- This article is about the unit ability called "Healer". For a combat spell that heals damage to injured units, see Healing.
Healer is one of the many Unit Abilities available in Master of Magic.
Any unit which is in the same stack with at least one Healer unit (or is itself a Healer) will regain lost 
Hit Points each turn at a significantly-improved rate. This allows units or entire stacks to regain their strength and be ready for more combat in short order.
The Healer ability has only one version, which adds 20% to the healing rate of the unit and all others stacked with it. The article below explains how this 20% bonus is applied.
There are no less than 13 units in the game possessing the Healer ability, most of which are Shamans and Priests of various Races. 3 are Heroes possessing this ability by default. There is no known way of adding the Healer ability to any unit that does not already possess it by default.
Note that Fantastic Creatures from the 
Death Realm, as well as Undead units, do not heal naturally and cannot benefit from healing in any way.
Description[]
Medicine and medical care are two extremely complicated fields of study, even in the world of Master of Magic where they are both in their infancy. Correctly treating wounds and healing diseases is tricky, but some spend their lives studying various cures and procedures. Students of healing are very much prized within the ranks of any army, as they can significantly speed up the recovery of troops injured in battle, preparing them for the next battle to come.
Those commonly proficient in healing are usually priests and shamans. Part of their religious training involves caring for the infirm, and they can provide this service during wartime as well as peacetime. Several Heroes, particularly those with religious backgrounds, possess similar training.
Effect[]
At the start of each overland turn, each and every friendly unit (see exceptions below) that is currently below its maximum Health is automatically healed by a certain number of Hit Points. With sufficient turns, each unit will eventually return to full health. The number of Hit Points repaired each turn depends on the location of the unit and its total Maximum Health score.
Normally, a unit that starts its turn inside a Town is healed by 10% of its total Maximum Health (or by as much as it would take to fully heal the unit, whichever is lower). If the town contains an Animists' Guild, the rate is 16.67% per turn. Units outside of towns will normally heal at 5% of their Maximum Health each turn.
However, when an injured unit starts its turn in the same stack with a Healer unit (or, is itself a Healer unit), it receives a bonus 20% to its healing rate, on top of the percentages described above. For example, a unit out in the field will regain 5+20 = 25% of its total Maximum Health each turn - thus taking no more than 4 turns to completely heal from all injuries!
Note that for 
Multi-Figure units, the Maximum Health score is calculated by multiplying the unit's maximum number of 
figures by the maximum Hit Points of each individual figure. Also note that such units will gradually regain any lost figures as they heal.
Healer is a non-cumulative ability. If two or more units in the same stack possess the Healer ability, only one healing rate bonus is applied.
Remember that the Healer unit enjoys its own bonus the same as any other unit in its stack.
Example[]
- A unit of Chimeras contains up to
4 figures. Each figure possesses 8 Hit Points.
- If the unit is injured, it will regain between 5% and 16.67% of its total Hit Points each overland turn, depending on its location (see above). The total Hit Points for the unit equals 8 * 4 = 32, so the unit will regain between 1.6 and 5.3 per turn.
- With a Healer present in the Chimeras' stack, the unit heals an extra 20% each turn on top of what it normally gets. Therefore, it will now heal between 25% and 36.67% of its total Hit Points, i.e. between 8 and 11.7 per turn. This is a significant increase, meaning that even a badly-injured Chimeras unit will return to full health within a few turns.
Units that Don't Heal[]
There is an important exception to the rule, which applies mainly to Death-wielding wizards: All Fantastic Units from the Death Realm do not heal, nor do any Undead units.
Such units will not regain any lost Health each turn, nor can they be healed by most healing spells (such as Healing, Mass Healing, and so forth).
As a result, such units feel no benefit from the Healer ability. There are ways to heal such units, but they are not common.
Units with Default Healer[]
There are no less than 13 units in the game that possess Healer by default. 10 of these are Normal Units from various Races, while the other 3 are Heroes:
Beastmen Priests
Dark Elf Priests
Draconian Shamans
Barbarian Shamans
Halfling Shamans
High Men Priests
Lizardmen Shamans
Nomad Priests
Orc Shamans
Troll Shamans
Elana the Priestess
Roland the Paladin
Serena the Healer
All these units have the same Healer ability, which increases healing rates by exactly 20%.
Acquiring Healer[]
There is no known method of adding Healer to a unit that does not possess it by default, whether by spells or through Magical Items.
Known Bugs[]
The 20% healing rate of the Healer ability is always rounded down and separated from the natural healing rate of 5% to 16.67% (5% outside town, 10% inside town resp. 16.67% if Animists' Guild built). This may cause some issues. For example, Healer has no effect on 4-figure units with 1 HP per figure (Sprites, most Shamans, Priests and Magicians): The healed 0.2 x 4 HP = 0.8 HP are rounded down to 0 HP. So, most units possessing the Healer ability won't profit from it themselves.
Units with a higher unit ID - meaning units that were produced later - than the first healer in the stack have their natural healing rate replaced by 1/66, which is 1.52%.