Each Cleric build offers unique strengths and weaknesses requiring specific strategies and items.
Strategies for optimizing cleric builds integrating spells, feats, and potent equipment explored.
Comparison helps in understanding how to balance offensive and defensive capabilities.
Guide aids beginners in tactical decisions enhancing gameplay with specified cleric roles.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Build Name
Strengths
Weaknesses
High Brewmaster
Extensive spell duration through Extend Spell. Great resilience with high Con and Dwarven defenses. Versatile with both offensive and defensive capabilities due to Divine Reach. High AC with equipment such as Adamantine Full Plate and Tower Shield.
Lower hp due to class choices. Needs specific items like Heavy Mace of Disruption for full effectiveness. Average Charisma limits Turn Undead potential slightly.
Holy Shinobi
Excellent stealth abilities through Darkstalker and skills. High melee damage with combined Sneak Attack and Craven. Doubles Wisdom modifers in attacks and AC, enhancing frontline capabilities.
Requires specific feat combinations for effectiveness. Relies heavily on equipment like Bracers of Armor for defense. Vulnerable to physical or environmental traps due to lower Con.
Shadow Monarch
Generates powerful undead armies through Corpsecrafter and Leadership feats. High summoning potential with Augment Summoning. Ability to persist spells for continuous buffing in battle.
Reliant on Nightsticks for Rebuke Undead uses. Complex build requires precise management of undead and summons. Low Dex may hinder in fast-paced combat situations.
Efficient spellcasting with Battle Blessing and Sword of the Arcane Order. Superior melee capabilities with high BAB. Divine Impetus allows for multiple Swift Action spells in a single round.
Requires a large number of feats for proper build setup. Heavy reliance on equipment like Cloak of Resistance for durability. Heavy focus on spell resource management due to extensive casting.
Hellfire Hierophant
Massive spell damage output with Searing Spell bypassing immunities. Multiple defensive abilities from Mark of Nessus and buffs. Versatile spellcaster with both divine and arcane capabilities.
Low physical ability scores such as Strength and Constitution. High feat dependency for maximum blaster capabilities. Requires specific defenses to counter potential vulnerabilities.
High Brewmaster
The High Brewmaster combines Dwarven resilience with a potent mix of Cleric and Loremaster spells, fortified by Hierophant’s Divine Reach, ensuring both offense and defense versatility. With metamagic enhanced healing, this build excels in both support and frontline roles, making it a strategic powerhouse in any TTRPG group.
The strength lies in its metamagic versatility. Extended, empowered, and quickened spells allow for powerful healing and strategic combat advantages.
Lower hit points compared to dedicated frontline classes can be a vulnerability, often requiring cautious engagement without buffs.
Utilize Instant Mastery (Profession Brewer) to craft potent alcoholic brews, cleverly applying character role playing and potentially boosting party morale and temporary abilities in creative ways.
Holy Shinobi
The Holy Shinobi Cleric is a master of stealth and versatility. Combining divine magic with ninja precision, it excels in scouting, damage dealing, and support roles.
The ability to dish out massive damage via Sneak Attack and Sudden Strike stacking, along with divine spells, makes the Holy Shinobi a formidable melee and ranged threat.
Its reliance on Wisdom for multiple bonuses means that any debuffs to Wisdom can significantly weaken the Holy Shinobi’s effectiveness in combat.
Enchanting Shurikens due to their cost effective status as ammunition can provide diverse magical effects, keeping opponents guessing and giving the Holy Shinobi a tactical edge.
Shadow Monarch
The Shadow Monarch excels in commanding an army of shadows and the undead, wielding powerful necromancy through rebuke undead and augmenting summons. Its unique combination of cleric spellcasting and shadow manipulation makes it a formidable force in strategic combat.
The ability to create and control a powerful undead army provides overwhelming battlefield presence and strategic dominance.
The Shadow Monarch is vulnerable to being targeted by enemies due to its immense power, making defenses critical.
Using defensive spells and Darkstalker can make the Shadow Monarch stealthy and harder to pin down in combat.
Ruby Templar
The Ruby Templar[1] combines the martial prowess of a Bone Knight with the divine fervor of a Cleric, granting the ability to cast nearly all spells as a Swift Action. Through a complex blend of classes and feats, it enables unparalleled spell versatility and melee power.
The ability to cast any spell from both the Cleric and Sorcerer/Wizard spell lists as Swift Actions allows for incredible versatility in combat and non combat situations.
Managing the abundant amount of Swift Actions can be mentally taxing and resource heavy, relying on consumables like Nightsticks to maximize potential.
Use Divine Impetus to exploit Rebuke Undead uses for unlimited Swift Actions, transforming the battlefield with an arsenal of spells in mere moments.
