GUIDE: DC - PVE Healer w/ Defense Balance

jenisyde · December 2013

GUIDE: Devoted Cleric - Healer Beacon of Faithful
By: <Genocidal Tendencies>

Notes: This guide is just a reference to anyone looking for insight. Everyone's play styles differ, and some things might not work for all. A lot of the things explained are based off of play style and coordination with the group. My stats, equipment, feats, ect are just what worked for me based of said variables. I'd like to also say I am not carrying an Ion Stone of Allure yet in these screenshots. Since then i've acquired the stone, as well as upgraded to all Rank 7 enchantments, and this build works even better. My basic theory is balance of the sort in this build. Instead of stacking power or crit so heavily, I go with a little more survivability. Also this build is based off the Beacon of Faith armor set. That being said let's get started

Equipment:
I go with the Beacon of Faith set (900 Recovery/Crit Proc). The 60second cooldown on the proc is long, but it basically goes for the beginning of every fight. It also works well with my build and play style. I sacrifice some power/crit to help raise defensives in my core stats.

Power: 4667 + (700 from Rising Hope) = 5367
Critical: 1985 + (900 Beacon of Faith) = 2885
Recovery: 2472 + (900 Beacon of Fath/360 Rising Hope) = 3732

Ability Scores:
Balanced

Stat Balance

Power:
It's never a bad thing to have too much power for any class. The stat is non-diminishing, however it is certainly ok to hold back at a certain point to help other stats catch up for this build. Especially with FEAT: Bountiful Fortune (15% Recovery/Power Proc). Again coupled with the Beacon of Faith (900 Recovery/Crit Proc), it can make for some great synergy to help make up for pulling some numbers out of power, and into another stat. Once you hit 3500-4000ish, its ok to spread the stats.

Critical Strike:
The same theory is applied to critical strike as talked about with power. With crit floating at about 2000ish, I am getting 28.6% crit chance. Anything over 30% in my opinion is too much. 1/4 to 1/3 chance isn't too much of a difference, especially with Beacon of Faith & FEAT: Bountiful Fortune kicking in. Try to keep this stat at 2000.

Armor Penetration:
Not important on this spec

Recovery:Third times a charm with this spec as recovery gets the same treatment with the Beacon of Faith and FEAT: Bountiful Fortune. This is a very important stat that I wish I could pull up a little more. I would like to have this at about 2500ish, but anything close to this number should suffice with the amount of synergy happening. With the diminishing return at 3300ish, you can always push for it, but in comparison to other stats, you can hold off and make a slow climb toward it.

Defense/Deflect/Regen:
These three stats should be prioritized, and everything else should work around gear to make sure you have at least these essential numbers. The three numbers are 2000Defense/1000 Deflect/1000 Regen. Hitting these numbers will create a synergy again with this spec. As a halfling you get 3% increased deflection already (so non-halflings stack a little more for magic number). 15% Chance to mitigate 50% damage. What is nice is deflect will act first, and then defense comes into action. Regen is often overlooked, but i've come to realize the importance. It heals 5.5% of your MISSING HEALTH. This means the less life you have, the more you heal, which works nicely in times of chaos in battle.

At Will / Encounters / Passives / Daily

Healer Defensive
Group Composition (Tank DPS, DPS Glass Cannon x2, DPS CC/Support)

At Wills
Astral Seal
Sacred Flame

I usually do my best to hit every regular to elite mob you can with Astral Seal for your high AE DPS glass cannons to get extra health off of. Weaker mobs die too fast to take advantage. When you get chances between encounters, spam sacred flame on mobs to help clear. Your DPS will suck, so thats the best you can do.

Encounters
Sunburst
Healing Word/Chains of Blazing Light
Astral Shield

Position yourself closer to the ranged. Should they take aggro, Divine Sunburst the aggro mobs back towards the rest of the group of mobs. Should you have Chains of Blazing Light slotted, you can even combo it with the Divine Sunburst. Position the target ring underneath the anticipated landing area of the mobs. BAM! They are now rooted and your ranged DPS who aggroed does not have to move.

