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Life as a Healer (Runepriest)
sbfbeef
Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 58
Here are my 2 cents on the game as it stands now while being a Rune Priest
Use: Cloth, Staffs, Dwarf race or my personal favorite a Stunty!
First off, this game is made for someone who loves PvP(RvR). Everything you do is in one way or another PvP related. Quests to discover areas, slay enemies, slay npcs, etc etc. If you like World pvp and pvp in general, there is no way you will not like this game based just on that. What i talk about next is how i viewed everything as a Rune Priest.
1. Leveling PvE- As a Rune Priest you get a small range of DDs, dots, and aoes that will help you slay what you must for any type of quests. With 100% drop rate it isnt hard to complete or solo. I never found myself close to dieing even when taking on multiple npcs at my level or below.
2. Leveling PvP- The best way ive found to gain quick levels is by doing Scenarios right from level 1. You get exp for every kill and reknown (pvp rank) and also exp for every win or loss. I strongly suggest getting a tank friend to queue up with and you will have a very good time.
3. Open RvR/Siege Keeps- As a rune priest you get Regens, wards, and even a heal that bounces from person to person as they get hit (prayer of mending from wow). Our heals are very powerful and if you can stay back in the pack its the way to go. Our survivablity is very limited though. If you get targeted by 2 Melee dps its basicly over. Most of the heals are instant cast so the best way to keep alive is to continue moving at all times. The range on our heals is a fairly good distance so its easy to stay out of the way.
4. Feeling on the class- Ive found healing to be very fun and rewarding. Our offensive power for damage is very very little, and i do not suggest going a Rune Priest if you are looking for a dps/healer class. We are fully a support heal and buff class for sure. One thing that does work to a healers advantage is how fast Action points regenerate. Action points for anyone that doesnt know is what is used for any skill you have, reguardless of the class you play. With Action points regeneration so quick, you never find yourself not being able to heal. If you do run out, a few seconds of not casting will almost get you back to half a bar.
5. Rune Powers- If you read the discription of the rune priest, you see that we get rune powers. What they actualy are and do is this.... Each buff we have is considered a Rune. Each buff gives you a different rune power that you can use every 1 minute. There is a tatic you get that reduces the timer to 30secs. Some examples of rune powers include. DD, DoT, AoE DD, AoE DoT. All these scale with your level as well. If your still confused on what i mean. Heres 1 more example: I cast my Resistance buff on myself- this grants me an aoe damage over time ability every 1 minute. I cast Wisdom buff on myself- I get granted a DD ability.
These rune powers up to level 20 have been very subpar and have not been that effective in much of my leveling or RvR. Unless they get more powerful from 20-40. They arent anything to go crazy over. IMO they do need a slight upgrade to be viable or turn them into another type of heal instead of a very lousy damage ability.
6. PQs- Your job is the same as always, heal haha. You gain infamy from healing allies and people around you along with any other damage or contribution to the PQ. We are very viable in these as we tend to rack up infamy very fast. Ive done many PQs and always end up 1 of the top contributers. The rest was up to a good roll for loot. The top 3 get loot, and ive gotten first 1 time, 2nd 3 times, and 3rd many times. Each bag gives you a good choice of rewards from cash, to armor/weapons, or potions. I got an epic staff when I placed first, and also had the choice of 2 other Rare/blue gear items.
7. Overall review of my time in WAR Beta- So far ive enjoyed my time playing. Its very easy, quests are fast easy to do and fun. Leveling is not hard and obtain exp just about with anything you do. Im worried about 1 thing and that is Population imbalance. The server im currently on is out numbered about 1.5 to 1 with an average pop of about 500 Order to 800-900 Destruction. This in turn can hurt World RvR. Destruction controls the majority of all the zones.
8. Last comments- Tanks are very good in this game. Healers can hold there own if you play smart. Casters seem weak, and not nearly as powerful as Melee classes. PQs are amazing, and the RvR and siege weapons are very cool and fun.
I didnt get into reknown rank abilites or Mastery abilites just because you dont get that many at 20. But i can try to answer any questions someone might have. Anyways, i hope any future Rune Priests like my review and ill see you out on the battlefield!
Comments
Why are tanks meant to be great??, and I have heard the opposite about casters..
yep, sadly for you the rune priest (also zealot) is just a healbot. I mostly play an archmage which can deal some decent damage and the high magic mechanic is fun to play with. not as good of a healer as a runepriest, but still darn good.
I really think the runepreist mechanic needs some reworking. it just isn't nearly as important as the class mechanic for other people (high magic mechanic has a huge influence on how the class is played, same with warriorpriest and even the black orc/swordmaster) which overall meant the class just couldn't hold my attention like... pretty much every other class.
Everything creates huge amounts of negativity on the internet, that's what the internet is for: Negativity, porn and lolcats.
