Paradoxdruid’s Quick Healer Guide

Paradoxdruid’s Quick Healer Guide

You want to have a trial-ready Healer build, but you aren’t sure what you need to have ready? Check out this quick run-down of core healer skills, gear, and other pieces. You can see the full guides with much more details at Paradoxdruid’s ESO Guides: Builds and Rosters

Guide Section	Why Do I Want To Read This?
• Healer Core Setup and Ideas	A primer on how to build a Healer. (Start here!)
	• Build Basics: Race, attributes, mundus, food, etc.
	• The Most Common Gear Sets: The Gear sets you will probably be asked to run and why.
• Green Balance Healer (SPC/PP) Build	Skills, sets, and explanations of why skills are important for a Healer using the Green Balance line.
• Restoring Light Healer (RO/JO or MA/PA) Build	Skills, sets, and explanations of why skills are important for a Healer using the Restoring Light line.

Healer Core Setup and Ideas

There’s lots of ways to be a good healer. But you want a cheatsheet on something effective, so you can get back to playing?

Philosophy: At the most basic, Healers in ESO have several core duties
- Healing: Providing enough heals (both heal-over-time [HoT] and burst heals) to keep the group alive
- Buffs and Debuffs: Keeping high uptimes of critical buffs and debuffs during the fight
- Provide Synergies and Set Effects: Part of buffs and debuffs is using highly specified gear and skills to provide much needed synergies and set effects
- Mechanics: Healers often are called on to do specific trial or dungeon mechanics that would kill a DPS, or keep them for applying consistent damage

The Build Basics

Race: Race isn’t usually super impactful for Healers. Here’s some good ones:
- Bretons have high magicka recovery
- High Elves have the highest base magicka
- Dark Elves have a good amount of both Magicka and Stamina, which helps for trials with roll dodging, blocking, and other mechanics
- Argonians gain additional benefit from the potions you;ll be chugging as a healer
Mundus: There’s a few that are useful.
- The Atronach provides extra Magicka recovery, which is great if you are casting at a high CPM (which you should be!).
- The Ritual provides extra healing. While big healing numbers can seem nice, it’s usually mostly wasted as overhealing, and other choices are better.
Attributes: 64 points in Magicka
(healing is based off your highest stat, so you want all points in one category; high magicka also gives you the resource pool to spam your skill casts)
Food:
- Clockwork Citrus Filet: Max Magicka/Magicka Recovery/Health/Health Recovery food or ( Witchmother’s Potent Brew Max Magicka/Magicka Recovery/Health/Health Recovery food are often considered best
- But if Max Health isn’t an issue, Ghastly Eye Bowl Max Magicka/Magicka Recovery food is great, too.
Subclassing: Having useful skill lines from multiple classes greatly enhances your ability to heal and the number of unique buffs and debuffs you can provide. The most critical are:
- Warden- Green Balance: This skill line provides the entirely unique Minor Toughness buff (_10% max health), and is needed in basically every trial group.
- Templar - Restoring Light: This is skill provides an exceptionally strong and long-lasting HoT, strong burst heals, and the easiest way to apply the Minor Intellect & Endurance sustain buff to 12 members in a trial group.
- Nightblade- Siphoning: This skill line provides the highest Ultimate generation of any skill line, as well as having great sustain and burst healing options.

