New cleric (there may or may not be cookies inside)

[tordan]

Hey

I`m pretty new to all this
In my dread to not mess up builds I`ve been reading and rereading all kinds builds and suggestions.
Basically what I want is a build that is pure cleric (I like going pure) so please no splash suggestions and no suggestions to roll a FvS.
My idea to playing is to be a dependent healer but not become a healbot. As I have read a lot and found out in game. Damage prevented is always better then damage healed. But there are going to be times that damage is not going to be able to be prevented but has to be healed. In those cases I want to be able to be a decent healer and not blow my SP`s on higher costing less effective heals. While I say this I`m not saying that I want to heal like a healbot and DPS like an OCC. Melee doesn`t interest me at all ftm.
So after reading and rereading I came up with this and knowing me it`s gonna need help badly.

Goals:Pure cleric, Radiant servant build, Decent heals with decent DPS(not meaning the best of both although that would be awesome ), Soloing is not on my mind

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 03.12.01
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Yurghall Divinehands
Level 20 True Neutral Human Male
(20 Cleric) 
Hit Points: 282
Spell Points: 1466 
BAB: 15\15\20\25\25
Fortitude: 15
Reflex: 6
Will: 21

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(32 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 20)
Strength             10                    12
Dexterity             8                    10
Constitution         14                    16
Intelligence         10                    12
Wisdom               18                    28
Charisma             14                    16

Tomes Used
+2 Tome of Strength used at level 7
+2 Tome of Dexterity used at level 7
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 7
+2 Tome of Intelligence used at level 7
+2 Tome of Wisdom used at level 7
+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 7

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills         Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)            (Level 20)
Balance               1                    11.5
Bluff                 2                     3
Concentration         6                    26
Diplomacy             2                     3
Disable Device        n/a                   n/a
Haggle                2                     3
Heal                  4                    11
Hide                 -1                     0
Intimidate            2                     3
Jump                  0                     7.5
Listen                4                     9
Move Silently        -1                     0
Open Lock            n/a                    n/a
Perform               n/a                   n/a
Repair                0                     1
Search                0                     1
Spot                  4                     9
Swim                  0                     1
Tumble               n/a                    n/a
Use Magic Device      4                    14.5

Level 1 (Cleric)
Feat: (Human Bonus) Empower Healing Spell
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Enhancement: Improved Heal I
Enhancement: Cleric Smiting I
Enhancement: Cleric Life Magic I
Enhancement: Cleric Divine Vitality I


Level 2 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Follower of the Sovereign Host
Enhancement: Cleric Wisdom I


Level 3 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Empower Spell
Enhancement: Cleric Improved Empower Healing I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Life I


Level 4 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Improved Heal II
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Smiting I


Level 5 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Human Adaptability Wisdom I
Enhancement: Cleric Life Magic II
Enhancement: Cleric Improved Turning I


Level 6 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Maximize Spell
Enhancement: Cleric Radiant Servant I


Level 7 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Cleric Smiting II


Level 8 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Unyielding Sovereignty


Level 9 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Heighten Spell
Enhancement: Cleric Improved Empower Healing II


Level 10 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Incredible Smiting I
Enhancement: Cleric Wand and Scroll Mastery I
Enhancement: Cleric Wand and Scroll Mastery II


Level 11 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Life Magic III


Level 12 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Spell Penetration
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Smiting II
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Incredible Smiting II


Level 13 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Wisdom II


Level 14 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Life Magic IV


Level 15 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Spell Penetration
Enhancement: Cleric Smiting III


Level 16 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Radiant Servant II
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Incredible Life I


Level 17 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Improved Spell Penetration I
Enhancement: Cleric Wand and Scroll Mastery III


Level 18 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Quicken Spell
Enhancement: Cleric Smiting IV


Level 19 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Improved Spell Penetration II


Level 20 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Divine Intervention
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Smiting III
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Life II

Please be gentle but say what must be said.

