Advice about being a cleric?

zdragonlord

So I want to be stupid and make a cleric named Solaire under Amaunator (yes, that is where I'm going with this guy…). However, I have never really been a major medic/support role, more of the guy in front getting pummeled and tanking it out or bombarding stuff with spells. All I'm really looking for is some advice on how to work as a cleric both solo (my major play style as none of my friends play NW) and in a dungeon/skirmish setting. For starters, I get buff and heal everyone all the time. I usually try to help out now as is when I see people starting to get low on HP, but not much a GSwordsman can do… Not asking for what feats or abilities to upgrade, just basic how to operate things to be efficient and survive.

(ps, new console player alert, lol)

Thanks,
ArchDrake Zweii

stercesderised

Only recently (@ ~level 35+) have I found that distinguishing gameplay between solo setup vs party setup.

For solo play, grab the warrior companion and treat him as a tank at the early levels. That'll both allow you to solo and practice for groups. HG is your go to daily for group play, with divine armor for clutch saves (e.g. Your CW MT is dying...). Otherwise, HG to maintain. The goal as a DC imo is to get HG up as often as possible/appropriate. Empowered 3x stack WoH recharges daily power quick. I love divine sunburst spamming 3x to put those HoTs up. Pop an empowered WoH after that and it would take some really sloppy group play to overcome those heals pre-end game

Later, once you get your CC root power + dots + single target nuke/dot (I run word of healing and keep that running to maintain health), that can become your solo build. Use flamestrike when things mob you; else stuff dies quick.

Kaelac's guide is awesome to get you going. Really thorough too; I'm on my third read and still picking up info. It's hard to absorb until you get some hands on DC experience

http://laggygamerz.com/forum/index.php?/topic/17-kaelac’s-guide-to-devoted-clerics-in-neverwinter/#3

eldarion79

Once you get the heal rotation down, as long as you pay attention during the fights, being a cleric is fun. My first character on the PC version was a DC, and there is a learning curve especially with the aim healing. However, you can get into dungeons and skirmishes pretty quickly in comparison to the DPS classes.

sockmunkey

If you want to be a Cleric that can tank. I would suggest you take the Virtuous free tree. It will give your heal powers an additional heal over time effect. And those powers that already heal over time will get a boost to it. It will also allow you to proc HoT effect from normal actions. In short, it will turn you in a walking regeneration machine, that will heal both yourself and group while still being fairly offensive. If you focus on keeping your defense fairly high, you will be able to hold your own with the best of tanks while still being able to keep a group alive.

mellojelo

Playing a healer is more exciting than any other class IMO. I tell the tank to mass pull the whole room which leads to the ultimate rush. Very important to utilize your daily powers each pull. This can be done by hitting everyone in the group with Healing Word 3 times, which seems to fill the daily power gem thingy by 30% each cast. My basic rotation is as follows:
Astral seal + Sacred flame until divinity bar is full. RB + Bastion of health X3 then healing word. I use sun burst in order to push any straggling enemies into the tank, while using my dodge to do circles around the fight.

Fun side note: Most dungeons I can utilize maxed empowered with sun burst to fling enemies off the map..

Only problem with this heal class, is that people seem to panic when the fights get large, and tend to scatter around the map. This makes it near impossible to get everyone healed. It seems like the concept of taxiing adds to the tank is too hard to comprehend these days :P

eroticdoom

Adds love a cleric... must be my aftershave.

bunabunny

Q for everyone here:

"Is there a way to reduce the amount of threat generated by your healing besides just a couple passive abilities? DO any of the T1 or T2 armor's also include a buff to your threat reduction?

eroticdoom

Threat bonuses just make it a little easier for a Tank to aggro them off you... but not always guaranteed because healing generates soo much threat.

Save your points and put them in skills/feats that benefit you more , not seen any armour that has threat reduction as of yet.

bunabunny

eroticdoom wrote: »

Threat bonuses just make it a little easier for a Tank to aggro them off you... but not always guaranteed because healing generates soo much threat.

Save your points and put them in skills/feats that benefit you more , not seen any armour that has threat reduction as of yet.

Alright cool, thanks for the reply.

I wasn't sure if there was specific sets of gear that altered that stat. Most games actually have that or a passive that you can spec to remove threat or reduce it's generation. Hmmmm. I'll have to rethink my current heal build for now. :P

danfilms

I'm only late 40s right now but my biggest frustration is people seem to think its ok to just run away like crazed chickens when they start to die.

I'll start the match by saying "Run to me if you are about to die, please!" If I can't see you, if you can't see me, you aren't getting healed. Some listen and they don't die.

Another thing is WTF is with people just sitting in the red stuff? I understand a tank just camping out up close and eating red non stop, that's his thing, he's good at that. But the control wizards and scourge warlocks, makes me want to scream. Then when they do eat Ultimate Smash of Doom to the face, they try to run to the far edge of the map to "escape". I'm not leaving the tank to go play hide and seek with you.

