So basic Clericing...

[Khurse]

Not even sure if that's a word..

Anyway- my (now 7th) level sorc is finding it harder and harder to get into a PUG , as there seem to be many.many casters of that level that are better known or just all round better.

So figure I'll start a cleric, (There will still be far better clerics than me, but lets face it,clerics are popular) and there was a negative energy build around here somewhere that looked like he could do some damage.

Anyway- basically what's the foucs, is it to use wands, and save mana for buffs? Or is it to blow through your SP's with heals, and then use wands?
(I'm poor btw so I'm hoping #2 is best)
Just curious as I know people give clerics Cure wounds wands, and I've always passed them one when I loot it, but the clerics I've gorupled wit (when I'm paying attnetion) always seem to be casting using the wand

So just curious if they're bruning through man that fast, or is using the wands first the generally accepted procedure.

[DemonMage]

Buff up, prevention is key. Then use your SP for heals. And if absolutely necessary use a wand.

Once you've got money you can often flip it around and use your SP for Harms, Destructions, Symbols, Blade Barriers, etc. Then just use Heal scrolls for most of your healing. Becomes a question of how hard the quest is for you, and how much money you're willing to spend to use your SP on the fun stuff.

[Sojourner]

If you're going the negative-engergy, damage-dealing cleric route -- Prepare to be not terribly popular. People want clerics that can heal. If you go into a party and tell them "90% of my mana goes to offensive spells", they aren't going to be real happy with you.

Now -- not saying that it isn't a viable build, or that you won't be able to find groups to run with. Just want to warn you that if you're building a cleric in order to making grouping easier, the null-cleric is not the way to go.


If you're not dead-set on the null-cleric, I would probably go with a generalist build for your first cleric. A little bit of melee, a little bit of offensive casting, some buffs, some healing. I'm pretty happy with Emeril's build (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=116972). It's a 28-pointer, and was built when I knew nothing about the game, so there are few things that could be improved on, but he should give you a starting point to look at.

As for technique -

Carry 1, maybe 2 wands at most -- but don't use them unless it really has gone to **** and they are the last resort. If you come to rely on wands, you're going to be one dead-broke cleric
Try to avoid casting common buffs as much as possible. Resist energy / protection from energy - Clerics/Wizards/Sorcs/Rangers/Pallys can all carry those spells. As well as potions. It is better to let a ranger cast the resists and then DV the ranger than it is to casts the resists yourself.
Your mana probably gets split something like 30/70 for Crowd Control spells / Healing. Sometimes it costs less mana to command a mob, than it does to heal the party up after the fight if it was allowed to fight back. Trick will be learning when to use CC spells and when not to. CC everything, you have nothing left for heals. CC nothing and you've wasted mana healing wounds that didn't have to occur.


.

[Frodo_Lives]

Also to not go broke as a cleric don't try to power level. XP will come easily enough. There is no need to run SC at level 4, Co6 at lvl 6, or Delera's at lvl 5. Running elite content at too low a level is a sure way to use up tons of wands. Also if running out of sp is an issue don't wand heal after fights any class that can wand themselves. Rangers, Paladins, WF arcanes, bards can all use wands on themselves at ALL levels, don't be afraid to let them spend their own money instead of yours to do so.

Run your cleric through the harbor until 4, marketplace and tangleroot till 6, house/Inn quests till 7, Delera's and SC till 8 and I can almost guarantee that you will almost never need a wand until then. It's good xp, you will level fast, and you will still have a bunch of great xp content to hit 10 (Thernal, Co6, TS, Tear, Caverns of Korromar, etc).

It really only gets expensive sp wise to offensively cast when you get to higher levels. Soundburst, Command and the like are still pretty cheaply cast when used only when needed. I agree at the mid levels ranger or paladin buffs/resists are as good as yours so let them cast those when possible and use DVs on them instead of the arcane casters. This is also a great way to save sp.

