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Elf Trickery Domain Cleric Build Guide

Elf Trickery Domain Cleric Build Guide

Blending Elven grace with divine mischief, the Elf Trickery Domain Cleric excels at distracting enemies and controlling the battlefield from the shadows.

3/10 Synergy Controller Role Medium Difficulty
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Why Trickery Domain?

Choosing an Elf for your Trickery Domain Cleric creates a master of battlefield manipulation. As a Controller, your main goal is to disrupt enemy plans and dictate the flow of combat. While your physical stats lean towards a surprising Strength of 14 to hold your ground in melee, your high Wisdom of 15 powers your deceptive magic. Your Elven heritage provides Fey Ancestry, protecting you from charm and sleep effects so you can maintain concentration on your vital illusion spells without interruption.

The Trickery Domain shines when you utilize Invoke Duplicity, a feature that lets you create a perfect illusionary double of yourself. You can cast spells from this double's position, keeping yourself safe while baffling your foes. Combining this with your Elven Darkvision allows you to orchestrate these illusions from the safety of pitch-black corners, launching surprise spells while enemies strike at empty air.

Additionally, your Elven Keen Senses grant you free proficiency in Perception. This ensures that while you are busy fooling others with your trickster magic, nobody can pull the wool over your own eyes. You become the ultimate puppet master, guiding your party to victory from behind a veil of illusions.

Trickery Domain Features

Blessing of the Trickster

Level 3

As an action by magic, you can choose yourself or a willing creature within 30 feet of you. For 1 minute, whenever the target makes an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, the target can roll a d4 and add the result to the roll.

Invoke Duplicity

Level 3

As a Bonus Action, you can expend one use of your Channel Divinity to create an illusory duplicate of yourself within 30 feet of you. This duplicate lasts for 1 minute, and you can use your action to move it up to 30 feet. When you or the duplicate is seen by a creature, the creature can't distinguish you from the duplicate.

Trickery Domain Spells

Level 3

Your connection to this divine domain ensures that you always have certain spells prepared.

Trickster's Transposition

Level 6

Each time you take a Bonus Action to move your Invoke Duplicity duplicate, you can swap places with it as part of that action.

Improved Duplicity

Level 17

The illusion of your Invoke Duplicity has become more powerful in the following ways. You can create a second illusory duplicate. You maintain both duplicates simultaneously.

Recommended Ability Scores

Strength
14(+2)
Dexterity
8(-1)
Constitution
13(+1)
Intelligence
10(+0)
Wisdom
15(+2)
Charisma
12(+1)
HP (Lv1)
9
AC
9
Initiative
-1
Passive Per.
12
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Elf Traits That Benefit Trickery Domain Cleric

Fey Ancestry

Extra saving throw advantages protect against debilitating spells and effects.

Darkvision

Elf Darkvision helps Clerics scout ahead and fight in darkness without needing a torch.

Keen Senses

Free Perception proficiency is valuable for any Cleric, especially in exploration.

Trance

Trance means shorter rests and the ability to keep watch more effectively.

Combat Effectiveness

Level HP Melee DPR Spell DPR
Level 5 33 3.9 7.8
Level 11 69 3.58 10.18
Level 17 105 3.58 13.2

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Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths

  • Trickery Domain grants Blessing of the Trickster at level 3
  • Darkvision for dungeon exploration
  • Versatile spellcasting options

Weaknesses

  • Low Dexterity means poor initiative and AC
  • May require careful feat selection to optimize

Pro Tips

1

Use Blessing of the Trickster on your heavy-armored allies to give them advantage on stealth, compensating for your own low Dexterity.

2

Position your illusion from Invoke Duplicity in melee range to distract enemies while you safely cast spells from a distance using your high Wisdom.

3

Rely on your Fey Ancestry to resist charm effects, ensuring you don't lose concentration on key control spells during critical moments.

4

When cornered, use Trickster's Transposition to instantly swap places with your duplicate, escaping danger and leaving enemies targeting a harmless illusion.

Other Cleric Subclasses for Elf

Other Races for Trickery Domain Cleric

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Trickery Domain a good subclass for Elf Cleric?
Yes, the Elf Trickery Domain Cleric is a fantastic combination. Elves naturally excel at being elusive, and traits like Fey Ancestry prevent enemies from locking you down with crowd control. This frees you up to use subclass features like Invoke Duplicity to distract foes, making you a highly slippery and effective battlefield Controller who can safely cast spells from afar.
What makes Trickery Domain different from other Cleric subclasses?
While most Clerics specialize in healing or raw holy damage, the Trickery Domain specializes in stealth, illusion, and battlefield distraction. It turns the Cleric into a master Controller. By using features like Blessing of the Trickster to assist allies in stealth, and casting powerful illusion spells, you manipulate your enemies' minds rather than just blasting them with radiant energy.

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