I'm playing in a very short "campaign" (maybe 10 sessions tops). The other players asked me to be a cleric, at which I jumped at the chance. Most folks think of the cleric as a "boring heal-bot", but I'm fully aware that acting as a heal-bot is NOT how to play a cleric... in combat, anyway.
Anywho, we're all at level 6, so the "building budget" is rather tight. Any and all official 3.5 published material is allowed. I have digital access to pretty much everything.
That in mind, I was thinking of having him be a primary buffer / ranged caster. Which means Divine Metamagic + Persistent Spell. I've already determined that I can persist two spells per day. Anyway, here's what I'm looking at...
Race: Strongheart Halfling (Human could work too, bonus feat is the most important thing)
Class: Cleric 6
Alternate Class Feature: Cloistered Cleric
House Rules: Initiative = d10 instead of d20 (shouldn't matter much)
Attributes (28 point buy):
Wis 17 --> 18 (gained at level 4) ---> 20 (Periapt of Wisdom +2)
Cha 14
Dex 12 --> 14 (racial)
Con 12
Int 8
Str 9 --> 7 (racial penalty)
Skills:
Concentration max, Spellcraft max, Knowledge Religion 5 ranks, leftover skill points go toward Knowledges... and maybe Tumble?
Domains:
Planning & Undeath (Extra Turning + Extend Spell, but terrible spell choices)
Feats: Persistent Spell, Divine Metamagic, Extra Turning, *1 unknown feat*
Items: Reliquary Holy Symbol (+3 turning attempts/day for 1,000gp), Scrolls/wands of Remove Blindness/Deafness, Lesser Restoration, Remove Paralysis, Remove Disease, Remove Curse, etc., scroll case, Heal Kit, standard adventuring gear (bedroll, canteen, other useful adventuring tools), *unknown other items*
Turning: +4 on check (CHA bonus + 2 for having 5 ranks in Knowledge: Religion), 16 turning attempts per day (3 base, 2 from CHA, 4 from Undeath domain, 4 from Extra Turning feat, 3 from Reliquary Holy Symbol), 14 of those attempts set aside to persist Prayer and Darkfire, while the remaining 2 will be used to Divine Spell Power Darkfire and Energy Vortex (or not, if another feat besides DSP is chosen)
Normally Prepared Spells:
* 0th level x5: Detect Magic x2, Create Water x1, Light x1
* 1st level x5: Healthful Rest x1, Command x1, Lesser Vigor x3
* 2nd level x4 : Spiritual Weapon x2, Resist Energy x1, Close Wounds x1
* 3rd level x3: Prayer [persisted] x1, Darkfire [persisted] x1, Energy Vortex x1
* Domain Spells: Ugh. Just use them for "spontaneous" cure spells (can't you spontaneously convert your prepared domain spells too?).
Unknown stuff:
I have an idea for the final feat, but it's sort of a gamble: Divine Spell Power. With the above build I will have 2 turning attempts leftover per day; they can be put to use quite well with Divine Spell Power. However, I would only be able to use Divine Spellpower with 2 spells, and there isn't even a guarantee that the caster level would increase.
My turning check with the feat is +7, meaning a roll of 2 or 1 would actually LOWER my caster level of the spell cast by 1. However, anything above a 5 means a caster level increase for the spell.
Any other suggestions here are welcome. Maybe a good "1st level only" feat instead of Divine Spell Power? Also for any items that I would be able to AFFORD after the above items are purchased.
Concepts & Reasoning:
Cloistered Cleric because this character will fight from a range. I may need to invest in Tumble as well, since the character's AC will be sub par and attacks of opportunity are still an issue. Staying 30 feet behind the frontline melee character will probably be the plan, in case I NEED to spontaneously cure (that will be a last resort/emergency plan). Otherwise, exclusively ranged character.