Bottom line is when you play a cleric it is expected that you do heal. You don't have to be a wuss about it, just keep everyone on their feet. A cleric at all levels can still fight, offensively cast and heal. Don't think that you have to stand at the back and just watch the health bars. A cleric is capable of much more than that. I will admit that during the really big fights on harder quests I sometimes do that with my cleric, but for 90% of the quest it's not needed.

[Ghoste]

If you're going the negative-engergy, damage-dealing cleric route -- Prepare to be not terribly popular. People want clerics that can heal. If you go into a party and tell them "90% of my mana goes to offensive spells", they aren't going to be real happy with you.
Click on the link in my sig. Go there and you wont be terribly popular if you're specced to heal. Those folks want clerics that can kick fleshling ***.

As far as healing, that's wizard work. Let the fleshlings suffer.

[Sojourner]

Click on the link in my sig. Go there and you wont be terribly popular if you're specced to heal. Those folks want clerics that can kick fleshling ***.

As far as healing, that's wizard work. Let the fleshlings suffer.

LOL - Ok, I amend my statement.

"The fleshy races won't be terribly happy with you if you can't heal their wounds. But the warforged don't necessarily see that as a shortcoming and will more more than happy to have you along."

[Hvymetal]

Thats the truth:) In a WF party the cleric is an offensive caster.

[Scalion]

My somewhat limited experience on a cleric has taught me a few things.

1. Buffing is important, but don't cast buffs that aren't necessary.

for example

Aid and bless do NOT stack so don't cast one and then the other

Don't give resists to people who don't need them (a caster with good aggro control or a rogue with evasion on reflex saveable elemental damage). I had a rogue ask me for fire resist when fighting a few mephits and I asked him what his reflex save was and decided he didn't need it, I was right.

2. If you know you will be needing wands eventually, mix them in while you still have sp.

Cleric castable heals are much faster than wanding, so if I know I'll run out of sp before I get to the next shrine I'll use wands on easier fights or when not fighting so I have spell points for the fights that I need them.

3. If you plan on running elite quests, be prepared to burn some wands.

Many players just assume that if their classes job is to swing their sword that they don't have to worry about anything else. These players should be avoided, but if you get stuck in a group with people who require more healing than necessary it is unfortunately up to you to make up for their shortcoming. I have never seen a dungeon in this game, with the exception of maybe proof against poison and the swiped signet, that hasn't been designed with enough shrines to prevent using wands at all. 90% of the time it's the lack of crowd control or tactics that make wands necessary.

4. Remember your crowd control spells, but use them wisely.

Think about all of the factors before burning spell points on crowd control. Factor in the spell point cost, the distance to the next shrine, the amount of damage you'll be preventing (thus saving sp on heals), the chance your target has of saving, and whether someone in your group is already capable of crowd controling. These are honestly my favorite spells in the book, but if you use them when not needed you are going to be hurting (or wanding) later on.


There's my 2 cents.

[moops]

If your not in a Guild, you might want to find one, as guilds take care of their clerics--also, your sorc would benefit from a guild as you would be included in their groups. At high levels Sorcs are in demand, so I'd still stick it out with that alt.

[Elleron]

I find clerics as the hardest class to run.

1. #1 job is to heal - not saying that he can't crowd contol or pull out that maul or whatever, but whatever he/she is doing, they are expected to heal.

Ex: big bad dps fighter says"why didn't you heal me when I got hit", your response " didn't know you only take 2 hits, before you die"..

2. Pugs - adding your cleric to a pug(pick up group) is usually a bad idea. Unless you know someone in the pug. The reason is because you don't know how these people play. You get caster that fight in meele, fighters that think the cleric should follow them around to keep them healed. You get casters or range-types that attack first and therefore get the aggro.
"like momma said its like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get". Running with guildies is so much better.

3. $$$$$ - everyone thinks you're made of money and have a wand and scroll tree out back.

4. Where is that dang shrine - I ran as a wizard as my 1st toon - just so I could see the quests and stay in the way back and find out where the shrines are so I know how much I can use mana vs. wands.

