What's your favorite cleric domain and why?

[Verble]

Clerics come in so many flavors. What features have you enjoyed in your games?

[Man_Over_Game]

Clerics come in so many flavors. What features have you enjoyed in your games?

Nature, hands down.

It's a solid tank, it has an excellent blend of utility and combat, it promotes teammates.

It's THE cleric. When I see a Nature Cleric, I know that it's a player that is experienced and is planning on making sure everyone is having a good time.

[CTurbo]

Tempest, hands down.

It's the best tank, the best DPR, and still has a solid amount of everything else. It's probably most versatile and it's just really a lot of fun.

[MrStabby]

Order.

A great team player with some pretty unique abilities combined with enough AC that they won't need to use too many resources healing themselves.

To me order clerics encapsulate the idea that clerics are now more than just a heal-bot with a nice focus on control. Also compulsion is pretty funny, so bonus marks for that.

[th3g0dc0mp13x]

Death then Order since most DM's wont allow the Death domain.

Death is interesting and the mechanics of the subclass support each other wonderfully.

Order takes the cake on buffing allies imo though. The fact that I can drop bless or healing word and give the hitter an extra attack is phenomenal.

[Yakmala]

Arcana. What can be better than being a Cleric of magic itself, protecting the Weave from those who would corrupt it?

My level 7 Human Variant Arcana Cleric chose Magic Initiate Druid as their starting feat, giving him Divine, Arcane and Nature magic to draw upon. He has eight cantrips and a great selection of spells that will only improve as he levels up. Spell Breaker does not come up every session, but it's great to have when the party needs it. In combat, he wades in, gets Spirit Guardians going, drops a Spiritual Weapon and then starts bashing foes with Shillelagh and Booming Blade.

[Tanarii]

Tempest, hands down.

Agreed, Tempest by far.

But the nice thing about Clerics is they're a well built class. I've seen players highly enjoy playing them all. Even the much maligned trickery clerics.

[Blood of Gaea]

I have really enjoyed the Arcana Cleric tank build LudicSavant made, and have played it twice to mid, and then to high levels. It's just a ton of fun.

A few Clerics can be pretty reasonably in melee, and all of them have access Spirit Guardians and decent defenses, so it's not that they make being up close viable, it's more than stacking blade cantrips and Potent Cantrip on top of those normal strategies makes you both arguably better, and in my opinion a hell of a lot more fun.

The only real thing that sucks about it is that it doesn't work well with Shillelagh or a Str boosting magic item.

[ShinyRocks]

Nature, hands down.

It's a solid tank, it has an excellent blend of utility and combat, it promotes teammates.

It's THE cleric. When I see a Nature Cleric, I know that it's a player that is experienced and is planning on making sure everyone is having a good time.

Yup, Nature for me as well. The last one I played wasn't super-optimised, (ie, wasn't a Hill Dwarf), but I still managed to be both tank and healer for a party of four squishies and myself. (My first ever tabletop game, though I had lots of D&D video game experience etc).

I'm playing a Heavy Armour Master Forge Cleric at the moment, very very tanky, and I love it, but I miss shillelagh, I miss spike growth, and so on...

That said, I've got an Order Cleric and a Trickery Cleric concept I want to play. If someone said 'you can only play one class ever again', it would be Cleric hands down.

[DevilMcam]

Light.

You got all the versatility of the cleric, extra defences you can share. Faery fire aka one of the best combat lvl1 spell. Aaaaand you can blast like a wizard if needed

[nickl_2000]

The only one I have played was a 2 level multiclass into light for a moon Druid. However, my favorite from a flavour and playstyle is Arcana. I adore cantrips and the flexibility that they bring, and wizards get the most choices for that.

[stoutstien]

Order/knowledge. It's a toss up between those two. If tandem tactics sees print, order everyday all day.

[nickl_2000]

Order/knowledge. It's a toss up between those two. If tandem tactics sees print, order everyday all day.

Interesting, you would choose tandem tactics over Spiritual Weapon on a cleric?

[stoutstien]

Interesting, you would choose tandem tactics over Spiritual Weapon on a cleric?

