PDA

View Full Version : Friar Spec Guide



SASQUATCH
09-15-2003, 11:53 PM
Can you guys pin this topic for me.

Friar Spec Guide

Introduction

What is a Friar?: A Friar is one of the 12 Advanced Character Classes available to players in the Albion realm. Friars begin their careers as Acolytes, the base class for the Healers of Albion. Upon reaching 5th level, a Friar joins the Defenders of Albion to take on their unique role in the Realm.

Friars are a combination of a Melee character and a Healer character. They cannot perform either role as well as a Cleric or pure Melee character (Armsman, for example), but the combination of both sets of abilities make for a powerful, yet sometimes misunderstood, class. Friars make excellent soloers, backup healers, and with proper skill primary healers. They can tank for brief periods of time, but you would be much better off with an Armsman or Paladin to tank for you. Friars can heal themselves and others, resurrect fallen comrades, and protect their allies from elemental attacks.

Friars have 4 Specializations in which they can invest training points. Rejuvenation and Enhancement are available from their start as Acolytes. Rejuvenation contains spells to heal and ressurrect your Realm mates. Enhancement has a series of base-line Concentration buffs that can be used on yourself or Realm mates, as well as a series of self-only shouts (Self Haste and Endurance Cost Reduction). They also have a self-only Endurance regeneration chant. Recent patches (ver 1.46) have added a line of targetable Resistance buffs to the Friar and a line of self-only Absorption buffs.

Recent patches (ver 1.46) have given the Friar a much needed boost. Previously they gained 1 skill point per level. Unfortunately, this lead to a very underpowered class when compared to classes with similar spec requirements. With the additions to the Enhancement Spec line and the desire for strong healing and melee capabilities, 1 skill point per level would allow a Friar very little room to choose their specs. Staff was a must skill, getting to at least 15 in Rejuvenation was high on many Friar's priority list, and with many Friars now wanting to take Enhancement to 44 for the Absorption buffs, it would be impossible for many to keep up. Now Friars have 1.5 skill points per level (after level 5) and are much better able to spread their points without severely weakening themselves in any one path.

What is a Friar not?: A Friar is not a Cleric. They do not gain the tremendous healing ability a Cleric can aquire, nor do they get quite the buffing capability an Enhance Cleric can reach. Their baseline buffs are worse than they once were (although the way stat buffs now work overall between spells and equipment has improved, their role in that process is greatly diminished). They do not gain the multi-stat buffs of a Cleric.

A Friar is not a tank. They can only wear Cloth or Leather Armor (10% Absorption) and do not have a large amount of hit points. With the recent addition of Evade V to their skill list, they can survive much better than before, however they are no replacement for an Armsman or a Paladin. Their Absorption buffs help a lot here, but are not enough to make them a true tank.

This is not to say that they cannot perform either of the above duties, for they can. However, like all hybrids, their strength lies more in their versatility than in placing them in a specific role. They can tank when needed, heal when needed. This makes for a very powerful combination.

What is in this guide?: This guide is a basic outline of how to decide which Specializations you will need and of basic Friar strategies. Your own personal experience is always the best way to determine the path your Friar will take. This is the first guide in a projected series of 3 guides.

What are Friar Basics?: Friar basics are the most general information about the class. This includes the following:

Friar Basics

The Friar class is open only to one race, Britons.

Friars may only wear Leather Armors

Friars can weild 1 handed blunt weapons, small shields, and staves

Friars receive 1.5 spec points per level after level 5

Friars are built off of the Acolyte base class

Friars receive 5 different levels of Evade. Evade1 at 5, Evade2 at 10, Evade3 at 15, Evade4 at 22, and Evade5 at 33

Friars have 4 skill in which they can specialize. Rejuvenation, Enhancement, Staff, and Parry. Rejuvenation and Enhancement are from their Base Class, Staff is gained at level 5, and Parry is gained at level 10.


Specialization

Friars receive 4 skills that they can Specialize in. When they begin their careers as Acolytes, they have access to Rejuvenation and Enhancement. At 5th level, Friars gain the ability to Specialize in Staff and Parry. Staff is the class-defining skill of a Friar. No other class has the ability to use this Specialization. Parry is shared with other classes, but is still useful for a Friar.

Rejuvenation spells are spells that heal. Friars have two base-line targeted healing spells, minor heals and small heals. They also gain the ability to Revive others at level 10. By specializing in Rejuvenation, Friars can gain the ability to cure poison and disease, perform a slightly more powerful Revive, and heal for a larger, consistent amount. Friars also gain a group-healing line as part of their base Rejuvenation line, however it is very expensive and slow to cast. Friars do not gain the ability to heal instantaneously that Clerics receive, nor do they receive the very large healing spells that Clerics receive. Clerics also gain another two Ressurrection spells which are not available to the Friar.

