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Do warpriests get channel energy at 1st level? If so then it may be viable to go the channel smite + guided hands combo at level 1 and use wisdom for your atk stat. In that case go human and go 14/10/14/10/14+2/14 and be more of a caster warpriest. You'll do slightly less damage, but have better spellcasting and if you channel negative energy you can boost your damage with channel smite(Extra channeling may be worth picking up in that case
So to the OP, What do you imagine doing with you Character? As a Cleric of Gorum I would guess you're running around hitting things with a Greatsword and being in the middle of combat. If you stay Cleric I would suggest you use the Heroism (glory) and Tactician? (war)Domains. I would look into the Warpriest though, it would be better for you if you really want most of what you do to be killing things with a Greatsword.
You're probably right, but I just thought it was too fun not to make. I don't think giving up channeling is that big of a deal, for a battle cleric. Giving up the 2nd domain might be more significant
I feel the Channeling is on par with the bonus initiative, Channeling can be a huge out of combat healing tool. But your right, the loss if the Domain is really big.
Warpriests need a lot of charisma. Thats why he can't get int over 8.
This is your opinion. The drop of CHA to 12 over 14 and you lose 1 use of Fervor and one channel energy if I recall. I played a Warpriest with 12 CHA and did fine. I prefered to have my Physical stats higher cause I was mostly hitting things. Think i used 14+2,14,14,10,13,12 with the level 4 bump to WIS. Worked Fine. Feel free to swap the dex and cha cause you can wear full plate if you want.
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I suppose, but why 14 dex and 12 cha instead of 12 dex and 14 cha? The extra use of Fervor > then extra AC since you have heavy armor anyway.(Unless they get only get medium and I am forgetting that in which case the dex is more useful, yes.) Fervor is a strong class feature, perhaps the strongest of the class, and about the only real benefit I can see to the extra dex would be boosting your poor reflex save. Since your not a fullcaster, initiative is not as important for you and AC is negligible because heavy armor. With your stat layout I think you would be better off swapping that 12 cha with your dex. You still get +1 AC which is the max you can usually get with the heaviest armors anyway. However, that's just me. If you like your character the way they are do what you will. I'd only ever take 12 cha on a warpriest if I was forced to, such as in a low point buy. However, if it works for you then feel free to do it. I was just warning the OP that dumping cha on a warpriest will have consequences and that you should try not to suffer them if you can.
I was using a reach weapon with combat reflexes. If you want, I can tell you about the playtest I did. I rather not derail the guys thread though.
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Thats fine, feel free to PM it for me if you wish. Also, if your using reach then I believe that's one of those cases I mentioned where you'd be "forced" to take the 12 cha since I believe some of the feats for the reach build require a minimum of 13 dex...
Anyway, back on topic, despite all the back and forth warpriest is a strong option that the OP should at least consider, especially since it does the "warrior priest" better then both the cleric and battle oracle. You miss out on spells above 6th level, yes, but in return you get better BaB, weapons and armor along with a boatload of class features that buff melee combat. Also, the class is 100% free, all you need to do to use it is download the playtest from this website and you can use one in PF society. No "purchasing" required.
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VT, if your interested you might want to look HERE. We were discussing some basic new player builds that are better than the pregens without being too complicated for a new player.
There are at least 2 other threads that talk about what is expected at PFS tables and what are good strategies. But I don't have the shortcuts for them at work and can't remember what they were called. Maybe one of the others here can provide you with the links.
In the Guide to the Guides is one about cheap equipment. I think it is an especially good read for anyone playing PFS. Many people absolutely hate the thought of spending any of their money on consumables. Especially many people that have played in long term home campaigns with the same people over and over. And I have to agree it is not strictly necessary to survive. But lordy does it often help! A lot!
In a home game, your group can plan to have all the basic roles and needs covered. There will be someone to heal. Someone has burning hands for an area affect damage spell. Someone will have 'face' social skills. Someone will be able to sneak. Someone will be able to remove conditions. Someone can get us to the top of the cliff. Someone can read the documents we found. Etc... You can NOT count on that in PFS.
{{ Actually, I also think they should be used more in most home games. }}
Unless it is a very small group that always plays together and plans the roles and responsibilities (not normal for PFS), you could find yourself sitting at a table with 5 other heavily armored versions of sir-clanks-a-lot much like yourself. What if you really need to get up to the balcony, climb in the window, sneak across the hall, and slip back out with the letter? Uhmm...
Imagine if you had a potions of spider climb, alter self, scrolls of open locks, forced quiet, and a decent UMD skill. Bingo done.
