Healing 102 - HoTs: maybe not so Hot?

No, I jest. HoTs are the bomb, at least for me and my OP class. And I shall tell you why.

For a DoK, HoTs are commonly overlooked and I can understand that. They only have two of them and they're not very good (or so I hear; feel free to prove me otherwise). Instead, they rely on their nearly spammable, short cast-time group heal to be extremely effective in a dire pinch. This is their strength as a healer. They're fast about it.

Zealots, on the other hand, are not as quick and their most powerful heals will take twice as long than a DoK's group heal. Thing is, we have more of them.

I have stressed this before but I shall stress it again for good measure: Leaping Alteration is our primary renown leeching tool. I'll give you mine as an example: Without critting I can periodically heal people within and without my party for around 350; if it crits it can go as high as 500. This is not to be ignored. At all.

Tzeentch's Cordial is also quite a powerful tool: not only have I seen it crit for 1k, you can now also equip that tactic that makes each tick capable of procing a 1k armor buff and a 10% less armor penetration shield. This can dramatically increase the survivability of a targeted DPS or healer.

Imagine this scenario. A tank has valiantly pushed onwards to disrupt the enemy's backlines. Immediately he is focused by whatever defenses they left there but a small force continues to beat down your own backline. Chances are that your tank is out of groupheal range. But it's very difficult for him to be out of single-target range as it is one of the longest (150 ft) in the game. So, if you just HoT him up with both LA and TC, he will be getting ticks of about 500 from each, a bit more if you're lucky. While you spam a bit of DoP to keep yourself and fellow healers up you need only the occasional Flash or Elixir to keep said tank productive, bearing in mind that tanks in backlines are very often ignored until it's too late. Even if he goes down you have earned extra renown and have kept enemy healers disrupted by proxy.

Also, in a PvE situation, HoTs can surely make a difference.

Take ToVL for example. The... 3rd boss? (the one that bombs and teleports and does the scarabs with the bridges and the river...) will deal pretty heavy damage to every party member over a short period of time. If you have not cast a pre-emptive LA over your party this damage is much harder to heal and can sometimes result in a MDPS casualty. Seeing as all these bosses are a DPS race, that can be an issue. Also, in dmg heavy bosses like the last one, having HoTs tick while your AP restores can make the difference between a phat new Tyrant chest and... not.

But lets not be extremists about this.

I came across a Zealot in T3 the other day that, while being the only healer in a 2 party warband, had resorted to only casting HoTs. So I asked him why. And he merely replied "is that wrong?"

I'll tell you now my friends. Yes. Yes, it is very wrong.

If you're in a situation where everyone and everything is taking damage, Group Healing is your Friend. Group Healing is so my friend I'm even specced all the way up Dark Rites because of it.

But HoTs help. And they can help a lot. And if you're leeching for renown, HoTs are more than your friend, they're your lover, your better half, your soulmate.

----EXTRA----

Keeping yourself alive: A few tips

Lets brush up on our survival skills.
First of all, learn to detaunt. Detaunt causes your targets to deal 50% less damage to you so, if u see a Slayer coming at you or a WL getting ready to pounce, detaunt before hand. Most of them like taking a great big bash at you right at first so you panic. What you can do is cut that damage in half and get a bit more protection on you, more specifically,
Embrace The Warp: like detaunt, reduces incoming damage by 50% but it is time based, not anything else. Plus, it stacks with detaunt (unless I'm terribly, terribly mistaken) and it makes you unsetbackable - and I know that isn't a word - meaning you can cast Elixirs on yourself and they won't be set back.
Be aware of your surroundings. Hide behind a tree or a wall, keeping in group heal range of the rest of your party.
If a tank suddenly breaks for your healer cluster, move to the side or towards and past him: there's a stagger inc.
Keep in mind that healers will die. Sometime's there's no way around it. People will die in WAR and healers will, ideally, go down first.
Err... I've said most of these things already. You might find more useful stuff here, here or generally here.

EDIT: Btw, HAPPY 100 POSTS ME!!!

DPS Zealot, The Double-Edged Dagger

I've done some serious testing, even FRAPSed it (although chances of it becoming an actual posted video are close to none as I don't have much free time on my hands to devote to learn how to make a presentable thingy).

I was surprised, impressed even, at the Zealot's ability to deal real damage and real kills, despite most of them being stolen. In the same exact specc, changing only my tactics and toggling on/off the Harbinger, I was healing the same as usual, which was very good.

Bear in mind we're talking about a rr70 Zealot in good gear so results may difer.

So, what I did was:

Tactics: Divine Fury (yes, I ended up using it after all cuz, frankly, I don't need to switch back to healing when in a premade with (an)other good healer(s)); Chager's Touch (the heal debuff is as sweet as I expected); Waves of Chaos, Scourged Warping.

I had to turn on Duff timer, which I don't usually use with my healer, so I could have some visual input of when Scourged Warping ticked and to check the efficiency of Changer's Touch.

I am pleased.
I would recomend all you Zealots started switching to DPS as well, if the battle is going in your favor.

The Healer's Hassle

That's my title, that is.
I've been trying something different, not necessarily good, but I've quite ejoyed it.

Long overdue, I've been trying to DPS more often, taking advantage of my new found intteligence softcap (sitting at 1070 with the Int buff an the Harbringer set to offensive). The result has been... satisfying and I've found myself trying to raise alternative healers for my scenario parties so I can DPS. I've taken revenge on WHs and WLs alike, closing in the gap in my Dammaz Kron. Oh yeah, I dinged 70. Also, long overdue.

But let's continue our DPS Zealot musings.

With my new found renown rank came a new mastery point which I spent to buy Chaotic Agitation. It is actually quite a good spell and I'll tell you more about its potential shortly.

I could feal the evil glares as other players started noticing the Scourge coming from my focus so I tried to not switch to DPS tactics very often, remaining in healer-friendly tactics and only turning on the harbringer once in a while.

But I've been thinking of completely rehauling my specc to slot in some new goodies and possibly make my Zealot a true force to be reckoned with while DPSing.

