[DoK/WP] Willpower based melee healing
Posted: Thu May 18, 2017 11:22 am
Willpower based melee healing
(Note: for ease i'll write this from a DoK perspective, but obviously all changes would be mirrored to WP)
These comments are based on 2 weeks of running a sword+chalice melee healing build. 700str + 600 WP. Taking khaines vigor and up to empowered transfer.
The Issues
1. The healing DoK is currently a low skill, back line group heal spammer (tbh boring af). This goes completely against its design. It lacks the CC, group utilities and healing output of Zealots and Shammies. And finds itself out of the healing meta.
2. Currently, to reach effective healing output with melee skills you must have high damage. This ends up completely removing the ability to back line heal. It must be understood that to heal effectively within a group at some point you will need to sit back and spam casted heals. ie kiting, too much pressure in the melee train, vs range groups, no targets to melee heal on.
3. The current healing output from a sword+chalice melee healing build 700str + 600 WP is slightly lower/similar to a pure heal spec build. But the risks are much higher, the spec is squishier, puts you in dangerous positions, vulnerable to range dps, cooldown increasers, CC and MDPS focus. Thus there is no significant advantage over pure healing to counter the risks, therefore no logical reason to spec in a melee healing manner.
The Proposal
- Change the Empowered Transfer tactic to add the following effect: willpower/healpower will effect the healing output from Rend Soul, Transfer Essence and Devour Essence. Increases cooldown on blood offering to 40 seconds.
Numbers wise you'd need somewhere a long these lines (for example at 700 WP) to make it viable:
Transfer Essence: striking your target for 100 damage. Should yield a heal of 750 to 800. Around the same as a standard group heal. The downside is that you have to melee heal, therefore it puts you in a dangerous position and the ability could be parried or blocked, vulnerable to cooldown increasers etc etc. The upside is that the heal is not affected by heal debuff and is faster than a group heal, spammable every GCD. (this skill becomes your go to group heal)
Rend Soul: striking your target for 100 damage per hit, should yield a heal of 950-1100 per tick. The downside is that you have to melee heal, therefore it puts you in a dangerous position and the ability could be parried or blocked, vulnerable to cooldown increasers and can be interrupted. The upside is that the heal is not affected by heal debuff and provides a large single target heal.
Devour Essence: striking your target for 150 damage per hit, should yield a heal of 200-300 per tick. This becomes your long cooldown, big heal, when your healing target is surrounded by 4 players.
Benefits
- The healing output from melee healing would be significantly increased, making it a viable alternative to the standard pure heal build. While maintaining the ability to back line heal when necessary.
- This encourages the DoK to play more in line with its original design (a front line offensive healer), while not compromising its ability to heal efficiently and effectively compared to other backline healers.
- Having to put so 12 points in Sacrifice would limit what you could take from the pure healing tree and would use a tactic slot, limiting the use of too many good tactics.
- The pure DPS DoK is not affected.
- The change to blood offering ensures that when you select a melee healing spec you would have to melee heal when possible to be most effective, as you'd only be able to backline for limited periods. Adding an increased skill level to the class
- As Rend Soul, Transfer Essence and Devour Essence are not undefendable then target selection to heal from would be vital. Adding an increased skill level to the class
- Overall better rewards considering the risks of being in melee range.
Conclusion
- A simple single tactic change to make melee healing viable. Prevents the need for a complete class redesign and limits confusion due to the inability to change tooltips.
- This would be less power than fury of da green as that skill is ranged! Relatively no risk.
- Changes the DoK into a completely different kind of healer from Zealot and Shammie
- Increases skill level for the class
- Takes it closer to its original design
- Does not affect or buff the DPS dok. It will have no willpower
- Has an interesting risk v reward mechanic
- The pure healing spec remains the same for those who prefer it.
- It would have an interesting effect due to the large numbers of WLs atm. With all these pets running around you'd be feeding the melee DoK really good melee healing targets.
Problems
- Too much healing not affected by heal debuff could make the DoK immortal in small scale encounters. However, I believe 2 decent dps would still be able to burst it down. Willpower debuffs would become very important. The actual healing output would obviously need to be tested and refined. If having them not affected by heal debuff is too strong, then i'd be happy to see the base healing increase but have the healing affected by HD.
- The AoE detaunt may need to come back.
Revisions:
1.1: The tactic should also force the users melee crit to match the users heal crit.
