Best secondary stat for Merc healers

[Maiah]

Hi all - I am a level 46 Merc bodyguard. I've read that the best stat to stack for epic healing is alacrity, but I'm wondering if crit rating might be better. What good are fast heals if they don't crit for a lot when a party member is taking a ton of dmg in a flashpoint or a warzone? Any advice on stacking alacrity vs. crit vs. surge rating vs. tech power would be appreciated. I'm almost 50 and I want to make sure I'm stacking the secondary stat that will allow me to provide the best heals for both PVE and PVP.

 

Side note: How much healing should a bodyguard BH put up in a warzone? I'm averaging anywhere from 75k (if I'm being targeted and killed by the opposing team) to 170k. I'm asking because most healing sorcs in a warzone are blowing my stats out of the water and I'm starting to feel bad.... Thus my question above.

[Yazule]

Hi all - I am a level 46 Merc bodyguard. I've read that the best stat to stack for epic healing is alacrity, but I'm wondering if crit rating might be better. What good are fast heals if they don't crit for a lot when a party member is taking a ton of dmg in a flashpoint or a warzone? Any advice on stacking alacrity vs. crit vs. surge rating vs. tech power would be appreciated. I'm almost 50 and I want to make sure I'm stacking the secondary stat that will allow me to provide the best heals for both PVE and PVP.

 

Side note: How much healing should a bodyguard BH put up in a warzone? I'm averaging anywhere from 75k (if I'm being targeted and killed by the opposing team) to 170k. I'm asking because most healing sorcs in a warzone are blowing my stats out of the water and I'm starting to feel bad.... Thus my question above.

 

my friend is sold on alacrity/power

 

alacrity does not go with crit, it is crit/surge vs power

 

alacrity just is (and he tells me you need to stack it til you have heat issues and then back off from it a little)

[Maiah]

Thank you, Yaz! This info helps.

[Kadgarth]

Okay, bad advice.

 

Alacrity is pretty horrible. Stacking full alacrity might give you a 1.71 or so rapid scan that crits for 3800.

 

Instead do about 70% surge and 30% alacrity (proportionally I mean). That'll give you like 1.82 cast time and 5500 crits.

[Gariuys]

I'm decently geared, pretty much columi lvl ( some columi pieces, some tionese with columi mods etc. )

 

and i have 13% base alacrity while maintaining 35% crit and 80% surge, with a decent amount ( got 400 atm ) power as well.

 

And to be honest, the biggest problem I run into when being solo healer is not that I dont heal for enough, tank has 18k health, my main heal now crits for 5.5k basically my normal rotation overheals the tank by quite a lot.

 

The big problem is being able to switch to other group members fast enough, and then you run into the problem that your main heal is pretty slow to cast without enough alacrity, in a emergency I got a dps from 0-full health in 4 seconds or so. trouble is that once you used emergency and healing, all you got left is rapid, so when you switch to a other group member cause they're taking damage, you have the full cast time of your rapid scan till they start receiving heals, getting that down is way more important imo then getting my heals to crit for 6k or more, that just means more overhealing.

 

as a bg healer, keeping the tank alive with your rotation will never be the problem, saving the other group members is the hard part.

[BlownSi]

I'm decently geared, pretty much columi lvl ( some columi pieces, some tionese with columi mods etc. )

 

and i have 13% base alacrity while maintaining 35% crit and 80% surge, with a decent amount ( got 400 atm ) power as well.

 

And to be honest, the biggest problem I run into when being solo healer is not that I dont heal for enough, tank has 18k health, my main heal now crits for 5.5k basically my normal rotation overheals the tank by quite a lot.

 

The big problem is being able to switch to other group members fast enough, and then you run into the problem that your main heal is pretty slow to cast without enough alacrity, in a emergency I got a dps from 0-full health in 4 seconds or so. trouble is that once you used emergency and healing, all you got left is rapid, so when you switch to a other group member cause they're taking damage, you have the full cast time of your rapid scan till they start receiving heals, getting that down is way more important imo then getting my heals to crit for 6k or more, that just means more overhealing.

 

as a bg healer, keeping the tank alive with your rotation will never be the problem, saving the other group members is the hard part.

 

Smart man here...hehe. I agree totally with this. I am in full oranges with mostly Belsavis/Ilum mods and have stacked Crit/Surge to get 32% crit and 79% Surge. My big My big heal and emergency scan will crit for 4100-4500. I have a tiny bit of alacrity on two pieces of gear, but I have the +4% talent from Pyro tree, plus the +6% talent on crits.

