Healers tools

draghkar · 06/19/07, 7:11 PM

After 2 years of healing I'm asking myself if I'm abusing to use tools to improve my duty or if I'm "loosing" something.
On a standard 25 man raids I use:

ag_uf: to monitor myself, target, target's target, focus and focus's target
sRaid: to monitor the raid and have players fading if not in healing range ( it saves lot of time spent in try to heal
players far away )
clique: to click and heal/dispell ( using a 5 mouse buttons )

in the past I was using (changed guild and we do not use it)

incoming heals: to monitor healing landing on players, it shows a number near the player name so is not an invasive mod.

I'm very curious about what top guilds healers out there use as standard mods for their raid.

PsiVen · 06/19/07, 11:06 PM

RDX makes for some very nice UI setups. I use Grid myself since RDX is too complicated for me to bother figuring out for my limited healing endeavours.

speeda · 06/19/07, 11:12 PM

The most important healing tool out there is Grid there is nothing better available...
For me thats everything i need, if configured well you get all the informations you need in a small box. Hands down best healer addon in WoW

Replica · 06/20/07, 12:35 AM

I use grid, but i suck terribly at configuring it, so my little boxes get spammed with all sorts of debuff icons and everything (Skeletal Ushers infuriate me), and my eyesight sucks so the fade while out of range thing isn't as useful for me as it could be.

I rely most heavily on macroing all of my heals and whatnot to mouseovers, for example:
/cast [target=mouseover] Healing Wave(Rank 12)
I only started doing this a few months ago, and it's certainly made me much more awesome at reacting to damage and getting it healed. Too often i'd mouseclick something and find i never actually changed target at all. Very frustrating. I dislike clicking with my mouse full stop, so doing this is perfect for me.

fishy · 06/20/07, 2:57 AM

I just recently discovered Grid and after a little getting used to and setting it up to my needs, I honestly don't know how I could have lived all this time without it. I used it on my Shaman in combination with Clique and not only has it improved my healing efficiency, it has made healing much more relaxed for me.
Truth be told, it takes a while to get acustomed to Grid with all its features and it might not be easy at first to set everything up, but once it's up an running you won't leave Shatt without it...

Taryenne · 06/20/07, 5:36 AM

For me, RDX all the way

Grid is too generalised for my liking and doesn't give enough enounter based information
ie, Inner Demons at Leothras, these show up as a different coloured uf in the RDX grid layout, same with Static charge at Vashj, so instantly i can see who's afflicted and whether they're in range and my predicted inc heal on them

This is all out of the box with no configuring (except mousebindings) needed,

But what really makes it so valuable is so much in one package, healing assignment manager, MT assists, range checker, bossmods, interrupt cd's and then the ability to create pretty much anything you wish to monitor

All depends on your needs and what information you want, alot of healers are very happy with Grid

• Chicken · 06/20/07, 5:42 AM

Originally Posted by Taryenne

Grid is too generalised for my liking and doesn't give enough enounter based information
ie, Inner Demons at Leothras, these show up as a different coloured uf in the RDX grid layout, same with Static charge at Vashj, so instantly i can see who's afflicted and whether they're in range and my predicted inc heal on them

This is all out of the box with no configuring (except mousebindings) needed,

It's fairly simple to set Grid up to show such encounter specific debuffs, I add new ones to my own configuration all the time.

boomix · 06/20/07, 9:22 AM

I have Clique installed once again, but not configured. Once before it completely blew up on me so I am hesitant to even use it. Instead I rely on my G15 with obscure key-binds which in turn are bound to my G-keys, to make it all work.

Velcra · 06/20/07, 9:49 AM

Originally Posted by Replica

I use grid, but i suck terribly at configuring it, so my little boxes get spammed with all sorts of debuff icons and everything (Skeletal Ushers infuriate me), and my eyesight sucks so the fade while out of range thing isn't as useful for me as it could be.

I had the same problem when I first installed Grid, I couldn't really discern who was in/out of range. Within the GridStatusRange.lua file (just open it with Wordpad) there is a line very close to the top that says:

color = { r = 1, g = 1, b = 1, a = 0.5 },

The "a" value is alpha to set out of range boxes too, I changed it to 0.2 and it makes a world of difference! Just remember that you did it so when you update Grid and it suddenly looks different you know to go back and re-edit the .lua file again.

Cowbell · 06/20/07, 9:59 AM

Originally Posted by Velcra

The "a" value is alpha to set out of range boxes too, I changed it to 0.2 and it makes a world of difference! Just remember that you did it so when you update Grid and it suddenly looks different you know to go back and re-edit the .lua file again.

