Cleric Spell Guide

[vilhazarog]

Anyone have a definitive spell guide for clerics? What spells are good, what aren't, and most importantly, clerics have so many buffs, which ones stack and which ones don't? Bless, Aid, prayer, protection from evil, shield of faith, magic circle, recitation, divine favor, divine power, etc etc.

[Elealar]

Bonuses of same types don't stack (Dodge-bonus to AC and Untyped bonuses [from different sources], along with Circumstance Bonuses to skills are the only exceptions). You also only gain the largest source of Temporary Hitpoints available (e.g. you can't cast multiple Aids for extras), and multiple sources of Damage Reduction/Energy Resistance/Spell Resistance don't stack unless specifically stated otherwise. Quick type list:

Level 1:

• Bless: +1 Morale to Attack, Saves vs. Fear
• Divine Favor: +1/+2/+3 Luck to Attack and Damage; PERSONAL ONLY; SHORT DURATION
• Nightshield: +1/+2/+3 Resistance to Saves (also blocks Magic Missiles); PERSONAL ONLY
• Pro Evil: +2 Deflection to AC, +2 Resistance to Saves (vs. Evil); PRESENTLY THE SAVES STACK WITH EVERYTHING BUT SELF, MAGIC CIRCLE AGAINST EVIL AND HOLY AURA IN SPITE OF TYPE
• Shield of Faith: +2-+5 Deflection to AC
• Remove Fear: +4 Morale-bonus to saves vs. Fear

Level 2:

• Aid: +1 Morale to Attack, Saves vs. Fear (and Temp HP)
• Bear's Endurance: +4 Enhancement to Con
• Bull's Strength: +4 Enhancement to Str
• Eagle's Splendor: +4 Enhancement to Cha
• Find Traps: +½CL Insight to Search
• Owl's Wisdom: +4 Enhancement to Wis

Level 3:

• Aid, Mass: See Aid
• Magic Circle against Evil: See Pro Evil
• Prayer: +1 Luck to Attacks, Damage, Saves & Skills; SHORT DURATION

Level 4:

• Divine Power: +6 Enhancement to Str (and full BAB and temporary HP); PERSONAL ONLY; SHORT DURATION
• Recitation: +2 Luck to Attacks, AC & Saves; SHORT DURATION
• Shield of Faith, Mass: See Shield of Faith

Level 5:

• Stalwart Pact: +2 Luck to Saves (and DR 5/Magic & Temp HP; all if under ½ HP)

Level 6:

• Bear's Endurance, Mass: See Bear's Endurance
• Bull's Strength, Mass: See Bull's Strength
• Eagle's Splendor, Mass: See Eagle's Splendor
• Heroes' Feast: +1 Morale to attacks & saves (and immune to Poison and jazz)
• Owl's Wisdom, Mass: See Owl's Wisdom

Level 7:

• NOTHING

Level 8:

• Holy Aura: +4 Deflection to AC, +4 Resistance to saves (and immune to Enchantments and Charm); PRESENTLY THE SAVES STACK WITH EVERYTHING BUT SELF, MAGIC CIRCLE AGAINST EVIL AND HOLY AURA IN SPITE OF TYPE

Level 9:

• Miracle: ...wait, since it's DDO, again NOTHING

For common types of bonuses from items:
Armor: Armor-bonus to AC
Bracers/X of Armor: Armor-bonus to AC
Shield: Shield-bonus to AC
Ring/X of Protection: Deflection-bonus to AC
Cloak/X of Resistance: Resistance-bonus to Saves
Item of +X to Stat: Enhancement-bonus to Stat
Bard Song: +1-+4 Morale-bonus to Attack, Damage, Saves vs. Fear
Heroism/Greater Heroism: +2-+4 Morale-bonus to Attack, Saves & Skills


