tempest cleric build advice

[ashanti]

hi! i'm a first-time d&d player with a background in written rping, about to start my first campaign with a bunch of good friends. i decided on an aarakocra tempest cleric solely based on the flavour, because that's what i instinctively do as a writer, but then i realised that my friends come from more gaming-oriented backgrounds and have tended towards more optimised builds. thus, i'd like some advice on how to build my character such that i can still have the flavour i want, while not being useless compared to my friends.

we rolled for stats, and i didn't roll that great: (after race mods)
STR: 13, DEX: 16, CON: 13, INT: 12, WIS: 16, CHA: 8

current proficiencies:
insight (cleric), medicine (cleric), perception (custom background), stealth (custom background)

armour class of 17 (studded armour + DEX mod + shield) - no medium or heavy armour because of flight

cantrips: toll the dead, sacred flame, guidance

as for weapons, i'm not sure whether to go for rapier + shield in melee combat, or go with a hand crossbow or a longbow and stay in ranged combat. i've got 150gp to spend (including armour and shield); i'm currently leaning towards rapier + shield because that seems to be more suited to the tempest domain, and would be more effective in combat, but i feel like if i were to choose based solely on characterisation, i'd go with a bow of sorts.

as a general character, my tempest cleric is curious, flighty, hates being in the centre of attention, prefers to blend into the background and quietly help out while her barbarian companion takes the fight head on, generally prefers to avoid combat, but is entirely willing and capable of fighting should her companions be injured or in defence of the innocent. in my mental image of her, she's small and sneaky and fairly slight, hence the WIS/DEX build. i've been considering taking a dip in rogue later on, or even starting with a level or two in rogue and building tempest cleric after, but i'm really torn because i built her character around the tempest cleric flavour and i don't want to change that, since we're starting at level 1.

i'd like some advice on if i should fiddle around with stats, if i should go melee or range in combat (rapier, or bow), how/when to distribute ASIs, if i should get any feats (main considerations currently: sharpshooter, war caster, resilient (dex or con), stealthy, or magic initiate), if/when i should multiclass, etc. i'm not looking for a perfect build, but i do want to try and marry flavour with usefulness so that i'm not left behind.

thanks in advance!

[JDanton]

Dex tempest cleric is definitely a viable option so you've to your attributes in the right place and you're proficiencies all look solid for the build you're going for. For cantrips you don't need sacred flame and toll the dead, pick one (i'de recommend toll the dead but there is no wrong choice) Aarakocra don't have dark vision so light might be helpful.

Now equipment, studded leather and a shield cost 55gp which gives us 95 to play around with, rapier is 25gps and longbow is 50gps + 1gp per 20 arrows, so grab em both might as well be dangerous at range and in melee, leave some gold left over for your choice of kit, explorer's pack is the best bang for bucks at only 10gp and giving you the necessary tools to survive on the road.

As for ASI/feats, boost your wisdom first, get it to 20 if you can but 18 is fine, if you want to take a feat after this point go for either warcaster, or resilient (con), sharpshooter can come later.

I'm not gonna try to advise you on multiclassing since that's not my forte but I will give you this advice on playing a dex based tempest clerics' you are a support unit and unlike most clerics you do not have heavy armour, use your support spells and mobility to stay alive and buff/heal your team, positioning is key and you will most likely want to keep out of melee, but be prepared to wade in if necessary. That being said don't underestimate your blasting potential, thunderwave is a decent AOE and can save you if you're cornered or trapped in melee, shatter is just a solid spell and call lightning and destructive wave are insane, especially with your channel divinity. Thunderbolt strike in conjunction with wrath of the storm will give you an easy out from melee and give you some good battlefield control, just watch your positioning and use your mobility.

In regards to your attributes, what did you roll before racial modifiers?

