Help wanted.. Noob cleric...

[Morepets]

First off I would like to say I am a noob to DnD online and this is my first day playing and with that said I will say this. I want to play a complete healing/buffing cleric class. How do I get started. Any help would be most appreciated thanks.

[Daoine-Sidhe]

it sounds like you want a true cleric, if your willing to dedicate yourself to being a true healer and forsaking soloing then i would suggest the following template for you. It is a pure caster cleric, you will have some for of soloing but mostly vs undead, other then that in a group your amazing! However since you just started i'd make a warrior or something and hammer out 400 favor (recieved by doing quests, any difficulty gives you favor but elite gives you the most. If you do this, and it would only take a couple days at most, then you will have ALOT more power for your cleric since it would be a drow.

8 Str
13 Dex
10 Con
10 Int
8 Wis
17 Wis
17 Cha

Now with 13 Dex you can get mobile spell casting (combat casting first then after lvl 4 you can get mobile) Alot of people will argue it isnt necissary, and they'd be right however it is very nice to have and with being nothing but a buffing/healing character you need to have as many personal liberties as possible.

17 Wis and 17 Charisma can easily be turned to 18's with a simple +1 items at first level. The high wisdom obviously is for your spell points and dc, the high charisma is for turn undeads however not for turning undead... take the extra turning feat right out of the gate and all the extra turning enhancements. at the bottom of your enhancement list you will see things like divine vitality and about 4 others (if you select show unavailable just to see them) Turn undead itself isnt neary what its cracked up to be however converting turn undeads to these enhancements are amazing! Divine Vitality turns a turn undead into a mana heal (for others, unfortunetly not yourself) You can also convert them into HoT's (Heal over times) which the best version is about 90 hp in 30 seconds.. which in itself for its purpose is very not bad. (free mana?) you can also convert it to cure poison etc. In the end you'll have over 23 turn undeads per day (11 to start with this build) which is more then enough to get a good start.

[Cowdenicus]

First off I would like to say I am a noob to DnD online and this is my first day playing and with that said I will say this. I want to play a complete healing/buffing cleric class. How do I get started. Any help would be most appreciated thanks.

Having 2 capped clerics I can tell you that the only healing and buffing cleric is generally a waste. Fortunatly the same things that will make you a good healer will also make you a solid nuker in late game.

There are 2 things I like to concentrate on when I make a cleric, survivability, and stopping power.

That being said I would advise something like this:

28 point dwarven cleric. But feel free to do as you like.

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 2.85
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Level 16 Lawful Good Dwarf Male
(16 Cleric) 
Hit Points: 244
Spell Points: 1320 
BAB: 12\12\17\22
Fortitude: 13
Reflex: 4
Will: 17

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Stats          Modified Stats
Abilities        (Level 1)             (Level 16)
Strength             14                    14
Dexterity             8                     8
Constitution         14                    16
Intelligence         10                    10
Wisdom               18                    24
Charisma              6                     6

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills         Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)            (Level 16)
Balance               1                    12.5
Bluff                -2                    -2
Concentration         2                     3
Diplomacy            -2                    -2
Disable Device        n/a                   n/a
Haggle                0                     7.5
Heal                  4                     7
Hide                 -1                    -1
Intimidate           -2                    -2
Jump                  2                     2
Listen                4                     7
Move Silently        -1                    -1
Open Lock            n/a                   n/a
Perform              n/a                   n/a
Repair                0                     0
Search                0                     2
Spot                  4                     7
Swim                  2                     2
Tumble               n/a                   n/a
Use Magic Device     n/a                   n/a

Level 1 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Enhancement: Dwarven Faith I
Enhancement: Follower of the Sovereign Host
Enhancement: Cleric Life Magic I

Level 2 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Energy of the Zealot I
Enhancement: Cleric Wisdom I
Enhancement: Cleric Wand Mastery I

Level 3 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Mental Toughness
Enhancement: Dwarven Constitution I
Enhancement: Dwarven Toughness I
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Life I

Level 4 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Life Magic II

Level 5 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Dwarven Faith II
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Incredible Life I
Enhancement: Cleric Spell Penetration I

Level 6 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Mental Toughness
Enhancement: Dwarven Toughness II
Enhancement: Cleric Energy of the Zealot II

Level 7 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Life II
Enhancement: Cleric Life Magic III

Level 8 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Dwarven Constitution II