[Nyxianne]

Looks great, decent feats and all. Personally I'd switch greater spell pen for quicken, a lot of the good spells take a little while to cast, and even with a 26 concentration you can be interrupted. Plus, depending on you playstyle you may want to drop your Cha a lil bit and plug those points into Con. Turns regenerate once you get radiant servant, and even just 10 base Cha can get you 8 - 10 turns (depending on gear).
Anyway just 2 thoughts on it, but what you have is more than playable, if you like it you'll find a way to play it well.

[Lalangamena]

I think the stats are good, I am a big fan of charisma and bursts.

but for such build you must take quicken for mass heals and heighten if you want to have any "damage prevention"...

I would drop both mental toughness, or the imp mental toughness and imp spelpen and try to compensate with items and enhancements.

EDIT:

I have noticed you didnt take any enhancement lines for scrolls.

scroll healing take major part of all high end healing, you should take atleast three tiers in it.

but it is not that important because you can reset enhancements if you feel your heal scrolls do only 150 HP heals instead of 250....

[Whesper]

I agree with Nyxiananne about switching G.Spell pen for Quicken. If played correctly it will be off for most of the time, but then there are times when you cannot avoid incoming damage and that's where quicken saves lives. I would suggest getting it at around level 12-14 or so.

Next up, mental toughness(es). I suggest dropping them both. There are a lot of feats that provide more than 100sp per feat at level 20. If you want it to not run out of SP in long quests/battles, then you could take Extra turning for 4 more Radiant servant blasts.

Thirdly, starting charisma. For clerics high charisma is usually for Divine might and you said you don't plan to do that
So I suggest starting with 12 cha instead and putting those points into int and/or strength- say 10 intelligence (and you could get more UMD, some jump) and 12 strength (so you wouldn't become helpless from strength damage so fast).

Also, try and get your reflex save higher, since that's what kills clerics most often (ok, stupidity of various degrees might be in first place. Personal or your party member's). You don't wear out cleric through attrition, you blast him with high burst damage. In the game, most spells that will hurt you allow a reflex save.

Lastly, Life magic IV and energy of the Energy of the Zealot line. I would drop them both and get more smiting enhancements for a better divine punishment/holy blast and other goodies. It might seem that Life magic IV is important, but your most efficient spell for single target healing by the time is gonna be Heal and for groups- Heal, Mass. Both are overhealing most of time (except for those WF with no healing amp and no healers friend, but they don't want you to heal them anyways, even if they are melee).
So the biggest boon of Life magic IV is for your aura/bursts, but 4 APs could be better spent elsewhere for a bigger bang.

Take my advice with a grain of salt, all my builds for all classes are feat and AP starved. I also prefer versatility over specialization.

[SirValentine]

Overall, looks like a pretty solid base. I do have a few comments & suggested tweaks:

              Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(32 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 20)
Strength              8                    10
Dexterity             8                    10
Constitution         14                    16
Intelligence          8                    10
Wisdom               18                    28
Charisma             16                    20

Unless there is something specific you need 16 Cha for, I'd drop it to 14, and bump up Str a bit. Or even Int or Con. A bit more Str will make your life much more pleasant during low levels.

Feat: (Human Bonus) Mental Toughness
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Feat: (Selected) Empower Healing Spell
Feat: (Selected) Improved Mental Toughness
Feat: (Selected) Spell Penetration
Feat: (Selected) Greater Spell Penetration
Feat: (Selected) Empower Spell
Feat: (Selected) Maximize Spell

I am not a fan of Mental Toughness or Improved Mental Toughness. A few more SP, and that's it.

In the meantime, you're missing a couple of important feats:
- Quicken
- Heighten


About order: Take Maximize & Empower much earlier. Take Spell Pen & Greater Spell Pen much later. There are almost no mobs at low levels that have any Spell Resistance. But Maximize & Empower affect your Positive Energy Burst starting at level 6, and will not only let you cheaply heal your teammates, but also obliterate Undead.


Enhancements:

You don't have any of the Smiting lines. Divine Punishment is your #1 boss-killing spell, and that's what improves it. Maxxing them all out takes quite a few AP (22), but can you scrape up 8 or so? Smiting III, Prayer of Smiting I, Prayer of Incredible Smiting I?


