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Lack of Divine Clerics Players
dustwiper
Member Posts: 38 Arc User
So my main character is a Cleric. I was doing the Gauntlgrym dungeon and my party was excited to have a cleric in the party. They even use this fact to try and recruit more people to join our party. I asked if it was that rare to see a cleric and they said it was. So do you agree that there is a lack of Divine Clerics players or do you think people are overreacting? Will more Clerics switch classes when Warlock comes out? What can be done to encourage people to stick with this class?
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On the other hand, I did see a lot more DCs in lower bracket PvPs when I was levelling up then I did the first time around with my TR. Maybe there's hope. :P
So now I'll do the Warlock thing and then I'll probably return to my main to start gallivanting in all the new zones (Mods 2-4) and I'll see where things go. The truth is that a DC can be quite difficult to play because so many of your powers are (really weak) healing, rather than DPS, so sometimes - even in PvE and Solo - it can feel like you have fewer powers than the other classes. But I've only now finally started getting into the habit of using the Divine power (Tab) which is actually quite powerful - but as with most other classes it's a tap the tab=done, where on DC it's a toggle (I had to get used to that).
But, yeah - there are a lot fewer DCs in-game than other classes and even fewer being actively played.
Full-disclosure: I'm a casual player who does't care all that much about min-maxer, so I do not consider myself an adept player - do I don't consider myself as an 'authority' on the subjects.
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Yep - passive classes aren't as appealing to the masses as nukers, plain and simple.
Speaking specifically about NW classes - I find my GF to be more than a little underwhelming (the buffs they'll get with mod4 may change my mind completely). On the other hand, once i got used to toggling Divinity back and forth for specific situations/spells, I found my DC to be a pretty fun class to play (I even placed #1 paingiver on a few dungeons).
D&D Home Page - What Class Are You? - Build A Character - D&D Compendium
Yes, I suspect this is the majority reason. Also - in my own experience - I don't like how *slowly* the GF takes to kill anything, but that's the trade-off: high survivability for low damage. As for the DC - it's really pretty squishy, but it does;t have the DPS to counter that (yes: I know one can create a "DPS Cleric" - I'm speaking in general) - additionally, because a chunk of the skill choices are healing-related they're even less powerful on the DPS side or DPS feels nonexistent completely (Astral Seal, anyone?)
However, when I play my GWF, Wizard and Ranger - I can feel the 'burning down' of mobs and it's a very satisfying feeling - not so much as a "heroic' feeling as it is a "that was nice and quick" feeling. So it's burn-it-down, NEXT!? Where GF and Cleric it can sometimes feel like "is this thing ever going to die?"
So it's also a factor of simply 'how long does it take to kill a mob and move on to the next?". Mod 4 will bring some nice (well-deserved, overly late) changes to GF, but Clerics are still struggling along just "making do" with what they have. Also: if you kill a mob faster, you have less need for health restoration' you can kill it before it does enough damage to really need or want a Cleric.
Hence: if your choice is HP (healing ability) versus DPS then DPS will win every time: moves you along faster, less damage to you, fewer pots, who needs a healer?
I play the class simply because it's the fun underdog.
2. No reason NOT to take them either.
Pretty much that, any MMO DPS always is #1 played.
Technically speaking a High Prophet wearing/Divine Glow and Hallowed Ground spamming DC, should be more or less better then another dps class, while providing some beneficial mitigation and heals. I know there are times Ive done GG with a mashed up group and slotted MH instead and tanked the thing.
But all that being said, any group with a high enough GS can do any of the t2s without any issue whatesover with any class composition they want. Which is I believe one of the stated goals.
THERE are of course a percentage of SPEED only runners who want nothing to do with any class besides two. GWF and CW, mostly because they complement each other well. But if you get down to the nitty gritty, you only really need one class to speed run and thats 5 cws, which will blow up everything.
Some of this is changing slightly in the upcoming nerfs, but in all reality, there still will be only one class who can control the DD's and thats still the CW. Just will be longer. Maybe new meta.. 4 cws and 1 sw =P..
Some of this is the playerbase, you can Join Legit Channel and not suffer most of the "ewww gf and dc, Im outta here, type comments"
DC was my second character but is my favorite class. I have 2 of them.
