So I'm the partly cleric this time around, and I have to say, I'm loving it- the only issue being I don't know the Cleric Spell list like I do the wizard/sorcerer.
While I am aware a cleric has more powerful options, I'd like to know what the cleric buff spells are, and I mean ANY kind of buff- single target, personal, one/level, full radius, anything.
Also, if possible, mentioning the type of bonus would be appreciated, as I have an android physic warrior who didn't take the trait allowing him moral bonuses.
Thanks ahead of time!
What level are you?
There are a million buffs with a million different durations, effects and targets.
Best way to obtain the info you want is to state your level, your current party comp, and in which ways they would be better served.
For example, if your party needs extra damage output, the set of buffs you should be looking at is different than if your party just needs better skills, defence, or mobility.
Party composition is really important. Also important, what type of cleric are you yourself? A Melee Cleric? An Archer Cleric? A magic based? There are a lot, and I mean a lot, of pwoerful and useful spells, but the effectiveness of each spell depends on how, why, and what for you use them.
For instance, Air Walk communal is pretty OP spell, but if all your party members have other means of flying or airwalking, than that spell is pretty useless for your party.
Party level is 4.
Party comp is a human Viking fighter, teifling swashbuckler, Elvin mageslayer rogue w/ a gun, an Android psychic warrior, and me, the Cleric. The fighter is the main DPS with the rogue following, then the swash and PW, then me.
While I know enough that higher level spells can really control the encounter, we aren't there yet, so my d6+1 damage won't hold up. Even with an AC of 20, I'm better off casting any spell.
Lastly, my STR is 10 and WIS is an 18, so melee combat is also less attractive.
The plan is that we'll be hitting at LEAST level 15, so a bit of a long game.
Looks like you are the only one that can really do support or control.
Which your party needs more would depend a lot on the builds. My guess though is that if you don't have control, your support will have to end up being heals to try and keep your party alive.
Personally I'd be looking at sacred summons to get standard action summons and using summons to provide blocking and keep fewer bad guys on your group at a time. Hold person is also a good control spell against humanoids.
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@OP: Yes to what Dave says above. Let's look at at this situation through The Forge of Combat, where Pathfinder meets Sun Tzu.
A balanced party has Battlefield Control (aka Anvil), Support (aka Arm), and DPS (aka Hammer). This party seems to be all Hammers, except for this cleric. Clerics are excellent at support but can also be pretty good at Battlefield Control. Like Dave says, this party probably needs Battlefield Control(aka an Anvil) even more than support (aka Arm). Other players may not yet understand this, and might (unwisely) want to relegate the cleric to support and healing.
Groups without Anvils: Groups without anvils typically end up having an overabundance of hammers with one or two members playing the part of arms. These groups typically have fast, furious fights where the group takes a lot of damage. In these situations the arms often take on a reactive role providing healing and buffs as able while the hammers frantically try to end the encounter quickly. Depending on the nature of the hammers this often drains the arms very quickly of resources or forces the hammers into more and more defensive roles draining overall resources more as the group is not ending encounters efficiently enough.
Like Dave, I suggest this Cleric branch out into Battlefield Control. It's more important to control the battlefield than it is to support your team on an uncontrolled battlefield. Effective Battlefield Control can drastically reduce incoming damage, which is more efficient than healing damage.
Learn to use Summon Monster spells [Why Work ... summoning guide]! That's an effective form of battlefield control available to Clerics. Besides controlling the battlefield, Summoned Monsters are a form of 'pre-healing', because damage they absorb is damage you don't need to heal.
Thanks for the advice so far, but I still want to know about a few spells I can through out on allies to give then an edge. The ones I know about are bless and blessing of fervor, the latter I don't have access to yet.
To answer the question about builds, the fighter is the "all in" for damage- weapon specialization, vicious, ect, it's how he plays, it's that simple for him. The rogue is mostly anti-caster, otherwise, he does a hide then attack process. I don't know what the swashbuckler is doing, and the PW is focusing around using his powers in combat.
