Cleric census

[HalflingHeretic]

Coming back to GS IV, I have came to some questions that have baffled me.

My few questions are, what is the census these days on rankings in shield/edge before the benefits start deminishing? I have noticed they have changed from the old system.

What is the benefits of religion lore to a repeller? Along with that, do dieties really effect the end roll?

Also, I have noticed WOF no longer stacks. Do most obtain it now for the 2/3 * 40 spell CS benefit? I am sure I will have many more questions.

Thanks,
Nitergen

[Snapp]

There is no "repel" anymore, it's either smite or bane, depending on your diety choice. So yes, diety has a big affect. ;) WOF is useless now, it's only good for a minute or two as I understand it. Religion Lore affects your smite/bane, bolts, blinding, and that holy receptacle thing. I suggest reading up on all of this stuff. Lots of changes.

[HalflingHeretic]

I am agnostic as it is. I still refer to smite as a repeller, due to the effect is almost the same. Guess "smiter" sounds a bit cooler. :)

Dieties, I have noticed can cause more harm then good. Is the census to stay agnostic till more hard data is avaiable?

I am still a non-fan of bolting clerics. Unless there is something I am unware of, it is still a staggering lose of TPs over time.

[Snapp]

Right now, dieties pretty much just affect your Smite/Bane.. depends if you prefer to harm living or dead with it. I believe if you don't choose, it hurts undead and has no affect at all on living (unless this has changed?).

[HalflingHeretic]

That second link was helpful, thanks.

I've noticed you cannot get 7 CS by 3xing in 1 circle every level. Is 6 the highest you can gain now a level?

-Nitergen

[Edited on 12-21-2003 by HalflingHeretic]

[HalflingHeretic]

I also noticed Adhara is envolved into Archery. How is that fessible to get a well rounded DS with a bow?

[Adhara]

I played around on the test server trying both the runestaff path and the shield/weapon path. My defense with the staff was ridiculously low even with 11x magic ranks per (minimum is 9 I think, with 10 recommended) so I quickly discarded that. Even if the defense was comparable to other options, the fact that you are empty handed if the staff is disarmed was a total turn off for me.

1x shield/1x edged gave me satisfactory DS but geez that price for shield is outrageous. .5x shield would have been alright I suppose but I knew I would never swing again and was cringing at the thought of spending all those points in two skills only to get defense and not even get some kind of secondary attack out of it.

Then someone mentioned archery. I laughed at first. Who would consider archery for a cleric, right? Well at that point I was desperate so I gave it a shot. Boy was I in for a surprise! Lo and behold I killed stuff 10 trains above me with ease while I had previously been struggling with something my level when I tried to go the casting way (keep in mind that means a smite cleric casting at the living, bane clerics have it much easier). I was suspicious of my success so I tested on different creatures. I was so impressed with the results that I decided to give it a shot when it went live.

I'm at my mom's for the holidays so I don't have Adhara's training details right here but her DS with self-cast spells and in offensive is high enough to be out of range of most things her level. She wears chain mail (50 ranks of armor to reduce hindrance to minimum) so when she does get hit, she lives. Ranged weapons training now provides reasonable defense (to simulate the non-existant distance). Imagine if we could double and imagine if she trained in dodge. Rogue archers must have it smooth!

Anyway to sum it up... For now she's in the undead gap so she hunts the living. Her strongest spell circle is major. She binds the target (almost 99% success on like-level targets) and kneels to fire the crossbow, aiming at the eye. She kills with one or two shots in over 75% of the times (I actually gathered data to get this figure). It's cheap mana wise and very quick (3 seconds to cast bind, 5 seconds to cock the crossbow and 3 seconds to fire it). She is usually fried with 150+ mana left. If a target refuses to die, there's always spirit strike too.

She's fully doubled in spell aiming and since bolt attack has nothing to do with spell ranks, her holy bolt or fire spirit is not penalized by the fact that major is her main circle.

Originally I wanted to try this route for a month and then revert back to shield/weapon as I neared the next undead. I have since changed my mind and decided to stick with archery. I even kept my chain mail. I got some more religion and summoning lore and I feel I am versatile enough to face whatever is coming, undead or living. If I choose to smite, the bow is still a great asset. It is in my left hand so cannot be disarmed. It leaves me my right hand free to channel without any DS penalty and without needing to train in an additional skill. A word of caution, the archer's weakness is bolts. Fortunately with our spells and a couple wizard spells I can survive almost all of them but I don't push my luck and I wouldn't go hunting a critter whose main attack is a bolt.

