Sorc healer needs help!

ExWhizzy

Disclaimer: English isnt my native language so some things might sound weird.



Hey guys.



I started playing the game like 2 weeks ago and I instantly fell in love with it and with sorc especially. I like the art of summoning / supporting and the power of lighting elements and so it was an EASY decision for me to focus on heal / support instead of dmg, especially since I highly prefer heal / support over dmg / tank roles.

Before anybody tells me not to heal as sorc or to play templar instead please know that I play sorc on purpose. I know that temps outshine every other classes if it comes down to easier healing and stamina heals but I prefer sorc anyways since matriarch heal can be the best 2 target burst heal in game + the easy magicka management + Negate ult is simply awesome as hell.



Since I cant heal stamina I focuses on 3 things: Magicka Heal, Buffs / Debuffs / Side-DPS. Right now I’m lvl 47 and so far I’m doing great and I am confident that u can be viable as sorc in endgame content (if u play correctly). A lot of pet management is needed but if u can handle it, it feels fine to me.

I’m using Resto / Destro.



Bar 1: Inner Light / Mutagen / Matriarch / Combat Prayer / Illustrious Heal / Absorbtion Field



Bar 2: Degeneration / Elemental Drain / Matriarch / Mystic Orb / Flooded Lighting / Greater Storm Atronarch



I know that I’m missing the %magicka by not using Bound Armor but since I don’t wanna block 2 Skillslots and since I think that it isn’t such a big deal if I have 39k or 42k magicka compared to having less usefull skills. Matriarch heal by its own is a big one. Mystic Orb deal some minor DMG + heals magicka, Ele Drain gives my DPS the option not to run it so they can use another DMG / Shield Skill. Degeneration over Structured since I swap weapons a LOT and therefore the %HP aren’t such a big deal. I prefer the life leech chance here. And its another DoT. Atronarch is for bosses since it deals moderate DMG.



I like this setup a lot so far. I guess I will aim for round about 20k HP and 35-40k Magicka in endgame. I’m not 100% sure about the Flooded Lighting I might swap it out for another DMG / Utiliy skill but I’m not sure for what exactly.



Maybe u guys can gimme some ideas, especially for the last slot or maybe u have some interesting experiences / advices for a newcomer like me.

Autolycus

I have some suggestions you may find useful. Take them as you will; you certainly don't have to do any or all of them.

The extra magicka from Bound Aegis is actually very substantial. That ~3k of magicka you are giving up endgame is worth about 300 spell damage (in terms of how much it scales your tooltips). Note that magicka and SD are still different things, they just both influence your ability scaling. To accommodate this, I recommend putting Mutagen on your secondary bar, then replacing Degeneration and Mystic Orb. Mystic Orb is actually a very good skill for magicka sustain if your group regularly synergizes, however Ele Drain is superior and running both is usually unnecessary (but there is nothing wrong with doing so if you choose). As for removing Degeneration, you will have to run potions to accommodate Major Sorcery, and doing so is actually (although expensive) more efficient in terms of buff management, because Major Intellect is also very important to run.

Another thing to consider is Empowered Ward (not Hardened). The reason for this is that it protects your Matriaech, which means your burst healing is more reliable, but it also gives Minor Intellect. You may decide this is unnecessary, but I think it's one of those buffs that is both useful and convenient, and is difficult to give up once you start using it. Note also that the Minor Intellect is also given to nearby allies. I would put this in place of Lightning Flood.

You probably haven't unlocked it yet if you are a pve-focused player, but Aggressive Horn (War Horn morph) is arguably the most important buff you can provide to your group. It is definitely worth getting, when you get around to it. This should go on your secondary bar in place of Greater Storm Atro.

Something I feel is very important to know as a Sorc, particularly for those starting out: Pets and shields scale off of max magicka, not spell damage. This means the more magicka you have, the more you will boost your Matriarch and shields. My personal preference for healing is to stack magicka first, and spell damage second. I aim to have 2k+ spell damage without buffs, something that is easier to do on a sorc than other classes.

I'd be happy to make some gear recommendations down the line if you find these tips useful. Right now one of my primary healers is a Sorc, and we've been toying around with some new gear combinations that have his max magicka just over 50k, something that makes his Matriarch (and other resto staff abilities too) quite potent.

BenevolentBowd

You may find this video from GottBeard useful. It's a bit dated but he explains his choices.

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

ExWhizzy

Thx for ur insights!
I recently hit lvl 50 and I found the daedric shepherd solo build which I used for my heal spec right now. I can copy my post.

Sidenote: I will focus on getting Trinimac for the AoE DMG and Heal:

Bar 1:

Ward (not sure about the morph yet) / Mutagen / Matriarch / Familiar / Illustrious Heal / Absorbtion Globe (simply 2 awesome as a healer ult)

Bar 2:

Power Surge (Flex Slot) / Siphon Spirit / Matriarch / Familiar / Combat Prayer / Greater Storm Atronarch (for bosses for extra DPS and another ward target)

I lack the gear though, I'm only lvl 48 now ^^. I know that dedicated standard healers are more common but since I wanna use a sorc advantage (like summons and doing DMG while healing and buffing) I still could imagine that having a sorc heal is not this bad overall. Fam brings in good ccs which also helps the tanks and with ur set I can dish out some good heals as well.

Only things that bug me right now: Pet health bars. I hate turning on ALL NPC health bars.
Some pet / dmg mechanics overall (with energized and disintigrate).

Overall I guess its not that bad as a build. Even as main heal.
If u break down the heal / support class u see different builds but most of the time u see the same 5 aspects.

Healing, Supporting (by buffing and debuffing), resource manipulation (magicka and stam heals), CCing and dealing minor DPS.

You could swap some skills but matriarch and familar on their own cover 3 of those aspects. With Combat Prayer + Mutagen I get some good buffing tools, with Siphon I get magicka heals + boss debuff. In theory this looks good. It comes down to pet management I guess. I dont have any big troubles managing my pets but I still miss those health bars

Edit:

I tested some random normals and did my silver pledge and well its awesome so far. I dont know exactly how hard endgame will be (since I started 3 weeks ago) but I cant imagine that this build isnt going to be hella strong. its hard to play and to manage but if u can control ur pets properly its awesome and its fun. It feels rewarding spamming heals and buff and still doing consistent dmg via pets and later on with the set item. My tank was happy that familiar stunned trash 24/7 in some scenarios and I (and especially Matriarch!!!!) were more tankish overall thx to ward. I'm still not too happy with Power Surge but I guess its not bad overall. Could imagine another utility spell like Mystic Orb but since Magicka Issues shud only occur on tougher enemies and bosses Siphon Spirit shud be enough.

Edit2:

Finally I am 50 I did a minor change so far kicking surge for Dark Exchange for the spell crit group buff. I also use Empowered ward since I spam it anyways and it gives magicka regen for the party which is nice to have. I feel confident with this setup so far now its time to farm those sets ^^