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my very first PFS character has hit level 9, and his lack of optimization is becoming an issue. I didn't know what I was doing when I made him, so I thought a balanced character would work better. how silly I was.
level 9 dwarf cleric. WIS of 16 and CHA of 14. has a headband of mental prowess +2 to boost WIS to 18 and CHA to 16. now that he's hit level 9, it kinda sucks only have the one first level spell (plus domain). one breath of life a day doesn't cut it playing in the 10-11 tier a lot of the time. and I wouldn't dare take anything else at this point.
how can I boost my WIS to 20? I can't afford to upgrade the headband to +4. I could sell it and buy an inspired wisdom +4, but that would sacrifice the CHA. are there any other magical items I could use?
seeing as he's primarily a healbot with some buff/debuff (next to useless at dealing damage), it'd be nice to get that second 5th level spell. he definitely came in handy during elven entanglement, but that's only because we had one character drop below CON. I was able to keep everyone else up with channels.
any advice?
You can always get scrolls. Failing that pick up Ultimate Campaign and retrain if you've got the PP and gold for it.
~NPEH
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There are other magic items to help you out, as a headband +4 for 2 abilities is very expensive.
First-Aid Gloves can give you up to two breaths of life, for emergency situations (perhaps after you have used your one).
Unfortunately, a phylactery of positive channeling doesn't stack with your headband, but that would give very potent channels.
Scrolls can be expensive, and for breath of life very hard to use as you have to be in the right place at the right time. But they can fill out your needed spells, and let you prepare spells you are likely to use more often.
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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my very first PFS character has hit level 9, and his lack of optimization is becoming an issue. I didn't know what I was doing when I made him, so I thought a balanced character would work better. how silly I was.
Well, an effective generalist can be done (and picking cleric as a class is one of the strongest first steps in that direction), but yeah, it ain't easy.
level 9 dwarf cleric. WIS of 16 and CHA of 14. has a headband of mental prowess +2 to boost WIS to 18 and CHA to 16.
Oof. Your biggest mistake was to emphasize CHA on a dwarf. Yikes. Personally, I would say abandon it (the CHA investment, I mean). Sell the WIS/CHA headband and focus on WIS. If you want more channels per day, take the Extra Channel feat. Since you're mostly using channels to heal (if I understood you correctly), you don't care about save DCs, so all your CHA is doing is determining the uses per day, which is more efficiently boosted via the Extra Channel feat.
Also, if you've spent any level-based ability score increases in CHA, then if you have Ultimate Campaign I'd consider retraining those (probably to WIS).
now that he's hit level 9, it kinda sucks only have the one first level spell (plus domain).
For this specific issue, 1st-level pearls of power are only 1,000gp apiece.
one breath of life a day doesn't cut it playing in the 10-11 tier a lot of the time. and I wouldn't dare take anything else at this point.
Interestingly, my cleric is also 9th level. He's been carrying a BoL scroll since 6th level and has never had occasion to use it. If you're finding you consistently need to use BoL once per day or more, something's seriously wrong. Most likely, your companions are making poor choices that get them killed, relying on you to keep them from having to learn from their mistakes. It might be time to let someone die.
Unless of course you really enjoy being the medic, but your tone suggests otherwise (though I could be wrong).
how can I boost my WIS to 20? I can't afford to upgrade the headband to +4. I could sell it and buy an inspired wisdom +4, but that would sacrifice the CHA.
This is what I recommend. As I described above, clerics who channel to heal only care about uses per day, and boosting your CHA is a very expensive way to boost that number.
seeing as he's primarily a healbot with some buff/debuff (next to useless at dealing damage), it'd be nice to get that second 5th level spell. he definitely came in handy during elven entanglement, but that's only because we had one character drop below CON. I was able to keep everyone else up with channels.
any advice?
Heh, my 9th level cleric played that scenario too. My 5th-level spell was plane shift. :D
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those first aid gloves are awesome! def my next purchase.
I do have campaign, but other than retraining the +1s from 4 and 8, it'll suck. I've already retrained a couple feats.
This is a MUST for anyone that owns the primer. I cannot state enough how having access to THAT many healing spells on an item like that can be a party saver. It's on the list for ANY character I don't have a specific 'glove' item figured into their build.
So.. pretty much ANY character.
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sorry jiggy, that was a typo on my part. should have been one FIFTH level spell. I have plenty of 1st through 4th. I got the CHA to 13 originally for selective channel, and then popped a +1 at 4th to get him to a +2 bonus. he has extra channel already, giving him 8/day. I could probably lose the headband at this point. came in handy earlier on to have the extra one.
when I say I wasted the breath of life (in the first encounter no less), it's because the guy I saved was really ungrateful. and it was first time using the spell. I joked that he owed me a beer. not my character. me. he got all pissy. everyone else was VERY happy to have a healer in the party.
I did quite well in entanglement, dimensional anchor came in VERY handy. it was the first time my cleric truly shined in a scenario. everyone else in the party dropped below 0 at least twice.
sounds like my first order of bidness is fancy gloves and retraining a point into WIS. when I can afford it, I'll sell the headband and opt for a +4 WIS. I can just scrap the CHA entirely. and once I hit level 11, I'm definitely taking that channeled revival. it'll be especially handy since I've only got the 20 ft movement. those extra 10 feet could be crucial.
thanks for the input everyone!
First-Aid Gloves
I'm not sure how I forgot those gloves considering all of my characters have them for emergency situations...
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those first aid gloves are awesome! def my next purchase.
Caveat: unless things have changed recently, you cannot reimburse other characters for expenses in PFS -- so you'll be eating the total cost of those gloves when depleting them saving other character's lives.
-- This puts you in the uncomfortable position of always thinking to yourself: "Do I really need to save this moron's life right now with Breath of Life, or is it high time he learned the consequences of being stupid and paid his own dime for Raise Dead?"
So, they're one of those "insurance" items that you recommend THEY buy and loan to *you*.
BTW, those gloves have another weakness: they use your hand slot -- and taking a move action to don them may not be an option if Breath of Life is needed immediately. Depending on your character's equipment dream-list, that may be a deal-breaker.
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those first aid gloves are awesome! def my next purchase.Caveat: unless things have changed recently, you cannot reimburse other characters for expenses in PFS -- so you'll be eating the total cost of those gloves when depleting them saving other character's lives.
-- This puts you in the uncomfortable position of always thinking to yourself: "Do I really need to save this moron's life right now with Breath of Life, or is it high time he learned the consequences of being stupid and paid his own dime for Raise Dead?"
So, they're one of those "insurance" items that you recommend THEY buy and loan to *you*.
BTW, those gloves have another weakness: they use your hand slot -- and taking a move action to don them may not be an option if Breath of Life is needed immediately. Depending on your character's equipment dream-list, that may be a deal-breaker.
the hands slot isn't a big deal for me. as long as I can still use my ring of featherfall, I'm fine. and as for the cost of casting? meh. I kinda figure that's part of being the party cleric. I'm not gonna be taking down the BBEG on my own. if it costs me 2250 gp to bring back the guy who CAN, it's worth it to complete the scenario. especially at 7-11, the gold at the end is worth it.
and like you said, I don't necessarily HAVE to save someone, if you're stupid. withholding healing is not PVP.