Reader's Digest: 50 THINGS (your healer won't tell you)

[TwistedKitten]

playing a tank helps one become a better healer..

playing a healer helps one become a better tank..

playing a dps leads to loss of brain power..

 

everyone should play a healer and a tank..

 

I've played a variety of tanks and healers since I've started gaming. :> I like to think I'm a good tank, but I do have a tendency to pull like I'm trying to finish the FP as fast as possible so the burning building I'm playing in doesn't collapse around me. XD

[alphasoup]

playing a tank helps one become a better healer..

playing a healer helps one become a better tank..

playing a dps leads to loss of brain power..

 

everyone should play a healer and a tank..

 

So it's like an infinite loop of improvement?

[oredith]

So it's like an infinite loop of improvement?

 

this must be why i'm so awesome..

 

[Mirdthestrill]

So it's like an infinite loop of improvement?

 

Yeah, but you have a max of forty characters.

[Cleet_Xia]

My main isn't a healer, but I genuinely appreciate all these comments. They've helped me improve my tanking.

 

This thead has been a raging success story! It has reached the ears of a tank- and made a better tank! There is now HOPE!

 

(really though- that is seriously cool if by reading this thread- you've become a better tank)

[TwistedKitten]

This thead has been a raging success story! It has reached the ears of a tank- and made a better tank! There is now HOPE!

 

(really though- that is seriously cool if by reading this thread- you've become a better tank)

 

It's given me a different perspective, truly. I've yet to play a healer to 50 in this game (my scoundrel is 23) but it's nice to see what everyone else is thinking of their tanks... Now if I could get my healers to post on here... *giggle*

[KyoMamoru]

There is a hierarchy of killing enemies that, if you followed every encounter would be a breeze:

1) Status Inflicting. [usually Standard/Strong.]

2) Healers. [usually Minion/Standard.]

3) High damage cast bar types. [Typically a Mercenary style.]

4) Ranged DPS. [They can easily change targets without being noticed.]

5) Melee DPS. [Easiest for a Healer to deal with and the group to visualize threat.]

6) The enemy with the highest amount of health that's being tanked.

 

Furthermore, if you would be so inclined to use your best CC every fight on the more prudent targets, that'd be fantastic. I know you believe that DPS or taunts are the solution to everything, but your CC can make one enemy 'play dead' for a whole fight, before it actually is.

Edited March 23, 2012 by KyoMamoru

[Wallaid]

When you wipe due to enrage timers two times in a row and the dps says: "I heard this fight is really hard on the healer."

 

The hard part lies in having to watch the dps fail

[alphasoup]

Yeah, but you have a max of forty characters.

 

So then you hit Limbo after 40 toons?

[Jorges]

-I'm bored, can you screw up some more?

[Dommz]

Dear DPS and Tanks,

 

-healing in PvP is no piece of cake. If you think it is, give it a try and you will see, that you were wrong from the very beginning.

 

-your job is not our job. Why do I need to watch over the doors in voidstar so that noone taps or why do I have to watch out that we don't lose a base in alderaan? Tell me, if this is all my job, then what is yours? Off course I do those things aswell, but not when I have a zillion people running behind myself waiting for this resolve bar to run out of resolve to kill me in a stun-lock.

 

-protect us, we will be grateful. It's no big deal to switch stance to be able to guard the *********** person that is keeping you alive. If you die because of this, you didn't die in vain, you died because you supported your team, yet your healer wasn't able to heal himself und yourself up. It happens, get over it and do not watch your healer getting trained without having the slightest bit of a chance.

 

-why did you pass the ball to me? I'm the one that just healed you through all the damage you took without anyone ever switching their target to me. There aren't even enemies around and you still have several defensive cooldowns ununsed. Great, now I have this shiny pillar of light pointing right at me saying "this guy needs some serious carnage" a.w.e.s.o.m.e.

 

-look, do you see me running around this pillar with like 3 melees at my ***? I'm not doing this for t3h lulz, I'm doing this because otherwise I'm dead meat. Can you like do something against them? Like kill the one that is healing them up who is standing RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BATTLEFIELD and is not getting any focus at all?

