Healer Class Guide

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See also: Healer class profile

In the original Majesty, Healers did very little direct fighting, but instead supported other characters with their healing spell. In Heroes of Ardania, Healers retain their healing ability, but since the gameplay focuses on the individual character, the Healer must transition to a solo-based class. Fortunately, this transition is smooth, and the Healer eventually becomes a powerful, self-sufficient class.

Early in the game, the Healer generally relies on Followers as a shield in combat, much in the spirit of their role as support Healer in Majesty. The strongest asset of the class is the Heal spell itself, which cures 8 HP of damage per character level on a single target. In the early game, your Heal spell will be just enough to keep your Followers alive in the Sewers, but later on the ridiculous amount of health that can be recovered makes the Healer very tough to kill, arguably the most powerful in the late game. However, poison can disrupt the use of the the Healing Spell but this problem can be solved entirely by obtaining the Aura of Health. This Aura grants immunity to poison plus gives a +16 boost to Vitality! For obvious reasons, this Aura is critical to the Healer.

[NOTE: The Aura of Health is available upon completion of the Paladin's Keep special event. A description of the Paladin's Keep special event is located at the Dark Forest page. Scroll down to the section entitled "Events and Encounters" and see "Special Events".]

Damage is a continual issue for the Healer because H2H and weapon damage are both low. The lack of damage is usually not a particularly big problem. However, the Healer requires almost no healing aids so it doesn't matter how long it takes to defeat the enemy. In cases in which certain enemies must be defeated, the Healer might require to augment his or her damage output by equipping charged items such as the Wand of Lightning Storm. The use of spells is convenient for the Healer since the class uses Intelligence as the primary stat. When the Ring of Mighty Devastation is obtained, the Healer is able to persistently sustain heavy spell damage output and take full advantage of being an Intelligence class. The Healer does not have as high of an intelligence as Wizards and Priestesses, but to some extent, the Healer can fall back on melee combat in order to defeat highly magic-resistant monsters. Items obtained later on help augment proficiency in dishing out damage in melee when needed.

After hitting 200+ HP, and getting the Dagger of Valour, the Healer's only worries are enemies who can deal 200+ damage in two rounds, enemies who paralyze/petrify, or the rare ones who can attack invisible enemies (such as the Black Phantom).

[edit] Items

Below are the optimal items for each category, as well as other notable items important to this class. See also: items usable by Healer.

Night Dagger, Golem Fist
Ironcloth Robe, Mithrilweave Robe, Wizards Robe
Earlier, should use Protective Cloak, all other cloaks like the Sneaky Reinforced Cloak are either useless or not equipable by healers.
Helm of Displacement, Bandanna of Thought Stimulation (keep this item because it's the only headgear that can raise Int)
  • Shield: Healer Buckler (Armor: 1, Parry +5; Found in Thallis) - no other shield is available to this class
  • Belt: Belt of Brawling socketted with a "Might" Accessory
Ancient Belt of the Godly Mind for increasing Int; Belt of Rage is useful early on.
War Chargers (2x Ratman Beard Ring), Healer's Boots (Armor: 2, Speed +1, H2H +10, Damage +2; Found in Thallis)
  • Glove: War Gauntlets (2x Ratman Beard Ring)
  • Armband: Healer Bracers (Poisoned Weapon (3), Damage +1; Found in Thallis) Socketted with 2x Ratman
Mithril Bracers, Nevryl Bracers
Ring Amulet socketted with Ring of Protection; Neckband of Smashing useful for increasing damage
Before item is obtained, should use Ring of Protection

[edit] Getting Started

The Healer is a tricky class to start with as they are very vulnerable at the beginning of the game. Your general motto is "Don't get killed", as you will heal yourself 8 times your HP Level every 2 rounds. Hence, damage mitigation and more hit points are key. It doesn't matter how long it takes to win a fight if the bad guys can't actually kill you. Anyways, a few techniques to mitigate your terrible defense at the beginning are the following:

  • reroll (delete Hero and start over, but use as a last resort) to make sure you maintain a 12+ Vitality level. The extra HPs are very valuable to Healers.
  • perform Guard Patrol to get additional Gold.
  • gamble to get more Gold but gambling is risky. If you decide to gamble, make bets of no more than $50 each, mostly on Blue.
  • hire a Thug or Fighter to shield you from melee attacks. Dismiss him once you get to level 3 or 4.
  • buy the PowerShock spell; use it to deal damage and gain XP.
  • buy the Fire Shield spell.
  • buy a Ring of Protection.
  • buy a Potion of Monster Detection (each good for 10 turns).

In any case, you want Fire Shield and a Ring of Protection quickly. With these armor-boosters, you will take a lot less damage and can out-heal anything in the first level of Sewers. Once you have gained several levels and have completed the early sewer quests, progress to the Lower Sewers. I recommend using 3 or 4 Potions of Monster Detection to avoid getting killed by Trolls. By level 4, your Meditation spell will decrease how often you get hit and allow you to beat everything in the Lower Sewers. Still, make sure to use a Wand of Lighting Storm in the Lower Sewers and the Ratman's Kingdom big boss fights for the quest. At level 7 you become practically invincible since you can only be attacked 2 out of 12 rounds.

Once you have 20+ Potions of Monster Detection, 10 charges of Lighting Storm, and some poison, proceed to Venn's Spire. Use the Potions of Monster Detection during the entire searching process of Venn's Spire, as the Daemonwood will beat you easily. Also, your hated enemy - Poison - will rear its head. POISON PREVENTS YOU FROM HEALING YOURSELF! This is extremely bad, and as such, use the Potions of Monster Detection to avoid the numerous fights against poisonous plants. Everyone else is pretty easy to beat. (Note: Poison wears off in about 10 rounds, so your Invisibility will let it wear off. On the other hand, Healers can't target themselves with their Heal power while they are invisible, so poison can very well kill you)

After Venn's Spire, get more HPs and increase the Dodge and Parry skills. Go to Mayhew and get the Red Charm(+10 Vitality), which should be equipped before leveling up. This is really important for a Healer! The +Armor charm will be your primary neck gear. You will probably do best in the Goblin Territory, with a few Shapeshift tinctures to boost your max HPs for tough fights. After getting lots of gold, head to the Trading Post. The idea is to find a Robe that you can wear and then Enchant for some damage reduction. There are three of them at the Trading Post, so take the first one that is available. Also pick up any defensive items you can use. The Belt of Tenacity (+5 or 10 HPs) is valuable. Avoid the Belt of Rage, as killing stuff faster generally won't win you any fights in this case.

Once you have a decent pool of HPs and some items to boost Parry/Dodge and a bit of improved armor/mitigation, you can follow the advice in the general strategy guide. Remember that a typical fight for a Healer goes like this: You are invisible for 10 rounds. You get hit on round 11, you heal on round 12 and become invisible again. The cycle then repeats: "come out of invisibility, heal yourself, your opponents have two rounds to kill you before you become invisible again". This is how you gauge how you are doing, since you will come out of EVERY fight with full HPs or close to it. As such, you never really know if you totally owned them or you almost died 12 times over, but don't push it too much. Occasionally the baddies will get a lucky burst of damage in against you. Use the Wand of Lighting Storm in encounters that include lots of baddies. This eliminates the lesser foes before they contribute to the damage you receive. An example is "Escort the Caravan". Once you clear out the 6 Minotaurs and Poison Plants with a Wand of Lighting Storm you are a lot more likely to survive the Daemonwoods and Rock Golems.

Be sure to use Poison against Regenerators and use Potions of Monster Detection to avoid random fights against Poisoners!

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