Will the Domain-oriented Cleric in Essentials...

[Walking Dad]

I've been playing 3.5e fairly recently, and it is so much harder to heal in 3e/3.5e than in either 4e or 2e(or earlier) - the addition of the tactical map, and opportunity attacks, makes it hard for healers to get to the range touch of their healing abilities.

You mean in-combat healing, right?

 

[LightPhoenix]

I have not seen any essentials invalidating standard 4E stuff yet. Some things they do better, but that is the same from role to role in standard 4E.

You're lucky. Essentials Ninjas broke into my apartment and forced me to watch as they burned my PHB.

 

[Lord Ernie]

Yeah, I totally agree. The STR cleric is an AWESOME build. One of the players in my online game has been running one for ages. The character has excellent healing, great buffing, really substantial melee damage output for a non-striker, and has some daily powers which are just plain NASTY. Spiritual Weapon might not seem super sexy for instance but it grants the entire party CA against the target, makes a minor action attack every round, and can be moved around to the best target all encounter. That's only one low level daily, there are plenty of other ones that are at least as good. With a strong WIS secondary things like Consecrated Ground are practically guaranteed to make an encounter MUCH easier. Obviously other builds can take advantage of some of the same stuff, but I'd suggest anyone that thinks the STR cleric is obsolete go fire up their CB and make one. There is certainly NO respect in which it loses out to the Essentials clerics. IMHO it is quite reasonable to consider it the strongest leader build in the game. The whole MAD thing is a total non-issue, CHA simply isn't all that big a deal for one, kind of handy but you're probably better off with a strong tertiary CON instead, and with the dwarf now having a STR/WIS option they have gotten just that much better.

Strength cleric the strongest leader build? Seriously?

Don't get me wrong, they get a bad rap, and they're certainly capable Leaders, but to say they are the strongest in the game is really, really pushing things. Either that, or you haven't seen a well-built Warlord blow an encounter into oblivion before it's even really underway (Strategist's Epiphany + Tactical Shift (along with the Barbarian) + Provoke overextension + action point Barbarian turn (with Bravura) made me blink and pause for a few seconds the first time I saw it in action).

Specifically, strength clerics have become much, much weaker since the update to Healer's Lore and similar changes to magical items nerfed surgeless healing enormously (I think there's one or two items remaining which still work). This is also why they suffer from slight MAD: wou want to have the wisdom to pilfer ranged cleric powers and for Healer's Lore, but all your at-wills besides Righteous Brand use Charisma, along with several encounter and daily powers. Consecrated Ground was a possible encounter-breaker before the update to Healer's Lore; now, if you don't have a decent Charisma modifier, it's just 1d6 auto-damage and pitiful healing.

That is not to say they Strength clerics suck. Not at all. Smart use of multi-classing and good use of powers make them formidable off-defenders (Hello, Warpriest PP), and Righteous Brand is still very, very good. But rules updates/errata has really taken its toll on the poor strength cleric.

 

[DracoSuave]

See, I don't get this 'issue' of Strength clerics having MAD. The two builds Str/Wis [a battle healing build] and Str/Cha [a battle buffing build] do two different things. The only Str/Cha power that heals is Recovery Strike, the rest all do non-healing things with that Cha. The healing-in-combat build focuses on Str/Wis, and doesn't take Wis/Cha powers, because he's not a frikken laser cleric.

This is a case of mistaking Multiple Build Syndrome for Multiple Attribute Dependancy. If you have a two-weapon fighter, you run into the same problem when you realize that some powers are for heavy blades, and others are for axes. Different builds are different.

 

[BobTheNob]

Ya know whats missing in all of this...the eLaser Cleric!

Like a classic laser cleric but with domain sensibilities.

 

[Oulak]

...and with the dwarf now having a STR/WIS option they have gotten just that much better.

Just wanted to point out that dwarves have a Con/Str option or a Con/Wis option. They can't get Str/Wis.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

You can start with a 20 STR and still have a good enough WIS. CHA build is really not the best way to go. There are tempting things here and there but you get plenty good healing with WIS. I really don't think the Surgeless Healing Nerf did much to the STR cleric at all. You are either casting a buff, which usually involves hitting, or a debuff that involves hitting and you have no real need for any laser powers. If you're going to keep WIS up high then you can start with 18/16 and USE a laser power like Lance of Faith if you want, but why bother when you have the physical endurance and high AC to stand in the monster's faces?

Yes, warlords are great and all, but the cleric has some really nice powers that always make a huge difference and don't need to be used in series of moves that might or might not work. CG just works, SW just works. All the Astral Seal surgeless stuff was nice, but one or two items will get you enough healing bonuses to extend your allies working day a whole bunch.

Honestly the super high healing clerics don't excite me anyway no matter what build they are, they are really just making it take longer before you get a rest.

 

[Dice4Hire]

You're lucky. Essentials Ninjas broke into my apartment and forced me to watch as they burned my PHB.

I agree with your status in this case.

Casue I have no idea what you mean here.

 

[Jhaelen]

I agree with your status in this case.

Casue I have no idea what you mean here.

Well, he's obviously referring to the Red Box Ninjas!

LightPhoenix has been lucky that they only burned his PHB

 

[Kerranin]

You mean in-combat healing, right?

Yeah.