4.0 Merc healing questions for PVP

[Lhancelot]

I am going to dust off an old merc healer, out of boredom mostly. Just curious what people are running in PVP for statistics, and utilities.

 

Main question is are people focusing on 1400 rating for crit, rest in power, then slight amount of alacrity (3-4%)? Or is higher crit better for merc healers?

 

For utilities, is the 30% stun helpful or is it better to grab tech overrides X2 for better burst heals/lower cooldown on tech overrides? Also, is thrill of the hunt for casting the channeled heal on the move is that needed?

 

In the past I always went with shield defensive buffs in the utilities because I found mobility on the healing merc never could match the mobility of melee and dps of other classes, it was pointless trying to kite away and escape them because they simply always could trump my merc in mobility.

 

So, I would buff all energy shield utilities for maximum survivability. Is that still the case, or has stat/crits changed the gameplay of the healing merc?

 

What do you guys do in PVP on your healing merc?

[jedcjedcjedc]

I go with:

 

Skillfull

jet escape: first tier stunbreak CD reduction plus a small boost to KB? yes please (though lately I've been wondering how good any of the stunbreak reductions are, usually odds are you've either finished the fight, escaped, or died before the second breaker would make a difference, no? just some random thoughts)

 

Improved vents: Merc heat sucks paenus. Also, moar alacrity

 

Custom enviro suit/Gyroscopic alignment jets: this depends on how comfortable you are with heat management. if you can go between vent heat CD's without gimping yourself, then CES adds a bit of extra health and healing for you.

 

Masterful

Suit FOE: 'cus madness

 

Torque boosters: this is just pretty generic, I've toyed with other stuff but the only thing that's half as good is supercharged defense unless you're going the full shield build (that's what I originally used before I started experimenting). I find the extra maneuverability and immunity to being root locked very helpful.

 

Heroic

Thrill of the hunt: energy rebounder is <3 and for the life of me I don't know why it isn't baseline like AP PT, but havingto stop moving to use progressive scan every time is just....no. You just don't have that kind of tankiness, lol.

 

Power Overrides: x2 rapid scan or x2 healing scan in SCG phases on a 40s CD is really really really really helpful. really.

 

P.S. Please note I have 13% alacrity and loving it. 1.3s GCDS FTW <3

 

P.P.S. For the full shield build all I had different was protective field and power shield for heroic and energy rebounder instead of power overrides for heroic. I'm telling you, energy rebounder is ridiculous energy shield is up just about 24/7 in this build (at least for me, but I get crazy focused, lol).

Edited February 16, 2016 by jedcjedcjedc

[Lhancelot]

I go with:

 

Skillfull

jet escape: first tier stunbreak CD reduction plus a small boost to KB? yes please (though lately I've been wondering how good any of the stunbreak reductions are, usually odds are you've either finished the fight, escaped, or died before the second breaker would make a difference, no? just some random thoughts)

 

Improved vents: Merc heat sucks paenus. Also, moar alacrity

 

Custom enviro suit/Gyroscopic alignment jets: this depends on how comfortable you are with heat management. if you can go between vent heat CD's without gimping yourself, then CES adds a bit of extra health and healing for you.

 

Masterful

Suit FOE: 'cus madness

 

Torque boosters: this is just pretty generic, I've toyed with other stuff but the only thing that's half as good is supercharged defense unless you're going the full shield build (that's what I originally used before I started experimenting). I find the extra maneuverability and immunity to being root locked very helpful.

 

Heroic

Thrill of the hunt: energy rebounder is <3 and for the life of me I don't know why it isn't baseline like AP PT, but havingto stop moving to use progressive scan every time is just....no. You just don't have that kind of tankiness, lol.

 

Power Overrides: x2 rapid scan or x2 healing scan in SCG phases on a 40s CD is really really really really helpful. really.

 

P.S. Please note I have 13% alacrity and loving it. 1.3s GCDS FTW <3

 

P.P.S. For the full shield build all I had different was protective field and power shield for heroic and energy rebounder instead of power overrides for heroic. I'm telling you, energy rebounder is ridiculous energy shield is up just about 24/7 in this build (at least for me, but I get crazy focused, lol).

