Traditional healers can't work in MOBAs

And no, I don't count Healers of the Storm.

Soraka is a big issue and still a massive pain in the ass ever since the rework of grievous wounds. But it's only really Soraka who has an issue like this as the traditional heal character. So it got me to thinking: Why do heals work on other characters but not Soraka?

The answer is traditional healers don't work.

I'm gonna be using League and DoTA2, because those are the games I played with such a class. For sake of heals, I'm classifying them as something you do to another character. Strictly self-heals and lifesteal/spell vamp (Acquired or given) don't count

#League characters with heal: - Queen Bitch herself. Heals at the cost of HP with a minor armor buff (Is this still real? I think it is) plus her ult. - His shrines, while they heal for decent amounts, have a large start-up time and a heavily reduced effect if you instant cast it. - Tiny, TINY AoE heal with a slight refresh component. Spammable but the heal won't sustain you in lane to an egregious degree. - Huge AoE Heal if she hits her ult...yeah I don't get it either. - AoE Heal on top of her ult. It's nice but Janna has to channel it in the middle of a fight. - Single target heal with a speed boost. It heals but y'know, you use it for the speed boost more. - AoE Heal after her ult ends. Not a huge heal, mostly used for the death delay. - Bouncing damage/heal. The heal isn't substantial but if you can get mutli-bounces it works well. - Small Heal with a large AS boost. Again, you use it more for the buff than the heal itself. - Two-target heal you can't control. Mostly used for the AoE shield and building power chord stacks. - Two target heal on one target and himself, double if just himself. Very long cooldown and decent heal but he can lower it with passive.

#League items that heal and/or boost healing: - Massive HP regen out of combat equivalent to healing. Expensive, only HP and requires 3000 HP to get the passive. (And by extent ) - Moderate heal/mana when you level up. (and other potions) - It's a potion. - Increases ALL HEALING BY 20% Line - Tiny heal when a minion dies near you. Line - Small heal based on charges.

Now with DoTA, keep in mind hero mana pools/regen are far lower. What seems super OP on paper is balanced by cost and cooldown. I'll also be considering these abilities at max rank, divide by 4 to figure out the base heal/damage. (Or close to it) Lemme know if I forget anyone too.

#DoTA Heroes who heal: Omniknight - Single target heal with a damage component. 10 second cooldown. 360 heal/damage. Decent but not obscene Huskar - Single target regen based on their primary stat. 16 seconds and increased if hero is below 40%. Strong regen if you're low, decent regen if you're not. Undying - Single target heal based on nereby units. MAXIMUM heal of 16 targets (480 HP heal). More units = More heal and low CD. Treant Protector - Single target regen. Gives you charges that block damage. If all charges are used, the heal ends. Global and short cooldown. Abbadon - Single target heal. Damages himself. 250 HP heal (costs 150 HP at max), can be self-targeted. Low CD Phoenix - Beam heal. Restores a flat HP plus %max HP over 6 seconds. Costs both HP and mana as well as damages enemies(20 second CD) Juggernaut - AoE heal. Healer is actually a totem he summons. 5% max HP per second. Minute long CD and can be killed. Terrorblade- Single target ult. Swaps his HP with his targets. Terrorblade will always remain with 25% of his life. Witch Doctor - AoE toggle heal. 40 HP per second at 20 mana cost (Plus a 50 mana activation) Necrophos - AoE burst heal. 130 HP. Also deals damage to all nearby enemy minions. Enchantress- AoE heal. Summons 10 wisps which heal for 10 HP each over 10 seconds. Random target selection for allies near her. Warlock - Single target regen. 45 HP per second over 12 seconds. Decent cooldown (16 seconds) Chen - Global 400 HP heal. Also heals chen's creeps. Cooldown about 120 seconds. Pugna - Channel heal on his ult. Drains his own health to give to an ally (250 HP per second). Ally must stay on tether Dazzle - Similar to Nami ebb and flow. Damages and heals up to 6 targets for 140. First target is picked, everyone else is random. KotL - AoE charge heal. Only works during the day with aghanim's (The ult stick). Five second channel for max heal (500 HP) Oracle - Single target regen. 44 HP per second for 9 seconds but hero suffers 360 damage right off the bat. Winter Wryven - Single target heal. 20 Hp plus 6% of health per second for 4 seconds. Immune to physical damage and stunned while being healed.

#Items in DoTA with heal and/or boost healing Tranquil Boots - Large out of combat regen. Similar to warmogs, I guess Mekanism/Guardian Greaves - Restores 250 HP (And mana if greaves. gives armor if Mek) in an AoE. Long cooldown (65 and 40, respectively) Potions/Bottle- Duh Tango - Consume a tree to restore some HP. Can be given to an ally. Health Relic - 100% HP/Mana restore over a few seconds. Broken by combat. Cheese- Only drops from Roshan after he's died at least 3 times. Heals 2500 HP and 1000 Mana. Heart of Tarrasque - It's like Warmogs. Again. Different mogs.

At this point you're probably saying "Ok cap but why the hell did you write all that?" It's simple. Do you see a common theme among heroes with heals? Let me point out some stuff:

• The heal is not very effective and the other effect is the real reason to use the ability (Sona, Kindred, Nidalee, Phoenix, Omniknight, Pugna)
• The heal is extremely conditional and requires planning and/or time to be truly effective. (Bard, Nami, Dazzle, Warlock)
• There is a large cooldown. (Taric, Chen, etc.)
• There is a side cost. (Soraka, Oracle)
• Items are expensive and/or consumeable.

With this in mind, Soraka's healing has an extremely miniscule cost comparative to her kit. On paper 10% HP sounds painful but it's a fairly decent heal, extremely spammable and Soraka can self-heal with both Q and ult. Soraka is a heal bot unlike anything else on this list. The only condition is her maximum HP on top of having self-healing tools. (Which are tied to her W by the by). Soraka, if played moderately well, will always be able to keep her ally in a healthy spot as well as keep herself decently well off. It doesn't help that the league items encourage pretty strong healing while lacking any tools to stop it.

This is why Soraka and healers like her cannot exist in a game like this. She negates fighting and encourages a style of play that rewards keeping to the back and keeping allies healthy. She negates combat. In an action RTS genre, this is POISON. Yes, heals have existed in other games but not on a scale or with the potency of Soraka.

I got no idea how to fix this. Tone down the heal, give it an MR boost, make it an armor/mr buff with a small heal? Tack the self-heal on her Q so she has to really pay to use this ability? Change her ult? I'm terrible at this game, I can't make a call or suggest something like that. Bottom line, however, is that I honestly cannot see how Soraka can exist as a pure healer in this genre.