The default UI puts the group healthbars in the top left corner. Other UI addons to my knowledge also keep the healthbars there but change the color/shape of them. You can also turn on healthbars above peoples heads in the base game settings I believe.

In most dungeon content, the tank doesn't need direct healing as much as they will need shards (templar skill that gives magicka and stamina) or orb (undaunted skill that gives max resource), so focus on the DPS. There are exceptions (such as newer DLC dungeons where tanks may be hit with a debuff that makes it so they can't heal themselves-- you can see this when their healthbar goes blue) but tanks have self-heals while DPS typically do not.

100% you should go get spell power cure from white gold tower. It's not a hard dungeon as it's pretty old-- when you get into veteran DLCs largely you want to go from oldest content to newest because older content is easier due to power creep. There are a few exceptions, like black drake villa and the cauldron are considered pretty easy and unhallowed grave doesn't even need a healer so that will be easy, but I'd stay away from content like vet earthen root enclave and vet coral aerie until later. Edit: I forgot to mention this but you can also get key fragments by running the dungeon or buying them from guild traders and go to the vault in white gold tower and it'll give you some gear to get you started on your collection since gear drops are curated to ensure you get drops you haven't previously bound before.

Side note on Kragenac's: as a healer, you don't want to be the first person ressing. The DPS should res people first. That said, as a templar, you do res faster than non-templars. So, use your best judgement on when to res who, but don't use Kragenac's.

When I started healing, I used spell power cure and jorvuld's guidance. Ideally, you'd want spell power cure and powerful assault. Powerful assault can be bought from guild traders but the price varies depending on item. I would buy an inferno, lightning, or restro staff as well as the jewelry pieces. Ice staff is very expensive.

I would not jump into veteran content until you have your sets made as providing buffs and debuffs is incredibly important for making your heals stronger, the DPS do more damage, and takes pressure off the tank.

Edit: Also, for monster set, I'd say go for Troll King first or you can use spaulder instead of a monster set. Symphony and ozezan are good to have but those are more difficult content you'd need to work up towards.

Edit maybe for the last time oops: P.S. Alcast is not a very good source for building at all. That said, there's not really a centralized healing resource like there is for tanking and dpsing apart from a single discord server.

winged_tortoise wrote: »

Thanks, @Soarora! Your reply is very useful!

Question; when healing do you usually click on the health bar you want to heal or do you just trust the heal to go where it’s needed?

No problem! Happy to help!

Healing typically targets the player within range that has the lowest health remaining, so you don't really need to aim unless you're burst healing with a heal that has a non-circular AoE such as a rectangle (like combat prayer) or a cone (like breath of life, which targets 2 people in front of you). Ritual of rebirth, radiating regeneration, echoing vigor, and healing ward will target people even if they're behind you.

A large part of healing is actually overhealing, where you have heal-over-time (HoT) effects running on everyone as much as you can. This makes it so when people take damage you don't need to immediately burst heal them but rather they heal back up fairly quickly.

Was reading your edits. Is there a Discord Server I can use for info. My Guild used to have great info. Sadly the guild is gone.

Soarora wrote: »

...

Very comprehensive post. I largely agree.

In most dungeon content, the tank doesn't need direct healing.

This. If you ever look at trial combat logs, the amount of self-healing they do is unreal. They may also stand apart from the group, out of reach. Tanks are the least of your worry. That said:

as much as they will need shards (templar skill that gives magicka and stamina) or orb (undaunted skill that gives max resource)

This.

There are exceptions (such as newer DLC dungeons where tanks may be hit with a debuff that makes it so they can't heal themselves-- you can see this when their healthbar goes blue)

And this. Very much. Where this mechanic is present, the tank suddenly needs a healer. Newer content basically. Coral Aerie. Sanity's Edge. Others.

Side note on Kragenac's: as a healer, you don't want to be the first person ressing. The DPS should res people first. That said, as a templar, you do res faster than non-templars. So, use your best judgement on when to res who, but don't use Kragenac's.

