Bounty Hunter Starter Healing Guide ( Video Included ) Work in progress

[Monteeee]

Alrighty so you're rocking out as a Bounty Hunter and you get your *** off Hutta only to find your met with a decision as to which way to take you Bounty Hunter;

 

Bounty Hunter Mercenary

Bounty Hunter Powertech

 

In this guide we will be focusing on Mercenary and in particular the Healing tree within that Advanced Class.

 

Ok so you've seen the talent tree's above and the most important thing you need to know is that you can RESPEC within your Advanced class. But remember you CANNOT switch from Powertech to Merc or vice versa ( This might be subject to change but as of right now you cannot )

 

With that said the healing of a Bounty Hunter doesn't come in to effect proper nor does any role properly come in to effect until minimum of Level 14, this is when you will get your main ability to suit the role. Remember you will get this regardless of specing in to the Healing tree specifically but of course the healing tree will buff it alot.

 

For Healers we get Combat Support Cylinder which basically means when you shoot your standard Rapid Shots ability at a friendly target you will Heal that target instead of doing damage ( Yes you read that correctly! You shoot them in the face to Heal them )

 

So remember at level 10 or 11 feel free to go down any of the other 2 tree's while questing etc.. as you'll do more damage and have less downtime as a result. Only spec in to the healing tree if your leveling with friends or your doing alot of Healing in PVP or flashpoints. I'll now go over the spec i've gone with so far in BH healing tree and break down the talents for you.

 

First line of the Healing tree is a little boring when you first look at it but it helps out at the start in all honesty i'll list and explain the usefulness.

 

Improved Vents Vent Heat will now immediately vent 8 (16 with 2 point's) This talent is a god send early levels as you have nothing to really keep the heat down on your heals so you'll find yourself using vent heat alot more than later on so venting more heat is a no brainer, this should essentially be your first 2 points in the tree

 

Med Tech Reduces the activation time of Rapid Scan by [0.25 seconds / 0.5 seconds] and reduces the cooldown of Healing Scan by [1.5 seconds / 3 seconds] I know what your thinking! faster healing cast means this should be first choice at start of the tree, but the fact is the Healing Scan ability is unlocked at 16 so i still think venting more heat is a better way to start.

 

Hired Muscle Increases ranged and tech critical chance by [2 / 4 / 6]%. Really only spec in to this 1 point initially to get you up to the 2nd tier tree, we'll eventually fill it up but not just yet.

 

Ok so at level 15 you get your first big helpful ability within the healing tree and it's on the 2nd Tier Supercharged Gas is really like Chakra for priests in warcraft. Your normal abilities have added bonus depending on what you use.

Supercharged Gas when used:

Converts 30 charges of Combat Support Cylinder to supercharge your blasters, venting 16 heat and increasing all damage and healing dealt by 10% for 10 seconds. While active, the following abilities gain Supercharge effects:

Power Shot: Heat cost reduced by 17.

Unload: Heat cost reduced by 8.

Healing Scan: Cooldown reduced by 100%.

Kolto Missile: Places a shield on all targets, reducing damage taken by 10% for 15 seconds.

 

Please note that this talent is probably the most important talent you get a healing Bounty Hunter so get to using it all the time and become an expert at utilizing it's uses.

 

After you've taken Supercharged Gas you will then pick up:

Empowered Scans ncreases the healing done by Rapid Scan and Healing Scan by [3 / 6]%. In addition, Rapid Scan builds [3 / 6] charges of Combat Support Cylinder.

It's a no brainer for the healing increase alone but your standard heal will also give you 6 charges of Combat Support Cylinder which is required for the Supercharged Gas.

 

After this i found that doing flashpoints i wasn't really getting alot of pushback from stuff so i went and filled in the Hired Muscle talent which opens up the Alacrity talent above it (Alacrity is Haste) but don't click in to that yet as you wont crit heal alot yet and there are better talents to take on the 3rd Tier which is now open.

 

Firstly on the 3rd Tier pick up

Kolto Missile which is a AOE heal that you fire out at a area that you choose. (See end of video above)

Then move to the left of that talent and pick up

Kolto Residue which leaves a buff on the effected targets of Kolto Missile which increases all healing done to them by 5% for 15seconds.

