Nightblade healer: viable or a pipe dream?

code65536 · September 2015

"13igTyme wrote: »

For tanking wouldn't the other morph be better than Funnel Health?

I don't think so. Swallow Soul grants a 10% bonus to healing received, which, frankly, isn't a whole lot and would not make much of a difference. I can't think of any fight where I wiped and thought, "I could've survived if only the healer healed me a little bit harder." Usually, if I die, it's after the healer has died.

On the other hand, Funnel Health lets you contribute off-healing to the team and helps take pressure off the healer or helps the group stay alive longer when the healer goes down. I did a dungeon once where after the first two trash pulls, the healer asked who else in the group was healing because everyone was at or near full health even though he never cast a heal. With just my Funnel Health spam, my tank is healing each person in a 4-man dungeon well in excess of 1K heals/sec.

So, either 10% extra healing to just you, or 200% extra healing to the entire group (you plus two allies; and if you spam Funnel as much as I do, everyone will end up getting the effect). Swallow Soul is what I'd use if I was a pure solo player and would never group with anyone--as long as there's another person with me, Funnel Health is the better option, IMHO.

(Also, since my character does all three roles with just gear swaps, I definitely do need Funnel Health for my healer.)

13igTyme · September 2015

code65536 wrote: »

"13igTyme wrote: »

For tanking wouldn't the other morph be better than Funnel Health?

I don't think so. Swallow Soul grants a 10% bonus to healing received, which, frankly, isn't a whole lot and would not make much of a difference. I can't think of any fight where I wiped and thought, "I could've survived if only the healer healed me a little bit harder." Usually, if I die, it's after the healer has died.

On the other hand, Funnel Health lets you contribute off-healing to the team and helps take pressure off the healer or helps the group stay alive longer when the healer goes down. I did a dungeon once where after the first two trash pulls, the healer asked who else in the group was healing because everyone was at or near full health even though he never cast a heal. With just my Funnel Health spam, my tank is healing each person in a 4-man dungeon in excess of 1K heals/sec.

So, either 10% extra healing to just you, or 200% extra healing to the entire group (you plus two allies; and if you spam Funnel as much as I do, everyone will end up getting the effect). Swallow Soul is what I'd use if I was a pure solo player and would never group with anyone--as long as there's another person with me, Funnel Health is the better option, IMHO.

(Also, since my character does all three roles with just gear swaps, I definitely do need Funnel Health for my healer.)

It makes sense for role changes but I figure a Morph change would do the job. I also have this fantasy to make argonians relevant by staking healing received. I don't play as an argonian, currently, but they are one of my favorite races.

Lord Xanhorn · September 2015

This is simple....

Templar healers = viable in every situation
Everything else = Viable in special situations

You generally can't play with mediocre players who sometimes stand in the fire too long and are constantly making mistakes. BOL covers a multitude of sins that if you don't have, its hard to recover.

Its like the last boss in CoH. If no one gets hit by the red circles, its an incredibly easy fight to heal. If people are standing in the red, getting hit by the spears, and the aoe....NB healers...good luck!

timidobserver · September 2015

In my experience Nightblade healers are pretty good for groups that have solid players that know the mechanics of what they are doing. The primary benefit of a Templar healer is that Breath of Life can give your group members a handicap.

13igTyme · September 2015

Lord Xanhorn wrote: »

This is simple....

Templar healers = viable in every situation
Everything else = Viable in special situations

You generally can't play with mediocre players who sometimes stand in the fire too long and are constantly making mistakes. BOL covers a multitude of sins that if you don't have, its hard to recover.

Its like the last boss in CoH. If no one gets hit by the red circles, its an incredibly easy fight to heal. If people are standing in the red, getting hit by the spears, and the aoe....NB healers...good luck!

That's not the healers fault.

Lil_kitty · September 2015

Nightblade healer is definitely viable. I've healed all vet pledges and trials including vDSA on my magicka NB. I use healing ward for my burst heals. Having high mana regen, spell damage and a decent amount of CP makes it much easier.

omfgitsbatman · September 2015

100% viable. I just posted this build yesterday. I have healed everything Including the new content speed runs and hard modes and all of the trials hard modes.

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/220561/2-1-nightblade-healer-bloodmage#latest

omfgitsbatman · September 2015

Lord Xanhorn wrote: »

This is simple....

Templar healers = viable in every situation
Everything else = Viable in special situations

You generally can't play with mediocre players who sometimes stand in the fire too long and are constantly making mistakes. BOL covers a multitude of sins that if you don't have, its hard to recover.

Its like the last boss in CoH. If no one gets hit by the red circles, its an incredibly easy fight to heal. If people are standing in the red, getting hit by the spears, and the aoe....NB healers...good luck!

I've healed people standing in red in CoH many times... I don't know why you think breath of life is a necessity. Keep HoTs rolling. I typically have at least 3 HoT's on an entire 4 man at any given time. People tend to come back to full faster than I could react even if I had breath of life. With mutagen now working as intended, this isn't hard to do. If for some reason they stay low, they get a healing ward just as quick as a templar could cast breath of life. If multiple people are being dumb, the HoT's Usually give enough time to cast multiple Healing wards, or get a couple healing springs off. Get over the "Templars are the only way" idea. It's not true. This game needs fewer people like you trying to propagate this message.

Truewavesound · September 2015

omfgitsbatman wrote: »

Lord Xanhorn wrote: »

This is simple....

