advice for first tr into a cleric(eventually)

[Flint_Redbeard]

Well I'm not 20 yet but its a work in progress, currently a 14 Elf AA Ranger its fun but idk i just don't feel useful or powerful. Also every other ranger out there is just another human khopesh tempest 3 2 monk splash clone... well enough of my sentiments I have some questions.

When I do finally get to 20 get some gear and cash saved up hopefully some tomes too, I want to TR into a cleric. I've played healers in every mmo I've played which is idk 8 or so, so I'm fairly familiar with the mechanics of healing and I've played a radiant servant of pelor when i did a 3.5 campaign was a blast tbh.

What I'm not familiar on is the gear, raids and builds. Once again I'm back from a long vacation from the game lets say about 3 years so I've missed quite a bit lol. I'd like to do a Elf or drow yeah i know human bla bla 2 more wis enhancements, an extra feat, + 1skill point/lv but I like elves call it what you will elf rr gear is helpful too.

What should I be trying to get on my ranger to prepare for the cleric life? what armors/weapons/jewelry and overall gear do I/will I need?

Like i said I'm not there yet but it gives me something to aim for while im still leveling and getting loot. I have 32 point builds vet so i start at 4. So when i TR for the first time i'd have a 3o point drow or a 34 point whatever else something for you number crunchers to chew on.

OH and one more thing no WF suggestions.. I have nothing against tin can's i just prefer fleshies. Its not that i dont trust them, i just have the feeling the first chance they get I'll be a duracel in a giant battery farm. Docent my ass more like gnome souls.. T_T

Thanx in advanced

Rivyr

[Flint_Redbeard]

So much for flavor lol fine fine have it your way. Which would be better in the long run then a halfling with dragonmarks or a human? Since noone's replied to my remarks about elf clerics...T_T

[Fluch]

Go Favored Soul if you wanna do a melee type

Elf Favored Soul Pure or maybe splash it with monk or something else
go TWF with Scimitars (get some Greensteels)
something like this
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=285696

just take a look at the Elf or Favored Soul section

gear is realy simple
Torc (DQ)
Greensteel Concordant Opposition item
Dragon Touch Armor
2 Greensteel Scimitars
Bloodstone/Litany
Abbot Staff you go healing only

dunno.. theres lots of shiny stuff out there...
epic items... Dragon Armor
have fun grinding it (or buy it from AH)

[Flint_Redbeard]

Er I was looking for more of a heal/buff archtype cause thats the role I play usually in other mmos besides caster/ranged combatant. Melee battle cleric or FVS hadn't really crossed my mind, was thinking id use spells more to, firstly Heal/buff, kill or help kill mobs with BB and hold monster. Didn't really think much about meleeing as a cleric or twf as a fvs. If i wanted to twf id just go ranger tempest lol well maybe in another life we'll see.

[Fluch]

well..
i have level 20 WF melee FvS..
he heals as good as my level 20 Human caster FvS

the only difference are
WF can melee and only got heal/buff spells + bb
Human dose have also cc+damage spells but cant melee (could use bows.. but.. naaa)

think about it...
Elf FvS gets bonus on Scimitar

its a nice thing that you can dish out damage if you do a lot of quests solo

[phalaeo]

So much for flavor lol fine fine have it your way. Which would be better in the long run then a halfling with dragonmarks or a human? Since noone's replied to my remarks about elf clerics...T_T

My main is a Halfling Cleric- don't do D-Marks....not enough feats. If you like Elf for flavour, go Elf....just make sure you sink enough points into CON.

[phalaeo]

I want to TR into a cleric.

Go Favored Soul if you wanna do a melee type

I'm sure there's a reason this was posted in the Cleric forums.

[Flint_Redbeard]

LOL TY finally someone said something about that, i kept wondering *** does this guy keep suggesting FVS. Plain and simply put i'd like to be a good heal ***** at high lvs cause I know they're lacking like most mmo's I've played. If elves a bad choice I understand so human probably right cause of the feats and skill points? If so what gear should i be hoarding till I'm high enough to TR.

