I'm talking about pure heals, not talking about DPS side at all. If your just running healer full out, which powerset is the absolute best healing power in the game. Again, only talking about the best pure healing power. NO DPS considerations.
I think this is very subjective. I've been healing since beta and my list would be: 1) Cel 2)Elec 3)Nat 4)Sorc My reasoning for this ranking is quite simple actually. Celes has unlimited range, with amazing dots(wrath of presence and consume soul, etc) and some really good group and individual burst. Most would say electric is the worst either for its range or being 'power hungry' and in truth, it isn't power hungry when used in the right hands. Electric, by far, has the greatest burst all at once. If a tank would ever die when an electric healer is there, kick them. (Unless they get omega beamed or something xD) With that being said, electric safety net with its instant heal plus arc lightning just make it on my second best healer. But we all understand its individual healing is the best. Its group heals aren't the worse either! Nature, of course, considered easy mode out all of the healing powers. You can simply spam and still remain with a large amount of power and with that in mind, I will give nature the best group healing. That is why they can easily solo heal most things. But the reason I would rate it number 3 is because it is, probably, the most boring healing power there is. Overall tho, I will say nature is the best. Sorcery, well, enough said. Watcher is cool, I guess. Rejuv, circle and shards is cool as well. Boon of souls, cool. I don't know. Nothing super special about Sorcery. (I don't know. Maybe because I started off with sorcery back in beta that I grew an unlikely bias towards it? A negative bias, perhaps?) Okay... So the listing was solely meant what I believe in. I know electric being rated higher than nature is weird and probably everyone on dc will not agree with me but that's how I see it. But I also spent a lot of time as nature and same goes for electric and I truly believe electric is better.
Nature in Bug Form has a power regeneration mechanic. That makes Nature the most efficient Healer power set as it is less reliant on a Controller providing power.
I've see Nature healers completely without power in DWF on adds with another healer. Some rely on that regen as an excuse to over heal.
I'm loathe to admit this is probably correct but I've seen terrible Nature and Celestial healers as well. So the power does not make the player. I think player inadequacies show more with Sorcery and Electricity.
Most electricity healers are terrible because they try to use galvanize a lot. That's your power sucker. I love electricity healing especially using EB.
1. Celestial 2. Nature 3. Electric 4. Sorcery Celestial due to its range, supercharge shield and damage in healer role Then nature due to its power back mechanic Then electric due to its bio capacitor abilities for those oh $*$% moments Then finally sorcery due to it not having anything unique other than the pets and highest crit heal ability. But in reality I would put celestial then electric then sorcery, then nature in terms of skill required. However remember all healers can perform adequately in any content. The real answer is that there is no best healer power.
1. Electric 2. Nature 3. Celestial 4. Sorcery Honestly it's a bit of a pointless list. Healing can be situational and some healer power sets will be better than others depending on the situation. It also depends on the hands using the power.
Like others have said, it's situational. Nature is the best in many situations because it has really fast burst heals and the power back mechanic from Hive Mind allows you to spam them more than other powers. It also has an advantage in raids with lots of adds because Harvest can stun and is spammable. I'd say the only power with better burst than Nature is Electricity but it's way more power hungry and the range of moves like Galvanize and Arc Lightning won't always reach everyone. Also, Elec has virtually no HOTs. But still, if the room you're in isn't big and the controller is good, then Electric is an amazing healer. Celestial is arguably the best healer because of two things: the incredibly long range of Admonish > Blight and Renew, and its Consecrated Ground supercharge which prevents 75% of all damage over an area. Personally, if Nature and Celestial's ranges were the same, I'd consider Nature a little bit better because it can burst better than Celestial. But for things like Survival Mode (all of them except Trigon), Celestial is preferred because tanks often separate bosses really far from each other and Cel is the only healer that can reach both. Sorcery is the only power I've never healed with so I can't speak from experience here. It seems like it doesn't burst as well as the other powers but its HOTs are strong and Rejuvenate is also really strong even though it's only a single target heal. I plan on trying Sorc after this SM is gone. But here are my rankings depending on the situation. Raids: 1. Nature 2. Celestial 3. Electric 4. Sorcery Alerts: 1. Electric 2. Nature 3. Celestial 4. Sorcery Survival Mode: 1. Celestial 2. Nature 3. Sorcery 4. Electric
For the most part, I do Sorcery healing. Been Sorcery since I started in 2011. It's by far the easiest to play as. That said, I've grown accustomed to Power Management and don't really need a Controller for the Power Regen. Any who: As Sorcery, since I have a Pet to assist with healing, it's makes it less of a chore to keep people alive under normal circumstances. Truthfully, Rejuvenate, Circle of Protection, and Watcher are generally enough for me to solo heal any group. Of course, this is made EASIER with Renewal and Boon. Electricity: While I absolutely love this Power, it took me a long time to get use to being able to management my power (mana). Getting the understanding that Electric healing works mostly off of it's own ability (ie Bio-capacitor giving a burst heal at low Health, or Surge will heal folks who are "Charged" in one cast), I like how flashy it is. Extremely good for group back-up healing. Nature: Tried this for maybe a week tops. It wasn't for me. I guess it was because it's mostly a HoT Power, but I am so used to how Sorcery and Electric played. Celestial: Never tried. To conclude, Sorcery is my go-to Power for healing. I had opportunities to solo heal Raids that I entered for the first time as Sorcery, Nature, and Electric. I failed hard as Nature. Electric kept me on my toes. Sorcery allowed me to throw in some dps while the Circle and Watcher do their thing in the meantime. But you know, if it came down to other categories, here's my personal preferences... Most fun: Electricity Least favorite: Nature Not interested: Celestial Safety: Sorcery Bursts: Electricity Best Healing over Time: Nature Easy to learn: Sorcery Most comfortable: Sorcery Flashy: Electricity / Celestial If stuck on an island with one choice: Sorcery Prefer to Raid with as solo: Sorcery Prefer to Raid with as duo: Electricity The ONLY thing that would make me stay as an Electric player is if I was interested in becoming a DPS sometimes. Since I have no interest outside of main healing, the award goes to Sorcery.
