Guide to party clerics.
 

Well, it's finally happened.
I've been totally annoyed by the number of clerics that don't heal when I'm on my archer, so I decided to come up with a guide.
There isn't much point in posting the guide here since most people here are sensible, but here goes anyway.

In this post, all references to "party" mean a party of atleast 4-5 members)

1. What is a party?
A. Why are you playing fiesta? Anyways, a party is a small band (5 at the max) of players fighting together and co-operating to more easily kill monsters/gain exp/help others.

2. What is my role in a party?
A. Well, that depends on who you are! Now, this is a cleric guide, so I'm going to fill you in on a cleric's role in a party.

A cleric has a vital role in any party. He/she's the one with the ability to make fancy lights and support and heal the other party members.

A cleric's base dmg is minimal. Appalling. Absolutely worthless.
A cleric's base def is so-so. He/she can take a lot more hits than archers and mages. So he/she can survive, but he can't tank. That's because their dmg is minimal remember? So the monster won't be too interested in killing off something that isn't dying easily, and isn't doing much to it either. Unless you spam your heal skill. But that's something that I'll discuss later.

So, even if you're a pure STR cleric with a hammer, your dmg won't match up to anyone except maybe a full END fighter with a 1h sword.

So what do we learn from this? In a full party where everyone's doing their bit, you might as well do your own too. Heal. Make sure nobody dies. Sure, you get that reviving skill at lvl 20, but that doesn't get them back their lost exp. So they'll be mad at you anyway. So your role in a a party is to heal and support. Heal is pretty straightforward. What's support? Well, starting from lvl 11, you get a buff that lasts an hour everytime it's cast, and increases the defence and damage of the entire party. In fact, the more party members you have, the more effective it becomes. Don't forget to always have them casted! If there are about 10 minutes left, you might as well recast them.

3. What do I do when a party member is getting damaged?
A. Click on him and heal you moron! And don't forget to map heal to a button that's easily accessible for you on your hotkey bar, so you can heal them before they die.

4. What is "clanking"?
A. Cleric + Tank = Clank
WORKS BEST ON BOSS MONSTERS WITH LOADS OF HP
Now, I said clerics couldn't tank, but that's not entirely true. They can but it's a very risky thing. Use only when absolutely necessary. The idea is, first, tell your party to stand back, and not attack. Head up to the monster, and start attacking it. But more important than attacking it, keep healing yourself as often as possible, i.e every 2.1 seconds, if you've empowered the cooldown on heal, which you should have done. After about 3 heals, your party can start attacking. But that doesn't mean you can stop healing. Keep spamming your heal, and the monster should stick to you, because the monster hates you for healing yourself and not letting it kill you. Gradually, the monster's hate builds up to a point where it hates you so much, it can't hate anyone else.

That was a best case scenario. Now suppose the monster goes of to attack someone else, STOP HEALING YOURSELF! HEal the person the monster is after as often as you can even if they aren't taking too much dmg. The monster should eventually return to you, at which point you should resume healing yourself.

5. What should be my stat build?
A. The two builds considered totally support builds are
a) Full SPR
b) Full END

In my opinion, full END ranks above full SPR in terms of support builds.

Details: Full SPR : You have a huge SP pool with which you can heal others a lot more before having to use a stone/pot. You also have pathetic HP and DEF, unless you have some good END-statted gears, which makes you mostly suitable for parties.
Full END: A slightly more complex build. Going full END gives you a high block rate, higher def, and more HP than your non-END companions. What use is this? Well, like in the clanki9ng explanation, the monster hates you even if you heal others. So it'll come after you if you make it hate you too much. If you don't have much END on you, whether from free stats or from equips, you're going to die pretty easily. And a dead cleric can't heal the party.

If you aren't going to be partying all the time, I suggest you pick neither of these builds, and rather go for the classic 25 SPR, 50 END build. The 25 SPR gives you an extremely helpful 5% crit rate boost. But it's effectiveness halves at lvl 25, so it's not really worth upgrading after 25. 50 END gives you a 5% block rate, 250 HP, and 25 def. But the thing about this def is, that it's going to cut out the damage you take by an absolute number that is equal to (your free stat END)/2. So it's useful. Whether you continue END after 50 is up to you, but the effectiveness of the block rate increase halves, so many people start adding STR at this point.

