Battle Cleric Options is up

[Kzach]

Staff is the one to watch out for. With Staff Expertise and Staff Fighting, you're looking at a Defensive 1d8 Two-Handed Simple Weapon with a Reach of 2.

I considered this but I felt that there is too little benefit from it to justify the expenditure of extra feats. Defensive is overshadowed by the Battle Lore's +2 AC bonus, the staff isn't versatile so the damage is lower than mace/spear/morningstar, clerics don't use staves as implements, and the reach simply isn't needed with, again, the Battle Lore feature.

Nice as a flavour option but for optimising, it's fairly weak.

An eladrin with Eladrin Soldier and Spear Expertise and Feycharger cheese, however... yeah, that's actually getting into the silly range. The +1 to hit on those powers is going to make all the difference and, in all honesty, I can see being errated down the track because of charop builds making it way too powerful.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I don´t really see how the char op board can break it. +1 to hit is not that powerful on a simple weapon, which usually is only at +2 to hit...

+1 to hit +2 damage is a really nice flavourful nod to ADnD, where weapon specialization gives exactly that.

You should also not forget, that eladrin can wield a spear with +3 to hit and higher damage with their feat. So i really don´t see an immediate broken build.

Edit: also keep in mind, that charop is more or less a thought experiment, not useful for actual gaming...

 

[Shroomy]

I've read thru a bunch of these threads and there's a point everyone missed while discussing the awesomeness contained within the article. That is, this is the first in a series of articles that take a look at underserved classes.

 

[Damon_Tor]

Yeeeeeah, so this + hybrids is just a no-brainer. Free scale prof + a +2 shield bonus to AC for free is just too good. I had built my Griffonrider Charger as a Ranger|Warlord mostly for the free heavy shield prof and slightly easier path to scale prof, the idea that I could not only get scale prof and a heavy shield for free PLUS I can do all of that while wielding a 2-handed weapon is just sick.

 

[jbear]

This will put mace, spear and morningstar at the top of the food chain for strength clerics now. They get the bonus to hit of a superior/military weapon along with its damage. I can already envision eladrin spear builds dominating this style.

I have to say that this actually annoys me. Dwarves are perfect as a race for this sort of cleric build and yet no hammers or axes are considered simple weapons.

You mean there is a reason for Dwarves not to take Dwarven Weapon Training!!!!???!!!

Hehehe, sounds like a good thing!

 

[Klaus]

These new powers, coupled with a Belt of the Brawler, make for an interesting unarmed leader!

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

You mean there is a reason for Dwarves not to take Dwarven Weapon Training!!!!???!!!

Hehehe, sounds like a good thing!

True. But it is sort of weird that a battle-cleric of Moradin would potentially be LESS effective with a hammer than with a silly club.

 

[the Jester]

I just hope this helps lay to rest all the whinging and gnashing of teeth about how Essentials means that no pre-Essentials stuff will ever get support.

 

[jbear]

Yeah, I haven't even read the article, so really it was just a flippant comment posted for my own amusement. Sorry about that. I totally agree that a dwarven battle dwarf with a hammer makes total sense.

But I do honestly like the idea that can perhaps make a 'must-have' feat choice into a questionable one.

And I also like the idea that there finally exists a reason to use maces. Maces have been out in the cold from the start. It's nice to see them win a small corner of usefulness.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Am I correct in interpreting that the Battle Cleric's Favor of the Gods channel divinity power is different than the Avenger's Divine Guidance (and not as good) in that the cleric has to give his target the chance to re-roll before the target's makes his attack (thereby possibly making the gift superfluous if it turns out the target hits anyway?)

I would understand why it would be done (so as to not step on the Avenger's toes by having it be an interupt), but it certainly does make Favor of the Gods a bit more tactical as to when to use it. You'll want to make sure the target you give it to is going to have multiple attacks throughout the round (via bursts, blasts, multi-attacks, expected OAs) so that there's a better chance at least one of them might miss, thereby allowing Favor of the Gods to be used.