Cleric: Fighting or healing?

aleeneh · March 2010

Ok, so I have only been playing the game for a few hours and after getting some levels, the question of "skills" arises.

I am playing a Cleric right now, and I will likely be partnering only with my boyfriend, who plays an Archer. What would I be best off doing; focussing on healing and buffing him, or joining the fight by getting attack skills?

Thanks,
~Kyuusai

Aadi - Lost City · March 2010

At lower levels, he probably won't be in too much need of your skills as a healer, but the buffs are still very helpful. I would recommend leveling the three main buffs (Vanguard Spirit, Magic Shell, and Spirit's Gift), Ironheart Blessing as a heal, and Plume shot and Whirlwind as attacks for now, if you have enough SP. Those are the most basic healing and attacking skills of a cleric, but with SP shortages at lower levels I'm not sure you can afford more than that b:chuckle

aleeneh · March 2010

Thanks so much for your quick reply! It helps a lot.

And with Whirlwind you mean Great Cyclone, I assume? :]
If not, I'm confused XD

Aadi - Lost City · March 2010

Yeah, sorry about that. I always forget which one is the PWI term for that skill for some reason. b:surrender

And no problem, have fun with your cleric. Clerics are pretty awesome ijs b:victory

MystiMonk - Sanctuary · March 2010

Don't forget to get celestial guardian seal but lvl it slowly.

Narn_Taborin - Dreamweaver · March 2010

MystiMonk - Sanctuary wrote: »

Don't forget to get celestial guardian seal but lvl it slowly.

I'd agree with that if your boyfriend's using white wings on his archer - get it to level 2 and that +2mp/s will allow him to fly indefinitely without running out of mana when he's not fighting. Of course, if he's not using the white wings, it's not needed for that, but still a useful buff to have - but I'd still leave it until last when it comes to the buffs as it's the most expensive!

MystiMonk - Sanctuary · March 2010

I would still get it though as when I see a cleric with out it I think they are a FAC as it is stated in the guide.

aleeneh · March 2010

FAC?

Also, seriously, I think there's nothing wrong with having custom builds, instead of making all characters copies of each other.

Aadi - Lost City · March 2010

MystiMonk - Sanctuary wrote: »

I would still get it though as when I see a cleric with out it I think they are a FAC as it is stated in the guide.

I would agree to get it slowly, just because a full set of buffs is expected and it's nice for when you're meditating for HP/MP.

FAC = Full attack cleric, aleeneh. It's a guideline on what skills to level, but whichever one you pick, if you play it right you end up as a hybrid at the end. The guidelines I gave you are for a hybrid build.

MystiMonk - Sanctuary · March 2010

When going by Cayeons guide is says don't buy CGS.

punkatt · March 2010

I love clerics. I have a lvl 63 one on DW and am currently making another on the new server. The problem I have had with my higher level, is that I have the Sp, but not the gold. How on earth do people manage to keep the skills leveled up with the high costs?

Skills I have: Plume Shot and Greater Cyclone both at lvl 10
IH at 10 (and I think Wellspring Surge at 3, but not using this time round)
Vanguard Spirit and Magic Shell both at 10
Plume Shell, at 5, I believe (thinking of missing out this time)
Revive at 6
Purify at only lvl 2 or 3
CGS at 5
Spirit's Gift at 10
lvl 1 of both skills necessary for Wield Thunder, which I have at 3 =(
And finally, the party heal - Chromatic Healing is it? at lvl 5

What am I doing wrong? I can't get Metal Mastery, which I've been told is vital, or upgrade Wield Thinder, CGS, Purify etc.
(As I still need to do my Fb59, I have no BB yet, but also want that and it costs a lot too!)

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me. b:thanks

MystiMonk - Sanctuary · March 2010

I just went along with what RedRose said about what skills do lvl up.What I don't get from your post is that do you have metal mastery or not?I would suggest if you are not doing crazey stone as it costs you in coin and save the shards for when you are higher up.I would suggest not to lvl up skill right away if that is what you are doing.

Aadi - Lost City · March 2010

punkatt wrote: »

I love clerics. I have a lvl 63 one on DW and am currently making another on the new server. The problem I have had with my higher level, is that I have the Sp, but not the gold. How on earth do people manage to keep the skills leveled up with the high costs?

