IN EVERY OTHER MMO I'VE PLAYED, healers always have at least one spammable DIRECT HEAL ability with no cooldown whatsoever. Why does this game have to be different?
Everquest and Everquest 2 didn't have that either.
I played at least 1 healer in every MMO and frankly spammable heals would be a nightmare turning me into a life support machine. To time the cooldowns and use the right spell (direct, HoT, AE) at the right moment on the right party member - and sometimes as the single healer to carefully balance the whole party just so nobody dies - is the challenge of the healer class. I wouldn't want the job otherwise.
MY problem is that targeting party members is a chore, the spells lack variety and the skill tree offers no option to turn the cleric either into a pure healer or smither.
In case you find my grammar or spelling weird ---> native german speaker
Everquest and Everquest 2 didn't have that either.
Hell, in EverQuest your spells could fizzle and lose you a second while you had to recast (rare, but it happened). It was especially dangerous when one of the clerics in the CH chain fizzled. That's when all the offhealers would pump fast heals into the tank until the next cleric in line landed their CH.
Anyone who complains about not being able to heal past level 50 on a cleric needs to rethink what they are doing. A fully geared cleric can solo heal any instance in the game. Running two fully geared clerics?...well that just makes the game too easy. It is all about your spec. Get to theorycrafting or stop playing MMOs. If you don't have enough of a brain to at least theorycraft a little for yourself then you can go find builds on the forums...but make sure you aren't stupid enough to copy a spec that is awful.
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phaasmaMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 16Arc User
I've enjoyed playing healer in most MMOs that I've played, but being healer in this game is one of the most unfun things I've ever had the misfortune of experiencing. Putting aside the fact that healing in MMOs is often a thankless task (every group needs a healer, but most groups don't really show any appreciation for your healing; they kind of take you for granted if you do your job properly, and rage at you needlessly if you're not doing it properly), there's a myriad of problems with healing in this game, namely:
1. There are NO direct heals in this game without having to use up Divinity. Most of the so-called "heal" abilities in this game either a) require to you to attack an enemy (Astral Seal, Sacred Flame) or b) require Divinity mode to function as a heal (Forgemasters flame). Even the closest ability to a direct heal (Healing Word), only applies a slow Regen effect on party members. Sure I could switch to Divinity mode for a direct heal, but when there's four other party members all critically low on health, and only 3 divinity charges to use, healing quickly becomes a nightmare. Seriously, who the hell thought this was good game design?
2. On the subject of Healing Word, why is it that I only have a max of 3 charges to use, and there's a 1 second pause between each charge, and when I run out of charges I have wait roughly TEN SECONDS before I can cast it again? IN EVERY OTHER MMO I'VE PLAYED, healers always have at least one spammable DIRECT HEAL ability with no cooldown whatsoever. Why does this game have to be different?
3. The complete lack of groupwide heals in this game. I don't consider Guardian Angel to be a proper groupwide heal since it heals for so little that it's virtually useless in epic dungeons. I guess you might be able to say Astral Shield is a group heal to an extent but it's not because a) it only heals those who are in its area of effect and b) as always, it requires Divinity mode in order to heal.
4. My biggest problem: the excessive amount of aggro that healing creates in this game. I've lost count of the number of times that all the adds would attack me instead of anyone else just for simply casting one healing spell. This of course distracts me from being able to heal the rest of the party because I have to waste time dodging adds. Cue the rest of my party yelling abuse at me like "WHY THE HELL ARENT U HEALING ME IDIOT GOD UR USELESS". Well genius, it's kinda hard to focus on healing you when the mobs are turning me into a human pinata and taking me down. "WELL THEN STOP GOING DOWN IDIOT". Well gee sir, I'd love to stay alive, if it weren't for all the ten million adds who all decided to turn their attention to me in unison, for the immense crime of casting one little healing spell. Adds that YOU proceeded to then ignore to whack away at the boss while the adds murder me with impunity, so it's clearly my fault. Silly me for not realizing that clerics are actually supposed to be tanks in this game, despite the fact that IN EVERY OTHER MMO clerics are supposed to be healers and NOT tanks. I guess Guardian Fighters are just there to relax and look pretty while clerics do all the tanking for them -_-
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go roll a Trickster Rogue and dps to my heart's content. Or just play a different game entirely. Healing in this game is a fool's errand.
