To the Developers, State of the Cleric Address.

[Eudimio]

What are you trying to say?

You like posting cleric stuff.

[Cowdenicus]

You like posting cleric stuff.

Well since all of my mains are clerics well.......

[Eudimio]

Well since all of my mains are clerics well.......

But this "derailment" isn't a horrible turn of events, right?

[Gunga]

I was playing back up healer to one of the tanks on a shroud normal, and I used 83 heal scrolls. I do have an issue with quest design that causes you to have to use scrolls for completion, and without glitching or exploiting that is quite a challenge on some quests. Scrolls, Wands, and Mana Pots, should be for emergency use. Anti-wipe type stuff. That is not the case in ddo. I do not agree with this type of quest design. The D20 system has alot of flaws. We do not have defense like most other mmorpgs, we have AC and DR. With Elite mobs hitting AC in the 50's with ease, and no other real way to mitigate damage since dr does not stack it leads to alot of resources being used. This in my opinion is poor game design.

I enjoy this game, but I agree something should be done. The reason why other mmo's have a gameplay design of tanks, dps, support, and healer, is because it works. With AC losing its value and no real way to solidify aggro, hitpoints become king which means hitpoint recovery becomes survivability. This leads to lots of external resources being used to finish a quest.

That really does seem like a lot of scrolls for a back up healer. Were you compensating for a bad cleric or did you go in with only one cleric?

[Cowdenicus]

That really does seem like a lot of scrolls for a back up healer. Were you compensating for a bad cleric or did you go in with only one cleric?

You should see how many scrolls I burn when running with Katet.

[Gunga]

There have been numerous discussions on what spells could easily be implemented. Do a search. Look at some of Mystic's post in this very thread and he give you some examples.

Not interested in researching your ideas in order to validate them. You brought up the point, just simply asking you to complete your thought...it doesn't need a full thread or discussion.

Nope, I am saying they aren't that useful in their current form. Sure Acid fog can be useful for slowing enemies down, but the damage is pathetic. Lightning is ok but, with huge hitpoint pools, you are better off with the DOT effect of firewall or the large AOE effect of Cone of Cold.

I believe I am correct in the assumption that 99.99% of casters in the game are spec'd for fire and ice damage. I would like some more damage options available. The soultion to every arcane DPS question shouldn't be Firewall, Cone of Cold, or Scorching ray.

So yes, if the devs added some other acid damage spells or lightning damage spells, it would help these issues and give us different ways to accomplish the same goals. Which leads to more character customization, which I think all agree is a good thing.

Have you tried to spec a character out for acid/lightning?

[Gunga]

You should see how many scrolls I burn when running with Katet.

When I'm Clericing, I like to have at least 125 scrolls with me when we want to complete (no exploits of course). Sometimes I have a bunch left, sometimes not. But I like keeping some mana around for instant full heals and res's....it's my choice. Why would you ever want to run with us if we cost you more resources than other groups? If I was running with a group that didn't hold some benefit to me (completion, chests), I'd hold onto my resources and find another group. We certainly don't want you unnecessarily wasting your hard earned plat on us, Vanash. I'll throw you some scrolls next time we roll. At least you know we'll complete.

[Steiner-Davion]

I've been follwoing this thread quitely now for a while, and it is quite disturbing at times to hear how cavalier some poeple are abut the use of expensive scrolls being the norm. I started in head start with my Cleric, who is currently level 14 and for all intents and purposes flat broke. Due to real world obligations and constraints and what not, I had to stop playing for a few months overthe summer and I just come back to the game the week before the 2nd anniversary events kicked off.

My concerns about the state of Clerics and the game as a whole include the following:

1) I don't have enough free time that I can devote to loot running any quest to amass enough spare change to afford to buy hundreds of scrolls of Heal and what not, let alone Mana Potions on the AH, to "effectively" contribute my healing skills in the end game content. My cleric is currently lvl 14 and has 1195 Spell points when weild a simple light mace of the Magi. I do have the Invaders Healing Sceptor, but as others have pointed out several times in this thread, the enhancements available on that one piece of gear are essentially the best healing enhancements you can find on any item in game, and they do not effect the highest level heal spells available even at my level, let alone a capped out level 16 Cleric. So I ask you all how can I contribute effectively to any party in the end game and thus enjoy the game we all love so much? And just for the record, I have only 3 pieces of Raid Loot: The Hammer of Life, the Dragon Helm and the Crossbow from the Demon Queen.

2) In game currency and the ease with certain tpyes of players can amass great fortunes is ruining the game for those who cannot do so for what ever reason based upon the amount of free time they can devote to playing the game. It is the rare occurance when I'm in a group that someone hands me a stack of Cure Wands, and rarer still that someone hands me Heal Scrolls or even Rez Scrolls.

3) I'm all for the game beging challenging, I mean where is the fun if the game was a cake walk. But the simple fact that mobs have rediculously high ACs and Saves and blanket immunities in some cases, COMBINED with inflated numbers of hitpoints and unlimited mana pools is practiacally game breaking in the long run when players have to resort to "tactics" and "strategies" such as relying on Heal and Rez Scrolls to get by. The effects the casual player exponentially more so than the power gamer/player who can devote more time to being able to afford these types of strategies, wether through perfecting news ways of completing quests or being able ot afford to buy Heal and Rez Scrolls in bulk.

4) The Grind mechanism for crafting and Raid flagging introduced in mod 6 and Mod 4 respectively does absolutely nothing to reward casual players. In fact it only serves to further frustrate them, causing them to fall ever farther back on the power curve and causing them to become even less effective in the party. But, clearly Turbine has decided to focus on appeasing the power gamers and those who have nothing better to do than complain about how there is nothing to do all the time, instead of concentrating on building a game that is fun to play for any style of play.

[Cowdenicus]

When I'm Clericing, I like to have at least 125 scrolls with me when we want to complete (no exploits of course). Sometimes I have a bunch left, sometimes not. But I like keeping some mana around for instant full heals and res's....it's my choice. Why would you ever want to run with us if we cost you more resources than other groups? If I was running with a group that didn't hold some benefit to me (completion, chests), I'd hold onto my resources and find another group. We certainly don't want you unnecessarily wasting your hard earned plat on us, Vanash. I'll throw you some scrolls next time we roll. At least you know we'll complete.

Whoa Gunga, I was just yanking your chain boss. Definitely do not take that seriously. Thats why I winked.

[Strumpoo]

Not interested in researching your ideas in order to validate them. You brought up the point, just simply asking you to complete your thought...it doesn't need a full thread or discussion.

Have you tried to spec a character out for acid/lightning?

Yep, my wizard used to be lightning/acid spec'd. Until I realized that fire and cold was 10x's more effective in the game (probably at about level 10..)

Acid and lightning can't hold a candle to the damage that fire/ice does, at least with the current spell selection. This is a fact, not speculation. Why would a caster throw a 150 damage lighting bolt, when for the same mana he can throw a 1000 damage fireball or firewall?


Can't remember the last time I have seen a lightning bolt, ball lightning, chain lightning, or melf's cast in a high level quest. (unless the caster was out of mana and down to his last gasp wands). Acid fog is used, yes. But that is for it's "slow down" purposes not its damage dealing abilities.