Dear all and sundry-
Hello!!
WoW Heroes - World of Warcraft PvE character info & ratings
Thats me up above. On that, you can see my items, how they are gemmed, and enchanted (or lack thereof).
I'm new to the healing path- the resto druid!! *impromptu appropriate music plays upon this announcement-the Darth Vader march score..*. As such, I think I suck! I used to tank, and then I went balance when Wrath came out, and now, having hit 80, I've shifted to resto.
I love resto.
I will describe my current play style *and make you all cry* and then you can all help!
First off, I dont use any healing addon. I tried healbot-
problem was, it has delay. I liked how everyone could be grouped nicely, but the click and heal thing didnt work so well. So I got rid of it.
NOw, all I do when I join a raid is to click "O" (for orange), go to the raid tab, and "click and drag" all the groups out.
So i have group 1, 2,3, 4,5 across my screen. I can now click on any toon, and hit 1, 2, 3 or whatever for whatever healing spell is required.
I dont have decurse linked to a number, I have it on the left hand side just above number 4. I rarely have to decurse. Same with my anti poison. Its off to the side.
My glyphs- I dont know what they are called. They are major glyphs-one I think allows me to cast off a spell *I dont know what its called* but rejuv is not used up, though without that glyph rejuvinate WOULD be used up-its an instant heal. Another causes 50% more heal on a toon that a. has rejuv on it and b. is below 50% health. My last one improves my innervate so that when I innervate someone else, I get some innervate as well, or if I cast innervate on myself the innervate is improved my 20%.
I dont have any healing minor glyphs, if they even exist! I had a look at our server's Auction House, and couldnt get any.
So-
My play style is this-when in fight, I notice a yellow dot which sometimes changes to a red dot besides a persons' name-that person gets my HoTs, cos it seems to me they generally need it. *thats when I'm assigned to raid healz*
So it is mainly "reactive" healing, not proactive. I cant predict who is going to need heals, other than the obvious-like someone encased in ice, I throw a heal on them just to be safe. Or when fighting that giant spider I throw heals on the MT and at times on whoever is like roped up to the wall.
Someone did a recount the other day and said I was the most efficient healer in that run-which seems a bit counter intuitive to me cos I know that my HoTs tend to hit after someone else has thrown a heal off-usually a pally or a priest i think. The MTs *whoever they may be* prefer to have me focus on them. SO I do, but sometimes I chuck LifeBlooms around randomly when I know its safe and good to do so. I tend to use Tranquillity as well, and am not scared or hesitant to use it.
I hardly ever use healing touch, but when I do I make it instant cast with that other ability-I hit 5 and then 6, and its done.
I havent received any training in "The way of the Druid Healer" or any such-
so..any help is appreciated.
We did a H DTK the other day, and I think I died like 6 times or something, and caused wipes like 3 times too cos..wel, I died.
i've done dtk before but on normal. After yesterday, I thought I should come and see what I need to do different. I have learnt that I should keep an eye open at my own life too when healing 5 mans-in raids I tend to not worry about that cos I'm focussed on others. And others invariably tend to focus on others as well so it works out.
I have NEVER been in a "healing chat" thingo-like, no /4 healing chat or however it is done. Usually its "Eli on X, thingo on Y and whoever on M, avoid this and that and look out for that and that, try to blahblah. Ok lets go."
I always have a steady store of group food on hand, and enough reagents for improved gift of the wild. Sometimes I have potions handy as well.
So. Thats me in a nutshell. I think I have the potential to be a good healer, I havent tried other healing classes but I feel that druid healers are very useful.
Any advice? Change of glyphs, use of addons, change of tactics in general or change in thinking??
My guild members like having me as a healer. I like being appreciated for healing, but more than that, I want to be deserving of their praise.
Thank you for reading, and I look forward to your insightful and contructive replies.
thanks
Ok trying to break down your broken thoughts I've come up with this.
You don't use any addons so you are looking for some.
You don't even know your glyphs.
And you generally are on raid healing (I can see why...)
Am I right on these? If I am I can help you out no problem.
EDIT
Oh yeah I was resto all BC and there really isn't some secrete way of the Druid healing so you can stop saying that.
