I'm playing my first character ever in an upcoming campaign, and I really want to play a Cleric of the Twilight Domain.
I notice that they get a proficiency with martial weapons and heavy armor, and I had mainly been wanting to go with a more dexterous spellcaster. Which of these two options do you think would be better?
Also, what kind of role could a Twilight Cleric fill in the party? There's a Life Cleric in the party, so I don't know how much extra healing power will be needed (other than my domain's Channel Divinity), and I'd like to try to figure out what spells or feats compliment the subclass features.
It doesn't look like there is anything particular about twilight that would force you into any particular style build other than a basic support build. Find something that you like and go with it.
Remember that you don't need to wear heavy armor, you can go with medium armor with a dexterous build and be as well off as with heavy armor to start assuming you have at least a 14 dex.
You can use your spells to provide cover for your party. Toll the dead will be a good attack cantrip for you (flavor the castings as announcing the twilight of their time on Faerun or whatever the setting). This will do for your offense in most cases, though you may want to consider Spiritual weapon and Spirit Guardians. Outside of that work with the Life Cleric to support the party. Consider Bane instead of Bless since the Life Cleric has it always prepared. However, sleep or Faerie Fire can be just as effective or moreso. Have healing word as a back up for the life cleric.
Having a proficiency doesn't mean you have to use it. Just remember that only light armour lets you make the most of a very high dex. You will need to work out if your dex is high enough to make a difference. For example;
Light - Studded leather (12) + shield (2) plus dex could potentially give you a 19AC
Medium - Half plate (15) + shield (2) + dex (max 2) could also give you a 19ac though you probably won't start the game with half plate.
Heavy - Plate mail (18) + shield (2) + no dex giving 20 AC. You are more likely to start with Chain giving an 18 AC.
Simply put, you need to start with an 18 or 20 dex to make the most of light armour and have equal ac as you would with a 14 dex in medium armour. Your dex won't matter in heavy armour.
Only you can make the decision - but you know what? It's not always about getting the best. Sometimes it's about the theme of your character. I have a cleric who started out as an orphan living on the streets, she was a healer and when she was eventually given armour by her party she hated it. She kept 'forgetting' to put it on after coming out of her tent, and the party leader had to keep sending her back in to put it on. She dd eventually get used to it but kept grumbling for quite a while about how uncomfortable it was and how much it smelled.
Spells can be interesting, Bless on your party doesn't require saving throws, Bane on the enemy does. Faerie fire is awesome but you have to be careful not to catch your own party in the area. Toll the dead is a good damaging cantrip but I prefer Sacred Flame. Guidance is an absolute must for any cleric. Your DM and players should get sick of you saying I cast Guidance constantly.
Something else to consider is the fact that you can go with a lizardfolk on a dexterous build and use its natural armor of 13+dex. You'll be 1 AC off of medium armor and heavy armor, but you'll have better AC than leather armor by 2 and be able to use stealth if that's a plan for you. They don't get a dex bonus, but +2 con and +1 wis works well for a cleric also. Loxodon also have a natural armor of 12 + con and have the same stat bonuses as a lizardfolk. Your dex will max at 15 to start (or 14 if you maximize the +1 for wisdom, but you could put the 13 in con and bump dex and con at 4 to get all three in the evens. Not saying that you have to do this, but it's something to consider.
I'm playing my first character ever in an upcoming campaign, and I really want to play a Cleric of the Twilight Domain.
I notice that they get a proficiency with martial weapons and heavy armor, and I had mainly been wanting to go with a more dexterous spellcaster. Which of these two options do you think would be better?
Also, what kind of role could a Twilight Cleric fill in the party? There's a Life Cleric in the party, so I don't know how much extra healing power will be needed (other than my domain's Channel Divinity), and I'd like to try to figure out what spells or feats compliment the subclass features.
So I’m playing a level 4 twilight cleric in a Rime Campaign, and a few thoughts.
