Extremely hard playing as a Healer (Class/Planet quest)

[Majestic_Jazz]

Hey everyone! I am back after nearly a 1 long hiatus. I found sudden interest in the game now that I can play the class quest with 12x XP so that I do not have the grind out all of those small little planet quest, asside from the major planet arc quest.

 

With that being said, I am playing as a level 19 healer (Jedi Sage) and it is difficult. Previously I played as a Tank and DPS character and playing the class stories was a breeze cause I had a large pool of health and defensive abilities as a Tank (and my DPS companions to grind down enemies) and as a DPS character, I had enough power to quickly eliminate threats before it took much of a toll on me. However playing as a Healer it is much more difficult. Because of me being a healer, I am focused on support and less DPS. I have Qyzon(sp?) as my tanking companion but he sucks at damage. I am at a spot here on Taris where I must defeat this Golden/Elite boss but I always get wiped. When the battle starts, I throw a few attacks on him then I immediately start the healing process for Qyzon, however, eventually my Force/mana runs out and Qyzon gets shredded like wet toilet paper. By the time this happens the boss is down to about 25% health and I am at like 5% mana which means I cannot heal myself nor can I cast offensive force abilities. As you may know, I eventually get killed. I have tried a few variations of the strategy I have outlined above but I am always killed. Normally so far I have had great luck with Golden/Elite enemies, but they were always 3-4 levels below me. Now this boss I believe is just one level below me so that level range isn't that large.

 

What am I doing wrong? I have had stories of players who want to play as endgame PvE/PvP healers level their characters as DPS specs and then once they hit endgame, redo their skill trees/abilities to focus more on healing. I heard tank players do something similar as they level their players as DPS then at endgame realign the abilities to be Tank focused. I thought about doing this, but because this is my first time playing as a healer, I wanted to "practice" my healing as I level so by the time I hit level 55 or so and begin endgame HM Flashpoints/Operations and level 55 PvP Warzones, I would have a good grasp on my abilities, keybinding placements, rotations and so on and so forth. I do not want to have to get all the way to endgame to begin "learning" how to play as a Healer after I have spent the last 55 levels playing as a DPS. However, should I go this strategy or stick it out as a healer?

 

Obviously all healer players are welcome to reply, not just Jedi Sage players. Any advice no matter how harsh is appreciated.

[hadoken]

The first thing to look at is gear for you and your companion if you don't have a significant chunk of presence innate.

 

The 'heal the companion' method should work fine for elites unless he's got a particular attack he's doing that is not being interrupted and wiping Fess out.

[EllieAnne]

You're screwed until your first DPS companion. Qyzon sucks as a tank (always dies) and as a DPS (can't cause damage). This is a big reason I hated playing Sage as a healer.

[Majestic_Jazz]

You're screwed until your first DPS companion. Qyzon sucks as a tank (always dies) and as a DPS (can't cause damage). This is a big reason I hated playing Sage as a healer.

 

So it really isn't a matter of me sucking but mostly Qyzon sucking as a tank? I guess I should not be surprised because in battles I always find myself drawing all of the agro from like 3 enemies while he is just drawing agro on 1. Is he the only tank companion for the Jedi Consular? Also if I am screwed til my first DPS companion, what should I do? Should I spec DPS now and then back to healer when I get my DPS companion?

 

Also after my Consular, I plan on playing as an Imperial Agent (Operative/Healer). Is it the same? Or are the tank companions better?

[Drockter]

2 Suggestions:

 

1) Make sure your comps are geared, and heal them. With the class XP boost, its hard enough to keep yourself geared, but comps also need gear (a lot of their gear comes from exploration quests).

 

OR (and I don't like this option personally, as it doesn't help pepare you for healing)

 

2) Don't focus on your heal tree until further along... especially if you are focusing on the class stories. You won't be teaming... so just focus on DPS, then respec when ready.

[DOHboy]

as has been said here before. When you level you the char will most likely take the 2 of the 3 roles that the companion is not, sometimes all 3 if not properly geared.

 

As a sage, you can do a few things, put quizon in dps stance, make sure he is fully geared. But he is best left as a tank lest you pull aggro on eveyrthing.

