Dungeons & Dragons: How To Build A Forge Cleric

Quick Links

• Cleric Class Features

• Forge Domain Cleric Features

• Best Spells For A Forge Domain Cleric

• Best Feats For A Forge Domain Cleric

• Best Stats For A Forge Domain Cleric

Clerics of the forge domain in Dungeons & Dragons follow gods such as Gond, Reorx, Onatar, Moradin, Hephaestus, and Goibhniu. These gods of the forge preach patience and care, and their followers specialize intaming fires, fixing destroyed items, and liberating mines or other relics.

RELATED: Dungeons & Dragons: Best Species For A Cleric Character

If you want to play a forge domain cleric, you’ll personally get benefits such as fire resistance, heavy armor proficiency, and several spells from the artificer list. However, the main role of the cleric is to support the party. Forge domain clerics do that by enchanting armor and weapons or by creating or duplicating objects your party could need.

Cleric Class Features

Like all clerics, a forge domain cleric will receive proficiency in light and medium armor and all simple weapons. You'll also need some kind of holy symbol for certain moves and spells.

The holy symbol can be anything that represents your connection to a specific god. If you can come up with backstory reason for it, it could even be a stuffed animal. Work it out with your Dungeon Master to find something that fits your character.

Turn Undead

Clerics have the ability to turn undead. Starting from second level, you can force any undead who can see and hear you within 30 feet must make a Wisdom saving throw.

If they fail, they will be unable to willingly move within 30 feet of you, be forced to spend their turns moving away from you, be unable to use reactions, and can only use the dash action or dodge action if they cannot move.

This effect lasts one minute or until the undead takes damage.

Destroy Undead

At fifth level, you gain destroy undead. If an undead fails its saving throw against your turn undead and is of a low enough challenge rating, it is instantly destroyed.

An undead's challenge rating is determined by your DM.

Divine Intervention

Once you hit tenth Level, you'll be able to ask your deity for assistance. You explain what you want and roll percentile dice. If the number is your cleric level or lower, nothing happens. If you succeed, your DM will describe how your deity intervenes.

At 20th level, asking for help will always succeed.

Forge Domain Cleric Features

In addition to the regular Cleric proficiencies, you receive proficiency in heavy armor and smith's tools.

When you take this domain at first level, you receive blessing of the forge, which allows you to turn armor and weapons magical. Armor receives +1 to its AC, while simple or martial weapons receive +1 to attack rolls.

You can only enchant one item per long rest, and the effect disappears when you take another long rest (or when you die).

Your channel divinity allows you to create simple items via an hour-long ritual. You can make a small item that is non-magical and includes some metal.

You can also use this to duplicate items such as keys, so long as you have the original.

At sixth level, you receive soul of the forge, granting you resistance to fire damage and +1 bonus to AC while wearing heavy armor.

You'll receive divine strike beginning eighth level, allowing to add 1d8 fire damage when you attack a target once per turn. At 14th level, this damage increases to 2d8.

The final skill you receive is saint of forge and fire at 17th level. This gives you immunity to fire damage and resistance to non-magical bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing damage while wearing heavy armor.

Domain Spells

When you take the forge domain, you also have access to spells at certain levels that you always have prepared. Even if these are not on the cleric spell list, they act as cleric spells, and you use wisdom to cast them.

While you do not have to prepare these spells, you must still use spell slots to cast them.

Forge Domain Clerics receive the following spells:

Cleric Level

Spell

Spell Level

Effect

1st

Identify

1st

By touching an object you can determine any magic affecting it.

1st

Searing Smite

1st

When you hit an enemy, you can add 1d6 fire damage, and on subsequent turns they take 1d6 fire damage until they make a successful constitution saving throw.

3rd

Heat Metal

2nd

You can heat a metal object you can see, and any creature in touching it takes 2d8 fire damage. If the creature can't drop or take off the object, they get disadvantage on attack rolls.

3rd

Magic Weapon

2nd

You can touch a non-magical weapon and grant it +1 to attack rolls until the start of your next turn.

5th

Elemental Weapon

3rd

You can touch a magical weapon. It gains +1 to attack rolls and deals 1d4 damage of your choosing: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder.

5th

Protection From Energy

3rd

Grant resistance to either acid, cold, fire, lighting, or thunder damage to a creature you can touch.

7th

Fabricate

4th

You can convert raw materials into an object of that material.

7th

Wall of Fire

4th

You create a wall of fire that deals 5d8 fire damage to creatures within its range and half as much on a successful saving throw. On subsequent turns enemies within range can take 5d8 fire damage.

9th

Animate Objects

5th

You can choose up to ten objects within a 120-foot range and bring them to life as constructs. You can order them as a bonus action.

9th

Creation

5th

You can create non-living objects that are smaller than a five-foot cube, and you have seen before.

Searing Smite, Heat Metal, Magic Weapon, Elemental Weapon, Wall of Fire, and Animate Objects are concentration spells, meaning you'll have to roll saving throws to continue the effects and can't sustain two at the same time.

Best Spells For A Forge Domain Cleric

Unlike other spell-casting classes, clerics will not rely solely on spells for offense. You already have proficiency in simple weapons, and you can make them stronger by enchanting them.

Furthermore, your proficiency with heavy armor means it's safer to be in the middle of the action than it would be for some of the squishier magic builds. What this means is that you can afford to focus your spell slots on support. However, it's good to have a couple of offensive spells for versatility.

