Poster: Zedora at 4/23/2006 10:56:16 AM PDT
Subject: ► A Beginners Guide to Healing |
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A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO HEALING
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The information herein will help any group healer from a level 1 to 60. However at 60, the rules change as there are different challenges during the end-game. For end-game healing strategies, see additional posts on the class forums for priests, druids, paladins and shamans.
For the purposes of this guide, I'm referring to primary healers. Priests make the best primary healers. Druids are often primary healers as well, though they lack significantly when it comes to reviving dead players. And while I'm aware that paladins and shamans can be great healers too, they rarely serve as primary healers from levels 1 through 60. So priests and druids, this post's for you!
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RULES FOR PRIMARY HEALERS:
Monitor player health bars.
Seems obvious, doesn't it? If your primary role in the group is to heal, your primary focus should be on the health of your party. Monitor everyone's' health bars and heal them accordingly. And while you don't want to ignore your own health, try to reserve your heals for other players whenever possible.
Monitor pet health bars.
The pets of hunters and warlocks can be as important to group efforts as their masters. Treat them as such, especially if the pet is tanking or off-tanking for your group. Hunters and warlocks will appreciate not having to spend their time, mana and possibly a soul shard to revive or resummon their pet.
However, pets do tend to come second to players in terms of life-saving priority. So it may be helpful to let the warlock or hunter know that their help would be appreciated in healing their pets when things get hectic for you.
Know who's expendable.
All classes bring something unique to a group. And your ultimate goal is to keep everyone alive. But unfortunately, the roles that people play in your group are not all equal when it comes to expendability. Your priorities, listed from most important to least important, include the following roles, generally played by the following classes:
Yourself -- i.e., If you die, your group could die too.
Main Tank (MT) -- Warriors (and to a lesser extent Druids in bear form, Paladins, Shamans)
Off Tank -- Secondary Warriors, Druids in bear form, Paladins, Shamans, Hunter Pets, Voidwalker (Warlock pet)
Melee Dps -- Rogues, Shamans, Druids in cat form, Fury-specced Warriors (often wielding 2-handed weapons), Survival-specced Hunters, Hunter Pets (often cats or raptors), Succubus (Warlock pet)
Range Dps -- Hunters, Mages, Warlocks, Priests, Imp (Warlock pet)
Use the above listings as a guide, and a loose one at that. Often you'll discover that a certain class brings something crucial to a specific encounter. That "something crucial" may make them a higher link in the chain. For example, a mage who is superb at crowd-controlling with her ‘Polymorph' spell may become more important than a rogue or shaman because the crowd-control is essential for that particular instance.
Manage your mana and healing potential.
Your mana is your lifeline as a healer (and the lifeline of everyone else). So you must manage it carefully. Different heals and spells react better with different classes and armor-types. If you want to get the most bang for your buck, consider using the following spells on the following armor-types:
Cloth-wearers --
Mage, Warlock, Priest (note that some Druids and Shamans may wear cloth depending on their specialty)
Because cloth-wearers are so fragile, it's beneficial to use quick heals like ‘Flash Heal.' And because they generally have less hit-points, heal over time (HOT) spells work wonders when cast as soon as the player begins taking damage. The druid spell ‘Regrowth' works well on both counts, since it is quick and an HOT spell.
Leather-wearers --
Druid, Rogue, Hunter (pre-40), Shaman (pre-40)
Leather-wearers can take a bit more of a beating, but also tend to be fragile. Use a combination of quick heals, HOTs and regular heals (like ‘Heal' and ‘Renew'), and an occasional slow heal when the situation warrants it.
Note that Druids in Cat form also follow this model.
Mail-wearers --
Warrior (pre-40), Paladin (pre-40), Hunter (40+), Shaman (40+)
Players in mail can take a fair beating. Moderate heals such as 'Heal' and lower rank 'Healing Touch' mixed with slower heals like ‘Greater Heal' and higher rank ‘Healing Touch' do wonders for them when they begin to fall below half of their total health. HOTs may also be useful as soon as they begin taking damage.