5. Make sure your rangers/paladins/umd toons or any with a spalsh of the ranger or pally carry their own wands.

6. Wands/mana: I start out the fight ready to heal with mana and then switch to wands towards the end and use wands after the fights to get everyone back up - that being said insert (pally and rangers) to get their own health back up and to help out with the non-wand toonage.

7. With all that, you can get into all kinds of groups and meet some dang nice people as a cleric.

[neuce77]

this is aireya im a capped cleric i buy wands and full heal scrolls i use mana to buff and help when needed useing wands and scrolls helps save mana for a massive battle and people tell me im pretty good so its working for me lol. thats my advice so ill see ya on the flip side best of luck aireya!!!!!

[Kalanth]

With my cleric I would alternate between wand (majority of my heals), Heal Scrolls, and Spells. Most of the time I was in the fight, swinging away and casting offensively. It was rare that people would die, and many thought of me as a quality healer. But it can be expensive if you are not prepared for it.

[Impaqt]

I dont know why I get involved in these discussions.....

Null Clerics have Tremendous healing capabilities. Enhancing your Null Abilities automatically Enhanced your Healing capabilites in the ENH System. You want the best Potency item you canget your hands on.. WHich also enhancemsn your Nul and Healing Spells....

I can crit a "Heal" for 693 points... almost 20% of the time.

Most damage in mid to uper levels comes from Casters.... Eliminating them fast Saves you a TON of healing and Buffing....

At Level 7 I expect most characters to have basic ways to resist themselves... Cloaks are Plentiful.. As are CLickies.. 10Point resists go a long way against most mid-level spells and Traps.

Poison Can Instakill many CR5-7Ish Casters.

Play your cleric the way YOU want to play him. If your Group Leader doesnt ike Offensive or Null Clerics.. FInd a Different group. THe groups that appreciate the power of the Null/Offensive cleric are the best equipted, and more knoledgeable players.

[cridus]

Well it is probably better to buff up and then use your sp for healing in combat, most other people at mid and higher will have resists and what not so don't bother to use your sp for that, the AoE buffs are probably the best to give out and they are the ones I use only for the party unless I know what is coming. Carry some wands, doesn't mean you have to use them though, really handy when your sp is tanked.
Currently I carry 10 CSW wands, and 100 heal scrolls, but that is only so I don't have to run to house J every quest, plus I run Gianthold Tor a lot and being able to cycle through a wand flick, heal spell, heal scroll can really come in handy.

You can go broke with a cleric but that is entirely up to yourself, run quests you know the group your with can handle, don't let anyone blame you for there character dying, they sell pots for a reason.
Watch the battle so you can predict who is going to be taking damage in battle, if you have a caster tossing firewalls all over the place, chances are he is going to have initial aggro, also pick up a weapon, concentration is a good skill to have and there is no rule that says you can't swing a stick while healing the team.

Good luck, cleric's are fast leveling. And when you can afford it pick up wands for the status effects, it will save you slots for the fun spells, and the spells such as bears endurance, and bull's strength are good in the mid levels, kinda useless later on as most people have items that give +4 of a given stat.

[Beherit_Baphomar]

Click on the link in my sig. Go there and you wont be terribly popular if you're specced to heal. Those folks want clerics that can kick fleshling ***.

As far as healing, that's wizard work. Let the fleshlings suffer.

Ghoste, I gotta tell ya man, you've brought a whole new face to DDO. Very nice to see...

[Beherit_Baphomar]

I dont know why I get involved in these discussions.....

Null Clerics have Tremendous healing capabilities. Enhancing your Null Abilities automatically Enhanced your Healing capabilites in the ENH System. You want the best Potency item you canget your hands on.. WHich also enhancemsn your Nul and Healing Spells....

I can crit a "Heal" for 693 points... almost 20% of the time.

Most damage in mid to uper levels comes from Casters.... Eliminating them fast Saves you a TON of healing and Buffing....

