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Lvl 35 and having a hard time in ebon downs
cesmode8
Member Posts: 384 Bounty Hunter
Hi,
My cleric is lvl 35 and having a hard time in ebon down. My companion dies every chance he gets, and I am stuck dealing with 2 or 3 little guys, and 2 big guys just pounding the snot out of me.
Any advice around this level range?
My cleric is lvl 35 and having a hard time in ebon down. My companion dies every chance he gets, and I am stuck dealing with 2 or 3 little guys, and 2 big guys just pounding the snot out of me.
Any advice around this level range?
Post edited by cesmode8 on
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Daunting light when you get it - cna't remember when - is nice. D-mode, carefully target group of mobs, let it go... if you're lucky they all get dead. D-mode sunburst with knockback and interrupt has saved me more times than I care to think of. Also if you're using the wolf/panther they may not be as good as the man of arms as their AI seems to be to go on the back of whatever they're hitting to give extra damage and not tank so to speak. Another suggestion was to get a cleric - at level 45 I'm having a horrible time just staying alive. Don't know if that will help though
The MMO may change but the inventory tetris stays the same.
I actually have stopped playing neverwinter, which is sad. I still have interest in GW2, and since I cannot progress much further in ebon down without potting after every pull in the open zone, which I think is ridiculous, I am kind of discouraged which is sad because i like the class and the game. After failing at mad lair of the dragon twice and then coming to this zone, I am a bit discouraged.
What do you mean? AS = astral shards? Why are you closer? What is the significance of that?
The MMO may change but the inventory tetris stays the same.
Oh the level 50 thing? I hope I get there. It's just so awful atm. I'm not enjoying it that much to be honest
The MMO may change but the inventory tetris stays the same.
I am starting the feel the same way(although Im playing solo in the game and at times the textures are pretty muddied). I am holding off spending a penny now that I know what the game is like. I did just throw 35$ at gw2 cash shop, so I am not afraid to spend money if the game isnt screwy.
Cryptic keeps releasing patches with one or two bugs here and then a few horsesh_t items. Healing aggro is pretty significant. What about that? No PWE mention on that?
Might give it a few more levels. Im getting some more healing abilities, and then I'll try another dungeon. If I can't do it and Im forced to poay for a respec to heal a dungeon WHILE LEVELING, Im done.
I that led me to stacking defence and that actually helped me a lot, my spec and my gear are both focused on defence and damage resistance so I'm quite a tank.
That also helps in skirmish and dungeon PUG's where communication and coordination aren't that overused ;-)
Normally I use Sunburst/Daunting Light/D-mode Forgemaster's Flame encounters (all maxed).
Try it, might help ya...
Edit: I'm lvl 37, more or less in the same bracket as you
I normally build up 2 charges of dmode, and pop a dmode daunting light and dmode searing light...huge burst on packs of mobs and even single target. But then I am vulnerable...spamming at wills and kiting.
Thoughts?
But Forgemaster's is the game changer here I believe...try it
From a distance, I drop Astral Seal on as many enemies until I get rushed, then I pop Chains of Blazing light, then Sunburst. I never let Healing Word come off cool-down. This keeps my Man at Arms alive almost all the time. If he dies, I pop Sunburst in Divinity and blow all the monsters away, revive and heal him. If can run Chains+Sunburst in divinity, all the trash mobs die and that leaves me to focus on the 1-2 tough guys, so that's where I use my daily of flame Strike. My passives are Healer's lore and Sooth.
It really is crazy how much healing you can do if you keep Astral Seal on all the enemies. Also, you can't stand in the middle of the battle, Stay behind your tank and keep that healing word going. The amount of healing you can get in divinity will keep you from using pots as long as you keep them marked with Astral Seal.
I hope this helps. Also, anyone feel free to bash my build, but it sure works for my play style. One other thing to note, I am very careful on how I pull enemies and what's around me. If I pull two or three surrounding groups, I am probably going to die.
Gave me something to think about at least.
Yep, this is the same system I'm using, lvl37,and paired with high defence gear it's working well for solo PvE areas. But for tough dungeons I feel like a pretty useless addition to the group. Astral Seal is about the only useful healing I do for the group, since my 'burst' heals barely make up for one hit from a big mob and you've got 4 people, spead out, losing health faster than I can turn around. And I still spend more time fending off add's than healing. So everybody just uses pots. Am I missing something?
Cleric Companion: You barely have to pot and her healing is > than your agro most of the time so the heat is off you. Yes she goes down a lot, but it doesn't cost anything and by that time most of the stuff is dead. Imo, she's a better tank than the man-at-arms. (kind of a theme there with the DC when you start healing groups right? <cough> broken healing threat).
