Good Evening Fellow Gamers,
So I have a character for a shattered star campaign, and I am looking down the barrel of level 7.
I have a few ideas in my head on what I want to do with that level, but mostly I am looking at feat choices:
* Extra Channel
* Crafting feat (Except for Arms & Armor*, Scrolls*, and Wondrous Items. *=She already has them)
* Metamagic (If I go this way, I'd want to have it be something that would also benefit the spontaneous cure spells)
* Heavy Armor Proficiency
* Tower Shield Proficiency
* Improved Channel
* Alignment Channel
* Another Feat that I may not have even considered?
Objectives:
I want to be the last one standing.
I want to make the party better at what it does
The front lines is not her primary position, but if an enemy thinks she's a squishy caster, they will be punished for their ignorance.
Cephira Hrist (Stats after cut)
Female Human (Chelaxian) Cleric of Iomedae 6
LG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +0; Senses Perception +4
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Defense
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AC 18, touch 10, flat-footed 18 (+6 armor, +2 shield)
hp 57 (6d8+20)
Fort +7, Ref +2, Will +10; +1 trait bonus vs. evil outsider’s spells and effects
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Offense
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Speed 20 ft.
Melee +1 heavy mace +9 (1d8+4) and
longsword +8 (1d8+3/19-20)
Ranged light crossbow +5 (1d8/19-20)
Special Attacks channel positive energy 5/day (DC 17, 3d6)
Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th; concentration +10)
7/day—touch of glory
Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 5th; concentration +10):
3rd—communal resist energy[UC], lightning lash, magic vestment[D]
2nd—bless weapon[D], lesser angelic aspect, shield other, spiritual weapon
1st—bless, command (DC 15), divine favor, shield of faith[D], shield of faith
0 (at will)—detect magic, guidance, vigor, virtue
D Domain spell; Domains Glory, Tactics, War
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Statistics
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Str 16, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 18, Cha 14
Base Atk +4; CMB +7; CMD 16
Feats Craft Magic Arms & Armor, Reach Spell[APG], Scribe Scroll, Toughness
Traits child of the temple, monument scholar, purity of faith
Skills Diplomacy +10, Heal +8, Knowledge (geography) +2, Knowledge (nobility) +6, Knowledge (planes) +6, Knowledge (religion) +10, Sense Motive +9, Spellcraft +10, Swim +4, Use Magic Device +1
Languages Celestial, Common
SQ aura, seize the initiative
Combat Gear pearl of power (1st level), scroll of angelic aspect, lesser, scroll of command, scroll of protection from evil, scroll of reach cure light wounds, scroll of sanctuary, shard of greed, wand of lesser restoration (17 charges), wand of spiritual weapon (5 charges); Other Gear masterwork breastplate, masterwork heavy steel shield, +1 heavy mace, light crossbow, longsword, headband of inspired wisdom +2, pale blue rhomboid ioun stone, ring of swimming, backpack, masterwork, bedroll, belt pouch, blanket, candle (10), candle lamp, flint and steel, silver holy symbol (Iomedae), holy text, mess kit, pot, hemp rope (50 ft.), soap, spell component pouch, trail rations (5), waterskin, platinum rings (shield other focus) (worth 100 gp) (4), small pearls (worth 16.6 gp) (6), 14 gp, 8 sp, 8 cp
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Special Abilities
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Aura (Ex) The Cleric has an aura corresponding to his deity’s alignment.
Cleric Channel Positive Energy 3d6 (5/day, DC 16) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
Cleric Domain (Glory) Granted Powers: You are infused with the glory of the divine, and are a true foe of the undead. In addition, when you channel positive energy to harm undead creatures, the save DC to halve the damage is increased by 2.
Cleric Domain (Tactics)
Monument Scholar +1 Know (hist) in varisia, +2 if related to Magnimar. +2 to recieve Magnimar monument boon.
Purity of Faith Your soul is free from impurity, and you are deeply committed to fulfilling your duties to the church. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Will saving throws and a +1 trait bonus on saving throws against spells and effects originating from an outsider with
Reach Spell You can cast a spell with a range of touch, close, or medium as one range category higher.
Scroll of angelic aspect, lesser Add this item to create a scroll with spells on it.
Scroll of command Add this item to create a scroll with spells on it.
Scroll of protection from evil Add this item to create a scroll with spells on it.