My DPS friendly-tactics have been Waves of Chaos (rituals pulse with damage), Divine Fury (25% more damage but 20% less healing; that or the other way around), Something-Or-Other (20%? chance to proc an absorb shield of 700~? on being hit) and Scourged Warping (each tick of Warp Reality - the DoT - has a chance of making the next Scourge cast in 10 seconds to be insta cast). All well and good but I'm not happy with Divine Fury. The extra damage is good but the healing gimp is noticeable when I have to turn off my Harbringer to save myself (and, possibly others) from certain death.

So I've been looking at other tactics to buy to slot in instead of it. I could go for Manipulation, to keep damaging while I turn back to healing. But there's too many 25%s in tthat equation, making its damage output quite gimped.

Chaotic Force wouldn't be half bad either, considering I mainly cast Tzeentch's Cry and Scourge while Chaotic Agitation cools down. But taking up a tactic slot for just two abilities seems a bit of a waste.

But what really caught my eye was Changer's Touch. Chaotic Agitation crits nicely, even though my crit is subpar (sitting at around 16%). But Chaotic Agitation has some very nice points going for it: the hits are close together; if the target goes out of range (oh, say, to the backline next to his juicy healers) it keeps on hitting, wether I lose LoS or just range; my AP ritual makes its AP cost almost null. Now, from the recently discovered usefulness of the Shadow Warrior's heal debuff (yes, only now have I started seeing Shadow Warrior's actually use it on a regular basis) I can assert that a 50% heal debuff is not to be taken lightly, especially if u can AoE it. 2k heals will only heal 1k and previously useful HoTs of 500~will be cut down to 250ish. Not terribad, in my opinion.

I'm left to wonder if it stacks with Windblock, but I'd need some help in testing it out.

I'm also thinking of scraping up an extra point to buy Boon of Tzeentch, if its axis problems have been fixed (I've heard nothing to confirm this), mainly to improve my own survivability against those pesky pouncers and stealthers.

I also wonder if anyone out there has tried these things out and can shed some light on the subject. My bloodthirst would greatly apreciate it.

Healing Tips: Part 1

1. For fast renown, heal ppl when they jump off keep walls.
2. Just throwing HoTs around when in a funnel and you've got your entire party of MDPS/Tanks under oil is NOT OK.
3. When being targeted by anything never run to the other healers. Run near a tank or a dps that can help kill it, or else they will just jump from killing you to killing the next one.
4. Refrain from using your knockbacks except when absolutely necessary. Targets shold not be made immune to tank punts.
5. Position yourself, whenever possible, away from ledges and with your back to a wall.
6. When in doubt, ask for help

Zealot: Path of the iPhone®

Yes, after 25 years someone gave me a nickname.

So, I've been asked about my specc a lot lately. Seems that when you start edging closer to rr70 ppl start taking you more seriously. Not that my healing has changed much but there you go.

My specc looks like this with 3 more points spent in the alchemy tree (wardb doesn't account for the extra specc points you get with every 10 rrs). Bear in mind that the Warping the Spirit tactic has had its effect changed and now makes Tzeentch's Cordial have a % (20%?) chance to increase the target's armour for 1056 and reduce his armour penetration by 10% for 10 seconds. This chance applies with every tick of the HoT so, with a bit of luck it will refresh itself down to the last tick.

I'm now the proud owner of 2 Tyrant pieces: the shoulders and the belt. Still wearing Sentinel chest piece (Assasin's Suit or whatever it's called. The one that looks like a BW on its appearance) mainly because I'm only rr68. And Darkpromise never drops for me. Ever. Hands and boots are Warlord and I'm wearing a spiffy Cowl of the Fist with a Mask of the Bloodletter appearance. Wicked. I've got all 4 ToVL glyphs, the semi-crappy LoTD cloak, a rr65 SC weapon and a rr55 SC focus.

------!! SELF-INTERVIEW TAIIMMEEE!!!11eleven!-------

Q: I've heard Zealots are better off focusing on ST (Single Target) healing and not group heals. Why did you go for Dark Rites?

A: I would rather have my groupheal crit everyone for 2.5k than take as long a cast time on an Elixir of Dark Blessings for a possible 5k for the simple fact that the only thing taking a serious beating that can wait that long is a turtling tank. Also, bombing being a very current problem I gotta face the fact that every single person in my party is likely to be hit at exactly the same time. So, yes, Zealot's ST is VERY good and VERY strong, especially because, unlike the Shaman (the DoKs don't even count for ST when not dps specced), Zealots can specc specifically for ST but grouphealing is essential especially if you find yourself being the only healer in your party.

Q:Would you bet on Willpower or Wounds for survivability?

A: Tricky. I'll be the first one to admit it, I'm a very squishy Zealot. Mostly due to the fact that I stacked Willpower until I had it softcapped without my Willpower buff. Still, if I'm running with a good group that will assist me when I'm targeted, squishiness is no longer much of a factor. Also, they might say Shamans excel at survivability and DoKs have better armour but Zealots have Embrace the Warp (not to be confused with Warping Embrace even though the icons appear to be the same). Yes the cooldown is terrible but, odds are, after you use it Order will just give up on you. Another thing crucial to upping your survivability is location and spatial awareness, but more on that later.

Q: What stats are most important for a healing specced Zealot?

A: Willpower primarily (no-brainer that one) and Healing crit. Healing crit is essential and is actually something I'm lacking. At 23ish% I'm still nowhere near where I want to be (please God, Mythic, anyone, I need those DP boots. If they were to magically appear in my mailbox I wouldn't tell a soul. I swear!) It's essential not only for the obvious reason (you heal more, duh) but for 2 of my tactics: RB (you get AP back on healing crits) and BoC. With RB proccing off groupheals I can pretty much spam DoP nonstop and throw TCs and a LA around and not even care that my AP ritual doesn't apply to me. BoC just makes healing all around that much easier. It also makes my FoC crit for over 1k with just 8 points spent in Alchemy. For an insta cast cheap heal that's just awesome.

Q: Is it worth it buying more than one Ritual? Like say, the AP and the DR one?

A: I would have to say no. It's just not worth a specc point imho. If you feel your regular healing isn't cutting it, I'd go for the healing one. If you can do ok without it go for the AP one. It will make your party kill stuff faster. This "stuff" includes stuff hitting you.

