Laser Cleric damage optimization.

A laser cleric is one focused on summoning Lantern Archons. Admittedly that is not much of a specialisation, but you it takes a few tweaks to make it really nice.

The obvious approach is the evangelist cleric archetype, which adds inspire courage to your repertoire and provides some minor augmentation to your heavenly laser drones' laser drones as well as improving to hit.

The feats Superior Summons and Sacred Summons are pretty obvious, too. The first gives you extra laser drones, the second standard action summons, allowing you to get off some inspirational sermoning right off the bat.

But from here on out, it gets thin. Does Discordant Voice work? Probably not. It only works on "weapon attacks", which seems to exclude glorious laser rays.

If you stay within 30 ft. of your target, you can use a destruction domain power, but that's a) quite close and b) good luck finding a lawful good deity with the destruction domain.

There are some ways to increase to hit though: prayer/bless, the heroism aura from the glory domain.

In any case, do you have ideas on how to improve on the performance of the little lantern laser drone squad?

You could get magical lineage and wayang spell hunter for the summon monster spell, then get quicken, so that it only takes a spell slot two higher to get out i two castings in one round.

searing light, flamestrike, sunbeam are sort of lasers. (sun domain?)
clerics have bless, aid, probably a bunch of other similar spells that buff a bunch of allies.
Maybe there are some spells to lower the AC of bad guys (i don't know if they actually do that - but, clerics also have some of those area debuffs...i see that bane and fear do not, oops). curse or blindness could lower a guy's AC.
I don't know if there is a cleric archetype that gets like a bardic song or something (maybe you could take leadership and get a lantern archon with bard levels or something if all else fails).

There's always the usual Flagbearer + Banner of the Ancient Kings.

b) good luck finding a lawful good deity with the destruction domain.

Try Ragathiel. :3

Extending the duration of your summons is awfully nice. Buffs like prayer and the like are nice for summons also.
In my experience, the lantern archons get dragged out against foes with massive DR and spell resistance (e.g., golems). I've not seen them used as a general MO before though.

cant a summoner do this?

dot

uh, be a 3rd-level groveborn sorcerer, and you can make your laserbots look, uh, leafy and natural. (They get a bonus on some saves and +2 AC)

There's always the feat Spell Perfection, although I'm not quite sure how you'd use it. If you have Augment Summons, you can use Spell Perfection to give your laserbots +8 Str and Con...which is meh I guess.

Alignment Channel Good to keep them alive?

Extending the duration of your summons is awfully nice.

I think that by time this becomes feasible, they last for a fight.

In my experience, the lantern archons get dragged out against foes with massive DR and spell resistance (e.g., golems). I've not seen them used as a general MO before though.

One of the main points for focussing on them is that their lasers overcome damage reduction of any type.

cant a summoner do this?

They can. But with Sacred Summons, a cleric can also do it in a standard action and there is no way for a summoner to get inspire courage by himself without cutting into their summoning.

uh, be a 3rd-level groveborn sorcerer, and you can make your laserbots look, uh, leafy and natural. (They get a bonus on some saves and +2 AC)

There's always the feat Spell Perfection, although I'm not quite sure how you'd use it. If you have Augment Summons, you can use Spell Perfection to give your laserbots +8 Str and Con...which is meh I guess.

Surivability is not so much an issue and the STR bonus, though probably an impressive experience for a STR 1 creature, will not impact the damage of their laser ray ranged touch attacks.

Is there a way to summon gestalts of lantern archons?

Oh, I know! Ferocious Summons. The feat got some love from a FAQ update (to the ARG of all things) that lets them stick around after they have less than 0 hp. That's handy!

I know my other suggestions were cruddy. Leafy lanterns?

good luck finding a lawful good deity with the destruction domain.

Ragathiel says hi.

Is there a way to summon gestalts of lantern archons?

Oh, I know! Ferocious Summons. The feat got some love from a FAQ update (to the ARG of all things) that lets them stick around after they have less than 0 hp. That's handy!

Still doesn't add to damage. Also, the feat Summon Good Monster (which gets my vote cruddiest feat name ever) gives the Laser Archons the Die Hard feat, which is at least something of an improvement over ferocity.

I know my other suggestions were cruddy. Leafy lanterns?

I don't mind the leafiness. I could well imagine leafy, thorns/acid/poison shooting drones.

The cleric spell Blessing Of Fervor gives a haste effect, which should up drone damage by 1.5. Alternative, let an arcanally inclined companion cast a true Haste after you've summoned your drones. But you know how those wizard folk are, brash and unreliable to wait!

