Field Medic..seriously?

[Razor Cure]

I have another thread about how I think Interrupts should be beaten, taken outside and hung..but this is kinda similar.

I just grabbed Field Medic on my beam.traps corr..first time using the power. I assumed (yes, I know, dont assume) it was an auto, that improved the average Heal Powers.

But no..it is a click. A CLICK.

So before using aid self, if I want it to be better..I have to use another click. Just increasing the likelihood of dying before it goes off. Even more so since FM does NOT remove the Int of Aid Self! Really?! WOuld A single non -interruptible heal be sooo bad? Every 3 mins. That would actually be worth using the first click for FM.

Can Field Medic remove the int of AId Self? Keep the power itself as a click..but come on.

[Pale_Enchantress]

It would be so much better as an auto even if they lower the total heal buff from it.

[Razor Cure]

Agreed! Be worth it just for teh lack of interrupt if they added that to Aid Self.

[Vanden]

Aid Self would be an absurdly powerful mitigation tool if it were uninterruptible. Even with its lower heal amount and ridiculous total cast time, at only 20 seconds base recharge it outperforms even Healing Flames in terms of healing over time.

[Zepp]

If the interrupt is removed, some adjustments may need to be made to heal, animation time, recharge time, etc.  On the other hand, many players do not consider it because of the interrupt or the extremely long animation time...

[Vanden]

I could see the cast time being reduced (seriously, over 4 seconds is just way too long), but as a pool power available to everyone I don’t think the interrupt is going anywhere.

[AerialAssault]

I've always thought that Aid Self was meant to be used as a little pick-me-up between fights, or as an emergency heal when there's a brief respite in a fight. I've certainly had a lot of fun using it on Force Field characters by activating Personal Force Field and zapping myself back to full health.

 

A shorter cast time would be nice though.

[Rylas]

14 hours ago, Vanden said:

Aid Self would be an absurdly powerful mitigation tool if it were uninterruptible. Even with its lower heal amount and ridiculous total cast time, at only 20 seconds base recharge it outperforms even Healing Flames in terms of healing over time.

In a perfect world where you're not going to get interrupted, this would be true. But in the middle of a 15 mob group, who's going to heal more over time? The person using Healing Flames or the person using Aid Self? 

 

*IF* the interrupt was going to be removed, I think other aspects of the power would have to be adjusted. Such as recharge time. It couldn't be *just* losing the interrupt. But the idea is worth having a conversation over. 

[Vanden]

1 hour ago, Rylas said:

In a perfect world where you're not going to get interrupted, this would be true. But in the middle of a 15 mob group, who's going to heal more over time? The person using Healing Flames or the person using Aid Self? 

 

*IF* the interrupt was going to be removed, I think other aspects of the power would have to be adjusted. Such as recharge time. It couldn't be *just* losing the interrupt. But the idea is worth having a conversation over. 

With Aid Self, the main obstacle to using it in combat is the interrupt, but you can actively create space to use Aid Self in combat with smart play or positioning. The main obstacle with every other self-heal power in the game is that the recharge is so long it’s fairly easy to take enough damage to need it again long before it’s recharged. There’s nothing you can do to force a power to recharge, other than using Burnout, which has its own problems. I like how Aid Self rewards more skillful play like that.

[Rylas]

23 minutes ago, Vanden said:

With Aid Self, the main obstacle to using it in combat is the interrupt, but you can actively create space to use Aid Self in combat with smart play or positioning. The main obstacle with every other self-heal power in the game is that the recharge is so long it’s fairly easy to take enough damage to need it again long before it’s recharged. There’s nothing you can do to force a power to recharge, other than using Burnout, which has its own problems. I like how Aid Self rewards more skillful play like that.

For Tankers using Shield Def, Willpower, or Super Reflexes, I'm not convinced creating a safe space for themselves to use Aid Self while managing aggro is as simple as you suggest.

