Yes by character was built using Option Ability Scores as covered in Tasha's, many may cry foul, but my GM was supportive and guided me down this route.
I don't plan on multiclassing, by the way. I'll probably be on the frontlines a lot, given that I'll end up being the most sturdy character even after our Dhampir Fighter/Monk. And being right with him might be for the best to keep him up and running.
My character concept is a background guide/mentor for my friends and people, mostly being Gandalf-esque mysterious. (My people especially and spellcasters, in general, are very much lesser class and dislike in this world)
~Though more generally a good element of character inspiration for my character is a cleric/giver of the gift, belonging to the House of Black and White (ala Game of Thrones). So darker the phase of the prime moon, more giver of the gift (killer I will be during the night), more whole and bright the moon more clergy/healer/preacher.
Now where you the great hive mind of the interwebs come in - I am seeking guidance to what would be the most impactful and long-term advantageous spend her for my 4th LVL ASI / Feat.
I would up your wisdom by 2. Increasing wisdom will give you more spells, increase your spell attack and the DC to resist your spells, it will increase how much you heal, increase your damage for some spells, increase your wisdom save and all wisdom skills. That’s a massive boost.
Since your Con score is odd and you indicate you expect to be on the frontlines a fair bit, I recommend Resilient(Con). Odd ability scores are vexing; I fix them ASAP and I prefer Resilient(Con) to Warcaster. Some might say there is a good argument for Warcaster in there, if both your hands are gonna be full, but it won’t help you with your odd ability score.
Resilient con doesn't do a great deal, just the extra 4 hp and proficiency on saves. The biggest reason that is useful is for concentration checks, but it is well known that the best defense in 5e is a good offense. Twilight sanctuary does not require concentration, nor does Spiritual weapon. His best tactic in combat is to use both. Melee attack or a melee attack cantrip, bonus attack with SW, and use TS to top up health. Resilience is nice but far less useful there.
True with all spellcasters I play my priority go to options tend to be tapping out my spellcasting stat asap and getting warcaster.
Guess here I was looking for better options, more variety.
Oh and yes I have a shield. My character carries a Warhammer. But his go-to tends to be his moonblade scimitar (an armament believed given by the guardian deity to his people) an shield
How does your dm deal with spell components? RAW you can not cast a spell with semantic but no material components while holding a warhammer but many dms waive that.
In any case with your strength you will do more damage casting cantrips, toll the dead and sacred flame both uses saves so no problem if they are within 5ft. Unless it is for role play only use the hammer against things with very low AC.
Regard feats ASI wis and resilient con are the standard because they are the most effective. Others might fit your character better but barring a particular issue in you campaign will be less effective.
Resilient con doesn't do a great deal, just the extra 4 hp and proficiency on saves. The biggest reason that is useful is for concentration checks, but it is well known that the best defense in 5e is a good offense. Twilight sanctuary does not require concentration, nor does Spiritual weapon. His best tactic in combat is to use both. Melee attack or a melee attack cantrip, bonus attack with SW, and use TS to top up health. Resilience is nice but far less useful there.
If not for the odd score, I’d agree with you on the wisdom boost. OP will presumably be buffing as well. Bless is one of the best spells in the game, pretty much a no-brainer for the early levels. Between the odd score and the frequency of concentration checks for melee clerics, resilient is my choice.
I'm gonna join the crowd and also say resilient CON. That odd number in your CON is bugging me, and you don't have any other odd numbers so you'd never be able to round it out with a straight ASI, and proficiency with CON saving throws, while not particularly exciting, will still save your ass, especially if you're taking on a tanking role in your party.
However, something that might be more interesting for your character, even if it's not as mechanically advantageous, would be the Chef feat. You mention your intent for your character to be a giver and teacher, hoping to guide your allies spiritually as well as in combat. I can't help but think of my own Grandmother when I was younger, bringing everyone together around meals and sharing stories about her life or teaching us kids about how to prepare food. You can flavor this in a lot of different directions, whether you want to present yourself as a kindly figure giving away sweets and treats, or perhaps flavor it more as being a serious survivalist making sure everyone gets necessary nutrients, or even go for more mystique where the consumption of specially prepared foods is a ritual, almost like taking communion.