Passives:
Healers Lore/Divine Fortune/Holy Fervor
Foresight

Keep Healers Lore and Foresight up usually. Certain boss fights may require interchanging, but those are the two I generally keep up. Divine Fortune will come up on fights I have to move around more on, where its more challenging to gain divine power. I also will even use Holy Fervor depending on the boss or group composition. While the AP gain isn't much, it's enough to cycle Hallowed Ground a little more frequently.

Daily:
Hallowed Ground
Flamestrike

I really don't even use any other daily skills. Hallowed Ground is my go to Daily. I most frequently will cycle this with my AS, overlapping the last couple seconds of AS. This way there is a continuous sustained heal going for your group. It's important that you time this correct to keep everyone topped off. On occasion, depending on the encounter/CC situation at the moment, I will opt to use a Flame Strike in lieu of Hallowed Ground. For example: If the mobs are coming down from a singularity, coordinate with your CW so you can use Flame Strike upon their landing, to continue the CC chain.

Healer Balanced
Group Composition (Tank Balanced, DPS Glass Cannon, DPS CC/Support, DPS Balanced)

At Wills
Astral Seal/Brand of the Sun
Sacred Flame

Astreal Seal and Sacred flame should be slotted mostly. Brand of the sun will help create divine power when you are running the foresight/healer's lore passive combo and generate a little extra DPS since you are running with a more defensive group. With the low to moderate DPS coming from your group, you can give it up to help balance your group should the situation call.

Encounters
Sunburst/Divine Glow
Healing Word/Chains of Blazing Light
Astral Shield

I personally mostly run Sunburst, Chains, and Astral for this group composition. If your group has no CW, keep Chains of Blazing Light up. This will help keep mobs controlled. You can even slot Divine Glow should you have a melee heavy group, and rely more on Astral Shield / Hallowed Ground rotations for your heals.

Passives:
Foresight/Holy Fervor
Healers Lore/Divine Fortune

Keep foresight and healers lore up usually, unless you feel as if the group has more defense than normal to variate. I would slot Divine Fortune to help generate divinity if you are having problems.

Daily:
Hallowed Ground
Flamestrike

Healer/DPS
Group Composition (Tank Defensive, DPS CC/Support, DPS Balanced)

At Wills
Astral Seal/Brand of the Sun
Sacred Flame

Encounters
Divine Glow/Daunting Light
Chains of Blazing Light
Astral Shield

With the extra CC and defensives from balanced class builds, you can deviate to a hybrid healer DPS by switching around your passives. I usually run this build with the above described group composition, or if another cleric is in the group with me.

Passives
Foresight/Terrifying Insight/Holy Fervor
Healers Lore/Terrifying Insight/Holy Fervor

Again all based off group composition and certain boss fights. You can switch out your passives as long as your group is balanced enough for your to go more DPS.

jenisyde · December 2013

Any feedback is greatly appreciated if anyone else experiments with Beacon of Faith set, or theory crafting in general.

fondlez · December 2013

0. It is not clear the intent of the build, or at least it is not clear given the items below:

1. You took Divine Oracle for a defensive build and most of your feats are in Faithful but no Benefit of Foresight, the most powerful DC Paragon feat and the single most defensive feat.

2. Calculate the little value of Domain Synergy and its RSI contribution. Also, think about how much Recovery is on DC gear already and what happens when you have enough, i.e. what some call "soft-capped" by some measure for your build. You should quickly find it less than appealing for the full 5 whole Heroic feat points. Better alternatives include full Toughness, Holy Resolve for just three points or more points into Bountiful Fortune.

3. What is your reasoning in your build for taking the Faithful tree's capstone, Greater Divine Power?

jenisyde · December 2013

This is a balanced spec. I believe their are three healer roles. Healer Defensive, Healer Balanced, and Healer Hybrid DPS. This is a work in progress and many more details to follow. There is a whole guide on our website detailing group composition and theory crafting these ideas of "sub-classes" based on your "role". Your group role is based off your character build/playstyle. These guides are available only to <Genocidal Tendencies> members. Our ideas are the reason why we can do any T2 legit with no problem. Just need the correct group composition based off our formulas.

vorphied · December 2013

jenisyde wrote: »

This is a balanced spec. I believe their are three healer roles. Healer Defensive, Healer Balanced, and Healer Hybrid DPS. This is a work in progress and many more details to follow. There is a whole guide on our website detailing group composition and theory crafting these ideas of "sub-classes" based on your "role". Your group role is based off your character build/playstyle. These guides are available only to <Genocidal Tendencies> members. Our ideas are the reason why we can do any T2 legit with no problem. Just need the correct group composition based off our formulas.

