Class Templates - Confessor |
This is a confessor guide written by -Scite, lvl 55 Confessor
on the Mourning Server.
While I did not write this, I did edit it for accuracy and readability. Enjoy!
A Confessor can only be a human healer. Some say that the Confessor is the only profession a human has any business being, as any race can do any other profession better.
The most important attribute to a Confessor is his intelligence. Secondly is his spirit and thirdly is his constitution. Thus, one should remove 5 points from dexterity and strength at creation.
I would advise to take the runes 'Brilliant Mind' and 'Wizard's Apprentice' and nothing more. All remaining points (Of which there should be 20) should be put into intelligence.
The reason why I advise taking Wizard's apprentice is that as a r5, 5 less constitution or spirit will not effect you so much as +10 intelligence will assist you. It is a fine line, and a good argument can be made for not taking it. Some would advise to not take any rune at all. However, I am maximizing my strengths with this build (damage output).
Levels 1 to 20 will be the hardest levels for you to gain until levels 50-60. Many people gloss over this time in character development, yet I realize there are those who have a difficult time on newbie island. I also know that this is the stage in which most training points are wasted. Hence, I will offer what direction I can.
To begin, know that from levels 1-20 you will suck. You will function primarily as a healer on newbie island, and you will do that poorly. Your hammer, block and medium armor will let you hold your own, yet your damage output will be terrible to just about any other melee class. Your best bet is to grit your teeth and get in some big groups and pretty much leach your way to level 18 when you get Brand the Wicked. You should also get Purgation as well. After level 18, you should never swing a hammer or play a support role EVER again.
From levels 21-35, you will most likely spend your time around Kings Cross, Khar, or leaching off the farming groups of guildmates. If you level around KC or Khar, get used to drawing aggro. You should never swing a weapon at any creature, and should be in offensive stance at all times. In offensive, Blessed Mending goes from mediocore, to being a fast casting awesome 50% better heal and inspiration is 50% more effective, and BtW does 50% more damage.
At this stage, you will learn that your participation in groups will consist of you A) Casting Purgation on creatures, B) Repeatedly chain-nuking them with Brand C) Drawing aggro and casting BM to efficiently keep yourself alive if you're using a shield and medium armor and D) Using Inspiration to convert health to mana, then healing yourself and being ready to go. Inspiration needs to reach 20-25 to be able to efficiently work in even dire emergencies. Until then, you may find yourself sitting after close calls.
Realize that most barbarians and warriors are too stupid to tank. They will rarely use challenge. Just live with it. Focus on one critter at a time as you should rarely ever have more then one on you, UNLESS, you make the mistake of trying to heal someone.
From levels 36-60, you will be hunting with guildmates. Doing mostly the same thing, but with people who (hopefully) know their roles better and that you (hopefully) care about. My best advice at this stage in your character development is upon choosing a guild to give it all you can. It is the singlemost rewarding experience in SB. People who constantly reroll without ever feeling what it is like to be apart of something bigger then themselves /after/ Khar and KC, are missing half the fun.
You will want to find yourself a +150 attack hammer immediately. Preferably, you will want something like a Baron's Royal Scepter of Genius, that will give +150 to attack and +10 to intelligence. The +150 to attack hammer is absolutely essential because it increases your spell's attack rating as well. Granted, you'll never swing it, but it is utterly required. Even after your Thaumaturgy is fully raised.
As for jewelry, mana regeneration items are optional, and only if they come with something you need besides mana regeneration. What you really want are items that add to intelligence or Thaumaturgy. At one time, I was wearing 5 +10 intelligence items. You'll find plenty of them in most sizable player cities. Just keep your eyes open. You'll want a 95% or 100% shield that gives a good blocking bonus. For armor, you should set a goal towards acquiring a full set of Confessor armor. It is the best medium armor you have access to, though Imperial is nice and 100% as well, it is not as good either. Finding a pair of windlords is reasonably important as well.
You should not train any skill until your intelligence is maxed at 120. In fact, you should put every skillpoint you get into intelligence until this is so. It will not take long. This is so that you do not overspend. Though, it will hardly justify a reroll if you misplace 5-10 points. Even 20-40. Though, you should restrain yourself.
