Firebrand Healer: rarely any loot

[Ashantara.8731]

Hi,

I was wondering if someone could enlighten me: When I play WvW, I usually play as a Firebrand healer these days. Back when I was still being a vanilla healer, I was attacking a lot with my weapons, thus received my fair share of loot.

However, with this new build, I spend most time healing and supporting (you know that you don't hold a weapon when in F2/3 mode), thus not doing much damage (if any). So I've noticed that I rarely get loot bags dropped anymore since I am playing this Firebrand healer build. It's not fair IMO to be healing and supporting and being "rewarded" for that effort with no loot.

Am I doing something wrong? Any tips?

[Beezlebub.1538]

Arenanet actually buffed support roles loot chances by 50% a month or so ago. However, there was one caveat that they will not back down on - you have to contribute to the damage done in some capacity; others refer to this as "tagging" enemies before they die. Don't forget, some tome skills do damage, and that's enough to tag and bag. They did nerf the range of the staff autoattack, so don't rely on that as a tag.

[Ashantara.8731]

@Beezlebub.1538 said:They did nerf the range of the staff autoattack, so don't rely on that as a tag.

Ahhh, that's the issue then. :/ Thanks. :'(

Wow, that stinks. My other weapon is the axe, and by the time I have switched sets and get close enough to the enemy, the others have already killed them. (I'm just a casual WvW player, mostly doing it for legendaries, but that decrease in loot bags was heavily noticeable to me.)

Why did they have to nerf the staff?? :-1:

.

P.S. Seriously considering going back to my Celestial vanilla build...

[Beezlebub.1538]

Why did they have to nerf the staff?? :-1:

I think it had a lot to do with the efficacy of staff auto during blob fights/SMC fights. In comparison, no other auto attack was as rewarding at tagging and bagging.

[Ashantara.8731]

@Beezlebub.1538 said:

Why did they have to nerf the staff?? :-1:I think it had a lot to do with the efficacy of staff auto during blob fights/SMC fights. In comparison, no other auto attack was as rewarding at tagging and bagging.

Yeah, well, now it's completely inefficient. They ruined the little bit of WvW for me that was somewhat motivating.

[Beezlebub.1538]

Now you can autoattack with fire tome 1 and do even more damage :)

[Dawdler.8521]

Those of us on roaming rangers, mesmers or thieves feel sympathy with the lowly 100+ lootbags an hour firebrands get from constant zerging.

Truly, we do.

[Sovereign.1093]

focus on retal =)

[Ashantara.8731]

@Dawdler.8521 said:Those of us on roaming rangers, mesmers or thieves feel sympathy with the lowly 100+ lootbags an hour firebrands get from constant zerging.

I wish! I don't make any, that's why I made this thread. Apparently, I am doing something wrong.

Have any advice? Good. Otherwise, spare me your sarcasm.

@Beezlebub.1538 said:Now you can autoattack with fire tome 1 and do even more damage :)

I can't auto-attack indefinitely (7 times max), and there are tons of enemies. ;)

[GDchiaScrub.3241]

Run radiance. Use book 1 when you see downs, pop skill 4 5 3, and drop it if you want. Easy tags. :D

[Mini Crinny.6190]

Staff #1 range was nerfed becuase you could literally hit players through walls, in return other staff skills got buffed

[ZNICK.8537]

I run a Tempest focusing on healing and in 90 minutes of huge fights yesterday I got NINE bags.

Z

[Optimator.3589]

Retal and reflect should be getting you plenty of bags. I'm bad at guardian, but I don't feel as though I'm missing out on tagging and bagging. Also, staff 3 is 1200 range, so you can drop that in front of the incoming blob to get some tags.

[davedaverson.3751]

^ Yes, when I run Minstrel FB - I'm very competitive with bags with our Scourges. There's a lot of tagging potential with retal, reflect bubble, book1 pulls/tags, purge, and your weapon skills.

[sorbic.7192]

One day you will get to the point where you Turn off Autoloot cause the Clean up Bag MiniGame sucks

[steki.1478]

Are you seriously complaining about having 2-3 gold less than others after playing for 2 hours? Go in pve and you'll earn that much in 15 minutes.

FB still has tons of retal and reflects, which is more than enough to tag enemies, so the problem is certainly not in class. At least you can get something on it, unlike other supports.

[atheria.2837]

@"Ashantara.8731" said:Hi,

I was wondering if someone could enlighten me: When I play WvW, I usually play as a Firebrand healer these days. Back when I was still being a vanilla healer, I was attacking a lot with my weapons, thus received my fair share of loot.

However, with this new build, I spend most time healing and supporting (you know that you don't hold a weapon when in F2/3 mode), thus not doing much damage (if any). So I've noticed that I rarely get loot bags dropped anymore since I am playing this Firebrand healer build. It's not fair IMO to be healing and supporting and being "rewarded" for that effort with no loot.

Am I doing something wrong? Any tips?

Understatement.

It's why many won't play healers .

We get nothing.

[atheria.2837]

@ZNICK.8537 said:I run a Tempest focusing on healing and in 90 minutes of huge fights yesterday I got NINE bags.

Z

That's about right, while any commander or squishy will be in the 25-35 bag range for bags in the same fights.

[Za Shaloc.3908]

I don't really care much about getting bags. I hate having my inventory full and I hate clearing it even more. What I want is healing (kill assists) or rezzing to count for my sigil so I can get stacks without wasting my time and energy (literally--I play revenant) hitting people when I should be focusing on supporting my allies.

[wanya.1697]

you could try running in a party instead of squad should give you more loot as it uses old party algorithm for participation

[LetoII.3782]

Also play FB have a loot issue as well, I keep getting crippled from overburden.

I don't know what to say other than maybe you're healing people who aren't killing much or are too far away from the downs.

I mean srsly I have 500 slot mat banks and even those overspill on good night's.

[Ashantara.8731]

@steki.1478 said:Are you seriously complaining about having 2-3 gold less than others after playing for 2 hours? Go in pve and you'll earn that much in 15 minutes.

Uhm... I was merely wondering what's happening (compared to months ago) and think it was a legit question. Opening loot (in any game mode) is part of the excitement and fun, regardless of how valuable the contents turn out to be. (Got a precursor out of my home instance's treasure chest not too long ago.)

And thanks, i need no lecturing about gold and PvE, as I am a vivid PvE player. ;)

@wanya.1697 said:you could try running in a party instead of squad should give you more loot as it uses old party algorithm for participation

That won't be possible, as I play on two specific TS servers for my home, which always run in squads. The squad leaders always create subgroups of 4-5, though, so shouldn't that have the same effect as playing in a party (regarding the mentioned mechanics)?

@atheria.2837 said:

@ZNICK.8537 said:I run a Tempest focusing on healing and in 90 minutes of huge fights yesterday I got NINE bags.

Z

That's about right, while any commander or squishy will be in the 25-35 bag range for bags in the same fights.

Well, that stinks. :/ I am seriously considering gearing up my Warrior for WvW instead, even though I sincerely love the healing and supporting part of playing a Guardian in WvW.

All I can say is that, before said staff nerf, I was content with the loot I would receive. Now it's a joke (i.e., close to zero).

[Klipso.8653]

Playing as a support guardian also lets you rank up at half the speed if it makes you feel better about the low loot from fights.

Though it is much better now after the patch

[RedShark.9548]

@Ashantara.8731 said:

@steki.1478 said:Are you seriously complaining about having 2-3 gold less than others after playing for 2 hours? Go in pve and you'll earn that much in 15 minutes.

Uhm... I was merely wondering what's happening (compared to months ago) and think it was a legit question. Opening loot (in any game mode) is part of the excitement and fun, regardless of how valuable the contents turn out to be. (Got a precursor out of my home instance's treasure chest not too long ago.)

And thanks, i need no lecturing about gold and PvE, as I

am

a vivid PvE player. ;)

@wanya.1697 said:you could try running in a party instead of squad should give you more loot as it uses old party algorithm for participation

That won't be possible, as I play on two specific TS servers for my home, which always run in squads. The squad leaders always create subgroups of 4-5, though, so shouldn't that have the same effect as playing in a party (regarding the mentioned mechanics)?

@atheria.2837 said:

@ZNICK.8537 said:I run a Tempest focusing on healing and in 90 minutes of huge fights yesterday I got NINE bags.

Z

That's about right, while any commander or squishy will be in the 25-35 bag range for bags in the same fights.

Well, that stinks. :/ I am seriously considering gearing up my Warrior for WvW instead, even though I sincerely

love

the healing and supporting part of playing a Guardian in WvW.

All I can say is that, before said staff nerf, I was content with the loot I would receive. Now it's a joke (i.e., close to zero).

ahahaha dont make me laugh, you get way more loot as guard than as warrior, your range is even smaller and you dont have the heal to make other ppl do the dmg job for kill participation, warrior wvw meta is full melee, have fun reaching enemies before they drop dead, running from one downed to another to get participation or be actually usefull while pushing at the front but not rly hitting many ppl because your reach is so small compared to others

many times you just get the invulnerable sign when running over a down, not participating with those hits and the need of moving on, while others just put a random ticking aoe ontop of the downed to tag him and move on to the next

[Optimator.3589]

@RedShark.9548 said:

@Ashantara.8731 said:

@steki.1478 said:Are you seriously complaining about having 2-3 gold less than others after playing for 2 hours? Go in pve and you'll earn that much in 15 minutes.

Uhm... I was merely wondering what's happening (compared to months ago) and think it was a legit question. Opening loot (in any game mode) is part of the excitement and fun, regardless of how valuable the contents turn out to be. (Got a precursor out of my home instance's treasure chest not too long ago.)

And thanks, i need no lecturing about gold and PvE, as I

am

a vivid PvE player. ;)

@wanya.1697 said:you could try running in a party instead of squad should give you more loot as it uses old party algorithm for participation

That won't be possible, as I play on two specific TS servers for my home, which always run in squads. The squad leaders always create subgroups of 4-5, though, so shouldn't that have the same effect as playing in a party (regarding the mentioned mechanics)?

@atheria.2837 said:

@ZNICK.8537 said:I run a Tempest focusing on healing and in 90 minutes of huge fights yesterday I got NINE bags.

Z

That's about right, while any commander or squishy will be in the 25-35 bag range for bags in the same fights.

Well, that stinks. :/ I am seriously considering gearing up my Warrior for WvW instead, even though I sincerely

love

the healing and supporting part of playing a Guardian in WvW.

All I can say is that, before said staff nerf, I was content with the loot I would receive. Now it's a joke (i.e., close to zero).

ahahaha dont make me laugh, you get way more loot as guard than as warrior, your range is even smaller and you dont have the heal to make other ppl do the dmg job for kill participation, warrior wvw meta is full melee, have fun reaching enemies before they drop dead, running from one downed to another to get participation or be actually usefull while pushing at the front but not rly hitting many ppl because your reach is so small compared to others

many times you just get the invulnerable sign when running over a down, not participating with those hits and the need of moving on, while others just put a random ticking aoe ontop of the downed to tag him and move on to the next

That about sums up the DPS warrior experience. Outside of dropping your bubble, you're pretty useless in a zerg fight. Gotta build support warrior instead. :P