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-Future Guild Presents: The Official Standby For Heals DPS PVE DC Build!-
willfoot
Member Posts: 1 Arc User
Greetings, Neverwinter! I hope you've had fun adventuring away and getting your epic gears! I'm Will, aka "@willfoot," aka, "Standby for Heals," The loud-mouthed DC that always seems to have an opinion. Whether I've fussed at you or sang your praises to the Zones, a lot of you know me (or the guild I'm a part of.)
That being said, I've been requested many many times by too many players to post my "DPS DC" build onto the official forums. They've been on a popular social networking site since Feywild was released, and I've slowly tweaked and twerked various stats to get more bang for my Cleric buck. Some have taken the build and made some AMAZING variations of it, and I tip my hat humbly to those who dared to try something different.
And so, I provide directly to this community, who has entertained me greatly for many months, the chance to, "Dare to be different!" I provide to you, the "Shotguns FOR THE LORD (Amen)" build!
DISCLAIMER: You will see trains of logic that will not make sense, initially. For instance, this build does not use Recovery as a priority stat. This is unheard of with this class, and it considered controversial. However, if you choose to try this build, feel free to sacrifice some stats to get a higher Recovery.
Phase 1: Explanation
To begin, I must explain what I mean by a "DPS DC" build. When I began designing this build, my goal was to create the most efficient support character that would not have to rely so heavily on healing in order to keep a party going during dungeon runs - or skirmishes/lairs - while trying to prevent burning the player out on a singular role. (Healing)
A "DPS DC" is simply a glorified debuff/buff specialist. The extra damage that this build generates is more a byproduct from party-wide buffs and mass enemy debuffs than selfish "pew pew I DPS LOL" damage. With this build, you're still fulfilling the role of a support-class, but you're given more flexibility on how you want to perform this role while also amplifying the overall damage output of the entire party via higher critical strike chances. And it's a lot of fun to play.
Phase 2: Elaboration
So how does this build work exactly? It's a pretty simple principal - your primary purpose will be to strip the enemy of all possible defense while your party tears apart your target(s). When utilized correctly, you will offer at least 20% higher damage output to every member of your party, regardless of their gear or skill rotations while raising your own by 40-45%, regardless of who/what is in your party.
Also, this is a very cheap build, AD wise and is easy to begin building. It may be the cheapest DC build to start, actually. With the right guild, you can farm your beginner gear within a day or so. It is also one of the best solo builds for Clerics currently available.
So how does all this buff/debuff madness work, anyway? By combining Class Features, Encounters, Dailies, and At-Will powers, you will progressively destroy your enemy group while still sustaining your own HP comfortably. In other words, the longer you focus on an enemy, the less its defense becomes - and the higher your crit chance becomes.
Phase 3: Character Stats
Firstly, I must offer a slight disclaimer. I have only tested this build with one race (Dwarf), but I have considered that other races could offer a higher benefit. For instance, because of the Half-Orc's passive ability to raise its critical severity, it may become a better choice for players who want to see higher "Earthy Colored Numbers" in their crits. I chose Dwarf, however, simply because they look pretty cool in Tiered Armor.
This build also relies heavily on Strength. As you may or may not know, Strength increases the chance of a Cleric's Critical Strikes, so while making your character - please take this into consideration.
My Attributes are as follows along with their explanation.
Strength: 21 - Higher Strength means higher crit rates.
Intelligence: 12 - This increases Recharge speed - If you're an encounter spammer, raise this some.
Constitution: 12 - This increases Max HP - Optional to boost but a little extra HP always helps.
Dexterity: 12 - This raises your Deflection Chance as well as AoE resistance. Optional to boost.
Wisdom: 24 - This raises Dmg, Healing, Control Resistance and Control Bonus. Raise as much as possible.
Charisma: 17 - This raises your Action Point gain, Companion Stats, and Recharge Speed. Optional but very handy.
In terms of stats, you're going to want to specialize in Power. Power is the bread-and-butter of this build, particularly when mixed with Critical Strike and/or Armor Penetration. More on that further down as I start speaking about gear.
Phase 4: Powers
Clerics have to be versatile. As such, we have been provided with a great amount of powers that compound this versatility. Our main crutch is how to generate Divine Power to fuel our encounters. What is listed below is my current powers and what remains equipped in what situation.
