Cleric

From HGWiki

Cleric information on NWNWiki.

Clerics on Higher Ground generally fall into four broad categories: Caster Cleric, Battle Cleric, Turner Cleric, or Divine Slinger. The Theurge quasiclass also offers variant ways to make clerics.

Contents 1 HG Customization 2 Cleric Types 3 Spell Foci 4 Play Guide 4.1 General Buffs 4.2 Caster Cleric 4.3 Battle Cleric 4.4 Turner 5 See Also

HG Customization

• Legendary BAB: +12
• Forum Class Ability Board,

• Divine Might duration doubles to twice the charisma modifier number of rounds at cleric level 21, and triples to 3 times the charisma modifier at character level 41 if the character has 21 levels of cleric or more. If the Cleric does not belong to a quasiclass and has 21 levels in the class, they receive a 50% bonus to their charisma modifier for divine might damage.

• Divine Shield duration doubles at Cleric 21 and triples at character level 41 if the previous requirement is met. A divine damage shield is also added to the effect at level 21, inflicting damage equal to the character's CHA bonus + 1d6 on anyone swinging at the character in melee combat. The base damage also increases by 50% at character level 41, to (3/2xCHA bonus) + 1d6. It also provides 1% immunity to divine damage per point of charisma modifier, regardless of caster level. Clerics do not benefit from the Shield AC granted by Divine Shield.

• Clerics with 30 cleric levels and 35 total levels can cast a mass resurrection spell once per day, once they find a certain item.
• Divine Inspiration: Clerics, Paladins and Blackguards with at least 36 base Charisma can find the Divine Inspiration ability which allows them to use Turn Undead as a Bard Song substitute.
• Turn Undead has been significantly enhanced. Click the 'show' button below to see all the details.

Turner Changes

Turn Undead now has enhanced mechanics and enemies have a Turn Resistance (TR) value proportionate to their difficulty. A turner's turner level is equal to their cleric level. In addition, if the turner has at least 3 levels in Paladin or Blackguard, 2 less than their number of Paladin and Blackguard levels are added to the character's turner level. Further, if the character has Smite Good or Smite Evil uses remaining and the Planar Turning feat, a Smite use will be expended and the 2-level penalty for Paladin or Blackguard will not be applied. Legendary levels count as turner levels, if the control class is Cleric, Paladin or Blackguard. Turner level is further increased by certain cleric domains. Sun Domain adds +1 per 2 legendary levels for turning undead. Plant Domain adds +1 per 4 legendary levels for turning vermin. An elemental Domain (Fire, Water, Air or Earth) adds +1 per 4 legendary levels for turning elementals, if the Cleric has the Planar Turning feat. An alignment Domain (Good or Evil) adds +1 per legendary level for turning outsiders, if the Cleric has the Planar Turning feat. A turner may turn a total TR value of monsters equal to (turner level + Charisma modifier) * 3. A turner's destruction DC is equal to 10 + (Turner levels / 4) + (Cha modifier) + (2 within Medium radius or 1 within Huge radius). When rolling to turn, a turner's Turn Power (TP) is equal to their turner level. For all valid targets except constructs, if the turner's TP + d8 is greater than or equal to the target's Turn Resistance, the target will be turned. In addition, if the TP roll exceeds the target's TR by 10 or more, the target must make a Will save against the destruction DC or be destroyed. For turning constructs (requires Destruction Domain), the turner rolls TP + Spell Penetration + d20 against the construct's Spell Resistance. If successful, the construct will take 1d3 points of damage per point of TP. In addition, if the turner has the Planar Turning feat, the construct must make a Will save against the turner's destruction DC or be destroyed. Targets that are turned but not destroyed will be immobilized and unable to act. If they are damaged, they receive up to one Will save every round (against the turner's destruction DC) to free themselves. Optionally, the targets can be feared rather than immobilized, by using the !opt turnimmob SIMTools command. Characters with the Planar Turning feat may now buy the Sun, Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Destruction, Good, Evil, and Plant domains as feats in legendary levels. These will not add domain spells, but do increase the breadth of turning ability. Only characters with Blackguard levels can turn creatures of good alignment.

