General Healing - Enough to do it alone?

[Condar Tarsonia]

So I started a Mystic not too long ago, but stopped due to the lack of groups I was able to find during my playtime.  Recently though, a couple of my buddies got back into the game, and we have a nice little trio (soon to be a four-o) going.  It consists of a SK, Assassin, myself, and the fourth will be a wizard.  These are all their first or second toons, but they have a good grasp of the game and are decently equipped (better than say a completely new player, but not fully Mastercrafted/Legendary).  My Mystic is only in the mid-20's, and is Mastercrafted/Adept 3 equipped.  The others are in their 30's, and usually just mentor down.So anyways, on to my real question.  This is my first healer (that I've spent any time with), and I feel like I must be doing something wrong.  On typical green or blue ^^^ heroics, we do just fine it seems, with very few problems.  As soon as an add comes along, or we try white or yellow heroics, things seem to go sour.  It just seems like my wards cannot keep up with the damage being put out, even when stacking the wards.  If I am able to keep up, I'm down quite a bit of power that we have to sit and regenerate for a few moments (not much with good drink and totems, but still a pain).  It just seems like other healers don't seem to have this much trouble, so I figure I must be doing something wrong.  Here's my typical strategy:<ol><li>Wait for tank to get a few hits and generate some aggro.</li><li>Cast single-target ward.</li><li>Cast attack speed debuff (Haze line).</li><li>If the ward is still holding strong, apply the Sta/Str debuff.</li><li>Re-cast single-target ward as appropriate, casting group ward and supplementing with direct heals on the tougher mobs.</li><li>Cancel wards to prevent immediate aggro at start of next fight.</li></ol>As you can see, I'm not wasting power with any damage spells (usually).  This is due to the previously mentioned issue with power, and the fact that these wards take an inordinate amount of time to cast.  A lot of this healing seems to just be a guessing game ("Well, maybe by the time it's done casting it'll have worn off..." ).  I've tried using the group ward first, and supplementing with the single target ward (since it procs a heal when it wears off, if it gets that far), but nothing I've tried really seems to work.  Finally, I don't think it's the others equipment/skills - I've been in other groups with well-equipped players, and I still sometimes have problems.So basically I'm looking for some advice.  I really like the class, and the idea of the class, so I'm hoping I'm simply doing something wrong or things get better a few levels from now (considering I'm still only just entering T4 soon).Thoughts? <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img mce_tsrc=" />Edit: Argh for weird formatting and random smilies.

[Baccalarium]

I did feel like there was a lull in the 30's and low 40's.    But you should still be able to keep up.     Let your tank know and see if he can handle you having a group ward up when he pulls.   If he misses the first taunt you get smacked but the ward protects you too.      This can give you a nice breather to get a debuff or two out quicker.   Whenever I'm playing catch up cause the tank has already taken a bunch of damage, usually prevents me from getting my debuffs out as quick as I could if caught up to begin with.    A tank thats really on his taunts,  you can probably hit a debuff as the mobs are coming to him.Other giving prewards a try it doesn't sound like you're off by much.   Remember the dps debuf too.  lamenting soul at 70,  but forget where the first version of this starts.   Looks like there's also the bloodlines dps reducer that might help too.If agro is bouncing around it always seems to be my worst enemy as a healer.    You didn't mention agro bouncing around being a problem though.

[Finora]

