Basic Heroic Cleric Cleaver

[Tilomere]

Nerfed in Update 46 - Patch 2.

[capsela]

Another tour de force in design. Kudos friend.

[Tilomere]

Another tour de force in design. Kudos friend.

Cleric is tying 1 hand behind your back, or is it?

[capsela]

Cleric is tying 1 hand behind your back, or is it?

This looks pretty fun to play actually. Nicely done.

Notes on build, put points into intimidate so you can use Horc lock bash. It's a pretty great skill. Also put points into mighty turning and as much charisma as you can afford.

[Tilomere]

This looks pretty fun to play actually.

So, I had to test this and gave it a try on a newly rolled iconic in starter gear. Picked bladeforged because they start with a great sword. Updated OP. Nerf first life starter geared characters.

[C-Dog]

I miss the damage math, but I do understand.

put points into intimidate so you can use Horc lock bash. It's a pretty great skill.

Which would require either dumping Balance (meh), or a 32 pt build for +2 Int.

You're losing -2 to start, then -1/2 levels (cross class skill), plus no +# Tools bonus - how long can you practically keep opening locks? Mid-Heroics or so?

(Charisma isn't supposed to help Lock Bash - is there a bug I've missed? Either way, a Cha item is heaping another burden on a first lifer, who might already be having trouble w/ gear tetris.)

[Zretch]

6 fourth pale master zombie form 1.2x damage, heal with wizard death auras and cleric negative energy spells

Death Aura and Negative Energy Burst are Spell level 4, which you're not getting with 5 Wizard. Lesser Death Aura is a very, very small heal. Should probably stick to cleric neg energy spells.

YMMV on the actual playability of this as Eldrich Tempest is a 30 second cooldown. For dungeons that have clustering mobs, it should be good. For dungeons like A Sharn Welcome and No Refunds, where most mobs have range and tend to scatter right away....not nearly as effective.

But hey, on the positive side, you've built a first life no gear melee that can hit harder than a Sorc, so maybe you can stop beating the drum over arcane nerfs. (I know, that won't happen.)

I wonder if the changes coming to tie cleave animations to attack speed means that zombie form cleaves will slow down. OMG, this build is so awesome it was nerfed before it was even posted!

[Tilomere]

1 Should probably stick to cleric neg energy spells.

2 YMMV on the actual playability of this as Eldrich Tempest is a 30 second cooldown. For dungeons that have clustering mobs, it should be good. For dungeons like A Sharn Welcome and No Refunds, where most mobs have range and tend to scatter right away....not nearly as effective.

3 (I know, that won't happen.)

OMG, this build is so awesome it was nerfed before it was even posted!

1 Fixed, ty!

2 Added in En Pointe at end of level 18 to finish heroics with. Don't need a third set of action boosts, since HOrc has extra action boosts already. A little late to party, but oh well.

3

4 IKR It's like this very build radiated so much awesome it caused ripples in the fabric of space/time and caused itself to be nerfed in the future, in the past! The build is so awesome it became sentient, and rippled other effects back in time to cause itself to be buffed in the future by doublestrike and higher base damage that could crit from strength, because it wanted to ascend to Godhood!

[Coffey]

I tried this build out on a brand new Bladeforged rolled right out of the factory. Used Magic Domain instead and built it to spec like you said but SoundBurst was failing to land on the Lizardfolk in Escape Plan on normal difficulty. Am i doing something wrong maybe?

[Tilomere]

I tried this build out on a brand new Bladeforged rolled right out of the factory. Used Magic Domain instead and built it to spec like you said but SoundBurst was failing to land on the Lizardfolk in Escape Plan on normal difficulty. Am i doing something wrong maybe?

Some mobs have higher fort saves than others, especially melee mobs in expansion content that way back in the day caused everyone to make shiradi sorcs and monkchers because no one could hit the DCs to break fort. Back in that day, mobs needed those saves, because champions with deathblock didn't exist, so if they had reasonable fort saves necro casters would have rolled over them. If you leveled from 1, you would also have better than starter gear, and would be doing level 15 quests at 17. Even with dungeons of the same level, mob fort saves across different content, expansions, and packs are varied. Try a level 13 dungeon which is full xp at 15. Or try level from 1 so you have actual gear at 15. Welcome to fort DC casting! Gianthold awaits to devour your soul!

Even failing soundburst and losing that multiplier and being on the wrong race, how does the damage feel? Are the remaining multipliers enough to feel good about it?

A couple years ago when I was soundburst splashing everything I made wisdom and charisma hybrid gear sets that had 44 soundburst DC by level 10, which is good enough for all reaper heroics, so worrying about DCs isn't something I've had to do since.

