Forge Cleric Build Guide – Forge Your Destiny – 2024 Update
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For all D&D guides on Nat1gaming, they only use the main sourcebooks (Player’s Handbook, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything) as well as Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos (mostly for Silvery Barbs) as those tend to be the most commonly used books at tables. Always be sure that if you’re following a guide that you’re adhering to your tables rules about what sourcebooks you are allowed to follow.
Any spell, class, feature, or other game item that is linkable on this website is covered by the 5th edition Open Games License and will be in the Player’s Handbook, but not everything in the Player’s Handbook will be linked to. All other materials that aren’t linked to are from other sourcebooks or aren’t allowed to be linked to per the 5th Edition Open Games License, so please refer to the appropriate sourcebooks for that information.
For the purposes of this guide, it will be assumed that you would not be multiclassing. While multiclassing can be excellent for many of these, this is for those who want to play the build all the way through in the same class. Guides that use multiclassing will be separate from these.
For spellcasters, you may notice substantial overlap between the spell lists of builds with the same base class. This is due to each guide utilizing a generically good spell list and not considering extenuating factors that will influence how you particularly sculpt your spell list. When creating your own spell list, you should take into account the campaign setting, what spells any other party members are capable of casting, potential overlap (ritual spells tend to overlap so it’s rare you need multiple people capable of casting them), or potential shortcomings in the parties total spell list. While this guide can definitely help point you in the right direction for crafting a spell list, you should use your judgement and preferences to figure out what spells make the most sense for your character.
To that end, please refer to the Spell List and Spell Tier list for any substitutions you’d want to make to the build.
Cleric Spell List and Spell Tier List
Why Forge Domain Cleric?
Do you like being the tankiest spellcaster known to man? Then you’ve come to the right class. Forge Clerics specialize in their defensive capabilities as they’ll have ridiculous high ACs, but unlike other tanks, you’ll also have really good saving throws (sans Dexterity) as you’re still a Wisdom caster first and foremost.
Furthermore, you are pretty good in melee as well giving you a lot of versatility in how you approach combat.
Finally, your Forge Domain spell list has a nice mix of powerful combat spells with (admittedly not great) situational utility
Forge Cleric Abilities Ranked
Bonus Proficiencies (Level 3) – D- Tier – This was a good ability until the Protector from Divine Order was a thing. Still, if you want to pick Thaumaturge (I don’t know why you would want to), then this is obviously decent.
Blessings of the Forge (Level 3) – B Tier – Getting +1 equipment, especially early, is pretty good.
Channel Divinity: Artisan’s Blessing (Level 3) – C- Tier – I like the idea of making stuff, but similar abilities from other classes aren’t as restrictive as this ability is. Still useful in a pinch, but nothing amazing.
1st Level Spells (Level 3) – D+ Tier – Not useless, but extremely mediocre options. Identify can be helpful, but Searing Smite is pretty worthless.
2nd Level Spells (Level 3) – C Tier – Heat Metal is decent, but nothing incredible.
3rd Level Spells (Level 5) – D+ Tier – Not too exciting, but you may get some value out of these.
Soul of the Forge (Level 6) – B+ Tier – Fire resistance and +1 AC on an ability is definitely quite nice!
4th Level Spells (Level 7) – B+ Tier – Wall of Fire is a really nice pick up and it’s better than the Cleric’s best natural option of Banishment.
5th Level Spells (Level 9) – C Tier – Animate Objects is a decent pickup as Cleric doesn’t really get good damage options, but you’ll still probably want to use Wall of Fire instead.
Saint of Forge and Fire (Level 17) – B Tier – Immunity to Fire damage and resistance to all bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing makes you much tankier. That said, you probably shouldn’t be in the line of fire much anyway so it’s hard to say how relevant this is going to be.
