Twilight Cleric 5E: Complete Subclass Guide

The dark motif has been explored in several 5E classes. However, strangely, Darkness is a subject that Clerics never truly directly tread on. Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything introduced the Twilight domain for Clerics. The Twilight Domain touches upon the point in the day at which light transitions to darkness. That can be a time of rest, relaxation, and joy, but also is filled with horrific monsters. The clerics of the Twilight Domain protect the beauty of twilight while defending from the monsters that erroneously call the darkness their home. So, defend the innocent with our Twilight Cleric 5E guide.

Shrouded in Darkness: Twilight Cleric 5E

The Twilight Cleric is a strange part of the Cleric Updates in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. It relies on the limited Channel Divinity resource quite a bit to be useful in combat. However, it has access to one of the easiest methods of gaining flight imaginable, is solidly good at utility magic, gains great proficiencies, and has unique utility. It’s a pseudo-support, with a lot of what makes frontline clerics strong. Very few clerics can claim the same role as the Twilight Cleric, and yet I have trouble putting it in a party.

Domain Spells

The spells that you get are dedicated for protection and a bit of healing.

Faerie fire is a really good situational spell, having some use outside of anti-invisibility. Sleep is great early on but quickly becomes slow and far too health-dependent to be realistic. Moonbeam is fine damage, better in specific situations. It likely won’t be your standard way to spend 2nd level slots. See Invisibility is as situationally specific as it gets, but having this always prepared will be useful for you once or twice.

Aura of Vitality can be an okay utility spell. It’s basically a level 3 spell slot to cast a level 1 Healing Word every turn for a minute. That’s pretty solid! You can hold it for an entire fight and have a good way to spend Bonus Actions, but keep in mind that you’ll be using that Concentration. Leomund’s Tiny Hut can be pretty cool, but not exactly something you need to use 3rd level spell slots on at all times. Keep it in mind, but only use it for safely resting.

Aura of Life is like a more situational Aura of Vitality. Normally, you’ll only want to use Aura of Life against liches, or creatures with significant necrotic damage. Aura of Vitality is a tiny bit better at picking people of the ground. Greater Invisibility is an absolutely god-tier spell to have constantly available. If you’re playing a Twilight Cleric, this spell slot alone is a good reason to partner with a Rogue… Or anyone who makes attack rolls, really!

Finally, Circle of Power is a pretty long-lasting anti-caster tool that only really matters if you’re going against dangerous casters. That’s a pretty significant number of bosses, so this is pretty great! Mislead is fun, especially for out-of-combat purposes, but doesn’t do too much outside of scouting and doing party tricks. Still, really fun!

This is far from a bad spell list, though not exactly spammable. I love all of the Paladin Auras they pull to make them a beacon of party buffs.

Bonus Proficiencies

The Twilight Cleric starts with some additional combat versatility.

You gain proficiency with martial weapons and heavy armor.

Martial weapons tend to be slightly stronger Simple Weapons. Their benefit tends to be minor, like a slightly higher damage dice or an additional use for the weapon. Clerics can make good use out of weapons with additional reach, additional damage, or actual utility. As a Twilight Cleric, you are probably going to be melee, because…

Heavy armor is such a good thing for you! With Heavy Armor, you can completely ignore the Dexterity stat, and just invest in Wisdom, Constitution, and Strength. This proficiency doesn’t mean you can’t be a ranged or low-range build, but it does let you choose between Dexterity and Strength without needing to go in-between, since Medium Armor tends to like 14 Dexterity.

We highly suggest using Heavy Armor, as it reduces the number of stats you need to spread around.

Eyes of Night

Your first unique ability is… good, not amazing.

You can see through the deepest gloom. You have darkvision out to a range of 300 feet. In that radius, you can see in dim light as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light.

As an action, you can magically share the darkvision of this feature with willing creatures you can see within 10 feet of you, up to a number of creatures equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of one creature). The shared darkvision lasts for 1 hour. Once you share it, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest, unless you expend a spell slot of any level to share it again.

