My little cleric

[Aenoanx]

Don't tell any of my raiding buddies but its the first time. But this probably the only time I'll enjoy some kinda healer class. Aside from WoW when I played a priest but even that was short lived when I was overlooked for paladins and druids and couldn't even fake my way through soloing.

But my question is...I did a premade character (Human, War priestess)
Im wondering whats the best course of action to stay on this path without say leaning to far into being a deticated healer or something. (Note: I do not mind swaping "healing gear" with melee/tank gear - unless I can find some kind of balance. If DDO is broken down in that sort of way)

So far I have;

17str (+1 from an item, neck reward in the first area)
10dex
14con
16wis

45hp/218mana
17ac

PS I noticed that some of my items mention +healing% to x level spells (20% to first lvl) Is there a way to see how much it really has affect my spells, most rpgs you can see via a stat that tells you now much "+healing" you have or you just see it from spells. eg +20 would be like instead of healing for 100hp it bumps up too 120 assuming the spells maxed out at 100.

Oh and I noticed one other thing, where it says your class "Cleric 1" just above alignment it used to say Warpriest of Siberys but it no longer says that...normal?
And is there any kind of like auction house or bazaar? ;p

[Arianrhod]

Don't tell any of my raiding buddies but its the first time. But this probably the only time I'll enjoy some kinda healer class. Aside from WoW when I played a priest but even that was short lived when I was overlooked for paladins and druids and couldn't even fake my way through soloing.

But my question is...I did a premade character (Human, War priestess)
Im wondering whats the best course of action to stay on this path without say leaning to far into being a deticated healer or something. (Note: I do not mind swaping "healing gear" with melee/tank gear - unless I can find some kind of balance. If DDO is broken down in that sort of way)

So far I have;

17str (+1 from an item, neck reward in the first area)
10dex
14con
16wis

45hp/218mana
17ac

PS I noticed that some of my items mention +healing% to x level spells (20% to first lvl) Is there a way to see how much it really has affect my spells, most rpgs you can see via a stat that tells you now much "+healing" you have or you just see it from spells. eg +20 would be like instead of healing for 100hp it bumps up too 120 assuming the spells maxed out at 100.

Oh and I noticed one other thing, where it says your class "Cleric 1" just above alignment it used to say Warpriest of Siberys but it no longer says that...normal?
And is there any kind of like auction house or bazaar? ;p

Hm, lots of questions here :)

Switching between meleer & healer for a cleric is mostly a matter of equipment, spells, and enhancements (feats too, but as long as you stay on the "warpriest" path those will be chosen for you). For example, the "melee cleric" might have a morningstar and shield in hand, while the "dedicated healer" might be dual-wielding scepters of Devotion and Power, or have a wand in one hand and be shield-blocking with the other. The "melee cleric" might buff himself with Divine Power & Bull's Strength, while the "dedicated healer" might buff the tank, or save all her power for healing. The "melee cleric" might have Toughness enhancements, while the "dedicated healer" might have Devotion enhancements. It's pretty easy to switch out the spells & gear to go fom one role to the other, less so to switch feats & enhancements (costs money and is on a timer).

As for the +healing items....I'm not really a math person, so maybe someone else can help you more here. I do know the first level healing spell, Cure Light Wounds, heals 1d8 + 1hp per caster level, capping at +5 (so a 5th level cleric would heal 1d8+5hp with a Cure Light Wounds spell). That's your base, and any items or enhancements would be added to that (note that for healing spells the verious bonuses generally don't stack, so if you have Efficacy, Potency & Devotion, only the highest will work).

The auctioneers are outside in the various districts of the city. They have a map symbol (red hammer over a line, I think). The one in the Harbor is a bugbear or hobgoblin (I forget) standing near the mailbox.

[Aenoanx]

Thank you for the advice. I think I have an idea of how I am going to continue the war priest route. I will need to becareful about how I use my feats and enchants is all.
For now I am just picking enchants without real cause since I can re spec Feats and Enchants later (possible wait until I reach the level cap - which will probably be 20, unless I make it to 16 before this next big patch comes.

