Equipment and spells for a cleric/paladin/Fist of Raziel?

[Fuzzy McCoy]

So I'm starting a game on Sunday, playing a tank type character. We're starting at level 2-4, and ending around 15-17.

My planned build is Lesser Aasimar Cloistered Cleric 2/ Crusader 1/Paladin 4/Fist of Raziel using the spell-less paladin variant from the complete champion

Build
Ability scores: dear sweet lord did the dice like me. After racial modifiers, they are:

STR: 17
CON: 16
DEX: 9
INT: 14
WIS: 18
CHA: 18

Cleric domains chosen: Knowledge, Community, and Protection (swapped for the devotion)

with feats as follows:
1st: Servant of the Heavens, Protection Devotion
3: Practiced Spellcaster
6: Power Attack
7: Divine Might (B)
9: Parrying Shield
11: Sanctify Martial Strike (B)
12: Awesome Smite
15: Dilate Aura (from FC2, 1/encounter doubles aura size)

Other party members

Human Artificer, archer
Elf scout (may do swift hunter), archer
Warforged Barbarian, melee
Human bard, whip controller

Notable house rules
Recharge magic (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/rechargeMagic.htm) will be in effect
I don't have access to either acid or electricity resistance
multiclassing penalties are enforced

So the question I have for you is what equipment? Things I have in mind so far:
High crit threat sword with keen, smiting, dispel magic, and stunning surge
Mithril plate
belt of magnificence
Shield
Amulet of retributive healing
healing belt
ring of arming
A nightstick

What other items, esp. lower level? Also, what first level spells would you recommend, keeping mind that they have to last for about 8 levels before I hit second level spells.

Thanks a bunch!

[Snowbluff]

Well, I would never leave home without some Rods of Extend. It's great for Magic Weapon and Magic Vestments, and saves you some Strength from casting Luminous Armor. The lesser version, for level 3 and below spells, is a steal at 3kgp.

Pick up a Monk's Belt and a +1 Animated Heavy Shield as well.

[T.G. Oskar]

Having 6th level (or higher) spellcasting means you get a decent amount of spells around.

Good spells to have are Righteous Might (size increase is GOOD), Conviction (SpC, morale bonus to saving throws that scales with level up to a +5), Girallon's Blessing (lets you wield a weapon in two hands and couple it up with a shield, AND nets you a claw attack just for kicks), Shield of Faith (deflection = good), Greater Blindsight (lasts for pretty long and grants superb visual acuity), Death Ward, Superior Resistance (+6 resistance bonus to saves, which is more than what you get from a Cloak before Epic levels), True Seeing (coupled with Blindsight you can pierce through just about anything). Since you have a Shield in your sight, you should get Shield of Warding as well (bonus to AC and Reflex saves) and probably Energized Shield (as Resist Energy, but also improves shield damage)

I'd also recommend changing Dilate Aura into something better. I'd propose Sapphire Smite because you're pretty smite-happy: that gives you an extra smite and 1 point of damage per smite, but if you get more essentia somehow (particularly one that can last for an entire day), you can get more uses of Smite that deal more damage. You already get 6 uses of smite (1 from Paladin, 5 from Fist of Raziel 10), so one more and more damage from it isn't a bad thing.

Equipment-wise, a Mighty Smiting weapon is easy to get (+1 bonus) and gives you even more power when smiting. I'd drop Keen, since you can get the same effect through a Scabbard of Keen Edges (MIC). Dispelling (and eventually Greater Dispelling) are also nice choices. Think about adding spikes to your armor and make those spikes Defending. That way, you can cast Greater Magic Weapon on the armor spikes and constantly shift that enhancement bonus to AC, netting you up to +5 untyped bonus to AC. [Greater] Healing and Blurring/Displacement (all from MIC) qualities for your armor should be a must. I'd also suggest Magic-Eating (MIC) since you should have high enough saves to make it useful: it doesn't consume your effective enhancement bonus, and you can recover up to 9 hit points each time you succeed on a saving throw; it's small, but since you're probably saving yourself from instant death or massive damage, it's a bit more of a cushion than a lifesaver (at the very best, it can make you stable).

Regarding items: a Belt of Magnificence is nice, but not necessarily a must. Prioritize what you need: Strength, Constitution, Wisdom and Charisma are always a must. Buying 4 different items should be a bit less expensive than to buy one which grants you bonuses to 2 stats which are less important for you. Useful items that are good at lower levels are Anklets of Translocation (minor teleportation as swift action), Healing Belts (everyone in your party should get one, period), Greatreach Bracers (extends your reach by 10 [!!!] feet) or Armbands of Might (excellent for Power Attack). Eventually you might want a Belt of Battle (extra actions are ALWAYS good) and a Headband of True Darkness (blindsight, but it negates your actual sight: consider if blindsight at 30 ft. but the inability to see any further is better than the Greater Blindsight spell). Note that the MIC has the ability to blend the traits of one item to another (thus, you can have Greatreach Caduceus Bracers of Might, or a Healing Belt of Battle, or a Periapt of Wisdom and Natural Armor), and the Artificer should be willing to help with the modifications (just give him the item you want to improve and let him cannibalize the other).

Btw: any reason why Cloistered Cleric? Unless you wish to shift for Knowledge Devotion (Complete Champion) and get a way to have many Knowledge skills, Cloistered Cleric doesn't offer that much. You won't make much use of the Lore ability, for example. In fact, since you're going to spend 4 levels in Paladin and your Turn Undead won't be the best, you could even get as a Favored Soul and ditch Cleric altogether (though, you have a very good Wisdom for purposes of spellcasting, so Cleric is still viable).

[Fuzzy McCoy]

T.G., you have excellent advice! Conviction is an excellent spell, even better with recharge. Shield of warding isn't as good, since the sacred bonus to AC is negated by Protection Devotion, but the bonus to reflex is still good.

Dilate Aura may mor may not get swapped out - depends on how mobile the rest of my group is and the DMing style - if he likes lots of wide open encounters, I'd like to be able to increase the range of protection devotion to help compensate. It's set in eberron, so we'll see how it goes. If most of the time encounters are within 30ft though, yeah, it'll get swapped out.

Most of your equipment advice is excellent - especially the greatreach bracers! An extra 10 feet of reach, combined with Iron Guard's Glare (the sole reason I'm taking crusader), is just delicious. The only 2 suggestions I'm not sure about are Magic-Eating and the Scabbard of Keen Edges. ME I'm not sure about simply because it seems for 10k I'm paying for a rather niche ability - since it's only spells that target me. As for the scabbard, I've never liked it much - it only saves money if you put more than +4 worth of enhancements on, and given it takes a standard action to use...

As for why CC, I wanted cleric casting and progression (for those tasty tasty sixth level spells like Superior Resistance, Heroes' Feast, etc) as well as the domains and the associated ability to swap them out for devotions. Community grants the wonderful Greater status spell, and protection domain is an excellent candidate for swapping out for the protection devotion feat. And since I'm only taking two levels of cleric, I lose pretty much nothing by taking CC.

Snowbluff - I agree that metamagic rods of extend are great, though I don't think that luminous armor is a good choice, seeing as I don't get it till 9th level - I hope by then I have access to better armor.