Post by Sokanon on Apr 15, 2011 12:19:28 GMT -5
Auhtor: VeroProdigy of <Stay Small Nerds > on Briarcliff
***Disclaimer***
I am part of the Guild, stay Small nerds (staysmallnerds.com) We exist and play on the Briarcliff server and play Defiant
For more write ups and reviews like this please feel free to come over to our site.
I will slowly and diligently be adding onto this as I go along and constantly reevaluating all specs and opinions I have made here to keep up with all content patches and class changes. Despite my strong opinion I am not titling any of these statements made as the best or the only way. If you do not want my help then do not seek and you can Leave this thread now. Have fun and I hope this helps.
Vero's Cleric Raid Healing Guide
From Someone who has raided 5/5 of the current content,numerous Tier 1 and 2s and Countless amounts of Raid Rifts, I am here to shed some light on Cleric Healing.
I am part of the Guild, stay Small nerds (staysmallnerds.com) We exist and play on the Briarcliff server and play Defiant
From the Start of RIFT everyone has praised the game for its diversity,which indeed is a GREAT thing, But what a lot of players clerics included seem to miss is,it is not about the best spec or the best numbers always, it is about the synergy with your raid. That being said lets start by going into.....
Itemization and Stat Weight.
Stat Weight/Itemization:
For a cleric we are a class that mainly wheres Chain,although cloth can be viable, the reason for this is the vast amount of wisdom placed on Chain.
Wisdom: Increases Spell Power and Mana Regen Per 10
Intelligence: Increases Spell Power (By a lesser amount than wisdom) and Increases Crit Chance
Spell power: Increases the amount of healing/damage your spells do
Crit Chance: Increases the Chance your spells can crit
With this being said for most builds and spec the stat gain would weight out like this:
Wisdom >> Intelligence=Spellpower> Crit Chance
*Granted if you play a deep sentinel spec feel free to value Crit Chance more. Personal preference on where your gear stands*
User Interface:
There isn't much to say on this except for one thing and excuse me if I am redundant.
MOUSEOVER MOUSEOVER MOUSEOVER MOUSEOVER And MOUSEOVER:
If you do not keybind and have all your spells Mouseover Macroed you are already on your way to have a rocky road in RIFT:
A mouseover is a simple as this:
#show Healing Breathe
/cast @mouseover Healing Breathe
This is applicable for any spell that requires a target this saves deaths and ample time on heals,battle rezs etc.
The Spec(s) and Commonly Used Terms:
First I am going to start off with some commonly used terms and abbreviations:
Hot: Heal over time Spell
AoE: Area of Effect
Min/Max: Making a series of decision that allow you to be most efficient based on your class.
Sentinel:
HB: Healing Breathe
HG: Healing Grace
HC: Healing Communion
HI: Healing Invocation
Pain Suppression/Shield Wall: Healers Covenant
TtL: Touch the Light
DC: Divine Call
Battle Rez: Life's Return
Healer's Haste: Increased Cast time for next 6 casts
Serendipity: Increases cast time of next spell by 1.5 sec
Aoe Cleanse: Empowering Light
PtF: Protect the Flock
Purifier:
HF: Healing Flame
RF: Restorative Flame
WotA: Ward of the Ancestor
Searing: Searing Transfusion
Flashover : Makes your next spell crit for 30 seconds
Full Clear Dispel: Sterilize
Latent Blaze: Heals ally for x amount when they reach 30% health or less
FB: Fiery Blessing - Increases crit chance of next spell by 10% for each stack you have
IF: Intense Flames
Warden:
HS: Healing Spray
HC: Healing Current
TS: Tidal Surge
HF: Healing Flood
SS: Soothing Stream
Cleanse over Time: Curative Waters
Orbs: Orbs of the Stream
Innervate: Cascade
AoE Orbs: Orbs of the Tide
HS: Healing Showers
Tidal Resonance: Chance to make your next Water based spell to cost no mana
Overflow: When you crit target receives healing = to your wisdom next time they take damage
With that being said lets look into the Specs:
Purifier: Big Heal, Long Cast time spec. More focuses on single target healing. Close to no AoE Healing, Decent Cooldowns, Granted Shields that absorb damage and also personal shields. Full clear Dispel. More of Stand still healer. Good Reactive Healer. Semi Mana efficient
Sent: Medium Cast times,Good Balance between Aoe Healing and Single Target Healing. Has reduced cast times, Mana cost and damage mitigation. Granted Many cooldowns,a Battle Rez, a Pain Suppression/Shield Wall, Instant cast and Instant cast capability, an increased casting time,Instant AoE Heal,Aoe Cleanse. Decent mobility. Extremely reactive healer. Semi Mana Efficient.