Grouping as a ranger is well tedious imo cause I can't compete with the dmg of others. I figure if i got 20 tr'd into a cleric I could farm easier for lack of want of groups. Im crazy Im back to the game and completionist is a goal of mine and i've always had a fun time healing so i think it would be a good first tr.

[phalaeo]

LOL TY finally someone said something about that, i kept wondering *** does this guy keep suggesting FVS.

I've gotten neg rep for calling people out on it, but it really irritates me that any question in the Cleric forum seems to be met with a suggestion to play a FvS. Not all of us want to play FvS, lol.

Plain and simply put i'd like to be a good heal ***** at high lvs cause I know they're lacking like most mmo's I've played. If elves a bad choice I understand so human probably right cause of the feats and skill points? If so what gear should i be hoarding till I'm high enough to TR.

There are ways to make almost any race "work", but yeah- some are more ideal than others. Halfling is probably not the best choice for a Cleric, but that's what my main is... actually, now that you mention it, I can't say I've ever seen another Halfling Cleric. I don't like Elf due to the penalty to CON, and there are no real Racial benefits, unless you're aiming for a specialty/flavour build.

That said, go with what you like and will enjoy playing... just be mindful to put enough into CON.

Grouping as a ranger is well tedious imo cause I can't compete with the dmg of others. I figure if i got 20 tr'd into a cleric I could farm easier for lack of want of groups. Im crazy Im back to the game and completionist is a goal of mine and i've always had a fun time healing so i think it would be a good first tr.

It's exceedingly easy to get groups, yes. Be prepared, though--- you will start to receive tells as soon as you log on to heal stuff. It can get annoying.

[phalaeo]

What should I be trying to get on my ranger to prepare for the cleric life? what armors/weapons/jewelry and overall gear do I/will I need?

In terms of named loot/stuff to farm:
(Your mileage may vary depending on build/goal. You don't need all this stuff, but it's common for a Cleric to have several of these items eventually.)

Amrath Potency Necklace (Sup. Pot. 6)
Amrath Ardor Clickies (Amara's/Tokala's Belts)
Mysterious Bauble
Eardweller
Torc
Noxious Embers/Litany of the Dead
Dragontouched
GS SP item (Goggles are a common slot.... Blindness/Disease Immunity, +50 SP, +100 SP, Concordant Opposition)
Stormreaver's Napkin
Gauntlets of Eternity (You can also build a GS item for this slot with Healing Lore PLUS other goodies)
Skiver (For Greater Arcane Lore--- don't bother if you already have Noxious Embers or Bluescale Armor)
Bracers of the Glacier
Amrath CON6/GFL belts if you don't have one/are waiting on Epics
GS Haste Clicky.... as many as you can make. Haste, Haste, Haste.
30% Striders
A good Shield for when you need to block- I'm liking Levik's Defender... Madstone is nice...
Atonement (If you plan on running Abbots- allows you to cast divine spells when intercessed....aka "Healing the Raid")
A few Shards of Power in case you need to make a new GS

[Flint_Redbeard]

TY cookie man for your wise words, about the elf thing er well see. As soon as i found out about TR when i came back, I was thinking to myself ya know what that would be awesome to have completionist. Also if I could pull off an elf every life yeah i know mindflayer bat **** crazy i know lol what can i say im a masochist I used to play korean grinder games ya know 50 hours to get 1 lv haha lineage 2, aion, rappelz hah yeah.

But see the thing is I'm used to playing mmo's where I raid healed,wow, aion a few others too many mmos to count lol. Where Clerics/healers had minimal to no use besides keeping the party up, and doesnt bother me. I could try a solo clonk build or some other battle caster thing later but not this life.

Thats all pretty much high end gear to have correct? Any low to mid lv must haves gear, cause tbh I cant remember any of that content. Or if theyve changed it, I mean they never had the gm's vision thing outta delleras or threnal when i played what else have they changed hah.
Thank you

[phalaeo]

TY cookie man for your wise words, about the elf thing er well see.
Cookie Lady.

But see the thing is I'm used to playing mmo's where I raid healed,wow, aion a few others too many mmos to count lol. Where Clerics/healers had minimal to no use besides keeping the party up, and doesnt bother me. I could try a solo clonk build or some other battle caster thing later but not this life.

