Technomancer
31-07-2009, 10:17
The Cleric
Background:
After the fall of the Church of Zakarum to Mephisto's dark influence and it's following destruction, followers of the Light around the world were shook to their core. The Paladin that defeated Mephisto became a beacon of incorruptible Light, and the Paladin's of Westmarch made the long trek to Kurast to rebuild Zakarum. The source of Zakarum's corruption and the Paladin's resilience to it was in how they believed the Light should be spread across the world. The Zakarum believed in forcing it upon the world, where the Paladins believed that the role of the Light was to protect and defend Sanctuary, not dominate it. Apparently, the Paladins were right.
The Paladin that defeated Mephisto became High Templar and formed the new Church of Khalimnis, named after the one former Zakarum Priest that could not be turned from the Light. The work was hard and took many years, but Kurast eventually became a beacon of Light once more. Many people flocked the new Church of Khalimnis, including a young man Westmarch who as a child had actually met the High Templar before the Prime Evils emerged 20 years ago. He began training to become a Khalimnic Cleric not even a decade after the Fall of Zakarum. He progressed quickly and the High Templar himself came to hold him in high regard.
The High Templar was a wise and charitable, if solemn, leader. As the rebuilding slowly wound down, the dark cloud that seemed follow him grew darker and darker. His trials against the Prime Evils had not left him unscarred, and his relentless work building the Church of Khalimnis seemed to be the only thing keeping his own demons at bay. 2 years ago, the High Templar left the Church. He left word to the Conclave that he felt a new darkness coming on the horizon and he was leaving to investigate. He has not been heard from since. A member of the Conclave was chosen to act as High Templar in his absense and the new opening in the Conclave was filled by the Cleric that had impressed the High Templar, amongst many others. He felt that it was the responsibility of the Conclave to follow the former leader's lead and begin investigating, but his suggestion was met lukewarmly. Many had began to wonder about the former leader's stability, and dismissed his warning. The new Conclave member and others still believed in him and began keeping an ear to the ground and an eye on the horizon.
One day, they saw the sign they were looking for: A falling star on the western sky. The Cleric that had spoken on behalf of the High Templar packed his things, grabbed his warhammer, and set off to unravel this coming storm...
Skills:
This character is a split caster/melee attacker that draws down the powers of Light upon the forces of Evil. This character can deal a new element of damage: Holy damage. On critical strikes, Holy damage causes the target to be blinded. He can cast direct attack magics, use augmented combat skills, and summon divine spirits to aid in his conquering of the Darkness. Clerics prefer blunt weapons, as wanton bloodshed is not fully in line with their beliefs of protection and benevolence.
Purification tree: These skills are typically spells that focus on Holy and Fire damage. There is also an emphasis on dealing with undead and demons directly. Spells that draw down energy from "above" work even underground, because the power is of other-planar origin.
Tier I:
Holy Bolt: Active. Spell. A familiar spell that has been upgraded to affect all foes, but passives enhance damage to undead/demons. It's altered power has a price though: it no longer heals allies.
Lighting the Darkness: Passive. Increases Light radius.
Fear No Evil: Passive. Decreases the amount of damage taken from demonic and undead foes.
Burning Light: Passive. Increases the damage of all skills in the Purification tree.
Tier II:
Firestorm: Active. Spell. Summons down blaze of fire from the sky that hits all foes within area of effect.
Crystal Shards: Active. Spell. Creates a number of crystals that fly around character. Each shard is charged with power that causes Holy damage upon striking a foe. The Crystals last for xx seconds, damaging any foes they strike.
Soul Wrack: Passive. Increases the damage that Holy damage inflicts on demons and undead.
Cleansed Soul: Passive. decreases the mana cost of all Purification skills.
Tier III:
Motes of Light: Active. Spell. Causes moving beams of Light from above to move around within area of effect, causing Holy damage to any foes hit by them. Lasts xx seconds and area travels with caster.
Exorcism: Active. Spell. When cast, affects a single undead or demonic target instantly, causing severe damage.
Flash: Passive. When attacked, has a chance of retaliating with a blast of Holy power around the character.
Fire in the Sky: Passive. Allows Firestorm to last for a duration, continuing to cause damage. Also increases Fire damage from Sunbeam.
Dominion: Passive. Gives Exorcism the ability to affect an area. The radius grows with Rank.
Tier IV:
Sunbeam: Active. Spell. Creates a beam of intense light originating from caster that causes constant damage to any foes caught in it's way. Lasts as long as button is held down, but cannot be re-aimed without re-casting. Causes half Holy, half Fire damage.
