Cleric building...what do YOU do?

I'm familiar with D&D, and have typically played a Rogue, but I've recently been asked to join a group of experienced players with the stipulation that I play a cleric. There are so many ways I can play this character, and since I've never played one before, I am looking for a little help with building. What do you do? Am I heading in the right direction? I don't want to be "just the healer" but it has been expressed to me that it's what they want/need. What is the best way to be a healer/melee fighter?

Here are my stats:
Type: Aasimar, lesser
Alignment: CG
(Note, abilities have some bonuses already applied)
STR: 10
DEX: 8
CON: 14
INT: 10
WIS: 20
CHA: 16
Traits/Flaws: Focused/Polite, Shaky/Vulnerable

This is what I am currently trying to figure out
Feats already chosen: Divine Metamagic with Extend Spell (looking to get Persistent Spell later)
Feats contemplating: Imbued Healing, Extra Turning, Chain Spell, Quicken Spell
I get a total of 4 Feats right now

This all kinda depends on what we are going for. From the looks of it, you are using alot of the well known shenanigans a cleric can muster. Not really holding onto any stats that scream self buff and melee, so probably avoiding that. Honestly? Get some good party buffs, throw them out, and then support cast. That's what (as far as I can tell) you are spec'd for.

My only issue I see here is one of taste. Does this character have any life to it? Because you ask what would I (or we) do. I personally don't roll a character without at least some fluff, or theme, or something like that. So while you are running a perfectly fine support character, is there anything in campaign or backstory that contributes to that role?

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Originally Posted by Will Power

I'm familiar with D&D, and have typically played a Rogue, but I've recently been asked to join a group of experienced players with the stipulation that I play a cleric. There are so many ways I can play this character, and since I've never played one before, I am looking for a little help with building. What do you do? Am I heading in the right direction? I don't want to be "just the healer" but it has been expressed to me that it's what they want/need. What is the best way to be a healer/melee fighter?

Here are my stats:
Type: Aasimar, lesser
Alignment: CG
(Note, abilities have some bonuses already applied)
STR: 10
DEX: 8
CON: 14
INT: 10
WIS: 20
CHA: 16
Traits/Flaws: Focused/Polite, Shaky/Vulnerable

This is what I am currently trying to figure out
Feats already chosen: Divine Metamagic with Extend Spell (looking to get Persistent Spell later)
Feats contemplating: Imbued Healing, Extra Turning, Chain Spell, Quicken Spell
I get a total of 4 Feats right now

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Don't get Divine Metamagic for Extend Spell. You will have to get both Persistent Spell and Divine Metamagic again to DMM: Persist.

Consider going Cloistered Cleric 3 and then to Church Inquisitor at 4th level. You lose a little BAB & a few HP, but you gain a huge amount.

For Domains, I suggest Undeath & Planning (gives Extra Turning & Extend Spell, respectively)... but many people recommend the Spell Domain (for the AnySpell spells) instead of the Undeath Domain.

Whatever you do, get the Persistent Spell & Divine Metamagic: Persist ASAP.

Consider getting the Rebuke Dragons ACF and diving into Sacred Exorcist at 8th level. That will get you two turning pools that both benefit from Extra Turning. Plus, neither of those PrCs require a Feat Tax.

You'll need to be Lawful Good to get both PrCs (Inquisitor requires LN or LG, Sacred Exorcist required any Good).

You don't need to specifically build to be a healer. It's mostly something you can just do automatically, and it's best taken care of by items anyway.

In fact until you can DMM:persist Mass Lesser Vigor my suggestion would be to acquire a wand of Cure Lesser Wounds or Lesser Vigor asap (750gp). That should mostly fill the role, barring emergency healing (which you do spontaneously).
I'd also strongly recommend that everyone in the party get a Healing Belt (MIC, 750gp). That should take care of most of your healing needs.

For conditions and ability damage there's also items in MIC (Rod of Bodily Restoration/Orb of Mental Renewal, about 3000gp each iirc) but for strength damage specifically a wand of Ray of Resurgence (LEoF) is only 750gp.
Round it out with a few scrolls of Remove Disease, Neutralize Poison and Remove Curse and you should be set. You don't generally want to prepare those "just in case", but when you need them you need them now, not tomorrow.

A wand of Resurgence (SpC, 750gp) is also a really good investment. The ability to simply repeat a save (possibly buffed beforehand because you can plan for it) is often a lot cheaper than curing a condition the "normal" way.


Note that your party should pitch in on those items, since they're effectively "party gear".
If they argue that it's your job you should point out that your spell slots will be used far better buffing them (and yourself, but you can neglect to mention that).

Thanks for all the input so far. Really had no idea going into it what this all really entails. My head is spinning from searching through 15 books worth of information (as well as the internet).

I'm wondering about the "Turning" though...if there isn't a whole heck of a lot of undead, would I really even need to add any additional feats for this? What is, if anything, is it good for?

