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Aion 2 Cleric guide: healing, damage and stigmas
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TL;DR
- Cleric is Aion 2's dedicated healer: a ranged mace-and-shield class with party heals, cleanses, damage immunity and the only resurrection skill in the game, Summon Resurrection.
- Creators agree that groups want a Cleric, most of all in raids and harder content. The cost is the lowest personal damage of the eight classes.
- You still deal damage between heals. Most of it comes from Condemnation, which needs Chain of Torment on the target and can reset its own cooldown on a Critical Hit.
- The stigmas creators name are Light of Protection, Salvation, Summon Resurrection and Earth Punishment.
- Light of Protection does not stack with the Chanter's Undefeated Mantra, so coordinate your party buff with any Chanter in the group.
Is Cleric right for you?
Pick Cleric if you want to be the player the group depends on, from the first dungeons to raids and group PvP.
Creator tip
Clerics are hands down the best healers in the game.
| Question | What creators say |
|---|---|
| Damage | Lowest DPS in all content, though respectable for a healer (Kanon). Chanter always out-damages Cleric (TheWhelps) |
| Why | Aion 2 balances supports below tanks and tanks below damage dealers (TheWhelps) |
| Gearing | Upgrades feel less rewarding, since your damage numbers do not jump (Storyteller) |
| Solo | Clears solo content, but slower than Chanter (Society Of Gaming). Needs some gear before the damage gets going (SywoGG) |
| Difficulty | Medium: the healing is not hard, but you carry a lot of responsibility (Society Of Gaming). Easy if you have healed in another MMORPG (SywoGG) |
Creator tip
Playing Cleric is not simply about spamming healing abilities whenever someone loses health. The real gameplay comes from understanding when damage is going to happen and deciding which of your tools you actually need to use.
How Cleric heals
Your heals are short-cooldown group spells, not single-target casts. Every active heal below reaches party members within 40m, so you do not need to target anyone.
Cleric heals
Two passives tie your healing to your damage. Healing Enhancement raises your Heal Boost based on your Attack, and Radiant Benediction heals you and the party when you land an attack. This is why Kanon says your Attack directly increases your heal power.
How Cleric deals damage
Anders sees a big difference between a Cleric who keeps up their damage and one who only heals and debuffs.
Creator tip
Mathematically speaking, you're actually using more DPS skills than heals in any boss fight. Can you just sit there and like use your four healing skills when they come off cooldown? Sure, but it's kind of boring and definitely not intended by game design.
Kanon says Condemnation alone is over half of a Cleric's damage. It works like this:
- Chain of Torment deals damage over time and lowers the target's PvE Damage Tolerance by 5%. Condemnation can only target an enemy afflicted with it.
- Condemnation's rank 12 specialty resets its cooldown when it lands a Critical Hit.
- At stigma rank 5, Earth Punishment makes Condemnation always crit on targets it afflicts. While the debuff is up, Condemnation keeps resetting.
Cleric damage skills
CondemnationOver half your damage (Kanon)
Chain of TormentEnables Condemnation. -5% PvE Damage Tolerance
BoltSecond-largest damage source (Kanon). Three charge levels
Earth's RetributionBasic attack, restores 110 MP. Rank 12: Discharge shortens Bolt's cooldown
Lightning Strike ScattershotStagger skill, hits only staggered targets. Specialties add HP absorb and Multi-Hit
Society Of Gaming singles out Lightning Strike Scattershot for its speed and range.
Stigmas creators point to
Kanon calls Light of Protection a huge stigma that most players will judge you by, Salvation a massive emergency button, and says Summon Resurrection will make you the most popular person in your party in harder content.
Cleric stigmas creators name
Light of Protection is a toggle that raises PvE Damage Boost and PvE Damage Tolerance, and the PvP versions, for you and nearby party members. It does not stack with the Chanter's Undefeated Mantra. Only the higher skill level applies, and Undefeated Mantra wins if both are the same level.
Creator tip
Paying attention to what buffs go around is very important as a cleric because you definitely don't want to throw your best buff while the chanter is throwing theirs.
Kanon says the Chanter's buff always takes precedence; the game data says it does only when the two skills are at the same level.
Salvation makes you immune to damage and status effects for its duration. At stigma rank 15 it also grants that base effect to the party member with the lowest HP.
Madsin and Kanon both describe stacking enough cooldown reduction to keep Earth Punishment up all the time. The exact threshold depends on cooldown values the game data does not record, so check your own skill tooltips.
Cleric in PvP
| Mode | What creators say |
|---|---|
| One-on-one | The problem is the lack of reliable crowd control, not only damage (Grobs). B tier undergeared: you rarely die, but opponents run before you finish the kill (TheWhelps) |
| Group | Top of TheWhelps' party PvP list |
Creator tip
The sustain in party play cleric is just so strong, like you know your party doesn't die while they kill the rest.
Cleric or Chanter?
Both are support classes, and creators say groups take them together for hard content. Society Of Gaming compares them this way:
| Category | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Healing | Cleric | Stronger group heals, shields and cleansing. Chanter is an off-healer |
| Party buffs | Chanter | Its mantras stay up all the time |
| Damage | Chanter | Clearly higher in PvE and PvP |
| Survivability | Close | Cleric slightly tankier |
| Solo play | Chanter | Damage and faster skill animations |
If you want to be the main healer, take Cleric. If you want a hybrid support with more damage, read the Chanter guide.
Daevanion boards
Cleric has five boards. Each of the first four has one node for each of Cleric's twelve base active skills, from Condemnation and Bolt to Radiant Recovery and Healing Light.
| Board | Unlocks at | Crystals | Orange stat nodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nezekan | Level 12 | Daevanion | Combat Speed, Cooldown Reduction |
| Zikel | Level 20 | Daevanion | Damage Boost, Damage Tolerance |
| Vaizel | Level 30 | Daevanion | Critical Damage Boost, Critical Damage Tolerance |
| Triniel | Level 40 | Daevanion | Multi-Hit Chance, Multi-Hit Resist |
| Azphel | Level 45 | Battle | Not listed here |
Cleric links
- Cleric skills: every Cleric skill with its specialties and stigma tiers.
- Daevanion planner: plan your board route and check the stat totals.
- Chanter guide: the other support class.
- Beginner guide: the first hours on any class.
- Gear score guide: each item level gate and how to reach it.
- Daily and weekly checklist: what to run every day and week.
- Which class should you play?: Cleric next to the other seven classes.
- Class finder: answer a few questions to find a class.
Explore the encyclopedia
Sources
- Kanon: AION 2 ultimate class guide (breakdown and rankings)
- Society Of Gaming: AION 2 Cleric vs Chanter, who wins for PvE, PvP and solo?
- Grobs: AION 2 classes explained, PvE and PvP gameplay
- SywoGG: AION 2 class guide, don't pick a main until you watch this
- Anders: Which AION 2 class is right for you?
- Storyteller: AION 2 newbie guide, class overview and recommendations
- TheWhelps: What class to main? Aion 2 class recommendation
- Madsin: Complete PvE character building overview
- Corpus: Aion 2 Cleric skills
Related articles
- Aion 2 Daevanion guide: how the boards work and what to take first
How Aion 2 Daevanion boards work for every class: unlock levels, crystals, node colours, the orange nodes on each board and the order creators fill them in.
- Which Aion 2 class should you play?
All eight Aion 2 classes compared by role, weapon and difficulty, with what established creators recommend for new, casual, PvP and high-ping players.
- Aion 2 Abyss guide: Reshanta, Abyss Points and Artifact Sieges
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