Hey guys, I'm Brobotnik and I'm an Empire Imperial Agent Operative Medicine. (*whew) This thread's purpose is to give people a guild to the nuances, joys, strengths, weaknesses and more to healing as an IA. I love the class and am looking forward to this class being my main. Healing in any game is a reward upon itself. You almost never have to wait for groups, as you're always in demand. Your job is the most important job in groups since anyone can tank or damage a mob, as long as they stay alive. Success in any part of the game in group stages depends entirely on the healer, but with great power comes great responsibility.

First, some ground rules:

1) Leave spoilers of the game out of this as much as possible. There may be some players that are researching what class they want to play, and would not be too pleased if they were to accidentally find story hints that would ruin surprises (hint to those who haven't played IAs yet. The story rocks!)

2) Try to be a bit lenient with my guide, for no one ever stops learning, and that includes myself. Things that could be in this guide can change over time for better decisions or spells.

3) There won't be much PvP in this thread by me, only because my computer currently isn't powerful enough to play battlegrounds in a way that I find enjoying, and thus I haven't tried it yet.

Let's start the thread!

So you've started an Imperial Agent. You are now the strong and silent death machine of the Empire. You will spend your time leveling fighting the Empire's enemies, traveling planet to planet and meeting many people along the way.

Hutta

You begin your journey as a regular Imperial Agent. It's during these levels that you'll actually be using your [Cover] ability. It's not that it's not a good spell, but since you only have a handful of abilities available, you might as well make use of your [Explosive Probe] which is only usable in cover. Grenades also are great, since most of your enemy mobs will be in clusters, allowing you to do damage to all of them. Imperial Agents have no heal abilities yet, so you aren't a healer. You're just a baby learning to spread it's wings. At this point in the game, I have one piece of advice: SET [RIFLE SHOT] TO AN EASY TO USE KEYBIND. This is your spam move as a healer, since it costs NO energy, does damage, has long range, and doesn't generally pull threat from your party's tank or companion. Before you leave Hutta, be sure to find the 3 datacrons!

Advanced Class / Level 10 / Tactical Advantage

Once you finish your Hutta quests (which are pretty immersive, even for early levels) you'll be sent off to the Imperial Fleet. Once there, you'll be redirected to your class trainer so you can chose your Advanced Class! Congratulations, champion! You're on your way to becoming a healer! It's also at level 10 that you receive your first heal spell: [Kolto Injection]! This spell gives you a targetable heal that you can place on anyone, even NPCs if you feel like it. It is your basic heal, and also your strongest. It is the most expensive compared to other heals you'll get later, and also comes with the biggest cast time. Kolto Injection also grants the player a [Tactical Advantage] which you'll be using a lot more in the future! But first:

Black Talon

You might only have 1 heal at level 10, but it's no excuse to give it a shot in a flashpoint! Don't worry about being a bad healer, this instance is easy, and you can always bring a companion out if your group isn't full. Also, just because you're a healer doesn't mean you don't have to do damage. If there's a big boss fight, you can help out by placing your [Corrosive Dart] or blasting the target with your [Rifle Shot]. There's a great Imperial Agent chest piece that will drop from the first boss! If you're lucky enough to snag it, you'll be using it for a while!

Your Talent Tree

Your talent tree is your constant taunter. It tells you what you could be, and makes leveling a bit like waiting for Christmas, since there are some REALLY good talents up there that you have to wait for. Here is what I view to be the optimal talent tree for healing parties, instances, and raids. Don't spec your class for leveling by going into concealment. I'll show you later the reasons why leveling in Medicine is just as easy if not easier as leveling in Concealment.

The order I advise to utilize this tree is as follows:

1 - [imperial Education] 3/3

2 - [incisive Action] 2/2

-We choose Incisive Action after Imperial Education since we don't receive Kolto Infusion (which requires a Tactical Advantage) until level 14, which will be 2/2 once you hit 14 anyways.

3 - [Medical Consult] 3/3

4 - [surgical Steadiness] 2/2

- Great for leveling and even better in instances and raids!

5 - [Kolto Probe] 1/1

6 - [Endorphin Rush] 2/2 Kolto Probe is more important than Endorphin Rush...

