Honestly yes. They decreased sustain, they decreased therefor healing output and damage output. I can still do a heroic 2 man with a LOT more work.

So much so that it's faster to invite a friend.

Just killed Stormcaller and Firebrand on 16 man hard mode the other night and I have to say that is the most healing intensive fight I've encountered yet. Going over my combat logs for the fight I noticed I was getting a good deal of my heals just because I had to sacrifice health for force with Noble Sacrifice. I find healing to be incredibly inefficient and more that I struggle against my class mechanics than I do with boss mechanics (Stormcaller hits hard as hell, very spiky damage).

That said with Salvation and Force Armor we are still incredibly strong healers. The combat logs don't record the absorbs I contribute but I imagine it's a decent amount since I use FA a lot. In particular on the tank, DD soakers, and those in my shield group. FA is the strongest healing ability in the game if you ask me. Since we are all stacked on top of each other Salvation is very powerful and the bulk of my healing.

We'll see how the rest of the healing goes as my guild progresses through hard mode and hopefully we get a little love before NiM comes out. I think Noble Sacrifice needs to be worked on as it is a terrible way to regen force if you ask me. I also don't like being tied to using Rejuvenate before every heal I throw out or otherwise be severely penalized. I'm not asking for easymode healing, I just would rather feel the pressure of a difficult boss than the pressure of a frustrating to play class.

I find healing to be incredibly inefficient and more that I struggle against my class mechanics than I do with boss mechanics (Stormcaller hits hard as hell, very spiky damage).

This is my impression too, after playing nothing but a seer since SWtOR came out. In addition to being inefficient, the crude and haphazard way in which the spec operates now seems to work against me more often than not and I am no longer finding it enjoyable anymore even if I succeed at it consistently - it no longer feels like an achievement in terms of overcoming challenging healing situations with precise healing triage.

The short answer is: No, the changes didn't necessarily make a really big difference to whether Sages/Sorcs are able to heal the PvE content.

Sages/Sorcs are still very strong healers and are still able to sustain a given level of healing for a very long time. You need to understand which approaches actually regain force well... but once you have them sorted, then there shouldn't be an issue with force management.

There was definitely a reduction in overall healing output and a big reduction in the Sage/Sorcs ability to pull an entire group out of danger, with group-wide burst healing, but that was fair enough. We were overly powerful before 1.2 and it did need to be toned down in some way. And while that burst/emergency healing capability is much reduced, it's still enough to be capable of dealing with most situations we come across - as long as the group is playing reasonably well and not doing anything stupid.

The issue that most people have with the 1.2 healing changes for Sages/Sorcs, is that they just drained the fun out of the AC and indeed went further in the negative direction, making it so that you have the feeling that your tool-set is working against you rather than for you. Where it used to be fun to heal with them, it's now clunky and frustrating and slow. It's still a bit better than the dull as dishwater rotations that the Ops and Medics now have... but it's a chore to play rather than being fun.

X

The short answer is: No, the changes didn't necessarily make a really big difference to whether Sages/Sorcs are able to heal the PvE content.

 

Sages/Sorcs are still very strong healers and are still able to sustain a given level of healing for a very long time. You need to understand which approaches actually regain force well... but once you have them sorted, then there shouldn't be an issue with force management.

 

There was definitely a reduction in overall healing output and a big reduction in the Sage/Sorcs ability to pull an entire group out of danger, with group-wide burst healing, but that was fair enough. We were overly powerful before 1.2 and it did need to be toned down in some way. And while that burst/emergency healing capability is much reduced, it's still enough to be capable of dealing with most situations we come across - as long as the group is playing reasonably well and not doing anything stupid.

 

The issue that most people have with the 1.2 healing changes for Sages/Sorcs, is that they just drained the fun out of the AC and indeed went further in the negative direction, making it so that you have the feeling that your tool-set is working against you rather than for you. Where it used to be fun to heal with them, it's now clunky and frustrating and slow. It's still a bit better than the dull as dishwater rotations that the Ops and Medics now have... but it's a chore to play rather than being fun.

 

X

This is too wishy washy. It's bad. Period.

It's now a baldy designed class. If they gave you this class to play through a single player game with, you wouldn't finish the demo.

I also don't like being tied to using Rejuvenate before every heal I throw out or otherwise be severely penalized. I'm not asking for easymode healing, I just would rather feel the pressure of a difficult boss than the pressure of a frustrating to play class.

I agree, we shouldn't have to lead off with a certain heal before any of the others just to make the others worth using.

...the crude and haphazard way in which the spec operates now seems to work against me more often than not and I am no longer finding it enjoyable anymore even if I succeed at it consistently - it no longer feels like an achievement in terms of overcoming challenging healing situations with precise healing triage.

Agreed, healing should be about succeeding bc you used the right Healz at the right times in the right situations. And it definitely should be FUN when you are able to consistently heal well.

... you have the feeling that your tool-set is working against you rather than for you. Where it used to be fun to heal with them, it's now clunky and frustrating and slow... it's a chore to play rather than being fun.

 

X

Yes, your mechanics as a healer should always be working for you raher than against you. With all the other things healers have to deal with our mechanics shouldn't be making our jobs harder. And again, healing should NEVER be a chore, and should ALWAYS be fun. Not saying I want it to be easy, and I for sure don't expect to never wipe with my group, but our jobs should be fun and challenging due to good boss mechanics, not tedious, hard, and not fun due to our own mechanics.

I agree, we shouldn't have to lead off with a certain heal before any of the others just to make the others worth using.

Actually, this is the case with Noble Sacrifice as well; talents make it worthwhile using it, for the most part.

The funny thing is that healing spells give hitpoints for Force (HPF). Noble Sacrifice gives Force for hitpoints (FPH), but the ratio between them is neutral when you look at the base Noble Sacrifice (untalented); it comes roughly down to HPF = 1 / FPH. The question I raise is if Noble Sacrifice has a validity as a spell, when the ratio makes the pain about equal to the gain.

(Note: I didn't make thorough calculations on this, only rough estimations)

As others have written, post 1.2 changes give little room for Sages to cover the mistakes of the raid team like we were able to before. I used to be able to heal through many sticky situations but now require my raid team to do a lot more mitigation of damage. This has made some of them grumpy--primarily because they now actually have to do more than just push their 2 or 3 DPS "win" buttons and concentrate a lot more on situational awareness--but ultimately it will make them better players, and, I believe, already has.

On a side note, I now heal with a scoundrel healer. When I get low on force he puts his HOT heals on me and I do a 4 or 5 noble sacrifices. I've found this to work really well and be much more efficient than using Salvation.

As others have written, post 1.2 changes give little room for Sages to cover the mistakes of the raid team like we were able to before. I used to be able to heal through many sticky situations but now require my raid team to do a lot more mitigation of damage. This has made some of them grumpy--primarily because they now actually have to do more than just push their 2 or 3 DPS "win" buttons and concentrate a lot more on situational awareness--but ultimately it will make them better players, and, I believe, already has.

 

On a side note, I now heal with a scoundrel healer. When I get low on force he puts his HOT heals on me and I do a 4 or 5 noble sacrifices. I've found this to work really well and be much more efficient than using Salvation.

Salvation is still such a powerful heal that to discount it would be a terrible idea to discount it. You should be using it almost on CD unless you are timing it for a specific event. And since you are using it anyways you may as well step in it to heal yourself. On fights like Nightmare Pilgrim and 16 man hard mode EC it counts for the bulk of my healing. as with at least the first few bosses I've seen groups stay somewhat stacked which is amazing for aoe healing.