My group and I are about to start on the Carrion Crown adventure path in two weeks, and I'd like some advice on my Battle Cleric of Sarenrae.
I had planned out a 20 point-buy, and had a 15 point-buy on standby, but my DM threw us a curveball by allowing us a 25 point-buy and I simply have no idea where to put my extra 5 points.
My 20 point stat-block is as follows:
STR 14 (+2 Human racial)
DEX 10
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 16
CHA 10
I was considering bumping CHA to a 14, and taking the Bravery/Valor variant channeling, however I have doubts that the bonus to AC, etc., is going to be worth losing half the healing potential of each channel, especially at higher levels (10+). I've never played a character past level 5, nor have I played as or with a character who used variant channeling, so I have no idea how effective those channel bonuses are.
I could bump STR up to 16 (i.e. 18 after the racial bonus), but I feel that those points would go to more use somewhere else, since I'm not going to be the primary front-line damage dealer.
Another reasonable allocation would be to bump DEX to a 14 to get the extra AC, initiative, and Reflex save.
Finally, an alternate use might be to bump DEX and CHA to 12 each, and put the last point into either one of those, or into INT in preparation for the 4th-level stat boost.
Some additional information to help:
The party makeup is currently an invulnerable-rager Barbarian, a ranged-focused Inquisitor, a Sorcerer (not sure which kind yet), and myself.
I'm going for the Good and Heroism Domains, and plan to wield a scimitar primarily one-handed, use a buckler on the off hand to bump AC a little while still having the hand available for manipulating the holy symbol and/or material components or wielding the scimitar two-handed as necessary.
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It looks like you've got a 15-point block (think of it as 3 14's at 5 points each, plus 2 to wisdom). With 25 points, your options are vastly expanded.
You could, for example, go:
STR 16 (10 pts)
DEX 14 (5)
CON 14 (5)
INT 10 (0)
WIS 16 (5 pts. + 2 human)
CHA 10 (0)
If you're looking for more balance, make everything a 14 except INT, and add your racial bonus to WIS, then add your 4th & 8th level ability bonuses to WIS as well. If you put at least 13 in CHA, you can use selective channeling, which can be useful.
I have a 20-pt. buff/battle cleric (I haven't played him yet) his stats are:
STR 14
DEX 11
CON 12
INT 12
WIS 16
CHA 14
He's definitely not min-maxed or even really optimized, so it may not be a perfect example.
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So, it's a Carrion Crown Character. I would grap the chance to burn some freakin' Undead with the mighty power of the sun!
Maybe think about:
STR: 10
DEX: 14
CON: 14
INT: 10
WIS: 16 +2
CHA: 14
Then you go for Channeling Smite and Guided Hand with a Scimitar + Shield.
Your Character will be fine at meele, provide flanking and stuff, while being kinda beefy. The channels are good, so is your spellcasting.
With many undead foes, positive channeling is doubling its power.
Not to do too much metagaming, but I figure I can probably manage without taking Selective Channeling because the majority of enemies in Carrion Crown are undead (at least that's the impression I get from the flavor of the adventure path).
I'm pretty married to the idea of using the Scimitar, from a flavor standpoint. The longspear is probably a superior weapon, but I just like the flavor of the scimitar so much better (my character will be from Qadira acting as a missionary).
With our party makeup, I suspect that I'm going to actually be in combat more often than not, so I can definitely see the very tangible benefits of a higher DEX, and I can also see how the higher CHA would help by way of channeling.
I also want to keep a focus on Strength to (eventually) realize synergies with Righteous Might, which is a Heroism domain spell (otherwise I would totally go for Dervish Dance).
So, which would you all do, pump DEX or pump CHA?
I don't know what kind of foes your campaign is known for, so keep in mind I'm not "metagaming" this build at all. That said, I personally would take Healing as one of your domains, it's just too good. It let's you use Domain slots for healing spells, which is a good place for them, since you can pretty much guarantee you'll need to cast a few every day. They also damage undead in combat situations. For the other one, I like Fire, because it allows you to cast (and maybe make a wand of) Fireball. If you you're not married to the idea of being a Sarenrae cleric, you could go "indie" and take Travel and Healing, which are probably the two most powerful domains period. Travel, in addition to making you incredibly modile, also gives you a few utility spells that the Sorceror will then not have to bother taking, like Dimension Door, Teleport, and Fly. Whatever domains you choose though, I'd stat it out like this:
Str 16
Dex 13
Con 13
Int 7
Wis 16+2=18 (human racial)
Cha 13
This build is exactly 25 points and will meet minimum requirements for a lot of feats out-of-the-box, and it has the potential to get you some goodies when you hit levels 4 and 8 (you can either put a point in Dex or Cha or Con and get buffs that way or go long-term and put them both in Wisdom). You'll be able to wear a headband of Wisdom and a Belt of Strength, so I wouldn't put level-up points in those stats, I'd use the point at level 4 for Dex, the one at level 8 for Cha and the one at level 12 for Con. Your low Int will cause your skill points per level to be zero, but there's a catch. Depending on how your DM interprets the rule that says "everyone get's at least 1 skill point per level" you either get just that one skill point or you get that one plus the one for being human plus the one for adding a level in your favored class (though you might want the extra hit point instead anyway).
