Trouble Deciding Class - Pros and Cons?

[a_sprague]

I'm trying to decide between levelling a Commando, a Scoundrel, or a Sage, with the sole intent of levelling them to be healers.

 

I know Sage is said to be the be-all-end-all healing expert, with AoE heals, big heals, and such, but suffer in mobility and being super squishy.

 

From what I hear, Commando has the most instant-heals, along with Hammer Shot spam, and have a target-able AoE heal, but suffer from resource management issues.

 

I hear Scoundrels are good single-target healers, but do not do well with AoE heals, having only one. I hear they're easier to level up soloing than Commando and Sage, though, being able to still put out solid-ish numbers with a companion for soloing.

 

Can someone help confirm/deny this information I've gathered? Perhaps give me a quick pros/cons list for each of the healing classes?

[XtremJedi]

As far as I know, all classes still have only one AoE heal. The only real differentiation is that the Sorcerer is an AoE heal for up to 8 targets whereas the other two have only 4 target max. You might also include the fact that the Sorc is a ground field HoT, Scoundrel is an AoE HoT and Commando is an AoE direct heal.

 

Commando includes some more interesting gameplay mechanics, such as reactive healing shield and some potentially interesting resource management mechanics... but these got quite heavily squished in patch 1.2, so a lot of the interesting stuff got ironed out and the most efficient approach plays more straight-forwardly now. In PvE, commandos have been noticeably reporting the weakest healing parses and I think that most healers would agree that Commando is probably the weakest PvE healer at this time and possibly 2nd best in PvP due to survivability.

 

Scoundrel is very straight-forward, almost has fixed rotation and is really largely about pushing a couple of buttons repeatedly. They have good output now, decent survivability and are very mobile, making them excellent for PvP. You need to refresh stacks of HoTs on your targets, for which the UI is woefully badly equipped - making it annoying at times, but if you get into a fairly steady rotation rhythm you can manage it well enough. Probably best in PvP and 2nd best in PvE at this time.

 

Sage is still the best PvE healer and is probably still the most interesting game-play of the 3 healers. There's a little more variety and interaction between their abilities... though not much more. They have shield/ward, great cc, great cleanses, good stun etc. Resource Management isn't really an issue, but does force a more restricted game-play than pre-1.2. But since 1.2 in particular, there are issues in PvP - longer casting times on all the good heals, few defensive CDs, kiting tools are a bit limited in the ToR PvP environment. Most people would probably put pure healing Sages as best for PvE and just about 3rd best for PvP (there are some more interesting Hybrid PvP options - but real hybrids will struggle to heal all PvE content).

 

All in all, Scoundrel is probably the best overall PvE and PvP package on pure healing specs. It's a little dull to play though and the UI really doesn't help. Sage is the PvE king still - just managing to keep a little ahead of the Scoundrel. Commando is pretty much the cinderella healing class; lots of potential but needs a fairy godmother to bring it all out.

 

I wouldn't say that there's such a great difference between them on the solo levelling front. They're all much of a muchness.... choose the right companion, gear them well and you'll whip through stuff well on all of them.

 

X

Edited July 15, 2012 by XtremJedi

[Rafkin]

Well I've only played the operative (scoundrel) at 50. They are no more single target based than any of the other healers. Their aoe has the advantage of traveling with your target instead of being placed on the ground. You can easily have hots ticking on multiple people so their group healing in general is pretty good. Movement fights really offer no challenge to them either. Only one heal you will use has a casting time and its going to be about 1.8 seconds depending on your alacrity.

 

You really can't make a wrong choice. All the healers are just as capable. Just choose the mechanic you like.

[bobmcbo]

I have a healer mercenary, and it seems pretty sturdy- even with the right stuff, one of my abilities makes me immune to interrupts. However, I would agree they're lacking as far as resource management.

[Easpeak]

At the moment:

 

PvP

Easiest to play at high efficiency level is the scoundrel. Sage is pretty straight forward you can bring big heals but unless you are a good player you will get killed pretty fast. Commando - harder to kill, but requires a good player to put out good healing numbers, because you are not very mobile and you are easy to shut down - no escape mechanics

 

PvE

Sage is the healing king, scoundrel is second best due to mobility and good heals. Commando can heal all the instances might require a better team with you, if someone makes a mistake you can go OOM.