Q:What about for PvE? Are Zealots any good at PvE healing? What specc do you go with when healing LV or ToVL?

A: Zealots are the quintessential PvE healer. We have so many useful things for PvE, it's scary. The selfres is useful when you wipe, obviously. You can up a tank's wounds for 60 seconds which is useful for bosses that have a hard first strike. The new Warping the Spirit works wonders because of the extra armour. Tzeentch's Talon helps a ton with dps races and so does the AP ritual. And if you're ST specced PvE is where you'll truly shine as a steady flow of Elixirs can keep your tank up against almost anything.

Tactics wise I only swap something out to slot in Subtlety, seeing as Guards are better spent on something other than me and I dont wanna die. I don't bother respeccing to ST for PvE anymore. Just not worth the money and my specc is good enough atm to handle both situations.

Q: What would you say is the Zealot's biggest fault?

A: Until 1.3.6 I would say it was its complete lack of dps viability when healing specced. Now, I really couldn't say. I haven't tried turning my Harbinger on at all, seeing as I don't need to damage anything. For leveling a Zealot, it might have been a good change but, then again, I don't know any Zealots who are PvE solo-leveling so it's true usefulness is lost on me. At the moment, I'm completely satisfied with how things work on my Zelly.

Absent Sara is absent!

Zealot's Guide to Lost Vale: Right Wing

Long overdue, I know, but it's been a long time since I've been there. But as I managed to do a successful full run today, events are still fresh in my head so let's begin by spewing them out already. Too bad I forgot to take any screenies of it so random stuff from previous runs will just have to do to mitigate the 2k crit from the WoT.

This was my build for this run. Currently wearing some Warlord, one piece Tyrant (with +4% heal crit), a Cowl of the Fist and 4 piece bonus from Sentinel. For jewelry I use the ToVL glyphs, o LotD Cape, a purple bag city siege weapon and a rr55 SC focus (Apostle's Focus of Anathema. A bit over-geared for this but there you go.

Also, remember to start off battles with your Morale 1 on the bosses, followed by the Harbinger (pre 1.3.6). Although they won't understand why, dpsers will notice a boost in their dmg output.

--//--

Once you're done with the spider boss you come up to the beach again. First-timers must then return to the beach and deliver the quest at the Eversissy again. On to the right wing.

Throughout the wing there will be little neutral Pain Sprites. These cast an AoE silence if aggroed so either make a point of killing every one or just avoid them entirely by cutting down on the AoE. First few tree-like mobs are easy enough. If you find their hits too strong (and they will almost definitely hit you) just detaunt them or Embrace the Warp. I find that a bit overkill for such little damage.

When you come to the stairs make sure everybody moves together and ignore all the mobs until you reach the great Treekin/thingy at the top. You must do this because a barrier appears at the bottom of the stairs soon after the first person goes up.

Moving right on to the first boss.

Chul, the Tosser

Chul crits you for over 9k. You have died.
No, actually Chul is kind of a sissy. The only thing different that he does is that he randomly tosses someone down a great pit. There are quite a few lizards at the bottom. Anyone tossed down should just run up and alert the party of incoming mobs at which the OT or any dps should focus on getting them off the healers while the boss melts away. Otherwise, just keep the main tank HoTed and make sure to through a Leaping Alteration whenever it's off the cooldown. He might silence you for a wee bit. If you're having trouble healing this it can save your lot's asses when you get silenced. Gratz on the almost free loot. Talk to the NPC. Move on through the river.

There is a cave to the right here. It's filled with Gorgers (I think they are). At the top and after a bridge you'll find the next boss.

Larg, the Stomper

Get every single person in the room. Tank&Spank him down. Once in a while he'll start stomping the ground for a small amount of damage every second or so. Just detaunt him if need be. Otherwise, heal as usual. Moar lootz!

Once done, get back down the cave and continue forward towards the patrol of Ogre&puppies. Soon after that you come to a set of stairs that can be tricky. I've wiped on these stairs a lot (and I do mean a lot) until I found a way around them. Be that as it may, the way we did it was: we pulled the first group a bit away from the stairs and waited for the scout to go get the second group. We then proceeded to take that group down, still away from the stairs, before moving on up. I must admit we had pretty well geared healers and 3dps so this might be more difficult with lower dps and less healing output. Alternatively, I believe all you have to do to make this easier is kill the scout before he gets away. Try quaking or any kind of knockback/snare.

Once you're through with the stairs, you'll want to enter the second opening on the right, when you get to the ruins by the cliff. Inside you will find...

Butcher and Gnoblar, The Married Couple

These two are the reason most parties do the dungeon with two tanks. Don't ask me what to do with all the items that supposedly help in this fight, I wouldn't know. Stand in front of the tent or inside the hole in the wall, it won't matter much. The tank should tank the Butcher by the left wall, with his back (the tank's) against the wall. The other tank, if existant, should tank the Gnoblar on the opposite wall, near the dirt pile. All they have to worry themselves about is killing the Gnoblar at Butcher's 75, 50 and 25% hp and retaunting the new Gnoblar that spawns. What you have to worry about is the heavy damage the offtank beggins to suffer when it is time to finally kill him. Being specced high in Dark Rites helps in this fight but, if your OT s a bit squishy it might not be enough. And you can't afford to let your MT get hit for too much either. Just focus heal on the OT when he magically jumps to below 50% hp and group heal them both until the gnoblar is down. When the new one spawns, keep the OT perma-HoTed and focus on the MT. Should do fine.

Hug the wall, past the bridge. Careful because the trees in the bridge dump AoE pools (they look a lot like Mistress of the Marsh) that can really hurt.

