I have a human tempest cleric that will soon reach 4th level. I am debating how to use the ability score increase on level up. I would like to see arguments for each case below to help me decide. I am also adding a poll for respondents to vote on. I am not a new RPG player, but am relatively new to 5e and I am unsure about the benefits of increased Spell DC/Attack modifier on higher level spells vs increasing "to hit"; damage and AC.
Scenario 1: use on WIS to go from 16 to 18 and gain +1 to Wisdom modifier and thus a +1 increase to Spell DC/Attack modifier. Note proficiency bonus will increase +1 at level 5.
Scenario 2: use the increase for +1 on STR to go from 15 to 16 and +1 on DEX to go from 13 to 14. This will increase each ability modifier by 1, adding bonus "to hit" & damage and increase AC by 1.
What do you spend most of your time doing? What do you plan on spending most of your time doing?
If you want to keep playing in melee, go ahead and buff your physical stats. If you want to become the best spell caster that you can, then you should buff WIS and consider CON as well (or feats) to protect your concentration.
I think that most primary spellcasters end up focusing on spellcasting because there is no way that they can keep up with martial characters in weapon damage, so they tend to focus on the stats important to casting and improving those casting stats are the best way to make your spells better. Clerics can generally help the party in much better ways than hitting with their weapon once with maybe a couple of extra dice of damage.
Edit: you also have ASI's coming at other levels, you might be able to do both depending on how long the game will last. Ideally, you'd want a 20 Wis eventually. If you aren't focused on combat casting spells that depend on WIS, a +3 might suit you for many levels.
The increase in AC will depend on what you wear. You are a tempest cleric so I would assume you are wearing heavy armour? Dex would still increase your initiative and dex save though.
Getting rid of 2 uneven numbers is never bad though. It activates the "dead" points spent there.
Tempest can be fairly effective in melee once they get the melee trait from thei class. If you find yourself casting a lot of things where spell DCs really matter though, grab the wisdom.
What is actual your array of stats? In general, getting Wis to 20 is the thing Clerics want to do. There are lots of ways to enhance non-spellcasting capabilities, yet there are very few ways to increase your spellcasting attack bonus & save DC other than increasing your spellcasting ability score.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Like others said, it depends upon how you play. I would ignore DEX entirely. You're never going to be great at everything and most heavy armor clerics understand that DEX is their weak spot. Boosting WIS is almost always a good option. You could also consider boosting STR to an even number and then boosting CON to an odd number and taking Resilient as a feat later on. I personally prefer War Caster, but for someone on the front line, being proficient in CON saves is a boon.
I hope you realize that you don't add your Dexterity to your AC when wearing Heavy Armor.
Are you wearing Medium Armor because of the lack of a Stealth penalty?
You should consider the War Caster feat, too. And review the rules on casting spells while holding a weapon and a shield in your hands, too. The War Caster feat is extremely important for most Clerics.
I know I am late to the party, and you have already made your decision. Usually I would say for a Cleric to always up wisdom, but getting a +1 in two important stats is hard to pass up as well, especially for a Tempest Cleric who will be in hand to hand combat. I think in this case, you caca go wrong no matter which you choose.
I am going to face a similar choice when next I level up, whether to up Wisdom to 20 or take resilient (Con).
For a melee Cleric that wants to hold a shield and a weapon and still cast spells, and concentrate on Bless or Spirit Guardians or another spell, I think War Caster has to come before any stat increase.
I have a human tempest cleric that will soon reach 4th level. I am debating how to use the ability score increase on level up. I would like to see arguments for each case below to help me decide. I am also adding a poll for respondents to vote on. I am not a new RPG player, but am relatively new to 5e and I am unsure about the benefits of increased Spell DC/Attack modifier on higher level spells vs increasing "to hit"; damage and AC.
Scenario 1: use on WIS to go from 16 to 18 and gain +1 to Wisdom modifier and thus a +1 increase to Spell DC/Attack modifier. Note proficiency bonus will increase +1 at level 5.
Scenario 2: use the increase for +1 on STR to go from 15 to 16 and +1 on DEX to go from 13 to 14. This will increase each ability modifier by 1, adding bonus "to hit" & damage and increase AC by 1.
What do you spend most of your time doing? What do you plan on spending most of your time doing?
If you want to keep playing in melee, go ahead and buff your physical stats. If you want to become the best spell caster that you can, then you should buff WIS and consider CON as well (or feats) to protect your concentration.
I think that most primary spellcasters end up focusing on spellcasting because there is no way that they can keep up with martial characters in weapon damage, so they tend to focus on the stats important to casting and improving those casting stats are the best way to make your spells better. Clerics can generally help the party in much better ways than hitting with their weapon once with maybe a couple of extra dice of damage.
Edit: you also have ASI's coming at other levels, you might be able to do both depending on how long the game will last. Ideally, you'd want a 20 Wis eventually. If you aren't focused on combat casting spells that depend on WIS, a +3 might suit you for many levels.
The increase in AC will depend on what you wear. You are a tempest cleric so I would assume you are wearing heavy armour? Dex would still increase your initiative and dex save though.
Getting rid of 2 uneven numbers is never bad though. It activates the "dead" points spent there.
Tempest can be fairly effective in melee once they get the melee trait from thei class. If you find yourself casting a lot of things where spell DCs really matter though, grab the wisdom.
What is actual your array of stats? In general, getting Wis to 20 is the thing Clerics want to do. There are lots of ways to enhance non-spellcasting capabilities, yet there are very few ways to increase your spellcasting attack bonus & save DC other than increasing your spellcasting ability score.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Like others said, it depends upon how you play. I would ignore DEX entirely. You're never going to be great at everything and most heavy armor clerics understand that DEX is their weak spot. Boosting WIS is almost always a good option. You could also consider boosting STR to an even number and then boosting CON to an odd number and taking Resilient as a feat later on. I personally prefer War Caster, but for someone on the front line, being proficient in CON saves is a boon.
I hope you realize that you don't add your Dexterity to your AC when wearing Heavy Armor.
Are you wearing Medium Armor because of the lack of a Stealth penalty?
You should consider the War Caster feat, too. And review the rules on casting spells while holding a weapon and a shield in your hands, too. The War Caster feat is extremely important for most Clerics.
Increasing WIS also increases the number of spells you can prepare, which could be useful.
How to add Tooltips
Hey Gamers,
Thanks for input. I am an old AD&Der and @gabrielrockman's reminder about DEX and heavy armor made the decision for me. WIS it is.
Semper Fidelis
I know I am late to the party, and you have already made your decision. Usually I would say for a Cleric to always up wisdom, but getting a +1 in two important stats is hard to pass up as well, especially for a Tempest Cleric who will be in hand to hand combat. I think in this case, you caca go wrong no matter which you choose.
I am going to face a similar choice when next I level up, whether to up Wisdom to 20 or take resilient (Con).
For a melee Cleric that wants to hold a shield and a weapon and still cast spells, and concentrate on Bless or Spirit Guardians or another spell, I think War Caster has to come before any stat increase.
Wisdom, definitley you need it for your spells. You aren't a fighter.
War caster is so essential to a fighting cleric, that I rarely take anything but a V Human so I get warcaster right away.