It’s that time again! Yes! Time to dig back into that big box of 5e Dungeons and Dragons nuts and bolts to construct another sweet build for you to enjoy. For our first three gish builds we stuck mostly to tradition. Our stab and smite dexadin is a 5e classic, the Hexblade-Fighter is a well-known build (though I think we provided a few unique tweaks), and our rebuild of the traditional Fighter-Mage hails all the way back from D&D’s roots in the 1970s.
Merrin Valkire
Now we’re shifting gears, switching batteries, and cruising on into something truly new and electric. Welcome to the electric avenue of gish. Literally. Because we’re going to build ourselves an angelic warrior capable of wielding sword, commanding powerful healing magic, and laying down devastating destructive blasts of light and storm. She’ll do it all with equal ease — without taking a single level in a traditional fighting class. Her novas will be achieved by combining basic swordplay and magics of multiple types — with surprising effect.
Narratively, our badass gal will tap into some alternative mojo. We’ll be looking to the story of Luthiel’s Song — specifically to Luthiel’s mother Merrin who is queen of the Blue Moon — to help us form an entirely new rendering of the Dungeons and Dragons gish. Merrin is graceful, gracious, wise. She is also a powerful warrior who married the only male Valkyrie ever to exist — Vlad Valkire. Her bond with the seas of her ocean realm grant her a deep and unique compassion. This is realized in her angelic aspect and her many and varied powers. She provides a huge range of story potential, party support, offense, and melee capability. I’ve played Merrin in multiple versions. However, this Merrin is a master class refinement on her early essays.
It’s also worth noting that our Merrin is a surprisingly fast versatility build that really starts to gain some powerful focused options in the 9-14 level range. Her main strengths are AOE damage, versatility, mobility and consistent high damage all packed into the larger support base that an almost full-classed Cleric provides.
Level 1 — Wisdom, Dexterity, Protector Aasimar, Prismari, Sorcerer
Starting off at first level we need to take a broad view toward stats, spells, and abilities. We’re multiclassing, we’re going for some melee combat, we want to be capable of casting spells at close range to our foes, and we want our spells to be powerful. For our first stat, we focus on Wisdom, putting seven points into this key ability. Landing us at a 14 pre-race bonuses. This will be our core spellcasting stat. It’ll also help us with key skills like Perception and Insight.
For our second ability, we want a high Dexterity. Though Wisdom powers our spells, Dexterity powers our melee attacks, initiative and armor class. We are fast, graceful, even artistic. Starting out, we dump seven more points into Dex for another 14.
Constitution is our third most important stat. We really want to be able to hold onto some amazing concentration spells. So we won’t be neglecting the toughness stat. We drop 5 points into Con and start with a 13.
Our Merrin build is, indeed probably the most versatile so far and we’re spreading ourselves a bit wide. But that’s for a number of reasons that’ll come clear really soon. We want a high Charisma to get us access to a key multiclass — so we drop 5 points into Charisma for another 13.
Merrin only has two stats left. I think of her as more Intelligent than strong. So I’m putting all 3 remaining points into Intelligence for an 11. Then I’m dumping Strength to 8.
For race, our Merrin is an angelic being who hails from an ocean moon of the celestial sphere. Protector Aasimar fits this theme perfectly. Aasimar grants Merrin resistance to Necrotic and Radiant damage, the Light spell as a cantrip, Darkvision, Healing Hands, and, later Radiant Soul, which grants her flight and bonus radiant damage. She uses her ability bonuses to boost her Constitution to 14 (+1 from Aasimar) and her Wisdom to 16 (+2 from Aasimar). This gives her a Str 8, Con 14, Dex 14, Wis 16, Int 11, and Cha 13 starting ability array after race bonuses. Our angel of the Blue Moon that bears her name is extraordinarily well rounded with only strength as a dump stat.
