Misuse of the word "Healer"
By
Acyl,
Posted on: 2009-05-15 19:43 in Archetypes and Powers General Discussion
If people weren't so deluded into thinking a healer is needed to survive in this game, then we wouldn't have this problem. A good stormy, with or without O2 Boost, far outperforms an average empath.
I broadcast my Regen Scrapper as a healer...
I don't see the problem.
Stock answer #1: There are no healers in CoX.
Stock answer #2: You don't need a healer in any case.
Question of my own: What do you consider a healer? WHat powers does an AT have to take? Are you limiting it to empathy defenders, or can, say, kinetics play too?
My scrapper doesn't need an AoE. She IS an AoE.
I personally don't classify anyone by anything except archetype when I look at broadcasts. I've been on too many teams lately where the leader picks up a "healer" and the team falls apart because everyone thought this player rolled an empath.
Usually when I'm leading my own teams I skip over the "healer" broadcasts because anymore it doesn't tell me anything. If that same person was to say "lvl XX archetype" they stand a much better chance of getting picked up because it narrows down what you can expect from them. As Virtual_Gamer pointed out, a "healer" could even refer to a scrapper. Again, very misleading.
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pfft who needs heals anyways, its the buffs/debuffs that make support toons viable.
every single character in the game has a ressurrection power, its called "Hospital", and if ppl actually have to use it their doing something entirely wrong.
I've been a healer before on my stormie that didn't take O2 Boost. I'm not exactly sure why I was the healer, that's just what hte "leader" said.
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If people weren't so deluded into thinking a healer is needed to survive in this game, then we wouldn't have this problem. A good stormy, with or without O2 Boost, far outperforms an average empath.
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this pretty much sums it up.
No
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
I think you underestimate our fools, sir.
Why /duel is a bad idea
OMG HE SAID HEALER KILL HIM!!!
*Gets out torch and pitchfork*
Yeah... I don't really have anything to add that hasn't already been said...
@Roderick
You have near-missed a hot topic that defenders have been wrestling with for nearly 5 years now.
Healing is an important part of what defenders can do. I honestly find it hard enough to play well without healing that I've chosen to be a radiation, dark, or storm defender (corrupter, or mastermind) on most of the heroes (or villains) I've rolled up and seriously played.
However, healing alone does not work the miracles that defenders are known for. So I don't even try to advertise myself as a "healer." Even though a lot of defenders only have the one heal in their set, their real value is in keeping their teammates from harm to begin with.
An empath with all their healing skills available isn't going to be able to save a blaster that managed to pull something away from the tank, unless you count "resurrect" as a save. A storm summoner can and will save the blaster with a well timed hurricane. A force-fielder, thermal, ice, or sonic would probably have the loose-cannon blaster bubbled enough so the blaster can tank, and therefore likely already "saved" the blaster in advance. Even O2 is more than enough if the defender is built around their primary powerset. For that matter, Aid Other works wonders on a forcefielder, cold domination, or sonic defender.
But the real kicker here is that people still don't seem to realize this. If teams don't get it in their head that there is more to defending than just healing, then other defenders have to fudge their team advertisements just to stand a chance to get one. The hope is that at least when these teams start seeing what a "real" defender can do, they then start looking for proper defenders instead of mere healers, or possibly even invite the defender back another day.
Personally, I don't like it either. So my universal response to "R U healor?" is simply not to give one. I would prefer to go solo rather than try to be the one and only team healer to a team of berserkers with no concept of tactics. But I certainly do know where that frustration is coming from.
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Stock answer #1: There are no healers in CoX.
Stock answer #2: You don't need a healer in any case.
Question of my own: What do you consider a healer? WHat powers does an AT have to take? Are you limiting it to empathy defenders, or can, say, kinetics play too?
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This.
There isn't a healer AT in this game and I hope there never is one.
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everytime...he gets me everytime.... DAMN U BOOMIE
-- _Ilr_
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz. The most common misuse of the word "healer" can be found in the statement so often repeated in team chat: "We need a healer."
wow...this again...lol.
i'll echo the statements mentioned earlier....there aren't healers in the game...blah blah blah...
