Grave Cleric Build Guide – Control Life and Death – 2024 Update

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.

The Complete Cleric Spell List

Cleric Spell Tier List – The Best Cleric Spells

From a pure aesthetic choice, this Domain is pretty dang cool. You are attuned with Death, but your focus is to put the undead back in the ground rather than being a stereotypical evil guy who likes the undead. I think that’s a pretty unique spin and a cool choice for those who like edgy characters that aren’t evil. From an optimization standpoint, though, this class definitely does fall quite a bit short. The abilities are unfortunately a bit weak and the Domain spell list really doesn’t help you much either. So if you’re looking to play this, you’re doing it much more for the vibes than you are for the power.

Circle of Mortality (Level 3) – B- Tier – This will be more impactful in earlier levels compared to later levels, but this will be decent for a little while!

Eyes of the Grave (Level 3) – F Tier – Easily one of the worst abilities in the game. Literally just looking around will accomplish the same thing.

Channel Divinity: Path to the Grave (Level 3) – C+ Tier – This can work really well with allies who hit super hard on one attack, like Rogues, but you do need to coordinate to make that possible.

1st Level Spells (Level 3) – D Tier – Both spells are just pretty bad, not worthless, but bad.

2nd Level Spells (Level 3) – D+ Tier – Ray of Enfeeblement is alright, but not particularly good either.

3rd Level Spells (Level 5) – C- Tier – Revivify is a decent pickup since that frees up a prepared spell, but that’s not a particularly big deal.

Sentinel at Death’s Door (Level 6) – C- Tier – You are not going to use this ability often, but it is nice when you get the opportunity to do so!

4th Level Spells (Level 7) – C- Tier – Death Ward is nice, but you probably would’ve taken that anyway so this isn’t that impactful.

5th Level Spells (Level 9) – D Tier – Both spells are super niche and not that exciting.

Keeper of Souls (Level 17) – B+ Tier – This is actually a pretty strong ability, but too bad it comes late in an extremely weak subclass.

The Ultimate 2024 One D&D Subclass Tier List

DnD 2024 Class and Subclass Tier List Breakdown

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	Grave Domain, Circle of Mortality, Eyes of the Grave, Grave Domain Spells, Path to the Grave	+ Bane (Grave) + False Life (Grave) + Aid + Gentle Repose (Grave) + Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)
4	Feat: War Caster (WIS)	+ Word of Radiance + Lesser Restoration
5	Sear Undead	+ Aura of Vitality + Revivify (Grave) + Spirit Guardians + Vampiric Touch (Grave Domain)
6	Channel Divinity (x3), Sentinel at Death’s Door	+ Dispel Magic
7	Blessed Strikes (Potent Spellcasting)	+ Banishment + Blight (Grave Domain) + Death Ward (Grave Domain)
8	Feat: Resilient (CON)	+ Divination
9	–	+ Antilife Shell (Grave Domain) + Commune + Greater Restoration + Raise Dead (Grave Domain)
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	Keeper of Souls	+ Mass Heal
18	Channel Divinity (x4)	+ Antimagic Field
19	Epic Boon: Boon of Fate	+ Gate
20	Greater Divine Intervention	+ True Resurrection

Not seeing the build you would want from this guide? This article can help!

The Ultimate One D&D Cleric Guide – Mastering Clerics

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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

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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.

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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.

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Proficiencies: Insight, Medicine, and Perception (Human)

Solid proficiencies for Cleric as they’re all Wisdom based skills.

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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.

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Starting Equipment – Mace, Chain Mail, Explorer’s Pack, a Shield, Holy Symbol, 5gp + 50gp from background

Standard fare for heavy armor Clerics.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Level 3

Class: Grave Domain

Class Features: Circle of Mortality, Eyes of the Grave, Path to the Grave, Grave Domain Spells

Spell Change Log: + Bane (Grave) + False Life (Grave) + Aid + Gentle Repose (Grave) + Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Light
Cantrip	Sacred Flame
Cantrip	Spare the Dying (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bane (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bless
1st Level Spell	Command
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	False Life (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Guiding Bolt
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
2nd Level Spell	Aid
2nd Level Spell	Gentle Repose (Grave)
2nd Level Spell	Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)

Level 3 brings your subclass which gives you many abilities and new spells!

