This build was the product of a discussion regarding Clerics not being as strong as a Melee Mage as far as staying power. I begged to differ in that thread, and commented that Clerics are "Diesel-driven Dynamoes of Destruction". Case in point:
This build combines the strength of the Half-orc and the undeniable strength of a 26th level Cleric, and then stirs vigorously until he has 31 Divine Powers per day, ESF Taunt, Devastating Critical, still lands on a 30 Strength, and has such an ungodly array of wickedness that this build should be outlawed (actually, I think it is on most PWs....).
Level Guide 1 Barbarian1, WF: Battle Axe* 2 Cleric1, Strength & Trickery 3 Cleric2, Extend Spell 4 Cleric3, Wis16 5 Cleric4 6 Cleric5, Blindfighting 7 Cleric6 8 Cleric7, Wis17 9 Cleric8, Power Attack 10 Cleric9 11 Cleric10 12 Cleric11, Improved Crit: Battle Axe*, Wis18 13 CoT1 14 Cleric12 15 Cleric13, Cleave 16 Cleric14, Str19 17 CoT2, Great Cleave** 18 Cleric15, Quicken Spell 19 Cleric16 20 Cleric17, Str20 21 Barb2, Great Str I 22 CoT3 23 CoT4, Great Wis I 24 CoT5, Great Str II, Str23 25 CoT6, Overwhelming Critical: Battle Axe* 26 CoT7 27 Cleric18, Great Str III 28 CoT8, Devastating Crit: Battle Axe*, Str25 29 Cleric19 30 Barb3, Epic Weapon Focus: Battle Axe* 31 Cleric20 32 Cleric21, Str26 33 Cleric22, ESF: Taunt 34 Cleric23, Armor Skin 35 CoT9 36 Cleric24, Great Str IV, Str28 37 Cleric25 38 Cleric26, Great Wis II 39 Barb4, Great Str V 40 CoT10, Epic Prowess, Str30
*denotes that Scimitar or any martial weapon can be chosen ** to make this build legal for your server, drop 5 more points into Concentration, replace the Dev Crit line of Feats for CC, ICC, Empower/Maximize Spell and Silent
The Divine Power of Gruumsh: observe the number of Divine Power Switches available:
3rd: 7 Normal 4th: 7 Extended 5th: 7 Extended 7th: 5 Quickened 8th: 5 Quickened ______ Total: 31 Divine Powers total per day without items/buffs. Note: Battletide can also be Quickened into 9th level slots if one doesn't use the UEFs.
Advantages Undispellable buffs Improved Invisibility Huge Damage potential/High Amount of Divine Power spells Good Taunt skill to harry Arcane Casters Half-orc Clerics of Gruumsh are high on "cool" factor
Disadvantages *Probably too powerful for most low-modest magic PWs *Low on skill points (but still flexible, as Taunt isn't crucial to the build, and KD Immunity items are often available making Discipline non-essential) *Base AC slightly low due to Tumble being cross-classed, but easily mitigated by Cleric26 *Mediocre Reflex save *Low Concentration, but can be mitigated by going CC/ICC in place of the Dev Crit path. Also, the only spells he might really be casting in combat would be to reactivate a Divine Power, and he has those Quickened in two different spell tiers, and thus activate them without interruption. Heal, cannot be Quickened, so trying that in combat could be an issue
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Only 2 other builds in the Guild that use this combo, and they are nothing more than diluted clerics that go for Terrifying Rage. Bah! They are weak, and will be crushed in turn.
Torm’s Terrifying Wrath /Cleric 15/CoT 4/Barbarian 21 by Stravinsky00 Terrifying Dev Crit Epic DR buff cleric /Barbarian 15/Cleric 15/CoT 10 by Vulcano
Title changed on author's request - Kail Pendragon _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Edited By Kail Pendragon on 10/12/07 15:31
Great job as usual, Griz.
I've never seen this particular build, but in low magic PW's, clerics are UNDENIABLY the powerhouses. With a few spells they equip themselves with +5 armor/shield/weapon (with flaming) and then cast divine power and fight as well as a warrior.
