Struggling trying to gear/get my foot in the door as a healer

[ChrisTheEnby.9046]

I recently hit level 80 on my first character (mesmer) and I really really wanted to be a healer. I tried to look up how to get gear but everyone recommends getting like some dps set before anything else and i'm like..... just not interested in playing DPS at all, given when i was leveling i took every piece of healing gear that i could and i avoided things like power or condition damage where i could.

 

I had barely managed to scoruge up around 13 gold in core tyria from selling materials and drops and i manage to buy..... one piece of Harrier's armor (the set reccomended ina heal chronomancer build i saw) but now i'm completely poor and can't get the rest of the set after the first armor piece, the rest of my gear is leveling gear... So i knew i needed to unlock chronomancer too so I tried to do Heart of Thorns and Path of Fire area to get hero points (a video i saw mentione core tyria will not get you the 250 hero points fast enough) but it seems with only a singie piece of Harrier's..... i just die and get my healing outpaced and die in a few hits int he jungle or the desert. i'm basically out of money now because of the silver charges from having to respawn so much, and i can't even get to half of the hero points in heart of thorns because it's locked behind glider masteries i guess... but in path of fire normal enemies kill me before i could find a single hero point challenge.

 

I just can't seem to get enough money to get my full set of healing gear to survive long enough to get chronomancer even unlocked and i don't wanna waste money on a DPS set for a temporary core class that's going to go away when i hit 250 hero points...PEople acting like i was crazy for this.... but if this game is so centered around damage then why do people even bother with healing builds if you're forced to have to get a dps set?

I just don't understand why people reacted that way about me buying harrier's gear because i want to be a healer and focus on it and treating me like i'm stupid...I just want to be able to start healing instanced content....

[Noodle Ant.1605]

the issue with going straight for a healer build is that, unless you opt for a generalised/hybrid setup like celestial stats, it will only really be relevant with allies. this is particularly evident for a set like harriers, which makes for a glassy healer with very limited capability to simply progress through content (i.e. just kill things) by itself

you can still attempt to play as a healer only if you can manage to find other players to assist you (or you can view it as you assisting them). you should look for hero point trains for example to help you get the required hero points, and you can join big meta events with lots of people (that you can heal) in order to gradually make some money to complete the rest of your gear

on the other hand, i would think that the other players were only just advising you to have an alternative set that can progress through content by itself. it doesnt have to be a fully kitted meta dps build, just something you can run in the case that theres nobody to heal (or in the case of instanced content - when there is already a healer, but then you could just find another group)

[RoseofGilead.8907]

The only times a dedicated healer is required in GW2 is group play, specifically in instanced group content like fractals, strikes, raids, and maybe convergences (not necessary for them but very useful). They can be useful in dungeons, but things die so quickly that it's just generally not necessary and is more practical to play them with a DPS or more tank-minded build. So if you try to do open world exploration and solo stuff with just a healer build/stats, you're going to have a tough time killing things before they can kill you.

This is your first 80. There is no need to be spending all of your gold and resources on any specific stat set of armor since the gear you get as you level and do story will get you through the content just fine. As for hero points, check the LFG tool in-game for commanders doing HoT and PoF HP runs. But consider just running yourself through those maps as much as you can to unlock Waypoints and get experience for Masteries. Having the WPs ahead of time will make it a little easier for you to keep up with the HP runs. Also, do story, if you're not already. It gets you more gear, currencies, and exp.

Edited April 19 by RoseofGilead.8907

[ChrisTheEnby.9046]

i guess i'm just too used to other mmos where a healer COULD do content without a group because they could heal themselves and sustain themselves, it'd just take them a little longer to kill things. healing gear must really suck in this game if it makes you that reliant on other players and this game is that centered around damage... it just feels like it's a ton of grinding to get all of these multiple sets and all of this gear management you need to do....i just wanted to focus on what i'm used to which is healing. I could never sucessfully play dps in other games, especially if people get really into the whole "parsing/damage meters" thing that exists in other mmos that's always turned me off of playing dps.

Edited April 19 by ChrisTheEnby.9046

[RoseofGilead.8907]

Well, GW2 was created without any real use of the typical trinity (healer, tank, dps) way of playing. The game gives every class ways to do damage and ways to heal and sustain themselves, even without needing specific stats on their gear. Once elite specs and raids came out, support builds (heals and boon producers) became more useful and common. That's carried over to present day, especially in high tier fractals, CM strikes, and raids.

