Welcome to the Cleric Healer Build for Baldur’s Gate 3. In this guide, we will provide a detailed healer build that focuses on powerful healing and buffs for your team, while also maintaining decent damage output when needed. The BG3 Healer Cleric Build works for both PC and Consoles (PS5 and Xbox Series X/S).

We have included all the needed information in this guide, including the best class, abilities, spells, and equipment for the build.

Table of Contents:

Other BG3 Subclass Cleric Builds:

Pros

  • Versatile fighter
  • Can equip a fairly wide range of items
  • Strong damaging magic
  • Unmatched healing ability

Cons

  • Low melee damage
  • Large number of Concentration Spells, vulnerable to spells being broken
  • Lacks good offensive options until reaching Level 5

BG3 Healer Build Features and Mechanics

Before we start with the build let’s take a look at how to play with the BG3 Healer Build and explain the main mechanics you have to be aware of to be successful.

We’re using the Cleric class, a versatile class that can use a range of melee weapons, ranged weapons and also has access to a powerful selection of magic that can buff and heal allies, and hinder enemies while dealing considerable damage.

Clerics have access to a special class mechanic called Channel Divinity, which can be used to activate special class abilities – the available Channel Divinity Actions depend on which Cleric subclass you are playing. For this Healer build, we are using the Life Domain subclass, which grants access to Preserve Life, an AOE heal that can also be used to trigger additional buffs on all party members, from the equipment we will be using. We’ll explain this in more detail later in the guide.

One weakness of the Cleric is that it lacks a reliable and accurate damaging Cantrip – the best we have is Sacred Flame. Its accuracy cannot be improved by improving your Attack Rolls, so it’s prone to failing to do damage for basically the entire game. For that reason we recommend using a bow (ideally a Longbow if your character is Proficient with these) instead of a cantrip on those turns when you don’t need to cast a spell and just want some basic damage output.

It’s also important to note that this build includes a high number of Concentration spells. Concentration spells have an ongoing effect that needs to be maintained by the spellcaster. Casting another Concentration spell while you already have one active will immediately end the ongoing effects of the previous Concentration Spell. Therefore it’s quite important to keep track on which spells require Concentration, and remember if the previous one is active before casting another one.

Every time you take damage while concentrating, you are subjected to a Concentration Saving Throw, the difficulty of which depends on how much damage you took. Failing the Saving Throw will also immediately end the ongoing Concentration effect.

BG3 Healer Build casting healing spell

Healer Build Character Creation

In this section, we will walk you through the character creation for this BG3 Healer Build.

Best Race & Subrace

We recommend going with the Wood Elf race for this Healer Cleric Build. This is for two main reasons:

  • Wood Elves have high Movement Speed, which allows you to outrun enemies and get to where you’re needed the most.
  • Wood Elves start with Longbow Proficiency, something that is useful for Clerics due to their lack of a reliable Cantrip.

Therefore make sure to select Race: Elf and Subrace: Wood Elf.

Best Class & Subclass

For this build, we are using the Cleric class, with the Life Domain subclass.

The Cleric has access to a wide range of healing spells and buffs, and with the Life Domain subclass our healing spells will be further buffed. We will give more specific information about the ways in which this subclass improves our healing capabilities below. But for now, rest assured that this is an excellent choice for any healing-focused build in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Cantrips

  • Resistance – This is a Concentration spell that lets you give an ally a buff to their Saving Throw rolls. It’s good for using when you don’t have anything better to concentrate on, or when you ran out of Spell Slots. It can also be a good idea to cast this on someone before entering combat, so you can avoid spending an Action on what is a fairly mild effect.
  • Sacred Flame – Deals a small amount of Radiant damage. In theory, this sounds like a good early-game cantrip, however the problem with it is that if the target succeeds a Dexterity save, it does no damage and the Action is wasted. It’s still worth getting this for now, but in the long term you want to replace this with shooting a longbow instead.
  • Blade Ward – Gain 50% Resistance to physical damage for 2 turns. This is something you can use when there aren’t any good targets for damage or healing on your current turn – so you can instead spend an action giving yourself a small buff.

