DJs Mercenary Healing Guide For Dummies

[djinnerman]

Hybrid is probably THE way to go if you solo quest and want to heal in Flashpoints. The problem is, you don't spend points in the Bodyguard tree until level ~28. How good is our healing at level 30? Did you solo heal with the hybrid spec?

 

I sometimes confuse myself with the differences between Heroic 4 and Flashpoints. I kept thinking in the back of my mind that Heroic 4s were supposed to be easier than Flashpoints when in reality, the H4s were actually much harder. Healing Flashpoints aren't too bad at all, even in Warzones healing is very interesting. But once I step foot into Heroic 4, my gauntlets are thrown to the floor ready for some keybind action.

 

My first hybrid healing experience was in Alderaan for Insufficient Staff (Heroic 4). Indeed at first I wanted to rip my hair out, but the cc capabilities and maneuvers were vital when it came to healing in the forsaken place.

 

However, if I was full spec healer, my chances of successfully healing the encounter would have been that much different.

 

I believe the basis comes down to proper group mechanics, teamwork, and communication. Without any of those three, no healer would enjoy his/her role at all.

 

Howbeit, the biggest thing is managing the tank and dps positions. Focusing on one target at a time (situational) and minimizing the output of enemy damage can make all the difference in the world.

 

I was just recently playing a Sith Inqu with two other Sith players. In a Heroic 2 (I think it was) we mutually worked together without saying much at all. The three of us were kept alive the majority of the time, but we seemed to understand the basics of working as a team and assessing the situation and her surroundings. CCs were being placed out without much wording (except for a few occasions) but other than that it was a straight shot.

 

I think some people overthink boundaries and tend to overanalyze situations when all it took was a simple do this and that.

 

These little tiny things are something I wish players of all shapes and sizes can grasp as a concept to understand the formality of things in a wide scale region of this aspect.

Edited December 31, 2011 by djinnerman

[djinnerman]

**bump**

[Sinaka]

Thanks for the guide, I feel so much better about my choice in healer.

[Lightmgl]

Really liked the guide. I enjoy healing on my Merc and I feel that we have the best raw throughput which is great in particular for tank healing and a little rougher than a Sorc or an Op on group healing, but the Supercharged Gas goes a long way to taking care of that because of the cheap and spammable heals we can do during that 10 seconds.

 

I don't know if you've done any Hard mode dungeons or Hard/Nightmare Ops, but you might wanna be wary about telling people to never DPS as a Merc Healer. There are some tight enrage timers in there and there are definitely times where healing is stable where it can be worth DPSing.

 

We do have the advantage that we can keep building CSC charges while DPSing with rapid shots only, if there is not spike happening I often find myself Supercharge Gassing the group and tank to full and then rapid shotting the boss mixing in Kolto Missiles until Supercharged Gas is up again and then using that to retop the group. This method of healing also works nicely as you build up the heat during Supercharged Gas and dissipate quite a bit of it while you are using your rapid shots and/or Kolto Missiles.

 

If the damage is spiky it is definitely not worth it though, it is your job as a healer to judge that. Theres definitely a couple of fights where my rapid shot spam is reserved for the tank while I let my heat drop.

 

It helps alot if you can get your DPS to clump up loosely in an area about the size of Kolto too. Many bosses do splash effects but rarely are they large enough that you still can't all stand inside the missile radius.

Edited January 1, 2012 by Lightmgl

[djinnerman]

Thanks for the guide, I feel so much better about my choice in healer.

 

I'm really glad you liked it! Healing is fun

 

Good Info

 

Nice bit of info there and some great pointers!

 

I haven't sadly hit end game portions just yet and I am considering on reiterating some areas of the content to accommodate it for just causes of basic information. The idea of "For Dummies" is to target a wide range of healing functionalities to better suit the foundation of healing principles concerning the Bodyguard tree. As such, DPS roles should at least maximize their structure in rotation in order to achieve the highest mark in damage count in order to beat the rage timer.

 

In a pressing matter, the ONLY time that I truly saw fit for a healer to dps was during a WoW encounter in the Earth, Wind, and Fire achievement where you had to down three bosses within 60 seconds of each other. This is when the Druid (in this case) was casting the simple Wrath spell to add some dps to the encounter.

