In Celebration of my Second 80

In celebration of Myrhani’s 79th and final (for now) ding, I’ve decided this post will be all about me. Ohhhhh wait, all my posts are all about me. Oh well, in celebration of Myrhani’s 79th and final (for now) ding, this post will be in the Grand Tradition of Posts that are All About Me.

I decided to steal the most excellent Miss Medicina’s non-meme questionnaire. Which I also read about on Tamarind, Oriniwen, and Kyrilean’s blogs. Since I’ve been a healer for such a short time, nobody’s likely to tag me so I tag me! Besides, it’s not a meme, I don’t need to be tagged to play. YAY! So here goes.

Edit: I did get tagged! And since it’s momentous, I’m editing it in. See, right here.

• What is the name, class, and spec of your primary healer?

That would be Myrhani, holy paladin and incongruously, champion jouster.

• What is your primary group healing environment? (i.e. raids, pvp, 5 mans)

Five mans for the most part. Give me a break I just dinged 80 on Tuesday. I have healed the odd retro raid though, including Kara and Tempest Keep with mixed results.

• What is your favorite healing spell for your class and why?

I love the combination of Beacon of Light and glyph of Holy Light. I’m mostly a single target spammer, so this gives me a quasi AOE heal, which considering how many melee dps I’ve been running with is hugely valuable. I love slapping Beacon on the tank then dropping a nice Holy Light on the most damaged DPS and then watching it splash over onto the other melee. Three targets healed, one spell. Delicious.

• What healing spell do you use least for your class and why?

Hm. I only have three primary heals (Flash, HL, and Shock) and I use them all pretty consistently. I suppose I forget my “oh shit” button Lay on Hands more than I should. There’s really no excuse for me or the tank to die while LOH is off cooldown, but… sometimes it happens.

• What do you feel is the biggest strength of your healing class and why?

I have big heals. I can cast lots of big heals without stopping. So I can keep a single target up for a long, LONG time. Whether that’s me in a duel or a tank in an instance. So yes, it’s the stock answer, but I’m a very good single target healer.

• In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best healing assignment for you?

I’ll be honest, the only 25 man raid I’ve ever done is TK, so this is not going to be the most relevant answer in earth-history. Add to that, the TK raid was hideously disorganized, so there weren’t really assignments given to the healers, especially not me, the lone 73 in a group of 80s. But I’m used to doing a lot of 5mans and AV, so using Beacon to keep the tank up while sprinkling small heals over the dps in general is the most natural feel for me. I don’t know what you’d call that really… tank healing by raid healing? XD

• What healing class do you enjoy healing with most and why?

As a co-healer? Well again, my experience is limited, but I like the idea of having a druid with a battle rez running around. I suppose a boomkin would do just as well as a tree, but I like the battle rez.

• What healing class do you enjoy healing with least and why?

Disc priest. I have NO idea what those guys are doing which makes it hard for me to be helpful to them. Also all those shields clutter up my VuhDo bars. Gotta know they’re there, but man… they block up my visuals.

• What is your worst habit as a healer?

I’m still a little new at all this, so I haven’t managed to override my fight or flight instinct when things go south. Instead of acting in a rational manner and using my extra spiffy tools like Hand of Drop the Threat off the DPS or Hand of Make the Tank’s Damage Hit Me Instead or Shield of Takes Half Damage… I panic and throw flash of lights everywhere, then run out of mana and pop divine plea and then run into a wall and cry while everyone wipes around me. Must. Work. On. Developing. Composure.

• What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while healing?

DPS that go into panic mode when they get aggro. Seriously, chill. Your situation is nowhere near as bad as mine. Geez.

The other day I was healing for a group in a 5man and there was this idiot boomkin (I’m sorry, but he was) and he started taking damage and he started squawking “OMG i have aggro, OMG” while running around in circles further and further from the tank. I tried to heal him but he kept popping in and out of range. Grr! He happened to die at the close point of his circle to me, so the mobs that ate him came after me next. Grr again! After the fight when I ressed him, he said “next time use hand of protection, dude.” To which I replied “next time run to the #$&^ing tank!” Yes, I should be quicker with my hand of this and that effect. But I generally wouldn’t use them on people acting like idiots anyway. It’s the principle of the thing. Act in a generally rational manner and I’ll do everything I can to save you. Act like a freaking moron and… well suffer the consequences.

