Gestalt Cleric//Barbarian

[Os1ris09]

Hey GITP I am building a character for my friend and right now what I have is a Barbarian 15/Rgr 1/FTR 2/Cleric 9/Deepwarden 2/Cleric 1 with this feat progression.

1st:Track
1st: Power Attack
2nd: Cleave
3rd: Endurance
3rd: Leap Attack
6th: Shock Trooper
9th: Instantaneous Rage
12th: Extend Spell
15th: Persistant Spell

He says he wants to be a cleric//Barbarian and use CON for ac instead of DEX but I probably could do this build instead to help casting posted below. Oh his race is a Dragonborn/Earth Dwarf (DM says Ability adjustments will stack to make +2 STR/+4 Con/ -4 Dex/-2CHA).

Cleric 15// Barbarian 10/FTR 2/ Rgr 1/ Deepwarden 2

Edit: Also can someone tell me where to find Shock trooper and Leap Attack. I know the exist I just can't find the book their in.

[Keld Denar]

You want to use something more like that 2nd build.

Cleric 15// Barbarian 10/FTR 2/ Rgr 1/ Deepwarden 2

Except with less Barbarian and more of some other PrCs. Look into Occult Slayer for some outstanding mental protections while maintaining full BAB. You wanna keep the full cleric casting though. Thats where the bulk of your power comes from. Righteous Might makes you a beastly fighter. You won't really need Divine Power, since you'll be maintaining full BAB on your non-cleric side. I'd suggest even going with Cloistered Cleric variant, trading in your Knowledge domain for Knowledge Devotion. Knowledge Devotion will increase your damage a lot with Power Attack.

Only thing. You can't cast spells while raging. Thus, make sure you cast all the buffs you need before you rage, and hope you don't have to cast any emergency heals or anything before your rage wears off.

Leap Attack is in Complete Adventurer, and Shocktrooper is in Complete Warrior, but its in the tactical feats section, not the general feats.

[The Glyphstone]

See if you can get a divine variant of the Rage Mage prestige class approved for him - it's normally a very subpar PrC because of its 1/2 caster progression, but those become much less of a problem in gestalt because you can continue your full-caster base class opposite it. With it, you can buff/rebuff while raging.

Cleric 15//Barbarian 5/Divine Rage Mage 7/Ranger 1/Deepwarden 2, in this case. 7 levels of Rage Mage gives you a free Quickened buff at the beginning of each of your 2 Spellrages per day - see if the Extra Rage feat can increase the number of Spellrages you get too.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

I recommend going Cleric 15(or Cloistered Cleric, probably)//Barb 8/Ranger (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#ranger) 1/Fighter 2/Deepwarden 2/X 2

I also recommend Whirling Frenzy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#rageVariantWhirlingFrenzy ) over standard rage. But that's partially due to my hatred of the standard method bonus Con works.

[Os1ris09]

Ya I thought Cleric 15//Rgr1/Ftr2/Deepwarden2/Barbarian10 was the better build. Anyhow I dont have room for imp initiative/ weapon focus.

So any idea's on how to improve this build.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Ya I thought Cleric 15//Rgr1/Ftr2/Deepwarden2/Barbarian10 was the better build. Anyhow I dont have room for imp initiative/ weapon focus.If you're doing that, I recommend only taking one more level of Barb. Barb 12-19 really isn't worth it, but 11 is very nice. I want to again pitch Whirling Frenzy. There is just so much awesome locked within, and you aren't at risk of dying due to Con dropping.

[SoD]

Edit: Also can someone tell me where to find Shock trooper and Leap Attack. I know the exist I just can't find the book their in.

Leap Attack; Players Handbook I.
Shock Trooper; Complete Warrior (I think).

[Olo Demonsbane]

Leap Attack; Players Handbook I.
Shock Trooper; Complete Warrior (I think).

Leap Attack: Complete Adventurer
Shock Trooper: Complete Warrior

[Eldariel]

There is just so much awesome locked within, and you aren't at risk of dying due to Con dropping.

Isn't that kinda backwards? I'd rather say, you don't have the chance to survive a hit that would kill you normally and get healed up before the Rage ends.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Get rid of that Ranger level and use Cloistered Cleric. Cleave isn't the best of feats, as it will seldom come into play. Instantaneous Rage is even less useful, if you're going to take any feats like that get Extend Rage or Extra Rage instead. Assuming you're starting at level 15, here's what I'd go with:

Earth Dwarf (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/elementalRacialVariants.htm#earthDwarves), Cloistered Cleric (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#clericVariantCloistere dCleric) 20// Barbarian 4/ Fighter 2/ Exotic Weapon Master 1/ Deepwarden 2/ Horizon Walker 6/ Occult Slayer 5

Barbarian: Use the Lion spiritual totem from Complete Champion to get Pounce instead of Fast Movement.

