Axel's THF Melee Cleric Build

[count_spicoli]

If your looking to be a raid healer than the higher lvls of cleric pay off. If not only go 11 clreric/8 ftr and one of whatever you might want to get something useful(monk, barb, wtevr), THe tier 5 kns tree is just too good too pass up on this build. A good death is a thing of beauty, one with blade for +20 melee power and you will get keen edge for the +1 crit range anyhows. Str domain for the xtra strr, str to reflex and immunity to knockdowns. Tbis build is built for divine crusader and really gives you nice solo ability. Ive got a greensteel salt maul this is nasty at slowing the bad guys down while you cleave away. Basically grinds them to a screeching halt.

[pappo]

Race

Human (or Purple Dragon Knight)

Gives you an extra feat, heal amp and human damage boost. All other races are sub-optimal. Dwarf and Half-orc are not the best choice as they lose a feat compared to human and their racial damage enhancements are not worth the heavy AP cost. In addition, human has higher burst DPS than either of those races due to human damage boost, doesn’t take the -2 CHA hit (and -2INT hit from half-orc) and offers a cheap 1st tier of healing amp.


I have been looking at the new Assimar race on DDO Wiki. Do you think a STR based Assimar, with it's high healing amp, would be a good fit. I know it would lose the Human bonus feat, but would that Gimp the build?

[unbongwah]

If you're using mauls, you really really really want Blessing of Silvanus for the extra +2 crit range. That means you have to be PDK, SDK, DG, or Scourge. PDK gets an extra feat and starts out ftr, so no LR +1 required, making it a no-brainer.

For other weapon types, it's more of a wash, but that bonus racial feat is still helpful, particularly if you stick with the cleric 15 / pal 4 / ftr 1 split which is a bit feat-starved. Something with more feats - e.g., cleric 15 / ftr 3 / monk 2 or ftr 4 / wiz 1 - has more wiggle room.

[axel15810]

I have been looking at the new Assimar race on DDO Wiki. Do you think a STR based Assimar, with it's high healing amp, would be a good fit. I know it would lose the Human bonus feat, but would that Gimp the build?

Agreed with what above post from unbongwah said. PDK silvanus with mauls is basically a no brainer for this build now because of the extra feat and maul crit range bonus. Especially since it seems possible now to get some good endgame mauls in the Ravenloft expansion that just released (I'm not totally sure what's out in Ravenloft maul-wise yet, still playing through it, but the lvl 29 morninglord mauls seem good).

Aasimar doesn't seem to be awful, but it's definitely an inferior choice to going the PDK silvanus route and keep in mind you can get extra healing amp in the PDK and paladin trees. If you're playing only 1-20 and then HTR'ing it wouldn't matter as much, especially if you don't have any good mauls for heroics sitting around in your bank.

On a side note I really need to update the initial post of this thread.

[Captain_Wizbang]

On a side note I really need to update the initial post of this thread.

..

[pappo]

Doing a Morninglord past life. Here is my build:

[code]SE CLR PAL FTR
15/4/1 Cleric/Paladin/Fighter
Lawful Good Morninglord


Would you show the enhancements you took, or did you just follow Axels enhancements and change to a Sun Elf ?
Do you use any of the new Cleric Domains ?

Thanks

[Whitering]

Agreed with what above post from unbongwah said. PDK silvanus with mauls is basically a no brainer for this build now because of the extra feat and maul crit range bonus. Especially since it seems possible now to get some good endgame mauls in the Ravenloft expansion that just released (I'm not totally sure what's out in Ravenloft maul-wise yet, still playing through it, but the lvl 29 morninglord mauls seem good).

Aasimar doesn't seem to be awful, but it's definitely an inferior choice to going the PDK silvanus route and keep in mind you can get extra healing amp in the PDK and paladin trees. If you're playing only 1-20 and then HTR'ing it wouldn't matter as much, especially if you don't have any good mauls for heroics sitting around in your bank.

On a side note I really need to update the initial post of this thread.

Yes because Action boosts no longer stack. God I hate that change.

This build works well a PDK (the level 10 Ravenloft Mauls are terrific, before that you just use Carnifex anyway), it also works well on Sun Elf, I've done both. Sun Elf sticks to Falchions, the level 10 Ravenloft one will see you to 20 easily. After that's it's a crafted 20 until TForged, or if you lack TForged, crafted until the 29 Ravenloft one, which you get just for doing the mists quests, even on casual.

[axel15810]

Yes because Action boosts no longer stack. God I hate that change.


Same, it's really aggravating. I always assumed it was WAI since they let it function that way for so many years. It was a fairly sizable nerf for this build in particular. Then again they gave us the domain feat buffs that way more than made up for it. Still, I miss having that burst option. It was fun.

[Lalangamena]

Axel hi,

I saw in your videos that your aura tick for quite constant ~160 HP..
maybe i don't understand the theoretical math in the game mechanics

how do you reach such amount?
aura = 1 hp per 3 cleric levels, lets say intense healing affect aura.
cleric 15+ intense healing 3 => 1+ 18/3 => 1+6=7HP with 0 spell power.

lets say you have 300 positive spell power? (no idea how much, i am guessing here)
lets add improved empowered healing + 100 positive spell power.
400 spell power total is (7*400)/100 => 7*4 = 28 HP

lets say you have 100 positive energy amplification, then its (100+100)/100 => 2*28 = 56 HP per tick...

what is the match of reaching 160HP per tick?

thanx

[Rakstelon]

Thought I'd give this build a try, was wondering a few things thou (sorry if they have been asked already, I did look at a few pages but didn't see any similar)

1. Enhancements- for a new player like myself, in what order would I prioritise these by level?
ATM I am low level and have just copied off your vid, all points so far I placed into the Radiant Servant tree.

2. Skills- What skill setups do you use at diff levels?
I'm mostly using buff skills (Prot from Evil, Nightshield, Shield of Faith) but because of the lack of Wis, I'm drinking Owl potions like no tomorrow)
Obviously the same if I want to heal by skills, drink potion, use heal. At what level does our Wis catch up to what our skills require or are we required to find/buy tomes?

3. Any tweaks needed for current state of the game?

Any advise for this enthusiastic Melee Cleric would be muchly appreciated,

Thankyou.

Follow up; Found an alternative to buying Potions of Owl's wisdom, the Wand vendor next to the potion vendor (Stormreach Market) sells a Wand of Owl's wisdom that has 50 charges for 520ish Plat.
Now just swap weapons in and out buff, can heal for 5mins:)

Still would like to know any answers to the above questions please

[Whitering]

Axel hi,



The + healing spells level affects your cleric level for Aura, so that's something. I am nearly positive it works that way, I get Axel's numbers, not yours and it's not like I go nuts on my gearing.

To Rakstelon

Basically I start in the pally tree to get Defense aura, it doesn't particularly matter when you take the pally v. cleric levels as pally doesn't get bonus feat either. Only take melee power boost, don't bother with haste boost. That saves you some AP to get other stuff.

I fill up RS as I level but after pally initial aura and the first tier boost. Take War Domain, holy sword at 14 cleric.

[axel15810]

Axel hi,

I saw in your videos that your aura tick for quite constant ~160 HP..
maybe i don't understand the theoretical math in the game mechanics

how do you reach such amount?
aura = 1 hp per 3 cleric levels, lets say intense healing affect aura.
cleric 15+ intense healing 3 => 1+ 18/3 => 1+6=7HP with 0 spell power.

lets say you have 300 positive spell power? (no idea how much, i am guessing here)
lets add improved empowered healing + 100 positive spell power.
400 spell power total is (7*400)/100 => 7*4 = 28 HP

lets say you have 100 positive energy amplification, then its (100+100)/100 => 2*28 = 56 HP per tick...

what is the match of reaching 160HP per tick?

thanx

Basically other than cleric enhancements I have

-1 pally past life
-3 different levels of stacking positive amp on gear
-PDK heal amp enhancement
-KoTC heal amp enhancement
-devotion item (sometimes I have on a positive spellpower crit item)
-ship buff I believe?


I think that's it unless I'm forgetting something? If I'm running in Crusader I'll have more but normally I run in Dreadnaught.


Not sure where my positive spellpower is at level 30 atm, as I reincarnated and am at level 23 right now. I really don't have the time to break down the exact math, maybe someone else with similar aura level can do it.

[axel15810]

Thought I'd give this build a try, was wondering a few things thou (sorry if they have been asked already, I did look at a few pages but didn't see any similar)

1. Enhancements- for a new player like myself, in what order would I prioritise these by level?
ATM I am low level and have just copied off your vid, all points so far I placed into the Radiant Servant tree.

2. Skills- What skill setups do you use at diff levels?
I'm mostly using buff skills (Prot from Evil, Nightshield, Shield of Faith) but because of the lack of Wis, I'm drinking Owl potions like no tomorrow)
Obviously the same if I want to heal by skills, drink potion, use heal. At what level does our Wis catch up to what our skills require or are we required to find/buy tomes?

3. Any tweaks needed for current state of the game?

Any advise for this enthusiastic Melee Cleric would be muchly appreciated,

Thankyou.

Follow up; Found an alternative to buying Potions of Owl's wisdom, the Wand vendor next to the potion vendor (Stormreach Market) sells a Wand of Owl's wisdom that has 50 charges for 520ish Plat.
Now just swap weapons in and out buff, can heal for 5mins:)

Still would like to know any answers to the above questions please


1. I would always take DPS stuff first for the most part as heroics generally aren't that difficult. Haste boost, divine might. But burst/aura right when you get it obviously.

2. Can't remember but I think mid heroic levels or so if not earlier.

3. We still seem far behind in DPS, even with added domain buffs unfortunately. Gotta make up for this by being better geared than most, utilizing cleaves all the time and haste boost/damage boost action boosts that most people are too lazy to use. Silvanus with Mauls is the way to go if you aren't already. And War Domain.

I hope I can get a better sense of where we really are in terms of DPS once I manage to get a good sentient endgame maul crafted and I get my gear back up to date. And once this Warpriest pass happens.

[Rakstelon]

Thankyou Axel and Whitewing for getting back to me,
Some good advise and clears a few things up for me, now I have some direction and can see where the build is going.

Keep up the great work, Appreciate the effort you guys put in for everyone!

[OxfordCalc]

Finally getting back to my human cleric and using an LR to get domains, rearrange some skills, feats and such. Since I can't pick Sylvanus, does it matter much which god I pick? Would like to stay melee.

And use War domain, even though I'm only 8th level? Probably won't play him much, so could possible wait till Warpriest tree pass...but that is probably not coming till July or August.

[unbongwah]

Since I can't pick Sylvanus, does it matter much which god I pick? Would like to stay melee.
As I mentioned elsewhere, for Eberron races, I usually go with either Onatar for the Melee Power bonus from Onatar's Forge or Olladra for the "emergency heal + stat bonus" from Luck of Olladra.

And use War domain, even though I'm only 8th level?
If you're focusing on melee DPS, you definitely want Holy Sword from War domain.

[coopmint1]

Hey all, just wanted to gain some insight from you veterans. This toon has two past lives (pally and fighter) but I don't have tomes right now. Is this a modern spin on Axel's build? Oh forgot to mention is toon will be using a maul.


Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 4.37.105
DDO Character Planner Home Page (http://www.rjcyberware.com/DDO)

TWF Cleric TWFC
Level 20 Lawful Good Purple Dragon Knight Male
(1 Fighter \ 4 Paladin \ 15 Cleric)
Hit Points: 275
Spell Points: 775
BAB: 16\16\21\26\26
Fortitude: 22
Reflex: 11
Will: 14

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Abilities Base Stats Modified Stats
(36 Point) (Level 1) (Level 20)
Strength 16 22
Dexterity 12 12
Constitution 16 16
Intelligence 8 8
Wisdom 10 11
Charisma 16 17

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Base Skills Modified Skills
Skills (Level 1) (Level 20)
Balance 0 1
Bluff 0 3
Concentration 0 4
Diplomacy 0 4
Disable Device n/a n/a
Haggle 0 3
Heal 2 23
Hide 0 1
Intimidate 0 3
Jump 0 6
Listen 0 0
Move Silently 0 1
Open Lock n/a n/a
Perform n/a n/a
Repair 0 -1
Search 0 -1
Spellcraft 0 -1
Spot 0 0
Swim 0 6
Tumble n/a n/a
Use Magic Device 2 14

Level 1 (Fighter)
Feat: (Selected) Cleave
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Fighter
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Paladin
Feat: (Human Bonus) Power Attack
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Two Handed Fighting


Level 2 (Cleric)
Feat: (Deity) Favored by Silvanus


Level 3 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Empower Healing Spell


Level 4 (Cleric)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 5 (Cleric)


Level 6 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Great Cleave


Level 7 (Cleric)


Level 8 (Cleric)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 9 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Empower Spell


Level 10 (Cleric)


Level 11 (Cleric)


Level 12 (Cleric)
Ability Raise: STR
Feat: (Selected) Quicken Spell


Level 13 (Paladin)


Level 14 (Paladin)


Level 15 (Paladin)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Bludgeoning Weapons
Enhancement: Purple Dragon Knight - Human Versatility: Damage Boost (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Purple Dragon Knight - Improved Recovery (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Kensei (Ftr) - Kensei Focus: Picks and Hammers (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Kensei (Ftr) - Haste Boost (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Kensei (Ftr) - Haste Boost (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Kensei (Ftr) - Haste Boost (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Holy Bastion (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Sacred Defense (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Extra Lay on Hands (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Extra Lay on Hands (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Extra Lay on Hands (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Durable Defense (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Durable Defense (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Durable Defense (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Resilient Defense (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Resilient Defense (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Tenacious Defense (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Tenacious Defense (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Sacred Defender (Pal) - Tenacious Defense (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) - Slayer of Evil I (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) - Courage of Heaven (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) - Extra Turning (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) - Extra Turning (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) - Extra Turning (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) - Extra Smite (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) - Extra Smite (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Healing Domain (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Pacifism (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Positive Energy Burst (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Extra Turning (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Extra Turning (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Extra Turning (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Wand Mastery (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Wand Mastery (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Wand Mastery (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Bliss (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Altruism (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Improved Turning (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Improved Turning (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Mighty Turning (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Intense Healing (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Unyielding Sovereignty (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Charisma (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Endless Turning (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Endless Turning (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Incredible Healing (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Wisdom (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Positive Energy Aura (Rank 1)


Level 16 (Cleric)
Ability Raise: STR
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) - Exalted Cleave (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) - Exalted Cleave (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) - Exalted Cleave (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Radiant Servant (Clr) - Improved Empower Healing (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Smite Foe (Rank 1)


Level 17 (Cleric)


Level 18 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Two Handed Fighting


Level 19 (Cleric)


Level 20 (Paladin)
Ability Raise: STR
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) - Vigor of Life (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) - Exalted Smite (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) - Exalted Smite (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) - Exalted Smite (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) - Strength (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) - Vigor of Life (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Divine Might (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Divine Might (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Divine Might (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Warpriest (Clr) - Toughness (Rank 1)

[Whitering]

I am kind of wondering if fighter is needed at all now. I mean, I wouldn't bother +1LR PDK to get rid of it or anything, but I like 5 Paladin because you can, for the odd quest where it really comes in handy (Litany), get negative energy immunity.

[axel15810]

I am kind of wondering if fighter is needed at all now. I mean, I wouldn't bother +1LR PDK to get rid of it or anything, but I like 5 Paladin because you can, for the odd quest where it really comes in handy (Litany), get negative energy immunity.

When damage boost and haste boost were nerfed a little while back when the devs gave them the same cooldown timer, that hurt the appeal of the fighter level for sure. And since we can also get haste boost in dreadnaught that part of the 1 fighter isn't nearly as critical.

But if you're playing in heroics you definitely want fighter for haste boost and the extra early feat.

As for respecing at 30, I still prefer the fighter level because of the free extra feat to me being more useful than the alternatives.

As for Sealed Life (I assume that's what you're referring to) we've got spells for easily dealing with negative levels so we really don't need it. It also requires 30 AP investment for tier 5, so you'll have to take away from other enhacements in addition to giving up the extra feat - which means we'd probably have to drop Precision.

[Whitering]

When damage boost and haste boost were nerfed a little while back when the devs gave them the same cooldown timer, that hurt the appeal of the fighter level for sure. And since we can also get haste boost in dreadnaught that part of the 1 fighter isn't nearly as critical.

But if you're playing in heroics you definitely want fighter for haste boost and the extra early feat.

As for respecing at 30, I still prefer the fighter level because of the free extra feat to me being more useful than the alternatives.

As for Sealed Life (I assume that's what you're referring to) we've got spells for easily dealing with negative levels so we really don't need it. It also requires 30 AP investment for tier 5, so you'll have to take away from other enhacements in addition to giving up the extra feat - which means we'd probably have to drop Precision.

It's not like that's all you get for 30AP, you get monstrous cleaves and it's only temporary, also a kill everything under 1000 hp cleave. I HATE running Von without it, HATE, HATE, HATE.

It's only temporary, and the amount of haste pots I have from daily rolls and such means haste boost is huge waste. At mid levels I use Black Dragon scale and that's on, basically all the time.

[axel15810]

It's not like that's all you get for 30AP, you get monstrous cleaves and it's only temporary, also a kill everything under 1000 hp cleave. I HATE running Von without it, HATE, HATE, HATE.

It's only temporary, and the amount of haste pots I have from daily rolls and such means haste boost is huge waste. At mid levels I use Black Dragon scale and that's on, basically all the time.

It's not a waste because the haste boost from fighter/deadnaught is an action boost bonus to attack speed, which stacks with the enhancement bonus to attack speed that you get from the haste spell or haste pots.

It's one of the best DPS boosting options we have, in partcular when it comes to level 20+ content because we can use it simultaneously with dreadnaught epic moment to build stacks of blitz faster/easier. Yes, it is temporary but with our DPS so far behind real melee classes we really have to utilize any type of DPS boosting stuff we have available the best we can to catch up. And when you have a lot of uses, say 8 in epics, 8x20 seconds each = over 2 1/2 minutes of 30% DPS increase so I don't think it's trivial. Especially when boss beating where you fully utilize the time you have it. And it's even better as of the last patch where the devs removed the start up lag you used to get when activating action boosts.

I'm just not a fan of investing into defensive abilities that take away from DPS boosting abilities, for the most part. Clerics already have some of the best, if not the single best survivability of any class in the game. There's diminishing returns when you start taking defensive abilities you can already survive without - whereas you can always benefit from more DPS. And when it comes to passing up DPS stuff for better survivability against negative energy that we already have the tools to deal with in our spellbook, it's just not worth it if we're talking about optimizing.

[axel15810]

I have updated the original post.

- updated feat selection for silvanus and PDK
- updated race selection as human is no longer as viable as PDK
- added war domain section
- updated a lot of language, deleting outdated discussions
- deleted gear section as it was outdated

I've been playing with slightly different enhancement selections. May modify that section later.

Will be interesting to see how this build changes if Warpriest pass that is coming makes it worth spending points in that tree as oppossed to paladin trees. But I'm still running the same class split as of right now.

Also, I have left the old video in the original post but did point out beside it that some of it is outdated. I hope to do an updated build video on my youtube channel at some point. Especially since people seem to really like it. 20,000+ views on youtube as of today which is pretty nuts for a DDO video.

[Rakstelon]

I have updated the original post.

- updated feat selection for silvanus and PDK
- updated race selection as human is no longer as viable as PDK
- added war domain section
- updated a lot of language, deleting outdated discussions
- deleted gear section as it was outdated

I've been playing with slightly different enhancement selections. May modify that section later.

Will be interesting to see how this build changes if Warpriest pass that is coming makes it worth spending points in that tree as oppossed to paladin trees. But I'm still running the same class split as of right now.

Also, I have left the old video in the original post but did point out beside it that some of it is outdated. I hope to do an updated build video on my youtube channel at some point. Especially since people seem to really like it. 20,000+ views on youtube as of today which is pretty nuts for a DDO video.

Hey Axel,
Thanks for the ongoing update info and testing.
Finally got myself to level 20 and I am still loving this Class and build, which is surprising considering I most always play ranged characters in all MMO’s that I play.
I was going to ask for a more detailed enhancement listing ie- enhancement per level, but as these may change as you do further testing, be a waste of time. Maybe consider after your testing, mainly for newer players than myself.
Leads me to my question, any chance you can highlight where you allocate your Epic Destiny points, for the main 3 that you mention in your guide (Dreadnought, Crusader, Uny. Sentinel)?
Maybe even just screenshots of your completed ED trees.
I’ve started with Uny. Sentinel, will work on this group until I can access Dreadnought.
My plan was to Etr at 30, then Tr at 20 back to 1, but with the changes to your guide, I am considering a Tr to a PDK as I want the most out of my toon and effort.
Could you or anyone else reading this please explain the steps needed to make this happen, to ensure I have my info right.
I wont add or ask anything else for now as I know how busy you might be juggling work, family, gaming and guiding.
Again thankyou for putting in the effort in your guides and your tube channel, very helpful for us new players and some vets Im sure!

Rak - Dave

[axel15810]

Hey Axel,
Thanks for the ongoing update info and testing.
Finally got myself to level 20 and I am still loving this Class and build, which is surprising considering I most always play ranged characters in all MMO’s that I play.
I was going to ask for a more detailed enhancement listing ie- enhancement per level, but as these may change as you do further testing, be a waste of time. Maybe consider after your testing, mainly for newer players than myself.
Leads me to my question, any chance you can highlight where you allocate your Epic Destiny points, for the main 3 that you mention in your guide (Dreadnought, Crusader, Uny. Sentinel)?
Maybe even just screenshots of your completed ED trees.
I’ve started with Uny. Sentinel, will work on this group until I can access Dreadnought.
My plan was to Etr at 30, then Tr at 20 back to 1, but with the changes to your guide, I am considering a Tr to a PDK as I want the most out of my toon and effort.
Could you or anyone else reading this please explain the steps needed to make this happen, to ensure I have my info right.
I wont add or ask anything else for now as I know how busy you might be juggling work, family, gaming and guiding.
Again thankyou for putting in the effort in your guides and your tube channel, very helpful for us new players and some vets Im sure!

Rak - Dave

I'll add more detail on the EDs in the original post.

There's a bunch of guides out there are reincarnation if you have questions with that, I'm not sure what specifically you're asking. The DDO wiki article has a lot of good info on it.

Glad you enjoyed the build/youtube videos.

[Whitering]

I can just say that this build is powerful enough to farm off brand destinies relatively easily, not as easily as Warlock, but not bad at all. Nevertheless, I had tremendous fun running Unyielding Sentinel, Exalted Angel (the last core form bonus is epic powerful for you), Divine Crusader and Legendary Dreadnought.

Having said that, normally I did play in US, because I run a lot of Wiz King, and Light the Dark nukes...big time, all the undead that follow you to switches and the like. The Stances are also nice and can push your HP to super heights at T5.

I loved this build so much I farmed 3 divine Epic past lives with my main, and it felt very quick, still the fastest Wiz King runner for me running optionals because nothing can really hurt you (aura) and you just Light the Dark at every switch and run on.

[simo0208]

I'm wondering what the point of the dex over wisdom is. I get that you don't need the wisdom, but the dex gives you only a slightly better than bad reflex save and a slightly better than bad AC boost, where as wisdom will give you a slightly better than good will save and more spell points for when you actually use them (still no chance in dc casting obviously). Is there something I'm missing here?

Thanks!

And I like the idea. I'm going to give it a whirl for my last pdk life coming up.

[Rakstelon]

I'll add more detail on the EDs in the original post.

There's a bunch of guides out there are reincarnation if you have questions with that, I'm not sure what specifically you're asking. The DDO wiki article has a lot of good info on it.

Glad you enjoyed the build/youtube videos.

Thanks for the responses guys, after re reading my post, it is abit vague on what I was asking, apologies, was am in the morning.
I was basically asking for confirmation on the best reincarnation sequence to get me from a current Human cleric to a PDK "1st past life class".
Wiki has been a huge help, basically have it up on my 2nd screen whenever the game is up, makes for easy/quick access on the go:)
As a 1st lifer, and new to the game, I'm just trying to replicate your build as I go, Until I have a very good understanding of all the ins and outs of this class. Then maybe I can start putting a little spin on it and make it mine.

Appreciate the help, as always

Rak

[simo0208]

Thanks for the responses guys, after re reading my post, it is abit vague on what I was asking, apologies, was am in the morning.
I was basically asking for confirmation on the best reincarnation sequence to get me from a current Human cleric to a PDK "1st past life class".
Wiki has been a huge help, basically have it up on my 2nd screen whenever the game is up, makes for easy/quick access on the go:)
As a 1st lifer, and new to the game, I'm just trying to replicate your build as I go, Until I have a very good understanding of all the ins and outs of this class. Then maybe I can start putting a little spin on it and make it mine.

Appreciate the help, as always

Rak

Because this build is not DC dependent (using its spell points for helaing and buffs and not crowd control), the build is very past life friendly. A few things to consider having:

Purple dragon knight iconic race. Kind of a big deal but human can work.
Cleric past lives for extra turn undeads (meaning more healing bursts)
Monk past lives give +1 damage
Paladin past lives give healing amp
Fighter past lives give +1 to hit
Some racial past lives (x3) to consider. Human/aasimar (+1 wisdom each, and +1 heal skill). Warforged/dwarf (+1 con each). 1/2 orc (+1 str). Dragonborn/drow (+1 cha each for more turns). That would get you 7 additional racial enhancement points as well.

Gear to grind:
If doing TR heroics, grind a set or two of slavers. I run all 10 items possible from levl 8-20.

If at level cap, slavers is also good for legendary because it allows for flexible placement of necessary things. It’s a long grind though. You can get similar stuff with ravenloft but not nearly as flexible. Cannith crafted stuff is a good alternative if you have a high level caster.

All of these things are things to consider but they are probably not necessary.

[axel15810]

I'm wondering what the point of the dex over wisdom is. I get that you don't need the wisdom, but the dex gives you only a slightly better than bad reflex save and a slightly better than bad AC boost, where as wisdom will give you a slightly better than good will save and more spell points for when you actually use them (still no chance in dc casting obviously). Is there something I'm missing here?

Thanks!

And I like the idea. I'm going to give it a whirl for my last pdk life coming up.