After this go ahead and pick up

Heat Damping which makes your Crowd Control ability (Concussion Missile) cost no Heat

Finally drop back to Tier 2 and pick up the talent called Critical Reaction which provides you with the 5% haste when active.

 

Now we move on to Tier 4 in the talent tree and the first one to pick up is

Critical Efficiency When 3 slotted with points it will give your Healing scan a 100% chance to reduce the cost of Rapid Healing by 16heat. Once you have this talent you will always start a heal by using Healing Scan to be most heat efficient while healing.

 

Here is a full video so far explaining everything above. I'll add in some video's of flashpoints so you can see it all in action aswell and i'll of course update this thread as i start raiding and minmaxing the talents...

 

 

Please feel free to contribute and add your idea's and i'll update to suit...

 

Part 2 will be live soon and i want to thank Meiyu for bringing the gear to attention, i mention it in this video.

 

Will be live in about 35minutes Youtube is being slow Edited December 28, 2011 by Monteeee

[Osukaru]

Before reading this guide I almost regretted taking Mercenary over Powertech. All I have been seeing is how BH's have no real consistency when healing and how they are subpar healers. After reading this Guide I see how the spec falls together!

 

Many thanks!

 

Awesome guide!

[Meiyu]

Nice guide, but like 90% of the guides here about bodyguard BH ,you forgot one key aspect imo.

 

In no guide so far did I find which stats a bodyguard BH should focus on. Explaining how to heal is nice and what talent spec etv, but you need the basic of gearing right first before you can even start to heal.

 

New people might think willpower or w/e scales with your healing and I saw a couple of BH that geared that believing it will make them a better healer.

 

 

So if you could , perhaps add some info about what gear /stats we focus on

 

 

On than that, nice guide!!!

[USSDefiant]

I believe the classes are all normalized to use the same stats. So I would assume that a healing BH would prefer Aim. It makes some amount of sense with so many of the heals being shots from your blaster pistols.

 

The secondary stats may be different for a bodyguard, but the primary shouldn't be.

Edited December 27, 2011 by USSDefiant

[winan]

but you need the basic of gearing right first before you can even start to heal.

So if you could , perhaps add some info about what gear /stats we focus on

 

Great guide!

 

Aim/Power/Tech is what to go for I think after I stupidly specced in cunning lol and again in some cybertech earpieces I've made been getting alcracity (haste) bonus too!

[Traumaron]

Combat Support Cylinder is Your Friend:

BH Healling revolves around your stacks of the Combat Support Cylinder. Always keep 30 stacks up. This gives you an increase to healing/damage. Also, once you have 30 stacks up you can pop Supercharged Gas. Supercharged gas does a few things, but primarily I is it to put the 10% damage shield on the tank and people around him for 10 sec using Kolto Missle. Also, Supercharged Gas drops you heat by 16, increases damage and healing by 10% and removes the cooldown of Healing Scan. This important for the second mechanic.

 

Healing Scan:

When specced correctly, Healing Scan does a few additional abilities, it reduces the heat cost of Rapid Scan by 16 and it has a 100% chance of applying a HOT to the target. Always use this before Rapid Heal.

 

CC is Your Friend:

Always CC so you can manage your heat better becuase you dont have to spam heals and you can add in some light DPS.

 

Heat Management:

Always keep your heat as low as possible by resisting spamming heals and use strategic Vent Heat and Supercharged Gas when you need to drop your heat.

[Monteeee]

Bump due to update

[Joeblows]

deserved bump from fellow healer:)

[Kazim]

What do you guys think about Alacrity?

It seems that in high-end gear we're forced to choose between Accuracy and Alacrity. Accuracy obviously does nothing for healers..

I don't like Alacrity much, because the only thing it will do is give us more Rapid Shots. We're constrained by resources, not time, so all Alacrity will do is make us overheat faster and have to use more Rapid Shots..

 

I want Crit and Power dammit, but there is no such option on gear

[Yummymango]

Nice guide, but like 90% of the guides here about bodyguard BH ,you forgot one key aspect imo.