[Coffey]

I like the build idea very much and the damage is really good expecially when mobbed up even without SoundBurst landing. I knew that high Fort mobs were probably going to be near impossible with starter gear but i thought maybe at level and with the extra DCs from Magic Domain might help seal the deal! I also thought the lack of Spell Pen could also be a problem,

The character looks hilarious in Zombie mode like a drunk in a garbage can riding a unicycle but the big cleave definetly wipes everything out

Was seeing 1800 min damage without SB helplessness!

[Xaxx]

What a surprise, I see the op all over the place moaning about CASTERS OP OH MY GOD MY POOR MELE WAAAAAAAHHHH NERRRRRRRRFFFFFFFFF CAAASSSTEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!! 111!!!!!!!!!!ll1111!!!!!!!!111!!!!!!!!

Yet here is another *build* by him that is just another version of Lets find a way to abuse sound burst....

So its ok to use something from casters when it enables your melee to do a ludicrious amount of damage but its not ok to use something castery to do less damage than your screen shot from ranged??????

Ok now I'll do what the op would do if this was anything caster based *cough cough* sorry gotta clear my throat...

OH MY GOD LOOK AT THAT SCREEN SHOT YOU OVER BUFFED THF NERF IT NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF FF IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTT. Its not fair that a caster cant put out that much damage at level 15 NEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. THF is bad naughty naughty bad bad and does to much damage nerf it NOOOOWWWW!!!!!

ok that enough being the op for me.... should I just link back here next time I see a NEERRRRFFF CAAAAASSSTERS post from the op?? i'm sure there will be one some time in the next 20 seconds or so.

[Tilomere]

should I just link back here next time I see a NEERRRRFFF CAAAAASSSTERS post from the op??

Yes, definitely. Post about overpowered first life heroic melee clerics in starter gear. It will be amusing. Rage against the inhumanity of zombie clerics. I'll support you 100%!

[DaviMOC]

Any Eldrich tempest hit with a 2 handed weapon feels fantastic until you hit 20 and everyone starts dealing the same damage you deal with it on normal hits XD. As any cleave it scales really bad but still useufll up to level cap =).

Great build anyway, will test it later!

[Zretch]

2 Added in En Pointe at end of level 18 to finish heroics with. Don't need a third set of action boosts, since HOrc has extra action boosts already. A little late to party, but oh well.

You may want to change your screenshot, as it still shows you with 1 Paladin level rather than 2 Bard levels.

It feels like this build is just trying to be a knock off of the old Avatar of Nature builds, exploiting large damage increases with abilities that ignore the attack speed reduction that those abilities are supposed to convey. Maybe it'll play better than I think, but I can't imagine running in zombie mode as a melee. The attack speed penalty makes melee sooo slooooow, even haste doesn't bring you back up to normal attack speed. If you're just stacking special attacks to ensure you never need to perform general melee attacks, then I dub this CLONKLOCK 2.0! This time with less monk and warlock but with more bard and wizard!

[Tilomere]

I dub this CLONKLOCK 2.0!

That was a work of art! It was still far better than warpriest when I had to put it down. I just couldn't look at what it had become. Sad times.

When you try it, run it naked, with just a greatsword and rags equipped. I'm 95% sure it will still work.

[Zretch]

Any Eldrich tempest hit with a 2 handed weapon feels fantastic until you hit 20 and everyone starts dealing the same damage you deal with it on normal hits XD. As any cleave it scales really bad but still useufll up to level cap =).

Great build anyway, will test it later!

At 20, get into Fury of the Wild and start pairing Adrenaline with it. You'll hit harder than everyone else. 400% damage on top of a x3 adder to what is already at least a x3 multiplier (if not x4) is weapon damage *10. Go grab a Keep on the Boarderlands falchion with a 3[w] base damage that accepts sentient gemns, slot in a 7 or 8 slot gem and fill it up with 2 piece sets that have +melee power rares and +melee power as the 2 piece bonus, and you'll hit like a truck. Or for even larger hits, slot a 5 piece prowess and hit Melee Power Boost + Adrenaline + Eldrich Tempest. You'll hit more targets more easily than a Shoot Later + Hunt's End Inquisitive and hit them harder, although half as often.

Unfortunately most of the best weapon upgrades through the mid epics are crafted and can't be used with sentient gems. Thunderforged and Greensteel. Once you get up into the 28 raid weapons and 29 barovian and sharn weapons, you'll see another massive jump in your damage. One day maybe the devs will address the fact that most of the mid-epic weapons come from Eveningstar quests that used the "normal, hard, elite" variable drop mechanic which often screws up their base damage and also makes them unavailable for sentient weapons. If they just rip those items out and replace them with a single item with the same stats as the elite version, able to take a sentient gem, and with the appropriately scaled weapon die, then I think you'll find that ET scales up through the epic levels decently.

