I play a Jedi Consular.

 

I've been healing in Warcraft for a while now... I've healed competitive end game on a Paladin, Shaman, Priest and Druid... and I must say, healing on my Consular is like pulling teeth while someone is slamming a sledge hammer into my gut.

 

The heals are weak and I run out of force way too easily. I wont go into the "no mouseovers" and addons and whatnot... but seriously, the healing arsenal you get and the core mechanics so far is not fun.

 

Running our of resources is not fun. I'm hoping it may be a gear issue. Can anyone confirm if this gets any better with gear?

Edited December 22, 2011 by Israel

You didn't mention what level you are.

 

But it really doesn't matter. I haven't healed as a Sage past level 20.

 

As a trooper tho, resources weren't really a problem. I have a feeling there is a mechanic that you are over looking. But again, I'm not very familiar with Sage healing.

You didn't mention what level you are.

 

But it really doesn't matter. I haven't healed as a Sage past level 20.

 

As a trooper tho, resources weren't really a problem. I have a feeling there is a mechanic that you are over looking. But again, I'm not very familiar with Sage healing.

 

Level 50.

I'm only 34 and a SI, but it's not that bad if you spec right and use your buffs and abilities right. You may be running out of force because you arent using it properly. Work your force shield, and your buff from your hot to speed up your heals, etc etc etc. It's ok so far, easily healing my buddies in flashpoints so far.

Ya, if your 50, the only thing that will make it easier, is gear, learning how to play it properly, or finding new people to heal.

 

It's any combination of the 3.

I'm having a great time healing as a Sawbones.

 

Since you mentioned WoW, I'll say that flashpoint encounters in this game seem to me what Blizzard promised, but failed to deliver, for Cataclysm. There is a lot of *avoidable* damage but I have yet to see any unavoidable spike damage. Players don't need to be at 100% all the time. Make sure you don't overheal, and take advantage of your free, channelled heal. If you still have issues, make sure your group is not eating a lot of avoidable damage. Use (and don't break) CC.

 

In good groups, I find myself able to DPS. If I'm wary of a fight taking a bad turn I won't use a lot of costly abilities, but the fact remains that I'm not frantically chain-casting big heals and praying I can get the tank topped off before the next spike of damage that takes 90% of everyone's health. I never have energy issues unless someone is screwing up. It's so much fun.

 

Edit: If you truly are level 50 then I also question how well you took the time to learn your character as opposed to racing to 50.

Edited December 22, 2011 by Eroiqua

Unfortunately, I feel like in this not-so-responsive combat system, healing is going to be tough for a while until they polish it up. I hate to use the word but I will... WoW... has possibly one of the best examples of a very responsive combat system. When you press a button, you get enough feedback to know it has went off, you see it go off immediately, and the damage/healing is done when the animation actually hits the target. Makes things a lot easier.

 

Hopefully things get easier for you and they help ya out with more polishing on the combat system to make things a bit easier for everyone!

Edit: If you truly are level 50 then I also question how well you took the time to learn your character as opposed to racing to 50.

 

I used this guide.

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=638

 

It seems to play pretty similar to a Disc priest. And I put a lot of effort into perfecting my class. Also, I don't "race"... I just have a lot of time on my hands.

Alright I am a level 40 Sage, and I am purely heals. I find healing in SWTOR fun, and most deffinitely takes skill and management on what/when to use X or Y ability. I have healed many Flashpoints, and group quests and absolutely love this challenge. Telekinetics overs +100 Force to your already 500 pool, and so on. I say read, and build a nice spec and go on from there. Edited December 22, 2011 by Cadedrik

I think WoW trained a lot of people who run "Heroics"/Instances to just AOE things down. They don't use CC, they don't mark targets, and they don't even coordinate their attacks.

They jedi leap out of my range, they break the CC I put down, they ignore my markings, and in general, they're a nuisance.