 

Basically, I pretty much always have a +10% alacrity going, and in my current setup that give me a 1.3 sec and 1.7 sec cast time on my two big heals. Gariuys is right, you will have no problem keeping a tank up, it is the other members.

 

Also, it seems to me that over-healing on Merc creates A LOT of agro on you, not to mention that we still pull the agro from the Kolto Shell procs. When my team's hp permits, I dps as much as possible, and pop Chaff Flare whenever it is up to shed any access hate.

 

Anyway, I went off tangent a little. I would personally recommend stacking crit/surge as your secondary, with a little bit of alacrity mixed in a few places.

[Maiah]

Thanks for all of the advice, everyone.

 

I just hit 50 last night and healed my first level 50 heroic on Belsavis today. Honestly, it was tough going, but I will say that two of our party members were in their upper 40s. You're right - single target heals seem to be fine, but if I FF the tank for example then I end up losing a dps even if I'm using kolto missile. It's odd because I healed a 4-man heroic on Voss with no problem two nights ago.

 

It sounds like from your posts that a mixture of surge, crit and alacrity is the way to go. I'll start shifting my gear this way and see what happens. Question for you all if you PVP: What kind of healing stats do you put up in a warzone? Like I said in my original post, I'm being put to shame by the inquisitors and frankly it's getting on my nerves a bit. I've played a healer for years, so I understand the mechanic. It's just that I'm not getting the numbers I'm used to seeing. Maybe the gear shift I describe above will help.

[Kadgarth]

Check out my Merc healing videos if you're interested in some tips and tricks:

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/Kadgarth/videos

[jamescam]

Good info in this thread and probably a dumb question but is Aim still the primary stat for Merc healers?

[Strifegambit]

Yes aim is the Be all End all stat for us mate, much of it as possible

[DomingoDarkrage]

Cunning also helps out, so make sure to get those datacrons.

 

Alacrity is good, but not in large amounts. Too much and you suffer from 1)diminishing returns, 2) less point in crit/surge, 3) heat issues from casting too much.

 

It is a hard balance. I'm a 50 merc, half rakata, and probably 52 valor rank. I still do not know what to do in terms of how much. I've seen a mathematical post, where the Op actually programmed alacrity into some computer code to determine an ideal range of percent (forgot number).

 

Why is it hard? Well, we can spend 2 points in our skill tree to get +4% alacrity. That will take almost .1 seconds of our longer heal. However, 2 points can also be gained to get +2% healing output. So would you rather go +4% alacrity from skills, and some crit/surge from enhancements/gear?

 

I do a bit of it all. While most of our gear that is turned in provides alacrity, you do not need that much, and eventually you want to purchase other classes gear for their mods/enhancements.

 

Surge has fast diminishing effects. And Power is always good. I'd rather see +40 power instead of +40 alacrity

[VarkieLiefe]

Raid Healer's perspective:

 

I keep my Alacrity around 12-13%. With Crit Reaction (which should always be up, especially if you're mixing in rapid shots) that puts HS at 1.2s and RS at 1.6-1.7s. In my mind much more would be a waste. After that it's Crit and Surge. I don't stack power beyond what comes with my set pieces. I've swapped out some alacrity and hp-centric enhancements for crit/surge taken from dps pieces. I keep my hp around 18-19k.

 

Our core healing skills are both end-loaded. Our leadoff heal includes a decent buff and a hot. When a spike hits someone, alacrity grants you initiative to be on top of it. Crit helps keep your CR going. More importantly, C&S help give you the *chance* to lay down a massive heal that takes that person out of jeopardy, allowing you a moment to tend to everyone else. In my experience, when someone is heavily focused (that probably shouldn't be), non-crit rapid scans are just treading water at best.

 

A significant amount of our healing output in a real encounter is lost to overheals. Calculating for maximum hps and then complaining about burning resources doesn't make sense. The damage is coming in waves, and when someone is standing in an aoe or was just tossed the huttball, those portions of a second saved can change the outcome. Moderate your heat with rapid shots, reapply that worn out kolto shell, burst a bit in anticipation of supercharge, pop it and kolto missile the tank, rinse and repeat. It's fun, challenging, and alacrity allows you to be more effective at it.