Allowing your party to gain 300 feet of Darkvision for a full hour? That eliminates ANY need for Torches and outranges most other sources of darkvision by a ton! You can really plot ambushes since you can see so far away. You probably don’t need to do this more than once per day, but the ability to drop a level 1 slot to get it again… 

But, realistically, it’s unnecessary to do more than once. An hour is a long time! Just remember that this is guaranteed to drop after a short rest. 

This Darkvision is actually longer than any natural darkvision, and so you’re not wasting anything if your party has characters with darkvision. It’s still useful for scouting or outranging.

Vigilant Blessing

The final ability that you get at level 1 is… actually pretty stellar!

The night has taught you to be vigilant. As an action, you give one creature you touch (including possibly yourself) advantage on the next initiative roll the creature makes. This benefit ends immediately after the roll or if you use this feature again.

So, every time you finish a combat, you throw this on whoever you wish to go first. Then, they get advantage on initiative!

Who wants to go first in a fight, though? The characters that go first in a fight should either deal with as many enemies as possible, or buff a party. So… a Sorcerer or Wizard are quite good choices. You’re also a good choice! But, if you want to heal party members, they need to take damage first. So if you plan on buffing, then you’re a good choice. If you plan on using a healing spell like Aura of Vitality, consider helping someone else first. Assassin rogues can be good too.

Channel Divinity: Twilight Sanctuary

Your channel divinity option gets one upgrade later in the class. It’s not the only thing your class is good for, but you should get used to it.

As an action, you present your holy symbol, and a sphere of twilight emanates from you. The sphere is centered on you, has a 30-foot radius, and is filled with dim light. The sphere moves with you, and it lasts for 1 minute or until you are incapacitated or die. Whenever a creature (including you) ends its turn in the sphere, you can grant that creature one of these benefits:

• You grant it temporary hit points equal to 1d6 plus your cleric level.
• You end one effect on it causing it to be charmed or frightened.

So, this scales insanely well with your Cleric level! 1d6 plus cleric level temp HP makes a big difference, especially since you get it every round. That means you get around 3 + Cleric level every round, which is pretty grand! Later on, this blocks 23 damage to everyone near you! That’s wild, and can easily swing a fight in your favor. Even at level 2, that’s still an average of 9 damage a turn!

The other effect is obviously better when they are charmed or frightened, since those statuses heavily affect how a creature fights. Cure frightened whenever you can, though Charm may or may not be as important based on the scenario. 

Interestingly, you can purge the statuses from an enemy. Not sure why that would matter, but it’s there!

Steps of Night

At level 6, you get one of the earlier flight allowances (outside of the Fly spell) that a class can offer.

You can draw on the mystical power of night to rise into the air. As a bonus action when you are in dim light or darkness, you can magically give yourself a flying speed equal to your walking speed for 1 minute. You can use this bonus action a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Casting Fly on yourself as a bonus action is pretty good, and it doesn’t even cost any spell slots or anything. It’s a pretty short duration, and the fly speed isn’t too fast, but it does what it’s supposed to. You have a quick and easy way to chase flying enemies or reposition correctly.

You do need to be in dim light or darkness to activate this ability, but it doesn’t seem like you need to be in darkness to keep your fly speed. If you can find a shadow you can get yourself the flight you need to reposition or whatever you require.

Keep the resource in mind; you only have so many of these!

Divine Strike

At level 8, you have incentive to use your weapon instead of your cantrips.

You gain the ability to infuse your weapon strikes with divine energy. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d8 radiant damage. When you reach 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d8.

1 to 2 d8s of extra damage on your weapon attacks will outscale your cantrips, even without fancy magic weapons. This is exactly what you needed to make your weapon just good enough to use all the time!

However, your cantrips are probably your best option for ranged attacks (if you’re melee), so you might want to still consider getting at least some spell implements if you can. This would not make your Cantrips worse than, say, a Bow on a Strength character.

In addition, if you want to be a Hybrid weapon/cantrip user, the optional class feature Blessed Strike adds 1d8 to both weapon and cantrip attacks. That can let you use cantrips without much issue, if you find yourself going back and forth between weapons and spells.

Twilight Shroud

The final ability, at level 17, is quite potent.

The twilight that you summon offers a protective embrace: you and your allies have half cover while in the sphere created by your Twilight Sanctuary.

