Are there any plans to fix ward...

[Graa]

<DIV>started playing my mystic lvl 21 again today after about 2 months off hopeing they would fix ward...sadly its not fixed...had a 23 gaurdian 20 pally 20 wizard and i could barley keep up with heal on a yellow ^^...i dont even use ward because they only last about 3 seconds and has a 6 sec recast timer....sad.....anyone here of any fix's</DIV>

[Scrav]

If there are any fixes being planned, then we don't know about them. Unfortunately the first time we are likely to find out on any of these changes would be form patch notes on the test server.As for not using the wards, I'd still recommend using them in the long run. If for nothing else but proper aggro control. Our heals can really tick off those mobs where as our wards have a much lower aggro level.

[Kalam]

<DIV>SoE seems to have their attention on things they deem overpowered at the moment and not on things that may need to be fixed.  I wouldn't expect to see Wards get some attention for quite some time.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[re]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Graank wrote:<BR> <DIV>started playing my mystic lvl 21 again today after about 2 months off hopeing they would fix ward...sadly its not fixed...had a 23 gaurdian 20 pally 20 wizard and i could barley keep up with heal on a yellow ^^...i dont even use ward because they only last about 3 seconds and has a 6 sec recast timer....sad.....anyone here of any fix's</DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> did you have that mob fully debuffed? there is no reason you should have had any trouble keeping up with the healing if you had the mob debuffed.

[Xalibur]

<DIV>the shamans role is backup healer..</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>btw: paladins heal almost as good as we do as backup..</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Ascensionf]

shamans arent back up healers, shamans are the king of the healers... they control when other people heal or not and if a shaman slacks you will lose the raidif you put a shaman in a group, the other priest is reduced to being worthless-quirk

[BigDa]

<BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Ascensionftw wrote:<BR>shamans arent back up healers, shamans are the king of the healers... they control when other people heal or not and if a shaman slacks you will lose the raid<BR><BR>if you put a shaman in a group, the other priest is reduced to being worthless<BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>*sigh* Well, you are just the king of the world, eh?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>It's marvellous that you have a good time, well done, but your comments in this and all the other similar threads simply amount to "look at me! I think this is great, so I must be fantastic at playing mystic and you must be crappy!".</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Sorry, I don't mean that to be a personal attack, it is good to be positive about mystics, but without qualification and explanation of what you say or perhaps some helpful advice, your comments seem to simply degrade the worth of comments from people with legitimate issues.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>Mystics do indeed work well <EM>in certain situations</EM>.  The main issue people have is that they work well in less situations than other healers.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Single target near the group level?  High avoidance tank?  Tank higher level?  Clerics and druids do fine but WE ROCK.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Higher level target?  Five opponents?  Ungrouped multiple opponents?  High mitigation tank?  Tank lower level?  Clerics and druids do fine but WE SUCK.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Perhaps you get in the former situation a lot, but most people are falling into the latter and getting very peed off.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Having said all that, things are a lot better with wards as far as I can see now.  Maybe it's because I got Adept 1 Ancestral recently and maybe they fixed it, but lately specials do not all blow straight through and that was the main problem.</DIV>

[Banditman]

<DIV>Just give it a few levels.  When a Ward is able to absorb only one blow, and sometimes not even the full blow, you'll be back in the "broke" camp hardcore.  Check out the little snippet of log I posted in that other thread here.  Came from our MT in a Cauldron Hollow raid.</DIV>

[tobycr]

<DIV>I have a 35 defiler and wanted to see what you mystics were saying, and its true past level 33 wards drop in one hit.  Shaman classes are bugged and need to be fixed.  It seems that we can "get by" but cant really do the job we created this toon for.  I can solo heal to a point and then we have to get a second healer in the group because I run low on power doing the direct heals.  I have 5 heals all for 400-700 hp each, but after chain casting my heals im low power.  I really hope the devs pay attention to this, us defilers are trying what we can to get this addressed also.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>good luck </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>35 defiler</DIV>

[Ascensionf]

Without qualification? heh... Well, I can assure you that wards do indeed work very well with higher lv mobs,5 opponents, multiple group double ups, guardians and zerkers and even lower lv tanks. In my 50 lvls of being a mystic I never had a problem with any special mob special attacks (hits under 4k) bypassing wards. I am just trying to put to bed the myth that mystics are anything less than the best of priests. I go day in and day out with no problem from the most challenging mobs in the game and NEVER once have I or my guild members ever said... wow I wish mystics could heal better. Is this some isolated instance? Well there are 2 other mystics in my guild, they both fight the same stuff as I do and it is exactly the same for them... does this mean that there are 3 good mystics and the rest just suck? no, of course not. I think the problem here is people taking a lot from the fact shamans in EQLive werent primary healers like they are now added to the reverse healing style and I think there are just a lot of confused people out there. When you look at the mystic as a class... you have to account for everything, you cant just say "omg if I sit there and only cast ward the tank dies"... you have to use all of the tools and they are used differently in different situations. I am not pretending to know everything or be better than anyone, all I know is that I can play my class and that my class does not suck.<a href=http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/pplayer.vm?characterId=209572205 target=_blank>-quirk</a>

[Triyton]

<DIV>Yes, here is one person amid a sea of mystics who thinks the class isn't broken at higher levels (those not yet at higher levels can't always appreciate the problem, others can see it coming).  Who thinks that people who played EQ1/EQL can't figure out in 30+ levels how to do it right in EQ2.  Who apparently thinks that all the the quantitative and quallitative analysis done must be wrong or should be disregarded.  I know what it is that should be disregarded and I know it's name.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>As to class balancing, lets face it, it can never be perfect.  The Archetype system <U>does</U> give them a great place to start from to get it right.  In this case, for instance, all they have to do is fix wards (or even adjust the higher level debuffs and AEO debuffs).  What have they done so far?  Fixed how long the graphic lasts and added a little extra healing at App4 - possibly for extra power, so little that nobody has noticed, and meaningless if you already have Adept1 or Adept3.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If they were always trying to balance everything then everyone would always think it was their subclass that needed fixing and there would be a neverending cycle of fixes of weak things and nerfs of overpowered things that just threw things out of balance again.  They do need to pick out the truly broken things (wards at their core, other spells that don't do what they say they do), and the other things that are truly overpowered, perhaps because of errors in the "code" having a spell do more than it should for instance.  And those fixes need to be tested to get them right before implementation.  However wards are so fundamental to the entire class and have been almost entirely ignored so far, with no indication that they will be fixed in the near future.  For all we know they may never be fixed.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV><p>Message Edited by Triyton on <span class=date_text>02-07-2005</span> <span class=time_text>12:44 PM</span>

