Understanding the Healing Debuff in Throne and Liberty
What is the Healing Debuff?
In Throne and Liberty, the healing debuff is an effect that reduces the healing you receive, making it an essential tool for controlling healing in large-scale fights, especially in PvP or raid settings. Several weapons can apply this debuff, including daggers, crossbows, staffs, and greatswords.
The debuff works by applying a significant reduction to your incoming heals, which can be crucial in turning the tide of a battle where healing is vital. However, understanding how this debuff works, and whether it stacks, is essential for optimizing both your offense and defense.
Testing the Healing Debuff's Effectiveness
In a recent experiment, we used Nature's Blessing combined with Healing Touch, one of the most potent healing combinations for healers in Throne and Liberty. This heal, when applied correctly, can restore a large chunk of health—around 2,800 from Nature’s Blessing and an additional 484 from Healing Touch. This strong heal was the perfect test subject to observe the impact of the healing debuff.
The Test Setup
To test how healing debuffs affect this combination heal, we enlisted several guildmates to apply debuffs from various weapons, including daggers, greatswords, and staffs. The goal was to observe:
1. Whether the healing debuff from different weapons stacks.
2. How much the debuff reduces the healing from Nature's Blessing and Healing Touch.
Results: Debuffs Don't Stack
Upon applying the healing debuff from different weapons, we found that the healing debuff does not stack. For example, when daggers, greatswords, and staffs were used simultaneously against me, the debuff did not increase beyond the typical 80% reduction. This was consistent across all tests.
However, the debuff did have a significant impact on the healing received. From the baseline heal of 2,800 (Nature’s Blessing) and 484 (Healing Touch), the debuff reduced the total heal to a mere 283. This drastic reduction demonstrates how effective the debuff is at curbing high-value healing.
Unique Stacking Behavior of Meteor and Focus Firebomb
While the healing debuffs from most weapons don’t stack, there is an exception with abilities from certain staff skills, particularly Meteor and Focus Firebomb. When used together, these two abilities do stack in an unusual way, and the result is a significantly higher reduction in healing.
Testing Meteor and Focus Firebomb
When these two staff abilities were used together, we observed that the combined healing debuff totaled a 96% reduction in healing. While this might seem alarming at first, it’s important to note that the debuff doesn’t stack additively (i.e., it’s not 80% + 80% = 160%). Instead, the stacking effect results in a unique reduction of 96%, which is slightly more than the expected -80% from each debuff.
For instance, the Nature’s Blessing heal, originally at 2,800, was further reduced by this combined stacking effect, dropping the final value to 57. This demonstrates the importance of knowing how to mitigate these specific debuffs in combat, especially during large-scale PvP fights or raids.
How to Counteract Healing Debuffs
Knowing how healing debuffs work is crucial, but it’s just as important to understand how to counter them, especially if you are a healer or someone relying on strong healing abilities.
1. Pre-Cast Healing Over Time (HoT) Abilities: As a healer, it’s advisable to have healing over time abilities on your party members before engaging in combat. This way, even if the healing debuff is applied, the HoTs can continue to provide healing in the background.
2. Shields and Damage Mitigation: Another essential counter is to use shields or other damage mitigation abilities like Bless Barrier. These abilities can reduce incoming damage and prevent your team from getting wiped out while under the effects of a healing debuff.
3. Reliability of Cleansing Abilities: Cleanses, which are vital for removing debuffs, are often random in their effects, meaning they may not always cleanse the healing debuff first. It’s essential to rely on your team’s positioning and your ability to use damage reduction or avoidance skills as a reliable counter.
4. Blood Devotion: Having a greatsword user with the Blood Devotion ability in your group can be incredibly helpful. This ability heals your teammates over time, making it harder for enemies to keep your party under control when multiple debuffs are flying around in large-scale battles.
Gear Used for Testing
For the testing conducted, the following gear was used:
· Four-piece Ascended set (common for PvP builds)
· Divine Juser Shoes and Overlord Class for additional resistances
· Thunderstorm Necklace for boosting overall stats
These items provided the necessary stats to test the effects of healing debuffs in a controlled environment.
Final Thoughts
Healing debuffs are a critical element of Throne and Liberty, offering strategic advantages in both PvP and large-scale combat. While most debuffs from daggers, staffs, and greatswords don’t stack, some abilities like Meteor and Focus Firebomb from staff users can combine to reduce healing by up to 96%. Understanding this mechanic and how it interacts with your healing abilities can give you a significant edge in battle. For healers, preemptive healing, shields, and Blood Devotion are essential tools to counteract these debuffs. Additionally, considering strategies such as TL Lucent buy from reputable sources like MMOEXP can further enhance your healing potential. The ability to adapt and counteract these effects will make you a valuable asset to your team, ensuring that healing remains effective even in the most chaotic battles.