[1.11] The Defiler and You!

[Prude]

[1.11] Defiler - Our Masochistic Healer

• Defiler: An Intro to Your New Soul

So, you've heard about the Defiler.
You've heard it's OP, it's terrible, it slew your neighbor's kitten
the other night. And yet you've been wondering about it yourself, haven't you?
That nagging in the back of your brain that says,
"Hey! Try that Soul you've been looking at. It might be pretty neat."

Well, it is. I bring to you - the Defiler. The Defiler is a healing Soul that is like no
other (almost); it heals through well-placed Foul Growths, damaging, as well as by siphoning
a portion of the damage done and putting it onto themselves. They are very much the
dark, masochistic healer you have always been looking for.

• Strengths of the Defiler

The Defiler has many strengths and things that set it apart from the other healers, one
of which are the Links that a Defiler can put on the fellow members of your party or raid.
There are four links you end up having, and each of these can be put on one other member
of your party or raid. Only one Link can be placed on a target at any time.

Another major strength for the Defiler are the Foul Growths. These stack, up to 3, on your
target and can be placed on the targets in many ways. Each stack, when it is activated or if it
goes off after 10s, will heal for a set amount in addition to the other heal you used to activate it.

Not only does the Defiler have all of these, but they have a slew of damaging abilities that
can make you nigh on invincible. Use your Bonds and your Husk wisely and you will hardly feel
the damage taken from your Links. A good Defiler can stay alive even with the
extra damage mitigated onto them.

[Prude]

• Important Spells

The Defiler's playstyle is akin to that of a Chloromancer. We deal damage - not to
heal, however, not entirely. Everytime we deal damage
(assuming you areTalent'd for it, which you should be),
we have a chance to put a Foul Growth on those with a Link. Besides this, we
have an Heal over Time, a single target heal, an Area Effect heal, and a Cleanse.
We even have a self-buff that will save us from a killing blow! Let's do a quick rundown
of the important heals and spells we use.

Explosive Growth: This will place an automatic 3 stacks of Foul Growth on the target. Instant, no cooldown, but high mana cost.
Foul Growth: This will put a single stack of Foul Growth on the target. 1.5s cast time, no cooldown.
Hideous Reconstruction: Our Heal over Time spell, it restores health over 15s. Instant, no cooldown.
Loathsome Restoration: This is our lovely single target heal, and also very valuable. It triggers Foul Growths if they are on the target when you heal them. Instant, no cooldown.
Ghastly Restoration: Our other single target heal - like a bigger, momma version of Loathsome Restoration! It will also trigger Foul Growth. Instant (with no GCD), 15s cooldown.
Feedback: This is our Area Effect heal. It restores health to up to 5 party or raid members, and 25% more to our Links. It also triggers Foul Growth! Instant, no cooldown.

Jealous Intervention: This is our curse/disease/poison removal spell. Instant, no cooldown.
Death's Embrace: Our battle resurrect - use wisely! Instant, 5m cooldown.
Chimera's Gift: A self-buff that when cast, will put a buff on us for 5m that will heal us for 25% of our health if we receive a killing blow. Instant, 2m cooldown.
Unstable Transformation: This can be cast on anyone and is a very useful "ohshi--" button. It reduces damage taken by 50%, increases healing and absorption by 50%, and when hit it will restore health. Lasts 10s. Instant, 1m cooldown.

As you can see, we have a whole variety of healing and utility spells at
our fingertips. More, depending on which combination of Souls you use!
Let's move onto the damaging spells. Many of your damaging spells will bring you self heals
galore, along with doing quite a bit of damage on their own. You won't be top DPS,
but when they're proc'ing your Foul Growths, why not cast them?

Marrow Harvest: Deals damage after 6s, much like Tyranny of Death. Instant, no cooldown but can not be cast while it's on the target.
Pain Transmission: Deals damage to up to 3 enemies near the Cleric and your Links. 2s cast time, 15s cooldown.
Somatic Desecration: Deals damage to the target. 2s cast time, no cooldown.
Siphon Vitality: This one is very important. It deals damage over 15s but also restores health to you at the same time! Always keep this on the target(s) if possible.

