Bashing on merc heals

[AzlanWhite]

So yeah, I'm currently levelling a merc heals and having the time of my life with her. (Just reached 40) Been into dozens of FPs abd even once with three Sins without any wipes. I actually prefers my merc heals over my scoundrel's due to the fun it provides me, and I can't help but to feel proud over just how good merc heals are once you understood the rotation.

 

Until someone I know started talking bout how merc heals lose out to Ops and Sorcs in general. Things like merc heals wastes too much powerful heals and how "tank-only" heals a merc is. When I said things like how I assume mercs gonna make a great ops team with a Sorc due to our aoe increased heal plus sorcs powerful aoe heals, again I was wrote off saying ops makes a better partnership with sorcs rather than us mercs.

 

Got me thinking though, is my faith in merc heals misplaced? Are they really as bad as others feel?

[artikulieren]

Short answer. No.

 

Long answer.

I've never played a merc/comm at 55 so I might not know in detail what makes them special. But I have seen/met really good merc/comm healers. My guild runs 55 HM/NiM ops with a Merc and an Op healer and we do just fine, on top of that, one of them feels that Sorc heals are inferior if only because there isn't a "filler" heal by way of 'Rapid Shots' and 'Diagnostic Scan'. To that end, one could argue that Sorc healers have a higher skill cap, but that's a debate for another thread.

 

Also, some of my guildies(non-Mercs) wax lyrical about how Mercs can deliver the largest on-demand healing burst by way of 'Supercharged Gas', have Kolto Shell, and the residue from Kolto Missile. All of which you've already mentioned, all of which positively contribute to the raid.

 

In my opinion at least, one thing this game did right was have all 3 tanks and 3 healers bring their own unique variety to a raid. There doesn't appear to be a 'one-size-fits-all' composition. And capable, competent players will be able to make their chosen class shine regardless of the circumstances. So I'd say, don't worry about what that one person said, just play what you enjoy.

[Rambeezy]

Merc bodyguards are definitely viable in pve. They just usually take a good player to be a success. kolto missile spam yarg!

[Bmilwip]

Mercenary healers are very viable. In PVE i would place them actually more useful than operatives, but that is my personal preference. Those who bash merc healing in PVE lack knowledge of the class and what it can really bring to the table. I would recommend having a mercenary healer any day. The only limiting factor is that we are a bit more challenging to play and master.

 

It was a shame after the big hit in 1.2 many dropped mercenary healing and re rolled to either sorcerer or operative and the population of merc healers has never really recovered. Saddens me how few merc healers i see around these days. I hope Bioware is able to do something to revitalize the merc healer population. But don't buff us to the ridiculous extent of operatives!

Edited August 6, 2013 by Bmilwip

[SuspectDown]

So yeah, I'm currently levelling a merc heals and having the time of my life with her. (Just reached 40) Been into dozens of FPs abd even once with three Sins without any wipes. I actually prefers my merc heals over my scoundrel's due to the fun it provides me, and I can't help but to feel proud over just how good merc heals are once you understood the rotation.

 

Until someone I know started talking bout how merc heals lose out to Ops and Sorcs in general. Things like merc heals wastes too much powerful heals and how "tank-only" heals a merc is. When I said things like how I assume mercs gonna make a great ops team with a Sorc due to our aoe increased heal plus sorcs powerful aoe heals, again I was wrote off saying ops makes a better partnership with sorcs rather than us mercs.

 

Got me thinking though, is my faith in merc heals misplaced? Are they really as bad as others feel?

 

As someone who recently got to 55 as heal spec, I will say this: things seemed to be a cakewalk until 55 HM's. Granted, I am NOT geared well (only 2,250~ aim), but heat management becomes SO important it's not even funny. The class, at least for me, became increasingly challenging but it's just a way to hone strategy.

[PhatMcMuffins]

PVE, Merc heals are still perfect. I haven't hd any problems on my mando at 55 or leveling my merc.

 

PVP it takes more skill to keep up with ops and sorcs. You can do it (Hey I'm MVP runs Dumptrux, a merc healer, in ranked) but it takes real time and understanding of the class. Through lvling another healer merc (I have the mando, same thing) I've become a better healer at it and can consistantly be top heals in the 30-54 bracket. It can be done (which i originally did not believe) but it takes time. I still believe the heal spec needs some buff (make emergency scan have a lower CD or a higher heal to start)

[Suryi]

Do you happen to have a link of a video with <hey I'm MVP> running merc heal? I'm very curious to see what they do and how they make it work. Edited August 12, 2013 by Suryi

[banehammer]

In my opinion at least, one thing this game did right was have all 3 tanks and 3 healers bring their own unique variety to a raid. There doesn't appear to be a 'one-size-fits-all' composition. And capable, competent players will be able to make their chosen class shine regardless of the circumstances. So I'd say, don't worry about what that one person said, just play what you enjoy.

