Hey guys, i'm rather new and was wondering which healer you guys would recommend in general for PvE and which for PvP and why. References/example would help too

For PvP, Scoundrel/Operative healers are very popular. They have HoTs, and they have more instant heals so they are more mobile. They also have stealth. I'm not really a PvPer, so that's about all I can say on the topic.

PvE it is more about choice and what you enjoy, so that's a hard recommendation to make.

Sage/Sorc uses the traditional mana pool style resource, and plays largely like you would expect a healer from any other game to play like. It has a damage absorption shield, a big and powerful AoE heal, fast heals, slow heals, channeled heals. The only real twist on traditional healer play is a lifetap mechanic for resource management where you have to cause yourself damage to get Force for casting. While I got angry at the Consular story when trying to repeat it to level a Sage and deleted that character, I believe there is some proc watching required for this class, and the current proc UI is terrible. It will be better in 2.0.

With the coming of 2.0, Commando Ammo will finally be balanced with Merc Heat, and all 4 of the other healers (Commando/Merc, Scoundrel/Operative) will essentially use the same mechanic - tiered regen that is base 100 and recovers faster the less of it you use. In 2.0, the Alacrity (haste) changes will help considerably with resource management, whereas right now that stat actually negatively impacts regen, especially for Commandos/Mercs.

The big difference between Commando and Operative in terms of healing, since the resource is the same, is style. Operative is far more mobile, while Commandos are like a healing turret. Commandos are, at least currently, largely a game of resource optimization. Operatives have a dual resource system, and the second resource (Upper Hand or Tactical Advantage) is partially generated by RNG when your HoT is ticking. Since TA has a cap of 3 stacks, you don't want to sit at 3 for more than a moment, so there is some proc watching involved there.

There is also the issue of AoE. Right now, Sages are king and the other two are not even middle class merchants. In 2.0, Commandos are getting a massive buff to their AoE healing. They might not be king, but they will certainly be welcome in the palace. Operatives are getting a minor buff, but the primary imbalance (Sage AoE hits 8 targets, a full raid group, while the others hit 4 with no prioritization of the 4 based on health levels) is not being addressed.

One other thing I would point out is that the Operative mechanics are probably the most poorly thought out of the three. One of their main heals is widely considered worthless, to the extent that many healers just remove it from their bar once they get another way to use UH/TA. The UI for tracking HoTs is absolutely terrible, and with no mods allowed there is no way to resolve that yourself. Supposedly there are UI changes coming in 2.0, but I don't think a reasonable HoT tracker is included. There is almost no synergy between the abilities. In contrast, the Commando toolkit all works together pretty well, as does the Sage.

Finally, since you have to actually level said character, the story is worth mentioning. Agent (Operative) is widely regarded as the best story in the game. Consular (Sage) is widely considered, and I wholeheartedly agree, the worst class story. If you are, or have been, in the military, parts of the Trooper (Commando) story will likely annoy you, since they apparently didn't run it past any real servicemembers in the proofreading stage and they aren't going to spend the time and money redoing the voice work to fix the problems. Seems odd, since the Trooper has obvious appeal to real world military personnel. If you've never served, you probably won't notice, and if you can ignore the problems it is actually a really well done plot. In general I think most people would agree that the plot options for healing go something like Agent >> Smuggler = Bounty Hunter > Trooper > Inquisitor >>>> Consular.

For PvP, Scoundrel/Operative healers are very popular. They have HoTs, and they have more instant heals so they are more mobile. They also have stealth. I'm not really a PvPer, so that's about all I can say on the topic.

 

In general I think most people would agree that the plot options for healing go something like Agent >> Smuggler = Bounty Hunter > Trooper > Inquisitor >>>> Consular.

Very nice post Ru,

I am going to add my 2 cents about story since you added it to the discussion. When evaluating the story you actually need to look at it from 3 different focus points - Overall Story, Character Dialog, and Companions.

