Seems like the Shield cantrip is your only reliable defense.
The Divine list isn't very well suited to a non-armored caster any more than it ever has been, lacking options like Mage Armor, Blur, Mirror Image, etc. This wasn't an issue for Clerics previously, obviously, but it seems it might be one now.
If the Cleric is going to become more Mage-like, shouldn't the Divine list adapt to compensate a bit?
How would you keep your Priest alive (aside from casting Sanctuary and never attacking ^^ )?
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Seems like the Shield cantrip is your only reliable defense.
The Divine list isn't very well suited to a non-armored caster any more than it ever has been, lacking options like Mage Armor, Blur, Mirror Image, etc. This wasn't an issue for Clerics previously, obviously, but it seems it might be one now.If the Cleric is going to become more Mage-like, shouldn't the Divine list adapt to compensate a bit?
How would you keep your Priest alive (aside from casting Sanctuary and never attacking ^^ )?
My wife made a cloistered cleric. Her AC at level 1 is 16 with a +3 dex +3 proficiency. I imagine she'll work up to a 20 Dex with Explorer's clothing. If you want to be low dex then that may be an issue but she also uses a dagger (Pharasma) so she can also use dex to hit. Shield brings it up to a 17 and sure my animal druid has a 17 and with her wooden shield can bring it up to a 19, but my druid will be in melee most of the time and her cleric won't.
At level 5 my druid will have an AC of 4(+1 hide)+2(Dex)+7(Prof)+10=23(25 with raised shield)
At level 5 her cleric will have an AC of 1(+1 Explorer Cloths)+4(Dex)+7(Prof)+10=22(23 with shield)
At level 11 Druid 5(+2 hide)+2(dex)+13(Prof)+10=30
At level 11 Cleric 2(+2 Cloths)+4(dex)+13(Prof)+10=29
By 15 when she gets a +20 dex her cleric will catch the druid not counting the 1 from the raise shield difference.
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A cloistered cleric with dex 14 is only 3 points behind any non-heavy armor user. Using a shield (item, not spell) puts you at the AC of a raging barbarian and only one below your average rogue/ranger/alchemist/whatever.
Cloistered Clerics are fine.
And I still don't know why there are multiple posts worrying about the cloistered cleric but nobody wonders how a divine/primal sorcerer survives. He has the same problem with AC (which somehow doesn't seem to be a problem since nobody ever mentions it) and even less HP.
It's as if the existence of an armored cleric type means any unarmored cleric MUST be completely unusable and die to the first rock thrown their way.
Bottom line: Unarmored characters (other than monks) are perfectly viable and fine in PF2.
The Cloistered Cleric is fine-ish if mainly because armor has become secondary and it's easy to have higher Dex without sacrificing spell power (or much else). Lots of PCs will be wearing no armor due to severe Dex caps, so you may be a proficiency bonus (+2) & 2-4 Dex (+1-2) behind them.
Unfortunately having an AC 3 lower equates to taking about 50% more damage from attacks, so do get that Shield Cantrip. And many of the other unarmored PCs have feat options to boost their AC or move out of the way. So tactically in PF2, C. Clerics run more like PF1 arcane casters who themselves now are less likely to have buffs up due to fewer slots, shorter durations, and fewer spam magic items.
Everybody's more vulnerable, and also they have more h.p. because in PF2 defense is more balanced than in PF1 where you were pressed to max out AC or just go glass cannon. Taking damage is normal now even for tanks, hence the abundant sources of healing and temp hit points.
Speaking of which, since a single Heal spell can pretty much undo a lot of enemy effort, a Cleric's pretty safe. Watch out for opponents with AoOs or Grab and act as if you aren't safe at all and you should be okay.
Also note if you aren't using spells for direct offense, you probably should choose War Priest.
Cheers
Take the champ archetype and slap on some plate.
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I've already played many characters with not a bit of investment into AC, and never felt they were having issues. If your character is not supposed to be in frontline, it should be fine. Invest in initiative, as most quick death of unarmored characters happen before they have the chance to play. And, luckily, Clerics are good in initiative, now.
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I've already played many characters with not a bit of investment into AC, and never felt they were having issues. If your character is not supposed to be in frontline, it should be fine. Invest in initiative, as most quick death of unarmored characters happen before they have the chance to play. And, luckily, Clerics are good in initiative, now.
So you are saying the forums complaints about wizards losing effectiveness in plate armor at level 13 have nothing to worry about? Who would have guessed?
Stonewall up a bunker and cast spells through a hole >:(
I've already played many characters with not a bit of investment into AC, and never felt they were having issues. If your character is not supposed to be in frontline, it should be fine. Invest in initiative, as most quick death of unarmored characters happen before they have the chance to play. And, luckily, Clerics are good in initiative, now.So you are saying the forums complaints about wizards losing effectiveness in plate armor at level 13 have nothing to worry about? Who would have guessed?
Actually said wizards only loose general/ancestry feats. An Expert dex build can't overtake Trained fullplate until they min-max 20 dex at level 15th. 10th if it's a dex class like rogue though.