[Laserlight]

I'm playing a DEX Tempest cleric right now and having a lot of fun with her. To respond to a few bits and pieces:

a) Tempest clerics tend to go melee, with heavy armor proficiency, spiritual guardians, and wrath. That's not to say you can't play a lightly armored archer, but you may feel that you are missing some of the utility of the class. You might want to look over some of the other cleric domains (Light, for example) and see if they suit you.

b) Tempest doesn't need to multiclass. For those who want to MC anyway, there's the Lightning Lord build, but that's MC sorc and you don't have the CHA for that.
FWIW, my character does have the stats for it (DEX 18, WIS 18, CHA 18) and in addition has story reasons to MC into sorc or bard; despite that, I'm still planning to stay single class (for a campaign ending around L10).

c) You have both Toll the Dead and Sacred Flame, which as I recall are both attack cantrips with 60ft range. There's no real reason for both of them. I'd be inclined for Sacred Flame because the target doesn't get a benefit for being in cover (such as "your allies are in your way") but Toll the Dead is reasonable too. Hmm...I took Thaumaturgy but you don't want to be the center of attention. So I'd suggest you swap one of your attack cantrips for Light, or possibly Mending.

[CTurbo]

I agree with not needing both attack cantrips.

I love Tempest Clerics and have played 4 of them in 5e so for. I've played 2 Str builds, and 2 Dex builds.

I think a Aarakocra Tempest would be a lot of fun. I would start with a Rapier and shield but probably switch over the whip and pick up Spell Sniper and Booming Blade.

I would either start 16 Dex, 14 Con, 16 Wis and pick up Warcaster or start 16 Dex, 15 Con, 16 Wis and pick up Res(Con). Either way, you definitely want Warcaster OR Res(Con) as maintaining concentration is a huge deal for Clerics.

Maxing Wis is a priority too. You get 5 ASI/feats, I'd spend two on Wis, one on Dex, one on Warcaster/Res, and one on Spell Sniper. If you don't like the Whip + Booming Blade from 10ft away idea, you could pick up Magic Initiate for Booming Blade and Find Familiar and just keep the rapier instead. I don't think I would bother with a bow.

[Galadhrim]

Your stats look good, I wouldn't adjust them.

I love getting utility out if my cantrips. I'm not sure you even need an attack cantrip if you have a long bow and a rapier. I would take guidance, thaumaturgy, and light.

Studded leather + shield gives you 17 ac. That is plenty to be in melee early on if your party needs you to step in and help hold the line. Grab a breastplate later when you can afford it for ac upgrade. If you aren't needed to hold the line, stand back and support or blast as the situation calls for. I wouldn't worry about not pulling your weight with a more optimized party, cleric in general is very useful. If you are blessing the party, you are pulling your weight and then some.

As for feats, I would see how you feel comfortable with your play style before deciding. If you find yourself ending up in melee a ton, go got war caster. If you find yourself hanging on the outskirts, adding wisdom, out taking magic initiate for a mix of thematic character growth and great utility is a really nice feat.

If you dip rogue, I would only go one level. It gives you the more sneaky feel, you can get your expertise and a little sneak attack, but your power comes from your spell progression and I wouldn't want to fall too far behind there.

[Laserlight]

I'm not sure you even need an attack cantrip if you have a long bow and a rapier.

I'd take one attack cantrip, just in case. It's not like the cleric list has a huge number of marvelous cantrips; if I were playing this character I'd be grasping for good choices after Guidance, Light, Mending, and an attack cantrip. He doesn't want to be the center of attention, so no Thaumaturgy. He doesn't want to be in the middle of the fray, so no Word of Radiance. You don't need Spare the Dying with Medicine skill and a healer kit, or a potion.

Longbow is nice but takes two hands, which can be awkward if you are, for example, using a shield, climbing a rope in a constricted area, carrying the McGuffin, etc.

[McSkrag]

+1 for going melee with a shield + rapier instead of archer.

One of your major tactics once you get 3rd level spells will be Spirit Guardians. This will let you control a 15 ft. radius around you and control the front line. Anything that does get to you and hit you will take 2d8 from Wrath of the Storm. You can also cast Spiritual Weapon at the same time for a 1d8 + WIS bonus actions attack.

CTurbo's idea for taking Spell Sniper to get Booming blade then using a whip is really cool. That lets you attack an enemy from 10 ft. away with Booming Blade. Then they can't move closer to attack you without taking the extra Booming Blade damage.