The first ability they get access to is Circle of Mortality. In short, you get additional healing when bringing up downed allies and you get a better Spare the Dying cantrip. Buffed healing for downed allies sounds really powerful, but the healing is only concerned with spells that roll dice, not anything that offers flat amounts. That said, all healing spells have been buffed so this ability is much stronger than it used to be!

The second part of the ability with the better Spare the Dying cantrip I think is actually a bit better than most would assume. I feel most know that Spare the Dying is a terrible cantrip, but being able to do it at range and without really consuming your turn does make it much better. Are there going to be situations where using it is better than a Healing Word? Presumably not, but you may not always have the opportunity to afford that spell slot immediately so having that additional choice is nice!

Your second ability is Eyes of the Grave, which is easily one of the worst features in all of D&D. You can use your action to sense the presence of undead within 60 feet that aren’t behind full cover. Do you know what else would you let sense the presence of undead not behind full cover? A Perception check. You could hypothetically figure out some corpses are secretly undead, but the average undead isn’t smart enough to employ that strategy anyway making this ability functionally worthless.

Your third ability is your Domain spells and you get a bunch this level with Bane, False Life, Gentle Repose, and Ray of Enfeeblement.

Bane is an easy to save low impact CC spell that’s a reverse Bless, so not great. Why risk not getting your spell when you can just Bless and be guaranteed to have the effect?

False Life is a small ball temporary health buff which can be helpful, but likely isn’t that helpful.

Gentle Repose, is unfortunately, incredibly niche. Not only is this touch range (why, just why), it just has such a minor effect that it’s hard to imagine you would ever need this. The only time I can see this being used is if an ally dies in combat and you don’t have the material components for a Revivify at that moment. If you are higher level and can Raise Dead, the need to extend the duration from when the target died is so unlikely to be a factor in most campaigns. If this was a level lower and a ranged spell, I could see this being useful mid-fight to preserve a body for Revivify, but it is absolutely terrible as is.

Finally, you get a decent spell in Ray of Enfeeblement. This is a relatively solid debuff, but having the save be CON is always a big risk with the current design philosophies of monsters and their obscenely high Constitution scores. The 2024 Monster Manual may have a greater diversity of strong saving throws for their enemies rather than all of them having good Constitution which would make this spell even better.

Finally, you get the Grave Domain Channel Divinity feature – Path to the Grave. Essentially, you get to double the damage of a single attack against a creature, which is cool, and can be decent if your team works around it. If spells counted as attacks (they don’t), then this feature could have been really powerful in conjunction with casters, but martials deal a lot of damage through multiple attacks, not just one big one generally speaking. That said, there are definitely classes that can make good use of this. A Rogue or Paladin could definitely make good use of this as their Sneak Attack or Divine Smites respectively would also deal double damage leading to an egregious amount of potential damage. Even a Great Weapon Master Fighter or Barbarian could benefit from this. While that seems (and can be) good, you get so few uses of this that this isn’t something you can always rely on, especially if you have an adventuring day with multiple tough fights.

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.

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Level 4

Feat: War Caster (WIS)

Class Feature: None

Spell Change Log: + Word of Radiance + Lesser Restoration

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Light
Cantrip	Sacred Flame
Cantrip	Spare the Dying (Grave)
Cantrip	Word of Radiance
1st Level Spell	Bane (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bless
1st Level Spell	Command
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	False Life (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Guiding Bolt
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
2nd Level Spell	Aid
2nd Level Spell	Gentle Repose (Grave)
2nd Level Spell	Lesser Restoration
2nd Level Spell	Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)

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!

