What's a good way to survive Dex save spells like Fireball and Lightning bolts for non DEX Clerics?
They are not proficient in Dex Saves, They don't have access to Absorb Elements, They can't Counter Spell, also don't have Evade. Shield Master is only good if you make your DEX save which you most likely won't. Resilient in Dex is a possibility.
Anything you can do other than Cop it in the face?
Well, if you're a Light Domain cleric, I'd say the only appropriate answer to getting Fireballed is to FIREBALL THEM RIGHT BACK!
And then heal yourself, cuz you're probably gonna need it.
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Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
Not a whole lot of options, but considering you're facing enemies with access to 3rd level spells, the 3rd level counter you can have available is Protection from Energy. It's Concentration, it's only resistant to one of the damages you specify, and it would need to have been cast prior to the event. Cheaper and worse +d4 option with Cantrip Resistance, but again it's hard to budget your concentration and actions prior to the spell being cast if you aren't expecting a fight with known elemental damage. Both really bad options, sorry.
Better option: If you have a level 4 spell slot, the answer to how to survive a Dex save is Death Ward.
The game is built on a balance of challenging effects and applying appropriate counters. If your group is encountering the effects, but lack the appropriate counters (like a party member with Counterspell), it's going to be extra challenging. Other than getting new feats like you suggested or relying on an ally to disrupt it, equipment / magic items are probably the solution you're looking for. Both of those can be addressed as a concern to your DM, and hopefully you can trust their encounter building process and magic item rewards.
Not sure what tier your character is at, but it's fun to drool over items like Spellguard Shield, or any number of resistance armor options. Let your DM know your concerns, especially if your party lacks the right counters internally. Hopefully you survive long enough to get the opportunity for items like that.
The biggest thing you can do is not dump your dex, just because you may have access to heavy armor.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
As a non dex cleric I would always try to have at least a +1 on Dex.
As a party you are a team, so other members of the team can be cover areas where you are weak (e.g. Counterspell, Bardic Inspiration) but don't expect everything you have a decent number of HP, the divination wizard might want to use his high portent dice on a character the fireball would one-shot (e.g. himself)
A non-dex Cleric would want to have Wisdom as their top stat, with Constitution and Strength also somewhat high, leaving Dexterity, Intelligence, and Charisma as their bottom 3. If you're able to get four scores of 12+, then its best to put intelligence and charisma as your two lowest scores and put Dexterity as the 4th best stat. But not everyone is able to get four scores of of 12+. In fact, I've rolled for stats 5 times and never managed to get four scores of 12+. I guess that I don't have the dice rolling "skill."
If you're trying to do a multiclass, or if you have some roleplaying reason to put your Intelligence or Charisma higher than your Dexterity, then you will be slightly more vulnerable to fireballs and lightning bolts, but having a +0 or -1 in Dexterity instead of a +1 in Dexterity isn't really that big of a difference. Most of the time it won't make a difference on whether or not you pass your saving throw.
But even a dex Cleric probably isn't going to be any better than +2 or +3 at dexterity saving throws, so I wouldn't consider there to be much of a difference mechanically between a Dex Cleric and a non-Dex Cleric. You're still not getting your dex saves high enough to the point where there's a big difference between a dex Cleric's vulnerability to Fireball and Lightning Bolt and a non-dex Cleric's vulnerability to Fireball and Lightning Bolt.
If you have a Paladin in your party, though, that's when your might get your saving throws good enough that it makes a difference. Using Bless on yourself helps with that, too. But most likely, as a dex Cleric or a non-dex Cleric, you're going to be weak at dex saves either way. I wouldn't worry about it. Taking damage happens.
The nature cleric at 6th level can confer elemental resistance as a reaction. They and any cleric can also cast protection from energy as a buff. That covers two.
My suggestion, +2 Con and cast Aid as a 3rd level spell. At 5th level,(same level at which an enemy could cast Fireball or Call Lightning) you would have 38 HP along with 10 more from Aid. This would make it very unlikely to be one-shotted. I went through my characters and noticed I +2 Con a lot, very few have no Con bonus.
What's a good way to survive Dex save spells like Fireball and Lightning bolts for non DEX Clerics?
They are not proficient in Dex Saves, They don't have access to Absorb Elements, They can't Counter Spell, also don't have Evade. Shield Master is only good if you make your DEX save which you most likely won't. Resilient in Dex is a possibility.
