lukivah

If I plan on picking up both steadfast and battle cleric which one should I grab first assuming I'm mostly interested in pvp.

Steelbadger

Battle Cleric. On your way to Battle Cleric you're picking up lots of nice CA conversions and every AA point is a good upgrade, when you're going for steadfast though it's basically a load of nothing until you can buy the endline AA.

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lukivah

Appreciated. In terms of the CAs that you pick up along the way, excluding Litany(AoE) and Flames(big hit bigger DoT), would you use the CA version of the spells over the spells themselves in most circumstances? Also if I'm going to be locked at 22 for a minute without enough points to get Steadfast until I gain more levels would you recommend taking some points out of STR and putting them into the other available CA in the Inquisitor Battle Line for some more DPS? Right now I'm 4-4-3 in STR. Would it be more DPS to take 6 points out of STR and putting 1 into Ehance: Act of Belief then maxing out Strike of Corruption so I have I gain another CA immediately while still retaining Skull Crack?

Tahoenite

I pretty much exclusively use the CAs, they cast faster, and use much less mana. Also if you spec for Fanaticism you only get penalized for using offensive spells not CAs.

It should also help you lvl faster with since you get to pretend you are a melee, which I still do at 80.

Odinn

Yaulp, Strength, Dmg debuff with interrupt, Melee dmg proc, More hp and focus is hardly a load of nothing for pvp.

Jark

Strike of corruption is not much dps, really. You won't miss it. The proc from the STR line should be much more dps. Act of belief is a waste of points and concentration, although at some point you should put enough points into it to get strike of corruption - but much later on.

Also, except on tough heroics, there's not much use in casting any spells besides maybe the mit debuff and heals. Don't waste time/power on the damage reactives or other debuffs. For tough heroics, though, it is good to root, debuff, and throw up the damage reactives before charging in (actually, by the time you cast all of that, the mob will be charging you).

Steelbadger

1) I didn't say anything about Yaulp, anyone who doesn't put their first AA point in that probably forgets to breath at regular intervals and so isn't really my concern.

2) Are you suggesting that Strength, a small CA, a proc and some hp/focus is better than Battle Cleric? No? Then what was your point? Maybe I should have included the qualifier "a load of nothing when compared to Battle Cleric". I wonder if you are aware of hyperbole?

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Odinn

2. Yes

It depends what you really need with only one line available. If you are grouping a lot, it would be foolish to take BC first. If you are mostly going solo, then you may want BC but I personally wouldn't take it first.

You still get the first two as nukes, upgrade them to Adept 3. Plus you get Bolt (extra interrupt) and Skull Crack (most useful for another interrupt). Steadfast is a must have and what made Clerics viable in pvp as opposed to Wardens. A healer is usually the first target, if you can't heal through interrupts you and your group are dead.

Everything in the Strength line is useful in pvp and outweigh the benefits and CA's of the Battle Cleric line when only able to spec for one end ability.

There is no absolute answer, they are both good and it depends on playstyle. Apparently, you missed that I was posting the benefits of the Str line last time. Pretty much spelled it out for you this time ;)

Steelbadger

Hmmm, I would have said that the Strength line intermediary AAs are still less useful that the CA conversions on the BC line. My thinking is that neither line before the end really helps you stay alive and so for intermediate points it's best to go for CAs as that at least means you can do damage, but yeah, if you have the points to get one of either BC or Steadfast then steadfast is the best choice.

I would probably pick up CAs for my first 14-20 points then respec to STR line to pick up the HP, Focus and eventually Steadfast, until you can get a few points into the HP/Focus on STR4 though the BC line is far more bang for your buck.

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