So now, your allies not only gain about 20-25 temporary hitpoints per turn, but they get half cover. That’s a +2 to AC, meaning enemies are 10% less likely to land hits! That’s going to be a really hard party to kill… As long as you have Channel Divinity procs.

You’re basically dedicated to using your channels on this, as it’s even more likely to protect your party against undead than Turn Undead is. And now that you have 3 procs per rest, you’re going to be extremely likely to stay alive during any encounter that you pop your Channel.

Why is the Twilight Cleric So Good?

When it comes to claims of overpowered subclasses, the Twilight cleric usually gets a mention. There are plenty of reasons why this subclass is strong. At Level 8, Divine Strike gives you weapon attacks (with mundane weapons) that outstrip the damage of your cantrips. Add a powerful magic item into the mix and you could be a formidable melee damage dealer despite focusing most of your build on spellcasting. You also get some fun bits like advantage on initiative and flight.

The reason this subclass stands out is the same reason it is hated by some DMs: Twilight Sanctuary. You can give your entire party a steady stream of temporary HP as long as you fight tactically, and the boost scales as you level. This radically changes the amount of damage an adventuring party can absorb. It also makes life for a DM much harder, as the encounters suggested in published adventures are unlikely to leave a dent. It is a very strong subclass, to say the least.

Best Races for Twilight Clerics

Twilight Clerics care mostly about Wisdom, with a particular love of Strength and Constitution. A Ranged Twilight Cleric can work just fine; just replace Strength with Dexterity. Our first suggestion is a Heavy Armor build, while our second is a ranged build.

Centaur

These guys, from Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica (or Mythic Odysseys of Theros) are pretty stellar! They move fast, with 40 feet of movement speed. also, they are extremely good at closing on enemies and staying in their face. They even get some bonus proficiencies for some Wisdom skills! Just be careful when climbing, since your horse body has problems with anything involving hands and feet. Defend the darkness as the glorious stallion and the white knight!

Kenku

These birds are a pretty obvious choice for a night-themed domain. Kenku are crow people from Volo’s Guide to Monsters. They have +2 Dex, +1 Wisdom, which is good for a ranged-ish build. Kenku are great for out-of-combat, with the Forgery and Mimicry abilities. They can also gain 2 sneaky skills for free, allowing you to make a pretty heavily skilled Cleric. You can also make the sounds of the night with your Mimicry ability, which can be really fun!

Twilight Domain Gods

The following are examples for some standard campaigns. While these gods may not be available in every 5th Edition campaign that you play in, they are good examples that you can use to choose your god for the setting that you are offered.

In general, Twilight Clerics are attached to protector deities. Their defense-oriented capabilities are well-loved by gods and goddesses who save communities from danger.

Boldrei (Eberron)

In eberron, Boldrei is the goddess of hearth and home. The protector of the community. She is a Lawful Good deity, wife to Aureon. 

Twilight Clerics of Boldrei are depicted in a very standard light. They are warm, welcoming members of the community who keep a watchful eye over any sort of trespasser. While considerate, they look for danger in the eyes of anyone who might be new to a location. The homes of those who worship are depending on their incredible god-given powers to stay in the peaceful state that they are currently in.

As defenders against the horrors of the night, Twilight clerics are often posted around cities to ensure their flock that they are safe. Those who know a Twilight cleric of Boldrei will never again be fearful of the dark, for the bulwark against the night is there to save them.

Boldrei Twilight clerics often make for great teachers of children, and inspirations for adventurers. However, they do suffer quite a bit from paranoia. While the dark is supposed to be a comfort for those around them, a Twilight Cleric of Boldrei must defend an entire community from the unknown. This can cause emotional strain, which can be interesting to play into for an older character.

Boldrei is a very standard but still quite interesting deity for your Twilight cleric to be built around. Be sure to have a community in mind that your Cleric has come from. That community should shape a lot of your character’s thoughts and traditions.

Celestian (Greyhawk)

Celestian is the neutral good god of Space. He is the Far Wanderer. His followers must know about astrology and astronomy, and are quite comforted whenever they are able to count the stars of the night sky, reading their god’s will.

Twilight Clerics of Celestian are very focused on travel and exploration. They are very knowledgeable about the night sky, and can often correctly read prophecies written in constellations.

