How to level solo as a cleric?

[Khuul99]

I'm only level 6 but it's starting to be abit rough to do quests solo now.

I'm trying to build an offensive caster type, but i don't have any spells worth useing yet.

My question is, will I be trying to melee my way up until blade barrier or is there some hope for me earlier? Haven't looked too deep into spell list, but I guess AoE is the only thing I can use without going out of mana way too soon?

[Wizzly_Bear]

Melee until bb is pretty much the only realistic way.

[vettkinn]

Here comrade:

If low level = melee
Once warforged wiz/sorc hireling is available = hire it
Once BB is available = use it

That should cover everything.

[Dendrix]

I bring along 5 free hirelings to do my melee on most missions. I think they are called "Players". It seems to work out pretty good on most missions.

Bloody hard to control though, some of them go running off all over the place, so I just let them die and find better ones. I don't bother to carry soulstones.

[GhoulsTouch]

I bring along 5 free hirelings to do my melee on most missions. I think they are called "Players". It seems to work out pretty good on most missions.

Bloody hard to control though, some of them go running off all over the place, so I just let them die and find better ones. I don't bother to carry soulstones.

You sound like a team player...would you do us the honor of listing your self sufficient character names...and the servers on which they are based.

[Daggaz]

As so many others have said, melee is the way to go till you blade barrier. You just dont have any good damage spells until then, and your crowd control spells still require physically beating the mobs while they are affected.

If you want to go straight spell caster cleric, I recommend grouping more often, at least in the earlier levels. Pugs arent half as bad as the forums would make them out to be, and you will always be welcome as a healer.

If you really want to solo, then splash a lvl of fighter and keep your str up, starting at 16. Now you are a self healing melee tank essentially, less hps but you can refill yourself if you are careful, which means if you dont die you have ten times the hp of any tank. Better saves, too. And you can wear heavy armor, cast in it, and wield martial weapons. Take toughness while you are at it, and I recommend dwarf for this kind of thing.

That will get you breezing thru the levels for a while, you hit a little bump right before blade barrier, and then you are awesome again.

[Kralgnax]

I'm only level 6 but it's starting to be abit rough to do quests solo now.

I'm trying to build an offensive caster type, but i don't have any spells worth useing yet.

My question is, will I be trying to melee my way up until blade barrier or is there some hope for me earlier? Haven't looked too deep into spell list, but I guess AoE is the only thing I can use without going out of mana way too soon?

Welcome to DDO and clericdom!

As others have said, yes, you'll mostly be handing out the beatdowns untill cleric level 11, when you get blade barrier - except perhaps against undead, where that deeply underappreciated level 2 spell, Deific vengeance is, in fact, a pretty nice nuke, especially those *&#%^@ ledge archers. Oh, and Holy smite is pretty handy against outsiders, and flame strike versus single targets with rubbishy saves - but it's true that that there isn't a generally solid AoE damage spell untill Blade barrier.

I am concerned that you're having trouble at level 6 - you should be able to chew your way through most anything at level solo (at least on normal), unless your gear is just appalingly bad - or you're doing something seriously wrong.

[vVAnjilaVv]

It truely amazes me how everyone talks about blade barrier at 11th level and always leave out another extremely powerful spell...Symbol of Persuasion. Might I suggest OP when u get to this level to make use of this spell.....it is awesome crowd control......of course blade barrier is the bestamest tho...but don't count this other spell out.

BTW, once u get to level 7 melee will become a WHOLE lot easier for u....Divine Power FTW :D

[R0cksteady]

You're playing the wrong game if you're focusing on soloing.

[techwench]

You can melee @ low levels with Divine Favor + Bull's Strength. Then Divine Power @ level 7. Also, grab a cleric hireling with Divine Vitality, park them at the entrance and call them when you run low on spell points to refill you. Or heal you in between fights (keeping a hireling with you during fights is sometimes a bad idea since they die...often).


You're playing the wrong game if you're focusing on soloing.
The OP is a cleric...chances are they're soloing because they're playing the right game, just with the wrong people.

[stilldamom]

Techwench hit the nail right on the head! Hirlings! Make sure they have DV. I usually look for DV, heal, and rez in a hirling. I took a weapons feat at a low level, but for the wrong reasons. I found out later it was still a good idea. I wear heavy armor and a heavy shield. I made it to level 20, but not all on my own. I had a few really great PUGS (and some totally disasterous ones). Hang in there! Sound burst is also a very good low level spell. It doesn't always kill stuff but it will stun stuff long enough for you to take them out a few at a time. I also didn't realize until higher levels that using a staff will sometimes (more often then not) hit two creatures at once, or even double hit creatures. It takes away your shield, but if you are hunting a lower level dungeon, things will die before you will notice. One more word of advice, cast a pet too! It's that little extra DPS that might save your rear!

Good luck and welcome aboard!

[vVAnjilaVv]

You're playing the wrong game if you're focusing on soloing.

What have u been doing since this game went F2P...soloing is totally viable now, at least for non raid content.

[Anderei]

Yeah, this game is a MMSG

Massive Multiplayer Solo Game

[SquelchHU]

Here comrade:

If low level = melee
Once warforged wiz/sorc hireling is available = hire it
Once BB is available = use it

That should cover everything.

Soundburst and command.

[Anthem]

Soundburst and command.

Seconded!

Some good ideas in the thread, but these two are my bread and butter for lower level soloing too.

Cleric soloing is a lot of slow and steady; I gear up with the highest 'plus' wep I can carry and a handful of lower-plus weps with damage extras (fire, frost, holy). When a mob reaches the limit of your to-hit with the damage weps, the high-plus wep without the extra damage is better than 'miss, miss, hit, miss...

With command you can chip away at your leisure, and soundburst keeps the crowds manageable. Plus, it's excellent training for OCC group clericing and will get you from simple healbot to actual cleric much sooner.

If this is your first character, then adamantine shield and full plate might not be an especially realistic option, but they do make a huge difference for solo and group if you can afford them.

[Talon_Oakenleaf]

Slay living is ok as well. I use destruction and banishment far more than BB, although it is a nice spell unless you can get a whole group to kite the mobs through it has been only useful soloing. Soundburst and other stunning spells are far more effective in groups of mobs. Kite one at a time and try slay, see if that helps. Good luck. What server are you on?

[Vuedoo]

Not Truly Soloing... but if you prefer to Adventure by yourself bring a pocket full of Barbarian/Fighter Hirelings.

There Cheap and will Cut through the quests like butter for quick xp. just keep them healed and Res. when lvl permits. The trick is controling them. Have them Stand Ground and you do the Pulling for each encounter so they don't get you overwhelmed.

This will help Until you have BB than you can see the solo capabilities of a cleric better .. and the hirelings then become rather useless as all the mobs will be ran around through your BB's

[petegunn]

You sound like a team player...would you do us the honor of listing your self sufficient character names...and the servers on which they are based.


I fear you may have your +5 sarcasim or humour detection cloak equiped, please remove it and reevaluate the situation.:D