Dungeons & Dragons All Cleric Subclasses Ranked

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Dungeons & Dragons All Cleric Subclasses Ranked

Not all clerics are created equal, so we've ranked the cleric subclasses in the Player’s Handbook, from Nature to Trickery — and even some homebrews! Via: Wizards Of The Coast Clerics are stereotyped as healers in , and often they don't get a chance to be anything more. In practice, Clerics can do all sorts of things outside of simple healing. In fact, they're one of the game's most versatile classes and work great as a multi-class option that takes on damage and defense in addition to having access to some handy spells. This is embodied by the variety of Domains that a cleric can choose. While other classes usually have to wait at least until level 3 to choose their Background, Pact, or Circle, the Cleric is committed to a domain from the moment they step from the character creation sheet and into their adventure. The Cleric's Domain is what actually determines their role in the party, and although every version of the Cleric has access to healing spells, they are by no means limited to that role. Here's a quick ranking of the official Cleric subclasses in the Player's Handbook when it's time to build your perfect battle priest. Updated on October 30, 2021, by Kristy Ambrose: The official choices currently listed in the official D&D literature for Clerics have been expanded to 10, and if you want to count homebrews and experimental builds there are many more. Formerly a class that didn't have very much going on other than throwing heals from the rear lines, it's impressive how much a Cleric can do these days. Your own choices may vary , so don't let our rankings hold you back from a unique choice. Considering how popular some homebrew classes have become, we've also decided they were worthy of note for more ambitious or experienced players. THEGAMER VIDEO OF THE DAY

Nature Domain

Source: D&D Player's Handbook Main Benefit: Access to some cantrips normally reserved for Wizards. Signature Spell: Acolyte of Nature Ideal Feats: War Caster, Resilient The Nature Domain isn't bad. It's just a Cleric instead of a Druid. It's very much and the ability to control plants and animals, but it is still a Cleric subclass. Since Druids and Clerics have very similar roles as semi-tanky casters, the only reason to pick the nature domain would be if you really want to roleplay a Cleric or your party needs a dedicated healer. The Feats War Caster and Resilient will keep you casting when the battle is at its height, an essential tool for healers. Being able to grant resistance to certain damage types is nice, but there are better options. For instance, being able to shapeshift.

Love Domain

Source: Homebrewed Main Benefit: Some of the best options for crowd control in the game, not just in combat but in virtually any situation involving interaction or dialogue. Signature Spell: Charm Person Ideal Feats: Telepathic, Resilient It's surprising that this is a homebrew Domain since it seems fairly straightforward for a Cleric that takes on the role of support and healing. The only part that's off the rails, so to speak, is the choice of diety and focusing on the Persuasion skill and spells from the Enchantment school. There are so many gods in the D&D universe that it's easy to find one that focuses on beauty, art, and the more enjoyable side of human relationships. The player should work with the DM to find one that's appropriate for the module, but that's the only hurdle there is for bringing this homebrew into a mainstream game.

Knowledge Domain

Source: D&D Player's Handbook Main Benefit: Access to some divination spells. Signature Spell: Arcane Eye, a seventh-level divination spell. Ideal Feats: Inspiring Leader, Actor The Knowledge Domain is great for Clerics who want to provide more utility than combat usefulness. This subclass gives you a lot of useful abilities, including more languages, temporary experience in skills and tools, the ability to read minds, and the ability to see through time. There's not much to say about these, other than the fact that they're very cool and useful and absolutely not combat-oriented. This class should be ranked higher if your DM is running any sort of intrigue or social campaign, and with Feats like Actor and Inspiring Leader, the Cleric can also be the party face if their Charisma score holds up. That all depends on your own individual idea for the Cleric's build.

Chaotic Traveller

Source: Homebrewed Main Benefit: Access to Metamagic, an ability usually reserved for Sorcerers. Signature Spell: Anything that involves freedom of movement or Confusion-related spells. Ideal Feats: Resilient, Observant This is a type of Cleric that manipulates Luck along with exploiting metamagic to heal and protect their fellow party members. This is possible through your choice of Domain, which would involve a god of Chaos and a moral alignment from the Chaotic side of the spectrum. The Chaotic Travellers themselves have a reputation for a calm and even personality. And aside from their useful repertoire of healing and defense spells, Clerics of this Domain increase their walking speed by ten feet and can move in Stealth at a normal pace.

Death Domain

via: Wizards of the Coast Source: Dungeon Master's Guide Main Benefit: Includes both martial weapon proficiency and necrotic damage. Signature Spell: Channel Divinity Ideal Feats: Spell Sniper, War Caster The Death Domain is a cleric subclass with a necromancy flavor, which basically means you can heal your allies from death! In practice, this means that you will wait until your teammates are knocked to zero hit points in order to get the maximum value from your healing while they beg you to do your job. Your Channel Divinity ability, which lets you make an opponent vulnerable to the damage of the next attack, and only that attack, is useful at higher levels when you can maximize the damage of high-level spells. At low levels, it might be better for you to just make an attack yourself. The ability to eliminate critical hits is good, but there are better tanking abilities in other subclasses that can be done more than once per rest.

Trickery Domain

Source: D&D Player's Handbook Main Benefit: The ability to cast spells like Disguise Self and Charm Person. Signature Spell: Blessing of the Trickster Ideal Feats: Actor, Observant This subclass is another one that is good for non-combat Clerics, but that will have more universally useful effects than the Knowledge Domain. There's class, but the Trickery Domain has enough unique abilities that it keeps it fresh. Clerics of this Domain also use some spells from the Illusion and Enchantment schools, can turn invisible, create illusory clones, and you get a whole bunch of fun spells with plenty of utility. It's not really what you expect from a Cleric subclass, but it's certainly enjoyable.

