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I'm New and I Need ACTUAL Help

I've played the game for a week as a Dwarf Cleric (Arbiter) and finally hit 80 about twenty minutes ago. I decided to hard grind and keep going through various territories and enjoy the cool stuff I see along the way as I do on any established MMO I walk into. The problem I'm noticing is Neverwinter has next to no organized or informative Youtubers that can give direct and concise answers to things I need to know in the now. Silvery is about as close as I could find and she gets off-topic/prattles way too long. So I'm coming here begging for answers to get some ACTUAL direction in this game.

As a level 80 what are my primary concerns in the game? Obviously I need more AD and better gear but what do I need to know for long term playing routines? I'll organize some questions below.

What gear to I need and where do I go about looking for it?

How do I complete campaigns, I've done some Acquisitions Inc but notice it's time gated. Can I bypass this somehow to just play the damn campaign? Are all campaigns like this?

What are the primary methods of making AD? Is there a way to make AD efficiently as I go about my normal business playing?

What in-game currencies are important as of now?

Are stronghold activities worth committing a lot of time to? What are the benefits of doing them other than coffer dumps?

How do I get more cool stuff for my companions and mounts? How do I upgrade them or find better ones (unless it's pretty much AD spending)?

Are Arbiters viable in endgame and will the community willingly take a DPS cleric into activities?

Are there benefits to leveling up additional characters other than inventory space?

What are the uses of my standard currency (Gold, Silver etc.)?

What are the things I need to know as a new player freshly pushed into 80?

What is the blue exp filling up my 80 bar indicative of?

Is there a website I can refer to for up to date and concise information about the current state of the game?

My in game name is Braddik and my Discord handle is DiggaDraws#8255 if you want to pal around or teach me stuff in DMs.

Comments

  • plasticbatplasticbat Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 12,405 Arc User
    edited December 2019
    Did you finish any campaign before you reached level 80?
    Type ']' and it shows you various campaigns. Most of them starts from talking to Knox in PE.
    AD question is complicated. I will let others to help.
    The most important currency is AD.
    SH donation gives you guild mark which has various benefit. However, that ties to what your SH offers though. I will let your guild leader to inform you.
    Different events give you certain mount and companion. Mount cannot be upgraded. Companion is upgraded by companion token or AD.
    In the current stage, DPS cleric is not popular.
    Additional characters have many benefit. For example, each character can do its invocation which gives you goodies.
    Gold is useful for buy heal potion (if you need it). Gold is useful for doing profession (if you do it).
    There are many things you need to know if you rushed to 80.
    The blue exp shows your overflow XP. Move your cursor to the bar and it will show you more info.
    When you reach the overflow (125000), you will get XP reward which gives you random amount of rAD and XP.
    Use google to find info such as "Neverwinter Cleric build".
    *** The game can read your mind. If you want it, you won't get it. If you don't expect to get it, you will. ***
  • thefiresidecatthefiresidecat Member Posts: 4,486 Arc User
    edited December 2019
    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fP_cUugHdsObvQDzLFijGA-mVm_qLmSy0MI62aTLkDM/htmlview?usp=sharing&sle=true# this is a guide that has a ton of information.

    you want to not focus on the dps cleric. it's one of the weakest dps. if you want to heal you're ok as a cleric. I'd start a new toon and do a different dps role. you will have a hard time finding groups as a dps cleric.

    Join a guild. boons are good. people to play with are good. (wait I think you have since you mention stronghold activities)

    it's good to have various toons to deal with changes to the metas over the mods. although as a new player you want to choose one toon and gear it. gearing is expensive if you spread yourself too thin you'll never have a good toon. that said when you can afford it having more than one is nice for farming things like me's and fe's and in the past hunts and what not for grinding the newest gear.

    gold is pretty much only good for removing enchants and for crafting.

    the blue experience is just that. you get a small token every time you fill it. it doesn't really mean anything.

    stronghold activities are currently not really worthwhile. if they update mastercrafting there is a whole industry based on guild marks and mastercraft mats but it's complex wordy and currently not applicable. maybe in 6 months revisit.

    not all of the campaigns are time gated. but most are to some degree or other.

    as a quality of life thing vip is really nice. travel post, mail box no fees for ah (This is so important for making ad..) etc so QOL.. I couldn't play with out it. also daily key for lock boxes which is fun.

    for gear focus on undermountain. do me's and fe's.. get alabaster weapons. burnished are good but that's a little more end game. you can get fun drops from dungeons for your comps and mounts. you'll want to spend a little in the ah for some of it. you can get insignias pretty cheap. blue is probably your best value. you want a mount that gives you gladiators guile and wanderers fortune. you also want some quarter masters for your utility slots. save the bags you get from quartermasters for 2x enchants events. make sure your equipped quartermasters equal at least 11.5 percent (iirc that's right it might be 12) the rp is really good that way.

    ad and zen are the important currencies. you can make ad by doing random ques and me's and fe's. (me's fe's turn in your stones after doing them to zok under the stairs) you can also make ad by selling stuff that drops in dungeons. there are other ways to make ad but none are really that viable at this point in the game. once they add stuff back for master crafting there will be good money supplying the mastercrafters.

    for campaigns you can get thru most of them in a month/month and a half. my memory is not great for exact names but you can get by if you buy a few genies gifts for tyranny of dragons and icewind dale and storm kings thunder (those have the best payout for genies) and then do the main quests not all of them. there are the demon quests that are like three demon heroics that give a currency and then a main quest. the little quests aren't really necessary. with the extra currency from genies. just pay attention to what currency the campaign requires and what you get from doing various quests and what you can get from the genies vendor. I know this isn't really clear but you seem smart, hopefully it gives you a little direction lol. sharandar you can collect the quests and do all at once to save time. I don't do them every day when I level that. i do it a couple times a week.

    storm kings thunder is a bad campaign, cloaked ascendancy is a bad one too. storm kings thunder takes FOREVER. I either buy it out or skip it. as your only toon though you probably do want all the campaigns. it's going to take a while. don't feel you need to rush it. it will burn you out.


    chult imo is kind of fun but it's also a long haul.

    for establishing a routine. i'd pick a few campaigns and do the basics of it every day or every other day. there are a lot of them. you will burn out if you just do them. do some random ques. find some guildmates to take you thru. do your daily me's and fe's. for gear and ad.


