Hello. I have to make an 11th level cleric as my player character. I have not played D&D in a few years; so I am out of the loop. The system being used is 3.5. If you have any suggestions on feats, skills, a possible prestige class, or magical items (I get 33,000 Gold for this) please post them here. The character is going to be a cleric of Tymora (Luck). Thanks.
New Cleric Help Needed
- Thread starter Apollo
- Start date
nittanytbone
First Post
What books are available?
Also, the "best" domains are often considered to be luck (for the granted power) and travel (for the granted power and the spells). So good choice
If you want a "classic" D&D cleric (healing, anti-undead) then look into the Radiant Servant of Pelor PrC from Complete Divine. You'll want high wisdom and charisma; good con is nice; everything else can be dumped. Consider starting at a later age category to get bonuses to your mental stats.
Another good PrC for clerics is the Contemplative (also from Complete Divine). This class is a bit more generic, but the benefits from even a one or two level dip are nice.
A final PrC is Church Inquisitor. Downside: You aren't as good at turning undead, must be LG, weak fort saves. Upside: More skill points, better skills, it is very easy to get into, and oodles of nice special abilities.
One rule of thumb with clerics is "never lose spellcaster levels." If you multiclass into something that disrupts your caster progression, you almost always will regret it.
If you want to boost your spellcasting power, go for Divine Metamagic. Basically, this lets you convert turn undead attempts into more powerful spells. The downside is that it is very feat intensive. Here's one typical feat chain:
Extend Spell-->Persistent Spell-->Divine Metamagic Persistent Spell-->Extra Turning
Another is:
Quicken Spell-->Divine Metamagic Quicken Spell-->Extra Turning
Obviously with Divine Metamagic you want as many turn undead attempts per day as possible, which means high charisma.
Good luck! Clerics can be lots of fun.
Also, the "best" domains are often considered to be luck (for the granted power) and travel (for the granted power and the spells). So good choice
If you want a "classic" D&D cleric (healing, anti-undead) then look into the Radiant Servant of Pelor PrC from Complete Divine. You'll want high wisdom and charisma; good con is nice; everything else can be dumped. Consider starting at a later age category to get bonuses to your mental stats.
Another good PrC for clerics is the Contemplative (also from Complete Divine). This class is a bit more generic, but the benefits from even a one or two level dip are nice.
A final PrC is Church Inquisitor. Downside: You aren't as good at turning undead, must be LG, weak fort saves. Upside: More skill points, better skills, it is very easy to get into, and oodles of nice special abilities.
One rule of thumb with clerics is "never lose spellcaster levels." If you multiclass into something that disrupts your caster progression, you almost always will regret it.
If you want to boost your spellcasting power, go for Divine Metamagic. Basically, this lets you convert turn undead attempts into more powerful spells. The downside is that it is very feat intensive. Here's one typical feat chain:
Extend Spell-->Persistent Spell-->Divine Metamagic Persistent Spell-->Extra Turning
Another is:
Quicken Spell-->Divine Metamagic Quicken Spell-->Extra Turning
Obviously with Divine Metamagic you want as many turn undead attempts per day as possible, which means high charisma.
Good luck! Clerics can be lots of fun.
TheGogmagog
First Post
I've never been a fan of turn undead, if it's half your HD you can kick it's but with a mace without breaking a sweat. Except for incorporal undead which have low HD for thier encounter level. That said, I wouldn't wory about PrC's that detract from turning, or Divine metamagic if it's allowed.
Even if you don't go all the way up the chains mentioned above, both extend spell and quicken are quite usefull around 12th level. A quickened bless gives everyone +1 to attack, in the same first round you cast Prayer.
For magic items, buy a wand of cure light wounds. You don't want to be blowing all of your spells that could be used in a second encounter to heal someone who got whacked in the first. Also a wand of lesser restoration is worth the investment. When you are hit by ability drain, you won't ever have enough memorized, and the second level slots have much better uses.
One of my favorite items is the Scarab of Protection, it gives Spell Resistance at a fraction of the cost of a cloak of spell resistance AND protects you from ability and level drain. The problem is it takes the same slot as the peritapt of wisdom.
Even if you don't go all the way up the chains mentioned above, both extend spell and quicken are quite usefull around 12th level. A quickened bless gives everyone +1 to attack, in the same first round you cast Prayer.
For magic items, buy a wand of cure light wounds. You don't want to be blowing all of your spells that could be used in a second encounter to heal someone who got whacked in the first. Also a wand of lesser restoration is worth the investment. When you are hit by ability drain, you won't ever have enough memorized, and the second level slots have much better uses.
One of my favorite items is the Scarab of Protection, it gives Spell Resistance at a fraction of the cost of a cloak of spell resistance AND protects you from ability and level drain. The problem is it takes the same slot as the peritapt of wisdom.
