Had to laugh as my son was playing the other day and he was getting ticked off at the healer for casting Sermon all the time when they had a competant tank who was getting all the aggro he suggested that the healer should be using Vitae instead but was told to back off "I know what I am doing." Well sure enough a few adds later the Healer is out of Mana and the Tank in trouble wisely tells the group to run while he tries to hold off mobs as long as he can. The boy immediatley hi tails it to safety while the gallant healer fights on to the bitter end only to add to the group exp debt. So what do you think is Sermon overused? Other thought when you have a tank and he tells you to run its usually a good idea. Oh and no the healer didn't cast essence either so the boy couldn't go back and rez the healer.
Depends on the healer and what they like to use. I only use sermon for pulls, then Vitae my hearts content on the MT.
If I am unfamiliar with the group I will always use Sermon as the tank pulls and then re-apply if needed. If the tank can keep the aggro I use it occasionally for those silly people who dont know to stand behind the mob. I believe these two spells used to stack adding to the healing on the tank. I think I read someplace that was changed recently or something. I havent tested it yet so I dont know first hand.
There's quite a debate on this here: http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=14&message.id=64 Basically though, Sermon has a few advantages to Vitae. It heals for 8 charges, regardless of which group member is hit. Yes, takes more mana but in actuality it seems that it is more efficient in many situations. The downside is the cast time more than anything else. Read the thread and draw your own conclusions )
The upgrade to Sermon is pretty nice actually. When my single reactive heal heals for 102/hit, this one heals for 239 with an adept 1... Really makes a difference, and the adept 1 is pretty easy to find on my server,
Check the Freeport broker (or blackmarket one). It seems to drop a lot there, I would guess in Fallen Gate or Nektulos.
I usually use Soothing Sermon on pulls when I'm casting BoV and the tank is out of range :smileywink: Other times, and much more rarely, is when agro starts to jump around. This seems to be getting more common in groups with two or more fighter types. As soon as I notice multiple people getting hit, I start casting Soothing Sermon until things get back under control.
I've been mainly using sermon when I see aggro jumping off the MT. If aggro stays on the tank I just use BoV.
i use sermon on pulls when there is druids and enchanters in the groups since they seem to get agro alot but as some said above, if its all under controll then the BoV is it. along with my friend Combat Heal. i use both in tandom. On a tank thats being beaten fast I Bov then immieadtly follow with a combat heal works nice and buys me a sec to do other things like weakn the mob or drop its ac
Every situation is different. But usually only use sermon on pulls. If aggro jumps will use it again. If have breeze on from a wizzy then the power situation should'nt be an issue unless your fighting something you shouldn't be fighting in the first place. One other thing, if the tank says run.....run. Better to have only 1 persons exp debt than 5 or 6. :smileysurprised:
I use it when I'm full mana and tanker is about to go to pull, by the time he gets back, I'm already full of power (since I wasn't in combat when I casted it), so it's a freebie. One thing that happened to me once, I casted and since it's so slow, it went off right after the tanker pulled, they all came to me! Now if the tanker is near the mobs I don't use it
I use it before the pull if there is a mage doing Crowd Control. Otherwise they often go down before you can switch targets and get a heal on them. Also use it if agro starts jumping around too much. Is that too much, I don't think so.
Sermon is a wonderful spell with mulitple mobs. Or when mob is playing ping pong because the DD is over nuking (which is a lot). Otherwise Bestowal will do fine. It isnt mana efficient to keep casting sermon. as you said already :robotwink: Vaylon and his useless wisp Kibobtik
