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HEALING FOR HEALTH AND MANA AND BURST AND RAGE AND BREAK AND TP AND SP AND -
Posts
Craze
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CloseFun fact: healers do more than restore health. What they do is transfer or convert resources - I prefer to generally call them "support" characters because of this, especially since they tend to add support (buffs/debuffs) to their duties.
The more resources your game has, the more dynamic and diverse your healers and healing becomes. The typical RPG has three resources: health, mana and items. These usually work like so:
-Mana becomes health
-Items become health or mana
Some games add "health becomes mana" or a lay on hands/gift ability that transfers health to health or mana to mana. Even fewer games allow you to summon items; mana becomes items become health/damage/effects. (For a great example of item summoning, check out Hero's Realm.)
What happens when you add a new, limited resource that you want to keep in check? Let's look at Xenosaga III's Break - when a character reaches their Break Limit, they're stunned for two turns, take more damage and build up your boost guage.
Okay, a quick clarification - a resource is something that you want to obtain but can also lose (or vice-versa), usually consumed to perform actions or with a special effect at full/empty. In this case, you want to obtain Break on your enemies while keeping your own Break low. Full Break has the special effect of stunning and generally being bad news if it happens to your characters. Health can be used as a cost for actions (see: Shin Megami Tensei games), but usually just has the special effect of killing a character at empty. Mana/TP/SP/PP/etc. is usually used as a cost and nothing more, although exceptions exist. Other common resources are a sort of limit/overdrive system, where you want to obtain points to get the special effect of utilizing an awesome ability at full, or stamina, which steadily replenishes itself by itself or by attacking normally and is spent to perform strong physical moves as a sort of upside-down mana.
Back to Break: Xenosaga III's addition of Break essentially adds two new roles to combat: Breaking and Break healing. Shion and Ziggy are terrific at Breaking humanoids, chaos is good at Breaking groups of enemies and MOMO excels at single-target Breaking. Most characters eventually gain access to various levels of Break healing. So, do you heal Jin or do you try to polish off that enemy's Break gauge so that they don't have a chance to unleash that scary attack? Maybe you want to help Shion so that she doesn't become stunned next turn and you lose your healer?
Etrian Odyssey 3 is better than you at TP (mana) restoration. You need TP to use skills that mean you don't die in the labyrinth and against massive monsters on the high seas. Let's look at how it does it! Note that unless otherwise specified, these are passive abilities. Also, almost all EO3 skills have ranks - so putting more points into Royal Lineage will raise its ability to heal TP when buffed. You'll have to unlock/purchase these abilities, but most are very easy to pick up because TP is so important. These aren't all of the classes; only some have TP manipulation abilities.
Prince/ss:
-When buffed, restore own TP
-When buffs on self wear off, restore own TP
-(Active) Eliminate a row of allies' debuffs; each debuff restores target's TP
Buccaneer:
-After using a damaging skill, restore own TP
Ninja:
-Reduce skill costs (not healing really, but I thought I'd throw it in)
-When evading an attack, restore own TP
Monk:
-When an ally dies, restore own TP
Zodiac:
-Eliminate TP costs for target row this turn (not really healing, but a nifty and useful skill)
-When killing an enemy, restore own TP
Wilding:
-(Active) Dismiss a summoned beast and restore own TP based on summoning cost
Farmer:
-If own HP is full, restore own TP
-When using a Tent, increase healing of both HP and TP
Yggdroid:
-Each bind restores own TP each turn
By adding new resources or playing with old ones, it's possible to create interesting healers- they don't even have to be trying to heal; for instance, Prince/esses in EO3 can heal the party by simply having full HP. They can also cause their buffs (which affect entire rows) to heal. Monks can restore the party's HP when they die!
You might want to adjust speed. Make a healer like Apnis from Demon Tower that has a quick heal that goes early in the turn (or uses less charge time, or whatever) and a cheaper and/or more powerful heal that acts later in the turn. Maybe fiddle with the "defend restores HP/MP" rm2k3 tradition by having Defend be a unique command for each character - one character's defend removes Blind and Silence from the party (which is a form of healing I didn't even touch upon) and another character begins to regenerate HP for three turns after defending. Maybe you want to cut out active healing altogether by adding a regen stat that acts every turn and calling it good, or having each character equip a passive healing mechanic stolen from EO3 (when the rogue evades she restores 20% HP, when the warlock doesn't hit a resistance he restores 5% HP). Maybe you want to pull a Rogue Galaxy, where the only heals come from consumable items - all player skills are offensive or defense, never restorative.
Steal, adjust and implement healing ideas to make your healers and restoration less stagnant. Remember one major trick: more resources means both more damage types and more healing. I'm just going to drop these links:
http://rpgmaker.net/games/1426/
http://rpgmaker.net/games/2732/
And maybe Karsu wants to talk a little bit about Philadelphia or even the basic yet effective and varied healing in V&V...?
Discuss healing.
The more resources your game has, the more dynamic and diverse your healers and healing becomes. The typical RPG has three resources: health, mana and items. These usually work like so:
-Mana becomes health
-Items become health or mana
Some games add "health becomes mana" or a lay on hands/gift ability that transfers health to health or mana to mana. Even fewer games allow you to summon items; mana becomes items become health/damage/effects. (For a great example of item summoning, check out Hero's Realm.)
What happens when you add a new, limited resource that you want to keep in check? Let's look at Xenosaga III's Break - when a character reaches their Break Limit, they're stunned for two turns, take more damage and build up your boost guage.
Okay, a quick clarification - a resource is something that you want to obtain but can also lose (or vice-versa), usually consumed to perform actions or with a special effect at full/empty. In this case, you want to obtain Break on your enemies while keeping your own Break low. Full Break has the special effect of stunning and generally being bad news if it happens to your characters. Health can be used as a cost for actions (see: Shin Megami Tensei games), but usually just has the special effect of killing a character at empty. Mana/TP/SP/PP/etc. is usually used as a cost and nothing more, although exceptions exist. Other common resources are a sort of limit/overdrive system, where you want to obtain points to get the special effect of utilizing an awesome ability at full, or stamina, which steadily replenishes itself by itself or by attacking normally and is spent to perform strong physical moves as a sort of upside-down mana.