Anything you can do other than Cop it in the face?
Well, if you're a Light Domain cleric, I'd say the only appropriate answer to getting Fireballed is to FIREBALL THEM RIGHT BACK!
And then heal yourself, cuz you're probably gonna need it.
Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
Anzio Faro. Lvl 5 Prot. Aasimar Light Cleric.
Not a whole lot of options, but considering you're facing enemies with access to 3rd level spells, the 3rd level counter you can have available is Protection from Energy. It's Concentration, it's only resistant to one of the damages you specify, and it would need to have been cast prior to the event. Cheaper and worse +d4 option with Cantrip Resistance, but again it's hard to budget your concentration and actions prior to the spell being cast if you aren't expecting a fight with known elemental damage. Both really bad options, sorry.
Better option: If you have a level 4 spell slot, the answer to how to survive a Dex save is Death Ward.
The game is built on a balance of challenging effects and applying appropriate counters. If your group is encountering the effects, but lack the appropriate counters (like a party member with Counterspell), it's going to be extra challenging. Other than getting new feats like you suggested or relying on an ally to disrupt it, equipment / magic items are probably the solution you're looking for. Both of those can be addressed as a concern to your DM, and hopefully you can trust their encounter building process and magic item rewards.
Not sure what tier your character is at, but it's fun to drool over items like Spellguard Shield, or any number of resistance armor options. Let your DM know your concerns, especially if your party lacks the right counters internally. Hopefully you survive long enough to get the opportunity for items like that.
The biggest thing you can do is not dump your dex, just because you may have access to heavy armor.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Feats can help: In addition to Resilent (Dex), you can get Magic Initiate can give you Absorb Energy.
A Forge Cleric gets resistance to fire damage at level 6, and immunity to fire damage at level 17.
If you're up in melee range, staying close to the Paladin (if you have one) can help on any type of saving throw.
Bless always helps.
As a non dex cleric I would always try to have at least a +1 on Dex.
As a party you are a team, so other members of the team can be cover areas where you are weak (e.g. Counterspell, Bardic Inspiration) but don't expect everything you have a decent number of HP, the divination wizard might want to use his high portent dice on a character the fireball would one-shot (e.g. himself)
A non-dex Cleric would want to have Wisdom as their top stat, with Constitution and Strength also somewhat high, leaving Dexterity, Intelligence, and Charisma as their bottom 3. If you're able to get four scores of 12+, then its best to put intelligence and charisma as your two lowest scores and put Dexterity as the 4th best stat. But not everyone is able to get four scores of of 12+. In fact, I've rolled for stats 5 times and never managed to get four scores of 12+. I guess that I don't have the dice rolling "skill."
If you're trying to do a multiclass, or if you have some roleplaying reason to put your Intelligence or Charisma higher than your Dexterity, then you will be slightly more vulnerable to fireballs and lightning bolts, but having a +0 or -1 in Dexterity instead of a +1 in Dexterity isn't really that big of a difference. Most of the time it won't make a difference on whether or not you pass your saving throw.
But even a dex Cleric probably isn't going to be any better than +2 or +3 at dexterity saving throws, so I wouldn't consider there to be much of a difference mechanically between a Dex Cleric and a non-Dex Cleric. You're still not getting your dex saves high enough to the point where there's a big difference between a dex Cleric's vulnerability to Fireball and Lightning Bolt and a non-dex Cleric's vulnerability to Fireball and Lightning Bolt.
If you have a Paladin in your party, though, that's when your might get your saving throws good enough that it makes a difference. Using Bless on yourself helps with that, too. But most likely, as a dex Cleric or a non-dex Cleric, you're going to be weak at dex saves either way. I wouldn't worry about it. Taking damage happens.
Be a Tiefling so you have resistance to fire damage.
The nature cleric at 6th level can confer elemental resistance as a reaction. They and any cleric can also cast protection from energy as a buff. That covers two.
Maybe shield mastery might work too.
My suggestion, +2 Con and cast Aid as a 3rd level spell. At 5th level,(same level at which an enemy could cast Fireball or Call Lightning) you would have 38 HP along with 10 more from Aid. This would make it very unlikely to be one-shotted. I went through my characters and noticed I +2 Con a lot, very few have no Con bonus.
A 14 is the lowest number an adventurer of any class should be willing to accept as a Con score.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.