Advice Please - Tips on being an effective healer for a group...

I am hoping to get some advice on how to be a dedicated, reliably effective healer in groups.

Question #1
I really loathe the fact that the health bars are static & cant be moved closer to the combat bar.

I predominantly play using the mouse & clicking glyphs, so to me, this will make it hard to be a useful healer, as I have to travel a lot of screen real estate between health bars & the healing glyphs.
So if anyone has ideas on how I can quickly respond to each players needs, I will be grateful.

Question #2
My inates are already all around the 80 lvl.

I am assuming that the skills in the first part of the Life tree, initially, do not need to be a high level, as the best heals are towards the bottom of the tree.

So I should concentrate on getting the skills at the bottom to the highest level quickly & then when I can afford the XP to specialize in Life Skill, I can backtrack & get the early skills up then?

Question #3
Many skills say they are more effective if you haven't damaged an NPC recently.

How much impact does this really have, as it means I would have to have a lot of faith in the group defending me, so I don't have to defend myself.

But if they are focused on what they are doing & not watching my bar, or me because I am behind them, I will have to defend myself. This seems to leave me pretty vulnerable & a dead or weakhealer is of no value to the group.

I am assuming that banish undead (even though it is in the Life tree) counts as damaging an NPC.

Any other advice would be appreciated.
Thank You

 

Every ten points in your ten highest level skills gets you a point of attunement, which increases the strength of all of your skill sin that tree. So if you want to really specialize in a single tree, putting a lot of points into most of the skills helps overall.

 

I think to be efficient you'll have to learn to use the keyboard instead of the mouse. Too much time lost if you click around, and too easy to miss.

Personally I find the lower level skills just as useful, if not even more useful. When I heal a party, I use stacked healing ray and healing blast spells, with unstacked healing ray in between for the quick safe. Healing ray is just sooo much faster than healing blast. I use healing grace on the tanks if they don't have it themselves, or on anyone that seems particularly fragile. Healing touch is a skill I use only on myself. People tend to run around too much when their health goes down.

I have a healing deck that I only use in groups where there's a really well working tank that pulls all aggro, where I have a life wand in one hand and an ankh of sacrifice in the other and really don't damage stuff. This makes my heals much better, but I don't know how much of it is due to not damaging NPCs and how much due to the gear.

 

If you want to take the most efficient exp way, leave rezz at level 1, and the range passive at like 80. Spec I never use in terms of attunement because they are so expensive, so the rest of the other 10 skills as high as you can, and getting the spec up to 8o- for the 6th card.

 

Good questions, hope we have the right answers for you.

1.) My wife is specialized archery/life and is also a mouse point/clicker and doesn't use the keyboard much. She just doesn't like to do it. If you really want to increase your speed, two things can happen. First, you can use the keyboard binds to quickcast or target (F1+ keys or whatever you decide to set/bind them to for party members). Second, hope they implement some better UI customizations for group play, which I think they will as its in their best interest, especially with the current hotspot of Upper Tears for grouping.

2.) Sounds fine. While the earlier non-passive skills are generally shorter in range, they can still be quite good... but if you're a dedicated healer then yes you want to have those ranged ones as well. Also, do not ignore the passives, even 2nd tier ones because they boost the power of your "life tree" heals.

3.) Yes its true your healing is greatly increased if you're just standing back being the healer/buffer instead of doing damage (can even have a pet wisp to debuff enemies if you want to add something additional, though most keep a water elemental out for the extra healing it offers when healing is needed A LOT). If you have to fight, its ok. You can still do great healing even while damaging. My wife supports groups all the time and she's always pulling aggro with her archery skills as well.

