Cleric isn’t strong (except Zealot & maybe Inquisitor) in PVP.
In fact, Cleric is the weakest Class tree for PVP.
Strong and weak is only decided by RAW damage and CC, as these points decide who dies how fast.
The point Cleric excels in is survivability. This doesn’t make Cleric any stronger,though, just tougher.
It allows the player to outlast the enemy, which is totally fine.
Just look at how e.g. Overwatch handles Tanks.
I’d rather say Swordsmen in PVP will be the reason why Archer doesn’t get its comeback.
Peltasta C2 is broken with active Guard, 100% uptime on Guardian and additional 20% damage reduction + damage reduction buff via Swash Buckling.
With the many possible ways to CC the enemy as Swordsman in PVP, the high defence of Peltasta and the sheer endless blocks, even without shield (e.g. Retiarius), that allow for enemy CC even on medium-high range (e.g. Throw Rete, Iron Hook, Spear Throw) is what really destroys Archer gameplay.
Swordsman and Wizard are really strong against Archers while Cleric still needs to close the gap first for the majority of skills, has nearly no CC and only kills slowly[strongest skills are DoT-/multihit-skills].
In my opinion, after all these recent changes, Clerics are the least thing to worry about in PVP for Archers.
Rather, they benefited from the Heal changes for Cleric, as it’s harder to heal back instantly from burst attacks now, making Cleric less dangerous on normal gear level but more dangerous on whale gear level (as C3s Heal now has a HoT effect that additionally boosts the survivability of Clerics on the long run).
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