 

so you don't get the 30% stun DR 30% DR on ae attacks? Man. Just hard for me to not get that. Which sucks if i get it, because then I cannot get thrill of the hunt. I get the energy rebounder also.

 

I too just stuck in a ton of alacrity to test this out, seems that the class requires way too much standing for casts and the cast times are so long. Needed to speed them up.

 

I actually am experimenting a lot atm on the class, it definitely is a shell of a healer compared to sorc though. It's sad how underperforming merc heals is compared to sorc heals. Just annoying really.

 

But I am tired of sorc heals, need to heal on another class and playing whackamole with HoTs on my ops healer gets old really fast. Spreading HoTs on everyone is so tedious and boring I don't know how some people find it fun.

 

Well thanks for some input. Seems merc healers not very popular atm, it took over a day for one person (you) to even respond to this post haha.

[jedcjedcjedc]

so you don't get the 30% stun DR 30% DR on ae attacks? Man. Just hard for me to not get that. Which sucks if i get it, because then I cannot get thrill of the hunt. I get the energy rebounder also.

 

I too just stuck in a ton of alacrity to test this out, seems that the class requires way too much standing for casts and the cast times are so long. Needed to speed them up.

 

I actually am experimenting a lot atm on the class, it definitely is a shell of a healer compared to sorc though. It's sad how underperforming merc heals is compared to sorc heals. Just annoying really.

 

But I am tired of sorc heals, need to heal on another class and playing whackamole with HoTs on my ops healer gets old really fast. Spreading HoTs on everyone is so tedious and boring I don't know how some people find it fun.

 

Well thanks for some input. Seems merc healers not very popular atm, it took over a day for one person (you) to even respond to this post haha.

 

well DR doesnt protect against all damage, and definitely on a class like a merc it's not a very noticable difference imo. the cast time's are comparable to sorcs but the heals just heal for less and are not able to be made instant besides the emergency scan proc, which is why i like power overrides to provide a bit more heals on the go, especially in SCG idk what server you're on but if you're on Jedi Covenant I can help you out on there, if not, feel free to ask me if you have any questions.

[Jherad]

Who is your merc healer? Or is that a secret?

[jedcjedcjedc]

Who is your merc healer? Or is that a secret?

 

mine or his?

Edited February 16, 2016 by jedcjedcjedc

[Jherad]

Sorry, I meant Lhance's as I know he's on EH - but I'm always down for groups with any fellow mercs and mandos. Looking forward to meeting up with more of the cross-server community when the PTS starts in the next few weeks.

[Lhancelot]

Who is your merc healer? Or is that a secret?

 

I will tell you for cookies.

 

EDIT

Ok, I will tell you but we must meet in a secret place, and it must be ingame. I will contact you at a later time with more information.

Edited February 16, 2016 by Lhancelot

[Clogski]

On my merc healer I run:

 

Skillful

- Custom Enviro Suit

- Gyroscopic Alignment Jets

- Improved Vents

Masterful

- Power Shield

- Supercharged Defense

Heroic

- Stabilized Armour

- Thrill of the Hunt

- If you feel you'd rather turret and stand in one spot as opposed to kiting and pillar humping, I would drop TotH for Energy Rebounder.

 

I found these utilities to be the best to run with. The extra interrupt immunity AKA GODMODE that both Masterful utilities give are soooo helpful. I tried Afterburners a couple times and it was found helpful but only in solo ranked situations when my team doesn't peel for me and I have to fend for myself. Suit FOE was nice pre-4.0 when there was nothing but hatred and madness but now the other two masterful utilities are so much more useful than 30% dot damage reduction on self, plus I would much rather save my cleanse for CCs. I found Smoke Screen to be utter useless. It looks good on paper don't get me wrong but when I'd use it, the player I am getting away from would just roll/dash back to me, sure the 4 seconds of interrupt immunity is nice buuuuttt I found the other two Heroic utilities more worthwhile in the long run.

 

Stats

- Critical 38.61% 1059 rating

- Alacrity 11.72% 1187 rating

- Augments: 6 crit, 6 alacrity, 2 power

 

With these stats I am able to break 5k+ hps in almost every competitive warzone and hit 6200 hps in an arena. I enjoy running with ~11% alacrity and notice the difference when I have none, it is something I always stress to people they should use.

