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Hello all,
I have credit to start out as a level 6 Cleric in PFS and I'm considering the following build.
Cleric 5 / Exalted 7 of Irori
Race – Human
Alignment – Lawful Neutral
Deity – Irori (Lawful Neutral)
Traits:
• Reckless (combat)
• Seeker (social)
• additional traits: Wisdom in the Flesh (religion)
• additional traits: Fate’s Favored (faith)
Domains:
• Fist [Strength Sub-Domain]
• Love [Domain]
Exalted Domain:
• Healing
1st Level Stats - 20pt buy
Str: 14
Dex: 14
Con: 14
Int: 12
Wis: 17 (+2 racial)
Cha: 7
1) Cleric 1: Bab +0, Additional Traits (lvl 1), Focused Study: Knowledge Religion (human)
2) Cleric 2: Bab +1,
3) Cleric 3: Bab +2, FREE (lvl 3)
4) Cleric 4: Bab +3, +1 Wis
5) Cleric 5: Bab +3, FREE (lvl 5)
6) Exalted 1: Bab +3,
7) Exalted 2: Bab +4, Combat Casting (lvl 7)
8) Exalted 3: Bab +5, Focused Study: Acrobatics, +1 Wis
9) Exalted 4: Bab +6/+1, Spell Penetration (lvl 9)
10) Exalted 5: Bab +6/+1
11) Exalted 6: Bab +7/+2, Divine Intervention (lvl 11)
12) Exalted 7: Bab +8/+3, +1 Wis
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So the benefits of this Cleric is not obvious, I admit. But my goal is to be a caster Cleric that can go ham in melee, with an Irori feel, when she wants.
Inner Sea Gods: Worshipers of Irori have access to spells Stone Fist, Haste, Transformation.
Exalted Prestige Class:
* 3rd Domain with all spells as 1/day Spell-like abilities which includes Breath of Life, Heal, and more.
* 50% healing boost at 11th level with Healer's Blessing from the Heal Domain.
* 11th level 3/day I can cast conjuration (healing) spells at 30ft range which means ranged Breath of Life spells.
* Perma Protection from Chaos and Detect Chaos at will.
The highest attack I could come up with was 21/21/16/11 at 11th level. (Transformation=11bab, +4str mod, +2greater magic fang, +4divine power)
Highest damage output roughly 2d6 + 15 (monk robes, +4str mod, + 2greater magic fang, +4divine power, +5fist domain). If I used Power Attack then it'd be 17/17/12/7atk for 2d6+23dmg each. Are the attack bonuses and damage output decent for level 11?
I know I'm pretty much looking at the end of my PFS career with these calculations and some of the benefits but I plan on taking this character into level 12+ PFS games (Seeker I think is what it's called).
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Are there any feats besides Power Attack that would help this character work better in melee while keeping the Irori concept and flavor? Also, any thoughts on whether I should use Wooden Fist domain and Stone Fist spells for using a weapon or would going with a spiked gauntlet be a better choice?
Here's my suggestion. At lv6, what do you anticipate your first 3-4 rounds of combat to be? And again at lv9.
Also, to go into exalted don't you need Deific Obedience?
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Here's my suggestion. At lv6, what do you anticipate your first 3-4 rounds of combat to be? And again at lv9.
Also, to go into exalted don't you need Deific Obedience?
Hey Chess, thanks for the response. I do need Deific Obedience, which I missed and I'll need to add somewhere.
Lvl 6 - First round Divine Favor. Second round Prayer or Bull's Strength. Third round and after heal or remove status effects. If enemies engage me, attack with domain strike and then acrobatics away to avoid full attacks.
Lvl 9 - First round Haste or Divine Power. Second round Righteous Might. Third round and after assist others in melee and acrobatics away and heal as needed.
The character comes into its fullest at 11th level, which I plan on taking this character into PFS campaigns beyond 11th level.
• The 3rd domain (Healing) gives 1/day SLA's of each domain spell and I can cast 3/day conjuration healing spells (Breath of Life for example) at 30ft range.