7 - [Prognosis: Critical] 2/2 and Endorphin Rush is more important than Prognosis: Critical

8 - [Medical Engineering] 3/3

9 - [Patient Studies] 2/2

10 - [surgical Probe] 1/1 (This occurs at level 30. Your life will change forever.)

11 - [surgical Precision] 1/1

12 - [Medical Therapy] 2/2

13 - [Tox Screen] 1/1

14 - [Accomplished Doctor] 3/3

15 - [Med Shield] 2/2

16 - [Recuperative Nanotech] 1/1

17 - [survival Training] 3/3

18 - [Lethality] 3/3

19 - [Deadly Directive] 2/2

20 - [Chem-resistant Inlays] 2/2 Hell you can put these last two points anywhere else you want, nothing else will increase your healing abilities, so we'll just give you a tad more survivability.

This build is entirely subjective, and is only my personal preference with the main goal of getting the best heals as fast as possible.

Leveling as a Healer. WHAT HAVE I DONE?!

It's not that bad. Sometimes. Well. You'll see.

>> Hutta will never change. Snipers, Operatives, and Operative-Healers will have to do the same 10 levels the same way. Nothing will change. Plus you'll meet Kaliyo. Imperial Agents don't get their second companion for a LONGGGGG time compared to other classes, so learn to love her. You might be surprised how quickly you grow attached to her.

>> Dromund Kaas has a lot to offer. There's solo quests, group quests, five datacrons, the Empire's capital city, and Revanites. As a healer, you shouldn't be in to much trouble. Especially before level 20. You're the same thing as a Concealment Operative. You wear the same gear, your talent trees haven't offered a special talent tree ability yet, and there's a large population for you to get assistance from if you need it. But the best part about being a healer in Dromund Kaas are the Heroics. There are five of them, and all of them aside from the first one will benefit greatly from a healer. This will give you a good opportunity to practice your Kolto Injection, Kolto Infusion, and Diagnostic Scan. Also, around level 15-16 you can start to do Hammer Station, the next instance!

>> Balmorra/Nar Shaddaa can be tricky for a leveler. You're going to have to rely more on Kaliyo tanking, which can be a hassle, since she'll start to get really fragile if you don't gear her properly. The hard part about leveling a healer is that you are very companion dependent. However, once you get your [Kolto Probe] things start getting a bit easier. The Kolto probe can be stacked twice on a target, and is very energy efficient for it's ability. Proper usage of your Tactical Advantages and Stim Boost are required, as poor energy management could very easily kill you. But hey, you're a healer! Your deaths are going to come mainly from fall damage and Kaliyo being a typical piece of AI.

>> Tatooine/Alderaan is the hardest part about leveling a healer. The mobs are strong, but you haven't been focusing on maximizing damage, but instead maximizing your sustain. You will be able to win your fights, but they'll be played differently than usual. This can get bothersome at times, but luckily YOU'RE AN IMPERIAL AGENT OPERATIVE. You can stealth into a story area, pick up the quest objective, and walk right out the door! Plus you're still in high demand for those area heroics! Trust me, once you hit level 30, your life gets a LOT easier.

>> Level 30/End of Act I/Surgical Probe [Surgical Probe] changes, EVERYTHING. It costs NO energy! Only ONE tactical advantage! And here's the best part. You've already put three points in [Medical Engineering]! Drop 2 Kolto Probes on yourself and 2 more on your companion, keep Stim Pack on cooldown, and SPAM SPAM SPAM Surgical Probe. Did I mention that it costs NO energy? WELL IT ALSO HAS NO COOLDOWN! Alderaan is the hardest thing you can imagine levelign as a healer, but once you hit level 30, you'll be on EASY STREET!

(This is as far as I've currently gotten in the questing.)

Now for some questions!

What's more important? Critical Chance or Tech Power?