    Focus your financial efforts on your companion. get the highest ranking bondings and empowered rune stones that you can. get your companion leveled as high as you can. augment pets give the most stats. although if you're not at legendary augment I think it's actually pretty close with a regular pet vs augment and the regular pet might be a little more help to you.


    hopefully this was at least a little helpful, i'm reckoning that my jumbled post will spur someone into action who levels toons a lot more than me, to correct my many inconsistencies lol.










  • carloswartune#5709 carloswartune Member Posts: 265 Arc User
    edited December 2019


    What gear to I need and where do I go about looking for it?

    The main things are an Augment Companion and 3 Bonding Runestones (from AH), gear from master Expeditions and Companion Gear from Warden Expeditions (You need to complete the Undermountain campaign to be able to do those).


    How do I complete campaigns, I've done some Acquisitions Inc but notice it's time gated. Can I bypass this somehow to just play the damn campaign? Are all campaigns like this?

    All campaigns, except the leveling ones (Intro Campaign, Elemental Evil and Undermountain) are time gated. The recent campaigns are gated by a weekly limit, and the older ones by daily quests. You can do Legacy Campaign quests from Sybella to get a little more currency, but those are limited to 3 per week.


    What are the primary methods of making AD? Is there a way to make AD efficiently as I go about my normal business playing?

    Random queues (dungeons). You can also get some by doing Master Expeditions.


    What in-game currencies are important as of now?

    AD.


    Are stronghold activities worth committing a lot of time to? What are the benefits of doing them other than coffer dumps?

    Nothing worth IMO, except the things to donate if your guild isn't maxed out yet.


    How do I get more cool stuff for my companions and mounts? How do I upgrade them or find better ones (unless it's pretty much AD spending)?

    Insignias drop from mobs, but to get the higher ones (epic and better) you'll have to spend a lot of AD. For companions, doing Warden Expeditions will give very good gear, but you'll need to get Bonding Runestones and Empowered Runestones (to give more power) from AH.


    Are Arbiters viable in endgame and will the community willingly take a DPS cleric into activities?

    A well built Arbiter can do LOTS of damage but, as you'll see soon, Arbiter is one of the hardest DPS classes to play. The net result is: most Arbiters out there deal very low damage, and that gives a very bad look for the class. Things get worse by the fact that there are very few who play Cleric as DPS, so build discussion is lacking. I've only seen two Arbiters doing good damage in dungeons out there, one of them being a guildie that left the game due to work reasons. The most important thing IMO is getting used to Perfect Balance (the last feat for Arbiter).
    Be warned, tho: the current class balance will probably have changed by the time you reach endgame. It changes very frequently.


    Are there benefits to leveling up additional characters other than inventory space?

    YES. By doing your Invocations on multiple characters, you will be able to buy more Coffers of Celestial Artifacts from the Vault of Piety, increasing your chance to get a Coalescent Ward (a very valuable item that guarantees a successful enchantment upgrade).


    What are the uses of my standard currency (Gold, Silver etc.)?

    The main use for Gold is professions, but they don't give anything of much worth in the current module. You will also need gold to remove enchantments from gear.


    What is the blue exp filling up my 80 bar indicative of?

    Overflow Experience. When it fills, you'll get a small reward of rAD (rough astral diamonds) and RP (refinement points).


    Is there a website I can refer to for up to date and concise information about the current state of the game?

    The best ones I can think of are the website by Janne and the Module 16 pocket wiki, by Rainer, but you'll probably need more experience in the game to fully benefit from them.
    Post edited by carloswartune#5709 on
  • oremonger#9999 oremonger Member Posts: 213 Arc User
    edited December 2019
    @sheriffdiggy#3301
    The Neverwinter Pocket Wiki that @thefiresidecat linked above is one of the best resources around.

    Jannes website is also one of the best resources around.
    LINK: Jannenw.info

    This guide may also help you.

    LINK: Arbiter Cleric Guide

    This guide is old but still has many valid strategies:
    NEVERWINTER ASTRAL DIAMOND FARMING GUIDE: MOD 16, UNDERMOUNTAIN

    Play what you find fun. Things change all the time in this game, what is top dog today may well be taken out back and shot tomorrow. I also suggest making multiple characters though, not only to hedge against future changes but also to INVOKE... Invocation is super important because of the things you can get with the ardent coins earned by invoking and the extra AD and Bonus RAD you earn while doing it.

    AND THIS
    "Focus your financial efforts on your companion. get the highest ranking bondings and empowered rune stones that you can. get your companion leveled as high as you can. augment pets give the most stats. although if you're not at legendary augment I think it's actually pretty close with a regular pet vs augment and the regular pet might be a little more help to you."- thefiresidecat

    Also, as soon as you can get a mount with a Wanderer's Fortune insignia bonus and at least one Quarter Master's enchant. Both will help you start gathering the refinement you are going to need to upgrade your enchants, weapons and artifacts.

    You can read about QM enchants here: Arax's Quartermaster Enchants are Awesome Guide The guide is old but still valid.

