An actual druid healing post - OMFG

The title of this post says it all. I think I saw this blog categorized somewhere under "general", which is very true. So yeah! An actual druid healing post! /fall over in disbelief.

Anyways, I need some advice. This may have been discussed somewhere previously and maybe I just missed it. But what are your thoughts on Furor vs Moonglow?

For all of you resto druids much much smarter than me, how are you prioritizing between these two talents? Going completely one over the other? Picking some combination of the two?

Halp me with my mana. kkthxbai

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Are we tolerating crap from healers?

Beru and most of my guildies have already heard me ramble about this, but a number of questions/topics that I've had on my mind for a while and want to get out.

Just to step back a bit, the recruiting for our guild has gone surprisingly well overall. I don't think that Jess and I expected the interest that we've gotten. We've added several people to the guild who look like they are good players and good fits, but also want to step back to a two night a week raiding schedule. But I think that I would feel better if we had one more healer. So I was talking about the dearth of healers in game and on our server and trying to figure out exactly why that is.

Topics that came up included the whole responsibility bit to healing, as well as the fact that more women tend to play healers and that less women play this game. Though the whole female thing doesn't apply to the fact that there also aren't enough tanks in the game either. So is it the responsibility bit? Is that why we have less healers and tanks in game?

I do think that one difference between tanks and healers is that in raiding, you tend to need more healers than tanks. So even if there are just as few tanks as healers, it seems that the healer shortage is felt more strongly within a guild or a server. And this ever present need for healers, in numbers greater than tanks... has it created overconfident and misbehaving healers?

I guess what I'm asking is... can you be a not so great healer and still be in demand on your server because guilds always need healers? And by not so great, I mean not just in performance, but in how you act. Jumping from guilds to guilds, not showing any sort of responsibility or commitment, just trying to find the most progressed guild as fast as you can to get the phat purple lootz.

Jess has said something around this several times, the crux of which is that healers are in a place where there are enough slots that they don't need to seriously compete for slots like tanks do. Healers are needed enough and there is enough of a shortage of them that one must tolerate "some stuff".

Are servers and guilds tolerating crap from healers?

The very top raiding guilds probably don't face this situation. But if you are a more casual or less progressed guild and raiding on a slower schedule, I wonder if others are seeing the same thing. It irritates me to see healers who are just ok healers (and some even with bad specs that make me sad) feel like they have this sense of power or entitlement to go wherever they want because they are in such demand.

A part of me does recognize that not everyone plays this game the way I do. I mean while loyalty and commitment to a guild is an important thing for me, I know I can't expect that everyone else is going to play that way. Not everyone is going to raid from a mindset of a group of friends working together to establish a common goal. Some people's objective in this game is just simply to get the best gear, however they can. But, I will be damned if I am going to let that attitude into our guild. That is one thing that I can control.

So if I haven't scared you off and you are a healer looking for a family atmosphere type guild, wanting to raid on a more casual schedule, get in touch with me or Jess.

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Are healers more aggressive?

I was having a conversation with Jess the other day and said something to the effect that our roles as a tank and healer seem contrary to our personalities and how we deal with things in game/guild. Meaning that I tend to be more outspoken and yes, perhaps aggressive in many ways, while Jess tends to be calmer and just generally less rawr than I. I mentioned how it seems somewhat contrary to our roles as a healer and tank, and that perhaps I should be the tank of the pair.

Jess' response was somewhat surprising, saying that it may not be as contradictory as I thought because in many ways, healing is more aggressive than tanking. Since Jess has both tanked and healed all of the ICC bosses we've done, it was an interesting thought.

I guess from a physical standpoint, its easy to think of tanking as the more aggressive role, being in the boss' face and taking damage. Likewise its easy to think of healers as being less aggressive because we stand in the back sending green swirlies. But I think what Jess is referring to is more around the function of our action as opposed to where we physically stand.

Jess has mentioned that in many encounters in ICC, there isn't a ton going on for the tanks, which is partly why I think Dreamwalker is such a nice change of pace for our tanks. But Jess has been the second healer with me in two healing Blood Princes and Queen, as well as Putricide and Sindragosa more recently. I remember the first time two healing Blood Queen with Nicolause maybe like a month ago, and my gawd. You are just constantly working your ass off.

A tank has much less to do in a fight like Festergut or Blood Queen, while us healers definitely have to be more aggressive, and are constantly healing to keep everyone up. And yes, I would venture that as a whole or on average in ICC, healers are constantly "working" more than the tanks. But beyond boss fight mechanics, while tanks are taking damage, us healers are throwing out, or giving heals. So yeah, which action is more "aggressive"?

Hmmm, perhaps my adage of Heal like a tank really isn't that far off. Something to think about...

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Tree of Life... sometimes?

Ok, so you guys know that I very very rarely talk about patch/expansion notes or changes on this blog (and I never ever post on Sundays!). There are much smarter trees who do this much better than I could (/points at folks like Beru, Bell, Keeva, and Kae). I think the last time I talked about some patch changes was over a year ago on my pie post on 3.1. But the latest announcement on their planned changes to our class in Cataclysm was something I could not keep quiet on.

