Best Race for a pure cleric ?? query

[IntrepidBear]

Howdy, guys and gals, it's Lem ..
I've been trying out my healers, and I love my cleric, who is near capping soon, she is a drow right now, and wondering from those of you who have made a number of clerics, or experienced with clerics, which race is most preferable ? I'll be TR'ing and wish to keep a pure cleric.

I also tried out my previous inquiry on fav souls, still on the fence on my battle wf fav soul, and my human pure healer fav soul. Have not decided which I'll stick with on that as of yet. I'm sure once I hit the high levels I'll know better. Like casters, seems they really are a 'Blast' ( pun intended ) once they hit level 14, and higher.

I do solo a lot, but I think once I TR , ( have my latest TR's tweeked, yay! ) , I may join pugs a bit more often with my healers. I know there seems a shortage out there.
Actually, once I finish my move in real life, I will join more pugs in general again.

so for now,
appreciate input on it..
thanks :D .. Lem..

[BansheeMalthus]

Best I have found are Dwarf or Human. Dwarf is really nice and humans extra feat helps a lot.

[serthcore]

Human if ofensive caster, extra feat is awesome.
Constitution based half elf with monk/paladin dilettante and imp. shield mastery if healbot, very hard to kill.
Half orc if melee, taking proficency in a two hander and power attack.

[akash]

I vote for human or half elves.

[Enoach]

Human - Advantage is the extra feat

Dwarf - Advantage is Constitution, Dwarven Axe as Martial and Faith Line for SP

Elf - Advantage - Faith Line proficiency with Scimatars also 6th Level access to a Raise Dead Spell like ability

Half-Elf - Advantage - Multi-class capabilities without multi-classing -
Example: With at least a 13 Charisma taking Sorcerer Dilettante grants access to arcane spells in scroll/wand for buffing, such a Master Touch, Shield, Fire Shield, false life, Hero/Greater, blur and displacement. This can be switched to Wizard once Intelligence meets the requirement. Advantage here is in a class that has few skill points you can get the advantage of UMD arcane without investing in UMD

Fighter - Gets you Martial Weapon proficiency, this removes the penalty

Barbarian - Gets you access to a Class based Constitution enhancement and two more toughness enhancements

Monk and Paladin have already been mentioned.

Artificer - Gets you Artificer Scrolls and Crossbow Proficiency <- For those that want to stay in the back and still dish out some damage from Repeaters.

I have played a Human and Elf pure cleric and I really enjoy my Half-Elf cleric more. I went the Sorcerer -> trade up to Wizard approach.

[QuantumFX]

Since you’re going with a 20 Cleric I would also suggest half-elves. They’re like humans except you can trade the human bonus feat for Weapon Proficiency: Everything non-exotic and a +1 STR enhancement. Or pick up an arcane dilettante feat and scroll repair the warforged that are too stupid to invest in healing amp.

[totabc]

We all know humans are the best race. /next question

[Ilindith]

Kobold

[Bacab]

Khopesh>Anything else

Human>Helf

If going TWF non-handwrap.

If going caster, I would say Human.

[SEMPER]

Human - Advantage is the extra feat

Dwarf - Advantage is Constitution, Dwarven Axe as Martial and Faith Line for SP they don't get dwarven axe fyi

Elf - Advantage - Faith Line proficiency with Scimatars also 6th Level access to a Raise Dead Spell like ability

Half-Elf - Advantage - Multi-class capabilities without multi-classing -
Example: With at least a 13 Charisma taking Sorcerer Dilettante grants access to arcane spells in scroll/wand for buffing, such a Master Touch, Shield, Fire Shield, false life, Hero/Greater, blur and displacement. This can be switched to Wizard once Intelligence meets the requirement. Advantage here is in a class that has few skill points you can get the advantage of UMD arcane without investing in UMD

Fighter - Gets you Martial Weapon proficiency, this removes the penalty

Barbarian - Gets you access to a Class based Constitution enhancement and two more toughness enhancements

Monk and Paladin have already been mentioned.

