The Cleric has long been considered one of the most powerful and essential classes in D&D 5e. In the 2024 Player's Handbook, the Cleric's design has been streamlined and heavily buffed. You no longer choose your Divine Domain at Level 1. Instead, at 1st level, you choose a Holy Order (Protector, Scholar, or Thaumaturge), which defines whether you wear Heavy Armor, focus on skills, or gain extra cantrips. Furthermore, Divine Intervention has been completely reworked—instead of a random percentile roll, it now acts as a guaranteed, free cast of any Cleric spell of 5th level or lower!

Because the Cleric's signature spell, Spirit Guardians, is still the best area-of-effect damage spell in the game, your feat choices should revolve around two things: protecting your Concentration, and maximizing your Wisdom to make your spells impossible to resist.

Here is my ranking of the best feats for the 2024 Cleric based on concentration synergy, healing efficiency, and actual play experience.

Understanding the New Feat Types

As with all 2024 classes, feats are now categorized:

• Origin Feats: Typically acquired at Level 1 via your Background or Species. You can select them at higher levels, but keep in mind they do not provide a +1 stat boost like General Feats do.
• General Feats: Taken at Level 4 or higher. Almost all combat feats are now "Half-Feats," meaning they grant a +1 to a core stat (like Wisdom or Constitution)!

10. Alert (Origin Feat)

Prerequisite: Level 1 | Best for: Support and Control Clerics

For a Cleric, going first can dictate the entire flow of the battle. Casting Bless on your party before the martial characters make their attacks, or dropping Bane on enemies before they move, is game-changing. Alert adds your Proficiency Bonus to Initiative and lets you swap your initiative roll with a willing ally, ensuring that your most devastating combo pieces go exactly when they need to.

9. Tough (Origin Feat)

Prerequisite: Level 1 | Best for: Protector Holy Order Clerics

If you take the Protector Holy Order at Level 1, you will be wearing Heavy Armor and standing in the front lines. A d8 Hit Die is decent, but Tough adds 2 extra Hit Points per level, effectively giving you the health pool of a Fighter. You can't heal your party if you are the one lying unconscious on the floor.

8. Magic Initiate (Origin Feat)

Prerequisite: Level 1 | Best for: Every Cleric

Taking Magic Initiate (Wizard) gives you access to the Shield spell, which can be cast once for free and then with your Cleric slots. Alternatively, grabbing Magic Initiate (Druid) lets you learn Shillelagh. Since Shillelagh now scales in 2024 and uses your spellcasting modifier for attack and damage, you can completely dump Strength, max out Wisdom, and still hit like a truck in melee.

7. Inspiring Leader (General Feat)

Prerequisite: Level 4, Cha or Wis 13+ | Stat Bonus: +1 Wis or Cha

In 2014, this feat required Charisma, making it a terrible choice for Clerics. In 2024, it scales with Wisdom! You can now give a 10-minute prayer or speech after a Short or Long Rest, granting up to six allies Temporary Hit Points equal to your Level + Wisdom modifier. This is free, resource-less healing that stacks perfectly with your high Wisdom score.

6. Heavy Armor Master (General Feat)

Prerequisite: Level 4, Heavy Armor training | Stat Bonus: +1 Str or Con

If you are a front-line Cleric, this feat makes you incredibly hard to kill. It reduces incoming Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage by your Proficiency Bonus (even from magical weapons). When you are surrounded by enemies taking damage from your Spirit Guardians, reducing every physical hit by 3-6 damage adds up to hundreds of prevented damage over a campaign.

5. Shield Master (General Feat)

Prerequisite: Level 4, Shield training | Stat Bonus: +1 Str

For a melee Cleric, this feat is a massive upgrade in 2024 because the shield bash is now part of the Attack Action, saving your Bonus Action for Spiritual Weapon or Healing Word. Knocking an enemy prone not only gives your melee allies Advantage, but it also halves the enemy's movement speed—meaning they are physically unable to escape the area of your Spirit Guardians!

4. Telekinetic (General Feat)

Prerequisite: Level 4, Int, Wis, or Cha 13+ | Stat Bonus: +1 Wis

This is arguably the most synergistic feat for a Cleric relying on Spirit Guardians. It grants +1 Wisdom and allows you to shove a creature 5 feet as a Bonus Action. Because Spirit Guardians deals damage when a creature enters the area on a turn, you can use your Bonus Action to telekinetically pull an enemy into the aura, triggering the damage immediately, and they will take it again on the start of their turn!