Divine Oppression: Active. Spell. Foes within area of effect are afflicted with the pain and guilt of their past and current sins, decreasing attack speed and accuracy for xx seconds.
Banishment: Passive. Enhances Exorcism, adding a chance of instantly destroying undead or demonic target. Does not work on bosses or super-uniques (using D2 terminology).
Sol Dominae: Passive. Increases the width of the beam produced by Sunbeam and the size of the blast from Flash.
Piercing Light: Passive. Decreases foe's Holy Resistance to character's attacks.
Defender tree: These skills focus on Melee combat and fortitude in defense of the weak. Attacks can be augmented by Divine power. The cleric is reluctant to spill blood and therefore has trained extensively in the use of blunt weapons and is quite proficient in them.
Tier I:
Focused Blow: Active: Melee attack. When mouse button is held down, power is charged and stored until mouse is released. When released, deals an attack on foe that is more powerful depending on how long it was charged. Character will automatically move while mouse is down, so can be charging while seeking out another foe.
Divine Armament: Active. Spell. Enchants weapons, even of allies, to add Holy damage and increase accuracy. Lasts xxx seconds.
Fortitude: Passive. Increases Defense rating and Physical resistance.
Endurance: Passive. Decreases the adverse effects of heavy gear on movement speed and (if applicable) reduce stamina drain from running.
Divine Might: Passive. Increases the damage caused by all skills in the Defender tree.
Tier II:
Weapon Toss: Active. Missile attack. Throws melee weapon at foe which immediately after impact reappears in wielders hand. Deals increased damage, but weapon is gone until hitting a foe or going out of range.
Shield of Righteousness: Active. Spell. Summons a shield of Divine power that either augments an existing shield or creates a disembodied shield that floats near the caster, intercepting attacks as if a shield was in use. It's bonus to a shield is the extent of it's power when used alone. Lasts xxx seconds.
Crushing Mastery: Passive. Increases the attack power and speed of blunt weapons.
Succor: Passive. When attacked, has a small chance of causing the attacker to stop attacking the character for a time, either picking a new target or just standing still. The affect is canceled if the character attacks the affected foe before the duration expires. Doesn't work on bosses or super-uniques.
Fast Focus: Passive. Increases the charge speed of Focused Blow.
Tier III:
Retribution: Active. Melee attack. When hurt, the Cleric can draws on his own life force and will to live to deliver an attack that causes more damage, has higher accuracy, and increased critical hit chance. The power of this attack is increased the more hurt the Cleric is. Critical hits also greatly increase defense.
Draw Fire: Active. Spell. When cast on allies or hirelings, adds a chance that when a foe attacks them, they will re-target the caster instead. The chance increases the lower the targets Health is. Between this and Succor, a foe could wind up quite confused!
Force Shield: Passive. Enhances Shield of Righteousness, increasing it's power without a shield. Has no impact if a real shield is also used.
Redemption: Passive. Adds a chance that if Succor takes affect, the foe will actually start fighting on the characters side for the duration.
Tier IV:
Hammer of Ghrab Thaar: Active. Melee attack. Summon the same Blessed Hammer from D2 to enchant a blunt melee weapon with it's power. It adds Holy damage to attacks. This skill is used per attack.
Flying Hammer: Passive. Augments Hammer of Ghrab Thaar, adding a chance of causing a hammer to spin away from target around caster, making a full rotation, dealing Holy damage to any enemies hit. At the end, it will hit the original foe again, if still in place. Basically a one spin Blessed Hammer that doesn't go outward.
Disruption: Passive. Adds a chance on critical strikes from skills in this tree that undead foes are destroyed outright.
Alacrity: Passive. Increases attack speed. Also increases flight speed of Flying Hammers and Weapon Toss.
Spirit tree: Skills in this tree primarily involve calling heavenly spirits to act as Auras, conferring their affect on the caster (Passives can increase their effect beyond the caster). Spirits last for xxx seconds, depending on skills. Only one spirit can be in affect at a time.
Tier I:
Guardian Spirit: Active. Reduces the chance that hostile conditions can affect the caster, and if they do, decreases their duration.
Warrior Spirit: Active. Increases combat accuracy and the physical damage done by caster.
Piety: Passive. Increases resistance to Arcane magic and adds some absorption of Holy magic as well.
Invoking the Spirit: Passive. Increases the strength of all spirits, even the Guardian Angel.
Tier II:
Burning Spirit: Active. Causes Holy damage to all foes within range.
Restless Spirit: Active. Increases attack speed, movement speed, and flight speed of all projectiles.
