Introduction
There are almost 400 different unique gods in Pathfinder 2 which is…way too many. It can be somewhat difficult to sort out who’s worth your time dedicating your immortal soul to and who is better left being trapped in an eldritch prison. In this series I will be guiding you through each of the many gods of Golarion and going over which of their features will add the most to your Pathfinder career.
We will be starting with what Paizo considers the core 20 gods (technically 21, but we will get to that). We did this once prior to the remaster , but the proliferation of deities has made the existing article somewhat obsolete.
As a disclaimer: There are many Backgrounds, Archetypes, Feats, and other such options that interact with the gods and their features in some way. If we set out to analyze them from a one size fits all standpoint, this already massive project would become nigh impossible. So to keep this relatively straightforward and simple we will be examining each god from the lens of a Cleric or Champion which are the two classes most heavily involved with the features of the gods. We will also be looking at this through the lens of a classic heroic fantasy game and what is most conducive to that style of play.
Additionally certain gods push you towards a specific style of play over another so they will be rated over how well their features synergize with that style of play. For instance: Iomedae is a great god for more martial-focused playstyles, but not amazing for pure caster builds, so it would be pointless to examine her from that standpoint.
With those stipulations out of the way, pull out your prayer books and let’s start some theology!
When you’re ready for more, see the other articles in this series:
Table of Contents
Understanding RPGBOT’s Rating System
RPGBOT uses a 4-tier rating scheme which is simple to understand and easy to read at a glance.
- : Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
- : OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances. Useful sometimes.
- : Good options. Useful often.
- : Fantastic options, often essential to the function of your character. Useful very frequently.
Pathfinder 2e Core Deities
Abadar
The classic god of cities and Law. A lot of his features are dedicated to making you into a judge, jury, and executioner. All of his features are pretty solid if not mind-blowing and he’s a good first pick for a new player.
Both are easy to follow for heroic characters
Constitution is good for survival. Intelligence can help with Recall Knowledge checks.
Flexible.
Flexible.
Society is more niche and it’s Intelligence-based, so it won’t offer anything of huge value to Clerics, but it’s nice to have.
Good backup weapon for caster Clerics when people are out of range of your spells. Can be used for Champions as a ranged option, but there are better weapons. Action economy also makes this a hard sell.
: Overall solid options for what you need: Cit ies for more exploration focus, Earth for a bit of damage, Travel for mobility, and Wealth for area control, but nothing super noteworthy.
- ,
These are all solid picks, but they are more geared towards Warpriests than Cloistered Clerics. Toil is probably the best one.
Illusory Object, Creation, and Planar Palace. Illusory Object and Creation definitely have their uses in the right situation and Planar Palace is a great spell to set a safe place for your party to rest, but none of these are what I’d call amazing.
Arazni
Arazni is a fascinating character who was unwillingly turned into a Lich by Geb before she managed to reclaim her humanity and ascend to godhood as the patron of those who have been abused or taken advantage of by those they trusted. She is not big on people worshipping her and her features heavily push you into being an agent of vengeance. Overall solid god with a good suite of features.
: Easy enough to follow if you’re a heroic character. The forgiveness bit could cause party friction.
Constitution is good for survival. Intelligence can help with Recall Knowledge checks with many relevant skills (Nature and Religion are notably Wisdom-based).
: Flexible.
: Flexible.
: Not a great skill for a Cleric, but, if you are a Champion, there could be some use to this, especially if you lean into using Demoralize.
Rapier is a solid weapon with some good traits but there are better weapons for both casters and martial fighters.
: Confidence is terrible, but the other three are all decent or great in the case of Pain. Definitely usable.
Sorrow is definitely useful if not a bit niche. I’m torn on whether this is worth spending a class feat on but if you are planning on specializing in emotion effects, especially fear, then you will get a lot out of this.
Endure, Animus Mine, and Never Mind. Endure is fine, but Animus Mine and Never Mind are fantastic and can do a lot for both your offense and defense.
Asmodeus
Basically satan. If you are worshipping this guy he will give you the power to dominate your enemies and basically become a tyrant, which is fitting. His features are decent, but his problematic style of play may get you into trouble.
Will be problematic in heroic groups but fine in evil ones.
It’s any attribute, duh. The only one of the core deities that actually lets you pick your Attribute.
: Harm is fine, but since you can’t take Heal, you are going to be missing out on half of its versatility unless you or your party have a lot of undead or negative healing.
