Need advice: multiclassing in cleric

[Epok999]

Hi!

We recently started the Shattered Star campain. There's 5 Pcs in the group, and we've been playing together for a very long time. I think I can safely declare that, after nearly ten years of pathfinder, we all know the game well enough to be very efficient. And for my DM, that seems to be a problem (even though we all have a lot of fun optimizing our characters as best as we can).
He chose to create our characters by himself, so we could'nt abuse anything - and he purposely choose some wierd / weak combinations (there's a rogue/paladin, a sorcerer/swashbuckler, a diviner with conjuration as opposed school and a cleric /ranger).
That's how I ended up with a Barbarian 1 / Inquisitor (infiltrator) 1, designed to be a weapon thrower. My first problem is that I hate playing « pure dps » characters. My preference goes for spellcasters. My second problem is that throwing weapons is not strong at all in Pathfinder. If I was to play a DPS character, at least I'd want him/her to be strong.

I then decided I'd multiclass, a third time, in clercic (herald caller). My goal is to become a full spellcaster cleric who focuses on summoning, and I always wanted to try that reach-cleric build everyone talks about (even though I don't plan on getting combat reflexes). The DM gave me some strong ability scores that fit the clercic. So here's the build :

Carmila
LG human
Barbarian 1 / Inquisitor (infiltrator) 1 / Cleric (herald caller) X.
str15 (+1 at lv4); dex16; con18; int12; wis18; cha10.
I pray Andoletta, the Empyreal Lord.
Feats :
1) Scribe scroll; 3) Power attack; 5) Improved Initiative; 7) Sacred Summons; 9) Summon Good Monsters. I don't know yet what to choose for the late levels.

My only concern is that I'll always be 2 caster levels below any other spellcaster. Considering that, is it really worth it to summon monsters (and to multiclass as an herald caller)? I heard they were scaling pretty bad. We are actually at lv5, so I cast as a third level cleric. I'll have access to my first standard action summoning at level 7 (thanks to sacred summons), but how efficient is really a Lantern Archon, alone, at level 7? A full level cleric would have summoned it at fifth level.
What do you think? Will I just regret that multiclass? Please keep in mind that, obviously, it's not supposed to be optimized, but I'm trying to get the better out of it.

By the way, I'm not allowed to retrain any class level.

[BadBird]

Lawful Good with a Barbarian level? Nice. Inquisitor/Barbarian can lay down some really nasty damage with Inquisitor buffs and (Extra) Rage... and with those stats the way they are, you could go into Two-Weapon Fighting, which the Inquisitor is pretty deadly with. Are you really wanting to just ignore your first two levels and go with a badly gimped caster-Cleric?

What exactly is forcing you into going thrown weapons at such an early level? Surely you could change styles and maybe just keep a little throwing ability for Named Bullet when it comes up?

[Epok999]

Oh sorry I'm neutral good; my goddess is lawful good though.
What *was* forcing me to be a weapon thrower was some feats that I later retrained (throw anything and point-blank shot, if I remember well).
My point is that I did'nt want to play a damage dealer, plus there's already 3 other damage dealers in the group (the cleric/ranger I mentionned before chose to be 3/4 ranger and 1/4 cleric, he likes to roll big numbers with a greatsword apparently).

The only level I (kind of) ignore is the inquisitor level. But my first level litany spells are nice from time to time, and of course there's no reason not to use my 1/day judgement (swift action). My barbarian level grants me fast movement and rage, + the proficiencies I lack with the herald caller archetype, so for the moment I'm a reach fighter with a hallebard and power attack that have a huge load of scrolls in his backpack (and with only a 3/4 bab...).

I think the key is that I want to be versatile with my spellcasting, I guess that's just how I have fun in Pathfinder. Been playing the dumb fighter that one-shots everything but can't do anything else for too long.

[BadBird]

Well, a 2-dead-levels caster is what it is. It sounds like you're stuck with it at this point anyhow, if you're already 3 levels deep.

There's at least some fun combat+? things I could think of with a Barbarian/Inquisitor base, though specific Archetypes being locked and a god being already set limits things. Among other things, an Inquisitor whose deity grants a Domain with strong powers can have lots of fun being a combination of debuffing and attacking. Like a Besmara Inquisitor projecting the Protean Aura of Chaos and using the Touch of Chaos ability with rapier-and-fist combat.

[Epok999]

Well I'm forced to keep the Fervor inquisition (granting me "fire of belief", with which I can make a ranged touch attack against a non-good target for 1D6 fire dmg), and Andoletta's domains are: Good, Knowledge, Law, Protection. Subdomains: Archon, Defense, Memory, Purity.
Remember that my DM's goal was to nerf us. But my goal is to try to have fun with the character I'm stucked with anyways.

I guess if my build turns out to be really weak and unenjoyable, I'll talk to my DM and I'll ask him if I can reroll with the same restrictions as before. Being (too) weak rarely brings fun in this kind of campain. But will it be that bad? I'm specifically asking if summoning with 2 level late is still going to help the party win the encounters.

[Chess Pwn]

I personally feel that summons already struggle to stay relevant when they are full progression. Your top summon spell summons in 1 creature that is quite below your CR. summon monster 4 at lv7 brings in a CR 4 or CR 3 creature. So being a spell level behind means your summons aren't offensively scary, but are warm bodies to hopefully take some hits and provide flanking.