The Ultimate PvE Cleric Guide for Ashes of Creation

The Cleric archetype in *Ashes of Creation* is the heart of any group in PvE content. With radiant energy flowing through their abilities, Clerics keep their allies alive through powerful heals, protective shields, and utility spells. Their role as support anchors teams in the most challenging encounters, while their offensive spells allow them to smite enemies with divine retribution when the need arises. Versatility and adaptability define the Cleric, making them an essential member of any adventuring party.

Clerics thrive in providing consistent healing, cleansing debuffs, and mitigating incoming damage, ensuring their team can withstand even the most intense PvE scenarios. They're far from passive, with the right skill build, Clerics can effectively balance healing and offensive capabilities, contributing both to their party's survivability and the defeat of their foes. Whether focusing on single-target heals, group-wide restoration, or offensive support, Clerics shine as the backbone of any successful PvE strategy.

This guide explores everything you need to excel as a Cleric in PvE: their role in group dynamics, skill prioritization, optimal gear, consumables, and tips for mastering this versatile archetype.

In the event you were looking for the PvP-focused portion of the guide, it is linked below.

Strengths

• Exceptional healing capability.
• Support versatility.
• Sustainable playstyle.
• Self-sustaining skill options for Health and Mana.
• Offensive potential.
• The only form of Resurrection currently in the game.

Weaknesses

• Low mobility.
• Reliance on Mana.
• High target priority.
• Long Cast times.
• Hard to hit CCs.

The Cleric's Divine Power is a unique resource that builds up as you heal or deal damage, rewarding consistent engagement in combat. At maximum Divine Power, Clerics gain a 10% increased chance to critically heal, making sustained healing even more effective. However, Divine Power isn't just a passive buff, it's an active resource that can be spent in two powerful ways. Divine Infusion allows you to instantly complete any spell currently being cast, which is invaluable when quick reaction times are necessary. Meanwhile, Essence Infusion enables Clerics to spend Divine Power instead of Mana or health when casting abilities. This flexibility makes it a crucial tool for Mana conservation, ensuring you can keep healing even in long encounters where Mana is running low.

Managing Mana effectively is one of the biggest challenges for a Cleric, as their healing spells are resource-intensive and can drain their Mana bar quickly if not used efficiently. Flash Cure should be your primary burst heal due to its high heal-to-Mana efficiency, while Soothing Glow provides low- cost sustain healing and should be kept active on the tank or another priority target to reduce the need for more expensive heals. Overhealing is one of the easiest ways to burn through Mana unnecessarily, so it's important to anticipate incoming damage rather than reactively spamming spells. Divine Power should be spent wisely, using Divine Infusion to save crucial casts during emergencies and Essence Infusion only when Mana is running low and needs to be preserved. Additionally, managing cooldowns properly, such as using Defiant Light and Communal Restoration at optimal times, allows Clerics to get the most healing output for the least Mana spent, preventing unnecessary resource depletion

One of the best ways to sustain Mana regeneration in combat is through Bless Weapon, which is a core ability for Cleric sustain. This ability imbues a target's weapon with radiant light, increasing their weapon combo damage while also granting the Cleric Bless Weapon: Mana Regen, which restores 20 Mana every 1.5 seconds for up to 15 seconds when fully stacked. When applied to a DPS or tank with high uptime and a good use of auto-attacks, Bless Weapon becomes a consistent source of passive Mana regeneration, reducing reliance on potions and Divine Power conversion. Keeping Bless Weapon active at all times is essential for maintaining Mana efficiency, allowing Clerics to keep healing longer without needing to pause for recovery.

Understanding how to balance Divine Power usage, Mana conservation, and Bless Weapon uptime is what separates an average Cleric from a great one. Every heal, cleanse, or damage ability you use contributes to building Divine Power, and properly spending that power ensures you can sustain your healing output throughout any encounter. Managing your cooldowns, avoiding unnecessary overhealing, and maintaining Bless Weapon on an ally with high uptime will allow you to maximize both your healing and Mana efficiency. A Cleric who masters this balance will always be a reliable and irreplaceable presence on the battlefield.

For a full list of Cleric abilities and passives, visit the Cleric Skill Glossary.

