Good DPS put up respectable numbers in a WZ.

Great DPS not only can put up numbers, but know how to kite without running out of LOS of heals.

Seriously, don't run off like a chicken with it's head cut off then expect the healer to chase you across the map trying to keep you up, as if you are the only one needing heals.

Typically while you are running off like an idiot, the healer is managing their own incoming damage and CC/stuns, keeping up other people with heals as well as trying to keep you up, too.

Good DPS put up respectable numbers in a WZ.

Great DPS not only can put up numbers, but know how to kite without running out of LOS of heals.

 

Seriously, don't run off like a chicken with it's head cut off then expect the healer to chase you across the map trying to keep you up, as if you are the only one needing heals.

 

Typically while you are running off like an idiot, the healer is managing their own incoming damage and CC/stuns, keeping up other people with heals as well as trying to keep you up, too.

Bruh, dee pee ess is hard

I only tried healing for a short time. But the first thing I learned was "let the fools die". I apply the same principle to helping out people who run off into the hinterlands when I'm a DPS or a tank.

Wait, I forgot to put on my DPS hat...

YOU ARE A SUPPORT CLASS!!! Everything you do is only to support my awesome DPS numbers, so shut up and heal me!

LoL, good thread and good responses

I have to admit, I’m one who can make it hard for some healers to keep me alive in certain maps, so usually I play as if there isn’t a healer. That way if I die, I only have myself to blame,

The only map I play and expect heals is in Hypergates. I always put myself into positions to get heals, I protect my healer and I run away from the enemy and back to the healer before I lose too much health.

Sadly, Hypergates is one of those maps I always get bad healers with. I can literally stand right next to them in cover from enemy fire so they can heal me and they don’t or I’m there waiting forever and end up having to sacrifice myself to stop someone taking an orb or capping a node.

IMO, Hypergates sorts out the average healers from the good healers. If you’ve got a got healer vs an average healer in Hypergates, it’s very apparent early on.

LoL, good thread and good responses

IMO, Hypergates sorts out the average healers from the good healers. If you’ve got a got healer vs an average healer in Hypergates, it’s very apparent early on.

How extraordinarily true. The first time I dabbled in PvP heals was on a sage some time ago, did a few lowbie arenas with mixed success but it took some perserverence, what with lowbie heal sages/sorcs being fodder for stealthers. But not long into the venture I came upon a Hypergate pop, a genuine treat for lowbs.

I recalled my own distant, long-ago experiences as a tank on this map and how too many healers just stand on the stairs to mid, refusing to go anywhere near danger even if the situation was more or less under control. I resolved not to cower like I only had one respawn and got right in the thick of it. Within reason.

Despite being something like lvl 19 I healed my *** off at mid. It was brilliant, exciting stuff. Despite my lack of class experience (and I'm no great pvper in general, decent at my best but competent for the most part) I positioned well, keeping pace bravely with the front line but dropping back if things got too hairy, I kited uncharacteristically well in spite of the limited tools, and we won the game inspite of constant 3v5/6 in mid. I got 5 MVP votes that match and three group invites, and that one game will still give me motivation to roll another healer toon in future.

So I completely agree. Hypergate heals are a great barometer.

I think most healers that aren’t so confident will feel a certain trepidation going “mid” this is true.

A great confident healer will know that guard only has 15m range & that tanks are basically melee sponges so should trust their tank and follow them into mid keeping them topped off.

It’s a similar case with going enemy pylon with a heal tank combo, it can stall pylon caps effectively if played well, but to stay on topic...

I know the feels of dps los’ing ya heals xd It’s worse if it’s a friend cos u kinda feel like you should pocket heal but it will detract from the other team members healing.

I just say ok, I’ll position myself as well as possible to heal the most players as possible, keeping in tanks range and los’ing enemy. If you get in real bad trouble chasing numbers, come to me for a heal or respawn and lose dps for downtime

LoL, good thread and good responses

 

I have to admit, I’m one who can make it hard for some healers to keep me alive in certain maps, so usually I play as if there isn’t a healer. That way if I die, I only have myself to blame.

Me too....I am normally the target of choice most of the time so I let healers focus on the rest of the group while I continually try to master the fine are of staying alive. Sometimes I can get a tad bit salty, I know that and don't mean to offend, but damn....getting tunneled in every single wz you play can be exhausting. lol.

