Introduction
The Tales of the Valiant Cleric is a Divine prepared spellcaster that can heal, control a fight, and change its spell plan between adventuring days. At 1st level, Manifestation of Faith lets you choose armor-and-weapon play or stronger cantrips before selecting a domain at 3rd level.
The design philosophy here is flexible competence. A Life Domain Cleric with Manifest Might can wade into melee with heavy armor, strip HP from enemies with bonus-damage weapon attacks, and then spend a spell slot on mass healing word to top off a downed ally. A Light Domain Cleric with Manifest Miracles cranks radiant cantrip damage and punishes enemies for attacking its allies. A Hunt Domain Cleric (The Old Margreve) tracks, marks, and destroys a chosen quarry. The class does not have a single mode. It has options, and your job is to read the room and select the right tools each session.
Book of Blades does not change the Cleric by adding a new domain. It changes the class through build scaffolding: backgrounds like Judicial Champion (Book of Blades), Grave Keeper (Book of Blades), Conscript (Book of Blades), Ascetic (Book of Blades), and Avatar (Book of Blades) point Clerics toward Combat Casting, Focus (War), Focus (Death), Field Medic, Scrutinous, Vanguard, and martial-tactical identities. War and Hunt Clerics care most because their expanded talent lists can use the new Martial Talent guidance directly, but Life and Light still benefit from the new divine, grave, and judgment-themed origins.
Labyrinth Worldbook changes the Cleric more directly. Crafting Domain (Labyrinth Worldbook), Knowledge Domain (Labyrinth Worldbook), and Trickery Domain (Labyrinth Worldbook) are full subclass identities, not just background scaffolding. Crafting is the divine artisan and construct-handler, Knowledge is the best lore-and-investigation Cleric, and Trickery is the infiltrator priest who makes WIS do social and stealth work.
Player's Guide 2 gives the Cleric three more full domains. Death Domain is a practical grave-priest who marks a doomed target, weaponizes necrotic pressure, and keeps allies from crossing the final line. Nature Domain turns the Cleric into a wilderness guardian with Beast/Plant support, elemental damage reduction, and a Primordial cantrip. Tempest Domain is the storm-priest: lightning, thunder, forced movement, flight, and maximum damage dice when subtlety has already left the building.
Disclaimer
The following ratings use a color system to evaluate options for the Cleric class specifically.
- ●: Bad. Avoid this option.
- ●: Situational. Useful in the right campaign or build, but not reliable in general play.
- ●: Good. A solid choice you will not regret.
- ●: Fantastic. A top-tier option that defines strong play.
Ratings reflect general optimization. Party composition, campaign style, and GM preferences all matter.
Class Features
Spellcasting (1st Level) ●
The Cleric can prepare from the entire Divine spell list and prepares spells daily. This is the most resource-efficient knowledge model in the game — you are never locked into a bad spell choice from three levels ago. Every long rest is a new opportunity to respond to the campaign's demands.
The preparation formula is: WIS modifier + Cleric level (minimum 1). At 1st level with WIS 16, you prepare 4 spells. At 10th level with WIS 20, you prepare 15. This grows fast, and your domain spells (gained at 3rd level from your subclass) do not count against this total.
Ritual casting comes from the Divine ritual list. You start with 1 ritual and gain more at the levels shown in the Cleric Progression table. Rituals like detect poison and disease, speak with dead, and divination give you out-of-combat utility without burning spell slots.
3 cantrips at 1st level. Sacred flame, guidance, and thaumaturgy is the classic opening trio — an offensive cantrip, the best out-of-combat party buff in the game, and roleplay utility. Spare the dying as a fourth cantrip (gained at 4th level) gives you a no-slot way to stabilize an ally at 0 HP.
Manifestation of Faith (1st Level) ●
Every Cleric chooses one of two paths at 1st level. This decision matters more than your subclass choice.
Manifest Might ●: Proficiency with heavy armor plus one martial weapon. Your weapon attacks add PB as radiant or necrotic damage once per turn. At 2nd level that is +2 damage; at 17th it is +6. The heavy armor proficiency alone justifies this option in most parties — you jump straight to AC 18 (plate) or AC 20 (plate + shield) without spending resource.
Manifest Miracles ●: One extra cantrip from any source (does not count against your cantrip total), and PB is added to Divine cantrip damage. Sacred flame normally deals 1d8 radiant damage at 1st level. With Manifest Miracles, it deals 1d8 + 2 at 1st level, scaling to 1d8 + 6 at 17th. This is the offensive caster path — you can pick up a Wyrd or Arcane cantrip to fill a gap your party lacks (fire bolt for raw damage, eldritch blast with its longer range, or chill touch to prevent undead regeneration).
There is no wrong choice. The right choice depends on whether your party needs a melee-capable frontliner (Might) or consistent magical DPS with cantrip synergy (Miracles).
Channel Divinity (2nd Level) ●
Starts at 1 use per short or long rest. Scales to 2 uses at 6th, 3 at 13th, 4 at 18th. Refills on short rests throughout. This is an extremely reliable resource.
Turn the Profane ●: As an action, present your holy symbol. Every Fiend and Undead you choose within 30 feet that can see or hear you must make a WIS save. On a failure, they are turned for 1 minute or until they take damage. Turned creatures flee, cannot approach you, and cannot take reactions. This is encounter-ending against groups of undead or demons. The fact that it affects both Fiends and Undead is what raises it above a situational tool into a reliable combat resource.
Domain-specific Channel Divinity options are covered in the Subclasses section and generally rate higher than Turn the Profane for offense-focused builds.
Destroy the Profane (5th Level) ●
The natural upgrade to Turn the Profane. When a Fiend or Undead fails its save against Turn the Profane, if its CR is at or below the Destroy threshold, it is instantly destroyed. At 5th level the threshold is CR 1/2. At 17th level, you are instantly destroying CR 4 creatures. In undead-heavy campaigns (classic dungeon crawl, necromancer villain arcs), this is effectively a free area damage spell that scales with your level and requires only a Channel Divinity use.
Divine Intervention (9th Level) ●
At the start of your turn, roll d20 + PB. On 20 or higher, your deity intervenes and you can immediately use your action to cast a one-action spell from the Divine list or your domain list, regardless of preparation. The casting spends no spell slot and needs no material components. On a failure (19 or below), try again next long rest.
At 9th level with PB +4, you succeed on a 16 or higher — roughly a 25% success rate. By 17th level with PB +6, you succeed on a 14 or higher — roughly 35%. A failed request lets you try again after a long rest; reserve your action for the successful intervention. Use it aggressively in high-stakes situations rather than hoarding it.
What spell to cast on a success? Choose a Divine or domain spell with a one-action casting time, such as mass cure wounds for sustained value or flame strike for immediate combat impact. The ability to cast regardless of preparation is what makes this powerful — you can request a spell you do not have prepared. If the spell is above a circle you can normally cast, you must still pass the feature's spellcasting ability check.
Improvement (4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 19th Level) ●
Clerics gain talents from the Magic talents list (plus options for ability score increases or split stat+talent improvements). The Magic talents list includes Combat Casting, Mental Fortitude, and other concentration-protection and spellcasting-enhancement options that are highly valuable for a prepared spellcaster with numerous concentration spells.
Heroic Boon
Gift of Consecration ● Immunity to disease, poison damage, and the poisoned condition. If you die, your body is preserved as gentle repose for a year and a day. The disease and poison immunity is extremely strong in dungeon crawls, sewers, and plague-adjacent campaigns. In other campaigns, it is somewhat passive. The body preservation is useful in campaigns where resurrection is expensive — your allies have time to collect your corpse rather than needing to act immediately.
