How to help your Cleric Help You !!

[whitehawk74]

Hi folks.
After a bit of an odd run yesterday with my Cleric I thought I would make this post and I hope others can add more information in so that we can all get the most out of our beloved healers.
So, some tips...


Please wait for buffs.

After waiting X amount of minutes for people to get ship buffs and then meet up at the quest entrance, why not wait another 20 seconds once you are in to let the Cleric cast some more buffs. The extras from Bulls Strength and Bears Endurance, Aid and other spells can ramp up your stats a lot. So it's worth hanging around and getting those. Most of my spells are 'Mass' and I will only cast them once. I wont carry the Single person version, so when I catch up to you there is nothing I can do.


Let the Healing Aura top you up before the next battle.

Given 30 seconds, the Clerics Healing Aura can take you from whatever% HP to 100% HP (depending on your HP). It is better that the Cleric (who will arrive at the battle later than you will) to be able to top you up from 80% instead of 30%. The Healing Aura also does not cost us SP, so are like a free MASS HEAL, but it takes a few seconds. I usually cast this at chests or locked doors. It is up to you to take advantage of it.


Try not to be obstructed by obstacles.

Basically, if we cant see you, we cant help you. It's a simple enough rule, but often forgotten in the heat of battle.


Don't break away from the party.

Okay, so this one is obvious. When playing my Cleric, I will follow the pack. If 3 go one way and 2 go another, I will follow the 3.


Don't be a hero.

Heroes are more of a pain (in my view) to raise than someone who held fast and died valiantly. Unnecessary deaths are unnecessary :)
It also means you will have to wait longer for rebuffing.


Warforged

The difference in healing a Warforged who has 'Healers Friend' compared to one who hasn't is amazing.


Stand just inside the Blade Barrier.

Blade Barrier is a great spell, and now that it casts quicker, I cast it more often.
Blade Barrier must be cast from the Clerics position, so if you see, or hear that it has been cast, step just inside of it and let the enemy come to you.

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If any other Clerics out there want to add to this list, please do.
[rainbow star] The more you know !!! [/rainbow star]

Thank-You.

[Nailog]

I've noticed that melees hardly ever use blade barriers to their advantage.

Why?


Kill counts.

[katana_one]

I've noticed that melees hardly ever use blade barriers to their advantage.

Why?


Kill counts.

Screw that. I always pull the enemy into the BB. Then I let the BB damage them till I can kill them with one hit.

Kill count maintained. :D

[boomeranky]

I do not cast mass bears or bulls on anyone except the puppies in hox ... except maybe to test out who hasn't gotten any +6 str and con items for a laugh ...

Oh, and don't forget to top up in the aura ... it's free ya know? ;)


About blade barriers.. I seldom cast them except there is really a lot to kill at once or annoying bats around. Usually prefer implosion or letting the arcanes get some kill count. While being cast quickly, bb's only do damage when entering and exiting them.. and they got more expensive.

If no bards are around in an epic it might also be useful to wait til the cleric did cast recitation on the group (and even with bard it can help to get those last 10% for no miss except at 1)

[Billnert]

Hi folks.
After a bit of an odd run yesterday with my Cleric I thought I would make this post and I hope others can add more information in so that we can all get the most out of our beloved healers.
So, some tips...


Please wait for buffs.

After waiting X amount of minutes for people to get ship buffs and then meet up at the quest entrance, why not wait another 20 seconds once you are in to let the Cleric cast some more buffs. The extras from Bulls Strength and Bears Endurance, Aid and other spells can ramp up your stats a lot. So it's worth hanging around and getting those. Most of my spells are 'Mass' and I will only cast them once. I wont carry the Single person version, so when I catch up to you there is nothing I can do.


Let the Healing Aura top you up before the next battle.

Given 30 seconds, the Clerics Healing Aura can take you from whatever% HP to 100% HP (depending on your HP). It is better that the Cleric (who will arrive at the battle later than you will) to be able to top you up from 80% instead of 30%. The Healing Aura also does not cost us SP, so are like a free MASS HEAL, but it takes a few seconds. I usually cast this at chests or locked doors. It is up to you to take advantage of it.


Try not to be obstructed by obstacles.

Basically, if we cant see you, we cant help you. It's a simple enough rule, but often forgotten in the heat of battle.


Don't break away from the party.

Okay, so this one is obvious. When playing my Cleric, I will follow the pack. If 3 go one way and 2 go another, I will follow the 3.


Don't be a hero.

Heroes are more of a pain (in my view) to raise than someone who held fast and died valiantly. Unnecessary deaths are unnecessary :)
It also means you will have to wait longer for rebuffing.


