A new player looking for a little advice

[schraer]

I've thought through everything, class wise, and I've come to the conclusion that I want a healer, a cleric. I was just curious if it's really an unwise thing to go for cleric/healer first, because I know wands are anything but cheap, or if I should perhaps make something like a paladin or a barbarian first.

[herzkos]

I've thought through everything, class wise, and I've come to the conclusion that I want a healer, a cleric. I was just curious if it's really an unwise thing to go for cleric/healer first, because I know wands are anything but cheap, or if I should perhaps make something like a paladin or a barbarian first.

a healing cleric is a very hard first character to play, but if that's what you want to do . . . go for it. Just let the first coupla groups you get in know that you're new to it, they should cut you some slack.

good luck
/edit p.s. wands are much cheaper than potions

[JelloMold]

I tend to recommend going fighter or pally (pallys can use wands right away) first just so you can get the handle of the mechanics of the game. That way if you do something silly you don't end up killing off your party members that were counting on you healing them. As mentioned above, no matter what quest you do, just let everyone know you are new and won't take offense if they have to point out a few things that would make you better.

The most important thing for a healer to learn (I'm ashamed of how long I went before learning this), is that you can use the F keys to quickly target a teammate. F1 is you, F2 is the next guy down the list etc. MUCH better way to heal quickly, even if you don't know exactly where someone is.

If you choose cleric, be prepared to be wanted in a lot of groups .

Welcome aboard!

[schraer]

If you choose cleric, be prepared to be wanted in a lot of groups .

Welcome aboard!

Sounds terrible.

I know the basic mechanics of the game, I've probably played 2-3 months worth of the game in terms of 10 day trials over the past 2 years, I was just addicted to WoW and couldn't get away. But now that I've canceled that, I bought this game and really want a cleric. I know the game very well up to about level 3 (lol) and have experience up to about level 6.

The thing I was mainly worried about is not only stupid mistakes (I'll make them on any character, althought probably most noticeable on the Cleric) but the funding behind a cleric.

[JelloMold]

Sounds terrible.

I know the basic mechanics of the game, I've probably played 2-3 months worth of the game in terms of 10 day trials over the past 2 years, I was just addicted to WoW and couldn't get away. But now that I've canceled that, I bought this game and really want a cleric. I know the game very well up to about level 3 (lol) and have experience up to about level 6.

The thing I was mainly worried about is not only stupid mistakes (I'll make them on any character, althought probably most noticeable on the Cleric) but the funding behind a cleric.

If you have the basics down, I wouldn't worry about the other part. Tell everyone that you are new and don't have a lot of cash. Most likely someone in your group is playing an alt and is running around with a rediculous amount of cash for a lowbie. Regardless of whether there is a lot of cash in your group or not, don't be afraid to tell your group that you don't have any/very many wands so they will need to use pots to top off between fights and if you run out of spell points. Most experienced players do that anyway, but if you have some new people they might not understand that they should be carrying healing pots if possible. If your group doesn't like that, then they can buy you a wand or you can go to one of several other groups that would like to have you along as a healer. Generally, I'd say the early quests have enough shrines for you to not have to worry.

[schraer]

That's what I wanted to hear. Thank you a lot.

[Gennerik]

You can also build a Cleric that focuses on efficient healing (even with a 28-point character) that doesn't rely on wands. Just concentrate on maximizing the amount you heal for, maximizing your SP, and minimizing your SP costs. Even at level 14, you can get by without ever using Cure Serious Wounds or Cure Critical Wounds, which saves you on a lot of SP in the long run. Until I made my Bard (with a high Haggle) my Cleric was my richest character throughout pretty much my entire adventuring career to date.

Don't let concerns over money stop you from playing. There's always ways around it.

[schraer]

So, things like Mental Toughness, Extend Spell, Empower healing?

[Borror0]

Well this could be a start: http://ddo.enterwiki.net/page/Starting_a_Cleric

If any cleric wants to add to that page, go ahead.. it's a wiki after all!!

[Frodo_Lives]

You really don't need wands (or a lot of wands anyway) until you are around lvl 8 or 9. I wouldn't let money scare you away from playing a cleric.

A great way for a new player to make some money is to run Durk's a few (hundred) times until you find an extra muckbane and sell it on the AH. Usually with a buyout of 9K plat (90,000 gold) sells within a day. That buys a lot of wands.

[Alvian_Naivla]

Don't worry about the funding for a cleric. My wife started her first character as a cleric, and she hasn't bought a wand yet. A lot of your funding problems you will notice, come down to sp management.

During the lower levels, around 1-4 or 5, she really didn't buff everyone in groups; most people were twinked, and didn't need much to begin with.
Keeping empowered healing up and active at all times, while choosing every enhacement for healing she could get has allowed her to use cure light wounds well into her 8th level, which helped her save sp as well.

