Allods Online Forum

Intermediate

Introduction:

Hello Everyone,

My name is Shikari of the Monsters Inc guild, I'm often called Shakira by my guildies. I have been part of many other guilds since I joined Allods including Ascedancy, Disturbed, Reborn and Doom. I have always been part of the Empire, though have considered becoming a dirty Elf at times.

I have played many classes - Psi, Paladin, Bard and for a very long time Warrior but Healer is the class I feel at home the most with. No other class has the flexibility to be ranged DPS, Melee DPS or a Healer (sometimes all at the same time). It is a great class in all situations, whether it be farming (ewwwwww), Astral, Raiding, Skirmishes, Dominion or Raid PvP. It has some of the greatest visuals and sound effects I have seen, the crash of thunder as a group of people are knocked down by Heavenly Smite or the childish comments in voice chat as you use Frenzy to repeatably cast Celestial Judgement on someone (come on, you know you've done it too).

As an active end-game player that is lucky enough to be part of a great group (huge shout out to Meiatunes, Athenna, Creampie, Ottomatic and Arianwen - you guys are amazing :love:

), my role often varies. In Astral I am usually a Caster DPS that takes some off heals, with my secondary spec as a Full Healer for those tricky buffs. In Raids I will either be a Caster DPS or Full Healer (who sneaks Frenzy burst into their spec for when the Raid leader isn't watching hehe

). In Dominion, well, I wouldn't like to give away any secrets on that but it does vary somewhat. I haven't done an awful lot with Melee Healer since 5.0, just some minor testing but it is something I plan on testing more in the coming weeks. Currently, I am not drawn to it as much as I have been in previous patches which is a shame because it was beast mode in the level 47 patch and very competitive in the 55 patch.

Overview:

Well I am probably going to lose some marks for this (QQ) but my guide is aimed at how Healers are now, not a comparison with how they were before or a clear indicator of the changes made. I will make reference to changes but I wanted to write this guide as the definitive guide to Healers, all variants of Healers in all situations.

My aim is to provide a resource to the community where you can see not only my builds and why I use them but to understand how the talents and rubies work together so you can make your own build that achieves what you want and suits your play style. Healers are diverse enough that they can be adjusted to however you want, well, unless you want to tank (though that is doable, sort of).

With that out of the way, below is a table of contents.

Table of Contents:

1 - Talents
2 - Holy Blast Tree Rubies
3 - Verdict Tree Rubies
4 - Cleansing Flame Tree Rubies
5 - Caster Healer Builds
6 - Melee Healer Builds
7 - Full Healer Builds
8 - Hybrid Healer Builds
9 - Stat Points
10 - Reincarnation Skills
11 - Conclusion
12 - Notes/Errata's

Note: Each entry in the "Table of Contents" is a link you may click on to take you to the section you are most interested in. I hope this helps your navigation.

This post has been edited 43 times, last edit by "1aussieonly" (May 9th 2014, 5:18pm)

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2

Thursday, May 1st 2014, 10:19am

Intermediate

Part 1 - Talents:

Holy Blast & Celestial Judgement:

Holy Blast, and it's upgraded skill Celestial Judgement, are holy-based (divine) ranged DPS skills that have no cooldown. The cast time varies based on the associated rubies. For the Caster Healer build variant this is your main DPS skill but it also has some application in Full Healer builds, as shown later. These skills received a significant damage increase in the 5.0 patch.

Verdict & Judgement:

Verdict, and it's upgraded skill Judgement (Anathema) are physical-based melee weapon attacks that have a varying cooldown, based on the weapon used and rubies allocated. This skill is in Melee Healer builds primarily. With the 5.0 patch the damage from these was increased by 38%.

Cleansing Flame:

Cleansing Flame puts a fire-based (elemental) DoT (damage over time) on the target. The duration of the DoT varies greatly based upon what rubies you take. This skill is usually taken in all 3 Healer builds in some capacity. With the 5.0 patch the damage from this was increased by 40%.

Particle of Light:

Particle of Light is a holy-based (divine) ranged attack that effects a single target. It has a moderate cast time but can be instantly cast, using one of your stacks of Fanaticism. With the 5.0 patch the damage was increased by 25% and the cast time reduced to 3.5 seconds.

Devoted Plea & Refreshing Light:

Devoted Plea and it's upgraded skill Refreshing Light are a heal with no cooldown that provides a moderate heal. It has a reasonable cast time and is essential in all PvE Full Healer builds.

Aspect:

A Healers aspect is one of the most important things to a Healer. It signifies the role of a Healer (Caster/Melee/Full) and offers a bonus while performing the jobs of that role. Each rank of Aspect gives you access to another aspect. There are 3 Aspects.

Aspect of Light (Rank 1) - This is the Caster Healer aspect. While in this aspect your Holy Blast and Celestial Judgement cannot be interrupted (for example, by a knockdown effect) and you have a 35% chance to gain 1 stack of Fanatacism whenever you use Holy/Celestial Blast. Pre-5.0 the chance to gain Fanatacism was only 30%.
Aspect of Mercy (Rank 2) - This is the Full Healer aspect. While in this aspect certain heals cannot be interrupted while others, such as Perpetual Healing, have their cooldown removed. Additionally, everytime someone in your party or raid receives damage there is a chance you will receive a stack of Fanatacism.
Aspect of Rage (Rank 3) - This is the Melee Healer aspect. While in this aspect your Anger statistic is increased by 15 and you have a chance to receive a stack of Fanatacism every time you use Verdict/Judgement.

Heavenly Smite:

Heavenly Smite is an AOE (area of effect) lightning-based (elemental) ranged attack. This deals moderate damage and has a chance to knockdown all targets struck by it. It has a relatively short cast time but a long 25 second cooldown. Both the cast time and cooldown are effected by rubies. This is usually taken in both the Caster and Melee healer roles but often taken by Full Healers also. Smite received a 75% damage increase in the 5.0 patch and has one of the best visual/sound effect combinations in the game, in my opinion.

Holy Shield:

Holy Shield is an instant cast self-effecting spell that grants the Healer a temporary immunity to all damage and effects. While in "bubble" you cannot use any weapon-based attacks. The duration is increased and cooldown reduced at higher ranks. Certain rubies reduce the cooldown of Holy Shield also. This skill is a life saver, essential in PvP and strongly recommended for all builds. With the 5.0 patch this can no longer be used while under the effects of Knockdown.