 

All truth.

Well said

[PhatMcMuffins]

Do you happen to have a link of a video with <hey I'm MVP> running merc heal? I'm very curious to see what they do and how they make it work.

 

Unfortunately, Dumptrux doesn't stream as far as i know. You can see some of their ranked games from DailyPVP on youtube or Gudarzz's stream (and a few others. they have a couple guys that stream the matches i think)

[BigDumbViking]

The big problem with Merc as a healer is the lack of mobility in PVP and the lack of push-back protection. We just have too many long (2s+) cast time skills and our bubble/escape mechanisms are weak in comparison to Ops/Sorc. at the higher levels.

 

In the same WZ an equally skilled, equally geared Op or Sorc will out-heal a merc by 10-20%. A big chuck of that is due to over-heals from the mercs bigger, slower casts... the rest is due to mobility and lockdown issues. It certainly doesn't make us useless though. We can be very disruptive, we can fill a health bar in 3-4 casts, Kolto puddle is a nice AOE slow as well as HOT to mess with enemy melee, and we are hard as snot to kill 1v1.

 

All that said, with some practice you can do really well in pug WZ's, and who knows... with any luck, at some point a developer might recognize the merc issues and buff us so we can be more viable at the higher level PVP.

[PerinnAybara]

The big problem with Merc as a healer is the lack of mobility in PVP and the lack of push-back protection. We just have too many long (2s+) cast time skills and our bubble/escape mechanisms are weak in comparison to Ops/Sorc. at the higher levels.

 

In the same WZ an equally skilled, equally geared Op or Sorc will out-heal a merc by 10-20%. A big chuck of that is due to over-heals from the mercs bigger, slower casts... the rest is due to mobility and lockdown issues. It certainly doesn't make us useless though. We can be very disruptive, we can fill a health bar in 3-4 casts, Kolto puddle is a nice AOE slow as well as HOT to mess with enemy melee, and we are hard as snot to kill 1v1.

 

All that said, with some practice you can do really well in pug WZ's, and who knows... with any luck, at some point a developer might recognize the merc issues and buff us so we can be more viable at the higher level PVP.

 

They're killing higher level pvp.

[BigDumbViking]

They're killing higher level pvp.

 

What do you think Ranked Arenas is going to be?

 

Only having 4 man arenas makes Merc heals less viable for high end PVP. At least with 8 man ranked, you had 2 healer spots, so a merc healer could fill in nicely as a second healer...

[KeyboardNinja]

What do you think Ranked Arenas is going to be?

 

Only having 4 man arenas makes Merc heals less viable for high end PVP. At least with 8 man ranked, you had 2 healer spots, so a merc healer could fill in nicely as a second healer...

 

I'm not sure I agree. Once you reduce the team size to 4, the primary disadvantages of merc healers in terms of raw balance begin to disappear. They're, at the very least, categorically superior to sorcs in such a setting. The incredibly strong burst single-target heals would be very valuable in a deathmatch setting, and the heavy armor does help quite a bit standing up to focus fire.

 

Now, whether they are *superior* to an operative in that same setting is an entirely different question. I tend to think "no", but it's really hard to say and I think it would depend a lot on your composition. I do think that mercs benefit more than the other healers though from the shift in focus to 4v4.

 

Coming back to the OP, merc healers are just fine in PvE. I run a commando healer in nightmare mode content and I love every minute of it. The single-target heals are so strong it's silly. Compared to my scoundrel, healing on my commando just feels really, really powerful. I don't feel like I have as much raid healing potential as my scoundrel, but I have a lot *more* single-target potential. Given how important tank healing is in PvE, this seems like a fairly viable niche. Running commando/sage or even commando/scoundrel is a really, really good combination, and one that I feel is absolutely viable.

[Powerrmongerr]

In PVP, pushback, utility, and escapability/defensive issues make merc healers noticeably subpar given equal skills amongst the players. You can be effective, but you aren't going to find a way around those inherent issues. The "god bubble" and roll, alone, create a very wide balance disparity. Overhealing is a difficult problem to chart, but given that I hear it all the time, I imagine that it's a real issue.