Unlike Boldrei, Celestian Clerics are not necessarily attached to a community. When taking the oaths of the god, these clerics must promise to travel the world and see where their life takes them. This makes them a prime adventurer archetype. They are comforted by the night, often warmed by it more than the daylight.

Celestian is less concerned about the defensive aspects of the Twilight Cleric, but he is still a god of protection. He asks Twilight Clerics to keep the night enjoyable to all who travel, and thus the Twilight Cleric must make the night safe for all.

Celestian is a more night-focused god for Twilight Clerics. He is also a stellar god for adventurers! If your cleric travels the world while defending the public from the unknown of the night, this style of god is perfect.

Dol Arrah (Eberron)

Dol Arrah is the goddess of the sun. She is the Lawful Good god of Honor, Sacrifice, and Diplomacy. Those who worship her bring light to the dark.

Which makes her perfect for the Twilight Cleric domain. Unlike the other gods we’ve talked about, Dol Arrah is less about making the night comfortable, and more about bringing light to the night. Twilight Clerics of Dol Arrah are more aggressive than the standard Twilight Cleric, wanting to bless the night and change it to their whim. This aggression is not to snuff out the light entirely, but to provide a barrier against the evils that may lurk.

In clerical duties, Twilight Clerics of Dol Arrah make for good diplomats and knights of specific lords. They are very focused on the defensive aspects of the Domain, protecting their allies from the unknown.

If your Twilight Cleric is going to be about purging the evils of the night with holy light, then a god or goddess like Dol Arrah will be perfect for you.

Helm (Forgotten Realms)

Helm, the Vigilant One and the Watcher, is the god of guardians and protectors. Soldiers pray to this deity for victory in battle. Cold, calculating, and devoted, Helm is a devout god who cannot be trifled with.

Twilight Clerics of Helm are immensely focused on defense. They rarely differentiate between day and night, using their holy abilities to do their duty of defending their party. Like their god, they have a job to do, and they will seek out no other result but success.

These clerics are not emotionless, but they should be significantly more focused than a standard party member. They are indoctrinated in a church and taught that the defense of others is the most paramount deed one can perform, and little can get in the way of that.

If you want to play a no-nonsense cleric who is undyingly loyal and completely focused, you could do much, much worse than a deity like Helm.

Ilmater (Forgotten Realms)

Ilmater is the Broken God – the god of perseverance and suffering. This deity has suffered and endured, and relates to those who are suffering with empathy and justice. He is the patron saint of Martyrs.

A Twilight Cleric of Ilmater is brought up in a church that teaches them about the darkness of the world. People suffer and die, and it is up to this Cleric to relieve suffering where they can. This is general suffering – Human Clerics of Ilmater will even defend hurt goblins and orcs, searching for a way to ease pain as much as possible.

Due to the Twilight Cleric’s immense defending capabilities, these clerics are often on the frontlines, looking for suffering individuals wherever they roam and aiding as much as possible. Unlike many clerics, they do not make a hard line between right and wrong, instead offering out safety and peace to whoever they can. In the case that they can not make peace, the Twilight Cleric is still a warrior of the gods, and will bring a swift and kind death to whoever cannot stop making pain.

By far the most empathetic god a Twilight Cleric can reasonably worship. If you want your character to be a peacemaker in good times and a serious patron of others in the worst, you will find a good god in Martyr Deities like Ilmater.

Mishakal (Dragonlance)

Mishakal is the goddess of healing and restoration. She is also the deity of new mothers, and compassion and love. She is a relatively rare goddess in the Dragonlance campaign, but a critical one.

Twilight Clerics of Mishakal are similar to clerics of Ilmater. They are kind and helpful to almost anyone who approaches, focusing on healing old and new wounds. However, while Ilmater’s grace lands on the battlefield, Mishakal’s focuses on the heart and soul. Twilight Clerics of Mishakal may be fine fighters, but they are also therapists and trustworthy diplomats.

The kind and soothing light that Mishakal gives to Twilight Clerics are beacons of hope. She fights off the darkness by trying to cure the darkness in others. 