I will look into the Cloistered Cleric...though I'd need to change my alignment. (not that it's a problem, just an observation).

Do you have suggestions for buffs?

Divine Power is very nice to have Persisted.

you may want to reroll/reconsider your stats, you have a STR mod of 0, which makes for all around a weak melee fighter..

I have a cleric built that i have yet to play, but here's the sheet at lvl 1, it of course is not a lesser assimar, which might influence your build if you can't play an illumian like this one

https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1160404

the build up to lvl 9 for another person on here was cleric 3/ Church Inquisitor 6 and is probably heavy on magic items, so take it w/ a grain of salt on that end

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cleric 3/church inquisitor 6

Judge Dredd concept

https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1167394

+2 caster level to ALL spells
+1 caster level to all LAW spells
+1 caster level to all Turn Undead checks
+1 caster level to all inflict/harm spells
+1 caster level to all mind affecting spells

so you could have a huge +++ Caster level depending on descriptors

You are probably a touch OP on gear, but as a Church Inquisitor, and a high ranking member of the Church of Scales, I'm banking on you getting an item or two from the church...

All spell selections are made, you are basically the hand of the church, and in pure Judge Dredd fashion, YOU ARE THE LAW. If you have to intimidate someone into the ground, force the truth out of them, or bash their heads in, you can do all of that. You don't brook no shenanigans, if they broke the law, they die, or are brought to "justice", however you want to interpret that.

Assume that all of your gear is encrusted, embroidered, emblazoned with the scales of balance and St Cuthbert symbol on every conceivable surface, you are not hiding what you are by any means

Again, you have no wands/potions/gold

I have only 2 feats on there, Law Devotion for +3AC/+3 attack for 1 minute/day, and Pious Soul which is all cheese (anti I missed anything). I don't envision the character being a mounted knight in any way, you are an on the ground face beater. If you want to do mounted combat, give yourself a mount and spend the feats on that, otherwise flesh out martial combat how you will.

You have heavy emphasis on sunder/destroy armor/weapons in your spells, an unarmed foe falls easier. Shatter is fun :)

The Illumian racial bonus from glyphic word gives you +2 to con/wis checks, if you want to interpret that as a bonus to the saves as those are technically a "check" you can add 2 more to fort/will, but you don't need it.

You're REF save is sh*t, but you can't have everything now can you..

enjoy :)

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the thing about turn undead attempts is that you can sacrafice them for heal spells, so more is better, but it's a balance you have to play so you don't have 14 attempts and no other utility with any feats/items.

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Originally Posted by Will Power

Thanks for all the input so far. Really had no idea going into it what this all really entails. My head is spinning from searching through 15 books worth of information (as well as the internet).

I'm wondering about the "Turning" though...if there isn't a whole heck of a lot of undead, would I really even need to add any additional feats for this? What is, if anything, is it good for?

I will look into the Cloistered Cleric...though I'd need to change my alignment. (not that it's a problem, just an observation).

Do you have suggestions for buffs?

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Turning and turn attempts are what fuel your Divine Metamagic. To use Divine Metamagic: Persist Spell, you have to "spend" 7 turn attempts. Since you get 3+cha mod turn attempts, you need to either have an 18 Cha to use DMM: Persist... or you have to have multiple turning pools and extra turning (and nightsticks, etc.).

This is why I suggested getting the Rebuke Dragons ACF from Dragon Magic.

Only certain "turning pools" can be used to fuel DMM. These are: Turn Undead, Rebuke Undead, Rebuke Dragons & Channel Incarnum.

Channel Incarnum requires you to be an Azurin (and opens up a whole bunch of stuff from the Magic of Incarnum book... don't bother with your first Cleric).

The Extra Turning Feat says it only applies to turn/rebuke pools of different creature types. So if you have Turn Undead & Rebuke Undead, your Extra Turning would only give +4 to one of them.

But if you have Rebuke Dragons & Turn Undead, your Extra Turning applies to both.


So... at level one with 18 Cha, you've got 6 Turn Attempts. You need more, right out of the gate... which is why I recommended the Undeath Domain. This gives you a total of 10 Turn Attempts, meaning you can Persist 1 spell at 1st level.

Once you hit 8th level, you've probably got a +2 Cloak of Charisma. With Sacred Exorcist giving you Turn Undead, you now have 22 Turn Attempts and can persist 3 spells at a time. If you use your 6th level Feat for Extra Turning, you'd have 14 Turn Attempts at level 6 & 30 Turn Attempts at level 8 (with Sacred Exorcist).

Okay first most meta-magic is kind of meh at first level. I mean if you have 2-3 feats to burn it's not bad but most of those meta-magics have costs that are difficult to cover at level 1.

