Help with drow priestess build for upcoming 100% RCR

[adventurer_class]

Hi, I have a longtime level 30 drow priestess, which I plan to RCR with the upcoming 100% RCR period. The minimum build requirements are the following:

Drow
Female
Lolth
Cleric with Caster Level 30 or higher
NE Alignment
Lolth Domains Spiders Domain
Blindfight
Extend Spell

Would the community provide feedback/optimizations on the four builds that I’m considering as linked below?

Drow Shadowy Priestess
Drow Devout Priestess
Drow Pushy Priestess
Drow Necromantic Priestess
Drow Darkfire Sneak Priestess (thanks Sun Wukong!)
Drow Darkfire Tricky Priestess (thanks Sun Wukong!)
Drow Dark Trickster Priestess (thanks Sun Wukong!)

I have plenty of gold for any epic store purchases so assume epic gear is available for the builds.

Glad to consider any other builds that meet my minimum build requirements.

[Arn]

Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about playing Clerics.

Having said that, HiPS is pretty much always a solid choice, IMO.

Dunno about the Drow Pushy Priestess build; if you want to go melee, couldn't any Cleric build basically do that with Divine Power? I guess as a matter of personal preference, straight melee strikes me as a little bland to play.

Which Cleric Necromancy spells would you use on your Necromantic Priestess build? (I am probably revealing the depths of my Cleric ignorance with that question )

Mechanics aside, which build suits her RP the most? I've been considering a different build for Mi-Le which would be mechanically superior in many ways, but would make almost zero sense for his RP. It's tempting to do it, but I don't think the RP considerations will allow for it. XD
Maybe you're in a more fortunate situation, and any of these builds would suit her RP equally.

[Tsidkenu]

From an RP perspective you might want to look into drow combat styles and build around the one you like the most.

[Darradarljod]

From an RP perspective you might want to look into drow combat styles and build around the one you like the most.

Jivvin Golhyrr

Similar in some ways to the kyorlin plynn style, the jivvin golhyrr style is a defensive style that relies on weaknesses in the enemy's performance to cause them to stumble and fall, making them more vulnerable to later attacks and emulating a position of weakness. The name means "amusing trick" and comes from the cruel drow's appreciation for placing another in the humiliating position of a slave or other subservient being. Very skilled drow like to humble their enemies before making the killing stroke, and clerics of Lolth are fond of this style for that reason. Students of the jivvin golhyrr often study the kyorlin plynn, and vice versa.

[Sun Wukong]

Hi, I have a longtime level 30 drow priestess, which I plan to RCR with the upcoming 100% RCR period. The minimum build requirements are the following:

Ah, yes, it was September right? Anyhow, since you are already at level 30 and have enough experience to get another character to level 30, I think you can consider builds that would be rather slow to level up otherwise. After all, the multiclassing experience penalty does not have an effect on the amount of experience you already have.

Drow
Female
Lolth
Cleric with Caster Level 30 or higher
NE Alignment
Spiders Domain
Blindfight
Extend Spell

Lolth's allowed domains are as follows: Destruction, Evil, Chaos, Darkness (Free Blindfight), Spider, Trickery

Thus Spider and Darkness could be your chosen domains by default.

However, the Destruction domain does come with level 5 Harm spell, which should allow you to cast Quickened Harms. Thus for a DC-leaning cleric, Destruction domain is very nice.

Evil domain is okayish. If you like the idea of turning outsiders, in addition to spiders and undead, it is a great choice on builds that have high turn undead progression.

Chaos does allow you to combine Mind Fog with Word of Faith, which again is a nice combination for a DC-leaning cleric.

Darkness gives that free blindfight feat, and few power word spells.

Spider domains allows you to summon spiders and turn spiders. Which can result in rather easy leveling in one of the Upperdark areas on a Turn Undead focused Cleric.

Finally, the Trickery Domain, which is my favourite domain. You get free feint, invisibility, among other interesting perks through the spell selection. (Thinking from the perspective of priestess of Lolth, Spidershape and Non Detection could have some interesting role-play uses.)

Would the community provide feedback/optimizations on the four builds that I’m considering as linked below?

Sure, why not.

Drow Shadowy Priestess

It should be fine as it is.

Drow Devout Priestess

It should be fine as it is.

Drow Pushy Priestess

It should be fine as it is.

Drow Necromantic Priestess

It should be fine as it is.

I have plenty of gold for any epic store purchases so assume epic gear is available for the builds.

I guess what is left for now is for you to flip coin or dice to determine which one you go for.

Glad to consider any other builds that meet my minimum build requirements.