: Unless you’re in an evil campaign, you won’t be getting much mileage out of this and might be actively hampered by it if you come up against other unholy entities.
: Deception is useful for some Champions but kind of useless for Clerics.
A classic staple for a reason. It is simple (literally) and has good damage and traits.
Confidence is garbage, but the rest are all great and have their uses.
Duty and Glyph are serviceable, but if you’re picking this, it’s probably for Toil.
: Charm, Suggestion, and Mislead. Charm and Suggestion are both useful spells and Mislead is basically upgraded invisibility.
Calistria
The goddess of lust, excess, and vengeance, Calistria is perfect for the average thrill seeker. That said, a lot of her features tend to benefit non-Clerics and non-Champions.
Easy enough to follow, but easier still to fall into problematic chaotic neutral tropes.
: Strength is arguably more useful for a champion than Dexterity, and Charisma is not very useful on a cleric. Either way, you’re losing something in one of these classes.
: Flexible.
: Flexible.
Deception is useful for some Champions, but kind of useless for Clerics.
: Can’t match the flavor, but the damage is poor and the Nonlethal trait might get in the way sometimes. That said, Finesse gives you flexibility and Disarm, Trip, and Reach are all really useful traits to have.
Avoid Secrecy and you’re golden.
Charm, Mislead, and Enthrall. Charm is useful and Mislead is pretty great but Enthrall is pretty bad in non-social encounters.
Cayden Cailean
The god of parties and drinking, he ascended to godhood basically on a drunken dare. He’s a solid deity for both Clerics and Champions of any build, though his features seem to lean slightly more towards a martial playstyle.
Very easy to follow as a normal heroic adventurer.
Charisma is good for Champion, Constitution is great for both.
Heal is the better of the two to be forced to pick for most parties.
Holy is the better of the two to pick for most parties.
Really only useful for Champions and Warpriests.
Rapier is a solid weapon with some good traits, but there are better weapons for both casters and martial characters.
: Cities is not amazing, but the rest are all pretty decent. Might is a particular favorite for more martial-focused builds.
: Fleet Step, Stupefy, and Hallucination. Fleet Step is great for your mobility, especially if you want to play a melee-focused build. Stupefy is a great condition to put on enemies, especially casters. Hallucination is harder to use, but if you’re creative and can pull it off, this can be very strong.
Desna
The goddess of dreams, luck, and the stars, Desna is a solid pick for any Cleric or Champion build who focuses on manipulating dice rolls in your favor and making travel less of a pain.
: Easy enough to follow. Be curious and don’t be a jerk
Charisma is good for a champion, but not for a Cleric, and Dexterity is really only useful for certain Clerics.
Heal is the better of the two to be forced to pick for most parties.
Holy is the better of the two to pick for most parties.
Acrobatics is kind of useless unless you plan on tumbling through things a lot (which you shouldn’t if you aren’t a Swashbuckler).
: Pretty solid flexible weapon that has the Deadly and Thrown properties. There’s an argument for it being one of the best thrown weapons in the game. The problem is thrown weapons tend to be single use before you have a way to recover them (likely a Returning rune). For a Champion or Warpriest this can be a useful opener before you move into melee. For a caster Cleric you are probably better off just using a Cantrip.
: Pretty solid actually. All of these Domains offer something useful, especially Luck.
Decidedly mid. Nothingness and Repose are ok while Star has an atrocious lesser Domain Spell and an absolutely busted Advanced Domain Spell. I’m not sure this is worth taking a feat for, though.
: Sleep and Translocate are both powerful spells, especially when Heightened. Dreaming Potential is more niche but still arguably useful.
Erastil
The god of the wild and the hunt. His features focus on helping you survive and thrive in the wilderness. While the things he gives you are great for any Cleric or Champion build, he tends to favor a martial playstyle (especially a ranged one) a bit more.
: Protect your loved ones and don’t be selfish. Simple. Where you’ll get into trouble is the no lying stipulation, so be careful. Unclear if this means you can’t let other people lie for you either. If so, avoid Erastil like the plague. Make sure your reputation remains impeccable as well.
: Both Constitution and Wisdom are great attributes for Clerics. Wisdom is less amazing for Champions but still handy.
Heal is the better of the two to be forced to pick for most parties.
Holy is the better of the two to pick for most parties.
