Best Cleric race? (sorry if this is in the wrong forum)

[AbdulAlhazred]

Neuroglyph has a point. Even if you don't really consider it from an RP perspective the WORST race you can pick combined with the WORST build of cleric for that race will still be a good character. 4e is just designed like that. Run what's fun for you and don't worry about it too much. If you were an eladrin with DEX/INT stat bonuses you'll still be a good cleric and you could still get good use out of your racial power and the various racial feats.

All that being said, dwarves do have a lot going for them and they'll have a small edge vs other races with a primarily STR based cleric. The cleric in our game is human but started with a 20 STR and really does seriously good melee damage (and then slaps a +4 to-hit the same enemy onto the dwarf fighter, ouch).

 

[UngeheuerLich]

hey, int is the relevant attribute for religion, and a longsword and dexterity for HBO comes in quite handy

teleort is never bad and also extra defenses vs charm effects are quite useful. So even without racial feats, you can hold up with the rest of the group.

an array to consider would be (16,12,12,10,16,8) or somethink like that. Pick up shield as soon as possible or eladrin soldier for great spear and scale and scale expertise and HBO at paragon levels.

 

[Klaus]

One oft-overlooked cleric race is dragonborn. Str/Cha makes it perfect for battle clerics. You can focus on fire/radiant for your powers and breath weapon, and Battle Cleric Armaments gives you proficiency in light shields and one martial weapon (longsword fits in well).

 

[Akaiku]

As a side note, a 16 with an implement stat is somewhat harsh going, speaking as a 3rd level cleric with said bonus.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Yes, you have to be a bit careful with said stats, because you can´t compensate with better proficiency bonus.
But you can try to focus on prayers which have an effect line and attack different defenses.

 

[Akaiku]

But you can try to focus on prayers which have an effect line and attack different defenses.

You will still suck at hitting, is the thing.

You can make the whole hitting thing less important, but you still are in a bad way. Distant advantage+astral seal is accurate, for instance, but occasionally something cool is vs fort, which you miss usually.

 

[Zustiur]

Yes, you have to be a bit careful with said stats, because you can´t compensate with better proficiency bonus.

I second this. I had a dragonborn cleric with 16 str and 16 wis. He was terribly un-fun to play.

I've been going over the cleric in detail in the last few days, and here is what I'd take for level 1:

Human Cleric
Str 10
Con 13
Dex 8
Int 10
Wis 18 + 2 (human stat) = 20
Cha 13

At wills: Lance of Faith, Sacred Flame, Astral Seal
Encounter: Divine Glow
Daily: Beacon of Hope
Feat: Melee training (wis) or Defensive Healing or Shielding Word (the last two appear to be basically identical).
Skills: Religion, Heal, Insight, History, Diplomacy

I haven't had the chance to actually try this cleric out, but I consider it to be the 'best' build for a number of reasons. Your mileage and opinion will of course vary from mine. I'll outline some of my reasoning here:
1) I don't play in an Eberron game, so Kalashtar are not available to me. Other than Wis and Cha I don't like their racial abilities anyway.
2) A cleric which tries to use strength attacks is effectively forced to reduce their healing power by reducing wisdom.
3) Melee Training gives the best of both worlds - you don't have any melee powers, but you still get +5 to hit and +5 damage whenever you find yourself in combat - essentially like having 20 strength!
4) After the first round of combat, being high in the initiative order is essentially moot. As a healer, your 'best' place in the initiative order is after the monsters, but before your companions. The easiest way to achieve this is to be last in the round. Having a low dex can actually be beneficial in this way.
5) I'd like higher charisma, but I feel it's over-rated. I've built this cleric to level 6, and at that level only 3 powers use charisma. Sacred flame (where it adds to temporary hit points), Turn undead (which doesn't bother me much as it only affects the push distance), and Consecrated ground (which is a daily, and easy to replace if it isn't working well)
6) I considered a dwarf, but as I'd be building a ranged 'laser' cleric, I don't expect to take enough damage for second wind as a minor action to be worthwhile. Nor do I expect to use melee weapons often so dwarven weapons aren't any real help.
7) I considered elf but with 20 wis (and implement expertise later), I don't expect missing to really be a problem. Their other abilities didn't seem overly helpful when compared with Astral Seal and the other bonuses from being human.
8) The extreme wisdom is taken for other benefits rather than for damage - the ability to hit frequently (thus applying buffs or de-buffs) and the additional healing are imperative if you want to be a particularly good leader.

My biggest concerns with this build are the low defenses you end up with from only having +1 in the Str/Con line and 0 from the Dex/Int line. You may feel it is wiser to drop a point or two from Wisdom to gain +2 in one or both of the other lines. I rounded out his ranged ability by giving him a hand crossbow for the odd situation where moving and 5 range isn't enough.

IF I built a strength based cleric, I'd really skimp on wisdom, and focus on strength. As an experiment I rebuilt my original dragonborn cleric based on this concept, and ended up with a mere 13 wisdom. What's more I didn't boost his wisdom until level 12 - but there I was essentially building a cleric defender rather than a cleric leader.

 

[Thanee]

As a side note, a 16 with an implement stat is somewhat harsh going, speaking as a 3rd level cleric with said bonus.

Yep, my elven cleric started with WIS 20, and it still doesn't feel like I would hit as easy as the weapon wielders.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Klaus]

One thing to note is that you don't want a Str/Wis race. You want a Str/Cha race or a Wis/Cha race. If you go Str/Wis, you'll likely lack the Cha to make use of rider effects.

 

[eamon]

The character builder's "auto-pick" stat array is a good default choice. It picks 18,14,11,10,10,8 for all class/race combo's. In my experience it can certainly be worth spreading your stats out more, but if you don't know what you want, focus is a good thing.

The easiest way to render any character ineffective and frustratingly unfun is by trying to do everything at once and spreading yourself too thin. Whatever you do, pick one build and one thing and focus on those first. If you can get some extras by choosing a 13/13 instead of 14/11, or by going lowering the 18 a bit, that's fine - but be aware that your primary stat has a huge impact on your character - one defense, to-hit and damage. Sometimes sacrificing those three things is worth it - but at least consider what you're losing when you do.

Edit: I don't mean to suggest you absolutely need 18/14 and a race that boosts primary+secondary. 18/14 and no further boosts is playable. But less than an 18 and no racial +2 is generally noticeably weak. Thus, picking a race that at least has a +2 to your primary stat is a wise thing to do.

So, I'd recommend against the Str/Wis cleric unless you love character optimization and are comparing it to other builds.