I was toying around with a Lawful Evil Life Domain Cleric (I essentially made him an Inquisitor) and would be very genial while gathering information. After all was said, I would then cast Zone of truth asked if they lied or misled me. If they weren't honest, I would have to make them... "Repent"
I've largely found Guiding Bolt to be a major one at lower levels. Decent direct damage to the target plus opening the target up for a heavier hitter to then land a nastier blow? Yes please...
@@Nerdarchy Big problem with Hold Person, though, is that it's far more target limited so relies a lot more on the specifics of the adventures/campaign...Guiding Bolt is pretty much usable in any combat encounter.
Bane, definitely bane. Minus -1d4 to attacks and saving throws, affecting up to 3 creatures? Yeah, good luck escaping my bard's Tasha's hideous laughter after that What i also love about Bane, is that it's a CHA saving throw, not a lot of charismatic trolls out there :P
Personally, I find bless to be a better use of concentration, considering how unlike bane it doesn't require a saving throw, and is a substantial buff.
So my group just started a campaign and we are ALL CLERICS. There is a Light Cleric (myself) and then a War Cleric and a Grave Cleric. In this specific case, we have found that Sanctuary is by far the most useful defensive spell in the game. Since we are all clerics and all have access to it, we just all cast Sanctuary on the person to our right, which means that ANY enemy that wants to attack us has to make Wisdom ST's before they even get the chance to attack, and most of the time they don't have any viable targets so they just loose the attack. Ridiculously powerful. Also, Sanctuary has no concentration, lasts a full minute, and is a bonus actions. All of that AND - if the enemy ends up making the save and getting to attack, (or they lob an area attack or spell at us) the light cleric can just give disadvantage on the attack. If you want a group that is REALLY REALLY REALLY hard to kill, try all clerics. Also I just have to mention that grave clerics are a great way to mess with the DM (in a fun way) - they are better off to heal a downed ally than one at 1 HP, so occasionally the grave cleric will just kill one of us that is at low health to make the most of their next healing spell. Edit: I should point out we use this a lot to make time to heal, prepare, drink potions, etc, safely in combat. Basically we can just take a breather IN COMBAT, if we want to. Or we just use this and the Dash action to avoid combat.
1st level - Bless (Concentration, 1 min) and Healing Word (Bonus action, 30 ft)3rd level - Spiritual Weapon (Bonus action, 1 min, 60ft, force damage, spell attack)The rest is optional to me, but these are must haves. Once you hit 5th level, with Spirit Guardians, Revivify and Mass Healing Word, things get very serious! (the DM realizes that as long as you're standing, the party doesn't have a reason to worry) :D
My cleric had a ring of spell-storing he loaded up with 5 castings of Shield of Faith and gave it to the party Eldritch Knight. He ended up with an AC of 24 with Shield of Faith, and could bump it to 28 with the Shield spell!
I see why you like hold person, but for a low level attack spell, spiritual weapon is just so damn good! It's not limited to humanoids, and can give you so much more functionality with your action economy. I've seen numerous attempts to use hold person feel like a wasted turn when the enemy saves, but even when they miss with the attack from spiritual weapon, the player still sees that attack as a bonus, and they'll just try again next turn.
Honestly, I think the strength of the cleric comes from the fact that I can have a spell list that deviates from this one entirely (save for perhaps Cure Wounds) and I can still boast a very effective cleric. This list is filled to the brim with some great choices that I rarely use. And that's fantastic. There's virtually no wrong way to be a cleric. From an RP perspective, it's all about knowing which spell to use in the right situation (for your character and the party, not straight optimization), and clerics are the most adept at discerning the truths that will lead to making those right decisions. So you can easily RP using bless v. bane, hold person v. inflict wounds, and understanding that casting spiritual weapon is never the wrong move.
Don't forget you can cast two spells in one round so long as one is a cantrip. Cleric can cast Spiritual Weapon as a bonus action and cast Sacred Flame as an Action.
One thing to note is the paralyzed condition states: Any attack that hits the creature is a critical hit if the attacker is within 5 feet of the creature. You can still get within 5 feet and cast a spell like scorching ray. You cast a spell that has an attack roll, your disadvantage cancels out.
If you take magic initiate or ritual caster, you can grab Find Familiar and deliver touch spells that way. Since it acts on its own initiative, it’s hard to deliver attacks that way, but it’s actually a great way to deliver touch buffs mid-battle. With Variant Human you can have this at level 1 :)
I did that with my light cleric so that I could have a cute tiny phoenix as a familiar :3 When I cast inflict wounds through it, it'll beak the target to cause the area to rot >:3 (my cleric is one of those evil priests that uses the light for their evil ways)
Playing a War Cleric, my go-to Spell is Spiritual Weapon and I get Advantage every round as I place the Spiritual Weapon flanking my current melee target. I've always had problems with Guiding Bolt... I roll to many '1's. I rival Laura Bailey with Nat 1s. My DM has started calling me ' Wil Wheaton '
By the current rules Spiritual weapon does NOT create flanking opportunities. The spiritual weapon is not an ally nor a creature. Jeremy Crawford confirmed this. So enjoy it but if your dm changes their mind and desides they don't want to allow it. I would just let it slide.