    Good luck! And Welcome!
    Post edited by oremonger#9999 on
  • jimmypdtjimmypdt Member Posts: 121 Arc User
    > @sheriffdiggy#3301 said:
    > I've played the game for a week as a Dwarf Cleric (Arbiter) and finally hit 80 about twenty minutes ago. I decided to hard grind and keep going through various territories and enjoy the cool stuff I see along the way as I do on any established MMO I walk into. The problem I'm noticing is Neverwinter has next to no organized or informative Youtubers that can give direct and concise answers to things I need to know in the now. Silvery is about as close as I could find and she gets off-topic/prattles way too long. So I'm coming here begging for answers to get some ACTUAL direction in this game.
    >
    > As a level 80 what are my primary concerns in the game? Obviously I need more AD and better gear but what do I need to know for long term playing routines? I'll organize some questions below.
    >
    > What gear to I need and where do I go about looking for it?
    >
    > How do I complete campaigns, I've done some Acquisitions Inc but notice it's time gated. Can I bypass this somehow to just play the damn campaign? Are all campaigns like this?
    >
    > What are the primary methods of making AD? Is there a way to make AD efficiently as I go about my normal business playing?
    >
    > What in-game currencies are important as of now?
    >
    > Are stronghold activities worth committing a lot of time to? What are the benefits of doing them other than coffer dumps?
    >
    > How do I get more cool stuff for my companions and mounts? How do I upgrade them or find better ones (unless it's pretty much AD spending)?
    >
    > Are Arbiters viable in endgame and will the community willingly take a DPS cleric into activities?
    >
    > Are there benefits to leveling up additional characters other than inventory space?
    >
    > What are the uses of my standard currency (Gold, Silver etc.)?
    >
    > What are the things I need to know as a new player freshly pushed into 80?
    >
    > What is the blue exp filling up my 80 bar indicative of?
    >
    > Is there a website I can refer to for up to date and concise information about the current state of the game?
    >
    > My in game name is Braddik and my Discord handle is DiggaDraws#8255 if you want to pal around or teach me stuff in DMs.

    Welcome to neverwinter. Strap in, you're in for one Hamster of a ride mate.

    Gear will depend on your path. Good places to look for builds are YouTube and mmominds. They will tell you what gear you most likely want. Then in game go to collections window. Ctrl+j. Find the items you want and mouse over it and at the bottom it will tell you where you can get that item from.

    Most campaigns are time gates. It sucks. Sorry mate. There is a buyout option but it's not really worth it. Elemental evil and under mountain are not time gates and can be finished when you want. Boons are nice but with the changes 8 months ago they have become less useful. Sorry again.

    Most ways have been killed off. Now most people run some random dungeons (needs to be random for the extra rough astral diamonds) and run some master expeditions with at least one rune in it for some AD from the Zok box. To make a rune you need to kill things in the heroic events in the under mountain areas. The appear as a color rune on the map. Go there and kill things. In your inventory at the bottom is a bunch of other currencies. In here is where rune fragments go. You need 10 of one type to make a rune. Then when you start you master expeditions there are 3 pedestals go to the left one and select it and create your rune then use it with the pedestal. You can also get some RAD from doing weekly quests from some zones.

    Gold for removing enchantments from gear and for professions.
    AD for buying what you need from the auction house.
    Seals from dungeons runs and heroic encounters for some gear and to turn into RAD (rough astral diamonds)

    If your guild stronghold is under level 20 then yes as you need to fill up the coffers to build and upgrade buildings to give your character a boost. Otherwise do a few everynow and then to make some guild Mark's and buy some guild food for a buff. You can have one potion, one event food, one guild food, one elixir and one invocation bonus.

    AD spending for a lot of stuff. Dungeon, trials runs (not the leveling ones) for a random chance at companions, mounts, well most things really. Now that you are level 80 go to the undermountain and get the free gear it's a nice boost and you get rank 8 enchantments. I have a video out on YouTube for new players that talks about important things new and vet players should be doing even in the leveling period. My name is OPTank on youtube and my main character is also that.

    Clerics are mostly wanted for a healer role. You can run as a dps but they are low to mid tier for damage. Also if you queue up as dps instead of heal you will have longer queue times. There are a lot more dps players out there than healers and tanks.

    Yes there are benefits to leveling up other characters. Other and myself have covered this in YouTube videos but that being said.
    Invoke atleast once per character per day to get you coin. Once you get 11 get the coffer for a chance at preservation and coal wards (used during upgrading items and enchantments).
    Great to run for events for more rewards.
    Storage. This is a big one.
    Professions.
    And others.

    Gold is used for removing enchantments from gear and professions.

    There are many campaigns that are thrown at you all at once. Best to pick a few and grind those out. If you have more time on you hands got up another one or two. Be careful not to burn yourself out by either doing too much too fast or doing too much of the same thing. Elemental evil and the undermountain are not time gated so you can do those whenever you feel like.
    As for everything else again others and myself have put out detailed YouTube videos on it. REMEMBER TO FIND SOMETHING FROM THE LAST 6 TO 8 MONTHS OR ANYTHING THAT SAYS MOD 16 OR HIGHER ON IT. Sorry for caps but I need you to read that as a lot has changed with MOD 16 launch 8 months ago.

    The blue xp bar is called over flow xp. When it's full you will get a small amount of refinement points (used for upgrading artifacts and enchantments) and RAD.

    So there are the forms here, reddit, youtube, twitch streamers, neverwinter also holds their own streams on twitch, neverwinter wiki (some of it is out of date), Jane's website for details and formulas for the game and Rainers pocket wiki (very useful). Now I'm doing this all on my phone and won't have access to my home computer till Friday night as I am with family so I can't supply you with all the websites. Sorry about that.

    If anyone else have the links available please post them for
    sheriffdiggy#3301 thank you.

    I hope this has helped.

    I wish you the best mate.
    OPTank_
  • jimmypdtjimmypdt Member Posts: 121 Arc User
    Thank you to @thefiresidecat I didn't see any posts when I started my write up for sheriffdiggy#3301
  • sheriffdiggy#3301 sheriffdiggy Member Posts: 11 Arc User
    You guys HAMSTER rock, it feels good to get some solid information.

    I guess my goal is to become one of the few Arbiters that can do the DPS necessary to be taken seriously- as I find the class to be incredibly enjoyable for it's aggression and flashy style.