First of all, let's just look at the name of this blog. When I started this blog in September of '07, I didn't choose an incredibly original name, but it fit what I wanted to blog about, healing as a restoration druid. Thus this blog is called Tree of Life. NOT Metamorphosized Tree of Life, or Tree of Life... Randomly, or Tree of Life... every 3 minutes, or Tree of Life... sometimes. Tree of Life. So WTF, I have to change this blog's name now?

Seriously though, I read a bit of the huge druid changes forum thread here with some of Ghostcrawler's responses which are summarized nicely on this wow.com post .

So tell me, why do they not want us healing continuously in tree form? Why is it ok for bears, cats, and boomkins to continue to keep their forms? Healing forms are bad but tank/dps forms are ok? Boomkins and shadow priests switch out of their forms if they have to spot heal in a pinch. They can't heal in their main dps form. The point of a specific form is to perform that form's function, no? Isn't that what us druids are all about?

GC said in one response that:

"druids are balanced around healing in tree form, meaning they give up a lot of utility just to be as good as other healers".

What is this "utility" that other healing classes have while they are healing? Does he mean dps? Why is it such a big deal that we can't dps in our healing tree form unlike the other healing classes? I've healed with pallys, priests, and shammys. They are usually just as busy as I am healing during our raids. Aren't yours? So, what exactly does he mean by "utility" here? Someone smarter than me, enlighten me plz!

Also why do all the healing classes have to be identical? Both Beru and Bell posted good posts last week about us trees being able to tank heal, but not being able to do it as well as pallys. Why can't we just recognize that each healing class has their strengths and brings utility to the healing team? Why must we be identical? This whole "as good as other healers" gets me because I guess I feel that I can hold my own with any healing class in a 10 man or 25 man format (I don't regularly run 25 mans but I have in the past and done just fine). Yes, even with dress wearing pallys. And I don't feel like I'm missing some "utility" to do so.

Someone asked GC to respond to the fact that "There is a large difference between "controversial" and being close to unanimously hated". To which GC responded:

"You don't have any evidence of that though. Even within this thread, there are plenty of players who like the change. It's not like we design around public vote anyway".

Wow, just wow. Maybe it was just me, but I saw many more people within the thread who do not like this change. And I don't really often read the forums, but um does GC always post with such an arrogant asshat attitude?

And the whole talk about the minor glyph to keep tree form (which is just a bandaid fix BTW), even that seems uncertain:

"We might (*might*) consider a minor glyph that kept the visual of the old tree form in some fashion even when not using the Tree of Life cooldown".

Some of the other points GC made were around us getting no new spells. I haven't really had the bandwidth to be irritated by this because I'm too consumed by losing tree form to some yet to be determined cooldown mechanic. A poster asked "Other from the universal healing changes Resto Druids have absolutely NOTHING to relearn or spend time to master unlike the other healing class notes released". To which GC responded "Let me know how that Rejuv spamming with WG on cooldown works out for you at 85".

He continues:

"I just pulled a couple of heroic Icecrown parses at random from among the best guilds out there. Their druids had like 60% Rejuv and 25% Wildgrowth. I'm sure some of that remainder was LB or Swiftmend or something (like a certain hammer or mace), and maybe they even saved someone's life with one of those spells. But you're going to have a hard time convincing me that druids aren't too effective with just those two spells. That will change in Cataclysm.

My parses look nothing like 60% Rejuv and 25% Wildgrowth. Yes, Rejuv is my biggest heal at about 40-45%, followed by Lifebloom, Nourish, Regrowth, then Wildgrowth. So he seems to be saying that they are looking at high end 25 man raiders also needing to use more spells, which I already do now as a 10 man healer. But this comment concerns me a bit because I wonder if they look at our functions as a healer based on a 25 man raiding environment. And not just any 25 man raiding, but the best 25 man guilds in the world. I just question whether that is a real representative sample of the majority of the player base.

Now I guess (or am hoping?) that its not 100% certain that the cooldown to tree form would go through. And as Bell rightly points out, we don't know anything about the cooldown mechanic yet. I'm not going as far as saying I would not buy Cataclysm or not play my druid if this change goes through. I am still a resto druid through and through (and hello, this is my only level 80 toon remember?). But do I like the thought of my tree form being on any form of cooldown? Hell, no. Fuck, no (I promised my guild I was going to put a f-bomb in this post).

So how can we best let ourselves heard since GC says there is no evidence we don't like this change? Hmmm, well here's a start courtesy of Keeva:

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Suspend my healing card

Happy New Year everyone! Hope everyone had a good holiday and is getting back into the swing of things as painlessly as possible. For my first post of 2010, I'm going to be apologizing for some fail healer behavior. Way to start the year, eh?

Now I've been doing my daily random heroic like a good little tree. Some days I go in a total pug, while others I go in a full or nearly full guild run. One day last week I was in a complete pug and we got heroic AK. The tank was a geared pally tank, and the dps was fine as well in terms of the numbers they were putting out.

