Healers in games

[gaymer77]

Is a healers job to chase your ass around like a headless chicken or is the team partly responsible for staying at a reasonable distance?

So this Facebook group I'm a part of posted this discussion about healers, dps, tanks, and the responsibility of the healer. I found it rather interesting to read most of the healers' comments. The majority of them seem to have this god complex where they feel all they have to do as a healer is stand there and heal people when they are in range of you. They feel that it is the duty of the dps to come to the healer when/if they need a heal.

The way I see it, the job of the tank is to hold agro, position the boss correctly (either away from the group if the boss does some sort of cleave or towards the group if the boss has a mechanic where you have to soak damage with everyone), and not stand in shit that hurts them. The role of the dps is to kill shit ASAP. The role of the healer is to keep everyone alive. If your dps is having to run to you because all you're doing is standing there, they obviously aren't doing their job which directly affects your group. Less time the dps is focusing on adds or the boss means more time the adds or boss is up which could mean enrage timers being hit & a wipe happening. I think we all have had at least one boss fight where it was a wipe at 1% or 2% because there were too many dps dead but almost all your healers were still alive and most at full mana.

This post from that group just bugged the shit out of me. What are your thoughts on healers and what they should do?

[clevin]

The healer should move to be in range of the DPS. MOST encounters should also not have you so spread out that either party has to run all over the place. I mean, WoW's healing spells are 40 yards. So if I'm in the ranged group or between them and the melee, I should be able to hit everyone. Sometimes, for example on Empress in MoP, you might have ended up feared out of range... then it's on the feared player to get back.

Any healer who refused to heal people is a kick.

[Julmara]

everyone gotta try do the job properly and fuck ups have to be expected from everyone noone can execute the job perfetly not even you

[EliWallach]

Considering that a tank could die while the healer is running around looking for you, I'd say it's better for dps to make sure they are in range and los of the healer.

[Stormspellz]

depends on the game, fight mechanics, ect.

using the "chasing" example, its not a mercy's job to chase genji to the other side of the map because he likes to spam the "i need healing button"

using wow as example, if as dps are supposed to move to x for for what ever mechanic, and you go to z, then die. Thats on you, not the healer for following you around like a lost puppy

[Deleted]

Healers job is to remain in the range of tank/tanks. If dps is out of range in that scenario its their own damn fault. Healers running around after dps = less healing = people dead. If i am to run after Mr. badass dps to heal him cause he can not move then some other player (that knows where to stand) will most likely be out of my range and not get them heals.

[Deleted]

i wouldnt take any of those *heals* to Coven, or any other organised content, if this quote isnt out of context, cuz we dont need headless chickens, but pro-active Heal positioning, cuz DPS need to stay at (assigned) target, as do tanks... or heals.

[Witchblade77]

my job as a healer is to keep you alive... unless you are being stupid. you know standing in stuff you shouldn't be standing in, running so far away that I have to decide between healing you and keeping everyone else alive, or just being a massive jerk.

now.... bear in mind.. if you are a tank who keeps leaping out of my range, leaving the rest of the group behind? you are also on your own. I'll get to you when I can physically get to you. I still would like to loot every once in a while and you know... take care of the whole group, not just the one who likes to keep leaping well WELL ahead. and maker help you if you do that while letting lots and lots and lots of strays go free and after my squishy ass, instead of you know, actualy tanking them.

our responsibility as a group is to work as a group.

[Lindestria]

i wouldnt take any of those *heals* to Coven, or any other organised content, if this quote isnt out of context, cuz we dont need headless chickens, but pro-active Heal positioning, cuz DPS need to stay at (assigned) target, as do tanks... or heals.

The problem here is there is no quote, the OP is generalizing a large number of comments into a single point. We also don't have any idea of what form of content is being talked about, because raid positioning is fairly different from M+. I'd argue the OP is also denigrating healers since I don't believe any healer would simply stand still and heal if that isn't the most efficient strategy at the moment.

Edit: Also, as to the '1 or 2% wipes with healers full on mana'; that means people are dying to one shot mechanics, there is no way to do relevant content with healers maintaining high mana the whole fight.

[Spiral Mage]

You don't have to be a healer to have a "God Complex" in WoW.
Plenty of players of all three roles have that kind of issue.

My job as a healer is to keep you guys alive.
Of course movement is required on our parts.
There's any number of reasons you could find yourself out of range of your team mate.

