Healer (video games)

A healer is a type of character class in video gaming. When a game includes a health game mechanic and multiple classes, often one of the classes will be designed around the restoration of allies' health, known as healing, in order to delay or prevent their defeat. Such a class can be referred to as a healer. In addition to healing, healer classes are sometimes associated with buffs to assist allies in other ways, and nukes to contribute to the offense when healing is unnecessary.

A description of Healers from the NetHack Guidebook is as follows: "Healers are wise in medicine and apothecary. They know the herbs and simples that can restore vitality, ease pain, anesthetize, and neutralize poisons; and with their instruments, they can divine a being's state of health or sickness. Their medical practice earns them quite reasonable amounts of money, with which they enter the dungeon."

When both healer and tank classes exist, a common grouping strategy is for the healer to focus healing on an allied tank, while the tank prevents other allies, including the healer, from losing health.

Healers are often represented as a fantasy spell-caster (such as a cleric, druid or shaman), a realistic combat specialist (such as a medic or paladin), a science-fiction technician (such as a repairman or engineer), or the like.

Abilities
A healer is generally tasked with restoring health, removing poison-like effects, and reviving fallen party members. Different games may include different mechanics, such as the ability to deal damage or to enhance the attributes of their allies.

Various types of healing abilities can exist in the same class. A heal can include any combination of these attributes.


 * Straight Heal, when the caster heals for a specific number of health points. Also referred to as a "direct heal."
 * Area of Effect, a heal which affects a specific radius from the caster. Can be exclusive to the team, or non-exclusive including the enemy if they are within range.
 * Conditional Heal, a heal when the amount of health points is dependent on some precondition. Conditions can include what the health percent of the particular individual was at, if they are attacking, if they are healing, or if they are under a certain buff or debuff effect.
 * Heal Over Time, a spell which will occur for a given amount of time, and will heal for a specific health points per second. If the spell can be removed, then the effect of the spell is removed. This spells name is often abbreviated to HOT as 'Damage Over Time' is abbreviated to DOT.
 * Point Blank, a heal which must be cast at touching distance from the person being healed.

Roles
If the tank's job is to take damage, the healer's job is to heal it. In small groups, they may also be tasked to heal the group as well, but in large scale group-play there are typically specific healers assigned to party-wide damage (typically taken indirectly, via lesser minions, spells or environment/habitat of the boss).

Targeting specifics
Healers fall into two major categories when it comes to targeting options: Single-Target and Multi-Target.

Single-Target healers often have much more potent spells than their Multi-Targeting counterparts, such as those that fully restore a target's Health or resurrect an ally that had previously lost all their Health.

Multi-Target healers tend to lack potency, but heal multiple allies (often the entire Party) with abilities. In Tactical RPGs or open-world games, their spells may utilize an AoE or Area of Effect mechanic. Healers that fall into this sub-type often do not possess resurrection spells.

Healers often do not utilise only one targeting system. Targeting options tend to depend on the skill rather than the character.

Sub-jobs
Healers have a small number of roles that they can be delegated towards. Often, a healer will fill one or more of these roles. Alternatively, a healer may fill one of these roles in addition to some other job, such as damage dealing (Battle Cleric, Druid), inflicting negative statuses on enemies (Witch/Warlock), or even drawing in damage (Paladin).


 * Restoration: Restoring Health to allies. This tends to be the job most associated with healer classes.
 * Curation: Removing harmful or otherwise negative statuses from allies.
 * Support: Used in the context of healers, this typically refers to applying regenerative buffs to allies.
 * Resurrection: The rarest healer archetype, focused on not preventing death, but overcoming it.
 * Necromancers are a blurry line against the grain of Resurrection healers. They're often more classified as a summoner, summoning skeleton or zombie themed minions to deal damage or draw enemy attacks.

Healers in MMORPGs

 * In City of Heroes, some players consider the Empathy power set to be a dedicated healing build, while other players contend that healing is not an essential component of team play.
 * In Dofus, the Eniripsa class is the main healing class. This class also buffs/debuffs other team members or enemies. Other classes with healing abilities are Ecaflip, Enutrof, Iop, Sacrier, and Sadida, though these abilities are very limited.
 * In Eve Online, many ships will fit repair systems to heal themselves, but fleets tend to use dedicated support craft that can heal other ships.
 * In EverQuest, the Cleric, Druid and Shaman classes are all able to be healers for a group.
 * In Final Fantasy XI, the White Mage, Red Mage, Blue Mage, Bard, Dancer, and Scholar have the ability to heal themselves and others.
 * In the Fire Emblem games, the Cleric (female healer on foot), Troubadour (female mounted healer) and Priest (male healer on foot) classes use staves to heal others, but can't heal themselves and can't attack until promotion (to Bishop in the case of Clerics and Priests, or Valkyrie in the case of Troubadors). The Sage (promoted male and female anima magic users) and Druid (promoted male and female dark magic users) can also use healing staves.
 * In Guild Wars, the Monk is a class which its primary task is to protect the team. A monk can heal and buff by enchantments. A Ritualist can also heal, though is less used for this job than a monk.
 * In The Lord of the Rings Online, while the role of primary healer is left to Minstrels, several other classes can heal themselves or others, such as Captains and Guardians. Lore-masters can also act effectively as healers at higher levels.
 * In MapleStory, the Cleric (second Job advancement), and eventually its later forms the Priest and Bishop, serve the role of the "healer" class. Their Heal skill can hit 6 targets (including the cleric), which could either be party members or Undead enemies.
 * In Ragnarok Online, the Acolyte job has basic healing and buffing skills. These skills can be furthered by progressing to Priest and later High Priest. However, all novices have access to a "First Aid" self-healing skill.
 * In Runescape, a player using lunar magic can use straight and AoE heals, and players with a high enough hunter level can catch butterflies that can heal damage.
 * In Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, the Cleric, Shaman, Disciple, and Blood Mage are all capable of healing.
 * In World of Warcraft, the Druid, Paladin, Priest and Shaman classes are used for healing depending on the talent specializations the character takes. All of these healer talent specializations have different utilities with pros and cons in a raid or pvp setting.
 * In Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, a very PvP focused game akin to Dark Age of Camelot each side (Order or Destruction) has three races, each of which has its own unique sub-archetype of healer which is mirrored on the opposing side.