Warden: HoT based classed,good AoE healing and decent Single Target Healing. Decent Cooldowns, Innervate,Spreading of Hots (Ripple) ,Orbs,Tidal Surge and Healing Showers. Very Mobile Healer,Amazing uptime,VERY Mana efficient. Less reactive Healer.
Optimization:
In RIFT everyone loves the diversity and uniqueness of their specs and in doing this some have this jaded perspective that going 51 points into a spec is optimal. This is hardly the case, I would say 95% of the time it is NEVER optimal to go 51 points into a tree.
With that being said the way to be a successful and efficient Cleric healer in RIFT you have to recognize a few things:
Your Strengths and Weaknesses of YOUR Raid
Your Synergies and how they work with other trees
The needs of your Raid pertaining to the fight and said composition of that raid night
How to Min/Max your class,spec and stats
With that being said it may be fun or unique to play 51 point builds but they are 9/10 times not as efficient as what is available to you.
Common Synergies between trees:
In referring to synergies many trees that work well together the most are:
Sentinel and Purifier
Sentinel and Warden
Now lets go into why and what spells:
Sentinel and Purifier:
The biggest synergy in this spec is the Serendipity and Haste from Sentinel and the increased crit chances and ability to make any heal crit from Purifier. This allows for a string of healing during intensive times at high rates and high numbers.
Another synergy that works very well is the Healing Invocation HoT,Ward of the Ancestor Shield and Ancestral Flame Shield along with that healing Spray from the warden. This provides big healing,with nice hots and shields to blanket the hots and vice versa. This allows a few seconds or two for yourself and other healers to heal dps or others in need or to pop a cool down or reposition themselves in fights.
A synergy that may also be overlooked comes in the form of a simple spell. Healing Flame. While this may be a quick and kind of lack luster heal in theory, when you take into account intensive Flames in the purifier tree and its low cast time you can see what I am getting at. This heal can come close to what Healing Grace heals for from the Sentinel tree but that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. Being able to cast a spell this quick and still semi efficient gives you a chance to have amazing uptime on
Enflamed Rejuvenation,Serendipity,Blessing of the Flame and also Greater Essence and Trinket procs.
A small synergy as well is Latent Blaze and Searing Transfusion and Pain Suppression/Shield Wall. Decreasing Damage,Increasing health and having a 30% health blanket can prove worthy and almost completely NECESSARY on some fights.
Sentinel and Warden:
Main synergy and probably the most important is the fact warden supplies AMAZING hots not only do these hots heal for tons they also have a chance to proc serendipity on any crit making the uptime of this spell very high. This in conjunction with deluge and Healing Invocation makes your one weakness as warden,low single target healing, almost become non existent.
Another great synergy in raid environments, is your amazing AoE Heals from both Sentinel and Warden. These used in cohesion with Protect the Flock talent can heal AND prevent tons and tons of damage on the WHOLE raid. If you balance Healing Flood with Ripple you can cover the entire raid in hots and 5% damage mitigation during intense healing times. Not to mention you also have Divine Favor and Healing communion if need be. This can prove to save raids and make the healing for your fellow Chloros and Bards.
A small but still important synergy is balancing your HoTs with Pain Suppression/Shield Wall during a time where healing is not allowed whether it is by means of a debuff,LoS,Boss Mechanic or etc.
TO BE FAIR:
Yes there may be small synergies between other trees such as Purifier and Warden because yes you have nice HoTs and shields to blanket them. But in a raid environment you really hinder yourself with losing many cooldowns and battle rezs. Remember as a healer ESPECIALLY it is about what you can do for your raid, not when you can do for your stats and parses.
Soul Builds:
This is where the most controversy and debate will come in on what actually to debate. I hate to dismiss people's opinions and points but the only REAL argument when it comes to cleric healing is where exactly your points go between the Two OPTIMAL synergies.
These are the specs I find most relevant for me and my raid but like I said it is all based on what your raid calls for:
Purifier/Sent
Sent/Warden
Points can be swapped in small areas but I ENCOURAGE you do not lose those main Synergies I listed above in the previous area.
A Concern: Something I hear a lot or I am asked a lot is if I use Restorative Flame or Healing Invocation. This goes for this spec and other other. A good combination of both and realizing their synergies and situational use is what will separate you from the pack
Gameplay:
This is where even I nor anyone can help you. This all based on knowledge,experience and dedication all small factors in the bigger picture. SKILL.