When they get hurt, they heal themselves. When they get attacked by magic, they respond in kind and also have the advantage of spell resistance.
Kudos to you! Hope to get some more free time to actually play on Greyhawk again (darn dental school is kicking my rump at the moment).
!
As a cleric lover, this one is up there on the list of the best (for melee power)! You use a fairly standard feat progression for a dev crit cleric (what else can you do!). THe truly nice touch is the use of Quicken spell. Arguably the worst of the metamagic feats (esp where you get haste), this is a VERY sweet twist!
Thanks for putting this out grizz. _________________
This is the result of provoking the Dwarflord by saying Clerics ain't as good as Mages. Awesomely well done Master Dwarflord, show 'em how wrong they are. 'Tis a fearful machine of destruction, indeed.
The Quicken Spell trick for DP slots is cool, but I think 21 uses a day is more than enough (especially since 14 uses are extended, 52 rounds each), I'd go with Empower Spell instead. Also, 4 more points in Concentration and you'll be able to cast in defensive mode and automatically pass the check. If you need more Concentration for checks when getting hit I can suggest changing ESF: Taunt for ESF: Concentration. Just small tweaks, the build rocks.
Cheers, Kail _________________ Looking for a realm of adventure? Check out World of Greyhawk, you won't regret it.
Very nice, Grizz. Good to see another 1/2 Orc-based build to add to the collection.
*edit* Something else occurs to me: if you're in an environment where you have to drop the Dev Crit line of feats, trade them for AutoQuicken. Then you can cast all your spells as Quickened, which takes care of your Heal concerns (or any others for that matter). An especially good choice if you're playing where you can't get permahaste. _________________ It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!!
This is the result of provoking the Dwarflord by saying Clerics ain't as good as Mages. Awesomely well done Master Dwarflord, show 'em how wrong they are. 'Tis a fearful machine of destruction, indeed.
Aye, mark me well, lads. This thing will damn near outlast anything.
Quote: The Quicken Spell trick for DP slots is cool, but I think 21 uses a day is more than enough (especially since 14 uses are extended, 52 rounds each), I'd go with Empower Spell instead.
Aye. Though in chronicaling the number of DP uses, I was using a theoretical figure rather than a practical one. Quite a few of those spell slots are going to be reserved for other things (Improved Invis, Battletides, Bulls, Darkfires, etc). Of course, I wanted more DPs than ever thought possible. 30+ seemed like a good start.
Quote: Also, 4 more points in Concentration and you'll be able to cast in defensive mode and automatically pass the check. If you need more Concentration for checks when getting hit I can suggest changing ESF: Taunt for ESF: Concentration. Just small tweaks, the build rocks.
That's an excellent suggestion.
Quote: Posted 10/13/06 19:51 (GMT) -- Cinnabar Din
Very nice, Grizz. Good to see another 1/2 Orc-based build to add to the collection.
Aye. If anyone is looking to make an original build, just grab a half-orc. It's a completely different landscape. I tend to stick Dev Crit in my Half-orc builds if only because I feel like I get shafted due to the double whammy on attibute scores.
Quote: *edit* Something else occurs to me: if you're in an environment where you have to drop the Dev Crit line of feats, trade them for AutoQuicken. Then you can cast all your spells as Quickened, which takes care of your Heal concerns (or any others for that matter). An especially good choice if you're playing where you can't get permahaste.
That's a great idea, Cin. Bloody brilliant. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Edited By grizzled_dwarflord on 10/13/06 21:00
Definitely high on "cool" factor, and a beautiful build: (wait, can one use the term "beautiful" and half-orc in the same sentence? sure can with this divine character - well done, Dwarflord!!
Edited By TyrTemplar on 10/13/06 23:19
Um. Wow. 5 DPs will get you through a lot of fights as it is ... you could probably take on an SC5/ED monster without using any offensive spells.
I like this build; could you possibly post a non-dev crit version for those of us on restricted PWs. Like the suggestion of autoquicken for a non-DC version. This one looks fun to play throughout as well. So many seem designed to max so late in life, this one grows well.
Nuts, read the fine print. I see the non-DV notes now.