It might be a waste of time, but I wondered about the auction houses because I seem to be stuck with battleworn shield :P

[Arianrhod]

It might be a waste of time, but I wondered about the auction houses because I seem to be stuck with battleworn shield :P

Not necessarily - I know the AH prices seem high to a new player (and a lot of them are, you do have to search through the overpriced junk to find the bargains), but there are ways for even low level players to make money. Certain collectibles, for instance, are of little value to new players, but very valuable to capped characters (who use them in crafting rituals). I've found Vials of Pure water to be a nice money maker to start with. Just check the "collectibles" section of the AH to see how much they're selling for on your server, and price accordingly (on Thelanis, I found a 10,000 gp minimum bid & 30,000 gp buyout worked well).

Also, if you're on Khyber, try joining the Help channel, and get in touch with Mythe. She's the resident newbie helper, and sends "care packages" (funded by donations from other Khyber players) to new players to help them get started.

[UnderwearModel]

I have low level cleric stuff and I will be glad to help.

I play healer clerics, not battle clerics. Eventually, I will do a battle cleric but right now, my clerics are healers. My 28 pt cleric is tougher than my 32 pt cleric. My 32 pt I made strictly as a healer cleric.

If you plan on joining a LOT of parties, which will happen, you will be counted on as being the HEALER.

You can take off the items that give you a % gain and cast your cures, and then put the items back on and notice the change.

Do not bother joining our help channel, 99.9% of the time I am the ONLY one in it.

In response to the post about certain collectables.

Harbor Collectables that you can sell

Vials of Pure Water -
Luminescent Dust -
Sparkling Dust -
Tome Prophecies of Khyber -
Deadly Feverblanch -

[Aenoanx]

Great thanks, I asked this in help the other night but never got a reply.
When usin' hirelings are they worth the cost? I found a lv 1 to be better then ones the same level as me, haha.
But the problem I did have is once I used the contract, did a dungeon my hireling and contract were gone forever..not a cheap way of doing things especially if they take a cut of exp with them =/

[MissAshley]

The hirelings will help you for just one dungeon, unless it is a chain quest. They also do not earn xp or take any xp away from you.

What server are you on?

Welcome to DDO! :)

[Arianrhod]

Great thanks, I asked this in help the other night but never got a reply.
When usin' hirelings are they worth the cost? I found a lv 1 to be better then ones the same level as me, haha.
But the problem I did have is once I used the contract, did a dungeon my hireling and contract were gone forever..not a cheap way of doing things especially if they take a cut of exp with them =/

Depends on the hireling, what you want them for, and what you would be spending the money on otherwise. For example, a level 3 cleric costs less than a potion of Owl's Wisdom, but can't work the rune in WaterWorks - learned that the hard way, the other day. As a cleric yourself, you probably won't find hirelings all that useful, but sometimes they can come in handy: Another cleric to heal you while you fight, or a caster to handle crowd control like Web (be sure to look up what spells are in their hotbar on the Compendium, though - it's annoying to get a caster for Web only to find all they have is Command Undead :P )

[tihocan]

Just one thing, put your level up points into Wisdom. In the long term it's most likely to be better (especially if at this point you're unsure of what you'll want to do).
You can respec your feats so it's not a huge deal if the automatic path doesn't bring you what you'd really want.
Even if you don't want to be pidgeon-holed into a healing machine, in high level raids it's what you'll do most.

[Aenoanx]

Depends on the hireling, what you want them for, and what you would be spending the money on otherwise. For example, a level 3 cleric costs less than a potion of Owl's Wisdom, but can't work the rune in WaterWorks - learned that the hard way, the other day. As a cleric yourself, you probably won't find hirelings all that useful, but sometimes they can come in handy: Another cleric to heal you while you fight, or a caster to handle crowd control like Web (be sure to look up what spells are in their hotbar on the Compendium, though - it's annoying to get a caster for Web only to find all they have is Command Undead :P )

Yeah, I haven't had a need to for too many hirelings though, there are a couple of missions in harbor I can't seem to find help on and they class the mission as alv 3 normal, so Im in the process of deciding how I should go about doing this. I have my Celestial Dog and I am thinking of picking up the barbarian hireling if I can find a level 2 one. Otherwise there is a lv 2 paladin I'll just let him be the tank in this case ><


The hirelings will help you for just one dungeon, unless it is a chain quest. They also do not earn xp or take any xp away from you.

