What is the Best Cleric Subclass in BG3?

Welcome to our Cleric subclass tier list for Baldur’s Gate 3. On this page, we will review all Cleric subclasses in BG3 and try to determine which is the strongest.

The Cleric is one of the strongest spellcasters in Baldur’s Gate 3, although it can feel quite weak in the early game. Clerics can fight with weapons but typically aren’t very good at dealing damage this way, due to not being able to attack more than once per turn with their weapon, and having a limited number of Proficient weapons.

Clerics are excellent at supporting their party with buffs and healing, and at using powerful Concentration spells to damage and debuff enemies. The Cleric has access to a wide-range of spells that can turn the tide of a battle, including Haste, Glyph of Warding, Insect Plague and Sunbeam.

While the basic Cleric class is very strong, we will forget about that for the purpose of this ranking and just focus on how each subclass adds to the Cleric. That means that while all Cleric subclasses have the potential to be very powerful, we might still rank some in C-Tier if they don’t add many meaningful things to what a Cleric already has access to.

Table of Contents:

Death Cleric

Death Domain Clerics were newly added to BG3 in Patch 8. They are focused on necromancy magic, and maximising your affinity with spells and cantrips that deal Necrotic Damage.

The class is obviously intended to utilize Inflict Wounds as it’s go-to damage spell, since it empowers your melee attacks with bonus Necrotic Damage if you spend a Channel Divinity charge, allows you to ignore enemy Necrotic Resistance, and gives you Proficiency with all Martial Weapons, which helps you to play a melee-focused Cleric more effectively.

Furthermore, Death Domain Clerics get a boost to their Cantrips that deal Necrotic Damage, allowing them to target two enemies instead of one. You get this boost from the start of the game, which helps you to get through the early-game which is typically the toughest part of the game for Clerics who don’t start unlocking most of their best spells until Level 5 and beyond.

When you hit Level 8, you gain a version of Divine Strike which allows your weapon attack to deal 1d8 extra Necrotic Damage, once per turn.

As your Death Domain Cleric levels up, you’ll gain Domain Spells (these are automatically unlocked and don’t need to be prepared) themed around Necromancy. The most notable ones are:

• Animate Dead – Allows you to summon an undead creature from a corpse. You can upcast the spell to summon more powerful creatures or a multitude of creatures.
• Vampiric Touch – Touch an enemy to syphon their life force, dealing Necrotic Damage and regaining half the amount as HP. You can keep using this attack every turn if you maintain Concentration. It has mediocre damage output but allows for decent self-healing.
• Blight – A single-target Necrotic Damage spell that can hit very hard if you get a lucky roll.

This subclass offers a decent range of options for dealing lots of Necrotic Damage. The main disappointment is that you don’t get anything extra related to raising the dead, besides the Animate Dead spell which all Clerics have access to. Still, this is a very solid Cleric subclass that has a clearly defined theme and playstyle and plays into it well.

Learn More: Death Domain – BG3 Cleric Build

Light Cleric

Light Domain Clerics focus on illuminating the path through dark areas, and dealing damage to foes with Radiant Damage.

Light Clerics are without a doubt the strongest Cleric subclass in terms of damage potential. They can spend a Channel Divinity charge to activate Radiance of the Dawn, which deals Radiant Damage to all enemies in a wide area around your Cleric. From Level 8 they can add their Wisdom Modifier to the damage of their Cantrips.

The Light Cleric gets automatic access to some of the best AoE spells in the game. Their spells are all themed around using light or fire to help your party or damage or hinder enemies. Some of the most notable inclusions are:

• Daylight – Infuse an object with magical daylight. You can use this spell to navigate through the first half of Act II.
• Fireball – Deals a decent amount of Fire Damage in a large AoE.
• Guardian of Faith – Summons a guardian who automatically smites nearby enemies with 20 Radiant Damage per hit.
• Flame Strike – Call down a meteor that deals heavy Fire and Radiant damage in an AoE.

This subclass isn’t just for dealing damage, though. They can also defend themselves (and later on also their allies) by spending a Reaction to activate Warding Flare, which gives an attacker Disadvantage on their Attack Roll if they are about to successfully hit you or an ally. While it’s not strictly part of the subclass, we also have to mention this subclass’ incredible synergy with Radiating Orb equipment. You have so many ways of dealing Radiant Damage that you can very quickly maximise the Radiant Orb debuff, applying a crippling -10 penalty to an enemy’s Attack Rolls. More about this on our BG3 Radiant Orb Equipment Guide.

