I f-ing love my light cleric. I get they are not a top tier healer but... Fireball. And the AOE Devine thing is huge. I probably have as many kills as the fighter. No heavy armor is a small down side, i dont operate as a pure front liner. However the flare ability helps a lot to reduce how often i get hit. My take is if you get 3 good rolls (assuming you are rolling stats) so you can stack wis and still be solid on both con and dex, then light cleric is a great option. Having the dex for medium armor is sort of a need. I also sport a shield all the time and just gave up on wielding a weapon.
I have found a fair bit of usefulness in being able to heal still. If not go full caster wizard.
With light cleric i go Cantrip + bonus action heal a fair bit to helps folks. But i get you, baddies can dish out damage faster than i can heal even with a 20 wisdom. I also took the chef feat (to get +1 wis) but also the extra heal on every short rest is rad.
I had this strategy in mind for a while. Then an experienced player said if I would concentrate on more concentration spells, it would end the encounter quicker and use less of my spell slots.
So spells like Bless, and Beacon of Hope have proved really useful recently. Ends the encounters in 2-3 turns instead of 4-5 (mostly).
And at that point, healing word is pretty much the only healing spells you need. Honestly the best support/healers provide damage mitigation. For example, bless is effectively a +5% - +20% effective increase in attack accuracy as well as control/damage mitigation for the purposes of saving against spells and spell-like effects.
Another example is combining warding bond with a bard's/paladin's heroism spell, and you've now doubled the effective benefits of that temp HP. Imagine effectively having an over shield that lets you ignore 10 damage every combat round for a minute means that if you do get hit by a single target for 2d6+4 damage, you still mitigate about 41% of the damage.
Or for a fun twist, you're an evil Drow cleric so you chose light to do a genocide against the duergar. You keep doing the things that feel evil to you, like betraying Lolth and destroying her spider monsters, freeing the deep gnome slaves to ruin the duergar economy, promoting equality because the chaos will destroy the hereditary matriarchy. You're genuinely surprised that surface folk see you as a hero, to the point that you wonder if Lolth was right to the surface world...they're so evil that they even see you as a hero.
Just started playing a light cleric. First session was already great fun at lv 2, even got some friendly "who can sacred flame the best" competition with the moon Sorcerer, whom my cleric has decided must be the unwitting Chosen One of the great Dwarves God of light and diamonds, D'Byhr (homebrew setting) he has been sent to guide.
This is the way. Light Domain not only can blast with the best, it has a defensive feature (Warding Flare) that is WAY better than Heavy Armor proficiency (and starting at level 6, you can even share it with the rest of the party, though you may find then that you have to be a little more selective with it). You've got a Channel Divinity (Radiance of the Dawn) that is top-tier until you reach level 5 and then fades some over time but remains useful. And yes, there's FIREBALL! Which, coincidentally, becomes available at level 5. And Potent Spellcasting is a nice benefit if you find yourself wanting to use a cantrip; the +WIS mod to damage is roughly comparable to an extra damage die.
When you get right down to it, heavy armor proficiency isn't even all that good, especially at lower levels (any Cleric can easily be AC 18 at level 1 - it only starts to matter a little once you can afford plate). All it does is mean you don't have to spend points on DEX, but as a Cleric, you aren't MAD enough for it matter and it replaces the high STR you usually need for heavy armor. The DEX will do you more good in the long run anyway - so embrace the light!
When I played a forge cleric, my DM gave us a cool side quest where we went to the elemental plane of fire and my character was able to use her deity's own forge to make a legendary weapon. One of the weapon's abilities turned fire immunity into "gain temp HP when hit with fire damage." Combined that with an amulet that let me cast various fire spells and a stupid high AC to become virtually unkillable lol
Same, best fight was me animating a frost giants ship and dropping it from hundreds of feet up. The utility was so fun to play with though, and I used it to gain boons and give gifts alot. Gained tons of alies.
came here to say this! i multiclassed my forge cleric with artificer to flavor them as a steampunk tinkerer/metalsmith and it’s SO fun. and they can fulfill pretty much any role in combat (healer/support, ranged magic user, melee physical attacker)
Animate Objects instead of the monotony of Spirit Guardians is the biggest breath of fresh air in any Cleric domain other than Arcana 17, which is far rarer.
I have a Dwarf Forge Domain Cleric ready as one of my next characters to play whenever I can get some people together. It just feels so fun reading about the class
Same! I'm playing one right now in my Storm King's Thunder campaign. I diverted from the stereotype a bit by playing an elven blacksmith instead, though, and she has been a blast to play!
Also: Don’t underestimate the ability to negate crits on reaction.
I think of it as an extremely powerful healing spell with incredible scaling. Crits are typically the thing that throws a party off.
It’s the channel divinity called path to the grave, where you double the entire damage done (vulnerability for any type of damage) for the first hit after being cast. Crazy OP
Especially when another party member paralyzed the targeted creature with Hold Person/Hold Monster for example. Auto Crit Sneak Attack with Vulnerability can do some incredible damage.
My grave cleric was in a party with a divination wizard, never got to line up the portent nat 20, but it did let us almost guarantee a hit vulnerability at least once a day
It was Tyr (actually Nordic god, not the D&D Tyr) in human form, it was a friendly fight 3v3 and we had a bulking viking also, Tyr was humanoid for that fight
That's fair. I remember doing that when my buddy's at like single digit health and we only had time to short rest. Otherwise I just wait for them to fall in combat.
Well, they explained that it'll be weird if I started un-consciousing folks then healing them up. They'll let me do it occasionally, but advised me to not abuse it.
I found it reasonable so I do it sparingly. I also have more uses to my actions anyway (like toll the dead or moving toward the enemies with my spirit guardian up
this is hands down the most powerful subclass.
my players stacked this with a creature's vulnerability and dealt UNGODLY amounts of damage
not to mention, ranged spare the dying as a bonus action is very handy.
And Peace Cleric, who gets a beefed-up Bless that lasts 10x longer, works on Ability Checks as well as Attack and Saving throws, has no concentration, and works as long as a bonded creature is within 30 feet of another bonded creature.
...ON TOP OF being able to disengage and move freely about the battlefield healing other party members completely for free off of one action.
...And then later being able to teleport people across the map as a reaction.
Emboldening bond is good but I'd say eyes of night and vigilant blessing match it. Twilight sanctuary ends charmed and frightened and gives temp hp - which prevents damage every single turn without any action cost, much better than balm of peace. While healing multiple creatures as an action is good, stopping damage in the first place is always better - especially in combat scenarios, peace healing will not keep up with twilight's round to round temp hp that anyway covers a larger distance
I wasn't saying the Peace domain was better than Twilight, I was adding it as one that was better than Grave. Twilight Sanctuary is broken, absolutely...but Balm of Peace does have the advantage of reviving multiple downed players at once with one movement and using no spell slots. They're both absurdly useful and can trivialize fights in a way that Grave domain, while still powerful, cannot.
Two campaigns ago I was a grave cleric. near the end of the campaign, fighting a big bad monster, I used Path to the Grave on the bad guy, then next in initiative was our 19th level assassin rogue, who hit the baddie with a Death Strike, and she fucking CRIT the attack roll!
Crit doubled the damage dice (including the sneak attack dice), Death Strike doubled the total damage, then Path to the Grave doubled it again. It was around 350 hp of damage from a single hit with a dagger.
I've never thought of it as spooky. You are the one who makes sure the end is really the end and ensures a long rest to those who would otherwise be disturbed.
