Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Gavinfoxx 01-25-06, 04:01 PM	Hello optimizers! There needs to be a thread that lists the very best cleric spells to memorize for any given level and situation, why they are the best spells to memorize (maybe even with some sort of description of the spell, though we dont want to be too detailed in that), and what book and page to find them in. Let me start by linking to Szatany's excellent Ultimate Spell List here: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=343040. Any suggestions? What spells would you consider memorizing for some different situations with your cleric? Perhaps you could say something like, "Here is a dungeon crawl list of spells to memorize for an evil cleric of levels 8 through 14", or "Here is a day-to-day list to memorize for a lawful good cleric of level 1 through 7", or even, "Here is a list for a buffer-cleric level 12 and up".
Prominence 01-25-06, 04:12 PM	Really, it changes each level you are. There aren't many 'always memorized' spells in my opinion. Your higher level spells are usually 'attack spells' since they do the best damage and continually replacing them with buff/support spells as you level up, since their DCs matter less. As far as always memorized spells go though... Shivering Touch (The Dragon Slayer), Anyspell, Greater Anyspell, Righteous Might, Divine Power, Miracle Are the main four I can think of.
Gavinfoxx 01-25-06, 07:16 PM	I edited my post to show that I am interested in spells that will be effective at particular given levels... I am just interested in spells that are extremely useful period. "Spell A is useful for character type B or C, from levels D through E, in situations F, G, and H. It does I and is found in book J, pg K." While you could say that about any spell, I am interested in what spells stand out as being really extra special, the bread and butter for any (or at least your particular) cleric. Here's another way to do it... maybe we could do it by level? For example, I'm thinking something like, "Here are the best cantrips to memorize, make sure to get these from book of vile darkness if you are evil, and even if you aren't evil, get these from ghostwalk, and these from dragon 302. If you are going dungeoneering, memorise these, if you are in a city, memorize these, if you are in the wild, memorize these..."
Gavinfoxx 01-30-06, 05:01 PM	Alright, lets get this started. Maybe if I give an example, this will help. For most of the upcoming replies, I am going to be talking about relatively LOW LEVEL spells... I'll be working my way up through the lists, eventually getting spells that are higher level... but for now, low level is where I'm starting. Lance Spells Some of the most interesting direct damage ranged attacks that a cleric has generally have the term "Lance" in them. There are three that I found interesting. First is "Alicorn Lance", from the Silver Marches Web Enhancement. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20020719a Its a 2nd level cleric/druid ranged touch attack that does 3d6 force damage. Nice for a cleric wanting to do some blasting! Plus it gives a Faerie Fire for the duration, which is a nice bonus. No save, either! Great in a party that doesn't have a Wizard/Sorcerer/Warmage/Warlock/etc. In addition, there is a 3rd level spell on page 70 of Savage Species called "Sound Lance", which does even more direct damage, and its sonic this time. Finally, if you have Checkmate's Light or another light source persisted all the time, you might want to look into the fourth level spell, Lucent Lance, from page 73 of Dragon 322. The image of coalescing the red glow from your weapon into a red beam that comes forth from your wand or hand to deal damage is just *too cool* for words! Or, if you prefer to use wands... a wand of "Lucent Lance" with continual flame cast on it ensures that it will always do best damage! No save, either! :) I'm sure there are more direct damage ones, but only spells of up to fourth level can be put on wands, so I'm sticking to these.
Gavinfoxx 01-31-06, 09:47 PM	Adding some more stuff... spells that enhance skill checks! There is Wieldskill, a level 1 spell on page 134 of Magic of Faerun, which gives a quick bonus to any skill check... there is Guidance of the Avatar, which is here: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/sb/sb20010504a which does much the same thing but is a level 2 spell.. and there is Divine Insight, which is on page 147 of Complete Adventurer, which gives a much longer lasting but lower bonus to a skill... but which is also persistable.. as near as I can tell, if you want to have, say, a large bonus to craft something and are a Persistant Divine Metamagic cleric, use Divine Insight! Also, a good utility spell that will help in roleplaying-heavy games, especially urban ones, is "Scholar's Touch", a level 1 cleric spell on page 167 of Races of Destiny, which helps you read books. This can be persisted too! Some more great persistable utility spells, other than Divine Insight and Scholar's Touch are Comprehend Languages, a level 1 spell on page 212 of the PHB, and Find Traps, a level 2 spell on page 230 of the PHB.