What server are you on?

Welcome to DDO! :)

Khyber. Atleast for now, this early favor doesn't concern me but Im trying to take advantage of the free trial ;p


Just one thing, put your level up points into Wisdom. In the long term it's most likely to be better (especially if at this point you're unsure of what you'll want to do).
You can respec your feats so it's not a huge deal if the automatic path doesn't bring you what you'd really want.
Even if you don't want to be pidgeon-holed into a healing machine, in high level raids it's what you'll do most.

At this point in time, I have ZERO desire to raid anything =p Done more then my share already in EQ in high end "hardcore" raiding guilds and WoW...I plan to enjoy my happy go lucky dungeon crawls. The leveling pace is much slower then WoW, which is nice. So I plan to enjoy myself as much as I can in various maps.

I have an idea of how I plan to keep going as battle cleric and still be a good main healer in groups when its deemed necessary.
E.g. of this is probably basing my enchantments around healing and spell damage and then any kind of melee enchantments if there are any. I haven't looked at crafting or tradeskills in this game but I am hoping I can craft armor/weapons either with random modifiers or fixed ones. If I can make items like +1con +2wis or +str and con. Then I'll be gearing that way, either keeping str/wis or just straight wisdom on my items. Probably not possible but like a healing/wisdom heavy mace then a melee friendly shield sort of deal.

Whats this Week of the Xclass?

[Arianrhod]

I have my Celestial Dog and I am thinking of picking up the barbarian hireling if I can find a level 2 one. Otherwise there is a lv 2 paladin I'll just let him be the tank in this case ><

At this point in time, I have ZERO desire to raid anything =p Done more then my share already in EQ in high end "hardcore" raiding guilds and WoW...I plan to enjoy my happy go lucky dungeon crawls. The leveling pace is much slower then WoW, which is nice. So I plan to enjoy myself as much as I can in various maps.

I haven't looked at crafting or tradeskills in this game but I am hoping I can craft armor/weapons either with random modifiers or fixed ones.
Whats this Week of the Xclass?

The "tank" type hirelings tend to be rather disappointing - they take a lot of damage and don't dish much out. Might be OK for Kobold Assault, since there's a rez shrine right there, but it generally works out better to get a hireling to heal you rather than trying to heal a hireling, even if you're a healer.

Unfortunately, crafting in its current state requires raiding. It's presently just a system for customizing raid gear. We can hope it will be expanded someday to include more "casual" crafting, but that's the way it is at present.

Week of the X class - as far as I can tell, that's just a promo for the upcoming module, when the level cap goes up to 20. Don't know of any actual ingame events or effects associated with the featured classes.

[Aenoanx]

Yeah, I just noticed that this afternoon. I might just get like a dps hireling (caster) or stick with using the barbarian.

[UnderwearModel]

For every two points in a stat the bonus from that stat is raised +1

example
WIS = 10 bonus +1
WIS = 11 bonus +1
WIS = 12 bonus +2
WIS = 13 bonus +2
WIS = 14 bonus +3
WIS = 15 bonus +3
WIS = 16 bonus +4

example
Level 5 items can raise you characteristics +2
Level 7 items can raise you characteristics +3
Level 9 items can raise you characteristics +4
Level 11 items can raise you characteristics +5
Level 13 items can raise you characteristics +6 currently the maximum

At level 5, you can find a helm or necklace that raises your WISdom +2. This will give you more spell points.

As a cleric, you can find cool items in the The Hound of Xoriat specifically for clerics. And since most of us have that stuff already, you can win the roll off on the gear.:D

[Aenoanx]

Excellent, now... who wants to come play with me :p haha...sigh.

