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Solo leveling as a DPS cleric
crystal892f
Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 385 Arc User
Hey guys, I'm leveling my first DC (DPS; Lashing Light build described here) and am on the edge of quitting in Ebon Downs. The difficulty difference between soloing as a CW (my first char) and a DC is ridiculous. CW was more than a cakewalk in comparison.
My Setup: I'm running Healing Word (otherwise I would die even earlier...), Chains and Daunting Light; Spears and Astral Seal; and Flame Strike. I'm geared green mostly up to level (-4 max) and have a Tank as companion.
But the companion doesn't help much. ~8k HP on Level 15? Really? That's 4 - 5 hits from the semi-boss mobs in the Barrows...
And I find the damage output incredibly low even when going DPS and having always updated weapons. I mean, I need 2 - 3 FULL rotations of Spears (non-crit) to get a NON-elite mob down (yes, the stupid simple zombies). I tried the DoTs, but with Forgemasters Flame I could barely kill a zombie (non-crit).
I can't CC very well either (Chains don't hold very long and Divine Sun Burst buys you maybe 2 seconds, until the mobs are in your face again) and you have fewer dodges.
So what am I supposed to do?! Either I'm doing something horribly wrong, or I don't know... I would like to hear some tips from you more experienced DCs.
How did you level (without too much frustration)?
My Setup: I'm running Healing Word (otherwise I would die even earlier...), Chains and Daunting Light; Spears and Astral Seal; and Flame Strike. I'm geared green mostly up to level (-4 max) and have a Tank as companion.
But the companion doesn't help much. ~8k HP on Level 15? Really? That's 4 - 5 hits from the semi-boss mobs in the Barrows...
And I find the damage output incredibly low even when going DPS and having always updated weapons. I mean, I need 2 - 3 FULL rotations of Spears (non-crit) to get a NON-elite mob down (yes, the stupid simple zombies). I tried the DoTs, but with Forgemasters Flame I could barely kill a zombie (non-crit).
I can't CC very well either (Chains don't hold very long and Divine Sun Burst buys you maybe 2 seconds, until the mobs are in your face again) and you have fewer dodges.
So what am I supposed to do?! Either I'm doing something horribly wrong, or I don't know... I would like to hear some tips from you more experienced DCs.
How did you level (without too much frustration)?
Post edited by crystal892f on
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I also used different dailies that made me stronger rather than increasing dps. Also armor, try to get blue gear if you can.
And try having your stats at least until 60 in constitution too. etc.
I did fine but it took some working to get her where she was viable solo.
Be cautious about minidungeon end-bosses. You'll need to bring your "A" game to those fights and really maximize your use of dodging, positioning, potions, and the companion to succeed.
I found leveling my DC to be more difficult than leveling my GWF, but far from impossible. A player in my guild recently powerleveled her DC from 1 to 60 in about 5 days without much trouble, so it's definitely possible to succeed.
Hope that helps!
1. Hit 60 with enough glory for full set of t1 pvp gear.
2. The xp for a good win can get you anywhere from 4k-6k xp.
3. I learned the class from playing pvp, which was at times as much fun as it was frustrating. DC has extreme strengths and weaknesses in pvp, but heals are always welcome either way.
This is my DC guide to leveling
Dealing Astral Seal to almost any enemy in sight to gain some Bonusheal back.
Playing solo, same on teams, I do pretty well with Brand of the Sun - can manage my Divinity the best that way - also dealing to almost every enemy.
Tried various companions on leveling, to me it was the best with the wayward wizard, dont know why, but he stays longer alive than the others and I can manage the aggro way better.
As pwniexpress said, learn dodge and kiting - also learn to "read" the enemies so you aren't only dodging away from red circles, also dodge their stronger attacks.
From time to time it feels kinda frustrating being solo with cleric, but may you just ask and find 1-2-3 folks for questing, thats also a way to get it much more easier.