1.2: The melee heals should be affected by heal debuff, but the melee heal abilities should be undefendable or have a reduced chance to be defended against.
(Note: for ease i'll write this from a DoK perspective, but obviously all changes would be mirrored to WP)
These comments are based on 2 weeks of running a sword+chalice melee healing build. 700str + 600 WP. Taking khaines vigor and up to empowered transfer.
The Issues
1. The healing DoK is currently a low skill, back line group heal spammer (tbh boring af). This goes completely against its design. It lacks the CC, group utilities and healing output of Zealots and Shammies. And finds itself out of the healing meta.
2. Currently, to reach effective healing output with melee skills you must have high damage. This ends up completely removing the ability to back line heal. It must be understood that to heal effectively within a group at some point you will need to sit back and spam casted heals. ie kiting, too much pressure in the melee train, vs range groups, no targets to melee heal on.
3. The current healing output from a sword+chalice melee healing build 700str + 600 WP is slightly lower/similar to a pure heal spec build. But the risks are much higher, the spec is squishier, puts you in dangerous positions, vulnerable to range dps, cooldown increasers, CC and MDPS focus. Thus there is no significant advantage over pure healing to counter the risks, therefore no logical reason to spec in a melee healing manner.
The Proposal
- Change the Empowered Transfer tactic to add the following effect: willpower/healpower will effect the healing output from Rend Soul, Transfer Essence and Devour Essence. Increases cooldown on blood offering to 40 seconds.
Numbers wise you'd need somewhere a long these lines (for example at 700 WP) to make it viable:
Transfer Essence: striking your target for 100 damage. Should yield a heal of 750 to 800. Around the same as a standard group heal. The downside is that you have to melee heal, therefore it puts you in a dangerous position and the ability could be parried or blocked, vulnerable to cooldown increasers etc etc. The upside is that the heal is not affected by heal debuff and is faster than a group heal, spammable every GCD. (this skill becomes your go to group heal)
Rend Soul: striking your target for 100 damage per hit, should yield a heal of 950-1100 per tick. The downside is that you have to melee heal, therefore it puts you in a dangerous position and the ability could be parried or blocked, vulnerable to cooldown increasers and can be interrupted. The upside is that the heal is not affected by heal debuff and provides a large single target heal.
Devour Essence: striking your target for 150 damage per hit, should yield a heal of 200-300 per tick. This becomes your long cooldown, big heal, when your healing target is surrounded by 4 players.
Benefits
- The healing output from melee healing would be significantly increased, making it a viable alternative to the standard pure heal build. While maintaining the ability to back line heal when necessary.
- This encourages the DoK to play more in line with its original design (a front line offensive healer), while not compromising its ability to heal efficiently and effectively compared to other backline healers.
- Having to put so 12 points in Sacrifice would limit what you could take from the pure healing tree and would use a tactic slot, limiting the use of too many good tactics.
- The pure DPS DoK is not affected.
- The change to blood offering ensures that when you select a melee healing spec you would have to melee heal when possible to be most effective, as you'd only be able to backline for limited periods. Adding an increased skill level to the class
- As Rend Soul, Transfer Essence and Devour Essence are not undefendable then target selection to heal from would be vital. Adding an increased skill level to the class
- Overall better rewards considering the risks of being in melee range.
Conclusion
- A simple single tactic change to make melee healing viable. Prevents the need for a complete class redesign and limits confusion due to the inability to change tooltips.
- This would be less power than fury of da green as that skill is ranged! Relatively no risk.
- Changes the DoK into a completely different kind of healer from Zealot and Shammie
- Increases skill level for the class
- Takes it closer to its original design
- Does not affect or buff the DPS dok. It will have no willpower
- Has an interesting risk v reward mechanic
- The pure healing spec remains the same for those who prefer it.
- It would have an interesting effect due to the large numbers of WLs atm. With all these pets running around you'd be feeding the melee DoK really good melee healing targets.
Problems
- Too much healing not affected by heal debuff could make the DoK immortal in small scale encounters. However, I believe 2 decent dps would still be able to burst it down. Willpower debuffs would become very important. The actual healing output would obviously need to be tested and refined. If having them not affected by heal debuff is too strong, then i'd be happy to see the base healing increase but have the healing affected by HD.
- The AoE detaunt may need to come back.
Revisions:
1.1: The tactic should also force the users melee crit to match the users heal crit.
1.2: The melee heals should be affected by heal debuff, but the melee heal abilities should be undefendable or have a reduced chance to be defended against.