Newbie HPally, questions..

[username17]

Hello,
I'm running into some questions about tank healing in raids.
I leveled from 70-80 as holy in random dungeons.

It seems I've been learning how to heal in a trial by fire type of way.
The day after I dinged 80 I got in an ICC alt run and was able to do the first few bosses.
I didn't know the fights or how to raid heal. But after a few tries on marrowgar I was able to figure out what I needed to do and we downed him.
From there I've healed in ICC 10/25, Ony, toc 25, etc.
All of those aren't exactly HARD, but they were all new to me.

I always ask for tank assignments, because it's what I'm best at.
I throw beacon on one, shield the other and keep the hot up.
I'm using BOLT and have no problems keeping shield, beacon, and judgments up.

When I'm on a raid, I watch the tanks and I heal them when they need it.
I'm learning the fights and with DBM I'm able to heal when I know big damage is incoming.
But I'm not going to sit there and just chain spam the tanks.
I know it's needed sometimes (festergut inhale), but not all the time.
Plus I've noticed if I just sit and spam, I run oom pretty quickly.
If I have a break to hit DP I'm fine, but straight heals leaves me oom quick.

So because of that shortfall I try to be smart about heals and use my regen abilities when I can.

My armory is http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...sher&cn=Krimsi.
If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.


Now, after that TLDR lets get to the issue at hand.

I was in a ToC 10 last night, healing the tanks.
It was me, a resto druid, and a priest.

I told the raid leader I can get tanks, everyone can get whatever.
When the fight started the druid stacked his hots on the tanks.

I was watching the tanks like a hawk and only every 10-15 seconds they would need a heal.
We ended up wiping on the worms because a tank turned one and it breathed on everyone.

So while rebuffing the druid said he beat me on impales, it was like I wasn't even healing.
I said the tanks aren't dropping because you have like 10 hots stacked on each one.
I'm not going to heal a tank if they're sitting at full health with hots ticking.

I looked at recount, I was 2nd on healing and first on overhealing.

Druid said holy paladins always beat him on impale heals.
I asked the druid what I was doing wrong, he said he didn't know.

Should I be healing tanks even when they aren't dropping below 100%?
There's only one other holy paladin in my guild and when I raid with him I watch him spam HL the entire time.

I have the glyph for splash heals which is helpful, but in this raid it looks like the tanks and melee weren't dropping at all.

Could anyone tell me what I was doing wrong?

[Relapsed]

I would have to say this is how i think a holy pally should spec and gem. I have had no problems in TOC ICC 10 or 25 with mana and i am mostly on top of heals 90% of the time.
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...as&cn=Milhedie

Check it out would like some feedback....

Must Be Taller then a Gnome to ride.

[username17]

I'm gemmed/glyphed pretty much the same.

If it comes down to skill being the issue that is fine.
I'd just like to know what I'm doing wrong so I can improve.

[Tierax]

Should I be healing tanks even when they aren't dropping below 100%?
There's only one other holy paladin in my guild and when I raid with him I watch him spam HL the entire time.

I think there are alot of gearing guides that can help you, so I'm going to answer this question specifically.

Holy Paladins are the #1 reactive healers. We only have one HoT, which in and by itself is not very effective (although its very good to keep it up as close to 100% as possible). We are also great single/dual burst healers; we can pump out big numbers in a short amount of time, the downside being this costs an exceedingly large amount of mana. These are the aspects that make us such great tank healers; tanks (there are usually only 2/3, which is the only amount we can heal to begin with, not counting splash) take the most spike damage, meaning burst heals are particularily effective. You can never accurately predict when someone is going to take damage, it would be fantastic if we could say "every 1.4 seconds tank A is going to be hit by a melee swing." Fights don't work like that, so we need to keep up semi-constant HLs on the tanks to keep them alive, waiting until the hit occurs is almost always too dangerous in a raid environment.

Part of the challenge of playing a healadin, which it seems like you've already alluded too, is understanding when to burst hard (IE spam like hell), when its safe to run in and melee, when its safe to DP, etc. Each fight is difference, and its always a struggle to find the proper balance between mana and the amount of healing required. So to answer your question, yes, you should be healing the tanks even when they are at 100%.

You can only heal the amount of damage going out to the tanks; if the druid's HoTs alone are handling it then of course you aren't going to meter well, and your definitely going to overheal quite a bit.

I hope that answers your question, if not please clarify and I'll try and help more.

[Relapsed]

L2 Beacon tank the pally should only be on Mt or whatever if needed. As far as mana you should never run out....

[username17]

Tier, thanks for the intelligent reply. Relapsed, no so much.

You answered my question perfectly.
I can't wait to see the tanks drop, because of spike they could die.

I guess I find that if I spam in times I don't need to spam, I run oom.
Because otherwise I could spend that time getting mana back.

I do a so-so job at keeping the ss/fol hot up on the tank.
I need to use power auras or something to keep track of that.


As far as gear, other than activating my meta I gem for all int.
I think I need to work on a little more haste and mp5.
Thanks again

[Tierax]

I think I need to work on a little more haste and mp5.

That will all come from better gearing, it becomes easier the more experienced you get with raiding on a paladin. Best of luck to you.

[Soan]

Holy Paladins are the #1 reactive healers.

Reactive? I play as a proactive healer in raids. I ensure that whenever the tanks are tanking something, they have heals coming regardless of what their health it at. This doesn't mean I mash my holy light button constantly, I just make sure I'm not standing there waiting for them to take damage. If they suddenly dip then yeah I mash my HL button harder.

If you manage your cooldowns appropriately you can still pretty much spam HL without going OOM. There's not really any reason to not open with Divine Illumination and then use it on cooldown, the mana savings from doing so can be immense. Same thing with divine plea, if I know I even think I'm going to run near OOM before a fight ends I'll use it early so it's up again to use later. I also have a bit more mp5 than you, as you gear up and get more experience you'll find things get easier.

[Tierax]

Reactive? I play as a proactive healer in raids.

I consider proactive heals to be HoTs, vs. direct heals which are reactive. You can 'proactively' put a HoT on a target before they take damage and its not a big deal. If you land a HL 'proactively' 0.5seconds before a tank takes a melee, that is 20,000+ wasted healing. This doesn't mean don't keep healing that tanks even when their full (IE: playing proactively), it is just how I personally define the difference in spells.

[Meeks]

Reactive healing = dead tank.

You need to be pro-active as a paladin. If you are sitting there scratching your ass waiting for the tank to get low enough for a holy light then you are doing it wrong.

There is no such thing as reactive healing in meaningful encounters these days.

[Tierax]

Reactive healing = dead tank.

You need to be pro-active as a paladin. If you are sitting there scratching your ass waiting for the tank to get low enough for a holy light then you are doing it wrong.

Please see my second post. I explain you should be playing proactively, yes. However, our heals by their very nature (direct vs. HoT) are reactive.

See:

This doesn't mean don't keep healing that tanks even when their full (IE: playing proactively), it is just how I personally define the difference in spells