Oh my gosh PvP is horrifying as a healer.

[Zexum]

So today I decided to que up for my first Warzone match for the double XP daily. I've never PvP'd in TOR before, but I've done plenty of PvP in some other games I've played, so I thought it wouldn't be that much of a change. The one thing that I didn't think of is that this is the first time I've ever played a Healer in an MMO. And oh my gosh,

 

It is horrifying.

 

I was just a level 41 Sawbones running around frantically with no idea what was even happening, I just focused on trying to keep as many people alive as I could for as long as I could, but even then it just became a game of 'how long can you last 'till someone notices you're there and murders you.'

 

Can anyone throw me some insight? I mean, yeah I know level 41 (Pretty bad) but...Am I seriously at that much of a disadvantage over everyone else? I tried to stay behind as many people as I could, but Bounty Hunters/etc would always seem to find me and proceed to make my life miserable. At the moment I have one CC-breaker, and it's on a 2 minute cool-down. I used to think I was pretty good at healing until now. Most of my FP groups went very well, I can win most duels that come my way since I'm smart with my CC but...

 

This was something completely insane. So much was happening at the same time. Let us venture into the mind of a young Cerlie, for 10 seconds during a Warzone.

 

00:00 - 00:01

"Okay I guess we're all going this wa-RED CIRCLES EVERYWHERE. EVERYONE IS RUNNING EVERYWHERE."

00:01 - 00:02

"I NEED TO HIDE BEHIND THIS PILLAR, I'M ALREADY AT 1/4 HP, SPAM HEALS"

00:02 - 00:03

"WHAT THE **** JUST STABBED ME, I WASN'T EVEN DOING ANYTHING"

00:03 - 00:04

"GET CC'D YOU PIECE OF ****, GET AWAY FROM ME"

00:04 - 00:05

"OH CRAP IT'S A CHANNELED - THROW AN INTERRUPT - WAIT **** I'M AT 1/4 HP AGAIN"

00:05 - 00:06

"HOLY **** I'M ON FIRE - WHY DOES EVERYONE HATE ME SO MUCH"

00:06 - 00:07

"HAHA, DISAPPEARING ACT! YOU'LL NEVER FIND ME!"

00:07 - 00:08

"WHY DID STEALTH JUST BREA-"

00:08 - 00:09

"rip"

00:09 - 00:10

[Quit Game]

 

 

Help?

[Lundorff]

1) At level 41 life is still pretty miserable.

 

2) You need experience. Much, much more experience.

[AlrikFassbauer]

Only the hardest and most aggressive ones survive.

That's PvP.

[PBoba]

So cute.

you're in the first circle of pvp ignorance. You know nothing and have no idea of how much you know nothing. S'ok, everyone starts there. Keep going. People probly won't flame a healer too much, they're generally glad you're queuing heals at all.

 

Read the class forums, ask for help there first. For a good first time pvp journey, read DomiSotto's "A PVP a day" thread - and keep trying.

[NikSunrider]

Okay, at 41, you are just nearing the middle of the middle bracket...which means, a good 70% of people are more powerful than you.

 

I cannot give any specific advice without knowing your class, but I will say this:

[*]Competent teams target healers. Getting focused is normal for a healer.

[*]If your team is competent, then they will peel for you. Best thing that'll happen will be a pocket tank who will stay within 15m of you, guard you, and not let anyone kill you. If you don't have taht, your team should be intercepting your attackers.

[*]From what I gathered from your post, your team was just incompetent.

[*]Keep trying! At level 51 (so in 10 more levels) you will get some pretty nice defensive abilites, no matter your class, and at 57 you'll get your top-tier heal, which will make healing everyone easier.

[*]Take Defensive utilites over DPS utilities. For instance 30% damage reduction while stunned will help you out A LOT!

[*]Also, you might need a bit of PvP experience. Know what stuns to break, know what defenses to use.... some stuns only last 2 seconds. A global cooldown is 1.5 seconds...by the time the person is firing off their next attack, you will most likely be free of those stuns.

[*]Use your stuns to get away. Don't stun and try to heal, or stun and try to DPS, if you can help it. Stun, run away, and then heal up.

[*]Try kiting.

[*]And, above all, ask for advice! If a healer is an a warzone with you, and they perform seriously better, ask them what they did. IF they act like a jacka$s, it is theri problem, if they don't -- you'll get a lot more useful info out of them then you will from me. I have not tried ranked healing in 3.0 yet, only regs.