Quick Level Up Guide
| Level | Class Features/Feat | Notes |
| 1 | Spellcasting, Divine Order (Protector) | + Guidance + Light + Sacred Flame + Bless + Detect Magic + Guiding Bolt + Healing Word |
| 2 | Channel Divinity (x2) | + Command |
| 3 | Forge Domain, Bonus Proficiencies Blessing of the Forge Channel Divinity: Artisan’s Blessing | + Identify (Forge) + Searing Smite (Forge) + Aid + Heat Metal (Forge) + Magic Weapon (Forge) |
| 4 | Feat: War Caster (WIS) | + Word of Radiance + Lesser Restoration |
| 5 | Sear Undead | + Elemental Weapon (Forge) + Protection from Energy (Forge) + Revivify + Spirit Guardians |
| 6 | Channel Divinity (x3), Soul of the Forge | + Dispel Magic |
| 7 | Blessed Strikes (Potent Spellcasting) | + Banishment + Fabricate (Forge) + Wall of Fire (Forge) |
| 8 | Feat: Resilient (CON) | + Divination |
| 9 | – | + Animate Objects (Forge) + Creation (Forge) + Commune + Greater Restoration |
| 10 | Divine Intervention | + Toll the Dead + Summon Celestial |
| 11 | – | + Heal |
| 12 | Feat: Wisdom to 20 | None |
| 13 | – | – Guiding Bolt + Conjure Celestial + Plane Shift |
| 14 | Improved Blessed Strikes | None |
| 15 | – | + Holy Aura |
| 16 | Feat: Heavy Armor Master (CON) | None |
| 17 | Saint of Forge and Fire | + Mass Heal |
| 18 | Channel Divinity (x4) | + Antimagic Field |
| 19 | Epic Boon: Boon of Fate | + Gate |
| 20 | Greater Divine Intervention | + True Resurrection |
The Ultimate One D&D Cleric Guide
Not seeing the build you would want from this guide? This article can help!
Level One Build
Species: Human
Attributes:
| POINT BUY | |
| STRENGTH | 15 |
| DEXTERITY | 8 |
| CONSTITUTION | 15 (+1 background) = 16 |
| INTELLIGENCE | 8 |
| WISDOM | 15 (+2 background) = 17 |
| CHARISMA | 8 |
Class: Cleric
Class Features: Spellcasting, Divine Order (Protector)
Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Medicine, and Perception (Human)
Background: Farmer
Human Feat: Musician (or Alert if two or more party members have Musician)
Starting Equipment: Mace, Chain Mail, Explorer’s Pack, a Shield, Holy Symbol, 5gp + 50gp from background
Starting Spells:
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Guiding Bolt |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
Species: Human
Humans are simple – you get an extra Origin feat, Heroic Inspiration each long rest, and an extra skill. This is a great species for those who didn’t get their origin feat of choice with their background.
Human Feat: Musician (or Alert)
Musician is an excellent feat that at least one party member should have, if not two. However, if your team doesn’t need a Musician, Alert is an excellent backup.
Attributes
| POINT BUY | |
| STRENGTH | 15 |
| DEXTERITY | 8 |
| CONSTITUTION | 15 (+1 background) = 16 |
| INTELLIGENCE | 8 |
| WISDOM | 15 (+2 background) = 17 |
| CHARISMA | 8 |
Every heavy armor Cleric is going to need Constitution and Wisdom buffed as much as possible and 15 Strength so you can wear the heaviest of armors.
Proficiencies: Insight, Medicine, and Perception (Human)
Solid proficiencies for Cleric as they’re all Wisdom based skills.
Background: Farmer
The best background for Clerics as it gives Constitution and Wisdom on top of the best Origin feat that you can get with this attribute split.
Starting Equipment – Mace, Chain Mail, Explorer’s Pack, a Shield, Holy Symbol, 5gp + 50gp from background
Standard fare for heavy armor Clerics.
Class – Cleric
Starting out, Clerics get two abilities – Spellcasting and Divine Order (Protector).
Spellcasting is pretty much the same as the other full casters and will be expounded on in other sections.
Divine Order lets you choose between Protector and Thaumaturge. Protection gives you heavy armor and martial weapon proficiency and Thamaturge gives you an additional cantrip and the ability to add your WIS modifier to Arcana and Religion checks. Obviously, there is no contest here on which to choose – Protector gives you substantially more value.
Starting Spells
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Guiding Bolt |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
This is going to be an extremely standard spell list for a level one Cleric. You have good cantrips and versatile level one spells with varying effects with buffs, damage, and healing. Simple and effective.
