Concerning Cleric Options...
sageofeternity
Posts: 0 Arc User
First of all, let me preface this by saying that I am pretty sure someone has already posted something like this. However, the cleric sub-forum has some 30 or so pages each containing 20 threads with varying numbers of replies. Need I say more?
Anyway, I've been tinkering with various classes and have come to the cleric as my favorite. At this point, my cleric is around level 20. Now, I've read the intro to clerics thread and the attack cleric thread, and about half a dozen others (full magic, partial magic, tank) of that kind, and yet I still can't figure out what to do. To those of you gawking at me like I'm stupid, here are my reasons in relation to the respective leveling strategies:
Attack Cleric: Great idea, but it seems to take a very long time to get to the good spells required to make this concept work. Plus, you have to rely on other clerics in terms of staying alive and that just defeats the purpose of being a cleric in the first place.
Full Magic Cleric: Suicidal. Putting so much emphasis on magic leaves you extremely vulnerable to physical attacks which is what you will predominantly face. Now, yes, Plume Shell is a way around this, but it's effects will only last for so long.
Tank Cleric: Pretty much impossible. It's the opposite extreme of the full magic cleric. In this situation, yes, you have a lot of health, but your spells are so weak that you'll end up dying anyway, just not as fast. This strategy would only pay off when you reach higher levels (50+ or so), but what about the levels in between?
Healer Cleric: Opposite of attack cleric. This would make you pitiful when it comes to solo leveling. Hell, it would be unimaginably difficult to level up at all if your sacrificing your attack magic for healing magic. You'd be completely reliant on others to help you. A little too needy in my mind.
Partial Magic Cleric: This is the only one that makes even the slightest bit of sense to me. But this makes you fall behind in terms of weapons. Also it's very expensive to pull this off so regardless, you're kinda screwed.
Now as I said above, I've tinkered with other classes. Here's what I didn't like about the others:
Wizard: Most of the earth spells either suck or are useless along with around 5% of the water and fire spells respectively. Meaning that only about 60% of the spells available are any good. Plus, it's way too easy to get yourself killed.
Blademaster: Similar problems to the Wizard. The BM lacks a real substantial healing ability. This makes hims too reliant on potions or CLERICS (Imagine that).
Veno: Great class to play as, but the fact that you're locked into playing a girl really bugs me. I like to have a little "freedom to play" when it comes to designing my character.
Barb: Same problem as the veno, but on a much bigger scale. You can only change your basic form (wolf, tiger, lion, etc.) and your eye color. Boring!
Archer: Really fun class but a real pain to level. Plus, you have to be constantly putting distance between you and your target in order for your attacks to be at their most affective. Kinda pathetic really.
So, any suggestions?
Anyway, I've been tinkering with various classes and have come to the cleric as my favorite. At this point, my cleric is around level 20. Now, I've read the intro to clerics thread and the attack cleric thread, and about half a dozen others (full magic, partial magic, tank) of that kind, and yet I still can't figure out what to do. To those of you gawking at me like I'm stupid, here are my reasons in relation to the respective leveling strategies:
Attack Cleric: Great idea, but it seems to take a very long time to get to the good spells required to make this concept work. Plus, you have to rely on other clerics in terms of staying alive and that just defeats the purpose of being a cleric in the first place.
Full Magic Cleric: Suicidal. Putting so much emphasis on magic leaves you extremely vulnerable to physical attacks which is what you will predominantly face. Now, yes, Plume Shell is a way around this, but it's effects will only last for so long.
Tank Cleric: Pretty much impossible. It's the opposite extreme of the full magic cleric. In this situation, yes, you have a lot of health, but your spells are so weak that you'll end up dying anyway, just not as fast. This strategy would only pay off when you reach higher levels (50+ or so), but what about the levels in between?
