Huge Touch AC Cleric (3.5e Optimized Character Build)

Introduction

This optimization is intended to develop a Cleric using Touch AC provided by multi-classing with the Monk class. The goal is to harness the synergy from Wisdom providing both AC and Spellcasting prowess, along with as many beneficial features as possible while maintaining Caster Level to create the most powerful build with the greatest defensive potential and great melee prowess. Great for small parties that don't have the luxury of using 1 of their party slots on a pure tank or pure healer, but need effective healing and tanking.

References

Player's Handbook (PHB)

Player's Handbook II (PHB2)

Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG)

Complete Arcane (CA)

Complete Champion (CC)

Complete Divine (CD)

Complete Mage (CM)

Champions of Valor (CoV)

Complete Scoundrel (CS)

Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells (FC2)

Libris Mortis (LM)

Sword and Fist (SaF) - This is 3.0 material that is only referenced for a pre-made magic item, which can actually be made via the rules on page 285 of the DMG.

Game Rule Components

Spells

Divine Favor, Divine Power, and Righteous Might are musts. Having at least one high-level War Domain spell available to cast for Holy Warrior is also essential. Other than that, Domain spells such as Teleport, Time Stop, Fly, Flame Strike, etc are all fun toys. Obviously, the character is Atheist so that it can choose whichever Domains it wants, but I STRONGLY recommend the ones I've laid out. The build is also DEPENDENT on having the War Domain. Offensively, think of anything you can use that will deal damage or give Crowd Control. Defensively, look for defensive spells that will be good fits for your style of play. The beauty of this build is that it's melee oriented and it doesn't require available spells to deal damage, so it can attack indefinitely.

Items

Important: Nightstick (LM) is for Divine Metamagic so that you can maintain at least 2 persistent buffs using turn attempts for higher level spells. Very important to get this if it's allowed, but it doesn't really break the build if you can't get one. If you can get them, get as many as you can, really.

Suggestions: Bracers of Armor +8, Ring of Protection +5, Vest of Resistance +5, Periapt of Wisdom +6, Belt of Mighty Prowess +6 STR and CON (SaF), and Gloves of Dexterity +6. This build is meant to rely on Metamagic Rods for Quickening or Maximizing spells.

Special: I highly recommend making items by doubling effects on a single item, such as the Belt of Mighty Prowess or gaining both +5 Protection AC and +5 Dodge AC on your ring, using the rules found on page 285 of the DMG.

Progression

Using the point-buy method with 32 points, as shown on page 169 of the DMG (Before Racial Adjustments): STR 12, DEX 16, CON 12, INT 12, WIS 16, 8 CHA

Dwarf (Mountain):

Starting Racial Traits: Same as Dwarf race on page 14 of the PHB.

ECL	Class/HD/LA	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Feats	Class Features	Special
			Fort	Ref	Will
1st	Monk 1	+0	+2	+2	+2	Skill Focus (Knowledge Religion), Improved Grapple, Improved Unarmed Strike	AC Bonus, Flurry of Blows
2nd	Monk 2	+1	+3	+3	+3	Combat Reflexes	Evasion
3rd	Cleric 1	+1	+5	+3	+5	Power Attack, Iron Will	Turn or Rebuke Undead, Domains: Planning/War	Divine Spellcasting
4th	Cleric 2	+2	+6	+3	+6			+1 Wis
5th	Cleric 3	+3	+6	+4	+6
6th	Divine Oracle 1	+3	+6	+4	+8	Persistent Spell	Oracle Domain, Scry Bonus	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
7th	Divine Oracle 2	+4	+6	+4	+9		Prescient Sense, Trap Sense +1	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
8th	Divine Oracle 3	+4	+7	+5	+9		Divination Enhancement	+1 level of existing spellcasting class, +1 Wis
9th	Divine Oracle 4	+5	+7	+5	+10	Divine Metamagic	Uncanny Dodge (Dex bonus to AC)	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
10th	Soulguard 1	+5	+9	+5	+12		Pierce Deception
11th	Contemplative 1	+5	+9	+5	+14		Bonus Domain: Travel, Divine Health	+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
12th	Soulguard 2	+6	+10	+5	+15	Holy Warrior	Divine Rebuke, immunity to Charm	+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class, +1 Wis
13th	Soulguard 3	+7	+10	+6	+15		Dispel Evil 1/day	+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
14th	Soulguard 4	+8	+11	+6	+16		Absolution	+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
15th	Soulguard 5	+8	+11	+6	+16	Practiced Spellcaster	Immunity to Compulsion	+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
16th	Soulguard 6	+9	+12	+7	+17		Dispel Evil 2/day	+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class, +1 Wis
17th	Soulguard 7	+10	+12	+7	+17		Purging Radiance	+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
18th	Soulguard 8	+11	+13	+7	+18		Resistance Aura	+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
19th	Soulguard 9	+11	+13	+8	+18		Dispel Evil 3/day	+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
20th	Soulguard 10	+12	+14	+8	+19		Dimensional Anchor	+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class, +1 Wis

At level 20: Monk 2/Cleric 3/Divine Oracle 4/Contemplative 1/Soulguard 10

Other Components

To take the Domains I've chosen, you have to be an "Agnostic" Cleric - you worship no particular deity. This is good and bad, but it mostly just lets you pick any domains you want, as long as they don't conflict with your alignment.