[Quoxis]

With your con mod, light armor and flight i wouldn’t go into melee as my standard combat tactic, but it’s great to have a rapier and your wrath of the storm as a plan B.

Being able to fly in most environments is a big boon combined with ranged weapons and spells - thunderwave affects anything in a 15ft cube and you can maximize its damage from lvl 2 onwards, so you can dive in on a group of opponents, cast the spell for 16 damage on a failed save, possibly destroying their formation (neat for kobolds etc.) and fly back out of their range.

Only one of your features (wrath of the storm) is focused on melee, the rest works just as well on a ranged combatant, you just won’t get that much out of your capstone because you already have a flying speed...

[Reynaert]

I've also played a tempest cleric, and I noticed that I actively was trying to get hit to make wrath of the storm go boom (often even maximized), which meant that the opponents were weary of hitting me and started to concentrate on others in my party.

+1 for the 'fly into the pack, blow a thunderwave and fly out' tactic. Prime candidate for your channel divinity, so you can do 16 damage (8 guaranteed) or even upcast it. Note that it's a 15 foot cube so you can be 7 feet off the ground when you cast it. Or 10, if your DM allows hitting partially. (TBH, I don't know how adjacency works in 3D 5e)

[ashanti]

thanks for your advice guys! to respond to some questions/notes:


In regards to your attributes, what did you roll before racial modifiers?
i rolled an 8, 12, 13, 13, 14, and 15, which i know isn't that great compared to my friends. pretty much equivalent to the standard array though.


Tempest clerics tend to go melee, with heavy armor proficiency, spiritual guardians, and wrath. That's not to say you can't play a lightly armored archer, but you may feel that you are missing some of the utility of the class. You might want to look over some of the other cleric domains (Light, for example) and see if they suit you.
that's very true; if my character weren't an aarakocra, i would definitely be using the heavy armour proficiency to its full extent and wading into melee. unfortunately, given the restriction on armour for aarakocran flight, light armour is as best as i'm going to get which, roleplay-wise, isn't going to happen anytime soon with my character. the other cleric domains also have amazing flavour, but i'm pretty set on the storm/tempest theme (which also has pretty great synergy with her beliefs, background, and racial flavour as an aarakocra - her deity is aerdrie faenya)


I would start with a Rapier and shield but probably switch over the whip and pick up Spell Sniper and Booming Blade.
hmm... mechanically-wise, i can definitely see the appeal to this. i just don't think it'd suit my character, unfortunately.


Grab a breastplate later when you can afford it for ac upgrade
breastplates are medium armour though, right? unfortunately, anything but light armour would interfere with her aarakocran flight, which means this is out.


Longbow is nice but takes two hands, which can be awkward if you are, for example, using a shield, climbing a rope in a constricted area, carrying the McGuffin, etc.
this is very true, i'd forgotten that shields take up a hand. equipping and dequipping a shield requires an action, right? definitely makes things a little more troublesome... which is why a potential dip into monk for the unarmoured defence might be a potential consideration, or dipping 2 levels into fighter for action surge.


Being able to fly in most environments is a big boon combined with ranged weapons and spells - thunderwave affects anything in a 15ft cube and you can maximize its damage from lvl 2 onwards, so you can dive in on a group of opponents, cast the spell for 16 damage on a failed save, possibly destroying their formation (neat for kobolds etc.) and fly back out of their range.
i... hadn't actually thought of that, that sounds pretty awesome. all the more reason to not trade AC for flight!


you just won’t get that much out of your capstone because you already have a flying speed...
yes, i noticed that... not to mention that stormborn is half the speed of the flying speed she already has. the only real benefit i can see from stormborn is that she could fly without revealing her wings (not very useful except for certain specific rp reasons), and that if she were ever to lose the ability to use her wings while flying/hovering for any reason, she could use stormborn to save herself instead (more useful, possibly) - though, actually, i'm not certain if i can do according to the rules, i'm still not very familiar with them. still, this does mean potentially multiclassing 4+ levels wouldn't be as painful.