The Light Cleric is a true powerhouse and is one of the best subclasses not just in the Cleric roster, but in Baldur’s Gate 3 as a whole.

Learn More: Light Domain – BG3 Cleric Build

Life Cleric

If you want your party to have a dedicated healer, than the Life Cleric is without a doubt the best fit for that role in BG3. The entire subclass is themed around keeping your party alive.

As soon as you start the game with a Life Cleric, you gain Heavy Armour Proficiency and access to the Disciple of Life feature, which adds extra points to all of your healing spells (2 + spell level).

At Level 2 you unlock the Preserve Life Channel Divinity action, which restores a flat amount of HP to all nearby allies. The amount increases each time you level up. At Level 6, you also gain extra HP whenever you heal another creature.

At Level 8 you can deal 1d8 Radiant Damage with your weapon attack, once per turn.

As you level up, you’ll unlock just about every healing and support spell you could need for your Life Domain Cleric. That is with the exception of Healing Word, which is typically better than Cure Wounds due to the fact it can be used at range and only costs a Bonus Action. For that reason, you should manually unlock Healing Word from the outset.

Other notable spells unlocked by the Life Cleric are:

• Aid – Adds 5 Max HP to your party. Later on, you can upcast it, adding another 5HP per upcast level, up to a maximum of 25HP at Sixth Level. You should cast this after every Long Rest to get a HP boost for your entire party. It doesn’t need Concentration, and it lasts until your next Long Rest. One of the best spells in the game.
• Revivify – Allows you to resurrect a fallen party member without keeping a stock of expensive Revivification Scrolls.
• Mass Cure Wounds – Heal up to six allies at once. A great late-game healing spell that only requires a Bonus Action.

The Life Cleric is an excellent subclass, ideally suited to healing your party. You will find it to be a godsend, especially if you’re a beginner or trying out a higher difficulty for the first time.

Learn More: Life Domain Healer – BG3 Cleric Build

Knowledge Cleric

As their name suggests, Knowledge Clerics are centred around learning more about the world, and applying this to your adventure.

When you choose this subclass, you can also choose two Skills to gain Expertise with (choosing between Arcana, Nature, History and Religion). This will double your Proficiency Bonus with those Skills, making you very good at them.

At Level 2, you can use Knowledge of the Ages, a Channel Divinity Action that gives you Proficiency with all Skills belonging to a certain ability (Dexterity, Wisdom, etc).

At Level 6, you will unlock the Read Thoughts feature, which permanently puts your Cleric under the effects of the Detect Thoughts spell, allowing you to read the thoughts of some NPCs during dialogue.

At level 8, you unlock the same Potent Spellcasting feature that Light Domain Clerics also get, adding your Wisdom Modifier to your damage with Cantrips.

Your Domain Spells are primarily focused around mind controlling enemies, with some of the most notable inclusions being:

• Hold Person – Completely immobilise a humanoid enemy, preventing them from taking any movement or actions until they succeed a Saving Throw. Melee Attack Rolls against them are guaranteed Critical Hits.
• Speak with Dead – Briefly reanimate a corpse, allowing you to ask it questions.
• Telekinesis – Control objects with your mind, allowing you to move and throw them from afar.

Having a Knowledge Cleric in your party will help you uncover more secrets, hidden paths, and dialogue options during your playthrough. But in terms of combat, you don’t get anything that other Clerics cannot do. The Potent Spellcasting feature is a partial exception to that statement, but some other Clerics also unlock this feature, such as the Light Domain.

Learn More: Knowledge Domain – BG3 Cleric Build

Nature Cleric

The Nature Cleric forms a unique subclass identity among the Clerics by finding a middle-ground between the Cleric and the Druid class.

From the offset you get Heavy Armour Proficiency and can learn one Druid Cantrip and one Druid Skill.

At Level 2, you can use your Channel Divinity charges to Charm nearby beasts and plants (note that plants are a very rare enemy type that only show up a couple of times throughout the whole game).

At Level 6, you can spend a Reaction when hit by elemental damage to halve the damage of the attack.

At Level 8, you can deal 1d8 extra Cold, Fire or Lightning Damage with your weapon attack once per turn.

