Orb of Arion any good?

Discussion in 'Gotham City (General Gameplay)' started by Captain1Dynamo, Dec 8, 2018.

  1. Captain1Dynamo Committed Player

    I don't think I've seen anyone actually using this. Does anyone? How well does it work?
  2. TheLorax 15000 Post Club

    It's the best heal artifact yet in my opinion. Pair it with the Demon Fang and Omegahedron to manage your power.
    • Like x 3
  3. Brit Loyal Player

    I use it. I have played with it quite extensively. Based on my experiences of actual gameplay, not just theorycraft, this is my breakdown.

    First, as soon as it hits level 80 and you start getting the x3 priority heal for x3 power, you will require a huge shift in how you use you priority heal. It's like re-learning your powerset all over again. Not just for your priority heal, which will no longer be spammable, but also for other heals you will have to employ differently in order to replace your priority heal spam. The priority heal becomes a big investment spike recovery, and you'll be looking for frontloaded other heals to fulfill the role your priority heal previously did.

    Power management will need to be addressed. This will be both in finding extra ways to generate power (I use a Demons Fang), and a different attitude about how high you try to keep your power pool and manage your expenditures. There will be an adjustment period. I actually ended up Power Changing to a different healer set so that I could build fresh habits, rather than stick with my old comfort zone while it played so different. Once I did that, it started working a lot better.

    The pet. Sigh. First of all, you have to understand, it is not a pet artifact. It is all about that higher burst heal for higher power cost. You will NOT have 100% uptime on the Spectral Acolyte to keep him healing with you. It's just too power hungry. Instead, he exists almost solely to take the pressure off of you for a couple of seconds while you rebuild your power pool, since you will blow most of it with the huge x3 priority heal. If he picks up 2-3 seconds of healing, you can be able to get your pool back and break back into a more normal rotation.

    From 80-159, point blank, the pet is not enough. Those 50% priority heals the pet gives just do not budge health bars enough to keep people up. So if there is a big spike that hits multiple people, and you use your priority heal to heal one of them, while you are gassed it is likely you will lose another teammate. The Artifact would have been infinitely more useful while leveling up if the thresholds would have 80 - 100% heal for 3 seconds and 120 - 100% heal for 6 seconds, instead of the current method of 80 - 50% heal for 6 seconds, and 120 - 50% heal for 9 seconds. Shorter duration on the pet, but with the full heal amount, would have been far superior. There were actually some fights where, because several members of the group would take spike damage all at once, I actually would take the Artifact off to not have it destroy my power pool and get us killed.

    At breakthrough 160 though, it finally starts doing what it needs to do with the pet, and those additional heals can actually be enough to be useful while you recover your power from the big initial burst.

    I supplement mine with Demon's Fang and Starheart, with Demon's Fang (and a rapid hitting bow or handblasters) helping with power management, and Starheart's additional burst to the group heal sort of serving as my slightly-less-spammable replacement Priority Heal. I did try Omegahedron and found that it contributed no significant extra power management than when working with just the Demon's Fang. I did try Soul Cloak and I really do like Soul Cloak as a viable third (Fang, Orb, and Cloak), but largely it depends on what powerset you're healing with and how important your supercharge is. As Nature, I rarely bothered with Regeneration on my bar, so Starhart did more. As Electric, on the other hand, Soul Cloak was hands down the winner.
    • Like x 9
  4. Captain1Dynamo Committed Player

    That was an excellent review on the Orb, thanks for the info!
    • Like x 2
  5. FlawlessTime Dedicated Player

    I use it on my main and I have it at rank 160 that's where it shines . The Demons Fang helps you manage your power and
    Omegahedron they both do wonders but the demon fang is better.

    When I use my troll however some healers don't use that set up and it's a pain to keep them power and more so when they spam healing powers smh .
    • Like x 1
  6. Millefune PSN Well-Known Player

    Does the Spectral Acolyte heal you as well as the most (or next most if you're currently the most injured) injured party member, or does its priority heal heal itself and the most injured party member?
  7. Darth Piper Loyal Player

    It casts your "Priority Heal"... once from you, and 4 (level 80) or 6 (levels 120 and 160) times (every 1.5 seconds for 6 or 9 seconds). Unless your priority heal works differently, it should always heal you and the person with the lowest health at the time of the cast.
  8. Brit Loyal Player

    Today I did have an odd experience with the Orb that I'll share for reference. I had a Controller in my raid group ask me to take the Artifact off and play without it because "it takes too much power".

