new player

[gorea6]

ok so I am new to gemstone and I only been playing for 12 days and been experimenting with each profession and how it would fit into my roleplaying. I think a cleric would be the best choice. I want to be a pure caster that focuses on doing the most amount of damage possible and still have utility in defensive magic. I'm not going to be a rezzer because I follow Luukos and believe that when your time comes Luukos will make you an undead servant. continued on next post.

[Bhuryn]

Just don't say rez or rezzer in game =P.

[gorea6]

I know I am going 8 ranks in armor for double leather. I also believe the hp cap for humans is 24 so I am gonna stop pf there. I want to focus on living targets and I am going into CoL cuzz I like what they are about and wracking is awesome. I need some info as to how I should train and strats on how to kill quickly. I am on my blackberry right now so I cant post my attributes but I will when I get home.

[Asrial]

Yeah, what Bhuryn said.

As for the HP cap, it fluctuates. Read through http://forum.gsplayers.com/showthread.php?t=43623 where towards the end it mentions how to determine the amount of training you need in physical fitness. If you're going to number crunch your character, figure it out. If not, don't worry about it. 24 is a good safe zone.

[Fallen]

You can actually see the numbers in this game, so you don't need to guess when you are going to die from HP loss. I would suggest Empath or Cleric. Both are heavy utility characters capable of producing massive amounts of damage. Our healers are nothing like your healers. They are among the best hunters in the game.

[Allereli]

and wracking is awesome.

for now

[Fallen]

for now

Agreed 100%. DO NOT build your character around wracking. It will only lead to disappointment later down the road. Better off running with an Empath. They are capable of generating an insane amount of mana in GoS via Sigil of Power. They are able to 3x Physical Fitness, the prime (only?) Stamina skill, as opposed to every other pure's being able to 1x. This coupled with their spell of Adrenal Surge (1107), along with blessing lore, allows them to regenerate all of their stamina every five minutes. Doing this allows you to convert said stamina to mana without the penalties of spirit loss due to wracking. This is especially nice because your bolt AS wont suffer, and empaths are fantastic bolters. Add to their mana supply the spell of Manna (203), which with the recent updates can even FURTHER increase mana regeneration and in mid to later levels mana ceases to be an issue.

[Bhuryn]

Agreed 100%. DO NOT build your character around wracking. It will only lead to disappointment later down the road. Better off running with an Empath. They are capable of generating an insane amount of mana in GoS via Sigil of Power. They are able to 3x Physical Fitness, the prime (only?) Stamina skill, as opposed to every other pure's being able to 1x. This coupled with their spell of Adrenal Surge (1107), along with blessing lore, allows them to regenerate all of their stamina every five minutes. Doing this allows you to convert said stamina to mana without the penalties of spirit loss due to wracking. This is especially nice because your bolt AS wont suffer, and empaths are fantastic bolters. Add to their mana supply the spell of Manna (203), which with the recent updates can even FURTHER increase mana regeneration and in mid to later levels mana ceases to be an issue.

It's really tough to 3x PT =P. I just can't seem to commit to it on my empath. Maybe down the road when I finish up some other things.

[Fallen]

It's really tough to 3x PT =P. I just can't seem to commit to it on my empath. Maybe down the road when I finish up some other things.

I suppose it depends on your hunting style. I LOVED mana. I was addicted to wracking. However, if you are more frugal, and were able to kill things inexpensively with a higher CS, you likely don't need as much assess to it as I did. My main hunting spells for the majority of the exp to cap were 719, and 720. I also only 2xed spells as I was a shield/brawl sorcerer and the points were tight. Lower CS meant more plinking, more misses. Couple that with high hindrance and I really was mana starved until I could get to around 12 spirit and +2-+3 spirit regen.

Were I an Empath, I would definitely make the sacrifices needed to get 3x PT. I would likely wear a lot heavier armor than most casting empaths tolerate (brig at a min), and move into Chain the second I hooked up with a Paladin. I would leave out Spell Aiming entirely, focus on going 2.5xish Empath circle, and just melt faces. I've done the all utility/little power character from 1-100. Were I to do it all again, I would sacrifice nearly all that versaitility to completely dominate in the field. Who needs Empathic Assault and Fire Spirit when you have Wither, Spirit Slayer, and insane amounts of mana?

[Bhuryn]

That is true, I plan on dropping my spell aiming once I finish GoS. Bolting things that my paladin AAs for 100 recognition is to addicting =).

Just dropping that would probably get my 3x PT without going below 3x spells.
i just can't seem to play a pure without 3xing spells early on.

[gorea6]

I think we are getting off topic. I dont want to be a empath haha. I want to be a damage focused Cleric but I dont know where I should train. I want to be pure caster too.