Things I can say our Key for healers to know:
Mouseover Macros - Saves Time and Lives
OPTIMAL keybindings - Saves Time and Lives
Movement - Knowing when and how to move and properly
Raid Awareness - Knowing when to do abilities,learning to be preventive or reactive based on the fight,knowing if you can stand in something for an extra second to get a heal or whether it is best to "**** ASAP"
Mana conservation - Not blowing your load too early
Being Vocal: Calling out for innervates,cooldowns and battle rezs. Overlapping cooldowns,innervates and battle rez can prove to be detrimental to your raid.
Confidence and Focus - Staying calm and focused is key. If a dps dies or a tank drops don't get disgruntled or start blaming others. Use your cooldowns and battle rezs and move forth or take the wipe like a man/woman and give it another try. No fight will always be one shotted. I have killed bosses in 10 minutes and I have killed bosses after 4 hours. Nothing is handed to you in RIFT and RNG can be a huge factors.
The Right Guild: Being comfortable and feeling at home is also key to being a healer. Having a friendly and serious environment is what most would strive for. If you have guilides who are quick to blame,complain,quit or point fingers at everyone but them you may want to reevaluate your situation and where you stand. On that same token,if you are a new guy be patient and you may have to take some lip from others, to earn your spot. Do not be discourage by strong opinions of others or being sat for a raid night or certain fight.
Wrap up:
All in all Cleric Healing is an art and a job. One that has to be analyzed and worked with very carefully. Do not feel as if your hands are completely tied and you have to play these ways. If you are a player who likes to play casually and have fun then go for it. Do what you want and have fun. If you are someone who is serious about raiding at any tier these are some of the ideas you want to have going through your head when you make your spec.
Nothing comes easy and you may find one of these specs to be a hassle or almost impossible for you to play. Don't get discouraged. I know everyone want's to be unique and special but sometimes that just isn't possible. The thing about RIFT is even with these ,"seemingly cookie cutter specs", there is still much room to be different and unique and these all come with small but VITAL stat and spec changes. 1 point can make all the difference.
Thank you for Reading.[/size]
Original link: forums.riftgame.com/showthread.php?139797-An-indepth-look-at-Cleric-Healing-%28Raid-Environment%29
VeroProdigy said:
***Disclaimer***
I am part of the Guild, stay Small nerds (staysmallnerds.com) We exist and play on the Briarcliff server and play Defiant
For more write ups and reviews like this please feel free to come over to our site.
I will slowly and diligently be adding onto this as I go along and constantly reevaluating all specs and opinions I have made here to keep up with all content patches and class changes. Despite my strong opinion I am not titling any of these statements made as the best or the only way. If you do not want my help then do not seek and you can Leave this thread now. Have fun and I hope this helps.
Vero's Cleric Raid Healing Guide
From Someone who has raided 5/5 of the current content,numerous Tier 1 and 2s and Countless amounts of Raid Rifts, I am here to shed some light on Cleric Healing.
I am part of the Guild, stay Small nerds (staysmallnerds.com) We exist and play on the Briarcliff server and play Defiant
From the Start of RIFT everyone has praised the game for its diversity,which indeed is a GREAT thing, But what a lot of players clerics included seem to miss is,it is not about the best spec or the best numbers always, it is about the synergy with your raid. That being said lets start by going into.....
Itemization and Stat Weight.
Stat Weight/Itemization:
For a cleric we are a class that mainly wheres Chain,although cloth can be viable, the reason for this is the vast amount of wisdom placed on Chain.
Wisdom: Increases Spell Power and Mana Regen Per 10
Intelligence: Increases Spell Power (By a lesser amount than wisdom) and Increases Crit Chance
Spell power: Increases the amount of healing/damage your spells do
Crit Chance: Increases the Chance your spells can crit
With this being said for most builds and spec the stat gain would weight out like this:
Wisdom >> Intelligence=Spellpower> Crit Chance
*Granted if you play a deep sentinel spec feel free to value Crit Chance more. Personal preference on where your gear stands*
User Interface:
There isn't much to say on this except for one thing and excuse me if I am redundant.
MOUSEOVER MOUSEOVER MOUSEOVER MOUSEOVER And MOUSEOVER:
If you do not keybind and have all your spells Mouseover Macroed you are already on your way to have a rocky road in RIFT:
A mouseover is a simple as this:
#show Healing Breathe
/cast @mouseover Healing Breathe
This is applicable for any spell that requires a target this saves deaths and ample time on heals,battle rezs etc.
