Im finding it Impossibly hard job as a healer

Suter1972 · November 2016

I don’t do PUGS or random dungeons but I occasionally do world bosses and group up with whoever is there.

Its generally a good mix of new/experienced players and only occasionally a max cp players that wipes everything out before you get a hit on it.

If I get into such a group I just go 90% healer and DPS only when needed.

However, how the hell do healers keep their group alive when everyone just runs around all over the place. You can be stood near the tank, giving them constant heals as they tank the boss, then you look over and others are on deaths door as they decided to try and solo the mobs and failing. You then leave the tank and boss to heal those circumference players before returning the tank who is now needing major heals

You can then stand with the mobs killers and they are doing so little DPS that you need to step in and a quick debuff and few spams of puncturing sweep deals with it. Why cant the DPS guys do that instead of pulling the healer off healing?

From an inexperienced healer viewpoint, its absolutely manic and ive no idea how I’d keep a group alive in a tougher dungeon or trial. It seems the healer needs to be “everything to all men”

akl77 · November 2016

The easiest healer is to maximise your magicka regen, I use worm and k hope set, you can use seducer as well.
Lay down heal over time like, extended ritual, then spam breath of life, it has 28m range, so it reaches everyone.
My magicka regen is more than the cost of breath of life, so never ran out.
As your group don't die, if your Group DPS is lacking, it just takes longer to get through that's all.
After you are familiar with the dungeon, then you can start DPS a little bit as a healer.

FoolishHuman · November 2016

In a dungeon you can tell your group to stay together better. Communication is key and if you can't heal because everyone is running around like crazy or standing in the red, then you can just tell them.

Suter1972 · November 2016

Thanks. I need to take a lot of the responsibility myself as im still working out from forum posts and putting in practise what works well and what’s a waste of time. That job is just proving harder when im trying to heal a group that’s spread over a large area and doing their own thing. I guess that’s the problem with random things like world bosses. Its not organised and everyone is there to get the set piece at the end as quick as possible before shooting off in different directions.

Asardes · November 2016

I took up healing recently and I've found it easier than my regular tank job. I've found that:
- you can't heal one shots or very fast AoE damage, that's most times avoidable by dodging and/or interrupting, that's their job
- it helps to keep everyone at full health, because that allows them to survive long enough to escape if they've made such a mistake. If you use SPC "overhealing" keeps it proccing.
- HoTs and buffs are much more resource efficient than burst heals; I usually buff with combat prayer, apply mutagen a few times to be sure it targets all people, then spam healing springs during combat, only rarely do I use BoL, when the group takes a lot of damage in a short time. When the fight goes well and nobody takes a lot of damage fast I do heavy resto staff attacks to get back magicka and gain major mending for a few seconds. If the fight is static I also put down extended ritual which also has a purge synergy. So I have 3-4 heals running at the same time. In trash packs I throw down the HoTs at the beginning, I DPS and I repent every 2-3 bodies to keep everybody topped off. This works even in some boss fights, where there are lots of adds to be killed and repented (The Overfiend, Firemaw)
- Additionally mutagen/rapid regeneration has a long reach. The targeting is a bit random though so you need to hit it 2-3 times in rapid succession to be sure everyone got it. I chose the former because it gives a bit more time to top off the health. I will probably change for the latter when I get more experienced.

People running around can be a problem. It not only reduces healing efficiency, but also DPS, because you can't put down ground base AoE/DoT on mobs running around. In this case the fault my actually lie with the tank. He needs to:
- aggro all mobs, or the boss and the adds together, chain them if he's a DK and if they are movable
- CC and debuff the mobs: if he is a DK cinder storm and talons, if it's sorcerer encase(& morphs) and/or razor caltrops; heroic slash also snares weaker enemies.

Sometimes the nature of the fight is such that people need to be separated and the boss has "weak" aggro, meaning it moves around on its own and attacks all people at some point (ex. Lord Warden Dusk, Nerien'eth). In that case you can throw shards at distant people in addition to mutagen/rapid regeneration. It's not a very strong heal, but the extra stamina may help them block and/or break CC, even if they are magicka builds.

World bosses have far simpler mechanics than dungeon bosses, not to mention trial ones, but the same rules apply. However, people not being part of a well defined group tend to be even less disciplined.

Some of the world bosses can be killed solo even by a badly geared magicka build, regardless of class. The strategy is simple: stay out of their melee range, do resto staff heavy attacks (heal you and restore a lot of magicka), apply healing ward and harness magicka, apply your buffs (resolve, ward, sorcery) whenever they run out, throw damage utimate when it's charge - you gain utlimate by doing heavy attacks and healing. It takes quite long but it's pretty safe way to do it. Did 2-3 bosses on my templar and my sorcerer.