IMO, Hypergates sorts out the average healers from the good healers. If you’ve got a got healer vs an average healer in Hypergates, it’s very apparent early on.

I think hypergates is also good for spotting the difference between smart DPS and the other kind. Good teams, with multiple smart DPS are a pain at mid, because they will rotate who's in front pounding on you, and as each gets low they will retreat back to their healer/s, and so you never quite seem to land that killing blow.

The other kind of DPS can be in the middle of the fray and about to die, and they will even get a friendly pull back to the healer/s and instead of hesitating and waiting for heals, they will immediately leap back to where they were before. I guess that way they might get in one more hit before they get that free teleport back to spawn.

Which, of course, all goes back to what Lhance typed. (Also, full disclosure, I'm not always the smart kind of DPS. )

A great confident healer will know that guard only has 15m range & that tanks are basically melee sponges so should trust their tank and follow them into mid keeping them topped off.

That's interesting about the healer following the tank. When I play tank, I always though it was my responsibility to keep up with whoever I have guard on (be it healer, dps, or even another tank if necessary). So I followed them. Maybe that explains why sometimes the healer and I both stand there looking at each other, both waiting for the other do do something?

I know the feels of dps los’ing ya heals xd It’s worse if it’s a friend cos u kinda feel like you should pocket heal but it will detract from the other team members healing.

If I'm grouped with a healer it's usually only ever Lhance, and I don't expect em to pocket heal me at all. I'd be kind of disappointed if that happened. I'd be, "WTH Lhance, why are you following me around!?"

If I'm grouped with a healer it's usually only ever Lhance, and I don't expect em to pocket heal me at all. I'd be kind of disappointed if that happened. I'd be, "WTH Lhance, why are you following me around!?"

When do you play we need to group again.

Most of you have given answers from a regs perspective, which is fine, but let me offer some thoughts based on solo ranked.

In a tank/heal game, the healer's job is pretty straightforward, so there's not much to discuss. In heal/dps games, and let's assume there's no guarding happening, it becomes trickier.

In a 3 dps 1 healer ranked game, the healer's job is to keep everyone alive (duh), but that has important implications. For example, you must chase people that need healing. You cannot simply say "oh, he's going to get himself killed, I'll just stand here comfortably healing people taking fluff aoe damage." That kind of attitude and play will lose you many matches. Are there some dps that constantly run away and los healers? Yes, I'm not disputing that. But in regs you can afford to let such people die. They'll respawn. In ranked, you can't let that happen.

Often, if you are the focus of the other team, you have to kite around to survive, and it is imperative that your healer kites with you to keep you alive. This is especially true for squishier classes like dps sorcs. I have been in many healer games on my madness sorc where I get focused first and the healer simply does not focus on healing me exclusively, which is their only important job. When I try to kite, they don't follow me and heal me, so I eventually just die. When I stand out in the open without kiting, I die even faster because I have very little damage mitigation.

Here is the point, which some of you won't like at all. Healers are supports. It is their job to enable the dps to survive and get kills. Healers should never be sitting on a high horse and thinking "tut tut, these dps around me are not playing to my satisfaction so I shan't heal them." No, it is your job to do whatever it takes to heal the proper dps so that your team wins the game. There's no place for grandstanding in competitive pvp, especially in ranked.

Most of you have given answers from a regs perspective, which is fine, but let me offer some thoughts based on solo ranked.

 

In a tank/heal game, the healer's job is pretty straightforward, so there's not much to discuss. In heal/dps games, and let's assume there's no guarding happening, it becomes trickier.

 

In a 3 dps 1 healer ranked game, the healer's job is to keep everyone alive (duh), but that has important implications. For example, you must chase people that need healing. You cannot simply say "oh, he's going to get himself killed, I'll just stand here comfortably healing people taking fluff aoe damage." That kind of attitude and play will lose you many matches. Are there some dps that constantly run away and los healers? Yes, I'm not disputing that. But in regs you can afford to let such people die. They'll respawn. In ranked, you can't let that happen.

 

Often, if you are the focus of the other team, you have to kite around to survive, and it is imperative that your healer kites with you to keep you alive. This is especially true for squishier classes like dps sorcs. I have been in many healer games on my madness sorc where I get focused first and the healer simply does not focus on healing me exclusively, which is their only important job. When I try to kite, they don't follow me and heal me, so I eventually just die. When I stand out in the open without kiting, I die even faster because I have very little damage mitigation.

