I just took up healing for flashpoints because I got sick of the long wait times as DPS. The only FP I've done is Cadimnu and I seem to do okay, except for drawing aggro. I"m worried i'm healing too much and drawing threat. When should I begin healing someone? I usually heal the tank as soon as he takes damage, but I think that may be my problem. Any advice?

Put your bubble on your tank soon as he starts taking damage, then cast your HoT on him, then use, bah what is it, the 2nd heal you get in the tree where you shoot purple stuff from your hands to your target. Keep that up and use your big Infusion heal for when he gets below maybe 80%.

I just took up healing for flashpoints because I got sick of the long wait times as DPS. The only FP I've done is Cadimnu and I seem to do okay, except for drawing aggro. I"m worried i'm healing too much and drawing threat. When should I begin healing someone? I usually heal the tank as soon as he takes damage, but I think that may be my problem. Any advice?

 

Okay, so this is not, and can not, be your fault. If you're healing "too much," that means the rest of the party is taking "too much" damage - the tank is undergeared, the dps is crappy so stuff isn't dying fast enough, the tank is not holding threat (causing you or the dps to take damage), people are standing the fire, or any combination of the above. The alternative to healing "too much" is to allow people to die, and that's (usually) in no one's best interest.

 

Some basic stuff - are you spec'd 3/3 into Lucidity? Is the tank guarding you? Is the party stopping between pulls to heal up, so you're not generating threat by healing that damage while in combat? Have you told the tank you're pulling aggro, and that it's making you a sad sorcerer?

 

Once you've covered all this stuff, it's time to start yelling at people and/or vote-kicking them.

• Some tanks think it's all rockstar to try to tank in their DPS gear. Yell at them, then mock them for being bad, then vote kick them.
  
• Some tanks seem to think their role is to go all loony toons and pull as much crap as possible, as fast as possible. Yell at them, then mock them for being bad, then vote kick them.
  
• Some DPS think either a) it's cool to pull tons of stuff before the tank or b) don't actually know how make stuff die. Yell at them, then mock them for being bad, then vote kick them.
  

 

What I'm generally trying to get across here is that, as the healer, you are virtually always right. Unless you hopped in a pool of acid or went about aggro'ing stuff for kicks, you can't be faulted for healing people. That's your job. You're right to be aware of when you want to start healing, in order to give the tank as big a lead as possible, but ultimately you need to start healing only as fast as they start taking damage. It's the tanks job to protect you - you just need to make sure people stay alive.

I've not run any endgame FPs (highest I've done is Directive 7) but I usually make sure everybody is bubbled up and keep the HoT on the tank. That usually keeps him well enough so that I only sometimes need to throw an innervate on every now and again.

 

Boss battles are obviously another matter and you need to make sure that the party is aware of the fire/acid/goo/grappling hook etc, else you will end up struggling to keep up on everyone. Also, yell if you see adds. The tank is often focused on the boss, which will probably take up a lot of his screen so may not see adds when they appear if you're unlucky.

 

That being said, if the tank truly is terribad and keeps rushing into fights with half health and when you're about 15 seconds behind because you stopped to regen force after the last fight then goes and complains that you're not healing enough, politely tell him to stop being an idiot, then kick him.

....the 2nd heal you get in the tree where you shoot purple stuff from your hands to your target.

It's called Innervate for sorcs and Healing Trance for sages. It's 18-20 points up the tree. No point in going higher for PvP healers and few are the times when the AOE heal is really useful for PvE healers.

It's called Innervate for sorcs and Healing Trance for sages. It's 18-20 points up the tree. No point in going higher for PvP healers and few are the times when the AOE heal is really useful for PvE healers.

 

No, for pve that aoe heal is one of your most important heals.

 

1. It becomes invaluable if you have even 2 or even 1 melee.

 

2. You can plop it on ranged dps and stand in it yourself. In times when you need to use consumption, standing in your own purple circle of healing is the best scenario.

Edited February 3, 2013 by bbare

It's 18-20 points up the tree. No point in going higher for PvP healers and few are the times when the AOE heal is really useful for PvE healers.

 

LOL ....

Edited February 3, 2013 by Bobiefatt

It's called Innervate for sorcs and Healing Trance for sages. It's 18-20 points up the tree. No point in going higher for PvP healers and few are the times when the AOE heal is really useful for PvE healers.

 

I'm guessing you either do not play a sage/sorc healer, or you are a really BAD sage/sorc healer

I'm guessing you either do not play a sage/sorc healer, or you are a really BAD sage/sorc healer

 

And I'm guessing you love to overheal and look at your 3k+ hps in MOXParser. Truth is, The AoE Heal is only helpful in a couple of boss fights (If you have 3+ persons taking constant damage). And you can well do without it. Try it!