Back to Break: Xenosaga III's addition of Break essentially adds two new roles to combat: Breaking and Break healing. Shion and Ziggy are terrific at Breaking humanoids, chaos is good at Breaking groups of enemies and MOMO excels at single-target Breaking. Most characters eventually gain access to various levels of Break healing. So, do you heal Jin or do you try to polish off that enemy's Break gauge so that they don't have a chance to unleash that scary attack? Maybe you want to help Shion so that she doesn't become stunned next turn and you lose your healer?
Etrian Odyssey 3 is better than you at TP (mana) restoration. You need TP to use skills that mean you don't die in the labyrinth and against massive monsters on the high seas. Let's look at how it does it! Note that unless otherwise specified, these are passive abilities. Also, almost all EO3 skills have ranks - so putting more points into Royal Lineage will raise its ability to heal TP when buffed. You'll have to unlock/purchase these abilities, but most are very easy to pick up because TP is so important. These aren't all of the classes; only some have TP manipulation abilities.
Prince/ss:
-When buffed, restore own TP
-When buffs on self wear off, restore own TP
-(Active) Eliminate a row of allies' debuffs; each debuff restores target's TP
Buccaneer:
-After using a damaging skill, restore own TP
Ninja:
-Reduce skill costs (not healing really, but I thought I'd throw it in)
-When evading an attack, restore own TP
Monk:
-When an ally dies, restore own TP
Zodiac:
-Eliminate TP costs for target row this turn (not really healing, but a nifty and useful skill)
-When killing an enemy, restore own TP
Wilding:
-(Active) Dismiss a summoned beast and restore own TP based on summoning cost
Farmer:
-If own HP is full, restore own TP
-When using a Tent, increase healing of both HP and TP
Yggdroid:
-Each bind restores own TP each turn
***
By adding new resources or playing with old ones, it's possible to create interesting healers- they don't even have to be trying to heal; for instance, Prince/esses in EO3 can heal the party by simply having full HP. They can also cause their buffs (which affect entire rows) to heal. Monks can restore the party's HP when they die!
You might want to adjust speed. Make a healer like Apnis from Demon Tower that has a quick heal that goes early in the turn (or uses less charge time, or whatever) and a cheaper and/or more powerful heal that acts later in the turn. Maybe fiddle with the "defend restores HP/MP" rm2k3 tradition by having Defend be a unique command for each character - one character's defend removes Blind and Silence from the party (which is a form of healing I didn't even touch upon) and another character begins to regenerate HP for three turns after defending. Maybe you want to cut out active healing altogether by adding a regen stat that acts every turn and calling it good, or having each character equip a passive healing mechanic stolen from EO3 (when the rogue evades she restores 20% HP, when the warlock doesn't hit a resistance he restores 5% HP). Maybe you want to pull a Rogue Galaxy, where the only heals come from consumable items - all player skills are offensive or defense, never restorative.
Steal, adjust and implement healing ideas to make your healers and restoration less stagnant. Remember one major trick: more resources means both more damage types and more healing. I'm just going to drop these links:
http://rpgmaker.net/games/1426/
http://rpgmaker.net/games/2732/
And maybe Karsu wants to talk a little bit about Philadelphia or even the basic yet effective and varied healing in V&V...?
Discuss healing.
ashriot
222
Healing is an interesting topic. While it had originally started out as a simple means to restore HP to a injured target, it has evolved into an entirely new role, as you put it, the "support" role.
As a side note, Guild Wars 2 will not even have a dedicated healing profession. All professions will have at least a single healing ability, and things like Water magic for the elementalist provides minor healing to allies. They do say that there will be a "support" role and they discuss what it really means to be a healer in a party in this really interesting article: http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/combat/healing-death/
Here is a good quote: "Heal: Don't belittle the SUPPORT role by calling it heal. Healing is the least dynamic kind of support there is. It is reactive instead of proactive. Healing is for when you are already losing. In Guild Wars 2 we prefer that you support your allies before they take a beating. Sure, there are some healing spells in Guild Wars 2, but they make up a small portion of the support lines that are spread throughout the professions. Other kinds of support include buffs, active defense, and cross-profession combinations."
This sums up exactly how I feel about healing. I'm even going back into my current project and editing what I have already. I want to try to incorporate more support/defense instead of just pure healing. I already have energy shields that absorb damage, but I want to have other things such as the ability to cause a target's next hit to miss, etc.
Don't get me wrong, healing has a place and I have a great fondness for old-school RPG's with their Cure's and their Curaga's. But when creating a modern RPG, I find it much more interesting to think outside the box and try to make your healer a true support role. The healer's job is to make sure the party ends (a) alive and (b) with as many HP as possible. You can do this so many other ways than through healing!
As a side note, Guild Wars 2 will not even have a dedicated healing profession. All professions will have at least a single healing ability, and things like Water magic for the elementalist provides minor healing to allies. They do say that there will be a "support" role and they discuss what it really means to be a healer in a party in this really interesting article: http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/combat/healing-death/
Here is a good quote: "Heal: Don't belittle the SUPPORT role by calling it heal. Healing is the least dynamic kind of support there is. It is reactive instead of proactive. Healing is for when you are already losing. In Guild Wars 2 we prefer that you support your allies before they take a beating. Sure, there are some healing spells in Guild Wars 2, but they make up a small portion of the support lines that are spread throughout the professions. Other kinds of support include buffs, active defense, and cross-profession combinations."
This sums up exactly how I feel about healing. I'm even going back into my current project and editing what I have already. I want to try to incorporate more support/defense instead of just pure healing. I already have energy shields that absorb damage, but I want to have other things such as the ability to cause a target's next hit to miss, etc.
