Key Takeaway
Of the seven available Cleric Domains, three stand out as exemplary choices for newcomers and seasoned players alike: Light Domain, War Domain, and Life Domain.
Life Domain Clerics are strict healers, while War Domain Clerics focus on dealing damage. Light Domain Clerics offer some aspects of both, making it the most well-balanced choice.
New players may assume that Clerics are only good for healing, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. With the right character creation choices, the best Cleric class builds in Baldur’s Gate 3 can deal some serious damage to enemies while keeping the party in tip-top condition.
Table Of Contents
About the Cleric Class
Clerics are blessed with powerful magic and skills that are useful both on and off the battlefield. Upon creating a Cleric, you’ll be tasked with choosing a patron deity, each providing unique lore and character interactions for your playthrough. Devout and dedicated to their holy task, they seek to please their gods while embodying the tenets of their faith.
One of the more diverse and versatile classes in Baldur’s Gate 3, Cleric offers seven unique Domains to choose from, each with its own strengths. For example, while Life Domain Clerics excel at healing and defense, War Domain Clerics make excellent front-line damage dealers.
All available Domains are listed below, along with brief descriptions of each.
| Domain | Description |
|---|---|
| Life Domain | The Life domain is an aspect of many good deities, offering spells that protect and restore the mind, body, and soul. |
| Light Domain | The Light domain is offered by deities of justice, majesty, and primordial flame, providing spells that dispel darkness and harm the undead. |
| Trickery Domain | A domain shared by wicked, chaotic, and mischievous deities alike, those who channel Trickery specialise in deception and illusion magic. |
| Knowledge Domain | Adaptable and adroit in all manner of languages and skills, your mind is an intellectual cup brimming with exquisite knowing. |
| Nature Domain | You embody the vast viridian power of the natural world, an avatar of the subtle divinity of fruitfall, avian migration, woodland silence, and the landslide's roaring fury. |
| Tempest Domain | Your faith has made you the very thunder that quakes the black firmament, the lightning coursing through the veins of a terrible storm. |
| War Domain | Fortified by holy zeal, you brandish an arsenal of sacramental savagery to use against those you deem unrighteous. |
Each time a Cleric levels up, they’ll learn new Regular Spells. The Domain you choose dictates the unique Domain Spells your character learns. Only a select few Spells at a time can be prepped for use in battle by accessing the Spellbook menu while not in combat. Cantrips, while similar to Spells, can be cast immediately and don’t require a Spell slot.
It’s possible to play any Domain effectively, but we’ve tested and selected three builds that simply reign supreme. At least one of these Cleric builds is sure to suit your playstyle, from more traditional healers to those wanting to utterly destroy followers of the Absolute in combat.
Light Domain Build
- Background Recommendations: Folk Hero, Urchin
- Race Recommendations: High Elf, Mephistopheles Tiefling
- Skill Recommendations: Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Perception
- Starting Cantrips: Guidance, Resistance, Sacred Flame
- Starting Spells: Bless, Guiding Bolt, Healing Word, Inflict Wounds
- Illithid Power Recommendations: Charm, Psionic Backlash, Freecast
- Primary Stats: Wisdom, Dexterity
A fan favorite, Light Domain Clerics effortlessly balances healing abilities with powerful damage output. Although these Clerics begin on the weaker side, they hit their stride during mid to late-game, rivaling Wizards and Sorcerers in terms of their spellcasting abilities. It’s possible to play a Light Domain Cleric in either a ranged or melee capacity.
While High Elves are commonly chosen for this Domain, feel free to choose the race that resonates with you. Most races in the game can excel in this class.
Wisdom, Dexterity, and Constitution are the most important stats for this build. As your Wisdom score influences your offensive Spells, you’ll want to pour as many points into it as possible. Additionally, your Dexterity stat impacts your armor class and the success of Bow attacks. On top of that, keeping your Constitution score high improves survivability.
When playing as a Light Domain Cleric, we’d recommend choosing Gale, Lae’zel, and Astarion to round out your party. With two melee fighters, a rogue, and a healer, you can deal huge amounts of damage from both near and far without worrying too much about survivability.