That doesn't really answer any questions. fondlez' points are very good ones, and if your goal with posting this build is to help players, it won't do much for anyone if it's somehow valid only in context of your guild groups.

1. Benefit of Foresight is incredibly difficult to justify not taking as a Divine Oracle.

2. Domain Synergy is just not very good, regardless of what sort of role or template you have in mind.

3. Greater Divine Power is fine if there is absolutely nothing else you want, but while it looks attractive at first glance, it's a limited and very front-loaded benefit since Divinity gain does not scale with max pips. At best you get to start an encounter with one extra pip; once that's gone, it's business as usual.

jazzfong · December 2013

Don't misguide anyone, vorphied and fondlez really got their cleric and play through a longer time than u. For the heroic feat we have a standard one and there are already many guides that tell you what is the most important heroic feat and what is the most useless one. You even put points into the useless 5% recovery and ignore the "useless" divine power gain...

1.You should go 033,303,030,104 (or 302 for pvp, i use 302 too), well, if u ignore foresight then it is ok to ignore its feat too, but why u take dodc without foresight? Balanced? Using a fork to eat rice or drink soup isn't a good idea. Why giving up your advantage?

2.The last extra pip of divinity is totally useless, no cleric (i mean the experienced cleric) will save divinity more than 2 pip without using them in battle. For pvp, it is even hardly to stack more than 1 pip divinity PER battle. The battle usually end fast, either you die or they die unless they got a fresh gwf or your team overgeared.

3. Actually, since u are a halfling why not u put all points into cons and dex, you still can heal fairly well. There are no such thing as healing defensive or healing balanced, just healer. No ppl will branch out a new sub category because of changing a feat only. The image is so small and luckily i remember somehow yesterday i saw the greater image of your feat. Respec it.

jenisyde · December 2013

Revised and edited.

jazzfong · December 2013

Feats:
1. No domain synergy! 1% of 2500 rec is 25 while 5% is 125 rec (utterly useless)
2. Holy Resolve 15% hp bonus is a life saver and it will trigger feats with temp hp, CAN save u when the situation is crucial.

Power:
1. Once i max sooth and used it, but now aggro is nearly nothing for us DC. Ignore it.
2. Healer lore's 15% heal isn't so great even u feat it. I think Holy fervor is a better choice, more AP = more frequent healing HG. They will love u about it. put the points into righteous for more divinity gain or 80% Combat Advantage reduction or 1 more point for rising hope (2 points= 99% uptime even when u met some unexpected crucial situation.)

wadiwolfe · December 2013

I was just getting ready to post a question concerning DC powers when I read this post. I am so freaked out. I am 35yo and just started playing my first electronic RPG, Neverwinter. My half elf character is level 41. I focus mainly on PvE, but at the end of the day I am a healer. I enjoy helping others enjoy their their selves. However, I do appreciate being able to hold my own any MOST circumstances.

I am so freaked out now by the depth of the previous posts I am dumdfounded. all I really want to know is what are the best right & left click powers to have on hand? I also want some opinions on the Q, E, and R commands. I understand how ignorant I am now...lol. However, I want my chararcter to be at his best. I have all powers up to 20pts. I also carry hammer forge? ) which I think sucks), brand of the sun, and maybe one or two more. Forgive any mispronounciations, please. If anyone is interested, I am willing to elaborate on my character for input. I have followed the righteouness tree.

Thanks,

jenisyde · December 2013

This is a Faithful build with Divine Oracle. There are three power line ups depending on group composition with variation between. GCTRL has an awesome Righteous build.

wadiwolfe · December 2013

should I even still be using the lance at this level?

jenisyde · December 2013

I wouldn't. If you are a DPS glass cannon build, I think they use it in their line up. Not in this build though.

jazzfong · December 2013

wadiwolfe wrote: »

should I even still be using the lance at this level?

