I've never played D&D before so this whole thing is a learning process for me and I could use some advice.
I've decided on a dragonborn life cleric (I know dragonborn isn't ideal for this but I'm set on it for rp purposes) but because clerics are so versatile I'm not sure where to put my ability scores and looking it up hasn't been all that helpful for the same reason.
Since I'm married to the idea of a dragonborn, I was thinking of utilizing the heavy armor proficiency so I can stay on the front lines if necessary.
My stat values are: 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18
Obviously the 18 should be in WIS but I see mixed accounts on where the next highest value should go... STR, DEX, CON??
Most heavy armors will slow you down if your strength isn’t high enough so you probably want to put at least 13 in str, 15 would be needed for splint and plate. Dragonborn gives you +2 in str to help with that. Heavy armor also means you won’t get an AC bonus from Dex, so you may want to make Dex your dump stat.
1 thing. The 18 doesn't necessarily have to go into Wisdom. This is often true of Wizard/Sorcerer/Warlocks because they use their cantrips to deal damage. Clerics do have 1 or 2 damaging cantrips, but if you're a Dragonborn in the front and focusing on healing, then you Wis is going to be important, but not to the same extent.
The 5 abilities from Life: Disciple of Life, Preserve Life, Blessed Healer, Divine Strike, and Supreme Healing. Are all based on your Cleric lvl or the Spell's lvl and so your Wisdom have nothing to do with it. Dragonborn's Breathweapon's save is based on Con, so you'll want a decent Con, also if you are fighting on the front. All the basic Cleric abilites are based on Wisdom.
Imagine for a moment a different stat assortment Str: 20 (18+2) Dex: 12 Con: 17 Int: 10 Wis: 15 Cha: 12 (11+1)
Feel free to swap Con/Wis making Wisdom more important. I'd recommend at 4th lvl your first ASI be +1 Con +1 Wis. so you have 18 and 16. I personally would put a preference on Con over Wisdom because that's your hitpoints! Life Clerics are rarely blaster casters so spell save DCs are a little more forgiving for them.
You'd be Dragonborn Cleric, protector of life... stout (VERY stout with 20 Str! and 17 or 15 Con!) body and heart. The next big choice is are you going to be: Sword & Shield, Two Weapon Fighting, Two handed weapon, or 1 handed with an open hand. Personally I recommend 2 handed weapon†. It means you don't have to think about juggling material components as you will always have a hand free for them.
†: Edit per Jhfffan, I forgot Life Clerics only get Simple Weapons and so have the garbage options of: Staff, Spear, Great club. That said a Quarterstaff isn't terrible because it's 1d6 1 handed and 1d8 two handed and a Cleric Focus.
The ability distribution I'd go for is: 15 (+2 racial) STR, 10 or 12 DEX, 17 CON, 10 or 12 INT, 18 WIS, 11 (+1 racial) CHA. Of course this is assuming you will use Heavy armor and not multiclass. The DEX and INT choice basically come down to what skills you want to use and how you role play (you will have disadvantage on stealth in heavy armor).
As a life cleric, you won't get martial weapon proficiency, and can't use the better 2-handed weapons, so I prioritized WIS to maximize healing, CON for HP and higher Breath weapon save, then STR for heavy armor and decent melee damage. You can use your shield as your holy symbol for spellcasting, and +2 AC is fantastic especially for a healer.
The advice given so far has been sound, particularly for the intent it was given with. I'd tend to agree most with DxJxC, though you could go 15+2, 10 or 12, 18, 10 or 12, 17, 11+1 in order to maximize your HP long term. This will help you as a front line warrior with a relatively small hit die.
Full analysis
Str, Con, and Wis are going to be your main stats based on what you've said. Wis because of class, Con because it's good for everyone and con saves are good for concentration spells (if you don't plan on concentration spells, this is less vital), and strength for melee damage and equipping the best heavy armor. Dex is not a good option for melee since you would be limited to a dagger (1d4) damage without martial wespons, but it's 2.5 average damage is only 1 point off the d6 of most simple melee weapons (average of 3.5). If you want to follow fullmetalbunny's advice and go 2 hand, you are limited to the great club (always 2 hand), the quarterstaff, or the spear (the last two are d6 1 hand or d8 2 hand). All of the 2 hand options average 4.5 damage. In heavy armor, you will have disadvantage on stealth rolls without mithral armor, which equates to a 20-25% lower chance of success. Sleight of hand and acrobatics are the other dex skills and you would have to target those with your background or your Ability Score Increase (ASI)/feats to get proficiency in order to max out. Dex isn't factored in with heavy armor, which leaves initiative rolls and dex saves as your only dex concerns left. As a healer, you may wish to go later in the initiative so you have more information available to you for your decisions (Do I need to heal? No. Great, attack or support. Yes. Better get on that.) particularly since your damage is likely to be more contributory than your damagers. Dex saves are probably the most common saves in the game.
This leaves dex, int, and charisma as your 10, 11, and 12. Because you add 1 to ability modifiers at even numbers (10 and 11 are both +0, but 12 is +1) your plus one to charisma (from dragonborn racial) is best used on the 11 to give you a final 10, 12, 12 spread for your bottom three. I based on my analysis for dex earlier, I would go int 12, charisma 11+1=12, and dex 10, unless you want to make dex saves easier, which is a legitimate concern. Intelligence factors into religion, history, arcana, and nature intelligence checks and investigation checks. 2 of your possible class skills are from here and several backgrounds have options for these proficiencies. Without a wizard in the party, intelligence checks can tend lower and getting at least a +1 could help here (plus your proficiency bonus on any that you become proficient with).
With your name stats, you have to ask yourself what you want to maximize, melee damage, healing and ranged damage (mostly through cantrips, likely sacred flame and/or toll the dead, part of the reason I didn't consider reached weapons with dex), or HP. Since your standard array would give you a 15 max (17 on strength with the racial bonus) you are ahead of point buy and standard arrays. This allows you some flexibility, knowing that you aren't going to make a suboptimal decision here. (Standard array gives 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 vs your 18, 17, 15, 12, 11, 10... you are ahead of the standard array on 5/6 abilities. Point buy gives 8 to every ability and 27 points to distribute with 14 and 15 taking 2 extra points when buying them. This means that a 13 takes 5 points, a 14 takes 7 points and a 15 takes 9 points. The standard array follows point buy in that manner, but you could have a specialist at 15, 15, 15, 8, 8, 8 or a jack of all trades at 13, 13, 13, 12, 12, 12 and the standard array splitting the difference.)
Max HP. cleric starts with 8+your constitution modifier hit points and the you either add your average hit points or roll a d8 for hit points at each level, adding your con modifier to that number. 15 is +2, 17 is +3, and 18 is +4, so you could start with either 10, 11, or 12 hit points. The average for a d8 is 5 (4.5 rounded up). Your hit points getting to level 4 (your first chance to change any of these abilities) would be: 1st level 12 (10 lowest), 2nd level 21 (17), 3rd 30 (24) with a decision at 4th. You could +2 the 18 to add an average of 10 hit points a level. With a 15+2 strength and a 17 wisdom, you would be +3 to both (not common for a 1st & 2nd stat and unheard of for a 2nd & 3rd stat in standard). At 8, you could +1 each to get to 18 and +4 on the modifier while finishing either at 12 and the final at 16, leaving 19 for a feat or a boost to a lower ability. Other feats could be incorporated instead including resilient (con), warcaster, and sentinel among others.