Deity

The deity choice has no effect on the build’s abilities – this is basically a roleplaying choice and you may get some unique dialogue options depending on which option you choose here.

Background

For our setup, we are going to use the Folk Hero background. This gives us access to Animal Handling and Survival Skills, both of which are Wisdom-based. Survival is really useful because it makes it more likely that you will discover hidden objects in the world, such as buried treasure. Animal Handling is less important, but it is used in some dialogue checks.

Abilities

As a Cleric, the following abilities are going to be most important for us:

  • Wisdom – This is the spellcasting ability for the Cleric, meaning the higher the Wisdom score, the more powerful your spells will be. This also means better healing, so we want to start with Wisdom as high as possible and keep increasing it when we can.
  • Dexterity – Used for finesse-based weapons and to improve Armour Class. We’re going to be using Medium Armour, which means increasing Dexterity beyond 14 points will provide no additional bonus to Armour Class.
  • Constitution – Affects total health pool, and makes it more likely that you will pass Concentration Checks (i.e. continue the effects of an ongoing Concentration Spell when you take damage)
  • Strength – Affects the damage of strength-based melee weapons.

With all of this in mind, we recommend an ability distribution at the start of the game that looks like this:

  • Strength: 10
  • Dexterity: 14
  • Constitution: 16
  • Intelligence: 8
  • Wisdom: 17
  • Charisma: 8

Skill Proficiencies

It generally makes sense to choose Skills that fall under the Abilities we chose to increase above. That is also one of the reasons why we selected Folk Hero for our background, because it works well together with out main stat Wisdom.

You will also be able to choose two more skills – We recommend going for Insight and Medicine, both of which are Wisdom based. The Insight skill will sometimes grant you extra dialogue options, and Medicine is mainly used for dialogue too (sadly it doesn’t actually increase your healing output).

BG3 Healer Build Stats

Spells

  • Healing Word – A long-range Healing spell. Provides a fairly small heal to begin with, but its long-range makes this a versatile healing spell.
  • Sanctuary – Give yourself or an ally immunity to targeted attacks for 10 turns. If the character with Sanctuary makes any attacks, they will lose the Sanctuary condition early. Useful for getting someone out of a nasty situation.
  • Bane – Allows you to give up to 3 creatures a 1d4 penalty to Attack Rolls and Saving Throws. Good for debuffing several enemies.
  • Guiding Bolt – Throw a ranged projectile that deals decent Radiant damage. If it hits then the next Attack Roll against the target has Advantage.

Class Features

Because we chose Life Domain Cleric, we also automatically unlock the following:

  • Cure Wounds Spell – A similar spell to Healing Word. Cure Wounds heals for a bit more but only works in melee range, so its much less versatile and more situational. Can provide really good healing when the opportunity presents itself.
  • Bless Spell – The opposite of Bane, grants up to 3 allies a 1d4 bonus to Attack Rolls and Saving Throws. Very strong buff especially in the early game. Later on you can upcast it to level 2 to target 4 creatures, letting you put it on your whole party.
  • Disciple of Life passive feature – All of your Healing Spells heal for more – the extra amount will always be 2 + the spell slot level. So a Level 1 Healing spell will gain 3 extra healing, a level 2 spell will be 4 extra, etc.

Leveling Progression for BG3 Healer Build

Here we are going to take you through the leveling progression of the Healer Build for Baldur’s Gate 3. It is recommended to select what we list below. However, you can deviate a bit from the build if you want without breaking it.

Level 2

After hitting Level 2, you will unlock an extra Level 1 Spell Slot, along with the following abilities:

  • Turn Undead – Causes nearby Undead to flee
  • Preserve Life – Heal allied creatures for HP equal to 3 x Cleric Level. Costs a Channel Divinity Charge

You can also choose one more spell to prepare. Command is a good choice, as it can act as a decent early-game crowd control effect, or be used to disarm an enemy.

Level 3

At Level 3, your Healer Build gets another Level 1 Spell Slot, as well as two Level 2 Spell Slots.

