Just wondering what other "healer" merc are going to lvl as?

in any other MMO i would lvl as dps and switch endgame, but with companions it

is of course easier to lvl as a healing spec.

problem is mako is a great healer, and it seems overkill having 2 healers.

2 questions:

1. are you guys lvling healing tree or a dps tree until deeper endgame?

2. if you are going dps, at what lvl do you think we will be unable to cut it as flashpoint healers, and need to respec healing tree?

thanks, see you guys in game

This is a good question.. I am level 10 atm and Mako is a great healer..

I do not know the cost of respec yet, but I am torn at this point. I might wait a while and just leave my talents alone. If I can still solo okay, then no worries here. If not then I will have to do another method..

This is a good question.. I am level 10 atm and Mako is a great healer..

I do not know the cost of respec yet, but I am torn at this point. I might wait a while and just leave my talents alone. If I can still solo okay, then no worries here. If not then I will have to do another method..

I've been told by Werdan that it's relatively cheap and does get more expensive each time you do it. Howeve, when he was playing the beta, after a few days, the cost to respec dropped back down to zero.

Am I missing something? Aren't you putting your first six Skill points in Hired Muscle and Ironsights either way?

With apologies to Pyrotech, you can reach level 21 before having to worry about Skill points that are definitely specific to either healing or DpS.

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#300McoZMco.1

Spoiler alert: Mako isn't your only companion choice.

Am I missing something? Aren't you putting your first six Skill points in Hired Muscle and Ironsights either way?

 

With apologies to Pyrotech, you can reach level 21 before having to worry about Skill points that are definitely specific to either healing or DpS.

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#300McoZMco.1

 

Spoiler alert: Mako isn't your only companion choice.

i have never put my first skill points into my "off tree" in any game. Because it has never seemed worth delaying access to the higher tiered, and theoretically higher powered skills

and i know that mako is not the only companion, however i played trooper to lvl 22 and did not have a 2nd companion at that time, so not sure when you get the next one (varies by class i hear)

i have never put my first skill points into my "off tree" in any game. Because it has never seemed worth delaying access to the higher tiered, and theoretically higher powered skills

 

and i know that mako is not the only companion, however i played trooper to lvl 22 and did not have a 2nd companion at that time, so not sure when you get the next one (varies by class i hear)

Can't agree more, you should always put the first 31 points into your main tree to get to those higher tiered powers as soon as possible

i have never put my first skill points into my "off tree" in any game. Because it has never seemed worth delaying access to the higher tiered, and theoretically higher powered skills

While this is no doubt the 'common sense' perspective, those theoretically higher powered skills are not better than more Aim.

I just ran Athiss with a group of 18BG-18PT-19Snipe-18Marauder (finished 19-19-20-19).

Healing that was very intense, I would strongly recommend leveling as healer so that you can learn your rotations early on.

Also for everyone who thinks "survivability shouldn't be a priority for a healer" nope, spend points on survivability if you can spare them.

if this is an indication of things to come points in custom enviro suit and P. Insulators will be very nice to have.

I am leveling as Bodyguard with no problems at all. Level 22 right now and solo healed Hammer and Athiss last night, pulled 3 orange pieces from Athiss too!

Putting points in any tree other than BG is absurd if you are going healer.

Get to Kolto Missile as fast as you can and put the 2 pts into Residue so that your heals hit harder. Pump 30 charges into your tank while running from group of mobs to group of mobs and start your heal rotation with Kolto missile for the bonus healing. Pop your 30 charge ability as soon as Residue wears off, you have a solid 20 seconds of enhanced healing not to mention the enhanced damage as well.

You may be a healer but you wear heavy armor and have weapons in your arsenal like Fusion Missle, Sweeping Blasters and DFA. Personally I love all of the AoE that the Merc can do, healing is just icing on the cake.

I just ran Athiss with a group of 18BG-18PT-19Snipe-18Marauder (finished 19-19-20-19).

 

Healing that was very intense, I would strongly recommend leveling as healer so that you can learn your rotations early on. ...

You went into a level 21 instance with a level 18 tank. I bet it was intense. Go back and try it with a level 20-22 tank and see the huge difference a couple of levels can make.

I see no point in leveling as bodyguard until you have at least 3 heals at your disposal. Even at low levels you only have 1 heal so you may as well level as Arsenal until you have some more healer friendly tools to work with. I have healed in arsenal spec at low levels (you only have rapid scan to work with anyways). Mako is amazing from 10-20 so dps and let her heal.

Respecs are cheap early on. First one is free and then it was like 30 credits for your next one and it goes up from there.

So, for me, I am going to do some dps until I can have some more heals to work with and then I will use a dps companion (or swotch mako to dps) and respec bodyguard to finish out.

Leveling as a healer works fine if you have people to depend on. You get stuck with Mako till post-30 levels. Towards the mid to late 20s, leveling solo as a healer with a healing companion kind of blows.

It can be done. It's just not very efficient.

