Shock Therapy, a guide to Electric healing

Discussion in 'Oracle’s Database (Guides)' started by The Incredible Fly, Sep 19, 2013.

  1. The Incredible Fly New Player

    Shock Therapy, a guide to Electric healing

    Before I begin I would like to state that the following is based on personal opinion and experience. There are many different ways to use many different abilities this is just what I had found to be most effective.

    As someone here on the forums has already mentioned, if you have decided to become an electric healer it will be rare you find yourself as the primary healer. The purpose of electricity healing is to rescue individuals not to keep them topped off. If someone is between 80 and 100% of their health it's best to allow the other healer to take care of damages within that percentage. 70 to 100% can be handled by either you or the other healer while 50 to 100 should mainly be managed by yourself. It is not impossible, nor if used properly difficult, to take the leading role as an electric healer. The difficulty lies within managing your power consumption/conservation and not trying to overhaul the other healer by consistently trying to keep people topped off.

    Loadouts may vary depending on the individual this however is the one I have found to be most effective.

    (From left to right on my powerbar.)
    L2 > Electrogenesis, Bio-Electric Surge, Bio-Capacitor, Galvanize
    R2 > Flux, Invigorate

    Some people prefer to swap Flux for either Ionic Drain or Arc-Lightning. Both of which can be effective in the right hands however I have always found that they fail to deliver as often as a shield.

    Why it is important to watch your power bar as closely as you watch your teammates health bars:
    Electricity is not as much of a power guzzler as people describe it to be. The reason it has been given this reputation is through users who are convinced that using Bio-Electric Surge or Galvanize every time someone drops 5% of their health bar is necessary. Electricity has a nasty habit of making us feel as though if we do not heal a teammate the instant their health bar begins to drop we aren't doing our jobs properly, but that's not the case. Unless you're against enemies that have a tendency to one or two shot your allies, allowing health bars to drop a bit before placing a heal will make life for your controller much less stressful and will allow you a lot more room to squeeze damage in. When healing with a power such as nature or sorcery, your healing will feel more like it's on autopilot. You place a heal over time and begin your contribution to damage while your heals do their job. Electricity on the other hand is a more manually managed power. Instead of placing a heal and walking away, you have to monitor health bars while giving your contribution to damage and healing accordingly. Otherwise you'll find yourself obsessed with the percentages of your teammates health bars and failing to deliver any damage other than driving your controllers insane. To be a properly functioning part of the body you have to do your part in damage as well as keeping the team alive. That's a good part of the reason for every role having the ability to DPS and you should always remember that no matter your current role DPSing is always a secondary part of it.

    A brief description of my preferred loadout and their qualifications.
    Electrogenesis - This ability is usable in both healer or DPS role with different effects depending on your current role. Using it as a healer will mean that it places an electrical aura on yourself and the closest individuals feet. "Sparkly feet" can be one way to remember the appearance of this ability. It is the only healing over time ability that electricity possesses and can be very situationally viable. The best time to use it is when you find yourself next to a damaged teammate or if you've deliberately placed yourself next to that damaged individual. Unlike your other powers, Electrogenesis can be useful for healing people who have taken very little damage. So if you're one of those people who absolutely must keep their allies at 100% health Electrogenesis is a good way to carry out doing so.
    • Like x 1
  2. The Incredible Fly New Player

    Bio-Electric Surge - Bio-Electric Surge is your go-to heal. It's fast, spammable and can restore some pretty good chunks of health. It heals you and your most damaged teammate within range (which, being electric, has some of the best range of the healing powers.) However, as with any of electrics healing (besides Electrogenesis) it is not to be used as a means of keeping people at 100% health. One way of understanding the reasoning behind this is by looking at the amount of health it can restore. If you find that a teammate has dropped to 50 - 60% health, or if your restoration is high enough, 30 - 40% health, just one Bio-Electric Surge can bring that individual to 90 or even 100%. Using it to heal someone who has only dropped 20% means you're potentially wasting nearly 50% of that ability's capacity.

