| Alinna | #283953 Wednesday February 20, 2008 at 19:41 | |
Scout |
Hello, I finally got my priest, Suseruun, up to 70 as shadow, then quickly switched over to holy. I've got some good experience as a holy priest, having leveled my undead priest all the way to 58 as a pure healing spec, so I'm not confused by all these weird healing spells. I've spent the last week going into 5-mans as the healer, and I do pretty darn good on everything except Blackheart the Inciter. That said, I have it on good authority that I'll be a healer in Karazhan this weekend. I'm wondering if healing in a raid (admittedly a small one) is a different experience from healing in a 5-man group. I just downloaded Healbot, and I'm learning how to use it, I even downrank my heals sometimes. So...any advice for a first raid as a healer? Does CTRaid have any applications I should know of? Ummmm...is a healer expected to keep on top of everyone or just spam heals on the tank? Stuff like that. --
 Signature image and avatar both done by Khaira. Thanks Khaira! |
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| Rafiky | #283956 Wednesday February 20, 2008 at 20:08 | |
Roster Monkey |
gheal is your best/most efficient heal. Put a few ranks of it on your bars and get to know what they hit for. Binding heal is wonderful if you're taking damage. Prayer of Mending (and mend watch to track it) is great for tossing on a tank before the fight. Flash heal is terrible for your mana and those short heals are jobs for druids/paladins. --
Listen to teh monkie 70 NE Hunter http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Lightbringer&n=Rukhanu |
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| Zaddy | #283972 Wednesday February 20, 2008 at 21:21 | |
Heal Sauce and Assplosions |
Do not...underestimate...renew! It should be on your tanks always if they are tanking. It'll also help heal through garotte and such. There's quite a bit of other stuff that can be said as well, but my best advice is use renew...and avoid dependency upon flash heal. It should be used in emergency only, such as when a tank health is too low (usually it's too late) or a clothy is taking damage. --
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| Alinna | #283981 Wednesday February 20, 2008 at 21:53 | |
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Scout |
Awesome. Everything, so far, is exactly what I already do. I've gone through whole instances without flash heal, and I rely mostly on renew with occasional greater heals.
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Signature image and avatar both done by Khaira. Thanks Khaira! |
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| Roberth | #283983 Wednesday February 20, 2008 at 21:56 | |
Holy "Diver!" Priest |
I cannot speak for your Kara raid as mileage varies depending on raid makeup. I can speak for my Kara raids with the guild. We usually have 2 healers, myself as one and a druid as another. Sometimes I luck out and a paladin comes along too. :D For my raids I'm responsible for shackles on Moroes and the Ushers as well as any accidental pulls involving the undead. Ghosts too. Usually I'm responsible also for healing the MT whilst the other healer heals the OT (we use a Warrior for an OT). I start fights off with a PoM as you no doubt know, when a PoM procs the threat from that heal actually goes on the tank. I let the PoM proc then hit the tank with a Renew followed by a Flash Heal. Flash Heal...do not...underestimate the value of Flash Heal. Your 4 piece bonus of T4 mandates you using this spell...and often. I actually enjoy it. :D Plus, casting heal spells often increase my proc chances for my haste trinket I got from Gruul as well as my Clearcasting. Back to Kara - keeping the MT up is primary, but of course fights are all a little different. Some fights require AoE - I'll shield my AoErs ahead of time then hit them with Renews. I never really get aggro by over-threat, but then I've got Subtlety on my cloak and the heal/threat reduce metagem. If your tank is good, you really won't have to spam heals on them...you'll actually spend more time healing your AoErs. :D Least, I have to. Holy Priest - shackles, heals, PoM, manawells (Lolwell for the warlock), and CoH are really awesome in Kara raids. I think Priests bring more to the table in that instance than any other healing class...not to say Pallies, Shammies, and Druids aren't needed either though. :D --
Its time to put down the pipe and pick up the PWN!  |
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| boris | #284000 Thursday February 21, 2008 at 01:36 | |
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Member |