Enhancement spells are spells that buff yourself or your Realmmates. Friars base-line buffs, which they share with Clerics, are fairly useful. They had more oomph to them in the past, however the revamping of the buff system weakened them. Friar buffs are almost all Concentration based. This means the effect is Permanent so long as the target is within range of the Friar and neither character dies or zones. Friars can cancel any concentration buff they have cast at will and the effect may be cancelled by the target as well. Friars spec line buffs include a self-only endurance regeneration chant, a self-haste shout, a self-only AF buff, self-only Absorption buffs, self-only endurance cost reducing shouts, and targetable Resistance buffs. The Resistance buffs make a Friar much more desired in groups and in RvR, where Elemental damage is very common and hard to defend against. The Absorption buff adds dramatically to the Friar’s ability to survive as a tank. Both of these spell lines were added as of Version 1.46, and have completely changed the face of Friar specialization.

Parry is exactly what it sounds like. The ability to block the attacks of others with your weapon. There are reports that Parry is somewhat broken with two handed weapons, but this is not certain. Defensive abilities are defensive abilities, and Friars need as many as they can get. Parry begins at a 5% chance to parry (versus a blue target) with an increase of .5% per point added to the skill.

Staff is the class defining skill of the Friar. This is their only offensive skill they have, and is one of the most important lines for the class. Putting points in this improves the damage range of your attacks and provides you with Styles to use against your enemies.

Friars receive 1.5 skill points per level. Previous to version 1.46, they only received 1 point per level, and the Enhancement line was incredibly broken. The endurance line of spells were all endurance regens, and the higher level ones were worse than the first spell in the set. There was no Absorption buff nor any Resistance buffs. The self haste was a chant that was debatable in it’s usefulness as you could not use both it and the endurance regen at the same time. Most chose endurance over Haste. With the addition of the new spells and the fixes to the existing ones, it was apparent that there were too many skills a Friar needed to use with too few points to spend. So, they have had their skill point allotment increased.

The Friar community is divided on what they feel the best possible use of their skill points is. Many now agree that boosting up Enhancement is a must. 44 in Enhancement gets the final Absorption buff (15%) and all but the last set of Resistance buffs. Most Friars want at least 2/3 spec in Staff (which is around 34 total) to maximize their damage potential. Many want more (39 or higher) to get more styles. The Friar community is of two minds on Rejuvenation. Some feel that it is not important at all, while others feel it is the second most important line for a Friar. Most agree that at least some points in Rejuvenation are needed, many going to 15 for the improved Revive, others going to 25 to get a larger spec heal and to reduce the wide variance on their base line heals. Most all Friars agree that Parry is the least useful of the 4 skills, although they still recommend putting qutie a few points into it.

Specialization is a complex thing. For melee skills, normal damage is 50% to 100% of the damage for the weapon. If your specialization level in the weapon is ½ of your level, you will do between 75% to 125% of the damage of the weapon. Most melee characters try to reach 2/3 spec so that they can do consistently higher damage. Maxing a spec line is not really recommended, although with a weapon skill you will then do 100% to 150% of the damage of the weapon and full specialization!

For magic skills, the damage and healing range is much wider. It can go as low as 25% of the spells listed amount to 125% of the listed amount. The higher your spec level in relation to the spell cast, the more the range narrows. This is the reason why many advocate going to 50% spec in Rejuvenation, as your maximum variance will then be between 75% to 125% of the spells listed amount. This is very important for Friars, because they can only have one spell per healing line ever. Older spells are overwritten by their more powerful versions when they gain levels and add spec points.

How should you spec your Friar? Do you solo almost exclusively? Do you group with others constantly? Do you tend to heal a lot, or are you on the front lines showing your enemies the light by smashing their skulls with your staff?

Solo Friars will want to have high Staff skills, high Enhancement, and high Parry. Rejuvenation is not really a major issue for these Friars, as they will only be healing in between battles. One possible spec set could be as follows:

Enhancement: 45 (final self AF buff)
Rejuvenation: 1
Staff: 39 (all but two styles learned)
Parry: 28 (18.5% chance to parry)


Another version of the Staff spec Friar maxes out Staff. One possible way to do this is below.


Enhancement: 43
Rejuvenation: 1
Staff: 50
Parry: 1


This is an incredibly focused character. For groups, you will need to make certain they understand you aren't going to be the one doing the healing. You can help in a pinch, but there better be someone else around who can heal.

The second version is missing the final self Absorb buff, meaning they get at most a 20% absorption rate from blows. This is good, especially with Evade V, but still not as effective as it could be.

Grouping Friars come in a few different flavors. You have melee-centric friars(similar to above, but with less parry and some Rejuvenation for times they need to heal the group) and more balanced Friars. You could conceivably have a purely defensive/healing Friar as well, however this is not an efficient way to play.

