This is my take on the Attack Cleric build. I hope it is useful for anyone in the guild as well who may be interested in trying out/learning about this very unique build.
From the outset, I will admit that I have based my build almost completely on Cayeon's build, which can be found here. So, if you want all the details, follow that link.
Anyway, the basic idea with an Attack Cleric is to do as much damage as possible in as short a timeframe as you can. This build deviates a lot from the Cleric's usual role, so we need to think about our build a lot more. So we'll look at stats, equipment, and skills in order to decide how to maximize damage.
STATS:
Summary:
You will be doing a Pure MAG Build.
Details and Explanation:
You will be pumping as many skill points into MAG as possible, adding just enough STR so you can wear your latest magic robes and wield your latest magic weapon. A pure MAG build is best since you will be only attacking with spells, and pumping MAG points increases their damage. This will leave you very low on HP, as your VIT will probably stay at 5 (or very low). But remember: the idea is to kill the enemy before he gets to you. If you want more HP, do not pump VIT. Buy gear with HP bonus stats, which is very common and relatively cheap. Recall that 1 VIT = 10 HP, and you can easily get gear with +140 HP, which is close to as good as +14 VIT. As for DEX, leave it at 5. You will not be putting enough points in this stat to increase your evasion rate enough that enemies will actually miss you, so you're better off putting those precious points into MAG to increase your damage.
EQUIPMENT:
Summary:
You are going to be wearing magic robes if you're a serious Attack Cleric. Period.
Details and Explanation:
Why magic robes only? This is mostly due to the stat requirements of the other armors. Anything but robes require DEX in order to equip, which takes points away from your precious MAG. This will cut down on your damage severely, especially in the later levels. The DEX required to wear light armor does give a higher critical rate, but it takes 20 points of DEX to give a 1% increase in critical rate. You'll never be able to add enough DEX to rely on critical hits, so pump MAG and increase the damage of EVERY spell. You won't have to rely on luck at all. Heavy armor is out of the question if you're serious about being an Attack Cleric. It won't do an offensive spellcaster any good, due to the massive amount of STR required (restricting MAG) to wear it.
Stay up to date with your latest magic weapon unless you have one with good bonus stats. For example, you'll be keeping your FB19 wand for a long time. Also, wear rings that give the highest magic attack bonus.
Wear other accessories that give you higher physical defense. This will make up for your robes' lack of physical defense somewhat, and allow you to take a few hits from physical mobs without dying.
SKILLS:
Summary:
Remember, we're going for extreme amounts of damage. So what we're going to do is ignore support skills almost entirely in favor of your attack spells. Start with Plume Shot and Great Cyclone, and try to keep them maxed for your level. The next attack spell of priority is Wield Thunder. All others before that you can set aside until you have SP to spare. These three will be your primary attacks, and they are all you need.
Buffs are second priority, followed by debuffs. Buy these when you have SP and coin to spare from attack spells. An exception is Spirit's Gift. I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep this skill maxed for your level!
Finally, get Ironheart Blessing. You will make a very powerful healer as a pure MAG build, and Ironheart Blessing will make you a valuable member of many a FB or boss party.
Details and Explanation:
Blessing of the Purehearted: A heal. Skip.
Ironheart Blessing: This is an essential skill, your main (and only) heal. It is heal over time, and the healed HP stacks! Use it to heal yourself when fighting tough mobs. Heal tanks for bosses. Heal anyone when needed.
Wellspring Surge: A heal. Skip.
Revive: This one's up to you. You will save coin and SP by not leveling it, but keep in mind that some people will be mad at you for having a low-level Revive. NEVER give in to that pressure in the low levels! Eventually level it though, if only for guildmates.
Purify: You must get this spell as soon as you can. It will purge poison, mana drain, you name it, from you or the tank or another party member. Level it if you want, but it's a low priority skill after you get it.
Soon, the Light: The squad heal. Skip.
Stream of Rejuvenation: A heal. Skip.
Regeneration Aura: A heal. Skip.
Vanguard Spirit: This buff (single target only) is absolutely mandatory to level. You're wearing arcane robes, which have very very little physical defense. At level 10, this buff will multiply your equipment's physical defense by 1.6. That's an extra 60%. Useful at all levels, and very cheap to level. GET. IT.
