Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="mrcatman" data-source="post: 4311921" data-attributes="member: 60286">nice, but...Hi there. I like the concept of what you are trying to do here. Well rounded, ok health, melee cleric, Cha helping things like SacFlame, etc.That being said, in our experience thus far, you might be unhappy. Well rounded seems to be a poor performer from what we can see. Your +5 will only reliably hit minions half the time. Everything else will have ACs around 17-20 (or +2 higher even, since many things seem to have "mob" AC buffs with their allies nearby), so you're going to miss a lot. Even in flank.Additionally, 28 HPs while decent, almost feels paper thin to us. Especially to a non-stealth / non-perceptive build like yours. Sneaky foes that get the jump on you can potentially down you before you can act. It's happened to us. And if those foes happen to be smart and recognize you as a healer, then might go out of their way to target you first (grin). I only mention this because you are making an upfront cleric swinging a sword in two hands. 28 HPs and average AC with no shield (as opposed to paladin with 20 AC) can be a quick death.Your low Wis really weakens several powers you have, healing, turn undead, sacred flame, etc. To the point that they will most likely miss with a mere +1 to hit.Your Int 14 (+2), while nice for knowledge skills, Ref Def or multiclassing into wizard, really doesn't do enough for you.Speed 5 seems fine in our experience. You can always run at +2 to move 7 squares if you really need to (CA to enemies, but no biggie).If you are focused on melee cleric, I'd just say go all out on it to enhance your chance of hitting and being effective. Pump up Str/Con rest in Wis. Take toughness feat (sounds weird, but that extra 5 seems to make all the difference at level 1) and use a mace or spear 2 handed until you get your next feat at 2nd (when you can pick up your bastard sword). Towards that end, if you are not married to half-elf, a dragonborn is nice (Str bump + nice surge values + breath weapon for minions, since you are already in melee) or if your DM allows it, a warforged (a race you can play as a PC from the MM) for bump to str/con & neat construct qualities.For example:Dragonborn/ClericStr 18, Con 16, Dex 10, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 10Feat: ToughnessHP: 33Surge/Day: 10Surge Value: 11 (because of racial trait)AC: 16Fort: 14Ref: 11Will: 13Breath Weapon: +6 vs. Ref (1d6+3)CD: DFortuneCD: TUndeadHWordassumes two-handing a mace for versatile bonus...(aw) Priest's shield: +6 vs. AC (1d8+5); ally gains +1 AC(aw) R.Brand: +6 vs. AC (1d8+5); ally gains +4 attack(enc) H.Strike: +6 vs. AC (2d8+5); mark/ally healing surge(dai) Avg.Flame: +6 vs. AC (2d8+5); ongoing 5Now this guy can take a hit, has a better chance of hitting foes, heals 1/3 of his health each surge, already qualifies for better armor feats (up to plate armor) and heavy shield, can drop a decent area blast while in melee to drop all the minions and still heals as well as your build. The killer aspect is the +4 ally attack bonus from R.Brand at will power. If they happen to be flanking with you, that's +6 to their attack. Better yet, it applies to all attacks that ally makes until the end of your next turn, not just one attack. THAT'S HUGE! A two-weapon fighting ranger with twin strike. A Fighter with OAs from shifting foes. You name it. It just rocks.Damage-wise, your bastard sword 1d10+3 is range 4-13, while this 1d8+5 is range 6-13, and 2d10+3 (5-23) vs. 2d8+5 (7-21) on the encounter/daily. So you net out roughly the same damage on enc/daily and better on at wills with this build. At level two, if you take the bastard sword feat, you get +8 vs. AC now on all your stuff (+1 more proficiency over mace and +1 half level bump). Very respectable melee attack at level 2.You've basically lost some points to your cha/int skills. Meh. You can always take Skill Focus (diplomacy), etc. to make up for it. Grab feats up to plate armor, heavy shield, one hand your bastard sword, and you'll be styling.Heck, I'd even be tempted to go full out and buy a Str 18 for Str 20 after racial adjustment. Better hit, damage & bonus for R.Brand.All of that being said, there is nothing wrong with your build. A lot of this depends on what your other PCs are, how the DM runs things, and the adventure. If you had a killer PC recon specialist (say, rogue or ranger with crazy high stealth/perception), your team might never get ambushed. So the potential for you going down in an alpha strike might be really low.Just some thoughts.</blockquote>

Verification