Best BG3 Tempest Cleric Build Guide

Welcome to the best Tempest Domain Cleric Build for Baldur’s Gate 3. For this Cleric build we’ll be using the Tempest Domain subclass of the Cleric. The BG3 Tempest Domain Cleric Build was last updated in November 2025. It works for both PC and Consoles (PS5 and Xbox Series X/S).

Please visit our Best BG3 Builds overview page for more builds or check out our Best BG3 Cleric Build or the optimized BG3 Shadowheart Build. If you are interested in more Cleric subclass builds, check our BG3 Cleric Builds category page. To get an overview of all classes, please visit the BG3 Classes overview page.

Tempest Domain Clerics gain spells that channel the power of thunder and lightning against enemies, and can empower their weapon attacks with these elements.

Cleric Build Table of Contents:

1. Tempest Cleric Build Overview
   1. Cleric Class Summary
   2. Tempest Domain Subclass Summary
2. Tempest Cleric Build Character Creation
   1. Best Race
   2. Cantrips
   3. Spells
   4. Subclass – Tempest Domain
   5. Background & Skills
   6. Abilities
3. Tempest Cleric Build Levelling Progression
   1. Early-Game Level 2-4
   2. Mid-Game Level 5-8
   3. Late-Game Level 9-12
4. Tempest Cleric Equipment
   1. Early-Game Tempest Cleric Gear
   2. Best Tempest Cleric Gear (Late-Game)
5. Tempest Cleric Build Extra Info
   1. How to Play
   2. Illithid Powers (Optional)

BG3 Tempest Domain Cleric Build Overview

In this section, we will summarise the most important aspects of the Cleric class and Tempest Domain subclass, which we are using for this build. If you’re already familiar with how these work, please skip this section.

Cleric Class Overview

The Cleric class is a powerful spellcaster who has some proficiency with weapons. They have access to a wide array of buff, debuff and healing spells, making them one of the best classes in the game for party support. At high levels, they are also good damage dealers thanks to their powerful magic. But in the early game, Clerics aren’t very good at dealing damage and are better off focusing on supporting allies.

Here are the most important aspects of the Cleric Class in BG3:

•  Channel Divinity (Level 2) – This is the Cleric’s unique class resource. You will start with one Channel Divinity charge, which is replenished on a Short or Long Rest. You’ll unlock more charges later. These charges are consumed to power unique Cleric Actions, some of which are strong enough to turn the tide of battle. The Cleric Actions you can use depend on your chosen subclass.
•  Channel Divinity: Turn Undead (Level 2) – Use a Channel Divinity charge to Turn all nearby undead, forcing them to flee.
•  Destroy Undead (Level 5) – An upgrade for Turn Undead. Undead who are Turned will also take 4d6 Radiant Damage.
•  Divine Intervention (Level 10) – Call on your deity to grant you a powerful one-time boon. Can either deal massive AoE damage, resurrect and heal all nearby companions, spawn a generous helping of Camping Supplies and Potions, or summon a Legendary Devotee’s Mace that can deal bonus Radiant Damage and heal nearby allies. You can only use this Action once, but if you choose the Mace, you can keep it forever.

Clerics can also use a wide range of spells, which we will detail in the build guide below.

Tempest Domain Subclass Overview

Here are the Tempest Domain Cleric’s defining features:

• Proficiency with Heavy Armour and Martial Weapons (Level 1)
•  Wrath of the Storm (Level 1) – When you are attacked, you can spend your Reaction to retaliate with 2d8 Thunder Damage or Lightning Damage. If the target Saves, they still take half of the damage.
•  Destructive Wrath (Level 2) – When you roll Thunder Damage or Lightning Damage, you can spend a Channel Divinity Charge to guarantee the maximum possible damage roll.
•  Thunderbolt Strike (Level 6) – When you deal Thunder Damage or Lightning Damage to a creature that is Large or smaller, you can push it back by 3 metres.
•  Divine Strike: Thunder (Level 8) – Once per turn, add 1d8 Thunder Damage to your melee weapon attack.

You will also unlock a range of Domain Spells that are themed around wind, storms and nature. Domain Spells are always prepared, which means they don’t need to be manually added to your action bar.

Character Creation (Level 1) – BG3 Tempest Domain Build

In this section, we will guide you through which options to choose in Character Creation for your BG3 Cleric Build.

Important: You also already have to select your Subclass at level 1; this can be easily overlooked because the game pushes you directly to the main class and then just selects the first option in the subclass menu. Therefore, make sure that you have selected the Tempest Domain subclass. If you missed this (or want to use this build for Shadowheart), then visit Withers in your Camp to respec (you first need to find him in the ruins near the Nautiloid crash site in Act I).

Best Race

First off, it is important to note that you can pick whatever race you want; it won’t affect your gameplay that much. However, there are, of course, slightly better races for our Cleric build in Baldur’s Gate 3. For example, one very useful thing we can get from our race is Longbow Proficiency. The Cleric’s main damage Cantrip is Sacred Flame, which has quite a low success rate, especially in the early game. One way around this is to use a ranged weapon instead, and Longbows have pretty good damage.

