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Orderken

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    Models for PVE Healing - All Classes

    in Combat Styles

    Posted · Edited by Orderken

    My model for Sorcerer or Sage PVE healing has been available for over a year. I recently cleaned up my models for the other two healing classes.

     

    These models help answer certain questions about abilities or optimal stats for PVE.

     

    In my signature is a link to the model for each class. To use a model, download it, and open it with Excel.

    [Guide] Sage Healing

    in Sage / Sorcerer

    Posted

    The best guide for healing on this site. I heal when needed and this guide should be tagged. I subscribed to it and added you as a friend if you don't mind. Good Sorcerers have to stick together.

     

    Thanks! Please subscribe to this thread, instead. I've closed this thread, and won't be updating it, because I added some content to the OP that caused it to exceed the character limit for a single post. I split the Guide into two posts in the thread that I linked above, so I won't run into that issue in the future.

    Sage Top 3 Questions - Answered

    in Sage / Sorcerer

    Posted · Edited by Orderken

    Dhurwin, it doesn't sound like you've played SWTOR since the release of 2.0/ROTHC.

     

    8 man PvE content and 8 man PvP content: Sorc healing dominates both. I've played on many different servers for PvP and while only doing PvE progression on one server, have always browsed parses for top HPS across all servers. One thing remains constant; Sorcs are the best healers for 8 man content.

     

    For the 10-month period from 2.0 up to 2.6, the only healer that might be regarded as "dominant" for PVE is Operative. (This is true even ignoring an Operative's ability to stealth rez, which can salvage many fights on 8- or 16-man.) Since 2.6, it's Mercenary. Please visit the Statistics page of TORParse.com for evidence of this well-known fact.

     

    For TFB or S&V, while describing Sorcerers as dominant is absurd, we performed well. I had opposed any changes that would have buffed our healing for PVE. For DF or DP, however, Sorcerers are least desirable. It's easier to heal Draxus, Brontes, Tyrans, or Dread Masters on Nightmare Mode (or, though to a lesser extent, on Hard Mode) as a Mercenary or an Operative. The pair of healers for almost all top 8-man progression groups is a Mercenary and an Operative.

     

    For PVP, there is a dominant healer since 2.0 in every format: Operative.

     

    Their straight up HPS might be lower and not look as sexy, but if done right, once one factors in the heals from the bubbles he/she cause usually see a 1-2k HPS increase from bubbles alone, which places them ahead of the other 2 healer classes.

     

    I doubt any skilled Sorcerer has 1k EHPS from Static Barrier on any fight. In BIS 180 gear for PVE, 1k HPS is about 9 Static Barriers each minute. I've done this on a very few pulls of Brontes on Nightmare Mode, but that's it. 2k is out of the question.

     

    16man PvE Mercs pull ahead a couple hundred HPS cause let's be honest Mercs are pretty sexy for 16man raids.

     

    Replace "hundred" with "thousand", and you'd be accurate. A competent Mercenary can top any Sorcerer's EHPS by a thousand or more in 16m. There's little raid healing left for a Sorcerer after a Mercenary's Kolto Shell HOT and Kolto Bomb AOE burst.

     

    The reason they excel in 8man PvE is the same reason why they excel in 8v8, the abilities they have to work with are just a perfect combo for that type of content. We get enough support in 8v8 that we don't have to worry about being burst down too quick when we stop to cast. It's not even that revivification can hit all targets either, time and time again bubble stun will out perform full heal if they are on top of their bubbles (not that bubble stun is used all that much in 8v8 anymore but back in the day when it was useful and even now can still out HPS full heal)

     

    Since 2.0, Bubble Stun's advantages are blinds and DPS, not HPS. Bubble Stun's HPS is less than full Corruption's. Bubble Stun lacks Revivification and skills that buff our heals. Even Static Barrier absorbs more with full Corruption than Bubble Stun.

    [PvE] The Mercenary / Commando Healing Guide

    in Commando / Mercenary

    Posted

    Hi NeNiMel,

     

    I had time to clean up the Mercenary|Commando model for PVE healing that I developed some time ago. I added a link to it in my signature.

     

    As noted in worksheet "Introduction", my use for the model has been to optimize Critical from gear for the amount of Surge that I choose to have. In addition, since the link in the OP to MMO Mechanics is broken (MMO Mechanics no longer exists), my model is a source for abilities' properties, such as Coefficients.

    Which class for playing healer..?

    in Combat Styles

    Posted · Edited by Orderken

    I share your antipathy for Operative healing for PVE in light of the limitations of SWTOR's UI. It's DPS options are melee, too, so you're preferences eliminate Operative.

     

    A Mercenary healer is better for off-DPS than a Sorcerer healer. The primary reason is that a Sorcerer's attacks whittle away GCDs and Force precisely during the periods of light incoming damage when you must use Consumption to replenish it.

     

    For high-end PVE:

     

    • Like for an Operative, resource manage is short-term for a Mercenary. Unlike for an Operative, this isn't a material drawback, because Supercharged Gas allows for incredible burst.
    • A Mercenary healer has higher output than a Sorcerer healer. A Mercenary is a better tank healer. A Mercenary is a better and more versatile raid healer, too, because Revivification is useless in too many circumstances in DF and DP. An excellent Sorcerer can't match a competent Mercenary (or Operative) when the raid is spread out or always moving, such as for Draxus or Tyrans on Nightmare Mode.

     

     

    For high-end PVP, a Mercenary healer is better for Arenas than a Sorcerer healer. For unranked warzones, I favor a Sorcerer, but the difference is small.

    Sage Top 3 Questions - Answered

    in Sage / Sorcerer

    Posted · Edited by Orderken

    Usually, damage dealt to the whole Operation group or to random Operation group members is dealt as elemental or internal damage, so that the classes with higher armor values do not have an advantage over classes with lower armor values, like the Sage/Sorcerer. Sometimes, the Operations team will intentionally decide to not make this damage elemental or internal (as is currently the case in the Dread Master Brontes encounter). If you feel that such practices leave the Sage/Sorcerer in a position that is too vulnerable, then please let us know in the Operations forum (linked above) so that we can address the issue.

     

    No, Eric, it's your responsibility to inform the designers of this issue when you're so misinformed or mistaken. You should be as embarrassed by your claim above as "heal to full". Yes, this influences healers' priorities. Sages rank higher in triage priority than any other DPS class in the fights below for which your claim is incorrect.

     

    Let's examine the most recent 3 Operations on Nightmare Mode.

     

    S&V - For 7 of the 8 bosses, all or almost all of the unavoidable AOE or single-target damage is Energy or Kinetic.

    • Dash'Roode - All damage is Kinetic. (Though Howling Sandstorm doesn't have a type in my combat logs, damage taken is inversely proportional to Armor like any other Energy or Kinetic damage.)
    • Titan 6 - All damage is Energy or Kinetic.
    • Thrasher - The majority of Thrasher's damage, and all of Mercenary Snipers' damage is Energy or Kinetic.
    • Operations Chief - All damage is Energy or Kinetic. (Note, too, that a Sage is the only class with a healing specialization that can't cleanse Explosive Grenade.)
    • Olok the Shadow - All damage from the Wealthy Buyer or Olok the Shadow is Energy or Kinetic.
    • Cartel Warlords - Most damage in the first phase, which is the most challenging for healers, is Energy, but by the end of the fight about a third of total damage taken by a Sage is Energy or Kinetic, so I'll treat your claim as true for this boss.
    • Styrak - Before the final phase, all damage is Energy or Kinetic. (Toxic Spines is Internal, but avoidable or, if you fail to avoid it, a negligible percentage of your total damage taken.)
    • Hateful Entity - Hateful Void and Hate Pulse, which together account for over 90% of your total damage taken, are Energy.

     

    Dread Fortress - For 3 of the 4 bosses that warrant analysis, all or almost all of the unavoidable AOE or single-target damage is Energy or Kinetic.

    • Nefra - The DOT, Voice of the Masters, is Internal. Your claim is true, but this boss doesn't count, because (a) it's a joke, and (b) a Sage should take almost no damage.
    • Draxus - Your claim is true, because almost all of the damage taken is from Force Lightning, which is Elemental, and Affliction and Poisoned, which are Internal.
    • Grob'Thok - All of Grob'Thok's damage is Kinetic. The adds' damage is Energy. The only Internal or Elemental damage is from Fire, which is Elemental.
    • Corruptor Zero - All damage is Energy or Kinetic.
    • Brontes - Almost all damage taken is Kinetic or Energy.
      • Brontes' Manifest Supremacy and Fire and Forget are Kinetic.
      • Corrupted Clones' Dread Bomb is Kinetic and Laser Blast is Energy.
      • Fingers' Pulse Beam and Focused Beam are Energy.

     

    Dread Palace - For 3 of the 4 bosses that warrant analysis, all or almost all of the unavoidable AOE or single-target damage is Energy or Kinetic.

    • Bestia - Your claim is true. Dread Monster and Dread Tentacle melee attacks are Kinetic, but a Sage should avoid more than enough of these so more than 60% of his damage taken is Elemental (Expectorate from Dread Larva or Spit from Dread Tentacles) or Internal (Combusting Seed from Bestia).
    • Tyrans - Smash is Kinetic. If Tyrans is ever pointed in your direction, Thundering Blast is Energy. Affliction is Interal, and fall damage ignores Armor. I'll count this boss against your claim, because (a) a Sage can purge one or two Afflictions with Force Barrier, and (b) Affliction and fall damage are easy for healers to preempt.
    • Calphayus - Your claim is true, but this boss doesn't count, because its raid healing is a joke.
    • Raptus - Force Wave is Energy.
    • Dread Masters - Raptus's Smash is Kinetic, Tyrans' Shock and Thundering Blast are Energy, and Brontes' Jolt is Energy.

     

     

    We do not currently have any plans to share with you on how we intend to improve Sage/Sorcerer healing in PvP, but it is a priority for us, and we would love to hear your own ideas on how you would like Sage/Sorcerer healing to be improved in PvP without also making Sage/Sorcerer healing too good in PvE. [...] Our goal is to keep Sage/Sorcerer healing as close as possible to the way it is in PvE, while improving how it performs in PvP.

     

    Since I and many others have shared many, detailed ideas for improving Seers for PVP in other threads, here I'll share only a few ideas that are minor and therefore usually overlooked.

     

     

    1. Our cleanse is the least useful for preventing damage. This is a material disadvantage at higher Elo.
       
       
    2. Generating Resplendence is tied to a channel with a cooldown. A quick interrupt of this channel prevents us from using Healing Trance for its 9-second cooldown rather than for the shorter duration of the interrupt's lockout (e.g., 4 seconds). I suggest that Healing Trance's ability cooldown be waived whenever it is interrupted. For example, if a melee's gap closer with no ability lockout were to interrupt Healing Trance, it could be activated again immediately. If an interrupt with a 4-second lockout were to interrupt Healing Trance, it could be activated again in 4 seconds. A knockback or CC that breaks a Healing Trance probably shouldn't affect its cooldown, though it is as hilarious as it is sad to be shut down as a Seer in an Arena by merely being knocked around (a push or pull can be added into the mix, as well) until a teammate is dead.

     

     

    Sage healing needs to be buffed for PVE, too. Presently, Sage is the least desirable healing class for PVE. This would be true even if Commando healers hadn't received a colossal buff for PVE via their buff for Arenas (i.e., allowing an unlimited number of players to have a Trauma Probe). A Sage is least desirable for tank healing. A Sage is least desirable for raid healing, as well, because Salvation is useless in far too many circumstances in both DF and DP.

     

    Salvation must be redesigned for PVE and PVP.

     

     

    1. The range of AOE heals in SWTOR is backwards. A Scoundrel's AOE, which moves with each recipient wherever he may wander, has a 10-meter radius. A Commando's or Sage's AOE, the location of which is fixed, has an 8-meter radius. This is careless design that affects PVE and PVP, and a reason, albeit a minor one among the many, that Scoundrel healers dominate PVP.
       
       
    2. A Scoundrel's AOE heal moves with each recipient. A Commando's AOE provides burst healing (its HOT is small and short-lived). In contrast, Salvation is slow and steady. This loses almost every race in DF or DP.

      2. Every fight that is challenging to heal (i.e., Draxus, Corruptor Zero, Brontes, Tyrans, and Dread Masters) requires spreading, constant motion, or both.
      3. Even if the raid weren't spread out or moving, a Commando's Trauma Probe and up-front healing from Kolto Bomb handles most AOE healing before Salvation's first tick. Similarly, it's easy for a Scoundrel to maintain Slow-release Medpac on several allies in addition to the tanks. With Commandos' unrivaled, bursty raid healing, and Scoundrels' excellent, mobile raid healing potential, Salvation is pathetic and brings only overhealing to the table.

     

     

    [*]The vast majority of Hard or Nightmare Mode raids are 8-man. Ranged and heals are almost always separated from melee and tanks. Salvation heals an ally for less relative to its cooldown than a Scoundrel's or Commando's AOE heal. On its face, this is a trade that a Seer would gladly make for Salvation's potential to heal up to twice the number of allies. In practice, however, this is a poor trade for 8-man, because it's rare for more than 4 to be in range of Salvation for much, or even any, of its duration.

     

    We will say in advance that, “make such-and-such ability activate instantly,” is not a solution we are likely to consider (unless it is a temporary buff triggered by something else, and not a permanent reduction of activation time).

     

    You've been forced to recognize (more than one year later than your players), that a Sage's design is terrible for healing Arenas. In light of this failure's enormity and longevity, reluctance to consider instants is stubborn and foolish.

     

    Among the healing classes, a Sage has the lowest HPS from instants. The more that a healing class relies on casts or channels, the less competitive it is in Arenas. This is true even if Salvation is counted as an instant, which it shouldn't be for PVP, because interrupting Healing Trance every 9 seconds prevents a Sage from gaining Resplendence. There will be no solution until a Sage's HPS from instants can equal a Scoundrel's or Commando's.

     

    In addition, any temporary buff to allow a cast to be instant must be distinct from Resplendence and unrelated to Healing Trance. Otherwise it'll remain too easy to cripple a Sage healer merely by interrupting Healing Trance.

     

    Now here are some questions for the Sage/Sorcerer community, regarding Noble Sacrifice/Consumption. Do you believe removing the health cost of Noble Sacrifice/Consumption as a PvP set bonus would be something that PvE Sage/Sorcerer healers also feel like they need, or are PvE Sage/Sorcerers happier with their current set bonuses? If it is something that PvE Sages/Sorcerers would rather have as well, then which current PvE set bonus would you want to give up for it? Do you think that having a health-cost-free Noble Sacrifice/Consumption would be too good for PvE? Do you believe it might take away too much of the challenge for healing in PvE situations?

     

    The Mystic's 4-piece set bonus for PVE and for PVP should both be changed.

     

    For PVE, whether Noble Sacrifice has a health cost or not is usually irrelevant.