With Heavy Armor(which life clerics also get, ironically), I built him to be more of a “Classic” Cleric. Higher STR and WIS with some CON to take hits. The channel divinity for them is insane, granting Temp HP every turn for a minute, no concentration required is NUTS. Dex Clerics can work but it does negate the bonus the class gets to Heavy Armor. Does make it so you can’t really stealth though if you decide to go Heavy Armor.
Spell Selection honestly, since there is another Cleric in the party whose schtick is healing? You can really focus on utility spells. Getting Sleep and Faerie Fire at level 1 as a Cleric is just FUN. You’d be silly to not take Healing Word and some sort of damage Cantrip but you really get the ability to just really focus on other things. Some Cleric spells are just too good, right. Spiritual Weapon, Spirit Guardians, Revivify but you could also go more damage based. Guiding Bolt is a great cleric spell deals great damage, isn’t a saving throw and can grant advantage to the next person who hits it.
You also have the ability to do things normally you couldn’t do! Like was said above, Guidance for Clerics is generally a must have BUT there’s already someone with that ability! You can take Resistance! Hey, for the Rogue who is about to open that trapped chest, here you go, have a D4 to pick the lock AND a d4 just in case you screw it up!
Alert as a feat I feel works really well for Twilight Clerics, both thematically and mechanically. Since you’re always granting other people advantage on init checks it makes sense you’d be better at it than most. Since you’re Dex based too also means you get the ability bonuses. Other than that, it’s your standard fare. War Caster is never the wrong answer if you cast concentration spells, Tough since you might be front lines, Resilient Dex since you’re already naturally dex based you could lean in so to speak. If you’re going Variant Human, you could do some odd things. Magic Initiate Cleric sounds like an odd choice but it lets you take more cantrips right off the bat. Means more flexibility for RP related situations and one free spell a day isn’t something to sneeze at.
I'm playing my first character ever in an upcoming campaign, and I really want to play a Cleric of the Twilight Domain.
I notice that they get a proficiency with martial weapons and heavy armor, and I had mainly been wanting to go with a more dexterous spellcaster. Which of these two options do you think would be better?
Also, what kind of role could a Twilight Cleric fill in the party? There's a Life Cleric in the party, so I don't know how much extra healing power will be needed (other than my domain's Channel Divinity), and I'd like to try to figure out what spells or feats compliment the subclass features.
So I’m playing a level 4 twilight cleric in a Rime Campaign, and a few thoughts.
With Heavy Armor(which life clerics also get, ironically), I built him to be more of a “Classic” Cleric. Higher STR and WIS with some CON to take hits. The channel divinity for them is insane, granting Temp HP every turn for a minute, no concentration required is NUTS. Dex Clerics can work but it does negate the bonus the class gets to Heavy Armor. Does make it so you can’t really stealth though if you decide to go Heavy Armor.
Spell Selection honestly, since there is another Cleric in the party whose schtick is healing? You can really focus on utility spells. Getting Sleep and Faerie Fire at level 1 as a Cleric is just FUN. You’d be silly to not take Healing Word and some sort of damage Cantrip but you really get the ability to just really focus on other things. Some Cleric spells are just too good, right. Spiritual Weapon, Spirit Guardians, Revivify but you could also go more damage based. Guiding Bolt is a great cleric spell deals great damage, isn’t a saving throw and can grant advantage to the next person who hits it.
You also have the ability to do things normally you couldn’t do! Like was said above, Guidance for Clerics is generally a must have BUT there’s already someone with that ability! You can take Resistance! Hey, for the Rogue who is about to open that trapped chest, here you go, have a D4 to pick the lock AND a d4 just in case you screw it up!
Alert as a feat I feel works really well for Twilight Clerics, both thematically and mechanically. Since you’re always granting other people advantage on init checks it makes sense you’d be better at it than most. Since you’re Dex based too also means you get the ability bonuses. Other than that, it’s your standard fare. War Caster is never the wrong answer if you cast concentration spells, Tough since you might be front lines, Resilient Dex since you’re already naturally dex based you could lean in so to speak. If you’re going Variant Human, you could do some odd things. Magic Initiate Cleric sounds like an odd choice but it lets you take more cantrips right off the bat. Means more flexibility for RP related situations and one free spell a day isn’t something to sneeze at.