Greater Protective Aura: Useful for Support Clerics, near useless for you. It gives the exact same bonus as level 10 Vanguard Spirit, but buffs the entire squad and lasts longer (1 hour as opposed to 30 min). It would be useful, but remember that you're saving money and SP for attack spells and other essential skills. This is not an essential skill.
Magic Shell: This is the magic defense version of Vanguard Spirit. It will only make your already-stellar magic defense even better. You should max it eventually, though.
Aegis Spirit: This is the squad buff for magic defense. Like Greater Protective Aura, get it when essential skills are maxed.
Celestial Guardian's Seal: A useful single regeneration buff. At level X, it regenerates X extra HP andX extra MP per second. This is a useful skill but not essential. Level it every once in a while.
Exalted Renewal: This is the squad buff for regeneration. Like other squad buffs, get it when essential skills are maxed.
Spirit's Gift: This is an essential skill. Always keep it maxed for your level. Always. It dramatically increases your magic attack bonus. At level 10, it will multiply magic attack by 1.7. This skill is one of the main reasons you will be such an awesome damage-dealer.
Arcane Empowerment: This is the squad buff for magic attack. Like the other squad buffs, get it when essential skills are maxed. Lower priority than other squad buffs.
Plume Shot: This is an essential skill. It does physical damage, which is very awesome. You can use it against Increased Magic Resistance enemies (the kind that give Wizards so much trouble) or in PvP versus other spellcasters. It will be one of your main attacks at all levels. Max ASAP.
Plume Shell: This is a short-duration, chi-requiring shield spell. Basically, you lose MP (rather than HP) when hit. This skill will make you near invincible for 20 sec. Use this to your full advantage! This is a semi-essential skill. Level it when you feel like you need it, or when you have SP left to spare.
Razor Feathers: Do not level this spell. Don't even get it early on. Your other spells will be much more effective.
Elemental Seal: Lowers the elemental defense of your enemy by a significant amount, meaning you cast less spells to kill enemies. It is a semi-essential skill, as buffs are more useful for grinding.
Dimensional Seal: Physical defense-lowering debuff. Not as versatile as Elemental Seal, but I do suggest maxing it eventually (2nd debuff to max).
Silence Seal: For PvP only. Level it later on. Get it so you can get...
Chromatic Seal: A good spell for PvP and PvE. Sleeps enemies for you. Get it when you can. Max it later on.
Great Cyclone: Your best spell ever. Fast to cast with good MP cost, great damage especially with Metal Mastery. Absolutely essential.
Thunderball: Your damage over time spell. Eventually it will replace Plume Shot in your grinding combo, but you won't have the SP to level it until later on. Wait to 70+.
Siren's Kiss: A bit more useful than Razor Feathers, but same suggestion: skip.
Wield Thunder: Your most powerful single-target attack. Keep it maxed for your level, as it becomes even better with Metal Mastery maxed. ESSENTIAL.
Tempest: Another AoE skill, and one of your most powerful attacks. Unfortunately, you'll be so short on SP and coin you won't be able to level it. Wait for it, though. It'll be worth it. Essential once you start maxing other skills.
Metal Mastery: At level 10, it will increase your Metal damage by 20%. Very expensive, but very much worth its cost. Level it once you have Spirit's Gift maxed.
PROS:
So much damage, it's incredible. With a combination of good debuffs and the proper attack spell, nothing will be able to touch you. This means grinding will be far less of a chore for you than it would be for a Support Cleric. Played right, you can also be an excellent PvPer. I haven't gotten into that yet, but supposedly you can 1-2 shot any character class if you're smart.
CONS:
You have to be patient to play an Attack Cleric. Your health is very low, so you might die more often than normal early on. Once you get a high MAG score and good attack spells, you will almost never die, but the early levels take patience. Also, the MP burn rate is insanely high for an Attack Cleric. If you're rich, buy Hieros. They are very much worth the money you spend. If you are poor (or rich), level your apothecary skill, as crafted potions are much more effective than bought ones (and they're free). Also, some people will think you are useless for not being a healer/reviver. Don't listen to them. Join a good guild (like Waffles) that accepts your build, and don't let other people's opinions get you down. If you like your build, that is all that matters. Oh, and you can never be a tank.
Well, this is the end of my guide! Hope it helps!
