Healers and support casters are some of the most famous RPG archetypes that players have come to recognize over the years. This also applies to the modern classic Baldur's Gate 3, with its amazingly powerful and versatile Cleric class. To be honest, everyone's favorite romance option, Trickery Domain Cleric Shadowheart, could be tied into this as well.
Whether you want to be a reliable tank for your party and dish out healing spells left and right, or just want to barbecue your enemies in holy light, the Cleric is a very enjoyable class. Here are some of the best feats you can use to make your holy servant even more effective.
Updated on September 24, 2024 by Brit Potitt: This article has been updated to reflect information from the latest game updates and patches, including new images.
11 Guard
To be a target
Sentinel is one of the most powerful achievements in the game, no matter what class or build you play as. It is versatile and gives you many bonuses. Sentinel mainly focuses on your attack capabilities, giving you extra triggers, perks, and extra effects on hits.
As a Cleric, you will likely be one of the characters in the group with the highest Armor Class (AC) and therefore have an easier time fending off subsequent attacks. In such a case, it is very useful to keep dangerous enemies close to you and not let them leave you to harm other members of your party. Sentinel is the perfect feat for this.
10 Tough
Maximum health
It's hard to heal injured party mates when you're bleeding out on the ground yourself. While clerics traditionally have high AC, decent HP is also invaluable. Fortunately, Tough is great at helping with this. This is a very simple feat that gives you two extra HP per level.
While this may seem minor, it's actually great in the long run. By level ten, you'll have an extra twenty HP, which might be enough to survive three or four extra hits. It can practically be the difference between victory and death, so Tough is worth it.
9 Ritual caster
Versatility of spells
While Clerics can be seen as dedicated healers for any party, they are surprisingly versatile. They are able to use incredibly powerful spells and useful magic. Ritual Caster adds another dimension to their versatility, which is always welcome.
This feat gives you access to two ritual spells from the very useful spell list. All these spells improve the quality of life and include great ones like Talk to the Dead Man, Disguise yourselfand Find acquaintances. While not as game-changing as some of the others on this list, Ritual Caster can be incredibly useful.
8 War caster
Concentration is the key
War Caster is a great choice for those who care less about utility and want to send their enemies back to where they came from. This both gives advantage to concentration saving throws and allows for use Shocking grip spell as an attack ability.
Clerics have some of the best concentration spells in their list, so War Caster seems like a perfect fit. With options like Shield of Faith, Silence, Keepers of spirits, Exileand more, Clerics can be incredibly powerful if they can concentrate on a specific spell at a specific time.
This feat does not add the Shocking Grip spell to your spell list. So, you won't be able to use it except in reaction.
7 Elastic: Constitution
Mastery of the saving throw
Speaking of concentration, another way to fortify is to grab the Resilient ability and choose Constitution as your stat. This feat increases the unit's corresponding ability and grants its saving throw skill. Clerics, unlike wizards, don't naturally have Constitution saving throws, so this is an ideal choice for them.
This feat can also help you round up your Constitution score to an even number if it's on an odd number. While it's often difficult to choose between War Caster and Resilient, Clerics can benefit from both.
Your ability score modifiers only increase with each even number. Try to round all stats to the nearest even number to maximize bonuses.
6 Heavily armored
Impossible to get in
While armor related feats are generally overlooked in Baldur's Gate 3, and D&D for that matter, there are some instances where they can be very useful. Priests are a prime example of this. Usually a cleric starts the game with only light and medium armor, which isn't too bad.
However, Clerics work best when they are nearly impossible to hit, as they keep their party healthy. So upgrading to heavy armor with this feat can be totally worth it. Clerics can also wield shields, so once you put on full plate armor or similar, you can easily get your AC above 20. After that, you can just cast spells every turn and watch the next attacks not hit you.
5 Shield Master
Perfect defense against area spells
Speaking of which, Shield Master pairs very well with a Cleric defensive build. This feat adds a +2 bonus to your Dexterity saving throws when wielding a shield. It also allows you to take no damage on a successful Dexterity saving throw or take half damage on a failed one.
Since the typical AC of Clerics is so high, they can usually be hit with AoE spells and AoE attacks. Shield Master is the perfect vehicle for this, making your Cleric even harder to take down. The icing on the cake is the fact that there are so many amazing shields in the game.
Assuming you're proficient, use a shield even if you don't take this feat. +2AC is worth it.
4 Mobile
Increased movement speed
Mobility is one of the best cleric feats in Baldur's Gate 3. Increased movement speed allows you to quickly dodge attacks and heal allies on the other side of the battlefield.
Difficult terrain won't slow you down when you're charging, so you'll be able to maneuver through the combat zone faster than your enemies. Once you attack, the enemy cannot use Opportunity Attack against you, further benefiting your cleric during combat.
3 Spell Sniper
Increased critical strike range
While playing as an unkillable tank can be a lot of fun, Clerics are capable of so much more. In fact, under certain circumstances, they can rival wizards or warlocks with their devastating spells. So why not double your attack and use the Spell Sniper ability? This feat gives you extra buff, but more importantly increases the critical strike range of your spells.
This means you have twice the chance to critical hit with your offensive spells, which you have a ton of. Spells like Fire arrow, Guide boltand Inflicts wounds are good enough reasons to choose this skill, and this skill even works with spells you can get from items or other sources, which is great.
2 Adept of the elements
Ignoring resistances
Elemental Adept is an ability that focuses more on explosives classes; classes like sorcerers or wizards whose main job is to deal a lot of damage with spells. However, an individual Cleric can be just as effective at dealing magic damage, and he may well take advantage of the Elemental Adept.
With this skill, you choose a damage type and ignore any resistance to that damage type that your enemies may have. Your damage from said type also gets a small boost on top of that. Clerics have some great spells that deal damage, e.g Glyph of protection and Flaming blowin addition to the other spells you gain from your subclass.
This feat only allows you to ignore resistances, not immunities.
1 Skilled
Ready for anything
Looking at the best feats usually focuses on the most statistical combat advantages. However, a feat can be amazing even if it has no material advantage. Skilled, for example, allows you to gain three more skills. This is an ideal option for a cleric; a wise and loyal warrior who would know many things about the world.
Clerics are Wisdom based casters, so high Wisdom is already strong. Important skills like Perception, Perception, Survival, and Medicine all rely on Wisdom to begin with. A cleric must also be versed in religion, history, and the mysteries to some extent in terms of knowledge. This feat is perfect for those looking for a way to further immerse themselves in the world.