Best Cleric Spells in D&D 5e (2014) — Ranked

Introduction

Every other full caster in D&D 5e picks spells from a subset. Wizards fill a spellbook and choose which entries to prepare from what they've copied down. Sorcerers and Warlocks lock in a handful of known spells and barely touch that list again. The Cleric skips all of that. At every long rest, a Cleric chooses spells to prepare from the entire Divine spell list, the whole thing, and can throw out yesterday's choices and start over. That flexibility is the actual subject of this guide: not "which Cleric spells are strong" in the abstract, but which ones earn a slot in a prepared list that gets rebuilt from scratch every single day.

Two separate systems govern what ends up on a Cleric's list, and conflating them is the most common mistake new Cleric players make. Your Divine Domain, chosen at level 1, automatically grants a fixed set of spells at levels 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 that are always prepared and never cost you a slot. A War Domain Cleric always has Shield of Faith and Divine Favor ready, whether they want them that day or not. On top of that locked list, you separately prepare a number of spells from the full Cleric spell list equal to your Wisdom modifier plus your Cleric level, and this is the part you rebuild every morning. Rank spells for a Cleric without separating those two buckets and you'll end up recommending a Domain spell nobody needed to think about preparing, or skip a strong free-choice pick because a Domain guide already covered its own fixed list in isolation.

This guide covers the free-choice side of the Cleric's toolkit level by level, then walks through what each Domain locks in for free, so you can see the full picture: what you're guaranteed to have, and what you're actually deciding on. For subclass feature analysis and a complete Domain-by-Domain breakdown, see our D&D 5e Cleric Guide. For the level-by-level feat priority list that pairs with this spell list, see our Best Feats for Cleric guide.

Bottom line: Spirit Guardians, Healing Word, Bless, and Spiritual Weapon form the backbone of almost every Cleric's free-choice list regardless of Domain. Beyond those four, your picks should track what your Domain doesn't already give you for free, not duplicate it.

---

How Cleric Spell Preparation Actually Works

The Cleric's prepared spell count equals your Wisdom modifier plus your Cleric level, with a minimum of one. At level 1 with Wisdom 16 (+3), you prepare 4 spells. At level 5 with Wisdom 18 (+4), you prepare 9 spells. At level 11 with Wisdom 20 (+5), you prepare 16 spells. That number only draws from the free-choice pool; it excludes cantrips (which are known, not prepared) and it excludes every Domain spell, which are automatically prepared on top of that total at no cost.

Domain spells unlock in pairs at Cleric levels 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9, matching the spell levels you gain access to. A level 1 Cleric gets 2 Domain spells; by level 9, every Domain has granted 10 Domain spells total, covering the full range from 1st through 5th level. These are locked to your Domain choice and cannot be swapped for different spells, but they also never compete with your free-choice slots. A Life Domain Cleric who wants Cure Wounds prepared doesn't spend a slot on it: it's simply always there.

This changes the actual decision a Cleric faces daily. You aren't choosing your entire toolkit from scratch every morning; you're choosing the remainder after your Domain's fixed contribution is already accounted for. A Grave Domain Cleric already has Bane and False Life on lock at level 1, so their free-choice slots go toward Healing Word, Guiding Bolt, or Shield of Faith instead of redundantly re-preparing something the Domain already covers.

Domain Auto-Grant Spells At A Glance

Every one of those spells is worth having, but none of them are the subject of this guide: they arrive automatically the moment you pick a Domain, so there's no decision to rank. What follows is the free-choice pool: the spells you actually select yourself, level by level, from the full Cleric list.

---

Cantrips: Known, Not Prepared

Before the free-choice list, one mechanical wrinkle: cantrips work differently. A Cleric knows 3 cantrips at level 1, 4 at level 4, and 5 at level 10, chosen from the Cleric cantrip list. Unlike prepared spells, cantrips are locked in once chosen and can only be swapped when you gain a level, not rebuilt every morning. Pick these carefully; you'll live with them for a while.

Sacred Flame — Cantrip — ●

Radiant damage, 1d8 at level 1 scaling to 2d8 at level 5, 3d8 at level 11, and 4d8 at level 17. The target makes a Dexterity saving throw instead of you rolling an attack, which means it ignores AC entirely: a heavily armored enemy is exactly as vulnerable to Sacred Flame as a lightly armored one. Every Cleric who wants a reliable damage cantrip should know this one; it's the closest thing the class has to a default attack.

