Infraction for Thuus: 6. Do not post unless you have something new and worthwhile to say.

• bartolimu · 06/10/09, 6:28 PM

Post: [Resto] Best Practices: PvE Healing Discussion
User: Thuus
Infraction: 6. Do not post unless you have something new and worthwhile to say.
Points: 1

Administrative Note:

Message to User:

This is not your blog.

Original Post:

Howdy, long time reader but 1st time poster....

I have played Resto for over 2 years now. Powned in BC on every raid in the healing meters, period.

WotLK has been a pleasant wake up call. New talents and spells are making me work to stay middle of the pack nowadays.

I am in a guild that is a cross between casual and semi hard core players. We get the job done, but never will get world 1st. We have only cleared thru Hodir, Thorim and Freya and have gotten to 4th phase in Mimiron. We only raid 3 nights a week.

If you armory me (Thuus -Echo Isles) you will see fairly standard build, but not likely to get any approval on my gearing seeing the general consensus of people moving to haste in a big way. I am also the raid leader so i build my gear more around MP5 and crit since i cannot mana managed 100% when i am busy calling out fights.

All this about shamans getting bumped from raids seems silly, if anything with buffs/glyphs to HW, LHW and RT we are now more versitile than before. If we came into WotLK as CH heal 1 trick ponies like we were in BC, then we would get bumped.

We generally run 2 druids, 2 priests, 1 or 2 pallies, and 1 or 2 shammy (7 healers per raid always). Our setup is dependent on who is available since we are not a militant raiding guild. As a raid leader, player gear and skill are very important of course, but i also look for a mix of all types of heal every raid night. Any time we have dramatically change the healer class make up, we feel it. Maybe its how we have gotten used to healing as a group more than it is specifically the classes mixed.

I personally think shammy healing by spell arsenal is the best its ever been. Gone are the days of mindless CH and getting 40%+ overall effective heal on recount. I have to think now. When range is an issue CH isn't my faceroll heal. I have to plan - who am I ES to throw LHW at (glyphed). Who will i throw multiple HW at to be most effective. RT every time i can for quickie heals - even that takes some thought since its best not to clip the Hot by recasting on same person if not needed. Gone are the days that LW and HW are so mana inefficient that they simply couldn't be used.

Different fights/phases, different healing. What is wrong with that -- not falling asleep casting CH all the time. To actually think while healing as a shammy is new and even took some to get used to. I was frustrated when WotLK 1st came out and some people who new to shammy resto healing dominated me in healing. They weren't pre-programmed like i was from BC. They were using all the spells while i wasn't adapting to the new dynamics. I now enjoy looking at fights now and planning types of heals most effective in different phases or situations. I like being able to do more different types of healing than we could in BC.

I worry Blizz may go to far and make every healer class too equal in all types of healing. It seems to be the direction they are going with all the QQ. While healing was boring in BC, shammies were silent as OP as we were. Now we are given a big toolbox to play with and when we are not #1 by the huge margin we used to be, people freak out. I enjoy the competitiveness now. Skill of healing at the right time and at the right target still matters alot. I have seen healing meters with unbelievable hps but it was a wipe. The actual boss kill hps #s end up looking so different as we learn who and what to heal and with what heal that is most appropriate.

It's the age old SAT question: A shaman casting Chain Heal, a Druid casting Wild Growth, and a Priest casting a Serendipity Prayer of Healing (followed immediately by a Circle of Healing) all start healing the same target at the same time with a 10K health deficit. Which heal will land last and be mostly overheal? Chain Heal.

solution - RT that person and cast CH elsewhere if you know the fight well enough to predictively heal over reactively healing. We are not BC robots - CH is not supposed be our only spell