Shield Healers reworked version is bad in every way

[Mvl130]

- The specs are still very squishy, shield specs are the only healers that cannot invest in full defense through talismans, because the healing output is non-existent otherwise

- Despite the required very high strength investment (800+), healing output is still inferior to other healers

- Very high strength, yet no longer assist damage to make up for how squishy spec can be ; this makes the spec very boring compared to how it used to play, the strength investment feels like a joke

- Still easy to kite, no mobility

- On top of being countered by high parry/block melee trains, shield healers are now also countered by healing debuffs ; it's very easy to apply a healing debuff to them, since they're always in melee

- The result of all of this, is that shield specs are inferior to any other healing specs in every way, while also being unfun because of an absence of damage. The rework was just a huge nerf in both efficiency and enjoyment, there are hardly any shield healers in scenarios, and even less in RvR, because nobody wants to play an underperforming boring spec that serves no purpose outside of stealing a guard from a tank

- Instead of reworking the specs into something boring and inefficient, and then making some tweaks here and there on a bad basis, it would have been better to not rework the specs and tweak/adjust how the specs were before that March 2025 patch

[gisborne]

- The specs are still very squishy, shield specs are the only healers that cannot invest in full defense through talismans, because the healing output is non-existent otherwise

I question whether this is true. Don't the heals scale from damage and therefore strength? Strength affects damage about the same amount as willpower affects healing. I think the actual problem lies elsewhere (you need an offensive target within range, your attacks/heals can be blocked and parried, you have to be in melee range and therefore are more vulnerable).

[nocturnalguest]

Gameplay wise they are much better now, pro and inter active, mechanics are fun and unique
Greatly done, should have been made back then rankeds were more active and without unneccesary stupid wounds debuff
In terms of balance and efficiency they could use some QoL buffs

[Mortgrimm]

Did i miss something?
There are no shield WP out there anymore, maybe a few left.
It was great straight after the first big healer patch and then they changed abilities and stuff, shield priests are effected now by double heal debuff and have no benefit for the group anymore.
I have to admit that the first version was way too strong.But it only needed a bit fine tuning to get it right instead of fully rework to a version that is not really playable anymore. Low dmg, low heal,dies fast even with guard, u can´t keep the party alive. Why should anyone wanna play shield priest now?

[Ruin]

The Shield Healers lacks vision on what they should be, be that dps with survival and some off healing or frontline heals, with abilities supporting them there.
The changes look more like those are OUR (community) grievances, and they were addressed rather than making the classes useful/unique.

the list of grievances i recall and hear to this day:
- it could not be HD (heal debuffed)
- it did too much dmg
- i could heal while moving while dmging itself

And so, ALL the Grievances were addressed at ONCE, with little in return, in any department.
- survivability was not increased
- dmg was not made the focus of this spec
- healing was not made the focus of this spec
- support was not made the focus of this spec

So, in my opinion the state of this build right now lacks vision of what it actually should be, so it's nothing in particular.

[Goryak]

PVE wise, you definitely do not see them as much nowadays, by a long margin.
Before the patch you'd see them in almost every dungeon party, even lowbies would run as shield heal, but now it's pretty much just chal/book in dungeons.
I only remember seeing 1 shield dok in dungeon since the patch.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Alubert]

First of all, remember that wp/dok snb spec is an experiment on this server.

The changes from before the snb wp/dok patch definitely cannot return.

Back then, there were crazy situations on sc/ranked sc when snb dok/wp did top heal and top dmg at the same time.

I think the snb dok/wp nerf was overdone.
In my opinion, it would be enough to change only the dmg/heal multipliers/converters.
Snb wp/dok should never deal more dmg than it does now, but it should get more heal from the current dmg.

As far as I'm concerned, these snb specs could be removed altogether, but I know there are players who have grown attached to them.

I would prefer a goblin in snb spec as a tank

[kpihuss]

It’s clear that shield WP/DoK builds are in a very bad state right now.

Even if the perception is that they were relentless healers before the patch—sometimes topping both healing and damage—this was due to an important factor: their attacks hit 3 enemies, so with each attack they could add up roughly 1,000 total damage across multiple targets. That’s small damage per target, but done constantly it added up a lot over time, even if the damage itself was easy to counter. But they needed that AoE damage in order to heal. This means too they lost very fast the AOE detaunt...

It was also a class that was very easy to kite and kill if you knew how: a knockdown, or being punted out of melee, and you were dead. But a lot of people became obsessed with trying to kill them in melee, where they were kings of the fight. It’s like deciding to beat a Magus in a ranged duel with an axe-throwing Slayer and getting mad because he kills you while you barely scratch his health.

Before the patch it was a good class, with clear strengths and weaknesses, and it wasn’t OP when you knew how to play against it. Yes, their healing wasn’t affected by heal debuffs, but they were affected by Challenges, Detaunts, Distracting Bellow, absor, or tank M4s. Right now, on top of all those mitigations, you also have reduced damage, fewer targets your attacks can hit to generate healing, and a reduced healing multiplier relative to damage.

And this is without even mentioning a key factor of shield WP: not only do you have to be in melee, you also have to position constantly to avoid exposing flanks and to have melee-DPS-like defenses, while constantly selecting enemy targets in order to keep healing. On top of that, the attacks you use to heal must be used against targets in your character’s frontal arc, which adds extra difficulty (any shield/DPS WP can tell you how hard it often is to maintain the correct facing for Divine Assault during the 3 seconds of the channel). In that sense, playing shield WP/DoK is extremely difficult.

This has led shield WP players to stop playing healers (frankly, I think few shield WPs respec to book), and increased the number of DPS WPs on the server. Considering there have always been few healers in the game, reducing the number of healers online even further doesn’t help the community.

[Shepasaurus]

- Shield DoK as a healer should be built for Defense, max wounds, strength is a secondary stat. If you are dead, you cant heal. High Strength is not a requirement of this class, I have plenty of healing output to keep my party and warband alive for most engagements. I have no issue solo healing some dungeons with only 400 Strength.

With this amount of strength, I'm often top healer in my warbands as well. I believe this is due to building Defensively and having pretty much 100% uptime on my heal skills, only really worried about Warding Strike every 10 sec, Transfer Essence to build SE, Khaines Force to spend SE. I throw in a consume essence if everyone topped off already, but otherwise sitting around 400 strength is FINE!

Build as a Healer, not as a DPS. You shouldn't be worried about your dps numbers, over the course of the dungeon it is less than a tank, but it isn't insignificant. Your numbers plus your tank number should be equivalent to a low geared DPS. I'm using PvE to calculate ONLY because it is easier to see consistency. You are not there to DPS in a warband, you are there to heal, it is just a different style of healing which I enjoy more.

-Using Covenant of Celerity, and flay on your target if they begin to flee is a must. Being kited is an issue, but playing a shield DoK is all about overcoming that weakness. I like to run improved flee, especially in small scale roaming.

- high parry/block isn't that important, we have a tactic that makes your transfer essence always hit. Healers are already too strong as it is, expect to be debuffed to your outgoing healing. If you are taking it, another one of your healers Aren't. Always be Cleansing!

- Make use of Khaine's Encouragement and Soul Shielding for big preventative shields. Once you are RR70+, grab that khaine's refreshment and you'll have no problem healing in sieges.

Bottom Line, I believe we are strong and one of the more balanced healers. Check out my play style here: https://youtu.be/Gd1ffP1YxrQ

[vanbuinen77]

^^
This guy gets it.