: Clerics will get a lot of mileage out of Survival especially in games like kingmaker where tracking, sensing direction, and counteracting the weather is valuable. If you’re using the optional campsite rules, this becomes blue. That said, in other games you will get less out of this, and it’s not very good for Champions.
: Longbow is a great ranged option as long as you stay on the back line, and it doesn’t have the action economy problems that a crossbow does. Its minimum range makes this less good for Champions.
: These domains are all awesome in their own way and provide some great benefits.
Duty is a pretty good Domain for a Warpriest or Champion, but less useful for a Cloistered Cleric. Whether it’s worth taking a feat for is debatable and largely comes down to what build you’re going for.
: Sure Strike, Wall of Thorns, and Nature’s Pathway. Sure Strike and Wall of Thorns are great combat spells, and Nature’s Pathway is a useful teleport alternative.
Gorum
Gorum is…tricky. According to official lore he is dead, having been killed as of War of the Immortals, so it’s quite possible that most GMs won’t let you pick him anymore. But I feel we do the beloved god of war a disservice by not giving him his due ranking, and some tables won’t care about official lore. Unsurprisingly, his features heavily encourage a melee-focused playstyle, with him giving very little to ranged or full caster builds. With Gorum, it’s all about getting down into the scruff for honor and glory.
: If you’re picking this, you are either a Champion or Warpriest focused on martial prowess. It’s unclear what “indirect magic” means and if it includes damaging AOE spells, but you’re probably best off relying on buffs and single-target magic just in case your GM decides to get smart.
: As this is geared towards martial builds, both of these Attributes will be useful. If you’re going full caster though, Constitution will still be useful even if strength won’t be.
: Flexible.
: Flexible.
: Really only useful for Champions and Warpriests. That said, you should really only be taking this deity if you plan on playing one of these builds, so it gets a higher rating for that.
: Greatsword is solid, having the highest damage die for a melee weapon. It’s perfect for the style of play Gorum wants you to engage with, and the Versatile trait will help you bypass certain resistances. Just make sure you have the Strength to wield it, or you will become Clumsy. Even better, Gorum offers you a lot of spells and features that synergize well with this weapon.
: Confidence is so bad that it single-handedly prevents this from being a blue rating, but the other three are fantastic picks, especially for the martial-focused build this deity is encouraging you to lean into.
: Sure Strike, Enlarge, and Weapon Storm. These spells are all really great for the build this Deity encourages and it makes having a Greatsword even better with Weapon Storm.
Gozreh
The god of the seas and storms. Like Erastil, he focuses on helping you survive in the wild, but his focus is more on the water. He’s a pretty solid deity, but some of his features, like his spells, are very underwhelming, keeping him from attaining a blue rating overall.
: Mostly easy to follow, but be careful about the bringing civilization and destroying natural beauty parts. It would be very easy for a cruel GM to use this against you in a fight in the wilderness.
: Both are great for Clerics of any build. Wisdom is less useful for a Champion, but still handy.
Heal is the better of the two to be forced to pick for most parties.
You get nothing.
: Clerics can get a lot of mileage out of Survival especially in games like Kingmaker where tracking, sensing direction, and counteracting the weather is invaluable. If you’re using the optional campsite rules, this becomes blue. That said, in other games you will get less out of this and it’s not very good for Champions.
: Trident is a solid weapon with theThrown trait and decent damage.
: Air is fantastic and the rest are still pretty solid too.
Gust of Wind, Lightning Bolt, and Control Water. Gust of Wind is underwhelming for a ranked spell, Lightning Bolt is not great unless you can set it up properly to somehow hit more than two targets, and Control Water is situational at best.
Iomedae
The premier Champion deity. She is the youngest of the core deities, having only recently ascended to replace Aroden when he died. She was a paladin of Arazni as a mortal and was renowned for vanquishing evil. She is the goddess of honor, justice, and the American wa- I mean Golarion way. Her features focus on improving your martial prowess and, as a result, she offers far less to full casters.
: Probably one of the easiest ones to follow if you’re playing a straightforward heroic character.
: Both are great for Champions, which is appropriate for Iomedae. Caster Clerics will still benefit from Constitution.
Heal is the better of the two to be forced to pick for most parties.
Holy is the better of the two to pick for most parties.
: Not a great skill for a Cleric, but if you are a Champion (which Iomedae really wants you to be), this is pretty useful for some features especially with Demoralize.
: Classic easy weapon to use, especially for the popular sword and board Champion Iomedae wants you to play.
