Hi my lovelies-
A few of you have asked me to share my build, so with raids coming soon I figured now was the best time! Note: I'm not a numbers theory crafter, so none of this was done using target dummies or spreadsheets. I have 10 years of MMO healing experience and tend to base my builds on "feel" and what is effective in my groups. If you are a number crunching theory crafter and have data to offer alternatives, I am happy to listen!
Dungeons
Primary Dungeon LAS: http://ws-base.com/builds/11853-Mil...1.368.369.377.378.975.443.388.942.372.373.374
Soothe (Tier 8) is your primary spam heal. This is a skill shot heal with very good range. If you played MOBA's in the past you will be ahead of click/target healers from other MMO's.
Bolster (Base) is a psi-point builder. You will want to use this on cool-down or save for phases when you know big damage is coming and you need to build quickly for burst healing.
Reverie (Tier 8) is your finisher. At 5 psi-points and max tier this baby heals 9 people for a TON of hp. You can strategically use this with fixation to bring an entire party from low to full HP in a matter of seconds (more on that soon).
Phantasmal Armor (Base) is my oh *%$! button. Throw this on that naughty DPS that took too much damage or pre-preemptively on the tank when you need time to do other things (like dodge mechanics or heal someone else).
Fixation (Tier 5) does three things: 1) it reduces cooldowns, which is very useful for refreshing Phantasmal Armor, Crush, or your CC break; 2) it restores focus over 12 seconds; and 3) instantly gives 3 psi-points. The focus regen from this ability is SIGNIFICANT. For dungeon fights, you should not have focus problems if you use this ability appropriately.
The rest of the abilities are my defaults for obvious reasons, but I switch them out depending on the situation. A notable alternative is Projected Spirit when you need movement (like fire lady in SSM). I do like to keep Crush as a back-up interrupt in case we need it, since interrupting is so important in this game. Some fights require cleanse, which is why it has a spot on my bar. And CC break because you never want to be in a position where you get caught by mechanics and can't heal.
Raids
Raid LAS: http://ws-base.com/builds/11799-Mil...4.369.368.361.377.378.975.443.388.942.441.451
In general, healers aren't expected to carry interrupts, so that came off my bar. In most cases, esper healers are utilized for their AOE healing potential, so psi-point generation takes priority. This means concentrated blades wins the last slot on my bar. If I have to pump out Reverie's to keep raid HP up, Bolster and Concentrated Blades will be on cooldown for maximum psi-point building.
This loadout changes for each boss and situation, so there are empty slots to swap in/out as needed.
Rune Sets
You will want to focus on three general rune sets: 12/12 Focus Regen, 4/12 Team Player, and 6/12 Synapse. Your goals for focus regen per second in dungeons is 3.5 focus/sec and I anticipate this will need to be closer to 5 focus/sec for raiding. After analyzing some healing parses the contribution from Team Player is negligible, so we pick it up mainly for the support power bonus.
Burst Group Heal Combo
Because of our class mechanics, you will need to anticipate when large group heals are needed and strategically build psi-points accordingly. Knowing fights and anticipating damage will make you an exceptional esper healer, since our finisher relies heavily on having maximum psi-points for throughput and effectiveness.
If you know that your group is going to take HUGE damage, you can cast up to THREE Reveries in a short amount of time by doing the following:
Build up to 5 psi-points with Soothe spam > Reverie 1 > Fixation > Concentrated Blades x 2 > Bolster x 2 > Reverie 2 > Innate > Reverie 3
This takes practice to successfully execute, since you are most likely also running around dodging mechanics and dealing with other stuff. You can weave Soothe into this if the situation calls for it. But the above rotation, if used appropriately, should get you through the toughest fights in the game. Don't be rigid with this though, since healing is more of an art. Your top priority is to stay alive, anticipate when the damage is coming, and adapt. Don't get caught up with "rotations" -- ain't nobody got time for that.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.
xoxo
Change Log:
10/8/14 Updated rune set recommendations based on GA raid parse data.
11/2/14 Updated raid LAS after a few weeks of running GA.
11/23/14 Updated AMP setup for Drop 3 with changes to Tactitian. I also opted for shield capacity AMPs to increase survivability.
