Is there any way to..

[Khurse]

Hey all

After much time, finally started Khurse as a cleric.
Now having reached the dizzying heights of lvl3 power, have a few questions..

1) Is thre any way (that I've managed to miss) to have the parties HP bars show as numbers rather than red lines? I'm finding in te few groups I've been in so far I'm blowing all my sp's on cure moderate when cure light would probably work. I'm just not very good at guessing about how many HP's a red line represents I guess.

2) Am I generally suppoed to buff the **** out of the party? One group I did Kobold Assault with seemed to be happy with bless at teh start. The one I did WW with wanted bless/remove fear/fire protection/acid preotection for eveyone- (plus something else I think..) by te time I cast all of them I had barely any SP's for healing.. until I hit a shrine and had to repeat the process.

3) Any way to move the party hp bar? So far I think I'm missing what's going on/where we are in the dungeons because I just keep staring at the little red bars..

-Must say though, despite the fact it's still going to be forever before I get to use Blade Barrier, cleric seems like a lot of fun.

[binnsr]

Hey all

After much time, finally started Khurse as a cleric.
Now having reached the dizzying heights of lvl3 power, have a few questions..

1) Is thre any way (that I've managed to miss) to have the parties HP bars show as numbers rather than red lines? I'm finding in te few groups I've been in so far I'm blowing all my sp's on cure moderate when cure light would probably work. I'm just not very good at guessing about how many HP's a red line represents I guess.
No

2) Am I generally suppoed to buff the **** out of the party? One group I did Kobold Assault with seemed to be happy with bless at teh start. The one I did WW with wanted bless/remove fear/fire protection/acid preotection for eveyone- (plus something else I think..) by te time I cast all of them I had barely any SP's for healing.. until I hit a shrine and had to repeat the process.
Depends on you, man .. I drop mass-aid/mass-sof/remove fear .. If they want anything else, they need to ask for it. (i'll drop deathward if we don't have a pure paladin, and nightshield on myself as well) Also, by higher levels, there's nearly always a ranger or paladin around to assist with resists - or you're in a party where most everyone can resist/prot themselves.

3) Any way to move the party hp bar? So far I think I'm missing what's going on/where we are in the dungeons because I just keep staring at the little red bars..
If you hover your mouse a bit above the top party member, you should see hte cross-arrows that indicate you are on a movable part of a window. (you may have to move your map out of the way if its still in the default location)

-Must say though, despite the fact it's still going to be forever before I get to use Blade Barrier, cleric seems like a lot of fun.
Most of my 1270sp is reserved for quickened/maximized blade barriers or quickend destructions, although I'm still looking for something that works well on the shadows out in the orchard


Comments inline -- good luck and the grind of healing to high level is so worth it for a death priestess!

[Blazer]

2) Am I generally suppoed to buff the **** out of the party? One group I did Kobold Assault with seemed to be happy with bless at teh start. The one I did WW with wanted bless/remove fear/fire protection/acid preotection for eveyone- (plus something else I think..) by te time I cast all of them I had barely any SP's for healing.. until I hit a shrine and had to repeat the process.

Regarding this - requiring all of those buffs for WW is unnecessary, especially if you're running with a group of people who are just going to zerg through WW anyway (talking normal difficulty here). Bless is plenty, honestly. Remove Fear is nice, but you're probably going to have to cast it again when they fail their save. If they really want the fire/acid resist ask the wiz or sorc (if he has it) to hand that out and offer them promises of DVs (if you have them).

[Casta]

If someone asks for a buff I don't think they need then they don't get it. In ww part 1 without a rogue i will give 1 person acid they can set off the first trap and everyone else can wait or drink pots for being stupid and running into a trap, the fire trap can be jumped or timed.

Normally I don't buff at all unless someone asks, and most groups don't ask for more then a resist on 1 or 2 people.

[Arianrhod]

With my cleric, I tend to only cast the buffs that I know are needed, and that no one else in the party can cast (in higher level groups, the ranger or paladin often gets stuck with the job of handing out elemental resists, and bless is redundant if there's a bard in the group singing inspire courage). In many mid/higher level quests that's often limited to death ward & neutralize poison (which aren't needed by characters with deathblock or poison immunity items; WF never need neutralize poison, of course, they're naturally immune). In many cases the right buffs can save you a lot of spellpoints (resist fire is especially handy at lower levels, but isn't necessarily the cleric's job - wizards & sorcerors can cast resists and get the spellpoints back from DVs). If you can afford them, wands can provide most buffs, though they tend to be short duration (try the auction house for higher caster level buff wands when you get high enough level to use them).

