[PF] Combat Cleric

[Keneth]

I'm making a cleric character in a pure Pathfinder game (no 3.5 or 3rd party material) and I want him to be focused on melee combat (not to the point of forsaking spells just as a general character focus). I've never made a cleric in Pathfinder and I can't seem to find any meaningful up-to-date guides on the matter. While some of the tricks from 3.5 still apply to the cleric as it is now, there's been a lot of changes (read: nerfs) and plenty of things which are just not available now.

I need your help on the matter since I likely won't have time to study everything in depth. In your experience, what are some of the better options that I should be aware of? Any new spells/archetypes/feats/domains that I should pay special attention to?

Things that are to be assumed for this character:
- likely won't get past mid levels, he needs to be proficient early enough
- is probably gonna be channeling negative energy
- unless I can think of something more appropriate, he's gonna be human

[Laniius]

How much of a focus do you plan to put on channel energy?

If a lot, I would recommend the Death domain, for its 8th level ability - negative energy heals you. That means that as you are decimating your enemy with your negative energy channel, you can be healing yourself at the same time. You don't have to be evil for the death domain as one of the main goddesses of death is Neutral, and even offers spell options that don't revolve around raising undead (she is against undeath). http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/cleric/domains/paizo---domains/death-domain

There is also a feat called Versatile Channeler where you can channel both positive and negative; the one opposite of what you usually channel is as a cleric 2 levels lower than you. You must be a neutral cleric with no deity or a neutral deity for this option. http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/versatile-channeler


There are also feats to increase how many channels you get, to increase the channel DC, to decrease the time it takes to channel, and (most importantly if you are going to be around your friends) select who is affected by your channel.

Channel smite might be worthwhile, especially if you want to take the feat Guided Hand - letting you use your wisdom for melee attacks instead of strength. Or you can use the guided weapon property to use wisdom for attack and damage (on the pfsrd).

Then I would recommend the Holy Vindicator prestige class afterwards; you ose out on 3 levels of casting but advance your channeling ability, get nifty abilities that improve your combat, full BAB, and martial weapon and heavy armor proficiency. The 3 lost levels of casting can be mitigated somewhat by the magical knack trait, which increases your caster level by 2 (to a max of your character level). As a cleric, you will still get 9th level spells eventually.

Alternatively, the paladin is viable in pathfinder. The spells are interesting and smite evil turns you into a blender - the cleric is more powerful due to spells, but the paladin is a monster in combat; especially because lay on hands to heal yourself is a swift action.

Alternatively, the oracle. Spontaneous caster, from the cleric list, with spells from your mysteries as well. The curse kind of sucks, but gives benefits as you level; for instance as a human the lame curse knocks you down to a 20 foot move speed but you get a dwarf's ability to not be slowed down by armor at some point, and you become immune to fatigue. The combat mystery or, metal mystery (I think) gives you proficiency in all martial weapons and heavy armor.

Or, just play a full cleric and invest in heavy armor proficiency to bring back the feel of the 3.5 cleric; you just don't have access to things like divine metamagic cheese, but it's still viable.

Extend spell is your friend.

Divine Power isn't as powerful as it was in 3.5, but still useful - temporary hit points, bonuses to attack rolls, damage rolls, strength checks that stack with everything, and an effect similar to haste.

Here's some useful sources http://paizo.com/forums/dmtz3shy?Guide-to-the-Guides

[Keneth]

As far as channeling is concerned, I don't see it as being something I wanna be using very often. The damage is kinda sad and you have to burn a bunch of feats to make it viable. Going with Holy Vindicator makes you miss out on spell levels which I can't afford because "eventually" is never going to happen for the character. Like I said in the first post, I'm not willing to forsake any of my cleric spells in exchange for the focus on combat, it's just a character concept. In fact, everything that takes effect beyond level 12 can be completely ignored for now.

I also have no intention of changing the class or multiclassing (I could probably live with a 1 level dip though, maybe fighter), so paladins, inquisitors, and oracles are also out. To be honest, a straight cleric is basically what I was aiming for, I'm just looking for ways to give him an edge in the heat of battle since I'm not planning for him to be a healer or a utility character.

Thanks for the guide to the guides, I'll be checking it out and I'm bookmarking it for future reference.

[Baroncognito]

That means that as you are decimating your enemy with your negative energy channel, you can be healing yourself at the same time.

I don't think it works that way. Yes, you can be healed with negative energy, but going from the way Channel Energy is phrased:


An evil cleric (or a neutral cleric who worships an evil deity) channels negative energy and can choose to deal damage to living creatures or to heal undead creatures.

From this, I've understood that if you choose to hurt, then your Negative Energy Burst will not heal you (or the undead) and if you chose to heal, then your Negative Energy Burst will not hurt the enemy.

[grarrrg]

From this, I've understood that if you choose to hurt, then your Negative Energy Burst will not heal you (or the undead) and if you chose to heal, then your Negative Energy Burst will not hurt the enemy.

Actually, you don't choose to "heal" or "hurt" you choose to affect "living" or "undead" and they react accordingly: (emphasis mine)

Channeling energy causes a burst that affects all creatures of one type (either undead or living) in a 30-foot radius centered on the cleric. The amount of damage dealt or healed is equal to
And Death Domain reads:

Death's Embrace (Ex): At 8th level, you heal damage instead of taking damage from channeled negative energy. If the channeled negative energy targets undead, you heal hit points just like undead in the area.
So if you target Living, you get healed.
If you target Undead, you get healed.
AND you can STILL heal from Positive energy!
It's win/win/win!!



You may want the feat Guided Hand (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/-guided-hand), it lets you use your Wis to hit (doesn't help with Damage though). It has Channel Smite as a Pre-Req, something you're considering taking anyway.