I moved my Guide here. This thread is closed. Edited July 13, 2014 by Orderken

Got two more tips.

 

Brontes - Focus target her (which is generally a good idea on any boss) and safe Force Armour for right after she casts her 1s Arcing Assault which is followed by the 4s channel Arcing Assault, the FA will pretty much neutralise 2 ticks and make the tank swap and raid healing (especially if Kephess is out) much less demanding.

 

Tyrans - keep an eye on DPS/healers getting Affliction and Force Armour them, this will outright neutralise one of the ticks and lower the second, making healing them much less of a priority and hassle in this already fairly chaotic fight (when it comes to healing). Tanks are more likely to have FA reapplied on 'cd' due to unpredictability of Thundering Blast (I guess there is a timer on it but I never really timed it myself. Also no WoW raid overlays with timers which would make it trivial)

 

Also do you have any data which shows whether FA is actually useful on the healing challenge, I in fact stopped using it because I never saw any appreciable difference in the rate the Victim takes damage. I tend to just go Rej-HT-FP-Del-Del and repeat (without FP of course) with going in at high Force and the regaining it afterwards. I am very opposed to using Salvation on less than 3 targets =D.

Edited January 30, 2014 by Darth_Dreselus

Also do you have any data which shows whether FA is actually useful on the healing challenge, I in fact stopped using it because I never saw any appreciable difference in the rate the Victim takes damage. I tend to just go Rej-HT-FP-Del-Del and repeat (without FP of course) with going in at high Force and the regaining it afterwards. I am very opposed to using Salvation on less than 3 targets =D.

 

I have no data regarding Force Armor and Raptus's healing challenge. I'd assumed that Force Armor is effective, because it disappears quickly. I'm now skeptical, however, because videos from Sage healers show the Dying Captive losing health despite having Force Armor. The bug could be that (a) Force Armor is effective but disappears later than it should or (b) Force Armor has no effect but disappears, as though it had been consumed.

 

Though using Salvation to provide effective healing to fewer than 3 allies is usually poor technique, one exception is Raptus's healing challenge, provided that you use it early in the challenge. In BIS gear, and without relic use or proc, Adrenal, Mental Alacrity, Shadow's Shelter, or Inspiration, the expected single-target HPCT of our abilities is:

 

 

1. Salvation with Resplendence (15104, 7552, and 6713 with 2, 1, and 3 charges, respectively),
   
2. Force Mend (6419),
   
3. Healing Trance with Conveyance (5056),
   
4. Salvation without Resplendence (5035),
   
5. Force Armor (4977),
   
6. Rejuvenate (4664 if you don't clip its HOT),
   
7. Benevolence with Conveyance (4630),
   
8. Deliverance with Force Potency (4450),
   
9. Healing Trance without Conveyance (4420),
   
10. Benevolence without Conveyance (3441),
    
11. Deliverance without Force Potency (3307), and
    
12. Force Wave (1488).
    

 

Salvation's HPF is very low for the healing challenge, of course, so I recommend omitting it from your rotation once you can pass the healing challenge without it.

Edited February 3, 2014 by Orderken

First, thank you for the great guide. Its the best available.

 

I'm still looking for something that I used to use with a different game. It was a macro that allowed me to stay targeted on my tank, and if I ever wanted to toss a heal to a dps or other party/raid member I would simply MOUSE-OVER that person's character or party UI slot and hit whatever ability. It worked for casting dmg spells on enemies, as well, all the while never un-targeting my tank. There were other slick commands, too, but that one is just awesome.

 

Anyone know if this game has something like it? Even if not via macro support, maybe within their UI somehow..

 

Thank you.

Edited February 7, 2014 by johnterminus

Sadly no mouse over healing and macros are outright banned. An option is to use the F keys (default) to target group members if you know their position. Another option is to use focus target on your tank and then use focus target modifier (its Home/End or something silly by default, so may need to rebind). I have gotten used to just clicking the raid frames but would be happy for mouse over healing.

johnterminus, I'm not aware of any such capability. I'd suggest posting your question here for greater visibility, but I see that you've found this thread on your own.

 

The UI's limited options, lack of support for macros, and lack of support for add-ons bothered me a great deal at first, but I adapted more easily and quickly than I'd anticipated. I'm sure you will, as well.

Edited February 7, 2014 by Orderken

Really good guide, I came here looking for your BIS stuff just to see, but read the guide anyway.

 

Only thing I could find that I'd correct would be you saying using Force Wave + Salvation at the same time is stupid.

 

For certain fights where AOE damage is pretty large, IE Nefra, Bestia, etc, using one after the other is pretty good, especially if (or when) the majority of your DPS are at about 50% HP.