And also, y'know... the Chef Feat also gives you a +1 to CON
Resilient CON is probably the smart choice, but Chef has the potential to completely change your character in a roleplay sense.
Shadow touched for invisibility and silent image or cause fear could fit really well thematically and give you some extra combat utility.
We have a wizard who is very happy and eager to spread around their use of invisibility. So maybe Fey Touched instead
Fey touched is better, but maybe a little less thematic.
Healer is also underrated. Its basically 10 uses of cure wounds with only a few strings attached. Can really save on spell slots if you wind up being the healer more oft than not.
(for any spellcaster getting your primary stat to the max of 20 ASAP beats out anything else... by light years)
Not exactly. This is a common misconception overrated by the community. Boost your primary stat gives you very few benefits if we go deeper in the numbers. It is roughly a ~5% effectiveness increase for your spells DC and more spells prepared for some classes.
If we compare it against some feats that generate a real impact in the game like Alert, Resilient, Fey Touched, Lucky, War Caster, etc, specially for spellcasters, increase your primary stat is always sub-optimal. There is almost no statistical difference between a +3 and +4, or a spell save DC of 15 and 16.
There are huge performance differences between a Cleric with WIS 16 but who always win initiative and starts the battle casting groundbreaking spells against a Cleric with WIS 18 who goes last, after several enemies. His Spirits Guardians can have ~5% more chances to be effective, but his party already suffered an entire round against team monster. In this scenario, +5 from Alert makes the difference. Then being able to consistently keep concentration up will greatly increase the effectiveness of Spirit Guardians (whether because he has advantage from War Caster, or can re-roll from Lucky or does the check with a +6 thanks to Resilient) — much more than WIS 18.
Resilient con doesn't do a great deal, just the extra 4 hp and proficiency on saves. The biggest reason that is useful is for concentration checks, but it is well known that the best defense in 5e is a good offense. Twilight sanctuary does not require concentration, nor does Spiritual weapon. His best tactic in combat is to use both. Melee attack or a melee attack cantrip, bonus attack with SW, and use TS to top up health. Resilience is nice but far less useful there.
This is huge. You can more easily maintain concentration on any of these amazing spells (+Faerie Fire for TC) while also using TS and SW. TS will allow your party to keep healthy for longer making an economy of spell use even more important. Bless might further help your saving throws, Bane might be a better 'bless' as it can stop you getting hit and spells like hold person and silence could situationally really change the game. Keeping your concentration going means you don't have to waste your action to get a replacement concentration spell going leaving you free to cast any of these amazing spells (+Sleep for TC). Not bad huh?
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I would up your wisdom by 2. Increasing wisdom will give you more spells, increase your spell attack and the DC to resist your spells, it will increase how much you heal, increase your damage for some spells, increase your wisdom save and all wisdom skills. That’s a massive boost.
Since your Con score is odd and you indicate you expect to be on the frontlines a fair bit, I recommend Resilient(Con). Odd ability scores are vexing; I fix them ASAP and I prefer Resilient(Con) to Warcaster. Some might say there is a good argument for Warcaster in there, if both your hands are gonna be full, but it won’t help you with your odd ability score.
Resilient CON without even thinking.
Resilient con doesn't do a great deal, just the extra 4 hp and proficiency on saves. The biggest reason that is useful is for concentration checks, but it is well known that the best defense in 5e is a good offense. Twilight sanctuary does not require concentration, nor does Spiritual weapon. His best tactic in combat is to use both. Melee attack or a melee attack cantrip, bonus attack with SW, and use TS to top up health. Resilience is nice but far less useful there.
True with all spellcasters I play my priority go to options tend to be tapping out my spellcasting stat asap and getting warcaster.
Guess here I was looking for better options, more variety.
Oh and yes I have a shield.