Gift of Wrath ● Choose radiant or necrotic damage resistance. Additionally, when you cast a damaging spell of any type, you can convert that damage to radiant or necrotic. This option does two things simultaneously: increases your survivability against common damage types (radiant is relatively rare, but necrotic is devastating in many campaigns) and removes the "wrong element" problem from offensive casting. Against creatures resistant to fire, you cast fireball and deal radiant damage. Against creatures resistant to piercing, your spirit guardians deal necrotic. Gift of Wrath makes your offensive spellcasting adaptive, which is a substantial late-game upgrade.
Gift of Guidance (Player's Guide 2) ● When you make an ability check with a skill, tool, or vehicle you are proficient with, you can use your WIS modifier instead of the normal ability modifier. This is not flashy, but it turns the Cleric into a much better investigator, medic, vehicle handler, tool user, and religious authority without asking you to buy INT or CHA. Knowledge, Nature, Trickery, and any campaign with lots of skill scenes like this more than a straight combat build does.
Gift of Sacred Power (Player's Guide 2) ● When you expend a spell slot to cast one of your domain spells, cast it as though the slot were one circle higher. This is excellent on domains with domain spells you already want to cast. Death, Nature, Tempest, Light, and Trickery all appreciate getting more spell for the same slot. If your domain spell list is mostly utility you cast outside combat, this drops a step, but the ceiling is real.
Epic Boon
Divine Herald ● Divine Intervention no longer requires a roll — your deity automatically intervenes whenever you use the feature. You can use it once per long rest instead of once per week (the post-success lockout is removed from the base feature). This is a strong, reliable capstone: once per long rest, you cast a one-action Divine or domain spell without spending a slot, preparing it first, or providing material components. At 20th level with 9th-circle spells available, that is an extraordinary toolkit. Even used conservatively — one free mass heal per day — this is excellent.
Divine Channeler (Player's Guide 2) ● If you start your turn with no Channel Divinity uses remaining, you can restore all expended uses, no action required, once per long rest. This is the Epic Boon for Clerics whose subclass Channel Divinity is the whole show: War, Hunt, Death, Tempest, Crafting, Knowledge, and Trickery all get meaningful combat or utility mileage from another full battery. It is less cinematic than Divine Herald, but it is very hard to argue with "more of the thing that wins encounters."
Ability Scores
Priority: WIS > CON > STR (Might) or DEX (Miracles) > everything else
WIS is your spellcasting ability and your number of prepared spells. Max it. CON keeps you alive and protects concentration. STR matters if you are running Manifest Might and want to hit things effectively in melee. DEX matters if you are running Manifest Miracles and relying on dexterity-based AC or secondary builds.
32-Point Buy Table
| Score | Cost |
|---|---|
| 8 | 0 |
| 9 | 1 |
| 10 | 2 |
| 11 | 3 |
| 12 | 4 |
| 13 | 5 |
| 14 | 7 |
| 15 | 9 |
| 16 | 11 |
| 17 | 13 |
| 18 | 16 |
Recommended Starting Array (Manifest Might):
- WIS: 16 (11 pts)
- CON: 14 (7 pts)
- STR: 14 (7 pts) — your melee attack stat
- CHA: 10 (2 pts) — saves and social
- INT: 10 (2 pts) — knowledge skills
- DEX: 10 (2 pts) — you are wearing heavy armor, DEX is irrelevant for AC
Total: 31 pts
Recommended Starting Array (Manifest Miracles):
- WIS: 16 (11 pts)
- CON: 14 (7 pts)
- DEX: 14 (7 pts) — if not wearing heavy armor
- CHA: 10 (2 pts)
- STR: 8 (0 pts)
- INT: 10 (2 pts)
Total: 29 pts (3 pts to spend freely)
Lineage & Heritage
Human ●: Flexible ability score bonuses pair well with WIS and CON requirements. No particular antisynergy with Cleric.
Dwarf ●: CON and WIS bonuses, advantage on saves against poison, and stonecunning are all directly useful. The thematic overlap between Dwarf and Divine is strong in virtually every fantasy setting. Mountain Dwarf or Hill Dwarf both work well with Manifest Might builds.
Elf ●: WIS synergy on some elf subtypes. Fey ancestry (advantage vs. charm, immunity to magical sleep) is good for concentration maintenance. High Elves with an Arcane cantrip can supplement the Manifest Miracles cantrip options.
Human (or any) ●: The strength of Cleric is that it does not require much from its lineage beyond WIS and CON synergy. Almost any lineage works.
Heritage ●: Supplicant Heritage is thematically perfect — it typically provides religious knowledge and divine skill access. Stone Heritage pairs with the dwarven Cleric archetype. Anointed Heritage grants additional divine connection and is an excellent pick for any Cleric concept.
Piney (The Old Margreve) ●: Living Wood gives a valuable AC reaction, and the sunlight hit-die recovery helps a support caster stretch long adventuring days.
Bearfolk (The Old Margreve) ●: Strongest on Manifest Might and Hunt Domain. The physical package supports armor and weapon play better than a back-line Miracles cleric.
Alseid (The Old Margreve) ●: Speed, darkvision, stealth, and advantage against exhaustion and frightened all help a wilderness cleric, though Quadruped makes climbing awkward.
Erina (The Old Margreve) ●: Darkvision, burrowing, and poison resilience are useful, but the package is more scout-survivor than divine caster.
Forest Bastion Heritage (The Old Margreve) ●: Animal Handling or Nature, herbalist or trapper tools, and a CHA reroll in settlements. Excellent for Hunt Domain and wilderness priests.
Old Ways Heritage (The Old Margreve) ●: Nature, Survival, druidcraft, and limited communication with Beasts and Plants. This is the cleanest thematic fit for a forest cleric.
Moonlit Heritage (The Old Margreve) ●: Light, fear resistance, and easier navigation in darkness. Good on any cleric who expects night travel or horror encounters.
Hiveheim Heritage (The Old Margreve) ●: Strong wilderness skills, but its best bonuses depend heavily on terrain type.
Delver Heritage (The Old Margreve) ●: Burrow speed and Acrobatics or Persuasion are playable, but most clerics get more from Old Ways or Forest Bastion.
Martial Law (Book of Blades) ●: Disciplined military upbringing fits War Domain and Manifest Might better than almost any non-core heritage. The light armor and weapon proficiencies are partly redundant for many Clerics, but Small Unit Tactics gives you bonus-action Help PB times per long rest, which is real party support.
Privileged (Book of Blades) ●: Better than it looks for court priests, inquisitors, and temple diplomats. A free skill proficiency patches whatever your background missed, and advantage on contested Deception, Insight, or Persuasion checks can matter in exactly the social scenes where Clerics often become the moral authority of the party.
Horse Lord (Book of Blades) ●: Mostly a Hunt or War Cleric pick for mounted campaigns. Expert Trainer makes one horse tougher after a long rest, but this does not help a normal dungeon Cleric much unless your GM actually supports mounts as recurring battlefield assets. Pair with the Book of Blades mounted support guide if you go this route.
Skills
Clerics choose two from: History, Insight, Medicine, Persuasion, and Religion.
Religion (INT) ●: The Cleric's defining knowledge skill. You will be asked Religion checks constantly — identify monsters, understand divine rituals, recognize cursed items. If you do not take it, your players will rightfully mock you.
Insight (WIS) ●: WIS-based, scales with your primary stat. Reading NPCs in social encounters is among the most valuable things a face-adjacent class can do.