Leveling with cleric solo will be kinda hard in forever I guess, but its possible.
I did it most way to 60 solo, even if it was harder and took longer than on others - it was fun, and I still love to play cleric as main character.
So far leveling my cleric was the easiest of all classes. Maybe not fastest but definitely safest.
SB/DL/DG when all available. HF+foresight until you get prophetic or whatever increases damage. Any dailies work, FS is what i used in conjunction with Guardian.
I think the entire time i leveled i only had to party up once for the fight with the big wolf thing. Outside of that just quested all the way solo.
Maybe it was because of being my first character, but it was easy and quick. I beat out 5 of my friends leveling (all other classes than DC).
I ran this map with divine searing light (only divine), daunting light and sunburst. Then I noticed that a divine FF was keeping me alive much more efficiently than sunbrst so I switched spells and kept running the rest of the map with FF+DL+Chains.
As soon as I got Astral Shield (lv 51) I made sure to keep it up at all times (but this was waaaaay before it got nerfed so idk how it's now the life of a leveling cleric). Then i went with DL and DG as complementaries. Those never left my bar while leveling. I would occasionally slot Searing Light for VERY crowded places.
The next maps you'll see after Ebon Downs are quite easy until you get to the Volcanic area. There you feel like HAMSTER again. And once you're done there, feeling exceptionally accomplished you can take a deep breath because once you go underground and the spiders begin dispelling your Astral Shield while random drows rush to you hitting you for thousands while you just practically scratch them you will most likely quit questing until you get a T1 set.
Purple gear makes your life easier, but every quest and even some foundries will still take you wayyyy longer than with your CW.
Deal with it.
I want this class in NW.
#1 - Use cleric companion.* It heals more then your healing word until you hit level 60 and get alot of power. It also draw alot of more aggro then the tank companion. (lol) Any cleric not using the cleric companion waste their encounter power slot for crappy healing word thus wasting damage potential.
#2 - Use sunburst. It not only heals you, but also your companion.
#3 - focus on killing minions first and fast by using sunburst (always non-divine), chains of light and daunting light (later replace chains of light against divine glow). Don't use single target spells, beside against endboss in dungeons.
#4 - Use your dodge skill
#5 - Never use divine powers against the one stronger target within the minion griup, but build up divinity with powers and use your punishing light (devine mode at-will replacement) to do damage while powers are on cooldown.
rotate
*No companion will scale beyond the character level of 30, beside you want to waste your astral diamonds to upgrade. However, the cleric companion will always heal for a fixed amount of % hp.Even if it dies in battle - who cares, it will respawn instantly after battle and heal you.
PS: While leveling, focus on crit as primary attribute. Crit increase you damage more then power while at the same time helps your healing.
I was using sunburst, healing word and chains (flame strike as daily, sunburst and brand of the sun as soon as I could) while leveling my DC, tho if I had to do it now, I think I would rather use daunting light instead of chains.
Do not worry so much about gear, you'll change it rather sooner than later, but choose power and recovery if you can.
And yeah, I also liked wizard companion best, tho doggy was not bad too.
Don't talk to me about Idris, though. I'm still traumatized from my first run-in with her.
Kaylee Krankenwagen, level 60 GF | Tavandruil Wayfinder, level 49 GWF | Aldith Langley, level 51 HR
Some notes / remarks / questions to your responses:
- I read several times you outleveled a zone. How? I do nearly every quest in a zone. The only ones I don't do are the party dungeon and skirmish. Give the last two really so much XP that you can be up to 3 levels above a zone's level?
- Regarding Sunburst: I have Healers Lore slotted and a Sunburst Rank 3, but non-divine it only healed me during my test yesterday for about 300 HP - when I have about 10k HP. I will test this today again, because that seemed way too low.
- Wizard as a companion is a better tank than a Tank? Will try that - 2 gold isn't much.
