Cleric spell prioritization in combat

[caoshunter22]

I'm playing my first campaign of D&D and I'm playing a level 1 Cleric following the life domain and on other threads, people have suggested what spells to have prepared but I'm not sure how to use the spells effectively in combat. The rest of the party is made up by a barbarian, wizard, rogue, and paladin. From what I can tell the paladin of the group will be focusing on dealing damage. So some tactics on spell prioritization to best help my party in combat would be helpful.

[Trustypeaches]

Bless
Healing Word
Guiding Bolt / Inflict Wounds
Command

That’s basically all I ever use for clerics in the first two levels

[Galithar]

Always put up bless for any fight that needed a spell slot used. The Barbarian should get it for sure, then whoever you think needs help hitting, or making saves. Anyone with concentration spells would probably appreciate the 1d4 anytime they have to make a check.

Guiding Bolt is superb for dealing a little damage, but still supporting your party. You can give advantage to someone, or possibly just let your Barbarian get it without having to recklessly attack.

[Grimmnist]

First Turn - you want to cast these spells either on the first turn, or if you can, immediately before combat even starts.

At early levels Bless is your bff forever! You will want to cast that on yourself (since Bless is a concentration spell when you take damage you need to make a Con Saving throw, fortunately Bless adds 1d4 to this roll) and two of your teammates.

Heroism can be really good on your Barabarian. It would give them temporary hitpoints which regen each turn, since the Barbarian has resistance to some damage while raging it essentially doubles the effectiveness of this spell. However, this spell requires concentration so you can't use both this and Bless at the same time.

Protection from Evil/Good is nice against certain enemy types, it makes your character harder to hit allowing you to take aggro and keep your team alive. Again it is concentration so you can only have one concentration up.


Situational- You should mix these in when needed, depending on how many combat encounters you get per day you should ration using these

You want to use Healing Word whenever you have a teammate knocked out. Since it is a Bonus Action to cast you can still cast a cantrip like Sacred Flame or Toll the Dead with your action.

Sanctuary This spell can prevent enemies from attacking a party member until that person does damage. It can be good to keep a low player alive for one more turn but it is really situational.

Guiding Bolt is good damage, but I tend not to use it much. If you find that you are ending days with extra spell slots remaining you should use it more. It can also combo nicely with your rogue if they are going immediately after you in initiative. If you spell hits the next attack against the target will have advantage, helping the rogue with their sneak attack.

Command is a useful spell for getting an enemy to drop their weapon, move into more advantageous positioning for your team and various other uses.


Once you reach level three you will get access to 2nd level spell slots. Spiritual Weapon is the best of these. It essentially allows you to make an extra attack with a bonus action each turn and it is NOT concentration. You should cast this on either the 1st or 2nd turn of combat and a concentration spell on the other of these turns. Note you cannot cast two spells in one turn other than Cantrips.

[McSkrag]

Spells

Bless - Save for the end of the day "boss" fight
Healing Word - Bonus action emergency heal
Cure Wounds - Better healing but takes your action
Guiding Bolt - This is the hail mary to take out the boss. You have to hit with your spell attack so it is all or nothing. Best to only use it if you have advantage on your attack and need to do radiant damage.



Cantrips:

Guidance - Out of combat cast this before skill checks for +1d4.
Toll the Dead - This should be your primary attack. It's a WIS save for 1d8 or 1d12 necrotic.
3rd cantrip can be anything although Sacred Flame is a good choice since it does radiant damage.


At level 1 you will only have 2 1st level spell slots a day. So you should rely on your cantrips for damage in combat. Bless your front line first thing going into a big combat. Then try to keep 1 spell slot available for emergency Healing Word or Cure Wounds to get your teammates back on their feet and back in the fight.

[ImproperJustice]

Pretty much what others have said.
Bless will endear you to the rest of the party and is just a solid spell.

Healing Word in case someone hits the dirt early (can happen easily with some bad rolls at level 1).

Hit things if they are close, cantrip them if their not.
Guidance is great for anyone attempting any task.

Grab Light if no one else did.