The Build Level 2 Onward
Level 2-5
Level 2
Class Features: Channel Divinity (x2)
Spell Change Log: + Command
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Guiding Bolt |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
Level two brings another spell, but more importantly, your Channel Divinity!
Your Channel Divinity brings two charges per day and two features to the table with Turn Undead and Divine Spark. Turn Undead potentially makes undead run in fear if they fail a WIS save which is a unique feature, but not always the most useful as this obviously only works against undead. Divine Spark lets you use your action to either deal or heal a little bit of damage. Definitely not great, but the healing can be helpful in a pinch.
For your spell choice, you can pick up Command. While right now it’s not a great spell as using your action and a spell slot to potentially rid one enemy of their action is not a good trade. However, as you get to upcast it, trading a spell slot and action for potentially ridding multiple enemies of their action is a much better deal. Save this for a few levels from now.
Level 3
Class: Forge Domain
Class Features: Bonus Proficiencies, Blessing of the Forge, Channel Divinity: Artisan’s Blessing
Spell Change Log: + Identify (Forge) + Searing Smite (Forge) + Aid + Heat Metal (Forge) + Magic Weapon (Forge)
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Guiding Bolt |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Identify (Forge) (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Searing Smite (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Aid |
| 2nd Level Spell | Heat Metal (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Magic Weapon (Forge) |
Level 3 brings your subclass which gives you many abilities and new spells!
Your first ability is Bonus Proficiencies which gives you heavy armor and smith’s tool proficiency. Obviously your Divine Order ability already gives you heavy armor proficiency so this isn’t as good as it used to be, so what can you so.
Your second ability is Blessing of the Forge which lets you touch a piece of non-magical armor or weapon turning it magical and making it a +1 item. This is definitely a neat feature, but weaker now as enemies no longer have resistance to non-magical weapons. This is still solid though, especially in earlier levels, so don’t sleep on it!
Your third ability is your new Channel Divinity – Forge Domain’s Artisan’s Blessing. Simply, you get to conduct a ritual to make a set list of items that don’t exceed 100 gp. While this may seem pretty bad, being able to craft a tool that can help you tackle a challenge you encounter on an adventure can be quite good like making a ladder if you need to get up somewhere, creating a duplicate of a key without the owner knowing, etc. All that said, it’s still very niche, but it is an interesting ability.
Finally, you get new domain spells with Identify, Searing Smite, Heat Metal, and Magic Weapon.
Identify is helpful to, you guessed it, identify things. You do need a 100 gp pearl which is a little annoying, but this is a helpful ritual to have and Clerics don’t normally get it!
Searing Smite is decent as it tacks on a bit of damage and you can potentially stop your enemy from having an action which is obviously nice. This doesn’t really scale well, but it is reasonable for a few levels.
Heat Metal, easily the best out of these four, can be debilitating against enemies that are armored. You may not face many armored enemies depending on the campaign, but using this on a monster’s weapon can be quite good as well. This is solid damage and it forces the target to abandon the targeted material or live with the disadvantage.
Finally, you get Magic Weapon which is a strange choice considering your Blessings of the Forge can do this already. Nevertheless, I guess you can use this and your ability to make multiple weapons magical if you really need to. The usefulness of this is going to be pretty limited, especially for a second level slot and now that enemies don’t have non-magical weapon resistance.
For your spell choice, you can pick up Aid.
Aid is an excellent temporary health buffer for your team as 15 total points for a second level slot is quite nice, and better yet, this scales quite well with higher spell slots put into it.
Level 4
Feat: War Caster (WIS)
Class Feature: None
Spell Change Log: + Word of Radiance + Aid
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| Cantrip | Word of Radiance |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Guiding Bolt |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Identify (Forge) (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Searing Smite (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Aid |
| 2nd Level Spell | Heat Metal (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Lesser Restoration |
| 2nd Level Spell | Magic Weapon (Forge) |
Level four brings a feat, cantrip, and new spells!
For your first feat, you absolutely have to pick up War Caster. Buffing your Wisdom to 18, getting advantage on concentration checks, and being able to spellcast when you don’t have two free hands is excellent.
For your cantrip, you already have the best ones, but Word of Radiance can be alright if you find yourself surrounded often enough. Since you may be getting into the fray relatively often, you should find ample opportunities to use this.
