Best Solo? Cleric or Favored Soul

[evilbp]

Looking at the character creator a War priest of Siberys (Cleric) and a Divine Avenger (Favored Soul) are listed as excellent as solo characters. To the forum: In your opinion which one is better at solo? I would like to play a melee type that can heal and buff well AND when I have time to group I will be wanted. I may not be able to get groupage and soloage in the same build.

[Lehrman]

For solo play at low levels, melee>casting
For solo play at high lvls casting> melee

In either case, a well built Favored Soul will be better than a Cleric for soloing.

If your heart is set on playing a melee, then you will get a rude awakening around lvl 12.

[Guildmaster_Kadish]

Apart from a few minor differences, favored souls are pretty much better right now.

Maybe that'll change in the future, but there is currently very little reason to play a cleric over a favored soul.

[UnderwearModel]

Since this is in the FREE player area, I assume people are not willing to pay for stuff.

So, choose a cleric to get the 2500 favor to unlock favored soul. Oh wait. In order to get that favor you will have to BUY all the adventure packs just about.

So, choose cleric and get the favor. As you accumulate you turbine points, buy the packs for FREE with Turbine points.

A cleric can always find a party. I play my 28 point clerics to end content.

In reality, the Cleric is what you will have to play SOLO to get the favor and favored soul.

[tihocan]

Don't go Divine Avenger, it sucks to be a pure FvS with not a single spellcasting oriented feat.
The Warpriest of Siberys is better in this regard, as it is more balanced between melee and casting. Most people would still consider it gimped though, but it should be playable.
I would suggest a Warchanter instead. You can for instance follow the build in this thread (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=232660).

[Matuse]

Or...don't use any of the paths, since they are all generally terrible.

Consult the Cleric/FvS forums, and read up on builds that are known to work either through use in-game, or from people who know how to build properly.

[nibelung]

Later on it does get harder...but it's not impossible. If you're gonna solo just bring extra resources (wands, pots, etc.) and you'll be fine

[Alexander_Illusioni]

IMO what tips it toward FvS is the capstone. Ten dr, plus unlimited healing or damage at level 20 is pretty nice, but obviously you need to be pure in order to get either. I think the unlimited healing is the way to go. I solo much of the upper level content on my human FsV, including Sins of Attrition and New Invasion, both elite. The build can solo some of the Epic quests as well, and a few people have used this build to solo VoD.

Up until level 20 one could easily go either way, and perhaps the versatility of the cleric would be better.

Edit: Yes, do not use one of the preset paths, as Tihocan mentioned! Check out the builds in forums.

[Noctus]

For a new player i would recommend to go the Cleric route.

The greater versatility with the spell selection is a factor not to be neglected if you are still learning which spells are good, which are bad, and which are situational useful. This is very important for a player new to divine casters!

Plus Cleric doesnt cost TP to start playing.

[Kralgnax]

Or...don't use any of the paths, since they are all generally terrible.

Consult the Cleric/FvS forums, and read up on builds that are known to work either through use in-game, or from people who know how to build properly.

Actually the stock warpriest build is ok for 28 point characters. There are better custom builds, but it's really not unreasonable - and has the real merit of making leveling fairly automatic for new players.

Can't answer the OP's question as I haven't played an FvS, though I certainly enjoy being a cleric, but I also enjoy group play rather more than soloing. Solo play is, in any case, far more viable below level 10-12 than at mid- to higher- levels.

[Noonie]

I'm really enjoying the Valliance solo cleric build as shown here:

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=164323

[Gladiator_206]

The builds arn't allways th best route, but they can be helpful i supose.

But in answer to your question - FvS beats out cleric almost every time.

Elf and Wf in my Opinion are the two generally excepted melee FvS, which is nice for low level. I guess drow could work aswell though.

Generally speaking, elf and drow can get better casting stats than a wf - but all three work, it just depends on what you want.

[K_0tiC]

Since you seem new to the game I would highly recommend Warforged wizard or Sorc over fvs or cleric. Both capable of healing and buffing themselves but much less pressure on you to preform in a group being the sole healer, you might have to on occasion heal another wf that joined the group which gets you in some practice at healing others but there isnt the expectation that the life/death of the party is in your hands. Search the forums for some good solo builds even a rogue2/18wiz build wouldnt be too hard allows you to disable traps and open most locks in the game as well as still be a caster. The free evasion would add to your survival as well as trap skills making solo play even easier for you.

Edit: something like this build here easy to follow not tome/item heavy easy to play easy to solo or get groups with:
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=205649