Return of Reckoning

You might think to yourself “Hey! AMs aren’t that bad”
Well… Would you rather a WP/RP combo or WP/AM or even RP/AM to which any experienced player will say the former.

You might think AMs get to be the tankiest healer- Well no that would be the WP

You might think AMs get the best group buffs- Well again no… WP get wounds/prayer while RP get stat buff. AMs get a weaker version of a KOTBS aura.

You might think AMs get to have the best AOE heals… Nope that is also WP then RP

You might think AMs get the best ST heals!…. RP again

You might think AMs get a ST Stagger … RP again

You might think AMs get a group HOT or Group Shield… Nope! WP =[

You might think well at least Am/Shammy get to be faster then everyone else… Sorry only shammy

Any sane person by now is asking themselves. “Well why play an AM”
To which I say .. Good question

AMs bring MoM to the group, an amazing ability which can help your party kite entire WBs. It lowers initiative and is great for slowing down funnels.

AMs really aren’t that bad, they just aren’t a better choice than a WP or RP.

There is 2 options to look at to solve this problem.

1. Take some things away from WP and give it to the AM. Whether its the wounds buff or the aoe Shield. This could bring down the WP while bringing up the AM with no direct nerfs to healing in general.

or

2. Lower group heal from 2.5 secs to 2 secs; Make prismatic shield have a 5% chance on being hit to shield target for X dmg and let Ishas encouragement tactic be aoe so it would group cleanse and group hot!

Any ideas open for discussion. Would love some actual ideas to compile for devs to really take a look at … this is hopefully just a jumping point.This was a satirical way to highlight the downfalls of a class, not a complaint. I will continue to play my main (83WP) but have noticed how bad the AM has it while I am leveling one.

You correctly point out some ways in which AM can be invaluable in warbands.

The problem is a lot of people's frame of reference is healing numbers on scoreboards and performance when spamming group heal. No wonder they are so ineffective, because in the case of a utility-heavy class like AM, they are basically playing only half their class.

Simplistic, almost dogmatic, thinking by a large part of the community is at the heart of this issue. Not AM as a class.

MedV wrote: ↑Sat Jan 09, 2021 4:25 pm Well… Would you rather a WP/RP combo or WP/AM or even RP/AM to which any experienced player will say the former.

the answer to your question and when you watch the videos keep in mind that the rp / am combo here has in most fights vanq / invader gear

viewtopic.php?f=53&t=42577

I think AM is a pretty hard class. If it is played correctly it can be as useful as the rest of the classes. Don't forget that AMs have an insta rez. This can be critical in a fight.

I think the whole difficulty which puts AMs at the bottom of the healing scoreboard is usual bad positioning as they can be melted in seconds. AMs also need a SM premade tank and they can do really fine.

AM has 3 major problems:
- Very reliant on Whispering Winds from SM
- Squishiest Healer in the game
- Does not give AP to group

That said the healing potential of AM is very high, especially with Whispering Winds up. I definitely think some tactics could be designed which would sacrifice healing (AM has some pretty good healing tactics) for either survivability or some way to give the group AP.

An example could be to add a 5s speed proc of 25% to Walk Between Worlds tactic. Or change Drain Magic tactic to drain 92 AP from one target to your whole group.

The mechanic likely has to be addressed first, as it'll be the most impactful change.

Aside from AP drain, AMs have a decent AOE detaunt uptime over the RP, AOE AP drain can be an effective tool, and Desperation gives unique burst healing (which was one way mirrored to the Shaman at the end of Live, because Shaman whined about it for 4 years)

But yes it's probably the highest skill cap and least survivable healer.

AM is like shaman you are just here to instant rez and drain AP that all . Or play dps .

My AM is still very low, but I've played shamans forever. My take on them, as sort of shown in those vids, is manoeuvrability. So maybe not that great in static (Keep/Fort/City) fights, but then you change your strategies to Insta Rez or morale boost or some sort of support. It would be nice to have stronger heals, or longer hots, but they fill a niche I'm happy with.

I also agree with opinion that AM has highest skill cap and lowest potential survivability (movement/positioning is still best defense tho)
But!
According to this
viewtopic.php?f=113&t=42828&p=455918#p455908
Efforts put are greatly rewarded.
Ranking classes is stupid, there are no better/worse. It's just they all have their own roles.

Bignusty wrote: ↑Sat Jan 09, 2021 8:43 pm AM is like shaman you are just here to instant rez and drain AP that all . Or play dps .

that made me laugh because thats exactly what i bring them into groups for