Healer Cleric: Opposite of attack cleric. This would make you pitiful when it comes to solo leveling. Hell, it would be unimaginably difficult to level up at all if your sacrificing your attack magic for healing magic. You'd be completely reliant on others to help you. A little too needy in my mind.
Partial Magic Cleric: This is the only one that makes even the slightest bit of sense to me. But this makes you fall behind in terms of weapons. Also it's very expensive to pull this off so regardless, you're kinda screwed.
Now as I said above, I've tinkered with other classes. Here's what I didn't like about the others:
Wizard: Most of the earth spells either suck or are useless along with around 5% of the water and fire spells respectively. Meaning that only about 60% of the spells available are any good. Plus, it's way too easy to get yourself killed.
Blademaster: Similar problems to the Wizard. The BM lacks a real substantial healing ability. This makes hims too reliant on potions or CLERICS (Imagine that).
Veno: Great class to play as, but the fact that you're locked into playing a girl really bugs me. I like to have a little "freedom to play" when it comes to designing my character.
Barb: Same problem as the veno, but on a much bigger scale. You can only change your basic form (wolf, tiger, lion, etc.) and your eye color. Boring!
Archer: Really fun class but a real pain to level. Plus, you have to be constantly putting distance between you and your target in order for your attacks to be at their most affective. Kinda pathetic really.
So, any suggestions?
Men seek wisdom and power. Wisdom comes from experience, power comes from knowledge.
Post edited by sageofeternity on
0
Comments
-
I'll make a quick argument for my personal build, which is a healer-attacker hybrid. Here's how I do it:
Do a pure magic build. Yes, you're vulnerable to physical attacks (which are what you face in the early levels), and yes you don't have much HP. But you're going to be choosing and using your skills in such a way that this will not matter in a lot of circumstances.
Max Plume Shot, Great Cyclone, Wield Thunder, Metal Mastery, Ironheart Blessing, Plume Shell, and your buffs. A FAC would not have the buffs, but I've found them much more useful than the debuffs. If you find yourself in a sticky situation, cast Ironheart on yourself. Your powerful heals will keep your health up, and you can kill the mob. If you're REALLY in trouble, cast Plume Shell AND Ironheart. It'll drain your MP FAST, but you will live. Also, when you hit 59, get the blue bubble skill. It'll get you invited to a lot more HH runs (which give you the green glowy weapons).
Because you have maxed attacks, you will be able to solo well, especially when you hit the 6xs and mobs start using more magical attacks against you. You can heal in parties, as Ironheart is usually all you need as far as heals go! You can buff everyone, as your buffs will be maxed.
This build pays off. Trust me. The early levels (below 30) are awful, but after that this build starts to pick up speed. I couldn't be happier with it!Nayethe - 7x Combat Cleric
~Reviction~0 -
at 2x all you need is iron heart, cyclone, and plume shot. those are your priorities. max them to your level, every level. when you have sp to spare, your buffs and revive can be leveled, nothing else at that level is needed. ignore celestial guardian until you have sp to spare. usually 6x clerics max it, i did it too early. it's too costly at low levels for its small benefits.
at 4x you'll have maxed plume shot and cyclone(you don't have to right away, 8-9 levels will last you awhile. if you need, save the sp). your iron heart will be a good level(8 or 9, i forget). and you'll have more sp to play with. your first few buffs will be maxed around now(don't get your aoe buffs yet, they're very costly at 4x. i did, i regretted it). get purify up, don't listen to idiots in this forum, it's too important to leave at level 1. 5 levels by 60 is enough, but it'll have to be raised higher eventually.
at 59 you get a whopping 260k sp from your cultivation, as well as a line of new skills. out of all of them, blue bubble(regeneration aura) is the most important. heavens wrath is next, then tempest. by this time, you'll have maxed at least 3 of your buffs and maybe gotten a good level in celestial guardian. you should, by 59, have maxed your 2 basic attacks(you'll use both of these throughout the game, we only have 3 spammable attack skills), and iron heart. but, by this time, you should be leveling wellspring surge lightly. why? it heals a large chunk of hp almost instantly. it'll save a life.