 

Pool Powers, IIRC, we're meant to help fill holes. For example, Acrobatics filled the KB whole for Fire Armor and Dark Armor long before IOs came along. And it does it just as well as any other KB protection power in armor sets. With the added cost of a less efficient endurance use for one additional protection. It isn't like Acrobatics covers KB except in a lot of situation in which you might need it. Aid Self on the other hand, isn't as available. 

 

Again, it would still need to be adjusted so that it's not more efficient than any other self heal, but there's still reasonably strong arguments for why the interrupt is counter-productive to its ability to be a viable option. 

[Vanden]

1 hour ago, Rylas said:

For Tankers using Shield Def, Willpower, or Super Reflexes, I'm not convinced creating a safe space for themselves to use Aid Self while managing aggro is as simple as you suggest.

 

Pool Powers, IIRC, we're meant to help fill holes. For example, Acrobatics filled the KB whole for Fire Armor and Dark Armor long before IOs came along. And it does it just as well as any other KB protection power in armor sets. With the added cost of a less efficient endurance use for one additional protection. It isn't like Acrobatics covers KB except in a lot of situation in which you might need it. Aid Self on the other hand, isn't as available. 

 

Again, it would still need to be adjusted so that it's not more efficient than any other self heal, but there's still reasonably strong arguments for why the interrupt is counter-productive to its ability to be a viable option. 

My point is that it’s possible. With self-heals in armor sets, if they’re recharging there’s nothing you can do to make them charged. Aid Self’s short recharge means the power not being available when you need it doesn’t happen very much, if at all.

 

the short recharge also lets it double as a downtime reducer, since even with its long activation it still finishes healing you before Rest would even kick in.

[biostem]

Not to derail things too much, but is there an alternate animation for aid self, where you don't pull out the little device?  It'd be nice to not have to resort to using the tricorder, if it doesn't fit your theme.  :-)

[Steampunkette]

2 hours ago, Rylas said:

For Tankers using Shield Def, Willpower, or Super Reflexes, I'm not convinced creating a safe space for themselves to use Aid Self while managing aggro is as simple as you suggest.

 

Pool Powers, IIRC, we're meant to help fill holes. For example, Acrobatics filled the KB whole for Fire Armor and Dark Armor long before IOs came along. And it does it just as well as any other KB protection power in armor sets. With the added cost of a less efficient endurance use for one additional protection. It isn't like Acrobatics covers KB except in a lot of situation in which you might need it. Aid Self on the other hand, isn't as available. 

 

Again, it would still need to be adjusted so that it's not more efficient than any other self heal, but there's still reasonably strong arguments for why the interrupt is counter-productive to its ability to be a viable option. 

Step 1. Use Knockback. (Knockdown probably won't get you the time interval you need!)

Step 2. Run around corner.

Step 3. Self-heal

Step 4. Resume buttkicking

 

Or if you're level 41 or higher:

 

Step 1. Use AoE Immobilize from Epic Pool

Step 2. Run around corner.

Step 3. Self Heal.

Step 4. Resume buttkicking.

 

Or -just- run away and heal. Between travel powers and even Sprint you'll outrun any enemy in the game for a -while- at least. Certainly far enough to pull off a self-heal.

[Rylas]

9 minutes ago, Steampunkette said:

Step 1. Use Knockback. (Knockdown probably won't get you the time interval you need!)

Step 2. Run around corner.

Step 3. Self-heal

Step 4. Resume buttkicking

 

Or if you're level 41 or higher:

 

Step 1. Use AoE Immobilize from Epic Pool

Step 2. Run around corner.

Step 3. Self Heal.

Step 4. Resume buttkicking.

 

Or -just- run away and heal. Between travel powers and even Sprint you'll outrun any enemy in the game for a -while- at least. Certainly far enough to pull off a self-heal.

Forgive my failure to clarify in the post you quoted. I'm not convinced creating a safe space for themselves to use Aid Self while managing aggro *for their team* is as simple as you suggest. 

[Steampunkette]

13 minutes ago, Rylas said:

Forgive my failure to clarify in the post you quoted. I'm not convinced creating a safe space for themselves to use Aid Self while managing aggro *for their team* is as simple as you suggest. 

