Necro Cleric for new players

[EllisDee37]

Is this build up to date?

The build itself is largely up to date; maybe change some of the epic feats, but overall yes.

However, the build concept may be outdated.

[troublegurl]

The build itself is largely up to date; maybe change some of the epic feats, but overall yes.

However, the build concept may be outdated.

I'm new to clerics so trying to figure out a good build usually do a fighter class .
I want a solo group play build this seemed good

[Marshal_Lannes]

I just took a modified version of this build up to 20. These notes are only if you plan on heroic playing this build, I didn't play it in epics TRing to try another Cleric at 20. Played extensively in Reaper with the build.

Race - went Drow just because my character is always Drow. Doesn't really seem to matter what race you use.
Enhancements - Went to 30 in RS instead of DD because the Aura is more important in Reaper. I went turn heavy in the RS tree plus the heal points. Went for Light bonuses in DD tree. Took one Evo +1.
Feats - went Cleric of Amunator (sp?) for the turning. Found my turning very effective in Reaper once I got Mighty Turning from RS. You can easily turn undead in Reaper heroics and I didn't even have an eternal faith item. I was just using Seek Eternal Rest, keeping my CHA item high and using the RS tree enhancements. Great ability to have. Other feats...
L1 - Maximize
L3 - Empower
L6 - PL Wizard
L9 - Empower Healing
L12 - Quicken
L15 - SF Evocation
L18 - Eschew Materials

Eschew Materials is really good for those last couple levels of questing and allows you to dump 9 spots of inventory as you prepare to TR. I went Evo focus over Necro since Destruction usually seems to land until you get to level 18 but then energy drain plus destruction seems to land when you need it though at this point I am mostly using implosion (which is awesome and the main reason I feel you should go Evocation)

The DPS of this build is terrible up through right around L8/9. You're basically a healer so act like it. From 10 to 20 though it takes off and is a lot of fun to play and a huge asset to any Reaper group where you can DPS, Heal, remove effects and so forth.

Key equipment - Armor I used the Scavaged Warplate (high AC plus two slots) ML 8 from 8 to 14. At 14 I used the Blue Dragon Plate. Most of the stuff isn't great anymore but it is sharp looking, has a high AC and does give you spell lore and potency. Shield I used Fanion (GFL, Archmagi, Heavy Fort slotted) ML 14. Other key items to get are the Shimmer Cloak ML 15 from Mines (CHA 8, Spell Pen +3), Halcyonia ML 13 from Trial of the Archons (awesome overall healing helm) and Rem trade in Bracers ML 14 (could go with 7 but I went with 14 because you can more easily utilize the two slots with ML 12 augments).

[Raeaddil]

Hmm I have a level 15 version of this build and am torn on what domain to take. Was liking Death domain but Knowledge looks good as well. Any recommendations?

[EllisDee37]

Hmm I have a level 15 version of this build and am torn on what domain to take. Was liking Death domain but Knowledge looks good as well. Any recommendations?

I think death is ahead, but knowledge is a fine choice if you have spell pen issues.

Death: +4 necro DC, destruction SLA, necrotic ray SLA, immune to level drain
Knowledge: +2 all DCs, +4 spell pen

I personally love necrotic ray, and destruction as an SLA is swoon-worthy since it gives you three different fingers to rotate.

[Buhl]

I would like to play this build (thanks for the build by the way) the new cleric Death domain seems like a good fit.

My question is this, regarding the Deity Based Feats does anyone know if the bonus from Aureon's Instruction the diety level 6 Unique Active Ability
(+2 to your effective level for Turn Undead, +4 to maximum Hit Dice affected when using Turn Undead, and +4 to the total Hit Dice affected by Turn Undead.)
will it stack with the Death domain
(+2 to your effective Cleric level to Turn Undead, and +2 to the hit dice of undead effected.)?

If so will it stack further with bonuses elsewhere?

Is this worth the Diety choice?

[EllisDee37]

It should stack, and both should stack with everything else as well.

Currently the deity choice (Sovereign Host) is only giving you a free super heal once every 10 minutes, which is nice but not the be-all end-all. Feel free to choose any other deity for any reason.

[OxfordCalc]

The build itself is largely up to date; maybe change some of the epic feats, but overall yes.

However, the build concept may be outdated.

Could you elaborate on this a bit? The build is good if you want a caster cleric, but caster cleric is a suboptimal build?

[EllisDee37]

Could you elaborate on this a bit? The build is good if you want a caster cleric, but caster cleric is a suboptimal build?

Pretty much, though now I think the worm has turned a bit and caster clerics are pretty useful for reaper.

[Kza]

Pretty much, though now I think the worm has turned a bit and caster clerics are pretty useful for reaper.

Agree, making a few cleric llives for more reaper xp... Fun not only doing warlocks!

My advice- go elecric path. You get nice slas so you easy solo low skulls just with dps. (slas + bb soloing)
In Group you have good evocation as ele path ( + evo). And you can do usual soundburst/great command/destru/implo + healing ( if needed depending).

