Axel's THF Melee Cleric Build

[fabfab555]

Oh yes, for sure the gear layout is changing. To what, I'm not sure yet. With random loot in it's current state, it's tough to give an exact gear setup since others will probably have difficulty finding the same random loot I do. But I'll try and update the OP at some point.

I was dual wielding because it made more sense than THF for this build getting through primal PL. I'm back to THF now, sitting at cap running the new content for the most part. As far as weapon I'm using epic riftmaker at the moment. It seems to be the best THF choice for the legendary content (or very close to) since mortal fear doesn't work in legendary.

As far as Leg GS weapons, I've not delved into the numbers much but haven't heard very good things. And on first glace it didn't look very impressive. I am running the legendary shroud regularly, at some point I'll probably end up crafting one.

Thx for the quick feedback

[Malcalo]

Howdy folks,

I just started playing the game and I am attempting to use this build, I was wondering if someone could break it down "Barney Style" for me and give me some guidance on how I should build up this character while I level up. Also where can I find some low level wisdom gear? Anyways any advice would be appreciated thanks guys!

[EllisDee37]

I just started playing the game and I am attempting to use this build, I was wondering if someone could break it down "Barney Style" for me and give me some guidance on how I should build up this character while I level up.

Here's a new player leveling plan following this build exactly as written, but since not everything is spelled out I also made some choices. An explanation of those choices follows the build:


Axel's THF Melee Cleric Build
15/4/1 Cleric/Paladin/Fighter
Lawful Good Human


Level Order

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


Stats
. . . . . . . .28pt . . 32pt . . 34pt . . 36pt . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ---- . . ---- . . ---- . . --------
Strength. . . . 16. . . .16. . . .16. . . .16. . . .4: STR
Dexterity . . . 10. . . .10. . . .12. . . .14. . . .8: STR
Constitution. . 16. . . .16. . . .16. . . .16. . . 12: STR
Intelligence. . .8. . . . 8. . . . 8. . . . 8. . . 16: STR
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . . 8. . . . 8. . . . 8. . . 20: STR
Charisma. . . . 14. . . .16. . . .16. . . .16. . . 24: STR
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28: STR

Skills
. . . . . F .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .P. P .P. P
. . . . . 1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8 .9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Heal. . . . .2 . . 2. . .2 . . 2. . .2 . . 2. . .2 . . 2. . .2. . .2. 20
UMD . . . 2 . . 1. . .1 . . 1. . .1 . . 1. . .1 . . 1. . .1. . .1. . .11
Jump. . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . 8 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2. 2 .2. 2


Feats

.1. . . . : Power Attack
.1 Human. : Cleave
.1 Fighter: Two Handed Fighting
.2 Deity. : Follower of: Sovereign Host
.3. . . . : Empower Healing Spell
.6. . . . : Great Cleave
.7 Deity. : Unyielding Sovereignty
.9. . . . : Maximize Spell
12. . . . : Improved Critical: Slashing
15. . . . : Improved Two Handed Fighting
18. . . . : Quicken Spell
20 Swap. .: Improved Critical: Bludgeoning replaces Improved Critical: Slashing
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic . : Greater Two Handed Fighting
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Handed Fighting
27 Epic . : Empower Spell
28 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
29 Destiny: Dire Charge
30 Epic . : Epic Damage Reduction OR Precision
30 Legend : Scion of: Arborea


Spells

Cleric

1. Cure Light Wounds, Nightshield, Protection from Evil, Remove Fear, Divine Favor, <Any>
2. Cure Moderate Wounds, Eagle's Splendor, Resist Energy, Aid, Seek Eternal Rest, Spawn Screen
3. Cure Serious Wounds, Magic Circle Against Evil, Protection from Energy, Prayer, Mass Aid, <Any>
4. Cure Critical Wounds, Death Ward, Freedom of Movement, Divine Power, Recitation, Restoration
5. Mass Cure Light Wounds, Protection from Elements, True Seeing, Spell Resistance, Raise Dead, <Any>
6. Mass Cure Moderate Wounds, Heal, Blade Barrier, Heroes' Feast, Word of Recall
7. Mass Cure Serious Wounds, Greater Restoration, Mass Protection from Elements, Mass Spell Resistance
8. Mass Cure Critical Wounds, Mass Death Ward, Death Pact