Last of all we come to class. And here we really get to make a key choice for level 1. You’ve probably already guessed from my talk about healing that Merrin is going to mainly focus on Cleric. But we’re holding that off for some set ups we’ll be giving ourselves at level 1. So we go ahead and pick Sorcerer for our first level class. Sorcerer gives us quite a lot of gish support right out of the box. First off, we gain proficiency in Constitution saves. This really helps us hold on to those concentration spells. Next, we gain access to melee cantrips. And we jump all over Booming Blade. At this point, we’ve already gained features that would’ve taken two feats to access. But we get even more. As a cleric, one thing we tend to lack is mobility. But since we’re taking Storm Sorcerer, we now have the ability to spend a bonus action after we cast a spell of first level or higher with the Thunder or Lightning keyword to fly 10 feet as gusts of wind bear us aloft without provoking attacks of opportunity. We’ll have lots of uses for our bonus action. But this can get us into or out of a sticky situation when we need to. Storm Sorcerer also allows us to speak Primordial which is a nice little rider.
For our other cantrips, we pick Mage Hand, Shape Water, and Frostbite. We also have Light from Aasimar. Already this gives us a lot of utility and versatility combined. Our ranged option is less effective given the lower save. However, at first level it shouldn’t matter too much. Our leveled spells are Shield and Thunderwave.
Now we are also going to feature the Strixhaven Background — Prismari Student — for Merrin at level 1. If it’s available in your game, it’ll give her another major boost to her powers and mojo. I’ve always thought of Merrin as a bit of an artist. And being able to artistically shape elements, with a heavy lean toward storm, water, and wind, really makes sense for me here. For this level, we add Thunderwave and Chromatic Orb to our spells lists. We already started on the AOE path pretty quick with our choice of Thunderwave earlier. So the extra options we get here don’t pay off until level 4 for us. But man do they pay. We also add Acrobatics and Performance to our chosen skills.
For equipment, we start out with a dagger, a wand and some other basics. Our AC without Shield is 12. Our starting HP is a relatively squishy 8. We’re soft. But we have a huge variety of spell options to choose from. Everything gets better from here.
Level 2 — Tempest Cleric 1 and oh boy the versatility…
If level 1 looked amazingly versatile if a bit dangerous for us, level 2 gives us even more versatility and shores up our survivability as we take our first jaunt into Tempest Cleric. We bump to 15 HP — which is getting better. Though we might still be short on cash for our equipment, when we have the opportunity we pick up Scale Mail, a Shield, a Rapier (we gain access to martial weapons with the Tempest Domain) and a Holy Symbol. Now our base AC is 16, 18 with the physical shield or 21-23 with the Shield spell. We have the option to wield our rapier to go hands free and use the Shield spell for our main defense. However, we still only have 3 first level spell slots. With seven good options for those slots, we’ll often find ourselves tapped out. So the backup physical shield will help us out a lot. It’s also worth noting that we have a minor non-spell healing source in the form of Healing Hands from Aasimar to bring a buddy back from zero. This can be a clutch move in combat — particularly at low levels — while also saving some of our spell slots for other uses.
Looking closer at spells, we gain two more cantrips for a total of 7. We pick the all-important Guidance and Sacred Flame. Now our consistent ranged option is looking quite a bit better. Plus we’re not shy about using Booming Blade in melee with our rapier. With our Tempest Domain, we also gain Fog Cloud which provides some situational but effective control magic. Thunderwave from Tempest means we don’t need to use one of our sorcerer choices. For our regular known Cleric spells, we pick up Healing Word, Cure Wounds, Guiding Bolt, and Inflict Wounds. As we noted above, we now have seven choices for our first level spells ranging from defense, healing, melee offense, ranged focus fire and AOE. We’re lacking somewhat in utility options for our leveled spell load out. However, given the cleric’s versatility, we can trade out some utility options for Guiding Bolt and Inflict Wounds when we need to. This extraordinary range of spell options is probably wider than almost any other class, subclass and background combination at this level.
Last of all we gain the wonderful Wrath of the Storm feature from Tempest Cleric. In a mini NOVA round we do 3d10 damage with Inflict Wounds (17.5) and 2d8 damage with Wrath (9) or a total of 26.5. If we crit with Inflict Wounds, we do 44 total damage to a single target in one round at level 2. We could already do this with a Cleric. But we wanted other things from Sorcerer like Booming Blade, the Shield spell, extra mobility and a Constitution Save proficiency.
Level 3 Protector Aasimar and Channel Divinity
At level 3 our wonderful AOEs really start to come on line with Destructive Wrath. Now we can pump up Thunderwave to do 24 damage in a 3×3 cube (half on a save). With four first level slots and two second level slots, we’re not shy about upcasting Thunderwave. Recharging Destructive Wrath on a short rest lets us lay down this powerful if somewhat small and close range AOE twice. When we lay down the Wrath, we can then fly away from danger without provoking opportunity attacks. To be able to hit hard and flit away like this is a tactically clutch move.