Do what makes you happy (obviously so long as you're playing some useful role in a quest). The cool thing about character planning here is that you can build a character as versatile or specialized as you want.

Thats all pretty much high end gear to have correct? Any low to mid lv must haves gear, cause tbh I cant remember any of that content. Or if theyve changed it, I mean they never had the gm's vision thing outta delleras or threnal when i played what else have they changed hah.
Thank you.

That is all high-end bound/raid loot. Good mid-level items are:
Still Greensteel- If you're TR'ing, you can wear items at 11 and use weapons at 12
Mantle of the Worldshaper
+(x) WIS items. +1, +2, +3, +4, +5, +6. Wisdom fits well on the necklace slot, although it's also available in other slots.
Planar Gird
+3 WIS tome from a 20th raid completion list if you can get one
You'll probably want standard CON, STR and CHA items.
Kaelth's Touch- a trinket from Necropolis turn ins. Google it- totally useful
Mace of Healing from Invaders! Token turn-ins. If you can whip together 20 tokens on a capped toon, do it. Not worth grinding excessively for, but nice.
Pearl of Power X and other "Power" and "Magi" items of various min levels.

I'll try to keep thinking and will post again later.

[JollySwagMan]

And in terms of lowbie-to-mid stuff:

Jumping potions. Clickies are nice, but Jump potions are abundant in barrels and cheap at the vendor. Invisibility potions are worth breaking barrels for if you don't have a clickie - very useful if you need to rescue someone/make a shrine run across hostile territory. Using Invis can also be helpful in placing Blade Barriers/symbols. Lesser Restore potions are useful to any character, even Clerics. Same goes for healing potions, though on a Cleric I usually reserve those for when swimming through traps. Still, you can gain enough free cure pots through collectibles to keep a nice stash handy.

Speaking of collectibles, Wavecrasher Cargo Manifests can be traded in for Cure Moderate Wounds wands in the Marketplace, House Sealed Letters for Cure Serious. Such wands (and Heal/mass cure scrolls) can be useful in cure-intensive scenarios to offset the cooldown of your spells, as well as a general means of saving SP. They can also be given to players that may be unaware of their ability to use them :P.

If extra SP trinkets are unavailable, another good option is holding a Power/Magi item in your off-hand at the start of a quest and buffing away the extra mana, allowing you to switch out the item to something else (A superior devotion shield/weapon provides +50% to your positive energy spells, and is a good option when grabbing aggro and shield-blocking is effective with your party makeup. A more casting oriented option might be a DC/spell pen boosting item in the off-hand, allowing your main hand to switch between wands, spell-oriented weapons and melee weapons as needed. Holding an Evocation mace in your off-hand does not appear to affect a Soundburst wand (unfortunately Clerics don't get the Wand DC enhancement line), but it is useful if you want to use the wand first for trash, using the higher DC spellpoint version if a dangerous enemy makes their save.

It helps to determine what enemies are a danger to your party and what tactics (if any) they prefer. If there's an Arcane in your group, you might establish a pattern of Soundbursting first, allowing them to Hypno any dangerous critters that make their saves. If they're Enchantment focused you might want to forgo Soundburst altogether and focus upon melee, helping to ensure that the other melees in your group take down an enemy first before aggroing another. Similarly, blind effects (Holy Smite, Holy Aura, and of course the Blind and Contagion spells) may hamper other forms of crowd control - I believe this is supposed to be fixed, but it still seems to happen). I haven't seen many Cleric players make bow/crossbow use less expensive/effort than offensive casting/melee, as the animations involved can prevent casting/clerical duties. But Hold Person and a ranged weapon can help you quickly eliminate an archer, if the +4 AC against ranged attacks prone (Commanded) enemies have would limit Command's usefulness.