Your Domain Spells are mostly quite mediocre, but there are some interesting inclusions:

• Spike Growth – This early-game Druid Spell creates a very large area of razor-sharp spikes that slow down and heavily damage any enemies trying to walk over them. This is one of the best spells available in Act I and can make tough fights much easier when used smartly. Make sure you keep your Cleric safe from damage so they don’t lose Concentration on the spell.
• Grasping Vine – Summons a vine that you can use to grapple enemies and pull them towards you. This is especially good for pulling enemies down from raised positions, potentially causing fall damage. It’s not a super impactful spell, but it’s an interesting roleplay option that the Nature Cleric borrows from Druids.
• Insect Plague – An excellent late-game AoE spell. It is functionally very similar to Spike Growth, but it does a lot more damage and also damages enemies who stand still in the area. This tends to be especially good in Act III which is full of enclosed spaces and chokepoints.

The Nature Cleric is primarily a roleplay subclass that has a very well-defined subclass identity but isn’t particularly strong. But it does get points for its Heavy Armour Proficiency and access to the Spike Growth spell, which can make some of the tougher fights in Act I much easier if properly utilized.

Learn More: Nature Domain – BG3 Cleric Build

Tempest Cleric

Tempest Clerics specialise in harnessing the power of storms to deal additional Thunder and Lightning damage to enemies.

From the beginning of the game you unlock Heavy Armour and Martial Weapon Proficiency, meaning you can do a decent job of surviving in a drawn-out melee encounter. You can also spend a Reaction in combat to lash out at an attacking enemy, dealing 2d8 Lightning or Thunder damage.

At Level 2, you unlock Destructive Wrath, which allows you to channel your divinity to guarantee the highest possible damage roll from a Thunder or Lightning attack.

At Level 6, you can push enemies away by 3 metres whenever you hit them with Thunder or Lightning, and at Level 8, you can infuse 1d8 bonus Thunder Damage into your weapon attack once per turn.

The Tempest Cleric comes with some strong Domain Spells. Some of the best ones are:

• Thunderwave – Deals Thunder Damage to enemies in a conal area, and attempts to push them away. This is not only a decent early-game AoE spell, it can also be used to knock enemies off ledges.
• Call Lightning – An excellent spell that Clerics usually cannot access. Deals Lightning damage in a decently sized AoE. If you maintain Concentration you can cast it again every turn for up to 10 turns. Utilized correctly, this is a massive upgrade on Glyph of Warding, the usual mid-game AoE goto for Clerics.
• Freedom of Movement – Snap an ally out of any stun or restricting effect, and give them immunity to some types of movement restriction while you maintain Concentration. This is great for rescuing a mobility-dependant ally from a pickle.
• Destructive Wave – A very large AoE that deals up to 30 Thunder Damage and 30 Radiant or Necrotic Damage, for up to 60 total damage. This is especially handy because it only targets enemies; allies in the area are unaffected.

The Tempest Cleric is a close challenger to the Light Cleric. I don’t think it’s quite on par, but it is an excellent subclass. One of the most important aspects of playing the class is deciding what you want to do before each combat encounter. Slugging it out in melee allows you to keep using your retaliatory Thunder/Lightning damage when you get attacked, but this also makes it very difficult to keep concentration on Call Lightning for multiple turns, which is required to get the most out of the spell. As long as you can navigate around these small conflicts, the Tempest Cleric will be an asset to your party.

Learn More: Nature Domain – BG3 Cleric Build

Trickery Cleric

The Trickery Cleric is the Cleric subclass that everyone knows about, because it’s Shadowheart’s default class, and BG3’s story practically forces you to have Shadowheart in your party. That’s perhaps unfortunate because the Trickery Cleric is pretty rubbish unless you try really hard to build your entire party around its niche.

At Level 1 you can get the Blessing of the Trickster, allowing you to give an ally Advantage in Stealth Checks.

At Level 2 you can use the Invoke Duplicity Channel Divinity action. This creates an illusion that distracts enemies, giving Advantage on Attack Rolls for your party, when both the attacker and the target are within 3 metres of the illusion. Being able to give Advantage on Attack Rolls is, on paper, one of the best methods of party support in BG3. But this can be really frustrating to try and play into because of its strict 3-metre limitation. It can work really well, but everything needs to go to plan and the enemies need to be passive and do exactly what you want. It’s not unheard of, but it’s not easily repeatable. This holds back what would otherwise be an excellent subclass feature.

At Level 6 you can Channel your Divinity to become invisible if you are already obscured. This has its uses, but there are plenty of ways to become invisible in BG3, most notably with potions and spells.

At Level 8, you can infuse 1d8 Poison Damage into your weapon attack once per turn.