Bond of Pain: Your first debuff spell, it deals damage to the target every time you are damaged. Lasts 30s. Instant, no cooldown.
Bond of Torment: Your second debuff spell, it causes your damaging abilities to restore health to you. Lasts 30s. Instant, no cooldown.
Unholy Nexus: This is a wonderfully useful spell, it spreads your Marrow Harvest, Siphon Vitality, and Bonds to up to 5 enemies. Instant (no GCD), 15s cooldown.

Seems like a nice array of damaging abilities, no? I thought so too! Last but not at all least,
we have your Buffs and utility spells. Each of these are as important as your heals and
damaging spells, so be sure never to discount a single one of them.

Empowered Affliction: Your main mana regeneration spell. Restores 7% mana but reduces your maximum health by 5% for 10s. Max of 5 stacks. Instant, no cooldown.
Husk of Indifference: The Husk is your self-absorption shield. It will absorb a large amount of the intercepted damage you receive from Links. Lasts 30s. Instant, no cooldown.

Summon Beacon of Despair: If solo'ing, this is your tank. The Beacon will be summoned next to the target you cast it on, though you can not control the Beacon. It will not move, it will not attack, but it provides very good defense if you can master using it. The Beacon will automatically have a 50% damage reduction link, and will deal a small amount of damage every time it is hit. Instant, 15s cooldown.

Feast of the Fallen: Highly useful raid buff. Restores health to up to 5 party or raid members whenever a party or raid member kills an enemy. Instant, no cooldown.
Grief Blight: Another useful buff - when you are damaged, it increases your healing done and absorption granted by 4% for 10s. Max of 5 stacks. Instant, no cooldown.
Rage Blight: A buff much like Grief Blight. When you are damaged, it increases your damage done by 4% for 10s. Max of 5 stacks. Instant, no cooldown.

Link of Distress: Your first Link. Intercepts 5% of the damage taken. Instant (no GCD), no cooldown.
Link of Misery: Your second Link. Intercepts 10% of the damage taken. Instant (no GCD), no cooldown.
Link of Suffering: Your third Link. Intercepts 20% of the damage taken. Instant (no GCD), no cooldown.
Link of Agony: Your fourth and final Link. Intercepts 25% of the damage taken. Instant (no GCD), no cooldown.

[Prude]

• Builds and Playstyles (PVE)

Now I bet you're wondering - what kind of build should I be
rockin' as a Defiler? Glad you asked! There are quite a few builds and possibilities
that you can be using and I'll be listing them, along with a brief overview
of what their playstyles are like.


61Defiler/11Warden/4Sentinel
My personal build of choice. This brings together the powerful
AE heals of a Warden and the dark and deadly heals of a Defiler. What the Defiler lacks
in AE heals, the Warden can make up for. In addition to that, the build takes Tidal Surge
to provide a good increase in not only your heals but the damage you put out.
Delicious. With this build, you'll be throwing off your damaging spells, using your Bonds,
and a lot of Foul Growth mechanics to heal the party.


61Defiler/15Purifier/0Sentinel
This build is another popular option for the Defiler. While it has
minimal AE heals, it makes up for that by providing shields for your party members.
This will likely be a strictly main tank healer, but still useful! This build not only
provides the most powerful shields in the game for healers, but it also gives Flashover
which can help when you need to guarantee a big critical heal as well as Healing Flare,
another insta-cast but small heal. With this build, you'll be throwing off shields left
and right, popping off a few single target heals when needed in conjunction with
your Foul Growth mechanics.