Yes, if u go virtuous and spec into it, utilizing every single bit of your damaging power.
No, because sacred flame generate 1.5x amount divinity than LoF (u can test on dummy urself) and it has faster casting animation. LoF also reveal your position in pvp while SF doesn't.

jenisyde · December 2013

jazzfong wrote: »

Yes, if u go virtuous and spec into it, utilizing every single bit of your damaging power.
No, because sacred flame generate 1.5x amount divinity than LoF (u can test on dummy urself) and it has faster casting animation. LoF also reveal your position in pvp while SF doesn't.

Exactly what jazzfong said. There should be only specific group compositions that you stray away from build to help your group compensate where it is lacking.

jenisyde · December 2013

Also remember that this guide is a constant work in progress. Our theory crafting team is hard at work developing certain group composition guides. We got a great bunch in our guild dedicated to creating top-notch strategies.

wadiwolfe · December 2013

Glass cannon, mentioned several times, I have no idea what it is.

jenisyde · December 2013

wadiwolfe wrote: »

Glass cannon, mentioned several times, I have no idea what it is.

DPS Glass Cannon = DPS build with little to no defensive stats. Squishy, easily killed, but power house DPS.

wadiwolfe · December 2013

I am not interesed in DPS... Thanks. I have started giving points to to sacred flame, though.

jenisyde · December 2013

wadiwolfe wrote: »

I am not interesed in DPS... Thanks. I have started giving points to to sacred flame, though.

Great! I don't use the last Healer/DPS situational build too often. It only gets pulled out with rare group formations.

jazzfong · December 2013

Can i know why u still insist to put 3 points into the most useless domain synergy instead of holy resolve even after so many of us told u not to do so? Terrifying Insight isn't a good point to max, you only increase your little damaging power a bit in dungeon. 15% more AP gen is better than slight damage boost (and the most important point is it affect you only! absolutely not worth to put even 1 point into it!) while Holy Fervor will help more in dps ability of your team with more HG.

Seriously, Terrifying Insight isn't a good choice for all healers, even hybrids. It is arguably made for the glass cannon clerics only. Somehow, your theory crafting is good to see, good to read, but when we apply... another respec token needed. AND your thought of swapping class feature depending on situation is correct but foresight and holy fervor(majority)/healer's lore(minority) really wont leave our bar unless the team is overgeared (15k gs to cloak tower). No Sooth! No!!

jenisyde · December 2013

jazzfong wrote: »

Can i know why u still insist to put 3 points into the most useless domain synergy instead of holy resolve even after so many of us told u not to do so? Terrifying Insight isn't a good point to max, you only increase your little damaging power a bit in dungeon. 15% more AP gen is better than slight damage boost (and the most important point is it affect you only! absolutely not worth to put even 1 point into it!) while Holy Fervor will help more in dps ability of your team with more HG.

Seriously, Terrifying Insight isn't a good choice for all healers, even hybrids. It is arguably made for the glass cannon clerics only. Somehow, your theory crafting is good to see, good to read, but when we apply... another respec token needed. AND your thought of swapping class feature depending on situation is correct but foresight and holy fervor(majority)/healer's lore(minority) really wont leave our bar unless the team is overgeared (15k gs to cloak tower). No Sooth! No!!

Ok I will explain why I make these choices. The reason I go with Domain Synergy instead of Holy Reserve is because I do not find myself ever getting so low very often. I have used it before, and with the additions soulforge and artifact with temporary HP boost, I can't justify puting any points into it again. For my playstyle and build, the extra recovery helps balance my stats. I don't stack any recovery because I rely on my bountiful fortune and beacon of faith armor procs. This is the reason why I leave those stats a little lower. They hit a nice balance of numbers after procs. Sounds silly, but it works very well for me. My stats go like this from full procs

Power: 4667 + (700 from Rising Hope) = 5367
Critical: 1985 + (900 Beacon of Faith) = 2885
Recovery: 2472 + (900 Beacon of Fath/360 Rising Hope) = 3732

The reason I put the points into terrifying insight is for theory crafting only at this time. The only time I would put it on is if I was running with another DC who has a pure healer spec. That is why I haven't gotten into detail on the best scenarios to use. It is still in testing for group compositions. Thank you for the insight and constructive discussion.

lyaise · December 2013

jenisyde wrote: »

