Tips

[Mithran]

Just had an interesting thought. I understand that clerics spend most of their time watching the 6-12 health bars on their screen. Maybe if you tell your group up front that you'll be only using SP for healing and only during fights (self-heal in between), maybe you will switch the roles and have them watching your blue bar for a change

The problem with this approach is the high proportion of barbarians/fighters who don't have enough money for potions (or so they've told me). They're the ones who pay so little attention to their Health bar (unless they're barking at the Cleric), they never even stop their forward progress between Subterranean encounters. This philosophy was what had prompted me in my last guild to suggest that the Officer Corps be restricted to those players who had a capped Cleric.

[prodigy]

It's amazing just how self-sufficient some people can be when they realize you're not going to babysit them.

But if Clerics dish out thousands of platinum for wands/scrolls to babysit these people, they're just going to keep on expecting it, and running blindly through traps, or expecting you to be their personal "healbot" as they try to solo elite group content.

Just my 2cp.

Amen to that.

It has long been my view that high consumable use for clerics promotes poor playstyle in others.

[maddmatt70]

Maybe I am in the minority here, but I like using heal and cure mod mass scrolls. I should preface this statement by saying I dont like using an excessive amount of them, but I do like using them. My reason is they save up mana for having fun in quests such as destructions on beholders on the way to hound or greater command or comet fall in quests where I can use them. Yeah I know that these spells also save mana by ccing, but I like to save mana by cc and do more cc and kill spells over and above what I can do with the mana I have - if that makes sense lol. Without scrolls this wouldn't truly be possible.

[Talon_Moonshadow]

In general, I spend a lot more money on potions for myself, then any cleric has ever spent on scrolls that he has actually used on my chars.

even in VoD.

Now, that said, I do know that most clerics, especially on the highest content, to use a ton of resources.

But it's their own choice IMO.
But then, player's expectations of having a full backpack of resources is why I don't play my cleric much anymore.

IMO if you expect a cleric to have heal scrolls, you will give them to him.
Not money.......GIVE HIM THE SCROLLS!
Only then will you know how much they cost.

In my perfect DDO world, no one would expect me to have scrolls or pots on my cleric unless he handed them to me himself.

Asking for money never is right IMO.

You can donate if you want, but it is better to donate the actual scrolls/pots instead of money.

And really, people need to stop getting hurt IMO.
I'm willing to bet that currently in VoD, the bad guys do more damage to us then we do to them......if everyone's talk about how many scrolls and pots they use is correct, then that must be the case.
And that is stupid IMO. There must be a better way.

[Frodo_Lives]

Other than raids I have rarely used any consumables on any of my clerics other than a wand charge or two.

I get by on my sp and have had no problems. I know running Hound (sometimes), VoD, Shroud, I will use some consumables. I have refused more donations that I have excepted.

Clerics are only as expensive as you let them be. I find that if you don't worry about keeping everyone at 100% all the time people get the hint. If you leave people running around at 80 or 90% then they will actually pay attention to how often they are getting hit as opposed to knowing that they can play like a total moron and the cleric will just keep healing and healing.

Either way, don't run your cleric in groups that are too expensive. Aviod content that is over your head, avoid groups that are made up of 3 WF barbarian, a fighter and a wizard. On non raid questing it is very rare that any consumables need to be used, and expecting donations when you shouldn't be using consumables at all is being pretty darn cheap IMO.

[Muur]

This thread could have gone nowhere for me as it was titled "tips" (that's what I was looking for) and ended up startiong out as a self-induced pity party (pack your bags, we're going on a guilt trip). I am still learning the clerical arts and often find that my playstyle has to change depending on the group I run with. I am in a different country than pretty much all the members of my guild so I run in pugs but have one guildy that I run with everyday (whether in duo or pug) so we take care of each other.

You will learn to use your hot-keys wisely. The Sorc or Wiz missing a the same amount of hp (visibly from Clerics point of view on health bar) probably isn't going to need cure spell like a tank would to get him back to a comfy level of hp, right? Right. Cast different level heal spells in repect to what you think the wounded toon's hp level is at.

Oh yeah and that sp sponge tank that wants to solo the quest and constantly check his kill count, let him go. He may never learn..........

When partying with another cleric (seems to be happening a lot more recently), heal him first. Makes sense right? Right.

As far as "tipping" goes: (I never thought of it like that- kinda makes me feel cheap and dirty) I don't ask. If I expend a lot of supplies on a quest, (which really depends on how much I want the xp/end item/etc) it's my choice. That is why I have built other toons to help fund my cleric. Plus it gives me a variety of gameplay and different toons to go to if something else is needed fo a particular quest. I have been tipped, and I have accepted some stuff. A guy yesterday gave me a POP VII for mycleric andI would like to think that it was because of my ability to keep his butt alive. When I am low on expendables and/or SP, I say something to let everyone know to be careful. That's about the time the wands and mnemonic pots come out.