[DaviMOC]

At 20, get into Fury of the Wild and start pairing Adrenaline with it. You'll hit harder than everyone else. 400% damage on top of a x3 adder to what is already at least a x3 multiplier (if not x4) is weapon damage *10. Go grab a Keep on the Boarderlands falchion with a 3[w] base damage that accepts sentient gemns, slot in a 7 or 8 slot gem and fill it up with 2 piece sets that have +melee power rares and +melee power as the 2 piece bonus, and you'll hit like a truck. Or for even larger hits, slot a 5 piece prowess and hit Melee Power Boost + Adrenaline + Eldrich Tempest. You'll hit more targets more easily than a Shoot Later + Hunt's End Inquisitive and hit them harder, although half as often.

Unfortunately most of the best weapon upgrades through the mid epics are crafted and can't be used with sentient gems. Thunderforged and Greensteel. Once you get up into the 28 raid weapons and 29 barovian and sharn weapons, you'll see another massive jump in your damage. One day maybe the devs will address the fact that most of the mid-epic weapons come from Eveningstar quests that used the "normal, hard, elite" variable drop mechanic which often screws up their base damage and also makes them unavailable for sentient weapons. If they just rip those items out and replace them with a single item with the same stats as the elite version, able to take a sentient gem, and with the appropriately scaled weapon die, then I think you'll find that ET scales up through the epic levels decently.

Nice to read that =). My only experience with epic EKs was pure wiz/sorc and a miserable failed fighter/wiz vanguard , and while i've tried the fotw and it was good it wasnt very effective sacrificing spellcasting(raging) to rely mostly on a ability that have 12s cd. Tilo's build looks more viable for that, gotta look on it.

On weapons I agree with you ,seems like they've noticed that and are changing it. Carnifex is also comming as ml23 epic weapon.

[Zretch]

Nice to read that =). My only experience with epic EKs was pure wiz/sorc and a miserable failed fighter/wiz vanguard , and while i've tried the fotw and it was good it wasnt very effective sacrificing spellcasting(raging) to rely mostly on a ability that have 12s cd. Tilo's build looks more viable for that, gotta look on it.

On weapons I agree with you ,seems like they've noticed that and are changing it. Carnifex is also comming as ml23 epic weapon.

Pure sorc EK is going to be lacking CHA to damage. Pure Wiz EK Pale Master is a slow starter as your self healing doesn't really ramp up until into epics. What I found to be the easiest pure Wiz EK was to drop Pale Master entirely, go Warforged, and do EK + Vistani + Harper. Put one point into EK for the cleave. Get enough VKF early for Rapid Attack (3 AP). Then go up EK taking cores as you go making sure you take SpellSword at level 3. Then grab Int to Hit in Harper (3 AP). Keep putting points into EK so you can take the cores when they're available, and put the rest into VKF. As you get more past lives under you, you can splash in 2 rogue for trapping. Stick to single weapon fighting so you can dump-stat dex and take Insightful Reflexes.

Self healing (repair spells), trapping, wear light armor with no ASF, evasion, wizard buffs. Pretty solid character. Gear like you're a melee class, grab spellpower for your spellsword + reconstruction for your repair spells and you're good to go. Don't worry at all about DCs or spell pen, you're all about fast attacks with added damage and max doublestrike. The nice thing about VKF is you get +crit range and +crit mult in the cores at level 12 without having to do the "cast an offensive spell" thing to qualify.

[DaviMOC]

Pure sorc EK is going to be lacking CHA to damage. Pure Wiz EK Pale Master is a slow starter as your self healing doesn't really ramp up until into epics. What I found to be the easiest pure Wiz EK was to drop Pale Master entirely, go Warforged, and do EK + Vistani + Harper. Put one point into EK for the cleave. Get enough VKF early for Rapid Attack (3 AP). Then go up EK taking cores as you go making sure you take SpellSword at level 3. Then grab Int to Hit in Harper (3 AP). Keep putting points into EK so you can take the cores when they're available, and put the rest into VKF. As you get more past lives under you, you can splash in 2 rogue for trapping. Stick to single weapon fighting so you can dump-stat dex and take Insightful Reflexes.

Self healing (repair spells), trapping, wear light armor with no ASF, evasion, wizard buffs. Pretty solid character. Gear like you're a melee class, grab spellpower for your spellsword + reconstruction for your repair spells and you're good to go. Don't worry at all about DCs or spell pen, you're all about fast attacks with added damage and max doublestrike. The nice thing about VKF is you get +crit range and +crit mult in the cores at level 12 without having to do the "cast an offensive spell" thing to qualify.

Yeah. Everyone talks about the char to damage, but it was Primary ST, sencond CON and third CHAR and gone pretty well( at least better than most barbs that leveled with me) but not in FoTW and not only for Eldrich Tempest. Anyway it peformed really well when I ETR and went VKF instead of 2hf reducing even more the relevance of eldrich tempest( damage dropped alot on that ability).