Battle Dwarven Cleric building

[emacleric]

Hello everybody! I'm playing a level 7 Dwarven Cleric of Torag. I ask you some advices about feats, spell and combinations of them to make my charachter a Battle Cleric (focused on melee).
Here my description:

Melee equipment: Complete Armor +1, Heavy Shield +1, Warhammer +1

STR 14
DEX 8
CON 15
INT 10
WIS 20 (18+object)
CHA 10

CA: 23 (+10 armor, +3 shield, +1 natural armor, -1 DEX)

feats:
1. heavy armor proficiency
3. channeling smithe (to take guided hand)
5. guided hand (I can use WIS to hit with warhammer)
7. Ironhide (+1 natural armor)

Thank you!

[Psion-Psycho]

What alignment is the character?

[CWheezy]

Feats: Power attack, always.

Maybe quicken spell so you can quicken your buffs? When you are all buffed up you can swing pretty hard.

Also dumping dex and putting points into cha so it is only a 0 modifier seems like a bad idea, in heavy armour your acrobatics is horrible, don't make it any worse

[Wasum]

Why so much wis?

I'd swap str and wis actually. And I would not have at 15, when you calculate your point buy distribution include stat increases from leveling.

[Umbranus]

I like the build. With a str. of 14 and a onehanded weapon I'd not take power attack. And with the CON 15 you can get it to 16 at level 8. Looks like what I'd do.
sure, high str. would be more conventional but I like how you arranged your stats.

[StrangePackage]

I would take Power attack, since you'll be using WIS to hit and STR to damage it won't be as taxing on you. I would take it in place of Ironhide, since an Amulet of Natural Armor +1 would give you the same benefit for 2000 gold. You can also cast things like Shield of Faith or Protection from Evil on yourself to buff your AC if you're really worried about getting hit.

[StrangePackage]

Is this a 15 point buy? Because you look like you shorted yourself on the build.

[CWheezy]

Regardless of anything you still need power attack. You wont do much damage with your low strength but at least you will be hitting with your high wisdom.

The main problem is you lose a lot of the good melee feats by going for the wisdom bonus to hit, when you will really be only buffing instead of using your save or suck spells. Maximising strength instead gets you the damage and to hit that you need, and you can still get 14 wisdom pre racial, which is pretty solid for a dwarf

[Wasum]

Go human, push str, start with 14 wis (enough), get war (tactics) domain and grwoth/defense/fereocity, go for THF as you dont have anything to make the shield worth it - you can even get the shield spell in case you need the AC (get a wand) - and barkskin as well.

Pick up power attack, furious focus and weapon focus, get the magic lineage trait for a nice buff spell, add some nice stuff and smash enemies. Or just play battle oracle instead for way more melee prowess!

[emacleric]

Thank all of you! For StrangePachage: yes, it's a 15 points build. I allocated 10 to CHA and 8 to DEX because since I'm a cleric I have to take my companions at least 3 channeling energy per day.
I understand I have to take power attack. Now, what are best melee spells? Quick spells is a good idea but it's so difficult to use..

[calagnar]

There are no spell that will make you good enough at melee. As your to hit bonus is going to be much lower then it needs to be from the start. Most battle cleric builds start with a focus on Str with just enough wis to cast spells and drops Cha and channeling. You can still pull off a good casting cleric. But as a battle cleric you really need to change to much on your character as is.

[Matt2VK]

Power Attack is a great feat, I'm just not sure you want it on a cleric.

* You're a 3/4 BAB class so you'll be lagging behind a bit on your to hit. Taking the penalty to hit when Power Attacking doesn't help if you end up missing a fair number of those attacks.

* Spell Casting. You're almost always going to spend the first couple of rounds buffing or spell casting. Then there's the emergancy 'no to save party member' round. This also cuts into your power attacking.

I just would take a strong look at my cleric build and what actions I'll be doing during combat before deciding on Power Attack as a feat.

I might think about getting the extra Channeling Feat before PA. That would allow me to use my spell slots for buffing and fighting.

Spells I use all the time when playing my Cleric.
1) Bless
2) I really like Shield Other with the cleric channeling abilty. Plus duration is really good.
3) Prayer

[Ajaxis]

Many, many different opinions on spell selection and combat for a cleric. My 2 cp, which would chamge depending on build, Domains, ect.

0 - Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Stabalize, Create Water

1 - Command, Protection from Evil, Sanctuary Summon Monster I (summon spells are far more useful after about fifth level because you need the summoned critters to last longer). I lke Firebelly (AP 62 in the Torag Article).

2 - Bull's Strength (on the front line melee character) any enhancement spell may useful if a character uses it, Owl's Wisdom will help your spell penetration, and your attack roll after Guided Hand is taken, Silence, Sound Burst, Summon Monster Ii, Hold Person. Grace (APG)

3 - Bestow Curse, Dispel Magic, Searing light, Summon Monster III, Prayer, Protection from Energy, Meld Into Stone

4 - Spike Stones (if earth domain), Death Ward, Holy Smite, Summon Monster IV

[Wasum]

Cleric can make good melee brites. Not as good as oracle but they do fine.power attack + furious focus is just really great - as long as you use THF. At low levels one casting of divine favor gets you up to the fighter. Later you cast righteous might + quickened DF and profit. You can add more quickened spells (as many buffs are level 1) in later rounds.

Channeling infight is a terrible idea. Its just not worth it after level... 3? Never pick up extra channel unless you have a build that really makes channel worth it (variant channel?)

But as I said an Oracle makes a way better melee brute as they can dip pala, they get waaay more feats, they get more spells per day to quicken, they get some amazing spells (ill omen), they get revelations that are just insanely good (maneuver mastery!), they can get EH easier and they get more skillpoints. They dont lose much at all as spellcasting is not that important to melee diviners. And at high levels oracles get divine vessel - just a lovely spell!

But clerics can do fairly well too. They can keep up with the fighter while being way more flexible. Divin melee chars can always adjust their power to what is needed and go nova in case of danger. That makes them so strong.

In case of the clerics, 8th level war domain ability is just so unbelievable amazing!