Guidance — Cantrip — ●

+1d4 to one ability check within the next minute. Cheap out-of-combat utility, but it's the single best pick-lock, trap-disarm, and skill-check assist tool available to any class. Cast it before a skill check whenever you're not in combat and have nothing better to do with your action.

Spare the Dying — Cantrip — ●

Stabilizes a dying creature at 0 HP without a healing spell or a slot. Every Cleric should know this cantrip regardless of Domain. It's free stabilization at range 0 (touch), meaning you can reliably keep any downed ally from rolling death saves without ever touching your prepared list or your spell slots.

Toll the Dead — Cantrip — ●

1d8 necrotic damage against a target at full HP, jumping to 1d12 against a target that has already taken damage. Against a bloodied enemy, this outdamages Sacred Flame. Most Clerics pick between the two rather than knowing both, since cantrips are a limited resource until level 4.

Light — Cantrip — ●

Situational: useful before torches and Darkvision-equipped races made it largely redundant, but still occasionally relevant against Devil's Sight or when you need a mobile light source thrown at a specific object.

---

Free-Choice Prepared Spells: 1st Level

Healing Word — 1st Level — ●

Healing Word heals 1d4 + Wisdom modifier at range, as a bonus action. Compare that to Cure Wounds, which requires an action and touch range. Healing Word solves the actual problem healing spells exist to solve: an unconscious ally 30 feet away, needing to be conscious and functional again without eating your entire turn. Cast it, then use your action to attack, cast Spiritual Weapon, or do anything else. This is the closest thing to a mandatory pick on this entire list; almost every Cleric of every Domain wants it prepared.

Bless — 1st Level — ●

+1d4 to attack rolls and saving throws for up to three creatures. At levels 1 through 4, before Spirit Guardians is available, Bless is the single best concentration spell a Cleric can cast. It doesn't just improve your own attacks; it improves the whole party's hit chance and save reliability every round it's up, and its low level cost means you're rarely burning a slot you'd rather spend elsewhere.

Guiding Bolt — 1st Level — ●

4d6 radiant damage on a hit, and the next attack against the target before the end of your next turn has advantage. That's a strong hit of damage on its own at 1st level, and the advantage effect functions as a built-in force multiplier for whoever attacks next, whether that's a Fighter, a Rogue looking for Sneak Attack, or you on your following turn. No other 1st-level Cleric spell does more per action for a build leaning into offense.

Shield of Faith — 1st Level — ●

+2 AC as a bonus action, lasting up to 10 minutes. Cast it before a fight starts, not during one, and it holds through an entire encounter for free. Most useful on a squishier ally or on yourself when your Domain doesn't already grant it (War and Life both do, which makes this a lower priority on those builds specifically).

Sanctuary — 1st Level — ●

Forces attackers to make a Wisdom save before targeting the protected creature, ending the moment that creature attacks or casts a spell that affects an enemy. Strong on a fragile support caster who needs to survive a round without doing anything offensive themselves, but the moment they act, the protection ends. Situational rather than a default pick.

---

Free-Choice Prepared Spells: 2nd Level

Spiritual Weapon — 2nd Level — ●

A floating spectral weapon that deals 1d8 + Wisdom modifier force damage on a hit, and moves and attacks again as a bonus action on later turns. Not concentration. That's the entire pitch: you can cast Bless or Spirit Guardians as your concentration spell and still have Spiritual Weapon running independently, adding real damage every single round for the cost of a bonus action. Once you have access to both a concentration option and Spiritual Weapon, casting them together is close to a default opening for most combats.

Aid — 2nd Level — ●

+5 max HP and current HP for up to three creatures, lasting 8 hours, no concentration. Best cast before a fight you know is coming, not as an in-combat reaction. A pre-buff Aid before a boss fight adds a real HP cushion to the whole front line and doesn't compete with your concentration slot.