Paladin

1. <Any>

Enhancements (80 AP)

Radiant Servant (32 AP)

• Healing Domain, Pacifism, Positive Energy Burst, Improved Empower Healing
  
  1. Extra Turning III, Wand Mastery I, Altruism III
  2. Improved Turning III, Mighty Turning
  3. Intense Healing III, Unyielding Sovereignty
  4. Endless Turning III
  5. Positive Energy Aura

Knight of the Chalice (22 AP)

• Slayer of Evil, Courage of Heaven
  
  1. Extra Turning III, Extra Smite II
  2. Exalted Cleave III
  3. Divine Sacrifice II, Vigor of Life, Exalted Smite III
  4. Vigor of Life

Sacred Defender (13 AP)

• Holy Bastion, Sacred Defense
  
  1. Extra Lay On Hands II, Resilient Defense III
  2. Durable Defense III
  3. Tenacious Defense III

Warpriest (6 AP)

• Smite Foe
  
  1. Divine Might III, Toughness II

Kensei (4 AP)

• Kensei Focus: Heavy Blades
  
  1. Haste Boost III

Human (3 AP)

• Damage Boost
  
  1. Improved Recovery

Leveling Guide

1. Hum0 Damage Boost; Ken0 Kensei Focus: Heavy Blades; Ken1 Haste Boost I, II
2. War0 Smite Foe; War1 Divine Might I, II, III
3. Ken1 Haste Boost III; Hum1 Improved Recovery; Rad0 Healing Domain
4. War1 Toughness I, II; Rad1 Wand Mastery I; Rad1 Altruism I
5. Rad1 Altruism II, III; Rad1 Extra Turning I, II
6. Rad1 Extra Turning III; Rad2 Improved Turning I, II; Rad0 Pacifism
7. Rad0 Positive Energy Burst; Rad2 Mighty Turning; Rad2 Improved Turning III
8. Rad3 Intense Healing I, II
9. Rad3 Intense Healing III; Rad4 Endless Turning I
10. Rad4 Endless Turning II, III
11. Rad3 Unyielding Sovereignty; Rad4 Divine Health
12. Rad5 Positive Energy Aura; Hum0 Strength
13. Hum0 Skills Boost; Hum1 Action Surge: Strength I, II, III
14. Ken1 Extra Action Boost I, II
15. Ken1 Extra Action Boost III; Hum2 Great Weapon Aptitude I, II
16. Hum3 Improved Recovery; Hum3 Heroism
17. Hum4 Greater Heroism; Hum4 Improved Recovery
18. War0 Resilience of Battle; War2 Wall of Steel I, II, III
19. (Bank 4 AP)
20. Reset All Trees

First is the info laid out later in the thread: The leveling order is listed here, and the feat order is listed here. Of note is that the feats list overrides the leveling order by taking fighter @ 1 instead of 2, so Fighter @ 1 it is.

I couldn't find any mention of the new U29 feats in the thread, so I opted for either Embodiment of Law or Dire Charge @ 29, Blinding Speed @ 30 (meh), and Scion of Arborea for the melee power as your Legend feat. (EDIT: Updated to change the 30 to either EDR or Precision, depending on if you have a dex tome.) There is discussion later in the thread about switching to Mauls in epics, but not being able to exchange the feat if you already took Overwhelming Critical. The solution was to exchange the feat at 20, just before taking 21, but I would stress that this feat exchange is optional. If you want to stick with falchions, don't exchange the feat.

For spells I just went with typical standard stuff.

The enhancements are particularly weird in this build. 35 AP are spent in paladin trees, but you don't take your first paladin level until 17, meaning once you spend your 45th point at the beginning of level 12, you're done taking enhancements until 17. (Technically, you would need to bank 2 @ 12 because you can't take the ML12 cleric core until 13.) And if you do that exactly, you still don't really get the good paladin stuff until paladin 3 @ 19. So my choice was to follow the directives on what to race for exactly, then spend the teens taking enhancements to maximize your action boosts: Action Surge: Strength from Human, Extra Action Boosts from Kensei, and then since we've now spent a fair amount in Human I go ahead and race to Greater Heroism, grabbing more healing amp along the way.

I stop the plan at 18. Don't take 19 until you can also take 20. At 20, reset all trees then take the final enhancements as listed. Speaking of the final enhancements, since only the key enhancements are listed I made some choices on what to fill out the trees with for the final split. All key enhancements are taken, of course.