    • Unavoidable damage must be regular and high, such as during the final phase of Titan 6 or Dread Masters, for its health cost to be prohibitive. This requires a Sage to plan ahead, replenishing his Force before a phase during which Noble Sacrifice's health cost presents a material risk. This is a reasonable trade-off for a Sage's deep resource pool.
    • If Force Mend were to be off the GCD, Noble Sacrifice's health cost would be even less relevant in PVE.

     

    Regarding Mystic's PVE set bonuses, the 2-piece is crucial, and the 4-piece is worthless for easy content and lackluster at best for challenging content. The PVE 2-piece is so important that most Seers use it (together with the PVP 2-piece) for PVP, sacrificing a few points of Expertise for the shorter cooldown on Healing Trance.

    [Guide] Sage Healing

    in Sage / Sorcerer

    Posted · Edited by Orderken

    So you say use the hot and channel on cd, with 2-3 fillers. In terms of staying force positive, and healing yourself after using the channel procs for sacrifice, what should those fillers be?

     

    edit: nevermind, found info in ability section and playing like an expert section. perhaps the rotation section could point to those sections.

     

    The abilities that follow Rejuvenate > Healing Trance vary.

     

    In general, a healer's use of abilities is fluid compared with a DPS's. This is expected and, in light of the trend in recent patches of removing RNG from DPSs' procs, embraced by BioWare. Among the healing classes, a Sage's use of abilities is the most fluid. While this prevents me from spelling out a generic complete rotation, it's also why I enjoy my Sage more than my Commando or Scoundrel when healing.

     

    If a rotation is what you seek, DPS. If you must heal, play a Scoundrel. A Scoundrel can be a valuable co-healer despite having a rotation. While a Sage has high-HPS, force-neutral rotations (see, e.g., worksheet "Operation HPS" of my model for the rotation with the maximum sustainable HPS for a Sage), on the many occasions that I have healed with such a Sage, I often double his EHPS and render him redundant.

     

    I'm glad that you've found advice in various Sections of this Guide that address your questions. If you have further questions, please reply with the specific bosses or topics that you'd like to discuss.

    [Guide] Sage Healing

    in Sage / Sorcerer

    Posted · Edited by Orderken

    PVP

    Skill Points

     

     

    If you choose to invest 36 points in the healing tree, I recommended the following allocation: 36/7/3.

    1. Mend Wounds is mandatory for PVP.
    2. Master Speed is mandatory for a PVP allocation with 36 points in the healing tree.
    3. I favor three skill points in Clairvoyance and none in Life Ward.

      2. My impression is that Life Ward hasn’t saved or materially extended my life. While I channel Force Barrier, my resolve wears off, leaving me vulnerable to being stunned and killed the moment that I stop channeling.
      3. There are two factors that might change my mind.
        1. Life Ward’s HOT can proc a relic, increasing a proc relic’s uptime.
        2. In the brief moments when I’m not the target of the enemy team, and I’m confident that there isn’t a nearby enemy in stealth, I’ve allowed Life Ward’s HOT to heal me slowly while I heal my allies instead.

         

        The alternative, which is usually superior for 4v4 (arena), is “Bubble Stun”: 26/18/2.

      • Pros
        • Bubble Stun is wonderful against melee who are attacking you.
        • Burst damage is crucial in PVP. The skills in the middle tree allow you to dish some out.
        • Force management is easier, for reasons including skills Concentration and Tidal Force.

        [*]Cons

        • Bubble Stun is worthless against ranged who are attacking you.
        • You’re trading healing potential for DPS potential. A healer who has 36 points in his healing tree can provide more healing.

     

    Though Psychic Suffusion adds healing to Force Wave, I don’t invest points in this skill for PVP. I can’t afford to use Force Wave merely for healing when it’s usually necessary for defending myself or, for Warzones, the cap.

     

    I urge you not to queue for Solo Ranked as a Sage healer. The design of our class prevents us from competing with the other healing classes.

     

    BIS Gear

     

     

    This is likely BIS for PVP without Warzone Bolster.

     

    At this time, however, Warzone Bolster allows you to cap Expertise while also having the Force-Mystic’s 2-piece PVE and 2-piece PVP set bonuses (see here for details). You may test your PVE components on Fleet with the "Bolsterizer". For example, a piece of Arkanian gear (each component of which has an Item Rating of 162) costs only 3 Expertise, a negligible amount.

     

    For Augments, Overkill (Power) > Resolve (Willpower), because Force Armor usually has the largest share of your total output.

     

    I urge you not to queue for Solo Ranked as a Sage healer. The design of our class prevents us from competing with the other healing classes.

     

    Basic Advice

     

     

    1. Use grenades like any other consumable. The 3-minute cooldown on grenades matches the 3-minute cooldown on Force Barrier, which is convenient when an enemy is licking his chops anticipating the denouement of your Force Barrier. In general, I prefer seismic grenades, which knock enemies unconscious. When you shouldn’t add to enemies’ resolve, cartel waste or freeze grenades, which slow or root enemies, respectively, are better.
       
       
    2. Don’t give an enemy full resolve unless this will secure an objective or ensure his death. For example, in Huttball, an enemy ball-carrier shouldn’t have full resolve close to fire pits, because this will prevent pulling or knocking him into a fire pit.
       
       
    3. Except for Novare Coast, when you’re defending a node, stand away from the cap. For example, in Hypergate, if an enemy can CC you and begin capping your pylon in less than 2 seconds, he will finish the 6-second channel to cap it unless you have a CC break available. In addition, don’t pursue an enemy out of range or LOS of your node, because an enemy in stealth will cap it behind you.
       
       
    4. Don’t over-rotate between two nodes that your team is defending. First, don’t leave the quiet node vulnerable to join a battle at the other node unless it’s reasonable to expect that this other node will be lost. Second, if you’re at the node under attack, and your team’s kills have given it the upper hand, consider leaving for your node that had been quiet while the remaining enemies are mopped up.
       
       
    5. Focus on winning, not healing. For example, in Novare Coast, it’s often appropriate for you to channel to cap though not healing will allow an ally to die. As another example, in Huttball, you’re capable of carrying the ball whenever Force Speed is available, and even better at getting ahead of your ball-carrier and advancing him past fire pits with Rescue.
       
       
    6. Assist with killing enemies with low health. If an enemy crosses your path or leaps to you while barely clinging to life, stop healing and Project him dead. A reasonable goal is having 30,000 damage and 1 killing blow in every competitive Warzone.
       
       
    7. You’re naked without Force Armor, and inviting an enemy to appear from stealth and relieve you of half of your health. However, it’s good to give a Sage ally a chance to Force Armor himself, because he may have Life Ward or Kinetic Collapse.
       
       
    8. While there is safety in numbers, there is danger in a stack. Stacking attracts AOE damage, stuns, and CCs, which are far worse than the benefit of any AOE healing.
       
       
    9. The keys to your survival are using your environment to LOS; your environment in combination with Force Slow, Force Speed, or Force Wave to kite; Force Wave or Mind Snap to interrupt; Force Stun to stun and reduce an enemy’s damage dealt by 25% for 10 seconds; Warzone Medpac and Force Mend to heal yourself when moving, especially when your health drops near or below 30%; and Warzone Adrenal to increase your damage reduction. In addition, monitor the battlefield for health packs, and treat them as healing cooldowns that you can use Force Speed to snap up. Without guard, a reasonable goal is exceeding 90,000 damage taken per death in every competitive Warzone.
       
       
    10. Cleanse early and often with Restoration. It’s easier to prevent damage with this instant ability than it is to replenish health by casting or channeling heals. You can also cleanse certain CCs, such as Force Lift. If you’re desperate, Restoration is also a small heal for yourself while moving.
       
       
    11. In Warzones, dying restores you to full Force. If you or an ally can monitor the time remaining until a respawn, it can be strategic to die and respawn quickly with full Force. This takes some gumption, since you must die in time to respawn without catching a full door, but, as a healer, you’ll usually have multiple enemies who’ll be happy to dispatch you post haste should you present the opportunity.

     

     

    Maximizing Your Performance

    Datacrons

     

     

    You should obtain all datacrons that provide Willpower and, especially for PVP, or Endurance.

     

    Companions

     

     

    Completing all dialogue and quests available from certain companions for a character in your Faction and Legacy will grant a bonus to certain stats. You should obtain:

    1. 1% Critical from Zenith,
    2. 1% Surge from Nadia Grell,
    3. 1% healing received from Tharan Cedrax, and,
    4. especially for PVP, 1% total health from Felix Iresso.

     

    Consumables

     

     

    1. Stim: Prototype Nano-Infused Resolve Stim, which provides 169 Willpower and 70 Power for 2 hours. This is superior to any reusable Stim available with Biochem.
       
       
    2. Adrenal

      User Interface

       

       

      Tailor your UI for healing. For example, I use this for PVP or 8-man PVE, and this for 16-man PVE. Use your discretion and the guidance below.

       

       

      1. Operation Frames and Action Bars should be adjacent and centered horizontally along the bottom of your screen. A common mistake is separating Operation Frames and Action Bars, such as having Operation Frames centered vertically on the far left and Action Bars centered horizontally on the bottom, which forces you to look away from Operation Frames to view an ability’s cooldown.
         
         
      2. For Operation Frames, set “Buff Scale” as low as possible, and disable “Show Health Text”. This information is useless for triage and clutters Operation Frames.
         
         
      3. For Operation Frames, increase “Debuff Scale”. Debuffs should be prominent.
         
         
      4. Enable Focus Target and its Castbar. For certain bosses, it can help to set the boss as your Focus Target. For example, when you see Brontes’ Arching Assault, Force Armor her tank.
         
         
      5. Under Preferences > User Interface, enable “Show Cooldown Text”.
         
         
      6. I place Chat and Mini-Map on either side of the bottom of my screen.

         

        Your Abilities in Detail

        Heals

         

         

        For calculations of GCD, cast, or channel times; healing amounts; or HPS or HPCT with gear that you select and all skills, buffs, and bonuses from Datacrons or Companions, see worksheet “Abilities – Current Gear” in my model.

         

        Force Armor

         

        Description

        • This instant single-target ability is a large absorb rather than a heal. It lasts up to 30 seconds.
        • It can’t crit, and therefore doesn’t benefit from Critical or Surge.
        • Though this ability has no cooldown, it debuffs each recipient with Force-imbalance, which prevents you or another Sage from reapplying it to him for 20 seconds (reduced to 17 seconds by two points in skill Preservation, and, for PVP, further reduced to 15.5 seconds by the Mystic’s 2-piece PVP set).

         

        Use

        • For PVE, skill Life Ward causes your own Force Armor to heal you for 1.09% of your maximum health each second.
          • This restores much of the health lost to Noble Sacrifice.
          • In general, don’t use Force Armor on another Sage healer.

          [*]For PVE, it’s crucial for tank healing, as well as for absorbing imminent damage when an ally is targeted by a damaging mechanic, such as Kephess the Undying’s Laser Blast or Dread Bomb. See “PVE” > “Playing Like an Expert” > Topic 5 for a detailed discussion.

          [*]For PVP, it provides more healing than any other ability, and it can be used while moving.

         

         

        Rejuvenate

         

        Description

        • This instant single-target ability delivers a small immediate heal and leaves a HOT that ticks once every 3 seconds thereafter for 9 to 15 seconds (each point in skill Force Shelter adds a tick to the HOT). It has a 6-second cooldown.
        • Each point in skill Conveyance grants you a 50% chance to proc a buff of the same name upon using this ability. You can have at most one charge of Conveyance, which lasts up to 10 seconds.
        • Skill Force Shelter adds a buff of the same name that increases any recipient’s Armor Rating from gear alone by 10% for Rejuvenate’s duration.
          • Though not substantial, any increase in mitigation is helpful.
          • This buff doesn’t stack. That is, an ally’s Armor Rating from gear alone may be increased by at most 10% regardless of the number of Sage or Commando healers who have so buffed him.

         

        Use

        • Since the HOT lasts for 9 to 15 seconds, it’s optimal to rotate this ability between 2 to 3 allies. In general, the recipients should be the tanks, and, if it lasts for 15 seconds, yourself (to restore much of the health lost to Noble Sacrifice).
        • For PVE or PVP, use this ability on cooldown, if only to gain Conveyance. Conveyance is consumed by, and benefits, your next Healing Trance, Salvation, Deliverance, or Benevolence.

         

         

        Healing Trance

         

        Description

        • This channeled ability delivers an immediate heal and 3 channeled ticks. It is immune to pushback.
        • It has a 9-second cooldown, which the Mystic’s 2-piece PVE set reduces to 7.5 seconds.
        • Conveyance increases this ability’s Critical chance by 25%.
        • Each point in skill Resplendence grants you a 50% chance for each critical heal from this ability to proc one charge of a buff of the same name. You may have up to 3 charges of Resplendence, and each proc refreshes the 25-second duration of all of your charges of this buff.

         

        Use

        • For PVE or PVP, using this ability on cooldown, and having it consume Conveyance, maximizes your HPS and Resplendence procs.
        • You’ll consume Resplendence with Noble Sacrifice, each use of which consumes 1 charge, or with Salvation, which consumes all charges.

         

         

        Deliverance

         

        Description

        • This cast replenishes a respectable amount of health to a single ally. It has no cooldown.
        • Conveyance reduces the Force cost of this ability by 30%.

         

        Use

        • This is your default ability for single-target healing when Rejuvenate and Healing Trance are on cooldown.
        • It’s better to use Conveyance for Healing Trance.

         

         

        Salvation

         

        Description

        • This ability is the more powerful of your AOE heals. It has a 15-second cooldown.
        • Over 10 seconds, this ability delivers 11 ticks of healing, 1 immediately and 1 each second thereafter. It has a radius of 8 meters, which is about twice the radius of the ground graphic. Up to 8 allies within its radius receive each tick.
        • Resplendence reduces its cast time. One charge reduces its cast time by one-third; 2 charges reduce its cast time by two-thirds; and 3 charges make it instant.
        • Conveyance reduces the Force cost of this ability by 30%.

         

        Use

        • Use this ability immediately after AOE damage that exceeds Force Wave’s healing.
        • Unless you must use this ability while moving, it’s optimal to cast it with only one or two charges of Resplendence. The cast of this ability reduced by either one-third or two-thirds is shorter than a GCD. That is, you can activate your next ability sooner if Salvation is a cast shortened than if it is instant.
        • If more than 8 allies are within its radius, each tick heals the 8 closest to its center for that tick. In a 16-man Operation, if two or more Sage healers intend to heal more than 8 allies, they should center their Salvations at least a few meters apart, as though drawing a Venn Diagram with little or no intersection.
        • It’s better to use Conveyance for Healing Trance.

         

         

        Force Wave

         

        Description

        • This instant AOE heal replenishes a small amount of health to each ally in your frontal “cone”. This “cone” is a semi-circle that has a 15-meter radius and spans about 150 to 160 degrees.
        • Besides Force Mend, it is your only heal that costs no Force. It has a 20-second cooldown.

         

        Use

        • This is a useful heal for Operations, especially 16-man. Use it instead of Salvation when AOE damage is less than Salvation’s healing. Use it in conjunction with Salvation when AOE damage exceeds Salvation’s healing.
        • Position yourself so that as many allies as possible are within your frontal “cone”. Force Wave retains its knockback and damaging effects, so ensure that you don’t knockback adds or break CC. During boss fights, this usually means being at the rear of the ranged stack. During trash pulls, this usually means being at the front of the ranged stack, with your back to the trash.

