Choices for Good Healers? [PvE Focus]

[PvE] - Currently Heading for Druid because its supposed to be good for experienced groups with the buffs and decent heals.

I tend to play supports in game and was wondering what would be the best professions for support in any way and why. Expansion Professions included.

• Which ones people would prefer to see [5-Man Dungeons & 10-Man Raids]
• Which ones have a record of higher healing/Buffs
• I don't care how much dps they personally do, just how much they benefit to a team
• "Difficult" classes wont be an issue as i learn fast so say them all.

I also play any sort of support like buffers or tanks, dps amount is also still not a concern for me

• Ideas for "Tanks" are welcomed too.
• Tanks that heal/buff that people would prefer too are also welcomed.

[NA] - Guildless, so if anyone trying to pick up a support instead of more mindless dps players.

chronomancerwon't heal as much as a dedicated healer like druid or tempest, but can still heal a bit, and has EXTREME buffs and all kinds of other utility

Chrono isn’t a healer in the same way a Druid is.

Healing is just an unavoidable side-effect due to a single minor trait.

You cannot really beat a Druid as healing is their domain. There’s a reason why they are a must-have in Raids.

Chrono is still mandatory in Raids for their buffs, but just don’t except to be a healer.

@Oglaf.1074 said:Chrono isn’t a healer in the same way a Druid is.

Healing is just an unavoidable side-effect due to a single minor trait.

You cannot really beat a Druid as healing is their domain. There’s a reason why they are a must-have in Raids.

Chrono is still mandatory in Raids for their buffs, but just don’t except to be a healer.

Would you say as a support player i should use both? like chrono a good support to have as like a secondary just in case someone just plays Druid?

@Mystik Galaxy.6051 said:

@Oglaf.1074 said:Chrono isn’t a healer in the same way a Druid is.

Healing is just an unavoidable side-effect due to a single minor trait.

You cannot really beat a Druid as healing is their domain. There’s a reason why they are a must-have in Raids.

Chrono is still mandatory in Raids for their buffs, but just don’t except to be a healer.

Being able to switch roles/class is always an advantage when it comes to assembling the raid party and get on with the encounter. More flexibility is always a good thing.

Be aware that Chrono support has one helluva learning curve (the written rotation to maintain perma Quickness is a friggin essay!) and also very expensive to gear. Just look at the price of a Sigil of Concentration. Jeez.

Well, there are many choices in terms of group healing, and I think it's much easier to see which would be more preferred in different situations by breaking down each build's unique abilities.

Druids bring lots of healing, both consistent and burst, while also providing many other utilities, including...

• Frost Spirit
• Sun Spirit
• Spotter (7.14% Critical Chance)
• Fury
• 25 Might stacks
• Vigor
• Protection
• Regeneration
• Strong Defiance Bar breaks from pets

Tempests can heal equally well, especially with the latest changes to Signet of Water, while also providing a different set of utility, e.g.

• Frost Aura (additional damage reduction)
• Magnetic Aura (great for places like Uncategorized and Volcanic fractals)
• Shock Aura (great for managing damage from the adds in Mai Trin fractal)
• Protection
• Vigor
• Regeneration
• Stability

Renegades have been on the fringe of the support conversation since release, but recent changes have made them a strong alternative to Chronomancers. In general, they bring...

• Alacrity
• Might
• Razaroclaw's Rage (additional group DPS, especially for condition-heavy compositions)
• Darkrazor's Daring (one of the best abilities for controlling thrash mobs)

Firebrands, alongside support-styled Renegades have been touted to be good alternatives to a support Chronomancer, while still being able to output good DPS. Healing won't be their main focus, in these cases, as they are focused on providing other utilities, such as...

• Quickness
• Ashes of the Just (for additional DPS, especially in condition-heavy compositions)
• Projectile blocks and reflects
• Stability
• Resistance from Chapter 4: Stalwart Stand
• Aegis

Besides these, I've heard talk of support-styled Engineers, although I myself have yet to delve into those.

All in all, when considering the above, it's easy to see why most groups default to the Druid as their main healer. It simply does almost everything a group would need, with its heals, boons, and unique damage buffs that no other profession can replicate. No doubt team compositions can be designed around the lack of a druid, in favor for another support, but most groups, PUGs or otherwise, rarely care to theory craft to such an extent.

Extreme TL;DR version:

Druid (Ranger ESpec) - Great spike healing, current king of Offensive Buffs and Boons. Preferred Healer in Raids.