That's pretty much all; few items replicate Morale-, Insight- or Luck-bonuses to anything and it takes a long while for items to outgrow your Bear's Endurance-line. If there's a Bard or a Wizard around, your Morale-bonuses are quickly left in dust. Spell list...well, it depends on what you focus on, but something:

Level 1:
Bless is good early on unless you have a Bard around; Heroism supercedes it
Command & Cause Fear are nice debuffs early on. Only prob is, low-level game is very mob-oriented so it's not very handy. Will Negates
Divine Favor is good for melee Clerics (only relevant-sized Luck-bonus to damage)
Nightshield is good all the time for Magic Missile-immunity, and for nice Resistances on levels 6+.
Nimbus of Light is a decent damage spell VERY early, but I wouldn't still bother since it's mostly too SP intensive; just bash instead. No save.
Obscuring Mist can be decent if you can figure out where opps are in there and someone has Blind-Fight or something.
Pro-Evil is good all game; apparently, thanks to bugs, it stacks with other Resistance bonuses.
Remove Fear is a must for those low-level Kobold Shamans spamming Cause Fear. Not very useful after then (though it's a big bonus, but so limited).
Shield of Faith is good around when you get +3-+4 Deflection from it
Summon Monster I is very useful early on, as a tank and even damage dealer; note that summoned monsters can be buffed and healed

Level 2:
Aid is ****, except for Temp HP at times.
Close Wounds is ****; generally people can drink Potions just fine; what they really need from you is heavy duty healing. Also, so expensive.
Bull's Strength-line is GREAT until teens when people start having stat boosters of equivalent level. Cha and Str boosters are the only ones that aren't useful to everyone; everyone could use more HP, Fort & Will-saves (you also gain higher save DC for your spells from Owl's Wisdom). Str is awesome for melee and Cha for Cha-based characters (Paladin, Bard, Favored Soul) and skill-checks (UMD, Haggle, Diplo, etc.)
Deific Vengeance is a decent blast-spell vs. Undead, but again, generally it's a waste of SP; just beat 'em senseless. Having a Will-save to half is also annoying. Will Half.
Find Traps is useful if, and only if you're gonna pretend to be a Rogue and probably dipped Rogue on level 1 so you can actually DISARM the traps too. Well, it can be used to find hidden doors or so; gets better with level as the Insight-bonus starts to get meaningfully high
Hold Person suffers of the same problem as Command and Cause Fear. Would be good if the game offered relevantly powerful single adversaries subject to it. Will Negates.
Lesser Restoration is useful beyond words (Dispels Ray of Enfeeblement, btw) and you should always Wand it so you can use it when you don't have SPs for it. Great to prepare once Bull's Strength-line becomes less relevant.
Remove Paralysis is something to Wand. Too rarely useful to prepare, but handy when needed.
Resist Energy is great, and once you gain 20/type, I'd always have it prepared. Opposing casters love their blasty spells, this makes 'em sting less (esp with your poor Ref-saves). Also, traps.
Seek Eternal Rest if someone ever uses Turn Undead, I guess this is useful. But eh, Turn Undead sucks, except for enhancements derived from it (Divine Vitality, Divine Might, etc.).
Soundburst actually nice offensive spell; doesn't deal much damage, but stuns the target allowing you to wail at it. Of course, suffers again of the stupid swarm syndrome. Fort Negates Stun
Spawn Screen is utter ****. Get a Wand if you really care, but honestly, just...don't. Not Dying is a better idea than stopping dead from rising as whatever killed 'em.
Summon Monster II is very useful like SMI, except the stupid Scorpion has an annoying habit of burrowing and not tanking as efficiently.