 

-Cleanse does not remove everything, pull has 1min cd. Do you really think I wouldn't have tried my best to heal you through the *********** fire? Why didn't you pass me the ball in the first place? I was on the other side of the fire, there was noone around that could have intercepted that pass. No, you decide that it's better to cross the fire without your stun-break being ready and not having a full resolve-bar and *hooray* someone decided to root you on the fire und then throw a nice little stun right after. Great job you did thar!

 

-If you ever ask me again why I didn't heal you you'll be the 42378328999 person on my ignore list. It's not like I didn't want to heal you, it's more that I wasn't able to heal you, because

a) you were out of sight

b) I was out of force

c) I was in a cc

d) I was getting interrupted all the time

e) you could have survived that on your own until I would be in the position to heal you, but you decided NOT to use any of your defensive cooldowns

f) I needed to heal myself up first, since I am AGAIN the only healer on our site and there's a lot of people on the other side that want to see me dead

g) it was my fault okay? I didn't react fast enough, since I am not allmighty and yes, even healers can do mistakes. We do alot of mistakes, because most of the time we have to improvize in order to withstand the pressure that is put upon us, whether it's just the heavy group dmg or the incredible focus dmg. It's not like we are standing next to you and typing /yawn all the time

[belialle]

You see that healer kiting those marauders through the group of ranged DPS over and over again? It's probably a cry for help. A living healer can help keep you alive. A dead healer is stuck behind a force field, watching helplessly as the health bars of teammates get smaller and smaller. Peel the DPS off your healer.

 

PS - If we don't actually need CC, let's not spend forever marking targets. Let's just AoE the stuff down and move on quickly.

 

 

PPS - You were AWESOME at standing in front of the fire pit, waiting for it to go down so you could get through and cap. That was ALL YOU. Pay no attention to the healer down below you in the pit who tried desperately to get a decent line of sight to drop some heals on your oblivious ***.

Edited March 31, 2012 by belialle

[Boyana]

- Of course, I am going to heal! Oh, you also want me to cc? Okay, that is fine. Oh, and to interrupt the mobs? Okay, I can do that. Alright, I will also cast some dots because this is the second damn time boss enraged so "we need more dps"...Anything else?

 

- The reason why I died is because mobs stunned me 3 times in a row. Don't yell, not my fault, they pulled me. Please, don't rage telling me it happened because I was standing too close! I had to move to heal your almighty butt while you where out of my sight.

 

- Can you please stun or kill this guy that has been jumping on top of my back since the WarZone started? I can't cast a single heal. Okay, forget about it, I am dead.

 

- I think it is about time to stop leaving my AoE heal in order to enter their AoE damage...How about you do the opposite? Don't you think it would help us all?

 

- Don't....charge!!! I am low on force and your HP is not full...and you shouldn't be laughing.

 

- It would be nice instead of yelling "me" (on Vent/Mubmle/TS) to say your in-game name...

[Kissimmee]

Dear DPS and Tanks,

 

-healing in PvP is no piece of cake. If you think it is, give it a try and you will see, that you were wrong from the very beginning.

 

-your job is not our job. Why do I need to watch over the doors in voidstar so that noone taps or why do I have to watch out that we don't lose a base in alderaan? Tell me, if this is all my job, then what is yours? Off course I do those things aswell, but not when I have a zillion people running behind myself waiting for this resolve bar to run out of resolve to kill me in a stun-lock.

 

-protect us, we will be grateful. It's no big deal to switch stance to be able to guard the *********** person that is keeping you alive. If you die because of this, you didn't die in vain, you died because you supported your team, yet your healer wasn't able to heal himself und yourself up. It happens, get over it and do not watch your healer getting trained without having the slightest bit of a chance.

 

-why did you pass the ball to me? I'm the one that just healed you through all the damage you took without anyone ever switching their target to me. There aren't even enemies around and you still have several defensive cooldowns ununsed. Great, now I have this shiny pillar of light pointing right at me saying "this guy needs some serious carnage" a.w.e.s.o.m.e.

 

-look, do you see me running around this pillar with like 3 melees at my ***? I'm not doing this for t3h lulz, I'm doing this because otherwise I'm dead meat. Can you like do something against them? Like kill the one that is healing them up who is standing RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BATTLEFIELD and is not getting any focus at all?

