I am poised to become the WORST healer EVAR!!!

[Chauncey1]

I'm at lvl 3 now, and can't seem to get away from the instinct to melee.
Runnin with another guildie who started a fresh wizzy at the same time, and he's died like a gazillion times.


Maybe once I'm actually in a group with more than one other person, I can actually focus on healing rather than fighting.

[morticianjohn]

If you are a cleric the aura and burst will help along with the mass cure spells. After lvl 12 a melee cleric only has to turn aura on and say "heals on me" bursts and mass cures will heal the group without ever needing to target another player

[Chauncey1]

But I don't wanna be a melee healer.
*pouts*

From what I've gathered from fellow guildies, friends, and these forums, is that melee healers aren't especially well thought of.

[Jatner]

My Cleric went through a few different roles as he levelled and grew up.

Started as a healbot, which was easy but dull.
Became a melee cleric and struggled to keep the party alive
Got Radiant Aura/Burst and became a better melee cleric
Realised the "melee" part of the role wasn't doing all that much DPS so started helping with CC instead
Discovered the joys of Destruction, Implosion, Energy Drain and Divine Punishment and had a great time

It may not be the best way to play the class but it's been a good learning experience for me

[Chauncey1]

I'm definitely learning about this class.
I think it will help me be a better player overall.
And I'm gonna start a wizzy soon as well.

[Eighnuss]

I don't leave korthos til I am level 3. I only play elites. Regardless of class, you need TWO major things to not die between starting the game and level 3.

1) Serious HP Pots

Good luck.

In retrospect it appears that your wizzy needs those 2 major things, not you, per say.

[Missing_Minds]

Chauncey, Jatner pretty much nailed it. You will find your groove as your cleric grows in power/spells.

[Chauncey1]

Chauncey, Jatner pretty much nailed it. You will find your groove as your cleric grows in power/spells.

I hope so.
I'm already more nervous than I should be about this, lol.

[backandforth]

I am not sure if the desire to melee will ever go away :)

I entered a quest once while i was eating and said to myself that i will be just a nanny.
The quest dragged so much in time and at some point I was left without mana or bursts,scroll healing.

Repeated again the same quest after I had finished eating.this time using cc , damage spels, instaills and my sword.
The quest finished in 3 minutes with more than half my sp there.

Attack is better than defence. Use soundburst for cc and damage and hit the stunned mobs with your sword .
Use less metamagic at low levels you dont have a lot of spell points.

[oweieie]

If you're not in a group (more than duoing), you're going to be doing a lot of meleeing until higher levels. Sound Burst is great for helping you do it. At 6 your prestige burst can do a lot of the killing for you against undead, at 7 if you get a 75% clicky you can make Holy Smite do pretty decent damage and not really have to melee, and at 11 you get your god's gift to the cleric class which will let you retire your mace for good.

[Missing_Minds]

I hope so.
I'm already more nervous than I should be about this, lol.

Bah. Play, laugh, carry stones, have a gay ol time. (Ok, so I went Flintstones there.)

You'll do fine. As you get more toys and shinies, you'll change your play style.

[Chauncey1]

If you're not in a group (more than duoing), you're going to be doing a lot of meleeing until higher levels. Sound Burst is great for helping you do it. At 6 your prestige burst can do a lot of the killing for you against undead, at 7 if you get a 75% clicky you can make Holy Smite do pretty decent damage and not really have to melee, and at 11 you get your god's gift to the cleric class which will let you retire your mace for good.

I've noticed that certain spells in a certain order make it possible to Command the kobold shamans.
But I can't bloody remember the names of the spells right now.
The first one I use is the one with fist icon, then I use command and then I either zap them with the light ray thingy, or smash them with the mace.
I will switch to the sound burst though.

[Ew_vastano]

iff you like mellee make your cleric a clonk they are extremely versitile if played well

[MRMechMan]

Discovered the joys of Destruction, Implosion

Don't get too commited. Instakills are a flighty, bro.

[In_Like_Flynn]

Melee Clerics are both Feared and Respected.

