Hi guys. I thought it might be a nice idea to put down some advice I have learned along the way when it comes to healing groups, specifically instances. Let's face it, healing is the hardest job in a group. Tanks and dps all have attack rotations that can become second nature to them. Most have even combined them into 1 button castsequence macros. But healers have to be ready for any situation at any time. While there is a lot of responsibility that comes with healing, if you can master the craft, you will always be in high demand. If your group is successful, you will also get the majority of the credit (whether you deserve it or not). On the flip side, if your group fails, you will get the majority of the blame (whether you deserve it or not). While this guide will be directed toward priests, I'm sure other healing classes can apply the same general ideas. Anyway, hope this helps.
1) Obey the 5-second rule.
It took me a long time of healing and a decent amount of reading up on it before I heard of/understood the 5-second rule. As healers, mana regeneration is one of our most important responsibilities. When mousing over your stats you will see 2 numbers for mp5 (mana per 5 seconds), while casting and outside of casting. To achieve the "outside of casting" mp5 number, you have to refrain from casting for 5 seconds. So what does that mean for us as healers? It means you want to do your healing in bunches. This way you can spend larger blocks of time not casting and therefore more time "in the 5 second rule". If done well, it allows you to need less intellect and you can be free to gem for spell power, mp5, etc.
2) Prayer of Mending (PoM) and Renew are your best friends
At no point in an instance run should your tank ever be without these 2 wonderful spells. BEFORE every fight, apply both to your tank and you can begin your 5 second countdown. Please, please, please believe me...these are your best 2 spells and they can be used profusely as they are both very mana efficient.
3) Don't go nuts with your area of effect (AoE) heals
These heals are necessary evils. There will be fights when it is absolutely necessary to use an AoE heal (my favorite is Prayer of Healing), but use it sparingly. Only use these if 3 or more of your party members need healing. All AoE heals are extremely mana intensive and bad for mana conservation. This leads me to my next rule.
4) Stay away from mana intensive spells.
These spells include Circle of Healing, Flash Heal and Power Word: Shield. I have never used CoH, I have only used Flash Heal when it costs no mana (special Priest ability) and usually reserve shielding myself or another clothie who managed to grab aggro. Just trust me on this one.
5) You and the tank are the most important "alive" people.
There are going to be times when you have to make a choice of who lives and who dies. The tank and healer are the most important people to have and never skimp on their health to try and save a dps. Some people might get angry at this...they are stupid and do not understand the game. 9 times out of 10 the reason they are dead because they did not pay attention to marks or were not watching their aggro in some other way. Never listen to these people.
6) It's the little things that can add up
Here's an example: a tank needs to have a Greater Heal (GH) and a PoM placed on him. Does it matter which order you apply? You bet. If you GH first, then the global cooldown can occur while you are casting and by the end of the cast you will be ready for your PoM. Is it a small thing? Of course, but the more of these kinds of things you do, the easier you make it on yourself.
Here is how I have set up my interface:
1 - Prayer of Mending, 2 - Renew, 3 - Greater Heal (macro your trinkets and Inner Focus to this), 4 - PW: Shield, 5 - Prayer of Healing, 6 - Flash Heal, 7 - Fade, 8 - Guardian Spirit, 9 - Mana Potions
Always know where your Fear Ward, Shackle Undead, Psychic Scream and Dispel/Abolish Magic are for those special ocasions when needed. I am currently running a deep holy spec which seems to be working well (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/priest/talents.html?tal=050320113040000000000000000023505000230215253005030051000000000000000000000000000). This is pretty much all you need to be successful. Hope this helps. Keep at it and play around with what style you feel comfortable.
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Just because I'm bored out of my mind at work I'm going to add a little quirk to this :)
ReplyDeleteHealing is in such high demand that there's no reason to deal with ungrateful groups. If they feel your healing is insufficient, let them find a more capable healer.
You can usually tell how a group is going to flow with the first two or three pulls. Don't hesitate to leave a pug, but give a polite truthful comment as to why rather than just dropping group.