For your spell, you can pick up Lesser Restoration! While you won’t be using it often, being able to heal most conditions can be useful in a pinch so it’s good to have prepared!
Level 5
Class Feature: Sear Undead
Spell Change Log: + Elemental Weapon (Forge) + Protection from Energy (Forge) + Revivify + Spirit Guardians
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| Cantrip | Word of Radiance |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Guiding Bolt |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Identify (Forge) (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Searing Smite (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Aid |
| 2nd Level Spell | Heat Metal (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Lesser Restoration |
| 2nd Level Spell | Magic Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Elemental Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Protection from Energy (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Spirit Guardians |
For level five, your Turn Undead feature upgrades with Sear Undead. Now undead that fail the saving throw for Turn Undead take damage equal to your WIS modifier in d8s. While this is still a pretty niche ability, it’s much better than the Clerics old features.
You get two more Forge Domain spells at opposite ends of the spectrum in Elemental Weapon and Protection from Energy.
Elemental Weapon is a reflavor of Magic Weapon, but you get some elemental damage on top of it which can be good against monsters with certain elemental vulnerabilities.
On the other end, Protection from Energy can give you or an ally resistance to an elemental damage type which is good if you know you’re walking into a tough fight against a creature that uses an element.
For your third level spell choices, you get two excellent spells immediately with Revivify and Spirit Guardians.
Revivify is a staple spell that can bring back a freshly killed friend back, but generally, that’s more than good enough. You want minimum one Revivify user on your team to ensure that nobody has to go down permanently.
Your next choice is yet another Cleric staple – Spirit Guardians. This spell is egregiously good and really shines on tanky clerics as enemies will have a very hard time breaking your concentration on this. Walking up to a group of enemies, triggering this and then moving slightly out of the way so allies can shove them back into this is going to be a super common play pattern.
Level 6-10
Level 6
Class Features: Channel Divinity (x3), Soul of the Forge
Spell Change Log: + Dispel Magic
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| Cantrip | Word of Radiance |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Guiding Bolt |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Identify (Forge) (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Searing Smite (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Aid |
| 2nd Level Spell | Heat Metal (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Lesser Restoration |
| 2nd Level Spell | Magic Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Elemental Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Protection from Energy (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Spirit Guardians |
You get your third Channel Divinity charge for level 6 and the very defensive Soul of the Forge.
Soul of the Forge gives you fire resistance naturally which is nice, but the real prize is the +1 to AC when wearing heavy armor. Any buff to AC is always welcome and this will just make you even more tanky.
For your spell choice, you can pick up Dispel Magic, and since Clerics don’t naturally have Counterspell, this is the next best thing.
Level 7
Class Features: Blessed Strikes (Potent Spellcasting)
Spell Change Log: + Banishment + Fabricate (Forge) + Wall of Fire (Forge)
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| Cantrip | Word of Radiance |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Guiding Bolt |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Identify (Forge) (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Searing Smite (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Aid |
| 2nd Level Spell | Heat Metal (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Lesser Restoration |
| 2nd Level Spell | Magic Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Elemental Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Protection from Energy (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Spirit Guardians |
| 4th Level Spell | Banishment |
| 4th Level Spell | Fabricate (Forge) |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire (Forge) |
Level 7 brings a new class ability and more spells to the table.
Your ability for this level is Blessed Strikes which gives your melee weapons an additional 1d8 damage per turn (Divine Strike) or you get to add your WIS modifier to cantrip damage (Potent Spellcasting). At this point you’re almost certainly moving away from attacking with your weapon, so the cantrip improvement would be my choice.
For your Domain spells this level, you get to pick up Fabricate and Wall of Fire.
The first spell you get from your Domain is unfortunately quite bad with Fabricate. This is pretty similar to your Channel Divinity, but costs you a much better resource and doesn’t have substantially more use cases. You will sometimes get some use from this if you need to create a bridge or something, but beyond that, it’s going to be tough to find any use for this.
The infinitely more exciting option and arguably the best spell on the Forge Domain spell list is Wall of Fire. Wall of Fire is a high damage dealing spell with a massive AOE that’s really good at splitting up enemies while absolutely roasting them. As Clerics generally have limited options in AOE damage, this is easily one of the best.
