Best Baldur's Gate 3 Cleric build
The best subclass, equipment, skills and spells for Cleric in BG3.
A Baldur's Gate 3 Cleric build is a good thing to know about if you're looking for a dedicated healer, party support, or spell-based damage dealer. There's more versatility to the Cleric in Baldur's Gate 3 than you might assume.
To help you figure out the best way to build your Cleric, we've written up this Baldur's Gate 3 best Cleric build, listing out the ability score allocation, best equipment, best weapon, best skills, and more.
Best BG3 Cleric build
In Baldur's Gate 3, the Cleric is an all-rounder, able to deal substantial damage, support their allies, debuffing enemies, and dealing big damage on occasion. If you're looking for a spell caster able to hold their own in ranged and melee combat, the Cleric is a good choice.
(We really do mean it when we say the Cleric is versatile. While we stand by this build, you can build it in a variety of interesting ways. Experiment, if you dare!)
- Best Cleric race
- Cleric ability score priority
- Best Cleric subclass
- Best Cleric equipment
- Best Cleric spells
Best Cleric race
The best race for Cleric players in Baldur's Gate 3 is the Gold Dwarf.
This is due to the racial passive Dwarven Toughness, which provides an additional hit point each level. Over time, this'll help keep your Cleric tanky without having to invest additional ability points into constitution.
Baldur's Gate 3 has removed the mandatory race ability score modifiers and allows players to allocate them manually. We recommend investing + 2 into Wisdom, and then + 1 into Constitution.
Cleric ability score priority
Your ability score priority should be Wisdom, Constitution, Strength, the rest.
When first creating your character, we recommend the following initial stats:
- Strength - 15
- Dexterity -10
- Constitution - 13
- Intelligence - 8
- Wisdom - 17
- Charisma - 12
As you level up, you'll gain ability score increases at level 4, 8, and 12.
You should invest your ability score points into Wisdom up until 20, then the rest into Constitution.
Best Cleric subclass
For our build, we recommend taking the Light subclass.
Clerics, depending on their subclass, grant spells that you don't need to spend spell slots on. It turns out the Light Subclass has plenty of incredibly powerful spells that you get for free, essentially.
Warding flare is one such light domain ability, as is Radiance of the Dawn, but we'll dive more into those in the best skills and spells section.
Later on in levels, a light domain Cleric can dish out some serious damage alongside some handy healing where needed. A great pick, and doesn't overlap with Shadowheart if you're bringing them along.
Best Cleric equipment
The light domain cleric is proficient in medium armour and shields, so you should equip both to ensure you have a high armour class for combat encounters. You are also proficient in light armour, so if you grab a piece with a wicked ability on it, it's safe to swap to it without worrying about becoming too squishy.
As for weapons, you're proficient in all simple weapons. Maces, hammers, spears, and clubs are your friend here. Take whichever simple weapon you have that has the highest DPS. It's worth keeping a bludgeoning weapon in your inventory though, in case you run into an enemy with resistance to slashing damage.
As for ranged damage, Clerics have a lot of ranged spells. However, a bow or crossbow is worth having just as a back up.
Finally any necklaces or rings that provide utility spells, or additional survivability, it's absolutely worth equipping.
Best Cleric spells
Clerics have a lot of amazing spells that you should use whenever possible. Lets start with Bless, an absolute classic that provides +1d4 bonus to attack rolls and saving throws. You should do this at the start of fights to make your party significantly stronger.
Guiding Bolt deals decent damage, but also provides advantage on the next attack against the targeted enemy. It's amazing as long as you manage your attacks correctly. Using this then throwing a Rogue, Barbarian, or Fighter against them is a good way of dealing incredible damage.
Finally, let's talk about Warding Flare. This is a reaction a Cleric can do every turn that gives one attacker per round disadvantage. It's hard to quantify just how powerful a miss-per-turn is, especially against your healer / spellcaster.
If you're looking for more help with BG3, don't forget to check-out our guides for the best Druid build and best Bard build.
