Preface

 

NOTE- All numbers and information is taken from pre-2.0 at the moment, I'll post when it has been updated and I've had ample time at 55 with decent gear to give insight on how sorc healing will work.

 

Hello there, if you're on this forum looking at this, chances are you already know who I am- I'm a loudmouth on both the sorc and pvp forums when it comes to pvp balance or lack thereof in this game. This isn't going to be focused on how we've been nerfed or the state of our class- there's many threads for that already.

 

Today I'm going to instead focus on what we can do as healers in pvp, as well as certain specs and the pro/cons of each of them. This is by no means going to make you better than other classes- and if you are new to the game or looking for an easy class to excel with I'll warn you right now that even with a guide, this may not be the class for you.

 

This guide is tailored specifically to normal pugs- if you're in RWZ chances are you're as good if not better than me and probably don't need my advice- I can see from the posts here though that there are a great deal of sorcerers struggling to play this class, and while I am sure there are more qualified sorcs and better players of all three specs; I am good with this class, I know what I am doing and I perform well in pvp.

 

I'm going to try to keep as brief as I can- but I am going to defend what I say with reasoning so this is not going to be a short guide- nor will it be complete when I post this. Please comment on errors or if you feel I am simply wrong about something- as I said, I am not the best sorc out there, and I'd like to be giving the best information I can manage.

 

 

INDEX

 

000 Basic Overview

001 Spec Overviews

002 Talent Overviews

003 Ability Overviews

004 UI Overview

005 Survival Overview

006 Teamplay Overview

007 Versus Class Overviews

008 Warzone Overviews

009 Gearing Overview

010 reserved

 

 

000 Basic Overview

 

Welcome to your first day as a sorcerer healer, or your hundredth. Either way, you may have noticed already that being a sorc can be frustrating, fun, and the focus of every smasher the moment you step out of that safe zone.

 

Well, there are things we are able to do as sorcerers- and I'm going to lay out some of the pros and cons of being a sorc healer in general.

 

Pros

- When left to freecast, we can heal very well and for a long time

- We have great party utility

- We can have some very useful crowd control for certain situations, and can do well with both targetted and random CC

- We have some decent mobility at times for survival as well as transportation from node to node

- Our actual ability use is very straight forward and easy to learn

 

Cons

- Alone, our kiting skills are not impressive, our mobility easy to counter and we are very squishy

- We tend to be focused first in pvp, and we will go down extremely fast since there is nothing we can do to mitigate focus fire while we wait for help

- We offer little when attacking nodes or trying to stop a ball carrier

- We handle pressure very poorly

- We need to be babysat more than other classes, meaning outside of premades we are worse off than most other classes

- Our defensive strategies often take us away from objectives in order to just survive, putting our own survival often at odds with actually winning matches

- When under pursuit, we have very little output due to a lack of decent instant abilities, which both makes us easy to shut down in our job of healing the team, and easy to eventually wear out and kill

 

 

001 Spec Overviews

001.1 Stun Bubble Hybrid 21/20/0

001.2 Full Corruption

001.3 Other Hybrid

 

001.1 Stun Bubble Hybrid 21/20/0

Spec here

Jadescythes alternative bubble stun spec here

 

OK, so this is the spec I use at the moment, and imo the best sorc spec, period, for pvp.

Pros

- The stun bubble of course, as well as the root on overload

- Still has all necessary healing abilities to heal well

- Force management is great

- Has some decent damage dealing on top

Cons

- To other sorc heal specs? None

 

You're going to lose a little bit of healing and crit from talents, and the biggest loss is the 30% healing bonus off of Unnatural Preservation.

 

This spec has the best of survivability and healing a sorc can get, and that's worth a bit of healing power. Also, it relies on lightning strike for force management, which in almost all pvp situations is better than consumption currently is.

 

Jadescythe's spec offers a bit more utility and willpower at the cost of a bit of damage- it trades lightning effusion for electric induction in terms of force regen- light effusion being a better talent if you do a greater amount of damage attacks, while electric induction is clearly superior if you are mostly spamming healing. Will go more into variations of talent picks in the talents section.

 

001.2 Full Corruption 32/7/2

Spec here

 

This spec is very similar to a pve healing spec + fadeout.

 

Pros

- 30% bonus to UP for emergency heals

- +2% crit, +6% bonus healing, +6% willpower

- the AoE heal

- if allowed to freecast or well protected, this spec will do more healing, period

 

Cons

- your CC is poorer, overload becomes very easy to simply walk back from, your bubbles don't stun

- the aoe heal is very limited in use in most WZs, to the point of being nearly useless in some

- the aoe heal is even more useless now due to Rage smash, since people cannot clump up or they risk taking a very hard hitting aoe that'll more than make your heal pointless

- has less group utility for objectives

- relies on consumption to regen force

 

I cannot advise taking this spec under most circumstances; if allowed to freecast it can add more healing, but in normals you will find yourself rarely able to freecast. Furthermore- even on the offensive you have no damage output, and you have no notable CC to help with caps.

 

You also have a terrible force regen mechanic. Ultimately- you will find more time to heal. However, you will spend a lot of that time healing yourself to make up for damage taken from consumption. In a pinch- you have poor CC to help escape, and when you drop low on force you are killing yourself to gain it back. Consumption works in pve for two reasons-

a- you are not taking damage as a healer, or know when you are and thus when not to use consumption

b- a lot of the time you can stand at the edge of your aoe heal, which will heal over anything lost from consumption; you don't have the luxury of standing close to your melee, or still, in pvp though

 

 

001.3 Other Hybrid 25/14/2

Other hybrid spec

 

What is this? This is the spec I used after the 1.2 nerf (or close to it anyway) but before the bubble stun buff. At this moment- there's pretty much no reason to take this spec, and chances are it wouldn't even use these exact talent points as is- so why would I mention it?

 

Stun bubble is getting nerfed. We don't know how yet, or when, or what'll be given (if anything) in return- but ultimately, we have to face the possibility stun bubble won't be vital anymore.

 

I'll point out the vitals of what will make a post stun bubblocalyptic world something you can survive in, until a mutant marauder decides to cut you into pieces and keep you in a chain sack.

- Lightning Strike gives you force regen, not consumption

- Overload roots will likely be your best chance at survival through CC

- you still have all the necessary healing abilities, and the aoe heal is still sadly unnecessary

Edited March 6, 2013 by fungihoujo

002 Talent Overview

002.1 The Must Haves

002.2 The Good Ones

002.3 The Forget About Its

 

Now, I've already gone over specs- but there's going to be two responses to the specs I've posted.

 

First is- why pick those talents, what gives them a boost above the others, and why do you pick some in one spec and not in the other?

Second is- I spec differently/have seen other specs that I think are better- why is your spec wrong?

 

The posted specs are more or less a guidline- there are talents that could easily be switched out, and some that I'd never switch out. I also want somewhere to go into these talents in a bit more detail.

 

002.1 The Must Haves

Corruption

Tier 1

Dark Mending 2/2

- I hope this one is self explanatory. It cuts half a second off your main heal- that is good in any situation, but in pvp on a 3 second heal, that's mandatory. I like this talent so much, if not completely tied up, I'd take in as a DPS too.

 

Tier 2

Empty Body 2/2

- 8% healing received is going to keep you alive, and you will need it. You have no mitigation, your survival depends entirely on healing- so this is a good buff to that

 

Tier 3

Force Bending 2/2

- This talent does 4 different things, and I'll briefly get into why this talent is a must here, and more in depth later.

- Dark heal- auto crit. Otherwise, dark heal is pretty bad. It costs a lot for a small heal, is shaves a second off of DI, but except when you know DI won't get off it's inefficient manawise and heals less/second than DI. However- with auto crit DH heals almost as much as a non-crit DI, and more importantly will likely get off.

- Dark Infusion- force shouldn't be a problem if you're hybrid, so using the proc on DI is kind of useless. It's better for full corruption since force management is poorer, but even then this is something that's better for when you can freecast untouched or pve

- Innervation- 25% bonus critical. This is personally my favourite. Innervation usually get at least a few ticks off, and almost always heals something- and if you get it all off you're talking 4 ticks with bonus 25% crit on a good heal- unless on CD, I'd use bending on innervation whenever possible.

- Rev- the force you save here is more than DI, thus better- if of course you do have the aoe heal. Ultimately, I'd put this in a pvp situation where you're full corruption as better than DI, but I'd prioritize innervate well over it, and DH over it most of the time.

 

Resurgence 1/1

- Obviously you need this one, it's our one HoT. It's not the best HoT in the game- still, whenever it's up, I'd use it, and it's our one mobile heal.

 

Efficacious Currents 2/2

- Whether or not you get the stun bubble- our bubble is our best heal, period. It prevents almost as much damage as DI heals on average, plus is instant, plus is cheaper, plus isn't reactive so you can put it up when you have a bit of spare time. I can go on and on, but I'll get into the bubble later- straight up, you do not want to miss this ability if you heal, period.

 

Tier 4

Sith Purity 1/1

- Reducing the cost and adding a heal are both small, cost never as an issue, and the heal is tiny. Adding physical effects to what you purge is the reason this is a must- on top of debuff removal, purge is vital for CC removal in general, and for a class that needs to move yet has very little in the way of CC removal- this is your last chance.

