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Seeking the advice of the boards for my Cleric (Evangelist). Character concept is a Sufi-inspired zealot with the Fire domain that dances herself into a fervor for the glory of Sarenrae. (DM allowed me to re-skin dance instead of oration for the Evangelist archetype.) Best stats are WIS (24 with level/stat boosts) and Dexterity (22 with level/racial boosts. Rest of he party is a Ranger, Paladin, Rogue, Wizard, and Fighter.
Am 11th level Human playing in LoF AP and would like to plan feats for 11, 13, 15. Current feats are Extra Channel (H), Weap Finesse (1), Dervish Dance (3), Craft Wond Item (5), Impr Init (7), Pers Spell (9).
Have a couple ideas that I'd love comment on ...
Flagbearer + Banner Ancient Kings: Drop the scimitar and embrace her buffing capabilities. Could craft the Banner herself.
Quicken Metamagic: High enough now to cast quickened spells. Would fit the whirling, swirling dervish theme.
Glorious Heat: Flavorful for a Fire domain focused caster. And she is the party healer.
Combat Reflexes: She has a high dex and is a self-described whirlign dervish. Why not?
Spell Penetration + Greater Spell Penetration: Starting to see things w SR. Worth it for a cleric or just stick w memorizing a handful of spells (there some decent ones) that don't have SR.
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Divine Interference
You can convert a spell to interfere with an enemy’s attack.Prerequisites: Divine spellcaster, caster level 10th.
Benefit: As an immediate action, when an enemy within 30 feet hits an ally with an attack, you can sacrifice a prepared divine spell or (if you are a spontaneous caster) an unused spell slot and make the enemy reroll the attack roll. The second attack roll takes a penalty equal to the level of the spell you sacrifice. You must sacrifice a spell of 1st-level or higher to use this ability. Whether or not the second attack is successful, you cannot use this effect on the same creature again for 1 day.
I recommend:
Spell Penetration, Divine Interference, Quicken spellYou can also Craft with Craft wondrous item:
Dweomer's Essence
Aura Moderate abjuration; CL 9th
Slot none; Price 500 gp; Weight -DESCRIPTION
Derived from the patient distillation of rare magical reagents, a pinch of this fine white powder can be added to the casting of any spell as an additional material component to give the spellcaster a +5 bonus on caster level checks made to overcome spell resistance.CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS
Craft Wondrous Item, Spell Penetration; Cost 250 gp.
so you can skip greater spell penetration. If you want to skip Spell pen all together Dweomer's Essence + Piercing Spell
Piercing Spell (Metamagic)
Your studies have helped you develop methods to overcome spell resistance.Benefit: When you cast a piercing spell against a target with spell resistance, it treats the spell resistance of the target as 5 lower than its actual SR.
Level Increase: +1 (a piercing spell uses up a spell slot one level higher than the spell's actual level.)
+1 metamagic rods are rather cheap....And if you have a lot of Craft time Craft Rod is fantastic as you can craft rods for the meta magics you would need...not having the Metamagic feat at creation only adds +5 to the spellcraft check to create and is not Mandatory in its creation.
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Awesome Fruian! Had never heard of Dweomer's Essence. For a character that already can Craft Wond Items and is looking to counter SR that's a perfect suggestion. I like it much better than soaking up a feat (and spell level) w Piercing Spell.
Will think on taking up Craft Rod.
Will def pick-up Quicken.
Have you used Divine Interference in play? Looks like it could be powerful.
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Divine Interference is a terrific defensive ability, and is available to you for your 11th level feat. It amounts to "Force GM to re-roll one critical threat against an ally each round". The roll-penalty is a rounding error, so always discard a 1st level spell.
You will want to come to an understanding with your GM about when you will likely use this ability.
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Not a problem John Walker. I play Clerics a lot and they are my favorite class. That was just basic info to help another player enjoy the class more.
Divine Interference is amazing and should be on any cleric who like helping the party. Akinra sums it up as most DMs come to really dislike it because it takes crits right out from under them. It also is more valuable then healing. As Damage is always higher then a heal and negating a crit can save you tons of healing. On a lot of monsters negating a crit can force a re-roll into a miss completely. I've had DMs roll a 20 and re-roll 1s.
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Much appreciate the advice all. As I look at it now, Divine Interference is just too good to pass up. Especially for a character whose role has evolved over the course of the campaign to buff. Will take it for 11th. And will be sure to clarify how it'll work w the DM bf I try to use it.