- Regarding Searing Light: I leveled this in the beginning, but it disappeared from my bar quite fast. The single target damage didn't convince me very well and neither did the AoE in divine. I tested this yesterday again and was still not convinced. Not worth a precious slot, when you have only 3 anyways.
Regarding Ebon Downs: I didn't even bother trying the Barrow Lords again solo, so I asked in zone chat and a TR 39 helped me. No problems at all.
I'm in Vellosk now and the power switch that worked best for me was FF for Chains. With a divine FF on a elite-/boss-mob and Healing Word on both me and my tank, we can handle the elite + normal mob groups quite well. Sure, it takes longer than I am still used to from my CW, but hey - it works.
This setup also kept both of us alive in the Shadar-Kai-Enclave boss fight (last boss I fought). Although it took forever to take him down - not only thanks to my tank standing in the life steal attack. The healing from divine FF is REALLY helpful.
I also tried Prophecy of Doom, but wasn't impressed at all. The damage is low (even with the so called "large amout of damage" when an elite is still alive after it ends). It's only on rank 1, though. But I can't see it getting much better. What's your take on this power?
Thanks again, guys. :-)
About outleveling zone... do you do some daily quests too? Like foundry? And skirmishes are good because of AD too
Sunburst heal is a HAMSTER, no doubt about it (dmg is not so goood as well, actually), Prophecy of Doom is weak.
Generally about running solo with DC, I see 2 pproaches: 1. using tanking pets and skills like Hallowed ground and later Astral shield to make yourself less squishy 2. "kill them before they kill you" - dmg dealing encounters (but still with healing word) and daily, + wizard companion. Whatever you like, tho 2nd makes it a bit faster.
Never liked this power, though it's got limited use for throwing stuff off cliffs. IMO, your best bet is going with DL+FF+HW until you get Astral Shield. Occasional potions are useful, too. Like someone said, maxing Crit helps a lot.
It's a great power early on, up until maybe around level 30-40. Gotta line up the mobs for best effect, and in Divine it chains off every mob hit, resulting in multiple AoEs, which allows to take out big groups in one hit (that's unless something got changed recently).
You can basically spec around it to maximize AP gain, rest is useless last I checked. The feat that adds a heal to it is very weak as well. You're better off with FF or BtS.
P.S. Brand of the Sun is, IMO, a better at-will than Astral Seal, especially combined with the feat that adds a debuff to it.
Wizard isnt a better tank, but he almost never aggroes - so most times if hes dead, by AoE idle, but not that often by a normal strike.
So he is dealing his little amount of dmg kinda constantly...
Compared to the 1-Hit-Wonder that should be a "tank" (tanking maximum 2 enemies, never seen more at him, most times only one.) the wizard is better.
Additionaly most melee pets spend their time in running, than damaging I noticed...
Also with cleric could work pretty good by let her doing the heal and concentrate mostly on killing.
I also was 2-3 levels above zones back in time - pretty simple by daily foundries, skirms and PvP. (ADs are just a nice benefit)
1) Use the Cleric companion. Her heal is 20% of your HP, so she is the only white companion that scales with you.
2) Make sure you have 3 in the feat Repurpose Soul and as much crit as you can. I would aim for 30% at minimum.
2) Diving Searing Light. Your best spell for clearing trash, and perhaps the best spell for clearing trash in the whole game. It does not have the 5 target limit your other spells do. ALL the crits will heal you 15% if you're close enough for a massive burst heal with some luck.
3) Sunburst! This is probably our best designed spell. Again, ALL the crits will heal you 15%: both damage from mobs and anyone it heals including your companion. This can turn out to be a more healing than you think.
4) Don't be stingy with your potions. They're cheap. Much cheaper than kits.
5) You can upgrade green gear every even level. It's okay to skip one even level, but don't skip two. Keep your gear within 4 levels. It's cheap on the auction house.
6) Always always get the best Symbol you can. Usually there is a blue one up for a reasonable price. The main think you want to look at is weapon damage. It's the main factor in your damage and healing. It's far more important than any other stat. It's worth dropping a bit of money on this if you need to.