 

It is more difficult early on but best way is to send him in to start the battle, make sure he has agg. Drop a few heals and rotate between heals and dps as you can. Make sure he is targeting the strong/elite as you pick off the weak. Make sure you are using your stuns and mezz as often as you can.

[Majestic_Jazz]

Is it normal for me to run out of mana in battles? Or am I doing something wrong? Again, I am a Sage so I have to use my mana whether it is for healing or offense as I am too weak to get close and attack with my lightsaber. I never ran out of mana as a dps or tank.

[TheNahash]

What am I doing wrong? I have had stories of players who want to play as endgame PvE/PvP healers level their characters as DPS specs and then once they hit endgame, redo their skill trees/abilities to focus more on healing. I heard tank players do something similar as they level their players as DPS then at endgame realign the abilities to be Tank focused. I thought about doing this, but because this is my first time playing as a healer, I wanted to "practice" my healing as I level so by the time I hit level 55 or so and begin endgame HM Flashpoints/Operations and level 55 PvP Warzones, I would have a good grasp on my abilities, keybinding placements, rotations and so on and so forth. I do not want to have to get all the way to endgame to begin "learning" how to play as a Healer after I have spent the last 55 levels playing as a DPS. However, should I go this strategy or stick it out as a healer?

 

Obviously all healer players are welcome to reply, not just Jedi Sage players. Any advice no matter how harsh is appreciated.

 

The only reason people play as DPS instead of Tanks and Healers while they're leveling is that it takes more time to kill your opponents when you're tanking/healing.

Other than that, it's perfectly viable to level as either of those two.

In fact, this might be one of the very few games (if not the only one) that you can just as easily level with a healer character as with a DPS one - it just takes more time to get done with your quests.

 

If you're finding it hard to kill enemies then here are some reasons for it:

- You gear might need upgrading - and that goes for your companion's gear as well.

- You might not be balancing healing and DPSing effectively - remember that your companions (especially if you're using a Tanking companion) can't really DPS as much as you can, so go for a healing-DPS combination and don't focus on keeping your companion's health at 100%.

- You might need to better keybind your abilities - trust me, having everything keybound to the correct key is crucial, you don't want to be wasting Force and time trying to find X ability while you're fighting.

- You might not be interrupting the enemy. That is something a LOT of people seem to fail to understand. Interrupts are not just for show. They are absolutely necessary while fighting. So interrupt, stun and cc as much as you can.

- You might not be using your abilities correctly - in your case, remember that bubbling Qyzon is just as important as bubbling yourself.

 

Also, you might wanna try using a DPS companion if you have one. If you don't have one yet, then use Qyzon's DPS stance (i.e. use him as a DPS instead of a Tank) until you get one.

[Calsetes]

Is it normal for me to run out of mana in battles? Or am I doing something wrong? Again, I am a Sage so I have to use my mana whether it is for healing or offense as I am too weak to get close and attack with my lightsaber. I never ran out of mana as a dps or tank.

 

You have to learn to manage it better. I think you have Force Armor, right? Use that on Qyzen before sending him off into battle. Also, don't "overheal" him, and don't just spam the quick, small heal nonstop - it's not that force-efficient.

 

Do you have that "regen" power yet? The icon should be a guy in a column of light or something. I'd also recommend using that once Qyzen loses a little bit of health. For the most part, just try to keep Qyzen alive and do minimal DPS on the enemy - maybe a Project or two. Keep him healed, and you'll survive.

[Damask_Rose]

as has been said here before. When you level you the char will most likely take the 2 of the 3 roles that the companion is not, sometimes all 3 if not properly geared.

 

As a sage, you can do a few things, put quizon in dps stance, make sure he is fully geared. But he is best left as a tank lest you pull aggro on eveyrthing.

 

It is more difficult early on but best way is to send him in to start the battle, make sure he has agg. Drop a few heals and rotate between heals and dps as you can. Make sure he is targeting the strong/elite as you pick off the weak. Make sure you are using your stuns and mezz as often as you can.

 

As DOHboy says, be sure you and Qyzen are decently gearerd. Send him in first so he gets agro. Keep him up and pick off the lower level mobs. If you don't already have a human at 50, get the unlock so you have that extra 100 presence to beef Qyzen up. Life as a sorc/sage gets much easier as you level up, so hang in there!

