The classic healer, the Cleric is one of the classes whose changes, I believe, have been more subtle than others, though the big one is probably the delay of picking a subclass until level 3. Along with that, armor training and weapon proficiencies were separated out into a separate choice from your subclass.
As with the Bard (and probably how we're going to handle all 7 of these) we're going to go level-by-level and look at each feature, probably comparing it mostly with the 2014 version rather than the more recent playtest.
Before we even get into the class features, though, one thing that's kind of shocking is that Clerics only get a Chain Shirt in their starting equipment, rather than a choice of Scale Mail or Chain Mail. Now I think I need to pay much more attention to starting equipment, and see if they're pushing these types of armor that player characters don't really ever use because they're worse than what you get as starting gear. That said, you can of course take the gold instead of the standard starting equipment. Weirdly, a Chain Shirt is actually the same price as Scale Mail (though the Chain Shirt somehow doesn't impose disadvantage on stealth).
Level 1:
Divine Order is now your first-level choice, rather than subclass. You can pick whether you want to be a Protector or Thaumaturge.
Protectors get Heavy Armor training and Martial Weapon proficiency.
Thaumaturges get an additional Divine cantrip. Additionally, they can add their Wisdom modifier to their Intelligence (Religion) checks.
Ok, so first off, I like the bonus to Religion checks (and the Druid's equivalent) given that, as an intelligence skill, the Wizard is often better at Religion checks than the Cleric, which is weird - this should help with that. One thing of note is that a Cleric is going to need to purchase Chain Mail if they pick Protector, thanks to the starting equipment change - you can't get any heavy armor for free.
I suspect most will go with Thaumaturge, as you need a decent Strength investment to get full use of heavy armor, and only get one higher AC. I do think War Priests will probably go with Protector, but the others are pretty safe to go with Thaumaturge.
Spellcasting is nearly unchanged, though of course it uses the Divine spell list rather than the Cleric list - but the Divine list is basically just the Cleric list anyway. One change, however, is that you now have a flat number of prepared spells, rather than scaling as your Cleric level plus your Wisdom modifier.
The amount is close, but you ultimately wind up at 22 at level 20, whereas current Clerics will probably have 25 prepared spells at 20 - so you're a tad less versatile.
2nd level:
Channel Divinity is still a second resource to spend on various effects, but rather than recharging them on a short rest, you now get a few per day - starting with 2, upgrading to 3 at 6th level, and 4 at level 18. You will recharge a single one on a short rest, but you have to take a Long rest to get all of them back.
Given that you're not getting any more at a time than you previously did, this is clearly a nerf (at least to the number of times you can use it) though it's not quite as bad - you'll still get a bit of a benefit when you take a short rest.
You now have two default uses before subclass features.
Divine Spark can be used as an offensive or healing ability. As an action, you point a holy symbol at another creature you can see within 30 feet. You roll 1d8+Wis and either restore HP equal to the total to them or force them to make a Con save or take that much in Radiant or Necrotic damage (your choice,) and on a success, they take half damage. The healing and damage of this goes up at certain levels - 2d8+Wis at 7, 3d8+Wis at 13, and 4d8+Wis at 18.
So, you'll always have a relatively modest ranged heal "prepared," or a little damage. Given a later feature you get, I don't think the damage version of this is going to see much use.
Turn Undead has been redesigned. Rather than inflicting the pseudo-condition "Turned," the undead creatures suffer the Frightened and Incapacitated conditions instead.
Notably, the creatures are no longer forced to run away from you - they're still "handled" for a minute or until you damage them. Turn Undead is a very flavorful ability, but holy crap is it annoying to deal with in terms of tracking how a bunch of undead creatures are spending ten rounds running away from the party, and then running back to them (over the course of what you imagine is another ten rounds) when the condition ends. Now, they stay on the battlefield and can be more reasonably managed by the party. So I'm giving this change a huge thumbs-up, at least from a DM's perspective.
3rd level:
Subclass feature.
4th level:
ASI/Feat.
5th level:
Smite Undead replaces Destroy Undead. Rather than basing the instant-destruction effect on CR, you instead get to deal damage to undead who fail their save (and this damage doesn't interrupt the effect). The damage equals d8s equal to your Wisdom modifier - likely 4d8 at the level you get this.
I also like this better than the old version. In theory, a DM can make a scary encounter by having a bunch of low-CR monsters swarm the party, but Destroy Undead meant that you could send an arbitrary number of zombies against them and there was a good chance they'd all vanish. Now, this will still be very effective - you'll be able to do a pretty decent amount of damage (not to mention still getting the Turn effect).
