Cleric new player guide

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This is a page for the Cleric specific page for the Newbie Help Guide. Whenever possible, overlap with the general guide should be minimized.

For details, rules, and the other pages involved, see Category:Newbie Guide Contest.

Be sure to read the General Newbie Help Guide, as it will provide most of the basic knowledge you will need to play Dragonrealms. This guide will expand on many things found there.

So You Want to Be a Cleric?

You've probably read the official Dragonrealms Cleric intro:

The Clerics of Elanthia are a vastly diverse group, as different in their beliefs as there are combinations of the dozens of Immortals that manifest in everyday life. Clerics span the spectrum from the benevolent worshipers of the Light gods to the malevolent minions of the Dark gods, as well as the Keepers of Balance in between. We are the Priests of War and the Patrons of Peace. We are the menders of the soul and the force that shears it like fresh meat. We are the most feared opponent of the Undead and the summoners of ancient spirits. All are accepted, for in the Cleric guild, there is but one solid doctrine -- You may worship any gods that you wish, as long as your devotion is genuine.

But might be wondering; what exactly does that mean for you, the player?

Mechanically, Clerics are Magic primary, Lore and Weapons secondary, Armor and Survival tertiary. This means they are first-class spellcasters who can still use weapons with authority. Without careful training their offenses can outpace their defenses, so attention must be paid to ensure this doesn't happen. Their suite of spells has unparalleled breadth - in addition to being masters of Augmentation and being able to self-boost 5 (out of 8) Attributes, they are also the masters of Debilitation and have the largest number of ways to hinder an opponent. They are the only guild that can inhibit the spellcasting ability of others - eventually a skilled Cleric can steal spells as they are being prepared and then use the stolen spell themselves. Clerics are the only guild that can inflict Spirit damage, and are one of two guilds that can effectively and easily hunt undead. Furthermore, they can Resurrect others and eventually themselves. By Aligning themselves with the specific aspect of a god, Clerics can even further enhance their magical abilities.

Races

In Dragonrealms, there are no particular races that are 'better' than others. Clerics blend magical and physical attacks well, so a number of different races have attribute setups that work. You generally can't go wrong with Reflex and Stamina as those are important survival attributes. The main Cleric offensive spells use the attributes Wisdom, Charisma, and Intelligence, with Discipline coming in fourth, so races that excel in those attributes make popular choices. Strength and Agility are important for melee offenses, so a Cleric wishing to excel in that sphere could go with a race that suits those attributes. There's really no wrong answer; and you'll hear this a lot in this guide - it comes down to roleplay choices, your character concept, and how you want to play YOUR character.

Equipment

If you are following the General Newbie Guide, you will know how to exchange your gear at the Veteran or Robyn. I would recommend chain armor and either a scimitar or broadsword, though again the choice is yours. I started with a cloth robe and a quarterstaff.

After following the Walkthrough and obtaining basic armor and a weapon, you should head to the local Cleric shop - Brother Durantine's (Crossing) or Riverhaven Cleric Shop (Riverhaven). These will be regular stops for you as a cleric, since here you will buy the tools needed for Clerical rites. here. For now, purchase Incense and Wine as they will come in handy for your first few rituals. At some point in the next few levels you will want to buy a Chalice as well, to use with Eluned's commune.

By now you should be able DIR GENERAL and head to the General Store, where you can buy flint with which to light your incense.

Training

Using the Cleric Circle Requirements as a Guide, we will roughly go over the requirements to get you to 20th, while laying the foundation for all circles. You will need to train 3 magic skills for the first 10 circles, but you will need to train 5 different ones by the time you reach 30. Likewise at 30 you will also need to train a second weapon and a fourth lore. These 'Nth' skills are dictated by player's choice. Whatever your highest magic skill is will be your 1st Magic (as long as it isn't a restricted skill).

Magic

As the primary skill of the Cleric guild, we will start with some general concepts then delve deeper into each magic skill with tactics and training tips. Helpful reading materials are the article on Magic, and the more conceptual over-arching Magical Theory page. A detailed step-by-step guide on how to cast your first spells can be found in the General Newbie Help Guide, Magic Subsection.

As mentioned earlier, Clerics begin needing to train 3 of the Magic Skills. Of those magic skills, Augmentation is required, while Holy Magic, Sorcery and Theurgy do not count. This means if you do not have Augmentation high enough to count as an 'Nth' magic, you will still have to train it to minimum requirements anyway, in essence doing double duty.

For this reason I recommend selecting Centering as your first spell. While you are certainly free to choose any introductory spell you like, Augmentation is a circle requirement, and if you cannot train it on your own, you will be forced to seek out and sit in an Augmentation class in order to progress. Personally I don't care for being at the mercy of others, so I start with Centering.

