The little doc tips thread

[Letah]

Docs can use all kinds of handy things during xping, pvp, uniques etc. Since Hypos want us to have more posts in docforum then in fixerforum this thread is two-fold! I'll start with some small handy things that you can use to improve yourself, feel free to add more! Try use this format for better reading:

[ list ]
[ * ] Thingy1
[ * ] Thingy2
[ /list ]

Without the spaces.

• Assist the enemy to see who needs heal-love. Make a macro for it: /macro assist /assist
• When a tank tanks and aggro doesnt shift so fast cast a hot if he has ncu, then your heal. You nearly do not loose any time with this!
• Just before bossrooms try temp/hot everyone (who has ncu)
• Do not put your dog in you oven, your oven might break
• Make a little mini-step forward/backwards when you casted a nano, you wont have the 'knee-down' animation and you can do stuff faster that way
• With hard mobs or uniques try keep your own temp HP running. Gives more HP and you also can time when your tank needs a new temp
• In PvP time your init-debuff with your own HoT, they have about the same run-time. Init debuff should be prioritized(sp?)
• Use Quickness from the general nans-store, adds 30 runspeed!
• Sell 200+ anima nanos in the trader-shop, you get more from it. Collect em in your bag and ask your friendly local trader
• Buy a low QL yalmaha from the Harry special shop, camp outside, it cycles rather fast (max 150ish flyskill) They cost 4.7-5mill
• Ask high lvl docs if they can make your monsterparts into blood (if they have high pharmacy), QL will rise stunningly high. Don't give the doc 100000 bags tho Sell the blood to the store.
• Omni stores gives your more money then non ones (selling)
• Jump amazingly high by hugging the slope and jumping sideways of it
• Use /s for shouting, / for vicinity chat, /g for teamchat and /o for guildchat
• Use shift-R to reply to your last received /tell, use up/down arrows to cycle (no more mt's )
• Pink elephants usually means you had too much alcohol
• Make your own teams as doctors, invite people as you want, remember the people you like/are good players and add them to your friendlist: /cc addbuddy name (and ask your friends first if you create a new).
• Apolegise if someone dies, don't overdo it and if they are nice they will tell you it wasnt your fault. If they don't they are jerks
• Don't answer flames with flames, either ignore or tell em they are right. I like the last one a lot
• In PvP theres always someone better then you. Never let your guard down, always keep hot/temp runnnig. ALWAYS save before you enter pvp zones.
• At lower levels you might want to make a hotkey asking for help. /macro help /voice help is nice, if thats annoying /macro help EEP EEP Wheeelp! is fun too
• At uniques make a CH macro /macro CH I just healed %t for 10001 hearts or whatever your style is after a CH.
• If you know zoning to BS takes a long time (weekends..) tell your team "zoning" so they know your not (link)dead
• WTS means Want to Sell, WTB means Want to Buy, WTA means Want to Auction (wts). WTT means Want to Trade. PST means Please Send Tell. BO means Buyout.
• Never beg for money, ask people tips on how to get money yourself etc and you might be surprised how friendly the AO community suddenly is to you. Do you give a begger money irl? Not many people do. Same in AO.
• Not everyone who wins without you knowing how is exploiting, best is to ask the person how (s)he won
• You do not zone in a duel if its a fair one, nor would you want to attack your own side without asking for a duel unless you have your reasons (AO "etiquette")
• Professionals are just players like you, we can't make FC "do" things, we are the voice of our profession and relay the concerns to Funcom for feedback. Most of us are happy to advice you about our profession though
• Highlevels may seem to ignore young players, but its the person and not the level defining this rude attitude. They also may be busy/afk, try a /tell to see if they have afk on.
• You can see what buffs people have more or less. White chest-circles are hp buffs etc. Good for "selfbuffed" duels *cough*.
• When you do not trust someones HP-bar try updating the hP bar with 't', or run out of LOS and back (Line Of Sight). I also like to count dmg numbers on your tanks head, those are quite trustworthy too.
• Not all bugs in the game will be solved fast, they all have a certain priority.