After intelligence is maxed at 120, start maxing spirit to 95.
After spirit
is maxed at 95, start maxing constitution to 95.
After constitution is maxed
at 95, cease spending training points.
At this stage you have a decision to
make.
How much strength do you want to carry loot, in comparison to how much intelligence you may want. Chances are, you will have +10 intelligence and +10 spirit items out the wazoo by the time you even reach this decision, so you might choose strength. You'll make more money from being able to carry items, and some people are compulsive looters. Personally, I advise having just enough strength to wear full medium armor, carry a 100% shield and a scepter and no more. You may be able to do this without ever putting a point into strength. Barely. Don't worry about spirit once it is at 95. Intelligence is all that will matter. To be realistic however, base your skill allocation around a base intelligence of 120 rather then 160. Or else you'll be rank 5 and doing horrible without the right equipment for the sake of saving 10 points you probably wasted in blessing of dexterity anyhow.
After intelligence is at 120, you should feel free to put points into hammer,
block and medium armor.
You will eventually want hammer at 69%. This level of scepter will have all the effects you will ever need. I would say lower, as you can buff yourself in order to equip a weapon, yet, should that 'exploit' be fixed, you will be screwed. So I will advise training hammer to 69%. In the rare case you find a hammer better then 69% that you just have to have (Though, if you do, it will merely mean you did not look hard enough for scepters below it) you can raise it. Sometimes, we've just got to have that +20 intelligence, +30% mana recovery scepter right NOW.
Block should be taken to 110-120% to utilize the best shields and have a good blocking chance. Block WILL save your life many times. Don't ignore it. Consider it a must.
Medium armor should be taken to 100% so as to wear excellent Confessor-only armor. Again, you can get by with lower, yet why let your character's fate hinge on a exploit that can be fixed anytime in the future. Do NOT neglect Medium armor. Some people will stay with robes so as to save points. They only need to do this because they wasted points in other areas. A confessor without confessor armor (or equilivant 100% medium armor) is gimp. I.E, not at his fullest potential. That 50%+ slashing resist with a full suit of armor (possibly more if magical) will be all the difference next time a raged minotaur barbarian hits you for 250ish points of damage instead of 500+.
Thaumaturgy. This is easy. Keep raising it until it costs 2 pts to bring it up once. Even then, you might want to boost it a bit more. This will depend on how many points you didn't waste. Thaumaturgy is the difference between a spell landing or hitting. Even a difference of 50 in attack rating will make a noticable impact.
Benediction should be taken to 69 to receive summon. If you decide to not raise benediction enough to take summon you will be doing a disservice to yourself and your guild. At the very LEAST, its an easy way to make money in donations (though, I always summon for free). At best, it is an absolutely vital ability in times of war. Your guild will rightly be disgusted with you for choosing to ignore summon if you can have it.
Restoration should be taken to 64 so as to have access to Inspiration of the Zealot. More on this amazing spell later.
The Confessor has a wealth of spells to choose from. Some are obviously broken and need to be looked at. Some have been nerfed in beta and no longer applicable to modern PvP. As a whole, they have great depth and utility.
Blessed Protection: Avoid like the plague. Most newbie confessors (including myself) make the mistake of putting even a single train into this. The tiny defense boost it offers when GMed will not overcome the natural inclination for a confessor to be hit. Frankly, if you're fighting something that can't get past your defense that will not only be low to begin with, but even further lowered by offensive stance, you won't need this to help you kill it.
Blessing of Dexterity: When GMed, will give +50 dexterity for almost 20 minutes. Avoid it. Remember, this guide is about maximizing YOURSELF, not the dex monkey in your group. However, if you're smart in training allocation, you will be able to comfortably GM this.
Blessing of Strength: Same as above. It does not add to carry weight. Avoid.
Blessing of Health: Will boost Constitution by +50 when GMed. Get it. Very important for your survival in PvP. If you ever end a fight with this on below 500 hitpoints, it saved you from death.
Fortitude: Poison resistance buff. Not worth more then 1 train. You will never use it anyways despite it's limited utility.
