Help me choose my spells (Pretty Please)

[Eradis]

Howdy Awesome Community!

I recently joined a mostly political campaign that has been going on for a while. My character (Twilight Cleric) is level 14. This means I have a bunch of spell already prepared due to my Domain and Race, plus a good 19 spells to choose to fill the space. So far I just winged it and did Okay, but mostly due to my Domain features.

I know. Yes, I know. Cleric prepares spells so it is not a static list. Although I am new to playing the game (usually GM'ing lower level games), thus know too little about the spell list. I am seeking to start with a static list of spells while gradually adding a few spells to rotate as needed.


What are the key spells any Cleric should always have prepared?
What spells do you suggest I take for my starting prepared list?
Usually with which spell slot do you cast Spiritual Weapon?


Informational
I have these spells always prepared: Guidance (0), Mending (0), Sacred Flame (0), Thaumaturgy (0), Word of Radiance (0), Faerie Fire (1), Sleep (1), Moonbeam (2), See Invisibility (2), Aura of Vitality (3), Leomund's Tiny Hut (3), Aura of Life (4), Greater Invisibility (4), Circle of Power (5), Mislead (5) + Shape Water (0) and Create or Destroy Water (1) as racial ones.

I appreciate any and all help and am looking forward to reading the comments and suggestions for this level and future ones.

[Eldariel]

Cleric is pretty easy. What you want as basically any Cleric:
- Mass Healing Word [also maybe Healing Word depending on how down-prone your teammates are]
- Spiritual Weapon
- Spirit Guardians
- Summon Celestial (treat this as a 6th level spell: it's basically the difference between Fighter 5 and Fighter 11 casting it from 5th or 6th level slot)
- Death Ward
- Aid
- Revivify
- Command
- Banishment
- Sanctuary
- Plane Shift
- Dispel Magic
- Enhance Ability
- Blindness/Deafness
- Greater Restoration
- Freedom of Movement


For Spiritual Weapon I generally use at least a 3rd level slot on this level: if the encounter is hard enough that I should bother with it, I'll probably want a bit more damage. 5th level slot OTOH takes much more resources. Spirit Guardians too is a spell that's generally worth upcasting.

Command is a great CC spell and one that doesn't take Concentration. It upcasts beautifully. Bane can also be worth considering but generally your Concentration is spoken for. Blindness OTOH is a non-Concentration CC like Command and targets a different save so you definitely want both. Banishment rounds it out by giving you a solid Cha-hitting spell. You lack good Dex/Int/Str targeting effects.

Sanctuary is just a great spell; it's cheap, at bonus action, and can protect you or allies with surprising ease: it only breaks if you cast a spell that affects enemies so if you e.g. first cast Spirit Guardians and then Sanctuary yourself walking at enemies they'll have to overcome your Wis save to hit you and overcome Spirit Guardians to get past you. Of course, you mostly use it to drop aggro off allies. And even if it only lasts for one round, it can have huge impact. Hell, you can Booming Blade an enemy and then Sanctuary yourself and walk 5' away: they have to proc it to do anything.

For other spells, these kinda have you covered at all ranges and in most functions. But then there's Heal as a spell to consider: sometimes you just need to dump heal an ally. Bless is also a nice option to have at times though you might not be able to spare Concentration very often. Silence is another spell that shines vs. casters but competes for Concentration. Many of the Cleric-rituals like Divination, Augury, etc. have nice all-day benefits so if you can afford, definitely bring some along (you gotta prepare them to ritual cast them).

Conjure Celestial for Couatl (https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/c1bpep/you_have_woken_up_today_as_a_20th_level_wizard_in/ergp5cg/) also does just about anything: goes nicely with Planar Binding (indeed, your only real option to that end). For your everyday use, Plane Shift as both offensive and defensive spell is very broadly applicable. You should also definitely have Word of Recall available for if things go seriously wrong.

Oh yeah, Warding Bond is another good spell if your party has frontliners to use it on. Extra AC and resistances are convenient, especially if you can outsource the damage (depending on what kind of Cleric you are, Animate Dead can fulfill this task perfectly and Couatl being immune to so many things can also probably take it, especially since their Change Shape lets them recover healing spells when they're not busy Blessing you).

EDIT: Shoutout to Stone Shape as a control spell that doesn't take Concentration, too. For when you need it. Hallow, Heroes' Feast, etc. are great spells too but they are highly situational and when you use them is fairly obvious. Definitely keep them in mind for when you know what you're getting into though (and make liberal use of all the Divination spells to gain this information every day).

You can also look into stuff like Bestow Curse (5th level) to get Concentration-free curses and those level 1 nuke spells (Inflict Wounds and Guided Bolt), while not amazing, can get job done for when you just need damage and upcast them by a bit (after you have a Concentration-spell already active). It might occasionally be worth preparing one, depending on how the party is setup and what exactly your job is (though on this level, Toll the Dead is already giving them a run for their money).


