I think the title says it very clearly; I am soon to be in a solo campaign and I cannot decide between a cleric or an inquisitor.
I have a backstory in mind for either one, so RP is not anything I'm worried about. I know both will be mechanically sound enough for me to not die, and I have the idea in my head that the inquisitor will be slightly better at low levels, with the cleric catching up and surpassing at higher levels.
For the cleric, I would go necromancy of the undead raising kind. I've wanted to play a character like this for a while, and it would be good in a solo campaign where there's no other players to stand between me and the bad guys. I'm thinking about Protection and Travel for domains, not set in stone yet.
For the inquisitor, I would go half-orc to use a falchion, using judgements, bane, and spells to keep me in the fight. Probably either Travel or Animal for domain. The animal companion would be a godsend (literally) and the ability to move faster/teleport later sounds pretty good too.
Right now I'm leaning towards inquisitor, but I still really want to try out a necromancer cleric at some point. I'm looking for some advice telling me which I should go for, or if it doesn't matter which YOU would rather go for.
Thanks for reading all that, and thanks in advance for any helpful replies.
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For the necromancy-Cleric, I suggest you pick the Undead subdomain to be able to heal yourself as well as your minis when channeling. Specifically, you might like the Undead Lord archetype.
For the Inquisitor, I suggest you go Sacred Huntsmaster to get a full-level animal companion who automatically gets all your teamwork feats. This also frees your domain, whose choice depends on the adventure. If it involves interactions with NPCs as actual challenges, I vote for Conversion. Otherwise stick to Travel (unless you have a particular build in mind that could use a different domain).
Between the two, Inquisitor is probably easier to play since he has both spells and combat-oriented class features. On the other hand, minion-master Clerics are usually frown upon in standard adventures, both because of ethical/alignment reasons, and because they mess up with action economy.
However, since this time you're alone, you're not going to bother anyone (any player at least; NPCs might disagree...) if you go around with a few corpses, so I would probably go Cleric, focusing on spellcasting and channeling, while leaving the hard work to the minis (and the undead companion if you go Undead Lord).
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For a solo campaign the inquisitor would probably work better. The inquisitor has a lot more versatility than the cleric. They get more skill points and bonuses to several skills. They also have more class skills that you will need in a solo campaign. Perception and stealth are going to be very useful in a solo campaign. The cleric is going to be at a big disadvantage when it comes to skills. In a normal campaign he can count on other party members for this, but in a solo campaign he does not have that option.
The inquisitor also has better weapon proficiencies than the cleric, specifically ranged weapons. The half orc gives you a good melee weapon, but you will also want to have a ranged weapon available. Since the inquisitor has proficiency with bows this gives you both a good melee and ranged weapon.
Judgements are also very flexible. If you are having trouble hitting use Judgement of Justice. If you need a bonus to saves use Judgement of Purity. If you are dealing with something that uses specific energy damage Judgment of Resistance is your obvious choice. Judgements can usually provide you with whatever you need at the moment.
The cleric does have an advantage when it comes to spells. They get more spells and get them at an earlier level. They also have access to their entire spell list. This is somewhat offset by the fact that many of the spells are buff and support spells. The inquisitor does have some advantages in they get more utility spells than the cleric. Being able to cast things like invisibility, knock and truesight can be useful.
Overall I think the inquisitor would do better in a solo campaign than the cleric. You did not mention what level you are starting out at. If you are starting at less than 5th level your plan to go the necromancer route may be difficult. Without access to animate dead or similar spells you are going to have a hard time surviving.
I'm starting at 1 (I think) which is why I knew going necromancer would be tough. I think I've been thoroughly convinced to go Inquisitor. What book is Sacred Huntsmaster in, I've never heard of it and the DM only allows core APG and a few other things. If I show him something he'll probably be ok with it. Thanks for the advice, made the decision a lot easier.
EDIT: I found Sacred Huntsmaster, don't think I'm going to go for it. I think judgement is worth more than a full animal companion, and I think I'm going to go travel domain anyways.
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Without going into detail to explain, I would go with the Inquisitor. For many reasons as the Mysterious Stranger outlined above.
For what it's worth, if you go Chivalry Inquisition you can get a mount (like the Cavalier). Travel domain isn't bad, but an archer inquisitor on horseback is a force to be reckoned with.