 

In PVE, merc healers seem like they at far less of a disadvantage for fights that don't generate a ton of raid wide damage. As a tank, I love that when RNG strikes, a merc healer can get me back up without breaking a sweat. However, once a bunch of widespread damage becomes an issue, heat management becomes a pain in the ***, you end up wasting energy on overhealing situations, and you lack the powerful group tools that sorcs in particular, and operatives to a lesser extent, have. I think a merc paired with a sorc is a great combination. Merc with an operative, also good. Merc with a merc? Hmm....for a lot of fights, I don't see that working unless the mercs are very skilled and willing to work very hard at tasks the other classes don't have issues with.

Edited August 14, 2013 by Powerrmongerr

[BigDumbViking]

I'm not sure I agree. Once you reduce the team size to 4, the primary disadvantages of merc healers in terms of raw balance begin to disappear. They're, at the very least, categorically superior to sorcs in such a setting. The incredibly strong burst single-target heals would be very valuable in a deathmatch setting, and the heavy armor does help quite a bit standing up to focus fire.

 

Now, whether they are *superior* to an operative in that same setting is an entirely different question. I tend to think "no", but it's really hard to say and I think it would depend a lot on your composition. I do think that mercs benefit more than the other healers though from the shift in focus to 4v4.

 

Coming back to the OP, merc healers are just fine in PvE. I run a commando healer in nightmare mode content and I love every minute of it. The single-target heals are so strong it's silly. Compared to my scoundrel, healing on my commando just feels really, really powerful. I don't feel like I have as much raid healing potential as my scoundrel, but I have a lot *more* single-target potential. Given how important tank healing is in PvE, this seems like a fairly viable niche. Running commando/sage or even commando/scoundrel is a really, really good combination, and one that I feel is absolutely viable.

 

The primary disadvantages of the merc are poor mobility and pushback/interrupt susceptibility. Neither of those things change in a 4 man. With the current "balance", operatives will be the only choice for heals in ranked arenas.

[BigDumbViking]

In PVP, pushback, utility, and escapability/defensive issues make merc healers noticeably subpar given equal skills amongst the players. You can be effective, but you aren't going to find a way around those inherent issues. The "god bubble" and roll, alone, create a very wide balance disparity. Overhealing is a difficult problem to chart, but given that I hear it all the time, I imagine that it's a real issue.

 

Exactly this. I will regularly land a RS crit that will be 50% or more overheal... At the end of the match I'm 20-30% behind the Sorc/OP healers at least. I'm ok with the overheal problem and not being on the top of the healing charts because I know how demoralizing it is to watch an almost dead player blast to full health... The mobility and push-back problems however, need attention.

[Rambeezy]

This thread has become our "Bodyguard post 2.4 prediction thread." Recreate if you feel like.

 

I'm curious about our future ability in 4s. I'm sure people will still burn up their heat like nubs in pvp when it comes out but I wonder who the best healing class will be when I pop supercharged gas and have vent heat off cd.

 

Unless the other team makes a blind chess move and queues all Dps we should do fine.

 

Also don't queue with bad Dps and we should be fine.

[AzlanWhite]

Thanks buds for the reply, really helps my confidence and motivation througout the levelling. I'm now at 54 and I have to agree that merc heals really feel powerful compared to my scoundrel. After reading some guides I seem to get very confident on playing merc at it's best, for example saving kolto shell until the tank is down about 80% hp, then coupling kolto shell plus healing scan to buff his armor while keeping him healed, also avoiding all the aggro I've been getting due to kolto shell pre-fights.

 

So yeah I already have a sniper, jugg tank and scoundrel heals. But my merc is my pride and joy now and she will be for a long time. (:

[BigDumbViking]

Thanks buds for the reply, really helps my confidence and motivation througout the levelling. I'm now at 54 and I have to agree that merc heals really feel powerful compared to my scoundrel. After reading some guides I seem to get very confident on playing merc at it's best, for example saving kolto shell until the tank is down about 80% hp, then coupling kolto shell plus healing scan to buff his armor while keeping him healed, also avoiding all the aggro I've been getting due to kolto shell pre-fights.

 

So yeah I already have a sniper, jugg tank and scoundrel heals. But my merc is my pride and joy now and she will be for a long time. (:

 

Awesome. Don't take any negative talk the wrong way... or at least from me. I love healing as a Merc. In WZ's I feel like I'm the hardest target for the other team to DPS down. There are absolutely setbacks though when you are playing against better players... At times I can feel completely helpless because a good player of almost any class can completely lock us out if they time their interrupts and stuns correctly. In PUG's it isn't very often... in Ranked it is most of the time.