For Invoke Duplicity: because of how the rules for movement and actions in 5e work, and because this is an illusion (and therefore has no physical mass), you can create the illusion, then move into the same space as it (so overlap is a thing). Then, while in that square, use your bonus action to move the illusion, and continue your movement. There is now no way for any reasonable GM to say anyone could possibly tell which is which. You can also do this in melee. You don't provoke opportunity attacks for moving *around* an enemy, so you can do the same thing in melee. Move in with part of your movement, attack, use your bonus action to move the illusion to your space (note: you can move it to any space you can see, not any unoccupied space), then use the rest of your movement to move to the side. There is, again, no way for the enemy to be sure of which one of you hit them.

Yes, the trickster clerics appear deceptively weak, i think it's part of their strategy. Way to ruin their efforts Treantmonk!

A thing to note about the domain spells: only one of the Trickery cleric's domain spells is on the Cleric spell list. One. Out of 10. That means 9 new options other clerics just plain don't have, good or bad. Only the Nature and Forge Domains get that. Every other class has 4-5 cleric spells (so just about half) on their domain lists. And as you said, Trickery's list is easily the best domain spell list. Bar none. Forge is probably second (and of note, a lot of people think Forge is the best domain).

"For the duration, you can cast spells as though you were in the illusion's space..." To me, that is the main selling point of the Trickery Domain. All of your touch spells are now essentially ranged spells. That and the ability to turn your clanky fighter into a stealth machine are the reasons to pick this domain if you are so inclined.

When it comes to illusions I disagree with dungeon masters who have difficulty with illusions. They exist for a reason, to sway the stupid. Dm meta gaming through a mob is just as bad as players doing it. Yep you created a perfect version of yourself. Many creatures are not going to understand what it is and take rounds of combat to figure it out. Play the creature not yourself in game. My wizard rolled poorly on a check once and didn't know much about Aboleths. Your creatures can be morons too at times.

(( My Trickery cleric always carries healing potions )) so that he doesn't have to waste slots, with healing spells.

I'm playing DnD for the first time ever in..... 3 days. I decided to go with a trickery dex-based Aarakocra cleric. I have no clue what I'm doing, but I'm excited!!

Excuse me, everyone knows that the Monk is the best 5e class, because you start out punching pretty good, and by the end you punch real good.

I was skeptical of the video's premise, but it's compelling to give more clout to an archetype's spell list rather than abilities. Thanks for the video.

Well presented, as usual. I'm so glad you're hammering on the "you're a spell caster, it's what you do" part. I try to talk about this with several different classes, and everyone wants to swing a weapon and compare dice. I'm like, 'GUYS! You played a caster class. Cast a spell, and quit comparing hammer sizes!" Sort of off topic, but I find it hard to conjure up a scenario where any of the primary casters is actually better off using a weapon than casting a spell, past character level 3. As soon as you get those second level slots, casting gets good and you finally have enough slots to not be miserly. By character level 5, only marathon paces will find you without a useful slot. By character level 7, you should have something useful to cast every single time there is an obstacle to the party.

I have to give you big thank you, I've been reading your guides for years. After I read your wizard guide I realized how powerful they were even at level 1.

A few things that confuse me about the Trickery cleric: I feel like they needed at least one more skill proficiency, probably chosen (or chosen for you) from the DEX or CHA skill list. I'm also surprised that they don't get access to Minor Illusion, Silent Image, etc. Prestidigitation would also be a great spell for a Trickery themed character. Heck, just let them grab a free bard cantrip or two, and they can pick up Vicious Mockery or Mage Hand or Friends instead. Or, alternatively, append the bard cantrips to the cleric list, so you still get the regular number of cantrips but can now choose either bard or cleric cantrips. I guess it just feels like it's hard to complete the Trickery theme when you're locked out of so many things that would be perfect for a trickster type of character.

I love your guides, always interesting. Could you, where appropriate, use the same colour system (Blue, Green, Purple, Red etc) as per your guides to indicate your view on the Potency of a spell or ability when the text flashes on screen. It would be a cool thematic choice and a useful call back to the style that you used so well :) Keep it up!

I really enjoyed you talking through the features and comparing it to the other subclasses. I've enjoyed Cleric before but you really made me understand it better on what to really look for instead of the shiny subclass features that the Domain gives. The spell list despite being central of the gameplay of a full caster was for some reason a thing I only glanced at.