Level 3:
Aid, Mass: Good if you don't have a Bard and are in a large party. I've heard the extra HP come in handy.
Bestow Curse: Better against you than for you; most enemies of note are immune. Will Negates.
Blindness: See above. Fort Negates.
Contagion: See above. Fort Negates.
Dispel Magic: Don't need to explain this, do I? Prepare when you expect buffing or debuffing casters.
Glyph of Warding: Poor man's Fireball, decent vs. the masses in the game, but creatures in this have so ridic HP that it isn't very good without Empower + Maximize. Ref Half.
Magic Circle against Evil: Cheaper than Pro-Eviling whole party; handy on level 5, and thanks to bugged bonus types, for your whole career.
Prayer: Short duration, small bonuses. Sometimes handy, but generally more trouble than it's worth.
Protection from Energy: Would be solid, but generally if you'd need it, you'd be better of with Resist Energy and unfortunately, this takes the full brunt of the attack even if you have Resist at the same time, meaning it's consumed really quickly. Too intensive.
Remove Blindness: Wand it.
Remove Curse: Wand it. Prepare for Kobold Assault if you can afford the points.
Remove Disease: Wand it.
Searing Light: Decent blasty spell, again. Don't like it too much maself tho. No Save.
Summon Monster III: Hellhounds are awesome. They breathe Fireballs at ranged targets and the firebreath is v. useful even against opponents they can't hit. My fav. summon for its level.
Waterbreathing: Uh, just get a Ring or something. Once you can't think of anything else, prepare it, I guess.

Level 4:
Death Ward: Yeah, dying sucks. I like.
Dismissal: Meh, not many outsiders at this point of the game. It's merely a single-target modified Will SoD anyways. Will (-Your CL+ Enemy HD) Negates.
Divine Power: Not much to say. If you're a Battle Cleric, this is your life and limb especially on levels 9+. Otherwise, it's useless.
Freedom of Movement: Yeah, being stuck in battlefield control sucks. I like.
Holy Smite-line: First good blasting spells you've got. Makes a bunch of dorks blind while dealing a bunch. Very useful vs. melee threats and such; anything with poor Will-saves. Will Half & Negate Blind.
Neutralize Poison: If everyone isn't immune, I guess you can Wand it.
Panacea: Solid Restoration-wannabe. Prepare one or the other; or Wand both.
Restoration: Lifesaver when needed.
Poison: Yawn, one target Save-or-X; next.
Recitation: Solid buff, short duration. Prepare once you can afford it.
Shield of Faith, Mass: Cheaper in the long run than Shield if you have few party members. Worth preparing at +3-+4.
Summon Monster IIII: Not annoying like Scorpion, but I prefer the dog.
Symbol of Flame: Weak blasty spell, though fully powered already when you first get it. Ref Half.

Level 5:
Break Enhancement: Would tell you to Wand it, but as it's Caster Level-derived, you really need to prepare it for it to be any good. Oh, and it's level 5 so you can't Wand it anyways. Prolly useful to keep around anyways; Scroll it.
Flame Strike: High-level, but a decent blasty spell. If it wasn't so near Blade Barrier, I'd actually like it in this Mass-tending game. Ref Half.
Greater Command: Mass Will-save-or-X. Would be good if Glitterdust wasn't a level 2 spell doing similar stuff. You've already had Holy Smite too. Very handy if you lack a Wizard though, and can sometimes be useful to complement the Wizard. Will Negates.
Protection from Elements: What I said about Pro Element goes here too.
Raise Dead: In a game where resurrection doesn't lose you a level or take 10 mins, this is very powerful.
Slay Living: Too bad you don't fight single, tough Living things so often. If you did, this'd be awesome. Fort Half.
Spell Resistance: Mainstay. 12+CL is more than any race or class naturally gains. So yeah, being resistant to spells doing bad things to you is nice.
Stalwart Pact: Not a fan, types aren't great with other buffs and you can heal more with just one Cure Critical, or Heal.
Summon Monster V: At this point, Summons start to lag so far behind what you need that they're pretty mild benefits to have around. Meh.
Symbol of Pain: Mass debuff. Sorta decent, but meh, same prob as with all the others. Fort Negates.
True Seeing: Yeah, this can be v. useful, especially when dealing with some casters. Finds doors too.

