Hi me and my group our going to play Kingmaker, with a 15 point buy, core race and core classes only but archetypes are allowed. I have never played a cleric before but my group severely needs a healer but that's not all I would like to do, and I would also like to be combative. Our group consists of. Rogue, paladin(Tank), ranger(bow with pet hawk or eagle), and a fire wizard(tho our gm has advised against fiery spell casters.) I have built several clerics but i just cant seem to get a deity that will allow me to be a decent healer and a battler. Can anyone help me out or enlighten me?
So long as you are of good alignment you are a healer due to spontaneous casting.
My clerics usually take Craft Potion as their 3rd level feat and then inform the party that they are expected to use the potions before calling on the cleric to cast healing spells.
This frees up enough spell power to do some damage in battle.
In my opinion, it's hard to go wrong with a good-aligned cleric of Gorum for greatsword beatstickery while still maintaining some healing capability. 15 points is a little tight, but I'd probably do something like this, with a human:
STR: 15, DEX: 10, CON: 14, INT: 8, WIS: 13, CHA: 12
+2 racial bonus goes in Strength, of course. If you want, you can bump your Int down to 7 to raise your Str by a point - knowledge skills are really not what you're about, and you'll still get 2 skill points per level anyway, I just don't like dumping Intelligence that low. Level up raises go into Wisdom so you can cast spells into mid levels.
For feats I'd probably take Toughness and Weapon Focus (Greatsword), with the intention of taking Power Attack at 3rd.
Domains: Strength is almost a must; Enlarge Person is a very tasty buff. As for the others, Destruction and Glory are better than Chaos or War, I think. I went with Glory for Bless Weapon, but Destruction domain's granted power is very good for this concept.
What this turns out like: AC 16 with a breastplate, 13 HP, +4 to hit with a greatsword for 2d6+4, and 4 uses of Channel Energy for healing. Not too shabby for 1st level.
Archer clerics are good, too.
There are some minor spoilers for Kingmaker that might make your deity options easier to select from.
Also, don't forget that paladins are great healers, too, and both the paladin and the ranger can use wands of cure light wounds. If the rogue has UMD, s/he can use UMD to activate wands too.
Reach style is the way to go. You have 2 melee and 2 ranged, and going with a reach weapon as a cleric lets you hang with either perfectly. Either smackin stuff up front with the boys, or guarding the ranged cats in the back.
The beauty of using a reach weapon for a melee capable cleric is that you get your hits in with Attacks of Opportunity, and get to keep your standard action for casting.
Can you use Sub-Domains? If you can, the Growth subdomain of Plant is pretty amazing. It gets you access to Barkskin, which will be a huge defensive boost to you and your party. And the starting power is a swift Enlarge Person, albeit a short duration. The domain spell at 1st is also Enlarge Person, if you need a longer duration.
That pairs up really well with the Feather subdomain of Animal, and Erastil has both of these. Feather domain gives you some bonuses to perception and potentially initiative, but the real kicker is it adds Fly as a domain spell for your 3rd level spell. And adds fly to class skills, and increases your maneuverability to boot) Not to mention at level 4 you get an animal companion. Take Boon Companion if that is allowed to make it full strength too.
Combined with wielding a Longspear, and taking combat reflexes, you will find this makes you a fully rounded battle cleric who can mix it up in combat pretty effectively. And you'll very rarely get caught off guard, and even pesky aerial fights won't keep you from smackin a fool.
I'd recommend something like one of the following stat arrays. Keep in mind, as a 3/4 bab class, you need to pump your Str to stay relevant longer.
Heavy Strength focus: Str 18 (16+2from human), Dex 14, Con 13, Int 7, Wis 14, Cha 7
or
More rounded: Str 16 (14+2), Dex 14, Con 12, Int 7, Wis 14, Cha 12
Start off with Combat reflexes and Toughness or Weapon Focus. A good trait is Fate's Favored, it increases luck bonuses you get by 1. That combos rather well with the spell Divine Favor, so that even at level 1 it adds +2 attack and damage, and only goes up from there.
Can you use subdomains?
umm... do you have 2 threads going with the exact same title? if you do, i posted a handful of suggestions on the other one, including one that you consider a druid instead.
if the other one is not your thread you should check it out- there's a lot over there that's very similar to this thread, with some other suggestions as well- including one really good idea about using a druid instead ;)
thanks guys your advice has really helped.
would love to hear what you settle on!
Erastil is the way to go in Kingmaker!
Str 14, Dex 10, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 16 (14+2 human racial bonus), Cha 12.
Deity: Milani the Everbloom to grab the protection domain with defense subdomain. Crusader archetype, this is where it gets fun. Lvl 1 grab shield focus, toughness, and fast learner so you can get some cool stuff and a lot of hp. Lvl 3 Extra channel so you can patch up your allies a bit better, Lvl 5 Heavy Armor prof and power attack. Yes you are using a morningstar, but morningstars are cool, and there are a few magical ones in KM from what I remember playing it. You get shield as a domain spell so if you lose your shield you can just cast and have a new one. It's a very fighty build, so very upfront in the fray type, it better be with 13hp at level 1.
|
My best suggestion pick a focus melee or range for a battle cleric. Make sure you focus on it in your point buy. If your going for melee min starting Str 17. If your going range min starting Dex 17.
The best type of battle cleric will depend on what your group looks like. Over all one of the best options is reach weapon. Unless you don't have more then one front line melee type character. Then any thing that fills the second spot up front works best.
again thank you all, I was not able to choose myself but I slimmed down my choices to three. I will let my group decide which of the three I will play but I will tell you the three I made.
1. Nate_lange's Human cleric of Gorum.
2. Ashe strength based cleric of Torag.
3. the third choice was one of my own creation altho it is not a "battle cleric" it have boon spells which will help. it is a halfling of Vildeis, High on healing but can be part of combat if I choose too.
Nate asked me to let you guys know and I think you diserve that much for all the help thanks again.