Recent game I was in would have almost certainly been a mission fail if I hadn't had a scroll of lesser restoration and an oil of daylight. If it hadn't been a mission fail I guarantee there would have been at least 2 dead characters.
My very first experience playing PFS was a mission fail and almost a TPK. Mostly this was because we chose to play up (don't have that choice anymore). But if I and the others had bought some things (it was my first time so I spent it all like a home game) like tanglefoot bags, potion of CLW, wand of CLW, alchemist fire, vial of acid, scroll of silence or forced quiet, scroll of vanish, etc... It could have been a success fairly easily. We didn't need all of that. But we didn't have any of that.
Recently we got around a very tough fight by placating the monsters with food. I couldn't believe it but only 2 of us had food. Everyone else said something like, "Well it usually takes place in or near a city so I didn't want to buy any."
Several times I have survived (or gotten a diplomacy bonus) because I had antitoxin and antiplague on hand. But most won't buy any because they aren't sure it will be needed.
We were able to smuggle something because I had a scroll of the item spell. No I don't need it often enough to have my sorc learn it. But it is helpful enough that I try to keep a scroll of it now.
PFS rewards your first couple of scenarios very handsomely. You can easily afford some consumables. There are several basic ones I try to always keep on hand and anytime I use 1, well then I buy 2 more.
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Some very strong guidelines I always try to give new players.
1st 2 prestige buy a wand of cure light wounds. EVEN IF YOU CAN"T ACTIVATE IT. There will almost always be at least one character at the table that has enough UMD ranks that you can hand the wand to them for the scenario and ask them to use it on you when you get injured.
If you have proficiency with a bow.
Second 2 prestige points on a masterwork composite strength rated bow. EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE AN ARCHER. There will be times you can't reach the foe. Shoot at them. Even if you are not a specialist at shooting you can still do respectable damage.
Always have at least one potion of cure light wounds on you. Every 2 or 3 levels upgrade that to moderate and eventually serious. Tell the other characters that you have it, "If I go unconscious, please pour this bottle down my throat." And if the healer (or CLW wand activator) goes unconscious you can bring him back around.
If you use weapons, by 2nd level always try to keep an oil of magic weapon on hand until you can afford a both a magic melee weapon and magic missile weapon.
If you use weapons, have a backup weapon of the special materials to bypass DR. Even if it is just a dagger, get one. A cold iron dagger will probably do more than your masterwork great axe if the creature has DR 10/cold iron. Adamantine is very expensive so you may have to back up and pepper the golem with adamantine blanch arrows for a few levels.
If you use weapons, have some of the different damage types. EVEN IF IT IS NOT YOUR SPECIAL WEAPON. Recently only 2 of us at the table had slashing weapons. Everyone else had piercing weapons and 1 guy had a bludgeoning weapons. Their back up weapons were just another of the exact same damage type. The 2 strongest creatures in the scenarios had DR 10/slashing. Everyone else had to role really good on damage to do 2-4 points of damage.
If you use any kind of missile fire weapon (and you should have one unless you have attack spells), by 2nd or 3rd level keep all three weapon blanches (or the special material missiles) and ghost salt on hand.
As soon as you can afford it (note, I did not say when you have enough left over after buying your mega sword of death); keep swarm suit, alchemist fire, vial of acid, holy water, antiplague, antitoxin, potion or scroll of lesser restoration, potion or scroll of remove disease, potion or scroll of neutralize poison, potion or scroll of remove paralysis, potion or scroll of remove blindness, and oil of daylight.
Obviously you can't afford all of those right at first. But you should be getting them quickly.
I am amazed at the number of people that have nothing but armor and weapon (and maybe a cloak of resistance) at even 5th or 6th level. Then they wine about all the stuff that is too hard for their character level. It really wasn't, I'm getting past all that stuff they are complaining about by just spending a few gold. Some of them have had to pay for multiple castings of raise dead which are much more expensive.
Wow, wall of text. I guess this is one of my 'button' topics that put me on the soap box.
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Yeah, that is good advice, IMO. Also, Vitarri, be aware that as a cleric, you probably will often be the one handed that cure light wounds wand. So be ready to be the "party healer" even if you're not built for it. On the upside, though, all those remove X scrolls he mentioned you can use yourself, which makes them nice for you but also helps you in being the Band-Aid should the rest of the table make you fill that role. If you channel negative energy expect to be slated as the Band-Aid a lot less, but be ready in the case you're the -only- divine spellcaster at the table.(In which case you're forced to be the healer by virtue of being the only one able to use the wand and remove X scrolls.)
Yeah, that is good advice, IMO. Also, Vitarri, be aware that as a cleric, you probably will often be the one handed that cure light wounds wand. So be ready to be the "party healer" even if you're not built for it.