 

Granted there were downtimes because the healer was a group healer instead of tank therefore had some extra time.

 

There's a fine line to it all and indeed you gain extra charges from damaging enemies. It's always a situational standpoint and each encounter is always different.

 

As I mentioned early in the guide, it was said to do almost no damage. Maybe I might have to change some wording around since it's definitely a play on words.

 

Thanks for your input. It was truly noted.

Edited January 1, 2012 by djinnerman

[Lightmgl]

I'm really glad you liked it! Healing is fun

 

 

 

Nice bit of info there and some great pointers!

 

I haven't sadly hit end game portions just yet and I am considering on reiterating some areas of the content to accommodate it for just causes of basic information. The idea of "For Dummies" is to target a wide range of healing functionalities to better suit the foundation of healing principles concerning the Bodyguard tree. As such, DPS roles should at least maximize their structure in rotation in order to achieve the highest mark in damage count in order to beat the rage timer.

 

In a pressing matter, the ONLY time that I truly saw fit for a healer to dps was during a WoW encounter in the Earth, Wind, and Fire achievement where you had to down three bosses within 60 seconds of each other. This is when the Druid (in this case) was casting the simple Wrath spell to add some dps to the encounter.

 

Granted there were downtimes because the healer was a group healer instead of tank therefore had some extra time.

 

There's a fine line to it all and indeed you gain extra charges from damaging enemies. It's always a situational standpoint and each encounter is always different.

 

As I mentioned early in the guide, it was said to do almost no damage. Maybe I might have to change some wording around since it's definitely a play on words.

 

Thanks for your input. It was truly noted.

 

Yeah I'm not sure if its because some of the bosses need tuning tweaks or if they just intend to make really difficult DPS requirements but early on before my regular group started gearing up the Tier 2 (Columni) gear we were cutting some of those enrage timers within a second or two of wiping so every little bit of DPS really mattered. I was alternating with a sorc healer taking turns to keep respec costs down and we were both pouring DPS into some of those bosses like Bulwark and the Boarding Party.

 

I've heard the same holds true for Nightmare Ops and alot of healers are trying to sneak in attacks during phases where the damage isn't as bad.

 

Its kind of funny though, the trash typically puts out more damage than the bosses. It goes down really fast or can be CCed but damn does it hurt.

Edited January 1, 2012 by Lightmgl

[Myli-EU]

Nice guide DJ,

 

I have also played healers for a long time (WoW and RIFT) and was considering putting together a guide similar to yours, doesnt seem needed now read it from start to finish and I think a lot of people new to the healing scene will find themselves with a much better idea of role and much more scope. I 100% agree with you about healers focussing heals, especially if they are new. They are responsible for maintaining a team not delivering killing blows. PvP of course is different but hey Im sure there are a handful of PvP bodyguards in the process of specific guides.

 

 

Bodyguards are the utility healers (think resto shaman/druid), we have the ability to both tank heal and raid heal well, on the flip side we lack the ability to perform well if there is a large amount of residual damage or if we are taing a large persistant amount of single target damage (we dont like healing ourselves do we?). A bounty hunter (from a raid perspective) needs ideally the back up of an Inquisitor who has access to a huge amount of single target heals, we are there to cover up gaps and quickly save lives.

 

I am levelling as a full bodyguard, healers have always been my mains and I will stay true to that no matter how long or how hard some missions can be. Levelling as a resto shaman was a pain in the ***, but hey, i tend to find myself finding ingenious little ways to survive and push the character to the edge, its all useful experience when there are greater goals.

 

As regards to specific skills, I have found Bodyguards (like I said before) very very similar to resto shamans in WoW, proccing quicker, better heals from smaller heals, it all fits together very nicely whilst having Rapid Shots as your HoT which again is building up other heals.

 

I look forward to seeing how you get on with the guide from a raid perspective, should be good fun.

 

Much Love

 

Ryka <Envy>

- Hydian Way.