    I have a few more questions if nobody here minds.

    Is Warlock DPS any good?

    Is Barbarian DPS any good?

    Do currencies share across characters, such as Simrils, Black Lead Flakes etc?

    How important is synergizing your race with a class? Do I have to be super meta to be relevant?

    What do I do with Dragon Tokens?


  • plasticbatplasticbat Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 12,405 Arc User

    You guys HAMSTER rock, it feels good to get some solid information.

    I guess my goal is to become one of the few Arbiters that can do the DPS necessary to be taken seriously- as I find the class to be incredibly enjoyable for it's aggression and flashy style.

    I have a few more questions if nobody here minds.

    Is Warlock DPS any good?

    Is Barbarian DPS any good?

    Do currencies share across characters, such as Simrils, Black Lead Flakes etc?

    How important is synergizing your race with a class? Do I have to be super meta to be relevant?

    What do I do with Dragon Tokens?


    In recent mods, people consider Warlock dps sucks. I personally don't have problem doing solo quests. You probably will have problem to work in group contents.

    Barbarian DPS is okay in my opinion.

    The currencies you mentioned cannot be shared. You can see that in the tooltips with "character bound". Certain currency can be shared.

    The attribute of the race can help the class but not super important.
    *** The game can read your mind. If you want it, you won't get it. If you don't expect to get it, you will. ***
  • jules#6770 jules Member Posts: 709 Arc User
    edited December 2019
    Race doesn't reaaaaally matter, I would recommend playing what you like best (or what you find the most fitting for your class) (((or dragonborn)))
    Dps is a bit of a gamble in this game depending on mod and how long you will stick around, currently 'pure' dps'ers like Wizard, Ranger, Rogue are ahead of others, but how far ahead depends and if you really dislike those three, you will end up with a bad performance too.
    I would recommend if you choose to invest into something in this game, character slots and/or try the classes each. A lot is different since M16, so a lot of guides are outdated atm, and some classes have a better synergy than others, but thats personal preference.

    Best thing to have is a good guild, I bet many of us on the forums are currently recruiting and you can choose what fits you best if you are searching for one, especially with how involved you already seem :)

    Feel free to add me ingame as well, we'll all stick together
    - bye bye -
  • thefiresidecatthefiresidecat Member Posts: 4,486 Arc User
    those currencies you mentioned in particular are only good during the event. and one week after as well. you can share ad gold tarm bars and comp tokens thru the banking system and ad can also be shared via buying zen in game with ad via the astra exchange. if you are going to invest anything in the game my suggestion would be VIP or the dragon born pack. the dragonborn pack gives you ddragonborn (the bis race) a good sided bag, epic mount and a good epic augment for every character you have. and a few other things the artifact is good too but artifacts are so cheap it doesn't really matter like it used to .
  • sheriffdiggy#3301 sheriffdiggy Member Posts: 11 Arc User
    Thank you everyone! I have a lot to work with here and decided to make an Orc Barbarian as my secondary character. I will continue my journey as Arbiter as I like a challenge and thrive when odds are against me (I did this as a solo Ranger in EQ and Gun Ranger in WoW).

    If any of you want to add me in game my ID is sheriffdiggy#3301. I find it hard to notice whispers sometimes so feel free to blow me up so I hear the pings over my YT music. :>
  • oremonger#9999 oremonger Member Posts: 213 Arc User
    Don't get too concerned about what class is the "Best" DPS. Everyone here can tell you that all classes have had their ups and downs over the years. A new Class balance pass will happen (MOD 18 and MOD 19) sooner or later and what is top dog today won't be tomorrow.

    Like I said above, pick something you like to play and play it until you don't like it anymore. If I remember right all accounts start with 2 or 3 character slots and you can often pick up more character slots really cheap during sales that happen throughout the year. Make a few different classes and see what you like.

    Check out that Arbiter Guide I linked above, I think you will find it REALLY useful.
  • sheriffdiggy#3301 sheriffdiggy Member Posts: 11 Arc User

    Don't get too concerned about what class is the "Best" DPS. Everyone here can tell you that all classes have had their ups and downs over the years. A new Class balance pass will happen (MOD 18 and MOD 19) sooner or later and what is top dog today won't be tomorrow.

    Like I said above, pick something you like to play and play it until you don't like it anymore. If I remember right all accounts start with 2 or 3 character slots and you can often pick up more character slots really cheap during sales that happen throughout the year. Make a few different classes and see what you like.

    Check out that Arbiter Guide I linked above, I think you will find it REALLY useful.

    I've decided a Dwarf Arbiter and a Dwarf Barbarian are my current interests and I won't be swayed from them. I'm not usually worried about meta but I ask for sake of maybe having one character that can effectively participate in the economy in order to make my other characters a bit more luxurious to play (if that makes any sense).

    I'm looking for friends to hang out with in game so if you wanna add me feel free! Just hit 44 on my barb and kinda screwed up by going STR CON instead of STR DEX for blademaster. I have to save up for a stat respec which is a bit frustrating since i have those on my arbiter, aargh
  • krumple01krumple01 Member Posts: 755 Arc User

    Don't get too concerned about what class is the "Best" DPS. Everyone here can tell you that all classes have had their ups and downs over the years. A new Class balance pass will happen (MOD 18 and MOD 19) sooner or later and what is top dog today won't be tomorrow.

    Like I said above, pick something you like to play and play it until you don't like it anymore. If I remember right all accounts start with 2 or 3 character slots and you can often pick up more character slots really cheap during sales that happen throughout the year. Make a few different classes and see what you like.

    Check out that Arbiter Guide I linked above, I think you will find it REALLY useful.

    I've decided a Dwarf Arbiter and a Dwarf Barbarian are my current interests and I won't be swayed from them. I'm not usually worried about meta but I ask for sake of maybe having one character that can effectively participate in the economy in order to make my other characters a bit more luxurious to play (if that makes any sense).