Warforged

The difference in healing a Warforged who has 'Healers Friend' compared to one who hasn't is amazing.


Stand just inside the Blade Barrier.

Blade Barrier is a great spell, and now that it casts quicker, I cast it more often.
Blade Barrier must be cast from the Clerics position, so if you see, or hear that it has been cast, step just inside of it and let the enemy come to you.

----------
If any other Clerics out there want to add to this list, please do.
[rainbow star] The more you know !!! [/rainbow star]

Thank-You.

Very good summery =) I especially the don't be a hero part.

Also, keep an eye on your own health, the cleric/FvS might not have time to heal you just this moment, so if you are about to die and can't give yourself HP, then step away from the fight for a second.

I will always try to heal as fast as possible, but sometimes its just not possible ;)

[TrinityTurtle]

I've noticed that melees hardly ever use blade barriers to their advantage.

Why?


Kill counts.

Because the blade barrier hits a mob ONCE if it's not continuing to move. So to use a bb effectively in combat, you have to kite it around and around in the bb. Unfortunately, when you are kiting unless you have the mobility feat, we lose a bonus to attack the mob, and possibly how many attacks we make per second (Not sure if this is p and p or ddo though on the how many no one has confirmed and too many people were arguing about it in my groups for me to know for sure, but it is sure about the attack from movement). That is also why my cleric runs in a circle around my blade barriers, so that they keep doing damage to the mobs continuously, not just when it crosses the path of the blades to get in, and maybe again to get out to go for someone else.

Which is why you'll see so many melee standing still and fighting in firewalls and ice storms, but not bb's. It's NOT about kill counts for me at all, it's about most efficient and effective disposal of the mobs. And healing draws aggro, so you don't necessarily always want your cleric (or want to be as the cleric) that close to the mass of mobs.

Bb's are great, but like everything else, situationally. Saying we just want kill counts discounts us having brains and reasons, which is no more true for all melee players than all clerics must be babysitters.

[jwdaniels]

Very good summery =) I especially the don't be a hero part.

Also, keep an eye on your own health, the cleric/FvS might not have time to heal you just this moment, so if you are about to die and can't give yourself HP, then step away from the fight for a second.

I will always try to heal as fast as possible, but sometimes its just not possible ;)

This is bad - stepping away can take you out of the area of mass heal/cures or, worse, take the mass heal/cures away from everyone else. If I'm in a situation where I'm using mass healing spells to cover everyone and you step away, you're going to die because I'm not taking the focus off of everyone to heal one person. This particularly applies to the shroud (Don't leave when the blades come in) but is also applicable any time there is a group of melees clustered around a single large opponent.

As far as buffing, if you're casting mass bears/bulls you're wasting SP - by the time you get those buffs everyone either has all the enhancement bonuses they need or they're probably deficient in many ways and are going to die no matter what you do.

Edit: I agree with the above poster - BB is (like firewall) great for soloing but loses a lot of effectiveness in groups because you're just not going to get everyone kiting effectively.

[whitehawk74]

I've never liked the idea of Blade Barrier only hurting enemies moving in or out of the blades. They are moving and so visually they give the impression of lots of slicing going on.
I would like it if they had to take a reflex save every 2 seconds and if failing then check for damage.

[My2Cents]

I don't give a **** about personal kill counts...

To me its the success of the group that counts.

I'll swing a mob into a BB whenever possible/needed...

[boomeranky]

I've never liked the idea of Blade Barrier only hurting enemies moving in or out of the blades. They are moving and so visually they give the impression of lots of slicing going on.
I would like it if they had to take a reflex save every 2 seconds and if failing then check for damage.

Don't know if you still like the idea when you get into the quests where mobs cast blade barriers as well... ;)

Anyway, that would make the bb's really useful.

[Billnert]

This is bad - stepping away can take you out of the area of mass heal/cures or, worse, take the mass heal/cures away from everyone else. If I'm in a situation where I'm using mass healing spells to cover everyone and you step away, you're going to die because I'm not taking the focus off of everyone to heal one person. This particularly applies to the shroud (Don't leave when the blades come in) but is also applicable any time there is a group of melees clustered around a single large opponent.

As far as buffing, if you're casting mass bears/bulls you're wasting SP - by the time you get those buffs everyone either has all the enhancement bonuses they need or they're probably deficient in many ways and are going to die no matter what you do.

Edit: I agree with the above poster - BB is (like firewall) great for soloing but loses a lot of effectiveness in groups because you're just not going to get everyone kiting effectively.

