An in-depth optimized Cleric build for levels 1-5

In my experience, the levels 1-5 are where most of the play in DnD happens, especially for new players. Many campaigns start at level 1, and are most of the way done by the time you reach level 5, for one reason or another. So I've decided to make a character guide for levels 1-5, to help out new and experienced players alike who are building under the assumption that the maximum level is 5.

The build we'll be making is a Cleric. The Cleric class offers excellent versatility and power in the early levels. The race we'll be choosing is Variant Human, which is simply the best level 1 race for basically any build.

For our stats, we're using Point Buy. Wisdom is our most important skill as a Cleric, it governs our spell DC and spell attack bonus as well as an important save, so we're taking a preracial 15 with a racial +1, for a total of 16 Wisdom to get our +3 modifier. Our next important ability score will be Dexterity. At early levels, you don't have many spell slots, so you need to be able to contribute to combat without using any limited resources, and weapons outperform cantrips in the early levels, while also contribution to our AC while we're not in heavy armor and giving us an important saving throw. We're taking 14 Constitution, which will help us with our Concentration checks and give us extra hit points. We have 2 points remaining, and I'm putting them in Intelligence for a 10. Strength, Intelligence, and Charisma are all unimportant to this build, so pick whichever you think will aid your character from a roleplaying perspective.

As a variant human, we receive a bonus feat at level 1, we're choosing to take War Caster. This gives us advantage on Constitution saves to maintain our concentration, it allows us to perform the somatic components of spells while we're holding our longbow in both hands, and it lets us cast a spell at a creature that provokes an oppertunity attack from us, which makes slightly for the fact that you can't make an opportunity attack with a bow.

As a level 1 Cleric, we get to choose a domain, and since we plan to use a Longbow, we want a domain that grants us proficiency with Martial Weapons. For this build, we're choosing the Tempest Domain. This domain gives us the ability to use our reaction to retaliate against any creature that damaged us, dealing a solid 9 average damage on a failed save, usable 3 times per long rest. This damage doesn't scale at all, but in the early game it's quite significant.

If you're forced to take the Cleric starting equipment, here is my recommendation:
-Scale Mail. While this build is proficient with heavy armor, we don't have the Strength to use it without the movement penalty. Scale mail, with our +3 dex, will give us 16 AC, the same as if we had been using Chain.
-Warhammer. We're not going to be using this, but it's more expensive than a mace, so hopefully we can sell it and put that gold towards purchasing a longbow.
-Light crossbow and 20 bolts. This will be our budget replacement for a longbow in the early levels. It deals a solid 1d8+3 damage, and since we're only making one attack with it anyway, the loading property doesn't affect us.
-Explorer's Pack. 10 days of rations and various other things which are helpful when adventuring.

Spell Selection. As a 1st level cleric, we know 3 cantrips, and can prepare up to 5 spells. For cantrips, we're taking Guidance, Light, and Toll the Dead
-Guidance gives us a free +1d4 to any skill check (including Initiative, which is a dexterity check) as long as we have the 6 seconds to cast the spell ahead of time. It's a great cantrip.
-We're a human, and that means we don't have Darkvision. Thankfully, the light cantrip can help us see in the dark
-We have room for one damaging cantrip, and we're taking Toll the Dead, which deals a solid 1d12 damage to any creature below its maximum hit points.
We can prepare four first-level spells, plus Fog Cloud and Thunderwave. Our choices will be
-Bless. For the low cost of our concentration, Bless grants any three friendly creatures +1d4 to all attack rolls and saves for a minute, which is usually enough to last most combats. It's a very solid buff, especially if you have the time to cast it before battle.
-Healing Word. Using only a bonus action and with a range of 60 feet, Healing Word gives us the ability to restore 1d4+3 hit points to an ally, while still being able to make our attack for the turn.
-Inflict Wounds. Since we're a spellcaster using a longbow, we want an option available to us in case we get caught in Melee. Inflict Wounds deals a very solid 16.5 damage on average, which allows us to quickly dispose of an enemy that tries to trap us in Melee.
-Detect Magic. I want at least one spell that we can cast as a Ritual, and Detect Magic can be very useful. Take 10 minutes to cast this spell as a ritual whenever you end up in a suspicious-looking room.

