New game, gonna go cleric. Need help choosing domain

[Klorox]

Hey guys. I’ll be dusting off the books after a short hiatus from this game and jumping into a brand new campaign as a cleric.

We’re starting at level 1, and we have all the “basic roles” covered with a fighter, rogue and sorcerer rounding out the rest of our party. I know these roles are a bit outdated, especially in this edition, but it’s nice to give everybody a chance to shine.

This being said, I’m really not sure what type of cleric to go for.

I’m kind of interested in the tempest, forge, light, knowledge and arcana.

Our DM is letting us play in a home brew world with the following restrictions: no warlocks, only the common races in the PHB.

As I said, I’m not sure which cleric type to go for. I’m also not sure on race, but I’ll probably make that decision based on the domain I choose.

Any and all suggestions are welcome.

Oh! Rules:

Only the common races in the PHB, plus half elf.

Any official books for classes and class options.

Standard 27 point buy for stats.

[Xihirli]

Well, your party seems to be missing an intelligence character, so Knowledge Cleric could help fill the skill gap.

[Sexyshoeless]

Like Xihirli said, knowledge domain will cover your party's needs as far as identify and knowledge skills goes, as well as any out of combat skill use needed.

That being said, from a combat perspective, it may be helpful to have an "off-tank" to help protect your sorceror and rogue - leading you to the all-rounder tempest cleric (tanks, heals, blasts, does it all!) or the forge domain (that free +1 weapon or armor is amazing!).

I would take these benefits and really just think about what would be fun for you and don't sweat the specifics. I say this because it is really hard to build a bad cleric given their spell prep methods.

I personally like the fantasy of the lightly armored person of faith, so I enjoyed my knowledge cleric thoroughly.

[ImproperJustice]

If your sorceror is control oriented, you could go Light and just blast all your worries away :)


I am a fan of the Forge Cleric. Super tough, can help hold the line in a small party, especially with things like spirit guardians out there.
Can identify stuff on the fly which is nice, and still heal and support.

Their channel divinity may not be as exciting as some others, but can be pretty helpful for those “oops we forgot a crowbar moments”.
Or when you need a 24’ ladder, manacles, extra ammo, a copy of the mcGuffin, etc....

Late game animate objects is a killer.

[Mortis_Elrod]

Choose death. Its great. Do it. it gives you cookies.

[Klorox]

Choose death. Its great. Do it. it gives you cookies.

Where’s death? I see grave but not death.

[Aaedimus]

The arcana cleric is my favorite 1 lvl dip. The extra spells are awesome, and the cantrips if done right give you some major flexibility depending on what you pick. (I love cantrips though)

Really what kind of cleric you want may depend on your custom world? Gonna fight allot of undead? The grave domain is awesome, and full healing on downed friends is OP.

My favorite melee combat cleric is actually the tempest cleric. Along with adding all that extra lightning damage and fluff, at higher levels you can control the battlefield by throwing your enemies around. Get in a barfight? Let your God punish his rowdiness.

Knowledge cleric mostly gives you out of combat flexibility.

Nature cleric can grab Shillelague (I know I spelled that wrong) and than you can ignore strength and dex for the most part, focusing on Wisdom and Constitution.

Trickery clerics have a pretty awesome skill as well.

As always, human Variant gives you that sick level 1 feat. If you take magic initiate with arcane cleric, you can start with 7 cantrips from 3 different classes and have a first level spell like mage armor with no spell slots, hex (fluffed for a divine character obv) or even a free comprehend languages, unseen servant, disguise self, find familiar for unlimited help actions granting 1 attack a turn advantage with no loss to action or spell economy (a cleric with a celestial familiar?! Heck yes) allot of spellcasters would rather not waste prepared slots on spells like feather fall too. Remember if you choose spells that are ritual like detect magic, they're prepared, and it gives you multiple ritual castings.

A first level great weapon master, sharp shooter, war caster, defensive dualist, shield master, mobile, and resilient really can make a pretty big difference. With, resilient for example, you can start with 3 abilities at +3 mod, and give yourself a big bonus on constitution saving throws. Defensive dualist is pretty much a permanent bonus to your AC. Combine that with shield of faith you'll have +4 to AC on top of your usual 16 to 18 AC, making you extremely hard to hit from level 1. At higher levels that gets even stronger.

