Cleric advice and input requested

[Rastaa]

Hi,

I'm new to this game and wanted to get some thoughts on the paths I taken and suggestions for improvements.

I would like to start with saying I'm a casual player. This is my first main character and I just made 6th level.
I just picked feats/skills/actions that looked good when the option was there. Except unyielding sovereign which I heard about 'in-game' so some what planed for.
I'm a VIP with ddo points easily available. (time is my limiting factor)

I used a 32-point human build
ST 14 + 2 (gloves) = 16
DX 10
CON 14
IQ 10
WZ 16 +1(level)+2(AP)+1(trinket) = 20
CHR 14 +2(cloak) = 16

Feats Skills (27 points to spend)
Mental Toughness I basically split it between 3 skills
Toughness Concentration
Empower Healing Diplomacy
Extra Turning UMD

Action Points (20 points to spend)
Unyielding sovereign 6 pts
Cleric life magic II 3 pts
Human wisdom 2 pts
Cleric wisdom 2 pts
Human versatility
Racial toughness I
Energy zealot I
Divine light I
Divine vitality I
Divine cleansing I
Extra Turning I

I plan to get a +2 to all abilities at 7th.

I think I wasted my new feat selection with extra-turning and lots of skill points. I never used UMD or diplomacy yet.

Please leave some feedback and hopefully ways to implement a change to this character.
Are there DDO store items that let you change feats or skills ?


Thanks

[phalaeo]

Hi there!

Firstly, what would you like your strengths/capabilities to be? Do you want to be able to melee if you have to in order to protect yourself, do you prefer to stay back and offensive cast/crowd control? Do you want to be on the front lines melee'ing?

Not knowing much about your goals, I can give you ideas about what I would have done differently. I am making an assumption that you are doing a fair bit of soloing (due to the time limits you mentioned), but I could be way off base.

Stats:
Always max WIS. There are few exceptions, but most everyone will tell you that you can't go wrong here, especially if this is your first Cleric.

IMO, INT is a dump stat for a pure Cleric build. Again, some exceptions, but as general advice. Did you have something in mind when you added those 2 extra INT points?

CHA- This is where opinions vary and things get situational. As I'm sure you're aware, Cleric use CHA for turning undead (virtually useless after mid levels)- As Turning stinks at higher levels, many Clerics will just use CHA for the Divine Vitality. I'm a big fan of DV's, but I think you could drop that a bit and use the points elsewhere. The only other reason I can think of that you would have a CHA that high would be if you are trying to achieve a reasonable UMD, which you did mention. I've personally given up on trying to achieve a significant UMD on a pure Cleric, but that doesn't mean that you should. Many people (myself included) would advise against multiclassing one's first Cleric, but if you put those 2 points into INT to increase your skill points per level and made the CHA that high to try to get a higher UMD----- you may be better *carefully considering* adding one level of a synergistic class that gets a ton of skill points and has UMD as a class skill. Again, this is kind of touchy and I'd really like to hear your ideas before conjecturing into oblivion.

Are you going "sword and board" or dual wielding?
Also, are you planning on wearing heavy armor or cloth?

Going in blind, this is how I would tweak it-

STR 14

DEX 12

CON Should be 12-14. Let's keep it at 14, but if you need the extra points, you could take it out here. Remember that you will eventually be able to get +6 CON items and Greater False Life as well as other sources of HP, such as Draconic Vitality (Agents of Argo favour, 10 HP)

INT (Took two points out) 8

WIS (Added two points) 18

CHA (Took two points out) 12

Looks like everything else is ok. I never use Diplo, but some people do and are happy with it. You'll be able to swap out Divine Cleansing when you have easier access to remove poison/disease wands and spell selections. I'd get rid of the extra turning.

There are DDO store items which will allow you to change certain characteristics of your toon.
Lesser and Greater Hearts of Wood will let you respec a whole bunch, including skill point choices made at level.
Sibirys (sp.) Dragonshards (amount needed dependent on level) will allow you to respec a single feat. You can buy the Exceptional shard in the DDO store, or crunch all those tiny shards together to make your own.

[Rastaa]

Phalaeo, thank you for reading my post and for your feedback,

Yes, I mostly solo. I grouped only three times so far. All decent groups and I did ok I guess, different people tanked me for keeping them alive. I know my perceived role changes to more of a healer when I'm with others.

