A Comprehensive First
Aid Manual for Treehuggers

or The Healing Guide
for Druids

By Mensis

Vanguard sets aside the traditional image of Druids as healers aside
and gives them a new role, a primary damage dealer. That is not to say
that old heritage is forgotten. Druids are now a versatile offensive
caster with reasonable heals as backup.



Although many still want to view us as healers, the basic game
description immediately shows them wrong. If before Druids were
expected only to heal, now they are not even let anywhere near healing.
But are they up to the task?



Druids bring quite a lot to the group. From strong melee buffs, great
damage to heals and phenomena. While the buffs and damage department is
pretty solid, the healing bit looks rather dilute at first glance. Just
2 healing spells? Not quite. Let’s see what we can really do!

The Healing Guide for Druids

1. Heal Spells &
   Berries
2. Damage Mitigation
3. Healing through Phenomena
4. Healing through
   Counterspells
5. Soothing Rain
6. Don't Forget Taproot
7. Conclusion

Heal Spells &
Berries

Of course there are 2 main heals: the direct heal (Restore) and healing
over time (HoT) spell (Soothe). These are the main instruments of
keeping your allies alive in battle. But there are also utilities, such
as berries that restore health and energy.



The berries come in two kinds: Roseberries and Mottleberries. The
former restore a chunk of health on the spot while the latter provide
health and energy over 16 seconds. They are a little tedious to give
out in groups but come in pack of 3 and will no doubt provide extra
help to the healers in groups.



Don’t bother giving berries to tanks. Usually they get hit
too hard for the berries to have any noticeable effect. And besides,
watching tanks’ health is the job for main healers. Berries
are best for the rest of the group who do not really get that much
damage, usually through the area of effect (AoE) attacks.

Damage Mitigation

But healing is not only addition of hit points; it can also come in a
form of damage mitigation. And we have some pretty interesting spells
to cover that bit. Take a look at Okeli’s Shield, for
example. A rune will decrease incoming damage by 100% for 2 hits or 30
seconds—whichever comes first. At low levels, the cast time
on it is rather long (3 seconds), so it is hard to use reactively
during combat. Higher up, however, things get better, and with reduced
cast time you will find that it is a potent way to save a tank or a
careless damage dealer in a pinch.

Healing through Phenomena

If you still see that none of the above worked and one of your group
members is quickly dying, well you have the power to save them no
matter what. And that power bears the name of Tranquility. This is a
Wonder that uses special phenomena points (PP) instead of energy, and
it will make the target completely invulnerable for 20 seconds. It does
exactly what it says; nothing can hurt the person under the effect of
Tranquility. There is one catch however: the target can’t
hurt anyone either or do anything for that matter. Of course running is
always an option. So do take care when using this spell. Cast
Tranquility on a healer and you may find yourself having to replace him
or her for the next 20 seconds.



Another wonder is Lifestream, the AoE heal for the whole party. Sadly
the PP cost is rather high which prevents frequent use of the spell.
But it can sure save the party when stuff hits the fan.

Healing Through
Counterspells

At level 30, Druids learn Healing turn, a counter-spell that will
cancel the enemy’s spell and convert it into a heal for your
defensive target. Unfortunately due to some game bugs, this spell does
not work as intended at the moment.

Soothing Rain

This is an AoE heal first gained at level 42 that affects all group
members within 10m of the Druid. The first version of the spell ticks
four times on each target for a little over 400 hit points (results may
vary based on your vitality and healing focus). The level 50 upgrade
ticks four times on each target for a little over 500 hit points
(results may vary based on your vitality and healing focus). This can
result in some serious hate for the Druid, so be sure you need these
spells before you fire them off!

Don’t Forget
Taproot

You and your teammates crawl through a dangerous dungeon. You are
suddenly ambushed and attacked. As the fierce fight breaks ou, t your
healer gets a lot of hate from the enemies and falls to the ground.
Normally this would generally mean a wipe or calls for evac (spells
that teleport group to nearby safe location). Not today. Today you, a
Druid, will step up and take the place of the fallen healer.



Provided that the tank has agro on the attacks, your first task is to
make sure he lives. As long as the tank is alive you have nothing to
worry about. So, a couple of Restores and a Soothe on the tank should
keep him hanging in there for a little while. You can turn your
attention to other members of the group. Depending on how badly they
are getting hit, Restore or Soothe should keep them alive. By now you
are probably running extremely low on energy. Not a good sign but an
inevitable one.



Here’s where your good old friend Taproot comes to help. Top
off the tank and make sure you have enough energy to cast Soothe last.
Immediately Taproot yourself. You only need to wait 1-2 ticks before
you can heal again, but keep watch of health bars. Depending on how
badly the healing is needed you can, of course, wait longer. After
another few heals go back to Taproot immediately.



Sure this is an extreme example. Normally the healer would still be
alive and some players may even have berries on them. So your job in
groups would be to just keep the bars topped off.

Conclusion

So, as you can see, we are not as useless healers as many think we are.
We actually have quite a few tricks up our sleeves. Depending on how
good the healer is and how tough the dungeon is, you may find yourself
healing more or less.



Either way, do not forget that Druids style="font-style: italic;">can heal and style="font-style: italic;">can heal well
although they are not primary healers anymore! The lives of
your party depend on you.