I agree about the mass heals, but hopefully those should come before you are extremly close to dying. In the example you gave, shroud and the blades, if you die there, then you you don't do any more damage, if you step away, then you live to fight another day. Of course, if I heal in shroud, then it will almost only be mass heals, but I was thinking more of a general rule, of course there are exceptions, big bad raid bosses is most definitly one exception.

On the other hand, I would consider it a sort of failure from my part if I let you get to 5% health if you are not an extremly squisy toon or if you play badly ;)

[Sarisa]

A lot of it depends on the group.

In the average group, a few necessary buffs (don't go overkill) makes a big difference. The resists needed for the quest, Deathward, Freedom of Movement, and Magic Circle Against Evil are most important. Mass Aid is great when you don't have a bard in your party and players don't have +hit items like Spectral Gloves to give everyone another +1 to hit. Prayer, Recitation, and Holy Aura are good short term mass buffs to give before important fights.

In zerg groups, with all people who know what they're doing, running off is fine. They'll either have the ability to UMD or use clickies for the buffs they need; or be immune to the effects due to race, class, or items. Ship buffs to cover your weaknesses help too. It's only a problem when you get a group of experienced zergers with a group of newer players.

As for blade barriers, it also depends on the group and the quest. In a lot of cases, I WANT aggro. I'll either be the most durable or the most survivable, or the rest of the group is heavy on sneak attack damage so I want to maintain the aggro. I party with a lot of rogues, rogue splashes, and dark monks.

Tossing a blade barrier in the path between the group and the mobs, then intimidating the mobs once they get close to me can add a LOT of damage to the rest of the parties sneak attack. In addition, I wear Radiance Guard in those situations, so anything that DOES break free from me is usually blind, and still vulnerable to sneak attack. My aura, bodyfeeder weapons, quickened cures, and high healing amp keeps me alive. I also get to take advantage of my Torc and Conc. Opp items to refill SP while holding aggro.

For a group that's heavy barbarian/fighter, tactics differ, and you won't use BB as much, except maybe to kite melee trash around while the heavy hitters take out casters or a boss (end fight of Mindsunder for instance).

[Miahoo]

Byoh.

[whitehawk74]

Byoh.
Oh how I want to believe in that, but it's too logical to be effective.

[Nailog]

Because the blade barrier hits a mob ONCE if it's not continuing to move. So to use a bb effectively in combat, you have to kite it around and around in the bb. Unfortunately, when you are kiting unless you have the mobility feat, we lose a bonus to attack the mob, and possibly how many attacks we make per second (Not sure if this is p and p or ddo though on the how many no one has confirmed and too many people were arguing about it in my groups for me to know for sure, but it is sure about the attack from movement). That is also why my cleric runs in a circle around my blade barriers, so that they keep doing damage to the mobs continuously, not just when it crosses the path of the blades to get in, and maybe again to get out to go for someone else.

Which is why you'll see so many melee standing still and fighting in firewalls and ice storms, but not bb's. It's NOT about kill counts for me at all, it's about most efficient and effective disposal of the mobs. And healing draws aggro, so you don't necessarily always want your cleric (or want to be as the cleric) that close to the mass of mobs.

Bb's are great, but like everything else, situationally. Saying we just want kill counts discounts us having brains and reasons, which is no more true for all melee players than all clerics must be babysitters.

For two-handers, "twitching" is taking a few steps at a specific point during the attack chain to reset it. This increases the amount of attacks you make, but costs you those extra attack bonuses from later in the attack chain.

For tempests, they have mobility.

For all melee, positioning is very important. You move to arrange the aggroed mobs so that only a portion of them are getting attacks on you. If you stand still and just swing at everything, everything is hitting you and you are soaking up a lot of damage.


It doesn't take much to just move towards the blade barrier as you're positioning your aggroed mobs or twitching for faster attack speed. A tick of the BB will likely pull some of them off you so you don't have to worry about them anymore. Another movement to position the rest of your group and you can work in another tick. That might pull even more off you and onto the cleric for kiting. Once your initial targets are dead, you can move on to other casters / archers while the cleric finishes off the group you helped him aggro.


I'm not saying the melees should learn to kite through blade barriers in lieu of meleeing. I'm saying even one or two ticks off a good blade barrier will help that encounter end faster, or at least save on the healing needed to finish it. Most PUG melees I've run with, though, don't even bother to move for that first tick. They'll sit in the middle of a pack of mobs and stand still, swinging away, getting chewed on.

[rayworks]

I run a low-mid lvl cleric and I tend to team with a wizard from my guild. One thing we like to do is have him cast firewall and me soundburst. On a good day the mobs are stunned and frying at the same time.