But on top of that, this feature will work on all undead. Fighting a Lich? You get to put some damage on them on top of incapacitating them. It doesn't just flat-out end a fight (though it can against lower-HP undead like Skeletons) but it'll still do something if you're fighting more powerful monsters.
6th level:
Subclass feature.
7th level:
Blessed Strikes, a bit like Divine Order, lets you choose between two standard benefits of subclasses, but now separate from that choice. Your options are:
Divine Strike: once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with an attack with a weapon, the target takes an extra 1d8 Necrotic or Radiant damage (your choice).
Potent Spellcasting: You add your Wisdom modifier to the damage you deal with any Divine cantrip.
So, this is kinda-sorta a nerf of the old options, given that old subclasses that got the Divine Strike feature would eventually get an upgrade to the damage up to 2d8 (though often less irresistible damage than Radiant).
As before, I think that Potent Spellcasting is probably the better choice - Clerics don't get multiattack (not that it would benefit from this). All things being equal or equivalent, Toll the Dead is going to out-damage even a Divine-strike-empowered War Hammer in most circumstances even before you get the Wisdom bonus from Potent Spellcasting. That said, when you're fighting things with insane saving throw bonuses, you might start to like attacking instead - though of course you spread yourself a little thin on stats to get a decent weapon attack bonus.
8th level:
ASI/Feat
9th level:
Clerics now automatically get Commune prepared.
This replaces nothing at all, and is thematically cool, so I give it the thumbs up.
10th level:
Divine Intervention has been redesigned. It now always works, but the only thing you can do with it is choose any Divine spell of 5th level or lower that doesn't require a reaction to cast, and you cast the spell without expending a spell slot or needing material components. And then, you can't use this feature until you finish a long rest.
On one hand, this is a much more reliable feature. And this will let you cast Raise Dead without needing an expensive diamond. But this doesn't give you the giant, open-to-interpretation insanity of the old version. Again, you're actually going to see this work more often, but you won't get things like the amazingly beautiful use of Divine Intervention at the end of Critical Role's second campaign. Now, we'll check in again at level 20.
11th level:
Nothing but 6th level spells.
12th level:
ASI/Feat
14th level:
Ah, ok, here's what I get for not reading ahead. Improved Blessed Strikes buffs both of the Blessed Strikes options.
Divine Strike gets boosted to 2d8 - so it's back to its 2014 version, basically, except with more consistently good damage types.
Potent Spellcasting's change is interesting - rather than dealing more damage, now when you deal damage with a Divine cantrip to a creature, you can give yourself or another creature within 60 feet (and you don't need to be able to see them) Temp HP equal to twice your Wisdom modifier.
Ok, yeah, even if you're a melee-heavy War Cleric, I have got to say that the Potent Spellcasting feature is just such a clear winner. Yes, you won't always be getting that bonus, and if you're a Twilight Cleric (which should still be a choice) you might prefer your Twilight Sanctuary Temp HP, but I think this really helps you in your protective/supportive healer role in a fantastic way.
16th level:
ASI/Feat
17th level:
Subclass feature.
18th level:
Actually nothing (well, ok, you get one more Channel Divinity)
19th level:
ASI/Feat
20th level:
Greater Divine Intervention of course works differently than the old Improved Divine Intervention, given that the old version wouldn't make sense. What this does is that you can now cast Wish with Divine Intervention - which, notably, will allow the casting of any 8th level spell or lower (not just Divine ones). Choosing Wish will prevent you from using Divine Intervention again for 2d4 Long Rests.
Furthermore - using Wish in this way, you are immune to "Wish Stress," meaning you can't lose the spell for using the feature.
So, I think this winds up working pretty well to recreate the old version of Divine Intervention. The "Miracle" you got was pretty similar to the general Wish functionality, so making a "safe" Wish feels like a pretty decent way to replicate this functionality. You will, of course, not be able to use it that way until level 20. In my three-year campaign, though, the Cleric (who has spent about two of those years at level 10 or higher) has only gotten a successful divine intervention once (I fudged it at one point for a second "success" to let his deity do something particularly horrifying).
Again, here, I think we're looking at a Cleric that will be able to easily perform the same basic roles it did in the 2014 version. I suspect there will be a great deal of controversy over the Turn/Destroy Undead and Divine Intervention features, but I'll be honest and say that I think these changes will make running the game simpler, so I'm pretty much in favor of what I see here.
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