Will I be expected to heal?

[ScoldedVi]

I want to try a Merc but am worried that I'll be expected to heal the party when grouping. I want to be pure DPS, do DPS mercs have problems getting in groups?

[warultima]

I want to try a Merc but am worried that I'll be expected to heal the party when grouping. I want to be pure DPS, do DPS mercs have problems getting in groups?

 

Pure DPS mercs are one of the best DPS in game in PvE. Only operatives are usually expected to be a healer in PvE and PvP.

[Demonsong]

As a DPS PVE Merc you can do very well and unless you are speced for healing, you will not be expected to heal.

 

Just stay the hell out of PVP or you will be meat for the sharks. Worst PVP class in the game.

[ScoldedVi]

Thanks guys.

[Voranis]

I always try to off-heal a little bit in flashpoints but I got told by a healer once that I should stick to doing DPS. Which makes sense, because I can do some mediocre healing with long casting times or keep doing major damage.

 

Yeah it depends on the situation.

I'll only pop my self heal now and then unless I get that "we're in trouble" feeling.

If the healers being beat on and the tank's slow to react I can usually pop a heal or two on the healer and peel the mobs off him, then chaff/flare when the tank gets around to taunting and hand the mobs over. If the tank's taking some abnormal spikes and it looks like a close call, I'll throw a quicky in there.

For the most part if you're spec'd and geared as DPS then your biggest impact on the encounter is DPS. Just keep in mind that a small heal in the right spot is better than a rez.

 

Also agro. Heals are great for generating agro. In this game as a DPS even though wearing heavy armor, you're not even an off-tank. However, I'd rather wayward mobs be beating on me instead of the healer. Maybe that's just to many years of playing a paladin off-tank in EQ .. with taunts + heals I could pull agro off anyone. Always one eye on the healer.

Just keep in mind that your heals can be effective taunts, should the situation call for it.

 

And then there are some healers who'll get the impression that you throwing a heal means you think they're doing a bad job. The proper way to handle this situation is to throw heals on them at random, whether they need it or not.

(Our guild's main tank would complain all the time that hybrid classes were OP because we could heal, so naturally any time we 'hybrids' were in his presence we'd constantly throw heals on him)

 

As others have said. PvE-awesome. PvP-just plain hurts being a DPS merc.

Not gonna say "don't do it" just understand that it's going to be tough to be competative.

Edited October 6, 2012 by Voranis

[Gyronamics]

I want to try a Merc but am worried that I'll be expected to heal the party when grouping. I want to be pure DPS, do DPS mercs have problems getting in groups?

 

Learn to heal anyway.

 

Aside from anything else you get one free respec a week and respec costs are pretty low for quite a few after that anyway.

 

Then if you want to get dailys and weeklys done you can also run as a healer which widens your net when it comes to getting a group.

 

Not to mention being able to fill in when your operation is screwed for the week because a regular healer is off sick or something.

 

I'm a dps 95% of the time but I can heal through any HM operation as a raid healer despite being in DPS gear all the time.

 

It's fairly simple really, same kind of demands as a DPS, ammo control, keeping up healing per second rather than dps and knowing how to use your AOEs. Kolto Shell goes on yourself 99% of the time, it won't save anyone from burst damage, it's just a damage damper for low level damage.

 

Main difference is you want big operation icons for your team and you want them in the middle of your screen.

 

Of course you're being relied on just as a tank is relied on, dps is relied on a lot less and it's easier to get away with being sloppy. Practice with friends in fps if you've never tried it out.

 

I always try to off-heal a little bit in flashpoints but I got told by a healer once that I should stick to doing DPS. Which makes sense, because I can do some mediocre healing with long casting times or keep doing major damage.

 

Healing in a fight when not urgent is never your job.

 

If one player gets extremely low, still not your job unless instructed by the healer to help, a healer should be just fine focusing on one low player.

 

However if for example the tank and another player is extremely low and both are at risk of dying immediately you should stop your damage and heal one of those players, preferably the tank. The healer can take control again when they don't have two players splitting their expensive heals.

 

With multiple healers on the field it should be extremely rare for you to be involved but in raids it can happen, especially if tanks/healers die but there's still the chance to win if someone is kept alive.

Edited October 7, 2012 by Gyronamics