Clerics need a wis of 20.

[Ulthwithian]

Amakar, I'd also point out that if you have a character in need of healing that requires a touch (CLW springs to mind), and that character is in the middle of a zone of difficult terrain, an Elven Cleric gets there much more easily.

 

[Pickles JG]

Ok so there were some STR based things I thought were wis based. Thanks for pointing that out.

I used to build my 3.5 clerics with rather low wis, and just buff myself to hell and swing a mace. I get the feeling that will no longer be a viable build in the cleric class. That is a just a hunch, and it remains to be seen how effectively a cleric will be able to multi himself into a striker or defender.

For now, I have to conclude that it looks like the battlecleric/battlebard builds that buffed/healed self/allies rather than landing spells on opponents have been pushed into the warlord class.

And the Paladin. It looks to me that the "holy warrior" archetype has been split more distinctly between Paladin & Cleric. Clerics seem to be divine Blasters while Paladins take over the role of Mace weapon of their deity wielding fighter/healer, what with not being LG anymore & all.

The fighter multiclass feat looks good for the martial cleric, in fact for anyone who hits stuff with weapons. Similarly the cleric multi feat for a still more healing capable Paladin.

 

[Shabe]

But everyone now works off of powers, these powers use a to hit roll stat + d20 roll + bonuses. The bonus' seem to differenciate between the value of AC and defense values and the attacking of different ACs/defenses giving different classes better targets.

All classes seem to be able to concentrate on one stat for their to hit rolls (and mostly damage) if they choose their powers based on the to hit, that will lead to a situation where everyone would go for a high stat in their to hit stat.

If however the player fancies a change, maybe another power looks better, maybe he wants a melee/buff cleric or a bow/melee ranger, perhaps hes trying to cater to the multiclass feat by having a 13, then you're looking at more than one stat and the 20 suddenly becomes less desirable as you have a secondary stat that is also important.

 

[drjones]

*gets off his roleplaying high horse and looks at the original post* hmm maybe clerics get the equivalent of wands, staves and orbs to add to their holy attacks like special holy symbols or something.

They do, there is one in KotS. Also the melee power would (I assume) gain the bonus of a magic weapon that is wielded.

But in general I think the cleric is fine without a 20. The bonus is not that far off from anyone but the strikers and a more well rounded character will have a wider array of powers and skills to chose from.

Will people still roll up clerics with 20s? Sure. Will it always be the best idea? No.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Ok, assuming it works like 3.5:

if you have 18 cha + 8 in the rest for a sorceror, you start with 3 hp, AC 9 and fort, ref -1 and will +1

If you have 16 cha, 10 wis, 10 con, 10 dex, 8 int, 8 str, you have +1 AC, +1hp, +1to all saves. So if you face each other, you are better off with lower charisma. your effective hp is higher. A magic missile has a lower chance to kill you. Spells which do more damage, but allow a save have exactly the same chance to go through your defenses. Your most efficient weapons are rays, which target AC. You have a higher chance to hit and the enemies hp are lower!

If you face monsters at higher level, and you don´t win initiative, 5-10 more hp and better AC saves your life.

I don´t know which game you play (scry tele kill?) but in D&D I play, high main stat is not needed.

And rogues in 3.5 should maximize int before dex.

 

[keterys]

Clerics seem to be divine Blasters while Paladins take over the role of Mace weapon of their deity wielding fighter/healer, what with not being LG anymore & all.

Well, we've only seen two of the cleric melee powers - they've just been concentrating on ranged ones. There is a melee option and you can even be a sort of defender type as a cleric.

They just haven't given us an example character following that path yet.

Especially in a year or two we'll be dripping in options for a non-blaster cleric.

 

[Cadfan]

Here's what we know for a fact regarding melee clerics.

There is at least one at will that is a Str v AC attack using a weapon. The one we've seen provides a bonus that might be Cha related. Wis doesn't show up anywhere.

There is at least one per encounter that is a Str v AC using a weapon.

There is a paragon path for clerics who want to go melee heavy.

The pregen clerics have an ability that boosts how much they heal with healing powers. There is a lot of speculation that this ability may be their "build choice" ability. This ability is cha related, which suggests that a non cha related option is available. Str seems the logical choice given that some cleric powers use Str.