Healmasters - Most effective primary to compliment being a healbot?

[Draconic_Kid]

I remade my old thug/pain master and play her as a healbot that throws thugs at the highest valued target that needs to drop when the party is ignoring them (cough, cough, freakshow chiefs). I'm only 35, I could redo the character without too much suffering, and so I need to wonder - is pain the most effective heal secondary for a master, or should I chose something else? As for thugs I feel like as flavored as they are for a vigilante, they are genuinely the lowest tier of pets, given their lack of resistances and small health pools. It's fun to scream "Bar fight!" and start a gang war every five minutes, but would I benefit from changing my flavor a little to something like maybe mercenaries? My end goal is the same - healbot with some damage to send pets after someone in a pinch and otherwise stay in bodyguard mode to give an extended health bar to myself.

[Dixa]

any, really. outside of demons + thermal there are no exceptional synergies between primaries and the at's healing secondary options.

 

 

I will warn you though - most vet CoH players look down on heal bots.

[Gone]

It's true, 'healbots' is a concept that is generally unnecessary in this game.  Heals are useful but don't overshadow buffs and debuffs.  What you really want to look at is what else the powerset you choose offers, rather than how good it will 'heal'.  In the endgame, debuffs are vital, so having access to some is very valuable.  I think that a set you should consider is Thermal.  It gives much of what Empathy or Pain does but also brings a couple of decent debuffs late that will always be useful.  You'll do fine with Pain though, if that looks fun to you. It's already been said that there aren't a lot of synergies between primaries so, other than play what looks fun that's all I got!

[Williwaw]

There isn't really a "pure healing" set in the game. Even Empathy and Pain Domination, the two that come closest to pure healing sets, are actually mostly buff-based sets, with only three straight-up heals each (four if you count the resurrection power as a heal), the rest being buffs or debuffs.

 

Pain in particular has several PBAoEs that require that you be somewhat close to the action - an AoE +Regen toggle and a PBAoE -Res/-Def click power.  It also has a +Resist/To Hit/Damage buff that you'll want to keep on your allies and pets as much as possible.  You can't just sit back and throw out single-target heals if you want to be fully effective, you have to get in there and mix it up.

 

Thugs are also considered one of the best Pet sets in the game, and Mercenaries one of the worst, so I'd stick with what you have.  The Bruiser has some serious resistances (in fact, it looks like a copy-paste from the Commando in the Mercs set), and the T2 pets have Leadership auras, so they're not as fragile as they look (other than that darn Pyro... he just keeps running in and getting killed).

[khy]

Thugs win out over Mercs in a ton of ways. Yes, the Mercs do have 25% smashing and lethal resist but their HP pools are still so small that they'll still get 1-shotted by AoE effects all the time. At least the Enforcer's Leadership Auras make Thugs 20% harder to hit, and boost Damage/Accuracy. Gang War might not feel like a super strong power, but it's really VERY good. Especially compared to Serum which is lackluster, has a ridiculous cooldown, and the bonuses really aren't that great. And while the Bruiser and Commando are relatively close to each other in terms of tankiness, the Commando's always at range which means he never draws aggro to put that tankiness to use - your other pets will die first. The bruiser does a great job of getting up in enemy's faces and tanks really well.

 

Healing is not really as necessary in CoH as it is in other games. Most melee ATs get self heals to survive in melee, healing insps drop like candy on Halloween, and pets low HP pools mean that oftentimes if they're taking hits they're dead before you can get a heal off. If you want a good support set with lots of utility, I suggest you try FF/Mace. IMO it's the best support set I've played, and I definitely feel it's better than Empathy/Pain in terms of survivability for teammates and pets alike.

