[SWL] Guide: How to Heal

This is a repost of my Healing guide on Reddit[redd.it]. The reddit post will always contain the most up to date version of the guide if the contents here look out of date.

Update December 2019 - This guide is likely horrendously out of date, since I stopped actively playing around the release of the Agent System back in 2018. I would suggest checking the official SWL Forums[forums.funcom.com] for up to date information.

Updates

December 2019 - This guide is likely horrendously out of date, since I stopped actively playing around the release of the Agent System back in 2018. I would suggest checking the official SWL Forums[forums.funcom.com] for up to date information.
Patch 2.1.3 - Raid targeting is now easier, added agnostic/wrist signet information, added Hallowed Cache items.
Patch 2.1.2 - Regeneration passive Natural Remedy nerfed but now cleanses as intended, Communion now heals the caster, Anima Suffusion Buffed from 1.5s -> 4s of immunity.
Patch 2.1.1 - Added Future-Tech Cache weapons, added Raid weapons and talismans.
Patch 2.1.0 - Gadgets no longer trigger GCD.
Patch 2.0.3 - Added Infernal Cache weapons, Efficiency now works with healing.
Patch 2.0.2 - Guide creation.

Key Concepts

Targeting

Unlike combat, healing in SWL is based on the more traditional concept of a "defensive target", which is a friendly character you can keep targeted without having the reticle pointed at them. In order to change defensive targets, you have 4 options.

• Scrolling the mouse wheel will cycle your defensive target through all raid members within range.
  
• The F1-F5 keys will select the 1st-5th group member displayed in your group UI if they are in range. Shift+F1-F5 will select the 1st-5th raid member displayed in your group UI if they are in range.
  
• Ctrl+Tab (Default command for "Target Nearest Friend") will cycle your defensive target through the nearest friendly characters.
  
• Alt (Default command for "Toggle Target Mode") will allow you to directly click any raid member in the GUI to set them as your defensive target.

Also note that most healing is group wide, not raid wide. Any ability which says it affects your group will only affect the 5 members in your group, and not the other 5 members in your Raid. In order to directly heal your raid members (or players not in your group), they must either be manually targeted before casting the ability or the ability must have an AoE component such as the Fist ability Wild Surge or the Assault Rifle abilities Anima Canister/Essence Grenade.

Barrier and Heals Over Time

• Barrier effects will heal for their barrier amount if they are reapplied while any amount of the original barrier is still active.
  
• Heal over time effects will instantly heal for their remaining amount if they are reapplied while still active.

Hatred

The aggro mechanic.

• 1 point of healing/barrier generates 0.5 hate. Overhealing generates no hate, but does add to the hate table. Barriers will always generate hate on application.
  
  • When everyone on the hate table is at 0 hatred, the most recent addition to the hate table will take aggro. This is why when the tank facepulls with a HoT on them, the healer gets aggro - the tank gets added, then the HoT tick adds the healer.
• Healing will generate hate on ALL enemies that are in combat with your healing target, even if the group is not actively fighting them.
  
  • For example, Doctor Klein in fight 6 of the Ankh. After being interrupted by the tank, the healer will build hate with Klein by healing the group which can result in Klein switching aggro to the healer.

Kiting

When adds spawn, the healer will usually become their target. If the tank is unable or unwilling to move to pick them up, the healer will need to move to the tank to allow the tank to grab them.

Utility

Healers generally have the most freedom when choosing which abilities to use, so cleansing and buffing, both of which do not require hit rating, will generally fall to the healers.

Buffs
As buffing does not require hit rating, buffing should generally be assigned to the healer. However, some content that requires heavy healing may shift this role to DPS. Current major buffs providable by a healer include:

• Opening Shot from Shotgun increases the group's critical power by 30% for 8 seconds.
  
• Savagery from Fist increases one player's damage by 15% for 6 seconds.

Cleansing
Cleansing is generally a healer's job, however some content requiring heavy cleansing may result in DPS bringing cleanses as well. Useful group cleansing skills include:

• Cleanup from Shotgun
  
• Clean Slate from Pistol
  
• Wild Surge from Fist
  
• Communion from Blood, but will not cleanse the caster.
  
• Rejuvenation from Fists does not currently always cleanse like the description states.