Persuasion (CHA) ●: Important for social encounters if your party lacks a dedicated face character. You may not have high CHA, but proficiency helps.
History (INT) ●: Overlaps with Religion thematically. In lore-heavy campaigns, both skills pay dividends.
Medicine (WIS) ●: You have healing spells that are strictly better than the Medicine skill for actual healing. Take Medicine only if your GM uses extensive field medicine rules, or take it as a flavor-pick for a healer archetype.
Backgrounds
Adherent ●: The dedicated religious background. Typically grants Religion and Insight proficiencies (the two best Cleric skills), a holy symbol, and thematic narrative hooks. Hard to justify not taking this as a Cleric.
Scholar ●: History and another knowledge skill. Works well for a Life or Light Cleric who focuses on arcane-divine knowledge crossover.
Soldier ●: Athletics and Intimidation with martial flavor. Pairs well with Manifest Might War Domain Clerics who want to be credible melee threats.
Forest Dweller (The Old Margreve) ●: Survival plus Animal Handling, Nature, or Stealth, Sylvan, and herbalist or trapper-style tools. Best on Hunt Domain, but good for any cleric in a Margreve campaign.
Courtier ●: Social skills and language. Situationally useful but loses the narrative coherence of the Adherent background for a divine character.
Judicial Champion (Book of Blades) ●: The best Book of Blades background for a Cleric who wants to feel like a divine judge, battlefield magistrate, or holy executioner. The talent access is the headline: Combat Casting is elite on any Cleric, Scrutinous supports Insight-heavy interrogation play, and Weapon Option Specialist gives War or Hunt a weapon-tech path.
Grave Keeper (Book of Blades) ●: A near-perfect Life, Light, or undead-hunting Cleric background. Focus (Death), Field Medic, and Combat Conditioning all point toward the practical priest who has seen too many bodies and knows exactly what death looks like.
Ascetic (Book of Blades) ●: Medicine, Nature, Religion, Survival, herbalist tools, and talent access like Focus (Death), Physical Fortitude, and Hard Target. This is the austere hermit-saint version of Cleric: less institutional than Adherent, more survivalist, and excellent for wilderness or plague arcs.
Avatar (Book of Blades) ●: Strong divine-flavor package for a chosen vessel, doom prophet, or war saint. Vanguard and Touch of Luck are both useful party-facing picks, while Psycanist is more niche unless your concept leans into supernatural mental force.
Conscript (Book of Blades) ●: The War Cleric background when Soldier is too clean and heroic. Focus (War) is the Cleric-relevant prize, with Armor Training and Ranged Weapon Mastery helping only specific builds. Best for a conscripted battlefield priest, shield chaplain, or Hunt Cleric who learned religion in the mud.
Battle Academician (Book of Blades) ●: Strong for tactical War or Hunt Clerics who care about planning, command, and battlefield knowledge. History, Insight, Investigation, and Survival are all Cleric-adjacent, and Aware, Comrade, or Vanguard can support a party-coordinator build.
Prodigal (Book of Blades) ●: Playable for a fallen noble, runaway temple scion, or intrigue Cleric, but not mechanically central. Mental Fortitude is the strongest hook; Covert is mostly for stealth or deception campaigns.
Gravedigger (Player's Guide 2) ●: The cleanest Death Domain origin. It supports graveyard duty, corpse lore, and the practical side of death work without importing off-brand necromancer baggage. Also good for Life Clerics who have buried enough people to take healing personally.
Healer (Player's Guide 2) ●: Excellent on Life, Death, and Nature. The concept is simple: you are the person everyone calls before the priest, after the priest, and sometimes instead of the priest. Field medicine plus Divine magic is not subtle, but neither is surviving.
Chronicler (Player's Guide 2) ●: Best on Knowledge, Guidance-heavy, or investigation Clerics. Pair it with Gift of Guidance or Spell Recall if you want the "I wrote that down somewhere" build to become a real mechanical plan.
Alchemist (Player's Guide 2) ●: Good for Nature, Light, or Crafting Clerics in campaigns that care about tools, reagents, acids, medicines, or weird little bottles that absolutely should not be opened in town.
Talents
Clerics gain from the Magic talents list.
Mental Fortitude ●: Resistance or immunity to being charmed or frightened, depending on the talent version. Concentration protection is the secondary benefit. Clerics maintaining concentration on spirit guardians or bless cannot afford to lose it to a charm effect. This is the single best Magic talent for Clerics.
Combat Casting ●: The real concentration talent for ToV Clerics. It protects concentration, improves casting while threatened, and can turn opportunity attacks into cantrips. Judicial Champion (Book of Blades) is now one of the cleanest origin paths into this exact style.
Aware ●: Initiative rolls of 9 or lower treated as 10, immune to surprise while conscious. A Cleric who acts before the enemy means bless goes up before the first enemy attack roll. This applies to all builds.
Touch of Luck ●: Better Luck generation and reset control. Safety net for a support character who needs to stay alive.
Physical Fortitude ●: Spend a hit die to reroll a failed STR or CON save. Advantage against knockdown, pulling, and pushing. Most relevant on front-line Clerics who take physical abuse; backline healers can skip it.
Focus (War) (Book of Blades access) ●: Conscript (Book of Blades) can point a Cleric toward Focus (War). This is best on War Clerics, front-line Manifest Might Clerics, and party protectors who can react when an ally gets hit. It is not mandatory, but it finally gives the battle-priest concept a source-labeled background path.
Focus (Death) (Book of Blades access) ●: Grave Keeper (Book of Blades) and Ascetic (Book of Blades) make this easy to justify. Mechanically, it is better for necrotic, death-facing, and front-line Clerics than for generic radiant support builds. The flavor fit is excellent for grave priests and undead campaign specialists.
Tactical Planning (Book of Blades, War or Hunt) ●: War and Hunt Clerics can access Martial talents, and this is the safest new Book of Blades martial pick for a wise party planner. It rewards preparation without asking your Cleric to invest in CHA-based save DCs.
Battle Tactician (Book of Blades, War or Hunt) ●: Powerful on a commander build, but many Clerics dump CHA. Take it when your War Cleric is intentionally a battlefield leader with enough CHA to make the tactics stick; skip it on the standard WIS/CON/STR chassis.
Weapon Option Specialist (Book of Blades, War or Hunt) ●: Worth considering only if your table uses weapon options often and your Cleric actually attacks with weapons. War gets the most value. Hunt can use it for ranged weapon play. Life and Light usually do not care.
War Dancer (Book of Blades, Hunt niche) ●: A DEX skirmisher talent, not a default Cleric talent. It can work on a light-armored Hunt Cleric, but heavy armor Manifest Might builds should leave it alone.
Teleporting Harrier (The Old Margreve) ●: A Magic talent clerics can technically access, but it needs a teleport source before it does anything. Better for niche spell-attack builds than standard clerics.
Stunning Sniper (The Old Margreve, Hunt or War Martial talent) ●: Hunt Domain gains a martial ranged weapon and can choose Martial talents, making this a real ranged-control option. War can use it too, but Hunt wants it more.
Relentless Hunter (The Old Margreve, Forest Dweller or Technical talent) ●: Tracking bonuses, longer pursuit days, and a small opening damage rider. This is perfectly aligned with Hunt Domain and useful in wilderness campaigns if you can access it through background or another feature.
Forest Denizen (The Old Margreve, Forest Dweller or Technical talent) ●: Climb, swim, poison, plant, grapple, and restraint utility. Good in the Margreve, narrow outside forest-heavy campaigns.