The Most Common Gear Sets

Gear Acronym	Why Is It Used	What is it paired with	Where to Obtain
SPC	• Spell Power Cure provides the almost-unique buff Major Courage (+430 Weapon/Spell Damage). This ends up providing about +6% increased group damage. • You always want it on your main healing bar / front bar, to maximize activations (“procs”).	Typically paired with PP, PA, or MA. Used with Symph or Ozezan monster set.	White-Gold Tower (group dungeon in Imperial City)
PP	• Pillager’s Profit provides a unique bonus of extra ultimate for all group members. As such, you want to cast “large” ultimates (cast ultimate with high amount of ultimate built up). • Because 5-piece bonus is only needed when Ult is cast, usually you want it active on the backbar, where you keep the Ultimate ability you will use.	Typically paired with SPC or MA.	Dreadsail Reef (group trial in High Isle)
RO	• Roaring Opportunist provides Major Slayer, a critical damage boost that with good uptimes increases group damage from +5% to +8% over the entire encounter. • It requires you to heavy attack– and to hit all 12 trial members, you must heavy attack twice. Addons can help time this for maximum uptime. • Because 5-piece bonus is only needed when heavy attacking, usually you want it active on the backbar, to free up front bar for other effects.	Almost always paired with JO, to extend the duration of this critical buff.	Kyne’s Aegis (group trial in Solitude)
JO	• Jorvuld’s Guidance extended buffs you apply by 40% duration, which is great under any circumstance, but synergizes well with RO to maximize Major Slayer uptimes. • It must be on body and jewelry / always active, or bar-swapping will drop the extended effects.	Almost always paired with RO.	Scalecaller Peak (group dungeon in Stormhaven)
MA	• Master Architect is another set that provides the critical Major Slayer buff, a critical damage boost that with good uptimes increases group damage from +5% to +8% over the entire encounter. • However, MA can only target the effect to 6 players at a time, so in trials, it requires dividing the group in two and having two supports running MA (or WM) to keep the effect up on everyone. • Duration is extended from casting “large” ultimates (cast ultimate with high amount of ultimate built up). • Because 5-piece bonus is only needed when Ult is cast, usually you want it active on the backbar, where you keep the Ultimate ability you will use.	Commonly paired with PA, sometimes SPC	Halls of Fabrication (group trial in Clockwork City)
PA	• Powerful Assault provides a unique boost to weapon/spell damage for the group, that can boost group damage by +3% to +4%. Often run on Tanks, sometimes on Healers. • Activated by casting Assault skill line abilities, usually Echoing Vigor (though Trample will activate it, too). Because that’s usually a backbar ability, PA is usually only on the backbar.	Commonly paired with MA, sometimes SPC	Tel’Var merchants in Imperial City or for gold from Guild Traders
WM	War Machine is the medium-armor version of MA, usually run on tanks or a support DPS.	Usually not run on Healers.	Halls of Fabrication (group trial in Clockwork City)
Pearls	• Pearls of Ehlonfey is a mythic necklace that provides the wearer enhanced ultimate generation. • Only activates if your Magicka is below 50%, so gets better the more you are able to sustainably spam abilities	Usually paired with PP to maximize utility / cast large ults / cast frequent ults	Antiquity system
Master’s Resto	• The Master’s Restoration staff (also called Grand Rejuvenation in-game) provides extra resource recovery and sustain for the group. • It only needs to be active on your main healing bar / frontbar.	Typically paired with RO/JO, on the frontbar.	Dragonstar Arena (group arena in Craglorn)

Green Balance Healer Build

Disclaimer: As always, the “right” abilities will depend on group composition (what skills the other tank and the healers are running), what content you are doing (mechanics, boss specific needs, are you going to need to chain things), and other factors. This is just a starting point!

Note: Just by having the Green Balance class line (specifically the maturation passive), all of your healing applies Minor Toughness to allies, an important and unique +10% max health buff.

SPC skill bar

Class Lines	Skill Bars	Typical Sets	Notes
Green Balance (Warden), Siphoning (Nightblade), Curative Runeforms (Arcanist)	FB: Illustrious Healing, Warding Burst, Radiating Regen, Budding Seeds, Combat Prayer, Soul Siphon BB: Siphoning Attacks, Elemental Blockade, Echoing Vigor, Chakram of Destiny, Energy Orb, Glyphic of the Tides SPC skill bars	SPC (FB)/MA (or PP) (BB)/Pearls/Ozezan or the Blind	• Typical Ult: Glyphic of the Tides • May drop Radiating Regen for Overflowing Altar • If paired with ROJO healer, SPC/PA also can work • Siphoning ability on each bar for +6% resources • Warding Burst: Damage Shield / Anchorite’s Potency / Minor Expedition