Our top 5 picks for the best Cleric race are:

Race	Strengths	Info
Wood Elf	Proficiency in Stealth and Perception Extra Weapon Proficiencies: Shortswords Longswords Shortbows Longbows Fey Ancestry Advantage against Charmed Immune to Magical Sleep Darkvision Fleet of Foot – 1.5 metres of extra Movement Speed	Wood Elves are a great choice for most build types in BG3, thanks to their superior movement speed. Natural Proficiency in Perception is always useful, and immunity to magical Sleep will help you out a lot, especially in the early game, where enemy mages love to spam this spell. You can also use a Half Wood-Elf for most of the same benefits.
Duergar	Can wear Medium Armour Can wield axes and hammers Dwarven Resilience Advantage against Poisoned Resistance to Poison Damage Superior Darkvision Duergar Resilience Advantage on Saving Throws against illusions Advantage against Charmed and Paralysed Duergar Magic Enlarge (Level 3) Invisibility (Level 5)	With their wide choice of armour and weapon proficiencies, and resistances to poison, charm, and paralysis, Duergar are one of the strongest races in BG3. The only downside of Duergar is their small stature – this reduces their base Movement Speed to 7.5 metres per turn (most races get 9 metres).
High Elf	Proficiency in and Perception Extra Weapon Proficiencies: Shortswords Longswords Shortbows Longbows Fey Ancestry Advantage against Charmed Immune to Magical Sleep Darkvision Choose an extra Cantrip (cast with Intelligence)	Very similar to Wood Elf, but missing the Stealth Proficiency and doesn’t get extra Movement Speed. You can choose an extra Cantrip to learn, which is handy but not super important.
Githyanki	Can wear Light Armour & Medium Armour Extra Weapon Proficiencies: Shortswords Longswords Greatswords Astral Knowledge Gain Proficiency with all Skills belonging to a selected ability, once per Long Rest. Githyanki Psionics Mage Hand (Level 1) Enhance Leap (Level 3) Misty Step (Level 5)	The Githyanki gives you a good range of weapon Proficiencies and innate access to Enhance Leap and Misty Step, which give you excellent mobility. Astral Knowledge makes your character very versatile with their Skill Proficiencies, as long as you remember to use it. Additionally, Githyanki get the full benefits from equipping various Githyanki weapons, sometimes granting additional Psychic Damage or special features.
Dragonborn, Any	Draconic Ancestry – Depending on which Dragonborn variant you choose, you’ll gain: Resistance to an elemental damage type A special AoE elemental breath attack	Dragonborns get access to a special Breath attack they can use once per Short Rest, which deals elemental damage in a directional AoE. They also get 50% Resistance to the same element. The damage element in question depends on which Dragonborn variant you choose. The Fire and Poison variants are slightly better because many enemies attack with these damage types, making resistance to them more valuable. But don’t let this stop you from using whichever type of Dragonborn you like the most. Since we’ll be spending a lot of time in close range, the Dragonborn Breath attacks can fit in quite nicely with the Cleric playstyle..

Cantrips

In the Class menu, you need to choose three Cantrips to start the game with, from four options. We recommend getting the following Cantrips:

• Guidance – This is a great ability for out-of-combat situations, and can be cast either on yourself or on an active ally from within the dice roll screen, letting you gain 1d4 boost to a range of dice rolls.
• Resistance – Bolster the target’s defences, giving them a 1d4 bonus to Saving Throws. This is a Concentration Spell. Can be used in some dialogue encounters in the same way as Guidance, but these are a bit less common.
• Sacred Flame – This is the Cleric’s main damage Cantrip. It suffers from low hit chance because enemies can perform a Wisdom Saving Throw to completely block the damage. Still, there are situations in BG3 where Radiant Damage is really good and I’ve seen this hit for over 80 damage, so it’s worth slotting as long as you know its limitations. Check the hit chance before casting, and if it’s below 70%, check for better options before proceeding.

Spells

You’ll need to choose four Spells to prepare, from a list of 10 known Spells. We recommend choosing the following Spells:

• Guiding Bolt – This is a must-pick, because it can deal up to 24 ranged damage right from the start of the game, which is very nice early-game damage. As a bonus, the next person to attack the target will have an Advantage against them.
• Healing Word – Useful for healing yourself or your allies. At first glance, you might wonder why we chose this instead of Cure Wounds, which has a higher potential healing value. That’s because this skill can be cast at long range, while Cure Wounds needs you to be in arms reach of the target, which just isn’t going to cut it. A good healing spell needs to be easy to use in all situations, and that’s what Healing Word gives you.
•  Bless – Target up to three Allies, giving them a buff on Attack Rolls and Saving Throws. This improves the attack and defense of your allies, which can be really handy. Note that this is a Concentration Spell, so casting it will break any other Concentration effect you have active. Use this when fighting early-game boss enemies like the Gnolls on Risen Road – it’s going to help a lot while you’re stuck with weak early-game weapons.
• Inflict Wounds – Deals up to 30 Necrotic damage to an enemy. It can be upcast for more damage later in the game. The problem with this spell is that it only works in melee range. But it can hit really hard. Only use it when the hit chance is decent (at least 70%), otherwise it becomes another Sacred Flame situation.

Subclass – Tempest Domain

Your Tempest Domain subclass grants you a unique Passive from the beginning of the game, along with two Domain Spells (which are always prepared and automatically added to your action bar):

• Proficiency with Heavy Armour and Martial Weapons
•  Wrath of the Storm – When you are attacked, you can spend your Reaction to retaliate with 2d8 Thunder Damage or Lightning Damage. If the target Saves, they still take half of the damage.
• Domain Spells:
  •  Thunderwave – Deals Thunder Damage in a conal AoE in front of you, and attempts to knock targets back. A good early-game AoE spell, and it can potentially instakill enemies if you knock them off a cliff. Beware that you’ll lose the ability to loot enemies if you knock them into a chasm.
  •  Fog Cloud – Creates an area of fog that blocks sight and Blinds creatures within. Requires Concentration to maintain the cloud. This can be used to force a ranged enemy to move out of an advantageous position, or it can be cast defensively to escape from melee or hide an ally from enemy ranged attackers.

Background & Skills

This build will have very good Wisdom and decent Dexterity, so it’s best to pick a Background that aligns with that. The most obvious choice is Folk Hero, which gives us Animal Handling and Survival, both Wisdom Skills, but you can deviate from this if you want to.

