How bad is merc healing?

[FrostTrooper]

I keep seeing people saying that Merc healing is the worst of the 3 healing classes. I really want to make a healer imp side. I considered a Sorc right away, but I've already leveled up a Sage, and while I know the two are different, its the same mechanics. That leaves Op and Merc. For some reason, I just don't enjoy the Op all that much. Iv'e tried 3 times (on my 4th attempt now) and the highest I've gotten was lvl 15. I've never been a big stealth player in any game I play and I don't like the cover system. Merc healing does appeal to me somewhat, but I would rather not be something that is ineffective when compared to the other 2.

 

Thanks in advance.

[EpickFaill]

I went op,and i am gratefull for that decision as hell,it's true that it is hard until 20 but from 20 when u get kolto probe u gonna realy enjoy him,abot the merc is not as bad as all,he is just the worst for pve from that i know+the merc is like the commando just a little more powerfuller in healing(after me) Edited August 13, 2013 by EpickFaill

[azfritz]

I haven't messed around with merc healing, however op healing never forces you to be in cover for any of their heals to work. 99% of the time when I'm healing I will not be in cover. If you were playing a sniper, that's a different story.

[Snarkasms]

You can actually take cover completely off your bar. Unless you want to hide behind something while leveling, it's useless. Put something else on your 2 key and disable the cover bar in your preferences.

 

That said, mercs/commandos are some of the best single-target and tank healers in the game. They're a lot of fun (my merc switches between heals and tracer missile spec), and a low-cooldown spammable AOE is very useful.

 

All three healers are perfectly capable of healing all content. Operatives/scoundrels seem a little more powerful than others at the moment thanks to tweaks in the alacrity system making their energy nearly infinite, and sages/sorcs have the 8-person AOE that nobody else has, but commandos/mercs have a place alongside either of them, and are very complementary to both.

[SimSteJoha]

Hi there, I have played all Classes as A healer at all levels of operations SM/HM/NiM

 

All Classes are Good and Bad, and everyone has there own opinion about each class

 

My class Preferences / notes in order 1 to 3rd

 

For FUN in ops

Merc/Trooper healer

Op/Smugger healer

Sorc/Sage healer

 

For stress levels in Ops

Merc/Trooper healer

Sorc/Sage healer

Op/Smugger healer

 

For Ease of healing in Ops

Op/Smugger healer

Sorc/Sage healer

Merc/Trooper healer

 

Leveling Ease as healer / DPs

Merc/Trooper healer

Op/Smugger healer

Sorc/Sage healer

 

Key things in my eye

No matter what healer you Choose, the only ones that dont balance together to well is Trooper/Trooper or Merc/Merc , all other classes and work well with same class or with others.

 

No matter the class, if you keep up with it and dont switch every 5 mins to another class then you will be good at it,

 

A Ops / Smugger is the easiest Pickup and go class if not uses in a while, merc/trooper is next followed by the sorc/sage

 

All classes have gone through alot of changes over time but i keep wanting / coming back to the merc/trooper but hate healing on the Sage but funnily I like the Sorc healer... the ops/Smugger is there to just get the job done without even having to think about it

 

Hope im not the only one with this outlook, but remember, this is how i feel about healers within this game

[belialle]

I have one of each, and I've played them all quite a lot, though operative is my main and has been since pre-release. Mercenary is fine, but it feels a lot more "busy" than the sorcerer or the operative. I would personally say that sorcerer is the easiest to heal with in ops, followed by operative and then by mercenary. It just feels so relaxing to heal on a sorcerer. I love it. It's really, really nice. It flows so nicely and has a very nice toolkit for healing. My sorcerer seems to have an answer to any situation that comes up. It's great. It's the class I like to play when I just want to relax and have fun healing without having to think too much. The sorcerer just makes healing feel so effortless.

 

Mercenary healing can feel a little more stressful, but I think that's mainly because my hands feel much busier when I'm on my mercenary than when I'm on my sorcerer or operative. It doesn't seem to "flow" as smoothly as the sorcerer. Speaking from personal experience, the main mistake that I see mercenary healers making is that many don't use their AoE heal nearly enough. It's cheap, and it's on a really short cooldown. Mercenary used to be stronger, it's true, but I don't feel that it's weak. I do sometimes feel like supercharged gas is somewhat lackluster, but that might just be because I remember how amazing it used to be. If I'm honest, though, I have to admit that the way it was a while back was really too good.