 

Either way, great guide! 10/10

For certain fights where AOE damage is pretty large, IE Nefra, Bestia, etc, using one after the other is pretty good, especially if (or when) the majority of your DPS are at about 50% HP.

 

I agree. In such circumstances, I usually use Force Wave and Salvation back-to-back. It's unlikely that either will overheal.

 

The guide carves out an exception for such circumstances:

Unless your raid has been or is being devastated by AOE damage, using Force Wave immediately before or after Salvation is poor technique.

 

Perhaps "devastated" is too strong. I'll clarify this when I next update the guide.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Orderken

Today I updated Section "PVE" of the guide.

1. Based on feedback from Darth_Dreselus, I expanded "Tips for Certain Bosses" and Topic 5 of "Playing Like an Expert" to cover more best practices for Force Armor.
   
2. Based on feedback from Selenial, I clarified a topic discussed under "Rotation".
   

 

Thank you both for your feedback.

 

(And a belated thank you to AdrianDmitruk, based on whose feedback I'd updated "Skill Points" of Section "PVP" of the guide.)

Edited February 10, 2014 by Orderken

Very nice guide, just dinged 55 myself and I've been looking for help since it's my first char on swtor.

You're not covering Crew Skill in the guide, and I wondered if there were mandatory Crew Skills that a healing Sage (both PVP and PVE) should take.

Thanks again for the guide.

Very nice guide, just dinged 55 myself and I've been looking for help since it's my first char on swtor.

You're not covering Crew Skill in the guide, and I wondered if there were mandatory Crew Skills that a healing Sage (both PVP and PVE) should take.

Thanks again for the guide.

 

No Mandatory skills but consider these:

Biochem - able to make reusable stims and adrenals and implants

Cybertech - able to make reusable grenades, great for PvP (not sure if reusable are allowed but normal ones are) and earpieces

Synthweaving - WP augments (PvE), also some amour you can craft here

Armstech - Power Augments (PvP)

Armourmech - Armourings and Mods

Artifice - Hilts, Relics, Enhacements

 

If you are okay with buying/looting most of the gear than the crafting skills are not that great, depends if you want to be self sufficient (I have one of each) and do not forget that you need to RE most high end gear to get the schems, so its only really for selling. The highest you can craft is 72 level.

Biochem is universally good.

You're not covering Crew Skill in the guide, and I wondered if there were mandatory Crew Skills that a healing Sage (both PVP and PVE) should take.

 

What Darth_Dreselus said.

 

Also, I recommend choosing one or two Gathering Crew Skills that complement your Crafting Crew Skill. For example, Cybertech requires mats from Scavenging, and Biochem requires mats from Bioanalysis.

 

If you'll choose Crew Skills to save rather than to make credits:

1. My Sorcerer is Cybertech, because, before 2.0 and especially before Arenas, I'd PVPed on it a lot. Reusable grenades work in PVP, and provide a substantial savings, because non-reusable grenades were neither cheap nor always available on the GTN.
   
2. If you're unlikely to PVP often on your Sage, Biochem may provide more savings, because in PVE you'll go through a lot of Adrenals and Medpacs.
   

Edited February 13, 2014 by Orderken

Today I expanded the guide's discussion of BIS gear for PVP to incorporate the fact that, at this time, Bolster grants Expertise equal to Obroan’s to certain PVE gear. Edited February 19, 2014 by Orderken

Do you use 78 2 piece pve set bonus gear then or 58

Do you use 78 2 piece pve set bonus gear then or 58

 

With healing trance being even more important with 2.7 (immune to push backs) I am tempted to use the 2 piece pve set even at the sacrifice of expertise. What's everyone's opinion? 9 sec cool down on healing trance with full expertise or use 2 78 pieces for the 7.5 healing trance but lose about 200 expertise ?

With healing trance being even more important with 2.7 (immune to push backs) I am tempted to use the 2 piece pve set even at the sacrifice of expertise. What's everyone's opinion? 9 sec cool down on healing trance with full expertise or use 2 78 pieces for the 7.5 healing trance but lose about 200 expertise ?

 

With this allocation of skill points, buffs, stim, and Warzone Bolster, my own stat points are as follows.

 

Option 1

My PVP gear (at this time, a mix of Conqueror and Obroan) provides:

• 30924 HP,
  
• 1016.6 Bonus Healing,
  
• 23.65% Critical Change, 63.87 Critical Multiplier, and 7.95% Alacrity,
  
• 3212 Armor, which reduces Kinetic or Energy damage by 20.66%, and
  
• 2018 Expertise, which provides
  
  • 20.38% Damage Reduction,
    
  • 37.5% Healing Boost, and
    
  • 60% Damage Boost.
    