[Servivious]

• Post usefull / vital info on the forums while at work!
• Use scripts to reduce the typing you need to do - for example, I have a "add" script which goes "/cc addubddy %1 %2 %3 %4 %5", which means I can add upto 5 people to my friends list in one go, or simply add a single persion by targeting them and typing "/add %t" --> simple!
• Visit Anarchy Arcanum for a very good general guide site - including how to do the scripty stuff above.
• Make lots of NT friends. Never be mean to an NT. HE and Crunch are your friend!
• Try not to feel bad when you're entire team dies (sometimes it happens) and remember that if you're the last one standing it can't be your fault. You were healing to the last!
• Keep your NCU as high as possible - doc's dont have vast ncu reqiorements for self-buffs, but you cant really benefit from external buffs - and big HEs cost lots of NCU. At level 38, Blindhealer has 190 NCU (woot!) and I've not use more than 50 even with external buffs. If I can do it, you can to!
• Keep nano chargers that are above your usage about your person - never know when you might find an MP with mastery etc that will allow you to use them!
• Always look good.
• If you team your doc lots you'll start getting /tells the second you log in. Remember who's good - then pick the people you like. Docs perogative!
• Frequently empty your 'unknown' friends list --> /cc rembuddy ?' will do it nice and fast.
• Always be su****ious of solitus female docs in shorts who are under level 5 --> they may not be built for healing, if you know what I mean...
• Complain long and loud everywhere you can about bugged HP bars --> we might just maybe one day in the distant furture get them fixed.... Or SL might do it!
• Learn how to not panic when you get agro from a lvl50 mob while you're wearing a med suit. Panic solves nothing. Go stand about Mort wastelands repeatedly getting killed until you're comfortable with taking a beating. The key in these situations is surviving as long as possible.
• In the same vein - never run from a team fight, unless a) the rest of the team has already gone, or b) you've got 1hp and everyone else is at full....
• Forget any notions you have of out-posting Letah --> she's actually got 5 pc's and 10 arms, all posting at the same time. Its the only plausable answer! :-) j/k hon!

[Letah]

• Letah only has 1 PC but she works as customer support at some ISP and can type + help customers the same time which results in 8 hrs posting a day
• Try not to gain too much aggro, do not heal for 50 pts when your heals can heal for 300 pts. Do not use a teamheal when 2 are minorly wounded, use 2 singleheals instead.
• It may hurt your feelings and morals but if you need to choose between the tank and that agentfriend who both has aggro (and one of em will die) the tank needs your heal.
• Don't let the bad people make you sad or think your a gimp, think back of the good people and smile
• Don't hold back on questions on the docforums even if you fear the are "noobish" or "dumb", we all once started as "noobs" and always gladly help you! We are quite friendly
• Funcom isnt out to nerf you, its out there to get your money and make you stay. May sound stupid but its been said a lot of times which is all made-up B*<cencored>

[Farmacist]

• periodically clean out your buddy list of people you don't see too often online (or don't see them at all) as well...those people you played with 50 levels ago may have thrown in the towel long before you did
• don't be too chaty in a mission. tells from your friends and org discutions can wait when you are healing or your action window will look like this -----> /r randomfriend pish that gun is waay overrrrrrrr44444433343444
• have all three life clusters implanted along with your health maxed out, that way if you do get aggro you can take a healthy amount of beating before gloriously dropping dead (hopefully by that time the team kills wahtever it is thats attacking you
• have your nano initiative maxed out and periodically move the aggro bar down to deffencive - you can still instacast heals with the aggro bar moved down half-way with high nano init.
• don't be affraid to take charge and be the team leader in a tower battle or a realy hard team mission for that matter. you know more than anyone else how your heals are holding up against the damage that the team is taking and whether or not you need to move out of the zone or out of the line of sight to recharge
• keep your evades high, you won't evade every single hit but at least the critical hit will be realy realy rare, so when you do get aggro you can still take a healthy beating before kicking the bucket

- these tips helped me out, i hope they will help you too.

[_____________Madball]

In the same vein - never run from a team fight, unless a) the rest of the team has already gone, or b) you've got 1hp and everyone else is at full....


Wow someone that actually believes in this also.

New docs if you stay true to this youll be alright
Chain cast those heals and take beatings.
I used to tank missions with my doctor until init debuff no longer stole aggro from manex bursts

[______________Insida]

Originally posted by Letah
[list][*]It may hurt your feelings and morals but if you need to choose between the tank and that agentfriend who both has aggro (and one of em will die) the tank needs your heal.

errr.. shouldnt it be the contrary? If two people need healing, one is the tank, the other is not, the tank should be the last one receiving the healing since.. well.. he is the tank ;p He's supposed to be able to control the aggro and make sure the mobs attack him but also supposed to be able to take more hit than anyone else.. otherwise.. he wouldnt be a tank. Infact, the last person in the team who need a doc is the tank since he should be able to take damage like no one else can. If he cant keep aggro.. why is he tank in the first place?