Hold Person — 2nd Level — ●

Paralyzes a humanoid on a failed Wisdom save (with a repeated save each turn to end it). Paralysis auto-fails Strength and Dexterity saves and grants advantage to attackers within 5 feet, plus automatic critical hits on melee attacks against a paralyzed target. Against a single dangerous humanoid, this is one of the best control spells in the game at 2nd level; it's limited entirely to humanoid targets, which is the tradeoff for how strong it is when it lands.

Lesser Restoration — 2nd Level — ●

Ends one disease or one condition (blinded, deafened, paralyzed, or poisoned) affecting the target. Not a spell you keep prepared every day, but it becomes essential the moment your party runs into a Ghast's paralysis or a poison-heavy encounter; swap it in whenever you know that kind of fight is ahead.

Prayer of Healing — 2nd Level — ●

Heals 2d8 + Wisdom modifier to up to six creatures, but costs a full 10-minute casting time. Effectively a short-rest-substitute heal for a party that doesn't have time for a full short rest. Situational; most tables use actual short rests for this purpose instead.

Borrowed Knowledge — 2nd Level — ●

From Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos. Grants proficiency in one skill you lack for the duration. A real fix for the one check that matters this scene, but too narrow to prepare over a healing or buff spell on a typical adventuring day.

---

Free-Choice Prepared Spells: 3rd Level

Spirit Guardians — 3rd Level — ●

Spectral guardians (your choice of radiant or necrotic damage) surround you in a 15-foot radius. Enemies that start their turn in the area or enter it take 3d8 damage on a failed Wisdom save (half on success), and their speed is halved while inside. This is the Cleric's best sustained area-damage spell from level 5 onward, and it does double duty as battlefield control: enemies that walk into your radius are both damaged and slowed, which makes it exceptionally strong for a Cleric who wants to stand in melee and let the aura do the work turn after turn. Pair it with War Caster to protect the concentration and Sentinel to lock enemies inside the radius, and Spirit Guardians alone can anchor an entire mid-level frontline build.

Revivify — 3rd Level — ●

Returns a creature that died within the last minute to life with 1 HP, consuming 300 gp of diamonds. The 300 gp material cost is real, but the alternative is a dead party member and a much more expensive Raise Dead ritual later. Every Cleric should keep this prepared once the party can afford the diamonds, because the window to use it is exactly one minute after a death, and you don't get to decide in advance which combat that death happens in.

Beacon of Hope — 3rd Level — ●

Advantage on Wisdom saves and death saving throws, and maximum healing from spells, for all chosen creatures in range for the duration. Excellent immediately before a fight the party expects to be brutal: it turns every healing spell cast during the duration into a maximized heal, which stacks especially well with a Life Domain Cleric's Disciple of Life feature.

Dispel Magic — 3rd Level — ●

Ends one spell affecting a target (automatic for spells of your level or lower, a check for higher-level spells). Not something you always want prepared, but it solves an entire category of problem no other spell touches: an enemy buff, a hostile magical effect on an ally, or a battlefield-altering spell you need gone right now. Worth swapping in whenever you know you're heading into a fight against a caster.

Animate Dead — 3rd Level — ●

Raises a skeleton or zombie as a permanent servant. Powerful action-economy value over a long campaign, but out of theme for most non-Death, non-Grave Clerics, and the 1-minute cast time makes it a between-combats spell rather than something you use mid-fight. Situational by Domain and campaign tone rather than universally strong.

Spirit Shroud — 3rd Level — ●

A Tasha's Cauldron addition. Every attack you land while the spell is active deals an extra 1d8 damage (radiant, necrotic, or cold, your choice on cast) to a target within 10 feet, and creatures that start their turn nearby lose 10 feet of speed. Since it's a bonus action rather than a full action to cast, it competes directly with Spiritual Weapon for that resource. Strongest on a War, Forge, or Tempest Cleric already standing in melee; a Cleric who plans to stay at range gets nothing from the damage rider.

---

Free-Choice Prepared Spells: 4th Level And Beyond

Death Ward — 4th Level — ●

The next time the target would drop to 0 HP, it instead drops to 1 HP, and the spell ends. No concentration, 8-hour duration. Cast it on your party's most likely target before a boss fight and it functions as a full extra life for the encounter. One of the best pre-fight defensive spells any full caster has access to at any level.