 

Don't take Detention Cell, Repulsion Field, or Repulsion Bomb and instead take all 3 leadership AoEs, Medicine AO/AS/FM/Res, and Teleport Friend. You can port dead players out of a group and rez them, AO is a great single target heal once enhanced, and if you pop Power Boost right before you buff your team with FF's bubbles then each bubble can easily give them 25% or higher defense. Add in your big bubble (+12% defense) and Maneuvers (3% defense) and you alone are making your teammates 40% harder to hit. If someone DOES get hit, Aid Other can heal up a hefty chunk of their HP. If you get hit yourself you've got a good self-heal that also restores end (Thanks to FM). Do this with Thugs, and your Enforcers will be giving an extra 20% leadership to the whole pack, putting their avoidance at a whopping 60%.

 

IMO preventing damage by giving teammates avoidance is better than trying to catch up with healing, but YMMV. I mean, no amount of healing is going to help your Thugs or Soldiers survive a 1-shot AoE, but giving them 40-60% avoidance gives them a MUCH, MUCH better chance of not instantly falling over in combat.

[Dixa]

mercs and thermal is nearly as viable as demons and thermal, maybe moreso given the recent procs and pylon testing. while mercs don't have ember aura and therefore can't hardcap smash/lethal resists at 90%, they will still be at 80% if you can slot the resist auras.

 

my demons/thermal pets are one shot by NOTHING unless it does psi damage.

[Karthunk]

Time is what you are looking for. If it had a higher -regen power it would broken in every way a power set could be; as it stands it is the king of the hill at everything else.

[Doctor Brainbottle]

I have a thugs/pain MM that I enjoy playing as a change of pace, because it fits the character concept and yadda yadda, but if you want to know what's "most effective" I have to say that's pretty much a Bots/Time MM with mace mastery.

 

Mace Mastery gives you power boost, and power boost + Farsight = utterly invincible robots. Oh, and Time also has two AOE heals, so you aren't really giving up a lot of healing power compared to something like Pain, you're just indisputably superior at absolutely everything else with no down side. Robots/Traps is arguably a little better at soloing AVs, but in general, for everything else Bots/Time/Mace is the answer before you even ask the question.

 

I suppose it isn't really fair, but I'm too busy going "MWAH HA HA HA HAAA!" while watching my boosted-farsight-enhanced mechanical minions steamroll over everything to take the time to properly feel sorry about that.

[Wintervoid]

Roll a Protector Bot.  Heals and Shields. 

[khy]

Mace Mastery gives you power boost, and power boost + Farsight = utterly invincible robots. Oh, and Time also has two AOE heals, so you aren't really giving up a lot of healing power compared to something like Pain, you're just indisputably superior at absolutely everything else with no down side. Robots/Traps is arguably a little better at soloing AVs, but in general, for everything else Bots/Time/Mace is the answer before you even ask the question.

 

PB is so broken it's ridiculous. It boosts FF bubbles and Cold Shields up to 25% defense, boosts Farsight up to 20% defense, boosts heals and tohit and defense debuffs. Anguishing Cry (Pain Dom) becomes a -50% defense PBAoE. Freezing Rain (Storm) becomes -68% targeted AoE. Hurricane's -tohit becomes an incredible -50% while it's active.

 

The only reason it isn't the best power for every single set available to MMs is because it doesn't enhance damage resist powers, damage boosts, or End recovery. So Sonic, Thermal, and Kinetics  don't get much out of it.

[Hyperstrike]

"Pure Healing"/"Pure Healer"

 

A phrase that is like strapping me into a chair and forcing me to listen to a thousand solid hours of nails on a chalkboard...

 

I can understand wanting to know what sets provide the best or most stable ally heals.

 

But I find the "pure" concept an absolute waste.  Mainly because EVERY character in this game can DPS, Tank and Heal.

And since the others on your teams are bringing mutiple aspects to the game, what're you offering?

Heals and not much else...

[kelly Rocket]

I will fight to the death against anyone who tries to claim pure support isn't viable in this game, or that you have to DPS some to be contributing.

 

Pure healer though, yeah, that's not viable. Certainly not towards the endgame.

