Can someone tell me why SP cost was increased for Heal?

[Eladiun]

I believe this whole spell pass was concocted using yaggerbombs and a dart board. Heal just got unlucky.

[Chette]

Because there are far too many people playing the divine classes in DDO and the devs needed to make it less attractive to stop the constant flood of Clerics and Favoured Souls with LFMs up saying looking for DPS.

OK, I'm kidding. I think it was to bring it more in line with the cures in terms of cost/power, to make divines think a little more about what spells to use instead of just mashing the heal button.

[voodoogroves]

You're supposed to heal people, of course. On the other hand, barbarians have one rage: rage!

You have 13 spells that heal people. Is it unreasonable to think that it might be a good idea for them to make it strategically wise to use more than 4 or so of them (heal, heal mass, mass cure serious, mass cure crit)?

I'd suggest that many of the spells are useful to different builds at different times. This isn't just a DDO thing, it's a PNP thing.

I rarely see Rangers and Paladins casting Heal, for instance.

The only spell I really don't see being used is Close Wounds, and that's one that had (has) at least an interesting mechanic in PNP (it's an immediate casting time). I'd actually like to see DDO make it uninterruptible (like it was cast with Quicken), but that may be too much to ask.

[SardaofChaos]

And Heal still will be the best spell for heavy healing. For trash fights now it might be more SP-efficient to use CSW and CCW with empower Healing for single target. IMHO.

Not saying that I like the change, but this might be the intention behind it.

Infant

This right here. It's not that they just saw something that was overpowered, they saw something that was overused because of a design flaw and have now changed it so variety is actually preferable instead of just something people do when they're bored.

[grodon9999]

Next they change that heal scrolls won't be availble in vendors (or increase price 10 times). Of course it gona be "silent change" so noone will make 10 toons with full inventory of heal scrolls...

I'm wondering this myself . . . currently a lot of the "brute force" tactics in this game work really well because of the ease of healing a meat-bag zero-defense tank with the heal spell and unlimited stacks of heal scroll. If healing became more difficult, people would need to change tactics.

It might be all part of a larger plan to change the way the game is played, to make it more difficult. Or it could just be completely arbitrary.

[grodon9999]

I believe this whole spell pass was concocted using yaggerbombs and a dart board. Heal just got unlucky.

That's as likely of a scenarios as anything else I've seen.

[Infant]

I'm wondering this myself . . . currently a lot of the "brute force" tactics in this game work really well because of the ease of healing a meat-bag zero-defense tank with the heal spell and unlimited stacks of heal scroll. If healing became more difficult, people would need to change tactics.

It might be all part of a larger plan to change the way the game is played.

Making the scrolls disappear from vendors would really upset UMD characters and devaluate UMD a lot in general. Fulfilling the main healer role on a CC/Healing Spellsinger would also become a lot harder.

Infant

[t0r012]

Because there are far too many people playing the divine classes in DDO and the devs needed to make it less attractive to stop the constant flood of Clerics and Favoured Souls with LFMs up saying looking for DPS.

OK, I'm kidding. I think it was to bring it more in line with the cures in terms of cost/power, to make divines think a little more about what spells to use instead of just mashing the heal button.

maybe more people would play clerics if they were not only allowed but expected to fill a role other than wet nurse to melees?

[Chette]

maybe more people would play clerics if they were not only allowed but expected to fill a role other than wet nurse to melees?

I agree 100%, which is why you may notice I never once referred to them as healers?

[Setin_Myways]

I hate to overheal so I normally spot heal individuals with the '1,2,3,' clw,cmw, csw routine over the heal - empowered and with a potency item, my clw hit for 90+ ... I mostly only use heal on wf... now did they take the lvl cap of 15 off of heal like the took the level cap off of most spells? If that is the case, then the cost increase seems fair as you will now heal for more...

[t0r012]

I agree 100%, which is why you may notice I never once referred to them as healers?

aye, for the same reason I didn't as well. They aren't "healers" they are characters that have healing spells as one of their many class attributes.
Honestly I prefer to have a person that loves playing their Cleric or FvS watching my butt than some guy that just logs on to their "healer" for the party/raid.

[Emili]

They wish to enforce the use of a variety of spells?