Fortress of Faith: There is alot to be said about this particular Benediction spell. It requires you to put about 50 more training points into Benediction past the 69% you got for summon. Will make you invulnerable for 50 seconds when GMed. However to the best of my knowledge, you cannot attack either. If you can attack with it on, ask yourself if you are willing to not GM three other spells for 50 seconds of immunity. Fact is, by the time you even cast it, locate a target, and begin casting, it will already have ticked to 20 and start flashing. If you've ever played a barbarian, imagine rage lasting less then half as long. So it will basically be good for a quarter of a 1 on 1 duel, or the opening salvo of a guild war. Avoid like the plague.
Invoke the Sacred Flame: Fire resistance buff. Worth GMing if you find yourself fighting alot of Confessors. Thats really all there is to say about this spell. Channelers get a better group version so I'm told.
Prayers of Agility, Might and Vitality: Group versions of the earlier Blessings. Require higher benediction then 69. Thus, you should avoid.
Sermon of Fortitude: Group poison resistance buff. Avoid.
Sermon of the Sacred Flame: Group fire resistance buff. Don't bother.
Steadfast Congregation: Group damage shield. Sucks.
Steadfast Soul: There has been alot said about this personal spell. On paper, it appears to be the same as the Warlock or Wizard damage shields. However, unlike those, Steadfast Soul does not absorb more damage as you train it. Someone told me it did and I ended up wasting 20 training points. I believe this spell is bugged, as I find it hard to believe that at GM, its supposed to give 75% resists for only 200 points worth of damage. Basically, thats one hit at rank5. Not to mention, if you wear armor, putting more then 10 points into it is a waste, since the highest resists allowed is 75%. It starts at +17 to slash, pierce and crush at 1. It is +57 at 20. Useless if the damage it can take dosen't increase, since my armor gives me almost 50 base right off the bat.
Succor: Auto GMed resurrection. There are several better versions out there that Druids and Priests have access to.
Summon: Auto GMed at 69% benediction and level 25.
Blessed Mending: A absolute lifesaver. GMed in offensive stance, it will heal for about 150-350. Considering you will have about 1500 hitpoints at level 50 and that it has no cooldown and a very fast casting time, it will save your life innumerable times. Combined with Inspiration of the Zealot, it can make you nearly invulnerable in some circumstances. GM this.
Blessed Healing: Longer casting time. Annoying cooldown. Inefficient to use with Inspiration, or in last ditch situations. Avoid.
Inspiration of the Zealots: This is 'THE' Confessor spell. It's utility is unlimited. It will make your guild and groupmates stare at you with awe and envy. It is an almost immediate health to mana transfer. At lower levels, it is a pain, but 20-40, it is amazing. This will save your life. Many times I have found myself transferring health to mana, just for the mana to heal myself for twice what I took and still be able to nuke again. It costs 0 mana to cast. With this spell, you will never have to sit down ever again, except to get stamina back. Since you won't be swinging a hammer EVER, there is hardly a need for that. GM it. Though, it starts being VERY useful as soon as its at 25. Works great with GMed Blessed Mending. Less efficient with any other healing spell.
Inspire the Chosen: Allows you to transfer mana to someone else. Needs to be around 20 to be that effective. I recommend you don't bother with it. Afterall, the same people you'll be transferring mana to, will be the same ones who scoff at Inspiration saying their 120% mana regeneration is all they'll need. Yet they are still sitting down after the first two big fights. Guess what...You can't sit down in PvP. I've won MANY fights and attempted ganking, simply by being able to outlast anyone.
Kiss of the Martyr: Transfers health....And not that much health to begin with. If you really wanted to heal someone, why not heal them for three times as much with one blessed mending? Methinks this is best left alone. Very alone.
Prayer of Mending: Group heal. Don't bother. You are NOT a healer.
Repeat it with me...A Confessor is NOT a healer. If any group is relying on you to heal, you either gimped yourself by putting to much into heal, or there is going to be a dead Confessor or multiple groupmates coming right up. You are a hardcore, mean damage dealing machine who should be either nuking critters and other players into oblivion and using Blessed Mending and Inspiration as utility spells to keep yourself nuking.