You don't have any of the Scroll Matery line. Get the first tier for sure. +25% for 1 AP is too awesome and useful to miss. Some suggest getting all 4 tiers, but the increase goes way down and cost up with the higher tiers.

Enhancement: Cleric Energy of the Zealot I
Enhancement: Cleric Energy of the Zealot II
Enhancement: Cleric Energy of the Zealot III
Enhancement: Cleric Energy of the Zealot IV

That's a whole lot of AP on a few more SP. I wouldn't focus on that line at all, just grab 1 or 2 levels if you have AP left over at the end.

Enhancement: Cleric Divine Vitality I
Enhancement: Cleric Divine Vitality II
Enhancement: Cleric Divine Vitality III

You need the first tier to qualify for Radiant Servant. You don't ever need the other tiers. Once you have Radiant Servant, you'll almost never use this anymore anyway, since your turns are so much better spent on your PrE abilities.

Enhancement: Unyielding Sovereignty
Enhancement: Cleric Charisma I
Enhancement: Cleric Charisma II

You need 1 of these 2 to qualify for Radiant Servant II. You don't need both. I'd drop the Charisma line. If you really want the 1 extra turn it's giving you, you can buy it more cheaply directly through the Extra Turning enhancement.

[tordan]

Ok after reading all your posts I`ve been messing around with the stats,feats and enhancements.
This is what I`ve changed.

Abilities
Str 8 > 10
Int 8 > 10
Cha 16 > 14

Skills
Invested the extra points in more UMD and jump

Feats
Dropped the energy line.
moved empower and max up earlier and waited with spell pens till last
Picked up both quicken and heighten.

enhancement
Dropped charisma
Dropped 2 from energy (kept 1 and 2 since I had 3 AP over at the end)
Took down DV 3>1
Took up the entire smithing 1-4 and prayer of smithing 1 and incredible smithing 1
Took up scrolls and wands 3 (I thought scrolls 4 was a bit AP expensive for only a 10% increase)

[firemedium_jt]

Glad to see u adjusted it. Especially taking some more STR against rays of enfeeblement and being able to melee at low to mid lvl. You made lots of adjustments and they look great.

Cleric Improved Empower Healing III and energy of the Zealot - (this is pure healbot stuff) dump these early and take...


*** Critical smiting -to hit- and -damage multiplier- both to tier 3. Divine Punishment is your best boss weapon and one of the best Cleric spells in the game. ***


When u get a Greenblade or Skiver your critical will be 18% to hit.
Tons of stuff on here for gear. Just look up previous threads from the guys that responded.

Superior Ardor
Superior Brilliance V
Potency
Sora Kell for melee

I saw melee does not interest you, but at low lvl to mid lvl it really helps to take more STR and maybe less CHR. This is not a big deal. Just soundburst a lot and command then at low levels. Your offensive casting is not that good till Divine Punishment and Holy Smite.

Scroll Mastery 3 is about 17 points healing for 3 enhancement pts. I think it is kinda expensive. So if u need more pts for smiting, and if u need Wisdom 3 when u get exceptional wisdom items too.

One full pt (2 skill points) into Tumble is helpful.

[Nyxianne]

Still think you may want to reconsider your starting con, unless you have some good twink gear, 'tis hard for a cleric to heal with lowish hp at end game (depending on what kind of endgame you want to play). People underestimate how much a bit of hp (even if its only a little difference) can make.

[firemedium_jt]

Another thing to boost turns take Extra turning 1-2. Well worth it. U can even swap STR and CHR because of it. STR14 and CHR10 with extra turning. That way your divine power means something along with divine favor, and u will not be enfeebled. You will have enough turns, and melee like u should at low to mid lvls too.

As for CON u could take human greater adapt CON when u get a exception CON ring from TOD. With CON14 and CONOP HP and some AH gear like Greater false life u be at around 450 hit points. That is plenty.

[danotmano1998]

What others have said is good stuff as far as your build goes.
I would question this choice.

Enhancement: Cleric Improved Empower Healing III

You're investing 12 Action Points for a net Spell Point savings of 4 per cast.
Save those points and put them into something with a greater return. Criticals, Extra turns, More SP, there are lots of other things to spend your AP on.