Thank you! My favorite domain gets no love, bless you for this video and your insight

I think it may even be better than how you are rating it, because the level 1 combination of Charm Person while disguised self'ed is nuts, and you are getting the exact two spells you need for that combination.

Forge domain is still overall my favorite :p having early access to magic weapons, heat metal and the ability to duplicate items through rituals is awesome.

Hoo boy, 54 mins? That's amazing TM! One of the best new channels around!

Excellent work. I will note that I main Cleric, so I want to point out a couple things: 1. On the Ranged Spell vs Melee issue, most domains I'll agree that the ranged spell is vastly superior in most cases. However, on Tempest and War, Melee is a stronger option. With War, you get up to 5 bonus melee attacks per day, essentially improving the viability of melee along with being able to almost guarantee a hit (Channel Divinity for +10 to hit), and Tempest not only gives Thunder Damage (rarely resisted) and a Wis/day retaliate as a reaction, but also can maximize both effects' damage with Channel. I feel that melee cleric is always underrated, and on my Goliath Cleric, it was huge purely because I chose to use a hard hitting melee weapon. 2. On the Dispel effect of Arcane, if you buff an ally (something quite useful) and they get hit with a strong debuff, the ability has the added bonus of not undoing your buffs, where Dispel would shut down all spells, beneficial or no. This does make this ability stronger overall. 3. Trickery isn't the worst by far IMO, because good domain spells plus a couple useful tricks is always better than Nature or Healing. Overall, excellent work, and keep it up

I strongly agree with this video, and I realise I've been ruling wrong on invoke duplicity, allowing the cleric in one of my groups to concentrate on a spell and have the duplicate active at the same time. It's been really useful a couple of times, but definitely not broken, and it means the ability sees a lot more play, which I think is fun. (I don't see it ever being used in combat beyond 4th level, except in really niche circumstances). I agree that the intention is probably that it uses concentration, but I think the wording is really poor, as it only states that it "ends if you loose concentration(as if concentrating on a spell)", but doesn't directly state that it requires concentration, so I missed it anyway xD

Yay guides are here finally. Watching it shortly, I am currently busy with studies :( Anyways gj Chris!

There are a few videos I'd love to see from you. One is about the more advanced possibilities of magic. Things you can do with simulacra, summonings and bindings, or any combinations of spells that allow you to do really fantastic stuff at higher levels. This could include interplay between high level casters, like divination and protections against it. Another is a summary of what all the classes do and how to get value out of them, describing each class's strengths and roles, maybe with any interesting notes about subclasses. Basically a video with very, very condensed versions of your Wizard guide for each class. Love your content!

idear: (would this work???) 1. Disgues as another caster teammate all the time. And walk besides him. 2. Fight begins, cast invoke duplicity. 3. Cast mirror image. Let you caster dd melt everthing. GG

I absolutely loved this, thank you! It feels difficult to drive home the simple fact that Clerics are primary casters. The best caster is the one with the best spells. Would love to hear your in-depth thoughts on other subclasses.

You forgot to mention that the cleric essentially gets a once a week wish at level 20 anyway.

People don't like this sub-class because they've been tricked.

I am my party's hardiest PC(AC/HP) and the only Cleric, so I often cast my Bless/Spirit Guardians and just run up-front and take the Dodge Action instead of attacking. I figure this makes me better at tanking and more likely to keep my Concentration. If the fight seems tough, I can still use Spiritual Weapon as a Bonus Action. I don't know if this Dodging of mine is great strategically, but I have been much better at keeping Concentration than when I used to just Attack. I should mention that most of my party are somewhat of "glass cannons".

Polymorph isn't thematic with trickery? Loky: hold my beer

Before this video I never really payed attention to the domain cleric spells, I’m personally a fan of tempest before this video never saw Polymorph of all spells on the trickery this video really swayed my opinion. Good job as always Treantmonk, keep up the good work!

I only disagree with the argument that since the Arcana Domain's Channel Divinity is not that much better than Dispel Magic, the Trickery Domain's invisibility, which is slightly better than a Disengage action, is almost its match. Dispel Magic is a limited class resource that can solve massive problems, while every character can disengage as an action. Still, this being the only point I disagree with means that you did an amazing job opening my eyes to the ways in which certain cleric features are underpowered (all 8th-level features, for instance). Martial Arts proficiency is somewhat useful at lower levels, but, like you, I also preferred to play my Trickery Cleric wielding only a shield, and I love him to bits.