Nail
First Post
I'm going to assume you are using 3.5e.Apollo said:
Did you roll ability scores, or is it "point buy" (see p. 169 DMG)? Your most important abilities, in order (given a "support" cleric) is Wis, Chr, Con, Dex, Str, Int.
For your cleric you get 2 domains. You've got Luck; consider Travel or Magic...to be honest, I don't know much about Tymora.
For equipment, consider:
Full Plate +2 (5,650gp)
Hvy Shield +2 (4,170gp)
Ring of Protection +1 (2000 gp)
Cloak of Resistance +3 (9,000gp)
Periapt of Wisdom +2 (4,000gp)
Belt of Constitution +2 (4,000gp)
Wand of Lesser Vigor (Complete Divine) (750 gp)
....and some magic weapon +1 (2000gp + weapon price)
After this you'll have ~1100gp in change.
Then get some scrolls of spells you won't want to have memorized all the time. Lesser Restoration, for example. Or my favorite ambush nullifier, Obscuring Mist.
Also don't skimp on Pearls of pwer. They let you ready a spellyou already cast, level depending on the power of the pearl you have.
If you see your self fighting at all a good feat is Divine Might. It lets you use a Turning attempt to add Charisma Bonus to damage to your attacks. You do need a 13 STR and the power attack feat though but it is a good use of turning attempts that just sit around when your not fighting undead. Since Charisma should be one of your high scores for it's effect on undead it would be a good deal.
Remeber that Clerics have some of the best personal and party buff spells in the game. Also don't forget that you have the huge advantage of wearing armo and casting spells. Unless you have some reason against it, always get the biggest, magical suits of armor you can, add in shields etc... the suggest items that were posted above is pretty nice. However I am not a fan of the Wand of Lesser Vigor. It's 11 hp true but scattered over 11 rounds, a wand of Cure Moderate Wounds would cost more but I think would be much more useful. When you are casting healing from a wand it means your fighting and your party needs healing bad, giving them one at a round pace just won't cut it. Sure you can roll badly on your wand roll and give them the minimum healing but then again, next round you hit them again. A good bonus to add to magical weapons is Holy, that way any thing evil you fight will ttake extra damage. As a good character you should be fighting a lot of evil hopefully.
If you haven't played for a few years I might suggest keeping your character "Pure" that is not taking any Prestige class levels. Most of the player classes are damn tough on their own, and to me the prestige classes seem to only add more specialization to your character by requiring that you take levels in other classes. Now if there is one you like by all means play it , your character so have fun with it!
If you see your self fighting at all a good feat is Divine Might. It lets you use a Turning attempt to add Charisma Bonus to damage to your attacks. You do need a 13 STR and the power attack feat though but it is a good use of turning attempts that just sit around when your not fighting undead. Since Charisma should be one of your high scores for it's effect on undead it would be a good deal.
Remeber that Clerics have some of the best personal and party buff spells in the game. Also don't forget that you have the huge advantage of wearing armo and casting spells. Unless you have some reason against it, always get the biggest, magical suits of armor you can, add in shields etc... the suggest items that were posted above is pretty nice. However I am not a fan of the Wand of Lesser Vigor. It's 11 hp true but scattered over 11 rounds, a wand of Cure Moderate Wounds would cost more but I think would be much more useful. When you are casting healing from a wand it means your fighting and your party needs healing bad, giving them one at a round pace just won't cut it. Sure you can roll badly on your wand roll and give them the minimum healing but then again, next round you hit them again. A good bonus to add to magical weapons is Holy, that way any thing evil you fight will ttake extra damage. As a good character you should be fighting a lot of evil hopefully.
If you haven't played for a few years I might suggest keeping your character "Pure" that is not taking any Prestige class levels. Most of the player classes are damn tough on their own, and to me the prestige classes seem to only add more specialization to your character by requiring that you take levels in other classes. Now if there is one you like by all means play it , your character so have fun with it!
Nail
First Post
Nope.Angerland said:
If your Cleric is in combat, he's not using the wand for healing. He's casting spontaneous cure spells, and as high a spell level as he can manage.
The wand is for out-of-combat healing, in which you have many, many rounds to get back up to speed. In such circumstances, the cheapest healing for the money is a wand of Lesser Vigor (550 hp of healing for 750gp)...and it allows you to keep your memorized spells intact. Memorized spells are for combat, not down-time.
As for feats, the OP mentioned a support role, not a front-line combat role. Therefore he/she doesn't want Power Attack or Divine Might. Instead, he'll probably want Empower Spell, Extend Spell, Divine Metamagic, ...heck, even Improved Toughness.
Mistwell
Crusty Old Meatwad
The key to playing a Cleric in 3.5 D&D (I found) was in using your long-term spells well.