Light Domain Cleric Spells, Cantrips, and Feats
Cantrips exclusive to Light Domain Clerics available immediately include the following three:
- Burning Hands: Each flammable target is hit with 3∼18 Fire damage.
- Faerie Fire: All targets within the light turn visible, and Attack Rolls against them have Advantage for 10 turns.
- Light (Cantrip): Infuse an object with an aura of light.
As you progress, you’ll gain access to new (but not necessarily exclusive) Spells and Cantrips. Below, we’ve listed which to select at each level.
| Level | Spells to Select |
|---|---|
| 2 | Guiding Bolt, Inflict Wounds, Shield of Faith, Cure Wounds, Command |
| 3 | Spiritual Weapon |
| 4 | Lesser Restoration New Cantrip: Blade Ward |
| 5 | Glyph of Warding, Mass Healing Word |
| 6 | Speak with the Dead |
| 7 | Banishment |
| 8 | Animate Dead |
| 9 | Mass Cure Wounds |
| 10 | Great Restoration New Cantrip: Resistance |
| 11 | Planar Ally |
| 12 | Heroes' Feast, Beacon of Hope |
At certain levels, you’ll also unlock spells specifically for your Domain. See full details below.
| Name | Description | Level Unlocked |
|---|---|---|
| Turn Undead | Present your holy symbol and pray. Each undead that can see or hear you is Turned and forced to spend its turns fleeing from you, until it takes damage. | 2 |
| Radiance of the Dawn | The sun's divine power dispels any magical darkness. Doesn't affect creatures that have total cover from you. | 2 |
| Flaming Sphere | Summon a flaming sphere that damages nearby enemies and objects. The sphere sheds bright light in a 6m radius, and dim light for an additional 6m. | 3 |
| Scorching Ray | Hurl 3 rays of fire. Each ray deals 2∼12 Fire damage. | 3 |
| Daylight | Enchant an item to shine like the sun or summon a sphere of sunlight that dispels all darkness around it. | 5 |
| Fireball | Shoot a bright flame from your fingers that explodes upon contact, torching everything in the vicinity. | 5 |
| Destroy Undead | When you successfully Turn an undead creature, it also takes 4d6 Radiant Damage. | 5 |
| Wall of Fire | Create a blazing wall of fire, burning anyone who dares stand too close. | 7 |
| Guardian of Faith | Call forth a divine guardian that attacks nearby enemies. | 7 |
| Banishment | Temporarily Banish your target to another plane of existence. | 7 |
| Potent Spellcasting | Your god grants you even more intense power. You can add your Wisdom Modifier to the damage you deal with Cleric cantrips. | 8 |
| Flame Strike | Make a pillar of divine fire roar down from the heavens like the wrath of affronted angels. | 9 |
| Destructive Wave | Targets in a 6m/30ft radius must succeed on a CON Save or take 5d6 Thunder and 5d6 Radiant damage. | 9 |
| Divine Intervention | You can cast Divine Intervention to invoke your god's aid. Once used, this can never be used again. | 10 |
You’ll also be able to select a new Feat at Level 4, Level 8, and Level 12. We recommend choosing the following for the Light Domain build:
| Level | Feat |
|---|---|
| 4 | Ability Improvement (Put 2 points into Wisdom) |
| 8 | War Caster |
| 12 | Ability Improvement (Put 2 points into Wisdom) |
War Domain Build
- Background Recommendations: Acolyte, Folk Hero
- Race Recommendations: Half-Orc, Zariel Tiefling
- Skill Recommendations: Medicine, Perception
- Starting Cantrips: Sacred Flame, Guidance, Thaumaturgy
- Starting Spells: Guiding Bolt, Cure Wounds, Healing Word
- Illithid Power Recommendations: Psionic Backlash, Concentrated Blast, Freecast
- Primary Stats: Strength, Wisdom
While Light Domain Clerics offer a balance of healing and offensive spells, Clerics in the War Domain specialize in warfare and martial combat: these front-line damage dealers boast high Strength and can use powerful weapons and armor, making them very different from the other best Clerics class builds in Baldur’s Gate 3. By utilizing your bonus action each turn, you can defeat enemies using both physical and magical attacks in one swoop.
