The deciding question is whether the sub-topics have distinct search intents and demand of their own. Build one comprehensive page when the topic is really a single intent best served whole, and build a cluster (a hub page plus focused spokes) when each sub-topic carries its own intent and enough demand to justify a separate page. The pivot is single-intent versus distinct-sub-intents. The architecture should follow how searchers actually look for the material, not a blanket preference for big pages or for many small ones.
Neither default holds up on its own. “Always build clusters” fragments a single intent into thin pages that compete with each other and split the signal, when one strong page would have ranked for the lot. “One big page ranks for everything” overloads a single URL with intents it cannot all serve well, so it ranks mediocrely for several queries instead of strongly for the ones that mattered. Both fail by ignoring the searcher: the right structure mirrors whether people are asking one question or several genuinely different ones.
To read which case you are in, look at how the sub-topics are searched. If they are facets of one need that a searcher wants answered in one place (the parts of a single how-to, say), one comprehensive page serves that whole intent and earns authority on the topic without internal cannibalization. If the sub-topics are distinct questions with their own search volume and their own intent, each deserves its own focused page, tied together by a hub that covers the topic at a high level and links out to the spokes. The hub-and-spoke structure works precisely because each spoke matches a real, separate query while the hub holds the topic together.
Before you decide, check each sub-topic for two things: does it have a distinct search intent that differs from the others, and does it have enough genuine demand to support a page. If several clear both bars, build a cluster with a hub and focused spokes. If they are facets of one intent, keep them on a single comprehensive page, and split only when the evidence of distinct intent and demand is actually there.