[EllisDee37]

Yep, I noticed this as well while trying to do it myself. I wish Fred was coded better. You can do the swap right before you take level 21 - then you'd only have 1 level to make it through until you get access to a tier zero TF maul at level 22.

I think GTHF is a bigger dps boost than OC. At very least they're comparable. So an elegant solution would be to take GTHF @ 21 and OC @ 24.

[JMac13]

Just a quick question..

Why not intensify instead of empower?

[axel15810]

Just a quick question..

Why not intensify instead of empower?

Because I haven't updated the build for update 29 yet. Not that there would be many changes but yes, I believe that would be one of them. May as well take intensify instead of empower now for the extra SP.

[unbongwah]

Because I haven't updated the build for update 29 yet. Not that there would be many changes but yes, I believe that would be one of them. May as well take intensify instead of empower now for the extra SP.

Can't you take both? You have an extra epic feat slot, after all.

[axel15810]

Can't you take both? You have an extra epic feat slot, after all.

You can, precision is also an option.

[Jacque159]

You can, precision is also an option.

Thanks for the build. I just tr-ed to try it out and look forward to playing it. Do you mean precision instead of power attack? Or are you switching in and out depending on quests?

[axel15810]

Thanks for the build. I just tr-ed to try it out and look forward to playing it. Do you mean precision instead of power attack? Or are you switching in and out depending on quests?

Switching back and forth depending on the enemy fortification and number of mobs (switching to precision cuts off access to momentum swing and lay waste). Usually power attack for trash and precision for raid bosses or other single target, high fort bosses.

[Infant]

Hi,

Thanks for the build, OP. Seems like a very nice build. I have been away from the game for a long while, but played battle clerics/fvs before. You mentioned you switched to twf for a while....

How does the twf version perform compared to thf?

For flavor reasons I would rather play twf. Wondering how much dps loss that would be.

[axel15810]

Hi,

Thanks for the build, OP. Seems like a very nice build. I have been away from the game for a long while, but played battle clerics/fvs before. You mentioned you switched to twf for a while....

How does the twf version perform compared to thf?

For flavor reasons I would rather play twf. Wondering how much dps loss that would be.

DPS isn't worse. It's about the same overall but with better single target damage but worse multi-target. One good thing about it is it's easier to maintain blitz.

You want precision for TWF and you have to burn a feat for khopesh proficiency. But you aren't taking PTHF so you can afford it.

[Jiirix]

Hi,

Thanks for the build, OP. Seems like a very nice build. I have been away from the game for a long while, but played battle clerics/fvs before. You mentioned you switched to twf for a while....

How does the twf version perform compared to thf?

For flavor reasons I would rather play twf. Wondering how much dps loss that would be.

As far as I remember (and the wiki goes) do Smite Foe and Ameliorating Strike proc twice when TWF.

[Infant]

DPS isn't worse. It's about the same overall but with better single target damage but worse multi-target. One good thing about it is it's easier to maintain blitz.

You want precision for TWF and you have to burn a feat for khopesh proficiency. But you aren't taking PTHF so you can afford it.

Yep, figured that. Good to know that DPS is not affected much.

How is Cleave/Great Cleave working with TWF? Is it worth taking it on a TWF build?

[axel15810]

Yep, figured that. Good to know that DPS is not affected much.

How is Cleave/Great Cleave working with TWF? Is it worth taking it on a TWF build?

I think so, but it depends on your playstyle. Some people hate mashing cleaves.

[Sehenry03]

Does the cleric enhancement Intense Healing affect our bursts and aura?

[firemedium_jt]

Here's a new player leveling plan following this build exactly as written, but since not everything is spelled out I also made some choices. An explanation of those choices follows the build:


Axel's THF Melee Cleric Build
15/4/1 Cleric/Paladin/Fighter
Lawful Good Human


Level Order

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


Stats
. . . . . . . .28pt . . 32pt . . 34pt . . 36pt . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ---- . . ---- . . ---- . . --------
Strength. . . . 16. . . .16. . . .16. . . .16. . . .4: STR
Dexterity . . . 10. . . .10. . . .12. . . .14. . . .8: STR
Constitution. . 16. . . .16. . . .16. . . .16. . . 12: STR
Intelligence. . .8. . . . 8. . . . 8. . . . 8. . . 16: STR
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . . 8. . . . 8. . . . 8. . . 20: STR
Charisma. . . . 14. . . .16. . . .16. . . .16. . . 24: STR
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28: STR