A page that was helpfull for me when trying out resto was http://www.wow-pro.com/class_guides/jiyambi_tree_healing_guide. Although not quite up-to-date, it will give you a handle on what to consider while gearing and healing.
If you're not comfortable using Healbot or Grid/Clique, you could maybe get used to have mouse-over spells instead (e.g. a macro like /cast [target=mouseover] Lifebloom). That way you won't have to actually select a character on the raid UI, and potentially be healing faster as a consequence.
If you're being attacked by a mob, pop barkskin and maybe couple that to a raid warning (/raid [Your name] under attack) and throw some heals on you untill you're assisted.
I hope this was of some help to you.
One thing on the addons, you mention you don't like Healbot because it has a delay - I'm not familiar with this mod so can't comment on that but I would say your current approach relies on two actions for one heal (select target & press key). There is actually nothing wrong with the Blizz raid frames now, but perhaps using mousover macro's or Clique would help heal quicker as you can cast with just one action then.
If you want adive on Glyphs you will have to check what you are currently using
Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.
I'm a long-time Main Healing Priest, who only recently got into using Healbot. When I first started using it, in some ways I got worse. Partly due to interface lag, but mostly because I lost my focus on the Main Tank.
Of late, I continue to use Healbot as a secondary way to heal. I'll place the Healbot window next to the party window, or in the center of the screen surrounded by raid windows. I'll then use my right hand & Healbot only for occasional raid heals, dispels, and to give me a guide as to when to AOE Heal. That's it. Otherwise, I'm using the standard party/raid interface to switch healing targets, freeing my left hand to do the serious healing work on my primary target.
This 'two-fisted' approach seems to be working better for me. It did take me a couple of weeks of play to get comfortable with it, but I'm healing much better overall for it. Yes, Healbot has delays. That's ok. The trick is to learn to overcome them, if the benefit is there. For me it is.
"If the Truth can be told, so as to be Understood, it Will be Believed." - Terrence McKenna
I personally use grid and hover healing macros. You could use any raid ui to do this as well. To hover heal, make a macro that looks similar to the one below for all of your healing spells. Replace both of the spell names with the appropriate spell (Regrowth, Lifebloom, etc). With said macro on your bar, simply target a player or their ui frame and cast the spell. You can even cast it on your target as well.
You can also use a macro for Nature's Swiftness as well. Saves you a button click and you can remove Healing Touch from your bar as well. I find that I rarly use it, because Regrowth>HT when spec'ed for it.Code:#showtooltip Healing Touch /cast [target=mouseover,help,nodead][help][target=player] Healing Touch
As for glyphs, it really depends a lot on you. Glyph of Swiftmend is a must. Glyph of Regrowth is very useful, I'd suggest that. The third is a bit of a toss-up. If you have mana issues, get Glyph of Innervate, otherwise get Glyph of Lifebloom.Code:#showtooltip Healing Touch /cast Nature's Swiftness /stopcasting /cast [target=mouseover,help,nodead][help][target=player] Healing Touch
As for spec, I'd suggest the one I use or one similar.
This is my current build:
WorldofWarcraft.com -> Info -> Classes -> Druid -> Talent Calculator
I terms of how to go about healing, it's more of an art and is almost always proactive.
If you know your tank is gonna take a lot of damage at the get go, start with regrowth, follow it with LB, Juv, and WG. If the tank will slowly recieve damage at the get go, start with LB, Juv and WG. Stack LB and try not to let it drop. If your tank needs heals and LB is about to drop, let it. It hits hard enough to let you start casting Regrowth, then restack it. Use Swiftmend, frequently. It'll pull your tanks hp up, and it had a relitivly short cd. Use NS only in emergencies, and only on the tank if you are in no real danger, otherwise pop barkskin and hit tranq. Spec'ed gives you a 4 minute cd and no threat.
As far as enchants and gems go, I go with things that help me, +healing, +spirit, +intellect. If you wanna max your +healing go with red sp gems. Enchants, go with +haste and +spirit, use +stats on the chest. I'm sure there are others that can help you more with this.
For flasks, use the flask of pure mojo or frost wyrm. As for food, group food is fine, if you're in a group. Use single buff food with +sp when you plan on grinding, if you stay resto. I find that using my resto gear with a moonkin spec puts out enough damage.
I hope I helped you out with your question.