[Fallen]

That is true, I plan on dropping my spell aiming once I finish GoS. Bolting things that my paladin AAs for 100 recognition is to addicting =).

Just dropping that would probably get my 3x PT without going below 3x spells.
i just can't seem to play a pure without 3xing spells early on.


3x spells per level?!!? No wonder you're strapped for points. I agree, splashing trolls with 111 is a very nice way to handle swarms, especially if you have the mana for Spirit Slayer first. I would recommend having a wizard or sorcerer imbed some ranger made rods with Fire Spirit. It helps you stay out in the field much longer, and it is a lot of fun.

[Fallen]

I think we are getting off topic. I dont want to be a empath haha. I want to be a damage focused Cleric but I dont know where I should train. I want to be pure caster too.

Sorry. If you're dead set on a Cleric I will try to pull up some decent info. I know 312 is a sick ass spell. No wounds, but insane amounts of damage.

[Fallen]

NOTE: I have never played a Cleric. My knowledge of their spells and training comes from reading up on their spells, and a general level of similarity between all pure training regimines. I HIGHLY suggest you seek out a skilled Cleric to help you with the specific of any training plan you come up with. I suggest Rathain. He is an awesome cleric who reads the boards, both PC and Official heavily, and should be able to help you out. His SN here is Rathain (pretty sure), and I can't imagine he wouldn't help you out if you sent him a PM.

First off, Clerics have access to a few decent bolting spells: Holy Bolt (306), Fire Spirit (111), and Web Bolt (118) (With Summoning lore). That being said, I think that bolts are really more for fun than function unless you plan to go GoS. I think in terms of raw power, it is better off to save those points you would use on Spell Aiming and spend them on going above 2x Spells, and Harness Power.

Your main offensive spells with be Smite/Bane (302), Fervent Reproach (312), Divine Fury (317), and in time, Divine Wrath (319). Note that all of these spells are in the 300's circle, so you're going to want to be, at a minimum, 1x that circle. You receive a bonus to your CS for overtraining in a spell circle. This bonus is maximized at 20 ranks above your current level. If you want to be a powerful hunter, you will want to achieve that 20 rank cushion as fast as can be comfortably obtained.

In terms of lore, you will quickly note that Spiritual Lore, Religion is the primary lore to determine the damage done for the above spells. All the spells listed benefit in some way offensively the more ranks you have. Unless I am mistaken, Smite/Bane's infusion costs for extra damage are completely FREE due to the coders working on getting a better system in place. Basically, this means that if you not training in Religion lore, you are missing out on a ton of extra damage that will not cost you any extra mana.

Summoning lore is more useful to the Minor and Major Spiritual circles, and usually increases one's combat utility as opposed to raw power. Blessings lore rarely increases one's spell's offensive power, and usually adds to the defensive benefits of spells. As such, you would have to look at the benefits you want from the various combat support and defensive spells you will be using, and decide if the investment of TPs is worth it.

Here are the links to the descriptions of your various spell lists: http://www.play.net/gs4/info/spells/spelllist.asp?circle=7 (cleric), http://www.play.net/gs4/info/spells/spelllist.asp?circle=4 (Major Spirit), http://www.play.net/gs4/info/spells/spelllist.asp?circle=3 (Minor Spirit)

Spiritual Mana Control (SMC) factors into a decent of your spells in a variety of ways, and it also will help you regain more mana per pulse in the form of 1 point for every 10 ranks. That being said, I would recommend staying at least 1x in the skill, and if you DO decide to stop, make sure you stop at a number of ranks ending in a 0 for the maximum mana regain benefits.

As a (former) sorcerer, i'm rather addicted to Arcane Symbols and Magic Item use. These skills are arguably less useful to you as a cleric, but you may still want to gain ranks in both skills if for no other reason that magical ranks towards your Runestaff defense.

Harness Power is the primary means of gaining mana for your character. The more mana you have, the longer you can stay out in the field and hunt. As a pure caster, you are going to want to at a MINIMUM 1x this skill, but most casters go as high as 2x+ in their earlier levels to make up for a small initial mana pool.

Before I go too much further into detail about training for Runestaff DS, I want to give you this link which explains runestaff mechanics far better than I could: http://www.krakiipedia.org/wiki/Runestaff

Basically, the more magical ranks you have, the better your defense will be. Runestaves allow you to train in a ton more magical skills because you don't have to waste points on weapon and shield training. The trade-off is a crappy DS in offensive stances (which you should rarely be in as a non-bolting cleric), and at later levels you will be vulnerable to the DISARM CMAN, which will leave you nearly defenseless.