 

If you're trying to heal those kinds of players, you're in for a world of hurt. It's excellent experience because you're in a constant panic trying to manage your resource bar while "curing stupid". It's not, however, fun.

I don't know, I think the biggest mistake you are making is the comparing to 'that other game'

 

when you play a new game you need to play .that. game, go with whatever .that. game gives you, and find out how it works. I understand that you do it automatically. maybe I'm lucky here because I definitely didn't expect any of the healer-classes to be played like a minstrel from LotRo

I think WoW trained a lot of people who run "Heroics"/Instances to just AOE things down. They don't use CC, they don't mark targets, and they don't even coordinate their attacks.

They jedi leap out of my range, they break the CC I put down, they ignore my markings, and in general, they're a nuisance.

 

If you're trying to heal those kinds of players, you're in for a world of hurt. It's excellent experience because you're in a constant panic trying to manage your resource bar while "curing stupid". It's not, however, fun.

 

This is especially good practice as a BH healer since you have to manage your heat and procs correctly or someone is going to die. It is, as you said, stressful as hell though.

SWTOR has the ability for people to rethink how they play. Hitting around level 20 now and it is feeling like an old friend.

 

Stand back and look at the classes differently instead of expecting them to fit into some other mode from other games. Similarities? Yes... but not identical in every way.

 

ENJOy!

I think WoW trained a lot of people who run "Heroics"/Instances to just AOE things down. They don't use CC, they don't mark targets, and they don't even coordinate their attacks.

They jedi leap out of my range, they break the CC I put down, they ignore my markings, and in general, they're a nuisance.

 

If you're trying to heal those kinds of players, you're in for a world of hurt. It's excellent experience because you're in a constant panic trying to manage your resource bar while "curing stupid". It's not, however, fun.

 

There's also a big group of KOTOR players who probably have no idea about these sort of MMO group dynamics. You might want to try explaining things to people, taking lead in the group and getting CC targets marked etc etc.

I don't know, I think the biggest mistake you are making is the comparing to 'that other game'

 

when you play a new game you need to play .that. game, go with whatever .that. game gives you, and find out how it works. I understand that you do it automatically. maybe I'm lucky here because I definitely didn't expect any of the healer-classes to be played like a minstrel from LotRo

 

I could see how that could be the case, but to a certain extent comparing dungeon runs in this game only it seems much more efficient to just focus on a single target. I don't know how it is end game though, but I couldn't imagine end game flashpoints and raids not requiring some kind of focus so it just seems like we should be learning it from the ground up. I know when I run a fp with my guild and we focus on a single target and I only have to heal one person things go MUCH smoother, I don't find myself low on power and I can actually contribute some dps to the fight, things just seem much more stable and recoverable from an oh crap moment.

 

It's quite possible this game is indeed meant for players to all semi-tank multiple mobs, but then I would think they would have done away with the classes which are clearly labeled as tanks. I'm just trying to get a grasp of the game and if multiple party members tanking multiple mobs is the way bioware intends group encounters then so be it.

I don't think there is one inherently superior strategy that works everywhere.

 

Focus fire reduces the firepower from the enemies, while everyone going one-on-one on individual enemies reduces the damage the players need to absorb.

 

It probably depends on the particular encounter--and the team--which is the most efficient.

I cant get a chance to use lift, most groups are in a MASSIVE rush, out of the three I was just with only one would meditate his health back after a fight, the lowest lvl was jumping out of range into fights at half health.

 

tbh I''d rather dps.

I never did like the healing specs/classes in ''the other game''. I just couldn''t get the hang of it and it never worked for me. However, the Sage does. I love the way healing works for the Sage, the managing of Force and not being required to have everyone at 100% health all the time. I think it will come in time as you get more comfortable with the game.

the lowest lvl was jumping out of range into fights at half health.

 

Speaking from my EQ1 days... the learning/teaching tool is simple:

Let idiots die

 

When they ***** about it, explain why they died and what they should be doing to prevent it.