you guys definitely have a point about the cantrips. i think i'll change them to guidance, sacred flame, and mending. no need for light, because my DM allowed me to trade the racial trait of talons for the standard 60ft of darkvision, which i thought was more thematically appropriate given she's an owl aarakocra (besides, 3 out of 4 of the other PCs have darkvision). might get thaumaturgy later, and then resistance or word of radiance, unless my DM allows for some thematically-appropriate homebrew or grabbing one of the lightning/thunder cantrips that exist.

regarding weapons, i'll definitely keep the rapier then (though it's a pretty funny mental image to consider a short, slight girl wielding a giant battleaxe or warhammer). i think i'll keep the bow too, to play with both and see which weapon i prefer. the two-handed requirement is definitely annoying, and i don't have enough gp for a hand crossbow, but i think i'll play around with it anyway.

i know i said i didn't particularly see my character using a whip, i might pick one up anyway and see if my opinion changes - they're not too expensive.

currently, i'm thinking to spend my first ASI on WIS, my second on warcaster, and then deciding if i want to multiclass or not. i know a lot of you have suggested just remaining straight tempest cleric, which i consider very much an option, but divine intervention doesn't seem too useful (until level 20) and my domain capstone feature stormborn is outshone by the 50ft aarakocran flight my character already has.

multiclassing considerations:
this turned out a lot longer than i'd expected, whoops. for any of these, if it's necessary, i'd swap around one of the 12 and 13 stats so that the multiclassing is legal. one thing of note is that i really like the idea of having a familiar, which is why several of these considerations are centered around the wizard spell list.

rogue 1/cleric X
dipping a single level into rogue nets me a skill (athletics or sleight of hand probably), proficiency in thieves tools, expertise in 2 skills, sneak attack, and thieves cant. thematically, i think this goes quite well with my character build and backstory, and dipping a single level wouldn't leave me too far behind in regards to spell progression. the only thing it'd effect is divine intervention, which, again, i think i can live without. i'd have one less 7th level spell slot overall, but i can live with that too. i can even see dipping earlier than level 8 - after level 6 perhaps, after 4, or even after 2. starting off with rogue is an option too, the only thing it'd change would be proficiency in 2 more skills, and saving throws of DEX and INT instead of WIS and CHA.

rogue 3/cleric X
i don't think cunning action for a 2 level dip into rogue is worth it, but dipping 3 levels for a roguish archetype and the improved sneak attack, i can definitely see. arcane trickster would be my first choice - all the benefits of magic initiate, and more; scout would be a distant second. the downside is definitely the slowed spell progression and the loss of an ASI, but that's partially mitigated by the fact that the dip is better than the magic initiate feat. i'd still get stormborn (less important) and a 9th level spell slot eventually (more important) though.

rogue 5/cleric X
taking 5 levels of rogue for improved sneak attack and uncanny dodge is a possibility (esp given my armour limitations), but i honestly don't think it'd be worth it

ranger 1/cleric X
1 level of ranger nets a skill (probably athletics, nature, or survival), favoured enemy, and natural explorer. this one, admittedly, would be more for backstory synergy than for combat, but considering the relative drawbacks (see rogue 1/cleric x), it's fine to me. like rogue, starting with ranger is a possibility.

ranger 2/cleric X
unlike rogue, a 2 level dip into ranger seems okay. fighting style doesn't seem as good as an ASI/feat, but archery, defence, or close quarters shooter seem viable. ranger spellcasting uses WIS, which is great, but it doesn't have cantrips, which is not so great. two first level spells only, both unchangeable, is also not so great comparatively (goodberry and alarm/speak with animals, perhaps?). overall, not bad, but there are better, i think.

ranger 3/cleric X
primeval awareness and ranger archetype/conclave - not too bad. gloom stalker would be my first choice (+disguise self, dread ambusher - bonus to initiative equal to WIS mod + walk speed +10ft on first turn of combat + an additional weapon attack on that turn that deals 1d8 upon hit, and umbral sight - darkvision +30ft + invisibility to creatures that need darkvision to see in darkness) - altogether not bad. the hunter archetype is also viable i think, esp with hordebreaker and a bow.