Reflex saves I find more useful than will saves. A lot of stuff from enemy casters gets thrown at you that requires reflex saves, not to mention traps. Saves overall aren't that bad because this build also has divine grace. Spell points just aren't a big deal at all for this build, you have plenty of turns to heal yourself and the party with and it isn't an offensive casting build so it's primarily just for backup healing and buffs. So investing in wisdom for an extra handful of SP isn't important.

[Oilfan73]

I've created a Let's Play series which I'm using your build. I'm not using your recent PDK version, but rather your recent Human version. I hope I give your build justice as I'm looking forward to playing it.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6LfedriOB5VASps054CgBS37ehGLz9wH

[Rakstelon]

Thanks once again guys, the info Simo put up was very helpful for my upcoming reincarnations, I like to plan and know where I'm headed.
Did my first lot of reaper runs today, had a blast. Even in my mish mash of levelling gear, I seem to be able to keep up quite well, just those odd cases of spike damage can catch me off guard, but it's early days. I haven't healed in an MMO for quite some time, mostly tanked the last few years so it is a nice change up!
Thinkng I might sit at 30 for a little while and get my gear sorted, work on my Epic Destinies and do some raiding before I reincarnate, will give me a better understanding of what is needed next time round.

Well keep up the good work and informative post.

[simo0208]

I've made it to level 18 with the PDK build. So far, on elite, the build is extremely effective, but there is a sharp drop off once reaper hits and skulls go up. This is for obvious reasons (healing debuff and lack of melee builds at higher skulls). Still, I'm having a lot of fun with the build.

[simo0208]

I'm into level 24 now with the build and I've been more impressed than not. When geared, damage is quite good, healing ticks are quite good. Not first tier damage for sure, but definitely second. I lead in kill count on most pug groups. The build is definitely survivable. My analysis will end here at 24 because I have a whole lot of gear deficiencies going forward so my potential to be top end will diminish as I level up.

I am definitely putting this build into my rotation.

[simo0208]

Acel, has there been any update to this build? Moved on?

[axel15810]

Acel, has there been any update to this build? Moved on?

Yes, what I'm running now has changed a lot. I need to update this.

[C-Dog]

Altho' room for improvement, the current is still strong, even if not "optimal".

(You might want to copy/paste the original/current for posterity/historical purposes.)

[axel15810]

Altho' room for improvement, the current is still strong, even if not "optimal".

(You might want to copy/paste the original/current for posterity/historical purposes.)

If I can I will, though there's a forum limit on post length so not sure if I can fit all in the original post.

[Vish]

Yes, what I'm running now has changed a lot. I need to update this.

You could start a new post, if it's radically different
Or just tack it to the end, and say like u41 build
That's what I've done with my monk,
It's a thread on how the builds changed over the few years
Kinda like a running commentary

Just retire the old thread and link it to the new one, and a caveat for link in the original op

[axel15810]

Original post has been completely updated with a new version of the build and a new write up. I'm very open to critique so let me know if there's any suggestions on tweaks. I decided not to create a new thread but at the end of the original post there is a link to the old version of the build and old write up so that anyone who wants to access it still can.

Also, I'll probably add a video to the original post at some point.

[simo0208]

Thanks for the update Axel!

So a few notes.

First, my version of this build very close mirrors yours. I also went 20 cleric (for all the reasons you stated). I went human, mostly because I don't want to LR. Super annoying. I like the idea of Aasimar for clerics, but the extra feat with human and the ability to stay pure won out - not that the capstone for radiant servant is crazy good, but it's something.

I put a few points into warpriest still, but just to get to the PRR and hp (and inflame is quite nice).

I agree that it goes WIS --> CON --> CHA now. And falconry is pretty good.

Where we definitely differed:

I went single weapon fighting style. This allowed me to use an orb for some better DCs at cap and no investment into strength. I'm sure it loses a little bit of damage (and no more glancing blow damage), but my viewpoint on cleric is slightly different. DC Cast > Heal = Melee. So I try to emphasize that first and foremost while still having enough melee to solo well. We'll see how it goes (I've only theory crafted mine so far as it's coming up on the docket).

Also my plan is to go longsword when knight's training releases (that's when this will come off the docket).

[axel15810]

Thanks for the update Axel!

So a few notes.

First, my version of this build very close mirrors yours. I also went 20 cleric (for all the reasons you stated). I went human, mostly because I don't want to LR. Super annoying. I like the idea of Aasimar for clerics, but the extra feat with human and the ability to stay pure won out - not that the capstone for radiant servant is crazy good, but it's something.

I put a few points into warpriest still, but just to get to the PRR and hp (and inflame is quite nice).

I agree that it goes WIS --> CON --> CHA now. And falconry is pretty good.

Where we definitely differed:

I went single weapon fighting style. This allowed me to use an orb for some better DCs at cap and no investment into strength. I'm sure it loses a little bit of damage (and no more glancing blow damage), but my viewpoint on cleric is slightly different. DC Cast > Heal = Melee. So I try to emphasize that first and foremost while still having enough melee to solo well. We'll see how it goes (I've only theory crafted mine so far as it's coming up on the docket).

Also my plan is to go longsword when knight's training releases (that's when this will come off the docket).

Thanks for the feedback. SWF is better now than it was for sure because of the Knight's Training feat. Still, to me it seems not as optimal for what I build for even with that new feat since going human and SWF means you miss out on Silvanus (+2 crit range to Mauls). And Knight's Training iirc also costs a feat, whereas Silvanus essentially does not since it's a diety slot feat. So Silvanus + Mauls seems more efficient than LS + Knight's Training though as you pointed out it has a upside of not having to LR out a level and getting a free offhand for orbs. But yeah, to each his own. I personally like to build mine with as much melee DPS as possible so I always go all out on melee DPS as much as I can without gimping my healing too much to the point where I feel can't be a party/raid healer. Offensive casting/DCs is just a bonus for me, not gonna work in Reaper regardless. The main reason I even have Mass Frog in the first place is to kill scarecrows in Baba's Hut. Otherwise I'd maybe swap it.

[axel15810]

Video added to original post.

[Whitering]

Axel, can you use Light in the Dark with the healing hands from Scourge?

Those are serious nukes and AOE heals in the 5k+ range.

[axel15810]

Axel, can you use Light in the Dark with the healing hands from Scourge?

Those are serious nukes and AOE heals in the 5k+ range.

Light in the Dark? What are you referring to exactly? Maybe my brain isn't working at the moment but not finding that in the wiki either.

[psykopeta]

Light in the Dark? What are you referring to exactly? Maybe my brain isn't working at the moment but not finding that in the wiki either.

I would say it's the US thingy, also would say it uses only pally LoH

[axel15810]

I would say it's the US thingy, also would say it uses only pally LoH

Ahhhh ok. Gotcha.

I'd assume from the description LoH charges and healing hands charges are separate and can't be used for each other but I haven't tested it myself so I can't confirm.

[Velan]

Axel - forgive a newb, but what is the strength needed (by both base score and tomes) that one needs for the feat? I'm a returning player to the game, but I never got that high.

[axel15810]

Axel - forgive a newb, but what is the strength needed (by both base score and tomes) that one needs for the feat? I'm a returning player to the game, but I never got that high.

It's listed in the original post under the Feat Selection by Level section.

[Velan]

It's listed in the original post under the Feat Selection by Level section.

Thanks. I notice in your original post, although you leave the door open for human, you pretty blatantly say that even human is sub part to the Iconics you listed. Is tht still your feeling, that humans need not apply, only that the Iconics should be used?

[axel15810]

Thanks. I notice in your original post, although you leave the door open for human, you pretty blatantly say that even human is sub part to the Iconics you listed. Is tht still your feeling, that humans need not apply, only that the Iconics should be used?

Human works fine, it won't destroy the build or anything, it's just going to be worse than PDK because you can't access Silvanus. But it's essentially the same in all other areas. The only other notable differences between the races is the forced first level and slight differences in their enhancement trees.

[Velan]

Human works fine, it won't destroy the build or anything, it's just going to be worse than PDK because you can't access Silvanus. But it's essentially the same in all other areas. The only other notable differences between the races is the forced first level and slight differences in their enhancement trees.

Okay!

[Montegue]

What about Bladeforged?

It strikes me they get Greatsword as a favored weapon.

Axle, do you feel as if there's *no* viable Warpriest build? Recognizing that Falconry is superior, and acknowledging your argument in this regard, I keep trying to build a Warhammer and Shield build. Is it just a waste of time? I had decent success (in my own mind) with Warpriest + Falconry (warpriest for various things like PRR, Increased to hit and damage with warhammers, the healing strike, and the Tier 5 ability, and then the AOE falconry strike and one other), but I don't know if I was just being carried.

My goal was to play this life as a weapon and shield melee cleric, but I'm worried it's just super gimpy.

Thanks.

[axel15810]

What about Bladeforged?

It strikes me they get Greatsword as a favored weapon.

Axle, do you feel as if there's *no* viable Warpriest build? Recognizing that Falconry is superior, and acknowledging your argument in this regard, I keep trying to build a Warhammer and Shield build. Is it just a waste of time? I had decent success (in my own mind) with Warpriest + Falconry (warpriest for various things like PRR, Increased to hit and damage with warhammers, the healing strike, and the Tier 5 ability, and then the AOE falconry strike and one other), but I don't know if I was just being carried.

My goal was to play this life as a weapon and shield melee cleric, but I'm worried it's just super gimpy.

Thanks.

Warpriest is definitely viable, just not optimal because it's IMO strictly worse than Falconry in pretty much every area that matters. So there's really no reason to use it over Falconry. But everyone doesn't have to min/max. If you're having fun with your build, don't worry about it. Falconry is a really good tree so I doubt you're overly gimp anyways.

But in terms of min/maxing, if you're using both Warpriest and Falconry I'm assuming you're giving up Radiant Servant so I'd also assume the character isn't a primary party/raid healer. So in that case you'd IMO be better off playing a different class with better DPS trees. The only thing clerics are better at than all other classes is healing. So if you aren't building your cleric to be a primary healer there really isn't much point to playing cleric over a better DPS class.

If you want a sword and board type that does a bit of secondary healing, building a paladin vanguard is probably going to fit the archetype you're looking to play much better.

[Montegue]

Warpriest is definitely viable, just not optimal because it's IMO strictly worse than Falconry in pretty much every area that matters. So there's really no reason to use it over Falconry. But everyone doesn't have to min/max. If you're having fun with your build, don't worry about it. Falconry is a really good tree so I doubt you're overly gimp anyways.

But in terms of min/maxing, if you're using both Warpriest and Falconry I'm assuming you're giving up Radiant Servant so I'd also assume the character isn't a primary party/raid healer. So in that case you'd IMO be better off playing a different class with better DPS trees. The only thing clerics are better at than all other classes is healing. So if you aren't building your cleric to be a primary healer there really isn't much point to playing cleric over a better DPS class.

If you want a sword and board type that does a bit of secondary healing, building a paladin vanguard is probably going to fit the archetype you're looking to play much better.

Had a feeling that was the answer. I watched myself struggle to do much of anything to trash mobs on R1 today (in part because I'm still rocking a Level 10 Ravenloft warhammer), and realized just how little I've actually been contributing in terms of melee DPS so far. I'm going to try to flip to your build for a while and commit to thf and see if that gives me what I need (though, I don't have access to Sylvanus on this toon yet, so I'll be a little gimped in that regard).

Thanks!

[dbik]

Axel,

I've been using several variations of this build and most most recent one is a T5 Radiant Servant, Tier 4 warpriest and Tier 4 Falconry. War domain, Human, at the moment. I'm using 14/4/2 cleric/fighter/monk. AC bonus is very nice. Using Aeron and quarterstaves....

However, I think I'd like to make a STR based half orc, same domain, but possibly 15/3/2 cleric barb fighter in order to get Supreme Cleave. I like that there is so much synergy in the trees of monk and even rogue, though.

If I wanted to be a tier 5 Radiant servant along with H-Orc, what would be the best class split for me do you think?

I REALLY like the idea of a H-Orc cleric and whatever else to boost his damage. would Barb or monk/rouge be better if using those trees?

Monk is extra feats and I get Master of Forms for an additional str bonus and +1 multiplier....

I'm so confused! ahhhhhh

any clues man? I guess I'm looking for a build based on at least tier 5 radiant servant and 14 cleric. Qstaves are alluring due to warpriest tree, but I could always dump that if rogue or monk or barbarian gave me an edge for damage.

[axel15810]

Axel,

I've been using several variations of this build and most most recent one is a T5 Radiant Servant, Tier 4 warpriest and Tier 4 Falconry. War domain, Human, at the moment. I'm using 14/4/2 cleric/fighter/monk. AC bonus is very nice. Using Aeron and quarterstaves....

However, I think I'd like to make a STR based half orc, same domain, but possibly 15/3/2 cleric barb fighter in order to get Supreme Cleave. I like that there is so much synergy in the trees of monk and even rogue, though.

If I wanted to be a tier 5 Radiant servant along with H-Orc, what would be the best class split for me do you think?

I REALLY like the idea of a H-Orc cleric and whatever else to boost his damage. would Barb or monk/rouge be better if using those trees?

Monk is extra feats and I get Master of Forms for an additional str bonus and +1 multiplier....

I'm so confused! ahhhhhh

any clues man? I guess I'm looking for a build based on at least tier 5 radiant servant and 14 cleric. Qstaves are alluring due to warpriest tree, but I could always dump that if rogue or monk or barbarian gave me an edge for damage.

Half-Orc is my favorite race, I've ran Horc clerics before. They're fun.

If I were to run one now and try and make use of the racial tree I'd definitely do a destruction domain Horc Cleric-Barbarian. Using mix of Horc Tree/Barb Tree/Radiant Servant. It'd be tons of fun. Not sure on class split, I'd have to look into it more and figure out what I'd wanted to take as far as the barb trees go. But atleast 4 or 5 levels barb.

[Coffey]

Had a feeling that was the answer. I watched myself struggle to do much of anything to trash mobs on R1 today (in part because I'm still rocking a Level 10 Ravenloft warhammer), and realized just how little I've actually been contributing in terms of melee DPS so far. I'm going to try to flip to your build for a while and commit to thf and see if that gives me what I need (though, I don't have access to Sylvanus on this toon yet, so I'll be a little gimped in that regard).

Thanks!

A Falchion could be a very good replacement for a Maul. This way you could still follow Axels build guide with just a few changes.

[magaiti]

Axel,

I've been using several variations of this build and most most recent one is a T5 Radiant Servant, Tier 4 warpriest and Tier 4 Falconry. War domain, Human, at the moment. I'm using 14/4/2 cleric/fighter/monk. AC bonus is very nice. Using Aeron and quarterstaves....

any clues man? I guess I'm looking for a build based on at least tier 5 radiant servant and 14 cleric. Qstaves are alluring due to warpriest tree, but I could always dump that if rogue or monk or barbarian gave me an edge for damage.

I'd go with 32 Radiant / 23 Warpriest / 25 Falconry
Don't be fooled by Righteous Weapons line, it's a trap, especially if you don't take t5 in Warpriest.
A good base damage / crit profile weapon such as Tail of the Scorpion, Tremor or Torn will end up doing much more DPS than a quarterstaff with +3 to hit/damage.
Onatar is best if using off-deity weapon. Onatar's Forge Gives you a clicky with 10 melee power, +3 tactical DCs (and +30 repair amplification if you are warforged)

[Anashan]

After reviewing the experts stuff available on Cleric/Falconry, and through my own experiences having primarily been devoted to Cleric Warpriest-ish toons, I came up with my own hybrid tree selections. However I am going to try Axel's version pretty much as detailed at the start of this thread {He would take all points in Warpriest and move them to Falconry\Radiant Servant}. The selections are a hybrid 3 tree attempt at reaching the goal stated at the beginning of the thread:

Goal - Melee Cleric with as much DPS as possible while still meeting minimum standards of being a main party healer in Reaper and in Raids. Using Falconry with WIS to hit/damage with a focus on Two Handed Fighting utilizing Silvanus with Mauls. This build is able to both contribute solid melee DPS/Crowd Control and heal the party.

I have a few different situational facts tho about my toon. My character has 9 past lives (actually soon will) - three past lives in Human, three Cleric, three Paladin, plus a +2 racial tree tome {for 3 "free" Racial Action Points counting one from 3 past Human lives} and a "free" universal AP for Falconry for a total of 84. Also, I have +8 to all stats from tomes and +5 to nearly all skills, and for this posts purposes, all skills that matter to this discussion. I offer here simply the enhancement tree I came up with attempting to capture the"best" of three trees, four if you count the three free points in Racial...Radiant Servant, Warpriest and Falconry. Finally I am not going into the variables around race\feat\gearing\skills selections as these would make the post very long and has been covered well and I generally agree with Axels take on them. For example my image below shows human but it should be PDK.

I am looking for simpler advice - I am interested very much in feed back on the tree selection in light of Axels stated goal, which I am aiming at.

I have attached an image of the tress. The keys to the trees, IMO, are in the red circles, all other stuff is filler in my mind...some better then others, some crappy.

Keys to trees:

Racial tree & Universal Ability Point: The 3 "free" Racial - gets me 20% healing amp {plus the 30% from 3 past lives Paladin} plus 1 free Universal used in Falconry

Radiant Servant: Only one key really...the healing Aura at the top. Tried it last life, it is over-powered IMO, very nice at worst. Secondarily, not circled, is the regeneration of Turns called Endless Turns - and with 3 past lives in Cleric I have a decent amount of turns to start with so it feels like one point in each "turn" ability is enough.

A secondary note on Divine Healing in the Radiant Servant tree (not circled). Axel did not choose it in his 2 tree build but I have found that if I can get the group to sit still for a bit before we pull I can Divine Heal the 2-4 members that are likely to need it. It provides a long duration (over 2 minutes) heal over time that adds up to a lot over a minute or two of constant healing every 2 seconds. Combined with the Positive Energy Aura from the top of the Radiant Servant and the previously discussed Smite Foe AOE healing coming in often from the Warpriest tree, that is a lot of AOE and heal over time ticks going out.
Also, with Divine Healing, I can sneak it in during the fight especially on those that do have some sustainability of their own and this little boost of healing they get is many times all they need during the fight given the Aura and AOE healing going out as well. This combo of Healing Aura\Smite Foe AOE heal\Pre fight Selective Diving Healing supports the goal of doing credible DPS as the less time I have to spend pushing heal buttons during a fight the more DPS\CC I can do.

Warpriest: Two keys, maybe three. Ameliorating strike top left applies a good AOE Heal and Lesser Restoration on each use which has a fairly short cooldown, plus the other stuff that comes with the Smite Foe chain, as I think of it, including the chance at knockdown when casters attack me with spells. and a party wide damage increase as an escalating % to my Smite Foe target, especially over time if target is a boss or high HP critter. Also, the Inflame\Greater Inflame which I believe is a serious AOE buff for offense and defense applied to all around in a LARGE circle for AC, Attack, Damage, Saving Throws and Damage Absorption plus the Melee Power Action Boost.

Falconry: Two circles. The little one is what converts Wisdom to Hit and Damage so you can Wisdom stack V Strength. This allows melee damage with high spell points and other good stuff from very high Wisdom. The bigger circle is a ton of stuff your bird does.

Falconry Summary...Over the course of a few turns\attacks by the bird, some are passive some are activated, but in about 14 -16 seconds if you used them back to back (sneaking in other stuff between the Avian enforced global cooldown)...It does; Some decent DAMAGE , TRIPS your opponent causing them to be HELPLESS {increasing your melee damage}, SLOWED by 30%, BLINDING your opponent causing them to be HELPLESS {increasing your melee damage}, Applies a decent BLEED if on a boss or high HP critter doing damage every 2 sec for 60 sec, Every attack has a chance to add a charge to "Deadly Instincts" which increases the chances for TACTICAL FEATS to go off, Deal 30% MORE DAMAGE TO HELPLESS opponents virtually full time GUARANTEED (this is very good), Activates an AOE CLEAVE and attempts to BLIND your opponent again {Helpless chance again}, and finally, REDUCES THE FORTIFICATION BY 50% of your opponent....this is huge on its own.


That's a lot ^^^^^ - It produces a medium damage, medium tanky, defensive and offensive buff\heal bot, many of which are party-wide\AOE buffs\heals\target debuffs, with a bird that causes havoc. The toon is not easy to kill, not that easy to kill his friends either with that strong healing AOE aura, if backed by proper choices to boost it, plus the AOE heal from Ameliorating Strike coming in often from the Warpriest tree.

Split

19 Cleric\1 Fighter - I like the extra feat(s) and the Cleric capstone\final core in Radiant Servant is mediocre and perhaps not needed IMO. Also of note, as Axel said at the start you Wis\Con stack and the Char\Str split at the start is somewhat tome dependent. Having a +8 Str tome allows me to Char stack a bit as well gaining UMD and Turns both of which come in handy.

Feedback welcome and appreciated about the 3 trees, as to go into 3 trees, inevitable compromises had to be made, such as not taking all three of something for example, or skipping enhancements that can be had in other ways through items\enchantments\augments or consumables (Blur, Haste). Finally, any separate but related comments on whether this achieves Axels 2 tree stated goal better\worse\about the same and why.

Goal: Melee Cleric with as much DPS as possible while still meeting minimum standards of being a main party healer in Reaper and in Raids. Using Falconry with WIS to hit/damage with a focus on Two Handed Fighting utilizing Silvanus with Mauls. This build is able to both contribute solid melee DPS/Crowd Control and heal the party."

https://i.imgur.com/fufHIOT.png

[Akenah]

After reviewing the experts stuff available on Cleric/Falconry, and through my own experiences having primarily been devoted to Cleric Warpriest-ish toons, I came up with my own hybrid tree selections. However I am going to try Axel's version pretty much as detailed at the start of this thread {He would take all points in Warpriest and move them to Falconry\Radiant Servant}. The selections are a hybrid 3 tree attempt at reaching the goal stated at the beginning of the thread:

Goal - Melee Cleric with as much DPS as possible while still meeting minimum standards of being a main party healer in Reaper and in Raids. Using Falconry with WIS to hit/damage with a focus on Two Handed Fighting utilizing Silvanus with Mauls. This build is able to both contribute solid melee DPS/Crowd Control and heal the party.

I have a few different situational facts tho about my toon. My character has 9 past lives (actually soon will) - three past lives in Human, three Cleric, three Paladin, plus a +2 racial tree tome {for 3 "free" Racial Action Points counting one from 3 past Human lives} and a "free" universal AP for Falconry for a total of 84. Also, I have +8 to all stats from tomes and +5 to nearly all skills, and for this posts purposes, all skills that matter to this discussion. I offer here simply the enhancement tree I came up with attempting to capture the"best" of three trees, four if you count the three free points in Racial...Radiant Servant, Warpriest and Falconry. Finally I am not going into the variables around race\feat\gearing\skills selections as these would make the post very long and has been covered well and I generally agree with Axels take on them. For example my image below shows human but it should be PDK.

I am looking for simpler advice - I am interested very much in feed back on the tree selection in light of Axels stated goal, which I am aiming at.

I have attached an image of the tress. The keys to the trees, IMO, are in the red circles, all other stuff is filler in my mind...some better then others, some crappy.

Keys to trees:

Racial tree & Universal Ability Point: The 3 "free" Racial - gets me 20% healing amp {plus the 30% from 3 past lives Paladin} plus 1 free Universal used in Falconry

Radiant Servant: Only one key really...the healing Aura at the top. Tried it last life, it is over-powered IMO, very nice at worst. Secondarily, not circled, is the regeneration of Turns called Endless Turns - and with 3 past lives in Cleric I have a decent amount of turns to start with so it feels like one point in each "turn" ability is enough.

A secondary note on Divine Healing in the Radiant Servant tree (not circled). Axel did not choose it in his 2 tree build but I have found that if I can get the group to sit still for a bit before we pull I can Divine Heal the 2-4 members that are likely to need it. It provides a long duration (over 2 minutes) heal over time that adds up to a lot over a minute or two of constant healing every 2 seconds. Combined with the Positive Energy Aura from the top of the Radiant Servant and the previously discussed Smite Foe AOE healing coming in often from the Warpriest tree, that is a lot of AOE and heal over time ticks going out.
Also, with Divine Healing, I can sneak it in during the fight especially on those that do have some sustainability of their own and this little boost of healing they get is many times all they need during the fight given the Aura and AOE healing going out as well. This combo of Healing Aura\Smite Foe AOE heal\Pre fight Selective Diving Healing supports the goal of doing credible DPS as the less time I have to spend pushing heal buttons during a fight the more DPS\CC I can do.

Warpriest: Two keys, maybe three. Ameliorating strike top left applies a good AOE Heal and Lesser Restoration on each use which has a fairly short cooldown, plus the other stuff that comes with the Smite Foe chain, as I think of it, including the chance at knockdown when casters attack me with spells. and a party wide damage increase as an escalating % to my Smite Foe target, especially over time if target is a boss or high HP critter. Also, the Inflame\Greater Inflame which I believe is a serious AOE buff for offense and defense applied to all around in a LARGE circle for AC, Attack, Damage, Saving Throws and Damage Absorption plus the Melee Power Action Boost.

Falconry: Two circles. The little one is what converts Wisdom to Hit and Damage so you can Wisdom stack V Strength. This allows melee damage with high spell points and other good stuff from very high Wisdom. The bigger circle is a ton of stuff your bird does.

Falconry Summary...Over the course of a few turns\attacks by the bird, some are passive some are activated, but in about 14 -16 seconds if you used them back to back (sneaking in other stuff between the Avian enforced global cooldown)...It does; Some decent DAMAGE , TRIPS your opponent causing them to be HELPLESS {increasing your melee damage}, SLOWED by 30%, BLINDING your opponent causing them to be HELPLESS {increasing your melee damage}, Applies a decent BLEED if on a boss or high HP critter doing damage every 2 sec for 60 sec, Every attack has a chance to add a charge to "Deadly Instincts" which increases the chances for TACTICAL FEATS to go off, Deal 30% MORE DAMAGE TO HELPLESS opponents virtually full time GUARANTEED (this is very good), Activates an AOE CLEAVE and attempts to BLIND your opponent again {Helpless chance again}, and finally, REDUCES THE FORTIFICATION BY 50% of your opponent....this is huge on its own.


That's a lot ^^^^^ - It produces a medium damage, medium tanky, defensive and offensive buff\heal bot, many of which are party-wide\AOE buffs\heals\target debuffs, with a bird that causes havoc. The toon is not easy to kill, not that easy to kill his friends either with that strong healing AOE aura, if backed by proper choices to boost it, plus the AOE heal from Ameliorating Strike coming in often from the Warpriest tree.

