My main is a hunter, but due to the fact that healers seem to be hard to find when hitting a dungeon, I decided to start a priest. I am shadow, because in the early levels I mostly solo and I read that this would be the way to go.
Now that I have made it to lvl 40, I want to dual spec and add holy.
My questions (and if these answers are mentioned somewhere, forgive me) when taking the role of a healer:
- Which addons are good to use as holy priest?
- Which attributes to gear for, from most important to less important?
- Maybe a Talent tree link?
Also...and this is one thing that bugs me to no end...healers get blamed a lot for wipes, if it's their fault or not, how do you deal with it (especially at the beginning when you're still learning)?
I'd like to add that I always thank the healers when I'm on my hunter because it seems to be the least thanked for job in a group (no wonder they are hard to find).
Ok, I rambled a bit there, but yes, any tips or links greatly appreciated :)
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Tips please?Follow
Quote:
- Which attributes to gear for, from most important to less important?
http://wow.allakhazam.com/db/class.html?wclass=3;mid=123215041216756160;page=1;howmany=50#m1232150461167522599
Quote:
- Maybe a Talent tree link?
http://wow.allakhazam.com/db/class.html?wclass=3;mid=123215041216756160;page=1;howmany=50#m1232150473241533901
Quote:
- Which addons are good to use as holy priest?
If you're starting off by just healing 5-mans, there aren't any really necissary addons you need. Once you get up to 80 you'll want PoMtracker to keep track of Prayer of Mending and Pitbull, X-perl or Grid+Clique to set up your target frames. I say don't bother with that just yet though, it's more important that you learn to do a good job healing 5-mans first for which you don't need any addons.
Quote:
Also...and this is one thing that bugs me to no end...healers get blamed a lot for wipes, if it's their fault or not, how do you deal with it (especially at the beginning when you're still learning)?
The way I've delt with it is basically learning all the other classes. I can tell when a tank or DPS is doing something wrong, and if somebody elses doing wipes the raid/party and I get yelled at I'll be quick to point that out. In the lower levels you'll find basically 2 groups; nice groups and noob groups. In the nice groups just point out that you're new at healing and that you're still learning the trade, people won't mind and give you a break. For noob groups start by A) avoiding them whenever possible but else either B) see if you can point out other obvious flaws ("I can't heal if the tank isn't picking up the adds that are hitting me"), C) put up with the hate talk if you think you can finish the instance and get your loot/quest done, or D) simply leave the party.
Just keep a simple rule of thumb in mind: Assuming you are geared at least decent and you're using more than 1 spell, it is not your fault if the party wipes when either the tank is pulling too much mobs, you are getting hit while on healing duty or you run out of mana.
Way nicer than I am Moz. If I put all that hard work and effort into creating such a detailed healing guide I would have responded with:
Edited, Apr 21st 2009 1:47pm by SynnTastic
SynnTastic wrote:
Edited, Apr 21st 2009 1:47pm by SynnTastic
Also, do not forget to tell the party your healing priorities. Many people just assume that a healer knows what to do, and that all healers should keep the whole group alive. In any PuG situation, I always make it known that my priorities are tank and then someone who can off tank if needed. This unfortunately means that Rogues are one of my least prioritized classes to heal... always... and they take lots of damage at times.
The other point Mozared made is true, know the other classes. I have a lvl 70 Rogue from pre-WoTLK that I have not yet bothered to level up, and I realized then and now, that I am dead if it comes down to taking damage.
So anyone that understands the game will be understanding of you stating that your job is take care of healer first... then once you get comfortable you can get into other easy nuances to make yourself a better healer. (Also, most of the people that complain about the healer are not doing their job to begin with... if you are wiping, it is 90% likely that aggro management is the issue. Cannot tell you the number of times that a mage or warlock pulled aggro at lower levels and then dies, only to have that mob focus on you as the tank could not pull it back quick enough.)
The other point Mozared made is true, know the other classes. I have a lvl 70 Rogue from pre-WoTLK that I have not yet bothered to level up, and I realized then and now, that I am dead if it comes down to taking damage.
So anyone that understands the game will be understanding of you stating that your job is take care of healer first... then once you get comfortable you can get into other easy nuances to make yourself a better healer. (Also, most of the people that complain about the healer are not doing their job to begin with... if you are wiping, it is 90% likely that aggro management is the issue. Cannot tell you the number of times that a mage or warlock pulled aggro at lower levels and then dies, only to have that mob focus on you as the tank could not pull it back quick enough.)