Her Clergy is largely female, as may be expected from the patron of motherhood, but she sometimes leads her own church to battle. While she is the Healing Hand, she and her Twilight Clerics understand when the darkness must be brought to justice.

Female clerics with a particular therapeutic side might find goddesses of motherhood, like Mishakal, good deities to worship.

Selûne (Forgotten Realms)

Our Lady of Silver, and the goddess of the Moon. Selûne is not only a goddess of the celestial body, but of the hope that the Moon can provide everyone staring up at the night sky. In the Forgotten Realms, Selûne is shockingly active, enshrining her as a deity of hope.

As a worshiper of the moon, a Twilight Cleric under Selûne is a guiding light for travelers of all denominations. They will protect those who need it while offering guidance to those who don’t. They empower those who do not have the strength to simply fight everything themselves.

The defense that is offered by the Twilight Domain is exactly what Selûne is looking for. By offering a light-filled refuge to all who seek it, the Twilight Cleric will fulfill Selûne’s goals with ease. If you wish for perhaps the most thematically appropriate goddess to aid, Selûne and gods of the Moon are likely some of the most applicable deities.

Yondalla (Forgotten Realms)

Yondalla is the Queen of All Halflings. Charming, friendly, loyal, and above all else curious, Yondalla’s influence on the halfling race cannot be understated.

Yondalla functions as a mother deity for the Halfling race. Because of this, she shares many of Mishakal’s qualities. Twilight Clerics under her should be compassionate and thoughtful of others, with personalities bright as possible.

However, unlike worshipers of standard motherly deities like Mishakal, followers of Yondalla should be extremely curious and a bit mischievous. Rather than using therapy as a way to mend the soul, Yondalla Twilight Clerics should use mischief and curiosity. Exploring the world can soothe a tumultuous soul… As can pranking the most serious member of the party to see what happens. At times, defending others means poking fun at them to lighten the mood. Yondalla clerics should do this sparingly, and only when they know it’ll work.

Twilight Clerics of Yondalla are almost universally halflings. If you’re playing a Halfling Twilight Cleric in the Forgotten Realms, you should really consider worshiping this deity. Especially if your character cares about their companions!

Feats for Twilight Clerics

Before taking feats, Twilight Clerics should consider improving their offensive statistic (Strength or Dexterity, depending on whatever weapon you use), their Wisdom, and their Constitution. Once those are at strong levels (20 for Strength/Dexterity and Wisdom, 16 or more for Constitution), then these feats can be added to your build without heavily damaging the archetype.

Chef

This is perhaps not the most impactful feat. It improves your Constitution or Wisdom by 1. Then, you gain proficiency in Cook’s Utensils – mostly good for roleplaying. Unless your DM is having you bake something for the King, your proficiency with these tools don’t matter too much.

The other two benefits of the feat are more interesting. You can prepare a signature dish, which you can hand out to your party during a short rest. As long as they used hit dice to regain hitpoints, your party heals another 1d8 hitpoints. This is fairly insignificant, but for a short rest party – one with Monks and Warlocks, for instance – this can be a consistent source of healing.

In addition, you can make some special treats for your allies. This takes an hour, or are automatically made after a long rest. You make a number equal to your proficiency bonus, and they provide temporary HP equal to your proficiency bonus. It scales relatively well, and giving someone that amount of health isn’t… useless. You can technically pump as many of these suckers out as you want, giving your party members a solid bunch of temporary HP. If you want to make them consistently, your character is going to be making treats instead of talking with people… a lot. But, 2-6 extra HP as a bonus action is nothing to shake a stick at.

Fey Touched

Fey Touched is a pretty solid feat, even for a defensive cleric. To start, you get to bump up your Wisdom by +1. Not as good as an Ability Score Improvement, so what’s the other benefit?

Well, you get to learn two spells. The first one is Misty Step, a second level spell that allows you to teleport 30 feet as a Bonus Action. You get a free spell slot to cast it with, and you permanently learn it as a second level spell. In my opinion, Misty Step is one of the best uses of a second level slot in the game. The ability to teleport as a bonus action is fantastic for positioning; especially important for your Twilight Sanctuary! Getting to people is very important for you.