 

P.S. Once you get to raiding level, I think putting a ''Desired Healing Setup'' part in the guide would be useful not only for us, but Raid and Guild Leaders who are building heaing teams around individuals. Inquitors seem the sensible way to go for 8 mans as between them they cover everything. BH/Agent isnt such a great set up as they are both going through the same processes.

Edited January 1, 2012 by Myli-EU

[djinnerman]

Yeah I'm not sure if its because some of the bosses need tuning tweaks or if they just intend to make really difficult DPS requirements but early on before my regular group started gearing up the Tier 2 (Columni) gear we were cutting some of those enrage timers within a second or two of wiping so every little bit of DPS really mattered. I was alternating with a sorc healer taking turns to keep respec costs down and we were both pouring DPS into some of those bosses like Bulwark and the Boarding Party.

 

I've heard the same holds true for Nightmare Ops and alot of healers are trying to sneak in attacks during phases where the damage isn't as bad.

 

Its kind of funny though, the trash typically puts out more damage than the bosses. It goes down really fast or can be CCed but damn does it hurt.

 

It's strange how some weak and Strong (if not the elies, I haven't raided just yet, so not sure if there are some champs mixed in there as well) pack quite a punch. Alderaan was a perfect example where it needed a major overhaul. Everywhere else, I was able to survive for longer than 5 seconds compared to Alderaan's single Strong and single weak taking me down too quickly. Since it is the early release of the game, one can hope major adjustment will be entitled to become in effect within the the next 30 days.

 

Fingers crossed!

 

Also loving your input.

 

Nice guide DJ,

 

I have also played healers for a long time (WoW and RIFT) and was considering putting together a guide similar to yours, doesnt seem needed now read it from start to finish and I think a lot of people new to the healing scene will find themselves with a much better idea of role and much more scope. I 100% agree with you about healers focussing heals, especially if they are new. They are responsible for maintaining a team not delivering killing blows. PvP of course is different but hey Im sure there are a handful of PvP bodyguards in the process of specific guides.

 

 

Bodyguards are the utility healers (think resto shaman/druid), we have the ability to both tank heal and raid heal well, on the flip side we lack the ability to perform well if there is a large amount of residual damage or if we are taing a large persistant amount of single target damage (we dont like healing ourselves do we?). A bounty hunter (from a raid perspective) needs ideally the back up of an Inquisitor who has access to a huge amount of single target heals, we are there to cover up gaps and quickly save lives.

 

I am levelling as a full bodyguard, healers have always been my mains and I will stay true to that no matter how long or how hard some missions can be. Levelling as a resto shaman was a pain in the ***, but hey, i tend to find myself finding ingenious little ways to survive and push the character to the edge, its all useful experience when there are greater goals.

 

As regards to specific skills, I have found Bodyguards (like I said before) very very similar to resto shamans in WoW, proccing quicker, better heals from smaller heals, it all fits together very nicely whilst having Rapid Shots as your HoT which again is building up other heals.

 

I look forward to seeing how you get on with the guide from a raid perspective, should be good fun.

 

Much Love

 

Ryka <Envy>

- Hydian Way.

 

P.S. Once you get to raiding level, I think putting a ''Desired Healing Setup'' part in the guide would be useful not only for us, but Raid and Guild Leaders who are building heaing teams around individuals. Inquitors seem the sensible way to go for 8 mans as between them they cover everything. BH/Agent isnt such a great set up as they are both going through the same processes.

 

Thank you!

 

I myself was a 100% resto shaman (well end game content) and never turned back after that (even pvp). I think this healing mechanics are almost (if not) similar to the Resto Shaman play and that was possibly one of the biggest increases in my respect for Mercenary healing.

 

I am always open for discussion and if I do plan on getting healing put together sometime for raiding content. However, if you want, I invite you to putting together the raid guide and getting it stickied. I also have no problem in giving credit. I am not (like I say) a know all do all. I love learning and discussing topics and get a brighter spill of the criteria.

 

I wasn't planning on monopolizing this section with the healing perspective lol Just had a dream for getting an accomplish done.

 

I am also working on an Iqu healing class to see the other side of things as well as planning on working on another healing class once I finish the two. I think enriching yourself with ALL healing knowledge from all classes as much as possible will help an undoubtedly a lot.