That said, I recently maxed out the passive that gives +AC. OMG that feels sooo sweet being able to just stand in the middle of 8 adds and maintain my heals. I think my AC is around 38 right now at level 47, or something close. I bumped into another healer of similar level doing our dailies and his was like 19 AC, I can't image going back.

bkt5789

Ive partied with people that never played a cleric before, and thus don't understand how the skills work.
I put down astral shield constantly, they think it heals them. Thank god for that, that aoe grants more defense and bunches them up closer to me to boost the effectiveness of my healing. For the most part a lot of the time the faith tree's ability to gift a stack of faith as a heal has made my job of healing much easier too. It's even added to my own ability to survive.

The downside to people not understanding the cleric class cause they will never play one (its my favorite class, and I've played wizard, 2hander, and rogue too so far), is that they expect heals to be just there instantly as if it were an at will power (only during divinity mode), and thus like to blame you for their death when they stood in a red aoe circle of death. Oye. Don't let them get to you though, if you don't die a few times in this game, you're not learning, you're not playing it right. lol. Everyone dies, some people just get pushed ahead to the line... Like when they stand in that aoe....

Right now I am conflicted as to which path is better, divine oracle, or annointed champion. I've read that awesome guide that everyone has been linking to, and i've followed that, so I am a divine oracle build. BUT! The author of that guide specifically states that they had liked that branch more because it was more easily able to solo. Thing is, I never solo, don't like solo, and only pve. Sooo i'm debating if i should consider switching to annointed champion in light of this fact, I'd glady sacrifice dps for higher survival ability to carry out my group function.

masterwolf56

I've seen a lot of bad players expecting the healer to keep them healed in intense fights. Sure they can do some healing, but newbies need to pop potions like they were going out of style.

lordsarverious

Yeah for sure. Potions are so over abundant, that you just need to pop one if you see the healer is working on the other three allies, plus all the companions. It won't kill you to use 5 potions or more in a dungeon. The game hands you hundreds you'll never use otherwise.

majordogmeat

bunabunny wrote: »

Q for everyone here:

"Is there a way to reduce the amount of threat generated by your healing besides just a couple passive abilities? DO any of the T1 or T2 armor's also include a buff to your threat reduction?

The direct answer to your question do I know of any T1 or T2 armors with a threat reduction? No.

I follow the Faithful, Agent of the Divine Path and I run with an organized team. That said, I avoided all feats that reduce my threat as there were other feats that were more important to my build. Yes, I do get agro from time to time, But I'm tanky enough to survive a sustained T2 beating. (25k HP, Defense 2k, and an additional 11% auto damage mitigation from Foresight Passive & Feats)

Usually the assigned body guard/offtank kills the adds or gets agro from it. Mobs beating on me heal the team and me. So that's nice. Mobs not beating on me, allow me to wander around doing healing things and dodging the red splotchy things on the floor. Granted, I'm certainly not in the top DPS cleric builds (I usually come in 4th or 5th on the team in damage and 2nd or 3rd in most damage received.)

Sometimes I wish I had that Zen Owl with the active -25% agro bonus, but I get by without it.

Everything I learned about playing NW as a cleric, prior to the game being release on X1, I learned from:

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

yllen

"Advice on how to work as a cleric both solo and in dungeons"

Working solo you certainly have options. Lots of people will advise different things and these mainly involve the amount of self-healing you want to do vs. how much you want to rely on potions. You can max out your at-wills, encounters and dailies to pretty much get rid of healing entirely and turn yourself into a pure DPS machine. Personally I just like having the utility of healing myself, so I keep powers in that return some healing back. Most of the mobs in solo mode that I have come across so far can be killed easily enough without going full DPS and I can save my potions for emergencies. I would say experiment with different combinations until you get comfortable with something that works for you. For example, pretty early on you get the choice of two out of 3 at-wills; Astral Seal (less damage, gives healing back), Lance of Faith (most damage, no healing), Sacred Flame (middle damage, boost hit points slightly). Any combo will work. Which works for you is up to you. As for companions again, I would say its up to your own personal style. I have both the man-at-arms and the free warlock dude you get for linking to your Arc account. Both work equally as well. The man-at-arms potentially has more synergy as he can tank stuff, but often in solo-mode things aren't alive long enough to seriously threaten.

In dungeon's I think the only advice is: "never stop thinking". Unless you are in organised groups who know the best tactics, I suspect you're going to have to think on your feet a lot. You need to learn to be mobile. For someone who is used to standing at the front and getting bashed, this might be a different playstyle. Positioning yourself so that you take the least personal damage and are in range of the rest of your team will be important. There will always be someone who grabs those extra adds, or doesn't execute the strategy properly that will cause the unexpected to happen. This is why you always have to be aware of your surroundings, whats happening in the battle, where mobs are, where team mates are etc. This is why I love playing the healer class. Dealing with the unexpected and succeeding.