This Cleric Build features high Wisdom and Dexterity scores, so it is best to play to our strength and focus on Skills that align with these Abilities.

For our Background, we chose Folk Hero, which gives the following Skill Proficiencies:

• Animal Handling (WIS) – Your character is better at taming and communicating with animals. This is a Skill roll that appears in dialogue in some situations, and can open up alternative dialogue options when successful.
• Survival (WIS) – Impacts your chance to successfully identify buried treasure when exploring the wilds.

You can choose two more Skills from a limited list of Cleric Skills. Of the available options, we recommend choosing these:

• Insight (WIS) – Helps you read NPC’s behaviour and detect lies and hidden details.
• Medicine (WIS) – Rarely used in dialogue to heal or soothe injured characters.

If you chose the Human race, you get one more unrestricted skill pick. If this applies to you, I recommend selecting Acrobatics (DEX) for your final skill, which will make your character more resistant to enemy attempts to push you (it can be life-saving, because the AI loves to push characters off ledges).

Abilities

The most important attribute for this build is Wisdom, which will be used as our Spellcasting Attribute. This means that the accuracy and efficacy of our Spells are determined by your Wisdom Modifier, so we’re focusing on Wisdom as much as we can.

Next up is Constitution. This gives you more HP, lets you Resist a lot of debilitating debuffs that you’ll encounter throughout your playthrough, and gives you better odds at maintaining Concentration on a Spell when you take damage.

Dexterity also needs to be mentioned. It gives us some extra Armour Class, but we are going to be wearing Medium Armour for this build, which limits the Armour benefit from Dexterity to +2. You get 1 AC per Dexterity Modifier, and 1 Dexterity Modifier per 2 points of Dexterity above 10, so we’ll be setting our Dexterity to 14. There’s little point in going any higher than this for this build.

As for the rest of your Attributes, we recommend having Strength at 10 because you may sometimes attack with a melee weapon in a pinch, and Charisma at 10 because it means you won’t be debuffed in (most) dialogue dice rolls. We don’t have any use for Intelligence, so we’re leaving that at 8 points.

This gives us:

• 10 Strength
• 14 Dexterity
• 16 Constitution
• 8 Intelligence
• 16 Wisdom
• 10 Charisma

(Most important Abilities are bolded)

Tempest Cleric Build Levelling Guide – Baldur’s Gate 3

In this section, we have provided a step-by-step guide for levelling up your Tempest Cleric, including recommendations at each level for any choices that need to be made, such as Spell and Feat selection. We have broken it down into smaller sections to make it easier to keep track of where you are, starting with the early game levelling (Levels 2-4).

Early Game Levelling Guide for the BG3 Cleric Build

Here are the first few levels explained.

Level 2 – Tempest Cleric Build BG3 for PC/PS5

At Level 2, you’ll gain a new Spell Slot for your Tempest Cleric Build in Baldur’s Gate 3, allowing you to cast an extra spell between Long Rests.

You’ll also unlock a special type of ability specific to the Cleric – Channel Divinity Actions.

Channel Divinity Actions have their own number of uses, separate from Spell Slots. To begin with, you only have one use, which can be replenished by either a Short or Long Rest.

With the Tempest Domain Cleric, you’ll unlock the following Channel Divinity Actions at Level 2:

• Turn Undead – Present your holy symbol and pray. Each undead that can see or hear you is Turned, and must spend its turns fleeing from you until it takes damage or succeeds a Saving Throw.
•  Destructive Wrath – When you roll Thunder Damage or Lightning Damage, you can spend a Channel Divinity Charge to guarantee the maximum possible damage roll.

Level 3 – Tempest Cleric Build BG3

At Level 3 for your Tempest Cleric Build, you unlock another First Level Spell Slot, as well as two Second Level Spell Slots.

There are a couple of Second Level Spells that would be great to prepare at this point:

• Aid – Heals your allies within 9 metres for 5HP, and also increases their maximum HP by 5, until the next Long Rest.
  • Important: Use this after every Long Rest to improve your party’s HP pools. Later on, you should upcast the spell to increase the effect by 5HP per spell level. This simple routine makes the game significantly easier, especially early in the game.
• Hold Person – Hold a humanoid creature, making it unable to move and act. At the end of each turn, the creature can try to free itself with a Saving Throw. This is a Concentration Spell. Melee attacks against the stunned creature are guaranteed crits, so this is especially good when combined with a melee heavy hitter in your party, like Karlach, Laezel or any other Fighter/Barbarian/Paladin.

You’ll also unlock a couple of new Tempest Domain Spells, which are spells that the Cleric will always have prepared (i.e they automatically go on your action bar without needing to choose them):

• Gust of Wind – Create a gust of wind that clears all clouds in the area and can knock enemies back, in a similar fashion to Thunderwave.
•  Shatter – Deals Thunder Damage in an AOE. Enemies who succeed the Constitution Saving Throw still take half of the damage, and inorganic targets (such as constructs) must roll the Saving Throw with a Disadvantage.

I also want to point out the Prayer of Healing spell. This heals your entire party by a significant amount, but only outside combat. It’s especially useful on Tactician/Honour difficulty, where resting uses double the amount of supplies. Use it to heal your party when you’re out of Short Rests, but it feels too soon to take a Long Rest (because you have too many Spell Slots and action charges left, for example). Thanks to the Cleric’s ability to slot and unslot spells freely, you can do this whenever you want without needing to reserve a spot for it.

Also, keep in mind that some of the First Level Spells you already knew can now be upcast to Second Level, improving their effects but consuming a second-level spell slot instead.

Level 4 – Tempest Cleric Build Baldur’s Gate 3 for PC/PS5

As with all classes in Baldur’s Gate 3, at Level 4, you’ll need to choose a Feat for your Cleric Build. Feats are powerful passive effects for your character that can enable a specific build or simply boost your stats. We strongly recommend choosing Ability Improvement, which will give you two additional Ability Points. Put them both into Wisdom, which should allow you to reach 18 Wisdom, significantly improving your Spellcasting ability.

