Healer ideas: Would chilled be a viable status to go for?

datgladiatah

With the off balance nerf, my fear with my nightblade healer is that a lightning staff wouldn't provide nearly as much support as it could since it's only a 25% up time. Since chilled wasn't effected, could ice staff be a viable choice instead, since chilled weakens and slows groups of enemies?

I would preferably only heavy attack with a resto staff if i needed resource sustain, so I wouldn't take advantage of their taunting passive almost ever (but could choose to if needed, i suppose), and would use ice wall to weaken and slow groups of enemies, and apply that weakness to bosses as well. If I used a set like Mending i could further supplement that weakness using refreshing path.

I just don't know if it would be more effective to either keep that concussion effect for the team at times, or use a fire staff to apply more dps and speed up fights. Fire staff single target would also improve my funnel health heal/damage.

What do you guys think?

Dracane

Wall of elements only has a 1% chance per tick to proc status effects like chilled and a proc only lasts 4 seconds.
From my experience, one single damage over time source is not enough to reliably keep up status effects long enough for them to have an impact. Many bosses use burst attacks, rather than constant attacks. So you need the rng to have chilled applied in the right moments, or it becomes useless.

No, I don't think this is viable/reliable enough to have a meaningful impact. If you happened to have a reliable source of chilled uptime, like stacking several ice attacks or an ice enchant, which you probably don't or having a perfected Asylum ice staff, which you might also not have, then it will be noticeable.

And lastly, the most important point: many tanks have minor maim on their low slash ability (which is the same buff as chilled) and many DDs use the asylum staff. So minor maim will probably be up all the time anyway.

If you insist on having minor maim yourself, use your shadow image. This is your best and reliable source of minor maim for single targets. Yet I think it's not necessary.

Lynx7386

Better to stay lightning or go fire and use more single target dots

WrathOfInnos

I think lightning wall is more important than ever for healers, because all the magicka DPS are switching to flame wall. Even 25% uptime is worth it, and you only need one lightning wall to achieve that. Any additional lightning walls are wasted.

idk

The answer is NO.

Ice has a chance to provide minor maim to the target which is the same skill the tank provides with Low Slash and it's morphs and also the same debuff shades, but again, tank provides it.

Besides, running lightning before this update was not a NB thing, but a healer thing. At that, I do no think many healers were running it in well organized raid groups for quite some time since there have usually been a few DPS running the lightning WoE.

Tasear

Well minor maim from low slash up time was actually lessen this patch. Talons only effects nearbly allies. So there room. Now if you look at asylum destro you can off balance, mail, burning and concussion. Note elemental blockade of Frost also slows eniemies and can immbolize them.

Ep1kMalware

WrathOfInnos wrote: »

I think lightning wall is more important than ever for healers, because all the magicka DPS are switching to flame wall. Even 25% uptime is worth it, and you only need one lightning wall to achieve that. Any additional lightning walls are wasted.

Healers are dropping it, tanks are casting it. I'd still keep it on my bar for pugs/ele drain though. When I don't need to provide it I'm going to slot circle of protection imstead I guess.

Savos_Saren

If you're a Frost Warden build- I guess it might help with an ice wall of elements AND a Winter's Revenge cast on the ground. Winter's Revenge has a 200% increased change to proc the "Chilled" status effect.

datgladiatah

Savos_Saren wrote: »

If you're a Frost Warden build- I guess it might help with an ice wall of elements AND a Winter's Revenge cast on the ground. Winter's Revenge has a 200% increased change to proc the "Chilled" status effect.

Ohhh I like that idea. That means you could aoe minor maim whole groups and immobilize them with the elemental wall. It'd almost be like encase except it can do more damage and apply the debuff in a larger area. With a charged staff the proc chance would be ridiculously high. It doesn't work on my nightblade nearly as well but I do have a magwarden i could level as a healer.

Thanks guys. I think I'll stick with a lightning staff and switch to a fire staff if any of my groups use lightning commonly or somehow tanks end up setting off balance.