How do you heal?
#1
I am wondering if anyone here has some guides, links, advice, whatever on how to be an efficient and effective healer? I am finding I am doing healing about half the time in groups but really have no experience with it at all.

Any help would be appreciated. Smile
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Etsuko - Monk
Razzlixx Blingwell - Warlock
Cloudjumper Wildmane - Druid (Inactive)
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#2
I miss the days of CT_raid health watch... I had a macro that would target the person with the lowest health on the watch bar and cast flash heal on them. It was the epitomy of lazy healing.

Now I use a mod called PartyBars. It adds an action bar under each player in your party that you can stick spells on (namely heals). Then you just pound on the applicable heal for each person as they die. I also have another mod called Clique that lets you bind spells to mouse/keyboard combos. I have flash heal and dispell set up on that too for quickly healing random people.

Granted this is all healing from the prospective from an avowed healing-hater, but it keeps people alive :wink:
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#3
I guess a good bit of it relies on reflexes and intuition. That may sound cheesy, but gauging whether a person needs the heal that very moment possibly saves other lives. But yeah, those mods Ef uses help rather nicely with the job. I think there could be easier ways to manage healing on a larger scale, just not sure where to find them.
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#4
On a strictly Druid basis, how many points do you have in Resto, Cloudjumper? What abilities from it have you taken? Do you have Nature's swiftness? Or Swiftmend? And I don't think you're a level high enough.. but were you ever considering Tree form? Coming from a Druid who heals full time and is quite the resto tree junkie (At level 69 Sound has all of her 61 points in it), I can say those three abilities are quite beneficial for a Druid healer in the long run.

It also depends on what you plan to be specced in the future.. And if you're going to be a main healer, off healer/balance combo or a cat/bear formed one shifting out to help. As a main-healing Druid, I pretty much rely on and use our HOTs to death. Being limited to only them in Tree form probably has a lot to do with that, but the mana reduction costs from it are a nice benefit. : ) Keep in mind the more plus healing gear you have, the more likely beneficial you will be... and said gear allows Sound to heal the way she does. I understand some might do it a heckofalot differently.

In regards to spell specifics, I tend to like to keep people topped off with our lovely insta-cast HOT spells Rejuvenation or Lifebloom (which I understand is a spell you don't quite have yet). When I see someone at about 60% health I'll throw on a regrowth (which you can spec for a reduced cast time on) or a rejuv+swiftmend on 'em if need be. When someone is quite low, a nature's swiftness+regrowth combo plus a couple of Lifebloom stacks (and maybe even a rejuv too if the situations calls for it) is usually their saving grace. Really, a Druid has a lot of options there for all those circumstances... Try and mix 'em up for what works best.

In regards to our non HOTS, Healing touch can be quite useful if need be and when I'm in a form that can actually cast it... granted it's casting time is a bit lengthy (regardless of the whole .5 second reduction you can spec for), but at low levels before you're given lifebloom or spec for swiftmend and nature's swiftness, it's a necessity in emergencies. In regards to our new, buffed Tranquility - be careful if you aren't speced for reduced threat or mana costs on it, this one can drain all your mana and kill you at once if you let it.. But in the right circumstances it too can save an entire group's life. : )

Most of all, learning how to be a true healer and getting the hang of it takes PRACTICE. I've made a fair share of mistakes on Sound and some lessons have taken a few beatings to finally learn. Also, genuinely try and give healing a few more shots before you result to some of the mods people may suggest here in reply. Every time I've ever tried said healing mods on Sound I felt limited and hindered.. It seemed to take more work to get around the mod then to heal, do my job and pull the kind of numbers I could. Learn to trust your own eye and your own abilities before letting some silly mod do it. : )

- ends the rambling!

I hope this was helpful, Cloud!
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#5
Thanks for the feedback all! I must agree with Sound, I prefer to do as much as I can without the use of addons. One of the things I disliked about playing my hunter was that it was very repetative, which gets boring.

For Sound, I have 0 points right now in Resto Smile Which is changing, I intend to spec 41 points into Feral to get down to Mangle, then I am putting the remainder into Resto.

My plan is to put the following into the Resto tree;

Furor - Rank 5/5
Naturalist - Rank 5/5
Natures Focus - Rank 5/5
Natural Shapshifter - Rank 1/3
Omen of Clarity - Rank 1/1
Improved Rejuvenation Rank 3/3

Is that going to allow me to heal effectively? I don't want to be a super healer, what I want to do is be able to off heal in raids, and maybe primary heal in groups.
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Etsuko - Monk
Razzlixx Blingwell - Warlock
Cloudjumper Wildmane - Druid (Inactive)
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#6
My two bits,,, Grym, talents are lovely, and they can make a difference in how you heal, but the biggest factors in your healing potential are your gear and your skill... Having that perfect balance between +healing/+int and +spirit/+mp5s is really the biggest trick to healing. Back in the days of getting conned into playing with some alliance pals I got a 60 dwarf priest and raided MC and BWL,,, had near +700 healing buffed and could always main heal groups if I needed to, and would usually be one of the healers in the MT list, all with only a few pts in the holy tree that were mostly there for the damage additives to my discipline DPS spec...

Practice and skill at healing is likely going to be your bigger hurdle. I've met Holy Priests that could be outhealed by Elemental Shamans because they just weren't cut out for healing. It can be intense sometimes, but it can also be one of the most rewarding experiences of the game.

Keep asking for advice, work on that healing set (yeah, bagspace sucks), and don't be afraid to ask your tanks and dps folks to bandage and potion when things look tight...
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