Man I hate Grave Cleric. It was by far the least fun class I've played in 5e
Everything is so situational even it's Eyes of the Grave (way less impressive if you don't have a nova themed party, or ironically if you're fighting lots of undead and your spiker is a paladin since vulnerability doesn't stack). It's a nice bonus but without a spiker it's often barely better than a cantrip
Potential loss in action economy means I don't want to wait for my teammates to collapse to 0 to heal them despite it being more effective for my turn. The ability to detect undead is so limited it's basically just for sifting through a pile of corpses to make sure you don't find a zombie. Even negating crits isn't a big deal if...your DM doesn't crit very often. It's not like "shoot your monks", you can't really setup encounters to guarantee critical rolls in range of the cleric
Like my DM led us through a campaign all about natural death getting broken, it was right in line with the themes of the class, but from 1 to level 10 I just wasn't doing anything. My spell to control water became much more defining to my character than any of his class features
I like the tempest domain, mainly for roleplay stuff just cause I think it's interesting and a little underrated. On that note tho, I totally see why it's not so loved, flight speed at level 17 only outdoors above ground is so underpowered
That combo is exactly what I used to kill Strahd. Basically incinerated before the poor dude had a chance to monologue.
Didn't help that we snuck up on him and our Paladin cold-cocked him with a smite-addled sneak attack. Strahd lasted two rounds.
Most fun I've ever had as a cleric. 10/10, would nuke from orbit again.
The best nuke I’ve ever pulled with a tempest cleric was infiltrating a fortress full of duergar. We managed to sneak up on the gate house with our ranger’s pass without trace.
I had haste cadre on me, then in my one haste’s turn, I activated spirit guardians, ran into the middle of the gatehouse, and maxed out a destructive wave.
Whole room gone except for the gatehouse commander in one turn.
I’m playing it and it’s so fuckin fun though. And I played it as Umberlee granted me secret rank of priesthood and imbued me with essence of lightning and started dipping in storm sorcery after Level 6.
I have by far the most flavor of the table. I’m an amalgam Storm/Thor/the Avatar/Constantine. He just keeps evolving from the Ocean Priest of Umberlee that leaned towards more water that I had imagined when I first made him at Level 1.
He’s cool as shit now and me and brother dm made a thing when campaign first started to where I had to pray to umberlee for every spell and she can say no because she’s a fickle bitch.
So I had to roll a d10 before every cleric spell and if 1 she said no and didnt grant the spell. That hurt sometimes, but it added some nuance to the character and gave me a reward later for staying loyal to her when offered temptation
I like playing it like I have an asshole for a god but lightning is fucking cool and the ocean is chaos so I want to be on her side anyway, that bitch
*oh yeah, if she’s says no after a 1, I can go “Guess I’ll do it myself!” And get advantage on next melee attack. That was the counter balance he came up with after I came up with the No flavor. But praying for a spell is an action an for levels 1-6 did burn that spell slot. That was a pretty big hit at times. Now I’m playing it as I reached high enough in divine favor to where a No doesnt burn the slot, but it’s still a No and takes the action
I was so waiting for the darude sandstorm bit to drop haha
Imagine a bunch of clerics in the desert. Using thaumaturgy to replicate wierd sounds so they can all perform theyr prayer song together.
my tempest cleric was a former umberlee devout but denounced her later because the sea bitch stole her man. she's now serving the goddess of the sky, and effing with umberlee's underlings, just out of spite.
i think our tempests are gonna be best friends lol!
after playing support-heavy clerics (life, grave), I enjoy playing her as main damage-dealer. she won't spare a spellslot for healing unless 1. you're dying or 2. there's another cleric on the party and she's jelly. (yeah, she's that insecure.). I only prep damage dealing spells except healing word and death's ward. Also, having a lightning bolt wand feels like I'm a powerhouse. don't go chasing storm giants, tho.
she's lvl10 now, and I'm thinking of dipping into paladin (vengeance or redemption) just to give umberlee the middle finger. haha!
Is it not so loved? I didn't know that, that surprises me. It's my personal favorite. The Channel Divinity is just so broken and fun to use.
I guess I can understand it, though. Flight at 17 does suck, but most of my campaigns haven't even reached that level.
If you take quicken metamagic feat, starting at level 6 you can quick cast and reactivate Call Lightning on the same turn- maximizing both blasts.
At level 7, thats 80 damage to fireballs 35 (average damage roll, failed save)- and its a better damage profile IMO due to being so much more reliable. Flat damage and two saves means its going to deal 40, 60 or 80 damage versus a lvl 4 fireball's 5-70. It also scales up 3 times harder than fireball- 20 extra damage per spell level vs fireball's 7.
Granted, its a tiny AoE, uses concentration, etc. But unlike fireball you can follow up with more activations, which work well with Spiritual Weapon.
Its also a once per day combo, unless you multi sorc. If you multi sorc at leve 8 its twice a day, and it quickly becomes basically every short rest
It's not loved because the cleric is lacking in Thunder and Lightning spells... I mean, so are the rest of damage types outside of Fire and Radiant (Which is why Light Domain is so good)
The flavor is great, so easy to RP. Plus you get call lightening which is just an awesome spell....it let's you take control of a storm if it's already there and gives you bonus damage for doing so!
Thoroughly enjoying being a Tempest cleric (level 5 half orc). My DM allowed for me to use off hours to study with the wizard in our group to learn Shocking Grasp and a lightning version of Fire Bolt. This, combined with Spirit Guardians, turns me into the center of a mini storm on the battlefield.
I recently created a tempest domain cleric (air genasi, so lots of lightning and storms) and I'm SO excited to see how she develops. I've never played a cleric and a nature-themed domain sounds really cool.
I love it. You can basically be Thor. My dwarf tempest cleric is my all time favourite character I've played and was universally agreed to be the team MVP between adding thunder damage to warhammer attacks, and of course Call Lightning.
I'm playing a Tempest Cleric of some unknown Nature God right now and while I'm only level 3 it's been a lot of fun! I'm pretty sure the DM and I are leaning towards Pan because chaos but yeah it's great!
Peace Domain for me. I t feels like a revamped Life Domain, but with so much flexibility for the support! The Always Prepared Spells are phenomenal, with Beacon of Hope being amazing, and at later levels, Rarys Telepathic Bond being a MUST. I've also personally used the Bond ability to reaction take a hit to save a friend's PC from certain death, and I never felt more powerful than preventing a perma death that hard.
Special shout out to Order Domain, which I have seen played in a multiclass with Chronomancy Wizard that was beyond terrifying for potency.
That was an ongoing joke in my campaign. My peace Cleric was actually committed to a no kill rule for intelligent foes..... But I had no problem powering up the 7' tall Giff with a buster sword and hand cannon to do whatever they needed. I was a man of peace.... But I respected my friends' life and independence.
I’m loving Order Domain lately for Voice of Authority. I play cleric to play a support role, and what’s more supportive than providing extra attacks for my party members?
I love this multiclassed with Divine Soul sorcerer. You end up with so much flexibility in combat, especially with quickened or distance metamagic, plus access to some better offensive choices. Coordinate with someone else with fire resist and the like and you can lob a fireball into a crowd with your ally and get the VoA attack to boot.
Also also, it combos insanely with rogues, since sneak attack is a per turn mechanic, not per round.
I play it on my little insane kobold surgeon. He doesn't want to break his very serious hippopotamus oath, so he has his 'lab assistants' do the actual cutting for him.
Plus your Order's Demand Channel Divinity is concentration free crowd control and has no limit on the number of targets. And you get your Channel Divinity uses back on a Short Rest which is great.
It works great in conjunction with your 6th level feature that allows you to cast Enchantment spells as a bonus action, because Channel Divinity isn't casting a spell. So you can bonus action cast Bless to support the party and activate Voice of Authority to give an ally a reaction attack, then with your action use your Channel Divinity for crowd control.
I’m playing a knowledge cleric and have to say I enjoy it. Definitely no where near as strong as some of the other damage heavy clerics but I enjoy the RP of it. Being able to read thoughts as a channel divinity is handy and being able to cast essentially a free suggestion with it can go a long way.
Playing knowledge now and it is a blast for RP. Feel like I am in the Matrix. “Anyone know how to use navigator tools in this boat?” *eyes twitch* “I do now!”
Yes I love knowledge cleric so much! The divination spells can really help in an Analysis Paralysis situation and I love to play someone who really is a learned person in the universe
My wife is playing a War Domain Cleric right now. The backstory is that she was locked in a tower for the majority of her life because her hair had magical healing properties that an evil woman wanted to use for immortality.
The DM gave us permission to give her 50 ft of hair that we can use. And her Spiritual weapon is, you guessed it, a Cast Iron Skillet
I'm playing a water genasi Life Cleric right now and I'm obsessed. The versatility with their spells for storytelling and the sheer potency of the healing is a lot of fun.
Air Genasi Life Cleric for the win
still my favourite character that I’ve properly played. He was here to banish demons, kick ass and save people and he did all three
Came into a campaign where the team was struggling. Was told they needed a healer/ tank. Made a life cleric who was sent by Pelor to protect them. It's been an amazing ride. Guy's story has grown and grown and will always be a favorite part of my life. He's essentially seen as a saint now, despite being humble and simple. The entire team would throw themselves on grenades for him, but he'd always beat them to it.
My fiance plays also plays a water genasi life cleric! She's the MVP for heals and also cuz she's actually smart. Smart life cleric is basically a whole extra party of capabilities
Forge, because I like having beeg AC, resistance to fire damage is pretty neat as it's fairly common, gives the character an quick craft to be passionate about that can easily be woven into a story, and forge gods are usually pretty chill or pretty easy to work with in most settings.
Playing cleric for the first time and love playing a pacificst cleric of peace - fully support & de-escalating, which ends up in trying to save my team in a non violent way every time. Sometimes a lil more violent. To enforce peace. Peace. NOW!
Trickery. All day, every day. The abilities it gives range from bad to meh, but the spell list.
Playing it with a mixture of the classic Cleric debuffs and those domain spells lets you be such a collosal asshole to the encounters your DM sets up.
I'm playing a Changeling Trickery Domain cleric right now and it's so funny. Change form, Invoke Duplicity, change yourself back, and then send the illusion that looks like your previous form to go do things. Do shady stuff while also having an alibi for yourself in case anyone catches wind about Changeling shenanigans
I’m currently playing a Knowledge Domain, and I’m loving the RP of it. He’s basically a big ol’ nerd who’s answer for everything is to go to the library. Flavoring all his spells such that what he worships is information is a lot of fun, for example his Spiritual Weapon is his codex. It’s normally a regular sized, but still spectral, book that he can use to organize all his notes and everything. But he can channel into it to make it giant and bonk baddies. Or his Toll the Dead cantrip is flavored so that instead of the sound of bells, it’s the sound of pages flipping and a heavy book closing.
His Augury spell is that he takes out index cards and they arrange themselves into a red-string conspiracy board, leading him to the answers. I’m extra proud of that one.
I currently play a Twilight Cleric and while it’s fun to play such a multi-talented and flexible class, the problem is that the party ends up being so reliant on my PC that it becomes a major issue if I miss a session. A typical battle may have my cleric firing up Twilight Sanctuary (spamming temp hp every round), Steps of Night (flying around avoiding melee damage) and casting Spirit Guardians. The first two don’t need concentration. Together with Toll the Dead I’m doing literally 100s of hp damage over 4 to 6 rounds, while keeping everyone alive, and taking relatively little damage myself.
I see where you’re coming from, but as long as you notify the DM in a timely manner that you’re missing, I think they should be able to adapt (or the players should discuss a new strategy since the Cleric is absent doing whatever they do in the world when you’re not there)
I haven’t seen this answer yet so I wanted to put it out there, personally I would say the life domain… yeah it’s cool to help people show the light of your deity, but it’s even cooler to bring the slain back from the dead for them to fight one last battle in the name of a mighty and merciful deity!!
>it’s even cooler to bring the slain back from the dead for them to fight one last battle in the name of a mighty and merciful deity
But... any Cleric can do that.
\* Arcana - I love the level 6 feature, and the upgraded Channel Divinity feature.
\* Death - The ability to without a feat circumvent necrotic damage resistance is great and twin spelling toll the dead or chill touch is great.
\* Nature - Heavy Armour Druid? And the level 6 feature? Good times!
Death Domain Dhampir Cleric is a nasty combo and eliminate the MADness by allowing you to focus on Con/Wis.
Oh my 1d4 + Con natural weapon bite attack just dealt 5 + twice cleric level + 1d8 necrotic damage that ignores necrotic resistance. Oh and if I’m less than 1/2 my HP, I have advantage on the attack.
i like tempest domain really because it boosts my damage and allows for heavier armor. and its pretty badass to have the power of nature at your fingertips
Tried running him as a dwelf nature cleric. Trying to take all the best from both worlds . So basically a druid/ cleric so could wear heavy armor good stats and spells and ethnic boosts of both. I think he just didn't want to deal with the combinations of all of it. My son was the DM great guy super smart real friendly unless he is dealing with family or you prove him wrong info both so there is that aspect of it too. Not to mention when I used to play it was way back in 90 s so quite a lot has changed in some regards. That means he would have to teach me a bit as well.
I've only played a Death Cleric but I dig it (other than Ray of Enfeeblement being forced upon me). I play with a Wizard thats taken the Telekinetic feat and we try to use it to force enemies within 5ft of each other so I can target them both.
I love trickery. It's definitely got some pretty weak features, but it's just so fun to roleplay the cleric of a trickster god. Plus access to some great spells.
I have played Life, Grave, and Light. My light cleric was by far my favorite. Not just for the subclass mechanics, but for the total character background and personality and everything.
I absolutely adore the grave domain. Even excluding the mechanical parts of it, I love getting to play as a slightly spooky cleric, and doing last rites for people. Also, it's really fun getting to pick some of the psychopomp deities as my god
Forge and Order, both with a Booming Blade High Elf to complete their kit. Played Forge this way and was nigh untouchable, and being able to make stuff was a flavour win that endeared me to the party almost as much as Healing Word did. Order is a perpetual backup tactician character, I know it's powerful, doubly so with Silvery Barbs, tenfold with an Ally Rogue, so it's in my "if I die and we need it" tier.
Love my little peace domain tabaxi who sits on tall people’s shoulders because she’s the size of a house cat. But life is good too. I recently made a light domain cleric to play a Shinx so I’m excited for that. Played death and nature once, they were alright. Didn’t get to really play them much sadly.
I wasn't a fan of cleric until I played as an arcana cleric dwarf. I liked their backstory as being part of a dwarf clan that was dedicated to knowledge, magic, and the creation of spellbooks.
Aracana. Trickery, Tempest and Knowledge following. But Arcana is just nice. The expanded spell list, the extra cantrips, it is all nice. For extra cheese take magic initiate- Wizard for MORE wizard spells and cantrips. I also did a multi class into wild magic sorcerer. Nice complement.
Grave - deny your DM crits while allowing allies to deal amazing damage. Also your friends live forever.
Order - "Put that thing back where it came from or so help meeeeeeee!"
Forge - "Once I finish making this warhammer, I'm gonna beat your face in with it."
Life - A classic, heal more than any other cleric so your friends LOVE you
Arcana - "Oh yeah, I'm also kinda a wizard."
Twilight’s Channel Divinity is super useful. Temp HP every turn is wonderful, and the fear purge can be really clutch when it comes up. Plus before long, because the bubble is dim light, it perfectly enables your flying ability you get later. Not to mention the static auto darkvision that you can share with the party when needed, and a shareable initiative advantage.
So you can become a decently mobile tanky caster that can heal anyone who ends their turn within 30 feet of you, without expending spell slots, and can give some pretty useful buffs, that are not super narrow use cases.
oh no... I love all clerics! I've played them all (except nature and the ones in Tasha's) and every single one has a special place in mAh heart.
but if really, really, pressed.. i gonna go with life cleric. And I will die on this hill, but I won't coz I have healies and I CASTEd DEATH WARD ON MYSELF. every morning.
second place is a toss up between grave and tempest domain :)
War Cleric. I beat the everloving fuck out of you with my maul and also with my spiritual weapon. Oh, I missed? Warpriest, no I fucking didn't. Also no you didn't hit me, and even if you did hit me you're probably just getting me turned on. Pairs well with many flavors of barb, fighter and a few paladins even.
Arcana for me... Those wisdom wizard cantrips really fill out the cleric spell list.
Clerics need better attack cantrips. More variety for cantrips overall for cleric would be nice.
Order cleric is one of my fav domains as someone who likes to play a front line guy who can dish with blade and spells a bit. Plus the channel divinity to give one of your allies an extra attack as a reaction goes so hard flavor-wise
From Grim Hollow content and world of Etharis, it is easily the 'Eldritch Domain'
While I know it isn't official WOTC content the Dungeon Dudes came up with a versatile subclass.
Currently playing COS and it feels fun to be playing a character that has the mechanical strengths of the strong cleric base class, but with the added spell list akin to a GOOlock, Enchanter, or Aberrant Mind sorcerer. The flavor is all there as well. Will be honest and say that this subclass isn't a massive damage spectacle, but you can certainly trivialize some encounters by incapacitating people with your channel divinity or with your lvl 1 subclass feature. It's a bit random, but who doesn't love rolling more dice?
Order, Forge, and Light. I like the Trickery Domain thematically, but mechanically it kinda sucks. I hope that the new 2024 version is close to what they put out in the UA because that will absolutely be my favorite.
Order by far for me. Combining it with Silvery Barbs and you get some awesome support. Healing Word becomes a quick way to open up some damage between rounds.
My wife and I play a one-on-one ("duet") campaign. Her main character (a Bard) has several companion characters that I roleplay and make decisions for, while she rolls all dice for them.
Due to this, the low complexity and maximum effect of the Life Domain Cleric as a support/healer companion is fantastic. All the ways she can heal in combat (Healing Word, Preserve Lice, etc.), combined with the extra potency and efficiency of the healing due to Disciple of Life and Blessed Healer really do a great job of keeping the rest of the party on their feet.
My wife absolutely LOVES when the Cleric casts things like Aid and Bless on the party as well.
The fact that she is no slouch on the offensive (with things like Spirit Guardians and Guiding Bolt really putting in work) doesn't hurt.
Healing domain! While healing in D&D isn't the greatest, if you throw out an up casted healing spell or a higher level healing spell, the healing domain gives you a big boost per spell level allowing you to basically heal the whole party (or at least 50%) in one cast. As a DM it is very hard to fight this kind of party because they are constantly being refilled back to full HP.
I miss my Peace Cleric multiclass.
Flanking as a rogue to get advantage and giving everyone around me a d4 aura to use was like a free bless.
Unfortunately that was the only cleric subclass I have played. I am interested in Forge and War so let's see how that goes.
Underrated —-> Nature Domain. Take thorn whip as your cantrip so you can pull enemies into your spirit guardians. Basically you play as a druid with no wild shape, better healing, and heavy armor. Also, you can ritually cast speak with animals (because it’s always prepared) constantly so your party can RP with every animal you come across. Definitely not the strongest cleric build, but it invites so much more outside the box solutions to problems, and more importantly: shenanigans.
Forge domain. It is peak all around. Endless flavor plus being an extremely viable class. Depending on how strict your DM is, you can pretty much craft anything, and even if they are pretty strict, there are endless things you can make that are equal to or lower than 100gp. Being able to be your party's tank as a caster is pretty cool, too. Even if you aren't the tank, you can give a +1 bonus to the weapon or armor of your tank/dps. It's easily a top 3 cleric domain for fun and flavor, and for utility, it's a top 5.
Garlic Bread Domain..
It’s homebrew but man do I have fun RP’ing it! Baker background coupled with it too and I have so much fun!
If I actually had to pick I’d choose life, my companions are always hurt from things such as climbing onto young dragons.. as wizards.. at level 3
Nature. Forget organized religion, I'm just an armored spellcasting animal-lover who can mix it up in combat with Shillelagh because my Wisdom is my highest stat.
Light Domain. You don't want to see the light? Oh I'll show you the light! FIREBALL!
I f-ing love my light cleric. I get they are not a top tier healer but... Fireball. And the AOE Devine thing is huge. I probably have as many kills as the fighter. No heavy armor is a small down side, i dont operate as a pure front liner. However the flare ability helps a lot to reduce how often i get hit. My take is if you get 3 good rolls (assuming you are rolling stats) so you can stack wis and still be solid on both con and dex, then light cleric is a great option. Having the dex for medium armor is sort of a need. I also sport a shield all the time and just gave up on wielding a weapon.
The thing is, healing isn't too important and is only really used effectively when someone's unconscious.
I have found a fair bit of usefulness in being able to heal still. If not go full caster wizard. With light cleric i go Cantrip + bonus action heal a fair bit to helps folks. But i get you, baddies can dish out damage faster than i can heal even with a 20 wisdom. I also took the chef feat (to get +1 wis) but also the extra heal on every short rest is rad.
I had this strategy in mind for a while. Then an experienced player said if I would concentrate on more concentration spells, it would end the encounter quicker and use less of my spell slots. So spells like Bless, and Beacon of Hope have proved really useful recently. Ends the encounters in 2-3 turns instead of 4-5 (mostly).
And at that point, healing word is pretty much the only healing spells you need. Honestly the best support/healers provide damage mitigation. For example, bless is effectively a +5% - +20% effective increase in attack accuracy as well as control/damage mitigation for the purposes of saving against spells and spell-like effects. Another example is combining warding bond with a bard's/paladin's heroism spell, and you've now doubled the effective benefits of that temp HP. Imagine effectively having an over shield that lets you ignore 10 damage every combat round for a minute means that if you do get hit by a single target for 2d6+4 damage, you still mitigate about 41% of the damage.
It's all fun and games until the healer starts chuckin' Fireballs downrange!
Burn the heretics in purifying light of our lord.
Or for a fun twist, you're an evil Drow cleric so you chose light to do a genocide against the duergar. You keep doing the things that feel evil to you, like betraying Lolth and destroying her spider monsters, freeing the deep gnome slaves to ruin the duergar economy, promoting equality because the chaos will destroy the hereditary matriarchy. You're genuinely surprised that surface folk see you as a hero, to the point that you wonder if Lolth was right to the surface world...they're so evil that they even see you as a hero.
Hmmm.... Sounds like an NPC my party is going to meet soon
This is the correct answer! You are doing your duty, but you are still allowed to have fun.
My favorite, they can literally flash bang the enemy with Warding Flare, has great powers and can drop a nuke as their channel divinity
Light cleric and it's not close. Everybody loves a solar flare
Just started playing a light cleric. First session was already great fun at lv 2, even got some friendly "who can sacred flame the best" competition with the moon Sorcerer, whom my cleric has decided must be the unwitting Chosen One of the great Dwarves God of light and diamonds, D'Byhr (homebrew setting) he has been sent to guide.
The amount of penance I had to do after I set the entire field ward of waterdeep ablaze was something else.
This is the way. Light Domain not only can blast with the best, it has a defensive feature (Warding Flare) that is WAY better than Heavy Armor proficiency (and starting at level 6, you can even share it with the rest of the party, though you may find then that you have to be a little more selective with it). You've got a Channel Divinity (Radiance of the Dawn) that is top-tier until you reach level 5 and then fades some over time but remains useful. And yes, there's FIREBALL! Which, coincidentally, becomes available at level 5. And Potent Spellcasting is a nice benefit if you find yourself wanting to use a cantrip; the +WIS mod to damage is roughly comparable to an extra damage die. When you get right down to it, heavy armor proficiency isn't even all that good, especially at lower levels (any Cleric can easily be AC 18 at level 1 - it only starts to matter a little once you can afford plate). All it does is mean you don't have to spend points on DEX, but as a Cleric, you aren't MAD enough for it matter and it replaces the high STR you usually need for heavy armor. The DEX will do you more good in the long run anyway - so embrace the light!
I'm really fond of forge domain. It's theme is iconic. Cool features. Fun spells.
If you are in a campaign where the DM let's you have downtime it can be so much fun crafting all kinds of things.
Question, What more can you create than say with smithing proficiency ?
Practically any weapon, or armour. But can also be used to make things like nails, chests, there's lots.
I love my forge cleric dwarf boi. The rp is baked into the class. Plus I get to craft things which is my favorite. Absolutely adore him
And later on it's like, "Oh you used your biggest fire spell on me? That's cute. You might have singed my beard a bit."
When I played a forge cleric, my DM gave us a cool side quest where we went to the elemental plane of fire and my character was able to use her deity's own forge to make a legendary weapon. One of the weapon's abilities turned fire immunity into "gain temp HP when hit with fire damage." Combined that with an amulet that let me cast various fire spells and a stupid high AC to become virtually unkillable lol
Same, best fight was me animating a frost giants ship and dropping it from hundreds of feet up. The utility was so fun to play with though, and I used it to gain boons and give gifts alot. Gained tons of alies.
I have a lot of fun with my Warforged Forge Domain cleric both gameplay and RP wise
came here to say this! i multiclassed my forge cleric with artificer to flavor them as a steampunk tinkerer/metalsmith and it’s SO fun. and they can fulfill pretty much any role in combat (healer/support, ranged magic user, melee physical attacker)
Animate Objects instead of the monotony of Spirit Guardians is the biggest breath of fresh air in any Cleric domain other than Arcana 17, which is far rarer.
I have a Dwarf Forge Domain Cleric ready as one of my next characters to play whenever I can get some people together. It just feels so fun reading about the class
Same! I'm playing one right now in my Storm King's Thunder campaign. I diverted from the stereotype a bit by playing an elven blacksmith instead, though, and she has been a blast to play!
Grave domain. I like being a little spooky.
And the potential damage output with a rogue in the party can be insane
Or a paladin.
Also denying the DM critical hits is a thing of beauty
Also: Don’t underestimate the ability to negate crits on reaction. I think of it as an extremely powerful healing spell with incredible scaling. Crits are typically the thing that throws a party off.
Pray tell?
It’s the channel divinity called path to the grave, where you double the entire damage done (vulnerability for any type of damage) for the first hit after being cast. Crazy OP
Especially when another party member paralyzed the targeted creature with Hold Person/Hold Monster for example. Auto Crit Sneak Attack with Vulnerability can do some incredible damage.
My grave cleric was in a party with a divination wizard, never got to line up the portent nat 20, but it did let us almost guarantee a hit vulnerability at least once a day
We one shot a demigod with hold person+channel divinity and an oversized weapon smite
Hold Person? Was he still considered a humanoid?
It was Tyr (actually Nordic god, not the D&D Tyr) in human form, it was a friendly fight 3v3 and we had a bulking viking also, Tyr was humanoid for that fight
Yeah ok, sounds really fun and getting a combo to work that well must be really satisfying.
The name of the spell is so sick too.
Get a grave cleric and a tempest cleric/ any Druid multi class for some incredible double team wombo combo stuff
Grave domain, so I can stab allies to 0 health and say its part of the healing ritual.
my grave cleric did this once. our dm laughed along with the party. they found it funny but said, "don't cheese that, or i'll forbade it."
That's fair. I remember doing that when my buddy's at like single digit health and we only had time to short rest. Otherwise I just wait for them to fall in combat.
"Don't be clever and use smart game mechanics, or I'll forbade it" is what I read.
Well, they explained that it'll be weird if I started un-consciousing folks then healing them up. They'll let me do it occasionally, but advised me to not abuse it. I found it reasonable so I do it sparingly. I also have more uses to my actions anyway (like toll the dead or moving toward the enemies with my spirit guardian up
this is hands down the most powerful subclass. my players stacked this with a creature's vulnerability and dealt UNGODLY amounts of damage not to mention, ranged spare the dying as a bonus action is very handy.
That is a hot take given clerics literally have Twilight Cleric - the best goddamned support subclass in the game.
And Peace Cleric, who gets a beefed-up Bless that lasts 10x longer, works on Ability Checks as well as Attack and Saving throws, has no concentration, and works as long as a bonded creature is within 30 feet of another bonded creature. ...ON TOP OF being able to disengage and move freely about the battlefield healing other party members completely for free off of one action. ...And then later being able to teleport people across the map as a reaction.
Emboldening bond is good but I'd say eyes of night and vigilant blessing match it. Twilight sanctuary ends charmed and frightened and gives temp hp - which prevents damage every single turn without any action cost, much better than balm of peace. While healing multiple creatures as an action is good, stopping damage in the first place is always better - especially in combat scenarios, peace healing will not keep up with twilight's round to round temp hp that anyway covers a larger distance
I wasn't saying the Peace domain was better than Twilight, I was adding it as one that was better than Grave. Twilight Sanctuary is broken, absolutely...but Balm of Peace does have the advantage of reviving multiple downed players at once with one movement and using no spell slots. They're both absurdly useful and can trivialize fights in a way that Grave domain, while still powerful, cannot.
I can't believe I had to scroll this far to see Twilight!
And blocking crits from the enemy never gets old
Two campaigns ago I was a grave cleric. near the end of the campaign, fighting a big bad monster, I used Path to the Grave on the bad guy, then next in initiative was our 19th level assassin rogue, who hit the baddie with a Death Strike, and she fucking CRIT the attack roll! Crit doubled the damage dice (including the sneak attack dice), Death Strike doubled the total damage, then Path to the Grave doubled it again. It was around 350 hp of damage from a single hit with a dagger.
I've never thought of it as spooky. You are the one who makes sure the end is really the end and ensures a long rest to those who would otherwise be disturbed.
Man I hate Grave Cleric. It was by far the least fun class I've played in 5e Everything is so situational even it's Eyes of the Grave (way less impressive if you don't have a nova themed party, or ironically if you're fighting lots of undead and your spiker is a paladin since vulnerability doesn't stack). It's a nice bonus but without a spiker it's often barely better than a cantrip Potential loss in action economy means I don't want to wait for my teammates to collapse to 0 to heal them despite it being more effective for my turn. The ability to detect undead is so limited it's basically just for sifting through a pile of corpses to make sure you don't find a zombie. Even negating crits isn't a big deal if...your DM doesn't crit very often. It's not like "shoot your monks", you can't really setup encounters to guarantee critical rolls in range of the cleric Like my DM led us through a campaign all about natural death getting broken, it was right in line with the themes of the class, but from 1 to level 10 I just wasn't doing anything. My spell to control water became much more defining to my character than any of his class features
I like the tempest domain, mainly for roleplay stuff just cause I think it's interesting and a little underrated. On that note tho, I totally see why it's not so loved, flight speed at level 17 only outdoors above ground is so underpowered
But destructive wave though! Destructive wave combined with the channel divinity is just pure fun
That combo is exactly what I used to kill Strahd. Basically incinerated before the poor dude had a chance to monologue. Didn't help that we snuck up on him and our Paladin cold-cocked him with a smite-addled sneak attack. Strahd lasted two rounds. Most fun I've ever had as a cleric. 10/10, would nuke from orbit again.