We should not neglect to mention the amazing feature that is Turn Undead as an option for our Channel Divinity. This clutch ability provides us with even more versatility as another non-spell option. We’re trading some massive control for relatively focused AOE damage from Destructive Wrath, though. But Turn Undead provides us with yet another tool in our very large kit of options.
At level 3 we also add flight and a damage buff to our capabilities with the Aasimar racial ability — Radiant Soul. Activating this power as an action grants +3 to one of our damage rolls once on each of our turns. This can bump Thunderwave up to 27 damage to a single target — providing even better focus fire and AOE in a clutch situation. Flight adds to our Tempestuous magic mobility as well. We can stay in the air after we flit away with Radiant Soul active.
Last of all for our level 3 spell load we gain one more choice. With it, we pick up the amazing party buff that is Bless. Now we have a concentration buff that we can throw down when we need some extra heat for our attack rolls and saving throws.
Level 4 Shatter, Spiritual Weapon, and Kinetic Jaunt
As we broach level 4, level 3 for cleric, we gain access to second level spells. Our Tempest Domain immediately gives us access to Shatter — a ranged AOE that increases our blasts to a 10 foot radius. We’re now a powerful blaster. Perhaps one of the most powerful at this level. Gust of Wind provides us with another situational control option. However, for concentration, we’re probably using Kinetic Jaunt from Prismari which adds 10 to our movement speed, prevents opportunity attacks, and lets us move through another creature’s space. This amazing mobility really enables our Booming Blade cantrip. If we’re smart, we can now often apply its rider. Last of all, we pick up Spiritual Weapon.
With Kinetic Jaunt active we can now reliably apply four sources of damage for a number of rounds in the form of melee attacks with Booming Blade (1d8+2), Spiritual Weapon (1d8+3), Wrath of the Storm (2d8), and the Booming Blade rider (1d8). With Radiant Soul active from Aasimar, this consistent damage is 5d8+9 or 31.5 if all our attacks land, enemy saves fail, an enemy hits us, and spell riders proc. This is very high consistent damage for level 4. Some of the effects are situational, however. Nonetheless, we are an artistic blur of motion in a mouth of thunder with a deep well of potentially shocking damage effects to draw from. When we choose to, we drop a Shatter for 28 damage to a single target and 24 damage to multiple targets using Radiant Soul and Destructive Wrath. Our Spiritual Weapon flies in to do another 7.5 damage. And our Wrath of the Storm reacts for 9 more for 44.5 to a single target and 24 to multiple targets. Brutal!
Level 5 — 16 Dexterity, Booming Blade Bumps Up
Level 5 is a key level for most characters. For us, we don’t get quite so many goodies. However, we’re not complaining because level 4 was amazing and now we get to be even more badass as Booming Blade generates direct thunder damage. Using our ASI to increase Dexterity to 16, and gaining the benefits of level 5 for Booming Blade, this weapon attack now deals 2d8+3 damage on a turn when we attack and possibly another 2d8 on an off turn when the enemy moves. Our Kinetic Jaunt gestalt of motion and damage options now does 7d8+11 if all effects go off for 42.5 against a single target. A consistent effect that we can sustain for three rounds. In addition, our Shatter NOVA now has increased to 32 damage for multiple targets and 37 damage for a single target as we use a level 3 slot to cast that spell. If we hit the single target with Spiritual Weapon, damage goes up to 42 then jumps to 51 when the bad hits us back and we proc Wrath of the Storm. Our focus fire NOVAs aren’t in line with those of the Dexadin or Chex-Fighter. But we are still solid. Our mobility and AOE at this level are pretty amazing. We lack the big blasts that wizards can throw down with Fireball, however. For support we add Lesser Restoration to our regular spell load. And, yeah, with that mention we remind ourselves that we can achieve all this badassery while also healing and removing status effects on our buds.
