What to craft as a cleric?

[mikarddo]

Greetings,

My cleric is level 8 (one and only char) and I am trying to put together a list of things to craft or buy. I have come up with the following which I hope to get comments on. I doubt I have it right so please advice on ways to improve.

Edited based on the first handful of replies as I had some things wrong.

Armor: Deathblock + Dusk (once able, if ever)
Shield: Lifeshield + Spearblock (for archers)
Belt: CON + False Life
Boots: Striding + Jump
Bracers: SF evoc + Dodge (worth it as a cleric?)
Cloak: CHA + Balance
Gloves: STR + Concentration
Goggles: Blindness + Attack Bonus
Hat: WIS + Wizardry/Power
Neck: Poison + Resistance
Ring 1: SF Conj + Fortification
Ring 2: Disease/Potency + Fire resist

For suffixes - would Persuasion, Spell Resistance or Negative Energy Absorption be better than any of the ones I have picked?

Trinket: Havent got a craftable one so havent considered it
Weapon: Uncertain, please advice

[WielderofGigantus]

Resistance bonuses don't stack. So only the highest bonus from the boots, bracers, and goggles will apply to your saving throws.
Wizardry and Power don't stack. So only the greatest sp bonus from the hat and ring 2 will apply to your sp.

1. Make a second set of goggles and put Attack Bonus on it instead. When blinded, just switch goggles until the blindness effect wears off. Blind is a rare effect to be hit by in this game.
2. Drop ring 2 entirely and carry around remove disease potions instead. Instead make ring 2 into a ring of Potency to help with your spells.

As for the weapon, I recommend Holy of Pure Good, and Screaming of Pure Good for the non-evil monsters.

For the trinket whenever you get it, or when you finally hit Shroud. You could put the Potency on it instead to free up your ring space.

[PNellesen]

For weapons, I like to have the following handy on my clerics (these for casting/healing purposes):

Highest Superior Ardor clicky you can use (2 of them, for 18 minutes worth)
Highest Superior Brilliance clicky you can use (1, used for Divine Punishment in Boss fights)
Highest Superior Potency you can use
Highest Spell Pen you can use
Highest Arcane Lore you can use
Highest Healing Lore you can use

For meleeing, my clerics usually have a fighter level or the ability to use martial weapons, so I'm always on the lookout for decent two-handed weapons with various DR breaking properties depending on what I'm running.

[good_ole_corwin]

Highest Superior Brilliance clicky you can use (1, used for Divine Punishment in Boss fights)

The highest spell you want sup. brilliance for is DP, SO that advice should have read "the best brilliance V clicky you can use". If its a choice between sup. brilliance IV or lesser brilliance V (if there is such a thing - just using it to make a point), take the V version.

Highest Superior Potency you can use

Most important reason for Potency is Blade Barrier really (no clicky affects it), so you want to get a /best/ potency VI item as soon as you can cast BB. Not logged into the game atm, but I think you cant actually craft a superior potency VI, its readily available on random loot weapons however (so can use them as swaps when casting BB) until you get named loot with the sup. potency VI+ elsewhere.

Highest Spell Pen you can use

What does that mean however? Is spell pen VII higher than greater spell pen VI? Depends on what spells you want to cast (and really, until lvl 15-ish spell pen is not a big deal in general), not all spells are subject to spell resistance.

Highest Arcane Lore you can use

Not craftable

Highest Healing Lore you can use

Depends on whether or not arcane lore is present on some other item and how stiff the competition is for gear slots - difference between "arcane lore" and "major healing lore" is what, 3% chance and 0.25 modifier? Not worth sacrificing too much.

As for the trinket, a efficient -insert metamagic you use most- II of good luck +2 is not a bad choice (well, that is until/if you get the Madness trinkets, sustaining symbiont for a +1 exceptional con and greater false life is useful for pretty much anybody, shard of xoriat for +1 exceptional cha might come into consideration as well), admittedly not all that easy to craft. Or if you are melee specced, melee alacrity 10% is not a bad trinket suffix either.

[mikarddo]

Thanks for the replies.

I assumed that Resistance and Fort Save would stack considering the different names - I will adjust for that.
Even more so with Power and Wizardry - whats the point in having the two different names for the same effect? Does Magi stack with Power/Wizardry or not?

I have the Ardor clickies already (3 weapons with Ardor V for Radiant Servant). Spell Pen does not seem to be an issue yet. I will look into what Arcane/Healing Lore does as I had not considered those.

[WielderofGigantus]

Even more so with Power and Wizardry - whats the point in having the two different names for the same effect? Does Magi stack with Power/Wizardry or not?

I'm not sure what's the point of different names for the same effects, I guess they just didn't want people running around with items named Power XIX and the like.

But anyways, Power/Wizardry/Magi/Archmagi do not stack. Only the highest applies.

As for the resistances, it's the type of bonus that matters. Resistance and Fort Save both apply *resistance* bonus to your saving throws, and bonuses of the same type generally don't stack. There are only two exceptions that I know of: Dodge bonuses and Exceptional bonuses.

[mikarddo]

Thanks, that does make sense. I reckon I will just go with the generic resistance than rather than worry about having one of each of the specific types. Editing the original post to reflect these facts.

[mikarddo]

Thanks again for the replies.

Now, how do I calculate the ML of crafting items - including the effect of using shards of potential? I already once combined something and had the ML go above my level and dont really want to do that again.

[WielderofGigantus]

Multiply the total pluses from the suffixes, prefixes, and any enchantment bonuses by 2 and subtract 1.

+1: 1x2 -1 = lvl 1
+2: 2x2 -1 = lvl 3
+3: 3x2 -1 = lvl 5
+4: 4x2 -1 = lvl 7
and so on...

[Cardtrick]

Multiply the total pluses from the suffixes, prefixes, and any enchantment bonuses by 2 and subtract 1.

+1: 1x2 -1 = lvl 1
+2: 2x2 -1 = lvl 3
+3: 3x2 -1 = lvl 5
+4: 4x2 -1 = lvl 7
and so on...

That's the best way. Alternately, use the bound item altar (not the bound shard altar) and either put your shard in or type the name of the effect you're trying to apply. Then hover your mouse over the little weapon icon in the description that shows up, and it will tell you the ML added by the effect.

[TEcarson]

OP, I suspect if you spend any time turning in coins during the Ice Games you will get at least one trinket.

They are the same ones you can buy for TP, and are bound to character.

I got so many during the last games I was just destroying them. I think I kept 5...probably destroyed 20.