Rehwyn's page

Build Idea

Up until very recently, I've been definitely planning to include reach tactics in the build (however, see below section regarding some possible changes I'm considering). Here's what I was thinking so far:

NG human herald caller cleric of Sarenrae (Heroism domain)

20 Point buy: 14/14/14/10/14+2/10

1H: Combat Reflexes
1: Improved Initiative
3: Power Attack
4: Augment Summons (B)
5: Summon Good Monster
7: Sacred Summons
8: Superior Summons (B)
9: Quicken Spell? Reach Spell?
11: Divine Interference

After 11, I'm not sure what to get. Perhaps 2 other metamagic feats and Spell Perfection for something like Wall of Stone?

Build Commentary

A cleric is appealing for a few reasons. Since our party is somewhat inexperienced, we seem to need a bit more healing than is "optimal", and having channeling (for after combat) and spontaneous healing (for dire emergencies) seems like it could help. Without going into possible spoilers, our ability to shop in a timely manner has been somewhat limited so far in this AP, so there has been concerns about running out of charges on our wands of CLW. Based on what we've encountered so far, the cleric buffs seem likely to be more useful than most of the druid spells I was able to contribute as well.

Aside from the bonus feats, Herald Caller is appealing due to the 4 skills/level and spontaneous summon monster. Sacred Summons is appealing because I can quickly summon creatures as flank buddies and help on the front line. My standard Sacred Summon options are Foo Dog (SM3), Foo Lion (SM4), and the various Devas at SM7-9. There's also 1-2 agathions that wouldn't typically be used in combat. I realize that the Foo creatures might not stay useful for as long as Lantern Archons if I chose a LG diety, but for RP purposes I prefer for this character to be NG (which also allows me to summon CG creatures normally, should I need to). Note that I considered Monster Tactician Inquisitor as well, but it didn't seem to have the healing/support capability that I was looking for.

I plan to primarily focus on summoning, buffs, recovery, and reach tactics. However, since I am starting at level 7 and anticipate going up to level 17, I'm not entirely sold on the standard reach cleric advice to pump STR and get just enough WIS to cast my highest level spells (ie. start with 14 WIS and eventually get a +6 headband). Assuming eventually a +6 WIS headband, the difference between 20 and 26 WIS is an extra 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, and 8th level spell per day. Is a +3 to attack and ~+4 damage worth giving up those bonus spells? Not to mention that with higher WIS I'd have the option of casting spells with saves, if I chose.

Possible Changes

I asked for feedback on another site, and based on some of the suggestions there am considering some changes.

Since I'm starting at level 7 and (hopefully) going to 17, I'm a little less certain if investing feats in reach tactics is worthwhile compared to focusing more on summoning and casting. At higher levels, I'll need to buff my attacks in order to keep up with the scaling ACs, and except for a few long-lasting ones, they will take up spells and actions that could be used for summoning and other spells during combat. Aura of Heroism will help, but having to use Divine Favor constantly would delay summons, group buffs, or possibly control spells. Also, it's my understanding that summoning potency starts to taper after around level 11. It seems likely that I'll want to ensure that my caster ability remains solid long-term, since both reach attacks and summons start to wane.

If I decide to focus less on reach tactics, I'd likely change my starting attributes to something like 10/14/14/10/16+2/10, and replace Combat Reflexes and Power Attack with two other feats.

Summon Spirit Guardian looks pretty cool, especially from a flavor standpoint. A Silvanshee would work with Sacred Summons too. Would definitely be more of a utility or SLA option though, but would scale with level for a single feat. Also, could possibly work with Alter Summon Monster if my GM doesn't disallow it (at minutes/level instead of hours/level, so a little more reasonable). :p

Proxy Summoning was another possible recommendation for delivering touch spells and sharing personal spells with my summon, but I'm honestly not certain how the "share spells" part of that feat is supposed to work. It reads: "Once the spell is cast, you and any creature you summon gain the share spells ability."

Is "the spell" referring to a touch spell or a summoning spell? Based on the antecedent in the previous sentence, it seems like it's referring to the touch spell. If it's the touch spell, the "any creature you summon" part seems confusingly broad when it could have said "the summoned creature carrying the touch spell's charge" or something like that. Because of this, it seems a little vague in terms of if the share spells ability affects just a summon that has carried a touch spell's charge, all existing summons once you've used a touch spell on one of them, or just all summons created via a summoning spell in general. I suspect I'd have to confirm with my GM how they'll interpret the feat if I want to use it. ;P

My other concern is that Heroism domain aura seems great for summons and party buffing, but a few of the bonus spells are definitely battle-cleric oriented (Bless Weapon, Righteous Might, and Holy Sword) and cannot be spontaneously converted. Would you consider a different domain if I didn't invest in reach tactics? Some of these buffs I might be able to use on summons using Proxy Summons, but whether or not it's worth going through hoops to do so depends I think on GM interpretation.

Thank you for any advice!