I need help with clergyman

SoulHunter

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What is the best company for the clergyman? Is it worth investing in agility with a light weapon?
 

VDX_360

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For Clerics, I tend to go with Griss. Her durability and crowd control options pair nicely with a Cleric. --BUT-- What guild you join will have a far bigger impact on your Character than your Companion.

I --strongly-- suggest new players (and most players) to have their Cleric join the Warrior's Guild. The skill Duel is a game changer for Clerics. I even save up skill points so that once the Fort Assault is complete, I can join the Warrior's Guild and max out Duel.
 

VDX_360

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If you are going to use shields with your Cleric, than investing in BOTH strength and agility is helpful. Not only doe you get the extra damage for Light and 1-H Hand weapons, the extra defense and trap resistance is noticeable, too.

Due to the limited number of weapons available to Clerics, Clerics tend to be a better off investing in either 2-H weapons (STR only), or 1-Hand weapons (STR and Agility).

I tend to play Clerics as 1-Hand weapon users, thus my clerics tend to have equal, or near equal, STR and AGL.
 

SoulHunter

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For Clerics, I tend to go with Griss. Her durability and crowd control options pair nicely with a Cleric. --BUT-- What guild you join will have a far bigger impact on your Character than your Companion.

I --strongly-- suggest new players (and most players) to have their Cleric join the Warrior's Guild. The skill Duel is a game changer for Clerics. I even save up skill points so that once the Fort Assault is complete, I can join the Warrior's Guild and max out Duel.
But do you leave Griss with 1H or 2H?

And in relation to the cleric, I'm thinking of putting him with a light weapon and agility, to join the warriors' guild!

With that getting duel, heavy hand and massive critics as fast as possible!
 

VDX_360

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Griss works okay with any weapon type, so it's really a player preference.

For most the game, I like Griss as a shield user as the extra defense helps her survive group and boss attacks. There are benefits of her being a 2-H user, mainly the extra damage and stun chance but I like her built as a durable knight.

Because Companions get less trait points, investing rather evening in STR and AGL helps maximize the damage output from traits. Just keep in mind that after completing her side quest (vague to avoid spoiler), she'll be able to learn a few advanced skills, including Heavy Hand, which requires a STR of 4.

Early to Mid-Game, Cleric light weapons are okay. Cleric skill Might actually gives a higher damage boost to light weapons because it's increase per hit damage. Mid-Game to End Game, 1-H Cleric weapons tend to edge out light weapons, mostly due to the Paladin Sword, Ghostbane etc. Also, enemies have higher defense in the later game, making higher damage per hit more useful.

But Clerics can swap weapon types rather easily. And if they have equal STR and AGL, than they can swap between 1-Hand weapons and Light weapons with little impact to the damage output. That gives more options for choosing the best weapon for the opponent.
 

VDX_360

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The Duel vs. Heavyhand debate hinges on the six hit rule, so to speak.

With Heavyhand III, a player gets +5 for each attack. That means in six hits, the player gets an extra 30 damage.
With Duel III, a player gets +2 per consecutive hit, up to +10. (0,2,4,6,8,10,10,10, etc). That means after six hits, a player gets an extra 30 damage.

Thus, for enemies that are killed in less than six hits, Heavyhand provides more extra damage. For enemies killed in more than six hits, Duel provides more extra damage. The Duel count also resets if you break combat (cast a spell, use an item, step too far away, etc). So a lot of times, Heavyhand's consistent damage bonus will outperform Duel. The caveat being that in tough boss fights, Duel's extra damage will really shine.

I once kept combat logs for a few different dungeon runs to go back and see which skill actually contributed the most. Overall, Heavyhand was head and shoulders over Duel for total extra damage, but Duel gave far more damage against the bosses. Which isn't too surprising. Not too many enemies take six hits to kill, and the ones that will take a lot of hits to kill, tend to have have high defenses, making the +10 rather useful.

Personally, I tend to Max out Duel, than max out Heavyhand, than I worry about getting Massive Critical and Prevision Strikes to Level 2 (Level 2 due to the limited number of skill points).
 

VDX_360

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Duel is not one of Griss's advanced skills. You can see what skills she gets here. She does learn Heavy Handed.

In contrast, Hirge can learn Duel and Heavy Handed, per Wiki.
 

john_gilbert-EK

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Griss is the ideal companion for companion. Great tank and offers crowd control when there's a mob.

My cleric is currently part of the three and I can still manage. But since it's my first time using one, I'll have to see how I'll fare during later stages of the game. (I see the benefits of having Duel and Massive Criticals when you get to the Ark of Lothasan and Sewer of Horrors)
 

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