Healer compendium - How healing works

[mossy]

Healer compendium - How healing works

After browsing different sites and sources, I've comed up with a guide that shows how healing classes work in SWTOR.
Basically, there are three healing Advanced Classes in the game per faction:

Empire:
- Operative
- Sorcerer
- Mercenary

Republic:
- Scoundrel
- Sage
- Commando

My information was restricted to healers from the Empire side, but since the Republic mirror classes have the same stats and abilities, it should give you a fairly accurate knowledge base.

Imperial Agent / Smuggler

Advanced Classes: Operative / Scoundrel
Healing Talent Tree: Medicine / Sawbones
Primary Stat: Cunning
Armor: Medium
Unique Mechanic: Tactical Advantage

Talent Trees: Both Operatives and Scoundrels have two melee dps talent trees with stealth abilities and one healing talent tree.

Resource: The main resource of Imperial Agents and Smugglers is energy. Energy regeneration is incremental and it depends on your current ammount of energy. In other words, the higher your energy level, the higher your regeneration will be (so a good strategy would be to focus on having decent/high levels of energy to benefit from good regen).

Unique Mechanic: Some damage abilities, direct heals and HoTs (healing over time) provide each one point of Tactical Advantage. Similarly, the abilities that consume Tactical Advantage, will only consume one point. Since almost all abilities that use Tactical Advantage do not consume Energy, using TA abilities is crucial to maintaining high levels of Energy and Energy regen.

Common heals:
1. Kolto Injection: Direct heal (capable of generating TA through talents)
2. Kolto Probe: Instant Heal over Time (HoT), stackable,(capable of generating TA through talents)
3. Recuperative Nanotech: Instant Area of Effect (AoE) HoT, 12 seconds cooldown
4. Diagnostic Scan: (this is a minor channel heal,which can be improved from talents to restore energy when the ability crits)

Tactical Advantage based heals::
1. Kolto Infusion: consumes TA and Energy
2. Surgical Probe: Instant heal, consumes TA

Other healing abilities:
1. Resuscitation Probe: Combat resurection, cooldown 5 min.
2. Toxin Scan: Removes debuffs and can be improved to heal through talents
3. Stim Boost: Provides energy regeneration, uses TA (recommended to be kept active all the time).

Operatives and Scoundrels use HoTs more than other healing abilities, which easily allows them to keep players alive when the fight is not too demanding. Since HoTs give you TA points, this will help you rotate your direct heals (Kolto Infusion, Kolto Injection and Surgical Probe).


Bounty Hunter / Trooper

Advanced Classes: Mercenary / Commando
Healing Talent Tree: Bodyguard / Combat Medic
Primary Stat: Aim
Armor: Heavy
Unique Mechanic: Combat Support

Talent Trees: Mercenaries and Commandos have two dps talent trees and one healing tree. They are basically casters in heavy armors.

Resource: Bounty Hunter’s main resource is Heat (capped at 100) while Trooper uses Ammo (capped at 12). They both work on same principles as Energy (including regen).

Unique Mechanic: Your free healing abilities and cast heals (when improved through talents) will stack Combat Support, a buff that boosts your healing. When you reach the max stack limit of 30, you can use it to add a temporary bonus effect of 10 seconds to your abilities by venting Heat/restoring Ammo..

Common heals:
1. Rapid Shots: generates 3 Combat Support
2. Rapid Scan: generates 6 Combat Support through talents
3. Healing Scan: Castable heal with 12 seconds cooldown
4. Kolto Missile: Instant AoE heal with 6 seconds cooldown
5. Emergency Scan: Instant heal with 21 seconds cooldown

Other healing abilities:
1. Power Surge: Makes a castable ability instant
2. Cure: Removes debuffs and can be improved to heal through talents
3. Kolto Shell: A shield with 10 charges that heals the target when it suffers damage.
4. Vent Heat: Vents heat (similar to Trooper’s gain Ammo)
5. Supercharged Gas: Consumes all 30 stacks of Combat Support to provide 10 second bonus to abilities and boosts healing.


Mercenaries and Commandos are suitable for tank healing, due to HoT procs, damage reduction buff and access to instant heals.


