I have a question for the Healing minded Sorcerers among us... What are your healing priorities?

 

Healers playing through group content, especially when inserted into a less than ideal group setup, soon learn the one universal truth about healing...

 

"sacrifices need to be made for your force pool is not infinite"

 

We can further define the concept with a simple mantra that every healer should memorize and repeat as needed:

 

If the Tank dies, it's the Healer's fault. If the Healer dies, it's the Tank's fault. If the DPS dies, it's their own damned fault.

 

 

So.. who's the Healer actually supposed to Heal?

 

If The Tank Dies, It's The Healer's Fault, the Tank is always the healers priority in any kind of group content, and when i say "Tank" im not referring to the Imperial agent that keeps pulling all the aggro.

 

Let your Tank die and in most situations the group is doomed to wipe.

 

If The Healer Dies, It's The Tank's Fault, Remember meat-bags (tanks) your only job in the world is to keep your healer alive, not only alive but not wasting his force pool healing himself.

 

 

If The DPS Dies It's Their Own Damned Fault, we all know that damage dealers are just as important as any other class, no one likes to spend an hour clearing trash mobs because you don't have enough DPS. But we all have to remember that a good damage dealer is a someone who "kicks "#$ without getting their "#$ kicked in return".

 

If a damage dealer has their stuff together, he doesnt need heals because he probably not pulling aggro from the Tank.

 

"But this game doesn't have a threat meter!" the masses cried. It´s back to old school and pay attention when your DPS starts taking damage. Try to understand how that's happening and educate them politely (by letting them die).

 

In the end, the more you heal the more you accumulate aggro towards the mob, if your throwing heals left and right, you will end up dead. So try to heal on a single target during each pull.

 

Most important of all rules a healer should follow... Heal yourself before you heal anyone else. A dead healer is a useless healer.

 

So the question i ask fellow sorcerers... What are your healing strategies while grouped?

Depending on the group size, I'd assign a healer to the tank and one to the group.

Also some of the other classes have heals so they can backup heal.

Theres going to be a ton of addons coming out so I think there will be some sort of threat meter.

My healing strategy is the same as it always has been. Keep everyone healed as much as possible as long as it is not at the expense of a wipe.

 

While it's true of a lot of other games that dps should not be pulling threat, that is not always the case here. Threat is still a little wonky. There are a number of tanking classes that definitely border on being underpowered for holding threat.

 

You also have a number of classes that can soak a decent amount of damage while your tank holds the 3 other mobs. I sometimes bubble one person and focus healing on another in circumstances where 4 mobs might be too much for one tank.

 

What really makes a great healer is someone who is dynamic and can adapt to a variety of situations. It is easy to think of a fight as a pre-scripted scenario but when it goes off the rails the acceptable healers are cut away from the great ones.

Well with my experience as a healer, I mainly maintained the tank as high as possible while the other dps around 3/4 of their health pool until the tank was in a good enough spot to heal everyone at top. One thing I agree with everyone is that a dead healer is a wipe, so main thing is keeping you alive. If dps takes too much damage I'm sure you can ask a dps with a few healing abilities to watch out for others dpser's in tight spots. Group play is all about group, everyone needs to contribute to each other an not only ''do what their supposed to do''. Well, that is just my opinion and I'm sorry for my english, I'm not too good with it :S

My healing strategy is the same as it always has been. Keep everyone healed as much as possible as long as it is not at the expense of a wipe.

 

While it's true of a lot of other games that dps should not be pulling threat, that is not always the case here. Threat is still a little wonky. There are a number of tanking classes that definitely border on being underpowered for holding threat.

 

You also have a number of classes that can soak a decent amount of damage while your tank holds the 3 other mobs. I sometimes bubble one person and focus healing on another in circumstances where 4 mobs might be too much for one tank.

 

What really makes a great healer is someone who is dynamic and can adapt to a variety of situations. It is easy to think of a fight as a pre-scripted scenario but when it goes off the rails the acceptable healers are cut away from the great ones.

 

As great a healer as you are, force is not an unlimited resource and as far as i know, you can´t cast heals on different characters at the same time.

 

A lot of the heroic +4 quests in the game need proper CC and proper aggro, especially when in a open world environment where pulling aggro from a different mob group is always a very present possibility.

 

Although, there's a strong argument that the mob group composition promotes a more relaxed healing approach due to there being a lot of easy trash on the way to bosses.

 

A good healer, as you say, can and should adapt. But if we keep healing irresponsible damage dealers they will never learn.

I am not a big fan of healing, mainly because it is the only role that really needs you to focus all the time, but the first thing I do when I am healing is check what options other people have.

 

For example Sorcerors have a rescue like ability that pulls a player towards them and negates their aggro, I would have the DPS Sorceror watching the rest of the DPS and ready to use that power rather than be looking to heal them, and I would make sure the rest of the team knew it was his job too.