Death is ofcourse attractive if not just tring at 20, probably the way to go in reaper Epics.

(If you solo reapers- remember soundburst. Stunning the reapers and kill them Before they even touch you. Good times)- thanks to the +evo from ele you dont even need it heightened

[OxfordCalc]

Agree, making a few cleric llives for more reaper xp... Fun not only doing warlocks!

My advice- go elecric path. You get nice slas so you easy solo low skulls just with dps. (slas + bb soloing)
In Group you have good evocation as ele path ( + evo). And you can do usual soundburst/great command/destru/implo + healing ( if needed depending).

Death is ofcourse attractive if not just tring at 20, probably the way to go in reaper Epics.

(If you solo reapers- remember soundburst. Stunning the reapers and kill them Before they even touch you. Good times)- thanks to the +evo from ele you dont even need it heightened

I've been following this build (Ele domain) and liking it so far. Now my cleric is about to turn 11, and the build says to respec into Radiant servant for positive energy aura. Really don't want to lose Holy Smite. How do I damage the bad guys without it? Want to continue as Light side also.

Do I need more spell penetration as I level?

My cleric plays mostly on normal and hard. Don't think I'm ready for Reaper yet.

[EllisDee37]

I've been following this build (Ele domain) and liking it so far. Now my cleric is about to turn 11, and the build says to respec into Radiant servant for positive energy aura. Really don't want to lose Holy Smite. How do I damage the bad guys without it? Want to continue as Light side also.

You can stay light side if you like. Or you could delay the respec to the dark side to a later level. Note that the cost of respecing goes up in substantial jumps every 4 levels, which is why I slotted it in for level 11.

Do I need more spell penetration as I level?

Only if you go to the darkside and start using insta-kill spells. (Slay Living, Destruction) Which is the only reason to go darkside in the first place, IMO.

EDIT: You also want spell pen for Greater Command, regardless if you're light side or dark side, but a light side cleric can probably let spell pen slide a bit and just not be as effective with gtr command.

[Paladin_of_Power]

I played this build on my second cleric life. Liked it. Chose death domain since I'm throwing death spells around, might as well bump your DC's up. The Holy Smite SLA was very nice to have, clerics need a low level AOE. Striving towards that on the Enhancement tree is a great idea. And the blindness is cherry on top. I made a few changes, I hung at level 12 so I could use my light spells and light spec in Ravenloft. This does very well vs. undead especially with the turning boost with Death Domain. Catacombs, Delaras and Ravenloft I pulled my own weight to say the least and typically lead the group. While still able to heal the group OK. Then at 14 I switched to The Dark Side and never looked back. Heighten is awesome great way to increase DC's. My Destruction and Slay Living DC's at level 18 were 47. Orange Skulls for everyone! Get in line for your death spell. Also decided to focus my enhancement trees on Necromancy, so I picked all the Necro DC and Necro spellpower stuff on Divine Disciple I could get my hands on. I think the cleric needs some better necromancy based AOE's as Inflict mass is pretty blah and the Negative Energy Burst is blah but I took and used them as they're cheap sp for *some* aoe damage. No crowd control with those unlike Holy Smite blindness. Against those with Death Ward I used Flame Strike, Firestorm and Cometfall and healed the rest of the team between some CC with SoundBurst and Greater Command. Chill Touch if they got close.

Didn't think Power Word Stun was worth it, and since I'm not doing Epics with this toon, just heroic reincarnations I didn't need the core capstone.

Here's the tree from my L18 Necropriest.



Oh and I did Wheloon with another Necro cleric with a similar build. The orange skulls were flying, we did quite well.

[unbongwah]

I mentioned this build in another thread and thought I would post an updated version here. This toon splashes wizard 3 for an undead form (I went vampire for +2 WIS) and other Pale Master bonuses. The main downside is you give up the last two Divine Disciple cores, so you lose access to two spells (Power Word Stun and Word of Balance) and +4 caster level +1 max CL bonuses. The upside is, well, you get to be a vampire. Which means undead immunities and you can self-heal from NEB SLA and self-targeted Inflict/Harm spells as well as positive spells.

Undead Cleric
17/3 Cleric/Wizard
True Neutral Human


Level Order

1. Cleric          6. Cleric         11. Cleric         16. Wizard
2. Cleric          7. Cleric         12. Cleric         17. Wizard
3. Cleric          8. Cleric         13. Cleric         18. Cleric
4. Cleric          9. Cleric         14. Cleric         19. Cleric
5. Cleric         10. Cleric         15. Wizard         20. Cleric


Stats
               28pt     32pt     Level Up
               ----     ----     --------
Strength         8        8       4: WIS
Dexterity        8        8       8: WIS
Constitution    16       16      12: WIS
Intelligence    10       10      16: WIS
Wisdom          18       18      20: WIS
Charisma         8       12      24: WIS
                                 28: WIS