I see no point in leveling as bodyguard until you have at least 3 heals at your disposal. Even at low levels you only have 1 heal so you may as well level as Arsenal until you have some more healer friendly tools to work with. I have healed in arsenal spec at low levels (you only have rapid scan to work with anyways). Mako is amazing from 10-20 so dps and let her heal.

Respecs are cheap early on. First one is free and then it was like 30 credits for your next one and it goes up from there.

So, for me, I am going to do some dps until I can have some more heals to work with and then I will use a dps companion (or swotch mako to dps) and respec bodyguard to finish out.

I guess that depends a lot on what you consider "early on"

If you are referring to levels 10-16 then I guess that is valid enough. But really, why go through all of the trouble to respec what is effectively about 5-6 hours of gameplay even at a slow pace?

At 16 you have 2 heals, and at 20 you have 3 if you have stuck with the BG tree. At 22 you now have the tools to be a very effective healer, and you still have all of the DPS abilities available to you from the merc AC.

I would make the same argument you make but from the other side; why waste time in a DPS tree when you get most of your DPS abilities from the Merc AC?

The first points in the Bodyguard tree will be spent to increase accuracy and crit and to reduce cast time on heals. By level 15 you are putting points into your signature ability as a Bodyguard, the 30 charge ability that increases healing and damage so you are getting the DPS benefits while staying true to the tree you plan to be in later anyway.

Besides you say you only have one heal but it has 0 cooldown and is your biggest heal. Why do you need another that early in the game? That one heal is sufficient to get you through BT and all of the heroics on DK. By the time you get to Balmorra you have your second heal and that will get you through Hammer. Next you finish Balmorra and get a 3rd heal (AOE heal at that) and you can heal Athiss without any trouble. The FP's are stacked against the character progression so that you have the tools you need to complete the content available to you.

This build is a bit different from the beta build I ran my BH through, but not that different. I never had any problems with DPS as a BG spec'ed mercenary all the way through level 36 when that toon got wiped.

My advice to the OP, don't sell out, stick with your healing tree and learn how to play using the skills in that tree. It will make you a much better healer in the long run.

I plan on being a healer end game and after doing some research I finally settled on a hybrid Bodyguard/Arsenal build. Here is the build

To start I will be putting the first 17 points in the Arsenal tree, after that the rest go in Bodyguard. I plan on doing a mix of PvP and PvE as well so I think this build is good start and from what I have read from others who have tried this exact build it out works out good and they were successful in healing flashpoints, running warfronts and leveling.

I plan on being a healer end game and after doing some research I finally settled on a hybrid Bodyguard/Arsenal build. Here is the build

 

To start I will be putting the first 17 points in the Arsenal tree, after that the rest go in Bodyguard. I plan on doing a mix of PvP and PvE as well so I think this build is good start and from what I have read from others who have tried this exact build it out works out good and they were successful in healing flashpoints, running warfronts and leveling.

this is the "Werden build" and it looks yummy. im going to try this, but if i stink healing FPs in the low 20s i will switch to body guard until closer to endgame.

i would agree that for less than raid content, having kolto shell, kolto missile and reside sounds like it would be enough to heal, and the last few points into crit and emergency scan would just make life easier, but i think you could get away without them

who knows, havent made it into the 30s yet so i wont know until i see for myself

You went into a level 21 instance with a level 18 tank. I bet it was intense. Go back and try it with a level 20-22 tank and see the huge difference a couple of levels can make.

They do make a difference, but knowing what to do and look for (watching for the DoT, for example) made the critical difference in finishing that instance. I ran it again at 21BHBG-22?SNP-18PT-18SNP with zero close calls, the tank was 18 again. It was faceroll with a 26 tank though

Regardless, running hardmode/nightmare at 50 players won't be able to level up to compensate for a deficit in experience. The downside to waiting to 50 to learn, is a person who does that will probably burn a few groups; burn too many and word'll get around. It takes time to overcome a bad reputation, assuming the community exists.

I'm level 28, full Bodyguard. Here's my build: Click Here

10-26 with Mako was easy. A lot of people don't know how to work the companion bar, so they never set Mako into Blaster Stance (or Med Watch if you're Arsenal/Pyro). Expand the bar and keybind those last two spots. All your companions have stances.

I set Mako to "Med Watch" and just DPS'ed. No matter what tree you allocate points to, there's no giant benefit until level 20 when you can pick up a signature ability (Kolto Missile, Tracer Missile, Incendiary).

For Elites I set Mako to Blast Stance and order her to attack. I just heal her and myself and, though it takes time, we got it done.

Leveling as full Bodyguard spec is MORE than viable. It's actually really fun and there's a huge need for Healers for everything from Heroic quests to Flashpoints.

I didn't take Ironsights or Mandalorian Warheads because (at these levels) the bonus' just don't shine through compared to what I'm working towards in Bodyguard. Also, 9% Aim is fantastic on paper, until you factor in that you don't really have a lot of Aim anyway. Once you've got Emergency Scan, Ironsights should be your FIRST place you put further points in to, but before that the abiltiies are just too clutch if you're running flashpoints when they're level-appropriate.