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[Guide] Healing 101
deathbunny
Posts: 0 Arc User
So you've picked up a class that has, in some form, a healing skill. Whether it heals a single target or your whole group you are capable of doing what keeps everyone else alive.
There is no doubt that it is one of the toughest and most under appreciated jobs in any MMO and this is no exception. But, look on the bright side. The Priest is not the only healer, you have support healers to help you keep the party alive. Here are a few basic things you and the rest of the party should know about healers.
This "guide" is not limited to the eyes of a healer but for anyone who plans on partying. The tanks and damage dealers will also need to be aware of a healer's strengths and limits to ensure everything goes according to plan.
From left: Elven Bard, Elven Priest, Kindred Vampire
S K I L L S
One cannot stress this enough. Be prepared to heal your party. It does not matter that you have chosen a talent path that focuses on damage. You are the only one in this party that is able to heal and you are going to heal.
Priests
Your first healing skill... is there when you start the game. You will, in most cases, heal a lot more than any of the other two classes therefore be prepared to be the main healer.
Bards
Your first healing skill is available to you at level 30. Buy this skill ASAP. Do NOT register for an instance until you have this skill, Sonata of Life (AoE heal), on your hotkey bar. As soon as you hit 30 you are flagged as a healer so, I repeat, get the skill before you do anything else!
Vampires
Your healing skill, Dark Contract, is available at level 16. It may not heal a lot at first but it will help to support the party's main healer. Note that the Vampire should be considered as a purely support healer unless they have specifically went down the Blood talent tree (even then they will not be able to replace the Priest entirely).
Other Classes
Keep in mind that while it is a healer's job to keep the party alive they are not capable of healing without having to wait for cooldown and their MP pool is not a bottomless pit. Allow them to regenerate their MP with food whenever possible (ie. before a boss fight) and remember to bring your own HP potions.
Make their job a little easier by staying out of AoEs and minions when possible. Not everyone has to play hero.
P O T I O N S
It is a given that the healer will use up a lot of MP potions whether you are in a good party or a horrible one (we hope never the latter). So... stock up! Do your daily Alchemy and Cooking Tutorials to stock up on potions and for a chance to get special recipes. I cannot stress this enough. Be prepared at all times. There is nothing more irritating than a healer, or any class for that matter, who comes into an instance and says "I don't have MP/HP potions"...
Use the drink that heals MP over time during bosses. It helps a great deal and you will see that your MP will rarely fall under 50% if in a good party.
Also, whenever you are out questing make sure to pick up any and all plants to make your own potions. If not you could buy potions from NPCs but it heals less and is a waste of coins.
P A R T Y . U P
So, you've got all the MP potions you'll ever need with maybe a couple HP for those emergencies. You've registered for an instance or are ready to take on a world boss with your party...
Minions aka "Trash Mobs"
The so-called trash mobs in an instance are... well, they're not meant to kill you before you reach the boss, usually. Staying out of harms way and healing whomever happens to take the hit is pretty straight forward stuff. Know how much you are able to heal and learn to conserve your MP here as well. There's no need to over heal.
If you see a party member running towards you with a HUGE trail of mobs... the best thing you can do for anyone is allow them to fall and the mobs to disperse. If you throw in a heal the mobs will first devour the not-so-smart team member first before coming after you.
For the rest of the party, don't run into a huge group of mobs head first. Mages and Marksmen should be wary of using their knockback skills. Do NOT use it if there are more mobs behind the ones you are killing.
Boss Fight and the "Adds"
Give yourself and the boss the maximum distance possible and still be able to reach everyone. If you know using your other skills bring you closer to the damage area then either stay put, be ready to use HP potions if you need to, or remember to move back.
For the other classes, if you know the boss has a frontal AoE then don't stand in front of it unless you are the one tanking. And if you are the tanker, be sure to keep the boss from facing others. If it's an all around one, there's not much you can do probably but rule of thumb is keep the boss facing you and not the others.
Some bosses will summon "adds" or for some reason someone attracted another mob close by. They tend to go for the healers when left unchecked so protect the healers. It is good practice to give your surrounding a sweep before you engage in a boss fight but things get missed... but as long as you keep the healer alive you will keep the tank alive and the rest of the party.
Z E R O . T O . H E R O
Sometimes when you register for an instance with a random party match up a Bard will be flagged as the main healer with a Vampire support or vice versa when there are no Priests available.
If you see that there are no Priests... don't just quit the instance. These two support classes are capable of healing. But at the same time keep in mind that not everyone will have went down the Light or Blood talent path (healing paths for Bard and Vampire) so proceed with caution. Determine whether your party is able to handle the task, if not, try again.
Their healing cooldowns are not as fast so if you do not have to take damage, don't. Allow the tank to take the aggro first. The last thing you want is a Vampire or Bard desperately trying to heal the whole party killing several different things and end up dying. Remember... they are both pretty squishy and you do not want them attracting aggro through healing. Bards especially have a high-aggro healing skill due to its AoE nature.