Skills I have: Plume Shot and Greater Cyclone both at lvl 10
IH at 10 (and I think Wellspring Surge at 3, but not using this time round)
Vanguard Spirit and Magic Shell both at 10
Plume Shell, at 5, I believe (thinking of missing out this time)
Revive at 6
Purify at only lvl 2 or 3
CGS at 5
Spirit's Gift at 10
lvl 1 of both skills necessary for Wield Thunder, which I have at 3 =(
And finally, the party heal - Chromatic Healing is it? at lvl 5

What am I doing wrong? I can't get Metal Mastery, which I've been told is vital, or upgrade Wield Thinder, CGS, Purify etc.
(As I still need to do my Fb59, I have no BB yet, but also want that and it costs a lot too!)

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me. b:thanks

If I were you, I would leave Plume Shell, CGS, and Chromatic Healing Beam right where they are. Plume Shell is nice but not essential, CGS is the same way, and Chromatic Healing Beam is usually only used on squishies, who don't have that much HP anyway so more levels won't do much for you there.

I would start catshopping to raise some money, that's what I do and it works fairly well. For the future, I would try to get Metal Mastery at least to 5, Purify to 7 by the time you hit 8x for BH69, and Revive leveled by late 7x. The squad buffs are seriously nice, but if they're too expensive waiting until later isn't too important.

The trick is only leveling what's VERY essential. I didn't even max Wield Thunder until mid-late 8x. Priorities are very important for a cleric.

Neonz - Lost City · March 2010

I say do both honestly, who says you can't do both, unless your a horriable multi tasker,
I do both, my boyfriend is an archer, he has that one attack that lowers your metal defence leveled which if you tripple spark and use weild thunder+thunderball, and all the metal moves you got, it can do some nasty damage, if your being attacked and he is too, use the chromatic healing beam, level it, and it heals both of you, its good to have an archer with that skill leveled because once it is leveled and a cleric drops a nasty metal hit, it can do some nice damage, I hope that helps o.O

punkatt · March 2010

Thanks for all the replies.

First, sorry if I didn't make it too clear, but no, I don't yet have Metal Mastery on my lvl 63. I stopped doing CS after the level 60 change in npc and stone type. I could no longer afford to do it.

For my new character I will take your advice, MystiMonk, and not level skills up straight away. I do tend to have a manic desire to level up what I consider the most important skills as soon as I can, so maybe I should hold back a bit on a few of those for now.

It's nice to hear from you, Adii, that my skills haven't been left too far behind on my DW cleric. Thank you. And I would love to start catshopping. It's the one thing I haven't really done yet. However, I always seem to need to npc the DQ stuff that drops, in order to pay for new skills

. I'll stop doing so many BHs and lvl a bit more slowly, perhaps, whereby I can save some much-needed coin. As for the squad buffs, I also consider them a luxury, and intend to leave them, at least for now.

And thanks for the input on the archer buff Neonz. Unfortunately I have no archer to duo with. I have a BM who is often with me. He doesn't need the Chromatic Healing Beam as much as an archer would, but it's good to know how to work with other classes.

At least I now feel I'm not going as horribly wrong as I first thought. Thanks again to everyone who replied.

YuYuu - Dreamweaver · March 2010

let me just give you a few tips about the order of importance of the skills:

from 1 to 60:

- Max IH
- Let wellspring surge at lv around 5~7, or even 3
- Revive you can lv when you can, not your biggest priority right now
- Let Purify at lv1
- Max Buffs and get the squad version (order of importance: VS, MS, SG, ..., CGS)
- Max the nukes (primary: Plume shot, secondary: Great Cyclone)
- When you reach 59's, do your spiritual cultivation and get BB, the other skills you can get when your money and spirit let you do that.

From 60 to 80:

- Max Metal Mastery and Plume Shell. Also max flight mastery if you don't wanna use cash wings.
- CHoose between the attack skills(except for tempest) or debuffs to max first, but do it one at a time.