Friend of the Forest (The Old Margreve, Technical talent) ●: Doubled Animal Handling, druidcraft, and defense against weaker Beasts or Animal-tag creatures. Flavorful for Old Ways clerics if you can access Technical talents, but not a core optimization pick.
Friend of the Fey (The Old Margreve, Technical talent) ●: Sylvan and defensive advantage against charm or frighten are useful, but the social feature leans CHA and Fey-specific.
Spell Recall (Player's Guide 2) ●: Prepared spellcasters love having one more way to recover spell value. Clerics already win by having the right spell ready; Spell Recall helps when the right spell had to be spent earlier because the dungeon refused to be polite.
Guidance Adept (Player's Guide 2) ●: Strong for Knowledge, Trickery, Chronicler, and Gift of Guidance builds. It is less exciting in pure combat, but it makes the Cleric better at the scenes between fights where campaigns are actually won.
Resistance Adept (Player's Guide 2) ●: Good defensive tech if your party keeps failing the saves that matter. Clerics are already the "please do not die" class; this makes the job description more official.
Thunder Resonator (Player's Guide 2) ●: A Tempest Domain special. Take it when your spell list and domain plan are actually leaning into thunder; skip it on a generic Life Cleric unless you are trying to make the sanctuary bell everybody's problem.
Cleric Talent Shortlist with Book of Blades
| Cleric concept | Best Book of Blades-linked picks | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Concentration priest | Combat Casting via Judicial Champion (Book of Blades) | Keeps bless, spirit guardians, and other key spells online. |
| War priest | Focus (War), Tactical Planning | Adds battlefield reaction value and rewards planning before combat starts. |
| Grave priest | Focus (Death), Field Medic | Supports death, burial, anti-undead, and practical healer themes. |
| Divine tactician | Tactical Planning, Battle Tactician | Best on War or Hunt because they can select Martial talents. |
| Mounted Hunt or War | Horse Lord, Fell Rider | Only worth building around if mounts are reliable in your campaign structure. |
Spells
For Cleric spell rankings, Divine spell picks, Hunt Domain spell notes, Old Margreve additions, Labyrinth Worldbook spells, and spell hot takes, use the Best Cleric Spells guide.
Player's Guide 2 adds Divine options worth checking before you lock a daily preparation list: Invigorate, Luck Bait, Guiding Counsel, Shadow Guardians, Aura of Mercy, Aura of Order, Righteous Fervor, Aura of Quietus, and Infernal Dominion. The short version: PG2 gives Clerics more auras, more tactical buffs, and more ways to make enemies regret forming a line.
Labyrinth Worldbook matters because it expands the Divine list in directions Clerics actually use: door control, void fear, anti-melee defense, smite-style weapon turns, necromantic terrain, corpse knowledge, Wisdom-save protection, and high-circle travel. Do not treat those spells as automatic replacements for bless, healing word, spirit guardians, or restoration magic. Treat them as prep tools for the days when you know the dungeon, enemy type, or problem shape.
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Life Domain ●
The classic healer. Life Domain is the most efficient healing machine in ToV, and it is so good at that specific job that it justifies picking even in combat-heavy campaigns.
Channel Divinity: Preserve Life (3rd) ● As an action, distribute hit points equal to 5 × your cleric level among chosen creatures within 30 feet, up to each creature's half-maximum HP. It cannot heal Undead or Constructs. At 3rd level, that is 15 HP distributed among any combination of allies. At 15th level, it is 75 HP. This does not require a spell slot and refills on short rests. It is the best burst-heal in the game for low-HP allies (which is exactly when healing matters) because it caps at half-max HP and thus never wastes throughput. Use it when your party is hurt but not at single-digit HP.
Disciple of Life (3rd) ● Your Divine spells of 1st circle or higher that restore hit points restore an additional 2 + spell circle HP. Cure wounds at 1st circle heals 1d8 + WIS mod + 3. Mass healing word heals an extra 2 HP to every target. At 3rd circle it is an extra 5 HP per heal. Over the course of a campaign, Disciple of Life adds enormous healing efficiency without costing extra spell slots.
Life Domain Spells (3rd) ● These are prepared at all times and do not count against your preparation total. For the full Life list and spell-by-spell ratings, use the Best Cleric Spells guide.
Blessed Healer (7th) ● When you cast a 1st+ circle healing spell on another creature, you regain HP equal to 2 + the spell's circle. Casting mass healing word at 3rd circle heals every ally and restores 5 HP to you automatically. This keeps you in the fight without spending additional resources. It is a minor amount of HP per cast but adds up significantly over a long encounter.
Greater Preservation (11th) ● Preserve Life now affects creatures within 60 feet, and one target of your choice can also be cured of a disease, freed from blindness/deafness/paralysis/poison, or have all poisons neutralized. This is your 11th-level Channel Divinity, which by this point you have 3 uses per rest. One use per encounter lets you both heal the party and remove a nasty condition simultaneously. The 60-foot range means you can Preserve Life from behind the party safely.
Perfect Healing (15th) ● All HP from Divine healing spells is calculated at maximum — no dice rolling. Cure wounds always heals 8 + WIS modifier. Mass cure wounds at 5th circle always heals 30 + WIS modifier. Every healing spell you cast, at any circle, is now deterministic maximum output. This is an extraordinary feature: your 9th-circle mass heal will restore the maximum possible hit points to every target without variance. Life Domain at 15th level is the most reliable healing engine in ToV.
Light Domain ●
Radiant destruction and battlefield control through the power of divine light. Light Domain is the offensive Cleric, trading Life's healing output for consistent damage, reaction attacks, and area denial.
Channel Divinity: Searing Radiance (3rd) ● As an action, channel radiant damage through every magical light source you have created on the same plane. Roll 2× PB d8s (4d8 at 3rd level, 8d8 at 11th). Each hostile creature in bright light from your sources makes a CON save or takes full radiant damage; half on success. Aberrations and Undead have disadvantage on the save. This requires setup — you need magical light sources positioned correctly — but in prepared encounters, a 4th-level Searing Radiance doing 8d8 radiant damage to a room full of undead is extraordinary. It rewards players who use light spells before the battle begins.
Imbue Light (3rd) ● You learn light and dancing lights cantrips for free (not counting against your cantrip total), and dancing lights no longer requires concentration. This removes the concentration cost from your primary Searing Radiance setup tool, which is a significant upgrade. Dancing lights now runs indefinitely without competing with spirit guardians or bless for your concentration slot.
Light Domain Spells (3rd) ● These are prepared at all times and do not count against your preparation total. For the full Light list and spell-by-spell ratings, use the Best Cleric Spells guide.
Overwhelming Flash (3rd) ● When a creature within 10 feet makes an attack roll, use your reaction to impose a penalty equal to your WIS modifier. If the attack still hits, the attacker is blinded until end of its turn. PB uses per long rest. This is a strong defensive reaction on a class that typically does not have many reaction options. Using it on a boss attack against a downed ally or low-HP character can be encounter-saving. The blinded condition on a hit means even successful attacks are punished.
Radiant Spellcasting (7th) ● Divine cantrips that deal damage now deal an additional 1d8 radiant damage. Sacred flame becomes 2d8 radiant (roughly a d8 + d8). The weapon-holding synergy (WIS modifier bonus radiant damage on first hit per turn while holding a light-enchanted weapon) is a secondary effect that rewards melee-adjacent Light Clerics but is irrelevant for back-line casters.
