new to the forums, like to share my healing experiences

[pharrow]

hey guys, new to the forums and i'd just like to share my technique for healing on my druid and priest.

in wrath i raided all the way from naxx to ulduar(started raiding a week after i hit 80, and about 3 weeks after the wrath expansion was released) as a healer priest before taking a break from the game. and i always was neck and neck with the other healers. so this may be a shock to you, but the only addons i use are dbm, omen, and recount, the part that will shock you is how i heal. i literally click on someone in the raid frames, then click on my heal, then click again on the raid frames then click on my heal, and so on like that, i don't use the 1 through 12 keys on my keyboard. and so far me and my guild have gotten through the first 5 bosses in bwd, the first 3 in bot, and the first boss in throne while healing with my druid, and like i said i'm always right up there with the other healers, usually all tied around 30% healing (3 healers) in 10man

thanks to the videos on these forums the first time i went in there we 1 shotted magmaw, 1 shotted omnitron, 2 shotted maloriak(simple mistake by one of the tanks) and 1 shotted chimaera,(in a 2 hour time frame) in my first week of raiding in cata. (started 3 weeks ago, 1 raiding night a week)

overall my favorite class is a healer, my pally, druid, and priest are all at 85 and in a heal spec, and i can play each one the same as the other. i don't suck at one then i do with another.

but I'm always looking for tips if you have any, and thanks in advance

[klausi]

If that's enough or you happen to be a very fast clicker that seem tobe ok. But the encounter tend to have more and more movement (just to name some entry raid level encounter, on Maloriak: avoid ice bombs on phase 2, on Halfus: avoid fireball barrage and on Valiona: heal while being affected from engulfing magic or avoiding those void zone/breath) involved and i guess it's not that easy maneuvering around while aiming for your heals and aiming for the right target at your healing frame.

You could try mouseover macros, this way you don't have to click on the ability and click on the target - just move the mouse over the injured one and hit the assigned button once. Or using addons like healbot to configure your mouse, eg: leftclicking for heal A, rightclicking for heal B, extrabutton 1 for heal C and while using modifier like shift, ctrl and alt you can easily multiply the amount of possible spells used while still remain on only a few moves at all.

[Megacode]

I prefer to use Healbot with Mouseover(RazerNaga) Macros layed out on keys 1-12. That way my Holy Pally can move and heal at the same time using my instant cast spells(HS,WoG,LoD). This is what I am used to. I used to click heal but find the mouseover style to be more efficient with today's raids where there is much more movement required.

[NewfieDave]

I am glad that you are enjoying healing in raids. That is the most important part of the raiding experience, so make sure you continue to have fun.

That said, if you want to take things a little more seriously you don't have to compromise your fun factor. One of the aspects I enjoy the most about raiding is constantly striving to improve my play. From the sound of things, there are a few areas in which you could improve.

I'd definitely recommend looking into expanding what you're doing with addons. For starters, put some thought into what addons you want, and which you don't. You want addons that provide meaningful information for your role in the raid, and you don't want addons that will clutter the screen with meaningless information. You definitely want to keep using DBM, but Omen doesn't really have much use for a healer, and Recount is useful but not necessary (only one person in the raid needs to run a meter anyways).

Some of the addons I use and why:
Bartender4 - Allows me to customize my action bars any way I like, which is an important part of building a good UI.
Grid - Replaces the default raid frames. Allows more customization.
Quartz - Shows latency in my cast bar so I know when I can start queueing my next spell.
Satrina's Buff Frame - Lets me organize my buffs in a way that seperates long buffs like PW:Fort, and short buffs like random procs.
TidyPlates - Replaces the name plates above enemy mobs. Favorite feature: shows cast bars on name plates for mobs I'm not targetting.

A pic of my UI: http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/3...1911212510.jpg

My UI is customized for me, to enchance my performance. It focuses on keeping all the important information I need around the center area of the screen, so my eyes don't have to stray far from where I'm standing. You don't have to use the same addons I do. If you plan on improving your UI through addons, do it in a way that is customized for how you play. Be prepared to spend a few hours tinkering and tweaking and testing, and make sure you get some experience using your new UI in some random 5mans before you bring it to a guild raid.

Now that we've dealt with your use of addons, we need to get rid of a terrible habit you've developed. Click-target, click-heal, click-target, click-heal makes me a very sad panda. It's right up there with keyboard turning in terms of bad habits players develop. You cannot justify it by saying "we're still downing bosses and I'm around the same HPS as our other healers." Just because you are downing a boss does not mean you cannot improve. Part of the constant improvement mindset is to never be satisfied with "good enough" when "clearly better" is an option.

I can think of two "clearly better" options for you, and it's up to you to figure out which works best for you. The first is to use an addon like Clique, or mouseover macros, to allow you to cast spells with a single click on your raid frames. This cuts in half the actions required for you to get a heal off. I think this might be the most natural solution for you since you are already using your mouse to control your casting. The other option is to use your mouse for targetting, like you currently do, but instead of clicking on your action bars to heal, keybind your heals to your keyboard. Yes, those scary 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 buttons. This is how I heal, and it works best for me because I am comfortable using both of my hands in unison, and it frees up my mouse hand for easier camera adjustment compared to using mouseover macros. If you do go the keyboard hotkey route, my advice is to do it one small step at a time. Don't keybind 30 different things and expect to remember them all. Start small, with 3-4 abilities. Get used to them, then slowly add as you become more comfortable.

Good luck with the raiding!

[pharrow]

thank you very much guys, for all the advice, its given me a lot to think about.

i will definitely look into getting some useful addons, but i might try the keybinding route because, my brother bought me the ZBoard keyboard with the world of warcraft addon, today. so i have lots to figure out.

thanks again.

[Jacobhwrd]

I am the same as the person who posted their UI. All of my addons serve a purpose. And once a month I will go through my UI and think about how much I actually need it. I catch myself getting stuf that just looks cool and doesn't really do anything "needed". I use HB and the blizz raid frames now and just keep them closed. I have IceHud so I can watch my hp and mana better plus I dps in pvp so it's for both specs. I do move with my keys but I still have a bunch of mouseover macros and other keybinds plus using healbot I have every healing spell tied o my mouse other then tranquility. Click target heal click target heal I agree is not a good idea but I do great with key movements. I have tried not doing it and have never liked it. One thing I will do is to also use click to move. I use it some in raids when I just need to move out of a targeted area.