 

Operative healing is nice. If you're on the lookout for the "strongest" healing class, I would be wary of rolling one right now, though, because PvPers are gunning for a nerf. There's a very vocal contingent of PvP whiners who are crying about us right now, so I am expecting to see a nerf in the next big patch. Maybe I'm just being pessimistic. It's pure speculation on my part. Besides, I was healing hard mode operations with this class back when everyone still said we sucked, so I'll keep with it, but it's something you might want to keep in mind if you're on the fence about which class to roll.

 

I don't feel that any one healing class is particularly weaker than any other. I do, however, think that probably most people just don't like the way the mercenary feels compared to the other classes, which is why you hear so much crap about how they are "weaker" or whatever. I think it's probably the "hardest" healing class to play right now, just because of how it feels. So, to answer your question, merc healing isn't bad at all. Don't believe everything you hear. :]

Edited August 19, 2013 by belialle

[Lordmird]

I actually picked up my old Merc a few days ago, and specced him heals. Now, I have a heal Sorc, as well as a heal Op, and I will say that I find the Merc the most fun.

 

 

I find my AoE heal is always on CD, as I use it so much. It's very usefull, and the added HoT if you stay in the AoE's kolto residue is a great bonus. Your "pew pew" basic attack heals can be used on the move, just like your AoE.

 

Now, people are saying that heal Ops are the best class, and that you can keep your guy up for ages with Surgical Probe. I will go on record and say, in the hands of a some-what skilled player, heal Mercs can keep themselves up for just as long. You're not as squishy as an op is. You have your shield for defensive. You have a stun, a knockback and quite a few AoEs to keep enemies on the move.

 

Running away works. You can throw your AoE down in front of you every...What, 10 seconds? And that's not including your quick heal, and healing scan.

 

So, all in all, I would say Merc healing really isn't bad at all, but is just sorely underrated.

[BigDumbViking]

So first off I love the play style of merc heals. But there are reasons we parse much lower especially in WZ's. The lack of pushback protection and interrupt protection are devastating in WZ's. You can't heal if you can't get a cast off. Bubble is useless against any halfway decent players as they will immediately stun you, so that you can't free cast.

 

The PVE issue we have is overheal. Our Heal crit's are huge, but when you need 5k to top someone off and you hit for 8-9k... you just wasted 3-4k healing. It kills your HPS output and happens a lot, especially with an Op in the group, who's HOT's can tick 3 times while we cast our big heals.

 

On average I'm guessing the best Mercs can put out 75-80% of the total healing of the best ops/sorc's.

[z-monty]

I don't think people consider the Merc/Trooper healers as the 'worst' of the healers, as much as they consider them the least-played and/or the healer that, everything being equal, does the least best. As an Op healer for my main, Ops are usually seen as king healers in PvP and Sorcs are really the kinds of PvE, so that kinda leaves Merc healers without a real niche for themselves. That said, I wont ever complain seeing a Merc healer on my team in PvE or PvP, as they are perfectly capable of keeping people up with very few issues.

 

If you want a Merc healer, by all means make one! They're a very different style of play than the Sorc or the Op and they are welcomed in any content, at least with a team of people who know what they are talking about. I'd say give it a shot and see if you like it!

[Satedbuffalo]

It's not clear to me whether OP is interested in healing PvE, PvP, or both.

 

Other posters have mentioned that Mercenaries suffer in serious PvP - our main healing mechanic (building charges of combat support cylinder) can be very easily interrupted and controlled (as, aside from rapid shots, we need to hard cast a 2 second rapid scan to generate charges). Because this mechanic is tied to Mercenary heat management, this can be devastating to survivability and output.

 

That said, Mercenaries can be very, very successful PvP healers and they come equipped with some really excellent tools. Kolto Shell may be the greatest thing ever. Of any of the healing classes, the Mercenary is comparatively difficult to take down when cornered/rooted/stunned. They have a much larger set of "leave it and forget" abilities that help to keep them alive even when otherwise completely locked down.