[Aranticus]

Aenonax, check my sig for new player builds to try out. there is a whole lot of friendly new player builds for you to try with tips on how to play them as well as some of the gear that you need

[Aenoanx]

Aenonax, check my sig for new player builds to try out. there is a whole lot of friendly new player builds for you to try with tips on how to play them as well as some of the gear that you need

Nod, I looked at those but nothing really suites my play style. I am not a healbot =p
I like to be a jack of all trades, master of none.
I like to get in the face of my opponent but know when to back off and help the group out. <this is more of a personal ability rather then a specific build, we call this situational awareness ;p) In essence my Warpriest is actually what I want thought, I'd rather it was more of a paladin/cleric, the ability to do enchanced damage via melee combat w/ special effects. This parts harder to explain without using another game for an example.

DDO I don't think can achieve this but its sort of like a 4ed avenger I guess? do kind of like a hit with melee then holy damage via a spell or something...sort of like a retribution paladin from wow (see divine storm).

Anyway Warpriest fits the bill nicely being able to be a healer and do melee damage.

Im still learning the ways of "DDO" but I am already eager to discovery my swashbuckler.

EDIT: For situations where I feel I want to be a distance while healing but still want to keep doing some light damage between heals, is a lightcross bow worth picking up ? or heavy? I wonder with a lack of range damage feats and or otherwise, if its just a waste of time.

[Aranticus]

Nod, I looked at those but nothing really suites my play style. I am not a healbot =p
I like to be a jack of all trades, master of none.
I like to get in the face of my opponent but know when to back off and help the group out. <this is more of a personal ability rather then a specific build, we call this situational awareness ;p) In essence my Warpriest is actually what I want thought, I'd rather it was more of a paladin/cleric, the ability to do enchanced damage via melee combat w/ special effects. This parts harder to explain without using another game for an example.

DDO I don't think can achieve this but its sort of like a 4ed avenger I guess? do kind of like a hit with melee then holy damage via a spell or something...sort of like a retribution paladin from wow (see divine storm).

Anyway Warpriest fits the bill nicely being able to be a healer and do melee damage.

Im still learning the ways of "DDO" but I am already eager to discovery my swashbuckler.

EDIT: For situations where I feel I want to be a distance while healing but still want to keep doing some light damage between heals, is a lightcross bow worth picking up ? or heavy? I wonder with a lack of range damage feats and or otherwise, if its just a waste of time.

there is actually a warpriest build at the end of the thread but i have yet add it to the list (too much time spent in ddo)

the main setback in ddo as a cleric is many players are (a) either lack twitch skills to do more than just fight and (b) unforgiving players. what do i mean. when a group is formed, when you join, people will take you as a HEALER regardless what you set it out to be. you are EXPECTED to heal. they are less likely to accept you when you tell them you are a battlecleric. on the other hand, there are many battlecleric players out there who are absolutely unable to do anything else but just fight, not even healing themselves. a battlecleric can fight AND heal at the same time

if you want a cleric that can do a mean spell damage, a battlecleric isn probably the best idea for you, many of the setup a battlecleric has aim for high melee damage and physical armor. in ddo spell damage are augmented with different gear. the boost to spell damage is more important than the spell damage itself and often, when a save to the spell is made, the damage is halved. this means wisdom is an important factor which a battlecleric is going to lack

as such there are only 3 real roles for a cleric in ddo: healbot (heal only), battlecleric (heal+fight) and offensive cleric (heal+spell damage)

as to the crossbow.... not a good idea as mobs will focus on the source of the attack. if you fire 1st, you get all the attention

[Aenoanx]

Well with careful enchantment and feat planning I plan to compentate for a lack of wisdom, in gear there is a way to balance. Im sure i'll find it. As I build my cleric, I will update. For now hes only 2 so its a enchancement/gear free for all :)
I guess it would only assume, I wouldn't be shooting first...its usually kinda common to let the tank take agro first, as in most mmos.