Once you get to a platform thingy have players all stand in one of the stone cyrcles. As a Zealot, stand on the one to the far left and let the MDPS stand on the ones to the right. They kill the mobs, you probably get silenced a bit by aggroed sprites. Mobs dead, speak to NPC, move on to the hardest boss of the right wing. After you kill all the tree mobs you might want to aggro a Pain Spire to have your tanks build up morales until they reach Morale 4. This way they can easilly withstand the first blow oooof

Gorak, the Fugly Electrician

At the beginning of battle (after you kill the Sprite, and please remember to or you'll be silenced for most of the fight) make sure everyone is well spaced out and avoid standing close to one another.
This boss has two stages. The first stage he will do frontal cleaves that do pretty heavy damage to anyone caught by them. So keep the MT HoTed and keep dishing out your big ST heal. Due to my Blessing of Chaos I can have this one crit for around 3500 hp so it really helps with the cleave business. Once you see him take the, what I like to call, "taking a dump" position, detaunt him. He will knock everyone back and hit people with a ball of lightning that can eat out half the health of squishies or more. I remember that he deals around 500 when detaunted. I would assume unwarded players are insta-gibbed. This attack is AoE so if someone stands next to another they'll both get hit, hence the spacing thing at the beggining. Time for heavy group heals. Don't bother with Morale 3 as this is a magical attack. Right around the time your detaunt ends, he'll revert back to cleaving as usual. Focus on healing the MT again. This is one of the few bosses in here with an enrage timer. If you don't kill him around his third lightning stage, you will die.

If you succeed, congratulations. NPC, moving right along. Place your self res as soon as you encounter any mobs as this boss aggroes without being attacked or taunted or anything.

This... is... SARTHAIN

Once you get in the wooded area, move left. Place one of your dpsers in the first clearing you find. Keep moving forward and place your tank and mdps here. See that stone near the water more to the left (if you're facing the boss)? Place a rdps there. These should be their positions when they run out. You don't need to have one but more on that later.
You all jump on to the island (although you have the range to not do so if you prefer) and dps the boss heavily. You'll notice some text going on about how Corruptors spawn and channel power and Bob Loblaw's Law Blog. Just keep AoE healing the grunts in the middle. Once they all spawn have everyone take their appointed positions. If someone gets rooted they will take slight damage in very fast ticks. Just Flash them back up. Anyone rooted will be silenced though so place a HoT on yourself when the rooting phase is on. Once the shield is down around the Corruptor's the dps need to be quick about it to get them down or else they will heal the tree back to full health. Just DoT and debuff them as much you can. When done with them wait for the timer on the tree to run down and then everybody moves in again. If you move in the water before the timer runs down you will die. Well, not necessarily but quite probably. Just avoid the water at any cost. Ranged abilities are ok during this phase though so feel free to mangle it with your UBER Scourge...
Anyways, that's pretty much all there is to it. Not much for us to do here except debuff the targets, group heal while in the island and save rooted people.

NPC back at the beach and...

YOU'RE ALL DONE! Congratulations. Be disappointed. Well if you had my luck you would be...

Cya next time.

Insta Ap Giveaway!

* Ritual of Innervation: Increased the Action Point cost of this ability and removed the build time.

* Ritual of Lunacy: Increased the Action Point cost of this ability and removed the build time.

* Ritual of Superiority: Increased the Action Point cost of this ability and removed the build time.

 

Hmm? Hmm? So all those times you were thinking "where the hell is all that AP I had a while ago" because I get bored of casting a 2sec spell when I could be healing you are now in the past. Yes, I just might be sticking to the AP ritual this time. The one thing I hated the most about it was the longer cast time it had. Made me less mobile and, hence, less happy. Was also reducing my damage output as the circa 20k damage I do each scenario come exclusively from my Waves of Chaos (or sometimes, if we're doing ok, my Windblock) so each time I refused to cast it because I was busy healing I was dealing less damage as well.

 

So look forward to some happy times AP boost. I'm still not happy that I don't get any AP back from the damn thing as I am not hitting anything at all. Not because I'm not happy about the damage I would be dealing but because RvR these days is too healing demanding for me to do anything else at my level. So I'm not hitting and, in result, not getting any AP back. But you lot are. And I know you love it.

 

Also, they have changed my favourite HoT ever! Although I might have to give up the afore mentioned Wave of Chaos to slot this tactic in.

 

* Warping the Spirit: This Tactic is now available at Rank 27. It has been redesigned, and will now give Tzeentch's Cordial a chance each tick to increase your ally's armor and decrease the incoming armor penetration of attacks against them.

 
These can be the things I'm most happy about with the patch notes. All the rest is kind of "meh". I'm not gonna pronounce myself over the whole Harbinger thingy. I haven't tested it yet. See it to believe it is my policy.

EDIT: Check out the instance number on that screenshot. Kinky.

Healers and You: What to Roll

I see this question asked a lot in the advice channel. Granted, I see a lot of similar questions asked but healers are more my thing so, here's my two cents on the matter.

"What healer should I roll/is more effective/is better in T4?"

The answer to the first question is, and always should be "the one you have more fun with". The second is debatable and the third relates closely to the second. What follows is merely my take on how they measure up when compared to each other and should be taken with a grain of salt, as I am more familiar with the Zealot than anything else.
Be warned! Wall of Text ahead. Plus I did not organize this in any way prior to typing it so... well, enjoy.

ABILITIES

Healing:
Zealots have, from early on, more healing abilities than any other. While DoKs spend quite a while with just two direct healing spells, Zealots (and Shamans to some extent) have a wider choice when it comes to just standing back doing the heals. In fact, DoKs get 5 direct healing abilities at most while Zealots get at least seven that I can think of at the top of my head (correct me if I'm wrong). When it comes to pocketing you might feel more comfortable having a Zealot and Shaman at your back, seeing a DoK has only two single target healing abilities (Restore Essence and Soul Infusion). A Zealot is more likely to keep you HoTed (with TC, LA, DM and maybe even the third ritual) between big heals while DoKs will rely more on their quick-casting group heals and their group absorb and HoT.
Shamans sit somewhere in between. Although they lack the instant gratification spell and have, instead, a very short cast-time heal/HoT similar to Restore Essence, they have what I like to call the "big one-target" that Zealots also possess. Their single-target absorb is also as useful/useless as a Zealot's although it can be made a bit more useful with the use of a certain tactic (although as soon as the barrier fades, which is soon, its bye-bye dmg).