Well, from another tactical standpoint, you can still use the duplicate to deliver beneficial touch attacks to those in melee, without entering melee yourself. I know it's not the biggest OMG thing in the universe, but it's not nothing.

The illusion spell/DM discretion thing is true. I had an idea to use minor illusion in conjunction with find familiar to let it flank with the benefits of a cloak of displacement. It works.

For me it is similar to what you said in that it depends on the players and the DM. Wargamer style DMs usually focus on the numbers and seem to lack imagination. Some how making monsters target the real despite another, the duplicate, perceivably behaving like an actual combatant and the source from where spells are coming from. Minor illusion is in the same boat in that an enemy, although having no reason to believe the illusion to be anything other than the real thing, will some how run right through it.

I love trick clerics. This is my main character. While not a tank, they are fantastic at coming up with alternate solutions to being a murder hobo.

I just binge watched everything on your channel and I can't get enough of your analyses. Is this a weekly show?

One of the things I tend to do on a *lot* of my Non-Arcana Clerics is getting Magic Initiate: Druid for Thorn Whip, Druidcraft, and a 1st level spell (Usually Faerie Fire due to it's overall usefulness) due to the Cleric's lack of an Attack Roll based Damage Cantrip, in addition Thorn Whip allows you to pull enemies into your Spirit Guardians for Super-Happy-Fun-Time~!

Excellent job on the analysis, you changed my mind about the Trickery Cleric, although I still think Light is the best domain (Bc of the Channel Divinity)

Nice video. I hope the next guide will deal with the Druid. Or, better yet, THE WIZARD! This is Treantmonk, after all. We all know what class guide everybody waits for.

Subscribed since you did god's work on BG and minmax boards. Your 3.5 wizard guide is basically my bible.

Alright, you've COMPLETELY changed my opinion on this subclass. (I admit, citing one of my favorite versions of Robin in media helped a bit. ;) "Now, get traught!"

Jester from Critical Role needs to know how powerful she is!!

I'm looking forward to your second half. I definitely want to hear fun tricks for the clone. While I certainly agree on Trickery's much better domain spell list, I would say that you are undervaluing the arcana's base abilities. With a V. Human you can get shillelagh via Magic Initiate and really make use of that attack each round. At level 8 with Green Flame Blade, you are doing 2d8+10 to the primary target and 1d8+10 to an adjacent target. Granted, they will often not be adjacent, but on average this compares reasonably well with the Warlock's eldritch blast/hex at that level (2d10+2d6+10). Assuming we cast healing word and spiritual weapon pretty regularly, we will have a fair amount of our actions in combat with a cantrip/attack. Long story short: If I don't want to use a cleric who attacks in melee, I probably just shouldn't pick an arcana cleric.

I actually love trickery cleric and horizon walker split. So 5/5 split at level 10 and 9 cleric/11 ranger at 20. Mainly because the trickery spells are freaking awesome, the teleporting of ranger is sweet and i do not use spiritual weapon (i know its a geeat spell but rangers have a huge BA demand). For a melee build it is really fun and quite effective (especially because planar warrior actually gets some use out of divine strike). For exploration the stealth boost is very good and because many of the spells dont require concentration you have great combat options to boost survivability. Duplicity is really nice to lure ppl and you can actually lay down ambushes with stuff like invoke duplicity and thaumaturgy. It is a great balancrd build and ffun in and out of combat. And because rangers often dump Cha you can also benefit from charm person to get some RP moments rolling more easily. Only gripe i have with trickery is that invoke duplicity eats your concentration. It would a very nice combo to have invoke duplicity active while using spirit guardians at its position, to lure enemies towards it and then deal damage without being in the line of fire.

Don’t forget the scouting value of polymorph. You can change into a common creature for the area and just wander around and listen. Also, the spell has no requirement for the polymorph creature to stay in range of the caster, the caster just needs to concentrate. A trickery cleric can just change his Wanted Poster friend into a horse and just ride out of town, or ride into town on his rogue friend/horse so there is no record of his being there. Going to the ball with your rogue friend polymorphed into an exotic parrot who gets sent “home” later is a great way to get past all the guards.

I agree that the trickery cleric has great potential, but you need the capacity as a player to realize it fully.

it really is super underrated, my favorite character is a trickster cleric kenku. edit: just got to the part where he mentions kenkus. hell yea.