In summary:

At level 1, we're mostly an archer, firing off crossbow bolts with a +5 bonus that deal 1d8+3 damage, and supporting with healing and buffs when we can. We stick to the backline to attack at range, but we're far from helpless if we're caught in melee. We have 10 hit points and 16 AC, which is on par with martial classes at this level.
(levels 2-5 will get their own posts)

Level 2

We can either take 1d8+2 hit points, or 7. I always recommend you take the 7, since it's actually higher than the average you would get from rolling, but the choice is up to you, maybe you'll get lucky.

At second level, we gain our Channel Divinity, and for Tempest Cleric that's Wrath of the Storm. We can use our Channel Divinity to deal maximum damage with any Lightning or Thunder effect, instead of rolling. Our Channel Divinity comes back on a Short Rest, so if we get two short rests per day, we might be able to use this three times.

Currently, the only things we have that deal Lightning or Thunder damage are short range, our Thunderwave spell and Wrath of the Storm. For this reason, we're going to move into Melee. We have a shield from our starting equipment, so hopefully during the course of our first level we're picked up a Finesse weapon we can use. The ideal would be a Rapier, but even a dagger would do. Most martial characters start with more weapons than they need, so ask one of them if they can start with a Rapier for you. If you have a party Rogue, they start with two daggers that they rarely need.

We have gained a third spell slot this level, and Thunderwave becomes a much more appealing option when it deals 16 damage instead of 9 on average. Just remember that the spell is not friendly (that is, it hits your allies) and try to cast it in such a way that you're only hitting your enemies with it. The fact that you have +3 to initiative could help with this. If you act before your allies in combat, you could run into Melee with the enemy, Thunderwave them to deal good damage and disrupt their formation, and then your allies can join the fight.

We can also prepare another spell this level, and I'm taking another ritual, this time Purify Food and Drink. I don't expect to cast this often, but it can be a huge help, and we don't really have the spell slots to support another combat spell. I'd also recommend you switch Inflict Wounds for Guiding Bolt, since now that we're mostly in melee, we need something to do in case we get caught at range from the enemy.

Level 3

At this level, we gain access to second-level spells, and our choice is the Cleric damage staple Spiritual Weapon. Every turn, we can use a bonus action to attack with the weapon for 1d8+3 force damage, which practically doubles our DPR over just using our normal weapon. We can't use it very often yet, but it's a great asset for bigger fights. Since this spell has a decent 30-foot range, we can choose to either sit in the backline and fire at range or fight in melee with a finesse weapon. Hopefully we've found a rapier by now, but using a dagger isn't a disaster. If we get surrounded, we can upcast a Thunderwave to second level and use our Channel Divinity to guarantee 24 damage to any creature that fails their save, and we can use Shatter to deal high damage to a group of enemies.

Level 4

At this level, we get an Ability Score Increase, and we have the choice between more Dexterity, more Wisdom, or a feat. Since we're nearing the level where our cantrip damage scales, we're going to be increasing our Wisdom at this level, which grants us +1 to hit and to our save DC, +1 to Spiritual Weapon damage, and +1 to an important save and two important skills. We also gain two more spells known this level, one from levelling up and one from having higher Wisdom. I'm taking Lesser Restoration, which is situational but very good to have when you need it, and Command, which offers good control against single targets.

Level 5

This is the level where Cantrips scale, and 2d12 damage from a Toll the Dead will beat the 1d8+3 damage from a rapier or longbow, especially with our 18 Wisdom. We also get access to third-level spells, and our ability to deal area damage significantly improves. We're taking Revivify as our 3rd level spell, hopefully we're at the point where we can afford the material component, because this spell can be a real lifesaver. For damage, we have our domain spell Call Lightning, which deals 3d10 (or 30 with channel divinity) lightning damage in a 10-foot AOE every turn, and Spirit Guardians, which deals less damage (3d8) but it doesn't require our action every turn to use. We can use it if we're caught in melee.


