Healer Guide

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1.1 Origins of the Healer

Eir is the physician to the gods of Asgard. Whenever any of the gods or goddesses were ailing, Eir would care for them. Since the distant past, folk who were proficient in the healing arts often chose Eir as their patron deity and in return for their fealty, Eir often granted powerful spells that could heal the wounded or sick, cure poison and disease, and strengthen.


1.2 Healers in Dark Age of Camelot

Healers are a very group oriented class. You do have the ability to solo, but it is in a group where the healer shines and becomes the most fun to play. You are truly a support class but with the diversity that exists as a healer, you will make a real contribution to the defeating of foes that plague Midgard.

1.3 Strengths of the Healer

The Healer is one of the most diversified classes available in Midgard. They are healers, attribute enhancers and crowd control. But, in exchange for this diversity, the healer is extremely poor at combat and melee.


The Healer is the best at healing in the realm. They can heal with a variety of different level healing spells, cure disease and poison, and resurrect people with varying degrees of restoration of health at higher levels.


The crowd control abilities of a Healer are exceptional. Within their pacification line, the Healers have many options for crowd control including entrance, stun, snare and even an attack speed debuff.


The Healer is good at attribute enhancements with a variety of skill adding options including armor, strength, constitution, haste and dexterity.


The Healer is an adequate soloer if the character created is relatively balanced in the specialization lines. They do have a self damage buff spell that allows them to hunt alone at the low end of the targeted hunting spectrum.


1.4 Weaknesses of the Healer

Though the Healer is very diverse, its drawbacks come in solo and melee combat.


A Healer's combat skill and melee skill are very low as they cannot specialize in their weapon and thus receive no styles. They may wear a shield, but have no shield skills to enhance this ability. The Healer's lower fighting ability becomes even more apparent if a person chooses not to keep their augmentation line in line with their level.


A Healer has absolutely no offensive (damage dealing) spells.


Healing agro. A Healer's healing points act the same as damage done to a monster. This means that if you heal someone in your party for more points than damage done to the monster, you will wind up with agro of the monster and sometimes it is not easy for the warrior types to pull the monster off you.


Interrupt. All spells, with the exception of the insta-heal spells (which are on a timer), can be interrupted by combat. So, if a monster hits you while you are trying to cast, your spell will not be cast.


2.0 Starting out
2.1 Starting as a Seer

A Healer begins their life as a Seer. The Healer's primary attribute is Piety. You share the Seer class with aspiring Shaman until level 5. The Healer begins with two specialization lines, Mending and Augmentation, with the third being added after you choose your profession. Every time you level you may visit your Seer trainer and further specialize in these two spell lines or you may save your points to distribute until after you join a guild at level 5 when all of your specialization paths are available to you. A Healer receives 1x for every level (for example, when you become level 5 you receive 5 points to use for specializations).

You will start off with no armor, no money, a training hammer, a small shield, a level 1 healing spell, and a level 1 strength spell. From this point you go out and explore the area around your starting town, where you can easily hunt, and begin accumulating experience and money to equip yourself with armor and a weapon. Also, people in the towns will give you quests and tasks which you can complete for items, experience and/or money. You should be hunting monsters whose names appear (con) blue to you in the combat status box as this is considered your target range for hunting. The same is true of your armor and weapon; the name should appear blue to you. You can also safely hunt monsters who con green to you, but a yellow con monster represents a 50/50 chance that you may be killed.

When you attain your 5th level, it is time to choose which God/Goddess you will follow for your profession. In the case of the Healer, this Goddess is Eir. You will seek out the Healer Trainer and will be asked if you want to devote yourself to Eir. After this, you receive your third specialization line. There are a couple of Healer trainers throughout Midgard (Jordheim and Myrkwood to name two). When you advance to a new level, find one of the Healer trainers to further enhance your skills through your specialization paths. Remember to return to your original Healer trainer every so often as she is the one who will give you level appropriate/class appropriate quests.


2.2 Spell Paths: General Info

There are 3 specialization paths for the Healer. At present, the most comprehensive Healer template is one of balance between the three paths. This, of course, does not preclude you from specializing more in one of the paths or exclusively specializing in one of the paths. But, in doing so, you will hinder some of your abilities.


2.3 Spell Paths: Mending

This spell line's base abilities are shared with the Shaman though they both have different specialization lines. This spell line encompasses the ability to be able to heal others and yourself. This is also the line that contains resurrection. In the specialization of this line, you will receive spells that heal for more hit points, cure disease and poison, resurrection with a greater amount of health restored, and insta-heal line for self and group.

Mending Spells (level based)

Initial Level Spell Upgrades Spell Name Spell Description
1 3, 5, 8, 11, 14, 18, 23, 29, 37, 47 Minor Healing Small Heal for little power, most useful after combat for light wounds.
4 6, 9, 12, 16, 21, 27, 31, 36, 46 Healing Most commonly used heal spell. Moderate amount of healing for a low power cost. Useful both in battle and after.
10 None Return From Valhalla Resurrection spell that brings back the recipient with a bit of health.


Mending Spells (Specialization based)

Initial Skill Spell Upgrades Spell Name Spell Description
5 8, 11, 15, 20, 26, 33, 42 Major Healing Large Heal for moderate power, most useful during combats with particularly tough foes.
10 14, 19, 25, 32, 41, 50 Great Healing Very Large Heal for large amounts power, most useful during combats when all else is failing or after combat to get realmmates back on their feet.
15 24, 40 Return from Valhalla Resurrection spell which brings back the recipient with a moderate amount of health.
6 None Cure Disease Cures various forms of disease. Note that it does not work on resurrection sickness.
7 None Cure Poison Removes poison from the recipient.
12 22, 32, 34 Boon of Eir Huge heal on a 15 min timer. Heals for at least half your hitpoints. Instantaneous casting time for no power.
26 49 Eir's Glorious Touch Huge group heal on a 15 min timer. Heals for at least half your hitpoints. Instantaneous casting time for no power.