    I'm looking for friends to hang out with in game so if you wanna add me feel free! Just hit 44 on my barb and kinda screwed up by going STR CON instead of STR DEX for blademaster. I have to save up for a stat respec which is a bit frustrating since i have those on my arbiter, aargh
    Well to respond to you and the other poster on Arbiter. I play one of each class, they are maxed level and have all their campaigns completed, but I play cleric for my main. As far as that other poster comments on Arbiter, I almost completely disagree with everything he stated about the paragon.

    From my perspective, parties don't care if you queue as dps cleric arbiter build. If they need heals they might ask you to switch but I have never been told by anyone that I can't join a party (pugging) because I want to run dps cleric. In fact I have ran several Lair of Mad Mage where I am 2nd on paingiver.

    So those claims that Arbiter don't do much damage, is completely false and come from a player who doesn't know what they are talking about. Also I am not even perfectly geared to be a great Arbiter and I do good enough, I never get any party aggro because of it. In fact the ARbiter has some awesome burst aoe dmg but it comes down to getting into position, the right position, which is one reason the dps cleric doesn't always top the damage charts. It has moments when you can't deal damage, if you fail to balance your consumption of divinity, this can delay your damage, or if you constantly spend time trying to get into the right position, these are things that many of the other dps classes don't need to worry about.

    So Arbiter is totally and completely competitive at end game and pugging groups or premade groups. Just don't be set on expecting to never get asked to run Devout. Be open to being asked if you would switch to meet the party needs. If you resist this, it could cause problems for you later, players will remember clerics and you will get friend requests if you are a decent cleric who can heal and dps.

  • sheriffdiggy#3301 sheriffdiggy Member Posts: 11 Arc User
    krumple01 said:

    Don't get too concerned about what class is the "Best" DPS. Everyone here can tell you that all classes have had their ups and downs over the years. A new Class balance pass will happen (MOD 18 and MOD 19) sooner or later and what is top dog today won't be tomorrow.

    Like I said above, pick something you like to play and play it until you don't like it anymore. If I remember right all accounts start with 2 or 3 character slots and you can often pick up more character slots really cheap during sales that happen throughout the year. Make a few different classes and see what you like.

    Check out that Arbiter Guide I linked above, I think you will find it REALLY useful.

    I've decided a Dwarf Arbiter and a Dwarf Barbarian are my current interests and I won't be swayed from them. I'm not usually worried about meta but I ask for sake of maybe having one character that can effectively participate in the economy in order to make my other characters a bit more luxurious to play (if that makes any sense).

    I'm looking for friends to hang out with in game so if you wanna add me feel free! Just hit 44 on my barb and kinda screwed up by going STR CON instead of STR DEX for blademaster. I have to save up for a stat respec which is a bit frustrating since i have those on my arbiter, aargh
    Well to respond to you and the other poster on Arbiter. I play one of each class, they are maxed level and have all their campaigns completed, but I play cleric for my main. As far as that other poster comments on Arbiter, I almost completely disagree with everything he stated about the paragon.

    From my perspective, parties don't care if you queue as dps cleric arbiter build. If they need heals they might ask you to switch but I have never been told by anyone that I can't join a party (pugging) because I want to run dps cleric. In fact I have ran several Lair of Mad Mage where I am 2nd on paingiver.

    So those claims that Arbiter don't do much damage, is completely false and come from a player who doesn't know what they are talking about. Also I am not even perfectly geared to be a great Arbiter and I do good enough, I never get any party aggro because of it. In fact the ARbiter has some awesome burst aoe dmg but it comes down to getting into position, the right position, which is one reason the dps cleric doesn't always top the damage charts. It has moments when you can't deal damage, if you fail to balance your consumption of divinity, this can delay your damage, or if you constantly spend time trying to get into the right position, these are things that many of the other dps classes don't need to worry about.

    So Arbiter is totally and completely competitive at end game and pugging groups or premade groups. Just don't be set on expecting to never get asked to run Devout. Be open to being asked if you would switch to meet the party needs. If you resist this, it could cause problems for you later, players will remember clerics and you will get friend requests if you are a decent cleric who cant heal and dps.

    Any tips on what gear to look for as an Arbiter? Also tips on balancing my Divinity and information on how the Judgement system works?
  • krumple01krumple01 Member Posts: 755 Arc User

    krumple01 said:

    Don't get too concerned about what class is the "Best" DPS. Everyone here can tell you that all classes have had their ups and downs over the years. A new Class balance pass will happen (MOD 18 and MOD 19) sooner or later and what is top dog today won't be tomorrow.

    Like I said above, pick something you like to play and play it until you don't like it anymore. If I remember right all accounts start with 2 or 3 character slots and you can often pick up more character slots really cheap during sales that happen throughout the year. Make a few different classes and see what you like.

    Check out that Arbiter Guide I linked above, I think you will find it REALLY useful.

    I've decided a Dwarf Arbiter and a Dwarf Barbarian are my current interests and I won't be swayed from them. I'm not usually worried about meta but I ask for sake of maybe having one character that can effectively participate in the economy in order to make my other characters a bit more luxurious to play (if that makes any sense).

    I'm looking for friends to hang out with in game so if you wanna add me feel free! Just hit 44 on my barb and kinda screwed up by going STR CON instead of STR DEX for blademaster. I have to save up for a stat respec which is a bit frustrating since i have those on my arbiter, aargh
    Well to respond to you and the other poster on Arbiter. I play one of each class, they are maxed level and have all their campaigns completed, but I play cleric for my main. As far as that other poster comments on Arbiter, I almost completely disagree with everything he stated about the paragon.

    From my perspective, parties don't care if you queue as dps cleric arbiter build. If they need heals they might ask you to switch but I have never been told by anyone that I can't join a party (pugging) because I want to run dps cleric. In fact I have ran several Lair of Mad Mage where I am 2nd on paingiver.

