newb cleric

[reginrok]

Just a few questions as I am new to the cleric world

1.) I see some training paths don't use anything for defense in their hands (Ex: a shield or a runestaff.) Is this viable with selfcast spells or will your defense really tank?

2.) Do you really only need 1 rank in shield to make it viable? Is there a need to train any farther?

3.) Choosing the deity Fash'lo'nae gives you the "smite" version of the spell (though I thought he was considered to give you bane), but do you still get the same benefits of infusing more mana and such from it?(I have not been able to infuse more mana as of yet.)

4.) When does CS casting as a cleric become more reliable? At lower levels I have maybe a 50% chance to connect with a warding spell.

5.) I am eventually going to become a pure caster once I migrate out of the swinging phase of living so are there any particularly more effective ways of hunting? Main hunting spells? What's susceptible to clerics?

Thanks for any/all response.

[mrjrd222]

Just a few questions as I am new to the cleric world

1.) I see some training paths don't use anything for defense in their hands (Ex: a shield or a runestaff.) Is this viable with selfcast spells or will your defense really tank?

I'm a giantman with a decent agility (level 49(, if I spread out my training a bit more (if I got more minor spirit spells) I could generate a really nice DS, for now I'd definitely get nicked constantly if I went out without a shield, but it's doable with a smaller race (with an agility bonus). With high enchant leathers (I've got 5x) it's doable with any race, but if you spread your spells out to gain that extra DS, your CS will be a tiny bit lower (I'd probably lose 8-10 CS and gain 18-20 DS if I moved spells around right now)



2.) Do you really only need 1 rank in shield to make it viable? Is there a need to train any farther?

People will tell you that you need 1 rank, but I have zero ranks and the "block" ability still happens, with a medium 6x shield. Training it farther will give you a TINY bit more DS in offensive, but quite a bit more DS in defensive.



3.) Choosing the deity Fash'lo'nae gives you the "smite" version of the spell (though I thought he was considered to give you bane), but do you still get the same benefits of infusing more mana and such from it?(I have not been able to infuse more mana as of yet.)

Anyone can infuse mana into smite/bane, it's simply training in Religion lore that raises the chances. While it's fun at the start, you'll find that with about 25 lore, you infuse 2 extra mana into the spell, while making it hit about 10-13% stronger. Instead of casting it twice and doing about 140 damage (45 base hit, +25 crit) you hit him once for 87 (45 base hit turns into 62, still +25 crit) It's not nearly worth double the mana, in fact I dislike it very much when I infuse mana now, which is sad.




4.) When does CS casting as a cleric become more reliable? At lower levels I have maybe a 50% chance to connect with a warding spell.

Honestly, CS casting is a great help at low levels. While you can't fry on one head of mana, even 50% success with a 2 mana spell that does some serious damage is really helpful. If you're wondering when you can fry on your own mana, I'd say about title (20). Some hunts you'll be out there and fried with 20 mana left, some hunts you might only make it to bec numbed or numbed though. Extra SMC will help your mana regen, and doubling in HP will help you fry on one head of mana till about 20. (meaning double in it till 20, then go easy if it's not part of your end-game training plan, right now I'm 49, singled in HP and doing great with my mana, I never run out unless I choose to waste it)



5.) I am eventually going to become a pure caster once I migrate out of the swinging phase of living so are there any particularly more effective ways of hunting? Main hunting spells? What's susceptible to clerics?

If you're asking what to hunt after you're finished with your swinging phase, I'd say anything with no armor (or +20-25 CvA) and non casting critters. Not that you couldn't handle the spells, but any critter that can cast a spell, will usually spawn with it up on themselves. At lower levels (even higher levels) a few buffs can mean the difference between 90% success and 50% success. Take the comparison of Warfarers to Zombies. Warfarers generally spawn with spells, (I forget if its elementals or blues) but they'll likely have 10-35 more TD than anything their level, such as zombies, which are very easy to ward successfully.