And yes, I know, my biggest problem is also my biggest irritant. Why do you think it bothers me so much that I do it? Because when I act like a freaking moron I have to suffer the consequences, which are generally not pleasant or ego boosting.

• Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other healers for PvE healing?

Hrm. I really don’t know. I feel like I can heal an instance with relative ease as long as I’m somewhat appropriately geared for it. I feel like the other healing classes can truthfully make the same claim, so in that sense they seem to be performing at similar levels. Obviously I have an advantage while healing single targets, but I’m at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to HoTs or AOE. I think that’s a good thing, I like being distinct.

• What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a healer?

I grade on a Pass/Fail scheme. If the answer to all these questions is No, then I pass: Is the tank dead? Am I dead? Is anyone else dead? Are we really really low on health? Like skin of the teeth, shaking, heavy breathing low?

If any of the answers are yes, then I have to look a little harder to find out if I fail or if someone else does. Usually it’s obvious, particularly if I’m running against the wall futilely casting flash of light on passing critters and crying. If it’s not so obvious, I like to check overheals (possible oom culprit – my fail), who pulls aggro (I’m single target mainly, if too many people are getting smashed in the face that means problems, and mostly ones of the not-preventable variety) and if the tank is getting crit (that’s fail, but it ain’t my fail).

• What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your healing class?

Since I wear plate, I’m practically a tank. I have had a few tanks ignore aggro on me, since as a plate wearer I must be able to offtank, right? RIGHT?! Note to tanks everywhere: holy plate is not real plate. It’s faux-plate, designed to give the appearance of badassness but really just protecting against minor irritants like mosquito bites and poison ivy.

I made a fail tank macro: /rw AGGRO ON HEALER! HELP!

I only use it on real neglectful tanks, but usually if they see it a few times right before I bite it, they’ll get a sort of Pavlovian association: Healer makes macro, healer dies… must intervene (or salivate, whatever).

• What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new healers of your class to learn?

Which buttons to push in an emergency. I have the privilege of working real close with my tank so he can tell me when I do Really Bad Things, like bubbling him at the beginning of the fight. I had no idea that it would prevent him from building threat. I thought it was a nice tactic to prevent an initial damage spike. Wrong. But you have to learn those things by doing, sometimes.

• If someone were to try to evaluate your performance as a healer via recount, what sort of patterns would they see (i.e. lots of overhealing, low healing output, etc)?

High overheal, from using Beacon as a faux-AOE… Healing 4k on a rogue that’s only down by 1.5k still hits the tank for 4k with beacon, but it gives you a bunch of overheal on the rogue.  It’s a trade I’m willing to make to get 5.5k healed out of a single 4k flash. Big numbers for Beacon and Flash, lower numbers for Shock and Holy Light.

• Haste or Crit and why?

Crit. I do love mana regen. Haste is nice too, but I get a 15% haste buff from my incredibly long range judgments anyway. Also, when you’re critting fairly regularly with Shock, you get lots of instant Flashes. Which makes Crit over Haste even more logical, imho.

• What healing class do you feel you understand least?

Disc priest. They have shields and stuff. Thats as far as I get in the Discipline category at trivia night at the pub.

• What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in healing?

VuhDo. *sound of Alleluia Chorus sung by blood elves wearing pally wings*

I also have lots of cooldowns macroed to go off together, which helps you make the most of everything at a key moment. Although I may have to unmacro them for certain fights as things get more challenging (I need Aura Mastery on command in Gundrak at the stupid silencing rhino bits, etc.).

• Do you strive primarily for balance between your healing stats, or do you stack some much higher than others, and why?

Right now I’m stacking lots of Int and Crit. I need to make sure my mana pool is big enough to handle long fights, which has been something of a problem for me in the past. I also like to make sure I’m getting a fair amount of mana return from my crits, which means I have to have a fair amount of crits. So yes, Crit and Int stacking. Once I get those two to a satisfactory level, I suppose I’ll switch to Spellpower for a while.

I would like to hear what Gnomeaggedon‘s Squidly has to say about all this healing jazz… Go!

Tagged as: 80, healing, Myrhani, Paladin, Rhii