 

Thank you for the kind words!

Edited January 1, 2012 by djinnerman

[Efioanaes]

Im keeping a close eye on this thread, lots of great input so far.

Im playing a merc,sorcerer and ooperative all heal spec all in the mid to late 20s.

People help me lol but i cannot for the life of me pick a main, i love all 3 classes for healing especially the merc and operative, two very unique mechanics that are both highly enjoyable.

Ive read quite a few quides but one thing ive missed out on educating myself that being which is the better raid or aoe healer endgame? pve mainly, pvp to me is not so important.

Great guide and input ,thanks folks.

[dotwari]

tagged!

[TempestasSilva]

Just an update from my side...I am now finally able to play again and at level 28 and just got

 

Galt ok probably not much of a spoiler, but just in case

 

 

I am still spec'ed full heals. and with the new companion as DPS and me healing him and DPSing too, I have taken down a couple of elites and had much less troubles other groups. I do regularly have to use our out of combat regen ability now since Mako does not automatically heal us both.

 

Alderaan is next...have to see how it goes.

[Soulflames]

I think the guide has some good points, but also some bad points.

 

For one, leveling as a healer, when your first companion is a healer/dps as well, is going to be slow. Even more, the first few talents in the dps (arsenal) tree are also very good for healing.

I recommend putting 7 points in arsenal before going healing at all. I've done it that way and never had any issues in Flashpoints and breeze through solo content.

The 7 talents you want are Ironsights (3), Mandalorian Iron Warheads (2), upgraded arsenal (1) and Muzzle Fluting (1).

The last one may seem like an odd choice, but when not going deeper into the arsenal tree, after unload, power shot will be your single target dps of choice. Even more, when you activate your support combat cilinder and you have this talent, your power shot will be... free. That's right, no heat at all. Meaning you can spam it.

What you want to do sometime is spam power shot and other dps abilities until you have 40 heat, then pop cilinder and keep spamming power shot. You should be at zero heat when the cilinder has worn off.

For soloing this is really good. You can get some good dps in while you have only 7 points in the dps tree, the rest of your points naturally go into Bodyguard.

And to prove how strong healing is, I still do heroic 4 mans with my Juggernaut friend and 2 companion pets, at the level it's intended. It takes forever (dps is low) but I am able to sustain him well enough. And soloing 2 man heroics is also possible if you know what to do.

 

I've healed all flashpoints so far (up until and including Colocoid War Games), and there is always time to get in some dps. That's also something I disagree with the original poster. The healing from rapid shots is only as high as your *bonus* tech damage. Not your total damage. The healing rapid shots provides is really small. You are usually far better off shooting at an enemy, trying to kill it; 'pre-emptive healing' .

Also watch out not to spam it too much, you are still triggering your global cooldown.

 

I also think the talent point in heat damping is a waste. I rarely if ever use jet boost. It's something you definitely don't want to use often in Flashpoints as the tank will get irritated if he has to keep walking to get to a target you pushed away. Concussion missile is usually at the start of the fight and the heat is vanished when you start your first heal or attack. Using a talent point just for electro dart heat, not worth it.

 

I think the endgame (not leveling!) spec should be;

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#300rfRMRzcdkqZRcoZb.1

And you can debate removing a point out of Surgical Precision System into Integrated systems or not.

 

BH healing is all about rythm and it boils down to using the right tool at the right time;

* Do you use cilinder now or do you wait for later?

* Should I build up stacks of cilinder? And should I use rapid scan (which heals more but also costs heat) or normal shots?

* Is there time for me to dps right now?

etc...

Edited January 2, 2012 by Soulflames

[djinnerman]

Nice pointers there SoulFlame!

 

When I originally wrote this guide, I was sadly only level 21 at the time. During that time I only experienced a few flashpoints but my collective experience in healing allowed me to write this guide.