Ok I will explain why I make these choices. The reason I go with Domain Synergy instead of Holy Reserve is because I do not find myself ever getting so low very often. I have used it before, and with the additions soulforge and artifact with temporary HP boost, I can't justify puting any points into it again. For my playstyle and build, the extra recovery helps balance my stats. I don't stack any recovery because I rely on my bountiful fortune and beacon of faith armor procs. This is the reason why I leave those stats a little lower. They hit a nice balance of numbers after procs. Sounds silly, but it works very well for me. My stats go like this from full procs

Power: 4667 + (700 from Rising Hope) = 5367
Critical: 1985 + (900 Beacon of Faith) = 2885
Recovery: 2472 + (900 Beacon of Fath/360 Rising Hope) = 3732

The reason I put the points into terrifying insight is for theory crafting only at this time. The only time I would put it on is if I was running with another DC who has a pure healer spec. That is why I haven't gotten into detail on the best scenarios to use. It is still in testing for group compositions. Thank you for the insight and constructive discussion.

Maybe the Jury is still out on this. As a neutral spectator I see a degree of questioning on what may appear as fundamental point placement, and whilst this is there observers may be reluctant to follow this guide to the letter.

There are several other guides which appear to follow conventional lines of thought. As such these may attract more of a following. Am I correct in saying that your set up works because the rest of the group is set up in a definitive way to suit your playing style?

jazzfong · December 2013

He goes with his friends so his build works best with his guild mates and friend only. In PuG group, you cannot foresee who you will party with with the queue system. Even he drag someone from the zone channel, he still need to confirm his new teammates' feat and paragon path. In a nutshell, his build is viable, but best only when he got his friend with him. For others who directly apply this build, kindly remember not to follow 100% and change slightly to fit your style if you PuG. Sure if you often go with your guild and friends simply ignore whole post of this and ask your guild mates and friends what they expect from you. You will do better if you know what your team is lacking and what they need most. He posted a long one, although i doubt that there are several points not true but since he insisted he can do well, then this build is ok for him.

Ps: I always feel weird when i read this post again and again... just like he made a big mistake and not understanding Devoted Cleric mechanics even he hits 60. Just found out why i feel weird. FEAT: Bountiful Fortune is a joke. It grants 15% divinity gain when maxed and it is heroic feat. The one u mentioned as core to boost stats is Rising Hope, maybe you just theory craft with neverwinter calculator without any look into your own cleric. Nw calculator has that mistake but we know that it is rising hope, you are the first who directly copy from the calculator and make such silly mistake, maybe correcting your build perhaps??

raist718 · December 2013

This thread delivers, lol. A lot of knowledge to be learned from some of the posts and some really questionable explanations. Pro tip: If you use the words "theory crafting" you might as well paint a giant "L" on your forehead.

jenisyde · December 2013

raist718 wrote: »

This thread delivers, lol. A lot of knowledge to be learned from some of the posts and some really questionable explanations. Pro tip: If you use the words "theory crafting" you might as well paint a giant "L" on your forehead.

Ooooooook. Nothing constructive there. Thanks for your elitist insight though.

If you REALLY need the temporary HP feat AFTER soulforge, AFTER blood skull artificat, then your survivability & groups must not be set up well. Simple as that. It won't hurt to grab the feat, but I personally do not need it.

jazzfong · December 2013

You must be a good cleric then, because mostly your hp wont fell below 30%. Welcome to pvp immortal DC!! If Holy Resolve isn't your favorite, skip it. Saw you edit your post but as an add, pls change your Bountiful Fortune to Rising Hope, you forget to change it again.

jenisyde · December 2013

jazzfong wrote: »

You must be a good cleric then, because mostly your hp wont fell below 30%. Welcome to pvp immortal DC!! If Holy Resolve isn't your favorite, skip it. Saw you edit your post but as an add, pls change your Bountiful Fortune to Rising Hope, you forget to change it again.

I'm constantly tweaking things so this build works with most group compositions. Thank you sir!

vorphied · December 2013

jenisyde wrote: »

Ooooooook. Nothing constructive there. Thanks for your elitist insight though.

