Two questions here I was hoping I could get some help for.
1) Any suggestions for a bad touch cleric spell to magical lineage? (campaign goes to 17)
2) Which +1 metamagic feat would you apply to that particular spell?
Thanks all for your help. This is Atalius the Necro signing off.
Is it not really advantageous to magical lineage when playing a bad touch cleric?
Someone help your friendly neighborhood necromancer out here. Please.
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Persistent spell is a +2 but don't dismiss it - cleric touch attack spells are very dependent on the enemy failing their saves. I'd apply magical lineage to one of the good low level touch spells, touch of bloodletting, shackles or bestow curse if I was going to take that trait, which I might not in a campaign planned to span that many levels. At 17th level you'd have difficulty making one of those relevant, though it might be possible with heighten spell and spell perfection in the mix too.
Excellent answer and certainly something I can make good use of. My build does have Heighten spell built into it. Shackles seems very strong for level 2, a slightly weaker version of chains of light? Do you foresee any problems with magical lineaging Shackles with Persistent and Heighten? What level would you heighten it to? Would it be heightened to the highest level spell you could cast?
I'd probably keep the highest level spells for buffs. Or... if you want to focus on one spell,
Preferred spell would make it so you don't need to prepare it at all.
Possible problems - not everything is disabled by having a limb or two shackled. I read somewhere the effects of being shackled, but I can't find it now, it's not in the spell. Find or agree that before committing to the spell.
Thanks avr, may the Gods of Golarion be with you, always.
I have persistent spell coming online after level 12, would you recommend any other metamagic feat that would work with Shackles? Or just Persistent?
Maybe reach spell if you want the option of touching someone while far away? Or you could just use different spells in that situation, it's not like the cleric is without ranged debuffs.
Oh, and... exactly which gods of Golarion does a necromancer ask to be with you? I need to know whether to carry anti-demon spray or anti-daemon spray.
Lol thanks! I was originally Spell Focusing necromancy as a lot of my touch spells were of that school. Would it be worth it to switch to Conjuration just for this spell since I would be using it everyday eventually. And greater spell focus would be selected as well.
OK, so many cleric debuffs (not all) fall into necromancy. Burst of radiance is another exception - not touch but a range AoE debuff is something to use sometimes even if it's an evocation spell. Once you get to spell perfection you're going to want something to double using it, and greater spell focus could be that.
I should note plane shift is another conjuration touch attack. A top of the line one too. Fleshworm infestation is another touch attack, situationally useful. Using cures as touch attacks vs. undead is very situational, but they're conjuration too. Some useful cleric conjuration spells which aren't touch attacks include hallucinogenic smoke, barbed chains, iron stake and chains of light.
In other words, probably yes IMO.
Thanks! Ya I was on the fence about it. Its a close call, Aura of Doom was a nice debuff to set up enemies for the bad touch spells and spell like abilities, but I guess that will have to be passed up for conjuration specialization. Would spell perfection Shackle be ok? Heighten would be acquired as well as persistent and reach.
Two questions here I was hoping I could get some help for.
1) Any suggestions for a bad touch cleric spell to magical lineage? (campaign goes to 17)
2) Which +1 metamagic feat would you apply to that particular spell?
Thanks all for your help. This is Atalius the Necro signing off.
The best 'bad touch' Cleric that I ever made was a Dwarf who took the Madness Domain, primarily for Visions of Madness, one of the most powerful and versatile buffs/debuffs in the game. His spell of choice was Planeshift, which Clerics get as a 5th level spell - its a melee touch attack which can easily be made into a ranged touch attack via the metamagic feat Reach spell, which is why I took it as my Magical Lineage target... being able to simply send someone to the 146th level of the Abyss with a word and a gesture is a hell of a devastating 'touch'. Use with caution, however.
It doesn't come online until 9th level though, so that's worth considering.
The only issue with the spell is if the enemy is wearing gear I won't be able to loot it :(
The only issue with the spell is if the enemy is wearing gear I won't be able to loot it :(
That is an issue, though one which may vary dramatically from campaign to campaign. It was never an issue in ours, where story tended to matter more than optimizing, most magic was customized and villains often had gear that wasn't technically 'lootable', it was just included to keep their power level appropriate.
Bottom line, its probably the most powerful offensive - and defensive - weapon that a Cleric can have. How and when you'd use it would obviously be up to you.
Are there particular types of enemies that never have loot that I could use it on?
In game how can I find out if an enemy might have loot? Could I ask my GM if I could make some sort of a perception check or would that cost me a standard action?
It is my understanding that it is the bad touch clerics job to simply debuff the enemy but not kill them, is this correct? It is something I read in an old thread, could anyone tell me the optimal way to play a bad touch cleric?