Return of Reckoning

Sorry if this is kinda a noobish question but I played chosen in retail and SM two years ago here on RoR. I've since been wanting to heal in the MMOs I play, and after returning here, felt interested in the Archmage/Shaman mechanic, so I went looking on the forums for previous guides or advice on Archmage. This post from earlier this year showed up, and it concerns me.

I just got my Archmage to 13/18 trying to push into T2 soon, but now I'm having second thoughts? Are WP and RP that much better? I chose AM because I'm a bit confused by RP's three healing trees(i.e., which one to pick) and my main gripe about WP is the men are all bald! (I guess lore reasons but meh)

So can I keep on trucking with Archmage Healer and still be useful to WBs in later tiers? Or should I swap now while it's early?

Thanks for your patience!

Last night in RVR my party faced another party who only were able to beat us when their AM stayed alive. And when their AM was alive they were nearly unstoppable. I can't speak for end game, but if that's how a level 19 was doing in ORvR, I'd say the class is pretty solid for heals.

Completely viable, all healers are. I've changed the tide of battle as a solo healer in a zone on my AM. Debuffs, puddle, insta-rez, I love my AM.

If you're only interested in WB fighting then AM is a solid healer; the one thing they lack is the wounds buff from wp/ini buff from RP for a WB perspective. They have solid group heals and insta rez is nice in a WB.

If you're looking to do small man stuff I would suggest one of the other two options, however.

Hard healer to play as shaman ("mirror") only experience and skill will make them vialble such as Heals or Ridaleth for example

[Archmage] Is it a viable healer?

Short answer: Yes.

AM, shaman have a high skill cap because you want to use puddle and AP drain effectively. Add silence or heal debuff into the mix on AM and there is a lot to do.

Desperation, heal crit, cleanse hot, offers plenty of heals. Would be nice to see some synergy with cleanse hot and aoe cleanse. Might be OP though. I played AM more than any class, despite the useless class mechanic it is just fine.

Hmmm

AM can’t clns sorc rotations, is more stationery (then RP, WP), lacks aoe hot (good for kite keepin ppl up when focus healing), has worst burst heals (more hots)

RP, WP are better simple as that

Purely from a healing standpoint, AM is one of the easiest classes to play. Surviving is hard, though. You're tall, colourful, gloomy and squishy. Gibs dat Odjira.

Pretty much what Noiree said.