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#Skills
Arcana or Diplomacy
Athletics (from Student of the Sword feat)
Heal
Insight
Religion
#Feats
Action Surge
Novice Power
Student of the Sword
Weapon Focus (Flail)
Weapon Proficiency (Spiked Chain)
#Powers
At Will: Priest's Shield
At Will: Righteous Brand
At Will: Sacred Flame
Encounter 1: Healing Strike
Encounter 3: Sweeping Blow (Swapped by Student of the Sword feat)
Encounter 7: Strengthen the Faithful
Daily 1: Avenging Flame
Daily 5: Weapon of the Gods
Utility 2: Bless (Daily)
Utility 6: Bastion of Health (Encounter)
#Items
Undecided
Any suggestions are welcomed.
But basically, I want to make a cleric who do melee.
And preferably with a reach weapon, as clerics tend to have not so good AC and our party will have 2 defenders. But maybe I can't rely on melee reach as monsters also tend to have reach at higher level range.
There are several point I am currently wondering.
*Should I choose Greatspear instead of Spiked Chain?
*Is fighter-multiclassing feats worth taking?
*Does melee cleric really need descent Cha at all?
*Should I go high AC cleric (say, sword and board) instead of reach melee?
But those concerns may become irrelevant, if there are much better ways to make a melee cleric.
__________________ Shin Okada (AKA Japanese Protocol Droid) My Webpage
But since I'm playing a battle cleric, I'll throw in one point to consider.
I semi-dumped Wisdom (started with 13) 'cos all it does for a battle cleric is:
Healer's Lore (which is nice)
Turn Undead (it's my only implement power, so I don't even own a magical symbol ... therefore I'd rather use channel divinity for something else)
Wisdom based powers (I only have turn undead)
I also dumped Charisma 'cos all that does is augment the effectiveness of powers, most of which are implement-based.
I put some points into con (for armour proficiency feats .. to mitigate that poor AC), and maxed str.
'cos the way I see it, +1 hit/dam for every attack roll is well worth the combined wis/cha benefit of ... oh ... 6 hp or so of healing per combat.
And ... the extra +1 power bonus from righteous brand is just ... well ... broken.
__________________ The Passion of Lovers is for Death
Here goes my second plan. Investing more on strength and Con, but removed Novice Power feat and instead took Scale Armor Proficiency.
I am still wondering if I should use Greatspear or Spiked Chain. Greatsper does slightly more damages but Spiked Chain is more stable as it rolls two dice. I can't yet find any specific reason (feat or power) for choosing one.
I am not sure if Multiclass Feat (Student of the Sword) worth taking. I don't no if that feat reads to some possible future development. At this moment, I am taking this feat mainly for getting Athretics skill.
But since I'm playing a battle cleric, I'll throw in one point to consider.
I semi-dumped Wisdom (started with 13) 'cos all it does for a battle cleric is:
Healer's Lore (which is nice)
For the record, that's half the powers you've selected for your cleric. If an attribute affects a full 75% of all the encounter powers you want to take, dumping it is counter intuitive. You -can- do a non-healbot cleric in melee fine, but that's not what your powers indicate you want to do.
A good rule of thumb: If an attribute affects 50% or more of the things you do in a combat, it's -not- a dump stat.
I like the longspear for a weapon. It's probably the most efficient use of your [w] powers.
Last edited by DracoSuave; 25th March 2009 at 12:59 PM..
Dracosuave, AC affects 100% of the things a melee character wants to do.
So investing in AC over slightly augmenting some powers is always a consideration.
But I'll grant your point in that my cleric steers clear of most healing effects.
I did take healing strike just because it's 2[W], radiant damage, and the healing is gravy. Heck, if there was a 2[W] power with no other effect whatsoever, I'd probably take it over Wrathful Thunder.
__________________ The Passion of Lovers is for Death
For Athletics, I'd pick up Berserker's Fury multiclass. The +2 damage throughout a difficult encounter can add up to a respectable amount of damage. Leave the marking to your defenders.
I'd go with Blazing Beacon over Split the Sky. Eventhough it's vs AC, your ranged attackers will really appreciate the bonus. Of course if you don't have more than one ranged attacker, Split the Sky is a fine power too.
__________________ Warning: This post may contain sarcasm.
Hmm .. yeah, I like Berserker's Fury a lot.
But my impression is, the OP doesn't have PHB2 ... though it's allowed?
I'd suggest Weapon Expertise (Spear) over Weapon Focus (Spear), 'cos +1 to hit > +1 damage.
Also, on the subject of MC fighter feats ... I'm thinking Battle Awareness (from Martial Power) is better than Student of the Sword.
Especially while teamed up with defenders .. getting a free swing each combat because they have the enemy marked is nice.
However, you have to be adjacent ... and since I'm not using a reach weapon, it's likely a lot better for me than for you.
The other MC option is probably Warlord (with Student of Battle, 'cos you need int or cha for the other 2) ... 'cos there's an interesting spear-based PP called Longarm Marshall.
It runs on a bit of int, though .. so it's probably not a good idea.
On the matter of utility power selection, I like Bless a lot, but right now I think Shield of Faith is better.