• Transformation spell from Irori available at 11th level.
• 11th level all cure spells are increased by 50% with the Healing domain's "Healer's Blessing" ability.
• 12th level I get perma Protection from Chaos.
11bab (3 attacks) from Transformation and +1 attack from Divine Power. Required buffing time: 2rounds/spells.
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Race – Human
Alignment – Neutral
Deity – Irori (Neutral)
Traits:
• Reckless (combat)
• Fate’s Favored (faith)
Domains:
• Fist [Strength Sub-Domain]
• Madness [Domain]
Exalted Domain:
• Healing
1st Level Stats -
Str: 17 (+2 racial)
Dex: 14
Con: 14
Int: 12
Wis: 14
Cha: 7
1) Cleric 1: Bab +0, Improved Unarmed Strike (lvl 1), Focused Study: Knowledge Religion (human)
2) Cleric 2: Bab +1,
3) Cleric 3: Bab +2, Combat Casting (lvl 3)
4) Cleric 4: Bab +3, +1 Str
5) Cleric 5: Bab +3, Deific Obedience (lvl 5)
6) Exalted 1: Bab +3,
7) Exalted 2: Bab +4, Domain Strike (lvl 7)
8) Exalted 3: Bab +5, Focused Study: Acrobatics, +1 Wis
9) Exalted 4: Bab +6/+1, Power Attack (lvl 9)
10) Exalted 5: Bab +6/+1
11) Exalted 6: Bab +7/+2, Divine Intervention (lvl 11)
12) Exalted 7: Bab +8/+3, +1 Wis
Gear @ 6th level:
+1 Mithral Agile Breastplate: +7 AC
+1 Heavy Steel Shield: +3 AC
+1 Cloak of Resistance
Eagles of the Eagle
CLW wand
Cestus (Greater Magic Weapon will help here)
Rod of Extend
Notes: I guess I'd have to pickup Dragon Style at 13th level?
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Any obvious improvements I could do on feats? If I could squeeze in Dragon Style that would add +3dmg on the 1st strike + the other benefits. I feel like Combat Casting is necessary though.
Also, any gear I should pickup? After buying the above gear I have listed for starting out at 6th level, I have about 10k left.
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The only thing I can think of at the moment that may be an improvement is to scrap the Madness domain and find an alternative. I could drop Improved Unarmed Strike (would disqualify me from Dragon Style later on) and Domain Strike and pickup two other feats.
I'm proficient in the Cestus which still gives the Monk feel and I have Stone Fist spell and Wooden Fist domain ability, which is a free action. Madness domain is at -2 character level due to Separatist, so at 10th level I'd have 5/day uses (with 16wis) that'd cause a -4 attack/save debuff to enemies for 3 rounds.
Even with the Separatist debuff to Vision of Madness it still seems like it's worth the two feats. Also, if I'm going to use Vision of Madness on someone I might as well deliver it without provoking and causing roughly 25dmg.
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Feel free to comment on any of this and please feel free to give suggestions on feat improvements or any gear I should pickup. I still have 10k gold and no idea what to spend it on.
With a wisdom like that, maybe channeled smite and guided hand, get that wisdom to hit
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Remember that clerics of Irori get Improved Unarmed Strike for free (because Irori's favoured weapon is unarmed strike).
And personally I'm a fan of the Inevitable subdomain.
Sorry for the confusion all, I changed my Strength to 17 and Wisdom to 14 in the 3rd post. Also, I lose Improved Unarmed Strike for free when going Separatist for the Madness domain.
I think maybe I should switch to a +1 Conductive Quarterstaff, which still keeps the Monk "flavor." That would increase my damage by 6 (22str and Power Attack both would get an extra 3 damage increase). That would also free up 2 feats.
What 2 feats could I add to improve my melee capability?
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How worthwhile is Toughness?