 

And for those burn the boss moments - supercharged + power shot spam, alacrity probably allows for 2-3 extra discounted shots.

 

 

Some HM Ops encounters from merc heal perspective:

http://www.youtube.com/varkpr

[Elysion]

i would stay go crit/surge untill you have 70% surge

 

Then go power/alacrity untill you have either

 

6% or 14% (those were the 'sweet spots' right?)

 

Then go back to crit/surge.

 

We get a total of 9% extra crit to heals through talents, so really getting crit/surge sorted first is best.

 

Power is good, and its good that power/alacrity mods exist.

[Madicen]

http://sithwarrior.com/forums/Thread-Mercenary-Commando-PvE-End-Game-Healing-Compendium--740

 

 

Everyone should read this, at least once. Lots of good info in here. I do NOT make the assertation that this is my work, or anything silly like that, all im saying is that every Bh healer who intends to do Ops reads this, then applies what they get out of it to their character.

 

Alacrity suffers from diminishing returns rather harshly. I keep mine around 11% base, and that is more of a "i feel comfortable with it" that anything else. I am really happy where my Bh is right now..6k crits are more and more common for me now, and I feel my speed is right where I want it to be in an 8 man run.

 

Again, read this, please

[ForceWelder]

http://sithwarrior.com/forums/Thread-Mercenary-Commando-PvE-End-Game-Healing-Compendium--740

 

 

Everyone should read this, at least once. Lots of good info in here. I do NOT make the assertation that this is my work, or anything silly like that, all im saying is that every Bh healer who intends to do Ops reads this, then applies what they get out of it to their character.

 

Alacrity suffers from diminishing returns rather harshly. I keep mine around 11% base, and that is more of a "i feel comfortable with it" that anything else. I am really happy where my Bh is right now..6k crits are more and more common for me now, and I feel my speed is right where I want it to be in an 8 man run.

 

Again, read this, please

 

6k crits?

 

That is damn impressive sir.

 

I am in half battlemaster / champion gear and my average crit is 4k - 4500. It is rare that I get the 5k medal in warzones.

 

This is probably a sign that I have too much alacrity. But running warzones on a Imp healer light server, speed is your friend. With all the CC and interrupts that are directed your way milliseconds can be the difference between a successful cast and a dead team mate.

 

Judging by your post it maybe time to look at the numbers again.

[Ewert]

Alacrity suffers from harsh DR? Nonsense, calculate the inverse as in the output value, add in talents to increase the value from alacrity ratings (19-20% > 9-10%), and you'll see it has a very slow DR.

 

Anyways, just gear up with the best of "combat medic" you can. Any upgrade is probably worth more from the extra stats than whether it is which stat.

 

For the record, near full rakata or near full champion gear (don't have the time to grind valor 60), 21ish and 19ish % haste correspondingly, HM solo healing as well as 600k topping warzone healing, with almost a couple of decades of healer experience in multiple games under the belt here, combined with math geekdom and spreadsheeting stuff.

 

The stats:

Aim - not an option to switch with anything else anywhere but augments on mastercraft items, but for those augments pick it

Power - best choice for increasing healing / resource, even if your crit/surge suck due to overhealing gamerealistically, this is your relic/adrenal #1 choice

Crit - 2nd best choice for increasing healing / resource, suffers from tough DR higher up, when starting out lvl50 crit/surge relic is okay'ish, suffers from more overheals

Surge - worst choice for increasing healing / resource, suffers from very tough DR as well as overheals, nets you those silly big numbers you go ooh-aah over, while netting you the least useful healing style (big slow heals are the worst kind gamerealistically)

 

Alacrity - with high end game gear best choice for increasing healing / time, this is the controlled burst stat, and best choice for increasing your dmg bursts with SCG + MF, as well the ONLY choice for increasing your performance with game mechanics in PvE bosses and PvP. Alacrity relic/adrenal can be dubious due to "too fast" casting speeds if you have high end gear. Your healing / resource is overall upgraded through free shots in the same timeframe, getting near the same as power increases in high end gear. Increases the value of your power also.

 

So in the very high end gear you get 300-350ish crit, a smidgen of surge (50-150 depending on how much you emphasize overheals as a loss of stats), then your choices are mostly power & alacrity, get enough alacrity to be able to react fast enough to every situation (I'm thinking I could use a little more than 21%, wouldn't complain if I had 24-25%ish).