 

Reconstruct 2/2

- 10% armour rating isn't bad, and bringing the HoT up to 15 rather than 9 second duration is pretty nice- thing to keep in mind this ends up being a buff to up to 2 1/2 people at a time in theory. I could see dropping this- if a better talent ever appeared, but at the moment there's no better talent

 

Fadeout 2/2

- Root immunity on your force speed, this is a must in a game packed with mara and juggs who are swimming in roots. Personally, I think this should be baseline since our mobility depends on it, and we have no mitigating abilities- at the moment though, this is a must if you're a healer and you like living.

 

Tier 5

Innvervate 1/1

- This ability is simply good, it is a very strong heal, it synergizes well with force bending, it gets off in a pinch, and the cooldown and cost are pretty reasonable. This is why I take 21 points in healing at the very least if I want to be considered a healer in pvp

 

Lightning

Tier 1

Reserves 2/2

- In lightning, you get a choice between wanting to focus on a bit more damage, or wanting to focus on a bit better force regen, either of which are good choices. In the first tier though, you have two force related talents, and one for damage- you have no choice but to put at least two points into a force talent, and Reserves is simply better use of those points

 

Tier 2

Subversion 2/2

- This is your force regeneration from hybrid, base off lightning strike. It's relatively easy to keep up, and it doesn't hurt you. If you are a hybrid, this is the main reason for it. Don't take this if you're full corruption.

 

Lightning Barrier 2/2

- Regardless of spec, this is 20% more protection from your best ability- there's no reason to not take this.

 

Tier 3

Electric Bindings 2/2

- If you go this high, this is your first choice. When it comes to personal survivability, this is simply more reliable than even the stun bubble for doing what you want it to do.

Tier 4

Backlash 2/2

- At the moment- stun bubble is our main utility for pvp, and it's fantastic

 

Lightning Effusion 2/2

- This grants a large boost to mana regeneration- so if you're going the full 21/20 hybrid, this is a talent you'll want for keeping you from going OOF.

 

 

002.2 The Good Ones

 

Corruption

Tier 1

Seeping Darkness 3/3

- 3% crit to all abilities. In the case of hybrid, this is beneficial for your force regen, damage and healing, so as a hybrid I would absolutely take this one

 

Haunting Presence 2/2

- 2% bonus to all healing. Now, you would also get one point in seeping if you went this route- I can't say for certain that this ability is worse than Seeping for a full corruption, but personally I'd take Seeping over this no matter what spec I had- feel free to prove me wrong number crunchers.

Tier 2

Lucidity 3/3

- 75% pushback resistance. Thing is, I don't find pushback is my problem for getting abilities off- it's the CC and interrupts. I think most people would take this though- and in a hybrid, you have no aoe heals anyway

 

Force Suffusion 2/2

- If you go full healing, this is a 10% boost to your aoe heal... but, again, the aoe heal isn't so great in pvp sadly. If you go hybrid- lightning storm and CL both benefit from this, so you'd have to decide if it's worth it (you'd get 1 point in lucidity too) for some bonus damage there, but, if your main focus is healing- don't take this as a hybrid. Of course- if you don't have the aoe heal or CL, this talent is worthless.

 

Tier 3

Dark Resilience 2/2

- 30% bonus to your emergency self heal is a good one, if you can spare the points- problem is with a hybrid you likely can't. This, however, is a must have if you're full corruption- because it also takes 4% off of the consumption penalty, which you will really need. So- decent but you won't have the points to take it as a hybrid- must have as a pure. This may become something decent for hybrids if backlash stops being so great though

 

Tier 5

Life Surge 2/2

- 2% crit, 2% mitigation. If you go this high it means you don't have backlash- but this is a good talent for where it is for pures or hybrids without backlash

 

Tier 6

Penetrating Darkness 3/3

- 6% increase to bonus healing, it's a decent addition

 

Force Surge 2/2

- At this point, you're so high in Corruption you'll be using consumption to regen force, so having innvervate crits remove the force regen penalty sounds like a no brainer. That said- this talent is decent, nothing more. It helps when you have a rotation that can never be hit with the degeneration debuff- but in pvp you can't always follow a rotation- and sometimes you have downtime where you just need to spam consumption. If there is a talent lower down you missed and want more- you can drop this one for it- this definitely is not as good as dark resilience, period.

 

Tier 7

Revivification 1/1

- Obviously if you go pure you'll get this- I'll go more into this ability later

Lightning

Tier 1

Electric Induction 3/3

- 9% off force costs of most abilities. If you're not interested in damage output, take this one. However- if you're 21/20 you aren't going to have force issues, so I can say I would only pick this if I was going a pure build myself.

 

Convection 3/3

- 6% more damage to LS, CL, CD- if you're hybrid that's the bulk of your damage, so this is a nice ability to snag if you intend to take advantage of the fact that a hybrid can do a bit of damage when needed

Tier 3

Lightning Barrage 2/2

- If you're a hybrid and care at all for damage- this is your next choice after the must haves. Good burst of damage when you can manage it.

 

Chain Lightning 1/1

- If you're going serious about having moderate damage on top of healing, CL is a good aoe burst move. Never cast it without the proc- which in turn means, if you don't have Lightning Storm, this talent is useless, do not take it.

Suppression 2/2

- Shorter CD on WW might be tempting- just not as much as other abilities in this tree- and for the interrupt, that's mainly used for interrupting healers- which sorry to say, you won't be killing a healer in this spec regardless of interrupting or not- and you have little to worry about from dps with cast times- most have only one ability to interrupt anyway, or won't do enough damage (or, snipers, aren't interruptable anyway). Mercs can be some heavy damage without the bonus to your jolt CD, but first off they are a myth nowadays, and second they get jumped on and leap smashed so much you probably will never notice them. 15 seconds off WW will be useful for taking people out of the fight more often, and while you'd lose some damage to get this talent- it may be well worth it to you if you care more for utility.

 

Tier 4

Lightning Storm 1/1

- This goes hand in hand with CL- you are going to be spamming LS a lot for force regen anyway, so CL procs are a nice bit of extra burst. If you've gone high enough to get backlash, and care even slightly for doing damage- might as well grab this. It offers nothing to your healing, but that's not the only thing you're good for.

Madness

Tier 1

Will of the Sith 2/2

- 6% more willpower, it's a nice boost to crit and damage/healing. There's nothing else in madness that is useful for a healer, no utility and if you can't spare the points, that's fine- if you find yourself with extra points though, this is a good talent for a passive boost.

 

002.3 The Forget About Its

Corruption Tier 5

Conspiring Force 2/2

- A snare on affliction sounds nice... 20% though for two points? What a waste for something that barely does anything. Every other snare is 50% and on demand- this snare is a joke in trade for what you'd lose- you don't have time as a pure healer to be DoTting up everyone, or the force for it.

 

Lightning Tier 2

Lightning Spire 1/1

- For one point, it might be tempting to do this for 5 extra feet on LS spam- however, if you're in a situation where you must be over 30 feet from an enemy- first off, they'll be within that range to pull/charge you before your cast is done anyway, and second- you probably have more pressing issues than a bit of dps or needing to force regen. I see no reason to take this as a healer.

 

Exsanguinate 2/2

- Affliction is long enough as is, and the one benefit we get is lightning barrage- you'll do better dotting up a couple people when you have time- compared to other talents, this one simply doesn't give enough to be worthwhile, and there's never a time I wish I had it.

Edited January 18, 2013 by fungihoujo

003 Ability Overviews

003.1 Healing

003.2 Utility

003.3 DPS

003.4 Rotations

 

 

003.1 Healing Abilities

 

Note- I'll be using my own stats, buffed, and the 21/20/0 spec when I bring up numbers, your numbers may be different depending on your gear, and they should be higher if you are full corruption as well.

 

 

 

 

Dark Heal

-1.4 second cast time 50 force cost

- heals 1750/3100 with crit out of combat, with expertise debuff heals 1385/2450, with deadly throw trauma debuff heals 1100/1960

- Auto crits with force bending up, which makes it a heal of 49hp/force or 1750/second

- Without bending, heals on average 1760, which is a heal of 35hp/force or 1260/second

 

DH ends up being superior to DI in the following situations

- You have the force bending buff and someone is being burst down, or, you have the buff and force is less of an issue at the moment than health restored

- DI has been interrupted, or you are worried about being interrupted and need a quicker heal (ie- someone is smashing your face in)

 

Dark Infusion

-2.3 second cast time 55 force cost

- heals 3500/6200 with crit out of combat, with expertise debuff heals 2765/4900, with deadly throw debuff heals 2210/3900

- heals on average 3510, meaning 64hp/force, 1526/second

- costs 30% less with force bending (37 force) which means 95hp/force, 1526/second

 

As you can immediately see- with force bending, dark heal gives you more healing/second- but no matter what, DI gives much more healing/force point. This makes DI both better to spam for efficiency, and dark heal is worse for amount healed except for when you have force bending up.

 

Basically- DI is superior to DH in the following situations.

- You're healing for a sustained period of time

- You're trying to heal burst damage and know you can get your heals off, and the target won't die before you get DI off

 

It's important to note that even in a burst situation- after a force bending DH, DI still heals more per second and is thus better for keeping someone up. Simply put, DH's output is so low you won't outheal damage done with it like you can with DI.

