I want a healer, but would like some flavor

[Aganazer]

My friends and I just started a couple weeks ago. We are planning on making a new party when we get Drow elves unlocked. Its my job to make a healer.

Would a Drow be a bad choice for a Cleric? I don't have any 32pt options yet.

What classes would multiclass well with a Cleric without giving up any healing capability?

Besides multiclassing, what other interesting options might I have besides basic melee?

[Boldrin]

My friends and I just started a couple weeks ago. We are planning on making a new party when we get Drow elves unlocked. Its my job to make a healer.

Would a Drow be a bad choice for a Cleric? I don't have any 32pt options yet.

What classes would multiclass well with a Cleric without giving up any healing capability?

Besides multiclassing, what other interesting options might I have besides basic melee?

Any class you add will take away healing power. A 14 cleric / 2 monk build is not horrible gives you a good ac and evasion. Blade barrier and cometfall are your friends as a high lvl cleric. Drows and humans are both good for clerics, and Halflings rock , once you get 32 point.

[Aganazer]

With a Drow's high dex and ranged enhancements, is there any disadvantage to focusing on a high dex build (after Wis of course) and using a repeating Xbow? I mean, would I regret a high dex build by the time I got to higher level?

Strength seems like the safe route, but doesn't seem like a Drow's specialty.

I don't think I'll multiclass, but I'd like to do something other than poke things with a rapier.

[Winded]

I'd like to do something other than poke things with a rapier.

Hello and Welcome.... The last thing you should be doing as a cleric is standing about looking perty waiting for seomthing to heal.

A Cleric my friend can be one of the most powerful chars in the game. I think once you get a taste of Soundburst at low levels , you;ll be hooked and realize you need little else

maintain decent strength and of course max your wisdom. Dex is the dump stat for clerics usually. A decent Charisma if you want to waste time giving caster "DVs".

Other fun and gotta have spells ( just to name a couple)
Comet Fall
Destruction
Slay Living

and the Ultimate spell in my book --------Blade Barrier


Oh man , I gotta go play my cleric....................... Next to my Monk My spellslinger Cleric is the most fun.

[Jendrak]

If you are looking at useing repeaters i would suggest a 15/1 Cleric/Fighter human. With the extra 2 feats you will get (1 from human and 1 from fighter) you will be able to take the necessary feats for repeater while giving up very little casting power and none of you regualr feats needed badly for things like empower healing and quicken. Also, if you place stats correctly you will be able to self buff to (divine favor, divine power, etc...) to get a decent to hit and damage along with you spell casting ability. As long as you dont mind being a 28 point build but you can always re-roll later to make it better.

[Aganazer]

I think I'd like a good way to do damage and stay busy from the back lines without wasting any spell points.

I know a good cleric is supposed to go for strength and melee stuff, but I am wondering how viable this option might be. I figure the worst that could happen is that I'd end up taking Weapon Finesse and going back to melee.

Am I shooting myself in the foot by NOT going with strength?

Here is a rough first attempt:

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.00
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Drow Cleric The Archer
Level 4 Lawful Good Drow Female
(4 Cleric) 
Hit Points: 56
Spell Points: 315 
BAB: 3\3
Fortitude: 5
Reflex: 4
Will: 9

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Stats          Modified Stats
Abilities        (Level 1)             (Level 4)
Strength              8                     8
Dexterity            16                    17
Constitution         12                    12
Intelligence         10                    10
Wisdom               18                    20
Charisma             10                    10

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills         Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)            (Level 4)
Balance               3                     3
Bluff                 0                     0
Concentration         5                     9
Diplomacy             0                     0
Disable Device        n/a                   n/a
Haggle                0                     0
Heal                  8                    13
Hide                  3                     3
Intimidate            0                     0
Jump                 -1                    -1
Listen                4                     7
Move Silently         3                     3
Open Lock             n/a                   n/a
Perform               n/a                   n/a
Repair                0                     0
Search                0                     2
Spot                  4                     7
Swim                 -1                    -1
Tumble                n/a                   n/a
Use Magic Device      n/a                   n/a

Level 1 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Mental Toughness
Enhancement: Cleric Concentration I
Enhancement: Cleric Heal I
Enhancement: Cleric Life Magic I
Enhancement: Cleric Energy of the Zealot I


Level 2 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Wisdom I
Enhancement: Cleric Divine Vitality I
Enhancement: Cleric Extra Turning I


Level 3 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Repeating Heavy Crossbow
Enhancement: Elven Dexterity I
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Life I
Enhancement: Cleric Divine Cleansing I


Level 4 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Life Magic II
Enhancement: Cleric Extra Turning II

[paulfrank]

I have never posted before, but here I go.