Constitution: Passive. Enhances Guardian Spirit, adding resistance to poison and decreasing it's duration when in affect.
Communion: Passive. Decreases the mana cost of Spirit skills.
Tier III:
Avenging Spirit: Active. Increases the elemental (Fire, Ice, Lightning) and Holy damage done by the caster. Will not impact Arcane Damage.
Defending Spirit: Active. Increases defense rating and elemental resistances (Fire, Ice, Lightning) of the caster.
Benevolence: Passive. Enhances Guardian Spirit and Defending Spirit, causing the effects to extend beyond the user. Also adds Health Regeneration to Guardian Spirit.
Hellfire: Passive. Enhances Burning Spirit, adding Fire damage to the aura.
Tier IV:
Guardian Angel: Active. Summons an Angel to fly around and protect the caster. When summoned, whatever Spirit the character has active is passed onto the Guardian Angel, staying active on it until destroyed or re-summoned and determining it's attack style. The Angel will either attack with a bow (no Spirits, Guardian Spirit, Restless Spirit), a sword (Warrior Spirit, Defending Spirit), or Holy Bolts (Burning Spirit, Avenging Spirit). Holy Bolt damage is as if cast by the character. Spirits in affect on the Angel are as if used by the caster, ie. Rank, passives like Malevolence, etc. The Guardian Angel can take damage and be destroyed, but otherwise lasts indefinitely.
Malevolence: Passive. Enhances Warrior Spirit, Restless Spirit, and Avenging Spirit, causing the effects to extend beyond the user.
Infravision: Passive. This skill allows the character to sense the life-forces of foes behind walls and out of vision range. Increasing Ranks increase the vision range.
Enhanced Invocation: Passive. Increases the duration of all spirits.
Notes: I know given the back story that healing spells would be in order, but Blizz has said :nono:. Also, I know some are going to just say "Pally clone". While that's not entirely UNTRUE, this has more focus on spells and the skills are quite different than any Pally skills.
This is probably the last new character I'm going to do, because I'm pretty much out of ideas now for classes I'd be really excited about. Too, the new ladder SHOULD (!!!!!!!) start soon, so I'll be busy with that! That's not to say I won't be updating this and my other classes, though. I'd like to put them up on the wiki too, if they ever get it working again! ;)
Background:
After the fall of the Church of Zakarum to Mephisto's dark influence and it's following destruction, followers of the Light around the world were shook to their core. The Paladin that defeated Mephisto became a beacon of incorruptible Light, and the Paladin's of Westmarch made the long trek to Kurast to rebuild Zakarum. The source of Zakarum's corruption and the Paladin's resilience to it was in how they believed the Light should be spread across the world. The Zakarum believed in forcing it upon the world, where the Paladins believed that the role of the Light was to protect and defend Sanctuary, not dominate it. Apparently, the Paladins were right.
The Paladin that defeated Mephisto became High Templar and formed the new Church of Khalimnis, named after the one former Zakarum Priest that could not be turned from the Light. The work was hard and took many years, but Kurast eventually became a beacon of Light once more. Many people flocked the new Church of Khalimnis, including a young man Westmarch who as a child had actually met the High Templar before the Prime Evils emerged 20 years ago. He began training to become a Khalimnic Cleric not even a decade after the Fall of Zakarum. He progressed quickly and the High Templar himself came to hold him in high regard.
The High Templar was a wise and charitable, if solemn, leader. As the rebuilding slowly wound down, the dark cloud that seemed follow him grew darker and darker. His trials against the Prime Evils had not left him unscarred, and his relentless work building the Church of Khalimnis seemed to be the only thing keeping his own demons at bay. 2 years ago, the High Templar left the Church. He left word to the Conclave that he felt a new darkness coming on the horizon and he was leaving to investigate. He has not been heard from since. A member of the Conclave was chosen to act as High Templar in his absense and the new opening in the Conclave was filled by the Cleric that had impressed the High Templar, amongst many others. He felt that it was the responsibility of the Conclave to follow the former leader's lead and begin investigating, but his suggestion was met lukewarmly. Many had began to wonder about the former leader's stability, and dismissed his warning. The new Conclave member and others still believed in him and began keeping an ear to the ground and an eye on the horizon.
One day, they saw the sign they were looking for: A falling star on the western sky. The Cleric that had spoken on behalf of the High Templar packed his things, grabbed his warhammer, and set off to unravel this coming storm...
