I'm still working on my battle cleric. I had thought I had a good choice of domains. Paring down choices is hard.
My god is Gorum. I have access to Chaos (not interested), Destruction, Glory, Strength, and War. Subdomains Rage (not interested; I have a barbarian in my other game and I don't want play the same character), Ferocity, Resolve, Blood, and Tactics. There's also Protean but it isn't particularly interesting (the 8th level power is neat, the spells aren't).
I love Tactics. It's a great domain with decent spells.
My first choice was Glory, because those Paladins spells (especially Holy Sword) are amazing.
Problem: This is greatly complicated by the fact that there's a CE Synthesist summoner in the party and if I have a Magic Circle vs Evil up when I have my sword out, the Demons she'll be summoning at that level won't be able to approach.
The domain power is very handy to protect the TWO wizards who are very squishy. (This power being the Aura that acts like a Sanctuary.)
Pros: Wicked self buffs and a handy power that lets you use them.
Cons: Some of the spells potentially neutralize a party member.
My next choice would be Destruction. I love that ability to add half my level to all damage rolls, and auto confirm criticals. Whee! Walk around with a keen Falchion and go to town.
Problem: While the Summoner would work well with this power, the wizards won't. I'd be taking everyone's character's life into my hands by using it. It would work AMAZINGLY with extra characters like the demons that eventually will be summoned all the time.
Also, while Disintigrate is a cool spell, my character's max stat is Strength and Dex is one of my worst, so hitting with a ray is not a guarantee, and then the saving throw is not my strong point either.
Pros: Party's damage output is increased by a lot, especially at later levels.
Cons: The party's squishies are at greater risk of instant death. The spells don't use my stats to their best.
Ferocity and Tactics could work well together. I would get both Divine Power and Righteous Might as domain spells so I can prepare more niche spells in other slots. Somehow it feels also I'm losing out relative to the other domains.
Pros: No character is completely invalidated. I get two spells I will use a lot. Everything's nice and decent.
Cons: The 8th level Strength domain power is meager. My level of badass feels reduced.
Thank you for your help and pep talks. I've never played a full spellcaster before and it's a little overwhelming. I really just want to hit things.
Don't worry about hitting with rays, they're touch attacks, remember? Your BaB should usually be enough to knock people down.
Look up the Mendelev and Crusader Archetypes, they're great for battle clerics.
Sounds like you're finding that taking the Glory or Destruction domains would give you and the party some badass perks but might potentially hinder some of the other party members at times. OTOH, sounds like you're finding the Ferocity/Strength domain a safe and solid alternative where nobody would get worked over, but at the same time it doesn't have the wild and interesting perks that the other two domains have (thus making it boring). If this is correct, I'd look over which of those two factors (fun and powerful but risky or safe but boring) would matter more to you. How long do you expect the other players to stay with their current characters?
@ Urist: Ack, another domain selection (given that crusader removes a domain). What is a good spell to spread around with the 8th level ability? Aside from curing, because I think the Mass cure spells are already at that level.
@ Psion: You've hit the nail on the head. It's psychology at this point. I suppose the other option would be to go Glory and Destruction and screw everyone equally.
Wizard 1: Playing a very generic universalist wizard. Focused on blasts and battlefield control (but is better at blasts than control). Does not want to die. Has a backup.
Wizard 2: Wizard with a gun. Focused on blasts, crafts, and roleplay. Really likes his character.
Summoner: I'm not sure she can die. Very well built character.
Mysterious 5th player: Hasn't yet joined. Apparently wants to play a witch. Wierdness.
So two blasties and a tank. This puts me in the support role. Hopefully it can also be the support and hitting things role.
The synth summoner is probibly not going to be summoning very often. She cannot wear her eidolon suit and summon at the same time. Since synth summoners almost never leave the comfy confines of their eidolon suit, she will probibly not summon many demons. You should talk to her and confirm, and make sure your role-playing a semi-paladin/crusader type isn't going to cause too munch intermarry conflict.
She can't summon with the SLA's its true, but she can use the spell if she knows it. Or she just won't have the eidolon summoned. She's taking the sorcerer bloodline feats that allow extra demons to be summoned.
The player playing the wizard recommends Tactics and Destruction, perhaps not knowing what his character is getting into with that Aura of Critical Hits.
I wouldn't at all mind using the Crusader archetype. It would save me a feat (Heavy Armor Prof) I get a nice damage bonus (Weapon Focus and Spec for Greatsword). Fewer spells per day, of course, so my lone domain becomes all the more important for spell selection.
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I don't see you mentioning the Heroism sub domain. I find that to be one of the stronger sub domain options and it comes from Glory.
Also, I recommend looking into the Divine Scion prestige class in the inner sea magic book. www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/c-d/divine-scion It looks like a lot of fun and pretty easy for a combat focused cleric to obtain.
Also Medvian Crusader offer nice flavor, but I am super tempted to make my next cleric a divine Scion.
I would love heroism. It's not in Gorum's portfolio.
After going through many permutations, I think I've come down to two possibilities. They aren't all that close to the original concept.
The one domain I'll take for sure is the Protean domain. It has an excellent ability for a Conductive weapon, and the Aura acts as a mass debuff that doesn't take much energy to maintain.
The next domain is either the archetype Evangelist or the Resolve domain.
Evangelist's Inspire Courage helps the summoner hit (which it has trouble doing) and will buff any summons the summoner chooses to use in the later levels. The ability to spontaneously cast Greater Command means I can use a longspear and order the enemy to charge. As they comply, I poke them with AOO's like a reach cleric.
Pros: I can be at the centerpoint of a buff/debuff aura that makes all my buddies better and all my enemies half as effective. I can have a spellstoring, conductive longspear to store Hold Person and pretty well guarantee a failed save.
Cons: Domain spells aren't anything I can't cast myself, with the exception of Displacement I think. Light armor makes me an easier target. The inability to spontaneously cast cure spells means I actually have to memorise 'em.
The Resolve domain stinks overall, however it really plays into my roleplay theme: I'm already dead, and this is my afterlife. What are you doing in it? Lets fight!
This version would be better at healing over all, while still following the strategies of the Evangelist version. Difference being my buffs are more Start of the Day based. The key spells I like here are Righteous Might and Hero's Feast, which I intend to cast every day it's practical either way.
Pros: Better at bringing the team back from the dead. Closer to my intended roleplay model. Still have medium armor prof. Many of the pros of the above version without the buff ability being as prominant. More diverse domain spells, including ones I want to cast a lot. Don't need to bother memorizing cure spells.
Cons: Have to memorize Greater Command rather than spontaneously cast it. I have to spend standard actions and spell slots to get party buffs rather than move actions.
Either one would probably be fun to play. I don't think they'll be as easy to play as a run-up-and-smash-things cleric. Then again, clerics are nice because you don't need a perfect build when you store your spells in the cloud, so to speak.