Artificer - Gets you Artificer Scrolls and Crossbow Proficiency <- For those that want to stay in the back and still dish out some damage from Repeaters.

I have played a Human and Elf pure cleric and I really enjoy my Half-Elf cleric more. I went the Sorcerer -> trade up to Wizard approach.

just a small nitpick in red

[JollySwagMan]

just a small nitpick in red

indeed, a pure Dwarven Cleric would need to use Master's Touch to get the D-Axe proficiency without spending a feat. During one of the festivals some of the cakes did this offering a nifty option for UMD-less toons, but that cake has since changed abilities.

[PNellesen]

Personally, if I wanted a pure full-on casting focused Cleric, I would go Human to get the extra feat. If I wanted to be able to do some ok melee as I leveled up, but still have respectable DCs and plenty of SP, I'd go Helf with fighter Dilettante (like, for instance, the guy in my sig ;) ).

[Lalangamena]

caster cleric: human. the extra feat, extra point of wisdom, extra skill points that allow you to dump int completely make human the best race.

coolness factor: dwarf, just because. also Durkon approves. extra SP enhancement line is just a gravy not something you miss on other races.

melee cleric pure: here I think warforged >> half orc because you don't have to waste a feat on greatswords.

[HungarianRhapsody]

Humans and Half Elves are the only races that can get any bonus to Wisdom. If you want to do offensive casting, then your spells' DCs will be important and that extra 1/2 DC for spells will make a difference for you. The free feat that Humans offer is also very handy.

The self healing that Warforged get with Reconstruct on Arcane casters is good enough that I think Warforged are just as good in most ways and better in a few when compared to Humans and Drow, but for Clerics and FvS, you will be self healing with Heal, so Warforged offer no bonuses in that respect.

Human or Half Elf all the way.

[SEMPER]

indeed, a pure Dwarven Cleric would need to use Master's Touch to get the D-Axe proficiency without spending a feat. During one of the festivals some of the cakes did this offering a nifty option for UMD-less toons, but that cake has since changed abilities.

Yep if they have them or have someone that's willing to cast it on them then there fine just wanted to make sure the OP knows they don't get them for free :D

[Ap0k]

My vote for a pure caster cleric is human as well, +1 Wis from human adaptability, 1 extra skill point per level ( which is huge on a cleric IMO) and the extra feat make it hard to beat.

For battle cleric type (non pure) Horc with 1 or 2 lvls of Fighter, or Dwarf. If TWF maybe Helf with 2 levels of Monk

[IntrepidBear]

Kobold

"Really?? ... really ??!!!"

(tx for the chuckle.. lol )

[Ilindith]

"Really?? ... really ??!!!"

(tx for the chuckle.. lol )

Posting stupid stuff is all I can do eh.

[IntrepidBear]

:)
ah.. ty all..

oh, I miss my cakes that could cast Masterstouch. .. was using on one toon, and they changed it..

I was kinda wondering about the half-E ... and if you were going to prefer Human with the extra advantages, re; Feat. - just need to make sure the build is tough.

I did test a Half E with my Bard warchanter taking the Fighter Del. and I really like it.

Also, as I leveled my current drow cleric to 18 I took one level of Sorc to see what would happen with the extra ability using just what was mentioned above, with the use of extra wands/scrolls and such.
Not bad really.
Makes for a mega huge inventory packpack tho..

so, for a Favored Soul healer, I take it most of you may prefer the same? Human or Half E ????

~ Lem

[HarveyMilk]

When you use the word "healer" you have to know that it's a very general term.

You can be an effective healer with either a melee or an offensive-casting focus.