    So those claims that Arbiter don't do much damage, is completely false and come from a player who doesn't know what they are talking about. Also I am not even perfectly geared to be a great Arbiter and I do good enough, I never get any party aggro because of it. In fact the ARbiter has some awesome burst aoe dmg but it comes down to getting into position, the right position, which is one reason the dps cleric doesn't always top the damage charts. It has moments when you can't deal damage, if you fail to balance your consumption of divinity, this can delay your damage, or if you constantly spend time trying to get into the right position, these are things that many of the other dps classes don't need to worry about.

    So Arbiter is totally and completely competitive at end game and pugging groups or premade groups. Just don't be set on expecting to never get asked to run Devout. Be open to being asked if you would switch to meet the party needs. If you resist this, it could cause problems for you later, players will remember clerics and you will get friend requests if you are a decent cleric who cant heal and dps.

    Any tips on what gear to look for as an Arbiter? Also tips on balancing my Divinity and information on how the Judgement system works?
    Well first of all item level of the items should take a back seat. Keep this in mind, item level isn't something you should chase. Instead you need several things all around to be a good healer or good dps which means you might need to carry equipment and companions that you change to really excel.

    So your gear for dps should focus power and crit strike, but also you need to meet the caps for armor pen as well as consider the caps for all the other stats so you aren't becoming a glass cannon. But power and crit strike are great for both healing and dps. So all your items should reflect this and in fact you want higher crit strike than your power but there is a balancing act.

    You want enchantments in your offensive slots that give you power but you might need to have a few that give crit strike too. So don't go overboard on only focusing power for enchantments.

    Your companion arrangement should also focus power and crit if you are running dps but you should consider companions that give outgoing healing bonus if you are running Devout.

    You will want to rank up 3 bonding runestones for your companion and run the best companion gear you can find that grants power and crit strike. But also keep in mind armor pen too so you can meet the cap for it. So rank up companions that continue to give you power and crit strike making sure your crit strike stays above your power. Keep pushing for 150k power and having crit strike over it.

    As far as mounts go, having a good combat power is always desired but also if you are lacking in power or crit strike you might want to consider a legendary mount that gives you either stat that you are lacking.

    Since the cleric is great at aoe and can hit multiple targets at the same time if you are in the right position, you can run vorpal or even lightning weapon enchantment. Lightning might seem controversial since it draws aggro from every mob it hits and will bring it to you, but actually for being great at aoe and drawing monsters into a tight group around you will make you even more effective at clearing trash. The vorpal however is better against bosses.

    Many players seem to want to maximize their wisdom and dex for both devout and arbiter. But this doesn't mean you need the belt set that gives wisdom and/or dex bonus. Many dps clerics run the demonlord set with the artifact to take advantage of the damage bonus proc. But the rest of your artifacts should be power and crit strike focussed. I personally like the Eye of Giant artifact because its a great AOE artifact if you time it correctly. But I see very few players actually use it.

  • thefiresidecatthefiresidecat Member Posts: 4,486 Arc User

    Don't get too concerned about what class is the "Best" DPS. Everyone here can tell you that all classes have had their ups and downs over the years. A new Class balance pass will happen (MOD 18 and MOD 19) sooner or later and what is top dog today won't be tomorrow.

    Like I said above, pick something you like to play and play it until you don't like it anymore. If I remember right all accounts start with 2 or 3 character slots and you can often pick up more character slots really cheap during sales that happen throughout the year. Make a few different classes and see what you like.

    Check out that Arbiter Guide I linked above, I think you will find it REALLY useful.

    I've decided a Dwarf Arbiter and a Dwarf Barbarian are my current interests and I won't be swayed from them. I'm not usually worried about meta but I ask for sake of maybe having one character that can effectively participate in the economy in order to make my other characters a bit more luxurious to play (if that makes any sense).

    I'm looking for friends to hang out with in game so if you wanna add me feel free! Just hit 44 on my barb and kinda screwed up by going STR CON instead of STR DEX for blademaster. I have to save up for a stat respec which is a bit frustrating since i have those on my arbiter, aargh
    I wouldn't stress over this. it reallllly doesn't matter much at all. each stat is worth just a tiny bit. it used to matter but it doesn't really now. if you're min maxing maybe but for a character just starting out I really wouldn't even give it a second thought.
  • thefiresidecatthefiresidecat Member Posts: 4,486 Arc User
    krumple01 said:

    krumple01 said:

    Don't get too concerned about what class is the "Best" DPS. Everyone here can tell you that all classes have had their ups and downs over the years. A new Class balance pass will happen (MOD 18 and MOD 19) sooner or later and what is top dog today won't be tomorrow.

    Like I said above, pick something you like to play and play it until you don't like it anymore. If I remember right all accounts start with 2 or 3 character slots and you can often pick up more character slots really cheap during sales that happen throughout the year. Make a few different classes and see what you like.

    Check out that Arbiter Guide I linked above, I think you will find it REALLY useful.

    I've decided a Dwarf Arbiter and a Dwarf Barbarian are my current interests and I won't be swayed from them. I'm not usually worried about meta but I ask for sake of maybe having one character that can effectively participate in the economy in order to make my other characters a bit more luxurious to play (if that makes any sense).

    I'm looking for friends to hang out with in game so if you wanna add me feel free! Just hit 44 on my barb and kinda screwed up by going STR CON instead of STR DEX for blademaster. I have to save up for a stat respec which is a bit frustrating since i have those on my arbiter, aargh
    Well to respond to you and the other poster on Arbiter. I play one of each class, they are maxed level and have all their campaigns completed, but I play cleric for my main. As far as that other poster comments on Arbiter, I almost completely disagree with everything he stated about the paragon.

    From my perspective, parties don't care if you queue as dps cleric arbiter build. If they need heals they might ask you to switch but I have never been told by anyone that I can't join a party (pugging) because I want to run dps cleric. In fact I have ran several Lair of Mad Mage where I am 2nd on paingiver.