 

-Cleanse does not remove everything, pull has 1min cd. Do you really think I wouldn't have tried my best to heal you through the *********** fire? Why didn't you pass me the ball in the first place? I was on the other side of the fire, there was noone around that could have intercepted that pass. No, you decide that it's better to cross the fire without your stun-break being ready and not having a full resolve-bar and *hooray* someone decided to root you on the fire und then throw a nice little stun right after. Great job you did thar!

 

-If you ever ask me again why I didn't heal you you'll be the 42378328999 person on my ignore list. It's not like I didn't want to heal you, it's more that I wasn't able to heal you, because

a) you were out of sight

b) I was out of force

c) I was in a cc

d) I was getting interrupted all the time

e) you could have survived that on your own until I would be in the position to heal you, but you decided NOT to use any of your defensive cooldowns

f) I needed to heal myself up first, since I am AGAIN the only healer on our site and there's a lot of people on the other side that want to see me dead

g) it was my fault okay? I didn't react fast enough, since I am not allmighty and yes, even healers can do mistakes. We do alot of mistakes, because most of the time we have to improvize in order to withstand the pressure that is put upon us, whether it's just the heavy group dmg or the incredible focus dmg. It's not like we are standing next to you and typing /yawn all the time

 

You make valid points for other players to consider, and I have felt your frustration many times; however, I disagree on the statement concerning whose "job" it is to watch doors/turrets.

As a team player, it is everyone's task to cap, guard, pass, etc. It takes two seconds to throw a CC, which could result in a win for my team.

As a PvP healer, there is no denying how difficult it is to keep, not one player alive, but my entire team alive, cleansed, obtain objectives, and dance around enemy players because they see the "Yellow Star- Everyone Kill Kissimee!!" above my head. But quite honestly, these challenges are what lure and motivate me in PvP.

Should dps cap/guard/carry? Absolutely. But keep in mind, they have predicaments too. Killing enemy healers, crowd controlling, and capping doors, while desperately keeping five players from obliterating their healer, is no easy feat.

In order to obtain victory, it ultimately requires all players becoming conscientious of their surroundings and sensitive to the needs of team players.

Edited April 4, 2012 by Kissimmee

[Padkhar]

You make valid points for other players to consider, and I have felt your frustration many times; however, I disagree on the statement concerning whose "job" it is to watch doors/turrets.

As a team player, it is everyone's task to cap, guard, pass, etc. It takes two seconds to throw a CC, which could result in a win for my team.

As a PvP healer, there is no denying how difficult it is to keep, not one player alive, but my entire team alive, cleansed, obtain objectives, and dance around enemy players because they see the "Yellow Star- Everyone Kill Kissimee!!" above my head. But quite honestly, these challenges are what lure and motivate me in PvP.

Should dps cap/guard/carry? Absolutely. But keep in mind, they have predicaments too. Killing enemy healers, crowd controlling, and capping doors, while desperately keeping five players from obliterating their healer, is no easy feat.

In order to obtain victory, it ultimately requires all players becoming conscientious of their surroundings and sensitive to the needs of team players.

 

Yes!

 

I think expecting healers to heal, and only heal, should be left in old-school PVE MMO dungeons, and definitely not part of PVP. I do like healing, but I see my role more as "defense" than just mindlessly filling up life bars for the heck of it--or for some big number on the healing meters. Even in PVE, actually, I'd rather heal fewer people and keep them alive, or completing objectives (or help myself), than just spam or snipe heal wherever I can , just to get my output numbers to look larger.

 

But what a lot of healers won't tell you is, they don't care about team play either--they just want to drop some big numbers (perhaps the same as they would playing a DPS toon).

[signahead]

You see that healer kiting those marauders through the group of ranged DPS over and over again? It's probably a cry for help. A living healer can help keep you alive. A dead healer is stuck behind a force field, watching helplessly as the health bars of teammates get smaller and smaller. Peel the DPS off your healer.

 

...

 

PPS - You were AWESOME at standing in front of the fire pit, waiting for it to go down so you could get through and cap. That was ALL YOU. Pay no attention to the healer down below you in the pit who tried desperately to get a decent line of sight to drop some heals on your oblivious ***.