Sacred summons is already on my list, those summons in a standard action will really come in handy.
In the case of battlefield control, beyond hold spells and summons, what's something good?
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I found Burst of Radiance to he an amazing spell at low levels. 5d4 damage isn't much, but it's an AoE spell and the save doesn't affect the damage. More importantly if the target fails their save they're blind. (I was surrounded by goblin rogues, so I cast this centred on myself. My horse and I passed our saves and all 5 goblins failed, allowing me to walk right out of there without provoking anything.)
Sound Burst is a similar small AoE with an incredible debuff at low levels.
Burning Disarm is pretty amazing, but it does have some evil connotations (it's a chelaxian spell I think).
Command/Forbid-Action/Murderous-Command are pretty great if used correctly. The greater versions are good enough to end encounters (Greater Forbid Action is better since it only allows one saving throw).
Obscuring Mist can cripple ranged enemies.
Hold Person is basically a save/die effect.
Liberating Command can save lives.
Protection from <Alignment> and Resist Energy can turn difficult enemies into harmless annoyances.
Hide From Undead could let your whole party walk right past an undead army. It's Invisibility on steroids vs undead.
Note: burst of radiance only effects evil creatures. This is both a good and bad thing, but it is definitely a good spell.
Note: burst of radiance only effects evil creatures. This is both a good and bad thing, but it is definitely a good spell.
The damage only affects evil creatures, the blindness/dazzled-ness affects everyone.
Heh, thanks.
I would also recommend Evangelist if it's an option, but it's not the be-all end-all. I wouldn't rewrite an existing character for it.
I also think THIS POST has good advice for any spell-caster.
My favorite archetype is herald caller. Extra skills and you can be good at summoning without having to focus on it at all.
I agree with summons..but then I'm not a big fan of save or suck spells. Depending on your deity you could always go with guided hand with divine favor and reach. (I know you aren't looking for combat but it is a option) Resist energy communal is definitely a game changer I've seen hard fights become jokes just casting that. Evangelist is probably one of the best buffers in the game. Herald caller is definitely a plus. Also depending on your deity variant channeling might help. Bless is nice but after awhile it kinda loses it's luster, not much to take it's place.
I'm not really a fan of the evangelist cleric, because you lose spontaneous cures and some channel progression. If you're afraid of getting pigeonholed into being a healer, those losses might be nice, but personally I don't like the cost.
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Just as a note, you can always buff stats on individuals: Bull Strength for +4 Str, etc.
Silence is nice for slowing down enemy casters, and Darkness can be a good blocker in confined spaces.
Clerics also have a broad selection of condition removal; Remove Paralysis, Slow/Neutralize Poison, etc.
As a general piece of advice, spring for Pearls of Power.
I'm not really a fan of the evangelist cleric, because you lose spontaneous cures and some channel progression. If you're afraid of getting pigeonholed into being a healer, those losses might be nice, but personally I don't like the cost.
I agree, IMO the Evangelist gets overhyped as an archetype (possibly due to how terrible cleric archetypes generally are!)
It gives up spont heals/harms
Takes a 3D6 hit to channeling which basically makes that worthless (channeling is poor in the first place!)
Its replacement spells are distinctly sub-par overall
Loses 1 domain, med armour + shield
Bardic performance is good dont get me wrong but the archetype is certainly not the bees knees like many people think!
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IMO the Evangelist gets overhyped
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It gives up spont heals/harms
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Its replacement spells are distinctly sub-par overall
Honestly the spells are as much a draw for me as the bardic performance. Even if it only works ~50% of the time Command is still a better deal than a 1d8+5hp cure/inflict.
I'm even someone who disagrees with the accepted rhetoric of: "Never cure in battle", and I still think losing spontaneous cures is a good deal.
Don't think you ever posted your deity for the cleric..that is actually a bit important imo
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Magda Luckbender is an 11th level PFS Evangelist Cleric who leveled on the SLOW plan.
* Tradeout Spontaneous Cure for Spontaneous Command.
