Post/Author/DateTime	Post
shades of eternity 01-28-04, 02:23 PM	I need a quicky guide for playing a cleric for my 3.5 game. What advice would you give for a player playing such a character at levels 4. What about at 9th level? (domains death, magic). Come on guys let's get brainstorming
Glenn711 01-28-04, 02:36 PM	Use all of your potential. I have played dozens of Clerics in varying D&D campaigns over the years, it's basically the only thing I play. In 3.5, Clerics are so much more powerful than people understand I think. Use every spell. So many of them can do things that are great for a party, especially the ones that don't jump out at you, like some divinations, etc. Play whatever role works for the moment. If you're fighting a low AC low HP enemy, example: wizard try improved counterspelling if you have the feat, or get in there with divine power/divine favor and throw down. If you're fighting something with very high AC and you don't have the time to DP, DF, etc., just drop flame strikes, or searing lights, or whatever you have at that level. Clerics can fill any gap, the armored fighter, the healer, the damage dealing caster, etc., you just have to be prepared for anything.
Hogre 01-28-04, 02:45 PM	Elven cleric as an archer is one of the easiest builds, while still being very powerful. This works good with an elven druid too. It really depends on what kind of flavor you are going for.
epchristi 01-31-04, 04:57 PM	Sort of have to know for what "flavor" of Cleric you want to play. The character optimization boards cover the topics of Cleric-Archers extremely well. Melee builds also are covered pretty well. So, I will give you some thoughts on how I play my cleric, just turned 10th. My longterm goal is Cleric 9/Church Inquisitor 5/Contemplative 6 .. why? Well. Undead aren't common in our campaign.. so that's the first reason.. and it lets me get a ton of prestige classes. War is a good one.. with church inquisitor you get inquisition, good for dispel checks; contemplative will give me mysticism and glory. Mysticism is good for cha bonus to saves and glory improves undead turning a bit, since I have forgone most of that. Skills.. well.. You need knowledge (Religion) maxed up to 11th level (13sp), and knowledge (Arcana) maxed up to 6th level (8 sp), to meet the pre-reqs for the two prc classes. Feats.. 1st Power Attack, Enlarge 3rd Extended 6th Widen 9th Persistent 12th Empower or Quicken All of those could go in almost any order.. and there is also quicken spell and reach that are of interest. Divine might if you have high charisma. Also.. Quicken can substitute for Persistent if Persistent isn't allowed or you don't want to use two feats for similar abilities. Persistent at higher levels is extremely powerful. Quicken is probably more versatile in the long run. I plan to take both probably. Wield your weapon two-handed, to get the best bonus for damage out of the power attack, because your buff spells can increase strength a great deal. I like the meta-magic feats because extended, persistent and quicken help for melee buff spells, but also can be used on other spells as well. Reach is good for curing spells if you want to avoid combat. Spells.. Divine Favor (Persistent at 9th), Shield of Faith, Magic Vestments (extended), Divine Power, Righteous Might. If you wield a wood weapon then Spikes. I also like Holy Smite and Searing light. (if you have the good domain, holy smite is at +1 caster level) Flame strike is good too, but holy smite is great if you have a good party, because you can drop it on anyone in melee or not. Depending on your DM and campaign.. make good use of the divination spells. If you take church inquisitor or inquisition domain, detect thoughts is a powerful spell. Hope this helps.