View Full Forums : New Healing Habits


Magellan19
10-31-2008, 11:37 AM
I've only raided twice now since the patch, so perhaps I'm a bit premature in my conclusion, but I'm pretty sure my healing habits have to change.

I love my HoT's. Not specifically for their efficiency, but mostly because I don't have to remain stationary. Being able to literally run around while casting heals is not only thrilling, but it allows you and your target to stay alive more often than not. Stationary healing is just annoying.

However, from what I've experienced of late, Regrowth and even Healing Touch have to become my two main heals if I want to make any kind of healing impact during a raid.

Perhaps it's my gear, my healing rotation or I've simply lost my healing mojo, but I'd better start practicing how to stand still while casting.

/sob

Raging Epistaxis
10-31-2008, 12:00 PM
FWIW, I just read a quote from Ghostcrawler on Resto4Life that says In our minds, your go-to spells when healing anything bigger than a 5-player group are Rejuvenation, Regrowth and Lifebloom.
...
Healing Touch, Swiftmend and Wild Growth are all very useful spells. But they are intended to be used in smaller group or when something unusual happens in a raid. If the entire group takes a lot of damage at once, that’s a good time for Wild Growth. If a melee DPS class is very wounded, and you don’t have time for the bloom and Swiftmend is on cooldown, go for the Healing Touch.
I've been unable to raid since the patch, so I can't attest to the accuracy of the above. But I did get in on a hDurn run the other day, and absolutely <3 being speedy tree.

Magellan19
10-31-2008, 01:23 PM
absolutely <3 being speedy tree.

Ha ha! It is a riot.

Ravnia
10-31-2008, 04:38 PM
At first the speedy movement threw me off and especially being able to cast Healing Touch in Tree form.

The past couple of weeks of raiding I have experimented with various healing approach. Since the change with Lifebloom I tend to not stack them as often as before and have been casting more Regrowth, Rejuvenation and Wild Growth... with Living Seed I can keep my healing widely spread ... I still have to try out and respec with Healing Touch talents to get to 1 sec cast ... In AV the other night I hit over 700000 total healing (because I seemed to be the only one healing) but went OOM a lot so I need to get a better rotation going.

Also since the bosses have been nerfed the fights are shorter and not enough to compare ... doing Gruul and having just 2 growths does not give us enough amount to measure; but on the other hand who doesnt enjoy a full Kara run in 1 hour and 20 mins ...

Oiysters
10-31-2008, 06:34 PM
Wow, I never stood still when I was healing...makes me a bit reluctant I must admit.

Magellan19
11-03-2008, 09:35 AM
Wow, I never stood still when I was healing...makes me a bit reluctant I must admit.

Exactly.

Healed the Supremus fight on Friday and it was absolute pandemonium. You literally have to chase people around. You finally get someone in range, the heal is almost complete, and POOF - they've run away. Every ounce of my being wanted to scream "stand still, dammit!" in vent. :banghead_

Anyway, to get to my point: it's times like those when I really wish my LB and Rejeuve had the same kick they used to.

I guess Dreamstate healing will become a rather powerful option now. I, for one, am gonna give it a try. Especially while leveling to 80.

s3Rgio
11-03-2008, 10:14 AM
the less healers there are, the more a druid will shine.
in 5 mans and 10s we will own.
cause no other healing class has the flexibility a druid has.
big heals if need to, group heal, hots.
tell me a situation were druid will be bad!!

And im not a fan (was never) of healing-meters etc.
in a raid, the class with the fastest heal shines...
so what. fast dont mean efficient.
and i doubt that dreamstate will reach the potential of full resto.

just my 2 cent.

Magellan19
11-03-2008, 11:16 AM
i doubt that dreamstate will reach the potential of full resto.

Oh, don't get me wrong, regardless of the changes, I still love my tree.

I'm just thinking that the Dreamstate build is a good option for me to remain "technically" a healer but also be able to comfortably get myself to level 80.

My guild won't be doing a lot of raiding until we're all caught up, anyway.

So until then, dreamstate - for me - is rather win / win.

