“When the student is ready, the master will appear.”
(For more atmosphere, read this post with the Heine Music at the background!)
The Fervid Wish
There has always been an intense wish burning inside of me, to meet someone who could teach me the secrets of healing. Since the birth of my healer in the official servers I talked to people. I tweeted, I asked, I googled for sites of experts, and could find nothing. The complexity and the unfamiliarity, hides mechanics that appear arcane to the newcomer. I wanted to explore the game to its limits but I stumbled upon obstacles.
The dream of meeting a real mentor seemed unlike. Months passed and I started to improve on my own, simply due to experience and the freedom I gained to explore, without worrying about the basics. At that point, I knew it was not realistic to dream of a real mentor but I had not given up trying to improve and find more information. I collected bits and pieces of knowledge I got from other players and tested them along with my own conclusions.
The Responsibility
The weight of the responsibility of the Aeore should lay heavily on anyone wanting to play this class. It certainly did on me. Most of the times, the whole party relies on a single healer, who’s job is to keep everyone alive and especially oneself. As a healer you are fragile, you die easily and if that happens the whole expedition is in danger. Damage dealers can get away with being distracted for a moment but healers must be alert all the time.
The Impatience
I was impatient, driven and ignorant and I rushed the game. I rushed the experiences, the instance-zones, the raids. While there were a few people along the way who taught me some basics, it took me a very long time to start understanding the deepest secrets of the art of healing. And all the time I wished I had someone to talk to about my questions and doubts. Someone I could trust, who would have been an experienced healer for a long time.
Mentors of the Dark Side
Experts of Lineage 2 that do not play the healer themselves, rarely know the deepest secrets of the class and almost never can they identify with the challenges. Sometimes, experts simply play to make real money from the game and are rarely interested in disclosing secrets of their profession to newcomers. Few of them will care enough to teach and almost always will make sure to display superiority and control over the newbie with a casual, arrogant and insulting attitude. To these people I say that their hierarchy is a lie. Their domain of control is an illusion ready to be shattered by the spear of truth of the righteous adventurers!
Getting Rid of Limitations
Soon enough I discovered that to learn my class I had to get rid of everything that limited me. I had to get rid of the opinions of others. I had to get rid of CPs or Clans that demand more than they could provide, in gear and in knowledge as well. I had to be ruthless and follow my own truth without fearing loneliness. Strangely enough, it was when I gave up everything, when I sacrificed everything, that my ultimate goals and dreams started to become true. Meetings with great players started to occur. What a life lesson!
The Meeting
How would you feel, if all the questions you have ever had about your class were suddenly answered in a message sent by a stranger? For that is what happened to me and I was STUNNED. This person whom I will call my mentor from now on, read my posts at the lineage 2 forums and my blog posts and decided to impart her healing knowledge on me. Really graciously she replied to all my questions and gave me incredible tips. She confirmed things I had discovered and sent me such a great analysis of the game mechanics. Some of the stuff I still can’t really understand but they will be the subject of further study.
The Legacy
With my mentor’s permission, in my own words, I am going to enrich the articles I have already written on healers and keep writing on how to be an effective healer in my series of Healers Tips on this blog. Stay tuned and if you have any questions, tweet me @ankontini or email me.
Conclusion
Never give up! Dreams do come true!