Author Topic: The Absolute Guide to Cleric Prestige Classes  (Read 79412 times)

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Endarire

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Re: The Absolute Guide to Cleric Prestige Classes
« Reply #20 on: January 01, 2011, 09:14:04 PM »
Formatting Request
Please don't categorize the classes by source.  Instead, classify them alphabetically (probably starting with Alienist) or by rank.  Mark the source.  SAMPLE:

Alienist (Complete Arcane 21)
Summoner, d4, 1/2 BAB, Good Will
Requires Nonlawful Alignment, Knowledge: Planes 8 ranks, Augment Summoning, Ability to cast a L3+ summon spell, Peaceful contact with an Alienist or Pseudonatural Creature


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Bozwevial

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Re: The Absolute Guide to Cleric Prestige Classes
« Reply #21 on: January 01, 2011, 11:04:15 PM »
Because it is conceivable that there actaully is a use for one of these prestige classes in an instance that I'd miss, and someone else would point out to me. Like; a 1 or 2 level dip of something at the end of a build actually working out to be really cool that I didn't notice. And to prove that I did a good and complete job.
Perhaps you could put them in a list at the end to avoid a wall of copy-pasta. Then if you ever do need to add a use for them, you can pull them out of the list and give them their own entry.

Ikeren

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Re: The Absolute Guide to Cleric Prestige Classes
« Reply #22 on: January 02, 2011, 01:50:50 AM »
@Bozwevial: That's a good suggestion, if I do end up doing a reformat like Endarire suggests.
@Endarire: That definitely would be a better way to do it, but at the moment I'm most interested in going through books I missed, like some of the Eberron stuff. Then maybe I'll think about a reformating if one day I'm very bored and have 2-3 hours to kill; I'll also happily send someone the original document with tags intact if someone else is interested in doing a reformat. That's a good trick for Shadowcraft mage, but I generally evaluated prestige classes from the most obvious entry to me. Obviously I'll make some mistakes, for which I apologize; and obviously there will be tricks I miss; I'll make note of any that people suggest.

Akalsaris

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Re: The Absolute Guide to Cleric Prestige Classes
« Reply #23 on: January 03, 2011, 02:58:06 AM »
Formatting Request
Please don't categorize the classes by source.  Instead, classify them alphabetically (probably starting with Alienist) or by rank.  Mark the source.  SAMPLE:

Alienist (Complete Arcane 21)
Summoner, d4, 1/2 BAB, Good Will
Requires Nonlawful Alignment, Knowledge: Planes 8 ranks, Augment Summoning, Ability to cast a L3+ summon spell, Peaceful contact with an Alienist or Pseudonatural Creature


Big Typo
It's the Draconomicon.

Actually, a second formatting request.  Can we get a list of the blue and green options at the top, just to save scrolling down through all the chaff?

dna1

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Re: The Absolute Guide to Cleric Prestige Classes
« Reply #24 on: January 05, 2011, 01:43:52 PM »
so whats one of the suggested prc's for a low-mid level game if your making a cloistered cleric buffer? ecl 6-ish?
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Re: The Absolute Guide to Cleric Prestige Classes
« Reply #25 on: January 05, 2011, 05:49:52 PM »
Battlesmith - Races of Stone

It is definately a good one level dip for dwarven clerics. Wis mod to hit and damage, and a decent bonus feat? At the expense of a caster level and a few skill points? I can se how some builds can put that to good use.

carnivore

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Re: The Absolute Guide to Cleric Prestige Classes
« Reply #26 on: January 05, 2011, 06:02:01 PM »
so whats one of the suggested prc's for a low-mid level game if your making a cloistered cleric buffer? ecl 6-ish?
try this:

Elf
Cloistered Cleric 3/ Church Inquisitor 2/ Divine Oracle 1

Domains:
Knowledge ..... Give up for Knowledge Devotion Feat
Inquisition ..... Give up for some Devotion Feat
Oracle .... Give up for some Devotion Feat
Elf ..... gain Point Blank Shot
War ..... gain Martial Weapon Proficency(Composite Longbow), Weapon Focus(Composite Longbow)


this should give you good Ranged Support and some other Nice class abilities and extra feats too

 :D

Sinfire Titan

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Re: The Absolute Guide to Cleric Prestige Classes
« Reply #27 on: January 05, 2011, 06:43:19 PM »
Quote
Sapphire Heirarch: Drop BAB, drop Fort, d6. Get casting + meldshaping progression. Think entry can be done as early as 3, but I barely know this book. Gains DR and fortification as well. Not entirely sure about the value of this; so someone has to help me on this one.

Gladly:

[spoiler]And now we move into the dual-advancement classes. At a glance, this PrC is a huge downgrade for a Cleric. d6 HD, poor BAB, one good save. But the truth is, it is a very tricky little class to have. Both Totemist/Ur-Priest and Cleric/Incarnate can enter this class with little effort. So, let's have a look.

Entry Requirements: 4 ranks in two skills, able to shape three melds, and able to cast 2nd level Divine spells (and access to the Law domain), with an Essentia Pool of three. The alignment restriction should actually read Any Lawful. But that is more or less irrelevant. The Lawful restriction means Incarnate/Ur-Priest doesn't work. But Totemist/Ur-Priest does. Good entry is any combo of Cleric and Incarnate that totals 10 levels (Cleric 9/Incarnate 1 for those who want 9th level spells), and Totemist 4 with either Binder 2, Hexblade 2, or Knight 2 with the Educated feat, and Ur-Priest 3/Contemplative 1.

Consultation: 3/level is nice, but the fact that you still pay the XP cost hurts it. Commune is a decent SLA to have, but really, this is mostly worthless. Still, not red.

