Another character idea... this one more viable :)

[V'rass]

Going to build what I call an Inquisitor. For those who never played everquest 2 an inquisitor is basically a melee cleric who relies on martial might to defeat his foes but has powerful healing and warding magic which he can use to aid him. At the same time this cleric build makes heavy use of debuffs and disabling spells to wreak havoc on enemies before wading in and crushing their skulls with his mace. Uber high ac means he rarely ever gets hit and high hp means he can take a lot of punishment before dying. Used this build on nwn 1 and was almost invincible. Hopefully it will work here too.

PS: If this post does not go in tips and tricks I apologize.

[chad878262]

Clerics are very powerful and many build them for melee. Get divine might, divine shield and edm. Extended divine power ftw.

However, trying to build for both dc (to blast/dubuf) and for melee isn't really possible. If you want to be a caster you need to focus everything into wisdom and feats to improve dc. You can't do this and also get strength/charisma high enough for epic divine might.

[Thorsson]

Clerics are powerful, but Favored Souls are powerfuller. But then you can forget spell DC.

You can certainly make a DC Cleric that's still OK melee-wise, but it won't have EDM. Fact is though, that you don't need more than 16Wis for melee, but for DC you want Wis 30...

[Karond]

Not altogether easy, but this is a working suggestion: http://nwn2db.com/build/?223910

It has the FS essentials of Expose Weakness and Epic Divine Might, so it's a good damage dealer. In addition, it has epic mass heal and the normal divine spells for healing to provide that "powerful healing" trip, but also automatic silent 0-6 for all your buffing spells. This is to use a summon, cast silence on him (almost always a success even with your low DC, or always a success on a fellow melee party member), then enter melee. This will create a zone of silence around the summon/party member, which when near a caster, shuts down spellcasting. Well, except for yours.

This works in a similar way if another character casts silence on you...it makes you into a force to be reckoned with against spellcasters. The first feat is left open, it's actually improved counterspelling. Now, divines don't make fantastic counterspellers because they lack mordekainen, but it will shut down some key spells. With improved counterspelling all you need is a spell of the same school but one level higher to automatically succeed.

Since favored souls can cast any spell on the fly, you can also counterspell on the fly. Favored souls get too many spells, so some sly pickings will make you really good. Like, some of the most used arcane PvP spells are lesser breach and bigby6 (quickened). As long as you've picked lesser mantle (against breach) and word of faith (against bigby6), you can automatically counter them since they're of the same school but one level higher. Ethereal jaunt is a great pick too, that makes sure people and monsters can't start combat by hiding from your fury, and enables you to get away in a pinch.

Why the quicken spell? Well, to cast lots of silence around of course, and enable extremely fast buffing if need be (like, after getting dispelled). Remember, you're almost immune to silence, so extend and quicken them all around you. When cast on the ground, there is no save, and the area of effect is a bit bigger than the cursor will show you.


What are the downfalls?

Sadly, you kinda need a water domain deity, or else forego epic mass heal (by picking evasion class 3 levels, cleric 3 levels, 24 favored soul). Silvanus is cooler, but you get weapon feats for warmace that way which isn't ideal since you've no twohanded weapon feats. Istishia however is perfect. Warhammer is one of the best weapons there is for a favored soul, with their ability to get keen on it for free. Another option is getting auto silent 0-9 instead of epic mass heal (which isn't super good atm). You won't get too many skills either, just enough UMD for wands with a +2 item or heroism and the typical spellcraft/concentration combo you need.

All in all, it's very solid, still super strong, and quite different from the other run of the mill favored souls out there. You may have a point or two lower AC, and do 1-2 less damage on -1 AB compared to them, but you've all the other aces up your sleeve as described above.

Let the build serve as an inspiration

[Tsidkenu]

Karond, I though silence was bugged and still forces a saving throw when cast on self or an ally/summon? As a ground aoe I know it does not allow a save, though.

[Karond]

Karond, I though silence was bugged and still forces a saving throw when cast on self or an ally/summon? As a ground aoe I know it does not allow a save, though.

Self? Not possible. Summon? Save, but elder elementals have a will save of 4 (earth, fire) or 8 (water, air). The DC is 17 (10+2 owl+2 lvl +3 CL). Party member? No save afaik.

[V'rass]

Goal is to have a cleric who is decent with both spells and melee. I don't necessarily need the maximum of either so long as they work most of the time. It should still be effective in pve, usually when pvp occurs there is no time to buff or debuff so spell dcs are redundant for the most part. Taking the prodigy feat will however help offset the dc loss, and when fully pimped out with wis bonus items I should be at least in the mid 20s, not the greatest but not weak either. As for melee, power attack, cleave, and knockdown will let me do craploads of damage. Not sure yet whether taking imp knockdown, great cleave, or imp power attack are worth the feats as some players swear they are mandatory while others say that for a cleric they are not needed and are a waste of feats. Also may take expertise to boost my ac if needed.

[Thorsson]

Normally if you want to be a Cleric who can PvP with Arcane Casters, then you really want to be an FS with Quickened Spell.

If you're only after PvM then almost whatever you do, once you're buffed up, melee will be fine. However there is another possibility - Zen Archery. For example, if you don't mind being a follower of Talos then Cleric/Monk/Stormlord can do insane amounts of damage with flurried shurikens, Stormlord bonuses and Flaming Aura...