So, that means in the morning you cast Magic Vestment on yourself, and Greater Magic Weapon on your weapon, and perhaps Status on the party. Some folks also really like the Spikes spell from Complete Divine (cast on a club or quarterstaff). Those spells will last all day long, and will help out with every encounter. I have also heard that lots of people like Heros Feast, also because of it's all-day effects.
Next, I paid attention to Battle-Long spells that boost your own fighting abilities. That means Divine Favor, Divine Power, and Righteous Might.
Next, healing spells. Many of your spells will end up being swapped out for healing spells. Remember that you get the most bang for your buck from low level spells like Cure Light Wounds and Cure Moderate Wounds, since the first level spell will heal 9.5 hit points with one casting, on average, and the second level one will heal 19, on average. The healing curve starts to drop off after that, at your level, as you cannot take full advantage of the "+lev" portion of the spell.
In addition to swappable healing spells, you have the more unique healing-type spells. Things like Lesser Restoration, Restoration, Remove Disease, Remove Curse, Remove Paralysis, Delay Poison, Remove Blindness/Deafness, Neutralize Poison, and Raise Dead (I'm leaving Freedom of Movement and Break Enchantment out intentionally, as they are more utility spells). I tend to find these spells are best for scrolls, and even sometimes wands, rather than preparing them yourself. I found a wand of lesser restoration was particularly useful, as temporary ability damage can become common in the mid-level range.
Finally, you have the utility spells. I found the following to be of the most general use during adventures: Detect Magic, Light, Bless, Darkness, Silence (this is critical to combat spellcasters), Meld into Stone (good for escapes), Speak With Dead (best way to figure out what is going on in the adventure), Stone Shape (very high utility), Dispel Magic (very high utility) Freedom of Movement (very high utility), Break Enchantment (very high utility), Wall of Stone.
There is another category of spells that increase the fighting ability of your fellow adventurers (buffing spells). This is an important category for some groups, and not for others (where the Arcane caster might do it instead). Regardless, being able to increase the ability scores of your party, like strength through Bulls Strength, can be quite useful.
That should serve as a decent review of your spells. You will find that, as you play, through experimentation, you will eventually come up with a list you are comfortable with as prepared spells for almost every day. Don't be afraid to experiment. Some of the best uses for spells I found only came after I accidently prepared the spell or was forced to because of my domain (like Spiritual Weapon, a good spell with fairly high utility that I never would have chosen but-for the fact that it was a domain spell).
So, that means in the morning you cast Magic Vestment on yourself, and Greater Magic Weapon on your weapon, and perhaps Status on the party. Some folks also really like the Spikes spell from Complete Divine (cast on a club or quarterstaff). Those spells will last all day long, and will help out with every encounter. I have also heard that lots of people like Heros Feast, also because of it's all-day effects.
Next, I paid attention to Battle-Long spells that boost your own fighting abilities. That means Divine Favor, Divine Power, and Righteous Might.
Next, healing spells. Many of your spells will end up being swapped out for healing spells. Remember that you get the most bang for your buck from low level spells like Cure Light Wounds and Cure Moderate Wounds, since the first level spell will heal 9.5 hit points with one casting, on average, and the second level one will heal 19, on average. The healing curve starts to drop off after that, at your level, as you cannot take full advantage of the "+lev" portion of the spell.
In addition to swappable healing spells, you have the more unique healing-type spells. Things like Lesser Restoration, Restoration, Remove Disease, Remove Curse, Remove Paralysis, Delay Poison, Remove Blindness/Deafness, Neutralize Poison, and Raise Dead (I'm leaving Freedom of Movement and Break Enchantment out intentionally, as they are more utility spells). I tend to find these spells are best for scrolls, and even sometimes wands, rather than preparing them yourself. I found a wand of lesser restoration was particularly useful, as temporary ability damage can become common in the mid-level range.
Finally, you have the utility spells. I found the following to be of the most general use during adventures: Detect Magic, Light, Bless, Darkness, Silence (this is critical to combat spellcasters), Meld into Stone (good for escapes), Speak With Dead (best way to figure out what is going on in the adventure), Stone Shape (very high utility), Dispel Magic (very high utility) Freedom of Movement (very high utility), Break Enchantment (very high utility), Wall of Stone.
There is another category of spells that increase the fighting ability of your fellow adventurers (buffing spells). This is an important category for some groups, and not for others (where the Arcane caster might do it instead). Regardless, being able to increase the ability scores of your party, like strength through Bulls Strength, can be quite useful.
That should serve as a decent review of your spells. You will find that, as you play, through experimentation, you will eventually come up with a list you are comfortable with as prepared spells for almost every day. Don't be afraid to experiment. Some of the best uses for spells I found only came after I accidently prepared the spell or was forced to because of my domain (like Spiritual Weapon, a good spell with fairly high utility that I never would have chosen but-for the fact that it was a domain spell).