The Spec(s) and Commonly Used Terms:
First I am going to start off with some commonly used terms and abbreviations:
Hot: Heal over time Spell
AoE: Area of Effect
Min/Max: Making a series of decision that allow you to be most efficient based on your class.
Sentinel:
HB: Healing Breathe
HG: Healing Grace
HC: Healing Communion
HI: Healing Invocation
Pain Suppression/Shield Wall: Healers Covenant
TtL: Touch the Light
DC: Divine Call
Battle Rez: Life's Return
Healer's Haste: Increased Cast time for next 6 casts
Serendipity: Increases cast time of next spell by 1.5 sec
Aoe Cleanse: Empowering Light
PtF: Protect the Flock
Purifier:
HF: Healing Flame
RF: Restorative Flame
WotA: Ward of the Ancestor
Searing: Searing Transfusion
Flashover : Makes your next spell crit for 30 seconds
Full Clear Dispel: Sterilize
Latent Blaze: Heals ally for x amount when they reach 30% health or less
FB: Fiery Blessing - Increases crit chance of next spell by 10% for each stack you have
IF: Intense Flames
Warden:
HS: Healing Spray
HC: Healing Current
TS: Tidal Surge
HF: Healing Flood
SS: Soothing Stream
Cleanse over Time: Curative Waters
Orbs: Orbs of the Stream
Innervate: Cascade
AoE Orbs: Orbs of the Tide
HS: Healing Showers
Tidal Resonance: Chance to make your next Water based spell to cost no mana
Overflow: When you crit target receives healing = to your wisdom next time they take damage
With that being said lets look into the Specs:
Purifier: Big Heal, Long Cast time spec. More focuses on single target healing. Close to no AoE Healing, Decent Cooldowns, Granted Shields that absorb damage and also personal shields. Full clear Dispel. More of Stand still healer. Good Reactive Healer. Semi Mana efficient
Sent: Medium Cast times,Good Balance between Aoe Healing and Single Target Healing. Has reduced cast times, Mana cost and damage mitigation. Granted Many cooldowns,a Battle Rez, a Pain Suppression/Shield Wall, Instant cast and Instant cast capability, an increased casting time,Instant AoE Heal,Aoe Cleanse. Decent mobility. Extremely reactive healer. Semi Mana Efficient.
Warden: HoT based classed,good AoE healing and decent Single Target Healing. Decent Cooldowns, Innervate,Spreading of Hots (Ripple) ,Orbs,Tidal Surge and Healing Showers. Very Mobile Healer,Amazing uptime,VERY Mana efficient. Less reactive Healer.
Optimization:
In RIFT everyone loves the diversity and uniqueness of their specs and in doing this some have this jaded perspective that going 51 points into a spec is optimal. This is hardly the case, I would say 95% of the time it is NEVER optimal to go 51 points into a tree.
With that being said the way to be a successful and efficient Cleric healer in RIFT you have to recognize a few things:
Your Strengths and Weaknesses of YOUR Raid
Your Synergies and how they work with other trees
The needs of your Raid pertaining to the fight and said composition of that raid night
How to Min/Max your class,spec and stats
With that being said it may be fun or unique to play 51 point builds but they are 9/10 times not as efficient as what is available to you.
Common Synergies between trees:
In referring to synergies many trees that work well together the most are:
Sentinel and Purifier
Sentinel and Warden
Now lets go into why and what spells:
Sentinel and Purifier:
The biggest synergy in this spec is the Serendipity and Haste from Sentinel and the increased crit chances and ability to make any heal crit from Purifier. This allows for a string of healing during intensive times at high rates and high numbers.
Another synergy that works very well is the Healing Invocation HoT,Ward of the Ancestor Shield and Ancestral Flame Shield along with that healing Spray from the warden. This provides big healing,with nice hots and shields to blanket the hots and vice versa. This allows a few seconds or two for yourself and other healers to heal dps or others in need or to pop a cool down or reposition themselves in fights.
A synergy that may also be overlooked comes in the form of a simple spell. Healing Flame. While this may be a quick and kind of lack luster heal in theory, when you take into account intensive Flames in the purifier tree and its low cast time you can see what I am getting at. This heal can come close to what Healing Grace heals for from the Sentinel tree but that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. Being able to cast a spell this quick and still semi efficient gives you a chance to have amazing uptime on
Enflamed Rejuvenation,Serendipity,Blessing of the Flame and also Greater Essence and Trinket procs.