Lux Malediction (11th) ● Searing Radiance makes all light sources you created into magical sunlight for 1 minute. Separately, when you use Overwhelming Flash, you can also curse the creature in one of four ways: preventing HP regain, dealing immediate radiant damage equal to your cleric level, imposing a -10 penalty to Perception, or preventing the creature from benefiting from invisibility for 1 minute. This takes a reaction you were already spending and adds a debuff on top. The -10 Perception curse against a stealth-based creature or the HP regain prevention against a self-healing boss are both strong applications.
Luminous Shroud (15th) ● While you are in bright light: advantage on all saves, immunity to charm and fright, and immunity to radiant damage or resistance to necrotic (your choice). In a Light Domain campaign where you are generating magical light as a regular part of play, being in your own bright light is easy to ensure. Advantage on all saves is among the best defensive features in the game. Combine this with Mental Fortitude and your concentration is essentially unbreakable.
War Domain ●
The combat cleric. War Domain makes you a genuine melee threat while retaining full Cleric spellcasting. It does not match a Fighter's raw attack output, but the combination of martial competence, extra attacks, and divine magic makes War Domain one of the most self-sufficient builds in the game.
Book of Blades helps War Domain more than any other Cleric subclass because War can actually use the martial side of the book. Conscript (Book of Blades), Martial Law (Book of Blades), Judicial Champion (Book of Blades), Focus (War), Tactical Planning, and Weapon Option Specialist all point in the same direction: a Cleric who fights, commands, and protects instead of just standing behind the party with healing word.
Channel Divinity: Mark of Triumph (3rd) ● As a bonus action, mark one creature within 60 feet. Until the start of your next turn, all attackers have advantage on the first attack against that marked creature. This is a powerful offensive debuff that requires no resources beyond a Channel Divinity use. Marking the biggest threat in the encounter and then having your Fighter, Ranger, and Barbarian each get one advantage attack on their turn is a meaningful DPR increase for the party.
Disciple of War (3rd) ● Once per turn, after hitting with an attack as part of the Attack action, you can make an additional weapon attack. PB uses per short or long rest, not per long rest only. At 3rd level with PB +2, you get two additional attacks per short rest total — that is a significant martial economy addition. At 11th level with PB +4, you have four additional attacks available per short rest, refilled every rest. War Domain Clerics with Manifest Might and heavy armor are threatening melee combatants by 5th level.
Expanded Talent List (3rd) ● Access to Magic or Martial talents on Improvements. Martial talents open Combat Conditioning, Heavy Weapon Mastery, or weapon-specific options that a melee Cleric can actually use. Book of Blades expands the shortlist with Tactical Planning, Battle Tactician, and Weapon Option Specialist. This is the talent flexibility that makes War Domain feel like a true hybrid rather than a Cleric who occasionally hits things.
War Domain Spells (3rd) ● These are prepared at all times and do not count against your preparation total. For the full War list and spell-by-spell ratings, use the Best Cleric Spells guide.
Blessed Warrior (7th) ● Reroll any 1s on damage dice for weapon and spell attacks. You must take the new result. This is a modest but consistent damage boost that applies to every attack roll you make, strongest on War Clerics with Manifest Might who are making weapon attacks regularly.
Greater Triumph (11th) ● Mark of Triumph now marks up to PB creatures simultaneously, and when a marked creature drops to 0 HP, you can use a reaction to transfer the mark to a new target within 60 feet. Multiple targets with advantage on attacks against them, all from a single Channel Divinity use with a perpetual-mark feature that moves automatically on kills. This turns Mark of Triumph from a single-target tool into battlefield control.
Holy Strike (15th) ● Once per turn, when you hit with a weapon or spell attack made with a Divine spell, you can treat that hit as a critical hit. The feature's wording matters: it is not a blanket critical hit for every ordinary weapon swing. Spirit guardians does not use attack rolls, so it cannot trigger Holy Strike. Pair the feature with a qualifying Divine attack rather than assuming Disciple of War turns any successful melee hit into a critical.
Hunt Domain (The Old Margreve) ●
The divine hunter. Hunt Domain is not as broadly dominant as Life, Light, or War, but it is very good when the campaign cares about wilderness travel, tracking, ranged attacks, and finishing a marked quarry.
Book of Blades adds a second angle to Hunt: mounted pursuit. Horse Lord (Book of Blades), Fell Rider (Book of Blades), Tactical Planning, and Conscript (Book of Blades) are all reasonable if your campaign has open terrain, chase scenes, and recurring quarry targets. In cramped dungeons, treat the mounted package as flavor, not optimization.
Channel Divinity: Hunter's Prowess (3rd, The Old Margreve) ● As a bonus action, you gain advantage on weapon and spell attack rolls until the start of your next turn, and hits deal extra damage equal to your PB. This works with both weapon attacks and spell attacks, so it is much more flexible than it first looks.
Bonus Proficiencies (3rd, The Old Margreve) ● Survival proficiency and one martial ranged weapon. The ranged weapon matters because several Hunt spells and talents reward ranged attack play.
Expanded Talent List (3rd, The Old Margreve) ● You can choose Magic or Martial talents. This is a real build-defining feature for ranged Hunt clerics, especially with Stunning Sniper or other weapon talents. Book of Blades adds Tactical Planning as the cleanest general pick, Weapon Option Specialist if your table uses weapon options, and War Dancer only for light, mobile DEX builds.
Hunt Domain Spells (3rd, The Old Margreve) ● These are prepared at all times and do not count against your preparation total. For the full Hunt list, Old Margreve spell notes, and spell-by-spell ratings, use the Best Cleric Spells guide.
Relentless Hunter (7th, The Old Margreve) ● When a friendly creature is affected by a Divine spell you cast, nonmagical difficult terrain does not cost it extra movement until the start of your next turn or until the spell ends. This turns bless, cure wounds, and other Divine spells into movement support in forests, snow, mud, and other rough terrain.
Shared Prowess (11th, The Old Margreve) ● Hunter's Prowess can affect you and PB friendly creatures within 30 feet. Everyone affected adds PB damage when they hit with an attack. This turns your Channel Divinity from a selfish damage turn into a party burst round.
Deadly Stalker (15th, The Old Margreve) ● Choose a creature you can see within 120 feet. For 24 hours, you have advantage to track and detect it. Once it is below half HP, your weapon and spell attacks against it deal extra damage equal to half your cleric level, and you crit on 19-20. This is narrow but extremely strong against boss targets and recurring villains.
Death Domain (Player's Guide 2) ●
The death priest, but not the cartoon version who keeps shouting about skulls. Death Domain is a doom-marker, emergency rescuer, and anti-recovery specialist. It is especially good in campaigns with dangerous single targets, necrotic themes, recurring villains, and allies who keep discovering the floor at high speed.
Channel Divinity: Foresee Doom (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● As an action, curse one creature within 30 feet for 1 minute. The first attack roll against that creature each turn has advantage, and the target becomes vulnerable to necrotic damage you deal. This is a serious boss setup tool. It helps the whole party land the opening hit each turn while giving your own necrotic package teeth.
Death's Sentinel (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● When you cast a healing spell on a creature at 0 HP, the spell restores the maximum possible hit points. You can also stabilize with Medicine as a bonus action, and a successful stabilization brings the target back conscious with HP equal to your Cleric level. This is grim, practical, and extremely useful. The Death Cleric is not just sending people to the door; they are also keeping it locked.
Death Domain Spells (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● Bane, cure wounds, gentle repose, ray of enfeeblement, revivify, speak with dead, blight, death ward, antilife shell, and mass cure wounds are always prepared. This is a strong mix of debuff, rescue, corpse utility, and late defensive control.