Solo Play:
Divine Glow: This should be your opener on a group of mobs. It's an AoE defense debuff. If you use it while "Tabbed," You'll also get a spiffy increase to your offense. However it's recommended that you use it "untabbed," because it's a wonderful generator of Divine Power (You'll get a little over half-a-pip per cast).
Chains of Blazing Light: Since you're going to be healing via pots during solo play, you're going to need some sort of CC. Chains is perfect for this role. While "Tabbed," it does a little extra damage and holds the target(s) in place for an extra second or two. Recommended to use it "Untabbed," because it also is a wonderful Divine Power generator (You'll get nearly a full pip per cast.)
Daunting Light: This is what you save your Divine Power for. This encounter, once you have fully debuffed your enemy, will begin critting for massive amounts of damage. This encounter should be equipped at all times.
Lance of Faith: It does a pretty good amount of damage and generates a good amount of Divine Power per hit. It's slow, but effective in solo play.
Astral Seal: This will be your alternative to using pots. If you have a DC, you know how it works already, so there's no use in explaining it.
Holy Fervor: Self explanatory. It makes you generate Action Points faster. It's a trigger for your Hammer.
Terrifying Insight: A priority. This adds to your damage as you debuff enemies. With your AoEs like [COLOR="#FF8C00]Chains[/COLOR] and [COLOR="#FF8C00]Daunting Light[/COLOR], you'll be compounding your debuffs with extra damage all at once.
Hammer of Faith:You will be spamming this Daily as soon as your main enemy is fully debuffed.
Hallowed Ground/Armor of Faith: Useful during boss fights. It debuffs on a huge AoE while boosting your own Attack. It's not as much of a debuff as a "Tabbed" Divine Glow, but stacking this along with that encounter will give you a nice boost.
Party Play
Forgemaster's Flame This will be your primary healing tool. When used while "Tabbed," You'll offer the party a healthy heal over time effect while debuffing a single enemies' defense. Try to use this on the main target if possible, or a monster near the party that has a lot of HP left.
Daunting Light Again, you'll spam this "Tabbed" as fast as you can. Fully buffed, you'll be doing the same amount of damage as most ungeared Control Wizards.
Searing Light I know what you're thinking already, "....SEARING LIGHT?!?! DAFUQ, WILL?!" Yes, Searing Light is HIGHLY recommended while in parties; particularly if there is a control wizard in the party. While "Untabbed," this skill will generate nearly a full pip of Divine Power. If used while "Tabbed," it will target one monster, then hit any monster in a straight line behind it. However, it will also perform splash damage to any monster near whatever was inside that line! This splash damage does not have a limit on how many monsters it will hit. If you are equipped with a Terror enchant or a Plague Fire, you could potentially nerf the defense to EVERY MONSTER IN THE ROOM YOU ARE IN! That means you could strip 10+% of defense to 25, 30, or even 50 monsters at once!
Astral Seal: This is common sense. If you're in a party, you have to spam this on every mob the party is attacking. This generates HP for them, and with the right equipment (see below), you'll also be nerfing defense.
Sacred Flame: You'll want to use this for three reasons. One, it's quicker than Lance of Faith. Next, it generates Divine Power faster; something you'll definitely need in dungeons. Finally, it generates temporary HP, which will come in handy with the right feats.
Terrifying Insight: Again, this should be equipped at all times. Extra damage is extra damage, and though this is a fairly selfish Class Feature; the fact that monsters will be dying faster will make your healing a little easier.
Healing Lore: You'll want to use this for two reasons. Firstly, you'll get a Feat that will raise your attack during critical heals (which the "Tabbed" Forgemaster's Flame does a LOT!). Secondly, your overall heals will be higher, making you more viable in "party mode."
Hammer of Faith:You will be spamming this Daily as soon as your main enemy is fully debuffed.
Hallowed Ground/Armor of Faith: Useful during boss fights. It debuffs on a huge AoE while boosting your own Attack. It's not as much of a debuff as a "Tabbed" Divine Glow, but stacking this along with that encounter will give you a nice boost.
