Cleric: Nature Domain
Pure Wisdom Elementalist Melee & Tanking Build
The Character:
Dobâk Longwalker trudged through snow and ice, iron armor glowing with frost, chilling him through to his stone, dwarven bones. This particular mountain had proven a challenge, even for one of the hillborn. The bluff resisted his charge, though he knew one of the Volamtar strongholds resided at its peak, and with it a warm bed, ale, and tales of the road.
It had been a long expedition of marking wilderness trails for the humans to the south, but Marthammor save him, those lot couldn't find their beards nestled against their own chins to keep warm in the winter.
The Concept: Build, Story, Backgrounds
Nature clerics get the short end of the stick when it comes to the consensus on cleric power rankings, and it is for that express reason that I've sought to demonstrate its strengths and create a fun, powerful build that is not just a druid wannabe: a tank healer, with a specialization in melee attacks. This character will be purely Wisdom based, with a priority given to maximizing the Wisdom stat, which will serve as the sole source of damage, both melee and ranged, and healing.
The character is a dwarven trailblazer. He is a priest of the Volamtar, Blazers of Fresh Trails, followers of Marthammor Duin, the Watcher-over-Wanderers, a minor god of the dwarven pantheon. I find that min-maxing is only fun when it can be justified with interesting story-telling, which is after all half of the Dungeons & Dragons package.
All that said, we can justify a Neutral Good alignment (the same alignment as the deity) and the Anthropoligst, Far Traveler, Hermit and Outlander backgrounds. These options prioritize Wisdom based skills and fit into our trailblazing theme, but other than that, backgrounds don't affect build quality all that much, so this will be a choice based on preference rather than optimization.
The Race: Hill Dwarf
There is one main reason for this choice, and one reason alone: Shillelagh. Nature clerics' access to this particular cantrip from the Druid spell list makes the Hill Dwarf very happy and allows the player to focus exclusively on the Wisdom stat, which will control both spell and, now, melee damage. Not having to divvy up attention between two main stats leads to a stronger character more quickly. The Hill Dwarf's stat boost to Constitution also plays into this build's strengths, and with the Dwarven Toughness trait's extra HP, the Nature Cleric's proficiency in heavy armor and shield use, we can create a very effective tank healer from LVL 1.
The Stat Spread (Standard Array):
WIS 16 (+3), CON 16 (+3), STR 13 (+1), DEX 12 (+1), INT 10 (+0), CHA 8 (-1)
Maximizing Wisdom takes top priority, here. The better the Nature Cleric can heal, attack (with both spells and melee), and defend (saving throws, spell save DC and skills) the more effective they will be, and (potentially) the more fun the player will have. Our Strength is sitting at 13 exclusively so that we can take advantage of the Nature Cleric's heavy armor proficiency, as chain mail requires a minimum of 13 Strength to wear efficiently.
The Class: Notable Features
Domain Spells: half of the domain spells of the Nature Cleric serve the same function as the Charm Animals Channel Divinity option they receive (unfortunately weak until LVL 17), but the other half grant access to great battlefield control that other clerics simply don't have:
-Spike Growth and Plant Growth create difficult terrain which is extremely useful for keeping hordes of enemies at bay and for damage prevention. Wind Wall can isolate enemies, or better yet, lock them into a tornado fight cage with you, 1v1 style. Grasping Vine can pull allies away from danger or closer to the Nature Cleric for healing, or can yank foes away from allies. It's also useful outside of combat for terrain traversal or mountain climbing. Tree Stride is very situational, but in the right environment is one of the best means of battlefield maneuverability, allowing the Nature Cleric to move back and forth between spread out allies for more effective healing. It also serves as a fantastic means of escape should the battle swerve irreparably in the enemies' favor, allowing the party to get 500 feet away in an instant (at the DM's discretion, since the spell is technically meant to only affect the caster).
Acolyte of Nature: this is the whole crux of the build. If the player doesn't take Shillelagh here, the build just doesn't work. Druidcraft is fun for aesthetics, Poison Spray is nullified by a majority of monsters' resistance or immunity to poison, and Thornwhip is a mediocre ranged attack at best, outclassed easily by many ranged damage cleric spells, so Shillelagh is objectively the Nature Cleric's best option.
