My little cleric

[Aenoanx]

That's not exactly what I ment. But I guess its like trying to deal with WoW community at times, we'll just have to settle for a GG. Can't see anywhere where I said my DPS would be awesome using a bow. I would rather be doing something rather then waiting to heal. There is always going to be items to supplement lower stats.

[Enochroot]

That's not exactly what I ment. But I guess its like trying to deal with WoW community at times, we'll just have to settle for a GG. Can't see anywhere where I said my DPS would be awesome using a bow. I would rather be doing something rather then waiting to heal.

There's plenty to do while "waiting to heal". But a crossbow is not one of those things. Well, for me. Things that would come long before waiting to heal for me -

- offensive spell casting (includes crowd control, in my mind)
- curing what ails the party (not just healing, remove curse, disease, dmg ,etc)
- healing
- melee
- picking my nose
- reading/writing an e-mail
- reading the forums and writing unnecessarily demeaning lists of things to do before firing a crossbow
- firing a crossbow with no feats

Yeah, I'm just being difficult, I don't know what I'm talking about.

Melee is a much more attractive prospect than crossbow.

I didn't say your DPS wouldn't be amazing, I said it would be NEGLIGIBLE. IE. NOT WORTH IT.

If you really think you'll just be standing around bored, and want to waste that time doing something virtually unnoticeable - (except pulling aggro unintentionally or not being able to cast while in xbow animation) - go right ahead, and defy us evil, ignorant, WoW-like trash posters.

[Aenoanx]

Well one would assume curing/healing go hand in hand but i'd be greatly concerned if my group was taking so much damage. I would be forced to chain heal. Lastly - when you start talking like an ass don't expect too much. Glad we have that settle, peace. Because I am done here, I got all the advice I would possibly want now its just execution and sadly I got a ways to go in clearing the last couple korthos quests.

[Dymond]

There's plenty to do while "waiting to heal". But a crossbow is not one of those things. Well, for me. Things that would come long before waiting to heal for me -

- offensive spell casting (includes crowd control, in my mind)
- curing what ails the party (not just healing, remove curse, disease, dmg ,etc)
- healing
- melee
- picking my nose
- reading/writing an e-mail
- reading the forums and writing unnecessarily demeaning lists of things to do before firing a crossbow
- firing a crossbow with no feats

Yeah, I'm just being difficult, I don't know what I'm talking about.

Melee is a much more attractive prospect than crossbow.

I didn't say your DPS wouldn't be amazing, I said it would be NEGLIGIBLE. IE. NOT WORTH IT.

If you really think you'll just be standing around bored, and want to waste that time doing something virtually unnoticeable - (except pulling aggro unintentionally or not being able to cast while in xbow animation) - go right ahead, and defy us evil, ignorant, WoW-like trash posters.

DUDE.. lighten up! I'm pretty sure you can get a point across w/o bashing the new guy. Your first post was a bit harsh as well.

[Aranticus]

That's not exactly what I ment. But I guess its like trying to deal with WoW community at times, we'll just have to settle for a GG. Can't see anywhere where I said my DPS would be awesome using a bow. I would rather be doing something rather then waiting to heal. There is always going to be items to supplement lower stats.

actually, ddo is the direct opposite of wow. in wow, the various classes are pretty much the same but in ddo, the same class can have many ways of playing. here are some examples (using fighter class)

1. high str thf fighter
2. high str twf fighter
3. snb ac fighter
4. snb dr fighter
5. high dex ac fighter
6. tactics fighter
7. intimidate fighter
8. multiclass fighters (lots of mc to choose from)

alot of these builds are primarily based on stat distribution and at times, gear cannot even help, ie the high str twf fighter is going to base his stats on high str and 17 dex to qualify for twf feats. if it wants, it can easily switch to thf which only has str as a criteria. a high str thf fighter is going to find difficulty to switch to twf as they most likely invest in str and con. the use of dex item is not going to get you the twf feats. some builds are based on skills. again there are skill items but with the DC of checks being high enough, it is often impossible to switch halfway

the more important thing is the use of gear. one has a fix number of slots, ie helm, goggles, necklace, etc for a total of 2 weapon/shield slot, 1 ammo slot, 10 body slots. while these may sound alot, consider the fact that on unnamed gear, you cannot find an item with 2 stats on it, ie belt with +6 str and +6 con. if these gear do appear, they are named items and depending on their power, often raid loot, some of which are extremely difficult to get

next is the limitation of enchantments on the gear, ie a helm can have charisma enhancement but not str enhancement. again, this can be omitted for named or raid loot

as to the use of crossbow. there is the conflict between agro and doing something. can you shoot at 1 mob, sure but the whole group near that mob will come as well and they know EXACTLY where you are. beside shooting, what can you do? buff up? as a battlecleric, buffs are essential and the fighting buffs are generally short duration. instead of shooting at mobs, why not spend the time buffing. how about setting up the area to ambust the mobs? often, unplanned fights go badly

these is not meant to redicule you but to illustrate to you the actual situation in ddo. and yes, i had a rude shock when i started. what works in pnp doesnt always translate to ddo

[Enochroot]

DUDE.. lighten up! I'm pretty sure you can get a point across w/o bashing the new guy. Your first post was a bit harsh as well.