Damage:
DoKs are, by far, the most common of DPSing healers. This could be because they have the sturdiest of armors compared to other healers (Medium Robe vs Robe) or it could just be that everyone loves the way a Dark Elf looks dual-wielding. Whatever the reason, DPS Shamans and Zealots in particular seem to be the most shunned. I've tried the DPS route with all of them and, granted, they all have very different feels to them, but the most fun to play, imho, is the Shaman. Simply because i still have the ability to help support my team while I DPS as it increases the effectiveness of my healing. But if you prefer a more "hands-on" approach to damage, DoKs are the Melee ones of the bunch which also makes them one of the first targets in the front lines.

I can't tell you which of the classes is more adept at DPSing or which has the most damage dealing abilities simply because I've never delved into the matter much. But if you do decide to embark on this venture be prepared to grow a very thick skin. Although it is my belief that DPS healers are completely viable, people expect a healing class to heal. That is the main reason they group with them.

Support:
All three classes have a certain buff they will cast at the beginning of a battle. For Shamans its Mork's Buffer. For DoK it can one of three Covenants, depending on the Mastery they chose (this is a good way to know what to expect from a DoK): Tenacity (they are usually going to be healing), Celerity (usually full DPS) and Vitality (Sacrifice mastery). Zealots have the wider choice in this, having several Marks to buff their group mates with. These are: Daemonic Fury, Vortex, Spell Destroyer and Remaking. Healers expect to be marked with SD and DPSing classes with DF. Tanks are a bit trickier and I usually ask what they want. If not, I give them DF because, lets face it, every tank wants to deal just a bit more damage.
In the midst of battle I consider the Shamans to have the better utility. Zealots have their choice of Rituals (Innervation, Lunacy and Superiority), the afore mentioned absorb and a very basic knockback. Depending on their spec they can also have an AoE stagger. Also, they can increase the wounds of an ally for a short while and silence an opponent. Bu that's it. DoKs have that absorb, and, if Sacrifice specced, they can bestow a damage-to-heal aura. They also have their meager knockback (cone effect) and can reduce their target's parry chance if Torture specced. They can rob AP, nullify buffs, steal strength, silence and snare. But there are too many conditions for these to work for my taste. I find them more useful in 1vs1 combat than in a large scale fight.
Shamans, in my opinion have the best support of all the healing classes. They can give their group mates more damage, cast a GT snare while reducing resistances, rob AP, a healing debuff, a knockback that snares, debuff offensive stats, increase toughness, reduce toughness and most of these skills hit more than one target.

MORALE ABILITIES

Common:
As with every archetype, healers have some morale abilities that are common to every class. Divine Favor is the first you'll stumble upon and it will prove useful for a long time. Until it stops being so and you'll never use it again. Or at least, I recommend you don't. I never used Steal Life myself. Again, I don't think it's worth it.
As for rank 2, you'll probably use Rampaging Siphon much as it heals your entire group and deals undefendable damage (at least I think it is) to possibly a wide range of enemies. As for Focused Mind, I personally have never used it, but it might have its good points. If I remember correctly it makes you impervious to silence and such. That or 0 AP cost. I can't remember.
Rank 3 has just Divine Protection. Bear in mind the shield only works for melee attacks so it's less useful against a bomb squad.
Rank 4 has Alter Fate. I can rarely get this one to work. The radius of it just seems too small. Remember, if you're trying to be a healer you can't quite be in the muck of it where everyone's dying.

Disciple of Khaine:
Rank 1: Life's End - I don't know what this one does but I get the feeling its damage related.
Rank 2: Khaine's Withdrawal - this one removes all debuffs from your entire group. Useful in places like BB and against Engineers.
Rank 3: Universal Confusion - useful for a damage specced DoK. That and for staggering, possibly.
Rank 4: 1001 - This is possibly one of the most famous Morale 4s in the game and if you were ever in a raid where you kept reading "1001 up" now you know what they were on about. Very useful to help damage mitigation. This is available in the Dark Rites (healing specc) tree. Chant of Pain - I don't believe this one is used much as it is only a self-heal. But it beats Alter Fate. In the Sacrifice tree. Vision of Torment - unfortunately, not burst damage, but good for preventing tanks from getting out their good morales. In the Torture tree.

Shaman:
Rank 1: Gork Sez Stop - My favorite morale ability ever. Enemies will rarely notice if they have the debuff and they can literally run themselves ragged after you. I've killed many this way.
Rank 2: Breath of Mork - By the time you get this morale you already have group heals. Good for healing outside warbands or if you really don't like your other morale choices.
Rank 3: You Weren't Using Dat - Another skill that makes Shamans (just like AMs) AP powerhouses. Useful for draining a front line as it is charging at you.
Rank 4: Feelz No Pain - Good for the damage reduction. In the Mork (healing) tree. Fists of Gork - decent damage (for a healer) and a knockback. I'm guessing I'd only use this as a last resort if specced on the Gork (DPS) tree. Steal Yer Thunder - A solid buff/debuff in the Da Green tree (damage-to-heal).

Zealot:
Rank1: Tzeentch's Talon - Or, as I like to call it, the "reverse 1001". It does the exact reverse of 1001 to your target, with the exception of the evade stats. Useful for taking down tanks and PvE bosses.
Rank 2: Eye of Sheerian - My second most favorite morale, simply because I think it looks so cool. Good to add an extra HoT like when you know a boss is going to silence you, for instance.
Rank 3: Suppressing the Fragile Unbelievers - Would be awesome if not for the short range. Again, you would have to be in the thick of it and I, personally, prefer hiding behind a tree.
Rank 4: Tzeentch's Shielding - A very decent shield and everybody loves AP. In the Alchemy (direct heals) tree. Tzeentch's Scream - Another one with AP and maybe a not so excellent HoT. In the Witchcraft (HoT) tree. Windblock - the heal debuff and my weapon of choice for killing Steveo. Yeah, I killed Steveo once and this is how I did it. My moment of glory. In the Dark Rites (group heal) tree.

TACTICS

If I went into a detailed description of all tactics I'd lose whatever little readers I had so I'll just make a quick overview.

DoK: I feel that, as tactics go, they're pretty limited. Either you take up offensive tactics which severely hamper your direct healing ability, or you take the more healing and defensive oriented abilities and you might as well be stabbing people with a butter knife.

