Nope, not an anti-zerk thread, sorry.
But, I am somewhat concerned over the lackluster influence Healing Power has as an attribute. As most of the number-crunchers are aware, peak damage is based on a multiplicative relationship between Power, Ferocity, and Precision.
Peak damage, while a three-stat combination, isn’t quite the same. A high Vitality gives a reasonably large pool of HP, and Toughness reduces direct damage taken proportionally. Healing Power restores HP back to the pool, where Toughness again reduces damage proportionally. So instead of an equivalent to:
Power x Ferocity x Precision
we get:
Toughness x (Vitality + Healing Power).
Except with Healing Power, no skill I’ve seen uses Healing Power above a ratio of .125 (though please correct if I need updating). So what we really get is:
Toughness x (Vitality + (Healing Power x C)), given 0 < C < 1 as the skill’s coeffient.
So, that C really bothers me. I’d like to see Healing Power actually matter in that regard, which might mean re-tooling base healing values, examining endgame stats, and adjusting coefficients. No small task.
And I’ll admit that I usually sneer a bit at Vitality gear as well. Only 10HP per point? Not when I see base HP pools in the 20k range. Scoff, scoff. (Then I look at my Thief’s 11k and cry a little for it.) It makes me wish that Healing Power and Vitality were at least minorly multiplicative in the way Ferocity and Precision are.
But, something else occurred to me that might encourage more build play.
What if Healing Power affected both incoming and outgoing heals?
In most cases, like with the class healing skills, the ingoing and outgoing heal would be the same. Where the difference sits is on the support-oriented character that can spread a higher Healing Power out to allies via direct healing or Regeneration.
Of course, I haven’t considered all the implications. Depending on how healing skill ratios form out, I’m not sure how it would affect PvP, bunker builds, or WvW, which is why I’m offering it to the forums (possibly against my better judgment :P).
As a sort of post-script, I’m curious if it might be possible to have Boon Duration function similarly, where a support-stat’d character imparts gets more from his allies, even if they are not similarly built for it. Or perhaps it takes the greater of the two.
“I’m finding companies should sell access to forums,
it seems many like them better than the games they comment on.” -Horrorscope.7632