Hi guys. I know that you all will have only had limited experience of the game so far (and certainly nothing even close to end game content) but opinions would be appreciated.

In MMOs I like to be a healer in group environments, whether it's just a casual quest or a raid / whatever the end game PvE is going to be called in this game.

I was excited to hear all Zenimax's talk of freedom and choices when it comes to skills, and experimented with a variety of class/weapon skills to complement healing magic. However, I was wondering whether it would be possible to heal effectively at an end game level with JUST the templar class skills or JUST the restoration staff weapon skills rather than both. I don't want to start, say, a restoration staff Sorcerer only to find out much later down the line that a restoration staff alone won't cut it and end up having to respec to a more DPS type role.

Zenimax has said a lot about the viability of any combination of skills, but I'm sceptical based on my experiences with other games. I'd like to mix and match skills, but not if it leaves me not good enough to actually heal effectively.

Anyway, any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks!

I have played more content than you have access too, I can't talk about it .. but in my opinion Templars are far and away superior healers and it's not even close. If you want to MAIN heal .. you need to be a templar. If you want to offheal, anything will do in light armor.

As a templar both healing and DPS is maximized by light armor, so you can have a healing bar, and a DPS bar, and not suffer at all from your equipment. You can be the highest DPS person in the group, then switch and be the best healer in the group. You could even be an outstanding tank in some encounters with light armor. With 100% light armor my resist and armor is higher than the tanks I run with. Of course I have to stand in my tiny rune to get this effect.

But does the Templer need the resto staff also?

I didn't need to have a resto staff to heal through the dungeons we had in beta.

I suspected that Templar skills would be necessary to heal properly. You mentioned restoration staves, but what about armour? Would a templar with an axe and heavy armour be able to heal well enough ro be a main healer in a group?

No one in my group died when I played a sword-and-board, heavy armor hybrid Templar. I healed and off-tanked large groups. I was the only healer, and we did just fine.

This game is not about the holy trinity; it is far more important that players understand block/dodge mechanics.

But then you've got http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1491896-why-was-i-told-vets-going-sorc-for-healer-and-not-templar/. Not even one clear answer on this forum.

I think there are multiple types of healers. Templar/Resto came across very similar to a resto shammy - strategic heals (long casts, HoT, low mana cost) combined with tactical ones (short casts, massive Magicka cost). Sorc/Resto was a strange one (mostly because it was my first char and I likely messed up the build) - it came across as a "glass medpack:" excellent mobility/damage avoidance combined with superior ability to put out HP/s. I saw a lot of dual-spec LFGs in chat ("heal/dps LFG, etc.") so it could be that dual-speccing roles may be a thing. We won't be able to tell until we hit late-game anyway. Some people have even mentioned Nightblade healers.

I guess that at the end of the day, I don't want to put hours into levelling a class as a healer only to find out that I have to switch to a damage-dealing role to play that class to its full potential.

I just have a mental issue with Templars wearing light armor. I may never overcome the mental expectation that Templars wear heavy.

If it were possible for a temp to wear heavy armor, and still cap out regen/magicka I'd be 100% temp heals end game me thinks.

The only great thing about the templar skills would be the passives.

The healing staff has so many more healing uses.....although Im not sure if the Templars healing passives would apply to the restoration staffs healing. I think this is something that is left a little uncertain...how one skill line might or might not affect the attributes of another.

The only downside to the restoration stave is its dps.

So..IMO, for normal questing and PVP, I would go full templar.

For private group dungeons, I would go as a Templar with a healing staff. Either way, my greatest attribute would be Magicka.

Being a Templar isn't needed, but for my purposes, the constant armor protection pays for itself.

Its so damn confusing tbh......Its going to take a long time to get things just as you like them.

I think you could especially as a Breton (racials) and enchants.

That's kinda what I was thinking too. Breton for the racials and then (based on that vid or two capping stats with chants) using enchants, heavy armor, sword & board.....then all this talk of Temps wearing light for the regen/pool made me rethink this build. Would love this game more if this this build was viable endgame.