Feats I recommend include Improved Initiative, Toughness, Extra Channel, Selective Channel, and probably Craft Wand or Craft Wondrous Item (if nobody else takes them). It you do take Item Creation Feats, make sure you keep your Spellcraft skill maxxed out.
As a spell caster of buff spells, it should help you to take the Improved Initiative as a feat, since you want to cast buff spells BEFORE the party attacks more often than not. Even just to buff yourself before you have to attack this is pretty key, I feel. Toughness is a feat I'd take even if you decide you want a Con of 14 at level 1, but it might not be entirely necessary early on.
Last but not least I would ask your DM how he or she would rule on the following question: "If I cast Eagle's Splendor on myself, my Cha modifier goes up by 2, do my Channel Energies per day also go up by 2 or not?" My DM ruled that if I temporarily raise my Cha, I can channel energy two more times, but it only works one time per day. In other words, we keep track of daily channel uses and as long as my number of used channels in a given day is less than my current Cha modifier, I can channel again. This allows for the possibility that I might have used 2 MORE channels than previously allowed after I come down from the Eagles' Splendor, but my DM ruled that it's ok. This basically gives me the option of using Eagle's Splendor once per day as a way of squeezing two more channels per day into my cleric.
My group and I are about to start on the Carrion Crown adventure path in two weeks, and I'd like some advice on my Battle Cleric of Sarenrae.
I had planned out a 20 point-buy, and had a 15 point-buy on standby, but my DM threw us a curveball by allowing us a 25 point-buy and I simply have no idea where to put my extra 5 points.
My 20 point stat-block is as follows:
STR 14 (+2 Human racial)
DEX 10
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 16
CHA 10I was considering bumping CHA to a 14, and taking the Bravery/Valor variant channeling, however I have doubts that the bonus to AC, etc., is going to be worth losing half the healing potential of each channel, especially at higher levels (10+). I've never played a character past level 5, nor have I played as or with a character who used variant channeling, so I have no idea how effective those channel bonuses are.
I could bump STR up to 16 (i.e. 18 after the racial bonus), but I feel that those points would go to more use somewhere else, since I'm not going to be the primary front-line damage dealer.
Another reasonable allocation would be to bump DEX to a 14 to get the extra AC, initiative, and Reflex save.
Finally, an alternate use might be to bump DEX and CHA to 12 each, and put the last point into either one of those, or into INT in preparation for the 4th-level stat boost.
Some additional information to help:
The party makeup is currently an invulnerable-rager Barbarian, a ranged-focused Inquisitor, a Sorcerer (not sure which kind yet), and myself.I'm going for the Good and Heroism Domains, and plan to wield a scimitar primarily one-handed, use a buckler on the off hand to bump AC a little while still having the hand available for manipulating the holy symbol and/or material components or wielding the scimitar two-handed as necessary.
25pt. buy is like christmas! And with your emphasis on on battle and the AP's emphasis on Undead...well it's like Christmas part 2!
Alrighty with Bravery/Valor channeling bear in mind it does more than an AC bonus. It also provides an offense boost to charges (your barbarian will like) and saves against fear. I've used it on my paladin to great affect when the rest of my party was almsot entirely frightened. At the higher levels these bonuses are going to be more valuable than the far, far behind healing it will provide. And as far as I know the haunts you will undoubtedly encounter aren't going to be affected any less by your choice of alternate channeling.
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If you're going to be a battle cleric - by which I mean you're focusing on buffs and trying to hit things, instead of high save DCs and debuffs - I would put your strength at 16 if not 18. Definitely check out the reach cleric guide (you can find it from the guide to the guides stickied at the top of the advice section).
Nobody suggested the Dervish Dance feat?
That particular line of feats really only works for maguses. Clerics don't ahve the feats or the incentive to focus on Dex like that. BEtter to focus on strength.
So I think I decided to "split the baby" as far as allocating points goes. My point buy will be as follows:
STR 14 (5), +2 human racial (total of 16)
DEX 13 (3)
CON 14 (5)
INT 10 (0)
WIS 16 (10)
CHA 12 (2)
This leaves some wiggle-room, since at level 4 I can either put the point into DEX or into CHA if I find that I really do need selective channeling.
So I think I decided to "split the baby" as far as allocating points goes. My point buy will be as follows:
STR 14 (5), +2 human racial (total of 16)
DEX 13 (3)
CON 14 (5)
INT 10 (0)
WIS 16 (10)
CHA 12 (2)This leaves some wiggle-room, since at level 4 I can either put the point into DEX or into CHA if I find that I really do need selective channeling.
Best of luck to you. I can realistically understand why you probably don't want to have to roleplay a PC with an Int of 7, but I personally believe in having a "dump stat" if you can find one, and for Clerics, I believe Int is it, unfortunately.