The Treasure Of The Midnight Isles
6 days ago
Showing posts with label shout out. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shout out. Show all posts
I'm a bit late to announce this, seeing as how we accomplished the feat on Monday night, but the Summer of Sindragosa has officially come to an end for my raiding team.
Summer is tough on all raid teams really, and we struggled as much as, if not moreso, than any other typical raiding team. As a reminder, we only raid one night a week, and only for two hours. Monday night the stars aligned so that all three of our healers were there, and everyone in the raid was now familiar with the fight. We normally two heal content, and only use our Third Healer to help us learn new fights, or when the mechanics of the fight specifically call for a third healer (i.e. Dreamwalker). Our successful strategy included our ever-flexible Shaman of Awesomeness in his healing spec, DPSing during the first phase, and healing during the second (with every innervate and Power Infusion reserved for him for his mana reserves).
The Summer and the Roster
To give you some context on how brutal summer issues can be to a raid, let's look at some numbers. When you only raid 2 hours a week, attendance issues are severely magnified, however, due to the fact that we only raid 2 hours a week, it is generally less common that we even have issues in the first place. But even we struggled with the summer blues.
Now, to look at roster changes. We had two nights of working on Sindy before we began having roster problems, and had a role switch, most specifically of one of our tanks. While this did not have a negative impact on the fight itself, as the new tank is incredibly good, it did cause a lot of slowdown, as we felt that our new tank, who was normally a DPS, had never tanked in ICC, should get a chance to tank through the entire raid up to and including Sindragosa, so we reset. And then we had two weeks of having to sub some people, and getting new people up to speed on the fight and everything that goes along with that.
The Power of the Versatile Third Healer
So let's talk about the healing makeup. Of the five separate nights we worked on Sindragosa, 2 of those nights were with only two healers (however, on one of those nights we had a shadow priest, and that helped). This was not intentional, and certainly not what we wanted, but our SuperShaman went away for a couple of weeks to do summer things and he is completely irreplacable as it turns out.
Okay well, I think I've gotten carried away with my entire meta-analysis of our Sindy attempts. There were a lot of factors contributing to our final kill that Fulguralis discussed in more detail. He's great at talking strats, and I'm much better at talking stats, if you will, so I tip my hat (which is the same one he wears) to his discussion of it.
I hate it when our Third Healer is gone, but I hope we are never guilty of taking his flexibility for granted. It's one thing to be willing to switch specs for different fights, but quite another thing to ask someone to switch roles so drastically during the fight itself. "Stay in your healing spec, but do damage that will be inefficient and kill your mana and is completely out of your comfort zone!" I mean, really, who asks for that kind of thing?
Me, actually. And it totally worked. Damn that kid is awesome.
I leave you with the required screenshot of a situation in which I hope to spend much less time indulging now that Sindy has died.
Summer is tough on all raid teams really, and we struggled as much as, if not moreso, than any other typical raiding team. As a reminder, we only raid one night a week, and only for two hours. Monday night the stars aligned so that all three of our healers were there, and everyone in the raid was now familiar with the fight. We normally two heal content, and only use our Third Healer to help us learn new fights, or when the mechanics of the fight specifically call for a third healer (i.e. Dreamwalker). Our successful strategy included our ever-flexible Shaman of Awesomeness in his healing spec, DPSing during the first phase, and healing during the second (with every innervate and Power Infusion reserved for him for his mana reserves).
The Summer and the Roster
To give you some context on how brutal summer issues can be to a raid, let's look at some numbers. When you only raid 2 hours a week, attendance issues are severely magnified, however, due to the fact that we only raid 2 hours a week, it is generally less common that we even have issues in the first place. But even we struggled with the summer blues.
- June 7th: Our first attempt on Sindragosa.
- Total number of attempts before first kill: 31
- Total number of nights we attempted Sindragosa: 5 (total amount of time spent on her is probably around 8-9 hours)
- 7 Attempts at 20% buff.
- 8 Attempts at 25% buff.
- 16 Attempts at 30% buff.
Now, to look at roster changes. We had two nights of working on Sindy before we began having roster problems, and had a role switch, most specifically of one of our tanks. While this did not have a negative impact on the fight itself, as the new tank is incredibly good, it did cause a lot of slowdown, as we felt that our new tank, who was normally a DPS, had never tanked in ICC, should get a chance to tank through the entire raid up to and including Sindragosa, so we reset. And then we had two weeks of having to sub some people, and getting new people up to speed on the fight and everything that goes along with that.
The Power of the Versatile Third Healer
So let's talk about the healing makeup. Of the five separate nights we worked on Sindragosa, 2 of those nights were with only two healers (however, on one of those nights we had a shadow priest, and that helped). This was not intentional, and certainly not what we wanted, but our SuperShaman went away for a couple of weeks to do summer things and he is completely irreplacable as it turns out.
- night 1 (7 attempts): 3 healers. Shaman, Druid, Priest.
- night 2 (8 attempts): 2 healers. Druid & Priest. (Shaman on DPS)
- night 3 (2 attempts): 2 healers. Druid & Priest. (Shaman out of town)
- night 4 (7 attempts): 2 healers. Druid & Priest, but Shadow Priest present (Shaman out of town)
- night 5 (7 attempts): alternating attempts with both 2 healers and 3, Druid, Priest, and Shaman. Our final kill had our shaman DPSing during the first phase, and healing during the second.
Okay well, I think I've gotten carried away with my entire meta-analysis of our Sindy attempts. There were a lot of factors contributing to our final kill that Fulguralis discussed in more detail. He's great at talking strats, and I'm much better at talking stats, if you will, so I tip my hat (which is the same one he wears) to his discussion of it.
I hate it when our Third Healer is gone, but I hope we are never guilty of taking his flexibility for granted. It's one thing to be willing to switch specs for different fights, but quite another thing to ask someone to switch roles so drastically during the fight itself. "Stay in your healing spec, but do damage that will be inefficient and kill your mana and is completely out of your comfort zone!" I mean, really, who asks for that kind of thing?
Me, actually. And it totally worked. Damn that kid is awesome.
I leave you with the required screenshot of a situation in which I hope to spend much less time indulging now that Sindy has died.
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I realized this week, as I started counting, that I read about 75 different healing blogs, which encompasses more than half of my WoW reading experience. Instead of making a post every day to inform you of some of the best coming from the healing realm of the blogosphere (and from many blogs that you may not have even heard of), I will sift through it all for you and try to provide links to the best of the week on Fridays.
Hopefully you can discover a lot of great healing blogs this way!
If I tried to link every post I found interesting, the list would never end - so I'm trying to limit it to posts that can give you tips and interesting insight into a specific healing class, or sometimes healing philosophy in general.
Priests
Druids
Shamans
Paladins
Hopefully you can discover a lot of great healing blogs this way!
If I tried to link every post I found interesting, the list would never end - so I'm trying to limit it to posts that can give you tips and interesting insight into a specific healing class, or sometimes healing philosophy in general.
Priests
- Avalonna gives a great explanation of the under-appreciated Hymn of Hope - and how to maximize its usage.
- Holyform offers some tips for Disc priests for the Festergut fight (including how to tell Rotface and Festergut apart!) I'm trying to focus on recent posts, but I can't resist linking to Wikwocket's other ICC Disc tips as well: Gunship! Deathwhisper! Marrowgar! Hope Wik posts Rotface tips in the next week so that I know what to do when my raid tries Rot again... (hint, hint!)
- Shintar asks... two healers or three in your ten man raid?
- Mongrr responds to Ghostcrawler's forum comments on Priests, and finds himself happily surprised. He's just as pleased as I am about GC's explanation of how single target healing is STILL raid healing.