Skills:
This character is a split caster/melee attacker that draws down the powers of Light upon the forces of Evil. This character can deal a new element of damage: Holy damage. On critical strikes, Holy damage causes the target to be blinded. He can cast direct attack magics, use augmented combat skills, and summon divine spirits to aid in his conquering of the Darkness. Clerics prefer blunt weapons, as wanton bloodshed is not fully in line with their beliefs of protection and benevolence.
Purification tree: These skills are typically spells that focus on Holy and Fire damage. There is also an emphasis on dealing with undead and demons directly. Spells that draw down energy from "above" work even underground, because the power is of other-planar origin.
Tier I:
Holy Bolt: Active. Spell. A familiar spell that has been upgraded to affect all foes, but passives enhance damage to undead/demons. It's altered power has a price though: it no longer heals allies.
Lighting the Darkness: Passive. Increases Light radius.
Fear No Evil: Passive. Decreases the amount of damage taken from demonic and undead foes.
Burning Light: Passive. Increases the damage of all skills in the Purification tree.
Tier II:
Firestorm: Active. Spell. Summons down blaze of fire from the sky that hits all foes within area of effect.
Crystal Shards: Active. Spell. Creates a number of crystals that fly around character. Each shard is charged with power that causes Holy damage upon striking a foe. The Crystals last for xx seconds, damaging any foes they strike.
Soul Wrack: Passive. Increases the damage that Holy damage inflicts on demons and undead.
Cleansed Soul: Passive. decreases the mana cost of all Purification skills.
Tier III:
Motes of Light: Active. Spell. Causes moving beams of Light from above to move around within area of effect, causing Holy damage to any foes hit by them. Lasts xx seconds and area travels with caster.
Exorcism: Active. Spell. When cast, affects a single undead or demonic target instantly, causing severe damage.
Flash: Passive. When attacked, has a chance of retaliating with a blast of Holy power around the character.
Fire in the Sky: Passive. Allows Firestorm to last for a duration, continuing to cause damage. Also increases Fire damage from Sunbeam.
Dominion: Passive. Gives Exorcism the ability to affect an area. The radius grows with Rank.
Tier IV:
Sunbeam: Active. Spell. Creates a beam of intense light originating from caster that causes constant damage to any foes caught in it's way. Lasts as long as button is held down, but cannot be re-aimed without re-casting. Causes half Holy, half Fire damage.
Divine Oppression: Active. Spell. Foes within area of effect are afflicted with the pain and guilt of their past and current sins, decreasing attack speed and accuracy for xx seconds.
Banishment: Passive. Enhances Exorcism, adding a chance of instantly destroying undead or demonic target. Does not work on bosses or super-uniques (using D2 terminology).
Sol Dominae: Passive. Increases the width of the beam produced by Sunbeam and the size of the blast from Flash.
Piercing Light: Passive. Decreases foe's Holy Resistance to character's attacks.
Defender tree: These skills focus on Melee combat and fortitude in defense of the weak. Attacks can be augmented by Divine power. The cleric is reluctant to spill blood and therefore has trained extensively in the use of blunt weapons and is quite proficient in them.
Tier I:
Focused Blow: Active: Melee attack. When mouse button is held down, power is charged and stored until mouse is released. When released, deals an attack on foe that is more powerful depending on how long it was charged. Character will automatically move while mouse is down, so can be charging while seeking out another foe.
Divine Armament: Active. Spell. Enchants weapons, even of allies, to add Holy damage and increase accuracy. Lasts xxx seconds.
Fortitude: Passive. Increases Defense rating and Physical resistance.
Endurance: Passive. Decreases the adverse effects of heavy gear on movement speed and (if applicable) reduce stamina drain from running.
Divine Might: Passive. Increases the damage caused by all skills in the Defender tree.
Tier II:
Weapon Toss: Active. Missile attack. Throws melee weapon at foe which immediately after impact reappears in wielders hand. Deals increased damage, but weapon is gone until hitting a foe or going out of range.
Shield of Righteousness: Active. Spell. Summons a shield of Divine power that either augments an existing shield or creates a disembodied shield that floats near the caster, intercepting attacks as if a shield was in use. It's bonus to a shield is the extent of it's power when used alone. Lasts xxx seconds.
Crushing Mastery: Passive. Increases the attack power and speed of blunt weapons.
Succor: Passive. When attacked, has a small chance of causing the attacker to stop attacking the character for a time, either picking a new target or just standing still. The affect is canceled if the character attacks the affected foe before the duration expires. Doesn't work on bosses or super-uniques.
Fast Focus: Passive. Increases the charge speed of Focused Blow.
