The issue:
I have a LE cleric of Asmodeus in a Way of the Wicked campaign. It's a good character, and I look forward to exploring the AP with him.
Only problem is that, according to my current predictions, I will be using Channel Negative Energy, one of my main class features, a grand total of 0 times, over the next 20 levels.
It's not that it is bad, it is that I do not believe I will come to be in a situation where I get to let off a nuke, centered on myself, without my party being in the 60ft diameter hotzone.
My character has 15 charisma and selective channeling, meaning 2 of my mates get to not eat the xd6 negative energy explosion, but the rest are not so lucky.
My question: How do I make Channel Negative Energy not suck for me? I see it being useful for maybe healing some undead later down the line, but for combat purposes, I simply don't see how I can use this class feature, without being a nuisance to my party.
Help appreciated.
-Nearyn
Put a point into Charisma at level 4 to bump your modifier to 3?
Avoiding hitting 1 friendly shouldn't be too hard.
Ask your DM if you can just choose who to affect and who not to. It won't break the game.
You could get the Selective Channeling feat.
He implied that he has considered taking the feat. Hence, two of his allies are exempt from damage (due to his 15 Cha).
Personally, I think Selective Channeling is an unnecessary feat-tax. As a DM, I just let my players decide who they affect with their channeling (eliminating the feat in the process).
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You'd probably be better off using it to heal your undead minions (assuming you'll have any). Whenever you channel to harm, whether it's positive energy or negative, there's always the chance that half your effort is going to waste.
If you channel to heal, it all goes through, and none of your allies will complain one bit.
What domains are you taking? Unless you absolutely need to follow Asmodeus for a domain you want, I would suggest switching to Zon-Kuthon. You can stay LE, but more importantly you get access to the all important Death domain. Death is just a great domain for negative channelers, but you can also take the Undead subdomain which will let you heal your allies with your negative channel.
I have talked with my GM, and I'm gonna approach it like so:
I'll replace my Selective Channelling Feat with something else, and then simply not use Channel Negative Energy. When I get acces to undeads, I will use it to heal them, and nothing else.
Then I will begin researching a custom magic item, that, when in my teammates possession, will ensure they are not hurt by the blast. After such an item is passed around the group, I might consider Channelling for offensive purposes.