Although yes cure wounds is a d8, healing word is still something that is very useful because it has a 60' range and not a touch action, which is good to, at least, pick somebody up that has fallen. Provided they at least have a potion or something to help with healing.
i'm surprised spiritual weapons wasn't mentioned! Cleric-only spell that allows you to attack consistently on your bonus action without spending more spell slots? Yes, please!
bless because your party members always miss their target by 1. sanctuary because its almost as good as dodging healing word because you got other stuff to do spiritual weapon so you can protecc and also attacc silence because sometimes you need to no-save soft cc a caster.
My level 1 Hill Dwarf War Cleric uses Bane, Bless, Cure Wounds, Guiding Bolt, and Shield of Faith. I also get to use Divine Favour as well, which i really like, as the extra 1d4 to my already 1d8+1 Warhammer really helps.
Thanks for the video guys. The only thing i would disagree with would be the inclusion of Cure Wounds over Healing Word. In terms of equity Cure Wounds is not a great spell. In the long run it is only going to negate 1 attack, and the cleric needs to be in there to touch the person they're healing. I think Healing Word is a better spell due to it being at range and a bonus action, so the Cleric can still take other (non spell casting) actions...but you're right - it is iconic! Love these videos, love your points of view. Thanks again!
Inflict wounds is an outstanding damage spell. 3d10 at level one is almost unmatched, and there's no limit to the scaling with higher level spell slots, so if you cast it later on at a higher level it pumps correspondingly devastating damage. 10/10 can recommend.
One small piece of feedback could we also have a go to cantrip for the cantrip casting classes especially as at tier 1 spells slots are few and far between
I’m playing a cleric/necromancer tiefling. My spells are as follows. 1st level spells Bane healing word Inflict wounds 2nd level spells Spiritual Weapon 3rd level spells Speak with dead Animate dead Spirit Guardians 4th level spells Guardian of Faith. I’m level 8 and these are my stats. AC 18 Initiative +3 Hp 52 Str 6 (-2) Dex 16 (+3) Con 14 (+2) Int 13 (+1) Wis 16 (+3) Cha 13 (+1) Any information on how to improve or if I need to change anything?
You can add three more spells from the Cleric list, and whatever spells (from the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th) are on the free spells from your Domain. Essentially, your number of prepared spells is your level + your Wisdom modifier (8+3). Your Domain gives you even more spells, which doesn't count towards those prepared spells, so you should actually have 19 spells.
onceuponthecross1 my storyline is that I’m a cleric who has a girl he’s in love with but who becomes sick and is slowly dying, I’m unable to heal her no matter what spell I use or God I pray to. She dies and as a last ditch effort I delve into necromancy to bring her back only to find out that she will someday be reincarnated, so I decide to become a lich so I can see her again. My character is lawful evil.
@@Nerdarchy ya 8 hours that's like the whole adventuring day lol. Plus if you cast at higher levels it ads 5 per level. The wizard can now survive alittle longer.
@@alexanderbering7845 how do define hold person than. DDB lists it as a control spell which I agree with. For the intent of this video close enough for us. Maybe debuff, but it completely neutralizes a target making it bit stronger than a debuff in my opinion. Nerdarchist Dave
@Nerdarchy I would definitely define it as a control spell. If that's close enough for you for the purpose of this video then that is fine. I was just fully expecting the go to Tier 1 attack cleric spell to be Guiding Bolt.
My personal favorites for a 1st level Cleric: Healing Word Coure Wounds Bane Bless Command Favorite Domain: I am torn, I like all of them and don't have a favorite, however life, arcane and order domain is near and dear to my heart.
Heck I cast aid at max level after every long rest. It's a rare fight where I don't see at least one PC stay up because of Aid. Given the amount of AE you see at high levels the extra HP gets used.
When you start getting to the level when monsters are getting crazy amounts of AC, you're gonna need that bless up. Works wonders with a paladin aura, and for players who just have the worst time ever with their rolls.
It was a tough call between aid and bless for the buff. Aids long duration and lack of concentration means you've got more options like doing both. Bless locks you into none concentration spells only. Aid can also easily be cast out of combat and will likely still be there when you need it. For all these reasons it nudged bless out. Nerdarchist Dave
FYI: unless it’s changed since here, D&DBeyond free version doesn’t have all the cleric domains. In fact it only has Life domain. Also missing some other things. I think it lacks backgrounds too. Again, free version no books purchased.
As a cleric main, Imma be pissed if Guiding Bolt or Spiritual Weapon are not in this list. Update: I admit all of these spells are pretty essential to a cleric, but I love my Guiding Bolt.
Resident DM is only allowing core to avoid players making 5e Pun-Pun. Due to this, I plan on using War Cleric to flavor as it. Divine intervention being basically a guaranteed hit early on, shield of faith almost always being flavored as a force-field, and divine favor+heavy crossbow deals roughly the same DPS as an Eldridge cannon.