Max Wis. This would maximize your healing and spellcasting. At low levels this is not as crucial, UNLESS your party are a bunch of kamikazes or your DM is a sadist. A 15 or a 17 would be a max stat that the adventures would be balanced against (more so the corresponding +2 or +3). Disciple of Life further reduces the need for healing which leaves ranged damage as the primary reason to still do this aside from wisdom saves. You've stated that wasn't a high priority. The leveling would be similar to above, adjusting for appropriate abilities.
Max melee damage. FullMetalBunny outlined max melee damage. 18+2=20 strength and max stay at level 1. This could leave a 17 con and a 15 wis or vice versa. This would then revert to either strategy above.
Remember that dead PCs and NPCs don't participate in combat and don't deal damage. Who you prioritize determines what will be important. If you are dead, you can't damage or heal others. If other party members are dead, you have to focus on healing them up. If other enemies are dead, the aren't damaging your party which prevents healing needing to go out. The bright side is you are ahead of the curve no matter the path you choose, so you can choose the stats for RP purposes (what does your character want to prioritize) and not feel bad about mechanics.
Max skill. Because of your +2 racial bonus for strength you can choose an additional option. Choose strength at 12+2= 14, con at 17 or 18, wis at 17 or 18, charisma at 15+1=16 or 11+1=12, with dex and int picking up the remaining 15, 11, and/or 10, depending on your preferred skills. In this case, I would not increase the ability that gets the 15, but follow one of the above approaches, making sure to get strength to at least 15 for the plate requirement for max AC (significant in melee, every +1 in AC means 5% fewer hits to you, part of the reason that a shield with your holy symbol emblazoned on it for your spell focus and warcaster feat are great options for you). I hope I didn't forget something, that was long.
Everyone has great advice but since you are playing a Cleric whose main purpose in the Domain is maximum healing I would go a bit different with abilities. Also, as was mentioned, being Dragonborn having a good Con stat is fun for more reason than HP. I use a Dragonborn Tempest Cleric and my previous character was a Human Life Cleric. With my current character I have rolled so poorly that I began to chose spells that rely on the target to roll. I do not even use Spiritual weapon or an actual weapon at all. (Our Barbarian in our current campaign lost her Magic Axe and I gave her my Magic Warhammer. I am literally not using a weapon at all. So, in other words, I am doing great with a 10 Str, 17 Dex, 19 Con, 9 Int, 20 Wis 10 Cha
Toll the dead is always going to do more damage than a magic weapon in the hands of a Cleric. (Unless, Holy Weapon is used.) This is simply my opinion and all just from my personal experience the last 2 years and being relatively new to 5e.
Good advice so far. I'd agree with the consensus above in that your main stat's would be STR, CON and WIS so there are your top three stats. Since you get a racial bump to STR and CHA I would arrange your stats to take advantage. Like so...
STR 20 DEX 10 CON 17 INT 11 WIS 15 CHA 13
Wear heavy armor and fight with mace and shield. This gives you a 20 AC and with your high STR and CON you will be able to wade into the fight to heal or deal damage as needed.
This stat arrangement would also make picking up a few levels of Paladin a good choice. Personally, I would start with 2 levels of Paladin and then switch to Cleric but full Cleric is never a bad option. Consider that with 2 levels of Paladin you would have martial weapons, a fighting style and divine smite. The divine smite being the kicker. Especially with all those cleric spell slots available once you gain a few levels.
For your Ability Score Improvements I would do something like the below.
1st ASI - CON +1 (18), WIS +1 (16) 2nd ASI - WIS +2 (18) 3rd ASI - WIS +2 (20) 4th ASI - CON +2 (20) 5th ASI - Feat Tough
Good advice so far. I'd agree with the consensus above in that your main stat's would be STR, CON and WIS so there are your top three stats. Since you get a racial bump to STR and CHA I would arrange your stats to take advantage. Like so...
STR 20 DEX 10 CON 17 INT 11 WIS 15 CHA 13
Wear heavy armor and fight with mace and shield. This gives you a 20 AC and with your high STR and CON you will be able to wade into the fight to heal or deal damage as needed.
This stat arrangement would also make picking up a few levels of Paladin a good choice. Personally, I would start with 2 levels of Paladin and then switch to Cleric but full Cleric is never a bad option. Consider that with 2 levels of Paladin you would have martial weapons, a fighting style and divine smite. The divine smite being the kicker. Especially with all those cleric spell slots available once you gain a few levels.
For your Ability Score Improvements I would do something like the below.
1st ASI - CON +1 (18), WIS +1 (16) 2nd ASI - WIS +2 (18) 3rd ASI - WIS +2 (20) 4th ASI - CON +2 (20) 5th ASI - Feat Tough
This is definitely a good option if you are looking at multiclass into bard, paladin, sorcerer, or warlock since you'll need your charisma to be at least 13, in addition to your wisdom being at least 13 for cleric. See page 163 in the player's handbook for more on multiclassing. If you aren't considering the multiclass into one of those classes, having 13/11/10 gives you +1/+0/+0 as opposed to 12/12/10 with +1/+1/+0.
Thank you so much to everyone who commented and offered advice! It was all really helpful and I definitely feel more confident about my choice now that I know I have so many viable options to choose from!
Would it be hijacking of a post if I ask all the contributors why they feel strength is so important for this build? If you are saying it is important based on starlikenight's desires, then ok. Otherwise, I couldn't disagree more. So much to consider based on roleplaying choices, style or desire. But in the end, his character is going to spend every other turn healing his ally's or casting another spell. As I stated before, I do not even use a weapon anymore. Not even Spiritual Weapon. I am certain, Strength is the least important, unless starlikenights is one of the only fighters in the group. If that is the case then he should be a War Cleric. I know this is just my opinion and I only have 1 year of Life Cleric experience and 1 year of Tempest Cleric experience but in my experience, my 10 strength has left me with no regrets. I do not mean any disrespect. I am hoping I hear something I have not thought about before. Multiclassing yes, but I doubt that is a concern of starlightnights desires...thanks.
Here is a fun idea. With your starting stats, which are lucky to begin with. (I use the standard array always. )Yours: 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18
With the following at 1st level: Strength 12, Dex 17, Con 15, Wis 18, Int 12, Cha 12. You will have a + 5 to AC with light armor, if you use a shield. So you most likely will have a starting AC of a 17. At 4th level take Dragonhide feat. Using a shield, you will increase to 18 AC with no Armor at all and get to add a +1 to Str, Con or Cha. I do not recommend this. You could increase Wisdom to 20 instead. At 8th level increase Con to 16 and Dex to 18. giving you 8 extra hp and an 18 AC. At 12th level take Tough Feat, giving you an extra 24 hp jump. (If you boost Con to an 18 you only will get 12 hp boost.) Boost Con instead if you want your Dragon breath DC Save to be higher. I can tell you from experience. We have an Oathbreaker Paladin, a Berserker Barbarian, Ranger and Champion Fighter in our large party. So I could be speaking from a rare point of view in that we have a lot of "meat shields." That being said. I have the second highest damage success rate...always. A natural 20 is the only way any of my party members beat me on damage per turn. I used Channel divinity Destructive Wrath with Call lightning at 5th level only once, and my DM has made sure that we have not had any combat outside or in a large chamber since...I might have made a mistake in my calculations but I know someone here will correct me. This is an awesome group. I would not have made it to 11th level without some of the advice I got here. DnD beyond members are the best!
