Clerics are an essential class for any party in Dungeons and Dragons. Although they're typecast as healers, they come with an arsenal of offensive and supportive spells, making them both versatile and flexible for a variety of playstyles. In addition to their range of spells, their subclasses can change the role the cleric plays in the party. A cleric's subclass is often linked to the deity they worship. While these two characteristics aren't connected in Baldur's Gate 3, it makes sense from a character-building perspective. Baldur's Gate 3 removed the option of worshiping some of the most evil deities in The Forgotten Realms, including Myrkul, Bane, Bhaal, and Shar.
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Evil Gods in Baldur's Gate 3
The Evil Gods Available to Clerics
Shadowheart's default subclass is the Trickery domain. As she worships Shar, this makes thematic sense, as Shar is a goddess of darkness. Shadowheart stands alone in being able to worship Shar, however, as custom clerics aren't able to choose Shar or any of the traditionally evil gods aside from Tiamat, Lolth, and Vlaakith. As Lolth and Vlaakith are closely tied to the Drow and Githyanki races respectively, clerics would only choose to worship them in very specific circumstances. This leaves only Tiamat, the dragon god, available for evil-aligned clerics to worship.
Other Evil Deities in the Forgotten Realms
As the only "evil" domain in Baldur's Gate 3 is the Trickery domain, other deities usually open to clerics to worship in Dungeons and Dragons aren't available, such as Hades. Dungeons and Dragons also allows clerics to worship Bane, Bhaal, Myrkul, and Shar. This creates obvious conflicts of interest with Baldur's Gate 3's main storyline against the Chosen of the Dead Three and interferes completely with the Dark Urge's storyline.
Evil Deities For Clerics in Baldur's Gate 3
Roleplaying Dead Three Worship
A cleric's source of magic is channeled from their god, and a player character working to undo their god's plans would have their magic cut off. However, this could work for an evil playthrough similar to the Dark Urge storyline, where the player could become a rival for the Dead Three's Chosen, whether they worship Bane, Myrkul, or Bhaal. Cleric Domains in Baldur's Gate 3. As it is, Ketheric is officially a Paladin but has a skill set very closely aligned to a Death Cleric, and the Oathbreaker Paladin's skills and spells are rooted in necromancy and controlling the undead, which also align with a Death Cleric's skill set.
The Death Domain
Being able to worship more evil gods associated with death would also come hand-in-hand with bringing in the Death Domain as a subclass. While Baldur's Gate 3 already has the Trickster domain, it's more suited to deities with chaotic, trickster alignments rather than evil alignments. The War domain would also be an appropriate domain for Lawful Evil gods such as Bane, but including the Death domain would have covered a wider variety of interesting gods.
Cleric Alignments
This would have given players who rolled clerics more options. With their reputation as support or healers, clerics can often get typecast as Lawful Good aligned characters when there's the potential for so much more. Although Shadowheart functions as an example of a cleric who isn't Lawful Good and worships an evil goddess, the Trickster domain doesn't give the full range of what an evil cleric should be able to do, and Shadowheart herself isn't evil unless pushed in that direction by an evil player.
Baldur's Gate 3
- Released
- August 3, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
Abducted, infected, lost. You are turning into a monster, but as the corruption inside you grows, so does your power. Forge a tale of fellowship and betrayal, sacrifice and survival, and the lure of absolute power. Caught in a conflict between devils, deities, and sinister otherworldly forces, you and your party will determine the fate of the Forgotten Realms.
THE ULTIMATE D&D EXPERIENCE
Choose from a wide selection of D&D races and classes, or play as an origin character with a hand-crafted background. Adventure, loot, battle, and romance as you journey through the Forgotten Realms and beyond. Play alone or as a party of up to four in multiplayer – and select your companions carefully.
A CINEMATIC STORYTELLING EPIC
Forged with the new Divinity 4.0 engine, Baldur’s Gate 3 gives you unprecedented freedom to explore, experiment, and interact with a world that reacts to your choices. A grand, cinematic narrative brings you closer to your characters than ever before, as you venture through our biggest world yet. Romance, deceive, aid, obstruct, and grow alongside your friends thanks to Larian's next-generation RPG engine.
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Larian Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Larian Studios
- Franchise
- Baldur's Gate
- Number of Players
- 1-4
- Split Screen Orientation
- Vertical Only
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, macOS
- Genre(s)
- RPG
- How Long To Beat
- 100+ Hours
- Metascore
- 96
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
- Local Co-Op Support
- 1-2 Players
