Hailing from noble Aquillonia this priest conveys the word of Mitra, the patron god of the kingdom. Unlike Crom, who cares little for those who believe in his presence, or Set, who would have blood sacrifices and men crawl on their bellies like the serpent he embodies, Mitra cares deeply for his followers. Depicted as a great white bearded man bathed in light he would see his people stand on their feet when taking part in prayer and is forgiving to any who truly seek redemption. Granting a small portion of his immense power to some of his chosen followers so that they may bring his light to the darkest of places of Hyboria; this is the Priest of Mitra. He is able to heal the most fatal of wounds and smite the darkest of enemies.
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Overview:
The Priest of Mitra (PoM) is the one of the chief healing classes in AoC, but dismissing one as a mere healer would be one of the last mistakes you ever make. The priest of Mitra differentiates itself from the high damage Tempest of Set and the melee and micromanage Bear Shaman by not only putting out its fair share of punishment via powerful offensive spells, but also directly buffing companions making their attacks much stronger for a short period of time. This priest's biggest asset, however, is survivability; while light armor and a shield take a bit of punishment on top of the PoMs arsenal of tricks and CC will shatter even the most experienced warrior's efforts to "kill the healer first". Also, as of patch 1.05, the Priest of Mitra has gained the offensive abilities to rival even the Tempest of Set, when feated correctly, PoM's have been known to throw critical strikes for upwards of 4,000 holy damage.
- Archetype: Priest
- Permitted races: Aquillonian
- Weapons: one handed edged, one handed blunt, daggers and crossbows
- Armor: cloth, light and shields
Pros:
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A great blend of the Bear Shaman's survivability and the Tempest of Set's damage output and raw healing, the Priest of Mitra is one of the first choices in healing for any Raid or PvP group. With an AoE knock back, fear, stun and immunity shield the PoM has great utility as they can keep the enemy controlled while healing their allies or can change gears to do some damage of their own. Though most would assume the priest of Mitra to be extremely high on the kill list, in reality they are one of the harder classes to kill off without extreme burst and some of the most skilled PoMs can easily outlive the bulk of DPS classes. Despite them being a hot commodity in any group they are surprisingly underplayed on many servers making them a possible choice for players who do not wish to roll an "overplayed" class.
Cons:
Though the PoM is an efficient damage dealer, they are always expected to be healers first, even if you are topping the charts in a PvP mini-game, if you aren't healing the team you are most likely getting yelled at. Though PoMs do have a great number of buffs to help survivability, they are all at the mercy of cool downs and with fairly weak natural armor you can easily be caught with your pants down. AoC uses a very different healing system that focuses more on AoE healing and healing over time versus direct healing, meaning that in the midst of a hectic battle- positioning yourself at the ideal spot to get the maximum amount of healing possible to your teammates takes an incredible amount of skill and practice and may be a turn off to someone who enjoys the traditional healer.
PvP:
Rolling a Priest of Mitra for player versus player combat means that you will have to make a choice in how you feat your character. You can deal massive amounts of damage by sacrificing your healing, mana regeneration and heal range or vice versa. This is a choice unique to every player as feats vary due to play style and what you want to do within Hyboria. The Priest of Mitra is viable in solo combat, especially at the later levels, but really shines in team play where the Priest takes on a sort of super support role by healing, buffing and dealing out damage/crowd control.
Talents:
The two Priest of Mitra unique feat trees are Divinity and Vengeance which can be mixed and matched with each other or the priest general tree to create a unique spec for different roles. The Divinity tree improves healing, grants additional survivability spells and increases the power of defensive spells and offensive spells alike to be even more useful. Vengeance offers up improved damage and some fantastic team based passive buffs. The general tree can increase healing radius, spell/melee defenses and improve healing even further.
Conclusion:
Like to play the healer who can take a hit? Like to dish out some holy vengeance on anyone who thinks they can pick on a priest? Enjoy healing? Well the Priest of Mitra is a great class for long time healers coming from another MMO or new players looking for a good all round healer and support class that can hold its own in combat. In short the Priest of Mitra is a fantastic class.