Our first pull of trash goes fine, nothing out of the ordinary. I then realize that on the second pull, the lock was pulling a bit of aggro. It wasn't anything hard to heal though, so I just kept the lock up. Afterwards, I said something in party chat about "Lock tanks FTW", to which the lock responded with emotes of hugging me and loving me. So I thought that hmmm, perhaps the lock got aggro accidently or something.

Next wave of trash, I see not only the lock continuing to grab aggro, but now the hunter as well. I think it was around then that the pally started pulling multiple groups as well. Being that it was kind of early in the morning and that I was only half way through my first cup of coffee, I think it took me until after the first boss to realize what was going on.

The group had realized that I was a well geared and experienced healer, definitely geared beyond what heroic AK needed, and decided that they could go all out. I'm sure a lot of other healers have experienced this in pugs recently, where being a good healer can invite bad behavior. But here's where I misbehaved. It really was not that hard for me at all to keep the group healed up so I just continued doing so. It actually made it somewhat less of a snoozefest run for me.

I know, I know. It's not the point that it wasn't difficult for me. It was still misbehavior. But sometimes you just get tired, you know? Sometimes its just easier to heal through it then to speak up. Especially when its morning and you're still drinking your coffee. (I know, I know... not a legitimate excuse). Sometimes you actually want more than a snoozefest on these heroic runs.

At the end of the run, the lock is telling me how much she loves me, saying she wants to bring me back to her server... the hunter is following suit... and the pally is also giving me props on my healing. There was all sorts of <3 being directed to the tree. But I just felt crummy.

I felt crummy because I took the easier road out, which was to just heal through it, thereby excusing their misbehavior. I felt bad because the misbehavior would definitely not have been ok in a heroic FOS or POS run... or in any run with a newer or less geared healer.

So yeah, I failed for excusing their misbehavior. I should probably get my healing card suspended. Or at least do healing community service. Some humiliating manual labor maybe? Going around and cleaning tanky shields or something? (shudder... the horror)

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Wayward tanks

I mentioned on my post on Monday how the hilarious Tamarind at Righteous Orbs has given me a blog topic. He said:

"So Keredria, you know you have a certain ‘reputation’ as a healer, right? In a good way, I mean, for not taking any shit. "Heal like a tank", is something I carry with me into every PUG I attempt. So what I would like from you are your top tips for controlling a wayward tank, and reminding them who *really* wears the platemail in the relationship – as frivolous or as serious as you like".

Hmmm, so I have this reputation eh? Haha. I think I shall mix frivolous AND serious in the same post and you guys can guess which is which. Ok, ok I'll admit that there is probably much more frivolous than serious, but there is some serious here if you pull out your magnifying glass and look really really hard.

Now lets first look at why you may have a wayward tank, and where a tank might get the crazy idea that they are running the show and consider themselves the head or leader of the group. Well yeah, its true that the tank is the first person running into a boss or group of mobs. But does that really mean the tank is leading the group? Or could it be a bit like the miners sending canaries into a cave to test whether there was enough oxygen? Perhaps the true leader is the miner at the back of the pack who was smart enough to send the canary in?!?! :) Let's also look at another example:

Hahaha. (Actually in all seriousness I know I'm not some kid expert, having none myself, but people who actually put their kids on leashes like this... WTF?!?!) Anyways, I digress.

Now I do have to be honest in that I haven't had to heal a pugged random tank for something challenging in a long long time. Dealing with a wayward tank is definitely harder when its a stranger that you're running with. But whether you're dealing with a tank you've never run with, or a tank that you've run a million times with, at the end of the day, speak up. Let's look at a *hypothetical* example:

Let's say, por ejemplo (ooh Spanish!), that you just happen to be a kick ass resto druid who is running heroic Pit of Saron for the very very first time with oh, let's just say as a *hypothetical* example, a protection warrior tank, who just happens to *hypothetically* have a white ponytail. Now in this *hypothetical* story, let's say its been a long long time since this tank and healer had run a challenging 5 man instance. So if this tank were to *hypothetically* pull the next group of mobs when the healer is at about one third mana, how should the healer react?

a. Stay quiet and try to keep up with heals as best you can
b. Scream "WTF, you pull when I'm good and ready, got it?!?! Got it?!?!"
c. Let it be clearly known that you are perturbed with a sarcastic comment to the effect of "Ums hello... can I mana up between pulls?" And if it happens again, let the group wipe.

Well maybe different healers have different answers... and maybe the right answer depends on the situation or even the tank. But in general, I think the answer should be c. Speak up for what you need. Tell them you need to mana back up, or mention that you have adds on you (though I usually try to just run to the tank in these situations). And if after expressing what you need, the tank is still "wayward"? Well then you know what? You've done the best you can, you've told them what you need. If its still not working, cut your losses and move on. Its not any slight on your healing badge of honor.

Now if you have been running a long long time with a specific tank, I would venture that most tanks themselves recognize that it is the healer who is wearing the platemail in the relationship, as Tam puts it. The tank-healer relationship has often been compared to a marriage, because there are so many similarities. So in a similar vein, even if you know and the tank knows that the platemail actually hangs in your closet, you don't always have to verbalize it or shout it from the rooftops. Sometimes, be quite generous and make the tank think that they wear the platemail. Let them enjoy it... let them savor it. But you and I know the truth.