Wanna help me and my wiz friend if you're a melee? Drag the mob to the firewall and don't whack anyone with the little "I'm stunned" icon over his head. Kill the ones who are still mobile.

[Illiain]

Please wait for buffs.

After waiting X amount of minutes for people to get ship buffs and then meet up at the quest entrance, why not wait another 20 seconds once you are in to let the Cleric cast some more buffs. The extras from Bulls Strength and Bears Endurance, Aid and other spells can ramp up your stats a lot. So it's worth hanging around and getting those. Most of my spells are 'Mass' and I will only cast them once. I wont carry the Single person version, so when I catch up to you there is nothing I can do.


If you're running with melee that don't have +6 str/con by the time you get mass bears/bulls, then they're doing it wrong. Those spells are a complete waste of time, except for HoX. Aid will be overwritten by greater heroism/bard songs, and the temp hps will be gone in seconds. It was a nice spell at low levels, but at 20, it's just a waste of sp, that are better used for greater command, cometfall, divine punishment or blade barrier. Or just pop DV/DP and wade into combat yourself if that's how you're built.

Overbuffing is also a problem. Just find out the specific buffs you need for that moment and use those. Often melee carry clickys, potions or have ship buffs for most everything they need, and just ask for the specifics such as resists, FOM or DW.

[whitehawk74]

...
Overbuffing is also a problem. Just find out the specific buffs you need for that moment and use those. Often melee carry clickys, potions or have ship buffs for most everything they need, and just ask for the specifics such as resists, FOM or DW.
Good point. I shall do that from now on.

[Flavilandile]

Hi folks.
[snip the great list of tips]

Great list... good summary... up to a point ( I'll come back to that later :D )

The LOS ( Line of Sight ) and the hero part is really important... A Cleric can only heal what he can see and has in range.

The next important part is the Aura from the Radiant Servants. An Ardored Aura can heal 50/60 hits a tick on a critical. That's the equivalent of a Mass Cure Moderate /Mass Cure Serious Wound every few seconds without any Mana expenditure... and it regen.... A Cleric can keep that up for ages if he has a decent number of Turns ( I can keep it on for more than 90 minutes with the 17 I have on Flav'; that's more than any decent time you'll spend in a raid )

A Few more :

If I use my mana to Harm/Slay/Destruct/Implode before you can reach them that's because it's cheaper ( from the mana point of view ) for me to do that than to heal you.
When I say Hug, you should hug, it's not because I need a hug, it's because I'm going to cast a Mass Spell and if you're not near me you won't get it

Now back to the point I avoided earlier :

A Cleric is not a Healer... Well it's not just a healer... a Cleric is also great at Buffing ( as stated previously ), but also a Cleric has a bunch of attack spells, some or AOE, others as Instants or Rays and some very potent crowd control spells ( Mass Command ). A well played cleric can replace a Wizard when it comes to Crowd Control and area of effect damages. ( yes a Cleric can lead the Kill count... and still keep the party alive )

[Kovalas]

I always find it ironic, when players advise other players in an online fantasy game to 'not be a hero'.....

I understand what you mean by that, but I just find it very amusing!

Kov

[bigolbear]

great sumary dude.

heres a few from me. plz note I like my battle clerics so my perspective may be different.

-on healing:

*move as a group, stay close to each other - this makes healing so much easier*

*be aware that if you are not in the pack of mele's, for example a caster hanging at the back you will be getting single target heals*

*be aware that heal spells have cool downs and I can only hot key so many spells - this means that if lots of people that re split up are taking damage at the same time even if you are in LOS and range it is MUCH more expensive and dificult to keep every one healed.*

-on buffing:

*rangers & paladins: plz use your mana to cast needed resists, its cheaper for you and you have less use for your mana than a real caster does.*

*arcanes: plz use blur and displacement on the big hulking barbs and fighters, also do some of the resists, discuss this with the rest of the group.*

*if you dont need a buff because your wearing an item let people know, infact let people know what bufs you need - most casters realy hate wasting mana*

- on heroes:

*i would amend your dont be a hero to: dont be a hero unless you realy are that good, even then be aware you may upset people that cant keep up due to either lack of play experience or build*

edit:

*shout up if you get debuffed, or the buffing missed soemthing*

[Ivan_Milic]

If I play barb then u expect me to be the hero.

[Nezichiend]

Waiting doesn't finish the quest. Finishing the quest finishes the quest.

Only need buffs when:
- You may die/wipe without them
- They make the quest faster (ie. fom when they cast hold so you can still kill stuff, progressing the quest)

Otherwise, why buff? It makes things take longer than they should.