Moz's sticky is amazing and most of the info you will ever need is in there. As a general overview:
Gear
Look for the following Stats:
Intellect, Spell Power, Critical Strike, Spirit and Haste.
The above is the priority order I use as Disc, as Holy Spirit may come above Crit but all are good stats to have. This is not rigid though as I try to balance my stats and this is most important.
Tactics
Always prioritize the tank and yourself, then dps. Binding heal is amazing if you and the tank are taking damage as you are both equally important. There are loads of other healing techniques in Moz's sticky. POH is now very effective to keep the group up and if Holy you can get Circle of Healing at a later level.
Add Ons
I use two add ons. The first is Prayer of Mending tracker. This isn't really that necessary imo but it allows me to make sure my POM is being used effectively.
I also use grid. I configured it with the help of a lovely guide and I now use it to heal more effectively. It gives me rectangles with the names of all raid/party members in. I have flashing icons on each corner to track; who has aggro (ie who is taking damage), who has renew on (so I don't reapply until it goes), who has a shield on (same reason as renew) I also track incoming heals but this is just for raids when there are multiple healers. In the centre box it also shows things I can cleanse/remove as little icons. Finally underneath the name I have warnings for when people are dead, feigning death, offline or afk. Finally the boxes fade when people are out of range. So much information in so little space is an amazing tool. I click on the box with the name in to heal. When I click the box it selects that person then I use my normal keys (numerical keys etc) to cast my heals.
I use Blizzard's standard interface and few other add ons. The only other thing I use is Deadly Boss Mobs for Raids as this shows me abilities I need to see and take notice of. My other add ons are simply make life easier ones like auctioneer or easy mail. Grid is all I really use to heal and DBM in a Raid.
Gear
Look for the following Stats:
Intellect, Spell Power, Critical Strike, Spirit and Haste.
The above is the priority order I use as Disc, as Holy Spirit may come above Crit but all are good stats to have. This is not rigid though as I try to balance my stats and this is most important.
Tactics
Always prioritize the tank and yourself, then dps. Binding heal is amazing if you and the tank are taking damage as you are both equally important. There are loads of other healing techniques in Moz's sticky. POH is now very effective to keep the group up and if Holy you can get Circle of Healing at a later level.
Add Ons
I use two add ons. The first is Prayer of Mending tracker. This isn't really that necessary imo but it allows me to make sure my POM is being used effectively.
I also use grid. I configured it with the help of a lovely guide and I now use it to heal more effectively. It gives me rectangles with the names of all raid/party members in. I have flashing icons on each corner to track; who has aggro (ie who is taking damage), who has renew on (so I don't reapply until it goes), who has a shield on (same reason as renew) I also track incoming heals but this is just for raids when there are multiple healers. In the centre box it also shows things I can cleanse/remove as little icons. Finally underneath the name I have warnings for when people are dead, feigning death, offline or afk. Finally the boxes fade when people are out of range. So much information in so little space is an amazing tool. I click on the box with the name in to heal. When I click the box it selects that person then I use my normal keys (numerical keys etc) to cast my heals.
I use Blizzard's standard interface and few other add ons. The only other thing I use is Deadly Boss Mobs for Raids as this shows me abilities I need to see and take notice of. My other add ons are simply make life easier ones like auctioneer or easy mail. Grid is all I really use to heal and DBM in a Raid.
ysabellstohelit wrote:
I also use grid. I configured it with the help of a lovely guide and I now use it to heal more effectively.
Ysa could you pretty pretty please post the link to that guide and maybe a pic of your grid setup in raid? Thanks a lot in advance.
Ok here is the guide, hope admin don't shoot me for this as i am not sure what the policy and links is for stuff like this. It is genuine though and is from WoW Insider. I have not found another guide like this:
http://www.wowinsider.com/2008/01/22/raid-rx-unkicking-butt-a-grid-story/
I will setup a group so I can screenshot and show my markers etc later.
http://www.wowinsider.com/2008/01/22/raid-rx-unkicking-butt-a-grid-story/
I will setup a group so I can screenshot and show my markers etc later.
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