The Tempest Domain is one of the most powerful subclasses of Clerics in Baldur’s Gate 3. With the Tempest Cleric subclass, you will be able to utilize abilities like Holy Might that will keep you and your party members safe during the toughest of battles. It is important to focus on skills and abilities that will make your Tempest Domain Cleric build the strongest in Baldur’s Gate 3.
- One of the most powerful subclasses of Cleric in Baldur’s Gate 3 is the Tempest subclass.
- To get the best build of the Tempest Cleric subclass, it is important to choose a race like Dragonborn or High Elf.
- A major pro of Tempest Cleric is its wide range of spells and equipment.
- The only con of the subclass is low mobility and survivability.
- Players should focus more on spending their ability points in Wisdom and go for skills like Perception, Survival, and Animal Handling.
- Lastly, the best spells for the Tempest Cleric build include Sacred Flame, Sanctuary, Spiritual Weapon, and Flame Strike.
- Author’s Note: I’ve played Baldur’s Gate 3 for over 36 hours via Steam, experiencing every mechanic and element the title offers.
Tempest Cleric Build Summary
Here’s an overview of the best Tempest Cleric Build in BG3, alongside their stats:
| Build | Race | Background | Skills | Spells |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tempest Cleric | High Elf, High Half Elf, Githyanki, or Dragonborn | Acolyte or Outlander | Insight, Perception, Medicine and Animal Handling | Spiritual Weapon, Sanctuary, Sacred Flame, Flame Strike and Heroes Feast |
Tempest Domain is one of the most powerful subclasses of Cleric in BG3, with a wide range of spells that you can use in battles. Furthermore, it also uses a variety of equipment that is capable of dealing high AOE damage and is easy to use.
With the right choice of race, background, and spells, you will be able to make the most powerful Tempest Cleric build in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Best Tempest Cleric Build Detailed
The best Cleric build will use powerful spells and cantrips in Baldur’s Gate 3 that can knock down target enemies easily during battles.
Below, I will recommend some of the best spells for Tempest Cleric build, as well as race, background, and skills that you can use in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Race
You can choose either High Elf, High Half Elf, Githyanki, or Dragonborn.
| Race | Features |
| Dragonborn | Dragonborn is one of the best races for Tempest, as it will grant you a high AOE lightning attack. That is, it is capable of dealing with lightning damage while being resistant to it. |
| High Elf | Features like the Elven Weapon Training will grant you proficiency in weapons like long swords and short bows. Dark vision will let you see in the dark with a range of around 12 meters. Lastly, you will get Fae Ancestry, which will grant you the advantage against saving throws when you are Charmed. |
| Githyanki | One of the best features of the race is Martial Prodigy, which will grant you a lifetime of Relentless Training as well as proficiency in weapons like great swords and short swords. You will also get armor proficiency in light and medium armor. |
Backgrounds
While background might not affect your gameplay as much, it is still important to choose the right one. For the Tempest Cleric build, I would recommend choosing either Acolyte or Outlander in Baldur’s Gate 3 .
| Acolyte | Outlander |
| Acolyte’s background will grant you proficiency in both Religion and Insight for Clerics. | The Outlander background will grant you proficiency in Athletics and Survival. |
| It also has skill proficiencies in perception, Medicine, and History. | The background has proficiencies in Insight, Perception, and History. |
You can also go for backgrounds like a folk hero, which will grant you proficiency in Wisdom, and you will be able to add some great perks to enhance the spells of your Tempest Cleric build.
Ability Score
When it comes to allotting ability points, I will suggest you to focus more on Wisdom. Additionally, you might also want to invest in Constitution and Strength for the perfect Tempest Cleric build.
| Stats | Ability Points |
| Wisdom | 17 |
| Intelligence | 8 |
| Constitution | 16 |
| Dexterity | 15 |
| Strength | 8 |
| Charisma | 10 |
Make sure to invest most of your points in constitution and Wisdom. Other than that, you can focus on strength if you want to increase the damage of your weapons. Additionally, you will also be able to improve your Saving Throws against different effects by investing in strength. The only stat that does not matter much for Tempest Cleric build is Dexterity.
Skills And Expertise
When it comes to skills and expertise, it is important to choose the right ones, as they can greatly affect your Tempest Cleric build.
The skills and expertise I will highly recommend you to choose are Wisdom related and can help you a lot, especially during the end game.
- The first expertise you should choose is Animal Handling, which will allow you to control animals.
- Next, you can go for Insight, as you will be able to detect lies and analyze the situations.
- Medicine is a great skill for The Tempest build as well if you want to have proficiency in diagnosing diseases.
- Perception can help out a lot when exploring and can help you find hidden mysteries.