The smuggler is a good example of this. The smuggler is witty and has many comical scenes that does not really effect the plot line, but adds to the value of the story. The Bounty Hunter's companions are some of the best in the game and really add depth to the story making it personal. The trooper's dialog choices(esp if played light side) consist mostly of yes sir and no sir - very dull. The inquisitor's dialog choices are all very demeaning and make the story even less enjoyable, which is why I think it is the worst story in the game. Here are my ratings on each class using 1 - 5 score with 5 being the best.

Imperial Agent Story - 5 , IA dialog - 4, IA Companions - 3 Total Score 12

Bounty Hunter Story - 3 , BH Dialog 4 , , BH Companions - 5 Total Score 12

Smuggler Story - 3, Smug Dialog - 5, Smug Companions 3 Total Score 11

Trooper Story - 4, Trooper Dialog 2, Trooper Companions 4 Total Score 10

Consular Story - 3, Consular Dialog 2, Consular Companions 2 Total Score 7

Inquisitor Story - 1 , Inquisitor Dialog 2, Inquisitor Companions 3 Total Score 6

Finally I would like to add that Inquisitor/Consular are two really fun classes to play, so if you do not care that much about story, then these are great choices. Consular story is also not really that bad.. Act 1 is horrible but Act 2 and 3 are decent. Inquisitor never gets better.

In my experience with the three healers, and others that play them, the most important factor is to find what feels best to you personally. Everyone seems to have their favorite. You may hear a lot about one healer being OP and another not as good as the other, but the most important thing is always the skill of the person behind the computer and their comfortability playing the class. It is true that Sorcs/Sages have the strongest AOE healing while Mercs/Commandos have the weakest, but that is not what makes or breaks a group.

I don't trust any healer who touts their class above everything else.

Sage/Sorc uses the traditional mana pool style resource, and plays largely like you would expect a healer from any other game to play like. It has a damage absorption shield, a big and powerful AoE heal, fast heals, slow heals, channeled heals. The only real twist on traditional healer play is a lifetap mechanic for resource management where you have to cause yourself damage to get Force for casting. While I got angry at the Consular story when trying to repeat it to level a Sage and deleted that character, I believe there is some proc watching required for this class, and the current proc UI is terrible. It will be better in 2.0.

The proc watching is incredibly simplistic, to the point that the current UI isn't even an impairment.

My feeling is that Sages/Sorcs get the most leeway to focus on the encounter versus thinking about the mechanics of their class, but others may disagree.

So tired of Commandos/Mercs being described as healing turrets. It makes us sound a LOT less mobile than we are. The fact is we're a lot more capable of healing on the move than a Sage/Sorc.

You have 3 instant attacks, one of which is Hammer Shot, and one is on a 21s cooldown. That may be more than Sages have, but compared to other games in the market Commandos are very non-mobile. As a person asking for advice, responses should take into account the other offerings in the market that most players are probably aware of.

The games I'm familiar with are WoW, TERA, GW2, and TSW. In every one of those games, pretty much every healer is far, far more mobile than a Commando.

You have 3 instant attacks, one of which is Hammer Shot, and one is on a 21s cooldown. That may be more than Sages have, but compared to other games in the market Commandos are very non-mobile. As a person asking for advice, responses should take into account the other offerings in the market that most players are probably aware of.

 

The games I'm familiar with are WoW, TERA, GW2, and TSW. In every one of those games, pretty much every healer is far, far more mobile than a Commando.

Why take into account other games unless the person asking for advice says "I've played these games, compare the SWTOR healers to them for me"? You're assuming he's familiar with those when he may not be. The only one I've played out of those was WoW.

Comparing healers in *this game*, the Commando/Merc is NOT a healing turret. The Sage/Sorc is the closest to that description. The Merc has only 3 instant attacks, yes, one of which is on decent cooldown (shorter if you have the set bonus); however, they can make ANY cast an instant once per 2 minutes with Power Surge as well, and even their actual casts don't take long at all.

Calling us a turret implies that in order to heal effectively we can't move at all, and that's simply not true. Commandos and Mercs are the second most mobile healing class in the game.