Level 6 — Spirit Guardians, Call Lightning, Sleet Storm, Destroy Undead
At level 6 we are a level 5 Cleric and we gain access to some amazing spell options. First off, for our Tempest Domain, we gain Call Lightning and Sleet Storm. Call Lightning is a powerful, long-lasting spell that lets us consistently rain destruction on our foes in the form of small blast lighting bolts. This spell lets us conserve our resources while doing consistent damage over a large battlefield. It’s not as punchy as the wizard’s Fireball. But it does give us a nice option to use over a long-term combat. Sleet Storm is an amazing control spell that we can use to screen our allies from trouble — forcing foes to come closer to do us harm in most cases while hampering their movement. For our main spell choice, however, we are picking up Spirit Guardians. This amazing, long lasting concentration spell really increases the total effect of the damage we are able to deliver — doing 3d8 radiant damage whenever enemies start their turn within 15 feet of us. It also reduces the speed of enemies by half in the zone — potentially setting up some wicked lock down situations for team monster.
Now our main line consistent damage option includes Booming Blade (2d8+3), Spiritual Weapon (1d8+3), Spirit Guardians (3d8), and Wrath of the Storm (2d8). With Radiant Soul active, we are now doing 8d8+12 damage to a single target (48) and 13.5 damage to multiple targets for consecutive rounds. When Booming Blade procs (admittedly less frequently as we sacrifice some mobility for Spirit Guardians) the single target damage jumps to 57. On a crit, it’s 66. If we up-cast Shatter and use Destructive Wrath, the AOE damage jumps to 32+13.5 for 45.5 for multiple targets and 60.5 for a single target when Radiant Soul and Wrath of the Storm activate. This is a devastating close-in AOE capability — one made more effective by our ability to fly to reposition ourselves with Radiant Soul and Tempestuous Magic.
Remember Turn Undead? Yep. We can now destroy 1/2 CR Undead or lower when they fail their saves. This means skellies and zombies are in a world of trouble if we run into them at this level.
At this level we probably also have half plate for 19 AC. Our HPs at 43 are decent. Though we are probably buffing those to 48 now with Aid (which we picked up at some point). Two of our friends also benefit from Aid, so even better.
Level 7 — Extra Channel Divinity, Mass Healing Word, Spirit Shroud
By level 7 we now gain two Channel Divinities per short rest. This makes us even more effective as a blaster. With an upcast Shatter, we can now do 40 damage in a ten foot radius. We only have one 4th level slot, though. So we might be more inclined to cast Spirit Guardians using the slot for 4d8 consistent damage every round, saving the Channel Divinity for two 32 damage Shatters in the Guardians zone for a total effect of 50 damage for two rounds. Yikes!
For our spell choices, we switch out one of our lower level known spells for Mass Healing Word, then we use the level gain to access Spirit Shroud. When we cast Spirit Shroud, it buffs any attack we make against a creature within 10 feet — dealing an extra 1d8 radiant, cold or necrotic damage on a hit. It also slows down nearby foes in that radius. Overall, we’re not netting as much damage from this spell as Spirit Guardians. But there are situations when we’ll benefit from the Focus Fire potential provided by Spirit Shroud as we can use it to buff both our melee attack using Booming Blade and our bonus action attack using Spiritual Weapon.
Level 8 — Death Ward, Ice Storm, Control Water
Hitting character level 8 and cleric level 7, we now access 4th level cleric spells. We first pick up Death Ward. Though we might not be casting this spell every adventuring day, it can come in handy real quick during deadly encounters. We’d rather have it than not. Also from Tempest Cleric, we pick up Ice Storm which gives us a larger AOE blast option and Control Water which is great control option in water environments.
Two fourth level slots also allows us to activate Spirit Guardians at level 4, cast Spiritual Weapon at level 4 and go to town. With Booming Blade, we are doing 2d8+3 damage. With Spiritual Weapon, we do 2d8+3. On our off-turn, nearby enemies take 4d8 damage. If Thunderous Wrath triggers, we add another 2d8. If Booming Blade triggers, yet another 2d8. With Radiant Soul active, that’s a consistent damage potential of 12d8+14 or 68 average damage against a single target (whew!). A critical hit brings this up to 77. Meanwhile all nearby foes are taking 18 average from the Spirit Guardians if they fail their save. This a very high consistent single target damage combining strong AOE damage and some zone control.