For your actual spell choice, you can pick the best one available with Banishment. Banishment is a solid CC spell that can take an enemy out of the fight for the length of the spell, but if the enemy is an extraplanar being, you have a chance to send them back to their home plane if they fail both saving throws! This can obviously be helpful in campaigns with a lot of extraplanar enemies, but will still be good in your average campaign.
Level 8
Feat: Resilient (CON)
Class Features: None
Spell Change Log: + Divination
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| Cantrip | Word of Radiance |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Guiding Bolt |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Identify (Forge) (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Searing Smite (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Aid |
| 2nd Level Spell | Heat Metal (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Lesser Restoration |
| 2nd Level Spell | Magic Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Elemental Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Protection from Energy (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Spirit Guardians |
| 4th Level Spell | Banishment |
| 4th Level Spell | Divination (R) |
| 4th Level Spell | Fabricate (Forge) |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire (Forge) |
Level 8 brings a new feat and new feature!
Level 8 brings your second feat and this is a good time to pick up Resilient (CON). Getting more health on top of proficiency in constitution saving throws is really good for casters, especially in conjunction with War Caster.
For your spell choice, you can pick up Divination,
Divination is a really nice ritual spell which lets you ask a god or their servant a question and you’ll receive a truthful reply, even if it’s a bit cryptic. Free information is really powerful in D&D and generally underrated as well, so I like picking this up at this point.
Level 9
Spell Change Log: + Animate Objects (Forge) + Creation (Forge) + Commune + Greater Restoration
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| Cantrip | Word of Radiance |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Guiding Bolt |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Identify (Forge) (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Searing Smite (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Aid |
| 2nd Level Spell | Heat Metal (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Lesser Restoration |
| 2nd Level Spell | Magic Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Elemental Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Protection from Energy (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Spirit Guardians |
| 4th Level Spell | Banishment |
| 4th Level Spell | Divination (R) |
| 4th Level Spell | Fabricate (Forge) |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Animate Objects (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Creation (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Commune (R) |
| 5th Level Spell | Greater Restoration |
Level 9 brings you fifth level spells and the final spell additions from your Domain spell list.
Your first spell is a solid one with Animate Objects. You can manipulate anything from a bunch of tiny objects to a huge object and throw them at your enemies to deal a solid amount of damage. This isn’t as good as it used to be, but it’s still solid.
Your second spell is unfortunately much worse with Creation. While this is a better spell than Fabricate, that’s a very low bar as whatever you make is temporary and the usefulness of what you can make is very dubious. This is decent at scamming merchants if you so desire, but the use cases beyond that are pretty limited.
For your chosen spells, your first choice is the best Divination spell in the game – Commune. Unlike the other Divination spells, you get three questions rather than just one. This is a lot of information to gather and getting specific answers is extremely good.
Your second spell choice is a lot more niche, but still great, with Greater Restoration. While this is not something you’re going to cast often, it’s definitely invaluable when you need to cure conditions like exhaustion, petrification, or cursed item attunement. While these sometimes can wait, sometimes fixing this quickly can be extremely important and time sensitive.
Level 10
Class Features: Divine Intervention
Spell Change Log: + Toll the Dead + Summon Celestial
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| Cantrip | Toll the Dead |
| Cantrip | Word of Radiance |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Guiding Bolt |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Identify (Forge) (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Searing Smite (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Aid |
| 2nd Level Spell | Heat Metal (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Lesser Restoration |
| 2nd Level Spell | Magic Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Elemental Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Protection from Energy (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Spirit Guardians |
| 4th Level Spell | Banishment |
| 4th Level Spell | Divination (R) |
| 4th Level Spell | Fabricate (Forge) |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Animate Objects (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Creation (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Commune (R) |
| 5th Level Spell | Greater Restoration |
| 5th Level Spell | Summon Celestial |
Level 10 brings you a really unique feature in Divine Intervention. Now once per day, you can call upon your deity to get a spell effect that’s 5th level or lower without using a spell slot or any components. Even if it’s one free spell per day, being able to choose any lower leveled spell is extremely powerful as you aren’t limited to spells you actively prepared, giving you a much wider pool of spells to pick from.
