[Guide] Cleric

I can not take credit for this thread, it was posted on the old forums by Sexualhealing from Marchutan. (An Elyos, but we'll let it slide, can't all be perfect! ;-) )

There is a lot of helpful stuff in here and I wanted to be sure it didn't get lost in the transfer so I saved it.

----------

Threw this together for my legion awhile back, to help out some of our up and coming cleric. When I rolled an alt Ranger for pvp I was amazed at how little some clerics knew their skills at what they were capable of! Please excuse the references to white wings ect ect, It was meant for an Elyos legion. I skimmed to make sure i took out anything that was "not safe" for these forums, I apologize if i missed anything. My legion is pretty laid back so there may be some profanity, I'm sure it will get Smashed by a certain forum mod if there is

Just some little tips/tricks I've picked up along the way!

1.) HoT's and how to use them effectively!

At level 50 we have 3 "effective" HoT's and 1 DP hot.
Light of Rejuvenation: Heals for 60hp every 2s for 30 seconds. Factor in our Boost healing, and we have 72hp every 2s for 30s. 1080hp over a 30s span.
Splendor Of Rebirth: Heals for 315hp every 3s for 21s. Factor in healing boost = 378hp every 3s for 21s. 2646hp over 21s. Don't forget the nice 200 defense bonus as well.
Yustiels Light: Heals 230hp every 2s for 10s. Healing Boost = 276hp every 2s for 10s. 1380hp over 10s. Plus a nice burst of 1.5k a the start AND this one is party wide.

These are some pretty nice values already, but here's where the real impact comes in. Our blessed shield increase the value of all our heals but 100%~ We wind up with:

144hp every 2s for 30s.
756hp every 3s for 21s.
552hp every 2s for 10s. (Party wide).

When stacked on the tank, or whatever target you're trying to hit with it. This is 600hp a second for 10s before it starts to drop off. That's a lot of HP. 6k in 10 seconds! And that's only counting 1 target, the extra party heal from yustiels and the def bonus from S.O.R is just butter on top. MUCH more effective then protecting yourself from 1000 damage. Don't forget with brilliant protection up there's another 30% on top of that...

2.) "Flash" saves in PVP.

Decent PVP groups focus fire at least somewhat. When a target is being focused, and near the end of their HP pool, its natural for the focuser to move onto the next target. Clerics can feed off, and abuse this! If you're fighting a group that is outputting more damage then you can heal through with normal heals, WAIT. Let the focus target get low, pop your shield and flash him! You're dumping 5304 hp on him instantly, and if the person on the opposing team who is putting up the main target thinks his target is about to die, he is likely moving onto the next target prepping for the skull brand. By flash healing him when he's low you will likely save your party member and also interrupt the oppositions flow. He now has to move back, and Re-Brand, and his party has to Re-target as well. You've effectively wasted a large amount of the enemies burst and likely left them slightly split on dps, giving your team time to fire back.

3.) "Tab" cycles in boss fights/pvp.

As a cleric, the worst thing you can do in boss fights or small scale pvp is keep your target locked on a tank or your pvp partner. Upon starting a cast, you can freely tab target to anything without risking your heal being canceled. You should be starting to cast a heal, and tab targeting to get an idea of what is going on in you surroundings. You can tab target to a boss to see what he's casting, you can tab target to an opponent in PVP to see who he has in focus, and what he's casting. Mindless healing is the sign of a bad, or tired cleric. Cycle your targets frequently, keep on your toes!

(In 1.9 they are adding a "target of target's cast bar". This section will still apply, but be easier in boss fights)

4.) "Dancing" heals

Once again, all about keeping on your toes. Wasting mana in pve or pvp is bad, far too many clerics over heal. Heal-dancing, is a way to keep the speed of your heals up, but also not waste to much mana. Basically what you're doing is starting heal, and at the end of your cast bar, if the target does not need your heal, you move slightly to cancel the cast. The party window's HP bars are delayed, as a result you can "cancel" damage before if even registers on the party list. Dancing your heals allows you to get a heal off quickly when needed, but also not waste mana with unnecessary heals. By canceling your heal when it's not needed, you save some mana.