The big thing about Cleric-casting is that your Concentration will basically always be either Spirit Guardians or Summon Celestial in combat, depending on combat range. Out of combat you have more options but Enhance Ability is generally great. So mostly you focus on good non-Concentration spells with the rest of your slots. Banishment is kinda good enough to consider preparing since it targets another save and multitargets nicely when upcast and is basically a save-or-lose but other than that I generally wouldn't bother with much in terms of other Concentration effects. Bless can be gotten from Conjure Celestial + Planar Binding.

[firelistener]

If you're doing a political campaign, Geas is going to be a great spell to always prep. Zone of Truth could also be really great. Those kinds of spells rely a lot on your DM letting them be useful though.

Freedom of Movement is a great spell for combat against enemies that like to grapple and such. You probably want Silence if you think there will be any enemy spellcasters. Don't bother prepping Raise Dead or Resurrection until someone actually dies. You might want to keep Revify prepped, however, so you can raise someone right after they die in combat for cheap.

Other than that, I'd say you can't really go wrong. Clerics are valuable regardless of whatever they decide to do, and you can adjust to complement the party if you think you need more support, utility, or combat spells.

[Rukelnikov]

Howdy Awesome Community!

I recently joined a mostly political campaign that has been going on for a while. My character (Twilight Cleric) is level 14. This means I have a bunch of spell already prepared due to my Domain and Race, plus a good 19 spells to choose to fill the space. So far I just winged it and did Okay, but mostly due to my Domain features.

I know. Yes, I know. Cleric prepares spells so it is not a static list. Although I am new to playing the game (usually GM'ing lower level games), thus know too little about the spell list. I am seeking to start with a static list of spells while gradually adding a few spells to rotate as needed.


What are the key spells any Cleric should always have prepared?
What spells do you suggest I take for my starting prepared list?
Usually with which spell slot do you cast Spiritual Weapon?


Informational
I have these spells always prepared: Guidance (0), Mending (0), Sacred Flame (0), Thaumaturgy (0), Word of Radiance (0), Faerie Fire (1), Sleep (1), Moonbeam (2), See Invisibility (2), Aura of Vitality (3), Leomund's Tiny Hut (3), Aura of Life (4), Greater Invisibility (4), Circle of Power (5), Mislead (5) + Shape Water (0) and Create or Destroy Water (1) as racial ones.

I appreciate any and all help and am looking forward to reading the comments and suggestions for this level and future ones.

As always, knowledge of expected eno****ers and party composition tends to be important. You said this is a mostly political campaign, so I take it there's not that much combat and much more social encounters.

I'll give you a list of spells I think could be useful along with the reasons why, ill put some generally goods ones, and some I think may be more useful depending on the amount of politicing and plotting involved in the campaign:
1st Level:
Cure Wounds - You never know when you'll need it
Sanctuary - If you don't plan to harm/debuff enemies, its a very good layer of protection for yourself. Even if you are dealing damage, and haven't cast a spell with your action, you can spend a 1st level slot and your BA to get decent protection until your next turn. It can also be cast on others, super useful.

Ceremony - Its a ritual, could very well come into play in a political campaign where you need to actually officiate as an envoy of your god
Command - Depending on the setting/situation, very useful in social encounters
Detect Poison and Disease - Ritual, may be very important if you have to ensure a lords safety or have to make an uneasy truce over dinner.

2nd Level:
Aid - Extra HP for 3 ppl, decide the level at which you cast this based on how many spell slots you usually have remaining.
Lesser Restoartion - The kind of spell that when you need you wanna have it prepared.
Spiritual Weapon - You already knew you were gonna prepare this, the level at which you cast it, is much like Aid something you will have to learn by yourself, the level and frequency at which you will wanna cast it will depend heavily on the quantity and difficulty of the encounters you regularly face or expect to face, don't prioritize this over a good concentration spell.

Augury* - Divinations about the future are extremely DM dependant spells, either awesome or useless. At your level though, I'd prepare either Divination or Commune (or both), and skip on this.
Calm Emotions - Very good for negotiations you wanna ensure don't get out of hand.
Enhance Ability - Lots of out of combat uses, giving the face advantage in all Cha checks is awesome
Zone of Truth - Dont prepare this daily, but prepare it if you expect to have to interrogate a prisoner or deal with someone you wouldn't trust otherwise.
Warding Bond - More tools for protecting non-combatants which may happen very often in political campaigns (at least it did in the ones I played, assassination attempts on VIPs were common)

3rd Level:
Dispel Magic - My DMs tend to have a lot of magic effects in their worlds, making this a must, it depends on how your DM runs things on wheteher this is a must or not.
Protection from energy - Generally useful in a pinch.
Revivify - My table tends to play one BIG encounter per long rest sometimes two, more often than not at least one PC or party NPC dies at these levels, making this a must.