[Specter]

When in doubt, go Tempest.

[Mortis_Elrod]

Where’s death? I see grave but not death.

It’s in the DMG.

[Aaedimus]

One really cool thing you could do as a tempest cleric: grab spell sniper and booming blade, use a whip, and maximize that thunder damage. At level 8 that's 5d8 (40) damage if they move. If you're concentrating on spirit guardians, they'll want to move, and if they hit you deal that 2d8 lightning, blast them back, and hit them with booming blade again.

It's even possible if you choose charger to push someone 30ft back on a turn. Your reaction with wrath of the storm, a maximized 4th level call lightning outdoors, and the charge effect will give you:
2d8 lightning 10ft push
50 lightning 10ft push
Charge them, weapon attack +1d8 divine strike and 10ft push
That's 70 damage avg, and with no save on the knockback, if they're large or smaller they're going off that cliff, or boat, or chasm, or roof.

[CTurbo]

When in doubt, go Tempest.


Yep Tempest is the best and most fun at the same time.

You can wear plate and use a shield and go hang out on the front line next to the Fighter. You're proficient with all weapons. You can max the damage of any Thunder and Lightning Spell per short rest, you can deal 2d8 Lightning damage with your reaction so you're probably the best tanking Cleric, as well as the most damage dealing. You have great control spells too like Gust of Wind, Fog Cloud, Sleet Storm, etc...

The Tempest has been the funnest character I've played in 5e. So fun I've played 3 different Tempests so far.

[Klorox]

Yep Tempest is the best and most fun at the same time.

You can wear plate and use a shield and go hang out on the front line next to the Fighter. You're proficient with all weapons. You can max the damage of any Thunder and Lightning Spell per short rest, you can deal 2d8 Lightning damage with your reaction so you're probably the best tanking Cleric, as well as the most damage dealing. You have great control spells too like Gust of Wind, Fog Cloud, Sleet Storm, etc...

The Tempest has been the funnest character I've played in 5e. So fun I've played 3 different Tempests so far.

Interesting. I’ve never played a tempest cleric. How high would you bump STR (this is point buy), or would you leave it average and just play a dwarf so you don’t need to worry about reduced speed?

[CTurbo]

Interesting. I’ve never played a tempest cleric. How high would you bump STR (this is point buy), or would you leave it average and just play a dwarf so you don’t need to worry about reduced speed?

Depending on how you want to play it, I'd probably put a 16 in Str and leave it there. 2 of my Tempests started with 16 Str, and I left it there for one of them, and I bumped it to 18 at level 4 because he was way more melee orientated with a greatsword. The 3rd was actually Dex based with Str dumped. Halfplate + shield is only -1 AC than Plate will give you.

So if you see yourself actually attacking things with a weapon, I'd start 16 Str and probably keep it there forever. You dont really NEED to use a weapon after the first couple of levels. But you can.

If you'd rather sit back and blast, go 16 Dex instead as it's a more beneficial stat anyway.

I recommend variant human with the Heavy Armor Mastery feat to start which also gives a +1 Str so you'd easily be able to start 16 Str, 14 Con, 16 Wis, or if you dont mind totally dumping Cha and Int, start 15 Con and take Res(Con) at level 4. I'd rather bump Wis to 18 at level 4, but you're going to really want Res(Con) or Warcaster if not both eventually anyway. If Heavy Armor Mastery doesn't interest you, or you end up going Dex, take Res(Con) to start. Dex based you can even go 14 Dex, 16 Con, 16 Wis to start.

Magic Initiate is a great feat too. You can get Booming Blade, a Utility cantrip, and Find Familiar which is awesome. Sentinel is another good feat of you're going to hang around in melee. Your 8th level Divine Strike works again with a reaction attack so you'd hit hard.

Maxing Wis and getting Warcaster or Res should be the top priority though.

[Nifft]

Knowledge is great, and covers the Int role.

Tempest is great, particularly if you want another strong front-liner.

Nature is great, and covers the "woodsman" niche which your party lacks, while also being a strong front-liner.