 

I really hope that helps.

If you need anything, just ask!

[Jerba]

For PvP, you need a lot of raid awareness: You need to have a good overview of the fight and be able to quickly react. In PvE, you always know what will happen next, in PvP you need to be able to adapt.

 

You need to keep in mind that mid-PvP (level 30 to 59) is currently unbalanced; players at level 55+ have a much bigger advantage than players like you at level 41. If you're new to PvP, maybe try queueing with a low level character (level 10 to 29), because there most other players are new to PvP as well and you won't get immediately focussed if you stand still too much.

 

In general, the principle of PvP is to kill the healer as fast as possible, then kill the DPS. If the healer is left alone, then he will constantly heal up the group and it turns into a zergfest with a lot of damage and healing on both sides, but no one dying and in general the fight becomes locked down. (It gets a little more complicated when you have tanks in the group, so I won't go over that)

Most players will just attack the DPS and not notice the healers, but then there are the good PvPers (like those you encountered) who will immediately see that you are a healer and make your life miserable.

 

Some of the things I learned:

• Run to the fight while in stealth. Wait with healing until the enemy started attacking the DPS.
  
• Find a spot where you are hidden from the enemy, like behind a pillar, but still able to heal.
  
• If a melee attacks you, use your stuns on him and quickly run away. This gets easier with level 51 when you get your Scamper roll.
  
• If that doesn't help, use your cooldowns. Always hit Defense Screen, and watch your debuff bar. If there are lot of dots on you (they'll say "Dealing periodic damage" in the tooltip), hit Evade, that way all those debuffs are gone.
  
• Finally, a scoundrel's greatest abilities is Disappearing Act to enter stealth. You don't need to stay in stealth for too long, just run away quickly behind a wall, heal up yourself and get back to the group.
  

 

Don't be discouraged by one PvP match, there is a lot to learn, but it also teaches you how to become a better player, more than you'd ever be able to learn via PvE.

A healer needs to do much more than just hit his healing abilities, and you'll find you can translate the same skills to PvE as well. There are many boss fights with adds, where a single stun or Interrupt will make your job as a healer easier, provided you are able to keep an overview of the fight and are not only focussed on the HP bars.

There are currently six Warzones and four arena maps, each with their own winning condition. I'd recommend you first try to keep the group alive, and when you see a blue clicky thing, click on it. Eventually you'll figure out how each map works.

 

Edit: Oh nevermind, looks like you already knew those things from playing PvP in other MMOs, my bad.

Just play some more PvP, just because you had a terrible experience in the first match doesn't mean you won't like PvP. Also, to me it sounds like you were in an 4v4 arena match, not in a 8v8 warzone. The arenas are more challenging than the warzones, just queue again until you get in a warzone.

Edited February 15, 2015 by Jerba

[HBMalachorfive]

So today I decided to que up for my first Warzone match for the double XP daily. I've never PvP'd in TOR before, but I've done plenty of PvP in some other games I've played, so I thought it wouldn't be that much of a change. The one thing that I didn't think of is that this is the first time I've ever played a Healer in an MMO. And oh my gosh,

 

It is horrifying.

 

I was just a level 41 Sawbones running around frantically with no idea what was even happening, I just focused on trying to keep as many people alive as I could for as long as I could, but even then it just became a game of 'how long can you last 'till someone notices you're there and murders you.'

 

Can anyone throw me some insight? I mean, yeah I know level 41 (Pretty bad) but...Am I seriously at that much of a disadvantage over everyone else? I tried to stay behind as many people as I could, but Bounty Hunters/etc would always seem to find me and proceed to make my life miserable. At the moment I have one CC-breaker, and it's on a 2 minute cool-down. I used to think I was pretty good at healing until now. Most of my FP groups went very well, I can win most duels that come my way since I'm smart with my CC but...

 

This was something completely insane. So much was happening at the same time. Let us venture into the mind of a young Cerlie, for 10 seconds during a Warzone.

 

00:00 - 00:01

"Okay I guess we're all going this wa-RED CIRCLES EVERYWHERE. EVERYONE IS RUNNING EVERYWHERE."