 

Innervate

- 2.75 second channel (4 ticks), 7.5 second cooldown (with the pve healing 2 set bonus- without, 9 second CD) 39 force cost

- heals per tick 1072/1885 with crit (4290/7540 total), with expertise 850/1490 (3400/5960), with deadly throw trauma 680/1190 (2720/4760)

- heals on average 1075/tick or 4300, which is 107.5hp/force or 1566/second

- with force bending has +25% crit chance, which means it'll heal on average for 1235/tick or 4935, which is 127hp/force or 1795/second

 

Even without force bending, this is your best heal/second, your best heal/force- and since it is channeled you're guaranteed to get some of it off. With force bending this heal is even better.

 

Prioritizing this heal

- This heal is number one in every situation except for when it is on cooldown, however, if nobody is under serious danger of dying, you may at times want to hold back on using this so it'll be there when you need it

- The only other situation is when you think you're going to need to keep moving- it lasts a while, and while you shouldn't worry about the costs- if you have to move halfway through that is a partly wasted CD

- If this heal didn't have a cooldown, you could take DH and DI off your cast bar entirely

 

Innervate is simply amazing- it is efficient, it heals harder, it always gets at lest part of a heal off, and it's your best emergency heal as well. I use it whenever I have a few moments to stand still to heal someone who's dropping fast, or for healing myself in a pinch.

 

Purge

- 15 force cost, 1.5 second GCD, 5 second CD

- The heal on here is irrelevant, you aren't using this ability to heal yourself, you're using it to dispel three types of debuffs- Force, Mental, Physical. This cannot dispel tech debuffs. (note- heals about 400/700 in pvp combat for those who want to know)

I wish I had a list of all the abilities this can debuff- if anyone does that would be very useful. I'll get more into purge when I talk about survival. Some basic tips for this- get used to using it on yourself first, as well as your healing target, in particular ball carriers.

 

Your best use of this is going to be for dispelling crowd control- on yourself, mostly roots- this can save you big time when a jugg/mara leaps you. It can also purge snares for when you find yourself hobbling away. It can purge some CC on allies- some mezzes for example. Also, it can purge many DoTs.

 

It'll take some time getting used to figuring out which debuffs do what on you- but you'll notice easier being rooted or snared, or if someone's mezzed, or if damage is being done without being hit (often there's sound effects for it too)- there can also be so much more to focus on then that tiny debuff row- so my advice is, use your instincts. Throw it on yourself when you feel rooted/snared- eventually you'll learn where this helps and where it doesn't. It has a 5 second CD- sometimes it's best just to use it and hope it does what you want it too, especially when you're being pounded on by 3 guys and can't get a cast off anyway. In a case of DoTs- this is cheaper than healing the total damage of the dot, so yes it is worthwhile there too.

 

I'll try to go more into purge use later on.

Resurgence

- 30 force cost, 1.5 second GCD, 6 second CD

- lasts 15 seconds, boosts armour rating by 10% (on me, that gives me 1.5% more mitigation), initial heal 900/1700, HoT ticks 340/600 every 3 seconds, or 5 times for 2600/4700 total. In expertise that's 2055/3715, with trauma that's 1645/2975.

-Interestingly enough, this can be effected by recklessness- and I believe it adds 60% crit chance to the initial heal and the HoT ticks both

-The most important thing about this spell is it gives you force bending- which you'll likely alternate between Innervate and Dark Heal

- I won't go into the healing/second or force- this heal is efficient and great for a bit of extra healing, and you'll use it regardless for force bending

- Try to use this when you move, or to move while using this- it's instant, but it still triggers GCD so you have 1.5 seconds where the only thing you can do is move

 

However- when would you not use this, is a fair enough question.

- In a burst situation, this heal isn't going to save someone at the last second- if that's how desperate you are, innervate is going to be the one ability to get a heal off fast enough, and you may want to use this immediately after innervate, followed by DH

- The HoT lasts 15 seconds, the CD is 6 seconds- so do I want to put it back on someone who already has it? Ideally, if you did so, you'd want to try to hit them right after a tick, though that is likely not your biggest concern in pvp. Ideally as well, you'll want to try to HoT up a second or third target- but if you don't have that or nobody else is in great danger at that moment- you may want to keep focusing on your target. Ultimately? Yes, this is worth putting back on someone who already has it- not only for the initial heal, but because force bending is a buff you'll want to have every six seconds.

 

Revivification

- 100 force cost, 1.8 second cast time, 15 second CD

- heals up to 8 (ie- your entire team) within 8m of the targetted area for 10 seconds (8m radius, 16m diameter)

- In any pvp build I'd suggest before or after bubble stun nerf- you will not have this ability. In a corruption build that does- I should note the heals on all abilities I've noted will be a bit higher- so I won't go over how much this ability costs per heal or whatever

 

If you do have it though, I'll give some pointers.

1- When you get a moment, try to cast it in a spot where you think allies are going to stand, and try to be at the edge of that circle so you benefit from it- this can be great when you're close to a node and everyone's gathered up

2- If you and your tank are both in this, that means he's within shield distance too

3- If even one target stays within this the whole duration, the cost and cast time is worth it- this also is a great thing for using on yourself when you need to do a few consumptions, since it'll heal a chunk of the damage you do to yourself

 

Yet- I do not suggest it, why?

- Well, you miss out on a lot of force regen and good CC to get it, that's the main reason- it is a good heal, and if you do have it you will use it often

- However, it is currently worth less than it should be due to smash. Before smash became so powerful, most aoe took time, so you might get two ticks before you can get out, or it wouldn't do too much damage instantly that playing keep away all the time was necessary- smash changed that; it is instant, and it's massive damage. In turn, that means players can't all stand in a heal like this anymore.

- even without smash, in WZ with plenty of movement, like huttball, you'll almost never have people stand inside of it

 

Static Barrier

- 35 force cost, 1.5 second GCD, 2 sec CD, 17 second lockout, lasts 30 seconds- despite being instant there is a slight delay in casting, you may notice this if you try placing it on someone under attack at 2k health, only to see them die half a second later, despite the melee swarming him not being stunned

- I can't tell you if this ability is effected by trauma, or exactly how much damage it prevents

- I can however tell you this is your best healing ability, period- with or without the bubble.

 

It is instant, I believe it prevents around 4-4.5k damage in my spec, it's cheap, and it's not a reactive heal. Simply put- your priority on someone who is being burst is always bubble first. In any situation where someone doesn't immediately need spam healing, your priority should be getting this on everyone on your team who doesn't have the lockout or bubble on them already.

 

Spam this on your team starting about 10 seconds before a match or less. Spam this whenever you are moving since this is pretty much all you can use while moving (and the HoT).

 

With the exception of you're trying to heal up someone who's dying fast- there's next to no reason to not have this up on everyone you can.

 

Unnatural Preservation

- no cost, 1.5 second GCD, 30 second CD

- With the buff from Dark Resilience, this heals about the same amount as DI, maybe a little more- it can be recklessness boosted

- This is great to throw in when you're healing someone else and need to heal up a bit of damage, or when you're on the move- and of course, when you're in fear of dying, this is probably going to be all that can save you- if you have the time and breathing space to use DI, DH crit or innervate- use those first- remember this is like a defensive CD for us

 

I use this mostly when I'm dying fast and DI just got interrupted, or while I'm running away and static barrier is on lock out.

 

003.2 Utility

Consumption

-cost 15% of your health, 1.5 second GCD, reduced force regen by 25% for 10 seconds- stacks 4 times. Regens 8% force

-If you are a pure, this is your main form of force regen, so you will want the talents to remove the force degeneration after innervate crits, and the talent to reduce health cost to 11%

-if I were a pure- this would cost me 2200 health and regenerate 48 force- at a cost of 46hp/force- note that this puts it relatively on par with Dark Heal's healing/force ratio if you have force bending up, and worse than dark heal normally- what does this mean? First off- this means just healing yourself, if you spam dark heal you'll die or go out of force faster than consumption regenerates force.

 

Second, it means it takes about 3 dark infusions to make up for 4 consumptions. This is precisely why I consider consumption a terrible mechanic- in order to get essentially one heal off that provides a net full DI's heal bonus to yourself, you'd have to spend over 12 seconds consuming and casting DI.

 

Innervate thankfully has better force management- but if you're using consumption, stand in your aoe heal- that heal is the only thing that makes consumption work at a rate that you can actually keep healing rather than killing yourself or going dry.

 

TL:DR- consumption blows in pvp.

 

Electrocute

- 10m range, 1 min CD

- Does minor damage (500/900) and stuns target for 4 seconds, gives normal resolve

 

Sadly the usefulness of this is more limited now- I'll go over uses in later sections. There's a talent in second tier madness which reduces CD by 10 seconds- I can't advise getting it.

 

Extrication

- 30 force cost, 1 min CD, 30m range

- this pulls an ally to you, regardless of CC

 

I'll go into more detail on uses for this in later sections- it does have more uses than just huttball

 

Force Slow

- 15 force cost, 1.5 second GCD, 12 second CD

- does minor damage (700/1250), snares target by 50% for 6 seconds

 

Sadly, this is one of the game's worst snares- we're one of the few classes that can't perma snare, and the duration is garbage. This does have its purposes- will get into later.

 

Force Speed

- 20 sec CD, off of GCD

- increases movement speed by 150%, as a healer will also break roots on you and make you immune to them for duration

 

This is your escape, main two purposes are to get away from melee and break a root on you generally caused by a marauder- remember you can use purge to remove many roots too, but this is nice off the GCD and for if purge fails you.

 

This also gives you mobility around the battlefield- will talk more of this later.

