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Thread: Q: Trying to avoid Cleric/Mage as support...

  1. #1

    Default Q: Trying to avoid Cleric/Mage as support...

    Howdy.

    I've played Cleric and Mage types in Horizons and multiple other MMORPG's and decided no more!

    I've just returned to Istaria, and am tentatively levelling up lowbie Ranger and Reaver characters. I know it used to be commonplace to level in Cleric and/or Mage for support but I'd like to avoid them completely.

    Could anybody suggest a good direction to go? I had vague ideas of backing up my Ranger with either Spiritist and Bloodmage for ranged offense or taking Shaman if its useful at all... The Reaver I'm wondering about, either going nature and Shaman or Guardian or alternatively the Monk route...

    Yes, its a funny way to go...

    Any advice welcome

  2. #2

    Default Re: Q: Trying to avoid Cleric/Mage as support...

    Theres a few ways you can go about doing this.

    1. Assuming you still want heals an such but dont want cleric/healer you can always ake up paladin an still get the life skill needed, but to scribe the spells youd need to be in a class that could usem(such as druid spiritist etc).

    2. To back up ranger, id go elemental archer because they can use lightning arrows from ranger so its kinda nice. It adds 10 bow which is good to. Scout id get to maybe 20 for long shot.

    3. Ranged offense, while bloodmage is good i do believe spiritist is better as you get 10 blight an spirit. You get dubuffs and spirit spells. Bloodmage mostly has dots.

    4. Shaman an guardian would actually go really well together, You recieve 2 an 1 hand crush with both. hey both use nature and shaman adds the debuffs/buffs. I would still back it up with druid tho for Field of Growth II.

    If you ever want any arcane spells/classes youll ave to at least get mage to 20. Just a heads up. I believe ya also need at least lvl 20 cleric for paladin.
    ^.^ *Speed Demon of order..*

  3. #3

    Default Re: Q: Trying to avoid Cleric/Mage as support...

    I'd second that call on Spiritist. With 10 Blight and 10 Spirit per level they are the debuff/leach masters I am currently enjoying my Spiritist/Reaver combination - Spiritist for Spirit Bolt damage and debuffs, with Reaver armor and special attacks.

    Blood mage gets Blood Bolt which IMHO is the most devastating repeater spell in-game, but they only get 8 Blight per level (still 10 Spirit however).
    Last edited by StalePopcorn; September 7th, 2009 at 11:29 PM. Reason: more wiki-link-spamming! :)
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  4. #4

    Default Re: Q: Trying to avoid Cleric/Mage as support...

    Thank you both.

    No, I'm not putting a single level in Cleric or Mage, so it takes all their skill derived Prestiges out of the loop...

    I'll go into a little detail, but you've got me thinking...

    1st character (atm)

    1) Ranger, primary class. All others used for extra abilities and spells for it.
    2) Druid, secondary.
    3) Scout, tertiary. Neglected but I think only Scout gets Long Shot?

    And for a different ranged damage type to Nature, Spiritist and/or Blood Mage? Group usefulness a plus.

    2nd character (lowbie atm).

    1) Reaver, primary, see Ranger...
    2) Warrior/Spiritist.

    And for a different melee damage type to Blight, and survivability... I did consider Shaman or Monk (plus Disciple).

    Thanks!

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Q: Trying to avoid Cleric/Mage as support...

    Do not forget that Monk or disciple gives you 1000 evasion at 100 (nice to have)

    Knossos

  6. #6

    Default Re: Q: Trying to avoid Cleric/Mage as support...

    Since your not gona take a life class that means youll only have revitalizes an ressurection. no other heals. In that case i would definately take druid for field of growth II. an It does heal more than Regrowth V. Guardian also has morning dew which is a heal an adds magc evasion.
    ^.^ *Speed Demon of order..*

  7. #7

    Default Re: Q: Trying to avoid Cleric/Mage as support...

    Well here's MY 2 cents

    While it seems you've made up your mind, I'm still going to suggest taking Mage to 36 for Perfect Spell and MultiCast1 as well as access to the damage buffs (Flame/Ice/Energy attack)

    Now that's over with... Spiritist is definately a strong class to have for both Reaver and Ranger. It has some nice masterable ablities (Syphon, Area Syphon, Soul Link and Stinger, as well as the Spirit Walk), and as the others have mentioned boost your Spirit and Blight considerably. Bloodmage is nice but is only really useful if you intend to use it as your main school, all its good ablities (and I think Blood Bolt is only castable by Bloodmage) are not masterable, but it would boost your Power which helps with Spell damage output.

    As much as I love playing druid, again, it's not necessary if your not going to use it as your main. Shaman will give you all the nature you need, and some nice Dot's and Debuffs, it'll also boost your Power and Focus. Ranger will also get most of the Heal over time abilites. I'd suggest taking either shaman or druid for both Ranger and Reaver, as it'll give you access to Dark Cyclone

    Without any life skill, I don't think you'll be able to cast resurect, just something to think about there. But as Ranger and Reaver can only cast the Revitalise heals, you only need nature to cast those.