Gavinfoxx 01-31-06, 10:26 PM	Buffs.. Clerics have many, many nice buffs, even at low levels. For the low level Persistant Divine Metamagic Clerics, Divine Favor (Player’s Handbook, page 224) is a wonderful spell to have persisted all day... The unnamed weapon damage bonus of Brambles (Cleric 2, Complete Divine pg 156) and Spikes (Complete Divine, pg 181) stack, even if the other bonuses don't, and there are many types of wood that let more advanced weapons (maces, warhammers, etc) be made of wood, such as Ironwood and Bronzewood. If you dont mind being a cleric who wields a wooden weapon, Brambles and Spikes make great weapon buffs. They are not persistable, however... but they do have a long time that they last, which is why you should invest in an Ironwood or Bronzewood *bludgeoning weapon of choice* and a rod of lesser extend for your cleric. Frost Weapon, a Cleric 2 spell from page 95 of Frostburn, is a decent non-persistifiable weapons buff. A very very interesting Cleric 3 weapon buff that also helps allies a bit is "Checkmates Light", seen here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mb/20040915a This is persistifiable, sheds light, and is an all around nice thing to have on your primary weapon all day if you dont need to be sneaking around. Make no mistake, one of the best cleric spells EVER is Divine Power, and this is so important that it needs its own paragraph. You get the base attack bonus of a Fighter, you gain a large amount of strength, and you gain temporary hitpoints. With this Persistant, you essentially have those hit points all day... it is the fact that a Persistant Divine Metamagic Cleric can get this buff essentially permanantly by Seventh Level, and maybe even another spell or two persisted as well, that often makes such a cleric a better fighter than a normal fighter. There are some great group buffs for low level Clerics to cast. What's more, all of these spells are persistable! There is Elation, a level 2 cleric spell from page 98 of Book of Exalted Deeds, Divine Protection, a level 2 Cleric spell on page 35 of Miniatures Handbook, of course there is Bless (Cleric 1, Player’s Handbook, page 205) and Bane (Cleric 1, PHB pg 203). Finally, there is Prayer (Clr 3, phb pg 264). All of these are great spells, but if I had to pick, I would pick Prayer. Here's a spell you wouldn't use very often, but when you do, it (persisted, at least) will be incredibly useful. Say your cleric gets thrown into a dungeon (as in, prison in a dungeon) with no weapons, and no way of knowing if he'll get anything resembling his nice, favored weapons. What spell does he pray for -- and then persist? Stone Fist, a Cleric 2 spell on page 163 of Races of Stone. This will let him kick ass with his bare hands in a way that is much more satisfying to imagine (if you like the visceral to and brutal imagery) than a monk's unarmed strike. You can get in your armor (even some you create yourself) and get a shield, cast this, and go to town!
Tleilaxu_Ghola 01-31-06, 10:41 PM	Check out complete adventurer there's a 2nd level cleric spell that adds +15 insight bonus to any skill check. ANY SKILL CHECK. Nice duration too. Tragically, the name escapes me...
Gavinfoxx 01-31-06, 10:56 PM	I already mentioned Divine Insight, which is what you are thinking of. The bonus to that isn't +15 all the time... it depends on your level. Wieldskill is always +10 and is touch, so you can help others but can't persist it, and is 1 minute per level. Divine Insight is 5 + caster level, for a maximum of + 15, and is personal and therefore persistable, and lasts 1 hour per level. Guidence of the Avatar is + 20, lasts one minute, and is touch range.
Gavinfoxx 01-31-06, 11:03 PM	Of course, some the best spells to have on a wand have the term "Vigor" in them... Lesser Vigor, Vigor, Mass Lesser Vigor, etc... And, depending on your DM, Mass Lesser Vigor might be persistable, which would give much of your party esentially fast healing.