Still people will gravitate to the most efficient use of sp ... if heal costs more yet yeilds more hp restore than a ccw + clw people will still use heal.

Now comming back to being honest and direct - For years people complained about the variety of spell lists being lacking and the devs I think percieved such as - "well you never use spell "x" and always use spell "y" so I'm going to make "x" look much better to you so you stop complaining."

I hate to overheal so I normally spot heal individuals with the '1,2,3,' clw,cmw, csw routine over the heal - empowered and with a potency item, my clw hit for 90+ ... I mostly only use heal on wf... now did they take the lvl cap of 15 off of heal like the took the level cap off of most spells? If that is the case, then the cost increase seems fair as you will now heal for more...

I believe every clerics does ... top such off with heal amp items, class amp, racial amp and we're speaking a lot higher...

Out of combat I top off people with scrolls... in raids and like I prefer clwm, cmwm spells plus cmwm scroll with just an occasion to toss a single heal on the someone taking brute damage - either scroll or spell. In short of trash cleaning is still likely to be a mass in scroll or spell form also because near everyone around the trash is typically taking damages.

[maddmatt70]

I like it for selfish reasons. Bard healers just got even stronger. When druids come out it will be the same thing since they do not get the heal spell so druid healers will be equally effective.

[Kaeldur]

I think it goes like this.

When we single-target heal, we never use anything but the heal spell once we have it. not only does it heal for more, but its cheaper because it isnt boosted by maximize or empower and so its cheaper than cure serious or cure critical wounds in addition to being better in every way.

The cost change has changed it so that those two spells might be valuable (single target) for single target healing, especially when healing amp is involved, and actually cheaper wayso fgetting the job done.

The present heal generally overheals by 50% while still being 20% cheaper than the alternatives.

While your post is 100% accurate... increasing Heal by 5 sp changes that how? I can't really be bothered by that increase, will still use Heal instead of any other cure.

[salmag]

They wish to enforce the use of a variety of spells?

Still people will gravitate to the most efficient use of sp ... if heal costs more yet yeilds more hp restore than a ccw + clw people will still use heal.

Now comming back to being honest and direct - For years people complained about the variety of spell lists being lacking and the devs I think percieved such as - "well you never use spell "x" and always use spell "y" so I'm going to make "x" look much better to you so you stop complaining."

...

I agree. People will still use Heal. Maybe they'll change tactics if they put a 4 minute cooldown timer on it...

[Healemup]

That is just silly really.

Heal is the highest level single target healing spell in the game. It should be the best choice for single target healing. Healing magic is one of the few places that the spell level system actually worked well.

Higher level spells should be >> lower level spells that are meant to do the same thing.

And it does... Heal not only restores hit points lost, but also cures other ailments. Something the other "Cure" spells do not.

[Geonis]

When druids come out it will be the same thing since they do not get the heal spell so druid healers will be equally effective.

Incorrect.

Heal
Conjuration (Healing)
Level: Clr 6, Drd 7, Healing 6
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

Heal enables you to channel positive energy into a creature to wipe away injury and afflictions. It immediately ends any and all of the following adverse conditions affecting the Target: ability damage, blinded, confused, dazed, dazzled, deafened, diseased, exhausted, fatigued, feebleminded, insanity, nauseated, sickened, stunned, and poisoned. It also cures 10 hit points of damage per level of the caster, to a maximum of 150 points at 15th level.

Heal does not remove negative levels, restore permanently drained levels, or restore permanently drained ability score points.

If used against an undead creature, heal instead acts like harm.

[Chette]

I like it for selfish reasons. Bard healers just got even stronger. When druids come out it will be the same thing since they do not get the heal spell so druid healers will be equally effective.

Druids don't get Mass-heal I believe, but they still get heal. All of their healing spells are just one level higher.

[Hambo]

I'd like to know the reasoning behind this, if a dev cares to comment.

...So that those with a deathwish die quicker?

[Anthem]

...So that those with a deathwish die quicker?

That might not be far from the truth: Cures (mass too) have dropped in cost, so in the cycle of raid/grouped healing, things might balance out, and it is the worst of the low/non-fortified toons with weak saves who may suffer most from the divines giving Heal a second thought before saving their weak builds.

Ideally, this should lead to fewer gimps.