Where are the healers at?!

[DartanTR]

Past 2 nights I've been looking for a healer for 9-11 range quests or even 8-15 or 10-18 slayers. Not many clerics showing up :(

[Atenhotep]

Unless you're running a raid, a healer is "nice thing to have" but not necessary. Run without one and learn to be self sufficient. Not being critical, just sayin.

[techwench]

They're probably running with their guilds because that is kind of a bad level range to PUG clerics in.

1) Not enough spells/spell points, yet
2) Loot doesn't quite cover the cost of supplies because...
3) Too many people still rely too heavily on clerics to keep them alive and it's not cost-efficient because of #1 and #2

[Kronik]

We're out getting drunk at bars and trying to wash away the pains of low level PUG groups and no reward slayer runs.

[Maxwell1380]

For explorer/slayer areas of that level a pocket cleric should be fine to keep you healthy. Just park it at the entrance and call it over when you need it

[MeliCat]

They're probably running with their guilds because that is kind of a bad level range to PUG clerics in.

1) Not enough spells/spell points, yet
2) Loot doesn't quite cover the cost of supplies because...
3) Too many people still rely too heavily on clerics to keep them alive and it's not cost-efficient because of #1 and #2

4) A lot of people aren't (can't) wear heavy fort yet...


Actually it's good for me 'cos I get lots of heal practice. I do warn people I suck at healing before I join their pug though.


They can yell all they like mid party wipe but I DID warn them.

[Hendrik]

Anon is a CLR's best friend, more so after DDO went FtP.

[MarcusCleardawn]

Where are all the clerics at?

1. The poor house, after struggling with PUGs allergic to potions, burning through more gold/minute than Congress; they switched to something less expensive.

2. The asylum, after struggling trying to even find a pick up group pre Blade Barrier and finding very little, and that little all decides, "Hey we've a cleric, sure we can run missions over level on elite."

3. The streets, after being kicked out of the asylum for running out of cash, clerics take to the streets to beg for something to kill the pain of being broke, at fault for not healing through corners, having infinite spell points, or the twitch reflexes of an Olympic athlete on "banned performance enhancing substance of choice."

4. Unmarked grave, after being driven to bankruptcy, blinded by playing too much red bar whack-a-mole, the poor cleric is rolled by a CR 2 kobold ruffian who then kills him for the 2 copper and pocket fluff left in his deflated purse.


Seriously though, do you accept a 3rd cleric to a normal 6-person party? or even a 2nd? But a 2nd or 3rd DPS-er is fine. Is there any class that is more expensive to play with zergers? (And aren't the majority of PUGs pretty much zerg fests?)

I've tried it twice, and each time run out of cash and patience with it by level 9. Just my two bits.

[MeliCat]

I found myself spamming a lot of mass cures. I partied with a vet and was asking him lots of questions as we ran around the vale. He pointed out that I needed to learn how to better use and not waste my sp. And that the best way to do that was to not have any scrolls (/wands) on me so that I wasn't tempted to use them. He also suggested lots of (probably obvious to everyone but I had glossed over it) things to give me more sp and manage sp.

I save my money now.

But you can bribe me with wands and stacks of scrolls and pots. Particularly if you are WF (I love WF... I do... you're just ... a little trickier... I *will* heal you...)

[The_Great_Samulas]

You are in the unfortunate predicament of needing a cleric, when they don't need you. They can killl slayer stuff very easily on their own with bladebarrier. Good clerics are much better on their own than in a group. The only reason they need a group is to reset their instance. Inexperienced clerics that still burn resources heavily, won't join typically for the reasons outlined above.

[Original]

You are in the unfortunate predicament of needing a cleric, when they don't need you. They can killl slayer stuff very easily on their own with bladebarrier. Good clerics are much better on their own than in a group. The only reason they need a group is to reset their instance. Inexperienced clerics that still burn resources heavily, won't join typically for the reasons outlined above.

/signed

And if you do find a cleric at this level he/she is probaly a noob.

[Danmor]

At that level the quests start to get harder and often require better coordination. On my healers that's the point where I start running mostly guild stuff due to the reasons mentioned above.