 

Jolt

- 12 sec CD, off of GCD, 30m range

 

Interrupts and gives a 4 second lock out. Main uses are to help out your DPS by interrupting a healer, to interrupt a channeled ability, to interrupt mainly merc offensive abilities like tracer missile, and to interrupt a smasher's force choke to give them less singularity.

 

Overload

- 20 sec CD, 1.5 second GCD

- does minor damage (700/1250) in a cone that's about 100 degrees before you, 15m range

- the knockback distance seems smaller than others, seems about 8m on flat ground

 

With hybrid talents, adds a 2 second root- up to 5 seconds if they take no damage. This is one of your best survival talents, is also great for breaking casts/captures, for getting people off an ally, for knocking people off of things- this can also be great for hindering enemies in some WZs- will go into more detail in later sections.

Recklessness

- 90 sec CD, off GCD, duration 20 seconds

- gives 60% crit for two abilities, you lose a charge whenever you use force lightning, innervate, resurgence and revivification- be warned, you can waste charges on stupid things too like your stun and overload- only thing I don't think wastes a charge is affliction

 

This is your burst ability- just remember, you can get dark heal and innervate crits far easier than other abilities- as a healer, your best two choices for using recklessness are Dark Infusion and Unnatural Preservation- both are big heals, both don't get crit bonuses. On the offensive- chain lightning and force lightning are your top two choices- if you don't have CL, use FL and shock- I could be wrong, but I don't think crushing gives you a crit bonus after the initial damage.

 

Whirlwind

- 20 force cost, 1.8 cast time, 1 min CD

- a 6 second mez

 

- you can reduce the CD to 45 seconds in the lightning tree if you like the utility

- sadly this ability is the only mez with a cast time, and other than spammable stealth mezzes is also the only single target one- we got shafted hard here. That said- this still has its uses, which I'll go over later.

 

 

003.3 Damage Abilities

 

I'll be using my stats above, and the damage numbers I give will be buffed, on the WZ training dummy- I should note I never get damage like this in actual pvp- in pvp these numbers can be up to 50% less on tanks, and even lower against defensives.

 

Affliction

- 34 force cost, 1.5 second GCD

- 15 second duration, 300/540 damage per tick, 5 ticks starting at 3 seconds, internal damage not mitigated by armour

 

This adds a little bit of damage- but except for those times you need to help with burst, there's two other reasons you'll be using this. One is to get lightning barrage procs if you specced that way. Two is to act as a purge buffer, to make it so someone purging your target has to waste it on affliction.

 

Needless to say, as a healer, this ability is very low on your priority list- without lightning barrage you might as well not use it, since it may actually do more bad than good by messing up a mez.

Chain Lightning

- 49 force cost, 6sec CD, 1.5 second GCD

- hits 5 targets within 8m of target

- does 1850/3400 damage (you'll see it hit for less than 1k on tanks, which is a bit depressing)- in an actual battle, I generally can get a hit of 3-3.2k at least once a WZ (this is your one chance to get a 2.5k damage medal)

 

Yes, it has a 2.75sec CD- never cast this. Only use this when you have the lightning storm debuff- which shows up around you looking like you're sparkling. If you have CL- this is good burst and aoe when it procs, otherwise it's a waste of time.

 

Crushing Darkness

- 39 force, 1.8 sec cast, 15 sec CD

- Deals 1000/1800 initial + 250/440 per second damage, kinetic so mitigated- for 6 seconds (so, 2500/4440)

- recklessness doesn't make the dots crit

 

This gives you some extra burst when you need it- no healing reason to use this.

Force Lightning

- 2.75sec channel, 30 force cost, 6sec CD

- ticks 4 times, including at 0 seconds, will tick twice as quickly if you have lightning barrage procced, snares target for 50%

- does 630/1100 per tick (2520/4400)- since one recklessness charge gives all for ticks 60% more crit chance, this is your best choice for recklessness most of the time if you're doing damage- is mitigated by armour

 

Force Storm

- 97 force, 5.5 second channel, 30m range, 8m radius- meaning you can hit people up to 38m away from you with this

- hits 5 targets, also gives a 30% snare for duration

- does 450/750 damage per tick

 

This can do some damage to a clump yes- at 3 targets this does better dps than LS spam. Generally you won't use this for damage though unless you see a big group in the area- but this has some definite reasons to use it- just remember the cost is huge, it's easier to use this when you have lightning effusion procced.

 

This is very likely to proc lightning storm for an instant CL if you use it on a group- this is also a great ability for preventing caps from far away or on a group of allies- I'll go more into that later.

 

Lightning Strike

- 30 force cost, 1.4 second cast

- mitigated by armour, does 1100/1950

 

Main use of this isn't the damage- the CL procs are a good reason- but more importantly, this is your main proc for lightning effusion and more importantly subversion.

 

You want to, as much as possible, keep subversion at 3 stacks- you get a stack each time you use LS, it lasts 10 seconds. So, try to get in the habit of putting 3 stacks up quickly, then throwing another LS in every 7 seconds. This takes less priority than healing someone up- but if nobody's in immediate danger of dying, it's a good idea to throw out out there- especially if you're going low on mana.

 

Shock

- 44 force, 1.5 sec GCD, 6sec CD

- mitigated by armour, does 1200/2100 damage

 

Generally, you want to tail shock onto a cast spell, or use while moving- putting it right after an LS if CL isn't procced, or right after crushing. Main use for shock though is to disrupt a cap- it's long range and instant damage.

 

 

003.4 Rotations

Rotations don't have quite as much rigidity to them in pvp as in pve, especially as a hybrid- but, rotations are still there and useful, so I'll go over some basic ones. These aren't set in stone- adapt to your situations.

 

Healing, no pressure

Static Barrier>Dark Infusion>Purge (when needed)>Lightning Strike 3 subversion procs>Resurgance>Force Bending Dark Heal>Innervate

Healing, target under burst

Static Barrier>Innvervate>Force Bending Dark Heal>Dark Infusion>Resurgance>Purge (in case of debuffs)>Dark Heal

 

Healing, you're being targetted

Static Barrier>Purge (root only)>Dark Infusion>Force Bending Dark Heal>Resurgance>Innervate>Purge (other reasons)

 

Healing, you're being burst bad

Static Barrier>Unnatural Preservation>Force Speed>Innervate>Force Bending Dark Heal>Purge (roots)>Overload>Electrocute>Dark Heal (expecting to be interrupt)>Dark Infusion

Low on Force

Static Barrier>Lightning Strike>Resurgance>Innervate>Dark Infusion>Force Bending Dark Heal

 

On the Move, not dying

Static Barrier>Resurgance>Purge (roots, mezzes)>Overload>Purge>Force Slow>Electrocute

On the Move, dying

Static Barrier>Unnatural Preservation>Overload and find cover>Purge (snares)>Resurgance>Electrocute>Force Speed

 

Damage Dealing, casual

Chain Lightning (instant)>Shock>Force Lightning>Crushing Darkness>Affliction>Lightning Strike

 

Damage Dealing, burst

Affliction up-Lightning Strike for storm proc- Crushing Darkness- Shock- Recklessness- Lightning Barrage Force Lightning- instant Chain Lightning

 

Trying to snare up enemy team

Static Barriers on everyone>Overload>Electrocute>Whirlwind>Force Slow>Force Lightning

Edited January 20, 2013 by fungihoujo

004 UI Overview

 

This is something that will differ from person to person- ultimately, you have to use what works best for you.

 

Main things I'll suggest though when it comes to the UI are going to be things that will make healing your party easier, and prioritizing hotkeys.

 

In a warzone you're going to be healing a lot of people- so, you'll need to have them in a spot that you can easily reach them, without blocking your field of vision- in the interface editor, a WZ team falls under operation frames. You'll probably want their health text showing- another thing you will want to be able to see is ally debuffs- specifically you're looking for force crush- it's a sad state, but any other debuff you want to purge fast on an ally is going to be obvious (mezzes, if they can't move a root)- force crush isn't so obvious, yet is perhaps the most important debuff to purge since it boosts the most powerful ability in the game- smash.

 

You may have to play around with it for a while- or simply accept it's too much of a pain to purge effectively and you have other things to pay attention to.

 

Another UI thing is hotkeys- this is big.

 

Again- you might not use the same hotkeys I do, but I'll give some tips.

 

- Have anything you use often readily available- that means somewhere you can easily press. I know not everyone is able to keep everything hotkeyed, so I'll list of abilities you definitely should have readily available.

 

Stun Breaker>Static Barrier>Force Speed>Overload>Unnatural Preservation>Purge>Resurgance>Extrication

 

These are pretty much absolute musts- rule of thumb, hotkey instants and things off the GCD first- I have those abilities hotkeyed to S, F, B, V, G, H, R, Y.

 

You probably won't need S to move backwards, backpeddling is pretty much never necessary. QWE to strafe and move forward- if possible, A,D can be hotkeyed, or use them to turn with the mouse- most prefer mouse only for turning, it's considerably faster- though in turn, if you need to target something with your mouse having AD for turning can help.

 

After that- you should also have these hotkeyed.

Dark Infusion>Innervate>Dark Heal>Lightning Strike>Shock>Recklessness>Electrocute>Whirlwind>Jolt>Affliction>Potion>Force Slow>Chain Lightning>Force Lightning>Crushing Darkness>Force Storm

 

1,2,shift-R,4,6,A,D,shift-D,shift-V,T,shift-F, shift-T, 3, 5, 7, N.