Raid Composition

Due to the difficulty in being able to heal the other group, raids will likely be composed of 2 healers:

• A "main" healer in the tank group who's job is to keep the tank(s) and tank group alive
  
• An "off" healer in the non-tank group who's job is to keep the non-tank group alive

Depending on the amount of damage the non-tank group takes during a fight, the off healer can be completely dropped, be a DPS with one groupwide heal, or a main healer for a second tank.

Gear Requirements

In general, healers are not dependent on their gear to be effective, and their gear requirements are inversely proportional to their tank's gear - A better geared tank will require a lesser geared healer, and a lesser geared tank will require a better geared healer. As healers are not heavily dependent on their gear, swapping out heal rating for health talismans is a viable option for more survivability.

Healer gearing is variable based on healing style, but is generally composed of a full set of heal rating talismans and a mix of critical and critical power glyphs, with enough hit to not glance if healing with an assault rifle. Rifle healing has the unique ability to use attack talismans instead of heal talismans while still remaining a somewhat effective healer - the choice of how many attack talismans to use will depend on the tank, as the ability to heal large amounts of damage (emergency healing) is reduced as more attack talismans are used.

Elite 1

Elite dungeons are the first content in SWL progression which requires roles. According to the developers, elite 1 is tuned to a character who has finished the story mission and has all superior (blue) items with 1 epic (purple) item.

1. At a minimum, aim for a full set of unglyphed unleveled superior (blue) healing talismans.
   
2. Glyphs are useful, but not necessary at this difficulty.
   
   • 5% glance reduction from hit if healing with a rifle
     
   • Critical Rating/Critical Power when affordable

Lairs

Lairs are the next step in SWL progression after elite 1 in order to obtain signets. According to the developers, lairs are tuned to a character in full epic (purple) gear.

1. Aim for a full set of fully leveled (level 25) superior (blue) healing talismans with fully leveled (level 20) standard (green) glyphs.
   
   • Note that some lairs and bosses will require better gear.
2. Glyphs are more important at this difficulty. Glyph priority is as follows:
   
   • 18% glance reduction from hit if healing with a rifle
     
   • Critical Rating
     
   • Critical Power, but no more than 3 glyphs

Regionals

Regionals are the "final boss" of lairs, and are the hardest content in the game at the moment (excluding scaling elite dungeons). I don't believe there has been developer commentary on regional boss tuning, but from what I've seen it's tuned to a character in fully leveled epic (purple) gear.

1. Aim for a full set of epic (purple) healing talismans with fully leveled superior (blue) glyphs.
   
   • Note that some bosses will require better gear.
2. Glyphs are more important at this difficulty. Glyph priority is as follows:
   
   • Around 31% glance reduction from hit if healing with a rifle
     
   • Critical Rating
     
   • Critical Power, but no more than 3 glyphs

Elite 5

Starting from Elite 5 difficulty, dungeons reintroduce old TSW nightmare mechanics as well as significantly scaling up the health and damage of bosses. I don't believe there has been developer commentary on elite 5 tuning, but from what I've seen it's tuned to a character in full mythic (yellow) gear.

1. Aim for a full set of epic (purple) healing talismans with epic (purple) glyphs.
   
   • 450 Item Level roughly requires a fully leveled set of epic talismans/glyphs/signets in each slot at the minimum, with possibly 1 mythic to compensate for the lack of wrist signets.
     
   • Note that some dungeons, notably Ankh may require better gear.
2. Glyphs are important at this difficulty. Glyph priority is as follows:
   
   • 22% glance reduction from hit if healing with a rifle.
     
   • Critical Rating
     
   • Critical Power, but no more than 3 glyphs

Raids

Raids are 10 man content expected to follow the same scaling system as Elite Dungeons (with the same gear requirements), with Elite 5+ introducing old NM mechanics from TSW. Raid composition is generally designed to be:

• 2 Tanks
  
• 2 Healers
  
• 6 DPS

Although many groups will only use 1 healer in favor of an additional DPS.
Manhattan Exclusion Zone (NYR)
The first raid available in game is the Manhattan Exclusion Zone, generally abbreviated by players as NYR or less commonly as MEZ. NYR raids will generally be composed of:

• 2 Tanks
  
• 1-2 Healers
  
• 6-7 DPS, with at most 2 Melee DPS due to buff circle mechanics.