There is a solo build, but this is a party guide. So don't look here for soloing tips.

6. What should my skill build be?
A. Max decrease cooldown time on heal. Also max decrease it's SP consumption since it's going to be your most used skill.
MANDATORY
Technically, you won't be attacking in a party, so empowering bash isn't necessary. But that's only if you're in a party for your whole life. It's usually recommended to max the dmg of bash, and halve its SP consumption.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
5 points into the duration time of invincible can really save you/a party member. The time increases from 10 sec to 17.5 sec. Keep in mind however, that the max dmg absorbed by invincible remains unchanged, so if a monster can break through that amount of dmg, it's going to break through regardless of the duration time. This empowerment isn't mandatory, but good. RECOMMENDED
All other empowerments depend on your playing style. If you're a heal slave, then you can reduce cooldown time for rejuvenate which has a high CD of 10 sec, and is reduced to about 7 sec after empowerment.

7. Other important points:

I. When you're healing a party member who's attacking multiple monster (very common in AOE parties, or parties in which large number of monsters are gathered and killed off), and some of them come at you, use stones/pots to heal yourself, and continue healing the main tank! This is for two main reasons:

1. Healing yourself is going to fetch you more aggro which is going to make it even more difficult for the tank to get the aggro back.
2. Your first responsibility is towards the party members.

However, if your pots and stones aren't doing enough to keep you alive, then do not hesitate to throw in a heal to keep yourself alive. After all if you live, you can revive them. If you die, they die.

II. If you're a cleric who has a solo build and you solo a lot, atleast try to switch to support mode when you join a KQ. Seriously, your damage is so low, there's no need for you to attack the monster, and keep attacking even when another party member is dying. The ideal cleric will make sure his/her party will never have to use a HP stone/pot.
III. Your weapon of choice is up to you. I use a mace since I don't have any DEX equips, and I keep missing with the hammer. But, when it comes to clanking, the mace is better than the hammer. This is because the mace can land 2 hits within 2.2 sec, while a hammer can land only one. Now, since you're spamming heal i.e every 2.1 sec, you'll be able to slip in that second hit with a mace pretty often just before you heal. And 2 hits with a mace will always out-damage 1 hit with a hammer. All this adds to the total aggro you have.

IV. Cancelling spell animations (credits to lvramire): Most cleric skills have an animation that is considerably longer than the actual cast time of the skill. So it's advised to use a second skill immediately to prevent animation delay.

V. Yeah this guide sucks, I know, but it's my first guide, and I had to feel like I was doing something to stop the overflow of non-healing, non-supporting clerics..


Any inputs appreciated, any errors regretted ;)

CREDITS: lvramire, and ME!

only party with clerics u trust or in ur guild trust me
i partyed with this 40 cleric yesterday and he like wouldnt
heal me wen i told him to cuz im 45 i was tanking and he let me die
so i freeked out and went to bed lolz xD

cool guide

Might suggest healing from a distance so if you get aggro, the Tank can see it easily and has more time to use an aggro skill.

Use stones/pots instead of healing yourself.

Know when to tell your party to STFU and use their own da** stones and pots. I've seriously had 2 DDs on the edge of death who barely survived after they pulled aggro. Mobs went back to tank and as I'm too busy spam-healing the tank, they blast away with maybe 50 HP left. They catch aggro and they both die.

Know your limitations. If you're lagging or if the party is in a too high-level area/pulling too many monsters, say so. It'll save you having to cast revive a few times.

If you do get aggro, don't act like an idiot. If it's something you can manage without dying too easily, head towards the tank and wait for Mock/kick. If it's something that might kill you, feel free to run but give enough time for the rest of the surviving party (if any) to find a safe spot.

Know how to use stones effectively. Stones heal a set amount of HP per level, get to know about how much it'll heal and use them effectively. Keep stones and pots on a handy button.

Learn how to cancel spell animations.

I'm guessing there is some kind of processing delay with the anims on or you wouldn't have mentioned this.

Does anyone have any idea (real numbers) of how big a diff this makes? Or does it depend on lag?

Also, is this just one of those things Clerics are expected to do that I don't know about yet?