- Speaking of raid healing... Disc Priests are getting too much attention. Derevka is here to give Holy Priests tips on how to raid heal effectively, and he does a great job explaining situations for every spell.
Druids
- Another great Kae pictogram boss explanation! This time it's Blood Queen Lana'thel.
- Druid specific tips on healing in the Sindragosa fight, provided by Tree Bark Jacket.
- Looking for a list of ICC loot for Resto Druids? Tree Haelz has a very nice one. It includes both 10 man and 25 man, as well as heroic versions of both.
- Beruthiel has a really nice analysis of Living Spirit versus Empowered Touch - so well explained, I even understood it!
Shamans
- Wugan waxes philosophical about different types of healing, and categorizes Resto Shammy healing spells accordingly.
- Also, if you are a healing lead or raid leader, check out Wugan's explanation of the different Resto totems and their abilities, cooldowns, benefits, etc.
- Ancestral Knowledge provides tips and pointers to Resto Shammies for Frostwing Halls.
- Windsoar at Jaded Alt gives us a pretty nice Resto Shammy cheat sheet!
- Woot, I've been looking for explanations like this. Zigi tells us (and draws for us... with BOXES) how to face the Rotting Frost Giant for the weekly.
Paladins
- The Bossy Pally talks to you about all the different things you can do with your Cleanse spell.
- Uhm, so, Bossy Pally was super awesome this week, because she ALSO had a great post giving advice and suggestions to the Paladin who has just picked up a Holy offspec at level 40.
- Next week I plan on talking in depth about healer pigeon-holing - and Divine Plea has an excellent discussion about how Pallies get typecasted all the time by people misunderstanding the difference between single target healing and tank healing.
- Saunder at Non-Squishy Heals talks about how he chooses to use his Beacon of Light, which often differs from the traditional Pally expectation of "Beacon one tank, heal the other".
- What do you mean Pallies can't solo-heal Sarth +3? Dristanel says pfffffft to that, and tells you how to do it.
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Do you know who the awesomest person in a 10man raid is?
No, it's not the tank.
Not the raid leader.
Also, not me (I'm second though; Nice try you brown-noser!).
It's the Third Healer.
See, the Third Healer is the magical person who agrees to bounce back and forth between a healing and a DPS spec at your every whim. When you're testing out new strategies and logistics on new bosses, that Third Healer is the lynchpin to success.
When I'm running a raid (I use the word "running" because I don't technically lead, because that requires me to click things like "give people assist" and mark people and that's totally hard, and also, I get really mad when people talk over me, and then I shut up and pout, so it's usually better if someone else takes the official leading role, even if I'm bossing him around from the background... ahem), I like to try new bosses with an eye for surviving as long as possible on our first few attempts. I don't care about enrage timers; I want everyone to live as long as possible so that they can see as much of the boss fight as possible, and get into the swing of things.
And that, my friends, is where the Third Healer comes in.
Our Third Healer is a Resto/Elemental Shammy. He is the perfect Third Healer. What does it take to be a great Third Healer?
This shammy is the best at all those things. The other two healers in our raid DO have off-specs, of course. We *could* DPS if needed. I have a very nice Shadow set, and though I'm not going to top any meters, I could probably... well, still come in dead last but not by a huge margin. The druid healer who sits next to me, however, isn't even hit-capped on his off-spec.
The Shammy in question, however, is never a waste of resources. He can top the DPS when that's his assignment, and he can also top the effective heals when he's healing. He can tank heal if needed. He can raid heal if needed. As a shaman, he is not particularly strong on the mobility front, but that's a feature of his class - not him as a player. And I don't fret about that too much, because the Disc Priest and the Resto Druid have mobility coming out the... well.
Because he is constantly switching back and forth to help us out as we learn new bosses, I have a Third Healer loot rule. That means that his main-spec and off-spec are one and the same for loot purposes. We don't really have strict rules in our raid, it's mostly based on courtesy - if someone has already won something, they can still roll, but we'll give priority to someone who hasn't won anything yet (for the record, this is sooo much easier to do in a 10 man raid!). We do, however, give priority to people's main specs. For the Third Healer, however, he can roll on anything that would benefit either of his specs.
It sure helps that the person who made that rule, however, is one of the healers against whom he will be rolling for items. Not sure how well that would go over if the other healers didn't agree with this philosophy.
Anyway, the point of all this, is that if you are starting to put together some ten man raids, if you are learning new fights - bring someone who can deeps AND heal, and is flexible enough, and willing enough to do both. And don't screw them on loot - you WANT them to maintain a good healing set as well as a good dps set. And that's not always easy!
That Third Healer is integral to learning new fights, especially if you're a pretty casual bunch.
A toast to our Third Healer, who helped us learn every boss in ICC so far!
No, it's not the tank.
Not the raid leader.
Also, not me (I'm second though; Nice try you brown-noser!).
It's the Third Healer.
See, the Third Healer is the magical person who agrees to bounce back and forth between a healing and a DPS spec at your every whim. When you're testing out new strategies and logistics on new bosses, that Third Healer is the lynchpin to success.
When I'm running a raid (I use the word "running" because I don't technically lead, because that requires me to click things like "give people assist" and mark people and that's totally hard, and also, I get really mad when people talk over me, and then I shut up and pout, so it's usually better if someone else takes the official leading role, even if I'm bossing him around from the background... ahem), I like to try new bosses with an eye for surviving as long as possible on our first few attempts. I don't care about enrage timers; I want everyone to live as long as possible so that they can see as much of the boss fight as possible, and get into the swing of things.
And that, my friends, is where the Third Healer comes in.
Our Third Healer is a Resto/Elemental Shammy. He is the perfect Third Healer. What does it take to be a great Third Healer?
- Ability to do solid DPS in one spec
- Ability to do awesome Healing in another spec
- Ability to properly gear both specs
- Patience with a very annoying RL who keeps telling you to switch things around
- Total flexibility
This shammy is the best at all those things. The other two healers in our raid DO have off-specs, of course. We *could* DPS if needed. I have a very nice Shadow set, and though I'm not going to top any meters, I could probably... well, still come in dead last but not by a huge margin. The druid healer who sits next to me, however, isn't even hit-capped on his off-spec.
The Shammy in question, however, is never a waste of resources. He can top the DPS when that's his assignment, and he can also top the effective heals when he's healing. He can tank heal if needed. He can raid heal if needed. As a shaman, he is not particularly strong on the mobility front, but that's a feature of his class - not him as a player. And I don't fret about that too much, because the Disc Priest and the Resto Druid have mobility coming out the... well.
Because he is constantly switching back and forth to help us out as we learn new bosses, I have a Third Healer loot rule. That means that his main-spec and off-spec are one and the same for loot purposes. We don't really have strict rules in our raid, it's mostly based on courtesy - if someone has already won something, they can still roll, but we'll give priority to someone who hasn't won anything yet (for the record, this is sooo much easier to do in a 10 man raid!). We do, however, give priority to people's main specs. For the Third Healer, however, he can roll on anything that would benefit either of his specs.
It sure helps that the person who made that rule, however, is one of the healers against whom he will be rolling for items. Not sure how well that would go over if the other healers didn't agree with this philosophy.
Anyway, the point of all this, is that if you are starting to put together some ten man raids, if you are learning new fights - bring someone who can deeps AND heal, and is flexible enough, and willing enough to do both. And don't screw them on loot - you WANT them to maintain a good healing set as well as a good dps set. And that's not always easy!
That Third Healer is integral to learning new fights, especially if you're a pretty casual bunch.
A toast to our Third Healer, who helped us learn every boss in ICC so far!