1) Toughness (feat), Focused Study: Knowledge Religion (human)
2)
3) Additional Traits (feat)
4)
5) Deific Obedience (feat)
6)
7) Power Attack (feat)
8) Focused Study: Acrobatics
9) Weapon Focus: Quarterstaff (feat)
10)
11) Divine Intervention (feat)
I swapped Combat Casting to Additional Traits and picked up Seeker (social trait) for +1 perception and class skill and also Focused Mind which gives +2 concentration (half of Combat Casting feat bonus). I think this may be a better choice.
At 11th level I'd have 96hp with Toughness. Acrobatics will be +24 and Perception will be +26. My Wisdom at 11th level will either be at 16 or 18 (depending on whether I upgrade my Headband of Inspired Wisdom to +4wis).
I'm thinking Weapon Focus: Quarterstaff may be best at 9th level? Any good alternatives?
Here's my suggestion. At lv6, what do you anticipate your first 3-4 rounds of combat to be? And again at lv9.
Also, to go into exalted don't you need Deific Obedience?
Hey Chess, thanks for the response. I do need Deific Obedience, which I missed and I'll need to add somewhere.
Lvl 6 - First round Divine Favor. Second round Prayer or Bull's Strength. Third round and after heal or remove status effects. If enemies engage me, attack with domain strike and then acrobatics away to avoid full attacks.
Lvl 9 - First round Haste or Divine Power. Second round Righteous Might. Third round and after assist others in melee and acrobatics away and heal as needed.
*I don't think wooden fist works with a cestus.
I'm not liking this character and here's why.
lv6
round 1, you do a self buff, aka nothing yet.
round 2, you are maybe casting a party buff or maybe a self buff aka nothing yet.
round 3+ heal as primary action, or do 1 attack and run away.
lv9
round 1, you are maybe casting a party buff or maybe a self buff aka nothing yet.
round 2, you do a self buff, aka nothing yet.
round 3, maybe do melee and heal.
Yeah, I'm really not see this. it's like you're building for 1 thing and then doing a different thing.
the self buffs are really only worth it if you're full attacking.
Self buffing is hard to be worthwhile always, you'll be maybe getting 1 attack off in 3 rounds. Combat might be nearing it's end at that time, so you'll be all buffed up, using lots of spells a fight, and maybe not actually helping decide the fight.
This is if you're focused on combat, but since you plan on healing mainly and maybe doing 1 domain attack and running away, I'm not seeing the point of focusing tons on your combat stats. A 14 str and no buffs is probably good enough to get off the one attack and run away plan that you have.
Otherwise I'd focus on the attack stats, revise your battle plan to be quicker, and plan on doing full attacks.
warpriest of Irori, you get to be a divine combatant from the get go.
If you really wanted you could go sacred fist, generally seen as worse than the normal warpriest, but if it fits your view.
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I really think this would work better as a warpriest. You would have better IUS damage, and wouldn't have to waste action economy buffing thanks to fervor. You would also have better feats, and weapon training if you went arsenal chaplain.
Arsenal Chaplain does not qualify for Weapon Training in PFS.
I really think this would work better as a warpriest. You would have better IUS damage, and wouldn't have to waste action economy buffing thanks to fervor. You would also have better feats, and weapon training if you went arsenal chaplain.
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Cleric:1) Ability to cast Haste and Transformation - Irori, Inner Sea Gods
2) Touch of Madness - Bonus to 1 and penalty to 2 (Attack, Saves, Skills)
3) Lore Keeper - Free knowledge check of 23 to know enemy when striking, unlimited use.
4) Can go Exlated at 6th level
5) Full Spell Progression
Warpriest w/16 Wis:
1) Blessings: 6 uses per a day
2) Sacred Weapon: 7 rounds +1 enhancement bonus
3) Fervor: 6 times a day swift cast self buffs
4) Sacred Armor: 7mins of +1 enhancement bonus
5) Free Weapon Focus feat
6) Can't go Exalted till 8th level
7) Delayed Spell Progression
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Warpriest sounded good till I read through it all knowing that I'd only have 7 levels of Warpriest.