So really, we're talking about 3 general kinds of divines:

1) offensive-casting: max your wis (but maybe not dump str), take lots of meta-magic feats, human tends to be the best because of the extra feat

2) melee: max your str (and possibly dump your wis), take maximize/empower/quicken, put the rest of your feats into melee feats, warforged tends to be the best for FvS, clerics have more decent options

3) hybrid: balance your wis and your str (I'd try to keep wis as high as possible, just not necessarily max), and balance your feats between meta-magics and melee, but you prob want max/emp/quick/heighten. half-elf and human are both good. as a cleric with decent charisma for turns (bursts), sorc dilly is pretty awesome if you're looking for an all-around "support" character, sort of like a bard.

Have fun! It's really all about how you want to play, and what's effective, not what is THE MOST effective

[IntrepidBear]

Posting stupid stuff is all I can do eh.

lol.. must be working quite the boring job eh?

Hey ~ I see you've TR'd Distributed again, you 'gimp' -3 classes -as they call it your toon, which one ( or blend of 'gimp' ) do you like the most for solo'ing ?

obviously WF ... ? ...

Since trying out WF with my recent TR's, my wizzy and sorc, I like them. . .. made a fighter WF , he is only a lvl 14 (?) non TR.

my most fun ever on a toon is my lil halfling sorc Littlemama Whooopass.. yes, she may not be a WF but too hilarious... :D

[IntrepidBear]

Human - Advantage is the extra feat

Dwarf - Advantage is Constitution, Dwarven Axe as Martial and Faith Line for SP

Elf - Advantage - Faith Line proficiency with Scimatars also 6th Level access to a Raise Dead Spell like ability

Half-Elf - Advantage - Multi-class capabilities without multi-classing -
Example: With at least a 13 Charisma taking Sorcerer Dilettante grants access to arcane spells in scroll/wand for buffing, such a Master Touch, Shield, Fire Shield, false life, Hero/Greater, blur and displacement. This can be switched to Wizard once Intelligence meets the requirement. Advantage here is in a class that has few skill points you can get the advantage of UMD arcane without investing in UMD

Fighter - Gets you Martial Weapon proficiency, this removes the penalty

Barbarian - Gets you access to a Class based Constitution enhancement and two more toughness enhancements

Monk and Paladin have already been mentioned.

Artificer - Gets you Artificer Scrolls and Crossbow Proficiency <- For those that want to stay in the back and still dish out some damage from Repeaters.

I have played a Human and Elf pure cleric and I really enjoy my Half-Elf cleric more. I went the Sorcerer -> trade up to Wizard approach.

I tested Artificer, re-rolled it, till I got what I liked, he is only a 'parked' lowbie now. I found it really kicks butt.. but the slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwness drives me a bit loopy. Would need to craft some speedy boots.
Interesting on the Sorc/trade Wizard.

[IntrepidBear]

When you use the word "healer" you have to know that it's a very general term.

You can be an effective healer with either a melee or an offensive-casting focus.

So really, we're talking about 3 general kinds of divines:

1) offensive-casting: max your wis (but maybe not dump str), take lots of meta-magic feats, human tends to be the best because of the extra feat

2) melee: max your str (and possibly dump your wis), take maximize/empower/quicken, put the rest of your feats into melee feats, warforged tends to be the best for FvS, clerics have more decent options

3) hybrid: balance your wis and your str (I'd try to keep wis as high as possible, just not necessarily max), and balance your feats between meta-magics and melee, but you prob want max/emp/quick/heighten. half-elf and human are both good. as a cleric with decent charisma for turns (bursts), sorc dilly is pretty awesome if you're looking for an all-around "support" character, sort of like a bard.

Have fun! It's really all about how you want to play, and what's effective, not what is THE MOST effective

hmm.. lots of food for thought..
I love Casters the most, so will keep that in mind.
I've been holding onto my + 3 tomes until I knew what to do, and thankfully they 'stay' in place now. I can just munch away..

Appreciate everyone's input.. (( thanks all )) !!;)
~ Lem

[Ilindith]

lol.. must be working quite the boring job eh?

Hey ~ I see you've TR'd Distributed again, you 'gimp' -3 classes -as they call it your toon, which one ( or blend of 'gimp' ) do you like the most for solo'ing ?

obviously WF ... ? ...