You’ll also gain another First Level and Second Level Spell Slot, and you’ll need to choose another Cantrip. We’ll pick up Thaumaturgy, which occasionally is useful in dialogue checks.

You can slot two more spells now (one from levelling up, another from improving our Wisdom Modifier, you have to go into the spell menu to see the second slot). The following spells are great choices:

• Spiritual Weapon – Summon a spiritual weapon to help you in combat. The weapon can be controlled and deals Force Damage. This is good for dealing extra damage in the early-game, and it’s also good for distracting enemies when you’re outnumbered. Enemies will often waste their time attacking this instead of your party members. It only has 20 HP, but it is resistant to most damage, so it’s good for this purpose.
• Enhance Ability – Choose an ability and give yourself or an ally Advantage in all checks of that ability until you lose Concentration on the spell. This is a very powerful buff for both combat and non-combat situations, but it does prevent you from casting any other Concentration spells.

Mid Game Levelling Guide for the BG3 Tempest Cleric Build

We will now go over the mid-game portion of levelling up your Baldur’s Gate 3 Tempest Domain Cleric. This section covers levels 5-8.

Level 5 – Tempest Cleric Build Baldur’s Gate 3

At Level 5, your Tempest Cleric’s Spellcasting ability further improves.

You’ll unlock two Third Level Spell Slots. While this build is quite flexible and it’s up to you which spells you choose here, we recommend taking a close look at the following options:

•  Glyph of Warding – Inscribe a circle of arcane glyphs on the ground that trigger a magical effect when stepped on by an enemy. Only one glyph can be active at a time. Deals great AOE damage, and targets who perform a Saving Throw will still take half of the damage. You can place the glyph underneath an enemy to trigger it immediately. This can deal a lot of damage to your allies, so be careful when placing it!
•  Revivify – Revive a companion. They return to life with 1 hit point. You no longer need to worry about carrying around a stack of Revivification Scrolls, as this spell has the same effect!

You’ll also unlock two more Tempest Domain Spells at Level 5:

•  Call Lightning – Call a Lightning Strike in the target area, dealing a strong amount of Lightning Damage to all within. When you maintain Concentration on this spell, you can repeat the lightning attack on subsequent turns without spending another Spell Slot. You can continue doing this for up to 10 turns, if the spell is not broken. This is one of the best AOE spells in the game due to the huge amount of damage potential per spell slot you spend on the spell.
•  Sleet Storm – Create ice surfaces in the target area, and force spellcasters to roll a Concentration Saving Throw – if they fail this then their ongoing Concentration Spells will be broken.

Level 6

At Level 6, the Tempest Cleric Build gains a couple of new features:

• An extra Channel Divinity Charge, allowing you to use two Channel Divinity Actions per Short/Long Rest.
•  Thunderbolt Strike – When you deal Thunder or Lightning damage to a creature that is Large or smaller, you can also push it back by 3 metres.
• Another Third Level Spell Slot, giving you three in total.
• Prepare one more Spell. We recommend:
  •  Spirit Guardians – Surround yourself with spirits who follow you around. The spirits attack any enemies who move close to you, dealing Radiant Damage or Necrotic Damage. The Radiant version of this spell is especially strong in Act II, as many of the enemies there are Vulnerable to damage of that type.

Level 7

At Level 7, you unlock the following:

• One Fourth Level Spell Slot, and the ability to Prepare Fourth Level Spells.
• Two more Spells from your chosen Domain (always Prepared). The Tempest Domain Cleric gets:
  •  Freedom of Movement – Grant yourself or an ally immunity to magical sources of paralysis and restraint, and prevents Difficult Terrain from slowing them down. Also immediately cures any Stun. Lasts until the next Long Rest.
  •  Ice Storm – Conjure an icy storm that deals Cold Damage and Bludgeoning Damage to all within, and leaves a slippery ice surface for 2 turns.
• Prepare one more Cleric spell of your choice. We recommend:
  •  Guardian of Faith – Summon a guardian at the target location. They are immobile, but will automatically attack enemies within 3 metres, dealing 20 Radiant Damage per attack (halved if the target succeeds a Dexterity Save). Every time the guardian deals damage, they take the same amount of damage. Correct placement is really important with this spell – try to put it in a chokepoint that enemies must pass through, or next to an enemy who is also immobile or tends to linger in the same place for some other reason.

Level 8

At Level 8, you unlock:

• Another Fourth Level Spell Slot, giving you two in total.
• Choose another Feat. Get Ability Improvement and improve your Wisdom score to 20.
• Choose two more spells. We recommend:
  •  Mass Healing Word – Heal all allies within 18 metres for 1d4 + your Wisdom Modifier (should be +5 now, if you followed the recommendations).
  •  Death Ward – The next time the target drops to 0 HP, they will heal to 1 HP instead of being Downed. This spell isn’t amazing, and we will replace it soon, for now though it’s the best remaining option.
•  Divine Strike: Tempest – Once per turn, deal 1d8 extra Thunder Damage when you land a weapon attack.

Late-Game Levelling Guide for the BG3 Tempest Cleric Build

We will now cover the latter levels for this BG3 Tempest Cleric Build, levels 9-12. In this section, your Cleric will begin unlocking very powerful spells that can make them a huge asset to your party.