Bonus Proficiency: the additional proficiency in heavy armor really allows for good tanking potential, here. High AC combined w/ the high HP as a result of Dwarven Toughness and better than average Constitution make for a sound tank.
Dampen Elements: a free multi-element resistance that only uses a reaction is absolutely fantastic and makes the Nature Cleric a strong support for a plethora of foes (dragons, demons, devils and other nasty things that start with "d") and adds further to that tanking potential we're building toward.
Divine Strike: what is a good tank without the stopping power to take down the foes they're tanking against? Tanks aren't just meant to take less damage, but to prevent less damage across the entire party, and a great way of doing that is reducing the number of enemies. Like all the cleric domains, this one gains a bonus to damage, but unlike the others, the nature cleric gets to choose the damage type with each swing, allowing for a targeting of any known weaknesses.
Feats: Wielder of the Elements
It is important to remember that we want to maximize Wisdom before we even consider grabbing some feats, but once that stat boosting is out of the way, the Nature Clerics should consider these extremely useful options:
Elemental Adept: Power-up those Divine Strikes! As a DM, I believe the elemental damage of Divine Strikes falls under this feat, which will allow the Nature Cleric to ignore resistances to the chosen damage type and boost potential damage. What's more is this feat can be taken several times, once for each of the three elemental types at the
Nature Cleric's disposal (fire, cold, lightning), though I personally
suggest starting with fire as few things resist it and many are weak to it.
Sentinel: as a melee build, and tank, this is the Nature Cleric's go-to feat. This makes those Shillelagh strikes stop enemies in their tracks and keeps them within striking range for the future as well as away from allies.
Other feats that are not as excellent but still useful include War Caster (while this doesn't pair 100% with Sentinel, it is excellent for ensuring that buffs and debuffs stay up, though the Nature Cleric's high AC can usually prevent having to make a concentration check in the first place), Great Weapon Master (if the Nature Cleric is forgoing the shield, this will help maximize damage for those two-handed dwarven warhammer, Shillelagh-using, elemental Divine Strikes) and Resilient (the Constitution variant for concentration checks, which is great for a Wisdom prioritized build such as this).
Play Style: Battlefield Control & Melee Attacks
Pre-Battle: the Nature Cleric will want to preemptively cast Shillelagh on their primary weapon (in this case the warhammer the hill dwarf grants proficiency in) when battles are anticipated. If this cannot be accomplished, no need to fret, as Shillelagh is only a bonus action to cast, though that prevents getting up a useful Spiritual Weapons during the first round of battle.
Early Battle: The Nature Cleric as a caster tank should begin the fight by prioritizing battlefield control. Should a group of enemies be charging at the party, a well timed Spike Growth or Plant Growth spell can allow the players extra time to prepare before the enemies arrive or allow ranged damage dealers to pick off foes from a distance. Alternatively, if the party is surrounded, a preemptive Tree Stride spell allows for the Nature Cleric to be anywhere they are immediately needed so long as a tree is nearby. This is of course highly dependent on terrain, though. Stronger foes should be locked behind a Wind Wall to be dealt with at a later time, or if the Cleric is feeling confident, they can lock themselves in with the foe and 1v1 them. Their High AC and healing capability, as well as their free Divine Strike every round, allow for some nasty damage output while receiving little punishment in return. This is also a good time to get off buffs, debuffs and damage assistants: things like Bless, Spiritual Weapon, etc.
Mid-Late Battle: Once the battlefield is under the Nature Cleric's control, they can focus on either healing or damage output depending on what's needed. It's my general rule of thumb that the healer should keep party members at around 1/2 HP at all times during a fight. If they're not at 1/2 HP, don't bother healing them, and if they're below it, heal them up to it, but not above it. This allows for the healer, during the first half of the fight, to focus on damage output, and helps to manage spell use. With a free Divine Strike every round, the Nature Cleric should be taking advantage of this as often as possible, and it is for that reason that they will want to be front-and-center. Managing healing and damage output should take up the rest of the fight, and if the Nature Cleric's spells and attacks were used effectively, they were more than likely a huge help.