: Kind of an even split. Confidence isn’t worth your time and Truth is just ok, but Might and Zeal are both excellent if you are playing a Warpriest or Champion, which you definitely should if you are picking Iomedae.
: Duty is a pretty good Domain for a Warpriest or Champion, but less useful for a Cloistered Cleric. Whether it’s worth taking a feat for is debatable and largely comes down to what build you’re going for. That said, I’m rating this higher than for Erastil’s entry, specifically because Iomedae already pushes you towards the type of playstyle that can take full advantage of this domain.
: Sure Strike, Enlarge, and Fire Shield. All of these spells are great picks for martial-focused builds. You shouldn’t pick Iomedae if you are planning on going full caster.
Irori
The god of knowledge and self discipline, Irori was a mortal who ascended by essentially achieving nirvana. Unsurprisingly, his features are geared towards finding inner peace and following the path of a Monk. As a result, the things he offers you can be great for Monk players, but they are less useful for Clerics and Champions.
Unlike other Deities, Irori seems to want you to lean into a monk-like playstyle and fantasy, which is odd considering base Monks don’t interact with Deities all that much. Self-discipline will be extremely important, so be careful.
: Wisdom is great for Clerics, and Intelligence will be good for Recall Knowledge checks.
: Flexible.
: Flexible.
Really only useful for Champions and Warpriests, and if you are a Champion, this Deity doesn’t offer you much else, so really it’s just Warpriests.
This one is tricky. Fist has some great traits if you can maximize it by taking the right feats and/or are a Monk. Irori’s encouragement of the Monk style of play seems to suggest picking them only if you are taking the Cleric Archetype as a Monk and not starting as baseline Cleric.
: Truth is just ok, but the rest are pretty solid, especially for the style of play this deity encourages.
Pretty solid for the type of playstyle Irori already encourages, but it loses points because, realistically, you are going to spend your class feats on Archetypes to make what Irori gives you worth it unless you’re using the Free Archetype variant.
: Jump, Haste, and Mountain’s Resilience. Leans into the Monk-style gameplay more. Jump and Mountain’s Resilience are both pretty decent, but what we are really here for is Haste, which is always worth using.
Lamashtu
The ultimate rebel and hipster, Lamashtu is the mother of monsters. You may be tempted to think this makes her evil, but she’s more chaotic neutral. She believes in tearing down the beautiful illusions that hide the monsters underneath and protecting those that society shuns. She is pretty well-rounded as a deity and offers some great features to both Clerics and Champions. She loses points, however, due to her spells being lackluster and her edicts can encourage a somewhat problematic playstyle.
: Can be problematic in heroic parties, but followers of Lamashtu are better team players than Asmodeus, and she doesn’t strictly encourage or force you to lean into evil acts. In fact, she even encourages you to help the disadvantaged.
: Both are great for Champions and Warpriests. Full casters will still benefit from Constitution.
: Flexible .
Unless you’re in an evil campaign, you won’t be getting much mileage out of this and might be actively hampered by it if you come up against other unholy entities.
: Clerics can get a lot of mileage out of Survival, especially in games like Kingmaker where tracking, sensing direction, and counteracting the weather is invaluable. If you’re using the optional campsite rules, this becomes blue. That said, in other games you will get less out of this and it’s not very good for Champions.
: Falchion is a fantastic weapon that has great damage and encourages an aggressive style of play. Even if it’s just a backup for you, you will still be glad you have it.
: One of the best set of options of any of the core deities. You can’t go wrong with any of these, but Family and Trickery are particular standouts.
: Change is very useful, but Abomination is absolutely fantastic. It is almost worth taking a feat specifically for this domain alone.
Spider Sting, Nightmare, and Animal Form. Spider Sting is middling, Nightmare is niche, but Animal Form has its uses if you’re build to make Polymorph spells useful.
Nethys
The god of magic and the ever constant troll, Nethys is a particularly popular deity in Pathfinder canon. So much so that the repository of game knowledge for both first and second editions have been named after him. Some people have compared him to Deadpool with his sarcastic attitude and tendency to break the fourth wall thanks to him going crazy and forming a split personality after being exposed to knowledge even gods were not meant to know. Nethys offers a ton of excellent features for full casters but offers basically nothing for martial characters. Still, this makes him one of the strongest picks of any of the core deity cast.