 

 

I hope this helped you and I hope you enjoy merc heals :3

MERCS4LYFE

~

[Lhancelot]

On my merc healer I run:

 

Skillful

- Custom Enviro Suit

- Gyroscopic Alignment Jets

- Improved Vents

Masterful

- Power Shield

- Supercharged Defense

Heroic

- Stabilized Armour

- Thrill of the Hunt

- If you feel you'd rather turret and stand in one spot as opposed to kiting and pillar humping, I would drop TotH for Energy Rebounder.

 

I found these utilities to be the best to run with. The extra interrupt immunity AKA GODMODE that both Masterful utilities give are soooo helpful. I tried Afterburners a couple times and it was found helpful but only in solo ranked situations when my team doesn't peel for me and I have to fend for myself. Suit FOE was nice pre-4.0 when there was nothing but hatred and madness but now the other two masterful utilities are so much more useful than 30% dot damage reduction on self, plus I would much rather save my cleanse for CCs. I found Smoke Screen to be utter useless. It looks good on paper don't get me wrong but when I'd use it, the player I am getting away from would just roll/dash back to me, sure the 4 seconds of interrupt immunity is nice buuuuttt I found the other two Heroic utilities more worthwhile in the long run.

 

Stats

- Critical 38.61% 1059 rating

- Alacrity 11.72% 1187 rating

- Augments: 6 crit, 6 alacrity, 2 power

 

With these stats I am able to break 5k+ hps in almost every competitive warzone and hit 6200 hps in an arena. I enjoy running with ~11% alacrity and notice the difference when I have none, it is something I always stress to people they should use.

 

 

I hope this helped you and I hope you enjoy merc heals :3

MERCS4LYFE

~

 

Thanks for sharing all this, I will re-gear and match your spec to test it out. Atm I got tons of alacrity I probably got too much on now. Think I am running with 16-17% alacrity atm.

[Alyanya]

so you don't get the 30% stun DR 30% DR on ae attacks? Man. Just hard for me to not get that.

 

The thing about that is that you don't want to be taking that much AoE damage to begin with, which is where the extra mobility can really help you. It's not the AoE that kills you anyway; it's direct attacks because...healer = target. Merc healers will never have the mobility of sorcs, but that just means we have to put that much more value on what mobility we can get. At least that's how I see it. Now for raiding action, different story. Those fights can see half the playable area or more getting regularly plastered with AoE nastiness, and your mates will need you to be able to heal through that crap.

[XscottguyX]

On my merc healer I run:

 

Skillful

- Custom Enviro Suit

- Gyroscopic Alignment Jets

- Improved Vents

Masterful

- Power Shield

- Supercharged Defense

Heroic

- Stabilized Armour

- Thrill of the Hunt

- If you feel you'd rather turret and stand in one spot as opposed to kiting and pillar humping, I would drop TotH for Energy Rebounder.

 

I found these utilities to be the best to run with. The extra interrupt immunity AKA GODMODE that both Masterful utilities give are soooo helpful. I tried Afterburners a couple times and it was found helpful but only in solo ranked situations when my team doesn't peel for me and I have to fend for myself. Suit FOE was nice pre-4.0 when there was nothing but hatred and madness but now the other two masterful utilities are so much more useful than 30% dot damage reduction on self, plus I would much rather save my cleanse for CCs. I found Smoke Screen to be utter useless. It looks good on paper don't get me wrong but when I'd use it, the player I am getting away from would just roll/dash back to me, sure the 4 seconds of interrupt immunity is nice buuuuttt I found the other two Heroic utilities more worthwhile in the long run.

 

Stats

- Critical 38.61% 1059 rating

- Alacrity 11.72% 1187 rating

- Augments: 6 crit, 6 alacrity, 2 power

 

With these stats I am able to break 5k+ hps in almost every competitive warzone and hit 6200 hps in an arena. I enjoy running with ~11% alacrity and notice the difference when I have none, it is something I always stress to people they should use.

 

 

I hope this helped you and I hope you enjoy merc heals :3

MERCS4LYFE

~

 

I just dusted off mine and one of my first matches already hit 5600 hps http://imgur.com/nlayIFN and as it just so happened to be am geared very similar (im not maxed with 208s yet) http://imgur.com/oU1njih

 

I was going to play around with the gear some more but ended up really liking it like this. Anyone else able to compete with different stats out of curiosity?