Hellfire Hierophant
With an emphasis on devastating fire based attacks, the Hellfire Hierophant build combines the adaptability of Warlock invocations with the raw power of Cleric spells. It can overcome opponent defenses and take advantage of spontaneous casting because to its special blend of classes and abilities, making it a powerful destructive force.
The build’s fire attacks, which disregard immunities and reduce even fire resistant enemies to ash, are unleashed by Searing Spell and Divine Metamagic.
The build’s strong focus on damage with a fire theme may make it less successful in some situations while facing opponents with good dexterity or evasion.
Applying Violate Spell to Hellfire Blast allows you to deal damage that is almost hard to repair. When combined with Quicken Spell, it allows you to deliver quick, lethal bursts of damage during combat.
FAQ
What makes the High Brewmaster unique among cleric builds?
With strong magical assistance and long spell durations, the High Brewmaster shines. It is extremely tough and difficult to defeat due to its high constitution and dwarven defenses. Its offensive and defensive skills, made possible by Divine Reach, demonstrate its versatility. Its battlefield presence is improved by equipping it with goods like Tower Shield and Adamantine Full Plate, which increase its AC.
How does the Holy Shinobi fare in close combat?
The Holy Shinobi stands out with high melee damage, combining Sneak Attack with Craven. It doubles Wisdom modifiers for attacks and AC, giving it strong frontline capabilities. Its stealth prowess from Darkstalker aids in combat positioning. However, it relies heavily on equipment like Bracers of Armor for protection.
What role does equipment play in the Shadow Monarch build?
Equipment is critical for the Shadow Monarch, enhancing its summoning and undead control abilities. Nightsticks are vital for Rebuke Undead uses. Balancing this gear with Corpses and summons is key. It demands precise management, especially in fast paced battles. Equipment that boosts spellcasting and undead handling is extremely beneficial.
Does the Ruby Templar[1] require specific feats to function effectively?
The Ruby Templar[1] demands numerous feats for optimal performance. Battle Blessing and Sword of the Arcane Order are essential for spellcasting. Divine Impetus allows for multiple Swift Action spells in a round. It heavily relies on gear like Cloak of Resistance for durability and managing extensive spellcasting resources.
How should I strategize playing a Hellfire Hierophant in combat?
The Hellfire Hierophant focuses on massive spell damage using Searing Spell to bypass immunities. Its high feat dependence maximizes blaster capabilities. Defensive abilities like Mark of Nessus provide excellent protection. However, low physical scores mean it requires specific defenses to counter vulnerabilities in battle.
Join us at Stellar Dragons and experience the Cleric!
Consider trying out a Cleric in your next campaign and explore their potential. Which of the Cleric builds could be the best build in D&D 3.5? Discuss with fellow enthusiasts on the Stellar Dragons Discord server at Join the Stellar Dragons Discord Server!.
Writer, Editor, GM, Technologist – Andrew’s been playing TTRPGs since as far back as he can recall… at least sometime in the nineties… or was it the early 2000s?
The Templar stood alone at the gates of the besieged monastery. These foul heretics were coming in waves trying to get past him.
He had swore an oath to stand his vigil against any trespasser to this most holy site. So he stood, wave after wave breaking on his shield.
Their evil sorcerers had tried to curse him, yet his will was unflinching. Through his unwavering faith he rebuked their dark magic.
But as steadfast as he was, he was alone. The heretics were innumerable in their camp – and he would falter eventually at this rate, which would leave bare the innocents to who-knew-what evils. No, the Order would send reinforcements in time…
In a dreamlike moment, he looked beyond the valley where those evildoers had made camp. And on the horizon stood a beautiful woman, he stared warily. She was clad in somber armor, riding a pale horse. As he blinked in disbelief, she was gone.
“No time for daydreaming,” he said to himself loudly.
That’s when he noticed. The camp in the valley was oddly quiet. The waves ceased.
He went down to investigate, it was as if the mists had devoured all the heretics. The camp was still there, but they were gone. Beyond the structures, only the strong smell of roses floated in the air, and black petals laid on the ground.
Those petals were as a soft blanket which muffled the Templar’s footsteps…
A Longsword, a Heavy Steel Shield, a Holy Symbol and the best armor you can afford.
Goal
You are neither a Paladin nor a Blackguard, but you stand strongly somewhere between the two.
Loyal towards your Deity, you can shrug off effects that could end virtually anyone else. Although you can only cast a limited amount of spells, your list is surprisingly good.
Your ability to deal damage is decent, but what you really are is a battlefield controller. Between Goad, Stand Still, your Knight’s Challenges and Bulwark of Defense, you are a tank’s tank.
Leave a Reply