 

Option 2

My PVP gear except for two PVE set pieces with all 78 BIS components provides:

• 32282 HP,
  
• 1053.2 Bonus Healing,
  
• 23.94% Critical Change, 63.87 Critical Multiplier, and 8.65% Alacrity,
  
• 3212 Armor, which reduces Kinetic or Energy damage by 20.66%, and
  
• 1834 Expertise, which provides
  
  • 18.53% Damage Reduction,
    
  • 35.29% Healing Boost, and
    
  • 54.53% Damage Boost.
    

 

Option 3

My PVP gear except for two PVE set pieces with Purple 69/63/61 (defined below) components provides:

• 30648 HP,
  
• 1021.4 Bonus Healing,
  
• 23.57% Critical Change, 63.87 Critical Multiplier, and 7.78% Alacrity,
  
• 3212 Armor, which reduces Kinetic or Energy damage by 20.66%, and
  
• 2018 Expertise.
  

 

You asked about Option 1 vs. Option 2. Neither wins decisively, so I suggest experimenting.

• Option 1's higher Expertise improves survivability and boosts healing and damage. I prefer this, but I rarely die from lacking force, work in as much damage as possible, and am comfortable exchanging kills (i.e., risking an ally's death because, rather than healing him, I'm ensuring an enemy's death) when this is to my team's advantage.
  
• Option 2's lower cooldown on Healing Trance should increase HPS and ease force management.
  

 

 

 

I recommend Option 3, which has the best qualities of Option 1 (2018 Expertise) and Option 2 (7.5-second cooldown on Healing Trance). I discuss Option 3 below in detail.

 

Warzone Bolster (subject to change; see, e.g., here) grants full Expertise to a piece with a PVE set bonus if the piece satisfies each of the following tests.

1. Each component has no Expertise.
   
2. Each component has an item level <= 69 (i.e., each item's name ends in "30" or a lower number).
   
3. The sum of the ratings of the Armoring, Modification, and Enhancement is <= 458. (Though a Modification or Enhancement has no rating, for purposes of this test, treat it as having a rating equal to that of an Armoring of its item level and color.)
   

 

BIS satisfying these tests is as follows.

• Purple components with these item levels: 63 set bonus Armoring from Dread Guard Chest, Legs, or Hands; 69 Modification; and 61 Enhancement. The customary name for this is "63/69/61".
  
• The next best alternative, which is nearly tied for BIS, is Purple components with these item levels: 69 set bonus Armoring from any Arkanian set piece; 63 Modification; and 61 Enhancement. The customary name for this is "69/63/61".
  

 

Two final notes regarding BIS for Option 3 are below.

1. Using a PVE component with a rating lower than a that of a Purple 69, 63, or 61 reduces stats with Warzone Bolster, but the stat loss pales in comparison to the value of the 2-piece PVE set bonus. Our 2-piece PVE set bonus is excellent, even pre-2.7, while our 4-piece PVP set bonus is loathsome.
   
2. BIS is unaffected by which set pieces carry the 2-piece PVE set bonus. While in PVE Head, Chest, or Legs provide more Armor than Hands or Feet, my Armor remained a constant 3212 with Warzone Bolster during each of my tests with Conqueror, 69, or 78 Armorings in various set pieces.
   

 

Obtain Purple 69, 63, or 61 components as follows.

1. Armorings
   
   • 69 set bonus Armorings come from Arkanian tokens only, which drop from Story Mode TFB, S&V, DF, or DP.
     
   • 63 set bonus Armorings come from Dread Guard tokens only, which drop from EC. 63/69/61 > 69/63/61 only if a 63 Armoring is from a Chest, Legs, or Hands token. These 3 Dread Guard set piece provide 72 Willpower, whereas the set bonus Armorings from Dread Guard Head or Feet tokens have only 60 Willpower.
     

[*]Modifications

• For a 69 Modification, choose an Advanced Aptitude Mod 30. The Basic Gear Vendor sells gear with this Modification for Basic Commendations. Cybertech may learn this schematic through reverse engineering, and, therefore, it may be crafted or available on the GTN.
  
• For a 63 Modification, choose an Advanced Aptitude Mod 27. This Modification is available from certain Dread Guard-level items, which drop from Hard or Nightmare Mode EV, KP, and EC. Cybertech may learn this schematic through reverse engineering, and, therefore, it may be crafted or available on the GTN.
  

[*]Enhancements

• For a 61 Enhancement, choose an Advanced Adept or Quick Savant Enhancement 26. These Enhancements are available from certain Campaign gear, sold by the Classic Gear Vendor for Classic Commendations. Artifice may learn this schematic through reverse engineering, and, therefore, these may be crafted or available on the GTN.
  

 

I use 69/63/61, because my server has many PUG runs of Story Mode TFB, S&V, DF, or DP, but few PUG runs of EC.

