How to play a Str Cleric

[DarkMoon250]

Seeing as my first ever campaign was starting right after Tasha's dropped, I decided to pick a subclass from it, and fell in love with the Twilight Domain. I put together a Wis/Con/Str Cleric to make use of the extra proficiencies included and make a sturdy boi, and now that he's here... I'm honestly not sure how to get the most bang for my buck.

Str, sadly, doesn't seem to be used for much, and since Clerics already have the capabilities of a full caster, I don't know when I'll actually be using my martial weapons to get the job done, unless Divine Strike is better than the new Blessed Strike. Not to mention the fact I have to take positioning into account to let the whole party benefit from my me-centered Channel Divinity, so I don't know if I should stay in the middle of everyone or if I should be a front-line combatant.

We've only had our introductory, set-the-stage sort of session, so my DM says he'll still allow me to move my point-buy from Str to Dex if it bothers me, but I honestly don't know.

[RogueJK]

Find a way to get Booming Blade, either through High Elf, High Half Elf, Magic Initiate feat, Arcana Cleric, or a 1 level dip into Sorcerer. This will allow you to continue making scaling melee attacks in higher Tiers.

Then your go-to routine from Cleric 5+ will be to kick on Spirit Guardians, and wade into melee with STR-based Booming Blade melee attacks, with Bonus Action Spiritual Weapon attacks in most bigger combats.


Another solid option for a STR melee-focused divine caster is to take 5 levels of Ranger for Extra Attack, while also getting some additional spells and spell slot progression. The usual route is Cleric 1 -> Ranger 5/Cleric 1 -> Ranger 5/Cleric X.

(Also doable as Cleric 1 -> Ranger 3/Cleric 1 -> Ranger 3/Cleric 3 -> Ranger 5/Cleric 3 -> Ranger 5/Cleric X, if you roll well for stats and don't need the ASI ASAP.)

[LordShade]

The bottom line is that clerics only get one melee attack per round their whole career (unless they are war clerics, in which case they can get two). Most of their contribution comes from spells, so investing in strength is never going to be optimal.

I think the best bet here is to go ranger 5/cleric X. Ranger will give you the second attack, which can start to make the strength investment worthwhile. You'll also get a couple of caster levels to help you upcast your cleric spells. Perhaps ask your DM if you can waive the Dexterity requirement to multiclass ranger, in which case this multi becomes very playable with a Str/Con/Wis layout. You could take Gloomstalker as the subclass for some nice thematic fit with Twilight cleric.

[Eldariel]

Find a way to get Booming Blade, either through High Elf, High Half Elf, Magic Initiate feat, Arcana Cleric, or a 1 level dip into Sorcerer. This will allow you to continue making scaling melee attacks in higher Tiers.

Then your go-to routine from Cleric 5+ will be to kick on Spirit Guardians, and wade into melee with STR-based Booming Blade melee attacks, with Bonus Action Spiritual Weapon attacks in most bigger combats.


Another solid option for a STR melee-focused divine caster is to take 5 levels of Ranger for Extra Attack, while also getting some additional spells and spell slot progression. The usual route is Cleric 1 -> Ranger 5/Cleric 1 -> Ranger 5/Cleric X.

(Also doable as Cleric 1 -> Ranger 3/Cleric 1 -> Ranger 3/Cleric 3 -> Ranger 5/Cleric 3 -> Ranger 5/Cleric X, if you roll well for stats and don't need the ASI ASAP.)

I'd rather go Pally 5/Cleric 15 in spite of that pesky 13 Cha requirement. Extra Attack, better fighting styles, smite, somewhat redundant spells, but at least you'll get Find Steed, and it's not like you care about any of the other abilities. Smite on a caster shell is really strong, so far as melee prowess goes, this is one of the more damaging options.

[Zhorn]

I remember last time I heard this question at my gaming club "can you be a STR based cleric?", immediate response being: "yeah, it's called a paladin"
I like the idea of getting a legit melee focused cleric up and running, but all the attempts of it I've seen for far boil down to take another class with some cleric levels to still be a cleric. Which doesn't really sound like a legitimate answer if all the melee stuff is coming from outside the cleric.

[Eldariel]

I remember last time I heard this question at my gaming club "can you be a STR based cleric?", immediate response being: "yeah, it's called a paladin"
I like the idea of getting a legit melee focused cleric up and running, but all the attempts of it I've seen for far boil down to take another class with some cleric levels to still be a cleric. Which doesn't really sound like a legitimate answer if all the melee stuff is coming from outside the cleric.

Well, if you pick up Booming Blade and make yourself good at taking AoOs, you can get some mileage out of your melee capability. But of course, even there, your action won't be spent attacking all that often since it just isn't that efficient.

[CTurbo]

You play a Str Cleric the same way you play a Dex Cleric except your AC is +1 better and your initiative sucks.

You can optimize a Cleric that relies on swinging a weapon, but it's never going to be as effective as your typical high Wis Warcaster/Res(Con) Cleric.

I've played several Str Clerics and I've discovered that after a while, swinging your weapon is rarely going to be the best use of your action. Even face to face with an enemy, I've found that even taking the Dodge Action is the smarter move.