Level 6:
Bull's Strength, Mass: People generally have items by now. If not, fire away.
Banishment: I guess it's fairly handy; game takes a turn for Outsiders. Luckily Outsider HD tend to be relatively low compared to CR. Still, I find it a relatively weak option. Will (-Your CL+ Enemy HD) Negates.
Blade Barrier: Abuses game's AI to deal ****tons of damage. Very useful. Ref Half.
Cometfall: One of my favorite blasty spells ever, uncapped, non-elemental and comes with Save-or-Stuff-Happens. Ref or Half.
Create Undead: "Powerful undead" my arse.
Greater Dispel Magic: See Dispel Magic. Also, on these levels, even more useful.
Harm: Bad save-or-die. Dealing 75 on a successful save can be nice tho. Fort Half.
Heal: Best single-target heal in the game. Many times better than Cure X. Mainstay. Fort Half for Undead.
Heroes' Feast: Great just for the Poison Immunity if you don't have stuff-based. You should tho.
Symbol of Fear: Multitarget SoX, Yadda, Yadda, Yadda. Will Negates.
Symbol of Persuasion: Yadda, Yadda, Yadda. On a positive note, Charming things is very powerful when it works (rarely on these levels). Will Negates.
Undeath to Death: Yawn. Would be better if Undead were a real high-level threat in this. Will Negates.
Word of Recall: I guess it reduces need for running sometimes.

Level 7:
Destruction: Worse damage on successful save than Harm, but better effect on failed (things in this game have way too much HP). Also, single target SoD. Fort Half.
Greater Restoration: If someone's taking negative levels or w/e, useful. Scroll it, prolly.
Pro Elements, Mass: Meh. Toss it on if you know tons of elemental damage is coming, I guess. I prefer Resists, saves and healing.
Restoration, Mass: Very handy in certain scenarios where effects it heals are common.
Resurrection: See Raise Dead, with 100% more combat use. Though of course, optimally people aren't dying in the first place.
Spell Resistance, Mass: Yes, yes, oh gods, yes!
Symbol of Stunning: Yadda, yadda, yadda. Will Negates.
Symbol of Weakness: Yadda, yadda, yadda. Fort Negates.

Level 8:
Death Pact: Soloer's dream. You can keep everyone else alive, but if you roll a 1 on SoD, who's gonna pick you up?
Death Ward, Mass: Dying is so outmoded. Handy if you can spare the slot.
Firestorm: Meh, no auxillary effects, but respectable damage. For what it's worth, Blade Barrier abuses (the lack of) AI better. Should be Ref Half? Don't Know.
Holy Aura: Great buff. Apparently it's bugged so it doesn't blind attackers, and the Resistance stacks with other Resistance-bonuses making this much better than otherwise.
Symbol of Death: Well, if you know when to use it. Fort Negates.

Level 9:
Energy Drain: Wizards get Enervation on 4. Also, things are way too immune since this game is designed to be "challenging" so you're only allowed to kill things that matter through HP damage. No Save.
Heal, Mass: Well, you're the only one who can keep the raid party alive. This is pretty much the only way you can do it. Will Half for Undead.
Implosion: People dying around you, no action required? Awesome for vulnerable mobs. Level 9 save DC doesn't hurt. Fort Negates.
True Resurrection: Nice.


Inflicts suck as a rule, and mass cures are very situationally useful. Symbols can be great if you know where to use them, but immunities become plentiful later on. Summons start to suck after midlevels since they scale by spell level, not caster level. Hezrou is a fcking CR 11 on level 17...

[Lorien_the_First_One]

...lots of advice...

nice list Elealar, I'd rep you if I had any left for today

[vilhazarog]

This is great, thank you very much... I'd read about the different ways types of AC stack, but it wasn't clear to me that there was such things as morale/insight/luck bonuses for attack and how they stack, so it looks like bless and divine favor's +1 to attack would stack for a +2 total, but divine favor doesn't stack with prayer because they're both luck.