They both benefit healing, but in different ways. First of all, it's VERY important to understand that POWER AND TECH POWER ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS. Power only benefits you offensively. Tech Power benefits your healing and other tech aspects. However, neither are as helpful to you as Critical Chance. But why is this? Well think about healing as an Operative as gambling, only slightly different. The points you put in to power will have an effect that is always active. Your heals will be slightly more powerful. When you strike a critical heal however, your heal is INSANELY more powerful. This is further emphasized with the talents [Accomplished Doctor] (Tier 6 Medicine) and [Lethality] (Tier 1 Lethality). These will increase your critical chance and your critical power. The more crit you have, the more [Accomplished Doctor] can do. Also, think about it like this: you're taking a gamble with crit chance. But here's the thing: if your crit fails, you have TONS of options to use as plan B. If your crit was successful, that's one less spell you'll have to use on Plan B. PLUS, Your crit chance always helps your Diagnostic Scan build energy with [Patient Studies]

What is the proper healing rotation?

This question will never be exact! Remember this. Dealing damage follows a rotation. Healing however, is counteractive. It requires you to notice things that are occuring in the fight, and react accordingly. Is the party taking raid damage (damage to multiple targets) or is only your tank or a specific party member taking damage? Are you running low on energy due to a period of massive heals being needed? Some things however, will always remain the same. These rules will ALWAYS apply to your Imperial Agent:

1) Diagnostic Scan criticals will give energy after [Patient Studies] is researched. Use this to gain energy when you reach around the halfway mark.

2) Kolto Probes should be stacked twice on your tank at all times! AT ALL TIMES!

3) Your Stim Boost should always be on cooldown!

4) If you have Tactical Advantages available, Kolto Infusion is ALWAYS advisable before Kolto Injection

I'm not OOM.... I'm OOE!!!

Energy is NOT mana. It's BETTER. Here's why:

Your energy bar has 4 settings. This is shown to the direct right of the energy bar as four arrows >>>>. Full regen, 75%, 50%, and 25%. Your energy bar will NEVER hit 0, meaning you will always be regaining energy during fights! Wait. WHAT? I don't have to worry about mana regens anymore? Well not exactly. You see, your energy regen will lower based on where your current energy level is, and how long it's been since you've spent energy. The higher your current energy level is, and the longer it's been since you've cast an energy spell, the higher your energy regen will be. Your optimal area will be having >>>> or >>>> levels of regen. This allows your energy bar to fluctuate between 50% full and 100% full. Stim boosts, Tactical Advantages, and Diagnostic Scans will help you manage your energy. It's important to keep your energy regen and current energy at these levels because you NEVER KNOW. Your tank may disconnect, there may be adds, it may be a fight you've never done before. Whatever the case, it's always a good idea to keep your healer in a "functional but ready" mode. Also, you'll always have your [Adrenaline Probe] just a hotkey away. And it's only on a 2 minute cooldown!

Cunning

Upgrading your gear? Cunning is the ONLY thing you need to worry about. Even while leveling. Cunning increases your healing power and your crit chance! It's all you need in one easy stat. Endurance isn't anything too important to worry about. It comes secondary to all of your gear, and since your tank or other party members should be taking the damages instead of you, you'll not going to have to focus on endurance, it will just come naturally. Just stack cunning and you'll be set for gear.

Micieltjuh put some great information on this thread's second page! Let's move him up a bit, don't you think? Here's what he posted:

Here's some of my hardmode flashpoint/operation experience thus far.

 

Surgical Probe spam on your tank will in most cases cause him to die slowly. If you get in this awkward situation, yell at them to do whatever they can to avoid damage or ask a dps to throw in a heal so you can start casting again aswell.

 

Kolto Infusion is rubbish, even with the 4-set it's just terrible and should never be used. The only possible exception is when you know someone's going to get bursted hard and you want them healed up extremely fast and have the resources (energy & TA).

 

Your crisis control is awful, live with it. Don't try to be the hero or panic, you'll feel like a god for 5 Kolto Injections and then you're suddenly stuck scanning hopelessly for the next 15 seconds. Always keep your head cool. Exceptions with Adrenaline Probe can be made.

In addition to that, get your team to work with you on it. If they pop their defensive cooldowns when you need them and not when they think they need them, it makes life that much easier.

 

Having a Relic with Alacrity or Crit/Surge on-use works really well with chain scanning when you're in a low-energy position.