Skills
. . . . . F .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .P. P .P. P
. . . . . 1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8 .9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Heal. . . . .2 . . 2. . .2 . . 2. . .2 . . 2. . .2 . . 2. . .2. . .2. 20
UMD . . . 2 . . 1. . .1 . . 1. . .1 . . 1. . .1 . . 1. . .1. . .1. . .11
Jump. . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . 8 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2. 2 .2. 2


Feats

.1. . . . : Power Attack
.1 Human. : Cleave
.1 Fighter: Two Handed Fighting
.2 Deity. : Follower of: Sovereign Host
.3. . . . : Empower Healing Spell
.6. . . . : Great Cleave
.7 Deity. : Unyielding Sovereignty
.9. . . . : Maximize Spell
12. . . . : Improved Critical: Slashing
15. . . . : Improved Two Handed Fighting
18. . . . : Quicken Spell
20 Swap. .: Improved Critical: Bludgeoning replaces Improved Critical: Slashing
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic . : Greater Two Handed Fighting
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Handed Fighting
27 Epic . : Empower Spell
28 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
29 Destiny: Embodiment of Order OR Dire Charge
30 Epic . : Blinding Speed
30 Legend : Scion of: Arborea


Spells

Cleric

1. Cure Light Wounds, Nightshield, Protection from Evil, Remove Fear, Divine Favor, <Any>
2. Cure Moderate Wounds, Eagle's Splendor, Resist Energy, Aid, Seek Eternal Rest, Spawn Screen
3. Cure Serious Wounds, Magic Circle Against Evil, Protection from Energy, Prayer, Mass Aid, <Any>
4. Cure Critical Wounds, Death Ward, Freedom of Movement, Divine Power, Recitation, Restoration
5. Mass Cure Light Wounds, Protection from Elements, True Seeing, Spell Resistance, Raise Dead, <Any>
6. Mass Cure Moderate Wounds, Heal, Blade Barrier, Heroes' Feast, Word of Recall
7. Mass Cure Serious Wounds, Greater Restoration, Mass Protection from Elements, Mass Spell Resistance
8. Mass Cure Critical Wounds, Mass Death Ward, Death Pact

Paladin

1. <Any>

Enhancements (80 AP)

Radiant Servant (32 AP)

• Healing Domain, Pacifism, Positive Energy Burst, Improved Empower Healing
  
  1. Extra Turning III, Wand Mastery I, Altruism III
  2. Improved Turning III, Mighty Turning
  3. Intense Healing III, Unyielding Sovereignty
  4. Endless Turning III
  5. Positive Energy Aura

Knight of the Chalice (22 AP)

• Slayer of Evil, Courage of Heaven
  
  1. Extra Turning III, Extra Smite II
  2. Exalted Cleave III
  3. Divine Sacrifice II, Vigor of Life, Exalted Smite III
  4. Vigor of Life

Sacred Defender (13 AP)

• Holy Bastion, Sacred Defense
  
  1. Extra Lay On Hands II, Resilient Defense III
  2. Durable Defense III
  3. Tenacious Defense III

Warpriest (6 AP)

• Smite Foe
  
  1. Divine Might III, Toughness II

Kensei (4 AP)

• Kensei Focus: Heavy Blades
  
  1. Haste Boost III

Human (3 AP)

• Damage Boost
  
  1. Improved Recovery

Leveling Guide

1. Hum0 Damage Boost; Ken0 Kensei Focus: Heavy Blades; Ken1 Haste Boost I, II
2. War0 Smite Foe; War1 Divine Might I, II, III
3. Ken1 Haste Boost III; Hum1 Improved Recovery; Rad0 Healing Domain
4. War1 Toughness I, II; Rad1 Wand Mastery I; Rad1 Altruism I
5. Rad1 Altruism II, III; Rad1 Extra Turning I, II
6. Rad1 Extra Turning III; Rad2 Improved Turning I, II; Rad0 Pacifism
7. Rad0 Positive Energy Burst; Rad2 Mighty Turning; Rad2 Improved Turning III
8. Rad3 Intense Healing I, II
9. Rad3 Intense Healing III; Rad4 Endless Turning I
10. Rad4 Endless Turning II, III
11. Rad3 Unyielding Sovereignty; Rad4 Divine Health
12. Rad5 Positive Energy Aura; Hum0 Strength
13. Hum0 Skills Boost; Hum1 Action Surge: Strength I, II, III
14. Ken1 Extra Action Boost I, II
15. Ken1 Extra Action Boost III; Hum2 Great Weapon Aptitude I, II
16. Hum3 Improved Recovery; Hum3 Heroism
17. Hum4 Greater Heroism; Hum4 Improved Recovery
18. War0 Resilience of Battle; War2 Wall of Steel I, II, III
19. (Bank 4 AP)
20. Reset All Trees