Claritondeus
11-03-2008, 12:31 PM
in a raid, the class with Chain Heal shines...

fixt :)

s3Rgio
11-04-2008, 02:16 AM
dont quote me wrong!!!! :axe: .................. :wink:

the only thing that i hate since patch 3.0.2 is,
that paladins, which were always the dumbest class for healing after shaman, are shining now....
our pallies are all T6 and they can spam heals during the whole fight without going OOM...
druid healing (and maybe disci-priest) is the only class,
which has to work to get high in the meters (if we want to),
but they made it really difficult right now with the lifebloom nerf.... :banghead:

Nellie
11-04-2008, 07:56 AM
We stupidly overpower Kara at the moment and we run with 3 healers so it's a bit difficult to cast too much judgement but I'm not seeing a tremendous need to QQ over the lifebloom nerf right now.

On 5 mans where the DPSers aren't all racing to nick aggro I like Wild growth but I'm still primarily using Lifebloom and Rejuve + swiftmend on Tanks and lobbing out LBs on an adhoc basis with Wildgrowth being very nice to keep the melee topped up.

Healing touch is still very much my backup heal although our other resto druid has specced more to spam it.

In 5 mans I feel far more likely to be able to keep a group on it's feet when it all goes pearshaped.

I'm back on the hunter as a main for most raids now, so I've not had as much chance as I'd like to try out new healing techniques, but broadly speaking I'm liking the changes and not having too much trouble with mana issues. I do now have to drink at the end of fights, but I'm rarely having to use Innervate and/or pot in 5mans/Kara. Maybe ZA would be a different story ;)

Tiniane
11-04-2008, 09:10 AM
I'm loving Wild Growth at the moment, and probably using it more than was intended.

I still stack LBs on the MT, if there's a few damaged raiders I'll throw a WG. For specific target healing it's Regrowth or Rejuv.

I suspect when Wrath comes along I'll need to look a bit more carefully at mana usage and regen. But for now I'm having a blast :)

Hugs,
Tiniane.

Magellan19
11-04-2008, 02:27 PM
druid healing (and maybe disci-priest) is the only class which has to work to get high in the meters (if we want to

I haven't seen the top of a healing meter since I started running with a Resto Shammy. She beats me every time.

I've learned (thanks to this forum) not to take healing meters too seriously, because intentionally trying to top them tends to result in a lot of unproductive (wasted) heals.

But I can tell you that, in my case anyway, my Resto Shammy friend isn't actually trying to top the meter. It's just that chain heal really does pwn.

Runningriver
11-04-2008, 03:17 PM
well I play all the 4 healing classes so I can tell you that shamans for the time beening is the better healing class.
as for druids hots are still the way to go I personally have never really ever stacked LB just on occasion on certain fights, but I still seem to top the meters as a druid healing and if your going oom means that your not geared right, don't get me wrong I find my self going low from time to time now but I can still go like the energizer bunny... and the "lifebloom nerf" was needed it didn't cost anything pre patch I could cast a rotation of 3 on 3 tanks and never go below 50% mana in a 10min fight it needed to be raised from the get go.
but if your honestly finding your self running out of mana look into more sri or mp/5 in your gear either or will greatly help I'm sure of it.

s3Rgio
11-05-2008, 03:37 AM
@Runningriver
Its not the mana-nerf which i hate. It's the healing-nerf.
Lifebloom has lost 25% of its healing since the patch.

@Magellan
Pre-Patch Resto-Druids could eat Shamans no prob if u intend to.
Only class which i couldn't reach was CoH-Priests.
With the new patch i never tried to top the meters cause im feral now. So i dont know about the power of other classes.
Except palas...

Magellan19
11-05-2008, 09:28 AM
if u intend to.

Key words.

In the past, I got a little obsessive about the healing meters. So, I no longer go into a raid aiming to top them. And, if one is posted, I try to avert my eyes. :p

However, I will admit that, on occasion, I've fallen off the wagon and asked to have the healing meter secretly linked to me.

(I'm so weak!) :p

tlbj6142
11-05-2008, 09:36 AM
From what Blizzard has stated about healers going OOM and having to be more "efficient" I suspect healers might start watching the meters a bit more often.

Solarflash
11-05-2008, 10:48 AM
I am sure it is a result of Nerfed content atm, but currently, undergeared healers are running without concern for mana with all of the +mana abilities of the other classes in raid.

s3Rgio
11-06-2008, 03:58 AM
I am sure it is a result of Nerfed content atm, but currently, undergeared healers are running without concern for mana with all of the +mana abilities of the other classes in raid.

Fights are short so mana is never a problem.
I hope with WotLK there come fights, where u have massive healing to do and actually think about when or whom you heal so you dont go OOM.
Currently it sux. No thinking etc...