Hi,

 

I'm a level 50 Seer/healer whose just discovered flashpoints...and this is my 1st MMORPG. I'm slowly picking up things - what 'CC' means, don't run away during a boss fight as it resets...But I still feel out of my depth. My big issue is survivability, and I guess this is down to being under equipped. Anyway, I'm just looking for some general advice, as it's a bit hard to ask in the middle of a boss fight!

 

Thank you!

Maybe this very slightly helps - a guide by a guildie healer:

 

http://sraw-rats.enjin.com/forum/m/12953478/viewthread/6679928-important-bringing-life-to-party-by-dudley

 

Also have a look at this forum - there was a thread somewhere about roles in a FP.

 

If you die as a healer it's probably tank's fault.

 

Probably best advise is to get into nice social guild where someone will run with you and explain tactics and other stuff on voice comms.

Thanks, very helpful!

Bubble is your friend. You should be trying to use your Rejuvinate before your bigger heals, because it buffs them. Healing Trance, then Deliverance if they're still under heavy fire and Healing Trance is on cooldown. I keep Benevolence hotkeyed but ... the only time it's really useful is if Healing Trance is on cooldown and they'll die before the longer Deliverance cast. Otherwise, Deliverance is more bang for your buck for less force.

 

Watch for Resplendence procs (you get them when any tick of your Healing Trance crits). As I mostly PvP, I usually don't bother with Salvation unless I have the 3 stacks to make it instant (again, be sure to cast Rejuvinate first, significantly lowers the force cost). It's still a force hog, though, so I haven't really found it worthwhile in just 4-man stuff. (It's probably awesome in operations.) Resplendence stacks also mean your Noble Sacrifice won't cause your force to regen slower afterward, which is also huge.

 

Cleansing debuffs using Restoration can be really important on some fights.

 

Use your instant self-heal if you're taking damage. CC, kite using Force Speed if you're really getting banged on. Yank a DPS using Rescue if they aren't helping you out to get their attention.

 

 

Uh ... I hope that was helpful? Didn't say exactly what kind of info you're looking for. Just very basic stuff, but I'm level 45 so I still have some learning to do myself. If someone with more experience comes along and says "No Sarie's stupid, that's awful advice" you should probably listen to them, LOL.

Edited July 21, 2013 by Sarielle

Healing is all about practice and fight knowledge. If you know the fight as far as when damage will go out and to whom then you can better prioritize who needs the heals and when you have time to noble sacrifice to mange your force. This means a dps could be at 50% hp, but you might be able to focus heals on the tank and wait for rejuv to come off cooldown and throw it on the dps and go back to the tank. Or maybe a rejuv then force barrier on a tank gives you a window to then healing trance a dps and rejuv dps and then go back to tank, etc.

 

Rejuv should be cast before any heal if at all possible so you have the conveyance buff. Even if everyone is full health throw rejuv on someone (tank if the armor buff from rejuv has worn off or yourself if you need to noble sacrifice) to have the buff in preparation for your next heal. I only cast salvation with a 3 stack of resplendence if it's needed right away or while moving. Reason being is because the base global cool down (GCD) on an instant cast is 1.5 seconds. When I cast with 2 stacks the cast time is .6 seconds and with 1 stack it's 1.3 seconds, which basically allows me to start casting another heal or an instant right when it finishes. I have to wait the longest amount of time to cast another ability after casting an instant salvation. So if I have a 3 stack of resplendence I probably noble sacrifice once and then cast it.

 

There are so many nuances to healing that it's difficult to completely explain how to go about it. The best way is to get as much experience as possible and ask specific questions about things you don't understand or want to know more about.

 

You can go to my twitch page to see some of our recent raid fights as I have created highlights for each kill.

 

http://www.twitch.tv/ariss_sg

Healing Guide

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=659493

 

Gear Up Guide

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=647711

 

Guides to most Flashpoints and Ops

http://dulfy.net/category/swtor/flashpoints/

http://dulfy.net/category/swtor/operations/

 

Threat/Aggro

As mentioned above: threat is a measure of how much the target hates you. In SW:TOR, all damaging abilities generate threat on the mob they target equal to the amount of damage they deal. If you are in tank stance you generate an additional 100% threat. If you use a "high threat" attack you generate an additional 50% threat, this is additive. Healing on the other hand generates threat equal to 50% of the amount healed divided evenly among all mobs in the pull.

 

What does that mean? As a tank:

- High threat attacks generate threat equal to 250% of their damage on the attacked mob.

- Normal attacks generate threat equal to 200% of their damage on the attacked mob.

- Self-Healing generates threat equal to 100% of the amount healed divided amongst all mobs.

As a DPS:

- Attacks generate threat equal to their damage

As a Healer:

- Healing generates 50% threat, but its on everything.

 

In short: Anything you don't attack will run at the healer. However, the healer should never pull threat off you if you are attacking the mob. Basically: make sure every mob is attacked by someone or CCed.

 

In SW:TOR, there are 2 "ranges" for threat. Melee range is 4m fom the centre of the mob and Ranged is anything beyond that. In order to take threat off the current target of a mob you need to surpass that targets threat by a percentage. 10% for melee range and 30% for ranged. Now that has 2 benefits we can exploint: if you keep the DPS beyond 4m they will need to beat your threat by 30% to pull off you and if they do, by staying within 4m you only need to beat them by 10% to pull back. However, taunts complicate this slightly.

 

I have since discovered how the melee/ranged mechanic works. Range is measured from the centre of the targeters hitbox to the edge of the targets hitbox. This includes the range displayed on your target frame. Enemies with large hitboxes often end up with their melee range being INSIDE their hitbox. This is also the reason that Zorn's fearful effect doesn't hit you if you are at 30m range since you are measuring to the edge while the effect is measured from the middle. Threat ranges are the same.

For the record I don't agree with the gearing in those guides. I guess the differences aren't big, so really a Sage just has to figure out what they like best. For me, or in my opinion, It's good to have about 30% crit after all buffs and stim, which is just shy of 300 crit rating. I have surge to around 450, which is soft cap and the the rest into alacrity. It's a very well rounded stat distribution that I feel is best for healing performance despite what any spreadsheet say is the best healing per second or healing per cast time.

For the record I don't agree with the gearing in those guides. I guess the differences aren't big, so really a Sage just has to figure out what they like best. For me, or in my opinion, It's good to have about 30% crit after all buffs and stim, which is just shy of 300 crit rating. I have surge to around 450, which is soft cap and the the rest into alacrity. It's a very well rounded stat distribution that I feel is best for healing performance despite what any spreadsheet say is the best healing per second or healing per cast time.

I won't deny, I do have crit in my gear, it helps me to force regen when I can. But not derailing into a crit vs power/surge vs alacrity discussion, the guide is just a guide. Healers don't have a set optimal rotation like DPS, but more on what is needed and gear is the same, in time you will know what works best for your healing style, and healing role (group or tank or mixed) healer.

Edited July 21, 2013 by lpez

Wow, thank you all! Your technical advice (when to cast what) and link to guides were especially useful. I'll keep coming back to this for sure!