Spirit Guardians, Mirror Image, and Spiritual Weapon seems awesome.

Just made a trickster vampire cleric, so far the role play is awesome with the abilities. Haven't gotten to combat yet

Yes, having a cleric with Pass without a Trace, in a campaign within a city, is brilliant.

I rolled a rogue (mastermind) & T-Cleric build to get dual ranged help actions & bless. I've been making him the amplifier for increasing the odds to hit for all my teammates. At 4th level rogue I'm going to take the feat ritualist, and find familiar for a third help action per round. The ability to cast disguise self, then use the negative side of charm person at level 2 (1lvl rogue + 1lvl cleric) is a real hoot. I would love any pointers anyone else could throw at me, as I'm not that clever with the mechanics. Great video, +1

Started as a warlock but picked up the hidden lord shield. Now I've become a cleric of Gargauth the hidden lord. Background is urchin so I was already nimble. Many of nights talking to this shield now it shall grant me clerical powers. Trickery seems like pure flavor for the demigod of Deceit. I'm digging the role play an I already used the warlock stuff for extra description an persuasion. Kender as a base race for the fearless stupidity that is required. Was on the edge of a more evil style cleric but I feel as a whole Trickery has it all.

16:43 Talking about arcane domain clerics, what if you have magic initiate (druid) shillelagh as bonus action, then booming blade? at levels 5+ it can be good with half plate and shield using a club ;) Oh and would you take green flame lade as well or go for ray of frost/prestidigitation/ or another wizard cantrip?

Quite literally the only thing I would do to "fix" trickery cleric is change Divine Strike to psychic damage or allow the player to choose Potent Cantrips.

A bit late on this, but I'm currently playing a Loxodon Trickery Cleric and took the Poisoner feat so my Divine Strike is actually useful because I ignore resistances to the damage. Obviously this feat came way after this video, just popping in 😂

Regarding illusion abilities and whether enemies are fooled: if I don't think the circumstances would have the NPC either automatically believe or disbelieve that the illusion is real, I have them make a skill check (Perception, Insight, or Investigation, depending on circumstances) against the player character's spell save DC, or make the player do a Deception check. It depends.

Divine Strike is good when the enemy has high wisdom. Toll the dead is good when the enemy has poison resistance/immunity and/or high AC

Trickery Cleric ± Arcane Trickstee Rogue + Gnome (and their religious beliefs) = So much fun.

I LOVE this idea for a cleric. Wow, can't wait to use it! One thing I will disagree with you on is Charm Person. Like you, I generally play 'Good' aligned characters. So how is Charm Person useful? As an interrogation technique. Capture an enemy and instead of torturing him, you Charm him. Let's say the fighter knocks a goblin unconscious and ties him up. I come in and cast Charm Person. I know I get disadvantage, but I can cast it more than once. And since interrogation only comes after a battle is won, we may be looking at a long rest before the next encounter. Why not gamble on Charm Person with unused spell slots at that point? So let's say I successfully Charm the goblin after 3 tries. As a trickery cleric, I would want to speak to the goblin alone. I would try to convince him that I'm his friend, possibly pretending to be secretly working for his chieftain. Then start asking questions. If I ask something he thinks I should know, like the way to the goblin den, I tell him my memory is bad and I forgot. I would even heal the goblin to get him to trust me. Anyway, no torture, which is an 'evil' act. This is my favorite use of Charm Person and I think worthwhile, though circumstantial.

Glad I found this video to affirm my choice. My character is a con artist pretending to be a cleric, that was blessed by a trickery god and made into a real cleric :D

I was theory crafting about the new order domain cleric. Their level 6 feature allows you to use an enchantment spell as a bonus action. If you have warcaster and booming blade from some source you could booming blade attack, command flee as a bonus action and use an opportunity attack booming blade to pop the booming blade movement penalty twice. What are your opinions on this strat? Good or am I just theory crafting in a vacuum without taking into account the opportunity cost?

The illusion duplicate of yourself is great, put him on the other side of the battlefield and deliver heal spells to whoever needs them. If your clone draws 1 or 2 attacks too that’s just the icing on the cake.

