Hey, guys. Newish player LF advice on new healbrand i just jacked up to 80

[Average.7901]

So i pretty much exclusively do fractals. They just really appeal to me. I have been doing t3's when there's a group in queue on my main (soulbeast). But I have noticed that in t3 you pretty much start to need a healer. I know you can do them without one, which i definitely have, but having a healer makes them 10x easier and more enjoyable. Very often, there isn't one in groups and its a mess. I would also like to push into t4 at some point. Problem is, I have absolutely almost no knowledge of any classes or really how high level group play looks. I have never done strikes or raids, and dont even know what alacrity is or does. So I decided to make a healbrand because every source says it's the best healer for fractals. It also reminds me of my hpal main in wow. I see two versions on the one build guide I found on youtube. It talks about one that is very tanky and heals a lot, wearing Harrier's (sp?) gear. And then there's a celestial version that heals less, less tanky, but offers some dps. I wanted to get insight from experienced players. Not really looking at going into cm's, as this game is just a hobby, not so much my main game. Just what i do for a break. Do i need to go full heal/tank version in t4's? is the celestial version even viable? thanks in advance. also, any good suggestions for good content creators/build guides for this spec would be great

Edited November 2, 2023 by Average.7901

[Zohane.7208]

3 hours ago, Average.7901 said:

So i pretty much exclusively do fractals. They just really appeal to me. I have been doing t3's when there's a group in queue on my main (soulbeast). But I have noticed that in t3 you pretty much start to need a healer. I know you can do them without one, which i definitely have, but having a healer makes them 10x easier and more enjoyable. Very often, there isn't one in groups and its a mess. I would also like to push into t4 at some point. Problem is, I have absolutely almost no knowledge of any classes or really how high level group play looks. I have never done strikes or raids, and dont even know what alacrity is or does. So I decided to make a healbrand because every source says it's the best healer for fractals. It also reminds me of my hpal main in wow. I see two versions on the one build guide I found on youtube. It talks about one that is very tanky and heals a lot, wearing Harrier's (sp?) gear. And then there's a celestial version that heals less, less tanky, but offers some dps. I wanted to get insight from experienced players. Not really looking at going into cm's, as this game is just a hobby, not so much my main game. Just what i do for a break. Do i need to go full heal/tank version in t4's? is the celestial version even viable? thanks in advance. also, any good suggestions for good content creators/build guides for this spec would be great

For pugging I definitely recommend harrier, since you can never be sure how the others will perform. A harrier hfb can keep groups alive even through some really bad mistakes. (Sometimes it won't be enough of course but that happens...)
Celestial is for sure viable but it's more likely to be useful in an experienced static group, where you're aiming at getting away from the healer eventually and play qfb instead.

[Cyninja.2954]

There is 3 main types of stat combination you can go for with HealFB.

Harrier: Power, Healing Power, Concentration. Not sure where the tankiness is supposed to come from. You remain on low hit points, have 0 additional toughness for damage reduction and healing is not even a primary stat.

Harrier is run for raids, due to toughness mechanics in some fights, and will nicely cap concentration without to much additional commitment. That's basically it.

Minstrel: Toughness+Healing Power, Vitality+Concentration. The actual "tanky" stat combo. Provides more healing power thank harrier (since HP is a major stat versus a minor stat on harrier and 4-stat gear has more total stats than 3-stat gear), has toughness as major stat for damage reduction and some vitality as minor to offset a guardians low hit point pool.

Major downside (besides toughness interfering with tanking in some raids, not an issue for fractals) is that concentration will not easily cap and has to be compensated for with additional concentration items (Sigil of Concentration for example). No damage stat means you will do literally no damage besides the base 1-2k dps.

Celestial: jack of all. Same downsides apply as Minstrels in regards to concentration. Same downsides apply in regards to toughness. Overall healing is lower than either of the previous 2 sets but it comes with the benefit of some higher damage and the flexibility to go more offensive if the party is not in need of support.

TL;DR:

You want to be a tanky healer for fractals, go with Minstrel or Celestial. You want to be able to heal in raids too? Go with harrier. You are experienced enough to not rely on only support stats and base hit points and thus do a bit of damage? Take harrier or celestial.

Edited November 4, 2023 by Cyninja.2954