 

You might find it hard to use the shift key- in which case, put situational abilities like jolt, force slow, potion, recklessness or abilities you have to stand still for on shift- and if necessary, click those abilities. Small warning though- do not put abilities like revivification, force storm, death field somewhere where you'll click or is hard to use while also moving- remember you have to not only hit the ability, but also the field where you want to use it, so always have those 3 abilities (if you have them) somewhere you know you can hotkey press them fast.

 

For me- I'm good with everything up to 6yhn- so I sometimes have a bit more trouble with crushing darkness- but it's a stationary ability anyway.

 

If you have a special mouse- this may be even less of an issue for you- I find it's hard to shift-number, the easiest for me to use shift with is rfv, then edc and tgb.

 

TL:DR- hotkey abilities you have to use on the run, desperately (stun break, purge, emergency heal), or often first- hotkey rare situational abilities or unmoving abilities last, with the exception of abilities you must aim like force storm.

Edited January 20, 2013 by fungihoujo

005 Survival as a Hybrid Sorcerer

 

This is probably what you wanted to know all along- how do we survive? The last time there was a study on ranked pvp, someone took data from about 400 matches, compiled it- and found that sorcerers die more than any other class- at an average of 10/match. Marauders died the least at 5/match.

 

First off, you're probably frustrated, wondering why it seems you're always dying- well, here's why.

 

We have 20% mitigation against kinetic/energy damage- this means on an attack that would do 10000 damage against a bunny, we'd take 8k damage. A marauder is going to be taking around 30% less damage- so 7k. A PT will take about 35% less damage, so 6.5k- a tank will take around 55% less damage, so 4.5k.

 

That in theory doesn't sound so bad- sure, a tank takes way less, but they're tanks- and we're not too far off of a mara or PT.

 

However- we also don't have talents reducing damage we take. At most you'll get a tiny bit less damage- but for the most part, we take it all, and we take it all the time since there's zero defensives too.

 

A PT can use energy shield to give them 60% mitigation for a while- a marauder can proc numerous things, including CoP which gives them 50% mitigation for half a minute, and of course UR which simply gives immunity to damage.

 

So in a pinch- other classes are taking 4-5k damage for decent periods of time from attacks that we take 8k damage from- that is a big difference. And that's why when we get 3 people on us, we're toast- when other classes do, they might survive out the burst, get an escape off and get away or get a heal.

 

Our survivability thus relies mostly on control and mobility.

 

 

005.1 A Sorc's Guide to Surviving a Juggrauder Smashpocalypse.

 

1- Keep Static Barrier up at all times.

 

2- Take a look at the rotations I posted above- ultimately, you're going to be using a mixture of mobility and staying still- try to blow your mobile CDs while you reposition and spam DI when you get breathing room.

 

When facing a single target- be careful with your CC- electrocute fills up resolve very fast, and only buys you one guaranteed cast, don't whirlwind someone who's been dotted or is near battle- an ally will break it.

 

3- Generally- expect to get one heal off for every defensive maneuver- and by heal I mean DI. If you don't have room to manage a DI, try a force bending DH or innervate. Any time you take more than 30% health in a GCD- generally as a result of a smash or two DPS focusing on you- run for cover. While moving, using static barrier, resurgance, UP if you drop below 50%. Use Overload to give yourself some space, run until you find a pillar to hide behind, immediately start DI.

 

Basically this- DI if you have a few seconds, if you don't- force bending DH and innervate.

 

4- Your main hope is to not be targetted- if the enemy team ignores you, your sustained healing is pretty much top in the game. Stay on your side of the node, as far as possible, stay close to something to use for cover- and there's no such thing as overreacting when something starts attacking you. At the first sign of being rooted- purge yourself. If you're rooted again, force speed away. Stunbreak when you have multiple people on you, or when you're in a stun and have full resolve.

 

5- Don't stunbreak for a mez unless your companion needs healing now, or they're going for a cap. The only thing more important than your own survival is interrupting caps- however, while you have allies near, the enemy has more targets than you- so remember that.

 

If your node is fine without you on it- feel free to run away- best case scenario you get a few seconds to heal up, worst case, they chase you and you've distracted some enemies for a while.

 

6- Use your allies as a shield, and CC. Remember- you have static barrier on all of them. If you have two mara on you, run through your teammates- chances are they'll throw out KBs, or their bubble will pop and stun them- which gives you breathing room. Even better- run by tanks, hope the tank taunts/guards/pulls- it's important to remember that as a sorc, your survivability is more in your ally's hands than in yours- so sometimes, you need to put yourself in your allies hands when they aren't taking the initiative.

 

Don't linger too long though- you don't want to get too close or everyone gets smashed- remember that smash alone dictates everything in pvp because it's an absurd ability.

 

If someone isn't protecting you and too far away- extricate them and you have bait, like tripping your friend to get away from a bear.

 

7- Don't be afraid to node switch when you're in trouble- just don't leave a node alone. For example- if there's 4 enemies and allies at both Voidstar doors, and 2 mara have jumped you- run to the other node. They might follow, they might not- but that'll give you time to survey the other node, drop statics on your allies there, heal up- and then return if you're not needed. Generally, whenever I see a node looks like it'll survive without me- we have 3 defenders at full health, they have 2 attackers at half health for example- I move to the next node especially if I see activity there- keep in mind people don't call incomings, trust noone.

 

8- Map awareness- KB is great for knocking people off of things, or behind things. Also- consider where you stand. Standing by a node or being front of the pack means you're likely to be attacked- hiding half behind a Novare bunker, behind pillars in VS, under the ramps in Alderaan/on the ramps can all make you less visible, and thus less popular of a target. Careful about acid and fire in huttball- general rule of thumb, avoid the hazard ramps- you're too weak to handle them, they're like the cornucopia in Hunger Games and you're Rue. Stay off the warpath of juggs/mara- they're nazgul, you're Frodo.

 

9 In general- follow this.

Objective>Survival>Allies>Killing Things

There's going to be of course some exceptions, generally in specific WZs- but I'll get to those when I talk specifically about WZs.

 

So- weave between staying still and moving, keep static up and reposition often, use allies as shields, get a DI off after every CC, or move to your more emergency heals, run away like Harrison Ford from a boulder, when it doubt play hide and seek.

Edited January 20, 2013 by fungihoujo

006 How to be a Team Player

006.1 Static Barrier

006.2 Purge

006.3 Overload, Whirlwind and Electrocute

006.4 Triage

 

So I've gone over the basics on pvp survival- but ultimately sorcs are a class which has subpar ability to get abilities off, and subpar damage. I also pointed out that your survival hinges as much on your allies as it does on yourself- and ultimately you are a healer, so hopefully your intention is to keep your allies alive whenever possible.

 

006.1 Static Barrier

 

Yes, static barrier, the wonder ability at the beginning of every rotation. Ultimately, this ability doesn't have all that much strategy to it- you put it on people when they don't have it on them, simple as that. Generally- wait until it pops to refresh, it has a 30 second duration but 17 second cooldown mechanic- but if you predict you won't have much time, or are leaving the area, or simply cycling- it never hurts to throw it on someone regardless. Keep in mind while I am talking about a hybrid sorc with backlash- ultimately, even without backlash this is still your best ability, and you'll mostly follow the same strategy for its use.

 

Yet, there is a priority to the ability- it's pretty simple too- if it pops on someone, use it on them first, generally they're under attack. As well- if you see someone being swarmed by melee- use it, not only does that person likely need the protection, but the stun will be maximized that way.

 

Before you start healing someone- static barrier, every time. If I myself am not under attack- I barrier everyone else first- that way I also know, if I don't have the barrier- it's time to renew on everyone.

 

"OK Fungihoujo, is there ever a point where you wouldn't want to refresh static barrier on everyone?"

 

Sort of- ultimately, your order goes something like this.

 

Static Barrier people getting killed>Heal people getting killed>Static Barrier people taking casual damage>Heal people taking casual damage>Static Barrier anyone else

 

Priority almost always given to yourself when under attack.

 

Static Barrier also has a 1.5 second GCD- so if you're putting the barrier on five people, that's 7.5 seconds- move during that time. You want to stay at the edge for the most part- however, if you are being targetted while at the edge- run through the melee and hope your pursuers get caught up.

 

 

It is important to note that the stun bubble can be used offensively as well. Let's say you just lost your barrier, you don't have overload, you have two mara on you- run to someone with the stun bubble on them. Ya, that might get your ally smashed- but it will not only CC your pursuers temporarily, with any luck your ally will get pissed off and start CCing/attacking them too- always prioritize running to a tank since they might even taunt.

 

Basically- at edge, moving always, duck behind things to heal self up- when targetted, run to melee, give a moment for a stun bubble to go off, run out of melee to the edge again.

 

Static barrier also has an offensive and defensive power in warzones- I'll get more into good ways to use it later, but for the most part- remember it's a low resolve stun, and is perfect for when you need to hinder people in a bottleneck- in fact, it may be the third most useful ability for bottleneck trolling an enemy team after aoe mezzes and pretty much everything snipers do. (that aoe snare juggs do is pretty good as well).

 

Unfortunately- as said before, there isn't too much strategy involved in using static barrier on teammates- you use it when you can because it's good- this ability however is best on healers and melee- because they're the most likely to be in melee range.

 

Remember as well- as of now, this ability can be clicked for an on demand stun- I don't suggest it, if you have someone on your tail chances are they'll pop it- and you'll have prevented 4k damage too. However- sometimes you need CC more than you need survival- bottleneck situations and preventing the other team from interfering with a node cap are the two most prominent. It's cheap- but so are half the things your enemies are doing, so don't feel bad about being cheap.

