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worst healing class of any mmo ever
jamesl1
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
big fan of Shaman in Warhammer Online, also enjoyed healing in Rift
in those 2 mmos I could actually be useful as a healer in PvE and PvP even at level 10
I could instant heal, heal over time, group heal and cast protective shields
here I am level 17 and I have the worst healing skills ever
no protective shields
and my damage is laughable (which would be fine if I could heal - because that's what I want to do anyway)
it's basically Astral Seal every enemy in range (which seems totally useless), Lance them (laughable damage), try to get enough points to cast Guardian of Faith or Hallowed Ground (which I can do so rarely that I fell like I'm not contributing)
I'm constantly dazed, stunned, frozen or flailing around suspended in the air
why call a class Cleric - "Devoted Healer" when that is the farthest thing from what it is ?
might as well call it the "Cleric - <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> healing skills, and can't do what when dazed" class
the random PvP teams I've been on have done really well,
won 4 out of 5 today, 5 out of 8 yesterday
but I don't feel like a healer, I feel like a very, very weak mage
probably reroll a Control Wizard
or more likely probably go back and do the free trial of War
really have no interest in doing this till level 30 and hoping it gets better
but from all the forum posts I've read, it doesn't
in those 2 mmos I could actually be useful as a healer in PvE and PvP even at level 10
I could instant heal, heal over time, group heal and cast protective shields
here I am level 17 and I have the worst healing skills ever
no protective shields
and my damage is laughable (which would be fine if I could heal - because that's what I want to do anyway)
it's basically Astral Seal every enemy in range (which seems totally useless), Lance them (laughable damage), try to get enough points to cast Guardian of Faith or Hallowed Ground (which I can do so rarely that I fell like I'm not contributing)
I'm constantly dazed, stunned, frozen or flailing around suspended in the air
why call a class Cleric - "Devoted Healer" when that is the farthest thing from what it is ?
might as well call it the "Cleric - <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> healing skills, and can't do what when dazed" class
the random PvP teams I've been on have done really well,
won 4 out of 5 today, 5 out of 8 yesterday
but I don't feel like a healer, I feel like a very, very weak mage
probably reroll a Control Wizard
or more likely probably go back and do the free trial of War
really have no interest in doing this till level 30 and hoping it gets better
but from all the forum posts I've read, it doesn't
Post edited by jamesl1 on
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Comments
The problem you're dealing with is that the healing model here is so radically different from that of other MMOs, you will be forever frustrated if you don't make the mental switch. The Devoted Cleric is not a healer who stands in the back and watches heal bars. The subtleties of ability side effects demands research. Take a look at the builds in the master build list stickied in the forum, lots of great info there.
It's just one of those games where you have to suffer through to get the good stuff.
1) Anyway to resurrect a teammate without using a scroll?
2) Aside from Control key locking onto a teammate, targeting anyone for a single target heal is a pain in the butt without anyway to hotkey target teammates.
3) The mobs rating clerics as the highest agro target regardless of what they've actually done before the fight and ignoring threat reduction in builds is poor coding. For now it appears the best way to build in this game, is embrace the agro. Build to kite and aoe.
No offense, but almost ALL mob CC can be avoided. Also, you really just need to level up - if you can't stick it out, you can't stick it out, but clerics are very good healers @ 60.
Garbage > Passable > Fall off in power > Whole different game.
AKA terrible game design.
I do okay at kiting and surviving, but seriously? Wait until 50/60 for that 'one' power before I become a great healer?
As a casual gamer, I don't have much time and usually play with my friend. He keeps complaining about what a crappy healer I am. I've read the builds and adjusted mine accordingly and also my game play to basically survive aggro, but have been thinking I'm a crappy player for not doing much better as a healer. And maybe that's still the case because some of the builds keep talking about how good this cleric is - unless they are also referring to the end game.
If there are a lot of mobs surrounding me, which usually happens in every encounter, I'm so busy trying to survive, it's hard to heal him.
For me, it's not just to enjoy the endgame, it's also the journey. Especially since it takes me much longer than others due to my limited play time.
My friend constantly complains about the game and I've been trying to enjoy it, but to say that we just need to grind it through until later is just that - a grind for 50 levels. That sucks.
I'm level 36 and kind of enjoyed the ability to do decent damage when I solo, but in a group, I feel my job should be healing like a madman. Instead, I usually end up working as a tank.
Personally, I'd like to think I just need to become a better player with this cleric rather than waiting until I get Astral Shield at 50. That way I know it's just me and not the game. I can improve my gameplay (hopefully), but I can't improve the game.
Cheers.
Healing here is not exactly like other mmo's, which was also mentioned, but you do have these types of spells: Instant/HoT- Casting healing word in divinity mode. Group heal- Sun burst. Protective shield- The almighty Astral shield. There are more abilities that do some of these things but considering your level I chose these (minus the astral shield of course)
Lance of faith does crappy damage and there's really not a way around it, but when you get sacred flame you will do more damage, not that you should be too concerned with that ^.- Also that astral sealing every enemy in range and keeping the debuff up on them does a whole lot more than you might think.
Just stick it out a little longer and read some of the cleric builds there are floating around in the master list. They will help out a ton.