I dont know if tanks are meant to be great, but everything they do beats us up. Tanks get a snare and a Taunt that increases damage by 30%. We have no type of damage to take out any class 1v1, they just arent powerful enough, BUT we do live extremely long in 1v1 battles vs a pure dps or tank class. Certainly long enough to get help from others.
Being a Healer ive not run into any trouble with a caster. They will not kill me 1v1. Tanks on the other hand and melee just do to much damage.
I felt the same way. The runepriest/zealot might be the better healing class, but it's just not as much fun as the archmage is, to me. I played the archmage first and found it to be a solid, well-rounded class that wouldn't surprise me if it got nerfed. I then played the Zealot and honestly felt like it wasn't as effective as the Archmage was. It sounds like the Runepriest will be the same.
the zealot/rune priest seem like far better healers than my rune priest. I rarely attack zealots because I know I'll never be able to kill them, they just don't die. they are a pure healer, and good at that.
Don't get me wrong, its not that I don't like the class, I just think it isn't as unique as the other ones, the mechanic brings less to the class than it does to other classes.
Everything creates huge amounts of negativity on the internet, that's what the internet is for: Negativity, porn and lolcats.
I havent gotten to test out the other healers on Order, but the thing we do well is heal and good with support.
I plan on staying RP on release, the only issue i have is there offensive abilitys are just not up to par, if they arent meant to be ok, but right now, killing any class 1v1 would be just about impossible
I don't understand why some people tray to degrade the task of the healers by calling them healbots, this is very sad, since to do good healing you need some skill, at least in the MMOs that I have tried, and I hope it's the case in WAR too.
And thanks for the information to the OP, it was very interesting.
I quite enjoy the Rune Priest and Zealot from what I have experienced, yes they are very traditional healer/support but here's the thing: some people like that. I know in Age of Conan I was very frustrated by the hybrid healing; it was so restrictive and you really had very little control over your own healing efficiency. I much prefer to use heals and buffs to control the flow of battle for a whole group, rather than being like a mobile heal aura or something.
I'd say if you like the traditional healer support role (and some people do, don't play this point down) then Rune Priest or Zealot would be your choice. Fortunately if you like a hybrid approach, more damage and a little less healing then there's a bunch of options for those players too. I hope the Priests and Zealots don't change radically before or after launch, they seem quite good at what they are intended to be.
Good healing you need some skill.... In 15yrs of mmorpg playing I have never found this to be true. Healing has always been the easiest aspect of any of the umpteen mmorpgs ive played, the term(insult) healbot is well deserved. And yes i made sure to roll a pure healer in every single one of the umpteen mmorpgs i have played in the vain hope that at least one of them would require some tiny grain of skill.
Anyway both rp and zealot desperately need a damage boost. currently their pretty much exactly the healbot type that was promised not to be in WAR -
heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal and heal.
Sure you get some debuffs/buffs to play with but 90% is see above. Had hoped that zealot could play the offensive as effectively as WOW's shadow priest but no it's just another wretched healbot.
I agree with most of the points, but runepriests do have some damagaing spells, just don't expect to outnuke your fellow casters.
Things I would like changed with the rune Priesrts.
Let runes stack. You can still keep the idea that a runepriest cannot cast more than one rune, but let other rune priest put another type on ya..
Honestly i hope they don't change them much, maybe make the runes stronger or instead of damaging make them a 10 buff, ie armor increase or something.
Yes the RP may be the closest class to a 'healbot' but that is exactly what some people want. The hybrid melee dps/heal and the magic dps/heal classes are there for people who like a mix, but the RP is a viable option for people looking to fill just the healing/groupsupport option.
Honestly i hope they don't change them much, maybe make the runes stronger or instead of damaging make them a 10 buff, ie armor increase or something.
Yes the RP may be the closest class to a 'healbot' but that is exactly what some people want. The hybrid melee dps/heal and the magic dps/heal classes are there for people who like a mix, but the RP is a viable option for people looking to fill just the healing/groupsupport option.
I dont mind being a healbot at all, all my friends and brother sound like they will be going tank/dps so i enjoy healing them while they dish out the damage. I just think the way they made Rune powers sound was a bit miss leading. Granted its early yet, but they certainly could use a boost.
Some suggestions:
They are on a 1 minute cooldown which in reality is long compared to how things work in this game.
Reduce the cooldown for using them
Increase the damage to the damage abilitys
Change them to increase +healing power or +damage in general
Good suggestions. I'll /feedback them in game. I'm sure you've done the same already, right?
No godless person can comprehend those minute distinctions
in doctrine that provide true believers excuse for mayhem.
-Glen Cook
You know, i havent yet. but once the servers are back up this weekend i will get on it. I didnt really even think of them untill i posted them haha