I have problems with how Healing works.

I post this here to inquire to the general player populace (particularly Celestines and Moondancers) for ideas as to how we might improve Healing. I suggest the following reasons as to why Healing needs changes:

1. In comparison to curative systems (reflexes), Healing provides insufficient benefit in that a curative system is required to gain even moderate use of the skill, and in most situations where the extra curative powers of Healing are needed, one is facing sufficient opposition where damage would have sufficed to slay the would-be Healer.

2. The principle benefit of Healing (in light of Heal's questionable worth in comparison to Puella and Waxing) is to provide cures for afflictions, with mana as the principal cost. For a skill focused primarily on the curing of afflictions, the skillset doesn't seem to fully provide means; many afflictions are not curable with Healing, nor is the skillset particularly useful for curing others excepting at a fairly slow pace - not a pace useful in combat.

3. Healing is, remarkably, a boring skill. Because of the low utility of several Healing abilities, the skillset is relegated to the role of partial self-curing and Bedevil. This seems a waste of an opportunity for such a broad and popular concept.

4. Healing does not do for one's potency what an equal amount of skill in Tarot accomplishes. If what the Moondancers and Nihilists say about Hexes is correct, then that skillset is in need of revisiting. Thus, this statement should hold true for Moondancers as well as Celestines, supposing Hexes is changed to provide more utility.

5. Whereas Healing seems to draw the attention of non-combatants, or at least the sort who choose the skill for RP reasons as opposed to PvP function, I would like to see the ability lend itself to both PvP and non-PvP use. Meaning, I would hope to see the skillset improve it's usefulness for those who aren't primarily combat-seekers.

I've several ideas in mind, but there are far too many to make use of. What I'd like to find out from everyone is: What specific abilities or types of abilities might be well suited to add to or change in Healing, to flesh it out and give it more flavor and potency in general? We've brushed on this topic a few times, but never addressed it directly as such.

I still like the affliction-syphon. Even from a distance is good.
Also long-range deephealing = nice.
Also a reverse bedevil.

I'm leaning towards one, all, or several of the following, myself:

Increasing Heal such that it provides some significant benefit over Puella and Waxing. Either make it akin to Transmute, or have the ratio of cost to gain improve with skill, something.

Possibly remove Healing Burnout at some high level of skill.

Introduce cure abilities to handle various un-handled afflictions, including chilled/frozen/aflame, illusions, certain effects that Focus Spirit cures. Oddities such as those.

Defenses (I'm very keen on this in particular), such that certain afflictions are blocked, or are cured over time.

The ability to generate a healing aura, such that a location is empowered to cure afflictions randomly from allies (ala Aquamancy Sweetfount).

Reducing equilibrium time on various Healing abilities, as skill progresses, perhaps getting rid of some of them altogether at certain high levels of skill.

I would like to see some of the greater Healing abilities require power, or at least very large amounts of mana. While I rather like that Healing feels very down-to-earth, simple and practical (low costs, small benefits), game balance greatly favors high-cost, high-return effects.

I generally only use my healing ability on others. For instance, sometimes I'll join bashing groups and heal/cure the fighters so they don't have to use as much of their vials/herbs and I don't have to die when I get hit twice (I've got a tiny tiny health *G*).

The idea of being able to use Healing to give yourself defences against afflictions is cool though.

Maybe you could Innoculate (or something) yourself against a random affliction from each ability group? Or something like that.

Well, yeah, the point is that it's not helpful in combat except bedevil on account of the titanic amount of mana it eats.
And all these skills are meant to be combat skills, the guild skills.

Innoculate, I guess that's good. Or maybe it'd just be a power skill that escaped the next few from an area. Would make demon/angel users have to think a bit, anyway.

As for combat, I can say that the Healing skillset in Lusternia is rather lacking to Healing in other IRE games.

1. You cannot heal specific afflictions. The fact that a trans Healer cures insomnia 50% of the time instead of anorexia is just annoying. I would think -above all- a Healer could recognize the difference and heal appropriately.

2. Healing costs too much damn mana. It should be 100 affliction per cure not nearly 300

3. Healing could use some additional skills outside of afflictions (defenses, aura, something).

4. Bedevil, while extremely nice, is broken. A -lot- of afflictions are not transfered properly (I've bugged this, I hope it gets fixed soon). Example include the transfer of masochism, healthleech, paralyze, etc.

5. There is no method to cure the single most used combat-affliction: paralyze. Whereas a lot of people who use paralyze will bash me for this, I certainly feel Healers should be able to "heal me muscles" and cure paralyze. The fact that a TRANS Healer cannot get out of an affliction lock is just wrong.

EDIT: In fact, a Healer should be able to cure any affliction while paralyze.

Succor eq is wickedly slow. Since the mana cost for healing is so high, why slow it down in group combat at all? You can't keep it up for long anyways.