 

I never heal people who are playing stupid. I'd rather let them die, even let the party wipe, in order to have them learn how to play properly rather than stressing myself over trying to keep a pack of idiots alive when they're breaking CC, pulling extra aggro we don't need to, etc.

I haven't found any content that is hard to heal to be honest. What exactly are you finding hard? The only time I ever struggled for force was in the mando raider's instance on the 4v4 fight, at level 25, but as soon as 1 or 2 dropped is was cleanup. I even switched from heals to balance because healing was easy, and healing is still easy not healing spec'd. Edited December 23, 2011 by stickyricky

I'm only lvl32 right now so obviously have no ieda how it goes at 50 but in my experience the beginning of healing as a Sage begins pretty rough, then from about lvl24-25 upwards it gets gradually easier.

 

I didn't play the other game everyone keeps referencing but i've got a feeling that if it's even easier to heal over there, it must be a sub-par "training ground".

 

Edit: combat feels responsive enough (to me, anyway), thank you.

 

Edit 2: while i consider the guide linked earlier a great write-up, i disagree with the idea of spending the first 5 points in Telekinetics. Did that in beta and my early healing performance felt greatly gimped, one of the reasons (among others) being getting Rejuvenate later. In my preference, the Telekinetics points get assigned after Rejuvenate and the associated talents are locked down.

Edited December 23, 2011 by smore

Are you sure your tanks are tanks? Not all juggernaughts and guardians are specced for tanking but a lot of people think merely having the advanced class is enough to be a tank. Tanking is a dps specc will mean they take a lot more damage.

I never did like the healing specs/classes in ''the other game''. I just couldn''t get the hang of it and it never worked for me. However, the Sage does. I love the way healing works for the Sage, the managing of Force and not being required to have everyone at 100% health all the time. I think it will come in time as you get more comfortable with the game.

 

You realize your class plays exactly like a Disc Priest in the 'other game' right?

The problem, especially at early levels, stems from the fact that the healing sage is designed to be heal+CC. At level 20 I remember being in groups with commando's that could heal just as well as I could but got heavy armour and some serious dps, making me feel a bit gimped.

 

CC requires some intricate group play, communication being the key, yet most early content is designed to be easily survivable by 4 level-suitable players, so there's rarely a need for much strategy and hence, our CC is fairly useless.

 

As time goes on and thing get harder, it becomes much more useful and for the hardcore PvP and Ops crowd, a full heal spec sage will be considered a requirement for any group.

 

However, it's anything but easy. I need a completely different toolbar set up for solo, for heroics, ops (even varies between certain ops) and again for pvp, the interactions of your various skills (how to get practically infinite force for example) are *very* complex, you really need to know your stuff, and you really need to know your stuff for what amounts to 4 completely different systems.

 

In short, if you know your profession inside out and upside down at 50, you'll be loved for it (and very rare), if you're not planning on being your guilds uber healer extraordinaire; tweak for more dps, you'll enjoy the game more.

 

/tiphat

I leveled a sage to 25 in beta as pure heals and had lots of difficulty. I wouldn't say it really plays all that much like a Disc priest. This time I rolled a shadow (something I regret) but in hindsight I think a lot of my problems might have been related to dps and tanks having no idea how to play their classes.

 

2 major differences I think exist from WOW:

 

1. Sage Healers have very limited mana (ok ok force). Some dps or tank standing in bad stuff will get you OOM real fast. In Wow we could have compensated for that for a brief time but here we need to pull them to safety or just let them die. It's a change of perspective for lots of veteran WOW healers.

 

2. Generally WOW healers want everyone to be at full health all the time which is something very difficult to manage to TOR. We just don't have enough resources to do it unless people play very smart.

 

Also because Jedi Guardians, Jedi Shadows, and Trooper Vanguards all think they can tank (even if they are not remotely specced for it) they don't think too much about pulling aggro when dpsing. I've been in parties where all the dps were independently tanking their own mobs which is guaranteed to overwhelm the healer. Maybe this will change as people understand their rolls better.