[3.5] Help with an optimized Cleric

[bartman]

I have a campaign coming up where we have been instructed to bring the biggest gun we can. I believe the endgame is we will be facing off against a dfeity, but I am not 100% sure.

I have decided to go cleric, however I have never played one before, so I am unsure exactly how to build it to its fullest. I have checked some handbooks, know about Divine Metamagic, but I am still not sure how to best build and then play. I am used to playing rogue type characters, subtle, sneak, precision damage, etc.

We have all options available to us, except psionics, and as I said, the biggest gun we can imagine.

Can anyone give me some pointers as to how I should go about building this?

Start at level 1, we rolled for stats and my numbers are (not in order) 18, 18, 17, 17, 13, 11

any help is greatly appreciated.

Bart

[Quiddle]

Are going to take divine metamagic? this is your biggest gun

[Passive Pete]

If you're going for the typical cleric type, I'd say you can probably dump intelligence and dexterity. Normal clerics don't need that. Also, in PH II, there's a variant where you can swap out the ability to cast spontaneously inflict/cure spells, for the ability to spontaneously cast domain spells, if you'd like that.

There's another cleric variant I don't know a lot about that's in Unearthed Arcana, where you sacrifice BAB for bardic knowledge, knowledge domain as a bonus, and a lot of skill points. I might look into this one. You're probably gonna want to take Divine Metamagic, too.

[GilesTheCleric]

How many tricks do you want to use, and how optimized would you like to be? Just having 9th level spells and a good head on your shoulders is a pretty good start.

Any book restrictions? Also, what roles would you like to fill/ which ones are already covered?

[bartman]

Are going to take divine metamagic? this is your biggest gun

I do not know if I will take divine metamagic yet, I know i probably should, but I really have no idea on a build yet, so it may not be necessary


How many tricks do you want to use, and how optimized would you like to be? Just having 9th level spells and a good head on your shoulders is a pretty good start.

Any book restrictions? Also, what roles would you like to fill/ which ones are already covered?

There are no book restrictions, aside from the no psionics rule, and as for optimization, as high as we can get.

I know of a planar shepard druid, and there are 2 others that are unknown as of yet, one possibly a wizard, maybe bard, and the other is looking at melee, maybe hulking hurler, maybe a tricked out knife thrower.

I guess what I am looking for are some tips and tricks, maybe a sample build or two that i could use,draw inspiration from. As i mentioned, I am used to playing a rogue type character, and my experience with casters is pretty much limited to the warlock, so I need alot of help.

[atomicwaffle]

what level is the party starting at? It's a good idea to build a level progression plan and (if need be) alter it as the campaign goes on

[GilesTheCleric]

I do not know if I will take divine metamagic yet, I know i probably should, but I really have no idea on a build yet, so it may not be necessary
[snip]
I guess what I am looking for are some tips and tricks, maybe a sample build or two that i could use,draw inspiration from. As i mentioned, I am used to playing a rogue type character, and my experience with casters is pretty much limited to the warlock, so I need alot of help.

Well, you're in luck: clerics are pretty easy to learn compared to other casters. Basically, you need to know four things: spells, resources, action economy, and defenses.

Spells: Pick good ones. I'll add a link to my lists in just a bit. Domains are also important, although that can be circumvented with domain draughts. At high levels, the best tactic is "scry 'n die". Edit: Here's (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=284509) the list.

Resources: Turns are a core component of the cleric class; many of its best features run on them. Be sure to have lots, and use them.

Action Economy: Clerics lag a bit behind Wizards in this respect, until you pull out the Ruby Knight Vindicator. Problem solved.

Defenses: Important for any class, these are the cleric's specialty -- buffs. Ties into spells, but warrants its own category. Basically, you can rely on your spells for everything but mindblank (which you can get from a domain if you'd like), and possibly AMF (Initiate of Mystra allows you to keep one up at all times). Grab immunities to GDM, and other variants of dispel magic.


what level is the party starting at? It's a good idea to build a level progression plan and (if need be) alter it as the campaign goes on

This is definitely important.

[SciChronic]

There's another cleric variant I don't know a lot about that's in Unearthed Arcana, where you sacrifice BAB for bardic knowledge, knowledge domain as a bonus, and a lot of skill points. I might look into this one. You're probably gonna want to take Divine Metamagic, too.
You're thinking Cloistered Cleric, and any "optimized" cleric who doesn't take this feature is doing it wrong tbh.

honestly you could just go CoDzilla and be happy. You just DMM Persist spells like Divine Power, Righteous Might, and whatever else you might find useful plus the rest of your daily spells.

honestly, i think your DM may have bitten off more than he can chew, cause unless the final boss end up being 5 gods who all happen to be Thor+, i don't see this ending well.

[GilesTheCleric]

You're thinking Cloistered Cleric, and any "optimized" cleric who doesn't take this feature is doing it wrong tbh.

honestly you could just go CoDzilla and be happy. You just DMM Persist spells like Divine Power, Righteous Might, and whatever else you might find useful plus the rest of your daily spells.

honestly, i think your DM may have bitten off more than he can chew, cause unless the final boss end up being 5 gods who all happen to be Thor+, i don't see this ending well.

Sci is correct. The cleric spell list by itself is good enough that the class is either the first-best (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=314701) in the game, or top three. Whether it's spells or plain old damage, clerics can do it incredibly well.

In any case, here's a just a few common and easily-used tricks. If you haven't heard of any of them, the first hit on google will probably net you an answer. Otherwise, just ask. There's so many tricks available to casters that you're not going to use them all, and even just one or two will probably do the trick if 9ths alone don't cut it.

thought bottle
chaos shuffle + heroics/elf/etc
ruby knight vindicator
DMM:persist + ocular spell
DMM:anything
night sticks (stacking)
dweomerkeeper

Edit: In the OP, you mentioned needing to know how to play the class. This is also pretty simple. 1: divine/scry. 2: buff. 3: port in, cast your meanest spell. 4: profit.