 

 

 

I hope this explanation is helpful. Please reply with any questions or to discuss this further.

Edited February 27, 2014 by Orderken

As discussed in the post immediately above, Warzone Bolster (subject to change; see, e.g., here) grants full Expertise to a piece with a PVE set bonus if the piece satisfies each of the following tests.

1. Each component has no Expertise.
   
2. Each component has an item level <= 69 (i.e., each item's name ends in "30" or a lower number).
   
3. The sum of the ratings of the Armoring, Modification, and Enhancement is <= 458. (Though a Modification or Enhancement has no rating, for purposes of this test, treat it as having a rating equal to that of an Armoring of its item level and color.)
   

 

SWTOR imbues a Main Hand's Hilt or an Offhand's Armoring with Force Power (equivalent to Power for our purposes) in direct proportion to its item rating. As a result, 69/63/61 > Obroan for Main Hand or Offhand, provided that the Crystal has +41 Power (an Expertise Crystal would cause a 69/63/61 build to fail the first test).

 

But, as discussed by Evuo here, Warzone Bolster's effect on Main Hand or Offhand is unusual. It's likely that a BIS Main Hand or Offhand has Blue components each with item level 46. The customary name for this is "46/46/46".

• For Main Hand, use a Resolve Hilt 20, Aptitude Mod 20, and Barrage Enhancement 20, all of Blue quality.
  
• For Offhand, use a Resolve Armoring 20, Aptitude Mod 20, and Barrage Enhancement 20, all of Blue quality.
  

 

I tested a Purple 69/63/61 and a Blue 46/46/46 Offhand. As Evuo found, 46/46/46 provided better stats with Warzone Bolster.

 

Compare the stats of Option 3 in the post immediately above, for which I used an Obroan Main Hand and Offhand, with the stats below, for which I used a Blue 46/46/46 Main Hand and Offhand:

• 31539 HP,
  
• 1059.4 Bonus Healing,
  
• 24.69% Critical Change, 67.08% Critical Multiplier, and 7.44% Alacrity,
  
• 3212 Armor, which reduces Kinetic or Energy damage by 20.66%, and
  
• 2018 Expertise.
  

 

Obtain Blue item level 46 components as follows.

• Artifice trains Green Resolve Hilt 20, which may be reverse engineered to learn the schematic for the Blue. Alternatively, the PVP Vendor sells a High Prophet's Lightsaber for 900 Warzone Commendations, from which a Blue Resolve Hilt 20 may be extracted.
  
• Cybertech trains Green Resolve Armoring 20, which may be reverse engineered to learn the schematic for the Blue.
  
• The Voss Equipment Commendations Vendor sells gear with Aptitude Mod 20 or Barrage Enhancement 20, which may be extracted.
  

 

 

In conclusion, for Warzones, I use two PVE set pieces with Purple 69/63/61 components (Option 3 discussed in the post immediately above) and a Blue 46/46/46 Main Hand and Offhand. This absurd build for Warzones isn't my fault; it's brought to you by Bolster.

 

 

(Note that 69/63/61 is likely BIS for Main Hand and Offhand for players for whom "white" damage is important. All of a Sage's damage is "yellow" damage, and, therefore, a Blue 46 Hilt's lower weapon damage is irrelevant.)

Edited March 2, 2014 by Orderken

thank you soooooo much. i knew u could use pve mods and get full expertise but i didnt really understand how. i can now give it a go. Can the mods required be brought on the gtn? Is it possible for you to show us your full build with pve mods included?

Thanks again i will vote for you for the next sage representive

sorry forgot to ask which crystal do you use.

jstyrka, thank you for your follow-up questions. I edited my two previous posts to include answers for them. Please have a look, and reply with any additional questions.

For the 46 pieces are you sure you can get them from the voss vendors as I can't seem to find them

For the 46 pieces are you sure you can get them from the voss vendors as I can't seem to find them

 

I'm certain. The Modification and Enhancement that I named can't be learned through reverse engineering, so the "Voss Equipment Commendations Vendor" might be the only source.

 

This Vendor is on Fleet, and not to be confused with the neighboring Voss Modification Commendations Vendor. The Modification Vendor sells the less desirable (low Power, high Endurance) versions of the Modification and Enhancements.

 

For example, the Blue item level 46 Enhancement with Power and Alacrity may be extracted from Ancient Battlemind's Boots, and the Blue item level 46 Modification with Willpower and Power may be extracted from Ancient Seeker's Boots.

Edited March 2, 2014 by Orderken

You can also get the 20 hilt from pvp weapons vendor

Found them they are called barrage enhancements but have the Same stats as quick savant. With your spec do you get flagged as a dps or healer in ranked wz?

Great guide, thank you!