Cleric? Healer? Really?

[Fizh]

It seems that there has been alot of speculation about what the "5'th class" might be. Many/some seems to come to the conclusion that it will be a cleric/healer-type of character. Im not too fond of the idea. To be honest, I die a little bit everytime I hear people talking about a healing class in D3 :P I know that this class wont have all healing/support skills, because every class should have some offensive skills. But I just dont think we need healing in a game where damage is king. A class who supports other chars is nice, but make the skills boost our damage (like fanaticism).

Take a look at Holy Bolt for example. One of the very few healing spells in D2. Did anyone ever use this spell to heal and being serious about it? It just wasnt useful. Yes, it was occasionally used in baalruns when people had nothing else to do. But it wasnt a skill you would put your points in.

And prayer.. hmm.. I dont even want to talk about it. Its just too silly..

So my conclusion is we shouldn't heal to survive, we should kill to survive

Feel free to discuss whether we need a healer in D3 or not

[Manovan]

I think a Cleric/Zealot/Templar class could very well have some healing skills, but without being tagged a healing class. A spell which automatically damages all undead within the area could very well also heal every ally within the same area. That's a spell who can both damage and heal, and it would be useful even in areas with no undead enemies. The class wouldn't be a healing class and players wouldn't spec as healers, it would just be very group friendly because it would slightly improve other players survival rate.

[Fizh]

I like your idea about the partywide heal + dmg. A spell that does nothing but heals is a bad idea though. It would just make the combat slower. Damage skills with some supportive utility I like . Remember, a dead monster wont harm you ^^

[Dimmu]

Well healing spells were useless in d2 mostely because you could just TP to town and be fully healed by an npc then stock up on a plethora of potions. They said in the gameplay video that they wanted to reduce dependence on potions with health globes but maybe they were hinting at healing spells being useful. It's been talked about that TP should be given limitations and i agree. The ancients were easily the coolest boss fight in d2 because you couldn't just leave the action in the middle of nowhere to be fully healed while your opponents were left in the dust. They should implement something similiar to this for nearly all boss fights IMO. Maybe they should also make a system where you have to find/craft potions rather than just buy them at absurdly small costs, thus empowering the need for healing skills.
I kind of ranted off-topic but I'm unsure whether or not i want healing to play a big role in the game, i kind of do but it would probably just become cumbersome over time.

[Fizh]

Originally Posted by Dimmu

Well healing spells were useless in d2 mostely because you could just TP to town and be fully healed by an npc then stock up on a plethora of potions.

I disagree. Healing spells were simply not powerful enough. I dont think that holy bolt would see more use if the townrunning was limited in some sort of way.

I could accept healing spells with added effects. They should be useful in both a offensive and defensive way. But I would hate if you had to rely on a healer to go through the game.

Instead of healing i would like to see some protective spells. Something like defiance or salvation just with extra flavour . This way you still have to play smart, instead of just waiting for that big heal when you get low on health.

[snugglson]

If there is one thing that would be too much like WoW, its healing spells. Every character needs the ability to kill stuff fast, which is why the WoW paladin is so lame. If there is anything like that in D3 I will kill myself.

[5zigen]

I figure there's going to be a priest/ cleric in the game for the sole reason that holy magic has been a staple of Diablo.

I dont think the priest or cleric or whatever will have a "healing role" though. I dont think blizzard would do anything like that. Possibly a few spells that heal but not a primary focus.

Just thought a cool name for the class could be Exorcist!

[Fizh]

I agree that diablo needs a "holy guy". Exorcist indeed is a cool name, but they can call him whatever they want as long as the main focus is on the damage, not healing..

[PatMaGroin]

Potion spamming makes for a mindless game. I would rather have a healing class than potion spam.

But the one thing I hate about WoW is you can't do certain things unless you have the right group makeup (tanks, healers, cc) and that has absolutely no place in Diablo. I'm all for a support class, but a class that primarily heals just doesn't seem very Diablish.

[5zigen]

Originally Posted by PatMaGroin

Potion spamming makes for a mindless game. I would rather have a healing class than potion spam.

But the one thing I hate about WoW is you can't do certain things unless you have the right group makeup (tanks, healers, cc) and that has absolutely no place in Diablo. I'm all for a support class, but a class that primarily heals just doesn't seem very Diablish.

A way for each class to self heal would be much more interesting, robust and fitting to the diablo environments.

Besides we have those health globes now.