From the look of the forums here almost all the information I can find is about Sage healing in ops or Scoundrel healing in ops...no love for Commandos it seems. Im thinking about rolling a commando and I was wondering exact how are they for pvp healing and more importantly, OPS healing. I mean from everything I keep reading I just hear "Sage > Everything else", but that can't really be the case, right?

Sages have, without question, the strongest AoE healing capability in OPs. Throw in with their very respectable tank healing, and Sages come out on top in general. They also have the most forgiving regen mechanics, and given the current status of pretty much all bosses having a short enrage timer, there's no real fear of going OOF.

 

The other healers are definitely viable, but there's a clear balance disparity. In part, the content isn't very challenging, which helps.

Also, and this is huge, Sages play like almost every healer in every other MMO ever.

 

Some people cannot adjust to the new resource mechanics. The new mechanics shine a glaring light on the bad healers of the past who had their mistakes masked by the often near-infinite mana pools. They take one look at the 12 Ammo clip, realize they can only cast Medical Probe 4 times before going oom, and walk away.

 

WoW saw the same problem with healers when Cataclysm was released. In Lich King, healer mana was, for all intents and purposes, infinite. In Cataclysm, they wanted to make resource management matter for the healers, and the response was a huge exodus of healers because they had "made it too hard."

 

Play smart, and the other classes are excellent healers. True, Commando AoE is limited, but we also have very strong single target heals. Currently, most enrage timers are so short Sages never run out of Force, but Commandos NEVER run out of Ammo, if played right, regardless of fight length.

Do Combat Medics even get their share of respect in guilds? Because I keep hearing that the only healing teams that are ever run with is either a Sage/Sage team or a Sage/Scoundrel team. In fact I almost never hear any mention of Combat medics in any healing regard except a pvp one.

Do Combat Medics even get their share of respect in guilds? Because I keep hearing that the only healing teams that are ever run with is either a Sage/Sage team or a Sage/Scoundrel team. In fact I almost never hear any mention of Combat medics in any healing regard except a pvp one.

 

If your guild is anti-Combat Medic, it is a sign you should look into getting a different guild. They are either uninformed or the kind of guild that will be kicking people out of Ops based on the flavor of the month swings of balance.

You'll do perfectly fine as a combat medic as a fully specced healer. You just need to put in some extra effort.

 

Sage healing is easier though, because of their massive AoE heal, shield, and a better buff.

Usually in operations, commandos are main tank / support healers. We can heal the main tank, DPS when needed, or help out the sages if they need help.

 

All in all, if healing is all you want, go sage. Hands down, best healer... but troopers are a hundred times more fun. Playing my level 30 sage is soooo boring!

I played a Commando during beta and a Sage as well. The sage just got fairly boring, and personally I don't really see them as being that strong. If you want a healer that surpasses any situation I'd go Trooper. My aoe and single target are both amazing, add the heavy armor into the mix and its just ******.

 

However though I will say that you need to play with the mechanics to optimize healing output. I leveled from 1-50 as Combat Medic and didn't re-spec til a week after being 50. The sage I'm not so sure about...

 

Personally I got really bored with the Sage, my Scoundrel is more fun than the Sage.

My guild is running two 8 man EV groups atm and working on getting group 3 and 4 going. Our leaders try to get a medic/sage combo in every group. I role a sage and while we are strong we cannot match a medic's single target healing. We do a good job and bring a lot of good tools but for the most part sages keep the group up and toss bubbles/rejuv on tank. I have not dealt with smuggler healers at all but I find it hard for them to find a slot really. Monster single target from medic and utility of sage is just too good.

They also have the most forgiving regen mechanics

 

I beg to disagree. You don't have to manage your resources at all as a commando. I mean obviously if you cast 3 straight MPs you'll run into issues but there's never really a reason to do that anyway. As a sage you have to life-tap after every proc, thus wasting GCDs that could be used on potential heals. The only reason sages are even competitive with commandos is their aoe healing.

I beg to disagree. You don't have to manage your resources at all as a commando. I mean obviously if you cast 3 straight MPs you'll run into issues but there's never really a reason to do that anyway. As a sage you have to life-tap after every proc, thus wasting GCDs that could be used on potential heals. The only reason sages are even competitive with commandos is their aoe healing.

 

I think the word he was looking for was "familiar." Their regen works in a way that most people understand from WoW and other MMOs.

I think the word he was looking for was "familiar." Their regen works in a way that most people understand from WoW and other MMOs.

No, I meant forgiving. If you overcast as a Commando, the penalty is severe and pretty much instant. If you forget the occasional Noble Sacrifice, there aren't any short-term losses and with 5-minute boss fights, it's probably not going to catch up to you later.

Regardless what people tell you or what they think, all three healers are viable in pvp and pve in any combination ie 2 commando's, what sets them apart is what their good and not so good at, I've played all three end game

 

Sage = Best Aoe but isnt best single target

Scoundrel = is in the middle good single target good aoe but not best at either

Commando = Best single target healer (aoe is poor) - now before people say i single target heal better than a commando ask yourself this can you heal a single target for up to 24k in 4.5 seconds

Coming from a guild which has 1 of each as first pick raiders (1/4 NiM EC atm) I can tell you that they are all good (on parser it is usually 50/50, I only overtake with Salvation spamming [i do like to spam my Salvation ] and thus effective healing still stays about 50/50). Each class has it perks but each class is capable of clearing all the content when played correctly. Gone are the times when Commandos did not have a combat res. (What a stupid idea that was) Edited November 23, 2012 by Darth_Dreselus

I beg to disagree. You don't have to manage your resources at all as a commando. I mean obviously if you cast 3 straight MPs you'll run into issues but there's never really a reason to do that anyway. As a sage you have to life-tap after every proc, thus wasting GCDs that could be used on potential heals. The only reason sages are even competitive with commandos is their aoe healing.

 

commandos have the most unforgiving resource management system, in true endgame content where your pushed tooverheal people or you are forced to use a heal out of rotation, you get almost completely crippled. one single MP out of rotation could break a commando healer considering we have only one free heal (minus the one thats on a 2m cooldown) and only one ability to regain resource.