Devoted Cleric, how did you do it?

radix4257

I finally did it, I got my DC to 60th level. I spent some $ to by zen and exchange it for AD. Then I outfitted him with the best that the Auction had to offer, because it seems I just didn't find any good things on the journey. Went out into Sharandar and proceeded to get my *** handed to me time after time. So to those who have successfully run their DC, how did you do it? I thought I had chosen the best powers to make him effective, but now I'm not sure at all I did it right. Will look at all constructive advice, criticism, and down rite flaming as things that will make him better.

frishter

Divine glow/astral shield for healing or chains for more damage vs easy stuff/daunting light for solo content. Daunting light can be replaced with some heal spell for grouped content.

Flame strike for daily, hallowed ground for grouped.

High prophet set for high end grouped content.

angrysprite

You need a Cleric for your Cleric.

No, really and seriously - get a cleric or other healing companion. Though the Galeb Dhur works well, too - by taking aggro so you can actually kill something. When I took my DC into the Sanitarium in Helms Hold - my Galeb Dhur DEFEATED THE BOSS, while I was handling only ONE of the adds.

Yes, my freakin' COMPANION out-classed, out-DPS'd, and basically out-everything to my DC. It basically handed my DC's derriere back to me saying "Here is how you do it, I am AI and this is how I roll". LOL

It was funny in a really painful, pathetic little way. Fortunately the grotesquely overdue Cleric overdo is coming, and we'll get to see what's up this Friday (hopefully as no promises were made) - on the Preview server.

</tongue-in-cheek on>Good news: You know how people who learn to drive an automatic transmission car first can't drive a standard model? And how people who learned to drive with a clutch can drive ANYTHING? You know that statistical rule? Congratulations: you have learnt to drive with a clutch (the DFC) - you can now drive any other class with breeze. But those other people? They likely could't drive a DC to save their lives.</tongue-in-cheek off>

-WINK-

SERIOUSLY SPEAKING: There is a "massive change" coming to DC in the next module. Hopefully it will be available to see and play on Preview this weekend, but no promises were made (so it could still not happen). I found DC difficult to play. it's a lot of fun, just not as much as every other class. Good that you acquired the good gear, I found playability greatly improved when I did that myself.

As of right now it's "okay" - still not quite as much fun as other classes, but hopefully it will be brought up to par with the new changes.

beckylunatic

I don't run any healing for soloing stuff. You get hurt badly enough, you take a potion. Otherwise, let regeneration take care of it (edit: or yes, get a healer pet). Killing things faster makes you safer and makes dailies less grueling. Slot heals when you actually need to perform that role in a group.

My set-up:
Chains (not divine mode), Divine Glow (either/or depending how divinity reserve is holding up), Daunting Light (divine cast unless totally dry/target stationary).
Sacred Flame and Brand of the Sun for at-wills. Tag things with Brand to deal damage over time, but don't bother doing this first on stuff that will die to your encounter combo. You want to use your at-wills after you've gone through your rotation, to refill divinity.
Flame Strike or Hammer of Fate can both work for dps dailies. I feel it's personal preference. Action points refill pretty fast on a cleric but still, save this for targets worth using them on.
Foresight/Terrifying Insight for class features.

Obviously I play a Divine Oracle DC. She's really geared out now, but I started her with a bunch of junky purples from the AH, and a few blue pieces where there wasn't a cheap purple option, basic rank 5 enchants, and that was still fine back then.

I think the main trick to running solo campaign stuff on a DC is to not try to play like you would in a party, because it will take forever.

rollingonit

When soloing stuff, I used pretty much what becky said.

-

My set-up:
Chains (not divine mode), Divine Glow (either/or depending how divinity reserve is holding up), Daunting Light (divine cast unless totally dry/target stationary).
Sacred Flame and Brand of the Sun for at-wills. Tag things with Brand to deal damage over time, but don't bother doing this first on stuff that will die to your encounter combo. You want to use your at-wills after you've gone through your rotation, to refill divinity.
Flame Strike or Hammer of Fate can both work for dps dailies. I feel it's personal preference. Action points refill pretty fast on a cleric but still, save this for targets worth using them on.
Foresight/Terrifying Insight for class features.

