Defensive Cleric Build in "Divine Power"

[theodudek]

I just got "Arcane Power" and "Monster Manual II" (I know, really late -_-; and while I was in the game store I saw "Divine Power" but didn't have enough money to get it too.

But I *did* notice something in "Divine Power" that was really awesome, which almost, almost, almost made me get it... the "Defensive Cleric" build with the first (!!!??) non-damage-dealing at-will cleric power! ^o^ Now it's almost possible to have a pacifistic cleric again like it was in 3e!!

I would like to test this build out in my game, so, basically, I was wondering if anyone could post the rules for that power and build? (I forget the name.) Or point me to Wizards' site if they ran a preview of the Defensive Cleric some time ago and I missed it....

Many thanks!

 

[Dr_Sage]

I dont have my books here, but I will try to give you the picture.

First he can replace Turn Undead with Healers Mercy, a good close burst healing power.

There are numerous powers that do no damage (remmember beacon of hope?), but apply various effects on enemies.

There is also a paragon path focused on that.

In my oppinion this should be roleplayed seriously. The cleric from my campaign is a priest of Avandra, and the guy is truly a beacon of hope. Very positive and a great healer, so to him the change was natural, as is not particulary against undead like.. say... Bahamut, Raven Queen or Pelor.

 

[theodudek]

Thank you! I was really happy to see it, I may end up getting "Divine Power" now... ^_^ I'll definitely check out the Paragon Path. Do you remember what the new At-Will Power does?

 

[Destil]

There's also the pacifist healer feat, where you add 1d6 per tier + Cha bonus to any power you use that lets an ally spend a healing surge.

With the drawback that if you damage a bloodied creature you're stunned, until the end of your next turn. Pretty big drawback.

 

[DonAdam]

I think you can do a whole build with only one damaging power, which makes some sense. You have to find some way to kill undead.

Of course, given that you can always do "nonlethal damage" (i.e., not kill an npc when you drop them to 0) I don't understand why you couldn't play a pacifist cleric before. Hit points are usually abstract enough to handle that.

 

[Mengu]

Be sure your party is okay with this. A healing cleric does 2 things that I don't particularly like:

1. With one party member not contributing to party damage output, combat takes longer.
2. As a leader with too much focus on healing and too little on party buffs, you may end up with no good way to boost your allies' accuracy, mobility, or damage output, which are important parts of a leader's job.

Party size and make up is rather important to how well a healic will work.

For instance if you have a party of 4 with a Guardian Fighter, an Earth Warden, an Infernal Warlock, and a Shielding Cleric, the healing you provide will keep the party up and running for a long time, but a long time you will need to take down your enemies.

As another example, if you have a party of 6 with an Assault Swordmage, a Protecting Paladin, a Predator Druid, a Commanding Avenger, a Thaneborn Barbarian, and a Shielding Cleric, the leadership role for buffing each other will be split between several party members, and there will be plenty of striking to go around, so in this group, the Shielding Cleric would work. But so would any other leader.

If a healing focus floats your boat, Shielding Cleric is the best you will find. But getting a little subjective here, I personally would get bored playing one. Every other leader build is more interesting to me. In 3.x I rather disliked the role of a cleric being the mobile wand carrier, after around the 3rd round of combat and perhaps the Shielding Cleric reminds me too much of that role.

 

[DracoSuave]

The thing with a Shielding Cleric tho, is that while they are -very- good at healing, the non-damaging powers are actually some of the strongest debuffs in the game. They'll daze an enemy, give him Vulnerable Lots, knock him down, make him take huge damage for attacking...

They DO contribute to damage and accuracy in an indirect way, to make up for the lack of direct damage.

 

[Kzach]

I find the shielding cleric to be one of the most fun characters I've ever played.

Damage is not a measure of power. If done right, the shielding cleric can have massive amounts of healing but also provide awesome debuffs and buffs and extra saves which makes combat quicker and easier.

I highly recommend the Pacifist Healer feat. It works in so many situations. Read the wording carefully and you can apply it to a ton of healing options that you have as a cleric.

I also recommend Coordinated Explosion. Taking lots of area effect powers that buff the party AND debuff the enemy is great!

Defensive Healing Word and Healer's Implement are good too.

For magic items, I like the sacrificial armour, medic's mace and healer's brooch.

 

[Garthanos]

I dont have my books here, but I will try to give you the picture.

First he can replace Turn Undead with Healers Mercy, a good close burst healing power.

There are numerous powers that do no damage (remmember beacon of hope?), but apply various effects on enemies.

There is also a paragon path focused on that.

In my oppinion this should be roleplayed seriously. The cleric from my campaign is a priest of Avandra, and the guy is truly a beacon of hope. Very positive and a great healer, so to him the change was natural, as is not particulary against undead like.. say... Bahamut, Raven Queen or Pelor.

One idea presented I liked on a thread about skinning for Avandra, which I thought was interesting ... was that Avandras holy effects were radiant and messed with undead not because you were bringing in light from the astral sea... but rather because undead are just inanimate objects and luck plays havoc with those in more direct ways than it does with living beings... the zombies/skeletons arm falling off right before hitting the hero... is just divine chance rot set in timed right and similar things... maybe the same effect in a living being would be just a muscle cramp (or a pulled ligament causing a minion living being to be impaled....oops... sorry avandra is the patron of heros but somebody must also be granting villains luck ... cant see why people think she is anything but unaligned).

 

[DrSnooze]

Sacred Flame

I made a Pacifist Healer (Kalashtar) build and am looking forward to playing it. One thing I can't figure out, though, is how to get Sacred Flame to not do any damage. The Power of Love feat (cue Huey Lewis) can negate the damage of Recovery Strike, but there isn't a feat that does the same for Sacred Flame. Any suggestions?