The Poet
Overview The poet is the healer Path of Nexus. She has virtually no attack ability whatsoever, yet she is the most sought after hunting partner. Her healing abilities are second to none, and will eventually eclipse that of a mage by a factor of ten. Most of her spells are healing spells or protective spells, although she does get two weak attack spells and a few other helpful combat spells. Upon level mastery she becomes nearly immortal with the use of her Resurrect spell (level 99).
Advantages
The poet gets the best healing spells in the game. It is impractical for mages to heal high level warriors and rogues, which makes the poet absolutely vital as a hunting partner.
With her numerous heals, a poet can take a great deal of damage. Additionally, the poet will eventually obtain use of such spells as Harden body (level 85) which grants a short period of complete invincibility, and Call of the Wild (level 68) which allows poets to summon creatures to protect her, or attack her enemies. With the accessibility of good poet armors and her powerful protection spells, the poet can withstand damage better than any other character.
A poet is the most sought-after hunting partner; she can find a group to hunt with easier than any other character.
A poet requires less experience to level than the other Paths, which means quick advancement.
The poet is the first Path to get the Invoke spell (level 7, a mage gets it at level 39). The "invoke" spell basically gives a player infinite mana (by converting health into mana). The poet will never worry about mana beyond this point, whereas a mage will struggle for many levels more, and warriors/rogues can never learn the spell.
Disadvantages
The poet is unable to kill anything beyond the simplest creatures. Thus, a poet must always group to get experience (beyond the first few levels). A poet can never hunt solo if she wishes to advance at a reasonable pace.
Many of a poet's best spells are reserved for the later levels, which makes the midlevels a difficult period of advancement.
The poet, in general, will work harder than any other member of a group will. Whereas a warrior or rogue can relax and attack a monster by holding down the spacebar, the poet is responsible for keeping everyone alive, healing the attacking character vigorously, as well as keeping herself safe.
The poet has no ability to manipulate the creatures she will face in the caves, and no ability to kill them. This means it is often extremely difficult just to walk through the caves (for example, to help a friend who is deep within the cavern).
Although the poet is well protected, it requires a great deal of skill to manipulate all of the protections correctly. If a mistake is made (and it is easy to do so), the poet can quickly find herself surrounded by enemies with no way to destroy them.
Recommendations
The poet is a group player. She will have to group with warriors and rogues for many, if not all of her levels. A poet must work very hard for her experience as well. A poet has a moderately difficult time through the early and midlevels. The poet then has a few easy levels where the more powerful spells are learned, followed by another difficult period of leveling. Once level mastery is reached, the poet becomes a near deity, and is very powerful. A player who has already enjoyed one other class previously typically makes a poet. Because of the poet's reliance on grouping, it is best played by an adventurer who has already had the chance to make friends and hunting partners within the realm. For this reason, the poet is not recommended for first time players.
Author: Elana
Editor: DysfunktinaL