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GW2: Healers need not apply?
EllieAnne
Member Posts: 23
in Guild Wars 2
I saw a quick blurb that any character can do healing and looking at the classes, I didn't see a pure healer (monk), Those of you that have played the beta, what role is there for someone that wants to be a pure healer?
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there is no pure healer class. But guardians, for example, gets quite a few supportive skills. but then again, as many classes have healing skills and support ones.
Limiting yourself to doing one thing forever in this game is like chopping off a limb because you don't want to use it anymore.
Many classes have traits and skills that allow them to heal other people, but the combat in this game focuses on everyone filling multiple roles at different times, usually while maintaining your own health.
I've seen some guardian and elementalist specs that actually do a significant amount of healing, which I find interesting, but in a lot of the boss encounters I have seen, if people play right, they don't need heals outside of their own, and if they're playing wrong they will die no matter how much you heal them.
Elementalists can use their water attunement and do some AoE healing. Some utility skills allow for some AoE healing.
But, GW2 moves away from the "holy trinity" convention of tank/healer/dps. Grouping in a dungeon is all about supporting each other through use of your various skills, and supporting yourself. As an example, I can use a heal for my Ranger that just heals me and my pet, or I can switch to an AoE heal when I'm in a dungeon. Short answer, there are no dedicated healers and they aren't really needed.
I takes some getting used to, but I've done some grouping and it works well. It still helps to have a group of people who know their classes and have some skill with this sort of game, but generally the system works quite well.
It's going to be such a pleasure to not have to sit around looking for a group and watching "lfg" spam in the chat channels. Quite refreshing.
If you're looking for a profession that can just sit back and keep everyone up, it's not going to happen. I have a friend who feels she won't enjoy GW2 because there is no big heals class like in WoW. If you're feeling more flexible, then yes there are heals available that will have to be used with a bit more strategy than the common Trinity allows.
As has been said by Anet, damage mitigation/prevention is far more powerful than healing.
So powerful, infact, that you should seldom need more than your own heal.
There ARE things in place to heal others, but you can't play a game of red bars in GW2.
What you could instead do, is play an Elementalist, Engineer or Guardian and play support. All three still do damage while playing supportively, but they each have their supportive strengths.
The Guardian is the major Damage Preventer with it's masses of fields and Aegis. It also has an elite skill which turns it into the most powerful healer in the game (It has a skill which fully heals all allies within that elite skill, as the elite skill is a full kit)
The Elementalist and Engineer can both drop healing fields (Engineer uses Healing Turret). These fields are actually quite strong, because 3/4 combo effects allow for heals. One finisher heals allies near the target, another heals at the point of impact (must LEAP finisher from the field), and the final one (WHIRL) sends healing out in an AoE. Drop these near a powerful foe and let your allies heal by fighting!
Meanwhile, the Engineer gets numerous abilities which allow for all sorts of things, from debuffing enemies to condition removal of themselves and allies, and even buffs! Not to mention they can still do damage via their weapon skills, some of which are also supportive. But don't forget their turrets. You can completely ignore the damage dealing role if you so desire, by taking a turret or two (They were weak last BWE, but they said they'll be taking a major look at the engineer. It should be improved by next BWE)
Personally, I really enjoyed the Engineer. They were incredibly versatile, and could be just as versatile as the elementalist, if not potentially more so
Meanwhile, my brother played a Guardian, and once he got the hang of it, we were quite difficult to kill both in PVE and PVP.
I hope that helps!
Edit: So basically, a pure healer isn't needed at all, but a good support is ALWAYS welcome!
MMO's played: Ragnarok Online (For years), WoW (for a few weeks only), Guild Wars, Lineage 2, Eve, Allods, Shattered Galaxy, 9 Dragons, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Star Trek Online (Got someone ELSE to pay for it), Champions Online (Someone else paid), Dofus, Dragonica, LOTRO, DDO and more... A LOT more. I've played good AND bad. The bad didn't last long. :P
"GW2 doesnt cater to the old MMO casuals"
Like ones before me already said, there is no set dedicated role any longer, other than damage dealer (if you really just want to only do that). In GW2 we really need to forget the chains of old and learn something new, fun. (<- see what I did there, a personal opinion)
Well for pure healers you have the support role, which in my opinion tops the general MMO healing any day. For people who like to watch health bars go up and down... I hear WoW has a new expansion?
You can't play pure healer. You can however play support oriented build however that role in GW2 is more focused on controling the incoming damage (reducing it, manipulating conditions and smaller heals)
Guardian currently excel at that role with all the blocking, shielding and small, sustained healing from that + some larger, more bursty AoE heal skills.
Another one would be support focused Necromancer, that one would be built around wells that, when traited, can provide healing and boons (buffs) to allies.
Next in line is Engineer that can plant turrets that heal or throw elixirs that buff and heal party.
You can also go with elementalist and focus on water attunement.
This video on the Support Guardian explains and demonstrates how group healing can be handle in GW2 and even when you build the most healing focused build you possibly can, you're not just healing. In this case the support Guardian was continuously pumping out AOE heals, whilst smashing people in the face. Also healing isn't the only type of support in the game, as you can create something like a Support Thief that buffs their group with Venoms and Shouting Warrior builds (shouts will heal allies and give buffs).
Sorry for the double post, but I assume the redundant thread will be locked soon, so here it is again:
There are no dedicated healers and no dedicated tanks. No one can stand to to toe vs. an Elite mob and stay up because someone is focus healing them. The game doesn't work that way.
I know that when something is this different than the norm that many people used to doing things a certain way in other games may at first wonder what's in this game for them, if they can't, say, be a dedicated healer or a dedicated tank? I usually play a healer as my main in MMOs, but I'm actually very glad for a breather from that mode of game play. The combat experience is exceptional here and I've found other ways to support allies, while making my own game play a lot more fun that staring at a party ui, clicking heals.
I can still play a character spec that allows me to help other people and I actually have made good use of what healing spells are available to an Elementalist in order to swing a few battles our way. However, since it becomes clear to everyone pretty early that healers and tanks don't exist in this game, people just adapt and learn to take personal responsibility for their own survival via use of skills, active dodging and intelligent, adaptive tactics. Because everyone is in that frame of mind, if you do take what in GW2 amounts to a healing heavy build, you can actually make a notable difference with the occassional heal, with out ever making yourself a crutch that discourages smart game play on the part of your allies.
So, I hope people who have a strong preference to any class or playstyle from other games won't write of GW2 just because it does things differently. What it does differently it does for a reason and all those design elements come together to make a phenominally fun and immersive game.
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
Locking due to double threads of the same content. Please see: http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/351838/Healers-need-not-apply.html