• Spell Changes for Clerics

• Epic Cleric Spells
• Paragon Cleric Spells

Cleric Types

See the Builds page for many examples. Preferred races for caster clerics are God-Blooded (XR), Lolth-Touched (xR), Verdant Prince (xR), Half-Celestial (BUR), Fallen Angel (UR), Kenku (Secret), Treant (UR), and Aasimar (Secret). Many other builds are possible.

• Caster Cleric: Divine Retribution, Steadfast Curate, Angel of Healing (this build also includes an evil variant). Open Subrace: Herald of Callarduran Smoothhand
  

Caster Clerics (or 'Imploders') excel at using spells like Implosion and will always maximize their WIS score to achieve the highest DC possible. Evocation, Divination, Transmutation, Necromancy and Enchantment are the most popular spell focuses, although Abjuration is also very useful at Aboleths and Elysium. Good aligned builds are usually 38 Cleric levels with 1 Paladin level (saves) and 1 Monk level (evasion and skill dump). Evil aligned clerics gain the ability to use Heartbane (Insta-kill Cornugons, Amnizu, Gelugons etc) at the cost of the Paladin level.

• Battle Cleric: Chosen of Tyr, Vicar of Tujah. Open Subrace: The Redeemed of Tyr
  

These are self-buffing STR tanks that sacrifice casting prowess for excellent melee capabilities. They most often feature a monk level (evasion and skill dump) and at least 4 levels of a tier-1 AB class (usually paladin) to get full 4 base attacks and benefits of divine power. Gate, greater Restoration and Crit Immune make them very sturdy tanks. Half-Sword Archon (xR), Pharlan (BUR) or Fallen Angel (UR) are considered good subraces for Battle Clerics. All Battle Clerics not of Half-Elf base race should consider taking the Blind Fight Feat to gain access to LSA Listen as Listen is not a class skill for Clerics.

• Turner: Kleb's Exorcist
  

Turner clerics use their Turn Undead ability to immobilize and instant kill monsters, they are a completely different build from caster or battle clerics. In this case WIS goes to 25 (the requirement to take the Planar Turning Feat) and CHA is maxed. Most Turner builds are pure with 40 Cleric levels for maximum turning ability. As far as races go anything that gives both Charisma and Wisdom is good to make a Turner with from Aasimar (Secret) up to Half-Janni (xR). It is possible to make a Turner with races that only get a bonus to one of these stats although this involves sacrifices to spell schools, etc.

• Slingers: Divine Swiftsling
  

A Slinger uses the Divine Slinger quasiclass to get special abilities with a sling. Preferred races include Furchin, Erinyes, Thri-Kreen, Gith Precursor, Half-Storm Archon and Buomman. Details of this quasiclass are noted on the Divine Slinger page.

Spell Foci

• Abjuration: This is a very useful focus for Aboleths, Elysium and the Abyss due to the DC bonus it gives to the Banishment spell. In the Hells abjuration is of limited use. The abjuration epic spell, Aegis gives all party members exotic immunities and resists. Although useful, it is of a relatively short duration.

• Conjuration: This focus has some select uses and bonuses. It can improve the power of summons, the range of Resurrection spells, and the AB of Blade Barrier. The focus also has select use in runs filled with undead that are best destroyed by causing massive damage at once via the Heal spell.

• Divination: Div is nearly a requirement on every Cleric build. Apart from maximizing damage soak of your Gate buff, divination gives the Miracle epic. Once per rest this resurrects all party members, regardless of where they are on a map. This is an excellent wipe preventing epic and is well known for getting parties out of sticky situations. The paragon spell Serendipitous Forethought can be of huge help especially during boss fights.

• Enchantment: Popular due to the epic spell it gives, Girding of the Faithful. This gives all party members +2 AC to armor and shield AC (assuming they have a shield equipped). This AC stacks (excluding Asmo shield) so is very nice defensive boost to the party.

• Evocation: This is the spell school of Implosion, so LSF:Evo is required for any caster cleric build. It is not required for battle clerics or turners. The conversion epic spell is nice for dominating enemies like Advespas, Orthons and Raks, just be careful they don't start attacking KB (machines) or splitting (tears) monsters.

