Cleric: Root - Calm - Atone (or atone stick) questions

[stebbins99]

Hello everyone,

I've read some some excellent posts from Mcoy and others on using this tactic-- the "Root - Calm - Atone" -- to get your cleric "into" places (ie dungeons).

My cleric is now 46 and has his atone stick. My question is regarding the middle step, *Calm*

Namely, why use Calm instead of Lull or Soothe (lower-level versions) or Pacify (lvl 39)? Is Calm uniquely qualified for this purpose? Would love some insight on this!

Second question: when doing the root-calm-atone, does the mob have to be at its spawn point in order for this to work? Or, can it work anywhere? (ie a mob chased me around a corner) I can test this second one out on my own but figured I'd ask whilst here in the Priest forums. Thanks guys!

[Izmael]

First, you don't necessarily need to root first. You can simply Calm and sneak past. Root is helpful if

1. You already have aggro on the mob and need to get rid of the aggro. Root will help as Calm and Atone can take a few casts to stick.
2. You have little trust in your Calming skillz and anticipate a possible crit fail (low CHA) and don't want to get smacked if and when it happens.

Now on to your questions.
"why use calm and not X". Until a recent patch, Calm was the best compromise between duration (once it sticks) and mana cost per attempt. I haven't played a relevant class in a long time but I understand that Pacify is now actually better, as it has been boosted in a recent patch.

"does he have to be at spawn point" : no, can work anywhere. Calm is there to prevent the mob from immediately reaggroing / reassisting after Atone sitcks. Root, as I said before, is an additional safety net in some situations, or if you already are getting whacked and need some breathing room.

[Cen]

My cleric is a halfling and I want to also know if Atone is based on charisma

[stebbins99]

Awesome, thank you for the info and insight Izmael! For anyone that has been doing this tactic lately, please let me know if I should be using Pacify instead of Calm.

Also, curious if anyone has input as to an ideal (or minimum) amount of CHA for trying to pull off successful Calms / Atones. My cleric was previously a "battle cleric" but has since traded out all of his crusty armor (Decad crafted me some awesome Imbued armor)

[Jimjam]

Choose your calm based on the level of the mob, how much you need to reduce it’s aggro/assist radii and for how much time you will need to pass it.

As well as being useful for navigating dungeons calm/atone is a rather effective crowd control method.

[Tecmos Deception]

Originally Posted by stebbins99 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Awesome, thank you for the info and insight Izmael! For anyone that has been doing this tactic lately, please let me know if I should be using Pacify instead of Calm.

Also, curious if anyone has input as to an ideal (or minimum) amount of CHA for trying to pull off successful Calms / Atones. My cleric was previously a "battle cleric" but has since traded out all of his crusty armor (Decad crafted me some awesome Imbued armor)

You won't need pacify hardly ever. Calm reduces aggro ranges VERY significantly, so as long as you aren't like, sitting down right next to or bumping right into or dealing with a mob that is higher level than you are, you won't aggro a calmed NPC. It lasts a couple minutes and isn't too expensive, doesn't have a long recast, etc.

Pacify reduces aggro even more, which sometimes is nice, and lasts even longer which also can be nice but usually isn't needed for trying to travel through a dungeon.

I wouldn't call lulls "reliable" if you have anything less than 150 charisma, personally, and the more the better. Even at 150, you'll find yourself getting aggrod quite often.

[stebbins99]

TY again Tecmos! Is it just enchanters that can buff others' CHA? I'm just now appreciating the helpfulness of this stat on my cleric

(If so, this seems to be another means in which the two classes (CLE and ENC) pair nicely)

[Velerin]

Shamans can buff charisma too.

[Tecmos Deception]

Bards (if you're on blue) can also buff charisma, and by more than enchanters and shamans if they have their epic!