The New 2024 Cleric: DnD 5e Class Changes

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As sacred healers and spellcasters, the Cleric is one of the oldest and most popular of all DnD classes. Yet since 2014, there have been very few substantive changes to the DnD 5e Cleric, with these holier-than-thou adventurers never really receiving the full bounty and blessings of the Wizards of the Coast design team.

Fortunately, the gods of TTRPGs have smiled down upon us, with the new 2024 Player’s Handbook offering the Cleric a much needed revival. Many of these changes will be recognizable to anyone who’s been keeping an eye on the One D&D playtest, but Wizards of the Coast has also made some further revisions, including tweaking the subclasses, adding new Divine Order and Channel Divinity features, and making it even more epic when it comes to destroying the undead.

So are these changes to the DnD 5e Cleric for the better? Below, we see if player’s prayers have been answered.

What’s changed in the new 2024 Cleric for DnD 5e?

Below are all the changes to the 2024 Cleric versus the 2014 Cleric (notably, both still fall under the DnD 5e rules).

Cleric Feature	Level	Changes to the 2024 Cleric Class
Divine Order	1	Select one of two sacred roles: – Protector: Grants proficiency in Martial weapons and Heavy armor – Thaumaturge: Gain an extra cantrip. Add Wisdom modifier to Intelligence (Arcana or Religion) checks.
Channel Divinity	2	Adds Divine Spark, another way for Clerics to use Channel Divinity when not fighting Undead.
Cleric Subclasses	3	– Selected at level 3, instead of level 1. – Life Domain: Aid has been added to your Domain spells. – Light Domain: See Invisibility has been added to your Domain spells. – Trickery Domain: New abilities are added to your Invoke Duplicity double. – War Domain: Your Channel Divinity can be used to cast Shield of Faith or Spiritual Weapon without using a spell slot or requiring Concentration.Previous level 1 and 2 subclass abilities are accessed at level 3.
Sear Undead	5	Replaces Destroy Undead, instead deals Radiant damage to every Undead, regardless of CR, that fails their saving throw against your Turn Undead.
Blessed Strikes	7	Select one option: – Divine Strike: Deal an additional 1d8 Radiant or Necrotic damage when you hit a creature with an attack roll. – Potent Spellcasting: Add your Wisdom modifier to damage dealt with a Cleric cantrip.
Divine Intervention	10	As a Magic action, choose any Cleric spell of level 5 or lower that doesn’t require a reaction. You can cast it without spending components or a spell slot.Restores after Long Rest.
Improved Blessed Strikes	14	– Divine Strikes: Damage increases to 2d8. – Potent spellcasting: When you deal damage with a Cleric cantrip, you can grant yourself or another Temporary Hit Points.
Epic Boon	19	Choose one Epic Boon feat or another qualifying feat of your choice.
Greater Divine Intervention	20	You can cast Wish when selecting a spell for Divine Intervention. After used this way, you cannot use Divine Intervention again for 2d4 days.

How will the 2024 Cleric changes impact gameplay?

Level 1: Divine Order

One of the biggest changes to the 2024 Cleric is that you no longer receive a subclass at level 1. Instead, you now get it at Level 3. To make up for this substantial revision, at first level Clerics now get to choose from one of two “Divine Orders” as follows:

• Protector: You get proficiency with Martial weapons and can use Heavy armor.
• Thaumaturge: Provides an extra cantrip from the Cleric spell list and grants a bonus to your Arcana or Religion checks equal to your Wisdom modifier (with a minimum of +1).

Level 2: Channel Divinity

In the 2014 rules, Channel Divinity was a core class feature that allowed you to channel the divine energy of your god to fuel a variety of magical effects. At Level 2 that included the ability to Turn Undead as well as a Channel Divinity feature based on your domain. Additional Channel Divinity effects were added as you advanced in level.

For the new 2024 Cleric, Channel Divinity is more or less the same, but you now get to choose one of the following options (which is really designed to make up for the lack of subclass at 1st level):

• Divine Spark: As a Magic action, you can focus divine energy towards any creature you can see within 30 feet of you. You can then choose to heal or harm the target by rolling a 1d8 and adding your Wisdom modifier (this scales up to 2d8 at Level 7, 3d8 at Level 13 and 4d8 at Level 18). If you choose to heal, the target recovers that number in Hit Points. If you choose to harm, the target must make a Constitution saving throw and takes that number in your choice of Radiant or Necrotic damage if they fail the save or half that if they succeed.
• Turn Undead: In the 2014 version, you use an action to brandish your holy symbol and utter a prayer, at which point any undead that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw or be Frightened by you for 1 minute or until it takes any damage. A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can’t willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. It also can’t take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there’s nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action. The 2024 version is more or less the same with the exception that the creature is both Frightened and Incapacitated.

Level 5: Sear Undead

This new feature is based on the 2014 “Destroy Undead” ability (which was also available at 5th level). The way the new feature works is that whenever you use your Channel Divinity to Turn Undead, you can roll a number of d8s equal to your Wisdom modifier. Each Undead (regardless of CR level) that failed their save suffers Radiant damage equal to your roll, and the Turn Undead effect also remains in place.

This is a major change to the Cleric that really buffs what was otherwise a somewhat limited feature in the 2014 rules and lets you potentially damage undead that you otherwise would never have been able to touch.

Level 7: Blessed Strikes

Blessed Strikes first appeared as an optional Level 8 feature in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, but has now become a core feature of the 2024 Cleric that’s available at Level 7. The feature lets you choose one of the following options:

• Divine Strike: Once per turn, when you hit a creature with a weapon attack roll, you can add an extra 1d8 of your choice of Radiant or Necrotic damage.
• Potent Spellcasting: You can now add your Wisdom modifier to damage dealt from any Cleric cantrip.