First is the info laid out later in the thread: The leveling order is listed here, and the feat order is listed here. Of note is that the feats list overrides the leveling order by taking fighter @ 1 instead of 2, so Fighter @ 1 it is.

I couldn't find any mention of the new U29 feats in the thread, so I opted for either Embodiment of Law or Dire Charge @ 29, Blinding Speed @ 30 (meh), and Scion of Arborea for the melee power as your Legend feat. There is discussion later in the thread about switching to Mauls in epics, but not being able to exchange the feat if you already took Overwhelming Critical. The solution was to exchange the feat at 20, just before taking 21, but I would stress that this feat exchange is optional. If you want to stick with falchions, don't exchange the feat.

For spells I just went with typical standard stuff.

The enhancements are particularly weird in this build. 35 AP are spent in paladin trees, but you don't take your first paladin level until 17, meaning once you spend your 45th point at the beginning of level 12, you're done taking enhancements until 17. (Technically, you would need to bank 2 @ 12 because you can't take the ML12 cleric core until 13.) And if you do that exactly, you still don't really get the good paladin stuff until paladin 3 @ 19. So my choice was to follow the directives on what to race for exactly, then spend the teens taking enhancements to maximize your action boosts: Action Surge: Strength from Human, Extra Action Boosts from Kensei, and then since we've now spent a fair amount in Human I go ahead and race to Greater Heroism, grabbing more healing amp along the way.

I stop the plan at 18. Don't take 19 until you can also take 20. At 20, reset all trees then take the final enhancements as listed. Speaking of the final enhancements, since only the key enhancements are listed I made some choices on what to fill out the trees with for the final split. All key enhancements are taken, of course.

I would just say I like Maximize early for better Burst healing at lvl6. I would say that Great Cleave is nice, but less of a benefit cause Clerics need to heal more at these low levels. Cleaves come in handy for Paralyzers, but quicken at lvl9 for Blade Barrier seems better to me. Also for DOT spells. I like GCleave at lvl15 for the Vale. Paralyzers come in very handy there. Just my opinion.

Why Blinding Speed when you can get that on gear?

[firemedium_jt]

Also my big question is now FTR2/PAL3 and better option than FTR1/PAL4??
If yes what additional feat would you take?

[unbongwah]

Also my big question is now FTR2/PAL3 and better option than FTR1/PAL4??

Switching from ftr 1 / pal 4 to ftr 2 / pal 3 means giving up T4 KotC; Empowered Smite is a nice DPS bonus, tho it's expensive at 22 APs. And it lowers Div Grace's max bonus from +14 (CHA 38) to +11 (CHA 32).

So ask yourself if the extra feat you want is more important than those bonuses.

[axel15810]

Why Blinding Speed when you can get that on gear?

Definitely do not take blinding speed, plenty of ways to fit speed into any gearset. The person who put the build together above made choices that deviated from mine.

Also my big question is now FTR2/PAL3 and better option than FTR1/PAL4??
If yes what additional feat would you take?

No, the split has actually improved now that divine grace has been nerfed finally to a cap based on pally level. There's good arguments for both splits but I feel the extra healing amp from level 4 pally and the higher ceiling for divine grace makes 4 split slightly better than getting another feat by adding a 2nd fighter level. If I went with the 2 fighter split I'd probably use it to fit in epic DR.

By the way, my level 29-30 feat choices were Precision, Dire Charge and Scion of Arborea. I've updated the original post. Still experimenting with the random gen stun DC loot and the saves for legendary elite to determine if dire charge should be exchanged. But honestly even if it just works reliably in hard the DPS boost is so good for groups of trash there's not much competition.