[Aranticus]

Well with careful enchantment and feat planning I plan to compentate for a lack of wisdom, in gear there is a way to balance. Im sure i'll find it. As I build my cleric, I will update. For now hes only 2 so its a enchancement/gear free for all :)
I guess it would only assume, I wouldn't be shooting first...its usually kinda common to let the tank take agro first, as in most mmos.

actually if you are a offensive cleric specced on blade barriers, the last thing you want is to have tanks get the agro. my cleric usually run past all the mobs, dragging them behind me, and then set up a blade barrier at the end of the run. with crits of 500+ a tick, nothing much can survive. the problem with many melees are they do not know how to combine effectively with such clerics, instead fighting or blocking mobs away from the blade barriers. normally i let such tanks die

[Enochroot]

Well with careful enchantment and feat planning I plan to compentate for a lack of wisdom, in gear there is a way to balance. Im sure i'll find it. As I build my cleric, I will update. For now hes only 2 so its a enchancement/gear free for all :)
I guess it would only assume, I wouldn't be shooting first...its usually kinda common to let the tank take agro first, as in most mmos.

First, if there was a way to balance in gear, Aranticus would've said so. Max wis offensive casters still need max gear to really be truly effective. You can't "make up" for anything. That is a totally fallacious line of reasoning. (If I'm 5 DC down in wis, I'll just get +5 DC gear! - guess what, everyone else is using that +5 DC gear too, you're still 5 points down)

Second, I can't imagine almost a single time I wished in 5 capped clerics levelling I wished I carried a crossbow to shoot at anything. Mobs are either dying too fast, or your damage is too negligible to make up for the fact you can't cast while you're shooting to make it worthwhile.

[Aenoanx]

That's not exactly what I ment. But I guess its like trying to deal with WoW community at times, we'll just have to settle for a GG. Can't see anywhere where I said my DPS would be awesome using a bow. I would rather be doing something rather then waiting to heal. There is always going to be items to supplement lower stats.

[Enochroot]

That's not exactly what I ment. But I guess its like trying to deal with WoW community at times, we'll just have to settle for a GG. Can't see anywhere where I said my DPS would be awesome using a bow. I would rather be doing something rather then waiting to heal.

There's plenty to do while "waiting to heal". But a crossbow is not one of those things. Well, for me. Things that would come long before waiting to heal for me -

- offensive spell casting (includes crowd control, in my mind)
- curing what ails the party (not just healing, remove curse, disease, dmg ,etc)
- healing
- melee
- picking my nose
- reading/writing an e-mail
- reading the forums and writing unnecessarily demeaning lists of things to do before firing a crossbow
- firing a crossbow with no feats

Yeah, I'm just being difficult, I don't know what I'm talking about.

Melee is a much more attractive prospect than crossbow.

I didn't say your DPS wouldn't be amazing, I said it would be NEGLIGIBLE. IE. NOT WORTH IT.

If you really think you'll just be standing around bored, and want to waste that time doing something virtually unnoticeable - (except pulling aggro unintentionally or not being able to cast while in xbow animation) - go right ahead, and defy us evil, ignorant, WoW-like trash posters.

[Aenoanx]

Well one would assume curing/healing go hand in hand but i'd be greatly concerned if my group was taking so much damage. I would be forced to chain heal. Lastly - when you start talking like an ass don't expect too much. Glad we have that settle, peace. Because I am done here, I got all the advice I would possibly want now its just execution and sadly I got a ways to go in clearing the last couple korthos quests.

[Dymond]

There's plenty to do while "waiting to heal". But a crossbow is not one of those things. Well, for me. Things that would come long before waiting to heal for me -

- offensive spell casting (includes crowd control, in my mind)
- curing what ails the party (not just healing, remove curse, disease, dmg ,etc)
- healing
- melee
- picking my nose
- reading/writing an e-mail
- reading the forums and writing unnecessarily demeaning lists of things to do before firing a crossbow
- firing a crossbow with no feats

Yeah, I'm just being difficult, I don't know what I'm talking about.