    I'm going to suggest taking Berserker to support your Reaver. Extra 2 Hand Slash and Strength will be very helpful. Aswell as you'll have max Armor Use meaning you can wear the impecible Mithril Plate.

    Probably stay away from Guardian, I don't see any benefits there, but no harm in having a little fun.

    Elemental Archer would also compliment Ranger nicely, boosting your Armor Use, Bow and DEX. However, from what I can tell, Scout would do that same job and give you the Long Shot. I don't know if Elemental Archer would provide you with any extra ablities.

    So to sum it all up I'd say:
    Ranger/Scout (or ELAR, which ever seems more fun )/Spiritist/Shaman
    Reaver/Berserker/Spritist/Shaman

    Happy hunting, hope to see you Istaria
    --- iuvenilis --- [Officer of The Alliance]
    Demonslaying since July 2004

  8. #8
    Member velveeta's Avatar
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    Default Re: Q: Trying to avoid Cleric/Mage as support...

    i took my second class as cleric, but i too hate spellwork (ask any elder on blight about me and essence!).....
    i like druid for its buffs (hate that cloak of thorns is not available to other class, tho...)

    before i read the previous posts, i was thinking either druid or monk, so i will second those choices......

    but i am the queen of noobs, so take my advice with a grain of whatever seasoning you enjoy......
    you can't cast a play in hell and expect angels as actors
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  9. #9

    Default Re: Q: Trying to avoid Cleric/Mage as support...

    My suggestions and thoughts:

    Ranger and Druid or Shaman to 100. Ranger as main, obviously. You will need all the nature you can get to make those roots and stuns stick. Shaman is also an option and you can use your Ranger armor as Shaman while Druid will require a new set of hide/leather. (I have personally always thought that Shaman shouldn’t get 10 Nature or be able to use Chain, but, meh, just my opinion.) Either choice you make you will be lagging with Augmentation (Shaman 6/Lvl, Druid 7/Lvl), so your buffs won’t keep up with your level. There are plenty of friendly people out there who will toss level appropriate buffs on you, though. A BIG thing to consider is your Power stat. Druids are at the absolute bottom of the barrel with 4 per level. You literally get more Power from Ranger than Druid. Shaman get a nice 8 per level. Power will greatly affect your Cloak of Thorns and Spell damage.

    Elemental Archer to 100 for the 10 armor use and Bow skill per level. ELAR can change damage types without use of the Mage damage convert spells. Unfortunately they are non-masterable. Ranger does share the lightning arrow ability, though. Again, you can use your Ranger armor while progressing through ELAR.

    Scout to 36 to master Longshot II. If you are going Ranger main, there is nothing Scout offers that you won't get with ELAR. What little it does have, isn't masterable or doesn't transfer to Ranger, anyway, i.e. Crippling Shot, Staple Shot and a weak ranged AoE Spray Arrows.

    Spiritist to 100. Damage spells and abilities that also heal you, what more could you want? Plus, most spirit and blight spells are useable as Ranger. You will need a set of cloth armor for this one, though you shouldn’t need to bother with a fully-teched set. If you have an active craft school at level 91 and 910 armor use, you can jump into Ironsilk Padded armor right out of the gate at level 1.

    Pick a melee school to 100 for the HP and Strength (leaving crafting out of the equation for now). I chose Spearman (shield and parry machine, and ring/chain mail), but Guardian (19 HP/8 Str) or Reaver (20 HP/7 Str) share a lot more abilities and skills being nature and spirit based. Warrior would get you 20 HP/9 Str but you would be pretty much starting from scratch as far as abilities go. That is not as much of a problem if you take it early, though. You will also want to go the scale/plate mail route with Warrior/Reaver, so that may be a drawback if your vault or inventory space is tight. You can use your ring/chain if you want, but might as well get all the protection the school will allow you to have. Unless I am remembering wrong, Guardians were changed recently to be able to use chain/ring armor. Special note : Warriors can use crossbows and short bows, so you can still level pretty well with an already high xbow/bow skill.

    I would not recommend Berserker at this point. Rangers cannot use 2-hs but can use 1 hand crush and slash, which you get 10/Lvl as Guardian or Reaver respectively. Reaver also nets you 10 shield skill per level, which Rangers can use. The tradeoff is only 7 Str per level until you can reinforce that with Warrior or trade school. The issue is moot if you plan to just stand toe-to-toe with a bow and never melee, anyway. It's nice to have the option without having to portal back and change schools, though.

    Paladin is a non-starter as well. None of the Paladin specific abilities can be mastered or transfer to another school, plus you are dipping into another skill (Life) which is redundant when you already have Nature to cast your revitalizes.


