Help me making a 7th-level melee cleric

[Shin Okada]

Hi all! I am to build a 7th-level PC for upcoming 4e game. And I am relatively new to building 4e characters (still DMing 3.5e campaign).

Currently, I am thinking about making a melee cleric.

Ability scores are bought with 22 points. And I can have 1 each of 6th, 7th, & 8th-level items.

In addition to the core rules, we are allowed to use 2 FR books, MoP, Adventurer's Vault, ** Power books, & PHB2.

This is not a one-shot session but I am not sure how far will the games go.

My current plan is a human cleric who uses a spiked chain.

#Ability Scores

Str: 16 +2 (human) +1 (at L4) = 19
Con: 10
Dex: 10
Int: 10
Wis: 16 +1 (at L4) = 17
Cha: 12

#Skills
Arcana or Diplomacy
Athletics (from Student of the Sword feat)
Heal
Insight
Religion

#Feats
Action Surge
Novice Power
Student of the Sword
Weapon Focus (Flail)
Weapon Proficiency (Spiked Chain)

#Powers
At Will: Priest's Shield
At Will: Righteous Brand
At Will: Sacred Flame
Encounter 1: Healing Strike
Encounter 3: Sweeping Blow (Swapped by Student of the Sword feat)
Encounter 7: Strengthen the Faithful
Daily 1: Avenging Flame
Daily 5: Weapon of the Gods
Utility 2: Bless (Daily)
Utility 6: Bastion of Health (Encounter)

#Items
Undecided

Any suggestions are welcomed.

But basically, I want to make a cleric who do melee.

And preferably with a reach weapon, as clerics tend to have not so good AC and our party will have 2 defenders. But maybe I can't rely on melee reach as monsters also tend to have reach at higher level range.

There are several point I am currently wondering.
*Should I choose Greatspear instead of Spiked Chain?
*Is fighter-multiclassing feats worth taking?
*Does melee cleric really need descent Cha at all?
*Should I go high AC cleric (say, sword and board) instead of reach melee?

But those concerns may become irrelevant, if there are much better ways to make a melee cleric.

 

[Danceofmasks]

Your cleric works well enough.

But since I'm playing a battle cleric, I'll throw in one point to consider.
I semi-dumped Wisdom (started with 13) 'cos all it does for a battle cleric is:
Healer's Lore (which is nice)
Turn Undead (it's my only implement power, so I don't even own a magical symbol ... therefore I'd rather use channel divinity for something else)
Wisdom based powers (I only have turn undead)

I also dumped Charisma 'cos all that does is augment the effectiveness of powers, most of which are implement-based.

I put some points into con (for armour proficiency feats .. to mitigate that poor AC), and maxed str.

'cos the way I see it, +1 hit/dam for every attack roll is well worth the combined wis/cha benefit of ... oh ... 6 hp or so of healing per combat.
And ... the extra +1 power bonus from righteous brand is just ... well ... broken.

 

[Shin Okada]

Thanks for suggestions.

Here goes my second plan. Investing more on strength and Con, but removed Novice Power feat and instead took Scale Armor Proficiency.

I am still wondering if I should use Greatspear or Spiked Chain. Greatsper does slightly more damages but Spiked Chain is more stable as it rolls two dice. I can't yet find any specific reason (feat or power) for choosing one.

I am not sure if Multiclass Feat (Student of the Sword) worth taking. I don't no if that feat reads to some possible future development. At this moment, I am taking this feat mainly for getting Athretics skill.


#Ability Scores

Str: 18 +2 (human) +1 (at L4) = 21
Con: 13
Dex: 8
Int: 10
Wis: 13 +1 (at L4) = 14
Cha: 10

#Def
AC: 10 +3 (L7) +9 (Armor) = 22
Fort: 10 +1 (Human) +3 (L7) +5 (Str) +2 (Amulet) = 21
Ref: 10 +1 (Human) +3 (L7) +2 (Amulet) = 16
Wil: 10 +1 (Human) +2 (Cleric) +3 (L7) +2 (Wis) +2 (Amulet) = 20

#HP
12 +13 (Con) +30 (L7) =55

#Healing Surge per Day
7 +1 (Con) =8

#Skills
Arcana
Athletics (from Student of the Sword feat)
Diplomacy
Heal
Insight
Religion