Domains: Travel, Knowledge, Wrath; use the PH2 Cleric variant to spontaneously cast your Wrath domain spells. I wouldn't recommend the Knowledge devotion, because you have so many other good skills to put ranks in, you cannot make Knowledge checks while raging, and they aren't even all class skills if you don't have the domain.

Exotic Weapon Master: Take Uncanny Blow and use a Dwarven Waraxe two-handed.

Horizon Walker: Take Desert, Hills, Plains, Underground, Aquatic, and Shifting for your terrain masteries.

Feats: Power Attack (1), Endurance (3), Weapon Focus: Dwarven Waraxe (F1), Improved Initiative (F2), Extend Spell (6), Track (B), Leap Attack (9), Shock Trooper (12), Persistent Spell (15), and Quicken Spell-Like Ability: Dimension Door (18)

Items: +1 Heavy Fortification Mithril Breastplate (max dex still applies (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4ask/20080522a)), +1 Animated Heavy Steel Shield, +1 Speed Dwarven Waraxe, Lesser Rod of Extend, Armbands of Might, Orange Prism Ioun Stone, standard Rod of Extend, 6th level Pearl of Power, standard Strand of Prayer Beads that's had the Bead of Smiting removed, and the usual Belt of Strength, Amulet of Constitution or Wisdom, Ring of Protection, Ring of Sustenance, etc.

Buffs: Activate the Bead of Karma from your Strand of Prayer Beads before casting any buffs. Using the standard Rod of Extend and the 6th level Pearl of Power, alternate between casting Energy Immunity x3 every other day and Energy Immunity x2 and Superior Resistance on the days in between. No charges will remain on either of those items, and you'll be using two 6th level spell slots/day, but each spell will last 48 hours so you'll be constantly immune to all five energy types and get a +6 Resistance bonus on saving throws. Cast Longstrider, put Magic Vestment +5 on both your armor and shield, and put Greater Magic Weapon +5 on your axe each day. For your Persistent spells I'd definitely use Divine Favor and Healing Lorecall each day.

Combat: You can still use spell-like and supernatural abilities while raging, such as your Shifting planar terrain mastery and your Travel and Wrath domain abilities. You should always cast Rhino's Rush before you charge if you're not already in a rage. Note that Armbands of Might increase your bonus damage for Power Attack by +2, and Leap Attack increases your bonus damage from Power Attack by 100% (as per errata (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20040125a)), so the +2 added by the Armbands is also increased by that feat. Remember that even after you get Quicken Spell-Like Ability, you lose the rest of your actions after a Dimension Door so it can't be used to get close and attack in the same round. When charging, try to end your movement with at least two creatures in reach, your initial attack with Rhino's Rush will probably its target, and you can continue your full attack on anyone within reach.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Isn't that kinda backwards? I'd rather say, you don't have the chance to survive a hit that would kill you normally and get healed up before the Rage ends.Normally I'd agree, but he is the healer. No one's going to be effective enough to heal him except him, and he can't cast while Raging. The Con boost ends up being a wash, IMHO.

[Os1ris09]

Get rid of that Ranger level and use Cloistered Cleric. Cleave isn't the best of feats, as it will seldom come into play. Instantaneous Rage is even less useful, if you're going to take any feats like that get Extend Rage or Extra Rage instead. Assuming you're starting at level 15, here's what I'd go with:

Earth Dwarf (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/elementalRacialVariants.htm#earthDwarves), Cloistered Cleric (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#clericVariantCloistere dCleric) 20// Barbarian 4/ Fighter 2/ Exotic Weapon Master 1/ Deepwarden 2/ Horizon Walker 6/ Occult Slayer 5

Barbarian: Use the Lion spiritual totem from Complete Champion to get Pounce instead of Fast Movement.

Domains: Travel, Knowledge, Wrath; use the PH2 Cleric variant to spontaneously cast your Wrath domain spells. I wouldn't recommend the Knowledge devotion, because you have so many other good skills to put ranks in, you cannot make Knowledge checks while raging, and they aren't even all class skills if you don't have the domain.