Sorry but you are doing it wrong. Not trying to be a <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> but you need to look more into your build/feat points and what exactly you can do with them. try reading up on some guides etc. you have all kinds of tools as a healer to heal just fine, most dont actually require you to attack anything at all and in fact build divine power as well which will allow you to use other healing spells. In addition clerics have one of the highest AP gains in the game and your dailies can be used to heal as well (divine guardian, hallowed ground, divine armor etc. ) Spend some more time learning the ends and outs of the class and im sure you will be very pleased with the class. Clerics are THE Most well ounded class in the game and can do a little bit of everything (healing, DPS, etc.) Just spend some more time with it and stick with it and you will be happy. I am a 13k gs cleric and i wouldnt play any other class!
Everquest and Everquest 2 didn't have that either.
I played at least 1 healer in every MMO and frankly spammable heals would be a nightmare turning me into a life support machine. To time the cooldowns and use the right spell (direct, HoT, AE) at the right moment on the right party member - and sometimes as the single healer to carefully balance the whole party just so nobody dies - is the challenge of the healer class. I wouldn't want the job otherwise.
MY problem is that targeting party members is a chore, the spells lack variety and the skill tree offers no option to turn the cleric either into a pure healer or smither.
Actually yes, they did and still do.
Lieutenant Johnathan "Seven" Abradax Liberated Borg -Captain USS Solstice Member of Starfleet Borg Task Force - Tactical Unit
I'm building my current Cleric as a DPS/Healer Hybrid.
Unfortunately the way the game works right now it's going to be very hard, because essentially the Cleric is the tank in PvE which is wrong.
I absolutely love the way the healing works. And I loved hybrid healers in other MMO's. But they really really really need to fix their holy trinity set up. It's b0rked.
Also if they end up fixing threat they should really consider giving Astral Shield a slap on the wrist, a skill shouldn't be so mandatory. Especially with so little skill slots, it's essentially only 2 you get to choose from.
while I understand your frustration you have to understand that this isn't trinity it's trinity lite. What that means is everyone is still responsible for their hitpoints but it does make it a bit better and easier to have the extra help of a cleric.
So that being said, the roles are not 100% absolute, so don't expect to be a main healer like in games where the trinity is in full force all the time. Just help out where you can. They have pots they can use them and they can certainly block and dodge. And if people aren't choosing the right kind of complementary companion they need a wakeup call seriously. You cannot be DPS in this game and have the same class as yourself as a companion that's just redundant.
The only thing I think they need fixing (because I've actually read all of the paragon powers and enhancements) is the threat level, that seriously needs to go. Since this class isn't a main healer there should be 0 threat.
Finally, I'm quite surprised that you claim to be a healer type but failed to choose the paragon trait that gives you 1 more divinity slot.
while I understand your frustration you have to understand that this isn't trinity it's trinity lite. What that means is everyone is still responsible for their hitpoints but it does make it a bit better and easier to have the extra help of a cleric.
So that being said, the roles are not 100% absolute, so don't expect to be a main healer like in games where the trinity is in full force all the time. Just help out where you can. They have pots they can use them and they can certainly block and dodge. And if people aren't choosing the right kind of complementary companion they need a wakeup call seriously. You cannot be DPS in this game and have the same class as yourself as a companion that's just redundant.
The only thing I think they need fixing (because I've actually read all of the paragon powers and enhancements) is the threat level, that seriously needs to go. Since this class isn't a main healer there should be 0 threat.