Exalted I'm getting:
1) A 3rd domain (+50% extra healing from Healing Domain)
2) CLW, CMW, CSW, CCW, Breath of Life, Heal, Regenerate, MCCW, MH all as 1/day SLA's. (Barring that my divine level is high enough to cast spells of the SLA to be used.)
3) Can extend ANY conjuration healing spell from range touch to range 30ft, 3 times a day.
4) Perma Protection from Chaos
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I could go with Magical Lineage on Divine Favor but it caps at 9th level for +3atk/+3dmg (+4/+4 with Fate's Favored) whereas Divine Power would keep improving at 12th and 15th level. That would allow me to swift cast Divine Favor on the 1st round but at 10th level I only have 4 4th level spells per a day at best.
I guess I could stay in melee range (maybe I shouldn't focus so much on maxing Acrobatics?) since I'd have 3 attacks with Divine Power or Haste and 4 attacks with Transformation. Plus at 10th level I'm able to deliver a Touch of Madness for -4atk/-4saves with a melee strike.
Thoughts on all this?
A few thoughts and then advice for cleric.
warpriest also get the bonus spells from deity to their list.
Arsenal chaplain GET weapon training, it's their class feature. They can't swap out for Advanced Weapon Training, nor currently take the feat, but that may change.
Now, warpriest isn't for all ideas, so if it's not what you're wanting don't force yourself or feel pressured into it, and since it sounds like you want to have the healing potential available it's probably not what you want.
Have you taken a look at Oread for this build? you're a little slower but you get Str and Wis for dumping cha more.
I'd suggest you plan in combat to buff round 1 and then be full attacking from there.
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An Exalted of Irori is a nice idea, but possibly best as a caster-cleric rather than a melee-cleric.
I've played a number of divine caster melee characters. There is always a trade - off between buffing and attacking. You don't want to spend too many rounds buffing instead of attacking, otherwise you'll not contribute as effectively as you would if you laid down a party-buff or made a summons, for example. So you want long-running buff spells cast out of combat, and/or swift action buffs in combat, so that you can enter combat and full attack as quickly as possible.
If you're set on the idea of an Exalted of Irori using Irori's special spells use the basic Strength domain. At low levels start combat with enlarge person; grab a wand of the spell with 2PP for when you have used the domain slot. At level 9 take Quicken Spell. At this point you can start each (major) combat with Blessing of Fervour and a Quickened Divine Favour. (I prefer Blessing of Fervour in a 4th level slot rather than Haste). Then enter melee.
If you want to melee, the Touch of Madness 'bad touch' is not helping you very much. That domain power is more useful if you intend to follow it up with a Save or Suck. Repose domain's staggering touch power is probably more useful at higher levels: move in, stagger enemy, take only 1 hit in return then full attack on your next turn. But I wouldn't go separatist. I would choose Strength and Inevitable domains,
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If you want to melee, the Touch of Madness 'bad touch' is not helping you very much. That domain power is more useful if you intend to follow it up with a Save or Suck. Repose domain's staggering touch power is probably more useful at higher levels: move in, stagger enemy, take only 1 hit in return then full attack on your next turn. But I wouldn't go separatist. I would choose Strength and Inevitable domains,
Repose domain does seem to be a pretty good choice. Don't see why you'd choose Inevitable domain though as it requires a Will save to stick. All the domain spells in Strength seem highly useful, the domain ability...not so much since it's only half Cleric level and last 1 round.
If I'm reading it right, Enlarge person gives me: -1atk (size), -2AC (size and dex penalty), +1atk (str bonus), increases my quarterstaff from 1d6 to 1d8, and gives me 10ft reach. Not totally sure it's worth it as I'd be lowering my AC and making myself a bigger target while not gaining very much offensively. The rest of the domain spells though should be really useful.
I'm trying to figure out if there's any other practical way to get Shield AC bonus without actually using a shield. If I'm two-handing a quarterstaff and casting spells I won't have much room for a shield. Any thoughts on how to gain a decent Shield bonus to AC?