00:01 - 00:02

"I NEED TO HIDE BEHIND THIS PILLAR, I'M ALREADY AT 1/4 HP, SPAM HEALS"

00:02 - 00:03

"WHAT THE **** JUST STABBED ME, I WASN'T EVEN DOING ANYTHING"

00:03 - 00:04

"GET CC'D YOU PIECE OF ****, GET AWAY FROM ME"

00:04 - 00:05

"OH CRAP IT'S A CHANNELED - THROW AN INTERRUPT - WAIT **** I'M AT 1/4 HP AGAIN"

00:05 - 00:06

"HOLY **** I'M ON FIRE - WHY DOES EVERYONE HATE ME SO MUCH"

00:06 - 00:07

"HAHA, DISAPPEARING ACT! YOU'LL NEVER FIND ME!"

00:07 - 00:08

"WHY DID STEALTH JUST BREA-"

00:08 - 00:09

"rip"

00:09 - 00:10

[Quit Game]

 

 

Help?

 

Ah so your on BC? If you want send an in game mail to Brancard or Zincona. I'll see if i can help you out sometime. FYI you more than likely ran into a STI premade if you were getting zerged that fast, as everyone else on that server is terrible

[sithBracer]

lol, welcome to pvp Zexum. As a healer you will be focused more than anyone else on the team most likely. You definitely need to practice healing on the run, using LoS, and keeping an eye on your pursuer as you heal your team.

 

It reminds me of a recent match on my scoundrel healer, I had around 1.4M heals and took over 900k damage (1 death). The tunnel is very real.

[Lhancelot]

Honestly, by 44-45 you probably will notice a little better survivability. On my healing merc, that's when it got manageable on him.

[DomiSotto]

PvP is horrifying no matter what class you play first time. I would suggest you to watch the videos of each zone just to get an idea what is that you are trying to achieve as a team. Next, as healer, don't try to save them all. This is no raid, people can only peel, not take the pressure off you completely.

 

Attach yourself to the tank, Ops Leader or the highest DPS. Establish healing connection with that toon before zone loads. Get those HoTs going ad see if the toon reciprocates, by, say, a Guard or will come to your help as soon as the things get messy.

 

If not, pick another one.

 

Maintain LoS with those that protect you, and give them all you've got in the heals department., After yourself, of course.

 

Stay very calm, get used to dying, worry about the rest after, and watch the movement of the fight.

 

The main thing - play as much as you can. PvP is a very special environment and very fast-paced, so you have to do a lot of things mechanically, without stopping to think about it.

[CrazyOldMystic]

Op thank you for a good laugh. Your description at the bottom was a good read.

 

I do pvp on my dps, and the first time I did pvp on a healer spec, it was a whole new ball game. As a healer you are public enemy number one in pvp. The first to be focused and the first to tracked down. Being a smuggler makes you public enemy number one even more so, because that class has escapes, and stealth.

 

As the above posters said being calm and getting used to the chaos that is pvp is key. Like another poster said the rest will come later. Pve is about knowing the mechanics of a fight, pvp is about finding your way through the chaos, and completing your objective. Many use mods, some like myself do not. My point is its not easy and will take time to get used to. Personally the more chaos the more fun but thats just me.

[Msackfield]

PVP can be really bad for anyone in their first time on this game.

 

But atleast you picked a better class to PVP with than me, sawbones heals are awesome and really easy to play. Just always be moving unless you have to cast/channel something. Mobility is the key, trust me I have an operative.

 

As people have said, hide behind pillars and use LOS to your advantage, if someone is spamming AOEs then obviously get out of them, if you have a tank on the group make sure they guard you because tank/healer combos are brilliant. Plus you can be very annoying to others.

 

If you're being focused to hell and back, then tour teammates need to help you, the DPS should peel them off you whilst the tank taunts/guards you and just basically protects you whilst maintaining the objectives.

 

If they're not doing this, and you're not having fun. Leave the match. They don't deserve your heals if they can't protect you. Plus if they don't you'll end up self healing alot more than healing them.

 

But yeah, atleast your first character in an MMO ever wasn't a combat sentinel.. Could not play that at all 😂

 

Also that little timeline of events made me laugh. Have a nice day 😊

[Linyivee]

I would separate PvP into the following tiers:

 

Levels 10-20 (players play as 20)

Levels 20-30 (players play as 30)

Levels 30-40 (players play as 40)

Levels 40-50 (players play as 50)

Levels 50-60 (players play as 60)

 

Level 60s should not be playing in PvPs with level 40s.

Level 40s should not be playing in PvPs with level 20s.

etc...

 

So cute. you're in the first circle of pvp ignorance. You know nothing and have no idea of how much you know nothing. S'ok, everyone starts there. Keep going. People probly won't flame a healer too much, they're generally glad you're queuing heals at all.