Blind Faith:

Blind Faith is an instant cast ranged spell that temporarily blinds the target. The cooldown is reduced at higher ranks. This skill is very useful in PvP and has solid applications in non-Raid PvE content. It is worth considering for all Healer builds.

Perpetual Healing:

Perpetual Healing is a Healers only stable HoT. It lasts for 12 seconds and has a 25 second cooldown (please see Aspect of Mercy). It ticks every 2 seconds for it's duration. There are rubies to increase it's duration. This is essential in the Full Healer role and strongly recommended for all other builds, especially in PvP.

Chain of Light:

Chain of Light is a holy-based (divine) ranged attack that effects a single target but will also "jump" to another target, bouncing for a total of 5 hits at maximum. It has a moderate cast time but can be instantly cast, using one of your stacks of fanatacism. With the 5.0 patch the damage of Chain of Light was increased by 15%.

Holy Rage:

Holy Rage is a physical-based melee weapon attacks that have a varying cooldown, based on the weapon used and rubies allocated. It is the Healers hardest hitting melee skill. This skill is in Melee Healer builds primarily. With the 5.0 patch the damage of Holy Rage was increased by 62%.

Divine Prayer:

Divine Prayer is a strong, single-target heal that has a long 50 second cooldown. It has a moderate cast time, unless in Aspect of Mercy which makes it an instant cast. This is essential in the Full Healer role and has some applications in other roles.

Purification:

Purification is a Healer skill that is used to remove one ongoing negative magical effect from a friendly target. The cast time doesn't change per rank but the cooldown does, from 10 seconds, to 5 seconds to no cooldown. Not amazing in PvP but essential in PvE for a Full Healer.

Holy Rejuvenation/Holy Healing:

Holy Healing, and it's upgraded skill Holy Rejuvenation, are strong, single-target heals. They have a moderate cast time but can be instantly cast at the cost of 1 stack of Fanatacism. This spell has a 1 minute cooldown, unless you are in the Aspect of Mercy aspect which reduces the cooldown to zero. Essential for Full Healers and recommended for both Caster and Melee Healers in PvP situations.

Aura of Potency:

Aura of Potency increases your parties magical damage (divine, elemental, nature) by 5/10/15% at rank 1/2/3. While this Aura is active any heal you use, whether on self or others, are reduced by 50%. Strongly recommended for both Melee Healers and Caster Healers in PvE situations.

Binding Light:

Binding Light is a crowd control effect that has a lot of weaknesses. It has a short cast time but a long cooldown that is reduced by the rank of the skill. It puts a debuff on the target that temporarily paralyses them until they receive damage. This is solely a PvP skill and, even then, it is only good in 1v1 situations. I would not recommend this skill to anyone.

Providence:

This dragon tear skill applies a number of stacks (dependent on the skills rank) on a target, whether friend or foe. Whenever the target takes damage a stack of Providence is removed. If the target is friendly, they receive a heal. If it is an enemy, they take damage. The damage inflicted is holy (divine). This skill is great for all types of Healer roles, whether it's as a small but hard-healing "HoT" or as a burst damage skill for Melee/Caster Healers. Well recommended.

Faith Boundaries:

This dragon tear skill places a buff on a friendly target/self that absorbs a certain amount of damage. Once this shield is broken, through damage or the buff time elapsing, then all enemies in close proximity are knocked down. Great for a Full Healer in PvE and PvP while having applications for both Caster and Melee Healers in PvP also.

This post has been edited 12 times, last edit by "1aussieonly" (May 9th 2014, 5:08pm)

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3

Thursday, May 1st 2014, 12:25pm

Intermediate

Part 2 - Holy Blast Tree Rubies:

Deep Concentration:

Deep Concentration is split into 3 rubies. It reduces the cooldown of Holy Shield by 15/30/50% and reduces the cooldown and mana cost of switching aspects by 25/50/75%. While the aspect switch bonus isn't that great (though does have some applications in PvE content), the Holy Shield cooldown is great in PvP, reducing rank 3 Holy Shield to a 1.5 minute cooldown. I consider this essential for a PvP Full Healer and recommended for Melee and Caster Healer, if you have sufficient rubies.

Disciple's Reward:

Disciple's Reward is split into 3 rubies. When your health drops below 50% you gain a 10/20/30% bonus to all (elemental, divine, nature, physical) resistances for 10 seconds. This effect cannot happen more than once every 40 seconds. These rubies are amazing in PvP for all 3 types of healer and utterly essential for a Full Healer.

Frenzy:

With 5.0 Frenzy became an activated ability instead of a random proc ability. It has 3 rubies and each ruby reduces the cooldown of the ability. The cooldowns are 10/5/1 minute. While in a state of Frenzy, the cast time of Holy Blast and Celestial Judgement are reduced to instant and the mana cost of Holy Blast and Celestial Judgement is reduced by 70%. Essential for Caster Healers but has some applications in PvE Full Healer builds, which I shall discuss later.

Holy Flame:

Holy Flame is split into 3 rubies. It increases the damage of Holy Blast and Celestial Judgement while in Aspect of Light by 5/10/15%. An absolute must for Caster Healers in PvE spec and strongly recommended in PvP spec.

Angelic Grace:

Angelic Grace is split into 3 rubies. It reduces the cost of all Healer spells and abilities by 5/10/15%. While these are very useful rubies to take for all roles, it is worth noting that you can skim these rubies if you are trying to make a more "flamboyant" build with more utility. Personally, I always take these rubies as both a Full and Caster healer but it is personal preference.

Light's Reach:

Light's Reach is split into 3 rubies. While in Aspect of Light these rubies increase the range of Holy Blast, Celestial Judgement, Cleansing Flame, Heavenly Smite, Chain of Light and Particle of Light by 5/10/15 yards. Additionally, Particle of Light, Holy Blast and Celestial Judgement will slow a target by 10/20/30% for 5 seconds. These rubies are not useful in PvE and, imo, not great in Dominion due to not needing the extra range. They are, however, fantastic in Raid Dominion (18 v 1

as range isn't an issue at all and Caster Healers who regularly attend Raid Dominion should strongly consider these rubies.