Melee is a much more attractive prospect than crossbow.

I didn't say your DPS wouldn't be amazing, I said it would be NEGLIGIBLE. IE. NOT WORTH IT.

If you really think you'll just be standing around bored, and want to waste that time doing something virtually unnoticeable - (except pulling aggro unintentionally or not being able to cast while in xbow animation) - go right ahead, and defy us evil, ignorant, WoW-like trash posters.

DUDE.. lighten up! I'm pretty sure you can get a point across w/o bashing the new guy. Your first post was a bit harsh as well.

[Aranticus]

That's not exactly what I ment. But I guess its like trying to deal with WoW community at times, we'll just have to settle for a GG. Can't see anywhere where I said my DPS would be awesome using a bow. I would rather be doing something rather then waiting to heal. There is always going to be items to supplement lower stats.

actually, ddo is the direct opposite of wow. in wow, the various classes are pretty much the same but in ddo, the same class can have many ways of playing. here are some examples (using fighter class)

1. high str thf fighter
2. high str twf fighter
3. snb ac fighter
4. snb dr fighter
5. high dex ac fighter
6. tactics fighter
7. intimidate fighter
8. multiclass fighters (lots of mc to choose from)

alot of these builds are primarily based on stat distribution and at times, gear cannot even help, ie the high str twf fighter is going to base his stats on high str and 17 dex to qualify for twf feats. if it wants, it can easily switch to thf which only has str as a criteria. a high str thf fighter is going to find difficulty to switch to twf as they most likely invest in str and con. the use of dex item is not going to get you the twf feats. some builds are based on skills. again there are skill items but with the DC of checks being high enough, it is often impossible to switch halfway

the more important thing is the use of gear. one has a fix number of slots, ie helm, goggles, necklace, etc for a total of 2 weapon/shield slot, 1 ammo slot, 10 body slots. while these may sound alot, consider the fact that on unnamed gear, you cannot find an item with 2 stats on it, ie belt with +6 str and +6 con. if these gear do appear, they are named items and depending on their power, often raid loot, some of which are extremely difficult to get

next is the limitation of enchantments on the gear, ie a helm can have charisma enhancement but not str enhancement. again, this can be omitted for named or raid loot

as to the use of crossbow. there is the conflict between agro and doing something. can you shoot at 1 mob, sure but the whole group near that mob will come as well and they know EXACTLY where you are. beside shooting, what can you do? buff up? as a battlecleric, buffs are essential and the fighting buffs are generally short duration. instead of shooting at mobs, why not spend the time buffing. how about setting up the area to ambust the mobs? often, unplanned fights go badly

these is not meant to redicule you but to illustrate to you the actual situation in ddo. and yes, i had a rude shock when i started. what works in pnp doesnt always translate to ddo

[Enochroot]

DUDE.. lighten up! I'm pretty sure you can get a point across w/o bashing the new guy. Your first post was a bit harsh as well.

It just comes out in my when people who are clearly new disregard clearly seasoned vets advice (I'm not talking about my own, by the way, feel free to disregard mine) - and decide "they can figure out some way to make it work" when the vet has told them "that won't work".

If you can figure it out anyway, what's the point in even posting and asking in the first place?

[Arianrhod]

Well, as to the crossbow - if you've got the space in your pack, there's no harm in carrying one. Only you can decide whether it suits you to pull it out & use it occasionally. Personally, I find the rate of fire to be an issue - not for DPS (that's not the point of the crossbow anyway), but because it insists on finishing the reloading animation every time you shoot, which can make it awkward to switch from shooting to casting in a hurry when needed. For my clerics, when I want to shoot things (exploding barrels, for instance), I prefer to carry a returning throwing dagger :)

[Aenoanx]

It just comes out in my when people who are clearly new disregard clearly seasoned vets advice (I'm not talking about my own, by the way, feel free to disregard mine) - and decide "they can figure out some way to make it work" when the vet has told them "that won't work".

If you can figure it out anyway, what's the point in even posting and asking in the first place?