Clairvoyance* - Useful to listen in on potential allies/enemies conversations.
Feign Death - Faking someone's death can very useful to throw political enemies off the scent of a character you need to protect.
Sending - Controlling information flow is one of the most important things for a political campaign, this allows you to warn of movilizing troops and such on the spot, having to wait for 8 hours to do so may be too late.
Spirit Guardians - If during combat you expect to be in the thick of it and have more than 2 enemies, this spell is good to awesome, in a full scale battle, probably the best use of your conc
Tongues* - Setting/DM dependant, either completely useless or completely enabling.

4th Level:
Death Ward - At lvl 14th depending on the amount of encounters you usually face, you may have enough spare slots to cast this on a couple characters per day, against one big boss its awesome.
Divination* - Divinations work in the tables I play and I just cant overstate how useful the information they bring can be. 25 gp shouldn't be much at your level.
Guardian of Faith - IMO one of the most underrated Cleric spells, soft control of a zone or enemies take damage.

Locate Creature - May came in handy if you are looking for someone kidnapped or wanna track the assassin that just attempted a hit on a noble.
Freedom of Movement - Non-concentration buff, shines when its useful

5th Level:
Commune* - Same as divination. Having no gp cost, you can make liberal use of your god's near omniscience.

Greater Restoartion - IMX the need for this spell tends to be less imeddiate that its lesser counterpart, however it can be an encounter swinging spell sometimes.
Holy Weapon - If you face small amount of enemies in combat, its a better use of your concentration than Spirit Guardians/Moonbeam, dependant on having an ally that makes many attacks.
Legend Lore - Assuming divinations actually work at your table, this is very useful to learn something about a noble house or ruler you are dealing with, prepare on demand.
Scrying - "Improved" Clairvoyance

6th Level:
Heal - 70 HP of healing is a decent use for your action, and you don't need to touch the creature you wanna heal.

Forbiddance - More protections you can add to a meeting that you want to go well
Heroes Feast - Very useful in preparation for a great battle or to treat guests during negotiations, its costly but can yield good results.
True Seeing - You already have See Invisibility, but if you expect secret doors or lots of illusions its great, also useful if you have someone in your party that uses Darkness a lot.
Word of Recall - Very useful if you are a long ways from home, but probably not something you will wanna have prepared every day if theres someone with Teleport in the party.

7th Level:
Resurrection - If my job is to keep the party safe, I'd rather save my 7th level slot for this, than upcast a damaging spell, dealing damage should not be your main job as a Twilight Cleric. You will not be casting this in combat, but if you didn't manage to revivify someone that died, this spell brings them back to combat ready after an hour, Raise Dead, the 5th lvl "version" doesn't get them combat ready.
Plane Shift - Useful to get everyone out of a sticky situation. Also, depending on how your DM runs his table, this may be a spell tax to go where "you have to go", or it can open a lot of possibilities for your party. In our table once/if this spell comes into play, magic item availability goes thru the roof, as we start to make planar shopping expeditions.

Divine Word - Mass banishment against Celestial, Fiends, Fey and Elementals, the HP based part of the spell sucks.
Etherealness - Lets you maneuver around A LOT of situations, combat or otherwise, becomes better when you can upcast it as an 8th level spell and get your whole party aboard.


I didn't mention any of the Summoning spells, since I think they may make it more complex to play and you said you are inexperienced in high level play.

[Eradis]

Cleric is pretty easy. What you want as basically any Cleric:
- Mass Healing Word [also maybe Healing Word depending on how down-prone your teammates are]
- Spiritual Weapon
- Spirit Guardians
- Summon Celestial (treat this as a 6th level spell: it's basically the difference between Fighter 5 and Fighter 11 casting it from 5th or 6th level slot)
- Death Ward
- Aid
- Revivify
- Command
- Banishment
- Sanctuary
- Plane Shift
- Dispel Magic
- Enhance Ability
- Blindness/Deafness
- Greater Restoration
- Freedom of Movement


For Spiritual Weapon I generally use at least a 3rd level slot on this level: if the encounter is hard enough that I should bother with it, I'll probably want a bit more damage. 5th level slot OTOH takes much more resources. Spirit Guardians too is a spell that's generally worth upcasting.

Command is a great CC spell and one that doesn't take Concentration. It upcasts beautifully. Bane can also be worth considering but generally your Concentration is spoken for. Blindness OTOH is a non-Concentration CC like Command and targets a different save so you definitely want both. Banishment rounds it out by giving you a solid Cha-hitting spell. You lack good Dex/Int/Str targeting effects.