your stat choice is about personal preference:
int: 9 mag, 1 str every 2 levels.
advantages are a very large mana pool and great healing and attack power, but low health and lower survivability. it's harder to play and one helluva ride. it gets easier when you get 2k hp. you almost match a veno in solo capability once you learn to use your class efficiently.
vit: 6 mag, 1 str, 3 vit every 2 levels.
this build is more dynamic. you have more hp, higher survivability, lower damage and lower healing ability. but, you don't always have to raise your vit, you could pump mag for awhile if you're lacking. you could build this with as much vit as you want, it doesn't matter, adding 1 point every 5 levels wont kill you. this is much easier to play, but leveling is slower. more desired when you get upper levels and tt bosses have powerful-physical aoes.0 -
"Healing Power" is based off of your Magic Attack.0
-
hey, its quite simple indeed, when you start losing health, cast thunderball on the mob and fly up a bit, then 2-3 yards away from it. and continue attacking. i must add that if you level the ornament making skill a lot, you can get A LOT of bonuses, for they are meaningless, and are only for that purpouse. AND, before i forget, every level, add 2points to vitality or attack, and the rest to magic. Tailor skill also helps a lot, cause if u are short on atributes, keep makin' till u get one with X% less requirement0
-
Nayethe - Lost City wrote: »I'll make a quick argument for my personal build, which is a healer-attacker hybrid. Here's how I do it:
Do a pure magic build. Yes, you're vulnerable to physical attacks (which are what you face in the early levels), and yes you don't have much HP. But you're going to be choosing and using your skills in such a way that this will not matter in a lot of circumstances.
Max Plume Shot, Great Cyclone, Wield Thunder, Metal Mastery, Ironheart Blessing, Plume Shell, and your buffs. A FAC would not have the buffs, but I've found them much more useful than the debuffs. If you find yourself in a sticky situation, cast Ironheart on yourself. Your powerful heals will keep your health up, and you can kill the mob. If you're REALLY in trouble, cast Plume Shell AND Ironheart. It'll drain your MP FAST, but you will live. Also, when you hit 59, get the blue bubble skill. It'll get you invited to a lot more HH runs (which give you the green glowy weapons).
Because you have maxed attacks, you will be able to solo well, especially when you hit the 6xs and mobs start using more magical attacks against you. You can heal in parties, as Ironheart is usually all you need as far as heals go! You can buff everyone, as your buffs will be maxed.
This build pays off. Trust me. The early levels (below 30) are awful, but after that this build starts to pick up speed. I couldn't be happier with it!
Hmm, well, I'm at lvl 20 now...so this does make a lot of sense. Thanks.Forp - Heavens Tear wrote: »at 2x all you need is iron heart, cyclone, and plume shot. those are your priorities. max them to your level, every level. when you have sp to spare, your buffs and revive can be leveled, nothing else at that level is needed. ignore celestial guardian until you have sp to spare. usually 6x clerics max it, i did it too early. it's too costly at low levels for its small benefits.
at 4x you'll have maxed plume shot and cyclone(you don't have to right away, 8-9 levels will last you awhile. if you need, save the sp). your iron heart will be a good level(8 or 9, i forget). and you'll have more sp to play with. your first few buffs will be maxed around now(don't get your aoe buffs yet, they're very costly at 4x. i did, i regretted it). get purify up, don't listen to idiots in this forum, it's too important to leave at level 1. 5 levels by 60 is enough, but it'll have to be raised higher eventually.
at 59 you get a whopping 260k sp from your cultivation, as well as a line of new skills. out of all of them, blue bubble(regeneration aura) is the most important. heavens wrath is next, then tempest. by this time, you'll have maxed at least 3 of your buffs and maybe gotten a good level in celestial guardian. you should, by 59, have maxed your 2 basic attacks(you'll use both of these throughout the game, we only have 3 spammable attack skills), and iron heart. but, by this time, you should be leveling wellspring surge lightly. why? it heals a large chunk of hp almost instantly. it'll save a life.