Level 9 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Extend Spell
Enhancement: Dwarven Toughness III

Level 10 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Unyielding Sovereignty

Level 11 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Life Magic IV

Level 12 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Maximize Spell
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Life III
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Incredible Life II

Level 13 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Energy of the Zealot III

Level 14 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Energy of the Zealot IV

Level 15 (Cleric)
Feat: (Selected) Quicken Spell
Enhancement: Cleric Wisdom II

Level 16 (Cleric)
Enhancement: Cleric Spell Penetration II

[feynman]

I won't tell you how to build you cleric, but I will give you some hints:

Strength: The most important stat in the game because it affects how much loot you can carry In reality, it's just for melee fighting

Dexterity: Affect AC and reflex save; I wouldn't put at less than 10 on any character.

Constitution: affects hit points and fortitude save; not less than 10, but I wouldn't go overboard.

Intelligence: For clerics, only affects skill points, so stick it at 10 and leave it, unless you want some weird skills

Wisdom: Affects your spell points and will saves; put at 17 or 18

Charisma: affects your social skills (you are usually expected to have diplomacy) and number of turn undead attempts; put a few points in.



My cleric is pure healer/buffer, and I mainly played her to get groups for loot to outfit my "fun" character; I find it boring, especially because when I do have to kill something, it's so easy

[Daoine-Sidhe]

The biggest problem alot of people have playing a cleric is there mindset, see there are 2 types of characters and people. Active and Re-Active, an active player or character is one that is in the fray of the fight acting to whats going on, such as a fighter, wizard, etc. A re-active character or player is a cleric or some sorcerers (depending on build, such as buffers whom have sacrificed dps for support). So for someone to say a PURE healer/buffer is a waste is someone in my opinion playing the wrong class. Fortunetly DDo characters are so customizable you can have active players playing re-active classes building them into an active class instead of their true nature.

There are a million and one ways to build a cleric, however the best way is what fits your personality.. grow into it and see what fits best. The person whom created this post specifically stated a healer/bugger, not a solo cleric. Thus I still stand behind my cleric build I mentioned with the 13 dex 17 wis 17 charisma. The use of turn undeads being converted into support abilities is a phenominal addition and its my opinion that anyone would be foolish to ignore these in the desire of a true cleric healer/bugger template.

[Ringos]

I'd advocate starting with a Cleric that has a bit of strength. While you may start out only wanting to heal and buff, that could get old real quick. It's nice to be able to pick up a mace and smash some bad guys (also saves mana if baddies die quicker!).

[Ringos]

So for someone to say a PURE healer/buffer is a waste is someone in my opinion playing the wrong class.

Disagree here. If someone stands around and does nothing but heals, that is not as helpful as someone doing the healing AND killing stuff/CC/etc. If that's all someone wants to do, that's fine and I don't call it a 'waste', but if a party had a choice between a cleric that will heal/buff and one that will heal/buff/cc/kill with spells, which would they choose?


All that being said, even the worst Cleric on a server can find a group (that's how I get all my XP!)

[Impaqt]

Interesting views here... But Cowdenicus is the closest to in-game reality here.

STR: No Cleric should start with less than 10 Your Most likly going to be wearng heavy armor, and as a new cleric you dont want to leave ANYTHING in a chest because you are over burdened. Having a high dex is totally useless once you hit medium encumberance.....

DEX: 6 Refelx save or 4? AC Means Nothing to a Healer/Caster based cleric. Points here are useless. Even if your a battle cleric, a 9 Dex is all you need to fill out Mithral Full Plate easily (+1 Tome +6 Item)

INT: I recomend 10. 2-3 SKill Points a level is great... Cap Concentration no matter way, Balance secondary, and 3rd Diplo. another nice skill to build up a bit is Jump.

CON: You Must stay alive. Unless your geared to the hilt, 10 Isnt high enough. You really want to be pushing 250-300 Hit points end game, 12-14 con makes that much easier. I woul dnever start a cleric under a 12 con and usualy go 14 on my non-dwarven builds and 16-18 if hes a dwarf.

Wisdom: 16 Minimum, 18 Prefered. Nuff said.

CHR: DV's are highly overated by some fks, but Turning can be used effectively. my one cleric that carries DV's started at a 14CHR and now has 11 DV's if I recall. More than enough for emergency situations. more times than not they sit idle, or I use the turns for Turning Undead.