[Spag]

<DIV>Ascensionftw wrote:  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"In my 50 lvls of being a mystic I never had a problem with any special mob special attacks (hits under 4k) bypassing wards."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>---------------------------------------</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Hell, it only took me 20 lvls to see this problem...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Lemme guess, you also never had a DOT get through you're ward,  and you never get resisted on your debuffs.  Not to mention your debuffs have a 0 cast time, cost 0 mana, are encounter wide, and don't time out at all.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Where oh where do you get these wonderful spells?  I don't think I have the same spellset.  Or hey, maybe its just your clan is the uber mystic roxorz clan.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>or OTOH, you are simply mistaken.</DIV>

[Gura]

<DIV>You're level 50 and you haven't noticed that wards drop in a single hit, don't block many of the combat arts, and are realistically healing for only half of what they should be?  Then my good sir, you need to start paying more attention.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm level 47 myself, I have noticed all of the above taking place in my groups.  In encounters of more than 4 mobs, my wards are worthless.  Not because they aren't doing what they normally do.. that IS the problem.  They take at least twice the normal damage of what the PC would be taking normally without the ward.  So with 4,5,6+ mobs or 4+ a named.. my ward is gone instantaneously and the tank has taken an additional 500 damage in just that short period of time while my ward was down.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I honestly do not see the problem with letting wards have the AC of their targets.  I hear all the time from my friends and guildmates about the efficiency of their healing spells, guess what?  Their spells heal for the same amount or near what our wards SHOULD be blocking in damage.  Our instant heals are not bigger than the other classes' are... so that is not the balancing factor.  The only leg you guys (who are saying wards are fine) have to stand on is your reference to our debuffs.  Here's a thought... our debuffs are UTILITY not healing, I don't mind the other healers having utility equal in value to our slows... doesn't bother me a bit.  Do be sure to ask them if they'd like to sacrifice half of the power of their specialized healing for our slow.  :smileymad:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I agree with the above statement that the people who are shouting that everything is fine.. are not providing any real evidence to support their claim.  All they seem to be doing is claiming the rest of us are stupid, completely ignoring our points, and being in general - pests.  If you want to prove that our wards are NOT taking more damage than they should, are lasting long enough in multi-mob encounters, are fully blocking ALL combat arts and <EM>normal attacks</EM> that are not DoT related, are a perfectly viable form of healing in any situation, and are every bit as efficient in power and effect in groups as the other priests' forms are, be my guest.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>To see some of the proof we have gathered to support the opposing claim, do a search - you will find quite a number of threads.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>One small point, in my levels of hunting, on those few rare occasions where I have been privaledged to fight shaman mobs, I have never noticed myself doing double damage to their wards... consider that when you talk about our wards.</DIV><p>Message Edited by Gurayn on <span class=date_text>02-07-2005</span> <span class=time_text>07:49 PM</span>

[kenji]

<DIV>it's about Ward fix in this post...not the whole Mystic/Defiler rock or not, the Ward itself just dun work well considering the 2 other priests special heals - RH and HoT. if u still dun believe your ward doesnt work well, try to take a special attack from a white^^ mob, with ward and without ward...lets say the mob hit u 100 dmg w/o ward, your ward will take 100 dmg as well, in 1 hit your ward will absolutely gone with 100 dmg, but u also have to take another 50 dmg...why is that ? lol</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>at first rank ward..it takes about 60 power to ward ~500 dmg, if halved the value...the true dmg absorbed from it = 250, a 60 power ward only heal 250 real value...what's the different to use an Instant heal that Mana-HP ratio so sux? Clerics/Druids RH and HoT is more than 10 Mana-HP ratio... is that close to balance?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Debuffs does affect the hit rate of the mobs, but the resist rate vs red more than 50%, recast time is too long, by the time u land the debuffs, your MT will close to death <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> and u will spam lots more heals also... not to mention u need to cast 4-5 (2 debuffs, 3++ heals) when cleric only need to spam 2 RH (or 1 insta heal when tank goes really bad) to work as effectively...is that balance? <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>and also...this board have some really good post about how mystic work in healing ability</DIV>

[Freakboy20]

Are you so stupid as to think that mystics should be able to heal exactly as well if not better than the other healing classes and ALSO get slow? The whole point of a mystic is that you don't need to heal as well as everyone else because with your debuffs and slows the mobs won't do ANYWHERE NEAR the damage they would do when a templar or a druid is healing.If you have no idea how to play your class then stop and go play something where you can hit auto-attack and afk. Stop filling up the boards with your garbage.