On that note if you are starting from level 1 this is a BAD CHARACTER. -1 Dex mod, 0 Str mod and with a -1 to AC and ranged (touch) attacks you will have an AC of no and a hit mod of nope. No str + low dex and the flaw means your rocking 8 AC before whatever armour you can afford to equip with level 1 wealth and that almost non-existent carrying capacity. Ranged attacks will all miss with those stats so they are a waste of the time if you miss 75% of the time and need 3-5 attacks to kill anything.

Essentially the only thing you CAN do for the first 4-6 levels is be a heal bot. With pretty much no AC or hit and not enough spells to waste on buffing your in for a VERY rough ride that first 2-3 levels.

Everyone's advise has been good, and I'll second all of it. I'd just like to reassure you that you'll do fine. There's tons to learn about Clerics, but you don't need to know all of it right away. To start, keep things simple. The only books you really need are the PHB and Spell Compendium. The only items you need are wands of Lesser Vigor or Faith Healing, plus tell everyone in your party to purchase Belts of Healing.

You're best off by not healing in combat. If you can instead cast spells that prevent your allies from taking damage in the first place, battlefield control spells (BFC), then both they and you will be better off. Reserve your actions spent on healing for outside combat (either pre-emptively with Lesser Vigor, or afterwards).

Also look at the Divine Magician ACF. It lets you trade one Domain for a custom Domain built from Necromancy, Divination and Abjuration spells off the Wiz/Sorc list.

If you're going Cloistered Cleric and are planning on staying out of Melee, then trading away the free Knowledge Domain for Div. Mag. is perfectly acceptable.

Also consider the Spontaneous Domain Casting ACF from PHB2, which lets you trade away your Spontaneous Cure spells for Spontaneous Spellcasting from any one of your Domains. This is a good option as often as it's a bad option, and whether or not it's worthwhile really depends on what you want to do with your Cleric.

If you're comfortable swimming a little closer to the deep end of the alignment pool, there are a lot of flavourful options for debuff//minionmancy//battlefield control clerics.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Will Power

I'm familiar with D&D, and have typically played a Rogue, but I've recently been asked to join a group of experienced players with the stipulation that I play a cleric. There are so many ways I can play this character, and since I've never played one before, I am looking for a little help with building. What do you do? Am I heading in the right direction? I don't want to be "just the healer" but it has been expressed to me that it's what they want/need. What is the best way to be a healer/melee fighter?

Here are my stats:
Type: Aasimar, lesser
Alignment: CG
(Note, abilities have some bonuses already applied)
STR: 10
DEX: 8
CON: 14
INT: 10
WIS: 20
CHA: 16
Traits/Flaws: Focused/Polite, Shaky/Vulnerable

This is what I am currently trying to figure out
Feats already chosen: Divine Metamagic with Extend Spell (looking to get Persistent Spell later)
Feats contemplating: Imbued Healing, Extra Turning, Chain Spell, Quicken Spell
I get a total of 4 Feats right now

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What kind of campaign, setting, difficulty?
What's the existing party makeup?

Most importantly:
Do you enjoy playing what everyone else says they need...but for some reason none of them want to play?

Quite frankly if a healbot is what they claim they need, their party is probably lacking in one of more of the roles: anvil, hammer and arm. Or to use MMO analogies: Controller (used to be known as Mezzer), DPS (or rather DPR), Support (action economy booster, mobility, summoner).

Good article to read:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...FvxClNrGc/edit

'nuff said on that. If I'm playing a cleric: If core, he's going War and Travel Domains, and either a big 2Hander or a bow. If the party believes running into combat, possibly provoking an attack, just to provide that 5.5 hp of healing to that barbarian who's down 20 hp is a great idea and now setting up 2 PCs to get taken out...I'm kind of thinking you won't find that fun. Since you are non-core you have a lot of options based on what you also want to contribute. But Belts of Healing and a wand of CLW will accomplish the majority of healing needed. In combat shock healing is a losing race, you simply cannot keep up with the 100-200 damage potential of mobs as you advance, you are much better off buffing the party, locking foes down, or taking foes out of the fight so YOUR party can pound them.

That said you can make a healing build if you really enjoy staring at tiny health bars during a raid while everyone else is actually looking at the full screen. To conserve resources you could dip one of your precious feats into Touch of Healing (Complete Champion). Since you ALWAYS have your highest level slot for healing with spontaneous healing, it's essentially free healing up to 50% for a feat without the spiky randomness of rolling healing d8's.

But going what I see so far... it appears you are instead working on making a super-gish once your DMM goes fully online. Don't have much more to add to that cept
Extend Spell, Persistent Spell, DMM Persistent. And then possibly a party buff persist and Divine Power/Righteous Might/Divine Favor persist. Lesser Rods of Extend spells to extend that to 48 hours for the level 3's and under. Now you burn 1/2 the turns needed by alternating daily not to mention freeing up spell slots.

Oh and lots of Nightsticks...crafting cheese OpMax will get you a 82% discount off the 7500 gp.