 

Evasive Imperative & Slip Away are both really good talents for fights where movement is essential.

 

When you see your friendly Sorcerer spamming shields on every player and Revivification every once in a while and outheals practically everything while still having over half their Force remaining, you are allowed to cry. Know it's not your fault, it's Bioware's.

 

Great guide btw, would be nice if you could fix the energy regen levels though.

 

Here's the correct values:

0-20 = 2 energy/sec (Very Slow)

20-40 = 3 energy/sec (Slow)

40-60 = 3 energy/sec (Moderate, no idea why it's still 3)

60-100 = 5 energy/sec (Fast)

This guide is a work in progress and will be constantly updated. I'm currently still editing the thread.

Your job is the most important job in groups since anyone can tank or damage a mob, as long as they stay alive. Success in any part of the game in group stages depends entirely on the healer, but with great power comes great responsibility.

Really great guide for someone starting out as an Operative, thanks. However, I very much disagree with something you stated in the beginning. Success in a group does NOT depend "entirely" on the healer. If that were the case then healers could solo anything... but they can't. They need backup just like everyone else. Success in a group depends entirely on EVERYBODY in the group. You need the DPS and especially the tank on top of their game as well as the healer. It takes teamwork to make the fight a success, and a good healer knows this.

Good start to a guide. I'm about the same level as you currently what are your thoughts on kolto infusion vs injection. I've found the kolto injection /surgical probe combo to be more efficient the the kolto infusion heal. To me 20 energy and a ta stack seems to steep vs the increased healing output for 5 more energy. I only use infusion if I need a fast heal now or the tank will die. Usually following a free surgical probe for under 30%, rather the casting the second probe ill use infusion. Any thoughts on infusions usefulness I may just not be seeing its value as a ability.

Kolto infusion works as a resource dump in my opinion. I mentioned in the guide that it's a good idea to keep 2 Kolto Probes on the tank at all times. This is a good way to get Tactical Advantages, but you may see that timer wear off during boss fights when only the tank is taking damage. This is a spot where your Kolto Infusion works wonderfully. Your tank isn't taking that much damage, still staying over 75%, so just use your extra tactical advantages on the tank with Kolto Infusions. It does about twice the amount of healing that Surgical Probe does therefore it's still a good usage of your Tactical Advantage.

Kolto infusion works as a resource dump in my opinion. I mentioned in the guide that it's a good idea to keep 2 Kolto Probes on the tank at all times. This is a good way to get Tactical Advantages, but you may see that timer wear off during boss fights when only the tank is taking damage. This is a spot where your Kolto Infusion works wonderfully. Your tank isn't taking that much damage, still staying over 75%, so just use your extra tactical advantages on the tank with Kolto Infusions. It does about twice the amount of healing that Surgical Probe does therefore it's still a good usage of your Tactical Advantage.

Once you get Surgical Probe there is no reason to use Kolto Infusion. Kolto Infusion is terrible. Why? Because it costs energy AND TA. Plus it has a cast time!

TA will always be better spent on SP or Stim Boost refresh.

Edited for clarity. ^^ Nice starter information from what I have skimmed so far!

Once you get Surgical Probe there is no reason to use Kolto Infusion. Kolto Infusion is terrible. Why? Because it costs energy AND TA. Plus it has a cast time!

 

TA will always be better spent on SP or Stim Boost refresh.

 

Edited for clarity. ^^ Nice starter information from what I have skimmed so far!

This was my thought Imo your better off casting 1 kolto injection and surgical probe vs 1 kolto infusion. They take about the same amount of time to cast (+ -. 5 sec) and about the same energy (+ -5) but you get alot more healing out of the former. Sure it takes longer to cast but with your hots it seems more efficient over all in terms of healing per energy. The only advantage I see to kolto infusion is its faster. If i need a quick heal I would use surgical probe first as if my tank is under 30%, the only time I see myself needing a quick heal. And at that point surgical probe is totally free thanks to talents.

