Zardnaar
Legend
IMHO 5E has done a great job on clerics. The class is fun to play,power and you have some very distinct choices to make in terms of domain. In general there are 2 main things to consider with clerics.
1. The generic Cleric spell list.
2. Domain spells and abilities.
I have seen various clerics get played to level 11 so far and I have seen a few domain spells and generic cleric spells get thrown around to make some guesses as to what makes the class tick. Multiple clerics in the party can also work well depending on domains chosen. As a general rule however.
1. Cleric at will damage is meh. Sacred flame is underwhelming but its the only cantrip option that deals damage.
2. Cleric spike and nova damage can be quite impressive especially with domains.
3. Clerical healing in combat is not that great except for the life cleric. Better than most classes but still.
4. Clerics usually make great support characters with a side helping of your chosen domain.
5. Turn undead is not that great but can be awesome later on vs swarms of low CR undead. DM and adventure dependent on how good it will be.
6. Channel Divinity varies greatly in power based on domain.
In game I have seen life, light, tempest and war clerics in action. I would like to think I can rate the other clerics based on their domain abilities and access to the generic cleric spells. Bless is one of the best spells in the game being a rare spell that grants a great modiifer to attack and saving throws. The warcaster feat is also a great feat for all clerics due to spells like bless, spiritual guardians and various domain spells.
Knowledge Domain
The knowledge domain is an interesting domain but it seems weak compared to the other clerical options. This domain is for "priest" type clerics as it lacks access to heavy armor and its domain spells are nothing special. It is however a decent skill monkey ability and you get to add your wisdom modifier to sacred flame damage at level 8. It is one of the better clerics for out of combat use and is part of a jack of all trades multiclass build where you are proficient in all skills and have expertise in 6 skils (Cleric 1/Rogue 1/Lore Bard 3/Warlock 2 XYZ for the rest of your career). Overall though I would probably rate this domain as average as no domain is bad as such and generic cleric spells are still very very good.
Life Domain
More or less the best healer in the game although at low levels it is beaten by the healer feat and a Druid1/LifeCleric X is still the best healer in the game. That is because of the interaction between goodberry spell and the life clerics Disciple of Life ability. The life cleric is also one of those clerics that doesn't have a lot of pressure on it to get a 20 wisdom ASAP as its domain abilities are not tied to wisdom. The life clerics ability to heal far out strips any other type of cleric let alone any other class and it can still deal decent damage via spells like bless (via buffing), Guiding Bolt, Inflict Wounds and Spiritual Guardians. Also gets heavy armor which is nice. Its damage dealt is average at best even by cleric standards but its bonus damage via divine strike is radiant damage which can be useful vs various types of undead- vampires for example. Its domain spell list is full of cleric spells you want to prepare anyway so you can prepare a few utility type spells you may be hard pressed to prepare with other cleric types. Overall I would rate the life cleric as one of the better cleric options.
Light Domain
At first glance the light cleric may not look to exciting. It doesn't get any heavy armor or martial weapons. Not that it matters being honest as medium armor is not that bad and later on you will not be using weapons as this cleric anyway. A quick look at the spell list reveals this cleric can cast fireball which should be interesting. Clerics casting fireball is a rare ability in D&D probably not seen since 2E speciality priests in some splat book as the 3E fire domain did not grant that spell. 5E fireball in a lot of ways is nastier than fireball in 2E and 3E at least if your cleric is below level 9. It deals 8d6 damage on a class with d8 hit dice and medium armor. And its not like the light clerics other domain spells are bad in any way either and you also get faerie fire which is one of the best buff spells in 5E. Even vs fire immune creatures jsut have a few spells like Guiding Bolt, Spiritual Weapon and Spiritual Guardians prepared itas no big deal. It gets even better you also get the flare ability which at level 6 can be used on allies and at level 8 you get to add your wisdom modifier to sacred flames damage. The main reason outside of spells to play this class however is the radiant dawn ability. 2d10+cleric level is actually a lot of damage it is like a mini fireball and it is radiant damage to boot. The area of effect is huge at 30'radius and you do not nuke your allies with it. It is like having an additional level 2 spell available right from level 1 and it recharges on a short reast. At level 6 you can do it twice per short rest and the damage scales so you are now dealing 2d10+6 damage with it. Think about the Goblins in Lost Mines of Phandelver or compare that damage with every other cleric spell and note that it is an area of effect ability. Its like having a level 2 or 3 spell slot that you can use twice and recharge on a short rest. The light clerics spells, flare debuff ability, damage potential and radiant dawn make it the most powerful cleric IMHO its drawback really is lack of heavy armor and that is not much of a draw back.