 

That would leave me free to worry about the tank and myself, and I would only have to watch the DPS Sorceror, not the whole DPS group.

 

I am not sure what similar powers other classes have, but I will read up on them eventually.

There are group heals at least at the end of the corruption skill tree... I was only able to get my sorc to 20 over this last beta weekend and am still waiting for EGA =(. Also if you spec right there are things in your skill tree that allow you to cause less threat when you heal and for things to cost less as well. I would think the better "healer type" sorcs would be planning on speccing this way to maximize their healing potential. Particularly because it appears to me (at least whats available in skill trees etc..) that the sorcs will be either dmg or healers depending on how they are specced and that the healing portion of them will be "main" healers for groups etc. since the operatives healing potential really doesn't allow for "oh ****" circumstances.

... ...A good healer, as you say, can and should adapt. But if we keep healing irresponsible damage dealers they will never learn.

 

DPS should be the least priority to keep alive, but at the same time, can't go letting them die just to make a point. That is how you lose group members, and every time you get a new DPSer in, you have to gamble again that they might make the same mistake. I think group communication and cooperation is king here. Before starting a dungeon, explain your healing priorities to the group and plan a strategy for who's going to backup heal the DPSers.

 

Better yet, fight with guildmates who know what they're doing in the first place.

I wrote a cool post and then the forums ate it.

 

I will sum it up with: adaptability, triage, cooldown management, communication, situational awareness (of yourself, and yours of other characters).

 

Tank > Self > DPS = Other Healers unless encounter mechanics indicate different priority.

 

My general strategy is to be AWESOME, this has served me well in my past 9 years of MMO healing.

Edited December 15, 2011 by qqemokitty

I wrote a cool post and then the forums ate it.

 

I will sum it up with: adaptability, triage, cooldown management, communication, situational awareness (of yourself, and yours of other characters).

 

Tank > Self > DPS = Other Healers unless encounter mechanics indicate different priority.

 

My general strategy is to be AWESOME, this has served me well in my past 9 years of MMO healing.

 

Being awesome should be everyone´s goal in life.

Being awesome should be everyone´s goal in life.

I prefer to think of it as my starting point

Last night at the Imperial Flashpoint... it was the tank's fault

 

But we eventually got it done.. what a blast!!!

Last night at the Imperial Flashpoint... it was the tank's fault

 

But we eventually got it done.. what a blast!!!

 

Which flashpoint? and what did you think about healing through it?

Well, for all the healing I've done through the various MMOs, adaptability is the key to survival. My healing priorities change based on the situation, because sometimes to survive, you need to let the tank die, or even yourself. One rule that does stay constant though is that *******es are at the bottom of the priority queue (People who repeatedly show a lack of understanding or caring of the mechanics/group). People who are blatantly disruptive don't get a spot in my priority until they either leave or get kicked.

Other then those outliers, it's generally the usual: tank >= self > highest dps > next lowest dps > lowest dps

I'm only level 22, but I recommend getting those points in lightning off the bat for the extra force and mana reduction. After that use ONLY big heal unless damage is imminent or your falling behind then use your shield and big heal. The quick heal burns too much away and generally if you need to use that (so far from my experience..) you or your teammates are doing it wrong.

this is for PvE, haven't really done PvP yet.

Edited December 16, 2011 by Aerojinx

I mainly focus on the tank. But if a dps is getting smacked around to hard I'll throw a bubble on them if they get themselves killed after that then o well

With this build, should I start with Madness, Lightning and then finish up with Corruption?

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#201GGdRrd0dGzZf00MZ0M.1

 

I figure its best to pick up the lower end, they seem more useful at a lower level. I wont be a full healer until later on.

 

Any thoughts?

TBH you shouldnt have an issue keeping everyone up. Remember use Static Barrier wisely as its a great tool to use.

My general rotation (If one can call it that) is shield, then resurgence on the tank, if anyone has managed to take any spike damage on the initial pull then a quick dark heal, after that it's a case of keeping resurgence up on me as much as possible and using shield and reduced dark infusion cast time on the tank. I use consumption twice as soon as I hit 80% force, combining the reduced cost of dark heal with the hot of resurgence usually tops me off enough to only lose about 1-2% health from consumption, that is without the reduced health cost points from Dark Resilience. I'm only level 24 though with very few flashpoints under my belt so this might not be the optimal way to heal.

Once you get Dark Infusion, you should already have its cast time reduced (research your abilities and plan ahead when possible), and you should avoid dark heal.

Dark heal becomes viable again when you have 2/2 in Force Bending and cast Resurgence first.

One thing I don't see mentioned here, is the use of Sorc utility.

Whirlwind can be used on targets up to Elites and should be. That is an easy 60 seconds of eliminating damage from that enemy.

Electrocute, sometimes shock, sometimes jolt used on the right target reduce damage on the tank also.