your stat choice is about personal preference:
int: 9 mag, 1 str every 2 levels.
advantages are a very large mana pool and great healing and attack power, but low health and lower survivability. it's harder to play and one helluva ride. it gets easier when you get 2k hp. you almost match a veno in solo capability once you learn to use your class efficiently.
vit: 6 mag, 1 str, 3 vit every 2 levels.
this build is more dynamic. you have more hp, higher survivability, lower damage and lower healing ability. but, you don't always have to raise your vit, you could pump mag for awhile if you're lacking. you could build this with as much vit as you want, it doesn't matter, adding 1 point every 5 levels wont kill you. this is much easier to play, but leveling is slower. more desired when you get upper levels and tt bosses have powerful-physical aoes.
Sounds a lot like Nayethe's strategy, but a bit more detailed. Though I think lvling revive is a waste of SP. Regardless, thanks.Rophe - Heavens Tear wrote: »"Healing Power" is based off of your Magic Attack.
Well, didn't know that...I feel rather stupid.b:surrenderTzaal - Heavens Tear wrote: »hey, its quite simple indeed, when you start losing health, cast thunderball on the mob and fly up a bit, then 2-3 yards away from it. and continue attacking. i must add that if you level the ornament making skill a lot, you can get A LOT of bonuses, for they are meaningless, and are only for that purpouse. AND, before i forget, every level, add 2points to vitality or attack, and the rest to magic. Tailor skill also helps a lot, cause if u are short on atributes, keep makin' till u get one with X% less requirement.
I'm not so sure about this one. Thunderball takes a while to cast and in that time, the mob could easily kill you. Plus, if they are an archer or a mage type mob, flying away won't do you much good at all unless you got some damn good wings. And I doubt even that would help much.
As for the craftsman and tailor skills, good idea, but gathering the necessary materials is very time consuming. And in the time it takes to gather said mats, I could be lvling up so I can get to the lvl 30+ which (If Nayethe's and Forp's strategies are legit, which is what I suspect is the case) will put me in the clear, so to speak. Besides, I've got some friends who are high lvl craftsmen/tailors who can make the stuff for me in exchange for a coin amount equivelant to the worth of the materials and the time/effort required to get them (Usually around 500-750 coin per mat required).
So, to summarize what I have gleaned from this thread:
Every lvl, put 3 points into MAG, 1 into VIT, and 1 point into STR/DEX (alternating each lvl).
As for spells, lvl up Ironheart, Plume Shell, Plume shot, cyclone, etc. ASAP, while lvling up buffs and healings spells as a secondary priority...yeah, that works. Thanks for your suggestions everyone.0 -
Just to put it out there, I think pure-Magic Clerics are, in most circumstances, stupid. Sure, it's good to have a pure-Mage Cleric AND a Vit-pumping Cleric in a party. But with a 1-cleric party, you have to depend on that cleric not to die... unless they have dolls and revive scrolls.
Also, not a large fraction of Cleric's attack comes from base-damage. This changes once you max out your attack spells (at 45 and 48 for Plume Shot and Cyclone respectively), but at the same time, if you're part of a PVP server and want to PK or participate in TW, then you need the Vit just to stay alive to see who's attacking you.
There's also good reason to have a lot of HP as a Cleric. Cleric's can restore it faster than any other class. That is one of Cleric's main strengths, we're foolish not to take advantage of it. Cleric's also get a small amount of PDef from Vitality, covering up one of our disadvantages.