<cite>Condar Tarsonia wrote:</cite><blockquote>So I started a Mystic not too long ago, but stopped due to the lack of groups I was able to find during my playtime.  Recently though, a couple of my buddies got back into the game, and we have a nice little trio (soon to be a four-o) going.  It consists of a SK, Assassin, myself, and the fourth will be a wizard.  These are all their first or second toons, but they have a good grasp of the game and are decently equipped (better than say a completely new player, but not fully Mastercrafted/Legendary).  My Mystic is only in the mid-20's, and is Mastercrafted/Adept 3 equipped.  The others are in their 30's, and usually just mentor down.So anyways, on to my real question.  This is my first healer (that I've spent any time with), and I feel like I must be doing something wrong.  On typical green or blue ^^^ heroics, we do just fine it seems, with very few problems.  As soon as an add comes along, or we try white or yellow heroics, things seem to go sour.  It just seems like my wards cannot keep up with the damage being put out, even when stacking the wards.  If I am able to keep up, I'm down quite a bit of power that we have to sit and regenerate for a few moments (not much with good drink and totems, but still a pain).  It just seems like other healers don't seem to have this much trouble, so I figure I must be doing something wrong.  Here's my typical strategy:<ol><li>Wait for tank to get a few hits and generate some aggro.</li><li>Cast single-target ward.</li><li>Cast attack speed debuff (Haze line).</li><li>If the ward is still holding strong, apply the Sta/Str debuff.</li><li>Re-cast single-target ward as appropriate, casting group ward and supplementing with direct heals on the tougher mobs.</li><li>Cancel wards to prevent immediate aggro at start of next fight.</li></ol>As you can see, I'm not wasting power with any damage spells (usually).  This is due to the previously mentioned issue with power, and the fact that these wards take an inordinate amount of time to cast.  A lot of this healing seems to just be a guessing game ("Well, maybe by the time it's done casting it'll have worn off..." ).  I've tried using the group ward first, and supplementing with the single target ward (since it procs a heal when it wears off, if it gets that far), but nothing I've tried really seems to work.  Finally, I don't think it's the others equipment/skills - I've been in other groups with well-equipped players, and I still sometimes have problems.So basically I'm looking for some advice.  I really like the class, and the idea of the class, so I'm hoping I'm simply doing something wrong or things get better a few levels from now (considering I'm still only just entering T4 soon).Thoughts? <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img mce_tsrc=" width="15" height="15" />Edit: Argh for weird formatting and random smilies.</blockquote><p>I'd suggest casting group ward before every pull. Then single target on the tank once the mob is in the camp.</p><p>You didn't say specifically what level you were but mid- 20s you get a brand new single target ward (level 26, Ancestral Ward). At 28 Wards of Shadow will replace your old Wards of Spirit group ward. Upgrade those to ade1 or ad3 and you'll be pretty good to go until the mid to late 30s (those levels kind of suck because your wards are so old by that time).</p><p>You definately want to use your debuffs if you are having issues healing. =) And since your SK is the MT (or should be anyhow) make sure he's casting his reactive heal on himself everytime it's up and using his life tap procs at all times, those would be prime things for him to get upgraded as well. That should do quite a bit to help you.</p><p>Also, I know a lot of people hate the shaman pet, but get to the ward proc in the str line of the shaman aa tree and he can be a real help healing.</p>

[Happa]

<cite>Finora@Everfrost wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite></cite>I'd suggest casting group ward before every pull. Then single target on the tank once the mob is in the camp.</blockquote>Agreed, the SK ought to be able to do enough taunting on the pull to keep you alive. If he or she does not, it is not you who is doing something wrong. And since the group ward is so slow, it is handy to throw up that ward before you go in. Besides, if some does go wrong, you have that group ward up to buffer any damage until your SK can rescue (I think they have that) or just spam whatever aggro spells they have. Power seems to be a problem with any Mystic, so anything you can do to gain power will be a must. I always suggest people go after the Manastone heritage quest and to make sure they have some cheap flowing thought adornments.I can't say I know how a Mystic is played in lower levels as I didn't betray over until late in the game, but I would imagine right now you have very little spells to help offset the amount of damage being done. This will change eventually as you level up. A Mystic can definitely heal a whole group by himself as long as he's smart about how he spends his AA points and how he uses his mana.

[Condar Tarsonia]

Phew, thanks you guys - all of your advice makes me feel a bit better.  I'll stick with it, try it out, and see where things go.  Glad to see we're viable, primary healers in the end-game.As a side note, the reason I hadn't been pre-casting wards was because in a group I had been in previously, the Templar I was with noted I should "almost never preward, and cancel my wards prior to the tank pulling - otherwise it will lead to a lot of deaths, and I should get used to it now."  He had a Mystic alt supposedly, so I figured I'd listen.  It seems like everyone else does the complete opposite though, haha.Also, is there any way (AA, equipment, "dev"ine-intervention) to reduce the casting times on our wards?

[Finora]

<cite>Condar Tarsonia wrote:</cite><blockquote>Phew, thanks you guys - all of your advice makes me feel a bit better.  I'll stick with it, try it out, and see where things go.  Glad to see we're viable, primary healers in the end-game.As a side note, the reason I hadn't been pre-casting wards was because in a group I had been in previously, the Templar I was with noted I should "almost never preward, and cancel my wards prior to the tank pulling - otherwise it will lead to a lot of deaths, and I should get used to it now."  He had a Mystic alt supposedly, so I figured I'd listen.  It seems like everyone else does the complete opposite though, haha.Also, is there any way (AA, equipment, "dev"ine-intervention) to reduce the casting times on our wards?</blockquote><p>Eh, I find that pre-wards are the best thing to do (and I've played a mystic since 3 days post release <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> as my main). Also have a defiler alt with whom I preward as well. I also never cancel my wards. But nine times out of ten I have a tank I know well (either my husband or one of the guild tanks I've known since EQ1 days).</p><p>If you know your tank (and you will since you said you have your set group), and he learns his job well, you'll do fine.</p><p>Even in raid situations I can usually eat a hit or 2 if the taunt bounces on the pull, while the tank pulls the mob back off/I hit my deagro. Herioc stuff is rarely an issue (unless there are a lot of them beating me).</p>