Daunting Light: Use it as an opener on the bigger mob(s) in the pack. It's range is greater than their agro distance so they stand there and take it in the face to start. Didn't really need to use it with divinity.
Searing Light w/ divinity any time mobs are grouped. Since everything is now running at you, they're all packed up. This mostly kills minions out of a pack in one shot.
Chains of Blazing Light: a 3rd wide aoe that holds everything in place for a second or 2.
So basically run 3 DPS aoe's. The hardest part is timing daunting light to hit targets with it's small circle but basically (based on mob) casters stand there and take it in the face. Melee mobs, target them after they run to you (side step them then fire) or if they're beating on your companion.
And the main key: keep moving. This is an action mmo, you should never be standing in place firing off your powers if you're at all worried about taking hits. Circle strafing wraiths makes their life drain cone attack miss you 90% of the time because you're already moving out of it before they cast it. As soon as they start to cast it, counter with daunting light (because they don't move while casting it). Circle strafing also makes "most" mobs melee attacks miss you since they're directional as well; only their ranged attacks auto target.
At level 35, try to pick up a blue symbol off the AH. On my server it's about 1/2 the price of the AD vendor one. Try to check for a new blue symbol every 5-10 levels, especially if you start to struggle in a zone. Your weapon is only thing that you really NEED to upgrade. For armor I'd just take whatever green that drops that follows the build you're trying for (crit/power/recovery etc...). Your stats don't make that much difference while you're leveling up, but the weapon really does.
I can't imagine not running healing word. I am always waiting for the cool down timer so I can pop it again. I guess I should try using Daunting Light instead of healing word, but it sounds like I will need to pot.
I think it was 2g?
Also this might be helpful. Heal Spec Cleric struggles at Solo'ing
Encounter: Sunburst, Searing Light, Daunting Light
Daily: Hallowed Ground, Flamestrike
I have been prioritizing: crit, recovery, and power.
Healing Words - if using Defender companion
Forgemaster's Flame (only use in D-mode) - if using Healer companion
Astral Shield (only us in D-mode, once you hit 50 lvl) - use with any companion
Also if you find the above replacement spell work well, consider dropping Astral Seal for Brand of the Sun.
Crit & Recovery > Power, but try to get enough recovery (1600+ I think) when you hit 50+ lvl so that when your Astral Shield is off cooldown, you can cast it again just before the last Astral Shield expire.
I can only suggest keeping that gear updated. Even if you find only a 2 levels higher item and it might not have optimal stats it will still most likely make leveling easier.
brand of the sun, astral seal (brand is mobile i can run around all day)
foregemaster fire, healing word, daunting light
daily: hallowed ground and flamestrike
Make sure gear is up to date, I usually kite most of the harder mobs especially if i pull 2 packs at once.
I run with foresight and the talent that builds divine power on non-damaging abilities (forget the name).
I run with cat/stone for weapons and when they are training use a wizard (will also grab a cleric). I mostly ignore them though (cat lives long though compared to most)
I've died 3 or 4 times total up to level 44 (I dont do dungeons yet though).
My at wills are AS, LoF and BotS, I mostly use BotS as I never seem to have enough time to land the 3rd LoF and that's why I though of Respecing into maxing BotS instead of LoF.
I must add that in all my time soloing I only died once at the clockwork solo mini instance when I was overcumbered with those annoying mini spiders.
Companion: The cleric. the man at arms will die the same anyway so why not have that extra healing?
I want this class in NW.
When soloing, I used Sunburst, Healing Word and Chains of Blazing Light until level 30, when I switched out Healing Word for divine-powered Forgemaster's Flame. I use Sacred Flames and Astral Seal as at-wills and Flamestrike and Hallowed Ground as daily powers.
You mentioned Lair of the Mad Dragon. The boss-fight at the end of Lair of the Mad Dragon is disproportionately difficult in relation to the difficulty of the dungeons before and after it. In my opinion, it's not balanced to be completed by an average pick-up group. It requires a well coordinated team of people willing to listen to directions and capably perform their roles. That simply does not describe an average p.u.g.
As for Ebon Downs itself, I think this zone is where you really start feeling the effects of mobs that consistently position themselves to get combat advantage. Combat advantage, in case you weren't aware, gives someone increased damage against a foe under certain circumstances (if I am correct, when the foe is knocked down, flanked or when attacking from the foe's rear). In Ebon Downs, the Imp packs will surround a solo player, thus gaining combat advantage; one or two imps in a straight on fight wouldn't be bad but 5 of them with combat advantage can tear you down quickly. Besides the imps, the tall demons that always seem to come in two's (I forget their names) will also get combat advantage by teleporting directly behind you just before they strike with their big swing. In short, you'll need to do what you can to overcome these types situations and deny your foes combat advantage.