 

 

006.2 Purge

 

I've gone over when to purge yourself- and your UI is huge on knowing how to purge allies. Unfortunately, I do not have a list of what abilities fall under mental, force, physical and tech to let you know what you can/can't purge- I really wish I did.

 

When purging allies- mezzes are very obvious and thus prioritized, stuns and roots are high on the list too. For dots- sniper dots are the worst, mostly because of cull, PT dots and mara dots are pretty rough- purging sorc dots can neuter madness entirely, but also can prevent lightning barrage procs and force the caster to waste more mana.

 

Your number one concern though is going to be getting force crush purged immediately- it leads to 7k smash- however, this isn't as easy as it sounds, due to many factors. Sometimes it's worth it just to throw out purge when someone's being swarmed- chances are they have something on them, and if you're moving and have nothing else to do- might as well.

 

A better dots UI or add ons would make this ability so much easier to use.

 

 

006.3 Overload, Electrocute, Whirlwind

 

Whirlwind sadly has a cast time- but when you can get it off, remember that it breaks upon sneezing. Never throw it on someone who's dotted up, that just gives them free resolve- in fact, most of the time WW ends up giving free resolve, so try not to use on an enemy near the fighting.

 

Good targets? Any healer not being attacked- this shouldn't be happening, but I am talking normals after all- so it will be. When you're alone, pretty much anyone attacking you- remember the cast time though means most classes won't let you get it off. Another good target is anyone between nodes, or who hasn't gotten to the melee yet- if they're far from the fight, chances are better no idiot ally's going to break it.

 

The absolute best use of WW though is for caps- I've had a lot of success using this little trick. Run up to enemy who's alone, get close to node- stun them, get to other side of node and start capping.

 

9 times out of 10 they will CC break.

 

Whirlwind them- other side of node, cap- they can't do anything but watch their node change sides. This is pretty much the only way I've managed to solo cap nodes- overloading someone off the platform can do it too.

 

Overload I consider much more valuable than the other two- not only is it multi target, but the root is almost like a mini mez with no resolve- basically, roots are the best CC in the game for that specific reason. Even if your enemy is white barred- overload won't KB, but it'll still root them for 2-5 seconds.

 

Now, of course overload is great for knocking people off things, or protecting yourself- but how does it work for allies?

 

It can herd enemies together for team aoe, while rooting them. It also is a handy aide for when a teammate is being plowed- a gaggle of mara/juggs being knocked off someone gives you time to heal them and them time to run for their lives.

 

If you have mara/jugg allies- overload breaks cover- giving them a chance to leap a sniper.

 

Electrocute not only is defensive, but keeping a near dead foe stunned, especially a slippery one with combat stealth or a good escape- can be as useful to allies as stunning someone about to kill an ally so you can heal them first. Just remember- it has a huge resolve cost.

 

006.4 Triage

 

Healers and tanks and DPS oh my!

 

Who do you help first when you can't save them all? This is one instance where revivification can be a great tool- cause you might not have to choose, you can just save them all at once.

 

Otherwise though- there's a benefit to each.

 

Healers keep you alive better than anyone else- and are likely more valuable to your survival than even tanks are- in general, I prioritize healing up another healer under fire.

 

A tank that guards you is a rare thing- but if they do their survival is linked to your own- so, reward them with healing. Even one not guarding you- is a good target for enemies and thus not you, and has good control. If they're keeping enemies off of you- you can heal more, so keep them alive.

 

DPS aren't low on the list either though- after all, 4 enemies do more damage for you to heal than 3 enemies and one of those is running for his life. Just remember not to heal sins who are using their defensive- it kills your healing. Mara who pop UR though are great to heal- they're immune, so you know they aren't going to die while you're casting that long DI. I love snipers- they counter mara/juggs, and if you stand on the other side of them, it makes your worst enemies unable to reach you- plus they're pretty defensive too with all their bonuses- in general, they may be my favourite DPS class to ally up with. Just don't stand close to them- leapers will use you as a leap target to get to them.

 

 

So, it would seem ultimately that I've just said to prioritize everyone- which doesn't help much. Ultimately though- keep in mind what your allies do for you. Someone with 20k health is likely more useful for you than someone with 15k health- a dps sorc or merc probably isn't going to dish out that much or provide much of a distraction as they'll crumple under fire.

 

Objectives first, your life second- so, consider who is the best for your current objective.

 

If you're on the offense- that's almost always your best DPS- they're the ones who are going to take the node and clear out the enemies, not other healers. This game revolves around blitzing- so keep that in mind. In fact, on the offense sometimes even you should be DPSing over healing- in which case, kill their healers first.

 

If you're on the defense- it's the opposite, you want your tank and healers to stay alive, and to focus more on control than damage in general. When you do damage- you'll likely want to hit their strongest DPS- but usually while on defense you want to do nothing but heal. If your door or node is safe, keep alive and distant- remember all it takes is one ally to stop caps, so harrying the enemy while your allies respawn is vital in that case.

 

Huttball kinda messes things up- sadly you have little use on defense- I'll go over it more later though. In general- keep your ball handler alive.

 

Overall- you'll notice good players quickly, keep them alive more. Remember, keeping someone alive who dies fast is less efficient than keeping someone alive who dies slowly- chances are you can keep a sniper and jugg alive with the same effort as it would take to keep a single DPS sorc alive.

 

Snipers are your best defensive DPS, juggs and sins are both great bulky dps/tanks to keep alive, and if you want high burst marauders are your best bet- PTs are great too, just remember they're a bit squishy compared to the others. For healers- anyone under fire, or a good healer that moves is a better target- ultimately, heal operatives first- they're the best healers, and you don't need another stun bubble sorc all that much- however, healing any healer is a worthwhile use of your power since our best synergy and best ability to keep alive is with another healer helping us out.

Edited January 23, 2013 by fungihoujo

007 Versus Class

007.1 Marauder

007.2 Juggernaut

007.3 Sniper

007.4 Powertech

007.5 Mercenary

007.6 Assassin

007.7 Operative

007.8 Sorcerer

 

We all know marauders are extremely OP- that's been fact for almost a year now, and it's not going to change. In this section I'm going to go over how to handle certain classes, and what to look for while fighting them. Understand that even if you play perfectly, our tools are ultimately only going to stave off our deaths a bit longer- if you come up against a competent, geared player of just about any other class, they have the upper hand, so don't get discouraged if you feel you're dying too easily- that's just how the game is.

 

That said- there are ways to confound other classes and survive a little longer, and this section will go over them.

 

007.1 Marauder

 

There's a million of them, they're easy to play, they do absurd damage and you cannot get away from them- marauders may not be the most challenging class to survive, however they're up there and they will be the most common class you'll have to deal with.

 

Important thing to remember about marauders is they have no bad spec- all three of their specs are OP and can make short work of you. Annihilation though is a bit easier because you can purge a decent chunk of their damage.

 

Most important thing to keep in mind against a marauder is when to use your control. Forget about killing a mara- that's someone else's job- keep force slow up whenever you can, mez if you can, always keep bubble up since that's your best tool.

 

Main difference is going to be between combat and rage- how do you tell them apart? If you're rooted while they master strike, it's combat- if you're paying very close attention, combat has Ataru Form, rage has shii-cho which is blue, and annihilation has juyo which is orange-red.

 

Your priority against a marauder is going to be to move- they have a very short CD interrupt, and do too much damage in melee range for you to ever hope to outheal/get heals off against them. If a mara is on you, MOVE- do NOT stand still, ever.

 

Marauders have an overabundance of roots- combat unfortunately you won't always be able to get away from. Keep in mind a few things.

 

Mara won't white bar you, and if you're white barred it doesn't matter to them- in turn, your stun break is of little use against a marauder- though if they're rage, if you can hit it and overload fast you can prevent them from building singularity stacks. Generally- save your stun break for the classes that will destroy you while you're stunned, or, for when you're being ganged up on (don't let someone force choke you while another mara beats up on your for example).

 

People like to say 'just stun/counter the mara's best moves', problem is- mara have so many huge damage attacks, CC, defensives that it is impossible to use your CC without screwing up trying to control them- so, don't worry about it so much.

 

When you are rooted by a mara, use purge first- it's low CD, and hopefully it'll free you so you can run away. If it doesn't work, use overload to build some space. If that doesn't help or you get locked up again, or your GCD is up- use force speed, since it's off the GCD and will break roots. Try to find something to stand behind, like a pillar- or, someone, like a jugg.

 

When possible- rely on the bubble stun over electrocute due to the resolve difference- electrocute white bars a mara too fast, and a white barred mara is an unstoppable killing machine. You're going to have to rely heavily on abilities while moving, and using pillars to get off casts- since trying to cast in melee means they'll interrupt, and trying to cast while at range means they'll leap... which has an interrupt on it,

 

If you knock someone off a ledge- get away from the ledge before the root's up, or they'll just leap back at you.

 

If a mara is on a team mate- overload them off. Interrupt force choke when you can.

 

Things to keep in mind; purge people they mez, do not clump up for two reasons- smash being the main one, but when you need to move for example during transitions in voidstar a single mara can mez half a team easily. Always get far from ravage- it says the range is 4m, but once it starts casting the range jumps to 10-15m, so you have to get pretty far away or the last tick will hit you.

