So I have a question for those who have played it:
I'm not asking "what class is best" or "what build is strongest", what I want to know is, what role in the party should I pick? Because I'm going to have to sideline the companions who would fill that role. I've made a few characters and played through the intro and some of the crash site/beach area, and I can't decide. I'm kinda leaning towards Cleric, because something about Shadowheart bugs the piss out of me.
My first playthrough was a War Domain Cleric. Stats were the following:
Strength - 16
Dexterity - 10
Constitution - 14
Intelligence - 8
Wisdom - 16
Charisma - 10
This is essentially a Wisdom-based Paladin without smites or a fighting style but loaded with Cleric spells and cantrips.
War Priest nets you a few extra attacks per long rest, albeit they
must follow your initial attack roll since they count as bonus actions.
The build really starts showing its power potential around levels 5-6. At that point, most of what you're going to be doing is channeling Spirit Guardians and getting up in everyone's faces. This is extremely powerful in Act II because most of the enemies you fight are vulnerable to Divine magic.
War Domain has Guided Strike which, more or less, turns any miss into and automatic hit. This only affects your character at level 2, but at level 6 it affects all party members.
Feats were fairly straightforward. At level 4, I took Alert since my Cleric's Initiative is low at only 10 Dex. At levels 8 and 12 I took the API feat two times, bringing my Wisdom score to 20.
A lot of build guides recommend at least 2 Fighter levels so you can pick up a Fighting Style and Action Surge, but I went pure Cleric just because I didn't want to pass up on any Level 6 spells.
Above all, remember that despite being more combat-savvy than other Cleric subclasses, your character's primary role is still a support unit. Guide strikes, heal peeps, and buff where appropriate.
