I want to go through the game with a cleric, as many have said it is the best class. So can anyone name a good cleric-build? Any pitfalls and alternatives?

A Fighter(4)/Cleric(16) is always a solid build. I can't really see any pitfalls with a Cleric, just make sure you have sufficient wisdom.

The most annoying pitfall are locks. Early in the game before certain gloves or belts come along you do not have the strength to bash open many locks or doors and have no lockpicking skills. The spells bulls strength and find traps (which disables all traps in the area) are very usefull :D

Zen archery which uses the wisdom modifiyer instead of strength is very usefull.

I left dexterity and intel at 10 with no real drawbacks. A high wisdom score is very usefull at least till about 20 points. Strength and constitution are made up for with magic items so dont waste points on them. Charisma at about 14 was the right level for me

Refer to another thread for the cheese spell deluxe which is harm. once you have that I have only met two big baddies that it would not turn into dead man walking [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img] so much so that I stopped using it unless in the most dire of situations.

Apart from Neverwinters early levels where I used Tommy (lockpicks) you can really solo with a cleric.

Enjoy

Spending just two skillpoints on Open Lock lets you open any non-complex chests and doors you'll encounter.

Or making your cleric specialise in the Knowledge Domain allows you to cast "Find Traps" which finds and disarms all traps.

ALso Knock becomes available...however, against complex locks this spell is still useless.

Any cleric can cast Find Traps. Also, spells such as Darkfire let you deal elemental damage when bashing a chest, making the unbashable, locked chests your only obstacle. That's where you'd need Open Lock, and if the lock is too complex, you can try Thieving Tools, spells like (Empowered) Cat's Grace and domain powers like that of War and Trickery, which either increase your Dexterity and thereby your Open Lock skill, or else give you a skill boost directly. It won't make you the perfect rogue equivalent, but it does get you a long way.

The Amulet of the Master improves your thieving skills as well. Along with the tools and Dexterity buffs mentioned above, a point or two cross-classed in Open Lock will take you a long way in opening doors and chests.