 

PPPS: If you want to see a magic trick, wait until your healer is running around in front of you, followed by a Marauder and two of that Marauder's closest friends. Then say the magic words "healing is so overpowered" three times in OPS chat (it works best if you wait until the healer dies before you say it the last time...don't worry, you won't have to wait long).

 

You'll see a flash of light and a puff of smoke. And that healer will transform into a Sentinel or a Marauder himself!

[gilfea]

My confession is that I almost always plays a DPS character in MMOs (SWTOR has a tank that also has stealth ... too good to pass up).

 

Included are my rules as a DPS to other DPSers.

 

1. If you died, 99% of the time, it was YOUR fault. Not the tank's, and not the healer's.

 

2. Learn the concept of aggro, and the sources of aggro,

a. fight initiation aggro

b. aggro generation from damage

c. aggro generation from threat (usually tank) skills

d. aggro generation from healing

 

3. Don't pull aggro off the tank. If you have pulled aggro then,

a. you initiated the combat instead of waiting for the tank to initiate ... therefore, your fault. A tank has an easier time initiating aggro and holding, rather than pulling aggro off your soiled underwear.

b. you're not focus-firing on the tank's target ... therefore, your fault. Aggro is usually tank single target > DPS single target > DPS AOE > tank AOE

c. you whipped out your hardest hitting skills at the start of the fight, before the tank established aggro hold, instead of easing into it (especially for long fights) ... therefore, your fault, and you just made the tank's job much harder. DPS spike aggro > tank aggro

c. (exception). you whipped out as many of your hardest hitting skills as you could to pull aggro off the tank, because the tank is nearly dead, and you are giving the healer the few seconds needed to keep the tank on his/her feet, thereby avoiding a wipe, knowing full well that this action will likely leave you a smear on the floor until the end of the fight ... good job for knowing that you're more expendible than the healer and the tank, paying attention to what's going on, and knowing when to take a swandive for the group

d. you have delusions of being a tank; you'd better kill it before it kills you because experienced healers will let you die and experienced tanks will let you try tanking it ... therefore, your fault. And should you survive, don't expect to be healed immediately afterwards either.

 

4. A healer's priority list for heals are: themselves > other healers > main tank > off-tank > dps

They can't heal when they're dead (they then can do nothing to stop a party wipe), other healers can't heal when dead (other healers then can do nothing to stop a party wipe), a dead main tank is quickly headed towards a party wipe, a dead off-tank is the last stop-gap between crumbling chaos and a party wipe, while a dead DPS means that the target will just take longer to die.

Yes, as a DPS, you are the last on the priority list! Deal with it. You're the most expendible part of the group. Bring medpacs and expect to use them. Expect to use your defensive cooldowns. Healers will throw you a heal when they can, but DO NOT rely on it.

 

5. Pick your targets wisely. In a group of 1 champion, 2 elites, 2 strong, and 4 normals,

Beating on the champion first is the worst choice, since it leaves the rest of the group trying to deal with all 9 until the champion is dead (and the tank trying to hold aggro over your dps on all of them).

Best choice is make smears of the normals (you're facing 5 instead of 9 within seconds), then the strongs, then elites. By that time, the tank has such a strong aggro hold on the champion that you can see if you can break your highest single damage critical hit record and not worry about pulling aggro. Also by that time, the pressure on the healer has reduced to the point that they're keeping YOUR health topped up.

 

6. If you pull aggro that you do not want:

a. DO NOT run away from your tank - tank's aggro generation effectiveness drops sharply with distance, and you might aggro another mob

b. DO NOT run away from your healer - if you leave the healer's heal range, you're on your own, and you might aggro another mob

c. DO NOT break LOS with your tank or healer - they can't help you if they can't see you

d. DO run TOWARDS your tank - make the tank's ability to pull aggro off you as easy as you can

 

7. Avoid tunnel vision and watch what's happening around you.

a. :) Keep an eye on the healer! If adds are beating on the healer, then now is the time to pull out your shiny, flashy, hard hitting skills, and pull those mobs off the healer NOW! And the best part of this is that you'll be appreciated for pulling aggro off the healer, instead of scorned for pulling aggro.