If you can't keep a team mate healed (even prior to level 50 and Astral Shield) then your team mate is doing something wrong (like eating red damage). Sun Burst, Healing Word, & Divinity powered FF are more than adequate.....
My wife and I always duo and have been from the start. I have to admit, I was puzzled at the beginning with the unusual healing model, but we've been through that before. Age of Conan had a bizarre healing model, too, also having no direct heals per se, with cone heals and heals that only worked once you did damage, and took a lot of adjustment. But I came to understand it, level capped, healed very successfully in group play. And I remember when Cataclysm hit WoW, healers were like WTF, smite healing?? The healing model there changed significantly and took some getting used to but I loved it precisely because it WAS different, and more engaging. I got very good at it, and convinced a lot of doubters that I could heal better while smiting than "pure" healers could.
Here, the model relies more heavily on damage protection and side effect healing. Instead of "bubbles" or Wards you get significant damage reduction side buffs and side effects. There is a lot of synergy between the various feats and powers that make it fun to figure out how to get the max damage reduction, healing, and dps from your rotation. And, more importantly, it works. I have never had trouble keeping my wife (GF) or our Skirmish and Dungeon groups alive. In fact, it's been categorically easy, and I count the number of times on my hands that either of us has died. The game is simply too easy at our level. I'm assuming (and hoping) that it will get more challenging in epic T1 and T2 play, but for now we're sailing through the content and enjoying smelling the roses as we go.
The point is, the healing is NOT ineffective and DOES work. It's different and requires adapting to the difference. This may not be something you want but, honestly, I don't need another MMO with the standard healing model of me standing in the back, glued to health bars and doing chain healing rotations. If I wanted that, I could go back to EverQuest where I did that in Vex Thal till my eyes were crossed.
Try something different, embrace the change. Obviously, others are doing it and there's no reason you can't, either.
Leveling as a healer in any MMO is always unclear as to how well it is going to be later in the game. Once I hit 60 I'll probably change my mind on it being the worst healing class in an MMO but so far my main concern isn't the lack of healing spells, rather it's the way you have to heal.
My problem is that when I try to heal a dungeon, I'm always healing the wrong person because everyone is all clustered in the same area, and I have my target, then he moves just a little bit and I heal someone else instead. It's really annoying.
At level 30 you get forgemaster's flame, you must always cast it in divinity mode .If you max it ASAP it's basically the only heal you'll need (along with ASeal). At lv 40 it gets tougher, but it's manageable. If you need more healing just get bastion, but it's not really needed and it has a very annoying delay.
At lv 50 Astral Shield, you must always cast it in divinity mode too. Again, if you max it ASAP it's OP. combine it with FF and you're just fine.
You must not stop casting stuff, even if you're on the run stopping for half a second won't be fatal unless you do it inside oif a red circle.
Surviving is another story. Keeping others healed is not the hard part...
I want this class in NW.
Even so, I would much rather have access to most (if not all) of the cleric's abilities right at the start. They could balance this by making abilities have more than 3 ranks: for instance, you couldn't max out Astral Shield until level 50 or so, but you'd at least have access to a low level version of it at lower levels.
Those are called paladins.
GFs are just brawlers with low charisma. They are nice pets to quest with tho, their shields are quite cool, and they kill faster than clerics.
Win-win.
I want this class in NW.
TR and CW kill stuff faster than a GF also.
I played a bear shaman in AoC for nearly four years and the model of healing in Neverwinter reminds me a lot of healing in that game also. You have to get your Astral Seal up, then if you start hitting that mob you will be rewarded with green numbers exploding all around that target. Hit a bunch of mobs with Astral Seal and then hit Sun Burst and you will see big returns. From memory self heals in AoC were also a diminished % of what you could expect to heal someone else and players were expected to run pots frequently, it just takes getting used to. I can appreciate that if you had never played AoC that this model of healing would feel very foreign, but once you get used to it then it can be a lot of fun.
I don't ever single target heal unless we are transitioning between areas in or waiting for another fight in PvP. As long as your group is fighting well and staying out of the red you should be able to heal fine. I do great.
allowing people to enter negative numbers in the AH LOL!
what a joke
not only did they fail at designing a healing class, they failed at coding and testing the AH (and The Foundry before that)
how many exploits have been discovered since Open Beta started ?
how many times have the devs had to change something ?
do they not have any QA people at all ?
its one thing to say "a skill is too powerful and needs to be nerfed"
its another when they have to change the way major game features work
well, Rift is going free to play in 3 weeks
might as well go back to that
really ?
what healing skills did you use from levels 1-12 to keep people alive ?
would they have lived if you weren't there ?
would they have lived if you were a class other than healer ?
so did you really keep them alive in those early levels in PvP ?
but thats how this game is. it doesnt have such strong heals.
as for pvp, yes it is broken.
no diminishing returns means you'll be stunned by a wizard until you're dead.
and if ur at 50% of below you're a free kill for any rogue that has shocking execution ready.
in pvp your healing isnt that good to keep someone alive if they're being attacked by a rogue, or even a wizard.
not to mention the obsurd -40% healing debuff clerics get.
finally, in pve, the agro is broken, people dont want guardians in groups because of that,
since clerics end up tanking everything as soon as they throw a single heal.