: Don’t be a boring, filthy non-caster and you’ll be fine (Tyler rejoices)
: Wisdom is great for Clerics and Intelligence will be good for Recall Knowledge checks. Champions get something from Wisdom, but nothing much out of Intelligence. (Good. Filthy Martials).
: Flexible (Only the best for the best).
: Flexible (Only the best for the best).
: Raise your hand. Who’s surprised? Arcana is useful for a lot of things related to magic, identification, and spellcasting.
: We aren’t beating the accusations of being wannabe wizards, huh? You will most likely be using this for the many powerful and useful magic staffs that you will uncover. Don’t use this as a weapon unless you have no other options. We aren’t here to be filthy martials.
: Why Protection, Nethys? Just…why? Are you trolling? The rest are all perfect for this kind of playstyle though.
Honestly, you’re better off with the base Domains Nethys gives you. Glyph is pretty good, but nothing special, and Disorientation seems cool, but its lesser Domain Spell is a trap and its Advanced Domain Spell is heavily reliant on GM-fiat. Not really worth the feat unless you have something very specific in mind.
: Force Barrage, Embed Message, Levitate, Flicker, Telekinetic Haul, Wall of Force, Warp Mind, Quandary, and Detonate Magic. Ok, this is patently unfair. You get the most amount of spells of any other base Deity in the game (one for every Rank) and they are all awesome and will see a lot of use throughout your career. This feels like blatant favoritism.
Norgorber
The god of esoteric knowledge, secrets, and murder, he’s sort of adjacent to Baal from Forgotten Realms. And, just like Baal, not much is known about him either before or after his ascension, and he likes it that way. As a patron of assassins and murderers, the features he offers help mold you into a skilled and deadly assassin. Unfortunately, this makes him the weakest of the core gods to pick for either a Cleric or a Champion.
This one is extremely problematic in heroic-focused games. It might even be worse than Asmodeus and highly encourages a self-centered, backstabbing mindset that could prove problematic even in evil games. Be very careful when choosing this Deity.
Intelligence is marginally useful for everyone on some level, but Dexterity is really only going to be useful for some specific Cleric builds.
Harm is fine, but since you can’t take Heal, you are going to be missing out on half of its versatility unless you or your party have a lot of undead or Negative Healing.
Unless you’re in an evil campaign you won’t be getting much mileage out of this and might be actively hampered by it if you come up against other unholy entities.
Since a lot of Clerics and Champions are encouraged to wear heavy armor that hampers your stealth, this skill is next to useless for you.
: Shortswords are decent with both the Agile and Versatile traits.
Pretty mid selection if we are being honest. Secrecy is not worth taking, Death is useful for Warpriests, which this deity highly discourages, but Trickery and Wealth are both pretty decent, keeping this from falling into the Red rating.
Illusory Disguise, Invisibility, and Vision of Death. Illusory Disguise is more useful for players who have the Charisma to back it up which you won’t have. Invisibility relies on stealth which if you use any sort of heavy armor you will be bad or mediocre at. Really Vision of Death is the only unambiguously good spell you get here.
Pharasma
The goddess of death, fate, and time, she lives in a cathedral at the top of the Infinite Spire in the center of the planes where she judges souls. Pharasma’s features can best be described as boring but practical. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The consistent quality of her features makes her a strong pick regardless of your build.
Don’t be a Necromancer and you’re Pharasma’s perfect child.
: Both are invaluable to a Cleric of any build and Champions still get something out of both.
Heal is the better of the two to be forced to pick for most parties.
You get nothing
: There’s an argument to be made that Medicine is the most useful skill in the entire game (aside from Perception, of course, but it’s technically not a skill). Everyone can benefit from training in this skill.
: Simple, elegant, flexible, but terrible damage. Dagger isn’t a great main weapon by any means, but good in a pinch.
: All are solid, it just depends on what you want out of your Cleric or Champion.
: Honestly pretty good, especially Time, which may be worth taking a feat for on its own.
: Mindlink, Ghostly Weapon, and Vision of Death. Mindlink has its uses, Ghostly Weapon is a literal god send if you are fighting undead a lot, and Vision of Death is just an overall solid spell.
Rovagug
The imprisoned god of destruction, he cares little for his followers cause his ultimate goal is to destroy everything. And that does mean everything, including his insane followers. Unsurprisingly, Rovagug has a very narrow suite of abilities to suit one purpose: destruction, specifically from a martial perspective. You’d think this would make him one of the stronger picks for overall combat effectiveness, but his encouragement of a problematic playstyle combined with his somewhat underwhelming features leaves him a bit lacking.