[disru]

<blockquote><hr>Freakboy2000 wrote:Are you so stupid as to think that mystics should be able to heal exactly as well if not better than the other healing classes and ALSO get slow? The whole point of a mystic is that you don't need to heal as well as everyone else because with your debuffs and slows the mobs won't do ANYWHERE NEAR the damage they would do when a templar or a druid is healing.If you have no idea how to play your class then stop and go play something where you can hit auto-attack and afk. Stop filling up the boards with your garbage.<hr></blockquote>yeah... we'd be fine with you never coming back here m'kay.. thanks, bye~

[Kalam]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Freakboy2000 wrote:<BR>Are you so stupid as to think that mystics should be able to heal exactly as well if not better than the other healing classes and ALSO get slow? The whole point of a mystic is that you don't need to heal as well as everyone else because with your debuffs and slows the mobs won't do ANYWHERE NEAR the damage they would do when a templar or a druid is healing.<BR><BR>If you have no idea how to play your class then stop and go play something where you can hit auto-attack and afk. Stop filling up the boards with your garbage.<BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <P>Your point might be valid if the head spell designer hadn't specifically stated during Beta that debuffs would have no bearing on any Priest archtype's ability to heal.  But he did ... so I'm sorry but you're theory is incorrect.</P> <P> </P>

[Freakboy20]

IF A DEVELOPER SAID IT THAN IT MUST BE TROOGreat.. then you guys should have no problem with other classes getting group slow. I'll write my petition right now.It makes me absolutely delighted to know that you and people like you are the competition out there. Good luck on your de-nerf! While you are at it you should try to get them to throw in mystic ports and higher tanking abilities.. maybe a backstab skill or 2, because they all run about the same chance of being implemented.

[Amadorn]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Freakboy2000 wrote:<BR>Are you so stupid as to think that mystics should be able to heal exactly as well if not better than the other healing classes and ALSO get slow? The whole point of a mystic is that you don't need to heal as well as everyone else because with your debuffs and slows the mobs won't do ANYWHERE NEAR the damage they would do when a templar or a druid is healing.<BR><BR>If you have no idea how to play your class then stop and go play something where you can hit auto-attack and afk. Stop filling up the boards with your garbage.<BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <P>Whoa there, personal insults to others won't lend any merit or value to your post.  Do you know how effective slow is in this game?  Did you know that roughly 66% (people say anywhere from 60%-80% so we'll use a conservative number) of mob damage comes from specials/spells, which slows/debuffs cannot affect?</P> <P>Check out the parsed data in Banditman's post linked here: </P> <P><A href="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=18&message.id=1748&page=1" target=_blank>http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=18&message.id=1748&page=1</A></P> <P>The slow values of Wailing Haze and Keening Haze have been parsed to be approximately 15%, the only difference is Keening Haze gives an additional ATK debuff.  The debuff component of Keening Haze reduces the damage by an additional 13%, but we'll get into that in a moment.  Now couple this with the fact that 66% of the incoming damage we can't even touch with our slows/debuffs.  </P> <P>Ok... so that's 34% of the incoming damage we can actually affect with our slows/debuffs.  For this, we'll use an example.</P> <P>Total damage received during fight: 1000</P> <P>34% of 1000 = 340.</P> <P>And what's 15% of 340?  Well that turns out to be 51.  A whopping 51 points of damage.</P> <P>Oh wait, we forgot about the debuff component of Keening Haze and possible other debuffs right?  Well lets see, when you include the full effects of Keening Haze, that makes the total damage reduction to roughly 28%, and if you add the Delusion spell, that makes the total at approximately 34%.  So, we'll go through both scenarios here.</P> <P>Again, total damage received during fight: 1000</P> <P>34% of 1000 = 340 (damage that we can actually affect via slows/debuffs)</P> <P>28% of 340 = 95.2 (with Keening Haze only, slow and debuff taken into account)</P> <P>34% of 340 = 115.6 (with Keening Haze and Delusion stacked)</P> <P>So, assuming Keening Haze and Delusion do not get resisted, we reduce the incoming damage by 115.6 points.  I fail to see where the mobs won't do "ANYWHERE NEAR" the damage they would when a templar or a druid is healing.</P> <P>When you combine these results with the fact that Wards have absolutely 0 AC, things don't look good for us shaman.</P> <P>1000 - 116 (we'll round up here) = 884 points of damage to deal with provided slows/debuffs work</P> <P>So, if we assume that the tank (or even any other party member for that matter) can mitigate incoming damage at 50%, again being quite conservative as it has been proven shaman can mitigate at this amount, let's take a look at the numbers.</P> <P>884 / 2 = 442 damage which needs to be healed versus the full 884 points of ward which would be required for us to prevent that same damage.  If we assume that all "specialty" healing is equal in points of damage healed/prevented, which again isn't true as wards lag behind in that department as well, the druids and clerics spend 50% less power PLUS power not required to cast debuffs....</P> <P>Please, arm yourself with some knowledge before making such baseless attacks on other people.  It doesn't help you at all and discredits everything you claim.</P>

[Freakboy20]

What level are you? Have you ever been healing a mob who melles 3k+ and have slow drop? I'd have to assume the answer is no b/c an encounter goes from nominal to almost impossible instantly. In fact most high level encounters are won or lossed according to the mystics quickness in slowing and luck with resists throughout the fight. Get out of rivervale before you talk about your usefulness as a class.

[Kalam]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Freakboy2000 wrote:<BR><BR>It makes me absolutely delighted to know that you and people like you are the competition out there. <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <DIV>Competition at what?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Amadorn]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Freakboy2000 wrote:<BR>What level are you? Have you ever been healing a mob who melles 3k+ and have slow drop? I'd have to assume the answer is no b/c an encounter goes from nominal to almost impossible instantly. In fact most high level encounters are won or lossed according to the mystics quickness in slowing and luck with resists throughout the fight. Get out of rivervale before you talk about your usefulness as a class.<BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>I have a 22 Mystic which I retired (or at least shelved indefinitely) for the very reason of being able to heal my group in an efficient manner was not happening.  In the group I play with, we were ending fights with me at approximately 20-25% power versus whites which were even con to the tank (berserker).  Yes I was using my slows/debuffs.  I've recently started another character, a templar, and at level 20 was able to heal the same tank ending most of the time around 70% power without casting a single debuff spell.  Yes, of course I knew that my shaman wouldn't be as good as a cleric/druid healing with a mitigation tank, but by this much?</P> <P>Before you go on saying I should upgrade my spells/equipment and make sure the tank has upgraded arts/equipment, we've pretty much got the best we have for our levels.  All App4's or higher, with Adept III Spectral Ward.  I also chose Wakinya's for training.</P> <P>I highly doubt in the encounter in which you were referring to that you were the sole, let alone main healer.  I would hope at higher levels slow percentages increase via new spells, but the developers always have stated that they would not let slow be equal to what it was in EQ1.  I haven't seen any of the higher level slows parsed yet.</P> <P>My point is for most xp/quest groups, which for most folks 90% of the whole game would be based upon, I don't feel our healing ability, as well as slows/debuffs, are balanced with clerics/druids.</P> <P>And if you were directing the comment about talking about the usefulness of my class to me, I wasn't debating that fact.  When we're grouped with other healers it is all the better.  I stated that slows/debuffs do not balance the equation.</P> <P>One more final point, are these mobs doing 3k+ damage against a ward or actually on the tank?  The reason I ask is if its 3k+ damage against a ward, more than likely the damage would be at most 50% (very conservative estimate) of that per hit against the tank with no ward as again, wards have no AC.  </P> <P>Please enlighten me.  I would love to believe we're a viable class but all the evidence that has been shown points to the contrary.</P> <P>:smileyhappy:</P>