Nature Domain
The Druidic domain option for clerics. This cleric is often compared to a land Druid and it kind of makes the land Druid look a bit weak. It is better at using shillelagh than the land druid due to bonus damage via divine smite and it can use heavy armor made out of metal so it also has a higher AC than the land druid. Its spell list is nothing special though and its channel divinity ability is not that great. It also lacks a X times per day equal to your wisdom modifier ability and it gains no permanent ability like the life clerics disciple of life ability. Its level 6 dampen elements ability is great however and can be a life saver. The life cleric overall I would rate as a good cleric however its just not as powerful as some of the other clerics IMHO.
Tempest Cleric
The tempest cleric is one of 2 blaster clerics you can pick in 5E the other one is the light cleric. It has a great spell list with several spells at every level being great and its spells combine well with its destructive wrath ability. Put simply once per short rest (twice at level 6) it can maximise lightning or thunder damage. And most of your domain spells have thunder or lightning damage at every level and you can use your higher level spell slots to cast some very large call lightning spells while outside. A level 6 call lightning spell for example deals 60 points of damage per turn per bolt. If the weather is bad you get an extra d10. The cleric is a bit weaker indoors but you still have access to shatter, thunder wave and generic cleric spells and the tempest cleric can wear heavy armor. RAW it is the only class in the game that gets access to the destructive wave spell which is one of the most powerful blasting spells in the game. RAI it is probably a level 5 Paladin spell but the tempest cleric gets access to it at level 9 not level 17 and the Bard is the only other class that can get access to this spell at level 10. Divine strike grants an extra 1d8 thunder bonus to damage (thunder resistance is rare). The only real negative is the lightning clerics wrath of the storm ability while cute is nothing that special compared to some of the better clerical wisdom bonus X times per day abilities. It is hilarious when it works and you kill something big that just hit you. Thunderwave+thunderbolt strike at level 6 can also push NPCs up to 20' away from the caster which can be useful. Overall I regard the tempest cleric as a top tier cleric only beaten by the Light cleric and maybe life and war.
Trickery Domain
The trickery domain is another one of those domains that excels outside of combat and it looks like a lot of fun as well. Between pass without trace and its blessing of the trickster ability it is a great stealth enabler in the party and the class works great for high dexterity clerics with the criminal back ground. It also seems to be a great fit for wood elves. Clerics can also cast enhance ability as well to this cleric can have advantage on 2 different ability scores for skill checks or grant advantage to someone else. That has combat and non combat applications such as initiative rolls, stealth rolls, passive perception etc. The trickery clerics invoke duplicity power is limited by the players imagination and at level 6 you can turn yourself invisible which grants advantage to an attack roll which could be very useful. I can only theory craft how good this cleric is but it looks great and while it can't heal like a life cleric or do as much damage as light/tempest/war there is more to this game than combat. Overall I would rate this as a good domain maybe even great but I would have to see one in action. The cleric is just not focused on combat but it looks like it excels outside combat and it does it better from the look of things than the knowledge or nature clerics.
War Domain.
This domain is basically a pocket fighter domain. You get to use martial weapons and heavy armor, you can make extra attacks er day equal to your wisdom modifier and its channel divinity can be used if you really need to hit someone. Its channel divinity can also be used to offset the penalty to hit with the sharpshooter and great weapon master feats. Its domain spells are also very focused on battle. The only real downside is the class is a little bit MAD as ideally you want a high wisdom and a high strength or dexterity and it is probably one of the few clerics where buffing strength or dexterity instead of wisdom is a good idea. It hits hard, it hits often, it has a good spell list, and nothing has resistance vs its divine strike ability. At low levels its a pocket fighter at higher levels it may start to get outclassed by things like the light and tempest clerics but overall it is a great cleric domain and is one of the better ones.
Or well that is about it. I would rate the light cleric as the best cleric with the life, tempest war clerics nipping at its heels depending on the level of the clerics involved and what your personal preference is. All of the other clerics are useful although the knowledge cleric looks a little weak relative to some of the others even outside combat. The worst cleric in the world still has access to the cleric spell list so none of them are bad.