My favorite low level healing combo, life transference on low party member, next turn charge in and use vampric touch + CD (death domain) to get hp back in 2 rounds
Certainly for a life domain cleric healing word is better than cure wounds. The difference on the die between 1D4 and 1D8 is 2. A life domain cleric with 16 wisdom heals for +5 healing. So they would heal for 7.5 or 9.5 on average. You would be trading 20% of your cure wounds to get the ability to cast at range, cast with no somatic component (meaning you can sword and board without war caster), and its cast as a bonus action. So you still have an action to cast a cantrip or attack. The game is deeply about action economy. 20% of a small heal to gain all of that is HUGE! Without life domain it’s about 26% of your heal. Personally, I’d still go for healing word. But with the life domain it feels like an easy choice.
I actually prefer healing word over cure wounds. You may heal for half, but it's a bonus action. This means at level 5, a cantrip like toll the dead deals a possible 24 damage. The strategy is to only heal others only when they go down. Think of it like this: Max healing from cure wounds is 8+5=13. A character rolling death saving throws doesn't care about damage values; therefore you squeeze more efficiency out of the spell. You're not going to cure others out of combat because they can heal themselves. If they don't have any more hit die, you most likely don't have any more spell slots anyways. If you can supply everyone with a couple scrolls of healing word, then the person before the downed character can utilize their bonus action to pick up the player. Now no one even misses their turn and can still deal more damage than cure wounds would heal.
Hey Nerdarchy I was wondering if you could do a "Best Class for Gnolls?" As a race they are underdeveloped and I've been thinking about running a campaign where they feature prominently so I was wondering which class would best suit them.
As far as spells go, I figured that buff spell of choice would have been Bless. That 1d4 to saves and attacks might honestly be the difference between a hit or miss, or a save or die. If you think about how good a Bard's Inspiration die is to players, you basically get this on everything but ability checks. Iconic spell I figured was going to be Spiritual Weapon. Cleric is the only one to get it for one, and it basically gives you an extra attack where you might not otherwise get one. Overlooked spell I'd probably say Prayer of Healing honestly. Reason being is cause most people are worried about in combat "get you up" spells so most recommend Healing Word. Thats great, but it doesn't give you a lot to do when you need some serious health or just need a top off outside of combat. With something like Life Domain or Divine Sorcerer, you can change up that healing and make sure everyone gets some extra health
I love Sanctuary..if you want to keep someone safe, cast it on them and as long as they don’t attack, anything that wants to attack them first has to pass a will save...then actually hit them. Almost like giving any attack against them disadvantage..and it doesn’t require my consentration.
I feel as if Prayer of healing should have been mentioned with healing in the fact you can heal up to six people including your self so for a smaller party it would a great spell to have.
wow so very different to my picks. Spiritual weapon for the consistent damage, i like overcasting it to make it crazy Bless as one of the few ways to provide direct bonuses to attack rolls and saving throws for 3 or more allies Shield of Faith is superb i agree, a simple +2 AC to Target as a Bonus action Utility was a tough one but i think i agree. shout out to Detect good and Evil though overlooked spell, yeah, sanctuary is good for that. And the quintessential Cleric spell was a toss up between Word of Healing and Cure wounds good show gents, as always
I think an underrated spell for Clerics is Inflict Wounds. Especially for tanky heavy armor boys. Just wade into the melee and lay down 3d10 Necrotic Damage on a troublesome target? Glorious.
@@Nerdarchy Taking bets on whether or not you're where I got the idea and forgot about it. 🤣 Let's go see if I've already liked the video! Edit: Yup! 🤣 I love you guys. I made a War Domain Cleric with the War Caster feat specifically so I can use Inflict Wounds for Opportunity Attacks if I so choose.
@@rangawtf it can also be used in combat, but you give up your action to give advantage on a single attack. It's generally a bad trade. Nerdarchist Dave
As a main cleric i can say this: Hold Person is massive Aid just save so many games Shield of faith is just solid, not as much as solid as other options, but hey..that is gonna +2 try to go on multiple encounters Zone of truth has to go on pc vs npc or npc vs npc, never pc vs pc but out of that i asked for it so many times Sanctuary is grat if you're not the last man standing, but if so.. GG
How is it that Bless was not mentioned as a top Buff spell?!?! It starts and stays relevant through an entire campaign!! Also, no mention of Guiding Bolt for a go to attack spell either?!?!
Had a question about the Cleric do you think the gnome could be a cleric I haven’t played one but from what I’ve seen and heard about them they could be front line and ranged. However I wanted to make a gnome cleric but I don’t know if the race would effect the class if it makes sense
Thanks for the guide! I've just met my party - a bit fragile spellcasters (lock, bard...). My Cleric: "So, who's gonna man the frontline with me?" Monk: "Raises hand". Me: "Riiiight.."