You get your final Cleric cantrip now, and since you already have all the good ones, you just have to pick from what’s left. You can now pick up Toll the Dead which isn’t particularly helpful as you already have an attack cantrip, but it can deal a little more damage than Sacred Flame which is nice.
This is also a good opportunity to pick up a Cleric’s best summoning option – Summon Celestial. While it’s not the greatest at level 5, upcasting it to level 6 gives your summon more health, AC, and attacks making it a substantially better option and a sixth level spell in spirit!
Level 11-15
Level 11
Class Features: None
Spell Change Log: + Heal
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| Cantrip | Toll the Dead |
| Cantrip | Word of Radiance |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Guiding Bolt |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Identify (Forge) (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Searing Smite (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Aid |
| 2nd Level Spell | Heat Metal (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Lesser Restoration |
| 2nd Level Spell | Magic Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Elemental Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Protection from Energy (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Spirit Guardians |
| 4th Level Spell | Banishment |
| 4th Level Spell | Divination (R) |
| 4th Level Spell | Fabricate (Forge) |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Animate Objects (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Creation (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Commune (R) |
| 5th Level Spell | Greater Restoration |
| 5th Level Spell | Summon Celestial |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
Level 11 brings sixth level spells!
For your spell, it’s hard to go wrong with the classic Heal. 70 flat points of recovery with some status recoveries is some solid in combat healing, even if it’s a bit pricey.
Level 12
Feat: Wisdom to 20
Class Feature: None
Spell Change Log: None
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| Cantrip | Toll the Dead |
| Cantrip | Word of Radiance |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Guiding Bolt |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Identify (Forge) (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Searing Smite (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Aid |
| 2nd Level Spell | Heat Metal (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Lesser Restoration |
| 2nd Level Spell | Magic Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Elemental Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Protection from Energy (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Spirit Guardians |
| 4th Level Spell | Banishment |
| 4th Level Spell | Divination (R) |
| 4th Level Spell | Fabricate (Forge) |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Animate Objects (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Creation (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Commune (R) |
| 5th Level Spell | Greater Restoration |
| 5th Level Spell | Summon Celestial |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
Twelfth level brings your third feat and you can now max out your Wisdom for the strongest spells possible.
Level 13
Class Feature: None
Spell Change Log: – Guiding Bolt / + Conjure Celestial + Plane Shift
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| Cantrip | Toll the Dead |
| Cantrip | Word of Radiance |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Identify (Forge) (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Searing Smite (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Aid |
| 2nd Level Spell | Heat Metal (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Lesser Restoration |
| 2nd Level Spell | Magic Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Elemental Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Protection from Energy (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Spirit Guardians |
| 4th Level Spell | Banishment |
| 4th Level Spell | Divination (R) |
| 4th Level Spell | Fabricate (Forge) |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Animate Objects (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Creation (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Commune (R) |
| 5th Level Spell | Greater Restoration |
| 5th Level Spell | Summon Celestial |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
| 7th Level Spell | Conjure Celestial |
| 7th Level Spell | Plane Shift |
Seventh level spell time and you can pick up really good ones with Conjure Celestial and Plane Shift.
For your first spell, you can pick up Conjure Celestial! You create a pillar of light that you can move for free to sear enemies while healing allies. In a tough fight, this can be invaluable as the hit point differential you can make with this spell is massive.
For your second spell, you can pick up the best teleportation option available to Clerics – Plane Shift. While you can’t use it for travel within the same plane, this can be a decent escape tool provided you aren’t in combat and you have the magic fork attuned to the plane you’re trying to go to. What’s nice about this, though, is that if you’re going back to your original plane, this doesn’t have a fail chance like Teleport would. In a real pinch, you can try to banish creatures with this as well making it rather versatile.
Level 14
Class Features: Improved Blessed Strikes
Spell Change Log: None
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| Cantrip | Toll the Dead |
| Cantrip | Word of Radiance |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Identify (Forge) (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Searing Smite (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Aid |
| 2nd Level Spell | Heat Metal (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Lesser Restoration |
| 2nd Level Spell | Magic Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Elemental Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Protection from Energy (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Spirit Guardians |
| 4th Level Spell | Banishment |
| 4th Level Spell | Divination (R) |
| 4th Level Spell | Fabricate (Forge) |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Animate Objects (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Creation (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Commune (R) |
| 5th Level Spell | Greater Restoration |
| 5th Level Spell | Summon Celestial |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
| 7th Level Spell | Conjure Celestial |
| 7th Level Spell | Plane Shift |
You get a somewhat new feature this level with Improved Blessed Strikes, and now you get some temporary health to dole out when you cast cantrips. Even just a bit of temporary health can go a long way.
