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New player question: clarifications about AC / DO
nahevrys
Member Posts: 13 Arc User
I am writing on behalf of my sis, she has created her account today and can't post yet. I am pretty new to the game myself, I can't help.
___
Hello everybody!
I have just joined Neverwinter and I rolled a cleric.
Before anything else I did a search and looks like something changed lately, so previous guides aren't updated.
I am a little confused about the two paragons Anointed Champion // Divine Oracle.
Quoting angrysprite:
and
refracted0dawn
Then I found this interesting post:
http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?797821-Should-I-go-Faithful-or-Righteous-or-what
Most of the expert players suggest to go Righteous because pve parties will not need too much healing.
Quoting chemboy613
I also found this guide:
http://laggygamerz.com/forum/index.php?/topic/752-kaelacs-module-5-devoted-cleric-guide/#5
5.2
I am totally new to NW so I will need to learn from scratch but I'd love to start in the right way.
I am not a PVPer and I always enjoyed to run in parties where I can be of some use, not constantly needing of people saving me; the idea of buffing my party fellows also sounds nice.
Considering that I am going to level gradually to learn how to play, what should I pick? AC/Righteous or DO/Righteous? I don't mind leveling slowly if it means understand better the mechanics.
I've rolled a sun elf (I know, Draconic is better but I am a girl, I need to see cute things!) and picked
16 WIS 16 STR 12 CHA (in order to put 4 points into STR and 4 points into WIS as I level, as Kaelac suggests).
Is it correct or should I re-roll?
It's a long post full of stupid question, I am sorry if it annoys you
Making things right will save you from having a bad cleric around during events or random dungeons!
Thank you everyone for your precious time, it's really appreciated
___
Hello everybody!
I have just joined Neverwinter and I rolled a cleric.
Before anything else I did a search and looks like something changed lately, so previous guides aren't updated.
I am a little confused about the two paragons Anointed Champion // Divine Oracle.
Quoting angrysprite:
Anointed Champion is designed specifically for Party (Group) play in PVE, and possibly some PvP benefit - that Paragon focusses on buffing party members and whatnot. It is the "add-on" Paragon (DO was the original). And the Paragon-specific stuff focuses on supporting allies, rather than your self.
and
refracted0dawn
I'd say DO for DPS, AC for Healer.
A DO makes a very good Solo Play and Party Play/PvP debuffer/buffer/damage dealer (not as high DPS and the other classes) [cut].
The DO can also take feats to boost Healing and Buffs and do perfectly well as a Healer build and still have the Paragon powers for DoT, dps etc.
But the AC just does not make such a good debuffer/damage dealer as the DO. But DOES make a better Party Play and PvP Healer/Buffer due to the Paragon powers and feats.
The AC Healer build also relies heavily on having a party that knows what they are doing.
Then I found this interesting post:
http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?797821-Should-I-go-Faithful-or-Righteous-or-what
Most of the expert players suggest to go Righteous because pve parties will not need too much healing.
Quoting chemboy613
It's been the consensus that Righteous is the way to go in the new mod because groups really don't need healing so much
I also found this guide:
http://laggygamerz.com/forum/index.php?/topic/752-kaelacs-module-5-devoted-cleric-guide/#5
5.2
Healing/Support DO build
This is the closest to my Mod 1-4 build where you are versatile and can do everything.
Divine Oracle:
5/5 Resounding Beliefs (stronger direct heals)
5/5 Benefit of Foresight (more damage mitigation)
5/5 Shared Burdens (turns any heal to an AoE heal)
5/5 Test of Faith (much stronger personal survivability feat and useful for party also)
1/1 Agent of the Divine
For the last 10 points, you can go
5/5 Astral Fury, 5/5 Righteous Suffering for more personal DPS
or
5/5 Desperate Restoration, 5/5 United by Faith for a stronger healer/clutcher
5.3 Healing/support AC build
5/5 Resounding Beliefs (stronger direct heals)
5/5 Desperate Restoration (more clutch healing, Divine intervention may not stack with AHS)
5/5 Shared Burdens (turns any heal to an AoE heal)
5/5 Test of Faith (much stronger personal survivability feat and useful for party also)
1/1 Agent of the Divine
For the last 10 points, you can go
5/5 Lasting Wishes, 5/5 Battle Fervor for more healing/ buffing
I am totally new to NW so I will need to learn from scratch but I'd love to start in the right way.
I am not a PVPer and I always enjoyed to run in parties where I can be of some use, not constantly needing of people saving me; the idea of buffing my party fellows also sounds nice.