Give bedevil a power cost, then make it more predictable. All afflictions sent, all afflictions healed. Compare to trueheal.

I like the high ego cost of health healing, but make it faster. AKA, wickedly, overpoweringly fast. Like, "OMG, faeling tanked joo" fast. We have debating now, and losing a debate cripples a healer.

Everyone can learn to diagnose. It takes eq. Succor, however, shouldn't take eq (like succor wounds currently) because... a Healer should be the ultimate as recongizing afflictions, etc.

I know people may initially call this "overpowered" but bear in mind that the -sole- purpose of Healing (outside bedevil) is to Heal and is there 100% defensive. Healers should, therefore, have quite an edge when it comes to such measures in combat. Currently, they do not.

I like the idea of enhancing healing.... however:

Tarot is exceptionally weak compared to Occultists+Noctusari (although it's the best of the third skills, I believe).

Runes is weaker than other similar skillsets.
Hexes is weaker than other similar skillsets (curses).

The last thing I think we need is for Celestians to be Priests with improved entities or Nihilists to be Occultists with Necromancy and different (weakened, imo) entities and Geomancers to be Super-Wytchen.

Most of the good suggestions for Healing simply make a decent Celestian impossible to defeat.

I meant the healing end of succor. I didn't mind the diagnose succor as much. I'm thinking more of the 10 minutes of HEAL SKIN that it took to treat a round of scabies.

Yeah, I know what you mean, Rexali. We'd have to see an offensive shift across the board, probably. But it's just sad how we have some great skillsets and some rather...subpar skillsets. Healing is one of the latter.

Trueheal makes a decent Celestian impossible to beat not Healing. Furthermore, I've yet to see any Celestian (exception - Ethelon) who is decent even pick Healing because it is so lame. Inquistion + Soulless = extremely powerful/useful. Inquisition + Healing = nothing special.

There is nothing that could be added to Healing to make a Celestian more powerful than Inquistion + Soulless. I don't care if Healers were immune to afflictions, Inquistion + Soulless would still be a better bet.

For example, let's ask Amaru... would he ever switch out Tarot for Healing? I cannot say for certain but my gold is on no because he can kill -anyone- -anytime- with inquistion/soulless.

Pff, not true if you run before he can whore infidel

I think defensive auras would be nice, these are just eaxmples, so don't be mean. And I know the names/descrips suck, you know what I mean though.

Aura of Healing
Power: 3(any)
By force of the Healer's will, he can bless a room with an Aura of Healing, allowing those allied within to slowly regain health.

Aura of Cleansing
Power: 3(any)
A true healer can cure those afflicted without thought by ways of this Aura. Those allied within the room where this Aura is placed will randomly cure afflictions.

Aura of Will
Power: 3(any)
This Aura will allow those within to regain their willpower at a much faster rate than normal.



Things like that, if there are alot of Aura's, make it so only one can be placed in each room, new ones can cancel out old ones. Kinda like Rites from the Knight skillset (Chivalry?) in other IRE realms. I also agree defensive skills should be added to help out the Healers, but with high costs and such.

Once upon a time, there was this really crappy guild in Achaea. We'll call it the Drab guild. The Drab guild had one damn near useless skillset, another skillset that was lame except for one overpowered move, and a third set that was actually quite good, but was overlooked, because they were too tied up in internal debates and a burning drive to seperate from their host city to use it for much.

The nice skillset had a lot of those Auras listed above, but Achaeans all know that fighting in a team is a no-no. We Drabs knew that we would be shunned if we actually used our skills properly, and so we chose not to. But mark my words! One day, the Drabs will all become "weak teamers" and tank everyone. And I mean everyone.

Thus it was decided that all skills that strengthen your allies in a room with you should be weak or draw cries of nerf faster than a moondancer's spores.

The ones in Aetolia never seemed to powerful and they even stacked there

Soothe - Gradually ease the pain of an ally.

Setting a link between an ally and the healer, the enactor will gradually draw wounds and afflictions from his patient into himself.

Blooddraw - Syphon an ally's ailments into the healer's body.
*8 power*
Nicking an ally's skin and drawing from his blood will drain all damage from him into the healer as well as all his ailments, potentially curing some of the illnesses in the transfer.

Basic healing skill would be Innoculate - eg. -

INNOCULATE ME CHOLERIC

Which, when done on a normal eq thing, prevent the next ailment of the choleric temperaments from affecting the healer. This would be stacked bottom to top, so getting a powersink curse would trigger the "curses" innoculation as opposed to the "melancholic" one. (Or whatever, I forget. )

EDIT: Awesome, I first have to use my neat moderaty powers to delete one of my OWN posts. Stupid double post!

Have it so faeling do not need equilibrium to use healing!

I like how those sound Shiri, they would help the Healer perform his role much better