Finally, I'm quite surprised that you claim to be a healer type but failed to choose the paragon trait that gives you 1 more divinity slot.
Try a T2 and then come back saying you don't need a cleric. Look in T2 astral shield is mandatory which is stupid, so many mobs hitting so hard at once it <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> design.
GF threat is broken, lets wait till Cry fixes their 20+ broken feats before anything is done to the DC.
on another note, i noticed that my DC doesn't do mass healing but suppose to keep the group topped off at every fight.
i can drop astral shield (+def) and just place astral seal on everything, usually this keeps the group up on Elite trash.
i can drop astral shield (+heal) and just damage the mobs with sacred flame.
usually both will keep the part at full hp all the time. there are times where a CW will always be outside my healing shield and then i usually just astral seal the mob they're attacking.
as for threat, yeah, you know, it sucks. right now many of the GF feats aren't working. A GF friend says his feats should give him over 60% threat generation but 1 seal can pick any mob off him even if i wait a minute to cast it.
Open the Launcher. Click Options near the top. Check Disable on-demand patching. This will download another couple of gigs.
I don't have any trouble keeping non-stupid people alive, and stupid people who ***** I didn't keep them alive when they were standing in the big red circle just go on ignore.
I do have to be very careful not to over-heal or I get a lot of aggro.
Bori - Renegade Drow - 40 Trickster Rogue - Mindflayer Elocin - Renegade Drow - 39 Devoted Cleric of Selune - Mindflayer
Looking for some Dust of Forum Troll Disappearance? Sprinkle this on any troll to phase shift them out of your plane of existence.
while I understand your frustration you have to understand that this isn't trinity it's trinity lite. What that means is everyone is still responsible for their hitpoints but it does make it a bit better and easier to have the extra help of a cleric.
So that being said, the roles are not 100% absolute, so don't expect to be a main healer like in games where the trinity is in full force all the time. Just help out where you can. They have pots they can use them and they can certainly block and dodge. And if people aren't choosing the right kind of complementary companion they need a wakeup call seriously. You cannot be DPS in this game and have the same class as yourself as a companion that's just redundant.
The only thing I think they need fixing (because I've actually read all of the paragon powers and enhancements) is the threat level, that seriously needs to go. Since this class isn't a main healer there should be 0 threat.
Finally, I'm quite surprised that you claim to be a healer type but failed to choose the paragon trait that gives you 1 more divinity slot.
That's fine, I'm not asking for the trinity, as I said I'm playing my Cleric like a true hybrid.
But tanks are 100% useless and instead the healers are tanking.
Healing works differently in this game than most MMOs, as it doesn't rely on direct burst healing by the cleric. If a person can't adapt to this different approach they won't find the class enjoyable, and should play something else.
The only thing vexing about clerics is the intense amount of aggro they can generate, which is more a function of how aggro is handled by the game than it is an attribute of the cleric class.
Yeah this... and it's a very interesting challenge. I've had to throw all I know about healing out the window and rethink it all. It's a lot less targetted and more reliant procs from your building and casting choices. Most of the action (so far... I've not grouped very much) seems to be about avoiding getting yourself killed - but then everyone should be worrying about that
Like you OP I had decided, stuff this, I'm soloing and not healing others in this game as it's too hard, but I figured dungeon delves get them done.. regearing and rebuilding it seems that things aren't quite as bad as I first thought.
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The MMO may change but the inventory tetris stays the same.
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ya maybe u should play other classes.
I played at least 1 healer in every MMO and frankly spammable heals would be a nightmare turning me into a life support machine. To time the cooldowns and use the right spell (direct, HoT, AE) at the right moment on the right party member - and sometimes as the single healer to carefully balance the whole party just so nobody dies - is the challenge of the healer class. I wouldn't want the job otherwise.
MY problem is that targeting party members is a chore, the spells lack variety and the skill tree offers no option to turn the cleric either into a pure healer or smither.