If you REALLY need the temporary HP feat AFTER soulforge, AFTER blood skull artificat, then your survivability & groups must not be set up well. Simple as that. It won't hurt to grab the feat, but I personally do not need it.

The post to which you were referring admittedly wasn't terribly constructive, but I also see a lot of you complaining about "elitist this" and "elitist that" in general. You should probably keep in mind that by sharing a specific build on official forums, you are inviting other players to jump in and debate meta. You can advertise whatever playstyle you enjoy, but when you start advising people to choose X or Y feat, you can expect that others will share their own opinions.

As far as Holy Resolve goes, I think you're missing the point a little. There are no decent alternatives left in that section of the tree after you've taken the no-brainer ones, so why not enjoy the additional benefit? If you're that into Domain Synergy, by all means go for it, but Holy Resolve is an "occasionally useful benefit" vs. Domain Synergy's "virtually unnoticeable benefit".

immahealyounow · December 2013

Admittedly I don't PVE much, but I have started doing some dungeons since moving from Complaints to Dulce. Even assuming this DC build will never be used in PVP, I'm perplexed by some of the choices here.

1. 3 points in Sooth - Why? Threat isn't really a problem in this game for DCs, and even if you do have some aggro, that's great! It helps take some pressure off your DPS and distributes the incoming damage so you can heal more effectively.

2. Ability Score Distribution - For PVE, I'd think that additional CHA and STR (or even INT or CON) would be more valuable than the high DEX roll that you have. This is especially true with STR if you are a faithful build for the extra stamina regen.

3. 3/5 Domain Synergy - You mention that you are aware of the criticism regarding this feat choice, and I have to agree with the masses. Move one point to Healing Action if you really dislike Holy Resolve so much! 3% Recovery really does nothing useful at all for your character.

4. Some gear/stats:

- I think High Prophet is by far the best PVE Set for the DPS boost it provides for your team. MH is nice, but unnecessary as you said. My understanding is that Grand Templar's 4/4 buff only lasts 5 seconds and has a 45 second cooldown. This seems like a waste.
-Why not use the ancient symbol/icon?
-Why only two artifacts?
-Why 64 Armor pen?
-Why only 659 regen? This stat really starts becoming useful around 1,000.

5. I'd put a couple points in divine advantage. This will mitigate quite a bit of damage in PVE since 90% of it is an add clusterf**k. Mobs will often have CA on you and your allies.

raist718 · December 2013

jenisyde wrote: »

Ooooooook. Nothing constructive there. Thanks for your elitist insight though.

If you REALLY need the temporary HP feat AFTER soulforge, AFTER blood skull artificat, then your survivability & groups must not be set up well. Simple as that. It won't hurt to grab the feat, but I personally do not need it.

Not being elitist, and your the one who made a "GUIDE" build thread. Think you just need to accept that you do not know the class as well as you thought you did. And some pointed out that the build has been flawed through out some edits. Its a video game and its ok to admit mistakes instead of trying to defend things that vet/exp players are pointing out. Keep editing and I am sure the DC community will let you know when you get there.

Again this thread has been very entertaining, nothing wrong with having some fun with it. And I do tip my hat to you for showing some "holy" resolve and not caving in to changing your views on domain synergy.

jenisyde · December 2013

raist718 wrote: »

Not being elitist, and your the one who made a "GUIDE" build thread. Think you just need to accept that you do not know the class as well as you thought you did. And some pointed out that the build has been flawed through out some edits. Its a video game and its ok to admit mistakes instead of trying to defend things that vet/exp players are pointing out. Keep editing and I am sure the DC community will let you know when you get there.

Again this thread has been very entertaining, nothing wrong with having some fun with it. And I do tip my hat to you for showing some "holy" resolve and not caving in to changing your views on domain synergy.

There is a difference between a good constructive post and what you posted before. Yes i'm stubborn, but I do take advice and constantly tweak my build. I know my class very well and constantly do what I can to learn more. That is why I posted my guide, so I can not only show what I'm doing, but tweak it here and there. I hope you can see the difference between your first post and a more constructive post. Whether you agree or not, doesn't justify insults. Just look at other seasoned veterans who posted and act cordial in their discussion. Big difference. I appreciate the insight.

GUIDE: DC - PVE Healer w/ Defense Balance

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