And for slayers: If I see a PuG asking for a healer for slayers I sure as heck won't join. Most slayer areas at about lvl 10 don't have big fights, so why the need? If you're doing Orchard slayers, I'll not join because most PuGs lack the appropriate weapons, making the slayer run unnecessarily slow and expensive.

That's it. If you advertise for a quick VoN flagging run, Caverns of Corromar or Gwylan's Elite, I might join ya.

[rest]

Anon is a CLR's best friend, more so after DDO went FtP.

I leave my cleric available for all to see, and very rarely get tells. But maybe they know I'm terrible and don't send me tells for that reason.

[moops]

Also think of taking Bards who can heal, and if you have a lot of WF in your group Casters--I was in a Tempest Spine the other night, all the tanks were WF cept one, we had 3 casters --2 who were WF and yet the leader wanted 2 divine healers.

[Original]

Also think of taking Bards who can heal, and if you have a lot of WF in your group Casters--I was in a Tempest Spine the other night, all the tanks were WF cept one, we had 3 casters --2 who were WF and yet the leader wanted 2 divine healers.

Healers are needed for tempest spine? These are dark days indeed.

[ArgentMage]

I leave my cleric available for all to see, and very rarely get tells. But maybe they know I'm terrible and don't send me tells for that reason.

I'm ANON all the time. I can't tell you how many times I've been in the middle of
combat and gotten a party request - no tell, just a popup that interrupts my attack.
Sometimes more than one from the same person after I refuse the first.
Can you say /squelch? (sigh)

[Phidius]

I can't speak for everyone, but my cleric never joins a PUG when the only icons selected are Cleric and FvS.

I look for the PUGs that have all the classes selected, and have something like "BYOH", "Self-sufficient", or "In Progress" in the description. Learn to be self-sufficient, and you won't have problems getting healers to join.


I'm ANON all the time. I can't tell you how many times I've been in the middle of
combat and gotten a party request - no tell, just a popup that interrupts my attack.
Sometimes more than one from the same person after I refuse the first.
Can you say /squelch? (sigh)

If you don't mind some constructive criticism, your mistake was to decline the first one. I prefer to accept, type in party chat "Blind invites are rude and a waste of your time", then continue with whatever I was doing. I also make sure to let new people who join know that I'm not with the rest of the group, just in case they didn't notice that before they joined.

The last time that happened, it turned out that 3 other people in the party did the same thing :D

[farbtonwolf]

I just got a healer/blaster fvs to lvl9 last night. Will park him for a while though as the pug groups are terrible and the rest of the guild is caped like me. Hate buying that new slot for characters.

[ArgentMage]

If you don't mind some constructive criticism, your mistake was to decline the first one. I prefer to accept, type in party chat "Blind invites are rude and a waste of your time", then continue with whatever I was doing. I also make sure to let new people who join know that I'm not with the rest of the group, just in case they didn't notice that before they joined.

The last time that happened, it turned out that 3 other people in the party did the same thing :D

I'm not the type who has that type of temperment.

But you're right - whenever I see the "you declined @$$hat's request to join their party"
that gets automatically generated, I should send a tell and try to educate...

[rest]

I'm ANON all the time. I can't tell you how many times I've been in the middle of
combat and gotten a party request - no tell, just a popup that interrupts my attack.
Sometimes more than one from the same person after I refuse the first.
Can you say /squelch? (sigh)

Join a party with a friend so you show in group :D Even if you're doing totally different things at totally different levels, you can still group and shoot the sh1t.

[mws2970]

A nice thing to do is buy a wand and give it to your cleric at the beginning of the quest and ask them to top you off between fights. If you're a WF, then give it to a caster. Be kinder to your local healer or be self-sufficient and BYOH.

[ArgentMage]

I can't speak for everyone, but my cleric never joins a PUG when the only icons selected are Cleric and FvS.

I look for the PUGs that have all the classes selected, and have something like "BYOH", "Self-sufficient", or "In Progress" in the description. Learn to be self-sufficient, and you won't have problems getting healers to join.

