Champions of Norrath: High Elf Cleric Guide

The High Elf Cleric in Champions of Norrath: Realms of Everquest is an interesting and versatile character. The Cleric can be a brutal warrior, an efficient spell caster, and a valuable buffer and healer. In the single player mode the Cleric is best off favoring a warrior like attitude of hitting hard with melee weapons and using his other versatile skills to fall back on. The best stat to focus on while playing the Cleric is the Strength stat. Every single point you obtain should go into boosting your Strength. By doing this you will create a Cleric who can hit hard on melee, fall back on ranged spells such as Holy Strike or Blinding Light, and carry a great deal of loot as well. Let's take a look at the skills and spells available to the High Elf Cleric.

Blunt Weapons - As this will be your main form of attack through out the game you should keep this skill maxed out at all times. The Blunt Weapons skill is a passive skill that increases the damage you deal with blunt weapons such as maces and hammers. Blunt weapons are the only types of weapons Clerics can equip, so this skill is very important. At the max level this skill will increase the damage you cause with blunt weapons by 110%. Keep this maxed at all times.

Holy Strike - Holy Strike will be your main form of long ranged attack until you unlock and power up the Blinding Light spell. Holy Strike is a powerful spell, and is even more deadly against the undead. This is a good spell to max out as well since some of the later Cleric spells are a little lacking, even though Holy Strike can chew up your mana quickly if you continue to cast it. But then again, that's what mana potions are for!

Endurance - Endurance is a passive spell that allows your character to carry more items. This is very useful if you don't want to be using Gate Scrolls to head back to the shopkeepers all the time. If you follow this guide's suggestion of only increasing your Strength stat you should already be able to carry quite a bit of loot around with you. However, having a ton of space in your pack is nice. You may want to put some points into this stat to carry more gear, but this has no effect on combat whatsoever so the choice is up to you.

Shield Bash - The Shield Bash ability will cause damage to enemies and has the chance to stun them at the same time. As the name implies, you will need to have a shield equipped in order to use it. If you are playing your Cleric as a one handed mace and shield character you may appreciate the utility this skill provides. Being an offensive minded Cleric, this guide would suggest to use a two handed hammer for the extra damage it provides and skip putting points into this skill, but if you feel the need for extra defense you may find some use for this skill.

Healing - The Healing spell is a tough spell to recommend. Don't misunderstand, the spell is very effective and heals a large sum of hit points but healing potions are infinite and they won't use up one of your spell buttons to use. In the end, it is probably best to skip putting points into the Healing spell and use them somewhere more beneficial.

Holy Armor - Holy Armor is a great spell, especially for an melee oriented Cleric. While active, the Holy Armor spell will convert a percentage of incoming damage into a reduction of mana. In other words, instead of just loosing hit points when you are hit by an enemy, the damage caused will be divided into a loss of hit points and a loss of mana points. This is a great spell for a melee Cleric to pair up with the Blessed spell which will increase your mana regeneration rate allowing you to absorb an insane amount of damage. Definitely max out this spell and have it active in one of your spell slots for boss fights.

Blessed - As we discussed above, the Blessed spell will increase the rate at which your mana regenerates. This will allow you to cast spells more frequently or when paired with the Holy Armor spell, live longer. It isn't mandatory to have this spell mapped to one of your spell buttons at all times, but the combo of Blessed and Holy Armor can be very effective in boss fights. Max out this spell when you can.

Undead Shield - In theory this spell would be useful, but in practice it isn't very good. Undead Shield reflects damage dealt by undead enemies back at them when they attack you. The problem with this is that your Cleric should be able to kill undead before they can really attach you in any meaningful way. With all the spells and skills available to the Cleric, killing undead should be a walk in the park and they shouldn't get near you enough to hit you more than once negating any value this skill has. Skip it.

Hammer of Wrath - Hammer of Wrath is the Cleric's summon spell. When cast, a magical hammer will appear for a specific amount of time and attack the Cleric's enemies. Not a bad idea but the Cleric can dish out mush more damage than the hammer can. Having this using up one of your spell slots wouldn't be making your Cleric the most effective fighting machine it can be. The best plan would be to skip this spell and use the points on better spells.

Blinding Light - The absolute BEST skill in the game. Blinding Light will damage enemies and stun them. The damage isn't massive but it isn't anything to sneeze at either. The thing that makes this spell the best in the game is that the stun works on every enemy in the game, even ALL of the bosses including Innorukk. This is an unbelievable advantage for your Cleric. You can damage and stun your enemies from afar, and then run in and pummel them with melee blows, your best attack. Max out Blinding Light as quickly as you can!

Repulse Undead - Repulse Undead sends out a shockwave in a radius around your character which is extremely damaging to undead enemies. As a majority of the enemies you will fight in Champions of Norrath are undead, this spell is very useful. It should be noted however that this spell has no effect on non-undead enemies. Since many of the Cleric's spells are situational you will most likely have some extra skill points to throw around. Spending them to increase or max out the Repulse Undead spell would be a good use of your points.

Root - The Root spell, as it sounds, will grab enemies and hold them in place. As with most spells, it starts out weak only being able to hold a single enemy, but invest a few points into it and soon it will be able to hold multiple enemies. In either case, you shouldn't have to worry very much about getting mobbed by enemies, and if you follow this guide, you will have other ways of mitigating damage such as the Holy Armor spell. Again, this spell may sound useful, but it is probably best to skip it. It should also be mentioned that unlike Blinding Light, Root isn't very effective against bosses.

Convert Enemy - When cast, Convert Enemy has a CHANCE to mesmerize enemies into joining you in fighting your opponents for a short while. The fact is that when you cast this spell there is a chance that nothing will happen and all you will have done is wasted manna. In addition to that fact, if you do succeed in converting an enemy, eventually they will break free from your spell and you will be forced to kill them. The Convert Enemy spell doesn't really reward you with much. Skip this spell, your skill points are much better spent elsewhere.

Dismiss Undead - Dismiss Undead is a bolt spell similar to Holy Strike. When cast, a skull will shoot from your caster causing devastating damage to undead enemies, and minuscule damage to non-undead enemies. If you miss your target the skull will bounce around off walls and other non-moving objects until it either hits something or its timer runs out and it disappears. As previously stated, a majority of the enemies you will face in Champions of Norrath are undead so maxing this skill out can be beneficial.

As you can see, the High Elf Cleric is a versatile character. There are many options when it comes to which skills and stats to boost and this guide has provided you with some effective recommendations. It is now time to set forth into the wilds of Norrath young champion. Be cautious as there is evil everywhere and the very gods of darkness are out to seal your demise. Use your talents wisely and you shall spare the world from a terrible and gruesome fate. Good luck and may the gods of light watch over you.