Early Look - Cleric Domains

[Eryhn]

So the only true benefit is the capacity to melee and heal.

the niche is gonna be at cleric 14 holy sword domain to gain crit while at the same time running aura heal, which while not super self heals on reaper is still helping and in party with other front liners heals those acceptably. compared to a 14/6 kensei tier5 you lose the +20 MP from keen edge, granted. it's still gonna boil down to a decent upgrade to axel's 2hf build or variations thereoff, especially if you add silvanus.

no dps is not on par to dps classes but you get aura for that plus all the other benefits of being able to cast things useful coming with 14 or 15 cleric lvls

[BigErkyKid]

the niche is gonna be at cleric 14 holy sword domain to gain crit while at the same time running aura heal, which while not super self heals on reaper is still helping and in party with other front liners heals those acceptably. compared to a 14/6 kensei tier5 you lose the +20 MP from keen edge, granted. it's still gonna boil down to a decent upgrade to axel's 2hf build or variations thereoff, especially if you add silvanus.

no dps is not on par to dps classes but you get aura for that plus all the other benefits of being able to cast things useful coming with 14 or 15 cleric lvls

It will be playable, as it was playable before domains. But it is a B- build and I am not a big fan of adding clearly dominated builds.

The big problem we have is that spells aren't worth that much nowadays. FoM, DW, protection from evil, and various other buffs can be acquired from gear, often better (cannot be dispelled).

And for a healer, the aura isn't necessarily amazing, specially once you consider the fact that by going melee you'll be in harm's way. Weaving healing spells with insta kills / CC, for example, is far better than trying to do it with melee attacks.

In my book every legitimate archetype should be able to shine given enough skill mastery and gearing. The battle cleric has, and even after the pass (unless war priest brings something awesome), will have a very obvious steel ceiling preventing it from becoming a decent build.

I understand though that these domains aren't necessarily built with balance in mind. I mean it was the exact same thing with deity domains. Silvanus gave a major benefit, and everything else was just a big bucket of mehh for melee (at least).

So clearly a bone for battle clerics, but the fundamental issues they have are not solved. Certainly does not make me want to play one anymore that I would right now.

[Vulkoorex]

Would the Cleric domains make a good tanker?
Split or pure?

[KillithGoldpetal]

Greetings.

As we work on a Divine pass, we want to add in our version of Domains for Clerics. Rather than having them simply be a series of spell options, we wanted players to pick a Domain that gave the Cleric interesting build options that worked with enhancement trees.

That said, we wanted to give the players a preview of how Domains work in DDO, and want options would be available for Clerics.

Domains
Starting at level 2, a Cleric will pick one Domain which will provide additional (free) class feats as they level.

Air Domain

Level 2: You gain +1 to the DC of your Evocation spells. This increases by +1 at 6th, 12th, and 18th level Cleric.

Your lightning spells will use Light Spell Power if it is higher.

Your light spells will use Lightning Spell Power if it is higher.

Your Turn Undead works on Elementals

When you use Turn Undead your party gains a bonus to Reflex saving throws equal to half you Cleric level, and points of Electric Resistance equal to twice your Cleric level for 20 seconds

Level 5: You gain Shocking Grasp as an SLA

Level 9: You gain Lightning Bolt as an SLA

Level 14: You gain Chain Lightning as an SLA


Animal Domain

Level 2: You gain +1 Spot, +1 Listen, and +1 Reflex saving throws for every 2 Cleric levels.

Your Turn Undead works on Animals

When you use Turn Undead your party gains points of Constitution equal to half your Cleric level for 20 seconds

Level 5: You gain 10 hit points per Cleric level. You also add 10 hit points for each epic level you have gained.

Level 9: You gain +15% fortification bypass.

Level 14: You gain the Feral Charge ability. Your character to briefly morphs into a bear and charges forward through foes, attacking all foes in the charge area. The attack does weapon damage based on your equipped weapon with a +3(W) bonus, and enemies must make a Reflex saving throw with a DC of 19 + Wisdom modifier + Trip Bonuses or be knocked down. Cooldown is 15 seconds.