Great thread everyone. I plan on playing an Aasimar Twilight Cleric in my next campaign and wonderful to see others already coming up with some great thoughts/ strengths.
This is a great thread. I am planning to roll a Variant Human (Mark of Sentinel) Twilight Domain Cleric. I wanted to build a tank that will not go down and would take most hits for the party. I guess I would have to go the high STR and possibly drop DEX build. Also, going full plate with shield. Really have a lot to think about, so this thread helps.
This is a great thread. I am planning to roll a Variant Human (Mark of Sentinel) Twilight Domain Cleric. I wanted to build a tank that will not go down and would take most hits for the party. I guess I would have to go the high STR and possibly drop DEX build. Also, going full plate with shield. Really have a lot to think about, so this thread helps.
You don't need Strength, but yeah, since you're neither a dwarf nor a race with racial AC nor a race with racial mobility (like Mark of Passage Human), Str 15 can really help with your mobility while keeping your AC up.
This is a great thread. I am planning to roll a Variant Human (Mark of Sentinel) Twilight Domain Cleric. I wanted to build a tank that will not go down and would take most hits for the party. I guess I would have to go the high STR and possibly drop DEX build. Also, going full plate with shield. Really have a lot to think about, so this thread helps.
You don't need Strength, but yeah, since you're neither a dwarf nor a race with racial AC nor a race with racial mobility (like Mark of Passage Human), Str 15 can really help with your mobility while keeping your AC up.
Going with medium Armor (Scale Mail) and at least 14 dex will give the same 16 AC as chainmail. Long term the difference is 1 AC between Plate and Half-Plate, which medium armor master can overcome with a 16 dex and for half the gold. Depending on what your DM is like, it might not be noticeably different.
Going with medium Armor (Scale Mail) and at least 14 dex will give the same 16 AC as chainmail. Long term the difference is 1 AC between Plate and Half-Plate, which medium armor master can overcome with a 16 dex and for half the gold. Depending on what your DM is like, it might not be noticeably different.
I'm going to second this, and and on top of that dumping dex does a lot mor etoyour survivability in terms of failing saves than dumping str so a Str 8, Dex 14 AC 17 Cleric is probably as hardy as a Str 15 Dex 8 AC18. (As well as the Dex based stats being easier to obtain / gives you the ability to up another stat a bit.) Unless you are needing strength for attacks there is little need to invest in strength unless you ar eusing variance encumberence.
Clerics do not have room in their progression for two wasted feats (medium armor master, ASI +2 Dex). That’s bad advice, they can and should be in plate and shield if they have heavy armor prof…. Probably even if they are short of 15 Str, the speed debuff isn’t that bad, or buy a horse if it really bugs you.
Twilight Clerics are melee tanks, you want high Con/HP and Wisdom, and war caster. That’s all your feat decisions right there (+1 wis feat at 4, +2 wis at 8, Warcaster at 12, +2 Con or resilient con at 16, +2 con or a +1 con feat or Tough at 19), unless you’re doing something with multiclass.
Clerics do not have room in their progression for two wasted feats (medium armor master, ASI +2 Dex). That’s bad advice, they can and should be in plate and shield if they have heavy armor prof…. Probably even if they are short of 15 Str, the speed debuff isn’t that bad, or buy a horse if it really bugs you.
Twilight Clerics are melee tanks, you want high Con/HP and Wisdom, and war caster. That’s all your feat decisions right there (+1 wis feat at 4, +2 wis at 8, Warcaster at 12, +2 Con or resilient con at 16, +2 con or a +1 con feat or Tough at 19), unless you’re doing something with multiclass.