A few of you have asked me to share my build, so with raids coming soon I figured now was the best time! Note: I'm not a numbers theory crafter, so none of this was done using target dummies or spreadsheets. I have 10 years of MMO healing experience and tend to base my builds on "feel" and what is effective in my groups. If you are a number crunching theory crafter and have data to offer alternatives, I am happy to listen!
Dungeons
Primary Dungeon LAS: http://ws-base.com/builds/11853-Mil...1.368.369.377.378.975.443.388.942.372.373.374
Soothe (Tier 8) is your primary spam heal. This is a skill shot heal with very good range. If you played MOBA's in the past you will be ahead of click/target healers from other MMO's.
Bolster (Base) is a psi-point builder. You will want to use this on cool-down or save for phases when you know big damage is coming and you need to build quickly for burst healing.
Reverie (Tier 8) is your finisher. At 5 psi-points and max tier this baby heals 9 people for a TON of hp. You can strategically use this with fixation to bring an entire party from low to full HP in a matter of seconds (more on that soon).
Phantasmal Armor (Base) is my oh *%$! button. Throw this on that naughty DPS that took too much damage or pre-preemptively on the tank when you need time to do other things (like dodge mechanics or heal someone else).
Fixation (Tier 5) does three things: 1) it reduces cooldowns, which is very useful for refreshing Phantasmal Armor, Crush, or your CC break; 2) it restores focus over 12 seconds; and 3) instantly gives 3 psi-points. The focus regen from this ability is SIGNIFICANT. For dungeon fights, you should not have focus problems if you use this ability appropriately.
The rest of the abilities are my defaults for obvious reasons, but I switch them out depending on the situation. A notable alternative is Projected Spirit when you need movement (like fire lady in SSM). I do like to keep Crush as a back-up interrupt in case we need it, since interrupting is so important in this game. Some fights require cleanse, which is why it has a spot on my bar. And CC break because you never want to be in a position where you get caught by mechanics and can't heal.
Raids
Raid LAS: http://ws-base.com/builds/11799-Mil...4.369.368.361.377.378.975.443.388.942.441.451
In general, healers aren't expected to carry interrupts, so that came off my bar. In most cases, esper healers are utilized for their AOE healing potential, so psi-point generation takes priority. This means concentrated blades wins the last slot on my bar. If I have to pump out Reverie's to keep raid HP up, Bolster and Concentrated Blades will be on cooldown for maximum psi-point building.
This loadout changes for each boss and situation, so there are empty slots to swap in/out as needed.
Rune Sets
You will want to focus on three general rune sets: 12/12 Focus Regen, 4/12 Team Player, and 6/12 Synapse. Your goals for focus regen per second in dungeons is 3.5 focus/sec and I anticipate this will need to be closer to 5 focus/sec for raiding. After analyzing some healing parses the contribution from Team Player is negligible, so we pick it up mainly for the support power bonus.
Burst Group Heal Combo
Because of our class mechanics, you will need to anticipate when large group heals are needed and strategically build psi-points accordingly. Knowing fights and anticipating damage will make you an exceptional esper healer, since our finisher relies heavily on having maximum psi-points for throughput and effectiveness.
If you know that your group is going to take HUGE damage, you can cast up to THREE Reveries in a short amount of time by doing the following:
Build up to 5 psi-points with Soothe spam > Reverie 1 > Fixation > Concentrated Blades x 2 > Bolster x 2 > Reverie 2 > Innate > Reverie 3
This takes practice to successfully execute, since you are most likely also running around dodging mechanics and dealing with other stuff. You can weave Soothe into this if the situation calls for it. But the above rotation, if used appropriately, should get you through the toughest fights in the game. Don't be rigid with this though, since healing is more of an art. Your top priority is to stay alive, anticipate when the damage is coming, and adapt. Don't get caught up with "rotations" -- ain't nobody got time for that.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.
xoxo
Change Log:
10/8/14 Updated rune set recommendations based on GA raid parse data.
11/2/14 Updated raid LAS after a few weeks of running GA.
11/23/14 Updated AMP setup for Drop 3 with changes to Tactitian. I also opted for shield capacity AMPs to increase survivability.