I am a big fan of keeping a renew on the tank as well, and using PoM whenever I remember to use it. I am usually healing the MT and so I keep a GH going at all times with using a macro to stopcasting and then cast another greater heal so I can try and heal for damage to come and not damage done. But flash heals can be useful. - Boris |
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| Gerad | #284001 Thursday February 21, 2008 at 01:37 | |
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Member |
As with any class - I'd recommend knowing what all your abilities are, and when to use em :) Though having done SLabs with you the other night (Yes, that crazy little 67 mage was me), I can say you are pretty well set up already. Alot of raid technique will come with time, as it is a bit of a different beast than a 5 man - sometimes less intensive believe it or not, but alot of times it's a bit more intense. The end result, though, is keeping people alive. Tank > Yourself > Anyone else is generally what I think as for the who. Alot of a priests power does come from landing those big heals, as well as weaving in and out of the 5 to regen (Unless you're an MP/5 person, then cast away!) Consumables: I tend to bring Flasks over potions, as they last through death and can be cheaper in the long run. But don't forget you'll also want Oil and Foods, there's alot of different kinds, so whatever your personal preference is. Also, mana potions/shadowfiend for boss fights - Use em early, use em often. I also bring some Dark Runes (Or Demonic if you want to farm the BoP version) due to the fact they do not share a cooldown with Mana Potions. Just be aware they will hurt you. Couple Kara specifics: Atuman - generally having 1 healer per tank tends to make things a little smoother (Though obviously you can HoT each others and cross-cast when needed/able) Moroes - Your shackle is very useful for this fight - realize too that it has a tendancy to break, so cast it often. Maiden - Dispel Magic on the Holy Fires is a must, and try to get everyone topped off before a Repentance (Or at least >50%) Circle of Healing for Melee works well if available, but Renew on those in the consecrate will go a long ways, too. Opera - R&J: See Atuman, watch the bolts from J, as it's a nasty DoT to a person in the raid. BBW: Tank and Spank, OZ: Chaotic fight, but not a huge amount of damage to take care of if people are doing their CC/Kiting properly Nightbane - Mana intensive (Long) fight, be very careful of aggro during the Skeletons and on his landings = PoM the MT for landings, use fade liberally Curator - Lotta splash damage, can assign 1 MT healer 1 Raid healer, or just both cross cast. Also make sure to keep the Bolt Tank alive. Shade of Aran - Get out your stamina gear, but don't gimp yourself too badly. Target of Target can help this fight as you can see who he's casting on and pre-heal as much as possible. Illhoof - Depending on how you do this fight - could be a decent amount of splash damage. Make sure you are on the ball with the Chains and the person who gets sac'd gets heals - but don't let the MT die in the process. Can also be a long, mana intensive fight. Netherspite - Make sure the raid stays as close in to him as possible. Don't go chasing people who drift out of range, make them close in. I usually stand right under Netherspite himself, so as to have the greatest radius around him, but still people will go outside that radius >.< Prince - Mana intensive fight. Phase two is your biggest concern, as the tank can take huge spike damage depending on thrashes and whatnot. Also, P1 after every shadow nova he'll put a SW:P on the MT - can be Dispelled. P3 he SW:Ps randomly onto the raid, and you'll have to deal with Axes hitting more than just the MT. I know alot of this info can be found on strat sites - but thought I'd summarize it for you here. And I'm sure I forgot/left something out, so if anyone else has anything I missed, feel free to add it! :) Oh and any ?s feel free to ask. |
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| Alissah | #284049 Thursday February 21, 2008 at 11:22 | |
Wanderlust Lead |
Eh, the T4 priest 4 piece bonus is slightly overrated, due to lag and everything it's really a moot point. The .1 second really isn't all that noticeable. I would still have to agree that flash heal isn't mana efficient enough to worry about the bonus very often. However, it is a decision point. I'm a HUGE Gheal canceler and I throw flash heal when I either get behind or a low hp person needs a quick heal. That would be about the only time I recommend using Flash Heal. As I said previously, its a decision point in the basics of how you heal though. Gheal is the better healing spell if you have the talent that reduces it by .5 seconds really, use it as much as possible, just my opinion. | |