 

I think that type of a reply is very condescending.

 

So today I decided to que up for my first Warzone match for the double XP daily. I've never PvP'd in TOR before, but I've done plenty of PvP in some other games I've played, so I thought it wouldn't be that much of a change. The one thing that I didn't think of is that this is the first time I've ever played a Healer in an MMO. And oh my gosh,

 

It is horrifying.

 

I was just a level 41 Sawbones running around frantically with no idea what was even happening, I just focused on trying to keep as many people alive as I could for as long as I could, but even then it just became a game of 'how long can you last 'till someone notices you're there and murders you.'

 

Playing in PvPs as a healer is very difficult. After I tried to respec my character for healer, I ended up switching back to doing damage. Healers are always the first to be targeted.

Edited February 15, 2015 by Linyivee

[Banderal]

Your description matches mine almost exactly when I entered my first PvP match, except I wasn't a healer. I'll just heap on my agreement of what everyone else is pretty much saying. PvP "dieing wise" is very different from PvE. Expect to die. A lot. Especially when you start. And just forget about any sort of negative stigma attached to it when you are a beginner. Later on you can get a feel for when it's a good idea to stick it out to the very end and take the death, and when to escape and heal up.

 

The only other thing I think I haven't seen anyone mention - advertise your a healer before the match starts. Just heal people, even though they are not damaged yet. Or type <--- heals into general chat. Either way, you might get more help if you parade your usefulness in front of people before they have anything else on their minds.

[Jake_Chambers]

Firstly, it does get better, a lot better. Just level up and keep at it.

 

Secondly, yes, healers are (and should be) targeted first. The best healers in this game, and even average ones can literally carry a team by themselves so they need to be attacked. If enemy dps let you freecast, well have fun.

 

You'll get better with more practice, but as has been said; use your mobile heals, stand by los objects, re-position

when targeted, don't waste your stun breaker, and try to be as annoying as possible.

 

There will be a few matches you're going to get that it seems like you're being ignored.

[Capt_Beers]

Only the hardest and most aggressive ones survive.

That's PvP.

 

Should we just talk it out in WZ's instead?

[Capt_Beers]

I would separate PvP into the following tiers:

 

Levels 10-20 (players play as 20)

Levels 20-30 (players play as 30)

Levels 30-40 (players play as 40)

Levels 40-50 (players play as 50)

Levels 50-60 (players play as 60)

 

Level 60s should not be playing in PvPs with level 40s.

Level 40s should not be playing in PvPs with level 20s.

etc...

 

 

 

I think that type of a reply is very condescending.

 

 

 

Playing in PvPs as a healer is very difficult. After I tried to respec my character for healer, I ended up switching back to doing damage. Healers are always the first to be targeted.

 

60's aren't in PvP with anyone but other 60's. 50's would get slaughtered in 60 PvP.

[NikSunrider]

I would separate PvP into the following tiers:

 

Levels 10-20 (players play as 20)

Levels 20-30 (players play as 30)

Levels 30-40 (players play as 40)

Levels 40-50 (players play as 50)

Levels 50-60 (players play as 60)

 

Level 60s should not be playing in PvPs with level 40s.

Level 40s should not be playing in PvPs with level 20s.

etc...

 

 

 

I think that type of a reply is very condescending.

 

 

 

Playing in PvPs as a healer is very difficult. After I tried to respec my character for healer, I ended up switching back to doing damage. Healers are always the first to be targeted.

 

Ignorant bratling.

 

60s don't PvP with anyone but themselve.s

Also, what you suggest is utter bullsith. The entire game would not sustain a system like that, people would level out of certain brackets far too fast. And the person with highest level would still win.

 

If you want to, really, spread things out, the only viable brackets are :: 10-25, 26-40, 41-56, 57-59 and 60

So that everyone has one "major" discipline ability.

 

Even so, the 57-59 bracket would struggle for players.

 

The system is fine as it is.

 

Also, your own reply was ignorant, and condescending too.

Hypocrite.

[Phorenzyk]

There's a few steps you can take to make your journey a lot easier.

 

The first is learning to quickly prioritize your outgoing heals. Obviously the highest priority should be yourself and the people who will peel for you, but even in that you need to establish an internal priority.

 

The second is learning the maps, so that you can know at any given time, you can quickly hide here, or you're likely to have incoming attacks from this direction, etc. This ties into the third tip:

 

Stay on the move. As Vergere once told Luke Skywalker - "A master of defense is one who is never in the place that is attacked." This helps keep them from getting a bead on you, gets you in the habit of moving to cover on instinct, etc.