- Survival is great if you want to make it through the wild.
- You can also go for the Religion and Arcana skills for the build.
Best Spells
For the best Tempest Domain Cleric build, I will recommend using the following spells.
| Spells | Description |
| Guidance | By using the spell, you will gain a bonus in ability checks. It is great when interacting with NPCs in Baldur’s Gate 3. |
| Sacred Flame | One of the main ranged attacks that you can use for the Tempest Cleric build is sacred flame. Even with low damage, it can be very useful against enemies, especially the Undead. |
| Bless | The level 1 spell is great for dealing damage to enemies and giving bonuses to Attack Rolls as well as Saving Throws. It is also helpful to grant buffs and status effects. |
| Sanctuary | The spell will grant you a shielding effect where you and your teammate cannot be targeted until you attack an enemy. However, you will still get damage from any area spells activated during the battle. |
| Silence | The level 2 spell will cast a sphere that is Soundproof and will cause Thunder Damage to targets. |
| Spiritual Weapon | When the spell is activated, a Spectral Weapon will appear, which will damage any targeted enemies. |
| Spirit Guardian | By casting the spell, you will be able to call upon Spirits in the battle arena to protect you. They will also cause damage to your target enemies. |
| Guardian of Faith | You will be able to summon a Stationary Divine Guardian who will damage enemies nearby. The guardian is capable of inflicting radiant damage. |
| Flame Strike | The level 5 spell is capable of dealing fire and radiant damage to enemies nearby. You will be able to cast a pillar of fire that will target enemies in the range. |
| Heroes Feast | One of the best level 6 spells in Baldur’s Gate 3 is the Heroes Feast. When cast, you and your allies in the range cannot be affected by status ailments like Frightened, Diseased, and Poisoned. |
Class Leveling
With each level, you will be able to unlock certain class features for Cleric.
| Level | Spells To Choose |
| Level 1 | You will unlock The Tempest Domain subclass feature. Cantrips like Resistance, Blade Ward, Guidance, and Sacred Flame are recommended. |
| Level 2 | Class features like spell slots, Channel Divinity Charges, and Turn Undead are unlocked. For spells, Command, Bane, Bless, Create Or Destroy Water, and Guiding Bolt are recommended for Cleric build. |
| Level 3 | On level 3, subclass spells like Gust Of Wind and Shatter are unlocked. |
| Level 4 | You will unlock the Ability Improvement Feat, which will add two points to your Wisdom. For cantrips, you can choose any spells you find best. |
| Level 5 | Destroy Undead class feature is unlocked. Subclass spells like Sleet Storm, Call Lightning, Daylight, and Mass Healing Word are unlocked. |
| Level 6 | The Subclass feature called Thunderbolt Strike is unlocked. |
| Level 7 | Subclass spells like the Freedom Of Movement Ice Storm are unlocked. You can use Death Ward and Guardian Of Faith on level 7. |
| Level 8 | A Subclass action called the Divine Strike is unlocked. Furthermore, you will also be able to unlock the War Caster feat. |
| Level 9 | Spells like the Mass Cure Wounds and Flame Strike are unlocked |
| Level 10 | The divine intervention class feature is unlocked, which you can use to call a Deity for your help. |
| Level 11 | Spells, including the Blade Barrier and Planar Ally, are unlocked. |
| Level 12 | Here, you can choose the Shield Master Feat or the Mobile Feat. |
My Thoughts On The Tempest Cleric Build
If you’re playing Baldur’s Gate 3 only for Astarion, Karlach (basically the Romance mechanic), or simply for the story, the Tempest Cleric build was built for you. In my hundreds of hours of experience, I have not seen a build as easy as this one when it comes to simplicity, combat, and general sustain. The only thing I like about it is that it is one of the builds that makes very good use of the Dragonborn race.
I don’t like this build a lot because of two reasons. Firstly, it is way too easy, and secondly, it lacks sufficient Persuasion skills that I love using. To summarize, the Tempest Cleric build will be strong from the get-go and will only get stronger with time.
With this, I conclude my detailed guide on the Tempest Cleric build and spells. While you are at it, don’t forget to see the guide on the best one-handed weapons in Baldur’s Gate 3 and how to find Slave Mind. You can also check out the guide on the best Bard build and how to find Thaniel. Lastly, don’t forget to read the guide on Sorcerer versus Wizard in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Up Next:
- BG3: How To Wake Up Art Cullagh
- BG3: Should You Side With Glut Or Spaw?
- BG3: How To Get & Use Dog Collar
Thanks! Do share your feedback with us. ⚡
How can we make this post better? Your help would be appreciated. ✍
Join Our Community