Looking to make a character with some ranged Area Attacks, and able to use Channeling to heal. And wondering if a Theologian of Fire is my best bet, or really my only bet?
For the ranged area attacks, I would even settle for some decent single targeted ranged attacks, just something I can spam into the back rows of enemies (we tend to have large groups to fight) or into enemy casters. The channel healing is simply because with 5 players plus pets it seems so much more efficent. I really like oracles, but the channel thing is kinda making me think, that that's sort of out.
Looking to make a character with some ranged Area Attacks, and able to use Channeling to heal. And wondering if a Theologian of Fire is my best bet, or really my only bet?
For the ranged area attacks, I would even settle for some decent single targeted ranged attacks, just something I can spam into the back rows of enemies (we tend to have large groups to fight) or into enemy casters. The channel healing is simply because with 5 players plus pets it seems so much more efficent. I really like oracles, but the channel thing is kinda making me think, that that's sort of out.
Channeling really doesn't have the endurance for primary healing, especially if you're looking just for out of combat (you should be); you should go with the old standby CLW wands, IMO. 3+cha mod channels wont cut it. Have the party chip in to pay for them though; you shouldn't be solely responsible for those resources.
Oracle of Flame is almost certainly your best bet for a blasty character that can heal, as it has several Revelations that support it well, and spontaneous casting will let you be more flexible with your spell slots.
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I'll second Krispy's assertion that Channeling can't be relied upon for primary healing - for that you want a wand of CLW. I know the large party size makes Channeling seem efficient, but what sorts of characters are in the party? In a group of six, you might have two that fight in the front lines, while others blast/shoot/buff/support from a distance, only taking damage if they get caught in a blast or get ambushed from behind or something. Your channeling won't feel nearly so efficient* when you finish a fight and two people need major healing and everyone else is fine.
So with that in mind, I suggest a witch. They have CLW on their spell list so they can activate the wands all day long, and they have a really fun variety of spells to choose from. The hexes are a lot of fun as well. (Or they look like it - I haven't actually played a witch, though I've been in a party that coup de grace'd the BBEG after said BBEG failed to save against the level 1 witch's slumber hex while adjacent to a melee PC.)
A cleric can use a Wand of CLW and channel, which will cost less money then using a wand with no channeling.
Oracles of Flame are sweet, no doubt. But not what I'm looking for.
So far I've not seen much for decent damage with spells for divine casters without grabbing the fire domain( and theologian). Weather gets call lightning, but that damage isn't really all that great, I might as well just grab a bow. But there are a lot of spells, and a lot of options, so I'm just asking if there are things that I've missed as far as ways to make cleric's have some more ranged options.
Druids get good blasty spells. In particular, Storm Druids can spontaneously cast from a domain, eventually two. They can also see through fog, which is really good.
Clerics are not good at blasting, at all. Is channel energy more important to you than blasting? Because wands of CLW fix the healing issue and are a drop in the bucket, especially when you force your party to pay for part of them if they want to be healed by it.
If you want a more "clericy" druid, choose an Urban druid.
Fairly certain every character who isn't me is going to be a melee fighter.
At 7th level with a +2 charisma mod, I can channel 5 times as day for 4d6. That's roughly 14 hp a charge. If I have to heal the other 4 members, thats 56 hp a charge, 5 times a day is 280 hitpoints. A wand of CLW heals roughly 275 hitpoints if you use all the charges. A cleric still has the option of using the wand, a witch or oracle don't have the option of channeling.
A cleric can use a Wand of CLW and channel, which will cost less money then using a wand with no channeling.
Oracles of Flame are sweet, no doubt. But not what I'm looking for.
So far I've not seen much for decent damage with spells for divine casters without grabbing the fire domain( and theologian). Weather gets call lightning, but that damage isn't really all that great, I might as well just grab a bow. But there are a lot of spells, and a lot of options, so I'm just asking if there are things that I've missed as far as ways to make cleric's have some more ranged options.
Archer Clerics are great. They are really their own kind of thing though, and not at all Blasty.
I cannot stress enough though, how bad Channel Energy is for healing as a Cleric: it actually scales negatively based on level (as in, hitpoint pools and incoming damage scale faster than it goes up), and its uses/day do not scale at all based on level. Its great for saving gobs of peasants or for emergency topping off, but not much else. Its a very, very forgetable ability, and not at all worth building around/for (unless you're a paladin, who does not have these issues due to scaling uses and action economy benefits when healing themselves, as well as superior feat and class ability support).
Druids get good blasty spells. In particular, Storm Druids can spontaneously cast from a domain, eventually two.
I would say that Words of Power druids are especially blasty.
I'm not sure how you fit in channel energy as well, though.
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A cleric can use a Wand of CLW and channel, which will cost less money then using a wand with no channeling.
You know, I put an asterisk in my previous post, and then forgot to include the footnote. :P I was going to say that I thought I glanced past a feat in UC that let you focus your channeling to heal one person, but I could be mistaken. If you have (or could get) UC, you might look into that one (if it exists - I could be totally off-base, as I was skimming at the time).