[Beltane]

There's some great advice here!

 

I have leveled 3 sorcerers and 1 sage to 55, so I like to think I have a decent grasp of the class.

 

At level 19 you really don't have very good heal abilities yet, but you also have diminished DPS. The class gets a lot easier to play when you get higher level and better healing abilities.

 

I would guess your problem is mostly based on gear and not hindering the boss enough. I believe at 19 you should have a stun, an interrupt, and a knockback. Use these strategically when the boss is channeling something. It's also useful to stun and knockback to remove the boss's ability to damage you for at least a few seconds.

 

Remember your companion has a tank stance and a DPS stance, too. You might try putting him on the DPS stance and see what happens. And remember the companion's gear is just as important as yours! Buy him greens off the GTN and you should be set.

 

As for running out of force/mana, do you have noble sacrifice yet? I think that's the name for the consumption equivalent--it's the ability that sacrifices a bit of your health to give you more mana. Once you're at a higher level, this is a normal part of your rotation, repeatedly hurting yourself to regen mana and then healing back up. It's a lot harder at a low level though.

 

You might also be focusing on DPSing too much in a boss fight. See what happens if you just keep your companion bubbled and healed, keep your DOT(s) on the enemy and throw out occasional attacks rather than spamming it.

 

Also, make sure you are buying updates for your abilities from the class trainer. May be obvious, but it's worth mentioning.

 

There's a sweet spot to be found, but I'm guessing your issue is mostly about gear. Good luck!

[EllieAnne]

Gear is not the issue. I always had Qyzon with leveled blue gear and weapons. There is simply something wrong with Q's mechanics/mathematics. While the OP apparently keeps pulling agro, I have the opposite as a shadow tank and Q in DPS mode pulling agro off me (even with taunts and yes I've tanked in SWTOR and other MMOs so it's not "know your role") but yet he never seems to actually kill anything before dying.

[Tsillah]

There is a check list that you can look at.

 

1) Your level vs quest level. You said you were over level so that's not the issue

2) Level of your gear AND your companion's gear. Even if you're level 23 and the boss level 19...if your gear is still like level 11 gear, that's an indication right there. The gear level in essence is more important than your character level since that's where most of your stats come from. If the gear of yourself and your companion is crap you are actually under par compared to the boss.

3) Tactics. Specifically larger groups or boss fights can be a bit challenging if you miss out on some basic tactics. This can be on various levels. First of all as a healer with a tank companion, you should let your companion make the first attack and not you. If it's a single boss mob especially. Let the tank take aggro and wait a little bit before you start dps'ing so he can hold aggro.

 

Secondly, story bosses are often trickier than other mobs. They will have one or two tricks that can really cost you the fight if you don't counter them. Certain high damage skills need to be interrupted with your interrupt skill or use your knockback skill to interrupt him. Also heal skills are key to interrupt. As a general rule when a boss casts a green skill it's probably a healing skill. You really have to interrupt this above anything else or it can take a long time to kill him.

 

I am not sure which boss you're having trouble with but chances are you're either undergeared and/or not using the right tactics. Not wanting to be harsh but I've leveled 4 healers to 55 and even though your heals are limited on low levels, I haven't had much trouble on lower levels at all.

[Tsillah]

Gear is not the issue. I always had Qyzon with leveled blue gear and weapons. There is simply something wrong with Q's mechanics/mathematics. While the OP apparently keeps pulling agro, I have the opposite as a shadow tank and Q in DPS mode pulling agro off me (even with taunts and yes I've tanked in SWTOR and other MMOs so it's not "know your role") but yet he never seems to actually kill anything before dying.

 

Companions tend to be crappy and Qyzen is no exception but I've leveled a few sages and I never had it this bad.

[MillionsKNives]

You're screwed until your first DPS companion. Qyzon sucks as a tank (always dies) and as a DPS (can't cause damage). This is a big reason I hated playing Sage as a healer.