[Postumus]

Please wait for buffs.

After waiting X amount of minutes for people to get ship buffs and then meet up at the quest entrance, why not wait another 20 seconds once you are in to let the Cleric cast some more buffs. The extras from Bulls Strength and Bears Endurance, Aid and other spells can ramp up your stats a lot. So it's worth hanging around and getting those. Most of my spells are 'Mass' and I will only cast them once. I wont carry the Single person version, so when I catch up to you there is nothing I can do.



Agree with most of your suggestions except this one. I've already waited for people to do their "afk drink" "afk bio rq" and "brt ship buffs," so I'm probably not going to wait for useless buffs - bulls/bears, or buffs that provide negligible value.


If I know I need a particular buff, I'll ask for it, if I know I don't need it, I don't want to keep waiting around forever.


I know it's easier to buff while everyone is standing around, but I'm sure clerics could learn how to buff on the run like most bards and some arcanes do.

[Vyrn]

Agreed on all the points except the aura and the BB. 8 DPS swinging does more DPS than a BB, unless youre running with horrible DPS. I dont think you can get awesome kill counts when theres about 8 DPS swinging at the same mob, and 'most' raids dont have enough trash for kill count to be worth anything, even for bragging rights :p. Also, mass heal costs 58 SP (for me anyway), you cant spare 58 SP a couple times maybe in a quest?

* 8 DPS obviously used an average.

[Narmolanya]

Agree with most of your suggestions except this one. I've already waited for people to do their "afk drink" "afk bio rq" and "brt ship buffs," so I'm probably not going to wait for useless buffs - bulls/bears, or buffs that provide negligible value.


If I know I need a particular buff, I'll ask for it, if I know I don't need it, I don't want to keep waiting around forever.


I know it's easier to buff while everyone is standing around, but I'm sure clerics could learn how to buff on the run like most bards and some arcanes do.

Not every cleric like to sit around and buff. I prefer to buff on the run it saves a lot of time.

[SirValentine]

A Cleric is not a Healer... Well it's not just a healer... a Cleric is also great at Buffing ( as stated previously ), but also a Cleric has a bunch of attack spells, some or AOE, others as Instants or Rays and some very potent crowd control spells ( Mass Command ). A well played cleric can replace a Wizard when it comes to Crowd Control and area of effect damages. ( yes a Cleric can lead the Kill count... and still keep the party alive )

Quoted for truth!

I was recently in an Elite Devil Assault, my Cleric and 2 FvS, plus a pew-pew ranger and 2 random melee types. One of the melees says, "We don't have a caster!" I said, "I see three."

After an easy completion, with BB, Implosion, etc., doing most of the work, and my aura doing most of the healing needed, all 3 divines have killcounts about double that of the highest melee. (I did not have the highest killcount, one of the FvS edged me out!)

The melee says, "Do healers really get that powerful?" I reply, "What's a Healer?"

There is no "Healer" class in DDO. There's lots of builds able to heal, and though Cleric and FvS are at the top of that list for healing ability, we're not the only ones, and that's very far from all we can do.

[SirValentine]

The extras from Bulls Strength and Bears Endurance, Aid and other spells can ramp up your stats a lot. So it's worth hanging around and getting those. Most of my spells are 'Mass' and I will only cast them once. I wont carry the Single person version, so when I catch up to you there is nothing I can do.


Ouch! Mass Bull's and Bears? At a level where you can cast these, people have equipment that makes them useless. Plus, that's two slots taken up on the tightest level in terms of useful spells versus available slots. Not for me, thanks!




Let the Healing Aura top you up before the next battle.



Try not to be obstructed by obstacles.



Don't break away from the party.



I'll summarize these three:


If you want to be healed, you need to be where the healing is. If you're somewhere else, heal yourself.


I'm quite willing to help the party by healing people, but I'm not a babysitter.

[whitehawk74]

well im learning every day.
i booted mass bear and mass bear but cant remember off the top of my head what i replaced them with.

the more i play my chars the more i realize that i am gimping them with my lack of knowledge.

[FrozenNova]

Divine mass buffs are lacking in most situations. Time taken to gather the group once the quest is underway is rarely worth mass protect, prayer, recitation and aid. These are all things which will never make a significant difference outside certain situations. There's nothing worse than a cleric who screams at you because you ran off without aid.
The important divine buffs are freedom of movement and deathward, and to a lesser extent, spell resistance. These will stop a few effectively fatal effects, so it's important to know when and who needs them. Warforged don't need FoM to prevent hold or deathward to prevent level drain, for instance, while monks and drow have innate sr.