And I'm guessing you love to overheal and look at your 3k+ hps in MOXParser. Truth is, The AoE Heal is only helpful in a couple of boss fights (If you have 3+ persons taking constant damage). And you can well do without it. Try it!

 

Ayup.

 

Then again, it's not like there's much better to spend the points on. But definitely try using your AoE only when it's necessary: you'll experience a huge increase in your eHPS and force/eHPS.

And I'm guessing you love to overheal and look at your 3k+ hps in MOXParser. Truth is, The AoE Heal is only helpful in a couple of boss fights (If you have 3+ persons taking constant damage). And you can well do without it. Try it!

 

A couple of boss fights? No.

 

1. Kephess EC

2. Toth and Zorn

3. Kephess TFB

4. Firebrand and Stormcaller

5. Colonel Vorgoth

6. The Writhing Horror

 

 

And that is just tier 2 operations. I'm guessing you love seeing your tank die when you have to waste a gcd healing each of your dps because you don't have your aoe heal.

Edited February 4, 2013 by bbare

A couple of boss fights? No.

 

1. Kephess EC

2. Toth and Zorn

3. Kephess TFB

4. Firebrand and Stormcaller

5. Colonel Vorgoth

6. The Writhing Horror

 

 

And that is just tier 2 operations. I'm guessing you love seeing your tank die when you have to waste a gcd healing each of your dps because you don't have your aoe heal.

 

He just simply doesn't understand. I'm willing to bet he doesn't have a sage, or has a sage and only heals PvP.

He just simply doesn't understand. I'm willing to bet he doesn't have a sage, or has a sage and only heals PvP.

 

Bet lost. To make myself clear. The AoE Heal is really nice and it allows you to be pretty lazy, but if you want to minimize your overheal and have a higher effective heal / force, innervate, resurgence, dark infusion and bubble are much better, if only 2 people are taking damage. Let's look at the fights, where 3+ people are taking dmage and standing close together throughout the whole 10 seconds of the AoE heal.

 

1. Kephess EC (not happening here)

2. Toth and Zorn (happens only if 2 melees are on toth and after red circle phase)

3. Kephess TFB (yeah, phase 2 and 3 it's helpful)

4. Firebrand and Stormcaller (helpful after DD)

5. Colonel Vorgoth (minefield, if cleave doesn't get kicked)

6. The Writhing Horror (the short time where the horro faces the group? maybe. End phase only if the tank doesn't spot the adds and they attack different people)

 

I wanted to see, if I can heal without the AoE and tried it in Asation HM. It worked out pretty well with actually higher eHPS. Thats what I meant by "Try it!".

I love the purple puddle o' love cause I can drop it under myself and the ranged and focus my attention on healing the melee and/or tank, or catch some interrupts or do a little crowd control if needed...

I'm only level 32, but I was wondering if anyone could recommend a healing build for me to go with? As I said I'm pretty new to this so I'm not even sure which talents I should take. I normally pick up Reserves for the 100 force points, but that puts me two puts behind in the Corruption tree.

There are plenty of uses of our AOE heal in many other boss fights especially when the area is tight, for example: All of KP. Sometimes I throw it on the range dps and myself in order to help offset my consumption.

It really just depends on the ops fights and number of players. My guild runs 16mans and we always have 2 sorcs, 1 to AoE heal range and the other melee. Ex: ECHM Zorn and Toth- AoE heal range who is on Zorn when they get hit, AoE melee on Toth who are hit. Any real fight that is more oriented on stationary fighting IMO is where AoE shines.

Welcome to the (often) thankless world of Healing! Brace yourself for the torrent of abuse, blame and self-entitled whining that will be winging it's way to you shortly.

 

In all seriousness, I consider myself to be a pretty good healer (*smug*smug*) and there are a couple of things to bear in mind:

 

The Order of Heals

Generally, healing priority goes: Tank > Healer > DPS (that is, Tank gets first dibs, followed by the Healer (i.e. you), followed by the DPS). So if both the Tank and DPS are taking damage, the first heal you cast should be on the Tank, and then the DPS. If only the DPS are being damaged, however (which really shouldn't happen anyway), then obviously you heal them. If you're doing PUGs/non-Guild Groups, then it's important to lay this on the table first thing, before any battles - this helps avoid any confusion/whining about it later on. And if whining does occur, you can tell them that you told them so.