Circle of Healing:

Circle of Healing is a solitary ruby. Once used, the healer creates a 20 yard radius circle. All party members in the circle are healed every 2 seconds for 6 seconds, including once when it is cast, for a total of 4 ticks. This spell is a channeled spell, and thus can be interrupted, and last for 6 seconds. It has a 30 second cooldown. A must have for Full Healers in all specs and worth considering for Melee and Caster Healers as this is a great heal for the 1 ruby investment.

Power of the Pure:

Power of the Pure is split into 3 rubies. Each ruby increases the healing or damage done by all holy heals/attacks by 3/6/9%. I consider these rubies essential for all builds of Healer. +9% heals for a Full Healer is huge. 75-80% of a Caster Healers damage is holy, so this equates to around an 8% dps increase. It is the least effective for a Melee Healer but it still increases the damage of their highest dps skill by 9% (Particle of Light and Chain of Light).

Crusade:

Crusade is split into 3 rubies. The rubies increase the damage of Particle of Light and Chain of Light by 5/10/15%. However, once rank 1 is purchased Particle of Light and Chain of Light can no longer be precast and can only be cast using fanaticism. In testing, this has never felt like a bad thing as fanaticism generates relatively reliably for both Caster and Melee Healers (more so for Caster Healer since the change to Frenzy) and you never get caught in the long cast time of either skill. This is essential for a Caster Healer and highly recommended for a Melee Healer. It is also worth considering for a Caster/Full Healer hybrid. These rubies were added in the 5.0 patch and were a great addition for both Caster Healer and Melee Healer, due to the effects and their accessibility on the ruby tree.

Heavenly Miracle:

Heavenly Miracle is split into 3 rubies. These rubies reduce the cast time of Heavenly Smite, Holy Blast and Celestial Judgement by 10/20/30%. Absolutely essential for a Caster Healer. Not worth considering for a Melee Healer in my opinion. If you have an abundance of rubies, this is worth considering for a Caster/Full Healer hybrid.

Unshakable Faith:

Split into 4 rubies, 1 on the Holy Blast tree and 3 on the Cleansing Flame tree. Each ruby increases your Proficiency by 3 for a total of +12 Proficiency. A must have for all Healer specs. We all love our stat rubies, right? These used to be the Perception rubies.

Inevitable Punishment:

Inevitable Punishment is split into 3 rubies. These increase the damage of Heavenly Smite and Chain of Light by 5/10/15%. Additionally, reduces the probably of casting interruption of Heavenly Smite and Chain of light by 50/75/100%. For Caster Healer these are a great damage boost and a must have. For Melee Healer these are essential in PvE and strongly recommended in PvP.

Unbridled Wrath:

Unbridled Wrath is split into 3 rubies. These rubys give you an 8/16/25% chance of receiving the Unbridled Wrath buff every 2 seconds while in Aspect of Light. The Unbridled Wrath buff lasts for 10 seconds and every holy attack that deals damage during this time reduces the cooldown of frenzy by 3 seconds. These are absolutely essential for Caster Healers. These rubies were completed reworked with 5.0 to match the new Frenzy rubies.

Light's Generosity:

Light's Generosity is split into 3 rubies. These rubies increase the damage of Particle of Light by 6/12/18%. A must have for Caster and Melee Healers. These rubies can also be considered in a Caster/Full Healer hybrid.

Blessed Resolution:

Blessed Resolution is split into 3 rubies. Every time you cast Holy Blast or Celestial Judgement the cooldown of Heavenly Smite is reduced by 1/2/3 seconds. Great rubies for a Caster Healer that facilitates high AOE burst DPS in-conjunction with Frenzy and Chain of Light. A must have for Caster Healers. Can be considered for Caster/Full Healer hybrids. These rubies are of little value to a Melee Healer. This is a much welcomed change to how these rubies worked in the level 55 patch.

Righteous Fervor:

Righteous Fervor is split into 3 rubies. These rubies increase the critical chance of Holy Blast, Celestial Judgement, Devoted Plea and Refreshing light by 5/10/15%. The way critical chance rubies works now is different in 5.0. No longer do they grant a percentage increase based on your current critical chance, they grant a flat increase in critical chance. These rubies are a must for both Caster Healer in PvE and PvP and Full Healer in PvE spec. They are strongly recommended, but not essential, for a Full Healer in PvP spec. These rubies have been changed from the previous critical chance to be in line with how crits work in 5.0.

This post has been edited 8 times, last edit by "1aussieonly" (May 9th 2014, 5:03pm)

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4

Thursday, May 1st 2014, 4:08pm

Intermediate

Part 3 - Verdict Tree Rubies:

Blessed Steel:

Blessed Steel is split into 3 rubies. While in Aspect of Rage these rubies increase your weapon attacks damage, such as Verdict, Anathema and Holy Rage, by 10/20/30%. Useless for all except a Melee Healer but it is a must have for the Melee Healer.

Divine Instincts:

Divine Instincts is split into 3 rubies. These rubies increase your Vitality by 5/10/15. Great for PvP as it is a significant HP boost, not essential in PvE. It is worth considering if you find you are dying a lot in astral or raids.

Brilliant Faith:

Brilliant Faith is split into 3 rubies. Whenever you gain a stack of Fanatacism everybody in your group is healed for a certain amount. This amount is increased if you take rank 2 and further more if you take rank 3. Once purchased this passive buff is switched on by default but can be switched off should you get the Slap debuff in Astral. These rubies are fine but not great. I only ever take them as a Full Healer for Raid healing, as it's a nice little heal that doesn't cost you anything at all.

Exorcism:

Excorcism is 1 ruby. This ruby grants you a new spell. The spell has a 40 second cooldown. Excorcism causes fear for 6 seconds in all Demons within 15 yards of the Healer. There are rubies that enhance this so it effects non-Demons. This is great in PvE, as there are few instances where you would need an AoE fear for Demons but it is worth considering for a Caster Healer in PvP, in conjunction with the Willpower rubies.

Execution:

Execution is split into 3 rubies. These rubies give Verdict, Anathema, Holy Rage, Holy Blast and Celestial Judgement a 25% to inflict additional lightning (elemental) damage. The amount inflicted is increased when rank 2 and 3 of the rubies are taken. Once purchased this passive buff is switched on by default but can be switched off should you get the Reflections debuff in Astral. I would say this is essential for both Caster and Melee Healers.