A small synergy as well is Latent Blaze and Searing Transfusion and Pain Suppression/Shield Wall. Decreasing Damage,Increasing health and having a 30% health blanket can prove worthy and almost completely NECESSARY on some fights.
Sentinel and Warden:
Main synergy and probably the most important is the fact warden supplies AMAZING hots not only do these hots heal for tons they also have a chance to proc serendipity on any crit making the uptime of this spell very high. This in conjunction with deluge and Healing Invocation makes your one weakness as warden,low single target healing, almost become non existent.
Another great synergy in raid environments, is your amazing AoE Heals from both Sentinel and Warden. These used in cohesion with Protect the Flock talent can heal AND prevent tons and tons of damage on the WHOLE raid. If you balance Healing Flood with Ripple you can cover the entire raid in hots and 5% damage mitigation during intense healing times. Not to mention you also have Divine Favor and Healing communion if need be. This can prove to save raids and make the healing for your fellow Chloros and Bards.
A small but still important synergy is balancing your HoTs with Pain Suppression/Shield Wall during a time where healing is not allowed whether it is by means of a debuff,LoS,Boss Mechanic or etc.
TO BE FAIR:
Yes there may be small synergies between other trees such as Purifier and Warden because yes you have nice HoTs and shields to blanket them. But in a raid environment you really hinder yourself with losing many cooldowns and battle rezs. Remember as a healer ESPECIALLY it is about what you can do for your raid, not when you can do for your stats and parses.
Soul Builds:
This is where the most controversy and debate will come in on what actually to debate. I hate to dismiss people's opinions and points but the only REAL argument when it comes to cleric healing is where exactly your points go between the Two OPTIMAL synergies.
These are the specs I find most relevant for me and my raid but like I said it is all based on what your raid calls for:
Purifier/Sent
Sent/Warden
Points can be swapped in small areas but I ENCOURAGE you do not lose those main Synergies I listed above in the previous area.
A Concern: Something I hear a lot or I am asked a lot is if I use Restorative Flame or Healing Invocation. This goes for this spec and other other. A good combination of both and realizing their synergies and situational use is what will separate you from the pack
Gameplay:
This is where even I nor anyone can help you. This all based on knowledge,experience and dedication all small factors in the bigger picture. SKILL.
Things I can say our Key for healers to know:
Mouseover Macros - Saves Time and Lives
OPTIMAL keybindings - Saves Time and Lives
Movement - Knowing when and how to move and properly
Raid Awareness - Knowing when to do abilities,learning to be preventive or reactive based on the fight,knowing if you can stand in something for an extra second to get a heal or whether it is best to "**** ASAP"
Mana conservation - Not blowing your load too early
Being Vocal: Calling out for innervates,cooldowns and battle rezs. Overlapping cooldowns,innervates and battle rez can prove to be detrimental to your raid.
Confidence and Focus - Staying calm and focused is key. If a dps dies or a tank drops don't get disgruntled or start blaming others. Use your cooldowns and battle rezs and move forth or take the wipe like a man/woman and give it another try. No fight will always be one shotted. I have killed bosses in 10 minutes and I have killed bosses after 4 hours. Nothing is handed to you in RIFT and RNG can be a huge factors.
The Right Guild: Being comfortable and feeling at home is also key to being a healer. Having a friendly and serious environment is what most would strive for. If you have guilides who are quick to blame,complain,quit or point fingers at everyone but them you may want to reevaluate your situation and where you stand. On that same token,if you are a new guy be patient and you may have to take some lip from others, to earn your spot. Do not be discourage by strong opinions of others or being sat for a raid night or certain fight.
Wrap up:
All in all Cleric Healing is an art and a job. One that has to be analyzed and worked with very carefully. Do not feel as if your hands are completely tied and you have to play these ways. If you are a player who likes to play casually and have fun then go for it. Do what you want and have fun. If you are someone who is serious about raiding at any tier these are some of the ideas you want to have going through your head when you make your spec.
Nothing comes easy and you may find one of these specs to be a hassle or almost impossible for you to play. Don't get discouraged. I know everyone want's to be unique and special but sometimes that just isn't possible. The thing about RIFT is even with these ,"seemingly cookie cutter specs", there is still much room to be different and unique and these all come with small but VITAL stat and spec changes. 1 point can make all the difference.
Thank you for Reading.
Original link: forums.riftgame.com/showthread.php?139797-An-indepth-look-at-Cleric-Healing-%28Raid-Environment%29