    I took the conversation to /tell to avoid making a big hoopla in the group.

    I politely pointed out that I was NOT in the top three for Power In, so I was maintaining high enough power that the majority of his Recharge dumps were not landing on me, but rather the DPS.

    I politely pointed out that I only use it to resolve massive spike damage, and that x3 healing for x3 power is literally the EXACT SAME THING as spamming the priority heal 3 times, but with the Artifact on I then get the pet to pick up 6 extra priority heals over the next 9 seconds while I recover my own power, effectively meaning that I'm getting 12 Priority Heals for the cost of 3.

    I pointed out my own personal Power Out to prove that I was drinking sodas to supply my own power. I also reminded him that I had a full 160 Demon's Fang, to help me address my own power concerns.

    And then I politely reminded him that I had never at any point during the raid complained about Power and was experiencing no shortages, so he should believe in himself more and feel confident in his ability to keep power flowing. Things were running smoothly and we had zero wipes, so there was no reason to mess with a set-up that was working perfectly.

    The controller then confessed that he had simply seen the pet up, and then immediately complained because he had had bad experiences previously with other healers and the artifact.

    Controllers do have a dislike for the Artifact, because some Healers do not take individual responsibility for the power, or think they can still spam the priority heal or can push it needlessly to have 100% uptime on the pet, as if summoning the pet was worthwhile enough to waste a huge x3 priority heal when nobody needed it.

    If you're going to play with the Artifact, be aware that the players who are using it ineffectively push it towards a bad reputation, and so you will have to doubly be responsible with it, or face immediate stigma and complaint.
    • Like x 4
  9. FlawlessTime Dedicated Player



    Lmao Oh great points and I love the story to . When I troll I run into some healers without a damn care in the world and Spam that like the world is ending .

    It gets annoying fast but everyone in the group's I was in had full power . But the healers who get to drunk and spam away were always low. A few times someone eles will switch to heal because they start to see it to lol.
  10. FALLEN-ONE Active Player

    Sucks on Celestial. I have it maxed. For Elite raids it just doesn’t cut it since the pet heals 1.5 second apart and heals are very weak, mosy times you will be forced to use it again while the pet is out for 300% of the power. I say that Menacles is a better artifact as far as stats go it’s 3% resto and dom which is similar but your survivability and shield cooldown are reduced by 10%. I have 5 maxed out artifacts and the best combo is scrap/gemini/menacles. Arion artifact is only good in regular raids and alerts.
    • Like x 3
  11. Brit Loyal Player


    While my experiences are similar in that in Elites you will have to use it again before the pet has expired... well, so?

    The point of the artifact is actually to give you the 3x heal for 3x power. It handles spike healing far better. It's more healing, in a faster amount of time. One tap of the power is the same as chaining the priority heal x3, but without waiting on GCD between casts. The pet heals (6 additional casts of the priority heal, power free) are just icing on the cake.

    It is not intended that the Artifact is used for the purpose of summoning a healing pet.

    It is also not intended that you restrict the usage of your priority heal to only once per 9 seconds.

    Strategy-wise, it is intended to be employed similar to the way you would currently spam the priority heal.

    Mathing it out, it works like this, when you are in a situation of needing to spam Priority Heal.

    Without the Orb: Renew - 0.5 seconds -> Renew #2 - 0.5 seconds -> Renew #3 - 0.5 seconds -> Renew #4 - 0.5 seconds -> Renew #5 - 0.5 seconds -> Renew #6 - 0.5 seconds -> Renew #7.

    7 Casts of Priority Heal would take 3 full seconds, would cost the Priority Heal cost x7, which makes it expensive enough that you would need to either Soda or Supply drop. Since Recharge has a 1.5 second cooldown, you will not be able to spam to this degree just from a Controller feeding you.

    Now compare to what happens with the Orb:

    At 0 seconds: First Priority Heal is cast for x3 power and x3 healilng. Pet is summoned. Orb player has done triple the healing of the non-orb player.

    Orb Player then weapon combos for 1.5 seconds because of the Orb increased cooldown. The non-orb player spends this time spamming the priority heal to catch up.

    At 1.5 seconds: Orb player casts their 2nd x3 priority heal, plus the pet lands it's first priority heal, totaling x7 healing for a total of x6 priority heal power cost. The non-orb player is just now casting his 4th priority heal.

    Orb Player goes back to weapon combos. Non-Orb player is still spamming priority heal just to try and catch up.