Yeah, I was liking the idea of a heavily armoured orc templar but I was worried that the lack of light armour bonuses would make my healing not good enough.

If it helps, The Prophet is a templar .

EDIT: Also people get stuck on all pieces must be a single type, you can wear hybrid armor, and considering the amount of skill points available in the game you won't be gimping yourself at all.

Sure that full light armor sorc healer has infinite mana, but whats the point of that when you only need half of that to be successful?.

They may be better, doesn't mean you actually need to be that good.

I wouldn't say that's the only great thing about Templar heals:

- Healing Ritual can hit an unlimited number of players with its AoE, the only heal that isn't limited (Grand Healing is capped at a max of something like 5-6 allies.) Awesome for Cyrodiil, and possibly for future Adventure Zones.

- Rune Focus can be morphed to increase magicka regen for the whole party (+ Restoration Aura = buff machine.)

- Cleansing Ritual is not only cheaper than Purge, but also better cleanses party members of "all" effects (Purge cleanses your own character more effectively, but I care more about group support in a healing build.)

- As you mentioned, the passives, specifically the Focused Healing passive that grants +30% healing to anyone standing in Cleansing Ritual or Rune Focus. (*drool*)

The Restoration Staff is fine on its own, of course, but I think the Templar healing skills are a little better than perhaps you give them credit for. The only one I don't care for is rushed Ceremony, mainly due to its high magicka cost. Basically take the 4 abilities listed above along with Purifying Light (morph of Backlash) and you have your first hotbar. Throw Rushed Ceremony on your second bar with Equilibrium (for emergency heals) and you are all set to heal regardless of weapon choices. You could be unarmed and still be effective.

-Travail.

My Templar is only low level so I never put any points into Rune Focus.

And I agree with Rushed ceremony....its a mana eating [censored]. But the benefits is that it casts instantly and can be morphed to hit more than 1 person (the caster also get healed). So in dire situations, its very useful, yet very costly.

Healing Ritual is so slow to cast. Granted, you can move at walking pace, but still......in a dire situation its not so great. Also its healing effect isn't exactly massive.

Like I said, I was a low level character so I didnt get to see many of the other skills.

The healing staff seemed to have the most beneifical effects early on. I mean...I can;t imagine my templar being able to heal BC atm without the stave abilities.

Ofc, I could be wrong and my experience is very limited. So ... I'll stand corrected.

People in this topic seem to think that other options are viable, or even superior.

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1491896-why-was-i-told-vets-going-sorc-for-healer-and-not-templar

The only Resto Staff skill I used all weekend was Grand Healing, and that was basically just to mooch alliance points off the greatest number of players while running through Cyrodiil (can't really use Healing Ritual while sprinting around between keeps.) Once I established myself on the site of a Keep attack/defense, though, I didn't actually find it all that powerful as a heal. Far and away, my most powerful heal was Healing Ritual. Once you get used to having a cast time in a game full of instant cast abilities, it becomes very valuable. I even started using it while soloing, using Binding Javelin to buy myself enough time to cast it.

For low level content, I agree the staff has its uses, particularly Regeneration. It's probably worth spending 3-4 skill points to spec into Grand Healing and either Mutagen or Rapid Regeneration (not sure which one I like more, to be honest) if you plan to do low level healing. I doubt I'll actually still use those abilities at max level, though. One problem I have with the staff is the inability to direct my heals. Will I heal you, or the guy next to you? Will I hit the same people with multiple casts of Regeneration or Steadfast Ward, wasting the second cast? I have no idea where those heals are going, and that makes me nervous. I much prefer the reliability of bubbles/area/pbAoE effects to the heals that target random allies. But yeah, you can end up being quite mana hosed early in the game. Hopefully, your group has some of their own tricks to help you out, like CC. Even just blocking at the right times makes a huge difference in the healer's workload.

-Travail.

Its simply a matter of choice & what you feel works best for you.