While I agree medium armor master and the dex it requires is too much of an investment for the extra 1AC , I think 14 Dex and using medium armor is a perfectly viable cleric build even for a sub class that gives proficiency in heavy, and if you ar egoing to rarely use a weapon can be preferable. When I played a twilight cleric went human (twilight clerics work great with human as you don't suffer lack of darkvision) I started at level 4 and rolled stats but if I was starting at one with point buy I would have dome something like:
Str = 8, Dex = 14, Con 14+1, Int = 12, Wis=15+1, Cha=8 then taking resiliant con as a feat to get con up to +3, ASI Wis at 4 and 8 and at 12 I would have chosen betwwen Warcaster and an ASI in Con. Str and Int are interchangable, I went with Int becasue we were not using encumberance and I wanted a character who was knowedgable on thins like arcana and religion.
The strength based equivalent would probably something along the lines of:
Str = 15, Dex = 8, Con 14+1, Int = 10, Wis=15+1, Cha=8, For a gain of 1 AC you lose a lot of ability in dex saves, lower initiative and a lower ability in your int based skills (or strength).
I disagree that the movement debiuff isnt that bad. If you can only more 20ft there are a lot more times you can't get round the battlefield as uch as you want. (e.g You have to dash to get to the paralyzed player so you can't cast lesser restoration on them), it certain ly is worse than losing 1 to your AC. And a horse will either not fit in the dungeon or will quickly get killed.
AC has increasing returns: the benefit of going from AC 17 to AC 18 is greater than the benefit of going from AC 16 to AC 17. You should never disregard the benefit of even +1 to AC - but also I would never take Medium Armor Master on a heavy armor cleric. That costs two ASIs - one for the feat and one for Dexterity - unless you're a race that can apply stat bonuses to 3 stats; plus, once you're done doing it, all you've accomplished is catching up to your own AC, since you could be the same AC with plate. And you're better at Stealth, which was never your job to begin with.
If you're a standard +2/+1 race, like a Mark of Sentinel Human, and you're trying to be the most competent heavy armor melee tank cleric you can be, you do something like this:
L1: W17 Co16 S15 (AC 18, Chain Mail+Shield); S15 can be spent elsewhere if you don't mind losing out on mobility, probably on D15.
L4: W18 Co17 S15 (AC 19, Splint+Shield)
L8+: In the order of your choice, take +2 Wis, Resilient (Constitution), +2 Con or Lucky, and War Caster. You should be AC 20 at this point: Plate + Shield. That'll stop scaling on its own now - you can't just keep buying better armor unless your DM lets you buy magic armor.
Dex and Int skills can be handled by other party members. Your primary job is to maintain concentration on something on the front line for as long as possible.
Depending if your dm lets you play...i'll call it dirty: Satyr race,background in Azorious (strictly for counterspell) , first level in clock soul (extra spells like absorb elements and shield, con save prof, and negate adv prof a day), the rest in Twilight. stats 8,12,15(bump+1),8,15(+2),13
final stats are 8,12,16,8,17,13 and when you don the plate mail and shield you will still have the same speed as a dwarf at 25 but with the magic res ability, AND when/if you can get mithral, your speed jumps to 35!
I disagree that a speed 25 dwarf and a speed 20 cleric (who doesn't actually care about making melee attacks, just maneuvering around in combat to stay within 30 feet of the front line) play meaningfully different. A twilight cleric doesn't really suffer from 8 strength, up until they hit level 8 and get a useless feature for weapon attacks they aren't making (and that's fully addressed by taking the optional class variant Blessed Strikes).
Realistically, you don't need to tank Strength that hard, or you can, and can put points into Dexterity. Even if you do, though, you should be wearing heavy armor and wielding a shield if you're a cleric with heavy armor proficiency, the -1 AC is an unaccepatable drain on (1) healing yourself more often, (2) being put into situations where you're too in danger to focus on helping others or controlling the battlefields, (3) more concentration saves you're forced to make, and (4) the soft impact of being a more "attractive target" for the DM when he's controlling the battle. Proper tanks don't really need AC above 18, because they want to be attacked and don't mind being hit; casters in melee should be at 20+, because they don't want to be targeted, or hit.