And +1 to Zancloufer. Your stat array screams: I can't fight, I only buff, heal or run away. So embrace it, pick control and buff spells. Command that enemy archer on a wall to jump, tell that enemy tank wearing heavy armor to strip, make that second wave of reinforcements run away in terror. Bless and Aid your party so they hit more often.

If (and only if) your DM bans Wands of CLW, Faith Healing, and Lesser Vigor, consider taking the Mastery of Day and Night feat to make your Cure X Wounds spells more efficient.

How married are you to the CG alignment? Because if you wanna go LN and take the law domain (and maybe the incarnum domain) you could go for a cleric 3/incarnate 1/sapphire hierarch X (requires the book magic of incarnum).

Alternatively you could take a level of crusader and go for Ruby Knight Vindicator (from Book of nine swords). This would give you back the hide skill (to hearken to your rogue (and given the prestige class, rouge) heritage). ;)

Read the cleric spell list.
Everything you have access to.
All the way through.
Several times over.

Knowing and understanding what your spells are and what they can do is a big part of playing an effective spellcaster.

Review your list of prepared spells every time you rest.
Don't use yesterday's list without a good reason.

when picking spells for the day always ask yourself:
what spell will really help with what we are doing today?
what problems did I have yesterday and what spells might aleviate them?
what spells did I not find a use for?

pick what spells to memorise accordingly.
Leave slots empty and fill them later if you can't think of a good choice.

Don't be afraid to use consumable items. Scrolls and wands can cover commonly used or situational spells leaving your spell slots for more powerful effects.

Crafting items is a good way to ensure you have the consumables you need. Consider a crafting feat but don't get too many unless you genuinely like that sort of thing.

Craft wand should be your first choice since wizards get scrolls by default and wands vastly improve your ability to heal HP damage.

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Originally Posted by Will Power

Thanks for all the input so far. Really had no idea going into it what this all really entails. My head is spinning from searching through 15 books worth of information (as well as the internet).

I'm wondering about the "Turning" though...if there isn't a whole heck of a lot of undead, would I really even need to add any additional feats for this? What is, if anything, is it good for?

I will look into the Cloistered Cleric...though I'd need to change my alignment. (not that it's a problem, just an observation).

Do you have suggestions for buffs?

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If you are going to go combat cleric route, I have a small, but provably effective list for all my clerics using core only:

0 level spells: Prepare whatever, spontaneous cast Cure Minor Wounds if necessary.
1st level: Prepare a couple of Shield of Faith (+2AC that gets better with level, get one for yourself and the group warriors), a single Bless (long duration +1AB for everyone in the party), and fill the rest with Divine Favor (+1 to AB and damage for yourself for brief moments, but gets more powerful later and your first level slots are best used on this). Early on, until you get a magic weapon prepare magic weapon instead. Spontaneously cast Cure Light Wounds.
2nd level: Prepare Bull's Strength, Bear's Endurance, Eagle's Splendor. Align Weapon if you have anything spare. Spontaneously cast Cure Moderate Wounds.
3rd level: Prepare several castings of Magic Vestment as you'll be able to make your armor and shield probably better than anything you'll ever find. Spontaneously cast Cure Serious Wounds.
4th level: When you get 4th level spells, you should prepare Greater Magic Weapon, Divine Power, Freedom of Movement and Death Ward, in that order with that priority. Spontaneously cast Cure Critical Wounds.
5th level: While Raise Dead is very handy, you are probably going to rest before you need to cast it, so don't mind it that much right away. Spell Resistance (12+cleric level is amazing resistance), True Seeing, Righteous Might are your bread and butter at this level. Don't spontaneously cast Mass Cure Light Wounds, it's not worth it.

When you attain 6th level spells, consider if you are casting Bull's Strength a lot on way too many people. If you are not, consider to spend this level to extend ALL of your spells. You'll be able to go all day at this point. And then proceed to spend all of your first level slots on Divine Favor.

7th level: Holy Word, Regenerate and Ethereal Jaunt are the only decent entries here. Prepare some 1st level persisted spells instead.
8th level: Holy Aura, which isn't really that great. I would probably just do the persist 2nd level spells for this level.
9th level: Mass Heal, Storm of Vengeance, Miracle, Implosion, Gate and True Resurrection are good picks, but as usual, only the highlighted are really worth your picks. I would likely persist Magic Vestment instead albeit at this level, hopefully the DM has just given your party decent enough armor and weapons to make those specific buffs obsolete.

At such a point, Prayer(which is actually kind of awful at it's level) and Protection from Energy might be your best replacements.

Now, if you were to go beyond core, you'd have so many options I'm not sure if my list is quite operable, but it is a good starting point, I think. I'm sure others can point out the flaws in it.