Extra tips on healing or being the healer for groups:
1.) Like Cora said, your attunement for every "magical skill tree" (the little golden Buddha icon when selecting a magic based skill tree) is very important. The higher it is, the more powerful EVERYTHING in that magic skill tree becomes. Take the top 10 skills in that magic tree, add them up, and divide by 10 and that's your attunement for that tree. So you want the main 10 skills in that tree to be 100 or better. You'll probably also want gear that boosts your attunement level as well... and you want "Intelligence" high as well as it offers not only more focus but spell crit chance as well... even for healing.
2.) There are also other sources of heals other than the LIFE tree. Leaving out self-based healing that most trees have at least one form of, there is Soothing Rain from Water (AoE HoT- heal over time), Elysian Illumination from Light (AoE HoT and DoT to undead), the combo of Soothing Rain + Banish Undead gives another AoE HoT that gives a DoT to undead and stacks with other HoTs. Most of the rest are generally self-healing with the exception of the combo from Death tree but that messes up any and all LIFE magic, so don't use any "death" skills if you're going for healing.
3.) If you ever get to the point where you can "Specialize" the Life tree, then it will make your heals even better and reductions in penalties for doing damage as well as other spell bonuses.
4.) Stacking your spells will make them even more powerful (x5 for non specialized, x6 with at least 80 specialization in the tree). The problem comes in types of stacking. You can charge a skill if its locked on your bar (and put the xtra glyphs in your deck) or you can stack/charge by having, for example, two unlocked side-by-side slots where you put the same skill in both slots to get it to come up randomly (make sure to put the xtra glyphs in your deck for that skill otherwise you can only stack/charge it x1). Some charge REALLY, REALLY SLOW... on a locked bar... holding down the key and that would probably suck for trying to heal someone fast. Sometimes you can get really fast combos/pairs of the skills you need in random slots and can stack faster than trying to charge. I don't heal enough or try to stack/charge heal spells enough to tell you which is which. You'll have to try for yourself and see which is faster for you. The plus side is that max charged spells are very powerful, even healing, however most healing ive seen doesn't really need charged/stacked heals.
5.) Stances can help - In the focus tree, Spellbinder stance if you're just healing is good for both focus and spell power. In the tactics tree, Passive Stance is good for focus regeneration.
6.) If you're spamming spells, you generally want a lot of regeneration going for focus. It may not seem like much for small stuff but long battles can wear you down depending on what buffs are going so in general have:
a.) 2 Devotional/Shrine buffs on you (places like Diamond Fields nested inside Port Phoenix by Xenos for example has all the Devotionals to choose from) - so you probably want Honor for increased combat focus regen and one of these that balances your build or situation: http://sotawiki.net/sota/Devotionals
b.) 2 food buffs going - Dragon Stew to get max regens for both focus/health and one for whatever else helps your build (Bear types for STR, wolf types for DEX, etc).
c.) Harp of Invigoration is a good artifact to have if you need more regen as it gives: +4 Combat Focus Per Sec, +4 Combat Health Per Sec, +8 Focus Per Sec, +8 Health Per Sec

Additional things that can boost your skill in healing (as well as all spells), cloth armor that gives you Spell Crit bonus, INT bonus, Focus bonus, etc. You can do well in leather too, just generally cloth has higher spell focused stats. If you wear plate, Constantan type gives bonuses to focus and Obsidian Plate reduces fizzle chance on spells but it is very expensive to make, let alone buy (avg 200k to 300k for a decent piece, not even a set).

Sorry for the long post. I just want to give you some pointers that me and my wife found out.
Good luck and have fun healing!

 

Really imo you need to at least GM those inates. I don't have the healing ranged one GM'd but the oher two I have. I have Gm'd healing blast and healing ray also.

I'm also working on GMing soothing rain and Elysium illumination Which you stack on your party periodically throughout a bad battle.

I use dual wands with healing stats on them and also armor and jewelry with more healing stats. I use chain armor for less fizzle since when I'm not healing I am a GM bludgeon 2 handed axe weilder. Chain is only because I am also melee when not healing for a group.

I rarely use the healing anhk since it uses an extreme amount of reagents but I'll use it occasionally.

I personally heal by clicking on the party health bars on my screen to target players. I use dots on players who need extra healing through out the battle. I just throw dots at them occasionally as I see the need.

Healing for a group is a very interesting, challenging, and different experience in this game. Lots of strategic things.

I also carry the harp of invigoration to buff up the group if I have time if I see players out of focus I can play a few notes of a song. Putting a sheet music on your non combat bar helps. Really it's all a team effort though to take care of the group so anyone can try to watch with you and help if needed.

I recently learned that to stack heals I have to lock them but what I didn't know is I can't have them rotating on another bar or they won't stack. So I put my main heals all locked on their own slot like healing blast, healing ray, etc abdno extra copies of them anywhere. That way I can fully charge them. I rotate other things I might need depending on the type of battle.

If it's undead you are fighting I lock my very high level banish undead. I otherwise don't do damage since it will lessen how much heal I do, so no damage skills on my group healing deck.

Always imo it is wise to ask for back up resurrection help so you can keep healing the group or back up heals if you have to resurrect since it so slow and takes you away from healing the group too long.

So good luck to the OP. I hope anything I say can help. I am of course still learning a lot and I'm determined to keep improving. I personally specialized in healing and bludgeons but that is dependent on your desired choice of attack weapon.

 

A just in case you didn't know here since you didn't mention it.

Although you cannot move the health bars, you can move the combat bar by dragging the sword in the middle. So potentially you could drag it up next to the health bars so that you'd traverse less screen real estate.

 

You want the quest harp now for healing as it's a heal bonus buff. (35% I think.)

In regards to healing I tend to have the t2 heal; soothing rain and Elysium locked so that I can charge it if needed. Depending on the fight I'll also have an aoe heal ready.

HoT the archers and ignore them for the most part. Then it's usually just keeping the tank alive.

I personally keep resurrect leveling for more attunement.

 

I didn't even know about this quest harp. Will have to inform my wife about it, thanks Talimar.

 

@Kaffe Nightbreeze I didn't read anything after what @Mac2 said. My point is that he understands this game and its current mechanics better than anyone could. The developers do not play the game to the thorough degree that is necessary to explain and answer your question. Mac knows what's up.

He's also a concise sort of person, so the less he says, the more significant the words mean.