Don't get me wrong, healing has a place and I have a great fondness for old-school RPG's with their Cure's and their Curaga's. But when creating a modern RPG, I find it much more interesting to think outside the box and try to make your healer a true support role. The healer's job is to make sure the party ends (a) alive and (b) with as many HP as possible. You can do this so many other ways than through healing!
That's nice but this topic is actually about healing, not getting rid of healing; how to make healing more interesting. Basically, getting away from the Curaga. Support is nice and all (<Craze> I beat Dragon Age without using a single healing spell) but not what I'm trying to get at! That said, directly mixing healing and support isn't a horrible idea.
Here are some heals from Visions & Voices: XTREME/Value/2/Remake/whatever. They're nothing special, but they're not Curaga. Note that chains don't always succeed, but heals can get criticals. Healing is affected by Wisdom, which is why it says "XX+%."
Radiant Wish 80+% healing. Restores 6 Energy
Narcissist's Night Random Chain 12. Each hit restores 20+% HP. Chaining more successful
Second Wind Restore 15+% HP/Chain 3. Ally has +15 CRI
Zephyr Regenerates 25+% HP/turn and lowers Threat for five turns
Mysticism Very slow. Revives all allies with 40+% HP. All allies have +20% MDEF
Reverie Revive ally with 75+% HP. Ally has -30% SPD for two turns
Ascendance Weapon attack. 50% absorption. Each hit raises Lyla's healing +5%
(Hooray for spelling correctly, Rei! Also, absorption is a form of healing. Weapon attacks chain based on the equipped weapon - Lyla can use rapiers which are chain 2!)
Voodoo Economics Prevent and absorb the first 5 points of BP generated for five turns
(Every hit generates a resource called BP; this is basically an absorb heal.)
Tranquility Regenerates 10+% HP/turn for all
(If a buff doesn't say when it wears off, it remains the entire battle!)
These are healing passives - you spend XP on building these up. "X" is the rank of the passive, maximum nine.
Slippery Elena has a 10X% chance to restore 5 Energy upon evasion
(One of Elena's basic/free commands is Payback, which raises evasion by 40% that turn and causes her to counterattack.)
Overflow 10X% of healing over Nadine's Max Health is distributed to the party
(Nadine has a powerful self-heal.)
Here are some heals from Visions & Voices: XTREME/Value/2/Remake/whatever. They're nothing special, but they're not Curaga. Note that chains don't always succeed, but heals can get criticals. Healing is affected by Wisdom, which is why it says "XX+%."
Radiant Wish 80+% healing. Restores 6 Energy
Narcissist's Night Random Chain 12. Each hit restores 20+% HP. Chaining more successful
Second Wind Restore 15+% HP/Chain 3. Ally has +15 CRI
Zephyr Regenerates 25+% HP/turn and lowers Threat for five turns
Mysticism Very slow. Revives all allies with 40+% HP. All allies have +20% MDEF
Reverie Revive ally with 75+% HP. Ally has -30% SPD for two turns
Ascendance Weapon attack. 50% absorption. Each hit raises Lyla's healing +5%
(Hooray for spelling correctly, Rei! Also, absorption is a form of healing. Weapon attacks chain based on the equipped weapon - Lyla can use rapiers which are chain 2!)
Voodoo Economics Prevent and absorb the first 5 points of BP generated for five turns
(Every hit generates a resource called BP; this is basically an absorb heal.)
Tranquility Regenerates 10+% HP/turn for all
(If a buff doesn't say when it wears off, it remains the entire battle!)
These are healing passives - you spend XP on building these up. "X" is the rank of the passive, maximum nine.
Slippery Elena has a 10X% chance to restore 5 Energy upon evasion
(One of Elena's basic/free commands is Payback, which raises evasion by 40% that turn and causes her to counterattack.)
Overflow 10X% of healing over Nadine's Max Health is distributed to the party
(Nadine has a powerful self-heal.)
Shinan
4314
One aspect of healing is also to rework the wound system. Since wounds and healing usually go hand in hand. If you have HP you're likely to have some way to regain that HP. If you have other wounds (like named wounds. Fallout for example had eye wounds and leg wounds etc) there's the possibility of recovering from those in other interesting ways.
ashriot
222
author=Craze
That's nice but this topic is actually about healing, not getting rid of healing; how to make healing more interesting. Basically, getting away from the Curaga. Support is nice and all (<Craze> I beat Dragon Age without using a single healing spell) but not what I'm trying to get at! That said, directly mixing healing and support isn't a horrible idea.
I'm not trying to get rid of healing, I even mentioned getting away from Curaga. I'm saying healing is much more interesting as a support class with a mixture of healing and support. You said in your original post:
Fun fact: healers do more than restore health. What they do is transfer or convert resources - I prefer to generally call them "support" characters because of this, especially since they tend to add support (buffs/debuffs) to their duties.
So I thought we could explore things other than healing... But if you want healing, I got healing!
I like the concepts behind V&V a lot though. It looks like a lot of fun to play! The mixture of healing and other effects is a great idea. Question though: So, if it says 80+% healing, how does that work out exactly? Is it 80% of the char's Wisdom score as healing (that's how I do it) or is it 80% of something else PLUS the Wisdom score as a bonus? I'm just curious as I love to work with systems and math :D
--------------------------------------------------------
My healing spells:
(XX%) is a percentage of that character's Power score. To bring an ally back from unconsciousness, you simply heal them, though some heals cannot awaken fallen allies. Also, if you spend 1 Adrenaline, you can Rush a power to provide an additional effect.
ADVENTURER (a natural leader)
Actives:
Boost Morale. Restores (400%) health over 12 seconds. Rush: Instantly restores (120%) health and removes 1 debuff. (Great to Rush if you really need that instant heal.)
Valor Strike. Causes (45%) damage and restores (40%) health to the lowest health conscious party member. Rush: Restores double the health and can affect unconscious allies. (Great to use if you're more focused on doing damage but want a bit of healing in your arsenal.)