There is an Aasimar feat line that makes their daylight uses into lasers!

Heavenly Radiance (Aasimar)

Your heavenly light can be used in a variety of ways.

Prerequisites: Aasimar, daylight spell-like ability, sufficiently high level (see below).

Benefit: You gain one additional use per day of daylight. Choose one spell from the table below; by expending a use of daylight, you may use this spell as a spell-like ability. To select a spell, you must meet the minimum character level for its listing in the table. The save DC for this spell is Charisma-based.

(Spell-Like Ability / Minimum Character Level)
Flare burst / 1st
Wake of light / 3rd
Searing light / 5th
Wandering star motes / 7th
Sunbeam (one beam only) / 9th

Special: You may take this feat multiple times. Each time you select it, you gain an additional use of daylight and may select another spell from the table.

That will give you 6 non spell level lasers as well. Also the summoning feat from Champions of Purity gives the diehard feat to summons!

Summon Good Monster

You can summon the aid of creatures driven by their very nature to destroy evil.

Prerequisite: Good alignment.

Benefit: When casting summon monster, you also gain access to the list of good monsters below. Your righteous determination grants these summoned creatures the Diehard feat. You may still summon creatures from the standard list, but without the Diehard feat.

I know this thread is dead but since it's a Cleric optimization thread I'll cast a raise dead and offer my experience with a similar build.

Human Evangelist Cleric of Ragathiel
Leadership subdomain (Nobility)
Variant Channel - Positive energy "Justice/Law"
Favored Class Bonus - see Human "ARG"

Feats:
1. Lingering Performance
1H. Spell Focus Conjuration
3. Augmented Summoning
5. Quick Channel
7. Sacred Summoning
8D. Leadership
9. Superior Summoning
11. Divine Interference
13. Discordant Voice
15. Harmonic Sage
17. Extend Spell
19. Destructive Dispel

The concept is the same as the OP, pure caster cleric focused on supporting his party with Sermonic Performance, Domain powers, occasional channels and spells.
Mid game when SM3-5 become available the LA laser combo begins.

I found out that it works quite well even without the use of metamagic feats with a appropriate group.
The combination of the abilities mentioned above allows you to give up to three buffs per turn on almost all allies at low-mid levels (all of them at higher ones) with different types of bonuses (morale, insight, Channel bonus), throw in buff spells for additional bonuses of the remaining types like sacred bonus and of course "Brilliant Inspiration" with "Blessing of Fervor" to make your group a powerhouse.
You may consider a level dip in fighter or a couple of levels as paladin to improve your "survivability" by gaining armor and shield proficiencies.

As for ability scores wisdom>charisma>constitution>dexterity>intelligence>strength should be appropriate. Personally I hate dumping a score so my minimum was 10 strength.

Excellent idea here. I've been wanting to give Evangelist a go, and this looks like a fun way to do it. Thanks, all. I'll post a build if it comes out looking significantly different.

Does Discordant Voice work? Probably not. It only works on "weapon attacks", which seems to exclude glorious laser rays.

This FAQ might suggest otherwise.

Ray: Do rays count as weapons for the purpose of spells and effects that affect weapons?

Yes.

For example, a bard's inspire courage says it affects "weapon damage rolls," which is worded that way so don't try to add the bonus to a spell like fireball. However, rays are treated as weapons, whether they're from spells, a monster ability, a class ability, or some other source, so the inspire courage bonus applies to ray attack rolls and ray damage rolls.

The same rule applies to weapon-like spells such as flame blade, mage's sword, and spiritual weapon--effects that affect weapons work on these spells.

Of course, this is talking about rays produced by spells and the Lantern Archon's light ray is an (Ex). But it is described as a ray and it's got to have some rules category, right? But maybe (i) if the light ray counts as a natural attack and (ii) if natural attacks are excluded from Discordant Voice's "successful weapon attacks" ... ?

Maybe you're right, it does get "thin" here.

Other opinions?

I would go around going PEW-PEW!

Magda is a 9th level PFS Evangelist Cleric who has been on the slow XP track for a while. She uses lots of lasers. They are her go-to summons when facing especially tough DR, automatons, et cetera. This works very well.

I was slightly surprised that every GM, so far, has ruled that Inspire Courage does apply to laser beams. It's a huge enhancement that nearly doubles the damage output of our l'il laser zappers.

