Most of the highest ranked guilds have quit the game. Let's check some of the websites for the world ranked guilds from EC HM, shall we? Millennium - No longer lists SWTOR on their website Condemned - Website gone, presumably disbanded Legacy Of Matukal - On their website, they're back to WoW The Remnant - Website not updated, presumably disbanded Nerfed - Website inactive, presumably disbanded Lethal Dose 50 - Active Retribution - Back to WoW Instinct - Back to WoW Thirteen Thirty Seven - Back to WoW Ambient - Disbanded Working as Intended - No news posted for NiM EC on their site Nightmares Asylum - Website not updated, presumably disbanded Nostrum Dolus - Active Might - Back to WoW Methodical - Mostly back to WoW, some members may still be here Chosen - Active Anomaly - Back to WoW Cali Killed Nox - Disbanded

Alacrity is crap. 250 points of alacrity results in a 21% reduction in heat efficiency. This would be fine if we had excess heat, but we don't. If we lower our heat efficiency, we have to rapid shots, and rapid shots are terrible.

Venting heat on cooldown is good play, and increases your maximum potential throughput. I see nothing wrong with that. 150hps is a significant difference, but it's hardly "miles".

Bioware messed up. The math has shown that since 1.2, alacrity is about as useful as throwing yourself off a bridge. People will still use it, despite it only increasing short term HPS by an almost negligible amount and decreasing heat efficiency by 15-20% per 250 pts (dependent on diminishing returns). The 4 set bonus is fine, but the 2 set bonus is terrible because without the heat savings of the 4 set, you are unable to use the extra supercharge time, and even with it, you need perfect heat management.

WH Relic of Boundless Ages is BiS. Pick up two of those and you're golden.

If you guys are so pro, why don't you do a title run, huh?

I scrubbed every bit of alacrity I could. I am currently sitting at 0 alacrity with 0 alacrity spec points. I hate the stat. It hastens overheat, which is the long term restriction on merc heals.

You're so full of it, I bet you can't even clear 8 man story mode Eternity Vault. I see you walking around Bastion fleet like you're hot stuff, but I hear you get one shot by Acklays because your mitigation is so low. L2P, scrub.

Here's my parse from KP NiM Jarg and Sorno. (If you check Bonethrasher, you will find there is a sorc in there. He left, and we brought in someone's alt, but he didn't know how to heal, so... there you go. Foreman is really low because Foreman is a joke.) http://www.torparse.com/a/7606/10 1762 HPS, 1553 eHPS http://www.torparse.com/a/7235/8 1768 HPS, 1298.4 eHPS HM LI http://www.torparse.com/a/7604/25 1686 HPS, 1203.6 eHPS Nightmare Pilgram A sorc might have much, much better AoE, but I'll be damned if they can come anywhere close to our single target heals. Plus, heat management is incredibly fun, and I wouldn't trade it for the world (but I might for Revivification). Do op and sorc healers outheal me? Yes. Does it matter for current content? Nah. Is the gap in eHPS large? Doubt it.

I kept Blizz topped off while he dpsed the boss. Sometimes it's nice to be a healer.

http://www.torparse.com/a/7045/10 You do not need to rapid shots. Rapid shots is a loss of healing time. It's been shown by the math that alacrity reduces your HPH, which is the main limiting factor. In *some* situations you'll be time constrained, but most of the time you can cast, and you should be casting. I'm sure that you're good at dps, and your dps specs are valid, but merc heals has been my main spec since launch day. EDIT: I'll admit that alacrity is probably useful in PvP. I'm not a pvper, but it does seem very hectic. But in PvE, I feel that sustained healing is much more important than rapid response.

I do it because I'm bored and want trash/bosses to go faster, but it makes me overheat and become useless for healing. Eh.

1. Merc heals suck and can't keep up with any other healers. Plus they overheat all the time. 2. Merc heals can be competitive. If properly managed, a merc heals can continuously cast heals with a rapid shots only occasionally. This management, however, is extremely unforgiving and a single deviation will send your 1600 hps plummeting. Merc heals are currently able to do all available PvE content, but have very low mobility, and a low margin of error. EDIT: Not that that's a bad thing. I like merc's playstyle. I hate PvPing with my merc heals. It's like trying to herd cats.

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#300rskZrfR0Rkcdkq.2 My merc heals talent build. Alacrity is just going to force you to overheat in PvE, mercs have a very delicate rotation as it is.

http://www.fryingtime.com/?filename=NiM_KP_Augmented.txt#17_24_23_701000 Bonethrasher (Nightmare) 1506 hps (1376 ehps) Jarg and Sorno (Nightmare) 1477 hps (1327 ehps) Foreman Crusher (Nightmare) 1283 hps (998 ehps) Fabricator (Nightmare) 1312 hps (1100 ehps) Karagga the Unyielding (Nightmare) 1548 hps (1337 ehps (heh)) BH healer in (mostly) augmented black hole, 610 bonus heals when buffed at the time I've since added a few more augments, and switched out to two pvp relics to get ~200 more power. EDIT: Added ehps using threat calculation method.