Everyone who plays Dungeons and Dragons knows how important clerics can be to the party. You never know what kind of encounters your DM might have planned for your game that night, and any one of those has the chance to turn deadly with something just as simple as a bad roll of the dice. Clerics are necessary to keep any characters standing for as long as they can.
When it comes to fighting with magic, however, many clerics tend to hold onto their spell slots in the tougher battles to still have those healing and resurrection spells ready. Though cantrips aren’t always the best spells, you definitely want to keep them in mind since you can use them as often as you want.
9 Thaumaturgy
This short-lived spell might be good if your group is into a lot more of the roleplay aspect, but not for much else. You can cast a minor wonder to show the power you hold from the deity behind it, but each effect only lasts for one minute.
Last-second attempts at intimidation might have more chance of succeeding if you make your voice boom louder, make the ground shake, or mess with all the lights in the room. But otherwise, there isn’t any real practical use for the spell, especially when more powerful ones exist to fill your allotted spell list instead.
8 Light
While many races offer darkvision, not everyone ends up playing one of them. In that case, it’s useful to ensure you have another light source for them. Instead of remembering to carry torches and lanterns around, the light cantrip can help you out there.
With a one-hour duration and a visible range of up to 40 feet, it’s easy to use this cantrip instead of filling up your bags or taking up a free hand. Of course, this does take up a cantrip allocation, so if your cleric does have darkvision, maybe you’d opt to let those who don’t fend for themselves.
7 Mending
This spell is definitely one to keep in mind if you have destructive party members. While not useful in battle, fixing something accidentally or even purposefully broken can help keep your party in line.
From fixing armor and weapons damaged in a fight to even hiding your tracks and mending a broken lock or window, there are several uses for this spell. Maybe it’s not the most necessary thing for a cleric, however, especially when the spell can’t restore magic to a broken object.
6 Resistance
Though the duration doesn’t last very long and it requires concentration, resistance is a good cantrip to keep in mind. If you’re within touching distance of a willing creature, you can give them the ability to add a d4 onto a saving throw of their choice. If you know you’re going to be facing encounters that are likely to require saving throws, it’s definitely something to add to your list.
However, since it’s only saving throws, you might want to pay attention to when and where you use it, as there’s always a chance it might not even get to be used before that minute is up.
5 Guidance
If you have a player in your group known for bad rolls, you might want to keep this one on your list. For up to a minute, with concentration, you can give one willing creature you can touch a d4 to add to their ability checks.
It’s useful for tense situations or other rolls you want to try and get as high as possible, like picking locks or any kind of persuasion or intimidation rolls. Its only limitation is the touch aspect, making it probably not very efficient to try and use anywhere in the middle of combat.
4 Sacred Flame
There aren’t many cleric cantrips that cause damage to keep magic in battles balanced, but sacred flame is one of them. While it’s not the most powerful, especially for clerics, it can be extremely useful. If your target fails a dexterity save, they will take 1d8 radiant damage. Even better, the damage increases as you continue to level up.
If you find yourself fighting a lot of undead or any other creatures that don’t like radiant damage, this is a good one to have. It also completely ignores any cover the target has as it descends from the sky, adding another advantage to using this offensive cantrip.
3 Toll The Dead
Depending on when you cast this cantrip, you can do a lot of damage to your enemies with it. Pointing at one creature in range, the sound of a bell fills the air and the target must now make a Wisdom save. Upon failing, they either take 1d8 necrotic damage or 1d12 if they are already missing some hit points. The damage done also increases the more you level up.
It’s not going to help you make your cleric overpowered, but if you’re willing to use some necromancy spells, it will help you get in some extra damage.
2 Spare The Dying
This extremely useful spell is something every cleric should have early on, especially if you have a large party that is prone to dying. When a party member inevitably falls unconscious, instead of painstakingly hoping they’ll pass three death saves so that they don’t die, you could run over to them before their saves are done and instantly make them stable by casting this spell.
It doesn’t require any material components, meaning if you can spend the movement and action to do it, it is well worth your time to save yourself from spending a diamond on a resurrection.
1 Word Of Radiance
Though this cantrip doesn’t deal the most damage, it’s a ranged spell that can affect as many creatures as you want within a five-foot radius of you.
With a simple divine word and a holy symbol, radiance blasts out from you and causes each creature you want to make a constitution save. If they fail, they take 1d6 radiant damage. This spell also increases with damage as you level up. The area of effect might be small, but it’s almost essential to keep yourself alive in large groups of swarming enemies.