BH healing

[happyscrub]

Ok, sale me on this because I had planned to make a BH healer and I'm HATING IT! I'm around lvl 35 and it's seems overly complicated for no reason compared to sorc healing.

 

So why go BH healing? Give me some pros

[Warlord_Zepnick]

Here are the two main pros that I can think of right off the bat:

 

1. High survivability derived from the ability to wear heavy armor

2. Area of Effect Healing provided by Kolto Missile

 

Also, what problems are you having? Is it that you are unaware of what your rotation should be, which skills you should putting points into, or the kind of gear you should be using?

[Blyndfayth]

Here are the two main pros that I can think of right off the bat:

 

1. High survivability derived from the ability to wear heavy armor

2. Area of Effect Healing provided by Kolto Missile

 

Also, what problems are you having? Is it that you are unaware of what your rotation should be, which skills you should putting points into, or the kind of gear you should be using?

 

The best and only reason to choose to be a Merc healer is this: For the challenge. We aren't easy-mode. We take actual skill to use effectively.

 

Gear may have something to do with the problems you're having, for yourself or your companion. If PvE is giving you so much trouble, take a look at the people you're running with. It's easy for people to blame the healer for everything when the real cause for the wipes is because other people aren't doing their jobs right.

[Bmilwip]

Mercenary healing excels at tank healing and acts as a good AOE healing support.

 

We have superior burst healing (useful for clutch situations)

We have good AOE capability, not the best but still good.

We are more challenging to master as our resource (heat or ammo) when used inefficiently is very punishing.

[Darkyurine]

I too have found that healing is very difficult for BH. I've given up on FP, especially the foundry, because of the difficulty of healing. It seems I can not spam healing abilities fast enough for the lower lvl players. Doing so causes me to overheat, then a wipe is surely in the future. What ticks me off is that it was relatively easy at first. Then I started The Foundry and the poop hit the fan during the HK battle. I really think Bioware should of progressed the BH healing aspect a lot better. Knowing rotations was not even needed before that FP, then all the sudden it is dropped in your lap. Needless to say I became very unhappy by playing bounty hunter. I am just finishing the storyline and abandoning my aspirations of becoming a viable healer.

I will say that soloing is fun. It is a challenge and I do die quite often. I can solo the game without some A-hole yelling at me that I suck.

[Plotwist]

Checklist for Merc Healing

 

A) If you are full heal spec you should have 0 problems with any non Hardmode FP. Are you full heal spec?

 

B) Gear is important for both tanking and healing. Are your armor and/or mods up to date?

 

C) Kolto Missle is GODLY if used correctly and you've taken all the supporting talents. Are you using Kolto Missle constantly AND effectively?

 

D) Supercharged Gas is GODLY when used correctly. Are you building up Combat Support Cylinder charges while just standing there/between fights? If so are you burning them at all times?

 

E) Critical Efficiency is a god send. Are you casting Healing scan prior to Rapid Scan? The difference in heat buildup is astronomical over long fights.

 

F) You are strictly a healer by the 30's, sorry that's just the way the cookie crumbles. Are you half-assed trying to DPS?

 

G) With most healing classes most MMO's it is important to realize that keeping people topped off with "cheap" heals is generally more effective than trying to "OH ****" heal. Keeping your group above 50%/75% is highly recommended. Are you standing around twiddling your thumbs?

 

H) YOU ARE STRICTLY A HEALER BY THE 30's. Cannot stress that enough. If you don't like healing and want to DPS, DPS.

 

If none of this helped you see point I

 

I) You sure the problem isn't your Tank and DPS? Seriously, a ****** group is a ****** group and no level of gear/experience/anything is going to save it. If your tank tanks like he has one hand on his junk the whole FP, you will most likely wipe. If your DPS pulls extra groups, you will most likely wipe. If your tank is not tank specced, you will most likely wipe. If the tank is not geared to tank, you will most likely wipe. If the group never tops themselves off with their CLASS GIVEN REGENERATING ABILITY between pulls and goes into every fight at 50%, you most likely will wipe. etc, etc, etc...

 

I personally dread getting into a group and seeing the tank/dps named things like Darth Stonecoldkiller or Pwntloldead. Generally the makings of a failed group.

[DarthToastage]

Pretty much what the poster above said.

 

1.) You need to have your CS cylinder up to 30 charges before walking into a boss fight. When the damage to your team starts to get a little out of hand, or when you expect that it will, use your supercharge - The damage shield that KM applies while supercharge is active really helps in clutch situations, not to mention the fact that healing scan has no cooldown while supercharged, so you can spam it.

 

2.) Clutch healing situations rarely last a long time unless you are teamed with total idiots, so you need to make strategic use of your vent heat ability. In a roughhealing situation, fire off your supercharge, spam the crap out of KM, RS and HS until you hit around 75-80 heat, then vent and resume healing if necessary.

 

3.) Triage adrenals and relics - I know a lot of people think you can get by without using these while leveling, and maybe you can. But I have found that firing these off in a tight situation has made the difference between a wipe and a successful but very close boss fight (especially in a team of players who are either undergeared or just plain bad). Get them and use them.

 

4.) Maximize your passive healing - As BH we get a fair amount of passive healing with the HoT applied by missile/scan/kolto shell so make sure you are making good use of it. This means you need to be aiming your kolto missile so that it hits everyone in the group as much as possible. In tough healing situations, use healing scan on anyone taking damage for the HoT/armor bonus and don't be afraid to swap shell to a dps who is taking damage so that you can focus your active healing on the tank.

 

5.) Defensive cooldowns. Leveling up, you are going to run FPS with more bad tanks than good ones and you are going to draw a lot of aggro just by virtue of doing your job of healing. Kolto overload and energy shield are going to save your *** in conjunction with your medpac so don't be afraid to use them.

[malispar]

Never stop using Kolto Missile, pretty much keep it on CD. The dmg reduction and the HoT it leaves behind is ridiculous. Plus is is very efficient heal to heat ratio. Keep Kolto Shell on the tank!

 

Eventually you get Jet Charge aoe heals too, which people seem to miss. Also keep in mind Healing Scan has no cooldown during supercharged gas, giving you some hyper efficient spammable heals.

 

It's not as brain-dead as a sorc healer, but we really have some strong situational moves. The trick is to know when you're in the right situation to do it. Once you practice more you'll see how powerful they are.