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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Volund" data-source="post: 7550549" data-attributes="member: 6872597">Tempest cleric with booming blade would be my first choice, but my next choice would be a hill dwarf nature cleric for all the reasons mentioned above. I'd start with 10/14/16/8/16/10 for my hill dwarf stats. 12 hp at first level + 9hp/level - you'll keep pace with every melee class but barbarians. Doesn't sacrifice WIS at the expense of a STR/DEX attack stat, which is important because without extra attacks you'll need spiritual weapon to keep up. IMO a melee cleric is decent even at Tier 3 with a 16 STR, but a cleric without high WIS is not great. You'll still want a decent save DC for cleric staples like spirit guardians or banishment. Get War Caster or Resilient(CON) ASAP, and then use ASI's to boost WIS. With a hill dwarf I wouldn't worry about Magic Initiate; I don't think it's worth delaying War Caster or WIS ASI's. By 5th level you can have a d8+4 Shillelagh attack, a d8+4 spiritual weapon attack, and 3d8 spirit guardians with DC 15 all going at once if you really need to pour on the damage. If you do want BB, then High Elf or Variant Human/Magic Initiate are the way to go, but in that case I would build a tempest cleric for the Destructive Wrath max thunder damage when your BB crits. (Don't take GFB from Magic Initiate because its spellcasting ability will be INT/CHA so in all likelihood you won't have the stats for a damage bonus to the adjacent enemy.)Here's a different take on a melee cleric build: focus on holding the line and absorbing melee attacks instead of damage output. A hill dwarf cleric can make an excellent defensive tank, just taking up space on the front line and being hard to hit. AC18/Sanctuary/Dodge Action while keeping Bless up on your allies is a great combo. For extra tankiness take the dwarven fortitude feat so you can heal yourself by expending hit dice while dodging.</blockquote>

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