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PTR
10.2.5
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10.2.6
How to Heal, Revive, and generally be responsible for the group?
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Post by
1144517
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
wrlwnd
The best thing is experience, but many times it hurts that you get into runs with groups that expect you to know exactly how to handle it all. Often you need to let the cowboy die and keep what you can alive and hopefully prevent a wipe.
Since you noted that you are now in a guild, I recommend that you use guild chat and find some experienced players that are leveling alts and run with a guild group. It is more helpful if one of the alts you are running with is an alt of a healer that can give you pointers during the run.
Also read the class forums here, check out icy-veins, noxxic and several other sites like it.
Post by
lonewolfe31705
First off, welcome to the craptapcular world of healing.
That being said, I am going to try and answer each of your questions in order.
1. If a DPS keeps pulling, let them die. Their job is to kill the targets that the tank pulls, not pull their own things to kill.
2. Every healer class has a Resurrection spell by the time they are your level. I think Priest is actually called
Resurrection
. Basically, you target the dead person and click this spell. After the cast completes they accept and don't have to run back from the GY....(If said person dies because of reason 1, I personally refuse to waste mana and time ressing them.)
3. At level 52, you get an ability called
Fear Ward
, that will help some with fears. Shamans and paladins can also help out to remove fear. Also, if you are a human, you can just use your racial to get out of it.
4. All that being said, if the only time people die are when they are being stupid, you are doing nothing wrong. And remember....end game content isnt the same as dungeon finder.
Post by
1144517
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Gontier
Welcome to the world of healing, indeed. :)
You've already got quite a bit of valuable information from others, but I just felt like peeking in and letting you know that when you reach level 90 you can visit your class trainer,
High Priestess Laurena
, and give
Proving Grounds
a go to practise on non-players if you feel a bit unsure or nervous of entering new dungeons or raids. :)(##RESPBREAK##)524##DELIM##Gontier##DELIM##
Post by
Slog
So here it is - what am I doing wrong when being a healer? How do I mitigate situations where we have a cowboy and I can't keep the group together and or healed appropriately. How do I mitigate Fear...that was the killer. I watch the videos on youtube (about healers in these large groups at end game) and I seriously have concerns that I do not know the game mechanics well enough to engage that role at that level.
This game is filled with anti-social tools, especially in the random dungeon and raid queues. Just remember that you are making an effort to improve, while they are raging because mom bought the wrong kind of Hot Pockets. Finding a mature, social guild to run with would help your enjoyment level immensely.
As for end-game healing, the default UI is pretty terrible for this. The next step up in being effective is a combination of macros, keybinds, and a decent raid frame UI. I personally like VuhDo, but the learning curve on setting it up properly is pretty steep. Some people prefer HealBot, and there are others as well.
Also, absorb this a little at a time. Read some, play some, read again, etc.
http://www.icy-veins.com/discipline-priest-wow-pve-healing-guide
Post by
HotRats
My guess is that you were in Sethekk Halls. The second highest ranking comment (on
http://www.wowhead.com/zone=3791#comments
) mentions:
"On the pulls before the second boss the biggest danger is the Prophets which are priests that will fear."
I am not suggesting you read about a low-level dungeon before you LFD - the level progression is too fast (nowadays), some of the wowhead comments are obsolete, and I do enjoy surprises :)
I usually rely upon the PUG's "guide" (a role one can choose when signing up for LFD) to reveal a strategy, such as saying to the party "The Prophets will fear - kill them first." Typically, I see the tank choosing the guide role. But a tank who is new to the dungeon will be unable to guide. And a tank that is new to tanking (or does not care) will let the DPS pull, without saying "Please let me pull." Thankfully, there are a minority of DPS players who believe they have some sort of innate right to pull. Typically, they act like Prima Donnas when the tank tells them to stop pulling. Such a harassed tank will be reacting to DPS pulls, as opposed to planning their pull (a tank's strategy should be to maximize the tank's threat). As a healer, I always start a vote to kick such Prima Donna DPS players (even if they are at the top of Recount's DPS chart). I will always forgive a new tank (there is only one way to learn), and I am patient when the tank pauses. Also, tanks and healers are hard to find for LFD.