 

Here is the point, which some of you won't like at all. Healers are supports. It is their job to enable the dps to survive and get kills. Healers should never be sitting on a high horse and thinking "tut tut, these dps around me are not playing to my satisfaction so I shan't heal them." No, it is your job to do whatever it takes to heal the proper dps so that your team wins the game. There's no place for grandstanding in competitive pvp, especially in ranked.

Yes of course the healer must move and try to keep the DPS up when possible. Obviously the healer can't just plop himself in one spot, and then demand the entire team rotate around them at all times.

The problem is when the DPS fail to realize the healer is also under duress, and sometimes cannot move and stay with them if they separate from the group too far. That's my main issue I have with some DPS. They are oblivious to the healer's situation, and only can see that they aren't getting heals while they are trying to do their damage. How about some awareness as to why the healer is unable to keep their heals on you?

That's my point. I had a match where the other team would pull me away from the group, well what do you think happened when the DPS was already running away in the opposite direction of me? I had no way to keep him up. The other team seen this, and exploited it both rounds.

That didn't stop him from crying about how he didn't get any heals and i was the worst healer he'd ever grouped with. This was in a regs 4v4 btw. All I said was ok, instead of running out of LOS, can you try to kite within range of my heals? I don't think that's an unreasonable request.

I just remember a PT named Avril that I had fun grouping with on occasion, who always did awesome damage but they were fun to heal because when they got low in health, they always managed to kite back to me where I could easily keep my heals on them as well as manage any DPS on myself without losing track of them due to LOS issues.

Obviously I didn't just stay stationary and wait for them to come to me for heals before I would heal them, but I never had to run through the mass of enemies trying to keep up Avril, either. I realize he was an exceptional player but even lesser skilled players can have situational awareness which in the end will make them look better if they are staying up instead of eating dirt due to them ensuring they are in a place where they can get heals.

The problem is when the DPS fail to realize the healer is also under duress, and sometimes cannot move and stay with them if they separate from the group too far. That's my main issue I have with some DPS. They are oblivious to the healer's situation, and only can see that they aren't getting heals while they are trying to do their damage. How about some awareness as to why the healer is unable to keep their heals on you?

 

That's my point. I had a match where the other team would pull me away from the group, well what do you think happened when the DPS was already running away in the opposite direction of me? I had no way to keep him up. The other team seen this, and exploited it both rounds.

 

That didn't stop him from crying about how he didn't get any heals and i was the worst healer he'd ever grouped with. This was in a regs 4v4 btw. All I said was ok, instead of running out of LOS, can you try to kite within range of my heals? I don't think that's an unreasonable request.

Well, that's an interesting situation, and without having been there I can't comment on it fully. But if in an arena the other team is splitting damage onto one dps and the healer, your team should usually be in great shape, because all of your dps should be on one of their dps while cc'ing the healer (or just tunneling the healer straight up if they're not good). Your team should get the first kill in such a situation.

So if you are being harassed by one or two players as the healer, that means only one or two players were on your dps. He should be able to survive quite a long time in that scenario, and there's no reason for him to kite so far away from you. So I agree, your request is not unreasonable in that kind of game. I'm also sympathetic to healers when their dps refuse to focus targets properly, because there's really nothing you can do about that.

Here is the point, which some of you won't like at all. Healers are supports. It is their job to enable the dps to survive and get kills.

I don't think anyone is disputing that (even though I said it in jest). I don't think anyone is arguing that a healer should be able to just sit by the spawn point and everyone should come to them.

I think what we are talking about is the DPS that get out of position or extend too far, and then blame "why no healz" when they die. I think DPS can get out of position or extend too far in 4s/ranked too, just not in the same way as in 8s (as you point out - running like crazy is not necessarily "out of position").

Presumably, whether it be 8s or 4s/ranked, at some point the healer has to decide which is more important, healing the stray or being somewhere else where heals are also needed. In 8s the more important thing (if not deathmatching for numbers) is the objectives. In 4s, maybe keeping you alive while you kite is the objective. But maybe keeping that mara (it's always a mara ) alive who decided to rush solo across the map and into the enemy group, when the plan was to stay back and wait... maybe rushing after that guy and ending up with both of you dead, maybe that's not the objective?