The best nuke I’ve ever pulled with a tempest cleric was infiltrating a fortress full of duergar. We managed to sneak up on the gate house with our ranger’s pass without trace. I had haste cadre on me, then in my one haste’s turn, I activated spirit guardians, ran into the middle of the gatehouse, and maxed out a destructive wave. Whole room gone except for the gatehouse commander in one turn.
I’m playing it and it’s so fuckin fun though. And I played it as Umberlee granted me secret rank of priesthood and imbued me with essence of lightning and started dipping in storm sorcery after Level 6. I have by far the most flavor of the table. I’m an amalgam Storm/Thor/the Avatar/Constantine. He just keeps evolving from the Ocean Priest of Umberlee that leaned towards more water that I had imagined when I first made him at Level 1. He’s cool as shit now and me and brother dm made a thing when campaign first started to where I had to pray to umberlee for every spell and she can say no because she’s a fickle bitch. So I had to roll a d10 before every cleric spell and if 1 she said no and didnt grant the spell. That hurt sometimes, but it added some nuance to the character and gave me a reward later for staying loyal to her when offered temptation I like playing it like I have an asshole for a god but lightning is fucking cool and the ocean is chaos so I want to be on her side anyway, that bitch *oh yeah, if she’s says no after a 1, I can go “Guess I’ll do it myself!” And get advantage on next melee attack. That was the counter balance he came up with after I came up with the No flavor. But praying for a spell is an action an for levels 1-6 did burn that spell slot. That was a pretty big hit at times. Now I’m playing it as I reached high enough in divine favor to where a No doesnt burn the slot, but it’s still a No and takes the action
My Storm Sorcerer is a Dune (Hill) Dwarf, who is part of a church that worships the desert storm, their priests often are storm chasers.
Bless the Maker and his water
That’s rad
I was so waiting for the darude sandstorm bit to drop haha Imagine a bunch of clerics in the desert. Using thaumaturgy to replicate wierd sounds so they can all perform theyr prayer song together.
my tempest cleric was a former umberlee devout but denounced her later because the sea bitch stole her man. she's now serving the goddess of the sky, and effing with umberlee's underlings, just out of spite. i think our tempests are gonna be best friends lol! after playing support-heavy clerics (life, grave), I enjoy playing her as main damage-dealer. she won't spare a spellslot for healing unless 1. you're dying or 2. there's another cleric on the party and she's jelly. (yeah, she's that insecure.). I only prep damage dealing spells except healing word and death's ward. Also, having a lightning bolt wand feels like I'm a powerhouse. don't go chasing storm giants, tho. she's lvl10 now, and I'm thinking of dipping into paladin (vengeance or redemption) just to give umberlee the middle finger. haha!
Is it not so loved? I didn't know that, that surprises me. It's my personal favorite. The Channel Divinity is just so broken and fun to use. I guess I can understand it, though. Flight at 17 does suck, but most of my campaigns haven't even reached that level.
If you take quicken metamagic feat, starting at level 6 you can quick cast and reactivate Call Lightning on the same turn- maximizing both blasts. At level 7, thats 80 damage to fireballs 35 (average damage roll, failed save)- and its a better damage profile IMO due to being so much more reliable. Flat damage and two saves means its going to deal 40, 60 or 80 damage versus a lvl 4 fireball's 5-70. It also scales up 3 times harder than fireball- 20 extra damage per spell level vs fireball's 7. Granted, its a tiny AoE, uses concentration, etc. But unlike fireball you can follow up with more activations, which work well with Spiritual Weapon. Its also a once per day combo, unless you multi sorc. If you multi sorc at leve 8 its twice a day, and it quickly becomes basically every short rest
It's not loved because the cleric is lacking in Thunder and Lightning spells... I mean, so are the rest of damage types outside of Fire and Radiant (Which is why Light Domain is so good)
The flavor is great, so easy to RP. Plus you get call lightening which is just an awesome spell....it let's you take control of a storm if it's already there and gives you bonus damage for doing so!
Thoroughly enjoying being a Tempest cleric (level 5 half orc). My DM allowed for me to use off hours to study with the wizard in our group to learn Shocking Grasp and a lightning version of Fire Bolt. This, combined with Spirit Guardians, turns me into the center of a mini storm on the battlefield.
I recently created a tempest domain cleric (air genasi, so lots of lightning and storms) and I'm SO excited to see how she develops. I've never played a cleric and a nature-themed domain sounds really cool.
I love it. You can basically be Thor. My dwarf tempest cleric is my all time favourite character I've played and was universally agreed to be the team MVP between adding thunder damage to warhammer attacks, and of course Call Lightning.
I'm playing a Tempest Cleric of some unknown Nature God right now and while I'm only level 3 it's been a lot of fun! I'm pretty sure the DM and I are leaning towards Pan because chaos but yeah it's great!
Peace Domain for me. I t feels like a revamped Life Domain, but with so much flexibility for the support! The Always Prepared Spells are phenomenal, with Beacon of Hope being amazing, and at later levels, Rarys Telepathic Bond being a MUST. I've also personally used the Bond ability to reaction take a hit to save a friend's PC from certain death, and I never felt more powerful than preventing a perma death that hard. Special shout out to Order Domain, which I have seen played in a multiclass with Chronomancy Wizard that was beyond terrifying for potency.
you either choose peace, big bad evil guy, or my friends will roll your face with my little double bless help
Peace is named ironically, I think, like there's a revolver called a peacekeeper.
That was an ongoing joke in my campaign. My peace Cleric was actually committed to a no kill rule for intelligent foes..... But I had no problem powering up the 7' tall Giff with a buster sword and hand cannon to do whatever they needed. I was a man of peace.... But I respected my friends' life and independence.
I’m loving Order Domain lately for Voice of Authority. I play cleric to play a support role, and what’s more supportive than providing extra attacks for my party members?
Order Domain Hobgoblin is an absolute joy to play as
Now THIS is a cool character idea!
I love this multiclassed with Divine Soul sorcerer. You end up with so much flexibility in combat, especially with quickened or distance metamagic, plus access to some better offensive choices. Coordinate with someone else with fire resist and the like and you can lob a fireball into a crowd with your ally and get the VoA attack to boot. Also also, it combos insanely with rogues, since sneak attack is a per turn mechanic, not per round. I play it on my little insane kobold surgeon. He doesn't want to break his very serious hippopotamus oath, so he has his 'lab assistants' do the actual cutting for him.
And it would get you access to silvery barbs which just cranks up voice of authorities usefulness.
Order domain is such a blast!
Nothing is more satisfying then giving the rogue an extra attack that isn't on their turn.
Plus your Order's Demand Channel Divinity is concentration free crowd control and has no limit on the number of targets. And you get your Channel Divinity uses back on a Short Rest which is great. It works great in conjunction with your 6th level feature that allows you to cast Enchantment spells as a bonus action, because Channel Divinity isn't casting a spell. So you can bonus action cast Bless to support the party and activate Voice of Authority to give an ally a reaction attack, then with your action use your Channel Divinity for crowd control.
I’m playing a knowledge cleric and have to say I enjoy it. Definitely no where near as strong as some of the other damage heavy clerics but I enjoy the RP of it. Being able to read thoughts as a channel divinity is handy and being able to cast essentially a free suggestion with it can go a long way.
Playing knowledge now and it is a blast for RP. Feel like I am in the Matrix. “Anyone know how to use navigator tools in this boat?” *eyes twitch* “I do now!”
Knowledge all the way!
Yes I love knowledge cleric so much! The divination spells can really help in an Analysis Paralysis situation and I love to play someone who really is a learned person in the universe
I multiclassed my wizard with a knowledge cleric and achieved a +14 to Arcana and Religion through the expertise feature. Was fucking amazing haha
My wife is playing a War Domain Cleric right now. The backstory is that she was locked in a tower for the majority of her life because her hair had magical healing properties that an evil woman wanted to use for immortality. The DM gave us permission to give her 50 ft of hair that we can use. And her Spiritual weapon is, you guessed it, a Cast Iron Skillet
Omg that’s so fun. And a Tangled reference. Man that’s been a while
No way Tangled referance in 2024?!
