Question about healers!

[Taiku]

So I've been thinking that a monk is perhaps not the best class to farm with, and really, everyone I group with is either a monk or some other melee class, so I was thinking of making a healing class, something that I could perhaps get easier groups with, or be able to duo with some of my melee buddies!

I was trying to balance my decision between Druid and Cleric, Cleric seems to be the "better" healer, and the rezzes would be really nice, but as far as making plat goes, I think a druid with the ability to port and heal almost as good, as well as being able to kite things would be better.

My question is how much of a difference there is between clerics and druids, in terms of grouping and cash flow, this will most likely be to supplement my monk's leveling, and not as a replacement, just to be able to maybe gets some better gear on my monk so I can solo more efficiently, since I have yet to find a healer who is on often enough and within my level range to group up with. Once I saw how much FBSS and fungi cost (though i know that's a loooong way away), I think I need to rethink what I do to make plat. :3

Thanks for reading! [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[whippetofspades]

Druids are much more self-reliant and better soloers, so that translates to better farming abilities and thus more plat for most of the game. 29 brings group ports so that is another significant cash boost. Clerics will make money from drops in groups and rezzes, but that won't be until much higher levels. Being able to farm or port at any time you want beats waiting for and then rolling on drops in groups.

On the other hand, clerics will have a much easier time getting a group. They are by far the best healers in the game and at higher levels every group will want one. They are one of the very few indispensible classes in this game and thus will never have the same problems getting a group as would, say, a druid.

[batkiller]

Druid would be better early on, you can port people and get donations. People might only give 20p or something, but seeing as you start with nothing, that's a lot of money. They are also a piece of cake to solo with, and fairly welcome in groups. There are however, a huge amount of druids on the server.

Clerics, they generally struggle with soloing, have no ports and no way to get donations unless you don't mind spend forever travelling to all the far off places people have died. And in the lower levels, people don't really seem to care what class their healer is, as long as they can heal, so shammys and druids have kind of a similar chance to get a healer spot as you would as a cleric.

However it will change at higher levels. Especially if you can get to 50+. Groups will do anything to get a good Cleric, and if you go to somewhere 'serious', a Cleric is pretty much essential. And also at this point, all the 20 plats and stuff become laughable. There is a gigantic jump in the cost of stuff with Kunark loot. There are a few old world items like FBSS which are still valuable, but for the most part, it's all worth virtually nothing in comparison. But get invited to a group in Sebilis or Howling Stones or whatever, and all you need is one piece of loot from there and it's really valuable. There are a few over farmed items that have lost their value a bit, like the Froglok Bonecaster Robe or whatever, but mostly you can become rich off any phat Kunark item. There are also some levels when you will be able to solo, for example a friend of mine did most of his 40's soloing spectres, and you can make a lot of cash doing that too.

But really, it's better to just pick whichever you would most prefer to play. You will eventually make good money with either a Druid or Cleric, so it's probably better to just decide based on what you like to do, and they both have their pros and cons. Clerics are very simple to play in that all you ever do is heal and buff, but need a cool head and decent reflexes in a group. It's also nice to know that you are the best healer in the game and working your way down to the depths of a dungeon, you'll realise you are irreplacable and if you need to go AFK or something, people better wait for you to come back.

Druids on the other hand, lack most of that, but instead get lots of nice variety. One minute you'll be healing people, next minute you'll be dotting mobs that are incoming, maybe root something to aid with crowd control, and then shooting some nukes to finish off some troublesome mobs. Sometimes all in one fight.

Good luck, hope you enjoy whichever way you go [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Taiku]

Thank you for the responses, I think batkiller has swayed my decision away from a druid [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] I love the thought of being a cleric finally, on live (years and years ago) I played a druid, but I have never played a cleric. The pure healer role is something that sounds more of what I want to do, I played healers since I started gaming, but I've never played the pure healer class in anything, always some sort of hybrid. So I think I'll start a cleric, I need to pick a race though, that's one thing that always gets in the way of starting a new character for me lol, Indecision on a race. Is there a "best" race for a cleric? or religion? as far as quests go or anything like that, not that i'll decide completely for me but maybe some things to consider, I know halflings get hide! ^^

And yeah I'm quite serious about the game, I want to progress, I want to raid, and I want to see all the end game there is to be seen, so if cleric is the way in, then I'm happy to play the healer!

[Verenity]

High elf has the best starting wisdom

[Ephirith]

Dark elves are nice because their wisdom is still pretty high, but you have the innate racial ability to Hide, which is very useful. Their melee stats are also slightly better than High Elves.

Dwarves I believe have the best melee stats, but lack Hide.

Halflings have hide, pretty good stats, and a racial exp bonus. Prepare to get asked for sows and ports.

[Thedonn]

Dark Elf Cleric for the hide skill is pure win for me so often

[feanan]

Halfling for the win! Who likes to be hated? [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Though, really, I wish I had gone gnome. So cute!

And yes, up until I got my hate armor, people asked me for sow and port ALL the time. It was pretty annoying.

[Snagglepuss]

Dwarven clerics have the best personalities.

[Danth]

"Is there a "best" race for a cleric? "

Halflings have access to both hide and sneak, with the tricks those skills provide, and also have a slight experience bonus. On P1999 this race is probably "best" at level 60.

High elves have extremely high starting wisdom, but are very weak. They're good for cleric players who like to wear cloth/leather.

Dwarves have the highest overall stats; in particular they have good strength and hence can carry the most loot from a group.

Dark elves have tolerable but unremarkable stats. Some people like the snare-click necklace they have access to.

Gnomes offer access to tinkering, but otherwise have poor starting stats for a Cleric.

Humans and Erudites are both adequate but unremarkable; there isn't really any particular reason to pick these races unless you happen to want to.

Danth