    At 3.0 seconds: The non-orb player has finally been able to cast the priority heal x7 times. Non-orb player has landed x7 priority heals for x7 priority heal power cost.

    At 3.0 seconds: The orb player gets their 2nd free pet heal. The orb player has landed x8 priority heals for x6 priority heal power cost. More healing, less cost. Cooldown is up on the priority heal, but heck, we'll even say that because the Orb player requires x3 power to cast again, we'll say that this is the perfect hypothetical to give advantage to the non-orb player, where both players had exactly enough power supply for 8 priority heals, so the orb player can't quite cast a third x3 heal.

    At 3.5 seconds: Assuming that we give perfect math advantage to the non-orb player and that the power pool can only sustain 8 priority heals, at 3.5 seconds, the non-orb player has finally cast x8 priority heal, playing x8 priority heal cost. In contrast, the orb player has cast the same amount of healing, did it for only x6 the priority heal cost (a 25% reduction in power cost). Oh, and he completed the first 7 in 1.5 seconds while it took the non-orb player twice as long, and now the orb player has been comboing for the past 2 seconds to recover power.

    That is the best case scenario for priority heal spam that the non-orb can hope for, and that still leaves him far behind. And then, while they are both tapped empty and trying to bounce back, the Orb player still has 7.5 more seconds, with 5 more priority heals coming for free, to help ease things up while they recover power. The empty non-orb player, he's left just trying to squeak out enough power to cast another priority heal.

    The Artifact makes you do more healing, for less power, and in a shorter amount of time. It wins in every situation. The longer the period of spam goes, the more the advantage goes to the Orb player from the extra free pet heals. But for shorter time periods of burst healing, the Orb still wins, because even without the pet being a factor, (burst healing of less than 1.5 second windows), the Orb player can heal more than what the non-orb player can because of the x3 burst.

    I hear players say that the Orb doesn't work in Elites. In my experience though, it's just not true. The Orb is a flat win in all situations where priority heal spam is required, faster casting of more healing for less power. The only time it doesn't win is if the player uses it wrong, either wasting the x3 heal to try and summon the pet when the triple heal isn't needed, or by not casting the triple heal again with it IS needed because they refuse to cast it again until the pet expires (a mentality that is the same power cost as if the non-orb player refused to ever cast their priority over 3 times in 9 seconds, and we all know what we would call a healer with some sort of self-imposed rule like that).
    • Like x 3
  12. FALLEN-ONE Active Player


    Couldn’t read all, sorry. But strategy wise, there’s no strategy, only downsides. Why the hell would anyone use an artifact that increases cost by 300% and is never clutch. Like I said, it’s worthless in any elites or any instances with spikes in damage. Despite the 5% resto versus 3% of Menacles, the artifact sucks in elites where you constantly have to be reactive with your priority. More often than not you will not be able to get away with your pet just because it requires too much power and is chaotic if you need to heal a tank that takes spike damage every like 5 seconds. You better off with your regular priority that heals at least 2x more and is more power efficient. I have 73k power as celest and I’m telling you right now that it’s a waste and you do not want to run it.
    • Like x 2
  13. LeagueOfV Dedicated Player

    I agree it doesn't seem useful for me as Celestial. I think if you have the type C elite mod that allows you power back on your priority heal, you can use it pretty often without draining power. The Orb negates that benefit.
  14. L T Devoted Player

    Respectfully, it shows that you didn't read it all, and you should go back and do so.
    • Like x 1
  15. Mystere Well-Known Player

    #Truth. It can be ok if one healer in the elite raid does NOT use the ORB, but then that healer has to be on it. IMO the orb doesn't give the flexibility and control needed for sever spike dmg in elite or for unpredictible damage that you have to rapidly respond to. There are better options - esp if you take those other options to 160!

    My fav 3 healer artifacts are (all at 160), demons fang, soul cloak and eye of the gemini (you could easily swap this one for manacles, esp if the other healer in an elite raid is already running the eye of the gemini).

  16. Brit Loyal Player


    That's 100% wrong.

    Look at the Artifact: "Arion's magic increases the effectiveness, cooldown and power cost of your priority heal by 300%"

    With the orb, your priority heal heals 3x as much. That is literally the whole purpose of the artifact. If you have convinced yourself that the normal heal is double what the Orb's triple heal does... well... either you totally don't pay any attention to how much healing your heals do, or you are spamming the Orb's triple heal when people are barely scratched and don't need it for huge amounts of wasted overhealing.

