PvE Mercenary / Commando Healing Guide - 2.3

NeNiMel · August 12, 2013

Hi All

I have made a healing guide to Mercenaries in the merc forum and thought it would be a good idea to post it in here too The guide is writen for mercenaries but since commando healing is the same as the mercenary it will be useful for commandoes too (There is translations in the buttom)

The Guide

Table of content

Introduction
Talents
Rotation
- The abilities
- Single target healing
- Multi target healing
- Hints and common mistakes
Stats, Gear and Consumables
- Stats
- Gear
- Consumables
User interface
Conclusion
Appendix
- Commando / Mercenary Translations

I. Introduction

For a long time I have been missing a detailed guide for mercenary healers, so I decided to write one myself. I am by no means the best mercenary healer there is, but I do have a decent amount of experience about what to do and not to do.

This guide builds on my own knowledge about mercenary healing, which I have combined with inputs from various discussions and guides from other forums.

I would like to hear your feedback, especially if there are any additions or something you disagree with in the guide. The feedback is useful, so I can keep the guide up to date

I will in the guide refer to allies that are being healed as "targets", just to avoid any confusion.

II. Talents:

The talent tree I personally prefer:

Mercenary (36/8/2)

Alternative:

Mercenary (37/8/1)

I don't like this spec, but some people do, because of the little extra AoE healing.

III. Rotation:

Mercenary healing is all about heat-management, so it is very important to have the proper rotation. Unfortunately the rotation mainly depends on the fight, so it is hard to say what rotation is the best but I will try to give an overview here of the basics of the merc. healing rotation.

The Mercenary healer uses the Combat Support Cylinder.

The abilities

Main healing abilities:

Supercharged Gas - Used for two purposes: 1. To enter burst rotation, when a lot of healing is needed. 2. To vent heat, when little healing is needed and heat-level is high.
Rapid Shot - Used as filler to heal for a small amount and build stacks of Combat Support Cylinder.
Rapid Scan - The highest single-hit heal in the rotation.
Healing Scan - Used to heal and apply buffs. Buffs increases armour rating by 10% (talented) and places a HoT on the target (talented). It also reduces heat-cost of next Rapid Scan (talented).
Emergency Scan - Used as a burst heal, due to no cast time.
Kolto Shell - Used as buff/HoT on the tank
Kolto Missile - Used for AoE healing and buffs. Buffs increase the healing received by 3% (talented), and reduces damage taken by 5% on the target (talented and active Supercharged Gas).

Other healing abilities:
Cure - Used to cleanse debuffs.
Vent Heat - Used to vent heat, when heat-level reaches roughly 60.
Termal Sensor Override - Used to vent heat, when heat-level reaches roughly 30.
Power Surge - Used together with Rapid Scan to create a burst heal.
Onboard AED - In combat revive.
Jet Boost - Used for AoE (Often not in the rotation due to long CD)

Defensive abilities:
Energy Shield - Used to reduce all incoming damage by 25% (mostly used in burn a phase).
Kolto Overload - Used in burn phases to regenerate HP when it is below 30%.
Chaff flare - Used to drop aggro so that the tanks in the team have an easier job.
Hydraulic Overrides - Used to increase movement speed and to break movement-impairing effects.
Determination - Used to break stuns on yourself.

Single target healing

As mentioned earlier Mercenary healing is all about heat-management, so it is important to always keep the heat-level low so that the regeneration-rate does not suffer.

A good way to keep the heat-level low is to use Supercharged Gas as often as possible, because it vents 8 heat each time it is used. But be careful using this method, because it might mean that Supercharged Gas is on cooldown, when the tank is taking a beating, so do not use it for this purpose if it is not needed.

Supercharged Gas is also used to enter the burst rotation, when a lot of “Oh ****” healing is needed. The burst rotation is all about doing as much healing as possible in very little time. A way to achieve this is to follow the burst rotation below.

Whenever Supercharged Gas is activated use a Kolto Missile to apply a 5% damage reduction shield on the target.

