Why nerfs to Surgical Probe? Is the goal to make it just a Kolto Probes refresh?

Also, how does the new Curative Agent work exactly? Will taking it reduce the base healing on Kolto Infusion? Will it do the same amount of HoT as it does now?

 

Overall I'm not a big fan, sure the base healing increase for Kolto Infusion seems pretty awesome, but lowering the surge bonus on Kolto Infusion and Kolto Injection from 20% to 10%, while removing the 20% surge bonus to Surgical Probe seems like a pretty harsh nerf to our burstier heals. Looks like burst will be worse than it currently is if you're taking Curative Agent. That's absolutely ridiculous.

but its baseline ability to burst heal is comparatively better than it was before these changes.

And remains exactly the same as it was before when you took a utility point. Great, real help for the burst healing there.

 

So basically straight up nerf to overall HPS and burst healing, and we get to pick another legendary utility now, wow thanks Bioware, so reasonable.

I wonder if Bioware has actually gone in with real groups after all these changes and done real hard content. Most all of these nerfs scream PVP balance to me, which is fine as long as everything else still works. Though after seeing some of their streams in the past I'm skeptical if they even have any players than can do real difficult content.

Also, how does the new Curative Agent work exactly? Will taking it reduce the base healing on Kolto Infusion? Will it do the same amount of HoT as it does now?

 

I am willing to bet they are going the lazy route... just swapping the current utility to be the default and changing the default into a utility.

 

This is NOT a buff to burst heals folks, the joke is on us.

Edited September 27, 2017 by Decidion

So basically straight up nerf to overall HPS and burst healing, and we get to pick another legendary utility now, wow thanks Bioware, so reasonable.

 

The only thing to take really is Revitalizes or blow for blow for any fight you can reflect on for that extra dps. Damn. This nerf is just overkill. Operatives can do extremely well on a few certain fights, but they have to be skilled to do NIM with these nerfs I personally wouldn't want to bring my operative healer to a NIM raid. I'd stay on my merc or level up me sorc. Looks like operatives will remain at the bottom of the list for healers again.

I am willing to bet they are going the lazy route... just swapping the current utility to be the default and changing the default into a utility.

 

This is NOT a buff to burst heals folks, the joke is on us.

 

Yep, and the funny this is, if you want the utility for the double kolto probes, you'll be making your kolto infusion worse. Now isn't that a well designed utility

Yep, and the funny this is, if you want the utility for the double kolto probes, you'll be making your kolto infusion worse. Now isn't that a well designed utility

 

Wow, yeah that had not occurred to me yet...that is bad, bad, bad.

I loved curative agent, it gave me burst, self heals and a double probe when I needed it. Now I can't take that without hurting my burst ability. This is just ridiculous.

Compared to the other two, they are useless. And yes, you can still heal any HM/Nim ops with two sage's/sorc's. If they are both at +45 apms per, and both the healer's skill are in the top 5%, which is ridiculas. Why they turned the sage/sorc into a comp healer, and why they are doing the same thing to scoundrels is beyond me. It shouldn't make a difference? You kidding? You heal at all? Let me guess, you pvp right?

 

No I heal nim ops and new ops on my main which is a sorc

I wonder what Keith thinks of these changes since he mains an operative healer.

The critical hit heal nerfs seem counter productive at least on Kolto infusion and injection. Keeping the buff up from using Surgical probe is going to be insanely crucial now though. Honestly at first glance not entirely sure how to feel about it one hand it looks like they might have over done it a bit other hand operative healing is pretty darn deceptive once you get it rolling in terms of how powerful it is. Will have to wait and see I guess:confused:

This will weed out the bad Operative Healers from the good who only got by OP (no pun intended) heals. I approve of this culling the weak.

This will weed out the bad Operative Healers from the good who only got by OP (no pun intended) heals. I approve of this culling the weak.

 

I think you are quite right. I bet the number of operative healers playing will drop off significantly.

I think you are quite right. I bet the number of operative healers playing will drop off significantly.

 

You speak as if there was a lot of them in the first place.

I think you are quite right. I bet the number of operative healers playing will drop off significantly.