I don't know any numbers on it, but there are times when you're AoEing when those few seconds you save by cancelling animations are the difference between someone living and dying.

One of the most known spells to cancel are the animations of Heal and Bash, as those are the most used skills. You can use Heal right after Bash to negate the pause period, vice-versa also applies. It also works with Rejuvenate, the casting of which takes a considerable amount of time, so it might be better to shave off as much time as you can.

No, you're not exactly expected to know it, but it helps a lot and certainly makes a difference.

Thanks lvra, I added that. I usually cancel my animations too.

hehe im in your guild =p but the question is, can you trust me? muahaha

I already had that BTW.

Any other inputs? And if I do get any more, I'll slap myself on my head, because I should have reserved a post.

Mhh, i guess u are referring to using WASD-Movement. I personally stopped using WASD movement and directly use the next skill before the last finished.

But as far as i know we can only "cancel" Rejuvenate before lv60. So i don't think its that important. I only use it when there is a tight situation.
Personally i think taking smart use of the available skills is more important.

I guess immediately using another skill counts as animation cancellation. That's what I always do anyways. And why can't we cancel Rejuvenate after lvl 60? :confused:

we can cancel it after 60 too. We get some new skills after 60 and they can be "canceled" too. But i don't think its important to talk about 60+. Still correctness tells me to say so :D

Well, it's a good guide, but there are a few things I disagree with...speaking as a cleric...but it's good enough

Umm, I think drphil necroed?


omg, I didn't think I'd ever say that...

LOL.

Guides are an exception.

Oh, forgot about that~


Someone needs to write a new Cleric guide with the new stuff.

I have experience with Clerics since i have 2 high clerics and 2 Mages and have been on Fiesta since Beta testing.

Yeah, Clerics are the ones with the biggest parts,we are the most important. BUT we are not just for healing. I AM TIRED OF EVERYONE YELLING FOR A HEAL OR REVIVAL, And i know i'm not the ONLY one who is. We deserve SOME respect.

I beg your pardon, I get better attack rates then a Mage does! and it didn't cost me a penny, just some hard work.

But what if they aren't doing their part? What then? OH so now we HAVE to buy buffs AND the Revival skill? Who do you think has to pay for it? Clerics are supposed to stand back and heal the entire time, We hardly EVER get any of the drops, so there is no money at all.

US MORONS? Who do you think is saving your butt every time you get attacked?

I'm mostly on solo runs just to get money. Of course I upgraded heal first but I ALWAYS upgrade bash so i CAN stand a chance against monsters.

WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THE POTS TOO,BUT WHERE IS THAT MONEY COMING FROM?And UM NO, Our first responsibility is to OURSELVES, just like everyone else's is.

Oh I get it! You want them not to have to pay to get pots and stones but we have too? I have to pay a TON of money just to get SP pots/stone so i CAN heal people.

Yeah it does suck. A cleric is not and i repeat is NOT some one you tell to heal you, you ask them too. AND FYI WE DO HEAL: YOU JUST END UP DYING ANYWAY BECAUSE YOU THINK WE ARE GOING TO HEAL YOU ALL THE TIME WHEN THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE TO HEAL BESIDES YOU

Not sure if its just Epith but recently the quality of clerics have gone down the drain.


While in Graveyard of the Dead with a party doing those dungeon quests I got killed once. I told the cleric not to worry about it too much and that it was fine. He was like "ok that means its fine if you die, I won't heal you then". Ok, lol, a joke, fine. He seriously didn't heal me at all when I was aoe'ing and just let me die.....he seriously stood there watching my health go down:goaway:

When I die, there's a cleric right in front of me. I wait until he/she is finished killing mobs and ask for a rev. They turn around and run the other way...wth. Happened on my alt in Luminous Stone, and quite often in Gold Hill KQ. My body was laying there in plain sight, not those like I'm half buried in the ground positions yet they still don't rev.........

In 1 Robo KQ the cleric in my party was complaining that he was bored because we weren't getting hurt (1 fighter, 2 mages, 1 archer), so I was like ok fine, I'll go in to AoE. He couldn't keep up with the damage I was taking........