I really do like your review of this archetype. I think you looked at it is a more balanced form than most others have. I honestly think they have seen "certain" shows and seen her doing more than what their DMs have allowed. Trickery Is personally my favorite RP based cleric. I made a cleric of Waukeen, who is trickery and she uses bureaucracy, forgery and such to get info and into secret areas normally others can't, without Stealth. I see Trickery as a compliment to go along with the likes of Rogues, Whisper Bards. Trickery a domain for a playful character, someone who isn't meaning too much physical harm, they could also be a morally grey cleric. Or at least in my opinion. Keep up the great content. Love and peace.

Queso. I'm a PF player, I went into 5e and looked through the Cleric options and saw trickery.. It was an obvious choice, w/some feats. idk how anyone says it's bad. It's very, very good.

DnD is too complicated for my tiny brain. Thanks for this series it's so helpfull!

My current character is a Trickster rogue 4/ trickery cleric 5. It’s a blast. Lower levels sneak attack is great. Higher spell casting later. All the skills. Better mage hand. Invoke duplicity. Fun.

It appears some people are hung up on the title of “Trickery” for this domain. This is not a domain for thieves and backstabbers, it’s a domain for tricksters and deceivers. Loki is the classic archetype, but every culture has them. The class abilities and spell list fit that type, charming people, illusions, disappearing instantly, changing shape, using deceit as a defense. The flavor text pushes you in the direction of gods of rogues and thieves, but that’s not really right. A trickster doesn’t steal for profit, they steal for disruption, for mischief. Think Robin Hood, Puck, Bugs Bunny moreso then dedicated thieves

I play a Wisdom/Dex Trickster Cleric, Kenku. A+ at all levels. Still like my rogue... but this makes a great shaman.

I'm starting a campaign with a level 1 halfling trickster cleric in a monotheistic military police state and I love him. I'm planning some weird stuff and really looking forward to it. For starters I have pretty level stats. I used standard array and after racial and class bonuses I have. 14 STR. 14 dex 15 wisdom 14 cha, 10 con and 8 int. I have halfling luck(free reroll on crit fails) and plan on taking lucky feat instead of first ability bonus. Anyway if anyone is interested in more about it I'll go on lol.

I think Trickery Domain is most useful multiclassing into Arcane Trickster Rogue. Invoked Duplicity being able to cast Booming Blade is a great battlefield control and distraction because if your DM isn't metagaming and going after your illusion that is hampering mobs, then you are doing your job as an ultimate trickster.

Take the charm person spell seriously, I am currently playing a tasha feywild ranger at level 5. we needed to interrogate someone who was likely to lash out and breath fire on us the second we opened the door. I casted charm person on them, I wasn't expecting it to work my DC at level 4 was a 12. they had advantage, because they were already hostile..... they rolled a 6 and an 8. we saved ourselves so much trouble by being able to ask him anything for a clear hour. So consider that I, a HALF CASTER was able to make good use of my limited spell slots, compared to a full caster who will always have it prepared as well, while focusing more on their Wisdom to make the DC higher.

Like 30 minutes in I was convinced I didn't want to try trickery, 45 minutes in you pulled me back in. Love your analysis ability and I'm thankful you give a view of all sides.

There are some really good spells to dispell using 1st or 2nd level spells like command(if you act before your allie) and hold person

a lot of people (DMs and players alike) forget that it says 'perfect illusion'... 'PERFECT' that leaves no room for misinterpreting how this illusion is perceived and how it works and unlike many other illusions that allow for the use of an 'ACTION' to make an INT check to determine if you believe the illusion or not... this 'perfect' illusion just works

I am currently playing a Trickery Cleric in a campaign. Next to me there is only one other player who is playing a rogue. We make a really great team. The rogue does the majority of the stealth work, and nails it because of my clerics abilities. We are a thieving powerduo.

I'm a relative newbie to (playing) d&d, but as my first character was a trickery cleric I have quite a fondness for this domain. How would you rate Trickery as a 1 level starting dip for a wizard compared to the other domains? And if you went to level 2, when would you do so?

trickery is my fav domain after order, that slow spell so good

I gotta say, I prefer this style to the one you switched to for later guides. Having the first portion where you talk in general about the build really helps me understand where the build is going and why

Dropping weapon on the ground and then picking it up from the ground could easily be reasoned to be faster than sheathing and drawing a weapon. A few years ago I bought a relatively cheap sword and sheath, and found it much easier to 'let go' of the sword and then 'pick it up' than to 'sheath it'. It is much faster to drop and pick up a sword than to put it away properly. I imagine that a skilled warrior character could easily decide that it was in their best interests to drop the sword (and risk the enemy picking it up) and try to recover it later so that they could perform an epic battle winning feat.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Arcana domain's Spell Breaker isn't limited to just one creature, it's every creature you heal, right? So Mass Healing Word or an equivalent AoE becomes a mass dispel as well as a heal, which does drive it up a bit higher than a normal dispel magic.

