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View Full Version : Need some 3.5 Cloistered Cleric helps



ShippoWildheart
2010-07-14, 05:43 PM
Hi guys. For anyone that remembers me, I have changed my character in the current level 9 campaign I am in to a cleric because I wanted a little more control over what I can do instead of having to worry so much about overshadowing the party (was playing a druid when the main damage dealer was a monk).

Here's my character sheet for anyone curious:
http://www.thetangledweb.net/forums/profiler/view_char.php?cid=38795




Stuff:

AC wise for level 9 it's not too hot, but I preferred movement and the ability to sleep in my armor. I don't plan to melee anyways, but I have a Divine Power prepared in the off-chance that ever happens.

I have Travel and Trickery Domains as my chosen domains, and of course Knowledge as well for being a Cloistered Cleric.

I managed to get my DM to approve DMM: Extend, although DMM: Persist was a whole different story, saying I can only Persist something when I am able to Persist without DMM, meaning if I wanted to Persist a mere level 3 buff I need to be level 17; I can't even Persist a Cantrip at my current level. :smallsigh:

I had problems with getting him to approve non-core spells for my cleric, probably because he doesn't want me making the whole party unstoppable. The few non-core spells so far I managed to get approved were Mass Shield of Faith, Divine Insight (at character level 9, immediate action to gain a +14 insight bonus on a single skill check, and Divine Agility (+10 AGI for 1 round/level). I couldn't get Mass Resist Energy approved, which I found odd despite getting it approved on my druid way back. Also got Conviction and Blessed Aim denied. His reasoning to being so strict on non-core spells was why should my character have spells that no one else has.

He was much more lenient with me getting Magic items letting me get non-core stuff like a Morning Star of Warning, although he still declined on some items like a Tunic of Steady Spellcasting (+5 to all Concentration checks) and a Lesser Metamagic Rod of Extend of all things.

The idea of my character is staying alive and being a utility character, which is why he is a Cloistered Cleric to begin with.








Now some questions. In case it'll help, the other party members consists currently of a Duskblade, melee Ranger, and a Bard. The DM has a cleric and monk that sometimes follows us, but they are back at base or something:

-For a guy bent on supporting instead of fighting what are some good Core hour long buff spells to keep on all the time? Currently I have Magic Vestments and Longstrider extended daily, but should I extend things like Divine Insight, Greater Magic Weapon on my Light Crossbow, or Unseen Servant? I currently have 10 daily uses of Turn Undead so I can Extend up to 5 spells a day.

-What other non-core spells should I try to ask him that will help keep the party and me alive? I definitely will try to ask for Superior Resistance once I reach level 11.

-Should I pack more than one application of Sanctuary for regular uses? The fact it requires a Will Save from the enemies to physically attack me seems like a powerful level 1 spell if my character gets swarmed by grunts.

-What other non-Core mass buff spells are there that I should get for helping the party? If it helps, there's a Bard in the party with spells like Haste and of course plays music . Also, by mass, I don't just mean spells with "Mass" in their names but buff spells that can affect many targets at once.

-Do you think it'd be a good idea to ask for DMM:Quicken in the future or will this just further push my cleric into Clericzilla territory? Either way I still plan to get the regular Quicken once I get more spell slots that I would know what to do with them.

-Is preparing Owl's Wisdom a good idea? The only offensive spells I have are Hold Person, and maybe Confusion from the Trickery Domain.

-How useful is it to daily prepare status healing spells such as Remove Poison/Curse, Restoration, Death Ward, and Break Enchantment?

-Is Prayer worth using for a level 3 spell?

-Which Summon Monster spells are worth it? Inb4 Summon Monster I because I have 3 scrolls of that spell if I ever want to make a monkey walk into a deadly room.

gallagher
2010-07-14, 05:50 PM
what you might want to do is go ahead and try and be more offensive. you have a duskblade and a ranger, both who will need lots of help being effective. a melee ranger will need a way to get pounce and the duskblade is kinda meh.

the bard right there is going to be doing the most buffing in an ideal situation. you should probably actually do what you can to debuff your opponents to make it easier on your guys to hit things, if you dont want to be a fighting cleric.

Optimystik
2010-07-14, 06:48 PM
DMM: Extend probably isn't worth it - you're spending two feats on very cheap metamagic. Try for DMM: Quicken, or at least DMM: Maximize.

ShippoWildheart
2010-07-17, 01:53 AM
what you might want to do is go ahead and try and be more offensive. you have a duskblade and a ranger, both who will need lots of help being effective. a melee ranger will need a way to get pounce and the duskblade is kinda meh.

the bard right there is going to be doing the most buffing in an ideal situation. you should probably actually do what you can to debuff your opponents to make it easier on your guys to hit things, if you dont want to be a fighting cleric.

I mainly don't want to be offensive because I may overshadow the offensive party members. As for optimizing their effectiveness, I probably wouldn't be too worried. Our last encounter was getting ambushed by 3-5 sniping level 5 bandits with crossbows and tree cover, and the ranger and bard (the duskblader wasn't present for most of the fight) absolutely failed to kill them. I think about 7-9 rounds were made before the DM decided to make them retreat because they weren't killing them fast enough, the party wasn't exactly dying, and I was keeping up the bard who got hit by a critical bolt and was stuck by the side of the wagon.


DMM: Extend probably isn't worth it - you're spending two feats on very cheap metamagic. Try for DMM: Quicken, or at least DMM: Maximize.

I don't know. I like the idea of being able to spontaneously decide which spells to extend, and getting up to 5 uses of free extends a day on any spell without raising the level is pretty nice. I may try for DMM Quicken, (I can get 2 free Quickens a day) although that won't happen until level 15. I am still unsure though if he'll let me use DMM Quicken, because he may see it was overpowered as DMM Persistant.

*At least, I'm sure that was how DMM works. If I'm dead wrong please tell me.