What are some good martial feats for a spear weilding cleric. Tsukiyo would be the deity so guided hand would be a go if guided weapon quality was out. Power attack combat reflexes, and lunge are all going to be there. Anything else I should consider?
Depends on your goal. Are you going for a battle cleric, buffer, healer, debuffer, or mix (in what proportions)?
As an example, my longspear wielding cleric starts off with Combat Reflexes and Bodyguard but by level 5 is spending most of his time buffing and debuffing. All of his later feats reflect this.
Also, by most accounts Guided Hand is a trap feat because if you are a battle cleric then you should have a high strength for the damage bump. If you are a cleric focused on spells then you really dont need to be hitting much.
Re-read bodyguard and aid another, it doesn't work with a longspear, unfortunately, you need to threaten a square you don't threaten most of the time unfortunately.
I would be a reach cleric that uses the conductive weapon quality to mess with opponents with Ao's then hit them with spells. Buffing Healing whatever comes after, but a bit of battlefeild control with good reach and Ao's is good even if my damage output isn't what it could be, it just costs me some feats and money, not stats. Also with the guided weapon property you are about as good as a strength based cleric, but with strong casting.
Hogeyhead, perhaps you should read what the author of Bodyguard and the various threads on the topic have stated. It completely replaces the Aid Another mechanic and works even on ranged attacks. You do not need to threaten. All you need to be is adjacent to your ally.
I agree with you about the domains, I was planning to use them.
Why on earth would i wait till lvl 15 to get divine interference, you take that at lvl 11 no matter what summoning can take care of itself. Sacred summons though only works for this deity through gm fiat, and you can't rely on that.
The reason I went with the god I did is so I could take guided hand with a reach weapon with good domains (or the guided weapon property) if that was not clear before I hope I've made it clear now, I wan't a high wisdom and I'm willing to sacrifice damage to get it. I want the spells per day, the save dc'c the will save, and the bonus to perception. Even if I went sacred summons I would not take the other 3
How is Kirin on the summon monster 6 list? it's cr 13 that's sm9 level
I probably wouldn't take augment summoning as its 2 too many feats on that, but I would go with sacred summons and summon good monster, as those do the job on their own. And I want other feats quicker. Summon good monster is fantastic though.
Are you sure gauss? because it states that you use the aid another mechanic, and the aid another mechanic requires that you threaten, could you link to a faq post that contradicts this? Or if not could you link to a thread? Keep in mind that just because a thread says so it doesn't mean it's really mean it's part of the rules.
I don't have the time to link it, perhaps someone else can.
However, just to go along your line of thinking:
First, "threaten", you do not need to threaten. You do need to be in a position to make a melee attack which is not *quite* the same as the more specific term "threaten". You can do that from behind your ally with a long spear. That is a subtle distinction that can make a difference. This is shown in the first bolded section below.
Second, you do not need to threaten or even be in a position to make a melee attack on an ally. Nothing in the Aid Another mechanic states that you do.
Third, the Attack of Opportunity mechanic. Since you are not attacking the enemy, you are aiding the ally, being behind the ally (thus the enemy having cover relative to you) is not an issue. The AoO is not against the enemy, it is for the Ally. It is using the AoO mechanic to provide a finite number of uses.
In melee combat, you can help a friend attack or defend
by distracting or interfering with an opponent. If you’re in position to make a melee attack on an opponent that is engaging a friend in melee combat, you can attempt to aid your friend as a standard action. You make an attack roll against AC 10. If you succeed, your friend gains either a +2 bonus on his next attack roll against that opponent or a +2 bonus to AC against that opponent’s next attack (your choice), as long as that attack comes before the beginning of your next turn. Multiple characters can aid the same friend, and similar bonuses stack.You can also use this standard action to help a friend in other ways, such as when he is affected by a spell, or to assist another character’s skill check.
In any case, the Bodyguard mechanic only requires that you be adjacent. Later tonight when I have more time I will look for the relevant threads.
To be in a position to attack on an Ao, you must threaten the attacker, and to use bodyguard you must be adjacent to the ally, highlighting my point does not help yours.
But you are not attacking the attacker, I stated this. Please show me where you are performing an attack on the attacker.
In any case, I detailed how you do not need to "threaten", only be in a position to make an attack. The AoO mechanics of cover do not apply here since you are not making an attack against the attacker.
Thus you have the following: Enemy = E, Ally = A, You = Y.
EAY
Step 1: Can you make an attack against the Enemy with a longspear? Yes.
Step 2: Are you adjacent to the Ally? Yes.
Step 3: Do you have an AoO available? Yes.
Result: Perform a bodyguard attempt.
Soft cover does not prevent Ao's we are in agreement that you can make an attack from behind an ally, and that you can use bodyguard from behind an ally, I am sorry if I was unclear. It is simply not useful under those circumstances as it's an otherwise terrible tactical position to be in, or at least highly circumstantial.
Umm that is the definition of a tactical position. Placing someone in front of you so you can attack/heal/protect them?? I played a similar character (btw go adopted halfling helpful trait, you will be a god among the party...well besides your own god)
The point of being a reach cleric is to poke enemies, getting a -2 or 4 to all my attacks is a great tactical decision yes.
I tended to use divine favor to compensate for the loss in power attack. I was dropping enemies pretty well, while annoying the gm by giving +4 AC to my allies :)
You do not always have a -4 for going through soft cover. It depends on the positioning.
O = blank space
1, 2, and 3 = Enemies
Y = You
123
OAO
OYO
In the example above enemies 1 and 3 do not gain soft cover because of your ally. This is due to reach weapons using the ranged attack rules for determining cover. You choose which corner you are attacking from and in both cases (1 and 3) you have clear line of sight to the target.
Only in the case of #2 does your attack suffer a -4 penalty due to soft cover and, frankly, that works both ways. For a support cleric to be standing behind a heavy hitter can be an ideal situation. Perhaps that is not your goal but still quite advantageous for a number of reach cleric builds.
Additionally, if you want to be up front with a reach weapon and still be able to attack (threaten) the adjacent squares there are ways to accomplish that. You can have the best of both worlds.
One other note: A Bodyguard can eventually give his ally +9 AC (Benevolent armor property). However, I do not recommend that since it will probably break your game.
Hmm, you have a good point Gauss, sorry for being snippy earlier. I was thinking of doing just that with bodyguard, but you are right it may break the game. Though if I play this character I would want to play in a mythic game, because... just because. Maybe it wouldn't break the game then.
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Re-read bodyguard and aid another, it doesn't work with a longspear, unfortunately, you need to threaten a square you don't threaten most of the time unfortunately.
Incorrect. The Bodyguard feat works great with reach weapons. The ally must be adjacent, and you must be "in position to make a melee attack on an opponent that is engaging a friend in melee combat". Tactical positioning matters, and it sometimes fails, but the Bodyguard feat works better with reach weapons than with non-reach weapons. You are not making an AoO on the foe, so soft cover does not prevent this from working.
Bodyguard (Combat)
Benefit: When an adjacent ally is attacked, you may use an attack of opportunity to attempt the aid another action to improve your ally’s AC. You may not use the aid another action to improve your ally’s attack roll with this attack.
Aid Another
In melee combat, you can help a friend attack or defend by distracting or interfering with an opponent. If you're in position to make a melee attack on an opponent that is engaging a friend in melee combat, you can attempt to aid your friend as a standard action. You make an attack roll against AC 10. ...