Generally, it's a good idea for the whole party to keep in mind that they brought a cleric along to keep them alive when the fighting gets too fast & furious for potions to get the job done, so they need to let the cleric keep enough spell points in reserve to do that. No wand or scroll can dish out healing as fast as casting from the cleric's own power.

[Lord_Legolas]

Regarding this - requiring all of those buffs for WW is unnecessary, especially if you're running with a group of people who are just going to zerg through WW anyway (talking normal difficulty here). Bless is plenty, honestly. Remove Fear is nice, but you're probably going to have to cast it again when they fail their save. If they really want the fire/acid resist ask the wiz or sorc (if he has it) to hand that out and offer them promises of DVs (if you have them).

At the lower levels, most 'buffs' aren't that necessary, except for a few as noted. Although in STK with the 'massive fire trap' - and especially if you do not have a rogue (boo!) then you'll definately want to cast such... I've seen Cleric's cast none, a few... But my Cleric's (capped) cast as much as possible lol

As for the mid and higher level content (with the exception of going up against Beholders[no buffs]) I will buff as much as "I" feel necessary. For me it's more 'productive' to have resist fire (Level 2 spell - "Gives an ally limited protection from an elemental damage type, reducing that type of damage taken by 10.") which lasts a certian amount of time than to have to 'constantly heal' a players toon. Although protection from energy (Level 3 - "Grants temporary immunity to a form of energy for 1 minute per caster level or until 12 points of energy per caster level (max 120) have been absorbed.") may seem good, I'd recommend not using it as much because once that '12 points' of damage 'immunity' is worn out... It's gone! As in the previous example of STK - I'd give the rogue the resist and protection. Or if you don't have a rogue, everyone gets resist while "I" (the cleric) and any other squishies would get the protection too.

What it boils down to is how do "You" want to play your Cleric? Since it seems that your 'new' to being a Cleric, you may want to limit the buffs you give for a bit to conserve your mana. As for watching the health bars, you can try wands (yes it will get expensive) that way you can see how much a CLW, CSW or CCW spell/wand shot will heal them. But note that not all toons are created equal!!! Some may have a very high consitution (a guildie has a pally with 534hp! lol) and may require more healing than others :) You'll get the hang of it. I started with a Ranger and then moved to a Cleric. It was hard at the lower levels, but then I quickly caught on :) Knowing the quests and what the mobs throw at you and your party will help too. IE: I've run Deleras many times, initially everyone wanted resist fire... What mobs through fire at 'you' in Delera's? Not any that I can remember (maybe arcanes) but I see the arcanes mostly throw lightning and dont forget their 'balloon of acid!" What do "I" cast there? Protection from evil (I think they're all evil there), resist acid, resist lightning, bless :) Probably a few more.

As I've noted in other threads... You can also use wands and scrolls besides your spells to heal. Now be forewarned that this will get expensive! But my toons use spells, wands and scrolls to heal the party. If the party is getting hit hard, I will cycle through a spell, then wand and then a scroll. This is because of the cool down time! The next set is usually a wand and maybe a spell. The order in which you use is the order in which you see is fit for the situation, but scrolls have the longest cool down time of them all! Having devotion items will help with your spells too!

Yes, I do stare at those red bars. If you move your cursor above the 'partys' names you will find a spot to where you can drag them. As for being fun, I do find it fun and a great challenge! Maybe that's why I have so many clerics (4 - 2 not listed) ;p

[Mad_Bombardier]

2) Am I generally suppoed to buff the **** out of the party? One group I did Kobold Assault with seemed to be happy with bless at teh start. The one I did WW with wanted bless/remove fear/fire protection/acid preotection for eveyone- (plus something else I think..) by te time I cast all of them I had barely any SP's for healing.. until I hit a shrine and had to repeat the process.I say "wait for buffs" and throw out the things I know we'll need. If people run ahead, they get no buffs. If people die from something I could have prevented with buffs they didn't get because they ran ahead, they get no Raise. I carry their stones to the next shrine. If they b!+c# along the way, I leave their stone in a corner somewhere. :p