I've previously mentioned on this blog the idea that if a tank is thought of as the head of a raid or instance or group or whatever, then the healer is the neck. The neck can make the head turn any which way it wants.

Rock on healers, rock on.

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Resto Druid Drops in Heroic Frozen Halls

With patch 3.3, we get three new 5 man dungeons, collectively called the Frozen Halls. The Frozen Halls includes 3 dungeons that you have to complete in order: The Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron, and Halls of Reflection. Now I just recently learned that the last boss in the Halls of Reflection is the Lich King himself (I don't keep up with detailed patch notes much in advance). I knew that the last boss in the Icecrown raid would be the Lich King, but I had no idea that he'd also be hanging out in the 5 man! I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this.

Anyways, when Wotlk came out, I ran through the 5 mans for the first time with no clue whatsoever what the bosses would do. It was definitely kind of fun that way, and I'll probably do that this time as well. The normal version of these 5 mans drop level 219 gear while the heroics drop level 232 gear.

For those of us who pretty much run 10 mans exclusively, there are some upgrades to be had by running these heroic dungeons. I know there are phat lewts in the Icecrown raid. But I just don't know how hard or easy these Icecrown bosses will be for us. So I figure I will plan on upgrading via heroics where I can.

Again I'm only listing drops from the heroic versions. I also left off the cloth healing pieces because yes, I know we can wear them, but in actuality I really never do. I will leave the tissue armor for my priesty friends.

Forge of Souls
Bronjahm:
* Love's Prisoner
Devourer of Souls:
* Essence of Desire (hmmm sounds kinda naughty)
* Arcane Loops of Anger (Jess would probably say I should have this)

Pit of Saron
Forgemaster Garfrost:
* Surgeon's Needle
Krick and Ick:
* NADA
Scourgelord Tyrannus:
* NADA because I think Nevermelting Ice Crystal is more for dps unless for some reason you need the spellpower

Halls of Reflection
Falric:
* NADA
Marwyn:
* Ephemeral Snowflake
The Lich King (holy crap!):
* Shriveled Heart
* Chestguard of Broken Branches (awwww)
* Oath of Empress Zoe

Trash Drops from any of the 3 dungeons
* Ghostly Wristwraps

I really need a new offhand, so I would love Shriveled Heart. I really wish there was a cloak as well because my cloak sucks with a capital S.

For those of you who are not quite as awesome as us resto druids and want to see other drops (noes! all the lewts are for us trees!) from these dungeons, scroll down on these wowwiki sites for Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron, and Halls of Reflection

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Druidy Quiz Answers

Here are the answers to my druidy quiz. I meant to do this post over the weekend, so as to lessen Averna's suspense a bit. Sorries!

So the two that I thought were obvious ones were Anub with the leeching swarm, and Onyxia because I took the SS inside her lair. Oops. :)

Fight #1 with 4063 hps: Anub

I think Averna got it right on with pointing out a lot of lifebloom usage during Phase 3.

Fight #2 with 2468 hps: Faction Champions

I think other than Onyxia, the Champions might have been guessable because of the lowest hps because I was cycloning and rooting a bit as well.

Fight #3 with 2356 hps: Onyxia

Hmmm, other than Anub, this was the fight with the second highest use of Lifebloom. Huh. Interesting.

Fight #4 with 2939 hps: Beasts

Fight #5 with 2724 hps: Jarraxus

I had the highest use of Regrowth on Jarraxus. Hmmm. Well I do know that I usually throw a Regrowth on someone when they get Legion Flame but yeah, I totally thought I used Nourish more here.

Fight #6 with 4993 hps: Twins

I think this was easy given the highest hps and the most use of Rejuv and Wild Growth.

And the winner is... (drum roll please) Gargen! And yes Gargen, I totally thought I used Swiftmend more than I actually do. The prize? As Averna suggested, a gold star and I shall award you the title 'Tree of the day'.

Now considering this was 10 man regular TOC, I think some of my healing may be affected by the fact that this is pretty easy for us. But what kinda heals did I throw out for Heroic Beasts? I did 4120 hps with these spells:

1. Rejuv = 29.2%
2. Nourish = 20.4%
3. Lifebloom =18.3%
4. Regrowth = 17.3%
5. Wild Growth = 10.4%
6. Swiftmend = 4.4%

A bit different than Fight #4 above. Hmmm so when its a bit more difficult, it looks like I use Nourish more. Huh. Interesting.

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Druidy quiz!

So you think you can druid, eh? Well, do you think you can match up my recount stats with their respective bosses?

Last night we did a quick run through regular 10 man TOC and Onyxia. There was a slight hiccup where I had somehow put on my entire PVP set (vs just the trinket) for the Faction Champions and then forgot to put back on my PVE gear for the Twins fight. Oops. I realized this about a minute into the Twins fight, to which I ask over vent: "Do you want the bad news now or later Jess?" I had to confess soon after when I ran out of mana and Jess died.