Gavinfoxx 01-31-06, 11:13 PM	There aren't many defensive spells specifically for the cleric him or herself, but here are some low level ones. Luckily, many are in the SRD, so I can describe those in detail: "Shield of Faith Abjuration Level: Clr 1 Components: V, S, M Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Touch Target: Creature touched Duration: 1 min./level Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless) This spell creates a shimmering, magical field around the touched creature that averts attacks. The spell grants the subject a +2 deflection bonus to AC, with an additional +1 to the bonus for every six levels you have (maximum +5 deflection bonus at 18th level). Material Component A small parchment with a bit of holy text written upon it." This one is your basic "throw it up at the beginning of the fight and go!" and is not persistable, but isn't bad for a low level buff... just remember, get the heaviest armor as is feasible for your Cleric! Dex is usually a dump stat... If you have trouble GETTING that armor, then here is a spell for your low level cleric. "Segojan's Armor", a Cleric 1 spell, seen here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mb/20041117a Next, here's a low level anti-ranged, persistable defensive buff: "Entropic Shield Abjuration Level: Clr 1, Luck 1 Components: V, S Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Personal Target: You Duration: 1 min./level (D) A magical field appears around you, glowing with a chaotic blast of multicolored hues. This field deflects incoming arrows, rays, and other ranged attacks. Each ranged attack directed at you for which the attacker must make an attack roll has a 20% miss chance (similar to the effects of concealment). Other attacks that simply work at a distance are not affected." Another shield for your low level cleric is "Vhaeraun's Nightshield", a Cleric 1 spell found here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mb/20040818a This helps against magic missile damage and it helps with saving throws. Another good low level defensive cleric spell is this, in the SRD: "Magic Vestment Transmutation Level: Clr 3, Strength 3, War 3 Components: V, S, DF Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Touch Target: Armor or shield touched Duration: 1 hour/level Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless, object) Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless, object) You imbue a suit of armor or a shield with an enhancement bonus of +1 per four caster levels (maximum +5 at 20th level). An outfit of regular clothing counts as armor that grants no AC bonus for the purpose of this spell."
Gavinfoxx 02-01-06, 12:59 PM	Orisons Most clerical Orisions (level 0 spells) come from these sources: Players Handbook, Ghostwalk, Book of Vile Darkness, and Dragon 302. Of the ones in the Player's Handbook, many are extremely useful -- Create Water, Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Guidance, Mending, Purify Food and Drink, Read Magic... in fact, it might be worth it to get wands of some of the more common level 0 spells so you always have whichever one you need on hand! The spells from Ghostwalk and Book of Vile Darkness are of less use -- or, more accurately, more campaign-specific use. Its only when you get to Dragon 302 where you find a large number of very useful Orisons for any game. Foraging Charm, Mirror, Resize, Heat Water, Yell -- these are all useful and it might be worth it to invest in a scroll case full of scrolls of Orisons, or wands of some of these. Mostly for adventuring, however, a low-level cleric has precious few orison slots to 'waste' on these, so one will probably want to stay with Mending, Detect Magic or Read Magic, and either Detect Poison or Purify Food and Drink.