Scroll of reach cure light wounds Add this item to create a scroll with spells on it.
Scroll of sanctuary Add this item to create a scroll with spells on it.
Seize the Initiative (7/day) (Su) An ally within 30’ may take the better of 2d20 for initiative
Shard of greed +2 insight bonus to saves vs transmutation.
Touch of Glory (7/day) (Sp) Grant +5 to a CHA-based skill or ability check.
Wand of lesser restoration (17 charges) Add this item to create a wand of a chosen spell.
Wand of spiritual weapon (5 charges) Add this item to create a wand of a chosen spell.
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Think about Warpriest for your feat, it's a +2 Spell pénétration and initiative, seems good for someone with many "figthing" buffs
Think about Warpriest for your feat, it's a +2 Spell pénétration and initiative, seems good for someone with many "figthing" buffs
Do you mean Warrior Priest, because I can't find a feat called Warpriest. If so, then you are mistaken as Warrior Priest gives +1 initiative and a +2 to concentration checks (not caster level checks).
Anyway, you talk about wanting to be able to punish enemies that think you squishy, but at the same time you don't have much to back that up as it doesn't really seem to be your thing. With that in mind perhaps you should just deter enemies by going Heavy Armor + Tower Shield... but here's the kicker: You only need proficiency if you care about attack rolls. If you don't plan on making attacks then you can just wear the stuff and suffer no real penalties besides the skill minuses for certain things. If you intend to use your Reach Spell feat to use "bad touch" spells then that advice isn't really viable, but if not...
I see you have some Channel feats you are considering, but I think you are missing the big one if you plan on using it in battle: Selective Channel. It might be worth considering, though channel in combat is usually a last resort anyway.
One more thing: What is your favored class bonus? Because Human Cleric's is badass: +1 versus outsider SR each time you take it. Super good.
Selective Channel is a trap, in my opinion.
Channeling during a 'boss fight' where there is only one foe, a 3d6 (4d6 at 7th level) would likely be a pittance in gained hit points.
Against a horde of minion-types, I wouldn't have a high enough Charisma modifier to exclude enough of them to be worthwhile.
My favored class bonus has been Hit-Points. Earlier in the campaign we needed more warrior types (Alchemist, bard, witch, cavalier)
Very Respectfully,
--Bacon
True enough, Selective Channel is iffy; not sure why I even brought it up. Hmm... I'm really not sure what feat I would take if I were you. Is there anything later you were hoping to build into that requires prerequisites? Only thing I could think of off the top of my head would be Spell Perfection, but you are a long way off from that and would have plenty of time to get two more metamagics at a more appropriate time. There are always the staple +2 to a save, Improved Initiative, but I tend to consider those luxury options. Spell Penetration perhaps, but you don't seem to do much enemy targeting so perhaps not.
I'd skip all the channeling and healing stuff as I do not think its worth it at all. PF-Mechanics do not support ingame healing, espacially by cure spells and channeling.
I'd get some meta magic, aiming for spell perfection or pick the summoning feats as they are really strong on a cleric.
edit: honestly I'm a litte confused by your feat picks so far. Do you want to be able to melee as well? If so (and you have the really cool war domain) you should try to spend some feats making it worth it. Best way to do so would be a reach weapon. I dont think towershield is worth it at all.
Reach weapon, summons and you will do good, but as it is your ability scores are somehow a little wasted I think.
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Even though it doesn't effect spontaneous curing, extend spell is good enough that if you don't want the feat I recommend a lesser rod of it. Variant channeling options are also cool, I'll come back with more info on that as I peruse my ISG book.
I don't know a ton about crafting as I am primarily a PFS player, but at your level the three feats you've listed not needing doesn't leave you with many choices that are super necessary imo.
As far as fighty goes, some sustain options include extra channel, additional traits for healer of the society and something like deft dodger, or maybe Lunge to stay away from combat.
Weapon Focus, channel smite for undead, and your aligned creatures for your alignment channel if your gm will allow it, this is particularly effective against demons teleporting into your face. Maybe Power attack, although your base to hit isn't fantastic.
Sacred Summons is great, although not remembering prereqs off the top of my head.
That's about what I've got for now, good luck.
Personally I'm not a fan of channeling, unless you've got some heavily optimized variant channel and build toward it like crazy. That's not really an option here with 1 feat.
