Hey,
I've started playing a cloistered cleric, and was thinking of dipping into monk; mainly for the wis boost to AC. Cloistered clerics are only proficient with light armor, so I thought going monk might be a good work around, not having access to good armor.

My ability scores are: STR:8 CON:8 DEX:10 INT:14 WIS:20 CHA:16 ;using 30 point buy, although I can still alter these

Wondering what people thoughts are on making a strong cleric/monk build, perhaps Cleric 11/Monk 1 or something... Also I saw there are feats or other prestige classes where wis modifier can be used as alternative bonus, perhaps they could be useful?

Thanks
This message had punctuation tweaked by a moderator, as it was the wrong forum, at 03:32, Tue 09 Jan 2018.

There is the Swordsage from Tome of Battles that also lets you do the same with light armour albeit at level 2. Instead of dipping only 1 level, dipping 2 levels gives you maneuvers, stances and the ability to add WIS to AC in light armour.

If you are considering monk (or even if you're doing Swordsage) consider the prestige class Sacred Fist from Complete Divine.

Essentially it advances monk and cleric together, allowing you to keep getting better at unarmed combat while keeping up your spellcasting.

Cloistered cleric in particular doesn't do well with monk, as by the very nature of how they're changed, they don't make good fighter-types. Without getting into a discussion of how monks stack up as fighter-types, there's no doubt that combining them with a class which is very anti-fighterish isn't a good combination. And those stats with no strength or con, leave you very vulnerable, and there's no way your AC is going to reach a level of where your hit points being low isn't going to be an issue.

it all boils down to one thing


is giving up 1 caster level and being a level behand when you would normally attain spells of the next level worth getting +8 (conservative number here) to AC at level 20?

swrodsage nets you 2 levels behind in terms of cleric power



If all you want is a better AC, with your low constitution I would say invest in as much miss chance as you can

Buy a smoking weapon (gives you concealment for a +1 bonus) buy a cloak of displacement, and buy a set of bracers that cast mirror image 3 times a day and your set, you can this should be available by 10th level easy enough.

In reply to zedion (msg # 1):

It boils down whether it's a really exciting idea.

I've actually done it, not just thought about how it might work. It's great TBH. I had a +13 from Wisdom, and Around a 54 AC total. My touch was like 40-something. I did go two levels, not just one, for combat reflexes and Evasion. It was great. I also had a cloak of displacement.

The only thing it this, if you want maximum casting, then you won't have it. You will never be the main caster you could be, but you won't be far from it. Consider PrCs that don't give +1 CL every level. It's like that.

I had fun with it. I could tumble in and out of casting, I had Intuitive Strike and Zen Archery. I could stun with my staff and was immune to about every element and negative energy. I was stoic that  buffed the others, except against undead, which I could dust a vampire of my level without rolling either the 20 or d6's. My job was to buff and debuff and scout. I would set off traps, and could at any time have heal when I would die. I had regeneration, AND fast healing. To top it off I had shapechange (at level 20), if I really wanted to shine them on, which I added my wis to Ac there too. 72 AC, and even MORE buffs.

It was also fun as lower level. Sure, I need help, but I stayed in pace with the, the wizard/Incantatrix/Thaumaturgist, the Paladin/Knight (though this guy was gestalt, the rest weren't), and the druid. I wasn't as powerful as the wizard, sure, but I kept her buffed so she could commit more power to other spells.

I'd say go for it. If it doesn't work, stick with it. A challenge can be fun. ;)