Mastering Merc Healers

[Blazn]

What I have found out about merc healing is that it is 50% skill and 50% gear.

Your gear should be 5 Alac. Surge and the rest Power Surge. Power Surge Implants and earpieces as well as the SA power proc relic and either the main stat relic or the mending relic. Augment w/ main stat. DO NOT PUT CRIT IN YOUR GEAR WHAT SO EVER.

 

Skill:

Use rapid shots as often as possible, combine supercharged gas w/ kolto missile combine healing scan and rapid scan. save emergency scan till a tank is about 30 - 40% heal as if your tank is low blow power surge and TSO and then use rapid scan.

vent you heat when you get below 40 or start spamming rapid shots again.

some fights you want to put kolto shell on the tanks other fights you want it on yourself.

 

although some people say merc heals are broken, they are weak, etc.....i disagree

we are good single target healers and I can heal just as good as other healers do.

you just need practice

[Afieri]

What I have found out about merc healing is that it is 50% skill and 50% gear.

Your gear should be 5 Alac. Surge and the rest Power Surge. Power Surge Implants and earpieces as well as the SA power proc relic and either the main stat relic or the mending relic. Augment w/ main stat. DO NOT PUT CRIT IN YOUR GEAR WHAT SO EVER.

 

Skill:

Use rapid shots as often as possible, combine supercharged gas w/ kolto missile combine healing scan and rapid scan. save emergency scan till a tank is about 30 - 40% heal as if your tank is low blow power surge and TSO and then use rapid scan.

vent you heat when you get below 40 or start spamming rapid shots again.

some fights you want to put kolto shell on the tanks other fights you want it on yourself.

 

although some people say merc heals are broken, they are weak, etc.....i disagree

we are good single target healers and I can heal just as good as other healers do.

you just need practice

 

There are actually a few bits and pieces of right and wrong information here.

 

With regards to the gear, it is very much personal preference rather than a hard and fast rule, just because of the fact that healers rarely get pushed to their extreme limits in the end game content, thus leaving some sub optimal gearing quite viable for all end game content. If you take 5 pieces of alacrity then you will learn that it actually changes up your rotation quite a bit, as an example: You will have the current GCD ending, and instead of being able to use the next ability in your priority list, you may find that it still has .4s left on it's cool down, because alacrity only affects cast time and resource regeneration, not CD time. This can lead to awkward pauses or force you to use another resource intensive ability because you require a fairly substantial amount of healing that won't be delivered by Rapid Shots, but the ability that you are waiting for the CD to end on would have sufficed. In this scenario, if you pause and wait for the ability to come off CD then you are not utilising alacrity at maximum efficiency and you may as well have dropped a small amount for surge. If you choose to use a different ability then you may end up using a more resource intensive heal that may put you into the lower regen bracket and hurt your resource management as well.

 

On the flip side, Alacrity is a godsend because it gets your heals out faster, which is important because it reduces the chance of someone dying because you couldn't get your heals out fast enough. At the end of the day, personal preference when it comes to alacrity, having some is better than none purely because the DR on surge will make almost any other stat look good after about 500 points in there (but please don't take any other stat than alacrity).

 

Crit is meh. Put some in your gear, don't put some in your gear, it makes very little difference because as stated before, healers are not stressed to their extreme limits where every point has to be carefully placed in order to reach maximum HPS. Not really much to say about it other than it has a pretty awful DR curve so stacking a lot of it will make a noticeable impact in the average size of your heals.

 

Relics, please don't use the Ephemeral mending relics. These relics proc off any heal given, and only target one player/NPC. It is uncontrolled and will quite happily over heal people all day long. Any heal means a soft CC (60s, breaks on damage) as well, so if you CC anything, you may find that it is getting extra heals from your relic. Don't take it, it is just awful. At the present point in time, if you want a clicky relic, then Boundless Ages is for you, allows some control over your burst healing which is nice and has a 30s duration which is long enough to cover most burst healing phases. Otherwise if you are a bit blasé about having another ability to activate, then the Devastating Vengeance (Crit proc) is probably your best bet for now, but in 2.5 the Focused Retribution (Main Stat proc) will be BiS with an SA relic. This is because FR gets a fairly significant boost to it's proc stat (i think ~790) which is more than triple what it is now, and it is garbage now.

 

Augmenting main stat is the best idea in the world. Do it.

