Forge domain vs War domain

[Witty Username]

So, I am going to be playing a cleric soonish for a game, a half-orc forge domain blacksmith, and it got me thinking about the cleric domains.

1. How do forge and war compare with each other in terms of effectiveness?
2. Forge domain does not get martial weapon proficiency and that looks weird to me, do others share that opinion?

[Waazraath]

So, I am going to be playing a cleric soonish for a game, a half-orc forge domain blacksmith, and it got me thinking about the cleric domains.

1. How do forge and war compare with each other in terms of effectiveness?
2. Forge domain does not get martial weapon proficiency and that looks weird to me, do others share that opinion?

Ok, trying to do this more or less systematicly:
- domain spells: big win for forge, lots of spells that aren't on the cleric list, good and versatile spells as well.
- Proficiencies: win for war, martia weapons > smith's tools
- level 1 ability: I'd say win for forge. The few bonus action attacks per day are nice, but not that great (clerics still won't pick feats like GWM, so the extra damage isn't that great). +1 on either AC or on attack and damage, and getting an extra opportunity to overcome magic resistance at low levels).
- Channel divinity. Lets call this a draw. It's too campaign dependend to compare a utility use vs a combat one, but I see the worth of both.
- level 6: big win for Forge. War only gets an alternative (though usually better) use of CD, whithout extra uses. A flat +1 on ac and fire resistance is better almost any day.
- level 8/14: draw, neither is impressive, and at these levels, melee attacks usually aren't your first choice option anyway. As soon as magic weapons are available, war's damage will be resisted a bit less, so maybe small win for War on second thoughts..
- 17th: big win for forge, it literally is the same PLUS fire immunity.


==> Forge wins.

As for the martial weapons: well, dunno.... I wouldn't have found it weird if they had gotten the proficiency, but on the other hand, forging weapons isn't the same as wielding them, so I don't mind (and dont think it odd) Forge doesn't get them.

[ImproperJustice]

Also, around the time you hit 11th level your cantrip damage will begin to heavily outpace your melee skills if that is a deciding factor.

Now, a dex based war cleric with a longbow could provide some semi interesting flexibility but most of the time they will want to be on the front lines in the thick of things buffing allies with crusaders mantle and guardians.

I roll with a level 13 Forge Cleric and I love it.

A wonderful mix of utility, defense, and omg the Fire!
Animate Objects is monstrous as well.
Creating stuff is super handy at times, especially with a few tool proficiencies.

Example: we need winter clothing for npcs captured by frost giants. Here is a bunch of dead wolves.
One Fabricate later and we have a stack of winter coats.

The Fire Resistance is super nice and comes up a lot.

[Lunali]

- 17th: big win for forge, it literally is the same PLUS fire immunity.

There is a slight difference, forge requires you to be wearing heavy armor to get the resistance, war gives it all the time. That said, I think it's still a win for forge, but having resistance during fancy parties may be more valuable in some campaigns.

[Quietus]

Ok, trying to do this more or less systematicly:
- domain spells: big win for forge, lots of spells that aren't on the cleric list, good and versatile spells as well.
- Proficiencies: win for war, martia weapons > smith's tools
- level 1 ability: I'd say win for forge. The few bonus action attacks per day are nice, but not that great (clerics still won't pick feats like GWM, so the extra damage isn't that great). +1 on either AC or on attack and damage, and getting an extra opportunity to overcome magic resistance at low levels).
- Channel divinity. Lets call this a draw. It's too campaign dependend to compare a utility use vs a combat one, but I see the worth of both.
- level 6: big win for Forge. War only gets an alternative (though usually better) use of CD, whithout extra uses. A flat +1 on ac and fire resistance is better almost any day.
- level 8/14: draw, neither is impressive, and at these levels, melee attacks usually aren't your first choice option anyway. As soon as magic weapons are available, war's damage will be resisted a bit less, so maybe small win for War on second thoughts..
- 17th: big win for forge, it literally is the same PLUS fire immunity.


==> Forge wins.

As for the martial weapons: well, dunno.... I wouldn't have found it weird if they had gotten the proficiency, but on the other hand, forging weapons isn't the same as wielding them, so I don't mind (and dont think it odd) Forge doesn't get them.

On the proficiency note - that can be mitigated somewhat depending on your race. An elf gets access to longswords, a dwarf can swing warhammers. Other races, of course, are limited to simple weapons with the base kit.

[stoutstien]

So, I am going to be playing a cleric soonish for a game, a half-orc forge domain blacksmith, and it got me thinking about the cleric domains.

1. How do forge and war compare with each other in terms of effectiveness?
2. Forge domain does not get martial weapon proficiency and that looks weird to me, do others share that opinion?

Forge plays well. +1 weapon or armor will most likely be useful for the whole game. If you have a crossbow user it one of the few ways to get a magical one.
Spells I think forge also wins. Other than the crappy smite spell at the start the rest of the expanded list are A++


Martial weapons are only a ~1 damage per weapon attack. Unless you invest in a lot of feats the lack of extra attack means you will be wacky foes with a hammer less and less as you lv.

War just doesn't do it for me.

[Potato_Priest]

The forge cleric is generally superior, as others have noted.

The war cleric’s only claim to fame is that prior to the SCAG cantrips it made the best dedicated melee damage cleric as it synergizes super well with GWM, but with the advent of booming blade even that title has been relegated to the tempest cleric.

It does still make an on-par ranged damage focus cleric, but it faces some pretty stiff competition from the light domain.

[LudicSavant]

So, I am going to be playing a cleric soonish for a game, a half-orc forge domain blacksmith, and it got me thinking about the cleric domains.

1. How do forge and war compare with each other in terms of effectiveness?
2. Forge domain does not get martial weapon proficiency and that looks weird to me, do others share that opinion?

I'd rate Forge as better in general.

War shines in the following scenarios:

A) Low levels. War is very strong in tier 1.
B) With certain party compositions. Basically, a party with a large number of attacks / summons / etc can benefit a lot from early Crusader's Mantle, and War God's Blessing combos very effectively with characters who have very powerful single hits that you really don't want to miss.

[Witty Username]

I was mostly asking about the martial weapon proficiency because Forge has the heavy armor, divine strike, the smite spell and magic weapon on their list which seems to message melee to me, not that it was bad but it looked odd. I am ok with that only being a problem in my head.

How does War compare to other cleric domains?

B) With certain party compositions. Basically, a party with a large number of attacks / summons / etc can benefit a lot from early Crusader's Mantle, and War God's Blessing combos very effectively with characters who have very powerful single hits that you really don't want to miss.

Would war god's blessing + a great weapon master character looking for those +10's to damage be example of heavy enough hitters?

[LudicSavant]

Would war god's blessing + a great weapon master character looking for those +10's to damage be example of heavy enough hitters?

Though a GWMer is a decent recipient, I was thinking less "a Champion with GWM" and more "things where turning a miss into a hit can lead to 50+ damage conversions (not to mention possible status effects and the like)." Stuff in the range of, say, a Booming Blade Sneak Attack.

[Witty Username]

"nods in understanding"