Newbie Cleric [September 2016]

[Deleted]

[Disclaimer: I wrote both of these build threads very quickly - I will edit them over the next few days, but if you spot any mistakes please let me know!]

Clerics are one of HG's 'core classes' (together with Arcane, Bard, and Druid), the fundamental casters that make endgame runs a lot smoother.

Clerics add a lot of firepower to any run in the insta-kill department, and can reduce saves in an AoE using Battletide and Prayer. They also bring powerful support Epics to the table (eg: Miracle and Girding).
The downside is that against many of the 'big boys' they rely on other party members to reduce spell resistance; Bestow Curse is useable for single targets but it's relatively inefficient. In short, they are a welcome sight for any run, but without a decent Druid you might not have a great time in some of the harder runs.
Clerics are also very sturdy, with okay AC and huge Damage Resistance thanks to Gate - if you play with a brain, they are quite difficult to bring down in combat.

HG has an option called 'Reincarnation', which allows you to transfer XP/tags and remake a character (following certain restrictions) - check out the link to learn more. Reincarnation is an incredibly powerful tool for creating new characters, because it allows you to change to a stronger subrace and let's you tune your build for specific situations.

I've written three builds here, each designed for a specific stage of your toon's 'life'.
-> Make Version #1 as a fresh toon, and once you hit Level 40 start saving up cash to buy some Fallen Angel race-books.
-> At Level 50, you can reincarnate into Version #2, a Fallen Angel build which will be relatively strong everywhere in the server and is a great starting point to explore the Hells in.
-> Eventually (Level 70+) you can get your hands on some very rare Half-Celestial race-books and reincarnate into Version #3. This is the 'final form' of the build and is tailored for the hardest areas of the server, such as the Abyss and Limbo. Don't feel pressured to upgrade to this version, Version #2 is quite sufficient for most endgame areas you will enter.

Note: There is no 'correct' way to build a character, though some play-styles are objectively stronger than others.
The following builds are MY OPINION on how to create an effective Cleric for a new player, though some may not agree with them. If you have any questions or comments, please post below and ask!

Version #1: Open Subrace Cleric: Svirfneblin
*Tailored for Levels 1-50
*Animal Empathy splashed at Level 10 4 (useful for Levels 10-40)
*Small-size due to Gnome as a base race. This means you can't wield a Staff + Torch at the same time, though you can use Staves 2-handed or use a Fashion Accessory + Torch. You can adapt the build to Drow (Female), but it results in very low HP which might make the early levels tough for newer players.

SPOILER: Click to show

Svirfneblin (Gnome Base)
[38 Cleric/1 Ranger/1 Monk]
Lawful Evil <- some alignment changes on the way

Gnome Base Stats:
STR 6
DEX 14
CON 14
WIS 18
INT 12
CHA 8
--> Svirfneblin
STR 6
DEX 16
CON 12
WIS 20
INT 12
CHA 6
-> Some players find 6 STR very frustrating at low levels, since you need buffs to carry your very useful Armor/Shield. You can reduce DEX/CON by 2 points each if you think 6 STR is a deal-breaker for you, but I think it's best to suck it up; it's a pain for the first few hours but confers a saves/AC advantage for the long run!

Skills @ 40:
Animal Empathy 7 (Ranger sink)
Concentration ~36
Discipline 43 (Ranger/Monk sink)
Tumble 43 (Monk sink)
-> At Level 41 you will get +80 skillpoints (from Gnome), put those into maxing Concentration, then take Parry and Craft Armor.
-> Spare skill points at Levels 41+ can go into anything you want - Heal can be useful, while Spellcraft is cool just to see what everyone else is casting.

Leveling Order:
1-3 Cleric
4 Ranger [Animal Empathy/Discipline sink]
5-39 Cleric
40 Monk [Discipline/Tumble sink]

Domains: Plant + Trickery (doesn't *really* matter - Creeping Doom and Invisibility are useful for Pre-LL tags)

--- Pre-Epic Feats
1 - Spell Focus: Evocation
3 - Metamagic: Extend Spell
4 - Greater Spell Focus: Evocation [Ranger Bonus Feat]
6 - Spell Focus: Necromancy
9 - Greater Spell Focus: Necromancy
12 - Spell Penetration
15 - Spell Focus: Divination
18 - Greater Spell Focus: Divination