 

What does this mean? It means you don't really have to worry about the stats of gear, just get upgrades, they tend to have the "right" stats in them ... And talent for +haste%. And if you wish to be a complete bodyguard package, sacrifice 1% of healing for muzzle fluting for heatcost free dmg burst ability for boss mechanics, "non-solo" healing situations in all fights, and pvp stuff. Makes council solo fight a total breeze too.

[Ewert]

6k crits?

 

That is damn impressive sir.

 

I am in half battlemaster / champion gear and my average crit is 4k - 4500. It is rare that I get the 5k medal in warzones.

PvP has -% on heals received, which is why. If you wish to get the 5k medal regularly you kinda have to talent the heals received during shield increase, and then wait for a focus fired + SCG + kolto missile + adrenal combo to pump out some rapid scans just to kick that 5k mark.

 

Yea it sucks, another freebie for sorc healers that medal ...

Edited February 21, 2012 by Ewert

[Maiah]

http://sithwarrior.com/forums/Thread-Mercenary-Commando-PvE-End-Game-Healing-Compendium--740

 

 

Everyone should read this, at least once. Lots of good info in here. I do NOT make the assertation that this is my work, or anything silly like that, all im saying is that every Bh healer who intends to do Ops reads this, then applies what they get out of it to their character.

 

Alacrity suffers from diminishing returns rather harshly. I keep mine around 11% base, and that is more of a "i feel comfortable with it" that anything else. I am really happy where my Bh is right now..6k crits are more and more common for me now, and I feel my speed is right where I want it to be in an 8 man run.

 

Again, read this, please

 

GREAT piece of work. I think I just found what I needed. Thanks for everyone's comments!!

[DarthBloodloss]

I find that the complaints of alacrity causing you to cast too fast is somewhat silly.

 

How are you healing too fast? Just pause between heals. There is no downside to that. You finish a heal sooner, so you have 1-2 seconds to wait or use rapid shots to heal.

 

Whats the problem?

 

I can imagine if Tracer channeled faster. Would people complain they are going to overheat too fast? I doubt it...

[Orcas]

This is my personal opinion on Alarcity. Its great to have in the relic slot not on your gear. Heat builds up quickly from our Rapid Scans so being able to cast them faster all the time is not benificial. However on-demand speed IS usfull for casting it fast.

Plus we proc 5% alarcity on crits anyways.

 

I stack Surge and Critical and do fine as long as I manage my gas charges properly.

[Moosimoo]

A question to those of you who "stack" crit/surge:

 

Where do you get it? Do you get the Medic gear and switch out the mods/enhancements? Seems you only have options of Accuracy or Alacrity on gear, and the only way to change this is to buy crit/surge mods/enhancements from the GTN at 100K each.

[Ewert]

I find that the complaints of alacrity causing you to cast too fast is somewhat silly.

 

How are you healing too fast? Just pause between heals. There is no downside to that. You finish a heal sooner, so you have 1-2 seconds to wait or use rapid shots to heal.

 

Whats the problem?

 

I can imagine if Tracer channeled faster. Would people complain they are going to overheat too fast? I doubt it...

Since healing is reactionary, there IS a "too fast". It is different for each person, but it is due to there being more and more time wasted not casting anything the faster you get.

 

Now 20% ain't there yet for most people, but if you adrenal/relic on top of 20+%, it will be getting to the "too fast region" where the increased speed is not really helping you cast more over time, as you'll need to react to changes, retarget, interrupt spells due to whatever reason, etc., and more and more time is lost doing nothing.

 

Considering alacrity is on par with power, or the otherway around, power is on par with alacrity, I personally would not use alacrity temporary buffs, since unlike power which you can proc for maximum healing needs, alacrity helps with movement stuff which tend to happen all the time, not in bursts. So I much prefer power (or crit/surge relic if you are just starting lvl50 game) for temporary buffs.

[DomingoDarkrage]

A question to those of you who "stack" crit/surge:

 

Where do you get it? Do you get the Medic gear and switch out the mods/enhancements? Seems you only have options of Accuracy or Alacrity on gear, and the only way to change this is to buy crit/surge mods/enhancements from the GTN at 100K each.

 

I spend my extra champ comm's on other classes gear, depending on which enhancement you want. I forgot which class gives what, but some have crit/surge, others power/alac, etc.

 

I do the same with columi comms and tokens. But get your class specific items first before you get these other items to strip out a single enhancement- it is not very environmentally friendly.