Plus a free skill proficiency and Magic Missile on the list! Death also works well, since you get a free permanently-twinned Necromantic cantrip.

Honestly, any option that gives a cantrip is top of the list imo.

It isn't just two cantrips either, as you get the normal cleric 3 as well.

[tokek]

I think you're greatly underestimating peace domain, specially for this level. First of all, at this level, you're affecting 5 creatures 5 times per day. Which is better than bless.

Secondly, it's once per turn, not once per round. Now, technically, similar creatures all act in the same turn, but I haven't seem a DM that runs it that way. So, unless a creature is forcing two saves in the same turn (or the DM is blatantly metagaming and having creatures prepare Actions to use it on someone else's turn), which is relatively rare, 1 save per turn is almost as good as every save.

It also lasts longer than Bless, so it can be useful in more than one combat. And doesn't require concentration. So you can stack it with bless, or with any other nice 1st level Concentration spell from the Cleric list. If you have two rounds of prep, Emboldening Bond+ Bless. Only 1 round? Emboldening bond and either shield of faith or one of the many Rune Giant bonus actions.

In the games I play multiple rounds of prep are as rare as hen's teeth. I agree that if you consistently get multiple rounds of prep then this ability is better than I rate it.

The thing is you are giving up another domain with all that it gives you in return for this boost. As probably a key front-liner the Rune Knight is the one that most needs to be buffed so making sure they get the best buffs is important. Yes its a good boost but its not as powerful when it only affects at most 1/3 of your attacks - I'd rather have a bonus action attack for sure unless the character already has one. Then if I do get Bless up with a prep round I have that 1d4 bonus on up to 7 attacks on the action surge turn.

As for concentration, its a bit of a non issue unless you have another spell you want to spend your concentration on. Con saves should be +9 on a level 12 Rune Knight so concentration checks only matter for massive damage taken.

[Pildion]

Peace or twilight. Peace most likely, unless your DM is always springing unexpected combats on your party, so you can't pre-activate your Emboldening Bond reliably.

Gona have to go with Diplomancer, if you have Darkvision then Peace is probably your go to, other wise Twilight is better.

[stoutstien]

Gona have to go with Diplomancer, if you have Darkvision then Peace is probably your go to, other wise Twilight is better.

Dark vision is one of the passive rune options(stone) so even if they don't have it as a racial trait it's available.

[diplomancer]

In the games I play multiple rounds of prep are as rare as hen's teeth. I agree that if you consistently get multiple rounds of prep then this ability is better than I rate it.

The thing is you are giving up another domain with all that it gives you in return for this boost. As probably a key front-liner the Rune Knight is the one that most needs to be buffed so making sure they get the best buffs is important. Yes its a good boost but its not as powerful when it only affects at most 1/3 of your attacks - I'd rather have a bonus action attack for sure unless the character already has one. Then if I do get Bless up with a prep round I have that 1d4 bonus on up to 7 attacks on the action surge turn.

As for concentration, its a bit of a non issue unless you have another spell you want to spend your concentration on. Con saves should be +9 on a level 12 Rune Knight so concentration checks only matter for massive damage taken.

I mentioned it the first time. If DM never gives opportunity for rounds of prep and has enemies popping out of nowhere to attack, Peace falls by a lot. But with a 10 minutes duration, you don't even need to do it at just the right time, just seeing that a combat might be coming somewhat soonish is enough. And, not being a spell, it doesn't have any Verbal or Somatic components that might give away what you're doing, having everyone roll for initiative immediately.

As to the bonus action attack. Rune Knight is SO dependent on Bonus Actions that I don't see how getting 1 bonus action attack a day can compete. The proficiency scaling of Emboldening Bond puts it heads and shoulders above other buffs that either scale on Wis or Cleric Levels, for a dip at least.

And don't forget that you also get a Skill from Peace, which, though not as powerful, is nothing to sneer at.

What I'd do: get Peace, and, in principle at least, save all of my 2 spell slots for Healing Word. If I have the opportunity to use Emboldening Bond AND Bless before a tough fight, do that.

