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The arcana domain is one of the most interesting subclasses available to a cleric inDungeons & Dragons. In the same way that arcane tricksters and eldritch knights are wizard-themed subclasses outside the wizard class, the arcana domain is all about being a wizard and a cleric simultaneously.
Mastering the class requires a good understanding of both the divine and arcane sides of the class’s abilities, but gives the satisfaction of being able to draw on the strongest aspects of each class. These disciplines' unique combinations can pull off feats no other class could achieve: Most deities can’t handle a cleric with clones.
Best Ability Scores For An Arcana Domain Cleric
Some tables might permit an arcana cleric touse intelligence for their spellcasting modifier instead of wisdom. For an arcana cleric, this may better fit the theme and allow them to utilise utility skills such as arcana and history more easily, or some settings may even blur the lines between arcana clerics and traditional wizards.
If your DM permits you to do this, you should prioritise intelligence as your highest ability score and a lower wisdom score. Otherwise, here’s a good priority list for your ability scores:
Wisdom
Highest Score
Wisdom augments the power and accuracy of your spells.Most arcana clerics are pure spellcasters, wearing medium armour more out of self-preservation than any desire to jump into melee.
Constitution
Second Highest
Arcana clerics can rely almost exclusively on their wisdom for everything they do in combat.The goal of constitution is keeping them aliveto do all of that. Your medium armour means enemies are less likely to prioritise you over a sorcerer in robes, butyou can still expect to take damage.
Intelligence
Third Place
Arcana clerics don’t have any features that directly benefit from a high intelligence, but do want to be capable in therelated skill checks of history and arcana. If you are planning a multiclass into wizard this becomes more important.
Dexterity
Maximum of 14
In medium armouryou want around 14 dexterity: Enough to make full use of your armourbut not enough that your other ability scores are losing out. If you’re planning to gain heavy armour via a feat you can afford to lower this.
Charisma
Honourable mention
In a diplomacy focused game this becomes more important, butdoesn’t offer a dungeon crawling cleric any advantages.
Strength
If your GM lets you go below 8 on your ability scores, this is where to do so.
Arcana clerics need enough strength to carry their inventory but otherwise don’t utilise this ability score. Ifyou plan to pick up heavy armour via a feat then you will want sufficient strength to wear it, but can also just choose to take the penalty to move speed.
Best Wizard Spells For An Arcana Cleric
The strongest feature of the Arcana Cleric is all the abilities they are able to copy from wizards. Several of their key features revolve around casting or imitating wizard features.
Wizard Cantrips For An Arcana Cleric
At first level, an arcana cleric gains two cantrips from the wizard spell list. Two extra cantrips from most class lists will give a helpful boost to versatility, but being able to yoink them from another class gives the arcana cleric amuch wider pool of options(and building one take a lot longer once the choice paralysis sets in).
Use
Mind Sliver
Deals a small amount of psychic damage andweakens an enemy’s next saving throw.
This is one of the few damaging cantrips to target intelligence, one of the least common saving throws. Most enemies are liable to be weak against this and the debuff it applies can set up other players to inflict more powerful status ailments.
Minor Illusion
Creates a magical image of your choicethat takes up a five-foot area.
It is a powerful tool for both roleplaying and stealth. Any time you’re about to be spotted, illusion a pile of crates in your current position and crouch down inside the illusion. Disbelieving your illusions allows you to look through it, giving minor illusion the ability to walls that only you can see through.
Create Bonfire
Sets a five-foot area on fire,damaging any enemy who passes through it.
Area damage and crowd control in a cantrip, at the price of concentration. When fighting in corridors this can completely block off a group of enemies.
Prestidigitation
Create a variety of minor magical effects.Seasons food, does your laundry and files your taxes.
The classic wizard cantrip. If you are playing an arcana cleric who wants to pass for a wizard in roleplay, this is a must.
Green-Flame Blade/Booming Blade
Empowers a melee attack with either fire or thunder magic, dealing additional damage.
If you build around a melee playstyle, these spells gain additional strength in the hands of an arcana cleric.The level 8 feature Potent Spellcasting lets you add your wisdom modifier to the damage of your cantrips. Since both Green-Flame Blade and Booming Blade deal damage twice they will synergise strongly with the feature.
Picking up the wizard initiate feat gives youtwo more cantrips and the ability to learn a first-level wizard spell. If you want two cantrips you missed out on and the ability to summon a familiar, this feat will let you complete the set.