[Elealar]

This is great, thank you very much... I'd read about the different ways types of AC stack, but it wasn't clear to me that there was such things as morale/insight/luck bonuses for attack and how they stack, so it looks like bless and divine favor's +1 to attack would stack for a +2 total, but divine favor doesn't stack with prayer because they're both luck.

Aye, this is correct. Basically, your AC is generally:
10 Base
Armor-bonus
Shield-bonus (if any)
Deflection-bonus
Natural Armor-bonus (pretty much exclusively from Barkskin in DDO; Bladesworn Transformation gives it too)
Insight-bonus (there's...I think one item type that gives this)
Luck-bonus (Recitation is the only source I know of)
Dodge-bonuses (some items, Dodge, Combat Expertise, Defensive Fighting, Haste, some racial abilities [e.g. Dwarf AC vs. Giants] and company all provide this)
Morale (Inspire Heroics)
Sacred?? (Paladin-aura; not sure if it's Sacred or Untyped)
Size (if Small, +1)
Untyped (Monk-bonuses, Alchemical Rituals, etc.)

To Hit:
BAB
Str Mod (or Dex Mod for Range/Weapon Finesse)
Weapon Enhancement (+X)
Morale
Luck
Competence (there's are a few items granting Competence-bonus to attacks)
Enhancement (Haste)
Untyped (Human Versatility, Weapon Focus and overall, various racial enhancements, feats)
Size (if Small, +1)

Damage:
Weapon Base Damage
Str (1½ times if two-handed, ½ times if off-hand)
Luck
Morale (only from Bard-song really)
Sacred (Divine Might)
Profane (Bladesworn Transformation) [note: In PnP D&D, you can never have both, Profane & Sacred bonus simultaneously; don't know how that's handled in DDO since never made a Warforged Cleric with Divine Might]
Untyped (Power Attack, Weapon Specialization, Favored Enemy, etc.)

Bonus Dice (Sneak Attack, Flaming, Holy, etc.) [Note: These don't multiply on crit, but do stack with each other!]

Saves:
Base Saves
Stat (Con/Dex/Wis for Fort/Ref/Will)
Resistance (Cloak of Resistance, Nightshield, Holy Aura, etc.)
Morale (Heroism; many effects give Morale on saves vs. Fear only)
Luck (Prayer/Recitation, some items)
Racial (e.g. Halfling, Dwarf vs. Spells/Poison, etc.)
Dodge (Haste to Reflex)


And yeah, now I'm done doing random type compilations. Well, it bears mentioning that there are some weird types of bonuses to stats (e.g. Psionic from Warforged Titan Cookie, & Profane from Bladesworn Transformation; both Str - then a trinket for Profane Wis bonus and so on) & skills too.

[Shade]

Pro-Evil is good until 6-7 when items and other spells begin to overtake it.

Nightshield is good once Pro-Evil becomes bad

Remove Paralysis is something to Wand; too rarely useful to prepare, but handy when needed.

Bestow Curse: Better against you than for you; most enemies of note are immune.

Magic Circle against Evil: Cheaper than Pro-Eviling whole party; handy on level 5, pretty bad once Pro-Evil becomes obsolete.

Level 5:
Break Enhancement: Would tell you to Wand it, but as it's Caster Level-derived, you really need to prepare it for it to be any good. Oh, and it's level 5 so you can't Wand it anyways. Prolly useful to keep around anyways.

Holy Aura: Great buff. If you don't have said bonus types, that is. Which you should, I guess, but meh.

Despite being classified as a resistance bonus, Protection from Evil bonus to saves fully stacks with all other modifiers. Same applies to magic circle against evil, and holy aura. Holy aura should be noted that it is bugged tho. Currently self only and does not apply the on-hit blindness effect.