Most of them time I would. SW is nice and all but giving someone advantage and then a reaction attack while casting bless is cheaper and more interactive with the rest of the party. If I end up drawing a ton of focus dodge+ SW is still there but dodge + TT is pretty effective and a hilarious image. I envision it as dodging attacks and calling out weak armor points or poor fighting techniques.
Obviously at the party in question has a bunch of characters that can generate their own advantage then this wouldn't be as effective but it definitely getting addded to my glamour bard/order cleric sudo Warlord if it sees print.

[micahaphone]

Question for the fans of nature cleric: how do you feel about their domain spells? Heavy armor and a druid cantrip are nice, the level 6 absorb elements is great, but the CD and the spell list leave me underwhelmed. Spike growth and plant growth are the two spells I've seen cast, and the others just remind me of my frustrations with the druid spell list. Seriously, why is Grasping Vine concentration?

[Man_Over_Game]

Question for the fans of nature cleric: how do you feel about their domain spells? Heavy armor and a druid cantrip are nice, the level 6 absorb elements is great, but the CD and the spell list leave me underwhelmed. Spike growth and plant growth are the two spells I've seen cast, and the others just remind me of my frustrations with the druid spell list. Seriously, why is Grasping Vine concentration?

Windwall is pretty dang useful. Impassible terrain for small creatures (which I'd say includes swarms), blocks all arrows and other projectiles, and does 3d8 damage on a failed save or halved on a save. It's 50(!) feet long and can make any shape that you want (that could be a 3x3 donut). For a level 3 spell, that's a lot of uses that anyone could leverage.

Speak with Animals is also really strong as a utility spell, and Barkskin isn't limited to casting on yourself.

But honestly, I don't think you really need a strong domain spell list. Clerics already have plenty of things to spend their spell slots and Concentration on without the need for Domain spells.

[Democratus]

Travel domain.

Fun stuff like fly, teleport, etc. are great additions to the kit of a worldly cleric. And they allow a wandering preacher to take the word of his patron far and wide.

5e is great in that you can easily build domains to match your deity or the concept of your cleric.

[poolio]

Life has been a favorite of mine, but I've played so many different ones so it could just be because one of my favorite characters was a life cleric.

But while I'm here, quick question for all the cleric players here, what would y'alls opinion be on giving the war domain the extra attack feature instead of his regular damage buff at 8th level? I know it's more of a martial thing and it's still a full caster class, but something about the war domain just seems weaker to me then most other domains, maybe it's just me though.

[Joe the Rat]

Tempest. I loved the concept of the Storm Lord prestige class from 3.5. I see bits of it folded in here.

[Snownine]

Life has been a favorite of mine, but I've played so many different ones so it could just be because one of my favorite characters was a life cleric.

But while I'm here, quick question for all the cleric players here, what would y'alls opinion be on giving the war domain the extra attack feature instead of his regular damage buff at 8th level? I know it's more of a martial thing and it's still a full caster class, but something about the war domain just seems weaker to me then most other domains, maybe it's just me though.

I feel like giving them extra attack would be stepping on the toes of martials too much. They may be one of the weaker domains but they are still a full caster and don't really need a boost, especially one that treads directly into the territory of martial characters. I know Bladesingers and College of Swords already get extra attack, so there is precedent, I just don't think spellcasters need to have everything.

As for my pick I would have to say Tempest. I love the stormy flavor of the class and I love smashing fools in melee and blasting them to smithereens with lightning and thunder. It also doesn't hurt that they get destructive wave, one of my favorite blasting spells in the game. Light domain is up there too as I love the concept of a pyromancer for the church. I love the combination of fire and radiant, it has a nice "purge the wicked and unclean" feel too it and reminds me of the Silver Pyromancer from Eberron. Another runner up would have to be the Nature domain as I love nature themed characters and magic in general and they also get access to shillelagh which I have an unreasonable amount of love for.

[Satori01]

I love playing a cleric of Trickery.
That Domain spell list is great.
I've caused so much chaos in humanoid strongholds through the use of Disguise Self and Guidance bonus to the CHA:Deception rolls.

I can deceive most foes at least as long enough for the group to get the drop on them. Well that is the plan at least😉

Elven Accuracy and Invoke Duplicity is an excellent combo.
Super Advantage on Spiritual Weapon and Inflict Wounds attacks is extremely satisfying.

When relying on spells, it quite possible to create confusion regarding which is the "Perfect Illusion" and which is You.
When in doubt, Mirror Image it out.

