I'd like any pointers on my Cleric build below. I've seen several "Divine Archer" builds and even this one I've heard discussed which takes max advantage of Wisdom. I just haven't seen this one described in detail. Nor does mine have any profane arcane levels in it He's mainly meant to be enjoyable for anyone who likes to play a full-on cleric, but wants a better AB than you can get with melee without sacrificing spell-casting abilities or any AC.
lvl 1 Monk Luck of Heroes, Point Blank Shot lvl 2 Fighter WF-Longbow lvl 3 Cleric CC lvl 4 Cleric lvl 5 Cleric lvl 6 Cleric Empower Spell lvl 7 Fighter Rapid Shot lvl 8 Monk lvl 9 Fighter Zen Archery lvl 10 Monk lvl 11 Fighter Weap Spec-Longbow lvl 12 Monk Imp Crit-Longbow (also be sure to get Tumble to 15 by now)
everything else Cleric... The feats I picked up for Cleric: Spell Pen Gr Spell Pen Epic Spell Pen EWF-Longbow EP Spell Foc Evo Wis I Great Spell Foc Evo Wis II Epic Spell Foc Evo Wis III Epic Spell - Hellball Wis IV
I max Concentration and Spellcraft, and get Tumble and Discipline to 20.
I ended up with +39/+34/29/+24 AB with normal longbow (I thought it should have been +40 though, is there a bug? - +26BAB, +10 Wis, +1WF, +2EWF, +1EP???) With buffs, this can get considerably higher than I've been able to get with a melee Cleric with decent Spell Pen ability.
He has AC27 nekkid, plus he can go higher than a normal Cleric using armor and shield with equipment in the standard campaign because he can wear Monk boots and he gets that +10 Wis bonus to AC (higher for any further Wis bonuses)
I tend to prefer offensive clerics to defensive, hence the empower feat over extended. It makes for a better support char if I'm playing with a friend who's a tank. I also tend to take air domain over trickery for the same reason. I like having chain lightning and call lightning, which are fun empowered spells, and which give me a real offensive arsenal as a cleric. I take magic domain for stoneskin and melf's acid as decent 2nd level offensive spell I can load up on, and perhaps an empowered neg en burst every now and then for anything I need to reduce str on.
The biggest plus of this build - you get a nigh-on full Cleric with a powerful offensive spell arsenal that will be very difficult to resist, good AC with equipment, good AB with equipment, and lots of spell slots.
Any pointers as to the feats? I figured Epic spell pen is important for any cleric that wants to guarantee harm, etc, and keep their offensive arsenal viable. I wondered about taking Greater Wis V-X, since every +1 mod from Wis gives a +1 AC, +1 AB, and a +1 to spell DC. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
*Divine Might will add your Charisma bonus to weapon damage for as many times per day as you have Turn Undead uses. Add Divine Favor on top of that, and you'll be doing a decent amount of Divine/Magical damage that can't be resisted.
3 extra levels of Cleric in exchange for those monk levels will give you one more epic bonus feat while still giving you access to the monk AC bonus.
Btw, the name's Kreigar . I posted a remake of the Divine Archer just recently and incorporated some pointers from other discussions not listed here. The pointers listed above don't make much sense to me because all those Divine Feats only work for a number of rounds equal to your Charisma bonus, which would be one. One round of anything won't help much at all.
Here's my updated post from Version 8 of the Epic Thread (page 4 I think)...
Good points. My Divine Archer is designed more for those who like to play closer to a casting Cleric, but who want to be able to still be helpful in groups and modules where there are drawn out periods where you can't rest (where everyone starts cursing the spellcaster cause he ain't pullin his weight once his spells run out ) . A pure caster Cleric has a lower AB usually than this. Also, Clerics who wear armor can't take advantage of a shield when using a bow, so he makes up for that as well.
As to the 4 Monk levels, that's because I plan my chars from level one to be played with friends. You'd get an XP penalty if you introduce Monk levels and you still want the four pre-epic fighter levels for 4 attacks/round. If you're just teleporting a level 40 char into someplace, then yes, you'd just plop one level of Monk down at level 40 and take another 3 Cleric or Fighter levels. If you're playing from level one though, you wouldn't have any advantages of your Monk class until level 40, and that's just no fun if you're playing through anything with friends from the ground up. You also get a little Monk speed, 1-8 unarmed dmg (fun for role-playing ) , deflect arrows, and +2 to mind affecting spells.
Here's my latest incarnation of the Divine Archer that gets a better feat selection than my previous and is also a little more fun at lower levels. Once again, he's mainly for caster-Cleric types who want better AB for support physical attacks in a group (or by yourself I guess). He also gets a high AC and can wear cool Monk stuff. If you want to get him more physical, there's lots of options by dropping some Cleric levels and taking more Fighter, post epic. I'm currently playing him through SoU with friends, and I've tested him at level 40 (he plays really well as a caster in all my tests).