Shaman: They have the most coveted of all the healing tactics, at least in my opinion. They also have the equivalent for a damage build. They also have a wide range of utility tactics that gives them a third possible role to play. If you played FFXII (although I weep for your loss if you did) you will understand that I call them Synergists. They also have the ever useful GTFO tactic.

Zealot: Zealot's have many tactics based on the Harbinger which I will net get into because they're about to change the whole meaning/functionality of the thing. One of the most useful Zealot tactics is Blessing of Chaos, that can make all healers more efficient. The tactics bit is the one I'm the most excited about because of this overhaul business.

MASTERY TREES

You might want to study them all in more depth as I cba to do it for you. :)
DoK: They have the Pure DPS tree (Torture), the Pure Healing tree (Dark Rites) and the Lifetap tree (Sacrifice).
Shaman: As above, a DPS tree (Gork), a Pure Healing tree (Mork) and a Lifetap tree (Da Green).
Zealot: Unlike the other two, the Zealots trees are defined by damage/healing type. You have the Direct tree (Alchemy), the Over Time tree (Witchcraft) and the Group/AoE tree (Dark Rites). If this distinction is a blessing or a curse is up to the individual.

FEELING

Every healer has a different feel to it and you'll find different kinds of people behind each of them. Shaman's tend to be more fickle and unstable. They can, and are encouraged, to swap from DPS to healing on a regular basis so its the right choice for you if you'd like to do a little of both from a safe distance and without having to mess with different gear and builds.
DoKs like to die trying. They'll keep moving and stay close to the front line. They won't be afraid to stand their ground against a small force and, if specced correctly, they can take them on successfully. Healing-wise they can reach the highest numbers in scenarios, maybe because they have the fastest group heals in the game (if you don't count the possible instant cast of Gather Round due to the Shaman mechanic) but they feel a bit gimped when healing in the back lines.
Zealots are sometimes viewed as the best healers and worst DPSers in the game. I consider both these statements a lie. They have maybe the smallest DPS potential (but I take it that that's about to change) but  they are also underestimated which can make them deadly. As their healing goes, their heals take longer and are more "to the point" because they have no class mechanic restrictions.  A Zealot is usually gifted with more patience and, even though some call them the "mobile healers", a Zealot will be more comfortable hiding in a bush while he does his business.

IN SUM

What is better in T4? As with all other archetypes, a healthy mix of all of them. Although I tend to see a higher number of DoKs around and the ones I see the least are Zealots. So if you want to fill a gap I would suggest a Zealot (in Karak-Norn at least). They can all be extremely useful in any tier, mind you. The biggest factor in this would be your affinity to the class not exactly the way it is currently engineered.

It always comes down to the "play what you have the most fun with" argument. I hope this gave you a small insight of what you can expect from each class before you invest your time in one of them.

Reikland Factory

I have no idea why this scenario made it to the permanent list. I have yet to find anyone that actually enjoys it and doesn't go "Oh GOD, not this again...." when it pops.

This scenario can/will/shouldn't play out in 2 ways.

First:

Players head straight for Landing and start the main campfight around one of the spawn points. Meanwhile, a very small force of Order/Destro takes out to capture the far flags. Whoever does this wins, usually.

Second:

Players head out to the far flags while a small contingency goes bravely for landing only to be pummeled by the opposing side who went for the first option. The pummelers then notice the further flags being taken and move out to meet the other faction head on. The farther flaggests are outnumbered because of the ones killed at Landing.

And BTW, how wrong are Manouche's DBs in this here screenie? Especially considering the amount of overall kills he had. And below you have a censured Bruce Willis just because I can.

All of this is a fail to me. Of course, there are times when impossible numbers or an impossible number of healers make a difference and spawn farming becomes a reality, for either side. But I still hate it. Wether I win or lose I absolutely loathe it. For one, the far flags are too far. The middle flag has too much clutter to be of any strategic use. I mean, seriously, when was the last time you actually went up those stairs? Landing is just too close to the spawns. Anyone trying to hold it has to deal with wave after wave of the same people coming to push it. And worst of all: people don't listen. They don't. They don't go for the healers first, they will always hit the tanks and they never listen. So it becomes a great big ball of "Oh GOD, not this again..."

I would much rather have Mourkain Temple up on T4. You go up to the middle, you AoE frenzy and you pick up a Murderball. You then proceed to knocking stuff off the ledge and feast on an all-out campfight. How can anything be better than that?

Funny thing. Today while I was in the shower I had an idea. I often have ideas in the shower. I also come up with lyrics to game music and then sing them for the rest of the day much to the annoyance of my peers. I was thinking "with so many bloggers in Norn out there it's a shame I never see them. We should do like a meet or something and bash eachothers to death." And then I logged on and I found Bootae. For the first time, mind you, he's a sneaky one. So I guess the world once more proved to me that it is indeed a very small place. And Norn even more so.

Make a Difference

Hecticness has struck and I am still amidst a tidal wave of tasks (including watching Supernatural season 5. That show is awesome). So I can be forgiven for taking a week off WAR, just to clear me head and all.

Today I went back. As luck would have it (or wouldn't) today was the day of the supposed launch of 1.3.5. But since things didn't go very well across the big blue wet thing, patchness was delayed.

Still, I went cruising around t4 SCs with mah main healer to grab me some emblems while I wait for the new city.

I read somewhere that WAR had a big fault as in it didn't make the individual feel like he was crucial or vital to the unfolding of events in a battle. I beg to differ. Especially in scenarios, which is where I've spent most of my time lately. Even if one cannot, for various reasons, contribute much to the overall healing or damage dealt, there's always other ways of making yourself worthy of the bandwidth you're taking up. If your side is getting farmed, go around and cap some flags. If you, as a tank, can't get your marks under 50% hp before they're healed back up again, go back and punt the healers' threats away.

Today I felt like I mattered. Faced with yet another Nordenwatch spawn point farm I went around and joined 2 other players in capping Lighthouse and Fortress. When we get to Barracks I start reading complaints about how people "haven't had a single heal since the beggining of teh SC QQ". Since we were done capping anyways, I bravely rode my steed headfirst into the red multitude and kicked them with my new morale 4 goodness and started healing away. Sure enough, we drove them back and ended up winning it. It's not like I was the only healer because I wasn't, and I wasn't near the top of the healing chart. But my efforts made a difference. We capped the flags for time enough to swing the points in our favor and eventually kept enough people up for us to drive them back.