Why take into account other games unless the person asking for advice says "I've played these games, compare the SWTOR healers to them for me"? You're assuming he's familiar with those when he may not be. The only one I've played out of those was WoW.

 

Comparing healers in *this game*, the Commando/Merc is NOT a healing turret. The Sage/Sorc is the closest to that description. The Merc has only 3 instant attacks, yes, one of which is on decent cooldown (shorter if you have the set bonus); however, they can make ANY cast an instant once per 2 minutes with Power Surge as well, and even their actual casts don't take long at all.

 

Calling us a turret implies that in order to heal effectively we can't move at all, and that's simply not true. Commandos and Mercs are the second most mobile healing class in the game.

If they couldn't heal at all, I would have said so.

It is pretty standard in culture to describe new things in terms of familiar old things. Describe a zebra to someone who has never seen one. Odds are you will describe it as a white horse with black stripes (or inverted). Odds are very slim that you will start by describing it as if no creature in the world was like it, describing shape of the head, number of limbs, running gait, etc. It is not only faster to describe it as a striped horse, it is clearer to the listener.

To me, coming from other games with mobile healers (specifically druid and shaman in WoW and priests in TERA), the heavy armor, reliance on cast times, inability to cast while moving, and the visual effect of shooting a green laser of healing from my giant gun very much gives the feel of a turret. That that term is a personal pet peeve of yours does not invalidate it as a concise description of my personal feel for it.

Turret implies "plant and cast", only effective when not moving. That describes Sorcs far more than Mercs. That's what bothers me about it - it gives people the wrong impression of the class.

Sages have an AoE that leaves a HoT effect in its area for quite a while. They can cast that and it will keep healing while they are on the move.

They have Force Armor to buy them time.

They have Healing Trance which is instant and applies a HoT.

They aren't exactly stationary.

Every class in this game is a "plant and cast" healer. The healing mechanics are not particularly diverse or complicated. Much as I prefer this game over WoW (or I could easily play it instead...), SWTOR doesn't even come close to WoW in terms of healer mechanics, which is remarkable considering that WoW was hardly an obscure title while SWTOR was in development. Case in point, there is no healer in SWTOR that can heal effectively while fully mobile like a WoW druid. There is no healer that can consume HoTs to increase the power of a nuke heal. There is no healer that heals through damage dealt. There is no smart healing. There are no healing wells or orbs a healer can pre-place and a player can pick up or walk over to get their own healing. There are no chain heals. There are no life funnels. There is no ability to let a "plant and cast" healer cast on the move for a short duration.

The mechanics are all "plant and cast." Every class could be called to a greater or lesser degree a "healing turret." Even Scoundrels, the most mobile healer in the game, cannot heal effectively using only instant abilities.

So, whether you like it or not, and regardless of whether or not it also applies to other classes, Commandos are absolutely a turret healer.

Sages have an AoE that leaves a HoT effect in its area for quite a while. They can cast that and it will keep healing while they are on the move.

 

They have Force Armor to buy them time.

 

They have Healing Trance which is instant and applies a HoT.

 

They aren't exactly stationary.

 

Every class in this game is a "plant and cast" healer. The healing mechanics are not particularly diverse or complicated. Much as I prefer this game over WoW (or I could easily play it instead...), SWTOR doesn't even come close to WoW in terms of healer mechanics, which is remarkable considering that WoW was hardly an obscure title while SWTOR was in development. Case in point, there is no healer in SWTOR that can heal effectively while fully mobile like a WoW druid. There is no healer that can consume HoTs to increase the power of a nuke heal. There is no healer that heals through damage dealt. There is no smart healing. There are no healing wells or orbs a healer can pre-place and a player can pick up or walk over to get their own healing. There are no chain heals. There are no life funnels. There is no ability to let a "plant and cast" healer cast on the move for a short duration.

 

The mechanics are all "plant and cast." Every class could be called to a greater or lesser degree a "healing turret." Even Scoundrels, the most mobile healer in the game, cannot heal effectively using only instant abilities.