You’ll unlock the following Domain Spells, which are always Prepared:

  • Aid – Increase the maximum HP of your party by 5. At higher levels you can Upcast it to increase the HP increase by an additional 5 per level The effect lasts until your next Long Rest. This is an essential spell that you should cast after every Long Rest.
  • Lesser Restoration – Cure an adjacent creature of the Diseased, Poisoned, Paralysis or Blinded conditions.

You can also choose one other Spell to prepare. We now have access to Second Level Spells.

We recommend preparing the Prayer of Healing spell, an AOE heal that will restore 2d8 HP to allies within a 9 metre radius of you. Later on you can Upcast the spell – each Upcast level will add another 1d8 to the healing.

Level 4

At Level 4, you’ll unlock another Level 2 Spell Slot.

You can choose another Cantrip here – if nobody in your party has the Guidance cantrip already, then grab that now. If Guidance is already covered, then Thaumaturgy is another decent option.

You will need to choose a Feat at Level 4, too. It’s recommended to get the Ability Improvement Feat, which will give you two more Ability Points to spend. Put them both into Wisdom, increasing it to 19.

Increasing your Wisdom also increases the number of spells you can have prepared, in addition to the slot you always get from leveling up. This means we can choose two new spells at Level 4:

  • Spiritual Weapon – This lets you choose a spectral weapon to conjure. The weapon itself isn’t very mobile and its damage isn’t amazing. What makes this spell really useful is how it confuses the AI – for some reason, they really love to attack summons, rather than the summoner. The Spectral Weapon also has a 50% resistance to all damage, making it pretty tanky. This basically allows you to waste the time of several enemies at once, diverting their attention away from your party members and buying you the time you need to deal with a difficult encounter.
  • Enhance Ability – A Concentration Spell that can last up until the next Long Rest. It grants the target Advantage on checks relating to a specific ability. This can be useful both in combat and in non-combat checks (such as dialogue checks).

Level 5

At Level 5, you unlock another Level 2 Spell Slot, along with a Level 3 Spell Slot for your Healer Build in Baldur’s Gate 3.

You’ll gain access to the following passives and domain spells:

  • Destroy Undead (passive) – Undead successfully Turned by you take 4d6 Radiant Damage.
  • Scaling Cantrips – Your damaging Cantrips gain an additional 1d8 damage
  • Revivify (Spell) – Allows you to revive a downed or dead companion. Basically the same effect as a Revivification Scroll.
  • Beacon of Hope (Spell) – Requires Concentration. You and your allies within 9 metres gain Advantage on Wisdom Saving Throws, Death Saving Throws, and will always receive the maximum possible number of Hitpoints from Healing spells. This is really useful for maximizing your healing output.

You can also choose one new spell to prepare.

I recommend choosing Mass Healing Word. This has the same effect as Healing Word, except it can be cast on up to 6 creatures at once. It heals for 4 HP plus your Wisdom Modifier, resulting in a healing range of 5-9 on each target at the moment. This can be increased later on by increasing your Wisdom further, and by Upcasting the spell. While the healing from this spell is quite a bit lower than Prayer of Healing, it is more versatile because it has double the range and only costs a Bonus Action rather than a full turn. So make sure to check if all of your targets can be covered by Prayer of Healing before using a Level 3 Spell Slot to cast Mass Healing Word.

Level 6

At Level 6 you will unlock another Level 3 Spell Slot, and an extra Channel Divinity Charge, giving you an extra cast of Preserve Life per Short Rest.

You also earn the Blessed Healer passive, which heals you when you cast a healing spell on another creature. The healing value will be 2 + the level of the spell cast.

You can choose one more spell to prepare at this level. I recommend going with Spirit Guardians – this creates an AOE around you that slows down and damages enemies with either Radiant or Necrotic damage. The Radiant variant is especially in useful in Act II, due to the high concentration of undead enemies.

Level 7

At Level 7 you will gain access to fourth-level spells, unlocking one level 4 spell slot to cast them with.

You will unlock the following Domain Spells (always Prepared) from your Life Domain subclass:

  • Guardian of Faith – Summon an immobile guardian that attacks nearby enemies, dealing 20 Radiant damage per attack. Every time it attacks, the guardian also takes the damage that it dealt.
  • Death Ward – When the target’s health falls to 0, they heal by 1 HP instead of being downed.