Your fear is that they wont heal you, but you need to be respect them so that they wont choose not to heal you. :)

[Xeraphim]

Stop playing a healer and roll a heavy hitter. Play that for a while until you feel like hanging back and keeping red bars full.

Once that murderous sensation returns, log back over to that melee and go crush something ;)

[RangerOne]

You can only be the worst healer ever if you are not on Cannith.

Mulray was annointed worst healer ever two years ago by a pug leader who liked to run off down the hall whenever a heal was thrown. As I recall the remark came after I asked if warforged could be raised. I'd never seen a dead warforged before. For all I knew he needed to be repotted and watered.

[Chauncey1]

Stop playing a healer and roll a heavy hitter. Play that for a while until you feel like hanging back and keeping red bars full.

Once that murderous sensation returns, log back over to that melee and go crush something ;)

I already have plenty of those. And it's not that I get a murderous feeling, it's just instinctual at this point to charge in after having played so many melees.
I rolled a cleric in order to better understand this game and to be a better group player.
I am going to roll a wizzy for the same reasons.

[Lonnbeimnech]

I'm at lvl 3 now, and can't seem to get away from the instinct to melee.
Runnin with another guildie who started a fresh wizzy at the same time, and he's died like a gazillion times.


Maybe once I'm actually in a group with more than one other person, I can actually focus on healing rather than fighting.

CSW pot > lvl 3 cleric.

Unless it's his very first toon he should be carrying a stack, and so should you.

The healing ability of low level cleric is not good, what's worse is no mass cures/bursts. This changes by lvl 6, but it works much better with a group of melees than trying to catch a wiz as he kites stuff around.

Later on... there are exceptions, but as a general rule, don't heal arcanes. If they can't umd they should have gone wf. If they are wf and still need a healer, the need to reroll, perhaps as a barb.

[Cirlandir]

Ive played a lot of healers, yes nannies and melee both, and think the most important part of healing is for others to know their role. If you are 2 manning with a wizzy friend then you the healer ARE the tank. Sure you can toss him a heal out of combat but while in combat u need to kill and heal yourself. If you guys are 2 manning elite, pick up some tank hirelings and buff em up.

[jbleargh]

Casting to kill happen only after DP and BB... before that it is better to command and soundburst and let other kill things.

If you plan to be a caster cleric, you can tickle the mobs with a staff or longsword at low lvls, but IMHO it is better concentrate in learning how to heal. (Habit of paying attention to others people's red bar, understand why they die, know how much your blue bar can do to save a party, etc).

Learning to heal is important... No other class is better at keep a party alive than a cleric... IMHO, it is a selfish waste of resources not using it.

If you are used to be in the frontline, it is also interesting to stay in the back and observe the fight unfold from a different point of view.

Knowing how to heal will not turn you in a healbot... Healbots are also wasting lots of cleric potential contribution to the party success.


Cogito ergo doleo

[Chauncey1]

Ive played a lot of healers, yes nannies and melee both, and think the most important part of healing is for others to know their role. If you are 2 manning with a wizzy friend then you the healer ARE the tank. Sure you can toss him a heal out of combat but while in combat u need to kill and heal yourself. If you guys are 2 manning elite, pick up some tank hirelings and buff em up.

Yup.
That's pretty much been the case so far.
We ran Kortho elite, (except the last quest, we're gonna run that at lvl 4 most likely) but ran some of the harbor quests on hard, still made plenty of XP.
We are waiting on another guildie to hurry his slow @$$ up and roll a lowbie melee.
In the meantime, we'll just keep plugging along.

[MacRighteous]

I am poised to become the WORST healer EVAR!!!

Sorry Chauncey that distinction already belongs to me.