Executioner:

Executioner is split into 3 rubies. These rubies increase your lightning (elemental) damage by 3/6/9%, thus increase the damage of the above and Heavenly Smite. Additionally, when a target is at 30% hp or less Holy Blast, Celestial Judgement, Verdict and Anathema inflict 10/20/30% more damage. A must have for both Caster and Melee Healers in PvE and PvP.

Saintly Reach:

Eye of Light is split into 3 rubies. While in Aspect of Rage any successful Holy Rage, Verdict or Anathema places a debuff on the target. This debuff increases all holy (divine) damage the target takes from the Healer by 5/10/15%. A must have for a Melee Healer, not useful for other Healers.

Power of Faith:

Fortress of Faith is split into 3 rubies. This reduces the mana cost and cooldown of Verdict and Anathema by 6/12/20%. Melee Healer can be quite thirsty on mana, especially if you get good Fanatacism procs so these are well worth taking. These should be skipped for non-Melee Healers.

Punishing Fanatacism:

Furious Fanatacism is split into 3 rubies. While in Aspect of Rage there is a 10/20/30% chance that you will gain 1 stack of Fanatacism every 5 seconds. This is essential for a Melee Healer and useless elsewhere.

Holy Avenger:

Holy Avenger is split into 3 rubies. These rubies increase the critical strike chance of Holy Rage by 10/20/30%. This rubies are fantastic. With a luck elixir and full 55 relics for Holy Rage you get solid crit rates on mobs/players. These are very good rubies to take for a Melee Healer but should not be taken for the other Healer variants.

Unbending Will:

Iron Will is split into 3 rubies. These rubies increase your chance of receiving a stack of Fanatacism by 5/10/15%. There has been some debate about whether this only works with Aspect of Rage but I haven't had a chance to thoroughly test this as of yet. Currently, I believe it works with all Aspects and thus recommend all Healers invest in all 3 of these rubies.

Divine Punishment:

Justice is split into 3 rubies. These rubies reduce the cooldown of Binding Light, Silence and Excorcism by 10/20/30%. These aren't essential rubies in any spec but they are quite fun to take as a Caster or Melee Healer who is PvP orientated. In my opinion, there are better rubies to take but if you enjoy CC's or just testing 1v1 in the arena, these are worth playing about with.

Ray of Hope:

Ray of Hope is split into 3 rubies. When the Healers HP is reduced to 50% or less, all incoming heals heal the Healer for 10/20/30% more. These rubies ONLY work for a Healer in Aspect of Light or Aspect of Rage (sorry Full Healers). Only worth considering for PvP specs or high raid-wide damage raid bosses and, obviously, should be avoided by Full Healers.

Silence:

Silence is 1 ruby. It grants you a new spell which has a 1 minute cooldown (reduced by the Justice rubies). This spell silences a target for 6 seconds, which prevents spell casting. Very few applications in PvE situations but is great in PvP. I take this ruby in PvP as Caster, Melee or Full Healer, especially for Champion Dominion 6v6.

Veracity:

Veracity is split into 3 rubies. These rubies increase your Anger by 4/8/12. Additionally, while in Aspect of Rage your Holy Rage will slow a target by 50% for 4/8/15 seconds. Very useful in PvP as it can stop those pesky casters kiting you but useless in PvE. I would recommend taking these as a Melee Healer in PvP spec but they aren't essential.

This post has been edited 13 times, last edit by "1aussieonly" (May 9th 2014, 5:01pm)

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5

Thursday, May 1st 2014, 5:19pm

Intermediate

Part 4 - Cleansing Flame Tree Rubies:

Blaze of Faith:

Blaze of Faith is split into 3 rubies. These rubies grant Cleansing Flame a 10/20/30/40% chance that each tick will place a debuff on the target that increases the damage from the next 3 holy attacks you do by 20%. This has changed in 5.0, previously it was the next attack and was 40% additional damage. These rubies are a must have for both Caster and Melee Healers.

Valiant Guardian:

Valiant Guardian is split into 2 rubies. These rubies increase your Willpower by 4/8. Additionally, while in Aspect of Light, your Holy Blast/Celestial Judgement will mark the target for 20 seconds as a Demon allowing you to use Sacred Word and Exorcism on them. This changed in 5.0, before this the mark wouldn't allow the use of Exorcism. In my opinion this is essential for all variants of healer in PvP and can be considered for Caster Healers in PvE.

True Faith:

True Faith is split into 3 rubies. These rubies increase the healing of Holy Healing/Holy Rejuvenation by 10/20/30% and reduce the cooldown of Divine Prayer by 10/20/30%. Great rubies for a Full Healer, a must have. Caster/Melee Healers should consider these in PvP specs.

Unshakable Faith:

Split into 4 rubies, 1 on the Holy Blast tree and 3 on the Cleansing Flame tree. Each ruby increases your Proficiency by 3 for a total of +12 Proficiency. A must have for all Healer specs. We all love our stat rubies, right?

Divine Foresight:

Divine Foresight is a single ruby. Places a buff on a target that restores a large amount of health once the targets health is reduced to 35% or less. You can only have 1 of these active at a time and, once cast, it has a 3 minute cooldown. This is essential for Full Healers and recommended for PvP for Caster and Melee Healers.

Eternal Fire:

Eternal Fire is split into 3 rubies. These 3 rubies increase the duration of Perpetual Healing by 10/20/30%. Cleansing Flame has a 10/20/30% to restart it's timer, adding a "stack" this stack adds 10% per stack damage to Cleansing Flame. A target may not get more than 5 stacks. Essential for a Full Healer and recommended for Caster/Melee Healers at least at rank 1.

Illuminated Mind:

Illuminated Mind is split into 3 rubies. These rubies increase your Vigor by 3/6/9%. These rubies are essential for all variants of healer. Before 5.0, these rubies gave a bonus to Intelligence.

Enlightenment:

Enlightenment is split into 3 rubies. These rubies increase your Determination by 3/6/9%. These are not worth takin in PvE spec but are well worth taking for all healers in PvP speccs. Before 5.0, these rubies gave a bonus to Wisdom.

Entreaty:

Entreaty is a single ruby. This instant cast heal only effects the caster and may only be used in either Aspect of Light or Aspect of Mercy (sorry Melee Healers). This is a large heal with a 30 second cooldown. A must have for Full Healers and recommended for Caster Healers, especially in PvP specs.

