Mass_Hysteria

[ QUOTE ]
farm - High level char power leveling lower level char

[/ QUOTE ]
'Farm' - Actually this means repeating a particular portion of a mission or process to horde its rewards BUT NOT completing it to its entirety. An example would be the Sewer Trial. Though now corrected, a team could take on the Sewer Trial and arrest only the Kraken. At the time, Kraken were avg 60k-70k a pop. Once all the Kraken were arrested the team would exit and fail the trial on purpose only to respawn it again and repeat the process.

Though not always negative, 'farming' could also mean a state of play. " I need to spend tonite farming influence so I can make that costume change I have been aching to do."

Its kinda hard to say what to chose. Leadership may be worth looking into. The only reason I say that is think of healing as a theory. "Would it not be easier to prevent the damage rather than repair it?" Sure there is always the forcefield/empath discussion, but for this thread we are looking at empath so what power pool would follow that theory?...In my opinion Leadership would be a nice fit. You give nice damage and defense bonuses to the team with Tactics/Maneuvers/Assault. AND they work great for the solo game. Its an extreme approach to damage prevention but I think the pluses from a soloist aspect really appeal to me.
Mabye we can come up with the ideal template and add it to the guide here.......
------------------------------------------------------
First Aid of "The Rookies"
emp/psy lvl 11 on Pinnacle

I think the whole thread is informative. It gives me a little insight to the playing habits/preferences of other empaths.<ie. to rez or not to rez> I myself chose it only because I am new to the class and expected mistakes. If taking it hurts me in the long run...so be it, Im learning with this char and can always skip it next char.
HOWEVER, now I know that if I party with another group like two teams of 8, or whatever, I know that not all empaths chose the path of rez or absorb pain and to get with any other defenders to take inventory of our powers.
In fact today I ran with a group that I did not know had another empath. We tripped on eachother wasting end as we healed the same tank <wth?>. So I told him/her I would watch the blast scrap and s/he watch the tank. < there we go again--communication is a funny thing>
Which brings another point to the "Help a Healer out Guide". Know what chars are in your group. Sure it sounds anal and sure you could target each hero and read origin/archtype but make sure you know what kinda skill set is working beside you.<errrr...in front of you...heh>
----------------------------------------------------------
First Aid of "The Rookies" on Pinnacle
emp/psy lvl 11
---------------------------------------------------------

[ QUOTE ]
One thing I suggest for blasters is to just tag a "follow" on the healer when a battle begins... you can blast from anywhere, why not do it from where you know you'll get a heal? be ready to jump, as the healer might be darting in and out of range of tankers/scrappers.

One other thing I suggest to help yourself and the empath... ASSIST! All it takes is targeting the tank, you'll automatically hit his target with anything you throw.
That way the tank will continue to draw agro, and you won't get hit as often... leaving more endurance for the empath to throw at the tanks in the form of heals.

Brother Heal, 17th emp/dark defender, freedom server

[/ QUOTE ]

It is also a good idea to target your biggest aggro Tank as they enter battle. If you know they tend to get hit by 4 mobs asap, then go ahead and get a heal ready. Every milisecond counts.

All good advice...Each post deals with the healer communicating to the group the status. And I too have gone thru battles seeing only red and blue lines staring at my team status window. It almost turns into your own little video game staring at that thing.
I have also added a bind to /tell a target they are low on endurance. Think of the healer as a Health Monitor for the group. In the heat of battle Tanks/Scrappers/Blasters can get carried away with the high number of targets surrounding them and blow away their endurance very quickly. I use tells to communicate a low end because tells stand out in the chat window and also 'ding' at you.
And to make it fun at for me at the end of battle I announce the winner of the 'Most Heals in Combat' award. It gets some LOLs but also gives the hero an outside look at the aggro they create. It is very difficult for a hero to know how many heals s/he gets during battle. Telling them will help them gauge combat performance and justify your role in the team as a healer.
Keep it going folks...we can really make a difference in battle by communicating clear information without causing alot of chatter in the chat window.
------------------------------------------------------
First Aid lvl 10 Emp/Psy
"The Rookies" of Pinnacle
"Put these fools in CHECK!"

Great post 'X'. I typically play melee chars but CoH is the first I have attempted a healer-type...I guess I wanted to see what life is like on the other side of the tracks.
So far I love it!
Your post makes alot of good points.
And you healers dont be shy to spell this kinda thing out before going into battle. I have had the luck of grouping with some very gung-ho blasters and tanks that love to rush from one battle to the next resulting in some deaths.
To help me manage the flow of battle and bring up the 'healer awareness'
--GATHER FOR GROUP HEAL
--WAIT! I need to recharge.
--OK. Recharged and Ready.
--HEALS ON HOLD. RESTING/RECHARGE
I'm still learning but so far I have gotten lots of compliments on my play style.
---------------------------------------------
First Aid lvl 10
Emp/Psy Defender
The Rookies on Pinnacle
---------------------------------------------