Split

19 Cleric\1 Fighter - I like the extra feat(s) and the Cleric capstone\final core in Radiant Servant is mediocre and perhaps not needed IMO. Also of note, as Axel said at the start you Wis\Con stack and the Char\Str split at the start is somewhat tome dependent. Having a +8 Str tome allows me to Char stack a bit as well gaining UMD and Turns both of which come in handy.

Feedback welcome and appreciated about the 3 trees, as to go into 3 trees, inevitable compromises had to be made, such as not taking all three of something for example, or skipping enhancements that can be had in other ways through items\enchantments\augments or consumables (Blur, Haste). Finally, any separate but related comments on whether this achieves Axels 2 tree stated goal better\worse\about the same and why.

Goal: Melee Cleric with as much DPS as possible while still meeting minimum standards of being a main party healer in Reaper and in Raids. Using Falconry with WIS to hit/damage with a focus on Two Handed Fighting utilizing Silvanus with Mauls. This build is able to both contribute solid melee DPS/Crowd Control and heal the party."

https://i.imgur.com/fufHIOT.png




Can you make this build more friendly for beginners??

[Anashan]

Can you make this build more friendly for beginners??

I tried to. Always have a goal and always remember it. The goal was,as Axel stated it, and with which I agree is: Goal - Melee Cleric with as much DPS as possible while still meeting minimum standards of being a main party healer in Reaper and in Raids. Using Falconry with WIS to hit/damage with a focus on Two Handed Fighting utilizing Silvanus with Mauls. This build is able to both contribute solid melee DPS/Crowd Control and heal the party.

Assumptions within the goal really are related to the fact that the only thing that makes Cleric melee special, something others do not have, is healing. If you go too deep into damage enhancements, feats, gearing...you just end up a mediocre dps with nerfed healing, in fact, not enough healing to matter. So you create a gimped semi-worthless melee. The kit we have been given however does not force us to go "all-in" as it were in healing to be of use in keeping people alive, so it is possible to be of legit healing usefulness, while being at least a mediocre dps with some cc. The post I made accepted as given the assumptions from Axel's take on Cleric melee (wisdom based - falconry\radiant servant and so on) and with regards to everything else (feats, races, divinity, domains and so on), with the exception of enhancements. My post was an attempt to salvage the best of three tress V two capturing the essence, and I believe the core benefits, of each all while keeping the stated goal in mind.

Why three trees?

I had another thought going with this enhancement tree strat...that was that I did not want to have to stop doing dps anymore then I had to. The aura, the smite foe heal, the pre-fight casts of divine healing (cast once\heals for two minutes +) are all designed to minimize the number of times you are pushing heal buttons once the fight starts, leaving more time for dps\cc button pushing, while still doing enough healing to matter. To do that, I needed to go into the Warpriest tree, thus, the three tree combo.

So in a perfect world this is fairly simple. You divine heal your friends before combat (I have a macro), go in start pushing dps\cc\buff\debuff buttons, any button really just press the ones off of cooldown in kind of a selective face roll, with smite foe mashed every 12 seconds, counting on the aura, the divine healing ticks and smite foe to do real work keeping your friends alive all while not actually doing any healing, button pushing wise. Also, some of the buttons I push offer much with one click, meaning, the button I pushed did some combo of dps\healing\buffing\debuffing\cc. This is particularly true of smite foe and greater inflame in the warpriest tree. Again, thus the three tree build. Smite Foe does damage,applies a stacking debuff to the bad guy increasing everyone's dps, heals me and my friends (AOE) and casts an AOE lesser restoration every 12 seconds with one button push. Greater Inflame applies, to all around in a LARGE circle, bonuses to AC, Attack, Damage, Saving Throws and Damage Absorption. Again one button. Also some of the pet buttons from Falconry do some combo of dps\heal\buff\debuff\cc in one click as well...nice.

Obviously, if you are the only healer and your friends are pathetically unable to self heal at all, or they have negligently decided the best stat in DDO - healing amp - was not worth stacking, or they do not understand the concept of an AOE heal\aura and insist on running away or standing a million miles away, or the fight just plain turns ugly...you will need to throw some actual heal spells at peeps. Fine. This enhancement build was designed to minimize the healing spell casts needed while attaining the goal...Goal - Melee Cleric with as much DPS as possible while still meeting minimum standards of being a main party healer in Reaper and in Raids. Using Falconry with WIS to hit/damage with a focus on Two Handed Fighting utilizing Silvanus with Mauls. This build is able to both contribute solid melee DPS/Crowd Control and heal the party.

[Akenah]

I tried to. Always have a goal and always remember it. The goal was,as Axel stated it, and with which I agree is: Goal - Melee Cleric with as much DPS as possible while still meeting minimum standards of being a main party healer in Reaper and in Raids. Using Falconry with WIS to hit/damage with a focus on Two Handed Fighting utilizing Silvanus with Mauls. This build is able to both contribute solid melee DPS/Crowd Control and heal the party.

Assumptions within the goal really are related to the fact that the only thing that makes Cleric melee special, something others do not have, is healing. If you go too deep into damage enhancements, feats, gearing...you just end up a mediocre dps with nerfed healing, in fact, not enough healing to matter. So you create a gimped semi-worthless melee. The kit we have been given however does not force us to go "all-in" as it were in healing to be of use in keeping people alive, so it is possible to be of legit healing usefulness, while being at least a mediocre dps with some cc. The post I made accepted as given the assumptions from Axel's take on Cleric melee (wisdom based - falconry\radiant servant and so on) and with regards to everything else (feats, races, divinity, domains and so on), with the exception of enhancements. My post was an attempt to salvage the best of three tress V two capturing the essence, and I believe the core benefits, of each all while keeping the stated goal in mind.

Why three trees?

I had another thought going with this enhancement tree strat...that was that I did not want to have to stop doing dps anymore then I had to. The aura, the smite foe heal, the pre-fight casts of divine healing (cast once\heals for two minutes +) are all designed to minimize the number of times you are pushing heal buttons once the fight starts, leaving more time for dps\cc button pushing, while still doing enough healing to matter. To do that, I needed to go into the Warpriest tree, thus, the three tree combo.

So in a perfect world this is fairly simple. You divine heal your friends before combat (I have a macro), go in start pushing dps\cc\buff\debuff buttons, any button really just press the ones off of cooldown in kind of a selective face roll, with smite foe mashed every 12 seconds, counting on the aura, the divine healing ticks and smite foe to do real work keeping your friends alive all while not actually doing any healing, button pushing wise. Also, some of the buttons I push offer much with one click, meaning, the button I pushed did some combo of dps\healing\buffing\debuffing\cc. This is particularly true of smite foe and greater inflame in the warpriest tree. Again, thus the three tree build. Smite Foe does damage,applies a stacking debuff to the bad guy increasing everyone's dps, heals me and my friends (AOE) and casts an AOE lesser restoration every 12 seconds with one button push. Greater Inflame applies, to all around in a LARGE circle, bonuses to AC, Attack, Damage, Saving Throws and Damage Absorption. Again one button. Also some of the pet buttons from Falconry do some combo of dps\heal\buff\debuff\cc in one click as well...nice.

Obviously, if you are the only healer and your friends are pathetically unable to self heal at all, or they have negligently decided the best stat in DDO - healing amp - was not worth stacking, or they do not understand the concept of an AOE heal\aura and insist on running away or standing a million miles away, or the fight just plain turns ugly...you will need to throw some actual heal spells at peeps. Fine. This enhancement build was designed to minimize the healing spell casts needed while attaining the goal...Goal - Melee Cleric with as much DPS as possible while still meeting minimum standards of being a main party healer in Reaper and in Raids. Using Falconry with WIS to hit/damage with a focus on Two Handed Fighting utilizing Silvanus with Mauls. This build is able to both contribute solid melee DPS/Crowd Control and heal the party.





I understand. But if you have then how to pass me your build for me to try to use in my cleric from the beginning, I would appreciate it.
Or do you recommend me do Axel's at first, and then go for yours?

[ONIN_GIN_RYU]

Why wand and scroll mastery? Wouldn't be better take bliss 3/3 instead?

[C-Dog]

(Edit - nm, pre-coffee response, clearly was thinking of something else) :rolleyes:


Why wand and scroll mastery? Wouldn't be better take bliss 3/3 instead?
I'd guess to use scrolls asap. Scroll MLs are 2 levels lower level than the cleric spell itself - having Raise Dead is an important edge for Levels 7-8.

Once you have the spells, and/or UMD @ 100%, sure, respec.

[Djjinni]

I'd guess to use scrolls asap.

Just a quick correction here, Wand and Scroll Mastery doesn't enable you to use scrolls any earlier or buff UMD at all.

It empowers the effects (in this case for Healing which is very powerful). It is a good way to extend a mana pool in long fights/save time shrining during levelling

The DC references here just boost the offensive DCs of spells cast this way.. but hopefully you're not relying on this for damage anyways :D

[axel15810]

Why wand and scroll mastery? Wouldn't be better take bliss 3/3 instead?

Well first of all bliss is 2 AP per rank and scroll mastery is only 1, so you can't exchange one for the other directly. I don't know why a so-so enhancement like bliss is 2 AP instead of 1AP per rank but whatever :/

I'm actually not using scroll mastery past level 20 b/c at that point we can use renewal or other ED abilities for tank healing or to extend our spell point pool forever instead. But in heroics W&S mastery is pretty good. Using heal scrolls with scroll mastery is awesome for saving spell points in general in heroics.

But I still don't take full ranks in bliss because it's just too expensive and 30 temporary hit points is pretty underwhelming at level 30. Definitely not worth 6 AP. I think I take 1 rank currently just because I'm forced to spend a 2 more points somewhere in order to open tier 3.

[ONIN_GIN_RYU]

Well first of all bliss is 2 AP per rank and scroll mastery is only 1, so you can't exchange one for the other directly.

But you had bliss 1/3 and S&W 3/3... I thought with 1 more AP you could take bliss 3/3... not a direct exchange...


I don't know why a so-so enhancement like bliss is 2 AP instead of 1AP per rank but whatever :/

I tottaly agree with you! I think bliss should grant temp hp for all allies near you when you use a turn for any purpose to worth 2 AP per rank. Actually, evertytime I see the RS tree I think "why this tree is so expensive? Why everything in this tree costs 2 AP?" but, yes, whatever...

About healing with scrolls on heroics. It's mainly out of combat healing then, right? I tried to heal in combat with scrolls of heal and it takes too long! You have to swap your weapon for the scroll, cast the scroll and swap again for the weapon...

[axel15810]

But you had bliss 1/3 and S&W 3/3... I thought with 1 more AP you could take bliss 3/3... not a direct exchange...



I tottaly agree with you! I think bliss should grant temp hp for all allies near you when you use a turn for any purpose to worth 2 AP per rank. Actually, evertytime I see the RS tree I think "why this tree is so expensive? Why everything in this tree costs 2 AP?" but, yes, whatever...

About healing with scrolls on heroics. It's mainly out of combat healing then, right? I tried to heal in combat with scrolls of heal and it takes too long! You have to swap your weapon for the scroll, cast the scroll and swap again for the weapon...

It is slow, but you can make it work situationally. Though not in all situations where faster heals are needed obviously. It's more a tertiary option for healing when you need to save spell points, it's not your bread & butter. And yes it is better for out of combat for sure because of the speed. Such as when you raise someone, you can follow up with a heal scroll to top them off.

Heal scrolls have in the past been the most useful in certain raids where you're assigned to healing the tank for an extended period of time and you can swap between scolls and spells to make your SP pool last longer. Though that doesn't happen much in many situations today. And reaper especially requires faster healing than scrolls provide. Some of the reasons why I dropped it at cap.

But by all means if using scrolls situationally isn't your thing, don't waste the action points there.

[ONIN_GIN_RYU]

Nice, thank you very much for replying. I will try this build as soon as I put my hands on Falconry tree. =P

[Finn42]

Hey, I plan on creating this build - doing the PDK iconic (don't know if I am going to lesser TR +1 the fighter away or not yet.)
Any advice for (named) mauls to use? Both during leveling and endgame ? (I looked at the list by MinLevel.. but still asking advice)

like for lv 21 I farmed a Drow mual, should I use Cormyrian weapons at 20/24?
Thanks.

[axel15810]

Hey, I plan on creating this build - doing the PDK iconic (don't know if I am going to lesser TR +1 the fighter away or not yet.)
Any advice for (named) mauls to use? Both during leveling and endgame ? (I looked at the list by MinLevel.. but still asking advice)

like for lv 21 I farmed a Drow mual, should I use Cormyrian weapons at 20/24?
Thanks.

Maul from baba's hut is what I'm using at endgame.

For leveling mauls - greensteel and thunderforged are good if you have the crafting ingredients. The free one the barovian vendor gives you in Ravenloft is also pretty good.

Under level 10 the named maul selection is pretty bad afaik.

I've never used cormyrian weapons.

[Montegue]

So, I've been playing with this build (on a Sun Elf, mind you, so not ideal. He didn't start this way, I got annoyed trying to solo as an Air domain cleric, and decided to try out the new Maul I picked up in the new sharn chain) a little bit, and I keep asking myself "Why don't I just Lesser Res and try SWF"?

It strikes me that it's more DPS than two handed fightning, that it's easier to invest in a handful of ranks of Balance instead of buying into Strength, and that I can then use an Orb to boost Radiant power (the Resplendant Fury orb gives a lot of bonus spellpower over the course of a run by simply popping off a low-cost light-based spell every now and again). And if I'm using an Orb and SWF, not only can I hit hard in melee, but I can also construct a build that includes enough DC and healing punch to do lots of different jobs.

Falconry gives me the ability to do all the things falconry does - debuff mobs, etc. And I can avoid Power attack, Cleave, and Great Cleave, focus on War Priest attacks and Falconry attacks, and then spells to do AOE damage if needs be (or Command to drop them to the ground, or Cometfall to blast them to the ground). Anyway, just thinking out loud, but wondering what the specific advantage of 2hf is when 2hf is so problematic (yes, the +2 crit threat range is pretty great, but does it then out perform SWF?).

[axel15810]

So, I've been playing with this build (on a Sun Elf, mind you, so not ideal. He didn't start this way, I got annoyed trying to solo as an Air domain cleric, and decided to try out the new Maul I picked up in the new sharn chain) a little bit, and I keep asking myself "Why don't I just Lesser Res and try SWF"?

It strikes me that it's more DPS than two handed fightning, that it's easier to invest in a handful of ranks of Balance instead of buying into Strength, and that I can then use an Orb to boost Radiant power (the Resplendant Fury orb gives a lot of bonus spellpower over the course of a run by simply popping off a low-cost light-based spell every now and again). And if I'm using an Orb and SWF, not only can I hit hard in melee, but I can also construct a build that includes enough DC and healing punch to do lots of different jobs.

Falconry gives me the ability to do all the things falconry does - debuff mobs, etc. And I can avoid Power attack, Cleave, and Great Cleave, focus on War Priest attacks and Falconry attacks, and then spells to do AOE damage if needs be (or Command to drop them to the ground, or Cometfall to blast them to the ground). Anyway, just thinking out loud, but wondering what the specific advantage of 2hf is when 2hf is so problematic (yes, the +2 crit threat range is pretty great, but does it then out perform SWF?).

Oh you totally can go SWF, and I've theorycrafted SWF and TWF alternates to this build. I used to run it in TWF actually.

The 3 main positives to THF compared to SWF are probably

- Saves a feat. Silvanus is free whereas SWF you'll need to spend a feat on Khopesh proficency or knights training
- Better glancing blow/AoE damage
- Cleaves synergize with Momentum Swing/Lay Waste in Dreadnaught

Is SWF more DPS? I don't know. Maybe someone can test it out and find the exact number. THF is considered pretty meh in the meta at the moment because of its attack speed. But at the same time the devs clearly know this and have been rolling out buffs for THF (see stuff like Fury of the Wild buffs lately and some of the newer THF focused gear). Personally, I've never been one to constantly reroll to fit the meta and just prefer THF's playstyle more. And I wouldn't be surprised if in a few months some kind of buff to THF in an update makes it the new shiny thing.

As far as orbs go, I've not run into an orb that makes me feel like I have to go SWF. Orbs are mostly offensive caster items, if they had melee effects it'd be different. And while this build can cast a bit, in particular, stuff like implosion is really useful in certain situations like the scarecrows in baba or when zerging lower difficulties, it isn't going to have viable casting in endgame reaper because there's not enough feats/gear slots/enhancement points to go around for that. Definitely it won't have viable light nuker casting...orbs or not. It's a melee healer build. Trying to do casting, melee and healing is just spreading the build too thin IMO. Also, DC requirements are pretty insane in places like reaper Sharn so useable DCs at endgame reaper just are not reachable IMO without major sacrifices to what the build is aiming for.

[Montegue]

Thanks for the response! I'll have to see how 2hf progresses past 20 (my toon is 19 now. Definitely takes forever to pound through a group of mobs, but my healing is getting to the point where I'm basically just outliving them).

I haven't seen much in terms of gear here. Right now I'm rocking the Family set from Sharn, the castigators bracers, Onyx and the Chieftan ring (having a hard time finding a better source of wisdom, though I might break down and just do Collective Sight), the Bronze Dragonscale Belt (Con and HP), hallowed trail, arcsteel brim, the red dragonscale trinket (my trinket choices suck), and the new maul.

My gear feels split, I suppose, in a way my Eldritch Knight's doesn't have to be. Do you have a 15-20ish Gear suggestion?

[axel15810]

Thanks for the response! I'll have to see how 2hf progresses past 20 (my toon is 19 now. Definitely takes forever to pound through a group of mobs, but my healing is getting to the point where I'm basically just outliving them).

I haven't seen much in terms of gear here. Right now I'm rocking the Family set from Sharn, the castigators bracers, Onyx and the Chieftan ring (having a hard time finding a better source of wisdom, though I might break down and just do Collective Sight), the Bronze Dragonscale Belt (Con and HP), hallowed trail, arcsteel brim, the red dragonscale trinket (my trinket choices suck), and the new maul.

My gear feels split, I suppose, in a way my Eldritch Knight's doesn't have to be. Do you have a 15-20ish Gear suggestion?

Black Dragonplate set and Greensteel are the only key items I really bother to twink with in that area (but yeah at this point family set will probably be better than dragonplate set if you have it). Last time I actually just used SoS to level and then swapped IC slash for bludgeon when I got past 20.

I'm not too much for optimizing gear except at endgame. Aside from those I tend to grab the best stats/devotion items I can and just go. If you have a maul with a red slot, putting devotion augment in it is nice.

[Djjinni]

Tempted to try this out after the most recent updates as had a lot of fun with previous versions. Thanks for all the contributions on this!


I did however wonder how much value you placed on the RS Capstone and 20th cleric level when comparing it to keeping the build at 19/1 and spending the 3 racial ap+RS capstone into Kensai to get 3/3 Haste Boost instead?

[axel15810]

Tempted to try this out after the most recent updates as had a lot of fun with previous versions. Thanks for all the contributions on this!


I did however wonder how much value you placed on the RS Capstone and 20th cleric level when comparing it to keeping the build at 19/1 and spending the 3 racial ap+RS capstone into Kensai to get 3/3 Haste Boost instead?

We can get haste boost through Dreadnaught so I just tend to do that. Kensei haste boost is however super useful while leveling through heroics.

Taking a fighter level is totally fine though. I just would rather opt for the capstone. RS capstone isn't amazing, but it's something. Also, having an extra caster level is nice for a bunch of things.

[Montegue]

So, I'm trying to make SWF work. I'm approximately level 25, and my enhancement spread is pretty much on point with what's been listed here.

I am doing very little melee damage to single targets. Last night, in just EE Feast or Famine, it was like trying to bash rocks to pieces with a glass hammer. Yes, I was killing things, but OH MY GOD is it slow. Without high spell damage to weave into Falconry attacks and Legendary Dreadnaught attacks, my DPS is just super low. I'm swinging fast, I am keeping stacks up, but... yeah.

My feats may be at fault - SWF, ISWF, GSWF are my combat feats. Then I've got Quicken, Heighten, and Empower healing. I took Spell Pen and Spell Focus Evo so I could use Twists to boost my terrible DCs (no tome on this character). I took Burst of Glacial Wrath, as well.

I'm currently thinking that the problem might be War Domain instead of Air. Bear with me, but it feels like Air + SWF + the SLAs from Angel ED would be stronger attacks to weave into a fast-swinging SWF build. Yes, I lose Holy Sword (and I know that matters for Melee DPS), but I think SLA spellcasting supported by Epic Destiny and Enhancements probably provides *more* damage output than Legendary Dreadnaught and melee attacks might.

Then again, this is w SWF. Man, do I miss having a spellsword effect on my cleric. It's *so* much damage on my Pale Master over the course of many swings.

Anyway, back to the drawing board? We'll see how this iteration of SWF does through the late 20s and at cap.

[Finn42]

Any chance to get a short video of the playstyle ?

Like what does your rotation look like? (like, what is a synergy attack with some other abilty vs just - it deals damage.)
a) for trash (including some casters+melee mobs),
b) how do you handle a reaper or 2-3,

I know asking gear questions is very dated... but
c) what filigree set(s) do you use ? (most people will have a minor artifact, and a 5 slot sentient gem = 8 slots) -- but not access to the rare double set filigrees.
d) which Sharn set bonus do you go for ?

Thanks!

[Montegue]

Any chance to get a short video of the playstyle ?

Wish I had the means/talent to produce one?



Like what does your rotation look like? (like, what is a synergy attack with some other abilty vs just - it deals damage.)
a) for trash (including some casters+melee mobs),
b) how do you handle a reaper or 2-3,

So, my rotation is typically to lead with Ameliorating strike (make sure that my damage bonus is up from Falconry, etc), because it gives me stacks of vulnerable, then hit a group with the AOE attack from Falconry, then work through Falconry attacks as they come up, lacing in casting.

When I'm in LD, I use the three attacks out of LD (the cleave with knockdown, the flame-based sword attack, and the attack that refreshes the cleave), paying attention for when they proc each other's refresh.

I can't even do Epic on solo right now, TBH. Too squishy, so I haven't oslo'd anything on Reaper. Whn I'm in a reaper group, I mostly heal.



I know asking gear questions is very dated... but
c) what filigree set(s) do you use ? (most people will have a minor artifact, and a 5 slot sentient gem = 8 slots) -- but not access to the rare double set filigrees.
d) which Sharn set bonus do you go for ?

Thanks!

Nothing, in terms of filigrees and artifacts, because I'm in my mid-20s. When I get to 29 and have actual gear to tinker with, I'll probably be investigating which sets to use. Right now I'm rocking the Family set from heroic sharn, a Thunderforge bastard sword with Fire damage (not the vulnerability proc, but the basic 6-60 fire), Celestial Ruby ring, Chieftan, the cloak and bracers from the flamecleansed fury set, an Arcsteel brim (for Spell Focus Mastery), a Red Dragonscale trinket from Search and Rescue, Epic Steelweave boots (lightning resist/absorb, and full attack and run speed).

At 29, I'm going to play with a number of things. I have all the Sharn gear I need, plus the new Khopesh, and can piece together a decent set of gear that combines melee stats with basic casting.

[Electzra]

I've just started playing again - been away since 2012. My melee cleric (1Ftr/15Clr) is all screwed up and seriously out of date so I went searching for updated stuff and found this and a few others.

Since I only have +0 hearts sitting around I'm restricted to first life 28pt human, 1st Fighter, 2-16th Cleric. Tomes +3 Str, +1 Con, +2 others.

The plan would be to get to 20, farm up some decent gear, farm up some hearts, and then, when I've got some PLs under my belt, go for the PDK (I'm looking at you, winter sale) and worry about epic stuff.
With that in mind, is there much better I can do than the following? Any advice would be most welcome.



17/2/1 Cleric/Paladin/Fighter
Lawful Good Human


Level Order

1. Fighter . . . . 6. Cleric. . . . .11. Cleric. . . . .16. Cleric
2. Cleric . . . . .7. Cleric . . . . 12. Cleric . . . . 17. Cleric
3. Cleric . . . . .8. Cleric . . . . 13. Cleric . . . . 18. Cleric
4. Cleric . . . . .9. Cleric . . . . 14. Cleric . . . . 19. Paladin
5. Cleric . . . . 10. Cleric . . . . 15. Cleric . . . . 20. Paladin


Stats
. . . . . . . .28pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ----. . .--------
Strength. . . . 14. . . .+3. . . .4: WIS
Dexterity . . . .8. . . .+2. . . .8: WIS
Constitution. . 13. . . .+1. . . 12: WIS
Intelligence. . .8. . . .+2. . . 16: WIS
Wisdom. . . . . 17. . . .+2. . . 20: WIS
Charisma. . . . 12. . . .+2. . .


Skills
. . . . . F .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .C .P. P
. . . . . 1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8 .9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Heal. . . . .1 .1 .3 .1 .3 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1. 1 .23
Jump. . . 4 . . . . . . . . . .1 . . 1. . .1 . . 1. . .1 . . 1. . .1. 11
UMD . . . 1 .1 .1 . . 1. . .1 . . 1. . .1 . . 1. . .1 . . 1. . .1. . .11
Tumble. . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . 8 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3. 3


Feats

.1. . . . : Power Attack
.1 Human. : Augment Summoning OR Toughness - STR15 at level 0 is too painful for 28pts human so it's HP or better rogue hireling
.1 Fighter: Cleave
.3. . . . : Empower Healing Spell
.6. . . . : Quicken Spell
.9. . . . : Two Handed Fighting
12. . . . : Improved Two Handed Fighting
15. . . . : Improved Critical: Slashing
18. . . . : Greater Two Handed Fighting OR Great Cleave - not enough feats! GTHF is possibly more consistent DPS?