Anyways, the night was 2 healed by myself and our healing pally extraordinaire, Nico. I will also provide hps numbers to help a bit, but two of these recount stats should be an easy give away.

The bosses:
Beasts
Jarraxus
Faction Champions
Twins
Anub
Onyxia

Fight #1 with 4063 hps:

Fight #2 with 2468 hps:

Fight #3 with 2356 hps:

Fight #4 with 2939 hps:

Fight #5 with 2724 hps:

Fight #6 with 4993 hps:

Any guesses on which recount stats represent which bosses?

The summary here? First, I love Rejuv. Obviously. I am not rocking the T9 4 piece Rejuv bonus yet. I can't even imagine what my numbers will look like then. Second, I also love and use Regrowth and Lifebloom probably a ton more than any of you guys which I've mentioned before on this blog. Third, I do not use Wild Growth and Nourish as much as you guys probably do. I'm definitely trying to use them more, but I don't know... maybe I'm just an old school tree. I would probably also use Wild Growth more if we were running 25 mans.

But I think the big take away here is that there are a ton of different ways to heal as a resto druid. I've healed with other druids who use Nourish and Wild Growth as their top two spells with very similar healing outputs as myself. I think this versatility is a part of what I love about our class!

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Consolidating triumph badge vendors and Regrowth?

Ok, so I readily recognize that I am more forgetful than most, but tell me this: Why the heck are there several vendors selling Badge of Triumph gear? I remember way back when TOC came out, taking a look at the Tier 9 gear sold by Aspirant Forudir up in Icecrown. However that was way back when?

Well, since then my brain has been taken up a bunch of stuff (I guess I have limited space) so I forgot about Aspirant Forudir and his Tier 9 goodies. I only remembered the vendor who sells Badge of Triumph gear in Dalaran. Not to mention that when I go to see what is buyable with Badge of Triumph gear in my Atlas loot addon, it does not include Tier 9 gear (separate category in atlas loot).

Long story short, I have had a lot of triumph badges that I hadn't spent. So when I had this a-ha moment the other day, I went and bought two pieces of Tier 9 gear so now I am rocking the 2 piece Tier 9 bonus along with the 2 piece Tier 8 bonus. But seriously, why isn't all Badge of Triumph gear sold by the vendors in Dal? Please Blizz, consider consolidating them... think of forgetful folks like me! /sigh

Anyways, I haven't raided yet with the 2 piece Tier 9 bonus, so I have yet to see what it can do. On another resto druid note though, are there any other trees who actually use Regrowth? Am I the only one? I actually played with trying out Glyph of Regrowth when we raided 10 man TOC the other night. I may have to do some more comparisons, but I seriously think that the glyph gave me some crazy healing numbers... 4000-5000 hps on certain fights.

I know Nourish is the newer sexier spell, but I don't know, I definitely don't use it as much as I think other trees do. Currently I think my top heals are Rejuv, Lifebloom, Regrowth, then Nourish. On 10 man fights where there is significant raid damage, I really like Regrowth's big initial heal, then the long hot on the spell. Plus I wonder if the 20% increased healing if I time a second Regrowth near the end of the first one is better than the 6% from Glyph of Nourish?

Are folks using nourish because its more mana friendly? If I'm not running out of mana, is it ok for me to be regrowth-ing so much? Am I just a noob?

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Heal like a tank?

I believe that I’ve previously mentioned on this blog that I would categorize myself as a healer with a tank’s mentality. What do I mean when I say I heal like a tank? No, this has nothing to do with healing mechanics or strategy or anything like that. When I say heal like a tank, I’m talking more about having a more aggressive attitude or state of mind, and then consequently acting on it.

Now I recognize that some of this attitude or state of mind will come only with experience and confidence. Also yes, of course I can probably speak my mind a bit more because I run in a close knit guild with folks I’ve run with for a long long time.

On a quick side note, I’m curious as to how many of you have come across asshole healers. Think of the last horrible pug you were in. Who drove you crazy? I’m almost willing to bet it was a dps or tank, but not a healer. If you have come across asshole healers, tell me your stories! (p.s. Left Claw folks not allowed to tell stories)

Anyways, I’m not sure if it stems from this whole stereotype that a lot of the females playing this game tend to be females or that perhaps somehow the role you play in game affects how you act in game, but do you think healers don’t speak up enough? Are we too nice? Do healers quietly just sit in a quiet corner wearing some variation of a sissy robe and just heal?

A couple of suggestions:

1. Speak up:

If you find that a run’s success is often followed by a linking of the damage meters with no mention of healing, take note of how K may act:

Random person:Links damage meters or talks about dps
K: “What because the healers did nothing? Because we were what, just twiddling our thumbs?”

Yeah, yeah, I’m sure it gets annoying sometimes (just ask my guildies), but I don’t know, I just find it important to speak up for all us healers. I think its often easy to place successes on the dps’ doorsteps and failures on the healers'. I’m sure this is even more so in pugs. Don’t let folks forget the awesomeness that is us healers.

