So are Clerics still a thing?

[MrChipinator]

Been eyeballing the update and thinking about immersing myself in the game again, the problem being I've done every many-shot, monk-pally-fighter-ranger 14/12/6/2/3.14 whatever you want to call them and from that have (like most people) realized 99% of EE centered characters self-heal, be it with Cocoons or scrolls or whatever. I'm disillusioned with the whole LD melee super class (and monks too, never thought I'd say it), and would enjoy playing a Cleric again for the foreseeable future, only problem being that the last time I did so was when Deathwyrm came out, and I found myself basically serving as a glorified resurrection station, so I suppose my question is:

Are Clerics with all current updates/possible gear upgrades/enhancements/etc able to consistently be useful to groups in the EE endgame? Does having a source of dedicated healing allow players to cut a bit more loose and increase completion speed? Are there only certain builds that bring anything to the table? As much as I don't mind playing in mid-level content, and playing quietly and for fun, I do truly enjoy the challenge that comes from doing things on EE, and a majority of the sentient individuals I quasi-reluctantly associate with focus on EE, so that's where I'd like to play if it's even feasible. Heck, if all I do is sit back and heal and toss out the occasional 5% vulnerability thing, or whatever, as long as that ends up being as useful as a 12/6/2 self heal melee in there, that's fine with me, just looking for something to justify playing this game again...*sobs internally*

[PermaBanned]

"Useful to groups" is a bit of a loaded perspective/opinion based thing.

While the dedicated "Hjeal! Bot" is still largely out of favor in most grouping circles, Clerics are not. They can be very solid DC casters and/or Light based Nukers.

[SirValentine]

Clerics are still out there, though I think in smaller numbers than the old, old days.

A large portion of the player base doesn't need a healbot, which I think is A Good Thing for Clerics, as we're less pigeon-holed by belligerent persons trying to force their idea of how we have to play our class for their fun instead us following our own ideas for our own fun.

Cleric is a pretty flexible class; Clerics can contribute meaningfully in a variety of ways. There are effective melee DPS builds, and Light-nuking builds, and I myself play a DC-caster, among other possibilities. Any of those can easily enough do some healing on the side, too, if desired.

There are still a fair number of folks out there who would be happy to have a healbot along, if you really wanted to play one. But, as you seem to know from your post, a healbot isn't really that helpful in most EE-oriented circles of players; the folks who want a healbot are not generally the same ones as those zerging EEs.

[Chauncey1]

As for everyone being able to self heal...
Some are much more proficient than others.
I can self heal to a degree. But when I run out of what little SP I have, then it's time to chug some pots and run screaming and crying to the nearest shrine. Or, like in most cases, die.

As far as I'm concerned, healers are still vital.

[Chai]

Clerics are in, but not for the healbot reason. The current endgame is chucked full of undead.

[moo_cow]

Been eyeballing the update and thinking about immersing myself in the game again, the problem being I've done every many-shot, monk-pally-fighter-ranger 14/12/6/2/3.14 whatever you want to call them and from that have (like most people) realized 99% of EE centered characters self-heal, be it with Cocoons or scrolls or whatever. I'm disillusioned with the whole LD melee super class (and monks too, never thought I'd say it), and would enjoy playing a Cleric again for the foreseeable future, only problem being that the last time I did so was when Deathwyrm came out, and I found myself basically serving as a glorified resurrection station, so I suppose my question is:

Are Clerics with all current updates/possible gear upgrades/enhancements/etc able to consistently be useful to groups in the EE endgame? Does having a source of dedicated healing allow players to cut a bit more loose and increase completion speed? Are there only certain builds that bring anything to the table? As much as I don't mind playing in mid-level content, and playing quietly and for fun, I do truly enjoy the challenge that comes from doing things on EE, and a majority of the sentient individuals I quasi-reluctantly associate with focus on EE, so that's where I'd like to play if it's even feasible. Heck, if all I do is sit back and heal and toss out the occasional 5% vulnerability thing, or whatever, as long as that ends up being as useful as a 12/6/2 self heal melee in there, that's fine with me, just looking for something to justify playing this game again...*sobs internally*

They are still around but they aren't that desirable to play anymore. They do decent light nuking, good heals, and good dc for instakills and such. In terms of caster dps though overall they are not high up on the dps boards which makes them not fun to play sometimes.

I like to play instakills and lightnuking clerics/fvs but since no one needs heals anymore they aren't as useful or fun as they use to be IMO.

[BigErkyKid]

Clerics are in, but not for the healbot reason. The current endgame is chucked full of undead.

I barely see any in my circles though. Is this a personal experience of mine or the norm out there?

[Chai]

I barely see any in my circles though. Is this a personal experience of mine or the norm out there?

A lot of main healer classes stick to their channels / guilds etc and play other characters.

[BigErkyKid]

A lot of main healer classes stick to their channels / guilds etc and play other characters.

I meant not as a healer that they bring in raids, rather as a main cleric. I don;t see very many of those.

[Oliphant]

They fixed Implosion so for me... yes

[jaedom]

They are still around but they aren't that desirable to play anymore. They do decent light nuking, good heals, and good dc for instakills and such. In terms of caster dps though overall they are not high up on the dps boards which makes them not fun to play sometimes.

I like to play instakills and lightnuking clerics/fvs but since no one needs heals anymore they aren't as useful or fun as they use to be IMO.

My cleric is a light cannon build is usually at or near the top in kills and I solo healed mark of death with more than a few poor self healers. Anyone saying they are not viable need to try out a new build. With the new pally enhancements no need for evasion my resists all sit in the mid 80`s or higher at 28 with 166 prr 120 mrr and 98 ac could work on those a bit but gear set up a bit off still. BTW build is 13 cleric 4 fvs 3 pally cha based in angel

[moo_cow]

My cleric is a light cannon build is usually at or near the top in kills and I solo healed mark of death with more than a few poor self healers. Anyone saying they are not viable need to try out a new build. With the new pally enhancements no need for evasion my resists all sit in the mid 80`s or higher at 28 with 166 prr 120 mrr and 98 ac could work on those a bit but gear set up a bit off still. BTW build is 13 cleric 4 fvs 3 pally cha based in angel

I never said they aren't viable, I basically said they are decent. And that's what they are. I run a 74-76 evocation dc fvs that specs in light nuking, I can be at the top of the list, but that doesn't make the class good. They are still just among the rankings of decent. Anyone can solo, anyone can top the kill count, saying that does not matter.

[tralfaz81]

Clerics, yes. Healers, not so much.

[axel15810]

I play mostly clerics - my main is a THF melee DPS / healing build at endgame.

Yes, we're still useful as healers - just to a lesser extent. For sure not as needed as pre-MOTU though. The healing is obviously not as needed as everyone self heals. We're more like spot healers now - or toons capable of pulling medicore groups through EE quests by keeping them alive. I pug a lot of EE and often find myself helping spot heal others so they don't die - mostly during burst damage situations or situations where the group member's healing ability is on cooldown. Granted pretty much every EN and EH run I never have to heal.

I very very rarely am in full healing mode these days, but often in EE I save people by throwing spot heals when needed.

Particularly when running necro EE lately I'm finding that I have to help out a lot of bladeforged melees who get intercessed and are helpless because they can't cast their reconstruct SLA.

Overall no doubt Clerics have been somewhat indirectly nerfed by all the self-healing introduced in the past several years. Yeah they can still kill stuff but their overall value to groups have declined as there used to be a support side to the class that is now not needed by most groups.