If you're going for a DMM: Persist Cleric, go all the way. See if you could get Planning and/or Undeath Domains granting you key feats and take Extend Spell, Persistent Spell and Divine Metamagic: Persistent Spell on the first level. This gives you the first persistent spell on the first level. Then you need either items or more Extra Turnings to persist more. Later on you want to be persisting defensive/utility and all-day buffs. Other domains you might want to look into include Spell-domain granting "Anyspell"-spells allowing you to access arcane magic early on, and the general utility domains like Trickery, Travel, Time and Luck with good abilities and spells. One such domain is usually a good target for your "Spontaneous Domain Casting" alternative class feature [Player's Handbook II] trading away the lesser Cure spells for something more useful.

Once you hit 5th level, you can Persist Mass Lesser Vigor for the whole party giving everyone Fast Healing 1 for the whole day making healing more or less superfluous. Then you can focus on combat spells and wrecking face with your mace. Note, Cleric can be the healer, the controller and the warrior at the same time. I do recommend higher Strength if you wish to fight though; 14 Strength is nice so you can pick up Power Attack. The alternative is using Polymorph-spells but that requires accessing them somehow (mostly Domains) as they aren't natively available to Clerics.

EDIT: Complete Mage has a good alternative to one domain in Divine Magician, gaining you one arcane spell per level from few schools. This would notably give you access to Necromancy like Spectral Hand, using touch range spells like Protective Interposition at a range.

Far as combat casting goes, this post by Darrin does a decent job of covering some of the illuminaries, though I'd add Silence against enemy casters (readied actions to interrupt casting are especially potent - no save if you cast it in an AOE or on an object like a stone you can then throw), Shatter (destroy a Giant's nonmagical sword and they become half the monsters they are, costing you nearly nothing), Summon Monster-line (peruse this thread) and Divine Insight [Spell Compendium] as an hours/level version of Guidance of the Avatar.

For buffs, you can start off with Greater Magic Weapon and Magic Vestment. Then you add Persistent Divine Power and Righteous Might. Then you can start doing stuff like Holy Transformation, Visage of the Deity, et cetera. Don't forget to use non-persistent buffs like Freedom of Movement, Heroes' Feast and company as well; they add important immunities to your whole setup. Also, stuff like Greater Magic Weapon and Magic Vestment can be used to the benefit of allies too: have them buy you Pearls of Power to ensure the slots.

Mordaedil already covered core spells pretty well, so i'm going to focus on non-core spells that are good to cast.

Spoiler: 1st level

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Conviction (SpC) grants a scaling morale bonus to saves for 10 min/level. Morale boni to saves are rare, saves are important, though keep in mind that morale effects are mind-affecting.
It's not an all day buff because of the duration, but it's ideal for buffing before a nasty bossfight.

Snowshoes (SpC) gives a 10ft enhancement bonus to speed in addition to its terrain-specific effects for 1 hour/level. It's basically a better version of Longstrider.

Healthful Rest (SpC) is worth it at low levels to save on spell slots. It doubles natural healing from rest (including ability damage) and affects the whole party, so it's a lot more slot-effective than other 1st level spells. It also stacks with all other things that increase natural healing, so you can get some pretty sweet numbers for minimal cost if you're going to rest anyway.

I've already mentioned Resurgence and Ray of Resurgence in my earlier post. Also keep in mind that a cleric that casts heals spontaneously can also cast sanctified spells spontaneously.
Of particular interest is Vision of Punishment (CoV), which can nauseate an evil target as a swift action. This spell stays useful even at higher levels because nauseated is an encounter-ender.

Spoiler: 2nd level

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Freedom of Breath (Sandstorm) makes the target immune to Stinking Cloud (among other things). This is relevant if you have a BFC wizard in the group - cast it on your melee (or yourself if you melee) and they can move through the cloud with impunity. BFC that only affects your enemies is always better.

Obscuring Snow (Frostburn) grants a cloud of concealment that moves with you for 1 hour/level. For best effects you want Blindsight or a Druid/Ranger casting Snowsight (or get a wand), but it has the advantage over similar effects in that it's not countered by True Seeing or See Invisibility.

Tyche's Touch (LEoF) lasts 24 hours and grants a sacred bonus on your next 4 saves - +4 on the first, +3 on the second and so on. Saves being important and sacred boni being rare this is obviously good. Thanks to the natural duration and non-scaling nature this is also a prime spell for a wand.

Summon Elysian Thrush (SpC). Another spell that doubles natural healing and stacks with Healthful Rest. Gets less useful as you raise in levels, but still a nice option if the whole party has ability damage. Something to keep in mind at least.

Luminous Armor (BoED) is your sanctified spell for this level. It lasts 1 hour/level, grants +5 armor AC, sheds light as Daylight (and so counters low-level darkness effects) and also imposes another -4 penalty on anyone attacking you in melee.
A fantastic spell, and the reason most good-aligned clerics and druids don't bother with wearing armor beyond low levels, since this stacks with a Monk's Belt (as does its greater version).