Divine Archer Human Cleric32/Fighter4/Monk4 Air and Magic domains (for max offensive spell dmg)
lvl 1 Cleric CC, Point Blank Shot lvl 2 Fighter WF-Longbow lvl 3 Fighter Spell Pen, Rapid Shot lvl 4 Cleric lvl 5 Cleric lvl 6 Cleric Zen Archery lvl 7 Cleric lvl 8 Cleric lvl 9 Cleric Spell Focus Evo lvl 10 Cleric lvl 11 Cleric lvl 12 Cleric Empower (better for caster Clerics than Extend) lvl 13 Cleric lvl 14 Cleric (gets you to level six spells so you feel like a Cleric while playing through the campaign with friends ) lvl 15 Monk Imp Crit-LB lvl 16 Monk lvl 17 Fighter lvl 18 Monk Greater Spell Pen lvl 19 Fighter Weap Spec-Longbow lvl 20 Monk (get Tumble to 20)
everything else Cleric Epic Feats: Epic Spell Pen, EWF-LB, Great Spell Focus Evo, Epic Spell Focus Evo, Great Wis 1-6, Armor Skin (don't take Epic Prowess because it does NOT stack to help AB, at least it didn't in my tests)
Ending Stats: str-10 dex-14 con-12 int-10 wis-34 (+12mod for AB, AC, and spell DC) cha-8
I max Concentration and Spellcraft, and get Tumble and Discipline to 20. You could probably skip Discipline, since 20 won't do anything for anyone hitting you (the attack roll will be much higher than 40 to hit you). If you aren't playing from level one, just plop one Monk level at level 40 (saving you three levels of unneeded Monk), get Tumble to 40, and consider taking a few epic Fighter levels to get Discipline to 40 and get improved Expertise. You'd have to alter the stats a bit (I think you need 13 int for expertise), but you'd make a mighty hard to hit Casting Cleric with a really high AC with that setup.
His unbuffed AB with normal bow is 41/36/31/26. His DC for Implosion is 40 (I'm not exactly sure how this gets calculated, but trust me, it's 40). I thought it would be 37, but there must be at least a little stacking in the spell focus feats, but they certainly don't all stack (maybe it's from having Owl's Wisdom cast? - but I could have sworn I didn't have it cast when I tested). If you get +10 wisdom from items, it's DC45 (tested) against a Fort save, which is really nice. I think having Owl's wisdom or empowered Owl's wisdom cast will take it even higher. If you happen across something with a really high Fort save, use Hammer of Gods for a Daze effect of 5 less DC - DC35 or DC40 with +10 Wis (Will Save), then just Melf's Acid Arrow and Harm them. It's rare to come across something that can make both of those saves (except the Fighter12/CoT26/Rogue2 I just made ). His DC is 38 to beat Spell Resistance, so all but the most focused Monk builds (around 30 lvls) will easily receive his spells.
I have a question. Why take only 4 fighter levels? If you took 5 fighter levels you could take Improved Weapon Specialization in the Longbow, giving you another +4 damage. Simply get Weapon focus and Weapon Spec out of the way early on, then take Improved Weapon focus at 21st, and finally take Fighter level 5 at 24th level and Epic Weapon Specialization in the Longbow will be available.
yesw.. or take cot instead of fighter and you have no xp pen with a human couse prestige classes don't count to xp pen _________________ Yours truly
Nurse Carla Vallaya Gotrek Gurnison Isha Aventia player
I've recently tweaked this char further to be a better caster Cleric. Cleric35/Fighter3/Rogue2
Stats str 10 dex 10 con 12 int 14 wis 18 cha 8
The biggest difference is that this char REALLY focuses on being a butt-kicking offensive caster and just a support archer. You also get an extra epic Cleric feat with the extra three Cleric levels. The main reason for these tweaks are the fact that the Monk version loses a significant amount of AC when casting because it's Dodge and Dex AC. This guy won't lose any and gets 10 more AC from Imp Expertise.
Take the first two fighter levels early, so you can get those longbow feats to use in the low levels (builds have to be playable from low level, IMHO). Take a rogue level at 23 to get UMD to 25 and Tumble to 20 or so so you can use them in the campaign a bit. Then take another fighter level near 40 and a rogue level near 40 to get high discipline and high UMD. You can then either max Tumble or, if you put no points into Tumble, you can max Listen or Spot. I like at least 20 points in Tumble to easily disengage from a lot of foes, but I play more PvE than PvP.
Replace Rapid Shot with Expertise, and replace some other feat with Imp. Expertise. Quickslot your shield, so you can switch to it when you want to go into "casting mode". With your shield and Imp. Expertise on, you are VERY hard to hit (10 more AC than any fighter can get), plus you can use any scroll, making this a very nice offensive caster that can probably take down anything. The only drawbacks in the campaign are the low weight capacity. You'll be near max with full plate, a good helmet, a good shield and your bow. Just have your melee-focused companion carry all the stuff and you'll be fine though (that's what I'm doing ). This is an excellent caster character that maintains a high AB with a bow due to high Wisdom and Zen Archery. If you want to use this guy solo, lower Wisdom from a tweaked score of 18 down to 16 and you have 6 stat points to play with.
Mordenkainen's Disjunction and Time Stop were the main two spells I coveted as a Cleric, and I can have those now with the Rogue levels. With all the offensive spells you get from Air and Magic domains, along with the already good Cleric spells, full plate (from level 1), high AB with a bow, and ability to use all scrolls, I don't think I'll ever play an arcane caster again.
. I posted a remake of the Divine Archer just recently and incorporated some pointers from other discussions not listed here. The pointers listed above don't make much sense to me because all those Divine Feats only work for a number of rounds equal to your Charisma bonus, which would be one. One round of anything won't help much at all.
) . A pure caster Cleric has a lower AB usually than this. Also, Clerics who wear armor can't take advantage of a shield when using a bow, so he makes up for that as well.