Chaos Domain

You cannot take this domain if you are Lawful.

Level 2: You gain +1 to Will saving throws for every 2 Cleric levels.

When you use Turn Undead your party gains 1d20 points of Universal Spell Power and 1d10 points (each rolled separately) of Melee Power, Ranged Power, Physical Resistance Rating and Magical Resistance Rating.

Level 5: You gain Chaos Hammer as an SLA

Level 9: Your spell critical chance is increased by 3%

Level 14: You gain Prismatic Spray as an SLA


Death Domain

Level 2: You gain +1 to the DC of your Necromancy spells. This increases by +1 at 6th, 12th, and 18th level Cleric.

You gain +2 to your effective Cleric level to Turn Undead, and +2 to the hit dice of undead effected.

Level 5: You gain Necrotic Ray as an SLA

Level 9: You are immune to Energy Drain.

Level 14: You gain Destruction as an SLA


Destruction Domain

Level 2: You gain +1 Melee and Ranged Power. You gain another point of each at 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th level Cleric.

You can cast your Cleric spells while raging.

When you use Turn Undead your party gains a Divine bonus to Melee Power and Ranged Power equal to half your Cleric level for 20 seconds

Level 5: Durability damage for your items is reduced by 75%.

Level 9: You weapons gain +2 to hit and damage.

Level 14: Your weapon strikes add a stack of Improved Destruction.


Earth Domain

Level 2: You gain +2 Acid Spell Power (Corrosion) per Cleric Level

Your acid spells will use Light Spell Power if it is higher.

Your light spells will use Acid Spell Power if it is higher.

Your Turn Undead works on Elementals

When you use Turn Undead your party gains a bonus to Fortitude saving throws equal to half you Cleric level, and points of Acid Resistance equal to twice your Cleric level for 20 seconds

Level 5: You gain Melf's Acid Arrow as an SLA

Level 9: You gain Stoneskin as an SLA

Level 14: You gain Earthquake as an SLA. The cooldown for this version is 15 seconds.


Fire Domain

Level 2: You gain +2 Fire Spell Power (Combustion) per Cleric Level

Your fire spells will use Light Spell Power if it is higher.

Your light spells will use Fire Spell Power if it is higher.

When you use Turn Undead your party gains points of Fire Resistance equal to twice your Cleric level for 20 seconds

Your Turn Undead works on Elementals

Level 5: You gain Scorching Ray as an SLA

Level 9: You gain Wall of Fire as an SLA

Level 14: You gain Firestorm as an SLA


Good Domain

Level 2: You gain +2 Light Spell Power (Radiance) per Cleric Level. You gain +1 to the Heal skill for every 2 Cleric levels.

When you use Turn Undead your party gains temporary hit points equal to five times your Cleric level for 20 seconds

Level 5: You gain Deific Vengeance as an SLA

Level 9: You gain Blade Barrier as an SLA

Level 14: You gain +3 to hit, damage, and armor class against evil creatures in combat. You gain +3 to saving throws against spells cast by evil creatures.


Healing Domain

Level 2: You gain +2 Positive Spell Power (Devotion) per Cleric Level

When you use Turn Undead your party gains 20 point of Healing Amplification.

Level 5: You gain Cure Moderate Wounds as an SLA

Level 9: You gain Panacea as an SLA

Level 14: Your healing spells are empowered, as if you had the Empower meta-magic. This does not increase their cost.


Knowledge Domain

Level 2: You gain +2 to all skills.

When you use Turn Undead your party gains points of Intelligence equal to half your Cleric level for 20 seconds

Level 5: You gain Suggestion as an SLA

Level 9: You gain Feeblemind as an SLA

Level 14: You gain +4 Spell Penetration. You gain +2 to the DC of all spells.


Law Domain

You cannot take this domain if you are Chaotic.