Twin shield of faith awesome! Aid extended to 16 hours incredible. But for attack I'd relook at guiding bolt twin or inflict wounds twin or distant. Some of my thoughts off the top of my head. Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy It is amazing how metamagic reinforces or recontextualizes the cleric spell list choices. It was a very interesting design choice when they decided to make metamagic exclusive to Sorcerers, and then again even more when they finally decided to give us divine blooded Sorcerers. But, yeah, Hold Person is nice to have in your back pocket when you can prepare spells each day, but not so much when you have to wait until your next level up to get rid of it when you're fighting only monsters. Zone of Truth, while super cool, is also hard to justify with limited spells known and the option to just sweet talk or "sweet talk" a NPC/foe for information always on the table. Still, always room to let what your divine source is override practicality. Be hard to pass up on Zone of Truth if you're a Dragonborn blessed by Bahamut, for instance. Actually, that'd make a good single class build video, focusing on how to emulate Bahamut's known tactics, mentality, and abilities as a Divine Soul Sorcerer. Still haven't quite figured out what the best analogue for his gaseous-form breath weapon would be. (I guess there is also the option of taking a 1 or 2 level dip in fighter or Paladin first, though, if one were to insist on getting use out of that racial Str bonus and tendency to prefer getting up close in combat.)
True. However, since a low level cleric has a limited number of creatures he can effect with Bane a 2AC boost from Shield of Faith could be better if a character is under attack from many creatures such as surrounded by giant rats.
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I've used Guiding Bolt twice. And it missed twice. My Guiding Bolt needs Guidance.
I'll see myself out.
rpm297, Do you need guidance finding the door?
I'll leave the back way.
#TrueStrikeAin’tUseless
*Slow claps*
Not when you have a Sorcerer with Divine Soul! (Invokes "Favored By the Gods", add 2d4 to attack roll).
Great spell combination that clerics can do as early as level 3:
Zone of Truth & and Command, the word being; Confess
How have I never seen this.
I was toying around with a Lawful Evil Life Domain Cleric (I essentially made him an Inquisitor) and would be very genial while gathering information. After all was said, I would then cast Zone of truth asked if they lied or misled me.
If they weren't honest, I would have to make them... "Repent"
@@AllThingsFascinate The person could confess anything, "when I was 12 I kicked my dog!"
@@DAEDRICDUKE1 Ask the question then say confess
@@crabmaster8174 they can still confess to anything they want. The spell isnt affectes by what you ask them nonmagically to do.
I've largely found Guiding Bolt to be a major one at lower levels. Decent direct damage to the target plus opening the target up for a heavier hitter to then land a nastier blow? Yes please...
It was the number 2 attack spell choice.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy Big problem with Hold Person, though, is that it's far more target limited so relies a lot more on the specifics of the adventures/campaign...Guiding Bolt is pretty much usable in any combat encounter.
Bless is an amazing 1st level buff spell as a bonus to both attack rolls and saving throws, and Guiding bolt is a pretty decent damage spell.
Probably our 2nd choice for buff spells. That duration combined with no being a concentration spell is why we chose aid.
Nerdarchist Dave
Bless is my go to spell I just got access to Holy Aura which is the best cleric buff in the game.
Bane, definitely bane. Minus -1d4 to attacks and saving throws, affecting up to 3 creatures? Yeah, good luck escaping my bard's Tasha's hideous laughter after that
What i also love about Bane, is that it's a CHA saving throw, not a lot of charismatic trolls out there :P
Bane is a great debuff spell.
Nerdarchist Dave
Personally, I find bless to be a better use of concentration, considering how unlike bane it doesn't require a saving throw, and is a substantial buff.
"There are two types of clerics, one that casts Bless and one that casts Bane." -Both my DMs in unison.
@@UsernameXOXO I cast both :)
So my group just started a campaign and we are ALL CLERICS. There is a Light Cleric (myself) and then a War Cleric and a Grave Cleric. In this specific case, we have found that Sanctuary is by far the most useful defensive spell in the game. Since we are all clerics and all have access to it, we just all cast Sanctuary on the person to our right, which means that ANY enemy that wants to attack us has to make Wisdom ST's before they even get the chance to attack, and most of the time they don't have any viable targets so they just loose the attack. Ridiculously powerful. Also, Sanctuary has no concentration, lasts a full minute, and is a bonus actions. All of that AND - if the enemy ends up making the save and getting to attack, (or they lob an area attack or spell at us) the light cleric can just give disadvantage on the attack. If you want a group that is REALLY REALLY REALLY hard to kill, try all clerics. Also I just have to mention that grave clerics are a great way to mess with the DM (in a fun way) - they are better off to heal a downed ally than one at 1 HP, so occasionally the grave cleric will just kill one of us that is at low health to make the most of their next healing spell.
Edit: I should point out we use this a lot to make time to heal, prepare, drink potions, etc, safely in combat. Basically we can just take a breather IN COMBAT, if we want to. Or we just use this and the Dash action to avoid combat.
1st level - Bless (Concentration, 1 min) and Healing Word (Bonus action, 30 ft)3rd level - Spiritual Weapon (Bonus action, 1 min, 60ft, force damage, spell attack)The rest is optional to me, but these are must haves.
Once you hit 5th level, with Spirit Guardians, Revivify and Mass Healing Word, things get very serious! (the DM realizes that as long as you're standing, the party doesn't have a reason to worry) :D
That's why you always kill the cleric 1st.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy I can hear the evil hordes chanting in a sing-song voice 'kill the cletic, kill the cleric'
My cleric had a ring of spell-storing he loaded up with 5 castings of Shield of Faith and gave it to the party Eldritch Knight. He ended up with an AC of 24 with Shield of Faith, and could bump it to 28 with the Shield spell!
