Yesterday, I posted a video by Dorkly on how White Mages are jerks. This is funny to the gaming community mainly because of how we can relate to the many healers in gaming and their problem on doing their jobs.
Source: Youtube Channel triplejx3
I play plenty of class based games now and see the patterns and have experienced many different play styles by various people. Some of these games include: Team Fortress 2, League of Legends, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Resistance 2, and Global Agenda. About 3 years ago, I started playing healer characters in almost EVERYTHING I play now (Shooters, RPGs, Action Games, MOBAs, etc). My decision to do so was my frustration with people I play with online not knowing what to do or completely ignoring their position as the healer. Just because a healer has a weapon doesn't mean it's the best choice for fighting when around a team nor does it make it their primary mission to fight. Having a healer work together with the team is invaluable and is sometimes the reason for winning. Here are some simple rules I follow when I play a Healer.
Healer first, Fighter second
My primary mission when being a healer during a team fight for anything is keeping everyone alive. If someone is less than half health and I'm still shooting at someone who isn't an immediate threat, then I am failing as a healer. It would probably be more beneficial to keep that rifleman, or assassin, or whoever does damage in the game that you're playing alive and have them kill the player pursuing you than trying to kill them yourself with the weaker weapons and attacks that you possess. If everyone is at full health and you don't have any healing to do, help them do some damage. Cover fire, harass, and damage the opponents, but don't ever go in too far because more than likely no one can save you if you're the only healer.
Stay Alive and Survive
Sometimes it's impossible to save your team mates because you get ambushed or they're too brash and run in on their own. If it comes down to that, don't go in for revenge or clean up because usually healers in games are rather squishy and die really quickly. At that point, back up and stay alive. A healer is useless dead and can make it difficult for your team mates. You can still turn a fight around if you happen to fail to save one player but stay alive to keep another alive. If the healer dies, more than likely everyone else will die.
Don't follow stupid people
This isn't a general insult to other players and it might be a "duh" sort of rule, but you wouldn't believe how many healers walk into their deaths because of this (and yes I'll admit it happens to me a lot). Part of being a a healer in a team is trust and partnership. If you find someone that knows what they're doing and protecting you when you're targeted, then follow that person more because your chances of winning a fight increases dramatically. But if you happen to heal and follow those who rush in by themselves and get both of you killed or are too focused on what's in front of them instead of the person attacking you, the healer, then it's time to play more carefully and maybe not follow that player. This rule follows the "Stay Alive and Survive" rule.
Be Alert, ALWAYS!
I'm not gonna lie, being a healer sucks sometimes because there's so much going on. People will blame you if they die and ask "why didn't you save me? Why didn't you heal me?" You, and other players, must accept the fact that healers aren't gods. They can't heal faster than players can die and they are the ones targeted first, if the enemies are smart. Because of this, you must always be aware of your surroundings. You have to have one eye on your team's health bar and the other at your enemies proximity. I think MOBA games such as DotA, League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth, and Land of Chaos Online are the ones that are difficult to keep everything in check since group fights can be very messy. Never get tunnel vision as a healer (tunnel vision = focusing on one particular player and ignoring everyone else). The same can be true for Team Fortress 2, Resistance 2, Battlefield Bad Company 2, and Global Agenda when you can only see what's in front of you. For First-Person or 3rd-Person Perspective games, I tend to turn around a lot to check what's behind me (though in Team Fortress 2, you do that for every class in fear of the Spy).
Timing is everything
Being a healer in some games are easier than others, but it always comes down to when you perform your actions. In League of Legends, you would save your ultimate (if it's a healing/invincible) skill for a group fight and your team mates are about to die. In Bad Company 2, you don't want to revive someone right in the middle of a gunfire exchange because both of you will die and the player you revived will get angry at you. If you're playing Team Fortress 2 and you Uber (Invincible) a team mate fighting a single scout, then you'll have wasted it and won't have it when the heavy, soldier, demoman, and pyro comes in. Also, playing a medic is a lot like playing an assassin and knowing when to go in and when to bail out. Going in and giving that little bit of health to a team mate could possible save them and earn them multiple kills while getting the whole team out alive. So if you can survive, heal, save, and keep the team in the front lines, then you'll have given the whole team the advantage that the opposing team couldn't achieve.
Playing a healer is self-gratifying and a very hard class to play. They are unappreciated and are shunned by many when they happen to play poorly (or if the healer really is bad) and pushes players to fight rather than save those who complain. To others, the healer class is the easiest class as they just sit in the back and press a few buttons. But healers who are truly great is synonymous to the fighter who bum rushes with kills AND dies a lot compared to the sneaky player who consistently kills players without dying. Giving some health to a player and working along side with them to push and cover is the major difference in a healer's effectiveness. So the next time you're playing an online game and you see your opponent team has a brave healer who's always fighting, punish them. Punish them so hard that they don't want to be a healer class anymore as you'll be doing your opponent's team a favor and getting rid of someone who can't do their job right.
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