[Freakboy20]

<blockquote><hr>AmadornEQ wrote:<BR><BLOCKQUOTE> I would love to believe we're a viable class but all the evidence that has been shown points to the contrary.</P><P>:smileyhappy:</P><hr></blockquote>Stick with your class and take the time to adjust to different encounters. They aren't all the same and can't be approached the same way. Mystics are the #1 priests in the game. Hands down. The only reason I'm telling you this is because you dont seem like a [Removed for Content]. I could care less if all the other whiners leave the game. Your technical heals may not be the same as other classes but they do not have to be. The game isn't meant to be totally easy all the way through and you will run into problems and weaknesses with ANY class (look at scouts). If you stick it out with your mystic you will be pleasantly suprised when you turn out to be far far far ahead of the other healing classes later in the game. This isn't true just for the elite with awesome gear who play 60 hours a week, you won't even have to try hard to excell in almost every field of healing.

[Triyton]

<DIV>First of all Freakboy, resorting to insults as you keep doing here is the sure sign of someone without a good argument and/or without good evidence to back up what he says.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Everyone knows that the debuffs can be used to make the wards work decently.  But the great majority have found that the principle doesn't hold up any more after, say, level 30.  And the higher Mystics go after that the worse it gets, all I have to do is read the posts of many different people (incompetent, apparently, a couple of doubters seem to think).  If the debuffs could keep up then the wards, which are bad in several ways to begin with, then they could at least continue to do so, but they no longer do for high level Mystics.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Here is what I believe:  What is it that got adequate playtesting when the game was in beta?  The lower levels.  What got the least?  The upper levels.  Or to put it another way, what fraction of playtesters made it to the highest levels?  Of those, what fraction were Mystics?  Of those, how many both realized and voiced the problem with wards?  Were they able to point out that it occurs at high levels only?  If anyone even managed to do that, was he out of a sea of playtesters heard and listened to?  I doubt it, and evidently not.</DIV>

[Lan_Taur]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Triyton wrote:<BR> <DIV>Everyone knows that the debuffs can be used to make the wards work decently.  But the great majority have found that the principle doesn't hold up any more after, say, level 30.  And the higher Mystics go after that the worse it gets, all I have to do is read the posts of many different people (incompetent, apparently, a couple of doubters seem to think).  If the debuffs could keep up then the wards, which are bad in several ways to begin with, then they could at least continue to do so, but they no longer do for high level Mystics.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV> <DIV><EM></EM> </DIV> <DIV><EM>My wife and I have been duoing double up greens and blues in the Enchanted Lands for very good experience using just wards. I posted this as a response to a discussion of shaman heals vs. wards in another forum, but thought it might be helpful here as well:</EM></DIV><FONT color=#66ffff> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></FONT> </DIV></DIV> <DIV>I duo (and sometimes two-box) with my wife (35th Mystic) almost daily, and the fights go much more smoothly for us when using wards instead of heals. Did you choose Wakinya's Skin of Spirits as a training option?  I don't remember at which level it becomes available, but essentially, it's another single target ward which stacks with your regular ward.  It makes all the difference when used in conjunction with your debuffs.</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Perhaps running through the usual sequence of events would help.  For the sake of all the non-mystics reading this, I included definitions for the basic spells/abilities referenced.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#ff9966>Ancestral Ward</FONT>: single target ward which absorbs a predetermined amount of damage</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#ff9966>Wakinya's</FONT>: another single target ward which stacks with the regular ward</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#ffff66>Keening Haze</FONT>:  the big one ~ decreases enemy attack speed (and the speed at which mobs will eat through your wards) and offensive skill</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#ffff66>Delusion</FONT>: decreases enemy strength and stamina (and the amount of damage your wards take)</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#66cc66>Miasma</FONT>: run of the mill disease DoT</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>For a typical double up fight, we usually do the following:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <UL> <LI>She targets me and casts <FONT color=#ff9966>Ancestral Ward</FONT> and <FONT color=#ff9966>Wakinya's</FONT>. <LI>I cast my pre-combat buffs <LI>I pull after the second ward has landed (to avoid mystic aggro), taunt, and begin my normal attack sequence (note: this is much easier now that HOs are no longer interrupted) <LI>After my taunt lands, she immediately casts <FONT color=#ff9966>Ancestral Ward</FONT> again followed by <FONT color=#ffff66>Keening Haze</FONT>. <LI>She then casts <FONT color=#ff9966>Wakinya's</FONT> followed by <FONT color=#ffff66>Delusion</FONT>. <LI>When the first ward nears fading, she recasts <FONT color=#ff9966>Ancestral Ward</FONT> followed by <FONT color=#66cc66>Miasma</FONT>. <LI>She continues to toggle between the two wards until the fight ends. <LI><FONT color=#ffff66>Keening Haze</FONT> is recast immediately if it drops or is likely to drop soon (very important).</LI></UL> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In groups of three or more, as long as I do my job and keep aggro, the same sequence works. She typically has about 1/4 to 1/3 of her power remaining after a duo fight with a green or blue double up.  By contrast, when she uses heals instead of wards throughout a fight, she often runs out of power before the fight ends.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Hope this helps!</DIV></DIV>