Spoiler: 3rd level

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Alter Fortune (PHB2) lets you make someone reroll any die roll just made as an immediate action, no save, no SR. This one has so many uses it's hard to list them all.
Party member failed a save? Let him reroll. Big bad opponent made a save against that spell your party really needed to land? Make him reroll it.
Attack rolls, saves, skill checks, dispel checks, if it's important to succeed it may be worth casting this spell for a second chance if your first try failed.
Keep in mind the 200xp cost, so don't overuse it. Still a fantastic spell though - worth keeping at least one prepared.

Hesitate (PHB2) restricts the target to a move action per turn only if they fail their save. They get a new save each turn (as a swift action) and it's mind affecting. Why am i recommending this?
Because it's an immediate action spell. That's what makes this one stand out. At higher levels when action advantage is worth more than a 3rd level slot this spell starts really shining. It's also a prime target for Chain Spell. Stopping the enemy from acting while you still get another spell this round? Priceless.

Laogzed's Breath (SK) is essentially cone-shaped cleric Stinking Cloud. It's good for all the reasons that Stinking Cloud is a prime BFC spell for wizards, only this one appears on your list.
Oh, and it's instantaneous (the fumes persist for 10 rounds), so it works when you cast it into an AMF too.

Brilliant Emanation (BoED) is a fort save or blind against evil creatures in a massive (100ft +10ft level) radius. It's a sanctified spell, so you can cast it spontaneously if appropriate.

Celestial Aspect (BoED) grants you one of several possible benefits. Of interest here is the 100ft(good) flight speed. Since it's also sanctified you always have flight on tap if you need it.

Hammer of Righteousness (BoED) rounds out the sanctified spells for this level. It does 1d6/CL (or 1d8/CL against evil) force damage against a single target with a fort save for half. No damage cap, medium range, if you need some quick damage against something this is a good option.

Spoiler: 4th level

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Delay Death (SpC) As an immediate action stop someone dying from hp damage for 1 round/level, giving you time to finish the fight and saving you the cost of a Raise Dead. Always keep at least one around.

Mark of the Enlightened Soul (DrM) As a swift action, for 3 rounds, all your spells get the [Good] descriptor.
That lets them benefit from CL boosts like the Good domain and Hero's Tears (CC) (and a whole lot of other things that affect [good] spells) and lets your damage spells overcome regeneration/good.
It also increases the damage of your 3rd level or below spells against evil enemies by 50%, making it synergize beautifully with Hammer of Rightousness.
It's worth persisting if you take it into account when building your character or buying gear to take advantage of all your spells being [good].

Moon Bolt (SpC) does a sweet amount of strength damage against up to two living targets, making it a great save-or-lose against spellcasters and dex-heavy enemies. (Remember that 0 Strength = paralyzed).
It also makes undead helpless for 1d4 rounds, so it's useful in most encounters you'll find yourself in.

Animate with the Spirit (CoV) animates a corpse with a summoned outsider aligned to your deity for a decent duration. This is notable because good-aligned outsiders tend to come with big arrays of spell-like abilities, which your new friend can then use. Sadly you can't choose the outsider, but there aren't really bad choices. Just decent ones and really, really good ones.
It's sanctified (read:spontaneous), so keep it in mind when you need some extra firepower.

Greater Luminous Armor (BoED) good for all the same reasons as Luminous Armor, but now with a +8 armor AC - equal to full plate with none of the drawbacks.

That should cover you until you get into the groove of playing a cleric.
Though i'd encourage you to look through your spell list yourself and try what looks interesting - you know them all after all, and if something doesn't work out you can prepare something different the next day.

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Originally Posted by Zancloufer

Essentially the only thing you CAN do for the first 4-6 levels is be a heal bot. With pretty much no AC or hit and not enough spells to waste on buffing your in for a VERY rough ride that first 2-3 levels.

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And this is why I posted up. Because I knew it wasn't right but I was getting overwhelmed with everything!

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Originally Posted by GilesTheCleric

Everyone's advise has been good, and I'll second all of it. I'd just like to reassure you that you'll do fine. There's tons to learn about Clerics, but you don't need to know all of it right away. To start, keep things simple. The only books you really need are the PHB and Spell Compendium. The only items you need are wands of Lesser Vigor or Faith Healing, plus tell everyone in your party to purchase Belts of Healing.

You're best off by not healing in combat. If you can instead cast spells that prevent your allies from taking damage in the first place, battlefield control spells (BFC), then both they and you will be better off. Reserve your actions spent on healing for outside combat (either pre-emptively with Lesser Vigor, or afterwards).

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I did drop a bunch of books because it was way too much info. Perhaps as things progress and once I get the hang of it, I'll be able to branch out. Thanks for the helpful reassuring words too. :)

I did however find a PrC that I like and will change my stats for: Combat Medic Ultimately, I think it's what will work best for the group and I can still prepare spells to heal (pre/post battle).