I disagree that a speed 25 dwarf and a speed 20 cleric (who doesn't actually care about making melee attacks, just maneuvering around in combat to stay within 30 feet of the front line) play meaningfully different. A twilight cleric doesn't really suffer from 8 strength, up until they hit level 8 and get a useless feature for weapon attacks they aren't making (and that's fully addressed by taking the optional class variant Blessed Strikes).
Realistically, you don't need to tank Strength that hard, or you can, and can put points into Dexterity. Even if you do, though, you should be wearing heavy armor and wielding a shield if you're a cleric with heavy armor proficiency, the -1 AC is an unaccepatable drain on (1) healing yourself more often, (2) being put into situations where you're too in danger to focus on helping others or controlling the battlefields, (3) more concentration saves you're forced to make, and (4) the soft impact of being a more "attractive target" for the DM when he's controlling the battle. Proper tanks don't really need AC above 18, because they want to be attacked and don't mind being hit; casters in melee should be at 20+, because they don't want to be targeted, or hit.
Much here and pretty on the spot. The only oversight is that of the role for the person that started the most recent string of comments (post #8), who stated that they wanted to fulfill a tanking role. Cleric isn't the ideal candidate for a tank, but can be serviceable.
Going medium armor or heavy armor isn't as big of a concern for a tanking cleric, since maxing out AC isn't as big of a concern. The increase in dex saves could be a big concern, depending on the DM's usage of save attacks and the bump in initiative bonus could be beneficial as well. Movement is a bigger concern earlier in encounters for tanks, though usually less of a concern later.
I think for a tanking cleric, it would be more beneficial to start wisdom at 16 and only bump it to 18 before level 8. Warcaster and/or constitution bumps could be of greater benefit. The best threat option for a cleric is probably Spirit Guardians, and keeping that up and complimenting the meager d8 hit die are higher priorities than maxing wisdom.
My comment about medium armor master earlier was simply to state that it was possible to make up the 1 AC difference, not that it was an ideal fix. Both AC solutions are viable and starting with the dex solution offers options if magical armor comes into play since the cleric could still make use of heavy armor and just dash during the first round for positioning. However, that's only a big deal if the DM uses dex saves frequently. Otherwise, the action economy cost might be too high if they use regular attacks more frequently and/or have frequent movement built into their encounters. Otherwise, it's mostly flavor for a tanking cleric.
There is nothing wrong with going dex-based. Especially on a Twilight Cleric. You could really lean into the 'of the night' theme and pick up stealth. Higher dex paired with the Vigilant Blessing means you are basically always going to go first or very close to it. Sure you'll be a little easier to hit, but only slightly. You're padding HP anyway though, and can afford to take a hit, far more so than any other subclass anyway. You're effectively ignoring 1d6+cleric level damage a round.
I'd say take war caster asap and use a whip/shield like a G. Dex=Wis>Con. Is it "the best possible number crunch imaginable???" No but you're a twilight cleric you DO NOT need to be optimizing, you're free to pick fun options clerics don't often get to play with. Take a background that gives you like stealth and thieves tools or something and go on 'nighttime shenanigans' with the rogue. It'd be great.
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I'm playing my first character ever in an upcoming campaign, and I really want to play a Cleric of the Twilight Domain.
I notice that they get a proficiency with martial weapons and heavy armor, and I had mainly been wanting to go with a more dexterous spellcaster. Which of these two options do you think would be better?
Also, what kind of role could a Twilight Cleric fill in the party? There's a Life Cleric in the party, so I don't know how much extra healing power will be needed (other than my domain's Channel Divinity), and I'd like to try to figure out what spells or feats compliment the subclass features.
Insert interesting signature here.
It doesn't look like there is anything particular about twilight that would force you into any particular style build other than a basic support build. Find something that you like and go with it.
Remember that you don't need to wear heavy armor, you can go with medium armor with a dexterous build and be as well off as with heavy armor to start assuming you have at least a 14 dex.
