Aasimar Cleric Build Guide

Levels 1-4

At level 1, select the Forge Domain. This gives you heavy armor proficiency to survive your 8 Dexterity, and the Blessing of the Forge feature lets you immediately turn your Chain Mail into +1 armor, hitting an AC of 19 with a shield. At level 3, you unlock your Aasimar Celestial Revelation. Choose the Radiant Soul option for a flying speed and bonus radiant damage equal to your proficiency bonus. At level 4, take the Fey Touched feat. Use it to bump your 15 Wisdom to 16, and grab Misty Step and Silvery Barbs. With your terrible Initiative, Misty Step is crucial for getting into position before you pop your wings.

Levels 5-10

Level 5 is the massive power spike. You gain 3rd-level spells, which means Spirit Guardians. Your bread-and-butter tactic is now: cast Spirit Guardians, activate Radiant Soul on turn two, fly 10 feet above the enemy frontline, and Dodge. At level 8, take the Ability Score Improvement to bump your Wisdom from 16 to 18, raising your spell save DC to 15. The Forge Domain's Divine Strike at level 8 adds 1d8 fire damage to weapon attacks, but frankly, you should be casting Toll the Dead from the air to trigger your Aasimar bonus damage.

Levels 11-16

At level 11, you get 6th-level spells, unlocking the mighty Heal spell. Your DPR shifts here; your melee attacks drop off entirely (3.58 DPR is irrelevant), and your spellcasting carries you (10.18 DPR base, plus Radiant Soul). At level 12, take War Caster. You are flying while concentrating on Spirit Guardians. If you lose concentration, you don't just lose the spell; you fall and take bludgeoning damage. Advantage on Constitution saves is mandatory here. At level 16, cap your Wisdom at 20.

Levels 17-20

Level 17 unlocks 9th-level spells, giving you access to Mass Heal, the ultimate support button. Your Forge Domain capstone, Saint of Forge and Fire, gives you immunity to Fire damage. Combined with your Aasimar Celestial Resistance to Radiant and Necrotic, you casually ignore three of the most common high-level spell damage types. For your final ASI at level 19, take Resilient (Constitution) to bump your 13 Constitution to 14 and gain proficiency in Constitution saving throws, making your concentration effectively unbreakable.

Cantrips

Toll the Dead: Your primary damage cantrip. Since it forces a Wisdom save instead of requiring an attack roll, you don't suffer disadvantage when enemies are prone, and it perfectly triggers your Radiant Soul bonus damage. Guidance: Mandatory on every Cleric for out-of-combat ability checks. Sacred Flame: Good backup for enemies with high Wisdom but low Dexterity, ignoring cover entirely.

Level 1-2 Spells

Healing Word: Use this as a bonus action to revive downed allies. Save your Aasimar Healing Hands for when you need to cast a leveled spell with your action. Spiritual Weapon: Weaponizes your bonus action without requiring concentration. Sanctuary: Cast this on yourself if you are concentrating on a crucial buff and need to avoid attacks entirely.

Level 3-5 Spells

Spirit Guardians: The absolute core of this build. The 15-foot radius aura moves with you when you fly via Celestial Revelation. Revivify: The standard resurrection tax. Banishment: A Charisma-save save-or-suck spell that removes major threats from the board entirely.

High-Level Spells

Heal: A flat 70 HP heal that cures blindness, deafness, and diseases. Incredibly reliable. Holy Aura: Advantage on all saving throws and disadvantage on attacks against your party. Mass Heal: 700 hit points distributed as you choose. It resets the entire battlefield in your favor.

Fey Touched

Take this at level 4. Since you start with a 15 Wisdom, this rounds you up to 16 (+3 modifier). More importantly, it gives you Misty Step. With an 8 Dexterity, you will act last in almost every combat. Misty Step lets you teleport out of being grappled or surrounded so you can safely cast Spirit Guardians and take flight.

