Hey guys,

im planning to create a character who is mainly a healer. So i read here, that the Operative/Scroundrel and the Sorcerer/Sages are the best healers.

 

But if i want to do DPS with that Char, which of the 3 healer classes are good? Operative/Scoundrel seems to be meh, how is it with the Commando/Merc and the Sage/Sorcerer?

Right now my Healer Merc is around level 28 and just got to Tatooine, I switched to a Healer spec because I didn't like the flow of Merc DPS, since I only have Mako right now I've been pretty much having to do most of the damage myself, but even with only a couple points in the DPS trees I'm still doing quite a bit of damage.

If you mean switching to dps spec every now and then, mercs put out the most dps out of the 3 healer classes. If you mean dps while in heal spec while leveling, sorcs are the best. Operatives are considered the worst pve dps in the game.

Since I have leveled all 3 as healers, I'll chime right in

 

Merc:

Questing/leveling is a breeze. Your damage output even as a healer is quite decent. Since Mercs are mainly tank healers, you will have no problems keeping your companion and yourself alive even in difficult situations.

However, healing Flashpoints is tricky on the Merc. Most difficult healer to play in the game, due to an unforgiving ressource management. Managing heat means "one error and all is lost". Once you learn how to handle your heat Merc gets manageable, but it's nowhere as easy to play as an Operative.

 

Companion-wise, I went with Gault as soon as I got him, right up until I got Torian. Torian is the bestest companion for a healer Merc. I did go with Blizz for a long time, but just because Blizz' personality is pure awesome. Seriously, Torian's where it's at.

 

Operative:

for solo PvE it's a mixed bag. Like with the Merc you're basically immortal. However, you don't even get close to the kill speed of the Merc, especially on mob groups. Where Mercs can just AoE everything to bits, the Operative pretty much has to pick off targets one by one. And the single target DPS isn't anything worth writing home about either.

For companions, I think Agents don't get anything too useful there either. I went with Kaliyo all the way, since Vector is far too squishy for my liking. Tried Temple for a while, but somehow that didn't work out too well either. And because I'm to cheap to buy/build parts for Scorpio I'm still stuck with that insufferable little Ratataki. Which in turn really doesn't help kill speed.

 

On the plus side, Agents are super easy to heal Flashpoints with. Keep HoTs rolling and add a Kolto Injection every now and then. In your mid-twenties Energy won't be much of an issue either, since you can regenerate quite a bit with Healing Scan.

 

Sorcerer:

Sorcs for me are kind of middle of the road. I felt you had to work more to keep yourself/your companion alive than on the Merc or Agent, but the DPS is better than the Agent's. Kill speed is definitely on the good side. In your mid-thirties you will get your lightning AoE and Ashara, making you pretty much a soloing machine. While Ashara is not as good as Torian (she uses Marauder gear), she does pretty awesome damage.

 

For Flashpoints, Sorcs are very straightforward. Huge ressource pool to work with, but once that's gone, it's gone. If you have ever played a Holy Priest in WoW, this basically is what Sorcs feel like for healing. Not the best at keeping a tank going, but awesome for group healing. Which in turn makes Flashpoints a breeze, sicne there is a ton of AoE flying around.

 

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the responses, that really helps much.

As far as endgame goes, sorc would be your best option if you wanted to respec between DPS and healer. Mercs do good dps, but you won't be as good as a merc DPS who has their accuracy near 100%. Same for operatives, plus operative dps is difficult to master from what I understand.

 

With sorc DPS you can be fine just respeccing, neither DPS tree requires any accuracy since all of your skills are force skills. So the stat weights for sorc healers and DPS are pretty much the same.

Edited February 9, 2013 by MantorokTwelve