Divines may well count as casters while levelling but expect that to more or less fall apart when you approach cap. In sharvarath, especially difficulties beyond normal, it is rather rare for a divine to be capable of the kinds of dc's to be as nearly as effective as an arcane worth their silly hat. This continues into epic, wherein most casting divines will be lucky to see implosion take out two per cast. Some spells are still worth using - holy aura's blind, divine punishment, and blade barrier, which is still effective on a save. These are spells that do not require investment in your casting stat. This is why a lot of divine players aiming for high performance at cap will opt for melee instead, since a well built melee divine can continue what they do easily into endgame content.

Note - divine casters do have symbols up their sleeves for harder content. Enemies can be kited across symbols of stunning or persuasion until they stick, which may only take a couple of kites through both sides if your dc is high enough. Everything fails on a 1.

[Pape_27]

Hi folks.
After a bit of an odd run yesterday with my Cleric I thought I would make this post and I hope others can add more information in so that we can all get the most out of our beloved healers.
So, some tips...


Please wait for buffs.

After waiting X amount of minutes for people to get ship buffs and then meet up at the quest entrance, why not wait another 20 seconds once you are in to let the Cleric cast some more buffs. The extras from Bulls Strength and Bears Endurance, Aid and other spells can ramp up your stats a lot. So it's worth hanging around and getting those. Most of my spells are 'Mass' and I will only cast them once. I wont carry the Single person version, so when I catch up to you there is nothing I can do.
If you are casting mass bear and bull and its actually hitting on anything other than a puppy, your groups are doing it wrong.


Let the Healing Aura top you up before the next battle.

Given 30 seconds, the Clerics Healing Aura can take you from whatever% HP to 100% HP (depending on your HP). It is better that the Cleric (who will arrive at the battle later than you will) to be able to top you up from 80% instead of 30%. The Healing Aura also does not cost us SP, so are like a free MASS HEAL, but it takes a few seconds. I usually cast this at chests or locked doors. It is up to you to take advantage of it.
No need to wait around to top off. Top off while moving to the next mob. Believe it or not, its okay for the cleric to not top someone off.


Try not to be obstructed by obstacles.

Basically, if we cant see you, we cant help you. It's a simple enough rule, but often forgotten in the heat of battle.
[color="plum"] true. good point.


Don't break away from the party.

Okay, so this one is obvious. When playing my Cleric, I will follow the pack. If 3 go one way and 2 go another, I will follow the 3.
this should read --> If 3 go one way and 2 go another, two of them should follow me. ;)



Don't be a hero.

Heroes are more of a pain (in my view) to raise than someone who held fast and died valiantly. Unnecessary deaths are unnecessary :)
It also means you will have to wait longer for rebuffing.
I love heroes. especially the ones who died a heroic death in the middle of the mob. Ther eis nothing funnier than throwing a rez to a hero, see them take it still in the mob.


Warforged

The difference in healing a Warforged who has 'Healers Friend' compared to one who hasn't is amazing.



Stand just inside the Blade Barrier.

Blade Barrier is a great spell, and now that it casts quicker, I cast it more often.
Blade Barrier must be cast from the Clerics position, so if you see, or hear that it has been cast, step just inside of it and let the enemy come to you.
BB kiting is fun everybody should learn how to do it

----------
If any other Clerics out there want to add to this list, please do.
[rainbow star] The more you know !!! [/rainbow star]

Thank-You.

comments in plum

[Bilger]

Hi folks.
After a bit of an odd run yesterday with my Cleric I thought I would make this post and I hope others can add more information in so that we can all get the most out of our beloved healers.
So, some tips...


Please wait for buffs.

After waiting X amount of minutes for people to get ship buffs and then meet up at the quest entrance, why not wait another 20 seconds once you are in to let the Cleric cast some more buffs. The extras from Bulls Strength and Bears Endurance, Aid and other spells can ramp up your stats a lot. So it's worth hanging around and getting those. Most of my spells are 'Mass' and I will only cast them once. I wont carry the Single person version, so when I catch up to you there is nothing I can do.

If using mass bulls and such means you are at a higher lvl where melee and other characters(even casters atleast a conn item) should already have a con or strength item above +4 which doesn't stack with spell.

Now on waiting for buffs if not needed why waist mana just get the quest done. If needed for something specific lke freedom or deathward then yea but mass bulls and stuff not needed.


Let the Healing Aura top you up before the next battle.