Ye, last data from starparse shows 26% of all healers playing operative, gotta bring that back down to single digit numbers I guess

Ye, last data from starparse shows 26% of all healers playing operative, gotta bring that back down to single digit numbers I guess

 

Thank you for the numbers! I was like really there are more sages and mangos than operatives... yes operative healing involves a lot of overhealing. By design because hots are basically preemptive.

 

But hey it's my week for disappointment. Nerf guardians, nerf operatives, gee what am I going to do play my vanguard XD

 

Teasing on the last point but you get the idea

I like these changes.

I like these changes.

 

Glad you do... time to go gear my sage now I guess.

Edited September 28, 2017 by KendraP

Merc heal nerf is survivable, nothing more than a 7% nerf to something, operative have gone as far as 20% nerfs on passives/abilities, and sorcs even after their nerfs are doing well and still doing content. This looks like the devs found out operative healers could walk again, and beat them in the legs with the nerf bat crippling them once again.

 

I laughed and wanted to cry... my Operative Healers are the only thing I miss in SWTOR so I guess Bioware really wants me to let go of this game. I might make my silly little jokes about if Bioware were to break them for above SM Op content (or just getting effectively locked out at the NiM level after progression)- they'd be doing me a favour but it'd break my heart. Screw Command Ranks- Operative/Scoundrel healers are my favourite class- I didn't even know they were the most difficult healer to play during DvL, I just decided to try and then got good at them. I had no idea we weren't good with the burst or that I'd be required to stealth rez (which I can now) because that was apart from the raid buff, something that got Op heals over the line over a Sorc/Merc Healer.

 

I wonder what Keith thinks of these changes since he mains an operative healer.

 

I made a thread- I don't think he does to the level they sell and certainly isn't invested.

 

This will weed out the bad Operative Healers from the good who only got by OP (no pun intended) heals. I approve of this culling the weak.

 

I thought that was just by trying to play our class. 'snickers' We are not the class you play to be the FoTM/OP healer and trying to play one, the bad Operative Healer will quickly be exposed now because they can't face mash depend on overpowered heals. I knew people who did and trust me, they looked like idiots! All this does is increase the usual comments about our class ("A Sorc/Merc can do this 'better") and when you regularly do the content and pull off a crazy- it's often seen as in spite of our class than because of it, which I find more frustrating. Want a mediocre healer carried by their class- it's not Operative/Scoundrel heals.

 

You speak as if there was a lot of them in the first place.

 

Least played healer in the entire game.

Hey folks,

 

Below you will find the upcoming changes for Medicine and Sawbones coming in Game Update 5.5:

 

 

-eric

[/color]

 

So, where are the improvement for its burst healing ? Did anyone see them ? Or did Eric forgot to implement it in his notes ? Because I'm only seeing nerfs right now.

 

Crap, they even removed the HoT on Kolto Infusion... I liked it a lot in unranked PvP, it helped swarm my allies with green numbers.

Wait...What??

 

Sage/Sorc are not "burst" healer's anymore. They haven't been since the nerf. No burst, no AoE's, no HoT's. They are pretty much comp healer's and have been.

 

By brought in line, do they mean nothing?? If these changes are any indication of what they did to sorc's/sage's they will be useless too in PvE. Crazy.

 

Uh if anything due to the increase in resource management sages are bustier than ever... at the expense of sustained. For operatives we are already the weakest burst healers in a burst heavy raiding environment, while being the most underpopulsted for a benefit of being the highest sustained and aoe healing.

Uh if anything due to the increase in resource management sages are bustier than ever... at the expense of sustained. For operatives we are already the weakest burst healers in a burst heavy raiding environment, while being the most underpopulsted for a benefit of being the highest sustained and aoe healing.

 

Actually, no they aren't due to the way nerfs were handled.

Honestly, for me sorc was always the healer that was "Huge, instant burst", now it isn't, because of the increased time to some ability, the overall heals nerf and the increased force cost.

i would have been okay with bigger cooldown and way harder ressource management. Now you have everything. Less effective heals, bigger cooldown, harder ressource management, slower heals... Even though the class had much potential in terms of "on demand burst" and mobility. It is still doable to heal with it, for sure, but I don't enjoy it and find it too... slow. But that's just my opinion.