Also am a DO DC.

What sprite says is helpful too. The pet healer will just keep you alive.

I also stacked alot of power and a decent amount of crit. Cause I used a vorpal, so I would crit heal in group play. Was pretty good, till actual healing became non needed. ArP didnt work for DCs really when I played though, So Idk how much effects things now.

Also as Sprite says change is a coming for DCs very soon I believe. Im very interested in them, I want to pull my DC out of retirement.

onecoolscatcat

I see a lot of good advice here.

My solo setup is very similar:

Astral Seal
Lance of Faith/BotS

Hallowed Ground
Flame Strike

Terrifying Insight
Holy Fervor

Daunting Light
Divine Glow
Sunburst

Open with Astral Seal then go wild. I find Sunburst's massive AP gain more than offsets its reduced damage. If survivability is an issue, swap either Terrifying Insight or Holy Fervor for Foresight. If you're still having problems, swap Sunburst out for Astral Shield. You'll never pot during dailies ever again. I personally find healing pets a waste of time. Instead grab either an augment pet or whatever damage dealing pet strikes your fancy.

ulviel

What beckylunatic said. If you really need extra healing, you can switch chains for forgemaster's flame, but getting some regen is better. If you are AC cleric, blessing of battle is a really nice at-will, especially if feated. (although your main at-will should be sacred flame).

The sooner you understand you are not a healer, the better for you. Power is the stat you should have as high as possible. Also, don't need to be very tanky, attack is the best defense (unless you want to pvp, but I recommend to avoid it) and you really should concentrate on doing dmg. Healer pet is good mostly because of regen bonus, but hey, you can get regen from gear or artifact too. If you have Waters of Elah'zad artifact, you can use it for healing too.

You don't want a tank companion, because you want mobs to aggro you - much easier to hit them with your encounters that way, especially with non-divine daunting light ( better use divinity for divine glow).
During fights don't panic, you are not that squishy, even if you take few hits you won't die (unless it's a boss in a dungeon, heheh).

Most important advice: forget what people say (especially if you think you're a healer), they may be right, but most likely they aren't. Personally, I found my cleric more effective both in party and soloing after doing the opposite of what the most other people and guides were saying I should.

P.S. Astral seal is overrated. Astral shield and hallowed ground is good in dungeons only.

beckylunatic

I also think Sunburst vs. Chains is a playstyle preference. What I happen to especially like about Chains is that it helps keep things bunched through the rest of my encounter rotation, and that kills most things very dead. Sunburst offers a lot of utility, including the divine mode "get off me!" fling, which can be a life-saver solo, but will generally tick off a party.

My summoned pet typically rotates between a cat and a war dog.

aulduron

I had a very hard time soling as Faithful. It's much easier now as Righteous and with Daunting Light

rlrobr

The above tips are in general very good, but they miss an important detail: get ArP on you DC - it helps a lot. You should aim for 20%, but that is hard to get, so try to have at least around 16%.

I usually solo with my stone, but any purple companion can be used to (I prefer the stone so I get more ArP and power, which means I kill things quickly).

My rotation is:

- Sunburst (gives you divine power, heals you and, if cast on divine mode, can throw enemies away - not recommended in parties, btw)
- Divine Glow, usually in divine mode with me on the center, but it can be cast on normal mode too
- Daunting Light, usually in divine mode, except when enemies are packed tight or there is just one.
- Sacred Flame and Brand of the Sun for at-wills - cast BotS until is crits then leave it: if it crits the first tick it will crits on all ticks
- Flamestrike as a daily (the other one really doesn't matter because I only one FS when soloing)

alkemist80

I used Kaelac's Guide when I was leveling my cleric and I found it extremely helpful. It's a long read but its worth it as it helps you understand your (devoted cleric) class.