Superior Ardor clickies/potions will help you manage spellpoints better, providing a 75% boost to positive energy spells. The same goes for other specific spell damage types, but until Blade Barrier/Cometfall (both untyped in terms of spell enhancement), often the only spell damage you will be concerned with are your positive energy spells. A couple of exceptions are Searing Light (Sup Brilliance III clickie/potions) used against Whisperdoom/vampires, and perhaps Holy Smite (Sup Benevolence IV clickie/potions) used against evil outsiders such as tieflings or demons.

Superior Ardor II clickies up to level 5 (for cure Moderate wounds, often your most efficient single-target cure up until level 9 or so). These can commonly be picked up from the level 2 weapons broker in the marketplace, and pop up a fair bit in harbour/marketplace quests. If you don't have any luck finding a clickie or two, Superior Ardor potions can be picked up from either the House of Wizardry in House J or the spell shop in House P. If you're TR and money is not an issue, I often find it more convenient to use stacks of these potions. As an added bonus they can be given to new/starving Clerics to help them save on resources, as well as to help them learn how to get the most out of their spells.

+Evocation DC weapons are available at level 4, +DC bracers are available normally at level 7 (more commonly at 9, but i have encountered some bound to account ones at min level 5). Evocation will help your Soundbursts, Holy Smites, and most importantly Blade Barriers.

Enchantment items will help your Commands, Hold Persons, Greater Commands and Symbol of Persuasions

Necromancy will help your Curses, Slay Livings, Harms and Destructions. Harms will also benefit from Void lore and items/effects that boost negative energy spells

Abjuration will help your Dispel/Greater Dispel spells, as well as Dismissal/Banishment.

Conjuration will affect Cometfall, as well as your mass cure/Heal spells when used against undead.

Of these spell boosting items, I'd prioritise Evocation first, for the sheer usefulness of Soundburst in preventing damage to your party during the lower levels. Enchantment spells are will saves and often the critters you use them against have low will saves to begin with, so unless you're specifically planning to Hold every Hobgoblin Avenger in Tangleroot or Command every giant in Redwillows, you can probably skimp on an Enchantment item until Greater Command becomes available. Greater Command takes over from Soundburst as an easy to use CC spell that works very nicely with an ally's Firewall, however it doesn't grant sneak attack like Soundburst or Holy Smite do. Necromancy is one I usually save for red-named bosses (Curse/Harm) or quests where it's easier for casters to insta-kill specific enemies (however in such quests a sensible melee with stunning/trip capabilities can save you a nice bit of spellpoints). I tend not to use Abjuration too much, as I tend to accidentally debuff myself when using Dispel and often prefer using other level 6 spells than Banishment. Conjuration for Cometfall can be useful in golem-heavy quests (i'm thinking of made to order specifically, when a party member falls and gets golem aggro they can't handle, but you don't want to drop down and bb them as you're watching the rest of the group)

Spell Pen can be a tricky one. It's often most relevant to the Enchantment/Necromancy/Abjuration spells, but you may be able to get by just fine without it. You might consider some investment into Spell Pen feats/enhancements/items. I would suggest Heighten as a more important feat than Spell Pen, but the specifics may depend upon your build.


Superior Ardor IV clickies up to level 8 (for the radiant servant burst). The burst is affected by: Empower Healing, Empower, Maximise, Quicken, as well as your life magic enhancements and items. I wouldn't worry about healing/arcane lore until higher levels, however it is quite nice in an undead heavy quest.


Superior Ardor V potions (for mass cure light wounds - but if you have maximise as well as empower healing by this level, your bursts may outshine your mass cure spells. still, useful when cycled with cure moderate wounds mass scrolls in some intense healing scenarios)

Superior Ardor VI (available at 10, but Heal spell isn't till 11). This also affects your Aura (which unfortunately does not benefit from Maximise/Empower).

Superior Potency VI (available on a weapon at 14, Blade Barrier/Cometfall is at 11. Greater Potency VI is available at 12, so are Superior Efficacy VI clickies.) I prefer Potency over Efficacy, but the latter is useful if you have to melee while placing Blade Barriers.

Elfcrafted Robe (20 elf relics in Gianthold). Sure, you can use armor instead, but this is around the time when even non-Monk Clerics may find it easier to use robes instead of armor. The robe provides +1 Evocation, minor spell pen, and most importantly Arcane lore, which affects all of your damage/healing spells.