Brand the Wicked: The main weapon in your arsenal. A fire nuke. No cooldown, modest casting time. Incredible damage in offensive mode. Remember, not only does a Confessor's GMed offensive stance give +50% to damage, they can move around all they want. A fighter's armor won't save him, and a caster's HPs will disintegrate under the sustained barrage of Brand. With an intelligence rune, and intelligence gear, expect to do 200-600 damage a hit with this baby at r5-6. GM it!
Contrition: A health drain DoT. Its efficiency increases as you raise it. GMed, you can cast it on something and start receiving 100 health a tick while their taking 100 damage. Inefficient as a heal, very useful in PvP. GM it.
Convert the Shadow: Charm undead...Need I say anything?
Curse the Darkness: A Undead-only, holy damage nuke. Hypothetically, if this was GMed, you could do like 700 damage a hit to an undead critter with a casting time faster then Brand, and half the mana cost. Unfortunately, there aren't any Undead critters worth killing until level 30, and none after level 40, and only in the right place. Avoid.
Defy the Witch: A nearly instaneous spell debuff. Unfortunately, despite being useful to remove that blind the Assassin that just cast on you, you will have to debuff your +50 constitution first. I know in most good groups, whether in PvP or PvE, you'll have like 6 friendly spells cast on you. You'll have to dispell all of them before getting to the one negative effect which will probably be nearly over by then. Defy the Witch does not dispell anything 'major'. It will not dispell most DoTs (Though, I've heard it will dispell magic based DoTs), nor will it dispell something like Wings of the Seraphin. It will however, remove snares and roots. Which can be a potential lifesaver. I would suggest GMing it, as I've found it to be remarkably useful when taken by surprise and in one on one fights. Its incredibly amusing to click on someone and remove all their buffs in a few seconds. As I noted earlier, its cast time is nearly instant with zero cooldown. You do not want to be snared, rooted or blinded for 60 seconds when being ganked or trying to get away. If I have blessing of health on in the middle of a big fight, I'll just stop and lay down a beating on whoever caught my attention without bothering to remove the ill effect.
Flames of Retribution: Fire damage shield. Weak damage. Weak duration. Avoid.
Purgation: Poison DoT and snare. GMed, it can do sizable poison damage a tick over 30 seconds, and lower someone's movement by 60% for 60 seconds. Very useful. GM it.
Purge Wickedness: At GM, it will take 250 health from your target and give it to you. Long casting time, 12 second cooldown. If you need the health, you can get off 3 blessed mendings in the same time, or if you need to do damage, cast Brand. In Beta, this used to drain up to a 1000 hitpoints. Avoid nowadays.
Render Guilt: Area of effect strength debuff. Avoid.
Saint Malorn's Wrath: Personal Area of Effect fire damage. You will never use this in GvG because it will hit anyone who you're not grouped with and their pets. So you will rarely use it in PvE anyways. It has some use in certain solo PvE situations. For example, several confessors power-farming weak monsters. In my opinion, if you build your template right, you may be able to afford this as a luxury spell. In fact, people who wisely allocate training points often have the ability to take 1 or 2 luxuries. However, as of now, I consider it worth only a single point for the sole purpose of revealing nearby stealthers.
Sanction of the Temple: Worth 1 point for a 21 second root. Each training point thereafter will add 1 second. Not a good investment considering it breaks upon taking damage. The sizable casting time makes casting purgation more useful in almost any conceivable situation.
Sermon of Retribution:Group fire damage shield. Avoid.
The Redeemer's Blessing: Single Target Health Transfer Over time. Works like Kiss of the Martyr. Thus, it is worthless.
Uvoriels' Judgement: Fire DoT. Very useful in laggy PvP. I used to think it was a waste of points, however I realize that a properly made template should be able to include it with plenty of points to spare. Having 3 dots at your disposal with the same focus is not something lightly ignore. GM it. If only because it will be of immense help in laggy situations.
Visage of Purity: Fear spell. Worth putting one point into it to make some wizard or huntress' pet back off for 10 seconds, giving you enough time to annihilate their owner. Each additional training point invested, will add 1 second of fear time. Long cooldown.