Considering that I am going to level gradually to learn how to play, what should I pick? AC/Righteous or DO/Righteous? I don't mind leveling slowly if it means understand better the mechanics.
I've rolled a sun elf (I know, Draconic is better but I am a girl, I need to see cute things!) and picked
16 WIS 16 STR 12 CHA (in order to put 4 points into STR and 4 points into WIS as I level, as Kaelac suggests).
Is it correct or should I re-roll?
It's a long post full of stupid question, I am sorry if it annoys you
Making things right will save you from having a bad cleric around during events or random dungeons!
Thank you everyone for your precious time, it's really appreciated
~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ Drow addicted ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~
Post edited by nahevrys on
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16 WIS/16 STR/14 CHA/12 INT/10 CON/10 DEX? The sun elf gets +2 INT (that's why 12 INT) and you can choose +2DEX or +2CHA. If you picked +2 DEX I suggest to reroll (in this case you have 12 CHA and 12 DEX at lvl1). If you picked CHA then it is perfect.
If you put +4 to WIS and STR than you will have (WIS/STR/CHA/INT/CON/DEX) 22/22/16/14/12/12 at lvl 60. It is good I think. I would aim for 22 WIS/20 STR/18 CHA, but it is not neccessary. STR (crit chance) is fine b/c you will get high Recovery stat anyway.
AC can be a bit better damage buffer if you also pick the paragorn feat from virtuous tree Battle Fervor and can heal a bit better then DO. Hance AC will miss Foresight class feature which is a nice defense buff even if not feated. DO has a bit better dps sklill Brand of the Sun. For PvE there is not much difference between AC and DO. I prefer DO but it is just me. Mine is a DO Righteous and works fine.
Feat tree:
For leveling I would suggest Righteous. It will be mostly solo content and will make your life easier. Even though the DPS tree makes healing more difficult, it is challenging. You will also be a great buffer/debuffer w/ the right skills and feats.
Later on if you want you can reset your feats w/ ingame currency so it is just a bit time and grind/trading to be able to do it.
TL;DR
I suggest DO/Rigtheous
It's encouraging
Yes, my girl stats are 16 WIS/16 STR/14 CHA/12 INT/10 CON/10 DEX
and I think I will consider 22 WIS/20 STR/18 CHA since I was reading that DC 'have some of the longest cooldowns across all the classes' (quoting the guide I mentioned earlier).
DO/Rigtheous sounds nice.
I will keep an eye on the forum while leveling, most likely I will have to respec once I've found my play style.
Thank you again for finding some time to help me
^^^^ 100% this.
Kaelac's Guide (the www.laggygamerz... one) is a superb reference. It lists all the pro's and cons of everything, and even though I differ on some aspects, I do this for reasons - mainly my high-pingerism. It is, however, written more for people with some NW experience and knowledge and background, hence do not worry if you don't understand everything right away.
The basic point about going the Righteous path is that you - realistically - think that you will be a better agent of your deity by direct action (doing damage and killing evil stuff) than by indirect (healing the people doing the damage all the time). So the drawback there is ofc that you do less healing, which, in my humble experience is well accepted in many on-the-fly party runs. To really profit from a healer build, you'd probably have to have a group of regulars with whom you usually run dungeons - which has become a fairly rare thing during the last modules.
Also, you can simply exchange one of your Encounters with good old basic Healing Word, which in its new Area-of-Effect-form introduced with Module 5 will provide your party with ample on-demand healing whenever their own lifesteal and regen resources don't compensate for high wear. This should BTW rather happen earlier, when party members get down to 50% health, because what gets me killed most often is not slow, constant damage, but those hard-hitter OSKs.
...so, back to your question: Righteous harmonizes better with DO, and the buff (Foresight) is worth it. As well for you as for the party (if you spec appropriately).
Oh, I'm maining a Righteous DO since a while before patch, and must say that this probably is the build that profits most from the DC revamp. Astral Seal is a good enough base healing, and while Daunting Light does higher damage when it hits, I generally prefer Forgemasters Flame because of its autoaim - but that's my ISP's will and my resulting decision, and when some time next year our village will get decent internet, I'll probably reconsider this...
Yay suicidalgodot, you make me happy!
I wasn't 100% sure because I actually don't understand every single difference in Kaelac's Guide but he's really good in making things easy even for people like me, totally new to the game and this class.
I like how you explained it in a RP point of view, it makes perfectly sense, theory vs. practice somehow
Healing Word sounds good too, probably useful during the first half of the game; in posts I've read that players will stack enough lifesteal and regen to survive without extra help, as you suggested too.