Now, when she buffs, she casts all the aoe's, extended, and rarely buffs resists to manage her sp. She'll ask one of the pallys, or wizards if they can resist buff, then she'll dv them back up.

Don't feel as if you need to top everyone off every time. Most players do carry wands and pots, and will either top off after fights if you ask, or hand you a wand so you can do so.

Most importantly, pay attention to the bars at the begining of every adventure. Notice who are the major sp suckers in the group. Don't feel you have to keep every person alive every time. Make good decisions. If you have a caster with little hitpoints, that is rushing into every room, and you are spending all your sp on them all the time, let them take care of themselves once in a while, ask them to stay in the back, or just let them die.

You will notice quickly how many people run around willy-nilly when a cleric is in a group, however you will also notice, how many people look out for the clerics, and are more than willing to help out with wands, pots, and pp when they find out you don't have a high main to fund.

If you do find yourself totally broke, bite the bullet just once, and farm for a muck bane. It's silly the prices of those things in the ah, but my wife was flat broke, and sold one for 25k pp. It's a silly price for one, but she sold it quickly, and is maintaining that amount with careful sp management.

Hope you have fun.

[Tannen_Rawley]

I've thought through everything, class wise, and I've come to the conclusion that I want a healer, a cleric. I was just curious if it's really an unwise thing to go for cleric/healer first, because I know wands are anything but cheap, or if I should perhaps make
something like a paladin or a barbarian first.

I caught this late, and you’ve probably already gotten started with whatever, but I figured I’d add my two cents for the hell of it. I’m bored at work, and need to look like I’m busy

The very first time I played Dungeons and Dragons, I was eight years old and spending the night at my friends' place. They were fraternal twins, three or four years older than me, and they played D&D on Sundays. They gave me a cleric and gave me a quick rundown of how things work, what to do, and that they would explain everything as they went along. I wobbled along, healed a few people, did a few things, and loved it. Been hooked ever since.

When I started in DDO, I decided to continue that tradition and started with a cleric. I figured at the very least, I'd be able to find groups, I wouldn't have to worry about too much at first, and could just enjoy the experience. I played for a little while, then took a leave of absence as I just was too busy and didn’t have the time to play, then recently came back. My cleric is level 13 now, and I’m absolutely positive I can re-roll the character to be ten times better than it is now, but it was my first character, so that’s to be expected.

I played in a lot of good and bad groups, but three times I’ve ended up in groups where I’ve made some wonderful guild friends (one guild died while I was away, the latest one I haven't actually joined yet, but I will with a new character when we all re-roll). I’m in an excellent guild that I’m -very- happy with, and grouping with good friends just about every time I log into the game. I never have to look for groups, and if I don’t set myself to be anonymous I get tons of tells.

Now, for the negative side:

I’m always reliant on a group. I’ve never fought well, I’ve never taken hits very well, and until recently I really haven’t had much in the way of offensive spell firepower. I designed my character to be a support cleric so I’m totally reliant on the ability of the party. I do very well with good parties, but I do very poorly with bad parties. Soloing quests is not impossible, but it’s incredibly frustrating to see little piddly things peg you with critical hit after critical hit, land every spell, make every save, and whomp you into paste. Things have definitely gotten better as my character has increased in levels and as I’ve gotten better as a player, but I still die a lot. If I’ve joined a group late and I’m running to an unfamiliar area and stumble across a bunch of really angry mobs, I either burn up -way- too much mana or I die, especially in the higher level areas. At the same time I watch fighters and casters of my level just laying entire crowds of things to waste.

As for money for wands and things, I’ve spent certain times broke as a joke, and other times (like now) loaded down with cash. If you’re short on money and -need- wands for a quest, ask for donations. If you see people leaving things in chests, ask if they can give them to you so you can sell them for wands. The more you quest, the more loot you can haul in, and the more money you can make off of it. Keep an eye out for haggle or charisma items to make a few more bucks here and there off of your loot sales. When you’re low on cash, run quests that you know and can rake loot off of, or know there are enough shrines around that you don’t have to resort to wands and scrolls. I didn’t buy a raise dead scroll until after I had raise dead. I still haven’t bought a heal scroll. I generally can budget my mana well enough for quests that I know, and the people I group with will clue me in on the quests I don’t know by saying “Okay, there’s only one shrine in here, so don’t burn too fast.” I don’t like to recall out because my computer loads very slowly so it takes me way longer than normal to pop out.

I honestly feel that I’ve had a better experience playing DDO because I play a cleric. I have the same experience when I play my bard, because both are very group-oriented characters. When my friends or guildmates aren’t around, or aren’t within level range of my characters it can get frustrating to try and solo or roll the dice on a pick-up-group.

My cleric is still my main, and these days it’s just about all I play because I’m always finding great groups and friends to play with.