         

         

        Force Mend

         

        Description

        • This is an instant, large self-heal with a 30-second cooldown.
        • Besides Force Wave, it is your only heal that costs no Force.

         

        Use

        • For PVE, it isn’t only a defensive cooldown, but also a means of replenishing your health immediately after using Noble Sacrifice two or three times in a row.
        • For PVP, it’s an excellent defensive cooldown, especially with Force Potency or when casting is impossible.

         

         

        Restoration

         

        Description

        • This instant single-target ability cleanses up to two mental or Force effects. With skill Mend Wounds, it also cleanses physical effects and provides a small heal.
        • It has a 4.5-second cooldown.

         

        Use

        • For PVE, when an effect is of a type that this ability can cleanse, it’s almost always better to remove this effect than to heal through it.
        • For PVP, it prevents damage (though it’s far less useful in this regard than the cleanse of either of the other healing classes) and removes certain slows, roots, and CCs. If you’re desperate and moving, it’s a small heal.

         

         

        Benevolence

         

        Description

        • This ability is a small single-target heal with a cast time equal to the GCD. It has no cooldown.
        • Conveyance increases its Critical chance by 60%.

         

        Use

        • For PVE, it’s very rarely appropriate to use this ability, primarily because of its poor HPF. See “PVE” > “Playing Like an Expert” > Topic 6 for a detailed discussion.
        • For PVP, when an enemy with an interrupt on a short cooldown is tunneling you, and it’s time for him to interrupt you, queue up this ability for his interrupt.
        • It’s better to use Conveyance for Healing Trance.

         

        Cooldowns for Healing

         

         

        Mental Alacrity

         

        Description

        • This adds 20% to your Alacrity, and grants immunity to interrupts and pushback, for 10 seconds.
        • It’s off the GCD and doesn’t use a GCD. It has a 2-minute cooldown.
        • Though no amount of Alacrity from gear or an Efficiency Adrenal can provide 30% or more Alacrity, this “cap” doesn’t limit Alacrity from Mental Alacrity.

         

        Use

        • For PVE, this is for an emergency or a burn phase. For an emergency, it’s often used in conjunction with Force Potency to hasten Deliverance.
        • For PVP, this is primarily for interrupt immunity. Therefore, it’s ideal to use this ability immediate after gaining full resolve.

         

         

        Force Potency

         

        Description

        • This buffs you with two charges of +60% Critical chance for certain heals (or certain direct Force attacks). This buff expires after 20 seconds.
        • It’s off the GCD and doesn’t use a GCD. It has a 90-second cooldown.
        • One charge of this buff is consumed by each Force Mend, Deliverance, Benevolence, or Rejuvenate (or certain direct Force attacks) that crits.

         

        Use

        • For PVE, this ability is for single-target healing emergencies. It’s usually used in conjunction with Mental Alacrity to cast Deliverance on a tank who is low. Since each of the other healing classes has better single-target healing abilities or cooldowns for such an emergency, it’s not unusual for this tank to be saved while you have one charge of this buff remaining. But you shouldn’t hesitate to activate this ability because its second charge might not be necessary; better safe than sorry.
        • For PVP, it’s optimal to use this buff with a Force Mend and a Deliverance. I sometimes use it with Mental Alacrity, but not habitually.

         

        Force Management

         

         

        Noble Sacrifice

        • This instant ability exchanges 11% of your maximum health for 8% of your maximum Force. You must have at least 11% health to activate this ability.
        • Health exchanged for Force using this ability isn’t considered damage. Force Armor, Armor, damage reduction, or skills that reduce damage (i.e., Serenity or Jedi Resistance) won’t reduce the health cost.
        • Activating this ability when Resplendence isn’t available debuffs your rate of passive Force regeneration for 10 seconds. This debuff stacks up to four times, and gaining a stack refreshes the 10-second duration of this debuff. Each stack reduces your rate of passive Force regeneration by 25%. For example, if you have no charges of Resplendence, after using Noble Sacrifice for four consecutive GCDs, your rate of passive Force regeneration will be zero for the next 10 seconds.
        • With discipline and preparation, you should never have this debuff in PVE. See “PVE” > “Playing Like an Expert” > Topics 3 and 4 for detailed discussion.

         

         

        A Well-Timed Death in Warzones

        • In Warzone, dying restores you to full Force. If you or an ally can monitor the time remaining until a respawn, it can be strategic to die and respawn quickly with full Force. This takes some gumption, since you must die in time to respawn without catching a full door, but, as a healer, you’ll usually have multiple enemies who’ll be happy to dispatch you post haste should you present the opportunity.

         

        Threat Management

         

         

        Cloud Mind

        • This instant ability lowers your threat with each enemy by 25%.
        • It’s off the GCD and doesn’t use a GCD. It has a 45-second cooldown.
        • For PVE, you should be in the habit of using this ability proactively, especially after adds spawn.

         

         

        Rescue

        • This instant ability lowers the targeted ally’s threat by 25%, and pulls him about one-third of a meter in front of you. You can’t use this ability on yourself. It has a 1-minute cooldown.
        • For PVE, this is handy to drop the threat of a DPS or co-healer who continues to have aggro even after using his threat drop. You can also pull someone out of harm’s way to your safe location.
        • For PVP, you should anticipate using this ability to advance an ally ball-carrier across fire pits in Huttball or to pull an ally into the central shelter in Hypergate as the Pylons explode. You may use this ability to pull an ally away from a group of enemies who are focused on him, but you might regret it. More often than not, you’re bringing not only him to you, but also those enemies.

         

        Useful DPS Abilities

         

         

        Weaken Mind: This instant ability is an 18-second DOT. If you must contribute DPS to beat a boss’s hard enrage, your best option is maintaining this DOT throughout the fight.

         

        Mind Crush: This cast deals immediate damage and leaves a 6-second DOT. It has a 15-second cooldown, and is therefore limited to one target.

         

        Project: This instant ability deals respectable damage. It has a 6-second cooldown.

         

        Telekinetic Throw: This channels damage and, in PVP, slows the target’s movement speed by 50%. It has a 6-second cooldown.

         

        Forcequake: This channeled AOE damages up to 5 enemies. Despite its high Force cost, it’s useful in PVP for interrupting multiple enemies who are capping simultaneously. I’ve observed that it may not strike an enemy within its radius immediately, however, even when there are 5 or fewer enemies within its radius. If an enemy is a second or less from capping, Project is a more reliable interrupt (and, unlike this channeled ability, can be used while moving).

         

        Crowd Control (CC)

         

         

        Force Stun

        • This instant ability deals immediate damage and stuns the target for 4 seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown. Its range is 10 meters.
        • For PVE, if you’ll CC an enemy with Force Lift and you’re already within 10 meters, it can be useful to stun this enemy first to prevent it from moving or acting while you cast Force Lift.
        • For PVP, this is a defensive or offensive cooldown.
          • Defensively, this ability may allow you to escape from an enemy who is tunneling you. With skill Humility, it reduces the enemy’s damage dealt by 25% for 10 seconds after its stun effect ends.
          • Offensively, if an enemy’s health is low enough that he can be killed during the 4-second duration of this stun, stun him to ensure that he doesn’t escape. This is particularly valuable when used against an enemy capable of stealth.

         

         

        Force Lift

        • This cast CCs an enemy for 60 seconds in PVE or for 8 seconds in PVP. It has a 1-minute cooldown. This CC breaks if the enemy takes damage, including from a DOT of yours applied before this CC.
        • For PVP, this is a defensive or offensive cooldown.
          • Defensively, you can try to CC an enemy who is tunneling to you. Though you’re unlikely to complete this cast, the enemy has used his interrupt on this ability rather than a heal.
          • Offensively, if your enemies have two healers in a fight, it’s valuable to use this ability against the healer who your team isn’t focusing, especially if there isn’t a Sage to cleanse it.

         

        Other

         

         

        Force Speed

        • This instant ability increases your movement speed by 150% for 2 seconds or, with skill Master Speed, 2.5 seconds.
        • It’s off the GCD and doesn’t use a GCD. It has a 20-second cooldown.
        • For PVP, with two points in skill Egress, Force Speed removes all movement-impairing effects and, for its duration, grants immunity to movement-impairing effects.

         

         

        Force Slow

        • This instant ability deals a small amount of damage immediately and slows the enemy’s movement speed by 50% for 6 seconds. It has a 12-second cooldown.
        • For PVP, this ability is useful for kiting an enemy who is tunneling to you or hindering an enemy who needs to rotate or interrupt an ally of yours who’s capping.

         

         

        Mind Snap

        • This instant ability interrupts the enemy’s current cast, provided that the enemy isn’t immune to interrupts.
        • It’s off the GCD and doesn’t use a GCD. It has a 12-second cooldown.
        • For PVP, this is a defensive ability when used against a DPS who is tunneling to you, and this is an offensive ability when used against a healer.

         

         

        Force of Will

        • This instant ability breaks you out of roots, stuns, and CCs.
        • It’s off the GCD and doesn’t use a GCD. It has a 2-minute cooldown.
        • For Warzones, I don’t treat Force of Will as a cooldown for my survival. It’s better to save this 2-minute cooldown to prevent an enemy cap. With proper positioning when defending a node, you’ll never need to break the first stun or CC to block a lone enemy from capping.
        • For PVP, another rule-of-thumb is not to use this ability to break a root or, unless you have full resolve, to break stuns or CCs. For example, suppose that you Force Stun an enemy. If this enemy were to break your stun without having full resolve, he’d be vulnerable to spending a full 8 seconds in your Force Lift without a second break.

         

         

        Force Barrier

         

        Description

        • This channeled ability grants you immunity to all negative effects from enemies. You can maintain this channel for up to 8 seconds.
        • It’s off the GCD and doesn’t use a GCD. It has a 3-minute cooldown.
        • Channeling Force Barrier builds stacks of Enduring Bastion, a shield that absorbs damage and grants immunity to interrupts and pushback for up to 5 seconds. You gain one stack of Enduring Bastion upon activating Force Barrier, and one additional stack for every 2 seconds spent channeling Force Barrier, up to a maximum of 4 stacks after channeling Force Barrier for 6 or more seconds. The amount of damage that Enduring Bastion can absorb increases with the stacks acquired when channeling Force Barrier.
        • You can begin this channel while stunned or CCed, making it a second CC break. Since it’s a channel, however, you can’t begin it while in motion, nor can you maintain it if an ally puts you in motion with Rescue.

         

        Use

        • For PVE, this ability resists most damage. See “PVE” > “Tips for Certain Bosses” for examples of when this is most helpful.
        • For PVP, and Arenas in particular, use this ability to thwart substantial damage rather than delaying until you have only a sliver of health.
        • For Arenas, if a round lasts until the poison, a Sage with this ability available should win the round. Though channeling doesn’t resist damage from the poison, Enduring Bastion does. Time your channel so that it ends immediately before the poison begins to deal damage.
        • For Warzones, this ability allows you to defend a cap by yourself for some time. Prevent the enemy from capping as long as possible, channeling Force Barrier to prevent your death, and, finally, stop channeling Force Barrier to interrupt the enemy’s cap just before it finishes. This buys your team an additional six to eight seconds to reinforce the cap.
        • For Warzones, since you’ll have skill Master Speed, if a cap is suddenly undefended, you may be able to interrupt the enemy’s cap with Force Speed > Force Barrier (for a moment, only to reset Force Speed’s cooldown) > Force Speed.
        • For Ancient Hypergates, this ability doesn’t protect you from dying in an explosion of energy from the Pylons.

         

         


    3. If you need to select an enemy with your mouse, such as the first Droid during Brontes, it’s almost always in a top corner of your screen. Don’t risk obscuring your target or, worse, clicking in Chat.
    4. Having the Mini-Map close to Operation Frames is helpful for a few fights, such as Thrasher or Corruptor Zero, in which adds spawn in one of several possible locations.

     


    For PVE, Nano-Infused Triage Adrenal, which provides 675 Force Power for 15 seconds. This is superior to any reusable Adrenal available with Biochem. For a detailed analysis of the expected benefit of Adrenals in BIS gear, see worksheet “Relics & Adrenals” in my model.
    For PVP, Warzone Adrenal, which increases Damage Reduction by 15% for 15 seconds.
    An Adrenal can be used at any time (i.e., it’s off the GCD) and doesn’t use a GCD. Adrenals have a 3-minute cooldown.

     

     

    [*]Medpac

    1. For PVE, Prototype Impeccable Medpac, which restores 5575 to 6800 health immediately and leaves a HOT that restores 2475 health over 15 seconds. This is superior to any reusable Medpac available with Biochem. The cooldown shared by all types of Medpacs usable outside of Warzones is the longer of (a) 90 seconds and (b) the end of combat.
    2. For PVP, Warzone Medpac, which restores 35% of your total health immediately. This has a 90-second cooldown.
    3. A Medpac can be used at any time (i.e., it’s off the GCD) and doesn’t use a GCD.

     

     

    [*]Grenades: Reusable grenades are available with Cybertech, and otherwise you may purchase single-use grenades.

    1. For PVE, grenades that stun can be useful for trash mobs or boss adds. A freeze grenade will root a Chain Manifestation on Nightmare Mode Styrak.
    2. For PVP, grenades are very useful.
    3. The cooldown shared by all types of grenades is 3 minutes. Throwing a grenade uses a GCD.

     


    [Guide] Sage Healing

    in Sage / Sorcerer

    Posted · Edited by Orderken

    This is an in-depth guide for healing Operations (PVE), and a basic guide for healing Warzones (PVP), as a level 55 Sage. It’s current as of SWTOR 2.8.1, and was last updated on July 12.

     

    This guide is organized as follows.

     

     

    1. PVE

      2. Skill Points
      3. Rotation
      4. BIS Gear
      5. Playing Like an Expert
      6. Parsing
      7. Tips for Certain Bosses

     

     

    [*]PVP

    1. Skill Points
    2. BIS Gear
    3. Basic Advice

     

     

    [*]Maximizing Your Performance

    1. Datacrons
    2. Companions
    3. Consumables
    4. User Interface

     

     

    [*]Your Abilities in Detail

     

    This first post includes Section 1. The second post includes Sections 2-4. This guide is available as a Word document.

     

     

    PVE

    Skill Points

     

     

    For progression, I usually allocate my skill points as follows: 36/7/3.

     

    You may reallocate up to two points among the four skills discussed below.

     

     

    1. Mend Wounds improves your cleanse, Restoration.

    2. I recommend this skill for Dread Fortress. With this skill, you can cleanse at least one debuff during four of the five bosses.
    3. This skill is useful in fewer situations for Terror from Beyond, Scum and Villainy, or Dread Palace.

     

     

    [*]Jedi Resistance reduces damage taken. I recommend this skill for progression.