I know you said you wanted to be a pure magical cleric, but it is MUCH easier to swing a weapon for the first 30 days of your new character. You can set all of your physical stats very high, and train in things like a weapon, shield, and even CM and dodge to jack up your ability to effectively hunt like a square. Right before your 30 days are up, you fixskill your stats back to a caster build, and change your skills back to something more suited to your profession. A rather cheap tactic, but hey..being a low level caster blows.

----
Here is what I would consider your core training as a Pure Caster. You will obviously want MORE than this, but this is what you should train in every level at a minimum:

2x Spell Training - 1x Cleric ALWAYS, and 1x a secondary circle. I would suggest getting 102, then 202, then 107, etc. Look at the defensive spells that you want, and how your DS stacks up to what your hunting. Any extra training should go into Cleric. Again, you want to get to that +20 spells in Cleric circle ASAP. You may even want to go higher for even more CS.

2x Harness Power - Going above 1x HP is prohibitively expensive, but at younger levels, you will really be hating life if you decide NOT to go the swinger route for the first 30 days. Once you feel like you have a decent amount of mana you can back down to 1.5x or 1x. Just be sure to keep up a good amount of magical ranks per level.

1x Spiritual Mana Control - This is at a minimum. This is another cheap skill that would help get you to that minimum of 8 magical ranks per level. You are going to want to go ABOVE 8 ranks per level to maintain a decent DS, though.

1x Spiritual lore, Religion - As your primary combat boosting lore, you are going to want to stay relatively 1xed in Religion for a while. For specific lore benchmarks check out this website: http://carabele.com/odds/LoreBenefits.htm Extra TPs can be spent on Blessing and Summoning lore as you see fit.

1x MIU/1x Arcane Symbols - These are cheap magical ranks, and you as a cleric have access to the spell Holy Receptacle (325) and Living Spell (208), which uses MIU and Arcane Symbols respectively. These are also cheap magical ranks which will help you gain the needed number of skills per level to keep you at a healthy DS.

Other skills you will need are Armor Use, Physical Training, and Swimming/Climbing.

As Physical Training determines how much health you have, you will want to 1x the skill, or close to it, until you reach the amount of ranks which will give you max health for whichever race you choose.

For Armor, you will need to determine how much Spell hindrance you can live with, and train up the Armor Use skill when the points are available to wear your chosen suit at Minimum hindrance. Here is some basic information on armor: http://www.play.net/gs4/info/armory/armor.asp

For Swimming and Climbing, it is all about where you decide you want to spend your time. The biggest population is in the Landing, so you may want to stay there if you are looking for a lot of interaction. I personally prefer River's Rest for lower level characters. I like the community there, and the treasure is awesome.

Your Deity is an important choice for your Cleric, both mechanically and for roleplay purposes. It effects a number of your spells, including Smite/Bane (302), a staple hunting spell of the cleric. It will also determine the flare type of several of your spells. More importantly, the deity you serve should be a MAJOR influence on your roleplay. Look over the list of Pantheons and see which one interest you if you don't already have one in mind: http://www.play.net/gs4/info/tomes/deities/

Other factors to consider: Hunting Grounds, Joining a Society, Choosing a Race and Culture, what gear you are going to try to get your hands on, Joining an MHO or a CHE (Player run organizations). If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

- Evarin's Player

[Asrial]

This bonus is maximized at 20 ranks above your current level.21 ranks.

Also note that 'maximized' is a poor word to use for this. The first 21 ranks over level is just an area that, in my opinion, gives best bang for the buck when it comes to how far you go above your level.

Up to level = rank/1 CS

+1 to +20 over level = rank*3/4 CS

+21 over level = rank/2 CS (which rounds up to a full CS point on the first training)

19 ranks over level = 14 CS
20 ranks over level = 15 CS
21 ranks over level = 16 CS
22 ranks over level = 16 CS

Everything else looks good as basic info to get someone started and yes, until you're well into your 40's and 50's, basic caster training works fine. You're busy focusing on getting all your spells than trying to min/max lores and junk.

[gorea6]

What type of player run organizations are out there? I am currently in the Landing. I also went as a swinger to start out with. I am following Luukos as a deity and am in the Order of Voln (I have a story for it incase it seems odd to you haha). I am getting a little tired of swinging a weapon right now. I am train 6 and wondering when at a minimum I should switch to caster? I also know I will have double mana cost on undead while I follow Luukos but I am willing to take the sacrifice if it lets me play my character the way I want in the long run. Name is Loccus in game. AIM is Iclerin if you want to hit me up through an IM or if im off the amunet.

[Bhuryn]

I would use the entire 30 days to level as much as possible with a weapon. It sounds stupid but the majority of casters don't have enough mana to hunt with early on. Even if you 3x HP you're still liable to not fry.