Prior to all larger fights make sure to build up 30 charges in the Combat Support Cylinder, by spamming Rapid Shots at an ally. This will ensure that Supercharged Gas is ready to use immediately, if needed. During the fight Rapid Shots and the occasional Rapid Scan should be enough to build up 30 charges when it is needed next.

It is also important to keep the Kolto Shell active on the target that is taking the most damage during the fight and this is generally kept on the tanks. The Kolto Shell will provide a continuous, passive healing to the target and is therefore helpful to keep the heat-level low. It should be reapplied whenever it runs out, there is a tank switch (apply to the new tank) or in case of special mechanics (for example: needing to move out of range from of the target for a period of time where Kolto Shell may wear off before you can return to healing range).

The Kolto Missile is a great assert in the repertoire, even when it will only affect one target out of four possible. The primary reason for this is the 3% healing bonus that the target will receive through the Kolto Residue talent. The Bonus makes Kolto Missile combine well with other healer’s abilities from other classes (for example: sorceress’s healing circle). Kolto Missile can also be used to lower the amount of damage the target takes by preceding Kolto Missile with Supercharged Gas to apply a 5% damage reduction shield on them.

Healing Scan and Rapid Scan should be used in succession of each other, since Healing Scan will lower the heat-cost of Rapid Scan, when the Critical Efficiency talent is active (down to 17 from the normal 25). Healing Scan will provide the target with a small heal-over-time after the initial burst heal and an additional 10% armour through the Proactive Medicine and Reactive Armour talents.

Rapid Scan should only be used, when the heat-level is low because of the high heat-cost. Avoid using two Rapid Scans back-to-back as it will generate a large amount of heat and lower the regeneration-rate.

In most cases if the standard rotation is used, then the target should only take a moderate amount of damage after the Kolto shell, Kolto Missile and Healing Scan is used. In these cases it is often a waste of heat to proceed with a Rapid Scan. Instead I would recommend using Rapid Shot as a filler, whenever the fight allows it. The reason for this is, that Rapid shot is a good way to build stacks in the Combat Support Cylinder and still heal the target for a decent amount without generating any heat. If the target still takes a lot of damage after Healing Scan, then proceed with Rapid Scan of course

Emergency Scan has no heat-cost, but a long cooldown. It should be used if the heat-level is getting high or when it is needed to make a quick heal at somebody.

Cure used to cleanse debuffs from friendly targets

Standard rotation:

The rotation is prority based, so it should not be execute top-down, but the abilities with higher priority should be used most often.

(Supercharged Gas - To vent heat).
Kolto Shell - OBS! Only when the old run out or when there is a tank swap.
Kolto Missile - Can be difficult to place, if so go no. 4.
Healing Scan.
(Rapid Shot - Filler, use it to build stacks in the Combat Support Cylinder if no big heals are needed).
Rapid Scan.
Emergency Scan.
Rapid Shot - Use if heat-level is high, until it again is below 30ish.

Burst rotation:

During Supercharged Gas, Execute top-down and repeat.

Emergency Scan is prioritised higher in the burst rotation because you want to give out as much healing during Supercharged Gas as possible. The reason for this is the 5% extra healing dealt during this period.

Multi target healing

Mercenaries only have one useful AoE heal ability which is the Kolto Missile. So whenever AoE healing is needed use it on a group of 3+ people.

If Jet Boost is speced into healing too, then this is also an opportunity for AoE heals. Jet Boost has some unfortunate side effects. 1. It has a very high cooldown. 2. It is difficult to position, since you will have to stand in the middle of a group of friendly targets. 3. It knocks back enemies, which is often not preferred, when people are stacking and the enemies have been grouped up for AoE damage.

On the move

In some boss fights you often need to move around to avoid being hit by some mechanic, during which it can be difficult to heal someone if they get hit. Mercenaries have four abilities that are useful in such a situation. The first is Emergency Scan, which can be cast instantly and provides a large amount of healing. Secondly Power Surge can be used together with Rapid Scan to create a large instant heal. Lastly Kolto Missile and Rapid Shots can be used, because they have no cast time, but they can be difficult to position since you will have to target an area on the ground and face the target respectively.

