Evil/Negative Clerics?

Nonnahswriter

Has anyone tried running a cleric that uses nothing but the negative/damaging spells? So... Doom, Command, Cause Moderate Wounds, Poison, and the like?

Purely for roleplaying reasons, I thought of dualling one of my charnames into a cleric and have him use the negative spells, but while looking at the spell list of a cleric, I noticed that there really isn't a lot of them, and they don't get their really powerful "evil" spells until later levels. So, just out of curiosity, is an evil cleric feasible? By evil, I don't just mean their alignment, but you restrict yourself to using nothing but spells from the negative plane. Are these spells particularly useful throughout the game, or does it just become too limiting towards the end? Thoughts?

Schneidend

Even bad guys need to summon lightsabers and buff their allies, bro.

lunar

Cause wounds spells are a tad weak, honestly. Even if you manage to hit it still does pitiful damage. Poison's save totaly negates effects so it is not reliable either. Command is nice though. In higher levels, slay living and harm are very potent. Animate Dead is powerful too.

Become a Talos priest so you can at least zap foes with electricity when all else fails. It's fairly reliable and powerful.

Nonnahswriter

@Schneidend I'm fully aware that even evil clerics can summon lightsabers and buff their allies. :P But this character wouldn't necessarily run like a normal cleric at all. Less along the lines of healing/buffing/smiting and more along the lines of debuff/undead summoning/killing build... If such a thing is possible.

@lunar Thanks for the info. So most of the really good spells aren't until higher levels, huh? Well, it's not the first time I've run a class that started really weak and turned out amazing later on. ^_^;;

Madhax

Give this sort of build a shot in Icewind Dale 2. Third edition rules provide many more offensive options to clerics, especially those of certain deities. Talos-worshippers get their electric spells like the BG2 kit, but there are many more choices in IWD2. Bane clerics, for example, get all sorts of spells like Symbol of Pain if memory serves. And for the good clerics, Lathander worshippers have all sorts of fire-based AoE moves.

Since you can't dual-class into a kit in BG2, your PC will be pretty limited in what offensive spells he'll have at his command.

the_spyder

I really kind of think that "Evil" in this context is inappropriate. What the OP is proposing is more a Damager/Debuffer. And while that is largely Evil in nature, evil is hardly a requirement.

Semantics, maybe. But I think that an Evil Cleric could use healing to make his marauders more effective, and would use Bless and Prayer to strengthen his hoards.

I guess to answer the OP's question though, I would suggest a Fighter/Cleric (or at least a Cleric with a 19 STR) who uses buffs and debuffs in equal measure. Someone who actually strikes fear in the hearts of his opponents with power from his GOD, all the while smiting them heartily with his giant Mace. In that, I'd bet that it could be done.

Alternately, turning Xzar into an evil cleric is quite viable. the Combo of Cleric and Necromancer is quite potent.

Djimmy

Command is such a great spell. Ask Viconia. Doom is also very useful.

Nonnahswriter

the_spyder said:

I really kind of think that "Evil" in this context is inappropriate. What the OP is proposing is more a Damager/Debuffer. And while that is largely Evil in nature, evil is hardly a requirement.

Agreed, though I didn't really know what else to call it other than a "negative spellcaster" and the like. Thank you for clearing that up.

I believe I still have IWD2 installed on my computer. Perhaps I will give it a try.

IkMarc

I am currently running a low level fighter/mage/cleric (ok actually a gnome fighter/conjurer/cleric, but don't tell anyone). I am now usually buffing myself with draw upon holy might, while casting doom on the opponent and it works really well (dual wielding warhammer+2 and the stupifier helps though). I hardly use healing spells at all with this build.

Gallowglass

As others have implied, I don't reckon this is a suitable plan for a pureclass cleric, because too much of the time you'd be a passenger, with little you could usefully do without breaking the self-imposed restriction.

However, as an innovative way of roleplaying a multiclass fighter/cleric, who can contribute significantly to physical combat whenever his restricted range of spells isn't helpful ... yes, I think it's an interesting plan. If you do it, let us know how it goes.

Lemernis

Sounds like an interesting concept to try out. I had a blast once playing a party consisting mostly of specialist mages who cast only their own school's spells, and it was great fun. It certainly made for some interesting battles.

The game can be about more than just maximizing characters. Especially since most veteran players can mop the floor with enemies anyway. To just tear through opponents like they were tissue paper can get old after a while. And then you start looking for creative ideas and challenges. It isn't so much 'gimping' as, okay, let me see how to get the most out of this type of character idea, build, or overall game concept. Tactical mods of course can also increase the challenge, but the player's own creativity goes a long way.