I followed his build recommendations and it was great solo and in group play.

http://laggygamerz.com/forum/index.php?/topic/17-kaelac%E2%80%99s-guide-to-devoted-clerics-in-neverwinter/

icyclass

My cleric's basically retired, but if you're dropping both divine astral shield and divine forgemaster's flame you should be pretty impossible to kill in solo play--I also ran a tank pet so I tended not to be taking big hits. It took forever to kill anything with so much dedicated to defense, but it's very safe.

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diogene0

I just keep astral shield to get some mitigation and regen but i mostly use chains and daunting light for solo stuff. If you're a lowbie DC you kinda need your shield. At higher level you may not need it anymore unless you're running something with lvl 61 npcs (and these instances are awfully long as a cleric).

myles08807

Tank pet is essential. I paid every damned AD I ever made to upgrade my Man-at-arms to 30 and I have to say it was well worth the price. "Jack" keeps everything at an arm's length so I can dispatch 'em from a distance.

bioshrike

I run chains, daunting light, and sunburst when solo. I use astral seal and sacred flame for at-wills, and flame strike + hallowed ground for dailies. I find if I place chains just out of aggro range, open up with some at-will's, then hit the group with daunting light and use sunburst or more at-will's to whittle them down, I do fine. If you can spare it, get a tanking companion of some kind to help keep enemies off you. The green Wild Hunt Rider is actually quite good for this purpose; both his attacks draw aggro, and you should be able to keep him alive with your powers.

zshikara

I've never used a cleric companion on my dc (who is my main). I will admit that things take longer to kill, but until I got to icewind dale I never really ran into anything that had much of a chance of killing me unless I was just careless or overpulled (leveling was a different story). For doing dailies I use sunburst, divine glow, and searing light as encounters. For at wills I use lance of faith and mark of the sun (the DOT one). For dailiy powers I use flameburst (aoe) and hammer of fate (single target). With a bit of lifesteal and the healing from sunburst I usually find myself not even needing healing potions now, but if you're still fresh at 60 without a high gs you'll prolly want to keep some handy.

As for a companion, I used a tank (wardog) while leveling and eventually changed to a rust monster when I got lucky enough to get one. Then I eventually got my ioun stone, so I only use that now.

literaryace

I have Astral Seal and Sacred Flame as at-wills, and mostly smack at things with SF for the quick refill of divinity.

Encounters I have Forgemaster's Flame, Divine Glow and Daunting Light. Divine DL will usually one-shot a small group nicely. I only use healing powers if I'm doing dungeons, or if a guildmate asks me to slot one while we run something.

Daily powers I use Flame Strike (for groups) or Hammer of Fate (big guys like Iron Golems, Frost Giants, etc). I am also a big fan of the Cleric Artifact from the Vault of the Nine. Who doesn't like healing and quick AP refill?

Favorite companion to use right now is the Astral Deva. (He also goes great with my HR archer.) Just wades right in there and starts smacking stuff around like he just doesn't care

My Cleric was my first character, I also have a CW and HR, who I both love to play (because things die so easily for them!), and I am really looking forward to the class getting some proper attention in the next module.

nic1985

Good to see so many good suggestions for playing DC solo.

DC is my main and I can pretty much solo comfortably with the following encounters:

-Chain. I use Divine Chain first from afar,
-Forgemaster preferably Divine Mode (always on the toughest mob)
-Sunburst (rarely i use Divine mode, only if my HP is low)

If my daily is available, i use Flame Strike while mobs are chained down.

Also for class features i use Anointed Armor and Holy Fervor.

At-wills I use Blessing of Battle or Sacred Flame

My companion has always been Ioun Stone (with most of the stats for Power/Eldritch)

I equipped Soulforge and Vorpal.

raritie

DPS DC can do solo almost *ANYTHING*, except maybe the highest non-epics and epics group dungeons.
My proof: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJpZrmZaiRCAClhXSZ333KCdEKc1aKDcS

Good luck!

ansuz4221

I also used (and still use) Kaelec's guide. Running my (I think) 6th spec and currently testing Righteous. And I can also recommend a tank pet. I really love my wardog - not only when soloing. He is very helpful in epic FH tanking the last boss. Makes my work there so much easier While leveling I started with a healing companion but looking back now I think I should have picked a tank in the first place.

