Healer (video games)
A healer is a type of
When both healer and
Healers are often represented as a fantasy spell-caster (such as a
History
NetHack, a single-player roguelike video game, first released in 1987 includes a description of healers in its accompanying guidebook. It states:
Healers are wise in medicine and apothecary. They know the herbs and simples that can restore vitality, ease pain, anesthetize, and neutralize poisons; and with their instruments, they can divine a being's state of health or sickness. Their medical practice earns them quite reasonable amounts of money, with which they enter the dungeon.[4]
Other early examples of video games with healers in them include Chrono Trigger (1995) and Final Fantasy VII (1997). The former includes the character Marle, who is portrayed as a water mage and performs healing functions.[5] Final Fantasy VII featured the magic-based character Aerith Gainsborough, who was able to restore chunks of health to the player's party. She would go on to become one of the more iconic healing characters in gaming.[6] Unreal Tournament (1999) included healing in multiplayer gameplay. Healers were a markedly important facet of gameplay in the 2004 massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft.[7] America's Army: Rise of a Soldier (2005) rewarded players for healing teammates.[8]
Healers are often incorporated within the broader Support-class subset of characters in a game's playable roster. As such, healers and support characters are commonly associated with each other.[9][10] Valve's Team Fortress 2 (2007), a first-person shooter (FPS) incorporated healers into gameplay. The game featured three support characters in general, with one being dedicated to solely healing. Team Fortress 2 featured competitive multiplayer, in which healer characters have been noted as vital in gameplay.[9][11] In such competitive multiplayer, healer-class players have been noted as an underappreciated.[9][11] Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (or MMORPGs) have been noted by PC Gamer to have a "usual problem of there being too few healers or tanks because most people want to be able to level and solo efficiently."[12] Some players have been documented to prefer selecting healer-class characters in competitive multiplayer modes, who have cited a desire to help teammates and a relative accessibility as reasons why.[11] Edwin Evans-Thirlwell of The Face wrote that "healer roles [in shooter games] stand out because they don't depend on hand-eye coordination, making them attractive both to players who find 'twitch-shooting' a turn-off and people with disabilities that affect their accuracy and reflexes."[11] In the 2010s, a community sprung up around the concept of "healslutting", which sees some players submit to others while role-playing a healer character.[3]
Roles and abilities
Multiplayer games featuring healing are not limited by genre, as the class is present in a variety of genres including
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
In parties that include both a tank and a healer, it is customary for the latter to heal any damage taken by the former.
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) with abilities. In Tactical RPGs or open-world games, their spells may utilize an Area of Effect (AoE) 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.
In sexual roleplay
Choosing to play as a healer may sometimes be done as part of a dominant–submissive roleplaying dynamic. In "healslutting" (a combination of the words "heal" and "slut"), players engage with one another both in-game and through external avenues as one player assumes the healer role, submitting to the player who has selected an offensive- or tank-class character. The term gained widespread popularity through the 2016 first-person hero shooter Overwatch, in which the character Mercy is a dedicated healer commonly used by female players who largely wish to avoid direct combat.[13] Aside from "healsluts", healer-class players may also conversely identify as "healdoms", in which they assume the dominant role in the dynamic as they can "control whether their partner lives or dies."[14]
See also
- Tank (video games), a common character class focused on drawing enemy damage.
References
- ^ WoW: The official magazine Spring 2010 (Volume 1, Issue 2). Kill and Cure Pg141- Luis Villazon.
- ISBN 9781609385668. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
- ^ a b Bohunicky, Kyle; Youngblood, Jordan (November 7, 2019). "The Pro Strats of Healsluts: Overwatch, Sexuality, and Perverting the Mechanics of Play". WiderScreen. 22 (1–2). Retrieved May 22, 2023.
- ^ "NetHack 3.4.3: Guidebook for NetHack 3.4".
- ISBN 9781940535012. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
- ^ Donato, Leah (November 16, 2022). "10 Best Healers In Video Games, Ranked". DualShockers. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
- ^ ISBN 9781940535128. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
- ISBN 9781135842826. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Harrison, Will (December 6, 2017). "Healers in competitive gaming get no respect". The Blade. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
- ^ Hurst, Marlow (March 29, 2021). "The feminisation of virtual healing". Honi Soit. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g Evans-Thirlwell, Edwin (April 16, 2020). "Meet the gamers who love playing healer". The Face. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
- ^ Augustine, Josh (January 31, 2012). "DCUO offers a creative solution to the age-old "Where's the healer?" problem". PC Gamer. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
- ^ Winkie, Luke (September 12, 2016). "Overwatch 'Healsluts' Turn Playing Support Into An Erotic Experience". Kotaku. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
- ^ Bohunicky, Kyle; Youngblood, Jordan (November 7, 2019). "The Pro Strats of Healsluts: Overwatch, Sexuality, and Perverting the Mechanics of Play". WiderScreen. 22 (1–2). Retrieved May 22, 2023.
Further reading
- Bean, Anthony M. (June 18, 2018). Working with Video Gamers and Games in Therapy: A Clinician's Guide. ISBN 9781351700672. Retrieved May 23, 2023.