D&D 5e Cleric Guide (2014)

Introduction

The Cleric is D&D 5e's most versatile full caster. You prepare spells from the entire Divine list every day, which means your toolkit is never wrong-footed by the dungeon's demands. You wear armor (light and medium baseline, heavy armor on several domains), carry a shield, and function as a frontline combatant on the Domains that support it. Your Channel Divinity rechargeable on short rests means your resource economy is better than almost any other caster.

The class's defining characteristic is the Domain system. Life Domain Clerics are the best healers in the game. Tempest Domain Clerics are blasters. War Domain Clerics are heavy-armored melee fighters. Arcana Domain Clerics are near-Wizards with armor. Knowledge Domain Clerics are skill-focused intelligence gatherers. The Cleric is not one class; it is twelve classes with shared chassis.

The 2014 Cleric is widely considered one of the two or three best-designed classes in the game. Every level adds something meaningful. The spell list covers healing, protection, crowd control, damage, and utility. At level 17, you cast 9th-level spells. At level 20, you are a divine avatar. It is not glamorous in the same way as a Wizard or Paladin, but the Cleric at a high-level table is frequently the reason the party survives.

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Disclaimer

• ● Red: Bad. Actively weak or superseded.
• ● Orange: Situational. Correct in specific builds or campaigns.
• ● Green: Good. Reliable and consistently strong.
• ● Blue: Fantastic. Best-in-class, almost always the right choice.

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Class Features

Spellcasting (1st Level) ●

Full caster, WIS-based, prepared daily from the complete Cleric spell list. Prepared count = WIS modifier + Cleric level. Domain spells always prepared for free. This is the most flexible spellcasting system in D&D: you can change your entire toolkit every morning based on what the day requires.

Core Cleric spells you almost always want available:

• ● Healing Word (1st) - Bonus action range heal. Better action economy than Cure Wounds in almost every situation.
• ● Bless (1st) - Concentration. +1d4 to attack rolls and saves for three creatures. The single best concentration spell at levels 1-4.
• ● Guiding Bolt (1st) - 4d6 radiant + advantage for the next attack on the target. Best 1st-level offensive spell in the game.
• ● Spiritual Weapon (2nd) - Bonus action, non-concentration floating weapon dealing 1d8+WIS force damage each turn. Stack with Bless.
• ● Spirit Guardians (3rd) - Concentration area, 3d8 radiant or necrotic (WIS save for half) plus halved speed to all enemies entering or starting turn in 15 feet. Best sustained AoE damage spell at levels 5-10.
• ● Mass Cure Wounds (5th) - Heal up to 6 creatures simultaneously. Emergency full-party heal.

For the complete spell priority list by level, see our Best Cleric Spells guide.

Channel Divinity: Turn Undead (2nd Level) ●

Undead within 30 feet that can see or hear you must succeed on a WIS save or be turned for 1 minute (flee, cannot take actions near you, cannot willingly enter space within 30 feet). Excellent in undead-heavy encounters (dungeons, necromancer campaigns, graveyards). Limited versus non-undead.

At level 5, upgrading to Destroy Undead: turned undead of low CR are destroyed outright. The CR threshold scales with level (CR 1/2 at 5th, CR 1 at 8th, CR 2 at 11th, CR 3 at 14th, CR 4 at 17th).

Channel Divinity (2nd Level) ●

1 use at level 2, recovers on short rest. Gains second use at level 6, third at level 18. Your Domain adds 1-2 additional Channel Divinity options. The short rest recharge makes Channel Divinity significantly more valuable than spell slots in many adventuring days.

Ability Score Improvement (4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 19th Level) ●

Standard five ASIs. Clerics need WIS for spell power and CON for survival; these absorb the first two. After that, feats or secondary stat improvements.

Destroy Undead (5th Level) ●

See Turn Undead above.

Divine Intervention (10th Level) ●

Roll d100, needing a result at or below your Cleric level for your deity to intervene. At level 10, that's a 10% success chance; at level 20, success is automatic. If it works, you can't use this feature again for 7 days; if it fails, you can try again after your next long rest. When it works, the GM chooses an appropriate effect matching the request. High variance but high ceiling: a successful Divine Intervention can solve any problem. Essentially a free Wish at level 20 (usable roughly once per week).

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Ability Scores

Recommended Array:

● WIS: Every DC point affects your spell reliability. Max WIS as fast as possible. 16 at level 1 to 20 by level 8 via ASIs is the standard path.

● CON: Spirit Guardians, Bless, and most combat spells require concentration. CON saves protect your most important resource. 14+ minimum.

● STR: Only relevant for domains granting martial weapons and frontline combat intent. Knowledge, Life, Light, Nature, and Grave domains can dump STR to 8 with no penalty.