Rogue 3/Cleric 7/Hierophant 10/Darkfire Disciple 10

Caster level:
+ 0 (Rogue)
+ 7 (Cleric)
+ 10 (Hierophant)
+ 8 (Darkfire Disciple)
+ 4 (Practised Spell Caster)
+ 3 (Hierophant Spell Power III)
= 32

The Darkfire Disciple class gets the following perks: +3d6 Sneak Attack Dice, +1d4 Fire Damage, Fear Immunity, Poison Use, and Dimension Door 3/day that allows you to cross some underdark rivers with the shortest path possible.

Thus, regardless of whether you go for a DC based build or a melee based build, you get 5d6 sneak attacks, and Fire Damage, with the potential of using Poisons on top.

Rogue also opens a rather large set of skills as class skills, from Spot to Sense Motive and Bluff, to Open Lock, Stealth, and the Use of Magical Devices. Not to mention Evasion and the obvious Expose Weakness.

In a way you could go for the Trickery Domain and get the free Feint feat, which allows you to Feint your victims to deliver that extra 5d6 damage to them. And you should not forget that you can get the sneak attack by simply flanking your enemies, which you can do with the help of some summons. For example a single summoned creature is actually enough and you could always conjure some spiders on top thanks to the Spider domain. From my own experience with a similar build: flanking is a lot easier on a wisdom based DC build thanks to Zen Archery and the fact that mobs might be unable to turn around to face you to negate the sneak attack damage. Also, if you use Spidershape on a DC based cleric, you should be able to sit at 32 unbuffed strength, with 28 unbuffed dexterity and constitution.

As for Hierophant abilities: Spell Power I, II, and III, are given. But the remaining two could go to Blast Infidel and Quicken Spell. (Especially on a Destruction domain cleric.) If you use the Hierophant special ability to pick a metamagic feat, you make way for something else with your regular feats. Such as Blindfight, or Improved Combat Expertise, or whatever else you might fancy. On a melee based build you could just drop Blast Infidel and use Hierophant to get both Extend and Quicken Spell metamagic feats.

So yeah, I would recommend Rogue 3/Cleric 7/Hierophant 10/Darkfire Disciple 10 build for you, because you can twist it to match the four builds you put out yourself. Not to mention that it might be a better fit for a priestess of Lolth than some random underground dragonslayer build.

[adventurer_class]

Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about playing Clerics.

Having said that, HiPS is pretty much always a solid choice, IMO.

The past two incarnations of my priestess had hide in plain sight, but I'm considering dropping it since it takes away more now versus back when I created the character.

Dunno about the Drow Pushy Priestess build; if you want to go melee, couldn't any Cleric build basically do that with Divine Power? I guess as a matter of personal preference, straight melee strikes me as a little bland to play.

I imagine a cleric could be built similarly for most deities.

Which Cleric Necromancy spells would you use on your Necromantic Priestess build? (I am probably revealing the depths of my Cleric ignorance with that question )

It's a situational build. Two handy spells are vampiric feast DC45 and double-damaged-quickened harm.

Mechanics aside, which build suits her RP the most? I've been considering a different build for Mi-Le which would be mechanically superior in many ways, but would make almost zero sense for his RP. It's tempting to do it, but I don't think the RP considerations will allow for it. XD
Maybe you're in a more fortunate situation, and any of these builds would suit her RP equally.

The shadowy priestess or darkfire priestess(Sun Wukong suggestion below) is probably closest. Still considering retiring the character, and starting new rp with whichever new build that I end up choosing.

[adventurer_class]

From an RP perspective you might want to look into drow combat styles and build around the one you like the most.

Yes, I am planning on this.

[adventurer_class]

Hi, I have a longtime level 30 drow priestess, which I plan to RCR with the upcoming 100% RCR period. The minimum build requirements are the following:

Ah, yes, it was September right? Anyhow, since you are already at level 30 and have enough experience to get another character to level 30, I think you can consider builds that would be rather slow to level up otherwise. After all, the multiclassing experience penalty does not have an effect on the amount of experience you already have.

Good to know!

Drow
Female
Lolth
Cleric with Caster Level 30 or higher
NE Alignment
Spiders Domain
Blindfight
Extend Spell

Lolth's allowed domains are as follows: Destruction, Evil, Chaos, Darkness (Free Blindfight), Spider, Trickery

Thus Spider and Darkness could be your chosen domains by default.

However, the Destruction domain does come with level 5 Harm spell, which should allow you to cast Quickened Harms. Thus for a DC-leaning cleric, Destruction domain is very nice.

Evil domain is okayish. If you like the idea of turning outsiders, in addition to spiders and undead, it is a great choice on builds that have high turn undead progression.

Chaos does allow you to combine Mind Fog with Word of Faith, which again is a nice combination for a DC-leaning cleric.

Darkness gives that free blindfight feat, and few power word spells.