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Level 5

Class Feature: Sear Undead

Spell Change Log: + Aura of Vitality + Revivify (Grave) + Spirit Guardians + Vampiric Touch (Grave)

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Light
Cantrip	Sacred Flame
Cantrip	Spare the Dying (Grave)
Cantrip	Word of Radiance
1st Level Spell	Bane (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bless
1st Level Spell	Command
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	False Life (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Guiding Bolt
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
2nd Level Spell	Aid
2nd Level Spell	Gentle Repose (Grave)
2nd Level Spell	Lesser Restoration
2nd Level Spell	Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Aura of Vitality
3rd Level Spell	Revivify (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Spirit Guardians
3rd Level Spell	Vampiric Touch (Grave)

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 also get more Domain spells this level with Revivify and Vampiric Touch.

Revivify is an absolute staple for all Clerics, so getting it for free is nice and frees up a spell slot for you!

Vampiric Touch is an awkward spell as you aren’t going to be the main frontliner, and even if you are near enemies, it’s not particularly good. With an average of 10.5 damage and 5 healing, this is a pretty low impact spell in general, and doubly so for Clerics who can already heal easily.

For your third level spell choices, you get two excellent spells immediately with Aura of Vitality and Spirit Guardians.

Aura of Vitality is a cool healing spell that can be useful in combat to keep healing your team, but out of combat, can be really potent. This will dole out an average of 70 points of healing over the full length of the spell which is really nice. If you want your team to conserve HD, you can use this instead to potentially help!

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.

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Level 6

Class Features: Channel Divinity (x3), Sentinel at Death’s Door

Spell Change Log: + Dispel Magic

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Light
Cantrip	Sacred Flame
Cantrip	Spare the Dying (Grave)
Cantrip	Word of Radiance
1st Level Spell	Bane (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bless
1st Level Spell	Command
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	False Life (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Guiding Bolt
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
2nd Level Spell	Aid
2nd Level Spell	Gentle Repose (Grave)
2nd Level Spell	Lesser Restoration
2nd Level Spell	Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Aura of Vitality
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Revivify (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Spirit Guardians
3rd Level Spell	Vampiric Touch (Grave)

Level 6 brings you an additional charge of your Channel Divinity as well as a new subclass feature – Sentinel at Death’s Door! This is an extremely niche ability, but since Clerics have functionally no use for their Reactions, making it so enemies can functionally never hit you/allies with a critical hit ever again is pretty nice. This is especially good in campaigns where critical hits (or big hits in general) can “grievously wound” leaving lasting negative effects on players.

For your spell choice, you can pick up Dispel Magic, and since Clerics don’t naturally have Counterspell, this is the next best thing.

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Level 7

Class Features: Blessed Strikes (Potent Spellcasting)

Spell Change Log: + Banishment + Blight (Grave Domain) + Death Ward (Grave Domain)

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Light
Cantrip	Sacred Flame
Cantrip	Spare the Dying (Grave)
Cantrip	Word of Radiance
1st Level Spell	Bane (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bless
1st Level Spell	Command
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	False Life (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Guiding Bolt
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
2nd Level Spell	Aid
2nd Level Spell	Gentle Repose (Grave)
2nd Level Spell	Lesser Restoration
2nd Level Spell	Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Aura of Vitality
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Revivify (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Spirit Guardians
3rd Level Spell	Vampiric Touch (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Banishment
4th Level Spell	Blight (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Death Ward (Grave)

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 Domainspells, you get to pick up Blight and Death Ward.

Blight is unfortunately a pretty unexciting single damage spell. While normally pretty bad, it is a bit better for Clerics as they don’t normally have access to high single target damage. This isn’t great, but it isn’t bad.

Your second spell, Death Ward, is substantially better. While it is pretty niche, this is really good at keeping a valuable ally up if you can’t afford for them to drop to 0 or to prevent people from getting hit with instant death effects is pretty nice.