Hints and common mistakes

- Be smart ;-)

In many boss fights there is a transition phase in which there is no need for healing. The transition phase is therefore a good opportunity to get the heat-level down, so do not worry about the heat-level if you know such a phase is eminent.

- Practice makes master

Almost all boss fights requires special rotation for mercenary healers, especially when it is hard mode or nightmare mode ops. I would recommend that new healers start out on easy runs just get a hold of the standard rotation. When they have gotten a hold on the rotation and learned the heat managing, then they can try to evolve their rotation so it matches the fight.

- Work as a team

In operations will there always be minimum one other healer besides yourself and it is therefore often important to have a clear agreement on who does what, so you don´t waste time or heat on unnecessary heals, moving or cleansing. Especially cleansing which is often an issue that needs a special agreement. A good way to learn how this works is to run with an experienced healer that has lead a healing team before.

- Cancel the cast

The target sometimes get healed by other healers in the group before you finish the cast time of your on heal. To avoid wasting heat on an over-heal in such a case, just take a small step forward or backwards to cancel the cast.

- Don´t stand passive

If there is a down period in the fight where no healing is needed, then do not just stand passive. Instead use some heat on doing dps to the enemy target or use Rapid Shot to build stacks in the Combat Support Cylinder (hint if Rapid Shot is used on enemy targets it still builds up stacks), so Supercharged Gas is ready for use.

- Don´t waste heat on over-heals

Just dont!

- Don´t heal like in PvP

In PvP I tend to just spam heal, because I know I will die (healers always get targeted first) and get my resources back again. In PvE the entire raid will probably die together with you.

- Don´t reapply Kolto Shell too often

It might have a relatively low-heat cost, but it does not have a high cooldown. Therefore it is possible to reapply it multiple times in a row, which will eat your heat.

- Use your defensives

The defensive abilities are a good way to minimize and avoid damage done to yourself. Energy Shield and Kolto Overload are mostly used in the burn phase of a boss fight, but sometimes Energy Shield can be used to minimize the damage taken if it is used in the start of the fight, because then it will be off cooldown when the burn phase starts. Hydralic Override is a good ability to give you more movement in the fight, but it can also be used to remove movement-impairing effects, like slows and traps.

Chaff Flare should be used if the tank is having trouble holding aggro or if the boss has a mechanic that resets aggro, to ensure that you take as little damage as possible by reducing the likelihhod that you will take aggro from the boss

IV. Stats, Gear and Consumables

Stats

Here is an overview over the stats that are relevant for a mercenary healer and what I think of them.

Aim

Aim is the main stat for bounty hunters and is useful for mercenary healers, since it boosts the bonus healing and increases critical chance for a small amount. Items with aim: All except relics and enhancements

Power / Tech power

Power is important for healers, since it boosts the bonus healing/damage. Items with power: All except barrels and armourings.

Critical rating

Critical rating increases the chances of getting a critical heal/attack, when an ability is used. Critical rating is not a linear stat, which means that the increase to critical chance will decrease with the amount of critical rating, so it is not a good idea to stack too much of it. Items with critical rating: earpieces, implants, mods, enhancements and augments.

Surge rating

Surge rating increases the magnitude of the critical heals/attacks. Like critical rating, surge rating is only valuable until a certain amount. Items with surge rating: earpieces, implants, enhancements and augments.

Alacrity rating

Alacrity rating decreases the activation time of the abilities, reduces the global cooldown, and increases the resource regeneration rate. Like critical and surge rating, alacrity rating is only valuable until a certain amount. Items with alacrity rating: earpieces, implants, enhancements and augments.

Aim or power?

There is often an ongoing discussion on about which of these two stats are better for healing. Some believe that aim is the better stat, because it provides a boost to the critical chance in addition to the healing boost. Others believe that power is the better stat because of the higher healing coefficient it provides.

I personally prefer to use reflex augments to boost my critical chance a bit, but still like to have a lot of power on my mods (which is the other place you will have to decide between aim or power).

Power or critical rating?