The aftermath of the Circle of Healers survey explosion left me with about 50 new blogs added to my google reader. I updated my blogroll then, initially including everyone who had responded to the survey... but then, as you might have noticed, the survey responses just kept on growing beyond the capacity of my posted blogroll.
I updated it this morning. While I'm not really that exclusive about the blogs pumped into my google reader, I didn't want to have a long list of recommended blogs. Basically, in the section for Circle of Healers, I wanted to include a selection of various healing classes (though with Healing Way shutting down, there is yet again a shortage of strong Resto Shammy bloggers).
The other thing I wanted to note is that I do not normally include big name blogs on my blogroll, though there are some exceptions. I love BBB and Pink Pigtail Inn and read them religiously - but I sort of assume that if you are reading this blog, you already know about them, and don't really need my recommendation. I prefer to point you in the direction of some possibly lesser known blogs that you might not have found otherwise, because I personally think these writers are fantastic. I based this on number of subscriptions via google reader, so I could be completely off.
Whether it be pure entertainment value from Tamarind, thought provoking posts from Rejuvo, handy tips from The Bossy Pally, or some hardcore theorycrafting explanation from MoarHPS, my hope is that you will find every site I link from my blogroll to be not only clearly and well written, but also a solid resource on some level. These are my favorites for good reason!
ETA: WHERE IS MORTIGAN THE LOCK?!!?!? I went to his blog this morning to add it to this post as one of my favorites... and it's GONE!!! Has anyone heard from him? Now I'm really worried. Send out the search parties!!!
I updated it this morning. While I'm not really that exclusive about the blogs pumped into my google reader, I didn't want to have a long list of recommended blogs. Basically, in the section for Circle of Healers, I wanted to include a selection of various healing classes (though with Healing Way shutting down, there is yet again a shortage of strong Resto Shammy bloggers).
The other thing I wanted to note is that I do not normally include big name blogs on my blogroll, though there are some exceptions. I love BBB and Pink Pigtail Inn and read them religiously - but I sort of assume that if you are reading this blog, you already know about them, and don't really need my recommendation. I prefer to point you in the direction of some possibly lesser known blogs that you might not have found otherwise, because I personally think these writers are fantastic. I based this on number of subscriptions via google reader, so I could be completely off.
Whether it be pure entertainment value from Tamarind, thought provoking posts from Rejuvo, handy tips from The Bossy Pally, or some hardcore theorycrafting explanation from MoarHPS, my hope is that you will find every site I link from my blogroll to be not only clearly and well written, but also a solid resource on some level. These are my favorites for good reason!
ETA: WHERE IS MORTIGAN THE LOCK?!!?!? I went to his blog this morning to add it to this post as one of my favorites... and it's GONE!!! Has anyone heard from him? Now I'm really worried. Send out the search parties!!!
I think I've been found out. They must know that I'm a closet blogger around here, because suddenly I have a lot more work than the past two months. So, I'm going to try and sneak in another mini-post with some "lazy link" action. Personally, it's not so much laziness as sneakiness. Dude, I'm a dwarf, I don't do sneaky well (don't even get me started on Dwarf rogues).
Oh also, I found Presaya's posted screenshot of that scam email so interesting that I issue a challenge to you readers - do you have any screenshots of scam emails you've received? Email them to missmedicina at gmail dot com (go ahead and blur out you email address and names if you like) and if I get more than 3 different scam screenshots via email, I'll see if I can get a screenshot of an authentic Blizz email, and make a little game out of it.
- Verile over at Rejuvo made a short post regarding her (crap, his? OH SEXUALLY AMBIGUOUS INTERNET HANDLES I LOATHE THEE) feelings about PuG raids. I have yet to make my big post about how pugs are awesome and everyone else is just a whiny-face, but Verile does a really job of succinctly covering a similar attitude about them. Check it.
- Presaya at Balance of Power scared the holy nova out of me with this screenshot of a scam email she received (again, ambiguity, le sigh). This thing is very believable folks - scammers are getting very good at what they do, it's no longer just some level 1 warrior named JXHEWWWUIF in Stormwind spamming trade. Seriously, keep an eye out - because what Presaya posted would fool most folks - myself included. Good thing I never remember to pay attention to anything in my inbox anyway.
- I have rediscovered a priest blog that I think I found a month or two ago and just forgot to add to my google reader that I absolutely love... OMG..Priest! has all kinds of actually very useful stuff! She (he? DAMMIT) is currently working on a "heal through ToC" series that appears to be focused towards holy priests - and it's pretty good. Also, the oops-I-wiped-the-raid confessional post is my new favorite. Now, everyone go clicky those links and bring Exanna over here to say hi in a comment <3
Oh also, I found Presaya's posted screenshot of that scam email so interesting that I issue a challenge to you readers - do you have any screenshots of scam emails you've received? Email them to missmedicina at gmail dot com (go ahead and blur out you email address and names if you like) and if I get more than 3 different scam screenshots via email, I'll see if I can get a screenshot of an authentic Blizz email, and make a little game out of it.
Thanks to my favorite butt of a bear, a fantastic event happened this weekend - Raid for the Cure, in honor of a WoW player named Julie who recently discovered the has Breast Cancer. All the details can be found at BBB, but I wanted to share some of my own screenshots of pinkness for you folks!
I was running late (literally - it's a long haul from Ironforge to Darnassus!) so I met up with the group in Auberdine... and this is what came off of the boat to greet me!
We made our way slowly, but surely, with guards from Sidhe Devils to protect us, through Darkshore.
After safely transversing Darkshore, we paraded through the Barrens to meet up with our Horde companions in Crossroads.
(PS nothing hotter than an Orc in pink!)
Combined Alliance and Horde forces continued on to Ratchet to jump on a boat.
One quick overseas voyage, and we arrived at our final destination: Booty Bay!
And there, we assembled on the bank roof and danced, yelled, shrieked, lawled, and generally emoted our attempts to raise awareness about cancer. As if all the pink shirts weren't enough.
And then Fulguralis, Fuubaar, and myself decided to have a peaceful game of hearts... before I got disconnected ;)
Thanks for everyone who joined in, and thanks to BBB and Sidhe Devils for organizing such a great event.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
During the run, lots of people were telling, in various channels, the stories of those they know who have suffered from all forms of cancer - not just Breast Cancer. Here, I'll share mine.
A few years ago my father informed me he had been diagnosed with Lymphoma, and that it was most likely due to his time in Vietnam and Agent Orange. He is, thankfully, in remission. I know Veteran's Day has now passed for us Americans, but please think of the Vietnam Vets that you know, and call them and remind them to go to their doctors and be on the alert for signs of Lymphoma. I thank God every day that my dad chose to fight the disease, and is still around to show that he won. Not everyone is so lucky.
If you are a smoker, consider switching to vaping in an effort to quit. My fiance and some of the guys from Save or Die Radio have started recording a podcast all about vaping - all of my friends and I have switched from smoking to vaping, and I strongly encourage you to do so as well. If the health benefits don't convince you, then maybe the cost benefits will. No one here will judge you for being a smoker - but seriously, vaping is so much better for you, and a helluva lot more fun!
Cancer is one of those diseases I can't abolish, and dying from it is one death I can't rez. So stay out of the damn Cancer-fire!
I was running late (literally - it's a long haul from Ironforge to Darnassus!) so I met up with the group in Auberdine... and this is what came off of the boat to greet me!
We made our way slowly, but surely, with guards from Sidhe Devils to protect us, through Darkshore.
After safely transversing Darkshore, we paraded through the Barrens to meet up with our Horde companions in Crossroads.
(PS nothing hotter than an Orc in pink!)