    1. A Sage has the least Armor, and unavoidable damage is common in Operations.
    2. This skill is more valuable in 16-man Operations, because many attacks deal substantially higher damage than in 8-man. In fact, a Sage without this skill could’ve been globaled despite perfect play in Nightmare 16-man Kephess the Undying or Olok the Shadow.

     

     

    [*]Master Speed increases Force Speed’s duration and causes Force Barrier to finish Force Speed’s cooldown. Though not significant for PVE, a skilled healer can leverage it for the occasional clutch play, and less time moving means more time for casted or channeled abilities. Uses included the following.

    1. For Dash'Roode, to return faster after being lost in a sandstorm.
    2. For Titan 6, to reach a distant rock from the corner to which a DPS ran one of the Huge Grenades.
    3. For Thrasher, to switch between tanks, or to handle Firebug, faster.
    4. For Writhing Horror, to drop the DOT's puddle in a safe location and return faster.
    5. For Kephess the Undying, to catch a tank kiting Kephess while giving Energy Distortions a wide berth.
    6. For Raptus, to be in range of tanks after a challenge for which the healing and tanking doorways are far apart, or to return faster after being ported to the entrance.

     

     

    [*]Amnesty reduces by 30% the duration of the Force regeneration debuff from using Noble Sacrifice without Resplendence. It also allows Force Barrier to remove this debuff.

    1. At its best, this skill is training wheels for an inexperienced healer or belt and suspenders for an experienced healer. A healer who benefits from this skill has room to improve his Force management.
    2. At its worst, this skill encourages weak Force management and misuse of Force Barrier.

      Rotation

       

       

      As a healer, you have a unique and demanding job: triage. You must determine an order to heal your allies and a rotation that will prevent deaths. A fight that is challenging to heal tests your ability to make quick, accurate decisions that complement your co-healer’s.

       

      Though no rotation is ideal for every situation, your goal is using Rejuvenate > Healing Trance on cooldown. As a rotation, this is Rejuvenate > Healing Trance > two or three other abilities. Using Healing Trance on cooldown, and having it consume Conveyance, is the key to Force management and, for healing one ally, provides unrivaled HPS (healing per second) and HPF (healing per Force).

       

       

      Guides adequate for the casual player have sprouted like mushrooms. Most recommend one or more poor techniques regarding rotation. I redress these below.

       

       

      1. Though Salvation usually has the largest share of a Sage’s effective healing in an Operation, using it merely because its cooldown is finished is poor technique. To maximize this ability’s, and your total, effective healing, synchronize Salvation with AOE damage. Using it more often wastes time and Force, and using it early wastes its healing, which is slightly front-loaded and requires good positioning.
         
         
      2. Using Conveyance, the buff given by Rejuvenate, for an ability other than Healing Trance is almost always poor technique. For example, using this buff to reduce the cost of Salvation reduces not only the HPS that you can sustain but also your ability to regain Force.
         
         
      3. Treat Salvation and Force Wave as alternatives unless using them back-to-back won’t overheal. If Force Wave is sufficient, use it alone. If Force Wave is insufficient, and Salvation alone will be sufficient over its 10-second duration, use Salvation alone.

       

       

      If you wish to analyze HPS and Force management with rotations, see worksheet “Operation HPS” in my model.

       

      BIS Gear

       

       

      For PVE, this is BIS. See my model for a detailed explanation and supporting calculations. The rule-of-thumb is:

      1. Willpower.
      2. Power > Critical. Zero Critical from gear is optimal.
      3. Surge between about 250 and 300, and afterwards stack Alacrity.
      4. Zero Accuracy is optimal, because abilities used on allies can’t miss.

       

       

      Set Bonuses

       

      The Mystic’s 2-piece PVE set, which reduces the cooldown of Healing Trance by 1.5 seconds, is mandatory.

       

      The Mystic’s 4-piece PVE set, which increases maximum Force by 50 (and, as a result, causes Noble Sacrifice to restore 4 more Force), isn’t worthless for a fight that’s challenging to heal. It’s decent for a few fights, such as Brontes, with one or more lulls that permit you to top up your Force between periods of intense damage. Despite being lackluster, it’s better than either alternative.

       

       

      • The Master’s 2-piece PVE set, which reduces the cooldown of Mental Alacrity by 15 seconds, is worthless unless it ensures that Mental Alacrity will be available for one additional period of intense healing during a fight. I’m not aware of any such fight.
         
         
      • The Mystic’s 2-piece PVP set, which reduces the cooldown of Force Armor by 1.5 seconds, is inferior in every respect. The lower stats on PVP Armorings reduce not only non-tank healing, but also tank healing. Even if you were to refresh Force Armor on a tank on cooldown (which is usually poor technique), your maximum potential healing for this tank falls. In addition, your Armor is lower, increasing your damage taken, and your maximum HP is lower.

       

       

      Augments

       

      Use Resolve (Willpower) Augments. Though Overkill (Power) Augments provide roughly equal total output if you have BIS gear and use Force Armor as often as you should, Willpower increases the likelihood of Resplendence procs.

       

       

      Relics

       

      For relics of the same tier, Focused Retribution = Serendipitous Assault > Boundless Ages. I don’t recommend a Boundless Ages relic, not even for Raptus’s Healing Challenge.

       

       

      Power versus Critical

       

      There is no sound argument for any Critical in BIS gear. (As you upgrade from one tier of gear to the next, however, an item of the higher tier with Critical > an item of the lower tier with Power until you have almost 200 Critical. Please consult my model or contact me with any questions about mixing gear from multiple tiers.)

       

       

      1. The math is straightforward and definitive: zero Critical maximizes tank or non-tank healing. A very low amount of Critical would be optimal if Force Armor were less than about 10% of your effective healing, but using Force Armor so sparingly is poor technique for a fight that’s challenging to heal, even with a Sage co-healer.
         
         
      2. No benefit from Critical outweighs its cost.

      3. Guaranteeing that Deliverance crits with Force Potency requires nearly 1000 Critical, but so much Critical reduces overall healing about 4%.
      4. Critical increases the likelihood of Resplendence procs, but poor rotation is the sole cause of having too few for Noble Sacrifice. Rather than lessening this one symptom of a poor rotation with Critical, correct your rotation. Mistakes in your rotation have additional penalties, none of which Critical can alleviate.

       

       

      [*]Even if all else were equal, healing favors consistency (Power) over RNG (Critical).

       

       

      Surge versus Alacrity

       

      Both metrics of my model (see worksheet "Gear") show that, in Underworld or higher tier gear, BIS gear has 3 items with Surge and the remaining 7 items with Alacrity. The alternative, with almost equal output, has 4 items with Surge and 6 with Alacrity.

       

      There is no sound argument for having more Surge in BIS gear. In fact, the more important of my model’s two metrics, EHPCT Rating, doesn't even capture the following benefits of Alacrity.

       

       

      1. While Alacrity is undesirable for most specializations, because it forces an additional weak ability into your rotation while the cooldown of a proc or strong ability finishes, the opposite is true for a Sage healer. In gear from Arkanian to Dread Master, increasing Alacrity tightens your rotation, maximizing your HPS and stacks of Resplendence by allowing you to activate Healing Trance sooner after it's off cooldown. To examine this, see worksheet "Operation HPS" in my model.
         
         
      2. Alacrity reduces time spent managing Force or cleansing, leaving more time for healing.

        Playing Like an Expert

         

         

        1. Heal to prevent deaths, not to top meters.
           
          Meters are a valuable tool and enhance competition, but don’t influence a skilled healer’s decision-making. For example, suppose that 8 DPS are at half health and won’t take damage for another 20 seconds, and, meanwhile, 1 tank is at half health and might die in a few seconds. Triage says Force Armor or Healing Trance the tank, but meters say Salvation the DPS.
           
          AOE heals can have high EHPS, but heal slowly. Before choosing an AOE heal, be sure that you’re using your head (triage), not your epeen (meters).
           
           
           
        2. Minimize over-healing, especially of non-tanks.
           
          HPS is trivial for a skilled healer. As shown on worksheet “Operation HPS” in my model, in an 8-man Operation, a Sage healer may indefinitely sustain over 7k HPS (8k HPS including Force Armor’s absorbing), more than twice what any fight requires.
           
          Among Sage healers, a quality that sets an expert apart is efficiency. In particular, efficient use of Salvation is crucial to your EHPS and Force management. In general, rather than using this ability on cooldown or prematurely, use it after AOE damage only if Force Wave is insufficient.
           
           
           
        3. Replenish Force before a period of intense damage, so that you can heal through it without pausing to replenish Force.
           
          Among Sage healers, a quality that sets an expert apart is the ability to leverage his resource pool, which is generous compared to the other healing classes’. For example, since damage can be intense during the first phase of Nightmare Cartel Warlords (Horic), and will be manageable during the second phase (Tu’chuk), I’m willing to heal without pausing to replenish Force during the first phase, even to the point of nearly 0 Force. I can use Noble Sacrifice during the second phase without risking an ally’s death.
           
           
           
        4. Avoid debuffing your rate of Force regeneration.
           
          Among Sage healers, a quality that sets an expert apart is almost never debuffing his rate of Force regeneration. This debuff is perilous; it can start you down a vicious spiral on which you’ll always be Force-starved. Two techniques allow you to replenish Force without debuffing your rate of Force regeneration.
           
          First, until you’ve replenished enough Force to heal through the next period of intense damage, every 7.5 seconds use Rejuvenate > Healing Trance followed by Noble Sacrifice for one or more charges of Resplendence.
           
          Second, don’t hold 3 charges of Resplendence for your next Salvation unless it must be used while moving. When I have 3 charges of Resplendence, I often use Noble Sacrifice once immediately before Salvation. This offsets most of the cost of Salvation. It also allows me to use my next ability sooner than if Salvation were instant.
           
           
           
        5. Use Force Armor liberally and wisely.
           
          Among Sage healers, a quality that sets an expert apart is liberal and wise use of Force Armor.
           
          For tanks, it’s usually fine to refresh Force Armor immediately as Force-imbalance expires. There is, however, an important exception: reserve Force Armor for immediately before (or after) moments when a tank’s health is likely to be low. For example, time Force Armor so that you can apply a fresh one to a tank whenever Titan 6 puts a Huge Grenade on him or Brontes’ targets him with Arcing Assault.
           
          For an ally targeted by a damaging mechanic, such as Kephess the Undying’s Dread Bomb, you have only a moment to mitigate damage with Force Armor. Your awareness and quick action can be the difference between life and death.
           
          For a non-tank likely to take unusual and high damage, such as from adds or an uncleansable DOT like Tyrans’ Affliction, Force Armor can prevent his health from dipping too low. Preventing such an emergency with Force Armor can give AOE heals time to top up non-tanks, which, in turn, allows healers to focus on tanks.
           
          See “Tips for Certain Bosses” for a list of the rare circumstances in which spamming Force Armor is prudent. Otherwise, this is almost always poor technique, because AOE heals provide superior HPCT (healing per cast time) and HPF (healing per Force).
           
           
           
        6. It’s very rarely appropriate to use Benevolence.
           
          Benevolence has no place in a rotation.
          • Force Armor and Healing Trance have higher HPS and HPF.
          • Deliverance usually has comparable HPS and always has higher HPF.
          • Though Benevolence is a small heal, it isn’t for topping up allies. It costs too much Force, and merely snipes your or your co-healer’s HOTs or AOEs.

         

        When an ally is about to die, it might be appropriate to use Benevolence, but only if none of the below abilities is available.

        1. Force Armor is instant, and it absorbs more than Benevolence would heal.
        2. Healing Trance has higher HPS than Benevolence, and its immediate tick and first channeled tick occur before a cast of Benevolence would finish.
        3. Deliverance buffed by Force Potency and Mental Alacrity is usually more effective than Benevolence. An ally saved by Benevolence will remain close to death without further healing; Benevolence won’t resolved his emergency. Deliverance buffed by Force Potency might resolve his emergency, allowing you to heal someone else next.

         

        Parsing

         

         

        Running a parser during an Operation helps you refine your technique over several pulls of a challenging boss. I recommend Parsec, which can estimate the amount of damage absorbed by Force Armor.

         

        Challenging content’s demands on your time and Force require at least 70% effective healing (excluding Force Armor). Avoid the MOX parser, which encourages poor technique by failing to distinguish effective healing from over-healing.

         

        Tips for Certain Bosses

         

         

        Operation: Terror From Beyond

         

        Dread Guard

        • Use Force Armor on the tank with Kel’sara’s Leech.
        • Force Barrier resists damage from Heirad’s Lightning Field.
        • Though Force Barrier doesn’t purge Ciphas’s Doom, it resists the damage that it deals upon expiring.
        • Force Barrier purges Kel’sara’s uncleansable DOT, Withering Terror.

         

        Kephess the Undying

        • In the first phase, Force Barrier clears any stray Energy Distortion that attaches to you or resists damage from Laser Blast.
        • In the second phase, Force Barrier resists damage from Dread Bomb or, if you’re unable to channel a Pylon, purges Corrupted Nanites.

         

        Terror from Beyond

        • Use Cloud Mind to lower your threat with each Tentacle during the first phase, and on cooldown during the second phase.

         

         

        Operation: Scum and Villainy

         

        Dash’Roode

        • Rejoin your group in record time after being lost in the sandstorm with one point in skill Master Speed rather than two points in Egress.

         

        Titan 6

        • Force Barrier resists damage from a Huge Grenade.
        • Force Barrier resists damage from Launch (Defensive Systems 5) if you’re unable to find a rock with a vacancy.
        • During the final phase, spam Force Armor whenever Salvation, Force Wave, and Rejuvenate > Healing Trance are on cooldown.

         

        Thrasher

        • Adds in the stadium’s upper level spawn every 45 seconds, which matches Cloud Mind’s cooldown. Use Cloud Mind just after each group of adds spawns.
        • On Nightmare Mode, after Thrasher’s health falls below 50% and more than one pack of Mercenary Snipers spawns, it’s helpful to spam Force Armor immediately before the knockback to the stadium’s upper level.

         

        Operations Chief

        • Use Force Barrier to purge one of his Explosive Probes.

         

        Cartel Warlords

        • Though I’ve never done this for any other fight, on Nightmare Mode, it’s helpful to blanket the raid with Force Armor (and then channel Meditation to replenish your Force) immediately before pulling.
        • If you’re unable to heal an ally through Garr’s Stabbing Spree, and he doesn’t have a CC break available, use Rescue to pull him far out of Stabbing Spree’s range.

         

        Styrak

        • On Nightmare Mode, to control a Chain Manifestation, I recommend Force Wave > Force Slow > Force Stun when Force Slow expires. A freeze grenade works, too, but has a 3-minute cooldown.
        • Immediately before Styrak divides himself into 4 (or, on 16-man Nightmare Mode, 8) Manifestations, it’s helpful to Force Armor each ally who’ll likely be closest to a Manifestation.

         

        Hateful Entity

        • Use Force Barrier when Hateful Entity will strike you with the next Dread Touch (because your debuff has just expired). Hateful Entity will strike you with Dread Touch though you’re channeling Force Barrier. Dread Touch still knocks you down and stuns you (cancelling your channel of Force Barrier), but Force Barrier resists its damage.
        • If you revive an ally while in combat and after everyone has been struck by Dread Touch, it’s imperative that he be topped up immediately. Dread Touch’s debuff doesn’t persist through death, and, therefore, Dread Touch will strike him next.