Or not... obviously I don't play healer in ranked, so maybe that's completely missing your point.

When do you play we need to group again.

I'm on most evenings (EST) for a little while. Sometimes the emphasis is on "little" though. I think I logged into sparks last night, got into a huttball and people were hardcore deathmatching (the type where you throw them the ball and they ignore that they even have it and blow up eventually). And then I quit.

I'm on my lowbie sin-tank often too, just leveling. Those games are actually more consistently fun, since it's almost always arenas, and people at least usually play those. But I don't have all your alts friended on that toon, so I don't always see if you are around.

Peeling is not just for bananas.

Plus banana if fun to say. BA NA NA.... say it with me.

Presumably, whether it be 8s or 4s/ranked, at some point the healer has to decide which is more important, healing the stray or being somewhere else where heals are also needed. In 8s the more important thing (if not deathmatching for numbers) is the objectives.

Again, from the regs perspective, I think you all are basically correct. No one dps dying is going to make or break a game when you have to consider 6 other players and objectives.

In 4s, maybe keeping you alive while you kite is the objective. But maybe keeping that mara (it's always a mara ) alive who decided to rush solo across the map and into the enemy group, when the plan was to stay back and wait... maybe rushing after that guy and ending up with both of you dead, maybe that's not the objective?

 

Or not... obviously I don't play healer in ranked, so maybe that's completely missing your point.

So if you let that mara run in and die...it's a 3v4 and you automatically lose (3v4s are sometimes possible, but only if several of the players on the 4 side are extraordinarily bad). You have no choice but to chase after and heal him.

Peeling is not just for bananas.

Peeling is obviously important sometimes, but I think it's overrated. Healers, especially sorc healers, have so many tools to survive on their own, they really shouldn't need much peeling.

Peeling is not just for bananas.

LMAO, best comment I’ve heard for days. 🍌🍌🍌

I think I logged into sparks last night, got into a huttball and people were hardcore deathmatching (the type where you throw them the ball and they ignore that they even have it and blow up eventually). And then I quit.

Same, lol. Last night I got the ball, tossed to two different people and started to heal them they literally threw the ball to the other team as soon as they could. This was in the original HB map, too. I just quit it. F that.

Queued solo ranked on my undergeared op healer after reading this for lols, actually had fun!

3dps each and was against sorc heals, we won and I got top heals n 2 mvps.

Haven’t played ops heals for ages so might carry on with the sr if the pops are ok, that was the only thing that put me off, q times...

Queued solo ranked on my undergeared op healer after reading this for lols, actually had fun!

3dps each and was against sorc heals, we won and I got top heals n 2 mvps.

Haven’t played ops heals for ages so might carry on with the sr if the pops are ok, that was the only thing that put me off, q times...

Nice I wish I enjoyed op healing more. I bounce from sorc healer to merc healer atm. I stay in regs though.

In solo ranked healing is annoying for the fact that you always get the blame for any loss. Apart the LoS problem, which in some maps is harder then the rest, no healer can outlive 3 DPS on himself, let alone heal the other three in his team. So if you have no peeling you are screwed. Many do not know what peeling is. True Story.

If a heal can outlive three DPS solo ranked is broken. Even if they are three useless dot spec DPS which pull nice nos but really are not worth of the name in ranked. Remember a 2k burst DPS has more value to a 4k DPS dot spec in reality.

Anyways in solo ranked this ends up in people offending you especially if you are globaled in the first minute of the game, which can happen if you have three or two burst DPS jumping on you.

Some classes like a Marauder-Sentinel can really screw a healer, and even if he can outlive the burst he really cannot do much more.

In reality IMO I do think that solo ranked is mostly fun with only DPS classes.

Good DPS put up respectable numbers in a WZ.

Great DPS not only can put up numbers, but know how to kite without running out of LOS of heals.

 

Seriously, don't run off like a chicken with it's head cut off then expect the healer to chase you across the map trying to keep you up, as if you are the only one needing heals.

 

Typically while you are running off like an idiot, the healer is managing their own incoming damage and CC/stuns, keeping up other people with heals as well as trying to keep you up, too.

More like: Good DPS farm numbers. Great DPS actually get kills.

LMAO, best comment I’ve heard for days. 🍌🍌🍌

I channeled my inner Kodrac for this one-liner. :zen: