New Cleric, Need Build Help

sharpfangjr · December 2013

I'm wanting to level a cleric next and having trouble finding a recent build to suit me. I plan to roll half-orc but will consider any good arguments for another race. I plan to focus on PvE with occasional PvP. I plan to level with man-at-arms companion. Basically, just something that levels reasonably quickly with minimum downtime. I completely expect to heal skirmishes and dungeons when I queue.

Thanks in advance.

vorphied · December 2013

Going to make this a brief reply because A) there are already many builds on the forums and

I tend to wax preachy if I get rolling.

- Half-elves make well-rounded clerics
- Halflings make the best deflect clerics and enjoy a small degree of CC resist
- Half-orcs are mainly chosen by those looking to maximize crit severity over anything else, I believe
- Humans offer extra heroic feat points if your chosen build simply can't do without them (IMO there aren't enough useful heroic feats for DCs that this is really an issue, though)

Any companion will do, but you might find that, out of the starter companions, the cleric actually simplifies your leveling the most. As you acquire AoE powers, you will want enemies to bunch up on you so that you can clear efficiently, and the cleric companion reduces your need to heal at low levels, which allows you to slot for as much damage as possible.

sharpfangjr · December 2013

Get as preachy as you want. I'm always interested in learning more about the game.

morsitans · December 2013

Don't go human, the three extra feats aren't worth it (as vorph says).

Don't be an idiot like I was and focus on heals as you level: we have some ridiculous nuke spells, so use them (no need to sacred flame everything to death). Searing light is wonderful if you can bunch up monsters (or get them in a conga line), ditto daunting light. Chains of blazing light can very nicely immobilise everything so you can daunting light them.

Get the cleric companion AND the tank companion (they're cheap after all): tankman will be good for practicing your healing (though be aware that he is rubbish and will die a lot no matter how hard you try) and littlemissHealbot will let you concentrate on doing some damage. Switch em out as and when you feel like it.

craeh1 · December 2013

vorphied wrote: »

- Half-elves make well-rounded clerics
- Halflings make the best deflect clerics and enjoy a small degree of CC resist
- Half-orcs are mainly chosen by those looking to maximize crit severity over anything else, I believe
- Humans offer extra heroic feat points if your chosen build simply can't do without them (IMO there aren't enough useful heroic feats for DCs that this is really an issue, though)

- Tieflings got a rocking tail and develish horns, and a very nice twisting RP aspect.

Don't worry too much about healing only - with some brained team you can heal a lot just by some rare core skills like Astral Shield and Astral Seal.
There are various builds and most working fine, I run hybrid specs at my clerics, check some guides, most should still work.

About the companions, get the cleric and man-at-arms.
Cleric for most way of storyline and equip damage spells only, at minibosses the man-at-arms works sometimes well...

vorphied · December 2013

trendor77 wrote: »

Get as preachy as you want. I'm always interested in learning more about the game.

I guess what I'd say is take everyone's advice (including mine) with a grain of salt. You'll find a wide array of opinions on DC-building and gameplay, and many of them are "correct" depending on the context.

Your choice of race is certainly not going to make or break your experience. If you're really into min-maxing, then you'll want a race with attributes that complement your end-game vision of your DC. If not, then any race will do. I do love the look of Tiefling clerics, for example, even though they don't have the absolute optimal stat bonuses for the class.

I think the best thing anyone can do to learn is to get a general idea down and then take off running. As you play through the levels, you will start to learn how all of the encounters work and how you enjoy playing the character. Theorycrafting isn't very useful until you have context in gameplay.

theosymphany · December 2013

Hi Trendor, NW is in need of clerics like you who are eagar to learn! Half Orc is fine. For all your questions- check out the resource guide in my signature on stat/skill/feat discussion and it's probably got it covered.

New Cleric, Need Build Help

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