Level 2: You gain +1 to the DC of your Enchantment spells. This increases by +1 at 6th, 12th, and 18th.

When you use your Turn Undead your party gains a Sacred bonus to saving throws equal to half your Cleric level for 20 seconds

Level 5: You gain Order's Wrath as an SLA

Level 9: You gain Greater Command as an SLA

Level 14: You gain +3 to hit, damage, and armor class against chaotic creatures in combat. You gain +3 to saving throws against spells cast by chaotic creatures.


Luck Domain

Level 2: You gain +1 to your Fortitude, Reflex, and Will saving throws. This increases by +1 at 6th level, +1 at 12th level, and +1 at 18th level.

When you use Turn Undead your party gains a Divine bonus to saving throws equal to half your Cleric level for 20 seconds

Level 5: You gain Displacement as an SLA

Level 9: You add +2 to the DC of your spells.

Level 14: You no longer automatically fail your saving throws on a roll of 1.


Magic Domain

Level 2: You gain +1 to the DC of your Evocation spells. This increases by +1 at 6th, 12th, and 18th level Cleric.

When you use Turn Undead your party gains a Divine bonus to Universal Spell Power equal to twice your Cleric level for 20 seconds

Level 5: You gain Chain Missiles as an SLA. (This shares a cooldown with the Archmage SLA.)

Level 9: You gain a number of bonus Spell Points equal to your character level x 10.

Level 14: You gain points of Universal Spell Power equal to your twice your Cleric level.


Protection Domain

Level 2: You gain +1 to AC, PRR, and MRR. This increases by +1 at 5th level, 10th level, 15th level, and 20th level.

When you use Turn Undead your party gains a Divine bonus to PRR and MRR equal to twice your Cleric level for 20 seconds

Level 5: You gain the Shield spell as a permanent effect on you.

Level 9: You gain Radiant Forcefield as an SLA

Level 14: Your Armor Class and Physical Resistance Rating are increased by your Cleric level.


Strength Domain

Level 2: You gain +2 Strength and become immune to Strength damage.

When you use Turn Undead your party gains a Divine bonus to Strength equal to half your Cleric level for 20 seconds

Level 5: Your Reflex saving throws are now based on Strength instead of Dexterity.

Level 9: You become immune to knock down effects

Level 14: You always make your saving throw against Stun effects.


Sun Domain

Level 2: You gain +2 to Fire (Combustion) and Light Spell Power (Radiance) per Cleric level.

When you use Turn Undead you and your allies gain True Sight. in addition, for 20 seconds enemies in the radius of the Turn Undead have their incorporeal miss chance negated and will be inflicted with 10% vulnerability to Light damage.

Level 5: You gain Searing Light as an SLA.

Level 9: You gain Sun Beam as an SLA

Level 14: You gain Sunburst as an SLA


Trickery Domain

Level 2: You gain +1 to the DC of your Enchantment spells. This increases by +1 at 6th, 12th, and 18th.

When you use Turn Undead your party gains points of Charisma equal to half your Cleric level for 20 seconds

Level 5: You gain Invisibility as an SLA

Level 9: You gain Mind Fog as an SLA

Level 14: You gain Charm Monster, Mass as an SLA


War Domain

Level 2: You gain +1 Damage with melee and ranged weapons. This increases at 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th and 20th.

When you use Turn Undead your party gains a Divine bonus to Melee Power and Ranged Power equal to half your Cleric level for 20 seconds

Level 5: You gain proficiency in all martial and exotic weapons.

Level 9: Your tactical DCs are increased by half your Cleric level.

Level 14: You gain Holy Sword as an SLA.


Water Domain

Level 2: You gain Water Breathing. You gain +1 to Swimming and +2 Cold Spell Power (Glaciation) per Cleric level.

Your cold spells will use Positive Spell Power if it is higher.

Your healing spells will use Cold Spell Power if it is higher.