An at will ability to bestow Advantage to an ally's Stealth rolls is really useful. I give it to the Wizard's Familiar when it scouts. I give Advantage to Stealth checks to the Rogue before combat. I give it to the heavy armor wearing Fighter before sneaking....it is great!

Sprinkle in the Dragonmark of Shadow for a 1/day Invisibility cast, and Minor Illusion cantrip and get ready for some fun.

[Kvard51]

Order

As stated, the ability to buff your big hitters and give them an extra attack is awesome. But I also really like the bonus action enchants.

[jaappleton]

My favorite Domain?

If someone is a newer player, I recommend Grave the most. Not to try to relegate them to a Healer / Support role, no. But because they have so much that any party can appreciate, so the player can consistently get a feeling of accomplishment and always feel like they're contributing. Its an excellent Domain to get a newer player to fully understand how much party dynamics can play off one another. Bonus healing when someone's at 0HP, can negate Crits, a solid spell list, the ability to invoke Vulnerability. "Hey Paladin, I'm going to use my Channel Divinity, rain down that third level Smite!" and then they high five over the damage dealt.

My favorite to play?
I lean toward Light. A really good overall mix of options. Excellent spell list. Some defensive stuff with Warding Flare, plus the channel divinity to blast to help stretch your spell slots.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

I really like the forge domain.
A solid tank, can also buff party members.

With some DMs can actually craft stuff(after all 5e have ****y rules for crafting and if I remember correctly it is like that because they don't want PCs crafting stuff).

[Sol0botmate]

Overall: Arcana cleric, Blade cantrips with extra WIS damage + Spirit Guardians/SW combo + WarCaster make him very fun to play front line Cleric and it's really fun. If you play Eberron - adding Counterspell + Bigby Hand to him via Dragonmark makes him really scary force. The downside is that you need to take Magic Initiate: Druid to fully make him work or dip 1 level of Druid, but it's still great.

As tank I like Life the most. His 1st level feature is awesome, heavy armor + other cleric goodies.

I also like Forge but only for campaigns to level 10 max as later magic items diminish his features. He can also get crazy High AC with Warforged + Defense Style from some dip + Blessing of the Forge + Soul of Forge and heavy armor. Perfect to be really tanky in Tier 1 and Tier 2 gameplay.

I liked the idea of Tempest but lacking spells like Lighting, Storm Sphere or Booming Blade really puts me back from enjoying him. He should have access to all best Lighting spells to really feel like Storm Cleric. Call Lighting is ok spell but useless is so many situations...

[NaughtyTiger]

Nature. Cleric base with druid candy shell.

[BoxANT]

Knowledge

I prefer the support/skill/social aspect of clerics.

having expertise in arcana (and another campaign specific) is great, and the skill monkey cd comes in handy.

the level 6 cd (read thoughts) is also very powerful. having the ability to use suggestion (via read thoughts) twice a short rest is a lot of fun and very useful.

as for combat, I find the standard array of spiritual weapon, spirit guardians and sacred flame is solid, and combined with some skeletons (animate dead) and perhaps a body guard (via suggestion) is very strong.

[Sparky McDibben]

Nature, hands down.

It's a solid tank, it has an excellent blend of utility and combat, it promotes teammates.

It's THE cleric. When I see a Nature Cleric, I know that it's a player that is experienced and is planning on making sure everyone is having a good time.

Yup, Nature for me as well. The last one I played wasn't super-optimised, (ie, wasn't a Hill Dwarf), but I still managed to be both tank and healer for a party of four squishies and myself.

Can someone post a build on this? Mostly I've seen "base cleric + shillelagh" as the build for this, which makes me confused why anyone would take it over Arcana, War, or Light.

[NaughtyTiger]

Can someone post a build on this? Mostly I've seen "base cleric + shillelagh" as the build for this, which makes me confused why anyone would take it over Arcana, War, or Light.

For me, it's all about plant growth and thorn whip.

Plant growth is a non concentration control spell that wreaks havoc on large creatures.

[firelistener]

Tempest is awesome. The extra features basically turn it into a lightning/thunder paladin, which works really well in addition to just being cool

Any cleric is extremely useful though. Having access to their whole spell list when choosing spells for the day and being capable melee fighters makes them incredibly versatile.