[Triyton]

<DIV>I appreciate your reply.  However you are mostly comparing here duoing against green^^ and blue mobs versus full groups going up against higher level mobs.  White is supposed to be an even battle, and groups with Cleric and Druid healers go up against yellow and better mobs from what I have seen so far.  So I don't think you can really extend your experience to say that wards work well  and certainly not to whether they work anywhere near as well as Cleric and Druid heals (debuffing and all considered, a very long discussion that has already been done elsewhere.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Choosing the training ward and stacking it with Ancestral Ward sounds like a great idea.  However, it just points out the need to stack special heals (with their power cost and aggro generation except for the precombat casting) to do what other priests usually can do with a single special heal.  It really proves the point.  After factoring in heal points per power spent, debuffs, what gets through and isn't healed by the ward, armor damage mitigation, single versus group mobs, resistances, and everything else:  you have to stack your wards to maybe be as effective as a single reactive heal or single heal over time.  And if the situation is bad, they can stack their second reactive or HoT to fix it.  You can't, you have already done it.  (At best you can throw in some old outdated ward and it still doesn't fix the above type problems that made you need to stack two wards in the first place, so will three be enough?  And now from spamming all these wards you are really in trouble on the power and aggro fronts.  Rather theoretical now but you get the idea.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>And as to the last part of your post, we do know that wards are more power efficient than direct heals.  It is just that they are pathetic by comparison to what the other priest classes use.</DIV>

[Lan_Taur]

<DIV>No argument there.  We sometimes play in Runnyeye with a full group, and when she is the only healer, adds or unexpected aggro can mean an evac or wipe.  We can do it, but it certainly strains her abilities more than it would one of the other healer classes.  Normally, if I can manage to keep aggro, she can manage to get us through it.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In difficult areas, my favorite grouping includes another healer class and lots of DPS.  I think that a Shaman Class + Either of the Other Healing Classes is an excellent combo for a full group. You get buffs, debuffs, and wards for the MT or group, while the other healer can keep everyone alive if a ward fails or anything else goes awry.  This usually gets the wife grumpy, though.  :smileymad: See, every time we group this way, her power is much lower at the end of each fight than the other healer's.  Of course, I am usually thinking that she's just done a great job and the other healer didn't even have to break a sweat. :smileyvery-happy: But I think it with a straight face. :smileyindifferent:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Freakboy20]

I think I just realized why all of you are so upset with your healing abilities and I dont think it hit me till just now. At many of your levels it is almost impossible to single heal exp groups by yourself without a lot of trouble. Eq2 has a lot of transition times where certain nice spells are loosing their effectiveness while other new spells either haven't been achieved yet or haven't come to their full potential yet.It all seems so clear now, you aren't stupid at all but too anxious. Myself and my guild laugh at you because of how silly you sound talking about the weaknesses of mystics but in part you are almost right. But only partly because at many of your levels (starting around EL and RE and RV) it is very hard to 1 heal groups with ease.. keeping mana up and not having to worry about adds. These are all things that come later when your spells mature.It doesn't seem like a weekness at all to me that 1 healer cannot affectively heal in those areas at the beginning. This is also a transition time for you where things start to do real damage. I was crushed the first time I got an exp group in EL (a long long time ago) and I could barely keep the tank up while healing my fastest.. I would use about 80% of my mana per kill and I seemed totally useless. When adding another healer to the group my job because nominal and all things were much more easy. It would have been easy for me to say "Wow, that *insert healing class* is so much better than mine because adding them to my group has made things disproportionately easier" but it seemed only common logic that it wasn't just the addition of a new healer but their cooperation with ME. Now I can literally heal multimob encounters with ++ + and group mobs all in different encounters and not barely break a sweat and it isn't because I personally am some special super healer but because my level and spells permit me to do so.It isn't suprising that I hear people say " I have a level 22 mystic that can't keep up with the regular healing tasts of a normal exp group" because it is my understanding that you weren't meant to. Not to mention that they have only been a mystic for **2 levels**. I'm not telling you this so you stop asking for a De'nerf because I know you won't get one. I'm telling you this because I don't want you to get discouraged from playing a truely awesome healing class.

[icetower]

<DIV>So where are the other priests "transition" levels?</DIV> <DIV>Its not just anecdotal evidence that shows wards suck compared to other healers specials.</DIV> <DIV>They are simply less efficient, and I challenge you to provide evidence to dispute the logs that are available for everyone to see.</DIV> <DIV>Our other utility spells are fine, but after 4 years of playing shaman in eqlive am absolutely confident when I say that balancing classes based on resistable debuffs is 100% flawed.</DIV> <DIV>Fix wards NOW to be at least 50% of targets AC. The change from beta was a major overkill.</DIV> <DIV>nuff said.</DIV>

[BigDa]

<BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Freakboy2000 wrote:<BR>I think I just realized why all of you are so upset with your healing abilities and I dont think it hit me till just now. At many of your levels it is almost impossible to single heal exp groups by yourself without a lot of trouble. Eq2 has a lot of transition times where certain nice spells are loosing their effectiveness while other new spells either haven't been achieved yet or haven't come to their full potential yet.<BR>... <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>t's all very well to take the philosophical view when you are looking forward to level 50 and the multitude of raid and guild activities.  The thing is, and I believe I'm right in saying, most of the people here <EM>aren't</EM> looking for 50th level to be when the game really takes off - personally, and I think I'm not alone, the best bit of a character for me is usually the early levels of discovery and the mid levels of maturity.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>To say we should stop being anxious because eventually we will be uber-healers is not good enough, I'm afraid.  It took me a long time to get through my 'transition' period and it was torturous in many ways - almost enough to make me give up because I like to enjoy the journey, not just the destination, and I wasn't.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>FB, I'm glad you and a few others are enjoying your uber-mystics, but I think I speak for a lot of people when I say I have found things very frustrating a lot of the time and still do.  I don't want a class that swings between being uber and being awful.  I don't want to have to work real hard to be as good a healer as a bad cleric player.  I don't want to have to avoid certain group make-ups or dungeon areas because I know I would be useless.  We are expected to be healer for groups and debuffs to be a part of our healing technique but don't get a group slow until level 35!!  <EM>That </EM>kind of weirdness is what frustrates me!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The last thing I want is to be tortured for 10s of levels only to have things suddenly easy.  An enjoyable challenge throughout would be a better aim for the devs, no?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>It's not that we think mystics suck - we just think that the wild and weird invariables and oddities make things much more frustrating than they need to be.  We could be enjoying this game so much more...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Edit:</DIV> <DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE> <P>Another element of the annoyance for me is that in all the beta and pre-beta info SOE made a big deal of the ARAC approach and said things like "all healers will be able to perform their basic function equally well, but in different ways" and so some of us went and made a healer and picked the type that 'sounded' attractive at level 20, but are finding it's not what it was described as.</P> <P>If they'd said, "As a mystic, you will find it a lot more difficult healing a party than clerics or druids do, but you get more interesting debuffs and DoTs - it's a lot more 'swings and round-a-bouts' than consistent challenge", we might have made a different choice.</P></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><p>Message Edited by BigDave on <span class=date_text>02-09-2005</span> <span class=time_text>09:05 AM</span>

[DustusSapph]

<P>There's a simple solution:</P> <P>Include the ward target's AC into the ward damage absorption calculations.</P> <P>Done.</P>

[Banditman]

<DIV>Incidentally Dave, that group Slow is just that - a Slow *ONLY*.  The ATK debuff portion is not present in Grim Lethargy.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I took some new data on Grim Lethargy, Keening Haze, Delusion, Fallacy (App1 and App4) & Ancestral Ward at L35.  I haven't had time to parse and dissect it yet, but you can be sure I'll post here as soon as I have.</DIV>

[Gura]

<DIV>At level 47 I am near the absolute peak of power, the only other ward of any kind I will  get is Oberon at level 50.  Are you saying then, that this one ward alone has none of the intrinsic weaknesses of all of our old wards?  Does it keep the tank at a good health level and is it also efficient in power?  Does it block the random combat arts and normal attacks that our others do not?  Does it mitigate at least some of the damage or is it still taking 150-200 damage for a 75-100 damage hit?  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Please do share, if you are positive you have found the answer, enlighten us.</DIV>

[BigDa]

<BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Banditman wrote:<BR> <DIV>Incidentally Dave, that group Slow is just that - a Slow *ONLY*.  The ATK debuff portion is not present in Grim Lethargy.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I took some new data on Grim Lethargy, Keening Haze, Delusion, Fallacy (App1 and App4) & Ancestral Ward at L35.  I haven't had time to parse and dissect it yet, but you can be sure I'll post here as soon as I have.</DIV> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>Oh good grief, really?  I hadn't even thought they might have done that *sigh*  No wonder I'm finding group mob encounters such a [Removed for Content] still.  I basically end up using Keening Haze on individuals after I've used Grim Lethargy.  Maybe if Grim Lethargy was zero aggro and cast time and power it might be useful to kinda control things while you put on the Haze... argh...</DIV>

[Noosehunt]

Well, there's a little fix coming up on the test server.<BR><BR><A href="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=tup&message.id=17" target=_blank>http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=tup&message.id=17</A><BR><BR><EM><FONT color=#66ff66>"- Spectral Guard and Malefic Shroud will now last up to 10 hits before expiring instead of fading after a single hit."</FONT></EM><BR><BR>I'm looking forward to that... but then again, I might roll a wizzy instead.<BR><BR>-NH<p>Message Edited by Noosehunter on <span class=date_text>02-10-2005</span> <span class=time_text>01:59 AM</span>

[icetower]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Noosehunter wrote:<BR> Well, there's a little fix coming up on the test server.<BR><BR><A href="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=tup&message.id=17" target=_blank>http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=tup&message.id=17</A><BR><BR><EM><FONT color=#66ff66>"- Spectral Guard and Malefic Shroud will now last up to 10 hits before expiring instead of fading after a single hit."</FONT></EM><BR><BR>I'm looking forward to that... but then again, I might roll a wizzy instead.<BR><BR>-NH <P>Message Edited by Noosehunter on <SPAN class=date_text>02-10-2005</SPAN> <SPAN class=time_text>01:59 AM</SPAN><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <DIV>Nope, that is a bug fix for a problem where defilers wards disappear as soon as any damage such as dots gets thru.</DIV> <DIV>It's nothing to do with the mechanics of our wards.</DIV>

[Mattim]

Here's a fix for wards that might be the most simple and useful for everyone involved: Make wards a direct buff to hps for 30 seconds or until the buff is used up.This solution would solve so many issues with wards, outside of premature expiration. AC would now be accounted for, allowing wards to compete with druids and clerics for efficiency w/o needing to expend alot of power keeping debuffs up. Wards + Reactives would now play nicely together, allowing shamans and clerics to make better group partners. Wards wouldn't be bypassed by every special attack but would be used up.Just a thought.

[Thatdumbg]

magnifique! I love the idea.