61Defiler/15Sentinel
Yet another popular option for healing as a Defiler - this build
excels with single target heals along with the Foul Growths. This build adds to your arsenal
two more big single target heals, as well as Touch the Light which will give you an insta-cast
heal as needed. While you only have 1 AE heal in this build, it can be very powerful on it's own.
With this build, you'll be using your single target heals to spot heal the group or raid as
needed, and using Foul Growths to boost your AE damage.


51Defiler/25Inquisitor
This is not a strict healing build - this build is for solo and farming use than anything else.
I do not recommend this for healing a dungeon.
Not only does it bring the self-healing, the Beacon, and the survivability of the Defiler but
it also brings the massive damage of the Inquisitor.

• Builds and Playstyles (PVP)

51Defiler/19Cabalist/6Shaman
This build currently takes all the necessary talents from Defiler and
combines them with the massive AE power of Cabalist, along with a bit more damage
mitigation and Endurance buff from Shaman. Your main aim is to distract everything as
much as you can - you will never do the best damage, nor the best healing, but you
might top the charts with damage taken and healing received. That's good, right? You'll be
popping all your Bonds off on a target, along with Siphon Vitality and Marrow Harvest,
then using Unholy Nexus to spread it to many other people. Time this properly, and you
can get your spells on nearly a whole group of PVPers. Then just AE the people down with
a quick few blasts of your Bound Fate and Tyranny. Keep yourself alive, if needed, by using
Foul Growth wisely and put your Links on the other healers. You'll do just great!

[Prude]

• Useful Macros

I will provide a list of highly useful macros for you to
use while healing! I personally love to use a bunch of different ones, so feel
free to take what I've put here and tweak it until you've found something
that works for you.

#show Loathsome Restoration
suppressmacrofailures
cast @mouseover Healing Breath
cast @mouseover Ghastly Restoration
cast @mouseover Loathsome Restoration

#show Death's Embrace
suppressmacrofailures
y I'm not finished with you yet, %t!
cast Death's Embrace

This macro is good if you have more than one Defiler in a raid or party:
#show Link of ____
suppressmacrofailures
y I will Link myself with %t...
cast Link of ____


For a Defiler/Warden (PVE):
#show Geyser
suppressmacrofailures
cast Tidal Surge
cast Marrow Harvest
cast Pain Transmission
cast Geyser

For Defiler/Purifier OR Defiler/Sentinel (PVE):
#show Somatic Desecration
suppressmacrofailures
cast Marrow Harvest
cast Pain Transmission
cast Somatic Desecration

For Defiler/Inquisitor (PVE):
#show Somatic Desecration
suppressmacrofailures
cast Marrow Harvest
cast Sanction Heretic
cast Soul Drain
cast Pain Transmission
cast Harsh Discipline
cast Somatic Desecration

For Defiler/Cabalist (PVP):
#show Bound Fate
suppressmacrofailures
cast Marrow Harvest
cast Tyranny of Death
cast Dark Water
cast Bound Fate

[Prude]

• Tips and Everything Else

The Defiler may seem like a complicated class, but it's really not!
Read these small tips and you too can be learning to master what I believe is the most
fun class in the game (opinion, not fact!). The Defiler has a wealth of potential and is
valuable whether you play it or not, so tell your friends you play with these tips too!

• Depending on which combination of Souls you use, the Defiler can have many single target,
  absorption shields, or massive AE heals. Know your spells before you go out into the wide world
  of dungeons, IAs, and raids. Always read them closely and find which ones you think are
  invaluable.
• A Defiler is nothing without his/her Links. Make sure you keep these up! Remember, if you are
  using a build that uses Pain Transmission, pop your extra Links on some melee DPS to ensure that
  your PT will hit all the mobs possible.
• In that same sense, remind your tanks and DPS that if you die, your Links die with you.
  Give yourself a minute to put them back on your targets and re-buff before attempting a large pull again.
• Don't be afraid to DPS. Your Foul Growths come from DPSing as well as you casting them.
  It's an amazing thing to be able to DPS properly and heal at the same time like a Chloromancer
  does - also don't forget your Bonds! That brings in a lot of self-heals.
• You can DPS and heal with one target?! Yes! You can! Target your tank and cast off your
  heals and your damaging abilities all at the same time.
• Learn the fights.. we are giant mana hogs and in many an instance, I have found myself
  running out of mana. Keep a close watch on this, as a Defiler without mana is a dead Defiler.
  Learn where the lulls are between damage and quickly, pop off three or so of your mana
  regeneration spell. Your tank will thank you, even if your maximum health won't.
• Last, but not least, don't be scared to experiment. Defiler is all about experimentation, I'm
  thinking. It leaves a lot of room for you to bring together what you love in another healing Soul
  and transform it into something new entirely. Build your own build, if none of mine suit you here!
  And have fun!