Sorry but you are doing it wrong. Not trying to be a <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> but you need to look more into your build/feat points and what exactly you can do with them. try reading up on some guides etc. you have all kinds of tools as a healer to heal just fine, most dont actually require you to attack anything at all and in fact build divine power as well which will allow you to use other healing spells. In addition clerics have one of the highest AP gains in the game and your dailies can be used to heal as well (divine guardian, hallowed ground, divine armor etc. ) Spend some more time learning the ends and outs of the class and im sure you will be very pleased with the class. Clerics are THE Most well ounded class in the game and can do a little bit of everything (healing, DPS, etc.) Just spend some more time with it and stick with it and you will be happy. I am a 13k gs cleric and i wouldnt play any other class!
Actually yes, they did and still do.
Liberated Borg -Captain USS Solstice
Member of Starfleet Borg Task Force - Tactical Unit
Unfortunately the way the game works right now it's going to be very hard, because essentially the Cleric is the tank in PvE which is wrong.
I absolutely love the way the healing works. And I loved hybrid healers in other MMO's. But they really really really need to fix their holy trinity set up. It's b0rked.
Also if they end up fixing threat they should really consider giving Astral Shield a slap on the wrist, a skill shouldn't be so mandatory. Especially with so little skill slots, it's essentially only 2 you get to choose from.
So that being said, the roles are not 100% absolute, so don't expect to be a main healer like in games where the trinity is in full force all the time. Just help out where you can. They have pots they can use them and they can certainly block and dodge. And if people aren't choosing the right kind of complementary companion they need a wakeup call seriously. You cannot be DPS in this game and have the same class as yourself as a companion that's just redundant.
The only thing I think they need fixing (because I've actually read all of the paragon powers and enhancements) is the threat level, that seriously needs to go. Since this class isn't a main healer there should be 0 threat.
Finally, I'm quite surprised that you claim to be a healer type but failed to choose the paragon trait that gives you 1 more divinity slot.
Try a T2 and then come back saying you don't need a cleric. Look in T2 astral shield is mandatory which is stupid, so many mobs hitting so hard at once it <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> design.
on another note, i noticed that my DC doesn't do mass healing but suppose to keep the group topped off at every fight.
i can drop astral shield (+def) and just place astral seal on everything, usually this keeps the group up on Elite trash.
i can drop astral shield (+heal) and just damage the mobs with sacred flame.
usually both will keep the part at full hp all the time. there are times where a CW will always be outside my healing shield and then i usually just astral seal the mob they're attacking.
as for threat, yeah, you know, it sucks. right now many of the GF feats aren't working. A GF friend says his feats should give him over 60% threat generation but 1 seal can pick any mob off him even if i wait a minute to cast it.
Ability Scores || All Attribute Roll Combinations || My Cleric Stream \o/
I do have to be very careful not to over-heal or I get a lot of aggro.
Elocin - Renegade Drow - 39 Devoted Cleric of Selune - Mindflayer
Looking for some Dust of Forum Troll Disappearance ? Sprinkle this on any troll to phase shift them out of your plane of existence.
That's fine, I'm not asking for the trinity, as I said I'm playing my Cleric like a true hybrid.
But tanks are 100% useless and instead the healers are tanking.
That's not Trinity Lite*tm.
That's b0rked game design atm.
Yeah this... and it's a very interesting challenge. I've had to throw all I know about healing out the window and rethink it all. It's a lot less targetted and more reliant procs from your building and casting choices. Most of the action (so far... I've not grouped very much) seems to be about avoiding getting yourself killed - but then everyone should be worrying about that
Like you OP I had decided, stuff this, I'm soloing and not healing others in this game as it's too hard, but I figured dungeon delves get them done.. regearing and rebuilding it seems that things aren't quite as bad as I first thought.
The MMO may change but the inventory tetris stays the same.