Notably, these two options are available to a number of Clerics subclasses from the 2014 rules, so if you are playing using the older (and still compatible) rules, you’ll only be able to select one option for your 2024 Cleric.

Level 10: Divine Intervention

In the 2014 rules, this core Cleric feature let you call upon your god for aid. You then described the assistance you sought and rolled percentile dice. If you rolled a number equal to or lower than your Cleric level, your deity intervened (with the DM choosing the nature of the intervention). If your deity intervened, you couldn’t use this feature again for 7 days. If you god did not intervene, however, you could use the feature again after a Long Rest.

For the new 2024 Cleric, this feature has been overhauled somewhat. Now, you can choose any Cleric spell of level 5 or lower that doesn’t require a Reaction to cast. You can then cast it without expending a spell slot or Material components. The 7-day delay in using it again is also now gone, meaning you can call upon Divine Intervention immediately after completing a Long Rest.

According to Wizards of the Coast, this rule change was designed to avoid some of the ambiguity of the old 2014 feature, not to mention the small likelihood of the intervention actually occuring.

Level 14: Improved Blessed Strikes

This improved version of the new 2024 Blessed Strike feature provides a buff to whatever option you previously chose at Level 7.

• Divine Strike: If you choose Divine Strike at Level 7, you now get a 2d8 of extra Radiant or Necrotic damage when you hit a creature with a weapon attack.
• Potent Spellcasting: If you chose Potent Spallcasting at Level 7, when you deal damage with a Cleric cantrip, you now grant Temporary Hit Points equal to twice your Wisdom modifier to yourself or another creature within 60 feet of you.

Level 19: Epic Boon

In the 2014 rules, Epic Boons were given out purely at the Dungeon Master’s discretion. In the 2024 version, however, they’re available for players to choose from. While Clerics can select any of the 12 Epic Boons available to all classes, Wizards of the Coast recommends the “Boon of Fate.” This allows you to increase any ability score by 1 (to a maximum of 30). Additionally, when you or another creature within 60 feet of you succeeds or fails on a D20 Test, you can roll 2d4 and add or subtract the result from the d20 roll. Once you use this feat you can’t use it again until you complete a Short Rest, a Long Rest or roll for Initiative.

Level 20: Greater Divine Intervention

For the 2014 version of the Cleric this feature was simply known as “Divine Intervention Improvement” and meant that your call for intervention automatically succeeded, with no dice roll required.

For the new 2024 Cleric, however, at Level 20 you call upon your god and are able to cast the Wish spell, with no roll required. After using Divine Intervention to cast Wish, you have to wait 2d4 Long Rests before using the feature again.

What are the changes to the 2024 Cleric subclasses?

In the new 2024 Player’s Handbook there are four official Cleric subclasses: Life Domain, Light Domain, Trickery Domain and War Domain, all of which previously appeared in the 2014 Player’s Handbook.

As noted previously, however, one of the biggest changes to the 2024 Cleric is that you now choose your subclass at Level 3 (as opposed to Level 1, as per the 2014 rules). Wizards of the Coast is quick to point out that this doesn’t mean you can’t roleplay your Cleric’s connection with their deity at prior levels. Rather it gives you a few levels to get a feel for your character before choosing a Domain and God to serve for the rest of your adventuring career.

Besides this major change, most of the updates to the four core subclasses are fairly minor and are as follows:

• Life Domain: The Disciple of Life and Preserve Life features have moved to level 3, and Blessed Strike has become a base Cleric ability. Your Domain Spells now also include the Aid spell in addition to Bless, Cure Wounds and Lesser Restoration.
• Light Domain: The Warding Flare and Radiance of the Dawn abilities are now available at level 3. The spell See Invisibility has also been added to your Domain Spells list.
• Trickery Domain: You now gain Blessing of the Trickster and Invoke Duplicity at level 3. In addition, the Mirror Image Domain Spell has been replaced with Invisibility. At level 6, you can now also swap places with your illusion whenever you create or move it using your Bonus Action. At level 17, your illusion grants Advantage to you and your allies when you attack a creature within 5 feet of it, and if you dispel the illusion, you can grant a number of Hit Points equal to your Cleric level to any creature within 5 feet of it.
• War Domain: Your Domain Spells list now has Guiding Bolt. The level 6 feature War God’s Blessing has also been changed from a single-use attack roll bonus and now allows you to cast Shield of Faith or Spiritual Weapon without a spell slot and without requiring Concentration for up to 1 minute.

Final Thoughts on the New Cleric

The Cleric is one of the oldest and most fundamental of all DnD classes, with almost every party calling upon their unique powers and healing abilities at one point or another. For that reason many fans were worried that Wizards of the Coast might make some deep cuts or nerfs to key abilities (criticism which has been heaped on the new 2024 Ranger and 2024 Paladin).

For the most part, however, these changes to the Cleric seem solid. The shift of subclasses from Level 1 to 3 seems sound and the tweaks to cornerstone features like Destroy Undead, Channel Divinity and Divine Intervention feel like definite improvements that offer a ton of potential in combat, exploration and roleplaying. DnD 5e fans, however, can be a contentious lot, so it remains to be seen if they’ll bestow their blessing upon this new class.

You can find the complete rules for the new Cleric in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, which is available for pre-order now on D&D Beyond and Amazon.

Below is also a video from the official Dungeons & Dragons YouTube channel, with DnD lead designer Jeremy Crawford which offers more details on the key features of the updated 2024 Cleric.

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