2. Participate more:

But on the other side of speaking up, I think its important that us healers take an active part in discussing raid strategy. Make sure you speak up as to what you need as a healer, or how you are seeing the fight from your point of view. It is well known in our guild that all good ideas that Jess suggests in our raids really come from yours truly. Hee hee, just kidding. Jess has some good ideas from time to time. :)

3. Apologize less:

This is something that even I still fail to do at times. Even if a naughty dps grabs aggro and gets one shot, I still sometimes find myself trying to save them, then apologizing if I can’t. Realize that we are healers, not miracle workers, so don’t apologize for someone else’s mistake... we can’t be expected to keep everyone up no matter what.

I think next time something like this happens, I will resist the impulse to apologize and instead /point and /laugh. Ok, ok, maybe I won’t go quite that far. :)

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Healing assignments in 10 mans?

I am curious as to whether other 10 man raiders make healing assignments in their runs. So when we have a new person healing with us, often they will ask me who they should be healing. My reaction typically starts with a pause, then an "uh", then depending on the healer I'll specify a tank or say the raid. Or more likely I'll say something like "uh, everyone" or "anyone who needs it?" in a half joking, half serious manner.

Now if things go wrong and we are wiping on something repeatedly or healers are running out of mana, yes I may take a second to consider whether we should be making assignments. And for certain fights like General Vezax for example, we do assignments as well. But the default for our raids, even when we are seeing new bosses, is to not have assignments.

Why? Well, perhaps when you're with other folks you've healed with before, you know who is going to do what in terms of healing, and that they are going to take into account the strengths of our respective healing classes. So maybe we already have silent unspoken assignments. Or perhaps I like the excitement of not being really prescribed to something and figuring out what works best, responding to the situation at hand.

Now yes, there could be drawbacks on not having assignments. Sure we could heal the same person and overheal. But if we don't run out of mana and folks are kept up, is that a problem? Or does giving healing assignments also help new healers learn? By not providing healing assignments, are you freaking out new healers?

I know assignments are much more important in 25 mans. So do you do healing assignments in your 10 man runs? And those of you who do, are you doing these 10 mans within a 25 man guild, as such being more used to healing assignments? Those of you who run in a strictly 10 man guild, do you do healing assignments? Are we just weird not to? (Don't answer that, that was a hypothetical).

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Resto druid drops in heroic Trial of the Champion

I ran the new heroic instance again last night. Now in the two nights that I've run it, all I've seen is plate, mail, cloth, and melee dps leather gear. So I wondered, is there even any gear in here for us resto druids?

Well yeah there are, I just have yet to see them drop. Here is the full list of items, though the MMO champion site and wowhead still says they are item level 213 when they are actually 219.

What could us resto druids actually use?

Legs: Leggings of the Snowy Bramble (love the name!)
Gloves: Gloves of Dismal Fortune
Neck: Symbol of Redemption
Dagger: Spectral Kris
Mace: Mariel's Sorrow (I wonder who Mariel is)

Its still odd and new to think that I can upgrade my gear by running a heroic 5 man when I've been running Ulduar for a while.

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Healing is about caring?

Aurik at /hug put up a comment on my post yesterday that I wanted to highlight, saying "healing is about caring". I just love love love that comment and said that it made me want to be a better healer, or at least a nicer one.

That got me thinking this: Do you think that us healers are expected to be "nicer" because of our role as healers compared to tanks or dps? Because we are all about giving life and all things good and tender and green and leafy? Is it more noticed if a healer is less than nice than a tank or dps?

Anyways, let's look at a guild conversation from the other night shall we?

Wutan: Don't let me die, ok K?
K: Ah Wut, don't worry. You've got my leet healz.
Wutan: True. I got me some bitchin' heals!
Slight pause
Wutan: Acutally I got bitchy heals!
K: Sigh... I was actually going to say it, you just beat me to it.

Now where did I get this reputation from? Well perhaps because I am usually the first to say or do something that most likely everyone is thinking already... even if its something you possibly shouldn't say or do. Let's examine where I might have gotten this tag a little further with a hypothetical.

Let's just say, hypothetically you know, that there is a resto druid. And let's say this said resto druid continually (five times a week maybe) gets asked to heal 10 and 25 man raids X, Y, Z by someone. Now let's assume, hypothetically still of course, that this said resto druid does not know this person at all and has never actually raided with this person. This person only knows the resto druid through other friends, friends who they don't even know that well.

Now let's continue hypothetically that this resto druid started by coming up with excuses like they weren't going to be online much longer, or were going to go on guild runs, or that they were already saved to those raids. But let's say that this person keeps asking said druid without picking up a clue from weeks and weeks of excuses. To the point where this resto druid is forced to straight up ignore requests and vents her annoyance in guild chat with perhaps an expletive or two. Hypothetically... of course.

So what would you do? I'm wondering if I have to pull up those standard lines that I've used before in real life. What should I say? How about:

- You are a (insert tank type) tank. I'm really only looking for a tank healer relationship with a (insert another tank type) tank.
- I'm sorry but I'm already healing another tank.
- Its not you, its me. I'm just not ready for another tank healer relationship.