With good gear you can go on the offensive and finish them even faster. For example a Templar can throw restoring focus (major ward & protection, magicka recovery), cast entropy (major sorcery, empower), reflective light/vampire bane (DoT, minor sorcery, first tick empowered by the former), elemental blockade (bread and butter DoT for any magicka build), harness magicka and then spam puncturing sweep (constant heals), throwing solar prison or meteor when it's ready. If there are any dead adds around repent them so you keep your stamina topped off for blocking, dodging and breaking CC. This works even when facing a melee boss. Shield is very important because it can save you from one shots. It absorbs 12-14K damage when you are fully buffed because it scales on your max magicka and spell damage. When you only have ~17K health it's very important to shield because most bosses can do way more damage.

Nidro · November 2016

Hey Suter,

if you need any advices in healing i can help you out mate, you got my PSN ;-)

i healed everything except vet Maw of Lorkhaj so far, with success, so i can tell you where to use what etc.

Yours Nidro~~

Delimber · November 2016

I'm reminded of a pug run I tanked about a month ago. If it wasn't for the healer taking on a dps role we'd still be in that dungeon lol. (I think he was a sorc healer)

Our dps as the healer put it "deeps light" lol They just used light attacks, both of them, for most of the fights.

Fortunately I don't need a lot of heals as long as I maintain my stam pool (tri-pots and heavy attacks etc) and knowing boss mechanics helps too. Thus the high cp healer was able to pour on the dps as it was greatly needed. I went through about 10 soul gems reviving one of the dps lol.

It is probably best if the healer is the leader of the team (not always the guy with the crown) so the healer can direct folks where to position themselves for the best results.

With a good group some boss fights will be boring AF, as the tank holds aggro, and the dps remain behind the boss doing damage and the healer drops heals as needed....but I've only seen a handful of those text book fights.

I always get a laugh out of the folks who blame the healer for not keeping them alive when everyone is spread all over the map.

More people need to make a healer build IMO, just so they know what it is like to heal in a dungeon run. I have found healing more challenging than tanking. But then I don't have good magic management either.

Asardes · November 2016

Delimber wrote: »

More people need to make a healer build IMO, just so they know what it is like to heal in a dungeon run. I have found healing more challenging than tanking. But then I don't have good magic management either

It really depends on what you are using:
- HoTs are more efficient resource wise than burst heals. BoL is expensive as heal but I don't need to use it more than 3-4 times in a typical dungeon run because the others are ticking.
- Healing springs is cheap and refunds magicka per person healed, and if they stick together and you heal them you scarcely run out of magicka; this should be your spammable skill.
- Having about 1.5K magicka regeneration is more than enough and doing heavy attacks from time to time restores a lot of magicka and also heals you or a nearby ally in addition to giving you major mending - I usually do a heavy attack before I (re)cast a HoT ability since the ticks will be stronger.
- If you are a templar putting down a restoring focus also gives you nice sustain and a lot of resistance. I can reach 24.2K spell resistance sitting on it, and 25.5K if I hit combat prayer. That's ~75% of the mitigation cap.

AzuraKin · November 2016

bol is your best friend as a healer, if your not a templar, good luck best not q for healer for any dungeon in which you cannot tank and spank.

Reverb · November 2016

AzuraKin wrote: »

bol is your best friend as a healer, if your not a templar, good luck best not q for healer for any dungeon in which you cannot tank and spank.

Bol is a crutch, I get through most non-trial content without ever having to use it.

Asardes · November 2016

Reverb wrote: »

AzuraKin wrote: »

bol is your best friend as a healer, if your not a templar, good luck best not q for healer for any dungeon in which you cannot tank and spank.

Bol is a crutch, I get through most non-trial content without ever having to use it.

I actually use Combat Prayer more as burst heal than BoL. Probably having 42.5K magicka, 2.5-2.7K spell damage (buffed), 65% spell crit (permanent) and gold powered resto staff does help in that regard. I've seen that spell fill ~50% of the health bar in one hit. I'm actually thinking about shifting more points from blessed to elfborn.

xXSilverDragonXx · November 2016

Trials I would hope you would have mics. They are pretty basic. Healing springs, stay packed together in the glowing circle of life. Combat prayer to buff with nice damage boost. Never rez that is dps job. BoL is more for dungeons and small groups. It's a massive magic drain but a fast and solid heal for quick drops in health to get quick big recovery (ideal with high crit to throw out 24k heals in one BoL) but not meant to be spammed which is how many players use it initially because it is the first heal you get and you don't have the crit, the passives, all the things necessary to make it the kind of heal it should be. Repentence is your friend. Repent corpses like crazy and even downed comrades (which is funny as heck but does serve utility for the group). Repent gives a nice heal and stam boost. All can use that.