Combined Alliance and Horde forces continued on to Ratchet to jump on a boat.
One quick overseas voyage, and we arrived at our final destination: Booty Bay!
And there, we assembled on the bank roof and danced, yelled, shrieked, lawled, and generally emoted our attempts to raise awareness about cancer. As if all the pink shirts weren't enough.
And then Fulguralis, Fuubaar, and myself decided to have a peaceful game of hearts... before I got disconnected ;)
Thanks for everyone who joined in, and thanks to BBB and Sidhe Devils for organizing such a great event.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
During the run, lots of people were telling, in various channels, the stories of those they know who have suffered from all forms of cancer - not just Breast Cancer. Here, I'll share mine.
A few years ago my father informed me he had been diagnosed with Lymphoma, and that it was most likely due to his time in Vietnam and Agent Orange. He is, thankfully, in remission. I know Veteran's Day has now passed for us Americans, but please think of the Vietnam Vets that you know, and call them and remind them to go to their doctors and be on the alert for signs of Lymphoma. I thank God every day that my dad chose to fight the disease, and is still around to show that he won. Not everyone is so lucky.
If you are a smoker, consider switching to vaping in an effort to quit. My fiance and some of the guys from Save or Die Radio have started recording a podcast all about vaping - all of my friends and I have switched from smoking to vaping, and I strongly encourage you to do so as well. If the health benefits don't convince you, then maybe the cost benefits will. No one here will judge you for being a smoker - but seriously, vaping is so much better for you, and a helluva lot more fun!
Cancer is one of those diseases I can't abolish, and dying from it is one death I can't rez. So stay out of the damn Cancer-fire!
I think I've confessed on multiple occasions to my fellow priests that one of my worst healer habits is my neglect of the obscenely powerful Divine Hymn. I believe I also mentioned somewhere that I am going to start forcing myself to use it, even when it's a waste, just to get myself into the habit, and remember where the damn button is.
Then Tamarind over at Righteous Orbs posted his response to the Healer Survey, and responded similarly to the question regarding bad healer habits, except with much cleverer terminology. Since I just can't get enough of his response, I'm quoting it to you for the second time is only a handful of days...
Since I can never read that response without laughing and smiling, I finally decided that this is the key to getting myself to use DH.
So I requested the aid of a friend of mine who shakes his head at my complete inability to write any type of macro, and he helped me create my new Divine Hymn macro. Here is is, if you'd like to use it too:
/cast Divine Hymn
/say This is a bloody battle, no time for singing!!!
(I changed it from the f-bomb in case it might upset others who are caught unawares by a cursing priest)
Just for the record, due solely to that macro, I used Diving Hymn about 15 times in one day. Sure, half of those were standing on the fountain in Dalaran, but at least I now know where the button is.
I think that as a tribute to our hilarious priestly RPing comrade on the other side of that giant lake called the Atlantic Ocean (at least, it is for me!), all of us healers should start a Tam-Fad, and make similar Divine Hymn macros. If I see anyone else using this macro, I will know right away that they are either a blogger or a blog-lover!
(psssst, word on the grapevine is that Death Goddess has begun a DPS version of the healing survey. I'm totally ignoring it. No, I refuse to link to it, don't even bother asking. Nyah.)
Then Tamarind over at Righteous Orbs posted his response to the Healer Survey, and responded similarly to the question regarding bad healer habits, except with much cleverer terminology. Since I just can't get enough of his response, I'm quoting it to you for the second time is only a handful of days...
"I’m another divine hymn reprobate. I’ve literally never ever used it.
It’s embarrassing but there never seems to be a situation in which some
other healing spell wouldn’t do the job better. Also it’s just got a
rubbish name. This is a fucking battle, no time for singing!"
Since I can never read that response without laughing and smiling, I finally decided that this is the key to getting myself to use DH.
So I requested the aid of a friend of mine who shakes his head at my complete inability to write any type of macro, and he helped me create my new Divine Hymn macro. Here is is, if you'd like to use it too:
/cast Divine Hymn
/say This is a bloody battle, no time for singing!!!
(I changed it from the f-bomb in case it might upset others who are caught unawares by a cursing priest)
Just for the record, due solely to that macro, I used Diving Hymn about 15 times in one day. Sure, half of those were standing on the fountain in Dalaran, but at least I now know where the button is.
I think that as a tribute to our hilarious priestly RPing comrade on the other side of that giant lake called the Atlantic Ocean (at least, it is for me!), all of us healers should start a Tam-Fad, and make similar Divine Hymn macros. If I see anyone else using this macro, I will know right away that they are either a blogger or a blog-lover!
(psssst, word on the grapevine is that Death Goddess has begun a DPS version of the healing survey. I'm totally ignoring it. No, I refuse to link to it, don't even bother asking. Nyah.)
Powered by ScribeFire.
Couple of random tidbits floating around in my head.
So many bloggers getting involved in NaNo! You are much more courageous than I. I'll try to hold down the fort so you can write your novels this month, and therefore I'll probably be posting a bit more frequently. My usual schedule is about once a day, but I'll probably be making shorter posts a couple of times a day for a few weeks.
Tier 10 preview is out. Rogues continue to leave me gasping for breath as I guffaw rudely. I think Blizz is trying to make Druids happy that their armor can't be seen while they are in form so that they will stop whining. Do you *really* want people to see your gear, Antler Head? Pallies in skirts just make my day. What about the Priest t10? Yawn. Completely and utterly booooooring.
Mongrr made a fabulous post at Save the Lightwell yesterday with all kinds of information refuting common complaints about the love-it-or-hate-it Holy Priest spell Lightwell. I added a link to it on my page discussing the merits of speccing into Lightwell, but the StL post is far superior to my own.
I had a very delightful surprise last night when a healer of the non-squishy variety (!) sent me a tell last night from a level 1 character, offering to help out with the Healer Survey data entry. I might actually take him up on this... I'm going to see how far I can get this weekend, and if progress is still painfully slow, then I may take him up on his offer. If anyone else is interested in helping out with this project, please leave me a comment - I haven't decided if I'm ready to relinquish control of mah baby yet, but I also do want to get it all taken care of.
The Christmas spirit is upon us! Between BBB's Raid for the Cure (which is an awesome event because BBB is not telling everyone they should donate to one organization - you are eligible for the drawing even if you choose a different organization to handle your donation), or blame Syrana for Twitter being so annoyingly popular. Or even better, split your donation to Make a Wish Foundation by giving half of it to Blizzard, and you get a free pet! Wait... did I say that backwards? Ah, well, Freud is a bitch.
More later on endangered talents. The title of this post is a reference to a statement Gordin made regarding the recently ousted mayor of Fifth-Third, Ohi... oops, sorry, Dayton, Ohio. Damn, there's that Freud again.
So many bloggers getting involved in NaNo! You are much more courageous than I. I'll try to hold down the fort so you can write your novels this month, and therefore I'll probably be posting a bit more frequently. My usual schedule is about once a day, but I'll probably be making shorter posts a couple of times a day for a few weeks.
Tier 10 preview is out. Rogues continue to leave me gasping for breath as I guffaw rudely. I think Blizz is trying to make Druids happy that their armor can't be seen while they are in form so that they will stop whining. Do you *really* want people to see your gear, Antler Head? Pallies in skirts just make my day. What about the Priest t10? Yawn. Completely and utterly booooooring.
Mongrr made a fabulous post at Save the Lightwell yesterday with all kinds of information refuting common complaints about the love-it-or-hate-it Holy Priest spell Lightwell. I added a link to it on my page discussing the merits of speccing into Lightwell, but the StL post is far superior to my own.
