How to play Cleric correctly？

[KDA Seraphine]

Healing spells are limited by slots, and I can't keep multiple buffs/debuffs at the same time.
Clerics are unstable as supporters, and lack martial skills to protect themselves.
What is the right way to play Cleric？caster or half caster？

[Mr Fred]

Its the streamlined shallow 5e, a fighter wont have higher base attack bonus or extra feat over a cleric.

Since the current cap is 4 pretty much all the classes are the same if you build them half decently...

[bullse]

Allow me to provide a couple of examples (again, as EXAMPLES - you build how you wish) cause I believe your perception of a cleric is off, considerably.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFqJXEFT4tc&t=147s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lse1475NUyU

[Jack Hawklight]

I personally use my cleric on the frontlines in battle. Once shadowheart gets mirror image she is quite good. Don't use the cantrip damage spell, it is basically useless as nearly everything in the game right now gets the dex save roll against it. Find a decent weapon and a crossbow, use those instead. The cleric also has a couple of good damage spells. I especially like inflict wounds, does a ton of damage but is a touch attack. Guiding bolt gives the next character to attack that enemy advantage on their attack as well so a combo kind of thing can be set up. Only heal if you have to, especially downed companions. They can then get up on their turn and chug a pot to be back in the fight. Just a few tips from my own experiences with shadowheart. I hope it helps.

[daveyfunk]

Buffs is the best way to play cleric at the moment, I feel. The spell to add 2 AC, Bless and cantrip Guidance are probably the pick of these, but all use concentration and so have to use strategically. You can go Bless and Bane but where Bless is 100% on your party I feel it best between the two if looking to take another spell instead of Bane. Guiding bolt and inflict wounds are good damage dealers early on and Shadowhearts ability distribution has been changed to be more dex focused now, so she actually benefits from the dex boost to AC. Shadowheart is much more viable since that change and I prefer having her equipped with sword and shield and bow and keeping her somewhat in between frontline and ranged. I feel she's more support than anything else. For a custom Cleric I understand the best option at the mo is a Light Cleric. There are a few builds floating around on that

[TheBlueFox]

Cleric is one of the most versatile classes you can use in D&D. They get access to, BY DEFAULT:

Good armor and DECENT weapons
Close range and long range damage
Damaging magic in varying types, (Radiant, Necrotic, Force)
Crowd control effects
Buffing and Debuffing spells.

What they do NOT do well:
Dependent on Magic
No access to Extra Attack
Poor Dexterity saves
Best weaponry is bludgeoning


Essentially, if there's something you want to do "There's a Cleric for that!" you can literally make a cleric for ANY ROLE IN A PARTY. For example, branching off the core Cleric, here is what is offered in the PHB Alone

Knowledge Domain - Access to Scrying(Spying and language) spells, Adds wisdom to damage cantrips, double proficiency bonus to knowledge (Arcana, history, nature, religion), Can use ANY Tools (Thieves tools, herbalist tools, etc.) Can read minds.

Life Domain - Bonus to potency of healing spells, AOE healing spells, Adds radiant damage to weapon strikes

Light Domain - FIRE Arcane spells, Can blind enemies that attack allies, AOE Radiant damage, dispells darkness

Nature Domain - Heavy armor Proficiency, Speak with and Charm animals and access to some druid spells, Adds elemental damage to weapon attacks.

Tempest Domain - LIGHTNING arcane/divine spells, Proficiency in MARTIAL WEAPONS AND HEAVY ARMOR, Lightning damage to attackers, CAN CHOOSE TO DEAL MAX DAMAGE on lightning spells

Trickery Domain - Access to Charms, invisibility, and stealth bonuses. Creates illusions that cast magic on their behalf

War Domain - Proficiency in MARTIAL WEAPONS And heavy armor, Pseudo Extra attack a few times per rest, +10 to yours OR allies attack rolls with Channel Divinity, Extra Weapon Damage, resistance to non-magic damage.



So instead of saying How should I build my cleric, you need to understand what do you want your cleric to do! Give me an idea and I can help better. However, Here's what I can say.


STRENGTH - Adds to your melee capability. Useful for those that want to strike foes in Melee, and Clerics can do this! They serve better as spellcasters, due to not gaining access to Extra Attack, but they can squeeze out a little extra damage through various features. If you want to be a holy avenger, you likely want to be a paladin.

Recommended 12-14


DEXTERITY - Adds to your armor class. Due to their access to Medium armor, no more than 14 is needed here. If you'll be moving to Heavy armor you can lower this to 10 then. Elves can raise this, as they get access to Longbows and shortswords, And Drow can use Rapiers and Hand Crossbows.

Recommended 10-14, race and Domain dependent

CONSTITUTION - Your Max HP pool AND your Concentration check stat. This one is super important, which is why many people choose to go as a Hill Dwarf if they want to be serious clerics. Dwarves get a boost in constitution and wisdom, making them GREAT choices for clerics. No Less than 12 here by ANY standards, Have a good reason to go below 14.

