Parias the Cleric, as seen in the class selection screen in Hexen.
Parias the Cleric is one of the three playable hero classes in Hexen. He appears as a well-armored man in chain mail with a horned helmet, cape, and leather gloves and boots. An ornate black tunic with red accents is worn around his waist. Parias has the most even balance of speed, armor, magic, and strength among the three classes, second in strength only to Baratus and in magic only to Daedolon. A stalwart soldier of the Church, but also skilled in the arcane, Parias is the most well-rounded class in the game.
The cleric is probably the easiest class in the game to play as, possessing both enough physical endurance to survive most attacks and a powerful magical arsenal for dealing with ranged combat. He is an effective class throughout much of the game as much of his general playstyle is similar to that of most first person shooters, a melee weapon as a last resort and ranged weapons requires that require ammunition (in the form of mana). The primary drawback of the cleric is that his first tier weapon is fairly slow and less effective than the other first tier weapons: although it has marginally longer reach than the Baratus' gauntlets, and slightly greater damage than the Daedolon's staff, it is overall significantly weaker and shorter ranged than each of those. This means that that players seeking to output enough damage to quickly defeat their opponents will find themselves very dependent on mana.
In order to avoid being simply the "middle" character, the cleric has a few unique abilities, such as unleashing poison gas clouds or draining life from his enemies.
- The Flechette in the hands of the cleric releases a poisonous, damaging gas. The cleric will drop the flechette where he is standing, where it will remain for a second or two before shattering. Once the flechette has broken, a cloud of poisonous gas will appear at its location - damaging both enemies and players over time for as long as they remain in the cloud. Whilst in the cloud, players will find their vision periodically disturbed by a green haze. To many players, the cleric's variant of the flechette appears to be the most useful - the cloud can stop Ettin and Centaur dead in their tracks, and serves as an effective chokepoint in cramped areas. In addition, a Disc of Repulsion may be used to launch the cloud forward, granting it additional impact damage capable of killing most enemies.
- While under the effects of the Icon of the Defender the cleric gains total invincibility. In addition, he will periodically flicker in and out of tangibility, allowing some projectiles to pass through him much like the Disciples in Heretic.
- When using the Mystic Ambit Incant, the cleric restores a significant amount of health to both himself and nearby allies, if injured.
Parias' armor
Parias' default number of armor is 2, and is also his minimum; it cannot drop below that, no matter how much damage is taken. Parias benefits from armor pieces in the following way:
- Falcon Shield: Gives 5 points of armor
- Amulet of Warding: Gives 4 points of armor
- Mesh Armor: Gives 2 points of armor
- Platinum Helm: Gives 1 point of armor
With his minimum armor and all the four extra pieces, Parias has a total of 14 armor points; however, his maximum is 18. If the 18 armor points are desired, the four armor parts and the use of Dragonskin Bracers are required.
Parias' weapons
- Mace of Contrition: A spiked, one handed mace fairly good reach for a melee weapon.
- Serpent Staff: A scaly, snake-like staff that fires dual projectiles that travel in a horizontal arc. It can also drain your opponent's health at melee range, which is granted as healing for the Cleric.
- Firestorm: A powerful spell that launches a streak of fire at its target, exploding into a sustained-damage pillar of flame that burns at the impact point.
- Wraithverge: A staff in the design of a cross that summons vengeful spirits to wreak havoc upon the Cleric's enemies. The four summoned spirits remain until they have each inflicted a certain amount of damage.