I had a very delightful surprise last night when a healer of the non-squishy variety (!) sent me a tell last night from a level 1 character, offering to help out with the Healer Survey data entry. I might actually take him up on this... I'm going to see how far I can get this weekend, and if progress is still painfully slow, then I may take him up on his offer. If anyone else is interested in helping out with this project, please leave me a comment - I haven't decided if I'm ready to relinquish control of mah baby yet, but I also do want to get it all taken care of.
The Christmas spirit is upon us! Between BBB's Raid for the Cure (which is an awesome event because BBB is not telling everyone they should donate to one organization - you are eligible for the drawing even if you choose a different organization to handle your donation), or blame Syrana for Twitter being so annoyingly popular. Or even better, split your donation to Make a Wish Foundation by giving half of it to Blizzard, and you get a free pet! Wait... did I say that backwards? Ah, well, Freud is a bitch.
More later on endangered talents. The title of this post is a reference to a statement Gordin made regarding the recently ousted mayor of Fifth-Third, Ohi... oops, sorry, Dayton, Ohio. Damn, there's that Freud again.
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In case you are interested (and please, pass it on!) Koriel over at What is Boom took the Healer Survey and converted it for tanks - so if you have a tank and like filling out and posting these surveys, try a Circle of Tanks!
A big thanks to everyone who responded to the no-seriously-this-is-not-a-meme healing survey! I hope that those of you who are linked on the page will benefit from the extra traffic, and be encouraged to post more useful information! It probably goes without saying, but the survey became vastly larger than I expected, and despite my best efforts, I just can't keep up with finding everyone who has responded and linked to the post, unless you left a comment for me - too many WoW.com hits have flooded by statcounter log. Not that I'm complaining... it was like having a big weekend party at my house. I will try to continue posting links to blogs that responded as long as you leave a comment, however.
I'm still trying to work my way through all the responses... I've been trying to copy and paste them all into a word document, but after crashing word a few times, I gave up for awhile. I do fully intend to finish reading through them though, and I am pleased that all the new material will hopefully help everyone who reads them become a better healer.
So far, one of the best things I've seen to come out of it is a post over at MoarHPS. Noting how few people really understood how the stats that come from meters work, Moar posted a really informative guide explaining how all those measurements work, and what they are good for. I think the point is that while meters are not the end-all, be-all for healers, they can definitely be used to help you figure out where your strengths are, and where you need to tweak - as long as you understand what they mean. I'm exceedingly grateful to Moar for the post, because I wasn't willing to admit how poor my understanding of those stats was >.>
On a slightly less happy note, there was a pretty nasty comment over at WoW.com referring to my own answers to the survey that I wanted to respond to here. Had I known the survey would become so big, and so many people would be looking at my own answers with such a critical eye, I might have explained my answers better. So, from the perspective of this holy priest, I'm going to respond to the criticisms leveled at my answers - because it's my site and I'll do what I want to, even though I know that some people just want to rip others apart, even though they may have no better answers themselves. So there. Suck it.
Lack of Burst Healing for Holy Priests
One of the questions on the survey I wrote was "what is the biggest weakness of your class?" Some of you might have found this very difficult to answer! I know that I did, because the thing about Holy Priests is that we can do a little bit of everything, and quite well. We can fit into any healing role. But, as with every jack of all trades, there are none for which we are truly the master. One thing that I have desperately craved since the days of Kel'Thuzad is a solid single target instant burst heal. The critic in question insisted we have plenty of burst heal options, and for each spell they mentioned as an example, I will respond accordingly:
I will be the first to admit that I am far too sensitive to criticism, but despite that, this comment reminded me of the same thing that always annoys me about so many players - that the vast amount of wow players are not in the upper echelon of raiding. Why do I rarely use Divine Hymn? Because I'm serious when I say that I'm rarely in a situation in which that powerful of a healing spell is needed - usually a CoH or a Serendipity-hasted Prayer of Healing will more than suffice. Were I currently working on TotGC 25 man hard mode, I'm sure my answer would be different. But I'm not. I am probably one of those average WoW players, really. I do 10 man raids regularly, I do 25 mans on occasion, and I do a lot of 5 mans. I like to think that were I interested in participating in hard core raids that I would perform fairly well, but the truth is, I just don't want to make the commitment that requires.
There are a lot of new subscribers to my blog, so it probably bears repeating here that while my focus is on Holy Priests, and to a lesser extent Disc Priests, I do discuss a lot of the issues relevant to assembling a strong healing team for raiding, as well as some officeering topics. However, I am not solely interested in raiding - if you prefer 5 man content, I always try to consider that aspect as well when discussing Priest mechanics. I see too many people give advice to priests that completely ignores the differences between a 5 man scenario, and a 10 man or 25 man scenario. Healing a 5 man all by yourself is actually quite different than healing in a raid. I do try to always keep that in mind when I dish out Medicinal Wisdom :)
NB: For those of you wondering, part of the reason why I'm not using pictures so much in my posts these days is due to the covert way in which I am forced to blog at my current job. Pictures of WoW related things seem to be a bit of a red flag on google reader when my boss walks by. I would apologize for the walls of text, but I feel apologies should carry an intention of stopping the crime with them, and since I have no intention of stopping... well, you see the dilemma.
I'm still trying to work my way through all the responses... I've been trying to copy and paste them all into a word document, but after crashing word a few times, I gave up for awhile. I do fully intend to finish reading through them though, and I am pleased that all the new material will hopefully help everyone who reads them become a better healer.
So far, one of the best things I've seen to come out of it is a post over at MoarHPS. Noting how few people really understood how the stats that come from meters work, Moar posted a really informative guide explaining how all those measurements work, and what they are good for. I think the point is that while meters are not the end-all, be-all for healers, they can definitely be used to help you figure out where your strengths are, and where you need to tweak - as long as you understand what they mean. I'm exceedingly grateful to Moar for the post, because I wasn't willing to admit how poor my understanding of those stats was >.>
On a slightly less happy note, there was a pretty nasty comment over at WoW.com referring to my own answers to the survey that I wanted to respond to here. Had I known the survey would become so big, and so many people would be looking at my own answers with such a critical eye, I might have explained my answers better. So, from the perspective of this holy priest, I'm going to respond to the criticisms leveled at my answers - because it's my site and I'll do what I want to, even though I know that some people just want to rip others apart, even though they may have no better answers themselves. So there. Suck it.
Lack of Burst Healing for Holy Priests
One of the questions on the survey I wrote was "what is the biggest weakness of your class?" Some of you might have found this very difficult to answer! I know that I did, because the thing about Holy Priests is that we can do a little bit of everything, and quite well. We can fit into any healing role. But, as with every jack of all trades, there are none for which we are truly the master. One thing that I have desperately craved since the days of Kel'Thuzad is a solid single target instant burst heal. The critic in question insisted we have plenty of burst heal options, and for each spell they mentioned as an example, I will respond accordingly:
- Power Word: Shield - This is NOT instant burst heal, and to say that it is is so ridiculously silly that it barely warrants response. This will reduce the next incoming damage of course, but I'm talking about green-bar-go-up type mechanics when I say burst healing. Is it something that can be used in an emergency scenario to keep the target from dying from the NEXT hit? Of course it is - but that was not what i was talking about.
- Prayer of Mending - First of all, as Matticus discussed in a post that all Disc Priests should definitely read, Prayer of Mending doesn't go off if the damage is absorbed from a shield instead. Prayer of Mending needs to be cast BEFORE the damage hits in order to heal. The target CAN die from the damage before benefitting from the PoM heal, if I understand the mechanics of this spell correctly (if this is not the case, please correct me). Therefore, this is NOT instant burst healing that makes the green bar go up immediately - it is a response to the next bout of damage. I am talking about the desire for something to respond to a massive damage input that has already happened.
