As a healer, is it my job to DPS? A new perspective.

[Sebazy]

Dps yes pressure to do well, and thats it. No added pressure of being expected to heal as well.

They might not be healing, but they are having to coordinate and manage cooldowns far tighter than a healer ever has, plus keep on top of rotations, and generally manage slightly more complex mechanics. Doing top tier DPS as a DPS is just as hard as it is for a healer and in some respects, more so.

Oh and seriously, how much of this pressure is self inflicted? Worrying about what they might be thinking or saying? You do certainly assume an awful lot. I genuinely don't mean that in any bad way either. I hold myself to far higher standards than anyone in my group and it's really quite amusing looking back at how annoyed I sometimes get with myself when I drop the ball during progression.

[Feyona]

Someone said to me recently, that to come on these forums I may be dealing with kids like in a school playground, and so trying to have intelligent conversations may be a complete waste of time and after seeing some of the silly animated posts and posters Im forced to agree. Not saying its you or even most people here just one or two. And to those all I have to say is "Grow up". Nothing is self inflicted There are expectations of put on healers to dps. Im not making it up. I dps as well I know the difference. No one is saying your forced to play a dps class with a complex rotation if you dont like it, healers are being forced or excluded. You at least have a choice to play dps not healer as well. Dps as healer is more potentially stressful. It does cause wipes and if you dont heal you get the blame for not doing your job. I dont assume what people think either and everything that Ive said here Ive either experienced or someone I know has. And if you really cant 'see' the pressure put on healers to dps read some of the posts here should give you some indication of people 's expectations or force. Theres also a bit of a nasty streak in some people here that alot of people who may be trying to learn the game are at the mercy of. Not being able to empathize with other's experience is a sign of immaturity. Just waiting for abarrage of childish name calling next

[Sebazy]

Someone said to me recently, that to come on these forums I may be dealing with kids like in a school playground

What has this got to do with anything I just said?

and so trying to have intelligent conversations may be a complete waste of time

So wait, let me get this straight? Are you implying that I'm not capable of intelligent conversation because I don't agree with you?

Dps as healer is more potentially stressful. It does cause wipes and if you dont heal you get the blame for not doing your job.

How is this any different to a DPS that's over stretching, being greedy and failing mechanics? Causing wipes as a healer isn't a community or meta issue, that's just a lack of skill issue, same with any other job that's trying to juggle more than they can cope with.

Simple answer, DPS less but DPS smarter, think about what dots your casting where and how you can maximise your DPS per GCD. A great example of this is on A12's add phase, each wave of adds gives you 2 to 4 GCDs before they start hitting and there's tons of room for optimisation here:

The first wave I throw a pair of regens at the tanks, cleric stance and do 2 gravities + a swiftcast gravity if I'm feeling brave and haven't had to blow ED already (As a SCH I hope you've got Blizzard2 loaded for this wave).

Second wave I combust 2 the last two adds to die then combust 1 them as I move into to position to start aoe healing.

Third wave again, combust 2 both, then combust the physical add and start healing the tanks.

All of this is doable solo healing without a fairy.

Just waiting for abarrage of childish name calling next

You've asked for it in that post alone TBH.

[Feyona]

What has this got to do with anything I just said?



So wait, let me get this straight? Are you implying that I'm not capable of intelligent conversation because I don't agree with you?



How is this any different to a DPS that's over stretching, being greedy and failing mechanics? Causing wipes as a healer isn't a community

Did you read the post? I said referring to the stupid animated post designed to mock but quite childishly. I aso said not meaning you as well, but in general. Referring to your last point dps being greedy, or failing nechanics does not have the same impact as tank dying from lack of heals. Everyone knows tank got to be healed. Healers always go to be ready to heal. Your examples are of an ideal group scenario. Name me a healer that hasnt ever faied with cleric got nothing to do with skill everyone messes up All situations are different. And no I dont ask for it but had it before so it sort of gets predictable

[Sebazy]

Referring to your last point dps being greedy, or failing nechanics does not have the same impact as tank dying from lack of heals.

