Suggestions for a Tempest Cleric tank?

[Kodiene]

Hi GITP forums! I've recently started the process of doing something I've never actually tried to do and made a Tempest Cleric for a campaign that I've dropped in on, and I know very little about optimizing stuff. As the title mentioned, I wanted to make this more of a tank than a straight up fighter, and I think I got fortunate enough with my rolls to facilitate that to some degree.

The stat block rolled:
14, 12, 13, 14, 18, 17

As it stands, I've already locked in the race as Human, but Variant vs standard is up in the air. I had originally been planning to put 18/17 in Wisdom and Constitution respectively, but now I'm more questioning of it, so I just wanted to ask around before I did something.

Thanks!

[Nidgit]

Going standard human gives you pretty much zero benefits, as its main perk, rounding out lots of odd ability scores, doesn't apply to you. Variant Human is definitely the way to go of the two.

I can think of basically two ways for your character to go. The slightly better is to take Magic Initiate as your starting feat in order to get Booming Blade, which can benefit from Channel Divinity. 18 in Wis and Con, take Warcaster at Level 4, and then put future ASIs into Wisdom and Strength. You won't be particularly accurate with physical attacks, but you'll have a lot of health, good DPS, and excellent concentration.

Another option might be to go 17/14/15/14/18/12 after bonuses and then pick up Heavy Armor Master as your starting feat to round out your Strength score. You'll be an extremely effective tank your first few levels with good damage too, and at Level 4 you can pick up Resilient (Con) to get some extra HP and great Con saving throws. After that, you're maxing Wisdom and grabbing whatever other feats or ASI boosts you might want, like extra Con or Sentinel. You can even take Magic Initiate and Warcaster of you want. This build would basically sacrifice the higher DPS of the first build for greater durability and versatility.

[CTurbo]

Hi GITP forums! I've recently started the process of doing something I've never actually tried to do and made a Tempest Cleric for a campaign that I've dropped in on, and I know very little about optimizing stuff. As the title mentioned, I wanted to make this more of a tank than a straight up fighter, and I think I got fortunate enough with my rolls to facilitate that to some degree.

The stat block rolled:
14, 12, 13, 14, 18, 17

As it stands, I've already locked in the race as Human, but Variant vs standard is up in the air. I had originally been planning to put 18/17 in Wisdom and Constitution respectively, but now I'm more questioning of it, so I just wanted to ask around before I did something.

Thanks!

My favorite domain! Tempests are inherently good tanks out of the box. They just need a means to hold onto concentration spells better. Res(Con) is an excellent starting feat.

Vhuman with Res(Con) as starting feat

17+1 Str, 14 Dex, 14+1+1 Con, 12 Int, 18 Wis, 13 Cha

Max Wis at level 4, take either Warcaster or Magic Initiate for Booming Blade at level 8. I like Wizard for Booming Blade, Minor Illusion or Prestidigitation, and Find Familiar.

or

Vhuman with Heavy Armor Master as starting feat

14+1+1 Str, 14 Dex, 17+1 Con, 12 int, 18 Wis, 13 Cha

Take Warcaster at level 4, max Wis at level 8. Take Magic Initiate at level 12.

[Man_Over_Game]

Going standard human gives you pretty much zero benefits, as its main perk, rounding out lots of odd ability scores, doesn't apply to you. Variant Human is definitely the way to go of the two.

I dunno, I disagree.

A final stat spread of 15, 13, 14, 15, 19, 18 means:

1 point away from maxed Wisdom
2 points away from maxed Consitution.
15 into Strength, exactly what you'd need for the best Strength armor (necessary for a tank).
A solid +1-+2 in all of your other saves.

Fact is, a Multi-attribute melee caster is exactly the target audience for balanced stats, and he definitely has that.

Could even afford to mix in Storm Sorcerer levels if he wanted to. Twin Booming Blades to lock down enemies, maybe even use his Channel Divinity to force max damage on the initial strike when you use it at higher levels. Cast Earth Tremor and fly away, leaving behind Difficult Terrain for your enemies while you reposition yourself against the enemies.

Could even afford to just not take any ASIs and just pick up Polearm Master and War Caster while using a Quarterstaff to use Booming Blade on enemies as they approach you.

[Stangler]

V Human all the way, you don't need the +1 to 3 of those attributes so you are really only getting +3 vs +2 plus feat. If you wanted you could choose a feat like Observant or Resilient to get +3 to your main stats.

Personally I would go PAM 18, 14, 15, 12, 18, 13. PAM in the early levels is so OP that you will have a lot of fun.

Booming Blade is another real option but that doesn't really do that much for you early on compared to PAM. Down the road it is a really solid option. 1 level in Sorc or Wiz is worth considering for BB instead of a precious ASI. Storm Sorc for mobility, Wizard for variety.

You will need Warcaster in any build so taking it at lvl 1 is an option. Just not particularly fun.

[prototype00]

So for my AL build, I went for a Belt of Giant Str, Booming Blade (Magic Initiate), then I went searching for the highest tier heavy armor I could.

Now sitting at 26/28AC with Dwarven Plate and a +3 Shield. Managed to find a wand of lightning bolts in my travels so that has served me well through the end of T3 as an encounter ender cannon (Max that damage)

Now that I’m in T4 I’m finding Booming Blade becomes my go-to attack, as it can do 6d8 damage on a hit, 5d8 of that thunder (maximise the damage if you crit) for a more melee style support cleric.

Edit: The thing to note here is that even with 25+ AC at T4, you’re going to be hit, so just focus on burst damage and support.