If you're worried about SP consumption, ask a cannith crafter to make you a trinket that will do nearly the same thing. You can get an item that has Empower Healing II on it.

Good luck, and happy adventuring!

EDIT: Hey wait a minute! I came in here looking for those cookies... I call shennanigans! :P

[tordan]

What others have said is good stuff as far as your build goes.


EDIT: Hey wait a minute! I came in here looking for those cookies... I call shennanigans! :P

There was never any promise made of any cookies. The cookies are an illusion. There was only being hinted towards the possibility of cookies being inside here. Which as you now know they are not.

Thanks for the reply though.

I`ve been through it again.

Abilities
nothing changed here. I`ve been thinking about the con. I`ve also been reading up on other builds and nearly every build I come across starts out with Con 14. It might mean I have to be a bit extra carefull but I`m willing to do just that.

Skills
The point in tumble. I don`t know. It can be handy and it must have a use as most people seem to take it. I must say that I have never used tumble. Maybe I`m doing stuff wrong but never have I used tumble.

feats
nothing changed

Enhancements
Dropped energy line completely
lowered scrolls mastery to 2 from 3 (indeed 3AP for a 10% increase looks a bit heavy)
Dropped entire empower line.
Took prayers of smiting and incred smiting to 3
Got wisdom 3 (but only at lvl 20. If i have even wisdom I can drop it. for something else.)

[danotmano1998]

The cookies are an illusion.

Curses!
Foiled again. Drat.

My guess is that you may have invested some points into bluff. Either that or you're wielding a +5 Keyboard of Greater Deception. Thanks for the smile.

You're welcome for the post.

Here's another little tidbit I've found leveling up my cleric:
Take the spells that are most useful, and don't worry overly much about the cure diseases, poison, etc.. Most of those are available in wand or scroll form and work just as well without taking away a possibly useful divine spell slot. Saves you some SP as well.

Oh, and even though you are able to cast them.... Stock up on heal, raise dead, and/or resurrection scrolls as you can afford them. There have been lots of times I was glad to have them and they were vital, sometimes even made the difference between a raid failure or not.

[Cardtrick]

Skills
The point in tumble. I don`t know. It can be handy and it must have a use as most people seem to take it. I must say that I have never used tumble. Maybe I`m doing stuff wrong but never have I used tumble.

Have one full point allows you to do the actual tumbling action instead of the weird sidestep thing. The main reason people take it is that it lets you move faster in shallow water. It's not essential, but it's also helpful and very low cost.

[AtomicMew]

Is there any reason other than aesthetics that you want to be pure? If not, any number of different splashes add a LOT of power for a cleric.

[cyghost]

Would you mind pointing me to a thread where this is discussed, AtomicM? Or is level 13 too late to consider a splash?

[Arkadios]

Looks like a solid build now, I recently rolled a new cleric and took

(currently 14)

1) Toughness
1) Emp heal
3) Maximise
6) Spell focus: evo
9) Quicken
12) Empower
15) (will be heighten)
18) (probably shield mastery, but may also be extra turning, spell pen, gsf:evo or sf: necro)

However it isn't my first cleric and my playstyle is probably different.

So again your build looks like a solid first life cleric, you'll find it extremely fun to play.

[Habreno]

Hey

I`m pretty new to all this We all were at one point xD
In my dread to not mess up builds I`ve been reading and rereading all kinds builds and suggestions. Smart xD
Basically what I want is a build that is pure cleric (I like going pure) so please no splash suggestions and no suggestions to roll a FvS. No splash I can understand; it's a *slight* limitation but not a problem. No Favored Soul some people think is nuts, but I'll address why I wouldn't worry about this in a different comment.
My idea to playing is to be a dependent healer but not become a healbot. xD As I have read a lot and found out in game. Damage prevented is always better then damage healed. But there are going to be times that damage is not going to be able to be prevented but has to be healed. In those cases I want to be able to be a decent healer and not blow my SP`s on higher costing less effective heals. While I say this I`m not saying that I want to heal like a healbot and DPS like an OCC. Melee doesn`t interest me at all ftm. Melee is *not* as bad as you think. What's really nice (and here's the Soul comment) is that even with a casting focus, you can get fair melee. Is it going to be the 100+/swing DPS that ESOS Barb gets? No. Does it have to be to be useful? No.
So after reading and rereading I came up with this and knowing me it`s gonna need help badly.