Phase 5: Feats
This is the meat of the build. With the right gear and the right Encounter Rotation, you'll be really hard pressed to find someone matching your Gear Score that will be able to outdamage you in dungeons. Please note the lack of using the "Locked" feats. This was intentional, as this build will work for both Divine Oracles and Anointed Champions
http://nwcalc.com/dc?b=pa7:1dxy5s:1y1jnk,13l3x00:15u551:1uu000:100000&h=0&p=dvo
I'll explain the reason for each Feat at a later time (because time is something I'm running out of IRL, currently.
) Most of them are self explanatory, and a pretty basic Feat build.
Phase 6: GEAR!
Remember when I said that this was a cheap build to make? Well, all you do is farm the Tier-1 Dungeons until you have a full High Prophet set http://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/High_Prophet. Once you have a full set, you will receive a passive Defense Debuff to anything you hit. When you compound this with a weapon enchantment such as a Terror or a Plague Fire, you will be stacking a 20% defense debuff to anything you hit. Stack these two with Divine Glow, and then unleash your Daunting Lights or Searing Light to unleash a debuff to everything in the room. I promise, if you have this set, you will see a lot of Critical Hits, as will your entire party.
Once you have that set, you are free to farm any Tier-2 dungeon with ease. Using the High Prophet set, I've managed to grab a full Beacons of Faith set as well as a Grand Templar set. I've also farmed most of the Iliyanbruen Set as well, as this build is wonderful to play inside of Malabog's Castle.
Your goal for your Weapon Enchant should be the Plague Fire (or a Vorpal if you're rich and are feeling greedy.) If you're just starting the build, a Terror will do just as fine. Regardless, the defense debuff is instrumental to the success of your massive amounts of Crit Strikes.
For your Armor; you have a choice between a Negation Enchant or a Soul Forged. You're going to be squishy, and you will be one-shot in dungeons. Both offer good benefits.
So there you go! That's the basics of this build! We at Future have spent a lot of time experimenting with the stats and encounters, and we believe that this was the best balance. As I have more time, I'll elaborate more and more on this build, as well as answer any questions you may have about this build.
Lastly but not leastly; beware. This is NOT a pvp build, and you WILL get smeared around by Great Weapon Fighters and Hunter Rangers if you are not cautious. This is also a very squishy build, so taking hits can become a hazard to you as both a healer and a debuffer.
Thanks for reading, Neverwinter! Hope to see you in game soon!
With Fond Regards,
Will (Standby For Heals)
That being said, I've been requested many many times by too many players to post my "DPS DC" build onto the official forums. They've been on a popular social networking site since Feywild was released, and I've slowly tweaked and twerked various stats to get more bang for my Cleric buck. Some have taken the build and made some AMAZING variations of it, and I tip my hat humbly to those who dared to try something different.
And so, I provide directly to this community, who has entertained me greatly for many months, the chance to, "Dare to be different!" I provide to you, the "Shotguns FOR THE LORD (Amen)" build!
DISCLAIMER: You will see trains of logic that will not make sense, initially. For instance, this build does not use Recovery as a priority stat. This is unheard of with this class, and it considered controversial. However, if you choose to try this build, feel free to sacrifice some stats to get a higher Recovery.
Phase 1: Explanation
To begin, I must explain what I mean by a "DPS DC" build. When I began designing this build, my goal was to create the most efficient support character that would not have to rely so heavily on healing in order to keep a party going during dungeon runs - or skirmishes/lairs - while trying to prevent burning the player out on a singular role. (Healing)
A "DPS DC" is simply a glorified debuff/buff specialist. The extra damage that this build generates is more a byproduct from party-wide buffs and mass enemy debuffs than selfish "pew pew I DPS LOL" damage. With this build, you're still fulfilling the role of a support-class, but you're given more flexibility on how you want to perform this role while also amplifying the overall damage output of the entire party via higher critical strike chances. And it's a lot of fun to play.
Phase 2: Elaboration
So how does this build work exactly? It's a pretty simple principal - your primary purpose will be to strip the enemy of all possible defense while your party tears apart your target(s). When utilized correctly, you will offer at least 20% higher damage output to every member of your party, regardless of their gear or skill rotations while raising your own by 40-45%, regardless of who/what is in your party.