Final build: Variant Human Cleric (5)

Tempest domain

8 Strength, 16 Dex, 14 Con, 10 Int, 18 Wis, 8 Cha

War Caster

Scale Mail (or Half-plate if we've found some)

Rapier and Shield: 18 total AC

Cantrips: Guidance, Light, Toll the dead, Mending

Level 1 spells: Bless, Healing Word, Guiding Bolt, Purify Food and Drink, Detect Magic
Level 2 spells: Spiritual Weapon, Lesser Restoration
Level 3 spells: Revivify, Spirit Guardians

Domain Spells:
Level 1: Fog Cloud, Thunderwave
Level 2: Gust of wind, Shatter
Level 3: Call Lightning, Sleet Storm.

I think a lot of the advice here is flat out wrong.

FrogReaver said:

I think a lot of the advice here is flat out wrong.

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Oh? Most if it seems coherent and logical.

[MENTION=6941440]Gavin O.[/MENTION]

Assuming you are a variant human take 16 wis 14 dex and 10 str (which is honestly a questionably optimal setup) then:

1. Toll the Dead is better than a long bow (provided you are in range and the enemy is injured).

2. A heavy crossbow is better than a longbow and is also slightly better than toll the dead in all circumstances except melee range

3. Since you have a strong ranged attack in toll the dead you should actually be using a shield and a melee weapon for better AC and the chance to provoke OA's. This allows you to be effective on the front line and also allows you to effectively play mid range and intercept enemies that try to bypass your front line and engage your squishier allies.

4. One of the biggest benefits to being a tempest cleric early is Wrath of the Storm. It requires an enemy be 5 ft from you to use. This is even further incentive to drop the bow and gear toward being effective in melee even at level 1 and even if you play the midrange game with toll the dead most of the time.

5. Warcaster is a slightly suboptimal feat pick at level 1. You have high AC and the only spell you will likely concentrate on till level 5 is bless which naturally boosts your concentration save on it's own. Warcaster does sit you up nicely to take +2 wisdom at level 4 but otherwise won't benefit you much. I'd recommend the healer feat at level 1 for this build and then I'd consider warcaster at level 4 since your staple concentration spells (spirit guardians and call lightning) come online at level 5. The healer feat frees up your spell slots from being saved for healing to being able to use them for offense while having the healer feat for needed healing.

6. You shouldn't take inflict wounds as both toll the dead, your a finesse weapon and thunderwave (which you always have prepared thanks to tempest are available) are all available in melee. Instead I recommend command in it's place.

At the tables I play, levels 1-5 are "trainign" levels that go by pretty quickly, a session or two each. As a matter of fact, the last three games I was in from the start (as opposed to joining an existing game that's already advanced) started at 5th, 5th, and 3rd because we had already played a lot of D&D and there aren't as many choices and options at the low levels.

So, and this is purely table variation, I'm more concerned about a character coming together at 5th then that 1-4 don't dip onto the Ranger side of the power curve.

Interesting take on a tempest cleric build. I like that you highlighted ways the character will play differently as they level up. One question on the ability scores:

Gavin O. said:

Our next important ability score will be Dexterity. At early levels, you don't have many spell slots, so you need to be able to contribute to combat without using any limited resources, and weapons outperform cantrips in the early levels, while also contribution to our AC while we're not in heavy armor and giving us an important saving throw.

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You never said what the Dex will be, but I am assuming 16 since you later mention a +3 dex mod? Beginning stats are 8/16/14/10/16/8? If that's the case, I think you are putting too much into Dex considering that you are wearing scale mail and giving up on the longbow after just one level. I'd suggest starting with Dex 13 + 1 from V. human and put the extra 4 points somewhere else, maybe 10 Str and 10 Cha or even just 12 Cha since Cha is a proficient save. Maybe put 2 points into Con to start with an odd score in case you wanted to take the Resilient (Con) feat down the line.
[Edit: yes you'll still need Dex for that rapier, but IME the weapon attacks become a lot less important as you head into Tier 2]

Spell selection isn't that important since you can change them out every day, but early on, when you only have 2-3 spell slots, I would focus on spells that you know will work when you need them to work, instead of spells that require a successful attack roll. After personal experience missing too many Guiding Bolts, I limit the all-or-nothing damage spells to cantrips. If I'm going to burn one of only two daily spell slots, I need to have something to show for it.