Must have Feats nowadays for a traditional healer would be
Mental Toughness, Improved Mental Toughness, Extend Spell, Quicken Spell, Empower Healing. AFter that, Its pretty open, A Human wil have 2 more, anything else just 1....

[Sandpredator]

You will find that Strength (12-13) is a must when playing but don't go overboard. You really want to max out Wisdom (18) for spell points and make sure to put some in con for hit points. Leave your Int. at 8-10 because it's not really needed. Leave you Dex. at 10 also because it's also not really needed. Whatever you have left over I would put into Charisma for the DV's. If you decide to take a human it will give you additional feats to help with all the metamagic feats which are important.

[Daedalis]

Hello all,
I have attempted several cleric builds. And the highest I've gotten one leveled is to 11th level....and you learn what classes are the mana eatters very quickly. Any how....the clerics I did build was "pure healers" and they was fun to play until I hit around 10th level when the amount of damage seemed to increase exponentially.

I do have a newly created 3rd level cleric build to heal and turn.

Being a new player you won't have access to the Drow race yet, but at 400 favor you will unlock them.

Here is the build I'm using...and by no means am I knowledgeable as others on clerics in the game. But that is the fun to building a character...find out what you like and dislike and try to make improvements. This like my 5th or 6th cleric build. If anyone is wondering as to why I choose to put skill pts into Haggle and UMD....play a cleric and see what a wand cost with a haggle of a 3. And UMD is for my robotic pals....I may only be able to hit them with a repair wand, but at least it's something. (I know Heal works...but I'm referring to the levels before 11). But anyone that has a build like this or another build wants to comment...go for it .

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 2.85
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Xannder 
Level 16 Lawful Good Drow Male
(16 Cleric) 
Hit Points: 164
Spell Points: 1290 
BAB: 12\12\17\22
Fortitude: 11
Reflex: 5
Will: 17

                  Starting            Ending          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Stats         Base Stats         Modified Stats
Abilities        (Level 1)          (Level 16)           (Level 16)
Strength             10                 10                   10
Dexterity            10                 10                   11
Constitution         11                 12                   12
Intelligence         12                 12                   12
Wisdom               17                 22                   25
Charisma             16                 16                   18

Tomes Used
+1 Tome of Constitution used at level 1
+1 Tome of Wisdom used at level 1

                  Starting            Ending          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills        Base Skills        Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)          (Level 16)          (Level 16)
Balance               0                  0                    0
Bluff                 3                  4                    4
Concentration         1                  1                    1
Diplomacy             3                  4                    4
Disable Device        n/a               n/a                   n/a
Haggle                5                 13.5                 13.5
Heal                  8                 26                   26
Hide                  0                  0                    0
Intimidate            3                  4                    4
Jump                  0                  0                    0
Listen                4                  7                    9
Move Silently         0                  0                    0
Open Lock             n/a               n/a                   n/a
Perform               n/a               n/a                   n/a
Repair                1                  1                    1
Search                1                  1                    3
Spot                  4                  7                    9
Swim                  0                  0                    0
Tumble                n/a               n/a                   n/a
Use Magic Device      5                 13.5                 13.5

Level 1 (Cleric)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Heal (+4)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+2)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Turning
Enhancement: Cleric Life Magic I
Enhancement: Cleric Energy of the Zealot I
Enhancement: Cleric Divine Vitality I
Enhancement: Cleric Extra Turning I

Level 2 (Cleric)
Skill: Haggle (+0.5)
Skill: Heal (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Cleric Wisdom I

Level 3 (Cleric)
Skill: Haggle (+0.5)
Skill: Heal (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Feat: (Selected) Extend Spell
Enhancement: Elven Dexterity I
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Life I

Level 4 (Cleric)
Ability Raise: WIS
Skill: Haggle (+0.5)
Skill: Heal (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Cleric Life Magic II
Enhancement: Cleric Charisma I
Enhancement: Cleric Extra Turning II
Enhancement: Cleric Wand Mastery I

Level 5 (Cleric)
Skill: Haggle (+0.5)
Skill: Heal (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Cleric Energy of the Zealot II
Enhancement: Cleric Improved Turning I

Level 6 (Cleric)
Skill: Haggle (+0.5)
Skill: Heal (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Feat: (Selected) Mental Toughness
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Incredible Life I
Enhancement: Cleric Divine Vitality II