Level 9

At Level 9, your Tempest Cleric’s spellcasting continues to improve, as you can now access even more powerful spells. Here you’ll unlock:

• Another Fourth Level Spell Slot, giving you three in total.
• One Fifth Level Spell Slot, and the ability to prepare Fifth Level Spells.
• Two more Domain Spells from your subclass. Tempest Domain Cleric gets:
  •  Destructive Wave – Create a shockwave of thunder that deals up to 30 Thunder Damage and Radiant Damage, and can knock enemies Prone.
  •  Insect Plague – Locusts attack everyone within a 12 metre area, dealing 4-40 Piercing Damage per turn, making the area Difficult Terrain, and imposing Disadvantage on Perception Checks. The damage is halved on targets that roll a Constitution Save. This is one of the strongest spells in the Cleric’s arsenal – it’s especially effective when placed in chokepoints, and can turn a difficult battle in your favour.
• Prepare one more spell, plus another one to replace Death Ward from Level 8:
  •  Mass Cure Wounds – Heals allies within 18 metres by 3d8 HP each. Can provide a strong heal to many creatures at once.
  •  Flame Strike – Call forth a pillar of divine fire from the heavens, dealing 5d6 Fire Damage and 5d6 Radiant Damage to everyone in a 3 metre radius. Damage is halved for targets who make a Dexterity Saving Throw. Use this when you need quick AOE burst damage – it’s basically an upgrade of the Glyph of Warding that we’ve been using for that purpose up until now.

Level 10

At Level 10, the Tempest Domain Cleric unlocks a unique single-use feature to invoke the aid of their god. You gain:

• Another Fifth Level Spell Slot, giving you two in total.
• Choose one more Cantrip. We already picked up the most important Cantrips, so you can choose whatever you like here.
•  Divine Intervention – Once per character, invoke your god’s aid. When activating this, you can choose from:
  • Sunder the Heretical – Deal 8-80 Radiant Damage to a group of enemies.
  • Arm Thy Servant – Grants you a Legendary weapon.
  • Opulent Revival – Resurrect fallen Companions with half health and restore nearby allies as if they had Long Rested.
  • Golden Generosity – Provides a rich bounty of Potions and Camp Supplies.
• Prepare one more Spell. We recommend:
  •  Hold Monster – Essentially an upgrade to Hold Person, this spell has the same effect but removes the restriction of only working on humanoid targets.

Divine Intervention is a potentially good passive for helping you out in a pinch. But beware that this can only be used once per character. There is no way to recharge the ability.

Level 11

At Level 11, you don’t gain any new class abilities, but you do get access to Sixth Level Spells, the most powerful tier of magic in Baldur’s Gate 3.

You’ll gain one Sixth Level Spell Slot, and as usual, you’ll be able to prepare one more Spell.

If no one else in your party has the  Heroes’ Feast spell, then get this on your Cleric. It puts an extremely strong buff on you and your party, providing the following benefits until the next Long Rest:

• Immune to Poison and Disease
• Cannot be Frightened
• Extra 12 HP
• Advantage on Wisdom Saving Throws

Important: Make it a routine to cast both Heroes’ Feast and upcast Aid on your party after every Long Rest, to get a huge buff to your party members’ max HP. The buffs also apply to summons, so raise any long-term summons before casting the HP buffs.

If someone else has Heroes’ Feast covered already, consider the  Heal spell. This is a single-target burst heal that is guaranteed to restore 70 HP, avoiding the RNG of other healing spells.

Level 12

If you’ve reached this point, then you have finished levelling up your Tempest Cleric to max level. Congratulations!

At Level 12, you can choose one more Feat for your Cleric Build. Picking up War Caster is a good idea, as it gives you Advantage on Concentration Checks. Since the Cleric often spends a lot of time in close proximity to enemies while also spellcasting, this is really helpful for making your Concentration Spells more resilient. As a bonus, War Caster also lets you zap enemies who get too close with lightning.

You can also choose one more Spell to prepare. Planar Ally allows you to summon a powerful creature to fight alongside you, not only dealing good damage to enemies but also redirecting some enemy attacks toward your summoned creature rather than your party members.

Tempest Cleric Build Equipment for Baldur’s Gate 3

In this section, we will outline the best equipment recommendations for your Tempest Domain Cleric. We have included both an early game and a late game section for equipment, so you can use this build no matter how far through the game you are.

Don’t worry if you don’t have all of the listed equipment, and feel free to try out different items and combinations too – this is just a guideline, and the build can still work great with some of the equipment changed.

Early-Game

Early-Game equipment is available in Act I and the earlier parts of Act II. It is generally less powerful than the late-game version of the build; however, there are still some really handy items that you can find fairly early on in your BG3 playthrough.

For the early-game, we’re going for items that provide protection to the Cleric and improve their spellcasting ability in whatever ways possible. We are also making use of items that provide the Reverberation debuff – this is a Thunder themed debuff that causes enemies to have a hard time on their Saving Throws and can eventually deal extra Thunder damage and knock them Prone.

You can check below the table for more detailed information about each item, including how to obtain them.