Since trying out WF with my recent TR's, my wizzy and sorc, I like them. . .. made a fighter WF , he is only a lvl 14 (?) non TR.

my most fun ever on a toon is my lil halfling sorc Littlemama Whooopass.. yes, she may not be a WF but too hilarious... :D

I always post stupid stuff, not just at work.

The 3 classes are the exploiter build, 18ranger/1monk/1rogue, needed the ranger past life but I'm pretty much just leeching exp while I do all the job on a sorcerer on my 2nd account.

And yes, I prefer making WFs.

Also, I'm gimped on any class/race. Like my last clr/mnk life. But I still managed to get a 230 elite streak while soloing 95% of the time eh.

[Talon_Moonshadow]

I say Human.

Highest Wisdom and extra feat. I find Clerics very short on feats.

[Aeolwind]

Half Elves can get the same wis bonus that human provides so that is moot in the comparison between the two.

It comes down to valuing utility (Fighter, Sorc, Wiz, bard, pal, monk dil) vs 1 open feat and 1 skill point. If you are going to be focused on level 20 for a while and casting, then humans open feat is the clear winner.

If you are going to be leveling and TR'ing, the half elves utility is the winner. Having Arcane spells on tap is VERY useful. Got someone taking too much of a beating? Displace/Blur. Gotta run? Haste. Gotta get there now? Teleport. Paladin Dil gets you a nice +5 to all saves that stacks & should give access to paladin only items. Cleric reflex saves are pointless, this helps a lot. Bard is nice for the song & some arcane scrolls like haste/blur/displace/rage. Monk is nice if you want to dig into a pure cleric pajama AC build & the healing amp is always welcome.

[slarden]

The problem I run into with offensive casting is that often in high level content sp are an issue when just healing.

One option is to build a high wisdom/charisma cleric that is a great healer but also tears up undead with turns. This is useful while leveling and in some high level content such as some House C Challenges and Crystal Cove. For healing the only musts for feats are empower healing, and quicken. Enlarge and one toughness feat are extremely helpful.

My cleric is a Dwarf, but if he ever TRs it will likely be to a human or half elf for the reasons others have listed. But really, whatever race you choose isn't going to make your healing less effective. For high level content nobody really cares what your dps is and they really only want you for three things -healing, healing and healing. Sometimes a party wants to stack the divine punishments, but not too often.

[RenigadeWolf]

In my personal opinion Human is the best race for either class; Human is currently top of the dog-pile with Half-Elf (and I'm not complaining as most of my characters were Human before this.)

Reasons to go Human on a Cleric:

The Feat - this is incredibly useful due to no bonus feats with the class. Half-Elf Dilettante can be more useful in several situations (Cleric/Monk (18/2) Heal-Amp build take Monk for extra Heal Amp tiers, for example) but in most cases, Human wins, even if you only take another toughness. (Barb Dil can be a bit more than Toughness for a Cleric, but it burns a lot more AP.)

The Heal Amp! - I don't believe a single other person mentioned that Humans and Half-Elves get HEAL AMP. With that atop of your healing Aura it can make for an incredibly difficult to kill Cleric. Especially with the aforementioned Monk split (Jdiz-Tet'ka and Fire stance for the win. Most people don't seem to understand that loosing the wisdom is worth that, on such a build. Except when resting ect.)

The Stat boosting AP lines - Humans and Half-Elves are the ONLY race that can get +Wisdom. And The second one can go to +Con if you like - Compared to Dwarf (If the Human takes a Toughness for their feat) They are 1 Con behind, with all the other bonuses.

All of these apply just as well to favored souls - I went with an Caster Focused Favored Soul - got told that some of my choices weren't great but I've also been commended uncountable times. He has enough SP and healing power to handle near anything, and nice offensive casting and standing power to back it up.


Whatever you choose, good luck to you.

May the Shadow watch over you, and the Night protect you

-Ren