You can use your spells to provide cover for your party. Toll the dead will be a good attack cantrip for you (flavor the castings as announcing the twilight of their time on Faerun or whatever the setting). This will do for your offense in most cases, though you may want to consider Spiritual weapon and Spirit Guardians. Outside of that work with the Life Cleric to support the party. Consider Bane instead of Bless since the Life Cleric has it always prepared. However, sleep or Faerie Fire can be just as effective or moreso. Have healing word as a back up for the life cleric.
Having a proficiency doesn't mean you have to use it. Just remember that only light armour lets you make the most of a very high dex. You will need to work out if your dex is high enough to make a difference. For example;
Light - Studded leather (12) + shield (2) plus dex could potentially give you a 19AC
Medium - Half plate (15) + shield (2) + dex (max 2) could also give you a 19ac though you probably won't start the game with half plate.
Heavy - Plate mail (18) + shield (2) + no dex giving 20 AC. You are more likely to start with Chain giving an 18 AC.
Simply put, you need to start with an 18 or 20 dex to make the most of light armour and have equal ac as you would with a 14 dex in medium armour. Your dex won't matter in heavy armour.
Only you can make the decision - but you know what? It's not always about getting the best. Sometimes it's about the theme of your character. I have a cleric who started out as an orphan living on the streets, she was a healer and when she was eventually given armour by her party she hated it. She kept 'forgetting' to put it on after coming out of her tent, and the party leader had to keep sending her back in to put it on. She dd eventually get used to it but kept grumbling for quite a while about how uncomfortable it was and how much it smelled.
Spells can be interesting, Bless on your party doesn't require saving throws, Bane on the enemy does. Faerie fire is awesome but you have to be careful not to catch your own party in the area. Toll the dead is a good damaging cantrip but I prefer Sacred Flame. Guidance is an absolute must for any cleric. Your DM and players should get sick of you saying I cast Guidance constantly.
Something else to consider is the fact that you can go with a lizardfolk on a dexterous build and use its natural armor of 13+dex. You'll be 1 AC off of medium armor and heavy armor, but you'll have better AC than leather armor by 2 and be able to use stealth if that's a plan for you. They don't get a dex bonus, but +2 con and +1 wis works well for a cleric also. Loxodon also have a natural armor of 12 + con and have the same stat bonuses as a lizardfolk. Your dex will max at 15 to start (or 14 if you maximize the +1 for wisdom, but you could put the 13 in con and bump dex and con at 4 to get all three in the evens. Not saying that you have to do this, but it's something to consider.
So I’m playing a level 4 twilight cleric in a Rime Campaign, and a few thoughts.
With Heavy Armor(which life clerics also get, ironically), I built him to be more of a “Classic” Cleric. Higher STR and WIS with some CON to take hits. The channel divinity for them is insane, granting Temp HP every turn for a minute, no concentration required is NUTS. Dex Clerics can work but it does negate the bonus the class gets to Heavy Armor. Does make it so you can’t really stealth though if you decide to go Heavy Armor.
Spell Selection honestly, since there is another Cleric in the party whose schtick is healing? You can really focus on utility spells. Getting Sleep and Faerie Fire at level 1 as a Cleric is just FUN. You’d be silly to not take Healing Word and some sort of damage Cantrip but you really get the ability to just really focus on other things. Some Cleric spells are just too good, right. Spiritual Weapon, Spirit Guardians, Revivify but you could also go more damage based. Guiding Bolt is a great cleric spell deals great damage, isn’t a saving throw and can grant advantage to the next person who hits it.
You also have the ability to do things normally you couldn’t do! Like was said above, Guidance for Clerics is generally a must have BUT there’s already someone with that ability! You can take Resistance! Hey, for the Rogue who is about to open that trapped chest, here you go, have a D4 to pick the lock AND a d4 just in case you screw it up!
Alert as a feat I feel works really well for Twilight Clerics, both thematically and mechanically. Since you’re always granting other people advantage on init checks it makes sense you’d be better at it than most. Since you’re Dex based too also means you get the ability bonuses. Other than that, it’s your standard fare. War Caster is never the wrong answer if you cast concentration spells, Tough since you might be front lines, Resilient Dex since you’re already naturally dex based you could lean in so to speak. If you’re going Variant Human, you could do some odd things. Magic Initiate Cleric sounds like an odd choice but it lets you take more cantrips right off the bat. Means more flexibility for RP related situations and one free spell a day isn’t something to sneeze at.
