Cleric vs FvS: Am I missing something?

[Airgeadlam]

Hi there.

I'm a returning player to the game, after quite a long break. Before parting ways with DDO I had already several toons at cap, two of which were a cleric and a fvs.

So I came back and the game has changed, that I could expect. Half of my APs were gone, the enh trees were different and so on. So I got into redoing the enhancements for both and then it seemed to me that the cleric is getting way behind the FvS as it stands right now.

Now, I'm not a power gamer. Never been. I play the game for fun and try to make the most of builds people post on the forums, but never going crazy into maximizing outcomes or doing the math so as to see that the build X deals a 0,00012% more DPS than build Y. So maybe I'm wrong with this, but from the enhancements it seems like the FvS could cast, heal and ward a tank if needed way better than a cleric. And then the cleric advantages stop at having a wider range of spells which you're gonna cast rarely, if ever.

Am I missing something here?

[cru121]

Maybe you're missing domains, that's one advantage of Clerics. If your cleric is an old character, you don't have the domain, you have to do a lesser reincarnation.

[GeoffWatson]

Hi there.

I'm a returning player to the game, after quite a long break. Before parting ways with DDO I had already several toons at cap, two of which were a cleric and a fvs.

So I came back and the game has changed, that I could expect. Half of my APs were gone, the enh trees were different and so on. So I got into redoing the enhancements for both and then it seemed to me that the cleric is getting way behind the FvS as it stands right now.

Now, I'm not a power gamer. Never been. I play the game for fun and try to make the most of builds people post on the forums, but never going crazy into maximizing outcomes or doing the math so as to see that the build X deals a 0,00012% more DPS than build Y. So maybe I'm wrong with this, but from the enhancements it seems like the FvS could cast, heal and ward a tank if needed way better than a cleric. And then the cleric advantages stop at having a wider range of spells which you're gonna cast rarely, if ever.

Am I missing something here?

Clerics get a Domain, which can be pretty good.
They also get Turn Undead, which is good at low levels but useless at cap.
Divine Disciple gives some nice SLAs.
Radiant Servant is better at healing.

[darkniteyogi]

U do need a reincarnation. The domains are fun. U can get firewall or displace. Alot of variety.

One ppl forget abt cleric is the past life. +1 conjuration. They got that over fvs

[unbongwah]

Last major change to both classes was almost two years ago in Update 39.

Favored Soul buffs: Angel of Vengeance is more powerful than before (two new SLAs - Sunbolt and Cometfall); Beacon of Hope was added (the healing-n-buff-centric tree); War Soul was given a tune-up (e.g., crit bonuses to Favored weapon were added).

Cleric buffs: Warpriest was tweaked to be more tank-y. Domains were added in U36.

In terms of raw caster DPS, I think FvS wins: more SPs, better SLAs, the classic AoV bonuses to caster levels etc. They can also use either WIS or CHA as their caster stat, letting them spec for either Mass Frog or Energy Burst+Hellball combo in epics. If you want a melee FvS, Warsoul beats Warpriest for DPS, although things get more complicated if you factor in the Universal enhancements trees (i.e., Inquisitive, Vistani Knife Fighter).

Clerics offer more flexibility in terms of build options, largely through their domains. You can focus on caster DPS (Air, Fire), melee DPS (War, Destruction), crowd control (Law, Trickery), survivability / party support (Protection, Healing), etc. FvS builds tend to be cookie-cutter; cleric builds have more variety IMO.

[SirValentine]

You're not wrong.

Clerics were given a half-donkey excuse for their missing domains. So, despite some numbers bloat, Clerics are still woefully short on the flexibility that should be their advantage over FvS.

Meanwhile, FvS were randomly given several extra easy buttons: one-stat for everything (DCs, spell points, weapon hit, weapon damage), hundreds of random extra HP or SP.

[Valerianus]

Hi there.

I'm a returning player to the game, after quite a long break. Before parting ways with DDO I had already several toons at cap, two of which were a cleric and a fvs.

So I came back and the game has changed, that I could expect. Half of my APs were gone, the enh trees were different and so on. So I got into redoing the enhancements for both and then it seemed to me that the cleric is getting way behind the FvS as it stands right now.

Now, I'm not a power gamer. Never been. I play the game for fun and try to make the most of builds people post on the forums, but never going crazy into maximizing outcomes or doing the math so as to see that the build X deals a 0,00012% more DPS than build Y. So maybe I'm wrong with this, but from the enhancements it seems like the FvS could cast, heal and ward a tank if needed way better than a cleric. And then the cleric advantages stop at having a wider range of spells which you're gonna cast rarely, if ever.

Am I missing something here?

you got it right, cleric is far behind, the domain thing was only a patch to make it bearable and viable, but it deosn't solve the main issue, the cleric enhancement trees are a mess and they are weak. sure it is viable and sure it may be fun, but fvs got an update recently-ish, cleric got none, it's totally forgotten.

a quick comparison, that ok, you don't need to totally fill a tree but, just for comparison, healer tree, beacon of hope is full with 60 AP, radaint servant requires…..85. worst enhancement tree ever, totally wrong from the start and forgotten since forever. yeah you can't even fill if even if you wanted too. (looking at the images from wiki).