My character carries a Warhammer. But his go-to tends to be his moonblade scimitar (an armament believed given by the guardian deity to his people) an shield
How does your dm deal with spell components? RAW you can not cast a spell with semantic but no material components while holding a warhammer but many dms waive that.
In any case with your strength you will do more damage casting cantrips, toll the dead and sacred flame both uses saves so no problem if they are within 5ft. Unless it is for role play only use the hammer against things with very low AC.
Regard feats ASI wis and resilient con are the standard because they are the most effective. Others might fit your character better but barring a particular issue in you campaign will be less effective.
If not for the odd score, I’d agree with you on the wisdom boost. OP will presumably be buffing as well. Bless is one of the best spells in the game, pretty much a no-brainer for the early levels. Between the odd score and the frequency of concentration checks for melee clerics, resilient is my choice.
I'm gonna join the crowd and also say resilient CON. That odd number in your CON is bugging me, and you don't have any other odd numbers so you'd never be able to round it out with a straight ASI, and proficiency with CON saving throws, while not particularly exciting, will still save your ass, especially if you're taking on a tanking role in your party.
However, something that might be more interesting for your character, even if it's not as mechanically advantageous, would be the Chef feat. You mention your intent for your character to be a giver and teacher, hoping to guide your allies spiritually as well as in combat. I can't help but think of my own Grandmother when I was younger, bringing everyone together around meals and sharing stories about her life or teaching us kids about how to prepare food. You can flavor this in a lot of different directions, whether you want to present yourself as a kindly figure giving away sweets and treats, or perhaps flavor it more as being a serious survivalist making sure everyone gets necessary nutrients, or even go for more mystique where the consumption of specially prepared foods is a ritual, almost like taking communion.
And also, y'know... the Chef Feat also gives you a +1 to CON
Resilient CON is probably the smart choice, but Chef has the potential to completely change your character in a roleplay sense.
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A unique option that now has me thinking.
That's definitely what I'm here for.
I can't say Yes I'm definitely going w3ith this option but definitely something I'd never have contemplated before and worth consideration.
Wisdom ASI is always good.
Shadow touched for invisibility and silent image or cause fear could fit really well thematically and give you some extra combat utility.
We have a wizard who is very happy and eager to spread around their use of invisibility. So maybe Fey Touched instead
Fey touched is better, but maybe a little less thematic.
Healer is also underrated. Its basically 10 uses of cure wounds with only a few strings attached. Can really save on spell slots if you wind up being the healer more oft than not.
Not exactly. This is a common misconception overrated by the community. Boost your primary stat gives you very few benefits if we go deeper in the numbers. It is roughly a ~5% effectiveness increase for your spells DC and more spells prepared for some classes.
If we compare it against some feats that generate a real impact in the game like Alert, Resilient, Fey Touched, Lucky, War Caster, etc, specially for spellcasters, increase your primary stat is always sub-optimal. There is almost no statistical difference between a +3 and +4, or a spell save DC of 15 and 16.
There are huge performance differences between a Cleric with WIS 16 but who always win initiative and starts the battle casting groundbreaking spells against a Cleric with WIS 18 who goes last, after several enemies. His Spirits Guardians can have ~5% more chances to be effective, but his party already suffered an entire round against team monster. In this scenario, +5 from Alert makes the difference. Then being able to consistently keep concentration up will greatly increase the effectiveness of Spirit Guardians (whether because he has advantage from War Caster, or can re-roll from Lucky or does the check with a +6 thanks to Resilient) — much more than WIS 18.
This is huge. You can more easily maintain concentration on any of these amazing spells (+Faerie Fire for TC) while also using TS and SW. TS will allow your party to keep healthy for longer making an economy of spell use even more important. Bless might further help your saving throws, Bane might be a better 'bless' as it can stop you getting hit and spells like hold person and silence could situationally really change the game. Keeping your concentration going means you don't have to waste your action to get a replacement concentration spell going leaving you free to cast any of these amazing spells (+Sleep for TC). Not bad huh?