Slot	Icon	Item	Effects	Location
Head		Wapira’s Crown	Whenever you heal another creature, you also gain 1d6 HP	Reward from Zevlor for completing the Save the Refugees quest
Cloak		Thunderskin Cloak	When a creature with Reverberation deals damage to the wearer, the creature needs to make a Constitution Saving Throw or become Dazed.	Purchased from Araj Oblodra in Moonrise Towers
Chest		Adamantine Splint Armour	Attackers cannot land Critical Hits on you All incoming damage is reduced by 2 Your attackers are sent Reeling, reducing their accuracy on future attacks	Crafted at the Adamantine Forge. Requires Mithral Ore and the Splint Mould
Gloves		Gloves of Belligerent Skies	When the wearer deals Thunder, Lightning, or Radiant damage, inflict 2 turns of Reverberation upon the target(s).	In the Inquisitor’s Chambers in the Githyanki Creche
Boots		Boots of Stormy Clamour	When the wearer inflicts a condition upon a hostile creature, they also inflict 2 turns of Reverberation.	Sold by Omeluum in the Myconid Colony
Necklace		Pearl of Power Amulet	Restore a spell slot of first, second or third level, once per Long Rest	Sold by Omeluum in the Myconid Colony
Ring 1		The Whispering Promise	When you heal a creature, you also give them the Blessed condition, boosting their Attack Rolls, Ability Checks and Saving Throws by 1d4.	Purchased from Act I vendors (see below)
Ring 2		Ring of Spiteful Thunder	When the wearer deals Thunder damage to a Reverberating creature, it becomes Dazed unless it succeeds a Constitution Saving Throw.	Purchased from Roah Moonglow in Moonrise Towers
Main Weapon		The Blood of Lathander	Heals you when you’re about to be incapacitated, once per Long Rest Emits light that Blinds Undead and Fiends (this light also means the Coruscation and Callous Glow rings will always trigger) Allows you to cast a non-repeatable variant of Sunbeam once per Long Rest	Found in the secret area in Rosymorn Monastery (see below)
Shield		Shield of Devotion	Grants you an additional Level 1 Spell Slot Use your Reaction to attempt to knock a melee attacker Prone	Sold by Quartermaster Talli in Last Light Inn
Second Weapon		Spellthief	Restores a Level 1 Spell Slot when it lands a Crit, once per Long Rest If you don’t have Longbow Proficiency, use a more suitable ranged weapon instead	Sold by Arron in the Druid Grove

Wapira’s Crown

Whenever you heal another creature, you also gain 1d6 HP. This is a decent early game heal and it’s basically free. Even though the Tempest Domain Cleric isn’t focused on healing, it can still make for a decent healer when needed, so this item is a good fit. You get Wapira’s Crown as a reward from Zevlor for doing the Save the Refugees quest, provided you accept the monetary reward. It is inside the sack he gives you.

Adamantine Splint Armour

The Adamantine Splint Armour is a very strong piece of Heavy Armour that can be obtained fairly early in the game. It reduces all incoming damage by 2, prevents you from receiving Critical Hits, and debuffs enemies who attack you. To craft it, you need to go to the Grymforge, find the Splint-Armour Mould and some Mithral Ore, then activate the Adamantine Forge with these components slotted into place.

Gloves of Belligerent Skies

The Gloves of Belligerent Skies allow you to debuff enemies with the Reverberation debuff, simply by dealing Thunder, Lightning or Radiant damage to them. Each turn of Reverberation reduces the target’s Strength, Dexterity and Constitution Saving Throw Rolls by -1, and when they reach 4 turns they will take a burst of Thunder damage and fall Prone.

These gloves are found in a locked chest in the Inquisitor’s Chambers in the Githyanki Creche at the end of Act I. To find this area, you need to take the Mountain Pass rote to Act II and explore the Rosymorn Monastery.

Boots of Stormy Clamour

With the Boots of Stormy Clamour equipped, you can apply 2 turns of Reverberation to an enemy by applying any other Condition to them. They are sold by Omeluum in the Myconid Colony, after you complete his quest to help investigate the parasite.

Thunderskin Cloak

The Thunderskin Cloak will Daze any Reverberating enemy who damages you, unless they succeed a Constitution Save. Dazed enemies cannot take Reactions, lose any Dexterity Bonus to their Armour Class, and have Disadvantage on Wisdom Saving Throws.

The cloak is purchased from Araj Oblodra in Moonrise Towers, Act II.

Pearl of Power Amulet

The Pearl of Power Amulet lets you restore a spell slot of first, second or third level, once per Long Rest. This is particularly handy in the early game when you don’t have a huge number of spell slots available. It is sold by Omeluum in the Myconid Colony, in the Underdark. To trade with them, you must first finish their quest to help them investigate the parasite.

The Whispering Promise

The Whispering Promise is another item that gives a very nice extra buff with healing spells. Whenever you heal a creature, they get the Blessed buff for 2 turns, giving them a 1d4 bonus to Attack Rolls and Saving Throws. This item can appear in several locations:

• Purchase from Volo in the Druid Grove (later on he can be found in your camp after you rescue him from the goblins)
• Purchase from Grat the Trader in the Goblin Camp
• Purchase from Roah Moonglow in either Shattered Sanctum (Act I) or Moonrise Towers (Act II)

If the item isn’t available in any of these vendors, you can do a Long Rest to reset their wares. You don’t need to use any camp supplies when doing a Long Rest for this purpose.

Ring of Spiteful Thunder

The Ring of Spiteful Thunder will Daze enemies that you hit with Thunder damage, if they already have the Reverberation debuff on them. Dazed enemies cannot take Reactions, lose any Dexterity Bonus to their Armour Class, and have Disadvantage on Wisdom Saving Throws.

The ring can be purchased from Roah Moonglow in Moonrise Towers, in Act II. If it is not there, try to return after a Long Rest.

The Blood of Lathander

A legendary mace with a +3 bonus to its Attack Rolls and Damage, The Blood of Lathander will also heal you when you reach 0 HP, once per Long Rest, and lets you cast a weaker version of the Sunbeam spell, which can be a big help in Act II for dealing very high damage to groups of shadow-cursed undead enemies.

Obtaining the Mace requires you to fully explore the Rosymorn Monastery and enter the secret area by solving the statue puzzle, near where you meet Vlaakith’s projection. It is protected by a trap, which you can either disable by collecting the Ceremonial Weapons found in the Monastery, or you can take it without disabling the trap, in which case you should ensure the character who grabs it has a self-teleport ability like Misty Step, and give everyone a Potion of Speed to make sure they can escape from the Monastery in time.

Blooded Greataxe (Alternative)

In the early-game, the Tempest domain Cleric hasn’t unlocked all of its buffs and class features yet, so its melee damage output can be a bit lacking with the traditional Cleric setup of a one-handed weapon and shield.