Forgemaster's flame outheals it by a mile and a half and better yet: it's not affected by the Big Bad R or Righteousness (unlike sunburst). Same as AShield.
Ebon Downs is easy if you got AoE firepower, if not those hordes of zombies will eat you alive in less than a second. But really, your firepower will just decrease from lv 30ish onwards. Your daunting light will stop 1-hitting crowds of creepers and that will be very annoying.
I want this class in NW.
Some of the area dungeon bosses can get quite difficult, but nothing that can't be done.
I gather cheap blues from the AH every few levels, greens if those are too expensive.
Here's my setup:
Healer's Lore
Foresight
Sun Burst
Searing Light
Chains of Blazing Light
Lance of Faith
Sacred Flame
Flame Strike
Divine Armor
If you do a sunburst followed by a divine chains, you can pretty much clear any trash mob. With the harder mobs, use searing light, flame strike, just keep attacking.
I use divine armor against bosses.
Don't worry about your healing skills at this time; they won't be good enough to help you during a fight.
Potions will definitely be your friend.
I only have a few days worth of experience with cleric, but that's gotten me to level 42 solo so far, and hopefully further.
Hyenas@zokir - Essence of Aggression
If you crit with sunburst and hit 5 targets with damage and 1 target (your companion) with the heal, that's something like (5 * 1.75 * 0.15) heal from the damage, .15 of the heal on your companion, and .6 of the heal on yourself. Total healing is double the normal tooltip amount. I don't know if that's as much as FF, but it generates divinity (instead of taking a pip), it does moderate damage to 5 targets, and it quite a bit shorter cooldown. And you can use the knockback should you need it. It's a great ability, IMO. All DC powers should be modeled that way.
I guess my point is, FF is not AoE firepower, as you say. It's a better heal (maybe, I don't know with the stealth-nerf-bug thing), but it doesn't help you wipe out the packs. I would mainly use it to charge up divinity for searing light and daunting light. That's what will clear the packs quick.
Oh yeah, and if you want a laugh, get some Life Steal, up to maybe 10% or 15%. It's much better your self-healing. xD
Features: Healer's Lore, Foresight
Dailies: Flame Strike
Encounters: Chains of Blazing Light, Daunting Light, Sun Burst
At Wills: Lance of Faith, Astral Seal
I used the dire wolf for my pet. My equipment is drops from leveling, mostly green.
I frequently don't have time for questing until weekends when I don't have work or classes, so I just log in and invoke / profession 5 days a week. Consequently DC is still only partway through the Chasm quest-wise while my CW is level 43 and just halfway through Neverdeath. Frankly it's annoying to be too overleveled, but it does help to be a couple of levels above the baseline for the zone.
Honestly, I don't use Sunburst for the damage or the heal, although both are just enough to be helpful -- I use it for the knockback. It's basically like getting an extra dodge since you have a few seconds during which the mob can't hit you before they run back up to you. That's why I only use it in divinity.
The trick I used with Searing Light was to line-of-sight it since it pierces enemies -- get up somewhere that you can attack from range, and line yourself up so that you can hit more than one enemy in a line with the main beam. It's even better to do this in divinity for the AoE. That said, I dropped it for FF, so it depends on your style.
I've never had any luck at all with Prophecy of Doom either. I just don't know how to use it and have never noticed an effect with it. If it's not working for your style, I've heard good things about Daunting Light. You might save a few points to spec into it. I regret not doing that for my DC.