Level 7 (Cleric)
Skill: Haggle (+0.5)
Skill: Heal (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Life II
Enhancement: Cleric Life Magic III

Level 8 (Cleric)
Ability Raise: WIS
Skill: Haggle (+0.5)
Skill: Heal (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Cleric Charisma II

Level 9 (Cleric)
Skill: Haggle (+0.5)
Skill: Heal (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Mental Toughness
Enhancement: Cleric Wisdom II

Level 10 (Cleric)
Skill: Haggle (+0.5)
Skill: Heal (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Cleric Energy of the Zealot III

Level 11 (Cleric)
Skill: Haggle (+0.5)
Skill: Heal (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Cleric Divine Vitality III

Level 12 (Cleric)
Ability Raise: WIS
Skill: Haggle (+0.5)
Skill: Heal (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Feat: (Selected) Maximize Spell
Enhancement: Cleric Wisdom III

Level 13 (Cleric)
Skill: Haggle (+0.5)
Skill: Heal (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Cleric Energy of the Zealot IV

Level 14 (Cleric)
Skill: Haggle (+0.5)
Skill: Heal (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Life III

Level 15 (Cleric)
Skill: Haggle (+0.5)
Skill: Heal (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Feat: (Selected) Empower Spell
Enhancement: Cleric Prayer of Incredible Life II
Enhancement: Cleric Extra Turning III

Level 16 (Cleric)
Skill: Haggle (+0.5)
Skill: Heal (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Cleric Improved Turning II

Hope this might help out

[Grenfell]

In all seriousness, if ALL you want to be is a Healer/Buffer cleric, then you don't need Wisdom. Only the caster clerics actually need Wisdom, as it affects spell DC's. Since healing and buffing have no saves and no DC's, you can get by with a low base Wisdom (with enhancements and items, you'll still be able to cast whatever you want).

If ALL you want to be is a healer/buffer cleric, then max your Con, and max your HP -- all you need to be able to do is survive so you can heal/rez and buff dead party members.

Dwarf:

Str 10
Dex 8
Con 20 +4 lvls +2 enh +6 item = 32 (+11)
Int 8
Wis 16 +3 enh +5 item = 24 <-- more than enough to hit runes
Cha 6

Feats:
1 - Empower Healing
3 - Extend
6 - Toughness
9 - Mental Toughness
12 - Quicken
15 - Improved Mental Toughness

HP:
20 Heroic
10 Draconic
128 Cleric base
176 Con bonus
18 Toughness
18 Minos Legens
50 Dwarven Toughness IV
30 GFL
-----------
450 HP

As you can easily see, such a cleric would be nowhere near as useful as a full cleric that has offensive casting capabilities, or melee capabilities, or both on top of the healing and buffing. But as a heal/buffbot, that would be the "ideal' build.

/gren

[Impaqt]

Why would you need 450 hit point if your never generating aggro?

[shores11]

if a party had a choice between a cleric that will heal/buff and one that will heal/buff/cc/kill with spells, which would they choose?

Well my reply to this is you have the wrong assumption. I would choose a heal/buff cleric anyday over a cleric that will kill/cc/buff/heal. A heal/buff cleric provides so much better and timely support to a party than does the one trying to be involved in combat. Build your party so that your fighting classes, casters and bards deal with the enemy threat. A true cleric that supports the party makes the party so much more powerful.

[Impaqt]

Well my reply to this is you have the wrong assumption. I would choose a heal/buff cleric anyday over a cleric that will kill/cc/buff/heal. A heal/buff cleric provides so much better and timely support to a party than does the one trying to be involved in combat. Build your party so that your fighting classes, casters and bards deal with the enemy threat. A true cleric that supports the party makes the party so much more powerful.

Huh? How are Dead or Controled mobs hurting you?

Its WAY more effcient to Command a Group of Mobs than it is to throw 4 HEAL spells after they get done beating you up.

Its more manaeficient to Destruct one Beholder rather than Raising 2 party meners, and removing 14 negative levels from the rest.

[feynman]

Huh? How are Dead or Controled mobs hurting you?

Its WAY more effcient to Command a Group of Mobs than it is to throw 4 HEAL spells after they get done beating you up.

Its more manaeficient to Destruct one Beholder rather than Raising 2 party meners, and removing 14 negative levels from the rest.