Your Turn Undead works on Elementals

When you use Turn Undead your party gains a bonus to Will saving throws equal to half you Cleric level, and points of Cold Resistance equal to twice your Cleric level for 20 seconds

Level 5: You gain Solid Fog as an SLA

Level 9: You gain Cone of Cold as an SLA

Level 14: You gain Greater Creeping Cold as an SLA

Sev~

I would like to see instead of the empower feat to healing spells changed to EMPOWER HEALING metamagic feat***** It makes SO much more sense to me. Only healing clerics take that feat, why not give it automatically? Also instead of cure moderate why not cure serious? or cure critical? Or why not heal spell in general? I have gotten a lot of feed back from other heal bot builders who are confused why the spell power earned in total is not more?! I don't know what to tell them, I do know that personally I would like Empower healing metamagic feat.

Thanks.

[Elibolas]

It will be playable, as it was playable before domains. But it is a B- build and I am not a big fan of adding clearly dominated builds.

The big problem we have is that spells aren't worth that much nowadays. FoM, DW, protection from evil, and various other buffs can be acquired from gear, often better (cannot be dispelled).

And for a healer, the aura isn't necessarily amazing, specially once you consider the fact that by going melee you'll be in harm's way. Weaving healing spells with insta kills / CC, for example, is far better than trying to do it with melee attacks.

In my book every legitimate archetype should be able to shine given enough skill mastery and gearing. The battle cleric has, and even after the pass (unless war priest brings something awesome), will have a very obvious steel ceiling preventing it from becoming a decent build.

I understand though that these domains aren't necessarily built with balance in mind. I mean it was the exact same thing with deity domains. Silvanus gave a major benefit, and everything else was just a big bucket of mehh for melee (at least).

So clearly a bone for battle clerics, but the fundamental issues they have are not solved. Certainly does not make me want to play one anymore that I would right now.

I appreciate the theme -- battle clerics won't be as good at DPS as most other builds, and it cuts down your DPS to have to self-heal in the middle of melee. Good point, no one should play battle clerics if they are trying to lead the party in kills. OTOH, I have a Half-Orc Cleric/Fighter (12 Cl, 8 Fighter for Kensai capstone is the concept, he's only level 7 now) that REALLY wants the Strength Domain to be active right this minute. It would make him even more fun to play. I love that the Reflex saves will drive off of Strength. That adds a measure of survivability. And he can buff the rest of the party's strength stats? Now *that* is a party buff.

So -- when will these domains go live?

Elibolas

[chrysahor]

I would like to see instead of the empower feat to healing spells changed to EMPOWER HEALING metamagic feat***** It makes SO much more sense to me. Only healing clerics take that feat, why not give it automatically? Also instead of cure moderate why not cure serious? or cure critical? Or why not heal spell in general? I have gotten a lot of feed back from other heal bot builders who are confused why the spell power earned in total is not more?! I don't know what to tell them, I do know that personally I would like Empower healing metamagic feat.

Thanks.

I prefer to get empower as a healer. I will indeed take empower healing, and you get can a -4 discount to SP with radiant servant.
Having free empower is that much more interesting to boost your lower level spells.
Free empower and discounted empower healing will give cheap sick CLW for 12sp before adding items or epic SP reduction.
If you get free empower healing and have to take empower it'll cost 21 for the same thing.
CMW SLA is a lvl 5 perk, you can argue for CSW, but CWW would just be OP. You can apply maximize, empower healing and intensify for free on it.
IF you also get free empower on it and it's affected by T5 RS cure focus I will spam it end game. It'll heal for as much as the heal spell for way less.

Some other domains have their own appeal for a healer, dead clerics heal no one:
- strength: Immunity to stun and knockdown is a life saver
- animal: HP and emergency CC
-luck: cleric15/monk2/pally3 with displace and no fail saves across the board.
It opens up a lot of possibilities to play around with enhancement, splashes, ED, twist and reaper.

[elvesunited]

n my book every legitimate archetype should be able to shine given enough skill mastery and gearing. The battle cleric has, and even after the pass (unless war priest brings something awesome), will have a very obvious steel ceiling preventing it from becoming a decent build.