Also, this is a very cheap build, AD wise and is easy to begin building. It may be the cheapest DC build to start, actually. With the right guild, you can farm your beginner gear within a day or so. It is also one of the best solo builds for Clerics currently available.
So how does all this buff/debuff madness work, anyway? By combining Class Features, Encounters, Dailies, and At-Will powers, you will progressively destroy your enemy group while still sustaining your own HP comfortably. In other words, the longer you focus on an enemy, the less its defense becomes - and the higher your crit chance becomes.
Phase 3: Character Stats
Firstly, I must offer a slight disclaimer. I have only tested this build with one race (Dwarf), but I have considered that other races could offer a higher benefit. For instance, because of the Half-Orc's passive ability to raise its critical severity, it may become a better choice for players who want to see higher "Earthy Colored Numbers" in their crits. I chose Dwarf, however, simply because they look pretty cool in Tiered Armor.
This build also relies heavily on Strength. As you may or may not know, Strength increases the chance of a Cleric's Critical Strikes, so while making your character - please take this into consideration.
My Attributes are as follows along with their explanation.
Strength: 21 - Higher Strength means higher crit rates.
Intelligence: 12 - This increases Recharge speed - If you're an encounter spammer, raise this some.
Constitution: 12 - This increases Max HP - Optional to boost but a little extra HP always helps.
Dexterity: 12 - This raises your Deflection Chance as well as AoE resistance. Optional to boost.
Wisdom: 24 - This raises Dmg, Healing, Control Resistance and Control Bonus. Raise as much as possible.
Charisma: 17 - This raises your Action Point gain, Companion Stats, and Recharge Speed. Optional but very handy.
In terms of stats, you're going to want to specialize in Power. Power is the bread-and-butter of this build, particularly when mixed with Critical Strike and/or Armor Penetration. More on that further down as I start speaking about gear.
Phase 4: Powers
Clerics have to be versatile. As such, we have been provided with a great amount of powers that compound this versatility. Our main crutch is how to generate Divine Power to fuel our encounters. What is listed below is my current powers and what remains equipped in what situation.
Solo Play:
Divine Glow: This should be your opener on a group of mobs. It's an AoE defense debuff. If you use it while "Tabbed," You'll also get a spiffy increase to your offense. However it's recommended that you use it "untabbed," because it's a wonderful generator of Divine Power (You'll get a little over half-a-pip per cast).
Chains of Blazing Light: Since you're going to be healing via pots during solo play, you're going to need some sort of CC. Chains is perfect for this role. While "Tabbed," it does a little extra damage and holds the target(s) in place for an extra second or two. Recommended to use it "Untabbed," because it also is a wonderful Divine Power generator (You'll get nearly a full pip per cast.)
Daunting Light: This is what you save your Divine Power for. This encounter, once you have fully debuffed your enemy, will begin critting for massive amounts of damage. This encounter should be equipped at all times.
Lance of Faith: It does a pretty good amount of damage and generates a good amount of Divine Power per hit. It's slow, but effective in solo play.
Astral Seal: This will be your alternative to using pots. If you have a DC, you know how it works already, so there's no use in explaining it.
Holy Fervor: Self explanatory. It makes you generate Action Points faster. It's a trigger for your Hammer.
Terrifying Insight: A priority. This adds to your damage as you debuff enemies. With your AoEs like [COLOR="#FF8C00]Chains[/COLOR] and [COLOR="#FF8C00]Daunting Light[/COLOR], you'll be compounding your debuffs with extra damage all at once.
Hammer of Faith:You will be spamming this Daily as soon as your main enemy is fully debuffed.
Hallowed Ground/Armor of Faith: Useful during boss fights. It debuffs on a huge AoE while boosting your own Attack. It's not as much of a debuff as a "Tabbed" Divine Glow, but stacking this along with that encounter will give you a nice boost.
Party Play
Forgemaster's Flame This will be your primary healing tool. When used while "Tabbed," You'll offer the party a healthy heal over time effect while debuffing a single enemies' defense. Try to use this on the main target if possible, or a monster near the party that has a lot of HP left.
Daunting Light Again, you'll spam this "Tabbed" as fast as you can. Fully buffed, you'll be doing the same amount of damage as most ungeared Control Wizards.