 

Smash can do 7k auto crit, ravage can do up to 10k- vicious throw can do up to 5k, deadly throw and force scream have range can do nasty damage too- which means even if you do get away, they can still throw back to back damage on you that can hit for almost half your health with luck. You cannot out-last their resource since it is endless, and they have so many CDs that you won't outlast those either.

 

Remember- you are going to need overload, bubble stun and force speed badly to survive- so try to purge first and move without using them before you have to, but don't be afraid to use them the moment your health starts to drop- especially against ravage. Purge force crush and any snare immediately- try your best to keep them away from you.

 

Against multiple mara the strategy doesn't change much- though you may prioritize force speed even more. Remember- they can take half your health away in a blink of an eye, so if you get near 10k health, go into emergency mode and start spamming whatever it takes to stay alive.

 

007.2 Juggernaut

 

Juggs aren't too different from mara- chances are you'll see rage juggs which do absurd damage, and tank juggs which can't die.

 

Force push is very annoying, sadly there's no real counter for it- and it keeps you stunned no matter what when you land so don't bother trying to force speed out of it. Juggs are also using a rage spec which drops crush but picks up CC immunity after each leap- this is very bad for us since it means our bubble will pop without any effect, and if you overload right away you've wasted your CC on them. Once you notice a jugg like this- be extra careful to wait 5 seconds before using CC on them- it does mean you'll eat some smashes unfortunately. A big shield appears over them while they're CC immune, so thankfully it's fairly obvious.

 

Tank juggs are simply hard to kill, not really your concern- though they have enhanced control and still do great damage, so if one is on you expect to be tossed around like a pinball. There's very little you can do- just follow the same strat for mara, and hope for the best.

 

007.3 Sniper

 

Move out of sight immediately. Snipers can unleash some of the nastiest burst combos in the game- and then immobilize you while they finish you off. If a sniper has their sights on you, chance are they already have a dot and a set up on you- the moment you start being hit, move behind a pillar, out of range, over the lip of a ramp. The good thing is, snipers tend to use easy to cover positions themselves and bottlenecks- meaning they're generally in a position where it's fairly easy for you to take cover from them as well.

 

Purge I think won't work on their root- I believe it's a tech ability- so you may have to force speed out of it. They have no ranged stun thankfully, and after the root you should be home free.

 

Once you find a place to take cover- you can heal fairly easily- usually they'll find another target, and you can return to what you were doing before. You can also pester them while using pillars, because they rarely want to move since that makes them a leap target. If you can find something to hide behind, a sniper shouldn't be an issue for you.

 

007.4 Powertech

 

These are like mobile snipers- their burst combos are bad too, and their dots are so easy to put up there's almost no point in trying to purge. They can kill you very fast, have some range so they can pop your bubble at a distance, and very little in your arsenal really stops them- KB root and they just use ranged abilities, force speed and they grapple.

 

They are generally going to be pyrotech. The only good thing is they die fast themselves- so, try your best to make a PT someone else's problem, DPS specifically. Another thing is, they ignore armour so much that your own lack of armour doesn't make you much easier to kill than a tank for them- small consolation.

 

Close range they have rocket punch, flame burst, two stuns- so while dangerous at range, they're better melee- so still, try to keep them far from you.

 

007.5 Mercenary

 

Interrupt tracer missile, heatseeking missile. I can't tell you much about how to deal with mercs because a- I never see them anymore, and b- they're pretty much never an issue 1v1. Keep in mind though- unchallenged, they hit very hard, so do try to cut off their abilities and get allies to take care of them. They die fast and pretty much suck- if you keep them interrupted, even as a healer you can beat them fairly effortlessly.

 

007.6 Assassin

 

Sins may actually be the hardest class to handle- you just will never know since they're not common and they're actually difficult to play well unlike mara, juggs and PT.

 

They have pretty much every ability we have- they'll force speed match you, KB interrupt, etc... but, they also have a few things that make them impossible to shake. Their immunity pretty much neuters our control, and they have an offensive pull. They also hit insanely hard- it's not uncommon to take a 6k+ hit from one. Add to that stealth and stuns, and they can come out of nowhere and rip you to shreds.

 

Your best bet is to just keep running and trying to get away, and hope someone else can take one off of you- because you are NOT going to escape a good assassin, your best bet is going to be to get away just a little longer. Same strategy as usual- get away, heal up when you can, use instants and control when you can- stun break when you get stunned.

 

For both stealthers- if you feel one is near, force storm is likely your best option- overload is indeed better, however, if you miss you've really hurt your chances. Try to stay in combat/get in combat when a stealther is near, their out of combat mez is rediculous.

007.7 Operative

 

These are like sin light- they can destroy you too, don't underestimate a good one- but their gap closing tools aren't as good and they aren't as much of a threat. Your CC is well equipped to deal with them- if you can handle sins and mara, it'll be easy to handle an operative.

 

Just be aware of two stealthed stunlocking operatives, they make people ragequit the game.

 

007.8 Sorcerer

 

You shouldn't have any difficulty with sorcs- you can purge madness damage and interrupt FL spam easily, and lightning- purge affliction, interrupt LS and you gut the class. Honestly, I have never lost a 1v1 against a sorc since 1.2- it's so easy to keep a DPS from healing themselves, while slowly chipping away their health, and a fight against another heal sorc simply ends up being like two holy pallies duelling- endless.

 

Sorcs get one chance to do some good burst every 90 seconds- so when you see recklessness, get ready for your emergency heals... chances are though, you won't need it. Madness- heal after DF, purge creeping terror and crushing darkness especially- lightning, interrupt and keep affliction off you and TB/lightning barrage are neutered.

 

To pester heal sorcs- interrupt DI, overload DI or innervate, if they have a bubble up hit it with shock, lightning strike, CL- your allies will thank you for popping the stun at a distance.

 

At times- killing healers is more important than healing- heal sorcs are going to be the easiest for you to add some damage too- remember, affliction can buffer against purge so other debuffs don't get purged, force slow keeps them less mobile which as discussed is bad for sorcs, and it's very easy to interrupt a sorc- KB root is a great way to keep a sorc an easy target.

Edited January 28, 2013 by fungihoujo

reserved just in case

oops- guess this is a reserved too Edited January 17, 2013 by fungihoujo

wow wow wow! /subbed!

I'll have a better response when I have time to read more, but I'll start with a few preliminary questions on your bubble stun spec. It feels like you went DPS heavy on this one, was there any particular reason? Personally, I'd still put the 2 points to increase WP rather than take lightning effusion, I'd take the two points to reduce WW CD and increase Jolt lockout instead of Lightning Barrage, and put the 2 points to decrease force costs rather than increase the damage of a few DPS abilities.

 

I've tried a more DPS heavy spec like the one you have listed, but the amount of damage based abilities I have to use regularly in order to make the talents worth it impacts my healing too greatly. I'm not saying what you have is wrong in any way, I'd just like to get your insight on why the DPS abilities > more utility.

 

Edit: This is the spec that I run for PVP atm.

Edited January 18, 2013 by Jadescythe

Not a bad overview, I agree that the stun bubble spec is too DPS heavy though. I personally would put no points into convection and instead put full points into Electric Induction.

 

I would also refrain from taking chain lightning at all, preferring to put at least one point into Will of the Sith. I would say that lightning effusion is a great talent unless you know you are never going to stay alive long enough to run out of force. Generally it is a great force management tool when used in conjunction with lightning barrage.

Edited January 18, 2013 by SeekerTwo

Not a bad overview, I agree that the stun bubble spec is too DPS heavy though. I personally would put no points into convection and instead put full points into Electric Induction.

 

I would also refrain from taking chain lightning at all, preferring to put at least one point into Will of the Sith. I would say that lightning effusion is a great talent unless you know you are never going to stay alive long enough to run out of force. Generally it is a great force management tool when used in conjunction with lightning barrage.

 

You're both correct- the spec I'm using is more dps heavy, and I do miss out on 6% WP bonus due to it, a bonus you could get by dropping either CL or lightning effusion.

 

I'll move the 15 second CD off WW talent to a better section of my talent recap, on review it would seem a good talent if you're less interested in DPS and more in utility.

 

I still prefer the dps my current spec offers though, and consider what I am losing to be less valuable than what I gain.

- Also included Jadescythe's spec as an alternative in the bubble stun section.

Edited January 18, 2013 by fungihoujo

Interesting thread. Subbed.

Finally got around to looking through this again, so I'll leave a couple of notes here.

 

Full Corruption spec:

Never cast Revivification without Force Bending. I learned this from PVE, but 30% off that ability is too much to not save force bending for this.

 

I'd skip out on Lucidity to get the extra 4% AOE for puddle and take the extra 2% on all heals. The only reason you are getting pushback is if you're getting hit and at that point you should be switching to survival mode (KB, Force Speed, CC) not casting heals. Anything that makes your healing better is good in this spec imo.

 

Sometimes you are going to get focused right out of the gate. Hiding and kiting can be good tactics, but won't work against skilled opponents or focus fire. Don't be afraid to dump as much force as possible into healing and don't waste GCDs on Consumption knowing you won't live to see the benefits. As a general rule, I never use consumption unless I'm a) already oof or b) being completely ignored. Not only are you killing yourself for them, it is wasting precious GCDs that are better allocated to healing in the limited amount of time you will be alive.