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.

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Level 8

Feat: Resilient (CON)

Class Features: None

Spell Change Log: + Divination

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Light
Cantrip	Sacred Flame
Cantrip	Spare the Dying (Grave)
Cantrip	Word of Radiance
1st Level Spell	Bane (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bless
1st Level Spell	Command
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	False Life (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Guiding Bolt
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
2nd Level Spell	Aid
2nd Level Spell	Gentle Repose (Grave)
2nd Level Spell	Lesser Restoration
2nd Level Spell	Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Aura of Vitality
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Revivify (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Spirit Guardians
3rd Level Spell	Vampiric Touch (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Banishment
4th Level Spell	Blight (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Death Ward (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Divination (R)

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.

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Level 9

Spell Change Log: + Antilife Shell (Grave) + Commune + Greater Restoration + Raise Dead (Grave)

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Light
Cantrip	Sacred Flame
Cantrip	Spare the Dying (Grave)
Cantrip	Word of Radiance
1st Level Spell	Bane (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bless
1st Level Spell	Command
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	False Life (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Guiding Bolt
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
2nd Level Spell	Aid
2nd Level Spell	Gentle Repose (Grave)
2nd Level Spell	Lesser Restoration
2nd Level Spell	Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Aura of Vitality
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Revivify (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Spirit Guardians
3rd Level Spell	Vampiric Touch (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Banishment
4th Level Spell	Blight (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Death Ward (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Divination (R)
5th Level Spell	Antilife Shell (Grave)
5th Level Spell	Commune (R)
5th Level Spell	Greater Restoration
5th Level Spell	Raise Dead (Grave)

Level 9 brings you fifth level spells and the final spell additions from your Domain spell list with Antilife Shell and Raise Dead.

The first spell you get is the very interesting Antilife Shell. This spell feels very weird for a Grave Cleric as it doesn’t work on undead, but it is very unique and can be helpful in some interesting scenarios. This can be good for blocking off doorways (hide behind the wall adjacent to the door and they can’t pass through) and chokepoints in general making this uniquely powerful in really close quarters combat. There are probably more situations where this is good, but I’m simply not creative enough to think of them!

The second and final Domain spell is Raise Dead. This isn’t a bad spell, but it is a bit redundant considering you already have Revivify. However, in the rare case where you can’t Revivify in time, you have this immediately.

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.

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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	Spare the Dying (Grave)
Cantrip	Toll the Dead
Cantrip	Word of Radiance
1st Level Spell	Bane (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bless
1st Level Spell	Command
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	False Life (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Guiding Bolt
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
2nd Level Spell	Aid
2nd Level Spell	Gentle Repose (Grave)
2nd Level Spell	Lesser Restoration
2nd Level Spell	Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Aura of Vitality
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Revivify (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Spirit Guardians
3rd Level Spell	Vampiric Touch (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Banishment
4th Level Spell	Blight (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Death Ward (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Divination (R)
5th Level Spell	Antilife Shell (Grave)
5th Level Spell	Commune (R)
5th Level Spell	Greater Restoration
5th Level Spell	Raise Dead (Grave)
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!

