Baldur's Gate 3: Cleric class and skills guide

The Cleric plays a predominantly support-based role in Baldur’s Gate 3, at least at a glance. You’ve got several abilities and skills that can help buff and heal your allies, but you can also play more aggressively as a melee combatant. Here’s our Cleric class guide to help you out.

Note: For more information, check out our Baldur’s Gate 3 guides and features hub as well as our character creation guide. Likewise, please be reminded that this guide is intended for the game’s Early Access stage. Some information and mechanics might change in due course.

Baldur’s Gate 3: Cleric class and skills guide

Regardless of any chosen subclass, Baldur’s Gate 3‘s Cleric class has the following features:

Spell Slots Unlocked – Gain two level 1 spell slots; restored on rest.
Saving Throw Proficiency: Wisdom, Charisma
Armor Proficiency: Light, Medium
Shield Proficiency
Simple Weapon Proficiency

Note: Each time the Cleric class levels up, it gains HP based on its Constitution stat plus a d8 (8-sided) dice roll.

Next up, you’ve got your cantrips. These are very basic spells in Baldur’s Gate 3. They don’t take up a spell slot, they can be cast freely, and they don’t need to be prepped. You can choose three Cantrips for your Cleric:

Guidance – Target receives a d4 bonus to an ability check of its choosing.
Resistance – Target receives a d4 bonus to saving throws.
Sacred Flame – Deals 1d8 radiant damage.
Thaumaturgy – Gain an advantage on Intimidation and Performance checks.
Light — Infuse an object with an aura of light; only available to Life Domain and Trickery Domain subclasses.

Spells

There are eight available spells, and you need to choose three that are considered “prepared spells” for your Cleric:

Spell	Effect
Bane	Target up to three creatures to receive a penalty to attack rolls and saving throws.
Command	Prevent a creature from moving or attacking.
Create Water	Extinguishes flames and forms a watery surface.
Guiding Bolt	Deals radiant damage.
Healing	Heals a target’s HP.
Inflict Wounds	Deals Necrotic damage.
Protection from Evil and Good	Target cannot be charmed or frightened; enemies that attack the target do so at a disadvantage.
Shield of Faith	Protects a target with a magical barrier.

Note: Healing and Command are my recommendations here. The third spell is completely up to you.

Subclasses: Life, Light, Trickery

The Cleric in Baldur’s Gate 3 has three possible subclasses on character creation. You can refer to the table below for their differences:

Life	Light	Trickery
Proficiency: Heavy Armor	Warding Flare – Potentially cause an enemy’s attack to miss.	Domain Spells – You gain spells from your domain; these are always prepared.
Disciple of Life – Target gains extra HP based on the level of the healing spell that you cast.	Domain Spells – You gain spells from your domain; these are always prepared.	Charm Person – Magically charm a humanoid target.
Domain Spells – You gain spells from your domain; these are always prepared.	Burning Hands – Ignites anything that’s flammable and deals fire damage.	Disguise Self – Magically change all aspects of your appearance.
	Faerie Fire – Targets turn visible; all attack rolls against these targets have an advantage.	Blessing of the Trickster – Grant a target advantage on Stealth checks.
	Light – Cantrip; infuse an object with an aura of light.

Note: The Light Domain subclass already has the Light cantrip automatically learned, so you can pick other options mentioned earlier.

Deities

For the deities, you’ve got 20 to choose from. Options include Bhaal, Tyr, Bane, Mystra, Kelemvor, and many others. As far as I know, these don’t affect your skill build at all. They’d mostly play a role in Baldur’s Gate 3‘s story and how certain worshippers or cults perceive your character.

Cleric skills and abilities/attributes

Certain skills here will be active depending on your character’s background. In general, however, you should see the following for the Cleric class (you can pick up to two):

History – Everything you know about Faerûn’s past, allowing you to recognize notable names and unusual items.
Insight – Read people and certain situations; pierce through lies and deceit.
Medicine – The knowledge and training that can be used to heal wounds or cure diseases.
Persuasion – The art of convincing others to do your bidding and secure favors.
Religion – Knowledge of deities, domains, clergy, and holy rites.

For your abilities/attributes, Wisdom is the most important since this determines the success rate of your spells. I usually follow-up with a bit of Strength and/or Dexterity. Constitution is the fourth option, and Intelligence is completely unnecessary.

CON is also a good tertiary stat pick if you picked the Life Domain buff (thanks to the Heavy Armor Proficiency). Not only could support your allies that need help, but you can also have a bit of tankiness while in the thick of the fray too.