23,452 Mercs... still haven't run into a Heal spec yet..

[Yazule]

A full bodyguard merc is the single most powerful healing spec in the game. If you rolled a merc as main DPS, then you're doing it wrong and shouldn't post in this thread in the first place.

 

your post implies merc should not be main dps, to which i call shenanigans!

 

we pour out dps, we debuff for the benifit of all allies pve and pvp.

 

you have a CHOICE of good healer or good dps... and quite honestly merc heals suck without BG spec and there is NO WAY i would give up my HS for more heals, it is not what I want to do.

 

The full BG has moments it is better than any other, but there are moments it is NOT (single target heal win, aoe heal lose)

[Moosimoo]

The reason to your problem is rooted in most people being low IQ egomaniacs. It's a fact in MMO's as it is irl.

 

I play a bodyguard/arsenal merc and do mostly healing in warzones. Without even trying it's not hard to be top healer and that's coming from a hyrbrid spec merc in the 30'ies. Indeed very sad ;(

 

What 99% of the playerbase fail to realize is, that PvP isn't all about DPS. Anyone having played Huttball should know this or at least have learn from trial and error, yet hardly anyone seem to have had such an epiphany.

 

I do both DPS and healing simply because it's what wins games AND I earn many more medals=recommendations+valor being versatile playing a hybrid role. If only more people playing healing capable classes could see this

 

Wrong. Simply, the reason why BH's don't heal in Wz's is they will lose out on badges therefore will lose out on bonus Valor.

 

I heal in Wz's purely as I don't give a flying monkey about my Valor rank (idling around 37 atm I think). I do Wz's rarely, and only for my wins when I feel crazy enough to bother attempting them. I always heal in Ilum, because there's no penalty for doing so.

Edited February 1, 2012 by Moosimoo

[Yazule]

Wrong. Simply, the reason why BH's don't heal in Wz's is they will lose out on badges therefore will lose out on bonus Valor.

 

I heal in Wz's purely as I don't give a flying monkey about my Valor rank (idling around 37 atm I think). I do Wz's rarely, and only for my wins when I feel crazy enough to bother attempting them. I always heal in Ilum, because there's no penalty for doing so.

 

realistically, i would bet that more than 50% of the people doing pvp are just getting their raid gear in the easiest way possible. I expect to see a huge drop in players in WZ once they are all fully geared.

[thamightyboro]

Have to spend more time with it. Not going to say that it requires a tremendous amount of skill.

 

But it does require a different playstyle than what a person converting over from DPS for 8 hours would do. And it does require a bit of finesse.

 

I dont doubt that but even warzones like voidstar where you can make maximum use of aoe heals etc it still didnt come close to a sorc admitedly I'm using champion elimgear so not exactly medic spec but the numbers where jsut so far down on what I can do on my 20 sorc it was insane.

 

Best in a no doors taken void was 320k best on my sorc in the same situation is 350k whilst churning out 100k + dps also and a hell of a lot more utility over the BH.

 

As you say though it likely just takes a hell of a lot more time to get really good with it.

[Brutalos]

Bounty Hunter Mercenary Bodyguard since the word..... "go"

 

 

Hewwo!

[songkla]

I played as a dps merc til valor rank 50. Then i switched to BG and let me tell you, its a lot more satisfying. Having 20k hp and heavy armor, you will last longer then all the other healers in a fight. It is super fun to play one in pvp. Tracer spam got boring really fast. Pyro, good end numbers, useless dmg. Healing, you can keep up with all the other healing classes.

[ManiacalShen]

Still leveling here - hit 37 last night - but I really enjoy being a DPSer that can toss out heals. It's that one extra thing to focus on in a FP, and it feels so much better than watching your groupmate go belly-up while you stand useless.

 

Not giving up the Arsenal spec anytime soon (still hoping for dual-speccing...), but I really don't get why any Merc would totally ignore their healing abilities like the OP's groupmates did. Such a nice perk!

[Bamajawn]

At 42, I've completed the slots I want to fill in my Pyro tree and will use the rest of the points in the other trees. I love playing Pyro. However, there seems to be a severe shortage of healers in-game. Also, if I'm on a PVP team, I'm usually grouped with at least one other DPS Merc. I'm very seriously considering a re-spec to Bodyguard.

 

However, I'll miss all the damage and points and will probably switch to using DPS companions rather than Mako. And, the lack of PVP medals for healing give me some pause since I do a lot of PVP.