 

This guide is subject to change in the upcoming days because Flashpoint healing is starting to change as I do different ones as I level. My main focus in the healing spec was to increase chances of survival while working in Flashpoints and leveling (which I haven't noted anything about leveling it seems) because you will be getting a lot of aggro and will be taking hits, so I focus on the healing aspect until things change otherwise. I am debating in the end game part to remove Powered Insulators because I technically should not be getting hit at all if the tank is doing their job correctly. Chaff Flares haven't been working as I intend it to work so I resort to line of sighting temporarily until (hopefully) something happens. If need be, then I fire up Jet boost and/or Electro Shock and run towards the tank. Since some mobs are ranged this becomes problematic at best.

 

I have as I level went with a hybrid spec (including Muzzle Fluting) since I'm trying to level quickly (and enjoy the storyline at the same time) without too much problem. As such, I always use SCG and fire down Power Shots until my heat has dissipated back to level 4 CD (hopefully at least and it should because of the -16 and the free shots). But that is when I'm leveling myself. When SCG is up and I have nothing to do, then possibly, I'll consider utilizing it a little.

 

Also, that extra point in Power Shield I think should go in Integrated Systems (depending on how things go granted you shouldn't be getting much aggro at all, hopefully). I do however use Energy Shield to place the Kolto Missile buff on the tank and friends once I activate SCG (for certain fights that are iffy). In such reaction, the Heat Dampening I can agree with. However, I try to utilize CCing without much heat input because there are definitely times that I get aggro where I go. Raid wise, I sure hope aggro stays off me, then I would allocate that back into Power Shield for good measures.

 

I'm too much of a stickler in staying specialized in healing and not damaging, but otherwise, sometimes I might have to change my playstyle a bit in order to better achieve our goal quicker. Either way, there is always damage somewhere on our friends and healing them as much as I can without cost helps me in the long run.

 

Thanks for your input.

 

 

TempestasSilva

 

Let me know how Alderaan goes. That place was....I'm glad it got destroyed.

Edited January 2, 2012 by djinnerman

[Flums]

Which stats should i be shooting for as a bodyguard? all my tier gear has alac on it but i heard that was a bad stat.

[djinnerman]

Which stats should i be shooting for as a bodyguard? all my tier gear has alac on it but i heard that was a bad stat.

 

As for now, Crit and Surge. Alacrity increases your downtime to do other things. The faster you pop off your heals the sooner you can dissipate your heat. Also, With Critical Reaction, you boosts in Crit will allow you to achieve almost a 100% upkeep in Alacrity.

 

Also with Crit, when you crit, you are placing in more heals than you normally will heal for, this will help alleviate having to cast another and saving some heat.

 

If you have time, find something to do with Rapid Shots afterwards.

[Gothicsno]

Subbed, Great info for all of the newbies myself included.

[Efioanaes]

Guys how do i subscribe to this thread?

I have it bookmarked but is there any other means?

 

nevermind, just found it

Edited January 2, 2012 by Efioanaes

[Flums]

As for now, Crit and Surge. Alacrity increases your downtime to do other things. The faster you pop off your heals the sooner you can dissipate your heat. Also, With Critical Reaction, you boosts in Crit will allow you to achieve almost a 100% upkeep in Alacrity.

 

Also with Crit, when you crit, you are placing in more heals than you normally will heal for, this will help alleviate having to cast another and saving some heat.

 

If you have time, find something to do with Rapid Shots afterwards.

 

Thank you mighty DJ, your guide will greatly help my valiant efforts on the fields of justice.

[djinnerman]

Thank you mighty DJ, your guide will greatly help my valiant efforts on the fields of justice.

 

Sorry, I meant Power, not Surge!!!

[Liquidhal]

Guys how do i subscribe to this thread?

I have it bookmarked but is there any other means?

 

nevermind, just found it

 

I gather part of subscribing to it involves cluttering it with useless posts about how you subscribed to it.

[TempestasSilva]

Let me know how Alderaan goes. That place was....I'm glad it got destroyed.

 

Still have not found that much time to play, but I started Alderaan at level 28, so I wasn't over leveled. I am up to 30 now, just finished the Museum quest. So far, our 3rd companion is AWESOME. Killing groups faster than ever excepts groups of weak which used to be one-shots (DFA) but now take a few seconds of cleanup. Still speced full Heals. On tough fights, I openup with as much burst as possible and then heal myself, dpsing occasionally until my companion pulls agro then I DPS for a bit, then heal my companion till the thing dies.