At Level 7 I expect most characters to have basic ways to resist themselves... Cloaks are Plentiful.. As are CLickies.. 10Point resists go a long way against most mid-level spells and Traps.

Poison Can Instakill many CR5-7Ish Casters.

Play your cleric the way YOU want to play him. If your Group Leader doesnt ike Offensive or Null Clerics.. FInd a Different group. THe groups that appreciate the power of the Null/Offensive cleric are the best equipted, and more knoledgeable players.

Potency? Not Devotion? I have a level 5 cleric and he uses devotion, should I switch him to potency?

[Yvonne_Blacksword]

Relax.
As a cleric you will start to feel pressure from all around you

People who expect you to carry unlimited supply of wands.

People who expect you to sit back and heal.

People who want to suck all the life out of the game and relegate you to the back row, spamming heals, buffing till it hurts and never taking the glory for yourself.

Relax.

Play around a little.

Do some crowd control.

See the sights.

Relax....
:p
That time of only watching HP bars and mass spamming heals alternating between your mana and scrolls will soon be upon you. Be selective in your groupings. Guild group only...
:p

[Mad_Bombardier]

Potency? Not Devotion? I have a level 5 cleric and he uses devotion, should I switch him to potency?If you have Devotion, use Devotion. If you have Potency, use Potency. The nice thing is Potency adds to your damage spells. So, somewhere around level 9 or so (when Clerics get real damage spells) you can switch to Potency. But, the named L5 items, with Devotion on them work just fine until then.

[Impaqt]

Potency? Not Devotion? I have a level 5 cleric and he uses devotion, should I switch him to potency?

Yeah, At level 5, your pretty limited in what Potency actually helps.. Searing Light... Inflicts... Thats about it....

Flamestrike, Cometfall, Blade Barrier... THose are the spels that benefit from Potency the most...

[Steam313]

If your going to build a spell focused cleric it WILL be hard for you to find groups as 99.9% of the groups want a cleric that can heal and buff... If you can do that your set and can do all the offensive spellcasting you want... Wands of CSW and Scrolls of Heal, raise dead, ressurection, and mass CMW will be your friends... you also might want to invest in a few invaders run (25 tokens are approximately 12-15 runs) its well worth the healing mace to help you conserve SP even further (yes its near end-game stuff but you wont see good offensive spell casting till lvl 10 at least) the way i have my cleric built and geared I hit heals in the 190-210 range non crit and from 500-620 in the crit range (depending on if the target has the improved healing enhancement(10%) as well) unfortunately as most people point out it is a semi-gear dependant build
(disclaimer: I have run Pug's on my server non-stop and have a cleric in the general direction of what it sounds like your trying to build. You just need a little bit of luck on your side to find the good ones and make a name for yourself)

some tips I have from capping a cleric in less than 4 weeks and getting the best gear in the game while doing so-->

1) Look to switch casting heal/cure spells inbetween wands/scrolls (i.e Wand, spell, wand, spell, scroll, spell, wand, spell) it cuts down on SP cost for smaller battles (saving Sp for the bigger battles is key.. there is nothing worse than hearing a cleric say "I'm out of SP/Mana" in middle of a boss fight cause he wasted 50% or more of his SP casting wasted heals on a paper tank or squishy)

2) Mass Aid, and shield of faith (when attained) are your biggest buffing asset besides FoM and True Sight

3) Keep a hot bar of ALL Resists AND protections (fire, cold, electric, acid, sonic)

4) Keep at hot bar of removal spells (fear, disease, poison. etc)

5) Look to find a +2 or better potency item to your insta-death/resistable spells (Destruction, bansihment, dismissal, slay living)

6) Keep at low lvls at least 3-5 wands on you (you NEVER know when you will run out) i usually keep a full bag of wands on me(yes 25 full wands) and if you can use the raise dead scrolls keep at least 20 on you PER QUEST! (this will help you save SP beyond belief)

7) invest in picking up the black scale armor from Gianthold Tor by far another gear peice well worth investing into but can be replaced with another wizadry 5 item if need be