Yeah, no one uses Kagrenac these days. That said, a fast rez can be really nice to play, especially in content where you get knocked about when you take too long, such as Molag Kena = final White Gold Tower boss.

Ideally, you'd want spell power cure and powerful assault.

That's a possible setup. Maybe for dungeons? In vTrials I find PA is worn by the off tank just as likely as a healer and may, therefore, already covered. The two complimentary standard setups I see most in PC EU vet trial PUG groups are:

Spell Power Cure + Pillager's Profit
Roaring Opportunist + Jorvuld's Guidance (aka RoJo)

Monster sets: Ozezan, Symphony of Blades, Spaulder of Ruin

Generally Spaulder fits with RoJo while some people will run Pearls of Ehlnofey with SPC/Pillager AND a monster set, e.g. single-barring the two 5-piece sets.

I would not jump into veteran content until you have your sets made as providing buffs and debuffs is incredibly important for making your heals stronger, the DPS do more damage, and takes pressure off the tank.

I very strongly disagree. If you had said vet hard mode, that might be different, but in plain vet dungeons and trials:

• Half the time a healer isn't needed at all, e.g. either the content is so easy you might as well go with all DDs, or the healer is needed, but only at specific times. If you want to go AFK to scratch your nose, you can usually do so. You can't exactly go and make a coffee, but almost. I've been seriously surpised how I can take my hands off the keyboard as a healer compared to a tank or even a DD. Healers also have the fewest mechanics to deal with overall.
• In PUG groups and trial training runs, or dungeon PUGs for that matter, the actual difference you make with your buff sets is often close to zero. The main useful help you give, outside of healing, is tank sustain and you have to traditionally perform some mechanics as the healer in the harder trials, such as vDSR. In order to buff DD damage, those DDs must have damage in the first place. You're going to add something in the 10s of percentage points at best, whereas the difference between a bad DD and a good one is as much as 500%. I'm not being hyperbolic. I've seen trial logs where the worst DD did 4% of the damage and the best 20%. There are mitigating factors that help explain this in some cases, such as portal mechanics, but please believe me that buff builds cannot save a bad group. Even in an average group, the DDs themselves still have the largest headroom to improve on their own, e.g. by becoming better at mchanics, at standing the right place, and at plain old parsing. If you have meta sets, wear them. If not, it's IMO no big deal until you start going after hard modes or scores.

It is for these reasons that I must say: Dive into veteran content, if you want, both dungeons and trials. A lack of a meta build should not stop you, albeit I would wear crit sets or sets that boost your healing, rather than Kagrenac and Seducer. Sustain is not usually an issue these days (that said, I play a Breton healer). In fact, if you have an eye on progressing to RoJo, you might as well get used to throwing in occasional resto heavy attacks. Start with base game and progress to harder content loosely in order of release.

Once you come to the later trials, you will have to learn some mechanics, such as portal healing or taking the domes in DSR. I would probably learn these things with a guild on voice chat. Will they have the same opinion on builds as I do? Hard to say. All I'm sure of is that cheap overland / crafted sets won't objectively stop you from doing a good job. It's mechanics knowledge and a good rotation that you need. Even a healer needs a good rotation. That goes for your general rotation to lay down AOE heals and cast sticky heals. It also goes for those situations that really need your attention, such as Sunspire tombs. Again, though, as long as we're talking plain vet, not hard mode, you can do this with a combination of ground AOE, burst heals and just plain Healing Ward. You don't need the Blackrose resto staff on top that some people recommend.

That said, there's not really a centralized healing resource like there is for tanking and dpsing apart from a single discord server.

Healer's Haven Discord. I'd also look up Nightharrow's content on YouTube.

Soarora wrote: »

So, side note actually, if you've done the content on another role and you know it already, then you could possibly jump to vet. But if you have to learn the role and the content at the same time, then maybe start on normal first.

I can see where you are coming from. To be fair, I've played a lot of normal mode and, when I finally got around to healer, I already had a lot of content knowledge on vet too. I would only be afraid that normal doesn't teach you much. You almost need to be a vet player, only then do you develop an eye for what mere visual effect on normal mode might be a threatening mechanic on vet.