Don't forget to keep your buffs up as well. I'll give you a quick rundown of which buffs
you should keep up - but be sure to manage them properly too! If you think there is a different
buff you should have up, be sure to switch out of it for the fight.

• Defiler/Warden: Grief Blight, Feast of the Fallen, Chimera's Gift, Heroic Resolve.
• Defiler/Purifier: Grief Blight, Feast of the Fallen, Chimera's Gift, Wisdom of the Ages, Sign of Wrath,
• Caregiver's Blessing.
• Defiler/Sentinel: Grief Blight, Feast of the Fallen, Chimera's Gift, Heroic Resolve, Healer's Blessing.
• Defiler/Inquisitor: Rage Blight, Feast of the Fallen, Chimera's Gift, Armor of Devotion, Shroud of Agony.
• Defiler/Cabalist: Rage Blight, Feast of the Fallen, Chimera's Gift, Courage of the Bear, Dark Harbor.

• Ending Statement/Thank Yous

Thanks, everyone! This has been my first guide, but I have been more
than happy to write it. If you have any questions, you are more than welcome to ask me in-game.

Special thankyous to my guild, which keeps me sane.
To Nexul, who put up with me when I first tested Defiler.
And to everyone else who has put their thought and effort into helping me with builds!
You all know who you are.

~ Zaina@Faeblight

[Reticularize]

I really hope you mean 2.0 and not 1.11 (as defiler wasn't out in 1.11).

[Prude]

I usually associate it more with 1.11. But yes, you know what I mean.

[Riane]

If there's something I can suggest: Please don't format your posts with colors--they might be hard for others to read (it's really difficult for me with light purple on purple). Don't center the entirety either. The formatting isn't natural for those that read LTR.

[Gerardsz]

Best defiler guide ever. thank you so much for this.
God bless you.

[Prude]

Best defiler guide ever. thank you so much for this.
God bless you.

You're welcome!
I just hope it'll prove to be of use to some aspiring Defilers.

If there's something I can suggest: Please don't format your posts with colors--they might be hard for others to read (it's really difficult for me with light purple on purple). Don't center the entirety either. The formatting isn't natural for those that read LTR.

Err, sorry. It's just habit.
Plus, purple is a very Defiler colour! I thought it'd be appropriate.

[Blytzz]

Well written guilde! Thank you, I already have used many of these builds but I love the guide! Good read!

[Shaykeyurass]

Hi Prude, thank you for your guide, nice work! I'm sure it will inspire many clerics!

I have some questions for you regarding the 15 sentinel build :

1) Why taking Touch the Light? Touch the Light + HI is not as efficient as Explosive Growth + Ghastly Restoration/Loathsome Restoration and it takes 2 GCD aswell. Is there any other reason I didn't think of (except the mana cost of Explosive Growth)?

2) Benediction vs Divine Understanding :
Benediction = +1% heal/absorb per point
Divine Understanding = +2% ST heal/absorb per point.
The build is clearly ST oriented, shouldn't it be more efficient to spend points into Divine Understanding?
(yeah you have to spend at least 1 point in it to reach the third lvl, I agree with that, but for the others ? )

Regarding the warden build, wouldn't it be more interresting to lose the Heroic Resolve in sentinel to get Healing Cataract in warden? What's your opinion about this?