Ok
Great thread everyone. I plan on playing an Aasimar Twilight Cleric in my next campaign and wonderful to see others already coming up with some great thoughts/ strengths.
This is a great thread. I am planning to roll a Variant Human (Mark of Sentinel) Twilight Domain Cleric. I wanted to build a tank that will not go down and would take most hits for the party. I guess I would have to go the high STR and possibly drop DEX build. Also, going full plate with shield. Really have a lot to think about, so this thread helps.
You don't need Strength, but yeah, since you're neither a dwarf nor a race with racial AC nor a race with racial mobility (like Mark of Passage Human), Str 15 can really help with your mobility while keeping your AC up.
Going with medium Armor (Scale Mail) and at least 14 dex will give the same 16 AC as chainmail. Long term the difference is 1 AC between Plate and Half-Plate, which medium armor master can overcome with a 16 dex and for half the gold. Depending on what your DM is like, it might not be noticeably different.
I'm going to second this, and and on top of that dumping dex does a lot mor etoyour survivability in terms of failing saves than dumping str so a Str 8, Dex 14 AC 17 Cleric is probably as hardy as a Str 15 Dex 8 AC18. (As well as the Dex based stats being easier to obtain / gives you the ability to up another stat a bit.) Unless you are needing strength for attacks there is little need to invest in strength unless you ar eusing variance encumberence.
Clerics do not have room in their progression for two wasted feats (medium armor master, ASI +2 Dex). That’s bad advice, they can and should be in plate and shield if they have heavy armor prof…. Probably even if they are short of 15 Str, the speed debuff isn’t that bad, or buy a horse if it really bugs you.
Twilight Clerics are melee tanks, you want high Con/HP and Wisdom, and war caster. That’s all your feat decisions right there (+1 wis feat at 4, +2 wis at 8, Warcaster at 12, +2 Con or resilient con at 16, +2 con or a +1 con feat or Tough at 19), unless you’re doing something with multiclass.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
While I agree medium armor master and the dex it requires is too much of an investment for the extra 1AC , I think 14 Dex and using medium armor is a perfectly viable cleric build even for a sub class that gives proficiency in heavy, and if you ar egoing to rarely use a weapon can be preferable. When I played a twilight cleric went human (twilight clerics work great with human as you don't suffer lack of darkvision) I started at level 4 and rolled stats but if I was starting at one with point buy I would have dome something like:
Str = 8, Dex = 14, Con 14+1, Int = 12, Wis=15+1, Cha=8 then taking resiliant con as a feat to get con up to +3, ASI Wis at 4 and 8 and at 12 I would have chosen betwwen Warcaster and an ASI in Con. Str and Int are interchangable, I went with Int becasue we were not using encumberance and I wanted a character who was knowedgable on thins like arcana and religion.
The strength based equivalent would probably something along the lines of:
Str = 15, Dex = 8, Con 14+1, Int = 10, Wis=15+1, Cha=8, For a gain of 1 AC you lose a lot of ability in dex saves, lower initiative and a lower ability in your int based skills (or strength).
I disagree that the movement debiuff isnt that bad. If you can only more 20ft there are a lot more times you can't get round the battlefield as uch as you want. (e.g You have to dash to get to the paralyzed player so you can't cast lesser restoration on them), it certain ly is worse than losing 1 to your AC. And a horse will either not fit in the dungeon or will quickly get killed.
AC has increasing returns: the benefit of going from AC 17 to AC 18 is greater than the benefit of going from AC 16 to AC 17. You should never disregard the benefit of even +1 to AC - but also I would never take Medium Armor Master on a heavy armor cleric. That costs two ASIs - one for the feat and one for Dexterity - unless you're a race that can apply stat bonuses to 3 stats; plus, once you're done doing it, all you've accomplished is catching up to your own AC, since you could be the same AC with plate. And you're better at Stealth, which was never your job to begin with.