 

Moving onto rotation priority.

 

IMO, merc healing has the simplest design out of the 3 healing classes. Everything revolves around 2 buffs, Combat Support Cylinder and Critical Efficiency. These two buffs are intimately linked and having one of these buffs up, allows faster proccing of the other buff.

 

Combat Support Cylinder charges are built by using either Rapid Shots (3 charges per use) or Rapid Scan (6 charges per use). Critical Efficiency is procced by using Healing Scan.

 

At 30 stacks of CSC you should be popping Supercharged Gas as soon as it pops up, unless if there is a specific reason to hold off using it (Raptus' Healing Challenge springs to mind) as it helps with resource management as well as buffing healing + damage reduction. Unless if there is a dire need of a fairly significant heal, Kolto Missile should be the first ability used after you pop Supercharged Gas, as it gives a DR buff. Kolto Missile should also be the last ability used before Supercharged Gas runs out because the DR buff lasts 15 seconds, and you can quite happily build another 30 stacks of CSC within 15 seconds and thus have the DR buff up 100% of the time.

 

Emergency Scan (surprisingly enough) should not be used in an emergency. It is a resource management ability, essentially a really powerful Rapid Shots that you get to use once every 18s, except it doesn't build CSC stacks. This should be used close enough to every 18 seconds, and you should be planning around it, ie. using a HS > RS > KM combo that will end on the GCD that ES becomes available.

 

Power Surge and TSO are good abilities but they have an awfully long CD which means that they are very much "last resort" abilities. They also do not always need to be used together, use your discretion. Power Surge makes the next ability instant, TSO makes the next ability cost no heat. Used together you have an instant, free heal, but if you just needed to get a heal out quickly and you had a low enough heat level, why bother using TSO? Remembering that Vent Heat will do a whole lot more for burst healing than TSO, so be sparing with your TSO use, as it is only up once every 2 minutes.

 

Nearly every boss fight in endgame content will have the majority of damage heading towards the tanks (Infernal Council in EV is one fight where you have to put Kolto Shell on yourself due to mechanics), and since you want to minimise the amount of healing you have to do, you should be putting KS onto the tank that will burn through the stacks the quickest.

 

Merc heals are definitely not broken, they are just not as suited to HM DF/DP at the present point compared to Operatives and Sorcs. This is mainly due to a lack of cheap and low CD Raid healing. If you bring a merc into HM DP/DF, you just need to have coordination with your other healer so your heals are not wasted.

[Blazn]

i can do hm df and dp just fine and im 1 of the best healers in my guild and im a merc. im just tired of ppl saying that the merc healer is broken and its not.

[Afieri]

i can do hm df and dp just fine and im 1 of the best healers in my guild and im a merc. im just tired of ppl saying that the merc healer is broken and its not.

 

That's good to hear man and I am glad that more merc healers are clearing content, but what you are saying above is fairly subjective and gives no reasons as to why you should do the things you say, expanding on your above statements would be more helpful than just telling people that they need a specific set of gear and leaving it at that.

[Phrase]

Alot of us acknowledge merc heals are viable for end game raiding. Try taking your merc into solo q rateds and tell me how you feel.

[cashogy_reborn]

Alot of us acknowledge merc heals are viable for end game raiding. Try taking your merc into solo q rateds and tell me how you feel.

 

Solo queue is a terrible representation of class balance. I really wish people would stop using it as a metric for performance.

 

That said, try taking a Merc healer into group rated arenas. You will not do very well against competent opponents. Merc healing needs quite a bit of help IMO

[Phrase]

Solo queue is a terrible representation of class balance. I really wish people would stop using it as a metric for performance.

 

That said, try taking a Merc healer into group rated arenas. You will not do very well against competent opponents. Merc healing needs quite a bit of help IMO

 

It's not about the metrics. It's about having the experience of being focused relentlessly and shut down by all but the most button-mashing, tunneling mouth breathers out there. I imagine the same happens in 4s, but I'd never know since merc healers don't really go there.

[Blazn]

Alot of us acknowledge merc heals are viable for end game raiding. Try taking your merc into solo q rateds and tell me how you feel.