C L O S I N G
Supporting the party is not just for the healers. The rest of the party will also need to pitch in and help make the run a success. Not everyone is a veteran healer and of course not everyone is an experienced tank or damage dealing class. Keeping in mind the capabilities and limits of other classes will ensure that you and your party keeps their face off the ground.
There is no doubt that it is one of the toughest and most under appreciated jobs in any MMO and this is no exception. But, look on the bright side. The Priest is not the only healer, you have support healers to help you keep the party alive. Here are a few basic things you and the rest of the party should know about healers.
This "guide" is not limited to the eyes of a healer but for anyone who plans on partying. The tanks and damage dealers will also need to be aware of a healer's strengths and limits to ensure everything goes according to plan.
From left: Elven Bard, Elven Priest, Kindred Vampire
S K I L L S
One cannot stress this enough. Be prepared to heal your party. It does not matter that you have chosen a talent path that focuses on damage. You are the only one in this party that is able to heal and you are going to heal.
Priests
Your first healing skill... is there when you start the game. You will, in most cases, heal a lot more than any of the other two classes therefore be prepared to be the main healer.
Bards
Your first healing skill is available to you at level 30. Buy this skill ASAP. Do NOT register for an instance until you have this skill, Sonata of Life (AoE heal), on your hotkey bar. As soon as you hit 30 you are flagged as a healer so, I repeat, get the skill before you do anything else!
Vampires
Your healing skill, Dark Contract, is available at level 16. It may not heal a lot at first but it will help to support the party's main healer. Note that the Vampire should be considered as a purely support healer unless they have specifically went down the Blood talent tree (even then they will not be able to replace the Priest entirely).
Other Classes
Keep in mind that while it is a healer's job to keep the party alive they are not capable of healing without having to wait for cooldown and their MP pool is not a bottomless pit. Allow them to regenerate their MP with food whenever possible (ie. before a boss fight) and remember to bring your own HP potions.
Make their job a little easier by staying out of AoEs and minions when possible. Not everyone has to play hero.
P O T I O N S
It is a given that the healer will use up a lot of MP potions whether you are in a good party or a horrible one (we hope never the latter). So... stock up! Do your daily Alchemy and Cooking Tutorials to stock up on potions and for a chance to get special recipes. I cannot stress this enough. Be prepared at all times. There is nothing more irritating than a healer, or any class for that matter, who comes into an instance and says "I don't have MP/HP potions"...
Use the drink that heals MP over time during bosses. It helps a great deal and you will see that your MP will rarely fall under 50% if in a good party.
Also, whenever you are out questing make sure to pick up any and all plants to make your own potions. If not you could buy potions from NPCs but it heals less and is a waste of coins.
P A R T Y . U P
So, you've got all the MP potions you'll ever need with maybe a couple HP for those emergencies. You've registered for an instance or are ready to take on a world boss with your party...
Minions aka "Trash Mobs"
The so-called trash mobs in an instance are... well, they're not meant to kill you before you reach the boss, usually. Staying out of harms way and healing whomever happens to take the hit is pretty straight forward stuff. Know how much you are able to heal and learn to conserve your MP here as well. There's no need to over heal.
If you see a party member running towards you with a HUGE trail of mobs... the best thing you can do for anyone is allow them to fall and the mobs to disperse. If you throw in a heal the mobs will first devour the not-so-smart team member first before coming after you.
For the rest of the party, don't run into a huge group of mobs head first. Mages and Marksmen should be wary of using their knockback skills. Do NOT use it if there are more mobs behind the ones you are killing.
Boss Fight and the "Adds"
Give yourself and the boss the maximum distance possible and still be able to reach everyone. If you know using your other skills bring you closer to the damage area then either stay put, be ready to use HP potions if you need to, or remember to move back.
For the other classes, if you know the boss has a frontal AoE then don't stand in front of it unless you are the one tanking. And if you are the tanker, be sure to keep the boss from facing others. If it's an all around one, there's not much you can do probably but rule of thumb is keep the boss facing you and not the others.
Some bosses will summon "adds" or for some reason someone attracted another mob close by. They tend to go for the healers when left unchecked so protect the healers. It is good practice to give your surrounding a sweep before you engage in a boss fight but things get missed... but as long as you keep the healer alive you will keep the tank alive and the rest of the party.
Z E R O . T O . H E R O
Sometimes when you register for an instance with a random party match up a Bard will be flagged as the main healer with a Vampire support or vice versa when there are no Priests available.
If you see that there are no Priests... don't just quit the instance. These two support classes are capable of healing. But at the same time keep in mind that not everyone will have went down the Light or Blood talent path (healing paths for Bard and Vampire) so proceed with caution. Determine whether your party is able to handle the task, if not, try again.