This was my thought Imo your better off casting 1 kolto injection and surgical probe vs 1 kolto infusion. They take about the same amount of time to cast (+ -. 5 sec) and about the same energy (+ -5) but you get alot more healing out of the former. Sure it takes longer to cast but with your hots it seems more efficient over all in terms of healing per energy. The only advantage I see to kolto infusion is its faster. If i need a quick heal I would use surgical probe first as if my tank is under 30%, the only time I see myself needing a quick heal. And at that point surgical probe is totally free thanks to talents.

If your tank is under 30%, with proper talents, you can use SP over and over. [surgical Probe refunds TA if target under 30%] This is still superior to Kolto Infusion because it is instant! And costs no energy. So not only is it essentially free, it's letting you regen so you can follow with a Kolto Injection or refresh KP.

True facts, but hopefully we're not making it a habit of putting our tanks under 30% health.

As long as noone dies you've done your job. I think that's the most important lesson about healing. Don't try and top people up. Let them sit comfortably and use DS or kolto probe to top people up.

True facts, but hopefully we're not making it a habit of putting our tanks under 30% health.

Of course not. But in an "oh ****" situation, they might spend some time there. As may other people in the party.

Here's some of my hardmode flashpoint/operation experience thus far.

Surgical Probe spam on your tank will in most cases cause him to die slowly. If you get in this awkward situation, yell at them to do whatever they can to avoid damage or ask a dps to throw in a heal so you can start casting again aswell.

Kolto Infusion is rubbish, even with the 4-set it's just terrible and should never be used. The only possible exception is when you know someone's going to get bursted hard and you want them healed up extremely fast and have the resources (energy & TA).

Your crisis control is awful, live with it. Don't try to be the hero or panic, you'll feel like a god for 5 Kolto Injections and then you're suddenly stuck scanning hopelessly for the next 15 seconds. Always keep your head cool. Exceptions with Adrenaline Probe can be made.

In addition to that, get your team to work with you on it. If they pop their defensive cooldowns when you need them and not when they think they need them, it makes life that much easier.

Having a Relic with Alacrity or Crit/Surge on-use works really well with chain scanning when you're in a low-energy position.

Evasive Imperative & Slip Away are both really good talents for fights where movement is essential.

When you see your friendly Sorcerer spamming shields on every player and Revivification every once in a while and outheals practically everything while still having over half their Force remaining, you are allowed to cry. Know it's not your fault, it's Bioware's.

Great guide btw, would be nice if you could fix the energy regen levels though.

Here's the correct values:

0-20 = 2 energy/sec (Very Slow)

20-40 = 3 energy/sec (Slow)

40-60 = 3 energy/sec (Moderate, no idea why it's still 3)

60-100 = 5 energy/sec (Fast)

What's more important? Critical Chance or Tech Power?

They both benefit healing, but in different ways. First of all, it's VERY important to understand that POWER AND TECH POWER ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS. Power only benefits you offensively

This is incorrect.

Power and Tech power BOTH add to the amount of Bonus Healing you do. You -cannot- stack more Tech Power outside of what your main weapon and knife give.

So, I've heard a lot of ppl looking for +surge, but I've assumed it was for dps. What do you guys think?

Surge>crit>power?

I've been stacking power>crit to boost my consistant heals, but reading this has me doubting that now.

Also...I'm seriously considering leveling a inquisitor healer next to see the difference. Would love to hear ppls thoughts that have played both to HIGH levels. I keep seeing them kill my healing numbers in pvp AND have damage on top of that! It's making me think I picked the wrong class to heal with. However, the class ability of +5% crit for the group in 4man raids seems to be a huge asset that hasn't been mentioned here yet. With the groups ive been running raids with, im the only IA the majority of the time.

Thanx for the feedback

When you see your friendly Sorcerer spamming shields on every player and Revivification every once in a while and outheals practically everything while still having over half their Force remaining, you are allowed to cry. Know it's not your fault, it's Bioware's.

Ehm thank you for the kind words. Having to individually click every raid frame to heal, stack 2x hots on people while doing this, try to keep all those stacks going, keep stim boost up, keep 1 TA up for the increased heal %, use the extra TA for SP as soon as possible so as not to lose the opportunity, all while keeping energy above 60% if possible is like the ultimate in multi-tasking hell. I haven't decided if I love or hate the challenge. NOT an easy class/spec at 50, let's hope it turns out to be more rewarding than rerolling a sorc and facerolling would have been.