Sacred Blessing:

Sacred Blessing is split into 3 rubies. These rubies provide Holy Healing and Holy Rejuvenation a 15/30/50% chance to place a HoT on the target that heals them over 10 seconds. Definitely worth taking as a Full Healer in PvE and PvP. Worth considering for any healer variant that takes Holy Healing or Holy Rejuvenation in PvP.

Strengthening Heal:

Strengthening Heal is split into 3 rubies. These rubies provide a 33/66/100% chance that Divine Prayer will make the target immune to Fear, Stun and Knockdown effects for 5 seconds. Essential for a Full Healer in PvP. I wouldn't personally take these as a healer in any other spec, except on the way to the Inquisitor rubies.

Inquisitor:

Inquisitor is split into 3 rubies. These rubies increase the healing of Holy Healing, Holy Rejuvenation, Devoted Plea and Refreshing Light by 3/6/9% on energy users. Additionally, they increase your damage by 3/6/9% on targets that use mana. Essential for a Full Healer in PvE. I personally take these usually as a Full Healer in PvP and as both Caster and Melee Healers in both PvE and PvP as they frequently prove quite useful for pushing through some extra damage.

Surge of Faith:

Surge of Faith is split into 3 rubies. These rubies increase the damage done by Cleansing Flame and the Healing done by Perpetual Healing by 5/10/15%. Essential for a Full Healer in PvE and PvP. They are also highly recommended for Melee and Caster Healers in PvE.

Divine Infusion:

Divine Infusion is split into 3 rubies. These rubies increase the critical chance of both Cleansing Flame and Perpetual Healing by 10/20/30%. These rubies are fantastic for a Full Healer in PvE and PvP and for both a Melee Healer and Caster Healer trying to squeeze out every little bit of DPS that they can.

Holy Advantage:

Holy Advantage is split into 3 rubies. These rubies reduce the mana cost of Cleansing Flame and Perpetual Healing by 10/20/30%. Essential for a Full Healer in both Pve and PvP. Not really worth considering except for that.

This post has been edited 11 times, last edit by "1aussieonly" (May 9th 2014, 4:59pm)

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6

Thursday, May 1st 2014, 5:22pm

Intermediate

Part 5 - Caster Healer Builds:

Caster Healer Shell:

This is what I would consider the essential pieces of a Caster Healer build, the skeleton to use to then personalise your build. I'm sure the first thing people may think is "it doesn't have providence", which is correct. Providence is also an essential but this build hasn't used enough talent points here to be able to buy it yet. Definitely get Providence.

From this shell, you can tailor the rest of the build as suits you. Do you want Blind Faith for PvP or to help out in Astral? Maybe Perpetual Healing for PvP, farming or to reduce strain from the healer? Holy Rejuvenation/Holy Healing for that big, instant, potentially life-saving heal is also valid.

Then you have the rubies. You might want Circle of Healing, Divine Foresight or Brilliant Faith for Astral or even Raiding. The Willpower rubies and Excorcism for Pvp. Divine Instincts for PvP or Raiding. Inquisitor for PvP or for Raids with mana users. The Determination rubies for PvP or Raid bosses with AoE/Raid wide damage. It's your choice and, hopefully, my guide to each of the rubies should provide some insight in how the rubies work, interact with the skills and you can make an informed decision as to how you want to tailor your build. Remember, no build is perfect because play style factors into the builds more than people realise.

Caster Healer Astral DPS:

I'm sure this build will look quite straight forward to most of you but I would imagine a few will question some decisions, which I will explain:

Perpetual Healing: Of course I am running Aura of Potency in Astral, which reduces my healing by 50%. Perpetual Healing still heals enough to take some pressure off of the main healer so they can continue to heal those in real need.
Faith Boundaries: Much like, and in combination with, Perpetual Healing. If I find I am taking damage, whether this be from AoE, pulling aggro or attacking mobs with divine reflections (like a nub), I can cast Faith Boundaries and then Perpetual Healing to stablise.
Entreaty and Divine Foresight: These also help stablise if things really go wrong.
Inquisitor: I think you would be suprised if you actually looked at how many bosses, especially the difficult ones, are mana users. That extra 9% DPS makes a big difference.
Purification: Some debuffs in Astral are a MUST purification where more than 1 or 2 ticks can be devastating. Sometimes, these effect multiple people. Just taking rank 2 Purification, which isn't hindering DPS at all, helps relieve some pressure from the healing. You may think "but let the Healer do it, I'm DPS" yes you are but a dead DPS does no DPS. I'd rather do less DPS and my group doesn't needlessly lose lives than worry about being top of the DPS meter on every pull.

This is the build I often use in Astral sector 14 as it does great DPS (my DPS is comparable to the equally geared Warrior with 12s, Bard with 13 13 11 and Mage with 11s), only dropping below when I need to puri or pop a heal. The flexibility the build offers is also quite valuable. Sometimes I will take Circle of Healing and Aspect of Mercy just in case our healer dies so I can drop Potency, switch Aspects and pseudo-heal until we finish the pull.

Caster Healer Raid DPS:

Much like the Astral DPS build, this is focussed on as high DPS as possible but has some changes.

Removed 2 rubies from Angelic Grace. I found that fights in Astral are usually a lot more prolonged than Raid bosses. I rarely run out of mana on a Raid boss (obviously, using mana pots, martyrs, astral restoration pots).
Removal of Entreaty and Divine Foresight. The Healers in Monster's Inc are among the best I have played with and more than capable of healing me so I don't have to worry about these little self heals. This comes with knowing and trusting the people you play with.
With these 4 extra rubies I took the +30% critical chance for Perpetual Healing and Cleansing Flame. Cleansing Flame doesn't do a massive amount of damage but every little helps.

I have used this spec in Tep's Pyramid and it produced very solid DPS results. It's as pure a DPS build for a Caster Healer as I can envisage and serves the job perfectly.