 

UI:

If you are clicking abilities (outside of say buffs or the like that aren't used in battle) then you are doing something wrong. Sorcs really don't have nearly as many keybinds as other classes and you should have all of them ready. If you haven't unbound A and D yet, then it better be for space combat. Dont use them, EVER. Mouse turning is the way to go, if you need to click on something (most likely someone in the ops fram) then strafe until you have your mouse cursor available to turn again. You can unbind S if you need the keybind, but it's not necessary as long as you don't use it during warzones. I use backpedal outside of actual gameplay for positioning at times. I swear, I lose 10 brain cells every time I see a sorc force speed in reverse.

 

Your ops frame should be big. Not taking up the whole screen big, but bigger than anything else. Since you aren't clicking abilities, your hotbars should only be big enough to be able to tell if abilities are on CD and you should know which ones are which without having to look too closely anyway. Turn on CD text, you shouldn't be guessing at how long you have to wait for innervate to be back up based on a slowly dropping white highlighting.

 

General play:

As is obvious from the rotations listed, Static Barrier is the best heal we have bar none. Even without stun capability, it gives you the chance to prepare ahead of time and will only overheal if you put it on someone who is never attacked. If you are kiting and can't get any other heal off or know you are going to die, just bubble the crap out of anyone around you.

 

If you are playing in such a way that you could keyboard turn and click all of your abilities without a problem then you could be doing it better. Just because you CAN stand still and cast heals off at whoever doesn't mean it is the right thing to do. Keep on the move to avoid attracting attention.

 

We aren't DPS, so sometimes the right thing to do with a GCD is nothing at all. Overhealing is the biggest mistake you can make with the poor force management we get (full Corruption especially). Don't drop a DI on someone at 85% health unless they are under fire and you know that the DI will be needed by the time it is casted. Keep track of who has a bubble on them still after a fight starts. It's an easy way to tell who is getting focused and who is being left alone (hint, your bubble is probably gone ).

 

That's all I have for now, but I'll post any other thoughts I have.

Those are good points, especially for full corruption.

 

Sometimes, when you're getting low on health and force- it's best just to blow all your force and keep consuming and healing others til you die- especially if you pay attention to when your team's door is going to open- simply put, a few seconds in the starting zone is a lot less than consumption back to full force.

 

If we look at the figures we already brought up- at 11% health and 8% force per consumption- fully restoring your force would take 13 consumptions, while doing 135% damage to yourself. That's 27k damage to fully restore, and 13 consumptions is 19 seconds. To heal 27k damage, on average, takes us on average 18 seconds of casting DI, or 8 casts- which in turn costs 430 force.

 

What does that mean? That means in order to stay at the same health, it'll take 37 seconds of consumption and DI in order to gain 170 force...

 

Or 3 casts of DI.

 

So- when I say that consumption is a terrible mechanic for resource control, I hope this explains why I am saying that.

 

As full corruption, dying is a better resource management technique than using consumption.

 

edit- Good point on lucidity- I simply put it in the specs since many tend to favour it- I myself only have 1 point in it currently.

 

It's nice in theory- but pushback is indeed the least of your concerns most of the time- whether or not it's worth 1% healing/point or 5% aoe healing/point- I outlined arguments for each talent in the talents section, ultimately those abilities I feel are going to be up to each person's discretion.

Edited January 28, 2013 by fungihoujo

I would like to know what other sorc healers see as a must have on expertise lvls. I currently run with 1100 expertise. Wp is 2052, bonus damage is 1000 and some change. Bonus healing is 800.. My personal feeling is, if I reduced those stats to gain more expertise, the overall difference in healing done wouldn't be that noticeable in pvp

I would like to know what other sorc healers see as a must have on expertise lvls. I currently run with 1100 expertise. Wp is 2052, bonus damage is 1000 and some change. Bonus healing is 800.. My personal feeling is, if I reduced those stats to gain more expertise, the overall difference in healing done wouldn't be that noticeable in pvp

 

well as a healer expertise is the only thing that cuts into the trauma debuff in pvp. so you might wanna try going full expertise and see how you do. plus the damage reduction isnt bad to have either. it might be a wash as far as healing output is concerned but then you aren't getting the full damage reduction.

Amazing guide! good stuff man

I'm going to leave the last few sections for a little bit- wait for the new xpac that I know everyone's looking forward to before I decide if it's worth my time- of course, the earlier sections may change too, we'll have to see how abilities fare/change.

 

I'm not exactly hopeful from what I've already seen on the PTS... doesn't look like they listened to a thing we said. Thank goodness smash got buffed though.

 

/sigh

 

Well, here's hoping it's not as bad as it looks.

I'm going to leave the last few sections for a little bit- wait for the new xpac that I know everyone's looking forward to before I decide if it's worth my time- of course, the earlier sections may change too, we'll have to see how abilities fare/change.

 

I'm not exactly hopeful from what I've already seen on the PTS... doesn't look like they listened to a thing we said. Thank goodness smash got buffed though.

 

/sigh

 

Well, here's hoping it's not as bad as it looks.

 

Still too early to call, theyre bound to make adjustments before it goes live. Anyways thanks for writing this, I just got my first alt to 50 and want to make sure I gear him well, would you mind finishing the gearing section or at least make some general notes? What are your thoughts on crit vs power and alacrity vs surge in pvp healing? Thanks!

Edited March 7, 2013 by Xtrema

Still too early to call, theyre bound to make adjustments before it goes live. Anyways thanks for writing this, I just got my first alt to 50 and want to make sure I gear him well, would you mind finishing the gearing section or at least make some general notes? What are your thoughts on crit vs power and alacrity vs surge in pvp healing? Thanks!

 

If you just hit 50 and plan on doing PvP, first thing to do is get familiar with the bubble stun hybrid build. This is a very friendly build with low stat requirements that should suit you well until better gear and higher expertise comes a long. As far as stats go, crit is subject to debate, but ranges from 30% to 35%. Anywhere in there is acceptable. Surge needs to be at least 75%, Any higher isnt needed, but not a big deal if you go over. Alacrity is debatable, you want faster cast for sure...but good luck standing still long enough to get a lot of them off. I carry right at 8%. From what I have seen, most of the better Pvp healers carry between 8% and 10%. So to sum it up. Crit (30%-35%), Surge (75%), Alacrity (8% to 10%). Once those numbers a met, and its not hard, just load up on as much willpower and power as you can.

 

Gearing, you can get the Tionese Chest and boots ( or which ever 2 you like, (pvp chest is very expensive). Buy 2 pvp Elite braces and replace the armoring and mod in the Tionese pcs with the pvp versions (Eventually replace the enhancement as well). Now you have that 2pc bonus with pvp stats. Overall you will want to buy the full WH set (minus the 2 pcs you have of Tionese). Long story short, I have all of the WH set, minus 2 pcs of Tionese pcs. So I have the 2pc bonus from both sets. After gaining the set, time for min-max. I believe the elite braces are 550 reg coms (have to buy the WH version first) and 1250 or 1275 ranked comms. These are the cheapest ones to get and carry the best power mod you will need. Low endurance, low main stat, high power. That should be the rule to use on all mods, low endurance, low main stat (except for enhancements (no main stat) and high secondary stat. The armorings from the elite bracers can go into (outside of the bracers themselves ofcourse) your offhand (high force power tied to armoring) and the 2 pcs of Tionese gear, as I mentioned before. Not trying to throw to much into one post...at work and bored... Just remember, and all mods and enhancements, shoot for low endurance, high secondary stat. My gear consists of all power/surge, power/alacrility, with only my helm carrying crit/alacrility. (Puts my crit at 31% buffed). All augments show be main stat (willpower) due to the 6% increase to willpower we get with talent points. Relics should be power versions of WH relics. No harm in getting an advanced resolve hilt 27 for your saber. Matts are pretty cheap now. I hope this help at least alittle. Sorry if it only confused you more.

Edited March 7, 2013 by Harglerode

Well, it's going to be a while before I can update this now since people are just hitting 55.

 

Few things I can note- hybrid healing is more or less gone now, the overload root is extremely high in the lightning tree, and they basically removed the stun bubble- it's now only on self, and it's a mez- which means it gives resolve for something that'll likely be broken immediately... meaning, at times it may be worse to have the talent than to not have it.

 

The one notable change for us is force barrier- gives us a respite from being killed, though it's basically a self mez- unlike frost mages (since this ability is often compared to ice block), we as healers will lack an aoe root, easy long range stun, aoe slows, and blink/invis to completely get out of danger once the block is over- essentially, we have something that can pause us for a few moments while we hope someone else saves our butts...

 

Doesn't that sound familiar? Oh yes- back when I said this class's biggest problem is that its entirely reliant on other classes for survival, and ability to get off heals/damage. Well, our defensive CD is also reliant on that entirely. Looks like we're still heavily reliant on others to get off heals- something which I can tell you operatives do NOT share that problem, AT ALL.

 

Still- going to have to wait until a- people are more geared/comfortable with 55. And b- until BW fixes pvp in general, the bolster system and stat changes have made pvp, literally, a mess.

 

Sadly, my only real advice I can give at this time is, 'gonna get naked!'.

 

 

The good news, if there's any, is alacrity has been made a worthwhile stat- in fact, it might even be THE stat to have now. It effects force regen as well, which means previous calculations on force management and healing I made are going to be irrelevant- and we may see an entirely new healing rotation emerge due to this.

 

May be a few weeks before I'm confident enough with the state of pvp to continue with this and to update what's changed with the xpac.

what I se here bal bal bal bat .. but is big Edited September 13, 2013 by dunex