Returning player with some questions(Yes, you've heard this before)

[tiggereye]

Hiyas..

So returning after oh I dunno.. 12 years? I've been havin a grand old time on my other characters, and wanted ta bring my cleric back to life.. problem is clerics(and everything else) have changed so much.. I do have a fixstat and fixskill available for this character only, but I dont wanna mess anything up permanently... So looking for advice.. mainly in stat placement cuz my memory is hazy and I can always play with my skills down the road.. Pretty sure I want max at 100(even tho its a long ways off), but not sure how difficult it would make the lower levels, and not sure which stat to tank for the others to hit max given my race..so maybe a happy medium would be best. Btdubs this is a human cleric, Voln master, level 33 atm, not aligned yet(need more research first).. was trained in shield/weapon/brawling but that was too long ago and Im realizing outdated for clerics nowadays.
Main interest is rescues, decent to awesome casting.. prob will go pure, but open to pros/cons for other paths.. would like ta be more than a one-trick pony, meaning I want versatility with my casting(as and cs) and hunting. which brings me to GoS- pros/cons of a cleric in Voln vs GoS? will probably stick with Voln for now for the familiarity(even tho that too has changed), but I know next to nothing about GoS.. Still doing research here, on official boards, and Krakiipedia.. Any help would be appreciated, thanks very much..
New poster, long time lurker, please be kind! :)

[Allereli]

http://gsguide.wikia.com/wiki/Training_Spreadsheet start with that for stat placement

GSGuide also has a nice sunfist guide.

welcome back

[subzero]

please be kind! :)

Yeah, uh... hrm. Probably best to wear your flame retardant suit when you log in here.

[DrZaius]

I just finished my 30 days on my little cleric. This is his training.

Armor Use 8 (0.5X) (for doubles)
Physical Fitness 15 (1.0X) (1x for life- there are new things called manuevers, and PT is one of the main defenses against them)
Climbing 2 (0.1X)(will add more as needed)
Swimming 1 (0.1X)(Needed it to not drown on some voln tasks, will add more as needed)
Perception 15 (1.0X)(Cheap, useful)
Arcane Symbols 15 (1.0X)(for runestaff defense & utility (more below)
Magic Item Use 15 (1.0X)(for runestaff defense & utility (more below)
Harness Power 15 (1.0X)(this should actually be 1x-1, a full 1x only gives you +1 mana)
Spell Aiming 30 (2.0X)(This is so I can wave wands when I'm out of mana)
Spirit Mana Control 15 (1.0X)(will get this to 24 by 18 so I can raise dead, then backoff to 1x for life)
Spell Research 35 (2.3X)(+21 cleric is max CS for 302; my next goal is 203 for mana bread, then the 100s).
Cleric 35 (2.3X)
Spiritual Lore 16 (1.1X)
Blessings 1 (0.1X)(Working towards chrism lores by 25)
Religion 15 (1.0X)(Religion lore is useful for chrism lores, and also helps with 302, my main attacking spell).


Runestaff defense is dependent on the number of magical skills you are trained in. For the equivalent of 2x armor/weapon defense, you need to train 8x in magical skills. My guy (as you can see) is currently 9.4x in magical skills.


Chrisms allow you to raise people with experience left in their mind; the better your lores, the more experience they get to retain.


This is a pretty cookie cutter build. You could get more harness power if you're worried about mana, but you really shouldn't be. Voln got a ton of changes, I recommended reading the krakiipedia (http://www.krakiipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_voln)article on it. Also, krakiipedia exists- it's a wiki for gemstone.

New Voln highlights:
1) Using favor no longer sets you back against your current task
2) Symbol of mana costs a bunch of favor, gets you 50 mana instantly, then another 50 if you want to spend deeds
3) Symbol of recall casts your spells back on you after you are raised if you use it while dead
4) Symbol of transcendence: "For 30 seconds member will take damage as if in an incorporeal state." a good "oh shit" symbol.
5) Rank 26, Symbol of Seeking- you and your group are instantly transported to a hunting area for 0 favor, just like using the tapestry in the landing.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

-DrZ

EDIT: WELCOME BACK!