Very fun build. Two quick questions: if you switch your classes at levels 20 and 21, do you get an extra attack? Is there a downside to taking the Barb 2 prior to the Cleric 17?
Quote: Posted 10/16/06 14:44 (GMT) -- Alporik
Very fun build. Two quick questions: if you switch your classes at levels 20 and 21, do you get an extra attack? Is there a downside to taking the Barb 2 prior to the Cleric 17?
Yes, you get an extra attack at -15 AB (total). The downside is the extra attack, since divine power gives you the extra attack at full AB.
Cheers, Kail _________________
Quote: Posted 09/25/06 11:58:10 (GMT) by xitooner
I find its better to be flexible, THINK, and know your enemy.
Very fun build. Two quick questions: if you switch your classes at levels 20 and 21, do you get an extra attack? Is there a downside to taking the Barb 2 prior to the Cleric 17?
Yes, you get an extra attack at -15 AB (total). The downside is the extra attack, since divine power gives you the extra attack at full AB.
Cheers, Kail
Yes, there's no incentive to get a 16BAB in this build. 15BAB is the magic number, as this will grant him that 4th attack at max BAB. With the sheer mass of Divine Powers he can command, he's pretty much always going to have 4 attacks per round. This will give him a BAB attack schedule of 20/15/10/20, vs. 20/15/10/5. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Quote: Posted 10/13/06 19:24 (GMT) -- Cinnabar Din
Very nice, Grizz. Good to see another 1/2 Orc-based build to add to the collection.
*edit* Something else occurs to me: if you're in an environment where you have to drop the Dev Crit line of feats, trade them for AutoQuicken. Then you can cast all your spells as Quickened, which takes care of your Heal concerns (or any others for that matter). An especially good choice if you're playing where you can't get permahaste.
The only problem with this is the Auto Quicken line of feats require Spellcraft 30, which would mandate losing another skill. Looking over the build, one could maybe drop 20 from concentration and 10 from taunt... but that might hurt playability pre-epic.
Quote: Posted 10/18/06 16:52 (GMT) -- Kalisman77
The only problem with this is the Auto Quicken line of feats require Spellcraft 30, which would mandate losing another skill. Looking over the build, one could maybe drop 20 from concentration and 10 from taunt... but that might hurt playability pre-epic.
Yes, 30 Spellcraft also means you can't take AQ I until Level 27, which is quite a delay. But in worlds where permahaste isn't available or severely in short supply, it's probably worth the wait. What I would do is drop Taunt altogether from the build and get Spellcraft up to 35, Concentration up to 25, and the remainder to go into Discipline since he ran a few short from topping it out. I'll go ahead and post what that will look like since I've been getting several PMs on how to do the build without Devcrit.
The end result is that he gets better saves (as a result of Spellcraft) and now casts everything Quickened. I still found it necessary to incorporate Concentration into the build since Quickened spells still aren't immune to normal disruptions.
The War Machine of Gruumsh ( AutoQuicken Version (non Dev Crit) )
Saves Fort: 32 (39) Will: 31 (38) Reflex: 22 (29) _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
How would this build Fair in A PVP Environment the Dev Crit Version?
Quote: Posted 08/03/08 21:28 (GMT) -- DavidMcCall
How would this build Fair in A PVP Environment the Dev Crit Version?
I think that depends on the environment. He doesn't have any Discipline, so you would be vulnerable to Disarm/Improved Disarm and Knockdowns. His AC isn't particulary high, so you depend on items, and while his SR would be high enough to fend off your weaker casters, pure or near pure casters would still take him out with some Bigby's and Ike Yikes. While he has a comfortable naked Fort save of 32, one would still want that a tad higher against other dev-critters.
So to answer your question, I don't know, but one can make a reasoned guess that works wonders in PvM isn't always the same in PvP. I never build characters to take on other characters, but it would be an intersting experiment to see how well he performs. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
And Im going to take the time and test it out in PvP and i will get back to you and let you know for sure how he does... He is pretty much Undisspellable but His Low AC might be his Down Fall and Ppl like to Spam KD on my server but i'll test it out for ya and let you know how it fends off bro
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but i'll test it out for ya and let you know how it fends off bro