Wands of Remove Paralysys do not exist. I believe you can get scrolls. However in the History of DDO I have never seen a cleric carry scrolls of either unless I specificly requested it before the quest... For that reason I'd recommend keeping it loaded, it's easy to fit anyways. Tho there are only a very few situations in the game where it's handy, it can be critical in those situations if casted quickly.

Wands of Break Enchantment likewise don't exist (no lvl5+ spells can be on wands) however scrolls are readily available and are fully functional against AOE effects, but not enemy debuffs.. So in some cases its better to have loaded, and in others, scrolls are better to save mana.

Nightshield is always good and should be used in conjunction with circle against evil. Endgame the main purpose of it would be the force missles immunity. If your in a quest where there no force missles, well you can skip it.. But it's nice to keep loaded as it's easy to fit in (lvl1)

[Elealar]

Despite being classified as a resistance bonus, Protection from Evil bonus to saves fully stacks with all other modifiers. Same applies to magic circle against evil, and holy aura. Holy aura should be noted that it is bugged tho. Currently self only and does not apply the on-hit blindness effect.

Huh. That's funny; I was wondering why people were listing them separately. I was going by Compendium-information, so...

Wands of Remove Paralysys do not exist. I believe you can get scrolls. However in the History of DDO I have never seen a cleric carry scrolls of either unless I specificly requested it before the quest... For that reason I'd recommend keeping it loaded, it's easy to fit anyways. Tho there are only a very few situations in the game where it's handy, it can be critical in those situations if casted quickly.

Hm, level 2 spell that's not Wandable? Weird.

Wands of Break Enchantment likewise don't exist (no lvl5+ spells can be on wands) however scrolls are readily available and are fully functional against AOE effects, but not enemy debuffs.. So in some cases its better to have loaded, and in others, scrolls are better to save mana.

Yeah, I mentioned as much.

Nightshield is always good and should be used in conjunction with circle against evil. Endgame the main purpose of it would be the force missles immunity. If your in a quest where there no force missles, well you can skip it.. But it's nice to keep loaded as it's easy to fit in (lvl1)

Aye, I guess I forgot to mention the Force Missile immunity; I've had a great deal of benefit of it and I was going to mention as much, but typing so long, it slipped my mind.

I'm adding all these corrections to the list; thanks.

EDIT: Am I correct in assuming Pro Evil and Holy Aura don't stack with each other then?

[argletahm]

I read it all and I found it pretty much what I was already doing. With just 3 things I don't agree.

1- aid and it's mass version are nice to throw between combats, those extra hp are a cushion that a llows a little time before needing to actually heal, if noone else has hp from other buffs they really help.
2- Summons - while I agree that most of them are really awful some have their good sides. From my experience (up till now I admit I''m only lvl 14 so I dunno yet higher lvl dungeons.) The lvl 5 summon (earth elemental) is not too shabby, hte earth grab can immobilize not too strong opponents (expecially casters) while you easily pound them plus being it an ability of the summon it can be reused without further mana usage like greater command and such. Again the lvl 7 summon (efriti) while being a dork in cr compared to the summon level can still be useful thanks to fireballs, fire rays and those rolling fire boulders (I don't remember the name) it can hurt quite a lot if used in the proper situation.
3- greater command -

Greater Command: Mass Will-save-or-X. Would be good if Glitterdust wasn't a level 2 spell doing the same. You've already had Holy Smite too.

I have quite a few things to say on this..
First glitterdust isn't a cleric spell and is lvl 2 so unless you heighten it the save is 3 less in dc. Second holy smite is not bad till you get g.command, blind seem to work amazingly well on players and awfully well on npc/mobs, a knockdown is always good, the downside is that g.command doesn't deal damage but if you are going to deal damage you'll probably end up with either cometfall or bladebarrier, if the target is crowd control against low will saves g.command is imho better than holy smite.

just my 2 cents as I said I'm still a newbie so I may be wrong, feel free to correct me.

