I've never been great clerics. Normally I prefer to use my fallback sorceress when I have to play support to a party, but this time I'll be a cleric.
5th level half-elven cleric of Abadar with Protection and Travel domains, probably acting as a buffer for the allies; but I'm pretty clueless on how exactly I'm supposed to do that. Any tips?
First off, as long as you are not evil, I would NEVER prepare healing spells, as you can spontaneously transform anything non-domain into a "cure hit points" spell.
I would also recommend taking the protection channel variant which will allow you to heal allies for 1/2 the normal channel dice PLUS giving your allies a scaling sacred bonus to their AC until your next round.
I would also recommend a few low level wands and/or scrolls for typical buff and help stuff, like bless, cure light, remove fear, remove paralysis, bull's strength and their variant counterparts.
That way, you can take your awesome stuff and other spells for flavor without forgoing the ability to heal and buff your homies =D
Selective Channeling FTW if you plan on using it in combat
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I try to avoid Selective Channeling and encourage party to play smarter. Sometimes things happen, and well, baddies get back up for more fun, though.
If you can, go for the Defense SubDomain, which has a slightly cooler spell list and I like the later power more.
For Orisons:, Detect Magic, Guidance, Enhanced Diplomacy, Read Magic, Spark, and Vigor are nice. Guidance is a +1 to a lot of stuff, which is a little weaker than an Aid Another, but is assured, so a trade off. See if your DM will let you cyclecast Vigor and get a +1 to your first damage in a combat. Spark is just kind of cool for light candles or paper at a distance. See what other casters have and try not to double up.
1st Level: Bless is good, a massive area buff, as is Protection from Evil for helping avoid stuff that can be really nasty. Command can be used proactively or retroactively, and if used wisely has literally saved my party's life's multiple times by causing the BBEG to not do that one thing they really want to for a full round. Obscuring Mist can be a great way to avoid Stealth checks or get out of dodge. Shield of Faith can also be a nice extra little boost.
2nd Level: Bulll's Strength, Shield Other, Silence, and Soundburst. Soundburst is great, not for the damage, (though sonic is least resisted) but for the small area Stun it has, which can be golden. Shield Other can really help out lower level characters or make warriors even stronger, but keep in mind that you need to stay within the Range the whole time or the spell stops.
Don't forget this:
Spell Selection and Preparation: A divine spellcaster selects and prepares spells ahead of time through prayer and meditation at a particular time of day. The time required to prepare spells is the same as it is for a wizard (1 hour), as is the requirement for a relatively peaceful environment. When preparing spells for the day, a cleric can leave some of her spell slots open. Later during that day, she can repeat the preparation process as often as she likes. During these extra sessions of preparation, she can fill these unused spell slots. She cannot, however, abandon a previously prepared spell to replace it with another one or fill a slot that is empty because she has cast a spell in the meantime. Like the first session of the day, this preparation takes at least 15 minutes, and it takes longer if she prepares more than one-quarter of his spells.
Divine spellcasters do not require spellbooks. However, a divine spellcaster's spell selection is limited to the spells on the list for her class. Clerics, druids, paladins, and rangers have separate spell lists. A cleric also has access to two domains determined during character creation. Each domain gives her access to a number of special abilities and bonus spells.
You can leave spells unprepared and prepare them later with 1 quarter of your spells taking 15 mins.
Prayer is a great 3rd level spell. Fun fact: enemies do not get a save to resist it. In a couple of levels you will be getting access to fourth level spells which are a huge milestone for clerics. Blessing of fervor, freedom of movement and greater magic weapon just to name a few spells.
Your domain powers are not great, especially that first level protection one but there are circumstances where they can come in handy. Try to remember them when you think that you are out of options.
You will probably end up casting bless so often that you might as well get a wand of it. This may seem like an odd question, but do you happen to have a barbarian in your group?
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School evocation [good, light]; Level cleric 2, druid 2, sorcerer/
wizard 2
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M/DF (a piece of flint and a pinch of silver dust)
Range long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Area 10-ft.-radius burst
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Reflex partial; Spell Resistance yes
This spell fills the area with a brilliant flash of shimmering light.
Creatures in the area are blinded for 1d4 rounds, or dazzled for
1d4 rounds if they succeed at a Reflex save. Evil creatures in the
area of the burst take 1d4 points of damage per caster level.
This may seem like an odd question, but do you happen to have a barbarian in your group?
