Spell management is the most important system for any caster in 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons. For a 3rd-level character, spell slots and spells known can be fairly limited, so it is important for players to know how their caster works and what spells are the best to take.
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For 3rd-level Clerics, they know three Spells plus a couple more from their Wisdom modifier, plus two 1st-level spells from their Divine Domain. With so few spell slots, and potentially even fewer spells known, it is vital for Clerics to only choose spells that will really make the difference in a life-or-death scenario.
10 Create Or Destroy Water (Wastes A Slot)
At 1st level, Create or Destroy Water allows a Cleric to create or destroy up to 10 gallons of water. This spell is incredibly situational and has serious limitations on how it can actually be used. Unless a DM is down in the nitty-gritty of survival skills and finding fresh water to drink, 10 gallons of water won’t be of much use to any 3rd level character. Many enterprising players might try to use this to create rain to find an invisible foe or drain the water from a lake, but 10 gallons doesn’t even make up a third of the average bathtub. It just doesn’t give enough to work with.
9 Command (Should Know)
Command is a spell every low-level Cleric should consider learning. Being able to control an NPC’s actions is incredibly valuable. A clever Cleric could command two foes to fight one another, freeze an enemy in place, or even make them steal something that the players need (depending on how much the DM will allow). Additionally, this spell requires a Wisdom Saving Throw, which most regular NPCs won’t be very good at. Overall, the Command spell is a must-have for any Cleric hoping to leave a mark at early levels.
8 Warding Bond (Wastes A Slot)
Warding Bond is a spell that looks very appealing to many players, but once a Cleric starts using it they will realize the folly of their ways. The increased AC and Saving Throws in addition to the damage resistance from the spell Warding Bond is incredibly substantial. Where this spell falls short is the shared damage between the two characters. Gaining resistance is only useful if that damage disappears. Instead, the Cleric ends up taking the other half of that damage, leading to a downed Cleric with no way for the party to heal.
7 Cure Wounds (Should Know)
The bread and butter healing spell of any low-level Cleric. Cure Wounds is a must-have for any Cleric planning on healing their party even just a little bit. At low levels, combat can be incredibly deadly for a party of adventurers. Everyone has fewer abilities to use that keep them alive, and so it is vital for any Cleric to grab Cure Wounds as one of their first spells. With great recovery stacking when cast at higher levels, and the highest healing dice of any 1st level spell, Cure Wounds is a necessity for any low-level Cleric.
6 Purify Food And Drink (Wastes A Slot)
Another very situational and pointless spell. Purify Food and Drink will only be used in two situations. To remove poison from a high intrigue game and to clean food in a high survival game, both of which can be found and prevented by other, more useful spells, such as Lesser Restoration. Poisons are tools most DMs tend to ignore and survival games just don’t happen that often. Unless a DM tells a party that they plan on running an intense survival game, Clerics shouldn’t worry about grabbing spells that make life in the wilderness “safer.”
5 Pass Without Trace (Should Know)
Every Dungeons & Dragons party will eventually need to sneak around, and this spell will turn even the heaviest and loudest members of the party into ballerinas tip-toeing through the night. Pass Without Trace allows every member of a party to add a plus 10 to their Stealth checks for the duration of the spell. Adding a plus 10 bonus to as many creatures as the player wants within 30 feet means an almost unfailingly silent party. This spell is another must have for any Cleric worth their salt.
4 Locate Object (Wastes A Slot)
Locate Object is a semi-useful spell. However, it has two major downsides. The first is that it only has a range of 1000 feet. If the party is searching for an enemy who stole a magical artifact, they’ll need to be pretty quick on the draw before their enemy escapes beyond this range.
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The second issue is that just about every magical class in D&D can learn this spell. There’s no reason for a Cleric to take Locate Object, when the party Wizard could grab it for little to no cost.
3 Bless (Should Know)
Bless is a spell every Cleric who wants to help their party needs to know. Adding an extra d4 to every Attack Roll and Saving Throw can make or break any combat encounter. Additionally, this effect lasts for an entire minute. That’s ten rounds of combat, but who’s counting, right?
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Bless will turn Paladins who never hit into no-miss machines, squishy Rogues into Saving Throw gods, and as a little bonus, will make everyone in the party love their helpful and benevolent Cleric.
2 Gentle Repose (Wastes A Slot)
There is not a single time a player should choose the spell, Gentle Repose, over any other Cleric spell in D&D. It is so incredibly situational and small in scope, that it just isn’t viable. To stop one corpse from being reanimated into undead is not worth the level 2 spell slots it costs to cast. Players almost never fight one big undead, and if they do, they certainly don’t have time to react before they watch a necromancer raise it up for a fight.
1 Prayer Of Healing (Should Know)
If Cure Wounds is the bread and butter of Cleric recovery spells, Prayer of Healing is the Cocaine. With the ability to affect up to 6 creatures and healing with 2d8 plus a Cleric’s Wisdom modifier, this spell will take a bloody post-combat party from death’s door kicking back and ready to go another round in the murder dome. This is the most important spell for any Cleric with a party of friends descending into a dark and scary dungeon with hopes of staying alive.
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