If you've got a team: Tell THEM to Knockback the enemies. Or Control them. OR throw heals.

 

 

Unless your entire team is Fire/Fire Sentinels you're going to have -someone- on the team who can delay the enemy, or debuff them, long enough to get the heal off.

 

[Rylas]

7 minutes ago, Steampunkette said:

If you've got a team: Tell THEM to Knockback the enemies. Or Control them. OR throw heals.

 

 

Unless your entire team is Fire/Fire Sentinels you're going to have -someone- on the team who can delay the enemy, or debuff them, long enough to get the heal off.

 

*Tanking for team*

*RNG leads to an emergency need to heal*

*Stops managing game play to start typing "Hey, can someone use some KB so I can try to use Ai-*

*Face plants*

[Steampunkette]

5 minutes ago, Rylas said:

*Tanking for team*

*RNG leads to an emergency need to heal*

*Stops managing game play to start typing "Hey, can someone use some KB so I can try to use Ai-*

*Face plants*

Seriously, if your team isn't watching your health and helping you out it's their fault you're dropping. Tell them IN ADVANCE to use some mitigation effects if you think you're gonna get in trouble.

 

Though for the record? Even the buff-debuff sets TYPICALLY have at least SOME healing. So unless you've flatly refused to have Corruptors, Defenders, Masterminds, or Controllers on your team you shouldn't need much, if any, self healing. And if you've got a Controller or Dominator on the team you shouldn't have a problem using your self heal. Also your OWN KB/Immob/Etc. Or maybe since everything is aggroed on you, and no one is providing Controls or Knockback, just run and heal. Barring ridiculously OP Blasters or Scrappers/Brutes trying to steal the aggro (And hey, they're tough enough to endure some) you can still just run and heal.

 

Like... how explicitly -specific- are you building your teams where you eschew anyone who has any kind of control or healing abilities that this is a serious issue for you?

[Rylas]

57 minutes ago, Steampunkette said:

Like... how explicitly -specific- are you building your teams where you eschew anyone who has any kind of control or healing abilities that this is a serious issue for you?

Oh, I absolutely only build teams with zero support or control powers, and only people who don't like to work as a team. *eye roll* Thanks for the leading and insinuating question.

 

Look, whether Aid Self received any kind of change or not, I'm not worried about it. But as a power selection, it lacks a lot of appeal for tanking, and makes for a poor fill-in for a self heal. For squishies and other types that do more to avoid direct incoming damage, I can see how it works well for them. But melee characters, let's not oversell it's "easiness" to use.

 

[Steampunkette]

I'm saying that if you're on a team and need heal self so badly that you cannot take a break from tanking to run around the corner and heal yourself, and need to do so, then you have a very bad team both in composition and play style. Which is such a narrow field that explicitly only affects tanks, that no change to heal self is really going to help.

 

And if you're not on such a crap team you either have support to keep you from dying so you don't need heal self or you can run around the corner to survive by using heal self. 

 

The problem being presented is so incredibly niche and small that it shouldn't really be considered a problem.

 

 

Edited September 3, 2019 by Steampunkette

[Zepp]

To clarify, I do not think that Aid Self needs to be buffed. However, it is among the least attractive pool powers in-game atm. That being said, there would need to be a lot of manipulation to heal magnitude, animation time, and recharge to make it more attractive while being balanced and appropriate.

[esotericist]

Aid Self, once you grab Field Medic, is also an endurance sustainability tool. I think this is a heck of a lot more valuable than people think, especially since as noted above you can use it in place of a rest to keep your blue bar filled between spawns to keep kicking ass. In my eyes it's mid-tier for attractiveness because of this.

 

It's not intended to be a safe in-combat heal, if you can't actually engineer safe circumstances to use it. Judging it for not being a safe heal seems rather baffling, especially since as noted above you can try again fairly quickly afterwards if need be.

 

It's a highly situational tool that requires either beneficial circumstances or careful planning. And I personally think that's fine.