Goals:Pure cleric, Radiant servant build, Decent heals with decent DPS(not meaning the best of both although that would be awesome ), Soloing is not on my mind Even still, you'll be able to with the right gear and experience.

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 03.12.01
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Yurghall Divinehands
Level 20 True Neutral Human Male
(20 Cleric) 
Hit Points: 282 Keep in mind this is pre-gear. So though this looks low, it won't be in game.
Spell Points: 1466 See HP Comment
BAB: 15\15\20\25\25
Fortitude: 15
Reflex: 6
Will: 21

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(32 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 20)
Strength             10                    12
Dexterity             8                    10
Constitution         14                    16
Intelligence         10                    12
Wisdom               18                    29
Charisma             14                    16

Tomes Used
+2 Tome of Strength used at level 7
+2 Tome of Dexterity used at level 7
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 7
+2 Tome of Intelligence used at level 7
+2 Tome of Wisdom used at level 7
+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 7

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills         Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)            (Level 20)
Balance               1                    11.5
Bluff                 2                     3
Concentration         6                    26
Diplomacy             2                     3
Disable Device        n/a                   n/a
Haggle                2                     3
Heal                  4                    11
Hide                 -1                     0
Intimidate            2                     3
Jump                  0                     7.5
Listen                4                     9
Move Silently        -1                     0
Open Lock            n/a                    n/a
Perform               n/a                   n/a
Repair                0                     1
Search                0                     1
Spot                  4                     9
Swim                  0                     1
Tumble               n/a                    n/a
Use Magic Device      4                    14.5

Level 1 (Cleric)
Feat: (Human Bonus) Empower Healing Spell
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Enhancement: Improved Heal I
Enhancement: Cleric Smiting I
Enhancement: Cleric Life Magic I
Enhancement: Cleric Divine Vitality I


Level 2 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Follower of the Sovereign Host
Enhancement: Cleric Wisdom I


Level 3 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Empower Spell Some consider this overkill. It's great here for leveling if you take Maximize at L6 (Which you do) as you can utterly rip through Delera's and Necro series. I'll comment more on this at the bottom.
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Life I
Enhancement: Cleric Wand and Scroll Mastery I


Level 4 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Improved Heal II
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Smiting I
Enhancement: Cleric Smiting II


Level 5 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Human Adaptability Wisdom I
Enhancement: Cleric Life Magic II
Enhancement: Cleric Improved Turning I


Level 6 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Maximize Spell Smart.
Enhancement: Cleric Radiant Servant I


Level 7 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Smiting II


Level 8 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Unyielding Sovereignty


Level 9 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Quicken Spell A bit early. Consider switching this and Spell Pen (though in all actuality, I take this at 18, and would put Heighten here, and then for 12 and 15 feats go with IC: Slashing at 15 and either Extend or a spell focus at 12; if you really don't want any melee capabilities at all, go SF/GSF or Extend + SF (GSF > Extend, given current state of game) for 12 and 15 feats) or put this at 18 and swap appropriately.

 Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Incredible Smiting I
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Incredible Smiting II


Level 10 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Smiting III
Enhancement: Cleric Wand and Scroll Mastery II


Level 11 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Life Magic III


Level 12 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Heighten Spell Wise choice. See above for placement ideas.
Enhancement: Cleric Wisdom II


Level 13 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Life Magic IV


Level 14 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Smiting III


Level 15 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Spell Penetration IMO, a small bit of waste. Odds are, by cap, anything you will face will either have no SR or SR to the point where you won't beat it regardless, without the PL feats for it.
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Incredible Smiting III


Level 16 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Radiant Servant II
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Incredible Life I
Enhancement: Cleric Smiting IV


Level 17 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Improved Spell Penetration I


Level 18 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Spell Penetration See comments on Spell Penetration.


Level 19 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Improved Spell Penetration II


Level 20 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Divine Intervention
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Life II
Enhancement: Cleric Wisdom III

Please be gentle but say what must be said.
Always. Respect is very useful.