Gear - Weapons and Talismans

Weapons

Flame-Wreathed weapons give a small chance when healing to also apply a barrier.

Fist

• Bladed Gauntlets enables use of the powerful Invigorating Wrath more frequently and enables neat offhand fist healing builds reliant on Invigorating Wrath as an emergency heal.
  
• Scalpel briefly increases the strength of healing abilities after Invigorating Wrath ends.
  
• Surgical Steel increases the strength of Invigorating Wrath heals.
  
• Invigorating Razors will generally give time to use one more Invigorating Wrath ability.

Blood

• Compendium of Wards increases the strength of barriers.
  
• Sanguinary Monograph Increases the strength of blood healing.
  
• Chronicle of Purity and Soul-Infused Manuscript helps manage martyrdom.

Assault Rifle

• Orochi Tactical Carbine is essentially a constant 7.5% healing boost.
  
• Orochi Medical Launcher improves group healing capability.
  
• KSR-43 makes grenade abilities on-demand.
  
• High-Yield Launcher increases the strength of grenades by approximately 17%.
  
• Auxiliary Loader seems to adds an additional 15% chance to load a grenade when failing to load a grenade.

Weapon Affixes

In order of general usefulness:

• Efficiency will allow elite abilities to be used more frequently. Note that efficiency is much less effective when stacked with other CD reduction, reducing cooldown by around 4-5 seconds alone but only 2-3 seconds with a legendary cooldown signet.
  
• Havoc increases the power of critical healing resulting in better burst healing.
  
• Energy increases energy generation allowing for more ability usage resulting in better sustained healing.
  
• Alacrity increases movement speed to dodge telegraphs and kite adds more effectively.

Talismans

Listed below are the best in slot healing talismans currently available in the game. The benefit from an extraordinary item compared to its non-extraordinary counterpart is minimal, so it is generally better to have a 3 pip normal talisman over a 2 pip extraordinary talisman.

Note that currently available drops are only dungeon drops - when raids release, we are likely to see much more powerful effects.

Head - Blood of the Old Ones. This slot triggers on healing the same target 5 times.

• Blood of the Old Ones heals the entire group, while Pharaoh's Blood grants the target a heal over time effect. Both are generally more useful than the small amount of temporary damage mitigation provided by Blood Halo.

Finger - Band of the Bacab. This slot triggers when attempting to cleanse.

• Band of the Bacab provides additional healing, while Belobog's Blessing provides temporary additional damage mitigation. Since this triggers when attempting to cleanse, and cleansing is usually to remove DoT effects, the additional healing tends to be more useful.

Neck - Vampiric Essence/Linen Amulet. This slot only triggers when healing a target under 50% HP.

• Vampiric Essence offers more group utility, while Linen Amulet benefits the healer. Although the Caduceus Amulet does provide a better effect for tanks when under 50% HP, other group members are more likely to fall under the 50% health threshold from groupwide damage. Getting a refund on the often expensive group healing abilities is more useful than providing a temporary small amount of mitigation to the tank.
  
  • Special mention to Seed of Aggression for rifle healing, as its trigger for energy gain is on enemy targets below 50% health, which is much more frequent than allies being under 50% health.

Wrist - Bone Timepiece. This slot only triggers when healing a target without any detrimental effects.

• Timeless Watch increases the strength of the next direct heal on a target as well as increasing any DoTs within 2.5 seconds. This result in better burst and group healing. Bone Timepiece has a small chance to provide extra healing, and Red Weed Timepiece has a small chance to provide an effect that prevents the next detrimental effect within 3 seconds. While the effect from Red Weed Timepiece to prevent detrimental effects is nice, it does not last long enough to be meaningful.

Luck - Chit of Kinich Ahau. This slot triggers on critical healing.

• In general, the extra healing from Chit of Kinich Ahau is worth more when compared to the temporary small amount of mitigation that Tarot Cards provides.

Waist - Incandescent Capacitor. This slot triggers on healing an ally with 7 meters.

