D&D: The Five Best Cleric Subclasses
When it comes to D&D classes, Clerics are simply divine. They are masters of many domains, but in the end, these are the five best Cleric subclasses.
Clerics are a mainstay of D&D and have been since the early days. They were the original healers, though that’s changed in the ensuing editions. But their roots remain. With magic based on the gods and a devotion to ideals that might make them a little preachy at times, Clerics are a great choice for players.
Because we’ve come a long way from the days of “how many cure light wounds can you fit into a single character.” Clerics have always been secretly battle casters, with their armor and shields, but in 5th Edition, they find other wrinkles too. Whatever you choose, a Cleric is great fun!
With an array of Domains that give you the power of the gods, what do you pick? Fret no more. Here are the five best Cleric subclasses in 5th Edition.
Best Cleric Subclasses – Forge Domain
Forge Domain Clerics have a lot of versatility. They’re great at supporting their friends as well as fighting their foes. Most Clerics are, actually, but Forge Domain Clerics do it where it counts–in the middle of a fight.
With abilities that give them among the highest potential armor classes and resistance to fire damage, they are a powerful defensive subclass. Pick up a shield and sprinkle in some of your useful domain spells like animate objects or heat metal you have quite the problem solver on your hands.
You’ll be hard to take down and cause all sorts of problems for the opponents.
Light Domain
Light Clerics are a fantastic choice for new adventurers. And they’re also pretty good spellcasters. Surprisingly though, for a Cleric Domain that gets their reputation as “the fireball Cleric,” Light Domain Clerics have a lot more to play around with.
Their first-level ability makes them one of the earliest classes to get a reaction, Warding Flare. Wizards have Shield, but Light Clerics can use their warding flare up and have their full range of spell slots left for the day. Which is pretty good.
And at 2nd level, Radiance of the Dawn is hands down one of the best offensive Channel Divinity options in 5th Edition. At least at 2nd level. It does good damage for its level, and it’s selective. And sure it will lose its incredible bang for the buck over time, but it’s a powerhouse at low levels.
Trickery
Trickery Clerics are living proof that stealth isn’t only for Rogues. With Pass Without Trace and Blessing of the Trickster, you can always make sure your party is great at sneaking around on the battlefield. But that’s just to start.
Perhaps the single best thing about Trickery Clerics is the list of Domain Spells. At every level, you have just option after option. This spell list more than compensates for the limited versatility of the Cleric list.
They get dimension door, polymorph, mirror image, and more. It’s just hard to go wrong with any of these spells. Even though some of the higher-level features are lackluster compared to other subclass features, this bonus spell list is the gift that will keep on giving throughout your adventuring career.
Peace Domain
Tasha’s Cauldron shows how D&D is changing. And you can see it clearly in the new Cleric Domains introduced in that book. Peace Domain Clerics get class features that use some of the new “use this ability equal to your proficiency bonuses”. And with Emboldening Bond, you get a lot to work with. Who wouldn’t want an extra d4 while you’re within 30 feet of members of your party? Sure you only start with two uses, but this is a benefit you’ll use from levels 1-20.
They also get some good domain spells, but in the Channel Divinity features, we see just how much better subclasses have gotten. Instead of being able to heal a lot (but only up to half hit points), which is what the Life Cleric, supposedly the healing-focused Cleric, can do, Peace Domain Clerics get to move their speed, healing every party member they move next to for 2d6 + Wisdom modifier hit points. If you want a healing Channel Divinity, this is the best one by far.
It’s a very strong subclass by far. They can make almost any party punch well above their weight.
Twilight Domain
Twilight Domain Clerics have quietly gained a reputation as the broken Clerics. And that’s just from most people’s cursory glance at the fact that they get 300 feet of Darkvision, about five times more than most other Darkvision in the game. And they can share it with their party for free-ish. It’s better than the Darkvision spell.
But that’s not all. You also get advantage on initiative. Or your friend does. Or whoever you want. You can reuse it and give that bonus to whoever you want as often as you want.
Couple that with a killer domain spell list, and you’ve got all the makings of a powerful subclass. But that’s not even the broken part.
Twilight Sanctuary outshines every other healing/temporary hit point mechanic in the game. You can always top someone up with temp HP, you give it to them without it taking an action or reaction–everyone just gets it for being next to you. And all it takes is your Channel Divinity. This is admittedly not very much, but it outperforms spells at comparable or higher levels. This is why Twilight wins out as the strongest/best in our list of best cleric subclasses.
What are your picks for the best D&D Sorcerer Subclass? Let us know in the comments!