I see why you like hold person, but for a low level attack spell, spiritual weapon is just so damn good! It's not limited to humanoids, and can give you so much more functionality with your action economy. I've seen numerous attempts to use hold person feel like a wasted turn when the enemy saves, but even when they miss with the attack from spiritual weapon, the player still sees that attack as a bonus, and they'll just try again next turn.
Hold Person never works when I need it to in my experience tbh. The opponents always save.
Honestly, I think the strength of the cleric comes from the fact that I can have a spell list that deviates from this one entirely (save for perhaps Cure Wounds) and I can still boast a very effective cleric. This list is filled to the brim with some great choices that I rarely use. And that's fantastic. There's virtually no wrong way to be a cleric.
From an RP perspective, it's all about knowing which spell to use in the right situation (for your character and the party, not straight optimization), and clerics are the most adept at discerning the truths that will lead to making those right decisions. So you can easily RP using bless v. bane, hold person v. inflict wounds, and understanding that casting spiritual weapon is never the wrong move.
100% agree.
Nerdarchist Dave
Our cleric used sanctuary in our last game. It’s a great spell to use on the first character of a party going forth into ominous areas.
Don't forget you can cast two spells in one round so long as one is a cantrip. Cleric can cast Spiritual Weapon as a bonus action and cast Sacred Flame as an Action.
@ajs1031 Action Surging Life Cleric sounds delicious for the heals!
One thing to note is the paralyzed condition states: Any attack that hits the creature is a critical hit if the attacker is within 5 feet of the creature.
You can still get within 5 feet and cast a spell like scorching ray. You cast a spell that has an attack roll, your disadvantage cancels out.
If you take magic initiate or ritual caster, you can grab Find Familiar and deliver touch spells that way. Since it acts on its own initiative, it’s hard to deliver attacks that way, but it’s actually a great way to deliver touch buffs mid-battle. With Variant Human you can have this at level 1 :)
I did that with my light cleric so that I could have a cute tiny phoenix as a familiar :3
When I cast inflict wounds through it, it'll beak the target to cause the area to rot >:3 (my cleric is one of those evil priests that uses the light for their evil ways)
Playing a War Cleric, my go-to Spell is Spiritual Weapon and I get Advantage every round as I place the Spiritual Weapon flanking my current melee target.
I've always had problems with Guiding Bolt... I roll to many '1's.
I rival Laura Bailey with Nat 1s.
My DM has started calling me ' Wil Wheaton '
Mistah Bryan That’s awesome that your DM allows flanking from spiritual weapon!
Careful throwing that name around. The curse is becoming omnipresent.
By the current rules Spiritual weapon does NOT create flanking opportunities.
The spiritual weapon is not an ally nor a creature.
Jeremy Crawford confirmed this.
So enjoy it but if your dm changes their mind and desides they don't want to allow it. I would just let it slide.
If you include cantrips, guidance is a must have
Although yes cure wounds is a d8, healing word is still something that is very useful because it has a 60' range and not a touch action, which is good to, at least, pick somebody up that has fallen. Provided they at least have a potion or something to help with healing.
i'm surprised spiritual weapons wasn't mentioned! Cleric-only spell that allows you to attack consistently on your bonus action without spending more spell slots? Yes, please!
bless because your party members always miss their target by 1.
sanctuary because its almost as good as dodging
healing word because you got other stuff to do
spiritual weapon so you can protecc and also attacc
silence because sometimes you need to no-save soft cc a caster.
I would love to see more on spells for each class.
Thank you. Help us survive lower tier. At mid tier we have plenty of time to pick our own spells
We love it when you point out multiple spells in round, extra actions that may be taken, and stacking effects.
My level 1 Hill Dwarf War Cleric uses Bane, Bless, Cure Wounds, Guiding Bolt, and Shield of Faith. I also get to use Divine Favour as well, which i really like, as the extra 1d4 to my already 1d8+1 Warhammer really helps.
That's a good selection for a war cleric.
Nerdarchist Dave
Thanks for the video guys. The only thing i would disagree with would be the inclusion of Cure Wounds over Healing Word. In terms of equity Cure Wounds is not a great spell. In the long run it is only going to negate 1 attack, and the cleric needs to be in there to touch the person they're healing. I think Healing Word is a better spell due to it being at range and a bonus action, so the Cleric can still take other (non spell casting) actions...but you're right - it is iconic! Love these videos, love your points of view. Thanks again!
please continue this series, I find it very useful for generating Pre-gen characters.
They might only be cantrips but Sacred Flame and Toll the Dead are very useful. Guidance is another good low level spell.
Intro magic is still flowing. Keep at it.
Inflict wounds is an outstanding damage spell. 3d10 at level one is almost unmatched, and there's no limit to the scaling with higher level spell slots, so if you cast it later on at a higher level it pumps correspondingly devastating damage. 10/10 can recommend.
I would like to see second and third tier spell lists.
Also, I'd love to see a character build based around Cause Wounds.
Inflict wounds definitely could use more love. Next tier for wizard is in the can. I'm sure we'll shoot the other classes and tiers.