1. The generic Cleric spell list.
2. Domain spells and abilities.
I have seen various clerics get played to level 11 so far and I have seen a few domain spells and generic cleric spells get thrown around to make some guesses as to what makes the class tick. Multiple clerics in the party can also work well depending on domains chosen. As a general rule however.
1. Cleric at will damage is meh. Sacred flame is underwhelming but its the only cantrip option that deals damage.
2. Cleric spike and nova damage can be quite impressive especially with domains.
3. Clerical healing in combat is not that great except for the life cleric. Better than most classes but still.
4. Clerics usually make great support characters with a side helping of your chosen domain.
5. Turn undead is not that great but can be awesome later on vs swarms of low CR undead. DM and adventure dependent on how good it will be.
6. Channel Divinity varies greatly in power based on domain.
In game I have seen life, light, tempest and war clerics in action. I would like to think I can rate the other clerics based on their domain abilities and access to the generic cleric spells. Bless is one of the best spells in the game being a rare spell that grants a great modiifer to attack and saving throws. The warcaster feat is also a great feat for all clerics due to spells like bless, spiritual guardians and various domain spells.
Knowledge Domain
The knowledge domain is an interesting domain but it seems weak compared to the other clerical options. This domain is for "priest" type clerics as it lacks access to heavy armor and its domain spells are nothing special. It is however a decent skill monkey ability and you get to add your wisdom modifier to sacred flame damage at level 8. It is one of the better clerics for out of combat use and is part of a jack of all trades multiclass build where you are proficient in all skills and have expertise in 6 skils (Cleric 1/Rogue 1/Lore Bard 3/Warlock 2 XYZ for the rest of your career). Overall though I would probably rate this domain as average as no domain is bad as such and generic cleric spells are still very very good.
Life Domain
More or less the best healer in the game although at low levels it is beaten by the healer feat and a Druid1/LifeCleric X is still the best healer in the game. That is because of the interaction between goodberry spell and the life clerics Disciple of Life ability. The life cleric is also one of those clerics that doesn't have a lot of pressure on it to get a 20 wisdom ASAP as its domain abilities are not tied to wisdom. The life clerics ability to heal far out strips any other type of cleric let alone any other class and it can still deal decent damage via spells like bless (via buffing), Guiding Bolt, Inflict Wounds and Spiritual Guardians. Also gets heavy armor which is nice. Its damage dealt is average at best even by cleric standards but its bonus damage via divine strike is radiant damage which can be useful vs various types of undead- vampires for example. Its domain spell list is full of cleric spells you want to prepare anyway so you can prepare a few utility type spells you may be hard pressed to prepare with other cleric types. Overall I would rate the life cleric as one of the better cleric options.
Light Domain
At first glance the light cleric may not look to exciting. It doesn't get any heavy armor or martial weapons. Not that it matters being honest as medium armor is not that bad and later on you will not be using weapons as this cleric anyway. A quick look at the spell list reveals this cleric can cast fireball which should be interesting. Clerics casting fireball is a rare ability in D&D probably not seen since 2E speciality priests in some splat book as the 3E fire domain did not grant that spell. 5E fireball in a lot of ways is nastier than fireball in 2E and 3E at least if your cleric is below level 9. It deals 8d6 damage on a class with d8 hit dice and medium armor. And its not like the light clerics other domain spells are bad in any way either and you also get faerie fire which is one of the best buff spells in 5E. Even vs fire immune creatures jsut have a few spells like Guiding Bolt, Spiritual Weapon and Spiritual Guardians prepared itas no big deal. It gets even better you also get the flare ability which at level 6 can be used on allies and at level 8 you get to add your wisdom modifier to sacred flames damage. The main reason outside of spells to play this class however is the radiant dawn ability. 2d10+cleric level is actually a lot of damage it is like a mini fireball and it is radiant damage to boot. The area of effect is huge at 30'radius and you do not nuke your allies with it. It is like having an additional level 2 spell available right from level 1 and it recharges on a short reast. At level 6 you can do it twice per short rest and the damage scales so you are now dealing 2d10+6 damage with it. Think about the Goblins in Lost Mines of Phandelver or compare that damage with every other cleric spell and note that it is an area of effect ability. Its like having a level 2 or 3 spell slot that you can use twice and recharge on a short rest. The light clerics spells, flare debuff ability, damage potential and radiant dawn make it the most powerful cleric IMHO its drawback really is lack of heavy armor and that is not much of a draw back.
