D&D 5E Strength Clerics

[Warpiglet-7]

So just curious how other have done this...I am old school. I prefer strength over dex.

I know, I know. I ignored the memo.

That said just wondering how folks configure their array for a strength cleric and also what are some of the benefits you have enjoyed with a physically strong cleric?

I imagine for one athletics might be useful for a supportive shove! (Maybe back grappled back into spirit guardians?).

looking forward to hearing about your burly cleric...

 

[Oofta]

You aren't the only one who gets tired of all the dex builds.

The last cleric I played was The Mighty Reverend Bubba Jr (named after my 4E cleric in LFR). A dragonborn, he started with Str, Con and Wis at 14 and a Cha of 13. A war domain cleric (of course) and devout follower of Tempus, he was quite fun. At 4th level I had bumped strength to an 18.

He was more likely to wade into combat with his two handed sword, using healing word if one of his allies fell or calling upon the blessings of Tyr to guide our path. Between combat, there was always Prayer of Healing, never bothered spell attacks other than spiritual hammer.

He was a lot of fun. Unfortunately semi-retired due to life interfering with my ability to play AL, I was looking forward to the day I could cast spirit guardians and wade into the mix. Ah well, maybe someday.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

You aren't the only one who gets tired of all the dex builds.

The last cleric I played was The Mighty Reverend Bubba Jr (named after my 4E cleric in LFR). A dragonborn, he started with Str, Con and Wis at 14 and a Cha of 13. A war domain cleric (of course) and devout follower of Tempus, he was quite fun. At 4th level I had bumped strength to an 18.

He was more likely to wade into combat with his two handed sword, using healing word if one of his allies fell or calling upon the blessings of Tyr to guide our path. Between combat, there was always Prayer of Healing, never bothered spell attacks other than spiritual hammer.

He was a lot of fun. Unfortunately semi-retired due to life interfering with my ability to play AL, I was looking forward to the day I could cast spirit guardians and wade into the mix. Ah well, maybe someday.

That warms my heart to hear. Maybe the first thing to do is forget too much cautious advice and have fun! I had the scandalous idea of bumping str to 18 at level 4! And wis to 18 at 8!

I am sure I just gave rapier dex fans the vapors.

but respectfully I am good with anyone’s style. I am just curious about some benefits with the now less common str cleric. I am going arcana (again oddball i know) and am thinking about heavily armored feat at 1st...

 

[Oofta]

That warms my heart to hear. Maybe the first thing to do is forget too much cautious advice and have fun! I had the scandalous idea of bumping str to 18 at level 4! And wis to 18 at 8!

I am sure I just gave rapier dex fans the vapors

Yeah, I'm not sure what I would have done at 8th. Probably war caster so he could keep his spells going, but I don't really plan out my PCs that far ahead.

But I would definitely considering strength at 4th, the best defense is a good offense! Well, that and the +1 to healing won't matter much and he wasn't that big on spells that require a save. Besides, most monsters don't have great saves to begin with. End of the day I always do PCs that I will have fun playing, the heck with optimization.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

Yeah, I'm not sure what I would have done at 8th. Probably war caster so he could keep his spells going, but I don't really plan out my PCs that far ahead.

But I would definitely considering strength at 4th, the best defense is a good offense! Well, that and the +1 to healing won't matter much and he wasn't that big on spells that require a save. Besides, most monsters don't have great saves to begin with. End of the day I always do PCs that I will have fun playing, the heck with optimization.

Yes. I think if i let go more often I would be happier. I don’t over optimize (mace and str > rapier and dex any day!) but there are times it would be better to ignore the numbers.

In this case I am thinking about magic initiate. It would be cool to use thaumaturgy to have the sound of ravens in the distance followed by one (a familiar) suddenly dropPing on his shoulder!

really looking forward to this character.

Had a cleric or pekoe in third edition. Brother Ferguson was a fat cleric with a heavy mace. He brought the beat down!

In first edition I worked a cleric to 9th level. A lot of 13s but had 16 con, 17 wis and magic plate and shield and +2 mace!

simpler characters and simpler times but lots of fun. 5e has got me back on clerics now. I always wanted to play the cleric. I see a lot of people feel stuck with cleric when it was often my first choice!

 

[cbwjm]

Last cleric I had was a human strength cleric (only level 2, life got in the way of that campaign), using point buy they had the following scores: Str 14, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 11, Wis 16, cha 14. I was planning on getting his strength to 16 at level 4 then focusing on wisdom.

I wanted a decent charisma as I saw him as a leader so if I was going to change anything, I would probably drop constitution and intelligence a little to get his strength up to 16 at 1st level (or maybe 15 and then pick up a strength boosting feat at level 4), I rarely plan far ahead when building characters though. He was a sword and board warrior and I was looking forward to level three and picking up spiritual weapon to help with his combat damage. Melee clerics can be fun, and I think I like the look of the more heavily armoured cleric (though I also liked a previous dexterity based elven cleric).

 

[Shiroiken]

War Cleric works fine with a 14 Wis and maxed out Str. You generally ignore save based spells, focusing on buffs like Bless and healing. War Caster for concentration spells can be useful, depending on your style and preferences.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

How much con do you all go for? It’s hard to have everything as you know.

with my arcana cleric I am looking at 16 str, 16 wis and 14 con with heavily armored at 1

he is an urchin and has a lot to prove chip on shoulder. Chr 8.

I cannot play less than a 10 int, ever. I also have a 10 dex.

wondeing if I should reearange
To be more reailient. Heck I could take heavy armor master at 4 if I had to....

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Dex is overrated anyway.
Do you want to rush into battle before the fighter and the wizard?
Do you want to heal your tanks between enemies?
Do you want to shoot bows?

Instead do you want to stand your ground?
Heal your allies after they were damaged?

Yes. It is nice to hold persons before they can be smacked down, but often being the last to go is equally good.
Probably I would swap con and wis, so you can hold concentration more easily.
Maybe starting with 17 Str and 8 dex would also be an option if you want to go heavy armor mastery but maybe combat caster is more important.

 

[TwoSix]

How much con do you all go for? It’s hard to have everything as you know.

with my arcana cleric I am looking at 16 str, 16 wis and 14 con with heavily armored at 1

he is an urchin and has a lot to prove chip on shoulder. Chr 8.

I cannot play less than a 10 int, ever. I also have a 10 dex.

wondeing if I should reearange
To be more reailient. Heck I could take heavy armor master at 4 if I had to....

I never take less than 14 Con. I very rarely take more unless the class is truly SAD, which generally doesn't happen with my concepts.

Str Cleric is totally fine, it really only hurts a little at later Tier 2 into later tiers. Plenty of games never go that far, and cleric is beastly in Tier 1.