Sacred Flame or Blessing of Battle?

skippymcjunior · March 2014

Hello, I just rolled a cleric about a few weeks ago and I was wondering which at-will I should use in the following circumstances: PVE solo and PVE dungeon/skirmish
I'd like to know which one(s) to use in which circumstances and why.
Thanks!

vorphied · March 2014

Blessing of Battle offers additional damage resistance to self and nearby party members. If you have points in both At-Wills, I'd recommend using Sacred Flame for solo content and Blessing of Battle for pretty much all group content.

lutz086 · March 2014

both all the time!! the way i usually roll is BoB since mine is feated ( try and stand close to everybody if possible ) the you should have time for 5-6 SF for the divinity build-up then repeat and re-use

chemboy613 · March 2014

When you are near the DC, blessing of battle is about a 10% defense buff and if you take the feat 5% power buff. It's too good for the team to pass up.

I don't do solo content with my DC anymore, so I can't comment on that.

skippymcjunior · March 2014

Thank you all so much for the feedback! And I forgot to clarify that I always want to have Astral Seal for one of my at-wills because it's so good. Therefore I can't slot in both BoB and Sacred Flame

chemboy613 · March 2014

skippymcjunior wrote: »

Thank you all so much for the feedback! And I forgot to clarify that I always want to have Astral Seal for one of my at-wills because it's so good. Therefore I can't slot in both BoB and Sacred Flame

+1
/10 char

lutz086 · March 2014

astral seal is not only good its great i just think that the healing it provides isnt necessary especially in high end groups thats why i prefer to run SF/BoB instead

refracted0dawn · March 2014

Use both - Blessing of Battle lasts for about 9 hits with Sacred Flames if you use no Encounters or Dailies in between, and every third hit with Sacred Flames showers the party with Temporary hp. The damage of Sacred Flames is lower, but you can cast it three times to only two of Blessing of Battle and also get the temp hp.

You need to be up close in the second rank, supporting the Warriors and Rogues, though. If it is TOO hairy, you can stay back a bit and buff the Rangers and Wizards, using Astral Shield to reduce damage on the melee tanks (although Wizards can tank pretty well and often melee with bosses). It is much more fun than being a Guardian, as the Cleric can dodge, so you can rush in, buff and heal, dash back out and so on. I think Anointed Champion is meant to do that. The Divine Oracle stays out of the thick of it a bit more. The only problem is that Cleric damage sucks and sometimes you cannot heal as much damage as some characters take, so buffing, damage reduction and enhanced healing is the way to go in a party.

At low levels I use Astral Seal on all enemies in range, so any one hitting them gets some healing, then Lance of Faith.

At higher levels, I use Blessing of Battle for the area buff, then Exaltation encounter on the tank (and me), then Sacred Flames for the temp hp, as well as restoring Divinity. Then another Blessing of Battle and Exaltation, then Sunburst to heal party and damage enemies. For the third Encounter spell I flip between Astral Shield, Bastion of Health or Break the Spirit, depending on the circumstances, but always have Exaltation and Sunburst active with a party, with Blessing of Battle and Sacred Flames.

For solo play, I use Chains of Light, Daunting Light/Break the Spirit and Sunburst encounters.

The Feat Prestigious Exaltation also increases my healing while Buffed from Exaltation, and Invigorated Healing also enhances the healing of Sunburst, Bastion of Health and divinely charged Astral Shield.

Level 60 dungeons with my Tiefling Anointed Champion are pretty easy until the final boss, especially if you have a party that plays as a team and knows what it is doing. I use Anointed Army and Divine Armour Dailies. Anointed Army lasts for three hits, so it is only worth using in Boss fights.

I also have a Dwarf Anointed Champion as a Battle Cleric at about level 42, with different feats that buff damage more.

PvP is a totally different kettle of fish - I think server response also affects it. Also, the main thing is the equipment they have. I spec my characters for Team Play in dungeons, like proper AD&D, not for PvP. I only do PvP for the AD from Rhix. With a party of lemmings who run off in all directions as if it is a race and do not understand the idea of playing as a team, you can lose by 900 points. They die, revive, and run back in one by one to be slaughtered again, instead of re-grouping. Against a rubbish party, you can win by 900 points. If both parties know what they are doing, it's all down to the gear and luck. The most fun is good team play, where you win or lose by 50 points.

Against a good enemy team, they gang up and destroy the Cleric as soon as they see me do something useful like buff the party, heal someone or especially if I kill someone. They know the Cleric cannot survive alone against 3 enemies in PvP. The Wizard has a better chance than me.

But I use the same spells as for team play in dungeons - buff and heal, unless the enemy are really bad and weak, then I switch to my solo mode spells and do some damage.

~

refracted0dawn · March 2014

skippymcjunior wrote: »

I forgot to clarify that I always want to have Astral Seal for one of my at-wills because it's so good. Therefore I can't slot in both BoB and Sacred Flame

What you are doing there is sort of using two defensive buffs. I think, from the specs of the At Wills, AS and LoF are for low level, while BoB and SF are for higher levels. So I never put more than two ranks in AS and LoF. There are high level feats for AS, though. I have never tried that combination, so it could be a winner for all I know.

The trick for long-range play is to find the powers and feats that enhance and complement each other, and maybe increase Action Point and Divinity regain and decrease cool down. It really is the ultimate min-maxing. I am such an old school AD&D anorak, I have character builds in spread sheets! My Tiefling has lots of rank 6 Silvery and Radiant enchants to increase Recovery and Power. You can buy a respec token later on if needed, and use lower level Power 2nd and 3rd ranks in higher level Powers. So with my Tiefling I have just about everything that grants temp hp, enhances normal healing and increases healing on characters with temporary hp. I can see the difference it makes in tough fights, as long as I can avoid threat and not get chased all around the battle field.

BoB, SF and Exaltation are too good for supporting a tank to go without all of them - unless you take the Divine Oracle path. All down to taste and play styles, but I long ago realised I cannot match the damage of a Thief or a Wizard.

BoB is so useful, you should not do without it. But SF is also good for the temp hp rather than very minor healing.

Temp. hp are granted by:
Sacred Flame
Divine Armour Daily (everyone in Range)
Anointed Army Daily (All Divinely Channeled Encounters)
Anointed Holy Symbol Class Feature
Deepstone Blessing Feat (increases all Healing on anyone with temp hp, so that's Sunburst, Bastion of Health, Soothing light etc etc)
Power of Life Feat (Sacred Flame - also buffs Astral Seal)

Healing Step only helps me, so I don't have it.

The feats I have are:

Healing Action V
Greater Fortune III
Domain Synergy V
Repurpose Soul II
Cleanse III
Righteous Rage V
Deepstone Blessing V
Prestigious Exaltation V
Invigorated Healing V
Ancient Warding V
Power of Life V

Not decided about the final feat. Only hit level 60 yesterday!

The Dwarven Battle Cleric will have:

Toughness III
Greater Fortune III
Weapon Mastery III
Battle Wise III
Holy Resolve III
Templar’s Domain V
Rising Hope V
Battle Fervour V
Nimbus of Light V
Strength of the Gods V
Righteous Rage V
Ancient Warding V
Cycle of Change

~

Sacred Flame or Blessing of Battle?

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