I think most of the people that play PFS has moved beyond this mentality. CLW for 2pp have made it so that there doesn't have to be a "Party Healer" in a group. As long as one person in the group can use the CLW wand you can heal up after battles. Besides, healing during combat is a bad idea unless you are build for it.
All the stuff Lavode said is fairly solid info.
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Yeah, the only issue becomes what to do when nobody can use it. When that happens...yeah. However, with all the classes that get healing magic there is a good chance SOMEBODY will be able to use it. Even in a party of melee dudes there is probably somebody who can use it considering even some of the "melee" classes get such spells.(Ranges and Paladins immediately spring to mind, but there is plenty more.)
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A year ago a low level tables, I would have said about a fourth of the time there was no one but me that could use a wand of cure light wounds. All of my characters can use or UMD a CLW wand.
That has shifted. I don't think I've seen it once in the last 6 months. There is a greater variety in classes/builds being played and people are seeing the value in at least a few ranks of UMD (and the dangerously curious trait).
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None, so your point stands. =D But anyway...yeah. Back on the topic of the thread, Warpriest vs. Cleric depends honestly on what you value more melee ability vs. spellcasting. Both can be competent melee warriors, however if you want to be a competent warrior while also being a full spellcaster then Cleric would be better for you then Warpriest. However, since PF society really doesn't get into high levels, you'll most likely never see 8th and 9th level spells to begain with, and in this case the warpriest becomes a superior option.
When the benefits of high-level casting are non-existent the Warpriest's superior melee abilities make him the stronger choice for a "melee priest" kind of character in the long run. However, the cleric has one advantage over the warpriest and that is that through two feats that have already been mentioned he can get wisdom as his attack stat. Thus, because of this option, the Cleric can not only be decent at melee but also remain an effective offensive caster. The only downside to this, though, is that he'll do less damage in melee then a warpriest or str cleric unless he's using channel smite, which is limited by uses per-day based on your charisma, no less.
However, if you want to both be a melee warrior AND have access to offensive casting the cleric with guided hands and channel smite is a superior option. However, if you could care less about offensive casting and just want to be an awesome melee warrior who casts all buffs and heals and forgets any kind of offensive magic(except maybe summons) then Warpriest is the superior option simply because a fullcaster never sees their highest spell levels in PFS anyway and the warpriest's class features make it a better melee fighter then the cleric.
Ninja'ed: Yeah, your probably right. As it stands I'm making an arcanist at some point, and possibly a JuJu Oracle as well, both of which can access the wand either through UMD or by being able to use it normally.
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Vitarri Tyrum I know you are going to get loads of advice....advice by the dump truck load.
One important thing to keep in mind....until you apply your third chronicle sheet to your character and get to 2nd level, you can change whatever you like about your character. If you take "slow advancment' you will have six games at 1st level to try things out.
Don't be afraid to try things. We all make mistakes when building characters. I have made lots of mistakes.
I have a 14 level mystic theurge in PFS, I started him in 2009. He is still alive and casting spells ( well he has died twice over his carrier, but that's part of playing the game.)
My "mistakes" : my character has extra and selective channeling. My character has levels in Wizard (Necromancer) and my opposition schools are conjuration and transmutation.
Is he a perfect character? no.....could i correct my mistakes with retraining? I guess so.....
Does this character have an archtype?.....well I made him before the Advanced Player Guide came out, so no Archtypes.
I have had fun with the character. I feel over this characters carrier he has pulled his own weight. Yes there was a moment when our party was drowning in a water trap.....we got out in the last minute, and my friend asked me.."didn't you have a wand of water breathing with a few charges on your character?" my reply was an "oops I forgot."
All I am saying, is don't worry......ask questions if you don't understand something and most importantly:
Have Fun!
good luck with everything and welcome.
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I absolutely agree with Elyas. You will never make the 'perfect' character. If that is your goal, I think you will never be satisfied.
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My first PFS character (this avatar actually) is really not that great. He's now a 7th level sorcerer specialized in summoning monsters. Full round action to summon. Short summon durations. Etc... If I had known about the APG at the time I started him, he definitely would have been a summoner. If I were to try and build a character for the same tasks now, he would be very different.
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However, he stills pulls his own weight. He saved party members twice in Carrion Hill last weekend. He still takes down, debuffs, and/or damages his fair share of bad guys. And he has managed to do a few things that no one else present was able to easily accomplish. I'm still having a blast with him.
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I never try to build the perfect character. I try to build one that can pull his own weight (never an anchor on the party). Nearly always has at least something he can contribute in almost any situation. Is different enough to be memorable to me (and hopefully others). Anything else is just gravy.