So yeah. Ask Mac.

 

One further thought, the specialization skill in any given tree is an important choice that will limit your capability, in general. To choose a specialization will remove some measure of flexibility, in regard to the "classless system".

My thinking is that it is a viable and important option, to not level a specialization skill at all.

 

Also worth mentioning since I find a lot of players don't realise...

How much you heal for is also effected by your targets life attunement.
We had a player in a group the other day who couldn't understand why he was so much more powerful compared to the day before when he sucked (his words) the only changed between those two days was the targets he was healing.

 

WOW I never expected so many helpful replies in such a short time!

THANK YOU to each & every one of you...

I will bookmark this thread, so I can refer back to it as I put things into practice & refine my technique.
I feel that being a healer does take a lot of strategy & it will be challenging.... When I am a Healer, I want to be a very good Healer.
It feels like a rather daunting role to play.
But before I put myself out there as group healer in a hard zone, I want to get my skills up & refine how I will do things.
I wont use the group as Guinea Pigs LOL

I already have the Harp of Invigoration which quest gives this Harp?

& although everyones advice has been GOLD, but a special shout out to @Brugas for his very detailed information!

Thank you all once again!

 

Nothing much to add to what everyone said. Gear wise get 2 wands with over 20 life attunement + ring, neck and chest with life attunement too.

Survuvability is a big thing as a group healer as aggro bounces around a lot in most groups and heal aggro can get you hit fairly often - I use full chain armour a lot to help stay alive - you can't heal the tank if you're dead (although you need reasonable skills to cast with no fizzle - the follow through skill at the bottom of the focus tree helps here). Also using cloth with one wand and a shield (again with life attunement on it) can work well for keeping you alive.

Carrying a stack of focus potions can also be very useful for keeping the group alive in prolonged fights...

 

I think I still am the highest life mage in the game at the moment with 1582 levels in the life tree. I leveled entirely as a healer and that is what I love to do.

Q1__ I think every healer in the game hates the immovable health bars. They do plan to fix that eventually until then you can move your skill bar over near your health bars to have to move your mouse for a shorter distance. You can also use the F key 1-8 to hit specific party members this is really useful when people get too many buffs going and you can't click the bars. I also generally play by clicking the buttons so it's entirely possible to do all the content in the game in all raids by clicking. The number one thing I can teach you as a healer is stop being reactive. Reactive healing (healing when you see damage suddenly) is the fastest way to run out of focus and watch people die. Instead you want to plan ahead for damage. Healing Grace is your friend and should be applied not only to the tank but to melee en general. At level 80 you get 5 of these to pass around and 6 when you get your specialization up to 80. Other spells that also help with planning ahead are soothing rain in the water tree and Elysian Illumination in the sun tree. When you stack these together they heal a lot of over time. Don't bother with healing burst it cost way to much focus, and heals half as much as a comparative touch or ray on a single target.

Q2__While the higher tier skills in the life tree are powerful the majority of my spot healing comes from healing ray and touch which are at the bottom of the tree. They are the fastest to cast and don't cost as much reagents or focus to use. Your 4 main spells as a starting healer will be healing ray, healing grace, healing blast, and healing touch in order of quantity of use. As I am leveling I would level these up in sequence first before raising my other skills in the tree. Above 80 it's best to work up in groups of 10 levels. This is cause you gain an attunement point for each ten levels you raise in the top ten skills and is also generally the amount needed to see the base and top of the healing power raise. I would not overly focus on one skill as the cost to benefits lower greatly by doing so.

Q3__The impact is a lot but ticks up to a maximum benefit of 25% more heals when doing no damage. Defense does not count as a aggressive action. I run in full obsidian plate with a shield while healing. You learn quite quickly in SOTA that as the healer you will pull aggro sometime and must be prepared to both defend and heal through it. This is where healing touch is greatly useful. I reserve healing touch for self heals. That way I have the range heals for the party and the close heals for myself. Banish Undead is an aggressive attack so yes it lowers your heals. It also hits like a wrecking ball at my level (thank you Chris).

If you or others ever want to ask other questions about end game healing and leveling healing as a main spec healers feel free to friend me in game Andartianna Zazeriz or click the discord button on my show's website SNASHOW

 

Others have mentioned it. Attunement is key. I'd say you're probably not a particularly high-quality healer until your life tree is getting fairly close to 900 to 1000 points total. Attunement is a HUGE factor in the overall potency of heals (and banish undead, which is super fun to use).

 

Another note-worthy thing is that you can dual wield ankh of sacrifice (+50 and +50 attunement), and your Life attunement easily gets up past 200 with some jewelry and chest slotted with Thaumaturgy stones.

 

@Andartianna , your post is wonderful. Do you happen to know what quest harp they're talking about up there? The one that is apparently not the Harp of Invigoration?

 

Fitsowens lute, from a quest you get from fitowen in adoris in the tavern where sameul is. It used to be 40% healing modifier, but now its 30%.

 

Holy crap. That is huge. Thanks @Mac2