are clerics hard to level

Xsyx - Sanctuary
Xsyx - Sanctuary Posts: 3 Arc User
edited March 2009 in Cleric
i've recently decided to create a cleric as alt and i have a few questions that i would like the experienced players to help me answer

1)are clerics hard to level
2)are clerics hard to solo
3)are they really that expensive
4)will i be able to survive with only plume shot, cyclone and wield thunder as offensive skills

thanks in advance to anyone's input
Post edited by Xsyx - Sanctuary on

Comments

  • RedsRose - Lost City
    RedsRose - Lost City Posts: 12,354 Arc User
    edited March 2009
    1) No...just do your quests and learn the correct mobs to grind on.

    2) Yes and No....it depends on what you are killing. Mobs that have phsy attacks are a definite hardship for Clerics, but we fair very well with magic attackers.

    3) Yes...Clerics can be very expensive. If you do not do a lot of grinding and selling of mats to make money you may have a difficult time. The key will be in learning your own way to make money. *Also, as you get to be a higher level, because of the mp what we put out, charms are going to be a must...this is especially true if you want to use Regeneration Aura and Heaven's Wrath (they burn 500 mp every 5 sec)

    4) Yes...these are your main attacks and I would recommend leveling Plume and Cyclone as soon as possible. Others will follow but these will be utilized the most often.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    RoidAbuse is awesome, only he would sell his sperm for gear!!

    "Toughest monster? ..... RedsRose b:surrender" - Kantorek
    Where is my 1 v 1 Kan? b:mischievous
  • Mothergoose - Sanctuary
    Mothergoose - Sanctuary Posts: 1,320 Arc User
    edited March 2009
    It all comes down to mana.

    If you're willing to burn mana and buy expensive pots, it's fast, and relatively safe against even melee and archer mobs, despite low p.def. Going all out with ironheart stacks and plume shell means virtual invincibility against any mob your level. Clerics hit hard too. As long as you're pure int or mostly int, you'll hit harder than most other classes.

    It's either fast, safe, but expensive, or slow, dangerous, but cheap.

    I think clerics should be funded by alt. veno. That, or buy and sell mats in catshops overnight. b:chuckle

    For slow grinding, check out barb. They're slow no matter what.
  • Xsyx - Sanctuary
    Xsyx - Sanctuary Posts: 3 Arc User
    edited March 2009
    lol yeh barb kills so slow to a point where i feel sleepy and bored all the time.

    i had a barb to lvl36 but gave it up b/c of that and the ridiculous repair cost

    thanx for the input
  • Corwin - Harshlands
    Corwin - Harshlands Posts: 51 Arc User
    edited March 2009
    3) i can only speak for the first 2x levels but when I started I was dumping everything off I would loot to the merchants and got over 100k by lvl 11. Then... I started crafting and it burnt the entire stack of cash in a few days. So it depends what you want to do. If you wanna do DQs and craft and buy charms, you will be really broke. Until you start making the higher price items that net more money. If you spend a little real life money for your charms you shouldn't have a hard time at all.

    This is my first char so I cant make a comparison to any other classes, but

    2) if your build is pure int or hybrid you need to be carefull of which physical dmg mobs you attack (especially the elite ones with increased life, attack, and sacrific)

    LA will have a much less of a tough time early on with all the physical mobs because of the def but you will prob restat later

    pve server will make your life a little easier but no more as a cleric I think than any other class.
  • Lokklyn - Sanctuary
    Lokklyn - Sanctuary Posts: 9 Arc User
    edited March 2009
    Clerics are easy to level if you do all your quests.

    YES they are expensive to play, incredible money burning on mana. I gave up lol after several dozen levels...gah.

    Always keep the offensive skills leveled...plume shot, cyclone, etc. Not all the buffs are needed though, some are better than others, so keep those.

    If you're a pure int (full attack/support) you might have trouble keeping alive if some mobs get you or you land in a bunch of them, which is rather dumb. Lol I did that once, was flying, decided to land out of the blue and fell into this freaking pit of scorpions.

    Have fun.
  • Flickerfae - Sanctuary
    Flickerfae - Sanctuary Posts: 351 Arc User
    edited March 2009
    We go through mana potions like most people go through air. b:surrender

    One thing that can decrease costs a bit is if you level your apothecary skill and make your own remedies... with herbs you find yourself, not buy. This means you have to take a couple hours once a week or so just to farm up the herbs you need, but I've saved a lot of coinage that way.