Level 15
Spell Change Log: + Holy Aura
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| Cantrip | Toll the Dead |
| Cantrip | Word of Radiance |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Identify (Forge) (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Searing Smite (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Aid |
| 2nd Level Spell | Heat Metal (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Lesser Restoration |
| 2nd Level Spell | Magic Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Elemental Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Protection from Energy (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Spirit Guardians |
| 4th Level Spell | Banishment |
| 4th Level Spell | Divination (R) |
| 4th Level Spell | Fabricate (Forge) |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Animate Objects (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Creation (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Commune (R) |
| 5th Level Spell | Greater Restoration |
| 5th Level Spell | Summon Celestial |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
| 7th Level Spell | Conjure Celestial |
| 7th Level Spell | Plane Shift |
| 8th Level Spell | Holy Aura |
Eighth level spells and you may as well pick the best one – Holy Aura. Granting advantage on saving throws and disadvantage on attacks made against those covered by the aura is really strong and makes your allies very hard to meaningfully hurt for the extent of the combat.
Level 16-20
Level 16
Feat: Heavy Armor Master (CON)
Class Feature: None
Spell Change Log: None
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| Cantrip | Toll the Dead |
| Cantrip | Word of Radiance |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Identify (Forge) (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Searing Smite (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Aid |
| 2nd Level Spell | Heat Metal (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Lesser Restoration |
| 2nd Level Spell | Magic Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Elemental Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Protection from Energy (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Spirit Guardians |
| 4th Level Spell | Banishment |
| 4th Level Spell | Divination (R) |
| 4th Level Spell | Fabricate (Forge) |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Animate Objects (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Creation (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Commune (R) |
| 5th Level Spell | Greater Restoration |
| 5th Level Spell | Summon Celestial |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
| 7th Level Spell | Conjure Celestial |
| 7th Level Spell | Plane Shift |
| 8th Level Spell | Holy Aura |
You get your final ASI and you can pick up Heavy Armor Master (CON)! Being able to reduce the damage of attacks hitting you can add up really quickly, especially since your proficiency bonus is quite high at this point.
Level 17
Class Feature: Saint of Forge and Fire
Spell Change Log: + Mass Heal
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| Cantrip | Toll the Dead |
| Cantrip | Word of Radiance |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Identify (Forge) (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Searing Smite (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Aid |
| 2nd Level Spell | Heat Metal (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Lesser Restoration |
| 2nd Level Spell | Magic Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Elemental Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Protection from Energy (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Spirit Guardians |
| 4th Level Spell | Banishment |
| 4th Level Spell | Divination (R) |
| 4th Level Spell | Fabricate (Forge) |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Animate Objects (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Creation (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Commune (R) |
| 5th Level Spell | Greater Restoration |
| 5th Level Spell | Summon Celestial |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
| 7th Level Spell | Conjure Celestial |
| 7th Level Spell | Plane Shift |
| 8th Level Spell | Holy Aura |
| 9th Level Spell | Mass Heal |
Level 17 brings your final subclass feature and most importantly, ninth level spells.
Your final subclass feature is Saint of Forge and Fire. This grants you fire immunity and resistance to non-magical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing attacks. This is a powerful feature assuming your DM doesn’t throw too many enemies whose attacks count as magical at you or enemies that have nothing to do with fire.
For your spell choice, you’re going to pick up the best ninth level option available to Clerics with Mass Heal. Simply put, this heals 700 damage split how you choose, so this will be a full heal for every party member more often than not. In fights where multiple party members are heavily injured, this can easily turn the tide back in your favor.
