Palantir

Greetings! My guild recently did a merge/re-strategizing of our raid force and my old main is not as needed as he used to be.

So I've been tasked to become a chain healer(I was a Fury), and my first question is which one? I'd be the chain healer in the OT group, and we already have a Defiler in the MT group. I know little about chain healers atm, but I'll be reading and studying a lot in the next few weeks as I grind one up.

So....what is the State of the Mystic atm, and what do we know about the next expansion? Are we the step-child in the chain healer pair or are we equal-but-different even though populations of defilers are much higher? If you had no myth and no masters...would you betray to defiler or would you stay where you are?

Thanks much.

Wiz

If you're going through a 'merge/re-strategize' of your raid force and going to pick up a totally ungeared main I'm guessing your guild isn't high end and it won't matter which type you play.

So assign a number to each class and random 2

Both Mystic and Defiler offer different packages and both are very adequate for OT (and at times MT) healing. The Defiler has more pound-for-pound healing capacity, but the Mystic brings in a variety of debuffs and other tricks that make it versatile and fully capable of any kind of healing.

Having said that, pick a class and move on, the game changes at least a couple times a year so all of your strategy goes to shit as soon as Sony's fickle winds change.

If you're a good player, go play Defiler. Mystics prefer a lot of shitty players so that our overall statistics look poor and Sony will give us some love in a future update so that good Mystics can be even better. If you run across a doorknob type person looking for a class, always recommend Mystic.

Thanks in advance

Palantir

Thanks for the early replies and the new data.

FYI for those who might want to post it, I am using the search function and i am reading other threads, I'm just doing the belt-and-suspenders approach of searching and asking concurrently.

Thanks again for the data.

We are raiding the first areas of TSO at the moment, trying to pass the Naga in TOMC and the Gatekeeper in POTAO, if that helps pin things down a bit. Not top end, but not unrespectable.

We also had a glut of Druids, with 2 wardens and 5 furies who wanted to be raiders. We had a total of one chain healer (defiler) so it's just much simpler to jump out of the overpopulated area and into the underpopulated one. I had about 4 drops better than T2 anyway, so not a huge loss in equipment for me.

To your last paragraph, I am told that I'm a good player, which is why the guild is willing to support me moving classes in order to make sure I get a raid slot. Oh, and the defilers say that their class is easier and the Mystics require more multitasking and tactics, so they're not helping you attract doorknobs.

profe

Since your guild already has a Defiler, roll a Mystic. Mystics create larger single and group wards (with mythical), have faster reuse on straight heals (which is ideal for supporting tanks out of group), provide more utility to a group, and multiple Mystics can fully stack Torpor with itself (which is ideal for supporting tanks out of group). To get the most out of both, a raid should have one (or two for double MT encounters) Defiler and the rest should be Mystics.

Torrent

Wow..., Torpor stacks on itself from multiple casters? I always assumed as a "ward" that it wouldn't.

Jenya

torpor is the most op spell in game imo.... and mystic by far is the hardest class to learn to master because it is so versatile

Malachani

Ignore Wiz, he is a bitter old fart.

Defilers are pretty one-trick-pony. They are excellent healers and not much else. They buff solely for defensive reasons, and offer very little in offensive buffs or spells. Mystics are a great OT healer. They can benefit from the group buffs an OT group usually provides (illy/coercer and dirge) when heavy healing isn't needed, their mythical procs an offensive buff on heals, and on top of that, they actually are perfectly capable of keeping an OT healed.

Mystics are also welcome in other groups as well, like a dps group rather than the OT group. Most guilds run 1 defiler, 2 mystics. Plus, Mystics are fun to play. Jenya is right, they can be hard to master because there is alot to think about, but when starting out, concentrate on your healing stats. Don't worry too much about the dps, it will come, and it is not nearly as important.

IMO, having played both (tho admittedly not a whole lot of raiding on the defiler) while the defiler pound for pound can outheal a mystic of equal gear, mystics bring so much more than the ability to heal, and are, IMO, a much more fun class to play.

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Enyeto

Defilers, lol. So lame duck.

Malachani is absolutely correct though.
I was a main switch as well. Re-subbed in june with my coercer, then made a mystic and got him to 80 for the guild. Honestly it is the best main switch I have made. To master it is actually more simple than what my colleagues report. Learning the rhythm of groups you are thrown into or on the fly is the tough part to master.

2 ways you can do this:
1. Just to master the healing capacity you can precast your group ward and single target ward. (This will buffer you to get some debuffing) Cycle the group heal and group ward as often as possible. Use torpor on the tank or a player that is taking consistent damage (such as a choker). This will let the tank absorb the majority of your group ward in most cases.

2. To predict the rhythm of your group and adjusting accordingly, a great habit is to start looking for key items that will greatly affect how you approach healing the group. Such as jewel of animosity, or multiple chokers. Inspect the rest too. Usually players with good to great gear will want faster paces and larger pulls, and visa versa.

Anyway this should at least get you started. Don't be afraid to use your instant wards either. If you need to use them within 5 minutes, you should really just find a better group... or upgrade your abilities.

Palantir

Thanks everyone!

From my studying yesterday, your input, the Defilers' input and my guild situation, I'm gonna stay a Mystic (sorry Wiz , I know I wont be what you wanted).

Will study much more in the next few weeks, and I much appreciate all the data available here.

Thanks again!

Elostirion, Mystic of Bloodsworn.

Wiz

Acid or mushrooms?