Plague Doctor

Tristian Portrait by Valeriy Vegera Source: Homebrewed Main Benefit: A Cleric that's also an accomplished Alchemist armed with some nasty damage-over-time spells. Signature Spell: Blight and Infestation Ideal Feats: Alert, Spell Sniper A Cleric of dark magic that uses poison and disease, the Plague Doctor can also dabble in curses and effigies, making them skilled in a variety of situations. This Cleric is surprisingly powerful both in and out of combat, and they compensate for their lack of healing spells with the ability to brew potions that restore health or grant extra armor to the imbiber. It's not just spells like Blight that distinguish this Domain, but also the power this Cleric has to sense and cure these kinds of afflictions. If the Paladin of your party doesn't have Restoration spells or has already used them, a Plague Doctor will have a potion, magical item, or extra spell instead. It's a versatile Domain that works with a variety of gods and alignments for those players that want to try a mix of damage and healing spells with a Cleric.

Forge Domain

Source: Xanathar's Guide to Everything Main Benefit: An even mix of tanking abilities and damage output in the form of Paladin and Wizard spells. Signature Spell: Blessing of the Forge Ideal Feats: Great Weapon Master This Cleric subclass has the potential to be fun if your DM is cooperative. The Forge Domain has a great advantage in that it includes boosts to your armor class and resistance (and eventually immunity) to fire damage, a very common damage type. You also have an ability to turn any regular weapon or armor into a +1 weapon or +1 armor, which is very good at lower levels, although less so at high levels when you should reasonably have magic weapons and armor already. If your DM is the type to let you use spells creatively, then fabricate and creation spells as well as your Channel Divinity ability will have dozens of uses in creating all sorts of objects. You might want to invest in a cart for all the scrap metal you'll be carrying around, though.

Life Domain

Movanic Deva Art via Wizards of the Coast Source: D&D Player's Handbook Main Benefit: One of the strongest healing options currently available. Signature Spell: Channel Divinity Ideal Feats: Resilience, War Caster The reason this Cleric subclass is ranked so high is that it is incredibly useful. The reason it's ranked a bit lower is that it is incredibly boring. It lets you heal very well and that's mostly it. You get one ability at level 8 that lets you do extra radiant damage on attacks, but that seems like a consolation prize more than anything. This class can be very useful if you have a party that runs headfirst into danger, or if your party stuck you as the only healer - but usually, you can find better player dynamics instead of just being relegated to being a heal-bot.

Tempest Domain

Source: D&D Player's Handbook Main Benefit: Durable and equally capable of dealing ample damage. Signature Spell: Channel Divinity: Destructive Wrath Ideal Feats: Spell Sniper, War Caster The Tempest Domain is just a solid subclass. It's arguably not as much of a benefit to your party as the Life Domain, but it is way more fun. The fact that you have plenty of opportunities to deal thunder and lightning damage along with abilities that trigger when you deal thunder and lightning damage makes this a very efficient if one-note, a subclass that lets you do a lot of damage and knock your opponents around while not sacrificing your ability to tank a little. Plus, the fact that you get the ability to fly at high levels is just icing on the cake.

Light Domain

Via: Wizards Of The Coast Source: D&D Player's Handbook Main Benefit: Crowd control and AoE spell options similar to those of a Wizard. Signature Spell: Warding Flare Ideal Feats: Observant, Resilient This is a Cleric that can cast fireball. Now, you might be asking, why not play a Wizard if you want to cast fireball? Well here's the thing, it's a Cleric who can cast fireball and not be killed immediately the first time they get hit. Not that you're likely to get hit anyway, since you can blind your enemies when they try to attack you. Don't worry about your team either. Early on, you'll be able to blind enemies when they attack your allies too. Essentially, it's a subclass that combines the traditional cleric tanking role and, again, the ability to launch a fireball at your enemies.

Arcana Domain

Source: Sword Coast Adventurers Guide Main Benefit: Access to some cantrips normally reserved for Wizards. Signature Spell: Arcane Initiate Ideal Feats: Resilient Wisdom has to be your highest attribute score to be a Cleric, and it's also the minimum required to multi-class a character, so if you have a Cleric and Wizard multiclass in mind it's a good idea for a build. If you're the kind of player that would prefer to customize your character without multiclassing, , Arcana is the perfect Domain to choose. Arcane Initiate is part of this Cleric's core abilities. This ability gives you one free skill and two additional cantrips, so you can modify your personal spellbook even more. The Resilient Feat helps this class hold their concentration and keep casting even in the thick of battle.

War Domain

Cleric from the Player's Handbook by Wizards of the Coast Source: D&D Player's Handbook Main Benefit: Focuses on martial prowess and grants the use of some Paladin spells. Signature Spell: Channel Divinity: War God's Blessing Ideal Feats: Alert, Inspiring Leader Why would you ever play a Paladin when you can be a Cleric of the War Domain subclass? Between proficiencies in martial weapons and heavy armor, and the ability to be a full caster and a full healer, the War Domain cleric is truly the superior holy knight. You get extra attacks, extra damage, and the ability to increase an attack roll by you or your ally by 10. If you want to be a powerful warrior while not sacrificing any of your spellcasting abilities, the War Domain might be for you.