Their healing cooldowns are not as fast so if you do not have to take damage, don't. Allow the tank to take the aggro first. The last thing you want is a Vampire or Bard desperately trying to heal the whole party killing several different things and end up dying. Remember... they are both pretty squishy and you do not want them attracting aggro through healing. Bards especially have a high-aggro healing skill due to its AoE nature.
C L O S I N G
Supporting the party is not just for the healers. The rest of the party will also need to pitch in and help make the run a success. Not everyone is a veteran healer and of course not everyone is an experienced tank or damage dealing class. Keeping in mind the capabilities and limits of other classes will ensure that you and your party keeps their face off the ground.
Post edited by deathbunny on
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Comments
Very constructive criticism. =.=
You know it. Its just general information that everyone should already know as a healing class. If your gonna wright a guide please make it useful.
QFT. That has to be the single most frustrating thing when pugging an instance I've encountered so far. Thanks for the start of this guide deathbunny
You'd think it's a common known fact.... at least to be prepared and bring pots.... but believe me you will facepalm at the amount of people that don't go into instances with potions or food.
Art done by Apple, Sig by Neoyoshi *Much ♥*
My ♥ Belongs to Forseti.
Honor has not to be won; it must only not be lost.
*Playing since Phase 1/Day 1*
You also forget how dense most people are with dungeons.
Kurokona: 40 Priest
Key word... Should. The problem is that no, they have no idea that they're supposed to heal.
*CB1 player, herp-a-derp.*
♥ forsakenworldart.deviantart.com ♥ JOIN ♥
Retired; playing a game called life. O:
Healing needs u to be aware or multiple things heres my lil healing advice.
healing ppl in general always use ur most mp effiecent heals dont use massive heals it wastes mp! (how ever atm theres only 1 major heal for priests if they ever add more aoe heals or mega mp burners then stick to the basic!)
Watch ur Heal and skill cds. i noticed without talent points 3 secs cd is waaaaay to long lucky i heal 2k+ xD so i can take my time.
WATCH FOR ADDS! this is for everyone if healer yells ADD! u run to them and get w.e is attking off them i notced ppl are kinda slow to respond to the OMG HELP! or ADD yell this is very important =P
Another rule of healing is never heal the moron who runs into a billion adds now on Fw aggro is abit low with healing but i noticed the odd mob takes an intrest in me alot =P
So never heal a nub with a train! if they over pull let them die its their fault.
Make DDs watch their aggro. if u got nub who is squishy and out ddin the tank but refuses to listen to u let them die i do dont waste heals on someone who dies in 3-4hits.
If u have a bard or ur out of combat u can rez them laters or they can just wait.
most important is ALWAYS HAVE POTS! and this isnt just the healer either everyone should have mp pots and hp pots i see alot dds never use mp pots WHY?? skills do the most dmg on FW Auto attk sucks ****! no lazy tab F1s plz -.-
Tbh healing on Fw is kinda easier then most mmos as u have 2 backup healers BUT REMEBER THEY ARNT FULL HEALERS!
ok think thats the kinda guide ppl wanted =P this is just from experience of healing in fw =P
Heal and LoH will have about the same mp cost if you max both the available MP reduction talents. LoS is a 5 minute cd and is aoe so its cost doesn't matter.
the biggest tip i can give is, if you need to heal someone not the tank, toss LoH on the tank so they can survive while you toss a heal or two to others.
Kurokona: 40 Priest
well ty i dont have LoH atm or the mp talent im only 24/25 =P
I'm not putting up guides because I am a mod. I would have done so regardless as I like to inform new players and not hell bent on keeping all the information to myself and am willing to correct any misinformation should there be any. The game is not full of veteran gamers who knows what they are doing.
If someone wants to make an in-depth guide on it then by all means. This is the very basics as many will notice and I do not plan on getting into how to function in x instance.
--
Anyway, thanks anyone with constructive criticism. Please keep them coming and... if using abbreviations please write the full name once in case I need to add that in. Thanks again.
... I don't think I stickied this when I went to bed though...
Post in the right section and maybe you'll get the help you seek.
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You can't teach people how to heal, or atleast, it's very hard to make someone into a good healer in a short amount of time. Good as in, never has to pop their AOE even in the most difficult of dungeons, or someone who has never let your party wipe.
Tanks are also the main way of testing your priests ability to heal and or be a priest in general. If you get stuck with the worst tank on the planet, it really isn't your priests fault that they can't outheal the damage because the tank decided he would turn the second boss of lighthouse to face everyone and have the DoT's stack. While there's no bard in the party, might I add.
As a priest, I find good tanks much harder to find than good priests.
Art by Apple.
Oh, you thought that was bad? Sweetie, you have another thing coming.