Biggest thing, Mics! They are your friend in trials, in vet dungeons where people are struggling and prob even world bosses. World bosses are kind of a big mess. People join them but there is rarely a plan or strategy. It's like a big zerg against a boss. All levels. Nobody really doing anything actually as a group and of course, disaster ensues. Many deaths. Much chaos and you're lucky if you are alive when the boss dies. In that situation, you cannot save everyone. Some people should not even be trying the world bosses like really low levels. Sure they get buffed stats but they lack important passives and skills and most importantly damage.

BoL is not a crutch. It's a good emergency heal or if you want to do more dps and still have a solid heal on your bar, but really you want to have high crit for it. You want have like 80% approx. I can do 24k crit heals consistently which means I can do lots of support and damage then throw out a BoL with repents mixed in and keep my party quite healthy. But that is how I play and I am sure people will have some *** to say about it. Works for me though and works for my groups.

I would recommend avoiding things like world bosses and getting into a guild where you can do lots of dungeons and some trials, where they are nice and friendly and give you a chance to learn rather than trying to wing it in a bad situation. People running in a frenzy toward a world boss with no plan and a mix of levels, no strategy or tactics - that is just a mess waiting to happen. Sure you might kill the boss but what did you gain from it? You came here feeling less than good about it. Probably more overwhelmed. Not worth it at all. Chaos breeds stupidity and you cannot heal stupid.

SolarCat02 · November 2016

World boss fights is actually one of the tougher things to heal, unless you bring your own group.

One of the best cues for healing are the health bar stats to the top left of your screen, when you are grouped. You can see who needs healing, and whether or not they are in range of your rapid regeneration / healing wards / BoL / etc.

I would recommend grouping with people, then either healing a normal dungeon (if your group has experience with that dungeon) or a trip through a group delve, just to get the feel of it.

I slowly learned to heal by running normal dungeons with the same two people (and then whoever we could find for the other dps). The tank and I were both learning, and the regular dps was a stamina "If I stop moving I die" sort of build, so there were a lot of growing pains, but that's what we needed to get good at the game.

Rev Rielle · November 2016

It's not always possible, but ideally a group will always strive to be in this positioning:

They're close enough together than one use of Healing Springs/Illustrious Healing is enough to cover everyone, similarly so for Combat Prayer (It's a great buff but also a great burst heal too).

I just ask everyone (nicely, it's very important how you ask as some players are very touchy to any advice), to keep close together and in that sort of formation. "Follow the tank" is a piece of advice I use that seems to work more often than not. As a Templar, I use Ritual of Retribution, often primarily as a guide for everyone to 'keep inside it's area of effect'. I do let the dps know that if they've run off to kill something on their own and there is no real need for them to do so they won't receive healing.

Groups full of players that do jump around a lot (e.g PvPer playing PvE often seem to think that have to keep moving all the time and jumping about to avoid attacks, this does nothing in PvE sadly other than making the fighter longer and harder for everyone else) do actually make you a better healer, because it's tougher.

Lukums1 · November 2016

I think your entire post just described "fails" in a nut shell not you the people that you play with.

You're not responsible for healing "stupidity". You're not responsible for chasing people around dropping heals on the "stupid" people.

If you're a solid healer you will only (generally) need to turn your camera 360 degrees to maybe drop a healing springs or a rapid regen, anything shy from that your DPS are doing the wrong thing.

If the tank is on the verge of dying that's on you, I'd be letting DPS die 100% of the time rather than the tank, because at least the tank is trying to do his job.

Delimber · November 2016

Asardes wrote: »

Delimber wrote: »

More people need to make a healer build IMO, just so they know what it is like to heal in a dungeon run. I have found healing more challenging than tanking. But then I don't have good magic management either

It really depends on what you are using:
- HoTs are more efficient resource wise than burst heals. BoL is expensive as heal but I don't need to use it more than 3-4 times in a typical dungeon run because the others are ticking.
- Healing springs is cheap and refunds magicka per person healed, and if they stick together and you heal them you scarcely run out of magicka; this should be your spammable skill.
- Having about 1.5K magicka regeneration is more than enough and doing heavy attacks from time to time restores a lot of magicka and also heals you or a nearby ally in addition to giving you major mending - I usually do a heavy attack before I (re)cast a HoT ability since the ticks will be stronger.
- If you are a templar putting down a restoring focus also gives you nice sustain and a lot of resistance. I can reach 24.2K spell resistance sitting on it, and 25.5K if I hit combat prayer. That's ~75% of the mitigation cap.

I'll have to try some of that out, my templar healer is also running the seducer set. I think one of my issues has been I haven't made efficient use of the heavy resto staff attack to aid in magic management.