 

Of course, the operative (especially post-roll and energy rebalance) is extremely valuable on the battlefield. Their plethora of instant cast heals makes them difficult to shut down and their ability to delay caps/grab the huttball is basically unmatched. Very few ranked PvP teams would run without one for 8v8 and I think the huge majority of high-level teams will be running with an operative healer in 4v4s.

 

In PvE, Mercenaries really shine. They have one of the best (if not the best) AoE heals in the game, big chunky heals, almost no RNG (so that their healing output and energy level is always predictable), and more than a few neat tricks. Lacking a cheap DoT, they cannot easily put up significant DPS like the sorcerer and operative, but the merc brings so much in terms of damage reduction that this tends to balance out.

 

In general, Mercenaries have one of the most unforgiving energy management systems. Learning how to use it is the single greatest hurdle for any Mercenary healer.

 

I've written a guide on Mercenary healing (PvE-focused), which describes the energy system in probably more detail than anyone needed and discusses various approaches to the spec.

[Targarion]

I keep seeing people saying that Merc healing is the worst of the 3 healing classes. I really want to make a healer imp side. I considered a Sorc right away, but I've already leveled up a Sage, and while I know the two are different, its the same mechanics. That leaves Op and Merc. For some reason, I just don't enjoy the Op all that much. Iv'e tried 3 times (on my 4th attempt now) and the highest I've gotten was lvl 15. I've never been a big stealth player in any game I play and I don't like the cover system. Merc healing does appeal to me somewhat, but I would rather not be something that is ineffective when compared to the other 2.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

I wanted to respond to this sooner, but ah welz.

 

Do not fret young grasshopper. Merc healers are the wild card of the healer crop. You can be as good as the next guy or as bad as the next guy. Merc's are perceived worse by the majority of kiddies and lazies because of the high mental awareness you need to be able to be on par with the tricky operative and the burst bubble sorcerer.

 

They will tell you, you lack the ability to heal on the fly. Do not listen to their rubbish. You can heal on the fly like the kite flying scoundrel. You simply need to read into your tree to figure out how. Here are a few ques. Kolto wave, plus kolto bomb plus Bacta infusion and Hammer shot make for a pretty fly commando.

 

They will tell you, you can't do HOT's. Ahum please read above ^^^. You certainly can.

 

They will tell you you can't out heal an operative. Well, an Operative spamming healz can hit pretty numbers. But remember to use your AOE's as often they come off cool down, and Hammer your numbers to the heavens above.

 

Let no one tell you can't do anything. If you take the time and learn how to heal as a Merc, your merc will reward you with being one of the few exception to break with "convention".

 

And then you will be a god or at the very least a really good Merc healer.

 

Edited August 22, 2013 by Targarion

[DeludedProphet]

Looking at the statistics for healing across all 7 S&V bosses for 8 man HM/NiM we can draw some conclusions.

 

1) Of the top 50 healers, for each boss, there is an average of 2 Merc/Mandos

 

2) For Styrak, there isn't a single Merc/Mando in the top 50.

 

So, can Merc/Mandos heal all content? The very best can (probably).

 

Are they on a par with the other two healing classes? Demonstrably not.

[Satedbuffalo]

Are they on a par with the other two healing classes? Demonstrably not.

 

Or Merc/Commandos were strongly undervalued previously and prejudice among top-tier raid leaders/group still exists.

[KeyboardNinja]

Or Merc/Commandos were strongly undervalued previously and prejudice among top-tier raid leaders/group still exists.

 

This.

 

My guild has and continues to use commando healers in Nightmare-level content. They really work fantastically well. It does require a fair bit of skill to manage the resource and the buff mechanics, but the single-target burst is extremely rewarding when properly timed. The only serious balance problem that commandos had pre-2.0 was being dramatically behind scoundrels in the area of raid healing. This was nicely rectified in 2.0 with the buff to Kolto Bomb and the addition of the knockback heal.