And of course to start up a discussion on how you can heal in a certain situation. Everyone functions differently and while one method may work for you... may not work for the other.
Yes, good tanks are also hard to come by but how to tank a certain boss in an instance should probably be saved for an "Arena of Souls Guide" or a guide to tanking properly without giving your party a full blast of the AoE.
Post in the right section and maybe you'll get the help you seek.
[ Guide Index | Search | PWE Support ]
Art done by Apple, Sig by Neoyoshi *Much ♥*
My ♥ Belongs to Forseti.
Honor has not to be won; it must only not be lost.
*Playing since Phase 1/Day 1*
I... was shocked too. Haha.
Post in the right section and maybe you'll get the help you seek.
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I got a vampire as a healer in lighthouse on my sinx alt. Needless to say I didn't bother with the run.
Art by Apple.
Oh, you thought that was bad? Sweetie, you have another thing coming.
I wasn't shocked as I had heard it could happen, but was concerned at the time with the 10s cooldown on heal and not having been too familiar with using yet (This was at lvl 30)
In the earlier instances it isn't so bad if you only get a bard, but LH+ you need more than just 1 bard or just a bard and vamp healing. The fact that the party system doesn't recognize this is asinine imho.
Art done by Apple, Sig by Neoyoshi *Much ♥*
My ♥ Belongs to Forseti.
Honor has not to be won; it must only not be lost.
*Playing since Phase 1/Day 1*
thing is if the tank is new to an instance it might be wise to let them know in advance b4 they charge in on a boss what to expect...if ya dont tell me it needs to be turned it wont be...however if im aware of this fact sure ill turn it..im not a jerk lol
Btw to some of the others i wasnt even aware a vamp had a heal of any sort til i read Death's post lol..i knew the bard had AOE heal and priest was main but not a single clue on vamps..soo see not everyone knows everything
As far as the guide goes, great info. I heard a little about the vampire class having a heal, but as well not many will ever get it nor use it sadly. Whereas bards ought to know that they are the second healing class here and should have their heals up to par. Yes, I know they aren't as good as a priest but they can heal the whole party where the priest excels in single targets. To me, having a bard will be much better then being stuck with a vampire and only the vampire. My tip for those playing these three classes, get the heal skills if you plan on being in many parties. I'll keep names of those I run into that don't and won't party with them again as I'm sure several others will do the same. Again, nice guide, and thanks for the info!
Class: CHAMPION lvl 67
Guild: RADIANT
Position: Leader
Server: EAST (Atlantis?)
Currently 110 members
RRRRRrrriiiight. I'm not saying its a bad guide, but good luck getting your message to the intended audience.
Post in the right section and maybe you'll get the help you seek.
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I hope more discussion continues, or if not in this post, then perhaps another.
Thank you for the overview deathbunny.
Signature created by chaosheart27 ~ Thank You
Think ppl were expecting a proper indepth guide thats why its been bashed alot lol.
Also a Good healer does ur the aoe heal who ever said the not needing to use the aoe heal is silly, have u ever healed for a boss where most dds are sins and mage? Bosses have aoes and since no1 plays a proc, warriors kinda tank which can be a pain they arnt the best tank so with a 3 sec cd i cant keep up the healing on the dds while trying to keep the tank going.
And yea Ppl should use hp pots in dungeons epicecally the dds and squishy dds priests wont heal thos who dont tank why? coz simple
Tank dies = wipe
healer die = wipe
1 dd dies = little less dmg and a 40% mana burn for the healer when out of combat ( which i think is ****)
Art done by Apple, Sig by Neoyoshi *Much ♥*
My ♥ Belongs to Forseti.
Honor has not to be won; it must only not be lost.
*Playing since Phase 1/Day 1*
I apologize, on what you said above, but it does sound a little offensive. I guess, you really need to understand Vampires - before you condemn them to being just healers. I don't know if you have this info - but Vampires have three branches to take -
Blood -- Healing
Dark -- DPS
Inferno -- Massive Crowd Control and AOE/Single DPS
Like DBunny said, not all Vampires will take the Blood route, that does not mean that the Vampires do not have a place in any party.
But even with the Blood branch Vampire will continue to be support healers and never a main healer. Guess you will have to live with that.
newayz .. meet you in-game ...
xoxo LadyKatarina ...
Server: Olympus
Class: Enchantress
Current Overall Rank: 182
Current Ench Rank: 49
Looking for a active, leading PvP oriented guild / clan ..
This is Onomatomania, my avatar thing is messed up.
Maybe you should look throughout the entire forums before even commenting like this. 90% of the future players CAN'T GET IN GAME YET so they're ALL on forums! Yeah, that means it was intended to give information to new players and future players, and judging by the amount of views it's had, quite a lot actually read it.
Class: CHAMPION lvl 67
Guild: RADIANT
Position: Leader
Server: EAST (Atlantis?)
Currently 110 members
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