Visage of the Archons: Area of effect fear. Requires 30 trains in Visage of Purity. Avoid!!
Here I will discuss the tricks of the trade when it comes to either setup, PvE, PvP or GvG. Almost all of my assumptions in regards to PvP are that the players are of level 50 or higher and very skilled.
If you take nothing away from this guide, at least realize this (If you haven't already).
The use or ignorance of Hotkeys will separate the amateur from the professional in either PvE or PvP. When every second counts, you simply cannot waste the time in clicking on something, and then moving the cursor to the spell icon. It is my belief that most gamers have some familiarity with a variety of First person shooters or games of a similar nature. Thus, I map my hotkeys to similar keys where my fingers are used to resting. For example:
A is Brand the Wicked
W is Purgation
S is Target Self
D is Blessed Mending
F is Inspiration of the Zealot
Q is Sanction of the Temple
E is Contrition
R is Uvoriel's Judgement
V is offensive stance
In a nutshell, this is my offense. I use the mouse cursor to click on enemies, since I believe that rotating through a dozen different players or critters (or even more) to find a target is very inefficient. If you've ever played a game like Warcraft3 or Age of Empires, you will already know that the use of hotkeys makes or breaks a player. My current setup is very comfortable for me. Other people may get more mileage out of different setups. I consider anyone who uses hotkeys to have a massive advantage over someone who dosen't.
If I'm in trouble, I can immediately target myself and start healing and inspiring. I can also target an enemy and blast him with all three dots one after the other. In fact, you can root someone, and dot them three times, just as they get unrooted from the taking the first tick of damage. This setup has allowed me to be incredibly efficient. Also, I have memorized the sounds and motions of my character, so that I know when I can cast again immediately, instead of wasting time by bringing the cursor to the spell button. I know exactly at which instant my character's shoulders roll that I can recast so that his arms are in constant fluid motion without ever ceasing. I always remain in offensive stance but NEVER in combat stance by merely typing C,V,C in rapid succession.
I use spell buttons for stuff like succor and summon, or Saint Malorn's Wrath if I'm trying to uncover a stealther once in a blue moon. Thats it.
The Confessor can solo very effectively, and farm cash and items better then anyone. The reason for this is simply because he has zero downtime. With GMed Blessed Mending, Inspiration and Brand the Wicked, you can cut through legions of critters without ever having to stop and rest...Which in soloing, is the biggest drawback. If you're doing something by yourself, you have to take sometimes significant breaks. Warriors and Barbarians have a very tough time soloing since they need to regen health and stamina after almost every r3-r4 monster, and even casters simply cannot cast repeatedly. No matter how much someone says they have unlimited mana from regen items, that simply won't hold up in a big fight. Or more then one big fight. I remember grouping with an almost r6 channeler who despite all her fancy mana regen jewelry, had to run for the hills more then once during a few huge fights with many r4 mobs. At level 55 with maxed spirit, I have 1200ish mana. Brand the Wicked costs about 50 mana to cast. Dots cost even more. I simply am not going to restrict myself to hardly more then 20 nukes in a fight before having to run away or sit. I can stand my ground, use inspiration, and be casting nonstop. During on particularly hairy encounter, I was fighting nonstop against possibly 20 high r3 and r4 mobs for almost 15 minutes, while everyone around me was running for their lives. It was amusing when I had 3 r4s whacking me, and a warrior was sitting down 5 feet away trying to get stamina back.
Another thing. If you're doing what you should do as a Confessor...Which is, nuke nuke nuke nuke nuke. You will draw lots of aggro. Most likely, few tanks will know how to get mobs off you. I once grouped with an r4 warrior that didn't know what I meant by taunting a mob off me. To all you warriors out there...A confessor can't fly away out of danger like a channeler, warlock, or fury. Or have an amazing pet to take the heat like a wizard. We have to stand there and take it in the nose. Trust me, in that you would rather have that confessor nuking, then healing himself because your damage output is so much more important then the little healers, to bother taunting him. *scoff*. Confessors, take solace in that a warrior is incredibly easy to defeat in PvP.