Would it be hijacking of a post if I ask all the contributors why they feel strength is so important for this build? If you are saying it is important based on starlikenight's desires, then ok. Otherwise, I couldn't disagree more. So much to consider based on roleplaying choices, style or desire. But in the end, his character is going to spend every other turn healing his ally's or casting another spell. As I stated before, I do not even use a weapon anymore. Not even Spiritual Weapon. I am certain, Strength is the least important, unless starlikenights is one of the only fighters in the group. If that is the case then he should be a War Cleric. I know this is just my opinion and I only have 1 year of Life Cleric experience and 1 year of Tempest Cleric experience but in my experience, my 10 strength has left me with no regrets. I do not mean any disrespect. I am hoping I hear something I have not thought about before. Multiclassing yes, but I doubt that is a concern of starlightnights desires...thanks.
Just based on the race class choice, STR was a better investment over DEX. I recommended the lowest score roll that gets STR over 15 (for plate). Of course multiclassing, role play, and play style are important to consider, but the OP asks "what would you do?" So I answered as such while leaving a little room to adjust for play style.
I am currently running a 10 STR 16 DEX life cleric who hasn't swung a weapon since level 2, so I know what you are talking about (I'm actually starting a celestial warlock multiclass with that character).
Would it be hijacking of a post if I ask all the contributors why they feel strength is so important for this build? If you are saying it is important based on starlikenight's desires, then ok. Otherwise, I couldn't disagree more. So much to consider based on roleplaying choices, style or desire. But in the end, his character is going to spend every other turn healing his ally's or casting another spell. As I stated before, I do not even use a weapon anymore. Not even Spiritual Weapon. I am certain, Strength is the least important, unless starlikenights is one of the only fighters in the group. If that is the case then he should be a War Cleric. I know this is just my opinion and I only have 1 year of Life Cleric experience and 1 year of Tempest Cleric experience but in my experience, my 10 strength has left me with no regrets. I do not mean any disrespect. I am hoping I hear something I have not thought about before. Multiclassing yes, but I doubt that is a concern of starlightnights desires...thanks.
Just based on the race class choice, STR was a better investment over DEX. I recommended the lowest score roll that gets STR over 15 (for plate). Of course multiclassing, role play, and play style are important to consider, but the OP asks "what would you do?" So I answered as such while leaving a little room to adjust for play style.
I am currently running a 10 STR 16 DEX life cleric who hasn't swung a weapon since level 2, so I know what you are talking about (I'm actually starting a celestial warlock multiclass with that character).
That is so awesome and funny. I decided a few months ago, if and when my character is retired, I am going with a Celestial Warlock. Let me know how it goes. (Probably in a new post.)
Would it be hijacking of a post if I ask all the contributors why they feel strength is so important for this build? If you are saying it is important based on starlikenight's desires, then ok. Otherwise, I couldn't disagree more. So much to consider based on roleplaying choices, style or desire. But in the end, his character is going to spend every other turn healing his ally's or casting another spell. As I stated before, I do not even use a weapon anymore. Not even Spiritual Weapon. I am certain, Strength is the least important, unless starlikenights is one of the only fighters in the group. If that is the case then he should be a War Cleric. I know this is just my opinion and I only have 1 year of Life Cleric experience and 1 year of Tempest Cleric experience but in my experience, my 10 strength has left me with no regrets. I do not mean any disrespect. I am hoping I hear something I have not thought about before. Multiclassing yes, but I doubt that is a concern of starlightnights desires...thanks.
There were three factors for me: 1) The player wanted to use heavy armor and there are prerequisites for heavy armor unless you want a slower walking speed. 2) dex doesn't add to the AC when wearing heavy armor and it causes disadvantage on stealth rolls. 3) the character is a Dragonborn with a +2 to strength. I'm not against having a wasted racial stat but I don't like saying two.
That being said, one of the builds that I suggested did have a starting strength of 12+2. This conceivably could have left the 15 for dex, though I was envisioning it for intelligence or charisma.
I've character concepts two lizardfolk clerics, one death domain and one war domain, that were dex based to take advantage of their natural armor and innate ability to have stealth proficiency. I went 10 strength on one and 12 strength on the other (primarily because I wanted no penalty on their bite attack for moments that I want to use it) and because I felt that either their charisma or their intelligence should be low (or both) for the character concept.
Would it be hijacking of a post if I ask all the contributors why they feel strength is so important for this build? If you are saying it is important based on starlikenight's desires, then ok. Otherwise, I couldn't disagree more. So much to consider based on roleplaying choices, style or desire. But in the end, his character is going to spend every other turn healing his ally's or casting another spell. As I stated before, I do not even use a weapon anymore. Not even Spiritual Weapon. I am certain, Strength is the least important, unless starlikenights is one of the only fighters in the group. If that is the case then he should be a War Cleric. I know this is just my opinion and I only have 1 year of Life Cleric experience and 1 year of Tempest Cleric experience but in my experience, my 10 strength has left me with no regrets. I do not mean any disrespect. I am hoping I hear something I have not thought about before. Multiclassing yes, but I doubt that is a concern of starlightnights desires...thanks.
No worries clear_seeker! I am currently playing two clerics as you can see in my sig. I actually started my tempest cleric with STR as the highest stat and he rolls into the fights right along side the party paladin. My other cleric is a multiclass cleric 12/wiz 3 and is a very scholarly seeker of knowledge but he too gets in the mix casting spells from his broom of flying right next to the party wizard. Neither character sits in the back and solely heals. My philosophy is the faster opponents go down the less healing is needed and thus my characters never sit in the back.
A previous character of mine was a cleric/monk multiclass. He proved to be a excellent combat medic with his monk ability to run around the battle field while healing and delivering Stunning Blows. My point with these examples is there are many many ways to play a cleric.
The reasons for my suggestions are similar to Jhfffan's above. Heavy armor makes a lot of sense for a life cleric and this requires at least a 15 str meaning the character's strength will have to be a 17, 19 or 20...a DEX above 10 does not really help heavy armor...and racial bonuses for a dragonborn are +2 STR and +1 CHA so it is always nice to try and take advantage of that. I suggested a few paladin levels to take advantage of the high STR the character would have and to provide an alternative to what had been suggested before (and I have to admit I like to multiclass). The OP stated they had a idea for role playing so it didn't seem appropriate to make any suggestions in that area.
Would it be hijacking of a post if I ask all the contributors why they feel strength is so important for this build? If you are saying it is important based on starlikenight's desires, then ok. Otherwise, I couldn't disagree more. So much to consider based on roleplaying choices, style or desire. But in the end, his character is going to spend every other turn healing his ally's or casting another spell.
My point with these examples is there are many many ways to play a cleric.
I suggested a few paladin levels to take advantage of the high STR the character would have and to provide an alternative to what had been suggested before (and I have to admit I like to multiclass).
