DK sorc NB healers PVE

zvavi

Those are the classes that imho needs some addressing mechanic wise in pve. While their main problem is lack of class synergy that can be used by the WHOLE team, they have some few pain points of their own.

Lets start with overview on dk healers.

Dk heal just feels like it lacks a lot of things. While it does feel much more "melee" and restricted than other classes, it doesn't have much to offer even in melee situation. It lacks:

A burst heal which is actually bursty and not delayed.
Synergy.
Defensive ultimate.
More synergy (nb and sorcs need it too, take a look at templars wardens and necromancers that has unique synergies that can be pressed by EVERYONE)

Obsidian shard is a burst heal, with travel time. While the 2 targets addition made it slightly better, it is still too delayed to use as a burst heal, the requirement of a target is fine, even though f***s u up in specific fights (vAS kiters, vSS tomb heal). After a while trying to use it again, i just removed it from my bar. Procs minor brutality.

Cinder storm is good as it is, more or less, really strong in specific fights where u can get the whole group with it, u can also throw it on the tank and then ignoring him. It procs the passives. Keeps up well with the "melee dk heal theme". Procs minor brutality.

fragmented shield, the "major mending" in a button is just not that good because while it does provide major mending, the shield is neglectable, and if you actually need the major mending usually one more combat prayer would have saved more lives, i just dont slot it. Procs minor brutality.

Engulfing flames. Now that tanks cant get 10% out of it, It is actually in a kinda good spot for dk healers, where you can tweak with your build to specifically buff up engulfing (back bar infused berserker) so other than the existence of the stamina meta, and no Magicka groups, it is fine. Can proc zen for 14 seconds. Melee theme.

Unrelenting grip is in a good place. You can help tanks to do their job, u can use it for the major free movement speed in specific fights (i really liked it in AS front kite) and it can proc the 500 mag burning chance for free.

Cauterize is in a really bad place. It is inconsistent enough as a hot, and too weak for a burst heal. The major prophecy is a nice addition but not good enough for a slot in pve trials cause potions, while has weak existence in pve dungeons, tanks sometimes use it to help with healing.

Burning embers, the self heal is neglectable, a bit of dmg, can proc flames, and procs zen for 14 seconds. Melee theme.

Burning talons/choking talons not a long enough dot to be used for zen, the synergy is not good enough for anything cause only 1 ally can use it, doesn't provide synergies on bosses, very costly. Melee theme.

Protective plate, utility against slows. Still not good enough to slot.

Deep breath. Utility interrupt. Melee theme.

Magma shell. The closest thing to defensive ultimate healers have, that is just outshined by barrier in every single way. Be it duration, ultimate cost, size of shield. Barrier even offers nice HoT after morph. Procs minor brutality.

Molten armaments/igneous weapons. While it is nice to have major buffs for the group most serious groups dont need it, and the stronger resto heavy heals are neglectable. Procs minor brutality.

Sorc heal has many problems, while utility wise it is one of the best healers in specific fights (vCR kite) it still lacks things that other classes has.

Sorc heal main pain points.
Lack of unique synergies.
Bar space.
Lack of class hots and dots.
More synergies.(specifically one that can be pressed by the whole group)

Absorption field. While it is infirior to many healing ultimates, i believe it is in a good spot, because it has it's specific fights where it is good. Procs minor prophecy.

Crystal fragments. A great way to proc minor prophecy deals nice damage, problem is, it takes bar space, sob.

Dark conversation. Ok-ish sustain skill, cast time, heals, Procs minor prophecy. Helps a bit with proccing martial knowledge.

Storm atro. Good for dungeons, major berserk for a dd is good. Not really a heal ult though.

Twilight matriarch. While it is mechanic wise the best burst heal in game imo (because it has no line of sight requirement) sadly it takes two slots. And take way to long to summon after you revive so u can't start healing right away.

Liquid lightning. Doesnt proc zen, gives only 1 synergy, just not good enough.

Power surge is the newly added aoe hot, that is just not good enough. Has a cap of 6 people, doesn't scale of mag or sp, cant replace other hots because it needs other hots to reliably proc. Over all i would call it a "cute" ability. If you have the bar space. Ha.

Bolt escape. One of the most fun skills ingame, luckily it has it's own specific spot in vCR. Utility rocks.

Nb heal has it hardest on the synergy scale. Personally i didn't get to heal seriously on nb, but my resto/frost nb tank does heal, so i do have some opinion.

Nb heal lacks:

Special synergy (come on guys even dk arguably has one).
Lacks the most flavor out of all the classes imo.
Even more synergy. I mean. Seriously. Nb's need a special synergy. Even 2 more, with one of them being able to be used by the whole group. (No the ult doesn't count).

Teleporting strike. While minor vulnerability is nice, and it procs minor savagery, with the many necros we have it just aint worth the slot. Procs zen. Has travel time.

Mark target is cute, but nothing more, no cost, procs minor savagery and provides major debuffs, sadly only 1 target cap. The heal u get on it is neglectable in pve cause they dont die as much. I like on tanks though for specific situations.

Grim focus. Good dmg to proc minor savagery.but nothing more. Similar position as crystal fragments.

Consuming darkness is cute and everything, but just not good enough. Especially since most heal checks make groups spread a lot, with healers at the back.

Refreshing path. Good spot, aoe heal, a bit of utility, not the best there is, but it is something. I still have no idea how big it is though.

Soul siphon. Now thats what i call healing ultimate, sadly, thats all it does, heals. barrier is just better, the shield it gives is huge and better than the soul siphon heal, and your hots will easily heal the group up before the shield runs out. It does give out major vitality and 1 synergy, but that is neglectable.