5.) Fear of commitment

Skill commitment is another thing I see a lot of clerics doing. It's bad. Priority is key for a cleric, and if your party gets silenced whilst you are in the middle of your 2 second cast of a heal, or even 1.5s cast you need to be on your toes. cancel the heal and start dispelling targets! This is of course, unless that one heal is needed to save someone. Otherwise you have to look at it like this:

Your heal is ~1500 - 3000 hp (unless it's shield stacked from above)
3 DPS classes get silenced
A rough dps average from my parties is 800-1100.
Mob silences typically last 8~ seconds, PVP silences are 5~
Priority: 1500-3000hp or 3000 DPS (for 8s)[This is based on 3 DPS classes at 1000dps] = 24000 damage.

If that 3k isn't needed URGENTLY I think it's easy to see what side of the equation takes priority. Remember your job in a party is not just to keep people alive, it's too keep the party moving at the fastest and most efficient pace you can. If the tank is pulling well, and you are micro managing your mana and skills, there is no reason you should need to rest and your party should steam along at maximum speed all the time!

6.) Mana management

This one is pretty straight forward but I'll jot down the key points anyway.
1.) You should never need to rest for mana unless it's right before a boss fight and you want to be sure.
- Mana Potions; carry lots, pop them like candy. Kinah is a ******** excuse, mages need to buy mana pots, melee/rangers need to buy power shards/arrows, you can buy some pots.
- Mind crystals; I carry 5~ of these at any given time JUST INCASE. The give an instant 5k mana and can save lives! Not necessarily mandatory but i would recommend carrying some anyway!
- Reverse condition; Some clerics like this one for refilling mana, not my choice but works well. Flip, heal, move along now boys (and girls) no rest for the wicked!
- Grace of empyream lord; My choice for mana management. I pop penance, mana pot, grace and for clutch moments sages wisdom. 50% faster cast speed, no mana cost and re-ticking mana @ warp speed!
- Penance; It's a skill.. use it.. if you don't, you suck.

7.) Splendor of Purification V.S. Dispells

Some controversy over this one, here is my 2cents; Splendor has some great uses but really only in PVE. It's slow and that is a huge problem. IF you are a good cleric, you can effectively use SoP when it's PRE-CASTED. Tab cycling from above will allow you to see a fear shriek coming, and timing can completely negate the shrieks effect. Same with the Bollvig fire debuff and any similar effect. Timing is everything.

In pvp things are very different. SoP is virtually useless (unless timed perfectly), you can dispell an entire party faster then the cast time on SoP. Spam that dispell unless the enemy dps allows you enough time to use a splendor, or you manage to grab a target on an SM and can cast it right before a fear shriek.

8.) Aggro management and you!

Use your **** shatter and tranq, don't expect the tank to keep aggro on 3+ mobs! When a tak is trying to pull off of you, target tank, select target of target, shatter/tranq.

9.) PVP: Range abuse and L.O.S.

As the main source of "life" in your party it's important you try to stay alive, and not a tree. The best way to accomplish this, is to not throw yourself into the fray. Keep range, fly in circles, rush in and heal when you need to, then quickly get out. MR is your friend and 35 meters > sorcs. When possible, abuse your surroundings nothing ****** a sorc off more then seeing you dissapear around a corner every time her tries to sleep you. You've accomplished 2 things, the sorc/rangers charged with keeping you on lockdown is ****** off, and more importantly, not attacking your party members! Rush in and shield stack a flash on someone, or get off a quick party heal then get out or break LOS! MR Clerics have more breathing room in this instance, but HP clerics need to be damned careful. I don't care if you have 14k~ hp, you're useless as a tree.

10.) Footholds and Rock slides.

The healing range in aion is broken (IMO). Knowing when and where to fight in pvp or pve is essential and something you need to communicate with your party. Fighting mobs on a slope, or around pillars is a terrible idea. We can be 3m away from a target and cast a party heal, and it will completely ignore him if he is at a different elevation. It ****** the best of the clerics off and it's stupid, but for now the best you can do is inform your party that you're at a bad spot to heal and have them relocate!

11.) Range abuse and dead birdies. (PVP)

If your party members are out of range, let them die. I'm serious when I say this, people who cannot keep in range of their healers are useless. Let them die, if you have trouble healing a specific person over and over (because he/she can't stay with the party), move him/her to the bottom of your party list and ignore him/her completely. It's our job to keep the party alive and working efficiently, but sadly ncsoft did not give us a "remove stupidity" spell. Dead white wings are pretty anyways.

12.) Pre-Cast and DPS cancelling.

