The Infamous Cleric Petition

Things that need to be changed for the Cleric class in Everquest:

• Clerics currently lack any ability to effectively melee at all. Even when they do come into possession of a good weapon (Screaming Mace, etc.), the chances of your character doing damage are few and far between. I would like Verant to make Clerics able to equip higher-damage weapons such as the Fleshripper, Bloodmoon, Butcherblock Hammer, and the Short Sword of Ykesha.
• "Smite" is hardly a good direct damage spell in the mid-20 levels. I think it would be a good move to give a Cleric-only spell with the effect of both "Ice Comet" and "Stun" at level 24. Perhaps the spell could be balanced by using a lot of mana, maybe even up to 200 points per cast or something.
• As a Cleric, I find myself frequently having to sit down a lot and meditate to regain mana. This is time consuming and tedious. Clerics should be able to regain mana while running or fighting or logged off. Same goes with health.
• When journeying to group with a band of hearty adventurers, Clerics must sometimes travel a great distance. All this running can get very boring. I would like Verant to make some way of allowing Clerics to type in a /loc and immediately teleport there. This would enhance gameplay greatly and really help groups out.
• Clerics can cure poison and disease, but why the heck can't they cast it? We need to have a line of disease and poison spells that are DOT.
• Sometimes I get tired of looking for monsters to kill. Clerics should be able to summon a monster to kill by simply typing "/summon". This might also help the problem with people camping monsters all the time.
• How come all the other casting classes in EQ get pets but Clerics don't? I think Clerics should be given a pet at level 9, preferably something along the lines of a hill giant or specter. When the character gets to level 30, they should be able to summon Innoruk as a pet.
• When engaging an enemy in battle, I find that sometimes I must retreat from the heat of combat. It would be fairer if Clerics had permanent SoW, that way we could escape to heal our wounded comrades.
• I would like to be able to summon a Flaming Hammer at level 5. Why should only Paladins get a weapon that's on fire?
• Spells are just so darn expensive for the unfortunate Cleric class. Make them free. Or at least have some shopkeepers that would have special sales on them (ie, "Buy two pints of ale, get a Spell: Holy Might free!"). This would help the player economy.
• Since Clerics are literally "Servants of God", they should not be allowed to die. When their hit points reach zero, they should just start walking sort of slow and not be able to cast or something. I think that the Gods of Norrath would never abandon these Holy Men, and as a result, they should not be allowed to perish in combat.
• When the Clerics run out of mana, they should be able to use double attack, bash, and riposte.

I think that by implementing these minor changes, the Cleric class will become more balanced and appealing to new characters. Please take a moment to email your name to the "Cleric Petition Form" so Verant can address this much-needed fix. Thank you.

– Rich "Lowtax" Kyanka (@TwitterHasBannedAllMyAccountsEver)