Cleric Subclass Tier Ranking (Part 1 of 2) in Dungeons & Dragons 5e

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TIME STAMPS
1:37 - Rankings Explained
4:43 - Arcana Domain
8:40 - Death Domain
14:17 - Forge Domain
18:44 - Grave Domain
23:18 - Knowledge Domain
27:03 - Life Domain

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[DungeonDudes]

Part 2 of this video will air on September 8th!

We heard lots of constructive feedback on the Barbarian and Bard subclass videos about how we responded to the community poll results alongside our own rankings. We hope that this video demonstrates a more balanced and fair presentation when our opinions differed from those of the community poll. We think it’s important to show our thoughts alongside a diversity of opinions and experience in a respectful and constructive manner, even when we disagree or are being critical. Thank you for your feedback, and we hope you’ll continue to enjoy the rest of this series!

[willmena]

If Light Domain isn't S tier, I'm gonna * Fireball joke *

[TheSilverPhoenix]

Forge Clerics are by far that subclass you think sounds stupid till you play it and realize how ungodly powerful it is

[Riflery]

4:43 Arcana Domain: C/C
8:41 Death Domain : C/C
14:18 Forge Domain : S/A
18:46 Grave Domain : A/A
23:20 Knowledge Domain:C/C
27:05 Life Domain : A/S

[CivilWarMan]

I see your Dwarven Forge Cleric and I raise you a Warforged Forge Cleric.

[dukeironfist]

I started playing the Cleric a long time ago. because, "no one wanted to be the cleric." I have learned to absolutely love this class for it's versatility. Today, I will build a Cleric, unless someone else openly states that they want to play one.

[Hayden-vfss]

I just finished a campaign playing as a Death Domain Cleric, so I gotta defend the name. The sixth level ability ignores necrotic resistance, so that criticism doesn't really hold much water since most enemies that do resist necrotic damage tend to be mid-high level threats. Also, if you are willing to dip two level into Necromancy Wizard the sub-class really shines. Getting access to Booming Blade or Greenflame Blade (my pick for flavor reasons) really boosts your power output from your cantrips working really well with the Divine Strike feature. This option is available for a lot of sub-classes of course, but the real winner for this particular combo is Grim Harvest at lvl 2. Vampiric Touch works very well with both Grim Harvest and Touch of Death, keeping you well healed as you murder your enemies.
The Death Domain Cleric is not meant to be played like a typical necromancer, but some skeletal archers to chip in damage here and there never hurts. The Death Domain Cleric is a close range nuker with big damage melee spells. (Also I did pick variant human so I could start with Heavy Armor prof, so there's also that).

Edit: Also my campaign stopped at level 15, so the 17th level ability doesn't play into my experience with the class.

[jeffkuta]

Arcana clerics get a reasonably strong ability at first level: Arcane Initiate.
Two wizard cantrips, likely fire bolt and another damage dealer or mage hand, go a long way toward keeping the cleric useful from the very beginning. Dispel magic is indispensable and scales through all levels of play. Proficiency in the Arcana skill is also quite nice, even if the cleric doesn't have the intelligence to back it up. Potent Spellcasting was also glossed over completely. An 8th level Arcana cleric will likely have a 20 Wisdom and therefore gets +5 to their damage output. That's not insignificant for a caster who will be also using Spiritual Weapon if at range.

[BNRmatt]

Monty took us on a heck of a ride as he journeyed from D to S on Life Domain.

[NerdEnthusiast]

The only downside to the Forge Domain I want to address is that it doesn’t gain proficiency in martial weapons. This is often overlooked due to the fact that it’s paired so often with Dwarves, but it’s still worth mentioning.

[stephhanley]

Mass Dispel Magic, turning over half of the game's enemy types, and potent spellcasting paired with wizard cantrips; all widely overlooked for the Arcana Domain.

[formorianify]

"Starting at 6th level, the cleric ability to channel negative energy becomes more potent"- Death domain. It says yor channel divinity AND spells ignore resistance to necrotic damage. Now I dont know how many monsters get immunity to necrotic, but it's sort of like elemental adept.

[geoffdewitt]

Hard disagree on Arcana cleric, y'all. You get a limited banishment several times a short rest, a free dispel magic with ANY healing you do, and they're kind of amazing. Also, be advised that the spell list contains several ritual spells. So there are several spells you don't need to waste slots prepping, and that adds a lot to the mileage you get out of this domain. :) You make some good points, but this domain is one that is hard to see the potential of on paper. Y'all still get a like for constructive analysis though.

[biorph]

I was a little sad that the revamp Spare the Dying gets by the Grave domain didn't get touched on, if only because it takes very useless cantrip (see equipment: healers kit) and makes it so much more useful and effective.

[zanderthegreen]

You guys seemed to have forgotten that Death domain clerics ignore necrotic resistances

[somekindofnacho]

A Life Cleric was my first ever character. I loved every aspect of him, S tier for sure. I believe the cool thing about this subclass is that you can use channel divinity to heal (which recovers on short rests) and use slots to do damage/buff allies. Nothing sucks more than spending slots to heal 1d8+wis

[nbeutler]

I love how versatile clerics can be. I’m playing a light domain rn

[VivaLaDnDLogs]

I love that you recognize Life Domain can be a hindrance to a well-organized, balanced, and highly competent D&D party....while also recognizing no such D&D party exists 😅

[dascientist]

8:43 Small correction there, Death domain is in the Dungeon Master's Guide, not the PHB.

[Blackthorn]

So for the Arcana cleric: My group had one in Tomb of Annihilation, and Arcane Eye and Dispel Magic came in handy in many situations throughout the campaign, not the least because we didn't have a wizard. Ditto for turning extra planar entities and dispelling with healing . The entire module and the final dungeon was a great playground for that subclass in my experience, and we only got to level ten. On top of this, our cleric was an absolute beast in combat and managed to hold concentration for a silence spell while fighting a sphere of annihilation controlled by the BBEG in the final combat of the campaign. Totally clutch subclass if you can use it well, in my opinion.