You’ll want to put points into Strength and Wisdom when possible, with Constitution being your third priority. Doing so with the former stats ensures that your weapon-based and magic attacks both connect with sufficient force, and the latter results in higher HP.
War Domain Clerics are proficient in Simple and Martial Weapons, with our preferred setup being a Mace and Shield. They can wear Light, Medium, and Heavy Armor as well, giving you plenty of options when it comes to protection. Heavy Armor is recommended in the beginning to improve survivability.
Once you reach Level 9, consider multi-classing to a Fighter. This gives you more options during late-game fights and grants access to Action Surge and Fighting Style. The War Cleric doesn’t make much use of higher-level spells, therefore a martial melee build is more attractive later in the game.
As this Domain focuses mainly on damage output, you may want to keep a healer in your party. Shadowheart, Asterion, and Gale make excellent companions for this build.
War Domain Cleric Spells, Cantrips, and Feats
Cantrips exclusive to War Domain Clerics available immediately include the following three:
- Sacred Flame: Conjure a flame-like radiance that deals 1d8 Radiant.
- Guidance: Bestow guidance upon an ally. They gain a +1d4 bonus to Ability Checks.
- Thaumaturgy: Manifest a sign of supernatural power that grants you Advantage on Intimidation and Performance checks.
As you progress, you’ll gain access to new (but not necessarily exclusive) Spells and Cantrips. Below, we’ve listed which abilities to select at each level to excel in the War Domain—including those associated with the Fighter class.
| Level | Spells/Maneuvers to Select |
|---|---|
| 1 | Guiding Bolt, Cure Wounds, Healing Word |
| 2 | Inflict Wounds, Command |
| 3 | Warding Bond |
| 4 | Silence |
| 5 | Animate Dead |
| 6 | Glyph of Warding |
| 7 | Guardian of Faith |
| 8 | Banishment |
| 9 | Second Wind, Protection Fighting Style (if multiclassing Fighter) |
| 10 | N/A |
| 11 | Disarming Attack, Goading Attack, Riposte (if multiclassing Fighter) |
| 12 | N/A |
At certain levels, you’ll also unlock spells specifically for your Domain. See full details below.
| Name | Description | Level Unlocked |
|---|---|---|
| Magic Weapon | Infuse a weapon with arcane energy. The weapon becomes magical, receiving a +1 bonus to Attack and Damage Rolls. | 3 |
| Spiritual Weapon | Summon a floating, spectral weapon that attacks your enemies alongside you. | 3 |
| Crusader's Mantle | Radiate a holy power that emboldens nearby allies. Their weapon attacks deal an additional 1∼4 Radiant damage. | 5 |
| Spirit Guardians | Call forth spirits to protect the area around you. Nearby enemies take 3~24 Radiant damage or 3~24 Necrotic damage per turn, and their Movement Speed is halved. | 5 |
| Freedom of Movement | Snap an ally out of any Stun. Difficult Terrain can't slow them down, and they can't be magically Paralyzed or Restrained. If the target is Restrained by non-magical means, it can spend 1.5m of movement to free itself. | 7 |
| Stoneskin | Turn a creature's flesh hard as stone. It gains Resistance (half damage) of all non-magical Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage. | 7 |
| Flame Strike | Make a pillar of divine fire roar down from the heavens like the wrath of affronted angels. | 9 |
| Hold Monster | Paralyze a creature. It can't move, act or react. Attacks from within 3m are always Critical Hits. | 9 |
You’ll also be able to select a new Feat at Level 4, Level 8, and Level 12. We recommend choosing the following for the War Domain build:
| Level | Feat |
|---|---|
| 4 | Savage Attacker |
| 8 | Alert |
| 12 | Shield Master |
Life Domain Build
- Background Recommendations: Acolyte, Folk Hero
- Race Recommendations: High Elf, Mephistopheles Tiefling
- Skill Recommendations: Medicine, Perception
- Starting Cantrips: Sacred Flame, Guidance, Thaumaturgy
- Starting Spells: Guiding Bolt, Healing Word, Inflict Wounds
- Illithid Power Recommendations: Charm, Psionic Backlash, Concentrated Blast, Freecast
- Primary Stats: Wisdom, Constitution
Players wanting to play a pure healing class should select the Life Domain. These Clerics exist to support themselves and their allies in battle, drawing their power from their chosen god to restore health and remove debuffs. As they’re able to don Heavy Armor, they can move anywhere on the battlefield without fear. Outside of battle, this class is also skilled in the art of conversation.
