Need some advice for Cleric of War.

[Runic Raven / ᚼᚱᛅᚠᚾ]

Hello!

I finished the Game 3 times in different ways and read that cleric is the least played class by players so i wanted to start my next playthrough as a cleric. I always play shadowheart as domain of Life cleric so i wanted to play a more damaging type Cleric for myself. I went for a Duergar War cleric but i have no idea how to play a War cleric. They have 2 weapon attacks when using their dedicated ressource but they dont seem to do a lot of damage. Do i have to use strength or even Dex? Or will War cleric only get better in the later game? Cause right now in early Game it doesnt feel very useful.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[TheBlueFox]

Cleric of war will trick you into thinking you're a melee combatant.

You're not. Get out of that mindset. You can get an extra attack in with your feature, but it's not the same as having Extra Attack

What you ARE is a durable spellcaster, who can get up in peoples faces and smack them with a weapon. So get spells that hurt people for being close to you.

Take 10 dexterity (+0 bonus) and use heavy armor, get a shield too. you'll easily have 21+ armor before buffs. Get your strength to at least 16

Take the warcaster feat for concentration advantage, to keep your spells alive. Spirit guardians is going to be your main combat spell as soon as you get it. Cast Spiritual weapon when you can, it's not concentration.

[Frost]

War Domain kinda sucks, it's good early on thanks to access to extra weapon swings, but they dry up quickly and your damage will drop off.

I'd recommend trying Tempest Domain instead, it is kinda the opposite in which it feels kinda lacklustre early, but takes off when you get to level 4/5 ish.

[sevensided]

War Cleric is a bit of a trap. But to answer your main question, the stat needed for their weapon will be based upon what weapon you use- dexterity for finesse weapons, and strength for everything else.

War Domain is good for a one level dip for martial characters (or a 6/6 or 8/4 split for rangers), but for pure Cleric, you may be better off with, say Tempest. Without access to the blade cantrips (Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade- which didn't make the game, but can be added with an excellent mod), the Clerics just won't really manage much with weapon alone.

[Damphair]

War Domain is very weak, clerics melee output even when min-maxed will be far less than any melee dedicated class like a Paladin. However if you're playing it for roleplay then I'd follow the previous posters advice. For a truly offensive and powerful cleric I'd recommend you to play as Tempest Domain, it is very powerful. Light Domain is also very stable.

[TheBlueFox]

Good level 1 spells:
Healing word (Bonus action way of picking allies off the ground)
Bless (you should be able to concentrate on this and keep it active)
Command (Command enemies to drop their weapons, then pick them up for free. Now all they can do is punch)
Guiding bolt (Good damage, radiant damage, ranged spell, gives an enemy debuff too)
Shield of Faith - (gets you some nasty high AC early game. 16 +2shield +2shield of faith = 20 ac easy at level 1. But it uses concentration)
Protection from Evil and good (gives all fiends and undead and elementals disadvantage attacking you. with your high AC they will almost never hit)

level 2
Blindness (Not concentration, good debuff especially for spellcasters)
Spiritual weapon (Not concentration, durable temporary ally, offers you another source of damage that can also soak attacks)
Silence (You can just cast it on a spellcaster and make them eat attacks of opportunity trying to escape it)

level 3
Animate dead (Not concentration, extra allies to soak damage and deal damage)
Spirit guardians (Hurts anyone who comes close to you, slows enemies down, deals damage to as many people as needed, lasts all fight if you don't lose concentration)

level 4
Stoneskin (Good against beasts, who can't use magic)
Guardian of Faith (Not concentration, Hard to keep people close to it, but it deals considerable amount of damage for just hiding inside it and punishing enemies who approach)
Freedom of Movement (Makes you immune to slowdowns from entangles, webs, and other difficult terrain, meaning you can't be restrained by black tentacles. Not concentration, lasts all day)

level 5
Hold monster (held enemies can be crit with melee attacks)
Insect Plague (Large area, slows enemies, deals constant damage)
Flame strike (decent AOE for a cleric)


level 6
Blade barrier (constant damage and slowdown)
Heal (Normally healing sucks, Heal is the exception, incredible value)

[Runic Raven / ᚼᚱᛅᚠᚾ]

Thanks for all the answers. Seems i just picked the wrong subclass. I will try Tempest and/or Light.

[Tootsy]

If you are going war cleric I would suggest 5 levels of paladin for smite and an extra attack, mix in a two handed weapon and you got three attacks a turn with smite and some decently high slots for smite.