Healer or shaman?

chalaim

Fledgling Freddie
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I am thinking of starting a Healer to have in group play. Do anyone has any tip to give me? What is good to specialise in? Appreciate any help or/and ideas.
 

Aremeriel

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It really depends on what you like and also what kind of groups you'll be playing in.

For instance, playing with casters (rm/bd/sm) and power users (thane/skald) or shamans I'd recommend pac (pac/mend)as you get the power regen then.

For playing with pure melee grps (warrior, sb, hunter, savage, zerk), aug (aug/mend) is best, as they don't need power regen (you will not have as much power though)

My healer is pac/mend specc (44p/8a/30m) and I love it, but not all like playing pac, so it's really your choice. ;)
 

chalaim

Fledgling Freddie
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Ok, thx for the info. I also like the pac but aug seems to be nice as well. Mending is probablby good as well but seems a bit boring :)
 

Aremeriel

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chalaim said:
Ok, thx for the info. I also like the pac but aug seems to be nice as well. Mending is probablby good as well but seems a bit boring :)
I don't think mending is more boring, they have plenty to do. I don't think one is more boring than the other, it's just different play style
 

chalaim

Fledgling Freddie
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Thx Bagloor. :)

Aremeriel: I see what you mean but to me it seems a bit boring :)
 

chalaim

Fledgling Freddie
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Thx for the guide. It was really helpful. I also got another view on the mending spec. :)
 

Aremeriel

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chalaim said:
Thx Bagloor. :)

Aremeriel: I see what you mean but to me it seems a bit boring :)
No problem at all. ;)

chalaim said:
Thx for the guide. It was really helpful. I also got another view on the mending spec. :)
Good to hear. ;)

One thing though, when I started a healer for my very first char, people said I was crazy and that healers were sooooooo hard to play. Heard a lot about how I should try easier classes first. I stuck with my healer and loved it, still do. So, if people try telling you how hard they are to play (yes, they are) then just go with your feeling.

And when you get "Heal! FFS!" if you're interrupted/attacked by mob, don't listen to them. Tell them to keep the mobs off you if they want heals. Some people will argue that you weren't under attack even if your health is low. Shut your ears to them.. A year ago I'd tell you to leave that group cause it would be easier for you to get another group than for them to get another healer, but exp groups aren't that many any more. ;)
Good luck and give me a holler in game if you end on Prydwen server. ;)
 

chalaim

Fledgling Freddie
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Thx for your input Aremeriel. I have started playing a healer now. I LOVE it :)
He is not more than level 5 but I feel that this is fun. I have checked the spellists and I will go for the more balanced healer:
Pac 29 Mend 32 Aug 32 (Balanced)
Single target insta stun/mezz, good healing (spread heal, 75% insta and 50% group insta) and some decent Aug (first set of resists and level 3 celerity).

I dont know if this is the most effective spec but it seems to be the funniest :)

Tell me what you think about it if you have the time...I saw that you choose the 44/30/8.

Now I am going in to play up my healer to lev 6 :)
 

Aremeriel

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chalaim said:
Thx for your input Aremeriel. I have started playing a healer now. I LOVE it :)
He is not more than level 5 but I feel that this is fun. I have checked the spellists and I will go for the more balanced healer:
Pac 29 Mend 32 Aug 32 (Balanced)
Single target insta stun/mezz, good healing (spread heal, 75% insta and 50% group insta) and some decent Aug (first set of resists and level 3 celerity).
I was going for a balanced spec too when I first started. But respecced pac/mend at 40, cause balanced healers don't excel in anything. They're more ok in all, but not really great. I would suggest a split spec, like pac/mend, aug/mend or other way round.. The first listed as such is always the main spec. Like mine is pac/mend. ;)
And remember your free respecs at 20 and 40
 

chalaim

Fledgling Freddie
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Hello again,

I am now level 8 and think the healer is real fun to play. I have also rethinked and will go for the 44/30/8 or maybe 38/?/?, dont remember the combination in the head :)

I have checked up the Shaman as well. I think he looks interesting as well. Do anyone has any input to give about the shaman character?
 

Klonk

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This I have answered before, but I love discussing healers, so here goes:

The most common specs for lvl 50 healers wanting to do rvr and pve are
1) 44pac/31 mend - the pac/mend healer
2) 40 mend/36 pac - the mend/pac healer
3) 39 mend/37 aug - mend/aug healer
4) 44 aug/31 mend - aug/mend healer
( 5) 40 mend/36 aug - mend/aug healer II)

No 1 is primary mezzer/crowdcontroller, got yellow PoM and decent heals. No 2 has much better heals, but lacks the top-range crowdcontrol (cc from now on).

No 3 has good heals (spreadheals equal to healer type no 2) and, instead of having CC, has self-buffs + resist buffs + Celerity + haste buff, a must in rvr.

No 4 is a "hard core" variant of no 3, with better haste buff and Celerity, but worse heals. After TOA - most tanks have capped melee haste, and red Cele is thus kinda redundant.

No 5 a version of no 3, but lacks the yellow energy resist on 37 aug spec. Instead he trades this for the 100% HP rezz you get on 40 mending. IMO this is semi-gimped, as energy resist is perhaps the most important resist, together with heat resist (that shammys get).

So, there are the NORMAL specs, feel free to choose something else, but know that there is a reason that the mentioned specs are the prominent ones :)

Feel free to ask if I was unclear at any point. Also, use the char builder on daoc.catacombs.com (version 2) to check when you get the different spells :)
 

Aremeriel

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Klonk said:
The most common specs for lvl 50 healers wanting to do rvr and pve are
1) 44pac/31 mend - the pac/mend healer

Think 44p/30m/8a is almost as common. Would put those two specs as shared 1st place. Not much difference between them other than one slightly bigger heal on the 31m and first run speed on the other (which isn't great, but good for running between spaces when you don't have other speed, and no I'm not talking in RvR here, but Svasud to DF for instance.

