Rogue/Cleric optimization

[Shin Okada]

As I said in the previous post, Rogue/Cleric (or Rogue/Cleric/Shadowbane Stalker) build's weakness is it's relatively low attack bonuses.

One way to supplement it is to take Magic domain and use some cheap wands of touch attack spells.

A caster level 1 wand of Shocking Grasp costs only 750 gp and with Sneak Attack bonuses, it is a very effective tool for a rogue. You can make sneak attack with it. There are a few melee touch damaging spells in Cleric spell list. But most of them are inflict spells which are Will Half.

 

[pawsplay]

Rogue 3/Cleric X is the way to go. You lose very little in the way of casting, you get sneak attack for reasons of style, your skills will be sufficient, you will have evasion. The key is not to take the rogue levels back to back, so you can keep your rogue skills up. Spend only a handful of ranks on skills that can be completely superceded with spells; for instance, Decipher Script is not that helpful when you can comprehend languages. Hide, move silently, tumble, balance, bluff, spot, listen, and open lock never go out of style.

Trickery and Magic is a very compelling combo... you can combine tricky spells with tricky skills, and you can use virtually any magic item. On the other hand, Strength and Travel will take care of other deficits. On the balance, I would tend to favor Luck + thematic domain.

Your saves will already be pretty good, but go ahead and take Lightning Reflexes so you can optimize your evasion. Make sure and take plenty of spells that will allow you to make sneak attacks... hold person, blindness, and invisibility are just a few to start with. Don't forget Practiced Caster and Improved Initiative (sneak attacks, casting buffs, whatever). At higher levels, Quicken Spell will help you use your spells synergistically with your other abilities.