         

         

        Operation: Dread Fortress

         

        Nefra

        • Using Force Barrier to purge the DOT allows you to complete a round of cleanses 4.5 seconds faster.

         

        Draxus

        • On Hard or Nightmare Mode, you can’t cleanse a Guardian’s Affliction. Force Barrier purges it from you, and Force Armor stabilizes another’s health.
        • If you tank a Dismantler in your team’s strategy, channel Force Barrier after it begins casting Strong Swipe. Force Barrier resists Strong Swipe’s damage, knockback, and debuff. If you stop channeling Force Barrier immediately after Strong Swipe, you’ll retain aggro on the Dismantler and be able to tank it through its second Strong Swipe.
        • On Nightmare Mode, a Bulwark debuffs any player under its shield with Dread Disruption, which prevents healing. This debuff doesn’t diminish damage absorption, such as from Force Armor, or damage reduction. Cleanse Corrosive Grenade as soon as possible from any player with Dread Disruption.

         

        Corruptor Zero

        • Force Barrier neither purges a Concussion Mine nor resists Anti-Gravity Field.
        • Force Barrier resists damage from Unified Beam. I don’t recommend relying on it, however, because your allies need healing during this phase on Hard or Nightmare Mode.

         

        Brontes

        • An ally with an Orb takes steady, light damage from the Orb before detonating it. Heal him through this damage, reserving Force Armor for immediately before the detonation.
        • Force Barrier isn’t useful if you have an Orb, because your Orb won’t detonate while you’re channeling Force Barrier.
        • To prepare for the phase with six Fingers, blanket the raid with Force Armor while two or three Robots remain. Force-imbalance will expire as the initial rounds of damage during the six-Finger phase have exhausted Force Armor, allowing you to blanket the raid with Force Armor a second time. This technique is incredibly effective, maintaining everyone at full health for much, and sometimes most, of this phase.

         

         

        Operation: Dread Palace

         

        Tyrans

        • On Hard or Nightmare Mode, you can’t cleanse Tyrans’ Affliction. Force Barrier purges it from you, and Force Armor stabilizes another’s health.
        • On Nightmare Mode, when you have Simplification:
          • Before falling, help your co-healer as much as possible. In general, use Salvation > Force Armor > Force Armor. (Neither Force Armor is on yourself; you can heal yourself while falling or moving across Tyrans’ basement.)
          • If you stand on the tile that you’ve selected for elimination, Force Barrier prevents fall damage.

         

         

        Raptus

        • For each Tanking Challenge, give each tank a fresh Force Armor. To avoid proccing relics before entering a Healing Challenge, don’t refresh a tank’s Rejuvenate.

         

        Rotation for a Healing Challenge

        1. Triage Adrenal (for one of the two rounds) > Mental Alacrity > Salvation with 2 stacks of Resplendence. If you have 3 stacks, use Noble Sacrifice once while waiting to enter the Healing Challenge.
        2. Rejuvenate > Healing Trance.
        3. Force Potency > Deliverance three times.
        4. Healing Trance (without Conveyance).
        5. Finish with Deliverance > Benevolence. If this Benevolence fails, because the Healing Challenge ends while casting it, try replacing the Deliverance with Benevolence. Benevolence > Benevolence should outheal one Deliverance.

         

        On Nightmare Mode, Curse of Enfeeblement must be removed from the Dying Captive, you, and your co-healer as soon as possible.

        • With a Scoundrel co-healer, purge yourself with Force Barrier for the first round, and cleanse yourself with Restoration for the second round. For both rounds, your co-healer cleanses the Dying Captive and purges himself with Dodge.
        • With a Commando co-healer, your co-healer cleanses only himself each round.
          • For the first round, cleanse the Dying Captive and purge yourself with Force Barrier.
          • For the second round, replace Steps 1 and 2 above with: Restoration on the Dying Captive > Salvation with 1 or 3 stacks of Resplendence > Rejuvenate > Mental Alacrity > Restoration on yourself > Healing Trance. You bear the healing loss of Curse of Enfeeblement, because you can setup both of your long-lasting HOTs while cursed.

         

        Additional advice for a Healing Challenge

        • If Mental Alacrity isn’t active when you begin the channel of Healing Trance in Step 4, delay Mental Alacrity until after Salvation.
        • In general, exactly one healer uses a Triage Adrenal during each round. On Nightmare Mode with a Commando co-healer, you both use it during the second round.
        • Don’t substitute a Boundless Ages relic for a proc relic. The pause in healing before entering a Healing Challenge almost guarantees that both of your proc relics will buff you during each Healing Challenge. This is more valuable than having a Boundless Ages relic for only one round.

         

         

        Dread Masters

        • Shortly before triggering the final phase, blanket the raid with Force Armor. During the final phase, spam Force Armor on non-tanks whenever Salvation, Force Wave, and Rejuvenate > Healing Trance are on cooldown.

         

         


    3. In addition to hastening Noble Sacrifice, Alacrity increases the amount of Force that you'll regenerate during any moments of downtime.
    4. Even with skill Mend Wounds, Restoration's HPS and HPF are abysmal, so its use is strictly to cleanse.

     

     

    [*]Alacrity increases your APM (actions per minute), a boon for triage. This benefit of Alacrity is especially valuable for a Sage, who has the lowest APM among healers. For example, Alacrity increases the likelihood that you'll be able to preempt damage with Force Armor.

     

     

    [*]Increasing Alacrity reduces the likelihood that a cast or channel will be

    1. broken, because your target becomes out of range or line-of-sight;
    2. interrupted, such as by a knockback; or
    3. cancelled, because you must move or switch immediately to healing another.

     


    If you learn the rotation and techniques discussed in this guide, you should never have this debuff.
    Using Force Barrier to remove this debuff means that it’s unavailable to cheat death, avoid substantial damage, purge an uncleansable debuff, or complete a crucial round of cleanses 4.5 seconds faster.

    [*]If you choose this skill, and choose to use Force Barrier to clear a Force regeneration debuff, you’ll benefit most by channeling Force Barrier immediately after using Noble Sacrifice without Resplendence for four or more consecutive GCDs.

     

    [Guide] Sorcerer Healing

    in Sage / Sorcerer

    Posted · Edited by Orderken

    PVP

    Skill Points

     

     

    If you choose to invest 36 points in the healing tree, I recommended the following allocation: 36/7/3.

    1. Sith Purity is mandatory for PVP.
    2. Corrupted Speed is mandatory for a PVP allocation with 36 points in the healing tree.
    3. I favor three skill points in Penetrating Darkness and none in Corrupted Barrier.

      2. My impression is that Corrupted Barrier hasn’t saved or materially extended my life. While I channel Force Barrier, my resolve wears off, leaving me vulnerable to being stunned and killed the moment that I stop channeling.
      3. There are two factors that might change my mind.
        1. Corrupted Barrier’s HOT can proc a relic, increasing a proc relic’s uptime.
        2. In the brief moments when I’m not the target of the enemy team, and I’m confident that there isn’t a nearby enemy in stealth, I’ve allowed Corrupted Barrier’s HOT to heal me slowly while I heal my allies instead.

         

        The alternative, which is usually superior for 4v4 (arena), is “Bubble Stun”: 26/18/2.

      • Pros
        • Bubble Stun is wonderful against melee who are attacking you.
        • Burst damage is crucial in PVP. The skills in the middle tree allow you to dish some out.
        • Force management is easier, for reasons including skills Subversion and Lightning Storm.

        [*]Cons

        • Bubble Stun is worthless against ranged who are attacking you.
        • You’re trading healing potential for DPS potential. A healer who has 36 points in his healing tree can provide more healing.

     

    Though Force Suffusion adds healing to Overload, I don’t invest points in this skill for PVP. I can’t afford to use Overload merely for healing when it’s usually necessary for defending myself or, in Warzones, the cap.

     

    I urge you not to queue for Solo Ranked as a Sorcerer healer. The design of our class prevents us from competing with the other healing classes.

     

    BIS Gear

     

     

    This is likely BIS for PVP without Warzone Bolster.

     

    At this time, however, Warzone Bolster allows you to cap Expertise while also having the Force-Mystic’s 2-piece PVE and 2-piece PVP set bonuses (see here for details). You may test your PVE components on Fleet with the "Bolsterizer". For example, a piece of Arkanian gear (each component of which has an Item Rating of 162) costs only 3 Expertise, a negligible amount.

     

    For Augments, Overkill (Power) > Resolve (Willpower), because Static Barrier usually has the largest share of your total output.

     

    I urge you not to queue for Solo Ranked as a Sorcerer healer. The design of our class prevents us from competing with the other healing classes.

     

    Basic Advice

     

     

    1. Use grenades like any other consumable. The 3-minute cooldown on grenades matches the 3-minute cooldown on Force Barrier, which is convenient when an enemy is licking his chops anticipating the denouement of your Force Barrier. In general, I prefer seismic grenades, which knock enemies unconscious. When you shouldn’t add to enemies’ resolve, cartel waste or freeze grenades, which slow or root enemies, respectively, are better.
       
       
    2. Don’t give an enemy full resolve unless this will secure an objective or ensure his death. For example, in Huttball, an enemy ball-carrier shouldn’t have full resolve close to fire pits, because this will prevent pulling or knocking him into a fire pit.
       
       
    3. Except for Novare Coast, when you’re defending a node, stand away from the cap. For example, in Hypergate, if an enemy can CC you and begin capping your pylon in less than 2 seconds, he will finish the 6-second channel to cap it unless you have a CC break available. In addition, don’t pursue an enemy out of range or LOS of your node, because an enemy in stealth will cap it behind you.
       
       
    4. Don’t over-rotate between two nodes that your team is defending. First, don’t leave the quiet node vulnerable to join a battle at the other node unless it’s reasonable to expect that this other node will be lost. Second, if you’re at the node under attack, and your team’s kills have given it the upper hand, consider leaving for your node that had been quiet while the remaining enemies are mopped up.
       
       
    5. Focus on winning, not healing. For example, in Novare Coast, it’s often appropriate for you to channel to cap though not healing will allow an ally to die. As another example, in Huttball, you’re capable of carrying the ball whenever Force Speed is available, and even better at getting ahead of your ball-carrier and advancing him past fire pits with Extrication.
       
       
    6. Assist with killing enemies with low health. If an enemy crosses your path or leaps to you while barely clinging to life, stop healing and Shock him dead. A reasonable goal is having 30,000 damage and 1 killing blow in every competitive Warzone.
       
       
    7. You’re naked without Static Barrier, and inviting an enemy to appear from stealth and relieve you of half of your health. However, it’s good to give a Sorcerer ally a chance to Static Barrier himself, because he may have Corrupted Barrier or Backlash.
       
       
    8. While there is safety in numbers, there is danger in a stack. Stacking attracts AOE damage, stuns, and CCs, which are far worse than the benefit of any AOE healing.
       
       
    9. The keys to your survival are using your environment to LOS; your environment in combination with Force Slow, Force Speed, or Overload to kite; Overload or Jolt to interrupt; Electrocute to stun and reduce an enemy’s damage dealt by 25% for 10 seconds; Warzone Medpac and Unnatural Preservation to heal yourself when moving, especially when your health drops near or below 30%; and Warzone Adrenal to increase your damage reduction. In addition, monitor the battlefield for health packs, and treat them as healing cooldowns that you can use Force Speed to snap up. Without guard, a reasonable goal is exceeding 90,000 damage taken per death in every competitive Warzone.
       
       
    10. Cleanse early and often with Expunge. It’s easier to prevent damage with this instant ability than it is to replenish health by casting or channeling heals. You can also cleanse certain CCs, such as Whirlwind. If you’re desperate, Expunge is also a small heal for yourself while moving.
       
       
    11. In Warzones, dying restores you to full Force. If you or an ally can monitor the time remaining until a respawn, it can be strategic to die and respawn quickly with full Force. This takes some gumption, since you must die in time to respawn without catching a full door, but, as a healer, you’ll usually have multiple enemies who’ll be happy to dispatch you post haste should you present the opportunity.

     

     

    Maximizing Your Performance

    Datacrons

     

     

    You should obtain all datacrons that provide Willpower and, especially for PVP, or Endurance.

     

    Companions

     

     

    Completing all dialogue and quests available from certain companions for a character in your Faction and Legacy will grant a bonus to certain stats. You should obtain:

    1. 1% Critical from Andronikos Revel,
    2. 1% Surge from Ashara Zavros,
    3. 1% healing received from Talos Drellik, and,
    4. especially for PVP, 1% total health from Xalek.

     

    Consumables

     

     

    1. Stim: Prototype Nano-Infused Resolve Stim, which provides 169 Willpower and 70 Power for 2 hours. This is superior to any reusable Stim available with Biochem.
       
       
    2. Adrenal

      User Interface

       

       

      Tailor your UI for healing. For example, I use this for PVP or 8-man PVE, and this for 16-man PVE. Use your discretion and the guidance below.

       

       

      1. Operation Frames and Action Bars should be adjacent and centered horizontally along the bottom of your screen. A common mistake is separating Operation Frames and Action Bars, such as having Operation Frames centered vertically on the far left and Action Bars centered horizontally on the bottom, which forces you to look away from Operation Frames to view an ability’s cooldown.
         
         
      2. For Operation Frames, set “Buff Scale” as low as possible, and disable “Show Health Text”. This information is useless for triage and clutters Operation Frames.
         
         
      3. For Operation Frames, increase “Debuff Scale”. Debuffs should be prominent.
         
         
      4. Enable Focus Target and its Castbar. For certain bosses, it can help to set the boss as your Focus Target. For example, when you see Brontes’ Arching Assault, Static Barrier her tank.
         
         
      5. Under Preferences > User Interface, enable “Show Cooldown Text”.
         
         
      6. I place Chat and Mini-Map on either side of the bottom of my screen.

         

        Your Abilities in Detail

        Heals

         

         

        For calculations of GCD, cast, or channel times; healing amounts; or HPS or HPCT with gear that you select and all skills, buffs, and bonuses from Datacrons or Companions, see worksheet “Abilities – Current Gear” in my model.

         

        Static Barrier

         

        Description

        • This instant single-target ability is a large absorb rather than a heal. It lasts up to 30 seconds.
        • It can’t crit, and therefore doesn’t benefit from Critical or Surge.
        • Though this ability has no cooldown, it debuffs each recipient with Deionized, which prevents you or another Sorcerer from reapplying it to him for 20 seconds (reduced to 17 seconds by two points in skill Efficacious Currents, and, for PVP, further reduced to 15.5 seconds by the Mystic’s 2-piece PVP set).

         

        Use

        • For PVE, skill Corrupted Barrier causes your own Static Barrier to heal you for 1.09% of your maximum health each second.
          • This restores much of the health lost to Consumption.
          • In general, don’t use Static Barrier on another Sorcerer healer.