Recommended 14-16

INTELLIGENCE - Does... nothing for Clerics. It gives them better Religion and knowledge checks, but your spellcasting stat is Wisdom, so any spells are keyed off that instead. Not many spells or effects cause you to make a "Intelligence save" either. Have a GOOD reason to put this above 10

Recommended 8-10

WISDOM - This is your MAIN STAT. It makes or breaks clerics. Paladins are the physical fighters, Clerics are the spellcasting warriors. It makes it harder to resist your spells and how MANY spells you can memorize at once which is everything when you're trying to prepare for a day. If you want this under 14, think of playing something other than a cleric, or you might have some weird character concept in place.

Recommended 14-16

CHARISMA - Doesn't do a heck of alot for Clerics. Clerics no longer need this for Turn Undead, so you can freely skip it. And just in case you want to make a cleric your party's "Face" to make all your conversation checks, Clerics get access to Thaumaturgy AND Guidance, and they STACK

Recommended 8-10


Basic layout for cookie cutter cleric:
Hill Dwarf (Stat after racial improvement)
Str - 12(12)
Dex - 14(14)
Con -14(16)
Int - 8(8)
Wis - 15(16)
Cha - 8(8)


So, give us an idea of what you wanna build, we can help get into detail

[Nox]

To be short, clerics aren't good at being damage dealers in general so don't count on that. They can be decent tanks more like off-tank you could say but they don't hold a choke point as much as fighters would obviously. They are more often used as healer, that they excel at for sure, nothing like a life domain cleric to keep your party alive. So I would say most of the time full caster built to be decently sturdy. Also they are the best supports

[KDA Seraphine]

Originally posted by TheBlueFox:

Cleric is one of the most versatile classes you can use in D&D. They get access to, BY DEFAULT:

Good armor and DECENT weapons
Close range and long range damage
Damaging magic in varying types, (Radiant, Necrotic, Force)
Crowd control effects
Buffing and Debuffing spells.

What they do NOT do well:
Dependent on Magic
No access to Extra Attack
Poor Dexterity saves
Best weaponry is bludgeoning


Essentially, if there's something you want to do "There's a Cleric for that!" you can literally make a cleric for ANY ROLE IN A PARTY. For example, branching off the core Cleric, here is what is offered in the PHB Alone

Knowledge Domain - Access to Scrying(Spying and language) spells, Adds wisdom to damage cantrips, double proficiency bonus to knowledge (Arcana, history, nature, religion), Can use ANY Tools (Thieves tools, herbalist tools, etc.) Can read minds.

Life Domain - Bonus to potency of healing spells, AOE healing spells, Adds radiant damage to weapon strikes

Light Domain - FIRE Arcane spells, Can blind enemies that attack allies, AOE Radiant damage, dispells darkness

Nature Domain - Heavy armor Proficiency, Speak with and Charm animals and access to some druid spells, Adds elemental damage to weapon attacks.

Tempest Domain - LIGHTNING arcane/divine spells, Proficiency in MARTIAL WEAPONS AND HEAVY ARMOR, Lightning damage to attackers, CAN CHOOSE TO DEAL MAX DAMAGE on lightning spells

Trickery Domain - Access to Charms, invisibility, and stealth bonuses. Creates illusions that cast magic on their behalf

War Domain - Proficiency in MARTIAL WEAPONS And heavy armor, Pseudo Extra attack a few times per rest, +10 to yours OR allies attack rolls with Channel Divinity, Extra Weapon Damage, resistance to non-magic damage.



So instead of saying How should I build my cleric, you need to understand what do you want your cleric to do! Give me an idea and I can help better. However, Here's what I can say.


STRENGTH - Adds to your melee capability. Useful for those that want to strike foes in Melee, and Clerics can do this! They serve better as spellcasters, due to not gaining access to Extra Attack, but they can squeeze out a little extra damage through various features. If you want to be a holy avenger, you likely want to be a paladin.

Recommended 12-14


DEXTERITY - Adds to your armor class. Due to their access to Medium armor, no more than 14 is needed here. If you'll be moving to Heavy armor you can lower this to 10 then. Elves can raise this, as they get access to Longbows and shortswords, And Drow can use Rapiers and Hand Crossbows.

Recommended 10-14, race and Domain dependent

CONSTITUTION - Your Max HP pool AND your Concentration check stat. This one is super important, which is why many people choose to go as a Hill Dwarf if they want to be serious clerics. Dwarves get a boost in constitution and wisdom, making them GREAT choices for clerics. No Less than 12 here by ANY standards, Have a good reason to go below 14.

Recommended 14-16

INTELLIGENCE - Does... nothing for Clerics. It gives them better Religion and knowledge checks, but your spellcasting stat is Wisdom, so any spells are keyed off that instead. Not many spells or effects cause you to make a "Intelligence save" either. Have a GOOD reason to put this above 10

Recommended 8-10

WISDOM - This is your MAIN STAT. It makes or breaks clerics. Paladins are the physical fighters, Clerics are the spellcasting warriors. It makes it harder to resist your spells and how MANY spells you can memorize at once which is everything when you're trying to prepare for a day. If you want this under 14, think of playing something other than a cleric, or you might have some weird character concept in place.