 

Healer Build

Obviously, depending on your particular play-style, you will have an optimum build for your Healer that may be different from my optimum build. That being said, this is how my Sorc Healer is set up:

 

Level: 50

Skill Point Allocation: 33 - 7 - 1 (Corruption - Lightning - Madness)

*Corruption (33) - All skill maxed, except Fadeout & Conspiring Force:

Fadeout (4th Tier - 0 points) - Really only helpful for giving immunity to movement impairment, which as a Sorc Healer isn't all that important, since most of your heals can't be cast while moving, and a quick burst of Force Speed is all that's necessary to remove you from harm's way (and you have to use Force Speed in order to get the benefit of the skill).

Conspiring Force (5th Tier - 0 points) - This is a movement impairment effect added to Affliction (which you'll hardly ever use if you're a dedicated Healer anyway) which isn't really all that useful, since Force Slow gives the same effect and also does additional damage.

*Lightning (7) - Points in:

Reserves (1st Tier - 2/2) - Very helpful, especially at lower levels, since it increases your Force pool by 50 points each time - a must-have skill and the first non-Corruption skill to be invested in.

Electric Induction (1st Tier - 3/3) - Maxed out, it reduces the cost of your healing abilities by 9% - very important as it helps conserve your Force pool.

Lightning Barrier (2nd Tier - 2/2) - Not really necessary until the higher levels (around 44/45 when you can't invest in any more Corruption Tree skills other than the two to be left empty) - this increases the amount your Static Barrier absorbs by 10% each time (for a max of 20%) - a very helpful buffer to damage, which should be cast on everyone before a battle/the Tank during a fight.

*Madness (1) - Points in:

Sith Defiance (1st Tier - 1/2) - More of an aside, since it's effect is very minimal (1% decrease in damage taken) and only invested in for lack of another, more useful skill.

 

The Healing Cycle

Once you've maxed out Force Bending (Corruption - 3rd Tier) and Force Surge (Corruption - 6th Tier), the Healing Cycle becomes your best friend. Basically, maxed out Force Bending means that whenever you cast Resurgence, you gain the effect "Force Bending", which means that the chance of a Critical hit on your next heal increases. This is particularly important with regards to Force Surge.

At 2/2, Force Surge has a 100% chance to grant the effect "Force Surge" when you get a critical hit on Innervate (which becomes almost a certainty with Force Bending, since you get a 25% increased chance to get a crit. on Innervate with it). This Force Surge grants you a "free" (in terms of Force) Consumption, which takes a little of your health in return for replenishing part of your Force pool.

So:

Cast Resurgence on Ally/Self (Target gets an immediate heal + additional heals over the next few seconds & you gain the effect "Force Bending") -> Cast Innervate on Ally/Self (Target gets healed over a few seconds & you gain the effect "Force Surge") - > Cast Consumption (takes part of your health and replenishes your Force pool) -> Repeat

 

By doing this every 8 seconds (for the Innervate cooldown) you essentially keep maximum Force for the entirety of a fight, whilst also fulfilling your role as a Healer. By using this cycle, supplemented with Static Barrier and other healing abilities, you can keep a huge reserve for any emergency healing required during a fight.

 

Triage

Despite what some people believe, sometimes it just isn't possible to keep everyone alive for the entirety of a fight. When a fight's been botched for any reason, you should firstly try your hardest to get your group out of trouble - Use Cloud Mind to deflect mobs attacking you onto other players, and use Extricate to pull any low-health DPS out of the fray/dump their aggro. If this fails, everyone's health's slowly being whittled down to 0, and it's looking like you won't be able to keep everyone alive - then don't. Stop healing the worst of the DPS - cast your AOE heal if you have it, and toss the odd Resurgence/innervate/Static barrier their way if neither you nor the Tank need topping up, but otherwise hang them out to dry. Yes, it sounds harsh, and the immediate reaction of most players is to decry such an action, but sometimes it's necessary. After all, isn't it better to keep yourself and the Tank alive long enough to whittle down a Boss' last bit of health and complete a fight, than for your entire group to wipe and have to start it all over again?

And the truth of the matter is that you can keep a Tank alive far longer than you can a DPS, which gives you a better chance of killing the Boss and allows your DPS more time to respawn at a med-bot and run back to you to rejoin the fight.

 

So that's it. Remember: this is only a rough guide, and a good Healer knows their limits and is always learning something new. As long as you learn from your mistakes and make it clear to your Group what you can and can't do (especially concerning Line of Sight) then you should find that you'll get the hang of it in no time.

 

(Sorry for the thread necromancy, but since the question got subsumed in an AOE heal debate, I figured that I could safely contribute.)

Edited February 18, 2013 by Dr_Vile
Additional Thoughts

And I'm guessing you love to overheal and look at your 3k+ hps in MOXParser. Truth is, The AoE Heal is only helpful in a couple of boss fights (If you have 3+ persons taking constant damage). And you can well do without it. Try it!

 

Sorc's AoE heal only helpful in a couple of boss fights ? lol, ok