Level 9-10 — 18 Wisdom, Divine Strike, Destructive Wrath Crits, Fifth Level Slot, Destructive Wave
By level 9 we are a level 8 Cleric and we bump our Wisdom to 18. We gain a fifth level spell slot which allows us to upcast our favorite buff and blast spells to even greater effect.
At this point, it’s worthwhile to take a look at our prepared spell list. For Cantrips, we have Light, Mage Hand, Booming Blade, Frostbite, Shape Water, Guidance, Sacred Flame, Word of Radiance, and Spare the Dying. For Prepared Spells we have Shield, Magic Missile, Healing Word, Cure Wounds, Inflict Wounds, Thunderwave, Fog Cloud, Kinetic Jaunt, Shatter, Spiritual Weapon, Gust of Wind, Lesser Restoration, Call Lightning, Sleet Storm, Spirit Guardians, Spirit Shroud, Mass Healing Word, Haste, Ice Storm, Control Water, Death Ward, and Freedom of Movement. Quite a versatile set of healing, buff, blast, mobility, and control along with some utility options. For heavy blast damage, we can now upcast Shatter to level 5 then use Destructive Wrath to maximize the damage to 48. Although we’re only throwing this heavy damage down in a ten foot radius.
Our melee attacks now also get a boost as we pick up Divine Strike. When we attack with Booming Blade, our damage is increased to 3d8+3. Coupled with 4th level Spiritual Weapon, we’re doing 5d8+7. If we want to focus fire, we can upcast Spirit Shroud to 5th level and do an additional 2d8 radiant damage per strike for a total of 9d8+7 or 47.5. If we activate Radiant Soul, this goes up to 56.5. With Wrath of the Storm, we get to 65.5. Booming Blade can get us to 74.5. If we crit, we now add 22.5 for a total max average potential of 97. At this point, we should note that we can now effectively use Destructive Wrath to maximize our critical hit damage dice that deal thunder damage. This changes 4d8 from 18 average damage into 32 max damage. So applying Destructive Wrath to a crit gives us a maximum one round focus fire damage potential of 111 against a single target. Pretty badass. But it gets better.
By level 10, we gain the amazing blast option that is Destructive Wave. We can now upcast Spirit Guardians to 5 — doing 5d8 damage round after round in a 15 foot radius. For big blast rounds, Destructive Wave gives us 5d6 radiant and 5d6 thunder damage in a 30 foot radius in addition to knocking targets who fail the save prone. If we use Destructive Wrath to maximize the Thunder damage, we do 46.5 from Destructive Wave and 22.5 from Spirit Guardians for a total of 69 average against multiple targets. That doesn’t include the focus fire options we can add to a single target in the form of Spiritual Weapon upcast to level 4 (2d8+4), Radiant Soul +10, and Thunderous Wrath (2d8) for a total of 101 on a single target. Insect Plague also provides excellent ranged control and area denial. Although we are more optimized for fighting with Spirit Guardians or Spirit Shroud active.
Level 11-13 Divine Intervention, Heal, 18 Dexterity
Broaching Level 11, we gain Divine Intervention. Though unlikely to occur and subjective to the Game Master’s whim, this powerful ability can alter the face of your campaign in some situations. Our Booming Blade also increases in potency. So we are now doing 4d8+3 damage with our rapier strikes. When we cast Spirit Shroud at level 5 we do 6d8+3. When we crit, have Radiant Soul active, and use Destructive Wrath, we do 6d8+62 or 99 damage on a single hit. Adding in Spiritual Weapon at Level 6 and Thunderous Wrath, our total NOVA round damage to a single target is 134.5 (148 if Booming Blade’s rider triggers). Solid. At this point, we’re in danger of forgetting that we’re a cleric.
At Level 12, we get our first 6th level spell. We pick Heal. Now we remember… Rolling right into Level 13, we bump our Dexterity to 18. Checking in, it’s worth noting that our HP is now 92 — pretty mid-range. We’re not a glass cannon. Our AC is relatively high, particularly when we cast Shield. By now, we’re also upcasting Aid to at least level 3 to bump our HP to 102. For spells, we’ve also picked up Cone of Cold from the Prismari list. It’s a huge AOE. Though not Thunder, it’s a great weapon to add to our already potent arsenal of blast magic.
