have a couple questions about gameplay....
PrimeHealer
hey there, I have some questions regarding gameplay. So in PvE battles is there aggro management? What I mean are warriors and the such able to hold aggro with some special abilities as to keep the mobs off monks and other healer types? I know when it comes to PvP they probably cant "taunt" players off of healers so that leads to my next question. I plan on playing a pure healer combo Im gonna go with Monk/Mes and dedicate all my skill points into alll healing and energy saving attributes (hope Im getting this right) and not going to put anything towards any kind of damage for my monk/mes. So I will assume I wont be able to take many hits before I am dead. So Im wondering is a pure healer worth anythingin PvP or will I always be the 1st one on any teams hitlist to wipe out? So therefore will it be hard to get into a PvP group with a pure healer and or maybe I should build a charac type that is better suited for PvP and if so what types do people mainly look for in PvP (damage dealers?) So I should make my healer for PvE times and then something else for PvP? Anyways I hope I am clear in what I am trying to say. I really only like playing one charac at a time and building a reputation with that charac for a while, and I really love playing a pure healing class, but if it means that I wont be participating in PvP groups because they dont like healers in them then I suppose I will make two different types of characs. Anyways thanks for any advice on this matter......
Bgnome
in good PvP, healers are always the first targets. on the other hand, the vast majority of PvP groups require dedicated healers. it is fairly difficult to work around that. so if you are a good healer, you will definitely play a role in PvP. you just hope that the rest of the team is able to protect you.
as for aggro in PvE, i have not seen too many details, probably because of the lack of focus in this area. i can tell you from playing a monk in most BWEs that it doesn't quite work the same as many mmorpgs. first off, tanks do not have a "taunt" -- not really sure if there is such a thing as "hate" management in this game. basically, if the tank is standing between you and the mob, you tend to be pretty good. there is a range of detection that shows on your compass and it is a good idea to keep at least that far from the action. as long as you are using a skill on someone doing something related to the mob, you will get XP. on certain missions, someone will need to carry an item and that tends to draw a lot of aggro. often it is a caster or the monk that carries the item since you can still cast spells without attacking. if you are running away, all hits against you are criticals, but a lot of mobs tend to lose interest after a while, while others will chase you until you zone or die.
bottom line: don't worry about PvE. if you are getting targetted, you are too close. if you get killed, it is your team's fault
PvP needs good monks, but all the warriors will come after you. you need to be able to take care of yourself as well as your teammates and hope they can return the favor.
as for aggro in PvE, i have not seen too many details, probably because of the lack of focus in this area. i can tell you from playing a monk in most BWEs that it doesn't quite work the same as many mmorpgs. first off, tanks do not have a "taunt" -- not really sure if there is such a thing as "hate" management in this game. basically, if the tank is standing between you and the mob, you tend to be pretty good. there is a range of detection that shows on your compass and it is a good idea to keep at least that far from the action. as long as you are using a skill on someone doing something related to the mob, you will get XP. on certain missions, someone will need to carry an item and that tends to draw a lot of aggro. often it is a caster or the monk that carries the item since you can still cast spells without attacking. if you are running away, all hits against you are criticals, but a lot of mobs tend to lose interest after a while, while others will chase you until you zone or die.
bottom line: don't worry about PvE. if you are getting targetted, you are too close. if you get killed, it is your team's fault
PvP needs good monks, but all the warriors will come after you. you need to be able to take care of yourself as well as your teammates and hope they can return the favor.
iczer
Its hard to give good advice on this subject because this game is so diverse. The way you play your character affects gameplay much more than other games. Playing as a pure healer will deffinately make you a higher priority target on the battlefield against other players. Against mobs, I dont have hard facts on it but from my experience the mobs do tend to aggro on the casters more than not.
As a pure healer you can really be an asset to any party you are in, if you are in a group that values its healer they should be trying to gear the fights to keeping you alive by assisting you if you come under fire. I've PvE'd less so far than I have PvP'd but when I have ventured out into the wilderness with my caster build I usually hung back and cast from a good distance so I wasnt in the middle of the mess.
- Iczer
As a pure healer you can really be an asset to any party you are in, if you are in a group that values its healer they should be trying to gear the fights to keeping you alive by assisting you if you come under fire. I've PvE'd less so far than I have PvP'd but when I have ventured out into the wilderness with my caster build I usually hung back and cast from a good distance so I wasnt in the middle of the mess.