I play a cleric for my static group with a fighter and ranger/rogue and I have all kinds of trouble... I heal everyone but myself (so focused on everyone's red bar that I forget about my own) I run out of mana between shrines - and I end up tanking a lot and targeting who dies first - etc - which ussually ends up with my stone in my moms back pack (shame)

Part of my troubles is that the group I run with are extremely newb-ish and has no concept of their roles and strengths and weaknesses, and the other part is all me - this is the first healer I've ever played in any MMO so we are all picking up bad habits

But - we are having a blast (my static group is with my 80 year old mom and 50 something sister who never played D&D or MMO's and its more about hanging out together than it is to SERIOUSLY play the game) and it is fun as hell - so who cares?

However I do shudder about the thought of playing a healer in pugs - its gonna be a hard road - and I apologize in advance to all who are unfortunate enough to pull the pugs that Ill learn my actual healer chops in - sorry about your luck - maybe in the far future your sacrifices will pay off and ill become a healer of value - you never know? It could happen.

MacR

[Chauncey1]

Sorry Chauncey that distinction already belongs to me.

I play a cleric for my static group with a fighter and ranger/rogue and I have all kinds of trouble... I heal everyone but myself (so focused on everyone's red bar that I forget about my own) I run out of mana between shrines - and I end up tanking a lot and targeting who dies first - etc - which ussually ends up with my stone in my moms back pack (shame)

Part of my troubles is that the group I run with are extremely newb-ish and has no concept of their roles and strengths and weaknesses, and the other part is all me - this is the first healer I've ever played in any MMO so we are all picking up bad habits

But - we are having a blast (my static group is with my 80 year old mom and 50 something sister who never played D&D or MMO's and its more about hanging out together than it is to SERIOUSLY play the game) and it is fun as hell - so who cares?

However I do shudder about the thought of playing a healer in pugs - its gonna be a hard road - and I apologize in advance to all who are unfortunate enough to pull the pugs that Ill learn my actual healer chops in - sorry about your luck - maybe in the far future your sacrifices will pay off and ill become a healer of value - you never know? It could happen.

MacR

Hats off to you good sir.
I could not imagine playing this game with my family.

[Talon_Oakenleaf]

Try running three or four quests with your weapons in the bank and a scroll in your hand, that should break the habit of melee quick :)

[Chauncey1]

Try running three or four quests with your weapons in the bank and a scroll in your hand, that should break the habit of melee quick :)

Sounds disturbingly similar to my fathers preferred method of teaching his kids how to swim.

[Cauthey]

I hope so.
I'm already more nervous than I should be about this, lol.

Don't sweat it. After your first two or three bouts of "healer guilt," you'll eventually get over it.

Just remember that quest success does not ride solely on your shoulders. If someone in your party is complaining about not getting healed promptly enough, hand them a stack of CSW potions or OSD potions, and tell them that keeping them healthy is their responsibility too, not just the healer's.

Communication helps a lot, actually. If you are constantly vocal about where you are, where you are healing, and who's blocked to you, it'll help a fair bit to keep your party reigned in.

[Talon_Oakenleaf]

Sounds disturbingly similar to my fathers preferred method of teaching his kids how to swim.

LMAO thats how i did learn how to swim, dear god i'm turning into my dad:eek:

[PNellesen]

Sorry Chauncey that distinction already belongs to me.


Wrong. I've been told many times (by my own guildies!) that I'M the worst healer evar. At least on Orien... (And I'm sure the wizzie who was in a recent at-level Elite Servants of the Overlord I did where he kept asking "Do we have a healer?" thought so too. Even though we did complete :p )

Pugging on a Cleric CAN be stressful, and you definitely need a very thick skin sometimes, but it can also be incredibly satisfying. Playing Cleric is like playing a goalkeeper: everyone else on the team makes mistakes too, but when you make one, the consequences are usually much more severe, and you will ALWAYS be the one blamed for any failure... (Maybe that's why I like playing Clerics; I've played keeper in 2 different sports, so I'm already used to being blamed for everything :p )

About the only good piece of advice I can give is - read "The Path to Enlightenment (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=202343)" post by The Great Samulas. You won't regret it.

[Rumbaar]

Go for a FvS or even a Bard, they can melee and heal. They'll be a bit more viable as combat healers than a melee cleric after U15