#Feats
Action Surge
Student of the Sword
Scale Armor Proficiency
Weapon Focus (Spear)
Weapon Proficiency (Gratspear)

#Powers
At Will: Priest's Shield
At Will: Righteous Brand
At Will: Sacred Flame
Encounter 1: Healing Strike
Encounter 3: Split the sky
Encounter 7: Strengthen the Faithful
Daily 1: Avenging Flame
Daily 5: Weapon of the Gods
Utility 2: Bless (Daily)
Utility 6: Bastion of Health (Encounter)

#Items
+2 Amulet of Protection (L6)
+2 Vicious Greatspear (L7)
+2 Mountain Scale (L8)

 

[DracoSuave]

Your cleric works well enough.

But since I'm playing a battle cleric, I'll throw in one point to consider.
I semi-dumped Wisdom (started with 13) 'cos all it does for a battle cleric is:
Healer's Lore (which is nice)

For the record, that's half the powers you've selected for your cleric. If an attribute affects a full 75% of all the encounter powers you want to take, dumping it is counter intuitive. You -can- do a non-healbot cleric in melee fine, but that's not what your powers indicate you want to do.

A good rule of thumb: If an attribute affects 50% or more of the things you do in a combat, it's -not- a dump stat.

I like the longspear for a weapon. It's probably the most efficient use of your [w] powers.

 

[Danceofmasks]

Dracosuave, AC affects 100% of the things a melee character wants to do.
So investing in AC over slightly augmenting some powers is always a consideration.

But I'll grant your point in that my cleric steers clear of most healing effects.
I did take healing strike just because it's 2[W], radiant damage, and the healing is gravy. Heck, if there was a 2[W] power with no other effect whatsoever, I'd probably take it over Wrathful Thunder.

 

[Mengu]

Just a couple suggestions for tweaks...

For Athletics, I'd pick up Berserker's Fury multiclass. The +2 damage throughout a difficult encounter can add up to a respectable amount of damage. Leave the marking to your defenders.

I'd go with Blazing Beacon over Split the Sky. Eventhough it's vs AC, your ranged attackers will really appreciate the bonus. Of course if you don't have more than one ranged attacker, Split the Sky is a fine power too.

 

[Danceofmasks]

Hmm .. yeah, I like Berserker's Fury a lot.
But my impression is, the OP doesn't have PHB2 ... though it's allowed?

I'd suggest Weapon Expertise (Spear) over Weapon Focus (Spear), 'cos +1 to hit > +1 damage.

Also, on the subject of MC fighter feats ... I'm thinking Battle Awareness (from Martial Power) is better than Student of the Sword.
Especially while teamed up with defenders .. getting a free swing each combat because they have the enemy marked is nice.
However, you have to be adjacent ... and since I'm not using a reach weapon, it's likely a lot better for me than for you.

The other MC option is probably Warlord (with Student of Battle, 'cos you need int or cha for the other 2) ... 'cos there's an interesting spear-based PP called Longarm Marshall.
It runs on a bit of int, though .. so it's probably not a good idea.

On the matter of utility power selection, I like Bless a lot, but right now I think Shield of Faith is better.
But .. that could be entirely due to the monsters you face ... if they often target non-AC, Shield of Faith could be a wasteful exercise.
As for the utility 6 option, you have silly amounts of healing already .. an efficient party isn't going need that much healing.
I'm tempted to Acolyte Power my level 6 option out for Settling the Score (Fighter 6 from Martial Power) when I hit level 8 ...

 

[Shin Okada]

I'd suggest Weapon Expertise (Spear) over Weapon Focus (Spear), 'cos +1 to hit > +1 damage..

I do not yet have PHB II in handy. Should I adjust ability scores for qualifying that feat?

 

[Danceofmasks]

Nah, it's just +1 (untyped bonus) to hit per tier, no prereqs.
I'm still of the opinion Wizards probably should have given everybody that bonus rather than imposing a feat tax ... 'cos after awhile, everyone is going to either take weapon expertise, or implement expertise.

 

[Mengu]

You might want to check with your DM on Expertise. I'm essentially giving it to everyone for free at 5th level. Your DM may have a similar implementation, or may simply be disallowing it in lieu of another fix.