I don't see why such a character should be all-caster, though. There's no need to be martially incompetent. Inspire Courage buffs everyone, including yourself. You can standard-action summon Lantern Archons and be an effective martial combatant, both at the same time. At 9th level Magda gets multiple attacks (current maximum is six attacks per round) at roughly +20 to hit for 2d8+26 damage, which is respectable martial damage output.

Why be all-caster or all-martial, when a Cleric can consistently do both at the same time? For the above laser-cleric build, all you have to do is have at least a 14 STR and add feats Combat Reflexes and Power Attack. You can summon just as many lantern archons and your buffs are just as good, but you can also get in a few free 30+ HP martial attacks. As a plus your threatened AoOs provide a defensive screen for your lasers and your squishy allies.

+20 to hit and 2d8+26 damage? Is this like an optimal amount of damage? sounds like a lot of set up is involved.

+20 to hit and 2d8+26 damage? Is this like an optimal amount of damage? sounds like a lot of set up is involved.

The typical reach cleric does not invest much in melee combat. All you need is a decent Str (16 at least IMO), Combat Reflexes and Power Attack. For this investment the damage is respectable.

@Magda:

You brag on this character a lot. So I'm curious: what's the build?

@Magda:

You brag on this character a lot. So I'm curious: what's the build?

click on her profile.

EsperMagic wrote:

+20 to hit and 2d8+26 damage? Is this like an optimal amount of damage? sounds like a lot of set up is involved.

The typical reach cleric does not invest much in melee combat. All you need is a decent Str (16 at least IMO), Combat Reflexes and Power Attack. For this investment the damage is respectable.

Exactly. Small investment gets you a good return. You can cast a spell every round and also inflict martial damage. Brewer's write up of the reach cleric build is brilliant.

Looks like fun to play. Very martial-focused, though. You'd have to swap some things out to get a real summoner-reach-cleric. But there's potential there!

For myself, I'm planning a dedicated support-and-summons along the lines Regrs' sketched out above. I'm curious to see if I can get this guy all the way to PFS retirement without ever rolling an attack roll for myself (not a huge challenge, sure, but a fun one!).

Human Evangelist Cleric of Ragathiel
Str 13 Dex 12 Con 15 Int 7 Wis 17 Cha 14

Traits: Focused Mind, Force For Good
Domain: Leadership

01 Lingering Performance, Spell Focus (Conjuration) [Human]
03 Augment Summoning
04 +1 Con [= 16]
05 Superior Summoning
07 Sacred Summons
08 +1 Wis [= 18], Persuasive [Leadership, PFS swap-out]
09 Summon Good Monster
11 Divine Interference

[Lvl 1] (1) bless, move to flank; (2) cycle inspire courage, inspiring command [x2] until combat ends.

Start summoning as it becomes viable, beginning with summon minor monster at level 3 to flood the field with augmented celestial hawks.

I meant set up as far as buffs to raise your atk/dmg so high. Or is it something simple to get those numbers?>

A high charisma paladin in the party would make this quite dangerous at level 11, or heck a cleric 9/paladin 11 character just for giggles

A high charisma paladin in the party would make this quite dangerous at level 11, or heck a cleric 9/paladin 11 character just for giggles

Actually we do have an Oradin tank in the same group with the aforementioned cleric, he's also quite the beast while buffed up by the second turn of the battle. Thankfully surprise and first rounds of battle matter little thanks to the "initiative boosters" of the group (9lvl diviner wizard and Inquisitor with the Tactics subdomain).

A high charisma paladin in the party would make this quite dangerous at level 11, or heck a cleric 9/paladin 11 character just for giggles

Aura of Justice? Hehehe. Lasers go BOOM!

A visual reference (wannabe) to the aforementioned combo, courtesy of Squaresoft.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj1ZoN9CWso

One potential boost is to let one of your archon summons cast aid on the others instead of blasting (they get it at-will). This won't increase damage per round necessarily, but it should increase their survivability (in addition to their attack bonus). Also a small bonus vs. fear, which they are susceptible to.

Joe's summoner above is a really nice build! He's got all the summoning feats, and they are doubly-enhanced by Inspire Courage. Great build!

Heroism Subdomain? Aura of Heroism (Su) can be triggered as a swift action.

Summon, give them all heroism and attack, all in 1 round.

Heroism Subdomain? Aura of Heroism (Su) can be triggered as a swift action.

Summon, give them all heroism and attack, all in 1 round.

Unfortunately it doesn't stack with Sermonic Performance otherwise yes Heroism subdomain would be my first choice too.

