I would like to share my experience on building a general purpose healer squad.
Why healers? Coz they're cute o(>_<)o
We all know "the square of death", which refers to a squad build focused on 4 rangers(Kane GR, Gwen GS, Cybella GS/GR) with crit-trigger auras.
We all know SDD formation, which refers to a specialized raid formation based on the heal-trigger auras of Kahuna SW and Matilda WD.
Then is it possible to form a squad based on the heal-trigger auras that works the same way as a group of crit-trigger rangers?
The answer is ... YES! It is possible and it is powerful!
It will be something looks like this
This is honestly a variant of "the Square of Death", just replace the deadly rangers with our lovely healers. I shall call it "the Circle of Life".
INTRODUCTION (This is something you should skip)
In the world of Valiant Force, healers (and sometimes mystics) are considered the weakest job among all six jobs. Our healers are more likely to be found sitting in the tavern and chatting with Jenny, rather than fighting on the battleground and saving lives.
Why is that? There're quite a few reasons making healers useless in this game.
1. Healers(and mystics) tend to have a long cool down on their healing skill, our heroes can't stand that long to wait for a heal(if one can stand 5-7 turns without a heal, then it simply means he doesn't really need a heal).
2. Healers(and mystics) tend to have a high mag stat(which is used every 5-7 turns) and a low atk stat(which means their basic attack will do no damage).
3. Healers(and mystics) are fragile and need some protection to survive long enough to cast their skill.
4. And other reasons...
All the above makes healers worthless to be in a squad. It's just better to leave them in the tavern chatting with Jenny.
However, the game keeps changing and suddenly, the game changer appears...
Her name is Matilda Grant, the Spirit Walker
TEAM COMPOSITION
As mentioned above, healers are not useful. Thus, to think reversely, if you want to make a healer useful, then you MUST NOT build her as a healer.
Back to Matilda Spirit Walker, despite her awesome ability to summon a powerful angel, her aura says "when allies in aura are healed, there is a 40% chance to trigger this hero to attack with 120% of their atk".
So just by putting her besides someone who can heal herself, Matilda SW will have a 40% chance to launch an additional attack, for free.
But who can heal themselves? Healers of course!
So the Circle of Life is formed with 2 types of healers, "the Attacker" and "the Supporter".
The attacker is a healer hero who has an aura says "when allies in aure are healed, xx% chance to trigger this hero to attack with xx% of her atk".
The supporter is a healer hero who has an aura says "Heal this hero and allies in aura for xx% of hero's mag every turn".
By putting 2 attackers and 2 supporters side by side, we formed a circle of life.
Known Attacker List:
Luthor Spirit Walker
Matilda Spirit Walker
Emilia Inquisitor
Known Supporter List:
Luthor Archbishop
Teresa Inquisitor
Lucille Archbishop
Emilia Archbishop
Valerie Spirit Walker
And of course, you need a 5th member to complete your squad >_<.
THE MECHANICS (How does it work?)
Let's have a look at my example squad again.
In this squad, Matilda SW and Emilia Inq are the two attackers. Teresa Inq and Valerie SW are the two supporters. Victoria BK is the 5th member.
So in the beginning of EVERY TURN, before you make your first move, the following will happen.
1.Teresa is healed by her aura.
2.Teresa is healed again by Valerie's aura.
3.Valerie is healed by her aura.
4.Valerie is healed again by Teresa's aura.
5.Matilda is healed by Teresa's aura.
6.Emilia is healed by Valerie's aura.
7.Because of 1, Matilda has a 40% chance to attack with 120% of her atk.
8.Because of 2, Matilda has a 40% chance to attack with 120% of her atk.
9.Because of 6, Matilda has a 40% chance to attack with 120% of her atk.
10.Because of 3, Emilia has a 40% chance to attack with 100% of her atk.
11.Because of 4, Emilia has a 40% chance to attack with 100% of her atk.
12.Because of 5, Emilia has a 40% chance to attack with 100% of her atk.
13.Matilda and Emilia start to launch countless attacks on your enemy...
14.Now you are free to make your first move if there are still a few enemies alive...
And remember, this will happen at the beginning of EVERY TURN!