b. move out of an AOE with a cast time about to drop on you (unless it's an AOE heal, then stay put)

c. move out of an AOE that's damaging you

d. a CCed target is out of the fight until the CC is over. Leave them out of the fight (don't break the CC) and beat on something else

 

8. DO NOT start a combat until your healer is ready ... ever.

Edited April 5, 2012 by gilfea

[Never_Hesitate]

4) OMG HEALER *** WERE YOU DOING BACK THERE I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'D JUST LET US DIE LIKE THAT YOU'RE AWFUL AND I'M NEVER GROUPING WITH YOU AGAIN!

5) Profit?

 

Your profit is that you have to heal one less idiot.

[alphasoup]

My confession is that I almost always plays a DPS character in MMOs (SWTOR has a tank that also has stealth ... too good to pass up).

 

Included are my rules as a DPS to other DPSers.

 

1. If you died, 99% of the time, it was YOUR fault. Not the tank's, and not the healer's.

 

2. Learn the concept of aggro, and the sources of aggro,

a. fight initiation aggro

b. aggro generation from damage

c. aggro generation from threat (usually tank) skills

d. aggro generation from healing

 

3. Don't pull aggro off the tank. If you have pulled aggro then,

a. you initiated the combat instead of waiting for the tank to initiate ... therefore, your fault. A tank has an easier time initiating aggro and holding, rather than pulling aggro off your soiled underwear.

b. you're not focus-firing on the tank's target ... therefore, your fault. Aggro is usually tank single target > DPS single target > DPS AOE > tank AOE

c. you whipped out your hardest hitting skills at the start of the fight, before the tank established aggro hold, instead of easing into it (especially for long fights) ... therefore, your fault, and you just made the tank's job much harder. DPS spike aggro > tank aggro

c. (exception). you whipped out as many of your hardest hitting skills as you could to pull aggro off the tank, because the tank is nearly dead, and you are giving the healer the few seconds needed to keep the tank on his/her feet, thereby avoiding a wipe, knowing full well that this action will likely leave you a smear on the floor until the end of the fight ... good job for knowing that you're more expendible than the healer and the tank, paying attention to what's going on, and knowing when to take a swandive for the group

d. you have delusions of being a tank; you'd better kill it before it kills you because experienced healers will let you die and experienced tanks will let you try tanking it ... therefore, your fault. And should you survive, don't expect to be healed immediately afterwards either.

 

4. A healer's priority list for heals are: themselves > other healers > main tank > off-tank > dps

They can't heal when they're dead (they then can do nothing to stop a party wipe), other healers can't heal when dead (other healers then can do nothing to stop a party wipe), a dead main tank is quickly headed towards a party wipe, a dead off-tank is the last stop-gap between crumbling chaos and a party wipe, while a dead DPS means that the target will just take longer to die.

Yes, as a DPS, you are the last on the priority list! Deal with it. You're the most expendible part of the group. Bring medpacs and expect to use them. Expect to use your defensive cooldowns. Healers will throw you a heal when they can, but DO NOT rely on it.

 

5. Pick your targets wisely. In a group of 1 champion, 2 elites, 2 strong, and 4 normals,

Beating on the champion first is the worst choice, since it leaves the rest of the group trying to deal with all 9 until the champion is dead (and the tank trying to hold aggro over your dps on all of them).

Best choice is make smears of the normals (you're facing 5 instead of 9 within seconds), then the strongs, then elites. By that time, the tank has such a strong aggro hold on the champion that you can see if you can break your highest single damage critical hit record and not worry about pulling aggro. Also by that time, the pressure on the healer has reduced to the point that they're keeping YOUR health topped up.