Secane wrote:

Heroism Subdomain? Aura of Heroism (Su) can be triggered as a swift action.

Summon, give them all heroism and attack, all in 1 round.

Unfortunately it doesn't stack with Sermonic Performance otherwise yes Heroism subdomain would be my first choice too.

Um, Sermonic Performance works like bardic performance, right? Inspire Courage hands out competence bonuses to attack and damage.

heroism, from the Heroism domain power, hands out morale bonuses to attack. That stacks alright.

Hey, here's a goofy idea. I hate having to actually take Augment Summoning for this build, so why not get it as a bonus feat?

Enter an Abyssal sorcerer. At level 7, they can take Augment Summoning (as long as they nab Spell Focus (conjuration) first, ugh). Plus, they'll give your laser bots DR/good! How's that for survivability?

Sacred Summons is still a good idea, but how do you get an aura? Paladin! Yes, a paladin2/sorcererX combo for the mucho divine grace. This is way more late-game than an evangelist cleric with Heroism, you can still cast your summon, and next turn cast haste for twice the laserbot pewpewpew.

hmm....

A laser cleric is one focused on summoning Lantern Archons. Admittedly that is not much of a specialisation, but you it takes a few tweaks to make it really nice.

The obvious approach is the evangelist cleric archetype, which adds inspire courage to your repertoire and provides some minor augmentation to your heavenly laser drones' laser drones as well as improving to hit.

The feats Superior Summons and Sacred Summons are pretty obvious, too. The first gives you extra laser drones, the second standard action summons, allowing you to get off some inspirational sermoning right off the bat.

But from here on out, it gets thin. Does Discordant Voice work? Probably not. It only works on "weapon attacks", which seems to exclude glorious laser rays.

If you stay within 30 ft. of your target, you can use a destruction domain power, but that's a) quite close and b) good luck finding a lawful good deity with the destruction domain.

There are some ways to increase to hit though: prayer/bless, the heroism aura from the glory domain.

In any case, do you have ideas on how to improve on the performance of the little lantern laser drone squad?

Ragathiel is a LG Empereal Lord who has, among other domains, Destruction.

I'll maybe chip in a build.

[Note: for this build, I presume that starting Sermonic performance becomes a move action at 7th and a Swift action at 13th]

Human Evangelist Cleric of [Lawful Good Deity with Glory Domain ->Heroism subdomain Here]

Variant Channeling: Battle*If allowed

Wis> Cha > Con > Str || Dex > Int

Traits:[Social] Adopted (Dwarf) -> Zest for battle (+1 Weapon Damage if Morale effect gives you to hit)
[Campaign] Optimistic Gambler *If allowed

01: Lingering Performance [Optional]
Hu: Skill Focus (Perform: Oratory)
03: Free Slot
05: Eldritch Heritage (Imperious -> Student of Humanity)
07: Sacred Summons
09: Summon Good Monster [Optional]
11: Eldritch Heritage (Heroic Echo)
13: Quick Channel*

Role: You're kinda like a bard. Except you use divine power and lazers. Fly with the flock; Either go melee with reach to support or go ranged to help with your fellow archers. Due to the range limit on the Archon lasers, I advise melee.

Here, Skill Focus: Oratory and Student of Humanity are Feat taxes. You only get Knowledge: (Local) with Student of Humanity and the Charisma bonus to that is limited to Humans. If it's a human heavy campaign it might see some use, but they're really there to get you to Heroic Echo.

You're going to get your best use next to either physical or ranged attackers. If you feel you need to participate in combat more, feel free to trade some optional feats for something that will either help you be a Reach or Ranged Cleric.

*If you can Variant: Battle Channel:

Channeling will mostly be for buffing bonuses to your friendly archon's weapon damage. Once you get to level 13, get quick channel so you can start the party faster. (Standard to summon, swift for sermonic performance, Move action to channel) Get a Phylactery of positive energy if you want to buff the channel bonus.

*If you can get a Banner of Ancient kings

Take Flagbearer and dependent on what role you're helping with, either take a Longspear or some other similar pole if you're at ranged. Now you can trade the Glory Domain for whatever other domain you think would be useful to this build as Flagbearer/Banner duplicates the effect of the Heroism Aura. One Suggestion, if you're at ranged, take Sun for more thematic lasers. You can also trade Optimistic Gambler out. As long as your flag's up, it's permanent.

[This one may need a rules check, as I'm not sure Heroic Echo applies to Flagbearer + Banner of Ancient Kings]