A comparison of stats for Pure Magic and Vit builds:
Pure Magic (1230hp, 5601mp, 535PDef)
Plume Shot - 4594-5126
Cyclone - 4587-5119
Wield Thunder - 6499- 7087
Ironheart - 1508 - 1634
Vit=0.5Level (1480hp, 5251mp)
Plume Shot - 4395-4919
Cyclone- 4388-4912
Wield Thunder - 6200-6880
Vit=Level (1780hp, 4831mp)
Plume Shot - 4201-4733
Cyclone - 4194-4726
Wield Thunder - 6106-6694
Mag=WeaponRequirement (2140hp, 4237mp, 611PDef)
PlumeShot - 3943-4475
Cyclone - 3936-4468
Wield Thunder - 5848-6436
Ironheart - 1312-1407
All Comparisons are done with Elf Priest of the same level and same equipment. The only variable is the stat distribution.0 -
Wise_knight - Heavens Tear wrote: »Every lvl, put 3 points into MAG, 1 into VIT, and 1 point into STR/DEX (alternating each lvl).
As for spells, lvl up Ironheart, Plume Shell, Plume shot, cyclone, etc. ASAP, while lvling up buffs and healings spells as a secondary priority...yeah, that works. Thanks for your suggestions everyone.
no, no, no, no, NO. do you know how many clerics ruin their selves adding dex? it's entirely useless to you. it's for accuracy, critical hit rate; all being useless. accuracy is void to magic, the evasion and crit bonus is so little it's unnoticeable. and, you only need 1 strength every 2 levels.0 -
Strength for EQ requirements which USUALLY = 1Str/2LevelsForp - Heavens Tear wrote: »no, no, no, no, NO. do you know how many clerics ruin their selves adding dex? it's entirely useless to you. it's for accuracy, critical hit rate; all being useless. accuracy is void to magic, the evasion and crit bonus is so little it's unnoticeable. and, you only need 1 strength every 2 levels.
If I were a level 6x and below cleric, I'd definitely be joining the new server anyway.0 -
Forp - Heavens Tear wrote: »no, no, no, no, NO. do you know how many clerics ruin their selves adding dex? it's entirely useless to you. it's for accuracy, critical hit rate; all being useless. accuracy is void to magic, the evasion and crit bonus is so little it's unnoticeable. and, you only need 1 strength every 2 levels.
A decent argument (though you did present it a in bit of an immature manner) to be sure. I suppose Dex is useless in terms of combat and attributes, but what of armor? If I don't do anything about Dex, then I can't use armor with really decent physical defense which will ultimately be my undoing.Men seek wisdom and power. Wisdom comes from experience, power comes from knowledge.0 -
Bty, srry for the confusion, but Wise_Knight is my cleric at the moment.Men seek wisdom and power. Wisdom comes from experience, power comes from knowledge.0
-
sageofeternity wrote: »A decent argument (though you did present it a in bit of an immature manner) to be sure. I suppose Dex is useless in terms of combat and attributes, but what of armor? If I don't do anything about Dex, then I can't use armor with really decent physical defense which will ultimately be my undoing.
your armor is robes, they require you to have a buttload of magic and little strength to wield. as does your weapon. that's why we say add 1 strength every 2 levels, that's all you need to wield your weapons and armor. the dex itself is only good for a "light armored cleric", but that's pointless to sacrafice all that power/hp possibility for something useless to a cleric.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 181.9K PWI
- 692 Official Announcements
- 2 Rules of Conduct
- 264 Cabbage Patch Notes
- 61K General Discussion
- 1.5K Quality Corner
- 11.1K Suggestion Box
- 77.4K Archosaur City
- 3.5K Cash Shop Huddle
- 14.3K Server Symposium
- 18.1K Dungeons & Tactics
- 2K The Crafting Nook
- 4.9K Guild Banter
- 6.6K The Trading Post
- 28K Class Discussion
- 1.9K Arigora Colosseum
- 78 TW & Cross Server Battles
- 337 Nation Wars
- 8.2K Off-Topic Discussion
- 3.7K The Fanatics Forum
- 207 Screenshots and Videos
- 22.8K Support Desk