For soloing and dailies I slot Terrifying Insight (I'm DO) and use Chains (normal or divine depending on the mobs) followed by normal Divine Glow and divine Daunting Light. Most mobs are dead after this rotation. With the Righteous spec I use Astral Seal (as debuff) and Brand of the Sun (recasting until it crits) as At-wills. Flame Strike and Hammer are my Dailies.

For dungeons it's divine Astral Shield (of course ), Divine Glow (normal or divine depending on the situation) and normal Sunburst (for even faster Divinity and AP gain, spreading Foresight bufff and High Prophet debuff). The only place I use divine Sunburst is the last boss in DV to help in pushing the adds off. Astral Seal and Sacred Flame as At-wills, Hallowed Ground and Divine Armor. And with Holy Fervor slotted I can spam HG like crazy

nazghul22

radix4257 wrote: »

I got my DC to 60th level. I spent some $ to by zen and exchange it for AD. Then I outfitted him with the best that the Auction had to offer
Went out into Sharandar and proceeded to get my *** handed to me time after time.

In Sharandar? Maybe you created a DC with too much DPS and too little survivability.
My small (halfling) DC has accepted the fact that it takes hours to kill anything, but does not die too often. Wearing cheap purple gear, and three green/blue artifacts. No Ioun stone either.
My typical fights are about running inside the astral shield, avoiding the foes' AOEs while Sunbursting them once in a while. In the (long) end, the trolls die. Or the yetis. Or Jawbone.

zahinder

I have a galeb duhr.

I like having astral seal in divine mode, not just to top myself off but to keep my galeb alive -- there are some solo stuff that can tear him to pebbles, and giving him survivability gives ME survivability. If I know we can handle the content more easily, I swap out astral seal for something more damagy.

hustin1

Sunburst, chains, daunting light, and...

Vicious Dire Wolf

My DC's vicious dire wolf Jax is her Best Friend in the Whole World (TM). I can't stress enough how much of a help he is to a DC--even more than a Cleric Disciple, Radiance Stone, or Frost Mimic (all at rank 30). Jax does a tremendous job of giving her breathing room in a fight. Load him up with power and recovery and be amazed.

Picture this scenario: two giantsouls and a witherer. Eliminate the witherer immediately. Jax will interrupt and harry one giantsoul all over the place while you take on the other. Just damage both to keep them aggroed on you, while Jax runs interference on one of them. It's scary how well it works.

Slot Liira's bell for the really tough jobs, like Ghost Stories, and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

eversgrey

angrysprite wrote: »

You need a Cleric for your Cleric.

No, really and seriously - get a cleric or other healing companion. Though the Galeb Dhur works well, too - by taking aggro so you can actually kill something. When I took my DC into the Sanitarium in Helms Hold - my Galeb Dhur DEFEATED THE BOSS, while I was handling only ONE of the adds.

Yes, my freakin' COMPANION out-classed, out-DPS'd, and basically out-everything to my DC. It basically handed my DC's derriere back to me saying "Here is how you do it, I am AI and this is how I roll". LOL

It was funny in a really painful, pathetic little way. Fortunately the grotesquely overdue Cleric overdo is coming, and we'll get to see what's up this Friday (hopefully as no promises were made) - on the Preview server.

</tongue-in-cheek on>Good news: You know how people who learn to drive an automatic transmission car first can't drive a standard model? And how people who learned to drive with a clutch can drive ANYTHING? You know that statistical rule? Congratulations: you have learnt to drive with a clutch (the DFC) - you can now drive any other class with breeze. But those other people? They likely could't drive a DC to save their lives.</tongue-in-cheek off>

-WINK-

SERIOUSLY SPEAKING: There is a "massive change" coming to DC in the next module. Hopefully it will be available to see and play on Preview this weekend, but no promises were made (so it could still not happen). I found DC difficult to play. it's a lot of fun, just not as much as every other class. Good that you acquired the good gear, I found playability greatly improved when I did that myself.