Level 14 – 17 Regeneration, Divine Strike 2, Sunburst, 20 Wisdom
At level 14 we’re 13 in Cleric and we pick up Regeneration to help us add a bit more resiliency. By level 15, we roll up to another 1d8 thunder damage from Divine Strike. So we now do 5d8+4 damage with our Rapier. If we upcast Spirit Shroud to level 7, we do 8d8+4. With Radiant Soul, that increases to 8d8+19. On a critical hit with Destructive Wrath activated, that’s 6d8+83 or 110 in a single hit. Add in Spiritual Weapon at 6 and Thunderous Wrath that’s 8d8+4 or 40 average for a total of 150 (163.5 if Booming Blade triggers) damage during a NOVA round. We can also have Spirit Guardians active and upcast to level 7 for a terribly punishing 7d8 AOE damage instead.
Hitting level 16 we roll up to 8th level spells and immediately pick Sunburst. By level 17 we get another ASI and increase our Wisdom to 20. Meanwhile, Booming Blade just got more potent so our melee attacks with the Rapier now do 6d8+4 damage.
Level 18-20 Stormborn, Mass Heal, Channel Divinity x3, 20 Dexterity
When our lady of storm reaches level 18 she gains the ability to fly while outdoors and not underground. We simply walk and the winds of our world bear us aloft. By level 18, we also have 9th level spells. We go ahead and pick up Mass Heal. At level 19, we gain another Channel Divinity for a total of three per short or long rest. Now we can throw down our potent blasts or critical hits even more often. And finally hitting level 20, we use our final ASI to increase Dexterity all the way to 20.
The Thunderous Blows, Devastating AOEs, and Powerful Heals of the Blue Moon’s Queen
Our lady of oceans and storms has now reached her full potential. She possesses a broad spectrum of magics ranging from deadly strikes, to devastating blasts, to extraordinary, revitalizing healing. She’s also one of the best consistent damage dealers over a long combat we’ve constructed thus far.
At this point, we should revisit our powerful local destructive potential. If we go all-in for focus fire, we now cast Spirit Shroud at level 9 for +4d8 radiant damage to our attacks. We also activate Radiant Soul. This means our rapier strikes now do 10d8+25 damage. We also cast Spiritual Weapon at level 8 for 8d8+5 damage. The average damage from these two strikes is 111 HP if both land. Very solid average damage. If Thunderous Wrath activates, it bumps to 120. This increases to 138 if Booming Blade activates. If we roll a critical hit with the rapier, the total damage is 10d8+105 or 150 average damage from a single strike or 218 average damage with the buffed Spiritual Weapon and Thunderous Wrath added in. This is a lower range for our NOVA builds. But it is still considerable. Meanwhile, consistent damage is in the high range for our gish builds thus far.
If we instead cast Spiritual Guardians at level 9, we do 9d8 (40.5 average if saves fail) damage to all enemies within 15 feet once per round. In addition, our rapier strikes do 6d8+25 or 52 with Radiant Soul active. Our Spiritual Weapon at level 8 does 4d8+5 or 23 average. If Thunderous Wrath activates, the total damage on a single target is 125.5 (143.5 with Booming Blade’s rider) with 40.5 damage dealt to multiple foes in the Spirit Guardians zone. A critical hit yields 186.5 (204.5 with Booming Blade) damage to a single target in addition to the AOE damage from our Guardians.
If we choose to use Destructive Wrath to buff a Destructive Wave while we have a 9th level Spirit Guardians active, we can do 80-100 damage to multiple targets over up to three turns.
What stands out the most for me when looking at this build is both the potential high consistent damage and the wide versatility of options. It is worth noting that the above are just examples of our capability. We’re probably going to want to save our 9th level slot for Mass Heal. However, we do have a deep well of options to chose from and our spell load is such that we have multiple fall-backs to effective lower level spells including Shield and even Kinetic Jaunt.
Overall, our Merrin build taps into a wide range of versatile options. She can NOVA to 218 damage at high level without item support, she can lay down a combination of AOEs in a single turn that deal 80-100 damage to multiple foes, and she can provide heavy healing support to her party members. Flying through the skies born up on winds or wings of light, she’s surprisingly mobile for a cleric. Though not as tough as other builds, she mitigates mid-range hit points with powerful buffs, healing, and a rather high armor class. Our Queen of the Blue Moon is thus everything we asked for and more.
Scribbler’s Fantastical Workshop 