Sorc does very well against a target that does high spikes of damage occasionally. Static barrier holds against some of the damage, while you can help DPS, then go back to healing quickly with Resurgence/Innervate and a fast Dark Infusion.

Now, as for DPS ... a lot of encounters with added targets occur in this game. DPS should realize that with heals already going out, and zero threat having been incurred by the tank on those target, they are going to bee-line for the healer. DPS has to protect the healer as they can (overload should give them a little room in that regard) and therefore the healer must help in return. That is where the effects from Resurgence come in. Resurgence is a nice, small, instant heal with heal over time, that, with proper skill points, give some very good after effects to use.

Tank is on boss. Adds come in. DPS clears the adds on them (from AOE threat), then turns to help healer. Healer puts barrier & resurge on tank, does an overload, uses a fast heal on self, a resurge on a DPS and an infusion on tank, a barrier on someone, another resurge on other DPS and another infusion on tank ... adds should be dead by then.

The fights in SWtOR seem much more dynamic at low levels than that other game. Be prepared to adapt.

I mainly focus on the tank. But if a dps is getting smacked around to hard I'll throw a bubble on them if they get themselves killed after that then o well

 

^- this.

Once you get Dark Infusion, you should already have its cast time reduced (research your abilities and plan ahead when possible), and you should avoid dark heal.

Dark heal becomes viable again when you have 2/2 in Force Bending and cast Resurgence first.

One thing I don't see mentioned here, is the use of Sorc utility.

Whirlwind can be used on targets up to Elites and should be. That is an easy 60 seconds of eliminating damage from that enemy.

Electrocute, sometimes shock, sometimes jolt used on the right target reduce damage on the tank also.

Sorc does very well against a target that does high spikes of damage occasionally. Static barrier holds against some of the damage, while you can help DPS, then go back to healing quickly with Resurgence/Innervate and a fast Dark Infusion.

Now, as for DPS ... a lot of encounters with added targets occur in this game. DPS should realize that with heals already going out, and zero threat having been incurred by the tank on those target, they are going to bee-line for the healer. DPS has to protect the healer as they can (overload should give them a little room in that regard) and therefore the healer must help in return. That is where the effects from Resurgence come in. Resurgence is a nice, small, instant heal with heal over time, that, with proper skill points, give some very good after effects to use.

Tank is on boss. Adds come in. DPS clears the adds on them (from AOE threat), then turns to help healer. Healer puts barrier & resurge on tank, does an overload, uses a fast heal on self, a resurge on a DPS and an infusion on tank, a barrier on someone, another resurge on other DPS and another infusion on tank ... adds should be dead by then.

The fights in SWtOR seem much more dynamic at low levels than that other game. Be prepared to adapt.

 

Great advice.

The answer is easy, the Tank is my priority unless I am assigned to group over tank if another healer is in group. Luckily I am assigned main healer for my guilds main tank so we all know our roles.

 

In pugs its a nightmare, the stupid DPS smack everything and expect me to pull the hate from them with big heals .. not going to happen !!!

 

The numpty DPS which smack on everything other than the tanks target will not drain my force pool.

 

The mantra is - you spank it , you tank it but dont expect me to waste my force reserve because you have no idea of your role or limitations.

 

I will throw out heals to the DPS but my main priority is keeping the tank standing.

It depends on the group composition. If there's another healer, or an off healer, I pretty much focus entirely on keeping the tank and myself healed. I let the off-healer worry about keeping the DPS up, especially if they pull too much aggro.

 

If I'm the only healer, then I keep the tank up first off. I'll use medpacs on myself if I need to. I find keeping the tank in a static barrier is immensely helpful. DPS gets heals only if I have enough force to spare.

I know alot of healers rage about the "stupid dps" taking damage, but unless we are in a fight that I am really having to focus on keeping people up, I will heal them anyways. As long as I have the force power for it, why not be friendly about it and if the group is moving along well, i am all for keeping everyone up.

 

Now, seriously, as for strategy. Mine can be put simply but is fairly complex. My strategy is, "it depends."

 

If we are focusing mainly on flashpoints, on trash, it really doesn't matter that much usually. There are a few out there that can hit hard, but nothing that general things like "keep the bubble up" and such won't take care of.

 

As for boss fights, as I said, it depends. Some boss fights have adds, and you might have a dps that is tasked to "take care of" the adds, which means they are probably going to wind up pulling them onto themselves. So now you have to really split your attention and keep both of them going. Make sure you have the skill that reduces the cooldown of your static bubble (forgot the name) but that really helps and the one that increases the amount of damage it can take.

 

Most of my big heals strategy revolves around using my bubble. It gives me an extra few seconds (or second, if there is alot of damage going out) to get off a big heal or two to top someone off. I also watch for someone to start taking damage and will start to cast a heal when i see damage start, not after it has happened. I can always cancel the heal before it goes off if they don't take as much as i thought or I don't think it was really necessary.