.3 Cleric : War Domain

.2 Deity. : Follower of: Sovereign Host
.7 Deity. : Unyielding Sovereignty


Enhancements (80 AP)

Falconry (45 AP) Raven, Wisdom, Well Rounded, Wisdom, Well Rounded II, Master Falconer Rugged III, Hunter's Knowledge, Out in Nature III
Killer Instinct I, Watch the Center III
Killer Instinct II, Tear Flesh, Strike for the Eyes: Strike III, Conditioning, Eyes of the Eagle
Deadly Instinct III, No Mercy III, Coordinated Strike, Expose Weakness
Dangerous, Death from Above: Strike III, Mark the Prey: Strike
Radiant Servant (32 AP) - can't get the capstone so I went all in on Falconry Healing Domain, Pacifism, Positive Energy Burst, Improved Empower Healing Extra Turning II, Wand Mastery III, Bliss I, Altruism III
(none)
Intense Healing III, Wisdom
Incredible Healing III, Divine Health, Wisdom
Human (3 AP) Damage Boost, Wisdom


Side note: I also came up with a 1Ftr/17Clr/2Art SWF build which pushed UMD to 20-something and gave the rune arm for a little more weapon DPS, but I couldn't really crowbar in BS proficiency, otherwise I might just have tried it for grins.

[C-Dog]

...and gave the rune arm for a little more weapon DPS...
Most (all?) runearms are based on Arti levels, not character levels, so a small dip is a ~very~ small boost to DPS. Your call.

[Electzra]

Most (all?) runearms are based on Arti levels, not character levels, so a small dip is a ~very~ small boost to DPS. Your call.

I was referring to the bonus to weapon damage, rather than using the rune arm itself. It looks like there might be more offensive rune arms than there are orbs.

I'm still half tempted. That lvl 1 fighter is really restrictive though.

[Djjinni]

I was referring to the bonus to weapon damage, rather than using the rune arm itself. It looks like there might be more offensive rune arms than there are orbs.

I'm still half tempted. That lvl 1 fighter is really restrictive though.

You can follow most of the build as written here by sticking at 19/1 or even 17/3 for the def stance and less dps

I don't see much gain from the /2 paladin in this case



If not going for Mauls, basically any other race would be better than PDK also, just something to consider.


I still really like this build and wish the meta was kinder on it so I'd run one more often :D

[Electzra]

I don't see much gain from the /2 paladin in this case


+8 to saves vs a couple of 9th level spells (vs def stance + extra feat for 3 ftr). Honestly don't know which is worth more, but I've a level or two to make the decision.

[Anashan]

Hey Axel et al, hope you all have a great new year. Quick comment and a question. I have been playing Axel's build, I believe, as written with no changes but one, more in a sec on that. Level 30 and staying here for a while after building up some past lives both heroic and epic. Just started doing 32 content in Sharn (no raid yet). Easily soloing on hard mode 32 legendary. Everything is working as planned...as Axel stated in his goal for this build. Good DPS, good heals. Things die fairly fast and I don't die. Two good things. I have been soloing only, so far, in legendary epic content, no raid just yet (soon) and I wanted to feel this build out on hard mode for quests\dungeons and so far, all good. Elite will be next week(solo).

Question (or two): I have an extra 1 universal point and 2 extra racial. I decided to go with the Falconry capstone V the Radian Servant and I do not know why I would take RS capstone. The Falconry is +2 to all stats (not just wisdom) gaining all kinds of small good stuff from the extra 2 stat points in all. I lose the auto-crit every so often on the Aura but I crit a lot anyway plus, I twisted in Consecration and Sacred Ground from Div. Crus. - Aura is ticking at 140 normal crit 280 every 2 seconds or so with 100% uptime and Sacred Ground is ticking for 390 every 2 seconds or so with 3/4 up time = allowing for NOT recasting Sacred exactly 20 seconds apart and allowing for some time where you run around and leave your Sacred Ground circle of goodness, lets call it at least 400 to 500 heals per 2 seconds average or 200-250 a second AOE heals to me and a chunk of those fortunate enough to be around me :) Those numbers do not include other temp boosts I sometimes use, usually only on the hardest bosses (Pacifism from RS, Positive pots and so on).

With these two fairly large AOE heals going out nearly all time, I don't think I need the RS capstone and while the Falconry +2 to all stats is not earth shattering, I think it is still better than RS capstone? Thoughts?

[pSINNa]

First of all, thanks for putting this build together, before I took a long break from the game I played a lot of melee style clerics that gave little away from their heal/cast side, with trip/stun specced Horc's, GA wielding Dwarves and Elven Clonks being favourites.


Having come back to the game recently I found my Horc strength built Cleric was gimped by the various game changes, making him a very poor melee, a mana munching pain when trying to nuke, and with cleric crowd control that just aggro'd everything without being terribly effective.


I bit the bullet and TR'd that fellow into this build, and even had fun going through my array of hoarding bank characters to pick up a surprising array of stashed Mauls, with Adamantine Smiting, Metalline pure good, silver ghost touched guild slotted Disruptor , a holy burst Banisher, and a Fury of the Flame hiding away in there.


Ran out to Barovia for a free undead damager, crafted up a Lit2 Maul for giggles, and away I went.


I went for the Pure PDK version (had a LR Heart+20 in his bank), and built exactly on your spec except for one change - I elected to pick up Heighten at 15 for the Cleric CC spells, Soundburst stuns, Cometfalls, Greater Commands, and jumped up Destruction's etc, putting off the THF feats one stage with Perfect TWF being sacrificed at the end - drop a %5 doublestrike chance (but still having Perfect THF so happy basher and I'll find Doublestrike gear at end game I'm sure - some is better than nothing) having effective DC's all through as a return - just my preference being a huge fan of Cleric CC and kill spells.


At level 15 he still rocks his GS spell point boosting concordant Goggle (blindness immunity, charisma skills and maxed UMD = max convenience), his GS hit point boosting enervation guard cloak with Blue DragonScale armour (spell pen and crit chance booster) with a Conduit of the Soul I picked up recently in there (his poor old Torc of Raiyum gets slotted when he's being whacked, but not much really, sigh, after all those runs it just isn't that useful anymore).


The rest is all Cannith Crafting for +8 stats and managing to fit in Deadly, Sheltering, Fear Immunity, Feather Fall, +6 to saves, Seeking, Heavy Fort , Greater Spell Focus, Striding, and max Radiance and Devotion at all times, with a couple of caster sticks for max force and fire for cast heavy times. (His only real switchout, pretty good for an all rounder - Cannith Crafting is your friend!! lol)


It's a barrel of monkeys - fun to play, and just all round effective at the moment. Getting to play around with falconry related tricks for the first time is a real bonus - boy with bird, lol.


I'll have to see how it runs when I get into Legendary with him, but I'm sure it's going to progress well.

Thanks again, keep up the good work.

Coit out :)

[Ballrus]

Gameplay video?

[axel15810]

Question (or two): I have an extra 1 universal point and 2 extra racial. I decided to go with the Falconry capstone V the Radian Servant and I do not know why I would take RS capstone. The Falconry is +2 to all stats (not just wisdom) gaining all kinds of small good stuff from the extra 2 stat points in all. I lose the auto-crit every so often on the Aura but I crit a lot anyway plus, I twisted in Consecration and Sacred Ground from Div. Crus. - Aura is ticking at 140 normal crit 280 every 2 seconds or so with 100% uptime and Sacred Ground is ticking for 390 every 2 seconds or so with 3/4 up time = allowing for NOT recasting Sacred exactly 20 seconds apart and allowing for some time where you run around and leave your Sacred Ground circle of goodness, lets call it at least 400 to 500 heals per 2 seconds average or 200-250 a second AOE heals to me and a chunk of those fortunate enough to be around me :) Those numbers do not include other temp boosts I sometimes use, usually only on the hardest bosses (Pacifism from RS, Positive pots and so on).

With these two fairly large AOE heals going out nearly all time, I don't think I need the RS capstone and while the Falconry +2 to all stats is not earth shattering, I think it is still better than RS capstone? Thoughts?

We already have FOM inherently and aren't taking tier 5 falconry, so the falconry capstone is kinda meh. That said, RS capstone is also meh so it just comes down to personal preference. +2 to all stats vs. +2 WIS and +10 or so positive spellpower (from extra AP spent in RS via core 1) and every 5th heal boosted.


Gameplay video?

See my youtube channel (link in my signature and also in the original post). I haven't put any footage of me on super challenging difficulties for a long time but there's some fairly recent gameplay of me rather casually solo'ing the Soul Splitter pack from late this past year.

[Anashan]

[QUOTE=axel15810;6282905]We already have FOM inherently and aren't taking tier 5 falconry, so the falconry capstone is kinda meh. That said, RS capstone is also meh so it just comes down to personal preference. +2 to all stats vs. +2 WIS and +10 or so positive spellpower (from extra AP spent in RS via core 1) and every 5th heal boosted

Thanks Axel. You may be right. Picked up 4 legendary items (including all three for Part of the Family set - for dps - and the legendary collective sight goggles which gave me +21 wis, nearly finished, and plus 10 wis, almost there - very nice adding the 31 WIS there) and I got the Stolen Signet of ir'Wynarn artifact ring (with all three purity filigrees - for heals - slotted in it now). But the items as a whole are hard to balance without dups, and compromises had to be made with gear\crafting. I lost healing lore in the gear shuffle so going to RS capstone may be worth it now.

I also lost melee alacrity (15% attack speed) so I swapped in Blinding Speed and took out Intensify. I figured the perma run\attack speed for now is better then the Intensified heals. My heals are quit strong without Intensify and Intensify does NOT help the Aura nor the Sacred Ground\Consecration ticks. After I equipped all the new 4 legendaries and the artifact (and I am going to change to RS capstone from Falconry capstone), I now have Aura ticking at 173 (346 when it crits) and Sacred Ground\Consecration twisted in ticking for 484 (both numbers up nicely). Those heal ticks do not include Pacify nor other temporary boosts to heals\pos spellpower. The rest of the gear is all lvl 34 Cannith Crafted, and all items have third enhancement and gem slots in them. As I mentioned, I lost Healing Lore in the gear shuffle, at least for now - I could not find a way to get it in there without nerfing something - so I will move to RS capstone to gain a few crits back.

Not sure what to go after next (Other than Tremor (Maul) which I do not have yet...using tier 2 Thunderforged til I get it). Anyone have a suggestion on what to boost or a specific piece of gear or two to chase down????


https://i.imgur.com/rimvPYk.png

[Magdragons]

So whats your opinion on the upcoming changes axel? How do you think your build will change with the THF changes, falconry buffs, and other things.

[axel15810]

So whats your opinion on the upcoming changes axel? How do you think your build will change with the THF changes, falconry buffs, and other things.

I want to see how things go with the THF changes. And how other changes are finalized in U45. There are a variety of big changes and alternate builds I've been theorycrafting lately to make it more effective in reaper mode when U45 hits. As of right now, it's not as effective there as I'd like it to be. The Falconry buffs are welcome, but it's nothing game changing. I'm probably changing up the build when U45 hits. And if I find it to be better, I'll plan on updating the original post here with the changes.

[Anashan]

We see in update 45 that Diving Attacks in Falconry tree lowers its cooldown to 12 seconds from 20. This makes it perhaps worth taking. ****** More importantly, Coordinated Strikes, the AOE bird attack - from the Falconry tree as well - had its cooldown reduced significantly from 60 to 25 seconds. Helpless time just went up for me, and my friends. Good times will be had by all and much blood will be split.

[axel15810]

We see in update 45 that Diving Attacks in Falconry tree lowers its cooldown to 12 seconds from 20. This makes it perhaps worth taking. ****** More importantly, Coordinated Strikes, the AOE bird attack - from the Falconry tree as well - had its cooldown reduced significantly from 60 to 25 seconds. Helpless time just went up for me, and my friends. Good times will be had by all and much blood will be split.

Yep! The build got significantly better from this change, the cleave changes and the THF changes. It was really nice to see.

[Anashan]

OK I have taken Axel's build (I am playing it almost exactly as stated\designed) into Reaper now, and as I have progressed, I wanted to ask anyone who likes to comment and give advice on a few things I am encountering at various Reaper levels as I have progressed from r1 into r5-6 (even did my first r10 the other day and yes we got it done). I am fairly new to the end game, have only one character, and I have been at 30 for just a few months.

Quick Character\Build info: I did 3 cleric and 3 paladin heroic past lives and since I went Epic I did 3 epic lives (3 epic past lives: martial doublestrike) on my own and treated myself and bought another 6 epic lives with Otto's boxes (3 Divine>Brace - 3 Primal>Colors of the queen). Legendary Dreadnaught Destiny of course. I currently have 4 twists: Tier 4 Fury>Sense Weakness, Tier 3 Divine Crusader>Sacred Ground, Tier 2 Divine Crusader>Consecration, Tier 1 Unyielding Sentinel>Brace for Impact. Gear: 10 of 12 legendary gear (2 cannith crafted to fill holes - Part of the Family set bonus) aimed at healing, dps and survivability stuff. Have 10 filigrees (7 weapon, 3 ring) Prowess 5, Beast Mantle 2, Touch of Grace 3 - so filgrees are also split between Healing, DPS and survivability. Got other numbers up (all numbers unbuffed...they go up a fair bit with self and group buffs) >> PRR to 150, MRR to 110, AC to 135, dodge to 12. My saves are mid 90's to 108 (Will). I have 11 Reaper points ALL in Grim Barricade (survival) tree. 2800 Spell Points. 1480 hit points. Again all numbers unbuffed and do not include reaper enhancements even (as I mentioned I have 11 Reaper points all in defense so my saves, prr, and hit points go up a bit further on top of normal quest\raid buffs).

Reaper: This discussion is generic - there is a fairly big difference between having a tank and not having one. It mostly impacts playstyle as with a tank I can safely dps more. However, pug reaper groups often do not have a tank or only have a quasi tank or two.

Reaper 1-3: In R1-3 I found the build held up to its promise. Good heals, good dps (I have learned to NOT get aggro, or not for long, on big nasty monsters), I can take a quit a few hits if I have to before running scared, with a playstyle of simply stepping in, sometimes popping a Displacement and\or defensive cooldown or two - I do this in higher levels too but more on that below - and I get to whack around a bit, or a lot, and then step out and toss a few heals. Very fun to play IMO as I am able to dps a fairly high % of the time. What doesn't work is Mass Frog, my DC's are too low. It works for Hard and even Elite but not Reaper. In fact none of my DC's are high enough to CC anything. Also, the variety of Falconry helplessness options do not work often enough IMO. Should I find some bonuses to assassinate? In any case, I swapped Mass Frog for Guardian Angel Epic Destiny feat - why? just felt I need more survivability. More on survivability as we go, I swapped Perfect Two Weapon Fighting out for Elusive Target Epic Destiny feat (5% miss) as the loss of a little doublestrike did not seem to nerf my dps much (I have good double strike and insightful double strike on gear, + filigrees and such). After these swaps, which helped, the build, only slightly modified, seemed to hold up well at least for my skill level, play style and past lives and such. Thoughts?

Reaper 5-6: Ouch. CC basically does not work. They hit very hard and I can generally cannot take many hits at all even with the attempts at boosting survivability discussed above. Heals are fine, dps is ok but I REALLY have to pick my spot to go in as I cannot take more than a few hits, at most, so someone has to have aggro or I have to think hard about how\when to dps to not die and need to be calculated about it. I am basically a healer and a calculated, but effective I think, spot\smart dps'er (need to think hard about popping in Displacement def. cooldowns before I go in for sure). Thoughts?

Reaper 8-10: I have not done a 7 nor a 9 but three 8's and one 10. Virtually instant death in melee if I take a hit. if I get aggro it is a small miracle if I survive even one hit, no cc of course and in essence, no self healing. I redid my enhancements to take the sprint from Falconry just for high Reaper as it has saved my life a few times. I am playing as nearly a pure healer as a consequence and as such, I am contemplating switching to Exalted Angel or something for high Reaper???? I do not know Exalted Angel but can guess at what to take, but the problem with my own thought is that the heal level of the build even with Legendary Dreadnought is generally good enough. In my limited experience in high reaper most people have high healing amp and the build holds up as is well enough though a little more heal heal power at high reaper does seem in order. Also, I could also use more Spell Points in High Reaper (looks like Exalted Angel would fix that ??) However, as I said, I really cant dps effectively in high reaper really even with Displacement\Def. Cooldowns up (My fault am I missing something?????), so maybe it makes sense to switch to Exalted Angel??? If I am pure heals in high reaper maybe twist out Sense Weakness for some heals\survivability???? Skip survivability in high Reaper as I cant get enough to make a difference anyway??? Different\Opposite thinking...go Unyielding Sentinel and do some Renewal spamming (so maybe that solves my minor to moderate spell point problem as Renewal is a cheap heal)???? Thoughts?

Thoughtful comments very much appreciated.

[axel15810]

*snip*

Pretty much echos my experiences.

First of all, this is not a build meant for high reaper. Its home is low to mid reaper. To really excel in high reaper you pretty much will want to run one of the best builds in the game. Which this is not.

It's not gonna be competitive there, and caster cleric definitely is gonna do better than a melee. The build could still function as a dedicated healer all tanked up in sentinel if the party wants it. But melee is gonna be too dangerous...fact is basically all melees struggle mightily in high reaper so it's not unique just to this build. Mobs hit too hard, you need range.

I've also swapped out mass frog for more survivability. Have swapped out some gear and added stuff in to boost falconry DCs, which seem to be hitting fine in low to mid reaper. I still don't have it optimized, but you really do need to make sacrifices so that blind can land consistently in the content you want to run. Having reliable CC is sooooooooo important on reaper, especially if solo'ing. Mobs just hit too hard.

[Anashan]

Pretty much echos my experiences.

First of all, this is not a build meant for high reaper. Its home is low to mid reaper. To really excel in high reaper you pretty much will want to run one of the best builds in the game. Which this is not.

It's not gonna be competitive there, and caster cleric definitely is gonna do better than a melee. The build could still function as a dedicated healer all tanked up in sentinel if the party wants it. But melee is gonna be too dangerous...fact is basically all melees struggle mightily in high reaper so it's not unique just to this build. Mobs hit too hard, you need range.

I've also swapped out mass frog for more survivability. Have swapped out some gear and added stuff in to boost falconry DCs, which seem to be hitting fine in low to mid reaper. I still don't have it optimized, but you really do need to make sacrifices so that blind can land consistently in the content you want to run. Having reliable CC is sooooooooo important on reaper, especially if solo'ing. Mobs just hit too hard.

Makes sense. I am gonna search for ways to get the Falconry Blind up to snuff for low to mid Reaper and if I do find myself in high Reaper I will just heal (role) and maybe move to Unyielding Sentinel (partially for Renewal spam including on my self), get myself a second maul to swap to (drop Prowess filigrees for more Heal\Survivability stuff), and finally find a tier 4 replacement for Sense Weakness dps twist. I did "ok" healing the three 8's and the one 10 Reaper I did so I do not think I need a massive boost to healing output just a modest boost in general, maybe a few spell points (and\or incorporate Renewal into my playstyle), and a little more survivability I will get from Unyielding Sentinel.

Thanks for responding Axel.

[Anashan]

I found this Assassinate DC breakdown below. In red are not realistic as some are doable but they feel like a BIG sacrifice: Some I can realistically get in white. My current dc on bird Blind (helplessness) is 75 which I do not get - 10 base + 20 level + 32 Wis bonus + 3 from Falconry = 65 - why is the tool tip showing 75?

10 Base
20 Rogue level 20 - for us Falconry Clerics we still get 20 so we are at 30 or 40? now. (is this where the mysterious extra 10 dc points is coming from? Are we getting 30 as a character level instead of 20??)

05 - Item: Insight - Ring of the Silver Tongue = Enhancement cannith crafting 7
02 - Item: Quality - The Family's Blessing = Insightful cannith crafting 4
so we are at 41 or 51?
02 - Item: Filigree - The Long Shadow 5-Peice Set Bonus
02 - Item: Filigree - Treachery 4-Peice Set Bonus
02 - Assassin Enh: Deadly Shadow
05 - Assassin Enh: Measure the Foe
03 - Falconry Enh: Watch the Centre = 3 but already counted in above so still at 41 or 51?

06 - Shadow Dancer ED: Stealthy T1 = 6 - this is tier one and thus twistable for me
02 - Shadow Dancer ED: Shadow Mastery - Innate
02 - Legendary dreadnought ED: Unusual Tactics T4 = 2
so we are at 49 or 59
+32 (for me) Wisdom bonus
04 - Feat: Scion of the Astral Plane = 4 - not sure whether to did this??
so we are at 85 or 95?

I still cannot account for the extra 10. If the tooltip is right I would have 95 for assassinate which would work, I think, for low to mid Reaper. I hear you need over 100 for high reaper maybe well over.

Is 85 or 95 enough? and how far does that carry you with low to mid reaper trash mobs (not necessarily champions, red,orange,bosses) ?? Reaper 4? 5?

[Spyder1228]

Pretty much echos my experiences.

First of all, this is not a build meant for high reaper. Its home is low to mid reaper. To really excel in high reaper you pretty much will want to run one of the best builds in the game. Which this is not.

It's not gonna be competitive there, and caster cleric definitely is gonna do better than a melee. The build could still function as a dedicated healer all tanked up in sentinel if the party wants it. But melee is gonna be too dangerous...fact is basically all melees struggle mightily in high reaper so it's not unique just to this build. Mobs hit too hard, you need range.

I've also swapped out mass frog for more survivability. Have swapped out some gear and added stuff in to boost falconry DCs, which seem to be hitting fine in low to mid reaper. I still don't have it optimized, but you really do need to make sacrifices so that blind can land consistently in the content you want to run. Having reliable CC is sooooooooo important on reaper, especially if solo'ing. Mobs just hit too hard.

Hey Axel! I just started this build as a test run, and so far so good.

But I do have a question. I am a returning player of a 6ish year hiatus. A lot has changed (mostly for the better, I think). I am about to TR my Warlock and my new group needs a frontline. We are slowly working our way up in reaper levels, but find the lack of CC and frontline an issue. I have read on the forums that melees are pretty screwed in terms of reaper levels, but I was wondering what class/build could do okay in mid-high level reapers? (Obviously, this is going to be dependent on past lives, equipment, etc. but I have searched the forums and they seem kind of dead.)

[C-Dog]

...but I have searched the forums and they seem kind of dead.)
Must not have looked in the right places - lots there. Nothing recently, admittedly - that horse got beaten dead and more a long time ago.

I'll let others address CC and melee specifically, but until then here are a few (unsorted) threads...

o This is for Soloing for RR's - balanced-group play does not have to be as self-sufficient (but it couldn't hurt!) https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/488109-12-Artificer-6-Fighter-2-Monk-Reaper-Build?p=6079661&viewfull=1#post6079661

o https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/499845-Tempest-rangers-for-all-folks-old-and-new-R10-Viable-Tempest-ranger-build
& counter suggestion https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/499845-Tempest-rangers-for-all-folks-old-and-new-R10-Viable-Tempest-ranger-build?p=6145754&viewfull=1#post6145754

o https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/510334-What-are-some-good-melee-builds-for-end-game-reaper-quests?p=6271313&viewfull=1#post6271313

o https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/487071-1-30-Reaper-Clonklock

o https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/494282-20-Monk-Shintao-(reaper-optimized)

o https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/496755-Morroiel-s-Reaper-Build-Repository-Extravaganza?p=6101465&viewfull=1#post6101465
& https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/503811-Creating-an-Endgame-R10-character-from-scratch?p=6189864&viewfull=1#post6189864

o https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/485081-Ath-s-Reaper-Tank-Build-Thread

[LavidDynch]

Hey Axel! I just started this build as a test run, and so far so good.

But I do have a question. I am a returning player of a 6ish year hiatus. A lot has changed (mostly for the better, I think). I am about to TR my Warlock and my new group needs a frontline. We are slowly working our way up in reaper levels, but find the lack of CC and frontline an issue. I have read on the forums that melees are pretty screwed in terms of reaper levels, but I was wondering what class/build could do okay in mid-high level reapers? (Obviously, this is going to be dependent on past lives, equipment, etc. but I have searched the forums and they seem kind of dead.)

AFAIK no melee is super great in solo r7-10 mostly due to the useless self heal, and u will take dmg in reaper - solo and melee, in group its cool thou! not as OP as the pre.-nerfed inq with 250mmr/prr but melee is fun and might even be higher dps..... I did a cleric/barb/ftr PDK. lacked a bit of mmr but dmg is insane, fotw is fun also, LD is a bit boring.... ... but if you do enjoy LD, paladin is a great choice! better d-fenses too.

oh yeah a barb cleric split can easily selheal with ravager tree up til r3-5 with blood tribute and kill/hits procs if you got the gear for it; not a 28 point fresh character.... Can probably do higher reaper but I´m not a fan of soloing higher then 3-4 on melee.

a lot of things are relative in terms of builds. From pastlifes, lag, reaction, piano skills, lag etc etc etc to quest knowledge. Best thing is to build stuff you feel is fun and suits your own style; copy other guys builds and expect same results is rarely a wise choice, all thou you can pick up inspiration and imitate.

[Spyder1228]

Must not have looked in the right places - lots there. Nothing recently, admittedly - that horse got beaten dead and more a long time ago.

I'll let others address CC and melee specifically, but until then here are a few (unsorted) threads...

o This is for Soloing for RR's - balanced-group play does not have to be as self-sufficient (but it couldn't hurt!) https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/488109-12-Artificer-6-Fighter-2-Monk-Reaper-Build?p=6079661&viewfull=1#post6079661

o https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/499845-Tempest-rangers-for-all-folks-old-and-new-R10-Viable-Tempest-ranger-build
& counter suggestion https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/499845-Tempest-rangers-for-all-folks-old-and-new-R10-Viable-Tempest-ranger-build?p=6145754&viewfull=1#post6145754

o https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/510334-What-are-some-good-melee-builds-for-end-game-reaper-quests?p=6271313&viewfull=1#post6271313

o https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/487071-1-30-Reaper-Clonklock

o https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/494282-20-Monk-Shintao-(reaper-optimized)

o https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/496755-Morroiel-s-Reaper-Build-Repository-Extravaganza?p=6101465&viewfull=1#post6101465
& https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/503811-Creating-an-Endgame-R10-character-from-scratch?p=6189864&viewfull=1#post6189864

o https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/485081-Ath-s-Reaper-Tank-Build-Thread



I found a bunch of these, but I assumed they were outdated because of them being old. Thanks!!