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Level 11

Class Features: None

Spell Change Log: + Heal

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Light
Cantrip	Sacred Flame
Cantrip	Spare the Dying (Grave)
Cantrip	Toll the Dead
Cantrip	Word of Radiance
1st Level Spell	Bane (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bless
1st Level Spell	Command
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	False Life (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Guiding Bolt
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
2nd Level Spell	Aid
2nd Level Spell	Gentle Repose (Grave)
2nd Level Spell	Lesser Restoration
2nd Level Spell	Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Aura of Vitality
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Revivify (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Spirit Guardians
3rd Level Spell	Vampiric Touch (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Banishment
4th Level Spell	Blight (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Death Ward (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Divination (R)
5th Level Spell	Antilife Shell (Grave)
5th Level Spell	Commune (R)
5th Level Spell	Greater Restoration
5th Level Spell	Raise Dead (Grave)
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	Spare the Dying (Grave)
Cantrip	Toll the Dead
Cantrip	Word of Radiance
1st Level Spell	Bane (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bless
1st Level Spell	Command
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	False Life (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Guiding Bolt
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
2nd Level Spell	Aid
2nd Level Spell	Gentle Repose (Grave)
2nd Level Spell	Lesser Restoration
2nd Level Spell	Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Aura of Vitality
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Revivify (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Spirit Guardians
3rd Level Spell	Vampiric Touch (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Banishment
4th Level Spell	Blight (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Death Ward (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Divination (R)
5th Level Spell	Antilife Shell (Grave)
5th Level Spell	Commune (R)
5th Level Spell	Greater Restoration
5th Level Spell	Raise Dead (Grave)
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	Spare the Dying (Grave)
Cantrip	Toll the Dead
Cantrip	Word of Radiance
1st Level Spell	Bane (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bless
1st Level Spell	Command
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	False Life (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Guiding Bolt
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
2nd Level Spell	Aid
2nd Level Spell	Gentle Repose (Grave)
2nd Level Spell	Lesser Restoration
2nd Level Spell	Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Aura of Vitality
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Revivify (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Spirit Guardians
3rd Level Spell	Vampiric Touch (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Banishment
4th Level Spell	Blight (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Death Ward (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Divination (R)
5th Level Spell	Antilife Shell (Grave)
5th Level Spell	Commune (R)
5th Level Spell	Greater Restoration
5th Level Spell	Raise Dead (Grave)
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	Spare the Dying (Grave)
Cantrip	Toll the Dead
Cantrip	Word of Radiance
1st Level Spell	Bane (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bless
1st Level Spell	Command
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	False Life (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Guiding Bolt
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
2nd Level Spell	Aid
2nd Level Spell	Gentle Repose (Grave)
2nd Level Spell	Lesser Restoration
2nd Level Spell	Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Aura of Vitality
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Revivify (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Spirit Guardians
3rd Level Spell	Vampiric Touch (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Banishment
4th Level Spell	Blight (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Death Ward (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Divination (R)
5th Level Spell	Antilife Shell (Grave)
5th Level Spell	Commune (R)
5th Level Spell	Greater Restoration
5th Level Spell	Raise Dead (Grave)
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	Spare the Dying (Grave)
Cantrip	Toll the Dead
Cantrip	Word of Radiance
1st Level Spell	Bane (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bless
1st Level Spell	Command
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	False Life (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Guiding Bolt
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
2nd Level Spell	Aid
2nd Level Spell	Gentle Repose (Grave)
2nd Level Spell	Lesser Restoration
2nd Level Spell	Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Aura of Vitality
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Revivify (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Spirit Guardians
3rd Level Spell	Vampiric Touch (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Banishment
4th Level Spell	Blight (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Death Ward (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Divination (R)
5th Level Spell	Antilife Shell (Grave)
5th Level Spell	Commune (R)
5th Level Spell	Greater Restoration
5th Level Spell	Raise Dead (Grave)
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

Feat: Heavy Armor Master (CON)

Class Feature: None

Spell Change Log: None

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Light
Cantrip	Sacred Flame
Cantrip	Spare the Dying (Grave)
Cantrip	Toll the Dead
Cantrip	Word of Radiance
1st Level Spell	Bane (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bless
1st Level Spell	Command
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	False Life (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Guiding Bolt
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
2nd Level Spell	Aid
2nd Level Spell	Gentle Repose (Grave)
2nd Level Spell	Lesser Restoration
2nd Level Spell	Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Aura of Vitality
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Revivify (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Spirit Guardians
3rd Level Spell	Vampiric Touch (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Banishment
4th Level Spell	Blight (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Death Ward (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Divination (R)
5th Level Spell	Antilife Shell (Grave)
5th Level Spell	Commune (R)
5th Level Spell	Greater Restoration
5th Level Spell	Raise Dead (Grave)
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: Keeper of Souls