 

 

ya we suck in rateds

[Rambeezy]

http://www.torparse.com/a/497725/13/0/Heals+Given -16 man

http://www.torparse.com/a/498277/52/0/Heals+Given - 8 man

 

These parses are of me "max testing." Max testing is when you ignore overhealing and pump out as much hps as is possible. In the 8 man, everyone was grouped up more because of the particular fight so it is more accurate in terms of what we are capable of at the maximum in 8 man raids. Had the 16 man been more grouped up, I may have broken 7k.

 

Gear is as follows.

285 crit rating - rest power.

4 pieces of alacrity and 6 pieces of surge. Personally I would only ever use 5/5 or 4/6.

& Reflex augments of course.

 

Thank you.

[Afieri]

http://www.torparse.com/a/497725/13/0/Heals+Given -16 man

http://www.torparse.com/a/498277/52/0/Heals+Given - 8 man

 

These parses are of me "max testing." Max testing is when you ignore overhealing and pump out as much hps as is possible. In the 8 man, everyone was grouped up more because of the particular fight so it is more accurate in terms of what we are capable of at the maximum in 8 man raids. Had the 16 man been more grouped up, I may have broken 7k.

 

Gear is as follows.

285 crit rating - rest power.

4 pieces of alacrity and 6 pieces of surge. Personally I would only ever use 5/5 or 4/6.

& Reflex augments of course.

 

Thank you.

 

You're welcome, but what does this have to do with anything? HPS is the most useless metric in the game and you shouldn't be judging merc's viability from HPS alone. So I have to ask, why are you posting these parses?

[Rambeezy]

You're welcome, but what does this have to do with anything? HPS is the most useless metric in the game and you shouldn't be judging merc's viability from HPS alone. So I have to ask, why are you posting these parses?

 

I was posting simply about the gear being used. It should also be noted than in HMs, looking at effective healing to judge a classes viability is useless because not enough damage is going out. Overhealing will run rampant until we get into NiM. I never made a single claim about viability, so I don't see how talking about viability is necessary in response to my post, but I hit on the point for you none the less.

 

Also, maybe I didn't make it clear enough, I WAS TRYING TO OVERHEAL; it's the only way to see what our sustained is.

 

Btw, I'm posting these parses to flex my e-peen. Duh

That 8 man parse was from when I solo healed HM S&V. I could probably solo heal SM DF/DP when I get my MH, but we shall see.

Edited November 25, 2013 by Rambeezy

[Rambeezy]

I should also point out that the OP was talking about raiding with his guild as a merc healer. Anything y'all bring up about pvp is not warranted, even if it's true. Edited November 25, 2013 by Rambeezy

[gorstram]

There are actually a few bits and pieces of right and wrong information here.

 

**SNIP**.

 

Thank you for that post. I've been doing things a little differently, but I think this should make my life a little easier when healing my raid.

[Phrase]

Anything y'all bring up about pvp is not warranted, even if it's true.

 

Hard pressed to see where the OP limits his comments to PvE.

[Rambeezy]

Hard pressed to see where the OP limits his comments to PvE.

 

He never said his responses were limited to pve. He would have to specifically say that of course. But if the question is whether or not the OP was talking about merc healers in pve or pvp, it's obvious. Pvers refer to boss encounters as "fights." I've never heard a pvper call an arena or wz a "fight." That may not seem obvious at first but the OP, in his second post, directly mentioned HM DP/DF which further confirms his original intentions.

 

Thank you.

[Porkish]

I just could not take it anymore.....

 

Viable

adjective

1. capable of living.

2.Physiology

a.) physically fitted to live.

b.) (of a fetus) having reached such a stage of development as to be capable of living, under normal conditions, outside the uterus.

3. Botany able to live and grow.

4. vivid; real; stimulating, as to the intellect, imagination, or senses: a period of history that few teachers can make viable for students.

 

"Mercenary Healing as a viable option in end game raids." Does not mean "Mercenary Healing as a useful and necessary option for end game raids."

Edited December 2, 2013 by Porkish
corrections

[Afieri]

I just could not take it anymore.....

 

Viable

adjective

1. capable of living.

2.Physiology

a.) physically fitted to live.

b.) (of a fetus) having reached such a stage of development as to be capable of living, under normal conditions, outside the uterus.

3. Botany able to live and grow.

4. vivid; real; stimulating, as to the intellect, imagination, or senses: a period of history that few teachers can make viable for students.

 

"Mercenary Healing as a viable option in end game raids." Does not mean "Mercenary Healing as a useful and necessary option for end game raids."

 

.... You really want to go there?