- Surge of Light - Sorry, I don't always have a surge of light proc sitting in my pocket. It's great when it procs, but because it is a proc, and because it is based on crit, which in and of itself is based on chance, you cannot rely on a surge of light to be there when you need it.
- Circle of Healing - This is a viable answer - and this, in addition to Empowered Renew, is what I currently use when an individual needs an immediate burst of healing. With any luck, I can CoH, Renew, and have a SoL proc - but all of those are subject to global cooldown, and do NOT aggregate into a single target instant burst heal. And yes, this works quite well, but I suppose it really grates on me to use an AoE spell to respond to single target damage.
I will be the first to admit that I am far too sensitive to criticism, but despite that, this comment reminded me of the same thing that always annoys me about so many players - that the vast amount of wow players are not in the upper echelon of raiding. Why do I rarely use Divine Hymn? Because I'm serious when I say that I'm rarely in a situation in which that powerful of a healing spell is needed - usually a CoH or a Serendipity-hasted Prayer of Healing will more than suffice. Were I currently working on TotGC 25 man hard mode, I'm sure my answer would be different. But I'm not. I am probably one of those average WoW players, really. I do 10 man raids regularly, I do 25 mans on occasion, and I do a lot of 5 mans. I like to think that were I interested in participating in hard core raids that I would perform fairly well, but the truth is, I just don't want to make the commitment that requires.
There are a lot of new subscribers to my blog, so it probably bears repeating here that while my focus is on Holy Priests, and to a lesser extent Disc Priests, I do discuss a lot of the issues relevant to assembling a strong healing team for raiding, as well as some officeering topics. However, I am not solely interested in raiding - if you prefer 5 man content, I always try to consider that aspect as well when discussing Priest mechanics. I see too many people give advice to priests that completely ignores the differences between a 5 man scenario, and a 10 man or 25 man scenario. Healing a 5 man all by yourself is actually quite different than healing in a raid. I do try to always keep that in mind when I dish out Medicinal Wisdom :)
NB: For those of you wondering, part of the reason why I'm not using pictures so much in my posts these days is due to the covert way in which I am forced to blog at my current job. Pictures of WoW related things seem to be a bit of a red flag on google reader when my boss walks by. I would apologize for the walls of text, but I feel apologies should carry an intention of stopping the crime with them, and since I have no intention of stopping... well, you see the dilemma.
If you are participating in the non-memey Healer Questionnaire, you may want to bookmark this post, as this is where I will be keeping track of people who have responded and posted their own answers. Consider it like a Chain Heal... it started with me and went to someone else who will hopefully send it to someone else, and so forth. My hope is that no matter how far out that chain heal extends, I can maintain a list of all the responders here! (See what I did there Zigi? That was for you!) Hopefully the survey will experience some Wild Growth. Ha ha I'm so full of funny. Okay, bad puns aside....
If you know of someone who has responded who is not included on this list, please let me know via comment! Also, if you do post a questionnaire response, it would be great if you linked back to this post so that others can also see who all has answered.
Once this post was linked from WoW Insider, the amount of traffic quickly surpassed my ability to keep up with all the responses (not that I'm complaining!). That having been said, I will continue to try and keep track of the people who have responded on their blogs, as long as you comment and leave me a link! There are also a lot of people who have left their responses in the comments section below, so be sure to check it out.
ETA: Hey look! Koriel at What is Boom started a Circle of Tanks!
ETA: If you are looking for responses in French, pop on over to wowfrostmage, where the generous proprietor has assembled a list - merci!
Holy Priests (Most of us roll Bubbly on occasion):
Disc Priests:
Resto Druids:
Holy Paladin
Overachievers who have too many healers:
Some time this weekend I am going to totally geek out and... /cue dramatic music.. ANALYZE TEH DATAZ
Stay tuned! I'm trying to keep this updated as quickly as possible! If you notice someone is missing, and it's been more than 24 hours since they posted, please shoot me an email to let me know -> elimeny at gmail dot com.
Thanks!
If you know of someone who has responded who is not included on this list, please let me know via comment! Also, if you do post a questionnaire response, it would be great if you linked back to this post so that others can also see who all has answered.
Once this post was linked from WoW Insider, the amount of traffic quickly surpassed my ability to keep up with all the responses (not that I'm complaining!). That having been said, I will continue to try and keep track of the people who have responded on their blogs, as long as you comment and leave me a link! There are also a lot of people who have left their responses in the comments section below, so be sure to check it out.
ETA: Hey look! Koriel at What is Boom started a Circle of Tanks!
ETA: If you are looking for responses in French, pop on over to wowfrostmage, where the generous proprietor has assembled a list - merci!
Holy Priests (Most of us roll Bubbly on occasion):
- Miss Medicina – Jessabelle
- Christine - Amerence
- Righteous Orbs - Yay Tamarind joined the party! I was feeling like the only Holy Priest on teh interwebs!
- Theatre of the Absurd - Tiis
- Artisan Level - Maegwen
- Holy Nova NOW! - Bati (it's a swinging i as i like to call it, but i fail at putting in different characters...)
- Priest with a Cause - Shintar
- Rainbow MMO - Bloodsun
- Harpy's Nest - Erinys
- Empowered Healing - Andracon
- Strictly Heals - Suvixon
- Peripeteia - Sabely (btw Sabely, your site is beautiful!)
- SpriestBlog! - Spazmoosifer (lol epic)
- Misadventures of a Priest - Elisse
- Balance of Power: Earth and Moon - Presaya
- The Unconventional Priest - Fuyuko
- She Plays Wow - Caste
- Priest Punditry - Mads
Disc Priests:
- Killing 'Em Slowly - Abigora
- I Like Bubbles finally got harassed into joining (thanks everyone for helping with the pointy pokes) - Lyrandre
- Anathema - Sinespe (well, normally Shadow, but shh)
- Penance Priest - Paolo
- Save the Lightwell - Mongrr
- A Klockwerk Luka - Klockwerk
- Hybrid Love - Amharach
- World of Matticus - Matticus was very sad that no one tagged him earlier. We musn't forget to invite the big famous guys to the party as well!
- Mind Blast - Kaelea
- Divine Aegis - Lilitharien
- Duct Tape and a Prayer - Theande
- BobTurkey - Turkelife
- WoWGrrl - Shrimproll
- Troll Bouquet - Grindall
- Rez the Weak - Xeonio
- Pain Suppression - Sheqeri
- Runcible Trout - Runcible
- Twenty-Five Boxes – Zigi
- DKDeathGoddess - Hinenuitepo (It's a DK blog, but one can't resist a NON-MEME!
- Planet of the Hats - Chayah
- Unreal Realities - Serevok - Two thumbs up for using the proper plural of Shaman! My OCD side just twitched a little in happiness!
- Cat Tales - Ezza
- Tank 2 Heals - Airdrigh
- Shamantics - Exelus
- Shaman on Ramen - Elam
- Altadin - Liluye
- Sham's Life - Khaelie
- A Shaman's Journey - Nimayne
- Healing Way - Llyra
- Cabboose - Cabbini (with another swinging i!)