Note that Druids in Bear form (pre-40) and Moonkin form also follow this model.
Plate-wearers --
Warrior (40+), Paladin (40+)
Those who don plate armor can absorb the most damage. Like mail-wearers, slow heals are perfect to keep them in fighting form. HOTs come in handy when their health is high, but steadily dropping.
Note that Druids in Dire Bear form (40+) also follow this model.
Pets --
Hunter- and Warlock-controlled entities
As stated above, pets should be healed as well, but tend to be more expendable than players. Use HOTs and an occasional regular or slow heal if you can spare the mana and the pet is in dire need.
If everyone in your party has suffered damage, you may consider using a group heal, such as ‘Prayer of Healing' or ‘Tranquility.' A well-timed group heal can be a very efficient use of your mana.
When time is no longer a luxury, priests may consider using ‘Power Word: Shield' (PW:S) to save players near death. Because this is an instant-cast spell, it can immediately shield the party member from additional damage and give you the time you need to administer an effective healing spell. But try to reserve this for emergencies. PW:S is a mana-intensive spell that does nothing to heal the player.
Control your aggro.
You can't effectively heal if you're under attack by mobs. So aggro-control is a must. To control your threat level, you must first understand how aggro works. Your threat generation is based on three things:
1. The damage you deal. Damage over time (DOT) spells generate agro more slowly than regular damage spells. And as a general rule of thumb, your wand or weapon will deal less damage than your spells. So as a healer, you'll best serve your group by keeping your damage to a minimum and allowing others to deal their damage first. Let them "build up" a little threat themselves before joining the fight with your supplemental damage.
2. Your heal spells. Like damage spells, heal over time (HOT) spells generate aggro more slowly than regular healing spells. So by all means, use 'Renew' and 'Rejuvenation' often. As soon as players begin taking damage, throw an HOT on them. This is also a very efficient use of your mana, as stated above.
3. Your level. The lower you are, the greater your aggro radius (i.e., your distance from a mob before it will attack you). Regardless of your level, as a healer, you don't want aggro. So stay in the back of the group. And if you're level is low, stay WAY back. Heals tend to have good range. You can afford to hang back.
Priests: Use 'Fade' to temporarily reduce the aggro you've accumulated for 10 seconds. It can instantly free you of a mob or two and allow a tank the opportunity to pull mobs back to himself. And that means you can get back to healing. Remember, Fade is your friend. Use it.
Also, keep in mind that ‘Mind Blast' actually generates extra threat. It is often a surefire way to attract the mob to you. Mind Blast should never be deployed when you're the primary healer, unless it's used to administer a definitive killing blow.
Druids: If you can't seem to shake your attackers and your tank is having trouble pulling them off of you, provided you have a good chunk of mana, consider shifting to cat form and using ‘Cower'. Much like ‘Fade' for priests, this will reduce your threat level and help free you of the offending mobs. Then switch right back to caster form and resume healing.
Also note that use of ‘Farie Fire' causes extra threat and may attract the mob to you.
Call for help.
As good as you get at controlling your aggro, eventually you will have to deal with a mob or two that you just can't shake. Let's start with what NOT to do:
Avoid healing yourself. This can begin a cycle of futility. The more you heal yourself, the more aggro you generate and the more you will have to heal yourself. Plus, the mob(s) attacking you will become harder for others to pull.
Don't run away. By running, you're no longer focused on healing your party. Worse yet, you may inadvertently pull more mobs.
So what should you do? Use a simple macro to call for help, and if possible, move toward the main tank. All primary healers ought to hotbar the following macro:
/helpme
/s On me!
With this macro, your group members will see your cry for help in orange, immediately followed by the text, "[player name] says: On me!" in white. The fact that this is in white (because we used a 'say' command) makes it stand out so your party can't miss it. If you're working with a good tank, he/she will quickly react and try to pull the mob(s) from you.
As a priest, if things get dicey and you're taking so much damage that there may not be time for the tank to react, throw a PW:S on yourself. Then give yourself an HOT while the tank pulls the mobs from you.
