War Domain Subclass Guide and Build

The War Domain is a Cleric subclass in Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3). Check out our guide for how to unlock the War Domain subclass, its features, best races to use, as well as its best build.

Cleric Subclasses Cleric Class Guide
Knowledge Domain	Light Domain	Life Domain
Nature Domain	Tempest Domain	Trickery Domain
War Domain

War Domain Subclass Overview

War Domain Basic Information

Subclass Overview
	War Domain Fortified by holy zeal, you brandish an arsenal of sacramental savagery to use against those you deem unrighteous.
Main Class	Cleric
How to Unlock	Available during Character Creation.
Spellcasting Ability	Wisdom
Starting Subclass Features
・Grants the War Priest Passive ・Grants Heavy Armor Proficiency ・Grants Martial Weapon Proficiency ・Access to Level 1 War Domain Spells 　┣ Divine Favor Spell 　┗ Shield of Faith Spell ・All Cleric Class Features and Proficiencies.

The War Domain is primarily a martial subclass. Clerics who follow this Domain often forego offensive spellcasting in favor of dealing damage directly in the melee. Armed with a plethora of defensive buff spells and the ability to perform extra attacks as early as Level 1, the War Domain Cleric is a viable subclass for players looking to multiclass into something more martial, later on.

How to Unlock the War Domain Subclass

Available When Creating a Cleric

The War Domain subclass will become available once you start creating a Cleric at the Character Creation screen. Unlike most classes, Clerics are one of the few that get to pick out their subclass before they start the game.

War Domain Subclass Features

War Domain Spells

Unlike most spellcasting classes, Cleric Domain Spells occupy their own spell list and are entirely separate from your existing Prepared Spell List. This means that as soon as you unlock them, you will be able to cast them without having to switch out your currently equipped spells.

War Domain Clerics will gain access to their Domain spells at Levels 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. Each level will grant you 2 new spells from the War Domain. At Level 1, you will start with Divine Favor and Shield of Faith unlocked.

War Domain Spell List

Bonus Proficiencies

War Domain Clerics will gain both Heavy Armor and Martial Weapon Proficiencies at Level 1. Given the unique melee playstyle of the War Domain Cleric, these proficiencies will allow you to tap into the amazing early-game arsenal of martial weapons and heavy armor in BG3 (compared to the limited options for casters).

Additionally, since these are available during character creation, you can redistribute points from DEX to other abilities if you want to min-max AC values with a heavy armor playthrough in mind.

War Priest

At Level 1 you unlock the War Priest subclass feature. During combat, this feature allows you to spend a War Priest Charge to perform an extra attack within the same turn. You can recharge spent War Priest Charges by performing a Long Rest.

Channel Divinity: Guided Strike

Guided Strike at Level 2 allows your War Domain Cleric to influence your Attack Rolls. By spending a Channel Divinity charge, you can add a whopping +10 bonus to any Attack Rolls you are about to make.

Note: Attack Rolls are not the same as Damage Rolls. Attacks Rolls simply influence whether your attack lands or not, which means Guided Strike does not increase your damage. Instead, it buffs you so that your next attack is almost guaranteed to land.

Channel Divinity: War God's Blessing

At Level 6, Guided Strike can now be applied to nearby party members in the form of War God's Blessing. When a party member goes in for a swing, you can use a reaction and a Channel Divinity Charge to buff them with a +10 to their Attack Rolls.

Divine Strike: Warmaster

Once you hit Level 8, your War Domain Cleric will gain access to Divine Strike: Warmaster. Once per turn, you can deal an additional 1d8 of damage on top of your melee weapon's damage.

War Domain Level Progression

Best Races to Use as War Domain

Half-Orc

The Half-Orc is a great choice of race for War Domain Clerics as they are some of the most brutal fighters in the game and the subclass boasts an aggressive playstyle suited for the race itself.

・Relentless Endurance - An excellent passive to have as you'll regain 1 hit points instead of being downed upon reaching 0 health. Allows for an aggressive tanky style of gameplay.
・Savage Attacks - Since you'll be using mostly melee attacks, this passive allows your damage dice to triple instead of double upon landing a critical hit to an enemy.

War Domain Builds

As a War Domain Cleric, put points in Strength and Constitution. This maximizes your melee damage and increases your tankiness in battle by having high hit points.

You can set Dexterity to just 10 as War Domain's are proficient in Heavy Armor, and Heavy Armors won't receive any AC bonuses from DEX.

Wisdom will be at 15 so you can still be efficient with Cleric spells.

Equipment Choice

Grymskull Helm

The Grymskull Helm increases your tankiness as this prevents you from taking critical hits from enemies.

Grymskull Helm: Armor Guide and How to Get

Boots of Genial Striding

Equipping the Boots of Genial Striding prevents your movement speed from being impeded upon stepping on difficult terrain.

Boots of Genial Striding: Armor Guide and How to Get

Baldur's Gate 3 Related Guides

Cleric Class Guide

All Cleric Subclasses

All Cleric Subclasses
Knowledge Domain	Light Domain	Life Domain
Nature Domain	Tempest Domain	Trickery Domain
War Domain