As of right now it's "okay" - still not quite as much fun as other classes, but hopefully it will be brought up to par with the new changes.

I've heard many people say how great the Galeb Duhr is, so I decided to try one for my DC. Even with purple gear and minimum rank 5 enchants on the companion, I still got the majority of the aggro. For example, in IWD, I gave up on it and just used my stone. Is there something I'm missing as to how to make the Galeb Duhr a more effective tanking companion? I always thought that once my DC got to a high enough gear score, maybe the companions just can't "compete", so to speak.

Edit: Just wanted to include that I've also tried the War Dog, Yeti, Frost Mimic (which actually seemed to do the best for me, but still not worth swapping for an augment companion). And I found the Wild Hunt Rider (green) not very effective at all, although, I did not extensively play around with it. When I first got him, I often reverted to my white quality Man at Arms.

ulviel

I can't understand why so many ppl are running tank companions. Or using astral shield while soloing. And in Sharandar... No problem on my squishy (23k hp) DC 9k gs with no companion, 1 green artifact, and overall "fresh 60" state I keep for educational purpose. I use glow, daunting light and ff.

torvinem

I actually liked my honey badger as companion when doing Sharandar. Divine AS seemed to keep it alive most of time on mobs, and get in tight with him - yes you get aggro. Am beginning to wonder if my drow actually was beneficial as well, as i heal myself reasonably well.

ulviel

torvinem wrote: »

I actually liked my honey badger as companion when doing Sharandar. Divine AS seemed to keep it alive most of time on mobs, and get in tight with him - yes you get aggro. Am beginning to wonder if my drow actually was beneficial as well, as i heal myself reasonably well.

Well yeah but you can survive without AS just as well (unless you don't know how to dodge? I really can't think of any other explanation), and yes, while keeping aggro on yourself all the time and having 8k gs.

The part that is mystery for me is why would you want to make everything slower by using AS or other healing/survival skill instead of dps when there is absolutely no need for that.

P.S. I understand using honey badger tho. It is sooo cute ^ ^

herundrion

For a while I have been impressed with other DCs having problems with solo content, I haven't commented, but it feels like ya'll are playing another game.

Buy some blues and enchantments from AH - power and recovery.
Put on: Divine Glow, Daunting Light and Sunburst. Also, maximise the use of Flame strike - pull mobs together and then hit them with Divine Glow -> Flame Strike combo.
Get a frost weapon enchantment if you have the AD for it - it's glorious.
For my new DC (~10k GS mostly blue) only Biggrin's tomb is a problem - not even a problem, just takes a bit longer and requires more kiting.
Tanking companion won't really help you, unless you are really really weak (or leveling and running in higher level zones) - if you are, then follow advice above. Run Skirmishes for AD until you can afford some of the above.

If you're still having problems - send me a friend invite or whisper.

torvinem

Only one I now really struggle with is actually Ghost Stories - the rest I can do - but was remembering the days of starting to be a level 60 Cleric. Killing slowly is the clerics game. I just wish we didn't look so "flappy" when running around though.

ulviel

herundrion wrote: »

For a while I have been impressed with other DCs having problems with solo content, I haven't commented, but it feels like ya'll are playing another game.

Buy some blues and enchantments from AH - power and recovery.
Put on: Divine Glow, Daunting Light and Sunburst. Also, maximise the use of Flame strike - pull mobs together and then hit them with Divine Glow -> Flame Strike combo.
Get a frost weapon enchantment if you have the AD for it - it's glorious.
For my new DC (~10k GS mostly blue) only Biggrin's tomb is a problem - not even a problem, just takes a bit longer and requires more kiting.
Tanking companion won't really help you, unless you are really really weak (or leveling and running in higher level zones) - if you are, then follow advice above. Run Skirmishes for AD until you can afford some of the above.

If you're still having problems - send me a friend invite or whisper.

Haha, what this guy said. Only that I would rather recommend farming blues yourself - you'll learn something in the process, save few AD and you'll have a satisfaction you wouldn't get buying things from AH.