Dungeons & Dragons has provided fans with a first look at the brand new Cleric class, with several functional upgrades to the class’s core features. Today, Wizards of the Coast released a video and article about the rules update to the Cleric, which will appear in the 2024 Player’s Handbook. While the Cleric’s core abilities remain largely unchanged, several abilities have either had their rules redesigned to make them more applicable in more situations. Notably, the Cleric class (like other classes) now receives its subclass at 3rd level, and thus has several new low level abilities to make up for its subclass activating at a higher level.
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Clerics receive a new Divine Order ability at 1st level, which either grants them access to an additional cantrip or gives them proficiency in martial weapons and heavy armor. The cleric’s Channel Divinity ability now comes with an additional “Divine Spark” option that can either provide a burst of healing towards a creature within 30 feet or deal Radiant damage to a creature at the same distance. This change was made partially to provide Clerics with a Channel Divinity option that can be used even when not dealing with the undead.
Destroy Undead has also received a functional upgrade and has been renamed Sear Undead. The new ability causes any undead affected by Turn Undead to take Radiant damage if they fail their Turn Undead saving throw. The amount of damage is determined by a Cleric’s Wisdom modifier and there’s no CR limit on what undead are affected by the ability, the latter providing a huge improvement over the Destroy Undead feature.
Divine Intervention has also received a significant rework in the new rules, with the feature now providing players with free access to any Cleric spell of 5th level or less once per Long Rest. Players can cast this spell without expending a spell slot or Material components, meaning that players can cast spells like Revivify or Raise Dead in a clutch situation. Greater Divine Intervention (at 20th Level) grants players access to the Wish spell, although players can only cast it once every 2d4 days.
Another new ability is Divine Strikes, which grants Clerics their choice of dealing extra Radiant or Necrotic damage with every weapon attack or increases the potency of their spellcasting by adding their Wisdom modifier to a cantrip’s damage. At 14th level, this feature improves to deal even more damage or by granting temporary HP to an ally within 60 feet of them when they deal damage with a Cleric cantrip.
In terms of subclasses, the Light Domain, Trickery Domain, and War Domain have all received significant tweaks in the 2024 Player’s Handbook. The Light Domain’s abilities have shifted to be more about “vision” instead of just fire-focused spells (for instance – See Invisibility has been added to the domain’s spell list). The Trickery Domain’s illusionary duplicate no longer requires concentration to use and can be activated as a Bonus Action. The War Domain’s Guided Strike can now benefit other players from the offset, and players can use the 6th level War God’s Blessing ability to cast certain spells as a bonus action instead. The Life Domain is also featured in the Player’s Handbook and benefits from the improved healing spells also found in the Player’s Handbook.
You can check out additional details about the 2024 Player’s Handbook here.