ranger 5/cleric X
another option. very slowed spell progression (unless multiclassing later on), but unlike rogue, i'd still eventually get a 9th level spell slot. extra attack seems very good, but i'm not sure if casting spells count as an attack. if not, it's somewhat less good.


fighter 2/cleric x
no extra tool or skill proficiencies, but i gain fighting style, second wind, and action surge. unlike the ranger's extra attack, action surge specifies that it's an extra action (+potential bonus action), not just attack. unlike extra attack though, action surge can only be used once per short/long rest, but considering it's gained at level 2 and not 5, i think it's pretty good.

fighter 3/cleric x
and we get to the martial archetypes. there are only two i'd really consider: arcane archer and eldritch knight. arcane archers get proficiency in arcana/nature, the prestidigitation/druidcraft cantrip, and arcane shot. eldritch knights get 2 wizard cantrips, 3 1st level wizard spells, and weapon bond. again, i'd liken it to magic initiate + some other stuff; losing a channel divinity sucks, but the returns + story + rp reasons are worth it, i'd think.

fighter 5/cleric x
5th level fighters get extra attack which, when combined with action surge, seems pretty damn great, but not getting that 9th level spell slot is less great.

fighter 7/cleric x
getting to this point means that i'd probably have chosen to develop my character into focusing more on weapon-based than spellcasting, which i'd say is very unlikely, but it's always a possibility, and might make for some great story. magic arrow and curving shot are great if i choose to go archer, and war magic excellent for a rapier/whip + booming blade. not being able to cast 8th or 9th level spells is painful, but considering the way my character would develop rp-wise, it would probably make sense.

monk 1/cleric x
considering my character's limitations on armour, the monk's unarmoured defence is great, and solves all problems associated with having a bow and shield. the downside is that i wouldn't be able to use any magical armour obtained through quests etc if any are found. martial arts seems much less useful considering the weapons i have.

monk 2/cleric x
i don't see much use of gaining ki, considering my strongest attacks would be spells and non-monk weapons. unarmoured movement is not bad if it also applies to flight speed. but overall, not worth it.

monk 3/cleric x
way of the kensei solves some of the problems with weapons, but still i don't think is worth it.

wizard 1/cleric x
no bonus skill or tool proficiencies, but wizard cantrips, wizard spells, arcane recovery, and the fact that it doesn't impact spell slot progression? seems pretty good to me.

wizard 2/cleric x
primarily looking at the school of evocation: sculpt spells seems very useful for avoiding friendly fire with some of the spells i have access to.

druid
thematically, druid synergies quite well with my character's backstory and personality, and the fact that druid spells use WIS and don't effect spell slot progression are all positives. the main reason i'd want to get druid, though, would be to be able to wildshape into an owl, which isn't possible until 8th level, which is further than i'd want to go.

cleric 2/storm sorcerer x
on one hand, this'd make for great story progression and interesting backstory, and great synergy. on the other hand, i'd have to completely change around her stat distribution and intended development, which i'm highly reluctant to do. as much as this seems cool, it's also not the character idea i had in mind originally.

[Man_Over_Game]

There's a few things you can look at rather than multiclassing.

One particular solution to your build concerns is the Spellsniper + Booming Blade + Whip combination. 10 foot range Booming Blade that scales with your Dexterity. Combine that with your flying speed, and now you can pick targets off and keep them from approaching your team as the ultimate skirmisher. Your ability to push enemies back when they hit you will keep them from engaging on you as you tear apart their back line. Later, you can invest into War Caster for enemies who attempt to run from your enhanced reach while you fly over their heads.


As for the familiar, this can be obtained either with Magic Initiate (gets you Booming Blade still), Ritual Caster, or the Variant Familiar rules in the Monster's Guide (with your DM's discretion). Have him look up the Pseudodragon stat page and ask his opinion if that's a possibility.

[CTurbo]

I highly agree with Magic Initiate for Booming Blade and Find Familiar as well as Spell Sniper + Whip. This is especially awesome being able to fly.


I'd stick pure Tempest as this setup has a lot of feat tax basically requiring at least 3 feats and you still want to pump your Wis and Dex. You COULD scrap the familiar idea and just get Booming Blade from Spell Sniper and not take Magic Initiate.