If you're starting at 1st level, the party needs a healer, and you want to fight (in melee), play a crusader. Stance for infinite free healing (2 HP at a time) every time you hit, maneuvers for more healing (and other cool things).

Alternately, DMM:Persist is your friend, as has been said, re: mass lesser vigor. No reason you couldn't combine the two, only losing a single level to crusader, taking the rest in cleric (etc).

Start a party fund, buy Wand of Lesser Vigor, and situational scrolls. This is on the party, not on you.

I recommend everyone having an Amulet of Emergency Healing, because healing, in a 4-person party, 4d4+20 damage as an immediate action is a real, literal lifesaver. Let me know how that works out, as, AFAIK, no-one has ever actually done it.

Resurgence is an awesome spell, use it. Could buy it in wand form, too, I suppose.

See if you can use Spell Points. Not really all that vital, as you can convert spells to cure spells, but it would save on situational scrolls. Good to bring up if the party (foolishly) balks at using party funds to heal them.

Remember that if you're a Good Cleric, you can cast Sanctified spells spontaneously. This will lock you out of Corrupt spells (which require a non-Good alignment) and [Evil] spells, but if you were already planning on being Good, it's a good thing to keep in mind.

Also, your ability to spontaneously cast spells that contain the word "cure" allows you to spontaneously cast Leonard's Secure Shelter (even though it isn't on your spell list) and Obscure Object.

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Originally Posted by Rerednaw

What kind of campaign, setting, difficulty?
What's the existing party makeup?

Most importantly:
Do you enjoy playing what everyone else says they need...but for some reason none of them want to play?

Quite frankly if a healbot is what they claim they need, their party is probably lacking in one of more of the roles: anvil, hammer and arm. Or to use MMO analogies: Controller (used to be known as Mezzer), DPS (or rather DPR), Support (action economy booster, mobility, summoner).

But going what I see so far... it appears you are instead working on making a super-gish once your DMM goes fully online. Don't have much more to add to that cept
Extend Spell, Persistent Spell, DMM Persistent. And then possibly a party buff persist and Divine Power/Righteous Might/Divine Favor persist. Lesser Rods of Extend spells to extend that to 48 hours for the level 3's and under. Now you burn 1/2 the turns needed by alternating daily not to mention freeing up spell slots.

Oh and lots of Nightsticks...crafting cheese OpMax will get you a 82% discount off the 7500 gp.

And +1 to Zancloufer. Your stat array screams: I can't fight, I only buff, heal or run away. So embrace it, pick control and buff spells. Command that enemy archer on a wall to jump, tell that enemy tank wearing heavy armor to strip, make that second wave of reinforcements run away in terror. Bless and Aid your party so they hit more often.

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The party has a wizard, barbarian, rogue (and I don't know about the 4th yet).
I was asked to join to be the cleric because they realized they needed one. I don't mind playing something different, I just wanted to play.
From what I understand, they have a "charge and attack" player that constantly needs healing.
I'm definitely looking to get Extend Spell, Persistent Spell, DMM Persistent. :)

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Originally Posted by sleepyphoenixx

Mordaedil already covered core spells pretty well, so i'm going to focus on non-core spells that are good to cast.

Spoiler: 1st level

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Conviction (SpC) grants a scaling morale bonus to saves for 10 min/level. Morale boni to saves are rare, saves are important, though keep in mind that morale effects are mind-affecting.
It's not an all day buff because of the duration, but it's ideal for buffing before a nasty bossfight.

Snowshoes (SpC) gives a 10ft enhancement bonus to speed in addition to its terrain-specific effects for 1 hour/level. It's basically a better version of Longstrider.

Healthful Rest (SpC) is worth it at low levels to save on spell slots. It doubles natural healing from rest (including ability damage) and affects the whole party, so it's a lot more slot-effective than other 1st level spells. It also stacks with all other things that increase natural healing, so you can get some pretty sweet numbers for minimal cost if you're going to rest anyway.

I've already mentioned Resurgence and Ray of Resurgence in my earlier post. Also keep in mind that a cleric that casts heals spontaneously can also cast sanctified spells spontaneously.
Of particular interest is Vision of Punishment (CoV), which can nauseate an evil target as a swift action. This spell stays useful even at higher levels because nauseated is an encounter-ender.

Spoiler: 2nd level

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Freedom of Breath (Sandstorm) makes the target immune to Stinking Cloud (among other things). This is relevant if you have a BFC wizard in the group - cast it on your melee (or yourself if you melee) and they can move through the cloud with impunity. BFC that only affects your enemies is always better.

Obscuring Snow (Frostburn) grants a cloud of concealment that moves with you for 1 hour/level. For best effects you want Blindsight or a Druid/Ranger casting Snowsight (or get a wand), but it has the advantage over similar effects in that it's not countered by True Seeing or See Invisibility.