[Impaqt]

Wands of Remove paralasys absolutely exist and can be purchased from the Wand vendor in the Marketplace tent area.

[SoulDecay]

Hezrou is good. It may only be CR11, but it has enough HP to keep stuff busy for awhile, and does Chaos Hammers and ok melee damage. It's better for soloing than in groups, but it's not terrible for boss fights or keeping a few monsters busy for awhile. It is bad for making sure all the mobs are being kited through your blade barrier or firewall.

I have all the removes prepped. There's just not enough at those levels that interests me.

The mass cures are very mana efficent when people are grouped up... YMMV, I find them useful to have ready to go, but tend to only make heavy use of them in raids where 8-10 people are bunched up - but even in smaller quests (and hey, it can heal me and damage undead around me at the same time, useful for the Orchard quests and whatnot.)

[sirgog]

I also would consider giving Summon Monster 5 and 7 better ratings - Summon Monster 5 creates an earth elemental that can take quite a pounding, and can hold foes (allowing you to quickly pull out heavy picks and insta-crit them to death). Summon Monster 7's Efreeti is very situational, but is of most merit when the party is suffering a lot of fire damage (particularly in the final seconds of the raid A Vision of Destruction) - enemies will aim potent fire attacks at the Efreeti, causing them to (often) miss you.

Divine Power is worth memorizing on non-melee specced Clerics with a 12 or higher base Strength - they can meaningfully contribute in melee in situations where the party is taking little damage, and DP will add significant damage while they do so.

I think you underrate Greater Command - many foes just can't make the Will save in any halfway decent time, and casting it on a pack of 6-8 mobs will often take three or more out for the entire fight, preventing a LOT of incoming damage.

[samho]

More accurately: Protection from Evil / Holy Aura / Magic Circle against evil don't stack with Chaosguard (Protection From Chaos) as well.

And since Protection from evil / magic circle and Protection from chaos was alignment base, it will not appear on your character sheet (as well as not working with trap and such which consider neutral damage source). However you can find the bonus apply with dice and combat log (against evil or chaos type).

Holy Aura was slightly different. You can see it's effect on character sheet so it works even with trap.

[Cedwin]

Great list for beginner clerics, +1 rep.

[Elealar]

So effectively, Protection from Evil/Holy Aura/other Alignment-based protections effectively act as if they had their own bonus type? They stack with everything else, but not themselves? So, to make things clearer, we could call it "+2 Aligned-bonus to AC/Saves". Not an official bonus type in 3.5, but seems like it'd work here; Sacred/Profane don't really work since there are some other sources of said bonus types in the game, but an unique bonus that stacks with everything but other alignment-based bonuses would act identically to how Protections presently stack.

[MoiraKatonic]

hey nice guide! I don't agree with everything but still some very useful info in there. thanks for writing it

[Hafeal]

Thanks for the list, El.

To the OP, FYI, you can check out my thread here for a complete list of Cleric spells which can be organized by level, type, etc. I have a separate page doing buff stacking. I actually have some material ready to upgrade it, I just haven't been able to post it yet.

[vilhazarog]

...
To the OP, FYI, you can check out my thread here for a complete list of Cleric spells which can be organized by level, type, etc. I have a separate page doing buff stacking. I actually have some material ready to upgrade it, I just haven't been able to post it yet.

Actually I did see that, but I was still confused on how stuff stacks, for example the version I'm looking at makes no mention of how bless stacks.

Also, it's nice to see what vets think of various spells, I've ignored greater command for example, now I'm going to try it out.

Finally, a general question, Dispel Magic got a favorable rating in this guide but is it really useful? Can anyone give me an example where it's worth casting, are there some buffs out there that spellcasters use that really need to be popped off? So far (at mid level) any spellcaster spending time casting buffs is a great thing for me, gives me more time to kill them before they cast something bad at me.

