Mounted Cleric?

[171akup]

I will start by saying I have read the books about clerics, domains, and the spells they cast but have never played a cleric before. So I am thinking of making one but I want to be a cleric with a mount but I do not know how to build a cleric or get a mount. Basically what I am saying I need help making a build for a mounted cleric. Thanks in advance for the help. :smallbiggrin:

[Fyermind]

What levels are you talking about? At level 1, affording a mount is basically not an option. From levels 2 to 4 or 5, a bogstandard warhorse is pretty decent as a mount. There is a gap in there around levels 5, 6, and 7 where you want a little more than a heavy warhorse and don't really have the spells to summon a decent mount. Wild cohort is an option there that will work from level 1. After that, I'd use planar allies as mounts though wild cohort works fine too.

Mounted combat can be really feat intensive, but it doesn't have to be. Enough ranks in ride that you don't fall off when you get hit and you are done. If you want to you can take mounted combat and be able to protect your mount with ride checks, though this does require having a ride check competitive with attack rolls. Spirited charge is nice if you can get pounce, but the feat tax is a little high. The question you should really be asking is what do you want to get out of being mounted. DMM Persist is a perfectly viable strategy for a dude on a horse.

If I knew more about what you wanted, I think I could be more helpful.

[171akup]

What levels are you talking about? At level 1, affording a mount is basically not an option. From levels 2 to 4 or 5, a bogstandard warhorse is pretty decent as a mount. There is a gap in there around levels 5, 6, and 7 where you want a little more than a heavy warhorse and don't really have the spells to summon a decent mount. Wild cohort is an option there that will work from level 1. After that, I'd use planar allies as mounts though wild cohort works fine too.

Mounted combat can be really feat intensive, but it doesn't have to be. Enough ranks in ride that you don't fall off when you get hit and you are done. If you want to you can take mounted combat and be able to protect your mount with ride checks, though this does require having a ride check competitive with attack rolls. Spirited charge is nice if you can get pounce, but the feat tax is a little high. The question you should really be asking is what do you want to get out of being mounted. DMM Persist is a perfectly viable strategy for a dude on a horse.

If I knew more about what you wanted, I think I could be more helpful.

Well I want to have a build of what my cleric would look like. As for what I want I want to be a lawful neautral cleric with the domains of death and either magic or law and at some point in a campaign I will probably buy the horse so I can ride in and out of battle casting my spells. So I need to know where my skills will go I will have a dagger and another weapon.

[ArcturusV]

Well, if you're going for fire brigade mobility, rather than the charging cavalry, mounted combat really isn't anywhere near as feat intensive. Nor do you necessarily have to worry about the fragile nature of mounts because you shouldn't be getting into the thick of it.

But really your primary concern, even before you think about skills, feats, and go to spells, is if your DM is going to create a campaign where you can really use it. The wheel and deal roving mounted archer/spell slinger needs A LOT of space in battle. You want wide open areas for combat. If you end up doing all your adventuring in tunnel crawls, forests, or urban environments you're not really going to be able to pull off your concept.

So that'd be step one. Figure out what sort of terrains you're going to be dealing with.

Note that if you DO end up with tunnel crawling, urban adventures, etc. Mounted combat isn't necessarily out. Mounted combat in the charging variety is still well suited to corridors unless you have to go squeezing through spaces. So if that's the case you might want to go with a charge based build, which is more feat intensive. But if you do go Charging, I'd probably suggest looking at Prestige Paladin, as Paladins get a few unique spells well suited to mounted charging, and would be good to add to a paladin chassis.