Chalaim: I can't tell you much about shamans, other than they are mostly used as bbs, or at least most have bb spec (ie. high aug). Which means they are hard to find with random grps for RvR at times, but highly wanted because of end regen

Edit: A character builder: http://daoc.catacombs.com/cbuilder.cfm
 

Klonk

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Aremeriel said:
Think 44p/30m/8a is almost as common. Would put those two specs as shared 1st place. Not much difference between them other than one slightly bigger heal on the 31m and first run speed on the other (which isn't great, but good for running between spaces when you don't have other speed, and no I'm not talking in RvR here, but Svasud to DF for instance.

True, forgot that variant ;)

As for shammys, the current patch made high aug (44+ aug) the most common spec, so the difference between a bb and a playable shammy is little atm. Groups will be kinda hard to find, but a shammy is a great duo/trio/small group member, and can even solo decently with cave spec. It is possible to solo to 40 with high cave spec, then respec then to high aug.

In rvr, there is often need for playable shammys, so if you want to play one, go for it :) But be aware that while a "standard" mid group has 3 healers, it only has room for one shammy, so the competition is higher :)
 

Aremeriel

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bb=buffbot, a char that's been made only to buff (and usually stands outstand pk (portal keep)).. bbs is just the plural version
 

chalaim

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Ah....I thought so but was not sure. It sounds boring to have such a character. So most schamans is bots? Sounds really boring :-(

Maybe I should go for the healer.....but the schaman seemed fun as well....I like buffs :)
 

Aremeriel

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I don't think shamans are necessarily boring to play. They got root and damage spells as well as heals and buffs. But, I can't really tell you much about shamans apart from the buffbots, as I've never played a shaman.
 

Klonk

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Shammys are very fun to play in rvr, and you cant have a decent rvr group without one. Yes, many rvr groups use a buffbot for spec buffs (dex/quick + str/con) and brain buff (acuity buff), but you got to have a shaman running with you too, to interrupt enemy (AE rooting/AE dots/AE disease) and root enemies/pets heading for our healers, to rebuff players when someone dies, rebuff shaman resists, etc. These things cannot be done by a buffbot standing at mtk Emain or Svasud Faste.

Many people feel it is "easier" to play a shaman in rvr than, say, a pac healer. By this I mean that the potential to do something stupid is not so big, and if you f*ck up as a pac healer, the group looses, if you f*ck up as a shammy, it can mean you loose, but not necessarily.

But in the end, it's up to you, midgard probably needs both active shammys and healers :)
 

chalaim

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Ok, thx :)
Hmmm...someone has good tip on how to spec? I have checked the spells and it seems like a combination of all three would be the best but I am mayb missing something out then?

I sure want: 26 Fungal Rejuvenation +81 HP 6 sec. 4 sec. 50P Group 30 sec. on the mend spec. That is 26 in mend.

I guess you want up to lev 22 in subterranean where you get the root area spell: Vine Field 99% 3 sec. 13P Enemy 350 38 sec. The rest can be put into buff spec.

Is this a good line to go?
 

chalaim

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I saw this suggestion on some guide: 33 Cave/33 Mend/26 Aug – This is a well-rounded template. Two lines are near 2/3 spec with all spell lines touched and at least the first level in the third spec line.

Seems to me as I would rather get mend to 35 or go up to lev 26 in mend and put more into cave and/or aug. hmmm....hard choices :)
 

Klonk

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Hm, a spec giving you a little in everything CAN be good, but I have the feeling that the spec you are referring to, is an old one, perhaps it could be used in patch 1.45 or something ;)

The following is all based on you wanting to be an rvr shaman:

-Minimum cave spec: 27. Reason -> pbae disease (or "fart" as we call it in mid :p)
-Minimum aug spec: 43. Reason -> red heat resistance buff (many enemy casters nuke with heat damage, red heat buff means your group takes less damage)
-Minimum mending spec: 1 :p Reason -> you are there to interrupt/root/rebuff in the field, not to heal.

You can get various things from higher cave spec (like blue AE dot/green AE root) and from higher aug spec (red damage add/red cold resistance buff) and from higher mend spec (cure dis/poison ++) but these are the minimum for each specline. So you will be high aug spec (see my previous posts too) but with more cave than a bb, so to speak. Common specs after 1.69 patch are:

43/10/31 aug/mend/cave
44/4/31 aug/mend/cave
44/15/27 aug/mend/cave
45/12/27 aug/mend/cave

Play with the Char builder on Catacombs to see what appeals most to you :)
 

chalaim

Fledgling Freddie
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Thx once again for your input. I have now returned to my healer and will stick to him. I really missed my stun and Mez, the power buff is not bad eighter. :)
 

Ingafgrinn Macabre

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chalaim, what's your server and your charname?

btw, I'm 49Aug, 22Mend and 5Pac, and I love it :D wouldn't change spec even if my life depended on it ;)
 

chalaim

Fledgling Freddie
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I am on Exclaibur. My shaman character is named Trygve but I play my healer now instead and his name is Amrak. I also have a lev 20 bonedancer but I only solo with him :)
 

chalaim

Fledgling Freddie
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Ah...to bad. If I ever come to Prywden I can contact you :)
Some people in my guild started playing on prywden. :)
 

Helme

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Can add an thing with the healing, played an aughealer you got the power of life & death. Which gives the healing part extreme fun since most of the time it hangs on you getting an heal of in right time.
 

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