Heroic Aura. Drives his allies to victory, granting the party Accuracy (bonus Attack rating) for 20 seconds. Rush: Also restores (40%) health to all conscious allies. (The Rush is the heal here.)
Turn the Tides (Consumes 4 Adrenaline). Instantly grants all allies Boost Morale and blinds all enemies. (This works well with his passive, Great Inspiration.)
Passives:
Encouragement. Increases the duration of Boost Morale by 3 seconds and increases the amount of health it restores by (75%).
Natural Leader. Reduces the Stamina cost of Heroic Aura by 1. (This increases how often you can use it.)
Great Inspiration. Causes Heroic Aura to extend any current Boost Morale effects by 2 seconds (up to a maximum of 8 seconds.)
MONK (a holy warrior and priest)
The Monk uses a sub-resource called Ki energy. Each time he performs a basic attack or purifies a debuff, he generates 1 Ki energy up to a maximum of 6. There are also many passives to generate additional Ki energy.
Actives:
Healing Touch. Restores (200%) health. Consumes 1 Ki energy. Rush: Requires no Ki energy.(Useful to Rush if you need to spam Healing Touch with little Ki energy, or if you're saving the Ki energy to attack with)
Prayer of Light. A holy word restores (80%) health to all conscious allies. Consumes 3 Ki energy. Rush: Restores an additional (40%) health and affects unconscious allies. (Fantastic to Rush if you have several KO'd allies.)
Holy Symbol (Consumes 4 Adrenaline). A symbol of healing refreshes the party, restoring (600%) health to everyone and removing all debuffs. (Will affect unconscious allies.)
Passives: (Fun Fact: The monk has so many Ki related passives that it's possible to never us an ability to build Ki, just by relying on passives he'll generate enough to fight.)
Flowing Ki. Each time he crits an enemy, he generates 1 Ki energy. (Great to build up for healing or attacking.)
Ki Absorption. Gives Ki Blast and Healing Touch a 75% chance to not consume any Ki energy when used. (Another way to manage Ki.)
Ki Generation. He begins each battle with 1 Ki energy and generates an additional Ki energy every 15 seconds.
Master Healer. Increases the healing caused by Healing Touch and Prayer of Light by 20%.
Radiance. Decreases the Ki energy consumption and Stamina cost of Prayer of Light by 1.
Holy Protection. Each time an ally is attacked, he has a 20% chance (+3% per active Ki energy; up to 18%) to instantly restore (15%) health to that ally. (This is a great all-around way to keep the party refreshed even if you build the monk as a pure damage character.)
author=ashriot
Boost Morale. Restores (400%) health over 12 seconds. Rush: Instantly restores (120%) health and removes 1 debuff.
Healing Touch. Restores (200%) health.
Holy Symbol (Consumes 4 Adrenaline). A symbol of healing refreshes the party, restoring (600%)
What is the point in restoring more health than your characters have HP?
Thanks for this thread btw, Crazetopics are always something one can learn from.
ashriot
222
author=heisenmanauthor=ashriotWhat is the point in restoring more health than your characters have HP?
Boost Morale. Restores (400%) health over 12 seconds. Rush: Instantly restores (120%) health and removes 1 debuff.
Healing Touch. Restores (200%) health.
Holy Symbol (Consumes 4 Adrenaline). A symbol of healing refreshes the party, restoring (600%)
It's a percentage of the user's Power score. If they have 246 Power, Healing Touch would restore 492 health.
Thanks for this thread btw, Crazetopics are always something one can learn from.
I agree! These brainstorming sessions help distribute ideas amongst the designers and we can all learn new ideas and concepts. I've really enjoyed reading about the V&V abilities and the info about EO3.
ashriot
222
No, though that is a good idea. It's more like a character has 402/1563 current/max HP. His Power is 246. Using Healing Touch, he restores 492 HP and is now at 894/1563 HP. If this character uses Holy Symbol now, he restores 1,476 HP and is at 1563/1563.
DFalcon
2141
more resources means both more damage types and more healing
Which can also be more ways to stack multiplicative modifiers, if you're not careful.
Examples:
a) Several games have characters who can spend MP on either healing or damage who have very little reason to use it for damage - it's more resource-efficient to trade MP for somebody's HP, and that person's HP for the time needed to do more free attack damage.
b) To take V&V (especially the non-leveling version), at first it looks like a very resource-limited game, to the point where every combat is a serious matter. So it was fun to mess around with polarity and the skills to see what I could eke out. After some practice, though, and another character or two, I hit the point where stealing and the polarity-based WP/SF regen was enough to consistently end battles in some areas in better shape than I went in... if I spent enough time on it.
So more generally, I would caution people to avoid "sit and regen with one enemy left" perverse incentive and be careful with loops that will let the player make a circle of trades.
DF: The original V&V was horrible and we can just forget it except for the lessons it teaches ~
ashriot: "80+% HP" is 80% of the target's max HP. Wisdom and other stats do not grow with levels because there are no levels; it is increased via equipment and, on some characters, upgrading passives. Average WIS is 40.
healmod = 20 + (WIS - 40) / 3; healmod is then raised to 16 if it is lower than 16 (this is mainly for Telia's benefit; lower WIS still hurts ailment resistance, however)
The % healing is then adjusted by Healing * Healmod / 20.
ashriot: "80+% HP" is 80% of the target's max HP. Wisdom and other stats do not grow with levels because there are no levels; it is increased via equipment and, on some characters, upgrading passives. Average WIS is 40.
healmod = 20 + (WIS - 40) / 3; healmod is then raised to 16 if it is lower than 16 (this is mainly for Telia's benefit; lower WIS still hurts ailment resistance, however)
The % healing is then adjusted by Healing * Healmod / 20.
ashriot
222
Ahhh :D That's cool. Sounds like fun! I also see now the confusion with the way the math works for my game in relation to yours. Your percentages are based on max HP and mine are based on the character's current Power. I'm eager for more info about V&V though!