Well, so how many is that "countless attacks"?
Basically, you have 6 heal trigger each turn, 3 for Matilda and 3 for Emilia. Each trigger at a 40% chance and each trigger is checked independently.
According to my math, the chance to launch attacks is shown below(just count the number of attacks regardless of who is the attacker).
0.4% chance to launch 6 attacks,
3.7% chance to launch 5 attacks,
13.8% chance to launch 4 attacks,
27.6% chance to launch 3 attacks,
31.1% chance to launch 2 attacks,
18.4% chance to launch 1 attack,
4.7% chance to launch no attack,
what does it mean?
Well, it means you have 45.5% chance to launch at least 3 attacks. It means you have 95.3% chance to launch at least 1 attack. So now you know if no one attacks in the beginning of a turn, then you are extremely unlucky since you have more than 95% chance to have someone attack at least once.
Want more triggered attacks?
If you have party healing buff(i.e. Teresa's healing skill or Matilda's angel's skill), then you get even more heals, which means even more triggered attacks. But this is not likely to happen in the first few turns.
Another solution is to simply equip both attackers with vampire runes so they heal as they attack, and can trigger the other attacker to attack as they stand next to each other. But you lose the 20% rune set bonus if you equip a vampire rune.
TO BE OR NOT TO BE? THIS IS A QUESTION!
Well, maybe healers can be triggered to attack many times per turn, but it doesn't make sense since healers do no damage. YES, healers do no damage unless you don't build them as a healer.
Now you get it, a full attack healer...like this:
To make a healer as an attacker, you will need...
1. Good equipment that provides you atk as a set bonus. But healer set has no atk, so you might need to rob you guardian's Moonblessed set(3 pieces set provide 250def, 400atk and 300hp). The crafted head/armor set is also a good choice if you don't have the event healer head/armor set. You will want trinity suffix on all your equipments so you can get a decent amount of def as well as good atk.
2. Good runes, you'll want a set of +15 4* red attack runes for more attack and 20% atk bonus. If you plan to equip a vampire skill rune, make sure you have a red 4* vampire rune(6 grid large) so it can form a set with 3 stat runes and give you 10% bonus atk.
3. Talent point. This is the most difficult part. Talent point is very hard to acquire and cannot be withdrawn after you invest them in a hero. To get a decent amount of attack, you will need at least 22 TP(you get 1 free TP when you max training), to max the Weapon Mastery and Attunement skills. Weapon Mastery makes your attack bounce for more target, while Attunement converts 30% of your mag into your attack.
So to conclude, an attack healer requires quite a lot investment (and you need two) so make your decision wisely and carefully.
To build a supporter, err... just use healer set for def and mag, try to get defense suffix to help your supporter lives longer.
THE LAST PIECE OF THE PUZZLE
Now you already have a circle of life, but you'll still need a 5th hero to finish the squad. Normally you will want a tanky hero standing in front of your healer circle to provide some protection. 2 kinds of guardians are particularly welcomed.
1. Guardians with vampire auras, like Leon BK and Darrion BK. Vampire aura provides an extra heal when your attacker attacks, so more chance to trigger the other attacker to launch an attack.
2. Guardians with on-hit heal auras, like Victoria BK/Pal, Leon Pal and many other Pals.
FUTURE WORK
Arathos server is still a relatively new server and it is not guaranteed that the healer team remains useful for end game content. I will keep on my work to explore how to fight my way through the hardest content with my lovely healers.
Same as the trigger ranger team, the healer team can be used for both pvp and pve.
But unlike the square of death,
the healer team don't need to worry about crit cap,
don't need to worry about random acc/wing stats,
don't need to worry about getting raid set,
don't need to worry about getting off-hand weapon...
And most importantly, they don't need to worry about pulling a Kane !!!
Forget about all your worries and join the healer meta now >_<
Let's make VF great again!
-------Update on 1st Oct 2017-------
A video to show how it works on general PVE:
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-------Update on 23rd Oct 2017-------
A video to show you may use Matilda's angel to trigger her to attack:
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-------Update on 9th Nov 2017-------
A video to show how it works on general PVE:
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-------Update on 22nd Dec 2017-------
A video to show how it works on general PVE:
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