Wizard Spells For An Arcana Cleric Spells
At the Seventeenth level, you get to repeat the process from the other side of the wizard spell list, this time stealing from one each at spell levels six through nine.
The ability of high-level arcana clerics to use the strongest spells of both a cleric and wizardmakes them very strong for high-level play, whether participating in an epic-level campaign or a level 20 one-shot.
Here are some powerful high-level spells thatclerics do not traditionally gainaccess to:
Contingency
Sixth level
Allows you to cast a spell ahead of time andhave it activate when your choice of trigger is activated.
This wizard-exclusive spell can do some unintuitive things when wielded by a cleric. Storing a cleric spell inside your contingencylets you plan around a wide swathe of scenarios.Storing a greater restorationin your contingency allows you to end party-wiping afflictions such as charm and petrify the moment they target you, leaving you free to then dispel those effects from allies on your turn.You’ll lack some of the wizardly uses of the spellsuch as “polymorph me into a dinosaur if I’m about to get stabbed.”
Simulacrum
Seventh level
Creates a duplicate of a target withaccess to all of their class features and spellsbut none of their magical equipment.
Like most spells only available to a single class, Simulacrum is far stronger than the spell level alone indicates. For the price of 1,500GP you can essentiallydouble the power of your character.The bonus isn’t properly permanent as the simulacrum is expensive to heal and will never regain spell slots, but there are a lot of ways to use a simulacrum in both roleplay and combat.
Feeblemind
Eighth level
Reduces a targets intelligence and charisma to one,preventing them from speaking or casting any spellsuntil the curse is broken.
This is perhaps more of a roleplaying choice but a cleric of arcana’s duty is to uphold the sanctity of magic both by proliferating its use and punishing its misuse.The feeblemind spell is a rather dramatic way of forcibly stripping a spellcaster of their ability to use magic. Previous versions of the spell hammered this idea home and forced specifically wizards to make the save at a penalty.
Clone
Creates a clone of yourself that your soul will transfer into if you die.
The non-evil way of gaining functional immortality: Most arcana deities would frown on their cleric becoming a lich or otherwise consuming souls to extend their life, but clones explicitly do not have souls according to this spell.
Wish
Ninth level
Can imitate any spell of level eight or lower, or allows you to wish for an assortment of permanent buffs or magical equipment.Misusing the spell has an increasing risk of getting your wish privileges revoked.
Even outside the ability to wish for gold, a pet dragon or permanent damage resistances the ability toreplicate any 8th level spell or lower without materials or casting timeis incredibly powerful and versatile. Making proper use of this poses a challenge, since you need to be able to remember a boggling number of spells across all the classes.
Foresight
Grants advantage on all attacks, skill checks and saving throws for eight hours.Anyone targeting you has disadvantage, and you cannot be surprised or otherwise ambushed.
A very simple but incredibly powerful spell.The long duration means that you’re able to potentially cast it once per day and have the effects on almost all the time.
Best Feats For An Arcana Cleric
Feats are a good opportunity to customise your character, eitherpursuing greater specialisation or rounding out weaknessesrelative to your class.
Wizard Initiate
Find familiar lets you complete the appearance of a classical wizard, andgives you a useful tool for relaying messages or scouting. The Arcana Cleric already gains several wizard cantrips but more is better.
Druid Initiate
The druid cantrip Shillelagh lets you use your wisdom score instead of strength or dexterity on melee attacks:Combined with the wizard cantrips Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade, this allows arcana clerics to make competent melee fighters, but they do not gain the extra attack granted to tempest and war domain clerics.
The goodberry spell gives you acheap source of healingand ensures you’ll never run out of food while traveling.
Prodigy
Arcana clerics have no way other of gaining access to expertise: Doubling your proficiency in arcana means you’ll be able to confidently take the lead when dealing with magic out of combat, ordoubling your investigation means you’ll be able to easily disbelieve magical illusions.
War Caster
Arcana clerics are already strong at purely magical combat and this amplifies that further:
Best Backgrounds For An Arcana Cleric
There are a plethora of ways you can roleplay a cleric who worships arcane magic, especially considering the very different arcane deities of different settings.
Next:Dungeons & Dragons – Every Feat In Planescape: Adventures In The Multiverse, Ranked