Nature Domain
The Druidic domain option for clerics. This cleric is often compared to a land Druid and it kind of makes the land Druid look a bit weak. It is better at using shillelagh than the land druid due to bonus damage via divine smite and it can use heavy armor made out of metal so it also has a higher AC than the land druid. Its spell list is nothing special though and its channel divinity ability is not that great. It also lacks a X times per day equal to your wisdom modifier ability and it gains no permanent ability like the life clerics disciple of life ability. Its level 6 dampen elements ability is great however and can be a life saver. The life cleric overall I would rate as a good cleric however its just not as powerful as some of the other clerics IMHO.
Tempest Cleric
The tempest cleric is one of 2 blaster clerics you can pick in 5E the other one is the light cleric. It has a great spell list with several spells at every level being great and its spells combine well with its destructive wrath ability. Put simply once per short rest (twice at level 6) it can maximise lightning or thunder damage. And most of your domain spells have thunder or lightning damage at every level and you can use your higher level spell slots to cast some very large call lightning spells while outside. A level 6 call lightning spell for example deals 60 points of damage per turn per bolt. If the weather is bad you get an extra d10. The cleric is a bit weaker indoors but you still have access to shatter, thunder wave and generic cleric spells and the tempest cleric can wear heavy armor. RAW it is the only class in the game that gets access to the destructive wave spell which is one of the most powerful blasting spells in the game. RAI it is probably a level 5 Paladin spell but the tempest cleric gets access to it at level 9 not level 17 and the Bard is the only other class that can get access to this spell at level 10. Divine strike grants an extra 1d8 thunder bonus to damage (thunder resistance is rare). The only real negative is the lightning clerics wrath of the storm ability while cute is nothing that special compared to some of the better clerical wisdom bonus X times per day abilities. It is hilarious when it works and you kill something big that just hit you. Thunderwave+thunderbolt strike at level 6 can also push NPCs up to 20' away from the caster which can be useful. Overall I regard the tempest cleric as a top tier cleric only beaten by the Light cleric and maybe life and war.
Trickery Domain
The trickery domain is another one of those domains that excels outside of combat and it looks like a lot of fun as well. Between pass without trace and its blessing of the trickster ability it is a great stealth enabler in the party and the class works great for high dexterity clerics with the criminal back ground. It also seems to be a great fit for wood elves. Clerics can also cast enhance ability as well to this cleric can have advantage on 2 different ability scores for skill checks or grant advantage to someone else. That has combat and non combat applications such as initiative rolls, stealth rolls, passive perception etc. The trickery clerics invoke duplicity power is limited by the players imagination and at level 6 you can turn yourself invisible which grants advantage to an attack roll which could be very useful. I can only theory craft how good this cleric is but it looks great and while it can't heal like a life cleric or do as much damage as light/tempest/war there is more to this game than combat. Overall I would rate this as a good domain maybe even great but I would have to see one in action. The cleric is just not focused on combat but it looks like it excels outside combat and it does it better from the look of things than the knowledge or nature clerics.
War Domain.
This domain is basically a pocket fighter domain. You get to use martial weapons and heavy armor, you can make extra attacks er day equal to your wisdom modifier and its channel divinity can be used if you really need to hit someone. Its channel divinity can also be used to offset the penalty to hit with the sharpshooter and great weapon master feats. Its domain spells are also very focused on battle. The only real downside is the class is a little bit MAD as ideally you want a high wisdom and a high strength or dexterity and it is probably one of the few clerics where buffing strength or dexterity instead of wisdom is a good idea. It hits hard, it hits often, it has a good spell list, and nothing has resistance vs its divine strike ability. At low levels its a pocket fighter at higher levels it may start to get outclassed by things like the light and tempest clerics but overall it is a great cleric domain and is one of the better ones.
Or well that is about it. I would rate the light cleric as the best cleric with the life, tempest war clerics nipping at its heels depending on the level of the clerics involved and what your personal preference is. All of the other clerics are useful although the knowledge cleric looks a little weak relative to some of the others even outside combat. The worst cleric in the world still has access to the cleric spell list so none of them are bad.
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