Cleric base ability scores and progression

[Elysiume]

I'm rolling up my first Pathfinder character, and I'm having trouble deciding where to spend my ability points. We're doing 20 PB, and so far nobody's been going full minmax. I'm planning to roll a human cleric of Desna, primarily spellcasting. We're doing core only. The party so far:

Halfling Rogue
Halfling Bard
Gnome Sorcerer
Half-Elf Fighter
Elf Druid

Flavor-wise, I want to have 10 int, both for the skill point and the feel of a 10 int character. Mechanically, it's probably a waste. I'm having an internal struggle between wanting to squeeze as much as I can out of my character and making it a bit more flavorful.

Context aside, there are a variety of ability scores I'm looking at with various concerns:
Race: Human
Class: Cleric
Domains: Luck, Travel
Ability scores: (bonus would always go to WIS)


STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
Notes


13
10
12
8
18
10
20 WIS, with some melee investment for Power Attack


10
12
13
8
18
10
20 WIS, ditching Power Attack, going tankier


10
11
12
10
18
10
20 WIS, ditching Power Attack, getting back to default INT


14
14
12
8
16
10
18 WIS, heavier melee focus, possibly swapping DEX/CON


10
14
14
10
16
10
18 WIS, ditching Power Attack again, going tankier


Having never played Pathfinder, I don't know whether it's worth investing into melee if I'm not planning to pump strength/go heavy on melee buffs throughout the game. I'm intending to focus more on party buffs, enemy debuffs, and summons; definitely not a healbot. Will I regret having put some points/feats into melee combat by the time that I'm ramping up on spellcasting? Will I regret having 18 wisdom rather than 20 down the road?

[Eldonauran]

I would recommend the 4th option, and yes, switch dex/con:
14 14 12 8 16 10 (18 WIS, heavier melee focus, possibly swapping DEX/CON)

I'd like to note that I am jealous of the 20 point buy. My table always goes with 15 for some reason. You don't have to have 18 or even 20 in your casting stat from the beginning, and I've played very successful clerics/druids starting off with a 17 AFTER racial adjustments. If you want to be casting heavy, consider starting with a 19 instead and bump it up to 20 at level 4. You will appreciate the extra points in INT and/or CHA to help with things.

If you want to be a caster heavy cleric, don't invest in any feats like power attack. You get to wear armor, and lots of it, so worry about concentrating in combat and not getting hit to lose your spell.

In the end, it all comes down to how much you enjoyed playing your character. To me, it always comes down to flavor.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Yeah, it's rarely worth sprinting for a 20 at level 1. The cost is just too high.

An 18 WIS should serve you just fine. You can actually dump DEX pretty safely as a cleric, and grab heavy armor proficiency at level 3 or 5, take a shield, and just turtle up that way.

[Eldariel]

Yeah, it's rarely worth sprinting for a 20 at level 1. The cost is just too high.

An 18 WIS should serve you just fine. You can actually dump DEX pretty safely as a cleric, and grab heavy armor proficiency at level 3 or 5, take a shield, and just turtle up that way.

I disagree. 20 means a second bonus 1st level spell. That's huge endurance- and versatility-wise. Same applies in the long run - on level 20, 20+5 levels+5 inherent+6 item=36 = extra 9th level slot.

In-between it varies on item acquisition rates but generally it's either bonus highest or second highest level spell. And then there are the spell save DC and miscellaneous considerations. It's not free but I'd generally say worth it.

[Kurald Galain]

You probably shouldn't take Power Attack on a partial-BAB class anyway.

To throw in an alternative option, start with 19 wisdom. Yes, nineteen. Because this is more affordable than a twenty, at level four it becomes a +5 bonus anyway.

[Geddy2112]

I like either the 4th or 5th option. Even with heavy armor, you can still have a 1-3 dex bonus, while dex also powers reflex saves and initiative modifier. You can always buff yourself into a combatant if need be, so better off to just be better all around.

For melee, it depends on what your party is capable of doing. The rogue and the fighter can frontline, but is the druid going caster or melee? Do they have an animal companion? I would say that if it is just the fighter and rogue frontlining, you will need to be in melee early game. Once you hit level 5 and get sacred summons you won't ever need to fight again. If you do want to fight a polearm/combat reflexes is an option, although not as strong as casting.

You can really dump int, because between the rogue and bard alone they have almost every skill covered, with the druid picking up the slack. You can grab the religion and then whatever orphan skill is left after they cover the bases. If you want 10 it won't be the end of the world though.

[Elysiume]

Thanks for all the advice!

The druid hasn't really decided yet, but I think he's liable to go for spells. It'd probably be worthwhile to focus more on melee, even if my favored weapon is bad (sorry, Desna). Probably a heavy mace, although I'll carry around a starknife. Definitely ditching Power Attack et al., as with a mid-to-low STR and a high likelihood of transitioning away from melee over time, it'd be a waste.

So it's basically down to these stat blocks for 16 WIS:


STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA


14
12
14
8
16
10


12
13
14
10
16
10



And these stat blocks for higher WIS, where I don't think I can comfortably keep INT at 10:


STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA


10
12
13
8
18
10


12
12
14
8
17
10



Leaning towards the second stat block--I agree that the rest of my party could handle the skills (cleric has zero unique class skills relative to the rest of my party), but I think it should be fine to lose 2 STR, as this doesn't feel like it's going to be a powergaming cruise.