From 80 to 10x:

- The most expensive phase!
- Pioritys to max: Stream of Rejuvenation and Tempest.
- After that: Chromatic healing bean, siren's kiss (becomes more useful) and Blessing of the Purehearted(this should, really, be the last skill to max)

Aadi - Lost City · March 2010

Unless you have some need to spend money, I wouldn't max Blessing at all. At level 1, it gives you chi without costing you any mana. b:cute

Honey_Bane - Dreamweaver · March 2010

Great advice, YuYuu, thanks a lot. I was wondering whether I should even get Wellspring for my new cleric, now at lvl 22. Now I know. It's not expensive to get up to lvl 3 until I get higher.
I only leveled revive on my lvl 63 because when I left it at 3, people in squads tended to complain if I was the only cleric. Maybe I should think more of the important skills and not so much about the squad losing exp... Will do that now with my new one.

Leaving Purify at lvl 1 sounds good, until you're facing Wyvern and the tank needs debuffing every so often. Do you think it makes much difference if I only have it at lvl 1, as healing is really the main concern here?

Just one thing I'm not too sure about. I agree with Aadi about the maxing of Pureheart. Perhaps at higher levels it becomes more important to have a source of chi - BB for instance. But for now, with my new cleric, I'll be keeping it at level 1.

Thank you both for the information. This is really helping a lot. I especially like the skill/level guide you set out for me, YuYuu.

Honey_Bane - Dreamweaver · March 2010

(EDIT: this is the same person who asked the question further above. I just edited my avatar is all)

Grrr - didn't see the Edit button on last post - lol

Sylredrae - Sanctuary · March 2010

Honey_Bane - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Great advice, YuYuu, thanks a lot. I was wondering whether I should even get Wellspring for my new cleric, now at lvl 22. Now I know. It's not expensive to get up to lvl 3 until I get higher.
I only leveled revive on my lvl 63 because when I left it at 3, people in squads tended to complain if I was the only cleric. Maybe I should think more of the important skills and not so much about the squad losing exp... Will do that now with my new one.

Leaving Purify at lvl 1 sounds good, until you're facing Wyvern and the tank needs debuffing every so often. Do you think it makes much difference if I only have it at lvl 1, as healing is really the main concern here?

Just one thing I'm not too sure about. I agree with Aadi about the maxing of Pureheart. Perhaps at higher levels it becomes more important to have a source of chi - BB for instance. But for now, with my new cleric, I'll be keeping it at level 1.

Thank you both for the information. This is really helping a lot. I especially like the skill/level guide you set out for me, YuYuu.

Leveling wellspring is up to you. I find that it's a faster source of chi than Purehearted Blessing due to its short channelling time, but it's also useful as an emergency heal.

As for purify, you can try leaving it at lvl one, but I would lvl it every now and then. Wyvern doesn't apply its debuff incredibly often, and if your heals are strong enough, you might not need purify.

For lvl 59 skills, I also want to add that as YuYuu says, it's wise to get BB; you'll need it. RB (Heaven's Wrath) you can procrastinate on. It's nice to have, but not needed nearly as much as BB.

Another skill not mentioned - Apothecary. Addmittedly, it's not a skill on a cleric's skill tree, but it's still important. I would advise you to lvl it up and scoop up any herbs you see that you need for pots. Apothecary herbs won't work during BB, but they certainly can save your life, an example being speed herbs used in combination with hp pots.

Honey_Bane - Dreamweaver · March 2010

Thank you, Sylredrae, for further information.

I do want my BB, but need to do my FB59 first. One important thing I don't know about BB is, what on earth do we do when the chi runs out and the bubble "bursts"? I know that, as a few people have pointed out already, yourself included, we have heals which regenerate chi. But surely not enough to maintain the bubble. Is there something that we can use to gove instant chi?

I have apothecary skill up to 3, but even at 63, have found it difficult to get the herbs for those lvl 3 remedies. I am still using the level 2 ones, picking every crane herb and realgar I see - and I still find I have to take "time out" for herb gathering. Time to move up to lvl 3 gathering I guess, as I believe I should now be on level 4. I must level apothecary on my lvl 63, as I left her with just tailor, and put apothecary on a secondary character. Well, we live and learn.

Again, thanks to everyone for all the help.