Sanctuary is just a great spell; it's cheap, at bonus action, and can protect you or allies with surprising ease: it only breaks if you cast a spell that affects enemies so if you e.g. first cast Spirit Guardians and then Sanctuary yourself walking at enemies they'll have to overcome your Wis save to hit you and overcome Spirit Guardians to get past you. Of course, you mostly use it to drop aggro off allies. And even if it only lasts for one round, it can have huge impact. Hell, you can Booming Blade an enemy and then Sanctuary yourself and walk 5' away: they have to proc it to do anything.

For other spells, these kinda have you covered at all ranges and in most functions. But then there's Heal as a spell to consider: sometimes you just need to dump heal an ally. Bless is also a nice option to have at times though you might not be able to spare Concentration very often. Silence is another spell that shines vs. casters but competes for Concentration. Many of the Cleric-rituals like Divination, Augury, etc. have nice all-day benefits so if you can afford, definitely bring some along (you gotta prepare them to ritual cast them).

Conjure Celestial for Couatl (https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/c1bpep/you_have_woken_up_today_as_a_20th_level_wizard_in/ergp5cg/) also does just about anything: goes nicely with Planar Binding (indeed, your only real option to that end). For your everyday use, Plane Shift as both offensive and defensive spell is very broadly applicable. You should also definitely have Word of Recall available for if things go seriously wrong.

Oh yeah, Warding Bond is another good spell if your party has frontliners to use it on. Extra AC and resistances are convenient, especially if you can outsource the damage (depending on what kind of Cleric you are, Animate Dead can fulfill this task perfectly and Couatl being immune to so many things can also probably take it, especially since their Change Shape lets them recover healing spells when they're not busy Blessing you).

EDIT: Shoutout to Stone Shape as a control spell that doesn't take Concentration, too. For when you need it. Hallow, Heroes' Feast, etc. are great spells too but they are highly situational and when you use them is fairly obvious. Definitely keep them in mind for when you know what you're getting into though (and make liberal use of all the Divination spells to gain this information every day).

You can also look into stuff like Bestow Curse (5th level) to get Concentration-free curses and those level 1 nuke spells (Inflict Wounds and Guided Bolt), while not amazing, can get job done for when you just need damage and upcast them by a bit (after you have a Concentration-spell already active). It might occasionally be worth preparing one, depending on how the party is setup and what exactly your job is (though on this level, Toll the Dead is already giving them a run for their money).


The big thing about Cleric-casting is that your Concentration will basically always be either Spirit Guardians or Summon Celestial in combat, depending on combat range. Out of combat you have more options but Enhance Ability is generally great. So mostly you focus on good non-Concentration spells with the rest of your slots. Banishment is kinda good enough to consider preparing since it targets another save and multitargets nicely when upcast and is basically a save-or-lose but other than that I generally wouldn't bother with much in terms of other Concentration effects. Bless can be gotten from Conjure Celestial + Planar Binding.

Awesome approach! Thank you.

As of now I'm unsure about anything that is summoning since, by rule, it falls under the GM's choice. I'm still curious as to what the Coatl is. I will definitively read more into it as I get the time.


If you're doing a political campaign, Geas is going to be a great spell to always prep. Zone of Truth could also be really great. Those kinds of spells rely a lot on your DM letting them be useful though.

Freedom of Movement is a great spell for combat against enemies that like to grapple and such. You probably want Silence if you think there will be any enemy spellcasters. Don't bother prepping Raise Dead or Resurrection until someone actually dies. You might want to keep Revify prepped, however, so you can raise someone right after they die in combat for cheap.

Other than that, I'd say you can't really go wrong. Clerics are valuable regardless of whatever they decide to do, and you can adjust to complement the party if you think you need more support, utility, or combat spells.

Interesting suggestions. I'm certain I'll put Silence into the mix. Always good to say a good "nope" to a caster. Thanks!


As always, knowledge of expected eno****ers and party composition tends to be important. You said this is a mostly political campaign, so I take it there's not that much combat and much more social encounters.

I'll give you a list of spells I think could be useful along with the reasons why, ill put some generally goods ones, and some I think may be more useful depending on the amount of politicing and plotting involved in the campaign:
1st Level:
Cure Wounds - You never know when you'll need it
Sanctuary - If you don't plan to harm/debuff enemies, its a very good layer of protection for yourself. Even if you are dealing damage, and haven't cast a spell with your action, you can spend a 1st level slot and your BA to get decent protection until your next turn. It can also be cast on others, super useful.

Ceremony - Its a ritual, could very well come into play in a political campaign where you need to actually officiate as an envoy of your god
Command - Depending on the setting/situation, very useful in social encounters
Detect Poison and Disease - Ritual, may be very important if you have to ensure a lords safety or have to make an uneasy truce over dinner.