As for gear management, I honestly don't do any with 90% of my characters. Two of them have more than one build and more than one set of gear, but the rest have one build and one set of gear (just exotic gear on several of them) that I only change if something gets crazy nerfed. And I rarely pay attention to stats when I'm first leveling or first playing through an expansion. I save that for once I have the elite spec unlocked, when I've had time to get more gold, resources, recipes, etc. for whatever gear I'll need.

Really, I think you're stressing too much about it all. You're not planning to jump into a level 80+ Fractal or Cerus CM group this week, I assume. So there's no need to rush to get a full Harrier set right away. Unlock the elite spec first. Play events, do dailies and weeklies, do low tier fractals, and gather resources to get gold as you're unlocking it. Use whatever gear you have (try to use as many exotics as you can), and put upgrades in it when you get them. No one in open world or even lower tier fractals is going to give you a hard time for having low DPS (and those that do mention it are usually just try-hards looking for attention). Then just take it once piece of armor at a time.

[RavensSorrow.6128]

2 hours ago, ChrisTheEnby.9046 said:

I just don't understand why people reacted that way about me buying harrier's gear because i want to be a healer and focus on it and treating me like i'm stupid...I just want to be able to start healing instanced content....

Then do it. Alot of people (me included) wait until they get perfect gear or even ascended before stepping into Instanced stuff. I didn't even do a strike or fractal until EoD despite being in the game since the first expansion. For me it was a lot of social anxiety from other games (WoW) but this game isn't always like that. As long as you aren't trying to join experienced runs and tell people you are new, they are very open. Heck I specifically run low level fractals or EZ3 strikes just to get people in. Don't worry about having perfect gear. You got healing power, concentration, runes and sigils that actually benefit your role! They don't have to be top of the line 13gold ascended items. Grab some mixed stuff like Celestial to round out the missing pieces and replace them as you go. You can start trying the content now. Play what you enjoy! The gear/gold will follow. 

 

1 hour ago, ChrisTheEnby.9046 said:

healing gear must really suck in this game if it makes you that reliant on other players

Gear in something like WoW, gives you power, vitality and other stats on most items. GW2 is more specialized in its gear. Harrier's gives you Power, Healing and Concentration but no Vitality to survive if you are running solo. No matter how much you heal some mobs can hit you really hard or faster than your cooldowns. Items stated as Celestial may be weaker overall in healing but give you some of every stat to make you more versatile. Don't get me wrong Harrier's is better for pure healing, but you could also heal early instanced content just fine with a mix of stats and probably be stronger solo with celestial. 

Another strength of guild wars is that you can swap Weapons (gear), talents, skills any time out of combat. You die to a monster, maybe switch a skill for more reflects or CC. Party wipes to a knockback, bring some extra stability. The ability to adapt to your situation is very powerful in this game. It's a common trap new players fall into that "if I follow a guide, I need to be 100% exactly copy it" regardless of situation. It's a guide for a reason. While it shows you the most optimal builds you have to think of the situation it was built for (i.e group content). Doesn't mean that healer gear is terrible just the guide you are following is pushing to max output in a group situation rather than open world or soloing story.  It would be like a DPS telling you they didn't move out of the fire because they get better numbers if they don't move. While a true statement overall, in that situation it was better to move. 

Hope that makes sense. I know this game can throw people for a loop with gearing and stats. Hope to see you in the instances soon!

[ChrisTheEnby.9046]

2 hours ago, RoseofGilead.8907 said:

Well, GW2 was created without any real use of the typical trinity (healer, tank, dps) way of playing. The game gives every class ways to do damage and ways to heal and sustain themselves, even without needing specific stats on their gear. Once elite specs and raids came out, support builds (heals and boon producers) became more useful and common. That's carried over to present day, especially in high tier fractals, CM strikes, and raids.

As for gear management, I honestly don't do any with 90% of my characters. Two of them have more than one build and more than one set of gear, but the rest have one build and one set of gear (just exotic gear on several of them) that I only change if something gets crazy nerfed. And I rarely pay attention to stats when I'm first leveling or first playing through an expansion. I save that for once I have the elite spec unlocked, when I've had time to get more gold, resources, recipes, etc. for whatever gear I'll need.

Really, I think you're stressing too much about it all. You're not planning to jump into a level 80+ Fractal or Cerus CM group this week, I assume. So there's no need to rush to get a full Harrier set right away. Unlock the elite spec first. Play events, do dailies and weeklies, do low tier fractals, and gather resources to get gold as you're unlocking it. Use whatever gear you have (try to use as many exotics as you can), and put upgrades in it when you get them. No one in open world or even lower tier fractals is going to give you a hard time for having low DPS (and those that do mention it are usually just try-hards looking for attention). Then just take it once piece of armor at a time.

The problem is, if the only place heal builds are useful in instance content, then that's what i really want to do... but the thing is i can't get all the healing gear the heal chronomancer guide reccomends without doing open world, and i could only afford the ONE sigular piece of exotic Harrier's armor, i couldn't even put anything in it's upgrade slot yet, the rest of my gear is a smattering of gear i picked up while leveling to 80, i picked healing power when i saw it but not all the gear i found while leveling was healing gear...

 

And there's healing gear i need that i can't just buy from the trading post, some pieces (especially Ascended Weapons and Trinkets, because guides say to skip exotic weapons and trinkets) are either hard for me to get because i can't handle content in the expansions they are in or the ways you get them, or some of them are even paywalled in later expansions i don't have, or worse, locked behind Living World Seasons. (I only have HoT/PoF, and i have no living world seasons unlocked, apparently accessable trinkets require LW Seasons 3-4-5 for stat seletable ascended trinkets?)

This is ignoring that while i *technically* have chronomancer unlocked (I bought the first skill and was given my shield) the elite spec still needs the rest of those 250 hero points to complete the tree still....

I want to do instanced content, but I feel forced into the open world, and I'm not even sure even saving up and buying the rest of the Harrier's armor is going to help because i have no idea how i'm gonna get those ascended weapons and trinkets i need.... People made it out to be that you need a DPS setup to do anything in the open world, which is so different than any other MMO i've played, because in other mmos I've played...tanks and healers are still able to make it through a zone despite doing less damage....where it seems to be an impossibility here.

[Randulf.7614]

You need to remove all preconceptions about other mmos. That is where the issue lies. Until the mindset of dedicated role types is removed, then you will have these ongoing issues. GW2 isn't like those - deliberately so, even if it has closed that gap slightly since launch 

[RavensSorrow.6128]

12 minutes ago, ChrisTheEnby.9046 said:

especially Ascended Weapons and Trinkets, because guides say to skip exotic weapons and trinkets

I doubt it said to skip Exotic, the game was made with exotics in mind, but it probably just shows you the completed build with full Ascended. DO NOT SKIP EXOTICS. It's like trying to buy a car with only getting school lunch money every day. You can do it but it'll be painful.

Also there are some fun cheats when looking for gear on the TP. Don't search  "Harrier" this will get you named and probably crafted items which will be expensive. If you do Healing Power, Power as your search using the drop-down bars then sort by cheapest and lvl 80 you'll see much lower prices. I can see a Mhenlo's light set for 35silver a piece with a Rune in it. I know it's Clerics and not Harrier, but it's a good starting point to launch from. There are also stat selectable items such as a Ice Golems Maw Box that has a stat selectable helm in it. Or Iron Legion Staff for stat selectable Staff weapon. Other weapons if you search Givers you can see a bunch of cheap Christmas themed weapons with a nice sigil in them to start you off as well for 50silver or so. 

Again these are just starting points to get you in a set to play instances comfortably. So you can learn the instance and make some gold until you can work up the currency/gold for the ascended Harrier's versions.

[Linken.6345]

52 minutes ago, RavensSorrow.6128 said:

I doubt it said to skip Exotic, the game was made with exotics in mind, but it probably just shows you the completed build with full Ascended. DO NOT SKIP EXOTICS. It's like trying to buy a car with only getting school lunch money every day. You can do it but it'll be painful.

Also there are some fun cheats when looking for gear on the TP. Don't search  "Harrier" this will get you named and probably crafted items which will be expensive. If you do Healing Power, Power as your search using the drop-down bars then sort by cheapest and lvl 80 you'll see much lower prices. I can see a Mhenlo's light set for 35silver a piece with a Rune in it. I know it's Clerics and not Harrier, but it's a good starting point to launch from. There are also stat selectable items such as a Ice Golems Maw Box that has a stat selectable helm in it. Or Iron Legion Staff for stat selectable Staff weapon. Other weapons if you search Givers you can see a bunch of cheap Christmas themed weapons with a nice sigil in them to start you off as well for 50silver or so. 

Again these are just starting points to get you in a set to play instances comfortably. So you can learn the instance and make some gold until you can work up the currency/gold for the ascended Harrier's versions.

Add to this do events in verdant brinks and buy bladed boxes for stat selectable exotics can get everything but coat that is random drop from night bosses or 100% if day+night cycle got to t4.

Edited April 19 by Linken.6345

[ChrisTheEnby.9046]

48 minutes ago, RavensSorrow.6128 said:

I doubt it said to skip Exotic, the game was made with exotics in mind, but it probably just shows you the completed build with full Ascended. DO NOT SKIP EXOTICS. It's like trying to buy a car with only getting school lunch money every day. You can do it but it'll be painful.

Also there are some fun cheats when looking for gear on the TP. Don't search  "Harrier" this will get you named and probably crafted items which will be expensive. If you do Healing Power, Power as your search using the drop-down bars then sort by cheapest and lvl 80 you'll see much lower prices. I can see a Mhenlo's light set for 35silver a piece with a Rune in it. I know it's Clerics and not Harrier, but it's a good starting point to launch from. There are also stat selectable items such as a Ice Golems Maw Box that has a stat selectable helm in it. Or Iron Legion Staff for stat selectable Staff weapon. Other weapons if you search Givers you can see a bunch of cheap Christmas themed weapons with a nice sigil in them to start you off as well for 50silver or so. 

Again these are just starting points to get you in a set to play instances comfortably. So you can learn the instance and make some gold until you can work up the currency/gold for the ascended Harrier's versions.

i know there's other sets with different names that has the traitlines statlines, like the ones that exist for Berserker's but i can't find the ones for Harrier's gear. All I can find is the named crafted stuff.

And the problem witht he other sets with healing power is this guide i'm following says you really, REALLY need concentration/boon duration. Evenif you go for Giver's gear you're gonna squeeze on boon duration somewhere, and Giver's mean you're probably going to end up tanking, which i have more chances of screwing up as a newer player.

This is the build i'm following or trying to at least... 

 

[ChrisTheEnby.9046]

20 minutes ago, Linken.6345 said:

Add to this do events in verdant brinks and buy bladed boxes for stat selectable exotics can get everything but coat that is random drop from night bosses or 100% if day+night cycle got to t4.

i can't even get the hero points without dying in verdant brink or the other expansion area, most of the enemies just kill me and outpace what little healing with like the 1 piece of exotic gear i have with healing stats, i don't think i'm going to accomplish anything in expansiona reas at this rate....

[RavensSorrow.6128]

43 minutes ago, ChrisTheEnby.9046 said:

And the problem witht he other sets with healing power is this guide i'm following says you really, REALLY need concentration/boon duration.

He does say at the start of the gear section "We overcap on boon duration...but more is better" so don't stress too much on getting that concentration maxxed out.

For tanking honestly, outside of raids I can't name a boss that targets the highest toughness target. So you'd be safe for fractals/Strikes and can swap out a piece or two when you want to raid if you don't want to talk. That would be my suggestion.

Edit: You are trying to jump from Rare leveling gear -> Ascended Raid Gear, it would be the equivilent of going from Common in wow to Epics without using a rare. It's a weird jump. I get that Harrier doesn't exist outside of the Ascended stuff. Still I'd say go Givers or better Celestial Exotics first. Take baby steps before you try and fly!

Edited April 19 by RavensSorrow.6128
Additional info

[RoseofGilead.8907]

10 minutes ago, ChrisTheEnby.9046 said:

i can't even get the hero points without dying in verdant brink or the other expansion area, most of the enemies just kill me and outpace what little healing with like the 1 piece of exotic gear i have with healing stats, i don't think i'm going to accomplish anything in expansiona reas at this rate....

Then use the LFG and join in squads doing the meta events so you won't be soloing everything.

[ChrisTheEnby.9046]

33 minutes ago, RavensSorrow.6128 said:

He does say at the start of the gear section "We overcap on boon duration...but more is better" so don't stress too much on getting that concentration maxxed out.

For tanking honestly, outside of raids I can't name a boss that targets the highest toughness target. So you'd be safe for fractals/Strikes and can swap out a piece or two when you want to raid if you don't want to talk. That would be my suggestion.

Edit: You are trying to jump from Rare leveling gear -> Ascended Raid Gear, it would be the equivilent of going from Common in wow to Epics without using a rare. It's a weird jump. I get that Harrier doesn't exist outside of the Ascended stuff. Still I'd say go Givers or better Celestial Exotics first. Take baby steps before you try and fly!

well, for reference, this was the video that said it's best to avoid exotic trinkets and weapons because ascended weapons and trinkets are..... aparently "easy to get" and are a massive upgrade in terms of stats or something, i didn't really understand what he means here at the 5:40 mark: 

 

[RoseofGilead.8907]

3 minutes ago, ChrisTheEnby.9046 said:

well, for reference, this was the video that said it's best to avoid exotic trinkets and weapons because ascended weapons and trinkets are..... aparently "easy to get" and are a massive upgrade in terms of stats or something, i didn't really understand what he means here at the 5:40 mark: 

You understood what he said fine, I think. And he's right that ascended trinkets are going to give you a stat boost compared to exotic. He's also right in that they are easy to get in that they just require you playing the game. Yes, the "better" ones will be ones you can buy from Living World vendors, but the ones you can buy with Laurels and with the Fractals relics are just as good; you'll just have to go through them to see what stats are closest to what you want.

Regardless of which way you pick, though, you'll have to earn the currency. Laurels are earned by doing weekly achievements (Wizard's Vault). You can also use the Astral Acclaim you get from doing dailies/weeklies to buy more Laurels. You can also save up Astral Acclaim to get ascended armor boxes and ascended weapon boxes. As for the Fractal relics, just doing the lowest tier dailies will get you enough to get an ascended ring pretty quickly.

All of that being said, exotic gear is 100% fine for most things you will do. Yes, to do harder instanced content, you'll want to eventually be in full Ascended or Legendary, but until then there is nothing wrong with using exotic gear. Just keep in mind you'll be paying actual gold for that, either buying right from the TP or by gearing up crafting to make your own jewelry.

[Randulf.7614]

I would advise ignoring these videos and build makers if I’m honest. GW2 encourages hybrid play and outside of instanced content, in pve the stats you choose are secondary to the skills and traits you select. It’s important that until you become second nature with the content, you ensure you can mix dps with survivability. And the latter will come in many forms - heals in part, but blocks, barriers, protection boons and endurance boons to keep your dodge up are your priority whilst keeping the damage consistent 

Don't worry about ascended or specific stat combos. Don’t try and be just a healer, but mix everything up until you find a sweet spot - all classes are versatile and can carry many different roles at the same time. The more you confine yourself, the more you stick to following a guide, the more muddled and less freedom you will have.

Once you have a rounded idea of different skills and traits for your class, later you can follow guides and streamline a build to a specific stat if you really feel you must or if you need to perform an exact role in the high end content where hybrid styles are less efficient. Don’t treat this like a traditional mmo though. That’s a mindset that will only hold you back here.

[RavensSorrow.6128]

53 minutes ago, ChrisTheEnby.9046 said:

said it's best to avoid exotic trinkets and weapons because ascended weapons and trinkets

So, I see what he is saying. Trinkets can be expensive if bought. However, he is also talking about farming Fractals and Strikes, have you even done one? I don't mean to insult you or the guide maker but he's talking above you a bit. If you haven't gone into them. Then there is a disconnect here. You are such a new player, and he seems to be more talking as if you are gearing up an alt and have currencies to use and vendors unlocked already. I really don't disagree with anything he is saying, I just think he's a step beyond where you are at. You are struggling in open world and he's talking about farming living world seasons for items you probably don't even have maps for yet. If you were a semi established player his guide is perfect. But skipping exotics on your FIRST character is just painful. That's why again I think you should step back and get yourself Celestial or Givers or Clerics, a base exotic set. Then try these instances. Play your class as the healer, learn the fights and hell have fun! Instead of suffering in content you don't seem to enjoy. Gold and currencies flow out of these places (as well as random drops).

[synk.6907]

In addition to what has been said about not needing to jump fully into an endgame group healer build and how DPS is a much easier way to start in the open world, first impression from your OP and some comments is that you may need to get more comfortable with the class and skillset first.

So you have a GuildJen build reference. Do you know why Harrier is recommended, why there are preferred utility skills or weapon sets to take?

Think of the trait lines, weapons, and utility skills as your tools, and knowing how they may work together and to your advantage is often more huge than a "build" itself. Are you spamming dodges when you could otherwise use an evade/block/crowd control? Do you make use of Distortion to save your bacon when needed? Things like using staff 2 in one of your fields to grant yourself some boons and also space from an enemy, using Echo of Memory to avoid telegraphed attacks, maybe swap in blink to give you more freedom of movement over one of the other utilities.

Just having Harrier gear isn't going to make you a great healer in instances -- you'll need to be comfortable with the mechanics at your disposal.

 

You can even use a DPS set and spec as you work toward unlocking chrono and getting the desired Harrier gear. It's not like you will have to throw it away -- you can have both sets in two different gear tabs and have two separate builds and swap between them as needed / wanted!

Edited April 20 by synk.6907
removed some unnecessary verbiage/commentary

[ChrisTheEnby.9046]

i thought it would be helpful to give you all an idea of whre i'm at currently in terms of gear and my current progress with specilization builds and such: https://gw2efficiency.com/c/Wild Viridian

Keep in mind the following:

-I got really tilted at people calling me an idiot for spending the 14g on the Harrier's chestpiece on the TP and dismantled it and just reequipped my leveling chestpiece. They'd probably snidely remark that the rare sub level 80 chest piece "at least has some damage stats on it". to get at me due to all those arguments in that discord about me not wanting to dps, 14 gold down the drain, oh well

-A lot of this Carrion's stuff was foisted on me as level up/quest rewards, i would have taken a healing option if i could.

-I had to pick Minstrel's for my shield because that's the only healing stat type offered to me.

 

Edited April 20 by ChrisTheEnby.9046

[RavensSorrow.6128]

See this is the kind of thing I was worried about. You are following a guide telling you not to buy exotic trinkets when you have level 60 common trinkets! That's a crazy idea to keep level 60 stuff instead of getting a lvl 80 upgrade because you are waiting for ascended. Trust me the gold you spend on getting a set of gear, even if not perfectly statted for your healer roll will do you wonders. A +1 power backpiece, a level 30 common ring. To be clear this is by no means your fault. The game doesn't reward items well enough. I'm telling you a celestial or givers set will clean you up real good. You'll feel the power difference. Especially with runes (that's a lot of stats missing!). While I wouldn't worry about the aqua breather everything not exotic could use a clean up. It'll greatly improve your overall performance in every area of the game. 

Trust me when I say we have all been there. Just out of core, fresh 80, spattering of rainbow gear and we walk into heart of thorns and splat! Heart of thorns came out years after core and thus had a difficulty spike to accommodate highly skilled players. This was reduced but it still is a world of difference from core to here.

Edit: I am frustrated that the game put you (and me back in the day) in this spot. It's an awful feeling being so under geared and poor while having guides tell you Ascended is easy. It's true but it doesn't FEEL true. And I'm sorry the game put you through that. While there is the TP or an easy set to get in WvW of exotics, the core story should give you a set as well. If not exotic, rare at least. Throwing newbies into HoT with lvl 60 gear is one of this games biggest flaws.

Edited April 20 by RavensSorrow.6128

[Randulf.7614]

31 minutes ago, ChrisTheEnby.9046 said:

i thought it would be helpful to give you all an idea of whre i'm at currently in terms of gear and my current progress with specilization builds and such: https://gw2efficiency.com/c/Wild Viridian

Keep in mind the following:

-I got really tilted at people calling me an idiot for spending the 14g on the Harrier's chestpiece on the TP and dismantled it and just reequipped my leveling chestpiece. They'd probably snidely remark that the rare sub level 80 chest piece "at least has some damage stats on it". to get at me due to all those arguments in that discord about me not wanting to dps, 14 gold down the drain, oh well

-A lot of this Carrion's stuff was foisted on me as level up/quest rewards, i would have taken a healing option if i could.

-I had to pick Minstrel's for my shield because that's the only healing stat type offered to me.

 

I know you aren’t taking on board our advice, but you are going to need to get over not being more dps focused. Survivability comes from dodging and a variety of boons, blocks and barriers as well as healing. Being a full heal based class is upping the difficulty and learning curve. Core exotic armour is all you need and you can tweak from there as you go. Healing power is a pretty poor stat in terms of the bonus to healing it gives unless you stack it. And doing that will cripple your dps and boon outputs which are far, far more important in this game.
 

As I said earlier, forget classic mmo roles. Healers do kinda exist herein specific circumstances. Open world is not one of them

 

 

 

 

 

[Hsanrb.1570]

As someone who spent half of Heart of Thorns trying a Druid spec because healer and ultimately just chucking it, the amount of content you actually need a dedicated healer in is about as much as the amount of content you actually need gear better than Exotic to complete. 1) Everyone gets 1 self heal skill on their hotbar, most times roughly 15-25% of their HP in combat. 2) Following a build is only good when you are competent enough to survive the content without spending half of it on the floor in a rez state, otherwise sacrifice stats to put some survivability into your gear. 3) Feel free to go back to older content and identify some of the gear you get or earn some karma and fill out your gear from the vendors in the Orr region. Karma gear would be better, but you can get enough lvl 80 gear for like 30s if you want to go the common gear route... it can fill out anything really really bad or completely outpaced by the story.

Also Heart of Thorns is a big wake up call if you've just been trudging along not really understanding the mechanics the game has tried to show you. If you can make in in Heart of Thorns, you will be well on your way to progressing through the rest of Guild Wars 2. I'd definitely stop watching guides, its actually hindering your ability to play the game far more than its helping you. Considering level 80 is as high as GW2 goes, and the gear you will be using will last the entire rest of the development of GW2... you need to consciously rethink what you think you know about GW2 in terms of items and gearing. 

PS: There is also the old MMORPG adage, The best way to heal through fight, is to just kill the target faster. Higher DPS means less healing, which means your healers can in turn do more DPS and the fights go faster.

[ChrisTheEnby.9046]

6 minutes ago, Hsanrb.1570 said:

2) Following a build is only good when you are competent enough to survive the content without spending half of it on the floor in a rez state, otherwise sacrifice stats to put some survivability into your gear. 3) Feel free to go back to older content and identify some of the gear you get or earn some karma and fill out your gear from the vendors in the Orr region. Karma gear would be better, but you can get enough lvl 80 gear for like 30s if you want to go the common gear route... it can fill out anything really really bad or completely outpaced by the story.

Well, how is not going for healing gear and switching to hard dps gear like Berserker's going to increase my survivability if i'm switching to a set with 0 Healing Power and 0 Toughness just to stack Power and Precision and Ferocity as high as it will go? it's going to make Mantra of Restoration do way less in terms of sustaining me, and hell the DPS builds even swap out certain utility skills that will just make it more likely for me to die, most Power Core Mesmer builds swap out Mantra of Restoration (theheal skill i relied on through the entire leveling process) for that crappy Signet of the Ether than active only heals me and not other people, and doesn't heal as much as Mantra of Resto does? All for some slight damage boost...

And if we're talking about Toughness, Toughness is mostly on Healer gear like Giver's anyway, since most tank build are also just healing builds who plan to take aggro and tank, at least based on the guides i've watched.

If anything, the DPS will make my survivability go down and make the learning curve harder because i'm allowed less mistakes because i have basically no sustain whatsoever.

I get dodging but not all damage is avoidable. I try not to "stand in bad". That's not what's killing me anyway.

[synk.6907]

Thge signet also is boosted per clones out, and it resets phantasm skills. These are useful elements to the skill, especially when you aren't healing others and are wandering around the open world.

 

Converse to what it seems you are thinking, a DPS build will mean you kill things long before you have to worry about your survivability. That said, you can outlive most anything in the open world with healer gear. I removed it from my first post, but I originally had a comment where I basically feel immortal at times running around in maps on a harrier druid, despite taking significantly longer to kill anything.

 

Ultimately, you should do what you find most fun, but there are ways to make the game easier as you work toward that healing build goal.