Yo! Quick question about friar and minstrel: How viable are they for PvE groups? Are they needed for raids at lvl 50, e.g. dragon? I have little experience with alb but one of the 2 classes would certainly interest me, however only if they are also invited to raids etc. later on. Thanks

As far as friar goes:

Friar is
- great solo PVE
- will probably get groups in PVE but won't be sought after.
- gets into dragon raids for heat resistance buff

Friar can kill Red / Low Purples alone with the right build and fully sced @lvl 50, its a PvE beast. On lower levels (and no sc ofc) you r not that strong but you still do well on solo, you become stronger and stronger as you raise in levels. So you will have a good solo time compared to other classes, only Necro will beat you in soloXP, but as Warriston said before me groups wont be too crazy for you.
In RvR will be even worse, no1 will want you
Big Raids such Dragon you ll be welcome, PvE elitist Farm groups going for small man raids (such as green knight) will probably not need a friar (but this is very marginal aspect of the game i guess)

Mincer in leveling is outshodowed by Sorc, they both have healpet and pom, but sorc pom is generally stronger (mincer get first pom at lvl 10 and then every 10 levels, sorc starts at lvl 5) and mincer can only have one of the 2 (either pom or pet). Still healpets are so Op, their infinite mana and lack of healers will often grant you a spot in groups easily, surely more then friars. Solo times will be pretty good when tasking before 20 with speed.
in PvE mincer will never have a spot on selective raids, but they ll still take you in open raids. I d say 90% of the Dragonraids are open so no worries
in RvR groups might take you for the speed, your solo is pretty good (you can charm red pets) and you can join stealthgroups

just wondering if the friar got his Hot (Heal over time) in that patch 1.65, does anyone know about it?

yes friar has group hot

Caldrian wrote:yes friar has group hot

..and its absolute and utter garbage. costs a TON of mana and heals for veeeery litte. theres very few scenarios where i would even consider casting it.

xxxx <.< deleteplz