What Do We Know About Clerics?

[Irda Ranger]

Rituals cover magic item creation, and non-combat spell (divinations are prime examples). Divinations, long range teleport, restorative effects (the cleric’s remove disease for example) are rituals.

That's in the wizard section, but I expect rituals work the same for Clerics. They seem to be the "out of combat, time-consuming and expensive" magics.

 

[med stud]

It won't make them run away but it will... make them feel awkward and unwelcome?

I think it is mentioned to keep undead at bay so that they can not get closer to the cleric. I'm not sure, though.

 

[eve_of_dante]

having now picked up races and classes, I would add that some deities apparently grant defense bonuses rather than (or in addition to?) weapon proficiences.

There is mention of healing prayers, which take the place of standard-action healing spells, though rituals are necessary for more complex healing...

There are also battle prayers as well...

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

having now picked up races and classes, I would add that some deities apparently grant defense bonuses rather than (or in addition to?) weapon proficiences.

There is mention of healing prayers, which take the place of standard-action healing spells, though rituals are necessary for more complex healing...

There are also battle prayers as well...

Battle prayers! Liking the sound of it.

I wonder if Clerics will be able to attack their enemies with Holy Oaths of power, too?

I have always enjoyed the idea of a person who has such strong faith he can literally affect the world with it - this seems very much like what I'm after!

 

[Blacksmithking]

While some people have pushed for a divine pure caster more akin to a wizard, it doesn't seem that this is happening, at least for the cleric. As I see it, all the casters are being weakened, and divine magic isn't strong enough to support an unarmoured caster.

I think you're right, although it may be trivial to create a "pure caster" cleric by allowing a cleric access to one or more wizard traditions. I think I'll be able to brew up the class I really want by making ranged healing, ranged smite, or shadow traditions.

One idea of 4e is that everyone fights (in their own way), which is opposed to the idea of cloistered clerics.

I disagree. The current 4e cleric is a defender-leader. He's fighting like a second-string defender. I see nothing wrong, mechanically, with a striker-leader or a controller-leader.

And a sufficiently strong divine caster class would need wizard strength magic, which steps on the wizard's toes.

Apparently the wizard's spell selection in 4e is sufficiently narrow to allow for other classes with "wizard strength" magic such as summoners, necromancers, illusionists, bards, psions, etc.

 

[Nifft]

This may be a (multiclassed) cleric using a holy symbol.

Wow. Clerics may be hot!

Thanks, -- N

 

[Lord Zack]

I don't think the cleric aught to be shoehorned into the leader role. Many clerics would be, but others could be Strikers, Defenders or Controllers. Only problem is, how to do this without being unbalanced? I'm not certain my self it would be unbalanced, because you'd have to split you're limited character-building resources, you could be mostly one with only a little of the other, but to actually be that role you'd have to expend a large amount of you're power selection or suck. Also you could only be one role at once. But I could see they're being different variants of the cleric for each role.

 

[eve_of_dante]

having another look at R&C...

The designers wanted more persistent spells like spiritual weapon, more magical attacks like flame strike and more buffs, and so designed more powers based on these themes... there is also mention of supernatural weather control inspired by storm of vengeance and spells that crush a single opponent, and to commanding a foe to flee...

The cleric is expected to use one on average only one standard action an encounter to heal.

Rituals can also be used to create wards.

Mention is made of lowering the defence of a single target, or damaging them round after round.

There is repeated mention of the cleric staple of increasing allies' attack and defence bonuses.

'If you use a weapon, you can emphasize powers that augment your up-in-front approach. You can choose protection over inflicting divine wrath or vice-versa' These latter types of cleric focus more on prayers than battle apparently...

'even your holy symbol... can be a magic implement that focuses and expands your abilities, improving their accuracy or adding to your options.

Mention of new gods such as the Raven Queen. (as far as I know some of the mentioned gods are new, I can't claim to have an exhaustive knowledge of that huuuuuuge Greyhawk pantheon...)