Front Bar

Icon	Name	Explanation
	Illustrious Healing	This is one of your primary ground heal over time (HoT) spells; it should always be up for the group. It smart targets, unlike the other morph.
	Budding Seeds	This is your other primary ground HoT. This also provides a good healing synergy. Often, you will keep this ability focused on the MT, so they have a synergy available to restore resources.
	Combat Prayer	Your main healing spammable and probably most-cast ability. It heals everyone in a large rectangle in front of you, as well as providing Minor Resolve (~3% damage reduction) and Minor Berserk (5% damage increase). If in doubt, spam this during heal checks.
	Warding Burst	This provides a useful damage shield for HoTs to heal the group under, and with Anchorite’s Potency gives you and the group ultimate generation.
	Flex Spot:
		Radiating Regeneration: This is a good semi-spammable for keeping magicka low and to provide a sticky heal when folks need to leave group for mechanics.
		Warding Contingency: With Damage Shield and Growing Impact, this skill can give groupwide Minor Protection (5% damage reduction) or Minor Mag & Stam recovery, if a healer with Restoring Light isn’t providing it.
		Healthy Offering: This is a strong heal for single-target heal checks like Tombs, and will generate ultimate from passives.
		Overflowing Altar: One healer should always be running this strong heal and provider of massive heal synergy, preferably near the Tank.
	Ultimate: Soul Siphon	This serves two purposes. Passively slotted, it gives you +6% Mag and Stam, +3% self-healing. Second, it’s a good “oh shit” button if you or especially the group is taking too much damage, to buy some breathing room.

Back Bar

Icon	Name	Explanation
	Energy Orb	A very strong HoT and source of an essential recovery synergy. It should always be up and active, usually aimed and near to tanks. (can switch with flex spot FB)
	Blockade of Lightning	This is an important debuff skill. It sets concussed enemies (sourced from Tank’s Ele Sus) off balance, and procs the Crusher or Weakening enchantment on your BB staff. Skill can be dropped sometimes, if you have a DPS with off-balance Knife skill, or just need barspace for Altar or situational skills.
	Echoing Vigor	A very strong sticky HoT (so good to cast before dps run off to do mechanics) that is Stamina based, to help manage resources.
	Chakram of Destiny	A good spammable shield skill. It also generates Crux, which increases all your healing by up to 12%. (can switch with flex spot FB)
	Siphoning Attacks	A passive skill that keeps up the +6% Mag & Stam when you bar swap, and any damage you deal (like, constantly from Blockade) heals you and restores resources. Can also be cast to restore resources when low.
	Ultimate: Glyphic of the Tides	One of the strongest HoT effects in the game, and importantly it ticks every 1 second, when many heals tick every 2 seconds. Great for heal checks like vKA Falgravn HM 3rd floor. It also boosts group damage more than Pearlescent Ward or Xoryn’s set effects; worth casting anytime group is fighting even if they don’t need the heals.

Situational Healer Skills

Icon	Name	Explanation
	Reviving Barrier BB ultimate	This serves two purposes. First, it passively gives +10% Magicka recovery. Second, it is a very strong shield and HoT for heavy damage moments, and is very useful for groupwide damage checks.
	Healing Thicket	A strong extra HoT. Importantly, it’s very cheap to cast, so if you need spammable extra healing, like vSE Ansuul HM, it’s worth considering.
	Zenas’ Empowering Disc	Minor Courage and Mag & Stam recovery is very nice, but only hits six targets. Useful for dungeons or trials with split Bosses like vLC Garg/Scorp.
	Efficient Purge	Purges harmful effects which can make some fights easier, such as in the first boss in vHoF. Many effects you would expect to be purgable in other trials… aren’t.
	Elemental Susceptibility	For some trials, healers will need to slot this to debuff side adds, such as Protectors in vAS+2. Applies Major Breach, and will proc Off-Balance if your Blockade of Lightning is on the target.
	Leashing Soul	Sometimes healers need to taunt; using a Pull skill allows you to taunt without fear of stealing taunt from the Boss and you can apply Major Cowardice or Major Maim to reduce enemy damage.
	Trample	An alternative source of Major Heroism instead of the Pearls of Ehlnofey Mythic.
	Mystic Guard	Powerful damage reduction for a Tank, used in certain boss fights, like vDSR Twins HM.