Should I make a Sage, and abandon my 50 CM?

[Ilayas]

Let's look at your list

 

-They have a damage mitigation preemptive shield

Won't say it's not useful (because it is) but keep in mind it will not scale with gear like other heals will. The shield causes a de-buf preventing another shield from being cast on that target until it's gone. So it can not be spammed on a single target. Worth putting in your healing rotation for sure but it has it's draw backs.

 

-They have a force sprint(?) escape mechanism

Yep we have a sprint. Because we are squishy as hell. You can't sprint away from all damage.

 

-More utility/CC

I'm pretty sure you have a cc too.

 

-More AoE/raid heals

We have 1 aoe/raid heal. It has a short range if your party is not all grouped together it does you little good.

 

-More HoTs

We have one hot. It's not a bad heal but it has a cool down. We're not resto druids.

 

-Brez

Useful but it'd be better if no one died begin with.

 

-Interrupt

This might be more useful in pvp but in pve I'm too focused on healing to worry about using my interrupt all that often.

 

 

And what does the CM have?

-Survivability

A dead healer isn't healing any one.

 

-A big...cannon?

Which is pretty bad ***. If I'm healing you don't see me use my light saber very much.

 

 

 

I like healing as a sage but I won't say it doesn't have it's weaknesses. We are not very mobile for one and are rather squishy for another. You should also consider this: In a raid setting raid/guild leaders are going to want diversity. There are not that many commando healers out there which give you a good opportunity to fill that need. Plus you won't be fighting against all the jedi for the same gear. Consular is an over played class you'll have a better chance getting a raid invite and in-turn better gear if you are skilled at an underplayed class.

 

 

I think the answer to the question "which is better?" will come down to more of a matter of personal taste. So roll a sage and see if you like healing as one better then your current character. It's not like you can only have one character. Hell roll all the healing classes if you like and find one that works for you.

Edited January 9, 2012 by Ilayas

[hadoken]

it will not scale with gear like other heals will.

 

As it cannot currently be delved this is an impossible statement to verify.

Edited January 9, 2012 by hadoken

[Gerudan]

How about skilling damage and being awesome?

 

Seriously...perhaps our Commandos are just so damn good, but they feel completely overpowered compared to the Sentinel.

[zorphon]

How about skilling damage and being awesome?

 

Seriously...perhaps our Commandos are just so damn good, but they feel completely overpowered compared to the Sentinel.

 

I'm not DPS, and DPS is incredibly boring as a Commando. This thread is about Combat Medic specifically, not DPS.

[zorphon]

*snip*

 

I appreciate your input, unfortunately most of it I disagree with. First off, it says Sages have more utility, primarily CC. You said Combat Medics do have CC. That is true, and wasn't my point. The word more.

 

Additionally, your HoT and AoE are overall stronger than the Combat Medic's. As a Combat Medic, my single weak AoE on a cooldown is simply to buff other healing received, and hardly heals much by itself.

[Dubblebass]

I have a 45 sage full seer spec and I love the way they heal. I also love the utility. Damage? Not so much but that is not why I play one.

 

I also have a 35 vanguard trooper. I tank for my guild in flashpoints and we have a commando healer. I compare the two styles when I play with my guild and I really like the commando...so much so that I was planning on making a second trooper just to have one. I think it really comes down to play style. Which heal style do you prefer. All 3 can heal well if played properly. One may have better CC, one may have more types of heals, and one may do better damage when not healing. You just need to know what you want out of your character as a whole above and beyond just "wanting a healer". .

[nallard]

I have a cm and I started a sage just to see what it was like. I don't do much PvE, so this is purely from a PvP point of view.

 

One of the biggest points in favor of CM is survivabilty. Heavy armor is good against some kinds of damage, but not against elemental or internal. With the number of lightning bolts and acid blades flying around warzones and Illum, the survivability you get from the armor is compromised, but it's still pretty good.

 

The sage bubble more than makes up for that. And once you've talented it, you can easily cast it on your teammates. It's just phenomenal. The bubble has much more utility and flexibility than reactive shield.

 

You also just have much better mobility and escape, and the longer you're alive, the more you can heal. Additionally when there's heavy pressure and lots of incoming damage it's easy to burn through your ammo trying to keep everyone alive, but with a sage my force pool lasts much longer and the bubble gives me time to do more than spam quick expensive heals. I put out 60-70k more healing on average in a warzone on my 29 sage than I did when my CM was the same level.

 

I'm over simplifying the differences and the mechanics (b/c I know someone out there is going to start nitpicking something), but healing on my sage is a breeze compared to CM.