Hahahaha sigh. No but seriously, I'm annoyed that this person has forced me to go to that bitchy place (really Wut, I am!). Do I just have to come right out and say, "Look I'm sorry but I have no interest in healing any of your raids, please stop asking me?" Seriously, am I just down right mean? Sigh... perhaps.

Anyways, this post started out one place and circled around to who knows where. But I am going to come back to where this post started. I will definitely try to repeat the mantra "healing is about caring" when I'm feeling less than nice. Thanks Aurik!

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A certain healing je ne sais quoi?

I’ve been thinking a bit over the last couple of weeks around what makes for a good healer. So being the serious healer I am (please no snickering guildies), I decided to do some empirical research. I wasn't really sure what empirical exactly meant, but it sounded good and serious research is often described as empirical. But what I did was ask some guildies and friends about what they thought made for a good healer.

The answers ranged from the humorous to the serious. Atania, as a rogue, classified a good healer as someone who knows that she exists. She said that if she dies, its her fault and heals are just a bonus for rogues. Ah, I've taught her well that Ata! Our hunter Chachi, classified a good healer as anyone who can keep his pet Joni alive. I try Chachi Hockey Pockey, I really do. But sometimes that pesky cat just won't cooperate!

Anyways, on a more serious note, here are 7 qualities that were mentioned. The first five are probably very obvious and familiar to all, but the last two gave me some things to think about:

1. Know your shit:
Wutan, our pally tank, talked about knowledge of the fight, your group and the other healers. Now knowledge of the fight is obvious. But consider what other classes make up your group. What kind of tank are you healing? What kind of dps? What kind of healers? Your healing strategy may be different when you heal with a priest instead of a pally.

2. Talk back
Wut mentioned letting the raid know what you need as a healer, what is working for you. Whether that is line of sight or aggro issues, or if you think you should be healing someone else. As much as Jess I'm sure wishes at times that I would "communicate" less, its important.

3. Anticipate and adapt:
Venezia, a warrior tank thought a good healer anticipates damage, not only to the tank, but to the raid. Jess talked about anticipation a bit as well, in terms of anticipating the positioning/location of not only the tanks, but the other healers and dps. Vel also talked about a healer being able to adapt, whether it is to a certain boss, a specific group composition, or when things go wrong.

4. Don't stand in the green stuff:
Jess mentioned situational awareness, which I think is more than not standing in the fire/green puddle/red rune, though that is the most obvious part. What is going on around you? What is the tank doing? Where are they? What is the dps doing? Where are they? I think without us even realizing it we are processing all of this information in case the shit hits the fan.

5. Triage baby, triage:
All healers know about prioritizing your heals. Keep the tank up, then yourself, then others. But I think what makes for a really good healer is the ability to process what is going on and prioritize immediately. Usually this has to be almost instinctual. You have no time to think about it.

6. Bring it
Jess thought that part of what makes a good healer comes down to confidence. A good healer welcomes a challenge and is confident in his/her abilities. Perhaps this confidence allows them to stay calm throughout the craziness? They know their abilities and the encounters and are going to do their darndest to keep folks up. When Jess tells me a certain encounter is a "healing fight", my response is: "Bring it".

7. Je ne sais quoi
My friend Rapalicious said that she thinks that you are either a great healer or you're not. It's something you've got. Hmmm interesting. Can someone become a good or better healer, but are certain folks just never going to be great healers? Could someone think about making sure they think about the first five points above, but just not have the reflexes to become great? The instinct?

Is there a certain healing je ne sais quoi where you either got it or you don't?

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Drunk on healing power

Maybe its just silly little old me, but I have a tendency to sometimes whip out what I would call my vengeful healing side. What do I mean? Well unlike tanks or dpsers, healers have a unique perspective in that as a class we are targeting other players.

So where does the drunkeness come to play? Well let's look at a conversation held in guildchat last week before the Carolina vs Gonzaga basketball game.

Wut: Sorry K but I have to root for the home state team... go Gonzaga!
Nkm: Yeah, go west coast! Go Gonzaga!
K: Hmmm... note to self: Send less healz to Wut and Nkm next raid.*

Similarily I used to sometimes show a certain white ponytailed tank who really is boss (ahem, moi) by letting said tank's health get precariously low. I will say in my defense that I only do this on trash or an easy boss where I pretty much know how much health Jess needs.

Maybe I have too much attitude to be healing. But the whole aspect of holding people's lives in my hands.... muah ha ha ha! The power... I loves it. Am I the only one like this? ;)

*Ok ok, in all honesty I talk a big game, but usually never follow through. Wut and Nkm got healz just fine and I haven't toyed with Jess health in a while. Sigh... I'm getting soft.

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A look inside a healer's mind...

...when the two healers are the last ones standing in a 10 man Naxx run:

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The tree gets serious... an actual healing post (gasp!)

Ok its been ages since I've actually done a real healing post. Lest you think I am just all about silliness, this tree actually heals too! Some updates:

Spec: A while back I switched to what I guess, is the most popular resto spec, 11/0/60. With picking up Nature's Splendor, I last longer. I am a virile tree. Oh dear... I'm sliding back into silly again. Focus K, focus!