 

Time doesn't actually give two PBAoE heals. It gives one PBAoE heal+heal over time, and one absolutely godly PBAoE team buff which also happens to heal. You will not be using it as a heal because you ABSOLUTELY MUST build for perma Chrono Shift and basically be autocasting it every time it comes off cooldown, because it's too good to do otherwise. And I don't want to hear whiny "But the game doesn't require IO sets so you can't say perma-Chrono is a must", because that's only true if you never want to engage in Incarnate content at all. If you do, then IO Sets are absolutely mandatory and anyone who tells you otherwise is a fucking liar.

 

 

Anyways, on the actual topic of the OP's question:

 

If you're looking for an active, healing focused secondary, I would recommend Nature over Empathy or Pain. It's very healing focused, and it's just straight objectively better than Empathy or Pain. No ifs, ands, or buts. It's better, full stop.

 

You'll want to do it with relatively tanky pets though, so I'd recommend something like Bots/Nature or Demons/Nature.

[Makeshift Sage]

I have a thugs/ pain and I love the character. I have healed plenty of groups, tf's, raids ect without any problem and still offer good damage, buffs, and decent debuff. I might not be an uber AV killing machine on him but I can solo missions at maxed team size.

 

With incarnate and IO's you can make your henchmen and yourself fairly sturdy too though your still be re-summoning them periodically but that's just the life of a Mastermind.

[Hedgefund]

Mace Mastery gives you power boost, and power boost + Farsight = utterly invincible robots. Oh, and Time also has two AOE heals, so you aren't really giving up a lot of healing power compared to something like Pain, you're just indisputably superior at absolutely everything else with no down side. Robots/Traps is arguably a little better at soloing AVs, but in general, for everything else Bots/Time/Mace is the answer before you even ask the question.

 

PB is so broken it's ridiculous. It boosts FF bubbles and Cold Shields up to 25% defense, boosts Farsight up to 20% defense, boosts heals and tohit and defense debuffs. Anguishing Cry (Pain Dom) becomes a -50% defense PBAoE. Freezing Rain (Storm) becomes -68% targeted AoE. Hurricane's -tohit becomes an incredible -50% while it's active.

 

The only reason it isn't the best power for every single set available to MMs is because it doesn't enhance damage resist powers, damage boosts, or End recovery. So Sonic, Thermal, and Kinetics  don't get much out of it.

 

Cold shields don't get boosted.  I can take screenies if you're a skeptic.

[khy]

Cold shields don't get boosted.  I can take screenies if you're a skeptic.

 

Really? I don't see why that would be, since FF bubbles do. Pine's assumes it works, which is why I assumed it would...

 

I'm not doubting you, I just think that it's just strange that the power that explicitly states it boosts defense buffs wouldn't boost those two defense buffs.

[Hedgefund]

Cold shields don't get boosted.  I can take screenies if you're a skeptic.

 

Really? I don't see why that would be, since FF bubbles do. Pine's assumes it works, which is why I assumed it would...

 

I'm not doubting you, I just think that it's just strange that the power that explicitly states it boosts defense buffs wouldn't boost those two defense buffs.

 

It's because those shields buff some res (fire, cold) as well as def. 

 

You're right that Pines shows a PB buff, I checked that first but that didn't jibe with my live recollections.  So I made a /Cold MM on jericho or whatever the test server is, just to see if maybe there was an error in porting over Cold, but alas, PB didn't help the shields.

[Doctor Brainbottle]

Glacial Shield and Ice Shield both have a resistance component (to cold and/or fire), so if power boost doesn't work I wonder if it's because it checks the power for resistance, finds it, and concludes it can't boost the entire power.

Edited to add: ah, someone already said it.

[Doctor Brainbottle]

Time doesn't actually give two PBAoE heals. It gives one PBAoE heal+heal over time, and one absolutely godly PBAoE team buff which also happens to heal. You will not be using it as a heal because you ABSOLUTELY MUST build for perma Chrono Shift and basically be autocasting it every time it comes off cooldown, because it's too good to do otherwise. And I don't want to hear whiny "But the game doesn't require IO sets so you can't say perma-Chrono is a must", because that's only true if you never want to engage in Incarnate content at all. If you do, then IO Sets are absolutely mandatory and anyone who tells you otherwise is a fucking liar.