You can also Prepare another spell.

We recommend getting Glyph of Warding – a powerful AOE spell that will considerably improve the damage potential of your healer build. While Healing is the main focus of your build, some versatility is still required so it’s good to include a few spells like this.

Level 8

At Level 8 you can choose another Feat. Grab the Resilient Feat and increase your Wisdom by 1 point, taking it to 20. This will also give you Proficiency on Wisdom Saving Throws.

With the increase in Wisdom, you will be able to slot two more spells this level. The following two are good options:

  • Freedom of Movement – The target gains Freedom of Movement until Long Rest. They are immediately snapped out of any Stun, can no longer be slowed down by Difficult Terrain and cannot be magically Paralysed or Restrained.
  • Remove Curse – This is a very situational spell but can occasionally be very useful, so it’s worth having it available. You can touch any creature with this spell to immediately cure Curses and Hexes.

You also gain Divine Strike: Radiant, which infuses your weapon attacks with a 1d8 extra Radiant damage, once per Turn.

Level 9

At Level 9 the Cleric unlocks fifth level spells, granting access to some very powerful effects, both defensive and offensive.

You gain the following Domain Spells, which are always Prepared:

  • Greater Restoration – Touch a creature and remove any Charm, Petrification, Stun or Curse.
  • Mass Cure Wounds – Heals allies within 18 metres for 3d8 + Wisdom Modifier. If you followed the guide, your Wisdom Modifier is currently 5, so the heal per target will be between 8 and 29. This is a very strong healing spell that can save your party from their demise.

You can choose one more spell to prepare for your Healer Build in BG3. I recommend Insect Plague. While this doesn’t seem to fit too well with the theme of a healer build, this spell is simply too good to ignore. It fills a large AOE with a locust swarm that slows down enemies and deals 4d10 Piercing damage to creatures within, every turn.

Level 10

At Level 10, you’ll gain another fifth level spell slot.

You will gain access to Divine Intervention, which can be used for any of the following actions:

Note that you can only use Divine Intervention once per character, so you can either get the weapon, the supplies or save the damage/healing for an emergency.

Your damaging Cantrips will gain another 1d8 damage die at this level, and you can also choose another Cantrip to slot. We already got all of the important Cantrips, so the choice is entirely yours.

Finally, you can choose one more spell to prepare. Dispel Evil and Good is another niche spell, but it’s good to have it just in case – it allows you to break enchantments that have caused an ally to become Frightened, Charmed or Possessed. In addition, Abberations, Celestials, Elementals, Fey, Fiends and Undead will all have Disadvantage on Attack Rolls against you when the spell is active.

Level 11

At Level 11, you gain access to sixth level spells, the most powerful level of magic in Baldur’s Gate 3.

As usual, you can prepare one more spell. Get the Heal spell – this is a strong, consistent heal that restores 70 HP and cures Blindness and diseases. This does cost a Sixth Level Spell Slot, of which you only have one, and it’s a melee-only spell too, so it’s not the most versatile spell. But it does offer unmatched healing for a single target and lets you save a character from a deadly situation.

Level 12

At Level 12, you can choose one more Feat.

Since the Cleric class has a large number of powerful Concentration Spells, we recommend the War Caster Feat, which gives you Advantage on Concentration Saving Throws.

In addition, you can choose one more spell to prepare. For a healer build, the best choice is Heroes’ Feast, which gives the Thoroughly Stuffed buff to your party until Long Rest. This is a very powerful buff that gives:

  • Immunity to the Poisoned, Diseased and Frightened Conditions
  • 12 extra HP
  • Advantage on Wisdom Saving Throws

You can cast this and upcasted Aid on your party after each Long Rest to massively bolster your allies’ defensive stats. However keep in mind that if you do make a habit of spending your Sixth Level Spell slot on Heroes’ Feast after every Long Rest, then you will not be able to make use of Heal or any other Level 6 Spells.

