Cleric User Review and Analysis

[Larek]

Nice review Kaey, certainly gave some answers to my questions!
Maybe you could write something about role in groups, in some games the healer is a true backliner. In some skill lists I have read ranges like 23ft heals. Can you confirm this, and does this mean you have to be in close range with, well, everyone in your party?
Next to that I'm intrested in how the cleric is able to turn himself in a more dps oriented class with the purpose of money/item grinding. In other games healers can make themselves more damage heavy by the use of mastery/talents etc. How does this apply for the Cleric? Can you put out some nice damage with the right gear etc.?

Thanks in advance!

[Sensai]

Awesome review, but i have 2 questions 1 may have been asked before but im gonna risk sounding like a jerk and ask it again.
1. Can you Rez in combat? Or is it more like wow. I come from WoW and L2, and in L2 rezing in combat was half of the fight lol people keep fighting till the rezers are all dead.

2. Are the heals for the Cleric chain skills as well? Or are they more simple just "heals for 200" skills.

[Lucielo]

Originally Posted by Sensai

Awesome review, but i have 2 questions 1 may have been asked before but im gonna risk sounding like a jerk and ask it again.
1. Can you Rez in combat? Or is it more like wow. I come from WoW and L2, and in L2 rezing in combat was half of the fight lol people keep fighting till the rezers are all dead.

2. Are the heals for the Cleric chain skills as well? Or are they more simple just "heals for 200" skills.

You can rez in combat fine, 6 sec cast, there is also no standard in combat mode, you can even rest in combat if you lie down and are uninterrupted.

No chain heals for cleric tho

[EffecT]

well he didnt adress 1v1 pvp, i have a lvl 20 cleric and i did try alot of duels vs china people and none china people, and found out that clerics are really over powered when it comes to pvp, unless u fight another cleric u would win for sure.

[sector]

Thanks for the other part of the review <3

[Kaey]

Originally Posted by Larek

Nice review Kaey, certainly gave some answers to my questions!
Maybe you could write something about role in groups, in some games the healer is a true backliner. In some skill lists I have read ranges like 23ft heals. Can you confirm this, and does this mean you have to be in close range with, well, everyone in your party?
Next to that I'm intrested in how the cleric is able to turn himself in a more dps oriented class with the purpose of money/item grinding. In other games healers can make themselves more damage heavy by the use of mastery/talents etc. How does this apply for the Cleric? Can you put out some nice damage with the right gear etc.?

Thanks in advance!

I'll answer that question here and then address it in the thread. As far as a Cleric's role goes - I've seen Cleric's "work" and "maneuver" many ways depending on their playstyle. Some cleric's will stand at the back fulfilling the typical generic healer's role, while I've seen others help attack the target and and actually get close to it and melee (and then stop to heal when others need it.) As far as heal range goes, almost all of the heals I've encountered allow the Cleric to be a moderate distance away from their target.

About the gear, I believe it will be possible once more people reach the end-game to create strong spell DPS clerics. Through the manastones I mentioned, a cleric can have a huge amount of bonus damage (but at the cost of HP and MP). As far a melee DPS cleric goes -- I don't see it happening right now... but in the future, possibly.

[Brianmbailey]

Originally Posted by Malais

I think the review does a good job in explaining the solo side of the cleric class, but there is zero mention of the grouping mechanics.

I am not going to judge the OP's play-style, but in a MMO, a cleric should never ever think solo first, group second. That goes for other classes as well. The quote just proves my point. That scout should have either started a group, or joined one and there would be zero problems.

Most of the posts about how OP the cleric are in Kaion and Caion(PvE) seem to be do to the very things described in this review. The other classes have a difficult time soloing, but at lower levels especially the priest class doesn't. I would love to see a 50% reduction in offense and a 50% increase in healing or better buffing ability of both the chanter (bigger buff to buffs) and the cleric (slightly lower buff to buffs but a bump to HoTs.).

I foresee an over-abundance of clerics in the short run resulting in a nerf to their skills because of the perceived ease of the class.

All in all good solo review and overview of the skills but as a cleric review as a whole 4/10.

I totally and utterly disagree. If you take away the clerics soloing potential, then he will be FORCED to group to level. That is how some MMO's do it, and it leads to a horrible play experience while leveling for the healer. A healer is then forced to group up while traveling cause if he runs into a enemy, he will for sure die. I like the class as it is now. I do not want to have to suffer in my leveling experience just because I have a freaking heal button.

As you continue to level, the gap between your dps and the DPS classes dps continues to widen. Sure when you first get Discharge at 25, it is a very nice spell. But then you realize that sorcs and assassins pump out this dps all the time. You have a whole one skill with a 20% trigger rate that does that.

The reason why in Korea AION that clerics are doing so great is because of how OP transformations are, then the salvation skill that restores 50% of your health. That and voice of destruction (4000 dp ability) is extremely OP. But nothing about their base attacks are that OP later on. Even at level 30, there are many classes that can beat me 1v1 IF THEY PLAY CORRECTLY. Sorcs and assassins are especially dangerous.

I do agree chanters need a huge buff though. They need percentage based buffs, and I think a increase in DPS. They really should be the buff class/jack of all trades. Right now they get worse as they level compared to the other classes.