As to trials, I would concede that you cannot actually "dive" into vet PUG groups via the group finder. Typically they will ask you to "link achievement". The first run, or first few runs, of any new vet trial are best done with a group / guild on voice chat in my experience.

Really depends on how the OP likes to play. If they are happy with farming sets on normal mode, that's fine. However, if that gets boring, because it's not enough of a challenge, then I would say you don't need meta sets. Your rotation as a healer, the rotation of the DDs, everyone's mechanic knowledge, and their experience to execute on that, those are the most important factors for success.

What meta sets really do, however, is identify you as a credible player to strangers. It's like wearing a business suit. Some PUG leaders will even ask you for the sets you're wearing or at least you'll have a conversation with the other healer to coordinate sets in a vTrial.

BXR_Lonestar wrote: »

Do yourself a favor and go grind out some normal white gold towers first. You will want Spell Power Cure as one of your go-to sets for group healing (Trials and dungeons). For normal dungeons, your second set can be an overland set like Winter's Respite from Western Skryim or Phoenix Moth from Galen (can be bought from guild traders) Until you can get another more team-oriented healer set like Powerful Assault (PVP), Pillager's Profit (trial), Apocraphal Inspiration, or any other higher end healer sets.

Thanks! That’s my plan. Wednesday’s undaunted pledge is White Gold Tower. Assuming I can get a group I hope to farm it and then start my healing career.

Q: once my skills and gear are there I hope to start pugging n trials. I know in DPS that once I have mechanics down and can parse 30K I’m gtg for the normal trials, like nSunSpire. How do I know as a healer when I’m ready? Also, is the best way to find a group to hang out in Craglorn and read zone chat to find a group?

Thanks!

Soarora wrote: »

Lack of possible preparation is one reason why it's hard to get into support roles. You'll know you're ready when you succeed and know you're not ready when you're carried or your group fails, unfortunately.

I'm finding it quite impossible to tell whether I'm carried or what my effectiveness is as a healer. My main experience is in vet non-hard-mode trials. Looking at logs afterwards is a way to see whether you've done anything, anything at all. I've been told that 6K HPS is a decent figure, thus been shooting for that, but it really varies between 3K and 12K and that's not down to you. It's down to how much healing the group needed. Were the DDs well positioned or not? Did they stand in red? Did they actually need healing? Did you pop a ton of barriers? You shouldn't really do the latter much. It's not usually necessary. A healer who casts a lot of barriers shows large inflated healing numbers in the logs, though, cause shielding counts as healing.

So, even if things do go south don't give up. Many things that feel like the healer's fault actually aren't at all and the only way to progress as a healer is to keep trying to do content as a healer.

The announcer in Dragonstar Arena sometimes claims "it's the healer's fault". In reality I find I get very little feedback, good or bad. I find that people do not usually blame you. Dying is part of the deal and rezzing is the DDs job. The healers better keep healing, so the remainder of the group stays alive. This means you're largely locked into your rotation. There isn't much anyone can say about it. Yes, there are mechanics where the healers actually need to work hard; I'm thinking of Cloudrest / Siroria for example, or Yolnakhriin. Still, it's usually the healers (when it's not me) who admonish the DDs to stand in one place so they can be healed, not the other way around.

For what it's worth, this is my healer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEfs5dmv9nM

Food: Jewels of Misrule, because you want to cast Vigor twice every 16s in trials and have some dodge roll / sprint sustain.
Potion: Spell Damage / Spell Crit / Magicka

Rotation: Pre-buff with Vigor / Frost Cloak / Orb before combat. Then:

Elemental Blockade to keep proccing enchant -> Bar swap
Budding Seeds (only lasts 6s, do it first)
Combat Prayer (damage buff)
Illustrious Healing
Radiating Regeneration
Ulfsild's Contingency -> Bar swap
Orb
Vigor -> Bar swap
Budding Seeds
Radiating Regeneration
Radiating Regeneration
Ulfsild's Contingency -> Bar Swap
Frost Cloak
Vigor -> Back to start