 

Hopefully someone can speak more to PvE, but for my money, sage is the way to go for PvP healing (keeping in mind I haven't tried scoundrel)

 

Also, I freely admit that this might just be a case of fitting my playstyle better.

 

The only complaint I have is the awful looking gear for sages. It's just dreadful.

Edited January 11, 2012 by nallard

[hadoken]

The only complaint I have is the awful looking gear for sages. It's just dreadful.

 

On the other hand as a sage you have access to all the social outfits in the game as they're all light armor.

 

Additionally, force lightning (and all its variations) is energy not elemental or internal so heavy armor helps a ton against it.

Edited January 11, 2012 by hadoken

[Karma_UK]

To OP, NO.

 

Playing a Seer in groups is a pain atm, so many dps consulars rollng on gear never seen anything like it .

 

They will hopefully buff CM healer at some point, stick with it and you will have free reign on most drops.

 

Also Brez aint so great in this game, they come back to life with no health and it's usually more of a liability.

[JLapp]

I'm a combat medic that is going to respec at DPS. CM just doesn't have enough going for it.

 

Sage's get force speed, force armor, interrupt, a legitimate group heal and a combat res.

 

Combat medics get the ability to make 1 ability instant, and the ability to make 1 ability free...both on 2 minute cooldowns.

 

If they ever buff CM to the point that it has close to the same abilities as sage I might switch back...but until then I'll do what the commando is good at, killing stuff.

[zorphon]

I'm a combat medic that is going to respec at DPS. CM just doesn't have enough going for it.

 

Sage's get force speed, force armor, interrupt, a legitimate group heal and a combat res.

 

Combat medics get the ability to make 1 ability instant, and the ability to make 1 ability free...both on 2 minute cooldowns.

 

If they ever buff CM to the point that it has close to the same abilities as sage I might switch back...but until then I'll do what the commando is good at, killing stuff.

 

Thanks for the input! I might do the same. :/

[Dump]

Thanks for the input! I might do the same. :/

 

this is where I am at as well with my CM, while I can heal a Hardmode, I feel its 10x harder then it should be and would be as a sage so I am leveling one right now and will see how it goes.

 

The major thing for me as a CM is our inability to deal with aoe dmg in hardmodes very well, I will get this sage to 50 and see how it compares to the cm but I doubt I will go back unless they make a tweak to help cm's with aoe dmg/healing

[Magdain]

There's currently no incentive to play a CM or Smuggler healer. Sages have the best AOE healing by far, adequate single target healing, the most pvp utility, and sages can actually deal decent damage. Energy/Ammo is a terrible mechanic for healers that should have never made it out of alpha.

 

Of course, CM and Smugglers aren't useless. You can clear all of the content in the game with any combination of healers. You can still heal well, but sages will always be better so long as you have an inferior resource pool.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Magdain

[Ultrazen]

CM = runs out of power faster, but gets it back faster, and has ways to get it back.

SG = runs out of power, and is screwed. Takes longer to run out, but once that happens, bye bye.

 

Choose your poison. I'm gonna say you are in a bit of a grass is greener situation here. Both have their ups and downs, and one is not definitively better than the other in all situations.

 

Spec also plays a huge part in this, there are some sage/sorc specs that give you a fantastic cross cut of CC/damage/healing. Same can be said for merc/cm, but just different game mechanics.

 

From a PvP perspective, CM have *much* more damage on the run, which is pretty much what PvP is all about. SG/sorcs are a self rooting class, in paper armor, that's always a problem in PvP.

 

There is no black and white answer.

[VonSoot]

CM is win, stick with your class for reasons not related to "balance"; but to personal preference. The game will 'balance' in time.

[Magdain]

CM = runs out of power faster, but gets it back faster, and has ways to get it back.

SG = runs out of power, and is screwed. Takes longer to run out, but once that happens, bye bye.

 

Choose your poison. I'm gonna say you are in a bit of a grass is greener situation here. Both have their ups and downs, and one is not definitively better than the other in all situations.

 

Spec also plays a huge part in this, there are some sage/sorc specs that give you a fantastic cross cut of CC/damage/healing. Same can be said for merc/cm, but just different game mechanics.

 

From a PvP perspective, CM have *much* more damage on the run, which is pretty much what PvP is all about. SG/sorcs are a self rooting class, in paper armor, that's always a problem in PvP.

 

There is no black and white answer.

 

You're making up scenarios that don't happen. Yes, in theory sages are in trouble if they run out of force. In practice though I'm never starved for force. I don't even have to try to manage my force.

 

You can say that PvP damage is about on the run, but it just isn't. I have no problem tanking most classes, and two of the warzones are open field and node based, so I'm safely standing still long enough to cast our extremely healer-friendly DPS spells.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Magdain