Comments in green in quote above, and below here.

Stats: 14 CHA is a bit overkill. Dropping this to 10 would be fine. Given your turns regenerate, you'll still have 8+ freshly capped and will hit 10 or so easy for starting TU's, and these will be plenty.

STR at 10 is not bad. I do recommend some sort of melee capability for those "Oh ****" moments, but how much capability is a personal preference. Some people consider a nonproficent DR breaking two handed weapon enough investment. Others go further.
I personally went, on a max-WIS build, TWF with a starting STR of 15. DEX started 12, since I had a +3 tome to qualify for TWF to reduce my to-hit penalties. This left CON at 12, though, but I wasn't worried since I was doing an LR and knew I'd have 500+ HP easy. He's capable of a 28 fully unbuffed STR, up to 34 with sustainable buffs (Guild ship, yugo pot, rage) and 40 with Titan's Grip clicky for those big DPS moments. While keeping a 40+ Wisdom.
HOWEVER, I did not build him like that. I LR'ed into this after acquiring a very nice bit of solid gear.


WIS: Max this. Smart call for doing so. Any sort of offensive casting is from WIS. Instakills work even in Epics on the right mobs, if you can push your DC's up high enough. I find successes reliably on a 36 or 37 DC for a first life build without the focus feats. It's still useful.


Not a bad build.



Just remember, this is only my comments. If you take or leave any of the ones above, remember this one. In the end, it is YOUR CHARACTER. Play him, and build him, how YOU want to. And whatever you do, don't let ANYONE tell you differently.

[AtomicMew]

Would you mind pointing me to a thread where this is discussed, AtomicM? Or is level 13 too late to consider a splash?

It's been discussed to death, but generally people agree that the capstone is just too weak. A standard two monk splash gets you BETTER casting capabilities, MUCH better saves, two extra feats (on a feat starved class) and evasion.

[firemedium_jt]

I understand it that you don't want to melee, but really u should. You don't have to, but why do u have no interest in it? Just wondering. I love the challenge of doing all 3... casting healing melee. AT low lvl Soundburst or Command then swing and heal. So hard? Maybe you don't think a Cleric is capable or should not melee. Also by melee you will be taking damage, and you should do that too especially at low level.

You have Divine Power, Divine Favor, human versatility, and Medium Armor for a reason. And then all u need is moderate fortification to melee. Melee may be your third option, but don't gimp it. It is better at low lvls until u get Divine Punishment. And then added to DP. With extra turning enhancements at low lvl u will have enough turns to take less CHR early.

At high lvl u will be hanging back with heal/heal scroll and rarely use bursts in combat. U r talking about 2 bursts. With CHR+6 gear it is less important later. With proper gear, and STR14 base u will out melee the novice pug in damage. You can feat swap power attack out at later levels yet have nice melee low lvl. You can still wield weapons with master's touch spell or scroll or take the -4 to hit even. Just ask your local mage for Master's Touch spell or to get u scrolls as backup.

Keen Falchions or Scims or Rapiers and your completions will be more likely when with novice pugs which means leveling up faster. Haste click items hot keyed with rage and u will rival pure melee types that have no clue about gear. Human versatility and +2 to hit or damage helps too. Busy bee, but challenging and fun to play if u can multi task.

Be all you can be. U up to it?

[tordan]

Thanks for the comments all.

As people have said a few times in this thread melee is needed as well. I agree with it up to a point. I`m willing to take a few weapons along for all different kinds of DR but that is as far as I`m willing to go. I`m not really happy about dropping casting feats just to get more melee ability.
In my playstyle melee will be a filler that I use in the moments that I have nothing else to do like heal or stun or cast. Or if I`m in a position where I`ll need to conserve some SP.

On the whole multitasking. I notice that I`m not very good at it. All of it will be done mediocre instead of just 2 of them being done well. Maybe later when I`m a bit more at home with the cleric and I know the instances better I`ll be able to do several things at once. And as you know a better and more challenging character is only 1 TR away.

I updated again and apart from switching some feats around it is pretty much the same set up.