We're releasing a battle demo soon enough. We spend quite a bit of time discussing/bickering about skills though, so who knows if we'll ever settle enough to reach a release. XD
ashriot
222
Haha, yeah I know how that is. I keep changing all my skills around almost daily--making some sort of tweak or adjustment or even revamping it all once a month it seems. After reading what Karsuman posted in the tank thread, I wanted to rethink some of the mechanics and possibly add threat and things like that. I'm excited though!
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
author=ashriot
Here is a good quote: "Heal: Don't belittle the SUPPORT role by calling it heal. Healing is the least dynamic kind of support there is. It is reactive instead of proactive. Healing is for when you are already losing. In Guild Wars 2 we prefer that you support your allies before they take a beating. Sure, there are some healing spells in Guild Wars 2, but they make up a small portion of the support lines that are spread throughout the professions. Other kinds of support include buffs, active defense, and cross-profession combinations."
This sums up exactly how I feel about healing. I'm even going back into my current project and editing what I have already. I want to try to incorporate more support/defense instead of just pure healing. I already have energy shields that absorb damage, but I want to have other things such as the ability to cause a target's next hit to miss, etc.
Wow, I hate this mindset. Hate hate hate hate hate hate HATE! It makes me bounce up and down like Kefka! Reactive tactics are far more enjoyable than proactive tactics. It's impossible to get away from proactive tactics entirely, and combining them with reactive tactics can sometimes provide interesting advanced tactics, but reactive tactics are the more enjoyable part of games by far. They're what keep you from getting bored!
Here is the low-down. If your characters' tactics are designed to be done before the enemy acts and work no matter what the enemy does, then you can plan the entire battle out before you enter. You don't respond to any game stimuli, you just do your own thing. Best-case scenario, you have different proactive tactics for every enemy in the game, and then this really only becomes super-boring when you have to fight the same enemies multiple times. But more often, the vast majority of your skills work fine in the vast majority of cases - especially in defensive roles. Casting wall on the first round is going to be optimal almost every single battle. And the result is that you will always cast wall on the first round of every single battle in the game.
I shouldn't have to explain that doing the same thing in every single battle is awful, boring, and mind-numbing. Why does your game even have all those battles, if they can literally be beaten while blindfolded!? Reactive abilities like healing, on the other hand, require the player to respond to the game - every battle becomes its own challenge, instead of being the same exact challenge you've done hundreds of times before.
So, here are some ideas on how to make support roles more reactive. Force the player to adapt!
Gambit ON
Condition: Always
Action: Cast Protect, Shell, Regen, Bravery, Faith, Haste
At first glance, both defensive and offensive buffs are blatantly predictive, and lack the capacity to be reactive. But we can change that! You need to make enemy actions that respond to buffs, and buffs that respond to enemy actions. Buffs with unpredictable effects, and buffs that are more or less useful based on the results of those unpredictable buffs. Give enemies the ability to dispel player buffs.
In place of buffs that increase attack power, you can have buffs that change the element of an ally's attacks, and then either give lots of enemies some sort of WallChange skill, or change the player's optimal element in some other way. In place of defensive buffs, you can do the exact same thing but in reverse! Give the player the elemental barriers, and give the enemies those buffs that change the elements of their physical attacks.
Cure-All, Cure-All, Cure-All, Cure-All, Cure-All
Yeah, healing is inherently reactive, but that doesn't mean you can't make it just as boring and stupid. The player should have to actually adapt to enemy actions. This means, obviously, that you need different healing spells for different situations!
Strawman: "But there are basically only a couple types of healing spells, dawg. And just picking a weaker spell isn't that interesting."
Foolish strawman! Healing spells can have as many options as damage spells! You can make heals that take different types of resources: your healer can have a spell that costs less MP and more time, one that costs HP instead of MP, and one that expends items. You can have heals with added effects - a heal that also inflicts protect or regen or haste, either at a 100% chance or a lower chance. Heals that work better under certain conditions. Dozens of different weird targetting methods. Build up combo points. All sorts of crap!
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
World of Warcraft easily has the most interesting, dynamic, fun healing of any game I've ever seen. When one of the players is literally doing nothing but healing, the designers sure as hell had better make it as fun as damage-dealing!
WoW does a great job of making sure you realize that time is another resource that is just as important as health or mana.
As a note, "instant cast" spells other than Nature's Swiftness still prevent the player from casting another spell for 1.5 seconds afterward. This delay is known as the global cooldown. Mana costs are approximate since they increase with level, but the costs I have listed are *proportionally* correct.
Druid abilities
Healing Touch
Costs 3000 mana. 3 sec cast.
Heals a friendly target for 7211 to 8515.
Critical heals from Healing Touch place a buff on the target, healing for 30% of the critical heal the next time the target takes damage.
Rejuvenation
Costs 2600 mana. Instant cast.
Heals the target for 1307 every 3 sec for 12 sec.
Each time an ally takes healing from one of the ticks of Rejuvenation, the druid has a 20% chance to gain back 2% of his maximum mana. This effect cannot occur more than once every 12 sec.
Regrowth
Costs 3500 mana. 1.5 sec cast.
Heals a friendly target for 3383 to 3775 immediately, and another 361 every 2 sec for 6 sec.
Critical heals from Regrowth place a buff on the target, healing for 30% of the critical heal the next time the target takes damage.
Lifebloom
Costs 700 mana. Instant cast.
Heals the target for 228 every sec for 10 sec. When Lifebloom expires or is dispelled, the target is instantly healed for 2306. This effect can stack up to 3 times on the same target. Recasting the spell will refresh the duration for all 3 stacks back up to 10 sec.
Nourish and Healing Touch also refresh the duration of any Lifebloom effects.
You have a 20% chance to restore 4% of your mana each time Lifebloom heals a target. This cannot occur more than once every 12 seconds.
When you cast or refresh Lifebloom, you grant Replenishment to the entire party, restoring 1.5% of their maximum mana over 15 seconds.