--- Epic Feats
21 - Epic Spell Focus: Evocation
24 - Epic Spell Focus: Divination
24 - Epic Spell Focus: Necromancy [Cleric Bonus Feat]
27 - Greater Spell Penetration
27 - Epic Spell Penetration [Cleric Bonus Feat]
30 - Great Wisdom 1
30 - Great Wisdom 2 [Cleric Bonus Feat]
33 - Great Wisdom 3
33 - Great Wisdom 4 [Cleric Bonus Feat]
36 - Great Wisdom 5
36 - Great Wisdom 6 [Cleric Bonus Feat]
39 - Great Wisdom 7
39 - Great Wisdom 8 [Cleric Bonus Feat]

Wondrous Tome: Enchantment (Free ESF: Enchantment)

--- Legendary Feats
42 - Legendary Spell Penetration
45 - Legendary Spell Focus: Evocation
48 - Legendary Spell Focus: Divination
51 - Legendary Spell Focus: Necromancy
54 - Great Wisdom 9
57 - Epic Reflexes
60 - Great Wisdom 10

-----

Version #2: Ultrarare Subrace Cleric: Fallen Angel
*Tailored for Levels 50-70
*This build can be adapted to a Pure version (40 Cleric), using Armor/Shield instead of Robes; simply drop the Monk splash. There are various arguments for and against Monk splash.
*It ends on an odd number of Wisdom points at Level 60, but in Levels 60-70 you will usually gain +1 Paragon point of Wisdom and thus end on an even number.

SPOILER: Click to show

Fallen Angel (Human)
[39 Cleric/1 Monk]
Lawful Evil <- some alignment changes on the way

Human Base Stats:
STR 8
DEX 14
CON 10
WIS 18
INT 14
CHA 8
--> Fallen Angel
STR 8
DEX 14
CON 10
WIS 23
INT 14
CHA 10

Skills @ 60:
Concentration 63
Craft Armor 63
Discipline 43 (Monk sink)
Parry 63
Tumble 43 (Monk sink)
-> Spare skill points at Levels 41+ can go into anything you want - Heal can be useful, while Spellcraft is cool just to see what everyone else is casting.

Leveling Order:
1-39 Cleric
40 Monk

Domains: Evil + Fire (doesn't *really* matter)

--- Pre-Epic Feats
1 - Spell Focus: Evocation
1 - Greater Spell Focus: Evocation
3 - Metamagic: Extend Spell
6 - Spell Focus: Necromancy
9 - Greater Spell Focus: Necromancy
12 - Spell Penetration
15 - Spell Focus: Divination
18 - Greater Spell Focus: Divination

--- Epic Feats
21 - Epic Spell Focus: Evocation
24 - Epic Spell Focus: Divination
24 - Epic Spell Focus: Necromancy [Cleric Bonus Feat]
27 - Greater Spell Penetration
27 - Epic Spell Penetration [Cleric Bonus Feat]
30 - Great Wisdom 1
30 - Great Wisdom 2 [Cleric Bonus Feat]
33 - Great Wisdom 3
33 - Great Wisdom 4 [Cleric Bonus Feat]
36 - Great Wisdom 5
36 - Great Wisdom 6 [Cleric Bonus Feat]
39 - Great Wisdom 7
39 - Great Wisdom 8 [Cleric Bonus Feat]

Wondrous Tome: Enchantment (Free ESF: Enchantment)

--- Legendary Feats
42 - Legendary Spell Penetration
45 - Legendary Spell Focus: Evocation
48 - Legendary Spell Focus: Divination
51 - Legendary Spell Focus: Necromancy
54 - Great Wisdom 9
57 - Epic Reflexes
60 - Great Wisdom 10

Artifact: Pyramid Energy (Wisdom)

--- Paragon Feats
63 - Paragon Spell Penetration
66 - Paragon Spell Focus: Necromancy
69 - Paragon Spell Focus: Divination
72 - Paragon Spell Knowledge: Divination
75 - Paragon Spell Knowledge: Necromancy
78 - Paragon Spell Focus: Evocation

-----

Version #3: Beyond-Ultrarare Subrace Cleric: Half-Celestial
*Tailored for Levels 70+
*Pure Cleric, using Full-plate + Tower Shield
*ESF: Abjuration

SPOILER: Click to show

Half-Celestial (Human)
[40 Cleric]
Lawful Evil <- some alignment changes on the way

Human Base Stats:
STR 8
DEX 14
CON 10
WIS 18
INT 14
CHA 8
--> Half-Celestial
STR 8
DEX 14
CON 10
WIS 24
INT 14
CHA 12

Skills @ 60:
Concentration 63
Craft Armor 63
Cross-Class Discipline 31 -> 41 (Paragon points)
Parry 63
Cross-Class Tumble 31 -> 41 (Paragon points)
-> Spare skill points at Levels 41+ can go into anything you want - Heal can be useful, while Spellcraft is cool just to see what everyone else is casting.

