D&D 5E Help picking Cleric domain: war vs life

[nescopek]

I'm going to be playing a Cleric and I'm torn between the Life and War domains. My central criteria is which will be the most fun, I don't care about min/maxing my domain. I really like the idea of the spells the War domain opens up access to and I like the theme and was convinced I'd pick that at first. Now I'm having second thoughts the the boost to healing the Life domain grants along with the Channel Divinity effect might mean I spend less of my spell slots on healing spells leaving them free to use on more combat oriented spells. I'm going to be a dwarf either way which means I have access to the most iconically dwarven weapons either way. I don't have any actually play experience, with this edition, yet, so I' can't tell which will be more fun.Suggestions? Anyone played one or both of these domains and have feedback?PS Everyone else is using the pre-made characters for the starter set adventure so I will be the only character with heals.

 

[Mistwell]

They're both fun. I think you have the advantages down pretty well. Life: Yes, you will get healing form your channel divinity (but only when things look grim - as it only can heal up to half hit points), unless you need it to turn undead, which leaves a spell open for non-healing. Your healing spells also heal more, which may mean you need to cast them less. War: Probably three extra attacks (bonus actions) each day, plus an auto-hit for an attack.

Keep in mind Bless is often your best spell, for what that is worth.

 

[Tormyr]

Clerics can do some sweet damage no matter what. We had a war cleric before the player moved. He would double attack with divine guidance and War Priest. He took out a Medium water elemental in 1 turn single-handedly. Another player played a life Cleric in our previous adventure in the Mines of Madness. He could deal insane amounts of healing and was still good in a fight. You will have fun either way and be a valued part of the party.

 

[Zardnaar]

I have seen both used. They are both good in different ways. A few things.

1. Bless (+warcaster) is a clerics MVP.
2. Cleric damage sucks outside spike damage with spells (guiding bolt, spiritual guardians, domain spells etc). The exception to this is the war cleric.
3. Healing in combat is generally a waste of time. The exception to this is the life cleric.

The life cleric seems to burn through spells a bit faster than the other clerics I have seen (war, tempest, light). THats because they actually heal people + try and cast bless and the odd battle spell from what I have seen.

 

[jamesmanhattan]

Everyone always forgets about Hit Dice. Let your party spend Hit Dice. Don't waste your spells on healing them!

I had tons of fun with War domain cleric. Mostly the only healing spell I used was Healing Word. And only to get people up who were unconscious. Don't play the healing just-in-case game, it's not worth it. They will be just fine standing around at 2 hit points. Since hits are so strong anyway, the amount of healing it takes to get someone in the safe zone is much higher than you can even accomplish with 1 spell.

 

[Boarstorm]

Everyone always forgets about Hit Dice. Let your party spend Hit Dice. Don't waste your spells on healing them!

Assuming short rests are an option.

In the middle of a tense situation where bedding down for an hour is not an option, the Life Domain cleric's healing can be a godsend (yay, puns!).

 

[Runny]

My dad had a neat char... He played a life cleric with one level of fighter. This gave him the protection fighting style, which he LOVED using in fights. His focus was on protection and healing and it was a very fun, functional character. I say was because he is now playing a warlock after reading the PHB and falling in love with the Great Old One pact.

 

[Lerysh]

I have seen both used. They are both good in different ways. A few things.

1. Bless (+warcaster) is a clerics MVP.
2. Cleric damage sucks outside spike damage with spells (guiding bolt, spiritual guardians, domain spells etc). The exception to this is the war cleric.
3. Healing in combat is generally a waste of time. The exception to this is the life cleric.

The life cleric seems to burn through spells a bit faster than the other clerics I have seen (war, tempest, light). THats because they actually heal people + try and cast bless and the odd battle spell from what I have seen.

Point 3 is totally not true. Healing Word is a bonus action. If said bonus action gives a downed character a regular turn on his turn it is absolutely worth your (almost no) time to use. Even if you give up an attack to use it.

 

[Runny]

I agree with earlier posts that healing is usually more efficient when used to bring unconscious PCs back up rather than trying to prevent them from going unconscious in the first place.

 

[Zardnaar]

Point 3 is totally not true. Healing Word is a bonus action. If said bonus action gives a downed character a regular turn on his turn it is absolutely worth your (almost no) time to use. Even if you give up an attack to use it.

Healing word is inefficient though even as a life cleric. Using prayer of healing, various short rest abilities and the life clerics domain power to heal are better options. Mass healing word is also decent as a life cleric, weak for everyone else.