    The Orb priority heal heals 3x as much. That is an indisputable fact.

    As for being power efficient, if you read my earlier post that you were unwilling to read before making flatly incorrect comments, it will give you the power breakdown that proves the Orb is far more power efficient. But since you can't read, I'll just give you a quick breakdown. And we'll focus on the power-efficient way of using the artifact.

    At 0 seconds. Orb Player: 3 priority heals for 3 heal power cost. Non-Orb: 1 priority heal for 1 heal power cost. (Orb wins by handling the spike damage better/faster).

    At 0.5 seconds. Orb Player: 3 priority heals for 3 heal power cost. Non-Orb: 2 priority heal for 2 heal power cost. (Orb still wins by handling the spike damage better/faster).

    At 1.0 seconds. Orb Player: 3 priority heals for 3 heal power cost. Non-Orb: 3 priority heal for 3 heal power cost. (At this point, for a half-second, the Non-Orb player will briefly have caught up, making them equal, but the non-orb player will never, ever surpass the orb player. And since the non-Orb player took 1.0 seconds to do it, while they did heal equal amount for equal power, they were still slower and inferior).

    At 1.5 seconds. Orb Player: 4 priority heals for 3 heal power cost. OR Orb Player: 7 priority heals for 6 heal power cost. Non-Orb: 4 priority heal for 4 heal power cost. (So based on what you need, you have the option to do almost double the healing of a Non-Orb player, or you have the option to do only the equal amount of healing, but to do it faster and to do it 25% more power effificient.)

    I can keep going, but I'll save you the trouble since you said you can't read. Every single step along the way, the Orb user does MORE healing, does it FASTER, and after 1 second, he starts doing it with more power efficiency than what the non-Orb user can do.

    It's not about the 5% resto on the artifact. It's not about the pet. It is all about giving you a triple heal that can be done instantly, making it way faster and better at handling spike damage than anything that can be done without the Orb. If the spike damage is going to require three or more priority heals, the Orb WILL win. And if the spike damage requires less than 3 priority heals on a single player (for example, 3+ players each take a smaller amount of damage that requires only 1 priority heal), sure the Orb would provide overhealing whereas without it you could split those around... but you'd still take way longer to do it due to the global cooldown; any smart healer would have just thrown out an appropriate group heal to heal the group faster and more efficiently.

    The Orb wins in literally every situation, unless you are using it wrong or don't know how to heal.
    • Like x 3
  17. Erin Arror Dedicated Player

    To me it not that the orb is less effective in spammy situation it's that once you go orb you only have this big heal move (with heavy power cost move). The design was meant for this 'upgraded' move but the way they implemented made it situatuonally limiting.

    Right now it is non orb way or orb way (all or nothing).

    I'd be more inclined to use orb if I have still have access to the regular version of priority heal and a separate move for the oh crap emergency orb heal. If they wanted can put it on a move in iconic tree. Players who don't want the regular priority heal can just not put in the load out.
    • Like x 1
  18. Kid Multiverse Loyal Player

    I was so hoping for a great healer artifact with this set.

    Orb of Arion?

    [IMG]
  19. Darth Piper Loyal Player

    Except that you cast it once... and then out comes the spectral dude who the proceeds to cast it every 1.5 seconds for 6 or 9 seconds, depending on the level, and for 50% or 100% of your base heals on each cast, depending on the level.

    FYI, a 300% increase means it has quadrupled the cost (200 power cost + 300% => 200 + 600 => 800). Don't believe me? Get a calculator and key in: 2 0 0 + 3 0 0 % =

    So when it's maxed out, you get 7 casts of your priority heal for the power cost of casting it yourself 4 times, and the first of those casts (ie, yours) is 4x as strong. Yeah, you're going to have to change your play style and habits to use it... or your troll is going to be filling your ear with nasty words... :)
  20. FALLEN-ONE Active Player

    That is 100% wrong. You are tight on paper only. Go ahead and heal and run an Elite, a Hive E maybe with 2 fire tanks or ice tanks and put your pet in use your pet. The tanks will die because you will be out of power nor will your pet do your 300% of the healing over 9 seconds because your tanks will be dead! Idk what to say... Idc how many casts you can get, it doesn’t help. Because even if your pet would heal 150k of health over 9 seconds, it’s useless because most elite requires you to be reactive and each heal of your pet won’t be enough to keep any tank alive. If you don’t have any bursts or shields in your powerset, good luck healing or I shall say attempting to heal Elite relying on pet and your weaker bursts/hots