Sacred Summons, Spell Focus (Conj) -> Augmented Summons is a powerful combination. It's something that you'll need to work toward gradually though given the feat investment. Adding in Superior Summons and you've got a full-on army of buffed up summons on demand.
You could consider Heavy Armor proficiency, but it is purely defensive and you've got decent HP and okay AC at present. Tower Shields and Heavy shields don't allow you to use that hand to cast or hold items according to RAW, so I'd tend to stick to light shields which allow you to hold your weapon in that hand as a free action.
I'd recommend having a browse through Tark's Cleric Optimization guide which is the Guide to the Class Guides for a few options. You're pretty close to the suggested "Support Cleric" role and it could give you a few ideas.
Summon Good Monster is a great one to add to the Summoning feats listed above.
Summon Monster feats are viable, but I feel that this late in the game, I might not get to do it as often as I would like.
Reach Spell on my spontaneous cures has been a life-saver on more than one occasion. I think it is/was the best feat I've taken with her. (it's so good, that I am thinking of commissioning a wand of reach CLW)
Just as a heads up, this is not a PFS character. This character is for a home game. We are running through the Shattered Star adventure path (and I think we are almost done with book 2)
Our Current Party Consists of:
Kaija - Human Brawler (Lvl 5)
Vonn - Human Cavalier (Lvl 5)
Cad - Halfling Bard (Lvl 6)
Galjuk - Half-Orc Witch (Scarred Witch Archetype) (Lvl 6)
Idrin - Dwarf Paladin (Oathbound (Loyalty) Archetype) (Lvl 5)
And Cephira - Human Cleric (Iomedae) (Lvl 6)
(Idrin and Kaija were found with no gear, and have been outfitted with cast-offs from other party members, and found treasure, but are still well behind WBL guidelines.
I already have Scribe Scroll and Craft Arms and Armor. The Witch has Craft Wondrous Item. I am going to be taking Craft Staff at 9th level (Reach Breath of Life, Spiritual Weapon, and Holy Smite will be the go-to spells for that staff)
If any of that changes your opinion(s)
I normally tend to hang back and buff/aid/bless the front liners (Shield Other tends to effectively double the Paladin's hit points, coupled with his own self healing), but I have been able to wade in a couple times as an engine of destruction. (Usually after a couple rounds of buffs)
Thank you for your opinions so far!
Very Respectfully,
--Bacon
I'd skip all the channeling and healing stuff as I do not think its worth it at all. PF-Mechanics do not support ingame healing, espacially by cure spells and channeling.
This is something that varies highly by table. At our tables, and at the Devs own table, Healing during combat is a regular thing and critical. In other games- not so much.
So, if in the Op's games, combat goes on for some time, and in combat healing has become important, then yes, Selective Channel is a great feat, and we use it a lot. The OP would do well by picking several channel feats.
The OP also has a larger than 4 person party, so the effects of Channeling are magnified.
OP with three tanks in your party, I would concentrate on spellcasting. Buff spells.
Those heavy armors will also slow you down and cut heavily into skill checks.
I m trying to find the right balance between hang back and spellcast, and wade in and beat face.
I don't have a high enough INT for expertise
I already have Scribe Scroll and Craft magic Arms & Armor
We do have three tanks in the party, except:
* The Cavalier is not enough of a constant to be relied on. (He's got a roughly 30% attendance rate.)
* The Brawler is currently 2 below the APL (just made the level, but the DM won't let us apply it until we get to town/rest), so not particularly great at 'tanking'.
* The Paladin just joined the party, and the DM had us find him nekkid so is only equipped with the stuff we've looted since his arrival and 'extra' stuff the party could spare. He also took an archetype that gives up Smite Evil for another ability. (It's been 2 full sessions since his arrival, and we still haven't found his 'starting' gear. he is also 2 levels lower than APL. Paladin and Brawler were found at the same time)
The Scarred Witch will be taking Craft Wondrous Items, so I don't want to tread on her toes and duplicate crafting feats (I've already put the word out that I want pearls of power from her though).
I cast Shield Other on the paladin, just so he stays alive, but then my HP start dwindling pretty rapidly, sitting in the background healing myself is viable, but resource intensive. It worked much better with the invlunerable rager barbarian we had (DR reduces the damage before we'd split it, but then she was practically atomized by a critical Scorching Ray)
Very Respectfully,
--Bacon