Searing Light I know what you're thinking already, "....SEARING LIGHT?!?! DAFUQ, WILL?!" Yes, Searing Light is HIGHLY recommended while in parties; particularly if there is a control wizard in the party. While "Untabbed," this skill will generate nearly a full pip of Divine Power. If used while "Tabbed," it will target one monster, then hit any monster in a straight line behind it. However, it will also perform splash damage to any monster near whatever was inside that line! This splash damage does not have a limit on how many monsters it will hit. If you are equipped with a Terror enchant or a Plague Fire, you could potentially nerf the defense to EVERY MONSTER IN THE ROOM YOU ARE IN! That means you could strip 10+% of defense to 25, 30, or even 50 monsters at once!
Astral Seal: This is common sense. If you're in a party, you have to spam this on every mob the party is attacking. This generates HP for them, and with the right equipment (see below), you'll also be nerfing defense.
Sacred Flame: You'll want to use this for three reasons. One, it's quicker than Lance of Faith. Next, it generates Divine Power faster; something you'll definitely need in dungeons. Finally, it generates temporary HP, which will come in handy with the right feats.
Terrifying Insight: Again, this should be equipped at all times. Extra damage is extra damage, and though this is a fairly selfish Class Feature; the fact that monsters will be dying faster will make your healing a little easier.
Healing Lore: You'll want to use this for two reasons. Firstly, you'll get a Feat that will raise your attack during critical heals (which the "Tabbed" Forgemaster's Flame does a LOT!). Secondly, your overall heals will be higher, making you more viable in "party mode."
Hammer of Faith:You will be spamming this Daily as soon as your main enemy is fully debuffed.
Hallowed Ground/Armor of Faith: Useful during boss fights. It debuffs on a huge AoE while boosting your own Attack. It's not as much of a debuff as a "Tabbed" Divine Glow, but stacking this along with that encounter will give you a nice boost.
Phase 5: Feats
This is the meat of the build. With the right gear and the right Encounter Rotation, you'll be really hard pressed to find someone matching your Gear Score that will be able to outdamage you in dungeons. Please note the lack of using the "Locked" feats. This was intentional, as this build will work for both Divine Oracles and Anointed Champions
http://nwcalc.com/dc?b=pa7:1dxy5s:1y1jnk,13l3x00:15u551:1uu000:100000&h=0&p=dvo
I'll explain the reason for each Feat at a later time (because time is something I'm running out of IRL, currently.
) Most of them are self explanatory, and a pretty basic Feat build.Phase 6: GEAR!
Remember when I said that this was a cheap build to make? Well, all you do is farm the Tier-1 Dungeons until you have a full High Prophet set http://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/High_Prophet. Once you have a full set, you will receive a passive Defense Debuff to anything you hit. When you compound this with a weapon enchantment such as a Terror or a Plague Fire, you will be stacking a 20% defense debuff to anything you hit. Stack these two with Divine Glow, and then unleash your Daunting Lights or Searing Light to unleash a debuff to everything in the room. I promise, if you have this set, you will see a lot of Critical Hits, as will your entire party.
Once you have that set, you are free to farm any Tier-2 dungeon with ease. Using the High Prophet set, I've managed to grab a full Beacons of Faith set as well as a Grand Templar set. I've also farmed most of the Iliyanbruen Set as well, as this build is wonderful to play inside of Malabog's Castle.
Your goal for your Weapon Enchant should be the Plague Fire (or a Vorpal if you're rich and are feeling greedy.) If you're just starting the build, a Terror will do just as fine. Regardless, the defense debuff is instrumental to the success of your massive amounts of Crit Strikes.
For your Armor; you have a choice between a Negation Enchant or a Soul Forged. You're going to be squishy, and you will be one-shot in dungeons. Both offer good benefits.
So there you go! That's the basics of this build! We at Future have spent a lot of time experimenting with the stats and encounters, and we believe that this was the best balance. As I have more time, I'll elaborate more and more on this build, as well as answer any questions you may have about this build.
Lastly but not leastly; beware. This is NOT a pvp build, and you WILL get smeared around by Great Weapon Fighters and Hunter Rangers if you are not cautious. This is also a very squishy build, so taking hits can become a hazard to you as both a healer and a debuffer.
Thanks for reading, Neverwinter! Hope to see you in game soon!
