Re thinking the Dwarven cleric.

[BHawk]

I am back after being away for many years and I am researching what's new. So I am re-thinking some of my character's skills. Since this cleric uses mostly smite, and since she is trained in two different attack styles, I thought maybe I should change it. I am thinking about dropping the blunt weapons, but keeping the ranged, in case she hunts something other than the undead. So if I am not using a blunt weapon... maybe I should drop the shield too.

Also, I love using 208 to steal spells. But her as in casting that stolen spell is pitiful. So I would want to add spell aiming. I realize that she won't ever be strong in that. I just think it's fun.

Any advice?



(at level 40), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use.........................| 130 35
Shield Use.........................| 141 41
Combat Maneuvers.............| 10 2
Blunt Weapons...................| 141 41
Ranged Weapons................| 141 41
Physical Fitness...................| 99 23
Arcane Symbols..................| 62 13
Magic Item Use...................| 50 10
Harness Power.....................| 181 81
Spirit Mana Control...............| 120 30
Spiritual Lore - Blessings........| 35 7
Spiritual Lore - Religion..........| 40 8
Spiritual Lore - Summoning.....| 25 5
Survival.........................,,,,,..| 15 3
Perception............................| 140 40
Climbing...............................| 54 11
Swimming.............................| 50 10
First Aid................................| 140 40
Trading.................................| 50 10

Spell Lists
Major Spiritual..............| 20

Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual...............| 23

Spell Lists
Cleric............................| 40

[Vusit]

Smite works against living just not well, spell aim is helpful for 306 and 111.
What armor are you wearing?

[BHawk]

What armor are you wearing?
She was wearing brig but I got tried of the spell failures and went back to double. I am thinking about taking out the blunt weapon and putting those points into spell aiming.

Thanks for the reply.

[Vusit]

Dropping armor back to 8 for doubles, dropping blunt, CM, and shield and adding spell aim. I think will still come out with a net tp surplus, which I would recommend throwing in cleric base for the CS boost.

[BHawk]

Sounds like we have a plan. Thank you!

[Nosh]

Couple things for someone returning to the game to consider..

1. Everyone pretty much trains 1x in physical fitness for life now. Many people also do 1x for life in perception. With changes to maneuver defense systems, PF and Perception are two big factors to dodging maneuver-based attacks. I personally 1x PF and perception on every character I have.

2. I'd recommend dropping to 1x in Harness Power. You get 3 mana per train up to your level (not level +1, so I'd keep it at 40 ranks rather than 41, for example). You only get 1 mana per any extra ranks. That's a double TP cost per-rank for only 1 extra mana. This is really a personal choice, but I've found I do not need more than 1x past level 30 or so on most of my characters. Since Clerics have access to a 2 mana spell as a strong staple, I doubt you'll really hurt for the extra 40 mana on a hunt. It comes down to personal preference.

3. I' d also recommend increasing your training in lores. Focus on religion lore up to at least 30 ranks. It will give you a higher chance of infusion on 302 and 30 ranks is the requirement for intercession gems for Chrism. At 40 ranks you also get access to a cleric/paladin unique title system too (e.g. Cleric Of Diety, Priest of Diety, etc.), so you might consider that.

4. There's a new spell called Tend Lore (206) which give you a phantom 20 ranks of first aid for TENDing purposes. I can't really comment here because I don't use that spell and I don't use the TEND verb normally... but if you only have first aid to use on dead people then you might consider the implications of 206.

[BHawk]

Thank you Nosh for your advice. Oh the harness power, with 81 ranks she has 168 mana. Wouldn't she just have 120 mana if she had 40 ranks?

Okay here is where she has changed to;
(at level 40), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name ........................ Ranks
Armor Use.........................| 8
Ranged Weapons................| 41
Physical Fitness...................| 41
Magic Item Use...................| 10
Harness Power.....................| 45
Spell Aiming........................| 81
Spirit Mana Control...............| 30
Spiritual Lore - Blessings........| 10
Spiritual Lore - Religion..........| 30
Spiritual Lore - Summoning.....| 15
Survival.........................,,,,,..| 3
Perception............................| 41
Climbing...............................| 11
Swimming.............................| 10
First Aid................................| 40
Trading.................................| 10

Spell Lists
Major Spiritual..............| 22

Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual...............| 25

Spell Lists
Cleric............................| 40

[Nosh]

Stats also play a role in mana. I think it adds bonus on the mana stat at level 0, and doesn't grow as the stat grows. So 120 plus whatever your wisdom bonus was at level 0. (Info start will confirm)

edit... Wisdom bonus at 0 divided by 2.