From the outset, I will admit that I have based my build almost completely on Cayeon's build, which can be found here. So, if you want all the details, follow that link.
Anyway, the basic idea with an Attack Cleric is to do as much damage as possible in as short a timeframe as you can. This build deviates a lot from the Cleric's usual role, so we need to think about our build a lot more. So we'll look at stats, equipment, and skills in order to decide how to maximize damage.
STATS:
Summary:
You will be doing a Pure MAG Build.
Details and Explanation:
You will be pumping as many skill points into MAG as possible, adding just enough STR so you can wear your latest magic robes and wield your latest magic weapon. A pure MAG build is best since you will be only attacking with spells, and pumping MAG points increases their damage. This will leave you very low on HP, as your VIT will probably stay at 5 (or very low). But remember: the idea is to kill the enemy before he gets to you. If you want more HP, do not pump VIT. Buy gear with HP bonus stats, which is very common and relatively cheap. Recall that 1 VIT = 10 HP, and you can easily get gear with +140 HP, which is close to as good as +14 VIT. As for DEX, leave it at 5. You will not be putting enough points in this stat to increase your evasion rate enough that enemies will actually miss you, so you're better off putting those precious points into MAG to increase your damage.
EQUIPMENT:
Summary:
You are going to be wearing magic robes if you're a serious Attack Cleric. Period.
Details and Explanation:
Why magic robes only? This is mostly due to the stat requirements of the other armors. Anything but robes require DEX in order to equip, which takes points away from your precious MAG. This will cut down on your damage severely, especially in the later levels. The DEX required to wear light armor does give a higher critical rate, but it takes 20 points of DEX to give a 1% increase in critical rate. You'll never be able to add enough DEX to rely on critical hits, so pump MAG and increase the damage of EVERY spell. You won't have to rely on luck at all. Heavy armor is out of the question if you're serious about being an Attack Cleric. It won't do an offensive spellcaster any good, due to the massive amount of STR required (restricting MAG) to wear it.
Stay up to date with your latest magic weapon unless you have one with good bonus stats. For example, you'll be keeping your FB19 wand for a long time. Also, wear rings that give the highest magic attack bonus.
Wear other accessories that give you higher physical defense. This will make up for your robes' lack of physical defense somewhat, and allow you to take a few hits from physical mobs without dying.
SKILLS:
Summary:
Remember, we're going for extreme amounts of damage. So what we're going to do is ignore support skills almost entirely in favor of your attack spells. Start with Plume Shot and Great Cyclone, and try to keep them maxed for your level. The next attack spell of priority is Wield Thunder. All others before that you can set aside until you have SP to spare. These three will be your primary attacks, and they are all you need.
Buffs are second priority, followed by debuffs. Buy these when you have SP and coin to spare from attack spells. An exception is Spirit's Gift. I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep this skill maxed for your level!
Finally, get Ironheart Blessing. You will make a very powerful healer as a pure MAG build, and Ironheart Blessing will make you a valuable member of many a FB or boss party.
Details and Explanation:
Blessing of the Purehearted: A heal. Skip.
Ironheart Blessing: This is an essential skill, your main (and only) heal. It is heal over time, and the healed HP stacks! Use it to heal yourself when fighting tough mobs. Heal tanks for bosses. Heal anyone when needed.
Wellspring Surge: A heal. Skip.
Revive: This one's up to you. You will save coin and SP by not leveling it, but keep in mind that some people will be mad at you for having a low-level Revive. NEVER give in to that pressure in the low levels! Eventually level it though, if only for guildmates.
Purify: You must get this spell as soon as you can. It will purge poison, mana drain, you name it, from you or the tank or another party member. Level it if you want, but it's a low priority skill after you get it.
Soon, the Light: The squad heal. Skip.
Stream of Rejuvenation: A heal. Skip.
Regeneration Aura: A heal. Skip.
Vanguard Spirit: This buff (single target only) is absolutely mandatory to level. You're wearing arcane robes, which have very very little physical defense. At level 10, this buff will multiply your equipment's physical defense by 1.6. That's an extra 60%. Useful at all levels, and very cheap to level. GET. IT.
