Healer question for the monks out there

[jinxedup]

<DIV>My friend has a 39 monk and so I want a healer to compliment his character.  As a monk, which do you prefer playing with -- a templar or a warden?  Any reason you like one over the other?  Thanks in advance for any help!  :smileyhappy:</DIV>

[woo]

<DIV>i prefer anything other than clerics..</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>warden is great, not only do there heals work nicely with us (esp compared to clerics) but they have lots of agility buffs..</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>example of why i dont like clerics..</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><U>Cleric / Monk</U></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>Hit?              Heal?                           Health?</STRONG></DIV> <DIV>miss            -----                              1000</DIV> <DIV>-250             reactive +150               900</DIV> <DIV>miss            no heal                         900</DIV> <DIV>miss            no heal                         900</DIV> <DIV>miss            no heal                         900</DIV> <DIV>-200             reactive +150               850</DIV> <DIV>-180             reactive +150               820</DIV> <DIV>miss            no heal                         820</DIV> <DIV>miss            no heal                         820</DIV> <DIV>........ etc</DIV> <DIV>monk never gets back to full hp, always losing more n more HP (w/ just reactives)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><U>Druid / Monk</U></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>Hit?              Heal?                   Health?</STRONG></DIV> <DIV>miss            -----                      1000</DIV> <DIV>-250             +75                      825</DIV> <DIV>miss            +75                      900</DIV> <DIV>miss            +75                      975</DIV> <DIV>miss            +75                      1000</DIV> <DIV>-200             +75                      875</DIV> <DIV>-180             +75                      770</DIV> <DIV>miss             +75                     845</DIV> <DIV>miss             +75                     920</DIV> <DIV>...... etc</DIV> <DIV>while monk is avoiding, the regen is still healing him..</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>point is, reactives only heal when monk is hit.. and since monk is hit less often but with more damage, they arent as efficient as regen (or even wards)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>these numbers arent real obviously, in a real situation regens alone or reactives alone wont do the job (usually).. this is just to get the idea of why a cleric type isnt efficient with monks.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>edit: just want to stress that these numbers arent real, and im not saying clerics dont work.. im saying they arent as efficient and warden can do better.</DIV><p>Message Edited by woode on <span class=date_text>04-03-2005</span> <span class=time_text>03:02 PM</span>

[Gaige]

Warden for now, but after LU#7 I would reconsider Mystics.

[Brew01]

<P>My wife plays a Temp she does a very good job as my partner. Templers get a spell Called (Mark of Princes) this spell heals you when you hit the mob. Monks do one thing more than any other fighters..... Hit the mob, so in this case the templer can make up for the reactive heals a bit. </P> <P>IMO the healers all do a good job keeping a monk alive Templers just have to adjust there healing tactics when faced with a brawler as the MT.</P>

[Bewts]

Brew hit the nail on the head.  You can also use the fate line of mob buffs which add substantial HP to the entire group on a mob's death.  Its around 550 or so HP at level 44 Templar as an adept1 and theres an upgrade on the horizon for me still as a templar.  Essentially I can heal any tank just as well as the next and an adjustment or knowledge of your skills will keep the playing field even. <div></div>

[froglockpalad]

<DIV>i go with mystics becuase i like take no damage with my mystic partner and when i do its minor</DIV>

[Nemi]

There is no definitive answer at the moment.ClericsYou will never lose aggro with these guys. Fighting multiple mobs the reactives generate lots of aggro for the tank. Against orange mobs tho the spikey damage becomes harder for the Cleric.ShamansThe wards that they have work best with Monks. Spikey damage is negated by Wards meaning the risk to the Random Number Generator is lower. However at present their power usuage is horrendous for direct healing.DruidsTheir regen heals work well with a monk although you have to be sure of your teamwork. To be mana effective you have to let the regens do their work, which can mean watching a yellow health bar regen while your not getting hit. Currently Wardens direct heal + regen spell lines have excellent healing but expect this to change after the Live Update #7Going forward I would think Shamans will be the best duoing partner for monks. Shm + Druid makes an excellent combo IMO.

[OgApostrap]

<DIV>That above example of cleric and druid isn't really accurate.. Firstly.. when clerics reactive is doing 150 a tick.. a druid can do almsot 200 every 6 seconds.. also.. the time.. unless your up against a giant then attacks wont be that slow.. ;o</DIV>

[woo]

<DIV><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> OgApostraphe wrote:<BR> <DIV>That above example of cleric and druid isn't really accurate.. Firstly.. when clerics reactive is doing 150 a tick.. a druid can do almsot 200 every 6 seconds.. also.. the time.. unless your up against a giant then attacks wont be that slow.. ;o</DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>like i said, its not the numbers that were important.. it was the theory behind it.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>if they do fix shaman's direct heal mana usage, then they would be the ultimate choice for monk.  right now there wards need upping, but w/ monk you hardly notice because of our avoidance.  also.. druids aggro problem and clerics lack-of is "being looked into" aka being "fixed" aka raising the clerics aggro gains and lowering the druids.  i dont think wardens will see much nerf, but more of Fury getting beefed up a little since right now they dont really compare to wardens with healing efficiency.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>as far as clerics being able to adapt and heal just as well as wardens (on a monk)-- sure, they <EM>can..</EM> but my point was that they cant do it as efficiently.  now, reactives work very efficiently on a plate wearing tank.  when you start factoring on other spells than reactives for templars, you must remember that wardens get other spells that do stuff too.  example--they have a buff which lasts 12 hours that adds agility, strength, and heals the tank when they open the fight.  most of clerics buffs are for stamina (and shamans main buffs do strength, wardens do agility), which is fine but a monk is more about agility.. avoidance.  plate tanks are about taking htis all day, monks are about not taking them at all.</DIV>