The other spell is any 1st-level spell that’s Divination or Enchantment. This list is actually surprisingly good. You can learn Bless, Command, Compelled Duel, Dissonant Whispers, Heroism, Hex/Hunter’s Mark, Silvery Barbs, and Tasha’s Hideous Laughter – among quite a few others! This spell is also free once per day, and can otherwise be cast with your spell slots.

We suggest you learn Silvery Barbs or Compelled Duel for a defensive spell, and either Hex or Hunter’s Mark for an offensive spell. While you don’t hit with attacks often, even just another 1d6 damage per swing can be impactful – and it gets better if you multiclass! Clerics do spend their Concentration on a lot of different spells, however, so make a decision about what your build will end up like.

Metamagic Adept

Metamagic Adept grants you 2 Sorcery Points. You also gain access to 2 Metamagic abilities that you can use those Sorcery Points on. Notably, since you will not have Sorcerer levels – unless you do a really neat multiclass – you will only have 2 Sorcery Points a day.

Thankfully, the Cleric spell list is insane. Being able to augment 1-2 spells per day might not seem that powerful, but trust me; it can be a life-saving feat. Some great options for metamagic include Distant, Extended, Quickened, and Twinned. These can come out of nowhere to completely ruin an enemy’s day, and there’s no real other way for a Cleric to make such an impressive play other than to use Metamagic.

This is for the style points, usually, but can occasionally be life-saving. Choose it if you know what spells work well with these spells – for instance, Extended can work quite well in combination with Banishment or Greater Invisibility.

Resilient

This is, in general, a good feat. Resilient gives you a +1 to a single attribute of your choice. Then, you get proficiency with that attribute’s saving throw. Taking this to give you 16 or 18 Constitution, plus good Constitution saves, will mean that you are much harder to kill. You’re also a lot harder to force to drop Concentration!

That’s really it. Don’t take this for Wisdom or Charisma. Strength is okay, but its saving throw is not as important as Constitution. Taking it for Dexterity can massively reduce the damage you take from Dragon or Wizard fights, but Constitution saves prevent more deadly statuses like Poisoned.

Sentinel

As the defender of your party, you’d be remiss to not take Sentinel! This feat does not give you an attribute. It gives you three benefits instead.

• Your opportunity attacks stop the target from moving for the rest of the turn.
• You ignore Disengage.
• You may make an attack against a creature who attacks someone other than within range.

These are really solid! The first benefit can stop creatures from sneaking into your backline to mess with the Wizard. This works especially well if you have ways to improve your Threaten range, such as with a Reach weapon. You can lock down specific enemies with this, though it doesn’t stop teleportation spells. You’ll need Mage Slayer for that, another okay feat that works especially well with this one.

The other two benefits are a bit more niche, but still solid! Ignoring Disengage limits your enemy’s options. And being able to consistently make a melee attack with your reaction can be nice! Clerics don’t have too many reactions.

This is a great feat, but will require you to have good melee attack rolls. Take it once your build is comfortable in melee.

Shadow Touched

This feat is quite similar to Fey Touched. With Shadow Touched, you begin by boosting your Wisdom by 1, which helps as long as you get to an even number. In addition, you learn Invisibility and another 1st-level Illusion or Necromancy spell. You get a spell slot to cast each of these for free once per day. Otherwise, you just learn the spells and can use them with your normal spell slots.

Invisibility is a great scout spell, and lets you combo with a party Rogue. Twilight Clerics only get Greater Invisibility, so this will be handy early on. It also costs a lower spell slot and lasts for a bit longer. Just a good spell in general!

Your 1st-level options are pretty… not great – Cause Fear, Color Spray, Disguise Self, Distort Value, False Life, Illusory Script, Inflict Wounds, Ray of Sickness, Silent Image. Not… Exactly the shining beacon of level 1 spells. But, Cause Fear is surprisingly effective, as is Ray of Sickness. Silent Image can be useful if you are quite creative. I would recommend Fey Touched more than this feat. However, if you have no good access to Invisibility, then this is far from your worst option.

War Caster

Last, but not least, is War Caster. War Caster gives you advantage on Concentration – when you take damage – which is huge for Clerics. A lot of your best spells, like Shield of Faith and Protection from Energy, require Concentration. Making it more likely to succeed on those checks is a godsend.

