Cleric and Paladin looks like the perfect multiclassing in terms of roleplay, right? One dedicates themselves to a deity, the other to an oath. Both have similar virtues in terms of healing, control - and the Paladin can bring what the Cleric needs as a martial. The game even acknowledges that intent as some dialogue choices are marked “Paladin of <deity>” instead of “Cleric” once you have both classes.

Thing is… how to we make this work? You need either STR or DEX for weapons, then WIS and CHA to justify having Cleric and Paladin. You also don’t want to forget about CON. And Cleric and Paladin both usually need their level 5, so a triple feat is out of the equation.

What we’re going to do here, is build a Cleric that has everything: control, decent martial damage, AoE damage, debuffs on enemies and even some support. To achieve that, we’re going to use some nice synergies with radiant damage, light cleric, and radiating orbs.


We’re going to for 6 Light Cleric / 6 Paladin. You need at least 5 levels in both classes to make them relevant. 6/6 is probably the best as it gives you both an extra divinity charge (Cleric) and Aura of Protection (Paladin).

6 Light Cleric

• Access to Radiance of Dawn early for big AoE and excellent source of Radiating Orb.
  
• Access to Fireball and Spirit Guardians for more AoE. Radiant Spirit Guardians is pretty strong for you.
  
• The usual pros of Cleric: healing, utility, buffs for your party, control spells.
  
• Extra spell slots which are great for smites or upcasting control spells.

6 Paladin

• Access to more utility, healing and control.
  
• Can use all sorts of weapons and armor.
  
• Smites.
  
• Extra attack.

This build is a generalist. It doesn’t do anything as well as a dedicated build would, but it does a lot of things and does them well.

• Can be a party face with high Charisma and proficiencies.
  
• Good defense, and inflicts so many Radiating Orbs on enemies, they’ll have an extra hard time hitting you.
  
• Can very easily fit into any party as it can do a lot of things.
  
• Can be played either with a Shield for a more defensive variant, or with a two handed weapon for more damage.

• Tricky itemization as a lot of good items are contested by other specialist builds. And since they are better than you in their specialist domain, and require said contested items to work, it’s hard justifying keeping these items for you.
  
• You need to be good in four different characteristics, probably even five (basically anything but INT). Fortunately, there are items that can set an ability score to a fixed value, but guess what - they also tend to be contested.
  
• Comes online fairly late (at level 7).

Because of this, this build ends up working better when paired with builds that have unique itemization, such as my Open hand Monk and Thrower Barbarian. This is, at the end of the day, perfectly fine, but also worth noting. It is also best paired with builds that come online early, and once again, Open hand Monk and Thrower Barbarian are good examples.

Is the build suboptimal compared to other Paladin or Cleric builds? Probably, so this might not be what you want to play in modded difficulties. But it’s still a pretty good build that can clear Tactician and Honor modes comfortably and is very fun to play.

Open Light Cleric. Take 14 DEX, 14 CON, 16 WIS and 14 CHA.

You will use exclusively WIS for your spellcasting. Every offensive Paladin spell that you may have will also be in your Cleric spellbook. However, we will use high CHA in the late game for Aura of Devotion.

STR will be obtained with Elixirs (unless you dump DEX and use Gloves of Dexterity - see loot to use below).


Whatever you like.

Keep leveling Cleric up until level 5.

At level 4, take Ability Score Improvement and get +2 WIS.

At level 6, open Paladin. Oath is whatever, but Devotion arguably has the best synergy with Holy Rebuke. Take defense as you fighting style. We are wearing a shield, but protection is redundant with Improved Warding flare.

Once you hit level 7, respec. Take 14 DEX, 14 CON, 16 WIS and 14 CHA again.

Level Paladin up to 5 for extra attack, and take the same feat as before. Then get two levels of Cleric, selecting light domain again. You should now be Paladin 5 / Cleric 2. We do it this late because we want extra attack early, but without sacrificing Radiance of Dawn.

