Ok... final question I think before my cleric is ready to hit the ground running: For a primarily support caster cleric, in what order would you pick the following feats?
Selective Channeling, Scribe Scroll, Armor Proficiency (heavy), Improved Initiative, Spell focus (evocation), Spell Focus (enchantment), Spell penetration, Lightning reflexes, Combat casting?
Help much appreciated!
Selective Channeling first!
It the best low-level multi-target ranged healing.
We had it so often recently that our cleric could not use healing channeling in combat because there were too many monsters around also getting healed - becaus he did NOT choose that feat.
Yeah, if you want to melee with your cleric, selective channeling will be very useful, especially at low levels.
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Selective Channeling is great if for in-combat Range healing at lower levels. You will need a Cha score of at least 14 to make it really viable, but even excluding 1 enemy is great. (The party should be focusing their attacks on 1 or 2 targets only.)
However! If there is another healer in the party and you are not required to be the only/main healer, then I will suggest taking Improved Initiative instead.
Being the first to move, will allow you to pull off a aoe buff spell like bless, before you get surrounded by enemies.
Unless you have a lot of time to prepare for a fight, you may have to get your buffs only in-combat, so being able to move first helps.
Finally by moving first, you could get out of the way if the enemies ambush the party from the back...etc.
I'd say Selective Channeling first... the others, well. Probably Combat Casting second.
Do you really need Heavy Armor Proficiency? I might recommend a Fighter dip for that as well, if it's integral to your plans. 1 level gets you the armor, a bonus feat, and +1 vs. Fear effects...
I need the armor because I took Dex as the sink for my other stats.
I have reactionary as a trait which already gives me +2 init, which makes improved init (another +4) really attractive.
I am completely in love thematically with going the cavalier route, but I'm afraid I will be letting my friends down not playing the role central to my class (The support/healer cleric) I know the teamwork feats could really help the party -- but for things like outflank or other powers I'd want I'd have to get up to 5th level or so as a cleric before I could afford the BAB for outflank as a teamwork feat -- and I figure if I can survive to 5th level without heavy armor... I just might not need it. (Thanks again for this suggestion Devor, I've been agonizing over it -- though I have decided even if I went Cav I wouldn't take Flagbearer, as I saw Magic Items in the APG that do the same thing as FB feat and don't require a feat.) A standard-bearer cleric is soooo emblematic of what I'd want my character to be image-wise... I just don't know if I can afford to fall behind on spells, and I'd be sad if my cohorts felt they were losing out on the best help because I'm behind on the spell schedule. When you get to the bottom line, flags are nice... but isn't getting the "Heal" spell earlier more important? The "Miracle" spell? Thoughts?
The one level of fighter is really attractive, because it's one level and not 2, removes my weapon and armor option choke point, and moves me up on number of feats -- but the information that spoke to me most in the guides said multi-classing a cleric is almost never worth it -- and I feel a lot of pressure to get Cleric level 8 so I can unlock Dimensional Hop ASAP -- I know it could potentially leverage a wide amount of situations, both offense and defense. Though if y'all can give me a ruling, do I need to be an 8th level CLERIC to D-hop, or just 8 levels total?
At this point I think I am starting with Selective Channel and Improved Initiative (still have to read and digest all advice) but I'm agonizing about lack of scribe scroll... even with 20 wisdom (18+2 human) I am feeling spoiled for spell options, but too many of my spells are situational and I'll never have them memorized or on hand if I don't scribe.
While I'm at it -- at 1st level cleric I have 3 Osirons, 3 1st level spells, and 1 domain spell.
Any cleric aficionados want to tell me if I could pick a better starting/common lineup (I'll tweak for situations that come up or special circumstance):
0: Create Water (be creative!), Detect Magic, Guidance
1: Bless, Bless, Protection from evil / Longstrider
I picked those Osirons because if I read the rules correctly I can pump them constantly (I don't need to re-memo) -- detect magic is great to catch small details and whatnot, so spamming it constantly can't hurt, Guidance was suggested as a buff I can use when all else is spent (though I have 8 bit of luck uses a day, so I wonder if I'll need that) but I also like the idea that out of combat I can give ANYONE a +1 to D20 spell checks all the damn day. Create water just seems like a spell with a lot of applications -- put out fire, make stairs slippery, nobody ever feels too hot or too thirsty if I can douse them, I could even potentially fill containers with water to make them heavier (why just push a cupboard in front of a door when you can fill every container in it with water as well? If I really can cast it all day, why not use it to float the party out of pits? The options seem endless with repeatability.
The level 1s I picked because I was just informed here that bless is AoE... that's awesome and I'm sure it will be appreciated. Prot. from evil just seems like it will tip the scale when it matters, though since we have a Paladin in the party, is this redundant?
My domain spell is Longstrider, instead of True Strike... but I don't see much utility in either at this point, Longstrider boosts my already default +10 speed from taking travel domain so I figure that'll add up.
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Normally, Selective Channeling would be pretty much a must-have at first level... but in Carrion Crown, you can afford to delay it a little. If you don't take it at first level, then take it at third for sure, but you won't need it as much at first level in this AP compared to other APs. If you channel to heal, undead- your main foe throughout most of the AP- won't be healed along with your party, so you won't need to exclude them. If you use your channeling to harm the undead, your party members won't be harmed (unless you've got a dhampir in the group, I guess).
Scribe scroll isn't a bad idea. It can come in handy for all those remove spells you'll need, but don't necessarily want to prepare every day.
Also, don't count on getting a ton of use out of Miracle. The AP might be over by the time you're high enough level to cast it, even if you go straight Cleric. If you do decide to dip, get at least 3 levels of cleric before doing so. You'll need your channeling abilities right out of the gate for Carrion Crown, and the spell Ghostbane Dirge (a second-level spell) will be a big help in some of the tougher fights. As nice as the armour and weapon proficiencies might be, channeling and that second-level spell will do you more good in this particular AP.