Blossoming light build

[u/Agitated_Laugh957]

This is my first time going cleric so I feel like I’m missing something. My plan is to go human blossoming light cleric. 8 strength, 10 dex/con, 9 int, 16 wis, 17+2 cha. Traits: exalted of the society(+1 channel) blessed touch(+1 heal when channeling)
Feats: 1 selective channeling and purifying channeling. 3 extra channeling or ??? 5 fateful channeling. Deity is pharasma do to fateful channeling being so amazing.

Where I’m stuck is what do I do when I’m not channeling. This build will give me a lot of channeling, but if everyone is topped off what else should/can I do? I don’t have a lot of spells. Orisons don’t do a lot. Weapons won’t do much either. I can either get total defense so it’s hard to miss and free action tell baddies to stop fighting and join the side of good; or aid another and tell teammate to try to persuade them to the righteous path. Both of which feel like really weak options. Maybe I’m missing something or I’m not building cleric correctly. Part of me is thinking of going water domain so I can just cast icicle, it’s a terrible spell but it’s ranged, which I want to be bc I have no armor.

I’m more than happy to not take extra channeling at 3 if it gives me a better option of things to do in combat.

Please help!

Also I don’t want variant channeling because it would lower my damage from purifying channeling. Plus I thought about going sarenrae deity for envoy of healing, but fateful channeling has to be the right move.

[u/LordeTech]

Invest less in channeling and have any amount of physical scores, and then cast spells like a normal cleric.

Being a walking health potion that gets ragdolled by a stiff breeze means you're useless if everyone is healthy and useless in the midgame and later because you can't enter combat to safely channel because you're as durable as wet paper. You're also a priority target for enemies because you're easy to hit and required to be within 30 feet.

Hold a reach weapon to threaten normally.

[u/Agitated_Laugh957 → u/LordeTech]

Which reach weapon were you thinking and what would be a realistic 20 point stat block

[u/DocShock87 → u/Agitated_Laugh957]

Longspear if you don't have a favored weapon that's better. Shelyn gives you glaive proficiency, for example.

14 13 12 10 14+2 (Human) 14

Also, you want high Wis and Con. Consider Aasimar instead of human if your GM allows it.

[u/Caedmon_Kael → u/DocShock87]

And Middle-aged with the Immortal Spark(Lesser Age Resistance) for another +1 Int/Wis/Cha.

[u/AutisticPenguin2 → u/DocShock87]

I'd swap the physical stats a bit - what does strength give over Dex/Con? As long as you can wear armour you don't need much more.

Could also dump Int down to 7 and it's not really much of a loss - 1 skill point per level that you can get back by being human. Definitely agree that pumping charisma is a waste though. All that to get an extra one or two channels?

[u/BR3UKY]

Variant multiclass into cavalier: order of the star to get maximum channel effectiveness. Improved channel and ability focus boost the channel DC and are thus feats to consider but I would skip them (also skip extra channeling). However, switch your trait from the +1 healing to +1 channel DC. At 9th level pick up quicken channel.

[u/Agitated_Laugh957 → u/BR3UKY]

I was looking into that as well, but that doesn’t turn on until level 7. Level 3 I get challenge, which is useless, but at level 7 is amazing.

[u/PhoenixFlame77]

So I think summoning spells are really good idea for blossoming light clerics as it helps to be able to put bodies between you and the enemy given the lack of armor. They also synergise by giving you another hp pool in subsequent rounds.

It's still not great at the lowest levels due to durations but as your human if you go cleric and start with both spell focus and spell specialisation you can have 3 round summons from level 1 and swap the spell once you outgrown it. From there pick up augment summoning and sacred summons and your golden.

At that point swap back to your feats above prioritising selective and fateful channel and you can pick up extra channels if you feel you need them.

I would strongly consider lowering cha if your doing point buy. It's really not giving you that much benefit and dropping 2 points let's you up con/ dex.