I'm pretty sure you can actually do this in the Grid settings in-game, you don't need to edit a .lua file. It's also easier to see if you reverse the backgroudn colors as well... there's a setting for that too, but unfortunately I'm at work and can't be more specific.

Regardless, I agree wholeheartedly with Grid + mouseover macros. I recently shelved a holy priest, and regardless of all the bitching and moaning about how holy priests are broken, I never got outhealed by any class using that setup. It improves your reaction time and gives you loads of additional information you just can't get from other raid frames.

constantius · 06/20/07, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by Taryenne

For me, RDX all the way

Grid is too generalised for my liking and doesn't give enough enounter based information
ie, Inner Demons at Leothras, these show up as a different coloured uf in the RDX grid layout, same with Static charge at Vashj, so instantly i can see who's afflicted and whether they're in range and my predicted inc heal on them

This is all out of the box with no configuring (except mousebindings) needed,

But what really makes it so valuable is so much in one package, healing assignment manager, MT assists, range checker, bossmods, interrupt cd's and then the ability to create pretty much anything you wish to monitor

All depends on your needs and what information you want, alot of healers are very happy with Grid

RDX won't be "out of box" afaik -- I paid for a subscription, and just installing RDX itself doesn't give you all of that. You've likely installed some sort of OOBE package which gives you most of those things, no? If so, which OOBE package -- I keep intending to get RDX working, and can never muster up the effort to build things myself. It's not the most intuitive of systems.

Miaxi · 06/20/07, 10:32 AM

Originally Posted by Taryenne

For me, RDX all the way

Grid is too generalised for my liking and doesn't give enough enounter based information
ie, Inner Demons at Leothras, these show up as a different coloured uf in the RDX grid layout, same with Static charge at Vashj, so instantly i can see who's afflicted and whether they're in range and my predicted inc heal on them

Just add the debuff as a new aura, activate it for the center icon, all ready and visible.

souja · 06/20/07, 11:08 AM

Here's my Grid with Leotheras' Insidious Whispers. Also, while stock grid is nice, I've found it more usable for me after spending a little time configuring it (namely activating Center Text 2).

Only thing I really want in Grid is a way of editing layouts in-game and more flexibility with layouts... like what Clad has done with PerfectRaid (filters, sorts, multiple active layouts, etc). I'd love to be able to pull out additional frames of just specific classes, groups, or selected people.

Like others, outside of Grid, the only other mod I use for healing is Clique.

Velcra · 06/20/07, 11:20 AM

Originally Posted by Cowbell

I'm pretty sure you can actually do this in the Grid settings in-game, you don't need to edit a .lua file. It's also easier to see if you reverse the backgroudn colors as well... there's a setting for that too, but unfortunately I'm at work and can't be more specific.

I went into every option I could possibly find and none of them let me adjust the gamma value for out of range players, but maybe I missed it. I probably spent 20-30 minutes digging through all the options in game, and a total of 30 seconds editing the .lua file.

Taryenne · 06/20/07, 11:30 AM

To Constantius, hmm maybe i was a bit vague with the 'out of the box' term
what I should clarify is, by using the ready made RDX OOBE's, Hamlets Bossmods, Aichi's Raidgrid and the Healing assignment manager there is no other configuring needed except placement and size ofc

personally i've just found the layout and encounter specific buff/debuff much easier to use than Grid with the added bonus of being able to configure other windows to watch for specifics at the same time

Having all the necessary raid information within in one addon is what appeals to me

RDX Grid at Leotheras, uf in green is insidious whisper, red border for aggro, beneath the missing hp it will also show my predicted heal when i start casting

souja · 06/20/07, 11:31 AM

The opacity edit for range check in Grid is in Status > Out of Range > Color.

Another option worth noting in that section is Range check frequency. You can decrease/increase it from the default 2 seconds as your overhead allows.

KrinKer · 06/20/07, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by souja

Here's my Grid with Leotheras' Insidious Whispers. Also, while stock grid is nice, I've found it more usable for me after spending a little time configuring it (namely activating Center Text 2).

Only thing I really want in Grid is a way of editing layouts in-game and more flexibility with layouts... like what Clad has done with PerfectRaid (filters, sorts, multiple active layouts, etc). I'd love to be able to pull out additional frames of just specific classes, groups, or selected people.

Like others, outside of Grid, the only other mod I use for healing is Clique.

How do you you make your grid like that? Talking about wider frames ...