To the credit of many of the players of CoX...they're learning that "healers" are NOT a requirement around here. Helpful as the are, can't deny it, they're far from the end-all/be-all here. My favorite defender i ever played was a Trick Arrow/Archery defender. No heals what-so-ever.
Pretty much the only time he really ever got an invite outside of his normal team was during the double xp weekends. He did manage to squeeze into a team a few times outside of those times...and usually because someone thought i was a "healor". when they found out i was TA/A...if i didn't get kicked from the team immediatly...the team at least initally thought "omg...trick arrow? SUCKAGE!!!". At least until they found themselves wiping the floor with stuff cuz i was debuffing the crap outta the badguys. They usually changed their tune soon after. Then i was getting stuff like "holy crap! that was awesome!" and "trick arrow rocks!" ...and so on.
My personal fav defenders are sonics and FF'ers. Kins are sweet for the obvious reasons, too. darkies are awesome debuffers with the added splash of heals. Same goes for Radiation. but i'll also take a well built empath...backed by a player than actually KNOWS how to play it! Well built and well played are often 2 different things.
And for the record...for anyone that thinks otherwise that might read this...TURNING HEALING AURA ON AUTO FIRE DOES NOT A GOOD EMPATH MAKE!!
"Rocking the Aura" full time does nothing but ANNOY THE PISS OUTTA ME! Unless crap is hitting the fan THAT BADLY...click it only when it's needed. Try using the rest of the set too!
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Stock answer #1: There are no healers in CoX.
Stock answer #2: You don't need a healer in any case.
Question of my own: What do you consider a healer? WHat powers does an AT have to take? Are you limiting it to empathy defenders, or can, say, kinetics play too?
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This.
There isn't a healer AT in this game and I hope there never is one.
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Indeed.
And as for SStingrays comment:
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Healing is an important part of what defenders can do.
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Umm... No. I see the one, single power in my kit bag that heals, as being the least important ability that my Kin has.
There are times, even when you have great buffs/debuffs/controls, that you just need someone who is good at restoring HP or increasing the other players' regen rate. These are the things I look for in a "healer". Even if they only have 1 power, as long as they have it slotted out and can use it often enough and at the times it's needed, it'll suffice.
That in no way means that "healorz" are the end-all be-all of CoH. It just means that even w/ all your FF, Sonic, and other buffers out there, you're gonna get hit and sometimes respites aren't enough...
Bio, take it from my FF defender. You are flat out wrong. With the exception of psy attacks that bypass force-fields entirely, the number of times anybody on my team takes more damage than they can sustain without an outside heal/regen buff do not warrant a power selection.
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Bio, take it from my FF defender. You are flat out wrong. With the exception of psy attacks that bypass force-fields entirely, the number of times anybody on my team takes more damage than they can sustain without an outside heal/regen buff do not warrant a power selection.
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That may be true for 90% of the content, but you cannot run a STF/LRSF w/ FF alone. You cannot run a MA mission w/ lvl 54 enemies w/ FF alone. I know I'm picking on FF here, but there aren't many sets that are *only* buff/debuff w/ no heal whatsoever. I can only think of: FF, Sonic, TA, Cold Dom. Even traps has a +regen buff, and storm has a heal-other.
You're even wrong on the task forces. They've been done with no defenders or controllers at all; quite clearly that would mean no FF, but it also means none of the other healing sets, OR buff/debuff sets.
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Bio, take it from my FF defender. You are flat out wrong. With the exception of psy attacks that bypass force-fields entirely, the number of times anybody on my team takes more damage than they can sustain without an outside heal/regen buff do not warrant a power selection.
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That may be true for 90% of the content, but you cannot run a STF/LRSF w/ FF alone. You cannot run a MA mission w/ lvl 54 enemies w/ FF alone. I know I'm picking on FF here, but there aren't many sets that are *only* buff/debuff w/ no heal whatsoever. I can only think of: FF, Sonic, TA, Cold Dom. Even traps has a +regen buff, and storm has a heal-other.
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Actually yes, yes you can run those with FF alone.