[Rythen16]

<cite>Finora@Everfrost wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>I'd suggest casting group ward before every pull. Then single target on the tank once the mob is in the camp.</p><p>You didn't say specifically what level you were but mid- 20s you get a brand new single target ward (level 26, Ancestral Ward). At 28 Wards of Shadow will replace your old Wards of Spirit group ward. Upgrade those to ade1 or ad3 and you'll be pretty good to go until the mid to late 30s (those levels kind of suck because your wards are so old by that time).</p><p>You definately want to use your debuffs if you are having issues healing. =) And since your SK is the MT (or should be anyhow) make sure he's casting his reactive heal on himself everytime it's up and using his life tap procs at all times, those would be prime things for him to get upgraded as well. That should do quite a bit to help you.</p><p>Also, I know a lot of people hate the shaman pet, but get to the ward proc in the str line of the shaman aa tree and he can be a real help healing.</p></blockquote><p>Another great thing about casting the group ward before the pull is that since this is one of our biggest power drains, you will get a couple seconds of non-combat power regen before the fight begins. This means that you can have your group ward up and recover the power it cost to cast before the fight even begins. This will help with your power regen as well.</p>

[AziBam]

No question we can run as the solo healer in a group.  Our strength would be in keeping up a single target (the tank) and if we have a weakness it would be dealing with AEs that affect the whole group.  That also means that if the tank maintains aggro we are one of the best healers out there along with defilers in my opinion.  How is your tanks gear?  The more damage he takes the harder it will be for any healer to keep up.  Is he in offensive stance?  Sometimes thats good sometimes it's bad.  It depends on how much damage he is taking.  Is he going with sword and shield or is he using a 2-hander?  Assuming the fight is against a reasonably difficult mob I personally preward with ST ward and immediately start casting the group ward.  If the tank has taken enough damage to eat through them both the ST is refreshed and ready to cast again.  Normally after both wards are up you'll have plenty of time to get in either some debuffs or some damage (if the mobs die fast enough a debuff just isn't worth it.)  If the fights are going slow, then definitely throw out your debuffs to reduce the damage your tank and group are taking.   (Just as a side note, if you are getting hit too often from the initial aggro I agree that the group ward is best to start.  It's what I do on raids since it's bad to get one-shotted from a stray if a taunt resists.) <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Baccalarium]

<cite>Happa wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Finora@Everfrost wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite></cite>I'd suggest casting group ward before every pull. Then single target on the tank once the mob is in the camp.</blockquote>Agreed, the SK ought to be able to do enough taunting on the pull to keep you alive. If he or she does not, it is not you who is doing something wrong. And since the group ward is so slow, it is handy to throw up that ward before you go in. Besides, if some does go wrong, you have that group ward up to buffer any damage until your SK can rescue (I think they have that) or just spam whatever aggro spells they have. Power seems to be a problem with any Mystic, so anything you can do to gain power will be a must. I always suggest people go after the Manastone heritage quest and to make sure they have some cheap flowing thought adornments.I can't say I know how a Mystic is played in lower levels as I didn't betray over until late in the game, but I would imagine right now you have very little spells to help offset the amount of damage being done. This will change eventually as you level up. A Mystic can definitely heal a whole group by himself as long as he's smart about how he spends his AA points and how he uses his mana. </blockquote>If fights are going fast (travelling through a trash area)  then haveing wards from prior battle,  or prewarding can cause troubles as you may be pulling the next mob before some of the tanks agro spells are ready.   On the other hand if its trash,  it will probably go down before you're hurt, but thats a case where prewards get frowned upon.     There are situations where its annoying,  and the cleric like the shaman is better suited to healing then the mob is on the designated tank.    So I can see where a cleric would get the idea it wasn't worth it for the shaman to preward cause it messes up the clerics heals. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Condar Tarsonia]

Thanks for all the advice!  As an update, we decided to try a full group tonight in RoV (me being the lowest, 27 at the time, with the others between 30-33).  Prewarding helped a lot, once I explained to him (SK) he needed to get aggro right off the bat if I did that.  Things seemed to go much smoother tonight than they have, maybe just due to the additional dps.  I also dinged 28 and got my next group ward, which I had the Ad3 ready for, and man - things have become a breeze for now.  It has nearly doubled the old one.  The new single target ward (which I also have at Ad3) is a bit of a let down though - it was only a small improvement over the previous one at Master 2, and is actually less efficient in terms of ward points/power.  Ah well - I've decided to keep the new spells on my 'primary heal bar' and the old ones on a secondary bar, in case I start running low on power.Anywho, thanks for all the advice - it's been great.  I appreciate any other tips and tricks you may have!