Edited February 1, 2012 by Bamajawn

[Irishbrewed]

I healed at 50 for a bit...then realized healing star wars galaxies holdovers and noobs alike was just too painful. Trying to keep up a backpedaling scrub, which is what most are in this game, is just too painful... Maybe after rated warzones and premades are the norm ill heal, but healing a random buncha of baddies is not fun IMO.

 

Til then I'll continue setting the world on fire...

Edited February 1, 2012 by Irishbrewed

[Clifffeh]

I tried healing on my merc and switched after 24 hours. The reason i did this was because my so called allies did not appreciate the life i was breathing back into their half eaten carcasses lol. It is not fun to run around and have ppl jump on you and watch your team mates run without you and leave you for dead. This happend so frequently and i felt so "defenseless" i decided to switch. Maybe when players start understanding that healers are important and need to be protected you will see more healers. I dont plan on healing again until a few more of my guild mates gear themselves and we run together. Average joe typically to selfish to understand such things.

[Keitoshi]

As a Bodyguard myself, I say, while it's nice that there are fewer bodyguard healers so it's easy for people to want me in their party, it sucks that I'm the only Bodyguard in my guild of 50 people, so everyone's always asking for me instead of our sorc healers.

 

(Sorc healing is most user-friendly, and is incredibly powerful for even those that don't know how to heal properly; but Bodyguard heals, though harder to manage, seem to outshine Sorc's in my experience, especially on Ilum and in Operations, they're just a lot harder to play, so people don't like playing them.)

[Strifegambit]

^^^ Agreed

 

I am a bodyguard healer myself, and i see a fair few of them floating around, but the good ones are hard to find.

[Hxxr]

Bounty Hunters get their healer companion first, so not playing healer to level up is a rather obvious choice, compared to Inquisitors who start with a tank and get their healer no sooner than Hoth!

 

Other than that ... Socerers are the most durable healers. The shield is incredibly solid and they have the largest resource pool of all three healers. This doesn't make Bodyguard Mercs useless, but people who were looking to level and play as a healer didn't choose BH as their class. And shooting people to heal them seems kind of ridiculous tbh.

[Strifegambit]

LOL i chose Merc, specifically to heal, from lvl 10 i have been specced as a healer and i love it,

[Kunovega]

A full bodyguard merc is the single most powerful healing spec in the game. If you rolled a merc as main DPS, then you're doing it wrong and shouldn't post in this thread in the first place.

 

Im a freaking bounty hunter and I want to kill people

 

I played this game to be boba fett or jango fett, not some pansy healer

 

I think its fine that they put a healer option in there but freaking realize ITS AN OPTION

 

and unless you actually spec out as a healer and gear up as a healer, you will be a terrible healer

 

at lvl 50 as arsenal spec i am routinely loved for my DPS in hard/nightmare ops

 

if I am dumb enough to stop my dps rotation and toss my BAD heal on someone, I risk rage timers and losing the boss fights

 

mercs spec'd and geared for heals make good heales, mercs spec'd for dps are not even good off healers (at least not in high end raids with rage timers)

 

dont tell me im doing it wrong by playing my class dps WHEN ITS DESIGNED TO BE EITHER ONE

 

bounty hunters are freaking killers, its the healing spec that is optional

 

or did you fail to realize this is star wars?

[Jaysun]

ok nice arguments on both sides.... having said that as a pure DPS the only thing a DPS Merc brings to the table that another DPS doesn't is a 1 min CC..

 

other than that I'd rather have a Mara if they're(the Merc) is not healer

 

Like i said i played a full bodyguard spec to 44 in beta and healed all flashpoints and PVP up to that and did well..

 

a DPS Sorc brings more t othe table than a DPS Merc..

 

Hybrid is the way to go IMO..

[Splaktar]

I have the same experience with Sorcerers who aren't spec'd to heal, Assassins who aren't spec'd to tank, and Operatives who aren't spec'd to heal.

 

It's nothing new and a lot of it is probably built by experiences in other MMOs. I know that when I needed to level up my char, I certainly didn't go Bodyguard because I thought that I'd level faster or solo better/faster. I chose Arsenal for those reasons.

 

I've thought about going BG just to get more instance groups, but I've often found that it is more difficult to find tanks who are spec'd to tank than it is to find healers.

[Gwena]

I have recently made a BH alt and was wondering if there were a ton of Bodyguard specs. I think there have been some great points in this thread so far!

 

The point about the companions is an excellent one. I enjoy healing, and if I keep at it with my BH I want to spec Bodyguard. But the companion types that I find most helpful as a healer -- tanks and melee DPS -- are the last three we get! So I won't be spec'ing heals until I get Torian or maybe even Blizz.