| Roberth | #284115 Thursday February 21, 2008 at 14:47 | |
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Holy "Diver!" Priest |
Ah, I don't think this was mentioned, but seeing the previous comment about lag: Mods for Priests - aside from the normal raid mods (CTRaid, Ora, Big Wigs, etc) I use some Priest-specific mods like Healbot. I love it when the other healer(s) in the group have it also as it'll show incoming heals on the raid. You can put in pets and "ban" characters from the healing chart (I ban imps). It can also handle dispels and cure diseases too, thus replacing decursive. For lag issues I have Quartz. I live in SoCal so really, lag is not much of an issue (I see 20-30 latency generally) now but in '07 I lived in Orlando with latency well into the 100s+. The raid/group lived and died by my spamming the GH key. Now, I can get away with hitting FH to charge up a shorter cast GH (the .1 second is stackable up to 5 times...so the 3.5 second GH becomes a 3, with a Haste proc it becomes a 2.4). I just started using Quartz though after reading a WoWInsider article about different mods. Its not just for healers too...casters, hunters, rogues...anyone with non-instant spells or abilities can find this mod handy. It replaces your existing casting bar with one that shows expected cast time (3.5 seconds say for GH) and a red area in the bar showing expected lag (due to current latency). As your spell bar fills up you can start a new cast while its in the red area - even if the cast time is still showing the spell is casting. In essence, this is where you truly can begin a new spell cast. I'm sure I'm explaining it improperly, but it is a mod I highly recommend - since using it I've seen my heals go up and overheals go down since I'm now cognizant of how long its taking a spell to finish casting. Besides Quartz and Healbot I've also got Smart Buff which helps me control buffs raid and group wise (Healbot does this too, but sometimes its too much information), Resspeak for rezzing, and I particularly love Omen for threat meter goodness. I seldom hit the top of the threat list, instead I use the mod more for figuring out who the next target will probably be and get a heal ready for them. :D I've saved many a warlock and mage this way. Grats on your getting into Kara - its a very fun instance, probably my favorite instance of them all. My guild can get a full clear in about 4 hours (all bosses except for animal bosses) but I remember the early days where 3 hours saw us maybe getting the first 3 bosses. :D Fun times! --
Its time to put down the pipe and pick up the PWN! |
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| Fireina | #284632 Monday February 25, 2008 at 13:41 | |
All Hail the HypnoToad |
One thing you'll see a lot more of as a raid healer is need to do cross-group healing. The holy healing circle talented heal really helps here, and this is where a resto shamans' Chain heal really shines. In a raid group, your options are limited if you need to heal a lot of people at once, whereas In 5-mans you can just use Prayer of healing. Also, raid fights tend to be more about mana efficiency and duration. There's not very many 5-mans where you have to worry about healing over a long time, managing cooldowns for potions and other things to get mana back, etc. |
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| KeeRissa | #284676 Monday February 25, 2008 at 16:45 | |
Burn or Heal? |
I use Quartz for both my mage and my priest - I swear by it. Roberth gives a good rundown of why it's useful. The latency timer alone is fabulous. (I should mention before I go on that I'm raiding shadow now on my priest, so this is my experience healing through most of SSC/TK before I switched permanently to shadow). I dislike Healbot *immensely*....let me repeat, *immensely*. It's all about how you heal, though, and Healbot to me is counterintuitive. I use Click2Cast and Grid. Now, I was dragged kicking and screaming into Grid but I ADORE it. I can see incoming heals (no one else in the raid has to be using it to see them), I can see HoTs and DoTs and things that need the be decursed/removed/cleansed. With Click2Cast and Grid, I saw my overheal go *way* down. On the topic of Flash Heal - I have it bound to a button I can barely reach. To me, it's highly mana inefficient when I can just fire up a downranked Gheal that's going to hit for more for less mana. I am rarely not in the middle of casting a heal. I don't use stop casting macros but since I have all my heals bound to my mouse, I can hit ESC and already have the next heal started. Also, Flash Heal doesn't mesh with the way I use the 5 second rule; it tends to throw off my rhythm. It's a lot about personal choice. :o) For Kara not as big a deal but for 25-mans - GET CoH. Seriously. I hated this spell but it's invaluable in 25-mans, particularly once Hyjal and especially BT become possibilities. Basically, though? HAVE FUN! Fun fun fun! Kara is, as you know, one of the best instances out there. Once you get into the swing, it'll be all about the fun. |
