Former RIFT player coming back after long break

[Vekrah]

Hey folks! I looked through some of the threads and couldn't quite find my answer so hopefully this will get some friendly responses. So, I played this game a lot when it launched and really enjoyed it...until RL things stole me away for a while. I'm back and very excited to get back into it so I've started on Deepwood as a Defiant Cleric. Now, this new Purpose system seems very cool but I'm not sure if it's worth following for the leveling process. I love healing and that's what I plan to do through dungeons and at max level but I don't know how potent the healing Purpose will be while leveling.

So, my big question is should I go for a damage-centric build so that I don't spend 3x as long as anyone else while grinding/questing or can I stay healing-centric? Note that I would love to stay a healer all the way through but I don't want to struggle as a consequence. Thanks!

[HungryHippo]

Search for an -icar build shamicar or inquisicar or even druid are decent lvling specs little downtime with maximum cleric damage

[Vekrah]

Alrighty, I'll check that out. A healing build isn't really viable for leveling though, even with the inclusion of random dungeon finder and the instant adventures? Not trying to ask for advice then ignore it but I would really love to level as heals, if it's reasonable to do so.

[Edge-]

Alrighty, I'll check that out. A healing build isn't really viable for leveling though, even with the inclusion of random dungeon finder and the instant adventures? Not trying to ask for advice then ignore it but I would really love to level as heals, if it's reasonable to do so.

Having a healing build for your offspec is a solid investment. You'll get pretty fast dungeon pops and there are a lot of times where having a healer is super awesome in instant adventures (some of the boss fights with larger group sizes). Not ideal for solo leveling but it's not like a healing build doesn't work.

redit: Best recommendation is to go with a leveling build that has some healing utility (druid or inquisitor main spec and a healing second soul, with whatever you want for a third, not always going to be "optimal", but they work just fine while leveling) so that you can move through quests quickly, and a healing build for groups. Leveling with a healing build is quite slow so, so it helps to have a more damage oriented soul as your primary one, and have some healing utility with your second one.

My second cleric I'm leveling, this time with a friend, has a tank build, a healing build, and then a solo build that's druid/shaman for the most part but has some points in Purifier so I can do some utility healing while we're out and about if need be. The -Icar builds don't work very well until you're higher level.

[Lathais]

The purposes are great for leveling, and if you level through IA/Dungeons/PvP and don't quest up, yes, you can level up entirely as a healer build. The cool part though is that the gear needed to switch roles from Helaer to DPS is no big deal. A DPS cleric still uses wisdom and focus. With 6 builds you can have a healing build and a DPS build and switch between them at will if you want to do some solo questing.

[Vekrah]

Awesome, thanks a lot for all of the responses.