Solo Battle Cleric

[DakFrost]

I have recently rolled up a 28 point build Dwarf Battle Cleric. I took Toughness as my first feat and my stats are as follows;

Str - 16
Dex -10
Con - 16
Int - 8
Wis - 16
Chr - 6

I was wondering if I should add a level of fighter to get the Dwarvin Axe or if anyone had a good idea for a multi-class Cleric that was geared towards soloing.

I realize that DDO is an MMO and therefore intended as a group game, but unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to dedicate to waiting for groups to form or to being able to commit to finishing long quests. (I'm married and also have a busy job and personal life)

Thanks

[SEMPER]

did u ever think about ranger ? depending on how many levels u want to take , otherwise fighter probably is better

[Angelus_dead]

I was wondering if I should add a level of fighter to get the Dwarvin Axe or if anyone had a good idea for a multi-class Cleric that was geared towards soloing.
The rule of thumb is that dwarven battle clerics should take one level of a warrior class so they can learn 5 kinds of axes. You're free to chose between fighter, barbarian, paladin, and ranger according to your preferences.

Fighter: haste boost, tower shield, and a bonus feat
Barbarian: running speed, Power Attack DPS
Paladin: spellpoints, AC, and saves
Ranger: spellpoints, saves, bow DPS, and target-specific DPS

[DakFrost]

Thanks for the break down of the pros of each melee class Angelus, that is a big help. I'm still leaning towards Fighter since I like having a big AC and my Dex isn't a factor for my armour.

At what level would you suggest taking my Fighter level? I am considering taking it as my second level just to give my attack a boost.

Thanks for the replies

[Arianrhod]

If you can get by without the fighter level, it's probably worth it to stay pure. Once you get over 10th level you're likely to do more spellcasting and less meleeing, and the Dwarven Axe is only a little better than a Morningstar, unless you put some feats & enhancements into using it to its full potential.

My suggestion would be to stay pure until you decide just how much of a meleer you want to be. Battleclerics can melee quite well, but, as with any other focus, if you want to be good at it, you have to invest in it. That means getting the gear, the feats & the enhancements, all of which (arguably excepting the gear) detract somewhat from your spellcasting. So, you could take Power Attack or Maximize spell, Cleric spellpoint enhancements or Dwarf axe enhancements, but will have a hard time fitting in all of both ;)

As for what you would get, and what you would give up - 1 fighter level gives you Martial Weapon Proficiency, Tower Shield proficiency, a bonus combat feat, 2 extra hit points (10 instead of 8), a higher Fort save, and +1 Base Attack Bonus.
The cleric level you would have to give up to get all that would give more spellpoints, more spell slots, higher spell penetration, better turning undead (not likely to be relevant if you haven't focused on that to begin with), and a shot at the top level of enhancements (including capstones).

[edit - a note about the "freedom" to choose different melee classes - you have to be Lawful Good to take paladin levels, or non-lawful to take barbarian levels.]

[DakFrost]

Unfortunately I don't think I will ever have the time to Level Cap a character since my game time is only about 3 hours a week and I have discovered that by about level 8 I have a lot of difficulty grouping and getting enough time to run the longer quests, so worrying about what my end stats are going to be isn't too much of a concern.

I have rolled a Heal Bot Cleric before and I don't want to go that route again, I find it very boring just babysitting a run. I think I will follow the path of a dedicated Battle Cleric and sacrifice my spell casting for melee.

The thing that worries me the most about going the full Battle Cleric route is that if I do group it will be assumed that I will be a Heal Bot and the group will complain when I am not holding their hands when it gets rough.

[Arianrhod]

Unfortunately I don't think I will ever have the time to Level Cap a character since my game time is only about 3 hours a week and I have discovered that by about level 8 I have a lot of difficulty grouping and getting enough time to run the longer quests, so worrying about what my end stats are going to be isn't too much of a concern.

I have rolled a Heal Bot Cleric before and I don't want to go that route again, I find it very boring just babysitting a run. I think I will follow the path of a dedicated Battle Cleric and sacrifice my spell casting for melee.

The thing that worries me the most about going the full Battle Cleric route is that if I do group it will be assumed that I will be a Heal Bot and the group will complain when I am not holding their hands when it gets rough.

In that case, taking the melee level is probably worth a small sacrifice in the spellcasting department. Unfortunately, some groups will expect you to babysit them no matter how clearly you have BATTLECLERIC tattooed all over you - in those cases, you may just need to grow a thick skin and ignore the cries of HJEAL ME!!111 ;) They'll get over it, or you'll find another group :D

[edit, again - I saw that you were leaning toward fighter for AC, but not counting on dex to help out. Under 10th level, anyone who can wear Full Plate (including a pure cleric) can have a good AC - just keep buying the highest + Full Plate & Heavy Shield you can get. Once you get past 10th level, however, it gets harder to keep up in the AC department if you don't have high int (for Combat Expertise) or high dex (fighters & dwarves use Armor Mastery enhancements to increase their dex bonus in heavier armors). If you have the LG alignment, and want a good AC without high int or dex, you might want to consider Paladin instead of Fighter. Tower Shields are only slightly better AC than Heavy Shields, and give a penalty to hit (even when proficient). Paladin Auras, on the other hand, have no combat penalty, and can be improved with enhancements.]

[Noctus]

Unfortunately, some groups will expect you to babysit them no matter how clearly you have BATTLECLERIC tattooed all over you - in those cases, you may just need to grow a thick skin and ignore the cries of HJEAL ME!!111 ;) They'll get over it, or you'll find another group :D

Excellent advice.