 

There's nothing wrong with Qyzen, especially as a healer. I leveled my sage almost exclusively with him. The tank/healer combo allowed me to solo a ton of content that I couldn't have with almost any other combo. Even as a tank with a healer companion would probably have been harder, because I can heal better than a companion can.

 

There's some great advice here!

 

I have leveled 3 sorcerers and 1 sage to 55, so I like to think I have a decent grasp of the class.

 

At level 19 you really don't have very good heal abilities yet, but you also have diminished DPS. The class gets a lot easier to play when you get higher level and better healing abilities.

 

I would guess your problem is mostly based on gear and not hindering the boss enough. I believe at 19 you should have a stun, an interrupt, and a knockback. Use these strategically when the boss is channeling something. It's also useful to stun and knockback to remove the boss's ability to damage you for at least a few seconds.

 

Remember your companion has a tank stance and a DPS stance, too. You might try putting him on the DPS stance and see what happens. And remember the companion's gear is just as important as yours! Buy him greens off the GTN and you should be set.

 

As for running out of force/mana, do you have noble sacrifice yet? I think that's the name for the consumption equivalent--it's the ability that sacrifices a bit of your health to give you more mana. Once you're at a higher level, this is a normal part of your rotation, repeatedly hurting yourself to regen mana and then healing back up. It's a lot harder at a low level though.

 

You might also be focusing on DPSing too much in a boss fight. See what happens if you just keep your companion bubbled and healed, keep your DOT(s) on the enemy and throw out occasional attacks rather than spamming it.

 

Also, make sure you are buying updates for your abilities from the class trainer. May be obvious, but it's worth mentioning.

 

There's a sweet spot to be found, but I'm guessing your issue is mostly about gear. Good luck!

 

According to torhead Noble Sacrifice is at level 20, so if the OP can stick it out to 20 he should be in much better shape. I had a similar issue in some flashpoints at around that level where I didn't have Noble Sacrifice and so had no way to regen force when things went south for too long. There's this weird gap in leveling where your force management is nothing more than a race to see whether the enemy's health or your force runs out first.

 

OP, it looks like at your level you won't have resurgence yet either, which is also a big buff to force management. If some of the other suggestions aren't enough, like checking gear, and it's a matter of outlasting the enemy try doing absolutely nothing but healing Qyzen and ignoring DPS, which will allow your force to regen as best it can. Don't use Benevolence because its cost outweighs its healing, and I think force armor without the spec in the tree will also be more cost than it's useful (except for putting it on before the fight). In my opinion, at your level just spam Deliverence for that fight. It's a longer cast, but it's pretty much your most force efficient heal for your level.

 

Another thing to check is that all of Qyzen's abilities are toggled on. By default, all AOE abilities that he has are unchecked when he gets them. This is so that he doesn't break CC without you realizing why.

 

Gear is not the issue. I always had Qyzon with leveled blue gear and weapons. There is simply something wrong with Q's mechanics/mathematics. While the OP apparently keeps pulling agro, I have the opposite as a shadow tank and Q in DPS mode pulling agro off me (even with taunts and yes I've tanked in SWTOR and other MMOs so it's not "know your role") but yet he never seems to actually kill anything before dying.

 

I think it would be better to wait for the OP to tell us whether gear is the problem. I've had no issues with Qyzen, if played properly and both of us were given gear. He certainly doesn't tank as well as a player, but he gets the job done.

 

Even if he's in DPS mode he can still taunt, if I remember correctly. Make sure he doesn't have that still selected if you're having trouble with him pulling off of you.

Edited October 27, 2014 by MillionsKNives

[hadoken]

Even if he's in DPS mode he can still taunt, if I remember correctly. Make sure he doesn't have that still selected if you're having trouble with him pulling off of you.

 

Yea I don't know that any of the companions require a specific stance to use an ability. Maybe Treek.

[freeoftime]

i can't say how it is with a sage, but i know i never had trouble as a sorc healer early on -- and i even had some points in the DPS spec (which i know was horribly inefficient since it didn't up my DPS that much while just making my healing worse, second character, first healer ever, new to MMOs ). and i just had khem in greens. (and abandoned my first character on belsavis, so other than the JK/SW buff no help from there.) so it should definitely be doable.