The Cleric archetype excels when equipped with gear that boosts their healing output, survivability, and offensive potential. In the current Alpha, Magical Power plays a dual role, as it not only increases your offensive capabilities but also contributes directly to your Healing Power. Because of this, prioritizing Magical Power and Intelligence is far more effective than relying solely on Healing Power, as these stats scale better and offer a much broader selection of gear to choose from.

It's also important to note that, due to the current limitations in the Alpha, coal is not available, which restricts players from crafting certain high-end gear that would typically be optimal for Clerics. This guide reflects the current state of crafting and gear availability, but it will be updated as new materials and crafting options, such as steel-based equipment, become accessible in future updates. For now, focus on maximizing your Magical Power and Intelligence through available gear to ensure you're performing at your best.

Key stats to prioritize for PvP Clerics include:

• Magical Power – Increases the potency of both your damage and healing abilities.
• Intelligence – Boosts your overall healing and magical damage output while improving your ability to bypass enemy resistances.
• Constitution – Reduces incoming damage, enhancing your survivability.
• Mana Regeneration – Ensures sustained healing and offensive casting during prolonged battles.

For armor, the type doesn't matter and there aren't really any set bonuses worth going for, all we really care about are the states we're looking for. Here are some recomendations to aim for:

• Shade of the Three Moons – The recipe and key material are dropped from the named mob "Undertaker Zon" in Gravepeak.
• Arcane Mind's Pauldrons – Basic Intelligence gear that can be crafted at level 10.
• Spindlehemp Cloak – The recipe can be bought at the journeyman tailoring vendor.
• Red Frayed Robe – The recipe and key material are dropped from the named mob "Seeker of Myths" in the Wreckage of Carphin.
• Cognoscente Forearms – The recipe and key material are dropped from several caster trash mobs in the Wreckage of Carphin.
• Cognoscente Gloves – The recipe and key material are dropped from several caster trash mobs in the Wreckage of Carphin.
• Belt of the Hushed Words – The recipe and key material are dropped from the named mob "The Hushed Librarian" in the Wreckage of Carphin.
• Toren Administrator Leggings – The recipe and key material are dropped from several trash mobs in the Befallen Forge.
• Sweeper's Dusty Shoes – The recipe and key material are dropped from the named mob "Eternal Sweeper" in the Wreckage of Carphin.
• Iridescent Iris – The recipe and key material are dropped from the named mob "G'Lympes" in the Wreckage of Carphin.
• Doomsday Necklace – The recipe and key material are dropped from the named mob "Doomed Researcher" just southeast of Winstead.
• Ring of Invocation – The recipe and key material are dropped from the named mob "The Tormented Invoker" in the Wreckage of Carphin.

For weapons, due to the absence of coal in the current Alpha, players are unable to process steel, which limits the ability to craft some of the best end-game gear for casters, including Clerics. As a result, we recommend opting for weapons like the Two-Handed Great Spellsword and the Long Spellbow as your primary choices. These weapons provide excellent stats that scale well with the Cleric's needs, such as Magical Power, Magical Penetration, and Intelligence, while also offering significant utility through their associated skill trees. Consider items like the Iron Great Spellsword and Rividium Long Spellbow for optimal performance in the curent alpha.

Consumables play a crucial role in maintaining your effectiveness during PvP encounters. Here are some of the best options for Cleric.

• Rations – Provides a cheap and reliable form of both health and Mana regeneration out of combat over a period of 20s.
• Health Potions – Provides instant health restoration, critical for surviving burst damage.
• Mana Potions – Restores Mana to keep you casting throughout extended fights.
• Scroll of Intelligence – Boosts intelligence, enhancing your support capabilities and damage for 3 hours.
• Elixir of Intelligence – Boosts intelligence, enhancing your support capabilities and damage for 60 minutes

A recent list of Cleric patch updates will be listed below. In order to keep the page condensed, only the most recent changes will be shown if the list exceeds a certain length.

• Jan 30th, 2025 – Mend had its base healing increased from 1 to 1.5, improving its overall effectiveness.
• Jan 30th, 2025 – Flash Cure base healing reduced from 2.5 to 1.75, and mana cost increased from 10 to 20, making it a more expensive but still vital emergency heal.
• Jan 30th, 2025 – Deliverance Updated sound effects to improve ability clarity and responsiveness.
• Jan 30th, 2025 – Divine Infusion Updated sound effects for better audio feedback when activating the ability.

Check back at a later time for an updated list.