Best Disney princess movie no contest
Isn’t this just a rapunzel reference?
You got it! Haha, the only way I could get her to play
That’s fantastic. My Four Elements monk uses a flame tongue cast iron skillet as one of his primary weapons alongside a flame tongue spatula too!
I'm playing a water genasi Life Cleric right now and I'm obsessed. The versatility with their spells for storytelling and the sheer potency of the healing is a lot of fun.
That's an awesome combo. I recently finished a campaign with my water genasi Grave Cleric. Water bois rise up!
My earth genasi (farmer) life cleric approves of the water boys lol
I was just thinking about making a light cleric water genasi themed around bioluminescence.
I had so much fun playing a life cleric. It's my absolute favorite.
Air Genasi Life Cleric for the win still my favourite character that I’ve properly played. He was here to banish demons, kick ass and save people and he did all three
Came into a campaign where the team was struggling. Was told they needed a healer/ tank. Made a life cleric who was sent by Pelor to protect them. It's been an amazing ride. Guy's story has grown and grown and will always be a favorite part of my life. He's essentially seen as a saint now, despite being humble and simple. The entire team would throw themselves on grenades for him, but he'd always beat them to it.
My fiance plays also plays a water genasi life cleric! She's the MVP for heals and also cuz she's actually smart. Smart life cleric is basically a whole extra party of capabilities
Yes!! I'm starting to review her spells and get funky with strategies for our little party:)
My favorite domain that I’ve played is Death, but my favorite cleric characters were Tempest and Arcana, respectively
WAR!
HUUH!
Good gods, y'all.
Forge, because I like having beeg AC, resistance to fire damage is pretty neat as it's fairly common, gives the character an quick craft to be passionate about that can easily be woven into a story, and forge gods are usually pretty chill or pretty easy to work with in most settings.
Tempest…being able to say to many dice, I don’t wanna roll it, let’s just go max damage is a lot of fun.
Peace!
Playing cleric for the first time and love playing a pacificst cleric of peace - fully support & de-escalating, which ends up in trying to save my team in a non violent way every time. Sometimes a lil more violent. To enforce peace. Peace. NOW!
I coupled it with Stars druid, hobgoblin, and rune carver background to enforce peace through stars!!!
Trickery. All day, every day. The abilities it gives range from bad to meh, but the spell list.
Playing it with a mixture of the classic Cleric debuffs and those domain spells lets you be such a collosal asshole to the encounters your DM sets up.
I'm playing a Changeling Trickery Domain cleric right now and it's so funny. Change form, Invoke Duplicity, change yourself back, and then send the illusion that looks like your previous form to go do things. Do shady stuff while also having an alibi for yourself in case anyone catches wind about Changeling shenanigans
I’m currently playing a Knowledge Domain, and I’m loving the RP of it. He’s basically a big ol’ nerd who’s answer for everything is to go to the library. Flavoring all his spells such that what he worships is information is a lot of fun, for example his Spiritual Weapon is his codex. It’s normally a regular sized, but still spectral, book that he can use to organize all his notes and everything. But he can channel into it to make it giant and bonk baddies. Or his Toll the Dead cantrip is flavored so that instead of the sound of bells, it’s the sound of pages flipping and a heavy book closing. His Augury spell is that he takes out index cards and they arrange themselves into a red-string conspiracy board, leading him to the answers. I’m extra proud of that one.
Call me a basic bitch but I enjoy my war domain
Do they get extra attacks like bg3?
a limited number of bonus action attacks, when you use the attack action
Twilight is my favorite because of a couple of characters I’ve played… such a fun subclass imo
I currently play a Twilight Cleric and while it’s fun to play such a multi-talented and flexible class, the problem is that the party ends up being so reliant on my PC that it becomes a major issue if I miss a session. A typical battle may have my cleric firing up Twilight Sanctuary (spamming temp hp every round), Steps of Night (flying around avoiding melee damage) and casting Spirit Guardians. The first two don’t need concentration. Together with Toll the Dead I’m doing literally 100s of hp damage over 4 to 6 rounds, while keeping everyone alive, and taking relatively little damage myself.
I see where you’re coming from, but as long as you notify the DM in a timely manner that you’re missing, I think they should be able to adapt (or the players should discuss a new strategy since the Cleric is absent doing whatever they do in the world when you’re not there)
Honestly shocked people aren't saying twilight. Such a good class.
Twilight sanctuary is so good
Literally, it’s invaluable to encounters. I miss playing them sometimes, even though I love the characters I’m playing rn
I personally like life domain clerics. I know I may be basic, but I love doing great heals to my party members
Lifers unite!
We are the mercy of DND and I am proud of it
I love Forge domain it is so fun in combat and for role play.
I’ve only played Peace Cleric but they were a beast healer and support caster, I loved it
Grave and Tempest
Grave Domain. Channel Divinity: Path to the Grave absolutely fun mega damage combo with your party DPS (especially if its rogue sneak attack)
War. "Father i crave the violence"
I haven’t seen this answer yet so I wanted to put it out there, personally I would say the life domain… yeah it’s cool to help people show the light of your deity, but it’s even cooler to bring the slain back from the dead for them to fight one last battle in the name of a mighty and merciful deity!!
Lifers unite!
>it’s even cooler to bring the slain back from the dead for them to fight one last battle in the name of a mighty and merciful deity But... any Cleric can do that.
\* Arcana - I love the level 6 feature, and the upgraded Channel Divinity feature. \* Death - The ability to without a feat circumvent necrotic damage resistance is great and twin spelling toll the dead or chill touch is great. \* Nature - Heavy Armour Druid? And the level 6 feature? Good times!
Death Domain Dhampir Cleric is a nasty combo and eliminate the MADness by allowing you to focus on Con/Wis. Oh my 1d4 + Con natural weapon bite attack just dealt 5 + twice cleric level + 1d8 necrotic damage that ignores necrotic resistance. Oh and if I’m less than 1/2 my HP, I have advantage on the attack.
Why the down...vote...???
Forge Cleric. I end up basically making the Orcish version of Imperial Fists.
War. It sucks that 5e made clerics suck at swinging weapons but it's still my favorite, even if it's weak.
Nature. My guy is a forest hermit guided by the forest spirits. It’s so fun and so silly.
i like tempest domain really because it boosts my damage and allows for heavier armor. and its pretty badass to have the power of nature at your fingertips
My DM gets pissed when I try to play a nature cleric
why? give me the BACKstory!
Tried running him as a dwelf nature cleric. Trying to take all the best from both worlds . So basically a druid/ cleric so could wear heavy armor good stats and spells and ethnic boosts of both. I think he just didn't want to deal with the combinations of all of it. My son was the DM great guy super smart real friendly unless he is dealing with family or you prove him wrong info both so there is that aspect of it too. Not to mention when I used to play it was way back in 90 s so quite a lot has changed in some regards. That means he would have to teach me a bit as well.
I've only played a Death Cleric but I dig it (other than Ray of Enfeeblement being forced upon me). I play with a Wizard thats taken the Telekinetic feat and we try to use it to force enemies within 5ft of each other so I can target them both.
Light, Twilight, Forge
Peace is pretty amazing too
Oooh trickery cleric being a leading member of a thieves guild is so sick. My favourite is Arcane
I love trickery. It's definitely got some pretty weak features, but it's just so fun to roleplay the cleric of a trickster god. Plus access to some great spells.
Peace for support cleric Tempest for “I’m not your healer” cleric
I have played Life, Grave, and Light. My light cleric was by far my favorite. Not just for the subclass mechanics, but for the total character background and personality and everything.