Same with Dex, later on. Although I agree that damage alone is not the way to go and we should all strive for a good dmg/DB ratio, that rarely happens with Dex. Mostly because I entertain myself interrupting their backline and keeping the healers busy on themselves so their frontline withers away. Yes, healers are extremely difficult for just one player to finish off, I know that from personal experience. I also know how important it is to be concerned about other health bars apart from my own. So I usually top the damage table and have very few deathblows. But all that damage mattered for something. It might have been healed away but at least those heals, that cast time, that AP was spent on my effort, allowing other people's efforts to get through and kill and whatnot.

Maybe I'm just an optimist and revert to over-analyzing just to feel better about myself. But I do. I feel good about myself. About my noob dmg and all.

Zealot's Guide to Lost Vale: Left Wing

For your learning pleasure, I took part in one of the most god-awful runs ever. Just to take notes, of course, as nothing ever drops for me. Oh wait, something did drop. Two more belts, me now having 3 of those and a pair of gloves. Ain't I joyous. The run wasn't bad cuz we had a bad group. The run was bad because we barely had a group at all. I found a BO, a Choppa, a Shaman, a Sorc and a WE (f u Shadowlost, giving Kill Frenzy a bad name). You will note the absence of an OT. I did. But I was alone in my worries so I let it rest.

Long story short, the WE misteriously disappeared after the first boss (we found a BG to help out but he left after the left wing was done), the Sorc had to go tend to his/her daughter, the Shaman logged off mostly at the same time so I managed to find another Choppa (the so far ever-patient Bösewicht, which has been in another fail-run with me before) and Gwaan, our main and only tank, brought a Squigster and another Shammy from his guild WOLF HOUNDS. We managed to complete the first wing and clear the path to the third boss of the second.

But let's get to the Zealot part of this post.

(NOTE: whatever I call "Gors" might not be Gors at all. They might be... Ungors or some centaur-like thingy. They go unga unga so I call them "Gors".)

Tactics: again, same as before. Discipline, Subtlety, Restorative Burst and Blessing of Chaos.

Morales: Tzeentch's Talon, Eye of Sheerian, Divine Protection, Alter Fate or whatever. I don't really care for morale 4's for Zealots. I think they're, most of them, crap. If you disagree please show me the light as I am currently very disapointed in them. Needless to say, have your selfres up for bosses and be sure to die away from their spawn point and advise everyone to die quickly if you're gonna wipe.

Ok, make sure everyone has been there before and, if not, make sure they have the Blood of the Vale quest that Hellebron in the Palace gives.

Buff up but don't bother mounting up. You take a few steps in and, in the distance, you'll see an Elf going something like "OMFGWTFISCHASINGMEGETITOFF!" and then a big worm thing pops out. No big tactic here, just heal through it and it'll go away. People new with the quest, go back to deliver it and get the next bit.

Beginning of left wing, kill a few scorpions, a few Gors, heal right through all that crap until you come to the lake. The big lizard boss should be right there in the middle. You should stand next to the boulder that has a shard behind it. You can even stand on top of it.

Lake Lizard

Be sure to keep your tank(s) hoted and just heal through the sucker. Throw a Morale 1 at it as soon as you can, so it goes down faster, and possibly a Harbinger of Doom too. Choppas deal Corporeal damage, if I'm not mistaken. Crucial though, someone has to pick up the ads it spawns. It's not that they hit super hard but, if no one picks them, you inadvertadly will and will be setback until forever. Be sure to Embrace the Warp if that happens to hold you up while someone takes care of them. Alternatively, Zizzy (can I call you Zizzy? Sure I can) advises you to u se your Morale 3 if you pick them adds up. Should hold you for a while longer but not forever, believe you me.

After the boss, someone take the shard on the left side of the clearing (just don't let it be a WE) and then up the stairs. Beware here. These stairs can wipe. The rest of you must always go for anything with "Pleasure" in their names first, as they add a bunch to your cast-time. There are more shards around, keep an eye out. Pretty soon you're up the stairs and on to another clearing filled with trash gors or whatever and the next boss. Clear the trash.

Big Angry Cloud Boss

The way this sucker works is that he'll always go for anyone who steps on a pink cloud he spawns. And he'll spawn plenty. What I usually do is that I have everyone but the MT standing on a rock (the first big rock in the clearing, before the tent) and the MT drags the beast to stand real near the rock, with its back turned to us. Note: The front part of the rock, not the side or he'll just reset. The DPS can reach it there but clouds don't spawn there. Another viable place is the tent further on. It has a log near it. I usually avoid the tent because people tend to get stuck coming down from it. I've also stuck the boss there once too so, pick your poison. How I ended up doing it the last time though was prolly the most dangerous way. The MT was just running around trying to touch purple clouds while I stood very still and tried not to move just in case it spawned a cloud around me. Eventually the MT died but the OT was sporting a S&B too so it wasn't too bad. Nuke it.

Pass the trunk bridge, make sure ppl are delivering the quest if need be. You'll come to a path filled with spider and spider eggs. You can either have a rdps destroy the eggs from afar or stand near them and they'll spawn lil' spiders. If you've been wiping somewhat destroy some eggs so it'll be easier for ppl to run back *shudder*. Spiders are fairly easy to heal through so just slap down a ritual, a Leaping Alteration and you can even Demon Spittle and Rite of Agony them. There are more shards hidden behind rocks and one near the ledge right at the beggining, to the right I think. There are also two in the corridor filled with eggs. You can spawn two or three eggs at a time and AoE them to death. Kill spiders, push forward. You'll get to a clearing filled with harpies. Clear trash. Selfres on.

Slaanesh Cutie

Stand near the trunk. It the tank is tanking it against the pillar, stand near the front of the trunk, if he's tanking it on the side, near the ramp you came from, stand on the side of the tree trunk. Tank and spank, nuke it. All it does is knockback once in a while as far as I can remember. Oh yeah, some adds do spawn. I don't remember them but I remember looting them in the end. ^_^. Same deal as with the first boss, Morale 3 if you pick them up until the Choppa shreds them. Get loot (or don't if you're anything like me. All I ever get is Heart of Lolololyougetnothinggood).

