Good conversation. Agreed with those are noting that surfaces breaking concentration is causing unintended effects. When every goblin has a vial of acid, when every firebolt and every poison attack produces a surface it seriously nerfs the buffer cleric. Good points @Passerby @Madscientist @Leuenherz
In addition to making surfaces optional the devs should include some magic items that increase the chances of maintaining concentration so casters don't have to waste a feat.
Somewhat OT but yes, like @firesnakearies I prefer the buffer cleric builds that one could make in 2nd and 3.5 -- there is no reason for hold person to be as weak as it is in 5th -- but 5th is the edition we have. When 5th first came out and the modules had instructions on how to modify them for use with previous editions I thought WotC was going to have an "use any edition you like" attitude but 5th has been so popular that I think they will want to see the ruleset accurately represented in its flagship title.