Divine Oracle requires 8 ranks of Knowledge (Religion). That can be obtained by level 5 after spending 5 points in 2 Monk levels and 3 points in 3 Cleric levels.

Soulguard requires Intimidate 4 ranks, Knowledge (Religion) 9 ranks, and Knowledge (The Planes) 4 ranks. That can be obtained by spending one additional point in Knowledge (Religion) as a Divine Oracle, 8 cross-class Skill Points in Intimidate at any point, and 4 points in Knowledge (The Planes) during the 3 levels of Cleric.

Contemplative has a tricky requirement: you "must have had direct contact with... an enlightened being embodying the highest principles of an alignment (a solar, for example)." That can be accomplished by summoning, but you may have to wait. (Note: This build is Agnostic, so no patron deity.) When you take the class only matters because it's so beneficial, so the charts reflects the earliest possible level that you can take the class. If you have to wait a few levels, continue taking Soulguard.

Highlights

1. AC - With the suggested gear and racial bonuses, this build gets 27 Wis, 22 Dex, 18 Str, and 20 Con. Using the Monk AC Bonus with those stats and suggested AC gear, the AC for this build would be 10+8+5+8+6 = 37. (One could easily increase that by multiples of 5 by adding on stacking forms of AC to the Ring of Protection, say Dodge or Deflection, as described on page 285 of the DMG.) All 37 AC is Touch AC, which is so high that it is virtually impossible to hit with Touch Attacks - except for natural 20s. Adding a other types of AC on the ring, or rings, can easily get this AC total near 50, again, all Touch AC.

2. Saves are the other component that make this great, defensively. Due to the various classes used, the Base Saves are +14, +8, and +17. Add +6 from Dex to Reflex, +5 Con to Fortitude, +8 Wis and +2 Iron Will to your Will Save, and +5 to all from the Vest of Resistance and your Saves would be 24, 19, and 32 respectively. Similarly to the Ring of Protection, you can increase all saves by multiples of 5 by adding on stacking forms of Save Bonuses to the Vest of Resistance, such as Inherent or Holy, as described on page 285 of the DMG.

3. Evasion is a nice touch that prevents this build from taking much, if any, damage from AOE damage spells or similar effects that save for half damage on a Reflex save.

4. The Divine Oracle provides Uncanny Dodge, which is significant for the build. It is vitally important that this build gets Uncanny Dodge to ensure that it cannot be caught Flat-Footed because, if it were, most of the character's AC would not apply to a surprise attack. It's likely that a flanking Rogue will be 4 levels higher than your Divine Oracle level, but your full AC would still be brought to bear against the Rogue's ability to hit you if you have Uncanny Dodge. (However, Improved Uncanny Dodge is almost irrelevant due to that fact and it is not incorporated into the build for that reason.)

5. Thanks to Practiced Spellcaster, the effective caster level is equal to the character level - ie 20 Caster level at 20th character level. The character will gain access to 9th level spells by level 20.

6. Offensively, this build is intended to use Divine Metamagic and Persistent Spell (Always via turn attempts when possible) to maintain Divine Favor, Divine Power, and Righteous Might for 24 hours - among other great buffs. Because of Divine Power, there is no need to worry about BAB with this build. You'll have it exactly like a Fighter does. You get nice bonuses to Str, damage, and attack from Holy Warrior, Power Attack, Divine Favor, Divine Power, Righteous Might, etc. You have high damage potential combined with the high AC and Saves. You're essentially a tank in every sense but hit points and you're not far behind in that regard. (Plus, standard tanks with Full Plate armor will take a LOT more damage than you will tend to take from spells.) Oh, and you won't be using a shield because of the Monk AC bonus, so you'll hopefully be using a Dwarven Waraxe, two-handed for 1.5x Str bonus and a multiplier for Power Attack. (If not, Morning Stars or Maces will do.)

Munchkin-Size Me

The only way to get better as far as AC and clerical ability is to get better ability scores and more cleric levels. To increase saves, one could take 1 less level of Cleric and take a level of Ranger, or fit in more prestige classes with more than one good save, will also help saves because you'll get the +2 to at least 2 saves at level 1 of the new class.

Limitations

Until this build gains Uncanny Dodge, it is susceptible to surprise attacks, just as any Monk would be. Due to the nature of the build, the AC is able to expand without bound because you can increase your Dex and Wis as high as possible and each increase in modifier will increase the AC of the build without any limits, such as you would find on a piece of armor. Once Uncanny Dodge is gained, the character has only one limitation: no Spell Resistance.

DM Counters

This character is VERY hard to attack via Touch attacks and Saves. It does considerable melee and spell damage. If anything, the AC against high BAB enemies is probably the weakest link and it's not particularly weak. Throw Dragons or other high BAB monsters at the party to be able to hit this character and eliminate its AC advantage. Additionally, 19 Reflex save is "hittable." Try using high level spells (Or, Heightened ones) that target the reflex save of this character if you want a decent shot at doing any damage.

---

Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Optimized Character Builds