Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 johnmcmahon Apr 20, 2009 10:37:33	As you may or may not know i wrote some time ago regarding a favored soul i was playing. My DM suggested that i rolled up a cleric istead so that i wouldn't be a spell lvl behind. So this is where im standing, i have a Aasimar(without lvl adjustment) cleric of eillistrae, i'm lvl 2 and i like to plan ahead. i have been allowed to choose cloistered cleric, and i have been allowed to take 2 feats. I want to be a strong warrior seeing as we have another cleric with the ability to heal and all those things. I have looked closely at the prestige paladin, this is mostly because of some of the paladin spells and all the other abilities, i think i like the idea of mounted combat so i want to actually use that. I have the following stats: 18,18,17,17,16,16 besides that i have looked at the alternate classfeature to allow you to get natural armor instead of armor proficiency... ideas or a full build, im very open for suggestions, including feats and spells.
#2 Balthanon Apr 20, 2009 11:07:08	If you want to play a warrior cleric from low level, cloistered cleric probably isn't the route you want to take. You won't have access to divine power for another 5 levels and up until that point you have a poor base attack bonus. You could mitigate that by jumping into another prestige class early on (possibly Church Inquisitor, since that can be entered early), but you're still losing at least 3 BAB by 5th level. Knowledge Devotion (Complete Champion) might be another offset at low levels. If you do want to go Prestige Paladin, you'll only want to take 3 levels at most-- that loses only one level of spellcasting and picks up most of the relevant paladin abilities (spells, divine grace*, mount, and divine health). You could go with Cloistered Cleric 3/Church Inquisitor 4/Prestige Paladin 3 as a base-- that should get you most of what you want early on. After that, pick out a prestige class that will get you full or near full spellcasting, any special abilities you like, and decent base attack bonus.
#3 johnmcmahon Apr 20, 2009 11:42:34	and which prestige classes would u add? knight of the raven or something like that?
#4 phaedrusxy Apr 20, 2009 12:56:50	I disagree about Cloistered Cleric not being good for low level melee. By the time you get to a high enough level for that lost BAB to really matter, you can cast Divine Power, and it still won't matter. And Knowledge Devotion makes up for it and then some, before that. The loss of armor and shield proficiencies will hurt more, but I think you get those back with Church Inquisitor, right?
#5 dr_rocktopus Apr 20, 2009 13:45:45	This one agrees. This one also mentions a thing called RkV, that perhaps your affable GM will reflavor for you? That perhaps you could qualify for?
#6 Balthanon Apr 20, 2009 19:51:56	I disagree about Cloistered Cleric not being good for low level melee. By the time you get to a high enough level for that lost BAB to really matter, you can cast Divine Power, and it still won't matter. And Knowledge Devotion makes up for it and then some, before that. The loss of armor and shield proficiencies will hurt more, but I think you get those back with Church Inquisitor, right? Church Inquisitor doesn't gain armor or weapon proficiencies-- prestige paladin does though, albeit at 8th level in this case. With those stats, it may not matter though-- he'll have a minimum Dex of 16 unless he goes with a race that has a penalty, which combined with a chain shirt will put him at a 17. Using a masterwork buckler eliminates the armor check penalty, so that bumps him up to 18 or 19 (depending on Dex), which is decent, if not amazing at low level. Full plate and heavy shield would only put him at a 21.
#7 phaedrusxy Apr 20, 2009 20:14:28	A darkwood heavy shield also has 0 ACP, and is cheap. I usually snag one for the psions I play. ;)