[cleo00]

Originally posted by Insida


errr.. shouldnt it be the contrary? If two people need healing, one is the tank, the other is not, the tank should be the last one receiving the healing since.. well.. he is the tank ;p He's supposed to be able to control the aggro and make sure the mobs attack him but also supposed to be able to take more hit than anyone else.. otherwise.. he wouldnt be a tank. Infact, the last person in the team who need a doc is the tank since he should be able to take damage like no one else can. If he cant keep aggro.. why is he tank in the first place?

If both are about to die, it would be better to keep the tank alive becasue the chances of everyone staying alive would increase, even if only slightly.
I always think logistically when healing, The only advantage of being my firend is I'll know how much damage you can take, and what your capable of doing.

[__________Allenstein]

your tips are really great, but i dont understand your dreamsetup.
No gaily, azure body, hvnt/rbp, gos...
Shouldnt a doc try to reach maximum nanosaving% possibel selfbuffed.
With gaily azure body upgrade -40% selfbuffed.

mfg Allenstein 198 doc rk3

[Letah]

Originally posted by Allenstein
your tips are really great, but i dont understand your dreamsetup.
No gaily, azure body, hvnt/rbp, gos...
Shouldnt a doc try to reach maximum nanosaving% possibel selfbuffed.
With gaily azure body upgrade -40% selfbuffed.

mfg Allenstein 198 doc rk3

Gaily looks butt-ugly on me and I dont really need it, but yeah it would be better. My current +20 vest > Azure chest. I cant use HVNT without gimping an implant, something I dont want to do, Ill get an AF tank maybe but I like the white tank I have now.

GoS? My eggs > gos for the nanoskills and +nano.

[Haxar-]

Maybe also usefull:

• Keep a decent amount of nano-rechargers with you, Docs who run out of nano-rechargers while in a Team (Mission/Unique/...) are doomed
• Raise First Aid ... Sometimes the Tank needs nano in mid-fight or the Doc... (shrug)
• Do not listen to team members, who think they have to tell you how to play/be a Doc ... well there might be an exception if they have a high level Doc and want to give you an advice.

[Letah]

up!

[Letah]

up!

[M@hdi]

• It's a common saying (especially in lowbie teams) that a doc goes down with the ship or tank. This is completely WRONG! When a situation goes horribly out of hand, save yourself! Get out, recharge, heal up and dash back in....dead docs can't heal.
• Make sure that it's known in your teams that when the tank or the doc says "%^$& RUN!!!", everyone runs....However, when any other person says "%^$& RUN!!!", remove that person from your direct line of vision (e.g. kick him out of your team, you don't need the coward).
• Know that longer periods of BS missioning can cause severe headaches or nausia. Always remember though that after only 2 or 3 missions more, these feelings WILL subside...
• Some people get downright abusive towards docs when things go wrong a few times. When all nice ways of coping with this have depleted try "/macro DOA /g sure you are right %t, just let me write down your name for when we are doing Ian later".
• In contrary to most other professions docs always TAKE blame, we don't dish it out. This is purely psychological for 9 out of 10 times your silence will make your teamies feel a lot worse then "Acky enf %^$&!! You wouldn't know aggro when it was a 60ft, purple tank labeled "Aggro R us".
• Docs don't ditch team halfway through a mission, it's not done! We are too important a facet of a team to leave the rest bleeding in our absence. When the room you play in suddenly catches fire, you finish the mission and then call the fire department, not the other way around. Make sure you can finish what you start. This goes especially for docs.
• Never ever ever stealthbuff NTs, Soldiers or Enfs midmission/raid with stuff like temp HP or Hots. These profs usually have a specific amount of NCU free for in combat buffs (nullity, mongo, buggy TMS). Your atempt of saving a live could cause the death of you all and a serious barage of namecalling.
• Fixers are expendable (<--- my personal favourite)
• Agents are expendable (<--- close second favourite)
• Enforcers are absolutely NOT expendable!
• Docs cast all they can pretty early on with good imps and decent ip placement (idiot proof would be a reasonable assessment of building a doc). Twink as little as possible, this will seriously prolong the fun you have in growing into the game. Once you can cast Complete Heal you go from doc to "CH Monkey" and will stay that way until some evul person in the US (or Norway) punches "format c: <enter> - y <enter> - y <enter>" on the AO servers.
• Make sure you sort out your internet connection before you move to a diferent adress, not vice versa.
• Take every single death in a mission personaly. Most the deaths that occur ARE in fact the docs fault. The doc is the one in control and has the best view on what's happening, if people die because you couldn't keep up with healing the damage you screamed "RUN!" too late...(HP bar bugs excluded of course)
• This might be cruel and very much against the feel of the hippocratic oath, but when you raid some unique with damage teams (and you are in one), you are NOT supposed to heal up the tanks of the other teams. As a matter of fact you WANT them to die and WILL do anything in your power to speed him/her/it on his/her/its journey.
• As a doc you have immense power over the outcome of raids on uniques. Feel free to abuse this power in any way you see fit.
• Don't ask people you begged money from early on for advise later on in the game. Chances are pretty big you are on permanent ignore.
• Credatz and phat lewt > principles (goes mostly for Rimor clanners)
• Ninjaiing lewt is better than letting a corpse rot due to indecision or argueing (goes mostly for Rimor clanners).
• AO is a game, never forget that, if everything that can possibly go wrong goes wrong and you are having fun you are doing a better job than when everything is going smoothly and you are bored to tears (ed. not biographic)
• Don't ever take any post signed with "-mah" more serious than you would a 3 year old discussing tax reductions (though admittedly, that would be scary).