You hit the nail on the head. Gear and power creep eliminates the need for dedicated healers. We have T3 gear, but no T3 content. We're essentially sandbaggers. Current PvE content, outside of specific specialized situations, doesn't need DCs. Lifesteal outheals dedicated healers, and DCs lack decent burst heals, so pots>DCs. CWs and GWFs stack nicely and nuke all opposition. Non-BiS parties are a different story.
That's one of the stupidest things you've said recently. People who play clerics DO really enjoy their class. Otherwise they wouldn't play it. And while others may see clerics as "passive;" those who play their clerics generally don't see it that way. In several ways, there's a lot more you have to pay attention to as a DC than a DPS player. I have two level 60 CWs, two level 60 TRs, a level 60 GWF, a level 60 HR, and my favourite class to play has always been the DC. I have no idea why you would make such ridiculous assumptions, which say a LOT more about you than any DC player I've encountered.
I do understand that the "solo content" can be a pain, compared to CW, and PvP feels rather futile. However, that's exactly why I like DC - it's a team-based class and it brings out the best that this game has to offer. I play this MMORPG because it's MMO and not so much RPG. I do like big orange numbers and mobs flying around, but I like working with a team more.
No class is an island; playing this game for a solo experience is... stupid.
In the end, it just got aggravating.
moreover, i see less and less people writing "LFM DC CN" which is the only dungeon worth doing, and it's pretty hard to get in right now...
Oh wow, I didn't know you were a casual like myself. Cool!
My first two character were DC and GF, funny enough. They have become my secondary characters over the months as I used my TR and CW the most. But I do prefer DC over GF these days, and yes there are definitely fewer DCs in the game.
myles08807 said, "Back in my day, we didn't have any of this fancy Mulhorand gear while we were leveling . . . we walked uphill both ways while dying once every five seconds while leveling, and we liked it fine!" . . . Now, get off my lawn, you kids!"
pointsman said, "I don't rue the game. In fact I don't feel any regret for the game at all."
looomis said, "I don't like people changing to alts and then bragging about their mains like schizophrenic role players."
Link: https://twitter.com/crypticgmc
Says he can't share exactly what, but that some feat changes, etc. will make us DC lovers "feel good again" (my words paraphrasing) but in short: DC getting some DEVLUV!
Enorla, Oh so devoted cleric.
You see, for me the game is all about having fun - and my idea of "fun" is not about having the best gear or doing the most damage.
I do like being useful, but for that I had to change from a "healer" to a "Buffer/debuffer" and it seems to me that Cryptic does not quite understand that - we keep getting gear that makes DCs better healers or better DPSers (well, "less bad" might be more accurate), but no gear that actually helps us do what we are mostly required to do after hitting level 60.
Until level 60 (or maybe until reaching the harder T2s), healing is much more important to a DC than buffing/debuffing, but after that it is all about buffing/debuffing, and quite frankly, some DCs have a problem with making that adjustment.
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I appreciate a debuff DC for every PVE content though and actually play mine quite a lot, it's just a faster run. DCs are not dispensable, but they are limited to one spec and armor set really.
For PVP I can understand why DCs feel unloved. There is no incentive to go to oPVP solo, because you can't kill <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> and only stall players. Which is kinda meh in that setting.
Then you have a PVP campaign that is substantially harder to complete on your DC and GG which also doesn't cater to a DCs strength.
As far as i know, there has not been any new armor implemented (all classes) since beta that provides a debuff set bonus. I think this might be on purpose to avoid over stacking debuffs in general or perhaps difficult to implement into the existing game.
As it is, the debuffs/buffs are pretty insane with well geared parties. In Mod 4 running the new dungeon with a couple parties, I noticed players taking extreme amounts of damage and currently damage resistance is capped at 80%. Even with near that in resistance, players are dropping fast when hit by strong monsters. How do you heal or prevent a team-mate from dying when hit for 24k after damage resistance?
Devs continue to hammer more nails into the DCs coffin by adding a new class Scourge Warlock who can also heal a party (albeit inefficiently) and can provide dps as well.
In my opinion, other than a druid, other classes should not be able to heal, except with items providing regen, life steal, or potions.