2.4 Spell Paths: Augmentation

Again, this spell line's base abilities are shared with the Shaman and diversify when it comes to specialization. The base spell line contains an armor augmentation, a strength augmentation and a dexterity augmentation. The specialization line further expands the line with a self-damage increasing buff, attack speed buff, running speed buff and a constitution buff.

Augmentation Spells (level based)

Initial Level Spell Upgrades Spell Name Spell Description
1 5, 10, 16, 22, 31, 42 Defender's Gift Armor Buff
2 4, 8, 13, 18, 25, 33, 43 Strength of the Warrior Strength Buff
11 15, 21, 28, 37, 48 Evasion Dexterity Buff


Augmentation Spells (Specialization based)

Initial Skill Spell Upgrades Spell Name Spell Description
1 4, 7, 11, 16, 22, 30, 39, 49 God's Hammer Self Only Damage Buff
2 10, 20, 31, 40, 50 Purity of Offense Attack Speed Buff
3 9, 14, 21, 29, 38, 48 Purity of Health Constitution Buff
5 15, 25, 35, 45 Purity of Movement Group Running Speed Buff


2.5 Spell Paths: Pacification

This is the crowd control spell line. The base spell line allows you to entrance, stun and create amnesia. The specialization line in this spell path brings you an attack speed debuff, a snare, an area effect mesmerize, an area effect stun and a power regeneration spell cutting down on the time it takes for your power to regenerate.

Pacification Spells (level based)

Initial Level Spell Upgrades Spell Name Spell Description
1 5, 10, 16, 22, 29, 36, 43, Entrance Mesmerizes the target
2 11, 20, 32, 42, 50 Halt Agression Stun
4 14, 24, 34, 44 Wake Forgetful Clears mob's hate list


Pacification Spells (Specialization based)

Initial Skill Spell Upgrades Spell Name Spell Description
1 11, 32, 42, 50 Halt Charge Area Effect Stun
2 9, 21, 31, 40, 49 Harry Spirit Attack Speed Debuff
3 7, 12, 18, 24, 30, 37, 46 Deny Ground Snare/Root
4 15, 25, 35, 45 Purity of Mind Faster Power Regen
6 13, 20, 27, 34, 44 Pacify Area Area Effect Mesmerize


2.6 Equipment

A Healer's weapon is the hammer or staff, though most choose hammer. You will not be able to train in your weapon and will only have base skills in it. Also, because you cannot train in your weapon, you will be able to use a hammer or staff throughout your entire life. The same is true of the shield. You will have the ability to equip a small shield, but will not have the ability to have styles associated with it. A Healer wears leather until 10, studded leather until 20, and chain from then out. Your equipment does wear out and becomes less effective as you use it. Remember to check it regularly and have it repaired.


3.0 Epilogue
3.1 Helpful Hints

When healing for your group, remember to stand a fair distance away from where the warriors are fighting. This helps lessen your chance for the monster to agro on you due to your healing.

When soloing, it is often easiest to pull with your attack speed debuff spell (Harry Spirit) and then cast a stun on the monster. This allows you to get in a couple of hits before the monster starts attacking you. Remember to cast your self damage add buff (God's Hammer) before the fight starts.

When one of your group mates is pulling, watch closely to see that only one monster is coming. If you see a second one, entrance the monster once it is within range so the group can deal with one monster at a time. If it seems to be an especially prolonged fight, you can use your Wake Forgetful spell on the mesmerized monster to make him "forget" he is mad and then he will not attack your group.

When a healer melees and drops out of melee to cast a spell, there is a delay before you can cast. This delay is determined by the speed of your weapon as you must finish your *swing timer* before you can cast. This can be a bit frustrating when you are trying to heal someone in a jam, so try to plan accordingly (though who ever plans for crises, heavy sigh).

Stun is an additional tool that can be used during the fight. It stuns the monster and prevents them from attacking and causing damage. Some healers use this rather than healing, especially if their pacification line is more of their focus than their mending line.

When you are grouped it is best to designate one warrior type to be your "savior" so to speak. When someone pulls and two monsters come, you should try and entrance the second monster. Sometimes this fails and the monster will then come after you. It is at this point that your "savior" should smack the monster and bring the agro instantly to him/her, while he turns back to the original target. This gives you another chance to entrance the second monster. If everyone is trying to save you, often when you do get your entrance to stick, someone will inadvertently break it.

Managing aggression becomes an art form for healers. As I mentioned before, healing is not differentiated from damage done and causes a monster to agro on you. Everyone has their own way of doing this and you will have to find what works best for you. I personally make sure I stand back a little ways from the group (a healing spell has nice range). I watch my group box and when I see someone has taken damage, I click their name and then watch their health in my main box (lag can cause the group box to be a little less accurate than the main box). I usually start healing someone when they get down to 2/3 health (this is where people's opinions differ). I definitely try not to chain cast on someone unless they are in huge danger as this will definitely bring the agro to you. If you do manage to get agro, remember to stand still!! This is our hardest job, but if you run (as might be your natural inclination) the warrior types in your group will not be able to hit the monster to get it off you. Be brave, fellow healers !