With Fond Regards,
Will (Standby For Heals)
Post edited by willfoot on
0
Comments
I like your guide, can I add it to mmominds.com???
The synergry between the feats you've picked and the spells you use is atrocious, you've gotta have at leas 20 points of wasted feats that are doing on the verge of nothing for you
Of course! I'll be adding more information about the build, as well as some videos really soon. So keep checking up on it.
- Initiate of the Faith is bad.
- Restoration Mastery is bad.
- Lack of Foresight and its associated feat is highly questionable.
- Guardian of Faith doesn't deserve 3 ranks unless you really love it for some reason. It's a short, single-target prone with blah damage and blah AoE healing.
- Searing Light only lives up to its potential when tossed into the middle of a Singularity or some other situation where the targets are very tightly packed. The damage is otherwise rather poor. The idea of using it to apply PF stacks or Terror to a large number of enemies would be a good one except that any stacks applied will drop off in moments since you aren't going to be able to follow up with additional uncapped or high cap attacks to keep them there.
- Soothe is bad.
- If your aim is to provide additional debuff stacking, and if you aren't going to run Astral Shield, why not ditch Forgemaster's and slot Sunburst instead? At least it will give you another AoE attack with significant heal (after you factor in all the heals it procs from Repurpose Soul in addition to its base heal). Plague Fire and High Prophet stacks are difficult to maximize unless you are using as much AoE as possible. PF in particular likes to fall off very quickly, and it doesn't really do squat unless you can keep stacks up.
Contagion - Cleric
Testament - Wizard
Pestilence - Ranger
Dominion - Paladin
NIGHTSWATCH
In addition to the points vorphied raised above which I agree with, I would like to investigate further some parts of the build. Please don't take it simply as negative criticism but rather trying to exploring the playstyle and unlock its potential further.
Solo play section:
1. Lance of Faith vs. Sacred Flame-
I have done fairly extensive tests with the 2 skills and LoF does not justify the 2 extra points, even when solo. It is slower to cast, and when unfeated (as in your build) LoF 3/3 does very similar sustained DPS to Sacred Flame 3/3.
From my tests 3/3 LoF and SF have almost identical AP gain per second. LoF does merely 1.7% more damage per sec than Sacred Flame, but only 65% of the divinity gained per second. Perhaps SF is a better choice?
2. Astral Seal vs Brand of the Sun
Due to righteousness, and additional diminishing return with ASeal healing you will very rarely heal yourself for anything significant during solo play. BoTS on the other hand is a very versatile fire and forget background DPS while you use encounters to AoE, and with ACT logs BoTS sometimes contributes more to my overall damage than my other encounter powers. Might be worth giving it a shot and see how you like it. With your power rating most trash should die from DoTs in one cast of BoTS.
You may get more mileage when soloing with Sacred Flame and BoTS and shuffle the 2 points in something else. Likewise for Guardian of Faith- HoF already does much higher damage, and if you are worried about healing when solo simply use Dread Legion/Miracle Healer set for lifesteal free healing or pots or slot Healing Word. Flamestrike is a good DPS AoE option now that it can crit again.
Party play:
Searing Light is 'sort of' selfish damage. I don't disagree Divine Searing Light's DPS potential is great, but after experimenting with both SL and DG in CN, I still think Divine-Divine Glow on your main DPSers (yourself/GWF/CW) still offers a higher and longer lasting party DPS boost (+20%) overall than a few seconds of a HP+PF (+13%) debuff stack on mobs. Bear in mind that mobs probably would have lost stacks by the time they fall out of singularity when CW does their follow up AoE shard/sudden storm. Also if something is singed it's probably going to die in the rest of the CW's rotation anyway with or without searing light's help. I find using SL without party conscious CWs or when mobs are scattered is fairly ineffective otherwise for DPS or utility.
Astral Seal: with your feats this only procs restoration mastery and the little bit of healing it offers. If there is a dedicated healing DC you may as well switch to BoTS. I'm guessing you're hoping to proc Cycle of Change via crit heals but the BoTS DPS is going to end up being much more than the +10% you get from CoC. Restoration mastery's 5% defense is tiny for TRs and CWs who have 1500 def or less. Even for you, 2k base defense only gives you 100 extra defense points which is insignificant damage resistance compared to Linked Spirit, Foresight and Astral Shield.