I created this class because I knew I would have to solo a bit, so I wanted a class that could heal. I use a long sword/heavy mace and shield set-up with heavy armor.

I didn't have a plan for the IQ, it was just remove all the negatives then increase from there when I created this character. That is why 10 is my lowest ability IQ and DX because I thought they were the least important for me. I will get a +2 to all tome once I hit 7th.

I got diplomacy because it was a class skill that seemed useful at creation. I just haven't figured out how to make use of it yet. UMD was just a filler skill and seems like a bad choice for that, I should have got balance. I hardly get knocked down, but it is irritating when it happens.

That 'extra turning' feat does need to go. I was thinking about 'extend spell' for my buffs; I almost chose that one but changed my mind at the last second.


Thanks again

[Talon_Oakenleaf]

I agree with Phalaeo and you should max out wisdom. I have a lvl 15 cleric Human right now and I would say i have benefitted most from Energy of the Zealot all 4, toughness and mental toughness. My next one shall be improved mental toughness. I do use UMD alot and am almost at my goal of 20 so that I can use magic weapons I am not proficient at such as long swords etc. I left it at simple weapons to save for extend, empower, and quicken. In reality I use all three of these rarely, the most used being quicken. Extend I will use if in a group and we are holding a "wall" other than that I never use it. I find that SP goes away quickly if you over use them but they are worth it when needed. Keep that in mind when choosing.
Also something to consider is Charisma (controversy I know). It depends what you want to do with your toon. I have DV3's for the groups I am in and at current level I get 16 of them. They can add 450 Spell points to another caster which can help out in some groups. Turning undead sucks in my opinion but you can use those turns when soloing to damage undead, which helps when you are low on SP.
Also something I am not 100% sure of so hopefully someone else can confirm or deny this is that your charisma score affects crowd control spells. I use these alot and find it more helpful than actually healing party members.

Good luck with your toon. I might have missed it but if you are on Kyber and feel like looking someone up my toon name is Dorrito.

[BrinLondo]

Cleric player here too...

I would say, first consider you're going to "screw up" this character. I did and now I see why and how...

What I don't like about my character:

(1) Unyielding sovereignty: If I remember this is the ability to use a sword. Not worth it.
(2) Undead turning: Pointless and potentially devastating. Never had turns work for me (low CHA). When they did, the critters ran off and the party after them creating more mayhem. Have yet to see anyone really ZAP any undead.
(3) I also had a low INT and that is suppose to be 'OK' for clerics, but I found that at every level I was only getting one skill point, while my ranger and thief were getting 5-7. You will need to jump, balance is somewhat important, and you don't want to be a 'slow swimmer.' It's painfully agonizing--not dangerous--just slow. But I chose CON over INT for my guy.

What I like:

(1) Divine Vitality: Mages and fellow clerics will love you!! Remember to hotbar the right icon! It is a party saver!
(2) Haggling: I've "corrected" my CHA some and invested in Haggling, rather diplomacy, or bluffing. Now at 17th level with a necklace +11 of haggle, my items sell for 2,000gp more on average. (also depends on the item--but worth it).
(3) Extra-turnings: As it gives you more chances to use Divine Vitality.

Always remember: Clerics gossip with one another about other players. We feel your pain!! Always ask their take.

[phalaeo]

(1) Unyielding sovereignty: If I remember this is the ability to use a sword. Not worth it.

The pre-req enhancement allows you to use a turn undead attempt to grant yourself proficiency with Longswords, but actual Unyielding is a 1,000 HP HEAL that also removes all neg levels and other disease effects.....

...without using SP.

Pretty decent at lower levels when SP is tight and you don't have access to Resto yet.

[worthful]

The pre-req enhancement allows you to use a turn undead attempt to grant yourself proficiency with Longswords, but actual Unyielding is a 1,000 HP HEAL that also removes all neg levels and other disease effects.....

...without using SP.

Pretty decent at lower levels when SP is tight and you don't have access to Resto yet.

thats the theory behind it, anyways. When my cleric had the enhancement it usually failed to heal said cleric for his total of 180 hps. Definitely did not remove all disease effects either. I'm sure this is a bug, but still something worth knowing about.