          [*]For PVE, it’s crucial for tank healing, as well as for absorbing imminent damage when an ally is targeted by a damaging mechanic, such as Kephess the Undying’s Laser Blast or Dread Bomb. See “PVE” > “Playing Like an Expert” > Topic 5 for a detailed discussion.

          [*]For PVP, it provides more healing than any other ability, and it can be used while moving.

         

         

        Resurgence

         

        Description

        • This instant single-target ability delivers a small immediate heal and leaves a HOT that ticks once every 3 seconds thereafter for 9 to 15 seconds (each point in skill Reconstruct adds a tick to the HOT). It has a 6-second cooldown.
        • Each point in skill Force Bending grants you a 50% chance to proc a buff of the same name upon using this ability. You can have at most one charge of Force Bending, which lasts up to 10 seconds.
        • Skill Reconstruct adds a buff of the same name that increases any recipient’s Armor Rating from gear alone by 10% for Resurgence’s duration.
          • Though not substantial, any increase in mitigation is helpful.
          • This buff doesn’t stack. That is, an ally’s Armor Rating from gear alone may be increased by at most 10% regardless of the number of Sorcerer or Mercenary healers who have so buffed him.

         

        Use

        • Since the HOT lasts for 9 to 15 seconds, it’s optimal to rotate this ability between 2 to 3 allies. In general, the recipients should be the tanks, and, if it lasts for 15 seconds, yourself (to restore much of the health lost to Consumption).
        • For PVE or PVP, use this ability on cooldown, if only to gain Force Bending. Force Bending is consumed by, and benefits, your next Innervate, Revivification, Dark Infusion, or Dark Heal.

         

         

        Innervate

         

        Description

        • This channeled ability delivers an immediate heal and 3 channeled ticks. It is immune to pushback.
        • It has a 9-second cooldown, which the Mystic’s 2-piece PVE set reduces to 7.5 seconds.
        • Force Bending increases this ability’s Critical chance by 25%.
        • Each point in skill Force Surge grants you a 50% chance for each critical heal from this ability to proc one charge of a buff of the same name. You may have up to 3 charges of Force Surge, and each proc refreshes the 25-second duration of all of your charges of this buff.

         

        Use

        • For PVE or PVP, using this ability on cooldown, and having it consume Force Bending, maximizes your HPS and Force Surge procs.
        • You’ll consume Force Surge with Consumption, each use of which consumes 1 charge, or with Revivification, which consumes all charges.

         

         

        Dark Infusion

         

        Description

        • This cast replenishes a respectable amount of health to a single ally. It has no cooldown.
        • Force Bending reduces the Force cost of this ability by 30%.

         

        Use

        • This is your default ability for single-target healing when Resurgence and Innervate are on cooldown.
        • It’s better to use Force Bending for Innervate.

         

         

        Revivification

         

        Description

        • This ability is the more powerful of your AOE heals. It has a 15-second cooldown.
        • Over 10 seconds, this ability delivers 11 ticks of healing, 1 immediately and 1 each second thereafter. It has a radius of 8 meters, which is about twice the radius of the ground graphic. Up to 8 allies within its radius receive each tick.
        • Force Surge reduces its cast time. One charge reduces its cast time by one-third; 2 charges reduce its cast time by two-thirds; and 3 charges make it instant.
        • Force Bending reduces the Force cost of this ability by 30%.

         

        Use

        • Use this ability immediately after AOE damage that exceeds Overload’s healing.
        • Unless you must use this ability while moving, it’s optimal to cast it with only one or two charges of Force Surge. The cast of this ability reduced by either one-third or two-thirds is shorter than a GCD. That is, you can activate your next ability sooner if Revivification is a cast shortened than if it is instant.
        • If more than 8 allies are within its radius, each tick heals the 8 closest to its center for that tick. In a 16-man Operation, if two or more Sorcerer healers intend to heal more than 8 allies, they should center their Revivifications at least a few meters apart, as though drawing a Venn Diagram with little or no intersection.
        • It’s better to use Force Bending for Innervate.

         

         

        Overload

         

        Description

        • This instant AOE heal replenishes a small amount of health to each ally in your frontal “cone”. This “cone” is a semi-circle that has a 15-meter radius and spans about 150 to 160 degrees.
        • Besides Unnatural Preservation, it is your only heal that costs no Force. It has a 20-second cooldown.

         

        Use

        • This is a useful heal for Operations, especially 16-man. Use it instead of Revivification when AOE damage is less than Revivification’s healing. Use it in conjunction with Revivification when AOE damage exceeds Revivification’s healing.
        • Position yourself so that as many allies as possible are within your frontal “cone”. Overload retains its knockback and damaging effects, so ensure that you don’t knockback adds or break CC. During boss fights, this usually means being at the rear of the ranged stack. During trash pulls, this usually means being at the front of the ranged stack, with your back to the trash.

         

         

        Unnatural Preservation

         

        Description

        • This is an instant, large self-heal with a 30-second cooldown.
        • Besides Overload, it is your only heal that costs no Force.

         

        Use

        • For PVE, it isn’t only a defensive cooldown, but also a means of replenishing your health immediately after using Consumption two or three times in a row.
        • For PVP, it’s an excellent defensive cooldown, especially with Recklessness or when casting is impossible.

         

         

        Expunge

         

        Description

        • This instant single-target ability cleanses up to two mental or Force effects. With skill Sith Purity, it also cleanses physical effects and provides a small heal.
        • It has a 4.5-second cooldown.

         

        Use

        • For PVE, when an effect is of a type that this ability can cleanse, it’s almost always better to remove this effect than to heal through it.
        • For PVP, it prevents damage (though it’s far less useful in this regard than the cleanse of either of the other healing classes) and removes certain slows, roots, and CCs. If you’re desperate and moving, it’s a small heal.

         

         

        Dark Heal

         

        Description

        • This ability is a small single-target heal with a cast time equal to the GCD. It has no cooldown.
        • Force Bending increases its Critical chance by 60%.

         

        Use

        • For PVE, it’s very rarely appropriate to use this ability, primarily because of its poor HPF. See “PVE” > “Playing Like an Expert” > Topic 6 for a detailed discussion.
        • For PVP, when an enemy with an interrupt on a short cooldown is tunneling you, and it’s time for him to interrupt you, queue up this ability for his interrupt.
        • It’s better to use Force Bending for Innervate.

         

        Cooldowns for Healing

         

         

        Polarity Shift

         

        Description

        • This adds 20% to your Alacrity, and grants immunity to interrupts and pushback, for 10 seconds.
        • It’s off the GCD and doesn’t use a GCD. It has a 2-minute cooldown.
        • Though no amount of Alacrity from gear or an Efficiency Adrenal can provide 30% or more Alacrity, this “cap” doesn’t limit Alacrity from Polarity Shift.

         

        Use

        • For PVE, this is for an emergency or a burn phase. For an emergency, it’s often used in conjunction with Recklessness to hasten Dark Infusion.
        • For PVP, this is primarily for interrupt immunity. Therefore, it’s ideal to use this ability immediate after gaining full resolve.

         

         

        Recklessness

         

        Description

        • This buffs you with two charges of +60% Critical chance for certain heals (or certain direct Force attacks). This buff expires after 20 seconds.
        • It’s off the GCD and doesn’t use a GCD. It has a 90-second cooldown.
        • One charge of this buff is consumed by each Unnatural Preservation, Dark Infusion, Dark Heal, or Resurgence (or certain direct Force attacks) that crits.

         

        Use

        • For PVE, this ability is for single-target healing emergencies. It’s usually used in conjunction with Polarity Shift to cast Dark Infusion on a tank who is low. Since each of the other healing classes has better single-target healing abilities or cooldowns for such an emergency, it’s not unusual for this tank to be saved while you have one charge of this buff remaining. But you shouldn’t hesitate to activate this ability because its second charge might not be necessary; better safe than sorry.
        • For PVP, it’s optimal to use this buff with an Unnatural Preservation and a Dark Infusion. I sometimes use it with Polarity Shift, but not habitually.

         

        Force Management

         

         

        Consumption

        • This instant ability exchanges 11% of your maximum health for 8% of your maximum Force. You must have at least 11% health to activate this ability.
        • Health exchanged for Force using this ability isn’t considered damage. Static Barrier, Armor, damage reduction, or skills that reduce damage (i.e., Life Surge or Sith Defiance) won’t reduce the health cost.
        • Activating this ability when Force Surge isn’t available debuffs your rate of passive Force regeneration for 10 seconds. This debuff stacks up to four times, and gaining a stack refreshes the 10-second duration of this debuff. Each stack reduces your rate of passive Force regeneration by 25%. For example, if you have no charges of Force Surge, after using Consumption for four consecutive GCDs, your rate of passive Force regeneration will be zero for the next 10 seconds.
        • With discipline and preparation, you should never have this debuff in PVE. See “PVE” > “Playing Like an Expert” > Topics 3 and 4 for detailed discussion.

         

         

        A Well-Timed Death in Warzones

        • In Warzone, dying restores you to full Force. If you or an ally can monitor the time remaining until a respawn, it can be strategic to die and respawn quickly with full Force. This takes some gumption, since you must die in time to respawn without catching a full door, but, as a healer, you’ll usually have multiple enemies who’ll be happy to dispatch you post haste should you present the opportunity.

         

        Threat Management

         

         

        Cloud Mind

        • This instant ability lowers your threat with each enemy by 25%.
        • It’s off the GCD and doesn’t use a GCD. It has a 45-second cooldown.
        • For PVE, you should be in the habit of using this ability proactively, especially after adds spawn.

         

         

        Extrication

        • This instant ability lowers the targeted ally’s threat by 25%, and pulls him about one-third of a meter in front of you. You can’t use this ability on yourself. It has a 1-minute cooldown.
        • For PVE, this is handy to drop the threat of a DPS or co-healer who continues to have aggro even after using his threat drop. You can also pull someone out of harm’s way to your safe location.
        • For PVP, you should anticipate using this ability to advance an ally ball-carrier across fire pits in Huttball or to pull an ally into the central shelter in Hypergate as the Pylons explode. You may use this ability to pull an ally away from a group of enemies who are focused on him, but you might regret it. More often than not, you’re bringing not only him to you, but also those enemies.

         

        Useful DPS Abilities

         

         

        Affliction: This instant ability is an 18-second DOT. If you must contribute DPS to beat a boss’s hard enrage, your best option is maintaining this DOT throughout the fight.

         

        Crushing Darkness: This cast deals immediate damage and leaves a 6-second DOT. It has a 15-second cooldown, and is therefore limited to one target.

         

        Shock: This instant ability deals respectable damage. It has a 6-second cooldown.

         

        Force Lightning: This channels damage and, in PVP, slows the target’s movement speed by 50%. It has a 6-second cooldown.

         

        Force Storm: This channeled AOE damages up to 5 enemies. Despite its high Force cost, it’s useful in PVP for interrupting multiple enemies who are capping simultaneously. I’ve observed that it may not strike an enemy within its radius immediately, however, even when there are 5 or fewer enemies within its radius. If an enemy is a second or less from capping, Shock is a more reliable interrupt (and, unlike this channeled ability, can be used while moving).

         

        Crowd Control (CC)

         

         

        Electrocute

        • This instant ability deals immediate damage and stuns the target for 4 seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown. Its range is 10 meters.
        • For PVE, if you’ll CC an enemy with Whirlwind and you’re already within 10 meters, it can be useful to stun this enemy first to prevent it from moving or acting while you cast Whirlwind.
        • For PVP, this is a defensive or offensive cooldown.
          • Defensively, this ability may allow you to escape from an enemy who is tunneling you. With skill Sap Strength, it reduces the enemy’s damage dealt by 25% for 10 seconds after its stun effect ends.
          • Offensively, if an enemy’s health is low enough that he can be killed during the 4-second duration of this stun, stun him to ensure that he doesn’t escape. This is particularly valuable when used against an enemy capable of stealth.

         

         

        Whirlwind

        • This cast CCs an enemy for 60 seconds in PVE or for 8 seconds in PVP. It has a 1-minute cooldown. This CC breaks if the enemy takes damage, including from a DOT of yours applied before this CC.
        • For PVP, this is a defensive or offensive cooldown.
          • Defensively, you can try to CC an enemy who is tunneling to you. Though you’re unlikely to complete this cast, the enemy has used his interrupt on this ability rather than a heal.
          • Offensively, if your enemies have two healers in a fight, it’s valuable to use this ability against the healer who your team isn’t focusing, especially if there isn’t a Sorcerer to cleanse it.

         

        Other

         

         

        Force Speed

        • This instant ability increases your movement speed by 150% for 2 seconds or, with skill Corrupted Speed, 2.5 seconds.
        • It’s off the GCD and doesn’t use a GCD. It has a 20-second cooldown.
        • For PVP, with two points in skill Fadeout, Force Speed removes all movement-impairing effects and, for its duration, grants immunity to movement-impairing effects.

         

         

        Force Slow

        • This instant ability deals a small amount of damage immediately and slows the enemy’s movement speed by 50% for 6 seconds. It has a 12-second cooldown.
        • For PVP, this ability is useful for kiting an enemy who is tunneling to you or hindering an enemy who needs to rotate or interrupt an ally of yours who’s capping.

         

         

        Jolt

        • This instant ability interrupts the enemy’s current cast, provided that the enemy isn’t immune to interrupts.
        • It’s off the GCD and doesn’t use a GCD. It has a 12-second cooldown.
        • For PVP, this is a defensive ability when used against a DPS who is tunneling to you, and this is an offensive ability when used against a healer.

         

         

        Unbreakable Will

        • This instant ability breaks you out of roots, stuns, and CCs.
        • It’s off the GCD and doesn’t use a GCD. It has a 2-minute cooldown.
        • For Warzones, I don’t treat Unbreakable Will as a cooldown for my survival. It’s better to save this 2-minute cooldown to prevent an enemy cap. With proper positioning when defending a node, you’ll never need to break the first stun or CC to block a lone enemy from capping.
        • For PVP, another rule-of-thumb is not to use this ability to break a root or, unless you have full resolve, to break stuns or CCs. For example, suppose that you Electrocute an enemy. If this enemy were to break your stun without having full resolve, he’d be vulnerable to spending a full 8 seconds in your Whirlwind without a second break.

         

         

        Force Barrier

         

        Description

        • This channeled ability grants you immunity to all negative effects from enemies. You can maintain this channel for up to 8 seconds.
        • It’s off the GCD and doesn’t use a GCD. It has a 3-minute cooldown.
        • Channeling Force Barrier builds stacks of Enduring Bastion, a shield that absorbs damage and grants immunity to interrupts and pushback for up to 5 seconds. You gain one stack of Enduring Bastion upon activating Force Barrier, and one additional stack for every 2 seconds spent channeling Force Barrier, up to a maximum of 4 stacks after channeling Force Barrier for 6 or more seconds. The amount of damage that Enduring Bastion can absorb increases with the stacks acquired when channeling Force Barrier.
        • You can begin this channel while stunned or CCed, making it a second CC break. Since it’s a channel, however, you can’t begin it while in motion, nor can you maintain it if an ally puts you in motion with Extrication.