greetz

-mah (yup, more blackhearted than usual)

[edit] acky vB code [/edit]

[Letah]

Docs don't ditch team halfway through a mission, it's not done! We are too important a facet of a team to leave the rest bleeding in our absence. When the room you play in suddenly catches fire, you finish the mission and then call the fire department, not the other way around. Make sure you can finish what you start. This goes especially for docs.

LOL, good one I once threw a mug of warm/hot coffee on my lap during CH syncing, I let it wet myself and feel all warm, wet and dirty down below and couldnt clean myself cause I was syncing What I do to heal someone.

[M@hdi]

Originally posted by Letah

LOL, good one I once threw a mug of warm/hot coffee on my lap during CH syncing, I let it wet myself and feel all warm, wet and dirty down below and couldnt clean myself cause I was syncing What I do to heal someone.

See! That's what I'm talking about! Die Hard! /prostrate

which brings me to...

• Don't drink hot, damaging, corrosive or potentially lethal (to man or machine) beverages during CH syncing...

-mah

[Jynne]

Tip for new docs: Roll an enforcer, Gaute loves them and is expressing it through uber equipment and skills for them.

[Servivious]

Originally posted by M@hdi
Don't ever take any post signed with "-mah" more serious than you would a 3 year old discussing tax reductions (though admittedly, that would be scary).

-mah (yup, more blackhearted than usual)

That is scary...

• Feel free to reward good teams by changing out of armour and into 'something a little more comfortable' if you're in a really good team. I had a Vixen Ent doc do this when I was playing my MA and - boy - did the team perk up!!
  
• If you are drinking 'hot, damaging, corrosive or potentially lethal (to man or machine) beverages' and happen to spill one in the course of keeping your team mates alive, make sure they know about it. No point being a martyr to the cause if no one realises it.......................
  
• Feel free to make liberal use of the /ignore function to make sure you never ever re-team with the idiots who make your mission life hell.
  
• Never let anyone make you feel like you don't deserver / earn your share of the loot in a given activity. In fact, more often than not you deserver a greater than equal share, but by not taking it you show them all how holier than thou we really are.
  
• Collect random small usefull items that buff stuff. Always good!
  

[ThePartisan]

[i]Originally posted by Servivious [*]In the same vein - never run from a team fight, unless a) the rest of the team has already gone, or b) you've got 1hp and everyone else is at full....

So it IS ok to run? Or not? Or did you mean that you should never run off by your own minding your own business, killing a mob here, opening a box there while the rest of the team is somewhere else? If that's what you meant, then yes, and this goes for all professions.

[Haxar-]

Originally posted by Jynne
Tip for new docs: Roll an enforcer, Gaute loves them and is expressing it through uber equipment and skills for them.

Not before I threw a mug of warm/hot coffee on my lap during CH syncing.

[Letah]

LOL Servivious, love the sig