If you're a standard +2/+1 race, like a Mark of Sentinel Human, and you're trying to be the most competent heavy armor melee tank cleric you can be, you do something like this:
Dex and Int skills can be handled by other party members. Your primary job is to maintain concentration on something on the front line for as long as possible.
Depending if your dm lets you play...i'll call it dirty: Satyr race,background in Azorious (strictly for counterspell) , first level in clock soul (extra spells like absorb elements and shield, con save prof, and negate adv prof a day), the rest in Twilight. stats 8,12,15(bump+1),8,15(+2),13
final stats are 8,12,16,8,17,13 and when you don the plate mail and shield you will still have the same speed as a dwarf at 25 but with the magic res ability, AND when/if you can get mithral, your speed jumps to 35!
I disagree that a speed 25 dwarf and a speed 20 cleric (who doesn't actually care about making melee attacks, just maneuvering around in combat to stay within 30 feet of the front line) play meaningfully different. A twilight cleric doesn't really suffer from 8 strength, up until they hit level 8 and get a useless feature for weapon attacks they aren't making (and that's fully addressed by taking the optional class variant Blessed Strikes).
Realistically, you don't need to tank Strength that hard, or you can, and can put points into Dexterity. Even if you do, though, you should be wearing heavy armor and wielding a shield if you're a cleric with heavy armor proficiency, the -1 AC is an unaccepatable drain on (1) healing yourself more often, (2) being put into situations where you're too in danger to focus on helping others or controlling the battlefields, (3) more concentration saves you're forced to make, and (4) the soft impact of being a more "attractive target" for the DM when he's controlling the battle. Proper tanks don't really need AC above 18, because they want to be attacked and don't mind being hit; casters in melee should be at 20+, because they don't want to be targeted, or hit.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Much here and pretty on the spot. The only oversight is that of the role for the person that started the most recent string of comments (post #8), who stated that they wanted to fulfill a tanking role. Cleric isn't the ideal candidate for a tank, but can be serviceable.
Going medium armor or heavy armor isn't as big of a concern for a tanking cleric, since maxing out AC isn't as big of a concern. The increase in dex saves could be a big concern, depending on the DM's usage of save attacks and the bump in initiative bonus could be beneficial as well. Movement is a bigger concern earlier in encounters for tanks, though usually less of a concern later.
I think for a tanking cleric, it would be more beneficial to start wisdom at 16 and only bump it to 18 before level 8. Warcaster and/or constitution bumps could be of greater benefit. The best threat option for a cleric is probably Spirit Guardians, and keeping that up and complimenting the meager d8 hit die are higher priorities than maxing wisdom.
My comment about medium armor master earlier was simply to state that it was possible to make up the 1 AC difference, not that it was an ideal fix. Both AC solutions are viable and starting with the dex solution offers options if magical armor comes into play since the cleric could still make use of heavy armor and just dash during the first round for positioning. However, that's only a big deal if the DM uses dex saves frequently. Otherwise, the action economy cost might be too high if they use regular attacks more frequently and/or have frequent movement built into their encounters. Otherwise, it's mostly flavor for a tanking cleric.
There is nothing wrong with going dex-based. Especially on a Twilight Cleric. You could really lean into the 'of the night' theme and pick up stealth. Higher dex paired with the Vigilant Blessing means you are basically always going to go first or very close to it. Sure you'll be a little easier to hit, but only slightly. You're padding HP anyway though, and can afford to take a hit, far more so than any other subclass anyway. You're effectively ignoring 1d6+cleric level damage a round.
I'd say take war caster asap and use a whip/shield like a G. Dex=Wis>Con. Is it "the best possible number crunch imaginable???" No but you're a twilight cleric you DO NOT need to be optimizing, you're free to pick fun options clerics don't often get to play with. Take a background that gives you like stealth and thieves tools or something and go on 'nighttime shenanigans' with the rogue. It'd be great.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Something to think about. Thanks for the tip / suggestion.
Try human❕⬆️⬆️