So far we have a Str-based Rogue, a Wild Shape-focused melee Druid, myself as the Cleric, and one undecided who seems to be leaning towards Evoker-Wizard.
Do you have high Strength, or Charisma? If the latter, take Quick Channel (channel as a move action) and your buddies can use their move actions to move into a healing huddle.
Low-ish Charisma for this one, so she can focus on more of her other stats. I figure Cha isn't really going to do much for a positive channeler in what I know is going to be a low-undead game, so I'll save what channeling I have to be mostly for between-combat heals.
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Alignment Channel Evil can be good. Variant Channeling Earth is pretty cool.
With so many other casters in your party, I would first start to try to build spells that do not overlap so much. Secondly, in this case debuffs might be the way to go, along with some personal buffs. I wouldn't worry too much about group buffs, though when you get Blessing of Fervor, you group will love you.
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As a 5th level cleric, you have plenty of things to pick and to be honest, you can't really miss a lot with cleric spells.
If it grant's global buff, it's probably good, but I would say that it boils down what kind of cleric you wish to play. I tend to pick a few good single target spells, around two global target spells and rest of them tend to be some less usefull spells which compliment the flavor of my cleric (he is currently 4).
But, just to be useful instead of babbling about things, here is few good spell uses:
Level 3:
- Do archers tend to show up alot? Memorize Wind Wall.
- Need to find out good info from a guy that party just killed? Speak With Dead then.
- Plenty of resistant undeads and you are missing blasters? Searing Light or Sands of Time will do the job.
- Is the ally always to far to receive healing? Sacred Bond will solve it.
- Prayer is awesome. Nothing to say.
- Party needs fast break and rest? Nap stack will solve it. (better as a scroll)
- Dispel Magic is universally good.
- Cast Continual Flame and you never have to bother again with light effects or darkness spells.
This is as much as I managed to write in my current sleepy state.
Here are the "must have memorized" at the relevant levels for my clerics.
1. Bless. Divine Favor.
2. Spiritual Weapon.
3. Prayer. Speak With Dead.
Everything else depends entirely upon build and other playstyle desires. These are the only big spells that are hard for a cleric to do without and are handy in almost all situations you come across.
Try this look at what are the domain spell for the other domain and sub domain of your god that are still cleric. Use that as short list on what you should haveing prepared.
Also, consider your situation: endure elements and comprehend languages can be lifesavers in some circumstances. Sanctuary can be very handy among weak-willed oppnents. Invisibility to undead is golden when it applies.
Don't get bogged down on a quest for only the best spells -- every time you pray for spells, you can pray for different spells. Try and find out what's going on, and then figure out what's best in that situation.
I like the travel domain powers (Dimensional Hop at level 8 is really good). As for spells to prepare, I like:
0: Light, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Stabilize
1: Comprehend Languages (good out of combat for translating clues, first thing you dump in combat for a cure spell); Command (don't use it on anything with a high will save, or that can't understand you, so situational); Hide from Undead (also situational, as it only affects undead); and Protection from Evil (more general, but not all monsters are evil, so keep that in mind too). I would also use Longstrider as your Travel domain spell every day and cast it to get the extra movement for 1 hour/lvl. I would also wear light armor in order to not lose any move rate due to armor encumbrance. Combine that with the extra 10 ft you get as a domain power and you're getting 50ft (10 squares) per round. That's REALLY fast for not having Haste on you.
2: Hold Person, Silence, Lesser Restoration, Bull's Strength, Sound Burst (useful against stuff that get's a low Fort save, like spell casters, as it stuns if they fail); Zone of Truth. I also like Grace out of the Advanced Player's Guide, at least until you get Dimensional Hop later.
3: Bestow Curse, Inflict Serious Wounds, Dispel Magic, Invisibility Purge, and Speak With Dead. Fly is a good domain spell here too.
The combo of Speak with Dead and Zone of Truth is pretty good. You can literally kill first and ask questions later, and they have to answer the questions truthfully if they fail some will saves. You could even cast Owl's Wisdom on yourself in there to make the DCs higher. People write off Hide from Undead as being bad, but if you cast it on yourself, you can sneak up behind an undead guy and cast Cure Serious Wounds for damage with no attack of opportunity from the badguy, and a better chance of hitting due to being invisible to them. Against any all-undead fights you get into, you can use it to move around freely and heal people every round without being attacked easily. Stabilize is a must and is arguably your best Orison. It doesn't heal any HP but it can be used at range and auto-stabilizes someone. The way my DM runs monsters, if a PC is down and not moving (i.e. unconscious) they don't generally get attacked if there are other "hot" targets, so stabilizing someone WITHOUT healing them enough to regain consciousness again is often better than a big heal, especially when the target is still in melee range of the monsters.