War Caster

Take this at level 12. Maintaining concentration on Spirit Guardians is the entire point of this build. Furthermore, since you'll be flying via Radiant Soul, losing concentration might mean dropping out of the sky if you're targeted by a spell that knocks you prone or reduces your speed. Advantage on those Constitution saves is non-negotiable.

Resilient (Constitution)

Take this at level 19. You started with a 13 Constitution. This feat bumps it to 14, granting you an extra 19 hit points retroactively, and adds your +6 proficiency bonus to your Constitution saving throws. Combined with War Caster, you will automatically succeed on concentration checks for any damage under 22.

Tier 1 (Levels 1-4)

Your 8 Dexterity means you cannot rely on Medium Armor. Start with Chain Mail and a Shield for 18 AC. Purchase a Mace for early melee attacks, though you'll quickly abandon it. Grab a Holy Symbol Amulet so you don't have to juggle items to cast spells with material components.

Tier 2 (Levels 5-10)

Upgrade to Splint Armor or Plate Armor as soon as you have the gold. Because your Initiative is terrible, actively seek out a Sentinel Shield. It grants advantage on Initiative rolls, helping offset your -1 Dexterity modifier so you can get your Spirit Guardians up before the enemy scatters.

Tier 3 (Levels 11-16)

Acquire an Amulet of the Devout +2 to boost your spell save DC—crucial for making enemies fail their Spirit Guardians and Toll the Dead saves. Also, look for Winged Boots. While you have Celestial Revelation, it only lasts for one minute per long rest. Winged Boots give you permanent flight, allowing you to use your Aasimar transformation purely for the bonus radiant damage.

Tier 4 (Levels 17-20)

Aim for +3 Plate Armor to push your resting AC to 23 (with a standard shield). An Amulet of the Devout +3 will maximize your spell save DC. Finally, a Tome of Understanding will permanently bump your Wisdom to 22, making your spells nearly irresistible.

As a Support and area-denial specialist, the Aasimar Cleric excels when paired with allies who can capitalize on the slow effect of Spirit Guardians and protect the Cleric from ranged attackers while they fly.

Paladin: The absolute best partner. A Paladin's Aura of Protection is desperately needed to shore up your abysmal -1 Dexterity saving throws. In return, your Spirit Guardians halves enemy movement, making it impossible for them to escape the Paladin's melee smites.

Cavalier Fighter or Ancestral Guardian Barbarian: You need a sticky frontline tank to lock down archers and spellcasters. Since you'll be hovering 10 feet in the air, smart enemies will try to shoot you down. A tank that imposes disadvantage on attacks against anyone but themselves ensures your concentration remains unbroken.

Fighter 2

Starting with Fighter 1 gives you Constitution saving throw proficiency natively (saving you a feat later) and the Defense Fighting Style for +1 AC. Taking Fighter 2 gives you Action Surge. This allows you to cast Spirit Guardians and take the Dodge action in the exact same turn, turning you into an untouchable flying fortress instantly.

Sorcerer 1 (Divine Soul)

A one-level dip into Divine Soul Sorcerer gives you access to the Shield and Absorb Elements spells, completely fixing your vulnerability to Dexterity save bursts like Fireball. You also gain Favored by the Gods, letting you add 2d4 to a failed saving throw once per short rest—a massive boon for protecting concentration.

• Ignoring Heavy Armor Requirements: With an 8 DEX, taking a domain like Light or Trickery leaves you with an AC of 13. You will die. Pick Forge, Life, Twilight, or Tempest to get Heavy Armor.
• Flying Too High: Spirit Guardians is a 15-foot sphere. If you fly 20 feet in the air, the sphere won't hit enemies on the ground. Hover exactly 10 feet up to stay out of melee range while still clipping the frontline.
• Wasting Healing Hands in Combat: Healing Hands takes an action. Don't use it in combat unless you are completely out of spell slots. Cast Healing Word as a bonus action instead so you can still use your action to cast a cantrip.
• Double-Dipping Radiant Soul: The Aasimar bonus damage from Radiant Soul only applies to one target per turn. Do not try to add it to every single enemy taking damage from Spirit Guardians.