Dyskrasia - Heavens Tear · March 2010

The bubble doesn't consume chi, you just need two sparks to initiate it. It consumes mana constantly so you need either a charm or good mp pots (such as the level 75 ones you can get with tokens.)
If you're in a situation in squad where your bubble may be interrupted, be sure to tell the veno to send sparks your way whenever she can. That's usually good enough.

Aadi - Lost City · March 2010

Side note: You should know that you can't use apothecary pots while in BB, so don't bother making apothecary MP recovery pots for that purpose.

Edit: Ah someone mentioned that. That's what I get for not reading the last few posts on the second page. b:chuckle

MystiMonk - Sanctuary · March 2010

You can use pots but not powders when using BB.I use pots when I BB bot do go through them a lot.I try to avoid using BB if I can unless other necessary.

Sylredrae - Sanctuary · March 2010

Honey_Bane - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Thank you, Sylredrae, for further information.

I do want my BB, but need to do my FB59 first. One important thing I don't know about BB is, what on earth do we do when the chi runs out and the bubble "bursts"? I know that, as a few people have pointed out already, yourself included, we have heals which regenerate chi. But surely not enough to maintain the bubble. Is there something that we can use to gove instant chi?

I have apothecary skill up to 3, but even at 63, have found it difficult to get the herbs for those lvl 3 remedies. I am still using the level 2 ones, picking every crane herb and realgar I see - and I still find I have to take "time out" for herb gathering. Time to move up to lvl 3 gathering I guess, as I believe I should now be on level 4. I must level apothecary on my lvl 63, as I left her with just tailor, and put apothecary on a secondary character. Well, we live and learn.

Again, thanks to everyone for all the help.

There's an apothecary chi pot that that will instantly give you one spark. Combined with the veno's chi giving skill, you'll have two sparks in no time. b:laugh

As for apothecary, don't feel bad about having it lvl 3. I'm still using my original supply of lvl 3 apothecary pots and I'm over 80. I know it might sound wierd, but they're really all I need atm in addition to lvl 75 event pots. XD
(This is partly due to lack of inventory space; I could make higher lvl pots, but I have to use what I have first.)

You either have two options when it comes to apothecary pots Honey_Bane.

1) Do as I did, pick everything and lvl up apothecary quickly, but end up with excess herbs and pots that clog your inventory.

2) Only pick specific herbs you need for specific pots. MP regen, MP recovery and speed herbs I find particularly useful, although I do see some potential for damage-reducing, -channeling and HP recovery herbs (Samsara orb is a life saver sometimes). This will take more time to lvl apothecary, but you won't have to deal with inventory issues, which will enable you to gather up a supply of high lvl herbs.

For maximum rate at which to attain herbs, go pick them while you quest. That's where I got a lot of mine. Watch out for areas where herbs will spawn, pick them, and kill mobs while you wait for them to respawn. Works every time unless there's a lot of competition, which doesn't happen very often. Another benefit is that it might save you some mana... it will regen at normal rate while you pick herbs. (Provided that you wait a bit before combat mode wears off, where you only regen mana at a 1/4 of your normal rate.)

tukiyem · March 2010

Aadi - Lost City wrote: »

Side note: You should know that you can't use apothecary pots while in BB, so don't bother making apothecary MP recovery pots for that purpose.

Edit: Ah someone mentioned that. That's what I get for not reading the last few posts on the second page. b:chuckle

Nope, you CAN use the apothecary pot BEFORE you cast BB. yes you CAN'T use it AFTER you cast BB. This is really help for 10 minutes if you only have lvl 60 mp pots that will not covered BB mana cost.

Honey_Bane - Dreamweaver · March 2010

Thanks for all the BB information. My new server cleric is now at lvl 34 and is doing well. I'm taking all the advice given into consideration and am finding it is working for me.

I never knew venos could give sparks away. Great to know. And I feel much better having Honey_Bane's apo on only level 3 now. Great advice on herb gathering from Sylredrae. It's working great for me that way on my lvl 34 char, I'm already making lvl 2 pots and will very soon be up to gathering lvl 3 herbs, and the inv space saving is essential.

Unfortunately Honey_Bane is still stuck on DW at lvl 63 while my new char, HoneyPott on Archosaur is being levelled.

Thank you all very much.

Cleric: Fighting or healing?

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