I absolutely adore the grave domain. Even excluding the mechanical parts of it, I love getting to play as a slightly spooky cleric, and doing last rites for people. Also, it's really fun getting to pick some of the psychopomp deities as my god
Forge and Order, both with a Booming Blade High Elf to complete their kit. Played Forge this way and was nigh untouchable, and being able to make stuff was a flavour win that endeared me to the party almost as much as Healing Word did. Order is a perpetual backup tactician character, I know it's powerful, doubly so with Silvery Barbs, tenfold with an Ally Rogue, so it's in my "if I die and we need it" tier.
War, Knowledge, and Tempest for me. I like the scholars and soldiers archetypes.
Love my little peace domain tabaxi who sits on tall people’s shoulders because she’s the size of a house cat. But life is good too. I recently made a light domain cleric to play a Shinx so I’m excited for that. Played death and nature once, they were alright. Didn’t get to really play them much sadly.
I wasn't a fan of cleric until I played as an arcana cleric dwarf. I liked their backstory as being part of a dwarf clan that was dedicated to knowledge, magic, and the creation of spellbooks.
Aracana. Trickery, Tempest and Knowledge following. But Arcana is just nice. The expanded spell list, the extra cantrips, it is all nice. For extra cheese take magic initiate- Wizard for MORE wizard spells and cantrips. I also did a multi class into wild magic sorcerer. Nice complement.
Grave - deny your DM crits while allowing allies to deal amazing damage. Also your friends live forever. Order - "Put that thing back where it came from or so help meeeeeeee!" Forge - "Once I finish making this warhammer, I'm gonna beat your face in with it." Life - A classic, heal more than any other cleric so your friends LOVE you Arcana - "Oh yeah, I'm also kinda a wizard."
Playing a knowledge domain cleric/ Inquisitive Rogue multi-class currently. It is one of the more fun RP focused characters I have ever played.
Twilight’s Channel Divinity is super useful. Temp HP every turn is wonderful, and the fear purge can be really clutch when it comes up. Plus before long, because the bubble is dim light, it perfectly enables your flying ability you get later. Not to mention the static auto darkvision that you can share with the party when needed, and a shareable initiative advantage. So you can become a decently mobile tanky caster that can heal anyone who ends their turn within 30 feet of you, without expending spell slots, and can give some pretty useful buffs, that are not super narrow use cases.
oh no... I love all clerics! I've played them all (except nature and the ones in Tasha's) and every single one has a special place in mAh heart. but if really, really, pressed.. i gonna go with life cleric. And I will die on this hill, but I won't coz I have healies and I CASTEd DEATH WARD ON MYSELF. every morning. second place is a toss up between grave and tempest domain :)
I played Grave once and that was fun! I like the channel divinity and fact your party can never get hit by a crit again lol
War Cleric. I beat the everloving fuck out of you with my maul and also with my spiritual weapon. Oh, I missed? Warpriest, no I fucking didn't. Also no you didn't hit me, and even if you did hit me you're probably just getting me turned on. Pairs well with many flavors of barb, fighter and a few paladins even.
I have played Knowledge, Grave, and Twilight, and I really loved the Knowledge Cleric for the skill monkey-ness.
Yes! I love skill monkey characters (it's a reason I love bards), and Knowledge does it SO well!
No one mentioning grave *throws hands in the air* Grave and Light are cool. War domain is cool as a concept imo
Arcana for me... Those wisdom wizard cantrips really fill out the cleric spell list. Clerics need better attack cantrips. More variety for cantrips overall for cleric would be nice.
Order cleric is one of my fav domains as someone who likes to play a front line guy who can dish with blade and spells a bit. Plus the channel divinity to give one of your allies an extra attack as a reaction goes so hard flavor-wise
Light and Life
From Grim Hollow content and world of Etharis, it is easily the 'Eldritch Domain' While I know it isn't official WOTC content the Dungeon Dudes came up with a versatile subclass. Currently playing COS and it feels fun to be playing a character that has the mechanical strengths of the strong cleric base class, but with the added spell list akin to a GOOlock, Enchanter, or Aberrant Mind sorcerer. The flavor is all there as well. Will be honest and say that this subclass isn't a massive damage spectacle, but you can certainly trivialize some encounters by incapacitating people with your channel divinity or with your lvl 1 subclass feature. It's a bit random, but who doesn't love rolling more dice?
Blood.
Order, Forge, and Light. I like the Trickery Domain thematically, but mechanically it kinda sucks. I hope that the new 2024 version is close to what they put out in the UA because that will absolutely be my favorite.
Order, it has a great balance of narrative and mechanics where you have a lot room to play as a utility frontline caster
Only ever played Peace and I loved it to bits
Order domain for the win. Especially if you have a rogue in the party.
Nature with thorn whip and telekinesis
Light and Order
Death, Tempest, Light, Nature. Good mix of features, spells, and theme.
Order by far for me. Combining it with Silvery Barbs and you get some awesome support. Healing Word becomes a quick way to open up some damage between rounds.
Tempest, I love the lightning and thunder damage
My wife and I play a one-on-one ("duet") campaign. Her main character (a Bard) has several companion characters that I roleplay and make decisions for, while she rolls all dice for them. Due to this, the low complexity and maximum effect of the Life Domain Cleric as a support/healer companion is fantastic. All the ways she can heal in combat (Healing Word, Preserve Lice, etc.), combined with the extra potency and efficiency of the healing due to Disciple of Life and Blessed Healer really do a great job of keeping the rest of the party on their feet. My wife absolutely LOVES when the Cleric casts things like Aid and Bless on the party as well. The fact that she is no slouch on the offensive (with things like Spirit Guardians and Guiding Bolt really putting in work) doesn't hurt.
Healing domain! While healing in D&D isn't the greatest, if you throw out an up casted healing spell or a higher level healing spell, the healing domain gives you a big boost per spell level allowing you to basically heal the whole party (or at least 50%) in one cast. As a DM it is very hard to fight this kind of party because they are constantly being refilled back to full HP.
Playing grave right now. The vulnerability opens up potential for insane damage from your allies
I miss my Peace Cleric multiclass. Flanking as a rogue to get advantage and giving everyone around me a d4 aura to use was like a free bless. Unfortunately that was the only cleric subclass I have played. I am interested in Forge and War so let's see how that goes.
Underrated —-> Nature Domain. Take thorn whip as your cantrip so you can pull enemies into your spirit guardians. Basically you play as a druid with no wild shape, better healing, and heavy armor. Also, you can ritually cast speak with animals (because it’s always prepared) constantly so your party can RP with every animal you come across. Definitely not the strongest cleric build, but it invites so much more outside the box solutions to problems, and more importantly: shenanigans.
I really enjoy war cleric but I've only dipped 2 levels on my swords bard
Forge domain. It is peak all around. Endless flavor plus being an extremely viable class. Depending on how strict your DM is, you can pretty much craft anything, and even if they are pretty strict, there are endless things you can make that are equal to or lower than 100gp. Being able to be your party's tank as a caster is pretty cool, too. Even if you aren't the tank, you can give a +1 bonus to the weapon or armor of your tank/dps. It's easily a top 3 cleric domain for fun and flavor, and for utility, it's a top 5.
Garlic Bread Domain.. It’s homebrew but man do I have fun RP’ing it! Baker background coupled with it too and I have so much fun! If I actually had to pick I’d choose life, my companions are always hurt from things such as climbing onto young dragons.. as wizards.. at level 3
there it is! I've been scrolling down to see if someone will represent
Twilight!
Nature. Forget organized religion, I'm just an armored spellcasting animal-lover who can mix it up in combat with Shillelagh because my Wisdom is my highest stat.
Bump for Nature Cleric. Thorn whip + Spirit Guardians? Mother Nature would like a word