Tier III:
Retribution: Active. Melee attack. When hurt, the Cleric can draws on his own life force and will to live to deliver an attack that causes more damage, has higher accuracy, and increased critical hit chance. The power of this attack is increased the more hurt the Cleric is. Critical hits also greatly increase defense.
Draw Fire: Active. Spell. When cast on allies or hirelings, adds a chance that when a foe attacks them, they will re-target the caster instead. The chance increases the lower the targets Health is. Between this and Succor, a foe could wind up quite confused!
Force Shield: Passive. Enhances Shield of Righteousness, increasing it's power without a shield. Has no impact if a real shield is also used.
Redemption: Passive. Adds a chance that if Succor takes affect, the foe will actually start fighting on the characters side for the duration.
Tier IV:
Hammer of Ghrab Thaar: Active. Melee attack. Summon the same Blessed Hammer from D2 to enchant a blunt melee weapon with it's power. It adds Holy damage to attacks. This skill is used per attack.
Flying Hammer: Passive. Augments Hammer of Ghrab Thaar, adding a chance of causing a hammer to spin away from target around caster, making a full rotation, dealing Holy damage to any enemies hit. At the end, it will hit the original foe again, if still in place. Basically a one spin Blessed Hammer that doesn't go outward.
Disruption: Passive. Adds a chance on critical strikes from skills in this tree that undead foes are destroyed outright.
Alacrity: Passive. Increases attack speed. Also increases flight speed of Flying Hammers and Weapon Toss.
Spirit tree: Skills in this tree primarily involve calling heavenly spirits to act as Auras, conferring their affect on the caster (Passives can increase their effect beyond the caster). Spirits last for xxx seconds, depending on skills. Only one spirit can be in affect at a time.
Tier I:
Guardian Spirit: Active. Reduces the chance that hostile conditions can affect the caster, and if they do, decreases their duration.
Warrior Spirit: Active. Increases combat accuracy and the physical damage done by caster.
Piety: Passive. Increases resistance to Arcane magic and adds some absorption of Holy magic as well.
Invoking the Spirit: Passive. Increases the strength of all spirits, even the Guardian Angel.
Tier II:
Burning Spirit: Active. Causes Holy damage to all foes within range.
Restless Spirit: Active. Increases attack speed, movement speed, and flight speed of all projectiles.
Constitution: Passive. Enhances Guardian Spirit, adding resistance to poison and decreasing it's duration when in affect.
Communion: Passive. Decreases the mana cost of Spirit skills.
Tier III:
Avenging Spirit: Active. Increases the elemental (Fire, Ice, Lightning) and Holy damage done by the caster. Will not impact Arcane Damage.
Defending Spirit: Active. Increases defense rating and elemental resistances (Fire, Ice, Lightning) of the caster.
Benevolence: Passive. Enhances Guardian Spirit and Defending Spirit, causing the effects to extend beyond the user. Also adds Health Regeneration to Guardian Spirit.
Hellfire: Passive. Enhances Burning Spirit, adding Fire damage to the aura.
Tier IV:
Guardian Angel: Active. Summons an Angel to fly around and protect the caster. When summoned, whatever Spirit the character has active is passed onto the Guardian Angel, staying active on it until destroyed or re-summoned and determining it's attack style. The Angel will either attack with a bow (no Spirits, Guardian Spirit, Restless Spirit), a sword (Warrior Spirit, Defending Spirit), or Holy Bolts (Burning Spirit, Avenging Spirit). Holy Bolt damage is as if cast by the character. Spirits in affect on the Angel are as if used by the caster, ie. Rank, passives like Malevolence, etc. The Guardian Angel can take damage and be destroyed, but otherwise lasts indefinitely.
Malevolence: Passive. Enhances Warrior Spirit, Restless Spirit, and Avenging Spirit, causing the effects to extend beyond the user.
Infravision: Passive. This skill allows the character to sense the life-forces of foes behind walls and out of vision range. Increasing Ranks increase the vision range.
Enhanced Invocation: Passive. Increases the duration of all spirits.
Notes: I know given the back story that healing spells would be in order, but Blizz has said :nono:. Also, I know some are going to just say "Pally clone". While that's not entirely UNTRUE, this has more focus on spells and the skills are quite different than any Pally skills.
This is probably the last new character I'm going to do, because I'm pretty much out of ideas now for classes I'd be really excited about. Too, the new ladder SHOULD (!!!!!!!) start soon, so I'll be busy with that! That's not to say I won't be updating this and my other classes, though. I'd like to put them up on the wiki too, if they ever get it working again! ;)