My only contention is if you ARE out of range and die, I'm sorry, you were out of my range.
That may not be your fault, but is why you died, heh. I'm not at all saying "you should have run to me".
I move if I'm having range issues. But maybe a DPS had only one way out and had to run too far away from me and died because he was out of my range and had a DOT on him or got hit by something else he couldn't avoid.
Shit happens in the end, ya know?

[draynay]

It seems like it would be a good idea to make an effort to be near a healer, and recognize the limitations of various healer classes, if you run far away from the group and chain heal isn't hitting you, its not gonna be pretty. So if you fuck off and die then complain about healing, how do you think that's gonna go for you? Know where the healer is, don't glue yourself to them, but don't move away unnecessarily.

Also noticed that not standing in deadly shit is only the tank's responsibility in the OP. The healer's job is not "to keep everyone alive" if that means forcing them to counter your mistakes and complaining if they don't.

[Thelxi]

I'd say that as a gamer I am 60% dps, 30% healer and 10% tank.

So as a healer in WoW I'd say the only time I have to run after people is in random BGs. In random BGs I never expect people to be aware of my positioning or to come to me for heals. If anything I am happy if people stay somewhat in my vicinity, use their defensives, put actual pressure on people and don't get blown up in a few seconds wasting my healing and globals in the process.

I don't agree with healers demanding awareness and protection from strangers. When I am dpsing I am not focused on my healers either. I probably am more aware than most, and I will CC someone if I see them pounding on a healer, but one sheep or fear isn't always going to extend a random healer's life by much.

You see lot of Mercy players in Overwatch demanding protection and awareness too. Personally I am happy if people are somewhat grouped up and near the objective most of the time and are actually killing people. I'll do the rest!

[DechCJC]

Depends on the context really. Sometimes in arena it's strategically impractical for a healer to advance forward with their team members and need to hold a backward position, if the DPS don't acknowledge this then the match gets significantly more difficult as the healer becomes open to swaps and CC as the healer tries to chase the DPS around a pillar. Take a PvE scenario as well, if there's 20 people in the raid and everyone is on one side of the room but you're on the complete opposite, is it practical for a healer to try to make their way to you, or should you just move towards the group? Awareness is key. Obviously if the DPS doesn't move then healers should still try to get to that person, but it's needlessly difficult.

Any game that requires a healer is a team game, everyone needs to be working together; It's more about communication between group members than individual skill.

[Deleted]

Healers are in a good position, because they are always in demand. Which is why so many have an attitude to match that.

[Ranganathan]

So this Facebook group I'm a part of posted this discussion about healers, dps, tanks, and the responsibility of the healer. I found it rather interesting to read most of the healers' comments. The majority of them seem to have this god complex where they feel all they have to do as a healer is stand there and heal people when they are in range of you. They feel that it is the duty of the dps to come to the healer when/if they need a heal.

The way I see it, the job of the tank is to hold agro, position the boss correctly (either away from the group if the boss does some sort of cleave or towards the group if the boss has a mechanic where you have to soak damage with everyone), and not stand in shit that hurts them. The role of the dps is to kill shit ASAP. The role of the healer is to keep everyone alive. If your dps is having to run to you because all you're doing is standing there, they obviously aren't doing their job which directly affects your group. Less time the dps is focusing on adds or the boss means more time the adds or boss is up which could mean enrage timers being hit & a wipe happening. I think we all have had at least one boss fight where it was a wipe at 1% or 2% because there were too many dps dead but almost all your healers were still alive and most at full mana.

This post from that group just bugged the shit out of me. What are your thoughts on healers and what they should do?

Interesting. I take it you're mainly a DPS player then? Just a guess. If I'm wrong, no harm, no foul.

You're half right about all of the roles, I think.

The tanks jobs are:
1. Not leave anyone behind.
2. Not pull too much for you, the dps, and the healer to manage.
3. Hold aggro.
4. Position the boss correctly.
5. Gather up any lost aggro mobs.

If the group of mobs is spread out, i.e. zerg pulling where the tank just charges and the dps are attacking random stuff in the chain of trailing mobs and the healer's trying to decide which spot to run to to start healing before someone dies, or the tank moves out of range again...you're a shit tank. You're literally doing every part of your job wrong. That it doesn't cause a wipe is generally up to the gear of the group and/or the skill of the healer. Or the class if the heals is a druid because of their mobility, instants, and half-a-dozen hots.