AFAIK no melee is super great in solo r7-10 mostly due to the useless self heal, and u will take dmg in reaper - solo and melee, in group its cool thou! not as OP as the pre.-nerfed inq with 250mmr/prr but melee is fun and might even be higher dps..... I did a cleric/barb/ftr PDK. lacked a bit of mmr but dmg is insane, fotw is fun also, LD is a bit boring.... ... but if you do enjoy LD, paladin is a great choice! better d-fenses too.

oh yeah a barb cleric split can easily selheal with ravager tree up til r3-5 with blood tribute and kill/hits procs if you got the gear for it; not a 28 point fresh character.... Can probably do higher reaper but I´m not a fan of soloing higher then 3-4 on melee.

a lot of things are relative in terms of builds. From pastlifes, lag, reaction, piano skills, lag etc etc etc to quest knowledge. Best thing is to build stuff you feel is fun and suits your own style; copy other guys builds and expect same results is rarely a wise choice, all thou you can pick up inspiration and imitate.

Yeah I wasn't thinking solo. Moreso in a group but have the ability to self-heal in a group. I considered doing a barb/cleric using falconry, but I was not sure of its viability nor split. I will have to do some playtesting

[LavidDynch]

I found a bunch of these, but I assumed they were outdated because of them being old. Thanks!!




Yeah I wasn't thinking solo. Moreso in a group but have the ability to self-heal in a group. I considered doing a barb/cleric using falconry, but I was not sure of its viability nor split. I will have to do some playtesting

The cleric part isn´t for selfhealing since you will be raged non-stop and have the range-disability; healing yourself and others on this build is beyond horrible.... but on the other hand you can drop rage and heal yourself with decent results in mid tier reaper, but its annoying. But in general you will be a worse healer than anyone with a LOH (i.e. aasimar etc etc).

Nah, these old builds works very well, as long as you know your role and gear to be a DPS, you actually got some minor healing that worked for me in low reaper in the warpriest tree, besides what is said above... For me right now there are 3 options I´m interested in 3 THF-builds that I know for certain are top notch in the current game as of this update at least.
1. 14clr/5brb/1ftr - PDK.
2. Pure Barb HO
3. 20 - pdk paladin (but this requires a +1 heart and I tend to TR every now and then anyway so paying for a class is always a risk due to the nature of the game)

#1 and #2 are very similar builds just different names. I have the one maul but I lack the proper weapon for a barb so I pick #1.
3. In general a bit lower dps, excludes FOTW due to rage-restrictions; turning off 30 AP is huge! so LD is almost the ED to pick which is kinda boring and its hard to keep up the blitz, better MMR/PRR/self heal/saves and utility clickys, might even be higher DPS during certain circumstances... don´t expect the super crits thou, those are exclusive for FOTW. Safer but not as much fun!

if you intend to group then it is a server-issue, if you often find problems finding ppl to heal or help out healing others perhaps the OP-build is for you or some other build.... most questing don´t require a dedicated healer anyway -- things still dies very fast in a decent group, and most deaths I´ve seen are still one or two shotted related...

[C-Dog]

I found a bunch of these, but I assumed they were outdated because of them being old...
Only 2 reasons that something is "outdated" - 1) because something in that build has changed, making a diff choice superior, or 2) something in a diff build has changed, making that build superior.

Between those links (which are, I'll repeat, unfiltered - just a copy/paste), I'd think you can tell which are which. :cool:

[C-Dog]

The cleric part isn´t for selfhealing since you will be raged non-stop and have the range-disability
"Rage" disalility...

Destruction Domain allows casting of Cleric spells while Raged. Just sayin'.

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Domain#Destruction

[LavidDynch]

"Rage" disalility...

Destruction Domain allows casting of Cleric spells while Raged. Just sayin'.

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Domain#Destruction

yes, but your going War Domain if your interested in DPS, 14 for the holy sword and the other minor bonuses.. just sayin´.

also, casting spells on others requires them to be very close to you since you will be going epic defensive stance. Hard enough to just cast spells on the ADHD crowd without the crippling stance; moving away when you try to raise them for no reason whatsoever, running around corners and screams for heals etc etc... A lot of things are summarized up in the DDO anthem by Six Foe ^^

[LavidDynch]

I tend to do this for myself got a few other similar boring vids of various builds (easier to analyze a video like this too).. but this is r1- Snarla farm on clr/brb.... notes: still want to fit in the Litany (+4 pure dps and +2 stats), you might need to configure the resolution.. and I dont play with I and C open...
edit. Im sorry if I hijacked OP thread -- not my intention.


https://youtu.be/ViWjutzNtpY

[Wipey]

But I do have a question. I am a returning player of a 6ish year hiatus. A lot has changed (mostly for the better, I think). I am about to TR my Warlock and my new group needs a frontline. We are slowly working our way up in reaper levels, but find the lack of CC and frontline an issue. I have read on the forums that melees are pretty screwed in terms of reaper levels, but I was wondering what class/build could do okay in mid-high level reapers? (Obviously, this is going to be dependent on past lives, equipment, etc. but I have searched the forums and they seem kind of dead.)

If you wanna up the skull levels as a group, you need specialized builds/roles.
"Battle cleric" has always been not so good concept. Melee play requires full attention, so does keeping your party alive.
Amongst the other newbie trap builds that gets constant attention here for some reason. Nasty wake up if are ever interested in something more than hamster wheel.

Any good melees will do as "front line". Even more so now that the inquisitive pandemic is over. The damage, survivability and whole party dynamic is much better with melees. But you need someone on full time healing / complimentary cc / some instakills / boss debuffs. And sorc / wiz / lock as dedicated primary cc with added aoe and instakills on advanced toons or players.

Tempest is solid as ever, asassin, shintao, vkf alchy, kotc both s+b and thf or barbie. Lot of very good options now. Monk is still the best high reaper melee in my experience.

[Tilomere]

If you wanna up the skull levels as a group, you need specialized builds/roles ... the other newbie trap builds that gets constant attention here for some reason.

But you need someone on full time healing / complimentary cc / some instakills / boss debuffs. And sorc / wiz / lock as dedicated primary cc with added aoe and instakills on advanced toons or players.


How are new players supposed to get a full time healer and an advanced arcane toon to babysit specialized melee builds?

[SirValentine]

How are new players supposed to get a full time healer and an advanced arcane toon to babysit specialized melee builds?

How are new players supposed to get advanced melee builds to kill things for their specialized healing and/or CC characters?

I mean, it's not like we have some kind of system where we can let other players know we're what we're looking for, right?

And it's not like new players can start on something less than R10 before they go full bore, right?

[Tilomere]

I mean, it's not like we have some kind of system where we can let other players know we're what we're looking for, right?


https://youtu.be/WGhrQ3-xZSc

[axel15810]

Thanks everyone for chiming in and answering questions. I just don't always have time to jump in here and do it.

[axel15810]

If you wanna up the skull levels as a group, you need specialized builds/roles.
"Battle cleric" has always been not so good concept. Melee play requires full attention, so does keeping your party alive.
Amongst the other newbie trap builds that gets constant attention here for some reason. Nasty wake up if are ever interested in something more than hamster wheel.

Any good melees will do as "front line". Even more so now that the inquisitive pandemic is over. The damage, survivability and whole party dynamic is much better with melees. But you need someone on full time healing / complimentary cc / some instakills / boss debuffs. And sorc / wiz / lock as dedicated primary cc with added aoe and instakills on advanced toons or players.

Tempest is solid as ever, asassin, shintao, vkf alchy, kotc both s+b and thf or barbie. Lot of very good options now. Monk is still the best high reaper melee in my experience.

Come on now, calling these builds newbie traps is pretty ridiculous. I agree that if you're looking for a high skull build this isn't it. But new players aren't going to be playing high skull reaper - thus why these builds aren't a new player trap. I've been clear (I think) that this build is not intended for high skulls. Many, I'd wager most, don't care to play high skull. New players especially aren't going to be playing high skulls, and the majority of the playerbase isn't either. This build is much more about having a lot of versatility, self-sufficiency, flavor and being able to serve in either a melee or a healer role. And it holds its own in mid skull and does great in low skull and standard difficulties. When I think new player trap I think of just flat out broken nonfunctional builds such as the premade paths built into the game. Now those are new player traps.

[Maxxcore]

Hey Axel,

I do not spend a lot of time at cap, but my guild has asked that we all try to get one toon up there for weekly raids. I've decided to try this build, but I was wondering what kind of gear layout you're using at cap, so I can know what I should be farming for. I've got a bit of the sharn/RL gear from my main's past lives, but basically not raid gear (if that is even relevant anymore).

Thanks,
Maxxcore

[Alcar]

Hello,

New player, what is the best faith feat for a Human for this build?

Thanks

[unbongwah]

New player, what is the best faith feat for a Human for this build?
Note: this build as presented is not newbie-friendly. It requires several P2P features: Purple Dragon Knight, the Falconry tree (https://ddowiki.com/page/Falconry_enhancements), a +1 Heart of Wood, and +4 Strength tome. Clerics don't get a WIS-to-damage option like Favored Soul and have to rely on Falconry instead. "Downgrading" it to F2P is possible but it doesn't have the same synergies.

This build uses mauls to take advantage of Blessing of Silvanus: "Mauls you wield gain +2 to their Critical Threat Range." Silvanus is only available to the Forgotten Realms Iconic races: Purple Dragon Knight, Shadarkai, Deep Gnome, Scourge Aasimar. A regular (Eberron) race has to pick an Eberron deity. The silver lining to being non-Silvanus is you're not restricted to mauls. Since this is a War-domain cleric build, you gain all weapon proficiencies at level 5 and can use whatever weapons you want. And since this isn't a Warpriest-based build, you don't have to worry about favored weapon bonuses. Instead, pick the deity with the special ability you like best, such as Unyielding Sovereignty or Luck of Olladra.

https://ddowiki.com/page/Deity_feats

[Alcar]

Hello,

Thank you. I will play human then respec into the other race.

Cheers,

[axel15810]

Just did an update video on my U48 gearset. I posted a video on my youtube channel (see link to my channel below in my signature or to the left via the link below my forum title) if anyone wants to check it out. I will also be updating the original build post in the next week or so, hopefully.

[axel15810]

Original post now updated for U48, including endgame gearset. New video recorded and added there as well.

[Eredhor2]

Maybe I'm missing something, but is there any particular reason that you couldn't make this toon as a Morninglord? You'd have to use Fred (or a LR) to reset your diety to Sylvanus, and you'd still have the issue of being 1 feat shy, but shouldn't it otherwise work fine? I'm wondering because I keep seeing the recommendation of using Scourge with a +1 Lr as an alternative to PDK.

Am currently running it as a PDK and enjoying the heck out it. Thanks for the build!

[axel15810]

Maybe I'm missing something, but is there any particular reason that you couldn't make this toon as a Morninglord? You'd have to use Fred (or a LR) to reset your diety to Sylvanus, and you'd still have the issue of being 1 feat shy, but shouldn't it otherwise work fine? I'm wondering because I keep seeing the recommendation of using Scourge with a +1 Lr as an alternative to PDK.

Am currently running it as a PDK and enjoying the heck out it. Thanks for the build!

The reason is because as far as I know, morninglord doesn't have the option to choose silvanus for their diety. Only deep gnome, PDK, scourge and shadar-kai can according to the ddo wiki. I've never tested it, so if the wiki is wrong please let me know.

If there is some workaround with a heart that would be nice to know. But still, I'm not sure why at that point someone wouldn't just run PDK or Scourge instead since you'd have to use a heart of wood in either case. Unless it's just for flavor. Morninglord has -2 CON and their tree doesn't really have any compelling low hanging fruit in it.

[Djjinni]

The reason is because as far as I know, morninglord doesn't have the option to choose silvanus for their diety. Only deep gnome, PDK, scourge and shadar-kai can according to the ddo wiki. I've never tested it, so if the wiki is wrong please let me know.

If there is some workaround with a heart that would be nice to know. But still, I'm not sure why at that point someone wouldn't just run PDK or Scourge instead since you'd have to use a heart of wood in either case. Unless it's just for flavor. Morninglord has -2 CON and their tree doesn't really have any compelling low hanging fruit in it.

Morninglord can't worship Silvanus in any intended way, only getting the choice of Amaunator.

PDK or Scourge have perks on a build like this, and both can work just fine as a 19/1 for anyone not looking to invest a heart in it too

[xBunny]

PDK Feat Selection by Level

If Scourge race, drop Intensify. Feat order may need to be swapped around depending on what STR tome you have and/or how much you invest in STR initially. You need a total of 13 base STR for Power Attack, 15 for THF feat and 17 for ITHF and GTHF feats. The following leveling order assumes you start with 13 STR at character creation and have atleast a +4 STR tome.

What is Intesify for?

[axel15810]

What is Intesify for?

To apply to radiant burst, mostly.

[Lord_Balon]

Hi Axel:

Thank you for posting this build. It has got me trying my hand at melee cleric again. My question is how would you do the gear set without any raid items? I figure the Part of the Family set is still viable but other than that, I'm having trouble coming up with a good gear layout.

Thanks again.

[Riffolk]

Hi Axel:

My question is how would you do the gear set without any raid items? I figure the Part of the Family set is still viable but other than that, I'm having trouble coming up with a good gear layout.



Part of the Family is usually a good place to start. A lot of melee builds I've seen are also running a 4 piece Winter set for the bonus HP.

I think the biggest challenge this build might run into running no raid gear is finding assassinate items that fit well.
Knifepalm (from Ravenloft) clashes with the Part of the Family gloves.
So the other option is the Bracers of the Hidden Blade from The Newcomers + Subtle Sound from Creeping Death for insightful assassinate.
That's 2 item slots that don't contribute to what I think are the builds most important stats (enough defense to stay alive, some devotion + lore for heals).

As far as the end game options for non-raid mauls, I think it's pretty much a wash between Absolute Judgement, Morninglord's, and Syranian.
My vote would be Syranian just because I think adamantine bypass is common enough.

[Lord_Balon]

Thank you Riffolk!

[axel15810]

Hi Axel:

Thank you for posting this build. It has got me trying my hand at melee cleric again. My question is how would you do the gear set without any raid items? I figure the Part of the Family set is still viable but other than that, I'm having trouble coming up with a good gear layout.

Thanks again.

I'd echo a lot of what was said above. Start with Legendary Part of the Family and then work on filling it out from there. Probably focusing on mostly Sharn/Feywild stuff.

Gear tetris is a pain. I'd recommend theorizing gearsets in excel using the DDOwiki, figure out the most optimal combination you can and then start farming.

[Maxxcore]

What's a good beater for the high heroics to low epics? Pretty new at melees, but this build looks pretty sweet.

[Lord_Balon]

What's a good beater for the high heroics to low epics? Pretty new at melees, but this build looks pretty sweet.

If you have access to the Sharn expansion, I would recommend crafting syrianian forged maul, this would get you a weapon which has:
- Heroic ML15: 1.5W, 4d6 Electric Damage, 4d6 Good Damage, 4d10 Construct Bane, Adamantine, Red slot (per the wiki)
https://ddowiki.com/page/Syranian_Forged_Weaponry

This would last you into Epics for a while and then you could look at making a thunderforged item:
- ML22 Tier 0: 3.5[W], +9 Enhancement (and you can add features to them but they increase the ML)
https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Thunder-Forged_Alloy_Maul

base ingredients to make both are not too hard to find and if you ask around, ppl may give them to you.

[C-Dog]

Gear tetris is a pain. I'd recommend theorizing gearsets in excel using the DDOwiki, figure out the most optimal combination you can and then start farming.
The crafting planner from this "tools" mix is pretty handy; won't be up-to-date re all the latest named items, but you can lock those in by hand and see what else can fit via Cannith Crafting/etc.

o https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/455712-Character-Builder-Lite?p=5534437&viewfull=1#post5534437

[Montegue]

Axel - how do you feel about splashing Feydark Illusionist for CHA to hit/damage and Color Spray for CC?

[axel15810]

Axel - how do you feel about splashing Feydark Illusionist for CHA to hit/damage and Color Spray for CC?

Looks cool, but I haven't put much thought into it though or tried it.

[unbongwah]

Lama preview of Radiant Servant revamp (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/524640-First-Look-Radiant-Servant-Adjustments): most (all?) of the 2-AP costs are being reduced to 1 AP, two new SLAs (CMW and Raise Dead), and a shiny new ability ("Radiance: All allies in the dungeon (regardless of distance) gain the effects of the Greater Restoration spell, and purges Paralysis, Stun, and Knockdown/Trip").

[axel15810]

Lama preview of Radiant Servant revamp (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/524640-First-Look-Radiant-Servant-Adjustments): most (all?) of the 2-AP costs are being reduced to 1 AP, two new SLAs (CMW and Raise Dead), and a shiny new ability ("Radiance: All allies in the dungeon (regardless of distance) gain the effects of the Greater Restoration spell, and purges Paralysis, Stun, and Knockdown/Trip").

Very interesting. I'll be doing a youtube video talking about it for sure. I'm perplexed by some of the choices by the devs here (tier 5 raise dead SLA? what the f? why?) but overall lots to like, the AP reduction is much welcome and the new Radiance ability has me very enthused. A very significant and welcome buff for this build for sure.

[unbongwah]

tier 5 raise dead SLA? what the f? why?
They say it's to give parity with Beacon of Hope's SLA. But BoH also gets Heal SLA, which I'm guessing gets spammed a lot more often than Raise Dead. At least if the healer is doing their job properly. :cool:

[user110000]

Hi, love the build thanks, got half the items so far and just pulled Tremor, yay! Do you have a recommendation for filigree sets? I didnt see it mentioned. Just stripping the filigrees and jewel off my Morninglords maul. I have 5 enlightened step filigrees in it at the moment, going to look what sets i have now as ive got some more filigrees in the last few weeks.

Thanks

[axel15810]

Hi, love the build thanks, got half the items so far and just pulled Tremor, yay! Do you have a recommendation for filigree sets? I didnt see it mentioned. Just stripping the filigrees and jewel off my Morninglords maul. I have 5 enlightened step filigrees in it at the moment, going to look what sets i have now as ive got some more filigrees in the last few weeks.

Thanks

Just FYI, update 50 is a major meta changer. I haven't done any gear tetris yet but I'm expecting that I'll have to do a complete gearset overhaul. Other than the Tremor, which I assume is still the best maul.

I had been using the prowess set as far as filigrees go. Haven't looked too much into the new filigree stuff yet either so dunno if that'll change.

[Maxxcore]

Is this build still solid and viable? Is there any update on where to look for gear if so? I saw youtube video about the pass on ED, but would love to know if this one is reasonable before I jump in! Thanks :)

[C-Dog]

Is this build still solid and viable?
Yes


Is there any update on where to look for gear if so?
Well...
Just FYI, update 50 is a major meta changer. I haven't done any gear tetris yet but I'm expecting that I'll have to do a complete gearset overhaul......so... U 50 (https://ddowiki.com/page/Update_50_Release_Notes) et al. (Don't overlook changes to access previously ultra-rare named items)

[axel15810]

Is this build still solid and viable? Is there any update on where to look for gear if so? I saw youtube video about the pass on ED, but would love to know if this one is reasonable before I jump in! Thanks :)

Yeah, for sure. I've changed what I'm running some though including ED choices and feats. I want to update at some point after Isle of Dread and the level cap increase which will change endgame gear setup and maybe build/feats a bit. Or stop by my twitch channel when I'm streaming (twitch.tv/axelalexk) if you catch me live and I'll answer whatever questions you have. I haven't done the best job of keeping the thread up to date.

Also, I delayed overhauling the endgame gearset until after Isle of Dread, as I was on the Epic Reincarnation loop plus I knew I'd just have to redo it anyway when the level cap increase hit. And Saltmarsh in U50 and subsequent updates didn't change much anyway. Feywild/Sharn gearsets have been king for a while. Tremor is still best maul. I imagine all this will finally change with Isle of Dread though.

[Whitering]

If you aren't sure about this build I give it my heartiest recommendation. I used my LR20 on my main toon way back when to swap to it. I had hated my previous build so much I stopped playing the game for years, came back, saw this one and gave it a go. Soon enough I had 3 epic past lives all my first life toon, then I tred into a Tree build, but those are gone now. You will be loved on raids by tanks and other melee for sure.

[Rhunah]

Hi,
do you have an update about epic destinies?

[axel15810]

Hi,
do you have an update about epic destinies?

They have changed, yes. And there's a lot to update - not just EDs. Unfortunately my PC died a few weeks ago and haven't yet gotten a replacement so can't update yet. I'll rehaul the OP and do a new video as soon as I can. Don't know yet when that will be.

[Rexthor007]

Interesting advice I did not ever use falcon tree I will test out a build my favorite builds have always been 19th cleric with 1 level fighter human.

[axel15810]

The original post has been updated to what I'm running as of Update 57. Except for an updated endgame gearset, that's not ready yet. I added a new video with my up to date thoughts to the original post as well.

[DareDelvis]

Thanks for the update and the years of work that you put into the build and updates.
Not running it atm, but you thoughts on the epic destinies helped me with an alt with which I decide to mess around.
Cheers

[axel15810]

Thanks for the update and the years of work that you put into the build and updates.
Not running it atm, but you thoughts on the epic destinies helped me with an alt with which I decide to mess around.
Cheers

You're welcome. Glad it was helpful.

[Whitering]

This is the build that kept me from quitting the game a long time ago, and I still use it on alts because it is so sturdy. I am super happy that Axel continues to be involved with the game and keeps updating this classic build. Thank you.

[Agr33n3]

After seeing Axel crush some R10s in a group, I thought I'd give my take on the THF melee gear set.

Notes: gear set is somewhat incomplete for augments, and is not 100% optimized. It also requires a fair bit of IoD crafting.

Pros: 118 Falconry DCs, about 2.5k hp, 240 PRR, -130% melee threat, around 300 melee power, 600 positive spellpower, 86% fort bypass before 50% from falconry.

Cons: around 100 MRR, 3 imbue dice, no Crown of Summer, and probably tons more...


Here we go:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Armor · · · · Legendary Enforcer's Plate· ·Drops in: Quest: The Wraithcallers
· · · · · · · +15 Enhancement Bonus
· · · · · · · Fortification +142%
· · · · · · · Physical Sheltering +33
· · · · · · · Healing Amplification +53
· · · · · · · False Life +50
· · · · · · · Green: +12 Sapphire of Dodge
· · · · · · · Legendary Part of the Family
Belt· · · · · Legendary Direbear Belt · Drops in: U48 Quest: Quid Pro Quo
· · · · · · · Insightful Sheltering +17
· · · · · · · Rough Hide +5
· · · · · · · Natural Armor Bonus +13
· · · · · · · Roar
· · · · · · · Green: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Eminence of Winter
Boots · · · · Legendary Deepsnow Boots· ·Drops in: U48 Quest: A Frosty Reception
· · · · · · · Insightful Constitution +6
· · · · · · · Quality Constitution +3
· · · · · · · Freedom of Movement
· · · · · · · Fortitude Save +10
· · · · · · · Green: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Eminence of Winter
Bracers · · · Legendary Cold Iron Bracers · Drops in: U48 Quest: Immortality Lessons
· · · · · · · Ghostly
· · · · · · · Protection +10
· · · · · · · Vitality +44
· · · · · · · Quality False Life +12
· · · · · · · Green: +2 Festive Constitution
· · · · · · · Eminence of Winter
Cloak · · · · Legendary Cloak of Winter · Drops in: U48 Quest: Comabtting Corruption
· · · · · · · Cold Absorption +34%
· · · · · · · False Life +50
· · · · · · · Legendary Ice Barrier
· · · · · · · Lifesealed 34%
· · · · · · · Green: +10 Topaz of Melee Power
· · · · · · · Eminence of Winter
Gloves· · · · Legendary Hammerfist· ·Drops in: Quest: Blown Deadline
· · · · · · · Insightful Doublestrike +6%
· · · · · · · Cannith Combat Infusion
· · · · · · · Seeker +13
· · · · · · · Insightful Deadly +4
· · · · · · · Blue: +10 Sapphire of Resistance
· · · · · · · Legendary Part of the Family
Goggles · · · Legendary Collective Sight· ·Drops in: Quest: Blown Deadline
· · · · · · · Quality Resistance +2
· · · · · · · Temperance of Belief
· · · · · · · Nearly Finished (SDCIWC): +13 Constitution
· · · · · · · Nearly Finished (Ins SDCIWC): +6 Insightful Wisdom
· · · · · · · Blue: +2 Festive Wisdom
Helmet· · · · Dinosaur Bone Helmet· ·Drops in: The Isle of Dread, any chest
· · · · · · · IoD: Accessory: Scale Slot: Scale: Positive Spell Crit Damage
· · · · · · · IoD: Accessory: Fang Slot: Fang: Positive Spell Crit Damage
· · · · · · · IoD: Accessory: Claw Slot: Claw: Physical Resistance Rating
· · · · · · · IoD: Accessory: Horn Slot: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · IoD: Set Bonus Slot: The Legendary Dread Isle's Curse
· · · · · · · Green: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Yellow: Empty augment slot
Necklace· · · Legendary Family Recruit Sigil· ·Drops in: Quest: House of Pain
· · · · · · · True Seeing
· · · · · · · Armor-Piercing +20
· · · · · · · Deadly +10
· · · · · · · Relentless Fury
· · · · · · · Yellow: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Legendary Part of the Family
Ring1 · · · · Legendary Signet Ring of the Sky· ·Drops in: Quest: The Curse and the Captive Crustacean
· · · · · · · Devotion +149
· · · · · · · Radiance +149
· · · · · · · Nulification +149
· · · · · · · IoD: Accessory: Claw Slot: Claw: Assassinate
· · · · · · · Green: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · The Legendary Dread Isle's Curse
Ring2 · · · · Dinosaur Bone Ring· ·Drops in: The Isle of Dread, any legendary chest; or Dread saga legendary end reward
· · · · · · · IoD: Accessory: Artifact Scale Slot: Scale: +15 Wisdom
· · · · · · · IoD: Accessory: Fang Slot: Fang: Seeker +14
· · · · · · · IoD: Accessory: Claw Slot: Claw: Magical Resistance Rating
· · · · · · · IoD: Accessory: Horn Slot: Horn: Relentless Fury
· · · · · · · Blue: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Green: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Yellow: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · The Legendary Dread Isle's Curse
· · · · · · · Filigree 1: Prowess: Melee Power
· · · · · · · Filigree 2: Treachery: Threat Reduction
· · · · · · · Filigree 3: Celerity/Vigilance: +2 Wisdom
· · · · · · · Filigree 4: Sanctified Fervor: Melee Power
Trinket · · · Legendary Red Raptor Feather· ·Drops in: Quest: Captive of the Hidden God
· · · · · · · Insightful Deception +5
· · · · · · · Quality Assassinate +3
· · · · · · · Lesser Displacement
· · · · · · · IoD: Accessory: Fang Slot: Fang: Deception +11
· · · · · · · Green: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Colorless: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · The Legendary Dread Isle's Curse
Weapon1 · · · Attuned Bone Maul · Drops in: Skeletons in the Closet
· · · · · · · Damage and Type 5[1d10+3] + 15 Bludgeon, Magic
· · · · · · · Critical Threat Range 20 x3
· · · · · · · +15 Enhancement Bonus
· · · · · · · IoD: Weapon: Scale Slot: MeltScale
· · · · · · · IoD: Weapon: Fang Slot: Brightfang
· · · · · · · IoD: Weapon: Claw Slot: Meltclaw: Wisdom
· · · · · · · IoD: Weapon: Horn Slot: Melthorn
· · · · · · · Orange: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Purple: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · The Legendary Dread Isle's Curse
· · · · · · · Sentient Weapon Personality: Sentient Jewel of Blackrazor
· · · · · · · Filigree 1: Prowess: Melee Power
· · · · · · · Filigree 2: Prowess: MRR
· · · · · · · Filigree 3: Prowess: PRR
· · · · · · · Filigree 4: Prowess: Attack and Damage
· · · · · · · Filigree 5: Treachery: Melee Power
· · · · · · · Filigree 6: Celerity/Vigilance: +2 Wisdom
· · · · · · · Filigree 7: Treachery: Critical Attack and Damage
· · · · · · · Filigree 8: Treachery: Threat Reduction
· · · · · · · Filigree 9: Sanctified Fervor: Wisdom

[ccd1977]

(Updated 12/2/22)

Hey everyone! The build has now been updated as of Update 57. Below is what I'm running currently, and an up to date write up giving my thoughts on playing this build in today's meta. *Shameless plug* I'm also a DDO youtuber and have been forever, I upload DDO content regularly over there so please do me a favor and subscribe to My Youtube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd8L2y9m7q8NOYTOTbzeVnw). You can also Follow me on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/AxelAlexK) and Twitch (http://www.twitch.tv/axelalexk).


https://youtu.be/5ZQyCztr9Fk



Build Goal

Melee Cleric with as much DPS as possible while still remaining a fully capable main party healer in Reaper and in Raids. Using Falconry with WIS to hit/damage and CC with a focus on Two Handed Fighting utilizing Silvanus with Mauls. This build is not a top tier build but is plenty viable at any reaper skull level with proper gear and smart play.

