Clerics are underrated
The other day, I was discussing clerics in Baldur’s Gate 3 in a group chat and stumbled upon an opinion that clerics are useless and you shouldn’t have them in your party: in the worst case, you can just throw a healing potion to the dying character. I found this preposterous. I also believe that it’s usually men who don’t like playing “support” classes, and that the issue is partly rooted in gender roles.
First of all, clerics have a huge variety of domains, even in Baldur’s Gate 3. If you don’t like playing a vanilla Life Domain cleric, you can choose another domain, like the Light Domain, which lets you cast fireballs. Cleric is one of the few classes that has access to radiant damage in any subclass. Unlike poison, not many creatures have resistance to radiant damage, which make it very reliable. Turn Undead is a great feature both in Baldur’s Gate 3 and in regular D&D campaigns if you’re dealing with undead enemies.
The second good thing about clerics is that they are very tanky. You have at least medium armor proficiency and a shield, which makes you one of the toughest characters to attack in your party. The hit dice isn’t too great (d8), but with a good Constitution score, you’re approximately on par with paladins.
One of the main problems, though, is that some people (mostly men) don’t find support characters interesting and they think of clerics only as a support class. Clerics are much more than just support, but there’s also nothing wrong with playing a support class, especially in a real D&D game. D&D isn’t only about fights; there’s a story you’re experiencing, and you’re developing your characters, which is why bards are so useful in normal D&D campaigns. Clerics have many advantages both in and outside of combat. I think having an advantage on some kinds of checks is valuable, and clerics can offer that with enhance ability. High Wisdom means high Perception, one of the most important checks in D&D. Sanctuary in Baldur’s Gate 3 is a lifesaver, especially useful in Honor Mode.
And yes, you still need healing after all. In cases where you can reload your game, it’s less crucial—though it makes some fights less annoying. But when you’re playing Honor Mode or real-life D&D, healing is vital. Especially in D&D, where you don’t have resurrection scrolls and resurrection spell is not free.
In conclusion, I get why some people don’t want to play clerics, but clerics are still good in many situations, both as support characters and as characters who can deal a lot of damage. And they are an absolutely brilliant class story-wise.