You’ll be able to fulfill somatic components with weapons or shields equipped. This rarely comes up, and your DM might not care about this anyways. If they do care, then this might be a required feat at some point! Not having to throw your weapon on the floor to cast is way too important to miss.

Finally, when you make an opportunity attack, you can instead cast a spell. This is hilarious. Using a reaction to cast Hold Person is a strong counter to most creatures, and allows you to bypass the one spell per turn rule by… just doing it as a reaction. Great way to lock down your foes!

Multiclassing for Twilight Clerics

Clerics have a good number of multiclasses. We’ll highlight some of our favorites here!

Fighter

Twilight Clerics make for fantastic frontline bruisers, with the ability to consistently go first in a fight, good ways to get temporary HP and extra AC, and Martial Weapon proficiency. Getting some levels in Fighter can really help with that! Just one level in fighter gets you Second Wind and a Fighting Style. Second Wind can keep you on your feet, while Fighting Style turns your weapon into a big deal! Or you can get +1 to AC, whatever works.

Two levels gets you Action Surge, an immensely powerful option. This feature lets you cast two Standard Action spells per short rest. Clerics can make great use of this to ruin fights!

You might not want to get to level 3. If you do, then you can get 1 level of spells back with Eldritch Knight. Alternatively, you can go into Rune Knight or Battle Master to make yourself even better at utility!

If you really want to invest, getting to level 5 gets you Extra Attack. That can up your damage a bit, especially if you took Hex with Fey Touched. This is not recommended, though.

Monk

If you want to go into a Dexterity-focused Twilight Cleric, then Monk is probably a good option. You’ll be giving up your armor for it, so it’s not ideal, but it can be fun to try out. Monk Twilight Clerics benefit from using their relatively high Wisdom for AC. They are also relatively stealthy for Clerics, thanks to their massive 300 ft of darkvision that they can use for sneaking about.

Getting to level 2 of Monk gets you ki, upping your damage significantly. If your DM lets you use Dedicated Weapon, then you can actually get your go with Martial Weapon proficiency. And Unarmored Movement is really, really nice for the party’s healer! Don’t go too far past level 2; there’s not much there. It’s better to dedicate yourself more to Cleric at that point.

Paladin

This is a rough one, but can work in your favor. 13 Charisma isn’t too high of a bar to clear. If you’re going to play Paladin, you’re going to get to level 2. Level 2 Paladin gets spells, a fighting style, and Divine Smite.

Divine Smite is so nice for a Cleric to have access to! Being able to drop lower level spells on nukes can be very useful. Twilight Clerics benefit even more from this, thanks to having inherent proficiency in Martial Weapons. Your lacking damage can be easily made up for with the bombshell that is a 5th level smite at level 10! It may be worth the Charisma investment just to drop this on someone. If you want to level up further into Paladin, we suggest either Crown or Vengeance; Crown for status effects, Vengeance for damage.

Ranger

Rangers are an interesting choice. They’re like Paladins but with much less damage potential. Favored Foe, the new optional feature, is relatively good. If your DM lets you get that feature, then we even recommend this for multiclassing! That level of threat against a particular enemy can help you chop them down to size quickly. Natural Explorer is a bit pathetic, but Deft Explorer is very good!

At level 2, you can get a handful of fighting styles like Archery, Defense, Dueling, and Two-Weapon Fighting. Solid choices! You also get Spellcasting. Ranger spells are pretty dang good, in all honesty. These guys might be a bit weaker than Paladin, but with no Charisma investment and a solid setup – especially if your DM lets you use alternate class features – then you’re in safe hands!

Twilight Cleric Build Tips

The Twilight Cleric has two forms, much like any class; in and out of combat. While a Twilight Cleric can have a myriad of personalities, here’s where a Twilight Cleric shines in comparison to normal Clerics.

Out of Combat

• Scouting. A Twilight Cleric is a huge boon to parties without many scouts. 300 ft of Darkvision is immensely powerful, outscaling almost all other forms of Darkvision. Give that to your Rogue or trapfinder and watch as they see enemies from far outside of their own view!
• Remember Your Flight. By level 6, you gain the ability to fly for basically free for 1 minute. Remember that you have this outside of fights! You can use this to fly up cliffsides or over chasms. 1 minute is 10 rounds, so you have quite a long time to do your goals!