At level 8, get Paladin level 6 for Aura of Protection. After that, keep leveling Cleric until the end of the game.

Keep leveling Cleric for the rest of the game.

You should always get an extra +2 WIS from Mirror of Loss. Patriar’s Memory is nice, but forgettable, unless you took Hag’s Hair early for +1 CHA (which would allow you to get to +3 CHA).


At level 10, you will get a second feat. There are several good choices for you here.

• Ability Score Improvement for +2 WIS. With Mirror of Loss, you’d reach 22 WIS (+6) total, which is pretty good. It does feel a little unnecessary unless you really want to focus on spellcasting and control.
  
• Actor. It is another thing that you can combine with Patriar’s Memory to reach 16 CHA, and it has nice bonuses along the way.
  
• Great Weapon Master. Pretty much mandatory if you want to play with a two-handed weapon.
  
• Savage Attacker. Serves the same purpose as GWM (boosting your melee damage) if you’re playing with a shield, and it also boosts your smites.
  
• War Caster. Your concentration saving throws aren’t going to be too good, and while this isn’t the end of the world, you can choose to get advantage on them.

Since we’re multiclassing two spellcasters, we need to talk a bit about Spell Save DC. As a spellcaster, your Spell Save DC is the threshold an enemy has to reach with a saving throw to resist one of your spells, such as immobilization via Hold Person. This threshold is determined via your spellcasting ability, which in turn is determined by which spellbook your spell comes from.

Paladin and Cleric both have proficiency in Charisma and Wisdom. And we’re going to get at least +5 WIS, while our CHA should remain at +2, +3 best. That means you should always cast Hold Person from your cleric spellbook. Same for Command.

When you have access to a given spell from several sources (here, this is Command and Hold Person from Paladin and Cleric), make sure to take it from the spellbook which has the highest spellcasting ability score. If you’re not sure which one is in your shortcut bar, hover the spell and check whether the save is marked as CHA or WIS.


Do not take Hold Person or Command there. That’s about the only constraint you have here.

Take whatever special smites as you like, you have more than enough room. Make sure you get Divine Favor to get an easy Radiating orb (and Reverberation) trigger.


Command is one of the best control spells of the entire game. Just upcast this bad boy to target 4-5 enemies, make them approach you and enjoy the free Radiance of Dawn next turn.

Hold person is going to be your other important control spell. Like Command, upcast it to target 3-4 enemies and enjoy.

Spirit Guardians is situationally strong, but still pretty strong, obviously more so with the Radiant version. Between the sheer damage and the radiating orbs, the enemies don’t really want to approach you. You can couple it with Command to make enemies run to you, or simply by run into them.

Fireball is obtained via the Light domain and is a great distance AoE tool, especially considering your spell save DC is going to be pretty high.

Do not bother taking healing spells. This is not your role, and you already have 4*12 fixed healing with Lay on Hands as a Paladin. If you really want to, you can take Healing Word and Mass Healing Word.

Just like Paladin spells, you have more prepared spells than what you need, so complete with whatever suits your fancy.

Once you reach Emerald Grove, start stockpiling Elixirs of Hill Giant Strength[bg3.wiki] at Auntie Ethel’s. Unless you’re using finesse weapons and/or dump DEX to use the Gloves of Dexterity, you will need these once you start fighting at close range.

Luminous armor[bg3.wiki] is the absolute must have for this build. It causes a Radiant Shockwave whenever you inflict the eponymous damage, inflicting a lot of Radiating orb on close enemies and debuffing their rolls. It has an amazing synergy with Radiance of Dawn, Spirit Guardians and the majority of your damage sources. Put it on and never take it off.

The Spellsparker[bg3.wiki] is a pretty decent staff that you can grab early and can help offsetting your low physical stats in the early game. Melf’s First Staff[bg3.wiki] is also a good option towards the middle of Act 1 to boost Spell Save DC. You can also get the Shadespell Circlet[bg3.wiki] at around the same time and for the same purpose.

