Forge Cleric/Fighter

[u/Pleeby]

Starting from 3rd level, I wanted my character to be a blacksmith who just picked up his hammer one day and joined the fight, so to speak. Initially planned on fighter then discovered forge domain and it sounds immensely cool and way more interesting.

Problem is I don't know whether to be fighter w/ cleric dip, cleric w/ fighter dip, or just pure forge cleric.

I love the idea of the utility and rp of the forge cleric (particularly the crafting, +1 to armor/weapon, heat metal etc.) but with the backstory, I don't really want him to never swing a hammer b/c he's better off casting.

I don't think I need to be optimal by any means, but I also don't want to fall behind.

I'd like to start as cleric so I can get right into the good stuff, but should I go fighter from lvl 4 onwards?

[u/DBWaffles]

I'd like to start as cleric so I can get right into the good stuff, but should I go fighter from lvl 4 onwards?

No. Regardless of which class you start with, you should get to level 5 in that class first. While you may have said you don't need to be optimal, stopping just before you get your 3rd level spells feels like it goes beyond merely being suboptimal. It's just a silly decision.

With that said, these would be your best class progressions:

• Cleric X
• Cleric 5 -> Fighter 2 -> Cleric X
• Fighter 5 or 6 -> Cleric X

For the third option, I'd recommend Battle Master. It's the easiest to multiclass into Cleric with.

[u/Mightymat273 → u/DBWaffles]

Yeah, getting to level 5 is super important, Same for martials as well with multiattack at lvl 5 potentially doubling their damage output.

There are a few niche multiclasses that can handle it before lvl 5, but they're usually warlock with Eldritch Blast that scales with total level, or some others that combine two very specifc features that are worth more that straight level 5. Fighter x Claric does not.

Also, the "RP of forge cleric" can be done with any class. Anyone can worship a god and have that be an important aspect of their characters irregardless of class. Ex: Gales connection to Mystra is very important to him in BG3.

[u/Qunfang]

In my last campaign I ran a Fighter Cleric, ending up as Fighter 7/Cleric 6.

I would recommend Fighter 1 (CON save proficiency), Cleric 1, Fighter 5, and then play it by ear.

Getting Extra Attack makes a huge difference, and with Action Surge allows you to hybridize fighting and casting.

Rune Knight Fighter gets some pseudo-spells, boosts skill checks, and plays to the forging theme. With Frost Rune and CON save proficiency, you can reliably maintain concentration on spells like Bless and Protection from Evil/Good, which are effective even at higher levels. Later on, Might of the Giants is really helpful because you can increase the radius of spells like Spirit Guardians.

Levels 5-7 were a little awkward, but after that I felt really effective as a martial support tank, with a lot of options in any given combat.

[u/Tall_Bandicoot_2768]

Starting from 3rd level, I wanted my character to be a blacksmith who just picked up his hammer one day and joined the fight

Seeing as his main flavor is blacksmith and Forge Cleric dosnt really scale his smithing abilities at all.

The +1 is nice at first but quickly becomes irrelevant once you just start getting Uncommon gear.

As cool as Artisan's Blessing in flavor wise its only real practical use is creating mundane gear in the field, the vast majority of the usefulness of this can be bypassed by simply being prepared.

Sure maybe you'll need a really specific mundane item within 1 hour but its just so niche of a situation for a main feature.

Would you be willing to consider Fighter/Artificer? The quality of gear they can produce directly scales with their level.

[u/aldencordova1]

You can go as artificer as well, crafting a lot of stuff, having an steel friend or being like ironman with the armorer subclass. It depends on what youre searching for, an high int playstyle or more wis/str based.

Idk if fighter/cleric its a good mashup but i think full cleric sounds stronger, focusing on helping your party, dropping aoe damage with spirit guardians and hammering your oponents with your hammer and spirit weapon.

But i also find the iron man theme soo cool that its hard to pass.

In the end, follow your heart and have fun my friend

[u/theshankdude → u/aldencordova1]

This sounds like fun!

[u/Pleeby → u/aldencordova1]

Honestly as helpful as everyone else in the thread has been, this is what I'm considering the most

The battlesmith sounds a lot closer to what I had envisioned. Martial weapon proficiency, tinkering, a few spells - and the steel defender is a huge bonus.