Tyche's Touch (LEoF) lasts 24 hours and grants a sacred bonus on your next 4 saves - +4 on the first, +3 on the second and so on. Saves being important and sacred boni being rare this is obviously good. Thanks to the natural duration and non-scaling nature this is also a prime spell for a wand.

Summon Elysian Thrush (SpC). Another spell that doubles natural healing and stacks with Healthful Rest. Gets less useful as you raise in levels, but still a nice option if the whole party has ability damage. Something to keep in mind at least.

Luminous Armor (BoED) is your sanctified spell for this level. It lasts 1 hour/level, grants +5 armor AC, sheds light as Daylight (and so counters low-level darkness effects) and also imposes another -4 penalty on anyone attacking you in melee.
A fantastic spell, and the reason most good-aligned clerics and druids don't bother with wearing armor beyond low levels, since this stacks with a Monk's Belt (as does its greater version).

Spoiler: 3rd level

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Alter Fortune (PHB2) lets you make someone reroll any die roll just made as an immediate action, no save, no SR. This one has so many uses it's hard to list them all.
Party member failed a save? Let him reroll. Big bad opponent made a save against that spell your party really needed to land? Make him reroll it.
Attack rolls, saves, skill checks, dispel checks, if it's important to succeed it may be worth casting this spell for a second chance if your first try failed.
Keep in mind the 200xp cost, so don't overuse it. Still a fantastic spell though - worth keeping at least one prepared.

Hesitate (PHB2) restricts the target to a move action per turn only if they fail their save. They get a new save each turn (as a swift action) and it's mind affecting. Why am i recommending this?
Because it's an immediate action spell. That's what makes this one stand out. At higher levels when action advantage is worth more than a 3rd level slot this spell starts really shining. It's also a prime target for Chain Spell. Stopping the enemy from acting while you still get another spell this round? Priceless.

Laogzed's Breath (SK) is essentially cone-shaped cleric Stinking Cloud. It's good for all the reasons that Stinking Cloud is a prime BFC spell for wizards, only this one appears on your list.
Oh, and it's instantaneous (the fumes persist for 10 rounds), so it works when you cast it into an AMF too.

Brilliant Emanation (BoED) is a fort save or blind against evil creatures in a massive (100ft +10ft level) radius. It's a sanctified spell, so you can cast it spontaneously if appropriate.

Celestial Aspect (BoED) grants you one of several possible benefits. Of interest here is the 100ft(good) flight speed. Since it's also sanctified you always have flight on tap if you need it.

Hammer of Righteousness (BoED) rounds out the sanctified spells for this level. It does 1d6/CL (or 1d8/CL against evil) force damage against a single target with a fort save for half. No damage cap, medium range, if you need some quick damage against something this is a good option.

Spoiler: 4th level

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Delay Death (SpC) As an immediate action stop someone dying from hp damage for 1 round/level, giving you time to finish the fight and saving you the cost of a Raise Dead. Always keep at least one around.

Mark of the Enlightened Soul (DrM) As a swift action, for 3 rounds, all your spells get the [Good] descriptor.
That lets them benefit from CL boosts like the Good domain and Hero's Tears (CC) (and a whole lot of other things that affect [good] spells) and lets your damage spells overcome regeneration/good.
It also increases the damage of your 3rd level or below spells against evil enemies by 50%, making it synergize beautifully with Hammer of Rightousness.
It's worth persisting if you take it into account when building your character or buying gear to take advantage of all your spells being [good].

Moon Bolt (SpC) does a sweet amount of strength damage against up to two living targets, making it a great save-or-lose against spellcasters and dex-heavy enemies. (Remember that 0 Strength = paralyzed).
It also makes undead helpless for 1d4 rounds, so it's useful in most encounters you'll find yourself in.

Animate with the Spirit (CoV) animates a corpse with a summoned outsider aligned to your deity for a decent duration. This is notable because good-aligned outsiders tend to come with big arrays of spell-like abilities, which your new friend can then use. Sadly you can't choose the outsider, but there aren't really bad choices. Just decent ones and really, really good ones.
It's sanctified (read:spontaneous), so keep it in mind when you need some extra firepower.

Greater Luminous Armor (BoED) good for all the same reasons as Luminous Armor, but now with a +8 armor AC - equal to full plate with none of the drawbacks.

That should cover you until you get into the groove of playing a cleric.
Though i'd encourage you to look through your spell list yourself and try what looks interesting - you know them all after all, and if something doesn't work out you can prepare something different the next day.

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Tons of very useful information! Thank you SO much!!!
I will spend the next few days checking out the spells and understanding what each one does.
Thanks again for all the help everyone!

What kind of Wizard is in the party? A blaster? A battlefield controller? A buffer? A debuffer? Simply saying "Wizard" isn't enough.