- Iczer
PrimeHealer
ok great, thanks for the replys you guys, so Im going pure healing all the way. I consider myself a good healer so I shouldnt have problems keeping myself or my group alive as long as everyone knows and does there job. well anyways thanks again for the replys. See you all on the BWE
Sausaletus Rex
There's no taunting or "aggro" or ways to manage it in the traditional sense in Guild Wars. Monsters will attack you and certain monsters prefer to go after certain targets - some will just attack the closest thing they can find, other seem to like the first person to attack them, others look for peope using skills, others try and get to the spell casters, others look for the character with the lowest armor rating or level, and so on - based on whatever AI is controlling them. But they won't suddenly switch targets because you've built up aggro by casting spells or anything like that. As a healer, you'll find that monsters do seem to put you in the crosshairs a lot but it's more to do with who you are than with what you're doing.
There's pathing, blocking, and collision detection in Guild Wars. In short, objects are solid you can't walk throughthem, including characters. So, instead of taunting an enemy off of you, they can instead bodily put themselves between you and a monster, attack it while you run away, and other such techinques. It's based on positioning and good player skill rather than any sort of skills or special abilities.
As for PvP, yes, a healer is going to be the first target of most, if not all, teams. You're that valuable. They're either going to try and kill you or disrupt you so you can't keep the rest of your team defended. The team that does it best or first is usually the team that wins. But, of course, your team knows this and are going to be working to defend you nearly as much as they're tryign to take out the other team's healing. You don't get targetted because you're vulnerable or easy to take out. You get targetted because taking you out is so vital that the other team can't take out anyone else if you're still around.
Also, remember that just because you're a healer or a Monk or anyone else that doesn't mean you can't take *some* hits. Casters in GW are not that vulnerable that they'll go down in a few hits. Every character has armor and hit points eough to last against all but the most serious of threats. For example, a good output of damage from another character is about 45 damage or so a second. Some get higher, but that's a decent benchmark. The average character in PvP, though, is going to have 480 hit points. It will take more than ten seconds for your character to die from even the fiercest of attacks. That's time enough for you to add some defense or healing and save yourself or deal damage on your own. As a caster, you're more vulnerable to start with than a Ranger or a Warrior, who'll have more armor and, therefore, take less damage, but you're not helpless. You can last long enough to make a difference even in the very thick of things.
There's pathing, blocking, and collision detection in Guild Wars. In short, objects are solid you can't walk throughthem, including characters. So, instead of taunting an enemy off of you, they can instead bodily put themselves between you and a monster, attack it while you run away, and other such techinques. It's based on positioning and good player skill rather than any sort of skills or special abilities.
As for PvP, yes, a healer is going to be the first target of most, if not all, teams. You're that valuable. They're either going to try and kill you or disrupt you so you can't keep the rest of your team defended. The team that does it best or first is usually the team that wins. But, of course, your team knows this and are going to be working to defend you nearly as much as they're tryign to take out the other team's healing. You don't get targetted because you're vulnerable or easy to take out. You get targetted because taking you out is so vital that the other team can't take out anyone else if you're still around.
Also, remember that just because you're a healer or a Monk or anyone else that doesn't mean you can't take *some* hits. Casters in GW are not that vulnerable that they'll go down in a few hits. Every character has armor and hit points eough to last against all but the most serious of threats. For example, a good output of damage from another character is about 45 damage or so a second. Some get higher, but that's a decent benchmark. The average character in PvP, though, is going to have 480 hit points. It will take more than ten seconds for your character to die from even the fiercest of attacks. That's time enough for you to add some defense or healing and save yourself or deal damage on your own. As a caster, you're more vulnerable to start with than a Ranger or a Warrior, who'll have more armor and, therefore, take less damage, but you're not helpless. You can last long enough to make a difference even in the very thick of things.
Lt.Crumpet
i missed the last BWE but so far in guild wars iv noticed (in PvE) that if ur a healer and u cant see the enemies nose hairs (ok maybe a little farther back than that) they dont seem to go too far out of thier way to agro u. unlike eq2, where if u attempt to heal u get 17billion guys on you, i dont think they tend to go after healers unless u are in a direct LOS and u r attacking them
PrimeHealer
ahh well that clears it all up for me, thanks for the excellent replys...so healer it is..thanks alot guys