Split

20 Cleric

Why pure?

We’re spending all of our enhancement points in Falconry, Radiant Servant and Vistani so there’s no extra points to spare for other class trees. Pure cleric gives the radiant servant capstone - not amazing but solid. Also, pure cleric gives more caster levels and more spell points which is a nice perk.

Splashing pally or fighter can certainly be a great alternative but again, we don’t have points to spare for those trees with this build. The fighter level isn’t a must with haste boost being available in Vistani as opposed to just Kensei - plus Vistani has some great low hanging fruit like deflect arrows and negative absorption. Also, be aware that if you splash Paladin you must be lawful good so you won't be able to be chaotic as I recommend in this post.

Running something like 17cleric/3 pally is a good split for a more defensive focused shield using healbot build. But while this build is a healer it is not only a healer, it is much more offensive focused so we’re not going to be investing in tanky trees. This build in comparison to a healbot brings some solid melee DPS. However, this build is giving up survivability in return for that DPS while still maintaining all the healing ability you’ll need for any situation. So in reaper and higher difficulties this build is going to be more inherently difficult to play as a result in comparison to a healbot. You can heal plenty well enough for any difficulty but won’t be as survivable as a healbot so your margin of error is lower. You’ll be able to take fewer hits so you need to play smarter.

The big payoff though is this build when utilized well is much more useful to the vast majority of parties than a healbot since not only can you bring all the heals the party will need, just like a healbot, but unlike a healbot you’ll add DPS to the party on top of it. It’s kind of like playing a THF fighter and a healbot all in one.


Race

Purple Dragon Knight or Aasimar Scourge

Please note, this build is only intended to be played with a race that has access to the Silvanus diety feat, or else it doesn’t make sense to use mauls. This religious feat gives bonuses to crit range and to hit/damage with mauls and is only selectable by a small number of races, and they are all iconics. The only races with Silvanus access are PDK, Scourge, Shadar-kai and Deep Gnome.

Of these four races, PDK and Aasimar Scourge are the two best choices. Both require you to purchase a +1 Lesser Heart of Wood from the DDO Store to remove the forced first iconic level if you want to follow the build as I’ve put it together. However, for PDK you could optionally choose to leave the fighter level if you don’t want to spend the DDO points for it. You’d miss out on the radiant servant capstone and 1 caster level but gain an additional feat. You’d also gain the option to access haste boost in tier 1 Kensei instead of tier 2 Vistani.

Which is better, PDK or Scourge? It's a toss up, they're about equally viable. The biggest difference is PDK gets an extra feat while Scourge gets +2 extra WIS. Take your pick which you prefer. It's worth noting Aasimar Scourge I'd argue also has a slightly better racial enhancement tree overall for this build in addition to the inherent +2 to WIS. So if you have a lot of racial past lives, and therefore a lot of extra racial tree only enhancement points, Scourge could be better since you’ll have an arguably better tree in which to spend those points. If you go Scourge you’ll have to either drop one of the feats I’ve listed below (I’d recommend dropping Empower) or splash a fighter level to get another feat. I don’t spend any points in racial trees, I don’t have any racial past lives at the time of this post and I utilize radiant servant burst a lot so I opt for PDK for the free feat which allows me to take Empower for even better bursts.

Note you can also use Deep Gnome with this build, another WIS based race just like Scourge, but since Scourge’s tree fits this build better than Deep Gnome’s and Deep Gnome gets -2 STR and -2 CHA inherently there's no reason to choose it over Scourge unless you just want it for flavor or that particular past life. Same goes for Shadar-kai. You technically could choose it since it has access to Silvanus but again, there’s not any reason to pick it other than flavor or unless you want that particular past life.

Starting Stats

1st priority WIS, max it. Next priority is CON. The only other stat that really matters is STR (This build is WIS based but needs some STR to meet feat requirements). CHA gives extra turns, but we have plenty regardless so just dump CHA.

I’m not listing an exact split because your starting stats depend entirely on what STR tome, if any, that you have. This is because you’ll need enough base STR (points invested in the stat + STR tomes) to meet feat requirements.

You must have a total of 13 base STR to take Power Attack, 15 to take the THF feat and 17 to take the ITHF and GTHF feats. This is very important to not overlook. Be sure you have this amount of STR at each level you plan to take these feats. You should end up with base STR of 17 and no more.

Skills

Heal, UMD, Jump

Heal boosts positive spellpower so is a no brainer, UMD is invaluable for convenience - mainly teleport scrolls but also various other buffs via wands/scrolls. Jump you should take enough to hit the cap of 40 after applying any jump items/buffs. Going over 40 doesn’t help you. Any extra points can go wherever you’d prefer. Diplomacy (to hit various skills checks in quests) and Haggle (for more plat) are my top 2 choices. But the 4th choice really doesn’t matter much.

Alignment

Chaotic Neutral

The reason for this is we’re taking tier 5 Fury of the Wild and the Harbinger of Chaos feat. Being Chaotic means we get an extra 10 PRR and 50 hitpoints from the Scarred by Chaos enhancement in tier 5 Fury of the Wild. I choose Chaotic Neutral over Chaotic Good in order to be immune to any alignment based damage which would affect Good aligned characters.

PDK Feat Selection by Level

**Important Disclaimer** The below feat selection order assumes you are starting as an Iconic character at level 15. This feat order will not make sense if you’re starting at level 1.

I take the melee feats later in order to give STR tomes time to kick in to assist in meeting feat requirements (I have a +8 STR tome here). And since the lowest I’m ever starting is at level 15 it doesn’t matter if I take them later. Doing this allows me to start with a lower STR at character creation, wasting less points in a useless stat.

If you’re playing this build on the hardcore server where you’ll start at level 1 as an iconic you’ll want to take the melee feats earlier obviously and take more STR to meet their requirements.

(Again, you need a total of 13 base STR to take Power Attack, 15 to take the THF feat and 17 to take the ITHF and GTHF feats)

If Scourge race, drop Empower.



Class and Feat Selection
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Level Class · · · · · ·Feats
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Level 1 Requires a +1 Heart of Wood to switch out of Iconic Class
1 · · Cleric(1) · · · ·Standard: Maximize Spell
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Purple Dragon Knight Bonus: Empower Healing Spell
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Follower of Faith: Favored by Silvanus
2 · · Cleric(2) · · · ·Domain: War Domain Tier I
3 · · Cleric(3) · · · ·Standard: Quicken Spell
4 · · Cleric(4) · · · ·Wisdom: +1 Level up
5 · · Cleric(5) · · · ·Domain Feat: War Domain Tier II
6 · · Cleric(6) · · · ·Standard: Power Attack
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Deity: Blessing of Silvanus
7 · · Cleric(7) · · · ·
8 · · Cleric(8) · · · ·Wisdom: +1 Level up
9 · · Cleric(9) · · · ·Standard: Two Handed Fighting
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Domain Feat: War Domain Tier III
10· · Cleric(10)· · · ·
11· · Cleric(11)· · · ·
12· · Cleric(12)· · · ·Standard: Improved Critical: Bludgeoning Weapons
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Wisdom: +1 Level up
13· · Cleric(13)· · · ·
14· · Cleric(14)· · · ·Domain Feat: War Domain Tier IV
15· · Cleric(15)· · · ·Standard: Improved Two Handed Fighting
16· · Cleric(16)· · · ·Wisdom: +1 Level up
17· · Cleric(17)· · · ·
18· · Cleric(18)· · · ·Standard: Greater Two Handed Fighting
19· · Cleric(19)· · · ·
20· · Cleric(20)· · · ·Wisdom: +1 Level up
21· · Epic(1) · · · · ·Epic Feat: Overwhelming Critical
22· · Epic(2) · · · · ·Epic Destiny Feat: Perfect Two Handed Fighting
23· · Epic(3) · · · · ·
24· · Epic(4) · · · · ·Epic Feat: Intensify Spell
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Wisdom: +1 Level up
25· · Epic(5) · · · · ·Epic Destiny Feat: Doublestrike
26· · Epic(6) · · · · ·
27· · Epic(7) · · · · ·Epic Feat: Empower Spell
28· · Epic(8) · · · · ·Epic Destiny Feat: Crush Weakness
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Wisdom: +1 Level up
29· · Epic(9) · · · · ·
30· · Epic(10)· · · · ·Epic Feat: Beloved of the Divine
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Legendary: Scion of Arborea
31· · Legendary(1)· · ·Epic Destiny Feat: Harbinger of Chaos
32· · Legendary(2)· · ·Wisdom: +1 Level up



Domain

War Domain

This is the domain you should take because it gives the Holy Sword SLA, giving a +1 competence bonus to critical damage range and critical damage multiplier. That makes this is our clear choice of domain because it's easily the best for increasing our melee DPS. As a bonus, you also buff yourself and anyone near you +10 melee and range power every time you use Radiant Servant Burst or Aura. Please note, we don't need to give up DPS for even more healing by taking a domain like the Healing Domain. The healing abilities this build has is already plenty sufficient to serve as a party healer. And Holy Sword is way too much DPS to be worth giving up for the extra survivability a Domain like Animal offers. There aren't any viable alternatives to War Domain for this build.

Heroic Enhancements

https://i.imgur.com/UkW5guP.jpg

As a party healer I want tier 5 radiant servant for the no max caster levels on cure spells most of all, but also for aura.

Falconry gives us WIS to hit/damage (be aware the tier 3 is bugged and gives both to hit and damage with WIS so as shown in the image, do not take the tier 2 Killer Instinct 1). The tier 4 in Falconry is amazingly good. -50% fort debuff on Falconry attacks, An AoE blind for our go to CC, 30% extra helpless damage and a WIS based trance for extra damage. There's also all kinds of other goodies to grab in the cores and in tiers 1, 2 and 3 as shown in the image.

Vistani is super important, haste boost is so good that it is absolutely mandatory to get it either here or in Kensei (by splashing fighter). Vistani can be unlocked on a per character basis by running all the regular Ravenloft quests on elite or higher, or by buying the tree outright in the DDO store. If you don't have the tree unlocked already I would highly recommend running the heroic Ravenloft saga on Elite or higher be the first thing you do after creating your level 15 character so you can get haste boost. You can also get a good starter maul for free by talking to the NPC in the Barovian wilderness right after finishing the Into the Mists quest.

Why don't you use the Warpriest tree?

Short answer, Falconry is just an objectively better tree. It’s a better option in basically every area that matters. Warpriest is very weak in its current state and no melee cleric should ever use it as a primary tree. It fails to be worth putting a substantial investment in on any kind of melee cleric compared to spending those points in Falconry. You could certainly justify a small investment, but nobody should invest as high as tier 4 or tier 5 except in some niche use situations for Divine Intervention (such as if you wanted to solo the Strahd raid and need it to deal with grip). SSG, if you’re reading this please consider giving Warpriest a much needed overhaul so it can be competitive as a primary tree.

Epic Destiny Enhancements

https://i.imgur.com/v5g6qfj.jpg

I've spent considerable time experimenting with all the relevant destiny trees at this point and this is what I feel is the most optimal tree split for this build.

Fury of the Wild (Adrenaline in particular) is way too good to pass up. Adrenaline bonuses throughout the tree and the tier 5 being amazing for two handed fighting make it a clear choice for our tier 5. Note that you should not take any of the enhancements in this tree that give or provide extra benefits for barbarian rage, as we can't rage since that would prevent us from casting any spells (we are a party healer after all). The primal rage buff in tier 2 is fine to use though, that buff does not prevent spellcasting.

Sentinel is really important because of renewal, which is just invaluable to have. It gives us another cheap healing SLA to go alongside our cure moderate wounds SLA, and our only good source of pre-healing. Renewal is pretty much mandatory if you’re healing a tank as well, since you can hit them with this preheal/healing over time effect to go along side whatever else you’re healing the tank with. There’s also a lot of nice offensive and survivability stuff in Sentinel such as extra to hit and the Into the Fray enhancement in tier 3. It’s also another melee tree so that means 15 more melee power from the cores.

Shadowdancer gives +6 DCs for Falconry attacks via the tier 1 assassinate enhancement which is the primary reason to take this tree. Though everything else there I take up to tier 3 such as doublestrike, sneak attack die and 3 more melee cores for 15 more melee power and other bonuses all synergize very well too. We also get a handy Ddoor clicky in the 2nd core.

Why not use Angel destiny? That aura from the mantle is amazing!

The other 3 trees I use are just more essential and giving up our mantle, 15 melee power from cores plus having to dip into tier 3 to get it is just too expensive and the synergy overall is not good enough for Exalted Angel to be worth it. And while I would love to have the aura from Angel on this build it’s not as essential as the other trees. Bottom line is we don’t need the extra healing SLAs and such from Angel, and the Epic Strikes would conflict with Adrenaline. We can already sufficiently serve as a party or raid healer and have enough healing SLAs and spells already so more doesn’t really matter that much. I heal R10s and any raid no problem with this build. Believe me, you don't need to sacrifice DPS in your destiny tree choices in order to get more healing. Radiant servant, being 17 cleric, proper gearing and taking Renewal make us already plenty capable enough of healing R10s and raids.

Why no Divine Crusader?

I don’t use Divine Crusader for many reasons. But the bottom line is Shadowdancer and Sentinel are just more essential for reasons I stated above, and we don’t use shields or have the hotkey real estate to bother with smite evil so it just doesn’t synergize with this build. And Adrenaline again, is far too good to pass up for Consecrated Ground even though I really like that ability. Crusader is now much more focused on shield users than it was prior to the Epic Destiny pass in Update 51, particularly shield user paladins, and doesn’t synergize particularly well with this build anymore.

Reaper Enhancements

https://i.imgur.com/AUbd2yf.jpg

Not a lot to say here. Just make sure you grab Reaper’s Strike from tier 1 Dread Adversary because it’s incredibly powerful for just 4 reaper points since it doesn’t share a cooldown with Haste Boost so you can use them together for some extremely good burst DPS synergy.

Remember second and higher cores in reaper trees apply even outside of reaper mode so the crazy amount of extra hitpoints you can get from Grim Barricade’s cores means I tend to plop most of my points into that tree since the melee bonuses outside of the aforementioned Reaper’s Strike in Dread Adversary are rather minor in comparison. Obviously the goal down the line though is to gain max reaper points so I can take both but I only have 43 reaper points as of the writing of this post.

Past Lives

Not required for this build, it is first life friendly, but they obviously help.

Epic past lives are your best bang for the buck when it comes to time vs. benefit gained. The most important being 3x Martial Doublestrike past lives for a 9% doublestrike toggle. This is what you should go for first if you want to jump on the reincarnation train. Primal past lives are very nice for extra hitpoints as are Divine past lives for more PRR. Epic past lives in general are helpful for more fate points and eventually more epic destiny points.

Paladin, Sacred Fist, Barbarian and Fighter are the most useful for heroic past lives. Paladin gives extra healing amp, Sacred Fist gives extra healing amp and positive spell power, Barbarian gives extra hitpoints and Fighter gives extra to hit.

The best iconic past life bonuses are the toggles from either Aasimar Scourge for extra doublestrike or from Razorclaw Shifter for extra to hit and damage.

Racial past lives are not required either but obviously are great for extra racial action points and extra stats. Human and Aasimar racial past lives for the extra rank of WIS is the most helpful of the races but extra racial enhancement points from 3x racial in any race are obviously amazing to have too.

Playstyle

In Reaper, focus on debuffing/CC’ing enemies with falconry attacks while healing the party. Do Melee DPS as well of course but healing is generally your first priority. Stay back and heal in Reaper when it gets too dangerous for you to be up front melee'ing. The most important skill you'll need to master when playing this build at higher difficulties is to know when to melee and when to step back and heal. You have to get a feel for the party and play accordingly. You don’t want to get too aggressive and die, but you also don’t want to be a liability and not contribute in terms of offense to your party when healing isn’t much needed. Some parties (in high Reaper mode particularly) will require you to play more cautiously and do more healing while lower difficulties and very self-sufficient parties may let you focus almost soley on CC and DPS.

Endgame Gearset

I don't have this updated yet as of Update 57, but am planning to add this at some point when I get it together.

So is there a way to just get max Melee while cranking up just the radiant bursts and aura? Not interesting in healing individuals as much as AoE healing.

[axel15810]

So is there a way to just get max Melee while cranking up just the radiant bursts and aura? Not interesting in healing individuals as much as AoE healing.

Not 100% sure I understand what you're asking. If not concerned with single target heals at all you could swap out Sentinel for a different 3rd tree if you wish, since you won't be interested in renewal, though even still I don't know if there significant melee improvements to be had by doing that.

[ccd1977]

Not 100% sure I understand what you're asking. If not concerned with single target heals at all you could swap out Sentinel for a different 3rd tree if you wish, since you won't be interested in renewal, though even still I don't know if there significant melee improvements to be had by doing that.

I was thinking if there in another class that may impact the melee while also keeping the radiant servant bursts and auras. Since I dont know what would be good or not, I began thinking maybe fighter or barb?

But if that doesnt make me a static fount of healing then scratch that.

[unbongwah]

I was thinking if there in another class that may impact the melee while also keeping the radiant servant bursts and auras. Since I dont know what would be good or not, I began thinking maybe fighter or barb?
Most common splash is cleric 17 / fighter or paladin 3 for access to defensive stance bonuses. But this means giving up the last two Radiant Servant cores:


Positive Energy Shield: You gain +1% Positive Energy Spell Critical Chance. Channel Divinity: Your living ally receives temporary hit points equal to your Heal skill. While these hit points remain, your target receives +10% Sacred bonus to healing they receive from positive energy. (Cooldown: 30 seconds)
Radiant Servant: You gain +4 Wisdom. Every fifth positive energy spell you cast deals maximum healing and has +50% chance to critical.

It's that last bonus which would be the most significant loss for your AoE healing IMO.

[axel15810]

I was thinking if there in another class that may impact the melee while also keeping the radiant servant bursts and auras. Since I dont know what would be good or not, I began thinking maybe fighter or barb?

But if that doesnt make me a static fount of healing then scratch that.

It really all comes down to how much you want to lean in the melee DPS vs. healbot direction. Can adjust this build to tilt more in either direction. What I have laid out in the original post is what I feel is the minimum healing specs needed to be a party/raid healer. So that's what I'd suggest if that's what you want. That said this is just my opinion and what constitutes minimum specs needed to be a party/raid healer is highly subjective. If you are not concerned as much with healing you certainly could splash fighter, barb or whatever and spend points in those trees and less in radiant servant.

First I'd decide what tier 5 you want in your heroic enhancements, what cleric spells you want access to, what tier 5 ED you want and go from there.

An easy change would be to follow this build except just trade tier 5 radiant servant for tier 5 falconry if you want to tilt more towards melee and less towards healing.

[ccd1977]

It really all comes down to how much you want to lean in the melee DPS vs. healbot direction. Can adjust this build to tilt more in either direction. What I have laid out in the original post is what I feel is the minimum healing specs needed to be a party/raid healer. So that's what I'd suggest if that's what you want. That said this is just my opinion and what constitutes minimum specs needed to be a party/raid healer is highly subjective. If you are not concerned as much with healing you certainly could splash fighter, barb or whatever and spend points in those trees and less in radiant servant.

First I'd decide what tier 5 you want in your heroic enhancements, what cleric spells you want access to, what tier 5 ED you want and go from there.

An easy change would be to follow this build except just trade tier 5 radiant servant for tier 5 falconry if you want to tilt more towards melee and less towards healing.


I see what you are saying. thank you and Ung for the advice!

[Fireball241]

(Updated 12/2/22)

Splashing pally or fighter can certainly be a great alternative but again, we don’t have points to spare for those trees with this build. The fighter level isn’t a must with haste boost being available in Vistani as opposed to just Kensei - plus Vistani has some great low hanging fruit like deflect arrows and negative absorption. Also, be aware that if you splash Paladin you must be lawful good so you won't be able to be chaotic as I recommend in this post.

Running something like 17cleric/3 pally is a good split for a more defensive focused shield using healbot build. But while this build is a healer it is not only a healer, it is much more offensive focused so we’re not going to be investing in tanky trees. This build in comparison to a healbot brings some solid melee DPS. However, this build is giving up survivability in return for that DPS while still maintaining all the healing ability you’ll need for any situation. So in reaper and higher difficulties this build is going to be more inherently difficult to play as a result in comparison to a healbot. You can heal plenty well enough for any difficulty but won’t be as survivable as a healbot so your margin of error is lower. You’ll be able to take fewer hits so you need to play smarter.





.

Hi Axel,

I am having fun redoing 2 PDK Clerics for this current concept. One at level 29 now. And one almost at level 17. Using the Fury Maul and delaying Improved critical for him btw until he is close to the Drow Maul.

However,

I am a returning player. I want to figure out a way to use my old main Human Cleric LVL28 at end game that I used with your old build concept with some Pally 3+ and or FTR?


So I got a bunch of Characters with the old build concept. What do I do if I don't want to TR them?
I am a returning player after a few years. I tried Pally, Cleric, and Negative healing Mage, and WF self healing Sorc years ago, but seemed to go back to Cleric melee. Your CLR/PAL/FTR. I probably have 7 out of 12 toons with your build with the old Human Cleric with a splash of Pally and Fighter. They just do it all for me. They are mostly Str Chr Con builds. My 2 epic builds have +5 to +7 tomes. I had a lot of Lesser Rez tomes laying around after coming back. Some +5 and +20 too.

So I have this Human Cleric that was my main for the longest time. He is Clr15/Pal4/Ftr1. I have a Half Orc to that is Clr15/Pal3/Ftr2. I have other Heroic toons mostly human with variations of this mostly Clr/Ftr1 at lower levels from your old posts.


So I was wondering since I don't TR. Just too casual for that Your build requires LR+1 to +5 and Alignment change compared to the old build you ran for years. What solution you may have for free players that want to run Human or other than Iconics. I am at the point I am moving away from paying. I had just enough left in DDO points for the 2 enhancement trees. Then I was short 200 DDO points for alignment change and went to the other servers to flag for it finally after 10 years! Lol.

I was thinking run Pally Kotc with Quick draw instead of Cleave feat for the melee animations and the Pally enhancement Cleave and tier 3 attacks for heroics and then what for end game? Pally Shield?
How would you build Cleric for the free to play?

[axel15810]

.

Hi Axel,

I am having fun redoing 2 PDK Clerics for this current concept. One at level 29 now. And one almost at level 17. Using the Fury Maul and delaying Improved critical for him btw until he is close to the Drow Maul.

However,

I am a returning player. I want to figure out a way to use my old main Human Cleric LVL28 at end game that I used with your old build concept with some Pally 3+ and or FTR?


So I got a bunch of Characters with the old build concept. What do I do if I don't want to TR them?
I am a returning player after a few years. I tried Pally, Cleric, and Negative healing Mage, and WF self healing Sorc years ago, but seemed to go back to Cleric melee. Your CLR/PAL/FTR. I probably have 7 out of 12 toons with your build with the old Human Cleric with a splash of Pally and Fighter. They just do it all for me. They are mostly Str Chr Con builds. My 2 epic builds have +5 to +7 tomes. I had a lot of Lesser Rez tomes laying around after coming back. Some +5 and +20 too.

So I have this Human Cleric that was my main for the longest time. He is Clr15/Pal4/Ftr1. I have a Half Orc to that is Clr15/Pal3/Ftr2. I have other Heroic toons mostly human with variations of this mostly Clr/Ftr1 at lower levels from your old posts.


So I was wondering since I don't TR. Just too casual for that Your build requires LR+1 to +5 and Alignment change compared to the old build you ran for years. What solution you may have for free players that want to run Human or other than Iconics. I am at the point I am moving away from paying. I had just enough left in DDO points for the 2 enhancement trees. Then I was short 200 DDO points for alignment change and went to the other servers to flag for it finally after 10 years! Lol.