8) if you want to equip a shield remember if you have a potency item on you each time you click a wand or scroll you will have to SWITCH BACK to your potency item to keep casting (hence why you will see alot of clerics running around w/o a shield)

9) if someone can heal themselves in off-battle situations let them heal themselves and concentrate on keeping your SP on heavy-battle situations

10) Never let someone tell you "NO! you cant play your character that way!" I grouped with people who have never seen a healbot do CC and heal effectively. only you can tell how to play the character, take advice accordingly, but DO NOT let someone run you off cause you didnt know any better on spells/skills (there is a reason you can respec feats/enhancements and change your spells around)

11) Making a cleric WILL COST YOU PLAT... there is no way around it... for the first few lvls look to your friends and guildies for assistance in items if you have to, 99% of the time a simple bio message stating you could use the help for wands/scrolls works and should net you anywhere from 1k-15k plat (i've even had donations of up to 1m plat )

12) Look towards some hard to find named items to tweak your cleric just the way you want it... dont be afraid to roll on wizzy/sorc items if you feel you NEED and WILL use them (Need b4 Greed on all raids)

13) a well timed Cometfall or Greater Command will be your parties friend and will end up saving your scrolls and SP 90% of the time (the other 10% of the time is usually due to someone zerging something they shouldnt be)

14) look to be able to solo most of the lowbie house quests around lvl 9-10 to get your feel for offensive spell casting or if available run with 1-2 guildies that would be willing to help you do some favor runs and kill 2 birds with 1 stone (if you dont have your 400/1750 unlocked)

15) The more you play the faster and easier your cleric will become and the better you will be. Most people say that staring at the HP bars is mindless, tho many would find it tougher than they expect. Dont worry if 1 or 2 people fall in a BIG battle (you have scrolls for that) but if you have 3 people down start to spam heal scrolls/button and rezing people.

16) -DR helps a little bit at lower lvls, until you grab a good potency or healing item you will be with sword and shield on... look for either addy platemail or a heavy addy shield (they dont stack) and it helps keep your slightly squishy body intact.

17) A set of resistance cloaks and good balance skill is key to your survival. As you draw aggro many mobs WILL trip you if you have a low balance. and as far a resists go the more the better.

18) at low lvls look for a Flaming or Flaming Burst Heavy mace it will be your partner and a big help when it comes down to you having to swing a stick around at mobs

19) Plan your character out b4 you run thru building it, it will save you cash, time, and anguish. look to do a fair amount of research on what feats are good, what is great, and what is worthless.

20) HAVE FUN WITH YOUR BUILD! if your not having fun, you might as well scrap it...

[Mad_Bombardier]

18) at low lvls look for a Flaming or Flaming Burst Heavy mace it will be your partner and a big help when it comes down to you having to swing a stick around at mobsUnless you are a max STR melee Cleric, I'd go with the highest +(enchantment) weapon for your level. More hits = more damage. Flaming/Holy/etc. doesn't matter if you don't hit. ;)

[Impaqt]

I could spend all day picking these suggestions apart, but I dont have time right now.. I'll hit a few though....



some tips I have from capping a cleric in less than 4 weeks and getting the best gear in the game while doing so-->

1) Look to switch casting heal/cure spells inbetween wands/scrolls (i.e Wand, spell, wand, spell, scroll, spell, wand, spell) it cuts down on SP cost for smaller battles (saving Sp for the bigger battles is key.. there is nothing worse than hearing a cleric say "I'm out of SP/Mana" in middle of a boss fight cause he wasted 50% or more of his SP casting wasted heals on a paper tank or squishy)

2) Mass Aid, and shield of faith (when attained) are your biggest buffing asset besides FoM and True Sight
Dont forget Deathward.. The single most powerful SItuational Buff!

3) Keep a hot bar of ALL Resists AND protections (fire, cold, electric, acid, sonic)
I dont.... I keep a few slots open for Situational buffs that might need to be repeated... Protection from xxx, for example, in the Tor Preraid.