 

One thin I have noticed is people are not using Concussive Missile. Anytime you have 2 silvers or 1 silver and several others, use this to take the tough one out, clean up the rest, then drop this one solo.

 

Still having no problem with Elites.

 

I did die twice on Alderaan so far, but one was a patrolling silver that came in from behind and another was me not recharging between fights.

[Efioanaes]

I gather part of subscribing to it involves cluttering it with useless posts about how you subscribed to it.

 

 

Dont be such a dick.

[djinnerman]

Alderaan experience.

 

I'm glad you had a better experience than I did lol. Alderaan caused a lot of problems for me. For that reason, that was why I respecced in that hybrid spec. It helped quite a lot after that and really started enjoying the Tracer Missiles.

 

By the time I reached The Foundry FP, I had to change my spec. The (spoiler) boss, 2nd before the last was THE hardest I've experience so far. Not sure how HM will go. But speccing back into full Bodyguard, I didn't have much problems. Recently, another player and I decided to two man the place with companions. Sure enough, the only time we wiped once was (spoiler). I was quite amazed how well we did. (His companion outgeared most average players).

 

I'm leaving the spoilers for you. You will really enjoy them.

[Riftmaster]

I PvP (mostly in warzones atm), and I actually have my rapid shots in slot 3.

 

 

This is because I'm using W and R for Left Strafe and Right Strafe, which then places the 3 key directly (or nearly so) under my middle finger....hmm, hadn't thought about that before...

 

Anyways, I run forward using the left and right mouse buttons, and turn using the mouse...

 

Currently, I have Kolto Shell bound to E, Kolto missile bound to C, Rapid Scan bound to G, and Healing Scan bound to H (or perhaps the other way around, forget exactly).

 

Currently my SCG is bound to Q.

 

Vent heat is bound to X.

 

Jet Boost is bound to T

 

Electo dart is on 6.

 

Most of my skills are bound to the number and letter keys that cluster around the W and R keys, which allows me to move while rapidly accessing various skills.

 

 

 

I think I need to move some stuff around, but so far it allows me to rapidly shift between DPS and healing in warzones (especially helpful in Huttball).

 

From time to time I get 70-80k dmg and the same amount of healing, in a warzone. So It's not too bad...

 

I've been planning to use this spec (come 50): http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#300bfRRRdcdkqZMcoZb.1

 

But as I'm only lvl 33 atm, I'm only this far up that path: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#300bfRMRdcbz.1

Edited January 4, 2012 by Riftmaster

[Jilla]

Thank you for the wonderful guide! I wish I read it last night before I did my first real group healing (I am level 23 and healed 4-heroics and other group content last night on Balmorra). While I have a love for healing and a bit of a "sixth sense" about it, I am terrible at theory crafting. So guides like this are really valuable to me.

 

I am leveling my BH as a healer (not bothering with the DPS tree--other than a few in the middle tree that improve healing and armor). I played an end-game raid healer (cloth healer) in another game for four years and loved it... I am loving my heavy armor healer even more! I even love healing PuGs--sometimes they are a challenge and it pushes me (and I come out a better healer that way).

 

As for my first "real" group healing attempts last night, I did okay and no one died, but I felt I could have done better. I really think this guide will help me. First thing I am going to do is change my keybinds since I didn't realize how rapid shots worked (I knew "how" to use it, just not what it was capable of doing). That will be my #3 key though--for some reason, the way I hold my hands on the keyboard, that's an easier key for me to spam.

 

Any tips for soloing as a healer? I am doing okay (I rely a lot on death from above--lol). But sometimes it's a bit of a challenge since my DPS is getting noticeably slower. If it ends up being slow DPS, so be it. Like I said, in my last game I leveled a healer as a healer (no DPS options), so it's nothing new to me. But if there is some way to improve things, I am all for it.

 

Also, what companion is best for a Bodyguard? I can't wait to ditch Mako (she's redundant), but I've gotten various opinions on the best replacement. I am thinking Blizz would work well.

Edited January 4, 2012 by Jilla