Funnel health has it hard, while it is cute and everything, currently it is just overshadowed as a HoT by radiating regeneration, which is better in almost every single way.

Malevolent offering is the strongest single target heal in game, and the morph gives a unique twist to it as well, but it has it's weaknesses, such a LoS, your own health sacrifice and no ability to target self. Needs something, but not sure what.

Cripple. Another class dot to proc zen. Yey class dots. Morphs provide more dmg or a bit utility (which should totally be extended for longer duration on the minor mag steal option)

Syphoning strikes. Sustain.

Drain power. Nice unique nb utility from each morph, sadly 1 heals and 1 weakens enemies, a shame cant be both, hehe. Still, not worth putting on bar.

If i missed anything please feel free to add, also the comments are for suggestions, therefore i will sort out my suggestions soon in the comments (kinda long hehe)

zvavi

Suggestions for dk heal:

Burst heal, either remove travel time significantly from obsidian shard, or make cauterize heal slightly more on first tick but less heal over time. Another option would be 2 targets of cauterize+ lower HoT for next ticks.

Synergy is a pain spot for all classes, and there can be many things done and many skills it can be attached to, but i think i would love it on specifically on fragmented shield (after making it hit 12 people instead of 6 ahm ahm you promised like half a year ago to make all skills hit 12 instead of 6 ahm ahm), with the synergy requirement being "allies that has more max health than you their shield included can trigger the synergy" <--- to make it hard to proc on tanks. About what the synergy does, surprise me. Go wild. The wilder you get the more classes you see in trials.

Sorc:
The main problem of sorc is bar space, but it is fine, nothing can be done about it until rework for pets. Therefore i wont touch the HoT part, even though power surge is a wanna be HoT, so they do have something.

Dot wise for zen, just make hunting curse to count as a dot, and all will be good.

Lets talk synergy wise. The main skill i would really want making a comeback, is liquid lightning. And my opinion is biased cause it has nothing to do with healers. But lowering the synergy dmg to 35%, and making EVERYONE being able to proc it, will make a lot of sorcs happy. I think.

NB:
Synergy is harshest part for nb healers, so i will keep it short with the skills i think should get at least 2 synergies. For single person synergy funnel health or offering would be good.
For multi target either teleporting strike, mark target or drain power will work. Again. Go crazy with the synergy.

Iskiab

Well for NB from a PvP perspective:

- lacks self healing
- refreshing path is too small to be anything but niche
- funnel health is trash
- Soul Siphon is an interruptible 1 second cast time, too easily interrupted. Usually requires cloak then a cast, making it a bad burst heal
- No synergies
- Sap I actually like in pve dungeons, but that’s it
- Healthy Offering is only the best burst heal in pve, in pvp you’re forced to build differently and other heals come out on top

Ragnarock41

The extended major mending from fragmented shield should be transferred back to igneous shield(which is how it used to be before nerfs) and fragmented shield should basically be reworked completely.

That way DK tanks and PvP stamDKs are not harmed but even buffed a bit, and fragmented shield can be used to experiment.


Either make it damage nearby enemies on expire like it used to, or rework it completely to fit the needs of a healer Dk. Its a good opportunity for developers to explore possibilities for DK healer, but really I don't play Dk healer much myself, I did experiment with it on my magDK though and as you said , Its just better to use combat prayer once more, or If I need healing myself I can just coag blood twice. Fragmented as a magicka DK or healer DK is nothing but a waste of time.

One problem you forgot to mention, but I will do so. When a Dk tank uses igneous shield and you cast fragmented as DK healer, the two shields do not stack, and the tiny shield from fragmented replaces the beefier shield of igneous. So you end up causing harm rather than good.

nihoumab14_ESO

Talking about DK healers specifically here (I don't have experience with NB Healers and only a 30 sorc), cinder storm costs more than double illustrious healing does, and does almost the same healing, however is much smaller, and only has 1.5 the duration. You're better off using illustrious healing, unless you absolutely need the slow and your allies will be able to stay in the much smaller area for 18 seconds for the healing. You can use it to double up on the aoe hot too, but honestly it is so small that it isn't really useful in that regard unless you have a group that is always clustered up on tank and spank encounters, because if the fight requires movement, you are killing your magicka by recasting it

Fragmented shield is awful too, as it doesn't provide any shielding worth using it for, and while the major mending is nice, if someone is in a tight spot, you either have to decide between buffing heals and hoping they live before you put off the heal, or just use a heal twice and know they will live. It's still something on the bar for, so you can proc it when you know damage will be incoming, and it does play with some sets like trinimac's and naga shaman. Not awful, but not good.

Obsidian shard with the shorter range, travel time, and enemy requirement just feels bad to use, I made a whole post about it. The enemy requirement and travel time are the worst parts of the skill, not even the shorter range. If ZOS does want DKs to be some kind of melee healer, then there has to be a reward or buff from being in melee, not punishment for not being in melee, especially since healers tend to be ranged

I think cauterize itself is fine, it just feels awful with our other skills. That said, it could tick a smidge faster, since it is only one target every 5 secs, or provide a buff every time it hits someone

For molten weapons, I'd like them to buff igneous weapons other than longer duration for something that provides us with a unique buff, like "while active, your healing abilities have a chance to increase your allies critical strike chance by x% for x seconds, can only occur every y seconds," or really anything more than what it currently provides. Major sorc and major brutality are already part of most people's potion st, so it has to provide anything more to be useful. Another thought would be "no longer grants major sorc/brutality, instead now causes allies light and heavy attacks to deal additional X fire damage. Reduced duration"

These are all ideas I'd like to see them implement for DK healers. Ideally I'd like it to be balanced, and all healers, and all roles, should provide unique buffs across all classes, to encourage class variety in all content.