[Lhancelot]

I just dusted off mine and one of my first matches already hit 5600 hps http://imgur.com/nlayIFN and as it just so happened to be am geared very similar (im not maxed with 208s yet) http://imgur.com/oU1njih

 

I was going to play around with the gear some more but ended up really liking it like this. Anyone else able to compete with different stats out of curiosity?

 

Hey Scott! That's hilarious, I actually was wondering who played this merc you are the best merc healer I seen so far. What utilities do you run with this merc? I really am curious.

[jedcjedcjedc]

Thanks for sharing all this, I will re-gear and match your spec to test it out. Atm I got tons of alacrity I probably got too much on now. Think I am running with 16-17% alacrity atm.

But those 1.245 GCD's!!

[Lhancelot]

But those 1.245 GCD's!!

 

lol yeah. I pulled some of the alacrity off, and got it where there's enough to cast 1.3 sec heals, think I got 12-13%? Anyway, it's not bad in all honesty.

 

The survivability is just nothing that a healing sorc has though. There's no comparison. If anything the merc healer is fun because it's really challenging.

 

BUT. If I get the luck of being on an awful team it's 100 times more frustrating on the merc. On a bad team with the healing sorc I can put up numbers and still escape deaths pretty well...

 

With the healing merc on a bad team, I will have half the heal numbers and die a lot. Merc healer has no escapes from tunneled damage, none.

 

In this thread, Ibleedcheese (Scottchap etc.) posted his stats and stuff, but did not mention what utilities he runs. I really would like to know what utes he has...

 

He by far is the best merc/commando healer I seen on TEH so far. I was in a match with him, and he put up over 5k HPS in an 8v8.

 

Highest I got was 4.8k HPS, and that was just once. I usually do 3.1k-3.3k HPS in a normal 8v8. He consistently puts up bigger numbers on his merc healer every time I see him in a match.

[Ledvan]

Great thread guys, really liking my mando healer at the moment for some reason, i find it challenging but i like that.

 

Im running similar stats to what you guys do, alacrity about 12% and crit 39%. Alacrity 1123 and Crit 1123.

 

Any tips for rotation? I do goo numbers but think i could do better, i dont really use much of a rotation just use what i have when needed

[AmarantKando]

Lhancelot already asked me my stats and utilities, but I thought it'd be nice to share them with our fellow mando/merc healers aswell.

My stats are (with mastery stim): Power: 2734, Crit: 1342, Alac: 685.

The utilities I use:

Tier 1: Custom Enviro Suit, Gyroscopic Alignment Jets, Improved Vents.

Tier 2: Power Shield, Supercharged Defense.

Tier 3: Energy Rebounder (switch this for Stabilized Armor when I don't have a tank), Thrill of the Hunt.

Anyone else able to compete with different stats out of curiosity?

http://assets.enjin.com/wall_embed_images/1458341883_7344-merc-hps.jpg

Edited May 25, 2016 by AmarantKando
these stats are without the current broken bolster btw.

[JarenWelen]

 

http://assets.enjin.com/wall_embed_images/1458341883_7344-merc-hps.jpg

 

So what you're saying is nerf Merc heals

[teclado]

I recently dusted off mine as well. I've typically only played Arsenal with the Merc, but decided to give Bodyguard a go just for fun. I'm really enjoying it, which surprised me. Like others have said, it's the thrill of the challenge, although I've come to see that Bodyguard is really not as bad as I previously thought. It can be quite good. Not in the same league compared to Sorc escape tools, but Sorc should have never gotten phase walk. Give Mercs PW and Sorcs Rocket Out and we'd see things become a little more even perhaps, lol.

 

Some interesting insight in here. I've got a long ways to go with it, but so far I am having lots of fun. I'm not a huge fan of having to apply a short cooldown HoT (which is why I could never stand Operative heals), but Kolto Shell is long enough cooldown that it doesn't bother me. I love the insane burst healing potential with Mercs.

 

I went with about 9-10% alacrity, about 40% crit. Perhaps I will try out Clogski's recommendations. It's hard to argue with results. I've not really had any huge HPS games yet. Imp side Harbinger, I can hardly recall a time in which there wasn't at least one sorc healer on my team, so there's usually not a lot of healing to be done. Perhaps I'll give commando heals a try - pub side harbinger rarely has any healers, let alone half decent ones. Should be more healing opportunities there.