Life Domain Clerics have the same starting Cantrips as those in the War Domain. Additionally, they boast the subclass feature Disciple of Life, which boosts their healing abilities.
TipBringing along two heavy hitters like Lae’zel and Karlach along with either Astarion or Gale is recommended when playing this healing class.
Life Domain Cleric Spells, Cantrips, and Feats
You’ll gain access to new Spells and Cantrips each time you level up. Below, we’ve listed which abilities to select at each level to excel in the Life Domain:
| Level | Spells to Select |
|---|---|
| 2 | Guiding Bolt, Shield of Faith, Healing Word, Command, Inflict Wounds |
| 3 | Spiritual Weapon |
| 4 | Warding Bond New Cantrip: Blade Ward |
| 5 | Hold Person, Mass Healing Word, Glyph of Warding |
| 6 | N/A |
| 7 | Freedom of Movement |
| 8 | Remove Curse |
| 9 | Insect Plague, Flame Strike |
| 10 | Planar Binding New Cantrip: Light |
| 11 | Heal |
| 12 | Heroes' Feast |
At certain levels, you’ll also unlock spells specifically for your Domain. See full details below.
| Name | Description | Level Unlocked |
|---|---|---|
| Disciple of Life | Your devotion empowers your healing spells. When casting a healing spell, the target regains additional hit points equal to 2 + the spell's level. | 1 |
| Turn Undead | Present your holy symbol and pray. Each undead that can see or hear you is Turned and forced to spend its turns fleeing from you, until it takes damage. | 2 |
| Preserve Life | Evoke a healing energy that heals yourself and your allies by 3x Character Level. No effect on undead and constructs. | 2 |
| Aid | Bolster your allies with toughness and resolve and increase their current and maximum hit points by 5. | 3 |
| Lesser Restoration | Cure a creature from disease, poison, paralysis or blindness. | 3 |
| Revivify | Revive a companion. They return to life with 1 HP. | 5 |
| Beacon of Hope | Your allies will regain the maximum hit points possible when healed. They also gain Advantage on Wisdom Saving Throws and Death Saving Throws. | 5 |
| Death Ward | When the target drops to 0 HP for the first time, it automatically returns to 1 HP. | 7 |
| Guardian of Faith | Call forth a divine guardian that attacks nearby enemies. | 7 |
| Divine Strike | Strike a foe with your weapon as it becomes wreathed in gleaming radiance. | 8 |
| Mass Cure Wounds | Unleash a soothing hum of energy that heals you and nearby allies. | 9 |
| Greater Restoration | Touch a creature and negate any Charm, Petrification, Stun, or curse afflicting it. | 9 |
| Divine Intervention | You can cast Divine Intervention to invoke your god's aid. Once used, this can never be used again. | 10 |
You’ll also be able to select a new Feat at Level 4, Level 8, and Level 12. We recommend choosing the following for a Life Domain Cleric:
| Level | Feat |
|---|---|
| 4 | Ability Improvement (Put 2 points into Wisdom) |
| 8 | War Caster |
| 12 | Ability Improvement (Put 2 points into Wisdom) |
Baldur’s Gate 3 allows for plenty of fine-tuning when it comes to creating the character of your dreams. Though the above builds are solid, you might find yourself tweaking certain skills and abilities here and there to suit your playstyle—and that’s okay! There isn’t a right or wrong way to design your Cleric, so tinker away while using our guide as a starting point.
