Clerics in Baldur's Gate 3 can take up multiple roles in a party. With a huge variance of spells and as much versatility as Wizards, they can build into whatever suits your fancy. Tanking, healing, buffing, debuffing, battlefield control, or just raw damage, it's all on the table for Clerics.
Since all Clerics are prepared spellcasters, it means they can switch their spells on the fly and experiment with different builds freely. And while there are some spells that are only available to select subclasses, the base Cleric spell list has enough variety that it can shift to suit your needs at any juncture.
Updated by Hamza Haq on August 27, 2023: Clerics get the most freedom in spellcasting out of any class in Baldur's Gate 3, allowing them to change their playstyle at the drop of the hat. Knowing which spells are useful in which situation is extremely useful information to have as a Cleric because you always want to be flexible in your build. To give players more options to choose from, we've updated the list with five new spells that Clerics get access to in the later acts of the game.
15 Guidance
Guidance is perhaps the most useful cantrip in all of Baldur's Gate 3. While it can be cast during combat or before it, that is rarely going to be the reason why you will find this spell useful. Guidance is a concentration spell that gives a target +1d4 to their ability checks. All ability checks.
You'll be doing a lot of rolls for ability checks in BG3. Persuasion, deception, intimidation, athletics, and everything in between is an ability check, and Guidance benefits all of them. This spell alone makes the Cleric a useful class to have in any situation.
14 Healing Word
In most parties, the primary role of the Cleric is going to be the healer, and nothing suits the healer more than being able to heal every single turn from a distance. Healing Word is the perfect level 1 spell that you'll find yourself keeping in your list of prepared spells well into the later acts of the game.
Healing Word heals any unit you can see for 1d4. While it may not seem like much at first glance, it can turn the tide of a battle completely. Any downed party member, as long as they are within 18 meters, can be revived with a sliver of health as a bonus action. Always useful.
13 Guiding Bolt
Early-game Clerics might find themselves quite lacking in damage. Most of their spells are dedicated to either buffing your allies, debuffing your enemies, or healing. Guiding Bolt is one of the few offensive options available to a Cleric, and it's a good one.
A level 1 Evocation spell, Guiding Bolt does 4d6 Radiant damage to a single target within the range of 18 meters. Its ranged nature makes it ideal for Clerics who prefer being on the fringes of battle, at least during the early levels. And Guiding Bolt also debuffs enemies on hit by making the next Attack Roll against them have an advantage.
12 Bless
No Cleric is complete without Bless on their prepared spell list. Bless is an incredible ally buffing spell that adds 1d4 to Attack Rolls and Saving Throws on allies who are being buffed. Excellent in the early game; Bless is going to tilt the odds in your favor if your Cleric can maintain it. On higher levels, it can be cast on even more allies.
However, there are caveats to Bless. For one, it is a concentration spell, and if your Cleric is interrupted successfully and fails their constitution saving throw, Bless fades. For another, on higher levels, there are more useful Concentration spells, and Clerics can only cast one such spell at a time.
11 Glyph Of Warding
Glyph of Warding is an extremely powerful area of effect spell that can be customized to any elemental damage type and even some utility options. Think of it as a better Fireball, it affects as large an area but it has more applications than just raw damage.
The ward can either be cast directly where an enemy is standing or in an area where they're likely to go. If you cast it where an enemy is standing, it detonates immediately and unleashes its effect. But if you pre-cast it, it activates when an enemy walks over it, like a trap.
10 Prayer Of Healing
Prayer of Healing is an area of effect, massive healing spell that can heal most parties as much as a short rest does. The only downside to this spell is that it can't be used during combat and needs to be activated outside of it.
But even with this caveat, Prayer of Healing is an excellent spell to have for when you need it. The optimal way to use it on your Cleric is to add it to your prepared spell list when a combat encounter is over, heal your party, then unequip it. Clerics are prepared casters and can easily switch between spells any time they want outside combat.
9 Wall Of Fire
Only available to Light Domain Clerics, Wall of Fire allows the caster to create a literal wall of flames that burns any unit that walks through it for 5d6 Fire Damage per turn as long as they remain inside the range of the fire.
This is one of the best area denial spells in the entire game, giving your Cleric the opportunity to wall off an entire group of enemies from the fight by dividing the battlefield in two. Enemies have to wade through the fire to get to your party if you position the spell correctly.
