Level 4 Cleric assistance?

[CovertOps]

Is he a STR/WIS melee Cleric or a WIS/CHA "laser" Cleric? His stat array makes a difference in how to help.

For a STR cleric I'd say get light/heavy shield and start with at least a 13 CON (dwarf with an 11 + 2 is good here) so you can pick up Scale and by level 21 (with 11/21 stat bumps) you can finally get plate.

For the WIS cleric it's more stat dependent and without knowing how he allocated it's hard to say. IMO the "laser" Cleric has MAD issues as regards defenses. Either you accept that he's gonna get hit more often, or you sacrifice your to-hit in order to pick up STR/CON so you can get scale and a heavy shield. Either way you're going to have problems. I've also seen suggested an Elf Cleric starting with a 16/16 -> 18/18 WIS/DEX. This can give you a 17 AC (with Hide) at 1st level and a decent to-hit as well as being able to use a longbow ranged basic attack, or you can try to squeeze a 13 STR in there for a shield and have a 20 AC by level 2.

As for him not hitting well that also depends a lot on his stats. Expertise is good for anyone needing to hit. For the STR cleric I advise picking up any +3 weapon proficiency (long sword, bastard sword) because for a Cleric it's more about getting the buffs than the damage he does. For the WIS "laser" Cleric there's not much more to do than start with an 18/14/11 array and put the 18 in WIS and be sure to pick a race that bumps WIS to 20. You'll be at +5 (+6 with Expertise) at level 1 vs F/R/W and that's pretty darn good.

 

[Turtlejay]

Still not to sure what build he has, but it seems like Wisdom fits best. . .

Astral Seal as an at-will solves a couple of his problems. It is +1 to hit over his other powers, and it heals a small amount in addition to its debuff. You don't have to be a pacifist to take it, but if you do have Astral Seal, you can take Pacifist Healing and be assured of at least one option that doesn't do damage.

Since these Wis Clerics attack FRW without a proficiency bonus, it may seem like their to-hit bonuses are low, but as long as he is decently built (with a 16 in Wis) he should be able to hit about half of the time, more if he chooses his powers based on off-defenses. With three meleers he should take Distant Advantage so he can get CA from a distance. Try to keep out of the way of the main front line, and hope that the marks from the two defenders can dissuade the enemy from charging past to pick on him.

Having a Warlord in the party is great, it means someone is there to heal the healer if he gets focus fired!

Jay

 

[Mengu]

There is a distinct lack of a striker in the group (even if the fighter and paladin focus on damage). I don't know what the cleric's build is like (melee or ranged), but between a cleric and a warlord, there are 4 words flying around. There shouldn't be a need for the cleric to focus too much on healing.

Two defenders should be able to provide sufficient marking to help protect the cleric, but a bit of extra armor or health won't hurt.

With 2 defenders and a controller, I suspect the group is having difficulty focusing damage. There is no easy way to build the best half-elf cleric for this group, but I'll give it a shot for a melee build.

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
level 4
Half-Elf, Cleric
Build: Battle Cleric

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 19, Con 14, Dex 10, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 13.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 18, Con 12, Dex 10, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 11.


AC: 20 Fort: 17 Reflex: 13 Will: 17
HP: 41 Surges: 9 Surge Value: 10

TRAINED SKILLS
Religion +6, Insight +11, Heal +9, Diplomacy +10

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +2, Arcana +1, Bluff +3, Dungeoneering +4, Endurance +4, History +1, Intimidate +3, Nature +4, Perception +4, Stealth +2, Streetwise +3, Thievery +2, Athletics +6

FEATS
Cleric: Ritual Caster
Level 1: Weapon Proficiency (Greatspear)
Level 2: Armor Proficiency (Scale)
Level 4: Weapon Expertise (Spear)

POWERS
Channel Divinity: Turn Undead
Cleric at-will 1: Righteous Brand
Cleric at-will 1: Recovery Strike
Dilettante: Howling Strike
Cleric encounter 1: Healing Strike
Cleric daily 1: Weapon of Astral Flame
Cleric utility 2: Bless
Cleric encounter 3: Split the Sky

ITEMS
Ritual Book, Healer's Brooch +1, Piecemeal Scale Armor +1, Potion of Healing (heroic tier) (2), Hungry Spear Greatspear +1, Pelor's Sun Blessing (level 3)
RITUALS
Gentle Repose
====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======

Gives you decent accuracy, good defense, decent damage, some range options, a few ways to heal, and a few ways to increase party damage in big fights.

I don't think a laser cleric will be quite as useful to this party because it's not covering the party's weakness, damage output. Also with a strength build, you're helping out the warlord be more effective, giving him one more option on the field to grant basic attacks to. And strength allows for better armor. Armor can be upgraded to plate at paragon. With this build, I'd also grab power of skill and maybe a horned helm down the road to charge with Righteous Brand.

 

[CovertOps]

With 2 defenders and a controller, I suspect the group is having difficulty focusing damage. There is no easy way to build the best half-elf cleric for this group, but I'll give it a shot for a melee build.

Gives you decent accuracy, good defense, decent damage, some range options, a few ways to heal, and a few ways to increase party damage in big fights.

I don't think a laser cleric will be quite as useful to this party because it's not covering the party's weakness, damage output. Also with a strength build, you're helping out the warlord be more effective, giving him one more option on the field to grant basic attacks to. And strength allows for better armor. Armor can be upgraded to plate at paragon. With this build, I'd also grab power of skill and maybe a horned helm down the road to charge with Righteous Brand.

Minor suggested changes:
FEATS
Cleric: Ritual Caster
Level 1: Weapon Proficiency (Bastard sword)
Level 2: Shield Proficiency (Light)
Level 4: Shield Proficiency (Heavy)

Shields are always better than armor because they give you +1 AC/Ref. Bastard sword gives up reach for being 1-handed so you can use the shield. You can't flank with a reach weapon. +2 to hit from combat advantage is good.

Go Longtooth Shifter

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 18, Con 13, Dex 10, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 10.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 13, Dex 10, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 10.