[icetower]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> DustusSapphic wrote:<BR> <P>There's a simple solution:</P> <P>Include the ward target's AC into the ward damage absorption calculations.</P> <P>Done.</P><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <P>They did do this in beta but it made wards overpowered. So instead of taking the time to test properly and get a reasonable middle ground, they just took the "1 minute fix" approach and cut them to zero AC.</P> <P>Hence our current state of affairs</P>

[icetower]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Mattimeo wrote:<BR>Here's a fix for wards that might be the most simple and useful for everyone involved: Make wards a direct buff to hps for 30 seconds or until the buff is used up.<BR><BR>This solution would solve so many issues with wards, outside of premature expiration. AC would now be accounted for, allowing wards to compete with druids and clerics for efficiency w/o needing to expend alot of power keeping debuffs up. Wards + Reactives would now play nicely together, allowing shamans and clerics to make better group partners. Wards wouldn't be bypassed by every special attack but would be used up.<BR><BR>Just a thought.<BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <P>Not sure how this would work after the first ward has expired and the tank has taken damage.</P> <P>Lets say the ward is 100 hps, tank has 1000 hps, so the ward gives him 1100/1000 before the fight.</P> <P>Mob hits tank for 300 hps, using up the ward and leaving him with 800/1000. You cast another ward and what happens?</P> <P>Do his hps go to 900/1100? if so then in essence its really no different from a direct 100 hp heal once the fight is underway.</P>

[Mattim]

<blockquote><hr>icetower wrote:<P>Mob hits tank for 300 hps, using up the ward and leaving him with 800/1000. You cast another ward and what happens?</P><P>Do his hps go to 900/1100? if so then in essence its really no different from a direct 100 hp heal once the fight is underway.</P><hr></blockquote>It'd work no different than wards work right now except the damage would be counted after all the mitigation and avoidance calculations. Right now if you have a 100hp ward on the tank and they get hit for 300 damage your ward is gone and your target takes damage, this just shuffles the damage calculation to a point *after* mitigation and avoidance and not before.You're right, it's not much different than a heal except you're giving the target a larger pool of HPs to work with instead just healing back what they have. So instead of healing 300hps back on a 1000hp tank, you're giving him another 100 hps to play with.When I'm main healing in a party, atm I'm 28, my goal is just to keep the tank up by preventing as much damage to their main pool of hps over the course of fight through wards. It's the most mana-effecient way for a shaman to go, because hitting healing ritual sucks a large portion of my power away, and if I have to 'chain' it I'll quickly go dry and my party is going to suffer.Right now the perk to a shaman healer, if wards can keep up with the incoming damage, is that they give their targets that extra pool of pseudo-hps to work with. Druids and Clerics, they restore HPs, don't have this ability. Either our wards need to be larger, or we need to get the same bonuses to our efficient 'heals' that the other two priests get to their spells. Currently *all* of my wards, starting with spectral, have been adept3 and while that was good up to 20 I've really started to notice where I can drop a ward on someone have it gone before recast is even done counting.. that's the rock and the hard place for shaman healing because anytime you have to heal *real* hps you're up a creak w/o a paddle on the shaman.

[Kana]

<P align=left>One thing I don't see mentioned too often is the fact that Wards (when comparing to cleric reactive & druid HoTs) do have a benefit:  Since the ward prevents damage, the tank doesn't get interrupted since he/she is not getting hit at all.  How much of a benefit is this?  Perhaps not much, but it is worth noting, since I'm sure the devs are adding it into the balance equation.</P> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr> <DIV> <HR> DustusSapphic wrote:<BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE> <P>There's a simple solution:</P> <P>Include the ward target's AC into the ward damage absorption calculations.</P> <P>Done.</P><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Simply allowing 100% of the tanks AC to be applied to our ward would, at a glance, probably make our ward too good in comparison to it's counterparts.  0% AC obviously isn't the answer either, for several reasons, but I'd like to think that somewhere in the middle (50-75%?) would suffice.  This way, our wards are more on par with the reactives and HoTs (HP per HP), and still "growing" in power as tanks acquire better gear.  This, of course, doesn't take into account the fact that our wards don't do anything for DoT damage, but I doubt that will ever change.</DIV>

[Mattim]

I don't know about the crusader branch, but there are no fighter abilities that *can* be interrupted. Sure, taunt has a 'cast time' but that's simply time taken away from swings, it's not a chance to get interrupted. I'll have to watch more close to myself as I'm soloing, but I believe I've been interrupted w/ wards on.

[disru]

<blockquote><hr>Kanali wrote:<P align=left>One thing I don't see mentioned too often is the fact that Wards (when comparing to cleric reactive & druid HoTs) do have a benefit: Since the ward prevents damage, the tank doesn't get interrupted since he/she is not getting hit at all.</DIV><hr></blockquote>As said before, I also don't think combat arts can be interrupted that are not dependent on being stationary. As far as spells go, I myself have had spells interrupted from mob melee while my wards are up. Therefore I do not think they factor into interrupt prevention.

[Spag]

<DIV>They seem to help, but by far are not complete protection.  I have been interupted many times while I have had a ward on me, but it seems though not as much as if I did not.</DIV>

[Kalam]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> icetower wrote:<BR><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> DustusSapphic wrote:<BR> <P>There's a simple solution:</P> <P>Include the ward target's AC into the ward damage absorption calculations.</P> <P>Done.</P><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <P>They did do this in beta but it made wards overpowered. So instead of taking the time to test properly and get a reasonable middle ground, they just took the "1 minute fix" approach and cut them to zero AC.</P> <P>Hence our current state of affairs</P><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <P>I gotta disagree with you on this.  I was in Beta well before Open Beta started (I started during the F&F stage just after the last character wipe), and I'm very sure Wards never absorbed damage after AC mitigation.  They've worked this way since day one and were never changed during Beta.  Now it's always possible I missed it somehow, but I doubt it.</P> <P>Edit - I guess the point I'm making is I'm very sure we've never had the chance to test the impact of Wards absorbing damage post-AC mitigation.</P><p>Message Edited by Kalamos on <span class=date_text>02-11-2005</span> <span class=time_text>12:30 PM</span>

[Wolfherz]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Kalamos wrote:<BR> <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE>...<BR></BLOCKQUOTE> <P>I gotta disagree with you on this.  I was in Beta well before Open Beta started (I started during the F&F stage just after the last character wipe), and I'm very sure Wards never absorbed damage after AC mitigation.  They've worked this way since day one and were never changed during Beta.  Now it's always possible I missed it somehow, but I doubt it.</P> <P>Edit - I guess the point I'm making is I'm very sure we've never had the chance to test the impact of Wards absorbing damage post-AC mitigation.</P> <P>Message Edited by Kalamos on <SPAN class=date_text>02-11-2005</SPAN> <SPAN class=time_text>12:30 PM</SPAN><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>There was a very brief period during beta when wards would be applied post-mitigation. It was a coding error made during a healing spell revamp and got corrected pretty quickly.</DIV>