Exotic Weapon Master: Take Uncanny Blow and use a Dwarven Waraxe two-handed.

Horizon Walker: Take Desert, Hills, Plains, Underground, Aquatic, and Shifting for your terrain masteries.

Feats: Power Attack (1), Endurance (3), Weapon Focus: Dwarven Waraxe (F1), Improved Initiative (F2), Extend Spell (6), Track (B), Leap Attack (9), Shock Trooper (12), Persistent Spell (15), and Quicken Spell-Like Ability: Dimension Door (18)

Items: +1 Heavy Fortification Mithril Breastplate (max dex still applies (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4ask/20080522a)), +1 Animated Heavy Steel Shield, +1 Speed Dwarven Waraxe, Lesser Rod of Extend, Armbands of Might, Orange Prism Ioun Stone, standard Rod of Extend, 6th level Pearl of Power, standard Strand of Prayer Beads that's had the Bead of Smiting removed, and the usual Belt of Strength, Amulet of Constitution or Wisdom, Ring of Protection, Ring of Sustenance, etc.

Buffs: Activate the Bead of Karma from your Strand of Prayer Beads before casting any buffs. Using the standard Rod of Extend and the 6th level Pearl of Power, alternate between casting Energy Immunity x3 every other day and Energy Immunity x2 and Superior Resistance on the days in between. No charges will remain on either of those items, and you'll be using two 6th level spell slots/day, but each spell will last 48 hours so you'll be constantly immune to all five energy types and get a +6 Resistance bonus on saving throws. Cast Longstrider, put Magic Vestment +5 on both your armor and shield, and put Greater Magic Weapon +5 on your axe each day. For your Persistent spells I'd definitely use Divine Favor and Healing Lorecall each day.

Combat: You can still use spell-like and supernatural abilities while raging, such as your Shifting planar terrain mastery and your Travel and Wrath domain abilities. You should always cast Rhino's Rush before you charge if you're not already in a rage. Note that Armbands of Might increase your bonus damage for Power Attack by +2, and Leap Attack increases your bonus damage from Power Attack by 100% (as per errata (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20040125a)), so the +2 added by the Armbands is also increased by that feat. Remember that even after you get Quicken Spell-Like Ability, you lose the rest of your actions after a Dimension Door so it can't be used to get close and attack in the same round. When charging, try to end your movement with at least two creatures in reach, your initial attack with Rhino's Rush will probably its target, and you can continue your full attack on anyone within reach.

While I like this build unfortunately we are restricted to only 2Prc's :smallfurious:. So is there anyway to get this build to just 2 PrC's

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Drop Exotic Weapon Master and Occult Slayer from the build. Get rid of Improved Initiative to take Extra Rage, you'll need to move Power Attack to a Fighter bonus feat, and maybe even switch out Weapon Focus for Cleave if you want that. Start out Cloistered Cleric 15// Barbarian 4/ Fighter 2/ Deepwarden 2/ Horizon Walker 7, get Cavernous planar terrain mastery. Finish the build with more levels of Cloistered Cleric and Deepwarden. Occult Slayer adds a lot of defensive abilities vs magical attacks, but nothing your Cleric spells can't emulate.

[Os1ris09]

Drop Exotic Weapon Master and Occult Slayer from the build. Get rid of Improved Initiative to take Extra Rage, you'll need to move Power Attack to a Fighter bonus feat, and maybe even switch out Weapon Focus for Cleave if you want that. Start out Cloistered Cleric 15// Barbarian 4/ Fighter 2/ Deepwarden 2/ Horizon Walker 7, get Cavernous planar terrain mastery. Finish the build with more levels of Cloistered Cleric and Deepwarden. Occult Slayer adds a lot of defensive abilities vs magical attacks, but nothing your Cleric spells can't emulate.

Okay well I have a question about all this. I agree with taking cloistered cleric but DM has an affinity for "Balance issue's." So with that mentioned I don't care about Cleave but Weapon focus just doesn't seem all that helpful to the build. But my real question is equipment.

I understand the reason for the Orange Prism Ioun stone but currently after buying weapon/armor I only have around 108,000 gp. If I buy the Ioun stone i'll have a little over 70,000 gold pieces for enchantment stuff. Also why the ring of Sustenance?