Guardian of Faith — 4th Level — ●

A Large spectral guardian occupies a space and attacks any hostile creature that moves within 10 feet, dealing 20 radiant damage per hit (with a Dexterity save for half) until it has dealt 60 total damage. No concentration, functions independently of your actions once cast. Excellent for guarding a chokepoint, a door, or an objective while you're occupied elsewhere.

Banishment — 4th Level — ●

Removes a single creature from the fight entirely on a failed Charisma save (or sends an extraplanar creature home permanently if concentration holds a full minute). The single best tool available for neutralizing one dangerous enemy in a multi-enemy fight, effectively splitting a two-monster encounter into two separate one-monster fights.

Mass Cure Wounds — 5th Level — ●

Heals 3d8 + Wisdom modifier to up to six creatures in range simultaneously, no concentration. This is the party-wide emergency heal that Healing Word and Cure Wounds can't replicate at scale: after a rough round where three or four party members are bloodied at once, one action from Mass Cure Wounds can bring the whole group back to fighting shape.

Greater Restoration — 5th Level — ●

Removes one exhaustion level, a curse, petrification, or an ability score reduction. This is the spell that fixes the problems Lesser Restoration can't touch: a cursed item, an ability-draining monster, or accumulated exhaustion from a long dungeon crawl. Keep it in your back pocket rather than prepared every single day, but swap it in the moment your party runs into any of those specific problems.

Insect Plague — 5th Level — ●

4d10 piercing damage in a 20-foot-radius sphere (Constitution save for half), plus the area counts as difficult terrain. A strong area-damage option at 5th level for a Cleric leaning into offense, especially against groups clustered in the open.

Summon Celestial — 5th Level — ●

A Tasha's Cauldron addition shared with Paladins. Conjures a celestial spirit ally that shares your initiative, obeys your verbal commands, and heals nearby allies on top of fighting; its stat block scales with the slot spent. A solid pick for a Cleric who wants a standing combatant rather than more single-target healing, though it competes with Insect Plague and Mass Cure Wounds for the same 5th-level slot.

Heal — 6th Level — ●

70 HP restored to a single target, and it also cures blindness and deafness. At the point a Cleric can cast this, 70 HP from a single action is enough to bring almost any downed party member fully back into a fight, and clearing blindness or deafness in the same cast is a real bonus, not filler text.

True Resurrection — 9th Level — ●

Restores life to a creature dead for up to 200 years, regrowing a destroyed body if needed, with no material components consumed by the caster beyond the diamonds. The apex safety net at 9th level. Not something you prepare routinely, but it's the reason a level 17+ Cleric can bring a party member back after almost any failure state short of a soul actively being consumed.

---

Build Archetype Shortlists

Not every Cleric wants the same spells prepared, even after accounting for what their Domain already grants. Here's a starting shortlist by the role you're actually playing at the table, assuming you have Healing Word, Bless, and Spiritual Weapon as your shared foundation once available:

Dedicated healer (Life, Peace): Cure Wounds, Aid, Beacon of Hope, Mass Cure Wounds, Greater Restoration. Lean into your Domain's healing amplification and prepare enough direct-heal spells to never run dry, since your Domain features multiply the value of every point of healing you cast.

Frontline melee (War, Forge, Tempest): Spirit Guardians, Shield of Faith (if not Domain-granted), Death Ward, Banishment. You're standing in the fight, so prioritize spells that protect you or punish enemies for approaching, and lean on Spiritual Weapon and Spirit Guardians together as your bread-and-butter damage engine.

Control and support (Knowledge, Order, Trickery): Hold Person, Dispel Magic, Sanctuary, Banishment. Your job is removing problems from the fight rather than adding your own damage; prioritize spells that take an enemy action away or protect a fragile ally.

Damage-focused (Light, Arcana, Grave): Guiding Bolt, Spirit Guardians, Insect Plague, Toll the Dead. Your Domain likely already grants strong offensive spells (Fireball on Light, Magic Missile on Arcana), so fill remaining slots with more damage rather than redundant support.