 

In no guide so far did I find which stats a bodyguard BH should focus on. Explaining how to heal is nice and what talent spec etv, but you need the basic of gearing right first before you can even start to heal.

 

New people might think willpower or w/e scales with your healing and I saw a couple of BH that geared that believing it will make them a better healer.

 

 

So if you could , perhaps add some info about what gear /stats we focus on

 

 

On than that, nice guide!!!

 

^This.

 

First of all good guide for beginners. Please include stat priority also which is very important.

 

I believe the classes are all normalized to use the same stats. So I would assume that a healing BH would prefer Aim. It makes some amount of sense with so many of the heals being shots from your blaster pistols.

 

The secondary stats may be different for a bodyguard, but the primary shouldn't be.

 

Yes I also believe this is true and another good stat to look for is Alacrity and Crit. I personally would like to go for crit than alacrity but I can imagine other may argue.

 

Reason -

Our healing resource is not like mana, it is limited and faster you use, the faster you will run out of it. So better thing to look for is Crit which will make your heals bigger.

So Aim> Crit > Alacrity

 

For PVP I would choose Alacrity though

 

 

What do you guys think about Alacrity?

It seems that in high-end gear we're forced to choose between Accuracy and Alacrity. Accuracy obviously does nothing for healers..

I don't like Alacrity much, because the only thing it will do is give us more Rapid Shots. We're constrained by resources, not time, so all Alacrity will do is make us overheat faster and have to use more Rapid Shots..

 

I want Crit and Power dammit, but there is no such option on gear

 

I might be wrong brother but are you sure you looked at PVE gear and not PVP gear because in PVP gear Alacrity makes sense. BTW Alacrity is like spell haste and I dont think it will have effect on rapid shot or how fast your bullets fly. It is more to do with reducing your cast time. Like casting a heal or casting a Tracer missile.

Edited December 30, 2011 by Yummymango

[Kazim]

BTW Alacrity is like spell haste and I dont think it will have effect on rapid shot or how fast your bullets fly. It is more to do with reducing your cast time. Like casting a heal or casting a Tracer missile.

 

I know what it does, what I mean is, it won't allow you to cast more heals because you only have so much heat to work with. The extra time will be spent rapid shooting, which is free

 

Edit: Both PvP and PvE gear force you to choose between accuracy and alacrity

Edited December 30, 2011 by Kazim

[DJFireGuy]

I'm not 100% sold on two points in Improved Vent Heat. Unless I'm doing something wrong, I've seldom found myself needing to vent heat when healing flashpoints. I am curious about the skill and I may re-tool down the road, but I think those points could be used elsewhere personally.

[SysOpPsyche]

Yeah, Vented Heat is mostly worthless. It adds a total of +12 Heat vented to an ability that vents 50 over 3 seconds that has a 2min CD. Your going to be using other techniques to reduce Heat so its basically a waste of Points.

 

Also, [Edit: Unknown ability name at Tier 2 that boosts alacrity] (the Tier 2 accessed from Hired Muscle) is mostly worthless since cast times don't increase and most are already slamming the GCD. I've seen it shave .1 seconds off of Healing Scan which is piddly.

 

Lastly, with Kolto Missile (no CD) is a nice AoE Heal although weak and costs heat but its kind of a pain to setup to use without giving up something else (too much to juggle and you do need to spam it a lot for it to be useful). The choice at that point is either grab Kolto Missile and grab the buff talents for it or not and go PowerShield (panic mode).

 

Otherwise I pretty much agree with the guide. Note: For Supercharged Gas (which is pretty much your Burst power) you'll either being using it Offensively to spam damaging shots or alternating Healing Scan/Rapid Scan combos with maybe a Kolto missile to provide a short term Heal/Protection buff into a crowd.

Edited December 30, 2011 by SysOpPsyche

[CericME]

I find Kolto Missile a little akward to use but, the shield it give with Supercharge is very handy especially when soloing.

[Ertei]

Yeah, Vented Heat is mostly worthless. It adds a total of +12 Heat vented to an ability that vents 50 over 3 seconds that has a 2min CD. Your going to be using other techniques to reduce Heat so its basically a waste of Points.

