Shaman as the group main healer

[dbparden]

I have managed to solo/duo (for the most part) my way to level 57 but now I have turned my priority to acquiring Torpor which means I have to learn to be a group player. I have recently been in a few KC groups that are really fast paced compared to the solo/duo grind. Full disclosure, I hate being a group healer! Just curious how some of you deal with these fast paced groups. When do you say "hey I am LOM" or ignore buff request? Will Seb and other Torpor camps be like KC where everyone is in a big damn hurry? When you are the primary healer what do you focus on, just heals/slows? Do you have a pet up and is he just a mana reserve or do you send him in? Stuff happens so fast if I turn my focus away for even a moment things go bad fast!

I probably should have learned to be a group player long ago but its just not my thing.........One thing is for certain I will never ever want the responsibility of being a cleric!

[Jibartik]

I just update the group with my mana a lot, but I am by no means a cleric level healer, I've in fact never played one so maybe this is bad advice, but this is how I patch heal/main heal as a non cleric priest:

"20m"

"0m"

"10m"

Most players seem to be chill and try to keep a steady pace, so by updating them constantly with my mana Im hoping that it feels to them like its their mana, and they are figuring out how to min/max it and keep the xp flowing while getting the buffs they want.

I also lie and give myself like a 0.5% of a heal or 1 heal buffer. shh dont tell anyone. :o

[loramin]

I have managed to solo/duo (for the most part) my way to level 57 but now I have turned my priority to acquiring Torpor which means I have to learn to be a group player.

Technically this isn't true. You can level all the way to 60 solo, and then farm plat and save up until you can afford Torpor (100% solo)... but I wouldn't recommend it. Groups are fun and give you a chance to win Torpor, a Fungi, or other cool stuff that you couldn't on your own.

I have recently been in a few KC groups that are really fast paced compared to the solo/duo grind. Full disclosure, I hate being a group healer! Just curious how some of you deal with these fast paced groups. When do you say "hey I am LOM" or ignore buff request? Will Seb and other Torpor camps be like KC where everyone is in a big damn hurry?

KC is the end of the "XP highway" of extremely popular places to level that everyone knows about. Thus, you get a great variety of players there, so I wouldn't expect all groups to be the same as the one you had. But I will say that on average your chance of getting poor players is higher in somewhere like KC than somewhere a little more challenging (both to get to and to get out of) like Seb.

When you are the primary healer what do you focus on, just heals/slows?

Pretty much, and of course buffs. If you're feeling overwhelmed on buffs you can always use Jaudiced Bone equipment to cast them.

Do you have a pet up and is he just a mana reserve or do you send him in? Stuff happens so fast if I turn my focus away for even a moment things go bad fast!

In general there's rarely a reason for a Shaman not to have a pet up, if only as a mana reserve. But in a group your pet should be free DPS: if you just send him at whatever your MT is takinking, it should require no extra thought and/or healing.

I probably should have learned to be a group player long ago but its just not my thing.........One thing is for certain I will never ever want the responsibility of being a cleric!

Grouping as a Shaman is certainly a different skillset, and you can't expect to magically be good at it overnight after not grouping for 50+ levels. But like anything in EverQuest it's not a super-hard skillset to pickup, and I'm sure you'll find your rhythm as you do more groups. :)

[loramin]

I also lie and give myself like a 0.5% of a heal or 1 heal buffer. shh dont tell anyone. :o

You're a terrible Shaman!

You're supposed to lie and give at least one heal's worth of buffer, preferably multiple ;)

[Jibartik]

but I dont twink so my mana bar is entirely like 2 heals lol

jk at 57 its 3 :P

[loramin]

but I dont twink so my mana bar is entirely like 2 heals lol

jk at 57 its 3 :P

You: oom

Groupmate: But we only killed one ...

You: Out Of Mana!!!!!!!

[tylidian]

I consider myself a pretty proficient grouping Shaman, and I actually enjoy it. If I have to main heal and I am the one who is slowing the pace of the group, I start experimenting with using lower-level slows, not slowing the Spectral Callers and Curates in KC, using the Jaundiced Bone armor for buffs, etc. There are a number of different ways to balance out your mana output enough to not be the group bottleneck. I've even had a couple of groups where we didn't have any bard/ench mana regen and I was trying to main heal basement with chain pulls. That was rough... BUT a couple group mates suggested that I canni down to like 20% and they would bind wound me back to 50%. We kept doing that, and were able to make it work. It's just about getting a feel for what each individual group can handle. We shamans have SO many different ways to balance out our mana output, which happens to be one of my favorite things about the class.

[mcoy]

I have managed to solo/duo (for the most part) my way to level 57 but now I have turned my priority to acquiring Torpor which means I have to learn to be a group player. I have recently been in a few KC groups that are really fast paced compared to the solo/duo grind. Full disclosure, I hate being a group healer! Just curious how some of you deal with these fast paced groups. When do you say "hey I am LOM" or ignore buff request? Will Seb and other Torpor camps be like KC where everyone is in a big damn hurry? When you are the primary healer what do you focus on, just heals/slows? Do you have a pet up and is he just a mana reserve or do you send him in? Stuff happens so fast if I turn my focus away for even a moment things go bad fast!

I probably should have learned to be a group player long ago but its just not my thing.........One thing is for certain I will never ever want the responsibility of being a cleric!

Being able to rez takes some of the stress off, but until you can click epic or hit level 56 and cast the 96% some people will complain about "only" getting a 90%.