So far I've not seen much for decent damage with spells for divine casters without grabbing the fire domain( and theologian). Weather gets call lightning, but that damage isn't really all that great,
Also remember the granted powers of your domains - in addition to domain spells, several domains let you zap people as a spell-like ability with damage that scales with your level. Take two of them (like, say, Fire and Air domains) with a decent WIS and you can shoot people's touch AC for 1d6+half level damage about 12 times per day.
I might as well just grab a bow.
To be fair, you should grab a bow (or crossbow) anyway. ;)
But there are a lot of spells, and a lot of options, so I'm just asking if there are things that I've missed as far as ways to make cleric's have some more ranged options.
See my above reference to SLA's from domains. Also, lemme just go down the list of domains and point out potential goodies: the earth domain (which has one of those rays I mentioned - this one acid) gives you magic stone for decent damage with a sling. Fire is the obvious blasting choice. Water domain (another ray SLA) eventually gives you ice storm and cone of cold. And weather (another ray) gives you the call lightning that you mentioned, as well as sleet storm and ice storm.
That's all I've got. Good luck!
What level are you starting at?
Celestial Sorcerers can channel energy, which seems to be the most important thing for you.
I'm starting at 3rd level. And the party is marooned on an island. And I'm naked and in a cage.
And channel isn't important for all characters, but channel was important if I played a character who blasted from safety and channeled, which was what I was asking about.
And I knew that Cleric's were poor at being blasty, I just hoped someone had found some super secret way to make that not true.
And I knew that Cleric's were poor at being blasty, I just hoped someone had found some super secret way to make that not true.
It's probably worse than a theologian fire cleric, but a Words of Power cleric at least gets some ranged damage at each level:
1: lesser wound (close range touch, 1d6+1/lvl)2: discordant note (1d4/lvl sonic + stagger), moderate wound (2d6+1/lvl)
3: greater wound (3d6+1/lvl)
4: elder wound (4d6+1/lvl)
5: alignment assault (1d8/2 lvls or 1d6/lvl + stagger), cinder storm (1d6/lvl), "mass" lesser wound
6: blade wall (1d6/lvl), slay (10/lvl), "mass" moderate wound
7: "mass" greater wound
8: rumble (8d6 + prone + collapse), "mass" elder wound
9: catastrophe (4d6/lvl + 1d6/lvl + prone + difficult terrain + fog)
So rather than "help" with stuff that you don't want lemme try my hand at a blasty cleric.
Theologian is basically your only bet. You need to be able to get domain spells in non-domain slots, since you'll need to get your blasty spells elsewhere.
Fire does offer the best spells, it seems.
Well, that's about all I've got. Theologian with Fire.
One thing you could do is this. Since you're gonna be hanging back slinging spells, ask your GM if you can stack Theologian with Evangelist. The Evangelist will delay your channel energy a bit, but it gives you the amazing Inspire Courage. The light armor won't hurt too much, and since you won't be whacking people, you can just wear heavy armor for the protection and say "Damn the to-hit penalty! Full fire ahead!".
You mentioned that you'll be in a group of melee types, so Inspire Courage is an *amazing* force multiplier. And means you'll have to do less healing since stuff will die faster :)
But at the end of the day, you're still severely gimping yourself just so you can save 750 gp split amongst 5 or 6 people. You are exactly right that Theologian with Fire is the best healy/blasty, but that's not saying much because you give up so much.
But at the end of the day, you're still severely gimping yourself just so you can save 750 gp split amongst 5 or 6 people. You are exactly right that Theologian with Fire is the best healy/blasty, but that's not saying much because you give up so much.
This has been a ongoing theme in this thread, and I don't entirely get it. We can't buy wands right now, and I wont start with any.
At level 3, my channel would heal 2d6 a charge, and would work on everyone in the party. If I have a +2 charisma mod, I can do it 5 times a day. Average rolls, that 175 points a day. Average rolls with a wand will cure about 275 total. We don't have average wealth by level, but if we did, it would be 3 grand. A wand is 25% of that.
And while channel doesn't progress as quickly as hit points do, it's still free healing. Wands of CLW don't progress at all, they are static, and consume a resource.
I am by no means saying that using wands is a bad idea, but don't tell me I'm gimping myself because I'm looking for a source of cheap healing.
I'm thinking instead of trying for some form of ranged damage, maybe a theologian of travel, and make the beat sticks my ranged damage. It'll be a bit slower but maybe better then taking fire, as that's pretty resisted.
Archery is great for Clerics. An evangelist cleric of travel with a bow is a nasty thing. Runs fast, hits really hard from all the arrows and buffs they get.
Since you start out at level 3, you'll get Channel energy! I had an evangelist cleric of travel that focused on archery for a session, but changed it out for a summoner-type cleric.
Be an elf to get longbow proficiency, grab PBS as your first level feat. Then grab Precise Shot as your third level feat. Grab Rapid Shot at 5th level, deadly shot at level 7, and Manyshot at level 9. At level 11, grab Discordant Voice from UC to add 1d6 sonic damage to everyone's attacks when using Inspire Courage.