[tiggereye]

Thanks allereli for the spreadsheet, its a great help. Finally have some time this weekend to play around with it. And Dr Z for the build, I'll prob go with something similarly cookie cutterish until I get comfortable with the game again and tweak from there. It's quite daunting the amount to learn and relearn about clerics and the game in general. I was originally going to set stats to max at 100, but I'm worried I'll get stuck in a rut being only in my 30s... Is it wiser to set them to max earlier to avoid this, or should I bite it and go for 100 to avoid slowing down later? At what point would I be efficient and still have room to grow? Thanks again..
Tigger(flame retardant suit on)

[Jace Solo]

At 30 you can set for Max stats and not worry too much about being unable to handle hunting. Most people get to around 25 for their first 30 days then set for max stats. I've done it multiple times, you'll be fine.

[tiggereye]

Ok, so after playing around on the spreadsheet, this is where I am...
level 0 stats:
str 70
con 68
dex 88
agi 82
dis 62
aur 82
log 65
int 64
wis 59
inf 20

That maxes everything at 100 except con (98) and inf (73).. Is tanking Inf that much a big deal? Couldn't figure out any other way to fit all my skills and make it higher... had to give myself more tps.

Skills at level 33:
Armor...8
PF........22
climb....16 (.5x)
swim....16 (.5x)
perc.....16 (.5x)
firstaid..16 (.5x)
as.........34 (1x)
miu.......34 (1x)
hp.........33 (1x)
sa.........68 (2x)
smc......34 (1x)
spells...88 (2.5x)
major..25
minor..30
cleric...33

After 33, i'll concentrate on lore and get to basic chrisms by 49ish, then 1 or 2x from there, also will start uping the cleric circle after 33(really wanted 130/225)... I wish I had more hp for mana.. also physical fitness is max hp but no further... I just couldn't get anything else to fit with my tps..

So howd I do? Look good? any more tweaks I should consider? Thanks much!

[DrZaius]

If you really really want 225/130 that quickly I say go for it, but your CS is going to be pretty bad. In comparison, my cleric has 35 ranks of cleric at level 14. Each train of cleric above your level up to +21 is another CS. When you start to hunt with 302, you are going to want that CS *badly*. The character you have created will be able to rescue people, but it will be tough for them to hunt like-level without running out of mana. My 2 cents.

-DrZ

EDIT: That said, if that's what you want, go for it. I played my mini-cleric for his 30 days using brawling and had a blast. By 33, you may have enough mana that it's less of an issue.

[tiggereye]

Thanks Dr Z... I know there are a few schools of thought on CS vs bolting and whether +21 spells are truly needed..I know the majority say CS/cleric circle all the way and I may end up in that camp, but I tend to lean towards paths less travelled.. I do feel mana might be an issue- I'll probably be a wand whore to offset it, and I don't know how bad my CS will be without +21 or early lores.. I guess I won't know how much I hate it til I try it, and if I hate it, there's always a fixskills coming soon :)... I hope at least my stats are set in a good spot for growth as well as tps.. anyways, thanks again very much!!
Tigger

[Jeril]

Its .75 CS for each rank above level until 20 then .5 from ranks 21-60 above. People say to go to 21 over because 20 nets you 15 CS and 21 gives you 16. As far as pure CS goes for a cleric you obviously get more by over training in cleric spells then anything else for a good long while. You train in the other circles for DS/TD and other utility. If you want to rescue and have the CS and use lich you can lower the 200s, it isn't like it will take you long to get there but if you are worried about someone beating you to the body you may want to keep them. Another thing to consider would be dropping AS/MIU, maybe even spell aim. If you aren't actively using the skills and have them just for "runestaff ranks/defense", you should drop them. My CS using empath is 45 and only has 16 ranks of each MIU and AS, I only started training him in those for spell burst areas. While I can't say for certain that I'll have him hunting wyneb or the keen, I'd rather have those skills and the option available then not.

[Jeril]

Using bolts/wands isn't the road less traveled by much, but if you enjoy it, go for it. The only real advantage to using bolts at times can be for group hunts or invasion type situations where your CS isn't enough to be hitting creatures. There are also some undead that holy bolt is amazing on, like arch wights, the ones without armor anyway. If you primarily solo hunt you may want to consider a pure CS build a bit more but it is your character and up to you.