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| Alinna | #284706 Monday February 25, 2008 at 19:29 | |
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Scout |
I totally appreciate all the advice. As you may have surmised, I completed my first Karazhan run, and I was only one of two healers (though the hybrid druid helped on some fights). So, here's how it went. Attumen trash: no problems. A little confusion with shackles and consecrate early on. Attumen: As soon as he popped out, he murdered me. Battle ressed and healed the rest of the fight with no problems. Dancing trash: no problems. Moroes: This one took us two tries. Towards the end of the first try, someone put a dot on one of the shackle targets. Second try was good though I majorly ran out of mana, even with using the Draenei racial and shadowfiend. I was "talked to" about not casting shackle enough, but my target stayed shackled until I ran out of mana and had to really concentrate on healing. Maiden trash: Not too bad. Was murdered by my shackle target once. Maiden: She killed me somehow. I'm still not sure what happened. Opera trash: Aside from being killed once or twice, just fine. Is it normal for paladins to take really big spikes of damage when tanking? Opera (Oz): Tin man jumped out and killed me as soon as he started. After a battle res, everything went fine. Curator trash: No problems other than the paladin taking spikes of damage and dying once. Curator: Easy. Nightbane: Not so easy. He landed and insta-killed me once. Battle ressed then feared away from the tank so I couldn't heal and the tank died. Second time we did really good until the tank just...died. I think I had about a tenth of a second left on my heal. Didn't manage to kill him. Okay, so has anyone else had the experience of shackling a target, then turning around to heal the tank, and having that shackled target break out and kill you before the heal even goes off? Also, how do you keep from being insta-killed by things like Attumen or Tinhead as soon as they activate? --
Signature image and avatar both done by Khaira. Thanks Khaira! |
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| Fireina | #284749 Tuesday February 26, 2008 at 04:10 | |
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All Hail the HypnoToad |
A couple of bosses you need to be aware of the agro wipes and not have any Heal or heal-over-time up. Landing phase of nightbane is one of them. Dont do anything that might get you agro when he is landing after a skelly phase. Dont heal, don't have any HoT's up, just let the tank grab him. Attumen is a bit tricky too and you really have to trust that the tank or offtank will grab him when he pops out. Kara really is a good test of a variety of healing skills you'll need later on in 25-man raids. -F |
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| Roberth | #284750 Tuesday February 26, 2008 at 05:10 | |
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Holy "Diver!" Priest |
quote: Originally posted by Alinna: I totally appreciate all the advice. As you may have surmised, I completed my first Karazhan run, and I was only one of two healers (though the hybrid druid helped on some fights). So, here's how it went. Attumen trash: no problems. A little confusion with shackles and consecrate early on. So long as your target is marked, you should do fine with shackles here. I either leave my shackle target as my primary target and use Healbot to heal the raid or I keep Roberth looking at the shackle target and target heal the MT. quote: Originally posted by Alinna: Attumen: As soon as he popped out, he murdered me. Battle ressed and healed the rest of the fight with no problems. Blame your OT or MT on this - one of them wasn't on the ball and didn't get a Sunder on Attumen. :D I personally perch on top of that wagon in the back far away from the action and let someone other than me soak up his first hit. quote: Originally posted by Alinna: Dancing trash: no problems. Moroes: This one took us two tries. Towards the end of the first