Healing yourself should be done as a last resort, if your group simply cannot pull the mobs from you.
Offer tactful suggestions to others.
Being an effective healer starts with the healer him/herself. But it doesn't end there. All party members, from tanks to damage-dealers, can help the healer to be more efficient. Usually players don't know that they're doing something (or not doing something) that is hindering your ability to heal. So offer a suggestion or two. But do so in a non-threatening, proactive way.
For example, if you find yourself spending most of your mana repeatedly saving the same caster, rogue or hunter from death, say something. They probably don't understand that this is disrupting your healing efficiency and endangering the party. Let the player know that they should make an effort to tone down their dps. Explain that it's better for all involved when the tank can hold aggro. Your heals are much more efficient when healing the tank.
Or, you may find that the tank is not doing his/her job of keeping the mobs off of you. Perhaps your occasional calls for help go unanswered by the tank. Let him/her know. Suggest that they use a high-damage spell/ability or a taunt to pull the aggro off you when you call for help.
Keep in mind, this is not a one-way street. Be willing to accept the criticisms of others. If you're reading this guide, you have a genuine desire to improve your play style. Listen what others have to say. You'd be surprised when and where you'll hear something useful that can really improve your abilities.
Buff your entire party.
Both priests and druids have incredible buffs to apply to themselves and their party members:
Power Word: Fortitude (PW:F) -- Priests offer this buff, which essentially raises the hit points of anyone it enchants. Every player can use this buff, no matter their class.
Mark of the Wild (MOTW) -- Druids cast this extremely versatile buff, which improves the armor and all five stats of the player. All players benefit from this buff.
Divine Spirit -- Priests who have spent at least 21 points in Discipline talents may have this buff available, which raises the spirit of players it enchants. Again, everyone will benefit from this buff, particularly casters.
Each of these buffs improve the survivability of any player they enchant. And better survivability means a more successful group all around. So take the time to monitor these buffs. When only 5 minutes or so remain, ask the group to take a quick break to "rebuff." Players never mind breaking for PW:F and MOTW. And remember, pets can use these buffs too.
When you reach level 50, be on the lookout for special books that allow you to learn a group version of these buffs. One cast of the group version will buff your entire party, provided they are within range. Priests will want to get Codex: Prayer of Fortitude, while druids should look for Book: Gift of the Wild. Both of these items can usually be found in the Auction House at reasonable prices.
Remove negative buffs.
Negative buffs (also called debuffs) such as diseases, poisons, curses and magical effects (like polymorph and some DOT spells) can be removed by primary healers.
Priests can use the spells ‘Cure Disease' (and later ‘Abolish Disease') to remove diseases from players. They can also use ‘Dispel Magic' to remove magical debuffs, which is a great asset as you hit your 40s and 50s.
Druids can remove curses with the aptly named ‘Remove Curse' spell, and poison effects can be eliminated with ‘Cure Poison' (and later ‘Abolish Poison').
It is also worth noting that paladins and shamans (and to a much lesser extent, mages with ‘Remove Lesser Curse') can also remove certain debuffs. These classes will often help to remove debuffs in effort to preserve your mana for healing. And if they don't seem to be helping, it doesn't hurt to ask. Most will not mind lending a spell or two.
Use healer gear.
Your effectiveness as a healer is highly dependent upon your gear. You want lots of intellect, spirit and +healing spell gear to maximize your healing potential when grouped. So if your particular talent spec calls for different stats, consider carrying additional gear to equip whenever you're asked to be the primary healer. This is especially important for feral-specced druids, who prefer strength and stamina to intellect and spirit.[ post edited by Zedora ]
| | | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-priest&t=797474&p=#post797474 | | | Poster: Coreiel at 4/24/2006 2:31:17 PM PDT
Subject: Re: ► A Beginners Guide to Healing |
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Deserving of a sticky. Thank you for writing this, Zedora!
Even yet, I have so many miles to go.
| | | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-priest&t=797474&p=#post799195 |
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