I think he was talking about saving SP for heals, and letting the CC masters (wizzies, bards) handle the crowds. As for beholders, you're out of your mind; sure, it works, sometimes, if you're higher level than the tyrant, but when it doesn't the cleric will need a res- oh, wait, never mind.

[Impaqt]

I think he was talking about saving SP for heals, and letting the CC masters (wizzies, bards) handle the crowds. As for beholders, you're out of your mind; sure, it works, sometimes, if you're higher level than the tyrant, but when it doesn't the cleric will need a res- oh, wait, never mind.

so Bring him to a Shrine....

[feynman]

so Bring him to a Shrine....

Ah, yes, so much more efficient (assuming someone else is left alive to do so, and what were they doing during the fight?)

Let's face it: you can spec your cleric to nuke, CC, trim the hedges, and shave the turkeys, but you are necessarily taking away from things that would make him or her a better healer/buffer (aside from potency and magi items, etc), and you will still never match a sorc for nuking or a wiz for CC and turkey-shaving. Until we get another reasonably competent healing class, everyone expects clerics to heal most of the time.

To illustrate my point: recently, I ran a shroud completion on my cleric, and wound up having to heal everyone in part 4 by myself, because the other clerics had gotten themselves killed trying to.. you know, i don't know what the he;l they thought they were doing, but anyway, they got killed because they were doing something other than healing, and right at the start of the boss fight. I had saved my SP for healing, figuring that the other 8 guys could handle the killing as long as I kept them alive, and so we were able to win and went on to complete the quest, all because I play a pure healer, and don't give much thought to killing stuff (unless it's undead). My only concession to offense is my 19 str, which I use to help take down portals and occasionally whip out my cursespewer or paralyzer.

I'm not saying that an offensive cleric wouldn't work; basically, they become wizards with healing and heavy armor. I'm just saying that when I want a cleric in my group, it's not for their uber killing ability.

[Grenfell]

Why would you need 450 hit point if your never generating aggro?

Traps, AOE spells, and chaos of combat where aggro is uncertain.

/gren

[ShadowFox1978]

I think he was talking about saving SP for heals, and letting the CC masters (wizzies, bards) handle the crowds. As for beholders, you're out of your mind; sure, it works, sometimes, if you're higher level than the tyrant, but when it doesn't the cleric will need a res- oh, wait, never mind.

Common, Kindre. You have run with Lendra enough to know what a cleric can do.

[samho]

Ah, yes, so much more efficient (assuming someone else is left alive to do so, and what were they doing during the fight?)

Let's face it: you can spec your cleric to nuke, CC, trim the hedges, and shave the turkeys, but you are necessarily taking away from things that would make him or her a better healer/buffer (aside from potency and magi items, etc), and you will still never match a sorc for nuking or a wiz for CC and turkey-shaving. Until we get another reasonably competent healing class, everyone expects clerics to heal most of the time.

To illustrate my point: recently, I ran a shroud completion on my cleric, and wound up having to heal everyone in part 4 by myself, because the other clerics had gotten themselves killed trying to.. you know, i don't know what the he;l they thought they were doing, but anyway, they got killed because they were doing something other than healing, and right at the start of the boss fight. I had saved my SP for healing, figuring that the other 8 guys could handle the killing as long as I kept them alive, and so we were able to win and went on to complete the quest, all because I play a pure healer, and don't give much thought to killing stuff (unless it's undead). My only concession to offense is my 19 str, which I use to help take down portals and occasionally whip out my cursespewer or paralyzer.

I'm not saying that an offensive cleric wouldn't work; basically, they become wizards with healing and heavy armor. I'm just saying that when I want a cleric in my group, it's not for their uber killing ability.

Recentlly, I'm on my melee spec battle cleric at shroud part 4 and I'm forced to fall back from melee range to do the sole healer simply because, you know, the other cleric can't even hold their own to keep themselves alive when pretend to play the healer's role. So, who's to be blame in such situation? Actually, in my personal experince, I see more cleric playing their "healer's role" and get their butt kicked at shroud than cleric try to play other role and get their butt kicked. ( I have 5 shroud ready cleric so I know it's just personal experience Oh and only 2 of them play the melee-heavy role, mind you. )


So my point is, as long as you know how to do your role well, go for it. It's a bit difficult to convince the party to allow a well-knowledge battle cleric to battle in a shroud when the mod just come out, but it can be done; more and more party start to see the benefit from it.