Honeying KQ. We have 2 clerics. ........Make that 1. The cleric that I got in my party (1 fighter, that 1 cleric, 3 mages) doesn't heal. He keeps trying to go kill stuff but just ends up dying straightaway. I had to depend on the other cleric to rev and heal me when I AoE. The entire KQ told him to stop attacking and focus on healing multiple times. Needless to say the KQ failed because he tried to tank Giant Honeying by himself while we were still killing off tinys and then dragging it straight to us with its giant AoE....


These clerics need this guide made into like a 500page manual and slammed into their faces!


on the other hand for KQs and such people do not need to endlessly spam HEAL PLZ!!!! and REV!!!! every single second they get. A cleric's job is hard. They have to run, heal, rev, on 5+ people at once.
This tends to be especially bad in Robo KQ when clerics are busy running or rev'ing someone more important (another live cleric is far better than a mage that will just end up getting 1hitted....). Yet people keep on spamming rev and swearing at clerics for not putting them first on their priority list.

_____________
o lol I thought this was new
didn't know it was an old guide that got necro'd and brought back up :p

Guides are exempted from necro, koager.

I'm afraid a reason for this would probably be this kind of attitude:

Firstly, this guide is for clerics who like party. You sound like a solo cleric so if this guide doesn't fit you, perhaps that's why?

Secondly,

"A cleric is not and i repeat is NOT some one you tell to heal you, you ask them too. AND FYI WE DO HEAL: YOU JUST END UP DYING ANYWAY BECAUSE YOU THINK WE ARE GOING TO HEAL YOU ALL THE TIME WHEN THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE TO HEAL BESIDES YOU"

^ This worries me. Greatly. Oh very greatly.

I was gonna type something long but I think I'll keep it short.

I go agree that Vasu's guide have some errors in them, but the general attitude about being a support cleric you have gave off isn't the best. It sounds like your party members will have to ask you for every heal. That isn't really the best way to go, and I really hope that I've misunderstood something and that's not what you were trying to say.

If you're not playing a support cleric, this guide is not for you. If you are, oh my goodness.

Reply to koager
 

yeah, but that doesn't mean that this needs to be posted, not all clerics are like that, i practically run around the wild healing random people. I haven't revived anyone on this character but thats because i don't have the skill.


This is what happened today:
SO i was doing Mara Pirates KQ and we were doing pretty well, we only had ONE High Cleric, and he didn't have the revive skill. Me liking to have the important skills ready so when i lvl up i can go ahead and use it in a bind ( it works so if you waste your money you already have the skill). And i was offering to give it to him, but he didn't want is so we all ended up dieing. Not my fault it was his.

I am a party cleric, i'm always in a party with 1-3 other people. I find that it's all the more leveled people who demand heals and revivals. That's why i like party with people who aren't so leveled, they tend to be more grateful for the help

What worrys me is being expected to do all the healing

After reading this post, perhaps I did misunderstood what you were trying to say.

Anyway, I play both a cleric and mage. I agree that it's bloody annoying when people expect so much out of you as a cleric. However, as a mage, I've also met too many clerics who believe we have unlimited amount of HP pots and stones with no CD or something and fails to support the party when we needed them.

Glad you understand now. I agree that it is bloody annoying for people to keep yelling for a heal when 1. they aren't in your party. 2. they aren't really helping.

I started out with a mage in Beta testing, but they restarted the servers so i made a cleric on Teva. At that time nobody really expected you to heal every second.
Now, since i started a new cleric on the Apoline (just started playing again), people ae demanding a heal.

In the Slime KQ Nobody in my party would get what i needed so i would always take it into my own hands to get the slimes for my quests (i'm a BIG quest person). On My last run (i knew it would be) I TOLD everyone that i wasn't going to heal i was going to kill the slimes ( and i got Queen and King in one go) after i had done my damage i healed everyone and killed the queen with help from another cleric. So just to say 2 clerics make a kick butt party.:ninja:

Ah, I didn't you know were talking about people not in your party~ Thought you were talking about people in your party which got me worried a bit, LOL!

Actually I'm talking about ALL of them. :sigh:

So today in Mara Pirates Revenge KQ I was the only cleric. I healed and healed and revived. BUT nobody listened to me. So we ended up failing. I have My heal to the least amount of time possable, but they are just to stubborn to listen. I managed to save 3 others till the end but we weren't strong enough.