This is one of my favorite aspects about D&D, the freedom that comes with different people being able to approach something from so many different angles. Something that is essential for one player is a dump stat for another player despite playing the exact same race/class/subclass/background combo. In many other games, this isn't quite as possible due to any number of reasons (at least not without taking a serious amount of ridicule and possibly being booted from the party in some of the games).
I try to take the features of the race and mix it with the class. As such, different aspects of the class come into play. For example, take starlikeknight's setup, but swap the race to Loxodon from Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica (because I spent half the night trying to figure out a way to take advantage of the Loxodon's natural armor, 12 + Con Modifier). You would still have stat values of: 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18 on a life cleric, but instead of having Strength of +2 and Charisma of +1, you would have Constitution +2 and Wisdom +1. You would get Powerful Build (count as a large creature when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift) which can range from a throw away ability to a game changer depending on your imagination and whether your DM tracks carrying capacity, Loxodon Serenity (advantage of saving throws against being charmed or frightened), Natural Armor (12 + Con Mod, Shields are ok), Trunk (has a reach of 5 ft, can't carry wield weapons or shields, can be used as a snorkel, can lift 5 times your strength score in pounds, can be used to grapple, etc.), and Keen Smell (advantage on Wisdom (perception), Wisdom (Survival), and Intelligence (Investigation) checks involving smell).
Natural Armor, a 17 or an 18 score, and a +2 to Constitution is a pretty good thing. Even being able to have a 17 Constitution by using the 15 is pretty amazing. 17 (+3), 19 (+4), or 20 (+5) gives you 12 + 3, 4, or 5 plus the shield for AC ((15, 16, or 17) + 2 ==> 17, 18, or 19 with only the shield to affect the AC if the party is without gear. Let's say we give this Loxodon the 17 + 2 = 19 with an eye toward getting the Resilient (con) feat later (+1 to con and constitution saving throw proficiency). We could as easily use the 15 + 2 = 17 +1 Resilient (Con) = 18 + 2 ASI = 20 and still have some combination of 3 feats or ASIs with a 17 and an 18 still sitting in our pocket. The high constitution means that the Loxodon will have great HP for a Cleric, particularly if we decide to get the feat Tough, and we'll be able to hold our concentration very well. Additionally, you won't have disadvantage on Stealth Checks, unless a DM rules that your size or weight cause you to have it (which is possible and plausible).
Wisdom is begging to get the 18 + 1 = 19, in order to maximize the ability of the cleric to blast things from the middle to back row, all while being a pretty imposing off tank if needed (without even deciding what our Strength OR Dexterity Scores will be). You could take the Observant feat to max out Wisdom, be able to read lips, and have a +5 bonus to passive perception and passive Investigation or you could simply split an ASI. You're heals, while already amazing as a life cleric (or at least as far as 5e allows) will be high the entire game and you can use Sacred Flame or Toll the Dead to deal damage until someone needs to be topped off. Or you can use one of your spells. Or you could use something that you picked up through multiclassing. Even if you only take the 15 +1 = 16 (and the 17 + 2 = 19 for constitution), 2 full ASIs and a feat (Resilient (con)) max you in both of those abilities, give you advantage on constitution (read concentration) saves, and leaves you with an 18 to do whatever you want to do and 2 ASIs/feats unspoken for. The only class that would be off the table at this point would be Paladin (Strength and Charisma 13) but even that would be available after an ASI or feat bumped one up to 13 if the other takes the 18. As is, you could dip a couple of levels to get Druid, which nets you wild shape, more cantrips (one of which could be shillelagh to give your quarterstaff or club 1d8 + Wis modifier attack, if you really wanted to be able to melee), possibly short rest slot recovery (limited by your druid level, but at least 1), potentially some additional spells from the circle spells if you go land, better wild shape forms if you go moon, or whatever goodies the XGtE circles give you. This could also give you Goodberry complete with your Disciple of Life healing bonus.
With your last high stat, you could go strength if you wanted more ability to melee but don't like the idea of something like Shillelagh, if you wanted to maximize the utility of your Trunk (5 X 15 = 75 lbs that you could lift, 5 X 18 = 90 lbs and bumped up to 20 would be 100 lbs. You could be a personal 5 ft elevator for some of the lighter party members. And the ability to grapple while maintaining your weapon and your shield, or retaining a free hand for spells with a shield... interesting options if someone gets passed the meatshields.), or wanted to be really athletic. You could go dex to help with many of the AoE saves, be really sneaky (or as sneaky as your DM lets you be as a 7-8 ft tall, 300-400 lb creature), or you could use that crossbow that you picked up and save your cantrips for utility. Sleight of Hand shenanigans with your trunk could provide some comic relief. And then there is Acrobatics... I'll start a new paragraph so it's easier to find your place after that image.
Intelligence and Charisma would be interesting options as well. Unless you're dipping Wizard, I probably wouldn't go higher than 15 for Intelligence. You can probably do quite well with a +2 for most intelligence checks and adding proficiency from either your background, History or Religion from Cleric (Persuasion, Insight, and Medicine are the others), or whatever else you choose to do with your ASI/feats is just icing. Don't forget Investigation gets at least advantage (on checks dealing with smell) and possibly already have +5 on passive investigation. Wizard dip, possibly with an 18 in your pocket and concentration save proficiency... Booming Blade coupled with Shillelagh could be some interesting fun in your tank of the back row role, a familiar to help you out, or whatever your spell book tells you to do. Arcane Ward could make you a little tougher all while making your allies tougher.
Charisma has already been talked about, but adding 4 levels of bladelock hits that melee sweet spot that was looked for in the OP, short rest recovery, gets a pact, that ASI, invocations and, most likely, Eldritch Blast v2.0 (if Agonizing blast is taken). Bard gets some inspiration, Jack of All Trades at 2nd, Expertise at 3rd plus whatever you want from your College. Sorcerer is readily available and Paladin is there if you want to get a little MAD. All of this, and we haven't even talked about where the 10, 11, and 12 will go (unless you want to include the Paladin talk) and at the opportunity cost of a short rest breath weapon and a damage resistance (ok... the +2 strength and +1 Charisma, too). Of course, the DM has to approve using the Ravnica book and using Loxodon would eliminate XGtE or SCAG options in Adventure League.
I know I'm excited by the versatility that Loxodon offers for Cleric, probably as excited as starlikeknight was about the dragonborn's breath weapon and resistence, clear_seeker was about the dex based cleric, and others are about whatever character concept they dream up. That is what makes D&D a great game and provides so much depth for those players that enjoy it. I just hope that I find a group to play with as a player so that I can test out some of my creations.
Clear seaker, I play a mountain dwarf life cleric with 16 str. I've got a +2 battleaxe and most of the time I'm swinging the axe after I cast one or two buff/battlefield control type spells. And I'm in a elf party with 2 wizards, a ranger, and 2 rogue/assassin types...
I'd say that the only score that really matters for a cleric is Wis, followed by Con, then Str...pretty sure I went Wis, Str, Con and then dumped Cha (9) and Int (13) and kept a 12 Dex...with the intention of playing a gruff dwarf with no charisma.
Your ability scores can be a way to flesh out your character as opposed to just a hard and fast build rule...my dwarf was a scout (fighter background) who was captured and now is a cleric, so my scores reflect that. Using the scores to make a "best case scenario" character can be boring , but using the scores to make a realistic character with shortcomings can make the game (and role play) way more fun/interesting.