Er, in savage it generally does have the same impact. Lets not forget that not only is this tier quite forgiving compared to Gordias/Midas, but we also have echo and gear as well. But case in point, whenever I'm helping kill groups on A12S, if a few DPS die in the earlier phases, most of these groups will simply wipe and restart rather than struggle on and have to deal with 2 or 3 sets of fountains in the final phase.

Your examples are of an ideal group scenario. Name me a healer that hasnt ever faied with cleric got nothing to do with skill everyone messes up All situations are different. And no I dont ask for it but had it before so it sort of gets predictable

Uh no they aren't, I hugely enjoy the challenge of pugs, of the 40+ A12S kills I've upload since echo got introduced, 8 of them have been with my static. The rest are all pugs, but by all means have a look yourself.

And as for someone that's never failed at cleric, please lets not get stupid now. *EVERYONE*s done it. The difference here is the frequency of mess ups, how well they can recover and how far that players comfort zone extends before they get overstretched and start to lose consistency. Top progression healers can can comfortably do a 4 hour raid sitting like clockwork and barely drop a single GCD in the process. Once tank busters are understood and tanks have a cooldown rotation that works, it's generally the DPS that cause wipes during early savage progression. This isn't because they need to get good, but rather because they generally have to push further out of their comfort zone than anyone else.

This isn't a specific special snowflake healer issue. The exact same thing applies to DPS as well. Get greedy, get flustered and you're going to mess up and potentially cause a wipe regardless of what job you are. A12S demonstrates this beautifully even with echo.

[Feyona]

Er, in savage it generally does have the same impact. Lets not forget that not only is this tier quite forgiving compared to Gordias/Midas, but we also have echo and gear as well.


This isn't a specific special snowflake healer issue. The exact same thing applies to DPS as well. Get greedy, get flustered and you're going to mess up and potentially cause a wipe regardless of what job you are. A12S demonstrates this beautifully even with echo.

Cmon tank dying is nearly always a wipe a9s? If a dps dies or even a healer its recoverable. When I was learning that fight as sch main heal I couldnt stop healing tank fot 2 seconds. Literally tank spam heal. I guess it always depends where in fight it happens though too

[era1Ne]

Cmon tank dying is nearly always a wipe a9s? If a dps dies or even a healer its recoverable. When I was learning that fight as sch main heal I couldnt stop healing tank fot 2 seconds. Literally tank spam heal. I guess it always depends where in fight it happens though too

If a tank takes this much dmg, you should talk with your static about what the group as a whole can do to reduce the dmg on the tank and how both healers can heal more efficient. Raiding is all about teamwork

[Sebazy]

Cmon tank dying is nearly always a wipe a9s? If a dps dies or even a healer its recoverable. When I was learning that fight as sch main heal I couldnt stop healing tank fot 2 seconds. Literally tank spam heal. I guess it always depends where in fight it happens though too

Again, if the boss isn't about to cleave, it's generally recoverable without too much issue. Of course this depends on your offtank being awake

This is precisely why I feel that recording your own play is so important. It can be hard to see the big picture and get a feel for the flow and timing of the encounter whilst you are in the thick of it trying to learn with your eyes on stilts. Watching your own replays back not only allows you to spot your own mistakes, but also lets you revisit the encounter with a calm and clear head which makes it much easier to learn and build a stronger plan.

A9S has a decent number of occasions where you'll get little to no tank damage for as much as 15 seconds. They aren't quite as extreme or obvious as A10S or A12S, but they are certainly there. From what I remember back 100 pages or so was that a larger part of your issues in A9S stemmed from needlessly casting succor?

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Cmon tank dying is nearly always a wipe a9s? If a dps dies or even a healer its recoverable. When I was learning that fight as sch main heal I couldnt stop healing tank fot 2 seconds. Literally tank spam heal. I guess it always depends where in fight it happens though too

Then yell at your tank or co-healer because something is amiss here. Either the tank has horrendous cooldown management or your co-healer decided to let you solo heal. Even before echo, A9 simply doesn't do enough damage to warrant the need for spamming. I suppose if your group were still ilvl 250-260? Still, the tank shouldn't be taking that much damage. I'm assuming they were in DPS stance. If not... wow.

Edit: Another factor is what spells you were casting. As noted, Succor wouldn't be the best option.