If I continue with the melee cleric idea and focus on buffing and healing spells, the 19 WIS shouldn't be a problem but I probably should ditch the Power Attack and maybe toughness for something else.
But then again, more casting oriented (or hinterlander) would probably be more impactful in the long run...
Thank you all for the replies, gave me some food for thought :)
I'm playing my first PF 1e campaign ever and due to some unfortunate circumstances with a Shemhazian demon, my lovely and not-at-all annoying Gnome Oracle has passed away. The same battle claimed the life of our Magus as well, leaving the Wizard and Bloodrager in dire need of help.
I've been thinking of bringing in a melee cleric of Iomedae. I want the 9th level casting so Warpriest is out of question and I don't really enjoy the idea of a reach cleric. I imagine my character to be a stoic, battle tested Mendevian Priest who mainly does his crusading by using a longsword as a two-handed weapon.
My character will be entering the campaign at level 13 (we are inside the Runeforge, playing Rise of the Runelords).
We aren't really a min/maxed group (apart from the magus critting well over 100 points of damage per turn) and none of us have any experience from higher levels of Pathfinder. The Wizard is the most experienced player of us (having loads of experience from D&D 3/3.5) and is the swiss army knife of the group. The Bloodrager wields a big stick. The Magus player is thinking of bringing in a sword&board style character.
- Can a melee cleric work as a striker/DPS? After the magus died, our main damage threat is now gone. I don't expect to be anywhere near his damage but it would be nice if I could do at least a decent amount of damage.
- Would it be better to bring in a more support/caster oriented cleric instead of a melee cleric? Given that there will be at least two melee characters in the group even if I'm more caster oriented.
We roll for stats and my results were: 8, 9, 12, 15, 16, 17.
The build so-far, there are some holes in it... What would you suggest I take? What would you change?
Build:
Race: Human
Level: 13
Class: Mendevian Priest of Iomedae
Domain: Tactics
STR 17 (+2 Racial, +1 8th lvl, +1 12th lvl) -> 21 + Belt of Giant Strength
DEX 8
CON 16
INT 12
WIS 15 + Headband of Inspired Wisdom
CHA 9 (+1 4th level increase) -> 10
Traits: Purity of Faith, ?
Drawbacks: ?
Feats:
1: Combat Casting, Toughness (Human bonus feat)
3: Power Attack
4: Shake it off (Mendevian Priest bonus feat)
5: Weapon focus (Longsword)
7: Disciple of the Sword
8: Outflank (Mendevian Priest bonus feat)
9: Greater Weapon Focus (Longsword)
11: Divine Interference
13: Greater Weapon Specialization (Longsword)
The weapon I will be using is Adamantine Longsword +1, with Training (Improved Critical) and Grayflame enhancements. Greater Magic Weapon to make it a +3 (or +4 with Grayflame).
If things look rough, I can use my Tactics domain power to grab a Quick Draw feat and take my Quickdraw Shield from my back and fight a little bit more defensively.
Shared Training spell to grant my teamwork feats for my team.
What do you think? Is this a passable character? Should I do a caster/support instead?