Blessing of the trickster is an amazing ability standalone that doesn't wear with age. Every stealth mission the rogue / monk takes in the game is SIGNIFICANTLY easier with one spammable ability.

Its pretty funny to use the illusionary duplicate to walk into an enemy's range, and then walk out of their range. That way, the enemies all waste their oppurtunity attacks trying to hit a perfect illusionary copy of my character, as to enable other people to walk out of range of the enemy.

I liked this point made about the value of the domain spell list for the cleric. Which other domains would you rate highly based just on the spells the domain list gives? Light? Forge?

First of all, I have to say, I love your content. I was very glad to see that you started making youtube video's You go very much in depth in the divine strike department. Perhaps a little bit excessive. First your argumentation, which was perfect. But then the examples that basically agree with you. Perhaps you wanted to point out that people shouldn't give divine strike so much attention. On the other hand you skipped over the last domain spells of the trickery cleric. Was that intentional? Looking forward to the second half of this video.

I'm doing a trickery/rogue (i'm aiming at +5 dex and +4 wis, i know... i should have done the opposite) because i didn't want to be' a full caster, i get lot of skills and by taking only 3 rogue levels i can decide to get the trickster or assassin subclass... the first grants a decent amount of wizard spells like magic hand, but i think that getting the assassin one will give a great improvement on the melee side of the character making him crit most of the times, doubling the weapon damage... the sneak attack, and even the divine strike! Plus the profiency on making poisons will make me add other variants of them on the blade improving the damage even more (i know about the poison resistance but i will talk to my dm about it) then i think i'll just get some feats to increase my wisdom (I started with 15)... invisibility, magic hand and maybe agathys armor... not the best and efficient cleric but very funny to play imo..

Listening to this one thing I'd really like to see is a build that used cleric and warlock to really optimize a potent Eldricht Blast build and how it holds up versus other characters. You'd have to focus on both wisdom and Charisma but that really makes sense for a preacher devoted to the higher power of your choice rather than the classical crusader type. You'd have to take Magic Initiate to make Eldricht Blast a cleric spell, which frees up a different Warlock Cantrip right away using Variant human to get the feat right away . . . then at level 2 & 3 you take Warlock so you can add your Charisma and Wisdom bonus' to each beam. But obviously we aren't taking this just for damage we investing a couple of levels so we can push and pull critters around . . . we've got other sources of damage, this is a cantrip and a spell a turn and we want the best cantrip we can use even if it cost us 2 levels and a feat. Which is a big cost but we are using this a LOT; plus clerics do benefit from a higher charisma and we've chosen our domain to maximize that.

I've been working through your vids over the last few weeks and I'm so glad I found this one. First character I ever created was a Trickery Cleric (only got to play 1 session though) and my thought process was exactly the same as yours here. It's extremely gratifying to hear that my noob reasoning lined up so well with your analysis. The trickery domain spell list is absolutely insane for clerics and Invoke Duplicity is alright. At the time I didn't understand the importance of concentration that well so I overrated that part a bit but still, thank you.

As someone who main's a trickery domain cleric, the combination of inflict wounds and invoke duplicity is DEVASTATING at low levels. That advantage is incredible. Being able to set up the duplicity and then drop 3d10 damage on an enemy is awesome. One of the first boss fights I entered with him, I rolled high initiative and hit first. I critted and hit for 57 damage, killing the goblin leader. How can you say that inflict wounds isn't good?

Your perspective is always incredibly eye opening. I wonder how you would go about building a War cleric, if I may ask?

They always say 1 round of invisibility but it really is like a round and a half almost two rounds *end of next turn* you still have movement, free action and bonus action if you use it first. Then you get a whole round to set yourself up for when you pop back at the end of the round.