I personally love clerics, but hate being a wallflower. My answer to this? Paladin levels. Not many, but enough to have Laying on Hands. While this will slow down your progression as a healer, you make up for it with weapon proficiencies and base attack (Not much more though). For a drow, I would use a short sword and take the drow damage and attack enhancements and also pick up weapon focus, and (if you went with a high dex) weapon finesse. Everything you can do to squeeze out an extra point of attack is a good thing, in my opinion. A cleric can make a strong second line combatant like this. And the couple of paladin levels can you get, you can get yourself out of tight spots instantly with you Laying on Hands. You aura of protection gives you at least another point of AC. Then you can also pick up the paladin enhancement that adds to concentration checks while in the aura of protection, a constant bonus since you are always in your aura of protection, this will let you be able to cast heal spells while in combat.

That's just my opinion, don't see a lot of Cleric/Paladin combos so it must not be that popular of one.

[EKKM]

I think I'd like a good way to do damage and stay busy from the back lines without wasting any spell points.

I know a good cleric is supposed to go for strength and melee stuff, but I am wondering how viable this option might be. I figure the worst that could happen is that I'd end up taking Weapon Finesse and going back to melee.

Am I shooting myself in the foot by NOT going with strength?

Here is a rough first attempt:

If you did decide to go ranged, I would drop the heal skill and take diplomacy instead. Unlike many, I do like the heal skill, but if you are going to generating aggro, you will want diplomacy (clickie skill that sheds aggro in a radius. Heal provides a healing boost at shrines to your party if you are in the vicinity, but a good heal item plus a high wis will still have an effect.

I have never posted before, but here I go.

I personally love clerics, but hate being a wallflower. My answer to this? Paladin levels. Not many, but enough to have Laying on Hands. While this will slow down your progression as a healer, you make up for it with weapon proficiencies and base attack (Not much more though). For a drow, I would use a short sword and take the drow damage and attack enhancements and also pick up weapon focus, and (if you went with a high dex) weapon finesse. Everything you can do to squeeze out an extra point of attack is a good thing, in my opinion. A cleric can make a strong second line combatant like this. And the couple of paladin levels can you get, you can get yourself out of tight spots instantly with you Laying on Hands. You aura of protection gives you at least another point of AC. Then you can also pick up the paladin enhancement that adds to concentration checks while in the aura of protection, a constant bonus since you are always in your aura of protection, this will let you be able to cast heal spells while in combat.

That's just my opinion, don't see a lot of Cleric/Paladin combos so it must not be that popular of one.

Paul has good points here, two levels of Pally will help your saves if you have a good CHR and provides martial weapons, however Drow get shortswrods/rapiers for free. While it will slow down the new spells you get, you will still get some spell points out of pally levels (but not fighter). I would not go DEX based though.

S 16
D 10
C 12
I 10
W 16
C 12

a straight healer/caster

S 12
D 10
C 12
I 10
W 18
C 12

You will have fun using your cleric as a healer/offensive/CC caster

[cdbd3rd]

In support of the others who are trying to steer you away from a dex-build cleric - another thing to keep in mind is the cleric gets to plunk on heavy armor without a spell failure check. That dex-build would either limit you to lighter armors (and therefore adding squishieness), or wind up wasting your dex AC modifier.

Just an extra copper in the think tank for ya.

[Arianrhod]

As a drow cleric, also consider the Follower of Vulkoor enhancements. They can give you some fun options, both in melee (bonus with shortsword) and spellcasting (Scorrow minion is a blast if you can keep it from getting stuck on the wrong side of a door). Eventually, you'll probably want to switch out these enhancements and focus more on spellcasting and less on melee, but for the midlevels, it does give you some fun stuff to play around with...not to mention the roleplaying angle of keeping your fellow drow toeing the party line, religion-wise

[Aganazer]

I appreciate all the replies. I don't mean to be hardheaded, but I'm not understanding why low strength would be such a bad thing. Maybe you can correct the error of my thinking.