Baldur's Gate 3 Healing Items

Equipment – Healer Cleric

Below you can find powerful equipment recommendations for this Life Domain Cleric Healer build for BG3. We have provided both an early-game and late-game version, so you can begin using the build even if you are not yet high level.

Early-Game Equipment for BG3 Healer Build

In this section we will suggest items for the early game (Act I and early Act II). These are items that you can find relatively early in your adventure and give this healer build a solid foundation. Below the table you can find more detailed descriptions of the items, including their locations.

Slot Item
Helmet Wapira’s Crown
Armour Slippery Chain Shirt
Gloves Hellrider’s Pride
Boots Boots of Aid and Comfort
Cloak Cloak of Protection
Amulet Amulet of Restoration
Ring 1 The Whispering Promise
Ring 2 Ring of Salving
Melee main hand Blood of Lathander
Melee off hand Shield of Devotion
Ranged Spellthief

Wapira’s Crown

Wapira’s Crown restores 1d6 HP to you whenever you heal another creature. Obtained from Zevlor for helping during the Save the Refugees quest.

Slippery Chain Shirt

While wearing the Slippery Chain Shirt, creatures you heal will automatically Disengage on their next turn, preventing them from recieving Opportunist attacks when they move away from a melee enemy. Found in a chest on a cliff in the Festering Cove, in the Underdark in Act I.

Hellrider’s Pride

When wearing Hellrider’s Pride, when you heal a creature, they recieve Blade Ward for 2 turns, granting 50% resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing and Slashing damage. Obtained from Zevlor, by purchasing them, pickpocketing them or receiving them as a reward for completing the Investigate Kagha quest.

Boots of Aid and Comfort

With the Boots of Aid and Comfort, when you heal a creature, they also recieve 3 Temporary Hit Points. Sold by Grat the Trader in the Goblin Camp. If the item is missing, try again after completing a Long Rest – this should reset their wares.

Cloak of Protection

The Cloak of Protection provides a +1 bonus to your Saving Throws and Armour Class, providing a modest but useful defensive buff. Purchased from Quartermaster Talli at Last Light Inn, in Act II. More info here.

Amulet of Restoration

The Amulet of Restoration gives you a free cast of Healing Word and Mass Healing Word, once per Long Rest. Sold by Derryth Bonecloak in the Myconic Colony, in the Underdark.

The Whispering Promise

While wearing the Whispering Promise, when you heal a creature, they also become Blessed for 2 turns, gaining a 1d4 bonus to their Attack Rolls and Saving Throws. This item can appear in multiple vendors in Act I, including Volo, Grat the Trader and Roah Moonglow. If you cannot find it, try to Long Rest and then try again. This is a great starter item for our BG3 Healer Build.

Ring of Salving

When wearing the Ring of Salving, when you heal a creature, they receive an extra 2 HP in healing. Purchased from Omeluum in the Myconid Colony. You must complete his side quest before he will trade with you.

Blood of Lathander

The Blood of Lathander is a Legendary mace that can make Act II considerably easier to deal with, as it emits light and grants a weaker version of the Sunbeam spell. While weaker than the Sunbeam that some classes can unlock in the latter stages of the game, it’s still a very powerful damaging ability at this stage of the game. The Blood of Lathander is hidden in the secret chamber of the Rosymorn Monastery, accessible by rotating two statues.

Shield of Devotion

With Shield of Devotion equipped, when you are hit with a melee attack, you can use your Reaction to attempt to knock the attacker Prone. The shield also gives a weaker version of the Aid spell to the wielder, however I do not recommend that you use it, as it will override the stronger version that is recommended earlier in the guide. This shield can be purchased from Quartermaster Talli at Last Light Inn.

Spellthief

Spellthief is a Longbow that restores a Level 1 Spell Slot to you when you land a Critical Hit with the weapon. It is sold by Arron in the Druid Grove.

If you would prefer to instead have a bow that is slightly more accurate and can roll slightly higher damage, then go for the Longbow +1 – this can be purchased from either Grat the Trader, Roah Moonglow, or Brem in the Zhentarim Hideout.

