A healer is a type of
character class
In tabletop games and video games, a character class is a job or profession commonly used to differentiate the abilities of different game characters.
In role-playing games (RPGs), character classes aggregate several abilities and aptitudes, ...
in video
gaming
Gaming may refer to:
Games and sports
The act of playing games, as in:
* Legalized gambling, playing games of chance for money, often referred to in law as "gaming"
* Playing a role-playing game, in which players assume fictional roles
* Playing ...
. 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.
[''WoW: The official magazine'' Spring 2010 (Volume 1, Issue 2). ''Kill and Cure'' Pg141- Luis Villazon.]
A description of Healers from the ''
NetHack
''NetHack'' is an open source single-player roguelike video game, first released in 1987 and maintained by the NetHack DevTeam. The game is a fork of the 1982 game ''Hack'', itself inspired by the 1980 game '' Rogue''. The player takes the role a ...
Guidebook'' is as follows:
When both healer and
tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
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
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
,
druid
A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...
or
shaman
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...
), a realistic combat specialist (such as a
medic
A medic is a person involved in medicine such as a medical doctor, medical student, paramedic or an emergency medical responder.
Among physicians in the UK, the term "medic" indicates someone who has followed a "medical" career path in postgradu ...
or
paladin
The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers, are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's court in the 8th century. They first appear in the medieval (12th century) ''chanson de geste'' cycle of the Matter of France, where ...
), a science-fiction technician (such as a repairman or engineer), or the like.
History
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
Attribute may refer to:
* Attribute (philosophy), an extrinsic property of an object
* Attribute (research), a characteristic of an object
* Grammatical modifier, in natural languages
* Attribute (computing), a specification that defines a proper ...
of their allies.
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).
Specifications
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
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...
) 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 or shields 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.
See also
*
DPS
DPS may refer to:
Schools United States
* Dalton Public Schools, the public school district in Dalton, Georgia
* Dearborn Public Schools, the public school district in Dearborn, Michigan
* Decatur Public Schools District 61, the public school sys ...
, the average rate of damage inflicted over time within video games.
*
Spell-caster (gaming), a common character class focused on dealing damage, while being relatively weak.
*
Tank (gaming)
A tank or meat shield is a character class commonly seen in co-op video games such as real-time strategy games, role-playing games, fighting games, multiplayer online battle arenas and MUDs.
Tank characters deliberately attract enemy attention ...
, a common character class focused on drawing enemy damage.
References
{{Real-time strategy gameplay
Video games about magic
Character classes
Esports terminology