Level 18
Class Features: Channel Divinity (x4)
Spell Change Log: + Antimagic Field
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| Cantrip | Toll the Dead |
| Cantrip | Word of Radiance |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Identify (Forge) (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Searing Smite (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Aid |
| 2nd Level Spell | Heat Metal (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Lesser Restoration |
| 2nd Level Spell | Magic Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Elemental Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Protection from Energy (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Spirit Guardians |
| 4th Level Spell | Banishment |
| 4th Level Spell | Divination (R) |
| 4th Level Spell | Fabricate (Forge) |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Animate Objects (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Creation (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Commune (R) |
| 5th Level Spell | Greater Restoration |
| 5th Level Spell | Summon Celestial |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
| 7th Level Spell | Conjure Celestial |
| 7th Level Spell | Plane Shift |
| 8th Level Spell | Antimagic Field |
| 8th Level Spell | Holy Aura |
| 9th Level Spell | Mass Heal |
Level 18 gives you four charges of Channel Divinity and an additional spell!
For your spell choice, you can pick up Antimagic Field. While this isn’t a spell you’ll need often, having the ability to turn magic off when needed is really powerful.
Level 19
Epic Boon: Boon of Fate
Class Features: None
Spell Change Log: + Gate
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| Cantrip | Toll the Dead |
| Cantrip | Word of Radiance |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Identify (Forge) (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Searing Smite (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Aid |
| 2nd Level Spell | Heat Metal (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Lesser Restoration |
| 2nd Level Spell | Magic Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Elemental Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Protection from Energy (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Spirit Guardians |
| 4th Level Spell | Banishment |
| 4th Level Spell | Divination (R) |
| 4th Level Spell | Fabricate (Forge) |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Animate Objects (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Creation (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Commune (R) |
| 5th Level Spell | Greater Restoration |
| 5th Level Spell | Summon Celestial |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
| 7th Level Spell | Conjure Celestial |
| 7th Level Spell | Plane Shift |
| 7th Level Spell | Power Word: Fortify |
| 8th Level Spell | Holy Aura |
| 9th Level Spell | Gate |
| 9th Level Spell | Mass Heal |
Level 19 brings your Epic Boon, and it’s hard to go wrong with Boon of Fate. Being able to potentially turn a failure into a success and vice versa, even if it’s once per short or long rest, can be the difference between surviving an encounter and not.
Clerics have very few ninth level options, but in terms of versatility, your next best option is Gate. There are a lot of interesting uses for this spell, but one of the most interesting is the forced transport of a creature in a different plane from you, no save given. If you have an enemy that you know is hiding in a different plane, force them out. If they’re on the same plane as you, Plane Shift away and then gank them with a Gate spell.
Level 20
Class Feature: Greater Divine Intervention
Spell Change Log: + True Resurrection
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Light |
| Cantrip | Sacred Flame |
| Cantrip | Toll the Dead |
| Cantrip | Word of Radiance |
| 1st Level Spell | Bless |
| 1st Level Spell | Command |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Identify (Forge) (R) |
| 1st Level Spell | Searing Smite (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Aid |
| 2nd Level Spell | Heat Metal (Forge) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Lesser Restoration |
| 2nd Level Spell | Magic Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Elemental Weapon (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Protection from Energy (Forge) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Spirit Guardians |
| 4th Level Spell | Banishment |
| 4th Level Spell | Divination (R) |
| 4th Level Spell | Fabricate (Forge) |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Animate Objects (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Creation (Forge) |
| 5th Level Spell | Commune (R) |
| 5th Level Spell | Greater Restoration |
| 5th Level Spell | Summon Celestial |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
| 7th Level Spell | Conjure Celestial |
| 7th Level Spell | Plane Shift |
| 7th Level Spell | Power Word: Fortify |
| 8th Level Spell | Holy Aura |
| 9th Level Spell | Gate |
| 9th Level Spell | Mass Heal |
| 9th Level Spell | True Resurrection |
Your final level up gives you Greater Divine Intervention, which is the Wish spell in a sense! Every week or so, you can entreat your deity to give you a Wish which is obviously super sick.
For your spell choice, this is a decent opportunity to pick up True Resurrection if you want it. It’s rare that you’re going to need this over the humble Revivify, and even rarer you’ll be in a scenario where it can’t wait a day, but you have it if you need it. Realistically, between this level and next, anything you pick here isn’t going to matter much as you’ve more or less exhausted every option you’d normally be interested in.