Each tick of Lifebloom has a 4% chance to make your next non-instant-cast spell cost no mana.
Nourish
Costs 1000 mana. 3 sec cast.
Heals a friendly target for 2403 to 2791. Heals for an additional 20% if you have a Rejuvenation, Regrowth, Lifebloom, or Wild Growth effect active on the target.
Swiftmend
Costs 1600 mana. Instant cast. 15 sec cooldown.
Consumes a Rejuvenation or Regrowth effect on a friendly target to instantly heal them for the amount that the Rejuvenation/Regrowth effect had left to heal.
Wild Growth
Costs 2700 mana. Instant cast. 10 sec cooldown.
Heals up to 5 friendly party or raid members within 15 yards of the target for 2863 over 7 sec. The amount healed is applied quickly at first, and slows down as the Wild Growth reaches its full duration.
Tranquility
Costs 3200 mana. Channeled spell, requiring the druid to continue chanelling to maintain the spell's effects. 8 minute cooldown.
Heals the five allies with the lowest health for 3882 health immediately, plus an additional 343 health every 2 sec as long as the druid continues chanelling the spell. Can be chanelled for up to 8 seconds maximum.
Revive
Costs 7200 mana. 10 sec cast.
Returns the spirit to the body, restoring a dead target to life with 35% of their maximum health and mana. Cannot be cast when in combat.
Rebirth
2 sec cast. No mana cost. 10 minute cooldown. Requires a reagent that can be bought from shops.
Returns the spirit to the body, restoring a dead target to life with 20% health and mana.
This is the only combat resurrection spell in the game that can be freely targetted. (There are two other combat resurrection spells, but one of them works like Reraise and must be cast before the battle starts, while the other is self-only. Both of those have 15 minute cooldowns.)
Nature's Swiftness
No mana cost. Instant cast. 3 minute cooldown.
When activated, your next healing spell with a cast time of less than 10 sec becomes instant cast. Activating this ability does not trigger the global cooldown.
Omen of Clarity
Passive ability.
Any spell or ability has a 6% chance of causing the druid to enter a Clearcasting state. The Clearcasting state causes your next spell or ability to be free, costing no mana.
Faerie Fire
Costs 800 mana. Instant cast.
Decreases the armor of the target by 5% for 5 min.
Innervate
No mana cost. Instant cast. 3 min cooldown.
Causes the target to regenerate mana equal to 20% of the casting Druid's maximum mana pool over 10 sec.
Hibernate
Costs 700 mana. 1.5 sec cast.
Forces the enemy target to sleep for up to 40 sec. Any damage will awaken the target. Targets which are higher level than the druid have a chance to wake up early. Only one target can be forced to hibernate at a time. Only works on Beasts and Dragonkin.
Cyclone
Costs 800 mana. 1.5 sec cast.
Tosses the enemy target into the air, preventing all movement and action, and making the target immune to healing and buffs, but also making them invulnerable. Lasts 6 sec the first time you cast it on a target, 3 sec the second time, and 1.5 sec the third time. After three casts a target will become immune to your Cyclone effects. Only one target can be affected by your Cyclone at a time.
Nature's Grasp
No mana cost. Instant cast. 60 sec cooldown. Targets self only.
While active, any time an enemy strikes the caster they have a high chance to become afflicted by Entangling Roots. Entangling Roots prevents the enemy from moving and deals 333 damage over 27 seconds, but will dissapate if the enemy takes damage from any other source. Nature's Grasp lasts 45 sec or until the druid is attacked 3 times.
Barkskin
No mana cost. Instant cast. 60 sec cooldown. Targets self only.
The druid's skin becomes as tough as bark. All damage taken is reduced by 20%. While protected, attacks that hit the druid will not cause spellcasting delays. This spell is usable while stunned, frozen, incapacitated, feared or asleep. Lasts 12 sec.
Tree of Life
Costs 600 mana. Instant cast. 3 minute cooldown.
Shapeshift into the tree of life, becoming immune to polymorph effects, increasing healing done by 15%, and increasing your armor by 120%. Lasts 40 sec.
While in Tree of Life form, several spells are enhanced:
- Regrowth becomes instant cast.
- Wild Growth affects up to 7 friendly targets instead of 5.
- Lifebloom can be cast on multiple targets.
Wow! And that's just one of the four healing classes! If I'm feeling super generous, I might give you guys a report on one of the others later. WoW is a great model for healing, and for abilities that interact with each-other in general.
WoW does a great job of making sure you realize that time is another resource that is just as important as health or mana.
As a note, "instant cast" spells other than Nature's Swiftness still prevent the player from casting another spell for 1.5 seconds afterward. This delay is known as the global cooldown. Mana costs are approximate since they increase with level, but the costs I have listed are *proportionally* correct.
Druid abilities
Healing Touch
Costs 3000 mana. 3 sec cast.
Heals a friendly target for 7211 to 8515.
Critical heals from Healing Touch place a buff on the target, healing for 30% of the critical heal the next time the target takes damage.
Rejuvenation
Costs 2600 mana. Instant cast.
Heals the target for 1307 every 3 sec for 12 sec.
Each time an ally takes healing from one of the ticks of Rejuvenation, the druid has a 20% chance to gain back 2% of his maximum mana. This effect cannot occur more than once every 12 sec.
Regrowth
Costs 3500 mana. 1.5 sec cast.
Heals a friendly target for 3383 to 3775 immediately, and another 361 every 2 sec for 6 sec.
Critical heals from Regrowth place a buff on the target, healing for 30% of the critical heal the next time the target takes damage.
Lifebloom
Costs 700 mana. Instant cast.
Heals the target for 228 every sec for 10 sec. When Lifebloom expires or is dispelled, the target is instantly healed for 2306. This effect can stack up to 3 times on the same target. Recasting the spell will refresh the duration for all 3 stacks back up to 10 sec.
Nourish and Healing Touch also refresh the duration of any Lifebloom effects.
You have a 20% chance to restore 4% of your mana each time Lifebloom heals a target. This cannot occur more than once every 12 seconds.