I have a lot to learn and I will take a good bit of info off this thread and use it. All in all I enjoy the responsibility of the role and if I'm not enjoying it at that particular moment, then I just switch toons. "Food for thought. Take what you want, BUT EAT WHAT YOU TAKE."

[manslaughter666]

bro you obviously dont know how to build a cleric or conserve spell points. as for a charge you give clerics a bad name. i have 2 clerics and do not charge because thats what we are here for. suck it up and know your roll. try playing a bard and another toon to build up loot.
and my fighters always use pots at ends of battles to self heal. if anything ask people to carry pots they are for sale to self heal after a battle.

Notsureofit level 9 cleric.
Alfonsomonto level 16 cleric.
Followmetokil level 16 bard
Killforyouall Level 16 fighter/barb

[Accounnas]

First off Dragonspeake I commend your willingness to play w/pps who wish to do quest/Raid w/anyone who's willing to try. Second, too the pps who have responded in this thread by giving negative feedback to Dragonspeak; u all suxxors. 3rd I have have spec heal cleric 16th lvl Martell, who will send you enough Scrolls and other gear for your cleric. Don't stop playing with pps because there not in your Guild. This is one of the reasons i will be leaving this game by Nov 25. Many pps here believe that unless they run w a Guild they will never accomplish anything--sad. Also, i have played D n D since beginning and many variations; either P n P or PC. I believe it will always be the best game ever created(ty Gary Gygax and Co.). Unfortunately, I have now played all the content in this game and have come to a wall in my game playing experience(got to have fun while playing). If you Dragonspeake, have only made a cple char's and have not reached 1750 favor yet, then this game still has huge amounts of playtime for you. Try not to be discouraged from running w new pps or quests in LFM. Also, you have the option of playing char's on several different server's at once. Try the different servers out; sometimes its just easier and you meet new(mostly) and friendly game player's. Also, it is not bad to be in a Guild. I have been in 5. My first Guild(also my most fond memories in game)was Soldiers on Parade from the now defunct server Riedra. 2nd was Crimson Eagles(the first one), which i also had a great but shortlived experience with(Guild broke up into 2 seperate Guilds over some internal affairs(mostly poor communication between pps i believe). I then stayed w the Aussie contingent for a brief time in Phoenix Crusader's(Nice bunch of pps). I had 1 char in Renegades also(cause of friends). I was in Ransack for an even shorter length of time an left when this game was starting to lose my interest. I created my own Guild for brief time(which my char's will be gone by NOV 25 so any who wants the Silverleaf Guild title can take it(had severals pps who wanted it; no way was my idea first; you only getting cause I'm leaving!). Making and running your own Guild takes a gd amount of time i believe to make it worthwhile for everyone who joins said Guild. Lastly, if you wish to experience the game and its quests fresh and untainted then look for other people who have'nt done that quest yet. The whole experience will be enjoyable that way.
PS Gd Lck Dragonspeake and may the Gods of Ebberon smile upon you!

[prodigy]

I see a lot of advice saying its better to run another Char to finance your cleric.

I should point out my cleric is specced for Blade Barriers (Max, Emp, Quicken and Extend).

I find my cleric to be a big money maker, this is because:

A: He can always get a party.
B: He can solo very well, this means quests and encounter areas.
C: I don't use consumables in quests very often.

It all comes down to playstyle, but there is no reason why a well built cleric should need funding from any other Character.

For solo money making I would recommend a few items:
Haste pots/clicks
Word of Recall scrolls (your panic button)
A fear immunity item, Reaver ring, Helm of Freewill, Planar gird for GH etc
Superior potency 6 item for your Bladebarrier

Quicken is your bread and butter so you don't get interrupted. Extend allows you time to clear an area by going out and pulling mobs in.

Thats how I roll anyway, I'm sure others have different methods but this works for me.

[prodigy]

