Lack of Good 0 Point Souls for Healing Clerics?

[Arielle]

Nice post. To add to this idea, it's really the encounter that breeds the strategy so I think the devs need to be careful to construct raids with encounters that will require a wide variety of builds. The only time min/max makes sense is when the raid is static or predictable enough that someone is able to nail down the optimum spec needed to most efficiently defeat it. It might be difficult to design a single encounter that can't be (min/max)ed but I'm hoping they offer enough variety among the encounters to make (min/max)ing a raid extremely difficult.

Seriously hoping this is what they are planning, but am kind of skeptical. I played EQ2 as a healer, though, so I'm damaged.

lol

[Calistran]

Rift rewards those who embrace flexibility. It's not going to be enough for you to be a great Sentinel or a great Justicar. You need to be a good Cleric, capable of and willing to swap out your abilities as the situation dictates.

As a raid leader, it is at once both challenging and liberating. You are no longer bound looking for "that class". You're now looking for a player who can bring it all to the table.

Well said... and while it may not be a WoW Killer.... at least it will let the truly skilled player discard the nasty taste of the gs **** regime found to be in that game.

I think i would love to see a duel or two between to professed healer classes in this game. I believe it would be far more entertaining than two tanks or even two squishy caster classes. Timing your damage to get an opening to properly heal yourself or others is the best kind of challenge a true healer can have... not the stereotyped stand at the back and hope you dont pull aggro healing just as you run outta mana/pots. I welcome the challenge gladly.

[Arielle]

Well said... and while it may not be a WoW Killer.... at least it will let the truly skilled player discard the nasty taste of the gs **** regime found to be in that game.

I think i would love to see a duel or two between to professed healer classes in this game. I believe it would be far more entertaining than two tanks or even two squishy caster classes. Timing your damage to get an opening to properly heal yourself or others is the best kind of challenge a true healer can have... not the stereotyped stand at the back and hope you dont pull aggro healing just as you run outta mana/pots. I welcome the challenge gladly.

In most games duels between healers are like watching paint dry ..lol. Challenge me to a duel, gimme a chance to go put on a pot of coffee and put in a video, and we're off. The duel is over 2 hrs later when one of us makes a mistake.

I will also be glad to see the GS thing over with. I'm sure this is true for everyone that has been in groups with people who have amazing Gear Scores that are really bad. I was also in a raid in ICC with a druid with a 4.6 GS last night who pwned. So will be glad to not go by that anymore. (And I realize that everyone who plays WoW has a similar story).

Have you seen this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgnMpOU1LNQ

[Runesire]

I will also be glad to see the GS thing over with. I'm sure this is true for everyone that has been in groups with people who have amazing Gear Scores that are really bad. I was also in a raid in ICC with a druid with a 4.6 GS last night who pwned. So will be glad to not go by that anymore. (And I realize that everyone who plays WoW has a similar story).

Couldn't agree more. In fact, I think GS is one of the biggest motivators to look beyond WoW for a new gaming experience.

[Banditman]

The problem with Gear Score is not that it exists. The problem is that too many people take it for something it is not. It's not a measure of skill, of talent, of ability. It's simply a measure of the quality of your gear. It is one piece of the puzzle.

Great gear doesn't make a great player. Great play makes a great player.

[Exclusive]

yeah, warden and purifier seem like the main healers

Since when? Sentinels are more of a main healer than warden.. warden will be valuable to toss around HoTs on everyone. Purifier looks like a MT healer imho, or at least the OT healer.

[Exclusive]

I am most worried that there will be the 'win' build, wherein all or most healers will have to fit into one or two types of builds to be successful for raids. Class balance is, to me, the biggest issue RIFT faces as it approaches Beta.

I can see Sentinels, Wardens and Purifiers being the top healer for raids. I don't think you will want to go without either of these three. Sentinel has some much needed group healing and battle rez, purifier has extra mitigation talents (shields) and warden has HoTs that helps a ton.

[Exclusive]

The problem with Gear Score is not that it exists. The problem is that too many people take it for something it is not. It's not a measure of skill, of talent, of ability. It's simply a measure of the quality of your gear. It is one piece of the puzzle.

Great gear doesn't make a great player. Great play makes a great player.

soooo true.. usually though, if your gear is crap and your great you still wont make up for the lost dps from gear.

[Banditman]

A great player rarely has a problem aquiring gear commensurate with his ability. Unfortunately, in my experience, poor players are also able to aquire gear that far exceeds the ability they possess as a player, which is why gear score and other things like that have aquired a bad name.

One of my favorite memories of EQ2 was doing the Conjuror Epic back at it's appropriate level. The reward was a very nice weapon. There were MANY players who absolute cried about it, because it was actually "hard". It required no small amount of player skill to complete the final step, a solo step that took place in an instance that only the player could enter. In short, it was all about the skill of the player. Some could do it, others could not.