 

So, whether you like it or not, and regardless of whether or not it also applies to other classes, Commandos are absolutely a turret healer.

Then call them all turret healers and be done with it. When you're comparing classes, and you call one a turret healer but not the other two, it implies that class is the least mobile.

Then call them all turret healers and be done with it. When you're comparing classes, and you call one a turret healer but not the other two, it implies that class is the least mobile.

No.

I'm not sure why you seem to think that you are entitled to dictate to others how they describe the subjective feel of a class, but you might want to give that question some thought.

When discussing the numerical differences (max sustained HPS, AoE throughput, etc), there is an objective right answer and one person will be right and the other wrong.

When discussing issues like PvP viability, it becomes more subjective but strong cases can be made for the truth of one position over another.

When it comes to how a class feels to an individual, that is entirely subjective and independent of the opinions of others. It is not possible to be wrong. I am not wrong in feeling like a healing turret. You are not wrong in feeling mobile. You are wrong, so remarkably wrong, at thinking that your perception of the feel of a class is universal or superior to the perception of the class by anyone else.

I'm not saying my perception is superior, and I apologize if it came off that way.

But you just said yourself "The mechanics are all "plant and cast." Every class could be called to a greater or lesser degree a "healing turret." Even Scoundrels, the most mobile healer in the game, cannot heal effectively using only instant abilities."

I'm not worried about *my* perception of the class. I'm worried about the perception you and others are giving to people who have never tried it before.

In all seriousness, putting aside that you and I have strong views on this, if you heard (in a game you'd never played before), "Healer A is a turret healer, healers B and C are not," aren't you going to assume Healer A is less mobile?

That's all I'm getting at.

And all I'm getting at is that, to me, I feel far more mobile on my other healers. That doesn't mean I like them more. I deleted the Sage at 33 and perhaps it would feel different at 50. It was so squishy it had to be, I'd often bubble and force sprint away from danger. In contrast, my Commando felt very durable and while leveling I would often "heal tank" mobs with a DPS pet. I didn't feel the need to move, so I didn't.

Obviously at end game you have to move for mechanics in Ops, but the encounters are designed around it. I haven't raided since I've been back, so my examples are old, but on Soa they gave plenty of time for Salvation on the platforms to counter the ability of Commandos and Scoundrels to AoE while running.

And all I'm getting at is that, to me, I feel far more mobile on my other healers. That doesn't mean I like them more. I deleted the Sage at 33 and perhaps it would feel different at 50. It was so squishy it had to be, I'd often bubble and force sprint away from danger. In contrast, my Commando felt very durable and while leveling I would often "heal tank" mobs with a DPS pet. I didn't feel the need to move, so I didn't.

 

Obviously at end game you have to move for mechanics in Ops, but the encounters are designed around it. I haven't raided since I've been back, so my examples are old, but on Soa they gave plenty of time for Salvation on the platforms to counter the ability of Commandos and Scoundrels to AoE while running.

It's true that in most Ops you have plenty of time to stop and cast even on movement phases. I've never had an issue with that on *any* healer, and I've played all 3 at 50. Merc is my favorite, but that's due to preference of playstyle, not because I feel it's "better" for some reason.

The reason I have issue with that description of the class as a turret healer is because I see people talk about it in the sense of Operations and similar things, or in Warzones, etc. Leveling is an entirely different ballgame, and yes, you can feel like a turret there when playing a Merc, no matter what spec you're in.

At 50, in Ops, all 3 classes are mobile enough. The Sorc does still suffer the most in movement phases in raids as far as being able to heal on the move, but they make up for it by being able to Force Speed when they need to get to a spot quickly. There are no operations bosses currently in the game that *require* you to constantly heal on the move - at most you'll need to move for 3-4 GCDs and try to keep up heals, then you can plant and cast with any class. In *those* situations, in my experience, Operatives and Mercs are best suited to actively heal at those times. Operatives more than Mercs, because they don't need cooldowns to do so.