Smite

[Kaah]

About what lvl will I be able to hunt with smite efficiently?
and if it is around 10, should I just go shield and brawling then?
Also, if I wanted to go sword and shield what would be a nice training plan for someone that wanted to raise asap?

[GuildRat]

ok...you need 101 bonus in Spirit mana control and 18 ranks of cleric spells to raise. Having 10 spirit will allow you to raise anyone pretty much.

As far as weapon training goes....being sword and board with a cleric is tough. You'll sacrifice alot getting there.

I think spirit lore religion helps with the damage inflicted on the living and whether or not you infuse more mana on a cast.

[Rathain]

About what lvl will I be able to hunt with smite efficiently?
and if it is around 10, should I just go shield and brawling then?
Also, if I wanted to go sword and shield what would be a nice training plan for someone that wanted to raise asap?

smite hunting undead efficiency really comes into it's own ~ level 20, but will depend on your wisdom bonus. otherwise, you may be missing more casts, offsetting your efficiency.

if by shield and brawl, you mean 1 rank of shield, and 1 rank of brawling, then yes. at your level, it's not really necessary to sink the TP's into too many ranks of brawling and shield usage- you'll have enough DS by using it on getting more spells. you can pick up more physical type ranks later if you want. my cleric currently hunts ithzir with 1 rank of brawling, no shield, and double open handed. really, the DS advantage is not worth the TP expenditure imo, unless you want to defend against voln fu, or use one of those nifty vambraces. I use the extra TP's to go .75x CM and 1x PT.

for being a raise bot, 24 ranks SMC, and 40 clerical spell ranks at soon as you hit train 18. sword and board might be easier for the first few levels (1-15), but smite hunting undead until 55 is quite simple.

[Davenshire]

Ok what is the deal with meditate?

I used to feel bad for clerics/empaths, they didnt get a mana return spell/skill.


I am playing my new 5th level cleric, completely out of mana, I meditate, open hands opffensive, all 30 comes back in one big pulse??? holy crap!

I am efficiently hunting with smite at 5th train, just not waiting tell empty to go out, and evne then if I get some good rolls I can fry.


Anyone have the formula for meditate and mana/spirit return?

[Necromancer]

If you're looking to maximize your raising as quickly as possible AND to make smite as effective as possible, then I suggest the following training plan:

1. Use a runestaff- you need the TPs
2. 2x SMC at least until 24 (if not for life- the mana gains per pulse and the benefit to 319 crits pay off down the road. At cap, you're looking at 10 mana extra per pulse over 1x, and your 319 crits should be strong enough to use even against the living)
3. you want to 1x spell training in minor up to 103 then go up major until 25, then go back up minor again.
4. Get as close to 2x in clerical spell ranks as possible until you hit 20 ranks over your level (somewhere in your mid to late 20s)
5. 2x religion lore

What's this going to do for you? First, the quality of your 318 is based on spell ranks, NOT levels. So you should already have the 2nd best raise (minimal spirit) by level 18. You'll have the best raise (40 spell ranks) in your mid to late 20s. You'll also be increasing your mana returns during your hunts, which is key. The religion lore pays off by increasing the power of your 312 and 317 (you'll be increasing both damage and possibility for a 3rd crit strike with 317), which you will need eventually. When you do get these spells, you'll be astounded at the amount of damage they do as you rise in level. Your CS will rapidly increase as well, which means far fewer missed casts (creature TD is based around about 2x in spells...the first 20 or so levels are rough because of armor mods and such, but eventually your CS outpaces creature TD. Stick to non-armored creatures for now if you can) as well as higher warding rolls. You'll also have all 3 damage cycles for 319 when you learn the spell (if you 2x in religion lore, you end up with exactly 40 ranks at 19). Ironically, the major downside to this training plan is that the frequent infusions in 302 will become irksome. Fortunately, the Cleric/Empath team is planning on revamping infusions to make them useful again.

To pull this off you'll probably have to drop spell aiming entirely (I've personally never had a problem with this, and that was with a bane-aligned cleric), and you won't likely be able to afford weapon training. But your pure DS should be more than sufficient, and the huge boost to your offensive spells and your raising ability will make your cleric one heck of a killer on the field.

Good luck

[Rathain]

Fortunately, the Cleric/Empath team is planning on revamping infusions to make them useful again.

Hmm. From what I read on the forums a while back, they had no plan of removing the non-channel infusion drain from the cast command, which would have been the most useful element. An extra mana infusion on a 2 mana spell, yielding an extra point of max damage for every 10 ranks of religion lore... I doubt they'll uncap, or increase the max damage on it to any astounding amount, even on a 10 mana infusion. If they do, Virilneus might have a heart attack and start another petition.

[Necromancer]

No, they won't remove the random infusions. But yes, they are looking to make them useful and not a detriment.

Virilneus will invariably start new petitions. Just scream "SHUT UP!" and walk away.

[Rathain]

No, they won't remove the random infusions. But yes, they are looking to make them useful and not a detriment.

As it is now, it's not so much that infusions are a detriment (unless a cleric is 2xing religion lore too early and frying their nerves by accident). It's just lame. The only useful addition that people were asking for was uncoupling infusion when using cast. Given the most recently modified capped initial damage was placed at 58+1(per 10 ranks of religion lore), they are unlikely to increase that by anything useful. Otherwise, the change would have been implemented a while ago. With the current lore setup, there really isn't much else to make the infusion worthwhile, unless it increased the auto-kill percentage.

The only way I can see infusions being worthwhile, is if they made SMC the determinant for a successful infusion, and then used religion lore to determine a much larger, capped damage amount. that way, it forces a cleric to train in two core skills, and may justify a boost in effectiveness.

[Sean]

I always found as a cleric as you get older lores are overrated and so is the additional SMC.

[Khariz]

I always found as a cleric as you get older lores are overrated and so is the additional SMC.

Really? I'm finding the opposite. Doing 400 damage per cast of 312 with 150 Religion lore is pretty freaking sweet.