The battle cleric
Maxes some stat other than wisdom. ( Wisdom being the only stat you can't use for damage )
Has given up on DCs
Outside of Quicken and maybe Empower Healing or Extend doesn't care about metamagic feats
Casts pretty much buff and heal spells. ( which pretty much top out around level 6 )

This is of course a concept that cries for multi-class. Depending on the build you could have a character who has most of his levels as cleric but doesn't spend a single AP point in a cleric enhancement tree. And the cleric melee domains seem to actively encourage multi-classing.

War -> Fighter for the Tactical DC. ( you can forget holy sword, unneeded with kensei )
Destruction -> Barbarian ( for casting while raged )
Animal -> Tempest / Archer ( for hp [ a weakness of those builds ] and reflexes for their evasion )
Strength -> For the strength based monk ( so they can dump dex )

[edrein]

The battle cleric
Maxes some stat other than wisdom. ( Wisdom being the only stat you can't use for damage )
Has given up on DCs
Outside of Quicken and maybe Empower Healing or Extend doesn't care about metamagic feats
Casts pretty much buff and heal spells. ( which pretty much top out around level 6 )

This is of course a concept that cries for multi-class. Depending on the build you could have a character who has most of his levels as cleric but doesn't spend a single AP point in a cleric enhancement tree. And the cleric melee domains seem to actively encourage multi-classing.

War -> Fighter for the Tactical DC. ( you can forget holy sword, unneeded with kensei )
Destruction -> Barbarian ( for casting while raged )
Animal -> Tempest / Archer ( for hp [ a weakness of those builds ] and reflexes for their evasion )
Strength -> For the strength based monk ( so they can dump dex )

Except this concept has never called for multi-classing since the days of tabletop. Clerics are one of the very few classes in tabletop that can hold their own in melee combat despite being a 'spellcaster' by traditional precepts. The only other class that does this? Warlocks. I suppose you can throw Psionics in as well but the point remains.

War Domain clerics in tabletop are honestly the equivalent of being a Paladin with full access to an actual spellbook.

The problem with DDO's War Domain? You aren't even remotely the equivalent of a Paladin and despite having full access to a spellbook, you're not going to be able to cast spells. Honestly, you don't have quick draw (which the devs seem to think you should pick up after it was changed), you don't have any sort of feat tax towards picking up metamagics for spell casting, and you really have to give up one or the other; casting or meleeing. Sure you can 'buff' and heal, but at best your clutch healing and you're arguably worse at that than a paladin in DDO. Because the paladin has Lay on Hands, that scales with him all the way to cap, doesn't really have a caster level issue, doesn't require metamagics to go off without a hitch, and generally blows any form of cleric healing out of the water.

Now you might say, "But Edrein, clerics have access to radiant savant and healing aura." Yeah, they do. You know how useless that aura is in anything above Epic Normal? Let alone the current metagame of Racial/Reaper TRs and runs in the epic range/cap. But to even use Aura, the cleric has to give up his actual melee bonuses from his melee enhancement tree (granted T5 warpriest is an absolute joke, we're still looking at the opportunity cost) and loses potential damage for some pitiful healing that isn't going to do him any good in content where he needs either a large defensive buff or a solid DPS buff to outkill the enemy.

I don't think War Domain, Strength Domain, Destruction Domain, or even Animal Domain need to be on par with the ridiculous cheesy strength of tabletop War Domain. But I think we need to stop looking through rose tinted glasses that say, "Clerics have always been terrible melees in DDO and needed a multiclass or should have to multiclass to deal damage." No, the domains need to be balanced across the board. All of the 'melee/weapon' domains are terrible. Their power is upfront and center within the first 5 levels mostly, and they drag along at level 9 and 14. They are noob traps to trick people into multiclass niche builds that are terrible both on paper and practicality. It's like the devs were like, "Oh hey, let's make a few really good domains and then the rest of these should be super flavorful, because we need a good 17 domains or so to pad out the list." So you've got a handful of decent and useful caster domains, some really meh caster domains, and some really awful melee/weapon domains because forget anyone wanting to make a non-caster cleric. Oh I'm sorry, forget anyone who wants to make a serious non-caster cleric. Anyone who wants to make their gimp aura-clerics are fine, they can pick up holysword and still do absolutely nothing towards contributing to the party, but hey said cleric sees bigger numbers on the scrolling text so they feel better. And that's all that matters anymore, making someone temporarily feel better about themselves while leaving the problem to fester longer.