Last Rites (7th, Player's Guide 2) ● You deal extra necrotic or radiant damage to creatures below half HP, your Foresee Doom target cannot regain HP, and you can cast speak with dead as an action without spending a slot or components. The HP lock is the prize. Healing bosses, regenerators, and "not dead yet" villains hate this feature, which is how you know it is doing its job.
Soul Tether (11th, Player's Guide 2) ● As a reaction, when a creature within 30 feet would be reduced to 0 HP or slain outright, it remains conscious with HP equal to half your Cleric level. WIS modifier uses per long rest, same creature only once per long rest. This is one of the better "no, actually" buttons Cleric gets. It saves actions, preserves concentration, and ruins a monster's big dramatic moment.
Envoy of the End (15th, Player's Guide 2) ● While below half HP, you are immune to charmed and frightened and have advantage on saves. A creature killed while under your Foresee Doom cannot return to life except by wish or Divine Intervention. The resurrection lock is campaign-dependent, but against recurring villains it is deliciously final.
Nature Domain (Player's Guide 2) ●
The wilderness protector. Nature Domain is not a Druid replacement; it is a Cleric who uses Divine magic to defend the living world, protect Beasts and Plants, and punish elemental damage. It shines when the campaign includes travel, hostile environments, summoned creatures, wilderness allies, or elemental threats.
Apostle of Nature (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● Gain two proficiencies from Animal Handling, Nature, Survival, herbalist tools, land vehicles, or water vehicles, and learn one Primordial cantrip as a Cleric cantrip. The cantrip matters most: you can pick up a nature or elemental tool without multiclassing.
Channel Divinity: Nature's Vigor (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● As an action, give one creature within 30 feet long-duration temporary HP equal to 5 + Cleric level. While those temporary HP last, the target gains a WIS-based bonus to STR, DEX, and CON checks and saves. Beasts and Plants get double temporary HP and fear protection. This is excellent pre-fight support for an animal ally, summon, mount, or frontliner.
Consume Wrath (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● As a reaction, reduce acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, or thunder damage for yourself and nearby allies by 1d10 + Cleric level. If the damage to you is reduced to 0, you regain an expended 1st-circle slot. The slot refund is cute; the real value is party-wide elemental mitigation on a short-rest class resource chassis.
Nature Domain Spells (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● Entangle, moonbeam, speak with animals, spike growth, conjure animals, plant growth, blight, conjure woodland beings, contagion, and tree stride are always prepared. This list is extremely Druid-coded, which is the point. If your party lacks a Druid, Nature Domain covers a surprising amount of that utility.
Wield Wrath (7th, Player's Guide 2) ● Your cantrips and weapon attacks deal extra WIS modifier damage, choosing acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, or thunder each time. Flexible damage type selection is quietly strong. It is not flashy, but it means your sacred stick, storm cantrip, or borrowed Primordial trick can stay relevant.
Nature's Protection (11th, Player's Guide 2) ● Nature's Vigor can target an extra Beast or Plant, and each target can gain AC, resistance, or doubled speed. This is where the subclass becomes a real animal-and-plant commander. Pair it with summons, mounts, or animal allies when the campaign supports them.
Guide the Untamed (15th, Player's Guide 2) ● Beasts, Elementals, Fey, Plants, and low-INT Animal-tag creatures near you can be charmed for 8 hours and commanded. If the effect lasts its full duration, they can remain nonhostile for much longer unless damaged. This can be absurd in a wilderness sandbox and nearly blank in a dungeon full of constructs. Rate it by campaign, not by dreams.
Tempest Domain (Player's Guide 2) ●
The storm priest. Tempest Domain is the PG2 Cleric for players who want lightning, thunder, forced movement, flight, and damage spikes without giving up the Divine chassis. It is more aggressive than Life, more direct than Knowledge, and considerably louder than Trickery, which is admittedly a low bar.
Channel Divinity: Storm's Fury (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● Maximize lightning or thunder damage dice. Alternatively, when hit by a melee weapon attack, add lightning or thunder damage equal to the triggering attack's damage. This is exactly as good as it sounds. Maxed damage turns the right spell into a statement, and the melee retaliation mode punishes enemies for trying to solve the Cleric problem with a sword.
Tempest's Herald (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● Manifest Might Tempest Clerics in heavy armor resist lightning and can deal lightning or thunder instead of their usual divine weapon energy. Manifest Miracles Tempest Clerics can change Cleric cantrip damage to lightning or thunder, always prepare inflict wounds, and can convert it to lightning or thunder. The subclass directly rewards both Manifestation paths, which is clean design.
Tempest Domain Spells (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● Fog cloud, gust of wind, shatter, thunderwave, call lightning, lightning bolt, control water, ice storm, cone of cold, and conjure elemental are always prepared. Gift of Sacred Power loves this list. So does any player who wants the weather report to read "initiative."
Thunderclap (7th, Player's Guide 2) ● When you deal lightning or thunder damage, choose a rider: concentration save disadvantage, deafened and no reactions, or a 10-foot push. This is control stapled onto damage you already wanted to deal. The no-reactions mode is particularly useful when your party needs to move without being carved up.
Cyclonic Stride (11th, Player's Guide 2) ● Gain a fly speed equal to walking speed and hover, as long as you have not been cut off from the sky for a full day. At-will flight plus hover on a full Cleric is excellent. The "needs sky eventually" clause is flavorfully fair and mechanically easy to manage unless your whole campaign lives underground.
Storm's Shelter (15th, Player's Guide 2) ● As an action, gain temporary HP equal to twice your Cleric level and immunity to lightning and thunder while those HP remain. Hostile creatures starting nearby must save or take lightning damage, with metal armor making that save worse. This is a strong defensive/offensive storm shell for the moment when the enemy finally reaches you and discovers the forecast was personal.
Crafting Domain (Labyrinth Worldbook) ●
The divine artisan. Crafting Domain is for Clerics who want their faith expressed through tools, objects, constructs, and practical invention instead of pure radiant punishment. It is strongest in campaigns where objects, tool checks, dungeon fixtures, downtime, and constructed allies matter.
Channel Divinity: Animate Item (3rd, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● As an action, animate one Large or smaller nonmagical item within 60 feet for 1 hour. It becomes a Construct ally with scaling HP, AC 16, a flying hover speed when appropriate, force-damage Slam attacks, and a self-destruct reaction when damage would drop it to 0 HP. The best part is action economy: it obeys your verbal commands without costing your action. That gives Crafting Clerics a short-rest companion tool that can attack, block space, scout awkward angles, trigger pressure plates, or make enemies waste attacks.
Tools of Divinity (3rd, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● You gain proficiency with three tools, double your PB with them, and can use a proficient tool or an item from its kit as your spellcasting focus. This is campaign-dependent, but in a Labyrinth-style game full of mechanisms, repairs, locks, relics, and strange devices, it gives the Cleric a real exploration identity.
Crafting Domain Spells (3rd, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● The list is very on-theme: fling, heat metal, identify, shatter, column of cogs, tiny hut, fabricate, stone shape, animate objects, and create construct. The rating depends heavily on whether your GM rewards object manipulation and construction magic. If they do, this list is excellent.
Reconfigure (7th, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● Your 1st-circle-or-higher Divine spells deal double damage to objects and structures, and your Divine healing spells can target objects and Constructs even when they normally could not. This is niche in a normal monster-fight campaign and outstanding when the adventure includes gates, machines, fortifications, vehicles, constructs, or magical architecture.