[schmee]

<p>and so you know: when you start to reach t6+ we get a lot of other healing that starts to really help make up for our younger impediments of taking a bit longer than other preists to play "catch up" healer. </p><p>aoe heal, torpor and our healing pet are things a raiding 70 mystic will use almost constantly, in addition to our 7 or so debuffs, bolster, and the upgrades to the tools you're already using, group ward, single target ward, and slow & fast cast single target heals.</p><p>one last thing: pay attention to cures. even in the young game, curing fast can make a big difference to the healing process (as well as the DPS process for your tanks & scouts).</p>

[CrimsonValerian]

I was solo healihng with my mystic in unrest at level 66 with no deaths, one of the hardest parts is getting a feel for your tank, are they insane or do they hold back a bit, honestly i love the insane ones that are at 20% hp and yell INC!!!  But for areas like castle mistmore i usually heal for a pally or zerk that i've known for a while, and start casting the group ward on their inc call, if you time it just right they'll be back at camp by the time your group ward goes off, and usually minimal aggro, plus your deaggro is on a 5? minute recast timer so it's usually up a lot of the time.

[Ceolus]

<cite>CrimsonValerian wrote:</cite><blockquote>I was solo healihng with my mystic in unrest at level 66 with no deaths, one of the hardest parts is getting a feel for your tank, are they insane or do they hold back a bit, honestly i love the insane ones that are at 20% hp and yell INC!!!  But for areas like castle mistmore i usually heal for a pally or zerk that i've known for a while, and start casting the group ward on their inc call, if you time it just right they'll be back at camp by the time your group ward goes off, and usually minimal aggro, plus your deaggro is on a 5? minute recast timer so it's usually up a lot of the time.</blockquote>You solo healed Unrest? At level 66? I am jealous...what have I been doing wrong? I use all the techniques and I have only M2, M1 and A3 spells. When we get to the end bit with the Death looking guy and it's just me healing, the tank/group just usually dies, even though I bash every heal/ward I have in the most efficient combinations <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />. It's not just the tank either, I've been with 3 or 4 others

[Ordate]

Possible with enough stuns and damage in the group but if it was a bunch of non-hardcore players with little to no stuns, I have my doubts...

[zaneluke]

Every mystic is going to have thier own technique for fighting. Try them all and see what is a good fit for your play style.My style.I make sure the tank knows not to pull until i preward. Some times you might get a lil flack but you have to explain to him as a mystic you are not a healer as much as you are a preventer of damage. single mob pulls spell ordergroup wardsingle ward on tankenfeeble line spell (delusion,fallacy,chimerik,eidolon)haze line spell (wailing,keening,howling,weeping,shrieking)mournin g spell line (mourning soul,grieving,lementint)wardheal as neededcure afflictions and/or cast lil badger dude.multiple mob pulls.Same as above but group wardlethargy line (grim , dreadfull,leathergy) slows the whole encounter thus lessening the overall damage your tank will take.ancient scream line spell. This is an encounter debuff that should always be at least adept III.then group ward and depending on how many mobs you can dish out single target defenses. But with gorup encouters your aoe encounter group members like warlock setc etc will be drawing agro. keep the group ward up.My mystic is not the best healer in the game, just like fast cars there is always someone better. I can solo heal any zone but MM castle. using the above tactics with very minor adjustments.

[Banditman]

I would flip Eidolon and Lamenting Soul in your single target order.  Lamenting has a much larger impact than Eidolon and should therefore be close to the first thing you put on.You neglected to mention Umbral Trap in your group process.  Umbral Trap is basically an encounter version of Lamenting Soul.

[CimTaurus]

<p>Of course if you melee spec...</p><p>Group Ward</p><p>2 DOT's</p><p>DPS and Attack Speed debuffs</p><p>Single Ward</p><p>CA dmg attack</p><p>then just keep the single ward up and the DOT's on and heal as necessary.</p><p>As stated above, you will be getting some other spells that help in healing like Torpor and the heal pet.  Both are essential.</p><p>I havent met any Mystics who will tell you that pre-warding is a bad thing.  I think clerics tend not to use it because theirs may not be as good or may not recharge as fast.  Me, I keep a ward on the tank at all times.  It is our best defense as Mystics, and our most powerful skill.  Make sure you masterII your wards every chance you get, and keep them up as much as possible.  It is much better to avoid the damage than to be in a situation where you have to play catch up and get the tank back from 10% health while trying to get off a ward and cure his poison and throw a heal on the caster who just went blast crazy when he saw the tank get low on health.</p>