    Monk to 20/ X Disciple to 100 for the 10 evasion/9 magic evasion. If you took Shaman you would already have 10 magic evasion per level or 9 with Guardian. I would recommend Nature or Spirit Disciple for synergy.

    Drev
    Last edited by Drevar; September 8th, 2009 at 03:51 PM.

  10. #10

    Default Re: Q: Trying to avoid Cleric/Mage as support...

    Thank you all again.

    Keeping it simple and noting the suggestions for future use...

    Ranger (Primary. To L100).
    Shaman (Secondary. To L100).
    Scout and Druid (Support. To L36+ and L20+).
    Spiritist (Support. To L100).

    Ranger/Shaman build has synergy with Chain and Spell use, etc? Curious about a Ranger/Bloodmage build too, never met a Bloodmage. Clothie though...

    And:

    Reaver (Primary. To L100).
    Warrior and Spiritist (Support. To L20+ and L100).

    Plus:

    Druid (Support, to L20+, for CoT, etc) and Guardian for melee stuff? OR go Monk and Disciple for quirky. OR add a prestige to Warrior and Spiritist facets, say Berserker and Bloodmage to move between solo/group builds?
    Last edited by Captain Sparky; September 8th, 2009 at 10:51 PM.

  11. #11

    Default Re: Q: Trying to avoid Cleric/Mage as support...

    Liking the look of that ranger build, looks like fun

    Keep in mind Cot is not masterable, so you won't be able to use it as your Reaver.

    Just as a quick clarification... I wasn't suggesting Berserker for your ranger, only for the Reaver

    After having a closer look at some the disciples, taking Storm Discipe for the Reaver would be interesting. It'll give you the nature (still pushing the Dark cyclone spiel), Dex (helping you hit more) and evasion, aswell as some of the masterable debuffs.
    --- iuvenilis --- [Officer of The Alliance]
    Demonslaying since July 2004

  12. #12

    Default Re: Q: Trying to avoid Cleric/Mage as support...

    Cheers!

    A little off-topic, but has the ELAR Ice Arrow bug (Masterable but req. ELAR... yeah) and the constantly buzzing STMD fist thing been fixed yet?

    ELAR's, Monks, and Disciples used to be horribly subpar. Things improved I hope... (I'm thinking back to when I left, just before the big server merges).

  13. #13

    Default Re: Q: Trying to avoid Cleric/Mage as support...

    The annoying Ice Arrow masterable but not useabel outside of ELAR still exists. It bugs me to no end. The buzzing on STMD was fixed quite a while back.

    With the boost to 10 bow and 10 au and the recent decoupling of several bow ability timers, ELAR are viable. Disciples are still a bit "meh" aside from the evasion. There has been a bit of a focus on quest lines for Disciples lately, but not much work on abilities.

    Ah, I missed something in the original post...2 seperate characters. I thought you were just building a full Ranger

    For the Reaver, 20 Warrior and 100 Berserker/Spiritist is a good path. You could take Bloodmage, but it is kind of like Paladin. Nice as a primary but nothing school specific is useable in another school. Everything else masterable you get in Spiritist, anyway.

    Monk/Disciple is a definite yes, especially if you decide to leverage the 11 2-hs from Berserker instead of using a shield.

    If you want to add Nature to the mix, go 100 Druid or 100 Shaman. I would probably choose Shaman, though 60 Druid is also very nice for the mastered Forest Mist. Throw in Guardian if you want to add a couple of extra attacks to the mix. I am not sure if those attack abilities share timers with other schools' abilities, though.

    Drev

  14. #14
    Member velveeta's Avatar
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    Default Re: Q: Trying to avoid Cleric/Mage as support...

    if you like ranged weapons, i recommend crossbowman.....xbows have mucho excellente damage (especially when made and teched by a demi-god, but i digress) and a lot of the buffs are masterable and usable in other classes - warrior and xbowman can wear the same armour and use the same weapons (i think i remember that correctly) and make excellent buddy classes......
    you can't cast a play in hell and expect angels as actors
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  15. #15

    Default Re: Q: Trying to avoid Cleric/Mage as support...

    Thank you all again for the replies and suggestions.

    I'm going Ranger/Shaman and Reaver/Storm Disciple with my characters for the moment, I think they'll prove interesting and fun for a long time

  16. #16

    Default Re: Q: Trying to avoid Cleric/Mage as support...

    Ranger/Spiritist/Monk/Mage/Druid and Maybe Warrior or Reaver or Paladin (or whatever Mystique class that give the best 1hs)

    Basically, you will be a Ranger with top of the line power & elementals plus some mezzes (Mage), DOT life taps and ethereal damage & great debuffs (Spiritist), best nature damage and evasive ability (Druid), best stat on Evasion and Dexterity (Monk).

    You should level Druid & Monk first to make things easier.

    As Ranger, you will be in chainmaile, sword & shield with bow as primary.

    There are other schools to consider after all that work.

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