Superior Servant (11th, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● Your animated item becomes a delivery point for Divine touch spells within 120 feet, can receive Divine self-range spells instead of you, and gives nearby creatures advantage on tool checks. This is the level where Crafting Domain stops being cute and starts becoming a serious tactical platform.
Rapid Alteration (15th, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● PB times per long rest, use a reaction to reduce bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage by your Cleric level, or increase a weapon attack's bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage by your Cleric level. Flat level-based damage manipulation is clean, reliable, and relevant in almost every fight.
Knowledge Domain (Labyrinth Worldbook) ●
The investigator priest. Knowledge Domain is the Cleric for mystery campaigns, planar politics, ancient temples, coded prophecies, monster research, and parties that lack a true Intelligence skill specialist. It is not flashy in the same way Light or War is flashy, but it wins campaigns where information is power.
Brilliance of Faith (3rd, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● Gain proficiency in three of Arcana, History, Nature, and Religion, and double your PB with those skills. This immediately makes you one of the best lore characters in the party without sacrificing WIS, CON, or core Cleric durability.
Channel Divinity: Boundless Knowledge (3rd, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● As an action, gain proficiency with one skill or tool for 1 hour, and treat d20 rolls of 5 or lower as a 5 for checks with it. This is not as explosive as a combat Channel Divinity, but it is exactly what you want before a heist, negotiation, investigation scene, or dangerous tool check.
Knowledge Domain Spells (3rd, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● Augury, detect evil and good, identify, suggestion, clairvoyance, tongues, arcane eye, phantasmal killer, legend lore, and telepathic bond make this one of the cleanest information-control lists Cleric gets. It is not a damage list. It is a problem-solving list.
Keen Warfare (7th, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● Your harmless cantrips create an extra harmless effect, and you add your WIS modifier to damage from cantrips you cast or melee weapon attacks you make. The damage rider is the real optimization hook: Knowledge Clerics can contribute steady cantrip or weapon damage while still being the party's lore engine.
Channel Divinity: Divine Sight (11th, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● Gain truesight out to 60 feet for 1 minute, then choose an additional insight mode: read emotions and hostility, improve Perception reliability, or read writing and gain advantage on deciphering codes. Truesight on a Cleric Channel Divinity is excellent, especially in illusion, shapeshifter, fiend, fey, or hidden-door campaigns.
Timeless Understanding (15th, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● Your Divine Intervention can automatically reveal deep information about a creature, location, or object you have seen. Creature reads can expose HP, defenses, active magic, languages, recent movement, and grant a 1-hour tactical edge. Location and object reads can answer campaign-defining questions. This is one of the strongest noncombat capstones in the class.
Trickery Domain (Labyrinth Worldbook) ●
The infiltrator priest. Trickery Domain is for players who want a Cleric that lies, vanishes, misdirects, manipulates rooms, and still casts full Divine magic. The big mechanical win is that it lets WIS do social and stealth-adjacent work, so you do not have to become a mediocre CHA Cleric to play the divine schemer.
Channel Divinity: Trickster's Feint (3rd, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● When you roll initiative, you can make yourself and chosen nearby creatures invisible until the end of their next turn or until they attack or cast a spell. They also make no noise while moving. This is an excellent opener for ambushes, repositioning, rescue turns, and avoiding the first wave of enemy focus fire.
Divine Guile (3rd, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● PB times per long rest, use WIS instead of CHA for Deception, Intimidation, or Persuasion, or add WIS to Sleight of Hand or Stealth. This is the feature that makes the subclass work. Trickery Clerics can be social manipulators without undermining their spellcasting stat.
Duplicitous Spellcraft (3rd, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● You learn minor illusion for free, and illusions you create can deliver touch-range spells while you can see them. This is a huge positional upgrade for a Cleric spell list that often wants safe touch delivery but does not always want the Cleric standing next to the target.
Trickery Domain Spells (3rd, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● Detect thoughts, disguise self, pass without trace, silent image, gaseous form, major image, confusion, greater invisibility, animate objects, and mislead give you one of the most rogue-like Cleric lists available. It is outstanding for stealth, deception, and unconventional problem solving.
Beguiling Illusions (7th, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● When you create an illusion, you and your allies gain advantage on attack rolls against creatures within 5 feet of it until the end of your next turn, and creatures near the illusion have disadvantage on WIS (Perception) checks to notice anything else. This turns illusion placement into team advantage and misdirection.
Greater Ruse (11th, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● Use Trickster's Feint as a reaction when you or a nearby creature would be seen. The invisibility no longer ends early when the target attacks or casts, speed doubles, spellcasting can drop verbal components, and the target gains resistance to nonmagical damage. This is absurdly good for infiltration and still valuable in combat.
Splitting Image (15th, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● You can cast invisibility without a spell slot or components. When you cast it on another creature, a fully convincing illusory duplicate appears with them and can be moved as a bonus action. It is more utility than raw damage, but at this level, slotless invisibility plus high-quality misdirection is exactly what Trickery wants.
Weapons
Clerics start with proficiency in simple weapons. Manifest Might adds one martial weapon.
Mace ●: Standard 1d6 bludgeoning, simple weapon. Fine early on. Replace with a martial weapon via Manifest Might as soon as practical.
Warhammer ● (Manifest Might): 1d8 bludgeoning, versatile (1d10 two-handed). The War Domain Cleric's weapon of choice alongside a shield. You will use this from 1st level to 20th.
Quarterstaff ●: Versatile simple weapon. Two-handed 1d8 damage without requiring martial proficiency. Usable by all Clerics.
Shield ● (Manifest Might or standard proficiency): All Clerics are proficient with shields. +2 AC is significant in melee. Any Manifest Might or War Domain Cleric should carry one at all times.
Armor
Chain Mail (AC 16) ● (default): If you have heavy armor proficiency (Manifest Might), chain mail is your starting heavy armor. Available in starting equipment.
Plate (AC 18) ● (Manifest Might, expensive): The endgame armor for any Manifest Might Cleric. 1,500 gp is not trivially available at 1st level, but once acquired, plate + shield gives AC 20 — among the best defensive profiles of any class.
Scale Mail (AC 14) ● (medium armor, all Clerics): Good early armor when heavy armor is unavailable or expensive. All Clerics are proficient with medium armor.
Half Plate (AC 15) ● (medium armor, all Clerics): Upgrade from scale mail, no STR requirement. With shield, AC 17 is solid for a medium-armor build.
Magic Items
Firebird Feather (The Old Margreve) ●: Light, extreme-cold protection, and a focus option for clerics who worship nature deities. The Turn the Profane penalty for Undead makes it especially attractive in undead-heavy Margreve play.
Rowan Staff (The Old Margreve) ●: Clerics can attune to it, it grants advantage on saves against spells, and it can animate corpses or shut down Undead. Expensive, but excellent for a high-level cleric.
Scorn Pouch (The Old Margreve) ●: Prevents surprise from nearby hostile creatures. Clerics want to act early because bless, spirit guardians, and Channel Divinity all change the first round.
Margreve Fur (The Old Margreve) ●: Advantage on initiative and smell-based Perception, plus plant-terrain invisibility. Strong for Hunt clerics and any cleric trying to start combat with a key concentration spell.
Moon Through the Trees (The Old Margreve) ●: Bonus-action invisibility near living trees and a blinding reveal. Very good in forest encounters, less reliable in towns and dungeons.
Ivy Crown of Prophecy (The Old Margreve) ●: Daily divination ritual without spending your own preparation or ritual resources. Clerics already like divination; free access is still useful.