Wisdom to 20 as quick as you can (18). Con next, 16 is good, but no less (17). Str needs to be a 15 to be able use heavy armor (15), but you don't need to have it maxed as you aren't a melee damage dealer. Charisma is only good if you are a face (12 or 11 depending on skills). Int is not really needed unless your skill selections are int based(12 or 11 depending on skills). Dex is your dump (10), not needed since you have heavy armor.
If you are a new player here and looking for some build advice, please don't max out STR before WIS on your Life cleric. Each class has a main stat, the class was built to assume that stat would be highest and much of what you can do will scale with it.
There are certainly fun, outside-the-box approaches to any build or class, and if that's what you're here for then this thread will be an interesting read for you. But if you just want to be a good cleric and support your party to the best of your ability, please go WIS for their sake.
I am also building my first life cleric, as a human, and his stats after adding all the +1s are 19, 14, 13, 13, 12, 11. I decided to assign them as:
Str: 13, Dex: 13, Con: 14, Int: 11, Wis: 19, Chr: 12 ... at level 4 I plan to go +1 Str and +1 Wis.
He carries a mace and a light crossbow. He will soon also carry a quarter staff. He wears medium armor and has a shield with his holy symbol. He has the acolyte background.
Cantrips: Guidance, Light, Spare the Dying Spells: Bless, Cure Wounds, Guiding Bolt, Shield of Faith, Detect Magic, Protection from Evil and Good
He travels with a Paladin, the second son of a Duke, and he was instructed before they left together to travel to another kingdom on a diplomatic mission that he was to make sure the Duke's son was not killed. The Paladin, Augustus, is a fine fellow that wants to serve his father and king, particularly by ruling over his Barony (when he reaches the age of 25-30) with wisdom and justice. He knows that as his brother will inherit the Duchy, he will be one of the important players in the Duchy but he doesn't resent his brother.
Bartholomew, the Cleric, grew up alongside Augustus. He is the third son of a baron, so he went into the clergy, which was not a difficult choice for him. When he was sent to the capitol of the Duchy he met Augustus and they have been friends since. Bartholomew also expects to be granted a high position in the church, which he hopes will be a top level clergyman, such as a bishop, serving in the same land as Augustus. But while Augustus' inheritance is nearly a lock, Bartholomew must make a better show of earning his posting. He knows that a successful career as an adventurer would help him earn that position.
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I've never played D&D before so this whole thing is a learning process for me and I could use some advice.
I've decided on a dragonborn life cleric (I know dragonborn isn't ideal for this but I'm set on it for rp purposes) but because clerics are so versatile I'm not sure where to put my ability scores and looking it up hasn't been all that helpful for the same reason.
Since I'm married to the idea of a dragonborn, I was thinking of utilizing the heavy armor proficiency so I can stay on the front lines if necessary.
My stat values are: 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18
Obviously the 18 should be in WIS but I see mixed accounts on where the next highest value should go... STR, DEX, CON??
What would you do? Any advice for a total newbie?
Most heavy armors will slow you down if your strength isn’t high enough so you probably want to put at least 13 in str, 15 would be needed for splint and plate. Dragonborn gives you +2 in str to help with that. Heavy armor also means you won’t get an AC bonus from Dex, so you may want to make Dex your dump stat.
1 thing. The 18 doesn't necessarily have to go into Wisdom. This is often true of Wizard/Sorcerer/Warlocks because they use their cantrips to deal damage. Clerics do have 1 or 2 damaging cantrips, but if you're a Dragonborn in the front and focusing on healing, then you Wis is going to be important, but not to the same extent.
The 5 abilities from Life: Disciple of Life, Preserve Life, Blessed Healer, Divine Strike, and Supreme Healing. Are all based on your Cleric lvl or the Spell's lvl and so your Wisdom have nothing to do with it.
Dragonborn's Breathweapon's save is based on Con, so you'll want a decent Con, also if you are fighting on the front.
All the basic Cleric abilites are based on Wisdom.
Imagine for a moment a different stat assortment
Str: 20 (18+2)
Dex: 12
Con: 17
Int: 10
Wis: 15
Cha: 12 (11+1)
Feel free to swap Con/Wis making Wisdom more important. I'd recommend at 4th lvl your first ASI be +1 Con +1 Wis. so you have 18 and 16. I personally would put a preference on Con over Wisdom because that's your hitpoints! Life Clerics are rarely blaster casters so spell save DCs are a little more forgiving for them.
You'd be Dragonborn Cleric, protector of life... stout (VERY stout with 20 Str! and 17 or 15 Con!) body and heart. The next big choice is are you going to be: Sword & Shield, Two Weapon Fighting, Two handed weapon, or 1 handed with an open hand. Personally I recommend 2 handed weapon†. It means you don't have to think about juggling material components as you will always have a hand free for them.
†: Edit per Jhfffan, I forgot Life Clerics only get Simple Weapons and so have the garbage options of: Staff, Spear, Great club. That said a Quarterstaff isn't terrible because it's 1d6 1 handed and 1d8 two handed and a Cleric Focus.
The ability distribution I'd go for is: 15 (+2 racial) STR, 10 or 12 DEX, 17 CON, 10 or 12 INT, 18 WIS, 11 (+1 racial) CHA. Of course this is assuming you will use Heavy armor and not multiclass. The DEX and INT choice basically come down to what skills you want to use and how you role play (you will have disadvantage on stealth in heavy armor).
As a life cleric, you won't get martial weapon proficiency, and can't use the better 2-handed weapons, so I prioritized WIS to maximize healing, CON for HP and higher Breath weapon save, then STR for heavy armor and decent melee damage. You can use your shield as your holy symbol for spellcasting, and +2 AC is fantastic especially for a healer.
The advice given so far has been sound, particularly for the intent it was given with. I'd tend to agree most with DxJxC, though you could go 15+2, 10 or 12, 18, 10 or 12, 17, 11+1 in order to maximize your HP long term. This will help you as a front line warrior with a relatively small hit die.
Full analysis
Str, Con, and Wis are going to be your main stats based on what you've said. Wis because of class, Con because it's good for everyone and con saves are good for concentration spells (if you don't plan on concentration spells, this is less vital), and strength for melee damage and equipping the best heavy armor. Dex is not a good option for melee since you would be limited to a dagger (1d4) damage without martial wespons, but it's 2.5 average damage is only 1 point off the d6 of most simple melee weapons (average of 3.5). If you want to follow fullmetalbunny's advice and go 2 hand, you are limited to the great club (always 2 hand), the quarterstaff, or the spear (the last two are d6 1 hand or d8 2 hand). All of the 2 hand options average 4.5 damage. In heavy armor, you will have disadvantage on stealth rolls without mithral armor, which equates to a 20-25% lower chance of success. Sleight of hand and acrobatics are the other dex skills and you would have to target those with your background or your Ability Score Increase (ASI)/feats to get proficiency in order to max out. Dex isn't factored in with heavy armor, which leaves initiative rolls and dex saves as your only dex concerns left. As a healer, you may wish to go later in the initiative so you have more information available to you for your decisions (Do I need to heal? No. Great, attack or support. Yes. Better get on that.) particularly since your damage is likely to be more contributory than your damagers. Dex saves are probably the most common saves in the game.