 

The real problem now is lingering prejudice. So many people firmly believe that commando healers are inferior. The fact that they generally have lower HPS than Scoundrels (and RADICALLY lower HPS than Sages) certainly doesn't help to disabuse anyone of this belief.

Edited September 5, 2013 by KeyboardNinja

[DarthSpekulatius]

Looking at the statistics for healing across all 7 S&V bosses for 8 man HM/NiM we can draw some conclusions.

 

1) Of the top 50 healers, for each boss, there is an average of 2 Merc/Mandos

 

2) For Styrak, there isn't a single Merc/Mando in the top 50.

 

So, can Merc/Mandos heal all content? The very best can (probably).

 

Are they on a par with the other two healing classes? Demonstrably not.

 

click 16 HM/NIM problem fixed

[Orderken]

Looking at the statistics for healing across all 7 S&V bosses for 8 man HM/NiM we can draw some conclusions.

 

1) Of the top 50 healers, for each boss, there is an average of 2 Merc/Mandos

 

2) For Styrak, there isn't a single Merc/Mando in the top 50.

 

So, can Merc/Mandos heal all content? The very best can (probably).

 

Are they on a par with the other two healing classes? Demonstrably not.

 

The first word in your forum name is an apt summary of your post: deluded. The correct conclusion is that bosses can be killed while the raid takes almost unimaginable amounts of avoidable damage from failing at mechanics. I've solo healed kills of a majority of the 8m HM bosses (including Styrak), and two of the 8m NiM bosses, and had none of these parses number among the top 50 on TORParse for 8m kills.

 

All three healing classes are suitable for end-game Operations. In fact, as KBN said in another thread, for Operations we're more or less in the sweet spot where raids can bring players who heal well rather than classes that heal well.

 

The most significant real hurdle for a Mercenary|Commando healer competing for a spot with an accomplished raid group is the ability of Operative|Scoundrel healers to stealth (out-of-combat) rez. Mercenary|Commando healers excel at single-target healing, but a skilled Operative|Scoundrel can fill this role (occasionally with a little help from his or her other healer or healers) while also bringing a stealth (out-of-combat) rez.

 

This isn't an issue with Mercenary|Commando or Operative|Scoundrel healing. Rather, it's an issue with the implementation of stealth (out-of-combat) rezzing for Operations. For example, I've seen a 16m NiM Cartel Warlords encounter with 11 successful rezzes. This group had 3 Operative|Scoundrel healers (and didn't have an Assassin|Shadow tank), and would have had at most 2 rezzes in this same encounter without stealth (out-of-combat) rezzing. For 16m Operations, it's also an issue with damaging abilities that can one- or two-shot non-tanks who haven't erred. A stealth (out-of-combat) rez is an invaluable tool for coping with such abilities until BioWare patches such mistakes.

Edited September 7, 2013 by Orderken

[Woebearer]

... most significant real hurdle for a Mercenary|Commando healer competing for a spot with an accomplished raid group ...

 

A few days after my first OP our Guildleader told me he wa astonished about the numbers i had put up for the gear i was wearing. So I´m with you , saying we are underrated.

 

The point that makes the Commando / Merc ( got both for Heals) the most playable for me is that you do not need to watch proccs, skill your Koltobomb for more %-Heals and use it on cooldown, even without the first Rakkasomething set bonus it is possible due to lag and stuff to throw 2 of them while the superchargebuff is up.

 

It is true that the Commando may have more things to do than others, but we are Commanods/Mercs, wa are FRONTLINEmedics, we are where the sith hits the fan..we want the trouble ( at least I do).

 

Oh yes, and we have Cybot-Tank / Jawa with Rocketlauncher.. <3 <3 <3

Edited September 9, 2013 by Woebearer

[cs_zoltan]

No matter what healer you Choose, the only ones that dont balance together to well is Trooper/Trooper or Merc/Merc , all other classes and work well with same class or with others.

Wrong, give me 2 merc healer over 2 sorc any day for nim operations. Sorc has 0 synergy with another sorc. 1 Sorc aoe is good for raidhealing, 2 is an overkill, bubble lockout makes one of the sorc obsolete not to mention sorc sucks at tank healing.