● INT: No Cleric class feature uses INT. Exception: Arcana Domain adds INT-based knowledge and its unique flavor lends itself to high-INT Cleric builds, but WIS is still the casting stat.

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Races

● Hill Dwarf: +2 CON, +1 WIS, Dwarven Toughness (+1 HP per level), Darkvision, proficiency in dwarven weapons. The WIS + CON combination is the exact stat spread the Cleric wants. Dwarven Toughness adds meaningful HP over a campaign. A natural fit thematically and mechanically.

● Variant Human: +1 WIS, +1 CON, extra skill, and a feat at level 1. War Caster at level 1 for a Cleric who plans to concentrate through the entire campaign is the highest-value level-1 feat in the game for this class.

● Aasimar (Volo's): Radiant damage, Healing Hands, and variant forms at higher levels. Celestial heritage thematically appropriate; the healing utility augments a Life or Peace Cleric's kit.

● Wood Elf: +2 DEX, +1 WIS, 35-foot speed, Mask of the Wild, Darkvision. The WIS bonus is useful; the speed helps a non-heavy-armor Cleric who needs to position for Spirit Guardians range.

● Gnome (Forest or Rock): +2 INT, +1 CON or DEX. INT is mostly wasted on a Cleric. Rock Gnome's CON bonus is useful; the INT primary makes the race a poor fit compared to WIS-primary options.

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Skills

Clerics choose 2 skills from: History, Insight, Medicine, Persuasion, Religion, Stealth.

● Insight: WIS-based. Reading situations, detecting lies. High WIS + Insight proficiency makes the Cleric a reliable lie-detector in social encounters.

● Religion: The single knowledge skill a Cleric is built for. INT-based but WIS Clerics with proficiency still beat most non-proficient checks. Reveals undead/fiend weaknesses, identifies magic, and provides campaign-relevant lore.

● Persuasion: CHA-based. Despite being a secondary stat, the Cleric is often a moral authority or diplomat. Persuasion comes up frequently; the proficiency is never wasted.

● Medicine: WIS-based. Stabilize dying creatures, diagnose diseases. Mostly superseded by Healing Word in combat, but useful in resource-light situations.

● History: INT-based. Wasted unless your INT is 12+. Pass in favor of WIS-based skills.

● Stealth: DEX-based. Clerics in medium or heavy armor have disadvantage on Stealth. Almost never take this.

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Backgrounds

For a full ranking of all 13 PHB backgrounds and how each compares outside this class, see the D&D 5e 2014 Backgrounds Guide.

● Acolyte: Insight and Religion, two additional language proficiencies, and Shelter of the Faithful (free room/food from temples). Both skills are perfectly aligned with the Cleric's stat spread. Thematically perfect.

● Sage: Arcana and History, Researcher feature. Arcana is INT-based but useful for an Arcana Domain Cleric. History is generally weak but the Researcher feature (know where to find unknown information) provides campaign-level utility.

● Outlander: Athletics and Survival, Wanderer feature. Athletics is STR-based and relevant for War/Forge Cleric frontline builds. The Wanderer feature (find food, remember paths) is excellent in wilderness campaigns.

● Hermit: Medicine and Religion, hermit's discovery. Medicine is weak (Healing Word covers the role better) but Religion is excellent. The Discovery feature is campaign-dependent.

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Feats

● War Caster: Advantage on concentration saves, cast spells as opportunity attacks, ignore somatic component restrictions. The concentration advantage is critical for a Cleric whose most powerful spells (Spirit Guardians, Bless) require it. Every Cleric who fights in melee should take this.

● Resilient (CON): CON save proficiency improves concentration defense. Alternative to War Caster if you prefer a single feat slot solution to concentration saves.

● Inspiring Leader: Give the party temporary HP equal to level + CHA modifier. Clerics often have reasonable CHA and lead the party morally, so the temporary HP pool is significant. With CHA 12 and Inspiring Leader at level 10, that is 22 temporary HP for six creatures before every combat.

● Sentinel: Stop enemy movement on opportunity attacks, react to nearby-ally attacks. For frontline War/Forge Clerics who want to serve as a true tank, Sentinel combined with War Caster's reaction attack is excellent.

● Spell Sniper: Double range of spell attacks, ignore 3/4 cover, gain an attack cantrip. Situationally useful for ranged Clerics who rely on Guiding Bolt at range. Not a priority.

For the full level-by-level feat priority list, see our Best Feats for Cleric guide.

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Subclasses

The Cleric is the only class that picks its subclass at level 1, so the domain decides three things before any other build choice: your always-prepared domain spells, whether you get heavy armor, and which Channel Divinity you carry at level 2. The level 8 column below shows whether the domain was built to fight in melee or cast from range.