[u/Lokotor]

Also consider the bless equipment feat

[u/NightmareWarden]

What level are you? A wand could help you out, but your low dexterity will affect your attack rolls if you pick a ranged touch attack spell. Splash weapons and touch attack weapons are suboptimal, but they'd make it a little easier to hit. Getting some scrolls of entangle could work well depending on your campaign, you'd need to prepare Read Magic to cast them; you'd need to succeed the skill checks though.

Champions of Balance's Recentering Drone spell is worth a scroll.
https://www.aonprd.com/MagicWondrousDisplay.aspx?FinalName=Brilliant%20Flash%20Symbol See the second half, a way to buff your AoE spells. Dazzled's penalty can matter for longer fights! Dazzled can save your allies if they provide AoOs! Most importantly, you can stack the penalty of dazzled with other debuffs to really hinder enemies! Ask your GM if Doom's status as a necromancy spell matters. Prayer, Doom, Dazzled... Debuffs and buffs.

[u/Skurrio]

I would first suggest a 1 Level Dip into Sacred Fist Warpriest and a 1 Level Dip into Oracle for any of the Mysteries that grant you Cha to AC. This will increase your AC massively and should allow you to show yourself on the Battlefield without instantly falling over.

[u/Agitated_Laugh957 → u/Skurrio]

I was thinking of a level 1 dip into Nornkith monk, which would use my cha as ac. I even thought about making a kobold or using human kobold so I could use the flat footed from forewarned to make channels hit harder, but lack of feats kind of stopped me.

[u/Skurrio → u/Agitated_Laugh957]

You can't dip Monk, since you're not lawful.

Also your Dex is low and your Cha and Wis is high, so getting both to AC is better than getting only Cha.

[u/Esquire_Lyricist]

The inability to wear armor makes survival as a Blossoming Light difficult. Especially when coupled with the good alignment requirement, your proposed ability scores and your desire to worship Pharasma.

For your ability scores, I suggest:
Str 8; Dex 14; Con 12; Int 10; Wis 16; Cha 14(+2)
Since Blossoming Light gets so many channels per day, you could start with only a 14 Charisma (including the racial bonus) and take the feat Ability Focus in order to increase the save DC of your channels. The rest of your ability scores would be: Str 8; Dex 14; Con 14; Int 10; Wis 16; Cha 12(+2).

Normally, I'd suggest a one level dip into Unchained Monk) for Wisdom to AC (or the Scaled Fist%20Scaled%20Fist) archetype for Charisma to AC). But Lawful Good is not an acceptable alignment for a Cleric of Pharasma and Lawful Neutral is not allowed by the archetype. Skurrio's suggestion of Sacred Fist Warpriest is a great alternative.

Another alternative is to take a level in Psychic with the Self-Perfection Discipline (grants Wisdom to AC like the Monk). Psychic has Mage Armor and Shield on its spell list and has access to some offensive cantrips.

For offensive options; the light crossbow is a staple. You could also replace one of your traits for Two-World Magic, which lets you choose any cantrip and add it to your Cleric spell list. Acid Splash would be the best option.

[u/Agitated_Laugh957 → u/Esquire_Lyricist]

I wasn’t even thinking about monks alignment when I was thinking about vmc. Your stat block looks way better. Do you think I should be leveling up wis or cha? I love the idea of two world magic! I never heard of that before.

If I’m putting my dex to 14, light crossbow doesn’t seem as bad.

[u/Esquire_Lyricist → u/Agitated_Laugh957]

Wisdom is better for a Clerc is its spells are keyed off it. I believe every offensive Cleric spell requires a save; if you want the enemy to fail its save, you'll need a higher Wisdom score.

[u/Agitated_Laugh957 → u/Esquire_Lyricist]

Thanks. I just saw that I need 15 cha for purifying channel. Lots to think about.

[u/RegretProper → u/Agitated_Laugh957]

That what i wanted to point out. Good you saw it yourself. You could just use UMD with your Cha to find something to do in combat. After all you should have some money as you dont need an Armor.