I also agree that if you REALY want a weapon focused Cleric, take 5 levels of Ranger. Usually Gloom Stalker, but Hunter can be a very good dip too.

[Pex]

Your weapon attack + Spiritual Weapon will give you the feeling of the Extra Attack class feature, starting at level 3 before warriors get it at 5. Even with Strength you don't want to ignore Wisdom. You'll get the melee damage boost at 8th level. I suggest play a Variant Human to pick up War Caster. You'll want a buff spell on yourself, Bless or Shield of Faith in the low levels. Spirit Guardians later, so advantage on Concentration helps. Also, you can avoid worrying about the spellcasting you do use with a weapon and shield in your hands. A spell as an opportunity attack is gravy for your focus.

You can have 16/16 ST/WI at first level. Your choice which to raise to 18 at 4th level and raise the other at 8th. If you are attacking more than spellcasting go Strength first. It may help for roleplaying too depending or encourage you to attack more. Levels 1 and 2, Shield of Faith then attack in Round 1 is your goto strategy. Levels 3 and 4 Spiritual Weapon is cast in Round 2. At level 5 save Spirit Guardians for battles you'll know you will be surrounded. At these levels cast Bless when saving throws are really important.

Don't feel bad if you don't attack in Round 1 to cast an important spell that takes an Action, whatever that spell is. You're a cleric, not a fighter. You're doing your job. It is important to have some healing. Prepare Healing Word instead of Cure Wounds. Action economy is key. Healing Word is to keep a PC from dropping or stabilizing. and you still get to attack. Out of combat is Short Rest healing and potions. Prayer of Healing is worth considering.

[supercereal]

1) Pick the cleric class
2) Put a lot of point/your best stat roll on Srt
3) Congratulation! You are now playing a Str Cleric

[Mastikator]

I remember last time I heard this question at my gaming club "can you be a STR based cleric?", immediate response being: "yeah, it's called a paladin"
I like the idea of getting a legit melee focused cleric up and running, but all the attempts of it I've seen for far boil down to take another class with some cleric levels to still be a cleric. Which doesn't really sound like a legitimate answer if all the melee stuff is coming from outside the cleric.

I suspect you have to focus on spells that are bonus action so that you can still use your melee attack. Considering Divine Strike is a thing I think some clerics probably are supposed to hit things at least some of the times. Combining War Domain's Guided strike with GWM almost seems too good to be true.

[Corran]

One instance of extra attack is not going to cut it when comparing it to blade cantrips (GFB, BB), cause cantrips scale better and require 1/5 of the investment. Extra attack could perhaps be somewhat useful if you have weapon based nova that scales with the number of hits (so mostly smites), and if you want to rely to some extent to grappling/shoving enemies. Still, 5 levels for either of them or for both (assuming paladin for the latter), is too expensive considering how just one level in an arcane caster could give you scagtrips and spells like shield and absorb elements, while at the same time (and there's not emphasizing this enough) it just costs you 1 level away from your class, instead of 5 (or more). Cantrips just scale too well/easily when comparing them to martial weapon based damage increase, and since you've already got armor proficiencies from cleric there's even less reason to take levels in a martial class anyway. Scagtrips is the way to go (unfortunately), though you dont necessarily have to mc, you could just use a feat (magic initiate, spell sniper) or pick an appropriate race (high elf, halfelf high elf variant). Shillelagh could be useful if you dont mind spending a feat or dipping for it (probably later in the game). Or just go with decent str and a melee weapon, and dont worry about it too much (assuming it doesn't bother you). The difference in dpr is unlikely to make a real difference during play.

[Gtdead]

If you really want to do it, you have to invest in PAM. Considering that a Cleric only gets one attack per action, you will need the bonus action and the increased chance to use your AoO. Assuming Variant Human, your high point is level 1. You gain some minor increases at lvl 8 and 14 through divine strike but that's that.

Also don't bother with GWM. Against a standard difficulty progression, STR ASI will be equal to GWM plus you get the option of using a shield+Spear instead which IMO is superior.

To be perfectly honest with you, I think it's a really bad way to play a cleric. Your action economy will suck and you get similar results by using Cantrips+Spirit Guardians while focusing on more powerful feats like Resilient: CON.

The other way to do it requires either gauntlets of STR or Shillelagh and Booming Blade. A high half elf Nature Cleric for example can do that from level 1, or a Vhuman Arcana Cleric with Magic Initiate: Druid. If you can get the Gauntlets, you can be High Half Elf or Vhuman with MI:Initiate or Arcana Cleric. It's also a good idea to invest in mobile and Warcaster, but as you see, feats and ASIs are a problem for such a build.

The perfect scenario IMO would be Vhuman Arcana Cleric with Warcaster and Gauntlets of Strength. So he can grab mobile at lvl 4, and then raise his WIS at 8 and 12.

[Asmerv]

There might be some potential in War Cleric. Start with high Wis and Str and grab GWM at level 1. Bless will help land your hits with the -5 (and is a very good buff for two others) and your main attack will be quite strong. By picking your targets well you can get those extra attacks from GWM and use War Priest to fill in bonus action attacks when you can't. Solid right at level 1. From there you can move into more cleric for synergistic channel divinity etc or multiclass right away into multiple good options.