Polymorph at 15th level... it's still a 156 temporary HP bonus, sure the barbarian or fighter receiving it will do less damage, but they'l still do more damage then if they were uncounscious. I agree transforming the fighter into a T-Rex at level 7 is powerfull and cool, and I Agree that this same T-Rex get a lot weaker at level 15, I'm not dening that. But Polymorph is a lot more then juste transforming a party member into a T-Rex for more damage. As a spell caster, if you run out of spell (or need to conserve your spell slot for a harder fight) casting polymorph T-Re on yourself (even at level 15) will allow you to save on healing since the ennemy will need to go trought your T-Rex HP before touching your own, and you'll deal more damage then if you spammed your cantrip. So for those long adventuring day, it's a decent spell even at level 15 for lesser encounter. then even at 15th level, transforming into a giant eagle (or any large flying beast) will allow that player, plus a rider, plus probably one of the small party member to fly, Sure I might use it for in combat flight, since the eagle is pretty weak (specially at level 15) and while you allow the melee fighter to reach the flying dragon, you will do nothing during the fight, but if you need to fly over an obstacle then it might be fine, maybe ask the wizard for a fog cloud or a darkness spell so the ennemies bellow don't see you? Even at level 15th+ if you polymoprh into a rat to infiltrate Xanathar hideout in the sewer or into a cat to walk in the ennemy town or into an owl to spy on those witches in the forest... it's a pretty good stealth strategy even if your stealth check sucks, or that clanky paladin can be transformed into a small spider and climb inside the halfling rogue backpack and be carried stealthely (and if the rogue need backup during the stealth mission, he could "free interaction with the environement" squish the spider and voila, a paladin ready to fight So even at 15th level polymorph offer: Melee option when out of spell or conserving spell Emergency healing "out of combat" flight "out of combat" Stealth and it remain just as effective as it was at level 7 to transform the big bad evil guy into a whale on land (so he's out of combat, but a fireball do not risk breaking the polymorph) or transforming the prisoner into a snail and caging it in a glass jar to bring him back to justice. Or just for some cheese where you transform into a mice and drown it in a glass of water (the drowning/suffocating condition is not removed from reverting back to his normal self, neither are some of the nastiest spell like contagions, so maybe choose an beast with particularly low charisma, and inflict it with the charisma disease for 3 turns then break the concentration and voila, a diseases enemy (would a creature immune to diseae lost his immunity when transformed this way? if yes, once he transformed, does the immunity cure the disease he's received while polymorphed?

That Divine Strike ability should've a confusion-thingy attached to it, it would make much more sense! I know confusion is not an energy type, but well i never said I had all figured out! xP

Most of the complaints about this subclass have been mitigated post tashas with harness divine power, and blessed strikes giving improved options for channel divinity and divine strike. Which would make this easily the best subclass for Clerics but of course now we have the peace and twilight domain.... whelp.