• Incandescent Capacitor grants a temporary small amount of protection to yourself and the healing target, while Khonsu's Disc provides movement speed. In terms of output, Incandescent Capacitor is the only item in this slot which actually increases it, while Khonsu's Disc provides utility. Serum Pouch reduces hate generation, but usually initial hate generation is the problem for healers, not sustained hate generation.

Occult - Rakshani Charm. This slot triggers whenever an enemy is defeated.

• The bonus energy from Rakshani Charm is overall more useful than the bonus healing from Ankh which will likely unintentionally be used up by overhealing.

Gear - Glyphs, Signets, and Gadgets

Glyphs

Glyph stats greatly affect healing output. The 3 glyphs stats relevant for a Healer are:

• Accurate (Rifle Only): Hit Rating, 50.85 gives 1% glance reduction
  
• Fierce: Critical Rating, 157.50 gives 1% critical chance
  
• Devastating: Critical Power Rating, 28.85 gives 1% critical power

Current known glance reduction caps are:

• 5% for Elite 1
  
• 18% for Lairs
  
• 22% for Elite 5
  
• Around 31% for Regionals Bosses

The ideal split at end game will be:

• 5 Fierce (critical) glyphs - Critical heals generate energy, making critical rating more desirable than critical power.
  
• 3 Devastating (critical power) glyphs - Makes critical heals more effective.
  
• Replace 1 Devastating with 1 Accurate (hit) glyph when Rifle Healing - Glanced hits do 70% less damage and do not cause their effects (such as applying leech effects).

Glyph placement does not affect the value of stats that are given, but do affect versatility for multiple roles. There are a few things to keep in mind:

• Weapon glyphs are only active while wielding that weapon. If hit is only on one weapon, the other weapon will have a higher glance chance.
  
• Critical Rating is a universal stat. All roles benefit from Critical Rating due to the energy generation on critical mechanic.
  
• Critical Power mostly benefits DPS and Healers. Tanks only gain a small hate generation increase due to low critical chance.
  
• Hit mostly benefits Tanks and DPS. Healers only gain benefit from Hit if they are Rifle healing or attempting to interrupt/purge.

Signets

Head - Per weapon, with a choice between cooldown reduction and increased output. Healers will probably want cooldown reduction, as Elites output is already quite high and are more often used for their utility or as an emergency heal. Weapon agnostic signets are highly viable here.
Neck/Finger - Per weapon. Should match the primary weapon. Weapon agnostic signets are viable when using two power abilities, but generally the weapon specialty signet will be better.
Wrist - Modifies Ultimate Ability (wings), with a choice between cooldown reduction and increased output. Increased output will be more useful since there is only one wing in the game at the moment, and it adds a 10 minute debuff to targets which are hit. However, lower cooldown may be more useful in the future as more wings are introduced.
Luck - On crit effects. Healers should choose between Amelioration/Laceration/Echos for more healing, or Empowerment for more damage.
Waist - Modifies gadgets. Healers should choose between Time and Space Alteration or Biological Metamorphosis.
Occult - Modifies active dodge. Healers should choose between Contortion, Quickness, and Acrobatics.

Gadgets

Gadget usage does not trigger and is not affected by the 1 second global cooldown. A full list of gadgets can be found here[docs.google.com].

Builds

While not as dependent on gear or stats, healers are highly dependent on their abilities and passives. Heal builds will generally follow the same format:

1. Basic Heal
   
2. Single Target Heal
   
3. Group Heal/Elite
   
4. Emergency Heal/Elite
   
5. Utility/Elite
   
6. Utility/Elite

Keep in mind that this is only a general template, and will change depending on the fight and your group. I will just be categorizing the abilities by weapon following the above template below.

Healing Styles

Healing styles in SWL are based on the healing weapon used:

Fist Healing - Difficulty: Easy; Example Build[filthdb.com]

• Directly restore lost health
  
• Pro: Strong single target sustained and burst healing options
  
• Con: Entirely reliant on cooldowns for group healing, useless at full HP

Blood Healing - Difficulty: Medium; Example Build[filthdb.com]

• Prevent damage with barriers
  
• Pro: Versatile single target, group, sustained, and burst healing options
  
• Con: Martyrdom management, limited raid healing options.

Assault Rifle Healing - Difficulty: Hard; Example Pure Heal Build[filthdb.com], Example Hybrid DPS Build[filthdb.com]

• Leech health from enemies. Has the unique potential to do damage without sacrificing healing ability.
  
