Ruby Knight Vindicator build. How to use one efficiently

[ranger557]

Hi all I am playing a 3.5 game with 48 point buy and I chose to be a RKV. I think I will go cloister cleric because of the skill points will help, or is regular cleric that much better? Also I am going the DMM persist build type so I think that should be go right? Since I am the only divine caster....should I focus on Wis or Str more? I am not sure since I don't play a lot of multiclass builds a lot. Here is what I have for stats, tell me what you think? Or what would be good to do with a Ruby Knight Vindicator build? Thanks


Level 7 Cleric4/Crus1/RKV2

Str: 16
Dex: 12
Con: 16
Int: 10
Wis: 18
Cha:14

[Rethmar]

I'd focus on Wisdom more, since you can get like 14 strength from Righteous Might and Divine Power alone. Keep in mind that a higher Charisma means more turning attempts to fuel DMM Persist.

Cloistered cleric is good, just remember that it gets less HP and a lower BAB progression, if you're planning on a melee oriented character.

[RoyVG]

You will need 19 Wisdom if you are going for 9th level casting, and increases the DC. Strength is easily increased via spells.

I found a small guide (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=4330) that has a couple of quick example builds. migth be worth looking into

Make sure you have looooots of Turn Attempts (extra turning, Nightstick (careful with these, books might get thrown at you)).

[LanSlyde]

Your a cleric, not a wizard or sorcerer. The majority of your spells revolve around buffing/healing/protection. To be perfectly honest you could get away with just a 19 Wisdom. Especially since your going RKV, which is by design meant to be a melee bruiser. Honestly I would probably either pour my resources into boost Charisma for better turning or Constitution for more hp. That said, if your the type of cleric that doesn't want to wear armor then toss some money at your Dexterity.

In all honesty if your going the Persistent Spell route try to have Faerun's initial +4 version fly instead of the final +6. That said. DMM persist builds never really worked out at my table. Our DM's enjoy using dispel magic to great effect. I usually find DMM Quicken to be sufficiently effective without the DM getting into the habit of auto dispelling the party before every encounter.

This also leads me to my next thought. I personally wouldn't go with Cloistered Cleric simple because as I said our DM's are usually Dispel-heavy. So you never know when your Divine Power is about to be smacked and your back down to a Poor BAB and basically naked on the front line. So yeah, I personally disapprove of going Cloistered Cleric. The skill points are nice, but as a cleric you have a spell that would probably substitute, or just pop Divine Insight and Guidance of the Avatar if you really just feel the need to feel skillful.

[Radar]

This also leads me to my next thought. I personally wouldn't go with Cloistered Cleric simple because as I said our DM's are usually Dispel-heavy. So you never know when your Divine Power is about to be smacked and your back down to a Poor BAB and basically naked on the front line. So yeah, I personally disapprove of going Cloistered Cleric. The skill points are nice, but as a cleric you have a spell that would probably substitute, or just pop Divine Insight and Guidance of the Avatar if you really just feel the need to feel skillful.
You can counter that with a Ring of Counterspelling (always store Greater Dispel) and buffing your CL. Cloistered Cleric AFAIK gives you one more domain, which means additional domain powers. In my opinion it is worth the proficiencies and BAB, since the latter one can be rectified with a spell as needed and the former is not much of an issue - misschances are much more effective then AC. Additional skill points can be utilized effectively through Knowledge Devotion to further increase your attack bonus.

[ranger557]

Thank you all for answering, for a second I thought nobody answered, lol. From your posts I assume wisdom doesn't need to be as high as I need it to be. So I decided to go with this route instead. What do you think?

Str: 19
Dex: 12
Con: 16
Int: 10
Wis: 16
Cha: 14

Also I am highly considering the Clositer cleric because of the extra domain and switch it for the devotion feat and also Divine power should help my weekness in fighting once I hit level 9. Right?

[LanSlyde]

Thank you all for answering, for a second I thought nobody answered, lol. From your posts I assume wisdom doesn't need to be as high as I need it to be. So I decided to go with this route instead. What do you think?

Str: 19
Dex: 12
Con: 16
Int: 10
Wis: 16
Cha: 14

Also I am highly considering the Clositer cleric because of the extra domain and switch it for the devotion feat and also Divine power should help my weekness in fighting once I hit level 9. Right?

If you only want level 6 spells 16 Wisdom is fine. As for cloistered cleric I'll say it it again. The extra domain is good, Knowledge Devotion is better. But as I mentioned earlier making yourself absolutely reliant on Divine Power could be a bad setup. Yes buying a Ring of Counterspells with Greater Dispel is a good idea... for the 1st casting. It really depends on your dm. Our current one likes to do bad thing to our character sheet(mind fogs, feeblmind, charms, dispel, etc) long before the bad guy even shows himself.
So I may be a little biased in that regard. So if your DM is the type that avoids capitalizing on your weakness then by all means go Cloistered Cleric.

[ranger557]

Right, it will make me reliant on the Divine Power spell more, but it all depends on the DM screwing you over with dispels all the time. I believe my DM won't do that consistently, so it should be ok.

Also 16 wisdom I think is good just in case I lose my wisdom item or I am in an antimagic field. However, I can put on the wisdom item to boost my wisdom to help cast higher level spells. So level 6 isn't my stopping point. So I should be good to keep my stats as before and go Cloister Cleric, correct?

[animewatcha]

If you are willing to give up a CL, you should ask if you can have a cloistered cleric X / cleric 1. The cleric 1 being for extra domains and use it to do a turn undead type variant that you aren't going to use, but qualifies for things like divine feats ( like rebuke dragons ). Translation, extra turn pool.

[Oscredwin]

If you build is:

Level 7 Cleric4/Crus1/RKV2

than you only lose one point of BAB and about 5hp by going cloistered cleric. The skill points and domain seem worth it.

[demigodus]

One thing I like to do when going for a gish build that doesn't care about Save DCs, is going Illumian. You could pick up a symbol, so that your spells per day and highest level spells are based on your Strength, instead of Wisdom.

So now you can either pump Strength, or Strength. The down side is that your save DCs will suck, and everything will save against you (doesn't matter if you are only buffing/healings/beating up stuff).

Also, if you are too worried about dispelling, there is a feat that lets you counter spell as an immediate action in exchange for a turn attempt. I would also suggest using ACFs so that you can spontaneously cast dispel magic/greater dispel magic.