Now that I read this again, this is exactly what I've been doing - avoiding any groups
that come looking for a healer specifically. These groups have almost universally been
failures.

That said, I got into a great group on Tuesday night doing VON3&4. We cruised to
victory. I just healed during combat, and everyone was otherwise pretty much
self-sufficient. I did *one* wand whip the whole night. It's one I will not soon forget.

[stoopid_cowboy]

Past 2 nights I've been looking for a healer for 9-11 range quests or even 8-15 or 10-18 slayers. Not many clerics showing up :(

I can't speak for everyone but I am a little butt sore about joining random slayer parties. Seems like eveytime you enter the slayer area the group splits in 6 different directions. Then all you hear is "I need a heal!"
I was hoping that come level 18 I will get the "heal anywhere in the world" feat. As of right now I still can't heal fighters behind walls, or in other rooms, and on other floors, let alone ACROSS a slayer area.

So I do the next best thing. just camp out and get the kills. :) Easy xp and get to read e-mails in the process! :D
Also, does anyone know how a blade barrier works??? *facepalm* A well place bladed barrier and the proper use by party members can save a lot of spell points in heals.

Ok, enough ranting. To answer the original question simply, we have had better things to do. When a party just needs a healer, odds are they are zergs and it's not gonna end well.

My two coppers

/drinks coffee

[Original]

Ok, enough ranting. To answer the original question simply, we have had better things to do. When a party just needs a healer, odds are they are zergs and it's not gonna end well.

My two coppers

/drinks coffee[/QUOTE]


Don't confuse zergs with noobs... zergers are self-suffient and dont need healers.

[AZgreentea]

You can always grab a cleric hireling. They arent as dumb as they used to be. Still not brilliant, but I use one as a heal slave when I do groups sometimes. They are cheaper then buying a pile of pots.

Switch them over to Defensive and they wont really bother with the enemies (and thus wont get much aggro) so you can use them to heal your party members.

[Moustique]

That is what I was about to say : Buy you a hireling.

I have a level 9 Cleric and I was really wondering why I was having all those party invite that I never have with my other chars. I guess I'll start to go anonymous too...

We are not free hirelings...

[moops]

Oh yeah Slayers. . .

Slayers are something I do by myself while waiting for a party. I do still pug my healers because I like to meet new people, but I would never join a slayer pug.

Even better than a Cleric hireling--is a caster hireling with HASTE and FW.

Also, Flare, the LvL 8 Sorc hireling is better than most pugs:)-

[Thailand_Dan]

Just to pile on, there are several reasons:

- By that level, most clerics are anon, as healers are constantly spammed with tells and/or group requests if your not.

- Most clerics run with friends/guildies at this level. Most guildies have one or two clerics, and its a trade off, I bring my cleric this run, and you bring your cleric the next one. Or, better yet, we both bring pocket clerics.

- Groups looking for a healer on an easy quest or a quest way above level usually won't fill (this includes explorer areas). Reason: They are typically a nightmare. If you need a healer for waterworks elite at level 9, the group is horrible. If you are trying to run Church and the Cult elite at level 8, your expecting the healer to use tons of wands/scrolls, and will probably wipe.

- Most quests/builds do not need a healer. Having a healer is nice, but is rarely a necessity outside of raids, when you are running at-level content. Pots are available in-game for purchase (not DDO-store bought), many classes are able to self-heal, and buffs go a long way at preventing damage. You don't need tons of plat, raid loot, or even 32-pt to build a self-sufficient toon.

As many have stated, if you need a healer, you need to look at the group you are in or how you built your toon. You really shouldn't NEED one.

[soupertc]

Also, Flare, the LvL 8 Sorc hireling is better than most pugs:)-

lol

[Zenako]

Many parties need a good cleric/healer.

Many good clerics do not NEED a party however...

[katana_one]

I'm ANON all the time. I can't tell you how many times I've been in the middle of
combat and gotten a party request - no tell, just a popup that interrupts my attack.
Sometimes more than one from the same person after I refuse the first.
Can you say /squelch? (sigh)

You can turn off party (and guild) invites in the UI. It's very handy for preventing the situation you describe above. I do it all the time.