When you cast or refresh Lifebloom, you grant Replenishment to the entire party, restoring 1.5% of their maximum mana over 15 seconds.
Each tick of Lifebloom has a 4% chance to make your next non-instant-cast spell cost no mana.
Nourish
Costs 1000 mana. 3 sec cast.
Heals a friendly target for 2403 to 2791. Heals for an additional 20% if you have a Rejuvenation, Regrowth, Lifebloom, or Wild Growth effect active on the target.
Swiftmend
Costs 1600 mana. Instant cast. 15 sec cooldown.
Consumes a Rejuvenation or Regrowth effect on a friendly target to instantly heal them for the amount that the Rejuvenation/Regrowth effect had left to heal.
Wild Growth
Costs 2700 mana. Instant cast. 10 sec cooldown.
Heals up to 5 friendly party or raid members within 15 yards of the target for 2863 over 7 sec. The amount healed is applied quickly at first, and slows down as the Wild Growth reaches its full duration.
Tranquility
Costs 3200 mana. Channeled spell, requiring the druid to continue chanelling to maintain the spell's effects. 8 minute cooldown.
Heals the five allies with the lowest health for 3882 health immediately, plus an additional 343 health every 2 sec as long as the druid continues chanelling the spell. Can be chanelled for up to 8 seconds maximum.
Revive
Costs 7200 mana. 10 sec cast.
Returns the spirit to the body, restoring a dead target to life with 35% of their maximum health and mana. Cannot be cast when in combat.
Rebirth
2 sec cast. No mana cost. 10 minute cooldown. Requires a reagent that can be bought from shops.
Returns the spirit to the body, restoring a dead target to life with 20% health and mana.
This is the only combat resurrection spell in the game that can be freely targetted. (There are two other combat resurrection spells, but one of them works like Reraise and must be cast before the battle starts, while the other is self-only. Both of those have 15 minute cooldowns.)
Nature's Swiftness
No mana cost. Instant cast. 3 minute cooldown.
When activated, your next healing spell with a cast time of less than 10 sec becomes instant cast. Activating this ability does not trigger the global cooldown.
Omen of Clarity
Passive ability.
Any spell or ability has a 6% chance of causing the druid to enter a Clearcasting state. The Clearcasting state causes your next spell or ability to be free, costing no mana.
Faerie Fire
Costs 800 mana. Instant cast.
Decreases the armor of the target by 5% for 5 min.
Innervate
No mana cost. Instant cast. 3 min cooldown.
Causes the target to regenerate mana equal to 20% of the casting Druid's maximum mana pool over 10 sec.
Hibernate
Costs 700 mana. 1.5 sec cast.
Forces the enemy target to sleep for up to 40 sec. Any damage will awaken the target. Targets which are higher level than the druid have a chance to wake up early. Only one target can be forced to hibernate at a time. Only works on Beasts and Dragonkin.
Cyclone
Costs 800 mana. 1.5 sec cast.
Tosses the enemy target into the air, preventing all movement and action, and making the target immune to healing and buffs, but also making them invulnerable. Lasts 6 sec the first time you cast it on a target, 3 sec the second time, and 1.5 sec the third time. After three casts a target will become immune to your Cyclone effects. Only one target can be affected by your Cyclone at a time.
Nature's Grasp
No mana cost. Instant cast. 60 sec cooldown. Targets self only.
While active, any time an enemy strikes the caster they have a high chance to become afflicted by Entangling Roots. Entangling Roots prevents the enemy from moving and deals 333 damage over 27 seconds, but will dissapate if the enemy takes damage from any other source. Nature's Grasp lasts 45 sec or until the druid is attacked 3 times.
Barkskin
No mana cost. Instant cast. 60 sec cooldown. Targets self only.
The druid's skin becomes as tough as bark. All damage taken is reduced by 20%. While protected, attacks that hit the druid will not cause spellcasting delays. This spell is usable while stunned, frozen, incapacitated, feared or asleep. Lasts 12 sec.
Tree of Life
Costs 600 mana. Instant cast. 3 minute cooldown.
Shapeshift into the tree of life, becoming immune to polymorph effects, increasing healing done by 15%, and increasing your armor by 120%. Lasts 40 sec.
While in Tree of Life form, several spells are enhanced:
- Regrowth becomes instant cast.
- Wild Growth affects up to 7 friendly targets instead of 5.
- Lifebloom can be cast on multiple targets.
Wow! And that's just one of the four healing classes! If I'm feeling super generous, I might give you guys a report on one of the others later. WoW is a great model for healing, and for abilities that interact with each-other in general.
ashriot
222
LockeZ:
Proactive healing isn't always Final Fantasy style. You're not gonna walk up to your allies and cast "Wall" on them and then heal once in a while. Proactive healing is about deterring enemy damage on the fly. Like how a Discipline Priest has Power Word: Shield and Barrier, and Pain Suppression. Also look at the Force Field Defender from City of Heroes.
Power Word: Shield
Moderate Mana cost
Instant cast | 3 sec cooldown
Draws on the soul of the friendly target to shield them, absorbing damage. Lasts 30 sec. While the shield holds, spellcasting will not be interrupted by damage. Once shielded, the target cannot be shielded again for 15 sec.
Power Word: Barrier
Very Expensive Mana cost
Instant cast | 2 min cooldown
Summons a holy barrier on the target location that reduces all damage done to friendly targets by 30%. While within the barrier, spellcasting will not be interrupted by damage. The barrier lasts for 10 sec.
Pain Suppression
Very Cheap Mana cost
Instant cast | 3 min cooldown
Instantly reduces a friendly target's threat by 5%, reduces all damage taken by 40% and increases resistance to Dispel mechanics by 65% for 8 sec.
Those, mixed with healing, make the entire support role so much more interesting than just spamming heals over and over. You have to actively respond to the enemy's actions. If they gang up on a weaker target, you're able to instantly prevent damage (Shield) and try to heal them or if the attack won't stop, you can cast Pain Suppression and heal them as well.