• Pro: Strong group and raid healing options. Scales with group gear.
  
• Con: No on demand burst healing, no cleanses, and healing requires a target to attack.

Abilities

Basic Abilities

Basic heals require the defensive/offensive target to be in line of sight, but will redirect healing to the lowest group member regardless of line of sight.

Power Abilities

Fist Healing
Single Target Heal

• Renewal - A direct single target heal. The passive grants additional single target healing.
  
• Feral Regrowth - An indirect single target heal. The bulk of the healing is in the heal over time effect, which will instantly heal for its remaining amount if it is reapplied. The passive adds a small additional heal over time effect.

Group Heal

• Invigorating Wrath - The fist healing speciality and group healing cooldown. Gives the ability to apply a strong groupwide heal over time and heal the entire group for a little less than renewal strength for no energy. The passive adds an extremely powerful emergency heal.

Emergency Heal

• Ferocity - Instantly heals for a large amount and also consumes any active HoTs for additional healing. The passive adds additional healing over time.

Utility

• Wild Surge - An AoE that heals for a small amount and cleanses all allies standing in it every second, and also slows enemies for kiting. The passive adds a burst healing effect.
  
• Savagery - A single target damage buff and fury generator. The passive adds even more fury generation and some healing.

Blood Healing
Single Target Heal

• Sanctuary - A barrier effect which will heal if the barrier effect is already on the target. The passive increases the amount of health restored while the barrier persists and removes the martyrdom damage penalty from this ability.

Group Heal

• Convalesce - A group heal which also provides a barrier for group members under 35% health. The passive increases healing to group members with this barrier by 15%.

Emergency Heal

• Redemption - Martyrdom dump. Also cleanses. The passive increases the healing done and improves the martyrdom dump effect based on the health of the target.

Utility

• Runic Hex - Martyrdom dump. Applies a DoT which heals allies attacked by the affected target, with an AoE heal when the DoT effect expires. Also applies debilitated. The passive applies a weaker version of Runic Hex to nearby enemies when the DoT effect expires.
  
• Rejuvinate - Martyrdom management. Prevents martyrdom damage and heals you for a small amount The passive increases the healing and also makes the healing ignore the healing reduction from martyrdom.

Assault Rifle Healing
Single Target Heal

• Vital Shot - A leeching heal which requires an enemy target to shoot. Is as powerful as the other single target healing options at baseline, but scales considerably with crit/crit power/buffs. The passive provides the target healed with their own leeching effect for 4 seconds.

Group Heal

• Anima Canister - A friendly TAoE which will heal up to 6 allies (including raid members) around the target for a small amount, and all group members regardless of where they are for a large amount. The passive provides group members with their own leeching effects for 4 seconds.
  
• Unveil Essence - A direct group heal which also debuffs the target with an effect which heals all attackers. The strongest raid healing option. The passive increases the leech amount for critical attacks.

Emergency Heal

• Energise - Increases assault rifle healing and adds a purge effect to all attacks for 6 seconds. The passive slightly increases all healing done to the group.
  
• Lock & Load - Grants 4 assault rifle energy. The passive adds a chance to load a grenade when using this ability.

Utility

• Essence Grenade - An enemy TAoE which applies debilitated and heals up to 6 allies (including raid members) around the target for a large amound. The passive leaves a small healing field in the area of effect for 5 seconds.

Weapon Passives

Listed in order of general usefulness
Fist Healing

• Warmth - Adds additional healing when healing with a fist weapon.
  
• Second Wind - Grants 4 fist energy when Invigorating Wrath ends. Worth taking if frequently low on energy.
  
• Keen Senses - Adds additional healing when healing targets under 35% hp. The amount added isn't much, but it does add it when it's needed.
  
• Wild Nature/Furor - Generates additional fury to use Invigorating Wrath more frequently. Wild Nature is strictly better than Furor.
  
• Potent Wrath - Adds a small heal over time effect to the group after using Invigorating Wrath. Since Invigorating Wrath consists of entirely group heals, the usefulness of this ability diminishes.

Blood Healing

• Rites of Refuge - Adds about 3% damage reduction on targets affected by your barriers.
  