Sanctuary, which you get as a Domain Spell for Peace, can also be quite busted if DM rules that dragging a creature through a Spike Growth does not break Sanctuary (RAW, it doesn't, if the grapple was before the Sanctuary, but it's silly, so some DMs won't have it).

[tokek]

I mentioned it the first time. If DM never gives opportunity for rounds of prep and has enemies popping out of nowhere to attack, Peace falls by a lot. But with a 10 minutes duration, you don't even need to do it at just the right time, just seeing that a combat might be coming somewhat soonish is enough. And, not being a spell, it doesn't have any Verbal or Somatic components that might give away what you're doing, having everyone roll for initiative immediately.

As to the bonus action attack. Rune Knight is SO dependent on Bonus Actions that I don't see how getting 1 or 2 bonus action attacks a day can compete. The proficiency scaling of Emboldening Bond puts it heads and shoulders above other buffs that either scale on Wis or Cleric Levels, for a dip at least.

And don't forget that you also get a Skill from Peace, which, though not as powerful, is nothing to sneer at.

What I'd do: get Peace, and, in principle at least, save all of my 2 spell slots for Healing Word. If I have the opportunity to use Emboldening Bond AND Bless before a tough fight, do that.



I think the OP should certainly consider the option and think about how often they expect to get prep turns and also how their own action economy tends to go. Having a potential action 5 times per day is wonderful if you actually have an opportunity to take that action without cost, if it costs you an action in combat I'm really not sure its worth it.

My Rune Knight has a very busy BA on turn one but by turn 2 or 3 the option of a BA attack would be very welcome. Not always for a straight attack, shoving an enemy prone to then still hit them multiple times with advantage can be a power move for a fighter as can deciding you suddenly need to grapple to protect the squishies because your normal attacks did less than you expected.

But ultimately only the OP knows how these are likely to play out in their game so all we can do is explain the options to help them decide. Also we don't know their ability scores in detail, if they have bare minimum wisdom to multi-class then I'd agree War is a poor choice.

[diplomancer]

I think the OP should certainly consider the option and think about how often they expect to get prep turns and also how their own action economy tends to go. Having a potential action 5 times per day is wonderful if you actually have an opportunity to take that action without cost, if it costs you an action in combat I'm really not sure its worth it.

I'd say it's worth it even if you can only do it 2-3 times per day pre-combat. Which I believe to be a reasonable minimum expectation for most campaigns, given both its long duration and its "non-threatening, non obvious" nature. You could even do it while the bad guy's monologuing without initiating hostilities immediately, since he won't even notice it, unless he has something like a permanent Detect Magic going on.


My Rune Knight has a very busy BA on turn one but by turn 2 or 3 the option of a BA attack would be very welcome. Not always for a straight attack, shoving an enemy prone to then still hit them multiple times with advantage can be a power move for a fighter as can deciding you suddenly need to grapple to protect the squishies because your normal attacks did less than you expected.

But ultimately only the OP knows how these are likely to play out in their game so all we can do is explain the options to help them decide. Also we don't know their ability scores in detail, if they have bare minimum wisdom to multi-class then I'd agree War is a poor choice.

We do know, though. This is from OP:


Given I have and necessary minimum wisdom to multiclass into a cleric

You've missed it I suppose, which's alright, obviously, I've done it many times.

[da newt]

IMO - Depending on your RP style Peace Domain may be out of the running thematically - WTF is a career warrior like a lvl 12 fighter going to be doing if they start to embody the Peace Domain's tenets? Stop being a fighter and start being a peace maker / arbiter / pacifist? Sure the mechanics of the domain are nice, but only if you ignore the ideal completely and are just looking for mechanical crunch.

For a 1 lvl dip: Twilight is strong. I think Tempest for the reaction is handy. Arcana is nice. Even if you do nothing but pick up BLESS, HEALING WORD, PROTECTION from G&E and a couple cantrips, a cleric dip is handy for any martial.

I'd recommend going with the domain that fits your guy and who he would worship first, but also look at the 2nd lvl features just in case you later decide to lean into it more.

I've got an Eldritch Knight that got RP-ed into going cleric and due to his personal ideals pledged himself to Tritherion War Cleric. He's far from OP, but he has many nice tools at his disposal.