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Cleric Strategies
Clerics are the Medics of Norrath, and that makes them one of the most valued classes in existence. Clerics are very versatile. They have many useful utility, buffs, and DD spells, and can tank pretty well. They are the only casters that can wear plate armor, making them the toughest caster class there is. Their main job, however, is to keep players alive, and they do a very good job of it. They have the most potent healing spells in the game, making them in very high demand. As a cleric, you will be saving people's lives over and over again. Clerics are team players. They are designed to work in a group, and in light of your healing powers, you will have to trouble finding one.
Spell Ranks General Strategies During this rank, you get many spells that begin series. You get a heal, a bunch of buffs, and a utility spell. Use this rank to familiarize yourself with your spells and how they work. You get a weak DD spell, Strike. Use it to get a mob's attention and draw it towards you. The only way to kill stuff is by whacking it. Your battle strategy is something like this: Buff yourself, DD the mob, and whack. One spell of note is Divine Aura, which grants you a few seconds of invulnerability, useful for when you're running your ass off. Here you get a few more buffs, a heal, and a new DD. The only spells of note are Stun and Ward Undead. I think you can gues what Stun does. It's a very useful spell, as it allows you to get in a few hits without retaliation. Learn to use it. Ward Undead is a powerful Undead-only DD. it's incredibly deadly and efficient. It allows you to take on Undead with impunity. Get used to it. Level 8 gives you meditate, which makes things about 5 times easier. At level 9 you get a few Endure spells, a new buff, and a new AoE DD, Word of Pain. Basically, it does 29 damage to all mobs in a certain radius around you. This is pretty inefficient, unless you're surrounded by mobs. Learn when to use it. By now you should have some utility spells, like Lull, Fear, and Root. Lull basically puts the mob to sleep. It won't attack anything unless someone attacks it first, it wont run around, it won't do anything. Root sticks the mob in one place, which is useful for stopping runners or having it sit there while someone else nukes it. Fear makes the mob run away for the duration of the spell, which is useful for reducing the odds against you for a while. When the spell wears off, the mob will come running back, but you will be able to deal with it. Almost every race can be a Cleric. The races can be divided into two distinct types:
You can find more information on the types of Clerics here. The other two races, Wood Elves and Gnomes, are pretty in between the two types. First of all, choose what type you want to play. Then pick your favorite race out of that category. The three primary attributes are all equally important, and you should divide your bonus points between them. Strength allows you wear plate armor and still carry loot around. Stamina lets you swing heavy weapons without tiring, and gives you more HP. Wisdom determines how much mana you get. You should let what type of Cleric you're playing determine what stats get those bonus points. Casters should put points into Strength for armor and Wisdom for mana. Stamina and Dexterity aren't that important because you won't be meleeing. For a combat caster, put some points into everything. The Cleric is a multi-faceted class, and can do many things that are beneficial to a group. Because of their armor (and in some cases, their Strength), Combat Clerics can tank for a short period of time; should the need for an extra tank present itself, remember this. Clerics have a superb line of defensive buffs, which you should apply to every group member before any combat. They also have lots of utility spells, such as Fear, Sunbeam, Root, etc. If you know how to use these, they can enhance your group's survivability twofold or more. And then there's healing, the most obvious use of a Cleric. You can keep a group alive forever, as long as you have mana. Remember that you can cast in the middle of a battle, as even if the mob aggros on you, you can survive for quite a while because of your armor. Know your spells and abilities, and let the situation determine what you do. Soloing as a Cleric is pretty much nonexistent. As with every class, it can be done until about level 7, but after that you just can't do it. You can melee well, but not well enough to compete with mobs at that level. You have good protection, but a higher levels it's not enough to absorb all the damage a mob can do. You have DDs, but they're not powerful or efficient enough to do significant damage. Even if you heal yourself during combat, it will take a long time to kill the mob, and then you'll have to meditate. Stick to what you do best: groups. Healing is the Cleric's primary role. It prevents the group from dying, obviously, but it also allows the tanks to continue whacking, so it's sort of like an indirect DoT. Remember that. Knowing when to heal is an important skill. If you heal whenever the tank reaches 60%, you will be executing a heal that might not be necessary. If the mob stops attacking that tank (and if you have a Monk in your party, it probably will) that mana might be wasted. If another mob suddenly joins the fray, you might wish you had that mana. Healing at 40% is a more appropriate action. When you've been a Cleric for a long enough period, you will gain a sense for when you should heal and when you shouldn't. There are two types of Clerics: Casters and Combat. Casters are usually the races with less Strength and Stamina and more Wisdom. They stand outside of the battle area, casting spells from a distance. They don't melee unless absolutely necessary, unlike Combat Clerics. This is the easier and safer type of Cleric to play. The other type, Combat Cleric, is a bit harder to play. The Combat Cleric is usually a race with higher Strength and Stamina, as well as some Dexterity. Combat Clerics jump into the middle of battle, meleeing and casting at the same time. You will have to learn to cast in between a mob's hits. When you're not casting, you are meleeing. This is much harder than a Caster Cleric, as you have to concentrate on your health, your party's health, and whether or not you should be casting a utility spell, all while having some smelly Orc whacking at you. Clerics are to Undead as a hot knife is to butter. They are the ultimate anti-Undead weapon. In places like Mistmoore or Lower Guk, where Undead are prevalent, Clerics are the deadliest class around. Their anti-Undead DDs do as much damage to Undead as a Wizard's spells do to normal creatures - and Wizards don't have plate armor, heals, or melee abilities. Keep this in mind when choosing your next hunting location. Some of the best Cleric sites on the web:
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