Spider domains allows you to summon spiders and turn spiders. Which can result in rather easy leveling in one of the Upperdark areas on a Turn Undead focused Cleric.

Finally, the Trickery Domain, which is my favourite domain. You get free feint, invisibility, among other interesting perks through the spell selection. (Thinking from the perspective of priestess of Lolth, Spidershape and Non Detection could have some interesting role-play uses.)

Good to know information in regards to Lolth's domains.

Would the community provide feedback/optimizations on the four builds that I’m considering as linked below?

Sure, why not.

Drow Shadowy Priestess

It should be fine as it is.

Drow Devout Priestess

It should be fine as it is.

Drow Pushy Priestess

It should be fine as it is.

Drow Necromantic Priestess

It should be fine as it is.

Good to know.

I have plenty of gold for any epic store purchases so assume epic gear is available for the builds.

I guess what is left for now is for you to flip coin or dice to determine which one you go for.

I imagine that I have something like a month or so to decide.

Glad to consider any other builds that meet my minimum build requirements.

Rogue 3/Cleric 7/Hierophant 10/Darkfire Disciple 10

Caster level:
+ 0 (Rogue)
+ 7 (Cleric)
+ 10 (Hierophant)
+ 8 (Darkfire Disciple)
+ 4 (Practised Spell Caster)
+ 3 (Hierophant Spell Power III)
= 32

The Darkfire Disciple class gets the following perks: +3d6 Sneak Attack Dice, +1d4 Fire Damage, Fear Immunity, Poison Use, and Dimension Door 3/day that allows you to cross some underdark rivers with the shortest path possible.

Thus, regardless of whether you go for a DC based build or a melee based build, you get 5d6 sneak attacks, and Fire Damage, with the potential of using Poisons on top.

Rogue also opens a rather large set of skills as class skills, from Spot to Sense Motive and Bluff, to Open Lock, Stealth, and the Use of Magical Devices. Not to mention Evasion and the obvious Expose Weakness.

In a way you could go for the Trickery Domain and get the free Feint feat, which allows you to Feint your victims to deliver that extra 5d6 damage to them. And you should not forget that you can get the sneak attack by simply flanking your enemies, which you can do with the help of some summons. For example a single summoned creature is actually enough and you could always conjure some spiders on top thanks to the Spider domain. From my own experience with a similar build: flanking is a lot easier on a wisdom based DC build thanks to Zen Archery and the fact that mobs might be unable to turn around to face you to negate the sneak attack damage. Also, if you use Spidershape on a DC based cleric, you should be able to sit at 32 unbuffed strength, with 28 unbuffed dexterity and constitution.

As for Hierophant abilities: Spell Power I, II, and III, are given. But the remaining two could go to Blast Infidel and Quicken Spell. (Especially on a Destruction domain cleric.) If you use the Hierophant special ability to pick a metamagic feat, you make way for something else with your regular feats. Such as Blindfight, or Improved Combat Expertise, or whatever else you might fancy. On a melee based build you could just drop Blast Infidel and use Hierophant to get both Extend and Quicken Spell metamagic feats.

So yeah, I would recommend Rogue 3/Cleric 7/Hierophant 10/Darkfire Disciple 10 build for you, because you can twist it to match the four builds you put out yourself. Not to mention that it might be a better fit for a priestess of Lolth than some random underground dragonslayer build.

Thank you for the recommendation. I am going to throw a darkfire build together for comparison to the others.

[adventurer_class]

From an RP perspective you might want to look into drow combat styles and build around the one you like the most.

Jivvin Golhyrr

Similar in some ways to the kyorlin plynn style, the jivvin golhyrr style is a defensive style that relies on weaknesses in the enemy's performance to cause them to stumble and fall, making them more vulnerable to later attacks and emulating a position of weakness. The name means "amusing trick" and comes from the cruel drow's appreciation for placing another in the humiliating position of a slave or other subservient being. Very skilled drow like to humble their enemies before making the killing stroke, and clerics of Lolth are fond of this style for that reason. Students of the jivvin golhyrr often study the kyorlin plynn, and vice versa.

Wow. Nice information. Thank you!

[adventurer_class]

Here's an attempt at the Darkfire build below:

Drow Darkfire Sneak Priestess (thanks Sun Wukong!)

Updated initial post.

[Sun Wukong]

Here's an attempt at the Darkfire build below:

Drow Darkfire Sneak Priestess (thanks Sun Wukong!)

Updated initial post.

If you drop strength to 12 and dexterity to 14, you can raise intelligence to 18 which nets you +33 skill points. I think you should not raise dexterity at level 4, but spend it on strength instead. This way you could have maxed out spot skill with some extra put into other skills for flavour and you could free up an Epic feat for that lovely Vampiric Feast.