         

        Use

        • For PVE, this ability resists most damage. See “PVE” > “Tips for Certain Bosses” for examples of when this is most helpful.
        • For PVP, and Arenas in particular, use this ability to thwart substantial damage rather than delaying until you have only a sliver of health.
        • For Arenas, if a round lasts until the poison, a Sorcerer with this ability available should win the round. Though channeling doesn’t resist damage from the poison, Enduring Bastion does. Time your channel so that it ends immediately before the poison begins to deal damage.
        • For Warzones, this ability allows you to defend a cap by yourself for some time. Prevent the enemy from capping as long as possible, channeling Force Barrier to prevent your death, and, finally, stop channeling Force Barrier to interrupt the enemy’s cap just before it finishes. This buys your team an additional six to eight seconds to reinforce the cap.
        • For Warzones, since you’ll have skill Corrupted Speed, if a cap is suddenly undefended, you may be able to interrupt the enemy’s cap with Force Speed > Force Barrier (for a moment, only to reset Force Speed’s cooldown) > Force Speed.
        • For Ancient Hypergates, this ability doesn’t protect you from dying in an explosion of energy from the Pylons.

         

         


    3. If you need to select an enemy with your mouse, such as the first Droid during Brontes, it’s almost always in a top corner of your screen. Don’t risk obscuring your target or, worse, clicking in Chat.
    4. Having the Mini-Map close to Operation Frames is helpful for a few fights, such as Thrasher or Corruptor Zero, in which adds spawn in one of several possible locations.

     


    For PVE, Nano-Infused Triage Adrenal, which provides 675 Force Power for 15 seconds. This is superior to any reusable Adrenal available with Biochem. For a detailed analysis of the expected benefit of Adrenals in BIS gear, see worksheet “Relics & Adrenals” in my model.
    For PVP, Warzone Adrenal, which increases Damage Reduction by 15% for 15 seconds.
    An Adrenal can be used at any time (i.e., it’s off the GCD) and doesn’t use a GCD. Adrenals have a 3-minute cooldown.

     

     

    [*]Medpac

    1. For PVE, Prototype Impeccable Medpac, which restores 5575 to 6800 health immediately and leaves a HOT that restores 2475 health over 15 seconds. This is superior to any reusable Medpac available with Biochem. The cooldown shared by all types of Medpacs usable outside of Warzones is the longer of (a) 90 seconds and (b) the end of combat.
    2. For PVP, Warzone Medpac, which restores 35% of your total health immediately. This has a 90-second cooldown.
    3. A Medpac can be used at any time (i.e., it’s off the GCD) and doesn’t use a GCD.

     

     

    [*]Grenades: Reusable grenades are available with Cybertech, and otherwise you may purchase single-use grenades.

    1. For PVE, grenades that stun can be useful for trash mobs or boss adds. A freeze grenade will root a Chain Manifestation on Nightmare Mode Styrak.
    2. For PVP, grenades are very useful.
    3. The cooldown shared by all types of grenades is 3 minutes. Throwing a grenade uses a GCD.

     


    [Guide] Sorcerer Healing

    in Sage / Sorcerer

    Posted · Edited by Orderken

    This is an in-depth guide for healing Operations (PVE), and a basic guide for healing Warzones (PVP), as a level 55 Sorcerer. It's current as of SWTOR 2.8.1, and was last updated on July 12.

     

    This guide is organized as follows.

     

     

    1. PVE

      2. Skill Points
      3. Rotation
      4. BIS Gear
      5. Playing Like an Expert
      6. Parsing
      7. Tips for Certain Bosses

     

     

    [*]PVP

    1. Skill Points
    2. BIS Gear
    3. Basic Advice

     

     

    [*]Maximizing Your Performance

    1. Datacrons
    2. Companions
    3. Consumables
    4. User Interface

     

     

    [*]Your Abilities in Detail

     

    This first post includes Section 1. The second post includes Sections 2-4. This guide is available as a Word document.

     

     

    PVE

    Skill Points

     

     

    For progression, I usually allocate my skill points as follows: 36/7/3.

     

    You may reallocate up to two points among the four skills discussed below.

     

     

    1. Sith Purity improves your cleanse, Expunge.

    2. I recommend this skill for Dread Fortress. With this skill, you can cleanse at least one debuff during four of the five bosses.
    3. This skill is useful in fewer situations for Terror from Beyond, Scum and Villainy, or Dread Palace.

     

     

    [*]Sith Defiance reduces damage taken. I recommend this skill for progression.

    1. A Sorcerer has the least Armor, and unavoidable damage is common in Operations.
    2. This skill is more valuable in 16-man Operations, because many attacks deal substantially higher damage than in 8-man. In fact, a Sorcerer without this skill could've been globaled despite perfect play in Nightmare 16-man Kephess the Undying or Olok the Shadow.

     

     

    [*]Corrupted Speed increases Force Speed's duration and causes Force Barrier to finish Force Speed’s cooldown. Though not significant for PVE, a skilled healer can leverage it for the occasional clutch play, and less time moving means more time for casted or channeled abilities. Uses included the following.

    1. For Dash'Roode, to return faster after being lost in a sandstorm.
    2. For Titan 6, to reach a distant rock from the corner to which a DPS ran one of the Huge Grenades.
    3. For Thrasher, to switch between tanks, or to handle Firebug, faster.
    4. For Writhing Horror, to drop the DOT's puddle in a safe location and return faster.
    5. For Kephess the Undying, to catch a tank kiting Kephess while giving Energy Distortions a wide berth.
    6. For Raptus, to be in range of tanks after a challenge for which the healing and tanking doorways are far apart, or to return faster after being ported to the entrance.

     

     

    [*]Reverse Corruptions reduces by 30% the duration of the Force regeneration debuff from using Consumption without Force Surge. It also allows Force Barrier to remove this debuff.

    1. At its best, this skill is training wheels for an inexperienced healer or belt and suspenders for an experienced healer. A healer who benefits from this skill has room to improve his Force management.
    2. At its worst, this skill encourages weak Force management and misuse of Force Barrier.

      Rotation

       

       

      As a healer, you have a unique and demanding job: triage. You must determine an order to heal your allies and a rotation that will prevent deaths. A fight that is challenging to heal tests your ability to make quick, accurate decisions that complement your co-healer’s.

       

      Though no rotation is ideal for every situation, your goal is using Resurgence > Innervate on cooldown. As a rotation, this is Resurgence > Innervate > two or three other abilities. Using Innervate on cooldown, and having it consume Force Bending, is the key to Force management and, for healing one ally, provides unrivaled HPS (healing per second) and HPF (healing per Force).

       

       

      Guides adequate for the casual player have sprouted like mushrooms. Most recommend one or more poor techniques regarding rotation. I redress these below.

       

       

      1. Though Revivification usually has the largest share of a Sorcerer’s effective healing in an Operation, using it merely because its cooldown is finished is poor technique. To maximize this ability’s, and your total, effective healing, synchronize Revivification with AOE damage. Using it more often wastes time and Force, and using it early wastes its healing, which is slightly front-loaded and requires good positioning.
         
         
      2. Using Force Bending, the buff given by Resurgence, for an ability other than Innervate is almost always poor technique. For example, using this buff to reduce the cost of Revivification reduces not only the HPS that you can sustain but also your ability to regain Force.
         
         
      3. Treat Revivification and Overload as alternatives unless using them back-to-back won’t overheal. If Overload is sufficient, use it alone. If Overload is insufficient, and Revivification alone will be sufficient over its 10-second duration, use Revivification alone.

       

       

      If you wish to analyze HPS and Force management with rotations, see worksheet “Operation HPS” in my model.

       

      BIS Gear

       

       

      For PVE, this is BIS. See my model for a detailed explanation and supporting calculations. The rule-of-thumb is:

      1. Willpower.
      2. Power > Critical. Zero Critical from gear is optimal.
      3. Surge between about 250 and 300, and afterwards stack Alacrity.
      4. Zero Accuracy is optimal, because abilities used on allies can’t miss.

       

       

      Set Bonuses

       

      The Mystic’s 2-piece PVE set, which reduces the cooldown of Innervate by 1.5 seconds, is mandatory.

       

      The Mystic’s 4-piece PVE set, which increases maximum Force by 50 (and, as a result, causes Consumption to restore 4 more Force), isn’t worthless for a fight that’s challenging to heal. It’s decent for a few fights, such as Brontes, with one or more lulls that permit you to top up your Force between periods of intense damage. Despite being lackluster, it’s better than either alternative.

       

       

      • The Master’s 2-piece PVE set, which reduces the cooldown of Polarity Shift by 15 seconds, is worthless unless it ensures that Polarity Shift will be available for one additional period of intense healing during a fight. I’m not aware of any such fight.
         
         
      • The Mystic’s 2-piece PVP set, which reduces the cooldown of Static Barrier by 1.5 seconds, is inferior in every respect. The lower stats on PVP Armorings reduce not only non-tank healing, but also tank healing. Even if you were to refresh Static Barrier on a tank on cooldown (which is usually poor technique), your maximum potential healing for this tank falls. In addition, your Armor is lower, increasing your damage taken, and your maximum HP is lower.

       

       

      Augments

       

      Use Resolve (Willpower) Augments. Though Overkill (Power) Augments provide roughly equal total output if you have BIS gear and use Static Barrier as often as you should, Willpower increases the likelihood of Force Surge procs.

       

       

      Relics

       

      For relics of the same tier, Focused Retribution = Serendipitous Assault > Boundless Ages. I don’t recommend a Boundless Ages relic, not even for Raptus’s Healing Challenge.

       

       

      Power versus Critical

       

      There is no sound argument for any Critical in BIS gear. (As you upgrade from one tier of gear to the next, however, an item of the higher tier with Critical > an item of the lower tier with Power until you have almost 200 Critical. Please consult my model or contact me with any questions about mixing gear from multiple tiers.)

       

       

      1. The math is straightforward and definitive: zero Critical maximizes tank or non-tank healing. A very low amount of Critical would be optimal if Static Barrier were less than about 10% of your effective healing, but using Static Barrier so sparingly is poor technique for a fight that’s challenging to heal, even with a Sorcerer co-healer.
         
         
      2. No benefit from Critical outweighs its cost.

      3. Guaranteeing that Dark Infusion crits with Recklessness requires nearly 1000 Critical, but so much Critical reduces overall healing about 4%.
      4. Critical increases the likelihood of Force Surge procs, but poor rotation is the sole cause of having too few for Consumption. Rather than lessening this one symptom of a poor rotation with Critical, correct your rotation. Mistakes in your rotation have additional penalties, none of which Critical can alleviate.

       

       

      [*]Even if all else were equal, healing favors consistency (Power) over RNG (Critical).

       

       

      Surge versus Alacrity

       

      Both metrics of my model (see worksheet "Gear") show that, in Underworld or higher tier gear, BIS gear has 3 items with Surge and the remaining 7 items with Alacrity. The alternative, with almost equal output, has 4 items with Surge and 6 with Alacrity.

       

      There is no sound argument for having more Surge in BIS gear. In fact, the more important of my model’s two metrics, EHPCT Rating, doesn't even capture the following benefits of Alacrity.

       

       

      1. While Alacrity is undesirable for most specializations, because it forces an additional weak ability into your rotation while the cooldown of a proc or strong ability finishes, the opposite is true for a Sorcerer healer. In gear from Arkanian to Dread Master, increasing Alacrity tightens your rotation, maximizing your HPS and stacks of Force Surge by allowing you to activate Innervate sooner after it's off cooldown. To examine this, see worksheet "Operation HPS" in my model.
         
         
      2. Alacrity reduces time spent managing Force or cleansing, leaving more time for healing.

        Playing Like an Expert

         

         

        1. Heal to prevent deaths, not to top meters.
           
          Meters are a valuable tool and enhance competition, but don’t influence a skilled healer’s decision-making. For example, suppose that 8 DPS are at half health and won’t take damage for another 20 seconds, and, meanwhile, 1 tank is at half health and might die in a few seconds. Triage says Static Barrier or Innervate the tank, but meters say Revivification the DPS.
           
          AOE heals can have high EHPS, but heal slowly. Before choosing an AOE heal, be sure that you’re using your head (triage), not your epeen (meters).
           
           
           
        2. Minimize over-healing, especially of non-tanks.
           
          HPS is trivial for a skilled healer. As shown on worksheet “Operation HPS” in my model, in an 8-man Operation, a Sorcerer healer may indefinitely sustain over 7k HPS (8k HPS including Static Barrier’s absorbing), more than twice what any fight requires.
           
          Among Sorcerer healers, a quality that sets an expert apart is efficiency. In particular, efficient use of Revivification is crucial to your EHPS and Force management. In general, rather than using this ability on cooldown or prematurely, use it after AOE damage only if Overload is insufficient.
           
           
           
        3. Replenish Force before a period of intense damage, so that you can heal through it without pausing to replenish Force.
           
          Among Sorcerer healers, a quality that sets an expert apart is the ability to leverage his resource pool, which is generous compared to the other healing classes’. For example, since damage can be intense during the first phase of Nightmare Cartel Warlords (Horic), and will be manageable during the second phase (Tu’chuk), I’m willing to heal without pausing to replenish Force during the first phase, even to the point of nearly 0 Force. I can use Consumption during the second phase without risking an ally’s death.
           
           
           
        4. Avoid debuffing your rate of Force regeneration.
           
          Among Sorcerer healers, a quality that sets an expert apart is almost never debuffing his rate of Force regeneration. This debuff is perilous; it can start you down a vicious spiral on which you’ll always be Force-starved. Two techniques allow you to replenish Force without debuffing your rate of Force regeneration.
           
          First, until you’ve replenished enough Force to heal through the next period of intense damage, every 7.5 seconds use Resurgence > Innervate followed by Consumption for one or more charges of Force Surge.
           
          Second, don’t hold 3 charges of Force Surge for your next Revivification unless it must be used while moving. When I have 3 charges of Force Surge, I often use Consumption once immediately before Revivification. This offsets most of the cost of Revivification. It also allows me to use my next ability sooner than if Revivification were instant.
           
           
           
        5. Use Static Barrier liberally and wisely.
           
          Among Sorcerer healers, a quality that sets an expert apart is liberal and wise use of Static Barrier.
           
          For tanks, it’s usually fine to refresh Static Barrier immediately as Deionized expires. There is, however, an important exception: reserve Static Barrier for immediately before (or after) moments when a tank’s health is likely to be low. For example, time Static Barrier so that you can apply a fresh one to a tank whenever Titan 6 puts a Huge Grenade on him or Brontes’ targets him with Arcing Assault.
           
          For an ally targeted by a damaging mechanic, such as Kephess the Undying’s Dread Bomb, you have only a moment to mitigate damage with Static Barrier. Your awareness and quick action can be the difference between life and death.
           
          For a non-tank likely to take unusual and high damage, such as from adds or an uncleansable DOT like Tyrans’ Affliction, Static Barrier can prevent his health from dipping too low. Preventing such an emergency with Static Barrier can give AOE heals time to top up non-tanks, which, in turn, allows healers to focus on tanks.
           