 

As for Merc heals, they ARE the worst healers right now, anyone who denies it haven't played all 3 healer spec. BUT this doesn't mean they aren't viable, they are completely capable to heal any encounter so far

[Satedbuffalo]

As for Merc heals, they ARE the worst healers right now, anyone who denies it haven't played all 3 healer spec. BUT this doesn't mean they aren't viable, they are completely capable to heal any encounter so far

 

I raid and PvP with all three and I deny it.

[cs_zoltan]

I raid and PvP with all three and I deny it.

 

Good for you. Tell me how many ranked team has Merc healer in their main group? Also how many Merc healer do you see in TFB/S&V HM/Nim top healing parses?

[fire-breath]

Why are people focussing on e(HPS)? Good for you that you can heal highnumbers.

To bad that all the armorbuffs and shields arent counted in these numbers. I'm participating in 2 guilds for NiM progress. 1 team uses 2 scoundrels, the other 1 sage+1 mando. We both wipe at the same point in time while the scoundrel duo puts up more (E)HPS. Team mando/sage is using their forcearmors and amorbuffs.

 

True, Scoundrels/operatives have the highest HPS, but thats the only thing you can do. Also using the free emergency medpack won't always save a tank if he gets beaten on to much.

 

Beside my progressteam I know that one of the 1st DG NiM clears worldwide was with a commando/merc-healer.

 

To answer OP:

Merc-healing is just fine to use. You might need to overcome trollers, if you put enough time in it you'll see its not bad at all.

[cs_zoltan]

Worst =/= bad. I know Merc is not bad, I know it's viable, I know you can use Merc in nightmare contents (which i do too for the record), but that doesn't change the fact that they are the worst our of the 3 healer spec since 1.2. They are not far behind but they are behind.

 

Also about the HPS, Sorcs have armor buff as well and a bubble which don't count toward the HPS yet they have higher numbers. And yes EHPS does matter, why wouldn't it? Give me one good reason why EHPS doesn't matter

Edited September 9, 2013 by cs_zoltan

[fire-breath]

eHPS does matter. Never said it didnt matter. I also know that that if you have one or more sages/mando's the dtps whould be lower. If the dtps is lower then also the ehps should be lower (you can't heal HP which was never lost).

 

The issue I tried to show was that eHPS isnt the only only thing to focus on when picking a healing class.

[wetslampigduex]

Looking at the statistics for healing across all 7 S&V bosses for 8 man HM/NiM we can draw some conclusions.

 

1) Of the top 50 healers, for each boss, there is an average of 2 Merc/Mandos

 

2) For Styrak, there isn't a single Merc/Mando in the top 50.

 

So, can Merc/Mandos heal all content? The very best can (probably).

 

Are they on a par with the other two healing classes? Demonstrably not.

 

The reason you don't see Mercs/Mando's up there is because the over healing on them in minimal. Some of the very best healers I've ever played with are merc's. Hot's and sorc puddle typically do a lot of over healing and inflate numbers. As someone else said I cringe when i'm doing an 8 man raid and see 2 sorcs's as healers, sure it can be done but they tend to struggle healing the tanks b/c of long cast times. Choosing healers for and 8 man raid, I'd choose 1 op and 1 Merc every single time. For 16 man I'd add 2 sorcs to deal with raid dmg and keep the Op and Merc for the great single target tank healing.

[KeyboardNinja]

Good for you. Tell me how many ranked team has Merc healer in their main group? Also how many Merc healer do you see in TFB/S&V HM/Nim top healing parses?

 

I raid with all three healers as well and I deny that Merc healers are the worst. As I've been saying all along, PvE healing balance is very, very tight. Granted, Ops are the lords of PvP, but things are much tighter in PvE.

 

As for parses, you're focusing on a stat which is essentially meaningless. HPS means essentially nothing in isolation. You don't know the strat. You don't know the co-healer. You don't even know what may have transpired on that particular pull! All you see is the summary number. Healing is far too situational to sum up in just a single value.

 

The salient point is that numerous world firsts in this round of progression (including the world first NiM DG pre-pre-nerf) used merc healers. They're very, very strong in the right hands, and their ill reputation is entirely undeserved.