After the holidays if you wish I will give you her exact unspelled DS, stats and skills. I may be a mutant but damn I make it work well! I gained almost 6 levels within the first month after it went live. I must be doing something right.

[HalflingHeretic]

That seems to be near my dilmea at the time being. I am sticking to my old gs3 training method, at level 50 now I have 154 spells.

Has anyone else found a better alternative to shield? Archery seems to have my fancy for a little fun.

For some basic cleric archery questions, do you have to 1x range every level and perception/hiding .5x? Along with being a halfling, would a bow better suite me then a light crossbow?

Then the big question is, how much are 4x+ range items these days? Last I played, fel hafters were 1.5m to give you an idea.

[Edited on 12-22-2003 by HalflingHeretic]

[Edited on 12-22-2003 by HalflingHeretic]

[StrayRogue]

Perception and Ambush would give you extra DS after the first 30 ranks of each. They are not *needed* to survive. A bow or a crossbow would determine how you hunt. Which is better suited is up to the type of character you play.

Items these days are cheap. You could get 4x as low as 25k. Fel Hafters go for about 5 mil as they are weighted.

[Adhara]

ranged as a cleric can only be singled so don't miss even one rank. I am doubled in perception. I have no ambush and no hide. I kill in the open.

Since the CS calculations have been reviewed, the penalty for having more spells in a circle than your level is huge. I always thought that tripling spells was a big waste but it is now more than ever. Tripling to get all your circles up to par might be of value but careful if you choose to exceed your level in a certain circle. Some quick testing should give you the numbers and you could be surpised at how little you get for that huge amount of TP's.

Archery is also cheap weapon wise. A 5x bow/crossbow combined with some fletcher made e-bladed arrows/bolts and you hit the +50 AS cap.

[HalflingHeretic]

Is it possible for a cleric to fire a light crossbow and stay hidden?

My only problem is, my stats will not even bring a good amount of TPs for extra stuff till level 77. Skip stalking and hiding for good? I was tempted for a little RP fun, picking pockets cleric. :rolleyes:

Also, someone wanted 800k for a 4x light crossbow. That seems pretty high for me, or is that really the going price?

[Edited on 12-23-2003 by HalflingHeretic]

[AnticorRifling]

That's high, you could buy a 0x light cross bow and get it enchanted to 4x for alot cheaper. Plus if you're patient you can find a 4x bow for 100-200k range.

[HalflingHeretic]

24.twisted elven light crossbow

show:The finely crafted elven crossbow is expertly twisted and bound with highly polished krodera. Attached to the crossbow is a small veniom scope for use in aiming and accuracy. belt worn and has a pull script i think maybe another scrip or 2 4x light crossbow looking for 2 mil

What is your opinions on that fine crossbow?

[HalflingHeretic]

With the winter season, I've had some time to tweak with the CS formula. Everyone is either keeping the edge to themselves or I am not understanding it correctly.

The word that everyone has been telling me is the following at level 51(low wis/aura bonuses)

32/32/93 is post to be max CS 269 was my highest) .

25/26/106 has gave me the biggest advantage now at 272

Any little ensightes I am missing with gs4 revamp?

[MrThorbizzle]

er...aura adds to cleric CS?

[HalflingHeretic]

(wis bonus + aura bonus) / 2 has been there since I can remember.

I don't recall your name, but you seem to be enjoying slinging the cheap shots.

[Drew2]

Aura has never and still doesn't affect Spiritual CS. It impacts Elemental casting and Spirit points only.

http://www.play.net/gs4/info/stats.asp#aura

[Edited on 1-5-2004 by Tayre]

[HalflingHeretic]

I'm pretty stubborn on my memory being accurate. I'll stand corrected once I run into Porcell again. At one point or another, I remember aura being a minor implication during the switch over to play.net

Looks like a quick glance and I am in the hole. Living spell work to cover my buttox?:) I was wrong

[Edited on 1-5-2004 by HalflingHeretic]

[MrThorbizzle]

:: enjoys it ::