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My dark tapestry oracle uses an animated buckler. A little expensive (animated = +2 bonus equivalent) but it works. You can hold a two handed weapon whilst having a buckler strapped to your arm. In a round in which you attack with the weapon you lose the shield bonus, and suffer -1 to hit. Animating the shield prevents these problems. A buckler has no affect on your spell casting.
Alternatively try a ring of force shield. 8,500 gp. You can activate and deactivate it as a free action. So at the start of your turn you deactivate the shield, full attack, then at the end of your turn reactivate it. This means that you won't have the shield bonus if you somehow trigger an AoO during your attack, but you'll have it outside of your turn which is when you are most likely to be attacked.
The other solution is to UMD a wand of shield.
I just like the inevitable domain command power. It loses some relevance at higher levels, but it's a decent power in a domain with reasonable spells.
Enlarge works best if you have a reach weapon or a heavier weapon than the quarterstaff. You are proficient with the longspear. That would do 2d6 when enlarged, and give you 20' reach. Wear armour spikes or have Improved Unarmed Strike so that you also threaten adjacent. Have a reasonable DEX and use Combat Reflexes, and you can be a major force on the battlefield. (There is a very good guide to Reach Clerics out there that I recommend).
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Enlarge works best if you have a reach weapon or a heavier weapon than the quarterstaff. You are proficient with the longspear. That would do 2d6 when enlarged, and give you 20' reach. Wear armour spikes or have Improved Unarmed Strike so that you also threaten adjacent. Have a reasonable DEX and use Combat Reflexes, and you can be a major force on the battlefield. (There is a very good guide to Reach Clerics out there that I recommend).
Yeah, I'm pretty familiar with Reach Cleric but was trying to stay as close to an Irori Monk concept as possible. Maybe I can compromise here though as some martial arts movies have monks with spears. I could take Combat Reflexes at 9th level and buy a "Perfectionist Shavtoosh" which would give the IUS feat for 4,461 gp. Having a 20ft reach would I even need to bother with the Repose domain to stagger? Maybe Touch of Madness is better then to help make spells stick with my 16 or 18wis?
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I think I'll stick with the Cleric5/Exalted+ route and pickup a longspear and combat reflexes. Any suggestions on gear for 6th level?
Gear I'm thinking about getting:
+1 Mithral Agile Breastplate
Cloak of Resistance +1
lesser Rod of Extend
Eyes of the Eagle
Headband of Inspired Wisdom +2
CLW wand (2 prestige)
+1 adamantine longspear
with roughly 3k gold left.
Is there any equipment that I'm missing that should be necessary? I want to make sure I'm somewhat prepared with going into mid & higher tier scenarios soon.
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I think I'll stick with the Cleric5/Exalted+ route and pickup a longspear and combat reflexes. Any suggestions on gear for 6th level?
Gear I'm thinking about getting:
+1 Mithral Agile Breastplate
Cloak of Resistance +1
lesser Rod of Extend
Eyes of the Eagle
Headband of Inspired Wisdom +2
CLW wand (2 prestige)
+1 adamantine longspearwith roughly 3k gold left.
Is there any equipment that I'm missing that should be necessary? I want to make sure I'm somewhat prepared with going into mid & higher tier scenarios soon.
Do you really need the Headband of WIS? You seem like you want to Buff and hit things, so I'd go Belt of STR, but both are fine I guess. Chuck that 3k into you armour for a +2.
Oh, yeah; get some way of dealing with flying. It's not that common, but it can really screw over combat builds. A potion of Fly or two is probably fine.
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Read the moms errata, you can't dip for flow how to a style anymoreDidn't know that, thanks.
What if you would turn it around ? Take two levels MOMS to qualify for pummeling style and dragon style.
At level 8 (MOMS 2 +Sacred fist 6), do you count as a level 8 monk for the level 6 bonus feat under sacred fist, because that would get you pummeling charge as well.
The entire Pummelling Style line is not PFS legal.
Also, RAW I do not believe you would count as a Level 8 Monk, no.
The pummeling style line is PFS legal.