Clerical combat buffs?

I have a PC paladin who has access to cleric spells at -2 levels to his own. He's currently 12th-level (almost 13th) so that means 5th, soon to be 6th-level spells. I originally wanted to use these primary as buffing spells, with a few support spells thrown in, but I'm finding that in actuality, many clerical buffs aren't useful to a PC with a full BAB. Spells such as Righteous Might and Divine Power grant a true cleric +5 to their BAB, but nothing to a PC that already has a full BAB.

Thus far, I've found Quickened Divine Favor and Fire Shield (Sun domain) to be the most beneficial spells for him.

My question is, are there any other melee buff spells I'm overlooking? My PC is a frontline fighter, so he doesn't have time to buff for more than one round (at the most) before engaging the foe, so I don't see any unbalancing coming from him stacking on a ton of buff spells. But I would like to have some options for 2nd-, 3rd-, and 6th- level buff spells, so that he can get some use out of those spell levels over the course of a long day of adventuring.

The PC has access to Quicken spell (hence the Quickened Divine Favor,) but there don't seem to be any good 2nd-level buffs to fill a 6th-level slot. (He already has items buffing strength and con, and doesn't really use dex...)

Any suggestions would be great.

Also, how do most DMs feel about clerical spell research? I'm wondering whether it might not be possible to pay some gold and research a few holy scriptures on my own, to fill the gaps in my spell usage in a balanced, legitimate way.

Thoughts?

4th level spell that my Clr 19 uses all the time: Recitation.

Caveats: I've converted practically all of my party to my faith, and we have (had!) 3 front-line fighter-types.

Lord Pendragon said:

I have a PC paladin who has access to cleric spells at -2 levels to his own.

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Shouldn't he be using the Paladin spell list???

You could always use an empowered quickened bull's strength and get a different magic item. Or just keep using the higher level slots for the lower spells.

Elation (BoED, 2nd) is a decent buff for the entire group (+2 Str, +2 Dex, +5' speed).

Spikes (CD, 3rd) is an excellent weapon buff, and it lasts 1 hour/level (+2 enh. , +10 damage).

Greater Magic Weapon (4th) and Magic Vestment (3rd) are bread-and-butter cleric buffs for your armor and weapons.

Righteous Might (5th) is good regardless of your BAB. (Note errata.)

Stone Body (PGtF, 6th) gives you DR and a bunch of immunities. Nifty.

Cleric spells that are good for a fullBAB melee character:

1. Shield of Faith, Divine Favor, Conviction (MiniHB), enlarge person (str domain), endure elements (wear heavy armor in the heat of a desert or cold of a tundra).

2. Spiritual Weapon (better the better your BAB is and potentially useful quickened), aid, Divine Insight (combine with mounted combat for a Moment of Prescience-like boost to your mount's AC), Iron silence, delay poison, undetectable alignment, resist energy, barkskin (plant domain only)

3. Magic vestment, magic circle vs. evil, daylight, spikes (if your DM is insane enough to allow it)

4. fire shield (fire domain), recitation, air walk, freedom of movement, death ward, greater magic weapon

5. Righteous Might (a fullBAB character benefits just as much from increased strength, con, reach, and DR as a non-fullBAB characer), spell resistance, slay living (if you're gonna be in their face, it's easy to cast, right), holy sword (glory domain)

6. Empowered fire shield, heal, hero's feast, harm, fires of purity (purification domain), quickened brambles (if your DM is crazy enough to follow the FAQ and let this stack with spikes).

Elder-Basilisk said:

(if your DM is crazy enough to follow the FAQ and let this stack with spikes).

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I've never noticed that FAQ entry before. (I must have skimmed through it and simply assumed it said what I expected it to say.)

If you don't have bard, consider a quickend bless. +1 damage is nice with iterative attacks and the +1 attack is always useful. The other nice part being it applies to the rest of the party as well.

You may want to consider battlefield control spells, like blade barrier or wall of stone. Even you can be overwhelmed. Wall of stone is particularly useful for its utility outside of combat, like making a bridge.

Rightous Might is right up your alley, giving reach, damage, AC, and DR.

If you are going to go toe to toe with any of the nastier undead, Death Ward would be good to have. At your level, death effects can start comming much more often.

Prayer is less useful to you, but still worth considering.

Energy resistance is always good to have. Protection from elements or even a quickened resist elements could be quite handy.

If you want to be cheesy, you could get a greatclub and use a quickened brambles (CD), spikes(CD), and greater magic weapon all at the same time. Though technically legal, your DM might not like it.

If you don't use bless or prayer, a quickened aid might be nice in the middle of combat. Its a minor bonus, but the temperary hitpoints can be a nice kick. If you are the only tank, quickened cure or lessor vigor can keep you going as well.

Visage of the Diety (CD) gives a bunch of bonuses, some redundant. If nothing else, its fun to be a celestial for a few rounds.

