This HD video is narrated PVP footage of my level 41 Cleric in RIFT Patch 1.4 in a Black Garden warfront (queued solo). In this video, I talk about adjusting to the nerfs to PVP instant-cast healing. While my healing numbers are down, I’m finding that even at the low end of the 40-49 bracket that I can capably heal in warfronts and am typically top 2 in healing.
Here is the 28 Justicar / 26 Shaman / 0 Warden spec used in the video:
http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=00rne.euMooekzo.Ved0tMz0z
I’m pretty psyched that Justicar can still cut it as a viable healing spec in Patch 1.4, because Justicar/Shaman gives me the characteristics I’m looking for: high mobility, solid healing, and functional damage. In many warfronts I not only keep pace (or outpace) other healers, but I help pressure the enemy as well, and it’s fun :)
Since my previous video, I have added 1 new macro:
Single-target Melee DPS macro:
#show Lightning Hammer suppressmacrofailures cast Glory of the Chosen cast Jolt cast Fated Blow cast Lightning Hammer cast Strike of Judgment
This macro contains only single-target melee abilities, and I use it after triggering the mana regen abilities Purpose and/or Ageless Ice. As you may recall from my previous macros, my Single-target DPS macro contains spells as well as melee abilities, and if I want to make sure I am only fire melee abilities I use the above macro.
Also, please note that for the Single-target DPS macro in my previous post, I did decide to move Sovereignty and Bolt of Radiance below Lightning Hammer and Strike of Judgment, because Lightning Hammer deals excellent damage and I want to save those Light-based cooldown attack spells for whenever I am out of melee range but still need to build convictions and deal damage.
Please post any questions / feedback.
P.S. I looked at multiple options for a 3rd party network to work with, and I decided to move forward with TGN, a fast-growing relatively-new Gaming TV network.
This is my first video uploaded to TGN. Regardless whether I upload videos to TGN or to my personal channel, you can always find them here on my blog :)
Taugrim's MMO Blog 
Proud to have known you since the beginning :)
I’m curious as to your one point in Brutalize. While it has a fairly long cooldown, I can imagine SotM being more useful in cap-stopping AOE in a macro with EJ. What do you think?
Sorry, I meant Lust for Blood.
To be honest, that 1 point in Lust for Blood is the one point in the tree that I can’t find a great home for.
I don’t use Massive Blow in my rotation, because it has a long cooldown and you can’t leverage the full potential of Massive Blow without spending a lot of talent points and making Crushing Blow a staple in your rotation. Therefore, Brutalize makes no sense for the Justicar spec I play.
For Shaman-heavy specs, Brutalize and the other talents for maximizing the synergy between Crushing Blow and Massive Blow make sense. I just find a heavy Shaman spec to be way too squishy, and I want to be able to heal well.
I have no issue with Clerics who want to play as MDPS, but I rolled my Cleric to be durable and able to do meaningful healing.
Yeah, I agree with you. I don’t know if I was clear, but I meant putting that point in Strike of the Maelstrom. A 6-hit 360 degree AOE might be useful for stopping them from picking up the flag or capping a point in the Codex.
You’ve inspired me though. After a little bit of playing with 51 Cab, I’m going to give this support melee Cleric a shot.
I look forward to more of your videos!
Ah, I misread your original post. Yes, Strike of the Maelstrom could be situationally valuable. I didn’t take it because I want to maximize Conviction-building with Even Justice.
I hit level 44, and I switched from Warden to Sentinel as my 3rd tree, with 2 points in it. I can’t spam ranged attacks (i.e. Waterjet in between Bolt of Radiance and Sovereignty) anymore, but the instant burst heal Healing Breath seems worth it.
Was actually just wondering where u would go next with your points to 50. Sentinal seems the obvious choice as you get lifes vengeance also, and while its not spammable it is life damage. As always, love your blog, advice and vids kutgw
Something like this for 50?
http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=00rnj.euMooeszo.Ved0tMz0z.V0x
If I go 30 Justicar / 26 Shaman / 10 Sentinel as you have in that link, I might take 5/5 in Benediction instead of Watchful Gaze.
It really depends on whether I’m trying to maximize healing or damage+healing.
30 Justicar / 26 Shaman / 10 Warden:
http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=00rne.euMooeszo.Ved0tMz0z.Vx
30 Justicar / 26 Shaman / 10 Inquisitor:
http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=00rnd.euMooeszo.Ved0tMz0z.Vx
Hello Taugrim,
Why do you take one point in Devout Deflection ? Is the dodge bonus really worth it ?
This video is good as usual, kudos to you !
My cleric is now level 24 and i’m currently testing Druid and Warden (separate roles), but still love your build more. Warden heals well but you can’t do jack apart from spamming Hots and running, and druid lacks firepower AND healing… And when i play gardens as a warden, i do not feel i do much more healing than with my shaman/justicar.
I thought about this druid build (http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=10axr.Eq0qAkqqz.x.euMoo) but i wonder if it’ll be useful at level 50. It provides nice utilities and some damage, but the pet will likely be slaughtered quickly.
I guess we can’t have best of both worlds and do champion/riftblade damage with our heals :-)
Baptiste
In the low 40s, for me each point in Devout Deflection is worth ~6% avoidance (~3% Dodge + ~3% Parry).
I think it’s worth maxing out, which is why I’ll be investing 30 points in Justicar. See the above links for specs I’m considering.
Interesting feedback about Warden. HoTs are great in PVE and can be situationally good in PVP, but I’m finding that burst healing is the way to go.
