Help me build a Cleric

[m149307]

Ok, so I need help with making a cleric (again). I had at first made him to straight heal... and it sucked. Big time. So, now I am trying to make a cleric the best that it can be, but I don't know where to start, or what spells I should use. I am thinking of maybe making the Cleric more melee, if possible. (side note, I am level 8 as of right now, and have been told that I can't DMM anything past level 3 spells. Or DMM a spell so that it would be over level 9 without the DMM). As always, any help is greatly appreciated.

[jiriku]

At lower levels, it doesn't take much to be a combat machine. I'd recommend DMM: Persist for ice axe (SC 118). This will give you great accuracy and damage, and if you have Power Attack you can profit even further.

If you have a second slot available for DMM: Persist, choose mass lesser vigor. This will full-heal your entire party between every encounter, and free you up to spend your spell slots on yourself instead of everyone else. Then look for good buff spells with a duration of 10/minutes per level or longer. Extend these with Extend Spell so that you have plenty of buffs up, and cast them as soon as you enter a dangerous area where you expect combat might occur. Ideally, when combat starts you want to be immediately splitting skulls with your ice axe or casting game-changers like recitation, wall of sand, or dimensional anchor. Also, don't neglect your divination capability. With spells like divination, locate object, divine insight, and lore of the gods on your spell list, you might well be the most capable person in your party when it comes to information-gathering.

[m149307]

How many turn checks would it be for both of those?

[jiriku]

Fourteen turn attempts, unfortunately. It's quite a bit. But in a pinch, just get persistent ice axe and convince the party to pitch in for a wand of lesser vigor. 50 charges of lesser vigor will heal everyone between combats for a long, long, long time before you have to buy another one.

[Chester]

You could always play an evil cleric and focus on all those taboo spells.

[John Longarrow]

One build I like is Cleric -4, Crusader -1 (punch through DR), then Radiant Servant -10. If your DM is cool with it, also toss on 5 levels of the divine adaptation for Abjurant Champion for a full 20 level build.

The luminous armor spells are what you are looking for. Your AC will get very good quickly and they last a long time (no DMM needed).
Shield of Faith is your low level quick buff in fight. Limited to 3rd level or less for DMM isn't that big of a problem as you will already have extend spell and can prepare your buffs to last a fairly long time.