Spirit Class Cleric

singingblade

I have a 33 level cleric on Lothranis (French server).

A spirit class character never levels until they have learned all skills for that level.
I use 4 genies to store the XP. This means I have to repeat levels a few times.

Positives:
I have all the skills for my level.
I can afford the skills because of grinding.
I can practice all skills combinations.
I can always say, "YES, I have that skill."
I have more chances to get a better genie.
I think the monsters are easier to kill.
I am less likely to die.
I am more likely to get better drops.
I am more likely to get all the materials for blacksmithing, tailoring etc.
I can die and it does not matter.

Negatives:
I can't stay grouped with others for more than a few levels.
I can't power level.
I found that some factions do not like this type of class.
I found groups may ask you to leave becuase you do not need help unless its the boss.
I found that many suggested forum notes for the cleric class do not apply to this character.
I found that people keep saying, "Why would you do that?"

I like the Spirit Class cleric becuase I found it to be easier to play and more fun. I got to practice kiting with Great Cyclone. I believe the "Blessing of Pureheart" is one of the best spells at certain levels for grinding. If your doing a level 4-5 times then its great. Due to having all the skills and better dropped armor and weapons, I did not have that fear I would be killed. The seals appear to be useful at lower levels but I need more practice and knowledge of the monsters.

I did notice that I am leveling faster as I go up. This is becuase of my armor, weapons, skills and wealth. They have increased enough to deal with the problems. I have spent no money on the game and do not intend to yet. At this time, I have been able to get my reputation over 1600 and have five rows in my cupboard by working on my skills. All my blacksmithing, tailoring, apothecary and crafting are at level three and maxed. I am collecting materials for level four.

Has anyone else noticed anything helpful about leveling similar characters at higher levels?

Healingblaze

Faction: Dream

GenericBrand - Archosaur

singingblade wrote: »

Has anyone else noticed anything helpful about leveling similar characters at higher levels?

Not really. Doing this at higher levels to keep skills maxed really has no point since by level 80 or so you will be swimming in spirit from cultivation quest rewards alone. The issue at higher level become more about available coins as opposed to available spirit. Although, if you stick with your current method you will most likely have enough coins to carry on even at the higher levels. It might just be my luck, but drop rates on higher level mobs seem to suck.

I did the same thing you're doing with my original cleric on Dreamweaver and had more money because of it. I definitely felt like a weaker cleric when I started this character without waiting to max my skills each level.

Have fun with this though. b:victory

Yin - Momaganon

I was giving my exp to genie at level 49 when bh are so easy to do but anyway soon you will have more than enough spirit to level up all skills. Only coins matter then.

Also depending if you do things alot with squad clerics job can be done with quite limited skill collection.

Hiemus - Raging Tide

I do the same thing too, and even worse - stayed at level 3x for almost 5 months to grind up coins for an unique gear. I agree with what you listed. It's also true that after 79 all the skills need to be bought/made/mostly-bought, so doing this will help get some extra coin for high lvl skills. I haven't made it up to high level at all, but it's like each skill books cost millions and millions. It's a play style not fun for everyone it seems.

Padixeric - Sanctuary

Pretty much what everyone already said.

To get spirit 'reserves' you can dump xp from bh29 at lvl40+ into genie. Get it stacked and that will work wonders. You'll be needing a lot of genies though

Also, you might want to look into doing One Man Army for Striped Spider Araneid (at lvl 30-35 if memory serves) if and while you still can.

LenieClarke - Heavens Tear

wow, somebody who's leveling even slower than me. that's pretty impressive, actually.

my level-5x alts generally have two genies each they keep up to their level. my wizard and seeker both do, my assassin's working on bringing a new genie up to level while keeping an old one leveled. those three chars hit hard, and i like being able to experiment with every skill i have available and most of them leveled up higher than your average low-level character would have them.

but my lv-73 main only uses a single genie anymore; keeping four different veno pets up to level is what keeps her from dinging too often. the 6x-7x levels seems to be when the XP gain rate slows down, and dumping XP stops being the way to level more slowly. before then, doing a full stacked BH set would usually level me; now, doing several of those is how i finish up after the last of my pets finally fills its XP bar.

i've not ever had a totally empty list at the skill trainers, not since leaving the 1x levels on any character. some skills just aren't worth it, to me. i do tend to have less of a skill backlog than most people my level, though.