 

Also, [Edit: Unknown ability name at Tier 2 that boosts alacrity] (the Tier 2 accessed from Hired Muscle) is mostly worthless since cast times don't increase and most are already slamming the GCD. I've seen it shave .1 seconds off of Healing Scan which is piddly.

 

Lastly, with Kolto Missile (no CD) is a nice AoE Heal although weak and costs heat but its kind of a pain to setup to use without giving up something else (too much to juggle and you do need to spam it a lot for it to be useful). The choice at that point is either grab Kolto Missile and grab the buff talents for it or not and go PowerShield (panic mode).

 

Otherwise I pretty much agree with the guide. Note: For Supercharged Gas (which is pretty much your Burst power) you'll either being using it Offensively to spam damaging shots or alternating Healing Scan/Rapid Scan combos with maybe a Kolto missile to provide a short term Heal/Protection buff into a crowd.

 

 

 

These guides are always absurd. You are correct, Improved Vents is completely worthless as it provides, at most, 8 heat/minute and only if you spam Vent Heat on CD. Regarding Critical Reaction however, you couldn't be more wrong. It will be up constantly due to crit being the best secondary stat and 5% haste for 2 talent points is better than anything else available for increasing throughput. It lets you cast 5% more heals within a given timeframe and that equates to 5% more healing if you are constantly casting or 5% faster delivery on emergency heals if you aren't. Excellent deals for 2 points that low in the tree (even the 4% in system calibrations is worth 2 points).

 

Also, Kolto Missile has a 6 sec CD and is critical for its boost to heals and 10% DR while supercharged. One of the biggest boosts to making up for a lack of other AE heals is the fact that the missile buffs the splash targets as well which makes the otherwise difficult task of keeping up large numbers of targets easier.

[Mauridius]

With regards to Kolto Missile, use it wisely and get used to moving the target to its destination as quick as you can. This cannot be more important for Hard Mode, as the enrage timers can be tight and things hit much much harder. The last thing you need to be doing is moving a target around the floor whilst health is dropping.

 

As nice as the shield and little extra healing is in these instances if you cant move your target to the area quick enough you may as well not bothered, it will take you longer to recover from the damage caused and outweigh its obvious benefits.

 

Kudos for taking the time and putting this together

[DJFireGuy]

Yes, and please note I wasn't criticizing the OP for this guide. These types of collective threads are excellent sources for new healers. If people would like to see a "proposed" healing skill tree set up, I found on torhead you can check it out here http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#300bfRMRbcdkqZrcoZb.1

[Yummymango]

With regards to Kolto Missile, use it wisely and get used to moving the target to its destination as quick as you can. This cannot be more important for Hard Mode, as the enrage timers can be tight and things hit much much harder. The last thing you need to be doing is moving a target around the floor whilst health is dropping.

 

As nice as the shield and little extra healing is in these instances if you cant move your target to the area quick enough you may as well not bothered, it will take you longer to recover from the damage caused and outweigh its obvious benefits.

 

Kudos for taking the time and putting this together

 

Actually I have found something different, for you to heal a moving target with missile, you need to shoot where they are and not worry about it landing. The targets will be healed even if they are running. Try it on running target and you will understand what I mean. i am glad we dont have to make it land on the target by predicting its final position.

[dotwari]

Nice guide.

[Monotwo]

great guide

[DonSkuzzie]

Great guide OP, that will help the newer healers out quite alot!

 

 

About the stats on gear.

You'll need alot of champion gear to make your pve set worth it.

 

I'm almost done optimizing my gear, at this moment i have 3/5 pieces modded the way i want (+power on the mod, and +crit +surge on the enchantment (note there are 2 different ones, you'll want the one with less endurance and more secondary stats).

 

You will get these mods and enchantments from PvP helmets / chests and gauntlets.

 

Currently my crit is at 40%, my surge at 85% (100% with talents) and power is around 250 (my guns have alot of power).

 

I can tell you that i'm having no problems healing in hardmode operations, i somewhat perfected my resource managment and almost never have to vent heat during fights.