I sort of mentioned this in a couple different places up there, but just to clarify:
1.) You should be watching for big hitting skills and pre-casting heals to effectively negate the damage before it even registers on the party window. Boss fights especially, but also works well against Shadow burst and kisiniels.
2.) Same goes for SoP from above, and normal dispells.

13.) Greater Healing Potions

Carry them! If your party gets silenced, you dispell them, if you get silenced everybody dies. Don't let everybody die =(

14.) Tips and Tricks:
- When resurrecting (yourself) you can cancel the "getting up" animation but popping a pot the second you press the "skill resurrection" button. This also works when someone else resurrects you.
- Using the "f-keys" to select targets in your party, allows you to quickly select spirit master pets, just double tap the "f-key" that corresponds to them!
- Greater courage scrolls are great for PVP and PVE, they allow you to complete skill animations quicker, and in turn chain spells together faster!
- "Jump canceling" is not just for rangers! We can jump cancel the animation on our dispell and instant HoT spells. Not sure what use this has, but it's fun...

*I'll add more when I remember them!*

Added: 4/12/2010

15) Remember your assist key (~ default). Not only can you assist allies, you can also assist enemies! Makes it really easy to target a party member about to get hit with a nasty skill. Assist the enemy to heal your ally, while the heal is casting, assist again to re-target the enemy so you can throw off a few dots and keep track of its target. In most groups, I spend more time with the enemy targeted than an ally; allows you to preempt rather than just react and with a solid tank, put out some significant damage.

Oh, also you should always be sure to have 'Show target's target' on. This holds true for all classes.


16) Group member macros

I have a separate hotkey bar specifically for grouping where keys 1 through 5 are macros that select a different group member and cast healing light on them. I rearrange the party (this varies with situation) usually to tank, close range melee, offheals, clothies and rangers at the bottom so I can easily hit one button and heal whomever needs it. I keep my DPSing skills on keys 8 through = so i can keep attacking with my right hand.

17) Alternate between light of recovery and healing light

I notice a lot of clerics either spam healing light or they spam light of recovery, spamming healing light works but the 2 second cast time is a bit gimped, and spamming light of recovery although it has a short 1 sec cast time, isn't really any better considering the 2 second cooldown, but if you cast light of recovery and then healing light while it's on CD and keep alternating between the two you'll increase your healing output dramatically.

18) FEARZ!!!!

You can "evade" the effect of fear by being in glide when it hits =)

19) Situational awareness.

Sorcs are our biggest enemies, best advice I can give you in mass pvp or small scale pvp is simple: "Blue = Death" Every CC skill and supplication of focus have a very distinct blue/purple animation. If you see blue, get out or LoS.

20) DPS! (OMG No wayz!)

Doesn't hurt to DPS a little, even if it's just a macro to cast the instant DoT and Holy Servant on the Tank's Target.

21) Root!

We have an awesome survival ability with our root. A 6 second timer with 10 second recharge means a downtime of 4 seconds. So...Don't forget Root! Root the target on you and move back a little. Try running in the opposite direction, past your tank (if the mob doesn't use AoEs you need to avoid by staying behind it) by the time the mob unroots and runs to you, you should be able to root again and run back. Kiting clerics are sometimes the best forms of CC with extra aggro!

22) Concentration!

Quite a few accessories give concentration, use them to help prevent your skills from being interrupted. Nothing more annoying than casting a radiant cure for 3.5s only to get interrupted at the 3s mark.

23) Get Marked!

When raiding healing always ask to get a mark over your head (i like the smiley) then make sure you say in /g what your mark is and tell your people to stay in range. I find ranged people love to cuddle close but those melees are wanderers at heart. If most of my people are in range and one wanders away I let them know they are out of range and to get back or no heals. Sometimes it sucks but keeping the other 4 alive instead of chasing down 1 is usually more helpful to the end goal.

-------

Macro Love!

This section will be a collection of helpful macros that people share.

1) From Dani of Vaizel - Noble Pet heal Macro

Here's a macro I put together for those with the Noble Energy tree socketed... hopefully it'll help some people out :3

Apparently if you HoT your servant it'll last a bit longer, just enough to get one additional hit out of it.

If nothing else, you can take out the HoT part and just use this macro to save yourself a hotkey space.

/Skill Summon Noble Energy I
/Delay 1
/Skill Summon Holy Servant III
/Delay 1
/Select Noble Energy
/Skill Light of Rejuvenation IV
/Delay 1
/Select [%TargetOfTarget]