Happy hunting.

rtricher said:

Shouldn't he be using the Paladin spell list???

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He does. He also uses the cleric spell list. It has to do with taking the Leadership feat and a special cohort setup.

You could always use an empowered quickened bull's strength and get a different magic item. Or just keep using the higher level slots for the lower spells.

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I suppose that yes, I could fill up all my slots with Divine Favor, if it came to that, though I'd probably prefer to try spell research before it came to that.

Iku Rex said:

Elation (BoED, 2nd) is a decent buff for the entire group (+2 Str, +2 Dex, +5' speed).

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Wow. A morale bonus to strength and dex. It's only +2, but it'd benefit everyone in the party. I'm definitely going to have to run this one by my DM.

Spikes (CD, 3rd) is an excellent weapon buff, and it lasts 1 hour/level (+2 enh. , +10 damage).

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Well, I've read about the mighty Spikes and combos, but that's not really in the cards for me. I couldn't bring myself to be that cheesy. Besides which, the reason my PC has access to cleric spells in the first place is because of his celestial blade, Retribution. I couldn't imagine pulling it out to cast spells on a cudgel, then sheathing it in favor of the stick.

Greater Magic Weapon (4th) and Magic Vestment (3rd) are bread-and-butter cleric buffs for your armor and weapons.

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True. I memorize Magic Vestment twice a day, once for my own armor and once for the fighter's. At -2 levels, my spells aren't as potent as the actual cleric in the party, but since he rarely buffs others, it's at least something. Currently Greater Magic Weapon isn't useful to us, because everyone who uses weapons has at least a +2 weapon or better (the best I can do with Greater Magic Weapon for another 2 levels.) Eventually this will become a routine spell as well, though.

Righteous Might (5th) is good regardless of your BAB. (Note errata.)

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Wow, size bonuses to strength and con...I missed this as well when I first went over the spell. This thread is helping me more than I could have hoped.

Stone Body (PGtF, 6th) gives you DR and a bunch of immunities. Nifty.

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I don't have access to PGtF at the moment, but I can get it.

Elder-Basilisk said:

Cleric spells that are good for a fullBAB melee character:

1. Shield of Faith, Divine Favor, Conviction (MiniHB), enlarge person (str domain), endure elements (wear heavy armor in the heat of a desert or cold of a tundra).

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I don't have the MiniHB at the moment, but I can get access to it. Can you tell me a bit about Conviction? I'm right with you about Divine Favor, and I often memorize Shield of Faith but find myself having little opportunity to cast it, especially since at +3, it usually only provides 1 or 2 extra points of AC to a party member (we all have rings of deflection of varying strengths.) Endure Elements could be good, but weather hasn't ever been a problem in the campaign so far, so it hasn't come up.

2. Spiritual Weapon (better the better your BAB is and potentially useful quickened), aid, Divine Insight (combine with mounted combat for a Moment of Prescience-like boost to your mount's AC), Iron silence, delay poison, undetectable alignment, resist energy, barkskin (plant domain only)

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I hadn't considered quickening Spiritual Weapon, but that is a fantastic idea! What book are Divine Insight and Iron Silence from? I don't have access to barkskin (Sun and Air domains,) but I do love it. The party druid has graced me with its +5 natural armor goodness for the last several sessions, bless her heart. I'm not sure how useful undetectable alignment would be for me, decked out as I am with a golden shield of Pelor, sword of Pelor, and armor prominently displaying the sunmask as well.

3. Magic vestment, magic circle vs. evil, daylight, spikes (if your DM is insane enough to allow it)

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3rd-level is one of the problematic spell levels for me. I do prep 2 magic vestments, but as I already generate a continual magic circle against evil, I haven't found much else to fill up this level.

4. fire shield (fire domain), recitation, air walk, freedom of movement, death ward, greater magic weapon

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I love fire shield. It's currently my main buff, alongside a Quickened Divine Favor. I do prep freedom of movement, and my shield provides a continual death ward effect, though I could prep one for another party member...

5. Righteous Might (a fullBAB character benefits just as much from increased strength, con, reach, and DR as a non-fullBAB characer), spell resistance, slay living (if you're gonna be in their face, it's easy to cast, right), holy sword (glory domain)

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I hadn't realized Righteous Might granted size bonuses, foolish me. Now I need to decide whether it's worth giving up a Quickened Divine Favor or not. I hadn't considered Slay Living because I have zero Concentration, so casting next to the enemy is a bad idea. But I suppose I could cast it pre-engagement and hold the charge, making it my first attack on a given foe...

6. Empowered fire shield, heal, hero's feast, harm, fires of purity (purification domain), quickened brambles (if your DM is crazy enough to follow the FAQ and let this stack with spikes).

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Would an empowered fire shield deal (1d8+10)x1.5, or (1d8 x 1.5)+10? I don't currently have Empower Spell, though I could pick it up on a couple levels.