Given 30 seconds, the Clerics Healing Aura can take you from whatever% HP to 100% HP (depending on your HP). It is better that the Cleric (who will arrive at the battle later than you will) to be able to top you up from 80% instead of 30%. The Healing Aura also does not cost us SP, so are like a free MASS HEAL, but it takes a few seconds. I usually cast this at chests or locked doors. It is up to you to take advantage of it.

Agreed I use it to save on pots but not going to stand around forever to fill my bar will pot heal and take aura for as long as makes sense

Try not to be obstructed by obstacles.

Basically, if we cant see you, we cant help you. It's a simple enough rule, but often forgotten in the heat of battle.

Will always be a problem and alot do by accident and most stupidity. When I heal if out of sight ya go to out of mind and get backpacked if keeps happening.

Don't break away from the party.

Okay, so this one is obvious. When playing my Cleric, I will follow the pack. If 3 go one way and 2 go another, I will follow the 3.

If can handle IMO go for it if can't and die well in the pack ya go.

Don't be a hero.

Heroes are more of a pain (in my view) to raise than someone who held fast and died valiantly. Unnecessary deaths are unnecessary :)
It also means you will have to wait longer for rebuffing.

Same as above reply.


Warforged

The difference in healing a Warforged who has 'Healers Friend' compared to one who hasn't is amazing.

With cleric enhancements, potency item, and metas never have problem healing them healers friend is nice but very ap expensive and understand when don't have much. As get into higher lvls healing amp is easy to get so as yu move on ya will notice the drain less and less.

Stand just inside the Blade Barrier.

Blade Barrier is a great spell, and now that it casts quicker, I cast it more often.
Blade Barrier must be cast from the Clerics position, so if you see, or hear that it has been cast, step just inside of it and let the enemy come to you.

BB is awesome and melees should learn to stand in it yes if I am kiting through a blade and healing group as I do if not in mass range in the backpack they go very simple.
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If any other Clerics out there want to add to this list, please do.
[rainbow star] The more you know !!! [/rainbow star]

Thank-You.

In red I do agree with alot of what said just my OP on a lil of what ya put.

[Krell]

Because the blade barrier hits a mob ONCE if it's not continuing to move. So to use a bb effectively in combat, you have to kite it around and around in the bb. Unfortunately, when you are kiting unless you have the mobility feat, we lose a bonus to attack the mob, and possibly how many attacks we make per second (Not sure if this is p and p or ddo though on the how many no one has confirmed and too many people were arguing about it in my groups for me to know for sure, but it is sure about the attack from movement). That is also why my cleric runs in a circle around my blade barriers, so that they keep doing damage to the mobs continuously, not just when it crosses the path of the blades to get in, and maybe again to get out to go for someone else.

Which is why you'll see so many melee standing still and fighting in firewalls and ice storms, but not bb's. It's NOT about kill counts for me at all, it's about most efficient and effective disposal of the mobs. And healing draws aggro, so you don't necessarily always want your cleric (or want to be as the cleric) that close to the mass of mobs.

Bb's are great, but like everything else, situationally. Saying we just want kill counts discounts us having brains and reasons, which is no more true for all melee players than all clerics must be babysitters.

Agreed. With my melees I try to fight near a bb, firewall, ice storm, etc. It just makes sense and helps the party. Unfortunately the other melees are usually already running off to the next group of mobs, then the Cleric run after them, then the rest run after the Cleric, then I'm in the back cleaning up, but hey, at least I try to make use of them ;) .

[somenewnoob]

Good post OP, +1.

[SirValentine]

Divines may well count as casters while levelling but expect that to more or less fall apart when you approach cap. In sharvarath, especially difficulties beyond normal, it is rather rare for a divine to be capable of the kinds of dc's to be as nearly as effective as an arcane worth their silly hat. This continues into epic, wherein most casting divines will be lucky to see implosion take out two per cast.


Wizards have the extra feats to afford Spell Focus more easily, and prestige enhancements to further boost DCs. So of course they have better DCs than other casters.

But how would you expect, say, Wail of the Banshee or Finger of Death or Mass Hold from a Sorc to be signifigantly more effective than Implosion or Destruction or Greater Command from a divine caster?

And as for whether divine casters can be effective casters at cap, well, we'll have to agree to disagree. But I have to ask how much have you played an offensive caster at cap? What was your DC? Your spell pen? Like any build, you have to work at tweaking enhancements, gear, etc., to make it most effective, but I assure you, from experience, a divine caster can be quite capable at end-game, including in epics.

[whitehawk74]

Waiting doesn't finish the quest. Finishing the quest finishes the quest.

Only need buffs when:
- You may die/wipe without them
- They make the quest faster (ie. fom when they cast hold so you can still kill stuff, progressing the quest)

Otherwise, why buff? It makes things take longer than they should.
15 seconds or less to buff. then Run on Haste.