Hallowed ground's DPS boost is higher than that of Divine Glow unless it got ninja nerfed recently.
--
In your GEAR section you mention "you will be stacking a 20% defense debuff to anything you hit. Stack these two with Divine Glow, and then unleash your Daunting Lights or Searing Light to unleash a debuff to everything in the room. I promise, if you have this set, you will see a lot of Critical Hits, as will your entire party" as if your debuffs will increase everyone's crit chance. Could you elaborate where the crit increase comes from? Your debuff will just make everyone hit harder and crit harder, but NOT critting more often. Feated BoTS can decrease enemy crit chance but doesn't mean you boost your own. If you are referring to Grand templar buff 450 crit is about an extra 1% crit chance but uptime is low. The High Prophet set will give you a higher overall debuff and party DPS bonus compared to anything else.
Edit-
Also you mention the build is cheap on gear. Yes, High Prophet is T1, relatively cheap and effective, but going for a hybrid DPS/buffer role at 11k or below is going to struggle in terms of keeping defense and survivability while keeping up DPS with other classes as well as for mothering parties which expect more healing/mitigation. There isn't enough demand at this state of the game for double DC parties, even if it is enjoyable and effective. You can outDPS those you outgear but even GWFs and CWs with rank 5-7 enchants who know how to play will give you a serious run for your money because your buffs are always going to buff them more (it's party oriented build :P, can't help it).
Guild and guide info
Module 4 Comprehensive DC guide |Module 4 MoF CW Handbook |New! Scourge Warlock Guide| NW Numbers and Mechanics guide |Crit, Power and DPS guide | Dungeon Delving guide and more
I will say though that if you were to try the AC path, you could get the majority of the skills minus terrifying insight and there is a feat to share 15% of your power (which sends 15% back to you as well). 14,000 *1.15 = 16,100 power at a constant buff rate.
Then say you hit linked spirit full at 25% 14,000 * 1.25 = 17.500 + 2,100 (BoB feat) loosely 19,600 power at a minimum. AC path also has a power/immunity buff but it's HAMSTER compared to Hallowed Ground. Would love to see that kind of power in the hands of a cleric though!
Totally disagree. HG is better in prolonged fight but AA is the best life saver, cc & damage immune and great power buff for short duration, it even returns AP and burst HP after it ends. Time it properly and it will turn the tide of battle.
You lose Terrifying Insight but gain Anointed Action (yes, not as great, but still)
You lose Hammer of Fate, but Flame Strike is generally more useful in parties anyway given that it is AoE + CC
You gain Blessing of Battle, which is a good at will honestly since you don't pick Foresight/Benefit of Foresight
You gain Battle Fervor, which boosts power for everyone by 15%, meaning your damage passively as well, and a lot more reliable than Linked Spirit with your build setup, where your only trigger is Forgemaster (once the PvP patch comes)
the virtuous path is overall bad and offer very little, and as you mention, its looks better with AC.
restoration mastery is very weak... 5% is 50 more def for the average TR or CW. AC battle fervor is around 750 more power... much more dps for the all party and you can trigger it all the time
disciple of divine lore is ok, but you can only have 2 class features, and that means you will give up anointed armor / foresight
and if you want dps, anointed army is great. I agree with nwnghost that hammer of faith is great for pvp but not so good for pve
at the end the the best thing in virtuous path is nimbus light
If you insist of having it, a AC build similar to that will give you and your party more damage and better survival
http://nwcalc.com/dc?b=cn4:13ydj4:13ydj4,1li3314:1f0z00:100000:1g0uu0&h=0&p=anc
you will use annointed armor and action + annointed army as your daily, you will gain lot more divinity that can be used for daunting light
bottom line, the virtuous path looks much better for AC (which is a bad path in general)
Stats shown in the pic have already been boosted via Linked Spirit and Rising Hope. Also power boosting feats only boosts base power and not power from additional bonuses (augment companions, other feats etc).
Guild and guide info
Module 4 Comprehensive DC guide |Module 4 MoF CW Handbook |New! Scourge Warlock Guide| NW Numbers and Mechanics guide |Crit, Power and DPS guide | Dungeon Delving guide and more