I would definitely go for power over critical rating. I do this because I prefer to have constant high heals and not base the size of my heals on luck. I do not have any critical rating on my items, because I find that the critical chance will get high enough when stacking aim. That being said, critical rating is still very useful, when gearing up the character.

Surge rating or alacrity rating?

After patch 2.0 alacrity rating is now actually a very useful stat for healers and should definitely be used. Surge rating is a good stat also and should be used to increase the critical multiplier. I use alacrity and surge in equal amounts, that means I have five pieces of gear with surge rating (earpiece, 2x Implant, offhand and mainhand (two last in enhancement)) and five pieces of gear with alacrity rating (head, chest, gloves, greaves and boots (all in enhancement)) (the reason for this combination is that I can easily swap to dps ).

Quick overview

Aim >= Power > Surge (70%) >= Alacrity > Crit (25%)

Details about the healing coefficients and more are found here http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=615111

Gear

Since the set bonus is now bound to the armouring, you can use whatever gear you like, as long as it is modable. I recommend using a modable belt and bracer too.

Modifications:

Here is a list of modifications that i recommend using as a mercenary healer.

- Crystal: Hawkeye (in the colour you prefer)

- Barrel: Reflex

- Armoring: Reflex (with set bonus)

- Mod: Agile, (Nimble)

- Enhancement: Adept, Quick Savant, (Battle, Insight)

- Augment: Reflex

Relics:

This is a list over the most usefull relics.

- Boundless Ages

- Serendipitous Assault

- Elite Warhero of Boundless Ages

Misc:

This is the best in stock Earpiece and Implants in my oppinion for mercenary healers.

Earpiece

Implant

Two pieces of the set bonus will increase the duration of Supercharged Gas to 13 seconds, which means two additional Healing Scans or one additional Kolto Missile while under its effect. Four pieces will reduce the cooldowns of Healing Scan and Emergency Scan.

Consumable

Consumables are an important boost to the stats and can mean the difference between victory and defeat. A mercenary healer will want to be equipped with the following:

- Medpac

- Reflex Stim

- Triage Adrenal

V. User interface

The user interface is a very important part for healers, since you can increase the healing done a lot, by just setting it up correctly. The optimal user interface differs from player to player, but I will try to cover the basics here.

Graphical user interface

First of all the normal group window should be changed the ops window (can be done in preferences), since the character pictures are just a waste of space in the graphical interface. The ops window and the health bars inside it should be as large as possible, since healers have to focus mostly on the group’s health and not so much the battleground itself. By making the ops window large also makes it, easier to spot debuffs on the friendly targets.

By increasing the maximum zoom in the preferences you can get a better view over the battlefield. This will help a lot when placing an AoE heal.

One thing should be done by all healers is to focus target the boss to easily see how much health the boss has left and to see what skills the boss is casting (interrupt if it´s possible and if there is time).

This is my GUI

Controls

Assign hotkeys to the abilities that is most frequently used. This might be obvious to most people, but I have met several people that did not use hotkeys, and was surprised how much it helped them, when they started using them. Place the hotkeys close the movement buttons, so they are close at hand (I use the number just above the letters).

VI. Conclusion

Healing as a mercenary is both fun and challenging, since a mercenaries have this special heat mechanism that makes it play-style unique. The most important part for mercenaries is to learn how to control the heat-level and since most boss fight have different mechanisms the optimal rotation might differ a lot from the standard rotation.

I hope that you find this guide useful and want to try out as a mercenary healer sometime I had fun writing this guide and fell that I too learned something by writing it.

Special thanks to twiggie , for his guide on mercenary healing, that gave me a lot of inputs to this one. And thanks to Noxxic.com for providing my basic knowledge about mercenary healing, when I started out.

Appendix

Commando / Mercenary Translations

Stance: Combat Support Cell = Combat Support Cylinder

and Energy = Heat.

Skill tree:

Commando (36/8/2)

Commando Ability _=_ Mercenary Ability

Main abilities:

Supercharge Cells _=_ Supercharged Gas

Hammer Shot _=_ Rapid Shot

Medical Probe _=_ Rapid Scan

Advanced Medical Probe _=_ Healing Scan