          See “Tips for Certain Bosses” for a list of the rare circumstances in which spamming Static Barrier is prudent. Otherwise, this is almost always poor technique, because AOE heals provide superior HPCT (healing per cast time) and HPF (healing per Force).
           
           
           
        6. It’s very rarely appropriate to use Dark Heal.
           
          Dark Heal has no place in a rotation.
          • Static Barrier and Innervate have higher HPS and HPF.
          • Dark Infusion usually has comparable HPS and always has higher HPF.
          • Though Dark Heal is a small heal, it isn’t for topping up allies. It costs too much Force, and merely snipes your or your co-healer’s HOTs or AOEs.

         

        When an ally is about to die, it might be appropriate to use Dark Heal, but only if none of the below abilities is available.

        1. Static Barrier is instant, and it absorbs more than Dark Heal would heal.
        2. Innervate has higher HPS than Dark Heal, and its immediate tick and first channeled tick occur before a cast of Dark Heal would finish.
        3. Dark Infusion buffed by Recklessness and Polarity Shift is usually more effective than Dark Heal. An ally saved by Dark Heal will remain close to death without further healing; Dark Heal won’t resolved his emergency. Dark Infusion buffed by Recklessness might resolve his emergency, allowing you to heal someone else next.

         

        Parsing

         

         

        Running a parser during an Operation helps you refine your technique over several pulls of a challenging boss. I recommend Parsec, which can estimate the amount of damage absorbed by Static Barrier.

         

        Challenging content’s demands on your time and Force require at least 70% effective healing (excluding Static Barrier). Avoid the MOX parser, which encourages poor technique by failing to distinguish effective healing from over-healing.

         

        Tips for Certain Bosses

         

         

        Operation: Terror From Beyond

         

        Dread Guard

        • Use Static Barrier on the tank with Kel’sara’s Leech.
        • Force Barrier resists damage from Heirad’s Lightning Field.
        • Though Force Barrier doesn’t purge Ciphas’s Doom, it resists the damage that it deals upon expiring.
        • Force Barrier purges Kel’sara’s uncleansable DOT, Withering Terror.

         

        Kephess the Undying

        • In the first phase, Force Barrier clears any stray Energy Distortion that attaches to you or resists damage from Laser Blast.
        • In the second phase, Force Barrier resists damage from Dread Bomb or, if you’re unable to channel a Pylon, purges Corrupted Nanites.

         

        Terror from Beyond

        • Use Cloud Mind to lower your threat with each Tentacle during the first phase, and on cooldown during the second phase.

         

         

        Operation: Scum and Villainy

         

        Dash’Roode

        • Rejoin your group in record time after being lost in the sandstorm with one point in skill Corrupted Speed rather than two points in Fadeout.

         

        Titan 6

        • Force Barrier resists damage from a Huge Grenade.
        • Force Barrier resists damage from Launch (Defensive Systems 5) if you’re unable to find a rock with a vacancy.
        • During the final phase, spam Static Barrier whenever Revivification, Overload, and Resurgence > Innervate are on cooldown.

         

        Thrasher

        • Adds in the stadium’s upper level spawn every 45 seconds, which matches Cloud Mind’s cooldown. Use Cloud Mind just after each group of adds spawns.
        • On Nightmare Mode, after Thrasher’s health falls below 50% and more than one pack of Mercenary Snipers spawns, it’s helpful to spam Static Barrier immediately before the knockback to the stadium’s upper level.

         

        Operations Chief

        • Use Force Barrier to purge one of his Explosive Probes.

         

        Cartel Warlords

        • Though I’ve never done this for any other fight, on Nightmare Mode, it’s helpful to blanket the raid with Static Barrier (and then channel Seethe to replenish your Force) immediately before pulling.
        • If you’re unable to heal an ally through Garr’s Stabbing Spree, and he doesn’t have a CC break available, use Extrication to pull him far out of Stabbing Spree’s range.

         

        Styrak

        • On Nightmare Mode, to control a Chain Manifestation, I recommend Overload > Force Slow > Electrocute when Force Slow expires. A freeze grenade works, too, but has a 3-minute cooldown.
        • Immediately before Styrak divides himself into 4 (or, on 16-man Nightmare Mode, 8) Manifestations, it’s helpful to Static Barrier each ally who’ll likely be closest to a Manifestation.

         

        Hateful Entity

        • Use Force Barrier when Hateful Entity will strike you with the next Dread Touch (because your debuff has just expired). Hateful Entity will strike you with Dread Touch though you’re channeling Force Barrier. Dread Touch still knocks you down and stuns you (cancelling your channel of Force Barrier), but Force Barrier resists its damage.
        • If you revive an ally while in combat and after everyone has been struck by Dread Touch, it’s imperative that he be topped up immediately. Dread Touch’s debuff doesn’t persist through death, and, therefore, Dread Touch will strike him next.

         

         

        Operation: Dread Fortress

         

        Nefra

        • Using Force Barrier to purge the DOT allows you to complete a round of cleanses 4.5 seconds faster.

         

        Draxus

        • On Hard or Nightmare Mode, you can’t cleanse a Guardian’s Affliction. Force Barrier purges it from you, and Static Barrier stabilizes another’s health.
        • If you tank a Dismantler in your team’s strategy, channel Force Barrier after it begins casting Strong Swipe. Force Barrier resists Strong Swipe’s damage, knockback, and debuff. If you stop channeling Force Barrier immediately after Strong Swipe, you’ll retain aggro on the Dismantler and be able to tank it through its second Strong Swipe.
        • On Nightmare Mode, a Bulwark debuffs any player under its shield with Dread Disruption, which prevents healing. This debuff doesn’t diminish damage absorption, such as from Static Barrier, or damage reduction. Cleanse Corrosive Grenade as soon as possible from any player with Dread Disruption.

         

        Corruptor Zero

        • Force Barrier neither purges a Concussion Mine nor resists Anti-Gravity Field.
        • Force Barrier resists damage from Unified Beam. I don’t recommend relying on it, however, because your allies need healing during this phase on Hard or Nightmare Mode.

         

        Brontes

        • An ally with an Orb takes steady, light damage from the Orb before detonating it. Heal him through this damage, reserving Static Barrier for immediately before the detonation.
        • Force Barrier isn’t useful if you have an Orb, because your Orb won’t detonate while you’re channeling Force Barrier.
        • To prepare for the phase with six Fingers, blanket the raid with Static Barrier while two or three Robots remain. Deionized will expire as the initial rounds of damage during the six-Finger phase have exhausted Static Barrier, allowing you to blanket the raid with Static Barrier a second time. This technique is incredibly effective, maintaining everyone at full health for much, and sometimes most, of this phase.

         

         

        Operation: Dread Palace

         

        Tyrans

        • On Hard or Nightmare Mode, you can’t cleanse Tyrans’ Affliction. Force Barrier purges it from you, and Static Barrier stabilizes another’s health.
        • On Nightmare Mode, when you have Simplification:
          • Before falling, help your co-healer as much as possible. In general, use Revivification > Static Barrier > Static Barrier. (Neither Static Barrier is on yourself; you can heal yourself while falling or moving across Tyrans’ basement.)
          • If you stand on the tile that you’ve selected for elimination, Force Barrier prevents fall damage.

         

         

        Raptus

        • For each Tanking Challenge, give each tank a fresh Static Barrier. To avoid proccing relics before entering a Healing Challenge, don’t refresh a tank’s Resurgence.

         

        Rotation for a Healing Challenge

        1. Triage Adrenal (for one of the two rounds) > Polarity Shift > Revivification with 2 stacks of Force Surge. If you have 3 stacks, use Consumption once while waiting to enter the Healing Challenge.
        2. Resurgence > Innervate.
        3. Recklessness > Dark Infusion three times.
        4. Innervate (without Force Bending).
        5. Finish with Dark Infusion > Dark Heal. If this Dark Heal fails, because the Healing Challenge ends while casting it, try replacing the Dark Infusion with Dark Heal. Dark Heal > Dark Heal should outheal one Dark Infusion.

         

        On Nightmare Mode, Curse of Enfeeblement must be removed from the Dying Captive, you, and your co-healer as soon as possible.

        • With an Operative co-healer, purge yourself with Force Barrier for the first round, and cleanse yourself with Expunge for the second round. For both rounds, your co-healer cleanses the Dying Captive and purges himself with Evasion.
        • With a Mercenary co-healer, your co-healer cleanses only himself each round.
          • For the first round, cleanse the Dying Captive and purge yourself with Force Barrier.
          • For the second round, replace Steps 1 and 2 above with: Expunge on the Dying Captive > Revivification with 1 or 3 stacks of Force Surge > Resurgence > Polarity Shift > Expunge on yourself > Innervate. You bear the healing loss of Curse of Enfeeblement, because you can setup both of your long-lasting HOTs while cursed.

         

        Additional advice for a Healing Challenge

        • If Polarity Shift isn’t active when you begin the channel of Innervate in Step 4, delay Polarity Shift until after Revivification.
        • In general, exactly one healer uses a Triage Adrenal during each round. On Nightmare Mode with a Mercenary co-healer, you both use it during the second round.
        • Don’t substitute a Boundless Ages relic for a proc relic. The pause in healing before entering a Healing Challenge almost guarantees that both of your proc relics will buff you during each Healing Challenge. This is more valuable than having a Boundless Ages relic for only one round.

         

         

        Dread Masters

        • Shortly before triggering the final phase, blanket the raid with Static Barrier. During the final phase, spam Static Barrier on non-tanks whenever Revivification, Overload, and Resurgence > Innervate are on cooldown.

         

         


    3. In addition to hastening Consumption, Alacrity increases the amount of Force that you'll regenerate during any moments of downtime.
    4. Even with skill Sith Purity, Expunge's HPS and HPF are abysmal, so its use is strictly to cleanse.

     

     

    [*]Alacrity increases your APM (actions per minute), a boon for triage. This benefit of Alacrity is especially valuable for a Sorcerer, who has the lowest APM among healers. For example, Alacrity increases the likelihood that you'll be able to preempt damage with Static Barrier.

     

     

    [*]Increasing Alacrity reduces the likelihood that a cast or channel will be

    1. broken, because your target becomes out of range or line-of-sight;
    2. interrupted, such as by a knockback; or
    3. cancelled, because you must move or switch immediately to healing another.

     


    If you learn the rotation and techniques discussed in this guide, you should never have this debuff.
    Using Force Barrier to remove this debuff means that it’s unavailable to cheat death, avoid substantial damage, purge an uncleansable debuff, or complete a crucial round of cleanses 4.5 seconds faster.

    [*]If you choose this skill, and choose to use Force Barrier to clear a Force regeneration debuff, you’ll benefit most by channeling Force Barrier immediately after using Consumption without Force Surge for four or more consecutive GCDs.

     

    [Guide] Sorcerer Healing

    in Sage / Sorcerer

    Posted

    I´ve been looking at your spreadsheet but I would like to hear some further comments/explanations from you regarding the alacrity/surge trade-off.

     

    Particularly why you recommend the (around) 250 surge level (as per 2.7) and for what reasons you think this number is optimal and why higher or lower numbers of surge might not be (i.e. what impact would it have on our healing if these numbers are lower or higher).

     

    I'll upload later today a version of this guide that incorporates a reply to your inquiry in Section "PVE" Subsection "BIS Gear".

    Healing assignments for 16 man

    in Combat Styles

    Posted · Edited by Orderken

    Regardless of healing assignments, choreography matters far more in 16m than 8m. It's crucial that a 16m take advantage of AOE healing by stacking whenever there isn't a mechanic that penalizes stacking.

     

    In 16m, I recommend designating 1 healer for each tank, preferably a Mercenary|Commando or Operative|Scoundrel. While not neglecting the tanks, the remaining 2 healers have primary responsibility for non-tanks.

     

    A few fights have a lot of cleanses. Below are examples of reasonable cleansing assignments.

     

    • Nefra -- Each healer is responsible for 4 cleanses (e.g., the 4 players in his row or Group/column in Frames).
    • Draxus -- Each side has 2 healers, one cleansing Grenades from the top and left in Frames, the other cleansing from the bottom and right in Frames.
    • Dread Masters -- If you have 4 or fewer players who can't cleanse themselves once a minute, use the buddy system. That is, assign one healer to each such player.
    • Brontes -- When there's an infrequent, single-target debuff that any class can cleanse, such as Corrupted Nanites from Kephess during Brontes, I recommend assigning a Sorcerer|Sage healer. The Sorcerer|Sage's cleanse costs the least relative to resource pool.

     

     

    If you have 2 Mercenary|Commando healers in a 16m, I recommend that each manages Kolto Shell|Trauma Probe for 8 players. Each has a tank, who need refreshing most often. Each has himself, as a bellwether for when non-tanks need refreshing. Even if one Mercenary|Commando has greater Bonus Healing, allowing him to Kolto Shell|Trauma Probe everyone may generate too much threat, and refreshing 16 impairs his ability to build Supercharged Gas|Supercharge Cells.

    [Guide] Sage Healing

    in Sage / Sorcerer

    Posted

    [T]hough the +50 force isn't awesome it has its use, what would you say is the threshold to use it or not ?

     

    I'd estimate that having the PVE Mystic's 4-piece set bonus (i.e., +50 Force) is better than about two tiers of Item Rating. For example, if your only Armorings with the PVE Mystic's 4-piece are Arkanian, Dread Forged > Arkanian > Kell Dragon > Underworld.

     

    It can depend on the fight; in particular, whether it has one or more lulls that permit you to top up your Force between periods of intense damage. I can use most of my Force, and then top it up, several times during Dread Guards, Titan 6, or Brontes, so +50 Force is a valuable set bonus. In contrast, Thrasher doesn't have a lull between periods of intense damage, so +50 Force is lackluster.

    [Guide] Sage Healing

    in Sage / Sorcerer

    Posted

    Would you still say it's useful to play with the 2pc PvE set in PvP ?

    (I currently am using gloves and legs)

     

    With bolster I'm at 2018 Expertise since ... my pve pieces are 162/150/146. Do you think it'd be a good idea to go for 162/162/162 or stick with what I have?

     

     

    So now 2.8 is out can you still get the 2 piece pve set bonus for pvp and get max expertise still? I heard someone say u can do it and get 2014 exp but now sure how they did this

     

    For PVP, I recommend having the 2-piece PVE and 2-piece PVP set bonuses. Based on brief use of the "Bolsterizer" on Fleet, 162/150/146 continues to receive full Expertise, and an Arkanian piece (162/162/162) receives nearly full Expertise. I suspect that 162/162/162 is ideal, though I encourage you to experiment with the "Bolsterizer" and share with me any questions or findings.

    [Update 2.7] Crafter List

    in Prophecy of the Five

    Posted

    Orderken - Empire

     

    Hilts (Advanced 34)

    Might

     

    Enhancements (Advanced 34)

    Adept

    Battle

    Insight

    Quick Savant

     

    Modifications (Advanced 34)

    Agile

    Aptitude

    Deft

    Resilient

    Weighted

     

    Armorings (Advanced 34)

    Commando

    Might

    Reflex

    Resolve

    Skill

     

    Relics

    DF Shield Amplification

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