Healing

Healing

Guild Wars 2 does not have dedicated healers like other MMOs. Every player is responsible for keeping themselves alive and in the fight. Mastering your healing skills is critical to being an effective player.

How does healing work?

First and most importantly, there are no dedicated healers in Guild Wars 2. Other players may fill a Support role, but they will never be capable of keeping you alive. You must learn to avoid damage and heal yourself and only rely on support players to make things a little easier on you!

To make sure you can stay alive, every profession has 3 healing skills and you are required to have 1 healing skill equipped at all times. You get your first healing skill at Level 1 and acquire additional healing skills as you level.

When should I heal?

There are a couple of general rules that you can follow to maximize the effectiveness of your healing skill. These rules primarily apply to players who are not playing in a Support role.

1. You are below 75% Health. Proactive healing is the best healing.
2. You just rallied from a downed state. At this point you have 25% Health and absolutely need to heal yourself.

There are also a few general rules to follow about when to not use your heal.

1. You are above 75% Health. With this much Health you are likely to over heal. This is an ideal time to get a Regeneration boon.
2. You are out of combat. Health regeneration is extremely potent and you will heal to full Health in 3-5 seconds.