2nd Level:
Aid - Extra HP for 3 ppl, decide the level at which you cast this based on how many spell slots you usually have remaining.
Lesser Restoartion - The kind of spell that when you need you wanna have it prepared.
Spiritual Weapon - You already knew you were gonna prepare this, the level at which you cast it, is much like Aid something you will have to learn by yourself, the level and frequency at which you will wanna cast it will depend heavily on the quantity and difficulty of the encounters you regularly face or expect to face, don't prioritize this over a good concentration spell.

Augury* - Divinations about the future are extremely DM dependant spells, either awesome or useless. At your level though, I'd prepare either Divination or Commune (or both), and skip on this.
Calm Emotions - Very good for negotiations you wanna ensure don't get out of hand.
Enhance Ability - Lots of out of combat uses, giving the face advantage in all Cha checks is awesome
Zone of Truth - Dont prepare this daily, but prepare it if you expect to have to interrogate a prisoner or deal with someone you wouldn't trust otherwise.
Warding Bond - More tools for protecting non-combatants which may happen very often in political campaigns (at least it did in the ones I played, assassination attempts on VIPs were common)

3rd Level:
Dispel Magic - My DMs tend to have a lot of magic effects in their worlds, making this a must, it depends on how your DM runs things on wheteher this is a must or not.
Protection from energy - Generally useful in a pinch.
Revivify - My table tends to play one BIG encounter per long rest sometimes two, more often than not at least one PC or party NPC dies at these levels, making this a must.

Clairvoyance* - Useful to listen in on potential allies/enemies conversations.
Feign Death - Faking someone's death can very useful to throw political enemies off the scent of a character you need to protect.
Sending - Controlling information flow is one of the most important things for a political campaign, this allows you to warn of movilizing troops and such on the spot, having to wait for 8 hours to do so may be too late.
Spirit Guardians - If during combat you expect to be in the thick of it and have more than 2 enemies, this spell is good to awesome, in a full scale battle, probably the best use of your conc
Tongues* - Setting/DM dependant, either completely useless or completely enabling.

4th Level:
Death Ward - At lvl 14th depending on the amount of encounters you usually face, you may have enough spare slots to cast this on a couple characters per day, against one big boss its awesome.
Divination* - Divinations work in the tables I play and I just cant overstate how useful the information they bring can be. 25 gp shouldn't be much at your level.
Guardian of Faith - IMO one of the most underrated Cleric spells, soft control of a zone or enemies take damage.

Locate Creature - May came in handy if you are looking for someone kidnapped or wanna track the assassin that just attempted a hit on a noble.
Freedom of Movement - Non-concentration buff, shines when its useful

5th Level:
Commune* - Same as divination. Having no gp cost, you can make liberal use of your god's near omniscience.

Greater Restoartion - IMX the need for this spell tends to be less imeddiate that its lesser counterpart, however it can be an encounter swinging spell sometimes.
Holy Weapon - If you face small amount of enemies in combat, its a better use of your concentration than Spirit Guardians/Moonbeam, dependant on having an ally that makes many attacks.
Legend Lore - Assuming divinations actually work at your table, this is very useful to learn something about a noble house or ruler you are dealing with, prepare on demand.
Scrying - "Improved" Clairvoyance

6th Level:
Heal - 70 HP of healing is a decent use for your action, and you don't need to touch the creature you wanna heal.

Forbiddance - More protections you can add to a meeting that you want to go well
Heroes Feast - Very useful in preparation for a great battle or to treat guests during negotiations, its costly but can yield good results.
True Seeing - You already have See Invisibility, but if you expect secret doors or lots of illusions its great, also useful if you have someone in your party that uses Darkness a lot.
Word of Recall - Very useful if you are a long ways from home, but probably not something you will wanna have prepared every day if theres someone with Teleport in the party.

7th Level:
Resurrection - If my job is to keep the party safe, I'd rather save my 7th level slot for this, than upcast a damaging spell, dealing damage should not be your main job as a Twilight Cleric. You will not be casting this in combat, but if you didn't manage to revivify someone that died, this spell brings them back to combat ready after an hour, Raise Dead, the 5th lvl "version" doesn't get them combat ready.
Plane Shift - Useful to get everyone out of a sticky situation. Also, depending on how your DM runs his table, this may be a spell tax to go where "you have to go", or it can open a lot of possibilities for your party. In our table once/if this spell comes into play, magic item availability goes thru the roof, as we start to make planar shopping expeditions.

Divine Word - Mass banishment against Celestial, Fiends, Fey and Elementals, the HP based part of the spell sucks.
Etherealness - Lets you maneuver around A LOT of situations, combat or otherwise, becomes better when you can upcast it as an 8th level spell and get your whole party aboard.


I didn't mention any of the Summoning spells, since I think they may make it more complex to play and you said you are inexperienced in high level play.

