Statting out a Ghostwise Twilight Cleric

[Mobius Twist]

Standard array or 27-point buy only.

Ghostwise halfling (+2 dex, +1 wisdom)
Cleric + Twilight Domain


Heavy armor proficiency will require 15 strength for full plate to remove speed penalties (which already exist as a halfling) and seems like a must-have.
Wisdom is a given. Halfling's stats work to give you 16 Wisdom, which is great, but the Dex seems to go wasted.
That said, a twilight cleric is expected to be in melee or close to it for most of its aura effects to work to the benefit of the team. You can, technically, run with a strength-based ranged weapon like javelins, but that doesn't take advantage of the martial weapon proficiencies. If a finesse weapon is available, wouldn't that works just as .... oh, wait, you have to have 15 strength, too.



How would you allocate the stats? What gear would you bring to combat? How would your ASI's get assigned for levels 4 and 8?

[Rara1212]

Standard array or 27-point buy only.

Ghostwise halfling (+2 dex, +1 wisdom)
Cleric + Twilight Domain


Heavy armor proficiency will require 15 strength for full plate to remove speed penalties (which already exist as a halfling) and seems like a must-have.
Wisdom is a given. Halfling's stats work to give you 16 Wisdom, which is great, but the Dex seems to go wasted.
That said, a twilight cleric is expected to be in melee or close to it for most of its aura effects to work to the benefit of the team. You can, technically, run with a strength-based ranged weapon like javelins, but that doesn't take advantage of the martial weapon proficiencies. If a finesse weapon is available, wouldn't that works just as .... oh, wait, you have to have 15 strength, too.



How would you allocate the stats? What gear would you bring to combat? How would your ASI's get assigned for levels 4 and 8?


Well, even if you have Heavy armor prof you don't need to use it. Medium armor and 14 dex will put you a bit behind but without the str requirement and stealth disadvantage.

[RogueJK]

If you can't move your stat bonuses around to other scores using the optional rule in Tasha's, then Medium Armor with a good DEX and a Rapier+Shield is your best bet. Point Buy would be something like:

STR 10
DEX 14+2
CON 14
INT 8
WIS 15+1
CHA 10

With this route, you could consider investing in the Medium Armor Master feat, once you max out your WIS, to take full advantage of the 16 DEX and Medium Armor.


But if you can move that +2 from DEX to WIS and the +1 from WIS to STR using the new rule from Tasha's, Heavy Armor become doable, with something like:

STR 15+1
DEX 10
CON 14
INT 8
WIS 15+2
CHA 8


However, with Clerics never getting more than 1 attack per round, don't worry as much about being good with a weapon. Even if you spend ASIs on maxing out your STR/DEX, your Cantrips like Toll the Dead or Sacred Flame are doing as much damage as your weapon attack in Tier 2, and by the time you get to Tier 3 and 4, your Cantrips are going to be doing more damage than your single weapon strike in a turn. And in many rounds you'll be spending your Action casting a leveled spell anyway, or even just taking the Dodge or Help Action if you have other means of dealing damage up and running, like Spirit Guardians + Spiritual Weapon.

Therefore, even the more martial Clerics shouldn't really worry about making weapon attacks outside of Tier 1. (And even then you can get by with making no weapon attacks and just using Cantrips, which would allow you to start with just a 15 STR or 14 DEX, and boost one of your other scores like INT or CHA by a few points, or start CON at 15 to set you up for the Resilient CON feat at a later date.) Even once Divine Strike comes online at Level 8+, the math just doesn't add up for spending your entire Action making one weapon attack, and now you can swap Divine Strike for Blessed Strikes anyway, which is strictly better and applies to cantrips too.

Instead, I'd recommend starting out with a 16 STR or DEX and sticking with that, then just focus on pumping your WIS and improving your spellcasting and Concentration. You'll still get to swing your weapon in Tier 1 and a bit in Tier 2, but it shouldn't be your main focus past Level 4ish, and 16 STR or DEX is fine for melee attacks in those early levels.

Rather than trying to throw Javelins with a STR-based Cleric, just use Sacred Flame/Toll the Dead for better range and eventually better damage.


If you're really dead-set on focusing on melee weapon attacks with your Cleric, you'll need to multiclass into something that gets Extra Attack plus some additional melee damage/tricks for at least 5 levels. Fighter is an option, but I'd go for a Ranger/Cleric multiclass instead. Something like starting with 1 level of Tempest Cleric, then going Gloomstalker/Fey Wanderer/Swarmkeeper/Hunter Ranger for 5 levels, then returning to Cleric levels from then on. You'll have a lot more incentive to be making weapon attacks, since you'll have Extra Attack plus some additional damage boosts to your weapon attacks. And Ranger will allow your spellcasting to continue to progress a little. But you'll be less effective as a Cleric specifically as a result. Going this route, you now have a reason to prioritize STR/DEX over WIS, for your starting stats and at least the first ASI. But you'll still likely want to stop at an 18ish STR/DEX before maxing our your WIS by high levels.