Caster Healer PvP:

So this PvP spec is very similar to a full DPS spec, with some notable changes:

Removal of Aura of Potency. 15% extra damage is great but I would rather be able to use my self heals much more efficiently. In 1v1 or 6v6 this doesn't feel essential for a caster healer. There are some arguments to using this in Raid dom or WH. Here I would consider it but would go for a more DPS focused build there.
Reduction in rank of both Cleansing Flame and Faith Boundaries. Cleansing Flame doesn't do enough damage to justify the extra 5 talent points and I use Faith Boundaries more for the knockdown effect that the damage absorption.
Removal of Inquisitor rubies. Yes there will be mana users but there are better investments than this.
Reduction in Eternal Flame rubies. With the reduction of Cleansing Flame, the benefits of Eternal Fire are reduced. 1 feels like enough but I could see cutting this to gain Divine Foresight.
Blind Faith, Holy Rejuvenation and Holy Healing taken at rank 3. The 30 second cooldown blind is amazing in PvP. It has so many applications - stop a healer healing your target, defend yourself from people focus firing you or others. Holy Healing is a MASSIVE heal, with reasonable Determination and Bloodlust, this can just full heal you.
Disciple's Reward, Divine Instinct, Silence, Exorcism, Willpower and Determination rubies taken at max rank. Silence helps so much in focus firing, either in stopping a Healer healing your target or themselves. Also, great for interrupting a Mage who's surging you (..I.. mages). Divine Instincts provides a much needed HP buff. Disciple's Reward makes you nearly invincible while it is active (Warriors don't do a lot of damage against someone with over 5000 physical resistance) and gives you time to recover. The Determination rubies are great for a damage and heal increase as you take damage. The willpower rubies grant a much needed boost to resisting CCs while adding the combination with Holy Blast/Celestial Judgement for all the Sacred Word/Exorcism shenanigans.

This build has great applications in all aspects of PvP and is my preferred PvP build when I'm not Full Healing. It has fantastic survival, solid burst, good interruption, decent self/party heals, high single target and AoE damage, it has everything. I can highly recommend trying this out. Also, there is little that is more fun than going to Witch's Hollow, standing on a flag, popping Frenzy, tabbing through their whole group and marking them as a Demon with Celestial Judgement then using TK pull to group them up and BAM Exorcism to fear them all. Sooooooooo good

Caster Healer Leveling:

Honestly, I didn't plan on doing a leveling build. Leveling always bored me and most of the people I know changed builds at max level so they were more efficient anyway so I didn't really see the point. However, last night someone who had seen the start of this PMB approached me and asked me some questions about Healers. He requested a leveling build so here it is, just for you.

It might look a little confusing but here is the basic principle. On the talent tree, start at Holy blast and just follow the yellow line. On the Holy Blast ruby tree, follow the yellow line. Once that is complete, follow the blue line.

This post has been edited 20 times, last edit by "1aussieonly" (May 9th 2014, 4:58pm)

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7

Thursday, May 1st 2014, 5:22pm

Intermediate

Part 6 – Melee Healer Builds:

Melee Healer Shell:

This is what I consider the essential parts of the Melee Healer build, the bits you cannot skip. These are all, in my opinon, the must haves that you can build upon to tailor your spec to your personal preferences.

There are many things you can consider from here to hone these specs to PvP, Astral, Raiding, Farming, whatever.

Melee Healer Astral DPS:

As you can see, I have taken Blind Faith at Rank 2, Perpetual Healing at Rank 2, Providence at Rank 3 and Purification at Rank 1.

These give me good support for the Healer, allowing them to heal while I aid in Purifying, a little perp or a blind to relieve pressure. Providence provides massive single target burst damage and is a must have.

I took the Inquisitor rubies as they provide 9% DPS vs a lot of mobs, and especially bosses, in Astral. I also took the 15% Cleansing Flame and 2 extra Eternal Fire rubies, just to increase the damage of Cleansing Flame should achieve.

I also took the 9 Vitality rubies to increase my HP and provide a little more survivability for those tricky, high-end sectors.

Melee Healer Raid DPS:

So the difference between this spec and the Astral DPS spec is that it is more orientated towards DPS. Instead of the Vitality rubies I take the 30% Cleansing Flame critical chance rubies to try and squeeze out as much DPS as possible.

Melee Healer PvP:

With this spec I drop all the rubies associated with Cleansing Flame, as well as Inquisitor rubies. I invest in more defensive rubies – the Vitality rubies, Ray of Hope and Disciple’s Reward to make me a little tankier. I additionally take Silence as another CC that is particularly effective against Healers and Mages.

I drop Aura of Potency in favour of Perpetual Healing and Blind Faith at Rank 3. I also get Faith Boundaries at Rank 1 for the knockdown effect.

I could probably drop Cleansing Flame from Rank 3 to Rank 1 and invest the 5 talent points elsewhere, probably into Holy Healing/Rejuvenation but Cleansing Flame seems to be ok right now.

This post has been edited 8 times, last edit by "1aussieonly" (May 9th 2014, 4:56pm)

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8

Thursday, May 1st 2014, 5:23pm

Intermediate

Part 7 – Full Healer Builds:

Full Healer Shell:

As with the Caster and Melee Healer builds, this is the core of a Full Healer. It has all the rubies that increase your heals and give you the most diverse range of heals available.

Full Healer Astral/Raid:

So this raid is designed to give maximum outgoing heals for every PvE scenario, fastest purifications, highest possible heals. This is solely focusedon healing for the highest possible amounts.

Full Healer PvP:

This build drops the Heavenly Smite rubies in favour of gaining additional Tenacity and the last Divine Prayer CC break ruby.

I haven't said an awful lot about these builds are they are relatively straight forward and, pretty much, build themselves. Full Healers builds are quite intuitive, well I think so at least.

This post has been edited 9 times, last edit by "1aussieonly" (May 9th 2014, 4:55pm)

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9

Thursday, May 1st 2014, 5:24pm

Intermediate

Part 8 – Hybrid Healer Builds:

Warning:

Please bare in mind that this builds are either theory craft or experimental. All are in development and thus are not perfect. Please do not take this as a finished product but a concept that you yourself can take some ideas from and tune to perfection.

Melee Healer with Burst:

So this is a full DPS Melee Healer build that also accommodates the Caster Healers Frenzy burst. It has everything that a Melee Healer has in terms of DPS but allows for the Celestial Judgement Frenzy burst, which also facilitates the Heavenly Smite AoE burst.