Won't lie, I did not read most of what you wrote just yet, but looking forward to it. The formatting sure makes it easier to sort through all you have to suggest.

I wanted though, with the little time I have right now, answer one of your inquiry: The party is composed by a Monk, a Bard (support focused from what I noticed from a fight. Casting mass healing and such), a oh-so-squishy Warlock and an Artificer with an squadron of nuts and bolts minions. It is politically focused, but there are fights and battles regularly from my understanding. Last fight was against huge golem-like creatures in a tight place with lots of AoE that dealt an incredible amount of damage to everyone. My temp HP pump ability was clearly my most valuable move and made me want to look more into damage mitigation.

And of course, thank you for your complete answer. I will thank you once more with specifics when I circle around my real life dailies.

[Frogreaver]

Clerics get some pretty nice divination spells and since you can prepare them going into any day they can be great to swap to when you expect they might be useful. Given the pacing of many political focused campaigns you can probably get advance notice to use ones like clairvoyance and scrying.

Augury - great for getting tips about the outcomes of your actions when dealing with other factions
Clairvoyance - great to see or hear secret meetings
Divination - like augury but more powerful
Locate Creature - great to find people that don't want to be found. Can be very useful in a political campaign context.
Commune - another great spell to gather information about other factions or people to leverage
Scrying - great to determine what various political factions and their members are up to

[Eldariel]

Awesome approach! Thank you.

As of now I'm unsure about anything that is summoning since, by rule, it falls under the GM's choice.

I'm still curious as to what the Coatl is. I will definitively read more into it as I get the time.

Summon Celestial clearly and explicitly states what you get: you generate a celestial spirit with a bow that shoots at enemies (it's from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything). There's no DM part there. It's also the best long range combat option in Cleric arsenal by far.

Conjure Celestial isn't quite as clear but this game doesn't actually contain CR4- celestials other than Couatl and Pegasus so you should be fine in that regard. Just cast the spell and see what the DM gives you: Couatls are awesome and go perfectly with a Cleric. It's like your own heavenly dragon spirit familiar.


I wanted though, with the little time I have right now, answer one of your inquiry: The party is composed by a Monk, a Bard (support focused from what I noticed from a fight. Casting mass healing and such), a oh-so-squishy Warlock and an Artificer with an squadron of nuts and bolts minions. It is politically focused, but there are fights and battles regularly from my understanding. Last fight was against huge golem-like creatures in a tight place with lots of AoE that dealt an incredible amount of damage to everyone. My temp HP pump ability was clearly my most valuable move and made me want to look more into damage mitigation.

And of course, thank you for your complete answer. I will thank you once more with specifics when I circle around my real life dailies.

Aid is a big spell if you have a lot of squishies needing support in your party. Lets you pump some extra HP that stacks with temporary HP into allies. Warding Bond could be useful too, for the extra AC and for getting more value out of your Twilight bonuses. If damage is split, well, you essentially hit two peoples' temp HPs and then just recover them (just beware, Resistance doesn't stack so don't cast it on people who are already resistant to stuff you're facing). So with a party like this, I'd definitely look into those two spells.

As for politics, Enhance Ability is indeed a must and Commune should probably be prepared too (one of the better information gathering spells in the game). Scrying and Legend Lore also get way more valuable if you need to dig up information (Scrying is something I'd prepare every day just to observe targets while Legend Lore is more situational). Locate Object and Creature are also obvious spells that can be very useful in certain circumstances [prepare when you need to find something or someone - great examples of spells to switch in and out depending on what you're doing each day], and make sure to abuse the hell out of Guidance.

For political games specifically, Motivational Speech is also a spell to look into: it can give you and allies advantage on Wis saves without Concentration, which can be very valuable if you're being covertly targeted by mind control/manipulation effects. You are unlikely to take damage in such a scenario so it actually works really well. And yes, definitely Zone of Truth: you never know when you need to make it so someone can't lie (better yet if you can prepare the trap without them noticing).


Given this, I'd probably go with the following list:
- Mass Healing Word
- Spiritual Weapon
- Spirit Guardians
- Summon Celestial
- Death Ward

- Aid
- Revivify
- Command
- Banishment
- Sanctuary

- Plane Shift
- Dispel Magic
- Enhance Ability
- Blindness/Deafness
- Greater Restoration

- Freedom of Movement
- Commune
- Scrying
- Warding Bond
- Zone of Truth


That's 20 spells so you'll have to cut one. Banishment is one option since you have Plane Shift, Zone of Truth is another one (prepare it when you need it) and Freedom of Movement is probably kinda niche in this kind of situation (but when it's good it's really good). Mass Healing Word can kinda also be cut since you have so much healing already but since allies are at the risk of going down, it's probably well-advised to instead keep it. This list also lacks Silence, which could be added.