[Keld Denar]

I say, if you are gonna take that many levels in Horizon Walker, grab another for Aligned Planar Mastery. It gives you total immunity to any alignment based spells and effects since you can emulate any and all alignments that are beneficial to you at the moment. That means no Blasphemy, Holy Word, Dictum, or Word of Chaos. Also, no extra damage from Holy/Unholy weapons. You also never have to worry about being Dismissed or Banished while traveling extra-planarly.

Sure, its not a HUGE benefit, but since you are already that far into an otherwise lackluster PrC, you might as well milk another unique ability from it. After all, Blasphemy-lock is a common offensive tactic used by Balors and other powerful [Evil] Outsiders (not to mention clerics!).

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Good call on the Aligned planar terrain mastery, I've actually never taken a look at it and considered all the benefits. The build doesn't even need more than five Deepwarden levels, so you could even go nine into Horizon Walker, though I'm not sure what you'd want to pick for the last one.

Weapon Focus was there to qualify for both Exotic Weapon Master and Occult Slayer. If you don't want that or Cleave, maybe take Improved Toughness (CW) for your other Fighter bonus feat, or even get Improved Initiative anyway since you'll have a low Dex score. Brutal Throw from Complete Adventurer is also a decent choice so you'll be more useful at a distance, though in that case consider taking Quick Draw as well.

Another idea would be to drop Horizon Walker completely, and go something like Cloistered Cleric 10/ Contemplative 10// Barbarian 3/ Fighter 2/ Deepwarden 5/ Barbarian 10. In that case, for your bonus domains get Time and Destiny (RoD) and your 18th level feat should be Divine Metamagic: Persistent to use with Choose Destiny each day.

Starting at level 15, the Orange Prism Ioun Stone is another +1 to your armor, shield, and weapon, since Magic Vestment and Greater Magic Weapon give a higher bonus at levels 16 and 20. I'd say the +1 Heavy Fortification armor and +1 Animated shield are must-haves, the Ioun Stone you only have to keep for one level and then you can sell it or trade it to someone else in the party, or just settle for a +4 weapon, armor, and shield until you level up.

The Strand of Prayer Beads minus the Bead of Smiting is a great value if you can get it for the as-written price of 29k, since the Bead of Karma means a lower chance for your buffs to get dispelled and an extra +1 to your armor/weapon. The Bead of Healing is good to have on hand just in case someone fails an important saving throw. The standard Rod of Extend and the 6th level Pearl of Power are worth spending 48k and two 6th level spell slots to never have to worry about energy damage, plus the pearl of power alone is the same price that a Cloak of Resistance +6 would cost if it wasn't epic, which is what you get for Superior Resistance.

Your weapon doesn't necessarily have to be Speed, you could even switch it to a Falchion and get it +1 Keen to save some money, especially if someone will be casting Haste on the party. Items like a Ring of Protection and Belt of Strength are easy to upgrade later on, I don't consider them as important as armor, shield, and items necessary for getting the proper buffs each day.

[Os1ris09]

Hey here is what I have for the standard 200,000 gold piece buy for equipment:

+1 Fortification, Heavy (36,000)
Mithral Breastplate (4,200)
+1 Animated (9,000)
Heavy Mithral Shield (1,020)
+1 Spell Storing (8,000)
Adamantine Guisarme (3,009)
Pearl of Power 6th (36,000)
Pearl of Power 3rd (9,000)
Ioun Stone Orange Prism (30,000)
Metamagic Rod Extend, Standard (11,000)
Metamagic Rod Extend, Lesser (3,000)
Armbands of Might (4,100)
Hewards Handy Haversack (2,000)
Magic Bedroll (500)
Ring of Sustenance +2 (6,500)
Prayer Beads Karma/Healing (9,000) [25,800-16,800]
Amulet of WIS +2 (4,000)
Vest of Constitution +2 (4,000)
Total: 200,000-180,229= 19,771 gold pieces

Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.

PS: friend likes the adamantine and likes spell storing so he can bestow curse an enemy with his DC.

[Keld Denar]

Probably either Boots of Speed or 2-3 pairs of Anklets of Translocation. Anklets are awesome. There are so many things you can do with a 10' teleport as a swift action, including getting out of Force Cages and out of Grapples. You can also use them to stand up from prone and move back far enough to charge if charging is your thing.

Also, a 3rd Eye Clarity is a great item. Immediate Action to clear a stun effect. Stuns suck. This 3000g face item makes it not a problem. Maybe even get 2.

[Os1ris09]

Okay I will probably look into those items but what about disposable items. Such as wands/staff's/scroll's?