Therefore you might want to go with a two-handed weapon like the Blooded Greataxe to improve your melee damage. However there is a tradeoff here – you cannot use a shield with a weapon like this, so your Armour Class will be lower. This not only means you are likely to take more damage, but you’ll also find it a bit harder to maintain Concentration on Spells, which is an important aspect of the Cleric class. So it’s up to you if you feel comfortable going with this alternative setup.

The Blooded Greataxe can be purchased from Roah Moonglow in Shattered Sanctum. If the weapon isn’t showing up in her wares, try doing a Long Rest to reset them.

Shield of Devotion

A good early-to-mid-game shield, the Shield of Devotion grants you an extra level 1 Spell Slot and lets you use your Reaction to try to knock over an enemy who hit you with a melee attack. It also grants you a unique version of the Aid spell, however this version only casts on you and not on your team, and it will not stack with the normal version. Be careful when using this, as it will replace the buff you have from the normal version of Aid.

The Shield of Devotion is sold by Quartermaster Talli in Last Light Inn, in Act II.

Spellthief

A handy Longbow for an early-game spellcaster, Spellthief can restore a Level 1 Spell Slot once per Long Rest, by landing a Critical Hit with the weapon. It is sold by Arron in the Druid Grove.

Late-Game

Late-Game Equipment is found in Act III and the latter parts of Act II, however some items from the early-game may also find their way onto this list, if they are powerful enough to remain competitive with items found in the latter parts of the game.

At this stage of the game we are mainly focusing on finding items that improve our Spell Save Difficulty Class – increasing this stat means that enemies need to roll a higher number to succeed a Saving Throw against our spells. If you prefer, you can continue using the Reverberation items from the early-game. However, this will cause you to miss out on some important bonuses, such as some buffs to Spell Save Difficulty.

Slot	Icon	Item	Effects	Location
Head		Hood of the Weave	+2 bonus to your Spell Save DC and Spell Attack Rolls	Sold by Mystic Carrion in Philgrave’s Mansion
Cloak		Cloak of the Weave	+1 bonus to your Spell Save DC and Spell Attack Rolls	Sold by Helsik at the Devil’s Fee, once her special stock has been unlocked.
Chest		Luminous Armour	When you deal Radiant Damage, you inflict Radiating Orb in a 3 metre radius Radiating Orb reduces enemy Attack Rolls by -1 per stack, up to 10 stacks	In an opulent chest in the Selunite Outpost.
Gloves		Luminous Gloves	Dealing Radiant Damage to the target gives them 1 stack of Radiating Orb +1 to Strength Saving Throws	Inside the Potter’s Chest in the Ruined Battlefield
Boots		Helldusk Boots	You cannot be forcibly moved by hostile spells You are immune to Difficult Terrain You can use your Reaction to succeed a failed Saving Throw	In a locked Gilded Chest on the top floor of Wyrm’s Rock Fortress
Necklace		Amulet of Greater Health	Increases your Constitution to 23 Advantage on Constitution Saving Throws	Take from a trapped pedestal in the Archive of the House of Hope
Ring 1		Coruscation Ring	Dealing spell damage while partially or fully illuminated gives 2 stacks of Radiating Orb to the target	In a chest hidden in the cellar of Last Light Inn
Ring 2		Callous Glow Ring	Deals 2 bonus Radiant Damage when you hit an enemy who is partially or fully illuminated	In an opulent chest in the vault room of the Gauntlet of Shar
Main Weapon		The Blood of Lathander	Heals you when you’re about to be incapacitated, once per Long Rest Emits light that Blinds Undead and Fiends (this light also means the Coruscation and Callous Glow rings will always trigger) Allows you to cast a non-repeatable variant of Sunbeam once per Long Rest	Found in the secret area in Rosymorn Monastery (see below)
Shield		Viconia’s Walking Fortress	+3 Armour Class When a foe hits you, you can use your Reaction to bash them, dealing 2d4 Force Damage and knocking them Prone Advantage on Saving Throws against Spells. Spell Attack Rolls against you have Disadvantage	Looted from Viconia DeVir in the Cloister of Sombre Embrace
Second Weapon		The Dead Shot	Reduces the Attack Roll needed to Crit by 1 Doubles your Proficiency Bonus when attacking with this bow If you’re not Proficient with Longbows, use a ranged weapon that’s more suitable for your character	Sold by Fytz the Firecracker in Stormshore Armoury

Hood of the Weave

The Hood of the Weave grants a +2 bonus to your Spell Save DC and Spell Attack Rolls, making all of your spells more likely to succeed at damaging or applying a condition to their target. It is sold by Mystic Carrion in Philgrave’s Mansion in Act III.

Helldusk Boots

With the Helldusk Boots equipped, you cannot be forcibly moved by hostile spells or actions, and you are immune to being slowed down by Difficult Terrain. You can also use your Reaction to automatically succeed a failed Saving Throw. These effects are especially good for your Tempest Domain Cleric, as they are very likely to be the spellcasting core of your party, and the Helldusk Boots will make it much harder for enemies to prevent you from casting spells.

The Helldusk Boots can be found in a locked Gilded Chest on the top floor of Wyrm’s Rock Fortress. Take the boots before Gortash’s Coronation to avoid making nearby NPCs hostile.

Cloak of the Weave

The Cloak of the Weave gives you another +1 bonus to Spell Save DC and Spell Attack Rolls, making it even harder for enemies to resist the effects of your spells. Once per Short Rest, you can absorb half of the next elemental attack that targets you, and imbue your next outgoing attack with 1d6 of the same element.

The Cloak of the Weave is sold by Helsik at the Devil’s Fee, once her special stock has been unlocked.