Smite Chaos: Because it only does class level in extra damage, and relies on melee combat with a dual-advancement PrC, this ability is next to worthless. Still, some like it.

Favored of the Eidolon: The bonus to saves is limited, situational, and minor. But it is a bonus to saves against Transmutation effects. Meh.

DR: Adamantine is common, and it is so weak it almost isn't worth a damn thing.

Sapphire Body: Now we are talking! This is nice to have, and it is Ex to boot!

Timeless Body: And?

Looking at it, this PrC leaves a lot to be desired. But the entry requirements are so easy, it is laughable. Divine Power more than covers your lowly BAB. I'd say the Totemist route is the most potent, as their Meldshaping isn't dependent on too much Essentia or Chakra Binds other than the Totem bind. Too bad you have to spend feats to get new Chakras to bind to. Oh well, a deal is a freaking deal, and the Incarnum domain is wickedly good for any Meldshaper. If you focus solely on the Meldshaping, it is decent. But if you focus on your spellcasting, and use it like a Gish class, then you can do some real damage. Watch out for it.[/spoiler]

As I said, it's laughably easy to enter (you don't even need to dip a level, but that's feat intensive). Focus heavily on your Cleric side, and use the occasional spell slot to compensate for the lack of Chakra Binds. Wands work well for that purpose. If you are looking for more buffs for combat purposes, this is a solid option.


[spoiler][/spoiler]

Mixster

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Re: The Absolute Guide to Cleric Prestige Classes
« Reply #28 on: January 05, 2011, 07:34:26 PM »
so whats one of the suggested prc's for a low-mid level game if your making a cloistered cleric buffer? ecl 6-ish?
try this:

Elf
Cloistered Cleric 3/ Church Inquisitor 2/ Divine Oracle 1

Domains:
Knowledge ..... Give up for Knowledge Devotion Feat
Inquisition ..... Give up for some Devotion Feat
Oracle .... Give up for some Devotion Feat
Elf ..... gain Point Blank Shot
War ..... gain Martial Weapon Proficency(Composite Longbow), Weapon Focus(Composite Longbow)


this should give you good Ranged Support and some other Nice class abilities and extra feats too

 :D

Actually don't give up knowledge domain, Inquisition domain gives the same feat and probably has a worse special ability if paired with knowledge devotion.

Also to the OP: You forgot Prestige Paladin from UA, one level dip is definetely blue, Gives you all paladin spells on your list, Full Martial weapon profiency, D10 hp, +1 BAB, and full casting, here take a look.

Three levels could also be an option giving you Cha to saves, lay on hands, a mount and immunity to diseases.
Monks are pretty much the best designed class ever.

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Garryl

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Re: The Absolute Guide to Cleric Prestige Classes
« Reply #29 on: January 05, 2011, 09:35:09 PM »
PrC Paladin is a pain for such low level due to its BaB +4 requirement. A straight Cleric can't get in until Cleric 6, and giving up a CL for Clr 4/Full BaB 1/PrC Pally 1 is iffy unless you really want the good 1st-3rd level Paladin spells (or you get crazy and play loose with Sword of the Arcane Order's effects and requirements, but that's a different matter).
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Re: The Absolute Guide to Cleric Prestige Classes
« Reply #30 on: January 23, 2011, 06:22:11 AM »
Was recently pointed to a nifty, little Dragonlance book titled Holy Orders of the Stars.  Contained within is a PrC which is basically Win for any Cleric of the appropriate alignments: Dark Pilgrim of Takhisis.

5/5 casting, 4+int skills with a decent list, +class level to Bluff and Diplomacy, poison use, Cha to saves, HiPS (requires a crowd of people), Death Attack, and Slippery Mind.  Requires some cross-class skill investments to qualify as well as one feat set on fire, but can still qualify as a pure Cleric 5.

Another one worth noting: Mighty Anvil of Reorx.

5/10 casting and mediocre abilities, but at 1st level you gain +1 CL, Martial Weapon Proficiency, and an ability that eventually allows you to overcome DR/Epic before hitting epic levels for a short duration each day.  Requires a hefty skill tax, and you have to get keen edge on your divine spell list (what is that, Metal domain?), but the only required feat is Craft Magic Arms and Armor, which honestly isn't terrible at all.

The ultimate divine undead overlord: Necrotheurge of Chemosh.

10/10 casting, but poor BAB.  Death domain for free, +1 CL for all Necromancy spells, and component-less desecrate and animate dead abilities.  The real kicker is at 6th level, which gives a huge bonus to your create undead spells.  With it, it becomes incredibly easy to raise Mohrgs at ECL 11, which is utterly level-inappropriate if you have a means of controlling them (Divine Magicians undoubtedly will).  While the novelty of that particular ability does eventually wear off, you still end up with the ability to control CL times 7 HD of undead at a time through Animate Dead, which in conjunction with the component-less castings of desecrate and animate dead is better than a kick in the teeth.

Barbarossa

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Re: The Absolute Guide to Cleric Prestige Classes
« Reply #31 on: January 23, 2011, 03:58:46 PM »
Radiant Servant of Pelor + Radiant Creature = Win. The Radiance ability (which you may want to note) makes it almost impossible for darkness spells to work anywhere near you, and it doubles the radius of any spells with the light descriptor. 160' Sunburst? 200' Celestial Brilliance? 200' Anger of the Noonday Sun? The possibilities are both endless and amazing. With Celestial Brilliance, you could kill hordes of skeletal mooks before they even got close enough to attack you. With Sunburst, it's like dropping a nuke.

Ikeren

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Re: The Absolute Guide to Cleric Prestige Classes
« Reply #32 on: January 23, 2011, 06:55:26 PM »
Cool stuff. I'm still working on adding more books.