    So those claims that Arbiter don't do much damage, is completely false and come from a player who doesn't know what they are talking about. Also I am not even perfectly geared to be a great Arbiter and I do good enough, I never get any party aggro because of it. In fact the ARbiter has some awesome burst aoe dmg but it comes down to getting into position, the right position, which is one reason the dps cleric doesn't always top the damage charts. It has moments when you can't deal damage, if you fail to balance your consumption of divinity, this can delay your damage, or if you constantly spend time trying to get into the right position, these are things that many of the other dps classes don't need to worry about.

    So Arbiter is totally and completely competitive at end game and pugging groups or premade groups. Just don't be set on expecting to never get asked to run Devout. Be open to being asked if you would switch to meet the party needs. If you resist this, it could cause problems for you later, players will remember clerics and you will get friend requests if you are a decent cleric who cant heal and dps.

    Any tips on what gear to look for as an Arbiter? Also tips on balancing my Divinity and information on how the Judgement system works?
    Well first of all item level of the items should take a back seat. Keep this in mind, item level isn't something you should chase. Instead you need several things all around to be a good healer or good dps which means you might need to carry equipment and companions that you change to really excel.

    So your gear for dps should focus power and crit strike, but also you need to meet the caps for armor pen as well as consider the caps for all the other stats so you aren't becoming a glass cannon. But power and crit strike are great for both healing and dps. So all your items should reflect this and in fact you want higher crit strike than your power but there is a balancing act.

    You want enchantments in your offensive slots that give you power but you might need to have a few that give crit strike too. So don't go overboard on only focusing power for enchantments.

    Your companion arrangement should also focus power and crit if you are running dps but you should consider companions that give outgoing healing bonus if you are running Devout.

    You will want to rank up 3 bonding runestones for your companion and run the best companion gear you can find that grants power and crit strike. But also keep in mind armor pen too so you can meet the cap for it. So rank up companions that continue to give you power and crit strike making sure your crit strike stays above your power. Keep pushing for 150k power and having crit strike over it.

    As far as mounts go, having a good combat power is always desired but also if you are lacking in power or crit strike you might want to consider a legendary mount that gives you either stat that you are lacking.

    Since the cleric is great at aoe and can hit multiple targets at the same time if you are in the right position, you can run vorpal or even lightning weapon enchantment. Lightning might seem controversial since it draws aggro from every mob it hits and will bring it to you, but actually for being great at aoe and drawing monsters into a tight group around you will make you even more effective at clearing trash. The vorpal however is better against bosses.

    Many players seem to want to maximize their wisdom and dex for both devout and arbiter. But this doesn't mean you need the belt set that gives wisdom and/or dex bonus. Many dps clerics run the demonlord set with the artifact to take advantage of the damage bonus proc. But the rest of your artifacts should be power and crit strike focussed. I personally like the Eye of Giant artifact because its a great AOE artifact if you time it correctly. But I see very few players actually use it.

    the bit about higher crit than power is NOT true for dps. if you're going dps you need 68k for arpen, accuracy, crit and 118k for combat advantage (but I think those numbers all go up 5k for the next mod) no more no less. everything else in power. you want rads for defense slots or one of the three stat stones that have hp for defense. if you're going for heals you want to get 5 comps with outgoing healing. you need your heals to be at 50 or 60 percent outgoing and you don't need arpen but you do need crit avoidance.
  • sandukutupusandukutupu Member Posts: 2,285 Arc User


    Any tips on what gear to look for as an Arbiter? Also tips on balancing my Divinity and information on how the Judgement system works?

    Think of the divinity system as a fuel tank. Where some of your more powerful powers use this fuel as opposed to time. I know not everyone is a big fan of my third Encounter Power, but I use it when surrounded I hit that and hope it refills my divinity. I try not to use it in melee parties. It has a good knock back and when melee fighters lose their target, they get upset.
    Encounter Powers: Forgemaster’s Flame (Single Target) req: 300 divinity, Searing Javelin (AoE) req: 240 divinity, Sunburst (AoE)
    The first 2 EPs use set amounts of divinity from your "fuel tank" recharging with TAB in combat is too slow. Five to six shots from my at will power Lance of Faith will fill the stacks of Burning Judgement hit TAB and refill the tank. If you have the divinity available you can use the stacks to fire off a power shot with Searing Javelin doubling the magnitude of the shot. I tend to aim my shots to the back of the crowd for the most damage.

    As for gear, you could end up get the best for mod 17 now, just to replace it in mod 18 or 19 later. There is always better gear around the next corner. Just put on something you can afford and wait for the module to drop. I personally upgrade my armor, if and when I feel like it. My cleric Dirk is still sporting at least 3 pieces of armor from Ravenloft mod 14. I plan to look for replacements for them when mod 18 drops.

    Have fun with your cleric! <3
    wb-cenders.gif
  • sheriffdiggy#3301 sheriffdiggy Member Posts: 11 Arc User


    Any tips on what gear to look for as an Arbiter? Also tips on balancing my Divinity and information on how the Judgement system works?

    Think of the divinity system as a fuel tank. Where some of your more powerful powers use this fuel as opposed to time. I know not everyone is a big fan of my third Encounter Power, but I use it when surrounded I hit that and hope it refills my divinity. I try not to use it in melee parties. It has a good knock back and when melee fighters lose their target, they get upset.
    Encounter Powers: Forgemaster’s Flame (Single Target) req: 300 divinity, Searing Javelin (AoE) req: 240 divinity, Sunburst (AoE)
    The first 2 EPs use set amounts of divinity from your "fuel tank" recharging with TAB in combat is too slow. Five to six shots from my at will power Lance of Faith will fill the stacks of Burning Judgement hit TAB and refill the tank. If you have the divinity available you can use the stacks to fire off a power shot with Searing Javelin doubling the magnitude of the shot. I tend to aim my shots to the back of the crowd for the most damage.

