Class Review: Cleric

Since I can't think of anything to write, I'll just write about something I'm most familiar with - Crusaders. I hope this article will help someone out there eventually. This is a first of a series as I'm planning on writing about all the classes I've tried (currently using Barbarian, while waiting for Dark Avenger to be released).

I could've just recorded arena battles to showcase the skills of this class but I know for sure that written information is more useful than just watching fights. Please read on and comment about what you think of this write-up.

I've been a Cleric for sometime and to be specific, my character used to be a Crusader. I consider this class as balanced since they are very versatile - they can tank, they can fight well in PVP (if you've got skills, I dont) and can do solo runs in PVE (again, with skills). A very well-round class if you ask me, and if Dark Avenger (when it comes out)  fails my expectations, I'm 100% sure I'll be switching back to Crusader.

As a tank:

The Cleric's sub-class Paladin has a skill 'Provoke' which can be used by both advanced classes Crusader and Guardian. If you want to go on full-out tank, you'd go with Guardian but if you want a little bit of damage, you'd want to be a Crusader.

The skill provoke is cast on a very wide, and a bit long, fan-shaped area in front of you. This skill is better than using Swordsman's Giant bomb (or Smith wave, whatever) since you don't really have to aim it directly at the monster like the latter. The taunt lasts for about 10 seconds which is enough to let the skill cool down which is about 9 secs or 7~ if you choose to get an A-grade skill cool down heraldry equipped.

Together with Provoke, Paladins also have group support skills that complement either attack or defense. Other than that, they have self-buffs that increase attack (Crusader) and/or increase defense to 32% (both Crusader and Guardian).

Dodging skills:

After trying out Swordsman and Assassin, I realized that the evasion skill of Paladins is more efficient. And I'm talking about the Dodge + attack button combo. Unlike with the two aforementioned classes, the dodge combo of Paladins extend the invincibility when you hit the attack button about after dodging. For me, this had always been very useful all around. Not to mention Thump which is a 'iframe' skill (that's how others call it) which also has a  minuscule invincibility, also useful in case dodge is cooling down.

In the arena:

The Crusader is well-rounded because they have skills in all ranges. For short-mid range we've got the Lightning shock and Thump; The Holy Cross Ex's range is from mid-long and then there's the Judge Hammer (Ex) whose range is from short (melee) to VERY long. They also have a (what I'd like to call) stance-recovery skill that can be used when you are being hit. On top of that, they have a passive skill that grants 20% chance to block attacks. I'm not going to highlight their aerial recovery skill since all of the classes have those, kind of like dodge - you don't need to mention it.

The only downside of Crusaders is their skill cool down. Even if you have the A-grade cool down skill heraldry for Holy Cross Equipped, it only shaves off 1 sec on it's 10-second cool down and it's not enough (sometimes) to deal a limitless combo, knocking the opponent up or down, voiding them from returning the attacks. In order to compensate for the range, they also have the Charge skill which knocks up the enemy when the last hit lands. It can also be used to evade or move away from the enemy while giving you damage reduction on the duration of the skill.

The Guardian is also a very sturdy opponent in the arena since their skills mostly complement's defense. Too bad their reflect skills is of not much use in PVE, if it was, it'll be fun to see this class rush head-on and take all the nukes the enemies can throw at him.

The Inquisitor and Saint are very tricky to use in the arena. Inquisitor uses long-range skills and summon statues that mostly electrocute the enemies hindering them from attacking or running away. The Saints however, rely on the wards since this class focuses on support. But don't fight them when they are Lvl80 because these guys will have a skill that makes the wards cast lightning in their respective areas(regardless of what ward they are) which means if you are surrounded by their healing wards and/or defense and debuff wards then you'd probably be toast with just one cast of their Lvl80 skill.

Conclusion:

I hope you guys agree with me about what I have written here, I didn't go into much detail because if I do, we might be looking at a 10-page long article.

Happy gaming!