Tell that to Cerulean Watchman while he solos another level 54 Rikti Pack. The Tanks usually ask him to take Lord Recluses aggro in the STF 
Cerulean Watchman
Anyone have a video of a team w/ no defenders or controllers running and successfully winning a STF? Oh, and extensive use of temp powers, aid other, etc, invalidate that as "your team" isn't really winning, then...
I just don't buy that you never need any kind of heal whatsoever, apart from respites, for some of the hardest content in the game. I've been on teams w/ an ideal makeup, (like a kin, stone tank, rads), that didn't succeed, so you'll have to prove to me that you don't need them.
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Anyone have a video of a team w/ no defenders or controllers running and successfully winning a STF? Oh, and extensive use of temp powers, aid other, etc, invalidate that as "your team" isn't really winning, then...
I just don't buy that you never need any kind of heal whatsoever, apart from respites, for some of the hardest content in the game. I've been on teams w/ an ideal makeup, (like a kin, stone tank, rads), that didn't succeed, so you'll have to prove to me that you don't need them.
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Is this an example of moving the goalposts? i can't tell.
Having heals on a team, if you include power pools and self heals, is hard to avoid. i do recall a team of either all Blasters or Kheldians completed the STF, but they almost certainly had some Medicine on hand. (i think it was Blasters.)
It may be possible to complete the STF with no heals of any kind, but that sort of a team makeup is such an unusual edge case that it's unlikely to ever happen without creating a team specifically to do it. Still, i'd be willing to volunteer for it if anyone wants to try.
Still, for over 99% of the content it's not necessary to have any sort of power that heals others. i once completed the Numina TF on a team that was nothing but Blasters, Scrappers and my Earth/TA Controller. i forget if we had 5 or 6 people at the end, but Jurassik wasn't all that hard to defeat. (Admittedly i did have the Call of the Sandman proc in PGA, but it's only there so that i do in fact have a healing arrow.)
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The healers in this game are empath, pain dom, and thermal. Sure those sets can do things besides heal, and other sets can do the same thing, but when i'm looking to run a high end team, and would like healing, that's what i'm going to take with me, and i'm calling them a healer.
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That may be true for 90% of the content, but you cannot run a STF/LRSF w/ FF alone.
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WRONG. Have done it, multiple times. Our main Bubbler doesn't do any of that fruity 'aid other' crap, either.
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You cannot run a MA mission w/ lvl 54 enemies w/ FF alone.
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WRONG, again.
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Healing is highly overrated by half the game and highly overrated by the other. The thing is that unless the ones taking the damage has self-heals or extreme regeneration, healing will help you more than anything. But if they do have that, healing is mostly useless and buffs would help you more than anything. There's two parts of survivability, mitigation (defense, resistance, crowd control) and recovery (healing and regeneration). The more you have of one, the better the other gets.
A team with a good willpower/fire/dark tanker and a FF will never miss a healer, I promise you that. The same cannot be said if the Tanker is SD/Ice/Invuln, who wouldn't even be helped by the FF.
Mitigation is mitigation. Healing is one, albiet powerful and direct, form.
I run a /FF MM. I have successfully held up a team on many occasions. Why worry about healing or reducing damage when you can flat-out prevent the damage?
Pick your flavor, it doesn't matter which, because in the end the results are the same...You're alive and the Mobs aren't.
EDIT:
My main is a /Storm Corruptor. I am not a healer, something people find strange and alien, because I found O2 Boost to be a waste of a slot. Rather, I am a sapper/summoner/debuffer/agent-of-chaos, and it works just fine.
The off-beat space pirate...Capt. Stormrider (50+3 Elec/Storm Science Corruptor)
The mysterious Djinn...Emerald Dervish (50+1 DB/DA Magic Stalker)
The psychotic inventor...Dollmaster (50 Bot/FF Tech Mastermind)
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We've all seen the broadcasts: lvl XX healer lft. I used to think people were referring strictly to empaths, but apparently storm summoners can pass themselves as "healers" as well, with their amazing healing set consisting of a whopping 1 single target heal. Maybe it's just me, but this is just more than a tad bit misleading. If this is the case, then any blaster who happens to pick up the ally heal from the Medicine power pool can pass themselves off as "healers" as well.
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