I have an other question about purifier soul. I didn't test it yet so I'd like to ask if someone did :
can Sign of Wrath be considered as a damaging ability that would apply Foul Growth on the targets of the links?


Thanks for your time!

[Liltizzy]

Thank you for your time and dedication to creating this guide! Well-written with the right amount of information and excitement that this oddly cool soul deserves.

[Polyester]

im a complete defiler and cleric noob.

Just wondering what links would you apply to who?

[Prude]

Thanks to everyone who has supported my guide thus far!
I am really glad everyone likes it so much.

Hi Prude, thank you for your guide, nice work! I'm sure it will inspire many clerics!

I have some questions for you regarding the 15 sentinel build :

1) Why taking Touch the Light? Touch the Light + HI is not as efficient as Explosive Growth + Ghastly Restoration/Loathsome Restoration and it takes 2 GCD aswell. Is there any other reason I didn't think of (except the mana cost of Explosive Growth)?

2) Benediction vs Divine Understanding :
Benediction = +1% heal/absorb per point
Divine Understanding = +2% ST heal/absorb per point.
The build is clearly ST oriented, shouldn't it be more efficient to spend points into Divine Understanding?
(yeah you have to spend at least 1 point in it to reach the third lvl, I agree with that, but for the others ? )

Regarding the warden build, wouldn't it be more interresting to lose the Heroic Resolve in sentinel to get Healing Cataract in warden? What's your opinion about this?

I have an other question about purifier soul. I didn't test it yet so I'd like to ask if someone did :
can Sign of Wrath be considered as a damaging ability that would apply Foul Growth on the targets of the links?


Thanks for your time!

You're welcome too! Hold on, let me read all of this..
Ah!

You are most definitely right about Touch the Light. In any normal case, EG + GR/LR would
do the trick. The problem is, EG is such a heavy mana cost.. which shouldn't be a problem if
you use your mana regen, right? With Touch the Light, you have the extra amount of cushioning
for your burst heals when you need it. I chose it because I'd rather have a safeguard against
the mana cost if I really, absolutely need that big heal.

I took the points into Benediction as a personal choice. I'd rather have a guaranteed boost to
all of my heals than a good boost to my single target ones. Yes, it's a mainly single target build..
But when I need to heavily use feedback, I'd love it if that'd get a nice SP bonus too. This might
change in the future and of course, it's personal preference!

This completely contradicts anything I've said above, so don't mind me, but taking Healing Cataract
in the Warden build is a waste. Your Healing Flood will keep everyone else topped off while your
Foul Growths proc on them. A few ticks of Feedback, and you've got all the AE healing you need.
So while doing 5mans and stuff like that where an Endurance buff isn't available, I'd love to have
Heroic Resolve over an extra AE heal that would go unused.

Purifier.. I haven't tested that myself, so if someone has, I'd love to know!

I'm glad you've enjoyed the guide though and I hope me answering your questions has helped!

im a complete defiler and cleric noob.

Just wondering what links would you apply to who?

Noobs welcome here!
I think I explained that above in the tips, but just to be sure..

I apply my Links based on important and what kind of damage they do.
First off, your biggest Link (25% or whatever you currently have) goes on your tank.
The other 3 or so Links will be put on your DPS. If you're in a 5 man dungeon, grats!
You've got your job made easy.

If you're not in a 5man dungeon and in a raid instead, check if there's another Defiler
lurking around. That's what my Link-placing macro is good for. But besides that, I'd prioritize
the melee DPS > ranged DPS unless it's one of those fights you stack on the *** of the boss.
Or unless you can't put them on anything else.

The reason for this is that your Pain Transmission hits whatever is near not only you, but near
your Links as well. So if you have all your Links bunched on one place.. imagine the sheer damage
that could be doing for you!

Hope this has helped you.