In Combat

• Combat Prep. Make sure your Vigilant Blessing buff is either on your highest damage dealer OR your strongest caster. Putting it on a high damage dealer, such as a Paladin, can ensure that they deliver their high damage early in a fight. Melee characters especially benefit from going early, since opportunity attacks can lock down opponents. This can make the fight less dangerous, as a major target will be bombed early in the fight. Alternatively, buffing a Wizard or yourself can let you go earlier and deal with the threat with spells like Banishment or Hold Person. This also deals with the problem, and only with a saving throw! However, you’ll have to deal with the problem later.
• What Should I Do Every Round? The Twilight Cleric is a weapon-based Cleric. Their weapons will outscale their cantrips by level 8, as long as you have been upgrading your Strength or Dexterity. We suggest playing a Melee Build with melee weapons, since your Channel Divinity: Twilight Sanctuary only buffs allies near you. Wear Heavy Armor as well; if you can get Plate Armor, then you can get 18 AC and be legitimately hard to hit. We also recommend wearing a Shield, further boosting your AC and allowing you to almost always be conscious and ready to heal.
• Twilight Sanctuary. You regain Twilight Sanctuary whenever you perform a Short Rest. It also lasts for a minute. Do not be afraid to put this on before a fight you expect to be hard. Granting temporary hitpoints every round is best used early on, to prevent damage before it is dealt to you. Your entire party starting a fight with 3-26 extra health can be game-changing! Feel free to use this whenever you want, especially if your party wants to take a Short Rest soon.
  • Twilight Shroud should be used in almost every single fight. +2 to AC is a 10% chance for enemies to miss, and you get 3 whenever you perform a short or long rest.
• Steps of Night. Flight is very, very strong. Gaining access to this ability is crucial; you want to be able to move around the battlefield freely. Use this ability to reposition closer to enemies or to allies you need to heal. You can gain this ability at all times while within Twilight Sanctuary, but most encounters have a fair amount of Dim Light, such as from torches. Darkness can be found outside of the edges of a fight, or an allied Wizard can cast the Darkness spell for you.

Twilight Cleric 5E FAQ

This section provides you with all the answers you need for the Twilight Cleric.

Does Twilight Cleric Temp HP Stack?

Temp HP does not stack, period. This is true for the Twilight cleric, even though the subclass has the potential of giving allies a boost of temporary hit points every round. When a Twilight cleric gives a creature temp HP, it replaces the temporary hit points it had previously.

Can Twilight Clerics See Through Magical Darkness?

Twilight Clerics cannot see through magical darkness, at least when using Eyes of Night. This ability gives a Twilight Cleric darkvision out to 300 feet, which is pretty great in its own right. However, it is important to remember that darkvision does not cut through magical darkness. In fact, an ability must specific that it allows a character to see through magical darkness like the Devil’s Sight eldritch invocation. Eyes of Night doesn’t include that language.

Does Twilight Sanctuary Require Concentration?

According to the rule as written, Twilight Sanctuary does not require concentration. The text of the Channel Divinity ability makes clear when Twilight Sanctuary comes to an end. In general, this ability lasts for one minute. However, it is cut short if you become incapacitated or die while it is active.

Does Twilight Sanctuary Scale?

Twilight Sanctuary scales with by Cleric level. An already strong option only gets more powerful as you level up, and there are no resources you need to expend other than the use of your Channel Divinity. Twilight Sanctuary lets you burst out a baseline of 1d6 temporary HP to nearby allies, plus a number of temp HP equal to your cleric level. That means at level 20 you could give every member of your party up to 26 temporary HP per turn.

What Book is Twilight Domain In?

The Twilight Domain can be found in the Wizard of the Coast release Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.  

Conclusion – Our Take on the Twilight Domain

The Twilight Domain isn’t too synergistic with itself, instead offering a bunch of utility in a few different places. It’s therefore a decent support build, but acts as more of a problem solver for the party, almost like a Wizard. If you want more unique builds like this cleric, check out Tasha’s guide, because there’s plenty of really unique builds!