Charm of Restoration (The Old Margreve) ●: Adds 1 HP when you receive magical healing. Fine early, but clerics usually care more about action economy and condition removal than tiny healing bumps.
Scrimshaw Comb (The Old Margreve) ●: Invisibility against Undead is useful in undead arcs, but clerics are often the party member expected to confront Undead rather than avoid them.
Sickle of Thorns (The Old Margreve) ●: A +1 sickle with vegetation-clearing utility and bonus damage against Plant creatures. Playable for Manifest Might in a forest campaign, not a general cleric weapon.
Goblin Shield (The Old Margreve) ●: Shield attunement with a bonus-action bite. The AC is welcome, but cleric bonus actions are crowded.
Book of Blades Mounted and Tactical Items
Book of Blades magic items matter for Clerics only if the character is mounted, commanding from the front, or built around War/Hunt weapon play. For the full mount-oriented list, use the animal allies and summons guide.
Armor of the Paired Heart (Book of Blades) ●: Strongest on mounted Hunt or War Clerics because it lets the rider and mount operate like a real paired unit. Worth chasing only if your mount is part of the build, not an occasional travel convenience.
Saddle of Flying (Book of Blades) ●: Turns mounted mobility into a vertical problem for enemies. A flying mount carrying a Cleric with bless, spirit guardians, or ranged Hunt features can reshape open-field encounters, but dungeon ceilings keep this situational.
Right-Sizing Saddle (Book of Blades) ●: Useful for Small or awkwardly sized Clerics who want reliable mount access. It does not make mounted combat good by itself; it removes a logistical problem.
Bridle of Handling, Bridle of Calling, Blanket of War Steed, and Banner of Horse Lord (Book of Blades) ●: These are campaign-structure items. In a mounted campaign, they help keep the horse relevant. In a dungeon crawl, they will sit in inventory while your Cleric does normal Cleric things.
Multiclassing
Prerequisite: WIS 13
Paladin (2-3 levels) ●: Lay on Hands as a bonus HP resource, saving throw proficiencies, and Smite are all useful. The 6th-level Paladin aura is extremely powerful but a heavy investment. For a 2-level dip, Divine Smite turns your bonus action hits into significant burst damage. War Domain Clerics benefit most from this.
Druid (2-4 levels) ●: Primordial spell list access adds Wild Shape and different preparation options. Thematically adjacent but mechanically diluted. The nature/divine hybrid works better as flavor than as optimization.
Fighter (1-2 levels) ● (Manifest Might): Action Surge at 2nd level gives you a full extra action once per short rest. For a War Domain Cleric who wants to both attack and cast, Action Surge lets you take the Attack action and cast a spell on the same turn. Extremely powerful turn in a boss fight.
Wizard (1-2 levels) ●: Arcane spell access and ritual spellbook. Thematically counterintuitive, but mechanically allows a Cleric to learn Arcane rituals beyond what they can normally access. Mostly a roleplay justification pick.
Example Build
The Iron Shepherd (War Domain + Manifest Might)
Concept: A heavily armored holy warrior who controls the battlefield through proximity, bonus attacks, and divine smites while maintaining concentration on spirit guardians.
| Level | Class | Feature Gained | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleric 1 | Manifestation of Faith (Might), Spellcasting | Heavy armor proficiency from day 1; start with warhammer + shield + chain mail |
| 2 | Cleric 2 | Channel Divinity: Turn the Profane (1/rest) | Mark of Triumph not yet available; Turn the Profane handles undead and fiend encounters |
| 3 | Cleric 3 | War Domain — Disciple of War, Mark of Triumph, domain spells | Spirit guardians prepared automatically; Disciple of War gives extra attacks |
| 4 | Cleric 4 | Improvement (+2 WIS → 18) | 7 prepared spells + domain spells; begin preparing spirit guardians every day |
| 5 | Cleric 5 | Destroy the Profane (CR 1/2) | Instant-destroy on Turn the Profane for low-CR threats |
| 6 | Cleric 6 | Channel Divinity (2/rest) | Two Mark of Triumph or Turn the Profane per rest cycle |
| 7 | Cleric 7 | Blessed Warrior | Reroll all 1s on weapon and spirit guardians damage |
| 8 | Cleric 8 | Improvement (+2 WIS → 20), Destroy the Profane (CR 1) | WIS maxed; prepared spells now = 28; DC 17 save for spirit guardians |
| 9 | Cleric 9 | Divine Intervention | Use it every long rest; ~25% chance of auto-free mass heal or flame strike |
| 10 | Cleric 10 | Heroic Boon: Gift of Wrath | Radiant resistance + spell damage type conversion makes you immune to your own spirit guardians effectively in the right builds |
| 11 | Cleric 11 | Greater Triumph (multi-mark), Destroy the Profane (CR 2) | Mark every dangerous target at once; chain marks on kills |
| 12 | Cleric 12 | Improvement (Talent: Aware) | Initiative floor of 10 — you cast spirit guardians before the enemy first moves |
| 13 | Cleric 13 | Channel Divinity (3/rest) | Three Channel Divinity uses per rest cycle |
| 14 | Cleric 14 | Destroy the Profane (CR 3) | |
| 15 | Cleric 15 | Holy Strike | One guaranteed critical hit per turn on every attack you land |
| 16 | Cleric 16 | Improvement (Talent: Combat Conditioning or Mental Fortitude) | |
| 17 | Cleric 17 | Destroy the Profane (CR 4) | |
| 18 | Cleric 18 | Channel Divinity (4/rest) | |
| 19 | Cleric 19 | Improvement (+2 CON for max HP) | |
| 20 | Cleric 20 | Epic Boon: Divine Herald | Divine Intervention auto-succeeds every long rest — one free 9th-circle spell per day |
Tactics: The Iron Shepherd's turn structure is simple: if you are not concentrating on spirit guardians, cast spirit guardians. If you are already concentrating on it, move toward enemies, swing with Disciple of War's extra attack, and let the zone of radiance do work. Use Mark of Triumph as a bonus action to debuff priority targets. In rounds where spirit guardians is doing its job, your combat contribution is moving around the battlefield to maximize the 15-foot zone coverage and making weapon attacks as secondary damage. Channel Divinity uses are rationed: Turn the Profane for undead/fiend crowds, Mark of Triumph for single dangerous targets, and Greater Triumph starting at 11th level for multi-target coordination.
Hot Take
Hot Take: Book of Blades is useful for a Cleric's origin and talent access, not for a new domain. Choose it when Combat Casting, Focus (War), Focus (Death), or mounted War/Hunt play supports the character you already want to build; choose Labyrinth Worldbook or Player's Guide 2 when the priority is a new domain.
Final Notes
The Cleric rewards preparation. Pick Manifest Might or Manifest Miracles for the role you want on the battlefield, then choose a domain that gives the party a distinct job. Life restores allies, Light pressures enemies, War holds the line, Hunt pursues a quarry, Player's Guide 2 adds Death, Nature, and Tempest, and Labyrinth Worldbook adds Crafting, Knowledge, and Trickery. Book of Blades supports those identities through backgrounds and talent access rather than new domains.
Related Guides
Spell Guides
Talent Guides
- Best Magic Talents in Tales of the Valiant
- Best Martial Talents in Tales of the Valiant
- Best Technical Talents in Tales of the Valiant
Heritage and Companion Guides
Lineage Guides
- Tales of the Valiant Human Lineage Guide
- Tales of the Valiant Dwarf Lineage Guide
- Tales of the Valiant Elf Lineage Guide
