Cleric levelling build

[Ryan220]

Hello all.

Im in the process of planning my next life, which will be a Cleric life - which will TR at L20

Im stuck on the way I wish to do it though - with so many variants of Cleric builds I just cannot decide which would be best.

The PLs I have would suggest pure caster build, but I had such a miserable time getting my caster FvS up to L12 the thought of a similar experience on a Cleric isnt appealling.

I want to be able to melee things down as well as having a great blade barrier.

Im fortunate that I have some good PLs to work with - 3xSorc, 2xWiz and 1xFvS but I lack the knowlege of how to create a build to best suit them to make the L1 - L11 less of a chore.

Is it possible to splash a level or two of melee to make the low levels quicker (and beat down mobs at higher levels if I run out of SP) whilst maintaining a reasonable caster spec?

Should I stay pure Cletic and use the Warpriest tree?


Any advice, ideas etc would be very welcome as Im a bit stuck on what to do at thr moment.

Many thanks

[Serow]

Hello all.

Im in the process of planning my next life, which will be a Cleric life - which will TR at L20

Im stuck on the way I wish to do it though - with so many variants of Cleric builds I just cannot decide which would be best.

The PLs I have would suggest pure caster build, but I had such a miserable time getting my caster FvS up to L12 the thought of a similar experience on a Cleric isnt appealling.

I want to be able to melee things down as well as having a great blade barrier.

Im fortunate that I have some good PLs to work with - 3xSorc, 2xWiz and 1xFvS but I lack the knowlege of how to create a build to best suit them to make the L1 - L11 less of a chore.

Is it possible to splash a level or two of melee to make the low levels quicker (and beat down mobs at higher levels if I run out of SP) whilst maintaining a reasonable caster spec?

Should I stay pure Cletic and use the Warpriest tree?


Any advice, ideas etc would be very welcome as Im a bit stuck on what to do at thr moment.

Many thanks

It's a bit quickly made but it should work well and require +3 dex and int tome at least, i put down enhancement too but you can adjust them almost anytime...
Radiant servant aura (if you make use of it's melee) if you feel too weak at low level because of twf take the 2 points from charisma and add to dex (acces gtwf at 12);
spell pen should be no problem for heroic with those past lifes.

You can put the 3 monk levels anywhere between lv 3-20 or even just take 2 levels only (but you must take TWF and STUNNING FIST as monk);
if you can live with wis 16 instead of 17 (with this many pl.... you can do it) at start you can buff cha to 14 and optimize divine might and get almost 34 str before lv 12 NO PROBLEM,
you can start with dragonmark of passage and swap later with the free feat swap

EXSTRA: you can hjeal peple with your fists! (ameliorating strike)

Level 24 Lawful Neutral Human Male
(3 Monk / 17 Cleric / 4 Epic)
Hit Points: 327
Spell Points: 1525

BAB: 14/14/19/24
Fortitude: 18
Reflex: 13
Will: 24

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Abilities Base Stats Modified Stats
(36 Point) (Level 1) (Level 24)
Strength 14 17
Dexterity 14 17
Constitution 14 17
Intelligence 11 14
Wisdom 17 29
Charisma 10 13

Tomes Used
+1 (all stat) at lv 3
+2 (all stat) at lv 7
+3 (all stat) at lv 11

Skills: MAX concentration,heal,spellcraft,UMD; LEFTOVERS balance

Level 1 (Cleric)
Feat: (Human Bonus) Empower Healing Spell
Feat: (Deity) Follower of the Sovereign Host
Feat: (Selected) Maximize Spell
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Favored Soul
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Sorcerer
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Sorcerer
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Sorcerer
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Wizard
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Wizard

Level 2 (Cleric)

Level 3 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Empower Spell
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Two Weapon Fighting

Level 4 (Cleric)

Level 5 (Cleric)

Level 6 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Heighten Spell

Level 7 (Cleric)

Level 8 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Stunning Fist

Level 9 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Quicken Spell

Level 10 (Cleric)

Level 11 (Cleric)

Level 12 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Two Weapon Fighting

Level 13 (Cleric)

Level 14 (Cleric)

Level 15 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Two Weapon Fighting
Feat: (Monk Path) Path of Harmonious Balance: Fists of Light

Level 16 (Cleric)

Level 17 (Cleric)

Level 18 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Spell Penetration

Level 19 (Cleric)

Level 20 (Cleric)

[SirValentine]

Is it possible to splash a level or two of melee to make the low levels quicker (and beat down mobs at higher levels if I run out of SP) whilst maintaining a reasonable caster spec?