Late-Game Equipment for our Healer Build in Baldur’s Gate 3

We will now list the suggested late-game equipment for the healer build. This is generally more powerful, and can’t be obtained until late in Act II or in Act III. Also see: Items that trigger on Healing in BG3

Slot Item
Helmet Helm of Balduran
Armour Flame Enamelled Armour
Gloves The Reviving Hands
Boots Helldusk Boots
Cloak Cloak of Protection
Amulet Spellcrux Amulet
Ring 1 The Whispering Promise
Ring 2 Ring of Salving
Melee main hand Devotee’s Mace
Melee off hand Viconia’s Walking Fortress
Ranged Gontr Mael

Helm of Balduran

The Helm of Balduran is a powerful Legendary helmet that heals the wearer every turn, and reduces their damage taken. Obtaining it is a multi-step process – we wrote a guide about it which you can find here.

Flame Enamelled Armour

The Flame Enamelled Armour gives you a +2 bonus to your Initiative Rolls, making it more likely that you will take your turn before other creatures. It can be looted from a chest in Wyrm’s Rock Fortress.

The Reviving Hands

The Reviving Hands are a more powerful version of Hellrider’s Pride and thus perfect for our BG3 Healer Build. When you heal a creature, the creature gains Blade Ward for 2 turns. When you Revive a creature, the creature gains Death Ward. You also get one free use of the Revivify spell per Long Rest. The gloves can be bought from Vicar Humbletoes in Stormshore Tabernacle, Lower City, Act III.

Helldusk Boots

The Helldusk Boots prevent you from being forcibly moved by an enemy, as well as giving immunity to the effects of Difficult Terrain. They allow you to use your Reaction to automatically succeed a Saving Throw that you would have otherwise failed, allowing you to retain your Concentration on spells or resist enemy effects. They also give you the Hellcrawler action, allowing you to teleport and deal fire damage at the target location. These boots are found in a locked Gilded Chest on the top floor of Wyrm’s Rock Fortress.

Spellcrux Amulet

The Spellcrux Amulet allows you to restore one spell slot, of any level, once per Long Rest. This is especially good for this build in the late game, as it allows you to use Heroes’ Feast and then recover your Level 6 Spell Slot, so you can cast another Level 6 Spell such as Heal. Looted from the Warden in Moonrise Towers Prison, Act II.

Devotee’s Mace

The Devotee’s Mace grants you an action that creates an aura. The aura will heal all nearby allies within for 1d4 HP every turn, for 10 turns. To obtain the Devotee’s Mace, you need to reach Level 10 with a Cleric and use the Arm Thy Servant Divine Intervention. Note that if you want to save the Divine Intervention on your healer for a different effect, such as the heal or damage, you can respec another character in your party to a Cleric, summon the mace, then respec them back to their original build. Alternatively, you can hire a Cleric hireling and get them to summon the mace for you.

Viconia’s Walking Fortress

Viconia’s Walking Fortress is a legendary shield that acts as a considerably more powerful replacement for the Shield of Devotion. When you take a melee attack, you can use your Reaction to attempt to knock them prone and deal 2d4 Force Damage. It also grants you the Warding Bond and Reflective Shell actions. You can loot the shield from Viconia in the Sharran hideout, beneath the House of Grief in Act III.

Gontr Mael

Gontr Mael is a legendary longbow. It comes with a +3 Enchantment, allows you to inflict Guiding Bolt on targets you hit with the bow, and hasten yourself for 5 turns, gaining an extra Action and more movement speed. You can also use a special weapon action to Frighten enemies. The Gontr Mael is looted from the Steel Watcher Titan in the Steel Watch Foundry. Attacking with the bow is an excellent alternative to cantrips, when you do not need to cast a spell or action on your turn and just want some basic damage.

Overpowered Gear Combo for our Healer Build BG3

Here is a quick explanation to why the above equipment items synergize so well with each other for our best Healer Build in BG3.

This build includes several items that provide buffs to a creature when you heal them:

The build comes with several different ways to trigger these powerful buffs on your allies:

Feel free to change some of the gear mentioned in this guide if you find something you want to try out. Understanding the items mentioned in this section is one of the most important aspects for getting the most out of this build, however.