• Illusion: This focus is rarely taken on clerics as it gives very little in the way of DC bonuses to useful spells. However if you take Plant Domain at character creation this school can add physical vulnerability infliction to the Creeping Doom spell. The Epic summon from the school can also be a useful (if short lived) companion for turners to take care of things they can't vaporise.

• Necromancy: This focus is becoming more Elite Magebane/Black Slaad dropping in the middle of your party.

• Transmutation: This is a very popular spell focus on Clerics due to the epic spell, Instruments of Faith. This gives all weapons wielded by party members a powerful +16 enchantment. This allows tanks to bypass damage reduction on strong enemies such as Pit Fiends and bosses, greatly increasing their damage output. The only other way this effect can be replicated is with a Warchanter or Pariah +15 (or +16 with PSF Transmutation), both are quite rare classes so Clerics nearly always take this to maximize damage output of tanks in their party.

Play Guide

General Buffs

All types of Clerics rely on similar defensive buffs to stay alive, and all have similar party buffing duties. The most important buff for yourself is Gate, which gives you the ability to soak huge amounts of damage. You will need LSF:Divination to make the best use of this. UEF is also quite important. After resting, you will always need to cast it on your party to give them bonus Dodge AC and immunity to blindness.

Other buffs include Battletide (a persistent aura that drops enemy saves), Freedom of Movement (speed increase), Healing Circle (Regen for party members). Clerics will also need Heal/Mass Heal in their spellbooks during the Hells to cure festering wounds.

Extended Greater Restorations are an important part of playing a Cleric in the Hells. They remove all layer penalties for the duration of the spell and makes staying alive and destroying enemies a lot easier. Apart from casting it on yourself to maximize your chances of killing enemies and staying alive, you should also cast it on DC reliant characters (Druids, Assassins, CS Rangers, Mages etc).

Due to your reliance on buffs, mord/breach can be very damaging to your survivability. Hence, mord/breach immunity rings are highly recommended for any area that features regular mord or breach.

Caster Cleric

The most important duty of a Caster Cleric is to instant kill enemies with Implosion and Heartbane. Certain runs (mostly level 55-60 runs) have enemies that need to imploded extremely quickly so ask your party what these are when the run is starting. Apart from maximizing your Wisdom, to make your Implosions as effective as possible you should always cast Prayer on enemies at the start of spawns as well as cast Greater Restoration and Battletide on yourself (and get close enough to enemies that it effects them). Battletide and Prayer is a Fort drop of -7 and GR removes Hell Penalties so these are a huge help. Lots of creatures that are specifically immune to Implosion are not immune to Heartbane and as this is only a level 4 spell metamagics can significantly increase the amount of castings you have per rest.

Staying alive as a caster cleric means getting flatfooted as little as possible. This is best achieved by always casting spells. Further tips on doing this, as well as a list of memorized spells can be found on the Steadfast Curate build page.

Battle Cleric

Battle Clerics are even more reliant on buffs to survive and to do great amounts of damage. Aura versus Alignment (crit immune), Gate (soak), Greater Restoration, Divine Power (increase AB), Undeath's Eternal Foe (blindness immunity and dodge AC), CC (Listen skill), Divine Favor (damage, cast extended), Divine Might (damage, radial ability) are all very important and need to remain active all the time. Short duration buffs like Gate, Greater Restoration, Divine Might and Divine Favor need to be refreshed regularly. Due to your reliance on these buffs, Breach/Mord immunity are extremely important to maintain damage output and be an effective front line tank. It is also worth considering the Blind Fight Feat to gain access to LSA Listen as Listen is not a class skill for Clerics.

Turner

Effective turning is a process of using every will save lowering effect at your party's disposal. Make sure you are buffed with Battletide, and get close enough to use it. Get a bard in the party who really knows how to curse. If someone can cast an effective Mind Fog (DC bards, Enchantment arcanes, Heralds), ask them to use it liberally, and give them Greater Restoration before they cast it to improve the DC. At the start of a spawn, you will want to turn once to immobilize as many enemies as possible. Then, position yourself as close as you can to the largest group, cast Prayer, wait for the curse, and start spamming turns. Using debuffs in this manner will greatly increase the effectiveness of your turning.

See Also

Cleric Forum