Skills
          C  C  C  C  C  C  C  C  C  C  C  C  C  C  W  W  W  C  C  C
          1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
         ------------------------------------------------------------
Concent   4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1     2  1  1  1  23
Spellcr   4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Heal      4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1     1     1  1  1  21
Repair                                              1                  1
         ------------------------------------------------------------
         12  3  3  3  3  3  3  3  3  3  3  3  3  3  3  3  3  3  3  3


Feats

 1        : Maximize Spell
 1 Human  : Empower Spell
 3        : Quicken Spell
 6        : Heighten Spell
 9        : Empower Healing Spell
12        : Spell Penetration
15        : Spell Focus: Evocation OR Greater Spell Focus: Necromancy
15 Wizard : Spell Focus: Necromancy
18        : Greater Spell Penetration OR Extend Spell
21 Epic   : Epic Spell Penetration OR Arcane Insight
24 Epic   : Burst of Glacial Wrath
26 Destiny: Epic Spell Power: Negative OR Guardian Angel
27 Epic   : Embolden Spell OR Epic Damage Reduction
28 Destiny: Mass Frog
29 Destiny: Arcane Pulse OR Deific Warding
30 Epic   : Intensify Spell OR Epic Will
30 Legend : Scion of: Shadowfell

 2 Cleric : Death Domain

 1 Deity  : Follower of: Aureon
 6 Deity  : Aureon's Instruction


Enhancements (80 AP)

Divine Disciple (39 AP)
Emissary: Darkness, Sacred Defense, Enervation, Necrotic Ray
Chill Touch III, Spell Critical: Negative
Spellpower: Universal II, Spell Critical: Negative
Necrotic Bolt III, Spellpower: Negative III, Spell Critical: Negative, Wisdom
Negative Energy Burst III, Necromancy DC, Spell Critical: Negative, Wisdom
Mass Inflict Moderate Wounds III, Negative Spellpower, Divine Empowerment

Radiant Servant (23 AP)
Healing Domain, Pacifism, Positive Energy Burst, Improved Empower Healing
Extra Turning II, Bliss III
Improved Turning I
Intense Healing III, Unyielding Sovereignty
Endless Turning I

Pale Master (15 AP)
Dark Reaping, Shroud of the Vampire
Negative Energy Conduit III, Spell Critical
Cloak of Night I, Spell Critical
Negative Energy Adept III, Spell Critical

Human (3 AP)
Spell Power Boost, Wisdom

Leveling Guide
DD0 Emissary: Darkness; DD1 Chill Touch I, II, III
DD1 Spell Critical: Negative; DD2 Spell Critical: Negative
DD0 Sacred Defense; DD2 Spellpower: Universal I; DD3 Necrotic Bolt I, II
DD3 Necrotic Bolt III; DD3 Spellpower: Negative I, II, III
DD3 Spell Critical: Negative; DD3 Wisdom
DD0 Enervation; DD4 Negative Energy Burst I, II, III
Rad0 Healing Domain; Rad1 Bliss I; Rad1 Extra Turning I
Rad1 Bliss II; Rad0 Pacifism; Rad1 Extra Turning II
Rad1 Bliss III; Rad0 Positive Energy Burst; DD2 Spellpower: Universal II
Rad3 Unyielding Sovereignty; DD4 Spell Critical: Negative
DD4 Necromancy DC; (Bank 2 AP)
DD0 Necrotic Ray; DD5 Mass Inflict Moderate Wounds I, II, III; DD5 Divine Empowerment
DD5 Negative Spellpower; DD4 Wisdom
Rad3 Intense Healing I, II
PM0 Dark Reaping; PM1 Spell Critical; Rad2 Improved Turning I
Rad3 Intense Healing III; Rad4 Endless Turning I
Rad0 Improved Empower Healing; PM1 Negative Energy Conduit I, II; PM0 Shroud of the Vampire
PM1 Negative Energy Conduit III; PM2 Cloak of Night I; PM2 Spell Critical
PM3 Spell Critical; PM3 Negative Energy Adept I, II
PM3 Negative Energy Adept III; Hum0 Spell Power Boost; Hum0 Wisdom


Destiny (24 AP)

Exalted Angel
Avenging Light, Radiant Power III, Endless Faith III, Healing Power III
(none)
Piercing Spellcraft III
Blood and Radiance III, Excoriate
Leap of Faith
Sun Bolt, Divine Wrath

Twists of Fate (18 fate points)
Piercing Spellcraft (Tier 3 Magister)
School Specialist: Necromancy (Tier 2 Magister)
Precise: Evocation (Tier 2 Draconic)

[Paladin_of_Power]

I wish they had a good epic destiny tree for death domain cleric. It doesn't really fit into Divine Crusader or Exalted Angel with the former pushing fire and the latter with light spellpowers. Neither have any neg energy or Necromancy specific boosts (Necro DC's and crit % plus a few death spells).

Would be nice if Exalted Angel had a split path you could choose that flips it over to a Necro cleric tree, like how Divine Disciple does.

I tried playing my necro cleric at 29-30 today and just wasn't happy with the performance. Tried Divine Crusader then EA. I seem to recall my Soul Eater Fiend Warlock doing better with death spells in Legendary .