raptoran eldritch disciple help

[westquest4]

So I'm planning on making a raptoran ED. Just like I said on the tin. But could use some help. Starts will be rolled but through various means in this dms hombrew ruleS will end up changing so assume if the stat is reasonable I can do it. I'm thinking of going cloistered cleric 3/warlock 12 and starting ED at 16. We will go into epic levels. So my questions are
1. Can I take the 3rd lvl raptoran cleric substitute level with cloistered cleric? if I can do I have to take the first level as well?
2. I can't decide between clawlock or glaivelock. I like them both but it just seems so feat intensive to make a clawlock viable. but on the flipside clawlock with claws on the feat for flavor and diving charge would be so cool.
3. Any other advice regarding the character?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

You would probably be better off taking ED sooner for more Cleric casting than going for Imbue Item pre-epic, unless you have some very specific/complex/shenanigans items in mind. With Cleric you can get the Spell domain for Anyspell and Greater Anyspell, which allows you to cast up to 5th level Wizard spells, so there's not much need for Imbue Item. You can take ED past 10th in the epic levels, and keep in mind that epic spellcasting is better than anything you could get from Warlock. I would even go Cloistered Cleric 4/ Warlock 1/ ED 10, considering how powerful Cleric casting is. Consider finishing that out with Divine Oracle 4 (get its feat prerequisite from the Frog God's Fane in CS) and Paragnostic Apostle 1 (Mind Over Matter), or maybe a Contemplative dip for another domain.

1. Cloistered Cleric is still Cleric, just a variant of it. You can still take racial substitution levels with class variants. You don't have to take all the racial substitution levels, you can skip the early ones if you want. Be sure to get the Summon Elemental reserve feat with that.

2. Glaivelock will be lackluster, especially considering Cleric buffs. Clawlock can get a Monk's Belt to avoid spending some feats, and that has great synergy if you're using (Greater) Luminous Armor. Plus you can put Greater Magic Weapon on your unarmed strike to make it up to +5. Also keep in mind that you can full attack with unarmed strikes, whereas the Eldritch Glaive only enables you to make extra attacks per your BAB, not taking into account effects like Haste or Righteous Wrath of the Faithful. But again, you'll need to make advancing your Cleric casting a much higher priority if you expect this character to meet its full potential. You also don't need to worry about SR with Clawlock, since feats are either extraordinary or supernatural, the feat is what deals the damage, and supernatural abilities ignore SR.