The Caustic Band[bg3.wiki] ring is great on this build, although you might want to give it to someone else until you have Extra Attack.

The Gloves of Dexterity[bg3.wiki] are a great gloves option for you, especially if you use a finesse weapon. If you use them, make sure you dump DEX and put the points in something else. I tend to prefer Gloves of Belligerent Skies[bg3.wiki] which are an excellent tandem with Radiant damage and can be acquired at the same time. Inflicting Reverberation and Radiating Orb on any enemies you hit with Radiant damage is going to make them with they never picked a fight with you. Speaking of which, the Boots of Stormy Clamor[bg3.wiki] are a great boots option. With these gloves and boots, sometimes you can trigger a full reverberation cycle and make an enemy go prone in one turn. Reverberation is only optional, though, so skip it if you don’t like it.

Disintegrating Night Walkers[bg3.wiki] is also an excellent option for this build.

The Holy Lance Helm[bg3.wiki] is another piece of equipment that has a decent synergy with this build.

The Blood of Lathander[bg3.wiki] is a great weapon for this build and is staying for a long time. The +3/+3 helps a lot. The rest of your damage will come from reverberation, radiant damage, and caustic band.

If you want to play with a two handed weapon, just grab a good greatsword, like the Everburn Blade[bg3.wiki].


You can get the Luminous Gloves[bg3.wiki] pretty early. While they have an obvious synergy with this build, I would only wear them if Gloves of Belligerent Skies are contested. The extra radiating orb doesn’t help that much, while the reverberation given by the gloves can help trigger a full cycle in one turn.

The Helmet of Arcane Acuity[bg3.wiki] is the absolute best helmet for this build, although contested by other control builds. The Diadem of Arcane Synergy[bg3.wiki] is a good alternative (it will scale with the spellcasting ability modifier of the last class you leveled up, which at this point should be Cleric and thus WIS), but is also contested by other builds. If you really can’t spare any, it’s fine sticking with the Holy Lance Helm.

Within minutes of Act 2, you can also grab Shield of Devotion[bg3.wiki], which you can use through the whole Act. You can also use the Sentinel Shield[bg3.wiki] which is a great way of mitigating your low initiative rolls. Whatever your choice is, you should swap it out at the end of the Act for Ketheric’s Shield[bg3.wiki], which will be your shield for the rest of the game.

If you are playing with a two handed-weapon and have Great Weapon Master, you should use Risky Ring[bg3.wiki]. This nerfs your concentration spells however, so you might opt out of it.

I obviously have to mention Selûne’s Spear of Night[bg3.wiki], which is an amazing weapon for this build. It fits the roleplay, can be two handed, as a +3 enchantment, and you’re never missing a WIS saving throw or perception check. And you don’t have to two hand it, you can use it with a shield too.

The Halberd of Vigilance[bg3.wiki] is also a great two-handed weapon for this build.

The Callous Glow Ring[bg3.wiki] is obviously an excellent ring to have on this build.


Within minutes, you can get Band of the mystic scoundrel[bg3.wiki], which will allow you to cast Command and Hold Person as a bonus action after a weapon hit. This is a great ring for this build. You can give the Caustic Band to someone else once you get it.

Legacy of the Masters[bg3.wiki] are great gloves for this build.

If you’re tired of strength elixirs, it’s time to put the Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength[bg3.wiki] on. This isn’t the optimal version of the build, but it is easier to manage.

The Sacred Star[bg3.wiki] can be acquired within an hour or so in Act 3 and is so good for this build. It simply was tailor made for it. It both naturally applies Radiating Orb, and has built-in Radiant damage that will trigger the Radiant Shockwave from your armor.

Alternatively, both for shield and two-handed users, you can play the Hammer of the Just[bg3.wiki], which has excellent perks and built-in radiant damage, like the Sacred Star.