 

And also, I'll admit it, when it comes to playing a healer I happen to like the cloth-wearing mage-ish look. The main reason I am considering BH over Sorcerer is because the companions look so awesome. xD

[Puzzlybox]

I have recently made a BH alt and was wondering if there were a ton of Bodyguard specs. I think there have been some great points in this thread so far!

 

The point about the companions is an excellent one. I enjoy healing, and if I keep at it with my BH I want to spec Bodyguard. But the companion types that I find most helpful as a healer -- tanks and melee DPS -- are the last three we get! So I won't be spec'ing heals until I get Torian or maybe even Blizz.

 

And also, I'll admit it, when it comes to playing a healer I happen to like the cloth-wearing mage-ish look. The main reason I am considering BH over Sorcerer is because the companions look so awesome. xD

 

Mercs clearly dominate Sorcs in premade settings. If you have a good group of friends. Merc healers are better in my opinion.

 

If you run solo and can't count on Guard, I'd say Sorcs probably edge them out.

[Mystry]

You don't find many healing mercenaries because its easier to spam tracer missiles.

 

Moving on.

[Nikolu]

@OP

 

Why would you think heal spec'd Merc's would be common WHILE LEVELING? Leveling is a mostly solo experience for most people, and heal spec'd you then have to rely on a tank/dps companion for the majority of your damage which is inefficient.

 

That DPS don't heal in groups really isn't a surprise either, the situation you described with 3 merc's was set to fail from the start as (from your description) none of the merc's actually offered to do any healing, thus each can point the finger at the other and say "I thought he was going to do it."

 

Better communication with your group would have solved that problem. You just assumed someone would pick up the slack, that never happens.

[BlownSi]

I actually picked my Merc because of the healing tree. Heavy armor, dual blasters, still does decent DPS as heal spec....Why not?

 

I leveled from 1-39 as BG/Arsenal hybrid (8 points in Arsenal only) and it went pretty easy. I switched to a full Arsenal spec to make 40-50 go a little easier with the higher amount of strongs and elites. To be honest though, a well upgraded Gault/Blizz as a BG spec Merc would net close to the same results. Gault hits especially hard when upgraded.

 

I had no problems soloing Heroic 2+ as BG spec and Gault as companion. I am actually going to do respec back to BG tonight to finish the last two levels and upgrade some gear on Gault.

[Captyellowbeard]

I lvled from 1 to 50 as merc heals and ya it took awhile to kill things but i never died and got to 50 no problem. Now i agree that the healing part is a bit under powered especially the no aoe heal which is a pain (change koto missile to channel ability and give it aoe effects like sorcs aoe). But other then that i love healing in pvp and in raids as merc i'm always top healer or close to it all the time only bad thing in pvp is i get no votes they look at dps and go ooh that guy did 300k dps but then they don't look at my 500k heals and i go hey i healed that guy so it was possible for him to do that 300k dps lol. sad panda.

[Ditched]

Im a freaking bounty hunter and I want to kill people

 

I played this game to be boba fett or jango fett, not some pansy healer

 

I think its fine that they put a healer option in there but freaking realize ITS AN OPTION

 

and unless you actually spec out as a healer and gear up as a healer, you will be a terrible healer

 

at lvl 50 as arsenal spec i am routinely loved for my DPS in hard/nightmare ops

 

if I am dumb enough to stop my dps rotation and toss my BAD heal on someone, I risk rage timers and losing the boss fights

 

mercs spec'd and geared for heals make good heales, mercs spec'd for dps are not even good off healers (at least not in high end raids with rage timers)

 

dont tell me im doing it wrong by playing my class dps WHEN ITS DESIGNED TO BE EITHER ONE

 

bounty hunters are freaking killers, its the healing spec that is optional

 

or did you fail to realize this is star wars?

 

I believe you are getting trolled.

[MrDeas]

I lvled from 1 to 50 as merc heals and ya it took awhile to kill things but i never died and got to 50 no problem. Now i agree that the healing part is a bit under powered especially the no aoe heal which is a pain (change koto missile to channel ability and give it aoe effects like sorcs aoe). But other then that i love healing in pvp and in raids as merc i'm always top healer or close to it all the time only bad thing in pvp is i get no votes they look at dps and go ooh that guy did 300k dps but then they don't look at my 500k heals and i go hey i healed that guy so it was possible for him to do that 300k dps lol. sad panda.

 

It's the same being a Tank, even worse even. At least you get your name pop up on the screen. I just get my health taken away for no recognition. I don't really mind though as winning is what matters to me rather than levelling.

 

I have made a point of asking who the healer is and then stating I'll tank them so at least I usually get 1 vote off of them.