    ...of course, money is still tight, with the high skill costs, equipment with lots of phy def shards, etc. But it helps.

    As for soloing, you learn what you can handle and what you can't. Our attacks are distance, so we're a bit better at pulling single mobs out of a cluster than, say, BMs and barbs, although we're not as good at it as Venos. Also, don't be afraid to run if things get too tough. If I suddenly find myself facing 3 physical mobs at once, I stack a couple Ironhearts on myself and fly into the air until they lose aggro. It's not very noble, but it's better than dying in four hits.

    So, yeah. Cleric is a rewarding class if you like helping people, and our skills are really pretty awesome when used right. I'd say give it a shot and see how your experience goes. I've found it a lot of fun. b:victory
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

    -Ignoring my main for alts since early '09
  • erethizon1
    erethizon1 Posts: 554 Arc User
    edited March 2009
    Xsyx - Sanctuary wrote: »
    i've recently decided to create a cleric as alt and i have a few questions that i would like the experienced players to help me answer

    1)are clerics hard to level
    2)are clerics hard to solo
    3)are they really that expensive
    4)will i be able to survive with only plume shot, cyclone and wield thunder as offensive skills

    1. I never thought so, but I play healers in every game I play so it is all I know. Great Cyclone is your best friend. It harms your oppoent and slows them so you can kill just about anything (except bosses) without getting hurt. At low levels the slow ability it too unreliable, but nothing is that dangerous at low levels anyway so it is no big deal. By the time you max it at level 48 it will slow opponents 92% of the time for 8 seconds which is long enough that even during that 8% of the time when your slow fails you can cast is again before the previous slow has worn off (in other words, if you cast it twice every 8 seconds the only way for them to not be slowed is if your 8% chance came up twice in a row). And at max level the spell has a range of 26.5 meters which is far enough that it takes some serious time to close the distance. And on those occasions you do get hurt you have ironheart blessing which generally heals you faster than an opponent can hurt you.

    2. No, for the reasons mentioned above. Once creatures start hitting you harder than you like (and I speak as a level 75 cleric with 41 str, 5 vit, 5 dex, and 339 magic so I know what it means to die very easily) you can start using the plan mentioned above which was to cast Great Cyclone and run away, cast it again, run away some more, etc. until it is dead.

    3. Depends entirely on how you play them. My cleric is extremely rich in no small part to the fact that I have never used a charm or potion the entire time I have played. If you are patient and willing to let your mp regenerate the old fashioned way, it does not cost anything to be a cleric. In fact, it is cheaper than many classes since the constant running away after casting means you rarely get hit which means you rarely have to repair any of your gear (except your weapon). It is extremely rare for a boss to be so hard that you need more mp than a pure magic cleric will have. I can think of a couple off hand, but that can be fixed by having more than one cleric (which most of the parties I find at higher level do). I went ahead and maxed Celestial Guardian's Seal each level I could even though it was incredibly expensive just to cut down on down time. If you decide to go this route you will find you only have enough points for that skill, plume shot, and great cyclone until you get to about level 50 (though you will have a little bit left over to get your ironheart blessing up some).

    Obviously this is an extreme way to play, but the point is, it can be done rather easily so a cleric is only going to be as expensive as you want to make it.

    4. Not only will you be able to survive with those, you do not even need wield thunder. I did not even bother to pick it up until level 72 at which point I raised it all the way to level 8 (the cap at that level) because I had so much spare spirit to spend. What I discovered was that it cost 3 times as much mp as Great Cyclone yet did only 50% to 60% more damage so I almost never use it since it is so mp inefficient (a very bad thing when you are trying to keep your cleric from costing a lot).

    If you are going to be soloing a lot you may want to consider getting metal mastery. It makes all your metal spells (so basically everything you normally use except for plume shot) do more damage without costing any extra mp. At level 10 (which is reached when your cleric hits level 74) it increases metal damage by 20% without any increased mp cost and without even having to cast a buff. I would recommend you raise it before bothering to get wield thunder unless you find that money is no object for you in which case it really does not matter how mp inefficient wield thunder is. With how much you will use Great Cyclone I consider metal mastery a must. This of course is all based on the assumption you solo. If you are grouping for all your experience then it is all about your healing and your ability to cast regeneration aura in area-of-effect damage parties, but that spell drains your mp very quickly and is one of the biggest reasons people tell you that clerics are expensive. If you want to play a cleric inepensively you will not be joining AOE parties (which means you will level more slowly).

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