A healing Friar could look something like this:

Enhancement: 44 (final self Absorb buff)
Rejuvenation: 43 (final Large Heal)
Staff: 5 (the leftovers)
Parry: 23 (16% chance to parry)


This Friar would not be able to solo very well at all. Their damage variance would be huge and they would only have two combat styles. Their ability to Heal would be amazing for a Friar, however. A Rejuvenation specced Cleric would blow them out of the water on healing capabilities, however.

A more balanced grouping Friar could look something like this:

Enhancement: 44
Rejuvenation: 18 (midway through Large Heal line
Staff: 34 (styles up to Holy Staff)
Parry: 30 (19.5% chance to parry)


The Rejuvenation to 18 is an odd number to use. Most Friars think you should stop at 15 or go to 25. Stopping in between (even though you do hit a new Spec heal at 18) is pretty odd since your base heal at 50 will consistently heal for much more than your Spec heal will at this level.

Many grouping Friars don’t worry about Parry at all. It is an afterthought to them, since in a good group you will not be drawing the majority of the monsters attention. So a different balanced Friar is shown below.

Enhancement: 49 (every spell in list)
Rejuvenation: 25
Staff: 34
Parry: 12 (10.5% chance to parry)


How you use your Spec points is entirely up to you. You should see what sort of gaming experience you have, as well as how you gain experience the most and how you are most comfortable playing before making a decision on how to spend your points.

************************************************** ********************************


Class Guide: Friar

Spell Lines
Basic Rejuvination
0 Rejuvenation Acolyte base Healing abilities
1 Minor Rejuvenation Small heal
3 Minor Regeneracy
5 Minor Relief
8 Minor Restoration
11 Minor Recuperation
14 Minor Renewal
18 Minor Revival
23 Minor Resuscitation
29 Minor Reviction
37 Minor Refection
47 Minor Refocillation
10 Revive Resurrect with few hitpoints
15 Angelic Commendation Group heal
25 Angelic Benediction
35 Angelic Blessing
45 Angelic Approbation
4 Regeneracy Normal heal
6 Relief
9 Restoration
12 Recuperation
16 Renewal
21 Revival
27 Resuscitation
31 Reviction
36 Refection
46 Refocillation

Specialization Rejuvination
0 Rejuvenation Spec Abilities Gained by both Cleric and Friar
5 Major Restoration Large heal
8 Major Recuperation
11 Major Renewal
14 Major Revival
18 Major Resuscitation
25 Major Reviction
33 Major Refection
43 Major Refocillation
15 Raise Fallen Resurrect with low hitpoints
6 Cure Poison
7 Cure Disease


Basic Enhancement
0 Enhancement Basic Enhancement abilities for both Friars and Clerics
3 Blessed Strength Strength buff
7 Blessed Potency
14 Blessed Power
20 Holy Strength
30 Holy Potency
41 Holy Power
50 Holy Might
2 Aura of Shielding Armor factor buff
5 Greater Aura of Shielding
10 Aura of Defense
16 Greater Aura of Defense
22 Aura of Guarding
31 Greater Aura of Guarding
42 Aura of Deflection
8 Blessed Dexterity Dex buff
13 Blessed Agility
19 Blessed Coordination
28 Holy Dexterity
38 Holy Agility
48 Holy Coordination
6 Blessing of Health Constitution buff
11 Benison of Health
15 Benediction of Health
24 Blessing of Fortitude
33 Benison of Fortitude
43 Benediction of Fortitude


Specialization Enhancement
0 Friar Enhanement Spec Friar specific enhancement spec abilities
1 Shield of Faith Self AF Buff
3 Shield of Piety
7 Shield of Devotion
11 Shield of Grace
16 Shield ofJustice
24 Shield of Zeal
33 Shield of Holiness
45 Shield of the Sanctified
2 Saint's Vigor "Self Fatigue regen
12 Saint's Energy
22 Saint's Stamina
32 Saint's Persistence
42 Saint's Tenacity
5 Speed of the Angel "Self attack speed buff
10 Haste of the Angel
15 Alacrity of the Angel
23 Speed of the Archangel
30 Haste of the Archangel
38 Alacrity of the Archangel
47 Alacrity of the Heavenly Hostscombat

************************************************** ************************

Conditions of your Equipment - Very important
Equipment condition is a big issue. Each item you wear will break down over time, meaning it will tear, break, it can even be destroyed permanently if you do not take care of it. Right clicking on an item will display all of the information about it. You can see the item's quality as well as the item's condition. Make sure the condition of your items remains above 90% or it will begin to break down to the point where it is useless not only to yourself, but to your ability to take damage as well. You'll find that if you hit 90% the game will warn you of the condition of your armor and which piece, but it is good to always take it to a smith for repairs, or even repair it yourself by dropping it on the ground, targeting it, and typing /repair. Though, you can only do this if you are a tradeskiller of that type of armor.
Smiths charge a small fee to repair armor. To take your items to a smith, simply remove the item from your body and click it on the smith. He will charge you for the item's repairs and it will go back to the slot it came from in 100% conditition.