Nerdarchist Dave
One small piece of feedback could we also have a go to cantrip for the cantrip casting classes especially as at tier 1 spells slots are few and far between
Maybe we'll do a top 3 cantrips per class or something.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy yes please!
I understand that the following spells aren’t too low level, but, have any of you guys used Beacon of Hope with Prayer of Healing? It’s great.
We will eventually get around to the higher tiers.
Nerdarchist Dave
I’m playing a cleric/necromancer tiefling. My spells are as follows. 1st level spells
Bane
healing word
Inflict wounds
2nd level spells
Spiritual Weapon
3rd level spells
Speak with dead
Animate dead
Spirit Guardians
4th level spells
Guardian of Faith. I’m level 8 and these are my stats.
AC 18
Initiative +3
Hp 52
Str 6 (-2)
Dex 16 (+3)
Con 14 (+2)
Int 13 (+1)
Wis 16 (+3)
Cha 13 (+1)
Any information on how to improve or if I need to change anything?
You can add three more spells from the Cleric list, and whatever spells (from the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th) are on the free spells from your Domain.
Essentially, your number of prepared spells is your level + your Wisdom modifier (8+3). Your Domain gives you even more spells, which doesn't count towards those prepared spells, so you should actually have 19 spells.
multiclass wizard/cleric?if yes, great utility char but being behind in power compared to your party can be frustrating.
onceuponthecross1 my storyline is that I’m a cleric who has a girl he’s in love with but who becomes sick and is slowly dying, I’m unable to heal her no matter what spell I use or God I pray to. She dies and as a last ditch effort I delve into necromancy to bring her back only to find out that she will someday be reincarnated, so I decide to become a lich so I can see her again. My character is lawful evil.
Thank you for publishing this list. I will research and try out anything I haven't done yet. I would be interested in other levels and classes.
We've got the next tier of wizard shot and we are looking to do druid next.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy Thank you! Much appreciated.
Re. DnD Beyond free version - Can we choose any feat for Variant Human yet? Locked to Grappler in the past, no other choice.
I literally started making a cleric last night lol. This is awesom; thanks
Eerie ain't it?
Your welcome.
Nerdarchist Dave
Yay clerics! Bless is a favorite first level spell of mine.
Bless is a great spell. The reason aid nudges out is duration and it doesn't require concentration.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy ya 8 hours that's like the whole adventuring day lol. Plus if you cast at higher levels it ads 5 per level. The wizard can now survive alittle longer.
I’m surprised guilding bolt didn’t make the list
Number 2 choice for attack spells.
Nerdarchist Dave
@Nerdarchy But hold person, in my opinion, isn't an attack spell because it doesn't do damage. Do you define attack spells differently?
@@alexanderbering7845 how do define hold person than. DDB lists it as a control spell which I agree with. For the intent of this video close enough for us. Maybe debuff, but it completely neutralizes a target making it bit stronger than a debuff in my opinion.
Nerdarchist Dave
@Nerdarchy I would definitely define it as a control spell. If that's close enough for you for the purpose of this video then that is fine. I was just fully expecting the go to Tier 1 attack cleric spell to be Guiding Bolt.
@@alexanderbering7845it was definitely a contender.
Nerdarchist Dave
We're gonna have to have faith to make this one work lolol
My personal favorites for a 1st level Cleric:
Healing Word
Coure Wounds
Bane
Bless
Command
Favorite Domain:
I am torn, I like all of them and don't have a favorite, however life, arcane and order domain is near and dear to my heart.
Heck I cast aid at max level after every long rest. It's a rare fight where I don't see at least one PC stay up because of Aid. Given the amount of AE you see at high levels the extra HP gets used.
And because it's max hp that gets increased you can keep topping those hit points off.
Nerdarchist Dave
When you start getting to the level when monsters are getting crazy amounts of AC, you're gonna need that bless up. Works wonders with a paladin aura, and for players who just have the worst time ever with their rolls.
It was a tough call between aid and bless for the buff. Aids long duration and lack of concentration means you've got more options like doing both. Bless locks you into none concentration spells only. Aid can also easily be cast out of combat and will likely still be there when you need it. For all these reasons it nudged bless out.
Nerdarchist Dave
This helps me alot starting out with an air genasi nature domain cleric...I feel kinda busted lol
I like the idea of higher level go to spells and lists for other classes!
It would be cool if you could cast aid as a ritual spell before leaving camp in the morning, that way you don't burn up spell slots.
best early game cleric spell is chaos bolt. 1st level spell in the extended spell list of...can you guess?...The cleric of chaos!
And yes do more such videos. Watched most of what you've done in the last couple of years.
People seem to be digging it. So we will be doing them all.
Nerdarchist Dave
You should totally do all the other caster classes! I would love to see your take on the bard!
FYI: unless it’s changed since here, D&DBeyond free version doesn’t have all the cleric domains. In fact it only has Life domain.
Also missing some other things. I think it lacks backgrounds too. Again, free version no books purchased.
As a cleric main, Imma be pissed if Guiding Bolt or Spiritual Weapon are not in this list.
Update: I admit all of these spells are pretty essential to a cleric, but I love my Guiding Bolt.