The Trickery Cleric gets Domain Spells that combine themes of mind control, stealth and mobility. Some of the most notable inclusions are:

• Mirror Image – Create three illusory copies of yourself. Each one gives you +3 Armour Class. Each time you evade an attack, one copy vanishes.
• Dimension Door – An excellent mobility spell that allows you to teleport yourself and one adjacent ally.
• Seeming – Disguise your entire party with alternate appearances.

There’s no doubt in my mind that this is the worst Cleric subclass in BG3. You can get some good value out of Invoke Duplicity if you try really hard to make it work. But why bother? There’s so many better options in the other Cleric subclasses. But if you really want to make it work, perhaps to stay true to Shadowheart’s origin story, then you’ll be fine because the base Cleric class is still really good.

Learn More: Trickery Domain – BG3 Cleric Build

War Cleric

We finally come to the War Domain Cleric, which tries to play more into melee combat than the other Cleric subclasses.

You gain Heavy Armour and Martial Weapon Proficiency from the start of the game. You also unlock the War Priest Feature and three War Priest charges. You can spend one War Priest charge to activate War Priest, which allows you to make another regular attack with your Bonus Action after making a weapon attack. You’ll gain a few more War Priest charges as you level up.

At Level 2, you can use Guided Strike. This costs a Channel Divinity Charge but adds a +10 bonus to your Attack Roll, making a hit much more likely. At Level 6 you can grant this buff to an ally, too.

At Level 8 you unlock Divine Strike, which adds 1d8 extra damage to your weapon once per turn. The damage type depends on your weapon’s primary damage type.

The War Domain Cleric gets automatic access to a range of spells that follow a Paladin-like theme of being the heart of your party. Some of the best ones are:

• Spiritual Weapon – Summon a spectral weapon that you can manually control. It deals Force Damage and has Resistance to all damage. This is an underrated spell in my opinion, because it often distracts enemies who like to waste their time attacking the weapon rather than the Cleric who summoned it.
• Spirit Guardians – Creates an AoE that follows your Cleric and deals either Radiant or Necrotic damage to all enemies who touch it. You can activate this spell and run around to clip multiple enemies with the AoE, damaging them all. It requires Concentration to maintain the spell, so watch out for opportunity attacks. It’s not the easiest spell to use over several turns, but it’s highly effective nevertheless.
• Hold Monster – Effectively an upgraded version of Hold Person, it paralyses any creature instead of only humanoid ones.

The War Domain Cleric is decent. The trouble with it is that it plays into an aspect that the Cleric isn’t very good at, melee weapon combat. It has some success at addressing this shortcoming, but I think the Tempest Cleric can largely fill the same niche of a melee-focused Cleric and does a better job at it. Still, I don’t have any complaints with this subclass, it’s just not as good as some of the others.

Learn More: War Domain – BG3 Cleric Build

The Cleric Subclass Tier List

Now that we’ve run through and reviewed all of the Cleric subclasses for BG3, we came up with this ranking.

The Life and Light Domain Clerics were secure inclusions for the S-Tier. These subclasses both do so much for the party out of the box – you can improve on this even more with the right gear but it’s not strictly necessary. The Tempest Domain just scrapes into S-Tier, too. It’s not quite as mighty as Life and Life Domain, but it does have a pretty impactful set of tools that are fun to use.

The Death Domain Cleric sits alone in A-Tier. It’s a solid subclass that can deal lots of extra Necrotic Damage. If it came with something that stood out more (like unique abilities related to raising the dead, for example) then it might have got to the S-Tier. But as it is, it just deals extra Necrotic Damage. It’s really good at one thing, but that’s not enough to make the S-Tier.

The B-Tier is home to War Domain and Nature Domain, which both come with some good features which will set them apart during your playthrough. They’re not super strong, but they have their niche and do a reasonably good job. We also find the Knowledge Domain here, which does very little to boost your combat prowess. But its extra Skill Proficiencies and passive access to Detect Thoughts will leave its mark on your playthrough by opening up plenty of otherwise-hidden options.

The C-Tier is reserved for the Trickery Domain subclass. The stealth bonuses offered by this class aren’t needed and can be largely obtained elsewhere, and its only combat bonus is a 3 metre AoE that requires both attacker and target to be within to give you Advantage on Attack Rolls. You can sometimes play into this, but it’s a frustrating thing to build around that will often end in frustrating failure, and the other Cleric subclasses offer so much more.