Gavinfoxx 02-01-06, 04:07 PM	One of those things that people think most Clerics are supposed to do is healing. I already mentioned vigor for hit point damage, but clerics can also heal other things. There are certain spells that every party should have access to, in case they come up against some negative conditions. Every Cleric that can afford to should have these on scrolls as soon as they get to a level where the money for this is possible and casting them from a scroll is feasible. The spells I am going to discuss here are as follows: Healing Surf, Heart's Ease, Sheltered Vitality, Revivify, Panacea, Remove Blindness/Deafness, Remove Curse, Remove Disease, Remove Nausea, Remove Fear, Remove Fatigue,Remove Paralysis, Refreshment, Neutralize Poison, Lesser Restoration, and Restoration. In general, if you want one spell that will remove most bad status conditions, you want Panacea, a Cleric level 4 spell from Miniatures Handbook pg 37. However, there are other, lower level spells that heal some of the things that Panacea does. If, however, one of the effects it heals is caused by a spell of 7th level or higher, it cant help with that -- but it is still one heckuva deal. If you are standing in ocean surf, healing surf (cleric 4, found here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20040131a ) heals many of the things Panacea does, as well as temporary ability damage, which Panacea doesn't. Heart's Ease, a Cleric 3 spell on page 100 of Book of Exalted Deeds, heals many emotional and mental wounds, recreating some of the effects of Panacea, and it also helps heal temporary wisdom damage. Sheltered Vitality, a Cleric 3 spell on page 71 of Libris Mortis, makes a target immune to many types of auxilary damage, and is a good preventative measure if you are going up against creatures that cause those sorts of things. Revivify, a Cleric 5 page 38 of Miniatures Handbook, is a very useful spell -- if you can manage to do it right. It has a relatively expensive component (but cheap as far as ressurection spells go), and has to be cast within one round of your ally dying, but it allows you to raise a creature without any of the penalties normally associated with doing so -- making it potentially a much better spell than raise dead or rapid raise dead. Its essentially a cheap Rapid True Ressurection. The "Remove [status]" spells are all found on pages 270 and 271 of the PHB, and are essentially the lowest level one can get these effects. They are also likely the most easily found in scrolls, so it can be a good idea to have some of those.. However, except for Remove Curse, which Panacea doesn't help with, I strongly believe that Panacea is the better deal, if you can find some scrolls of that. The only two that are not found in the PHB are Remove Nausea and Remove Fatigue. Remove Nausea is a cleric 3 spell found on page 105 of the book of Exalted Deeds, and Remove Fatigue is a cleric 4 spell on the same page. On that same page is also Refreshment, a cleric 3 spell that helps with nonlethal damage, including damage from non-normal sources. Neutralize Poison is a Clr 4 spell on pg 257 of the PHB. It does what it says, and is essentially useless if you have access to Panacea, since it isnt of lower level than Panacea. Restoration is a cleric 4 spell found on page 272 of the PHB, and Lesser Restoration is a Cleric 2 spell found on the same page, and they both help with ability damage. In my opinion, a Cleric should do his or her best to get some scrolls Panacea, Restoration or at least Lesser Restoration, and remove curse "just in case" as soon as possible.. if that would be too expensive, at least get scrolls for the level 2 healing -- lesser restoration and remove paralysis... and save up for some of the level 3 stuff as well... a good idea would be the stuff on a staff of healing -- go for remove blindness/deafness and remove disease. A wand of Panacea would be an incredibly wise purchase for a mid-level cleric as well. It's a cure-all! Almost as good as Heal, except it doesnt cure many hit points, and doesnt help with ability damage... and it can be put on a wand!
Avanter 02-01-06, 04:10 PM	I have got to say, that whenever I play a cleric, I always memorize at least one prayer, which, IMHO, is probably the best cleric spell there is for its spell level. Your allies get +1 to everything but AC, and your enmies get -1 to everything, except AC.... no save! You slant all opposed skill checks in your favor by 10%! Opposed hide and spot rolls... they get -1, you get +1.. diffrence of 2.. you give all your buddies DR 1 against weapons.. it reduces all your opponents saves with no save, setting them up for more de-buffing... I could go on, but even with its limited duration...prayer is the most bang for the buck.. and it has a HUGE area...