Will then take Quicken for 13th. Will have 7th level spells at that point so able to Quicken 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level. Really like Divine Favor for this purpose. Or a Quickened Fireball for the 7th domain slot.
Am going to abandon any feat help for defeating spell resistance. With the ability to craft Dweomer's Essence relatively cheaply, and some good die rolls, should be able to make do. And failing that there's always just unsheathing the scimitar!
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If you can I would retrain out of extra channel.
If it is an option to retrain I would as well. Channel is an extra resource that isn't worth the feat unless your specializing in channeling and taking lots of feats to make it better then what it is.
Basic Channel is a good touch up ability. If you find yourself having to cast it in combat a lot your group needs to re-look its combat strategy because relying on channeling to keep the party alive in fights is a very bad strategy in general. The only build I know that can come close to pulling it off is Oradin build. As pathfinder favors offense over defense and healing is dwarfed compared to damage incoming. It is better to prevent the damage then to heal through it.
I recommend retraining for a different Meta magic.
If you want battlefield control then quickened wall of stone from level 5 or persistent Holy Smite from level 4.
I'm a fan of Toppling Blade Barriers. Its hilarious to watch things get chopped to bits and tripped at the same time. I know clerics get only like 4-5 Force spells but man they are amazing and very effective at being consistent damage and Battle Field Control.
But again Craft rod + a High Spellcraft + Gold will net you any Metamagic you desire.
That being said Spell Perfection is very strong late game choice. I know when I reach level 15 on my clerics I try my best to grab. I typically take: toppeling, Bouncing/persistent, and quicken meta magics. I get a rod of Reach and Extend. My typically High level Battlefield control is a Quickened toppling Blade barrier followed by a Dimensional Lock so things don't get to teleport around or out of the wall. As typical High level CR Monsters have teleporting abilities. Especially if they are Outsiders or Mages.
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channel isn't that great, throwing my hat into the ring, unless you have Command Undead. Then it is amazing!
If you have access to Dazing and Wall of Fire, you are set! The heat from the wall causes Daze as well, and with a couple people who can bullrush, or Hydraulic Push, you can keep the baddies loaded in the wall like kindling in a fire. Super horrible.
An immobile, blazing curtain of shimmering violet fire springs into existence. One side of the wall, selected by you, sends forth waves of heat, dealing 2d4 points of fire damage to creatures within 10 feet and 1d4 points of fire damage to those past 10 feet but within 20 feet. The wall deals this damage when it appears, and to all creatures in the area on your turn each round. In addition, the wall deals 2d6 points of fire damage + 1 point of fire damage per caster level (maximum +20) to any creature passing through it. The wall deals double damage to undead creatures.
If you evoke the wall so that it appears where creatures are, each creature takes damage as if passing through the wall. If any 5-foot length of wall takes 20 points or more of cold damage in 1 round, that length goes away. (Do not divide cold damage by 2, as normal for objects.)
Wall of fire can be made permanent with a permanency spell. A permanent wall of fire that is extinguished by cold damage becomes inactive for 10 minutes, then reforms at normal strength.
Basically, it is a daze battery. . .
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Love it, Akinra! Wall of Fire is the 4th level domain spell for Fire domain, and have had great fun with it already. Cast it pretty much every session. But never would have linked it's low-level, but constant, damage output to Daze. Even w/o any Dazing hijinks it's a fantastic control spell. And a legitimate damage threat to undead.
I'll look to add Dazing to my metamagic repertoire as soon as possible - likely with a rod. For a dancing, Fire-domain evangelist there's just wonderful flavor in sheeting a line of baddies in a curtain of flame, and then dazing them with your divine will.
Will also check-in on ability to retrain feats. Not sure if the DM allows. But "yes" at this stage of the game those 2 extra channels aren't doing me a lot of good.
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Pay very close attention to the limitations on Divine Interference. Only on attack rolls, the enemy (not your ally) has to be within 30 feet, and only once per day per enemy. Those limitations are what take it away from a "must have" in the groups I play with. It's still nice but there are so many other options.
It sounds like you are more of a melee cleric than a caster, but if you cast a fair amount consider Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus: enchantment. Don't forget your spontaneous spells are mostly enchantment. My 15th level evangelist has both along with Spell Perfection: Greater Command and it is glorious! (Spell Perfection: Mass Suggestion works pretty well too. Can't quicken it but it starts off with a higher DC before Spell Perfection.)