 

6. If you pull aggro that you do not want:

a. DO NOT run away from your tank - tank's aggro generation effectiveness drops sharply with distance, and you might aggro another mob

b. DO NOT run away from your healer - if you leave the healer's heal range, you're on your own, and you might aggro another mob

c. DO NOT break LOS with your tank or healer - they can't help you if they can't see you

d. DO run TOWARDS your tank - make the tank's ability to pull aggro off you as easy as you can

 

7. Avoid tunnel vision and watch what's happening around you.

a. :) Keep an eye on the healer! If adds are beating on the healer, then now is the time to pull out your shiny, flashy, hard hitting skills, and pull those mobs off the healer NOW! And the best part of this is that you'll be appreciated for pulling aggro off the healer, instead of scorned for pulling aggro.

b. move out of an AOE with a cast time about to drop on you (unless it's an AOE heal, then stay put)

c. move out of an AOE that's damaging you

d. a CCed target is out of the fight until the CC is over. Leave them out of the fight (don't break the CC) and beat on something else

 

8. DO NOT start a combat until your healer is ready ... ever.

 

You. Are. Awesome.

 

Now if only other DPS'ers could learn from this.

[Mirdthestrill]

c. (exception). you whipped out as many of your hardest hitting skills as you could to pull aggro off the tank, because the tank is nearly dead, and you are giving the healer the few seconds needed to keep the tank on his/her feet, thereby avoiding a wipe, knowing full well that this action will likely leave you a smear on the floor until the end of the fight ... good job for knowing that you're more expendible than the healer and the tank, paying attention to what's going on, and knowing when to take a swandive for the group

d. you have delusions of being a tank; you'd better kill it before it kills you because experienced healers will let you die and experienced tanks will let you try tanking it ... therefore, your fault. And should you survive, don't expect to be healed immediately afterwards either.

 

Regarding C...that's the best kind of DPS. Those that realize their role in the group, and execute when they must. They're in short supply.

 

Regarding D...My guild leader still says that Mercenary BH's are tanks, just because they wear heavy armor. He tells me that I need to "expand my definition of tank". We still make it through most fight just fine, though, and he's a pretty skilled merc.

[gilfea]

Regarding D...My guild leader still says that Mercenary BH's are tanks, just because they wear heavy armor. He tells me that I need to "expand my definition of tank". We still make it through most fight just fine, though, and he's a pretty skilled merc.

 

I'm not too familiar with Merc BHs, but heavy armour alone does not make a tank. But on that point, without more knowledge of the class, I would initally peg them as off-tanks.

 

The point is directed more at the dps classes that are best described as glass cannons. The ones that start to run into serious trouble (1 vs 1) if the target survives their inital dps burst.

[alphasoup]

Regarding D...My guild leader still says that Mercenary BH's are tanks, just because they wear heavy armor. He tells me that I need to "expand my definition of tank". We still make it through most fight just fine, though, and he's a pretty skilled merc.

 

No, heavy armor does not make a tank. That just makes a character that can take more hits. That could be the reason why this guy is still alive, that plus a good healer.

 

The ability to hold threat, however, DOES make a tank. I do not think that mercs have any aggro-generating abilities.

[oredith]

No, heavy armor does not make a tank. That just makes a character that can take more hits. That could be the reason why this guy is still alive, that plus a good healer.

 

The ability to hold threat, however, DOES make a tank. I do not think that mercs have any aggro-generating abilities.

actually, arsenal has an amazing ability to out-threat a tank. we pull off the tank regularly on fights of straight DPS like Karagga.

 

big crits are big..

[Baelish]

No, heavy armor does not make a tank. That just makes a character that can take more hits. That could be the reason why this guy is still alive, that plus a good healer.

 

The ability to hold threat, however, DOES make a tank. I do not think that mercs have any aggro-generating abilities.

 

Tanking is mitigation too. And heavy armour is only part of that. If you've not got a 'stance' that activates your shield, your mitigation will be gimped and the healer will have to work that much harder to keep you going.

[sfdeg]

god wz as a healer is annoying as hell by lvl 50 u woulda thought ppl would learn how to play

 

wz no 1, 3 tank speced asassins, all use guard on dpsers and leave me to tank mid while they attack right, typically i die at mid and we lose 570-0

 

wz no 2 same 3 sins "oi guard me" nothing leave me to tank left i die again we lose 400-0

 

wz no 3 FFS GUARD ME U *********** IDIOTS AND STOP MAKING A LIGHT ARMOUR HEALER TANK, get 325k heals 0 deaths i wonder why that happened

Edited April 10, 2012 by sfdeg