Class Overview: Part 2 – Cleric (PvP)

This article has been edited to fit the game update of January 27th.

“The Holy Clerics of Thandar should not be underestimated. The city changes everybody, and even the kindest and most devout person tends to show a degree of grizzled bitterness after a time. Expect compassion and comfort as always, but don’t be surprised if you encounter a coiled, cynical fury just under that stoic and godly visage.” – The Emperor’s Guide to Thandar.

“If you see a Cleric with a shiny new Mace or young Followers, beware. While they might indicate an inexperienced Cleric, it’s more likely they indicate a replacement for something broken or worn through overuse.” – The Emperor’s Guide to Thandar.

Lore from Hero Realms Blog Post

The Cleric archetype is known for buffing and healing its allies and that translates well to the Cleric in Hero Realms. Usually a supporting role in multiplayer games, this class has been geared towards gathering champions and using its skills and abilities on them – all the while counting on their expertise for damage-dealing and protection.

The Cleric doesn’t have much damage in their deck, so in a rush game they are at a disadvantage. To counter this, the Cleric’s skill and ability both focus on champions and healing in an effort to stay alive long enough for the Cleric’s champions to do their thing. The skill heals and buffs up the defense of their champions, while the ability can resurrect champions that were stunned the previous turn. There are a few variations in the upgrade trees, but the above is true for all Cleric builds.

Both Skill and Ability share the same two focuses. Down one upgrade path, the focus is on champions and buffing them further and further up or resurrecting more of them, while the other upgrade path focuses more on healing the hero.

Like most other classes, the Cleric has one armor choice that grants effects down to 10 health. Unlike the class skill and ability, the class armor choices doesn’t separate into two directions. Both the Phoenix Helm and the Shining Breastplate focus on strengthening the hero, if they buy into champions. The Phoenix Helm allows the player to cycle through their deck – getting champions back in hand or buying new ones – faster. The Shining Breastplate allows the player to buff a champion up even further than with their class skill. The player can buff up a single champion multiple times with this skill and as long as the champion stays in play, the buff stacks turn over turn

The below schematic attempts to give an overview of the Cleric’s starting deck and the upgrades available from treasures. 

Keep in mind that all of the RoT and LV treasures have been added in their row – despite the fact that only half of them will be attainable for a hero. Also, if a treasure card replaces a card in the starting deck, only the new additions have been counted in the treasure row.

The Cleric starts each battle with 55 health. This is smack down in the middle between the Fighter’s 60 health and the Wizard’s 50 health, which at the moment are the two extremes. 

It is by no standard a damage-dealer. Even after adding the possible upgrades from treasures, it never enters double digits and has an overall damage profile of only 7 in their deck.This is the lowest damage profile among all classes and less than a third than the Fighter’s 22 damage.

The Cleric has two 1-defense guards – called Followers – and also potentially a RoT non-guard champion (the Redeemed Ruinos) in their deck. These champions give the Cleric some early defense that most other classes don’t have. The Fighter has a guard that doesn’t have any abilities except for the defense value, whereas the Followers each deliver a single damage and the Redeemed Ruinos heals 2 and lets the cleric draw a card when stunned. Adding the Brightstar Shield (RoT), the total defense in their deck is 5 (1-3 of which are non-guard) where the Fighter has 5 guard-defense. But because of the Cleric’s skill, these champions can be buffed up to make them more resilient.

The Cleric has a decent gold profile and rivals the gold profile of the Ranger. In the starting deck, it has 6 single golds and the Prayer Beads, which give either 2 gold or 5 heal. On top of that it has the spiked mace which grants an additional 1 gold. The Cleric doesn’t own a Ruby and if the Prayer Beads are used for healing, this effectively puts the Cleric gold count to 7 – which is lower than even the Fighter’s. If however two champions are on the board when playing the Prayer Beads, the player is given both effects. The Cleric has no treasures that can improve on its starting economy.

The Cleric is one of only two classes (the other being the Thief) with no draw potential in their starting deck. Among the RoT treasures there are two draws (the Redeemed Ruinos and the Brightstar Shield). Both of these are unreliable draws though as the opponent can choose not to stun the Redeemed Ruinos or the champion with the Brightstar Shield attached. There is one more draw to be gained among the LV treasures, but the overall draw profile is still low compared to the Ranger with its semi-reliable 5 possible draws.

Where the Cleric shines is in its ability to heal. Except for the Wizard’s 1-heal Cat Familiar, the Cleric is the only class with any heal potential in their starting deck. And it is actually a pretty high potential. With an average of 3 champions in play it has a potential of 16 heals overall and it is actually possible to add 15 of those into a single deck by choosing the proper upgrades.

Like most of the other classes, the Cleric also has 1 special ability that it can tuck into its deck. The Everburning Candle allows the Cleric to mimic its Resurrect ability and return a champion to hand. The champion cannot have a cost though, so it is usable on only the two Followers or the Redeemed Ruinos. It can however be used once every deck cycle as opposed to the class ability.

“It’s always best to show respect and give thanks. You don’t want your thanks to be taken from you.” – The Emperor’s Guide to Thandar.

Lore from Hero Realms Blog Post

During the Beta, some balance changes have been made to the Cleric. They are listed below. The old effect is the card on the left side.