Then you weave in stuff like Speak with Dead, Locate Object, Locate Creature, Find the Path, Control Water, Water Breathing, etc. You can complement Commune with Divination and Augury when need be. Detect Magic is another spell that you might have need for eventually, and potentially Detect Poison and Disease. You can sub out some combat spells for those (Freedom of Movement, Greater Restoration, Blindness, Banishment, Sanctuary probably in about that order). And Protection from Poison is obviously a spell you want if you're dealing with some poison-happy people.

[Nidgit]

People have gone over most of what I'd include, so I'll just offer a mock spell list:

1st level
Command
Guiding Bolt
Healing Word

2nd level
Silence
Spiritual Weapon
Warding Bond

3rd level
Clairvoyance
Revivify
Sending
Spirit Guardians

4th level
Banishment
Death Ward

5th level
Commune
Mass Cure Wounds
Scrying

6th level
Heal
True Seeing

7th level
Etherealness
Plane Shift

Some thoughts:
At least one person needs to have Detect Magic. Hopefully your Wizard is casting it as a ritual, but if they're not then you might need to prepare it. Sanctuary is pretty nice and might be more to your tastes, but if you're casting it on yourself it can interfere with Spiritual Weapon or other offensive capabilities. Guiding Bolt is powerful for its level, scales well, and still boosts your allies. It's great for when you need to focus fire on something and cantrips aren't going to cut it as an action.

Silence is fantastic in both combat and social situations. Because it blocks sound going in or out, you can conceivably us it to block a corridor or doorway and quickly soundproof an area. Lesser Restoration is a good safety net but the conditions aren't that common, and by level 14 you should have other ways of finding liars besides Zone of Truth. Aid only really matters if your party members are just barely going down.

Sending, Clairvoyance, and Scrying are all fantastic social spells. Divination is extremely DM-dependent and can be unreliable, which is why it's not on here. Death Ward is ok and could probably be replaced. True Seeing and Etherealness are both very powerful exploration tools and give you a lot of options, which I consider more important than having Resurrection always prepared.

[Eldariel]

People have gone over most of what I'd include, so I'll just offer a mock spell list:

1st level
Command
Guiding Bolt
Healing Word

2nd level
Silence
Spiritual Weapon
Warding Bond

3rd level
Clairvoyance
Revivify
Sending
Spirit Guardians

4th level
Banishment
Death Ward

5th level
Commune
Mass Cure Wounds
Scrying

6th level
Heal
True Seeing

7th level
Etherealness
Plane Shift

Some thoughts:
At least one person needs to have Detect Magic. Hopefully your Wizard is casting it as a ritual, but if they're not then you might need to prepare it. Sanctuary is pretty nice and might be more to your tastes, but if you're casting it on yourself it can interfere with Spiritual Weapon or other offensive capabilities. Guiding Bolt is powerful for its level, scales well, and still boosts your allies. It's great for when you need to focus fire on something and cantrips aren't going to cut it as an action.

Silence is fantastic in both combat and social situations. Because it blocks sound going in or out, you can conceivably us it to block a corridor or doorway and quickly soundproof an area. Lesser Restoration is a good safety net but the conditions aren't that common, and by level 14 you should have other ways of finding liars besides Zone of Truth. Aid only really matters if your party members are just barely going down.

Sending, Clairvoyance, and Scrying are all fantastic social spells. Divination is extremely DM-dependent and can be unreliable, which is why it's not on here. Death Ward is ok and could probably be replaced. True Seeing and Etherealness are both very powerful exploration tools and give you a lot of options, which I consider more important than having Resurrection always prepared.

The only huge qualm I have about this list is lacking Summon Celestial. If you ever need to fight at 100'-600' range, it's just the best spell on the Cleric list and it's not particularly close. It single-handedly negates the Cleric weakness at range and it's just a powerful spell in general. I'd definitely take it over Mass Cure Wounds, especially since it's a Twilight Cleric who already has Aura of Vitality. On this level I'd also prefer Mass Healing Word to Healing Word (which actually does the job of Mass Cure Wounds as well if upcast).

I do kinda worry about skipping on Blindness too since when it's good (say you run into Beholder) it's really good and kinda irreplaceable (it's the only decent Con-save targeting spell on the Cleric list - basically everything else you've got hits Wis/Cha). I do like all the Divinations and such though: this is overall fine. Though I do note that Aid upcasts nicely and giving your damage takers 20 more HP is equivalent to them having +4 Constitution, which is pretty great for 8 hours. And that only costs you one 5th level slot. 15 HP for 3 people from a 4th level slot works too. Level 5 Aid is like precasting Mass Cure Wounds++ on 3 people at no action cost.

Oh. Never go into social campaigns without Enhance Ability. That spell is a godsent.