4) Keep at hot bar of removal spells (fear, disease, poison. etc)
Wands are just as good.. If n ot better... Saves you Spell points....
5) Look to find a +2 or better potency item to your insta-death/resistable spells (Destruction, bansihment, dismissal, slay living)
+2 or Better? Whats that Mean? Potency is %Increase and level.... ANd does NOT help Instadeath Spells.... You want Spell Focus Items for those.. and as far as I can tell.. +1 is the only items availaable..

6) Keep at low lvls at least 3-5 wands on you (you NEVER know when you will run out) i usually keep a full bag of wands on me(yes 25 full wands) and if you can use the raise dead scrolls keep at least 20 on you PER QUEST! (this will help you save SP beyond belief)

7) invest in picking up the black scale armor from Gianthold Tor by far another gear peice well worth investing into but can be replaced with another wizadry 5 item if need be
Black Dragon armor is Highly overrated for Cleric. Your Much better served by Blue... Spell Penn, Arcane Lore and Potency all wrapped up in one neat slot that gives you excellent AC. The net gain from Black comes down to25 Spell points.... meh.....

8) if you want to equip a shield remember if you have a potency item on you each time you click a wand or scroll you will have to SWITCH BACK to your potency item to keep casting (hence why you will see alot of clerics running around w/o a shield)

9) if someone can heal themselves in off-battle situations let them heal themselves and concentrate on keeping your SP on heavy-battle situations

10) Never let someone tell you "NO! you cant play your character that way!" I grouped with people who have never seen a healbot do CC and heal effectively. only you can tell how to play the character, take advice accordingly, but DO NOT let someone run you off cause you didnt know any better on spells/skills (there is a reason you can respec feats/enhancements and change your spells around)

11) Making a cleric WILL COST YOU PLAT... there is no way around it... for the first few lvls look to your friends and guildies for assistance in items if you have to, 99% of the time a simple bio message stating you could use the help for wands/scrolls works and should net you anywhere from 1k-15k plat (i've even had donations of up to 1m plat )

12) Look towards some hard to find named items to tweak your cleric just the way you want it... dont be afraid to roll on wizzy/sorc items if you feel you NEED and WILL use them (Need b4 Greed on all raids)

13) a well timed Cometfall or Greater Command will be your parties friend and will end up saving your scrolls and SP 90% of the time (the other 10% of the time is usually due to someone zerging something they shouldnt be)

14) look to be able to solo most of the lowbie house quests around lvl 9-10 to get your feel for offensive spell casting or if available run with 1-2 guildies that would be willing to help you do some favor runs and kill 2 birds with 1 stone (if you dont have your 400/1750 unlocked)

15) The more you play the faster and easier your cleric will become and the better you will be. Most people say that staring at the HP bars is mindless, tho many would find it tougher than they expect. Dont worry if 1 or 2 people fall in a BIG battle (you have scrolls for that) but if you have 3 people down start to spam heal scrolls/button and rezing people.

16) -DR helps a little bit at lower lvls, until you grab a good potency or healing item you will be with sword and shield on... look for either addy platemail or a heavy addy shield (they dont stack) and it helps keep your slightly squishy body intact.

17) A set of resistance cloaks and good balance skill is key to your survival. As you draw aggro many mobs WILL trip you if you have a low balance. and as far a resists go the more the better.
Balance skill, Unfortunatly has nothing to do with Being Tripped.... The Trip Check is your STR or DEX Modifier... Whatever is greater.... Balance just helps you get back up fast..

18) at low lvls look for a Flaming or Flaming Burst Heavy mace it will be your partner and a big help when it comes down to you having to swing a stick around at mobs
MB Adderessed this.. agree with his assesment..

19) Plan your character out b4 you run thru building it, it will save you cash, time, and anguish. look to do a fair amount of research on what feats are good, what is great, and what is worthless.

20) HAVE FUN WITH YOUR BUILD! if your not having fun, you might as well scrap it...