But .. that could be entirely due to the monsters you face ... if they often target non-AC, Shield of Faith could be a wasteful exercise.
As for the utility 6 option, you have silly amounts of healing already .. an efficient party isn't going need that much healing.
I'm tempted to Acolyte Power my level 6 option out for Settling the Score (Fighter 6 from Martial Power) when I hit level 8 ...
__________________ The Passion of Lovers is for Death
Nah, it's just +1 (untyped bonus) to hit per tier, no prereqs.
I'm still of the opinion Wizards probably should have given everybody that bonus rather than imposing a feat tax ... 'cos after awhile, everyone is going to either take weapon expertise, or implement expertise.
__________________ The Passion of Lovers is for Death
You might want to check with your DM on Expertise. I'm essentially giving it to everyone for free at 5th level. Your DM may have a similar implementation, or may simply be disallowing it in lieu of another fix.
__________________ Warning: This post may contain sarcasm.
Pick a skirmisher-
Minor action: Weapon of the Gods
Standard action: Split the Sky
Move action: follow the 2 square push
Free actions: Student of the Sword +1, Channel Divinity +1
Action point standard action: Avenging Flame (Strengthen or Healing Strike work too)
The Avenging Flame has +2 (the free actions) +2 (Combat advantage) +3 (Action Surge) +2 (Weapon of the Gods penalty).
Sweet!
PS
__________________ You can clean up vomit, but data is always messy. - Storm's Law
I don't care if you light his face on fire and put it out with an anvil... - A. Taylor
Last edited by Storminator; 25th March 2009 at 08:07 PM..
I also play a melee cleric so I thought I would share my experiences as of level 9.
Dwarf Cleric of Kord, +2 Wis +2 con.
Stats:
STR 18 0 +1 +1 20
CON 13 +2 0 0 15
DEX 8 0 0 0 9
INT 10 0 0 0 10
WIS 12 +2 +1 +1 16
CHA 11 0 0 0 11
Or something to that effect, I may have mixed up wis and cha a bit, but you get the gist. My feats: Dwarven Weap. Prof, Light Shld, Hvy Shld, Scale, Plate. For abilities, I am the sole healer in a group with 3 strikers, 1 controller, no defenders, and me. As such I’ve had to emphasize healing where possible, such as cure light and serious wounds. AC is important to me because I need to set up flanks with the 2weapon ranger. My righteous brand bestows a +5 when it hits, giving said melee ranger a hit on a 3 or better (ish), allowing him to blow a wad of dailies/encounters. Thanks to the adventurer’s vault, my DWP lets me hold a d12 weapon in one hand, so I swing +13 (+15 CA) for d12 + 9 at level 9. Hope this helps.
I played the first game today (or precisely, already yesterday in Japanese time).
I used basically the build of the previous post. But lowered Int instead of Dex, took Righteous Wrath of Tempus & Weapon Expertise instead of Student of the Sword & Weapon Focus (Spear).
It worked very well. In all the 4 combat encounters, I hit [2W] powers with Righteous Wrath of Tempus and scored 2d12 +29 damages with my +2 Vicious Greatspear.
At level 8 I will take Student of the Sword and will take Kensei pass in future. I am also planning to take Plate Armor Proficiency at L 12.
__________________ Shin Okada (AKA Japanese Protocol Droid) My Webpage
One other useful consideration would be as to what paragon path your cleric might take. I personally find the Warpriest path a tough choice as there good path features, but none of the powers are weapon powers.
If you are multiclassing fighter and want to really lay it down on the baddies, you could consider Kensei or Pit Fighter as a paragon path. This would give you a big boost to damage and some very nasty powers. Less healing, but more power. Your call on this...depending on if you have a very offensive cleric, or a more defensive one.
One other useful consideration would be as to what paragon path your cleric might take. I personally find the Warpriest path a tough choice as there good path features, but none of the powers are weapon powers.
If you are multiclassing fighter and want to really lay it down on the baddies, you could consider Kensei or Pit Fighter as a paragon path. This would give you a big boost to damage and some very nasty powers. Less healing, but more power. Your call on this...depending on if you have a very offensive cleric, or a more defensive one.
Also, all the warpriest's powers are Wis-based.
Which at present leaves Angelic Avenger, which doesn't have a Str power until 20, and its encounter power is a weaker version of Radiant Munchkin's. I so want Divine Power to come out now.
Brad
__________________ "Your taste buds can't repel flavor of this magnitude!"
Which at present leaves Angelic Avenger, which doesn't have a Str power until 20, and its encounter power is a weaker version of Radiant Munchkin's. I so want Divine Power to come out now.
Brad
I have a melee Cleric in a friend's game, and I am SO want Divine Power to come out.
Although the game is on a short hiatus so I've got time before it restarts to improve my character, hopefully.
__________________ DM of Adventure Path Story Hour (now in Thunderspire Labyrinth!): Ryam Plays Dice - updated 8th June 09 (campaign on indefinite hiatus).
Player in Swordlands Story Hour: Interview with a Fey - updated 15th June 09. News just in - this campaign may be restarting in the near future! Watch this space!
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