[pureeffinmetal]

I have a 50 Sorc, Operative and Commando and have healed on them at one point or another. I'm far more experienced with the Commando as far as Healing goes. I'm mostly DPS but understand Sorc/Sage Heals and have been playing the class since launch. Operative is my least experienced class, but I know the basics.

 

Sorc/Sage Pros:

Revivification/Salvation is the best heal in game...bar none.

Bubble and Innervate are extremely efficient heals

 

Sorc/Sage Cons:

Quick-cast heal is very inefficient

Big Heal hits hard, but is much slower cast than both a Scoundrel or Commando's big heals, and is subject to overhealing

MAJOR Survivability issues. My Campaign Sorc's damage mitigation is 18%. My Rakata trooper's is 30-35%. Not to much no defensive cool downs whatsoever.

 

Overall a Sage will probably have the highest HPS in a raid, Although HPS can overrated as Healing is a reactive hole.

 

Scoundrel Pros:

By far the easiest resource management of the 3 healers. imo.

Nice HoTs and instant cast heals allowing for exceptional mobility

Can also put out very nice DPS if you heal in Melee and use Shiv and Backstab (forgot the Scoundrel mirrors sorry)

Vanish will save you repair bills

 

Scoundrel Cons:

Lack of Burst, which is dependent on having TA/UH

AoE heal is tricky to use

 

Overall Scoundrels are very solid healers with little cons. They probably won't have the HPS of a Sage but they're still good healers.

 

Commando Pros:

By far the best Burst Healing abilities of the 3 classes.

Very efficient heals, especially Single Target

Heavy armor and defensive shield allows you to be semi-tanky

 

Commando Cons:

Most difficult resource management (more fun imo!)

AoE heal is lacking

Lack of mobility

 

Overall I'm probably bias to a Commando healer as they by far the most fun for me to play. The burst healing capabilities are awesome for PVP and PVE. HPS is similar to a Scoundrel for PVE.

Edited July 20, 2012 by pureeffinmetal

[Chaqen]

I heal with a merc and op at 50 a bit, and have a sorc at about level 30 that heals FPs on a regular basis. The sorc is by far the easiest to level up with, and has the most tools of the trade at lower levels then the other two. But from what i have seen in my raids (usually healing on my OP, and with 2nd healer being a sorc), the OP is able to put out more burst heals where and when needed, then the sorc while being able to aoe heal moving targets (depending on strats you may have alot of movement in EC). Also an Op has no problems with resources if played right, while a sorc runs into alot of resource problems in the longer fights.

 

The merc is a great single target healer, with great burst, but falls in dead last when it comes to resource management, aoe healing, and mobility. They will probably be fixed at some later date, but who knows.

[Karasuko]

I really enjoy healing on my scoundrel healer.

The combination of being able to move freely and some nice bomb heals is too good to pass up.

 

Its a cross between a holy pally and a resto druid (if you played wow)

 

The only fight i've found tricky to heal is SOA without having a sage healer to pair with.

[Parasi]

All 3 are good, and have been dumbed down a little to make them more generic nowadays. A good ops group will take 2 different types of healers into an op and they complement each other well.

 

The sage gets the biggest numbers because of the big AE heal but that's not necessarily the amount healed because of overheal. The shield is very useful if used situationally and complements other healers very well. They are the weakest healer healing the tank but are still quite an asset to the group. They are best as raid-wide healers.

 

The combat medic is hands down the best tank healer. No one can keep a single target up through burst and over long term. They lack it a bit in group heals and are a bit more bursty than steady sometimes but are consummate single target healers. They can do just fine in a flashpoint still but they're best used watching over 1 or 2 targets.

 

The scoundrel has the fastest heals and is the best at keeping people from dying from unexpected damage. Their heals start very quick but take a short time to get someone up. This provides very quick, more steady healing which is easily responsive to any situation. They are good at spreading it around and giving everyone some healing though not in big bursts as much as the other two.

 

Any one of them is great and learning to work together with someone of one of the other healing classes can take a couple above average healers and make a great team.

 

In PvP it's a different story because the needs are different. Sages are the easiest to take out but have the greatest ability to fight back when part of a group - they can still dish the damage. Scoundrels and Combat Medics are a pain to kill but that means they have to be focused on keeping themselves alive. No matter what, you have to employ some creative thinking and good tactics to survive long as a healer in PvP. All of them work well. The scoundrel's stealth works wonders too. They can also take people 1 on 1 pretty well.