    Bio-Capacitor - Healing yourself and one other group member it is best to use this ability in the following ways: On a teammate who's damage intake is extremely high. If their health bar is frequently fluctuating between 100 and 30% this heal will ensure they stay alive given it's utilized properly. It's initial cast will not heal for as much as the other abilities but it's pay-off makes it one of the best heals in the game. Upon casting it will grant yourself and the most damaged teammate a small heal and a blue electrical aura. This aura will remain around yourself and the selected teammate for 2 minutes. If either of your health bars drop below 35% it will release a gigantic chunk of restoration that often times will bump you right back to 100%.
    Another way to use this power is to use it as a kind of temporary guardian angel. If you find yourself torn between two sides of an area, rushing back and fourth to heal two separate groups, you can cast this heal before moving to the other group. That way, if an individual happens to drop below 35% while you're out of reach or too far to get back in time to save them, Bio-Capacitor will ensure they stay alive.However, it will only grant you this miracle once before it needs to be renewed. Once it has saved you or a teammate from a close call, it's aura will vanish and will need to be recast.

    Galvanize - A short-ranged heal intended as a group heal. Growing in strength with every ally healed, it is a gigantic waste to use this for healing one or two people. Far too many times I have seen people use this ability as their go-to heal and I promise you no matter what your restoration is it will not make it any more effective. The best way to use Galvanize is to situate yourself between as many teammates as you can without putting yourself in harms way of course. As the ability states, it will grow in power with every ally healed. Meaning if you manage to drop it between 4 or 5 teammates who are at 30 or 40% health it will make for a massive recovery. Just keep in mind that it is to be used sparingly and situationally. It uses up a fair bit of a power and has poor range.

    Flux - This shield is one of my personal favorites. Although as far as I'm concerned it isn't one of the best, it's initial knock-back is fun to play with. Upon casting it will push enemies away from you giving you time to consider your next options for retaliation. Some may argue that it is not necessary to have this ability, however, I am a firm believer in always keeping a shield in your loadout for when things get a bit hairy. It's damage reduction isn't massive and it will only be cast on yourself unlike sorcery's Boon Of Souls or natures Swarm Shield which will be cast on yourself as well as the 3 most damaged teammates. This I assume is what makes it a less desirable shield.

    Invigorate - As a healer, I would personally say it is damn near mandatory to have a supercharge in your loadout at all times. Healing without it is clearly not impossible but it's always good to have a "holy bleep button." Upon using this ability (which can be cast with a considerable speed) the entire team within it's range will be granted the blue Bio-Capacitor aura which will have the same effects of Bio-Capacitor, as well as bringing everyone's health back to 100% and restoring a large chunk of power.
    • Like x 2
  3. The Incredible Fly New Player

    Other commonly used powers to consider:
    Arc-Lighting and Ionic Drain are favored by some users. I have used them in the past and I understand their viability, however, they are risky to use for the following reasons: They are interruptible, they require a few seconds before delivering their heal and in PvP they are extremely predictable. Ionic Drain is good for additional damage if you're a fan of using your powers instead of your weapons. Unfortunately, as a healer, using your powers for anything but healing, especially if you're an electric healer, can mean the difference between life and death for any one of your teammates. So I've always found it best to steer clear of either of these powers. Just because I speak poorly of them does not make them ineffective. It is entirely personal opinion. I just want to be clear that they are not useless they are just difficult for finding an appropriate time to use when compared to a shield which can be used much more frequently and effectively.

    Weapons to consider:
    Although weaponry will differ depending on the player it is always a good idea to remember that you won't be the primary source of damage contribution. Like every teammate, you will want to contribute as much damage as possible. But because you'll be utilizing a lot of your abilities, you'll be a big target for adds meaning you'll often find yourself in the middle of or at the back of the group as well as as far as (that's a lot of as...) you can position yourself from any bosses. Meaning ranged weapons are your best bet. Handblasters, Bow or Pistols are great choices. They're fast, more effective at range than they are at melee and will allow for quick healing if a teammate(s) is in danger. If you're a little more aggressive like myself, Martial Arts, Dual-Wield and One Handed are also viable weapons. Just remember that their ranged capability is much less effective.