First off Dragonspeake I commend your willingness to play w/pps who wish to do quest/Raid w/anyone who's willing to try. Second, too the pps who have responded in this thread by giving negative feedback to Dragonspeak; u all suxxors. 3rd I have have spec heal cleric 16th lvl Martell, who will send you enough Scrolls and other gear for your cleric. Don't stop playing with pps because there not in your Guild. This is one of the reasons i will be leaving this game by Nov 25. Many pps here believe that unless they run w a Guild they will never accomplish anything--sad. Also, i have played D n D since beginning and many variations; either P n P or PC. I believe it will always be the best game ever created(ty Gary Gygax and Co.). Unfortunately, I have now played all the content in this game and have come to a wall in my game playing experience(got to have fun while playing). If you Dragonspeake, have only made a cple char's and have not reached 1750 favor yet, then this game still has huge amounts of playtime for you. Try not to be discouraged from running w new pps or quests in LFM. Also, you have the option of playing char's on several different server's at once. Try the different servers out; sometimes its just easier and you meet new(mostly) and friendly game player's. Also, it is not bad to be in a Guild. I have been in 5. My first Guild(also my most fond memories in game)was Soldiers on Parade from the now defunct server Riedra. 2nd was Crimson Eagles(the first one), which i also had a great but shortlived experience with(Guild broke up into 2 seperate Guilds over some internal affairs(mostly poor communication between pps i believe). I then stayed w the Aussie contingent for a brief time in Phoenix Crusader's(Nice bunch of pps). I had 1 char in Renegades also(cause of friends). I was in Ransack for an even shorter length of time an left when this game was starting to lose my interest. I created my own Guild for brief time(which my char's will be gone by NOV 25 so any who wants the Silverleaf Guild title can take it(had severals pps who wanted it; no way was my idea first; you only getting cause I'm leaving!). Making and running your own Guild takes a gd amount of time i believe to make it worthwhile for everyone who joins said Guild. Lastly, if you wish to experience the game and its quests fresh and untainted then look for other people who have'nt done that quest yet. The whole experience will be enjoyable that way.
PS Gd Lck Dragonspeake and may the Gods of Ebberon smile upon you!

Ever heard of paragraphs?

[Talon_Moonshadow]

The best way for a cleric to conserve SP is to be in a group that doesn't get hurt.

As a cleric, a well placed Greater Comand and/or Sound Burst can go a long way.

Other than that it is luck of the draw with PUGs.....and maybe Guilds too.

I'm guilty of overhealing and obsessed with full health bars. But waiting awhile to see if someone will break out his own potion or wand can go a long way.

So can refusing to wear striders....as you will be very far behind the zerging tanks and they will use their own potions instead of waiting on your slow butt.

(Plus Resurrection uses less mana than healing a zerging Barbarian.)

[richieelias27]

On my cleric I never use my own resources if:

1. The group is playing like idiots (running through traps with a rogue in the party or zerging for instance)

2. The group is trying to run a quest that is obviously beyond their level/ability.

Honestly, it is completely up to you wether you want to hold your groups hands and float them through a quest entirely on your pocketbook. Me? Never have, never will. They dont like it? They can find another cleric.

[prodigy]

They dont like it? They can find another cleric.

If they can!

[Strakeln]

Most experienced players can tell when the cleric with them is under-funded.

In cases like this, I consider it the responsibility of those experienced (which implies wealth, in a relative sense) to help out the under-funded cleric.

A 5-10kpp tip from a few people goes a long way.

[Strakeln]

Maybe I am in the minority here, but I like using heal and cure mod mass scrolls. I should preface this statement by saying I dont like using an excessive amount of them, but I do like using them. My reason is they save up mana for having fun in quests such as destructions on beholders on the way to hound or greater command or comet fall in quests where I can use them. Yeah I know that these spells also save mana by ccing, but I like to save mana by cc and do more cc and kill spells over and above what I can do with the mana I have - if that makes sense lol. Without scrolls this wouldn't truly be possible.

I'm with you, although to an extreme.

I don't care about scroll usage, and I tend to be quite wasteful with them. I'll use 600 scrolls in a quest if needed (and yes, I do carry that many just in case), and I won't be the least bit cranky about it. I will always cast a scroll before using mana to heal, if possible.

I only get cranky when I have to start dipping into mana potions too heavily.

[Zenako]

oooo where to start....

being poor is NOT an intrinsic feature of a being a cleric....not at all.

If you are short of funds, very likely is it because you are not being effective in converting loot to cash. While I know not everyone want to bother building a haggle speced character (60+ haggle skill), everyone can build a character with a very useful haggle score. ANY high CHA character has a good start and +10-+13 Haggle items can be found cheaply. Add in a handful of ranks, any luck item and spells and you can get into the 30+ range pretty easily. Why bother you ask, well it makes a big difference in your pocketbook. Each POINT of haggle skill adds 0.25% to the price you get from a broker.

So take 0 haggle skill character into the barkeep and sell that item for for 10% of its value....or spend a few minutes and take your 32 haggle character and sell that same item to a broker for 15%+ 8% (=32*0.25) = 23% of its value.

100,000 gold item at the barkeep for 10,000 gold
100,000 gold item at the broker with some haggle skill for 23,000 gold

hmmmm, rinse and repeat a few times and you soon have a LOT more cash on hand. Even if you have to spend 2% of the value to mail good items from non haggle characters to your best one, as long as the selling character has at least 9 more points of haggle than the sending character you still make more gold.

full haggle details can be found here...

http://ddo.enterwiki.net/page/Haggle

Plus, once you have hit at least 11th level as your cleric, you can EASILY solo many quests for almost complete profit. Not hard at all and usually very quick. Desert runs for nearby chests work, at 12+ running into the vale works well too...