tiercel 02-01-06, 10:57 PM	Know thy DM, obviously. I know more than a few people who are not fond of Divine Metamagic Persistent (i.e. it is not allowed), which changes the playing field of constantly having rafts of Persisted uber-buffs. Part of it will depend on your domains and the availability of the Domain Spontaneity feat -- if you are a cleric with the Travel domain and you are spontaneously casting fly and dimension door all day long, then your actual choices for 3rd and 4th level spells suddenly mean a lot less. If you are allowed the vigor spells from Complete Divine, they blow the doors off cure spells for out-of-combat healing. A wand of cure light wounds heals 2-9 points of damage per charge, albeit instantly, whereas a wand of lesser vigor heals 11 points of damage per charge, albeit over 11 rounds. The two wands cost the same amount. Healing takes a quantum leap with the arrival of mass cure light wounds (with its bigger cap, and more to the point hitting multiple targets at range) and of course heal (which lets you heal in combat again, due to the huge amounts of damage it erases, not to mention gobs of status ailments.) Again, if you have the vigor line of spells, then their mass versions will generally outperform the mass cure X wounds spells, since a lot of healing is done outside of combat. Protection from evil is one of those spells that is pretty good all game long -- at low levels, the numeric bonuses are sweet because you don't have any deflection or resistance bonuses from equipment yet. By time your equipment has these bonuses, you're going to start being more worried about needing protection from mental influence and protection from summoned creatures. (This humble spell can save your bacon if you are facing down a mid-to-high level druid spontaneously summoning multiple Augmented big elementals all of whom are trying to bat you around or grapple you.) Clerics should almost never use dispel magic to counterspell, when they can use silence instead. Just ready a silence to go off centered an inch in front of your enemy caster as soon as he casts, and if the spell has a V component, toasted. Alternatively, cast silence on your party's tank/grappler and let them engage, or upon a tanglefoot bag / token tied to a tanglefoot bag and hurl it at the enemy caster. I think Scribe Scroll is just too useful for a cleric, since they have so many situational spells which will come up eventually. Not only all the status ailment cures (remove paralysis, delay/neutralize poison, remove curse, blindness, deafness, various restoration versions), but also toolbox spells like align weapon, make whole, detect [alignment]/undeadi, status, stone shape. Remember -- you're a divine caster, so you've got access to everything on your list. (Including spells from any allowed supplements.) To leverage that power, you want to have access to as much of that list as possible all the time, which means temporary storage of single-use spells. Get scrolls -- scribing them is the cheaper and easy way, but buy some if you have to. Freedom of movement is a must-have ability as you get to mid-to-upper levels, whether in cast form or ring form. (And it will be a while after you get access to the spell that anyone in the party will be able to afford the ring.) Spell resistance is mighty tasty too -- given that items that grant SR are hideously expensive and typically don't grant enough SR to stop spellcasters of anything like your caster level. (And, oddly, your party mage can't cast SR himself.) Holy word (and its other-aligned cousins) are sick and nasty particularly if your DM allows, for some reason, the strand of prayer beads (I'm thinking here of the bead of karma which temporarily gives you +4 caster level). If your DM isn't big on roleplaying restrictions miracle is like a no-XP wish, at least in terms of "casting most any other spell for free." Most DMs will put some kind of cap on your use of miracle, but still....
Timlagor 02-02-06, 10:42 AM	Silence
kraegor 02-02-06, 07:51 PM	Holy Word No saving throw, just be more than 5 levels higher than your opponent and instand paralysis which = death.
necrosnoop110 02-02-06, 08:52 PM	Here is what I would do 1) Let go of this thread 2) Create a whole new thread called The 3.5 Cleric Spell List 3) Model it after this thread http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=183763 (with multiple posts) 4) Organize the thread You could organize a spell list by each type of cleric: Cleric Archer Melee Cleric Healer Cleric Support Cleric General Purpose Cleric And maybe pick like the best five spells at each level for each type of cleric Best of luck, Necro
Snow Savant 02-05-06, 11:53 PM	I'm sorry I did not get back to you sooner, Gavin. Having played approximately 9-10 levels worth of clerics in 3.0/3.5, I'd have to say that at one point in time or another, I've prepped and cast spells that were normally extremely sub-optimal .... and due to the specific circumstance, got a return out of that spell that was either above-average or amazing. Yes, those were in situations where I had a beforehand inkling or strong intel dictating that those specific spells would be needed for that adventuring day. Such is the wonderful and unbalanced nature of the cleric's normal spell list in addition to its augmented spell access via domains. In light of that, there are too many campaign-specific and situation-dependent variables to actually make a list of "Essential Daily Cleric Spells". *** For the best way to optimize a cleric's spellcasting "answers" to dealing with in-game problems, I highly recommend playing a Cleric with the following resources: 1. The Spell Domain (PGtF/SpComp) 2. The Domain Spontaneity: Spell Domain Feat (CD) [Note: If your DM has issues with the Anyspell/G. Anyspell wording regarding the filling of a domain slot, that can be definitely fixed RAW-wise by additionally taking the Initiate of Mystra feat (PGtF)] The reason for this combo is due to the spontaneous access of the following 4 spells: 1. Anyspell 2. Rary's Mnemonic Enhancer 3. G. Anyspell 4. Limited Wish *** A Spell Domain Cleric who can spontaneously cast these spells (and has a significant investment in a arcane-spell-only spellbook), pretty much has access to whatever "solution" spell he needs throughout a good portion of his character's career. RME is a fantastic spell to be able to cast spontaneously. Especially on adventure days when you are fortunate enough to not have to had cast a lot of your spells. RME'ing slots can give you a ton of lower-level slots for the next day.