I could envisage this spec having an AoE rotation like this:
1 - Have aspect of

Aspect of Light active
2 - Cast

Heavenly Smite
3 - Cast

Frenzy
4 - Spam cast

Celestial Judgement until Frenzy buff end
5 - Caster

Heavenly Smite
6 - Activate

Aspect of Rage
7 - Spam

Chain of Light

The reason we start in Aspect of Light is so we can get the Fanatacism stacks from casting Celestial Judgement. The reason we then change to Aspect of Rage is so we can go back into our usual Melee Healer rotation.

Again, experimental but I believe worth testing as the potential upsides when perfected could be huge.

Caster/Full Healer:

The idea behind this build is to make a full hybrid caster/full healer. It has a great deal of things from both specs, being able to fill the roll of either DPS or Full healing while not being perfect at both.

This is more for those easier Astral allods, or as an off healer/dps in hard allods.

It should be able to sustain relatively good DPS figures and perform a solid healing role.

I suspect this build needs some adjustment as there are a few bits missing that I don’t like, such as the Inquisitor rubies. It may be that this isn't even feasible at all but I will keep working on the idea.

Full Healer with Burst:

This build is my favourite build to use by far. At heart, I am a raider - PvE, PvP, casual, hardcore, whatever - I love raiding. As someone who has healed raids in PvE for over 4 years I have noticed a lot of things. 1 of these was that raids often have "quiet" moments for healers. This could be when a boss is performing a special attack or switching a phase, at the start of a fight when the Paladin won't break barriers for about 8-10 seconds or when the Paladins switch who is tanking, etc. These moments aren't frequent but they are certainly something that can be capitalised on.

With this in mind, I wanted to create a build that was not only optimal for Healing but also gave me some utility when there were quiet moments in raids. Hopefully, you will agree that this has been successful.

The first thing that was important about this build was that it had the essential Full Healer talent and ruby shell. Excluding Purification and Faith Boundaries, neither of which are essential for raiding at this time, this has every heal at the maximum rank. After this I thought about the best approach to DPS and concluded that DPS revolving around Frenzy would give me the highest return so I took Holy Blast, Celestial Judgement and Heavenly Smite. I then reviewed the rubies to see where I could cut to make room for extra DPS rubies. I decided to take all of the Frenzy rubies, Heavenly Smite cooldown/cast time/damage rubies and the Holy Blast/Celestial Judgement cast time rubies, along with Executioner for the DPS increase when bosses are at low HP.

So far, I have only gotten to try this in Eclipse once but here were the results.

Clockwork Knight - Eclipse Raid Boss HPS (Heals Per Second)

Clockwork Knight - Eclipse Raid Boss DPS (Damage Per Second)

I was very happy to achieve near 100k DPS while retaining the top position in heals and this demonstrated to me that the concept of the build works. I don't think it's optimal currently and needs some tweaking to be perfect, which could be dropping Heavenly Smite completely in favour of Particle of Light, but this will come in time.

If you want to try this while raiding just pop Frenzy the instant a boss fight starts and go nuts. Once Frenzy is over, go back to Full Healing, as per normal. When Frenzy comes off cooldown, just judge the situation - are the tanks stable? can the other healers cover the slack for 10 seconds while I dps? is anything likely to go wrong that will need my attention in the next 10 seconds? These questions are answered by experience and knowledge so will come in time

If you try this build, I would be very interested to see how you do with it and if you changed anything.

This post has been edited 21 times, last edit by "1aussieonly" (May 9th 2014, 4:54pm)

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10

Friday, May 2nd 2014, 1:00pm

Intermediate

Part 9 - Stats Points:

The way stats work in this patch are considerably different to how they were before. Apparently, these are meant to be easier to understand and, to some degree, I agree with this but it has taken people a little while to get used to them.

Offensive Stats:

Vigor:

Vigor is your base damage/healing. Approximately every 4 Vigor increases your damage/healing by a factor of 1. You want this stat as high as possible. Vigor appears in all gear of all quality, as well as in Glyphs.

Proficiency:

Proficiency increases your damage/healing by 1% for every point of it you have (so 50% increases your healing and damage by 50%). This is an important stat.

Brutality:

Brutality increases your damage/healing as the targets health is lower. The lower the health, the more effect Brutality will have. For example, 25 Brutality will increase your damage and healing by 13.8% when the target is at 75% health but will increase it by 41.4% when the target is at 25% health. In my opinion you want more Brutality than you do Proficiency, especially in PvP and Raid situations.

Determination:

Determination increases your damage/healing based on damage you have taken. Underneath your Health and Energy/Mana bar you will see the Determination meter. The higher this is, the more effect you get from Determination. For example, at 25 Determination you gain a 0.5% increase in all heals and damage per 1% in your Determination bar (so at 50% Determination bar you would get a 25% increase, at 100% you would get 50%). Seems good, right? Well, yeah it is good but only in PvP. This stat is basically useless in PvE. In PvP, especially as a Full Healer, this is amazing

Anger:

Anger increases your chance of inflicting wound complexity on an opponent. Honestly, just ignore this right now, it isn't good enough.

Defensive stats:

Stamina:

Stamina is much like Vigor except for your life total. I haven't worked out the ratio between Stamina and HP yet however.

Vitality:

Vitality increases your maximum HP. This is the best stat for raiding as it reduces your chance of getting 1 shot against harder bosses with heavy AoE.

Willpower:

Willpower provides you with a chance to resist control effects. For example, at 25 Willpower means that every 9 seconds or 82.2% of your health loss while under the effect of a control effect you gain immunity to control and slowing effects for 3.92 seconds. This is an essential stat in PvP, unless you like getting CC'ed to death

Bloodlust:

Bloodlust heals you for an extra amount based on your damage/healing output. At 25 Bloodlust 11.3% of the damage you do and 3.78% of the healing you do additionally heals you. So you hit someone for 100k, you'd get healed for 11300. Pretty nice!!! I love this stat in PvE as it allows me to heal myself somewhat, relieving the pressure from the healer. Also, this is great for farming

Tenacity:

Tenacity increases the amount of damage you need to receive before you gain wound complexity. This is basically useless, unless you are a tank.