Leveling Order:
1-40 Cleric

Domains: Evil + Sun (doesn't *really* matter)

--- Pre-Epic Feats
1 - Spell Focus: Enchantment
1 - Greater Spell Focus: Enchantment
3 - Metamagic: Extend Spell
6 - Spell Focus: Necromancy
9 - Greater Spell Focus: Necromancy
12 - Spell Penetration
15 - Spell Focus: Divination
18 - Greater Spell Focus: Divination

--- Epic Feats
21 - Epic Spell Focus: Evocation
24 - Epic Spell Focus: Divination
24 - Epic Spell Focus: Necromancy [Cleric Bonus Feat]
27 - Greater Spell Penetration
27 - Epic Spell Penetration [Cleric Bonus Feat]
30 - Epic Spell Focus: Enchantment
30 - Great Wisdom 1 [Cleric Bonus Feat]
33 - Great Wisdom 2
33 - Great Wisdom 3 [Cleric Bonus Feat]
36 - Great Wisdom 4
36 - Great Wisdom 5 [Cleric Bonus Feat]
39 - Great Wisdom 6
39 - Great Wisdom 7 [Cleric Bonus Feat]

Wondrous Tome: Abjuration (Free ESF: Enchantment)

--- Legendary Feats
42 - Legendary Spell Penetration
45 - Legendary Spell Focus: Evocation
48 - Legendary Spell Focus: Divination
51 - Legendary Spell Focus: Necromancy
54 - Great Wisdom 8
57 - Great Wisdom 9
60 - Great Wisdom 10

Artifact: Pyramid Energy (Wisdom)

--- Paragon Feats
63 - Paragon Spell Penetration
66 - Paragon Spell Focus: Necromancy
69 - Paragon Spell Focus: Divination
72 - Paragon Spell Knowledge: Divination
75 - Paragon Spell Knowledge: Necromancy
78 - Paragon Spell Focus: Evocation

-----

BASICS OF HOW TO PLAY:
I will flesh this out later - I have always planned to release a detailed guide to Druid fundamentals in Hell, but never gotten around to finishing it (I am a Med student and life gets busy at times!), so this will have to do for now. There is also extra information in the threads made by various other players, though in general the actual builds are outdated or (IMO) sub-optimal in today's climate. Be sure to check out:
White Mage
Divine Retribution (Version #3 is basically a clone of this)
The Archangels

Levels 1-25: You can wear a weapon/armor and self-buff to melee most opponents. You also have splashed access to Animal Empathy.
-> Ask in-game (!newbie channel is your friend) about the Oltum
Levels 26-40: Need to get a bit creative - you can use a combination of insta-killers (Implosion, Sunbeam, Undeath to Death, Destruction), direct damage (Storm of Vengeance, Inflicts/Harm or Heal (for Undead), Word of Faith) or use self-buffs and summons to beat down your enemies. 
-> Many of the 30+ tag bosses take only Exotic damage, you can deal Magic (Rebuke), Positive (Earthquake), Negative (Inflict Critical Wounds) and Divine (Destruction) to deal with them.
Levels 41-60: Mostly insta-killing with Implosion/Heartbane/Destruction - you do have okay solo potential, but you shine best in a group.
Levels 60+: Total game-changer now; the old 'spawn and nuke' strategy we were so used to (especially in party play) no longer works in the endgame areas.

Notable Offensive Spells in Hell:
Prayer - AoE save-drop. Respects spell resistance, so it helps to cast this once mobs are already green'd
Implosion - AoE instakill, the most effective insta-kill in Hell. Generally works on all trash + golems + fumes.
Heartbane - Single-target instakill, it's essentially a critical hit spell; if they are immune to Critical Hits or have high Parry (Curse or Energy Drain will lower Parry below the threshold) then they are immune. VERY effective against trash and some mid-tier opponents (eg: Cornugon, Gelugon).
Destruction - Your Death Magic option (notably useful against Advespa/Osyluth/Narzugon). Also deals Divine damage which is cool against some bosses or big boy mobs (Pit Fiend, Malebranche)
Energy Drain - Competes for slots with Implosion so you usually can't book a boatload of these. Handy for reducing the saves of a nasty mob or reducing the Parry of your target so you can use Heartbane, with the additional bonus of +1 CL for a short duration!
Bestow Curse - Single-target SR drop spell. Use it on high-SR targets that haven't been green'd.

