Core only melee cleric build?

[mahgnillig]

Hi all :)

I'm looking for some advice on building a 3.5e core only (just the 3 books, no SRD or anything else) melee based cleric. Other party members will likely be a ranger (2 weapon fighting style), a sorcerer and one other who hasn't decided yet. The party is starting out at lvl 1 and will probably be leveling fairly slowly, so I'm looking for a build that will be useful at relatively low levels rather than something that will only become awesome at lvl 20. I'm having trouble figuring out how I can kick butt as a battle cleric without access to other source material.

Starting stats are 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13. I'm thinking Dwarf as a race, and Luck & Travel as domains. For feats, I'm mostly stumped... Power Attack?

[Juntao112]

Strength 16, Dexterity 13, Constitution 17, Intelligence 15, Wisdom 18, and Charisma 14.

Take the feats Power Attack, Improved Initiative, Extend Spell, and Quicken Spell.

[Shadroth]

If you want to be a melee cleric, then the War domain is pretty good to have around.

I'm currently playing a low-level Cleric of Hextor that I'll be taking into Ordained Champion (Complete Champion), and looking at possibly moving into Fist of Raziel (Book of Exalted Deeds) if my DM lets me have an 'evil' version of it.

[Eldariel]

Strength 16, Dexterity 13, Constitution 17, Intelligence 15, Wisdom 18, and Charisma 14.

I'd swap Charisma and Dex, honestly, since Combat Reflexes is pretty good on Core melee Clerics while turning is largely a waste of time. Con and Dex could also be swapped; both are really useful on battle Cleric. Initiative, Reflex, AoOs, ranged attacks (thanks to Cleric buffs, they'll remain somewhat useful even without Rapid Shot) vs. HP, Fort & Concentration. I'd err on the side of the former just 'cause Initiative but a case can be made for either.

And yeah, Travel/Luck/Trickery are probably the best domains (though Strength has Enlarge Person, which is useful 'til you can cast Righteous Might; and War has Martial Weapon Proficiency and Weapon Focus for what it's worth); you definitely want Travel just for the Freedom of Movement effect, let alone the teleportation magic which is of course the best mobility the game can afford.

Luck and Trickery have an assortment of the maximum level Arcane bomb spells and pretty useful low level stuff. Luck has a great granted power, but weaker spells generally. I'd pick Trickery and Travel myself.


Anyways, early on you wade into battle and hit things 'til they die. If you have extra time, you can cast Divine Favor, Protection from Alignment, Bless and such before fight. Later on you can amp up your preparation with Greater Magic Weapon, Magic Vestment (all day both; benefit of caster level stacking such as Strand of Prayer Beads), Divine Power and Righteous Might (you really wanna Quicken 'em but the Metamagic Rod is quite expensive so that'll have to wait; Quickened Divine Favor is quite affordable tho).

Feats; you have the stats to pick up the holy trinity of warrior feats in Core:
- Combat Expertise > Improved Trip
- Power Attack
- Combat Reflexes

You need a tripping reach weapon; you can take Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Spiked Chain down the line. I'd go Combat Expertise > Improved Trip on level 1 and level 3 Exotic Weapon Proficiency, since those feats start strong and remain strong (while Power Attack needs a bit of time to be amazing and Combat Reflexes is contingent on the other two feats to be strong).

Other feats of interest are Extend Spell and Quicken Spell as mentioned, and Improved Initiative and the Craft feats (especially Craft Wondrous Items, but also of course Craft Magic Arms and Armor).

I'd consider Human due to the amount of feats you want. Dwarves are okay and all, but you can eventually afford quite light armor thanks to your Dex (if you get a +6 Dex item you can get Mithral Breastplate as a light armor) so you don't really need that ability after early levels, and while the miscellaneous bonuses are great, you probably want the extra feat more.

Plus skill points are never wasted, especially not on the traditionally skill-poor Clerics (who still want a lot of skills). Hell, this way you can afford to cross-class Tumble (for free movement on the battlefield) and perhaps those 5 ranks in Balance to avoid being flat-footed while on unstable surface, while still maxing Knowledge: Religion, Concentration and Spellcraft (other skills of interest are other Knowledges, Diplomacy, Sense Motive, Bluff, Hide; Survival is useful but you get sufficient bonuses from your massive Wisdom, especially since you want your level-ups there).


I'm currently playing a low-level Cleric of Hextor that I'll be taking into Ordained Champion (Complete Champion), and looking at possibly moving into Fist of Raziel (Book of Exalted Deeds) if my DM lets me have an 'evil' version of it.

This is irrelevant to the OP, but I believe Bone Knight from the Eberron-book "Five Kingdoms" would have what you want.

[Gwendol]

Go for dwarf with the quick trait, you can afford the -1 hp per level. Take a level of fighter for the weapon proficiencies, and the bonus feat. Travel and luck will ideally be your domains. War only if you don't take the fighter level but still want martial weapon prof (which you do).
Power attack, cleave, extend and quicken spell are your prioritized feats. Combat reflexes if you can afford it.

[Eldariel]

Go for dwarf with the quick trait, you can afford the -1 hp per level. Take a level of fighter for the weapon proficiencies, and the bonus feat. Travel and luck will ideally be your domains. War only if you don't take the fighter level but still want martial weapon prof (which you do).
Power attack, cleave, extend and quicken spell are your prioritized feats. Combat reflexes if you can afford it.

...why would you take Fighter for proficiencies if Exotic Weapon is your best bet anyways?

[Gwendol]

To switch between weapons in order to counter DR, for example. Besides, EWP can very well be the fighter bonus feat.

[Eldariel]

To switch between weapons in order to counter DR, for example. Besides, EWP can very well be the fighter bonus feat.

Simple weapons have plenty of alternatives to deal bludgeoning and slashing efficiently enough anyways, and type-based DR is very rare. I really don't think that's worth losing a caster level for. Especially on Cleric who relies on caster level to make her round/level buffs last long enough, and to make her buffs such as Divine Favor, Magic Vestment and Greater Magic Weapon efficient in the first place. And delayed access to higher level slots (both the buffs themselves and the slots to quicken them in).