malaegoth 02-06-06, 12:10 AM	My battle cleric is lvl 12 atm, and has the following spells memorized as my default spells. (Domains Healing, Sun, Purification) Cure Light Wounds - Domain Divine Favor - 1 Shield of Faith - 2 Vigor - 4 Cure Moderate Wounds - Domain Bear's Endurance - 2 Remove Paralysis - 2 Spiritual Weapon - 2 Cure Serious Wounds - Domain Magic Vestment - 2 Remove Disease - 1 Spikes - 1 Knight's Move - 2 Cure Critical Wounds - Domain Dimensional Anchor - 1 Divine Power - 1 Freedom of Movement - 1 Neutralize Poison - 1 Restoration - 1 Dance of the Unicorn - Domain Righteous Might - 1 Righteous Wrath of the Faithful - 1 Triadspell - 2 Heal - Domain Fires of Purity - 1 Resistance (Superior) - 1 Visage of the Deity - 1 Word of Recall - 1 I typically spend the day with Divine Power, Righteous Might, and Visage of the Deity Persisted, with Superior Resistance having its own 24 hour duration, and using my prayer bead of Karma in the morning when I spell up makes them harder to dispel, and creates a more powerful effect with the Magic Vestment on my Full Plate and Heavy Metal Shield. I round it out with a +1 Holy wooden club that I cast Spikes on. Some of the spells were recent additions when one of the players got the new Spell Compendium, which is where I picked up lvl 6 resistance, lvl 5 Triadspell, and lvl 3 knights move. One of my character's biggest weaknesses is his lack of mobility, so the ability to triadspell three spiritual weapons as I advance is invaluable, as is casting a knights move into a flanking position and immediately full attacking. I mostly focus my spells on heals and utility such as poison and paralysis cures, since I predominantly spend my time in melee combat. I'll pick up another prayer bead of karma soon and at 13 and 15 i'll be picking up the potent death spells of Holy Word/Dictum and Last Judgement.
Gavinfoxx 02-06-06, 12:45 PM	My battle cleric is lvl 12 atm, and has the following spells memorized as my default spells. (Domains Healing, Sun, Purification) Cure Light Wounds - Domain Divine Favor - 1 Shield of Faith - 2 Vigor - 4 Cure Moderate Wounds - Domain Bear's Endurance - 2 Remove Paralysis - 2 Spiritual Weapon - 2 Cure Serious Wounds - Domain Magic Vestment - 2 Remove Disease - 1 Spikes - 1 Knight's Move - 2 Cure Critical Wounds - Domain Dimensional Anchor - 1 Divine Power - 1 Freedom of Movement - 1 Neutralize Poison - 1 Restoration - 1 Dance of the Unicorn - Domain Righteous Might - 1 Righteous Wrath of the Faithful - 1 Triadspell - 2 Heal - Domain Fires of Purity - 1 Resistance (Superior) - 1 Visage of the Deity - 1 Word of Recall - 1 I typically spend the day with Divine Power, Righteous Might, and Visage of the Deity Persisted, with Superior Resistance having its own 24 hour duration, and using my prayer bead of Karma in the morning when I spell up makes them harder to dispel, and creates a more powerful effect with the Magic Vestment on my Full Plate and Heavy Metal Shield. I round it out with a +1 Holy wooden club that I cast Spikes on. Some of the spells were recent additions when one of the players got the new Spell Compendium, which is where I picked up lvl 6 resistance, lvl 5 Triadspell, and lvl 3 knights move. One of my character's biggest weaknesses is his lack of mobility, so the ability to triadspell three spiritual weapons as I advance is invaluable, as is casting a knights move into a flanking position and immediately full attacking. I mostly focus my spells on heals and utility such as poison and paralysis cures, since I predominantly spend my time in melee combat. I'll pick up another prayer bead of karma soon and at 13 and 15 i'll be picking up the potent death spells of Holy Word/Dictum and Last Judgement. A few things... dont you get the ability to automatically transfer out a normal spell for a healing spell? So why the need to use your domain slots for the normal cure series of spells? And you do know that the unnamed damage bonus for spikes and brambles stack... with a rod of extend spell, you can cast both and have them both probably last 24 hours a day. And have you *seen* Checkmate's Light? And you might want to change that Neutralize Poison to Panacea, which does everything Neutralize Poison does and more. I would've probably picked the Metal domain somewhere so I could use a +1 Holy Ironwood Maul... 1d10 damage...
vogster 02-06-06, 01:03 PM	Where is ironwood from?
