Cleric Cloth / Staff melee-caster build?

[Majrpayne]

I just read Axel's excellent post about melee clerics, but that isn't quite what I want. This is probably more of an RP build than a min/max build, but I'm looking for a Cleric that wears cloth / uses a staff, can survive in Melee but also casts & turns undead - so more WIS & less STR, maybe some CHA. I've thought about HELF with monk dilly for WIS bonus to AC, but in general I don't like the monk fight mechanics so I'm not really looking to splash monk.

Are there any build like this? Or do I need to just accept that what I want is a clonk (although I thought clonks still wore armor & didn't care about being centered).

[UurlockYgmeov]

you can do any build you want, just accept that if you do something it might have undesirable consequences.

I would think 8 monk 12 cleric or something like that would work. Or 17 cleric (level 9 spells) and 3 monk. There is synergy in that since both use WIS as primary stat. Thief-Acrobat would also be good to splash for access to that enhancement line.

[Majrpayne]

ok yes the TA line has some benefits, for staff damage. Similar thought, I wonder, the FTR/Kensai line has defensive benefits when wearing light or no armor - I always wondered why benefits for no armor were in a Fighter enhancement line - perhaps they could help this build, while also boosting damage by focusing in staff?

[unbongwah]

First off, I would skip turning undead completely; ironically, one of the signature abilities of D&D clerics is largely useless in DDO, especially when you can just use Radiant Bursts to kill them instead.

Second, any char can choose to wear robes instead of armor, but because of the defensive benefits of PRR & MRR, there's strong incentives for wearing armor on a non-monk-splashed divine caster. [Arcane casters have to worry about ASF and don't start with any armor proficiencies, which complicates their armor choices.] If you choose to play a centered clonk, that's a different matter, of course.

Third, if you really want "staff DPS + caster DPS," you have to make hard choices about how much you plan to invest in each side of that equation. Staff DPS takes good STR, melee feats, and APs spent on PrEs like Acrobat, Warpriest, and Henshin; caster DPS takes high WIS, metamagic feats, and APs spent on Divine Disciple. It's very easy to spread yourself too thin and find you're not very good at anything.

[UurlockYgmeov]

of course you could just wear 'Starter Rags' as a cosmetic and who will know you are wearing dreadnought sunforbed battleplate!

[axel15810]

I just read Axel's excellent post about melee clerics, but that isn't quite what I want. This is probably more of an RP build than a min/max build, but I'm looking for a Cleric that wears cloth / uses a staff, can survive in Melee but also casts & turns undead - so more WIS & less STR, maybe some CHA. I've thought about HELF with monk dilly for WIS bonus to AC, but in general I don't like the monk fight mechanics so I'm not really looking to splash monk.

Are there any build like this? Or do I need to just accept that what I want is a clonk (although I thought clonks still wore armor & didn't care about being centered).

You do seem like you want a clonk. If you don't take monk levels there's not much of a reason to wear cloth.

You can't really be both effective as melee and casting. There's not enough feats or gear slots for that. If you do both you won't be particularly good at either. But, if you're just looking to run on normal or hard it can do fine.

I think your best bet here for more staff focus and some casting is human 15 cleric / 3 paladin / 2 monk if you want a staff wielding cloth wearing cleric.

2 monk for two feats and evasion
3 paladin for defender stance and divine grace

If you want even more feats (which you may need a lot of if you want both casting and melee) you could go 15 cleric / 3 fighter / 2 monk. You'll lose divine grace though which synergizes well with your evasion. If you don't want to put the points into defender stance you may as well go 16 cleric / 2 monk / 2 fighter instead.

If you want more of a caster and less of a staff wielder and that sunburst SLA at the expense of defender stance could go 18 cleric / 2 monk. Another option is 18 cleric / 2 paladin but you said you wanted a cloth build...and that split will be tight on feats...which you need a lot of and it won't have any reason to wear cloth. 18 cleric / 2 fighter also has no reason to wear cloth but you'll atleast get 2 bonus feats.

Another option I can think of is 17 cleric / 2 monk / 1 wizard for an extra metamagic feat. Will lose sunburst SLA though.

If you really hate monk you could go 2 rogue instead of 2 monk for any of these builds but you'll be losing 2 feats and not getting much back other than access to the new rogue trees.

You can be effective as turning all the way up to EE Three Barrel Cove but it requires past lives and certain gear. And morninglord. I don't know if you'll really have room to do well in turning in your build. You could spend some APs in the turning enhancements and see how you do. If you're running normal and hard you could get some decent use out of it.

[Makkuroi]

I once did a druid build like this, but it should work on a cleric, too:

17 cleric, 2 rogue, 1 monk - wis-based. 15% attack speed and quick strike from acrobat, water stance from monk.

only one weapon: stave of the seer (wis to damage, 2d6 base damage, lvl 8) - use adamantine ritual on it.


If you dont want monk, go 18/2 in leather. Without water stance and monk AC, there is no reason to wear cloth.

[Gljosh]

I ran a SDK 17/2/1 Cleric/Rog/Monk that worked OK (I could trap decent, fight decent, and buff cast). I ran in Warpriest when solo and Radiant Servant when in groups, three non SP heals are nice (Burst, Aura, and Am Strike).

[UurlockYgmeov]

only one weapon: stave of the seer (wis to damage, 2d6 base damage, lvl 8) - use adamantine ritual on it.

Yes - everyone should have this - even just for the true seeing clickie!

[Elibolas]

If you want to avoid monk mechanics, but want to fight with a staff, then might I suggest a rogue splash? Level 5 of rogue can get you staff specialization. You'll probably have to give up all thoughts of being a trap monkey, but it can still be handy to be able to spend points in jump, balance, open lock, UMD....

How about 12 cleric, 3 pally, 5 rogue mix? The good saves from pally will help your survivability by allowing you to make most of your reflex saves. 12 Cleric should allow you to heal yourself, at any rate.

[UurlockYgmeov]

You'll probably have to give up all thoughts of being a trap monkey,

pretty much anyone with 5 rogue should be able to trap anything up to epic hard - as long as they have +5 tools, and appropriate level rogue gear (spot,search.disable, open)

[painkiller3]

I wonder if 17/3 rogue might work better. Three levels of rogue allows dex to damage with a quarter staff, saving you a bit of stat points.

[Makkuroi]

I wonder if 17/3 rogue might work better. Three levels of rogue allows dex to damage with a quarter staff, saving you a bit of stat points.

I dont think dex to damage on a wis-based build is a good idea. Either rely on stave of the seer (wis to damage) all the way, or go str-based damage and benefit from divine might and other str boosts.

Im running dex-based staffies but mostly because of the synergy with shuriken.

[giftie]

only one weapon: stave of the seer (wis to damage, 2d6 base damage, lvl 8) - use adamantine ritual on it. .

Although a worse choice (mostly because it lacks the enhance crit profile of Stave of the Seer), Staff of Inner Sight gets WIS-to-damage as well, and is usually much easier to acquire either as a drop or on AH.