Might I suggest a good party build as well... a very common one:P
End/25spr.

for taking hits from magic mobs and having a larger mana pool.

my cleric has all difrent stats

Right, Angelhm, first off, I'd like to apologise for not replying sooner. I haven't really been online of late. Here we go then





Finally, this guide is primarily for those who make clerics so that they have an easy way to lvl 79 or 89 by healing themselves, doing KQs and not giving a damn about others. The rudeness does not apply to clerics who know they're giving it a sincere try :laugh:.

Ok I have a lvl 60+ cleric and have been playing awhile so I know what you mean about AOEing. But really there shouldn't be a need for a cleric to have to use a stone or a pot when its just a regular party such as in KQ unless all of your teammates just happen to be practically killing themselves constantly. So in most KQs its usually not the clerics thats the problem(unless they are really THAT bad) but more of other people who put themselves in more danger than need be. So yes, in AOEing most of the time you will need to use a pot or stone instead of healing yourself or else your other member(s) of your party with most likely die. But also I do agree that it is your responsibility to take care of yourself first if your gonna die instead of your teammate. I was mostly irritated at your post because most of the time you were acting as if a cleric is just a tool for yourself to stay alive instead of a teammate.

No, it is not the cleric's job to make sure you don't use any pots/stones. It is the clerics job to try to keep himself/teammate alive yes, but there shouldn't be a point where the cleric has to constantly use only pots/stones because whoever he/she is healing refuses to use a stone/pot for themselves.

It doesn't suck, its better if you have been a cleric for awhile. If you can imagine how it is for most clerics who are expected A LOT out of them at all times then its a little easier. I mean I was really excited to give people buffs when I first obtained the skill. But when people follow you around and keep asking you for a buff thats more annoying than anything. If you ask nicely by saying 'please' or even just whisper, you are more likely to get one. The second you demand one or follow someone don't count on getting one. The same way when it comes to healing. If you demand someone to heal you at all times theres no way they would actually heal you.

Even if that is true there is no way you spend more on HP stones or SP stones than clerics do either way. So theres no reason anyone should complain about using a stone/pot unless they are a cleric

From a mage point of view, it is a pain in a butt to use HP stones. We can carry so little HP stones it's ridiculous.

1. Clerics would be less squishy, so if they had to use a stone, they can survive quite a few hits before they need to use a stone (assuming that the mobs are on similar-ish level, and not super strong/hard mobs).

2. Mages are squishy. Take a hit or two, we have to stone. No heal? Stone pot stone pot.

As a mage, I've used SO many hp pots and stones. We use up our hp stones a lot quicker. As a level 44 mage, I can only carry 52 hp stones. I'm pretty sure other classes of the same level can carry a lot more. Heck, I think my level 30 archer can actually carry more than 52 stones! I don't know why, but it sucks big time. Also, as you go into your 50s, I think you get to carry... 54 hp stones? Yay, 2 more? Ugh.

This is why I get so annoyed when clerics don't heal or they wait till you only have 10 hp left before they heal. I think that other classes do have the right to complain about pots/stones.

As a cleric, I personally don't mind giving up my stones. Usually, I don't even need to use HP pots. But, I've always played with my friends or in KQs, so I don't really mind sacrificing a bit.

I just find it really weird to heal myself over others if a stone or a pot can do the trick. Of course, if you're getting mobbed by heaps of things, then you should heal yourself too, but I don't like the idea of putting myself over others as a cleric.


I think this whole thing goes both way. Both classes need to be willing to sacrifice a bit. As a mage, I wouldn't mind stoning and potting if I'm getting hit really bad, since I know that I am squishy and the cleric may not heal fast enough/have other people to support. At the same time, a cleric must be willing to sacrifice their bits to keep the party alive.

Personally, if my party isn't doing their job, I just quit the party.