Eventually you will need to train 5 out of the 10 magic skills. As previously mentioned; Holy Magic, Sorcery, and Theurgy won't count for circling requirements so you really only have 7 to choose from. Most Clerics (myself included) end up training all of them; the real question is which ones you want to excel at. It ends up boiling down to how prominently combat plays into your gameplay and character concept. Debilitation and Targeted can both only be trained in combat, and tend to skew higher in 'Nth' requirements for more combat-oriented Clerics. I would wager there are more scholarly-oriented Clerics in the guild who don't put so much focus on the combat magics, which is perfectly viable as well. It all comes down to how you want to play your character.

Arcana

Arcana covers the use of magical items such as cambrinth. It is generally trained through the use of Runestones and Cambrinth.

Of special note to Clerics is our spell Osrel Meraud, where Arcana determines how many spells you can fit in it. Osrel Meraud also becomes a great way to train the skill later on.

Attunement

Attunement is perhaps the most simple of all the magic skills. As noted in the General Guide, it is trained by checking POWer in rooms.

Clerics can PERCeive <item>, and tell if an item is blessed (and for how many strikes) or cursed. We also have the unique ability to PERCeive <player> to tell how many favors they have. Using it in this way does not train the skill, and PERCeiving living players for no reason is considered somewhat rude, and in some cases a hostile action. When used on the corpse of a player, it also shows the state of their memory loss.

Augmentation

Beginning with the simple Centering spell, eventually Clerics will be able to cast the penultimate (in my humble opinion) Augmentation spell: Benediction, which boosts 3 Attributes simultaneously.

Debilitation

Clerics have the largest selection of Debilitation spells out of all the guilds. While your skill in debilitation is still the largest factor in determining success, it is still important to understand which Attributes are being used if you want to excel at debilitating.

Attack Type Primary Attribute Secondary Attribute Tertiary Attribute Description
Spirit Wisdom Charisma Intelligence The attacker is clashing their soul against their opponent's.
Mind Intelligence Discipline Wisdom The attacker is bringing the force of their own mind to bear on their opponent.
Magic Wisdom Intelligence Discipline The attacker is creating an effect that acts of its own accord on the opponent.

Clerics have:

  • 5 Spirit attack spells: Soul Sickness, Soul Bonding, Sanyu Lybel, Malediction, Curse of Zachdriek (6 if you consider Hydra Hex)
  • 2 Magic attack spells: Phelim's Sanction, Halo
  • 2 Mind attack spells: Huldah's Pall, Meraud's Cry

Holy Magic

The only way to train this skill specifically is by listening to another Holy Magic user teach it. You may also see this referred to as 'Ur Magic' or 'Primary Magic', and it trains organically alongside each of the individual Magic Skills.

Sorcery

This is a much more complicated type of magic and slightly out of scope for a newbie guide, but for the sake of completion it's going here anyway. Can't hurt to plan ahead!

Currently this skill is trained through the use of other magic realm's (Elemental, Life, Lunar) Runestones and Spell scrolls. To use the spell scrolls of other guilds you will need the Magic Theorist Feat. Be warned however, that training Sorcery is a dangerous endeavor that can put you at odds with local law enforcement, and even the gods. Tread carefully. A quick look at the Backlash Table will show that we have the least chance of backlash with Lunar spells, and a medium chance with Elemental, while the highest risk spells are Life.

*PLANNED* Eventually, as a Magic-Primary guild, Clerics will have our own personal brand of Sorcery, Antinomic Sorcery, though there is currently no ETA on implementation.

Targeted Magic

Being an attack skill in our Primary skillset, TM has the potential to be a Cleric's best offense. TM is trained by hitting a critter that falls in the skill range of your TM skill. The attributes that assist Targeted Magic are:

There are three main types of Targeted Magic Spell:

  • Regular - TM spells can have a number of effects and damage types, and a regular/standard TM spell is most notable for not falling under one of the following classifications
  • Multi-Strike - these TM spells will produce multiple 'hits' for a single cast. The trade-off is that they are generally less accurate than regular single-strike TM spells
  • Area of Effect - AoE TM spells will hit everything in the room. Generally cost far more mana than single-target spells.

Another term that is important to cover here is Death From Above (DFA), which means the spell will bypass Shield defense.

Spells can be a combination of most of the above, and how many categories they fall under is reflected in the number of spell slots they cost, and how much mana they take to cast. For example: Fists of Faenella is a multi-shot targeted spell, which costs 1 spell slot and has a minimum prep of 5 mana. Harm Horde is an area-of-effect multi-shot DFA targeted spell, which costs 5 slots and has a minimum prep of 20 mana.