 

I can look up words in dictionaries too, I can even provide a source.

 

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/viable

 

vi·a·ble

adj.

1. Capable of living, developing, or germinating under favorable conditions.

2. Capable of living outside the uterus. Used of a fetus or newborn.

3. Capable of success or continuing effectiveness; practicable: a viable plan; a viable national economy.

 

"Capable of success" is the part that you are looking for.

 

If you have nothing to contribute to the community, please refrain from using that keyboard of yours.

[BigDumbViking]

.... You really want to go there?

 

I can look up words in dictionaries too, I can even provide a source.

 

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/viable

 

vi·a·ble

adj.

1. Capable of living, developing, or germinating under favorable conditions.

2. Capable of living outside the uterus. Used of a fetus or newborn.

3. Capable of success or continuing effectiveness; practicable: a viable plan; a viable national economy.

 

"Capable of success" is the part that you are looking for.

 

If you have nothing to contribute to the community, please refrain from using that keyboard of yours.

 

Capable of success isn't exactly a ringing endorsement... Calling Merc's viable is like saying... "If you have no other option..." Which is basically what it is. There is nothing... let me repeat that NOTHING, that we do better or even equivalent to Sorcs or Operatives.

 

So if you are satisfied with being a distant 3 place in a 3 man race, then by all means... be happy with "Viable"...

[Rambeezy]

Capable of success isn't exactly a ringing endorsement... Calling Merc's viable is like saying... "If you have no other option..." Which is basically what it is. There is nothing... let me repeat that NOTHING, that we do better or even equivalent to Sorcs or Operatives.

 

So if you are satisfied with being a distant 3 place in a 3 man race, then by all means... be happy with "Viable"...

 

Nobody is denying our ranking, but we aren't so far behind in healing ability that we can't be successfull in pve. If you think we are a distant 3rd and not just the 3rd best, you are wrong. As far as pvp goes, I think you need to take a look at what Dps classes are capable of and what the other healing classes can do (operatives mostly). The only way to counter the Dps classes in this game is to be unattackable, operatives have stealth so they take the cake. Healing ability though, we aren't worlds apart. We are just not as good.

[Afieri]

Capable of success isn't exactly a ringing endorsement... Calling Merc's viable is like saying... "If you have no other option..." Which is basically what it is. There is nothing... let me repeat that NOTHING, that we do better or even equivalent to Sorcs or Operatives.

 

So if you are satisfied with being a distant 3 place in a 3 man race, then by all means... be happy with "Viable"...

 

The 3 man race you are referring to is a fairly moot scenario because you are comparing 3 wildly different healing classes. Put simply, Mercs have the simplest set of healing abilities with 100% proc rates on important abilities and an alacrity boost on critical hits. This is so simplistic in design compared to sorcs and operatives who have to actively watch procs and buffs whilst watching health meters and mechanics. The difference between Mercs and the other 2 healing classes is that due to ops and sorcs having a higher skill floor, they are gifted with more abilities (which in turn increases the skill floor) and those abilities are very useful when it comes to raid healing, which is literally all merc healers really lack.

 

It's quite similar to the tanking balance in the game at the moment, where PT's are a fairly simple tank, but do not possess the same ability to pull clutch saves like assassins and juggs can with abilities like force shroud and saber reflect respectively.

 

But essentially (and this is what Rambeezy is hinting towards as well I feel) it is really just a l2p issue. Not so much hair learning to play your class but learning how the mechanics work in a fight, when to add extra dps, when to save your instant abilities as well as (this is IMO the number 1 issue that most healers have, but it is just noticeable in merc healers because they are largely single target healers) communicating with your other healers and organising your heals. Over healing on casted abilities is a sure fire path to destruction as a a merc healer purely because each of those heals that is casted is so valuable due to cast time and heat cost. Saying out loud, I will heal the tanks, you worry about the dps to your other healer will prove much more effective than being able to push the most HPS out of your toon.

 

Going back to the L2P thing, merc healers have cleared the hardest content and still are clearing the hardest content. The class is more than viable, everything that Rambeezy said is true about us not being a distant 3rd at all, we are just 3rd for this particular tier of content, but these things change. In 1.7, the arguably best healing combo was a sorc and a merc just because they complimented each other beautifully. So the balance will shift again in the future, but calling Mercs a barely passable healer is a bit strong, and not true.