Battle Cleric?

[CombatTacos]

Hey guys, I've recenetly been kicking around the idea about making a battle cleric. Similiar to a paladin but more.. Cleric like. I'm just curious if anyone around here has made one before? I don't feel like going full support cleric but I might go that way. Just looking for people who have done things

[Rory]

Cleric of Erastil

S: 16, D: 14, C: 13, W: 14, I: 10, Ch: 12 (human, 20 pt build)

Domains:

Plant Sub-Domain Growth
- gets you swift action enlarge person
- gets you a damage shield at level 6

Animal Sub-Domain Feather
- get half your cleric level as bonus to PER
- get an animal companion at level 4

Feats:
- Toughness (human)
- Combat Reflexes (1st)
- Heavy Armor Proficiency (3rd)
- Boon Companion (5th)
- Power Attack (7th)

Attacks:
- wield a long spear for massive range
- carry a long bow just because you are proficient
- swift action Enlarge Person to do 2d6+4 damage with a morningstar

Defenses:
- (mithril) full plate + shield yields a high AC base
- healing spells available at a whim
- animal companion defender (gets beefy at 5th level)
- melee foes that strike you will take damage

[Blave]

Cleric of Iomedae
Human
Str 18, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 8
(Or int 7, Cha 12 if you prefer 2 extra channels over one more skill point per level)

War (Tactics)
- Give an ally (or yourself) a second roll for initiative.
- Get any combat feat you need just when you need it (Cleave, Blind-Fight, Vital Strike, Combat Reflexes, Channel Smite etc.)

Glory (Heroism)
- Become the party face with little or even no skill investment.
- Aura of Heroism as swift action.
- Great domain spells wit heroism, bless weapon and holy sword.

Feats (not in order):
Quickdraw, Power Attack, Furious Focus, Improved Initiative, Heavy Armor Proficiency, Extend Spell

Wield a longsword with both hands and use a quickdraw shield to increase your AC when it's not your turn. Just Power Attack all the time. Get Combat Reflexes or Vital Strike via your domain power when you are enlarged (Righteous Might). Have (extended) Heroism on yourself at all times to increase hit chance and saves.

[Claxon]

I would suggest you choose an Oracle with the Battle Mystery. The Mystery abilities that are present give you a lot of combat power and you still always have you spell casting to fall back on.

[CombatTacos]

I was thinking about going with Demon and Destruction. Anyone every try a Dual Cursed Oracle level with Cleric for Misfortune and the such? ALso are Battle Clerics actually very effective at all?

[Byrdology]

This may inspire you... Either way, post your build there to swell the ranks of my army of the faithful.

[Galnörag]

Just some thoughts on a battle cleric from experience
1) everyone will look at you as a battleCLERIC and expect you to heal them.
2) You are amazing when you have enough time to buff in advance of a battle
3) your okay when you don't
4) re 2, 3 you will likely spend the first 2-3 rounds moving from 3 to 2, and in a typical PFRPG/3.5 world by round the time your buffed someone else will have destroyed your foe, and your left sweeping up mooks and goons (for which the buffs are redundant.)

In the rare case you will have the opportunity to be fully buffed entering an encounter, and that can be awesome, but it can be frustrating dealing with the times your not.

In the end, the best mitigation tools I've found were:

rod of quicken
rod of extend
prayer beads (and ioun stone) to boost your CL when casting your daily buffs. You balance the cost of these by not having amulet of NA, ring of Prot, or high bonus magic armour.