-Command is usually a better option. That said, she always prepared one instance of Cure Light/Moderate Wounds. I'm not a fan of in-combat healing but sometimes it's literally a lifesaver.
* Loss of Medium Armor:
-trait Armor Master plus Mithril Breastplate gives 0 ACP, so eventually wear that at a cost of 4400 hp. Thus, not an issue.
* Loss of 1/3 of Channel Power:
-This hurts the most. Four weak channels per day was not always enough to heal allies up to full HP. Mostly useful out of combat, when it saves money on Wands of CLW. Still handy in emergencies.
Overall: Evangelist makes you weaker as a healer and stronger as a warrior, by about equal amounts. Evangelist definitely makes your party considerably stronger, probably more so than just about any other support class. Like JiaYou says, "take half of what makes a Bard a Bard and stick it on what is still a Tier 1 chassis, and you've got what is still QUITE an effective worker bee". Magda specialized in mitigating incoming damage, so there wasn't usually very much healing needed.
To be clear, I don’t think evangelist is bad. The trades are fair. They just aren’t the trades I usually want to make.
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But then the OP was about spells and such no? There are some nice archetypes and ideas. The deity matters for possible variant channeling, possible feat options or domains.
Now when it comes to reach builds I tend to bow to Magda's knowledge. But I agree with Melkiador, giving up spontaneous cure sucks. Having one prepped is all well and good but sometimes you NEED the flexibility. Maybe because of a horrible session today with no healer and just wands.. but it can matter in a pinch. Avoiding said pinch is better, but it still happens.
Other gripe I have with reach clerics is typically they tank int and go for almost no skills. I take issue with it, partly because besides the wizard who typically sees the most education? (Sorry old rant :P)
Use Enlarge Person on the fighter. Gaining large size gives battlefield control and more damage from increased strength. AC goes down, but they have HP to handle that.
Use open slots. The right spell a few minutes later is better than the wrong spell now. Great for last minute poison removal, stat damage cure, and rarely used spells that are very niche.
/cevah
Enlarge Person is not usually a cleric spell.
I agree with Melkiador, giving up spontaneous cure sucks. Having one prepped is all well and good but sometimes you NEED the flexibility.
Yeah one thing about cures is that they're something you never want to prepare, but if you need them you need them NOW. This does make spontaneous cures a really nice class feature. As I said I love my spontaneous Command, but I do understand the other side (and I guess my main experience with Evangelist was me and 2 Paladins, so trading out cures was a pretty easy choice for me).
Other gripe I have with reach clerics is typically they tank int and go for almost no skills. I take issue with it, partly because besides the wizard who typically sees the most education? (Sorry old rant :P)
Yeah, Reach Clerics need STR, DEX, CON, WIS and possibly CHA. This makes them one of the most MAD characters around. I kind of like these Macro-trends, it makes the world feel like there's some sociology at play. Fey-Foundling Paladins exist because the militant arm of the church recruit from orphanages, Spell-Sword characters (Magus mostly) tend to be born of powerful sorcerer/wizard parents (Magical Lineage trait), things like that. For reach clerics you can assume the less intellectually-inclined priests can't master the combat quite as well, so their drill instructors give them a long stick and tell them: "The pointy end goes into the other guy". It's a simple but effective tactic to keep the less tactically-savvy clerics alive.
Use Enlarge Person on the fighter. Gaining large size gives battlefield control and more damage from increased strength. AC goes down, but they have HP to handle that.
GREAT spell. I can't believe none of us mentioned this spell earlier ...
Use open slots.
... or this =P
EDIT:
Enlarge Person is not usually a cleric spell.
Right, that explains it then. Sill a great spell, but only if you have the right domain.
On 1st-2nd level buffs; there's those which apply skill bonuses (tears to wine, tap inner beauty), negate DR (align weapon, weapons against evil), protect in combat (shield of faith, protection from evil), add damage (sun metal, bull's strength) and so on. This is not a complete list! The list of possibly-useful cleric spells is long.
Enlarge Person is not usually a cleric spell.
Oh yeah. That's why my cleric has the potion.....
/cevah