This is my first attempt at healing so I expected to be a little ineffective, but I'm way worse than that. When Nadia Grell is my healer and I am dps, she keeps me full strength almost always. When she is dps I try healing her for all I'm worth and she is dead within a minute. Note these are all on 2 person Heroics, so it's supposed to be a little challenging, but I'm getting slaughtered.

 

I'm primarily cycling through 3 heals (healing trance, benevolence & deliverance) with an occasional salvation & wanderiung mend, plus I've got a companion medpac. Shouldn't I be keeping her at full strength? Admittedly I'm normally a below average player, but this is ridiculous. Am I doing something wrong or does everyone know that Sage healers are useless?

Edited August 9, 2020 by Buellzebubba

Like dps, heal abilities also have synergies and, thus, rotations.

 

Your cheapest heal and pre-heal is the bubble. Put it up before combat and whenever the debuff wear off.

If someone is close to death and can be bubbled, throwing a bubble is much better than any real heal you can put.

Next used most is Rejuvenation. It gives you a buff that boosts almost every heal.

 

For example, rejuvenation -> healing trance gives the whole trace 60% bonus crit. Trance crit in turn buff Vindicate which is critical to Force management, and thus Rej+Trance should be your "default heal". Never use Vindicate without the buff.

 

Rejuvenation also makes wandering mend spend all "charges" immediately, which means your comp will be healed twice in a very short time, instead of the wand getting stuck on someone. With the One for All tactical (good thing) it heals her three times, which makes it your strongest single/two targets burst heal. (If there are lots of raid-wide damage, though, leave the mend to its default and spend the valuable buff elsewhere, such as Salvation.)

 

Rej also makes Deliverance cast faster, saving you valuable time, thus increasing heal rate.

Deliverance, in turn, proc Benevolence to make it instant and heal more. Because of their low cooldowwn, Rej +Deli + Bene is your fallback heal when Trance is on CD.

 

You should use Salvation only when you can catch four or more toons. Just you and your comp will be too little, too slow. Instead, Stun / Lift the strongest / furthest mob to control damage. Force Lift, in particular, can be more effective than any of your heals. Take the two turrets in hammer station, positioned before the light bridge - if you lift one of them you half their damage output.

 

Rej, of course, should be used whenever you don't have the buff, even when the tank/companion is at full health.

This make sure the buff is always there and ready when you need it. Bubble and Vindicate follow closely.

Yes in a team you'll be very busy. Way too busy. Welcome to healer's club!

 

It is also possible that you are undergeared. In which case you should gear up! Switching companion to tank also helps. At cost of some damage, she will be much more durable and easier to heal through, while pulling and taunting everyone so you can AoE.

 

So, it should goes roughly like this:

Bubble > Rej > Ask comp to attack a mob > Force Lift the furthest mob > DoT comp's target > Trance > Vindicate > Rej > Deliverance > Benevolence > Stun or Throw or Push or whatever > Rej > Wandering Mend > Vindicate > Bubble you get the idea.

 

Use Mental Alacrity, Force Potency, and Heroic Moments as needed. Force potency is complicated because of Rej buff... so I'll stop here to keep it simple. Let's just say it is free and cost no gcd.

Practice make perfect. You may also consider vm fp where heal is not as critical, meaning you can be safely trained.

Edited August 19, 2020 by ElleSheepy

I'm a brand new player. Is it ok to start with a healer class, or am I better off learning the game with another class?

I'm a brand new player. Is it ok to start with a healer class, or am I better off learning the game with another class?

I learned the game as a healer and in hindsight I think it is better to learn dps first, with companion usually set to dps or tank.

 

Healer is slower to advance the story with, since they clear trash much slower than dps do.

Also, since there are kolto stations in vet fp, people will use them instead of relying on your (punny) heals.

Playing as dps without heal will also help you learn how to survive, as you need to make the best of your controls, self heals, and dcds. These skills translates well to all roles.