 

I'm really intrigued to see what kind of an effect the Sorc healer nerf will have on solo ranked. My guess is that if the nerf is successful, we'll see fewer healer games, but more variety in healing classes. Fewer healer games because of fewer Madness Sorcs farming rating via heals spec.

Edited May 23, 2016 by teclado

[Ledvan]

Thanks for the information Yashia, i think i will beat your HPS record soon tho, you had alot of protection from guild mate that game by the looks of it to, im waiting for that perfect match and i think it can be beat

 

I play on TRE, on Rep side as Bodybags

[Wimbleton]

Does anyone have information or know where I can get information on the real numbers associated with the aborb portion of the Energy Rebounder ability (3rd tier ability)?

 

For arenas I'd definitely take the -30% DMG while stunned, but those are non existent right now and in WZ I am just hyper alert on my positioning and I'm really liking the CD reduction on Energy Shield.

 

Reason: I can get my Super Charged Gas ready, then (with Supercharged Gas, the 2nd tier abiility that provides immunity to interupts while in super charge) do the following: Super Charge Gas, spam heals, directly into a shield and spam heals, Vent Heat with Improved Vents, then directly back into another Supercharged Gas while hasted by Improved Vents. Thats 36 Seconds of sustained incredible and uninterrupted healing output... afterwhich I'm fairly taxed on heat. I obviously want to start this after white bared, or in a good position or at the very least with PVP clear ready.

 

Anyway, Energy Rebounders allows me to set this up more often and I'm weighing this ability against others and would like information on the absorb portion: "In addition, when taking damage, you have a 20% chance to emit an Energy Redoubt, which absorbs a low amount of dmg and lasts 6 seconds".

 

Thank you,

[Jherad]

So you got me curious. I had the bright idea of dueling a commando and having them use channeled attacks on me to see how much it absorbed. Done in my stronghold, so no bolster.

 

According to my combat log, wearing full 208s PvP gear it absorbed 1828 damage.

 

[19:17:20.402] [@Brios] [@Zacharïah] [boltstorm {3393522380046336}] [ApplyEffect {836045448945477}: Damage {836045448945501}] (1914 energy {836045448940874} (1828 absorbed {836045448945511})) <1914>

 

Completely naked it absorbed 901 damage. So I'm guessing it is affected by stats.

 

[19:21:37.095] [@Brios] [@Zacharïah] [Pulse Cannon {3412050868961280}] [ApplyEffect {836045448945477}: Damage {836045448945501}] (2268 elemental {836045448940875} (901 absorbed {836045448945511})) <2268>

 

I picked out these lines arbitrarily, but the results were the same across multiple attack/damage types.

 

That's actually pretty decent considering it's passive, is up rather frequently, and most people are picking it up for the cooldown reduction in regs. Should be pretty easy to replicate if you want to try it yourself.

 

Energy Rebounder has always been a favorite pick of mine in regs (as DPS). As you say, go for the stun damage reduction in arenas.

Edited October 22, 2016 by Jherad

[Wimbleton]

So you got me curious. I had the bright idea of dueling a commando and having them use channeled attacks on me to see how much it absorbed. Done in my stronghold, so no bolster.

 

According to my combat log, wearing full 208s PvP gear it absorbed 1828 damage.

 

 

 

Completely naked it absorbed 901 damage. So I'm guessing it is affected by stats.

 

 

 

I picked out these lines arbitrarily, but the results were the same across multiple attack/damage types.

 

That's actually pretty decent considering it's passive, is up rather frequently, and most people are picking it up for the cooldown reduction in regs. Should be pretty easy to replicate if you want to try it yourself.

 

Energy Rebounder has always been a favorite pick of mine in regs (as DPS). As you say, go for the stun damage reduction in arenas.

 

That's incredible. I was really expecting more in the 1000 mark. If we consider a warzone lasting 15 minutes, it would max out absorbing abound ~275000. Even if it absorbed half that, and I'm taking around 1-1.5 mil dmg in a typical warzone, you're talking about at least 8-10% total damaged absorbed which is outstanding.