 

first thing probably should be to see if qyzen is behind a lot in gear -- greens is enough, but he probably should have something better than level 11 by now.

 

and since you're having such resource management problems -- which heal abilities are you using? don't bother with benevolence unless you get that proc they introduced recently (....though tbh i'm not sure you have that one at level 19, i leveled my sorc a while ago). use deliverance instead -- it might be slower, but it has a lot more healing power for the force it uses. spec into rejuvenate and conveyance asap -- you can use the reduced force cost for deliverance it gives you till you get healing trance, when it's usually the easiest to go rejuvenate -> healing trance -> deliverance if you still need to heal. (benevolence, if it procs, isn't completely bad in my experience, but still not something i'd rely on.)

 

other than that -- keep an eye out for abilities you should interrupt (spinning strike i think it's called can be a pain if you don't on occassion) and try to find a balance between DPS and and healing.

[Loc_n_lol]

Yea I don't know that any of the companions require a specific stance to use an ability.

 

Dr Lokin, but he's kind of special.

[DOHboy]

also if you haven't done it yet, there is a sage skill in the balance tree( I believe) that gives an extra 100 force (50 per level, x2 levels), this should be a priority especially as a healer and earlier you get it the better off you will be.

[icengr]

The only reason people play as DPS instead of Tanks and Healers while they're leveling is that it takes more time to kill your opponents when you're tanking/healing.

Other than that, it's perfectly viable to level as either of those two.

In fact, this might be one of the very few games (if not the only one) that you can just as easily level with a healer character as with a DPS one - it just takes more time to get done with your quests.

 

If you're finding it hard to kill enemies then here are some reasons for it:

- You gear might need upgrading - and that goes for your companion's gear as well.

- You might not be balancing healing and DPSing effectively - remember that your companions (especially if you're using a Tanking companion) can't really DPS as much as you can, so go for a healing-DPS combination and don't focus on keeping your companion's health at 100%.

- You might need to better keybind your abilities - trust me, having everything keybound to the correct key is crucial, you don't want to be wasting Force and time trying to find X ability while you're fighting.

- You might not be interrupting the enemy. That is something a LOT of people seem to fail to understand. Interrupts are not just for show. They are absolutely necessary while fighting. So interrupt, stun and cc as much as you can.

- You might not be using your abilities correctly - in your case, remember that bubbling Qyzon is just as important as bubbling yourself.

 

Also, you might wanna try using a DPS companion if you have one. If you don't have one yet, then use Qyzon's DPS stance (i.e. use him as a DPS instead of a Tank) until you get one.

 

I can confirm this. I have leveled a few healers, even a sorc with Qyzon. And I always level my healers with a full healer spec. keeping you and your companion geared is key. I usually use cheap "green" gear from the GTN. there has been an influx of the stuff lately. its great for leveling.

[Gomla]

I have the same problem when I level a healer as I do when I level a tank.

 

I can't die but it takes me all day to kill things.

 

I don't spend time gearing companions though so that doesn't help.

[Fleurdelis]

You have a lightsaber that uses no force power with your basic attack so swing that thang.

[Nefla]

That's weird I find healing to be the easiest and had no trouble with my sage but I think it's just not something you're used to. Make sure to use stuns, interrupts, remember that your barrier abilities can be applied to your companion, heal only when needed and use your lightsaber to attack and get your force points back up, get good gear for your companion (including an endurance +41 crystal) and make sure to send him in first so the enemies attack him and not you (don't want to be panic healing yourself over and over and lose all force points only to die). If all else fails, you can always ask other players for help on a particularly hard enemy.

[Daxy]

Healer pc and tank comp is one of the strongest in the game- so long as both your gear is up to date; it can be slow but it is very powerful in solo pve content

I would also take taunt off auto as well as any companion aoes that might ruin cc's

 

You need to abuse your shield and mix in dps with heals use your cc's smartly and you should be good to go

[Billupsat]

You're screwed until your first DPS companion. Qyzon sucks as a tank (always dies) and as a DPS (can't cause damage). This is a big reason I hated playing Sage as a healer.

 

I disagree entirely, I think Qyzen is one of the better companion tanks, up there with Khem, and I never had any problems leveling as a Sage.