The least enjoyable aspect of PUGs are the groups that get angry at each other and complain (as opposed to helping, such as offering tips). WOW is supposed to be a fun game, not RL. Still, players who show some RL manners go a long way to making even a wipe more enjoyable. IMO, joking or laughing about a wipe is a good strategy for ensuring an encounter is enjoyable :). And if a player says "my fault", I will always forgive that player, even if they are not "great" at their role.
Healers do not make a group invincible - being Feared, Silenced or Mind Controlled are reasons healers can't heal. Being out of range or out of a player's Line of Sight are additional reasons. I use
http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/cant-heal-you
(it's out of date, but still works) to automatically whisper tanks and DPS when I can't heal them. Some players get angry when they get that whisper, or think my whispers are blaming them. The real purpose of that addon is to tell both me (the healer) and the player (being healed) that we need to come together.
I am a clicker, so I too like Healium. My problem with Healium is that my non-healing action bar/buttons are far away from Healium's frame. To avoid a delay I used a action bar addon (
http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/dominos
). Dominos allows me to move (and scale) at least one action bar to a position that is much closer to Healium's frame.
For Sethekk or other fear encounters, a healer might want to stay way back of the group, because there is a better chance that the healer will be out of range of the Fear. Still, the Prophets really should be dispatched quickly. Some tanks use raid charms (Star, Moon, Skull, etc) to direct the DPS.
Everyone has been new to an encounter while playing WOW, and yet some non-empathetic players think other players who do not know (what they know) are "morons", and yet "uneducated" would be a more accurate description. For example, I have had players get angry at me because I did not know they were "the first" to encounter a herb or a mine. That, or they think I must have failed WOW's "required" Extra Sensory Perception course :).
Some actions (healers need to perform) require the ability to _predict_ an encounter. For example, Fear Ward needs to be applied by the healer (to the healer) _before_ the healer is feared, because it has a short duration and because it has a cooldown. There are certain class-specific actions that can remove fear _after_ being applied (i.e. the undead have "Will of the Forsaken"), but most classes cannot overcome Fear (plus, there are other NPC spells that cause player actions that are very similar to Fear, but are not Fear).
While PUG grief can cause me to stop healing for a while, there are other times when a PUG praises my healing, and that makes up for the grief. I am human and I make mistakes, but I learn from them. And that learning can be done _without_ a public drubbing. Setthek Halls has always been challenging, but because Blizzard has accelerated the XP gains you may not get many chances to learn ("predict") Sethhek. I wouldn't worry about it. The fact that they said "Revive" (not "Resurrect") is a clear sign they never played a Priest, which is in addition to their being non-empathetic, unhelpful players. Don't worry about the wipe or the fact that you did now know the nuances of a Priest (it happens): Your next PUG is likely to be much more enjoyable :). And your willingness to research is a clear sign that you are already ready to raid.
Post by
Aesiria
I will tell you this: if you want to play as a healer,
you should either play mostly with people you know(friends, mature guildies)
or be able to
stand up for yourself
so other people can't put you down too much. If you can't stand up for yourself you will just end up feeling bad and not enjoy the game anymore.
One of the things that is very important to learn how to master as a healer is
to not panic in chaotic situations
. This is something you should be able to learn in time and get better at the more experienced you get as a healer. Some people will never get used to this, and that's when they should reconsider if the healing role really is something for them(but even DPS roles should learn not to panic, but it is a lot more important as a healer).
How you want to treat DPS that pulls instead of the letting the tank pull is up to you. Some healers wont really care and just let the DPS die unless it was an honest mistake.
Personally I don't care at all in low level dungeons since they are so easy nowadays(for me atleast). The more mobs people pull, the better! Low level dungeons are so undertuned now that they are boring unless you pull big groups in my opinion.
What you can do if you decide that you want to try help a DPS that pulls aggro is to atleast cast a Power Word: Shield on them.
PW:S is extremely strong for disc priests now
and it should be enough to save that DPS for some time atleast.
When it comes to
addons
(you can download them from curse.com) I'm going to suggest some that I don't think have been mentioned in this thread already:
Deadly Boss Mods
. There are more than one addon - one for each expansion I think. I suggest you download them all.
Prayer of Mending Tracker
. This addon will let you keep track of your Prayer of Mending Bounces and how long time until the current charge expires.
I don't know if you have any
glyphs
yet, but if they are cheap on your realm's auction house I suggest you take some that can improve your healing spells.