Sure, should be fine. I'd say just grab one level of Fighter, moderate Str (at least, say, 14), a Carnifex, and melee until level 12. Pick up, say, Power Attack and Cleave. At 12 (Clr11/Ftr1) you get Blade Barrier, and you can happily switch to caster mode for the rest of the journey to 20.

Something like:
Human, 14/8/14/18+levels/10/14. Or more Int & less Cha if more skills desired.
Feats: Power Attack, Cleave, Empower, Maximize, Empower Healing, Quicken, Heighten in some order all by 12. 15 Wiz PL, 18...Evo focus?

[Milikki]

I also vote for the clonk. But I would frontload the monk levels to get fists of light early. I would run either mmcm or mcmm. To pick up evasion and fists quickly. Still go with lots of wis and just enuf dex to get the twf feats. Edit - autocorrect borked some spelling.

[firemedium_jt]

Sure, should be fine. I'd say just grab one level of Fighter, moderate Str (at least, say, 14), a Carnifex, and melee until level 12. Pick up, say, Power Attack and Cleave. At 12 (Clr11/Ftr1) you get Blade Barrier, and you can happily switch to caster mode for the rest of the journey to 20.

Something like:
Human, 14/8/14/18+levels/10/14. Or more Int & less Cha if more skills desired.
Feats: Power Attack, Cleave, Empower, Maximize, Empower Healing, Quicken, Heighten in some order all by 12. 15 Wiz PL, 18...Evo focus?

+1

2hd Cleric is easy to build, gear, and run.

Keen Falchions till IC Slash at lvl12. Maybe throw Festival Icy Burst on it. Pure Good and Bloodletter. Accuracy item so you can leave Power Attack on. Lvl10+ spells deal more damage and all you need to melee is a Paralyzer Falchion. If not that then Cursespewing. Metalline. ONly splash one lvl early or you might get Battle Cleric Hate. CLR17/FTR1 is safe. Lvl19 and lvl20 whatever splash.

Done.

It must be fast to lvl now, but I still don't TR, lol. I am a casual player that is in no rush to get burnt out from the game.

Now if you take it past Epic look at some of my Melee Cleric builds and search others on here. Tons of builds.

[taurean430]

Doing a Cleric run now. I went 18Clr/2monk casting variant. It's only for a heroic life so I was pretty lax about it. Very similar to the build posted earlier but I went with 16 wis/10int. Low levels play just like your a monk more or less. Melee ability is fine, not uber. Stunning fist is super useful. Took the monk levels early, so I didn't see blade barrier until level 13. It wasn't horribly missed. For attacking with spells it's best to have clickies/spell power pots. I use clickies.

Grab a bunny hat/lolth mask for that +5 umd. Have fun with the versatility. Very easy to solo anything with. Group friendly as well. Actually reminds me of the days I was running almost nothing but divines. I'm having fun with it...

[EllisDee37]

Leveling a pure caster cleric now may be noticeably less painful than when you did your FVS thanks to SLAs. The basic concept here is to go human for the +1 wisdom and extra feat, taking maximize and empower at level 1. You can max out the nimbus of light SLA (fully maximized and empowered) before you take level 2, can get searing light SLA to tier 2 by level 3, and if you aggressively pursue it you can also get holy smite SLA at level 6.

All three together, maximized and empowered for free, should provide pretty decent killing power for minimal mana consumption.

As an added plus they're all in the caster cleric enhancement tree anyway, so it synergizes well.

[Ryan220]

Thank you all for the info.

I think i'll roll a couple of vet 7 builds and try out the different melee splash options.

I'll also take a look at the Cleric melee enhancements and Slas on my L15 Cleric to see what they're like.

Cheers