It seems like mine will always be a "square"

levk · 06/20/07, 11:48 AM

KrinKer: there's a lot of layouts available for Grid, you can get a bunch right of files.wowace.com

The way grid works is you can't edit layouts inside the game (so what you see wasn't done by nibbling with options)

Melador · 06/20/07, 11:52 AM

I've long been wanting something that I'm not even sure is possible with the API Blizzard has provided:

Is there a way to better display people who are selected, and are often far away? I'm often required to battle-rez folks, or heal a tank that's run out of range (especially in places like Hyjal), and if they're not in my group, I have a hell of a time trying to find them. I'll generally just sort of guess where they might be and run around waiting for them to pop in-range, or try to get them to ping on the minimap, but that's not always possible when a fight's getting hectic.

So, any useful mods anyone has find to better let me find corpses or tanks that have wandered off?

souja · 06/20/07, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by KrinKer

How do you you make your grid like that? Talking about wider frames ...

It seems like mine will always be a "square"

Here are the config edits I used (all in-game):

1. Horizonal health bars - ...Frame>Advanced>Orientation>HORIZONTAL
2. Wider bars - ...Frame>Advanced>Frame Height/Width
3. "Normal" depleting health bars - .../Frame/Invert Bar Color
4. Seperate Name and health deficit:

Go to ...Frame/Advanced/ and check 'Enable Center Text 2 indicator'
Go to ...Frame/Center Text/ and only have 'Unit Name' checked
Go to ...Frame/Center Text 2/ and check 'Death Warning', 'Feign Death Warning', 'Health Deficit' and 'Offline Warning'

Outside of that, I just replaced the texture (.tga) in the Grid directory with one of my preference.

As for layouts, I'm just using the 25-man layout in GridLayoutForHealers to get rid of groups 678 (where we put the standbys).

Caldar · 06/20/07, 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by levk

KrinKer: there's a lot of layouts available for Grid, you can get a bunch right of files.wowace.com

The way grid works is you can't edit layouts inside the game (so what you see wasn't done by nibbling with options)

The pictured layout is made in-game by adjusting the layout options.

The only thing that really can't be done in game is adjusting the displayed sort order or number of groups shown.

Edit: Thanks for the layout tip though. I don't remember the last time I was in a 40 man group.

Miaxi · 06/20/07, 2:01 PM

Editing Grid Layouts is not hard. Just go to the GridLayoutLayouts.lua file and add a new section.

GridLayout:AddLayout(L["PRaid"], {
		[1] = {
			groupFilter = "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8",
		},
	})

This should put all groups in one column, PerfectRaid-style sorted by groups. (From the top of my head.)

GridLayout:AddLayout(L["PRaid_Class"], {
		[1] = {
			groupFilter = "WARRIOR,DRUID,PALADIN,ROGUE,HUNTER,MAGE,SHAMAN,WARLOCK,PRIEST",
		},
	})

This should do the same just sorted by class.

There are also ready Grid layouts in addon-form on the wowace SVN.

Dragooner · 06/20/07, 2:15 PM

Maybe I'm old fashion, but I can't get used to grid like mods.. Praid + clique is what I still use, as I said in another post somewhere, that praid is so easy to configure for detecting new debuffs from boss mobs, eg: static charge, or entangling roots.

Good sorting features, customizable range detection, low resource requirements and quick updating makes praid my favorite mod, perhaps of all time.

Binkenstein · 06/20/07, 7:40 PM

I use Pitbull raidframes, and a series [target=mouseover] macros.

Outside of that I have a Earth Shield Tracker.

Sarutobi · 06/21/07, 10:26 AM

Originally Posted by Velcra

I had the same problem when I first installed Grid, I couldn't really discern who was in/out of range. Within the GridStatusRange.lua file (just open it with Wordpad) there is a line very close to the top that says:

color = { r = 1, g = 1, b = 1, a = 0.5 },

The "a" value is alpha to set out of range boxes too, I changed it to 0.2 and it makes a world of difference! Just remember that you did it so when you update Grid and it suddenly looks different you know to go back and re-edit the .lua file again.

Thank you. I had been looking for a way to do this on my shaman for quite awhile now.

Cowbell: I've looked through pretty much every possible option in Grid and have not yet found any way to modify the gamma in-game.

Originally Posted by Binkenstein

Outside of that I have a Earth Shield Tracker.

Does that track the number of charges, or just the presence of the buff? I have Grid set up to highlight a corner when the buff is on someone, but it doesn't have the ability to tell me how many charges are left.