[Elealar]

A word of note: the alignments of creatures in this game tend to follow the PnP monster "Usual"s and of course, the "Always". So take a look at the Monster Index from PnP D&D 3.5 System Reference Document; if you're curious about one creature's alignment, just check there. I have yet to face a single deviation in this game (though I haven't of course tested most).

That said, most intelligent opponents, along with the whole category of Undead, you fight are evil making Chaos Hammer and Order's Wrath vastly more limited than Holy Smite. Elementals, Oozes, Rust Monsters and other similar creatures are practically always True Neutral (there may be some evil-aligned elementals in the game, not sure), so the the line of spells as a whole are ineffective against them.


Alright, I'll alter the Greater Command (though it does already point out it's handy while soloing). Though I personally don't find Aid great; generally I find you'd rather cast Bless for those bonuses, it being multitargeting and level 1; the Temporary HP are quite few and generally that mana would be better off spent casting Cures in combat (though of course, spending an action in combat not affecting the enemies increases your resource expedition...). I'll add the notes (though Aid already has the "unless you really need the Temp HP"-clause), or rather alter the descriptions a bit.

[Cupcake]

Thanks for the list, El.

To the OP, FYI, you can check out my thread here for a complete list of Cleric spells which can be organized by level, type, etc. I have a separate page doing buff stacking. I actually have some material ready to upgrade it, I just haven't been able to post it yet.

Dear Sir,

Your list was awesome thank you.

I have had clerics before 10-12, but this is my first lvl 13 cleric.

What is destruction and what does it do? (Yes, I read the description......). What type of situation would it be used in?

I also am a little unsure of the usage of mass cure serious and mass cure mod. I like the spells. When a group of 6, 5 needing heals, I just go up and toss a mass cure mod on them and it usually does the trick. I have heal and I have my special heal for 1000 pts LOL thats good for emergencies when the tank is almost dead.

Anyways, thanks.

[sirgog]

Dear Sir,

Your list was awesome thank you.

I have had clerics before 10-12, but this is my first lvl 13 cleric.

What is destruction and what does it do? (Yes, I read the description......). What type of situation would it be used in?

I also am a little unsure of the usage of mass cure serious and mass cure mod. I like the spells. When a group of 6, 5 needing heals, I just go up and toss a mass cure mod on them and it usually does the trick. I have heal and I have my special heal for 1000 pts LOL thats good for emergencies when the tank is almost dead.

Anyways, thanks.

Destruction is a medium range single-target save-or-die effect. The target makes a Fortitude save, and on a failure, goes POP! leaving just an orange skull behind.

I recommend using it on foes that are extremely dangerous (such as most casters and air elementals) and on foes with over 1000 hitpoints. I also recommend spamming it like mad when close to a shrine.

Mass Cures have four main uses. They are better in raids than in parties (note that Mass Heal, due to a 6-target limit, is better in parties than in raids):

1) Out of combat top-ups: Lots of people have taken damage, you gather up and heal everyone for a significant amount in one hit.

2) Responding to area damage effects: A monster drops a deadly Delayed Blast Fireball on the party and everyone's hurt. You respond with a maximized Mass Cure Moderate Wounds and the damage is gone.

3) 'Nova' healing: Everyone's taking enormous amounts of damage (example: Tower of Despair part 2). You target someone (maybe yourself) and cycle through Max-Empped-Quickened Mass Cure Light, then Mass Cure Moderate, then Mass Cure Serious, then Mass Cure Critical. This costs an enormous amount of SP and thus cannot be sustained long, but there's no other way to do that much healing that quickly.

4) Filling in for Heal cooldowns: If the Heal spell is on cooldown, and someone needs a big heal but other people near them are damaged too, I generally cast a Max-Empped Mass Cure Moderate or Mass Cure Critical (depending on whether I had time to hit my Superior Ardor 8 clicky beforehand) on the person that really needed a heal. It doesn't heal for as much as Heal, but it does more than a Heal scroll would. Plus, it helps prevent the people near them from getting into dire straits in the future.