Use the shards (they're in the quest inventory, just right click them) near the big pillar. You just need 10 to spawn the quest ghost thingy and now you should all have the torch. In the cave to the left is the reason why I started these guide thingies in the first place.

Dralel, the ICritYouToDeath Spider

Clear all the trash in the room. The way this is usually done is: When you get in, Dralel should be in front of you. There's a recess to the right of her with a ramp leading to a blue light. You tank her there. Well, not you, he/she/it/tank-like-thing. Oh and, don't jump off the ledge to get to said ramp. I've seen lot of people get stuck on those rocks. Once she's in position, place yourself with your back to the rock to the left of the ramp, facing the blue light. Your camera will probably weird out (I, at least, feel claustrophobic). Make sure everyone has the torch in their hotbar.

So here's what I've been meaning to tell you all along. Swap out a tactic (I take out Blessing of Chaos) and slot in Waves of Chaos. And here's a rundown of how the boss battle should go.

• First thing she does is a general knockback. Everyone gets knocked back and snared. That's what the torch is for. You have to use it to be able to move again. She will instantly aggro the first person to use the torch so make sure the MT is quick to use it so you can do it right after.
• She will not move from her spot instantly so the tank has to work hard to get her into position.
• Any AoE dps and your Ritual must be on lil' spider detail. Every little spider that reaches the big one gives it a 5% damage buff.
• Once the spider is on the ramp, place the ritual on the ramp behind it (around where I'm standing in the picture), so that it catches any stray spiders that get past the dps. Some spiders will also come up from behind you so use your Rite of Agony when they do. If you have a Chosen, have it use its damage aura. Spiders only have around 50~100 hp.
• This is not a DPS race its a lil spider race. Last time I did it, Dralel had a 25% damage buff on her when she died and we still managed it without much difficulty.

An AP banner here will work wonders since you have to keep healing and using your AoE dmg. As long as you keep the tank hoted between big heals, and kill any spiders as they're about the reach the big one, you should be fine.

If the thing would've dropped the boots for me I could be sporting +8% crit heal. But nooo, phantom Marauder got them or something.

So tired of this spider, I swear...

Zealot's Guide to Bilerot Burrows

So after you fall off the edge of the city and make your way back to the Monolith (we've all done that, one time or another) you get into BB.

First of all, every now and then a "PLAYER starts to feel (or seem) very sick!" That player has to gag or they'll be out of AP in no time. To gag you need to press a button that appears near your granted abilities (like Zealot Marks that I'm sure nobody ever uses).

Same tactics and Morales as above (or below), use whatever linis you want. For this dungeon I like to keep my Mark of Remaking up most of the time. First trash you'll deal with are slugs that can add about 2secs to every cast time. Even morales. I keep it up just in case tanks are just a bit too squishy and can't hold them through the long cast times. Just try and stay away from the slugs to avoid getting that curse/hex/whatever. I believe that, at the bottom of the first ramp you should take out the small nurglings to the left before you pul the mobs in front. Otherwise they all aggro and its too much to handle. Also, I believe there's an armour or toughness debuff that keeps getting put on the tanks that starts stacking up. If so, keep removing it. It may seem like it's bugged and that they always have something to remove. Keep casting Glimpse of Chaos just in case.

Every now and then you'll get a "doggie time" from the MT. This means that he'll pull a big nasty Plaguebeast that supposedly looks like a dog (I don't see it). From what I can remember the tanks Xguard, melee stands back, ranged Doombolt/Plink/Flickering Red Fire it. NO DOTS! Not ever. No freakin DOTS. Unless you're all Warlorded and just doing it for shits and giggles.

Also, there are some tall thingies (that's what I call them, I dunno what they're caled. They're tall, green and come in groups of 2) that can wipe you if you overpull. Don't fret its normal.

I'm not 100% sure about which boss comes first and I'm always too far to catch their names. Try and make your party wait for your selfres especially if you feel the party usually has their common health below 60% through trash fights.

Boss with a pet Nurgling

Don't kill the Nurgling, nuke the boss. Easy. They usually kill this one before I even realise its a boss we're fighting.

Ssrydian Morbidae
You have the kill all the doggies in the room where this guy is before you take him on. Tank and Spank, don't hold back. Never had a problem with it.

Boss that spawns Nurglings
There's a tooth outside the room. Some ppl like to have their healers stand on it. I prefer to have a Dissolving Mist or a Surging Pain taking care of the adds and let the healers stand wherever they want. Focus and do your best and have your selfres on. Should be fine.

The Great Unclean One

Have selfres. Tricky boss but not that hard. What you have to do is to find a happy medium between proximity (so your heals can still reach the tanks) and distance. Distance because he spawns Diseased Grounds on the... ground. You'll need to have your graphics on at least medium to see them. But you'll know if he spawns one under you if you start getting repeatedly hit. Further warning, if there's a Magus with you, stay away from its Daemon as the boss is likely to spawn a pool under it too. Also, if the nurglings he eventually spawns go for you, try and stand on a Dissolving Mist so they die or pass by the Magus or Sorc so they can pick them up. You have to keep moving and stay away from those pools. When the boss is almost down he'll swallow you all up. Keep group-healing through the loading screen. This is crucial. Some people die on impact inside the thing. Keep healing in the innards until you're spat out again. Again, groupheal through the loading screen. With any luck, no-one died inside (if they did, there's no way to reach them. Ever again. They have to respawn) and no one died on the spitting out part. Boss should be down quickly after that. So, main points on this boss.

• Avoid the pools. Keep moving.
• Have the AoE dps of choice grab the nurglings or they'll set you back until forever.
• Groupheal through the loading screens.
• If you feel you're about to wipe, be sure to die away from the boss's original spawn point so the selfres is actually useful.

If I forgot something or a whole Boss even (highly likely) let me know.

So, it should be done, you should have, with any luck, at least one new Sentinel shinie.

And, to wrap it all off, have some gratuitous finnish swearing and a very tired mailbox.