-Vaevictis
Level 30 Cleric

[Naiv]

Ow, nice review!
I tried priest in cOB and found it alot easier to lvl than my mage.
At 9 I chose chanter cuase I saw alot less chanters than clerics running around (atleast on that server and around lvl 10-20).
I'd like to try both chanter and cleric - so I can feel the difference. Now it feels like the chanters is more of a melee and buffer and rarely cast spells.
But now Im confused - is the cleric also meleeing? I hoped solo-cleric was more about casting spells, rather than smacking your enemies.
Hybrids are always fun to play because you can do alot of things, in different ways. And I really dislike when "support"classes are forced to group. Hopefully clerics won't be nerfed(balanced) so they HAVE to group... or heal your way though mobs ._.

[Lucielo]

Originally Posted by Brianmbailey

I totally and utterly disagree. If you take away the clerics soloing potential, then he will be FORCED to group to level. That is how some MMO's do it, and it leads to a horrible play experience while leveling for the healer. A healer is then forced to group up while traveling cause if he runs into a enemy, he will for sure die. I like the class as it is now. I do not want to have to suffer in my leveling experience just because I have a freaking heal button.

As you continue to level, the gap between your dps and the DPS classes dps continues to widen. Sure when you first get Discharge at 25, it is a very nice spell. But then you realize that sorcs and assassins pump out this dps all the time. You have a whole one skill with a 20% trigger rate that does that.

The reason why in Korea AION that clerics are doing so great is because of how OP transformations are, then the salvation skill that restores 50% of your health. That and voice of destruction (4000 dp ability) is extremely OP. But nothing about their base attacks are that OP later on. Even at level 30, there are many classes that can beat me 1v1 IF THEY PLAY CORRECTLY. Sorcs and assassins are especially dangerous.

I do agree chanters need a huge buff though. They need percentage based buffs, and I think a increase in DPS. They really should be the buff class/jack of all trades. Right now they get worse as they level compared to the other classes.


-Vaevictis
Level 30 Cleric

QFT.

@ Naiv, clerics have very few melee attacks (1 actually if im not mistaken, without stigma), so do not think we have more than a chanter .

[Brianmbailey]

Originally Posted by Lucielo

QFT.

@ Naiv, clerics have very few melee attacks (1 actually if im not mistaken, without stigma), so do not think we have more than a chanter .

Correct, we have one melee attack. At 42, we get a ranged skill that COULD replace it(it leads to the same 2 skills for the stage 2 combo) but this skill is on a longer cooldown. I forsee this melee attack will sometimes still find a way into your rotation.

[Naiv]

Thanks for the answers!
Now its to decide if I want to melee or cast stuff...~

[Lucielo]

Originally Posted by Naiv

Thanks for the answers!
Now its to decide if I want to melee or cast stuff...~

and if you want more buffs or more heal power .. That and chanters will do more dmg than a cleric.. (or should do at least!)

[Objection]

Originally Posted by Brianmbailey

I totally and utterly disagree. If you take away the clerics soloing potential, then he will be FORCED to group to level. That is how some MMO's do it, and it leads to a horrible play experience while leveling for the healer. A healer is then forced to group up while traveling cause if he runs into a enemy, he will for sure die. I like the class as it is now. I do not want to have to suffer in my leveling experience just because I have a freaking heal button.

Agreed. In earlier games (pre-WoW for all I care) where the custom was to level up in groups, healers without soloing capability were fine. Aion is a different story, it's 90% solo and then 10% teaming up when you can't do something alone or want to RvR. If you take away the solo stuff from healers, you won't see any of them around anymore.

[Elveerdig]

Nice read and great effort

Dumbs Up !

[SnowBird]

Originally Posted by Malais

I think the review does a good job in explaining the solo side of the cleric class, but there is zero mention of the grouping mechanics.

I am not going to judge the OP's play-style, but in a MMO, a cleric should never ever think solo first, group second. That goes for other classes as well. The quote just proves my point. That scout should have either started a group, or joined one and there would be zero problems.

Most of the posts about how OP the cleric are in Kaion and Caion(PvE) seem to be do to the very things described in this review. The other classes have a difficult time soloing, but at lower levels especially the priest class doesn't. I would love to see a 50% reduction in offense and a 50% increase in healing or better buffing ability of both the chanter (bigger buff to buffs) and the cleric (slightly lower buff to buffs but a bump to HoTs.).

I foresee an over-abundance of clerics in the short run resulting in a nerf to their skills because of the perceived ease of the class.

All in all good solo review and overview of the skills but as a cleric review as a whole 4/10.

I agree on your point about partying. It also seems to me that DPSers may be concerned that Clerics will opt for soloing instead of grouping where they're needed. I have read previous articles on kAion about how often this had been the case, but from my personal experience from playing China OBT, it is certainly not more beneficial to do so. Maybe at lower levels, but not for long. Sure, it's easier for Clerics to survive soloing, but they do NOT have godly damage, and healing between or during mobs can be time-consuming. In many situations it's faster to just party up (this is true for all classes, INCLUDING Clerics).

That being said, I don't think it's necessary to utterly deprive Clerics of their soloing ability just for people to realize that. We need to be able to do some things ourselves too - for instance, gathering materials in an aggro-infested area. Also, if you had to resurrect someone and there were aggros in the way, at least you have the means to get rid of them. I'd like things to remain that way.