People mentioned buffing on the run. This is a hassle, and most buffs are group buffs. Also, when running, the person casting drops in speed and the spell takes twice as long to cast.

[Tooky]

If I play barb then u expect me to be the hero.

No. I *expect* you to be stoopid. I *expect* you to run off and stand in the middle of a bunch of melee mobs, swingin' away while whistling a jolly tune, shedding HP like they're going out of fashion and expecting someone else to pick up the pieces.

However, when I see you jumping the front line melee (leaving them to those with meaningful AC) to take out the mob healers and then the casters; when I see you work round the outskirts of a fight picking off the stragglers and avoiding damage; when I see you pulling mobs back into that handy firewall that just appeared; *then* I'm pleasantly surprised.

When I see you do all that while staying in range/sight of the occasional heal you might need then I'm even slightly impressed.

On those happy occasions I can play with sound bursts, commands, cometfalls, even break out the DF/DP and join in alongside you. Chopping, casting, healing and laughing all the way.

Lots more fun than being screamed at "I NEED HEALZ" by some noob that keeps running off on his own just to run down his red bar so he can run back to waste my blue bar!

[Ivan_Milic]

No. I *expect* you to be stoopid. I *expect* you to run off and stand in the middle of a bunch of melee mobs, swingin' away while whistling a jolly tune, shedding HP like they're going out of fashion and expecting someone else to pick up the pieces.

However, when I see you jumping the front line melee (leaving them to those with meaningful AC) to take out the mob healers and then the casters; when I see you work round the outskirts of a fight picking off the stragglers and avoiding damage; when I see you pulling mobs back into that handy firewall that just appeared; *then* I'm pleasantly surprised.

When I see you do all that while staying in range/sight of the occasional heal you might need then I'm even slightly impressed.

On those happy occasions I can play with sound bursts, commands, cometfalls, even break out the DF/DP and join in alongside you. Chopping, casting, healing and laughing all the way.

Lots more fun than being screamed at "I NEED HEALZ" by some noob that keeps running off on his own just to run down his red bar so he can run back to waste my blue bar!
Then u must have never been in group with me,cuz I always kill casters first and I dont just stand around mobs.

[boomeranky]

The next important part is the Aura from the Radiant Servants. An Ardored Aura can heal 50/60 hits a tick on a critical. That's the equivalent of a Mass Cure Moderate /Mass Cure Serious Wound every few seconds without any Mana expenditure... and it regen.... A Cleric can keep that up for ages if he has a decent number of Turns ( I can keep it on for more than 90 minutes with the 17 I have on Flav'; that's more than any decent time you'll spend in a raid )



Just a side note, with my healing amp and ardor going i get 36 hp on non crits and 101 hp on crits with aura.
Those without healing amp are a little above 20 on non crits, and around 70 for crits.

So the aura is even more important as a way of healing. In most quests and many raid situations i only use aura to heal with an occasional burst for those frenzied warforged barbarians who forgot to spec in healers friend...

mass cure moderate and mass cure serious are more in the range of 200+ hp on my (capped) cleric, and very helpful at boss fights.

If i am not totally drunken or sleepy, the aura is perma up (18 turns after rest, a little less (15) after deaths due to the amara set bug)

Oh and I prefer to stand in the middle of the fights, so the conc opp item and torc can proc as much as they can ...

[NaturalHazard]

"Help me!!!! Help you!!!"


"Show me the money jerry!!!! Show me the money!!!"

What are you going to do jerry!!?????

" I WILL SHOW YOU THE MONEEEEYYYYYY!!!!



congrats your still my cleric jerry.

[Eleia]

15 seconds or less to buff. then Run on Haste.

People mentioned buffing on the run. This is a hassle, and most buffs are group buffs. Also, when running, the person casting drops in speed and the spell takes twice as long to cast.

The best thing to do if people take off, is to just not buff. If they need something, just assume they'll ask. Ofc, if you're going to shrine, and have a bit of sp left, ask everyone to gather for buff to use it up, if they don't...no sweat.

But...I have to agree, no need for the mass stat buffs.

[somenewnoob]

Ofc, if you're going to shrine, and have a bit of sp left, ask everyone to gather for buff to use it up, if they don't...no sweat.



THIS. I always tell people to gather near the shrine for buffs AFTER they rest and before I do, burn all my sp's casting anything and everything I can, resists, bears, bulls, aid, and then shrine myself.

Only problem with that is half the time everybody runs off while I'm resting and my 0% striding butt has to catch up! lol