Spell Change Log: + Mass Heal

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Light
Cantrip	Sacred Flame
Cantrip	Spare the Dying (Grave)
Cantrip	Toll the Dead
Cantrip	Word of Radiance
1st Level Spell	Bane (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bless
1st Level Spell	Command
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	False Life (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Guiding Bolt
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
2nd Level Spell	Aid
2nd Level Spell	Gentle Repose (Grave)
2nd Level Spell	Lesser Restoration
2nd Level Spell	Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Aura of Vitality
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Revivify (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Spirit Guardians
3rd Level Spell	Vampiric Touch (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Banishment
4th Level Spell	Blight (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Death Ward (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Divination (R)
5th Level Spell	Antilife Shell (Grave)
5th Level Spell	Commune (R)
5th Level Spell	Greater Restoration
5th Level Spell	Raise Dead (Grave)
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.

While your other subclass features have not been great, I’m actually a big fan of the final one – Keeper of Souls. Simply, every time an enemy dies, you can use your reaction (which you don’t use well anyway) to heal yourself or an ally. This can go a long way into keeping your allies alive, and since there’s no inherent limit on how many times per day this can be used, this is excellent at keeping your parties health high, even during a long adventuring day.

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	Spare the Dying (Grave)
Cantrip	Toll the Dead
Cantrip	Word of Radiance
1st Level Spell	Bane (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bless
1st Level Spell	Command
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	False Life (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Guiding Bolt
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
2nd Level Spell	Aid
2nd Level Spell	Gentle Repose (Grave)
2nd Level Spell	Lesser Restoration
2nd Level Spell	Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Aura of Vitality
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Revivify (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Spirit Guardians
3rd Level Spell	Vampiric Touch (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Banishment
4th Level Spell	Blight (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Death Ward (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Divination (R)
5th Level Spell	Antilife Shell (Grave)
5th Level Spell	Commune (R)
5th Level Spell	Greater Restoration
5th Level Spell	Raise Dead (Grave)
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	Spare the Dying (Grave)
Cantrip	Toll the Dead
Cantrip	Word of Radiance
1st Level Spell	Bane (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bless
1st Level Spell	Command
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	False Life (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Guiding Bolt
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
2nd Level Spell	Aid
2nd Level Spell	Gentle Repose (Grave)
2nd Level Spell	Lesser Restoration
2nd Level Spell	Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Aura of Vitality
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Revivify (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Spirit Guardians
3rd Level Spell	Vampiric Touch (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Banishment
4th Level Spell	Blight (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Death Ward (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Divination (R)
5th Level Spell	Antilife Shell (Grave)
5th Level Spell	Commune (R)
5th Level Spell	Greater Restoration
5th Level Spell	Raise Dead (Grave)
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	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	Spare the Dying (Grave)
Cantrip	Toll the Dead
Cantrip	Word of Radiance
1st Level Spell	Bane (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Bless
1st Level Spell	Command
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	False Life (Grave)
1st Level Spell	Guiding Bolt
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
2nd Level Spell	Aid
2nd Level Spell	Gentle Repose (Grave)
2nd Level Spell	Lesser Restoration
2nd Level Spell	Ray of Enfeeblement (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Aura of Vitality
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Revivify (Grave)
3rd Level Spell	Spirit Guardians
3rd Level Spell	Vampiric Touch (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Banishment
4th Level Spell	Blight (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Death Ward (Grave)
4th Level Spell	Divination (R)
5th Level Spell	Antilife Shell (Grave)
5th Level Spell	Commune (R)
5th Level Spell	Greater Restoration
5th Level Spell	Raise Dead (Grave)
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	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.