Battle Cleric Help

[najica]

I've been reading everything I can on BC's and have posted in the newb forums with a lot of good information and feedback. The problem I am having is with stats at the beginning of creation. I want to go human and I want to melee well and heal ok - this is going to be a solo toon or maybe duo thats it. just want to buff myself to greatness and melee mobs down but have the spells to back me up when needed. I came here becuase newbie forums say i would get better help from clerics themselves on the cleric forums. When looking over what I want to do with my 28 points (im very new) I kinda get torn with what i want higher than others.

kinda looking at this atm:

16str
8dex
14con
8int
16wis
10chr

or

15str
12dex
14con
8int
16wis
8chr

seems to me that dex gets me every time. i want to go 12 for +1 but most builds i look at do not have dex at all. same with chr but i took 2 points into it in first build. i would go maybe 15 into one but is that even worth it? odd numbers at the start?

other things would be starting feats. I want toughness and im not sure what to get as my second feat for being human. only thing i can land on is extend spell but really that wont help till later - i just want something to help solo the lowbie lvls for now. Im planning on being solo 95% of my play time and in a duo or trio the rest. Just all the info I got was confusing me a little. too much at one time sort of thing.

Now im really thinking of going fighter for 1 lvl cause i want a tower shield and i want to be able to use martial weapons if i want without using a feat slot for them. but how to do this kinda eludes me - i start cleric at 1 then at lvl 2 go fighter till 3 then change back to cleric? and do i train anything in fighter? or save my points for cleric when i switch back? i just go fighter then back to cleric without doing anything else and i get fighter abilities >.>; ?


sory for so long and so much in one post but ive been trying to get this BC right for a few days now. and im ready to kill stuff and get my favor so please let me know what you think? thank you!! ^.^

[SonnyJerome]

What is you feat selection?

[ravencrest]

The reason for the 8 dex is because in heavy armor you will max out (typically) with a +1 to ac. So if you have a +6 item and a tome you will pretty much exceed what benefit you get from dex for AC. So in the end you really only lose out on the reflex save bonus. Certain races and classes get action points to decrease the effect of this encumbrance.

I find CHA relatively useless on a battle cleric as well (put it to 8) as you wont be turning anything with a 10 or 12. Unless you really want a couple extra DVs or DH...drop it and up your CON or STR.

I typically take mental toughness as a second feat for the extra spell points. BTW, Extend is more useful at lower levels, as when you are level 20, your buffs last 20 minutes anyway.

You can take a fighter level at any point (though maybe at level 1 you get more skill points to use as a fighter so it may be the better option...not sure as my clerics stay pure for better DC). The fighter gets some useful action points so you can pick whichever best suits your build.

I am by no means one of those people that spend 12 days over analyzing a build, so take these suggestions with a grain of salt.

[jsaving]

Characters who begin life as a primary caster (sor/wiz/clr/fvs) receive a special feat that grants +80 spell points, so I would suggest waiting a bit to pick up your fighter level.

[MrCow]

Characters who begin life as a primary caster (sor/wiz/clr/fvs) receive a special feat that grants +80 spell points. You can't ever get this feat if you start out as a fighter, so I would suggest waiting a bit to pick up your fighter level.

That feat, Magical Training, can be bestowed at any level.

[sirgog]

My signature has a link to a series of battlecleric builds.

The optimal time to take a single Fighter level is at or after level 10, as you are then able to select a wider variety of feats as your fighter bonus feat.

[moops]

One thing about CHR, is that you need it for Divine Might ""Available to Cleric class level 5
Activate this ability to gain a +2 Sacred bonus to damage for one minute. Consumes a use of your turn undead ability. Requires a 14 base Charisma."" And then 16 CHR for lvl 2 of divine might--not a huge thing, but with other Melees abilities to Haste Boost, Damage Boost, and Attack boost it's nice, and it can help in situations--esp if you are soloing.

Dex is important to Balance, not saying you should put alot of points into it, but, starting at 8 would put you negative I believe. My 2nd pure cleric started with 11 Dex instead of 8, and it made a huge difference even though it was just a few point--I also had a +1 tome to bring me to 12. I also put points in at level ups--when you are soloing, you don't want to be on the ground for too long.

[SonnyJerome]

My signature has a link to a series of battlecleric builds.

The optimal time to take a single Fighter level is at or after level 10, as you are then able to select a wider variety of feats as your fighter bonus feat.

sirgog Has lots of nice builds for new and and vetran players... i would advise you to take a look at it or take a look at Aranticus' Templates listed here: http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=147492 theres 1 or 2 battle clerics there

[najica]

thanks guys ^^;

went with

16str
12dex
14con
8int
15wis
8chr

im worried about having wis under 16 but if i can put points there later for 16 it should be fine till then.

feats: toughness and either mental toughness or extend unless you think those arent great for lowbie lvls *not toughness*

im going to be buffs + melee so i think this should be fine. ill think about fighter lvl at 10+ i want a tower shield >.>; but still kinda fuzzy on how muliclassing works but ill worry about that later.