Some examples from CoH:
Deflection Shield
Dramatically protects an ally from Smashing, Lethal, Toxic and all Melee attacks for a limited time.
Insulation Shield
Dramatically protects an ally from Fire, Cold, Energy, Negative Energy, Ranged and AoE attacks for a limited time. The Insulation also protects an ally from Endurance Draining effects.
Dispersion Bubble
Creates a large bubble which protects all allies inside. While active, the Dispersion Bubble gives all allies within increased Defense against all attack types. The Dispersion Bubble also protects allies from Immobilization, Disorient, and Hold effects.
Repulsion Field
This toggle power creates a field that violently repels nearby foes. Each villain that is repelled costs you additional Endurance (mana.)
Repulsion Bomb
Projects an expanding wave of force around an enemy that causes damage and knocks them and nearby enemies down.
Force Bubble
Creates a large bubble which protects all allies inside. While active, this power keeps all foes at bay, protecting all allies inside from melee or short ranged attacks. More powerful foes may be able to penetrate the Force Bubble, but may slip and get knocked down and forced back if they try. Long cooldown.
Now CoH has a pretty passive approach to support, maybe a little too much, but a mixture of buffs, control, healing, and debuffs would make an extremely fun class to play.
About WoW:
WoW is not fun at all for healers anymore. When I could transform into a tree (permanently) and keep Lifebloom rolling on the party, that was so much fun! It was way different than just casting a heal over and over. You had to decide to let it bloom or not. Whether or not to cast Wild Growth. Who should get Rejuved? Regrowth the tank. But now Lifebloom is watered down garbage. Nourish lost all of it's flair. Regrowth isn't a HoT anymore. Rejuv is just Renew. (I mean that like Renew has always been secondary to the Priest's arsenal while it used to be the primary healing tool for Druids. Now it's secondary for them.) Anyway, I've stopped playing WoW now because it's so boring to heal. I've been playing that druid since the original beta test (off and on) and it's just not fun now that all the healers work almost the same way with a few minor differences. I know they did that to give all healers a chance to heal all situations equally, but it's boring. You mentioned that there are 4 healing classes in WoW, but they generally work the same way these days. They just bring a few different buffs and some slightly altered mechanics.
Proactive healing isn't always Final Fantasy style. You're not gonna walk up to your allies and cast "Wall" on them and then heal once in a while. Proactive healing is about deterring enemy damage on the fly. Like how a Discipline Priest has Power Word: Shield and Barrier, and Pain Suppression. Also look at the Force Field Defender from City of Heroes.
Power Word: Shield
Moderate Mana cost
Instant cast | 3 sec cooldown
Draws on the soul of the friendly target to shield them, absorbing damage. Lasts 30 sec. While the shield holds, spellcasting will not be interrupted by damage. Once shielded, the target cannot be shielded again for 15 sec.
Power Word: Barrier
Very Expensive Mana cost
Instant cast | 2 min cooldown
Summons a holy barrier on the target location that reduces all damage done to friendly targets by 30%. While within the barrier, spellcasting will not be interrupted by damage. The barrier lasts for 10 sec.
Pain Suppression
Very Cheap Mana cost
Instant cast | 3 min cooldown
Instantly reduces a friendly target's threat by 5%, reduces all damage taken by 40% and increases resistance to Dispel mechanics by 65% for 8 sec.
Those, mixed with healing, make the entire support role so much more interesting than just spamming heals over and over. You have to actively respond to the enemy's actions. If they gang up on a weaker target, you're able to instantly prevent damage (Shield) and try to heal them or if the attack won't stop, you can cast Pain Suppression and heal them as well.
Some examples from CoH:
Deflection Shield
Dramatically protects an ally from Smashing, Lethal, Toxic and all Melee attacks for a limited time.
Insulation Shield
Dramatically protects an ally from Fire, Cold, Energy, Negative Energy, Ranged and AoE attacks for a limited time. The Insulation also protects an ally from Endurance Draining effects.
Dispersion Bubble
Creates a large bubble which protects all allies inside. While active, the Dispersion Bubble gives all allies within increased Defense against all attack types. The Dispersion Bubble also protects allies from Immobilization, Disorient, and Hold effects.
Repulsion Field
This toggle power creates a field that violently repels nearby foes. Each villain that is repelled costs you additional Endurance (mana.)
Repulsion Bomb
Projects an expanding wave of force around an enemy that causes damage and knocks them and nearby enemies down.
Force Bubble
Creates a large bubble which protects all allies inside. While active, this power keeps all foes at bay, protecting all allies inside from melee or short ranged attacks. More powerful foes may be able to penetrate the Force Bubble, but may slip and get knocked down and forced back if they try. Long cooldown.
Now CoH has a pretty passive approach to support, maybe a little too much, but a mixture of buffs, control, healing, and debuffs would make an extremely fun class to play.
About WoW:
WoW is not fun at all for healers anymore. When I could transform into a tree (permanently) and keep Lifebloom rolling on the party, that was so much fun! It was way different than just casting a heal over and over. You had to decide to let it bloom or not. Whether or not to cast Wild Growth. Who should get Rejuved? Regrowth the tank. But now Lifebloom is watered down garbage. Nourish lost all of it's flair. Regrowth isn't a HoT anymore. Rejuv is just Renew. (I mean that like Renew has always been secondary to the Priest's arsenal while it used to be the primary healing tool for Druids. Now it's secondary for them.) Anyway, I've stopped playing WoW now because it's so boring to heal. I've been playing that druid since the original beta test (off and on) and it's just not fun now that all the healers work almost the same way with a few minor differences. I know they did that to give all healers a chance to heal all situations equally, but it's boring. You mentioned that there are 4 healing classes in WoW, but they generally work the same way these days. They just bring a few different buffs and some slightly altered mechanics.
LockeZ, I am not sure what the point is for you to make that list, because half of those spells aren't healing spells.