Hi guys-
thank you for your insightful replies. I was not aware of hover and heal, so I will work on that. I need to rethink my build-
currently it is
WorldofWarcraft.com -> Info -> Classes -> Druid -> Talent Calculator
So thats definitely something I have to work on, thanks Terracloud. The more I ponder over the other build the more sense it makes. I use regrowth a fair bit, and I was wondering why my mana was running low...
I'm reading Jiyambi's guide as well, so thank you for posting that, SittingBull!
Kind regards to everyone for their time and their replies-
thank you,
Elianora
Stay a tree - you know it makes sense
The World of Warcraft Armory
works really well as a build for me- OOM never (well nearly never ) happens and innervate lies dormant.
you have a few items you need to change- you have Hit that is just plain irrelevant so an alternative with a useful stat would be better.
in terms of glyphs- i use swiftmend ( a totally wonderful one because it saves mana and recasting), rebirth (combat res receivers come back with much better health) and rejuv- although others use regrowth here. In terms of minor glyphs get the one that means your rebirth is reagent free...saves embarassing moments
in terms of gems and chants- go for spirit and spell power as a priority, and get all your gear done.
tree healing has to be proactive- getting our targets health back up from red line is not fun. I assume you are raid healing rather than MT healing but the way trees work you should have plenty of time to help out on the tanks too.
Pop Regrowth, Rejuv and LBx3 on the tanks and refresh....easier with the points in Natures Splendour. If you keep the MT as your target you can heal the melee group just by hitting WG without having to retarget- so jammy. If the casters are taking hits use WG on one of them too. A nice way to get someone out of trouble fairly fast is to cast Rejuv immediately followed by Swiftmend- and this can be done whilst moving and is faster than than casting any big heals. You can do a nice simple macro that is your "get out of jail free card" to cast Nature's Swiftness followed by Healing Touch but it cant be done if you are moving. If you are raid healing then it is probably your job to Depoison and Decurse all and sundry, those packs in the arachnid quarter that poison and curse at the same time are irritating, i always depoison first.
I couldnt get mouseover to work for me so i target and cast seperately but my hand moves faster than the global cd so its fine.
I found Xperl and Bartender4 better than the Blizz UI mainly because i can free up screen space and have bigger boxes. You can also see who has aggro- they get a red box round them- so knowing who will need proactive healing and who just needs a top up next time you find yourself free.
Happy healing!
We know what we know, and we think we know what we don't know, but if we don't know what we don't know.....STUFF HAPPENS!
I haven't done a tonne of healing on my druid, as I am normally feral, but I've done some. I also have a priest that I healed in BT/Hyjal and into some of the Northrend raid content. As a priest, I feel it's fine to be reactive, unless you're MT healing. My priest is 30/41/0, disc/holy hybrid, and is best spec'd for raid healing.
On fights like Sapph for example, there is a combination of reactive and proactive healing. I keep renews on as many people as I can, thow out PoM on someone who I know takes more damage (warlocks/retadins/spriests), cast CoH on every CD focused on whomever has the lowest health and watch for people who take more damage and toss flashes on them.
(Before I get into this paragraph, let me say I always get the names of regrowth and rejuvination mixed up. Let me just call them the pink and the green ones:P)
I've also healed this fight on my druid while spec'd feral, as we didn't have a decurser other than me in the raid, and we had plenty of tanks. I simply sported my best spell power gear with crit, so I could go kitty to regen my mana between curses. I didn't have swiftmend nor wild growth. I didn't have the haste on my instant casts. I worked with what I had. I stuck to the green one and nourish as my main heals when I wasn't decursing. I actually found that I liked this way of healing. It was reactive. Because I didn't have the mana regen that an actual resto druid would, I needed my heals to count and not wait for them to tick. Both are relatively fast casts.
When I am once again resto, I think that I will tend to heal a bit more this way, especially with the upcoming changes to lifebloom and the crit for nourish. I will still keep the pink one up and cast wild growth on CD, but the green one and nourish will become my main heals.
As a personal follow up note, I'm going to be using this thread for any interesting ideas I come across-here's the first:
1. Addon Spotlight: Grid and Clique -- World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Vault
It discusses the grid/clique combo
i use Grid, Grid Hots Status, and Grid Mana Bars. click isn't as useful if you've already got mouseover macros
My bro has a resto druid healing rotation guide penned up if you'd care to read it. Our forums are pretty restrictive when it comes to access though.