try, someone put a dot on one of the shackle targets. Second try was good though I majorly ran out of mana, even with using the Draenei racial and shadowfiend. I was "talked to" about not casting shackle enough, but my target stayed shackled until I ran out of mana and had to really concentrate on healing. Boo on people putting dots on your shackle target. Not sure why you would've gotten talked to though if your target stayed shackled. Meh. quote: Originally posted by Alinna: Maiden trash: Not too bad. Was murdered by my shackle target once. Maiden: She killed me somehow. I'm still not sure what happened. You got hit for her Holy Fire after getting a stun I'd imagine. That's how I usually die there. As Priest you'll do lots of dispelling on this fight. quote: Originally posted by Alinna: Opera trash: Aside from being killed once or twice, just fine. Is it normal for paladins to take really big spikes of damage when tanking? Dunno, my raid never has the luxury of having a paladin. quote: Originally posted by Alinna: Opera (Oz): Tin man jumped out and killed me as soon as he started. After a battle res, everything went fine. Again, blame your OT on this - he should've picked up TM and kited him all over the back away from you. quote: Originally posted by Alinna: Curator trash: No problems other than the paladin taking spikes of damage and dying once. Curator: Easy. FYI: When Curator goes into his mode, throw your Shadowfiend on him and DoT him. You'll do tremendous damage and you'll get back alot of mana. Usually if its timed right I can even throw a damage spell on. quote: Originally posted by Alinna: Nightbane: Not so easy. He landed and insta-killed me once. Battle ressed then feared away from the tank so I couldn't heal and the tank died. Second time we did really good until the tank just...died. I think I had about a tenth of a second left on my heal. Didn't manage to kill him. I lay down a Lightwell on this fight but honestly it rarely gets used. If your tank is a warrior and they know how to stance dance, you can FW yourself and not worry about not healing. I'll also throw a Renew on the tank just before the Fear. Nightbane is pretty tough though - I always die on the skellie mobs if I die on this fight. quote: Originally posted by Alinna: Okay, so has anyone else had the experience of shackling a target, then turning around to heal the tank, and having that shackled target break out and kill you before the heal even goes off? Also, how do you keep from being insta-killed by things like Attumen or Tinhead as soon as they activate? Yep - these mobs you're shackling aren't level 60s...they're 70+ and elite so each "tick" (like 3 seconds I think) they get a chance to resist the shackle. As for the others, the OT needs to pick up those targets ASAP, also if you position yourself away from where these mobs/bosses will spawn you can survive better. Attumen always appears from where the repair guy is, so hence why I stand on the wagon in the rear. Tinhead starts from the back there, I start near the balcony. Sounds like you guys did good though if you made it through the first part of Kara. :D --
Its time to put down the pipe and pick up the PWN! |
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| Roberth edited this message on Tuesday February 26, 2008 at 05:23 | ||
| Alaunt | #284776 Tuesday February 26, 2008 at 10:32 | |
Member |
Often people assume that priests were born with this macro but I'm always finding people who don't have it. Copied from http://www.wowwiki.com/Moroes quote: Shadow Priests generally have more spell hit than Holy Priests, and are thus better at maintaining Shackles. Re-cast the shackle every ten seconds or so to reduce the possibility of a target getting loose. If a shackle target does get loose, make sure to call for help. The following macros are useful for casting the shackle without losing your current target: /cast [target=Lord Robin Daris] shackle undead /clearfocus [modifier:shift] [target=focus,dead] [target=focus,noexists] /focus [target=focus,noexists] /script SetRaidTarget("focus", 1) /cast [target=focus] Shackle Undead See Useful Priest Macros for detailed examples and explanation. An addon called UberShackle can also be helpful in reshackling Moroes adds. Basically, before a fight starts you press the macro once to set focus, then until that target dies (or you /clearfocus) everytime you use the macro it will shackle your assigned target (the focus target) without changing your current target. Very useful for Moroes or shackling targets anywhere. I use a variation on my mage for maintaining polymorphs. |
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