Notable Buffs:
Greater Restoration - Short term buff which removes Hell Penalties and restores you every round. In general you should always have this running on yourself + 1-2 other people. Don't fall into the trap of trying to GR everyone in your party (apart from before a boss-fight), it slows the run down and burns through your slots quickly. Having said that, if anyone is in deep trouble or tanking a nasty inflict mob (especially Paragon oozes/fumes), hitting them with a GR is highly encouraged.
Gate - Your most important defensive spell, gives you lots of soak
Battletide - Most important offensive buff, it makes a ring around you which drops saves. Positioning is very important, always try to be in a safe position but still have most enemies inside the Battletide circle!
Holy Aura - Gives immunity to Stun/Daze/Sleep; especially useful in the Abyss
Undeaths Eternal Foe - Mostly for the extra Dodge AC, some other nice bonuses. Life's Grace is a single-target version of this spell, carry a few around for when people die but it isn't worth casting the AoE version (note that the AoE is small, make sure your party members are hugging close when you cast it)
Augury - Blocks dispel attempts. You will probably want to always be wearing both Mord + Breach immunity items, but they don't protect from AoE Mords/MSD from Rakshasa/Raja; Augury does block these
Freedom of Movement - Speed bonus
Endure Elements - Small Elemental Immunity %
Entropic Shield - Conceal vs ranged enemies (eg: Spinagon)
Energy Immunity - Large Elemental Immunity % to one element (if you have Abjuration focus)
Magic Vestment - Extra AC if you have Abjuration foci and Armor/Shield

Sample Hells spell-book: This is an overly simplified example of the main stuff you'll use. Buffs are in pink.
Level 9: Gate, Undeaths Eternal Foe + Implosion, Energy Drain
Level 8: Holy Aura (can be Extended instead) + Extended Greater Restoration
Level 7: Extended Energy Immunity (if Abjuration foci) + Destruction
Level 6: Extended Battletide, Extended Augury, Situational Spells (Extended Life's Grace, Break Enchantment, Greater Sanctuary) + Extended Enervation, Blade Barrier
Level 5: Extended Least Spell Mantle + Extended Heartbane
Level 4: Freedom of Movement + Heartbane, Extended Bestow Curse
Level 3: Magic Vestment (if using Shield), Frost Weapon (3-6 is usually enough) + Prayer
Levels 0-2: Not that important, mostly just buffs (Endure Elements/Entropic Shield) - don't forget to have some Remove Paralysis and Remove Fear booked!

Greatly simplified 'one paragraph' summary of Clerics in Hell:
The fundamental TL;DR of Cleric-ing is;

1) Always have Gate and Battletide up, try to GR yourself regularly
2) At the start of every spawn, run in and Prayer everyone (ideally time it so it goes off right after the Druid NBs for the SR drop)
3) Throw one Implosion to clear trash, have a look around for Fumes/Golems or dispelled Rakshasas to Implode as well
4) Heartbane on targets that other classes can't insta-kill easily, notably Cornugons and Gelugons
5) Destruction on Advespa/Osyluth
6) Clean up loose mobs with Heartbane

-> I think the most common mistakes weak Cleric players make are 1) not making good use of Battletide/Prayer, and 2) favouring Implosion over Heartbane too much.

[woqued]

Add mandatory buffs on the spell-book lists (gate/uef/augury/ext holy aura/fom/weapon buffs); else you'll give a false sense of security about the amount of spells/slots (for tiers 3, 4, 9 in particular) that are enough.

Nice job.

[Deleted]

Sept 2, 2016 17:27:55 GMT woqued said:

Add mandatory buffs on the spell-book lists (gate/uef/augury/ext holy aura/fom/weapon buffs); else you'll give a false sense of security about the amount of spells/slots (for tiers 3, 4, 9 in particular) that are enough.

Don't actually have NWN installed right now to check the real spellbook, but I've filled some in off the top of my head now - will fix it properly later. Thanks for the suggestion!

Also added Domains + some extra notes on spells.

[chainlink]

Heartbane vulnerable irritating creatures should also inlcude Amnizu and Spinagon.

[Deleted]

appreciate the solid info poli/chain, ive adapted the build a little to use drow noble (didnt have half-cele till i got the dn to 45), curious as to what you thought of air as a domain for the chain lightning, handy as an extra dmg spell or generally gonna be useless?

[Deleted]

Nov 9, 2016 3:26:20 GMT Tru3Fals3 said:

appreciate the solid info poli/chain, ive adapted the build a little to use drow noble (didnt have half-cele till i got the dn to 45), curious as to what you thought of air as a domain for the chain lightning, handy as an extra dmg spell or generally gonna be useless?

Drow Noble can work fine. The access to Elf's Able Learner makes it a little more suited for the splash build, you can max Discipline and Tumble that way; though Pure is arguably the better endgame option, which ends up making Drow Noble the slightly inferior race overall.