This leaves dex, int, and charisma as your 10, 11, and 12. Because you add 1 to ability modifiers at even numbers (10 and 11 are both +0, but 12 is +1) your plus one to charisma (from dragonborn racial) is best used on the 11 to give you a final 10, 12, 12 spread for your bottom three. I based on my analysis for dex earlier, I would go int 12, charisma 11+1=12, and dex 10, unless you want to make dex saves easier, which is a legitimate concern. Intelligence factors into religion, history, arcana, and nature intelligence checks and investigation checks. 2 of your possible class skills are from here and several backgrounds have options for these proficiencies. Without a wizard in the party, intelligence checks can tend lower and getting at least a +1 could help here (plus your proficiency bonus on any that you become proficient with).
With your name stats, you have to ask yourself what you want to maximize, melee damage, healing and ranged damage (mostly through cantrips, likely sacred flame and/or toll the dead, part of the reason I didn't consider reached weapons with dex), or HP. Since your standard array would give you a 15 max (17 on strength with the racial bonus) you are ahead of point buy and standard arrays. This allows you some flexibility, knowing that you aren't going to make a suboptimal decision here. (Standard array gives 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 vs your 18, 17, 15, 12, 11, 10... you are ahead of the standard array on 5/6 abilities. Point buy gives 8 to every ability and 27 points to distribute with 14 and 15 taking 2 extra points when buying them. This means that a 13 takes 5 points, a 14 takes 7 points and a 15 takes 9 points. The standard array follows point buy in that manner, but you could have a specialist at 15, 15, 15, 8, 8, 8 or a jack of all trades at 13, 13, 13, 12, 12, 12 and the standard array splitting the difference.)
Max HP. cleric starts with 8+your constitution modifier hit points and the you either add your average hit points or roll a d8 for hit points at each level, adding your con modifier to that number. 15 is +2, 17 is +3, and 18 is +4, so you could start with either 10, 11, or 12 hit points. The average for a d8 is 5 (4.5 rounded up). Your hit points getting to level 4 (your first chance to change any of these abilities) would be: 1st level 12 (10 lowest), 2nd level 21 (17), 3rd 30 (24) with a decision at 4th. You could +2 the 18 to add an average of 10 hit points a level. With a 15+2 strength and a 17 wisdom, you would be +3 to both (not common for a 1st & 2nd stat and unheard of for a 2nd & 3rd stat in standard). At 8, you could +1 each to get to 18 and +4 on the modifier while finishing either at 12 and the final at 16, leaving 19 for a feat or a boost to a lower ability. Other feats could be incorporated instead including resilient (con), warcaster, and sentinel among others.
Max Wis. This would maximize your healing and spellcasting. At low levels this is not as crucial, UNLESS your party are a bunch of kamikazes or your DM is a sadist. A 15 or a 17 would be a max stat that the adventures would be balanced against (more so the corresponding +2 or +3). Disciple of Life further reduces the need for healing which leaves ranged damage as the primary reason to still do this aside from wisdom saves. You've stated that wasn't a high priority. The leveling would be similar to above, adjusting for appropriate abilities.
Max melee damage. FullMetalBunny outlined max melee damage. 18+2=20 strength and max stay at level 1. This could leave a 17 con and a 15 wis or vice versa. This would then revert to either strategy above.
Remember that dead PCs and NPCs don't participate in combat and don't deal damage. Who you prioritize determines what will be important. If you are dead, you can't damage or heal others. If other party members are dead, you have to focus on healing them up. If other enemies are dead, the aren't damaging your party which prevents healing needing to go out. The bright side is you are ahead of the curve no matter the path you choose, so you can choose the stats for RP purposes (what does your character want to prioritize) and not feel bad about mechanics.
Max skill. Because of your +2 racial bonus for strength you can choose an additional option. Choose strength at 12+2= 14, con at 17 or 18, wis at 17 or 18, charisma at 15+1=16 or 11+1=12, with dex and int picking up the remaining 15, 11, and/or 10, depending on your preferred skills. In this case, I would not increase the ability that gets the 15, but follow one of the above approaches, making sure to get strength to at least 15 for the plate requirement for max AC (significant in melee, every +1 in AC means 5% fewer hits to you, part of the reason that a shield with your holy symbol emblazoned on it for your spell focus and warcaster feat are great options for you). I hope I didn't forget something, that was long.
Everyone has great advice but since you are playing a Cleric whose main purpose in the Domain is maximum healing I would go a bit different with abilities. Also, as was mentioned, being Dragonborn having a good Con stat is fun for more reason than HP. I use a Dragonborn Tempest Cleric and my previous character was a Human Life Cleric. With my current character I have rolled so poorly that I began to chose spells that rely on the target to roll. I do not even use Spiritual weapon or an actual weapon at all. (Our Barbarian in our current campaign lost her Magic Axe and I gave her my Magic Warhammer. I am literally not using a weapon at all. So, in other words, I am doing great with a 10 Str, 17 Dex, 19 Con, 9 Int, 20 Wis 10 Cha
Toll the dead is always going to do more damage than a magic weapon in the hands of a Cleric. (Unless, Holy Weapon is used.) This is simply my opinion and all just from my personal experience the last 2 years and being relatively new to 5e.
Good advice so far. I'd agree with the consensus above in that your main stat's would be STR, CON and WIS so there are your top three stats. Since you get a racial bump to STR and CHA I would arrange your stats to take advantage. Like so...
STR 20
DEX 10
CON 17
INT 11
WIS 15
CHA 13
Wear heavy armor and fight with mace and shield. This gives you a 20 AC and with your high STR and CON you will be able to wade into the fight to heal or deal damage as needed.
This stat arrangement would also make picking up a few levels of Paladin a good choice. Personally, I would start with 2 levels of Paladin and then switch to Cleric but full Cleric is never a bad option. Consider that with 2 levels of Paladin you would have martial weapons, a fighting style and divine smite. The divine smite being the kicker. Especially with all those cleric spell slots available once you gain a few levels.
For your Ability Score Improvements I would do something like the below.
1st ASI - CON +1 (18), WIS +1 (16)
2nd ASI - WIS +2 (18)
3rd ASI - WIS +2 (20)
4th ASI - CON +2 (20)
5th ASI - Feat Tough
An example of how your character might look at 13th level as a Paladin 2/Cleric 11 - https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/Slaine000/characters/9564100
Whatever you decide good luck!
Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
Check out my homebrew: Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Feats
This is definitely a good option if you are looking at multiclass into bard, paladin, sorcerer, or warlock since you'll need your charisma to be at least 13, in addition to your wisdom being at least 13 for cleric. See page 163 in the player's handbook for more on multiclassing. If you aren't considering the multiclass into one of those classes, having 13/11/10 gives you +1/+0/+0 as opposed to 12/12/10 with +1/+1/+0.
Thank you so much to everyone who commented and offered advice! It was all really helpful and I definitely feel more confident about my choice now that I know I have so many viable options to choose from!