Now that you have addressed a possible financial issue, time to turn to the style of play that results in heavy healing needs.

You are a cleric, not a babysitter. If you end up feeling that you are being used as a tool to just support someone else's idea of how they have fun, then pull the plug. Do not heal stupid, do not enable reckless, do not spend resources when the situation could and should have been avoided. It is possible to brute force your way thru almost any encounter, but it is often the LEAST effecient way to handle things from a resource perspective, and the false mantra of it being faster is often negated by the time spent on recovering from wipes or other situations. Tortise and the Hare has some truth to it.

[Forceonature]

...avoid groups that are made up of 3 WF barbarian, a fighter and a wizard.

Wow. People still think this way?

• My fighter has 3 levels of pally and can UMD heal, reconstruct, and res scrolls. I have no need for a cleric except for boss fights in raids.
• My barbarian uses trip and flanking tactics to minimize damage, plus I carry repair pots and have 2 levels of healers friend. I've had clerics /tell me that I required less healing then our more fleshy companions.
• A WF arcane caster can SELF REPAIR and repair the other WF! No need for a cleric.

Granted, not all WF are self reliant. But then again, neither are any other character races.

My fighter uses heal scrolls on others to help out the cleric during quests. Where's my tip?

[dragons1ayer74]

On Kybher a few month ago I was running my 11th level Cleric (highest character on that server so no tons of plat no scrolls a few wands). And I see a 9-12 group for TBF Elite and all they need is a cleric and ready to go. The Sorc was level 12 and I figured it might be a bit rough but we should be able to complete it. I have nevers seen the spiders go so terrible bad we managed to kill them and get every one back up then the group says lets go get the optional chest Im sitting at 200 spell points and clearly let every one know that if we go for that optional spider chest at this time we have absolutley no chance of finishing the quest.

The party decides to go for it anyway and sure enough we manage to get the chest now Im down to 30 manna and 10 charges left on the 3rd wand (last of mine too) at this point (sorc is empty) I inform the to the party that their is no way we can kill the 3 troll genrals and make the shrine with out me recalling to restock and I inform them that I will not be going alone and not without some help to restock three of the players think this fair and want to try to finish the quest and pony up a few donations (about 3000 plat in all). As I am getting paid and getting ready to recal then the bard chews into me on voice chat he recalls the same guilded fighter who has been quiet the whole time recalls too. The bard says he coming back but is still being a jerk saying people don't know how to play the game and that if you didnt want to come prepared you would be better of not making a cleric. He gets back to the quest and approaches me opens up a trade window and offers me 3 wands and 6000 plat I accepts thanking him thinking he cooled off. At this point the fighter who had not returned yet drops group then the bard recalls and drops group too.

We did recruit a few more players and we did get the quest done (far from easy as we learned the Sorc did not have MAX or EMP and the normal FW where not doing any thing at all to the end boss). I was left with such a foul taste in my mouth that I have not played that character since. Attitudes like it the clerics responsibility to entirely fund over level content just seem so wrong.

[Zenako]

Well at least the Bard did honor his words and gave something back.

However, as has been mentioned before, you were running a quest that is WAY over your character level (level 13 base) and 15th for Exp/18th for mobs on Elite. So it would be normal and expected to have to use resources to cover that kind of gap. At only 11th level you also have fewer SP to draw upon. While the differences between an 11th or 12th level fighter are minor, the differences in what you can do and the gear you can wield as a caster are more notable.

Given the circumstances, it was poor form to go for that optional chest at that time, especially once you pointed out your circumstances. Get past the generals, clear to the shrine and then consider the optional, or even wait until after quest completion to go back for it...sigh

[dragons1ayer74]

Well at least the Bard did honor his words and gave something back.

However, as has been mentioned before, you were running a quest that is WAY over your character level (level 13 base) and 15th for Exp/18th for mobs on Elite. So it would be normal and expected to have to use resources to cover that kind of gap. At only 11th level you also have fewer SP to draw upon. While the differences between an 11th or 12th level fighter are minor, the differences in what you can do and the gear you can wield as a caster are more notable.

Given the circumstances, it was poor form to go for that optional chest at that time, especially once you pointed out your circumstances. Get past the generals, clear to the shrine and then consider the optional, or even wait until after quest completion to go back for it...sigh

110% Agree we where so far over the level of the quest and the group leader was using very poor tatics. Also I would have been more than happy to go back and try for the chest after we finished the quest. Tatics and bit more solid characters from every one (me included) could have made a huge diffrence. Two melees with crapy ac should be killing the greter commanded stuff laying on their back, bard should have been CC, Sorc should have been doing CC, buffing Damage, any thing. The only standout in the party was the monk because their AC was actauly pretty significant and noticble in that quest.