The dps' jobs are:
1. Wait for the tank to pull.
2. Don't pull aggro.
3. Murder the fucking face off the target.
4. Protect the healer by peeling mobs.

If you're attacking shit the tank hasn't pulled, attacking targets in a group the tank hasn't attacked, not waiting for the tank, smashing every button you can the second the tank inches vaguely toward the mobs or spamming one spell and never using cooldowns or not peeling for the healer...you're a shit dps. You're literally doing every part of your job wrong. That it doesn't cause a clusterfuck of mobs attacking every member of the party is down to the tank deciding to save your ass or the healer not letting you die.

The healers jobs are:
1. Keep the tank alive.
2. Prioritize which dps to keep alive.
3. Cure and dispel.
4. Other utility and dps if you literally have nothing to do.

If you're not topping off the tank when you can, if you're leaving poisons curses and polys active, if you're not throwing heals to the dps, if you're not spot dps'ing when there's nothing else to do...you're a shit healer. You're literally doing every part of your job wrong. That it doesn't cause a wipe is likely down to you having a party with a lot of self-heals or are seriously over-geared for the content you're doing.

But it's everyone's job to stay out of the bad and stand in the good. If you repeatedly stand in the bad, you're at the bottom of the priority list for heals. Sorry, stop being an asshole.

Specifically about moving: Some healers do not have much mobility. It's a fact. The druid is the most mobile healer in the game. If the druid is talented right there's movement boosts, teleports, instant cast heals, and so many hots. You can heal when you're moving and you can heal when you're not. I haven't healed on the priest in ages and I've never really took to paladin healing so I can't speak to those. The monk is really mobile in general, and with a few talents can move a lot and heal a bit while moving. Though there's more hard casting than say with a druid. Then there's the shaman. The ultimate turret healer. Yeah, they have a few mobility increasing spells but they're on CD. But most of their stuff is straight old fashioned hard casting. The instant and short cast time heal are great, but you're going to be casting a lot of healing wave and chain heal. The totems are great, if stationary and on CDs. So yeah, you can demand that the healer keep up with a constantly moving tank / group, but in a lot of cases you're asking the impossible...unless it's an over-geared resto druid who knows how to move and knows the fights and/or cynically expects you to pull like an asshole.

About positioning: I vastly prefer to stand between the melee group and ranged group. That way I know I won't edge out anyone from being healed. Lots of mobs have knockbacks, if I'm standing with the ranged I have to run up make sure I'm in range and then start casting a heal...all the while damage is going out to the group...that's me fucking up.

Not healing and kicks: Sure, 99% of the time. But if you're intentionally standing in the bad after being asked, then still standing in the bad after being told...fuck you. You're intentionally being an asshole. You don't get shit for heals unless it's accidental and you should be kicked.

[Yizu]

Ever since they removed the possibility for addons to display directional arrows on raid frames on out of range people, i dont bother anymore. I feel like that made healing more mindless and unfun.

[Roardan]

i think healers should do what they can to help people stay alive, dps should do their best to not take dmg that they don't need to take(usually just by doing the right mechanics)

[MoanaLisa]

Depends on the fight of course. But like most things it's not one or the other, it's a little bit of both and it depends on what's going on. The point is to support the raid and to be successful, not exercise one's ego.

Frankly I don't even know why the question needs to be asked. DPS need to be aware of where their healer is and the healer needs to know what sort of problems the DPS folks are facing, especially with fights that require movement.

[Deleted]

In trinity (tank/heal/dps) games, in solo heal compositions, it's the tank's job to position according to the encounter, it's the healer's job to position in range of the tank and the dps' job to position in range of the healer - only if they do want heals obviously.

When 72 man raiding with 14-18 healers/supports YMMV.

[gobio]

At first I thought this MUST be solely referring to PVP. But later the op mentioned about tanks holding threat, which meant he is talking about PVE.

The only situation this is even a thing is eonar, almost no other PVE situation this is even a thing between "a healer" and "a dps". In 5 man why is anybody out of range of anybody else, unless you go on a solo mission in court of star and agro stuff, for raid that is actually splitting up in groups, then the issue is healer assignment, not "a healer" chasing "a dps", makes no sense.

EDIT Or you maybe talking about mythic KJ in which a dps at times would run away from raid taking damage generating knock up balls. And in THAT specific case "a healer" could be assigned to move closer to that "a dps" to keep him alive. But I highly doubt you are talking about that one though.