Would it be hijacking of a post if I ask all the contributors why they feel strength is so important for this build? If you are saying it is important based on starlikenight's desires, then ok. Otherwise, I couldn't disagree more. So much to consider based on roleplaying choices, style or desire. But in the end, his character is going to spend every other turn healing his ally's or casting another spell. As I stated before, I do not even use a weapon anymore. Not even Spiritual Weapon. I am certain, Strength is the least important, unless starlikenights is one of the only fighters in the group. If that is the case then he should be a War Cleric. I know this is just my opinion and I only have 1 year of Life Cleric experience and 1 year of Tempest Cleric experience but in my experience, my 10 strength has left me with no regrets. I do not mean any disrespect. I am hoping I hear something I have not thought about before. Multiclassing yes, but I doubt that is a concern of starlightnights desires...thanks.
Here is a fun idea. With your starting stats, which are lucky to begin with. (I use the standard array always. )Yours: 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18
With the following at 1st level: Strength 12, Dex 17, Con 15, Wis 18, Int 12, Cha 12. You will have a + 5 to AC with light armor, if you use a shield. So you most likely will have a starting AC of a 17. At 4th level take Dragonhide feat. Using a shield, you will increase to 18 AC with no Armor at all and get to add a +1 to Str, Con or Cha. I do not recommend this. You could increase Wisdom to 20 instead. At 8th level increase Con to 16 and Dex to 18. giving you 8 extra hp and an 18 AC. At 12th level take Tough Feat, giving you an extra 24 hp jump. (If you boost Con to an 18 you only will get 12 hp boost.) Boost Con instead if you want your Dragon breath DC Save to be higher. I can tell you from experience. We have an Oathbreaker Paladin, a Berserker Barbarian, Ranger and Champion Fighter in our large party. So I could be speaking from a rare point of view in that we have a lot of "meat shields." That being said. I have the second highest damage success rate...always. A natural 20 is the only way any of my party members beat me on damage per turn. I used Channel divinity Destructive Wrath with Call lightning at 5th level only once, and my DM has made sure that we have not had any combat outside or in a large chamber since...I might have made a mistake in my calculations but I know someone here will correct me. This is an awesome group. I would not have made it to 11th level without some of the advice I got here. DnD beyond members are the best!
Just based on the race class choice, STR was a better investment over DEX. I recommended the lowest score roll that gets STR over 15 (for plate). Of course multiclassing, role play, and play style are important to consider, but the OP asks "what would you do?" So I answered as such while leaving a little room to adjust for play style.
I am currently running a 10 STR 16 DEX life cleric who hasn't swung a weapon since level 2, so I know what you are talking about (I'm actually starting a celestial warlock multiclass with that character).
That is so awesome and funny. I decided a few months ago, if and when my character is retired, I am going with a Celestial Warlock. Let me know how it goes. (Probably in a new post.)
There were three factors for me: 1) The player wanted to use heavy armor and there are prerequisites for heavy armor unless you want a slower walking speed. 2) dex doesn't add to the AC when wearing heavy armor and it causes disadvantage on stealth rolls. 3) the character is a Dragonborn with a +2 to strength. I'm not against having a wasted racial stat but I don't like saying two.
That being said, one of the builds that I suggested did have a starting strength of 12+2. This conceivably could have left the 15 for dex, though I was envisioning it for intelligence or charisma.
I've character concepts two lizardfolk clerics, one death domain and one war domain, that were dex based to take advantage of their natural armor and innate ability to have stealth proficiency. I went 10 strength on one and 12 strength on the other (primarily because I wanted no penalty on their bite attack for moments that I want to use it) and because I felt that either their charisma or their intelligence should be low (or both) for the character concept.
No worries clear_seeker! I am currently playing two clerics as you can see in my sig. I actually started my tempest cleric with STR as the highest stat and he rolls into the fights right along side the party paladin. My other cleric is a multiclass cleric 12/wiz 3 and is a very scholarly seeker of knowledge but he too gets in the mix casting spells from his broom of flying right next to the party wizard. Neither character sits in the back and solely heals. My philosophy is the faster opponents go down the less healing is needed and thus my characters never sit in the back.
A previous character of mine was a cleric/monk multiclass. He proved to be a excellent combat medic with his monk ability to run around the battle field while healing and delivering Stunning Blows. My point with these examples is there are many many ways to play a cleric.
The reasons for my suggestions are similar to Jhfffan's above. Heavy armor makes a lot of sense for a life cleric and this requires at least a 15 str meaning the character's strength will have to be a 17, 19 or 20...a DEX above 10 does not really help heavy armor...and racial bonuses for a dragonborn are +2 STR and +1 CHA so it is always nice to try and take advantage of that. I suggested a few paladin levels to take advantage of the high STR the character would have and to provide an alternative to what had been suggested before (and I have to admit I like to multiclass). The OP stated they had a idea for role playing so it didn't seem appropriate to make any suggestions in that area.
Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
Check out my homebrew: Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Feats
This is one of my favorite aspects about D&D, the freedom that comes with different people being able to approach something from so many different angles. Something that is essential for one player is a dump stat for another player despite playing the exact same race/class/subclass/background combo. In many other games, this isn't quite as possible due to any number of reasons (at least not without taking a serious amount of ridicule and possibly being booted from the party in some of the games).
I try to take the features of the race and mix it with the class. As such, different aspects of the class come into play. For example, take starlikeknight's setup, but swap the race to Loxodon from Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica (because I spent half the night trying to figure out a way to take advantage of the Loxodon's natural armor, 12 + Con Modifier). You would still have stat values of: 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18 on a life cleric, but instead of having Strength of +2 and Charisma of +1, you would have Constitution +2 and Wisdom +1. You would get Powerful Build (count as a large creature when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift) which can range from a throw away ability to a game changer depending on your imagination and whether your DM tracks carrying capacity, Loxodon Serenity (advantage of saving throws against being charmed or frightened), Natural Armor (12 + Con Mod, Shields are ok), Trunk (has a reach of 5 ft, can't carry wield weapons or shields, can be used as a snorkel, can lift 5 times your strength score in pounds, can be used to grapple, etc.), and Keen Smell (advantage on Wisdom (perception), Wisdom (Survival), and Intelligence (Investigation) checks involving smell).
Natural Armor, a 17 or an 18 score, and a +2 to Constitution is a pretty good thing. Even being able to have a 17 Constitution by using the 15 is pretty amazing. 17 (+3), 19 (+4), or 20 (+5) gives you 12 + 3, 4, or 5 plus the shield for AC ((15, 16, or 17) + 2 ==> 17, 18, or 19 with only the shield to affect the AC if the party is without gear. Let's say we give this Loxodon the 17 + 2 = 19 with an eye toward getting the Resilient (con) feat later (+1 to con and constitution saving throw proficiency). We could as easily use the 15 + 2 = 17 +1 Resilient (Con) = 18 + 2 ASI = 20 and still have some combination of 3 feats or ASIs with a 17 and an 18 still sitting in our pocket. The high constitution means that the Loxodon will have great HP for a Cleric, particularly if we decide to get the feat Tough, and we'll be able to hold our concentration very well. Additionally, you won't have disadvantage on Stealth Checks, unless a DM rules that your size or weight cause you to have it (which is possible and plausible).