Prayer will be the all-in-one buff/debuff. It is Persistable since the range is 40 feet (fixed). Persist it and forget about any other spell buffs (except Resist Energy). The actual ruling for this may be flaky, but the idea is to also utilize the DEBUFF that comes with Prayer for 24 hours as well. My DM will allow this (I've already discussed the matter with him). This means that any enemy within 40 feet of my character takes a -1 penalty to AC, attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, skill checks, and saves. The only way for an enemy to resist the debuff is with spell resistance. So nearby allies are buffed all day, and nearby enemies are debuffed all day, basically guaranteed... all for the cost of one 3rd level spell and 7 turning attempts.
Darkfire is the other persisted spell. This concept here is quite interesting. The benefit is, obviously, you have infinite single-target nukes all day, using ranged TOUCH attacks. If Divine Spell Power is used in this build, I'd use it when persisting Darkfire at the beginning of the day to possibly have the nukes deal even more damage ALL DAY (4d6 or 5d6 instead of 3d6). But realize that doing this is BETTING on not rolling a 1 or a 2 with Divine Spellpower. So for the cost of one 3rd level spell and 7 turning attempts, you have an endless supply of single-target offensive fire attacks all day. The damage and hit rate are competitive at 6th level. Since the fire you are slinging is considered a THROWN WEAPON, it also benefits from your Persisted Prayer, meaning it gets a +1 on its attack and damage roll. Nice synergy here. I'd use Spiritual Weapon, however, BEFORE slinging fire. Spiritual Weapon requires no actions (except to change targets), so you can attack with SW and sling fire in the same turn (although SW does NOT benefit from Prayer).
A persisted Darkfire does have its drawbacks, however, but nothing that can't be worked around. For one thing, it means I only have 1 free hand all day. I will need the free hand to cast spells and to heal. This might be problematic... but if s*** ever hits the fan and I NEED two hands, I can always dismiss Darkfire. But my 3rd level spell slot and 7 turning attempts just went down the drain. Also, many creatures have Darkvision, which means that most of the time Darkfire isn't exactly "invisible." However, this shouldn't be a huge deal, since the character is RANGED anyway, which means the character should be in the back of the line, well behind the scout while exploring a dungeon. Also, underwater, this strategy is completely shut down. But hopefully a 6th level character won't be going on any underwater missions. Oh, and did I mention firing into melee? This character will have to eat that -4 penalty, assuming a melee ally is threatening the same target. However... 4 (BAB) +2 (DEX mod) +1 (size) +1 (racial) +1 (Prayer) = +9 on the ranged touch attack, -4 = +5 on the ranged touch attack, while the target takes a -1 to AC if within 40 feet... meh, that's sub par, but at level 6 that's still an okay hit rate. Most CR 6-7 creatures don't have above a 11 touch AC, which means rolling at least a 5 (assuming Prayer debuff) will likely hit. *shrugs*
Energy Vortex will be a 1 time/day AoE nuke. The plan is to use Resist Energy before going into a big room, using an educated guess for which energy to resist. Then during a fight against heavy numbers, I'd use a Divine Spellpowered Energy Vortex to quickly reduce those numbers. I'd allow the EV to hit myself as well. Rolling at least a 6 on the turning check, EV will have its caster level increased, meaning an even bigger boom. Let's say I do roll a 6, so my caster level is treated as 7. The average damage I will deal is 1d8+7 doubled is 23, if Reflex save DC18 then 11. Not bad for a 6th level cleric. Remember that any ally would receive a +1 on this save and any enemy would receive a -1 from Prayer.
Weaknesses
* Defenses (saves and AC) and HP are LOW. I'll have to rely on movement, allies, positioning and offense to survive
* 1 free hand (problematic for climbing ladders, walking around in town, etc.)
* Only offense consists of Force or Fire damage. Many enemies resist fire.
* The build's strong points are a gamble... DSPing Darkfire, DSPing EV, using EV with the intent of eliminating numbers, and using Darkfire against a threatened target.
* Forced to deal with -4 firing into melee penalty when on the offensive
...
I'm welcome to any and all suggestions and feedback, especially for a feat and items with any leftover gold.