8 Revivify
Scrolls of Revivify are scant and hard to come by if you run out, and a Cleric's Revivify spell does exactly the same thing at the cost of a level 3 spell slot. It's an extremely powerful tool to have in your party, and since Clerics can switch out spells whenever it doesn't even hog a prepared spell slot on your spell list.
It's rarely going to be useful in the middle of the fight, as an ally who has been killed can only be revived with a sliver of hit points, making them essentially useless. But, if you regularly find yourself misjudging chasms and dying from lava while exploring, having a low-cost way of revival makes exploration much less of a chore.
7 Flame Strike
A level 5 Evocation spell, Flame Strike summons a pillar of fire anywhere within the range of 18 meters to deal 5d6 Fire and 5d6 Radiant damage to enemies within its range. While the damage numbers are high, Flame Strike’s AoE is smaller than Fireball, and Fireball upcast at level 5 deals the same amount of damage, so in some ways, it’s an inferior version of it.
Where Flame Strike shines is the fact that its damage type is split between Radiant and Fire damage, meaning enemies who resist fire will still take a decent chunk of damage when hit by this spell. And there are a lot of enemies in BG3 who resist all elemental damage, including fire. Flame Strike also deals unavoidable damage, and even if the enemy succeeds their DEX save, they still take half damage.
6 Destructive Wave
Exclusive to Tempest Clerics, Destructive Wave is another level 5 evocation spell that splits its damage between two types (Thunder and Radiant). These Clerics like to jump in the middle of the fight to deal massive thunder and lightning damage, and nothing fulfills that class fantasy quite like Destructive Wave. It’s a spell meant to take out squishy, backline casters.
When cast, this spell generates a powerful shockwave originating from the caster that spreads to a distance of 6 meters. Resisting Destructive Wave requires a CON save, and even if the enemy succeeds, they still take half damage.
5 Banishment
Banishment is a level 4 Abjuration spell that directly transports the target to another dimension for 2 turns if the target fails a CHA saving throw. What makes Banishment an incredible spell is that it directly takes one powerful enemy out of the equation of the duration of the spell.
As Banishment requires a Charisma saving throw to be countered, enemies like constructs or big bosses who are all brute strength with low Charisma are perfectly countered by this spell. Enemies under the effects of Banishment cannot be targeted, but the caster can cancel the concentration on this spell at any time to make them targetable again.
4 Call Lightning
Another Tempest Cleric exclusive, Call Lightning is a small area of effect spell that deals massive Lightning Damage to anyone in the way of the blast. This is what makes the Tempest Cleric subclass our favorite version of Cleric and a terrifying beast on the battlefield.
One thing to note is that Call Lightning requires concentration even though it doesn't function like most other concentration spells in the game. Its effects don't persist on the battlefield like Cloud of Daggers or Darkness. Instead, it can be cast for free for 10 turns after its initial cast, provided the caster doesn't lose concentration or use another concentration spell.
3 Spiritual Weapon
Spiritual Weapon creates an ethereal, spectral weapon made out of light that can be summoned at any spot within 18 meters of the caster. When cast, the Cleric chooses which type of spiritual weapon they want to summon, and each one has its own special attack, but all are mostly the same in terms of raw damage numbers.
The summoned weapon has its own movement speed, action, and bonus action; it doesn't borrow anything from the Cleric. It can also fly, though the movement range is quite small. What's great about this spell is that it's not a concentration spell, so it can be cast without worry, and it's a bonus action, meaning you can use your action for something else.
2 Guardian Of Faith
Guardian of Faith is an incredible area denial/DPS spell that can alter the state of the battlefield in one go. When cast, this summons a Guadian who cannot move but can attack anyone within its range with a melee attack for massive damage. Every time the Guardian attacks, it loses the same amount of HP it takes away from the enemy.
Cast the Guardian of Faith in a small area or a doorway that the enemy needs to cross to get to you, and enemies will need to take massive damage to move past the Guardian. And since this spell doesn’t require concentration, your Cleric can focus their efforts on maintaining Bless or Call Lightning in tandem with Guardian of Faith.
1 Spirit Guardians
Spirit Guardians is another Concentration spell of the Cleric and one that's more universal than Call Lightning, which is why it's at the top of the list. Casting Spirit Guardians manifests a glowing ring of guardians around the caster, dealing damage every turn to enemies that walk into range.
Spirit Guardians make the life of melee fighters hell by punishing them every turn they're in range of the Cleric. It also makes the tanky Cleric build even more viable by giving your heavily armored frontliner an alternate source of damage than swinging a mace.