3. Fey Touched (General Feat)

Prerequisite: Level 4, Int, Wis, or Cha 13+ | Stat Bonus: +1 Wis

Clerics are notoriously slow and lack teleportation magic. Fey Touched completely fixes this. It provides +1 Wisdom and a free daily cast of Misty Step. Being able to instantly teleport out of a grapple, or teleport directly into the middle of a group of enemies right before casting a devastating spell, gives the Cleric the mobility they desperately need.

2. Resilient - Constitution (General Feat)

Prerequisite: Level 4 | Stat Bonus: +1 Con

The entire Cleric class is built around powerful Concentration spells (Bless, Bane, Spirit Guardians, Banishment). If you lose Concentration, you waste your turn and a high-level spell slot. Resilient grants Proficiency in Constitution saving throws. By high levels, this feat guarantees you will automatically succeed on standard Concentration checks, allowing you to wade into melee fearlessly.

1. War Caster (General Feat)

Prerequisite: Level 4, Spellcasting | Stat Bonus: +1 Cha, Int, or Wis

War Caster is the undisputed absolute best feat for Clerics in 2024 because it has been upgraded to a Half-Feat (granting +1 Wisdom)! It gives you Advantage on Constitution saving throws to maintain Concentration. Furthermore, it allows you to cast a spell as an Opportunity Attack. If an enemy tries to flee your holy wrath, you can use your Reaction to hit them with Hold Person or a nasty Inflict Wounds. It perfectly rounds out your Wisdom while cementing your battlefield control.

Cleric Build Paths (Level 1-20)

Your Holy Order at Level 1 dictates your playstyle. Here are three optimized paths for the 2024 Cleric.

Path 1: The Divine Anvil (Protector Holy Order)

This build wades into the center of combat, locking enemies down inside Spirit Guardians.

• Level 1 (Origin): Tough. Take the Protector Order for Heavy Armor and boost your HP to survive the frontline.
• Level 4: War Caster (+1 Wis). Get Advantage on your concentration checks immediately.
• Level 8: Telekinetic (+1 Wis). Pull enemies into your Spirit Guardians for double damage.
• Level 12: Resilient (+1 Con). Combine this with War Caster to make your concentration truly unbreakable.
• Level 16: Heavy Armor Master (+1 Con). Reduce all incoming physical damage significantly.
• Level 19 (Epic Boon): Boon of Fortitude. Gain a massive HP pool and healing capabilities, making you immortal.

Path 2: The Miracle Worker (Thaumaturge Holy Order)

A pure caster build focused on maximizing Wisdom, healing, and out-of-combat utility.

• Level 1 (Origin): Magic Initiate (Wizard). Grab Shield for emergency defense and a utility cantrip.
• Level 4: Inspiring Leader (+1 Wis). Hand out massive Temporary HP to the party every rest.
• Level 8: Fey Touched (+1 Wis). Gain Misty Step to teleport across the battlefield to heal fallen allies.
• Level 12: War Caster (+1 Wis). Protect your concentration on crucial buffs like Holy Aura.
• Level 16: Alert (Origin). Ensure you go first to buff the party before the enemy strikes.
• Level 19 (Epic Boon): Boon of Fate. Manipulate the dice of allies and enemies to ensure your party succeeds their saving throws.

Path 3: The Holy Inquisitor (Protector + Melee)

A weapon-focused Cleric build designed to crush enemies with divine strikes.

• Level 1 (Origin): Magic Initiate (Druid). Learn Shillelagh to use Wisdom for your melee attacks.
• Level 4: War Caster (+1 Wis). Cast spells with your hands full of weapons and shields.
• Level 8: Shield Master (+1 Str). Knock enemies prone so your Shillelagh strikes have Advantage.
• Level 12: Resilient (+1 Con). Solidify your concentration.
• Level 16: Speedy (+1 Dex or Wis). Increase your mobility to chase down fleeing heretics.
• Level 19 (Epic Boon): Boon of Combat Prowess. Turn a missed weapon attack into a guaranteed hit.

Expand Your Table with Custom Homebrew

Whether you are adopting the new 2024 core rules or sticking with classic 2014 5E, you don't have to limit your builds. If you want to surprise your DM with insane new feats, unique player options, and custom campaign supplements, explore our homebrew PDF collection here!