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I enjoy playing clerics, but do not play them in CoDzilla mode. My style may not work for your group's play style.
For spell selection, I always leave slots open to prep as needed during the adventure. It's a no brainer. Otherwise, I do not generally prepare many combat buffs. I select those spells that will turn around disastrous encounters or effects that shut down other PCs. Low level versions include remove fear, invisibility purge, remove paralysis, protection from evil, etc. I rely on open slots for remove disease, remove curse, etc. These can usually be dealt with later.
Use scrolls and wands to cover utility spells, lesser restoration (if not using open slots), align weapon, etc. Low level pearls of power are gold for clerics.
Otherwise, I fear up as a secondary melee guy, with enough pop to contribute, but without setting a standard of competing with the melee classes. I find I get a steady diet of small tactical decisions, which serves my gaming needs. Choices on spell, melee, healing spell, channel, special ability, etc. generally leave me happy.
This is an approach that isn't a big hitter type approach, either for spell or buffed melee. It is a somewhat generalist approach that focuses on the restorative niche and otherwise on flexibility. It may be a bit old school. If it appeals, you'll find yourself helpful and appreciated, without trying to overshadow other characters. You'll find you often have just the ticket type options and will occasionally really shine, albeit somewhat quietly. It doesn't appeal to everyone.
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Note that Abadar is a great choice of deity for a Hangover Cleric. Normally channel is not worth investing much in, but with this build it's different. [Errata: It's just been pointed out to me that Abadar is not PFS legal for Variant Channeling of Rulership, although some other deities are - ask your GM]. A 5th level cleric of Abadar can do Selective Improved Versatile Quick Variant Channel Rulership, the Harm use of which stuns all foes for one round. It's best to channel negative with this build. Versatile channel let's you assist your allies (rather a lot) in out of combat Diplomacy, and also lets you stun undead at -2 DC.
Here's a sample Level 5 build for a Human Cleric of Abadar:
STR 10 DX 10 CON 14 INT 10 WIS14 CHA18 + add stats as desired
Feats: Selective Channel[H], Versatile Channel[1], Improved Channel[3], Quick Channel[5]
Traits: Sacred Conduit (+1 DC to channel) and another
Special Ability: Variant Channel Rulership 7 times per day (consider getting Extra Channel, raise CHA ASAP)
Domains: Travel and Defense[Protection].
These stats leave you room for a second career. You could increase your WIS to be more of a caster, or up your STR to be more martial. For the sake of argument say you choose to be more martial and fight with a long spear. That's why you take the Defense sub-domain, which has a mediocre ability but gives you Shield as a domain spell. Your high CHA makes you a terrific party face, a role which is not filled on your team.
If you have the chance to pre-buff: Bless on allies, Bull's Strength on toughest fighter (maybe yourself, maybe your Wild shaped Druid, maybe both since it's so awesome), possibly Magic Weapon if no one has one. To buff yourself into Clericzilla you self-cast: Shield, Shield of Faith, Bulls Strength, Weapon of Awe, Divine Favor. That combo gives an extra +6 AC, +5 to hit and +7 damage at 5th level.
Here's what you might do for your typical first round of a tough battle:
5' step to a position where you might get an AoO and where most foes are within 30'
Move action: Selective Improved Quick Channel Rulership (negative energy) to stun all living foes within 30' who fail a DC17 Will Save. All foes also take half of 3d6 damage, which is about 5 hp, no save.
Standard Action: Cast a spell. Probably Prayer, or possibly Summon Monster III. If your team doesn't need the spell, and if the foes are really thick and got lucky on their saves, you might do another Selective Improved Quick Channel Rulership for more Stun and damage ...
Enemy Movement Some foes make their save(s) and approach you, so you probably get an AoO with your long spear.
Summary: you make every nearby foe save or be stunned for one round, you inflict about 5 hp to every nearby foe, you cast a spell, and you might get a martial attack. Highly effective.
Clerics of Abadar are also very suitable for several other styles of cleric play: the classic Support Cleric, the Undead Lord, the Bad Touch Cleric, the Evangelist Summoner Cleric, and even the Reach Cleric.
Also, note that Tark, who commented above, literally wrote the book on Clerics.