Ok I get what you mean. Thats true, mages will die a lot faster than clerics will, thats a proven fact(minus the mages that get +9 everything w/END/INT equipment:uhoh:). I don't mind healing mages or other characters, its just you can't demand someone to do something. Also there is the problem of where clerics don't obtain as much money from drops since a lot of parties don't put it on sequential. The only money I obtain is really from either AOEing with a mage as a duo party or grinding by myself. Any other time they don't put it on sequential so every time we use a stone we are just wasting money since we aren't obtaining any(at least thats how it is for most parties I join).


YES!!!!:cutielove: thank you! because that is definitely true. There is a difference between sacrificing though and just spamming. A lot of people when they expect you to heal ONLY them and not yourself then you practically have to spam pots/stones. What you should do as a non-cleric is if you really want to only have him heal you then if he/she is getting attacked walk over there and take the enemies!!! A cleric shouldn't have to walk over to you, heal you, AND use pots on himself, just for you to take the enemies from him. I believe a lot of the people that complain about someone not healing refuse to use a stone/pot on themselves then blame it on the cleric when they die. Thats a really big issue right there.

Well.......A cleric needs to put him/herself first though...because a cleric is vital for everyone to survive. The second the cleric dies you either have to 1. Use a ton of pots/stones to survive/kill the enemies or 2. Run away. Theres no other options because the cleric can't come back and heal you right away even if in a KQ.

What if all the clerics went on strike and decided not to help anyone else except for other clerics then what!! haha:laugh:

On a final note, this is a really old guide, it doesn't have many of the new things like empowering power for heal and so on etc.. I never really expected this guide to surface again, but I guess I'll get around to editing it sometime.

I wont' quote the wall of text, but yeah I do agree with you on most of the things.

For the making money/seq drops thing, since I've always partied with my guildmates, I never had a problem with that. Though I'd imagine that if I was to party randoms some day, if they don't put it on seq I won't party with them at all, lmao.

And yeah, of course, no one should ever demand anyone of anything unless the other person are total noobs and aren't doing their jobs!

Can I just pop in for a second?

<- Pure STR with Hammer.

My Dmg: 1910~2048 solo.

My pure STR fighter axe user friend's Dmg: 2012~2,2k

...?

I'm Lv 84, but I can kill Lv 75 fighters in PvP if they're pure END at me without extenders or charms.

So can I object to your claim there?

EDIT:

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/8...shot002dt2.jpg

and

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/4...shot003mb9.jpg

Pics of my timed item list, etc, etc.

Also realize my Dmg will be higher when I don't have an NPC shield, and I can get something more than DEX +28 on my hammer. :)

Yes, I'm using Lv 80+9 hammer, but so is my friend up there. He loves his Lv 80+9 axe :p

Looking back on that, I have T3 Vit, Aim, and Def scrolls on that the char stats is covering up. >.<

What about the actual damage difference from the Fighter's pool of offensive skills versus the Cleric's lone Bash and normal attack?


Interesting to see.

Well after logging onto my friend's account, the fighter skills don't add as much as bash does, unless they're like precise hit, or power hit.

The ones with debuffs I see only add a few hundred damage...

My bash is like more than double my damage.

Well thats pretty cool to hear. It sounds like its awesome for PvP, but it's still kind of unfortunate since clerics can't really kill a bunch of enemies at one time. Unless theres an AOE still in the 80s that I'm unaware of thats pretty powerful and has a small cooldown. I still have a good many levels to reach the 80s:hulksmash: so can't say I have checked that out too much

Have you taken into account the fact that you might have STR gears and he might not? Check on that and tell me, will you? I'll change it as soon as I can see your reply next.

Umm he's got STR and END gear, but sometimes he's missing the STR part because he's an END freak.

That still is like nothing.

Dmg from STR in Free stat = +1 raw damage.

Dmg from STR on EQ = +1/5 damage.

It takes +5 STR on one of those things to = 1 more point of Dmg.

Dx

Yeah I know, but from what I see of these high level weapons, they have STR+30 ish at the max. Oh well, I'll change it soon...actually, I'm really not up to date with any of the latest changes. (Tomb of Helga? I'm lost.) So I'll abandon this guide annd hope someone else decides to write another one. I don't think it would be wise to change much of this myself.There are just too many changes like the heal power upgrade thing and there might be many more changes that I do not know about.

Ohhh did not know that...So what about for other stats? Is it still like that too? because I thought END still gave you +5 hp just like in free stat