My own revised version would be:
1st level
Command

2nd level
Silence
Spiritual Weapon
Warding Bond
Aid
Blindness
Enhance Ability

3rd level
Clairvoyance
Revivify
Dispel Magic
Spirit Guardians
Mass Healing Word

4th level
Death Ward

5th level
Commune
Summon Celestial
Scrying

6th level
True Seeing

7th level
Etherealness
Plane Shift

Spells that got cut:
Banishment: Great spell but you have so much to Concentrate on that I'm not sure it's worth preparing when you can, in worst case scenario, burn a Plane Shift to the same end.

Sending: Ultimately a useful spell but one you generally know when you wanna use. Meanwhile Dispel Magic seems mandatory pretty much always.

Sanctuary: It's a really good spell and there's an argument to be made for preparing it over some level 2 stuff. Would let you use your level 1 slots more while at it, but it does interfere with Spiritual Weaponing.

Heal: But you're already pretty heavy on level 6+ spells and you have Aura of Vitality from Twilight so it's not strictly necessary. I probably wouldn't bother preparing it here since you're more likely to want your level 6+ slots for unique effects, though burst healing can occasionally be worth it.

Detect Magic: If you don't have a Wizard casting this, you'll need to prepare this. One should always be among the party.

Detect Poison and Disease: It's a social campaign; depending on how things go, this can be crucial. Other Divinations can help you make up for lacking it and know when to prepare it though. You can e.g. Commune "Would I be well-advised to prepare Detect Poison and Disease tomorrow?"

Zone of Truth: Again, a spell that's very convenient to have and opens up options but one where you can kinda predict when you'll need it. I maintain it's probably still worth considering.

Guiding Bolt/Inflict Wounds: On this level, Toll the Dead does 3d12 so you're only taking these for upcasting. As you have so much use for level 2+ slots I'm not sure these are all that interesting, but there are times when you just need to hit someone for 7d10 or 8d6 to the face. Generally a bit inefficient though, even with the advantage from Guiding Bolt (it upcasts horribly). Make no mistake, these are not strong spells on these levels but they're some of the very few non-Concentration damage effects a Cleric has access to so there's some merit to preparing one.

Freedom of Movement: The most situational of the long-term buffs; it's still a good spell though and if you ever go underwater it's borderline mandatory. It also negates some nasty conditions like paralysis and restraint.

Protection from Poison: If suspecting poison, this can be a lifesaver.

[Nidgit]

The only huge qualm I have about this list is lacking Summon Celestial. If you ever need to fight at 100'-600' range, it's just the best spell on the Cleric list and it's not particularly close. It single-handedly negates the Cleric weakness at range and it's just a powerful spell in general. I'd definitely take it over Mass Cure Wounds, especially since it's a Twilight Cleric who already has Aura of Vitality. On this level I'd also prefer Mass Healing Word to Healing Word (which actually does the job of Mass Cure Wounds as well if upcast).

I do kinda worry about skipping on Blindness too since when it's good (say you run into Beholder) it's really good and kinda irreplaceable (it's the only decent Con-save targeting spell on the Cleric list - basically everything else you've got hits Wis/Cha). I do like all the Divinations and such though: this is overall fine. Though I do note that Aid upcasts nicely and giving your damage takers 20 more HP is equivalent to them having +4 Constitution, which is pretty great for 8 hours. And that only costs you one 5th level slot. 15 HP for 3 people from a 4th level slot works too. Level 5 Aid is like precasting Mass Cure Wounds++ on 3 people at no action cost.
I considered Summon Celestial! If I were to replace one spell, it would probably be to swap out Death Ward for Summon Celestial. Maybe it's just because my own DM doesn't throw very gruelling encounters at our party but Death Ward only feels particularly important when you're worried about stuff like Disintegrate that denies death saving throws.

There's definitely an argument to be made for Mass Healing Word over Mass Cure Wounds. It heals less at the same level but has a greater range and is a bonus action. If your bonus action is already being used for Spiritual Weapon, Aura of Vitality, or something else, though, it's nice to have a broad heal that works as an action.

On the topic of Aura of Vitality, it has a pretty different function than other healing spells. It's basically Healing Word as a concentration spell; it can't heal multiple party members in a single turn and it only heals a little at a time. I'd consider dropping Healing Word with Aura of Vitality automatically prepared but that still means spending concentration on healing.

Somehow I overlooked Dispel Magic. Yeah, do prepare Dispel Magic. There's always a use.

[Eldariel]

I find in this case Mass Healing Word does the job of both, Healing Word and Mass Cure Wounds nicely. It's just economical to prepare. It's low enough level that you'll probably have slots so you can just yoyo with it but it can upcast for almost the same healing as Mass Cure Wounds if need be, and it has more range and it's a bonus action (though as you said, you often have use for your bonus action but worst case is you can always Toll as your Action).