Templar healers = viable in every situation
Everything else = Viable in special situations

You generally can't play with mediocre players who sometimes stand in the fire too long and are constantly making mistakes. BOL covers a multitude of sins that if you don't have, its hard to recover.

Its like the last boss in CoH. If no one gets hit by the red circles, its an incredibly easy fight to heal. If people are standing in the red, getting hit by the spears, and the aoe....NB healers...good luck!

I've healed people standing in red in CoH many times... I don't know why you think breath of life is a necessity. Keep HoTs rolling. I typically have at least 3 HoT's on an entire 4 man at any given time. People tend to come back to full faster than I could react even if I had breath of life. With mutagen now working as intended, this isn't hard to do. If for some reason they stay low, they get a healing ward just as quick as a templar could cast breath of life. If multiple people are being dumb, the HoT's Usually give enough time to cast multiple Healing wards, or get a couple healing springs off. Get over the "Templars are the only way" idea. It's not true. This game needs fewer people like you trying to propagate this message.

All of this, yes. IMO NB is superior to Templar, if played right. Plus you will be doing more DPS at the same time - win/win.

People who cannot play NB healer are probably not very skilled or imaginative players..."I just wanna presss my BoL key all daaaayz #yolo"

Alucardo · September 2015

Nightblade healer? You can do it. DON'T LET YOUR DREAMS BE DREAMS

Mujuro · September 2015

omfgitsbatman wrote: »

Lord Xanhorn wrote: »

This is simple....

Templar healers = viable in every situation
Everything else = Viable in special situations

You generally can't play with mediocre players who sometimes stand in the fire too long and are constantly making mistakes. BOL covers a multitude of sins that if you don't have, its hard to recover.

Its like the last boss in CoH. If no one gets hit by the red circles, its an incredibly easy fight to heal. If people are standing in the red, getting hit by the spears, and the aoe....NB healers...good luck!

I've healed people standing in red in CoH many times... I don't know why you think breath of life is a necessity. Keep HoTs rolling. I typically have at least 3 HoT's on an entire 4 man at any given time. People tend to come back to full faster than I could react even if I had breath of life. With mutagen now working as intended, this isn't hard to do. If for some reason they stay low, they get a healing ward just as quick as a templar could cast breath of life. If multiple people are being dumb, the HoT's Usually give enough time to cast multiple Healing wards, or get a couple healing springs off. Get over the "Templars are the only way" idea. It's not true. This game needs fewer people like you trying to propagate this message.

IMHO, it all boils down to the group composition (and relative skill of the party members); there's no question that NBs can serve as the primary healer for SOME groups across the vast majority of content. Typically, I have no trouble whatsoever healing any group that is predominantly magicka-based DPS principally because there's little need for templar shards/spears/repentance. I also don't really have any trouble IF there's another templar in the group (whether tank or DPS) running repentance/shards. If I'm healing stam-DPS based groups without a "non-healer" templar tossing occasional shards/repentance, it's still been doable, but folks will often need to use pots and/or wait a few seconds between certain fights to regen resources before the next encounter.

omfgitsbatman · September 2015

Mujuro wrote: »

omfgitsbatman wrote: »

Lord Xanhorn wrote: »

This is simple....

Templar healers = viable in every situation
Everything else = Viable in special situations

You generally can't play with mediocre players who sometimes stand in the fire too long and are constantly making mistakes. BOL covers a multitude of sins that if you don't have, its hard to recover.

Its like the last boss in CoH. If no one gets hit by the red circles, its an incredibly easy fight to heal. If people are standing in the red, getting hit by the spears, and the aoe....NB healers...good luck!

I've healed people standing in red in CoH many times... I don't know why you think breath of life is a necessity. Keep HoTs rolling. I typically have at least 3 HoT's on an entire 4 man at any given time. People tend to come back to full faster than I could react even if I had breath of life. With mutagen now working as intended, this isn't hard to do. If for some reason they stay low, they get a healing ward just as quick as a templar could cast breath of life. If multiple people are being dumb, the HoT's Usually give enough time to cast multiple Healing wards, or get a couple healing springs off. Get over the "Templars are the only way" idea. It's not true. This game needs fewer people like you trying to propagate this message.

IMHO, it all boils down to the group composition (and relative skill of the party members); there's no question that NBs can serve as the primary healer for SOME groups across the vast majority of content. Typically, I have no trouble whatsoever healing any group that is predominantly magicka-based DPS principally because there's little need for templar shards/spears/repentance. I also don't really have any trouble IF there's another templar in the group (whether tank or DPS) running repentance/shards. If I'm healing stam-DPS based groups without a "non-healer" templar tossing occasional shards/repentance, it's still been doable, but folks will often need to use pots and/or wait a few seconds between certain fights to regen resources before the next encounter.

I've always seen the shards argument as frivolous. If you cannot manage your own resources, it is not the healer's fault. Every single class has a great way to manage their stamina. Nightblades have siphoning attacks, DK's have helping hands and battle roar, templars have repentance, Sorcs have dark deal.

I don't understand why the healer has to be the one tossing shards either. There are plenty of templar dps out there that could do the exact same thing. If your group cannot survive without shards why not say "We need to replace one of the dps with a templar" instead of "We need to replace the healer with a templar"? This mentality just baffles me.

The master resto staff can also be utilized by any healer and can provide stamina where others fail to manage their own resources.