He is a champion of the tree peoples. Incoming direct copy and paste!
Not so much as a rotation as much as it's a keep these up in these situation.
Assigned to Tank healing only:
Regrowth > Rejuv > 1 lifebloom > nourish until a hot drops off and refresh hots as they expire. Swiftmend on spikes, NS + HT if the tank takes a huge spike.
if the tank incoming damage is serious I will slowly stack up to 3 and let it fall off. meaning I apply stack 2 1 sec before it blooms and the same with stack 3.
Assigned to raid healing:
Wild growth > nourish those that have taken spike damage (aka razorscale fireball)
Wild Growth > rejuv for consistent incoming (XT pound)
Single target raid heals:
Rejuv for constant incoming damage or to top off
Nourish on spike
Reasons to cast Lifebloom:
1.) As a tank buffer and to add to the nourish per hot bonus
2.) Whenever you have a clearcast proc.
A lot of people may have noticed that udder seems to have less mana problems than he did prior to 3.1, what about dem nerfs ye say?
Lifebloom cost was doubled for me from around 440 to 880, so it costs 880 but returns 440 on the surface, now because of Tree of life and t7 2pc my lifebloom costs 25% less. So my lifebloom costs 640 and returns 440. Resulting in a cheaper lifebloom assuming the lifebloom is always allowed to bloom. Rolling lifebloom will now run you oom fast. You have to rely on your other hots.
On a clearcast proc, my lifebloom costs 0 and returns 440 mana. So everytime I get a clearcast proc, I use lifebloom no matter what.
I have to repeat, lifebloom without the bloom is now more expensive than wild growth, rolling a 3 stack is no longer viable and you have to get out of that mindset. We did it through BC and up to 3.1 but it's dead now, move on and embrace the new lifebloom. I'm loving it personally.
Lifebloom for the bloom. This really isn't viable, lifebloom blooms for more now. Sometimes it can crit for 13k on Udder, but timing that to bloom when the tank is down 13K is impossible. I tried it the other day and occasionally it would work out for me, but it's not worth killing yourself over. Just use lifebloom as suggested and if the bloom happens to top off the tank and not overheal then great!
Regrowth spam in 3.1:
Don't do it, nourish is a much more viable spell now. Whenever your habit to regrowth kicks in, cast nourish instead. Regrowth should only be used to get full hots on the tank, or when you need a very long lasting hot.
I'm sure I'll add to this later, let me know if you have questions
Udderside
Co-GM Of Brethren, Healing Officer
This should be adjusted to say "Refreshing a 3 stack is no longer viable".Originally Posted by Paramount
When a 1, 2, or 3 stack blooms, it refunds 1, 2, or 3 times the base mana costof the spell.
In other words, casting more than 3 Lifebooms on a target without allowing it to bloom severely lowers the mana efficiency of the spell.
Clipping a tick on lifebloom by refreshing early can also lead to less mana efficiency in the spell which IMO is part of the reason the school of the 1 stack has come to such prominence.
Much of the current discussion i have seen revolves around the T8 4 piece bonus combined with the Rejuvination idol. This combination makes for one of the most mana efficient spells in the game and further relegates Lifebloom to tanking duty.
Interesting stuff about Lifebloom/Regrowth/Rejuv. I tend to Tree only on rare occasions in raids so I'm not real solid with what to do ect. Sounds like I need to start using Wild Growth more than I do currently.
This should be adjusted to say "Refreshing a 3 stack is no longer viable".
When a 1, 2, or 3 stack blooms, it refunds 1, 2, or 3 times the base mana costof the spell.
Thanks to my brother for posting this.
I worded my original post wrong. stacking to three is still viable but refreshing a three stack is where the HPM becomes inefficient. Thanks for the correction.
Yeah that guide is pretty spot on. And as an additional note the 4t8 bonus is amazing, and probably one of the best bonuses in the game. The heal is only about 1600-1700 but the vast majority of the time you're rejuv spamming it's going to be effective. That and for some spike damage I rejuv>swiftmend and that extra little heal has saved numerous lives already. It's not always useful, true, but it's a hell of a bonus to our staple raid heal.
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