I was thinking run Pally Kotc with Quick draw instead of Cleave feat for the melee animations and the Pally enhancement Cleave and tier 3 attacks for heroics and then what for end game? Pally Shield?
How would you build Cleric for the free to play?

Right now if free to play and you want a melee DPS cleric I would recommend a standard THF paladin and not a melee cleric. The current version of this build is not free to play friendly since it requires an iconic with silvanus and falconry.

Free to play melee clerics IMO don't work that well these days mainly because if free to play you can't access Falconry. Without it you're stuck with only the warpriest tree which is terrible so can't recommend that. You can still do a deep splash of pally/fighter like in my really old builds as well but these days party healing is more important than back in the pre-reaper BYOH days so I'd prefer just going pally instead of splashing more than 3 or so levels. But you can still make that old split work fine if you want to.

If you want a tank cleric and not a melee DPS cleric that's more doable I'd imagine.

If you'd be willing to atleast iconic TR back to level 15 you could do a PDK and update to the current version of the build and since you don't want to use a lesser +1 can keep the fighter level for 19c/1f. Or even go 18c/2f if you want for another feat. Or 18c/1f/1fvs or 17c/2f/1fvs (fvs for WIS divine might, better than falconry trance which doesn't give to hit). Bunch of options. Personally I want atleast 17 cleric on any cleric these days for quickened true resurrection...I raid a lot and it's pretty vital to have IMO.

[liston33]

How well do you think this build would work with dark apostate???? Opinion?

[C-Dog]

How well do you think this build would work with dark apostate???? Opinion?
My honest, unfiltered opinion would proly involve a breach of ToU. :rolleyes: So I'll just say this...

Since the OP build has 41 pts in Radiant Servant, and DA doesn't have access to that tree... it would pro'ly suck. Not to mention the loss of all self-Cure-X spells.

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Dark_Apostate#Changes_from_base_class

[C-Dog]

How well do you think this build would work with dark apostate???? Opinion?
My honest opinion would proly involve a breach of ToU. :rolleyes: So I'll just say this...

Since the OP build has 41 pts in Radiant Servant (including all cores), and DA doesn't have access to that tree, and the DA tree is really NOTHING like Radiant Servant... it would pro'ly run into more than a few problems. Not to mention the loss of all self-Cure-X spells.

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Dark_Apostate#Changes_from_base_class

The DA might be listed as a "cleric", but that doesn't mean you can casually plug it in to any other Cleric build and expect positive results. It really is its own thing. :cool:

[Fireball241]

Right now if free to play and you want a melee DPS cleric I would recommend a standard THF paladin and not a melee cleric. The current version of this build is not free to play friendly since it requires an iconic with silvanus and falconry.

Free to play melee clerics IMO don't work that well these days mainly because if free to play you can't access Falconry. Without it you're stuck with only the warpriest tree which is terrible so can't recommend that. You can still do a deep splash of pally/fighter like in my really old builds as well but these days party healing is more important than back in the pre-reaper BYOH days so I'd prefer just going pally instead of splashing more than 3 or so levels. But you can still make that old split work fine if you want to.

If you want a tank cleric and not a melee DPS cleric that's more doable I'd imagine.

If you'd be willing to atleast iconic TR back to level 15 you could do a PDK and update to the current version of the build and since you don't want to use a lesser +1 can keep the fighter level for 19c/1f. Or even go 18c/2f if you want for another feat. Or 18c/1f/1fvs or 17c/2f/1fvs (fvs for WIS divine might, better than falconry trance which doesn't give to hit). Bunch of options. Personally I want atleast 17 cleric on any cleric these days for quickened true resurrection...I raid a lot and it's pretty vital to have IMO.

I have Falconry and Vistani. So with my lvl28 Human Cl15/Pal4/Ftr1 a tanky Cleric? How would you rebuild him?

He may have a Lr+5. It might be a good idea to go pure Pally, but I guess at this pt I could make him anything Human Lawful Good.? Do you have a link to a recommended build? No LR+20.

[axel15810]

How well do you think this build would work with dark apostate???? Opinion?


My honest, unfiltered opinion would proly involve a breach of ToU. :rolleyes: So I'll just say this...

Since the OP build has 41 pts in Radiant Servant, and DA doesn't have access to that tree... it would pro'ly suck. Not to mention the loss of all self-Cure-X spells.

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Dark_Apostate#Changes_from_base_class

Pretty much what C-Dog said in that Dark Apostate doesn't work at all with this build since you lose Radiant Servant access and it heals with negative anyway. I've not yet tried Dark Apostate but I want to. It is very much its own thing. Though I tbh have no idea what the optimal way to build or play it. Upon browsing it seems to want to do both offensive casting and melee which I find a bit odd. Knowing me I'll probably try it with atleast tier 4 falconry and play it as WIS based THF melee. Obviously won't be a party healer though.

[axel15810]

I have Falconry and Vistani. So with my lvl28 Human Cl15/Pal4/Ftr1 a tanky Cleric? How would you rebuild him?

He may have a Lr+5. It might be a good idea to go pure Pally, but I guess at this pt I could make him anything Human Lawful Good.? Do you have a link to a recommended build? No LR+20.

Can you be more specific with what you're looking to do with it? Want to be a tank or offensive DPS? Want to be a healer or not? Is this for leveling or staying at cap? Are you willing to IR or TR or just use +5? What difficulties are you wanting to play the character in? Do you want level 9 divine spell access or not? Are you planning on solo'ing or grouping?

[Fireball241]

Can you be more specific with what you're looking to do with it? Want to be a tank or offensive DPS? Want to be a healer or not? Is this for leveling or staying at cap? Are you willing to IR or TR or just use +5? What difficulties are you wanting to play the character in? Do you want level 9 divine spell access or not? Are you planning on solo'ing or grouping?

Well. I am a returning player. So I don't know what I need. lol. Seems everything is Reaper now at CAP. A lot at Heroic Reaper too. I was wondering how to use the Pally 4 of the LVL28 Human CLR15/PAL4/FTR1 or the LR+5 BTC that he has? Unfortunately I used a LR+20 BTA for a PDK Pure Cleric. I am stuck with him as Human and Lawful Good with LR+5. I was gonna go pure Pally, but that would require DDO Points.

Seems all the toons I have with your old splash of PAL and FTR will do fine in Heroics, but what about Heroic Reaper? I have a lot of questions returning about Reaper. Seems that is most of the Party requests. Seems to survive Reaper do you need past lives? Gear?

Even with your current build at lvl29 my redone PDK Pure Cleric dies easy with Skulls4, especially when I get lost during a Zerg group. So I hang back and just heal and resurrect as best I can. I am probably getting away with my ineptness because I am a old man Cleric with slow reflexes. I know above Skull4 is probably a bad idea for me and these characters right now. Everyone likes a Cleric after all even if he dies a lot. lol

[axel15810]

Well. I am a returning player. So I don't know what I need. lol. Seems everything is Reaper now at CAP. A lot at Heroic Reaper too. I was wondering how to use the Pally 4 of the LVL28 Human CLR15/PAL4/FTR1 or the LR+5 BTC that he has? Unfortunately I used a LR+20 BTA for a PDK Pure Cleric. I am stuck with him as Human and Lawful Good with LR+5. I was gonna go pure Pally, but that would require DDO Points.

Seems all the toons I have with your old splash of PAL and FTR will do fine in Heroics, but what about Heroic Reaper? I have a lot of questions returning about Reaper. Seems that is most of the Party requests. Seems to survive Reaper do you need past lives? Gear?

Even with your current build at lvl29 my redone PDK Pure Cleric dies easy with Skulls4, especially when I get lost during a Zerg group. So I hang back and just heal and resurrect as best I can. I am probably getting away with my ineptness because I am a old man Cleric with slow reflexes. I know above Skull4 is probably a bad idea for me and these characters right now. Everyone likes a Cleric after all even if he dies a lot. lol

Ok in that case I would say just keep the character as is until you play more DDO and figure out what specifically you want. 15c/4p/1f is completely fine you'll just be more tilted towards melee DPS and less towards healing. You won't really be up to snuff as a main party healer or raid healer IMO by today's standards but you can serve as secondary heals just fine. Just play the character like a standard KoTC THF paladin. I assume you are STR based, so put points in KOTC/SaD/Radiant Servant as you please depending on how offensive vs. tanky vs. healing you want to be. Grab haste boost from tier 1 fighter kensei tree or tier 2 vistani. Try out different combinations of points spent in those 3 trees until you find what you like. Then once you figure that out, you can TR or LR to change the build as you please. The only caveat I'd say is do you have a domain? If the character was made before domains came out you may have to LR or TR to get them. Not having a domain is a pretty huge penalty to the character. You also could swap out the cleaves for other feats with Fred if you don't use them. They're really not very good anymore IMO ever since strikethrough was put into the game. You also already have access to a cleave in KoTC if you want it.

[unbongwah]

How well do you think this build would work with dark apostate???? Opinion?
Stated goal for this build is "Melee Cleric with as much DPS as possible while still remaining a fully capable main party healer in Reaper and in Raids." Dark Apostate gives up Radiant Servant - this build's primary tree and the main source of its "fully capable main party healer" abilities - for Dark Apostate tree. So right off the bat, you're changing this build's focus if you switch from regular cleric to Dark Apostate.

Instead what you get is "Melee Cleric with as much DPS as possible while being a cool Shadow with enemy debuff powers." Pro is you should be able to squeeze out more melee DPS from Dark Apostate via the reworked Imbue system (https://ddowiki.com/page/Imbue) than the original build did, since Radiant Servant does nothing for melee DPS. Con is...well, you're not a party healer anymore and you're dependent on Negative Energy spells for self-healing. Might make for a fun toon in an undead-themed static party with, say, a Pale Master and an Abyssal warlock.

The base stats and feats stay basically the same, though you can probably skip Empower Heal and maybe take Scion of the Shadowfell instead of Arborea. Enhancements are where things get interesting, depending on whether you make Falconry or Dark Apostate your primary tree:

Falconry: Death from Above, Thrill of the Hunt, +25% Competence HPs, +10 Melee Power, Master Falconer
Dark Apostate: extra Imbue dice, +5% Incorporeality & Concealment, Ward of Shadow

[Bacab]

I am gonna do a Dwarven Build like this in a few weeks after I do my Warchanter Dwarf Bard...thinking can use a lot of the same gear.

For my Racial TRs, I am trying to do a cool theme.

Have always like this build and how its changed over time.

[Captain_Wizbang]

I am gonna do a Dwarven Build like this in a few weeks after I do my Warchanter Dwarf Bard...thinking can use a lot of the same gear.

For my Racial TRs, I am trying to do a cool theme.

Have always like this build and how its changed over time.


Axel & I are in same guild, he walked me through my 1st build, (ty axel) I have 2 of these builds, fun to play, and more versatile than one would think. one human, one dwarf, dwarf is more fun. I went blunt spec.

[axel15810]

Made a correction to the build. I was under the impression you had to be Chaotic to benefit from the 50 extra HP and 10 extra PRR in the Scarred by Chaos enhancement in FotW. Recently I discovered it seems like this is in fact not the case. Being Chaotic does still give you extra imbue dice from the Harbinger of Chaos feat but since we currently don't have access to a toggle if going tier 5 radiant servant, tier 4 falconry as our main enhancement trees it doesn't matter since we are currently not benefiting from those extra imbue dice. If you do a variant on this build that has access to a toggle you'll want to be chaotic however for those dice. But unless that is the case alignment should not much matter.

[Fireball241]

What would you do for Healbot? It is mentioned in the new OP that this is not a pure Healbot?

Is it just changing out of Fury and into another Destiny? Seems just dropping DPS for PRR and MRR or adding shields for more is the way to go. With one of my Characters with some Pally I might just add this also. Any links to good Healbot builds on here or tank Cleric Pally mixes?

[axel15810]

What would you do for Healbot? It is mentioned in the new OP that this is not a pure Healbot?

Is it just changing out of Fury and into another Destiny? Seems just dropping DPS for PRR and MRR or adding shields for more is the way to go. With one of my Characters with some Pally I might just add this also. Any links to good Healbot builds on here or tank Cleric Pally mixes?

Depends on what you mean by healbot. If you mean you don't want any DPS then I'd do a completely different build focusing on healing and survivability. So I'd not take THF line, improve crit, power attack, etc. and I'd take the shield mastery feats and make a few other feat changes. Very different concept from this build though.

If by healbot you mean you want to have some THF melee DPS but just tilt more in the healbot direction then yes, you could drop FoTW and atleast some of Shadowdancer and focus instead on Angel and Sentinel. Or maybe even Crusader if you want the mass res for raids.

Though if you want all out zero DPS healbot I'd build a FVS instead. They are just better healers atm IMO mostly because of healing wall and more SP.

[magaiti]

Hey Axel! What's your experience with the "Into the Fray" enhancement? (Sentinel T3).
How effective is it? Do you swear by it, or is it just something you decided to put the remaining destiny points into?

I'm trying to build a tanky melee artificer, and there isn't that much useful stuff in Sentinel if you don't have a shield.
So this enhancement has caught my attention, but I couldn't find any meaningful assessments of it.

[Fireball241]

Depends on what you mean by healbot. If you mean you don't want any DPS then I'd do a completely different build focusing on healing and survivability. So I'd not take THF line, improve crit, power attack, etc. and I'd take the shield mastery feats and make a few other feat changes. Very different concept from this build though.

If by healbot you mean you want to have some THF melee DPS but just tilt more in the healbot direction then yes, you could drop FoTW and atleast some of Shadowdancer and focus instead on Angel and Sentinel. Or maybe even Crusader if you want the mass res for raids.

Though if you want all out zero DPS healbot I'd build a FVS instead. They are just better healers atm IMO mostly because of healing wall and more SP.

I have a Lvl29 PK Cleric 20 as this build struggling in Reaper 4. I think my PRR and MRR is just to low. My gear sucks as a returning player. I can barely learn the quests at the pace Reaper is at. Everything is Zerg unless I solo. It is so much easier now to revamp a character since ED are layout like regular enhancements. Amazing there are no class requirements. Cheap to respect. I have yet to get Reaper enhancements.

I read what you said about EA, but also read how hard the OP build is to play, so sacrificing US and some Fury for EA at least for now at lvl 29. The EA Aura at over 400 a tick is so much better than Radiant Aura at 90. I almost wonder if I can add DPS with Heroic enhancements and lose the RS Aura, but more healing is always better. I don't know what your RSb Aura is at, but I am sure it is much higher than mine with gear.

I have T4 Fury, but took Blouders Might for solo melee to one hit a boss. BM and Adrenaline have cool downs, but are unlimited. It is a lot of DPS already. It just seems to be enough. Haste has limited chargers. Sacrificed the Fury Mantle and Sense weakness for EA aura. Lose some synergy for helpless, but just seems easier to play. Gives some cheaper heals and the EA Aura is simply a little more help to survive. I have yet to try it out if it will help. So I am at Fury T4. EA T3 and Shadow T3. Only level 29 and plan on taking it to Fury T5 if I can find the points. If not it may be easy to play, but sacrifice Fury T5 I guess.

This started as a way to save my Human Lvl28 CLR15/PAL4/FTR1 with the extra mass heal SLA from EA, but I am thinking it might be easier to survive Reaper till I get my gear up. I got him up to T4 SD barely, so I am making use of Pal4, but Clr17/Pal3 is better. If I had a lLR+1 I would have used ,it, but all I have is 2LRs and a LR+5. I re did him with LR and got the War Domains at least. I will have fun with the splash of Pally, but already seems like too many clickies, but it is Human and Falchion based, so the critical hits have a little extra range for Exalted Smites when the BM and Adrenaline are on cool down. The exalted Cleaves might be able to save the Haste boost for Boss fights. We will see how R4 or less goes, but I have no control if they go R10. Just along for the ride usually in Reaper and trying to be useful.

And the only way to get the gear up is to survive and make it to the chest as the Reaper groups zerg through R4 quests. Angelic Charge might help me escape the Reapers lol

Thanks for the help figuring this out. And I posted this for the more casual players who had your old build with Pally splash laying around and probably can't handle the Max Min due to gear and or laziness. lol

P.S. to the Devs. Falconry is great, but the bird can't die doing it? Lol




Update...

PK CLR20 WIS Mauls. vs. Human CLR15/PAL4/FTR1 STR Falchions

I still miss some chest cause R4 is a Zergfeast. The EA Wings help me keep up. Where is All this Reaper Gear? I pulled a sheltering item. Yay! I have yet to Reaper Raid.

Ran some R4 with the Pally splash. A little less squishy with the Pally saving throws. His Falchion Vorpal is 11k compared to the PK at 12k Still testing. Regular Crit Hits are 500 to 700 for the both if I buff dps and divine might the Pally The heals and Auras take a hit in Reaper and make solo easier. I can't Adrenaline with the Epic Strike heal from EA, but I probably should not be pulling any agro with Adrenaline in Reaper anyway lol.

The EA Aura and Pally cleave helps with crowd control in solo. Some R4 also if I am careful. It subs for Falconry I guess.
The Smites help when out of Haste, and with BM cooldowns, but Divine Crusader seems like too much with 14 smites. Might move that to Shadow for more defense and Ddoor. Like Axel recommends in The Quote. I have to stop normal attacks to Adrenaline and BM , but the PK averages 7k and the Human 6k.

I know this digresses from the current OP, but I thought it might help those with the old Pally splash builds that are previous OPs. My first Character was a Pally. He sits at lvl16. I don't TR, so this is a little taste of Pally on the Human Cleric build. Since I have a pure PK Cleric I don't plan on going pure with the Human at this point, but we will see how it goes with R4+ and Raids.

I don't think I can give up EA for the Aura and Angelic Charge Wings for the PK pure or the Human. It just speeds up the game. Between Horsey and Wings I can keep up. I just like EA too much compared to US. Healing Pillar still heals a lot in Reaper. It saves others from dying and embarrassing myself as a Cleric. Lol

The Ravenloft entrance in House J to the Blood Tavern quick travel combined using the Transporter in house J along with Horses and EA Wings make travel easier now. The Epic weapons from Into the Mist are easy for Reaper weapon's at lvl 29. As a returning player the game is faster now. Thumbs up to the Devs there.

[axel15810]

Hey Axel! What's your experience with the "Into the Fray" enhancement? (Sentinel T3).
How effective is it? Do you swear by it, or is it just something you decided to put the remaining destiny points into?

I'm trying to build a tanky melee artificer, and there isn't that much useful stuff in Sentinel if you don't have a shield.
So this enhancement has caught my attention, but I couldn't find any meaningful assessments of it.


It's pretty good. 25 PRR and +6 damage for 5 seconds will pretty much cover the entirety of most encounters. PRR is really important for melees at higher difficulties. It's a nice defensive boost. I wouldn't call it mandatory or anything, but it's quite good IMO.

[axel15810]

I have a Lvl29 PK Cleric 20 as this build struggling in Reaper 4. I think my PRR and MRR is just to low. My gear sucks as a returning player. I can barely learn the quests at the pace Reaper is at. Everything is Zerg unless I solo. It is so much easier now to revamp a character since ED are layout like regular enhancements. Amazing there are no class requirements. Cheap to respect. I have yet to get Reaper enhancements.

I read what you said about EA, but also read how hard the OP build is to play, so sacrificing US and some Fury for EA at least for now at lvl 29. The EA Aura at over 400 a tick is so much better than Radiant Aura at 90. I almost wonder if I can add DPS with Heroic enhancements and lose the RS Aura, but more healing is always better. I don't know what your RSb Aura is at, but I am sure it is much higher than mine with gear.

I have T4 Fury, but took Blouders Might for solo melee to one hit a boss. BM and Adrenaline have cool downs, but are unlimited. It is a lot of DPS already. It just seems to be enough. Haste has limited chargers. Sacrificed the Fury Mantle and Sense weakness for EA aura. Lose some synergy for helpless, but just seems easier to play. Gives some cheaper heals and the EA Aura is simply a little more help to survive. I have yet to try it out if it will help. So I am at Fury T4. EA T3 and Shadow T3. Only level 29 and plan on taking it to Fury T5 if I can find the points. If not it may be easy to play, but sacrifice Fury T5 I guess.

This started as a way to save my Human Lvl28 CLR15/PAL4/FTR1 with the extra mass heal SLA from EA, but I am thinking it might be easier to survive Reaper till I get my gear up. I got him up to T4 SD barely, so I am making use of Pal4, but Clr17/Pal3 is better. If I had a lLR+1 I would have used ,it, but all I have is 2LRs and a LR+5. I re did him with LR and got the War Domains at least. I will have fun with the splash of Pally, but already seems like too many clickies, but it is Human and Falchion based, so the critical hits have a little extra range for Exalted Smites when the BM and Adrenaline are on cool down. The exalted Cleaves might be able to save the Haste boost for Boss fights. We will see how R4 or less goes, but I have no control if they go R10. Just along for the ride usually in Reaper and trying to be useful.

And the only way to get the gear up is to survive and make it to the chest as the Reaper groups zerg through R4 quests. Angelic Charge might help me escape the Reapers lol

Thanks for the help figuring this out. And I posted this for the more casual players who had your old build with Pally splash laying around and probably can't handle the Max Min due to gear and or laziness. lol

P.S. to the Devs. Falconry is great, but the bird can't die doing it? Lol




Update...

PK CLR20 WIS Mauls. vs. Human CLR15/PAL4/FTR1 STR Falchions

I still miss some chest cause R4 is a Zergfeast. The EA Wings help me keep up. Where is All this Reaper Gear? I pulled a sheltering item. Yay! I have yet to Reaper Raid.

Ran some R4 with the Pally splash. A little less squishy with the Pally saving throws. His Falchion Vorpal is 11k compared to the PK at 12k Still testing. Regular Crit Hits are 500 to 700 for the both if I buff dps and divine might the Pally The heals and Auras take a hit in Reaper and make solo easier. I can't Adrenaline with the Epic Strike heal from EA, but I probably should not be pulling any agro with Adrenaline in Reaper anyway lol.

The EA Aura and Pally cleave helps with crowd control in solo. Some R4 also if I am careful. It subs for Falconry I guess.
The Smites help when out of Haste, and with BM cooldowns, but Divine Crusader seems like too much with 14 smites. Might move that to Shadow for more defense and Ddoor. Like Axel recommends in The Quote. I have to stop normal attacks to Adrenaline and BM , but the PK averages 7k and the Human 6k.

I know this digresses from the current OP, but I thought it might help those with the old Pally splash builds that are previous OPs. My first Character was a Pally. He sits at lvl16. I don't TR, so this is a little taste of Pally on the Human Cleric build. Since I have a pure PK Cleric I don't plan on going pure with the Human at this point, but we will see how it goes with R4+ and Raids.

I don't think I can give up EA for the Aura and Angelic Charge Wings for the PK pure or the Human. It just speeds up the game. Between Horsey and Wings I can keep up. I just like EA too much compared to US. Healing Pillar still heals a lot in Reaper. It saves others from dying and embarrassing myself as a Cleric. Lol

The Ravenloft entrance in House J to the Blood Tavern quick travel combined using the Transporter in house J along with Horses and EA Wings make travel easier now. The Epic weapons from Into the Mist are easy for Reaper weapon's at lvl 29. As a returning player the game is faster now. Thumbs up to the Devs there.


It's a gradual process. Reaper points, optimizing your gearset and Primal/Divine past lives all add to survivability. If you're sticking in epics for a while I'd put together a ML 20/21-ish optimized leveling gearset along with an optimzed endgame one. If you need to stick more points in survivability for now that's fine, being dead = zero DPS. You also will probably need to stick to lower skulls for now and work your way up in time.

[Fireball241]

It's a gradual process. Reaper points, optimizing your gearset and Primal/Divine past lives all add to survivability. If you're sticking in epics for a while I'd put together a ML 20/21-ish optimized leveling gearset along with an optimzed endgame one. If you need to stick more points in survivability for now that's fine, being dead = zero DPS. You also will probably need to stick to lower skulls for now and work your way up in time.

Lol


When they Zerg ahead in R4 and I get lost and find a mob on my own ...

Angelic Charge is better for retreating.
Lol

[Fireball241]

Axel,


Why no Enlarge? I was thinking of taking it on the Human mulit class since he is Lawful Good.

Is it useful?

Some say on here to take it for healing in Raids.

[axel15810]

Axel,


Why no Enlarge? I was thinking of taking it on the Human mulit class since he is Lawful Good.

Is it useful?

Some say on here to take it for healing in Raids.

I've never felt like it was necessary especially on a melee cleric as you're up on the front lines the large majority of the time so distance from healing targets isn't normally a concern. I heal raids all the time and definitely don't need it. It would be more useful on a healbot, caster cleric or caster FVS though I personally still wouldn't find it necessary. If you want to try it, try it. If you don't find it necessary then swap it out with Fred or on a reincarnation.

[unbongwah]

PK CLR20 WIS Mauls. vs. Human CLR15/PAL4/FTR1 STR FalchionsFYI
FYI there are some cleric 15 / paladin 5 builds out there. Most that I've seen go for tier-5 Sacred Defender for extra tankiness like this build (https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/530109-Dex-tank-healer-Cleric-15-Paladin-5-Aasimar); but nothing stops you from taking tier-5 KotC instead for Ascendancy, Holy Retribution etc.

Also for the pure cleric, with the HP changes you might want to try a different AP split such as:

41 Falconry for Master Falconer capstone, +25% Competence bonus to Hit Points, and Death from Above etc.
31 Radiant Servant for Positive Energy Shield
8 Vistani Knife Fighter for Haste Boost

Basically give up some healing powah for more HPs and a few more bird attacks.

[Fireball241]

I've never felt like it was necessary especially on a melee cleric as you're up on the front lines the large majority of the time so distance from healing targets isn't normally a concern. I heal raids all the time and definitely don't need it. It would be more useful on a healbot, caster cleric or caster FVS though I personally still wouldn't find it necessary. If you want to try it, try it. If you don't find it necessary then swap it out with Fred or on a reincarnation.

Lvl 30 feat selection and Legendary.

Why No Scion of Celestia?

My Pure Cleric is squashy. We get more HP and critical heals?
Critical Heals are the reason for Pure after all. Is it the Imbue Dice?
I read about it, but still trying to figure out how Imbue works?

Does Beloved of Divine work with favored weapons?
And why a feat that requires CLR3 so late?

[axel15810]

Lvl 30 feat selection and Legendary.

Why No Scion of Celestia?