[Babayaaga]

<P>I'm doing a little experiment with this myself. I've always 2 boxed MMO's and decided to fire up a second account and mentor a healer. I chose Templar, and have been mentoring it for a few days... now 22. One bonus about 2 boxing a healer is that I know exactly what I need in terms of healing, and can better manage power consumption.</P> <P>Reason I chose Templar was largely the buffs and debuffs. My reasoning for this was reactionary to the fact that SoE seems to be focusing on AC mitigation in terms of damage avoidance, rather than the previous AGI which we monks relied upon. As a result, going with a healing class which provided the best AC/HP buffs seemed logical to me.</P> <P>Up until level 22 (with me mentored obviously), so far this combination has been outstanding. The temp rarely dips below 80 power using nothing but reactive heals, and most of the time we're doing white/yellow grouped mobs (multiple). Another bonus is reactive agro seems to be minimal, and I have zero problems maintaining agro. What is amazing is that I am generally 100% health just refreshing reactives and Mark when they wear out. As brew mentioned above, Mark is an amazing ability.</P> <P>The biggest test obviously will be later levels, when damage healing will be put to the real test. From what I understand, most healer classes right now have issues with most of their later level healing skills in that the lower level spells are providing the best results, where I believe much of the problem with end-game healing lies.</P> <P>I'll keep you posted with the Temp as she grows.</P><p>Message Edited by Babayaaga on <span class=date_text>04-04-2005</span> <span class=time_text>09:38 AM</span>

[jinxedup]

I should have mentioned this in my original post.  I have a 34 mystic -- right now, we suck (yes, argue with me if you like - but we do).  So maybe if wards are fixed it would be better but right now, a mob hits once maybe twice and the ward is already off and I spend the rest of battle direct healing/trying to ward/heal/ward... Its not an effective way to play right now and really not a good pair with my monkie friend since typically he doesn't get hit by mob due to avoidance but when ward is needed, it is already off due to pre-mitigation nerfed use of a ward.  Unlike other healer classes, my ward doesn't recover hitpoints for him.  Thanks all for the input, it is extremely helpful to hear the "monk" side to this issue. 

[Babayaaga]

<DIV>Also heard through the grapevine that all healer classes, with the exception of Warden (perhaps druids entirely), will be getting some major fixing. Keep that in mind before you re-roll. In terms of what exactly, I don't know for certain (grapevine), but I understood it has something to do with healing quality at later levels, which as I mentioned right now is pretty much broken. Devs apparently have recognized how riddiculous it is that at later levels you need mass numbers of healers to make things "happen", and it doesn't sound like it was intended to be that way.</DIV>

[stfields]

<P>I've duoed many levels with a mystic in my guild.  I've also grouped extensively with templars as well.  </P> <P>"Who is the best healer" all comes down to the situation.  If you only have 1 healer to choose from in a full group situation fighting yellow/orange mobs, templars probably can do the best job with any tank.  However, with a monk, it becomes a tossup with a mystic. </P> <P>Yellow and orange ^^ hit a little too often and a little too hard for wards to be efficient.  The direct heals (700hp/200power) bridge the gaps nicely between wards.  However, the battle will end with the mystic short on power.  So why is mystic just as good as templar?  With a mystic or templar, you are still going to get hit the same amount of times.  Its just a matter of whether a reactive is absorbing the damage or a ward.  Between reactives/wards, both will have to direct heal.  From my experience, reactives wear off faster than wards and the templar will be just as strapped for power as a mystic would be.  However, good drink and a manastone can help fix that.  </P> <P>If you are in a small group (a trio), I go with Mystics - hands down.  In a small group, you can't fight yellows efficiently.  You stick to blue and even ^^ stuff.  If you have good gear, you can have 78% avoidance and about 80% when self-buffed.  You simply don't get hit too much to warrant having a templar.  When a templar isn't busy healing someone, they can debuff/nuke.  But you don't need a templar for that.  You need a mystic then.  </P> <DIV>In duo/trio situations, the mystic tosses me a ward when the mob comes in.  The ward is there to mitigate damage I can't avoid while the mob is being debuffed.  After the mystic goes to town on the mob, the mob's str and agi and attack speed are so low that they will land no hits.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I have nothing against warden/furies.  With a monk, their regens are wasted.  We take damage in spikes.  The first 2-3 ticks of a regen might heal us for 0 since we didn't get hit.  I love them for their agility boosts and honestly feel that a warden that plays their class right can do a better job than a clueless templar/mystic.  They work great in tandem with any healer.  You can take on much tougher mobs with any combo of druid/shaman or druid/cleric.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>For the OP, if you plan to duo most of the time, go with a mystic.  Templars can't keep up with our streaky damage past 30. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[stfields]

<DIV>Just padding my post count - err... I mean double post!</DIV><p>Message Edited by stfields on <span class=date_text>04-05-2005</span> <span class=time_text>11:45 AM</span>

[i3ry]

I personally think I tank best with a Shaman, next with a druid, and last with a cleric.  Any class will work though in most situations as long as the player knows what he/she's doing.  I tanked the 52^^ named evil eye in CT a few days ago with just an inquisitor as my healer at level 44, but I'm sure it would have been much easier with a shaman.  Just pay attention to what's going on and you'll be fine with any priest class you pick. <div></div>

[Tully]

<DIV>I seem to tank better with a shaman in the group.  Slows and wards for monk tanks are a very good combo.</DIV>