If you’re not using the Helmer of Arcane Acuity, you may consider getting Birthright[bg3.wiki] for more charisma. The Helmet is still far better though, so don’t go out of your way for the hat unless you have to.

Amulet of the Devout[bg3.wiki] is the best amulet for this build. It gives you one more Channel Divinity usage and +2 Spell Sace DC which are both great with your toolkit. It can be a bit tedious to get, so you may want to read the wiki to figure it out.

First things first - do not expect to be dealing a lot of melee damage until you respec at level 7. This is fine - you’re still a good spellcaster. You have Guiding Bolt from the get go, Radiance of Dawn at level 2, Fireball and Spirit Guardians at level 5 - you will be fine.

Don’t use STR Elixirs until your level 7 respec, for the same reasons.

Even then, as soon as you have Luminous Armor, you’ll want to be close to the enemies to inflict radiating orb.

Once you get all your armor items by the end of Act 1, you can start dealing a lot of damage with Divine Favor + double attack to trigger reverberation and radiating orb.

Radiance of Dawn is excellent anytime you are surrounded, especially once you have Luminous Armor. If you are facing Undead enemies use Turn Undead instead.

You don’t have that many spell slots, but do not be afraid to long rest often.

Once you have your Act 3 ring (see loot to use), you can start combining melee attacks, Command and Radiance of Dawn. The combo looks like this:

• Get into close range and hit an enemy twice. This will give you +4 arcane Acuity.
  
• Cast Command: Approach on 4-5 enemies using an upcast and a bonus action.
  
• Next turn, cast Radiance of Dawn and enjoy the big AoE damage and radiating orbs. It gets even better if someone has Phalar Aluve: Shriek nearby, or if you have Spirit Guardians on. You can also just hit them with a melee attack and cast another Command or Hold Person just after. Keep attacking with weapons regularly to maintain Arcane Acuity.

Radiance of Dawn isn’t mandatory here. If you’re concentrating on Spirit Guardians, it also works great. Remember than Command doesn’t work on Undead.

You can also cast Hold Person as a bonus action instead of Command, and enjoy the free critical hits. In both cases, every enemy who fails the Spell Save DC will skip a turn and probably die shortly after. And speaking of failing the DC… Here’s what your Spell Save DC will look like at level 12:

• 8 (base)
  
• +5 (Wisdom)
  
• +4 (Proficiency)
  
• +2 (Amulet of the Devout)
  
• +1 (Ketheric’s Shield) (optional)
  
• +4-8 (Arcane Acuity)

This will peak at 23-28. No one in the entire game, save for bosses with legendary resistance, will resist your Command/Hold Person spells. And if you want to cast a fireball and watch them take full damage, that works too.

Between Radiance of Dawn/Spirit Guardians, your irresistible control spells, your smites, and the amount of Radiating Orb (and Reverberation) you’ll inflict on enemies, any fight should be over quickly.

Sure, why not. Both starts converge to exactly the same respec at level 7. If you start as a Cleric, take high WIS; if you start as a Paladin, take high CHA. The choice depends on whether you want to be a spellcaster early and a good martial by late act 1, or vice versa.


No. It simply isn’t worth it. War domain is really cool, but you already have Paladin for extra attacks, and you want the AoE capacity the Light domain gives you, especially Radiance of Dawn for the synergy with Luminous armor.


This perk is bait. It looks great on paper, but there are often better uses to your reaction.


Nah. Your defense is fine, and Luminous Armor is basically mandatory on this build.

If something isn't clear to you, or if you feel like I missed something, let me know in the comments below. I read every single comment I get, and will do my best to answer yours.

Thanks for reading the guide and I hope you have fun with the build!

For the sake of clarity and transparency, I will be noting relevant changes (that is basically anything but typos) to the guide here.

16/02/2024: Clarified what should be taken from Mirror of Loss.

14/07/2024: Refined the build to fit Aura of Protection in, add options for both two-handed melee weapons and shield users.