This one,

Accomplished Doctor no longer affects Surgical Probe.

 

And this one,

The chance of getting a Tactical Advantage from a Kolto Waves, Kolto Probe, or Recuperative Nanotech tick granted by Medical Engineering is now 10%

 

Gonna do a lot of dmg, i dont understand why nerf TA, now you will cast 5k kolto injections w/o interrupt immunity even more regulary.

Change to TA looks stupid, rest changes looks okish.

Edited September 28, 2017 by GUN_GAME

I wonder what Keith thinks of these changes since he mains an operative healer.

he will probably sit there happily kolto waving a bunch of people who are already at full hp, then look at his numbers and be like oh wow these nerfs did nothing i'm still doing 12k hps

Welp....

 

Hi there, been maining an op healer since 2013

 

Endured the sage madness of the last 18 months, watched the merc hilarity of the last six months, finally felt like this latest round back in July or whatever, that operatives had finally achieved a level of PvP parity.

 

You know, when not scrambling for our lives from three guys taking advantage of our nonexistant survivability while engaged or healing our allies...

 

But hey, lets just knock the operative down another peg, weaken proactive healing, destroy or cripple what meager burst potential existed....

 

So the new heirarchy of heals goes....

 

Merc

Sorc

Marauder

Operative

 

No that was not a mistake.

 

 

Your quest to bring HPS fluff numbers in line just completely ended the viability of a spec in PvP entirely. We wont even be able to keep ourselves alive, much less anyone else.

 

*********** stupid.

Wow, the nerfs are hitting really hard. There are so many changes that I'm not really sure what to think about it, I'll have to test it myself when the patch comes out.

I don't understand how our burst healing was increased. I don't often pick the utility that frontloads the Kolto Pack, but in the boss fights I do, these changes won't give me any more burst. they will just nerf the heals across the board.

My only solace, and the reason I am not completely mad, is that Merc healers are being nerfed at the same time. I can live with these nerfs as long as it means that all healers are nerfed down to the same level.

 

I mainly care about PvE, and I get my highest HPS usually not in HM/NiM ops, but in 4-man content when I have to carry bad players through VM/MM flashpoints and uprisings. For that content, I don't think the healing should be reduced because the more unnecessary damage we can heal away, the less frustrating it will be for new players. Many new players, if they aren't leaving at the start of the flashpoint, will leave after the first wipe; and it takes a lot of convincing on my part to have them stay in the group even if it means some wipes. Flashpoints have been underused since 5.0, and these nerfs won't help.

 

For HM/NiM ops, I don't expect the changes to have much impact; on most fights I have around 7k-8k EHPS, which is still way below the theoretical maximum. However, this does allow me to help out with DPS. For example, we have to play Tyth VM with 1 healer, 5 DPS just because our 4 DPS don't meet the DPS checks. If the boss doesn't get nerfed, I'm not sure if we'll even be able to beat Tyth anymore post-5.5 in order to see the new boss.

 

For PvP, I guess these changes improve TTK, but they won't help a Scoundrel's mobility. In the previous thread, I suggested something like a interrupt/knockback immunity after a roll or tied to Pugnacity, that would make Scoundrels competitive with Sorc/Mercs. I do hope you will take this into account when doing the utility changes next.

 

These are the percentages we lost for each ability. Also, do not forget that diagnostic scan is how we get our energy back WHEN IT CRITS so with a 20% crit loss its gonna be harder to do. Also with a 20% loss to getting a Tactical Advantage by using Kolto Waves, Kolto Probe, Recuperative Nanotech means less surgical probes which means more using Kolto Probe to maintain double stacks on the raid and less burst healing on tanks.

I wouldn't worry about the TA stacks, right now we get more than enough. A nerf to TA stacks would make the class harder to play, which I don't really mind.

The nerf to Diagnostic Scan is concerning. I often do a UM->EM->DS rotation, which will now be much more energy negative, so it will take some getting used to a new rotation.

Edited September 28, 2017 by Jerba