[Paladin_of_Power]

I appreciate the theme -- battle clerics won't be as good at DPS as most other builds, and it cuts down your DPS to have to self-heal in the middle of melee. Good point, no one should play battle clerics if they are trying to lead the party in kills. OTOH, I have a Half-Orc Cleric/Fighter (12 Cl, 8 Fighter for Kensai capstone is the concept, he's only level 7 now) that REALLY wants the Strength Domain to be active right this minute. It would make him even more fun to play. I love that the Reflex saves will drive off of Strength. That adds a measure of survivability. And he can buff the rest of the party's strength stats? Now *that* is a party buff.

So -- when will these domains go live?

Elibolas

I think the idea of Strength Domain sounds good but the application here is weak. +2 really isn't much, if it added more +2's as you level that would help more. And give the Stunning Blow feat as a freebie. When I think of Strength Domain Cleric, I think of Thorgrim swinging his war hammer and Rexor swinging great sword from Conan the Barbarian movie.

[elvesunited]

Except this concept has never called for multi-classing since the days of tabletop. Clerics are one of the very few classes in tabletop that can hold their own in melee combat despite being a 'spellcaster' by traditional precepts. The only other class that does this? Warlocks. I suppose you can throw Psionics in as well but the point remains.

War Domain clerics in tabletop are honestly the equivalent of being a Paladin with full access to an actual spellbook.

If they did make melee domains so powerful that it could take a pure cleric and put him on equal melee footing with a pure paladin then imagine what could be done if a player were to take that domain and apply it to a multi-class build. It would create a too powerful character mixing the domain with enhancement trees like Kensei.

Nothing will bring clerics on par with paladins and the like until(if) the war priest enhancement tree gets a major makeover. Until that happens DDO battle clerics will have to multi-class to gain access to much more powerful enhancement trees.

[Silverleafeon]

Hello Devs,


Mass Heal & Reincarnate casting times


While Druid & Divines begin to undergo their overview passes, I would like to mention:

There are two spells that they posses with long & extremely long casting times, Mass Heal & Reincarnation.

Quicken is recommended for both these spells simply for the safety of the caster,
even then the casting time is larger than normal.

This does yield hireling problems concerning mass heal being interrupted.


Now logically, perhaps one might consider the slower casting speeds is a balance measurement?
Or a distinction between classes?

But if this were the case then one must consider their equaling spells from a different class?

Resurrection = Reincarnation yet the Druid version is much, much slower than the other.
Mass Heal = Mass Regeneration yet the Cleric version is much slower than the other.

Notice the crossover, which indicates to me that the Designers did not have a distinctive birds-eye-view.
If a design approach were taken Mass Regenerate would actually be slower than Mass Heal.
This would be a point of view that cleric healing greatly trumps druid healing, which is not true for a smart player.

Considering the idea that Druids & Divines need more love,
I respectfully request that these two spells both have their casting time reduced appropriately.




Also, a few random ideas:

If the 3rd favored soul tree focuses on SLAs, then there is less concern about improving the Angel of Vengeance tree.
This also makes Clerics Healing > Favored Soul healing.

Regardless, the Radiant Servant tree could be less expensive, which should be easy to accomplish during future changes.


I love the ideas from Domains, and I think the Favored Soul class changes help balance the boost.
Perhaps, consider something similar for Wizards and Sorcerers?


EI:


Wizards get to choose a Spell School (in place of the domain) and get appropriate bonuses based upon that school.

