Vampire Hunting

[Invisifly2]

So I'm currently playing what is my first game of D&D (Going with 3.5/3.5e rules, with additions as approved by DM). Our group is passing through a town on a diplomatic mission and it turns out a significant portion (but not all) of the guards are actually vampires, and most of the townsfolk are oblivious to this. We set up camp outside the town and my character has finally got a chance to prepare some spells. This is where we left off. So I'm wondering what would be some good tactics for destroying those vampires?

Our party is actually exploring a different planet and the vampires have been tweaked slightly. For instance, they can walk in daylight and have some sort of glamour that makes them indistinguishable from normal people if you don't look carefully enough. My DM Nerfred them a bit so they only get Dominate once a day instead of at will but my char is still going to prep plenty of extended "protection from evil" spells to protect from that. Having fought his own party members several times, he doesn't want to do that again.

Sun spells are nice and I've destroyed one of the vampires with them (instead of making it mist back to its coffin) but I'm not getting the bonus damage out of them that I'd normally would (due to the walking in daylight issue). Additionally, "turn undead" is doing damage, but isn't making them flee.
I was thinking of browsing the local market and buying a hefty amount of garlic, then smearing that on our armor/weapons. Perhaps make up some holy water while I'm at it. I'm curious if I could use holy water as a "poison" on our weapons. Since we are currently in a wooded area I plan on crafting some nice stakes to drive into their chests. However because of the sunlight/turn undead issue my char fears these normal weaknesses may not work.
We've fought a decent amount of them, including their leader, and only actually destroyed one (unfortunately not the leader), so they probably are getting an understanding of our party now, which is dangerous.

I'm playing a Cleric (Lvl 8, Worships Kord) and am straddling healing & buffing duties with combat casting. Basically I'm not front-line or ranged, i'm the guy in the middle doing what needs done. Heals? Check. Whack something with a mace? Check. Get drunk? Check. Incapacitate an ally that just got dominated with, not cheesy at all, shivering touch? Check. Thanks to 20 wisdom I get a decent number of bonus spells per day, but my char has low dex so doesn't want to play "bad touch Cleric" especially w/vampires that have insane grapple checks.

My gear (note: my character likes to grab some useless things now and then)
15404 GP
Scale mail
Greataxe
Morningstar
Dagger
light crossbow
reliquary holy symbol
bedroll
7days rations (ring of sustenance hasn't kicked in yet)
flint and steel
100 uses of soap
rope
liquid sunlight (using as torch, not weapon)
rod of ropes (completely broken)
A worthless gold nugget
belt of healing
bag of marbles
ring of sustenance
ring of deflection
vampire dust (from the vamp I killed)
1 very large "chicken" bone (from a merchant our monk ate [don't ask])
anklet of trans-location
Tooth of savnok

Other party members (followed by their play style) are a Monk(1v1 death incarnate, otherwise squishy), Psion(Tanks by simply not getting hit), Warlock (Raged support/attacks key targets), Bard (buff us/incapacitate key enemies/diplomancer), Rouge (Ranged support/Looting & trap-finding machine).

Thanks in advance for any tips & tricks. While the party tends to lean towards flavor as opposed to optimization, a little blessing from Cheesius Maximus:Duke of Cheddar wont be turned down either.

[Kaulz]

Do i remebre right when i say that vampires flee (or at least stay away) from Holy Symbol´s?

Dont know if RAW but I once catched two Vampires by Caging them in an illusionary Room with Silent image... and of cause all the walls was covered with "enter Deity of your choice her" ´s Symbol.

might help, check with ur DM

[Auramis]

You're fortunate enough to have the ability to keep any melee vampires away just by shoving your holy symbol into their faces. If you have any protection duty for any particularly squishy members of the party, keep that in mind. If you have a spare holy symbol, I'd suggest even offering it to them for them to present. Garlic is also a great option. Smearing it on you might not be as effective as keeping it on you as it is or wearing it in some way, though. As for holy water acting as a poison, I don't think that's possible unless you work it out with your DM. Holy water is a splash weapon more than anything.

As for spells, while not specific to fighting vampires, Summon Monster spells always work in turning the idea of a battle from you being outnumbered to the enemy being outnumbered. Dispel magic may also be good if one of your allies fails a will save against Dominate. Bestow curse is another nice way to debuff one of your enemies and ruining them for a bit during a fight.

[Blackhawk748]

Ah Vampire hunting, id recommend looking at Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, they have some useful alchemical items, one in particular is called Flare Bolts, they do +1d6 fire damage vs undead. Other than that, make a couple of wooden holy symbols for the party, paint one on every shield you guys use, wear a bandoleer of stakes, make stakes for crossbows (i dont think theres actual rules for this but a past DM just halved my range), make long pointed sticks (longspear stakes).

Spell wise, i think your doing good with the extended protection for evil, i also recommend Searing Light, it may not go for the full 1d8/lvl but their prbly still undead which will net you 1d6/lvl

[Ionbound]

I second the idea of stake-crossbows. Ask your DM how that would interact with the crit rules, or if you can make attacks against the vampire's heart giving it the AC bonus of a creature 2+ sizes smaller than the vamp.