The Best Tempest Domain Cleric Build for Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) Fifth Edition (5E)

Clerics are one of the all around best classes in Dungeons and Dragons due to their versatility in abilities. A Cleric can support their allies, heal, tank on the frontlines and deal large amounts of damage. The Tempest Domain gives your cleric better options for being a frontliner, and for increasing your damage and combat control. If your Cleric takes the Tempest Domain they become the avatar of the Storm, using lightning and thunder damage to skilled effect to destroy any enemies that come into their path.

The Tempest Cleric is an excellent tank, gaining Heavy Armor Proficiency right off the bat, and with a solid hit die. In addition you can cause enemies that attack you to take lightning damage. Pair that with their Channel Divinity ability that allows them to deal maximum damage on lightning or thunder spells, and their close range combat abilities such as the spell Thunderwave becomes unparalleled in its usefulness.

How to Build Your Tempest Domain Cleric

Wisdom will always be number one when it comes to Clerics, because it is your spellcasting ability. Your spell attack rolls and your spell save DC is increased when your Wisdom increases, so this is not an area to be slacking in. You want that score to get to 20 as early on as you can. Increased Wisdom will also increase skills like Perception and Insight, which are useful for keeping your party safe. Lastly, high Wisdom, along with proficiency on Wisdom saves, means that your cleric is unlikely to fall to enchantments such as Hold Person or Fear Effects. This lends to your ability to support the front line.

Secondary to Wisdom is your Constitution. As I said earlier, Tempest Clerics generally find themselves on the frontline alongside more martial characters like the Fighter and Paladin. Being on the frontline means taking more hits, and having more hit points lends itself well to this endeavor. In addition, having higher Constitution means a higher likelihood of succeeding on Constitution saving throws to maintain concentration on your spells, like Bless or Spirit Guardians.

Lastly, since you don’t want to always be blowing spell slots, and because Clerics get Divine Strike at higher levels, adding some points to Strength isn’t the worst idea. This gives you better melee capabilities when you’re in a tight spot and it will help you wield the Heavy Armor you have proficiency in without slowing you down.

Best Races for Tempest Clerics

Since the advent of Tasha’s Dungeons and Dragons racial ability scores are flexible, which means you should put your main bonus in Wisdom and Secondary bonus in Constitution. However, if your DM isn’t using the racial stat rules, then picking a race with a benefit is useful. In that case the Firbolg comes with a +2 Wis and +1 Strength being quite the large creature. They also have unique abilities such as Hidden Step which lets them temporarily be invisible and Speech of Beast and Leaf which allows them to speak to plants and animals. These abilities make them an excellent candidate for your Cleric.

Secondary to the Firbolg, Dwarves of all kinds make excellent Clerics, but the Hill Dwarf specifically gains +2 Constitution and +1 Wisdom along with Dwarven Toughness (which is just even more hit points). Other races of note include the Loxodon, Tortle and Lizardfolk.

Best Feats for Tempest Clerics

Due to your offensive capabilities being limited primarily to lightning and thunder damage, the Elemental Adept feat allows you to increase the damage output you produce with those spells, alongside ignoring resistances to one. I’d recommend taking lightning over thunder due to the number of spells that deal each type of damage. In addition it gives you resistance to that damage as well, which is never not useful.

As with essentially every caster in the game, especially those on the front line, War Caster is a feat I would take as early as possible as it gives you advantage on Constitution saves to avoid losing concentration and allows you to cast spells with somatic components while still holding your weapon and wielding a shield, which keeps you armed and dangerous in the face of strong foes.

Lastly, Alert gives you +5 to initiative and makes it so you cannot be surprised, meaning you will always act in the first round of combat, and can keep you safer from precision sneak attack damage in some cases like from powerful assassins. This means you might be able to get a powerful lightning spell off earlier before the battlefield becomes hard to position on. An alternative feat is Durable, which allows you to restore a minimum number of hit points equal to twice your Constitution modifier on a short rest. This means that you can spend your healing spells on your allies instead of yourself, almost easily fully healing on any short rest that you take.

Best Spells for Tempest Clerics

As a Tempest Cleric on the frontline, your primary objective is to rain down some hell on your enemies. Spells like Thunderwave, Call Lightning, and Sleet Storm are some obvious choices. Spells like spiritual weapon, which doesn’t require concentration, and Spirit Guardians, which deals damage every round and is treated as difficult terrain by your enemies and doesn’t damage your allies, should also be on your radar. You might consider asking your DM if you could have access to Lightning Bolt which normally isn’t on your spell list, but fits the theme of the Tempest Cleric nicely. Be nice and they might say yes!

Secondary to that, since you are close to your allies, some restoration spells and buffs are useful to have as backup when the fight gets tough. Consider Protection from Energy against certain types of enemies, or laying bless on your martial characters to improve their attacks and ability checks and to keep them alive. Lastly, for more niche spells, consider things like Create or Destroy Water, Water Walk and Control Weather at higher levels to show that your Tempest Cleric is truly in charge of the storm.

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• Backstories for Clerics Pt. 2
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• Feats for Clerics
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