    As for gear, you could end up get the best for mod 17 now, just to replace it in mod 18 or 19 later. There is always better gear around the next corner. Just put on something you can afford and wait for the module to drop. I personally upgrade my armor, if and when I feel like it. My cleric Dirk is still sporting at least 3 pieces of armor from Ravenloft mod 14. I plan to look for replacements for them when mod 18 drops.

    Have fun with your cleric!
    Duly noted, let's hope I can find some consistent groups to play with.
  • froger#9967 froger Member Posts: 616 Arc User
    My thoughts on playing a Cleric as either Devout or Arbiter. I made my Cleric to get gear for my Barbarian (GWF) and never looked back (too much).

    Healers are always in demand. While I enjoy playing Arbiter far more than Devout I find I can get in group content faster as a healer. Many times I will join a group as Arbiter, but will switch to Devout.

    Arbiter can put up great DPS numbers, but attacks seem slower as compared to other classes. In group content I find mobs melt away if lined up properly (searing javelin), but boss damage seems to stack up slower due to building pips and managing divinity. It takes practice, especially if you have Perfect Balance active.

    Trying to do both paths effectively at or near end game is expensive. But, for much of the queued content you can be an effective healer with mediocre stats and gear. I've healed with old gear, Rank 8 enchants, etc. in much of the scaled content without a problem. I'm not sure how Arbiter holds up with lower grade gear as I haven't tried. So, with newer gear you probably just use one set of gear for both loadouts without much of a problem (except endgame).
    Froger - Barbarian - Original Main - The Freak Core - Xbone
    Jade - Cleric - Healer Main - The Freak Core - Xbone
    Magnus - Fighter - Tank for queues - The Freak Core - Xbone
    Loverboy - Ranger - Alt - 9 3/4 Unbuffed - Xbone
    Nomnomnommm - Wizard - Alt - Droppin Crits on Fools - Xbone
    I Am The Wall - Paladin - Alt - Droppin Crits on Fools - Xbone
    Xeros - Rogue - Alt - 9 3/4 Unbuffed - Xbone
    RIP bad name - Warlock - Alt - 9 3/4 Unbuffed - Xbone
    Bardholomew - Bard - Alt - 9 3/4 Unbuffed - Xbone
    Sirona - Cleric - Alt - 9 3/4 Unbuffed - Xbone

    Jade - DC - Shadows of Gauntlgrym - PC
  • greywyndgreywynd Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 7,152 Arc User


    Duly noted, let's hope I can find some consistent groups to play with.

    Join a guild.
    I'm not looking for forgiveness, and I'm way past asking permission. Earth just lost her best defender, so we're here to fight. And if you want to stand in our way, we'll fight you too.
  • sandukutupusandukutupu Member Posts: 2,285 Arc User


    Duly noted, let's hope I can find some consistent groups to play with.

    On that note, there are many guilds to welcome active players. But you don't want a fly by night guild where you end up the only active player after 6 weeks. My advice to people seeking guilds in the game; Press O to open the Social Menu, Find Guild tab on the far right, click the purple man icon, and sort this column high to low. You now have a list of the guilds most active and seeking new recruits. You can look at websites or check out their discord page. My 4 guilds are just used as banks, the one I belong to is a bunch of friends who show up for new mods. I have a few guilds, I chat with on Facebook and Discord, but I never joined them.

    Drop by to look in guild recruitment here on the forums. :+1:

    wb-cenders.gif
  • thefiresidecatthefiresidecat Member Posts: 4,486 Arc User
    Healers going back in to scaled content are basically worthless if they are end game come to think of it. Probably best off with a baby healer for doing scaled content.. do healers do any good with low level equip in scaled content or is it all kind of pointless? (That question for the experienced heals here)
  • froger#9967 froger Member Posts: 616 Arc User

    Healers going back in to scaled content are basically worthless if they are end game come to think of it. Probably best off with a baby healer for doing scaled content.. do healers do any good with low level equip in scaled content or is it all kind of pointless? (That question for the experienced heals here)

    I suppose it depends on the group. Healing is a two way street, requiring the other players to have some incoming healing as well as the healer to 1) have power&crit to heal and 2) have outgoing healing. Naturally, if the other players get hit less, then healing becomes less of a burden. Someone told me in LoMM I healed them for 1.6 million HP with a single intercession, saying that's the biggest heal they've seen. I've also been called the worse healer someone ever ran with because I struggled to heal a tank with 500k HP and 0% incoming healing.

    For scaled content I will sometimes equip Tiamat set with R8 enchants and Fey weapons with R8 enchants. There have been times it works better because of AP gain and outgoing healing % increase. Also, if I'm on Arbiter and switch to Devout to grab a random queue for the role bonus, I usually don't bother transferring empowered runestones over, usually my companion equipment is empty (there is companion gear, but no runestones). I may have gear equipped without any enchants if it's slotted in the Arbiter loadout gear. Generally it isn't a problem. I suppose it doesn't matter too much for anything below Castle Never, except Malabog (that one is brutal right now). CN has a few things in there that hit for over 200k HP.
    Froger - Barbarian - Original Main - The Freak Core - Xbone
    Jade - Cleric - Healer Main - The Freak Core - Xbone
    Magnus - Fighter - Tank for queues - The Freak Core - Xbone
    Loverboy - Ranger - Alt - 9 3/4 Unbuffed - Xbone
    Nomnomnommm - Wizard - Alt - Droppin Crits on Fools - Xbone
    I Am The Wall - Paladin - Alt - Droppin Crits on Fools - Xbone
    Xeros - Rogue - Alt - 9 3/4 Unbuffed - Xbone
    RIP bad name - Warlock - Alt - 9 3/4 Unbuffed - Xbone
    Bardholomew - Bard - Alt - 9 3/4 Unbuffed - Xbone
    Sirona - Cleric - Alt - 9 3/4 Unbuffed - Xbone

    Jade - DC - Shadows of Gauntlgrym - PC
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