[stoopid_cowboy]

Don't confuse zergs with noobs... zergers are self-suffient and dont need healers.

Good point, my bad. I have run in a couple of good zerg groups. My role was pretty boring. All i did was run past dead bodies and loot chests. The only mana I ever used was on buffs.

[DartanTR]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to try having my hireling on passive. She seems to die alot. I prefer a real person though just because I try my best to speed through quests. Some of the PUGs I've been in don't quite understand the whole concept of xp/min.

[dcp101]

Have you considered possibly that some players don't zerg or care for XP/minute? Are we actually calculating this now? *boggles*

[Flasharte]

anyone who invites a cleric into their group is cheating. im not sure why they are even in the game! might as well let us all ride on dragons with lasers (pew pew pew) mounted on their wings. clerics: the original easy button!

btw i have like 5 clerics, lemme know if ya ever need any, they are spread out along the lvl spectrum.

[Shiler]

I play cleric, i dont mind joining groups that look for only cleric since it means they are waiting for me and we start.

I havent took cleric so i don't heal others
I took cleric cause i wanted to heal.

When i play melee:
I will give cleric what he needs, just.. ASK
You used 10 wands healing me?

Tell me i will give you money.

But if you dont say anything and then whine here about unfriendly groups that dont help clerics?
Thanks for playing, cya.

Ps. Your veteran (player) cleric in bad pug?
Maybe try to educate them? so next cleric wont have so many problems.
Its worth the shot.

[BLAKROC]

Past 2 nights I've been looking for a healer for 9-11 range quests or even 8-15 or 10-18 slayers. Not many clerics showing up :(

best way to get a cleric, roll your own and run it.]

now you always have one. ;)

[Cerwan]

clerics: the original easy button!



I simply MUST quote that in my sig.. It's beyond awesome.. :)

+1 rep from me..


I think most new players, who opt for the cleric class, may not feel certain enough of themselves, to ask their team-members for money or anything of the kind, to replace the 20+ thousand gold they just zapped off on wands.. I know I didn't and still don't to be honest..

A Healer's Manual would be an awesome thing, with advice from more experienced cleric-players on how to deal with the black hole in the middle of the purse, the annoying people, who don't seem to understand why you're reluctant to whip out ..another.. 13k gp wand and so forth... My cleric is lvl 16 now, but I am still a noob on all counts and am still trying to learn the ropes.. As a matter of fact, I'll probably never be done with that, as there's always one more lesson out there..

The true eye-opener for me, when I first realized that maybe my char wasn't the make or break of any and all groups, was when I first teamed up with a guildie of mine, who ran a 13th lvl pure monk.. First of all, I couldn't keep up with him on the slayer run he took me on, just to let me know the lay of the land.. Whenever I managed to catch up with him, he was standing next to a chest waiting for me to get there, before he sat down, healed himself and blazed off again.. I never even got to see a single one of the red-names.. He managed to get to them, kill them and everything around them, loot the chest and get ready to go before I even got there.. That, to say the least, made me realize that the cleric is a bonus, not a necessity.... And I loved every second of it.. And yes, my second char is a monk.. ;)
He may not do the end-game bosses and what not, but he is fun through and through...

I'll still run my cleric and he is still my main, but instead of constantly watching the Pug-board with him, I simply log on to my monk and do some soloing instead, whenever I feel like seeing some action.. That'll also give me some much-needed experience at something other than standing still, watching the red-bars.. (I reached a point where I found myself in a dungeon, I'd never seen before, only to realize that I'd already completed it 4-5 times without ever taking a good look at it, since I was too busy keeping people alive.

I've managed to get him to lvl 16 so far and I still don't have a clue how to complete half the quests I've been through... Time for some change.. ;)

[Stealthdog]

All my clerics are anon now. It was touch and go before with expectations of class roles, but was liveable. Now, too many people just expect a cleric to be healbot and too much drama starts up in PUGs when I don't just stand in the rear spamming heals. I don't play healbot so I am extra chosey with groups I join now. I rarely even log on with my clerics now...they just aren't as much fun to play in groups anymore. They are more my solo toons now when I am in an anti-social mood.