Support VS Battle Clerics

i don't know about the clerics these days, but back when i was a regular;
support cleric ment; heal ONLY (u team w/ someone and ur their heal slave all the time)

attack cleric ment; u have attack/debuff skills only (a metal/phys dmg wiz)

Battle cleric ment; u lvl a bit of both as u go (pretty much all clerics that r 90+ r "battle")

but "attack/support/battle" r only terms for early game, when u only have enough sp to lvl a few skills. later, we're all clerics, the only difference then is demon/sage or Hybrid/LA/pure/vit.

any cleric that says they're "support/attack/battle" only at 90+ is FAIL!!!!!!

Well, we're healers, yes, but that doesn't mean we don't sometimes get sick of it, there's nothing wrong in asking the other cleric in the team to heal, but yeah, if you're the only cleric in the team, you have to heal, since it is our main job.

Anyway, I love FACs, I can just pretend to be one when I'm being bugged to join a team

"battle clerics" calling themselves that and not having heals, are just **** up terms they over-heard used. I switched to using that term since FAC didn't cover the role my cleric did; mix between healing, damage, and any needed debuffs or purifications, all at any given time. I had fun as heck doing FBs that way. The jack of all trades was again a matter of playstyle. FACs aren't healers in playstyle, supports don't attack cast in playstyle. Battle cleric was a term I tossed out since you do whatever is needed and fill every needed role. Much higher level of skill, and more active playing than either of the other two.

The way I see it, is that there are three types of Clerics (for any game): Support, Battle, and Full Attack.

Support: I shouldn't have to explain this, but for those of you that are slow, this is type that heals, buffs, purifies (debuff removal), and revives ONLY.

Battle: This type of Cleric can switch between attacking and supporting their party seamlessly at the drop of a hat. I have seen, and played as, this type before and I must say that it is an AMAZING asset when you can find one that knows what they're doing. However, it doesn't seem to work very well in this game. The high contrast between physical and magical defenses makes it impossible to be effective against both, which is something that the Battle Cleric NEEDS to be effective. If you go with high physical defense, you lose magical defense and healing ability, and if you go with high magical defense, you run the risk of being a one hit wonder to death's embrace. Also, the need for both in-game money and SP for skills hinders your ability to have all of your skills maxed for your level ALL the time. Instead, you'd be stuck with mediocre-at-best skills until high levels, making you an undesirable member of a squad.

Full Attack: This type focuses 95% on attacking with that other 5% into self support abilities, the power to nuke mobs into oblivion and not have to rely on another Cleric for support. In my opinion, having one of these in your squad along side a Wizard is the best idea you can imagine. Two powerful casters with 4/5 of the elements plus physical nuking abilities. Throw in a Venomancer to obtain the 5th, wood. All you need now is a Barbarian that knows how to tank and a Support Cleric to keep him alive and you have a perfect grinding party. The only drawback is that you can't have a short attention span while playing this. Cleric spells tend to cast faster than Wizards so it'll be up to you pick off anything that gets around your Barbarian and heads for the others.

Every cleric can play both roles simultaneously (and well) at all lvls. It more about whether the cleric has the skill and/or the mindset to pull it off....

end of discussion.

Xoria - Sanctuary wrote: »

Clerics are healers, yes? Yet I've heard "oh, I'm a battle cleric. I don't heal."

The stupidity of other players amuses me. If they don't heal how can they be a damned battle cleric. How would they keep themselves alive other then charms and pots.
If they are a battle cleric also, it means they have high magic damage. Apparently, a clerics magic damage is their healing power.
In my case in pve. If there is another lower lvl cleric and a boss is relatively simple, I'd rather do damage cause I usually do more dmg then half my parties.

Deceptistar - Sanctuary wrote: »

Some things i am experiencing lately that might relate to this topic;

I think of course you can be both, depending on situation.

If i go help on a FB99, for fcks sake Im not gonna be at fault to endanger the whole party while i go half trigger happy, considering IH has target switch lag. There I will be full on support, stay back and watch.

For BH79/FB79 i will jump in, I will attack, and I leeroy. Why? Because its a place where i can easily tank couple physical mobs, and steal aggro away from the real tanks cause i 4-6 shot the mobs. I will not wait for the melee to wack at it for 30 sec when i can finish it off in 15 sec. Waste of time and mp.

FB89/BH89 i will attack if its 1 vs 1. Cause I wont die even if i pull hate, and most of the time i do pull hate cause my attacks are higher. Fully support if vs couple on the squad.

ya, all clerics lvl 90+ are both attack and support. thats where u use the term battle calling urself a "both cleric" just sucks xD. and "Battle Cleric" just sounds cooler lol.

alot of the lower lvl clerics calling themselves "Battle" i see ever since i came back are just FAC's w/ IH lvl'd to like 4, no debuffs, and no heals lower than ih.

this is kinda problematic. IMO you should play the class you like but be ready to exert, at least to a certain limit, the preestablished roles of each.
for ex. in most MMORPG i generally pick a magic class. however PW is one of the few that has no human races.elf still looked human to me so i decided to go with an untamed. venos are female only and i didnt want to play a female char so i went with barb. barbs mainly tank and i never liked tanking. yet for playing a class that looked cool i had to do that sacrifice and in the end i began to like tanking and sometimes fight over wanting to tank xD
so IMO if you picked cleric you shouldnt get offended when someone says "clerics are supposed to heal" cause thats the preestablished role of clerics.if you decided to do otherwise its fine, cause its you who have to have fun, but dont start arguing that clerics dont have to heal.

i don't think any ones getting it, they r just terms clerics use in the "EARLY" lvls cause they don't have enough sp to get all skills, so they still to maxing only a few.

(exp; some only lvl skills for dmg, hence the "ATTACK" cleric, some only lvl healing/buff skills, hence the "SUPPORT" cleric).

battle cleric is a term from pretty much every cleric lvl 80+ thats max all to most their skills, it just means they can heal and attack, watever the situation calls for. besides, "battle cleric just sounds cool b:laugh

Black_lce - Heavens Tear wrote: »

i don't know about the clerics these days, but back when i was a regular;
support cleric ment; heal ONLY (u team w/ someone and ur their heal slave all the time)

attack cleric ment; u have attack/debuff skills only (a metal/phys dmg wiz)

Battle cleric ment; u lvl a bit of both as u go (pretty much all clerics that r 90+ r "battle")

but "attack/support/battle" r only terms for early game, when u only have enough sp to lvl a few skills. later, we're all clerics, the only difference then is demon/sage or Hybrid/LA/pure/vit.

any cleric that says they're "support/attack/battle" only at 90+ is FAIL!!!!!!

agree b:victory