Glyphs: In terms of glyphs I have Glyph of Regrowth, Glyph of Lifebloom, and recently switched to Glyph of Swiftmend. I'm still getting in the habit of using swiftmend more often. I just haven't had to use it for a while, and I am working on bringing it back into my regular healing as opposed to just "Oh crap" healing .

Healing spells: Check out my spells from a couple bosses in Naxx. Note, this was 10 man Naxx with myself and Heidilux (holy priest) healing.

I am obviously all about regrowth now. I am curious as to what other resto druids are doing now in terms of their heals. See what I mean when I say I need to use swiftmend more?

Gear: In terms of gear, I've been pretty lucky on drops. Funny enough, I was over spirited (Rah rah rah! Sis boom bah!) when I recently picked up Spirit-World Glass. Thus I went back and redid some of my enchants and gems to go back to stacking spell power. It's probably also a combination of the fact that my dps-ing Left Claw guildies have geared up a lot since we first started raiding, so I don't have to last as long. Heh. K! Stay out of the gutter! /sigh

I also picked up Loop of the Kirin-Tor a while back for 6,400g. It gives me the port to Dalaran, and my hearthstone is set for Sholazar Basin where I do half my herbing. I am planning on doing a post soon about my crazy herbing/alchemy/gold making addiction.

In terms of upgrades, I am going next for Signet of Hopeful Light, available at exalted rep with Argent Crusade. I would also really really love Je'Tze's Bell a drop that is on the Drenden AH lately for 9-10,000 g. We'll see if I bite the bullet and just get it.

Oh and you'll see from my last Salty K post that I am now back to wearing a purty dress. So purty that I can finally show my face again.

Weapon: War Mace of Unrequited Love. I love the name of this mace... its kinda sad, but pretty.

Off-hand: Handbook of Obscure Remedies

Idol: Idol of Lush Moss

Head: Noth's Curse.

Neck: Hateful Gladiator's Pendant of Restoration. Yeah, I've got a pvp neck here... with mp5 (vs spirit) nonetheless!

Shoulders: Heroes' Dreamwalker Spaulders

Back: Wispcloak

Chest: Heroes' Dreamwalker Robe

Wrists: Plague-Infected Bracers. I am wondering whether I should be concerned at all about catching the plague from my bracers...

Hands: Heroes' Dreamwalker Handguards

Waist: Vine Belt of the Woodland Dryad. Huh? What the heck is a woodland dryad?

Legs: Splint-Bound Leggings

Feet: Earthgiving Boots

Ring: Loop of the Kirin-Tor

Ring: Solitaire of Reflecting Beams

Trinket: Spirit-World Glass

Trinket: Winged Talisman

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Its not me, its my class?

So healing... a word derived from the old English word hælan, meaning to make whole, sound, and well. Most of you know that I am doing 10 man healing right now, in Kara and ZA. Well in the last couple of weeks I have had guildies and non-guildie friends make comments to me in the effect of "You're a great healer, you're the elite healer, blah blah blah".

Here's my question. Because of their ability to cast instant heals (lifebloom and rejuv) on a large number of people, doesn't that give resto druids a large leg up in 10 mans? Whereas in 25 mans, where a tank may take a huge amount of damage, I may not have enough big heals? In 10 mans, could the great healing be more just a function of my class, not me?

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Alternative healing in WOW?

I think its time that we think outside the box and beyond the typical "I send you green swirlies" type of healing. As alternative healing increases in popularity, how could it be applied in our little game? Ok ok, so some of them would work better than others.

1. Acupuncture:
Yeah... this may be hard to translate. I mean sending Jess in to tank something with a bunch of needles sticking out of her could be a bit dangerous. But how about the squishy casters? Could I just stick a needle behind Dest, Buns, and Vel's ears or something and have it do some minor healing over time or something?

2. Hypnosis and Meditation:
Ok, perhaps this method of healing also wouldn't work so well. Though it does remind me of those Dreamless Sleep Potions!

3. Prayer:
Its funny to me that some actually consider prayer to be a method of alternative healing. I guess we all do this in one way or another in WOW... but maybe if the group takes the time to stand in a circle, hold hands, and do an official prayer together before they start, everyone's healing received would increase a bit for the duration of the night?

4. Music Therapy:
I don't know too much about music therapy and how it is supposed to work. But how about if I bring like a harp with me to a raid (ok that's a bit big), so hmmm... a flute perhaps? And then I would start playing some diddy during the raid and it would increase people's health or their healing received or something. But wait, I'm actually supposed to be healing during a fight... so maybe I can't be playing an instrument. Could I just bring my iphone and some speakers maybes?

5. Aromatherapy:
Ok so the ones above may not work so well, but I think aromatherapy could maybe be applied in game. In aromatherapy lavender is supposed to be relaxing, basil can relieve headaches, and black pepper can help aches and pains. So how about if herbalists and/or alchemists could crush some mixture of herbs and release them in a raid for a healing effect to the group or raid? I guess I'm thinking of it sort of similar to the different kinds of drums leatherworkers get to beat on. We crush up a little Fel Lotus, release it as an oil, and everyone's healing received increases?

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