Confessors are powerhouses in PvP. Many people say that we are easily resisted. I will agree. In one on one combat, if someone knows they will be fighting a confessor, they will equip alot of fire resistance items. Like if someone knows they'll be fighting a wizard, they'll use alot of magic resistance.
What to do in this situation? If its a mage or a rogue based character, hit them with purgation and contrition, then start laying in with Brand. You'll still hit them for more then a 100+ even if they have max resistance. If they're not a healer, they'll die fast due to low HPs and inability to heal or run. If they are healer based, you will unfortunately have a difficult time killing them. On the bright side, they will have zero ability to kill you while healing themselves. If you are up against a fighter based character who has had the time to prepare with 75% fire resists in a one on one situation....Root/snare and recall.
HOWEVER
In a realistic situation, your opponent will most likely have zero fire resists, or at most, 10-20. The more bad the lag is, the more you should use your dots. The less lag there is, the more you should rely on Brand.
In a typical situation against an enemy mage base, hit them with your dots, then start laying into them with Brand. They will die swiftly. Confessors have the ability to deliver incredible damage while taking a beating, with unsurpassed staying power to boot. I don't believe wizards, mage channelers, or assassins can withstand the damage that a Confessor can dish out. Seeing as how a Confessor is nearly the epitome of a anti-mage to begin with. When fighting a wizard, ignore the pet, and focus on the master. Soon, there will be no pet anymore.
Against a healer base, you follow much the same procedure. Your dots and nukes in a one on one situation will leave them frantically healing themselves in a losing battle. Your most difficult fight (In fact, the secondmost difficult template you will ever face) will be against a healer channeler. In these duels, I attempt to emphasize my comparitive strengths and resist the urge to get into a nuking battle. I make sure to land all 3 dots on the channeler, and though I will be taking heavy damage from his bolts and nukes, I will trust in being able to outlast him, once I have my dots ticking away.
Rogue-based melee characters are possibly the easiest to defeat. Your medium armor combined with high block, will make damaging you a very tricky proposition. Landing even one dot will make stealthing away impossible, and your brand will cut through their low HPs like a bowie knife through a wet paper towel. Shadow bolt and Shadow Mantle combined with blind can be a pain in the ass, and if they are ganking you out of nowhere, you may die. Assassins do very well in one on one fights though in larger brawls, they can rarely utilize most of their strengths. Assassins know this.
The Confessor can give fighters a truly terrible day. Warriors can be kited with impunity and their heavy armor is useless against 500 damage fire nukes. Many of these fights, all you need to do is dot dot dot, nuke nuke nuke. Your shield and medium armor will let you stand up to them very well. Warriors tend to do less damage then other fighters as well, despite having much better melee resists. A warrior might smack you for 100 pts with that sword (If I were to be exceedingly generous in how much damage he could inflict) but I'll be nuking him for 300-500ish damage consecutively.
Barbarians are a different story. They know they will be hit, and have massive HPs. They also get Unstoppable Force which will instantly break any snare or root, so kiting them is a lost cause. Battle rage is also a pain. One on one, they are hard to defeat. Ultimately, this fight will depend entirely on the Barbarian player's skill more then your own. Your main hope is to get all 3 dots on him, and hope your nukes prevail over his health in the long run. Be thankful for 110% blocking and good armor.
There is a maxim in regards to PvP. He who attacks and surprises the other will generally win. So yes, that warlock or Fury who ganks you from behind while solo-farming some cash, and manages to get off a stun, might defeat you. I believe however, that Confessors are more then capable of going into emergency heal mode, and still be able to find the time to dot or nuke your attackers into oblivion.
Confessors have a great time in big battles. Their ability to summon is priceless, and their access to 3 dots allows them to do some serious damage in even the worst lag. You'll have great staying power as well. 2-5 minutes into the fighting when people are starting to worry about mana and stam usage, you'll be going strong still. Whats more is that, you'll meet very few people who can specifically counter you or fight back, as in general PvP. Depending on lag, I would suggest picking out the healers/nukers on the opposing side, and 3-dotting them one after the other.