Gavinfoxx 02-06-06, 01:19 PM	Where is ironwood from? DMG and PHB. There are loads of other "like steel" woods out there in various splatbooks, though, with various ways to get to them and prices. http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/craft.htm "A successful Craft check related to woodworking in conjunction with the casting of the ironwood spell enables you to make wooden items that have the strength of steel." and http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/ironwood.htm "Ironwood Transmutation Level: Drd 6 Components: V, S, M Casting Time: 1 minute/lb. created Range: 0 ft. Effect: An ironwood object weighing up to 5 lb./level Duration: One day/level (D) Saving Throw: None Spell Resistance: No Ironwood is a magical substance created by druids from normal wood. While remaining natural wood in almost every way, ironwood is as strong, heavy, and resistant to fire as steel. Spells that affect metal or iron do not function on ironwood. Spells that affect wood do affect ironwood, although ironwood does not burn. Using this spell with wood shape or a wood-related Craft check, you can fashion wooden items that function as steel items. Thus, wooden plate armor and wooden swords can be created that are as durable as their normal steel counterparts. These items are freely usable by druids. Further, if you make only half as much ironwood as the spell would normally allow, any weapon, shield, or suit of armor so created is treated as a magic item with a +1 enhancement bonus. Material Component Wood shaped into the form of the intended ironwood object."
Gavinfoxx 02-06-06, 07:37 PM	Well, I just got the Spell Compendium, and Spikes/Brambles/Checkmate's Light are no longer as awesome as they once were, which makes the persistant divine metamagic build a little bit less powerful... same goes with Divine Agility...Fist of Stone... Lucent Lance is now a cleric 6 spell...
fafnisbani 02-07-06, 05:02 AM	How was Checkmate]s Light?
Medicelious-Melharmonac 02-07-06, 08:27 AM	Well, I just got the Spell Compendium, and Spikes/Brambles/Checkmate's Light are no longer as awesome as they once were, which makes the persistant divine metamagic build a little bit less powerful... same goes with Divine Agility...Fist of Stone... Lucent Lance is now a cleric 6 spell... Divine Agility is much better than before. It's no longer personal therefore you can use it to buff your archers, finesse fighters, monks, wizards etc. +10 Dex is +5 Reflex and 5 touch AC. It's way better then rogue reflex save, +4 Dex and Spring attack mostly because its sharable and chainable ;) .
Fenris78 02-07-06, 09:36 AM	Seems a lot of you have taken Righteous Might. Am I missing something? I always skipped it and just stocked up on Divine Power instead... Divine Power as a 9th level caster will give you: +6 to hit (+3 Str, +3 BaB) +3 to damage 9 temporary HP Righteous Might at the same level: +1 to hit (+2 Str, -1 Size) +4.5 to damage (+2 Str, +2.5 average weapon damage from larger weapon) 9 temporary HP +1 Fort -1 AC (I think) DR 3 Now for my money I don't think that Righteous Might is actually better. Maybe at higher levels when the DR increases it works out more worthwhile. However, I don't like doing level 20 comparisons as the highest level characters I have ever played (in almost 20 years gaming) were 14th. Tops. Have I done my maths right?
Doomsquee 02-07-06, 11:09 AM	Perhaps they aren't using the errata version of Righteous Might. BTW, remember the +2 enhancement bonus to nat AC, and that temporary increases in Con result in effective HP, not temp HP.
Medicelious-Melharmonac 02-07-06, 11:26 AM	DR 10/EVIL OR 15/EVIL at CL15
Disciple 02-07-06, 11:44 AM	yup also RM gives you tons of battlefield control as you grow bigger.
