Like you I am a healer strait to my bones, but I love what Vanguard is doing for healers.
For instance, a group without good healing has to take a defensive combat approach which drastically increases the time to kill anything....so now when adding a good healer, groups DPS actually goes *up* just because a good healer is there to let the group do what they do best.
Also something that probably not a lot of folks have paid much attention to yet is locational damage. If a mob slashes at a group members arm, that arm specifically needs attention...during or after the battle, at some point that specific injury needs patched up. Talk about adding a whole new dynamic to healing!
Healing won't be just a press-and-forget game like it has been in some cases....there will definitely be skill involved and those players who really care about their healing will stand head and shoulders above the rest once again...Folks will get to know who the really good healers are. Personally, I think that rocks.
I could not agree more with what you have said there Phainein. Just as far as adventuring alone goes, Vanguard is adding whole new dynamics to combat and how classes are structured that is clearly so far head and shoulders above the competition it isn't funny. Healers do more than just heal, Tanks do more than just absorb damage and the list goes on....the ability to approach encounters with completely different combat styles alone which completely affects the course and outcome of an encounter is worthy of praise.
The "sphere" idea of the game, adding a completely new "diplomacy" sphere as well as making Harvesting a dynamic part of the game that more closely resembles a combat model more than in many previous MMO's stands out to me as adding many interesting dynamics and making the more monotonous parts of an MMORPG fun again.
Virtually every aspect of the game is benefited from group cooperation, not just adventuring anymore, and inter-class cooperation is also highly encouraged.
I have seen nothing but good things from Vanguard thus far.
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Like you I am a healer strait to my bones, but I love what Vanguard is doing for healers. For instance, a group without good healing has to take a defensive combat approach which drastically increases the time to kill anything....so now when adding a good healer, groups DPS actually goes *up* just because a good healer is there to let the group do what they do best. Also something that probably not a lot of folks have paid much attention to yet is locational damage. If a mob slashes at a group members arm, that arm specifically needs attention...during or after the battle, at some point that specific injury needs patched up. Talk about adding a whole new dynamic to healing! Healing won't be just a press-and-forget game like it has been in some cases....there will definitely be skill involved and those players who really care about their healing will stand head and shoulders above the rest once again...Folks will get to know who the really good healers are. Personally, I think that rocks.
I could not agree more with what you have said there Phainein. Just as far as adventuring alone goes, Vanguard is adding whole new dynamics to combat and how classes are structured that is clearly so far head and shoulders above the competition it isn't funny. Healers do more than just heal, Tanks do more than just absorb damage and the list goes on....the ability to approach encounters with completely different combat styles alone which completely affects the course and outcome of an encounter is worthy of praise. The "sphere" idea of the game, adding a completely new "diplomacy" sphere as well as making Harvesting a dynamic part of the game that more closely resembles a combat model more than in many previous MMO's stands out to me as adding many interesting dynamics and making the more monotonous parts of an MMORPG fun again. Virtually every aspect of the game is benefited from group cooperation, not just adventuring anymore, and inter-class cooperation is also highly encouraged. I have seen nothing but good things from Vanguard thus far.