By level 11, you'll be looking at 5 arrows, each doing +2 to-hit / damage from Inspire Courage, +1d6 sonic damage from Discordant Voice, +3 to hit / damage from Divine Power (use a rod of quicken if you can afford it to do that and Inspire Courage in the first round), -3 to hit / +6 to damage from Deadly Aim, probably +3 from Strength, +2 from the bow...
So using some sweet napkin math, that'll be 4 arrows at +12 1d8+16+1d6(sonic), and one at +7 to hit. Writing off that +7 as a miss and the 4 others as a hit, that's an average of 96 damage a round. Each arrow that misses lowers that by 24.
Then grab a Phylactery of Positive Energy to boost up the lost Channel Energy, and you'll do great.
And while channel doesn't progress as quickly as hit points do, it's still free healing. Wands of CLW don't progress at all, they are static, and consume a resource.
They progress in that as you level, they consume a smaller and smaller (and less and less significant) portion of your resources to use.
I suppose in your specific case though, you'll get more immediate benefit from channeling since you lack equipment; well, at least, you will once you retrieve your holy symbol and are able to use it.
And while channel doesn't progress as quickly as hit points do, it's still free healing. Wands of CLW don't progress at all, they are static, and consume a resource.They progress in that as you level, they consume a smaller and smaller (and less and less significant) portion of your resources to use.
I suppose in your specific case though, you'll get more immediate benefit from channeling since you lack equipment; well, at least, you will once you retrieve your holy symbol and are able to use it.
Birthmark! :D
Birthmark! :D
I got owned!
Thats absolutely true. And thats like my favorite divine-character trait too! How did I forget birthmark?
Is it wrong of me, that on first reading the title of this thread, I read it as
/threadjack
Archery is great for Clerics. An evangelist cleric of travel with a bow is a nasty thing. Runs fast, hits really hard from all the arrows and buffs they get.
If I took travel I was thinking of hitting things with a stick. Do you think a evangelist of travel is better then an evangelist of Erastil with the feather domain? Could go human with Erastil and grab an extra feat, feather gives me flight. I'd be slower then the travel guy, and not get DDoor, but I don't know that I'd want to drag the beat sticks into the back row if I use a bow.
Travel gives the extra mobility, stacked with the spell Grace I can move around alot and keep things busy. Travel is a better domain then feather as well, but losing that feat on an archer is rough.
Is it wrong of me, that on first reading the title of this thread, I read it as
It's not wrong of you to misread, it's only wrong that it took you this long to post in a thread about a Busty Healer. Where are your priorities?
Is it wrong of me, that on first reading the title of this thread, I read it as
/threadjack
Big fan of Calistrian clerics are we?
Sadly, I can't think of any good blasting builds for them... enchantment, strong defense via Trickery, all that yeah, but no good blasting.
I play a gnome pyromaniac, theologian of Brigh in PFS. It's been a very fun character. You can always choose how many domain spells you want to prepare. This lets you choose the ratio of blaster to cleric you want to be on any day.
In my last campaign I played a gnome oracle of fire, and it was cool. At higher levels the SR and immunities to fire kinda sucked, so that's why I was looking for something else. I might go back to that though, fireball solves a lot of problems.
At higher levels the SR and immunities to fire kinda sucked, so that's why I was looking for something else.
I was looking at some fireball centric builds recently, and decided that Elemental Spell was a required feat (on top of Spontaneous Metafocus and Magical Lineage), in order to deal with resists.
Big fan of Calistrian clerics are we?
Sadly, I can't think of any good blasting builds for them... enchantment, strong defense via Trickery, all that yeah, but no good blasting.
A Calistrain Crusader wouldn't be too bad... Righteous Might plus a whip is all kinda range.
I was looking at some fireball centric builds recently, and decided that Elemental Spell was a required feat (on top of Spontaneous Metafocus and Magical Lineage), in order to deal with resists.
Elemental Spell is important, but when I was playing a divine caster of that element, it felt like cheating.
A Calistrain Crusader wouldn't be too bad... Righteous Might plus a whip is all kinda range.
Big fan of Calistrian clerics are we?
Sadly, I can't think of any good blasting builds for them... enchantment, strong defense via Trickery, all that yeah, but no good blasting.
I may or may not be tossing around ideas for such in another browser window right now...
Now, if only I could get someone to confirm the Agile enchantment works on whips?
At higher levels the SR and immunities to fire kinda sucked, so that's why I was looking for something else.I was looking at some fireball centric builds recently, and decided that Elemental Spell was a required feat (on top of Spontaneous Metafocus and Magical Lineage), in order to deal with resists.
Then your god gets angry at you because you changed the most holy fire into something else!
Feather is a good choice too. I like being able to teleported, hence the Travel suggestion. Feather domain gives an extra body tho, which makes inspire courage more useful!
Also, if you go human, pick up medium armor prof.
Then your god gets angry at you because you changed the most holy fire into something else!
Eh, I like the deities are who practical when it comes to matters of incinerating their foes in righteous energy.
Is Sarenrae really going to hold it against you that you did a little transmutation to better smite that Devil?