It just comes out in my when people who are clearly new disregard clearly seasoned vets advice (I'm not talking about my own, by the way, feel free to disregard mine) - and decide "they can figure out some way to make it work" when the vet has told them "that won't work".

If you can figure it out anyway, what's the point in even posting and asking in the first place?

[Arianrhod]

Well, as to the crossbow - if you've got the space in your pack, there's no harm in carrying one. Only you can decide whether it suits you to pull it out & use it occasionally. Personally, I find the rate of fire to be an issue - not for DPS (that's not the point of the crossbow anyway), but because it insists on finishing the reloading animation every time you shoot, which can make it awkward to switch from shooting to casting in a hurry when needed. For my clerics, when I want to shoot things (exploding barrels, for instance), I prefer to carry a returning throwing dagger

[Aenoanx]

It just comes out in my when people who are clearly new disregard clearly seasoned vets advice (I'm not talking about my own, by the way, feel free to disregard mine) - and decide "they can figure out some way to make it work" when the vet has told them "that won't work".

If you can figure it out anyway, what's the point in even posting and asking in the first place?

No, that's just being fail. There was nothing ever stated it can't be done. If you didn't like what was being said in here don't ---- post. Im washing my hands of this anythign else will be 100% ignored.
Oh and it's not about finding a way its about experimenting, that what the general advice as been, play around with classes if you go to far they won't work. All that was said is if you want to be a healer, heal, if you want to be a healer/melee. Be that. If you want good spell damage/healing do that.

actually, ddo is the direct opposite of wow. in wow, the various classes are pretty much the same but in ddo, the same class can have many ways of playing. here are some examples (using fighter class)

1. high str thf fighter
2. high str twf fighter
3. snb ac fighter
4. snb dr fighter
5. high dex ac fighter
6. tactics fighter
7. intimidate fighter
8. multiclass fighters (lots of mc to choose from)

alot of these builds are primarily based on stat distribution and at times, gear cannot even help, ie the high str twf fighter is going to base his stats on high str and 17 dex to qualify for twf feats. if it wants, it can easily switch to thf which only has str as a criteria. a high str thf fighter is going to find difficulty to switch to twf as they most likely invest in str and con. the use of dex item is not going to get you the twf feats. some builds are based on skills. again there are skill items but with the DC of checks being high enough, it is often impossible to switch halfway

the more important thing is the use of gear. one has a fix number of slots, ie helm, goggles, necklace, etc for a total of 2 weapon/shield slot, 1 ammo slot, 10 body slots. while these may sound alot, consider the fact that on unnamed gear, you cannot find an item with 2 stats on it, ie belt with +6 str and +6 con. if these gear do appear, they are named items and depending on their power, often raid loot, some of which are extremely difficult to get

next is the limitation of enchantments on the gear, ie a helm can have charisma enhancement but not str enhancement. again, this can be omitted for named or raid loot

as to the use of crossbow. there is the conflict between agro and doing something. can you shoot at 1 mob, sure but the whole group near that mob will come as well and they know EXACTLY where you are. beside shooting, what can you do? buff up? as a battlecleric, buffs are essential and the fighting buffs are generally short duration. instead of shooting at mobs, why not spend the time buffing. how about setting up the area to ambust the mobs? often, unplanned fights go badly

these is not meant to redicule you but to illustrate to you the actual situation in ddo. and yes, i had a rude shock when i started. what works in pnp doesnt always translate to ddo

You missed the point of the WoW comment - completely it had nothing to do with class building. It was an insult because he was acting worse then half the community or what some people might call Trade chat or Barrens Chat.
I used to be like that when I was in HC guilds in raiding mmo, but I realized I just looked like a jackass.

The comments that are being thrown out as helpful, only just cheapen the person. Its my first time to DDO but not my first time to the rodeo (mmorpgs). Despite how different a game is there are a few things that always hold true in a game, regardless of mechanics in what players need to do and what to expect to do.

Well, as to the crossbow - if you've got the space in your pack, there's no harm in carrying one. Only you can decide whether it suits you to pull it out & use it occasionally. Personally, I find the rate of fire to be an issue - not for DPS (that's not the point of the crossbow anyway), but because it insists on finishing the reloading animation every time you shoot, which can make it awkward to switch from shooting to casting in a hurry when needed. For my clerics, when I want to shoot things (exploding barrels, for instance), I prefer to carry a returning throwing dagger

Arianrhod this is exactly what I like to see and expect. THANK YOU. And I agree. Those were some of the reason I had considered carrying a range weapon. In my experiences so far in low level instances, I have never had a problem with drawing any kind of argo from npcs, granted I spent most of the night remapping all my keys and coming up with /assist macros and things like that
The reloading animation was a bit uncomfortable myself but I'll take your advice and hang on too throwing knives.
I don't plan it replacing my melee dps or anything like that but situational use.
I've learned lots in the last 5 days. I am confident enough I might build my first alt. I downloaded the character planner and I am going to see if I can create this character I have in my head. But now on paper =p

Because my outdoor activities tend to be my one track mind - and I forget!