Sorcerers get less choices but a few critical ones that are more general.

The design should be balance according to how much love these casters need.



Thanks for reading,
Silver



PS I have not pointed out the obvious ~ Warpriest Trees needs a lot of thought, and Druids in general need tons of consideration.

[Silverleafeon]

I just realized that Cleric Offensive Caster types are much of the way thru the Class Pass now.

Divine Disciple is a new tree and its fairly well respected by most players.
Combine that with the new Domains, and it time for testing out how it works for real.

Uber healer types might need a action point cost adjustment, but since when is a "only heal" type toon hard to make?

[Captain_Wizbang]

Animal Domain......Did SSG give this domain a vanguards shield rush. 30' w/ a .3w dmge to all in the path?

Sure looks that way. Because you have to have a weapon equipped, much like the mechanic of having a shield equipped.

As much as I like the whole pass, it's beginning to look like more power creep. Ravenloft better deliver content to challenge the new FotM or the big nerf hammer will appear.

[DarthBeckett]

I have converted over 3 of my Clerics on a server so far, and really have not noticed a significant difference.

My 22 Archer Cleric, none of the Domains really spoke to them, and I went with Fire, figuring I might get a slight boost to Flame Strike, Cometfall, and a few things. So far, playing a few hours, there was a tiny difference, but nothing to be excited about. It might be because I was irritated at having to build from the ground up, try to remember all the options I had taken and wound up forgetting Zen Archery. Have not really gotten to test out Turning elementals, or if any of the feats, gear, enhancements do or do not help.

I had been really tempted to go Earth for the Stoneskin SLA, but ultimately didn't want to risk Acid Spell Power being nearly useless. In retrospect, Im not sure it would have really mattered to much, as Fire does not seem to help all that much.

I have a level 7 battle cleric I went with Strength, and while I have not played him more than a few minutes, on paper I am not really seeing much that stands out.

My third was a still pretty fresh Iconic. I had heard that the Sun Domain was bugged and there are also some conflictsnwithnthe two SLAs. I also misread two of the Domain's abilities, and went Fire rather than Sun. On one hand, I'm still toying with her, testing out different builds, (before Domains), but I feel from the little I test ran her that she came out even weaker than before. Not 100% sure, but overall it feels that way. Burns through SP like crazy, pun intended.

I can kind of care less about the Turn Undead party buffs. They are just far too short to be worth while in most cases.

All in all, its mostly underwhelming, and I really wish that the enhancememt trees, spells, and the many long term issues had been the focus instead of Domains, particularly with the Warpriest tree, and I fear that this will be seen as a good fix, leaving all those other things on the back burner for even longer. I understand for some styles of play this was a boon, and that it took a lot of work from the devs, so I am not trying to bash their efforts, it just isn't what I think was needed most for the game as a whole.

[Kza]

I have converted over 3 of my Clerics on a server so far, and really have not noticed a significant difference.

My 22 Archer Cleric, none of the Domains really spoke to them, and I went with Fire, figuring I might get a slight boost to Flame Strike, Cometfall, and a few things. So far, playing a few hours, there was a tiny difference, but nothing to be excited about. It might be because I was irritated at having to build from the ground up, try to remember all the options I had taken and wound up forgetting Zen Archery. Have not really gotten to test out Turning elementals, or if any of the feats, gear, enhancements do or do not help.

I had been really tempted to go Earth for the Stoneskin SLA, but ultimately didn't want to risk Acid Spell Power being nearly useless. In retrospect, Im not sure it would have really mattered to much, as Fire does not seem to help all that much.

I have a level 7 battle cleric I went with Strength, and while I have not played him more than a few minutes, on paper I am not really seeing much that stands out.

My third was a still pretty fresh Iconic. I had heard that the Sun Domain was bugged and there are also some conflictsnwithnthe two SLAs. I also misread two of the Domain's abilities, and went Fire rather than Sun. On one hand, I'm still toying with her, testing out different builds, (before Domains), but I feel from the little I test ran her that she came out even weaker than before. Not 100% sure, but overall it feels that way. Burns through SP like crazy, pun intended.