 

Finally, get used to your defensives and the timing in which you use them; try to conserve them and plan ahead. You have a 4 second stun, an 8 second mez, a slow, Evasion, and your shield probe. It might be a good idea to take the utility point in the first tier that lowers the cooldown on your stun to 30 seconds.

 

Really, it all boils down to 'learn these things, learn the maps, read up on what you can'. The more you know ahead of time, the less you'll have to try to figure out amidst the chaos, and the more you can focus on learning how to filter through that chaos.

 

But above all, learn how to play defensively. I personally recommend, even if you have a friend willing to tank, queueing solo while you're getting started, because that helps you learn what's most essential to a healer in PVP - how to survive. Don't get comfortable having people peel for you, learn how to take care of yourself. That's the secret.

[clearsighted]

The best advice is to not be a healer in pvp until you're vastly more comfortable in the pvp culture of swtor. Play a DPS your first 10 or 100 matches.

 

I am not being flippant or condescending. This is genuinely the best advice anyone could give you, and I myself could not even comprehend playing my first warzone match as a healer, or suggesting someone else to do so.

 

Healing in swtor pvp CAN be pretty easy, and even faceroll for some people. But you require an extremely solid base. Someone who has fought for the middle node in Alderaan civil war 500 times before is going to intuitively maneuver and predict people's actions far far better than someone who's played it once or twice...and that kind've prediction is half of what makes a healer any good.

 

Second best piece of advice I can give you is that healing in lowbies or midbies sucks because there's a high probability no one is smart enough to guard or peel for you, or else they just don't care (And let's be honest, someone putting a guard on you anyways would probably be doing more harm than good, given your lack of experience). So just rock DPS and let the occasional premade provide the healing.

 

In about a hundred matches, revisit the idea of potentially healing.

Edited February 16, 2015 by clearsighted

[PBoba]

Should we just talk it out in WZ's instead?

 

"Talk, talk it over..."

[PBoba]

The best advice is to not be a healer in pvp until you're vastly more comfortable in the pvp culture of swtor. Play a DPS your first 10 or 100 matches.....

In about a hundred matches, revisit the idea of potentially healing.

 

I'd suggest totally ignoring this advice - except for ranked, where I'd times it by 8. I first pvped as ops heals in 2.something, levelling the whole way through pvp and fps and class story. you learn enough, more than enough. Was I as good as those who had run all the classes, or done dps previously, knew all the tricks of the map? Course not. But that does not make a noticeable difference in regs. The only difference was pug v premade - and or guard/no guard - ever.

 

The game is not that hard. Don't stress out. It's only regs. We want people healing. We want people learning to heal. Just read up on your class, other classes, and keep going.

[funkiestj]

OP, join a guild that does PvP and uses voice chat.

 

If there is even one good player in your guild and you can group up with him and chat about WZ afterwards that will help more than 100 posts here.

 

Also, practice dueling. Dueling as a healer will teach you kiting basics.

 

As for your experience: in lowbie (below 60) WZ, 90% of the time everyone is a horrible player and there is very little to learn from the chaos that ensues. You may play really well but if the other side has a 4-man premade of good PvP players who are leveling alts you will be crushed regardless of how well you play.

 

8v8 WZ is a huge crapshoot because of the wide variance in skill of teammates and opponents. You can reduce this variance by forming a 4-man group with your guildmates and queuing together. Queuing together and having everyone in voice will also make you a stronger team. Lastly, PvP is simply a lot more fun if you are playing with and chatting with your guildmates.

[clearsighted]

I'd suggest totally ignoring this advice - except for ranked, where I'd times it by 8. I first pvped as ops heals in 2.something, levelling the whole way through pvp and fps and class story. you learn enough, more than enough. Was I as good as those who had run all the classes, or done dps previously, knew all the tricks of the map? Course not. But that does not make a noticeable difference in regs. The only difference was pug v premade - and or guard/no guard - ever.

 

The game is not that hard. Don't stress out. It's only regs. We want people healing. We want people learning to heal. Just read up on your class, other classes, and keep going.

 

Some people have a greater pain tolerance and easier learning curve.

[L-RANDLE]

Yeah and help your tank out by not running away from your guard either, and if you are out of range(say at another node) drop the guard so you could possibly be guarded by someone else (yeah I know two tanks are rare, but it's frustrating telling people to drop guard in the middle of a node defense).