Turning items can be useful if you can afford not swapping anything in that item slot. Every time you remove a turning item it takes away the bonus turns, even if they have not been granted yet. (repeatedly swapping between your turning item and another will remove all of your turns)

[JollySwagMan]

Build recommendations:

I believe the extra build points from TR benefit melee clerics perhaps more than casting Clerics, as the stat spread can often be more demanding for the former. However, I would recommend playing a casting Cleric to get a feel for it first before building a battle cleric - it seems that this often helps players to heal more efficiently and learn how to prevent party damage in the first place.

I'm inclined to suggest either rolling up a 28 point casting Cleric first, or a TR 18/2 Monk splashed casting Clonk. On the 28 pointer I'd recommend Human (+1 Wis, +1 Feat) or Dwarf (a little more HP/SP). For the Clonk, I'm fond of Halflings (easy to get good use of evasion, halfling buffs), but Human can provide max Wisdom.

If emphasising survival traits Dwarf (bonuses to balance and spell saves) can also be of interest. I believe the cost of raising Wisdom at character creation is too high if building a casting oriented Warforged Clonk, but a Warforged Cleric with evasion can be one of the hardiest character types. I'm not too fond of Elf-type Clerics, but perhaps something using Zen Archery could blend offensive casting and your TR bonus to ranged attacks. A Half-Orc casting Cleric is not the most obvious build type to me, but perhaps using a mix of Stunning Blow/Fist in addition to spells might work.

[AndyD47]

As far as being a heal/buff bot:
You'd be making yourself completely dependant on others,on a class that can basically solo most quests you will be partying for otherwise.
It just makes things easier on everyone if you have 6 people contributing as opposed to 5 and a lump. I say that because the better your group is the less you are needed for heals,if you don't contribute something otherwise you might as well stand at the door.

Any way you build your cleric it can heal so please shoot for something on the side is all.

Cleric race,I personally prefer humans for the extra feat and adaptability as well as healing amp.
This thread kinda makes me want to make some kind of halfling melee cleric with fighter levels and dragonmarks for giggles though.


Alot of the stuff Jollyswagman says I'll just second as far as items are concerned.

Invisibility Potions do indeed come in handy and can leave you picking up soulstones a few times in your career as a lowbie cleric.
If you take UMD you can use neat things like longstrider/invisibility/glitterdust scrolls at mid levels,maybe get up to fire shield and stoneskin scrolls later on depending on how much you kep up with getting umd items and skill boosting stuff.
Keep a bunch of wands for stat ailments,it will save you a bunch on SP if you the folks you run with don't buy their own potions.

A cheap invulnerability robe can make the first 8 levels a piece of cake.
Stay on top things like getting the highest fort you can,a deathblock item for things that dispel/anti-magic you, false life items, some kind of way to get fear immunity is nice too (planar gird comes to mind).


You could run through the first 8 levels on heroism and rage potions alone if you wanted to though, not much you have to worry about stocking up on.
Just grab a nice two handed weapon and have at it if the situation is well in hand,drop back when it gets bad.


Sorry for rambling.
That's my two bits,clerics are a blast and I'm sure you'll have fun with one.

[phalaeo]

Oooh, very good ideas from Jollyswag!

Also, look up the following in the Static Loot thread or Google if you need exact stats:
(note- these might not all be necessary and some effects can be obtained multiple ways...just a jump-off reference for you)

Twisted Talisman (use as clicky, not for constant wear)
Ring of Spell Storing (use as clicky, not for constant wear)
Morah's Belt (use as clicky, not for constant wear)
Girdle of Faith (Equip before resting, not for constant wear)
Dalorent's Seal
Bloodplate Armor (Or other Deathblock item...these are usually cheap on the AH)
Elvencrafted Robe/Armor
Haste Clickies (or pots... I prefer pots and at least one Haste clicky, so it's AoE in case the Arcane bites it)
Invis. pots/Clickies
Mystic Belt (+4 WIS as really low ML)
Visor of the Flesh Render (saves a little SP if you need to re-Death Ward someone after rezzing them)