- Blueberry Totem - Rahana
- Life in Group 5 - Vixsin
- Monstarkin - Kelmaa
- Kattastrophe
- Elemental Healing - Selacia
- Kamalia et alia - Kamalia
Resto Druids:
- Sheep It – Kailanii
- Kotakh (not a blogger, but responded in a comment)
- Kungaloosh AKA Shadow Word: Blog - Sammich
- Dreambound - Kaelynn
- The Angry Healers - Aanthe (You have to check this site out - the banner alone made me guffaw in ways that should not be done at 8:30 in the morning)
- HoTs & DoTs - Lathere
- Rejuvo - Verile
- Sushi-Cookie was sad to not get tagged - but I could have SWORN i saw some sushi tagging somewhere - or maybe it was something i thought about but forgot to do, so now I shall make you pie.. PIE! - Sersokhi
- RamblingDwarf's responses cracked me up - Kochi - Dwarf Warrior.. oh wait, I mean Resto Druid!
- DoTs & HoTs (I giggled) - Tatia
- Unreal Realities - Isla - The Tree of the group chimes in!
- Dysmorphia at LiveJournal
- Tree of Doom - Hermia
- DorkArt on Livejournal - this is a PvP resto druid, which is really interesting to read, since I don't PvP much! Great info if you do :)
- Tree Healz - almost missed your comment, Firewood (ps i LOVE your name) - sorry for the delay!
- 4 Haelz - Bellwether
- Restokin - Lissanna
- Forrestump - Forrestump (yet another name I love)
- Evian Tree Bear - Wingood
- Elsen
- French Version posted on WowFrostMage - Killh
- Divine Aegis - Oestrus
- Buel's World - Buel
- Wild Growth - Tazha
- Druid Tree - Innoue
- Nerf This Druid - Averna
- Resto-Melee - Mikata (Sorry I missed this earlier!)
- Cannot be Tamed - Jasyla
- Monstarkin - Rebella
Holy Paladin
- The Bossy Pally and the Giant Spoon (YES A SPOON) - Rykga
- MoarHPS - Uruz
- The *urnaks - Turnak
- HolyPaladin.net
- Divine Plea - Amathalanea
- I Sheep Things - Myrhani
- Non-Squishy Heals - Saunder
- Unreal Realities - Nazaniel - There are several healers over at UR, the resident Pally pipes in to clear up some pally-confusion!
- The Secret of Being Numb - Beladin
- Holy Shock - Ruhtra
- Lux Legis - Almaster
- Lintuperspektiivi - Kyer - OMG it's in Finnish! I tried to read it anyway. I was only really able to make out name and class, but baby steps, right? Thanks so much for taking the time to translate it Lintup... Kyer!
- Altoholic Anonymous - Anonymous preserves his anonyminity... anoninnymini... secretness.
- Kurn's Corner - Madrana(h)
- Flash of Moonfire - Gillien
- Resto Nation - Koramoor
- World of Warcraft Wanderings - Akromah
- Snottydin is totally a girl IRL - like, DUH - Snottydin (best response EVAR)
- A Touch of Arcane - Shazalyn
- Holy Ret - Tomkr
- A Healadin's Tear - Tarinae
Overachievers who have too many healers:
- LFM: Need Healer PLZ - K & D - Disc Priest & Resto Shammy, respectively
- Casual Hardcore - Kyrileanthos, Erdkrieg, Maedchen, Selfreya - Holly Pally, Resto Shammy, Holy Priest, and Resto Druid respectively
- Thoughts of a Discipline Priestess - Nymarie - Disc Priest
- There's a thread over at CafeMom for WoW moms for this questionnaire too!
- Falling Leaves and Twigs - Beru (Resto Druid), Dannie (Holy Pally), and Mynn (Resto Shammy)
- Green Bar Spec - Resto Druid, Disc Priest, and Resto Shammy
- Gnome Warrior is an Oxymoron - Druid, Priest, and Shammy
- Light & Leafy - Druid, Priest, and Shammy
Some time this weekend I am going to totally geek out and... /cue dramatic music.. ANALYZE TEH DATAZ
Stay tuned! I'm trying to keep this updated as quickly as possible! If you notice someone is missing, and it's been more than 24 hours since they posted, please shoot me an email to let me know -> elimeny at gmail dot com.
Thanks!
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Looking for a list linking everyone who has participated in the Questionnaire? Miss Medicina at your service!
Ever since my introductory post over at Blog Azeroth, I’ve been meeting quite a few new bloggers who are just loads of fun. Being the type that always likes to foster a sense of community, I thought it would be helpful and beneficial to start a little healing questionnaire going around the interwebs. I refuse to call it a meme.
There are plenty of larger websites where you can find all the healing info you might want in one place (a la plusheal.com), but I’m enjoying following a lot of smaller bloggers as they express their thoughts on healing in this game. In an effort to get a little cross-promotion going amongst some of us smaller heal bloggers, and since I’d really like for all of us to become better connected, I thought this might be a good way to start that. It benefits every healer to understand the other healing classes better, and I think that by connecting us all together, we can accomplish that as well.
I mentioned this idea for a “circle of healing bloggers” to my fiancé, who responded “Oh. Like a webring?” No. Not at all like a we… okay exactly like a webring. Shut your face.
So here’s how it works.
Post this questionnaire, with your answers, on your blog. Pick the healing class you know most about (or is the focus of your blog) for the questionnaire, and then send it over to another healing blogger you know and love who heals with a DIFFERENT class. Include a link to the blogger who sent you the questionnaire, as well as a link to the blogger to whom you are sending it.
So, to start out this meme-that-I-refuse-to-call-a-meme, I'm going to tag multiple people!
Ever since my introductory post over at Blog Azeroth, I’ve been meeting quite a few new bloggers who are just loads of fun. Being the type that always likes to foster a sense of community, I thought it would be helpful and beneficial to start a little healing questionnaire going around the interwebs. I refuse to call it a meme.
There are plenty of larger websites where you can find all the healing info you might want in one place (a la plusheal.com), but I’m enjoying following a lot of smaller bloggers as they express their thoughts on healing in this game. In an effort to get a little cross-promotion going amongst some of us smaller heal bloggers, and since I’d really like for all of us to become better connected, I thought this might be a good way to start that. It benefits every healer to understand the other healing classes better, and I think that by connecting us all together, we can accomplish that as well.
I mentioned this idea for a “circle of healing bloggers” to my fiancé, who responded “Oh. Like a webring?” No. Not at all like a we… okay exactly like a webring. Shut your face.
So here’s how it works.
Post this questionnaire, with your answers, on your blog. Pick the healing class you know most about (or is the focus of your blog) for the questionnaire, and then send it over to another healing blogger you know and love who heals with a DIFFERENT class. Include a link to the blogger who sent you the questionnaire, as well as a link to the blogger to whom you are sending it.
- What is the name, class, and spec of your primary healer? Jessabelle, Holy Priest (and occasional Disc!)
- What is your primary group healing environment? (i.e. raids, pvp, 5 mans) Almost always raiding, fairly evenly split between 10 mans and 25 mans.
- What is your favorite healing spell for your class and why? Circle of Healing, because it's instant, it's AoE, and it's smart! nomnomnom
- What healing spell do you use least for your class and why? Divine Hymn - I just can't seem to get myself to use it, or find a situation in which it would be useful!
- What do you feel is the biggest strength of your healing class and why? Flexibility and versatility. I can handle any healing task needed in a raid, and I can bounce back and forth between multiple healing assignments without a problem.
- What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your healing class and why? Lack of instant burst healing... I'm thinking Penance or even Holy Shock. I wish we had a single target instant burst heal, even if it were on a long cooldown. Something like desperate prayer, but for someone other than ourselves.
- In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best healing assignment for you? Raid healing is best for me - and with that comes the assumption that I will lend a healing hand to any task that needs it, whether it be those stuck in pits or fires or even just some back up on the main tank. It gives me a lot of flexibility.
