Healer Differentiation
Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2019 12:30 pm
I acknowledge that this concept is not fully fleshed out, but it's a concept that's occurred to me several times to add a little more flavor to the healing classes and I wanted to put it out there. I know WP/DOK just got reworked, so maybe this is a suggestion for a future healer revamp.
We have 3 healing classes per side, and all typically do the backline heal. Even with the changes to DOK/WP, healers still typically back-line cast heal. My suggestion is to fully differentiate the classes into three groups -- back-line heal, mid-line heal, front-line heal.
Front-line heal
This would be WP/DOK. Have heals, cleanse, etc. on very short cast times (e.g., 0.5s) but with only a 30-ft range. The goal would be to force the WP/DOK closer to the front-line to be effective. A shorter cast time would be needed because of all the setbacks.
Maybe a tactic could be available in the healing tree to increase range of heal at the cost of reducing armor to light armor values (no need for a med. armor back-line healer).
Mid-line heal
This would be AM/Sham. The goal would be to increase the hybrid potential of these classes without making them as overpowered as before. The thought is to reduce the range of all spells (damage and heals) to 65ft. This puts the AM/Sham at greater risk. In exchange, the mechanic would again convert Int to WP and WP to Int if below 3 mechanic points. Basically, if you swap between DPS and heals (i.e., hybrid) then you are much stronger. If you sit back and only DPS or only heal, you don't get the full stat conversion bonus.
Back-line heal
This would remain the domain of Zeal/RP and be unchanged from current.
We have 3 healing classes per side, and all typically do the backline heal. Even with the changes to DOK/WP, healers still typically back-line cast heal. My suggestion is to fully differentiate the classes into three groups -- back-line heal, mid-line heal, front-line heal.
Front-line heal
This would be WP/DOK. Have heals, cleanse, etc. on very short cast times (e.g., 0.5s) but with only a 30-ft range. The goal would be to force the WP/DOK closer to the front-line to be effective. A shorter cast time would be needed because of all the setbacks.
Maybe a tactic could be available in the healing tree to increase range of heal at the cost of reducing armor to light armor values (no need for a med. armor back-line healer).
Mid-line heal
This would be AM/Sham. The goal would be to increase the hybrid potential of these classes without making them as overpowered as before. The thought is to reduce the range of all spells (damage and heals) to 65ft. This puts the AM/Sham at greater risk. In exchange, the mechanic would again convert Int to WP and WP to Int if below 3 mechanic points. Basically, if you swap between DPS and heals (i.e., hybrid) then you are much stronger. If you sit back and only DPS or only heal, you don't get the full stat conversion bonus.
Back-line heal
This would remain the domain of Zeal/RP and be unchanged from current.