I've noticed a lot of people complaining about the lack of "healing medals" in PvP and I agree that there needs to be more healing medals but I think a lot of healers are failing to do some of the things that they are supposed to be doing which not only gimps their healing but gimps the medal gains too. Once healers learn how to play more effectively I think a lot more people would have fun playing a healer in PvP because... It's the most darn fun I have ever had healing in a MMO.

Here is a short list of stuff healers should be doing while also healing their allies...

Did you know we have interrupts?

I see a lot of people sitting around chain casting healing spells while a Sorc or Sniper chain nukes/shoots people from the middle balcony of The Civil War or on a ramp during Huttball. While casting heals is nice... Zapping that MOFO with a STUN or Interrupt is also very effective for a few different reasons.

1) It tells them that someone officially knows they are there and encourages them to move or they will eventually get killed by multiple enemies suddenly jumping on them all at once.

2) Doing damage to them gives you a kill credit once someone else kills them. Do this enough times and you can still get medals for killing 10 and eventually 25 enemies. It's kinda lame that we have to leech off other people getting kills but BioWare obviously doesn't like healers very much and the only way we can get a lot of medals is by DPS'ing and Healing. DPS classes don't have to multi-task like we do but once you learn to multi-task your DPS and healing it gets to be insanely fun!

Did you know we have a AoE knockback?

Our AoE knockback does little damage but it is something you need to learn to use. If you see your allies getting swarmed... Run in and pop your AoE knockback.

I use this tactic all the time in Void Star and it allows me to break 500k healing without even trying. I run in and hit my AoE and then immediately cast my AoE heal where I am standing so that it can start healing all the allies around me. This makes my healing stats go through the roof and helps me gain medals for killing people that die after my AoE Knockback does damage to them.

In Huttball... The AoE is not only useful... It is necessary!

If you're on a ramp and the ball carrier is getting swarmed... Charge in and pop you AoE to knock people off the ramps. Once you clear the path you can heal the ball carrier much more effectively! Once again, doing a little AoE damage also helps collect medals for kills and allows you free medals for 10 kills and 25 kills.

Did you know we can pull people out of danger?

Around level 40 we get a ability (with a 2 min cooldown) that allows us to pull group members to our position. This ability helps make scoring in Huttball really easy...

Head up onto the ramp while your teammates get the ball and then follow along with them. When the enemy swarms them you can quickly pull them out of danger... If you get multiple Sage players set up correctly you can chain pull someone all the way to the goal-line in 8 to 10 seconds.

I run with a tank friend that always has his guard on me whenever I feel I can't heal through the damage he is taking I quickly yank him back to my location so I can get 1 or 2 extra heals in and then he charges back into the fight to finish killing people.

Bubble... Bubble... Bubble...

Our Force Shield can only be cast on someone once every 20 seconds and it shares a global cooldown so no other Sage's can Force Shield someone that has been hit with a Force Shield by another Sage.

DPS is so high in this game that our Force Shield only lasts about a half a second but it helps absorb the rediculous burst damage that some classes have. Always make sure you are casting your Force Shield on allies whenever you see it off cooldown.

Did you know we have a instant cast Damage Over Time spell that can reduce enemy run speed?

Spending the points to make our Weaken Might reduce run speed by 20% isn't really all that effective in PvE but it is extremely effective in PvP.

I always spam my Weaken Mind during Huttball so it keeps people running slowly. If a ball carrier is carrying the ball solo I zap him with it so my teammates can catch up. If I see three or four defenders running with the Ball Carrier I zap them instead so they can't keep up and therefore instead of passing the ball forward the carrier has to try and pass it backwards.

In the END...

Using these simple tactics will always net you 6+ Warzone Medals. A lot of experienced players have also learned that healers don't normally get many medals so when a healer comes along that can rack up medals while still healing everyone... Well let's just say that it's pretty darn easy to get 4 or more MVP votes.

Playing a healer in SWTOR isn't as simple as it was in some other MMO's (I won't mention what ones because you all know what they were). In order to do it right it involves using a large pool of abilities that either heal your allies or hinder your enemies. It's a little frustrating at times but once I got the hang of everything I really started to love it more and more. I can't even consider playing a different type of class because being a healer is really fun in PvP. I've played a Scoundrel healer and I've played a Sage healer and I love them both equally. Big props to BioWare for creating the most unique PvP healing experience I have ever had.

It's been several years since I have had to actually multi-task while healing and I really enjoy the challenges! For those of you that don't have the ability to multi-task while healing... Roll a different toon and leave the healing to those of us that know how to do it.