Hello Taugrim,
After 1.4 as u prolly already aware of cleric changed a lot- Healer clerics especially wardens finally stopped being so op and impossible to kill- and melee fighting clerics got buffed. They deal lot more dmg than they used to:D Ur spec seems to be nice u taking justicar/shaman which is great and warden. However warden is only good for a bit extra healing but i was also thinking of these 2 specs- 26 justicar/ 26 shammy and like 16 in warden or a bit more in shaman like 30-32 shammy. And the other spec is 31 shaman/21 justicar/14 inquisitor – its sweet dmg and a bit healing from justicar the doctrines- plus the mana recovers from shammy justicar and inquisitor which make u impossible to run out of mana that way- allowing u perhaps to use more attacks/healing- killing more and helping more^ I would love ur opinion on this mate!:D I have 2 more questions! After 1.4 patch is it possible for a good rank 6 warrior to take a rank 6 melee cleric in a fight cause i am hearing on my shard- at least ppl claim that cleric melees are like gods now and nothing beats them… And last one mate can u plz start upgrading ur warrior blog mate? i have asked u something there as well- i was wondering if u could actually tell me which one of the specs i told u u think its doing better mate and if u have time plz give us a new warrior pwning spec that u judge its good:D Plz mate^ I am looking forward to ur reply:D
As I have linked above, I am planning on investing:
– 30 in Justicar, to max out Even Justice and take Devout Deflection
– 26 in Shaman to get Battle Charge. 26 points is extremely efficient – only the 1 point in Lust for Blood is arguably wasted. While it would be nice to have Rage of the North, I feel that to get it I would be sacrificing too many valuable points in Justicar or my 10-point 3rd tree
– 10 in either Sentinel, Warden, or Inquisitor
I haven’t tried in 1.4, but I found in 1.3 that I could take even-rank melee healers with my Riftblade / Champion / Paladin spec. I would get Lingering Wounds on the Cleric and limit their Conviction-building via kiting, which Riftblade is great at.
I want to update the Riftblade Guide but I am very busy in real life.
Hi Taugrim!
May I suggest 10 in Templar once you hit 50? Healing Bonuses in Warden and Sentinel are impacted by Healing Reduction talents, but the damage reduction of Templar is static! 15% Crit chance reduction to other players will make up for the lack of resilience when you first hit 50 and the 5% magic damage reduction helps fill in one of the key weaknesses for Clerics.
Break Free will allow you to survive stuns/silences and drop a crucial heal when you need to. Detaunt is very useful for survivability as well. Nysyr’s Brand is totally underrated against Slip Away rogues.
Heya Froz,
You make a great point about the damage reduction being static.
I may end up taking Templar with 10 points at 50, for the reasons you stated above. It would suck not having the abilities/talents from a 3rd healing tree. But spec’ing is all about tradeoffs :)
Omg its an honor that the Taugrim replied to my comments thanks mate i rly appreciate that^^:D I have questions for u mate: why is it so important to get 30 in justicar? just for devout and even justice or? also between these specs: rb/champ/pala ur warrior spec rb/vk/champ and rb/vk/pala which one u think would be better for pvp? having in mind 1.4 patch too.. Thanks for ur patience and the time u take to go through my comments and help me out:D I am looking forward to ur next reply:D Take care mate^^
Basically, yes.
Without DD I have 1% combined Dodge and Parry.
With DD I have 19% combined Dodge and Parry. The difference is noticeable, when watching footage.
I would run either:
– RB/Champion/Paladin: when there is no/weak healing
– RB/Champion/Paragon: when there is solid healing
E.g. here is 32 RB / 18 CH / 16 PD:
http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=0cLkh.tGs00sMrzsM.g0czaM.xxohoo
You can swap out the 16 in PD for Paragon for more DPS.
I used 23 points in Justicar in my Duracell spec when I hit fresh 50 to gain me survivaliblity until I had gotten enough valor to keep my self from being burned down too fast. One thing I can recommend to you is to move up enough in Sentinel to gain Cleansing Prayer. It really helps when Doms place their debuffs on you and your raid members, along with the other debuff from other classes. You instant cast playstyle will cause Doms and Cabalists debuff procs to tear you up quickly. Another thing is to acquire Burning Powerstones as soon as possbile. The +200 spellpower is a huge boost and will help you offest the healing reduction by the 1.4 patch.
Thanks Taugrim u cool mate:D I happen however to have 1 more question left which is confusing me a bit: So far on my warrior i am using ur rb/champ/pala spec which i may say it rocks and its awesome:D However the reason why i actually asked u about rb/vk/pala (32rb/vk16/pal18) is cause i also gave a shot that spec and i noticed that i would still cause remarkable dmg+ i am able to dispell any curses which dmg my hp from example the annoying warlock’s spells or reaver’s dots or clerics ones+i am also able to regenerate attack points by using ragestorm 16 point vk skill which is amazing due to the fact that this way i can cast faster/more fierys/bursts and rs+ i get spellbreaker which allows me to dispell 3 buffs from anyone in pvp and i can actually hit it with fiery or bursts so its nice dmg plus buff removal which is significant as certain buffs boost dps hp crit chance etc- its 35m range skill too; something equally astronishing as warriors only get 20 m range yet with their skills unlike rest classes… and finally that way i able to take in more dmg(my surviveability is increased a lot) and as well able to deal good dmg!:D I am looking forward to ur reply mate so i can finally figure out which of the 2 specs i am mostly interested more seems to be more pvpkillling in a way:) I wish u and ur wife mate the best, i also wanna congratulate u for the portion of u time that u dedicate in order to answer everyone’s questiong trying to help them as more as u can; u crazy(in the good way:P^) and awesome:D Plz keep it that way mate and many many thanks for ur aid:))^^^
oh i forgot to add mate: i noticed that in ur rb/champ/pala spec u dont get rift storm 30 point skill and knockback from champion; why is that so:S
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