Prioritizing spells that deal fire damage is always a sure bet if you don't know what to pick, since forge clerics already focus on that. That said, you also don't have to lock yourself into one set of spells. You can change which spells you have access to once per long rest, so you're free to experiment.

You can prepare a number of spells equal to your Wisdom modifier + your cleric level.

This number does not include your domain spells.

For magic, your spell-casting stat will be your Wisdom. Your spell attack modifier will be your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier, while your spell save DC will be eight + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier.

Level

Cantrips Known

1st Level Spell Slots

2nd Level Spell Slots

3rd Level Spell Slots

4th Level Spell Slots

5th Level Spell Slots

6th Level Spell Slots

7th Level Spell Slots

8th Level Spell Slots

9th Level Spell Slots

1st

3

2

2nd

3

3

3rd

3

4

2

4th

4

4

3

5th

4

4

3

2

6th

4

4

3

3

2

7th

4

4

3

3

3

1

8th

4

4

3

3

3

2

9th

4

4

3

3

3

2

1

10th

5

4

3

3

3

2

1

11th

5

4

3

3

3

2

1

12th

5

4

3

3

3

2

1

13th

5

4

3

3

3

2

1

14th

5

4

3

3

3

2

1

1

15th

5

4

3

3

3

2

1

1

16th

5

4

3

3

3

2

1

1

1

17th

5

4

3

3

3

2

1

1

1

18th

5

4

3

3

3

3

1

1

1

1

19th

5

4

3

3

3

3

2

1

1

1

20th

5

4

3

3

3

3

2

2

1

1

To use a spell, you have to have at least one spell slot of that level. You may also opt to cast certain spells as a ritual to save on spell slots.

The table below contains a collection of spells that we'd recommend for a forge cleric. Spells marked with an asterisk(*) can be cast as a ritual.

Spell Level

Spells

Cantrips

Guidance, Mending, Resistance, Spare The Dying

1st Level

Bane, Bless, Command, Cure Wounds, Guiding Bolt, Healing Word, Sanctuary, Shield of Faith

2nd Level

Hold Person, Lesser Restoration, Prayer of Healing, Silence*, Spiritual Weapon

3rd Level

Beacon of Hope, Dispel Magic, Mass Healing Word, Revivify, Sending, Spirit Guardians, Spirit Shroud

4th Level

Banishment, Death Ward, Guardian of Faith

5th Level

Commune*, Greater Restoration, Flame Strike, Mass Cure Wounds, Summon Celestial

6th level

Harm, Heal

7th Level

Conjure Celestial, Divine Word, Fire Storm, Regenerate, Resurrection

8th Level

Antimagic Field, Holy Aura

9th Level

Mass Heal, True Restoration

Best Feats For A Forge Domain Cleric

On levels where you can choose an ability score improvement, you can instead opt to take a feat. You can take these based on your character's backstory or personality, or you can do ones that improve your build.

Forge clerics can always benefit from feats that improve magic or add to their spell options, and if you really want to go all in on role-playing, taking artificer spells will be fitting since a forge cleric is essentially a soft artificer.

Assuming you don't multi-class, you'll have five ability score increases that you can potentially swap for feats, however, it's not always a good idea to do that. Sometimes just having a better modifier will go a lot further.

Some recommended feats for a forge cleric are:

Fey Touched

It's always nice to get extra spells from different lists, and that's where fey touched comes in handy. When you take it, improve your Wisdom by one, so you can use that as your spell casting stat. This will give you access to the Misty Step spell and one other first-level spell from either the divination or evocation schools of magic. Dissonant Whispers is a great option.

You can cast either misty step or your chosen spell without expending a spell slot once per long rest. You may cast them again, but you will need to use a spell slot afterwards until you finish a long rest. These spells do not count towards your total number of prepared spells.

Elemental Adept

Since several of your domain spells involve fire damage, elemental adept will allow you to ignore enemies' resistance to it. If you take it and choose fire damage, spells you cast will ignore fire resistance and when rolling damage, treat any ones on the die as a two.

You can take this feat multiple times and choose a different damage type each time.

Spell Sniper

After taking this feat, the range of your attack spells is doubled, and they ignore both half and three-quarters cover.

You can also take on attacking cantrip from any spell list and add it to your arsenal. This will not count towards your list of spells for the day. Thorn Whip from the druid list and Fire Bolt from the artificer list are both good options.

If you take a spell from any list other than cleric or druid, you won't be able to use Wisdom as your spell-casting stat.

War Caster

The main benefit of war caster is gaining advantage on Constitution saving throws to maintain your concentration. If your spells have somatic components, you can perform them even while holding weapons.

When a hostile creature provokes an opportunity attack from you, you can opt to use a spell instead of an opportunity attack.

This feat only works with spells that have a casting time of one action and only target a single enemy.

Best Stats For A Forge Domain Cleric

Since it's what you use for spell casting and healing, Wisdom will be your main stat. After that you should focus on Strength, since you'll be wearing heavy armor and have proficiency in some melee weapons.

Of the remaining stats, Constitution is the roll you make to maintain concentration and determines your total hit points, so improving that will help you survive longer and keep spells up.

Similarly, Dexterity affects AC, so improving that will make you harder to hit.

Improve your Intelligence or Charisma if you're interested in taking spells from other lists via feats.

NEXT: Dungeons & Dragons: Best Magic Items For Clerics