Cleric - Phoenix Freeshard

hi!! i have a cleric 5l0, playing a small group caster and rvr 8vs8,

best spec to? and what a RA take?

tnx for all

Mon 17 May 2021 6:00 AM by Oliasen

For spec I would say 42 enh 33 rejuv as the strongest all around spec for the red acuity. Other specs include:
40 enh 36 rejuv (trading red acu for a higher group insta, i used to go back and forth on these specs but having spent more time now on cleric to a higher rr, personally I wouldn’t want to make this trade)
40+ rejuv spec (only if you are playing with a fixed group all the time as the second cleric, for faster cure ns)

For RAs my opinion would be:
Aug dex3
MoArt3
MoArcane5
Serenity1
DI 1
PR 1
Purge 2
MCL 1

I know this is technically 5L2 but you get the idea, I think these are a baseline. For me the casting speed adds are crucial, others might disagree but I run art 5 and would have a hard time giving it up. Once you get higher into r6+ I would say then go for arcane7

Mon 17 May 2021 8:51 AM by Ele

Oliasen wrote: [...] others might disagree but I run art 5 and would have a hard time giving it up [...] I would say then go for arcane7 [...]

I'm gonna be playing devil's advocat in here

.
In almost all cases I'd put active over passive RAs. 500 extra HP in a DI might save someone from dying, whilst a few % castspeed won't in most cases. Either you are free to heal, and you can save someone with regular dex buffs, or you are rupted/cc'd and need instants/DI/Purge for that purpose. That being said, my starting spec at 5L wouldn't be very different from what Oliasen suggested, although I'd skip castspeed and get Purge 3, so you have it up basically every fight and on the same timer with everything else for the occasional RA dump to change the outcome of a fight.
In smallman/8vs8 scenarios, you'll often face melee-heavy opponents (stealther gangs, 4/4 Hib tanker, the occasional mid melee pug or BD tanker), so BoF is a solid choice after you get Purge 3. At 7L my build would look like this:
Purge 3
Bof 3
Di 2
Mcl 1
Pr 1
MoArcane 5
Serenity 1
Wild Healing 1
Most clerics I run with don't tend to invest into higher passives before these basics are covered. E.g. our main cleric is 9L5 now and is only starting to invest into higher MoArcana now.

Mon 17 May 2021 10:10 AM by Hangel

No RA for Dex and casting speed?

Mon 17 May 2021 12:09 PM by Ele

Heals have a low cast delve anyway (2.6 for major, 2.2 for greater heal when 33 rejuv spec) and by investing in a few points of MoArcane you also get dex. You could always mix in AugDex 2 and MoArt 2 as they are basically for free, but if you have enough points to get a higher level of BoF/DI/Purge I'd always fall for those first. That's at least how I'd do it.

Tue 18 May 2021 6:07 AM by Zanzetsuken

tnx so much!!

Tue 18 May 2021 7:27 AM by Oliasen

Thanks Ele for the insights and you're probably correct on these points. I'll just add that because of my time zone I don't get much if any consistent 8v8s, mostly small, guild groups, and zerg, so I think this affects what I went for. I could probably live without the casting speed stuff if I really tried, maybe it's a bit of a crutch

I'll say though I like it for situations like zerg where you are using more spreadheals which have a slower cast, or for dealing with a lot of spike damage in prolonged fights with some of the instas already down. Also I find myself in situations where there isn't a second cleric/friar sometimes for fast cure NS, so stuck on the 6s cast. I'll give higher BoF a try again too now that I'm a bit higher rr and sacrificing less to get it. Also certainly DI is a lifesaver and one of the most useful skills for sure.

Tue 18 May 2021 10:16 AM by Hangel

I play only in 8vs8 and I noted the difference with dex3/moa3 to be honest... but yes u can survive without. Considering I never use spread heal but only single target.
But in my opinion I prefer to increase casting speed and Divine, and let BOF for last because u can use it only versus tank setup.
Anyway the best way is to try all the RA.
In the past we used 1 cleric with Divine and one with BOF and now we have 2 Divine and no BOF for example