Evil Caster Cleric Optimization help

[Aeo]

Hi there folks, long time lurker here that always enjoys reading the interesting debates and topics on these forums. I've recently begun looking into play by post games and would like a bit of help searching out the best options available for the character I've decided to play.

The character will be a cleric at ECL 6 to start the game, and I plan to have her primarily focus upon casting summons and debuffs. I'm very unfamiliar with optimization outside of core, and I'm not even particularly good when it comes to core.

Ideally, the character should be avoiding melee, hiding behind either summons or undead (I'd prefer one big undead to a horde of smaller undead), and using touch attacks if forced into melee. Focusing upon necromancy spells is practically guaranteed for this character.

What I would like is recommendations for feats for this character, and perhaps a recommendation for PrC's, though I would be perfectly content going pure cleric. If the progression can go up to at least level 12, I would be very grateful.

Recommendations for domains that grant a good variaty of necromancy or summoning spells would be welcome as well. I plan to have the character follow either a god or ideal very similar to the deity Shar from Forgotten Realms.

basic outline of the character is as follows.
race: human
alignment: Neutral Evil or Chaotic Evil
class: cleric 6
stat roll: 15, 12, 8, 18, 15, 14.

I was planning to put the 8 into intelligence, as it fits the character concept rather well.

All sourcebooks are allowed except for Incarnum, Tome of Battle, and Tome of Magic.

I apologize if I've left anything out, please go gentle on me.

[Saintheart]

It's a very big subject.

I found the The 3.5 Cleric Handbook as a pretty good place to start.

If you're dodging meleé, though, the first suggestions I tend to think of are to pick up Zen Archery (Complete Warrior) which allows you to add WIS to your ranged attack rolls. And if you're looking to debuff at range, Divine Metamagic (Reach Spell) seems a good investment since it converts the touch attack into a ray ... which then synergises with Zen Archery.

In terms of PrCs that are good for summoning, I see a lot of references to the Malconvoker (Complete Warrior) PrC as a solid choice, but the problem is alignment: any non-evil.

EDIT: And the 3.5 Cleric handbook also has links to playing Necromancers effectively, so bonus!

[ocdscale]

What I would like is recommendations for feats for this character, and perhaps a recommendation for PrC's, though I would be perfectly content going pure cleric. If the progression can go up to at least level 12, I would be very grateful.

If you can refluff the Malconvoker, I think that'd be a great build for you mechanics and fluff wise (ignoring the whole "Good guys turning evil against evil"
http://community.wizards.com/go/thre...he_Malconvoker

[Saintheart]

Here's another possibility, although I don't see it referred to much out here and therefore presume that it's sub-optimal on mechanics, but: how about the Dread Necromancer from Heroes of Horror?

It's arcane based rather than divine-based, so you're basically playing a sorcerer rather than a cleric, but it looks to have some nice abilities: rebuke undead as an evil cleric (and therefore Divine Metamagic is open to you); Charnel Touch which gives you a touch attack at 1d8+1 per four class levels, once per round, no spell slots expended, DR 2 at 2nd level, Aura of Fear ... all at 6th level. 8th level has Undead Mastery, etc, etc. Weapon proficiencies are cleric+1 because it gives you proficiency with simple weapons plus one martial weapon of your choice. And cast in light armor with no Arcane Spell Failure chance where it's a Dread Necromancer spell.

Spell list is shortened, and spell progression is more like sorcerer than wizard, but it's a complete build, levels 1-20. No healing spells at all, really. But it sure has summon undead, and it has the essential debuffer "Rays" of Enfeeblement and Exhaustion. There's a very limited opportunity to add to the list at levels 4, 8, 12, and so on, though it's restricted to cleric or wizard spells of the Necromancy school. I suppose you could multiclass as a cleric of Shar to pick up the Summoning and Death domains and any useful powers they might have.

[PumpkinJack]

One interesting cleric option, if you're going the necromancer route, is to use the Divine Magician alternate class feature from Complete Mage. It allows you to substitute one domain for a bunch of arcane spells (one per level) from the Abjuration, Divination, or Necromancy schools. Since you get to hand-pick your choices you can get some arcane necromancer goodies like Fear, Enervation, Magic Jar, Ray of Enfeeblement, or Spectral Touch (which would work great on all those divine touch spells). This seemed like one of the best options for maximizing a cleric's necromancy potential. Of course, a no-save death attack at level one from the Death domain doesn't sound all that bad either.