Thanks for the tips tho!

4) If you have Tactical Advantages available, Kolto Infusion is ALWAYS advisable before Kolto Injection

I am not sure about always. Having that TA to cast Surgical Probe is a very good thing. Though with the 30% chance that Kolto Probe triggers a TA, and the TA from Kolto Injection, you are never really out of them. I would just add "if you will have an extra TA left over and both your probes are stacked (which they better be)"

I am not sure about always. Having that TA to cast Surgical Probe is a very good thing. Though with the 30% chance that Kolto Probe triggers a TA, and the TA from Kolto Injection, you are never really out of them. I would just add "if you will have an extra TA left over and both your probes are stacked (which they better be)"

Well, there's a 6 second CD on KP to proc a TA, that could mean a wait for more TA. And 30% still makes for this to be a little bit too much RNG for my liking, 10 seconds or longer wouldn't be abnormal in terms of getting a TA from KP.

Personally the problem I have with Kolto Infusion is the disruption to energy, if you want to be roughly energy neutral with the most consistent throughput you are likely casting Kolto Injection followed by the no energy cost Surgical Probe and keeping your Kolto Probe rolling. But once you throw in Infusions you are threatening your regen rate and might find yourself in a hole and needing a CD to get out of it.

Strangely, and this is sort of contradictory, if you find that you need that burst of healing you are probably not sitting in a situation where you have the energy to throw into Infusion without dropping into the lower tier of regen. It seems to me that there are few situations where you are able to utilize infusion for it's increased healing relative to surgical probe and then have time off to scan or just sit there to get back into the safe regen zone. Perhaps this happens more often than I realize, I haven't been through much content, so I should mention that this is just my impression and that I can't say I'm especially invested in this perspective.

Two days ago:

There's a LOT of inaccuracies in this guide. When I get out of raid I'll edit this post with the reasons why ^^

Glad to see you got right on that

This was a nice guide, if not a little too "friendly" for my liking (we're Imperials, after all).

I can't emphasize enough how amazing Surgical Probe is. More often than I'd like to admit, my tank has been spanked mercilessly by a hard-hitting mob, seconds away from death ... only to be spammed by my Surgical Probe dozens of times, kept barely under 30% HP for the crucial seconds it took for the DPS to finally kill the boss. Works wonders when you're being eaten alive in PvP, too!

I'd love to see more progress made on this, up to 50+.

Two days ago:

 

 

Glad to see you got right on that

One of the more egregious errors that I can see is regarding Alacrity. It doesn't change how long the cooldown is on abilities. It's almost completely worthless for Op healing as it doesn't affect GCD on instant spells, or affect anything at all on HoTs/DoTs.

edit 1: Also, the only difference between Power and Tech Power is that Tech Power only affects...you guessed it...tech skills. Power affects all abilities, both offensive and defensive. Tech power affects all tech attacks/heals/etc.

Power is, imo, the most important stat for healing Ops due to the fact that it doesn't experience diminishing returns and it allows for consistent healing.

edit 2: Med Shield points are probably better used elsewhere. Med Shield only affects the healing you receive yourself while you're shielded. Could be helpful in some situations, but in most cases if you're getting beaten on enough to need to shield and heal yourself, the extra 15% isn't going to save you. I would probably put those 2 points in Slip Away or Evasive Imperative for a mobility increase in encounters if needed.

edit 3: I really just recommend people go read Sithwarrior.com's Op Healing Compendium instead of this.

One of the more egregious errors that I can see is regarding Alacrity. It doesn't change how long the cooldown is on abilities. It's almost completely worthless for Op healing as it doesn't affect GCD on instant spells, or affect anything at all on HoTs/DoTs.

 

edit 1: Also, the only difference between Power and Tech Power is that Tech Power only affects...you guessed it...tech skills. Power affects all abilities, both offensive and defensive. Tech power affects all tech attacks/heals/etc.

 

those are correct.

in addition, for both raid and pvp moving speed is imo much more important than alacrity since it gives you less travel time=more healing time.