The Justicar

A lone beacon of tanking power in a calling known more for its healing, the Justicar is one of the most unique souls in the game. Never to be used as a secondary or tertiary soul, the Justicar is always the centerpiece of a build that uses it.

Pros

• Highly sought-after in groups
• Among the most versatile souls
• Powerful self heals
• Excellent group protection 
• Arguably the best tank in the game

Cons

• Low damage output
• Fewer tools than warrior tanks
• Less synergy with other souls - only tanking soul in the calling.
• Mana hog

Overview

Preferring to be front and center of the battle rather than healing from afar, the Justicar is the tanking soul of the cleric calling. Even though they are clad only in chain mail armor, Justicar’s employ a powerful self buff to even the playing field with their plate brethren. Like many souls in Rift, the Justicar uses a stacking point system called convictions to help them generate threat, absorb damage and heal.

Solo Play

No one will ever accuse the Justicar of killing things too quickly, but the tradeoff is that the soul is one of the hardest to kill – often able to handle groups of three or more same level mobs with relative ease. For players who prefer to solo their way through the game this is not an ideal soul to build around, but the survivability factor means you can switch from group content to solo content without having to swap roles. The Justicar can simply change their self buffs to help increase damage, making soloing a bit quicker in spots.

Group Play

Much like the best looking girl at the high school dance, the Justicar is never alone for long when they want some companionship. Their combination of solid threat generation, powerful self heals and the ability to redirect overhealing to another party member makes them a healer’s dream.

Pairs Best With

Druid

Pairing your Justicar with a Druid provides big upside with low investment. At a mere 4 points into the tree you gain a pet that can heal you, a damage shield and an upgrade to your base health. Unfortunately you won’t want to spend many more points than these initial few as Mein of Leadership reduces Druid damage abilities and the utility features of the soul are too deep to divert points away from what should be your main focus

Shaman

The Shaman soul brings buffs and survivability to the equation of the perfect tanking build. You will spend more points here than you did in the Druid tree, gaining some excellent statistical buffs, another damage shield, direct reduction in damage taken and an increase to heals received. Spending at least 14 points will grant you a second mana regen ability that proves invaluable as one of the main weaknesses of the Justicar is the amount of mana they expend.