So I've been trying to put together a Warpriest to see how the class will play. I've always been the Cleric in Campaigns I've played in and I've always wanted one that can act as a frontline brawler or tank which can heal the party post combat. That is what I wanted to Warpriest to be, and unfortunately what it isn't.
Like most people on here I was expecting this class to have a high BAB. However after looking at what the class have, I feel making the BAB any better than it currently is might actually make what we have here too powerful as a dip class. With what the class gets at level 1 (Weapon Focus, + Combat Feat, +2 Fort/Will save) having it also give a +1 BAB would give players way too much benefit behind just taking 1 level of warpriest because of all the juice they get.
The combat feat gained at every feat level is nice, but I would like Warpriest levels to count as Fighter levels with concerns to acquiring combat feats. Other classes such as Ranger or Barbarian, who would also enjoy these such feats have abilities to make up for the fact that they lack them. Both mentioned classes have a high BAB, while the barbarian also has their rage and rage abilities, while rangers have their weapon bonus feats and favored enemy. As stated above I do not believe giving the Warpriest a higher BAB is a good idea, as such giving the warpriest some way to get Fighter feats would be appreciated and help to give the class some more options for character advancement. Even something like Warpriest level - 3 for the feats would be appreciated.
The channeling on the class is also rather subpar. At level 4, a Paladin and a Warpriest will essentially have the same power channeling, however that is the only time this will happen. Since a Paladin's level counts as Cleric levels for determining the power of their channel a Paladin will get a full 10d6 channel by level 10 vs the Warpriest's 6d6. As such even when compared to one of the weaker divine classes (with concerns to healing capability) the Paladin at the bare minimum can heal more overall since they have a more powerful channel and are able to use it more per day (since most of their abilities are based off of Cha they will have a higher Cha bonus, giving them more uses).
Then there is the problem of the insane book-keeping involved with having the play a Warpriest. Here is everything you need to keep track of once you hit level 5:
1. Spells Prepared/Spells Used
2. Channel uses per day
3. Blessing Uses per day/Blessings Used
4. Sacred Weapon Round per day/Sacred Weapon type chosen
Then once you hit level 7 you also add in Sacred Armor, which is a 5th thing to track. Basically I don't like needing to feel like I am an accountant while having to play an RPG Character.
Now before I go on and talk about how to fix the problems I have addressed, I'm going to let the devs knows what I really enjoy about the class.
First, I actually like how for the most part, this class feels like what I pictured a combat cleric to be. The bonus feats make me feel like I can actually fulfill a combat role, while also being a necessary healer once the melee is over. All in all I think Paizo did a good job of creating this class with all but what I have mentioned above.
For all those who want the Sacred Armor and Weapon ability to be like the Magus once, I feel it isn't necessary. Honestly as it stands each of those abilities act like a pretty overpowered bonus spell we can use every day. Add to that the fact that said spell is basically able to be suspended and reused until we've hit it's full usage and I don't think it's too much of a problem. However a slight duration increase for the Sacred Weapon might be nice.
Now then, onto possible solutions.
As I said about the Combat Feats, even something as simple as Warpriest level - 3 counting as Fighter levels would be nice. It still cuts the class off from a decent amount of combat feats (due to the lower BAB in addition to this) but it gives enough extra feats to use to allow for a lot more customization between players.
The last two problems I mentioned can actually both be fixed together. Modify how the Warpriest's Channeling works. First the stat used for the Channel should be changed to WIS, or the Warpriest's spellcasting should be changed to CHA. This also helps make the class less MAD. Then at levels where you get Sacred Weapon and Sacred Armor, you make them cost Channel uses, as well as give you additional Channel uses. This way the Warpriest just needs to track:
1. Spell per day/Spells used
2. Blessing per day/Blessing Used
3. Channel Uses per Day/Channels used
This still leaves the issue of having to track the Sacred Weapon bonus and Sacred Armor bonus you are using, but when you also don't have to track the uses per day you have for it, that isn't much of an issue.
TL:DR - Stop being lazy and read my post, I put some effort into it T_T