Pro's of high dex/low str
-better reflex saves
-Drow racial bonus makes it easy
-better attack rating for bows and xbows
-good balance and tumble

Cons of high dex/low str
-would need Weapon Finesse Feat to melee well
-would be weak at melee without Weapon Finesse
-low swim and jump skills

Pro's of high str/low dex
-better melee damage and attack rating
-good jump and swim

Con's of high str/low dex
-poor reflex saves
-low balance and tumble
-poor bow attack rating

I don't have 32pt builds unlocked so its not as easy as just rolling a 32pt dwarf cleric. My choices are a Drow or a 28pt build of another race. Weapon Finesse already seems to fit well with a Drow's racial weapon preference. W/P weapons are readily available for repeating light crossbows (which I suspect would be nothing more than a fun experiment when I try them).

Is there something I am missing? Does low strength penalize you when wearing heavy armor? Is there any benefit to high strength that Weapon Finesse doesn't make up for? Would I be encumbered easily?

I wouldn't mind a strength build. I could always take the Drow enhancements for Shurikens to add flavor. I don't mind that, but I'd still like to know why dex would be a bad choice.

[paulfrank]

As a casual gamer, I haven't unlocked 32pt build yet either, I'm lucky to have Drow. However, my primary character is an elven cleric7/paladin2. I picked up all the elven enhancements to enhance my attack and damage. As well as selecting Sovereign Host as my faith, giving me the bonus to long sword attack. Weapon focus and a good strength tops it off. In addition to that, I choose combat casting and the metamagic empower healing spell, which I always leave on, this helps out with the healing, along with all the cleric enhancements to enhance positive energy spells. Finally, I picked up the paladin enhancement to up my concentration. I agree with cdbd3rd, the ability to wear heavy armor makes up for the lack of Dexterity. And a good Charisma as a level 2 paladin gives me my Charisma bonus to my saving throws to make up for the reflex save. But to each his own, with a higher Dexterity and decent mithral armor, you can still gain good AC, plus your reflex save would be that much higher, but it's all about sacrifices. If you want to be on the battle line, where I prefer, then you need Strength. If you would prefer to stand in the back and fire the occasional bolt into combat and heal your fighters, the Dexterity is a requirement. But I had this in mind when I created this character, bows and crossbows are extremely slow unless you spend feats on things like rapid reload or rapid shot, and those only offer marginal increases in attack speed. But with a bow or crossbow, you don't need to worry about what you Strength is. This is a pro and a con. Pro - Negative modifiers do not detract from you damage or attack. Con - Positive modifiers do not add to you damage or attack. As for what does weapon finesse not make up for, the answer is damage. A 16 Dexterity might give you a +3 to hit, but a 16 Strength gives you a +3 to hit and damage.

[Arianrhod]

Is there something I am missing? Does low strength penalize you when wearing heavy armor? Is there any benefit to high strength that Weapon Finesse doesn't make up for? Would I be encumbered easily?

Depends on how low a str you're talking about. Might not be as much an issue for drow, but many low str halflings find they do get encumbered easily, and wearing heavy armor makes it all the more likely. Getting encumbered on a dex build means losing a big chunk of your AC (my halfling repeater rogue definitely notices when that +8 dex bonus drops down to a +3).

As for the benefit to high str that weapon finesse doesn't make up for - that would be that str bonus adds to damage as well as to hit, and weapon finesse does not - it allows you to use dex bonus for attack rolls, but str still modifies damage. Not a big deal if you're using repeaters exclusively (str doesn't add to them anyway), but if you ever melee at all, it does come into play.

[Aganazer]

As for the benefit to high str that weapon finesse doesn't make up for - that would be that str bonus adds to damage as well as to hit, and weapon finesse does not - it allows you to use dex bonus for attack rolls, but str still modifies damage. Not a big deal if you're using repeaters exclusively (str doesn't add to them anyway), but if you ever melee at all, it does come into play.

Thanks... that's pretty much the deal breaker right there. I was thinking it would be likely that the repeater would be a temporary toy and then I could switch to Weapon Finesse and do good damage. It looks like I can't.

Oh well, it still looks like a Drow has plenty of interesting enhancements that should keep things interesting. I'll probably do what Arianrhod suggested and play around with some Follower of Vulkoor enhancements through the early levels.

I may also revisit the idea of an archer cleric someday if I get some good repeater drops.