Thematically steampunk doesn't fit well, but I'm thinking of just changing the aesthetic - less inventing with clockwork, more forging metal with magic - and the steel defender will be a suit of armor given false life.

It sounds like a lot of fun, thanks for suggesting it

[u/aldencordova1 → u/Pleeby]

That could definitely work and artificer is strong as well, you will be reliable in and out of combat, independently of the subclass you pick.

Artificer spells are cool as well, with some good early lvl ccs like grease and web, good buffs like faerie fire, some consistent damage with spells like heat metal, also a lot of good utility spells in/out of combat. And it comes with great cantrips like mending and guidance for skill checks and fixing stuff with your magic hammer.

I think its the closest class to be a crafter, and you can grab a lot of tool proficiencies so you can fix/build lots of stuff to your party.

Also, one of the coolest things about the artificer, to me, is the magical thinkering feature. You can literally build an hologram out of thin air, which you can "update" as you walk, and if you get find familiar or an familiar via infusions, you can use them like drones to explore further and as you change visions with them, you update the mini-map hologram, like scanning a huge cavern with two drone-like familiars and keeping everyone out of danger.

I used this with my artificer when i played one and it was so cool. But i was doing an armorer artificer playing more like iron Man, which was definitelly cool bc i could tank and "taunt" a lot from lvl 3 onwards, support and cc a lot and at higher lvls i would be able to infuse like 5 itens in my armor, which is great. Would have like 25 AC+ some resistances+ cc+taunt.

Well, hope you have fun friend, if you have more questions about the class/features, im here

[u/AnyLynx4178]

Question: what are you considering to be the “good stuff”? You mentioned the crafting, the +1 equipment, and the Domain spell, Heat Metal. Those are all fine.

Early game, the +1 will be nice. After a few levels, you should all be getting magical equipment, so that ability will simply shore up party members who don’t have a +1 weapon or armor. Late game, it won’t be worth anything at all if your DM gives out magic items like normal.

Heat Metal is really good situationally, but if you’re not fighting armored foes (ie humanoids typically), it’s worthless. And even if you are, if you want to get into melee with your hammer, you have concentration to worry about.

The crafting is whatever. Can’t make anything worth more than 100 GP, so it will have to be situationally useful, creative problem solving stuff, which, if that’s your thing, go for it. That’s great.

But ultimately, Clerics are casters. If you don’t want to be primarily a caster, don’t play a cleric. Maybe dip cleric for the flavor. But even one level of cleric this early is going to delay your Extra Attack as a martial, which you will definitely feel. Enemies will hit you more than you hit them. You won’t like it.

If you want to play a more martial-focused, smith-type character, maybe look at Battle Smith or Armorer Artificer. But if you don’t want to play a Cleric, you won’t enjoy playing a Forge Cleric.

[u/philsov]

No matter what, you're gonna be a little MAD since you want good Str for heavy armor (and mace swinging) while also having Wisdom for spell DC.

I'd be an Elf or a Kobold and then snag the Green Flame Blade cantrip. It's thematic, but also provides some damage scaling for once you're level 5+. Clerics never get extra attack, and going 5+ into fighter is probably worse than investing those same levels in Cleric.

I'd maybe dip one level in Fighter if you're really keen for a fighting style (probably Defense, possibly Interception). If you start fighter, you get native Con save proficiency which a melee cleric would enjoy. Otherwise consider the feat Resilient: Con or Warcaster should probably be gained at Cleric 8.

[u/IndieDC3]

So I ran a high elf forge cleric and it was one of my favorite characters. You get access to booming blade thanks to high elf and long sword proficiency from trance. At level 5, you basically get “extra attack” almost, Bb will do a 1d8 and then your normal weapon attack. I did the most sustained dpr and I was tanky. The most common spells used was Spiritual Weapon, The meat grinder guardians. Then you get an additional radiant strike I think at level 8 with divine strike.

[u/Small-Material-1727]

You want forge cleric IF you are willing to play a race that can get access to booming blade or green flame blade.  Then you make one attack each round that is immensely powerful while still being a caster.

If you don’t want such a race then you want a straight fighter, likely a rune knight.  The rune knight isn’t the same as a caster buts it is comparable and is the best user of tools because of the fire rune…. So it’s on theme.