Know
Your Role: Part 4 Healers

By: Martuk

When you look upon
the front lines of any good group, you will see the tank heading up the
fight, standing toe to toe with the enemy. Fighting along side him are
the lighter tanks, or offensive fighters, and standing at their side are
the arcane casters, wielding magic of various sorts, but standing at the
rear of the group is the

Healers are the lifeblood
of a group. They usually carry an abundance of beneficial spells, or buffs,
for their group. They are able to mend wounds through their understanding
of white magic. In games such as Everquest, the healer class stays back
out of the battle, typically. They focus more on healing their group,
and regenerating mana during the fight rather than dishing out damage.
The Vanguard healers are said to be a bit different from their Everquest
incarnations. Word has it that during battles, healers now will not only
heal but will be more active participants in combat as well. Can you say
"battle cleric"?

Vanguard: Saga of
Heroes has an assortment of healer-types set to be available to players
when the game launches sometime this year. Some of the healer classes
like the Cleric and the Shaman will be familiar to veteran MMORPG players,
but Vanguard will spice things up a bit more, as the developers at Sigil
love to do so much. Not only will you have these two traditional healer
classes to choose from, but you will also have the option of two brand
new Vanguard specific healer classes in the form of the Disciple and the
Blood Mage. There is a lot of mystery surrounding these two new classes,
but one thing we can be sure of: they bring new life to a class that you
can never find in sufficient quantity.

Cleric:
Traditionally, clerics are arguably the best healers that the game has
to offer. They have an assortment of powerful buffs to increase the hit
points and armor class of their party. They possess great healing powers
with the spells to heal great wounds with a single cast, or to sooth a
group member's wounds as the battle rages with their heal-over-time spells.
Clerics are very potent healers in Everquest, and a member no group would
refuse. Clerics often times heal their party, and spend most of the battle
sitting down to regenerate mana to continue the fight. There are times
when clerics become very active in combat, but not often.

The Vanguard cleric
will be a bit different. While still possessing powers to heal and buff
their party, they are said to have a much more important role in combat.
Clerics of Vanguard will, in all likelihood, have the ability to cooperate
with other classes to cast sympathetic abilities like the arcane casters.
They will have a more active role in combat, and will have to react to
situations as any other class will. This should make the cleric a much
more active participant, no longer only a healer from the sidelines of
a battle. The Vanguard Clerics can get right into the thick of things.

Shamans:
Shamans of Everquest are strong healers as well. While not possessing
heals as powerful as the cleric, the Shaman is not a class to be taken
lightly. They can heal a group nearly as well as a cleric, and provide
a line of buffs spells that the cleric cannot. Shamans can increase the
party's run speed, agility, dexterity, and hit points with buffs. The
Shaman also can damage their enemies with Damage-Over-Time spells or DOTs,
and even with all these powers, the shaman still has more to offer with
the ability to slow an enemy's attack speed with magic. The Shamans of
Everquest are a powerful class, and to be feared by enemies. Their role
often times in a group is to buff the group, slow the enemy, add damage,
and at times provide backup healing or to stand in for the cleric as group
healer.

We can assume the
Shamans of Vanguard will embody some of these powers. While information
on the healers is still a bit sketchy, I think it is safe to say Shamans
will possess healing powers, and a nice line of buff spells to compliment
a group.

Blood Mage:
The Blood Mage is one of the new healers specific to Vanguard. Little
is known, as the developers have not leaked a great deal of information
on this mysterious class. Having little information, it is almost impossible
to make a comparison. Talisker, one of the developers on the OVF
responded to Ominous, our local self-proclaimed "spam master".
Here are the few details that can be gathered from his words regarding
the Blood Mage:

"I'd say they
will be able to cast their healing spells using their own health instead
of mana, and be able to use mana to suck the health out of enemies to
replenish their own health." - originally posted by Ominous.

"Yeah, that is semi close. It was not a hard one to guess, but
the devil is in the details, so it is a little more complex than just
a life tap healer. I knew that the Blood Mage was going to be a difficult
class for a variety of reasons - but I was in love with the idea. It will
be great class with a unique feel. " - originally posted by Talisker.

The devil is in the
details, indeed. The Blood Mage could be a class we have never seen the
likes of, a very different kind of healer, one.

Disciple:
The Disciple of Vanguard is probably the most mysterious class of the
four. We know nothing of the Disciple except that he will draw his power
from something called Chi. Speculation has this class beginning on the
continent of Kojan. That, again, is speculation, not confirmed. Word has
it that the Disciple may be able to refocus an enemy's attacks in battle.

Each class has their
own role when it comes to a group. They each have a role to carry out
with their respective duties to perform. If, indeed, the Defensive fighter
is the figurehead of a group, then the healer is undoubtedly the backbone.
Healers are responsible for keeping the main tank on his feet and any
overzealous wizards from getting flattened. Knowing how to balance your
mana when using this class has always been important. It will only increase
in importance with Vanguard. Not only will you have to use your mana efficiently
to keep your group alive, but you will also be more active in combat.
The ability to be efficient will likely have a larger influence on the
outcome of a battle.

Healers are the lifeblood
of a group. Their job is to keep the people standing, and now with Vanguard
to react to situations, as well. How will this effect healers? How will
combat be influenced? Time will tell the tale on this one.

Vanguard will go live
sometime this year, and all the various classes will pour into Telon:
defensive fighters, offensive fighters, arcane casters, and healers. This
is the final installment of this segment of editorials: the series' general
purpose was to explain the roles of each class, and give a small description
of each class, as well. There are many MMO veterans who will be joining
Vanguard when it goes live, and undoubtedly a large number of people will
try this as their first MMO. It is my hope that this series has helped
to explain things for the newcomers, and maybe even added something of
interest for the old timers.

When the day comes
for us all to step into Telon, take the time to learn your class, and
enjoy the world that Sigil is creating for us. Know your role, and, most
important of all, have fun!