• Crimson Pulse - Adds a small heal over time effect on critical heals/barriers.
  
• Sanguine Charm - Increases healing when you dump martyrdom.
  
• Shroud of Retribution - Increases your barrier strength by 3%.
  
• Red Tide - Increases healing when quickly gaining martyrdom.
  
• Absolution - If you have trouble managing martyrdom or don't want to take a martyrdom dump.

Assault Rifle Healing

• Anima Dispersal - Increases assault rifle healing every time a grenade is launched, which should be frequent.
  
• Ground Marker Rounds - Same effect as the Essence grenade passive, but applies to all grenades as well as stacking with the Essence Grenade passive.
  
• Field Medic - Adds a small amount of additional healing while remaining within 7 meters of your defensive target.
  
• Jungle Style - Worth taking if frequently low on energy.
  
• Explosives Expert - Useful for timing grenades when they're needed.

Elites

The Elite abilities for each weapon generally address the healing weakness of each respective weapon.
Fist Healing

• Primal Instinct greatly increases the strength of all heal over time effects. The passive makes critical heals even stronger.
  
• Regeneration is an extremely strong group heal, and the passive makes it into a powerful emergency heal.

Blood Healing

• Eldritch Scourge heals allies that stay nearby the target over time, and provides a burst of healing when it ends. The passive increases the healing.
  
• Communion is an extremely strong group barrier, cleanse, and heal, and the passive makes the barriers restore health to the group when they are broken by damage.

Assault Rifle Healing

• Anima Suffusion is a strong single target emergency heal that grants immortality to the target for 4s. The passive increases assault rifle healing for a short time afterwards.

Healing Quick Notes

Elite Dungeons

Healing in dungeons usually involves keeping your tank alive through sustained incoming damage. Group healing abilities are generally a convenience instead of a necessity.
For fight specific mechanics, refer to this guide[redd.it].

Lairs

Healing in lairs usually involves keeping the tank alive through a mix of sustained and burst incoming damage. Group healing abilities are generally a convenience instead of a necessity.

For fight specific mechanics, Posid has started compiling tactics here[redd.it].

Raids

Healing in raids is generally split between keeping 2 tanks up through heavy damage and managing positioning.

For fight specific mechanics, Tipsui has a guide for NYR here[redd.it].

Regionals

• Aspect of the Long-Toothed - Healing is composed entirely of recovering from spikes of damage. Tanks will take 15-20k hits approximately every 2 seconds even with active mitigation abilities, and will need to be at full health before the next hit. Death from Hounded can be prevented by interrupting the boss as it walks to the targeted player, then having the targeted player move out of line of sight of Rundown.
  
• Aspect of the Many-Limbed - Healing is composed almost entirely of raidwide damage. The boss has an infinite cleave radius in an approximately 180 degree arc in front of her, and will hit all players in that arc for around 3k damage about every 2 seconds. Cast Web will root a random player and deal heavy damage but can be interrupted. Vile Birthing will need to be interrupted when she transitions between phases, during which she targets a random player to follow and must be lead into sunlight.
  
• Aspect of the Great Winged - Healing is composed mostly of recovering from spikes of damage. Tanks will take 15-20k hits approximately every 2 seconds even with active mitigation abilities, and will need to be at full health before the next hit. Most of the fight is avoiding the whirlwinds spawning around the area. The debuff Eye of the Storm indicates that you will be followed by a whirlwind. The black whirlwinds which spawn while he is on the ground can be killed, but the white ones that spawn while he is in the air cannot and must be kited.

[Snowskeeper]

"December 2019 - This guide is likely horrendously out of date, since I stopped actively playing around the release of the Agent System back in 2018. I would suggest checking the official SWL Forums[ forums.funcom.com ] for up to date information."

Literally the first line in the guide.

[ILLUMINATI_VZLA]

i need to see the images for the build . and dont work !! please repost that ... merci

[T.TV/SdPMMello]

Hello, i have Flame-Wreathed and Compendium of Wards... what is better in your opinion guys?

[Ariel]

Thanks alot

[Snowskeeper]

Why Rejuvenate?

[Jay Kill]

Thanks for this guide. Healing seemed weird since SWL, now it is a bit clear for me. <3