No, that's just being fail. There was nothing ever stated it can't be done. If you didn't like what was being said in here don't ---- post. Im washing my hands of this anythign else will be 100% ignored.
Oh and it's not about finding a way its about experimenting, that what the general advice as been, play around with classes if you go to far they won't work. All that was said is if you want to be a healer, heal, if you want to be a healer/melee. Be that. If you want good spell damage/healing do that.


actually, ddo is the direct opposite of wow. in wow, the various classes are pretty much the same but in ddo, the same class can have many ways of playing. here are some examples (using fighter class)

1. high str thf fighter
2. high str twf fighter
3. snb ac fighter
4. snb dr fighter
5. high dex ac fighter
6. tactics fighter
7. intimidate fighter
8. multiclass fighters (lots of mc to choose from)

alot of these builds are primarily based on stat distribution and at times, gear cannot even help, ie the high str twf fighter is going to base his stats on high str and 17 dex to qualify for twf feats. if it wants, it can easily switch to thf which only has str as a criteria. a high str thf fighter is going to find difficulty to switch to twf as they most likely invest in str and con. the use of dex item is not going to get you the twf feats. some builds are based on skills. again there are skill items but with the DC of checks being high enough, it is often impossible to switch halfway

the more important thing is the use of gear. one has a fix number of slots, ie helm, goggles, necklace, etc for a total of 2 weapon/shield slot, 1 ammo slot, 10 body slots. while these may sound alot, consider the fact that on unnamed gear, you cannot find an item with 2 stats on it, ie belt with +6 str and +6 con. if these gear do appear, they are named items and depending on their power, often raid loot, some of which are extremely difficult to get

next is the limitation of enchantments on the gear, ie a helm can have charisma enhancement but not str enhancement. again, this can be omitted for named or raid loot

as to the use of crossbow. there is the conflict between agro and doing something. can you shoot at 1 mob, sure but the whole group near that mob will come as well and they know EXACTLY where you are. beside shooting, what can you do? buff up? as a battlecleric, buffs are essential and the fighting buffs are generally short duration. instead of shooting at mobs, why not spend the time buffing. how about setting up the area to ambust the mobs? often, unplanned fights go badly

these is not meant to redicule you but to illustrate to you the actual situation in ddo. and yes, i had a rude shock when i started. what works in pnp doesnt always translate to ddo

You missed the point of the WoW comment - completely it had nothing to do with class building. It was an insult because he was acting worse then half the community or what some people might call Trade chat or Barrens Chat.
I used to be like that when I was in HC guilds in raiding mmo, but I realized I just looked like a jackass.

The comments that are being thrown out as helpful, only just cheapen the person. Its my first time to DDO but not my first time to the rodeo (mmorpgs). Despite how different a game is there are a few things that always hold true in a game, regardless of mechanics in what players need to do and what to expect to do.


Well, as to the crossbow - if you've got the space in your pack, there's no harm in carrying one. Only you can decide whether it suits you to pull it out & use it occasionally. Personally, I find the rate of fire to be an issue - not for DPS (that's not the point of the crossbow anyway), but because it insists on finishing the reloading animation every time you shoot, which can make it awkward to switch from shooting to casting in a hurry when needed. For my clerics, when I want to shoot things (exploding barrels, for instance), I prefer to carry a returning throwing dagger :)

Arianrhod this is exactly what I like to see and expect. THANK YOU. And I agree. Those were some of the reason I had considered carrying a range weapon. In my experiences so far in low level instances, I have never had a problem with drawing any kind of argo from npcs, granted I spent most of the night remapping all my keys and coming up with /assist macros and things like that :)
The reloading animation was a bit uncomfortable myself but I'll take your advice and hang on too throwing knives.
I don't plan it replacing my melee dps or anything like that but situational use.
I've learned lots in the last 5 days. I am confident enough I might build my first alt. I downloaded the character planner and I am going to see if I can create this character I have in my head. But now on paper =p

Because my outdoor activities tend to be my one track mind - and I forget!