Melee Cleric Build

[Emery1000]

Well guy I'm building a cleric for my buddy (I am GM) and he wants to be up in combat, he will be starting at lvl 2 and I start them off with either Weapon Finesse, Two-weapon fighting, or Improved unarmed. And it's a 25 point buy. But I wanted to see if anyone else had a build or if they could get me started.

[Blakmane]

Are you saying they get one of those feats for free, or that you were planning to choose one as his level 1 feat?

[Emery1000]

Blakmane wrote:

Are you saying they get one of those feats for free, or that you were planning to choose one as his level 1 feat?

I give it for free, probably bad choice on my part but I'll live with it

[666bender]

why give free feats.... ? and if so, why not give stuff for casters as well ?
a combat cleric is simple..... str>wis>con>rest
toughness
sacred summon
power attack
vital strike
augument summon

domains: glory, war, rage, travel.

traits: fate's favorite (+1 extra luck bonus)
race: human or dwarf (nasty weapons)

you summon, buff and charge

[Alamander of Acavna]

I suggest a reach cleric. Something like this character. There is a guide.

[Rodinia]

Those starting feats have little to do with building an effective melee cleric. I'd probably choose 'none of the above', even if they were free.

Simple, highly effective melee cleric build:

Here's one simple approach that results in a powerful melee combatant:

1. STR 14-18+ , DEX 14, WIS 14+, others as desired
2. Start with the sub-domain Plant (Growth) for swift action Enlarge Person & another domain of your choice
3. Wield a longspear, with a club and sling as back-up weapons (all are Simple weapons)
4. Start with the feat Combat Reflexes, and take Power Attack as soon as it is legal (3rd level).
5. Wear Spiked Armor, so as to threaten adjacent foes inside your reach donut.
6. Take the free Improved Unarmed Strike feat the GM is offering, in case you lose your Armor Spikes.

Example for a 3rd level human battle cleric
With your generous 25 point starting build you can start with great stats:

STR:18 DEX:14 WIS:14 ... other stats ...
Feats: Combat Reflexes (1st), Power Attack (3rd), another of your choice ...
Traits: Fate's Favored & another

Ambushed & flatfooted, in surprise round
If this PC is attacked from ambush, caught flat footed with no chance to prepare, and rolls poorly on initiative, then she'll have these combat numbers for the AoOs she gets before her turn comes around (which she gets even when caught flat-footed):

Power attack with a normal longspear at +5 to hit for 1d8+9 & threaten a 25' diameter. 10' reach. Possible 4 attacks per round for 13.5 HP average damage per hit. No buffs at all.

First combat round in an ambush situation

On her first action she will probably use Swift Action Enlarge Person to help regain control of the situation & attack the ambushers. Combat has started and there's no time for buffs. She will have these combat numbers:

Power attack with a normal longspear at +5 to hit for 2d6+10 & threaten a 50' diameter zone of control. 20' reach. Possible 3 attacks per round for 17 HP average damage per hit.

Prepared for trouble, in CODzilla mode
If this same PC expects trouble and is able to pre-buff, she'll have these numbers:

Power attack with a normal longspear at +10 to hit for 2d6+15 & threaten a 50' diameter zone of control. 20' reach. Active buffs are: Bless, Bull's Strength, Enlarge Person, and Divine Favor w/ trait Fate's Favored. That's 22 HP average damage per hit, and usually 2-3 attacks per round.

Of course, role-play trumps roll-play, so choose whatever build approach will be the most fun for everyone involved. To reduce damage on the above build, for play with less-optimized PCs, simply remove the Plant (Growth) domain, reduce strength from 18 to 14, and drop the trait Fate's Favored.

[Blave]

A good melee Cleric (and decent party face) would be a cleric of Iomedae with the Heroism and Tactics subdomains. As the others have said, those free feats don't work well with clerics. I'd pick Improved Unarmed as a backup plan but probably never use it.

Clercs should go high Strenth, two-handed weapon. Works very good with their buffs, especially with the enlarge of righteous might.