- What healing class do you enjoy healing with most and why? Probably Disc priests - when they are around, I never feel that I need to bother with bubbling. Also, what healer *doesn't* appreciate 3% reduced damage? I mean, aside from a really bored one, of course. Plus, Penance is really fun to watch.
- What healing class do you enjoy healing with least and why? Druids. Don't get me wrong, I think Druids and Priests play quite well together - we have Divine Spirit, which I'm sure they like, and they have Innervate which makes me drool with love, not to mention combat rezzing. It's just that it can be tricky to heal well with druid priests, because it is difficult to resist healing over their HoTs. I try not to do it whenever possible, because I don't want to waste their mana, but Circle of Healing does not take HoTs into account, and just heals whoever is at the lowest health within range anyway.
- What is your worst habit as a healer? Using my AoE heals when there are only one or two people who need heals! I'm especially bad about this with Circle of Healing.
- What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while healing? I really hate when people say "so and so needs heals!" over vent, unless it is a fight mechanic, or due to some error that person will need more healing than normal. Otherwise, I assure you, I am watching people's health bars more closely than anyone else who is not a healer - I don't need you to tell me who to heal, and if I did, well, then I think we have much bigger problems at hand, haven't we?
- Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other healers for PvE healing? Absolutely. I personally don't there are any other healing classes as well balanced as priests. Others may have more pure healing output, but when it comes to overall balance and viability, Holy Priests have it made, IMO.
- What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a healer? First thing's first, I check to make sure no one is dead. That's the best indicator of healer skill! Secondly, I check my healing output against my overheal amount, and compare it to the other healers in my group. I have a basic idea of where I should fall on the healing meters, and if I'm far above or far below, that gives me an idea of how the healer balance is working out.
- What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your healing class? People make the assumption that Holy Priests are only really good at AoE heals, or raid healing. Holy Priests are fantastic at raid healing, but it's not just because they have good AoE heals - it's also because they can react well to changing fight dynamics, and MT heal if needed. I cringe whenever I hear someone say "holy priests can't MT heal!". Of course we can - it's a waste of our abilities to put us primarily on MT if there is a disc priest or holy pally around, but we can still do a good job.
- What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new healers of your class to learn? First off, newer priests seem to have a hard time remembering to use Binding Heal, and it is really a great spell. I see a lot of new priests merely cast Flash Heal on themselves when they take damage, instead of Binding Heal to someone else who has also taken damage. Lack of use of Binding Heal is probably the biggest indicator of a fresh healing priest, but the biggest difficulty I think newer Holy Priests have is trying to figure out how to boost their mana regen. I see too many focus on Mp5, when Spirit or Intellect would actually benefit them more.
- 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)? Holy Priests tend to be somewhere in the middle on recount, though this can vary a lot depending on what happens during the raid, as they often switch assignments and duties effortlessly when needed. I am likely to fall below Holy Pallies and Druids in total amount healed, but above Resto Shammies and Disc Priests, and my Overhealing is somewhere in middle as well.
- Haste or Crit and why? I prefer balance overall. That having been said, I started by stacking enough crit to nearly ensure me that I will always get a Surge of Light from Prayer of Healing or Circle of Healing (You can never give yourself a 100% chance, but 20-25 is pretty good), after which I began to stack haste indefinitely.
- What healing class do you feel you understand least? Definitely Resto Shammies, and I am working very hard to amend that.
- What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in healing? I use XPerl for unit frames, and Clique for healing. I also use Decursive as a separate mechanic for dispells and abolish disease. IRFAIL at macros.
- Do you strive primarily for balance between your healing stats, or do you stack some much higher than others, and why? My main goal, at this point, is balance. As i start to turn my focus more towards ten man raiding instead of 25 man raiding, I intend to begin stacking a bit more mana regen.
So, to start out this meme-that-I-refuse-to-call-a-meme, I'm going to tag multiple people!
- Fuubaar over at Killing 'em Slowly who recently has begun raiding with a Disc priest, the loveable, Holy Novaing Abigora.
- Tamarind over at Righteous Orbs - yes, yes, he is also a Holy Priest, and I just broke my own rule, but it's my party and I'll do what I want to. Plus, he's a Belf in sissyrobes and I'm alliance, so it doesn't count. Shh.
- Zigi at Twenty-Five Boxes, who writes a fairly new (and so far, one of my favorites!) blog which includes info on Resto Shammies.
- Ophelie at The Bossy Pally and the Giant Spoon is a pretty amazing tank/healing pally blogger, and now that she's no longer in charge of policing PallyPower, maybe she'll have time to fill out the questionnaire-that-is-not-a-meme!
- Though I do read several Druid blogs, none of their writers have recently been communicating with me, nor do I know for sure whether any Druid healers even read my blog - with the exception of my friend Kelly who recently started writing over at Sheep It. She has multiple toons with whom she raids, and she has posted a bit about druids as well, since she used to heal a lot for us on her druid. So Kelly, feel like making a post about druid healing?
I can't even express in words right now how totally excited I am. So, let's try a picture...
Due to vast efforts on behalf of Dan Hughes, who is a fellow columnist at Save or Die Radio and one of his twitter friends (for privacy reasons, I won't give her name), they managed to complete my "Find Angry Alice" quest! 3 million xp to both.
The artist is listed on deviantart, and his handle is C3R3ALKILL3R. He is from Spain, and this particular picture was just something he sketched up in high school. He has a lot of really amazing work, and I encourage everyone to check him out. I'm going to order a print of this image sometime in the next week. Also, I need to ask him for permission to be using his image for my avatar all over teh internets.
It is really amazing how you can make so many random connections all over the internet. I told my fiance that, and his response was "I know... it's almost like a WEB... that is WORLD WIDE." Smart ass. But truly, since I started writing this blog, I've met some amazing people, and I'm not even talking about the folks in the Blogosphere. Twitter has introduced me to even more amazing people, and writing this column for Save or Die Radio has opened even more doors.
It's not that I'm trying to become some kind of internet celebrity. I just really like to write. I also really like to help people, which is why I enjoy writing so many newbie guides. I never actually expected anyone to read any of it, or to meet so many great folks. When Dan linked me the above picture via twitter, and announced that his friend found it, I was so warmed and happy and excited, I almost cried (which would have been very awkward for the three gamer dudes I was hanging out with). I don't even know these folks, and they spent hours helping me out!
I'm realy feelin' the love right now.
Due to vast efforts on behalf of Dan Hughes, who is a fellow columnist at Save or Die Radio and one of his twitter friends (for privacy reasons, I won't give her name), they managed to complete my "Find Angry Alice" quest! 3 million xp to both.The artist is listed on deviantart, and his handle is C3R3ALKILL3R. He is from Spain, and this particular picture was just something he sketched up in high school. He has a lot of really amazing work, and I encourage everyone to check him out. I'm going to order a print of this image sometime in the next week. Also, I need to ask him for permission to be using his image for my avatar all over teh internets.
It is really amazing how you can make so many random connections all over the internet. I told my fiance that, and his response was "I know... it's almost like a WEB... that is WORLD WIDE." Smart ass. But truly, since I started writing this blog, I've met some amazing people, and I'm not even talking about the folks in the Blogosphere. Twitter has introduced me to even more amazing people, and writing this column for Save or Die Radio has opened even more doors.
It's not that I'm trying to become some kind of internet celebrity. I just really like to write. I also really like to help people, which is why I enjoy writing so many newbie guides. I never actually expected anyone to read any of it, or to meet so many great folks. When Dan linked me the above picture via twitter, and announced that his friend found it, I was so warmed and happy and excited, I almost cried (which would have been very awkward for the three gamer dudes I was hanging out with). I don't even know these folks, and they spent hours helping me out!
I'm realy feelin' the love right now.