But yeah, as others before me have said - just keep the group informed and if someone dies due to not being able to heal them - it's not your fault. I think Mcoy is parked in KC atm so just hit me up and I'll come click 'em for you.

-Mcoy

[Halfcell]

I cant help much with KC groups because I have not joined a KC group since like 2003 because it makes me sad in there. That said I almost never soloed for XP on the way to 60. All groups all the time. I have a few recommendations.

1. Get your seb key

2. Get an OT hammer if you don't have one yet.

3. Use Togor's, or whatever the next lowest slow is. Never use your current level slow unless it it a named, or you are killing mobs close to even con.

4. Canni spam like a mad person.

5. SLOW EVERYTHING

6. Tank gets constant haste, everyone else only gets haste if you have spare mana. Their DPS doesn't need to be that high if your mana cant keep up with the pull rate. They will bitch about it, stand your ground. With the tank heated and the dps not, the tank will hold agro better and will WAY reduce the mana you spend healing.

7. Try not to be main healer. Shaman get groups all the time without having to be a healer.

8. Leave KC, stuff dies too fast in there and XP is slow as balls. Go to Velks, or Seb.

[dbparden]

Lots of good advice here guys thanks!

[Jibartik]

You: oom

Groupmate: But we only killed one ...

You: Out Of Mana!!!!!!!

continued: ...so lets jsut sit and chat about everquest lore for 10 minuets, please.

:p

[loramin]

:D

[Danth]

Main healing with a Shaman works okay. Ideally you don't want to have to focus on much else beyond heals and slows (have someone else do the crowd control). Having an Enchanter or at least a Bard to help with crowd control and mana regeneration is obviously preferable, and there's nothing wrong with inviting a second Shaman or a Druid to be able to swap off with on healing duty as mana requires. Having a quality tank helps since as the tank gets better the amount of healing he requires decreases. Paladins are really nice if available since their buffs stack with Shaman buffs and the heals are appreciated. Jaundiced Bone armor click effects can help with buffs, and in many/most cases people don't require all buffs in the first place. No need to put Strength on that Enchanter, or DEX on anyone who doesn't have proc weapons, etc. If you're downranking slows be sure to remember that the lower-level slows tend to have short durations. If you use the level 39 slow to slow 4 things right away on a multi-pull, there's a fair bet it'll fade by the time the group gets to the last one. Chloroblast has better mana efficiency than Superior Heal so try to stick with the former as much as practical. Keep regeneration up on the tank and keep it working (in other words, try to avoid healing him all the way to full). Finally, don't overthink it. The wife on her Shaman was able to main heal Karnor leveling groups on P99 years ago back when AC did little-or-nothing and nobody had all this fancy Velious equipment that we have nowadays and it wasn't particularly hard even then.

Really the most important thing is having a group that'll work together, especially a puller. Probably the most common cause of experience groups dying on P1999 is because of dumb pullers who keep right on pulling even when the rest of the group is out of mana and pleading for a break. Communicate early and often, and if you notice your puller's ignoring all feedback and operating on pull-pull-PULL autopilot, get out while the getting's good.

Danth

[Jibartik]

Probably the most common cause of experience groups dying on P1999 is because of dumb pullers who keep right on pulling even when the rest of the group is out of mana and pleading for a break.

Danth

Yeeeh! I'm tryin to talk about this quest I did last night! :cool:

[Jimjam]

Bind wound + canni is great synergy, especially when you have someone with 201+ skill in camp between pulls.

In general you want to slow most mobs, but use your common sense. If you're in KC with a 55+ tank you don't need to slow mobs like spectral curate that will die in 20 seconds (and spend half of that time attempting to cheal).

That said, don't wear too many hats. Sure you can buff, heal, slow, cc, offtank, dot BUT don't do it all at once; save some work for the others in the group! You can defer some healing to the necromancers, the Druid can be in charge of regen, etc. similarly don't waste mana on buffs of little value (does the wizard really need agility!?). Don't skimp where they are required (that under geared monk will tank a lot better with an AC buff on).

Most of all just get out there, make friends, have fun and see what works for you.

[kjs86z]

Get your seb key and come duo w/ my monk (or enchanter for that matter). You'll never go back to KC again.

Seriously though, that zone is AIDS.

[daxchunjae1912]

ahhhh yes KC as main healer. I HATED it. All I wanted to do was slow and buff but I had to heal, debuff, buff, and all that all the time in the basement or hand grp and it got old quick. But fear not, if you are equipped with fungi tunic + fungi staff + coldain shawl 7 you will never run out of mana.
Plus you can brag how you can tank on the side as well, only if you're ogre race! :d

[Ravager]

Heals are for the weak. A true Sith Lord only lets the strongest survive.

[Troxx]

Prior to 60 and torpor a shaman heals very well btw regen, blast heals, and the mana regen from canni. Healing power is better than all but cleric but over time may even rival cleric thanks to canni in this dedicated role. It all falls apart of a fast group heavy in melee expects you to also buff, haste, and slow every mob while being the main healer. Even with a fungi and racial regen you can only do so much.

If they want a primary heal job from you, tell them you need someone else to do the rest. If you’re the only one, they have to know your limitations and turn down their expectations.

After 60/torpor? You’re functionally as good at healing most things as a cleric (better at some and worse in others) while being able to busily do the rest.

Until then I’ll echo an above poster:

-Slow it all, slow it early
-Togors > turgurs for mana efficiency
-only the buffs absolutely needed
-haste triaged to where it is needed
-accept your finite limitations
-mana not spent and saved is supremely important

Canni 4 and torpor makes you a Demi-god