---

Spells to skip preparing

• Sanctuary outside a specific defensive need — the moment the protected creature acts, the spell ends, which makes it a poor default pick for anyone who wants to contribute offense that turn.
• Prayer of Healing at most tables — a 10-minute cast time competes directly with an actual short rest, and most groups will just take the short rest instead.
• Animate Dead for non-necromancy-themed Clerics — the upkeep and roleplay implications of a permanent undead servant rarely fit a Life, Peace, or Light Domain concept, even though the mechanics are solid.
• Light past the early levels — Darkvision access across most player races and cheap mundane light sources make this cantrip's niche shrink fast after level 1 or 2.

---

Hot Take: Most "best Cleric spells" content ranks the whole class list as if every Cleric is choosing from scratch, but that framing undersells how much your Domain has already decided for you. A Life Domain Cleric doesn't need to think about whether Cure Wounds or Bless belongs on their list; both arrive free at level 1. The actual skill in building a Cleric spell list isn't picking the best spells in a vacuum; it's correctly identifying which slots are already spoken for by your Domain and spending your free choices on the gaps that Domain doesn't cover. Guiding Bolt is a strong 1st-level pick for a Trickery Cleric who has no offensive Domain spells at 1st level, and a wasted slot for a Light Domain Cleric who's about to get Fireball at 5th level anyway.

---

Verdict

Healing Word, Bless, Spiritual Weapon, and Spirit Guardians form the closest thing the Cleric has to a universal core, useful on nearly every Domain and every campaign tone. Beyond those four, the right pick depends entirely on what your Domain has already locked in for free and what role you're actually filling at the table. A Cleric who treats their daily prep session as "reselect the same list every morning" is leaving the class's signature flexibility on the table. Read your Domain's fixed grants first, then fill the remaining slots with whatever the day's adventure actually calls for: more healing before a grueling dungeon, more control before a fight against a single dangerous enemy, more damage before a swarm.

---

FAQ

What is the best Cleric spell in D&D 5e 2014? Spirit Guardians is the strongest free-choice pick for most Clerics: a 3rd-level concentration spell dealing 3d8 radiant or necrotic damage each round to everyone in a 15-foot radius around you, plus halved speed for enemies inside it. Healing Word and Bless are the strongest 1st-level picks, and Guiding Bolt is the best 1st-level offensive option.

Do Clerics know spells or prepare them? Clerics prepare. Every long rest, a Cleric chooses spells from the entire Cleric spell list (not a smaller known-spells subset) equal to their Wisdom modifier plus Cleric level, and can swap that entire list the next morning. This is different from Sorcerers, Bards, and Warlocks, who lock in a small number of known spells and rarely change them.

Do Domain spells count against a Cleric prepared spell total? No. Every Divine Domain grants a fixed list of spells at set levels (2 at level 1, 2 more at level 3, and so on) that are always prepared for free and never count against the Wisdom-modifier-plus-level prepared total. A level 5 Cleric with Wisdom 18 prepares 9 spells from free choice, on top of 6 Domain spells that are already locked in.

Can Clerics change their cantrips every day like their prepared spells? No. Cantrips are known, not prepared. A Cleric learns a fixed number of cantrips at level 1 (3), 4th level (4), and 10th level (5), and can only swap a known cantrip for a different one when the Cleric gains a level, not during a daily prep session.

What is the best Cleric cantrip? Sacred Flame is the standard pick for damage: 1d8 radiant with a Dexterity save (no attack roll, so it ignores AC entirely), scaling to 2d8 at level 5, 3d8 at level 11, and 4d8 at level 17. Guidance and Spare the Dying round out a near-mandatory three-cantrip loadout for almost every Domain.

Should a Cleric prepare healing spells every day? Not always all of them. Healing Word is close to mandatory because its bonus-action range heal solves the specific problem of an unconscious ally without spending your action, but full-time healing-only preparation wastes the Cleric class chassis. Most experienced Clerics prepare one or two reliable heals and fill the remaining slots with damage, buffs, and control.

---

Continue Exploring

For the full class breakdown (subclasses, ability scores, race and feat synergy, and level-by-level builds), see the D&D 5e Cleric Guide. For which feats to prioritize alongside these spells, see Best Feats for Cleric. Or return to the D&D 5e Class Guides hub to compare every class.

---

Want a GM who runs this system with deep rules knowledge? Find a professional game master who knows the rules cold.