I would also say "be patient" and "be humble". Healer is a relatively complex class to play. You'll make mistakes and it'll be your fault you wipe. Other's will make mistakes and they'll expect you to be able to heal through whatever happens. Not everyone will have the patience or the understanding that you're learning a new class.

rekoj13

Healing drastically changes when you start getting into the meat of the Paragon Feats (Shared Burdens, Test of Faith for example), you find it starts getting easier, and especially when you get Test of Faith (if you're going that route) you'll actually welcome the occasional Arrow shot, or non-power hit (nothing in the red on the ground) to help with healing. Aggro slowly goes away on its own, and what aggro you do get, either is negligible or avoidable by movement.

You'll learn when you can stand still, when you need to move, when you need to dodge move, when to DPS and so on. Before your mid 40's its a bit rough, it gets better, and much more fun once you hit a few of the Class defining milestones.

telprydain

danfilms wrote: »

That said, I recently maxed out the passive that gives +AC. OMG that feels sooo sweet being able to just stand in the middle of 8 adds and maintain my heals. I think my AC is around 38 right now at level 47, or something close. I bumped into another healer of similar level doing our dailies and his was like 19 AC, I can't image going back.

The problem is picking that AC power means you loose out on foresight, which is the single best mitigation power for keeping the team safe.

angrysprite

telprydain wrote: »

The problem is picking that AC power means you loose out on foresight, which is the single best mitigation power for keeping the team safe.

It used to be. I'm seeing reports that Foresight isn't what it used to be (utility-wise) in the upper levels 65+ and that the AC path has suddenly become very much a contender for some of the Paragon-specific feats in that tree. I'm not debunking your claim, only repeating what I've been seeing reported in other threads and my own experience feels like it confirms these reports.

My recommendation to anyone deciding with path to take: look very closely at the Paragon-specific encounters and dailies, then look at the feats and make your decision based on that. Foresight, as awesome as it is 1 through 60 becomes less important s you get into the high-tiers of end-game.

I have three DCs and I sent two of them over to the AC path, one still on the DO path. I'm really liking the AC side right now on the one who's made it into the level 70 stuff.

bkt5789

i think i might build my first AC cleric, though I'm not sure... I'm looking up for AC guides and that guide everyone links to favors a faithful DO which is more of a hybrid build over AC? and I'm looking to be full support. I was going to make another DO, but if aC is better I'd rather do that...

zachary4829

If you like being in the front lines then cleric is exactly what you want. You are going to be smacking mobs around most of the time as your life on hit at will is going to keep people going through most fights. This also charges your RB very quickly, once it is charged take a look at the group. If they need healing hit RB and then your AOE knockback four times, this drops a good PBAOE regen plus a three charg final heal and knockback.

If nobody needs healing then hit RB and Chains four times and out dps the TR that hasn't used stealth the entire dungeon.

Outside of heroics you will be the tank in most fights, but this isn't like a normal MMO, you can avoid the vast majority of damage just by sliding out of the way, most fights you'll feel more like Micheal Jackson than Mother Teresa. Potions are also plentiful, cheap, and on a short cool down, use them. Don't be afraid to run head first into groups, you don't need that tank until heroics, and he is slow as hell.

If you find yourself stressed and frantically looking for the one guy taking massive damage don't worry about him, he is standing in red, not using potions, and not worth your time.

gatorfanatic

bkt5789 wrote: »

i think i might build my first AC cleric, though I'm not sure... I'm looking up for AC guides and that guide everyone links to favors a faithful DO which is more of a hybrid build over AC? and I'm looking to be full support. I was going to make another DO, but if aC is better I'd rather do that...

AC is more of your PvP build

ponyforever

zachary4829 wrote: »

If you like being in the front lines then cleric is exactly what you want. You are going to be smacking mobs around most of the time as your life on hit at will is going to keep people going through most fights. This also charges your RB very quickly, once it is charged take a look at the group. If they need healing hit RB and then your AOE knockback four times, this drops a good PBAOE regen plus a three charg final heal and knockback.

What AOE knockback? Are you talking about Sunburst? I'm a level 47 and haven't used that in ages. I played in a skirmish with another cleric that was spamming Sunburst and swore I'd never use it in a party setting again :-P It's great for solo but horrible in group (except in something like Pirate where you can knock off bridge, but CW can do that). Nobody appreciates everything getting knocked back when they're trying to fight, haha.

I do sort of miss it, it's pretty fun to make enemies fly

I use Bastion of Health with divinity for heals. Otherwise, I agree with everything you said in your post.

To whomever asked if there is any way to reduce aggro, NO. I mistakenly took 3/3 in the feat and it does zero. Enemies give no cares. Learn to kite like a boss. You're tanky, you can do it!

rapier89

Sunburst has its uses. Like every skill in this game its knowing when to use it and when not to. I use bastion of health for main heals to cause it works for me and the groups i run with. think there is a few skills you can have that have a passive ability along with them that will reduce threat for a few seconds and can help out a little if other people are attacking the same enemy but i would have to load the game and look. In most situations though, if you pull aggro you will keep aggro and most boss trash spawns will generally always target the healer at first.

eroticdoom

I have no problem spamming SB it heals/damage and generates AP , so it upsets a few <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> swingers I'm doing my job protecting , buffing and healing.

A lot of the time PUGS will not even bother helping Cleric when they are swamped with trash so we do what we have to.