As a follower of the Watcher-Over-Wanderers, a god said to approach life with a gnome-like demeanor, curious to see what lies beyond the horizon and always willing to trade stories of travels, Dobâk Longwalker is a creature of wanderlust, though that dwarvish blood holds it tight to a purpose. He's a pathfinder. Whereas most of his kinsman seek to keep their feet planted firmly on the stone, Dobâk seeks to march across it and discover new cliffs, buttes and crags for his people to call home, the perfect excuse to leave on an adventure.
It is said that Marthammor Duin is the rare spirit of dwarven exploration, and his followers associated his spark of curiosity with bursts of lightning. It is for this reason that Dobâk might favor lightning-based attacks, spells and flavor. For example, if an enemy has no apparent weaknesses, he may favor lightning damage for his Divine Strikes. Should he cast Guiding Bolt, perhaps its a heavenly bolt of lightning, as opposed to a ray of radiant light. When he casts Raise Dead to return a party member to life, maybe he calls down a storm to reanimate them Frankenstein-style. His Wind Wall spell could be more akin to a stormwall, dark like stormclouds echoing with the occasional crackle of thunder. Should he pray to his god for guidance with a Find the Path spell, perhaps a lightning strike illuminates the way. There are endless possibilities for flavor with this theme.
Early Battle: The Nature Cleric as a caster tank should begin the fight by prioritizing battlefield control. Should a group of enemies be charging at the party, a well timed Spike Growth or Plant Growth spell can allow the players extra time to prepare before the enemies arrive or allow ranged damage dealers to pick off foes from a distance. Alternatively, if the party is surrounded, a preemptive Tree Stride spell allows for the Nature Cleric to be anywhere they are immediately needed so long as a tree is nearby. This is of course highly dependent on terrain, though. Stronger foes should be locked behind a Wind Wall to be dealt with at a later time, or if the Cleric is feeling confident, they can lock themselves in with the foe and 1v1 them. Their High AC and healing capability, as well as their free Divine Strike every round, allow for some nasty damage output while receiving little punishment in return. This is also a good time to get off buffs, debuffs and damage assistants: things like Bless, Spiritual Weapon, etc.
Mid-Late Battle: Once the battlefield is under the Nature Cleric's control, they can focus on either healing or damage output depending on what's needed. It's my general rule of thumb that the healer should keep party members at around 1/2 HP at all times during a fight. If they're not at 1/2 HP, don't bother healing them, and if they're below it, heal them up to it, but not above it. This allows for the healer, during the first half of the fight, to focus on damage output, and helps to manage spell use. With a free Divine Strike every round, the Nature Cleric should be taking advantage of this as often as possible, and it is for that reason that they will want to be front-and-center. Managing healing and damage output should take up the rest of the fight, and if the Nature Cleric's spells and attacks were used effectively, they were more than likely a huge help.
Roleplay: Spark of Curiosity
 |
| Holy symbol of Marthammor Duin |
It is said that Marthammor Duin is the rare spirit of dwarven exploration, and his followers associated his spark of curiosity with bursts of lightning. It is for this reason that Dobâk might favor lightning-based attacks, spells and flavor. For example, if an enemy has no apparent weaknesses, he may favor lightning damage for his Divine Strikes. Should he cast Guiding Bolt, perhaps its a heavenly bolt of lightning, as opposed to a ray of radiant light. When he casts Raise Dead to return a party member to life, maybe he calls down a storm to reanimate them Frankenstein-style. His Wind Wall spell could be more akin to a stormwall, dark like stormclouds echoing with the occasional crackle of thunder. Should he pray to his god for guidance with a Find the Path spell, perhaps a lightning strike illuminates the way. There are endless possibilities for flavor with this theme.
Conclusion:
Nature Clerics are criminally underused, and I hope this guide has demonstrated an effective strategy that not only makes them fun to play mechanically, but fun to roleplay as well! I wish those future Nature Clerics much luck in their adventuring that they have as much fun playing Dobâk as I had making him, or whatever character they choose to make with the race, stats and abilities of the build!
No comments:
Post a Comment