    Weapons to avoid:
    Two-Handed, Rifle and the Shield are all great weapons. For a healer on the other hand, not so much. In the right hands I'm certain they can be just as effective as any others. The problem lies in their lengthy animations which can make for some messy situations if someone is in need of a heal. I've always been terrible with the Rifle so bear in mind this is only personal opinion when I say: the backflipping, rolling and all that jumping about that comes with the Rifle has to be one of the absolute worst things to pair with a responsibility such as healing. Things may have changed since I last used the Rifle while healing so I'm unsure of whether or not there have been tweaks in this area, but during the time I had used it it was impossible to snap off a heal while in the middle of a flip or roll making it a very dangerous weapon to use. On top of that, just holding the triangle button and releasing it requires a bit of time for your character to recover from the firing animation before you can heal.

    The weapons I haven't mentioned are the gray area. The staff for example can be used with a considerable amount of success but I still wouldn't call it a recommended weapon.
    • Like x 2
  4. The Incredible Fly New Player

    ** Modding **
    Yellow sockets - Restoration
    Red sockets - Restoration and Precision
    Blue Sockets - Restoration and Health

    Overall, electricity is my personal favorite power. It's great for both DPSing and healing, it's fun, it's effective, it takes practice and it's performance feels a lot more rewarding than some of the other available powers. It has an unfortunate amount of bad reputation but on the plus side, it saves it from being a mainstream power that would otherwise require a lot of "Electric healer for ____" instead of "Healer for ____" which means you won't always have to specify your power to avoid being paired with another electric healer.

    Also, some quick tips for duels or PvPing: Casting Electrogenesis around the time your health bar hits 80% will reduce the severity of damages taken as it will likely restore faster than your opponent can damage you. Flux will push your enemy back allowing you to retaliate while Electrogen does it's job. Upon wearing off, you can cast Bio-Capacitor as a personal safety net incase your opponent decides to unleash a supercharge on you or otherwise manages to dish out some massive chunks of damage. Do not use Galvanize in a duel. It will heal you, yes. But the bang for your buck will be extremely disappointing. You'll lose a bigger chunk of power than the healing you'll receive so I strongly suggest you avoid using this power in duels all together. And Bio-Electric Surge, well... It's pretty much a given that this will be the power you use when Electrogenesis or Bio-Capacitor aren't an option or would be a bigger waste of power than they would be an effective heal.
    • Like x 4
  5. Lightful New Player

    This deserves more recognition.

    Nice guide.
  6. Too Many Toons Dedicated Player

    I don't electric heal anymore...that said always loved loading up the tank with Electrogenesis if I was about to leave him alone for a bit. (run up to tank..use Electrogenesis, zip off again...they get HoT, you get HoT) (Think first boss in Gates for EG)
    • Like x 1
  7. mrfeto New Player

    Great guide hope to see more. One thing i noticed though. You had put that Electrogenesis is the only HOT we have. Wouldnt galvanize and Electroburst be considered HOT? Although Galvanize is much more of a burst heal with low ticks, Using Electroburst while the enemy is electrified gives such a great burst heal with i feel the best HOT ticks we have. Im not sure if you tried this out yet and if you havent please do. Other than that Great GUIDE keep up the good work :D
  8. Black Jaq Devoted Player

    I used to love Eburst but never used it when I temporarily moved back to Electric. Always wanted to try a multiple hot loadout but the two instant make it unnecessary for alerts.
  9. Remander Steadfast Player

    Not as much a guide as a detailed explanation of why the OP uses a specific loadout. That's fine, but this is by no means a guide. Fact is, there are many viable ways to heal with Electricity.
    • Like x 1
  10. Zeikial Committed Player

    I agree, and that tid bit of removing a heal for a shield, not a good idea. If you want a shield use the supercharge. With your load out I can amass that you use galvanize quite often, again not a good idea, but to each his own