AC wise, you will need to get your hands on Mithral Chain Mail instea of a Mithral Breastplate/Scale Mail and the +4 Dexterity Bracers to retain the same level of AC. Both are sold by the Doron Amar elves. Perhaps spoils of some personal raiding trip, or request of some surfacer to carry a favour.

As for damage, your strength will be 26 instead of 28. Thus your strength based damage gets dropped by -1, as does your Northlander Hewing based damage by another -1. (12 and 8 respectively instead of 13 and 9.) Now, because you cannot wear those Arm Bands for free Power Attack it will remove the +6 damage you have listed unless you use the Greatsword with the free Power Attack feat. But honestly, I think it is a question of whether you want the +1 AC or +6 damage.

[adventurer_class]

Here's an attempt at the Darkfire build below:

Drow Darkfire Sneak Priestess (thanks Sun Wukong!)

Updated initial post.

If you drop strength to 12 and dexterity to 14, you can raise intelligence to 18 which nets you +33 skill points. I think you should not raise dexterity at level 4, but spend it on strength instead. This way you could have maxed out spot skill with some extra put into other skills for flavour and you could free up an Epic feat for that lovely Vampiric Feast.

AC wise, you will need to get your hands on Mithral Chain Mail instea of a Mithral Breastplate/Scale Mail and the +4 Dexterity Bracers to retain the same level of AC. Both are sold by the Doron Amar elves. Perhaps spoils of some personal raiding trip, or request of some surfacer to carry a favour.

As for damage, your strength will be 26 instead of 28. Thus your strength based damage gets dropped by -1, as does your Northlander Hewing based damage by another -1. (12 and 8 respectively instead of 13 and 9.) Now, because you cannot wear those Arm Bands for free Power Attack it will remove the +6 damage you have listed unless you use the Greatsword with the free Power Attack feat. But honestly, I think it is a question of whether you want the +1 AC or +6 damage.

Oh lovely! Taking the above into consideration, the next iteration of the build is below:

Drow Darkfire Tricky Priestess (thanks Sun Wukong!)

Updated initial post.

[Sun Wukong]

I would drop Luck of Heroes in favour of Northlander Hewing. Feinting to get sneak attacks does not work against enemies that are immune to critical hits, and high level opponents tend to come with their fair share of DR too.

You can use power attack and drop your AC by 7, unless you make use of shield wand. Or you could drop your AC and AB by two and get +12.5~ damage per hit on avarage with your spear. Anyhow, if you switch the longsword to maintain your AC, you are looking at following damage output:

8 (Longsword)
+ 5 (gmw)
+ 8 (str26=20+6DP)
+ 3 (Divine Favor)
+ 3 (Righteous Might)
+ 1 (Prayer)
+ 1d6 (Aura vs Alignment)
+ 3 (Align Weapon)
+ 1d4 (dark fire)
+ 8 (Northlander Hewing)
= 45~ (One Handed Damage per hit, 48 if you turn on Power Attack)

With your shield you can just tank your enemies, and Northlander Hewing penetrates DR of 20 like butter.

Now, I know your character will be level 30 from start, but I would still suggest adding Northlander Hewing because the more ways a chartacter can fight, the better they can adapt to situations. For example, what will your character do against some Lolth cursing Pale Master? You want to have the AC against their Bigbies and deal as much damage per hit as possible.

But other than that, I think your build is fine as it is.

[adventurer_class]

I would drop Luck of Heroes in favour of Northlander Hewing. Feinting to get sneak attacks does not work against enemies that are immune to critical hits, and high level opponents tend to come with their fair share of DR too.

You can use power attack and drop your AC by 7, unless you make use of shield wand. Or you could drop your AC and AB by two and get +12.5~ damage per hit on avarage with your spear. Anyhow, if you switch the longsword to maintain your AC, you are looking at following damage output:

8 (Longsword)
+ 5 (gmw)
+ 8 (str26=20+6DP)
+ 3 (Divine Favor)
+ 3 (Righteous Might)
+ 1 (Prayer)
+ 1d6 (Aura vs Alignment)
+ 3 (Align Weapon)
+ 1d4 (dark fire)
+ 8 (Northlander Hewing)
= 45~ (One Handed Damage per hit, 48 if you turn on Power Attack)

With your shield you can just tank your enemies, and Northlander Hewing penetrates DR of 20 like butter.

Now, I know your character will be level 30 from start, but I would still suggest adding Northlander Hewing because the more ways a chartacter can fight, the better they can adapt to situations. For example, what will your character do against some Lolth cursing Pale Master? You want to have the AC against their Bigbies and deal as much damage per hit as possible.

But other than that, I think your build is fine as it is.

Wonderful! Makes sense, I'll go that route with the iteration of the build below:

Drow Dark Trickster Priestess (thanks Sun Wukong!)

Updated initial post.