Posted by Nepenthe(IMM) on August 11, 2000 at 12:24:44:
In Reply to: Question about healers... posted by Bishop on August 10, 2000 at 13:13:46:
Sun Tzu wrote: And that's pretty much it right there. Unless you make some serious mistakes or discard best strategy in favor of roleplay (it would probably be appropriate for many good-aligned healers to put themselves in the kind of ridiculous situations where they actually could die in order to try to save the life of another, for example) you just should not ever die. Do you have much offensive power? Nope, you're pretty much about the bottom of the barrel. Therefore, capitalize upon what you do have and be opportunistic. If you completely have your act together it's not all that difficult to PK as a healer simply by outlasting the opponent. You don't need a really good weapon, high damroll, or progged gear. Those MUTILATEs from your nonlimited weapon and incidental damroll will wear them down eventually if they can't put you down or get away (though often they can). I wouldn't recommend that approach for a new healer, though. Instead, make as many allies as you can. This shouldn't be all that hard as everyone loves a healer friend. Paired up with anyone else you have a scary team. I don't think anyone would laugh at the idea of fighting (for example) an axe warrior, anti-paladin, or invoker that was effectively immune to malediction and just would not go down no matter what you did to them. Eight-hit flurry from a warrior with good gear? Not only doesn't it put your buddy down, but s/he's back at perfect health a long time before the flurrying warrior even recovers from the move. Also: How many times has this happened to you (with other characters)? You're fighting someone and have the upper hand, but they somehow get away from you in really bad shape. It could be that they teleported, or maybe you just lost them. Tell your healer buddy! Those sad MUTILATEs probably don't seem so sad to the guy who got away half-dead and rotting, or convulsing and in some area where he doesn't even know where he is. I admit there's a lot more to know than that, but maybe it will get some would-be healers started. Side comment: To the best of my understanding it is possible to be a Maran healer. There is at least one way to look at both being a healer and being a Maran that doesn't ask you to bend the spirit of either.
The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.