Self heal

Self healing is a term used to describe a skill that heals the caster. While every professions comes with its own form of self healing, some are notably better than others. A few of them have some utility, and these are generally flavored for their professions (e.g. Ether Feast drains energy from target, and Leader's Comfort requires allies within earshot.)

Using a build with self heals increases the survivability of the user without the support of a healer. Therefore this is especially useful in solo situations or to simply take pressure off the healer(s) in your party. Self-heals are also usually an integral part of farming.

Some profession specific self-heals

 * The Warrior skills Healing Signet and Lion's Comfort.
 * The Ranger skills Troll Unguent and Healing Spring.
 * The Monk skills Healing Touch and Mending Touch.
 * The Necromancer skills Hexer's Vigor, Soul Feast, Consume Corpse and Taste of Death.
 * The Mesmer skills Ether Feast and Drain Enchantment.
 * The Elementalist skills Aura of Restoration and Glyph of Restoration.
 * The Assassin skills Shadow Refuge and Feigned Neutrality.
 * The Ritualist skills Mend Body and Soul, Soothing Memories, and Wielder's Boon.
 * The Paragon skill Leader's Comfort and "Never Surrender!".
 * The Dervish skills Dwayna's Touch, Natural Healing, Vital Boon, Mystic Regeneration.

For a list of all health regeneration skills see Regen/Degen health skills quick reference. For a list of health-gain skills, see Gain health skills quick reference.

Note that some melee attacks conditionally give health to the attacker (i.e. Victorious Sweep) and some skills cause the user to steal health, which is a form of self-heal. Many of the skills in the Necromancer attribute line Blood Magic steal health. For a list of skills that steal health, see Life steal skills quick reference.

A few Monk skills worth mentioning that are often utilized on a secondary Monk to increase survivability include:
 * Mending Touch - unconditional removal of at least 2 conditions regardless of spec.
 * Restful Breeze - provides moderate healing even at low spec.

Preventing Damage
Keep in mind that it is usually better to prevent damage than it is to heal through damage. The Monk attribute line Protection Prayers is designed for this purpose, though there are skills in other attribute lines and professions that prevent damage. Generally a combination of healing and prevention of damage is most efficient in the heat of battle.