Fenris78 02-07-06, 02:27 PM	Perhaps they aren't using the errata version of Righteous Might. BTW, remember the +2 enhancement bonus to nat AC, and that temporary increases in Con result in effective HP, not temp HP. Fair play, missed the AC increase, so the net is actually +1, which is better than a kick in the teeth I guess. The thing about the Con maybe just semantics but I viewed them as temp HP as they're going to be lost when the spell wears off. DR 10/EVIL OR 15/EVIL at CL15 Nope... 9/evil at level 15 max. Don't get me wrong it's not a bad spell, and it's good to show off with, and I guess you could stack the 2 to become a monster, but otherwise I think DP gives you slightly more bang for your buck.
Prominence 02-07-06, 03:35 PM	I'm going to add Lastai's Caress, in Book of Exalted Deeds. It is essentially Curse of the Putrid Husk for good aligned characters, and it's only a level 2 spell, though it only works against known evil people. Still, to end a BBEG fight in 1 turn is pretty amazing. 1) Touch attack 2) No Save 3) Has a 50% chance to essentially remove someone from combat entirely. 25% chance for Cowering, 25% for nauseated, 25% frightened, 25% shaken. Seems like a good deal to me, the only downside is Cowering is on a 1(1d4), where as shaken is a 4 so you can't apply Servant of the Heavens or anything to it.
kerplunk3742 02-09-06, 05:53 PM	I have a Melee/Healing/Turning Cleric. He has Blindsight and Blindfight, so he usually memorizes Darkness and/or Deeper(?) Darkness. Benefit: the Rogue in the group cannot sneak up on my Cleric. ;D Resist Elements (Fire): yes, we have a fireball crazy mage. My cleric can be in the center of the fight, acting as bait to draw a lot of bad guys around him. Then a fireball takes out tons of them, and my guy is safe. Except for that one time the wizard ran out of fire spells and use lightning. My guy went straight to -9 HP. Strategy only works if everybody cooperates and communicates. Healing: Got that as a Domain. Healing is cool. Death: Got this as a Domain, too. (House rules deity that the GM approved.) Some death domain spells allow buffing, which is cool and leads us to the next paragraph. Buff Spells: Love them. My cleric is very aggressive and in the enemy's face. Spend a round to up your strength before cracking skulls. It's worth it.
Gavinfoxx 05-19-06, 08:17 PM	bumping a very old thread of mine, to see if there is anything recent that should go on it!
MegaPlex 09-20-06, 06:48 PM	A few more to mention: (1st) Resurgence -- You grant subject a second chance at a saving throw (cmpdvn p.177). It's a touch spell, which limits it's usefullness, but it can save a bad roll by an ally. (2nd) Enthrall -- If you have the attention of a group of creatures, you can hold them spellbound (phb p.227). Spell which is great for large groups, as it effects all creatures who can hear you. (2nd) Healing Lorecall -- If you have 5 or more ranks in Heal, you can remove harmful conditions with conjuration [healing] spells (cmpadv p.151). Adds a nice side effect to your normal healing spells. (2nd) Iron Silence -- Armor touched has no armor check penalty on Hide and Move Silently for 1 hour/level (cmpadv p153). Nice if your rogue decides to wear heavy/medium armor or the rest of the group needs to be sneaky. (3rd) Invisibility Purge -- You surround yourself with a sphere of power with a radius of 45 feet that negates all forms of invisibility. Anything invisible becomes visible while in the area. (phb p.245). Changes some encounters from Impossible to Easy.
MSW 09-21-06, 03:42 PM	Spiritual Weapon is one of the best spells a cleric has. http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/spiritualWeapon.htm You'll find that at low levels this is better then the summon monster spells, since your to hit is better and the weapon can travel within it's range at a very fast speed. It's like having your very own mage slaying monk in a 2nd level spell. At higher levels, your BaB gives you multiple attacks with this thing. So let's see, if you are EL8 and the opponent is EL8, and you get 4 attacks to his 2... who is probably going to win? Oh yeah, 2 of those attacks are with magic that uses your best stat for to hit modifier instead of STR... Cast it twice and you get 6 attacks a round to his 2...