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The Death Domain subclass option added inBaldur’s Gate 3’s gigantic Patch 8 offers Clerics a grim path focused on Necromancy. If you like the idea of being a Cleric capable of real darkness, whether acting on the side of good or evil, then this is an option worth considering.
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This guide reviews exactly what this subclass grants you and then offers advice on how to best utilize the Death Domain kit.
Subclass Features
Clerics choose their subclass at Level 1, immediately gaining benefits from that subclass. They then gain additional benefits at Cleric Levels 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 (primarily in the form of additional spells, which are considered to be Always Prepared). The benefits of becoming a Death Cleric are as follows, keeping in mind that they also receive the standard benefits obtained by all Clerics:
The Death Domain immediately grants a cleric proficiency with Martial Weapons.
The Cleric also gains the Reaper passive, which allows them to target one additional creature with Necromancy cantrips. At the time of writing, relevant cantrips available to a Death Domain Cleric that hasn’t multiclassed include Bone Chill, Bursting Sinew, and Toll the Dead. Of these options, Toll the Dead is arguably the most broadly useful cantrip able to benefit from this ability.
Finally, the Cleric has the following spells added as theirDomain Spells:
Domain Spells are considered Always Prepared and are treated as on your spell list even if the Cleric class normally wouldn’t get access to them. Notably, Bursting Sinew and Toll the DeadareCleric cantrips, meaning you are able to choose them as part of your standard cantrip selection. Bone Chill is not; if you want a non-multiclassed Cleric to have Bone Chill, you will need to select it as a Death Domain Cleric’s Necromantic cantrip choice.
A Death Domain Cleric gets three standard cantrips to choose from and then a fourth (specifically Necromantic) cantrip as part of their Domain selection. By selecting Toll the Dead as one of your standard cantrips, you can select Bone Chill as your Death Domain cantrip, getting the two best cantrips for your Reaper passive. If Toll the Dead doesn’t appear in your normal cantrip selection list, ensure itisn’tselected as your Domain cantrip.
Bursting Sinew, while another Necromancy cantrip available to you, is a mediocre option that can typically be ignored, as it relies on having a corpse near your enemies and doesn’t deal enough damage to justify its limited use cases.
A Death Domain Cleric gains the Touch of Death feature. When they strike with any melee attack, they can spend a Channel Divinity charge to deal extra Necrotic damageequal to twice their Cleric level plus five.
The Cleric gains the following Domain Spells:
The Death Domain grants the Cleric the Inescapable Destruction passive.This causes any Necrotic damage they deal to bypass Resistance, dealing full damage.
A Death Domain Cleric gains the Divine Strike: Necrotic ability.Once per turn, whenever they strike with a Range or Melee attack, they may use their Reaction to deal an additional 1d8 Necrotic damage.
Choosing a Deity
All Clerics need to choose a deity that they worship. Mechanically, this associates that deity’s tag with your character and occasionally allows you some unique dialogue options. This choice is almost exclusively for roleplaying and won’t affect your mechanical viability in combat.
Arguably, the two deities most relevant to the Death Domain are Shar and Kelemvor, but custom characters cannot choose to worship Shar (in the game, only Shadowheart is able to do so). However, Baldur’s Gate 3 doesn’t require that you choose a deity especially relevant to your Domain when creating your character. You may choose whichever god seems most interesting to you; Selûne offers some especially interesting dialogue options with Shadowheart due to the god’s conflicts with Shar.
Building a Strong Death Domain Cleric
Death Domain Clerics immediately gain the ability to target two enemies per turn with Toll the Dead, a decently powerful Necromancy cantrip. When possible, you should specifically target creatures that are already hurt, as that causes the spell to use d12s instead of d8s for damage.
A character will also be able to deal heavy Necrotic damage very consistently using Inflict Wounds, with Inescapable Destruction (gained at Cleric Level 6) punching through Necrotic resistance. Inflict Wounds also counts as a melee attack, so Touch of Death and Divine Strike: Necrotic are able to buff the damage of this already hard-hitting spell even further.
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Late game Death Clerics also have the very powerful ability to first buff the party with the Level 6 spell Heroes' Feast and then use Cloudkill, as the party will be rendered immune to its effects thanks to Heroes' Feast granting immunity to Cloudkill’s damage. With this combination, you can deal decent Poison damage over a wide radius every turn, Heavily Obscure whatever would be advantageous to you, and reposition the cloud each turn for maximum effect, all at little to no risk to the party.
Note that Heroes' Feast doesn’t grant total immunity to Poison damage. Cloudkill just inflicts a condition thatthendeals Poison damage, with Heroes' Feast blocking that condition.
In terms of Feats, you’ll want to maximize your Wisdom score early with Ability Improvement, which will boost both your Spell Attack bonus and your Cleric Spell Save DC. Depending on the spells you find yourself frequently casting, you may also want to consider War Caster, which will grant you Advantage on Concentration Saving Throws.
Your gear options are extensive, as the Death Cleric has access to nearly everything thanks to their Domain granting Martial Weapon proficiency. One decent item to pick up in Act II is going to be the Circle of Bones, available by killing Balthazar, which allows you a free cast of Animate Dead once per Long Rest and which provides undead minions Resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage in a 6m radius around the wearer. Going into Act III, you’ll also want to consider equipping Ketheric’s Shield, which grants a +1 Spell Save DC and Spell Attack bonus.
Many sources will claim the Blood of Lathander, available in Act I, is the best Cleric weapon and with good reason. Despite not being a Martial Weapon, it’s a +3 Mace with a bunch of great abilities, being especially effective against Undead.
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