Pimp my buddy's Cleric!

[tzar1990]

So, I'm currently playing in a PF campaign with a decently large party, all of whom should be quite effective: Batman Wizard, Melee Druid, standard Alchemist, Bladebound Magus, and Cleric.

Unfortunately, my cleric friend has been doing a bit less well than the rest of us, and I think he feels annoyed and being relatively weak (for reference, the alchemist has ludicrous amounts of "boom", the magus has hilarious damage - especially on a crit, the druid can control the whole battlefield and outdamage the magus on a full attack, and the wizard has all the staple "I win" buttons).

We're currently level 10 to 12. IIRC, the cleric is level 10, but will probably level up next session. He's a half-elf built using 20 point buy, who doesn't seem to have any notable combos of feats or anything. His usual combat strategy is to either cast blasting spells (his "big special" last session was casting Flame Strike, and he likes Holy Smite) or to try for in-combat healing. If he normal attacks, he just picked up an Elven Oathbow with which he's proficient.

Normally, I wouldn't ask, but he seemed a bit annoyed recently last session about the damage and battlefield control the rest of the party was dishing out (and calling himself "dumb" for not being as high-output as the rest of us).

Any advice on some stuff he could do to feel more useful? I don't know clerics all that well, but I'm sure there are some spells he could use to be a bit more powerful - get a little control, some save-or-sucks, or something like that.

[SPoilaaja]

Clerics are great buffers in pf. If he is okay with being the party buffer he should look into casting: Prayers, Blessing of fervor, Divine favoring the magus, Csting bull's strength or owl's wisdom to buff druid/melee.

Battlefield controlling with summoning monster, casting hold person, stone shaping, wind walling, Air walking, stopping the enemies from teleporting with dimensional anchor, wall of stone,

Also if venturing into necromancy and raising undead is okay with him, animate dead/Create undead to get meatshields going.

Clerics have great utility tools with solid divination spells and has access to plane shift, dispel magic and great resistant buffs like sanctuary, spell immunity and the like.

Clerics should have no problem with pulling their weight at any level.

[weckar]

With that level spread, you may consider asking the DM to run a quick few private adventures with the cleric to get him to the upper half of the pack.

Also, I am not sure how your group works, but lack of combat skills are often made up for in out-of combat situations and sheer roleplay. I remember DMing for a cleric for insisted we use his first rolled stat array. That one totaled -1 (or even worse, I don't remember), but through his amazing roleplay and serving as a party-dad of sorts, he certainly became the most beloved in the group.

[Firechanter]

His usual combat strategy is to either cast blasting spells (his "big special" last session was casting Flame Strike, and he likes Holy Smite) or to try for in-combat healing.

Well, there's your problem!
Blasting is a suboptimal strategy to begin with, AND Clerics are not meant to blast, so this is a double duh-dum already. Also, in-combat healing is a bad use for your actions; should be used only in emergency. Better to use your actions and spells proactively - by buffing the party, calling summons, and throwing effects around.

The silver lining is the Archery bit. This is the best physical combat style for Clerics in PF. The ideal method is to have a deity with the proper Favoured Weapon and then take the Guided Hand feat, for Wis to Hit. Then complement with the usual archery feats, done.

In terms of spells, he'll just have to learn how to make better use of his spell slots. Make it clear to him that blasting and healing ain't getting him anywhere.

[Sayt]

Clerics are great buffers in pf. If he is okay with being the party buffer he should look into casting: Prayers, Blessing of fervor, Divine favoring the magus, Casting bull's strength or owl's wisdom to buff druid/melee.


Divine Favour is personal range, so can't be cast on others.

[SPoilaaja]

and it is a great buff for yourself

[Nibbens]

As a DM you could possibly put him in situations where his "Cleric-y-ness" would come in handy. A city of thousands suffering from injuries and wounds after an epic battle. A whole party of damage dealers and a 1 cleric rolls into town afterwards. (And maybe the people will accept the druid's help, but he's all tree-hugger and they don't quite trust him as much as the cleric) All of a sudden, he becomes the center of attention, with the other PC's stuck doing a guard detail while he works to aid the injured (And Possibly gains some XP to catch him up in levels)

Or perhaps during combat: use waves of undead so he can do his channel positive energy bit, wiping out masses of enemies at once while the harder hitters are more focused on the big-bads on the front lines.

So maybe the solution isn't feats, items, and optimization but rather the situations he's been put in.