Greater Protective Aura: Useful for Support Clerics, near useless for you. It gives the exact same bonus as level 10 Vanguard Spirit, but buffs the entire squad and lasts longer (1 hour as opposed to 30 min). It would be useful, but remember that you're saving money and SP for attack spells and other essential skills. This is not an essential skill.
Magic Shell: This is the magic defense version of Vanguard Spirit. It will only make your already-stellar magic defense even better. You should max it eventually, though.
Aegis Spirit: This is the squad buff for magic defense. Like Greater Protective Aura, get it when essential skills are maxed.
Celestial Guardian's Seal: A useful single regeneration buff. At level X, it regenerates X extra HP andX extra MP per second. This is a useful skill but not essential. Level it every once in a while.
Exalted Renewal: This is the squad buff for regeneration. Like other squad buffs, get it when essential skills are maxed.
Spirit's Gift: This is an essential skill. Always keep it maxed for your level. Always. It dramatically increases your magic attack bonus. At level 10, it will multiply magic attack by 1.7. This skill is one of the main reasons you will be such an awesome damage-dealer.
Arcane Empowerment: This is the squad buff for magic attack. Like the other squad buffs, get it when essential skills are maxed. Lower priority than other squad buffs.
Plume Shot: This is an essential skill. It does physical damage, which is very awesome. You can use it against Increased Magic Resistance enemies (the kind that give Wizards so much trouble) or in PvP versus other spellcasters. It will be one of your main attacks at all levels. Max ASAP.
Plume Shell: This is a short-duration, chi-requiring shield spell. Basically, you lose MP (rather than HP) when hit. This skill will make you near invincible for 20 sec. Use this to your full advantage! This is a semi-essential skill. Level it when you feel like you need it, or when you have SP left to spare.
Razor Feathers: Do not level this spell. Don't even get it early on. Your other spells will be much more effective.
Elemental Seal: Lowers the elemental defense of your enemy by a significant amount, meaning you cast less spells to kill enemies. It is a semi-essential skill, as buffs are more useful for grinding.
Dimensional Seal: Physical defense-lowering debuff. Not as versatile as Elemental Seal, but I do suggest maxing it eventually (2nd debuff to max).
Silence Seal: For PvP only. Level it later on. Get it so you can get...
Chromatic Seal: A good spell for PvP and PvE. Sleeps enemies for you. Get it when you can. Max it later on.
Great Cyclone: Your best spell ever. Fast to cast with good MP cost, great damage especially with Metal Mastery. Absolutely essential.
Thunderball: Your damage over time spell. Eventually it will replace Plume Shot in your grinding combo, but you won't have the SP to level it until later on. Wait to 70+.
Siren's Kiss: A bit more useful than Razor Feathers, but same suggestion: skip.
Wield Thunder: Your most powerful single-target attack. Keep it maxed for your level, as it becomes even better with Metal Mastery maxed. ESSENTIAL.
Tempest: Another AoE skill, and one of your most powerful attacks. Unfortunately, you'll be so short on SP and coin you won't be able to level it. Wait for it, though. It'll be worth it. Essential once you start maxing other skills.
Metal Mastery: At level 10, it will increase your Metal damage by 20%. Very expensive, but very much worth its cost. Level it once you have Spirit's Gift maxed.
PROS:
So much damage, it's incredible. With a combination of good debuffs and the proper attack spell, nothing will be able to touch you. This means grinding will be far less of a chore for you than it would be for a Support Cleric. Played right, you can also be an excellent PvPer. I haven't gotten into that yet, but supposedly you can 1-2 shot any character class if you're smart.
CONS:
You have to be patient to play an Attack Cleric. Your health is very low, so you might die more often than normal early on. Once you get a high MAG score and good attack spells, you will almost never die, but the early levels take patience. Also, the MP burn rate is insanely high for an Attack Cleric. If you're rich, buy Hieros. They are very much worth the money you spend. If you are poor (or rich), level your apothecary skill, as crafted potions are much more effective than bought ones (and they're free). Also, some people will think you are useless for not being a healer/reviver. Don't listen to them. Join a good guild (like Waffles) that accepts your build, and don't let other people's opinions get you down. If you like your build, that is all that matters. Oh, and you can never be a tank.
Well, this is the end of my guide! Hope it helps!
Last edited by Nayethe on Wed Jan 21, 2009 4:39 pm; edited 14 times in total