Amulet of Greater Health

The Amulet of Greater Health improves your Constitution to 23, which will have the side effect of considerably improving your max HP, too. You also get Advantage on Constitution Saving Throws. All of this significantly boost your HP, and also makes it easier to succeed Concentration Saving Throws.

Can be stolen from a trapped pedestal in the Archive of the House of Hope.

Viconia’s Walking Fortress

The strongest shield in the game, Viconia’s Walking Fortress gives you a +3 boost to Armour Class, lets you knock over your melee assailants and deal Force Damage to them (using a Reaction), gives you Advantage on Saving Throws against Spells, gives all enemy Spell Attack Rolls against you Disadvantage, gives you access to the Warding Bond spell and the Reflective Shell action.

This shield is looted from Viconia DeVir in the Cloister of Sombre Embrace, in Act III.

The Dead Shot

The Dead Shot reduces the Attack Roll number needed to crit with the bow by 1, and doubles your Proficiency Bonus when attacking with the bow (effectively improving your accuracy). It is sold by Fytz the Firecracker in Stormshore Armoury, Lower City.

Tempest Domain Cleric Build Extra Info

In this section is some additional information that will help you to get the most out of this Baldur’s Gate 3 Tempest Cleric Build.

How to Play the Tempest Cleric – BG3

Early-Game

For the first few levels, Clerics can feel quite weak because they do poor damage in melee and their main Cantrip ( Sacred Flame) is prone to failure. During these levels, its best to use your magic to support your team with support spells like Bless and Healing Word.

When you’re not casting spells, use your ranged weapon to deal damage from afar. The Tempest Domain Cleric has Proficiency with Longbows or Heavy Crossbows, so try to get your hands on one of these, as they deal good early-game damage. When Concentrating on a spell like Bless, try to stay safe from enemy attacks by using distance and sight obstructions to prevent them from hitting you. This minimises the chance that your Concentration will be broken. Watch the terrain, too – stepping on a puddle of poison can be enough to break your Concentration if you are unlucky!

One good single-target damage spell Clerics can use from the beginning of the game is Inflict Wounds. This spell also scales really well with upcasting, so you can keep using it for burst damage for most of the game.

From Level 3 onwards, begin casting Aid after every Long Rest to boost your team’s max HP.

Mid-Game

When you reach level 5, you begin to unlock some much stronger damage spells like Glyph of Warding and Spirit Guardians. You can also upcast Aid progressively higher as you level up, adding another 5 HP per Spell Slot Level. I recommend doing this after every Long Rest to make your party more resilient.

 Spirit Guardians creates an AoE of Radiant or Necrotic Damage that follows your Cleric around. You can cast the spell and run through a crowd of enemies, hitting all of them. Just beware of opportunity attacks.

From Level 8 onwards, you get the Divine Strike feature, infusing 1d8 bonus damage into your weapon attacks once per turn. This is helpful on those turns when casting a spell isn’t possible or appropriate.

Late-Game

At Level 9, you unlock Insect Plague, a huge AoE that deals heavy damage and slows enemies down significantly.

If you collect the equipment recommended in the guide above, you will find that your Spells and Cantrips succeed more reliably thanks to your boosted Spell Save DC. You should now be able to make much more reliable use of your debuff and control spells like Hold Person.

At Level 11, you should be upcasting Aid to Level 5 and combining it with the Heroes’ Feast spell to give a massive 33-point HP boost to your party.

The playstyle of the Cleric stays rather similar throughout your playthrough. You are using your Concentration spells to control the battlefield, while sometimes using an AoE spell or single-target burst spell. On the remainder of your turns you are using your weapons to chip away at enemies, and staying out of the way of enemy attacks to keep your spell Concentration safe. In the Late-game, you have much stronger spells to use, but the core playstyle remains the same.

Cleric Build Illithid Powers (optional)

Illithid Powers are unlocked later in BG3 when you learn more about Mind Flayers and Tadpoles. By eating Jars of Mind Flayer Parasites you gain one point. This is another optional skill tree that you can get access to if you want. Here are some of the best Illithid Powers for the BG3 Cleric Build with the Tempest Domain subclass:

•  Concentrated Blast: Allows you to deal extra damage to a target when you are Concentrating on a spell, potentially also healing if the target is Concentrating too.
•  Cull the Weak: When you reduce a creature’s hit points below a certain threshold, this power instantly kills it and deals 1-4 Psychic Damage to nearby enemies. This is particularly effective when engaging groups of weaker foes, enabling you to thin their numbers rapidly. You have quite a few AoE spells, which are pretty good at activating this effect.
•  Fly: This can be used to reach hard to get to places or change positions in combat.
•  Black Hole: This power creates an area-based effect that pulls in and slows targets. It’s particularly useful for crowd control, allowing you to cluster enemies together for area-of-effect attacks or to isolate them from vulnerable allies.
•  Psionic Backlash: This is a top-tier Reaction from the Illithid Powers skill tree in BG3. This allows you to deal Psychic Damage when a nearby enemy casts a spell. This is especially useful if the target is casting a Concentration Spell. The damage from Psionic Backlash can immediately break their Concentration, ending the spell’s effects.

Other Baldur’s Gate 3 Builds

• Druid Build – Circle of the Moon
• Bard Build – College of Lore
• Ranger Build – Hunter
• Monk Build – Way of Shadow
• Monk Build – Way of the Four Elements
• Monk Build – Way of the Open Hand
• Necromancer Build – Necromancy
• Fighter Build – Battle Master
• Barbarian Build – Berserker
• Warlock Build – Great Old One
• Cleric Build – Light Domain
• Rogue Build – Thief
• Sorcerer Build – Wild Magic
• Wizard Build – Evocation School
• Paladin – Oath of Ancients
• More Baldur’s Gate Guides & Builds

If you want to check out the map of Baldur’s Gate 3, please visit the Baldur’s Gate 3 Interactive Map.