terryberry
Loreseeker
- Joined
- 23/02/2017
- Messages
- 67
I simply think there's a bit of an issue with cleric spells, Sacred Fire mostly.
Using flames of faith, on my high level agi cleric, as an aoe option seemed okay.
However, the problem I found - while raising a STR & caster cleric recently is, that sacred fire's status goes from
good but too costly -> underwhelming, still costly -> underwhelming, not AS costly -> (lvl3) powerful, and okay in cost -> (a few levels later, or outside of undead areas) underwhelming, cooldown too long, and still somewhat costly to keep using
30 damage is not a lot. It's about the damage of a low level, 2handed warrior's whirlwind. And yet, sacred fire 1)explosion is centered around tip of weapon, making in unsuitable for many situations, 2)is held down by fire resistance, rendering a caster cleric completely useless in a fire-based dungeon(AM is fire-based too. I don't think I'll ever fight a red dragon until I am able to tank all of its hits for the entire duration of my companion killing it), and most importantly, 3) Does not scale, has a mana cost, AND a lengthy cooldown.
that 3) part seems a bit unfair to clerics. If you decide to play a caster cleric, you do not have much to do while your SF is on cooldown - you can attack, but often see 1's and 2's across the screen. Your only option, if you run a guardian wolf, is to cast AM for additional mana and keep hitting things, drinking potions along the way.
Basically, choosing to take SF(most likely, along with joining the three) means the following:
Giving up heavyhand and duel (+5~+11per hit, based on HH3 and D2)
Having to buy mana potions all the time, or opting for extra recovery (reallllly costly), and spending extra money on moderate healing potions
Losing the ability to run around and kite, in bossfights (you don't want your guardian wolf dead)
Getting stronger as a 'caster' while level progresses. You actually become weaker, as SF does not scale on anything, and as monsters go from the Low cap to the High cap in levels
Becoming rather useless for 5 seconds after each SF cast, and becoming completely useless after you run out of mana
I had the idea, that adding a current damage multiplier(similar to that of whirlwind) would be most beneficial to our situation. Caster clerics would have some viability after level 10(heh...)
2H cleric would actually become a viable choice, in raising SF damage.
Pure caster clerics would still have it better, as they now get to think about what weapon to use, and what sub-stat they would take to maximize damage while holding a bigger mana pool. Also, more importantly, they wouldn't say "I'm done getting stronger" after simply taking SF level 3.
Another idea I had was, have sacred fire be an unresisted type of damage(channeling the power of the three), and have one SF proc every n number of autoattacks. This type of change would make new builds: like complete tank, relying on SF strike proc // or SF strike buildup, and adding a casted SF on top for a heavily (?) damaging nuke - for more mana-oriented builds.
I was thinking about posting this on feedback, but then wanted to hear what other caster mage clerics think first, before I rub in my "not so experienced" feedback into David's face :I Pretty sure he's already busy, and all.
And yet, I HAD to write, after realizing that it takes two Sacred Fire(Lv3) strikes to kill the rats in front of Seventh house hideout, NG. How overwhelming, this "priest of the three" >.>
Let me know what you guys think!
Using flames of faith, on my high level agi cleric, as an aoe option seemed okay.
However, the problem I found - while raising a STR & caster cleric recently is, that sacred fire's status goes from
good but too costly -> underwhelming, still costly -> underwhelming, not AS costly -> (lvl3) powerful, and okay in cost -> (a few levels later, or outside of undead areas) underwhelming, cooldown too long, and still somewhat costly to keep using
30 damage is not a lot. It's about the damage of a low level, 2handed warrior's whirlwind. And yet, sacred fire 1)explosion is centered around tip of weapon, making in unsuitable for many situations, 2)is held down by fire resistance, rendering a caster cleric completely useless in a fire-based dungeon(AM is fire-based too. I don't think I'll ever fight a red dragon until I am able to tank all of its hits for the entire duration of my companion killing it), and most importantly, 3) Does not scale, has a mana cost, AND a lengthy cooldown.
that 3) part seems a bit unfair to clerics. If you decide to play a caster cleric, you do not have much to do while your SF is on cooldown - you can attack, but often see 1's and 2's across the screen. Your only option, if you run a guardian wolf, is to cast AM for additional mana and keep hitting things, drinking potions along the way.
Basically, choosing to take SF(most likely, along with joining the three) means the following:
Giving up heavyhand and duel (+5~+11per hit, based on HH3 and D2)
Having to buy mana potions all the time, or opting for extra recovery (reallllly costly), and spending extra money on moderate healing potions
Losing the ability to run around and kite, in bossfights (you don't want your guardian wolf dead)
Getting stronger as a 'caster' while level progresses. You actually become weaker, as SF does not scale on anything, and as monsters go from the Low cap to the High cap in levels
Becoming rather useless for 5 seconds after each SF cast, and becoming completely useless after you run out of mana
I had the idea, that adding a current damage multiplier(similar to that of whirlwind) would be most beneficial to our situation. Caster clerics would have some viability after level 10(heh...)
2H cleric would actually become a viable choice, in raising SF damage.
Pure caster clerics would still have it better, as they now get to think about what weapon to use, and what sub-stat they would take to maximize damage while holding a bigger mana pool. Also, more importantly, they wouldn't say "I'm done getting stronger" after simply taking SF level 3.
Another idea I had was, have sacred fire be an unresisted type of damage(channeling the power of the three), and have one SF proc every n number of autoattacks. This type of change would make new builds: like complete tank, relying on SF strike proc // or SF strike buildup, and adding a casted SF on top for a heavily (?) damaging nuke - for more mana-oriented builds.
I was thinking about posting this on feedback, but then wanted to hear what other caster mage clerics think first, before I rub in my "not so experienced" feedback into David's face :I Pretty sure he's already busy, and all.
And yet, I HAD to write, after realizing that it takes two Sacred Fire(Lv3) strikes to kill the rats in front of Seventh house hideout, NG. How overwhelming, this "priest of the three" >.>
Let me know what you guys think!