[Kalam]

<DIV>Ahh ... that must've happened when I was gone getting married and honeymooned and ummm .. other stuff.  :smileywink:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Gura]

<DIV>Wards do not prevent any kind of status or condition, including interruptions.  My ward can absorb all of the damage from a combat art or spell.. but I will still be interrupted or stunned occasionally from the ability.  It may just be another one of the leaky conditions of the ward.. where it prevents interruptions only when it feels like it.  :smileytongue:</DIV>

[Spag]

<DIV>One thing I noticed about interrupts.  While casting you may be hit for damage and your toon will appear to be interrupted, as well as the progress bar of the spell disappearing, but the spell is still getting cast.  The only time you are actually interupted is when you get the text that says "Interupted".   This causes people to believe they are getting interrupted often.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Now apply this to wards.  Since you are not being hit for this damage, your toon will not react to the damage, which in turn leaves the casting progress bar up on the screen.  End result  it appears that wards help with interupts, when many just appear to be interrupts but are a display flaw, and the rate of interrupts has not changed.</DIV>

[Grus]

I am with the majority of shaman that think something has to be done with Wards. For example, last week I was grouped with Paladin, Guardian, Troubador, and Illusionist in TS. We are all 23-25 in level. We were fighting Giants and Gnolls, mostly ^^ yellows. Even with good drink and breeze I was constantly running dangerously close to empty power bar on most fights. These were only single pulls, not multiples.The biggest issue I saw besides the wards not lasting long at all is that when we fought the defilers the tank's health would be dropping with the ward still active. I assumed that this was spell damage from the defiler and it made each fight very close.We did ok, but next time we arent going without another healing class. It was just too slow.

[Karla]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Ascensionftw wrote:<BR>shamans arent back up healers, shamans are the king of the healers... they control when other people heal or not and if a shaman slacks you will lose the raid<BR><BR>if you put a shaman in a group, the other priest is reduced to being worthless<BR><BR><BR><BR>-quirk<BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> Can I have what your smoking, cus it must be good.

[Karla]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Ascensionftw wrote:<BR>Without qualification? <BR><BR>heh... <BR><BR>Well, I can assure you that wards do indeed work very well with higher lv mobs,5 opponents, multiple group double ups, guardians and zerkers and even lower lv tanks. In my 50 lvls of being a mystic I never had a problem with any special mob special attacks (hits under 4k) bypassing wards. I am just trying to put to bed the myth that mystics are anything less than the best of priests. I go day in and day out with no problem from the most challenging mobs in the game and NEVER once have I or my guild members ever said... wow I wish mystics could heal better. Is this some isolated instance? Well there are 2 other mystics in my guild, they both fight the same stuff as I do and it is exactly the same for them... does this mean that there are 3 good mystics and the rest just suck? no, of course not. I think the problem here is people taking a lot from the fact shamans in EQLive werent primary healers like they are now added to the reverse healing style and I think there are just a lot of confused people out there. When you look at the mystic as a class... you have to account for everything, you cant just say "omg if I sit there and only cast ward the tank dies"... you have to use all of the tools and they are used differently in different situations. I am not pretending to know everything or be better than anyone, all I know is that I can play my class and that my class does not suck.<BR><BR><A href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/pplayer.vm?characterId=209572205" target=_blank>-quirk</A><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <P>Do other classes have to use all of the tools?  No.  They can do an effective job without using all of the tools.  We can not, and it is near impossible to debuff a full 5 mob pull.</P> <P>Shaman are debuff's and backup healers.  </P>

[DixieRo]

<DIV>Freakboy2000</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Either you have not  been reading entire posts, or you do not know what a ward is. We are not complaining about our heals. See.. <STRONG>a ward is not a heal</STRONG>. A ward is this little thingie we cast on you that is SUPPOSE  to somewhat shield you and <STRONG>prevent damage</STRONG>. You said<EM> "The whole purpose of a  mystic is that you dont need to heal as well as everyone else because with your debuffs and slows the mobs wont do anywhere near the damage they would do when a templar or druid is healing"</EM>. I believe we all agree that our heals should be less than the templars and the druids. We <STRONG>are</STRONG> meant to prevent damage, and are complaing about <STRONG>that</STRONG> being broke..<STRONG>not </STRONG>about our heals. Our ward is to prevent damage, and <STRONG>it is broke</STRONG>. The slows and debuffs do not prevent damage.. they simply lower it..when they arent resisted that is. </DIV> <DIV>This thread is not at all about us being able to heal as good as the others.. it is about us not being able to prevent the damage we are suppose to be able to prevent due to the wards being broke.  Now..referring back to what you said..."you do not need to heal as well as everyone else" , um.. if my ward is not preventing the damage.. I am forced to try and heal that well. With this being the case.. I need either stronger heals..or simply, my wards fixed. Healing is not what we want.. we want our wards fixed. (Reminder.. a ward is not a heal..say it with me... a ward is not a heal)</DIV>

[Banditman]

<DIV>A Ward is considered a heal.  It is.  It must be.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If a Ward isn't a heal, then where is our "specialty heal" ?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Every other member of the Priest Archtype has a "specialty heal" that is far more mana efficient than their "normal" (direct) heals.  If a Ward is not a heal, where is the Shaman specialty heal ?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I understand what you are trying to say, but you are going about it incorrectly.</DIV>

[Spag]

<DIV> <DIV>Technically a ward is not a heal, but then again, you can say it does as it adds an invisible HP amount to the target, but its simply symantics.  Wards are our specialty "heal".  Dixie is simply stating we are not complaining about our direct heals, but our specialty "heal"</DIV></DIV>