Healing while fighting (solo paladin)

Discussion in 'Tanks' started by 68Strat, Apr 25, 2013.

  1. 68Strat Augur

    I am level 50 and I usually put up Etherel cleansing and keep it up at all times. ANy other hints on healing while soloing? I don't have many options right now...I think it will get better with aa's.
  2. Lenowill Augur

    I'll offer a few things. You may know some or all of them already, but I'll offer what I can.

    I'm not sure what kind of mercenary you're using (or if you're using one at all), so in writing this post I'm going to assume that you're completely solo without a merc.

    A good deal of this still applies even if you do have a merc with you.

    First:
    In the keybindings part of the option menu, click the drop down menu and select Target. In that category somewhere there should be an option to bind a key to Toggle Target and Myself. Binding a key to do this may help you manage the target switches involved in healing more easily. Try it and see if you like it. This key can be used to swap targets even while a spell cast is in progress (your spell will still target whatever you originally had targeted when you started casting), which means you can push the key, cast a heal on yourself, and then push the key a second time while the spell is still casting so that when the spell finishes, you're already targeting your enemy again and ready to keep swinging.

    Second:
    Usually, if you're only tanking one mob, even your slow-casting "normal" heal spell won't get interrupted too often. If you're getting hit by multiple enemies though, you may run into more trouble (particularly if you're getting bashed a lot). At your level range, if you know a fight is going to involve multiple foes, try to use a Root type of spell to immobilize an enemy or two, and then back away so that you are only tanking one or two enemies at once. The root's duration is unreliable, but it's better than nothing if you know you're going to be getting multiple guys. At level 65 you will get a root spell called Shackles of Tunare that is particularly handy because of its short (0.75 second) cast time, so if a situation looks ugly you can try spamming that spell onto different enemies until you get the fight down to a manageable size.

    Third:
    If you ever manage to get _all_ of the enemies in a fight rooted, you can step away from them and freely heal yourself up before going back in. This also means that if you're fighting just one enemy but are still having trouble with interruptions for some reason, rooting the mob and stepping away to heal yourself up may be a decent option.

    Fourth:
    Tanking with your character's back against a corner (against a place where two solid walls of the game's geometry meet up) limits how much mobs can push you by hitting you, which will save you from getting interrupted due to melee pushback (it won't stop the instant interrupts that come from getting bash stunned though). This can make using your slower single target heal much easier to do, in situations that permit tanking like this. Alternatively, riding on a mount while you fight gives you this benefit anywhere that riding mounts is allowed (you can't be melee-pushed while on a mount, but you also can't cancel your spellcasts by ducking while you're on a mount - not without dismounting first, at least).

    Fifth:
    In any situation, casting a stun spell with a decent duration (anything that isn't Cease or Desist is fine) before trying to heal yourself will reduce the number of times the thing you're fighting gets to hit you while you're casting, which helps to ensure that you get your spell off.

    Concluding thought:
    If you get really good at self healing as you continue to level up, you may find that you can skip having a healer merc along for some areas, and just heal yourself while you have a rogue merc do damage for you. (A rogue merc works well because you can hold aggro for it while it does high damage with its backstabs, which helps to fill in your main weakness: dealing damage to stuff that isn't undead. The faster the monster dies, the less you'll have to heal yourself, too.)

    Good luck!
  3. 68Strat Augur

    wow...I really appreciate the comments and I did not know about the melee pushback thing.
    I fight solely without a merc...I tried them and just don't want to deal with it. So far I have managed fine without one.

    I know there are some aa's to get that heal me when im hit which would be awesome. and I just need to get better at root...and also get the aas that make root not break so much or extend its duration.

    One time was epic...I was fighting frogs in Lower Guk and I had finished off 2 and was medding when another ran up to me and interrupted me. Then 4 more came out of nowhere (isn't this always the case) and started whacking me. I was 1/4 mana and health was dropping fast. I rooted 2 and killed one but was OOM and health at 10%. I managed to kill all but 2 with just my ghoulbane and some lucky procs but my health was at 2% and I was nearly oom.

    I had the mana to root both of the final mobs and step back. I was wondering WTF...im just delaying my death...when BINGO a light went on and I hit my orgin button lol. Fortunately both roots held while orgin casted and got me out of there.

    fun times lol.
    crystilla likes this.