Recommended 14-16

CHARISMA - Doesn't do a heck of alot for Clerics. Clerics no longer need this for Turn Undead, so you can freely skip it. And just in case you want to make a cleric your party's "Face" to make all your conversation checks, Clerics get access to Thaumaturgy AND Guidance, and they STACK

Recommended 8-10


Basic layout for cookie cutter cleric:
Hill Dwarf (Stat after racial improvement)
Str - 12(12)
Dex - 14(14)
Con -14(16)
Int - 8(8)
Wis - 15(16)
Cha - 8(8)


So, give us an idea of what you wanna build, we can help get into detail

Well... Can I say that Cleric is some kind of "Melee Wizard"？

[psibot]

Originally posted by Feeding Bot:

Clerics are unstable as supporters, and lack martial skills to protect themselves.
What is the right way to play Cleric？caster or half caster？

Ya I feel with you this 5e DnD concentration mechanic makes continous feel real crapy.
Base check is a DC10 (50% chance)against constitution so you have to revamp all those pictures about frail wizards and so ROFL. Even if go 18 Con you get only +3 translates to (65% chance per check). Basicly something feel reliable >82% but you can't up that chance with guidance because it cancles the other concentration and vis versa. So every check even with high CON you still have unstable feel.

It boils down concentration mechanic is designed to be unstable for that once stable spell cleric and all other classes get the same attack chance.

This means all class have same attack until level 5 there Fighters get a 2nd attack...
if you take a Dwarf for race any class with 14 Dex has same AC (Defence to) Dwarf has also got +2 on Con so you up you buff a tad.

Bottom line until any class can have same Attack and Base AC if you play a Dwarf.

every class in 5e can take also shield Mastery on level for being able to negate dex save spell like fireball damage that only could be done by rogues at level 10 with improved evasion is very nice higher level...

[mayrc]

Shoot some barrels..... best strat in DOS3.

[Indure]

Originally posted by psibot:

Originally posted by Feeding Bot:

Clerics are unstable as supporters, and lack martial skills to protect themselves.
What is the right way to play Cleric？caster or half caster？

Ya I feel with you this 5e DnD concentration mechanic makes continous feel real crapy.
Base check is a DC10 (50% chance)against constitution so you have to revamp all those pictures about frail wizards and so ROFL. Even if go 18 Con you get only +3 translates to (65% chance per check). Basicly something feel reliable >82% but you can't up that chance with guidance because it cancles the other concentration and vis versa. So every check even with high CON you still have unstable feel.

It boils down concentration mechanic is designed to be unstable for that once stable spell cleric and all other classes get the same attack chance.

This means all class have same attack until level 5 there Fighters get a 2nd attack...
if you take a Dwarf for race any class with 14 Dex has same AC (Defence to) Dwarf has also got +2 on Con so you up you buff a tad.

Bottom line until any class can have same Attack and Base AC if you play a Dwarf.

every class in 5e can take also shield Mastery on level for being able to negate dex save spell like fireball damage that only could be done by rogues at level 10 with improved evasion is very nice higher level...

This really doesn't work out due to the drawbacks.

Fighter and ranger gain very little from dwarf except for if their stat spread coincides for a desired build. They suffer from dwarfs very slow moment speed which is 20% slower than other races and 40% slower than wood elf.

Warlock and wizard gain medium armor and some martial weapons at the loss of maximizing their primary stat so they are 5% less likely to hit with spells.

Clerics don't need medium armor, but the weapon proficiencies are nice and stat spread work. Still neck and neck with wood elf though who give dex weapons to match 14 dex and are 40% faster.

[nicktaylor82]

i did notice shadowheart is a little better as a companion in patch 3 i agree cleric is kinda messed up in patch 2 but in patch 3 shadowheart has been noticably better at least with melee rolls spells too to a lesser extent. i cant speak for main characters though that choose to play cleric

[TripSin]

I just don't understand why Shadowheart cantrip Sacred Flame can't get advantage from height. I'm wondering if this is intended. I'll use either that or a bow for ranged damage if not using guiding bolt, depending on which has the lower miss%.

[Damashi The Kaotic]

My way of playing Shadowheart at least is to start the encounter with bless and then mirror image, throw guiding bolt if there is an enemy I need to burst down, and healing word to pick up downed characters. This works for her in almost every encounter.

[Nox]

Originally posted by TripSin:

I just don't understand why Shadowheart cantrip Sacred Flame can't get advantage from height. I'm wondering if this is intended. I'll use either that or a bow for ranged damage if not using guiding bolt, depending on which has the lower miss%.

Isn't it because Sacred Flame is not technically a projectile?

[Malus]

Originally posted by bullse:

Allow me to provide a couple of examples (again, as EXAMPLES - you build how you wish) cause I believe your perception of a cleric is off, considerably.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFqJXEFT4tc&t=147s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lse1475NUyU

Do NOT use these guides if you want to enjoy the game. Sin Tee just puts extra cheese on everything.

You will grow bored fast.