In the running for the most problematic deity to pick in a heroic game as one of his edicts is literally freeing him from his prison, which is…a horrible idea. At least he doesn’t condone torture, so….yay?
As with Gorum, Rovagug heavily favors martial-focused Clerics or Champions, making these both solid attributes for that sort of build.
Harm is fine, but since you can’t take Heal, you are going to be missing out on half of its versatility unless you or your party have a lot of undead or Negative Healing.
Unless you’re in an evil campaign, you won’t be getting much mileage out of this and might be actively hampered by it if you come up against other unholy entities.
: Really only useful for Champions and Warpriests. That said, you should really only be taking this deity if you plan on playing one of these builds, so it gets a higher rating for that.
: As with Greatsword, Greataxe has good damage with the highest damage dice for a melee weapon. Sweep is good for aggressive playstyles which it seems Rovagug encourages. That said, it gets a lower rating than Gorum’s Greatsword as Rovagug doesn’t automatically offer you much that synergizes with it.
: Competes with Lamashtu for best overall options of the base deities. All of them are great, especially for the style of play Rovagug encourages.
Nothingness is ok and Swarm doesn’t offer you much that you can’t already get elsewhere. Not worth the feat investment.
Breathe of Fire, Enlarge, and Disintegrate. Breathe Fire is bad, but both Enlarge and Disintegrate are great spells to have.
Sarenrae
Probably the most well known to new players thanks to Critical Role, Sarenrae is the goddess of the sun, healing and redemption (unless you serve Rovagug who she despises). As a result, her features are very strong regardless of build, giving you ample power to both heal and deal serious damage in abundance. As with Abadar, Sarenrae is an excellent default pick for newer players.
: As with Erastil, the stipulation against lying makes this tricky. Check with your GM on whether others lying for you still counts.
: Both are invaluable to a Cleric of any build and Champions still get something out of both.
: Heal is the better of the two to be forced to pick for most parties.
: Holy is the better of the two to pick for most parties.
: There’s an argument to be made that Medicine is the most useful skill in the entire game (aside from Perception of course) which is hilarious considering how useless it is in 5e. Everyone can benefit from even just having training in this skill.
: The one handed version of a Falchion and just as useful even as a backup.
: Aside from Truth all are very solid options especially Sun which feels thematically appropriate for Sarenrae.
Repose is ok, but not good enough to justify a full feat on, unless you have a specific build in mind.
: Breathe Fire, Fireball, and Wall of Fire. Breathe Fire is bad, but Fireball and Wall of Fire are awesome spells you’ll be glad you have.
Shelyn
The goddess of beauty, love, and art, Shelyn is basically the mom of the Core Deities. She doesn’t care if the art you make is good or not, she’ll be proud of you for even trying. She’s just that much of a cinnamon roll. If you’re a Bard, Shelyn should absolutely be your go to but she doesn’t offer as much to Clerics or Champions. Her features are mostly solid, but she has a few things that hold her back from attaining blue status.
The refusal to accept surrender feels random and may be limiting depending on your party’s attitude towards dealing with enemies. Everything else is pretty straightforward and easy to follow.
: Wisdom is great for Clerics and Charisma is good for some Champions. Either way you’re getting something out of it.
: Heal is the better of the two to be forced to pick for most parties.
: Holy is the better of the two to pick for most parties.
Unlike all the other base deities, you get a choice between two. Unfortunately, the only real choice is Crafting unless you plan to take a Bard Archetype.
: Pretty excellent weapon for Warpriests and Champions. The damage is respectable, and Forceful, Reach, and Deadly are all excellent traits to have.
: All are pretty solid, you can’t go wrong here. Special shout out goes to Family.
Repose is ok, but not good enough to justify a full feat on, unless you have a specific build in mind.
Dizzying Colors, Enthrall, and Creation. Dizzying colors is an awesome spell but Enthrall is lackluster in combat and Creation has more niche uses.
Torag
If Shelyn is the ever supportive mom, Torag is the strict dad. As the god of dwarves, tactics, and crafting, he will not appreciate it if you craft something inferior. He will tell you it’s terrible without sugar coating. Unsurprisingly, his focus is on crafting and artistry while also making you an immovable object. As such, while he offers some good features for martial-focused characters, full casters will need to look elsewhere.
: Again with the lying stipulation. Like with the other gods, check with your GM on where the line is. Everything else is relatively straightforward.