Overall:

Generally I will run the below stats in the below situations:

Caster/Melee/Full Healer PvE:

10561 Vigor

65 Proficiency

55 Brutality

9727 Stamina

65 Vitality

41 Bloodlust

Full Healer PvP:

10861 Vigor

52.5 Proficiency

24 Determination

44 Brutality

9995 Stamina

48 Vitality

33 Willpower

22 Bloodlust

7.75 Tenacity

Caster/Melee Healer PvP:

10861 Vigor

41.5 Proficiency

15 Determination

63 Brutality

9995 Stamina

48 Vitality

33 Willpower

22 Bloodlust

7.75 Tenacity

Note: these stats are still experimental and I can't guarantee that these are perfect but I will update them as I keep testing them further down the line.

Weapons:

Ok let's get the obvious bits out of the way.

A Melee Healer will ALWAYS use a 2 handed weapon. A Full Healer should ALWAYS use a 1 handed weapon and Shield in PvP.

Now lets talk about the rest.

A 2 handed weapon offers more Faith, thus providing a higher mana pool, than a 1 handed weapon. A 1 handed weapon allows you to use a shield. A shield offers considerable resistances. Overall, they offer the same amount of Offensive (Vigor, Prof, Deter, Brutality, Anger) and Defensive (Stam, Vit, Will, Bloodlust, Tenacity) stats. The difference is only Faith, Resistances and the damage of the weapon.

Personally, I am always going to the very hardest of Astral sectors (S14 currently) and want to be as "tanky" as possible so I always use a 1 handed weapon and a shield. If you use mana potions, astral potions of restoration and your Greater Martyr's Guidance then you shouldn't run out of mana ever. I would recommend using a 1 hand and shield at all times as a non-Melee Healer but this is very much about personal preference.

This post has been edited 12 times, last edit by "1aussieonly" (May 9th 2014, 4:47pm)

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11

Friday, May 2nd 2014, 1:01pm

Intermediate

Part 10 - Reincarnation Skills:

Adrenaline Rush:

Adrenaline Rush is a Warrior reincarnation skill. This skill grants you increased energy/mana regeneration for a short period of time. A great skill for extended fights, as it's another method of restoring mana. This doesn't feel like the most optimal reincarnation skill to take but it is worth considering.

Charge:

Charge is the second Warrior reincarnation skill. This skill lets you charge your target, knocking them down once you hit. A great PvP skill, mainly for Melee Healers, as it allows you to close the distance from someone who is kiting you and then begin full DPSing. Again, there are better reincarnation skills but this is a good PvP skill for Melee Healers.

Fear:

Fear is a Summoner reincarnation skill. This skill lets you, surprisingly, fear your target. It's a great little CC, whether it's as a Full Healer/Caster Healer to prevent some damage and allow you time to break distance or heal up, as a Melee Healer to prevent someone running or in Dominion to fear someone off of the point to let your team cap. It also isn't horrible in PvE as you can fear mobs in Astral to prevent some damage or get a mob in a position where it can be "hard" cc'ed. Well worth considering for all Healers.

Howl of Death:

Howl of Death is the second Summoner reincarnation skill. This skill does reasonable damage to your target and slows them for a few seconds. If you are a Caster or Melee Healer and just want to squeeze out a little more DPS in Raids or Astral, this is a solid skill. Otherwise I wouldn't use this.

Rupture:

Rupture is a Psionicist reincarnation skill. This skills gives you a temporary buff with 3 stacks. This skill decreases the caster time and cooldown of the next 3 damaging skills you use. This isn't good for a Caster or a Full Healer but has some applications as a Melee Healer for burst DPS in PvE.

Strike of Justice:

Strike of Justice is a Paladin reincarnation skill. This works exactly like the Charge skill above.

Telekinetic Pull:

Telekinetic Pull is the second Psionicist reincarnation skill. This skill lets you group up all mobs with the radius of it's cast (illuminated by a nice large circle when you begin targetting), pull all enemies within together then knocking them down. Great in PvP to group people up for your team to AoE, great as a temporary little CC, great in Astral. It is the skill that doesn't really have an outstanding upside but is consistently good in all scenarios. I can highly recommended this skill, especially in Astral.

Vengeance:

Vengeance is the second Paladin reincarnation skill. This skill gives you a buff whenever someone in your group dies. This buff adds some holy (divine) damage to each of you next 10 (need to check the exact number) attacks. This skill adds solid burst damage to a Melee and Caster Healer in situations where group members die relatively often. I wouldn't recommended this skill but, if you really want to nuke someone, Providence + Vengeance + Frenzy = GG

Other Skills:

There a number of others skills with useful applications, such as Mage's Flash, Warden's Natural Balances and Bard's Overture but I will let you make your mind up on those, I have just covered those I have personally tested. I'll probably level a Mage next, as I hear the Flash is insane for a Full Healer in PvP and I'd like to try it myself.

This post has been edited 7 times, last edit by "1aussieonly" (May 9th 2014, 4:43pm)

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12

Friday, May 2nd 2014, 1:01pm

Intermediate

Part 11 - Conclusion:

Sorry for the length and walls of text but I do hope this has been an interesting and informative read for you all (or for those who even made it this far

). I have tried to be as detailed as possible and give you everything you need to go away and be the best Healer you can be.

Healer is an amazing class, capable of anything really. You have solid CC's, great damage, great heals, awesome survivability, everything so go out there, give it a go and experiment. Be the best you can be!!!

One little thing for the Ladies out there

If you have any questions or any feedback, please post a comment. I am sure I have missed something or not quite been informative enough in some areas. If these are identified I will endeavour to fix them.

This post has been edited 15 times, last edit by "1aussieonly" (May 9th 2014, 4:41pm)

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13

Friday, May 2nd 2014, 3:30pm

Intermediate

Part 12 - Notes/Errata's:

1.0.1 - Added a beginning and ending image to each section.
1.0.2 - Centered each heading, subheading and image.
1.0.3 - Title image changed

This post has been edited 9 times, last edit by "1aussieonly" (May 9th 2014, 5:20pm)

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14

Tuesday, May 6th 2014, 12:14pm

Intermediate

Ok it's finished now

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15

Tuesday, May 6th 2014, 12:54pm

honeybeez

Beginner

Posts: 4

Location: United States

Occupation: Playing Allods

Awesome job on the Healer!!!!! I have waited days to read all this and it has opened my eyes to different build, what stats I need etc etc etc
Thank you so much for the insight

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16

Tuesday, May 6th 2014, 2:06pm

Intermediate