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. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[loramin]

Originally Posted by dbparden [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

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.

Originally Posted by dbparden [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

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.

Originally Posted by dbparden [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

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.

Originally Posted by dbparden [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

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.

Originally Posted by dbparden [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

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. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[loramin]

Originally Posted by Jibartik [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I also lie and give myself like a 0.5% of a heal or 1 heal buffer. shh dont tell anyone. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

You're a terrible Shaman!

You're supposed to lie and give at least one heal's worth of buffer, preferably multiple [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Jibartik]

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

jk at 57 its 3 :P

[loramin]

Originally Posted by Jibartik [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

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]

Originally Posted by dbparden [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

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!