Cleric Spell choice

[Nich_Critic]

There are a lot of guides for spell selection for wizards, but very few for clerics/archivists. Most of the lists I see presume that you'll be beginning at level 20, which is unhelpful to me. At low levels, I'm not sure how to pick my daily spells.

It feels like wizards get a better deal, because they get more save or suck spells, or no save just suck spells, then a cleric does. They also get more spells that have utility in many situations. A LARGE number of cleric spells, I've noticed, are of the type where they're vital in certain situations, but completely useless in most. I prefer to have these on scrolls, however.

The question I want to ask, is: at low levels (say , 1-10), when you don't have many slots to fill, which spells go on your daily memorization list, and which don't (and why?)? Also, what are the actions you typically take in combat? Assume no DMM, otherwise daily slots would almost all be used up for persistent buffs. Are you casting 1-2 buffs and then wading into combat with the fighter? Are you on the back lines healing if required?

[Telonius]

General rule: never prepare Cure (X) Wounds spells.

The exact spells will vary, depending on which resources you have available. If it's just Core, here are some good lower-level spells:

0
Read Magic
Light
Mending

1
Magic Weapon (assuming nobody has magic weapons - remove this if they do)
Protection from [Alignment]
Obscuring Mist
Endure Elements

2
Resist Energy
Lesser Restoration
Hold Person
Spiritual Weapon

3
Magic Circle Vs. [Alignment]
Dispel Magic
Searing Light

4
Air Walk
Divine Power
Freedom of Movement
Death Ward

5
Flame Strike
Raise Dead
True Seeing


There are a bunch of other spells that are nice to have occasionally, but you won't need them every day. Things like Remove Blindness/Deafness, Remove Paralysis, Plane Shift, Neutralize Poison, Gentle Repose and the like are usually better off in scroll or potion form.

Probably goes without saying, but you'll want to vary your spell selection if you know for certain you're going up against a certain type of foe. If you're 100% sure you're going underground, for example, Air Walk might not be the best choice. If you need to make a Divination that day particularly, yeah, go ahead and prepare it. If you know you're going up against Outsiders, Dismissal might be in order. Fortunately for you, you can change this up every day, as needed.

EDIT: As for combat, Cleric is still a perfectly capable combatant. Have a few offensive spells available if things get too out of hand. Otherwise, get up into melee right behind the primary melee guy. You still have heavy armor and (probably) a decent Con score. No reason why you can't mix it up a bit, even without going full 'zilla.

[Nich_Critic]

Thanks for your reply!

A couple of specific spell questions-

What makes endure elements good to prepare every day, unless you're specifically going somewhere where heat/cold is likely to affect you?

At level 5/6, is it better to prepare magic circle vs X instead of protection against X, Protection instead of circle, or prepare both? You only get so many 3rd level slots, but you can get the effect for the whole party, for longer. Also, how many of each do you prepare?

For magic weapon, at 5th or 6th level, your party probably has their own, so what are you preparing instead (5 x obscuring mist??)

[Telonius]

The protection spells are very good, because even at lower levels some of the enemies have nasty special attacks, and casters always have spells. At least in my groups, it's a rare event that we make it through a whole day without somebody casting Fireball, or breathing fire, or lightning bolt, or some other form of energy attack.

Use Magic Circle instead of Protection when you get access to it. It has a longer duration and better effects. As for how many to prepare, one is the minimum, and should usually be used on the Fighter-type. They typically have the lowest Will saves, and are therefore usually targeted by enemies trying to use mind-affecting effects (like Dominate or Charm Person). If you have room for two, give one to the Rogue as well.

When you outgrow the level-1 spells listed, some other nice ones are Bless and Shield of Faith.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

I've been building a 7th-level archivist, and I did find there weren't as many spell selection guides as I'd like- however (for an archivist, at least) the available spells are amazing.

If you can at all swing it, nab Ghoul Glyph and Ghoul Gesture (Hunger domain, levels 2 and 3 respectively, SCP). The first creates a *permanent*, immobile glyph that paralyzes anyone who comes near, with no save. The second is a ranged touch attack with a fort save vs. paralyzation, and sickens even on a succesful save.

If you're non-good, consider Flesh Ripper and Demon Wings from (Evil cleric, third level, BVD). Flesh Ripper does a lovely 1d8/level damage with no save on a ranged touch attack- furthermore, you can get criticals with it, which double damage and inflict bleeding wounds.

Sign (Cleric 1, SCP) gives you a +4 on your next initiative check, though it has to come within the next few minutes. Still good.

Luminous Armor and Greater Luminous Armor from the Book of Exalted Deeds come in at levels 2 and 4, respectively- not only do they give you a hefty armor bonus for hours per level, but they impose a -4 on melee attacks against you. Casting them deals strength damage to you, but it's well within the scope of a single lesser restoration.

Entice Gift is one of my favorite archivist spells- it comes from the Greed domain, though, so a cleric might have trouble getting it. The target has to take a will save or use their next action to walk up to you and hand you whatever they're holding- so not only do they lose their weapon/holy symbol/component pouch, they waste a turn doing so.

There's a whole slough of cleric spells that give skill buffs. Divine Insight (SCP), and Fleeting Fortune (Magic of Faerun) are my favorites. With both of those and the feat "Jack of all Trades" you'll be 12 skill points ahead of a rogue who non-magically maxed a skill, without investing a point yourself. Use this for crafting checks for cheap poisons and equipment, and you're in business.

Chain of Eyes (CL3, PHB) is wonderful for scouting; lay it on any creature headed the right direction, and you can see through their eyes for an hour per level. Mix in charm animals and cast this on any bird, and you'll have the entire area scouted for free.

If you have any craft skills of your own, Unseen Crafter (CL2, Races of Eberron) will use them for you for a day per level. Use that in an elm forrest for a steady stream of low-end poison.

Sacred Item (CL4, Complete Champion) is outright ludicrous- without costing GP or XP, it imbues an item with a charge that will deal significant damage to undead (and a few other things), and force a save vs. fear. The ludicrous bit? This spell is permanent until discharged. I limited myself to using it for actual holy items, but there's no reason you couldn't enchant every pebble you find over the course of a year, then throw the lot in a lich's face for an instant kill.

Celestial Brilliance (CL4, Book of Exalted Deeds) will make an item shine with light for a day per level. The light imposes double penalties on creatures vulnerable to daylight, and deals 1d6 damage per round to any undead within 120 feet.

I'm sure there's plenty more out there- as an archivist I payed less attention to cleric spells, as we already have a party cleric, and I can get a lot more mileage out of druid/ranger/paladin/domain spells.

[CockroachTeaParty]

The spell compendium had a nice collection of solid buffs, most of which have higher level 'Mass' versions later on. Spells like Conviction and Mass Conviction are excellent for boosting saves, and you'll also find Mass versions of core spells like Shield of Faith and Resist Energy that should help make party buffing easier. Many of these spells have excellent durations, so you can 'fire and forget' before entering a dungeon/teleporting into a dangerous situation, and focus on combat yourself or casting offensive spells.

If you've got a Bard or other heavy buffer in your group, you can focus on more specific problem solving or combat spells. If you enjoy bookkeeping, the Planar Ally line is fantastic, and clerics get access to it earlier, with fewer risks, than the arcane equivalent Planar Binding line. Also, divine divinations are often less risky than arcane versions. Commune is often superior to Contact Other Plane, for instance.