DK can be a decent healer as much as sorc can and the OP has definitely made good sorc healers. "DK has to be tank or suck" is a ridiculous idea.

dazee wrote: »

DK can be a decent healer as much as sorc can and the OP has definitely made good sorc healers. "DK has to be tank or suck" is a ridiculous idea.

Yeah but theres a diffrence you get all the buffs that a dk brings to the group from the tank, the only reason some trial groups use a sorc healer is because they want the buffs but dont want to loose a dd spot to an inferior class like a mag sorc.
With a sorc heal you can get all the buffs while a magplar or a nb takes the dd spot. And the only reason the sorc is allowed as a healer is that 2 templar healers are overkill [most of the time](obviously it depends on your tank and how good your dds can avoid the dmg). Most of the content either oneshots you if you dont dodge/avoid it or deals a tiny amount of dmg so vigor+ healingsprings is enaugh to survive it.

Tasear wrote: »

Do they have their own Class identity?

Are they able to compete with other classes effectively?

Do you see people pick Dragon Knight Healers in Dungeons or Trials?

Does the Skill adviser help prepare for this role?

I've played a DK healer in vet dungeons. I have played all classes as a healer in dungeons (warden, sorc, nightblade) and my main is a templar healer (which I use for trials).

My feeling about the class is that :
- its burst heal - obsidian shard- is very situational (compared to the other classes) although strong. It will heal the tank most likely because in boss fights, you only have that enemy to use it on. But will not help you with your allies if they are all magicka ones.
- the resource management is weird as you have to rely on your ultimate to drop instead of a steady influx of magicka. I have not tested that in trials - where fights are longer so it might seem different, but in dungeons it did not feel pratical, especially in HMs when your allies are not very well versed with the dungeons mechanics and you have to heal a lot.
- cinder storm range is too small

Other classes currently perform better than DK imo. It does not feel comfortable to play a DK when you are in a high pressure environment. Cinder storm needs buffing -more range! It is too small to make it competitive compared to healing ritual and it needs a new flavor effect when activated.

I would definitely not use a DK healer in trials.

I LOVE my DK healer but I do have several pain points with it.

As much as I like how strong Obsidian Shard is as a heal, I have had a lot of instances in which people have died because I didn't have an enemy target to cast it. It's really hard to heal when you NEED an enemy to actually cast your healing abilily. Then, there are the times I'm forced to use it on a mob that hasn't been chained in which causes issues with Tanks trying to pull them since they're still CC immune.
Suggestion: Remove the stun on Obsidian Shard to negate the tank issue. Let Obsidian be able to target allies for a bigger heal while maintaining its ability to heal if I'm using it on an enemy.

Igneous Shield replacing DK tank's shield is another highly problematic area with DK healer. It makes I.S. really hard to utilize effectively and makes it highly situational at best, when the skill is already fairly situational to begin with due to its cost.
Suggestion: Make it so that the shields do not replace one another if a stronger shield is currently in place. The Major Mending buff is the large part on why we use it with the shield being a minor utility at but if the utility is unnecessary, I'm completely fine with just receiving the Mending buff.

Cinderstorm is much too small. While I like that Olorime fits nice and snug inside of Cinderstorm, it's just a really small area for a healing ability to be effective. I don't need Healing Spring levels of radius but at least something that can fit more than 1-2 people in its radius would be nice.

Cauterize is....weird. As much as I like the skill as a fire and forget heal, the infrequency of the skill makes it really hard to utilize it effectively since I'm getting 4 ticks of it over its duration at the most and since they occur outside my control, the heal might not occur when I need them too since I'll have already healed the person beforehand, ending up in Cauterize just overhealing at that point.
Suggestion: Change how Cauterize functions to be more of a safety net heal while it's active. During its duration, when an ally within range is damaged, have it fire off immediately towards that ally instead of being a massively delayed HoT. Kind of removes the skill involved with it but it'll be more practical in nature than something that may or may not actually heal when its needed.

I really hope these upcoming changes help out classes in the areas they struggle in and not be more of just shifting the meta around.