 

Yes, well, *I* know that Chrono shift is actually a lot more than just a heal, but if someone asks how they can be a better "healbot" I'm going to tell THEM it's a heal because that's the easiest way to convince them it's an important power they should spam at every opportunity.

[Dixa]

deflection field gives toxic resists but is affected by power boost.

 

power boost not affecting cold was likely a design decision to keep from completely obsoleting force field.

[kelly Rocket]

Time doesn't actually give two PBAoE heals. It gives one PBAoE heal+heal over time, and one absolutely godly PBAoE team buff which also happens to heal. You will not be using it as a heal because you ABSOLUTELY MUST build for perma Chrono Shift and basically be autocasting it every time it comes off cooldown, because it's too good to do otherwise. And I don't want to hear whiny "But the game doesn't require IO sets so you can't say perma-Chrono is a must", because that's only true if you never want to engage in Incarnate content at all. If you do, then IO Sets are absolutely mandatory and anyone who tells you otherwise is a fucking liar.

 

Yes, well, *I* know that Chrono shift is actually a lot more than just a heal, but if someone asks how they can be a better "healbot" I'm going to tell THEM it's a heal because that's the easiest way to convince them it's an important power they should spam at every opportunity.

 

Ah, I see your point there :D

 

I'd tend to just steer them towards Nature as that's a true healbot set, that brings more benefit to the team overall than Empathy or Pain would.

[SmalltalkJava]

/nature seems strong so far

It has absorbs. ground place heal. AOE heal,  and some other tools I can’t remember off the top of my head. 

[Xionian]

/nature seems strong so far

It has absorbs. ground place heal. AOE heal,  and some other tools I can’t remember off the top of my head.

 

-dam -tohit -regen -res +dam +res +regen +tohit, Heal, HoT, Absorb and +end.

Also its unique looking, all the other sets are various glowie blobs of light with different particle effects. With this you can be like a... forest or a golf course or something. So, it's got that going for it... *queue Kenny Loggins*

 

I think for general purpose support its pretty great. Doesn't really seem to outshine any other sets specifically, but would be a welcome addition to any team looking to pick up some heals and debuffs. It seems to pair well with necro to stack -tohit and heals. Could see thugs and bots being pretty good with it too.

 

That said, I wish it has some +recharge but that may be what would make it OP.

[ranagrande]

Robotics is by far the best primary for a healbot.  The tier two pets give two more healbots to your healbot.  Also, your healbot and your healbot's healbots get to heal bots.

[SmalltalkJava]

Robotics is by far the best primary for a healbot.  The tier two pets give two more healbots to your healbot.  Also, your healbot and your healbot's healbots get to heal bots.

 

Agree,  range pets can make things more simple.  since the bots are 100% ranged, beside their dumb brawl attack that all pets get.  You can abuse the GOTO command to keep them out of AOE's and melee range.    so while your healing/buffing/debuffing.  if you see one run into melee range just GOTO them back out of it.   

 

When i'm on bots and using FF  i use this bind to quickly move them out of melee

 

/bind LCTRL+LBUTTON petcom_all goto

or you can use shift if you prefer

/bind LSHIFT+LBUTTON petcom_all goto

[khy]

You will not be using it as a heal because you ABSOLUTELY MUST build for perma Chrono Shift and basically be autocasting it every time it comes off cooldown, because it's too good to do otherwise. And I don't want to hear whiny "But the game doesn't require IO sets so you can't say perma-Chrono is a must", because that's only true if you never want to engage in Incarnate content at all. If you do, then IO Sets are absolutely mandatory and anyone who tells you otherwise is a fucking liar.

 

Speaking of, I was trying to plan out a /time MM and even with hasten and as many Recharge set bonuses & recharge IOs I could think of, I still couldn't get Chrono or Hasten to perma. Even picked Agility alpha slot and that STILL wasn't enough. So I grabbed Ageless and sure enough, easy to perma both hasten and chrono. So is there a trick to getting Chrono Shift and Hasten to perma status without ageless or is it better to just grab ageless and call it good?