Casting Time on Heals

Elucard · 07-20-2009, 04:25 AM

I'm grouping more and more now and of course healing more and more. In my "Should I start an inquis?" post I said I'd do you all the service of not making bad the name of the inquis by joining groups and being a shitty healer. But so far thats what I feel like I am doing.

With that in mind, I'd like to get better at the healing side of things and one thing I think I could do to improve my ability to keep a tank alive is 1. hit 80 for inquisition and 2. get some casting speed items.

So my first questions:
I see inquisition has 3 sec cast time, lasts 30 seconds, recasts at 60 seconds.

Inquisition:

1. Is this a pretty big upgrade to our healing abilities or just another half assed patch heal?

2. How often does it proc the healing portion? I see it takes power every 2 seconds, does that mean it heals every 2 seconds? if so that'd be pretty cool.

3. Can a mob/pvp target resist the cast of it?

Casting Speed:

1. I see some cheap items on the broker with 2 perfent beneficial casting reduction. But I dont think those stack since they have the same name, what else can I find without raiding to reduce my cast time?

2. Void shard gear, I was planning on going with a bit of the healer set and a bit of the holy warrior (or whatver dps set is called) to start. But not sure how much casting speed that stuff will give; is that where I'll find casting speed help?

3. Do I need to respec aa's to go down int and get the casting speed reduction? Looks like 14% reduction there.

Thanks in advance.

Calain · 07-20-2009, 04:59 AM

Inquisition:
Yes it is a total waste of time. It as it get's resisted at least 50% of the time and even if not it does heal less then any heal proc I'm wearing. Even the small ward procs on legendary gear will outperform it. It is ok to cast if nothing else is up or you know, that there will be an uncureable DOT.

Also as you can toggle the buff the recast starts after the spell did run out so you can only have it up 30 of 90 seconds.

And for the ticks. Yes it is every 2s.

Also the spell is still bugged in PvP so that it does also heal your enemies most of the time.

Casting Speed:
All these beneficial casting speed items stack and it is a nice way to reduce your casting time. a nice and easy to get item is the reward from the blue Najena (Lavastorm) collection.

Best go for both sets and change depending of situation. ;) But at least the Holy Warrior gauntlets have a nice haste and beneficial cast speed bonus.
For DPS many also like to take at least 3 pieces of the Soul Lancer set. Also the "Onlaught"? jewelery set has a nice damage proc.

The INT line depends on what you like. We have 4 valid lines in the KOS tree but can only take 3 of them. 100% melee crit is a must have and al long as you have only sub-par gear the healcrit is also nice. Then we have STR, AGI and INT.
STR (Steadfast) is very nice for raiding and soloing but not so often needed for grouping.
AGI is nice, if you have an active tank, but then you must also look at your avoidance to make it worthwhile.
INT is also nice for the cast speed and partially for the spell crit (helps to proc devoted fanaticism on ranged fights). If you have enough heal crit you can also spec Divine Recovery for the extra cast speed for burn fights.

grahsa · 07-22-2009, 12:57 PM

if you are having trouble with the heals - go INT. no question. Inquisition sucks, dont expect to get to 80 and be like omg i can heal now..

Muraazi · 07-23-2009, 03:10 AM

I agree on INT, the cast speed increase is helpful and divine recovery is great for oh shit situations. That's exactly what I did til I got my myth and heal stance, then I specced out of INT. I believe I maxed str for steadfast (pvp server), maxed int for cast speed, and still had enough to get the heal crits. The heal crits and cast speed are crucial really until ya get geared/AA'd up.

The shadow line heal AAs are a godsend aswell.

Tibanna · 07-23-2009, 07:11 PM

Well this one is always an Option:
1. inquisition ..... well it sucks ..... it reads nice but it sucks anyway ;)

2. cast speed
Crimson Robe of Alendine +10%

LootDB.com | EverQuest II Item Database - Crimson Robe of Alendine

its easy to get and in my opinion all breastplates we can obtain easy suck ;) i don't care for +2 healcrit or something if my castspeed is bad. Miti should not be a problem either since you want to heal you should stay outside ae range.

Well healstance is a must too , + 15% castspeed for beneficial spells i think. I am not an fan of int line ... but well iam raid equipped so it might be an good option for you .... but i think steadyfast helps great if you want to solo heal.

Vark's Commanding Bracelet +3%

LootDB.com | EverQuest II Item Database - Vark's Commanding Bracelet

Clerical Destruction Cloak +5%

LootDB.com | EverQuest II Item Database - Clerical Destruction Cloak

These three are easily obtained and should be an huge advancement for you.

Calain · 07-24-2009, 04:52 AM

Two additional items:

"Peacock Feathers" from Varsoon in Palace of Ferzuhl - 5%
A new BP in Kurns Tower that is an upgrade to the Crimson Robe of Alendine. - 10%

But if you can get your hands on it, the VP or TSO BP are also great. 20% to our group heal helps a lot.