Kaylee Krankenwagen, level 60 GF | Tavandruil Wayfinder, level 49 GWF | Aldith Langley, level 51 HR
Trash mobs:
Chains of Blazing Light
Divine Glow
Daunting Light
Minibosses/CC immune mobs:
Prophecy of Doom/Break the Spirit
Divine Glow
Daunting Light
At wills:
Lance of Faith
Brand of the Sun
Daily Powers:
Flame Strike
Divine Armor
Class Features:
Holy Fervor
Terrifying Insight
The way I use this is to throw use Chains to root the mobs then use Divine Glow to debuff before following up with Divine Daunting Light to finish them off. If you want you can throw divine glow first to buff the damage done by chains or use it in divinity mode to buff your own damage. If any are still alive I throw BotS on them and kite until they die to build up my divinity again.
For minibosses and cc immune mobs I throw Divine glow first then Prophecy or BtS for the debuff before stacking brand of the sun on the target(s) before using either divine or normal DL(depending on enemy speed). Throw Lance and refresh BotS until the encounters come off cooldown and repeat as needed. If the target isn't CC immune, I would use Forgemasters Flame instead of BtS or Prophecy for the slow.
The dailies shouldn't need much explanation, flamestrike is by far and away the best leveling damage daily, however if in a 1v1 situation can be swapped with Angel or Hammer. Divine Armor is the obligatory OHCHIT power giving you a buffer in which run away and pot(or wait for pot to CD).
Terrifying Insight and Holy Fervor are my preferred class features because they boost my damage output(quite significantly) and AP gain. I don't slot the heal powers simple because it's quicker and more effective to chug a pot than heal myself in a fight.
I haven't used Sunburst since the minidungeon in Rothe Valley where you kill the Drider and I only used it to throw mobs off a bridge. IMO, it's a pretty worthless power.
Just finished Pirates Skyhold. Had no troubles with it or Ebon Downs. Daunting light will 1 hit most smaller mobs. Put in divinity with bigger aoe circle; you can pretty much daunting light a pack of 4 mobs with 1 push of the button.
My layout is pretty much DPS oriented, Ive done this with every healer ive played in games; then respec endgame. If you have lvling partner this is less of an issue. Encounters are Daunting light, sunburst, and the searing light. At wills are Lance and Brand of Sun. Daily I think flamestrike.
Also the I use the cleric companion, the white one, with no gear or enchants. Just dodge when needed and daunting light the packs of smaller mobs (course get the big ones in the aoe range too if you can).
LvL 47 healer. LVLing.
I may just pvp once I hit 50 to get enough glory to buy t1 pvp gear when I hit 60.
Fox Stevenson - Sandblast
Oh Wonder - Without You
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
- Dylan Thomas
60 here we come!
Fox Stevenson - Sandblast
Oh Wonder - Without You
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
- Dylan Thomas
In the dungeons I was the secondary cleric. Came 3rd in damage in CT tying with a 9.3K CW for most of the dungeon until the boss. In CC I was again, secondary cleric and topped the chart by 1.5 mill over a CW(DC, DC, CW, GF, GWF party). All in all an all out DPS cleric is a lot of fun, especially since you can act as a backup mini healer if your main healer is having problems or goes down by using either HG, DA or if you specced into it(and you should) AS. However it should be noted that people probably won't take you into a dungeon without a actual healing spec or hybrid spec cleric as well.
But, 50+ is not to hard as you finally have AS. Dungenering is quite nice practice for T1, but the PvP set is actually quite good and generally a tad underrated.
ps this was the first thing while lvling I found frustratin with dc. so overall my expierence lvling was very enjoyable. love daunting light.
But also miss. Yah Im pvping 50-60 not because Im having any difficulty at all. But just so I have enough glory when I ding 60 to buy pvp set. You say its underrated? I like to hear that. I was hopeing itd be at least basic/decent enough to help get me started on t2, you think that's possible?
How is the GG set for pve? (course understanding both these sets im lookin at are "pvp" sets) I suppose as long as my stats are properly balanced and my powers/feats are properly specceed? And being an experienced mmo healer, understanding placement, aggro, but also realizing t his is isn't tab based. you think ill be alright?
Fox Stevenson - Sandblast
Oh Wonder - Without You
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
- Dylan Thomas