New to PF2e AOA, Building a cleric


Advice

Liberty's Edge

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First level offensive divine casting isn't great, if you want attack spells you could take the Human Ancestry Feat Adapted Cantrip (probably Electric Arc, it's the best one) and at least have a solid cantrip. You could also, if you don't want to spend the Feat, just grab a crossbow and probably do okay, though that won't be as good as the cantrip.

In terms of AC, there are a few solutions, but if you don't have any Class Feats specifically in mind, the Sentinel Archetype gives you up through Medium Armor, which will really help.

You can also easily get a shield for another +2 AC. You won't get the Shield Block reaction for free and it'll cost an action on rounds you use it, but it's still a solid option for raising AC.

Dataphiles

I’m currently running a cloistered cleric of Erastil in an AoA game (he has backstory reasons for adventuring). His attribute spread is similar to yours but not exact. At second level, he added the medic archetype for overall focused in and out of combat healing. We have some healing specific house rules, however, he never lacks for things to do. He is all in on healing with a Staff of Healing to help his Battle Medicine, Continual Recovery and Ward Medic feats. I also took Assurance Medicine for those times when healing is paramount but a dice roll crit failing could be detrimental to character survivability.

As DMW said, Electric Arc via Adapted Cantrip is a solid way to go. If that isn’t an option, you do have Divine Lance with an 18 Wisdom, but the benefit of EA is the multiple targets (2) that it can hit. His longbow access has come into play only a few times, but that’s mostly because I play him as having the staff of healing in his hand the majority of the time.

You do have some other, future options. A shield is good right now. Later, at fifth level, you’ll have the possibility of 16 Dex. Slap a returning rune on your deities favored weapon, don a shield and throw your returning starkknife as one action while casting an electric arc or other spells on your second and third actions. The thing to remember is that you’re unarmored (unless you go down a path that affords you access to armor). Anything, tactically, that you can do to be harder to hit is a good thing. Take cover, move behind cover, stay out of the front line (where feasible), cast the shield cantrip, don a shield. These are all good choices and will help survivability. In the end, it’s a team game so staying behind the lines and behind cover to save your life allows you to be upright enough when time comes that you have to save your teammates life. I have played two cloistered’s, and have grown to love the class a great deal. One died saving the life of his comrade (long story, but fit my character to the tee). I wish you the best of luck and skill with your cleric.

Edit: Doctor’s Visitation from the Medic Archetype chain of feats is really helpful for a behind the lines healer. Stride w/battle medicine as a single action is really helpful.


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Your party size and composition will greatly affect your performance; if there's a role that's missing (melee tank, striker, control/support), you'll each have to do your part to fill it as best you can.

As a cloistered cleric, you are definitely a control/support. As such, your spells are your primary tool, and you should try to maximize the amount you have -- which is exactly what your Divine Font ability gives you. Instead of going for an 18/10-14 ability score mix, consider doing 16 in Wisdom and Charisma. This will give you an extra heal spell each day, for the small cost of getting a -1 to your save DC (very few divine spells are spell attacks, so the -1 penalty to them doesn't have much of an effect).

For defense, you (and the rest of your group) might consider using your general feats to get Armor Proficiency. Everyone gets a general feat at 3rd level, but humans have a heritage and an ancestry feat that gets them one at 1st level. Magical bonuses to armor and weapons are few and far between in PF2E, so getting access to a better category of equipment is the best way to improve your combat effectiveness, especially at low levels.

Also, if the shield cantrip isn't enough (it takes only an action to cast, but lasts a single round and provides only a +1 to AC), you could equip a shield as Deadmanwalking suggested.

For class feats, I would suggest these as especially interesting for a cloistered cleric: Healing Hands (1), Reach Spell (1), Rapid Response (2), Radiant Infusion (4), Magic Hands (6).

Speaking of healing, Treat Wounds is quite powerful for a skill action. To maximize its effectiveness at low levels, at least one other party member should be trained in Medicine. In addition to Battle Medicine, the Continual Recovery and Ward Medic skill feats (both level 2 and requiring expert in Medicine) will speed up the healing for your party in-between fights without expending any spells.

Lastly, if you're looking for purchase suggestions, I would recommend the condition and spell cards available here. The spell cards are especially useful to clerics and druids, since they have access to their entire spell list every day. (Note that the spells from Gods and Magic are not available on any spell card, and those from the Advanced Player's Guide will come out in a few weeks.)


angeila avalon wrote:
Divine spell doesn't seem to useful,in level 1,I spend too many HEAL in fight

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the spell magic weapon yet. You could probably prepare this spell in every slot at level 1-2 and not regret it.

The spell will give one ally's weapon a +1 item bonus to attack rolls and increase the number of weapon damage dice to two.

This will increase your party's offense significantly which should also decrease the amount of in-combat healing you need to do.

Shadow Lodge

Why are you getting attacked?

  • Is your group short on 'front-line' martials so your foes just go around them to get to you?
  • Or are the martials charging into rooms, leaving you exposed in the back?
  • Or are you charging into melee, making yourself vulnerable?
  • Or are you just getting pelted with ranged attacks?
Nearly every cloistered cleric really wants a reliable 'meat-shield' between them and their foes.

If you are looking to increase your healing, there are a couple of very useful archetypes to consider:

Note that Medic offers a couple of Skill feats, so you can get past the 'You can't select another dedication feat until you gain two other feats from the medic archetype.' restriction pretty quickly and take both archetypes if you really want to heal like crazy.

As for your AC:

  • Simplest thing to do is use a shield (either an actual item or cast the Cantrip): It'll cost you an action each round to use, but casters often find themselves with a leftover action anyway
  • Wearing armor without proficiency is generally a bad idea
  • If you get Armor Proficiency, with a 10 strength you'll start taking speed/skill penalties wearing anything heavier than padded/leather (plus, the bulk will add up really quickly).


Applied_People wrote:
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the spell magic weapon yet. You could probably prepare this spell in every slot at level 1-2 and not regret it.

I thought about it, but held off for two reasons:

1) We don't know the party composition. Maybe there's no tank, or none of the strikers use enchantable weapons (alchemists, casters, monks).
2) By second level, +1 weapons should start appearing (or will appear very soon). You can't use magic weapon on a weapon that has a rune of any kind.

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