Is it worth being cleric?

Lemuria - Harshlands

I thought after 80 levels of nothing but healing people, even those who probably deserved to die horribly, would make me bored of the job. I was wrong. In fact, if anything it's only strengthened my enjoyment of the class. So, here's my top reasons for loving clerics above all others.

1) Most wanted. We're pretty much top of the tree for any squad looking for members, and there's almost always a shortage of clerics so getting squads is virtually guaranteed.

2) Pivotal role. The entire squad relies on you being able to do your job properly, so there's both the challenge of dealing with new threats as well as the satisfaction of doing it well. Squads love you for it. I've been complimented so many times and had countless friends invites that I could feel my head starting to swell. Still, theres always someone better so I never stop trying to improve.

3) Two sides of the coin. Clerics can't merely heal, they can also cause damage with magical attacks. Better yet, they have the option of both physical and magical damage. This means a good cleric can be a force to be reckoned with if you play your cards right.

4) Build options. Clerics probably have more build options that work than any other class. Ignore the haters, Light Armor builds DO work. Ignore the rumours, full-attack clerics work too! People love to tell others how THEY should play their class and many of them have no experience with any builds other than their own. They'll tell you that you won't have this or that, and its fun to prove them wrong. My 'Light Armor' cleric, for example, has had far superior Magic Attack than several of my arcane peers. In the end its all down to equipment and slotting.

5) Helping out lowbies. You can buff them, heal them and ressurect them. This makes a cleric an ideal choice for helping out lower level friends or faction members on their quests. Killing monsters for them, as any other class would have to, has a detrimental effect on their XP and an even bigger one for players running through oracles. Healing is a nice non-intrusive way to help them out, and usually more appreciated than a barb cutting down every monster in sight.

Bagoly_ - Sanctuary

Lemuria - Harshlands wrote: »

I thought after 80 levels of nothing but healing people...

Side note:

The method of avoiding this nothingbuthealingfeeling is multitasking. We are a hybrid/jackofalltrades class. Healer/debuffer/DD. Most of us horribly overheal the kitties. There's a lot of room to do other things between IHs in most cases.

MystiMonk - Sanctuary

It is if you can withstand the constant abuse we go through and the odd compliment.

Lemuria - Harshlands

The method of avoiding this nothingbuthealingfeeling is multitasking. We are a hybrid/jackofalltrades class. Healer/debuffer/DD. Most of us horribly overheal the kitties. There's a lot of room to do other things between IHs in most cases.

I gave a brief account for simplicities sake. Considering the mainstay of our role in any squad is healing it stll takes up the bulk of our time, so the point is still pretty valid. Besides, there are more members to a squad than just the barbs, and certainly at 50+ those AoE cures need to be fired more than a few times to keep members topped up.

Infliction - Raging Tide

A person who really knows the class and has good gear is normally considered the best pvper. I've seen clerics who know their class and have awesome gear, and I wouldn't come anywhere close to them in pvp. Having seen a cleric tank and kill 2 9x barbs and a 9x bm, I know that a knowledgeble 10x cleric, can be potentially the deadliest pvp class. The ability to spam ironheart and having plume shell makes them a pain...Try having a 13k m-atk cleric attack you while they have you slept for 20 secs..not too fun.

CrystalPax - Raging Tide

Lylfo - Dreamweaver wrote: »

I feel that clerics are easy to master but I've learnt more about all other classes by playing one. For example, i can tell an alacrity of the beast from a flesh ream and their uses. Playing a cleric is nice that way for me. If you play a DD, you wont be bothered to see what the tank and other people are doing. ( Or at least most wont)

I completely agree here. I just recently got my alt barb to lv 5x and i'm now starting an alt cleric. Playing as these 2 classes has really given me insight on how I can be a better DD on my main. I am now starting to understand the difficulties that barbs and clerics face.b:sad

I understand what skills look like and I can now tell when one of these 2 classes is failing in my squads. Note that any good DD can tell when another DD is failing (stop taking aggro when u can't solo the damn thing b:angry).

Also, I will always take the time to turn around and thank a good cleric for a job well done in an instance.

Teeki - Dreamweaver

When creating a character figure out what you enjoy doing first. If you prefer healing people and helping others with buffs, a cleric is a good choice. If you prefer running head first into battle screamin' your head off, a barbarian would be a better choice (or possibly a blademaster). Or if you prefer to do a lot of damage, assassin, archer, wizard or psychic is for you. Venos can also dd but they rely on pets to tank for them; they dont have high repair bills unless they get hit alot.

I personally like playing it safe, being able to heal myself whenever I get into a tight spot so cleric works for me.

Ahira - Lost City

Cleric is great because of the variations in play styles you can have (support/attack), several build options and overall necessity squads have for the class.

Personally I think being a cleric is also the easiest class to show how skilled you are as a player plus you can shine even if you dont have uber gear. b:cute

shadowshergood

This is my second Cleric i have made. I had one a year ago and like you i was frustrated of repeated kills. When i came back a few weeks ago I rerolled as an assassin... after lvl 18 i decided i liked the "magic" part of PWI better so rerolled again as a psychic... i got so tired of walking everywhere so i rerolled yet again as a cleric... and im having a blast! I have more fun doing my little skills and looking cute (struggling for an all white outfit) than anything and i love rezzing people! Im not much of a shootem up type girl so Cleric suits me just fine... It all depends on how you want to play the game!

Oh and i have met very few high level clerics... prolly cuz they cant level as fast. I want to be one of the few that is 100+

Astralys - Sanctuary

this is the fourth cleric i started, because of the wrong builds i used...

tukiyem

Ahira - Lost City wrote: »

Cleric is great because of the variations in play styles you can have (support/attack), several build options and overall necessity squads have for the class.

Personally I think being a cleric is also the easiest class to show how skilled you are as a player plus you can shine even if you dont have uber gear. b:cute

+1 on this. Yes cleric is MP costly, but we dont need uber gear to be a good support.