In general you will lack both Lore and one of Empower/Maximise Spell, which are used together to make Chain Lightning a strong spell. Even if you have those, they are high-demand slots (Level 8 = Extended Greater Restoration, Level 9 = Implosion) so it's quite hard to make Chain Lightning work effectively.

[Deleted]

ah ok, makes sense, i ended up taking evil anyways and i went pure, will eventually build the half-cele version and reinc the drow into a theurge but its nice to have for now as caster cleric was always my favourite class.

cheers for the info

[woqued]

Sept 4, 2016 9:45:00 GMT @ssj2poliwhirl said:

Sept 2, 2016 17:27:55 GMT woqued said:

Add mandatory buffs on the spell-book lists (gate/uef/augury/ext holy aura/fom/weapon buffs); else you'll give a false sense of security about the amount of spells/slots (for tiers 3, 4, 9 in particular) that are enough.

Don't actually have NWN installed right now to check the real spellbook, but I've filled some in off the top of my head now - will fix it properly later. Thanks for the suggestion!

Also added Domains + some extra notes on spells.

Regarding domain choices:

Evil or Death highly recommended as is in the builds for enervation regardless of what you do but other than that some potential choices to consider besides earth/fire:

Sun domain to get Sunbeam at 7 to save up on 8/9 slots (useful in Abyss and Limbo pt2)

Plant for Creeping Doom (lvl 7, doesnt need to be empowered for vuln) if you have tia staff / intend to use GSF/ESF:Illu swapper/added prop item
// could be useful for boss fights in lowman groups or just to tickle cliff bastards boosting evards/clench/ranged dmg

War for more buffs with Aura of Vitality - for someone soloing/lowmanning a lot in penalty areas/using summons, or if happen to do runs druidless

My personal preferance atm is either Plant or Sun domain over earth/fire; but that's just my preferance. Firewall was more useful when soloing/duoing LL areas on a UR sub; later on made completely irrelevant with the Nessus thingie, and EB hasn't had use in ages as it is Gate all the way and it is usually more than enough. Often get to have some "fluff" 7s that don't get used and 8s and 9s can be close to running out often enough; for those reasons the two domains giving some use for 7s beyond banish/destruct/buffs either by alleviating burden at 8/9 with sunbeam at 7 or having an extra "niche" by minorly helping with creeps in rare situations. 

[desocupado]

Domain Choice
I'm a fan of plant also due barksin (AC for summons) and war's AoV (granting summons the much needed str/dex/con boost and helping on druidless runs).
That being said enervation immunity malus is really good when you factor battletide's and prayer's save decrease (tough it competes with heartbane's slots).

Drow noble and Star Gazer
Being splashed decreases spell efficiency (as you lose duration on GR, save decrease on battletide and 1 Spell Penetration) but it can be worked around by keeping at least one temp CL with energy drain (you can't offset the Spell Penetration loss, altough temp CL sort of makes up for it) or the elusive CL ego (really hard to find). But the +4 intelligence helps to maximize monks skills (tumble and Discipline). Even star gazer has similar effect.

That being said having not only discipline but full tumble helps a lot on defenses with heavy armor and shield if you stack abjuration's magic vestment and Guird for armor and ac +20.

[Deleted]

ended up having to sacrifice abj on the drow noble version, dropped the craft armour and took spellcraft to pick up greater ruin. not ideal but helps in a pinch.

[Raj]

You can just follow the HC version, starting with one less feat and scaling everything back one step, drop psf:evo. You gain 1 skill point too, can keep same skills and get better dex/terrible con, or gain one flat skill.

[Deleted]

^

[Mudeye]

Can you indicate the saving throws? Reflex feats are added, but the resulting saving throws are never mentioned.

[chainlink]

Your will save will be awesome, your fortitude OK and your reflex embarrassing, don't worry about it though you're a caster not a front line tank. If you focus on improving the bad saves you'll be a sub par caster.

[Mudeye]

Aug 6, 2018 7:11:10 GMT chainlink said:

Your will save will be awesome, your fortitude OK and your reflex embarrassing, don't worry about it though you're a caster not a front line tank. If you focus on improving the bad saves you'll be a sub par caster.

I'm not really buying that. Many Sorcerer and Wizard builds don't sacrifice feats or caster levels to get higher AC or higher saves. The creator of this build sacrificed a level for Monk in order to get AC and sacrificed a Legendary feat to get Epic Reflexes. Obviously, the builder was thinking about those things. I'd just like to see the results and the reasons for those choices.  The build could skip Monk and reflex save and go full caster or improve the saves to be fully protected.