[PF] cleric spells level 7-9

[khachaturian]

other than the planar ally line and gate, which seem kind of costly and situational, the cleric spell list from levels 7-9 seems a little bit underwhelming. especially compared to levels 4-6, where there's a slam dunk at each level, like blessing of fervor, wall of stone, and heal. i can see using miracle to get access to spells like contingency and simulacrum, but just checking to see if i am missing something.

[navar100]

Holy Word - good for dealing with mooks

Destruction - die or take 20d6 damage

Anti-Magic Field when you just want to shut down enemy spellcasters

Mass Heal, just Mass Heal

Discern Location - "Knowing is half the battle."

Greater Spell Immunity - situational, but very useful when you absolutely know for sure what monsters you are fighting and the spells they can cast. "No Blasphemy for you, Balor!"

Repulsion - Ease of escape is the weakest use.

Dimensional Lock - You want the bad guys dead, not escaping.

Earthquake - more devastating in a cavern.

Implosion - save spells and spend a few rounds of save or die.

Firestorm - Sometimes you just want to see the world burn.

[Eldariel]

other than the planar ally line and gate, which seem kind of costly and situational, the cleric spell list from levels 7-9 seems a little bit underwhelming. especially compared to levels 4-6, where there's a slam dunk at each level, like blessing of fervor, wall of stone, and heal. i can see using miracle to get access to spells like contingency and simulacrum, but just checking to see if i am missing something.

Well. Are we talking Core or splat? Core spells aren't that amazing, at least not offensively. Miracle and Gate are the only Windmill slam spells and even Gate is something you prefer not to cast if you have the option (Miracle is insane tho; you can always find a spell to solve your problem for you if you think hard enough with it - unlike Wish, at no cost).

Astral Projection is the other important one; it's generally more efficient to attack enemies with 100% expendable astral duplicas than going in yourself. It also offers mobility, extra gear, whatever you want. And Mass Heal has its obvious benefits though 9th level slot is a bit hefty (still, it can be worth it at times).


8th has Anti-Magic Field. Depending on your build, that can be nice or not-so-amazing. Symbol-spells can be precast on armor/shield/whatever and used as free action burst so there's that but they're not directly applicable as much as long term tools. Greater Spell Immunity has some niche uses but you'll probably need pretty good information or incredible overall protection before you invoke it. Earthquake can be amazing in some terrain (the autopin can be really strong at times) if enemies aren't too well prepared for it (watch out for various Freedom of Movement-effects tho; it's a bit beyond its prime when you get it). Holy Aura has niche uses, and Dimensional Lock is a key component in various death cages you might wanna construct.


7th level has Blasphemy-line as amazing spells if you can pump your caster level (Divine casters have amazing tools for this from Beads of Karma and Ankh of Ascension to various spells). Just pick the right one and no-save nuke every enemy without tons of HD or enough SR against your pumped CL.

Control Weather is an obviously useful ability to have though how often you want the spell varies. Repulsion can be a decent buff and Refuge is convenient. Regeneration, Greater Resto, Ethereal Jaunt & Resurrection all have obvious uses. Greater Scrying is an easy tool for Scry'n'die due to speed. For Symbols, see above. Mostly, this is a utility tier in dealing with various ailments and gaining mobility outside the CL nuke spells tho. And Destruction is a decent nuke, on Cleric level at least. Implosion from 9th level also cleans up decently.


Yeah, they aren't that amazing but they've got some goodies even in Core. Outside Core they get much better for direct combat application.

[khachaturian]

clarification- for pathfinder in a mixed-alignment party

[Eldariel]

clarification- for pathfinder in a mixed-alignment party

How widely are the PF sources allowed? What about 3.5 sources?

[khachaturian]

no 3.5, but all pathfinder sourcebooks in the srd are allowed other than the really esoteric race or campaign-specific spells. so things like aboleth's lung are obviously not allowed.

[avr]

Refuge is just handy, in addition to those mentioned already. It can be precast so the fact it's higher level than your average teleport doesn't matter so much.

If there's a LG character in the party who isn't a paladin, you can change that with Bestow Grace of the Champion (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/b/bestow-grace-of-the-champion).

Besides the quick casting time of Greater Scrying, note that the duration is now long enough for serious surveillance unlike ordinary Scrying.

[navar100]

Waves of Ecstasy is a nice debuff, stunned for a round then staggered for the rest of the duration. In essence you are giving everyone an orgasm.

Stormbolts is a high damage spell you can cast against enemies engaged with party members since the spell itself allows you to exclude them.
Edit: It also stuns them for a round on a failed save.

Euphoric Tranquility is a no save take opponent out of the combat spell.

Greater Create Demiplane allows you to alter the time trait, so it has abuse potential.

Interplanetary Teleport is figuratively and literally out of this world, but at base it gives the cleric 100% safe teleporting that's a lot more flexible than Word of Recall.