My cleric so far..

Meet Callista. She is a Defiant Cleric in Trion’s new MMO, Rift. She Heals, she DPS’s and she Tanks. Yes, she even tanks.

I love how the class system works in Rift. So fluid and customizable, a person can seriously play this game any way they choose and still do amazingly well. My Cleric wears chain armor and can AOE down a pack of mobs while walking backwards. It’s the stuff of dreams to finally be able to quest, heal or tank in a well designed MMO on a character that doesn’t makes you suspect that investing serious game play into them will end up as a giant waste of time. Much like my druid from Wow, I am in love with this class and its potential for varied game play. Much UNLIKE my druid from WoW, I can actually PVP, quest, raid or tank in the same gear, with the simple switch of my Soul Tree spec.

So far I have built her skills around the Inquisitor tree’s Vex spell mainly because I can keep moving and healing while questing. It seems to be the fastest way to level and keep up with my Chloromancer/Warlock/Necromancer friend, Utu =)

Here is my Cleric’s spec at the scrubby level of 25:

She is a level 25 Inquisitor 22 / Warden 5 / Sentinel 5

I specifically built her around the Vex spell and chose talents that support this spell to maximize uptime while questing and reduce travel to pick up loot, etc.

First, lets look at Vex:

Rank 1 Vex is a simple instant dot that costs 8 Mana and “Torments the enemy, dealing 38 Death damage over 15 seconds”.

Not so earth shattering in and of itself. But I found that coupled with the warden talent Destructive Tide (which increases the damage of your instant cast spells by a certain % up to five pts) makes it a very powerful dot.

It takes ten points in the inquisitor tree to get the talent Contempt (heals you for 45% / 90%), but once you get that high, you can dot up several mobs and the damage it does (when amped up with Destructive tide) heals you for quite a bit. Meanwhile, you immediately get a 0 pt spell with Warden called Water Jet that is an instant cast spell that at lower levels allows you to pretty much run around killing and looting non-stop.

As I progressed a little higher, I centered my skills around enhancing my spell power with Watchful Gaze in the Sentinel tree and other talents/spells that give me more crit or more healing to help support the fast leveling play style my build supports.

Finally, I reached the higher levels of the Inquisitor tree where I could grab Mental Resilience for the extra 10% / 20% / 30% / 40% / 50% damage it gives and the Vex spell really starts shining as I am able to literally hold my own against powerful rift mobs and rampant Guardian invasions. It also helps that the 0 talent heal Healing Breath in the Sentinel tree is full of win. With only an 8 second cd, its my go-to heal every time.

The rise of the Great 25man Social Guilds

This post was inspired by: Still Going to Run 25s? | World of Matticus.

Blue Poster Nethaera released the a groundbreaking statement today on the forums about the future of raiding in Azeroth. Read the full thread here. A lot was said about the future structure of raiding, but the points that interested me the most are:

• Heroic modes will all be toggled on and off per boss like we do now in ICC.
• Ten and 25 man raids will share the same lockout period.
• The same loot will drop of ten man bosses as drop off 25man bosses.
• Amount (not ilevel) of gear dropped is scaled up for 25mans to compensate for more people in the raid.

While I get that this is supposed to not affect the viability of 25man raiding, I don’t really see how we can avoid human nature. Like water choosing the easiest path downhill, I can see how this news will endanger the future of 25man raiding. The news is good for the clique raiders, and the small groups of exclusive buddies and even for the lucky few who made friends on their server before the new Dungeon Finder Tool shredded the traditional way you met other gamers in your community. They will all now have their 10mans and don’t need a larger group to get their kills and their loot. But what I foresee for the rest of us that try to cling to the old way is endless 25man pugs which eventually dwindle into the ten-man snatch-and-grabs much like we see in VOA 10’s today.

Furthermore, I don’t know about you… But I work much harder as a healer in tens than I ever have had to do in 25’s. Unless you over gear the instance, I find many of these fights are tough for a disc priest. Combine it with “hard modes” where you have another single-target  healer like a pally and you are looking at a quick trip to the respec lady in IF if you want to keep your raid spot. Furthermore, the pace is more hectic and less enjoyable. With less room for error, and less opportunities to have a mana break or take your eyes off the screen for a nano-second if there is an emergency or whatever, I foresee a faster burnout pace than I did with the 25man raids.

Lastly, 10man raiding doesn’t have the social epic feel that the old 40mans do. Nor do they have the cool large-group of buddies feel that the 25mans do. With less reason than ever to get along with various personalities for the good of the group (and the gear drops, lets face it), its going to be the death knell for a lot of us. I know I will be less inclined to stick around in a 25man guild if there are jerks in raid and Ventrillo clowns like we put up with in 25’s. There have been plenty of times I thought about shopping for a 10man that gets the job done in half the time, but was stopped for the reason that the gear and content isn’t as cool as the 25man level stuff. And you know what? I bet each and every Raid Leader, Guild Officer, and many of us regular old raiders, etc., have had the same thought a time or two ourselves.

On the other hand, I can see how casual and social guilds will be MORE viable at 25man level. 10mans are simply harder as a result of less class diversity when you are pushing progression. There is always someone in every 25man guild that is there because we like them more than their skills. You know who I am talking about. The lovable but not as savvy players that are tucked away in the corners of our guilds. Hanging with us, BGing with us, and being awesome in guild chat, and filling in the raid spots when attendance is low. I foresee there being more room in 25man raids for this kind of player than in 10man progression guilds. Maybe Cataclysm will see the rise of the great social 25man guilds.

Waiting to see how this will pan out.