Healing Can we do it?

Although many still want to view us as healers, the basic game description immediately shows them wrong. If before Druids were expected only to heal, now they are not even let anywhere near healing. But are they up to the task?

Druids bring quite a lot to the group. From strong melee buffs, great damage to heals and phenomena. While the buffs and damage department is pretty solid, the healing bit looks rather dilute at first glance. Just 2 healing spells? Not quite. Let’s see what we can really do!

Heal Spells & Berries
Of course there are 2 main heals: the direct heal (Restore) and healing over time (HoT) spell (Soothe). These are the main instruments of keeping your allies alive in battle. But there are also utilities, such as berries that restore health and energy.

The berries come in two kinds: Roseberries and Mottleberries. The former restore a chunk of health on the spot while the latter provide health and energy over 16 seconds. They are a little tedious to give out in groups but come in pack of 3 and will no doubt provide extra help to the healers in groups.

Don’t bother giving berries to tanks. Usually they get hit too hard for the berries to have any noticeable effect. And besides, watching tanks’ health is the job for main healers. Berries are best for the rest of the group who do not really get that much damage, usually through the area of effect (AoE) attacks.

Damage Mitigation
But healing is not only addition of hit points; it can also come in a form of damage mitigation. And we have some pretty interesting spells to cover that bit. Take a look at Okeli’s Shield, for example. A rune will decrease incoming damage by 100% for 2 hits or 30 seconds—whichever comes first. At low levels, the cast time on it is rather long (3 seconds), so it is hard to use reactively during combat. Higher up, however, things get better, and with reduced cast time you will find that it is a potent way to save a tank or a careless damage dealer in a pinch.

Healing through Phenomena
If you still see that none of the above worked and one of your group members is quickly dying, well you have the power to save them no matter what. And that power bears the name of Tranquility. This is a Wonder that uses special phenomena points (PP) instead of energy, and it will make the target completely invulnerable for 20 seconds. It does exactly what it says; nothing can hurt the person under the effect of Tranquility. There is one catch however: the target can’t hurt anyone either or do anything for that matter. Of course running is always an option. So do take care when using this spell. Cast Tranquility on a healer and you may find yourself having to replace him or her for the next 20 seconds.

Another wonder is Lifestream, the AoE heal for the whole party. Sadly the PP cost is rather high which prevents frequent use of the spell. But it can sure save the party when stuff hits the fan.

Healing Through Counterspells
At level 30, Druids learn Healing turn, a counter-spell that will cancel the enemy’s spell and convert it into a heal for your defensive target. Unfortunately due to some game bugs, this spell does not work as intended at the moment.

Soothing Rain
This is an AoE heal first gained at level 42 that affects all group members within 10m of the Druid. The first version of the spell ticks four times on each target for a little over 400 hit points (results may vary based on your vitality and healing focus). The level 50 upgrade ticks four times on each target for a little over 500 hit points (results may vary based on your vitality and healing focus). This can result in some serious hate for the Druid, so be sure you need these spells before you fire them off!

Don’t Forget Taproot
You and your teammates crawl through a dangerous dungeon. You are suddenly ambushed and attacked. As the fierce fight breaks ou, t your healer gets a lot of hate from the enemies and falls to the ground. Normally this would generally mean a wipe or calls for evac (spells that teleport group to nearby safe location). Not today. Today you, a Druid, will step up and take the place of the fallen healer.

Provided that the tank has agro on the attacks, your first task is to make sure he lives. As long as the tank is alive you have nothing to worry about. So, a couple of Restores and a Soothe on the tank should keep him hanging in there for a little while. You can turn your attention to other members of the group. Depending on how badly they are getting hit, Restore or Soothe should keep them alive. By now you are probably running extremely low on energy. Not a good sign but an inevitable one.

Here’s where your good old friend Taproot comes to help. Top off the tank and make sure you have enough energy to cast Soothe last. Immediately Taproot yourself. You only need to wait 1-2 ticks before you can heal again, but keep watch of health bars. Depending on how badly the healing is needed you can, of course, wait longer. After another few heals go back to Taproot immediately.

Sure this is an extreme example. Normally the healer would still be alive and some players may even have berries on them. So your job in groups would be to just keep the bars topped off.

So, as you can see, we are not as useless healers as many think we are. We actually have quite a few tricks up our sleeves. Depending on how good the healer is and how tough the dungeon is, you may find yourself healing more or less.

Either way, do not forget that Druids can heal and can heal well although they are not primary healers anymore! The lives of your party depend on you.