Tygurr - Sanctuary

You forgot one certain negative... "If anything goes wrong with the group, the cleric is to blame for it".

Well, not everyone feels that way but some actually do.

singingblade

I know your wondering what happened during level 34. I have spent no money on the game so far.


Positives:
All skills for level 34 learned.
Reputation 2936.
All 80 cupboards slots completed. (I found they hold DQ items as well).
Blessing of Pureheart still the best spell for level 34 grinding.
I average about 1 million per day from grinding, farming and selling (Catshop and auctions).
I learned that farming materials while I heal is better than resting, wasting mana or using potions.


Negatives:
I had to redo the level so many times I lost count.
A new skill does not always improve your leveling potential.
I had to buy a fifth genie. Four at level 34 and one at 13th.
I am always low on spirit.
I found that Ironheart Blessing is too sluggish and can result in death at certain hp levels.
I found that Wellspring needs to be higher before being more effective while grinding.
Purify at this level cannot keep a person free from poison.
I am investigating a slower activation time for plume shell vs aoe and direct attacks.

This level taught me to be patient. I learned more about catshops, cupboards, using combination of different heals. The average monster cannot kill me when I macro in grind mode. The understanding of the auction house and how to search it helped me buy and sell faster.

I am practicing targeting characters while flying and healing. There is a glitch with the buffs not always resetting. I have created new macros for this. My goal for level 35 is to bring my reputation to 5000. However, this creates a new line of questions. How important is reputation? I want to start buying the weapons for my future levels. Should I wait? How much gold do I need for higher levels? Do drops really lower at higher levels?

Healingblaze Cleric level 35

Faction Dream

Silverish - Sanctuary

I am just remind you 1 thing, Iron Heart Blessing can be stacked. It's not good for healing a nearly dying ppl, but awesome for longtime healing when fighting bosses.

Fintan - Lost City

It can also be useful for soloing. Just keep a mental clock. Stack 3-4 IH, start fighting, when mental clock says the first IH should be almost expired, re-stack. Some people even Plume Shell prior to re-stack and use that as their timer for IH. (That way, you aren't even USING those Ironhearts as much, but you sure do go through a lot of mana! b:laugh But with MP charm prices tending lower than HP, that may not be so important for you.)

LenieClarke - Heavens Tear

Silverish - Sanctuary wrote: »

I am just remind you 1 thing, Iron Heart Blessing can be stacked. It's not good for healing a nearly dying ppl, but awesome for longtime healing when fighting bosses.

ironheart's good for general healing whenever nobody's right about to die that instant. on my level-33 noob cleric i use it for regular heals on grinding mobs, and a single unstacked one is usually enough for one mob. i might need two if it's an inc life or inc mag res one.

if i cared enough about my cleric to take the effort, i'd start calculating how many HP's worth of healing each healing skill gave me per MP spent, and use the cheapest. i'm pretty sure that's still ironheart, though.

singingblade

Yes, I am back with an update.

I am currently level 49. Level 49 culti completed.

Positives:
All skills for 48 learned.
Half of skills for level 49 learned.
Reputation over 6000.
Blessing of Pureheart still used when grinding.
I average about 500K per day from grinding, farming and selling on the the auction house.
Ironheart Blessing is improving its usefulness in grinding.
I never have problems paying for my skills.
The Chromatic Healing Beam appears to be useful in limited situations.
Sirens Kiss appears useful when grinding.

Negatives:
I am going to get rid of five genies due to low lucky scores. I currently have seven.
I am going to have to get more genies.
I continue to be low on spirit.
I found that Wellspring is rarely useful when I am spamming Ironheart Blessing.
I found that Plume Shell appears to be sluggish.
I found that Purify does not always work.
I found that normal potions can not always be used even when they look like they can.
I found regular potions appear to cause Ironheart Blessing to lag.
I have noticed when using different types of potions (mp or hp) at once, the mana or hp line freezes while it figures out what to do.

I have decided to continue to play this way becuase the monsters are easy to kill using this method. I still have my level 30 rep armor and will wait to replace them. This method of advancement appears to be useful becuase I only need help with major bosses. Minor 40K monsters are easy. I have found that my cupboards are becoming crowded. A cupboard will hold wines and friendship crystals. Who would have thought. I am still working on discovering why monsters will avoid you while your pick up treasure.