Am I the only one?

[Kreaper]

Am I the only one that thinks it would be nice to have the option of adding health bars above characters? I find it pretty dang boring watching the corner of my screen during those healing type quests. I have mentioned this during chit chat in quests and every one just sits there silently as if I had said something taboo.

[Film]

When I am using my healbot style cleric I drag the party info bars down to the bottom center of the screen above my healing hotbar. When healing during a "why can't I just let coyle die and raise him at the end run" I drag the magic window above my hotbar at the bottom of the screen. In both cases I can now actually see where I am going and watch the hp bars. Just a suggestion!

[Zenako]

I am assuming you mean in addition to the current party list/health/spell point bars, oitherwise it would be a nightmare to use. It would add to the graphic clutter on screen, and probably make it hard to know who in a rapidly moving group of characters was actually the hurting one. While it would be similar to the health bar mechanics of many games, in most of those you are not also trying to heal things in those games. It more serves as a damage meter so you know which mob is hurting.

You can always move the party list to a more central location on your screen if that would help you. I have seen screen shots of some clerics who do that. Personally I like to have a wide open screen so I can see what is happening easier.

[Kreaper]

I am assuming you mean in addition to the current party list/health/spell point bars, oitherwise it would be a nightmare to use. It would add to the graphic clutter on screen, and probably make it hard to know who in a rapidly moving group of characters was actually the hurting one. While it would be similar to the health bar mechanics of many games, in most of those you are not also trying to heal things in those games. It more serves as a damage meter so you know which mob is hurting.

You can always move the party list to a more central location on your screen if that would help you. I have seen screen shots of some clerics who do that. Personally I like to have a wide open screen so I can see what is happening easier.

Oh, yes, I meant in addition to. I often move the bars down to my hotbars also. I would rather be able to look at the players though. Personally, I would replace guild names with hp bars. If I want to know what guild you are in I will examine you with the focus orb.

It seems that most of the time when people are close together beating on a mob, the mob dies quickly enough that the group doesn't take much damage. When it gets crazy is when the group spreads out. Then again, they are usually blocked or out of range when that happens.

Eh, it just seems like I would enjoy healing more if I could see health bars over people. Then again, my healer experience is limited so I could be wrong. I just get tired of staring at that little stack of health bars regardless where I put them.

Maybe I just need more practice.

[johnyBgood]

not trying to hijack your thread but wondered if other clerics have a problem when tabbing to ailing partymembers I tab to who I want to heal, I see their shiny face in focus orb, hit hotkey to heal and literaly as i do the orb switches to target mob, thus i fully heal myself...actually happens often anybody else notice this..also the health bars of the players in group window dont always match with healbar in focus orb...

[Zenako]

there is a toggle in the options menu that will help you avoid this. Forget the actual name of it, but it locks in the F(1,2,3,4,5, etc) key you hit until you hit another F key. Used to have the problem of lag and if you hit F2 for example and then hit it again since you did not see the desired character pop up, often you ended up selecting and then deselecting the target. Look around in the options, you might get a little relief on this issue there.

[johnyBgood]

will do thanks

[Film]

There are definately drawbacks to having healthbars over the names. When you get into a 12 person raid with the 8+ DPS' posting up a beating you would not be able to determine which red bar belongs to which person and who requires the full heal instead of benefiting from the mass, csw. Even in regular quests a well played rogue teaming up with an intimitank or barb would be in the same line of sight which would overlap names and bars. My suggestion would be that if you do not enjoy staring at a healing panel, do not be a healbot. Go Battle Cleric or Combat Casting Cleric who throws out mass heals on groups and tells people I am not here to be your safety net.

Now I would agree with party hp bars staying where they are and only the poor AI NPC who must not die have the only bar above their head.

Edit: Or add gimp NPC to the party list so that it is easily monitored and able to be toggled by F7 key.

[Kreaper]

Yeah, raids would be a problem. I would prefer being able to turn it on and off.


Actually, I did roll a battle Cleric. (Not rolling eyes at you. Just the general attitude towards battle clerics.)

I can see already that I will go back to small groups and soloing when I get a few more levels. I have a LOT of fun when I don't have to worry about keeping idiots, I mean zergers alive.

[Zenako]

Yeah, raids would be a problem. I would prefer being able to turn it on and off.


Actually, I did roll a battle Cleric. (Not rolling eyes at you. Just the general attitude towards battle clerics.)

I can see already that I will go back to small groups and soloing when I get a few more levels. I have a LOT of fun when I don't have to worry about keeping idiots, I mean zergers alive.

You don't have to heal stupid. A reasonable party would expect you to heal wounds gained and remaining from battles handled as a group. Someone runs off by themselves, they had better have a medic kit/bottle/wand/paper with them. Once you come to grips with that concept, being a cleric is a lot less stress....

For example, I make it a rule of thumb to NOT heal damage characters take from traps if we have a way to disable them. They feel the need to dash thru it, they can sit at 60% HP for a while.

[Kreaper]

Oh, it's not stressful. It's boring. And I don't chase after zergers. Run off and die. That's fine. I can carry lots of weight in my backpack!


I have learned one thing playing a cleric. I am a rare breed as a melee. I always have stacks of every pot and wand I might need and I even use them. I even jump out of battle to heal myself when things get bad. I know. That's a crazy way to be. Evidently, you are supposed to just stand there and die!


I just can't help myself. I don't like getting killed!

[shane1122]

I have to agree with the above comments that it would add clutter and make healing a real pain.
....That said, it would add far more realism to the interactive side of combat since you would not know a party member's health unless you could obtain line of sight. You would actually have to see them to get a read on how hurt they are. How is it that healing spells appear to be exempt from the laws of physics that apply to all other spells and weapons in the game? I can put my nose in a corner facing away from everyone else in the party and still hit everyone in the room with healing no matter how many players and/or monsters are between us.
-Shane