I hold no long lost for the clerics cause I've had bad experiences with them ever since I began playing. I don't say that there aren't any good clerics, just that those are hard to find. What I've been able to find easily are what I've named the "Van Helsing Clerics".
You all know Van Helsing, right? Monster killer, left hand of God and all those things. Well, there are some clerics that wanna be heroes and turn into the
left hand of God while others are dying in a party.
Ex. Last time, I was at Marlone's hideout trying for the hundred time to do the quest for the Dungeon Marlone. Well, since I am a mage, it was very hard to even get to the point where I could find him and come out alive. Luckily, I found a party: 1 fighter and 2 archers. Later, after we got there, comes this cleric and asks for pt. Long story short, we fought hard; we died several times, we spent countless scrolls and potions but we defeated Marlone. My complaint is that -instead of healing- the cleric was hitting with the tank! We wouldn't have died half as much as we did if the cleric had done his job. Even the fighter was pissed in the end cause he had spent tons of HP stones when normally one expects a cleric to heal as best as he or she can.
The same thing has happened to me over and over again but I can surely say that I've met a few clerics who are really effective in what they do, most of them in KQ.
My question to the heroes wannabe is the following: If you want to tank and hit, why didn't you make yourself a fighter instead of a cleric? I know, for instance, that a mage is not likely to tank but to launch range attacks, that's why I always lure the creatures in the parties I'm in. That's my job, do damage from distance. I hate the Van Helsing Clerics because they try to be all: fighters, healers and goddamn heroes of the day...
Sorry for the rant. A cleric has just screwed me up.