This is roughly what I do. Templar may differ a little. You got to mix things up either way. You don't even have time to get good skill coverage in a trial, because there are so many skills to keep up, they don't all cover the whole group, and they run out. In a dungeon it should be easier. Note that:

• All AOE skills, or certainly AOE heals, hit a maximum of 6 targets. This is nowhere specifically mentioned. It's just a general feature / limitation of the game engine. That said many heals have smart targeting. One cast of Vigor will hit 6 people. The next cast will hit the other 6 people (if they are in range).
• Echoing Vigor is by far the best skill in a trial. Why? Because sticky heals (and DOTs) are OP. Doesn't matter whether people move or exactly where they are. The heal sticks with them. Consistency ranks very highly, e.g. to the point where Echoing Vigor is frequently 30% of the healing I do. However you must cast it twice within every 16s. If you don't do this in a trial you will be one of the more mediocre healers, at least by the numbers. This is why I like dual-regen food and why I don't like Spaulder draining my stam regen. I err on the side of overcasting Vigor if anything. Note Vigor stacks with itself when both healers run it. It's one reason why ball groups are OP in PvP.
• Radiating Regeneration is the better-regarded skill in some circles. It costs magicka and has better range, but a shorter duration. Fine for dungeons, but in trials it's hard to get good coverage of the group, because it only hits 3 people at a time and runs out so quickly (10s vs Vigor's 16s). This arguably makes it an overrated skill for trials.
• Ulfsild's allows us to cast a shield. It's cheaper than Soul Burst. I'm not sure the targeting of it is very smart though. At any rate, shields can be very powerful preventative maintenance.
• Don't underestimate the ground heals. It depends on movement, but I'm always surprised how much healing Illustrious Healing does.
• Combat Prayer is for the damage buff. It's expensive. Just spamming that isn't terrible effective IMO. I don't use it much, only to spam it sometimes when all my other heals are up and the group is standing in a Yolnakhriin flare or something.

IMO being a healer is about prevention. About having your ongoing heals running. That said, you can try to save people in emergency by crafting an Area-targeted heal, or by using Honor the Dead (or the other morph), or by having Overflowing Altar up, giving players a synergy they can use in emergency.

winged_tortoise wrote: »

BXR_Lonestar wrote: »

Do yourself a favor and go grind out some normal white gold towers first. You will want Spell Power Cure as one of your go-to sets for group healing (Trials and dungeons). For normal dungeons, your second set can be an overland set like Winter's Respite from Western Skryim or Phoenix Moth from Galen (can be bought from guild traders) Until you can get another more team-oriented healer set like Powerful Assault (PVP), Pillager's Profit (trial), Apocraphal Inspiration, or any other higher end healer sets.

Thanks! That’s my plan. Wednesday’s undaunted pledge is White Gold Tower. Assuming I can get a group I hope to farm it and then start my healing career.

Q: once my skills and gear are there I hope to start pugging n trials. I know in DPS that once I have mechanics down and can parse 30K I’m gtg for the normal trials, like nSunSpire. How do I know as a healer when I’m ready? Also, is the best way to find a group to hang out in Craglorn and read zone chat to find a group?

Thanks!

Honestly I think you are overthinking this. I know it can be intimidating, but normal content is where you should be learning the basics to healing harder content. I think a decent measuring stick for knowing if you are ready to take on more challenging content is solo healing a trial like Aetherian Archive. It's not a hard trial, but you'll need good sustain, and you'll learn how important it is for everyone to be in proper position (not really your fault if they aren't tbh) to keep everyone alive.

Healing is really less about your build (buff sets are just standard for healers) and more about knowing what heals to use when. Throw out sustain helping skills (orbs and shards) on the regular, place your hots/aoe hots where they hit most/all of your people, focus burst heals when you anticipate incoming damage, and know when to shift focus to mobile heals when the fight turns mobile.