We all seen the Cleric that casts Righteous Might and Divine Power on himself every Combat no matter what.But a round spent buffing is a round youre not doing anything else(unless youre a Magus).So I´d like to hear some oppinions on Self Buffers and Buffing Rounds, viable Tactic or a waste of time.
Extensive Self-buffer: I'm ready! We can rock'n'ro...
Fighter: Duh, we finished fight two rounds ago.
Extensive Self-buffer: But-but-but...
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"no matter what" is pretty much suicide, imo.
PC's have to be adaptable, in all of their varied tactics. Self-buffing is no exception.
Sure, taking 5 rounds to buff before an imminent combat is prudent- but if you are ambushed or just happen to come across and unexpected event the guy is probably going to be more valuable heading on into the fray than to stand back casting spells on himself. One spell? sure. 5 rounds of spells? probably not.
If the guy has that many self buffs just to keep himself viable he needs to dump some cash into a lesser quicken rod- or the feat itself- and be done with it. (or both.)
I'm not one for math but there has to be some breaking point between what spells you are casting and how effective you are becoming vs time spent not being in battle actually *being* effective.
-S
A cleric PC in my group basically casts Blessing of Fervor and off he goes. Other than specific buffs to overcome difficult situations such as resists, protection type spells, it becomes quite difficult to stay ahead of the action economy.
We used to have a player that would actually ask us to wait until he was fully buffed before we did anything.
Nothing wrong with that. I've had parties learn to go in when we are fully prepared instead of charging half cocked. As a cleric, I personally like to get Sanctuary, Blessing of Fervor, and Shield Other out before we kick down the door and fight exploding T-Rex Skeletons.
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We used to have a player that would actually ask us to wait until he was fully buffed before we did anything.Nothing wrong with that. I've had parties learn to go in when we are fully prepared instead of charging half cocked. As a cleric, I personally like to get Sanctuary, Blessing of Fervor, and Shield Other out before we kick down the door and fight exploding T-Rex Skeletons.
Actually initiative had already started and he needed four rounds to buff.
Ah well that's different. After four rounds, the fight is usually decided anyways...
Metamagic rods of Quicken say hi. That means he can get off 2 buffs in one round.
Maguses are pretty good at self-buffing. What with their Swift Action enhances and can cast a spell AND attack in a full round.
Then again, pretty sure a lot of people will moan and groan about how cheesy the class is. Really, I'm just not seeing it.
A definite viable tactic. If your other option is being ineffective in combat then buffing is the way to go. Also a lot of clerical spells increase your parties effectiveness as well so it can be much more effective than anything else you do.
Self-buffing during/at the beginning of combat should only take one round - better to buff the group in this round.
I also play a cleric in a campaign and we're around 12th level (group of four characters). I always wanted to be a battle cleric, casting divine power and wading into combat. But the higher the level, the less effective I become as a melee combatant, no matter how hard I try.
I have a wisdom of 24, strength 18 and the feat "guided hand" (wisdom for attacking with favoured weapon), a cleric of Kelemvor with a bastard sword.
Sounds good? Just it isn't. Normally I cast blessing of fervour, because the fighter archer and the rogue become better with it. After casting I usually march into the thick of combat, as a flanking buddy/meatshield (good AC with shield), sometimes attacking, sometimes channeling or casting (travel domain - dimensional hop).
I am still waiting for the situation where "Divine Power" will be worth it.
I find buffing and self-buffing to be most useful when you've got a couple "free" rounds: For example, when the party hears approaching enemies. Or when the paladin or rogue detects enemies behind the door and you've got a rod of silent spell or some such.
In the campaign I run, the battle oracle is a dedicated self-buffer.
It works nicely with the party dynamic. The party is heavy in information gathering: the rogues and one bard scout ahead, often invisibly thanks to the wizard or the other bard. They usually see the enemy before the enemy sees them, and receive a surprise round. The rogues get in their high-initiative Sneak Attack strikes while the oracle is casting her buff spells. The rogues do not have much staying power in combat, but before they have to back off, the battle oracle is buffed enough to take out all remaining enemies in two rounds. And she heals the rogues after combat.
Also, with her Surprising Charge revelation, she can make an extra movement, so if the party is double moving to rush to foes spotted in the distance, she is using one movement, one surprising charge, and one standard action for self-buff spellcasting.
The oracle acquired a Lesser Rod of Quickening and I houseruled that she could physically strap it to her arm, taking up her arm slot and hand slot for magic items, rather than holding it in her hand. The oracle has an amplified version of the Haunted Curse, taken by the player for roleplaying purposes, which prevents any Quickdraw options.
The oracle's main concern is resource management. I recall that back at 11th level she put nine buffs on herself when the party had a minute of preparation time prior to ambushing an enemy patrol. Usually, she uses only three buffs per combat, both to make them last the day and to avoid losing too many combat rounds.
If you want to be a self-buffer it can help to play in a group which uses some tactics to slow down combat. Hanging back using ranged attacks and battlefield control can give the melee self-buffer time to get ready for clean up.
That said, I think it is wise not to plan on being able to cast more than a single short term (round per level) self-buff. Sometimes the situation forces you into the thick of combat more quickly than you'd like. Other times your fellow PCs will act as "combat accelerators" to sabotage your efforts. I've sometimes seen these sorts of players "get bored" and open a door known to have monsters behind it while the rest of the party was trying to buff. More often there's just the guy who charges off into a poor tactical position near a mass of enemies and then complains bitterly if you refuse to come "be another target" despite your unbuffed AC.