You'll find there are lots of things that are susceptible to clerics, but usually non-corporeal undead are awful. If they can't be crit killed, smite isn't so hot. If they can be crit killed, smite will light them up. To be honest, I found that binding things and attacking them (with either a weapon, or voln-fu) saved a lot of mana regardless of a critter being able to be critted or not. Voln-fu can stun things that cannot be stunned, and it can crit things that cannot be critted any other way. By about 60-70 it becomes relatively useless (or so I hear) but I'll stick with it till then. If you're going the shield/smite route, there's no reason not to pick up the brawling skill and work on Voln (Unless you really really need wracking, or if you can't stand the loss of 9 DS, or if you want to be a sunfister).

Anyway, good luck, let me know if I missed anything.

[Rue]

http://www.krakiipedia.org/wiki/Cleric

and

http://www.krakiipedia.org/wiki/Cleric_Base

Just some added information.

[walkinthrurain]

This is the best I could come up with just looking at the forums and trying to follow a swing build (this is until I can convert to pure). I forewent the shield for a little bit of RPing. If I thought I could just open handed brawl everything I would have done that...not sure the training points are there though.

All criticism is :welcome: Until you're a dick about it :club:

Name: XXXXX Race: Human Profession: Cleric (not shown)
Gender: Male Age: 0 Expr: 2548 Level: 0
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 70 (15) ... 70 (15)
Constitution (CON): 63 (6) ... 63 (6)
Dexterity (DEX): 33 (-8) ... 33 (-8)
Agility (AGI): 85 (17) ... 85 (17)
Discipline (DIS): 64 (7) ... 64 (7)
Aura (AUR): 80 (15) ... 80 (15)
Logic (LOG): 50 (5) ... 50 (5)
Intuition (INT): 90 (25) ... 90 (25)
Wisdom (WIS): 96 (23) ... 96 (23)
Influence (INF): 29 (-10) ... 29 (-10)
Mana: 8 Silver: 760
>skill
XXXXX(at level 0), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 5 1
Two-Handed Weapons.................| 10 2
Physical Fitness...................| 5 1
Spiritual Lore - Religion..........| 5 1
Perception.........................| 5 1
Climbing...........................| 5 1

Spell Lists
Major Spirit.......................| 1

Spell Lists
Minor Spirit.......................| 1

Spell Lists
Cleric.............................| 1
Training Points: 40 Phy 50 Mnt
(Use SKILLS BASE to display unmodified ranks and goals)

err...I somehow forgot to train HP but ignore that, training 1x.

[Izzy]

This is the best I could come up with just looking at the forums and trying to follow a swing build (this is until I can convert to pure). I forewent the shield for a little bit of RPing. If I thought I could just open handed brawl everything I would have done that...not sure the training points are there though.

All criticism is :welcome: Until you're a dick about it :club:

Name: XXXXX Race: Human Profession: Cleric (not shown)
Gender: Male Age: 0 Expr: 2548 Level: 0
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 70 (15) ... 70 (15)
Constitution (CON): 63 (6) ... 63 (6)
Dexterity (DEX): 33 (-8) ... 33 (-8)
Agility (AGI): 85 (17) ... 85 (17)
Discipline (DIS): 64 (7) ... 64 (7)
Aura (AUR): 80 (15) ... 80 (15)
Logic (LOG): 50 (5) ... 50 (5)
Intuition (INT): 90 (25) ... 90 (25)
Wisdom (WIS): 96 (23) ... 96 (23)
Influence (INF): 29 (-10) ... 29 (-10)
Mana: 8 Silver: 760
>skill
XXXXX(at level 0), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 5 1
Two-Handed Weapons.................| 10 2
Physical Fitness...................| 5 1
Spiritual Lore - Religion..........| 5 1
Perception.........................| 5 1
Climbing...........................| 5 1

Spell Lists
Major Spirit.......................| 1

Spell Lists
Minor Spirit.......................| 1

Spell Lists
Cleric.............................| 1
Training Points: 40 Phy 50 Mnt
(Use SKILLS BASE to display unmodified ranks and goals)

You're going to want to raise your dex if you want to swing any decent two-handed weapon base in a reasonable amount of time.

[walkinthrurain]

swinging at 7 right now with a twohanded sword...