Every domain is analysed feature by feature, with domain spell ratings and Channel Divinity analysis, in the D&D 5e Cleric Subclasses guide.

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Weapons

● Mace (d6 bludgeoning): Standard Cleric weapon. Proficient from level 1, bludgeoning damage is rarely resisted. Reliable starter.

● Warhammer (d8 versatile): Best non-martial weapon option. Available without heavy armor proficiency domains, d8 damage is a step up from mace.

● Maul / Greataxe (martial: War, Tempest, Forge, Order): Two-handed martial weapons for martial-proficient domains. 2d6 or d12 damage plus Divine Strike makes the frontline Cleric a credible melee threat.

● Staff with Shillelagh (Nature Domain): WIS-based melee attack. Circumvents the STR dependency for melee Clerics. Best on Nature Domain Clerics who want melee without investing in STR.

● Crossbow: Viable ranged option. Sacred Flame and Toll the Dead cantrips are usually better than crossbow attacks for most Cleric builds.

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Armor

● Plate Armor (domains: Life, War, Nature, Tempest, Forge, Order, Twilight): AC 18 before shield. With shield, AC 20. The ultimate defensive package for a heavy-armor domain Cleric. Get it as early as campaign wealth allows.

● Half Plate (all domains): AC 15 + DEX max 2 = AC 17 with DEX 14. Non-heavy-armor domains rely on this as the best medium armor option.

● Chain Shirt + Shield: AC 16 for medium-armor Clerics with shield proficiency. Available at level 1.

● Mage Armor: Worse than medium armor at every tier for a Cleric. Never substitute Mage Armor for actual proficient armor.

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Multiclassing

Multiclassing requirement: WIS 13.

● Paladin 1-6: Divine Smite and Lay on Hands add burst damage and self-sustain. Aura of Protection at Paladin 6 + WIS modifier saves = extraordinary combined defensive value. CHA needed for the Paladin side, which competes with WIS priority.

● Druid 2: Wild Shape for scouting. Druid spells for additional utility. Similar prepared caster chassis makes the crossover smooth. Moon Druid Cleric has high hit-point durability through Wild Shape HP buffer.

● Fighter 1-2: Action Surge, CON save proficiency, Fighting Style. Mainly for War Cleric builds who want the extra STR save proficiency and Second Wind self-heal. The single level of Fighter for CON save proficiency is occasionally taken by Clerics who cannot fit Resilient (CON) via ASI.

● Wizard / Sorcerer: INT or CHA primary conflicts with WIS primary. Spellcasting level tracking would delay 9th-level Cleric spells significantly. The Cleric's single-class progression is better than any spellcaster multiclass combination.

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Example Build: The Divine Bulwark (Forge Domain)

Race: Hill Dwarf (+2 CON, +1 WIS, Dwarven Toughness)

Starting Stats: WIS 16 (15+1), CON 16 (14+2), STR 13, DEX 12, CHA 10, INT 8

Tactics: Open combat with Bless (concentration, +1d4 to three allies' attacks and saves) and cast Spiritual Weapon as a bonus action (1d8+WIS force damage per turn, non-concentration). Maintain both simultaneously: Bless on allies, Spiritual Weapon on the most dangerous enemy. At level 5, Spirit Guardians replaces Bless as your concentration choice when fighting groups: 3d8 radiant in a 15-foot radius, halved on a failed WIS save, and it halves enemy speed while they're in the area. With Soul of the Forge at level 6, your AC in plate is 21 before any magical enhancements. You anchor the frontline while the Spiritual Weapon does damage. Sentinel at 16 stops enemies from retreating out of Spirit Guardians range.

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Subclass Index

All fourteen Cleric domains, including Death Domain, are covered in one place: D&D 5e Cleric Subclasses.

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Final Notes

The Cleric is the most complete class in D&D 5e. Every Domain produces a different play experience, from the lightning-blasting Tempest Cleric to the party-buffing Peace Cleric to the magic-item-creating Forge Cleric. The shared chassis (full spellcasting, flexible daily preparation, Channel Divinity on short rest) means that no matter which Domain you choose, you bring a meaningful toolkit to every encounter.

The three Domains at the top of any tier list are Grave (Path to the Grave burst damage), Peace (Emboldening Bond passive party buff), and Twilight (Twilight Sanctuary per-round temporary HP). Life is the best pure healer. Forge is the most durable. Arcana has the highest late-game ceiling.

Whatever Domain you choose, learn the rhythm of three actions: bonus action Spiritual Weapon, action concentration spell or attack, reaction for whatever your Domain offers. That three-part action economy is what makes the Cleric the best-supported character class in a sustained adventuring day.

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