I can kind of care less about the Turn Undead party buffs. They are just far too short to be worth while in most cases.

All in all, its mostly underwhelming, and I really wish that the enhancememt trees, spells, and the many long term issues had been the focus instead of Domains, particularly with the Warpriest tree, and I fear that this will be seen as a good fix, leaving all those other things on the back burner for even longer. I understand for some styles of play this was a boon, and that it took a lot of work from the devs, so I am not trying to bash their efforts, it just isn't what I think was needed most for the game as a whole.

? How can you be weaker than before?
You get things free.
As caster dps- go ele cold or maybe fire imho
As turner/insta - death is strong
As meleer- hmm i play reaper so i dont want to play melee right now

For me domains is awesome and fun!! Clerics are viable in a nice way But absolutely
In no way op (yet.. maybe some find something hehe)
So more ok options- perfect!
(Warlocks best still ofc in 80%+ of content/group compositions)

[DarthBeckett]

? How can you be weaker than before?
You get things free.
As caster dps- go ele cold or maybe fire imho
As turner/insta - death is strong
As meleer- hmm i play reaper so i dont want to play melee right now

For me domains is awesome and fun!! Clerics are viable in a nice way But absolutely
In no way op (yet.. maybe some find something hehe)
So more ok options- perfect!
(Warlocks best still ofc in 80%+ of content/group compositions)

I'm not sure. For my archer, the Bow damage seems to have dropped somewhat, and I've respeced 3 or 4 times trying to get it back up. Spell Damage is improved a tiny bit, but it's not really anything to write home about.

[stoerm]

I have converted over 3 of my Clerics on a server so far, and really have not noticed a significant difference.

My 22 Archer Cleric, none of the Domains really spoke to them, and I went with Fire, figuring I might get a slight boost to Flame Strike, Cometfall, and a few things. So far, playing a few hours, there was a tiny difference, but nothing to be excited about. It might be because I was irritated at having to build from the ground up, try to remember all the options I had taken and wound up forgetting Zen Archery. Have not really gotten to test out Turning elementals, or if any of the feats, gear, enhancements do or do not help.

I had been really tempted to go Earth for the Stoneskin SLA, but ultimately didn't want to risk Acid Spell Power being nearly useless. In retrospect, Im not sure it would have really mattered to much, as Fire does not seem to help all that much.

I have a level 7 battle cleric I went with Strength, and while I have not played him more than a few minutes, on paper I am not really seeing much that stands out.

I would have thought animal, destruction and war domains would suit an archer. At level 20 str domain gives all +10 str each burst or aura activation.

[warbird1610]

Looks great. I'm especially a fan of War Domain. I was actually thinking the other day "I have all these exotic weapons I never use because of proficiency issues..." and this would answer that and give cleric a breath of fresh air! I also love a lot of the other domains making cleric play with much more versatility. I still worry that cleric will be a mediocre caster compared to FvS, but that's not really a cleric's role anyway and the SLAs look good. The only thing I really worry about is the Strength domain immunity to strength damage. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this seems to be unprecedented and I worry that it will be a fighter splash thing instead of a cleric thing (not that STR damage is super common, but it's still something I wonder about). Still I'm going to need to roll up some clerics when this goes live!

I have a pure 7th level cleric with the war domain, and I am receiving the non-proficient warning with bastard swords and repeating crossbows (yes I took tier two, at fifth level). Is anyone else having the same issue?

[unbongwah]

I have a pure 7th level cleric with the war domain, and I am receiving the non-proficient warning with bastard swords and repeating crossbows (yes I took tier two, at fifth level). Is anyone else having the same issue?

Known bug: hopefully will be fixed in the next patch (knock on wood).

[warbird1610]

Known bug: hopefully will be fixed in the next patch (knock on wood).

Ok, I will get my hammer.