Beginner's guide to playing a cleric
Feeling the calling to be a cleric? Clerics are a crucial profession in Elanthia, as they are they only profession able to resurrect other adventurers. Clerics are also strong casters in their own right, with a variety of abilities and flexible training paths to suit many characters. Finally a cleric's intimate connection to the Arkati affords unique role-playing opportunities.
Clerical Overview
Clerics have several general training paths available to them. One end of the spectrum is the warding cleric who focuses solely on warding spells. A little more versatile is the pure cleric that also trains in bolt spells. Less popular after the introduction of the paladin profession but still viable is the melee cleric, who tend to favor two-handed weapons or brawling. Finally the rescuing cleric focuses on saving other adventurers from death.
Life and Death in Elanthia
No matter your training path resurrecting the dead is a hallmark of being a cleric. Clerics do not gain this awesome power initially, as they must advance to at least the 18th level to cast raise dead. Clerics earn a significant amount of experience from resurrecting the dead, in addition to the general gratitude of the populace. The general process is as follows. When an adventurer dies, they have a race-specific decay timer of at least ten minutes. The cleric can pause this timer with their preservation spell, or another adventurer can use a white flask. Preservation is not required for resurrection but is generally advisable. Once the corpse is in a safe location and cleaned of wounds, the cleric must establish a spiritual link with the corpse to prevent another cleric from interfering with the rite. Finally the cleric casts raise dead at a cost of mana and spirit to the cleric, raising the adventurer in a weakened state; the exact costs of this spell depend on the cleric's training. More details of this process can be read in the respective spell entries.
The Arkati and You
Another nearly universal aspect of being a cleric is your relationship to the "gods" of Elanthia, the Arkati. Although it is not strictly necessary to convert to a specific Arkati, aligning yourself with a specific Arkati will effect the damage and messaging of some cleric spells. In particular the main offensive warding cleric spell smite/bane depends upon alignment, with Liabo Arkati strong against the undead and Lornon Arkati strong against the living. Your chosen Arkati can also have a non-mechanical influence on your character, depending upon your style of roleplay. Powerful clerics are able to commune with their Arkati, a unique opportunity to interact with a GameMaster.
Training
See Also
- Cleric (main article)
- New Players' Guide (a comprehensive beginner's guide for new players of any profession)
- Cleric Guild
- The Art of Roleplaying in GemStone IV (guide)
- Player Guide Contest
References
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