Wisdom is begging to get the 18 + 1 = 19, in order to maximize the ability of the cleric to blast things from the middle to back row, all while being a pretty imposing off tank if needed (without even deciding what our Strength OR Dexterity Scores will be). You could take the Observant feat to max out Wisdom, be able to read lips, and have a +5 bonus to passive perception and passive Investigation or you could simply split an ASI. You're heals, while already amazing as a life cleric (or at least as far as 5e allows) will be high the entire game and you can use Sacred Flame or Toll the Dead to deal damage until someone needs to be topped off. Or you can use one of your spells. Or you could use something that you picked up through multiclassing. Even if you only take the 15 +1 = 16 (and the 17 + 2 = 19 for constitution), 2 full ASIs and a feat (Resilient (con)) max you in both of those abilities, give you advantage on constitution (read concentration) saves, and leaves you with an 18 to do whatever you want to do and 2 ASIs/feats unspoken for. The only class that would be off the table at this point would be Paladin (Strength and Charisma 13) but even that would be available after an ASI or feat bumped one up to 13 if the other takes the 18. As is, you could dip a couple of levels to get Druid, which nets you wild shape, more cantrips (one of which could be shillelagh to give your quarterstaff or club 1d8 + Wis modifier attack, if you really wanted to be able to melee), possibly short rest slot recovery (limited by your druid level, but at least 1), potentially some additional spells from the circle spells if you go land, better wild shape forms if you go moon, or whatever goodies the XGtE circles give you. This could also give you Goodberry complete with your Disciple of Life healing bonus.
With your last high stat, you could go strength if you wanted more ability to melee but don't like the idea of something like Shillelagh, if you wanted to maximize the utility of your Trunk (5 X 15 = 75 lbs that you could lift, 5 X 18 = 90 lbs and bumped up to 20 would be 100 lbs. You could be a personal 5 ft elevator for some of the lighter party members. And the ability to grapple while maintaining your weapon and your shield, or retaining a free hand for spells with a shield... interesting options if someone gets passed the meatshields.), or wanted to be really athletic. You could go dex to help with many of the AoE saves, be really sneaky (or as sneaky as your DM lets you be as a 7-8 ft tall, 300-400 lb creature), or you could use that crossbow that you picked up and save your cantrips for utility. Sleight of Hand shenanigans with your trunk could provide some comic relief. And then there is Acrobatics... I'll start a new paragraph so it's easier to find your place after that image.
Intelligence and Charisma would be interesting options as well. Unless you're dipping Wizard, I probably wouldn't go higher than 15 for Intelligence. You can probably do quite well with a +2 for most intelligence checks and adding proficiency from either your background, History or Religion from Cleric (Persuasion, Insight, and Medicine are the others), or whatever else you choose to do with your ASI/feats is just icing. Don't forget Investigation gets at least advantage (on checks dealing with smell) and possibly already have +5 on passive investigation. Wizard dip, possibly with an 18 in your pocket and concentration save proficiency... Booming Blade coupled with Shillelagh could be some interesting fun in your tank of the back row role, a familiar to help you out, or whatever your spell book tells you to do. Arcane Ward could make you a little tougher all while making your allies tougher.
Charisma has already been talked about, but adding 4 levels of bladelock hits that melee sweet spot that was looked for in the OP, short rest recovery, gets a pact, that ASI, invocations and, most likely, Eldritch Blast v2.0 (if Agonizing blast is taken). Bard gets some inspiration, Jack of All Trades at 2nd, Expertise at 3rd plus whatever you want from your College. Sorcerer is readily available and Paladin is there if you want to get a little MAD. All of this, and we haven't even talked about where the 10, 11, and 12 will go (unless you want to include the Paladin talk) and at the opportunity cost of a short rest breath weapon and a damage resistance (ok... the +2 strength and +1 Charisma, too). Of course, the DM has to approve using the Ravnica book and using Loxodon would eliminate XGtE or SCAG options in Adventure League.
I know I'm excited by the versatility that Loxodon offers for Cleric, probably as excited as starlikeknight was about the dragonborn's breath weapon and resistence, clear_seeker was about the dex based cleric, and others are about whatever character concept they dream up. That is what makes D&D a great game and provides so much depth for those players that enjoy it. I just hope that I find a group to play with as a player so that I can test out some of my creations.
Clear seaker, I play a mountain dwarf life cleric with 16 str. I've got a +2 battleaxe and most of the time I'm swinging the axe after I cast one or two buff/battlefield control type spells. And I'm in a elf party with 2 wizards, a ranger, and 2 rogue/assassin types...
I'd say that the only score that really matters for a cleric is Wis, followed by Con, then Str...pretty sure I went Wis, Str, Con and then dumped Cha (9) and Int (13) and kept a 12 Dex...with the intention of playing a gruff dwarf with no charisma.
Your ability scores can be a way to flesh out your character as opposed to just a hard and fast build rule...my dwarf was a scout (fighter background) who was captured and now is a cleric, so my scores reflect that. Using the scores to make a "best case scenario" character can be boring , but using the scores to make a realistic character with shortcomings can make the game (and role play) way more fun/interesting.
Just my couple of pennies...
Wisdom to 20 as quick as you can (18). Con next, 16 is good, but no less (17). Str needs to be a 15 to be able use heavy armor (15), but you don't need to have it maxed as you aren't a melee damage dealer. Charisma is only good if you are a face (12 or 11 depending on skills). Int is not really needed unless your skill selections are int based(12 or 11 depending on skills). Dex is your dump (10), not needed since you have heavy armor.
If you are a new player here and looking for some build advice, please don't max out STR before WIS on your Life cleric. Each class has a main stat, the class was built to assume that stat would be highest and much of what you can do will scale with it.
There are certainly fun, outside-the-box approaches to any build or class, and if that's what you're here for then this thread will be an interesting read for you. But if you just want to be a good cleric and support your party to the best of your ability, please go WIS for their sake.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
I am also building my first life cleric, as a human, and his stats after adding all the +1s are 19, 14, 13, 13, 12, 11. I decided to assign them as:
Str: 13, Dex: 13, Con: 14, Int: 11, Wis: 19, Chr: 12 ... at level 4 I plan to go +1 Str and +1 Wis.
He carries a mace and a light crossbow. He will soon also carry a quarter staff. He wears medium armor and has a shield with his holy symbol. He has the acolyte background.
Cantrips: Guidance, Light, Spare the Dying Spells: Bless, Cure Wounds, Guiding Bolt, Shield of Faith, Detect Magic, Protection from Evil and Good
He travels with a Paladin, the second son of a Duke, and he was instructed before they left together to travel to another kingdom on a diplomatic mission that he was to make sure the Duke's son was not killed. The Paladin, Augustus, is a fine fellow that wants to serve his father and king, particularly by ruling over his Barony (when he reaches the age of 25-30) with wisdom and justice. He knows that as his brother will inherit the Duchy, he will be one of the important players in the Duchy but he doesn't resent his brother.
Bartholomew, the Cleric, grew up alongside Augustus. He is the third son of a baron, so he went into the clergy, which was not a difficult choice for him. When he was sent to the capitol of the Duchy he met Augustus and they have been friends since. Bartholomew also expects to be granted a high position in the church, which he hopes will be a top level clergyman, such as a bishop, serving in the same land as Augustus. But while Augustus' inheritance is nearly a lock, Bartholomew must make a better show of earning his posting. He knows that a successful career as an adventurer would help him earn that position.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt