Herald healer - staff and what?

[Biff.5312]

I've just levelled a new rev, decided for kicks to try healing. I've equipped him with minstrel's gear and a staff, but I'm unsure what secondary weapons to choose. I've looked online but there's so much conflicting advice it's hard to get a definite answer - for those who actually play this, what is your preference?

[Absconditus.6804]

I used to run Sword and Shield when generally running around in open-world doing my own stuff. Sword in combination with Vicious Lacerations, since I always ran with Domination to use Assassin's Presence for allies. Shield because it's another heal that I can use combined with Renewing Wave when I swap to Herald to push out more boons again, besides it giving Protection and giving me the ability to block while moving the tablet around to heal myself and/or the group without it being interrupted from doing so. Lately I've started using Mace/Shield more though, as Mace easily pushes the Might generation on my teams to 25 stacks when I swap between Ventari and Herald. It's super easy to maintain 25 stacks of Might, permanent Fury, Regeneration and Protection for yourself and the team with Harrier's gear and Mace/Shield, and with Sigils such as Renewal and using the heal on the Shield and Staff, it's fairly safe to swap into Herald every 10 or so seconds. A lot of micromanagement, but I find it rewarding.

[Za Shaloc.3908]

What game mode?

For WvW I like mace and shield. Mace 3 has a triple blast finisher with a low energy cost and cooldown which can be really nice. I use shield because when I am able to land shield 4 it is a nice heal. Any offhand would work, just for different purposes. I see people using hammers too which is a fine choice: two blast finishers, a (rooted) evade, projectile blocking, and an AoE CC.Sword hypothetically could be nice, but sword 3 can easily be a death sentence if you use it on an enemy that pulls you towards their zerg. I don't think it's worth the risk since you are essentially at the enemy's whim.

[messiah.1908]

mace shield

mace while using jallis to blast for aoe swiftnessmace to blast water allies aoemace for weakness and poisonmace for 3 might stacks aoe

shield for protection and heal #4 (if traited remove a condition)self heal from safer spot with #5

[LucianTheAngelic.7054]

Without knowing game mode it’s hard to give specific advice, but in PvE staff/mace/shield with plague doctors is best for herald healer imo. Minstrel is good too obviously. Mace is taken for fire fields and blast finishers for easy might stacks for your group.

[Wahlao.1069]

I'm a condi healer hybrid: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vlEQJApnnnN2gSyJvQRNlbosoyPU4U5IKIs8ElFUlJNgBawu81nfNmbyB-jRyGQBkVZ1FVCCgHAg52fgQqRgG9AKUpCuOBAiV1FA-e

My gear is a mix of shaman and plaguedoctor (for concentration).I took the corruption line for condi dmg love, salvation for healing and herald.My health sits at >30K.Herald traits I took are 112 (Elder's respite, shared empow, draco echo).If you're running fractals or open world, you can take elevated compassion, though right now its bugged.I took Glint/Ventari stances -> Role of boon bot or healer.With my >60% boon duration I can sustain regen + 10-12 might stacks to 10 men using 2 facets (light & strength).If s**t happens, I switch to ventari for burst heals!

[narcx.3570]

For PvE, Sword/Axe for more hard cc and more diverse conditions on the boss to pump-up Holosmith/Deadeye dps during burn phases.(I suppose shield can be an option now too if your group really needs more cleanse than you're able to give with traits/tablet.)

You also want a Hammer with a sigil of water on it for fights where you might be kiting (Cairn, Sabetha, and Deimos). The sigil gives you extra splash healing on the group and you can periodically use hammer 3 to leap into the group (in between hand/flak spawns) to pulse Assassin's Presence on them.

[Biff.5312]

Thanks for the tips - I already have a suitable shield so I think I'll make me a mace and see how it goes. Re: game mode not sure yet - want to try everything. For now though this should give me a decent starting point.

[Biff.5312]

@"Wahlao.1069" said:I'm a condi healer hybrid: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vlEQJApnnnN2gSyJvQRNlbosoyPU4U5IKIs8ElFUlJNgBawu81nfNmbyB-jRyGQBkVZ1FVCCgHAg52fgQqRgG9AKUpCuOBAiV1FA-e

My gear is a mix of shaman and plaguedoctor (for concentration).I took the corruption line for condi dmg love, salvation for healing and herald.My health sits at >30K.Herald traits I took are 112 (Elder's respite, shared empow, draco echo).If you're running fractals or open world, you can take elevated compassion, though right now its bugged.I took Glint/Ventari stances -> Role of boon bot or healer.With my >60% boon duration I can sustain regen + 10-12 might stacks to 10 men using 2 facets (light & strength).If s**t happens, I switch to ventari for burst heals!

Thanks for all the detail - I'll see where I differ and maybe try out your build.

[lunaeclipse.6843]

I use mace and shield, to keep better might uptime on the group for pve