Tempest (Elementalist ESpec) - Best sustained healing (highest HPS), versatile boon support with mix of offense and defense, access to Elemental Auras for the team. Currently sees more use as a Kiter for certain Raid Bosses, works perfectly fine but isn't really preferred in many cases.

Renegade (Revenant ESpec) - Good sustained healing, access to Alacrity (Cooldown reduction boon), unique buffs such as added Bleeding stacks and Lifesteal. Also used as a Kiter for certain Raid Bosses in PvE.

Firebrand (Guardian ESpec) - Many sources of Healing and good sustained healing, access to Quickness, current king of Defensive Buffs and Boons. Preferred Healer/Support in WvW squads.

i think when it comes to support, it varies from people to people, esp depend on their own experience and how well they run/know their contents.the choices aren't limited, but specific groups will narrow the search to only one profession as you see.i run druid and chrono exclusively in raids. i can say that there are more mediocre druids than you can count. and i almost won't trust the druid that comes in. after 1 wipe and i'd ask the person to switch role. lol.

i'm glad someone say there are enough mindless dps players. cuz i find dps boring too. i like to play support hence i picked up those 2 professions for raids. i don't say you carry the team, but you literally are at some points. since a good support makes a big difference in team play and give other dps more room to make mistakes.

for most dungeons, there's no need to run support since you need all the damage you can along with cc and occasionally stealth to make everyone's life a bit easier. but for fractals, some difficult ones will run smoother with a healer. it's simply because a lot of people rely too much on others, they expect someone in the group to either heal/share boons, so they don't dodge or focus on getting in good positions so they don't get hit with 2 shots.

the reason druid is very meta in raids cuz they're a healer with druid spec. they also increase your dps with spirits and now that GotL was changed into might. more might = happiness for everyone. plus, their elite skill - entangle is irreplaceable in some bosses' encounters. so it's just an all in one solution for most pugs. they'd rather see a mediocre druid than anything else that heal twice what a druid can.

back in the day, i used to run condi druid, which provides some dps with not much healing at all. the healing comes from base of the druid spec. or we'd go all dps and have 1 healing ele running Berserker. that was a very offensive team comp so groups that have people who can't dodge will not gonna make it cuz you only get 1 healer.if you want more buff, you could run chrono with Minstrel stats. but it'll be difficult since as a chrono, you're expect to pump out boons. that's just your job. you can't heal others right while doing the rotation for quickness/alacrity, etc. at the same time. but Minstrel chrono is quite helpful in groups with mediocre to bad druids. technically, that's like having 2 and a half druids for raids. lol. and if there isn't any druid in your fractal group, you'll be dealing decent heal too.firebrand is neat too, mostly provide stability and boons. it's effective healing when it comes to being a support firebrand. you provide just what people need, and more. not a ton of healing but more like add-on utilities.for the record of highest healing, you won't beat tempest or herald. which is why these 2 are somewhat exceptional at some challenge motes. if some bosses are bugged, you have to run tempest for their elite - rebound, it skips some wipes since it'll convert those deadly damage into healing. while herald could literally heal 6-9k or more per seccond if spec right.

but if you're pve focus, learn to play a druid well and have another option open if support is all what you play.

Hi Guys, I am just installing the game and I am coming from a different MMo called SWTOR, where I was quite good with a heal called sith sorcerer corruption spec.this had lots of mobility and mainly reactive, burst heals with a decent aoe heal ability. The main thing I liked about it is it was reactive and was able to quickly bring anyone back up with a combination of hot burst and aoe, while maintaining the team as well. Kiting was not a problem for me whatsoever, in fact I quite liked running around in pvp avoiding dps healing myself and the team, just wondering - as I am totally unfamiliar with this game - which of these professions comes closest to what I have described? IF it helps a sith sorcerer heal is something like a holy priest in world of warcraft? any ideas?

@Oglaf.1074 said:

You cannot really beat a Druid as healing is their domain. There’s a reason why they are a must-have in Raids.

Might Stacks?

6 month old thread may not be the best place to ask. anywho @Macello.9276 there are no healers in gw2 as you would call them in other mmos, at best they're buffers that happen to heal as a side effect. Also healers are unnecessary for most of pve outside of t4 fractals and raids, you'll prob just have a bad time if you're playing solo open world with a healer.

@"Macello.9276" said:Hi Guys, I am just installing the game and I am coming from a different MMo called SWTOR, where I was quite good with a heal called sith sorcerer corruption spec.this had lots of mobility and mainly reactive, burst heals with a decent aoe heal ability. The main thing I liked about it is it was reactive and was able to quickly bring anyone back up with a combination of hot burst and aoe, while maintaining the team as well. Kiting was not a problem for me whatsoever, in fact I quite liked running around in pvp avoiding dps healing myself and the team, just wondering - as I am totally unfamiliar with this game - which of these professions comes closest to what I have described? IF it helps a sith sorcerer heal is something like a holy priest in world of warcraft? any ideas?

Take everything you know about roles from other MMOs, and just throw them out them out the Window. The game's build system is extremely flexible, and this has lead to a type of Role compression that doesn't exist in any other game I know of. Chrono tank is actually 3 roles in 1 group slot, and Druid is only mandatory because it does one thing the Chrono can't..... Stack might and a set of unique offensive buffs (well... 2 things).

The Support core of Raids in GW2 is 5 roles. Tank, Alacrity, Quickness, Might, and Healing (which isn't as important in this game, which I'll explain later). Some classes can combine 2 roles, but usually have to sacrifice DPS potential to do so. And because most skills have a 5 ally cap, you usually have to double up alacrity and quickness. That leaves 3 slots for dedicated DPS. But because a lot of raids have Split group phases, you also need to spread out "back-up"roles to make sure you're team has enough boons and healing to be self sufficient. This results in some extremely complicated team set ups, depending on the encounter.... and thats actually "by design" by the Devs to promote different classes for different build comps.

But given the difficulty of organizing of groups, and no guarantee people who show up have enough characters with the correct builds to mix up the team comp, the Meta found way to compress the Support roles. The standard Comp is 2 Chronos and 2 Druids. Chrono generates Alacrity and Quickness, has very strong CC potential, and can proc Aegis in negate some bigger damage attacks from some bosses (used to be even stronger with group distortion). Even when not running split group, 2 are needed because each has a 5 ally cap on boons, so one can't cover the whole group. Druids generate Might, have unique damage buffs, and offering healing. Despite being mainly taken for buffs, and are able to cover 10 allies (ie the whole group), taking 2 is typical because of split phases, and the healing skills having a 5 target cap. 2 is a Safety net for PUG/novice groups, and many static groups might drop the second druid if they don't think they need the healing. Really good groups don't even need the healing, and just take the Druid for the reliable might stacking.

In boss fights, one of the 2 Chronos is designated Tank. The builds are usually identical, with the exception of the Tank taking extra toughness, or whatever is necessary to hold boss aggro. Trash fights tend to be more mechanical based, so tanks aren't needed for those portions. This works, because Mesmer's core design is that of a Duelist, that excels in evasion, damage avoidance and 1v1 Combat. Chrono also adds additional blocks, and faster skill cycling (from Alacrity). This negates the need for strong armor, large HP pools, and constant healing, because if done right, Chronos will rarely take life threatening damage. Essentially its the perfect solo tank. But unlike dedicated tanks, Chrono tanks are still doing their support function of generating Alacrity and Quickness for their half of the Group.

I'm sure other people can dig into this even further.... but suffice to say, GW2 raids do with 3 people that normally takes half the group.

One under rated healer has to be the Scrapper. They are probably the best all round healer for fractals and pretty solid in raids. They have no down time on their heals like druid and can provide so much defensive utility for the party it's something you shouldn't overlook. They suffer in the offensive buffs department compared to druid but make short work of several fractals due to their long lasting stealth, moving projectile blocks, high damage reduction, strong access to group stability, fantastic condi cleanse and their function gyro which can be used without sacrificing a utility or trait slot. With that said they are extremely complex to use. Almost as difficult as condi holosmith. But it is still easier to use than that. I'd suggest using soothing detonation over experimental turrets since the healing without it isn't that good and the boons it provides are minor if you have a chrono on your team.

Personally, healer scrapper is my favorite to run personally.

In PvE druid is the only meta choice, despite other healers having better healing output, due to its unparalleled offensive support.

I don't think many people know about this but the thief is a great self healer, certainly nobody has posted about it yet. Currently I'm having a blast soloing on my thief tanking with 2 daggers or range with 2 pistols. Though they are squishy by nature, the heals generate enough recovery to sustain their health. That's how crazy it is. Have literally tanked and soloed name elites and non named champions.