: Both are invaluable to a Cleric of any build and Champions still get something out of both.
: Heal is the better of the two to be forced to pick for most parties.
: Holy is the better of the two to pick for most parties.
: Crafting is arguably useful for anyone, but you have to invest a lot into it, especially with regards to your Intelligence.
: Warhammer is fine, but nothing amazing. It will serve you well regardless of your build.
: Almost identical to Shelyn except for Earth instead of Passion. No wrong answers here.
Both Duty and Metal are good picks for Warpriests and Champions otherwise avoid.
Mindlink, Earthbind, and Creation. All of these are useful in their own way, but there is nothing particularly special or mind blowing about any of them.
Urgathoa
The goddess of disease, decay, and undeath. She is, unsurprisingly, the arch-enemy of Pharasma. She even killed the psychopomp assigned to her in death and spat in Pharasma’s face before becoming undead through sheer force of will alone. Legend. Despite her divine domain, she is one of the less problematic evil gods to follow as all she demands is that you practice necromancy. If you want to live out your inner necromancer fantasy, you will love Urgathoa, but she has a bit of an identity crisis. It’s not clear whether she favors a martial or full caster playstyle, offering something for both while giving some underwhelming power to both as well. Still, she’s a strong pick for anyone looking to delve into the secrets of undeath.
As with Lamashtu, Urgathoa is one of the less problematic evil deities to worship in heroic parties, presuming of course your party is ok with necromancy.
: Both are invaluable to a Cleric of any build and Champions still get something out of both.
Harm is fine, but since you can’t take Heal, you are going to be missing out on half of its versatility unless you or your party have a lot of undead or Negative Healing.
Unless you’re in an evil campaign you won’t be getting much mileage out of this and might be actively hampered by it if you come up against other unholy entities.
: Not a great skill for a Cleric, but if you are a Champion, there could be some use to this, especially if you lean into the fear-inducing, Demoralize-heavy playstyle Urgathoa encourages.
: Scythes have excellent flavor, good damage, and some great traits, assuming you have the Strength to back it up.
: All are solid, but nothing here is what I would classify as amazing. If you’re leaning into the necromancer fantasy, obviously take Undeath as it will be helpful for your minions.
: Decay is pretty good and swarm is ok, but if you are taking this, it is probably for Plague which is really good.
: Goblin Pox, False Vitality, and Mask of Terror. All of these are great spells to have. Goblin Pox is brutal (just don’t use it on Goblins), False Vitality is great for your survival, and Mask of Terror is extremely strong regardless of your build.
Zon-Kuthon
The god of pain, darkness, and envy, Zon-Kuthon gives Rovagug and Asmodeus a run for their money for the title of most evil deity in the Core pantheon. Which is saying something, considering one of those is a giant world-devouring bug and the other is literal Satan. About the only good thing he did was helping imprison Rovagug and that was more out of a sense of self-preservation than anything noble.
Zon-Kuthon is an extremely problematic deity to worship, as a lot of his vibe may cross lines and veils for people, which loses him some overall points in the rating. That said, he does have some strong features that will prove useful to certain builds as long as you can get past his ick factor.
Another runner in the list of worst gods to pick if you want to be a heroic team player. It also could be problematic from a meta level since The Midnight Lord calls for self-mutilation, which may be a line for some people; so check with your fellow players before taking.
: Both are invaluable to a Cleric of any build and Champions still get something out of both.
Harm is fine, but since you can’t take Heal, you are going to be missing out on half of its versatility unless you or your party have a lot of undead or Negative Healing.
Unless you’re in an evil campaign, you won’t be getting much mileage out of this and might be actively hampered by it if you come up against other unholy entities.
Not a great skill for a Cleric, but if you are a Champion, there could be some use to this.
: The only one of the base gods that gives you an Uncommon weapon. It has good damage and some great traits, but, again, this may cross some lines for some people, so double check before taking this.
: All solid options with of course Destruction being the clear winner.
Why are you wasting your valuable feats on the mid Domain that is Nothingness?
: Phantom Pain, Wall of Thorns, and Umbral Journey. This one is odd. Phantom Pain and Wall of Thorns are both great, but there’s some unclear verbiage on Umbral Journey. While speeding up your travel is invaluable, you are more or less partially in the Netherworld, and it’s unclear if that makes the journey safer or more dangerous. I could see GMs going either way on this one.