Thanks for making this video. I'm a huge fan of the trickery domain, and 3 out of the 6 clerics I've played have been trickery because I love the thematic of the archetype. But I do think the video is a bit off. It tries to excuse the problems instead of embracing the problems and arguing for the strength of the subtype despite it's problems. Also only comparing it to Arcana? I'd argue this is also a weak domain. Look at the Life, Tempest, Light, Grave, or Forge domains. These are the ones I consider to be strong. Maybe some power gamers have decided Arcana domain is so good at 20th level or something, but I don't think it's actually that good for a solid play unless you're grabbing it for a specific role play reason. For the trickery domain, all of the class features feel like it was tuned with rogue multi-classing in mind. Blessing of the Trickster - I actually like this ability. But a common theme you see with trickery cleric, is it feels like it they wanted to discourage a rogue multiclasser from just always using it on themselves. If I were to change it I would either lift the requirement of it being another creature so the cleric could use it on themselves, and/or increase the duration from 1 hour to 8 hours. Given that you can only have 1 active at a time and it's already 1 hour with a 1 action cost, this just removes book keeping from the class feature of having to state you refresh the blessing over and over. But comparing this to Forge domain that gives you 1 free magic item at level 1. Grave domain that allows max healing on unconscious targets and Spare the Dying to be a bonus action. Light domain granting disadvantage on attacks. Tempest domain allowing you to rebuke targets. This really just falls short, as there are so many other ways of getting advantage on stealth. Invoke Duplicity - Strong at lower levels, but it drops off. It is less vague then illusion spells. For example silent image and major image both include the language of having to make an action to investigate against the caster's DC. Major Image states that physical interaction reveals the illusion. Both silent image, major image and even minor image all state what sensory effects the illusion can make. Is the duplicate silent or not is unclear. As proof how of vague the ability is, in our games, we actually use much of the major image's language to fill in the gap. The bigger problem is Invoke Duplicity has three catches to it: concentration, 1 minute duration (most illusions are 10 minutes) and an action. I feel like to make this feature worth it past 4th level, you need to drop any one of these three requirements. - Removing concentration, makes it more worth in long combat, as its no longer competing with so many of the great cleric concentration spells. Also with long combat the action setup isn't so bad and you won't lose concentration. - Making it a bonus action, allows it to be more useful in shorter fights where you are just trying to avoid damage and end the encounter. You don't want to waste spell slots in shorter fights so the concentration isn't a big deal. But the setup cost of an action removes this from being as viable in short fights, as it's not worth the investment. - Making it last 10 minutes instead of 1 minute would make it more useful in social situations. Especially if the spell clarified you could do things like control the duplicate's speech. It could be much useful distractions as with other illusion spells. So even if you aren't going to use it in combat, there would be other times you would consider using it. Again, like with the blessing, it feels like it was designed with rogue multiclass in mind. Advantage from your duplicate feels like it was setup to give sneak attack. And because of that it had to be overly restrictive on it's uses. Comparing this to the Life domain, healing that comes back on a short rest. Tempest domain, max damage rolls. Grave domain giving double damage to your nuker. Forge domain which is very flavorful, though niche. Light domain, which is very strong at low levels, and still useful at higher ones, people underestimate the power of selectful area of effect damage spells. Cloak of Shadows - This is pretty weak, 1 round of invisibility. Like you said in your video, it's basically equal to taking the disengage or dodge action. I do have to state, since it works until the end of your next turn, you can use it to gain advantage on your first attack roll on your next turn. Good maybe for a rogue who wants to use this to sneak up and stab a guard? Feels like multiclassing with the rogue was once again a consideration. Divine Strike - As you said, this is pretty weak. Though out of all the divine strikes, it's by far the weakest due to the damage type. But for a rogue, doing poison damage is very much a hallmark of the rogue archetype. Improved Duplicity - Like you said, not even worth talking about this. If we had the improvements I originally pointed out in invoke duplicity this could have some more interesting uses. Domain list - Like you, I think the domain list is a home run, and why I keep picking this domain. If you removed every class feature it would still make this a great choice. Adds both flavor and great utility. I do think polymorph fits trickery domain. Turning the BBEG into a slug? Come'on this is hilarious. Turning yourself in a fly to you can spy, sneak and just be a litterally fly on the wall.

Honestly the whole "drop and pick up weapon" thing is done better by "drop weapon, draw another weapon." Same free/interactive economy but now it makes more sense. Plus with how much carrying capacity 5E has you can carry 5 maces or 5 shortswords on your person with ease. Also is Spirit Guardians really a good spell to be throwing around? Because it's a concentration spell and when you cast one of those in combat *everyone* is gonna jump on you until you lose the spell and unless you've spent the two feats that boost concentration you will drop it after a turn or two unless you get lucky, at least from what I've seen.

As a DM with the duplicity thing I would at least make the first attack or round of attacks be a coin flip which one gets attacked. After that might start giving the enemies a chance to disbelieve the illusion. Now you do some clever shell game business with your movement and make a skill roll, we might go back to the 50/50

Oh yes, it's the weakest domain. *Looks at Jester Lavorre and how she tricked a hag into eating a laced baked good so she could cast Modify Memory to break a friend's curse*

i love playing clerics and am playing my second trickery cleric now. i do hate the level 8 ability and wish it had something better or the class gave weapon proficiency to finesse or a few ranged weapons at level 1, though i'd rather potent spellcasting.

Just discover your channel. Great videos and if possible can you make a video about str vs dex combat characters and ways to improve two weapon characters? Thank you!

Have you looked at the Order domain from the Ravnica book? What do you think of it?

When talking about Potent Spellcasting vs. Divine Strike, you didn't mention Word of Radiance. Granted, there probably aren't going to many times where you need some AoE and can't just have someone throw a Fireball (or similar) at it, but it's a nice option to have when the wizard is out of spells, or you find yourself caught between two or more enemies. Potent Spellcasting means that the bonus damage gets multiplied across all the enemies we can hit, making you that much more formidable as a melee spellcaster. Evokers do it better with Thunderclap since they can _also_ do half damage on a passed save, but if there's any full caster that can wade into melee to break up an enemy formation, it's the cleric.