My Pure Cleric is squashy. We get more HP and critical heals?
Critical Heals are the reason for Pure after all. Is it the Imbue Dice?
I read about it, but still trying to figure out how Imbue works?

Does Beloved of Divine work with favored weapons?
And why a feat that requires CLR3 so late?


Because I can work in enough HP and enough survivability with gearing, reaper points and past lives and I have enough healing already. I would much rather have the 20 melee power and the extra enhancement bonus from Arborea.

Also I have a lot of experience playing a melee cleric so I'm confident in my ability to melee and heal and also not die at higher difficulties, well atleast not too often :), so I can get away with less. And survivability gets way better when you get 21 reaper points and some epic past lives.

This is just my preference feel free to take more survivability if you wish. If you don't have a lot of reaper points, past lives and good gear you will be much squishier. Or if you just don't feel comfortable with the amount of survivability you may want to make some changes.

And yes beloved of the divine works with favored weapons. Only works with favored weapons I believe. I take it later because the other feats are more crucial to get first.

[Fireball241]

Because I can work in enough HP and enough survivability with gearing, reaper points and past lives and I have enough healing already. I would much rather have the 20 melee power and the extra enhancement bonus from Arborea.

Also I have a lot of experience playing a melee cleric so I'm confident in my ability to melee and heal and also not die at higher difficulties, well atleast not too often :), so I can get away with less. And survivability gets way better when you get 21 reaper points and some epic past lives.

This is just my preference feel free to take more survivability if you wish. If you don't have a lot of reaper points, past lives and good gear you will be much squishier. Or if you just don't feel comfortable with the amount of survivability you may want to make some changes.

And yes beloved of the divine works with favored weapons. Only works with favored weapons I believe. I take it later because the other feats are more crucial to get first.

Axel,

I get this is max min and gear dependent. Your builds use to be more.... attainable for Newbs. Now that it is based on an Iconic and a LR+1 and high end gear and high skill by the player it may not be the average recommendation your build use to be. I know Reaper is another animal to this game now. And just about the only game in town. Seems everyone has self healing for solo non reaper. But.

I looked back 3 years and PDK Mauls seems to be the build. Can you link your previous builds? I guess I can look through 22 pages worth, lol. No quotes with your old builds in them. I would love to see how this developed over time and how choices changed. Might help others get there a little easier to where your build is at although I doubt I ever will. Right now my Pally splash with more of your original build the last 8 years btw is more survivable. And congrats for that. 8 years!

I have enjoyed it and still do it seems after a few years break. The PDK Mauls is amazing, but I just can't stay in the fray without dying. I also probably need to use the bird more for that build. Does the bird really help in Reaper? I seem to just heal in Reaper and retreat and I need to try the ird more.




Everyone,

So the Mauls are considered Favored then?
This Imbue Dice. It has mixed reviews. Anyone know how it works? Seems random and unreliable, but a nice touch.

I think my gimp PDK needs more heals and HP with its gear and lack of saves since it is Pure Cleric. I am thinking of trying another PDK Maul build CHR based Fey with Pally splash. KOTC till epic. With melee Epic Destinies KOTC is too much clicky, so switch to Fey and SD and use the Fury tree for melee.

Surviving and keeping up maybe get that better gear, but it will not help my game play skill, lol

[Fireball241]

Scion of Celestia stack with the RS Core +50% critcal chance every fifth healing spell?



Seems Saving throws matter and the Pally splash helps the gimpiness of the Multi Cleric survive. How much Saving Throws is too much?

With Fey thinking of making the Human CLR15/PAL4/FTR1 CHR based with Fey and dropping STR to mins. Lose a little from Epic Fury Scream buff to STR.

For the PDK CLR20 I think it will survive better with more HP from Celestia and Harbinger of Choas once that kicks in at Lvl31. HP went up over 200 with only 1180 HP to 1380 is huge in Reaper.

[Fireball241]

FYI
FYI there are some cleric 15 / paladin 5 builds out there. Most that I've seen go for tier-5 Sacred Defender for extra tankiness like this build (https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/530109-Dex-tank-healer-Cleric-15-Paladin-5-Aasimar); but nothing stops you from taking tier-5 KotC instead for Ascendancy, Holy Retribution etc.

Also for the pure cleric, with the HP changes you might want to try a different AP split such as:

41 Falconry for Master Falconer capstone, +25% Competence bonus to Hit Points, and Death from Above etc.
31 Radiant Servant for Positive Energy Shield
8 Vistani Knife Fighter for Haste Boost

Basically give up some healing powah for more HPs and a few more bird attacks.


Been thinking hard about this for the Human especially with Fey now. I bought it. The Pal4 and Saving Throws from CHR seem to help. SD helps at T4. KOTC seems like too much so I took some out. Might dump it because of Fury and Strikethrough. I can probably squeeze in some Fey and might LR and dump STR for CHR and higher Saving Throws. How important are Saving Throws in Reaper and how much is too much?

Seems to help a lot for survival. Problem with the FTR level on the Human CLR15/PAL4/FTR1 is I took the FTR at lvl1 and 1 feat is wasted now. I have a LR and a LR+5 and may use that to go PAL3 or PAL5 on the Human. Lvl1 Ftr was for Cleaves years ago, but that is a waste now with Cleaves in trees and linked to Cleave cooldowns. And they got rid of the Pre Req of the feats.

The Human is Strikethrough with a Falchion build. I am thinking the Exalted Smite is too many melee clickies for a Cleric 2HF. I like the Adrenaline with the BM for Bosses, but the Fury T5 Leveler and Smites seem like too many interruptions in Strikethrough. Most bosses have mobs after all.

With so much SLA healing now I like the Pally splash. The PDK CLR20 seems to never run out of SP, but I have not done Reaper 5 or higher. I probably can't on either of them. Maybe I should just farm gear and leave the builds alone? That wasted feat on the Human bugs me though. I took Shield extra feat at FTR1, but never use it and might switch it to Dodge. I like 2HF play style and just want to live in Reaper. Lol

Looking for 2HF Human Clr17/Pal3 or Clr15/Pal5. Maybe with splash of Fey. I guess Human CLR20 is an option too. Thinking end game. Epic just does not seem that tough anymore for just about any build with all the changes.

[axel15810]

Axel,

I get this is max min and gear dependent. Your builds use to be more.... attainable for Newbs. Now that it is based on an Iconic and a LR+1 and high end gear and high skill by the player it may not be the average recommendation your build use to be. I know Reaper is another animal to this game now. And just about the only game in town. Seems everyone has self healing for solo non reaper. But.

I looked back 3 years and PDK Mauls seems to be the build. Can you link your previous builds? I guess I can look through 22 pages worth, lol. No quotes with your old builds in them. I would love to see how this developed over time and how choices changed. Might help others get there a little easier to where your build is at although I doubt I ever will. Right now my Pally splash with more of your original build the last 8 years btw is more survivable. And congrats for that. 8 years!

I have enjoyed it and still do it seems after a few years break. The PDK Mauls is amazing, but I just can't stay in the fray without dying. I also probably need to use the bird more for that build. Does the bird really help in Reaper? I seem to just heal in Reaper and retreat and I need to try the ird more.




Everyone,

So the Mauls are considered Favored then?
This Imbue Dice. It has mixed reviews. Anyone know how it works? Seems random and unreliable, but a nice touch.

I think my gimp PDK needs more heals and HP with its gear and lack of saves since it is Pure Cleric. I am thinking of trying another PDK Maul build CHR based Fey with Pally splash. KOTC till epic. With melee Epic Destinies KOTC is too much clicky, so switch to Fey and SD and use the Fury tree for melee.

Surviving and keeping up maybe get that better gear, but it will not help my game play skill, lol


Scion of Celestia stack with the RS Core +50% critcal chance every fifth healing spell?

Seems Saving throws matter and the Pally splash helps the gimpiness of the Multi Cleric survive. How much Saving Throws is too much?

With Fey thinking of making the Human CLR15/PAL4/FTR1 CHR based with Fey and dropping STR to mins. Lose a little from Epic Fury Scream buff to STR.

For the PDK CLR20 I think it will survive better with more HP from Celestia and Harbinger of Choas once that kicks in at Lvl31. HP went up over 200 with only 1180 HP to 1380 is huge in Reaper.


You can look at the old build videos on my youtube channel detailing older build versions. I have done 4 over the years. I also used to have some of the older build write ups archived. I think I still do. If you really want them I can look around.

The build really just isn't new player or free to play friendly these days because you need falconry or feydark to make melee clerics work now with WIS to damage and CHA to damage both being much better options IMO for a melee cleric than STR based and warpriest still being hot garbage as a primary tree. And silvanus requires iconics and your only other option for a favored weapon THF build is warforged or bladeforged with greatswords but then you are taking a big hit to your own healing. You don't have to LR+1 as explained in the orignal post, a fighter level or two is completely fine.

Yes, falconry if you have the DCs is very helpful to blind enemies in reaper. Helpful CC.

Yes, mauls are granted as a favored weapon through silvanus.

Imbue dice we don't get to utilize unless you splash in another tree to get an imbue toggle somewhere. Imbue dice are not granted unless you have access to a toggle and have it set as active.

Celestia is crit damage, not crit chance. Radiant servant is crit chance. So they're different so stacking not a concern, if I understand your question right.

I don't put a super emphasis on saves personally because with radiance from radiant servant and harper pins you have 2 dispel CC now options for when you do get CC'ed. And it's easy to atleast get a great will save with our main stat being WIS.

[Fireball241]

You can look at the old build videos on my youtube channel detailing older build versions. I have done 4 over the years. I also used to have some of the older build write ups archived. I think I still do. If you really want them I can look around.

The build really just isn't new player or free to play friendly these days because you need falconry or feydark to make melee clerics work now with WIS to damage and CHA to damage both being much better options IMO for a melee cleric than STR based and warpriest still being hot garbage as a primary tree. And silvanus requires iconics and your only other option for a favored weapon THF build is warforged or bladeforged with greatswords but then you are taking a big hit to your own healing. You don't have to LR+1 as explained in the orignal post, a fighter level or two is completely fine.

Yes, falconry if you have the DCs is very helpful to blind enemies in reaper. Helpful CC.

Yes, mauls are granted as a favored weapon through silvanus.

Imbue dice we don't get to utilize unless you splash in another tree to get an imbue toggle somewhere. Imbue dice are not granted unless you have access to a toggle and have it set as active.

Celestia is crit damage, not crit chance. Radiant servant is crit chance. So they're different so stacking not a concern, if I understand your question right.

I don't put a super emphasis on saves personally because with radiance from radiant servant and harper pins you have 2 dispel CC now options for when you do get CC'ed. And it's easy to atleast get a great will save with our main stat being WIS.


Looking at the other 4 builds on video should help thanks.

For Lvl31 why Harbinger instead of Two Handed Speciality?

I was thinking this as a Lawful Good alternative for the Pally splash Human Cleric for sure, but why not the PDK Pure Cleric?
and go Neutral?

Also thinking of subbing Guardian Angel for the PDK Pure Cleric for better survivability instead of Double Strike or Crush Weakness. At least till get better gear. Everyone seems to love Crush Weakness though?

[unbongwah]

For Lvl31 why Harbinger instead of Two Handed Speciality?
The level 31 Weapon Specialty feats don't enhance your existing combat style, but enable adding a secondary combat style instead. Either for someone who wants to switch weappons (e.g., 2H weapons vs mobs, TWF for single target); or for a feat-starved build which benefits from having two, e.g., a paladin Vanguard who takes the Shield Mastery feats while leveling then THF Specialty at level 31 (or vice versa), so they can benefit from both feat chains while using S&B bastard swords or dwarven axes.

Harbinger of Chaos gives +2% Doublestrike and Doubleshot, +2 Imbue Dice if Chaotic, and doubles the bonus from FotW's Scarred by Chaos to +100 HPs +20 PRR (so equivalent to taking Epic DR and Epic Toughness at once).

[Fireball241]

The level 31 Weapon Specialty feats don't enhance your existing combat style, but enable adding a secondary combat style instead. Either for someone who wants to switch weappons (e.g., 2H weapons vs mobs, TWF for single target); or for a feat-starved build which benefits from having two, e.g., a paladin Vanguard who takes the Shield Mastery feats while leveling then THF Specialty at level 31 (or vice versa), so they can benefit from both feat chains while using S&B bastard swords or dwarven axes.

Harbinger of Chaos gives +2% Doublestrike and Doubleshot, +2 Imbue Dice if Chaotic, and doubles the bonus from FotW's Scarred by Chaos to +100 HPs +20 PRR (so equivalent to taking Epic DR and Epic Toughness at once).



I am happy with Fury but think T5 might be too much investment on both Clerics at least for now.

I think the PDK Pure needs more survival , so might swap out Doublestrike for Guardian Angel. Adrenaline with the T4 percentage increase and BM just seems like enough. Without interrupting Strikethrough attack with Clickies.

So for the Pally4 splash I can go a little more Tanky and take Sword and board for the Pally. Interesting. Sounds like a possible solution for the Pally splash. I might revamp him also as a CHR based to hit and damage.

The Pally splash with Sword and Board might be better to pull some aggro eventually. Just farm a slightly better CHR item to use lvl4. Seems like Guardian Angel is overdone on a Pally. One player thinks Aggro Clerics mitigate damage better. Gear might be a long way off for that though.

[axel15810]

Here's what I'm tentatively thinking for a new endgame gearset. Please give me feedback/criticism on this. Very open to suggestions/corrections. After I hear some feedback I'll update original post. I don't yet have fillagree and augments filled out but should be able to fit everything else essential that is not mentioned through augments and fillagree. As for fillagree, will atleast do 5 piece Prowess set of course. Agr33n3's post on page 20 of this thread with 3 set bonuses and my old gearset gave me a lot of ideas to consider. After crunching through the wiki and wrapping my head around the gear tetris this week I cannot see any way possible to fit in all 3 set bonuses as in Agr33n3's gearset suggestion while still fitting in insightful accuracy, healing lore and assassinate DCs. You can fit in two of the three of Isle of Dread, Feywild winter and Sharn Legendary Part of the Family but not all three without losing atleast healing lore and accuracy. Atleast I've not found a way.

This tentative gearset below is very aggressively oriented. It gives pretty much max attainable melee DPS and healing but sacrifices survivability.

Pros - It fits in equip/insight/qual assassinate, insight accuracy, equip/insight/qual/profane/except WIS, healing lore, isle of dread and sharn set bonuses, armor/insight armor pierce, insight/qual spellpower

Cons - It makes some big sacrifices to survivability by dropping Feywild winter and insight/qual CON. It may be too much of a sacrifice for higher reapers though I right now think I can make it work with reaper points and past lives. I'm thinking I should still get to around 2,500 HP in reaper with 50 reaper points and a bunch of primal past lives. Which is definitely enough HP. Also lots of divine past lives will help make up PRR. However, a new character without past lives/reaper points would want to fit in feywild winter and sharn part of the family instead for the extra survivability. Without reaper points and past lives you'll definitely be too squishy for high reaper with this gearset.

Some other notes: equipment bonus to Assassinate is duplicated, no way I can see around that. Crafting it on ring artifact gives an extra +2 DCs. Still need to fit in insightful assassinate on top of that which am currently getting through saltmarsh trinket. Kopru bracers aren't super great for our purposes but there wasn't a better option for a 5th isle of dread item to slot for set bonus and they do have some extra HP and a useful crafting slot.

Helm - Legendary Shining Crest of St. Markus Deathblock, Silver Flame Lore +22%, Power of the Silver Flame +151, Light Absorption +23%, Legendary Brilliance Guard, Legendary Oasis of Morality, Blue Augment Slot, Green Augment Slot

Armor - Legendary Enforcers Fortification +142%, Physical Sheltering +33, Competence Healing Amplification +53, False Life +50, Green Augment Slot, Legendary Part of the Family

Goggles - Legendary Collective Sight DEX 13, Insightful WIS 6, Quality Resistance +2, Temperance of Belief, Blue Augment Slot

Necklace - Family's Blessing Quality Assassinate +3, Insightful Armor-Piercing - 10%, Deadly +11, Doublestrike 15%, Yellow Augment Slot, Blue Augment Slot, Legendary Part of the Family

Trinket - Legendary Croc Tooth Crippling, Armor-Piercing - 21%, Accuracy +21, Insightful Accuracy +10, Green Augment Slot, Yellow Augment Slot, Legendary Saltmarsh Explorer

Cloak - Dino Bone Cloak - Scale: WIS +14, Fang: Deception, Claw: MRR +35, Horn: Enhanced Ghostly, Set: The Legendary Isle's Dread Curse, Green Augment Slot, Yellow Augment Slot

Belt - Legendary Belt of Black Sands Constitution +14, Invisibility Guard, Ghostly, Isle of Dread: Claw: 5% qual positive crit, Green Augment Slot, Colorless Augment Slot

Boots - Legendary Sunken Slippers Quality WIS 3, Lesser Displacement, Insightful Pot 49, Qual Pot 24, Yellow Augment Slot

Gloves - Legendary Hammerfist Insightful Doublestrike 6%, Cannith Combat Infusion, Seeker +13, Insightful Deadly +4, Blue Augment Slot, Legendary Part of the Family

Ring 1 - Dinosaur Bone Ring (minor artifact) Scale: 20% positive crit, Fang: 10% insight positive crit, Claw: +17 Assassinate, Horn: Relentless Fury, The Legendary Dread Isle's Curse, Blue Augment Slot, Green Augment Slot

Ring 2 - Ring of the Silver Tongue Improved Deception, Insightful Deception +5, Assassinate +15, Insightful Assassinate +7, Blue Augment Slot, Green Augment Slot, Yellow Augment Slot

Bracers - Legendary Kopru Bracers Necromancy Focus +6, Illusion Focus +6, Profane Lifeforce +47, Scale: +14 CHA, Green Augment Slot, Colorless Augment Slot, The Legendary Dread Isle's Curse

Weapon - Attuned Dino Bone Maul Scale: Meltscale, Fang: Meltfang, Claw: Exceptional +2 WIS, Horn: Icehorn or Black Sands Desire, Orange Augment Slot, Purple Augment Slot, The Legendary Dread Isle's Curse

[Aziz]

Here's what I'm tentatively thinking for a new endgame gearset. Please give me feedback/criticism on this. Very open to suggestions/corrections. After I hear some feedback I'll update original post. I don't yet have fillagree and augments filled out but should be able to fit everything else essential that is not mentioned through augments and fillagree. As for fillagree, will atleast do 5 piece Prowess set of course. Agr33n3's post on page 20 of this thread with 3 set bonuses and my old gearset gave me a lot of ideas to consider. After crunching through the wiki and wrapping my head around the gear tetris this week I cannot see any way possible to fit in all 3 set bonuses as in Agr33n3's gearset suggestion while still fitting in insightful accuracy, healing lore and assassinate DCs. You can fit in two of the three of Isle of Dread, Feywild winter and Sharn Legendary Part of the Family but not all three without losing atleast healing lore and accuracy. Atleast I've not found a way.

This tentative gearset below is very aggressively oriented. It gives pretty much max attainable melee DPS and healing but sacrifices survivability.

Pros - It fits in equip/insight/qual assassinate, insight accuracy, equip/insight/qual/profane/except WIS, healing lore, isle of dread and sharn set bonuses, armor/insight armor pierce, insight/qual spellpower

Cons - It makes some big sacrifices to survivability by dropping Feywild winter and insight/qual CON. It may be too much of a sacrifice for higher reapers though I right now think I can make it work with reaper points and past lives. I'm thinking I should still get to around 2,500 HP in reaper with 50 reaper points and a bunch of primal past lives. Which is definitely enough HP. Also lots of divine past lives will help make up PRR. However, a new character without past lives/reaper points would want to fit in feywild winter and sharn part of the family instead for the extra survivability. Without reaper points and past lives you'll definitely be too squishy for high reaper with this gearset.
...

I would swap the scale aug's from the artifact and your cloak so you get +15 to wis instead of the +14 you get from putting it in the cloak. The +20% positive spell crit will be the same whether it's in your cloak or in your artifact.
You can slot +5 insightful con as an augment, so you're only missing 4 con over all. Missing winter 4 set bonus is obviously a big chunk of hp but as you stated you've got the past lives to make up for that.
Does crippling apply to melee attacks? I know tendon slice does (or did when I was using it a few lives ago), but the ingame text specifically states ranged so wasn't sure.

I might pinch this setup, I was looking at something similar for my next life (pdk 1 fgt/1fvs/18 cleric), but using heart/devilscale bracers or a gomf with ravens-eye/windlasher as a base. I kept running into problems trying to shoehorn the iod set bonus in though. I'll probably swap out that trinket though, as I won't have the radiant servant capstone i'll grab the trance from war soul instead of falconry and then I won't have to worry about insightful accuracy. Swap out Kopru bracers for the admiral's wristwatch to get armor piercing back and then you basically have a free trinket slot.

[axel15810]

I would swap the scale aug's from the artifact and your cloak so you get +15 to wis instead of the +14 you get from putting it in the cloak. The +20% positive spell crit will be the same whether it's in your cloak or in your artifact.
You can slot +5 insightful con as an augment, so you're only missing 4 con over all. Missing winter 4 set bonus is obviously a big chunk of hp but as you stated you've got the past lives to make up for that.
Does crippling apply to melee attacks? I know tendon slice does (or did when I was using it a few lives ago), but the ingame text specifically states ranged so wasn't sure.

I might pinch this setup, I was looking at something similar for my next life (pdk 1 fgt/1fvs/18 cleric), but using heart/devilscale bracers or a gomf with ravens-eye/windlasher as a base. I kept running into problems trying to shoehorn the iod set bonus in though. I'll probably swap out that trinket though, as I won't have the radiant servant capstone i'll grab the trance from war soul instead of falconry and then I won't have to worry about insightful accuracy. Swap out Kopru bracers for the admiral's wristwatch to get armor piercing back and then you basically have a free trinket slot.

Thanks, this feedback was helpful. I actually forgot that insight CON augment existed from the champion vendor. That existing makes me feel better about this setup.

18c/1 fvs/1fighter is a super good alternative, and yeah it would free up the trinket slot as you described. I did think of that too, good points. I enjoy having the RS capstone but have considered dropping it. Just depends mostly on how much you prioritize healing vs. other things I suppose. It really sucks warpriest divine might doesn't have a WIS trance option to get insightful accuracy through trance like warsoul does. That would solve that issue and open up the trinket slot without a FVS splash.

Atleast it's a pretty easy swap if I ever decide to go 18/1/1. Just swap the bracer with the other IoD bracer and slot something else in trinket slot. Maybe the Bloodrage Chism, for example.

And yeah I considered devil set with the heart of sulo and devil bracers but keep in mind heart of sulo is a minor artifact so you can't slot both that and a craftable IoD minor artifact. Big reason why I disregarded that option.

I use raven's/windlasher in my level 20 epic gearset with epic GoMF, but pretty much threw out those options for the endgame gearset since the legendary GoMF doesn't have free gem rerolls like the epic one does so getting the exact 2 sets I want isn't guaranteed even if I spend a years worth of threads, with rerolls costing 100 threads each.

AFAIK crippling (from the croc tooth trinket) is ranged only.

[Aziz]

I try to roll one gomf a life, and if I get something that looks like it would be useful for a future life I keep hold of it. I rolled the ravens/lashers a couple of lives ago and have been trying to think of a cool build to use it with in future. Nice thing about them is they are bta.

Back to the build, looking at the belt you are only getting the invis guard and 14 con from there and the iod slot bonus (and +5% positive spell crit)
If you use a +14 con augment (pricey if you haven't been lucky enough to find one yourself) you can use Lindals belt (from the skellies raid) instead.
The 14 strength isn't that useful to your build, but it does get you +19 insightful sheltering which is.
For the +5quality pos crit you can stick that in your cloak where you have +35 magical sheltering and just get an aug from the vendor for +36 sheltering.
The invisibility guard is also slottable via the essence of the cloak of strahd if you like it.

I think that brings you up to around 100 mrr and 200prr dependent on reaper points/bonuses, so would probably go light armor as you're getting evasion from shadowdancer. Plus you should be able to hit dodge cap with your reaper points.

Filigree wise I was just going to use prowess/shattered. Not sure whether to get some +2wis raid augs and then another celerity for perma haste or not.

I'm currently at 23 running through eveningstar, will probably etr a couple of times before staying at 32 for raids and high reaper. Trinket wise I'm thinking I might do the legendary emblem of elemental evil (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Legendary_Emblem_of_Elemental_Evil), it provides +3 quality con, +15 stacking elemental resistances, natural armor and profane lifeforce, which isn't provided by anything else in the setup. Also leaves me free to swap in spell absorb when needed without breaking any set bonuses.

[axel15810]

I try to roll one gomf a life, and if I get something that looks like it would be useful for a future life I keep hold of it. I rolled the ravens/lashers a couple of lives ago and have been trying to think of a cool build to use it with in future. Nice thing about them is they are bta.

Back to the build, looking at the belt you are only getting the invis guard and 14 con from there and the iod slot bonus (and +5% positive spell crit)
If you use a +14 con augment (pricey if you haven't been lucky enough to find one yourself) you can use Lindals belt (from the skellies raid) instead.
The 14 strength isn't that useful to your build, but it does get you +19 insightful sheltering which is.
For the +5quality pos crit you can stick that in your cloak where you have +35 magical sheltering and just get an aug from the vendor for +36 sheltering.
The invisibility guard is also slottable via the essence of the cloak of strahd if you like it.

I think that brings you up to around 100 mrr and 200prr dependent on reaper points/bonuses, so would probably go light armor as you're getting evasion from shadowdancer. Plus you should be able to hit dodge cap with your reaper points.

Filigree wise I was just going to use prowess/shattered. Not sure whether to get some +2wis raid augs and then another celerity for perma haste or not.

I'm currently at 23 running through eveningstar, will probably etr a couple of times before staying at 32 for raids and high reaper. Trinket wise I'm thinking I might do the legendary emblem of elemental evil (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Legendary_Emblem_of_Elemental_Evil), it provides +3 quality con, +15 stacking elemental resistances, natural armor and profane lifeforce, which isn't provided by anything else in the setup. Also leaves me free to swap in spell absorb when needed without breaking any set bonuses.

Thanks, this is also great feedback. I had not considered the Skeleton's belt. Unfortunately, this is only obtainable from a drop in the opt chest and isn't tradeable with raid runes. I'll keep an eye out for it though. I do run this raid every week.