Hey guys! I'm in my first Campaign and managed to reach Level 10 without dying. What spells should my Cleric be using at Level 10?
Level 10 you've got up to 5th level spells lots of great options. Spirit guardians has gotten a lot of play at our table.
Nerdarchist Dave
Resident DM is only allowing core to avoid players making 5e Pun-Pun. Due to this, I plan on using War Cleric to flavor as it. Divine intervention being basically a guaranteed hit early on, shield of faith almost always being flavored as a force-field, and divine favor+heavy crossbow deals roughly the same DPS as an Eldridge cannon.
My favorite low level healing combo, life transference on low party member, next turn charge in and use vampric touch + CD (death domain) to get hp back in 2 rounds
Certainly for a life domain cleric healing word is better than cure wounds. The difference on the die between 1D4 and 1D8 is 2. A life domain cleric with 16 wisdom heals for +5 healing. So they would heal for 7.5 or 9.5 on average. You would be trading 20% of your cure wounds to get the ability to cast at range, cast with no somatic component (meaning you can sword and board without war caster), and its cast as a bonus action. So you still have an action to cast a cantrip or attack.
The game is deeply about action economy. 20% of a small heal to gain all of that is HUGE!
Without life domain it’s about 26% of your heal. Personally, I’d still go for healing word. But with the life domain it feels like an easy choice.
Top spells for any cleric/healer character/bane. Shield,heal wounds,and wish,or limited wish.When level is high enough.
I actually prefer healing word over cure wounds. You may heal for half, but it's a bonus action. This means at level 5, a cantrip like toll the dead deals a possible 24 damage. The strategy is to only heal others only when they go down.
Think of it like this:
Max healing from cure wounds is 8+5=13. A character rolling death saving throws doesn't care about damage values; therefore you squeeze more efficiency out of the spell. You're not going to cure others out of combat because they can heal themselves. If they don't have any more hit die, you most likely don't have any more spell slots anyways. If you can supply everyone with a couple scrolls of healing word, then the person before the downed character can utilize their bonus action to pick up the player. Now no one even misses their turn and can still deal more damage than cure wounds would heal.
Hold person, then guiding bolt. 8d6 +advantage on next strike. Works ok as long as they have low Wis.
Aid is also like casting healing word three times in a row.
Hey Nerdarchy I was wondering if you could do a "Best Class for Gnolls?" As a race they are underdeveloped and I've been thinking about running a campaign where they feature prominently so I was wondering which class would best suit them.
At least in previous editions the ones with class levels have mostly been clerics or rangers. Barbarian would probably fit well too.
That would be fun, but it'll low on the list because it's not playable race.
Nerdarchist Dave
At 9:40 what book are you guys talking about? I want to read this book
I'd like to see you guys through every tier of every class. especially cleric
One thing about sanctuary, it says nothing about their summons, so a death domain cleric with an army of undead can still attack while being safe
As far as spells go, I figured that buff spell of choice would have been Bless. That 1d4 to saves and attacks might honestly be the difference between a hit or miss, or a save or die. If you think about how good a Bard's Inspiration die is to players, you basically get this on everything but ability checks.
Iconic spell I figured was going to be Spiritual Weapon. Cleric is the only one to get it for one, and it basically gives you an extra attack where you might not otherwise get one.
Overlooked spell I'd probably say Prayer of Healing honestly. Reason being is cause most people are worried about in combat "get you up" spells so most recommend Healing Word. Thats great, but it doesn't give you a lot to do when you need some serious health or just need a top off outside of combat. With something like Life Domain or Divine Sorcerer, you can change up that healing and make sure everyone gets some extra health
I love Sanctuary..if you want to keep someone safe, cast it on them and as long as they don’t attack, anything that wants to attack them first has to pass a will save...then actually hit them. Almost like giving any attack against them disadvantage..and it doesn’t require my consentration.
I feel as if Prayer of healing should have been mentioned with healing in the fact you can heal up to six people including your self so for a smaller party it would a great spell to have.
wow so very different to my picks.
Spiritual weapon for the consistent damage, i like overcasting it to make it crazy
Bless as one of the few ways to provide direct bonuses to attack rolls and saving throws for 3 or more allies
Shield of Faith is superb i agree, a simple +2 AC to Target as a Bonus action
Utility was a tough one but i think i agree. shout out to Detect good and Evil though
overlooked spell, yeah, sanctuary is good for that.
And the quintessential Cleric spell was a toss up between Word of Healing and Cure wounds
good show gents, as always
Very few things that add to your ac
Unless you’re a blade singer. Then you can have 30 AC at like level 8.
I think an underrated spell for Clerics is Inflict Wounds. Especially for tanky heavy armor boys. Just wade into the melee and lay down 3d10 Necrotic Damage on a troublesome target? Glorious.
We've got a full build based on that spell:
th-cam.com/video/BnwBaAZdt8s/w-d-xo.html
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy Taking bets on whether or not you're where I got the idea and forgot about it. 🤣 Let's go see if I've already liked the video!
Edit: Yup! 🤣 I love you guys. I made a War Domain Cleric with the War Caster feat specifically so I can use Inflict Wounds for Opportunity Attacks if I so choose.