Glyph of Prayer of Mending, Glyph of Penance
Glyph of Weakened Soul, Glyph of Purify
Glyph of Inner Fire, Glyph of Inner Sanctum
Glyph of Psychic Scream
Personally I usually keep
Fear Ward
buffed on myself all the time. Now and then I will cast it on the tank instead depending on the situation/dungeon.
Good luck!
Post by
rumournz
As a tank, here's my thoughts on it:
THANK YOU! - healing is the most thankless role out there (you don't notice the good ones ;)
generally speaking, PUG's suck. this has been true since open beta, when i got started, and has gotten worse generally since then.
if you were in my group, let me know that you don't know the dungeon that well, and we'll work to your ability (not that us tanks are on our toes 100% all the time) and will give you the head's up on what to expect
as long as you give it your best, no complaints from me
some days, you will look for the nearest lava pool to hide in, its that bad. we all have them. these are the golden learning moments
i have no problem slow roasting stupid DPS for pulling stupid stunts, and will do so. even guildies will get a serve (as needed)
hopefully your guild can help you with runs, that's the easiest way to earn ya stripes
also, remember the golden rules of dungeons:
if the tank dies, its the healers fault
if the healer dies, its the tanks fault
if the dps dies, its their own bleeping fault :)
Post by
yzq85
My 2 cents on the "responsible" part: dispel debuffs on your party which you are able to dispel. Healer specs always allow you to dispel Magic effects. Curse, Disease and Poison dispelling depends on your class.
Also, healing at lower levels and at level cap are different ball games, as you have your complete range of spells at level cap. Some high level spells are there for a reason.
Post by
Shadoed
I think most of it has been said, but as some have hinted on, everyone is responsible for their own role in the group and that includes the DPS not pulling aggro from the Tank and a lot of groups will take the attitude of 'if you pull it, you tank it' as DPS tends to learn pretty quickly that way that they need to keep an eye on what the Tank is doing rather than just running off and creating their own havoc.
The Tank and Healer need to work together, many times i see tanks just running off into the distance, pulling a couple of MOB groups and then blaming the healer who was left standing when they die. If the Tank makes sure the healer is with them and vice-versa, most of the other bits will fall in to place nicely and healing DPS becomes more incidental than a main task.
As others have said, where possible run with people you know and understand, where not possible, make it very clear from the off that you will not heal those who pull without a thought and ask the tank to be mindful of where you are before throwing themselves in to the frey and you should find things a little smoother.
Post by
992790
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
dadanox
I've loved being a healing priest for over 6 years. Disc is super fun, and actually pretty good for those emergency situations. You can throw PW:Shield on multiple people quickly (don't forget yourself), while you decide your next move. I also love Glyph of Penance. While running, you can shield, penance, renew, PoM. I love the mobility and variety of spells we have.
Even with all that, good gear, and experience, me and a couple guildies wiped on a scenario the other night when I got feared into some bad stuff. It happens. The next time I threw a fear ward on myself just as a precaution. Remember, you can dispel most fears on other players (think tank), if you have those magic debufs show prominently on your unit frames.
You will want to start looking at picking up a good healing raidframe. I use Grid, and additional addons for it like Clique, and others let me mouse click on people to heal, and show when they are out of range, what direction I need to run to get to them, and other items I care about. Healbot and Vuhdo are also popular. I think you are going to find Healium cumbersome when you get into a 25 man group to down the Sha, etc.
I also recommend a couple addons for you to try. First is GTFO, which will alert you when you are standing in bad stuff. Also, check out Weak Auras. It's super useful to alert you when spells like Penance are ready to cast.
Have fun. Things will go bad sometimes. But in my mind, healing is the most rewarding role in the game.
Post by
kemppy
Best way I found to heal is to get into a rythm. Put on something catchy and just bob along to it. I know at least with myself this helped out a lot. Also forget what any dps says about your healing. Unless it is constructive, they will be wrong. People may think it is the tank or dps that has the hardest job. But no it is heals. Reason being, if things are going well, we have an easy time. But someone stuffs up and everything could go down.
Post by
Woodrun
As a tank, here's my thoughts on it:
THANK YOU! - healing is the most thankless role out there (
you don't notice the good ones
;)
QFT
. I am a long time tank, but I have recently rolled a Priest to see if I can heal.
Post by
yzq85
Learnt to tank and heal because of the short queues. Constructive advice I'll take; flames, on the other hand, will be ingested and spat back out.
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