So yes, I'll go Righteous DO and I'll try to spec it appropriately.
Hopefully with some advices here and there and maybe joining a guild that takes new players in, I should be able to have fun with you guys.
Thank you all again
I am loving this game and community so far
The AC's playstyle is more reactive. It is the defensive path, with various feats/powers that allow it to quickly/automatically deal with potentially massive amounts of incoming damage. It doesn't take much to toughen up an AC DC, but learning to use the right feats and learning when to use your powers takes practice.
DO's playstyle is more proactive. It is the path that rewards people who are constantly running around doing something. Not much planning required here, you just need to be doing something productive and most DO feats/powers will complement that in some way. Lots of players agree that this makes DO a lot more newbie-friendly than AC.
Pretty much any type of cleric works atm as long as you get the capstones. Starting with Righteous is a good idea, but in the future if you ever want to try the other paths you can simply play in the review server. Respecs are free there, go nuts and experiment.
^THIS. Especially the first two sentences.
As for Paragon paths: both paths are identical except for a few very specific differences: one or two at-wills, two or three encounter powers, a daily power, some feats, and so on.
The primary differences between the two, if you were to peg them into "themes" is exactly what Tyrtallow says and what I said in the OP's quote: Divine Oracle is the original Paragon path and does great. It's still the most popular as far as I know. The Anointed Champion is the newest path and basically adds abilities specifically designed for party-support.
In the end it comes down to play style. Parties don't *need* more healing and buffing/debuffing and all that. But will they say no when it is offered? The AC path is designed for those who want to play the Cleric as a group-support class - whose primary function is to benefit others. Kind of like a battlefield medic, artillery, air defense, support-type role (not to be confused with the Companion of that name).
Here's something to keep in mind: unless you choose to use any of the Paragon-specific items, the Paragon path you choose is 100% moot: both paths are virtually identical. So when choosing the path pay attention to the specific tools that path offers. other than that they are identical. and this is true for all classes.
I am currently only at level 10 and I am already facing the 'right timing' of the attacks, dodging, keep your stamina for the emergencies and dealing with Divinity :eek:
Watching some videos on epic runs, I can see a massive sparkling dance of lights, sounds and blades and *a lot* of damage going on: i.m.p.r.e.s.s.i.v.e 0.0
At that point you have to know *exactly* what are you doing, why and when. Full stop.
I'll take the review server advice for future reference and I will play around, at least to see the differences.
Thank you so much!
Angrysprite Thank you for adding this comment, I wasn't aware of that even was there, clear as the sun.
My reference at the moment is Kaelac's guide and following his suggestions, along with those of you forum players, I've played with the Feats/Power calculator; all makes more sense now.
Ended up with this:
Powers: http://nwcalc.com/dc?b=nlb:27siks:20dqf4,1000000:100000:100000:100000&h=0&p=dvo
(some points unspent here)
Feats: http://nwcalc.com/dc?b=nlb:27siks:20dqf4,13l3314:100000:100000:1zu55v&h=0&p=dvo
I picked Furious Intervention for more AP gain and Condemnation Gaze for more party DPS over Resounding Beliefs and Benefit of Foresight but it's too early for me to decide, I think.
This is a rough idea of what I am going to follow while leveling.
Do you guys think I am on the right path or am I overseeing something?
As per powers: you can max out EVERY power sooner or later. It is a new feature from mod4 (as I remember) so it is fine. When you get new power points I suggest to level up Break the Spirit. It is a very effective buff if used in empowered mode. But your current choice is fine.
Feats. It is fine. I picked Have Faith from Virtuous path (for more defense buff) instead of Furious Intervention. But dont forget, all replying you (including me) are in late endgame gear and (mostly) w/ augment companion. This means we are at 35%+ AP gain w/o the feat. Dont also forget that you can reset your feats. For the first (level up time) pick what you feel the most beneficial for you. You can reset it later as you progress.
I did not want to go deep into the differences between the two path (AC/DO) in my post, as I see you already got good description about it.
Welcome in the DC community. Have fun w/ your toon:)
I will definitely do a check on the testing server because I have no idea on how the powers actually behave. I've read some reports about slow animations (I think it was about a CW power or maybe GWF) that could make the play uncomfortable, probably this is not the case but I'd love to test all the theory with some action.
Added to the list Break the Spirit, thank you for your advice!
Oh yes, respec
Thank you again for your precious help and your kind welcome
http://www.arcgames.com/en/my/character/copy/nw