I would consider healing word better in a pinch, since it is more action efficient and requires no movement.
Does the Aid spell and Inspiring leader stack or is this considered the only one that can apply any given time?
I believe in you, Nerdarchy!
Thanks!
Nerdarchist Dave
Can you do a video on the action HELP? Its limitations uses particularly with companions and or allies
It's just literally 'helping' an ally that is doing a skill check, by giving them advantage. It's not a combat action
@@rangawtf it can also be used in combat, but you give up your action to give advantage on a single attack. It's generally a bad trade.
Nerdarchist Dave
As a main cleric i can say this:
Hold Person is massive
Aid just save so many games
Shield of faith is just solid, not as much as solid as other options, but hey..that is gonna +2 try to go on multiple encounters
Zone of truth has to go on pc vs npc or npc vs npc, never pc vs pc but out of that i asked for it so many times
Sanctuary is grat if you're not the last man standing, but if so.. GG
Best Cleric spell, ceremony. I love marryining two players together and then they just magically have 20 AC.
When I play death domain cleric:
Me: *hey guys I have a spell where I can touch something with my finger and it gets thanos snapped*
DM: *get out.*
How could you leave out spiritual weapon?
I wish there was a cleric spell called subsume for undead that plants the target 6 ft under ground. Even better if it stone
I forgot how funny that opening is lol
How is it that Bless was not mentioned as a top Buff spell?!?! It starts and stays relevant through an entire campaign!! Also, no mention of Guiding Bolt for a go to attack spell either?!?!
Hold Person has missed literally every time anyone I know has tried it.
Let the players use Inspiration to give the DM disadvantage ;)
Bummer.
Nerdarchist Dave
Had a question about the Cleric do you think the gnome could be a cleric I haven’t played one but from what I’ve seen and heard about them they could be front line and ranged. However I wanted to make a gnome cleric but I don’t know if the race would effect the class if it makes sense
Thanks for the guide! I've just met my party - a bit fragile spellcasters (lock, bard...). My Cleric: "So, who's gonna man the frontline with me?" Monk: "Raises hand". Me: "Riiiight.."
Monks are pretty good on the front line. Deflect missiles is pretty crazy.
@@gabrielrockman Imma still buff them :) powerful as they may be d8 hit die with no access to healing can bite one in the butt
Inflict Wounds packs a punch for 1st level spell
BANE!!!!!! one of the best spells in the game. Good way to screw over your dm
Nerdarchist Ted is my boiiiii
I BELIEVE!!
Bless is the best low level cleric spell and scales just as well at Tier 4 as Tier 1.
How does apotheosis work in 5th edition for the creation of new gods?
Not sure haven't seen it mentioned in 5e.
Nerdarchist Dave
May the Dead be Tolled?
Just remember if we don't get tolls we don't get rolls
@@faishiro5009, we're men! We're men in tights! TIGHT tights.
Plz do the higher tiers of the wizard and cleric plz
We've the tier of wizard shot and are planning to shoot druid next. These are a lot of fun.
Nerdarchist Dave
Thanks for the video
What about bless or even better bane
I am playing a cleric in a pathfinder game, the party would be dead several times over had i been a bad healer
Wow 5 year old video still fun to watch.
But, would you say these are just as go-to for a Divine Soul Sorcerer?
Twin shield of faith awesome! Aid extended to 16 hours incredible. But for attack I'd relook at guiding bolt twin or inflict wounds twin or distant. Some of my thoughts off the top of my head.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy It is amazing how metamagic reinforces or recontextualizes the cleric spell list choices. It was a very interesting design choice when they decided to make metamagic exclusive to Sorcerers, and then again even more when they finally decided to give us divine blooded Sorcerers.
But, yeah, Hold Person is nice to have in your back pocket when you can prepare spells each day, but not so much when you have to wait until your next level up to get rid of it when you're fighting only monsters. Zone of Truth, while super cool, is also hard to justify with limited spells known and the option to just sweet talk or "sweet talk" a NPC/foe for information always on the table. Still, always room to let what your divine source is override practicality. Be hard to pass up on Zone of Truth if you're a Dragonborn blessed by Bahamut, for instance.
Actually, that'd make a good single class build video, focusing on how to emulate Bahamut's known tactics, mentality, and abilities as a Divine Soul Sorcerer. Still haven't quite figured out what the best analogue for his gaseous-form breath weapon would be. (I guess there is also the option of taking a 1 or 2 level dip in fighter or Paladin first, though, if one were to insist on getting use out of that racial Str bonus and tendency to prefer getting up close in combat.)
it puts the lotion on the shin
I still think is extremely odd that most D&D games are tier 1-2 my group doesn't start games under level 5
If they're not a walking first aid kit they might as well stay in the temple
Bane > Shield of Faith. Reducing 3+ enemies hit roll by 1d4 (statisticly 2,5) against everyone is better as buffing one player AC by 2 imo.
True. However, since a low level cleric has a limited number of creatures he can effect with Bane a 2AC boost from Shield of Faith could be better if a character is under attack from many creatures such as surrounded by giant rats.
WOO MORE CLERICS :P
i love Clerics
Sure thing.
Nerdarchist Dave