Cleric's undisputed specialty is combating evil and undead beings. Only us and Paladins can hunt them effectively, and many of our spells and abilities are even better against undead. Let's look again at the FOF spell. It's a multi-strike TM spell that deals impact damage. Against undead, the spell has increased damage, and also adds fire to the impact.

Harm Evil is an example of one of our spells that *ONLY* works against undead/evil opponents (it is worth noting that it will also work against PC Necromancers who are Profane). However, it works spectacularly as it is DFA *and* ignores armor completely (which is a feature no other damaging spell has), for a comparatively very low mana cost.

In addition to spells that have extra/special effects vs. undead, Clerics can also use Tamsine's Commune to boost TM skill vs. Undead even further.

Theurgy

Theurgy isn't technically a 'magic' skill, but game design dictated that all guild-specific skills go in that guild's primary skillset. The discussion on training and using Theurgy can be found below.

Utility

Utility is a general catch-all for spells that don't fit a better classification. Utility spells do 'stuff' but not really TO you or another target. Bless and Divine Radiance are two examples of this, and what you will primarily use to train the skill. Eventually you will be able to cast Osrel Meraud which will create a magic orb that will follow you around and keep up buffs indefinitely (as long as you keep putting mana into it).

Warding

The Warding skill governs spells that protect you, not by increasing your defensive skill, but by creating a magical barrier between the damage and you. The very basic of these is Minor Physical Protection (MPP) which provides a percentage damage reduction from any incoming attack.

Remember when I told you that Clerics were the undisputed masters of battling undead and evil beings? That didn't just apply to offenses. Protection from Evil (PFE) is a Warding spell that provides additional protection against damage from undead and evil sources. When paired with MPP, the effects are magnified and you will see special messaging to reflect this. Both of these are very early spells, so this is a tactic that can be used early in your life as a Cleric.

Lore

Let's break down what each of these skills does, then have a quick discussion of how they relate to Cleric life.

  • Appraisal allows you to appraise the statistics of all manner of equipment, as well as critters and how you will fare against them in a fight.
  • Crafting skills will allow you to eventually make your own equipment and other items.
    • Alchemy governs the creation of various healing salves and unguents, and will eventually allow the creation of poisons.
    • Engineering allows the carving of bone armor and stone weapons, and will eventually allow the creation of bows, crossbows and gadgets.
    • Forging covers working a Forge: metal armor, weapons, and tools
    • Enchanting will eventually let you enchant weapons, armor, and items. *NOTE:this skill is not yet active*
    • Outfitting governs the creation of leather and cloth armor, as well as containers and many other roleplay garments.
  • Performance represents how well you can sing or play an instrument.
  • Scholarship will allow you to make the most out of TEACHing and LISTENing to classes
  • Tactics is the only combat-oriented skill in the Lore skillset. It allows you to inflict a variety of non-magical debilitations on your opponents
  • Mechanical Lore is mentioned last because it is a special case. This is currently a dead-end skill that will at some point in the future be wrapped up into the crafting skills outlined above. You as a player get to choose which.

As a starting Cleric you must train 3 Lore skills. Eventually you will need to train at least 4. Again, which of these you decide on is mostly a character concept/roleplay choice, but I'll give a few notes and suggestions anyhow.

Appraisal - good for just about anyone, as it will let you know whether one sword is better than another, or how whether or not that critter you're thinking of fighting will mop the floor with you. It is also incredibly easy to train, so I highly recommend using this for at least one of your Lore skills.

Crafting - Largely a roleplay choice, you can't go wrong with any of these. As a note, if you're planning to make your own gear (weapons/armor), it will take quite a bit of skill and time to accomplish this. For more short-term results, consider Alchemy or Outfitting. The skill checks to create non-combat related things are far more lenient.

Performance - There are a few rituals that require playing an instrument. Also, skillfully performed Hymns will increase spirit regeneration, both of which work well for a Cleric

Scholarship - very easy to train, it's done almost passively if you just be sure to teach or listen to a class anytime you're standing around with other people. If you're a very social player who enjoys talking with people, this is a great choice.

Tactics - as the only combat skill in the Lore skillset, I can't recommend this skill strongly enough especially for any Clerics focused on combat.

Mechanical Lore - Very useful for Clerics as this allows you to carve Prayer Beads that are used for Rituals and obtaining specific aspect favors.