Sith Inquisitor / Jedi Consular

Advanced Classes: Sith Sorceror / Jedi Sage
Healing Talent Tree: Corruption / Seer
Primary Stat: Willpower
Armor: Light
Unique Mechanic: Force Bending

Talent Trees: Sith Sorceror and Jedi Sage have two ranged dps talent trees and one for healing.

Resource: Sorcerors and Sages rely on Force as their main resource. Force regeneration is constant (8 Force/ second) and it’s capped (depending on talents) at 500/600.
Because unlike the previous healers, Sorcerors and Sages have the constant regen rate and are able to consume it to lower levels, their heals are more expensive.

Unique Mechanic: Force Bending has a chance of being provided by Resurgence and boosts the effect of your next heal.

Common heals:
1. Dark Heal: 1.5 seconds casting heal
2. Dark Infusion: 3 seconds casting heal
3. Innervate: Instant heal with a 3 second channelling
4. Resurgence: Instant heal and HoT with a 6 seconds cooldown
5. Revivification: AoE direct heal with AoE HoT, has 15 seconds

Other healing abilities:
1. Reanimation: Combat ressurection
2. Purge: Removes debuffs and can be improved to heal through talents
3. Static Barrier: Absorption shield
4. Extrication: Lowers target's threat and pulls them to you
5. Consumption: Instantly regenerates Force at cost of life, also lowers Force regen rate temporarily


Sorceres and Sages will bring the greatest variety of heals and flexible play style. Force regen relies on Force Bending provided through Resurgence, as well as using Innervate.

[Jr.]

This sheds some light about healers in SWTOR. Many times I wondered which healing class does what. Great post!

Keep it up.

[Dithanial]

Great guide! And it's good that you noted on Purge for the SI (among others), the upgrade to heal is hidden in the talent tree until you put a point in it, then it shows up what the next point will add. There are several talents that I've seen give bonuses to multiple spells as well, but you'd never know until you added that extra point. It really pays off to play with the talent trees a little before deciding where you will ultimately put that next point.

[alexe]

Nice reading. This should help whoever wants to roll a healer. Good job!

[Hanchor]

Any word on how "soloable" a healer class is? I would guess its slower, but I'm hoping it's not rediculous

[alexe]

I don't think it will be too hard. Healers will also have some damage abilities, and since they use the same primary stat for healing and dps... it shouldn't be so bad. But that's just me ... who knows

[Darth Tataa]

Thanks for the info!! I just decided today to not go with the sith warrior and decided to go for a Sith Sorceror! Cant wait for launch!

[Elamshin]

Any word on how "soloable" a healer class is? I would guess its slower, but I'm hoping it's not rediculous

It's very soloable. Khem Val was a beast in my healer specced sorcerer. Other healer specs have similar boosts in their companions, I'm sure.

[Ioan]

Good article,thanks!

[Jr.]

Man, after reading this post, i'm thinking of roling a healer (Mercenary most probably).

[Cabilis]

I'd also like to highly recommend looking over this thread as well (which I thought this might have been a copy of): HEALING! A Comparison of the Healers

[knightinshadows]

Hi I have a 14 sage healer and its nice so far but haven't done to much was just wondering how sage healing gets closer and at end game and how viable it is?

[rojalee775]

About the healers and soloing, I have a L12 Commando, and using Aric, I'm moving faster than my Sage did at the same level. I'm speccing up the Gunnery Tree, and will leave the heal tree for when they release Multiple-Specs, or when I hit 50 and start Guild Healing.

[Geckomayhem]

An excellent guide! I'm going to try my hand at healing with my Sorc, but the Marauder sure sounds interesting. Too bad I'm leaning toward a PT for my AC, though. I guess a part of me still wants to burn stuff.

A note about soloing: make sure your companion's gear is up to date! Also remember that healers don't just stand there and heal; you should be DPSing to a degree. :o

A note about Corruption Sorcs: there is a tier 1 talent that reduces Dark Infusion's cast time to 2.5/2.0 sec.

[Rzar]

About the healers and soloing, I have a L12 Commando, and using Aric, I'm moving faster than my Sage did at the same level. I'm speccing up the Gunnery Tree, and will leave the heal tree for when they release Multiple-Specs, or when I hit 50 and start Guild Healing.

Then you are not really leveling as a healer, not a pure healer. I have a lvl 21 commando combat medic. I have no issue soloing. It is a nice concept that your main heal stat is also your main DPS stat .