Survival

There's honestly not much about Survival skills to discuss for Clerics. We have incredibly low and easy requirements, and none of them will make a significant impact on your character. A few minor notes:

  • Evasion - will probably end up being one of yours as you work on required armor, parry, and weapons skills
  • Outdoorsmanship - has some tie-ins with Cleric rituals; being able to forage dirt for Eluned's Commune, and wood limbs for Bead Carving
  • Athletics - I would strongly recommend training this skill for general usefulness/travel, and also some Cleric guild quests will send you to places that have some difficult climbs and swims.

NOTE: While you can train Thievery if you wish, it will not count towards your circling requirements.

Weapons/Armor

To begin training combat you have two choices in Crossing: shipyard rats or sleazy louts. Rats are skinnable, while louts ambush and drop coins and boxes. I prefer louts because they pay better, but are also slightly harder to compensate, so will use them for this guide. They can be found outside the East Gate, which you can find via the DIRection command. In Riverhaven, you have one choice - heggarangi Frogs, which are also found directly outside the East Gate and down a path.

When you decide to pick up your first Targeted Magic spell, the process of using it will resemble that for casting regular spells, but with a few small changes.

  1. PREPare <spell>
  2. TARGET (this will default to the enemy you are currently facing) OR you can use TARGet <ordinal> <target>
  3. Wait until you see: Your formation of a targeting pattern around a <target> has completed.
  4. Proceed as above with adding mana and CASTing

Rituals, Devotion, Communes & Theurgy

Each of these has their own section on the main Cleric page, but it is more important to understand how they all tie together to effectively play and train a Cleric. The relationship between devotion, rituals, communes and theurgy is a bit overwhelming at first, but hopefully after reading this you will understand their interaction and how to use them to benefit your Cleric and train Theurgy effectively.

Devotion is the empirical measurement of your connection with the gods. It is raised through acts of piety (rituals), and used by our guild abilities (communes). Bluntly speaking, Rituals make devotion go up, Communes make it go down. Now, you might be asking yourself "Why would I ever want it to go down?!"...because my friend, that's how you train Theurgy.

Theurgy is the Cleric Guild's signature skill, and is trained through the use of Communes. The higher level the commune, the more experience it grants. Eventually you will be using Meraud's commune regularly, though for the near future you'll just use Eluned's to make a lot of water.

Using rituals to gain devotion while using communes to train Theurgy is supposed to be a constant, ongoing process indicating the Cleric's piety and service to the gods. Understanding this relationship between these guild abilities will allow you to understand Clerics from both a mechanical and RP perspective. Now that you've (somewhat) wrapped your head around that, on with the good news:

For the first several circles of your clerical life, you don't need to worry about it; the rituals themselves will teach Theurgy. However, this is a stopgap for younger players, so understanding the relationship is still important. The more time consuming and involved the ritual, the more devotion it grants. To begin your career as a Cleric, here's a few of the beginning rituals:

Completely Free

Requires Holy Water

Requires Incense/Wine

These will be your bread and butter devotion/theurgy tools for the first dozen circles. It's worth noting that the Sirese ritual grants the most devotion and experience out of those. Don't limit yourself to just these however. Visit the rituals page and try out whichever you like. Or better yet, ask another Cleric in game!

More Advanced Stuff

Now that you've got the basics, it's time to make things a little more complicated. Looking forward past just surviving your first few circles, you'll want to round out your training a little more. At level 31, you are required to begin training a second weapon, but this is much easier if you start as early as possible. I recommend everyone train at least:

  • One bladed weapon (Small Edge, Large Edge, 2-Handed Edge)
  • One blunt weapon (Small Blunt, Large Blunt, 2-Handed Blunt, Staves)
  • One ranged weapon (Light Thrown, Heavy Thrown, Bows, Crossbows)
  • Two different types of armor (not including Shield)
  • Use Tactics as one of your Lore skills to circle with
  • Use Targeted Magic as one of your Magic skills to circle with

Keep in mind one of the greatest things about Dragonrealms' skill system is there is that the only limit on how many skills you train is time. Pick as many or as few skills fit your character concept and roleplay; my advice here is just to make sure you can reasonably handle anything at your level the game throws at you...is that monster parrying too much? Throw an axe at its face! Is your slicing weapon deflecting off that armored critter's hide? Use a blunt!

That being said; I, personally, that is the human player writing this guide, play very heavily combat-oriented characters. Many Clerics find more enjoyment in the social aspects of the game, and train combat skills only to the bare minimum, and spend the majority of their time training magics and lore skills while socializing with other players in town hangout spots, and as long as you have fun playing that way, do it!

You will probably notice that trying to train Parry is great practice at being a punching bag. I have found that at low levels, it is best to use custom hybrid stances to train parry. Try something like STANCE EVASION 100, STANCE SHIELD 40, STANCE PARRY 40 if you're having too much trouble.

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