Comments on: Resto Druid: Healing Heroics

By: LIenra

LIenra — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:11:34 +0000

Yeah, I think technique is remarkably important for resto druids. I’m not an amazing healer, but with some tips on my spell rotation from an experienced tree, I can push through a lot of fights that have caused better geared druids to cry out for more CC. Funny thing was the other night having to offer to bring in my pre-kara geared druid to help out someone who’d been raiding SSC when they were having to constantly use panic heals rather than using HoTs to anticipate and pre-empt the damage.

Maybe just differences between raid healing and handling large amounts of AoE damage, but that technique separates the trees from the useless piles of twigs.

PTD, nice article as always.

By: Lin [EG]

Lin [EG] — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:30:08 +0000

Very true. A friend of mine was noting that he was in Heroic Shadow Labs with a Tree that had “a ridiculous amount of +healing but he was having issues keeping me up. I know I’m not the most fantastically geared tank, but most people don’t have an issue at all. At max there were two mobs hitting me… what was he doing wrong? Or I”

To that, I had no answer for him. (I wish I could say that I have no issues with healing him, but I have yet to group with him as my tank (he just respec’ced to tanking not too long ago) so I can’t. But I trust him and his word — as far as the game goes, anyway.)

So while gear can help / ruin a group (on both ends too, as Lifebloomer has pointed out), it is skill that matters more than anything else. I don’t think I would have noted it as anticipatory heals quite so much as just when to use what heal (I’ve been known to look down on a Tree for massive overhealing, especially when HoTs don’t register on most healing meters), and anticipatory healing is just a small -part- of being a good, efficient healer.

But, still, a good point you’ve made.

By: Ease

Ease — Fri, 30 May 2008 19:57:43 +0000

I think PTD’s numbers are pretty much where they should be. I started heroics around +900, and boy, Shattered Halls was brutal. A few weeks later, at +1300, it was… almost easy, but credit for that goes to the tank. Even the +900 run I had my wife backing me up with Boomkin heals on the largest pulls, or I’m not sure we would have ever finished.

By: Lifebloomer

Lifebloomer — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:10:31 +0000

I have to agree that there is no magic number and sometimes even experience can’t save you. Even at +1950 Heals if you go into Heroic Steam Vaults with an under-geared or inexperienced tank you will most not succeed. The goes for your Crowd Control for example in Heroic Magister’s Terrace if your Using a geared hunter who does not know how to chain trap it won’t matter how good your tank and gear is when you are dead because the mobs got to hit you twice before anyone could pick them up.

I personally don’t get emotionally locked into a group or instance until we’ve handled a couple of hard pulls or downed the first boss. If we wipe because the tank is under-geared or one player is unable to pull their weight I have no qualms about NICELY replacing them. Usually I wait for them to fail twice so that it is obvious to the player that they are not cutting it then I say something like “Leethunter, I’m sorry man I just don’t think you’ve got the gear for this yet. Your traps aren’t holding and we won’t make it very far like this. Would you mind stepping out? Thanks and I’m sorry.” If the player or group disagrees with me I take my leave. It’s that, easy, no hard feelings and I rarely get nasty whispers after the fact.

I’m not going to Heroics to drag anyone else along with me and I don’t want to spend a whole night doing what should take just over an hour, and I will not spend an hour when I am certain that my time will accomplish nothing.

By: iz

iz — Wed, 28 May 2008 05:55:14 +0000

my first heroic ever healed was Sethekk Halls. That was where i realized that experience really does matter. Where you would usually stack on the Lifeblooms once the fight started (i usually do), the ravenguards rip your tank apart too fast (esp when you first start heroics).
so i think PTD got it absolutely right- gear is only, i’d say, 30% of the entire package. As a resto druid, it becomes ever so important to ANTICIPATE damage, since our HoTs take some time to apply. E.g. when a hunter’s trap breaks, i cast a rejuv on him, and pre-cast regrowth (cancel if he retraps). Or I’d keep rejuvs going on everyone to swiftmend off instantly if we’re in an aggro sensitive fight. All these methods will go a long way in making heroics a much more pleasant place for tree druids.
One word of advice though: know your tank, and make sure your tank knows you. I’ve wiped many times because the tank didn’t realize i would be rolling LBs before the fight began, or that i would be holding back my big heals slightly. But once you do, the synergy can be an incredible experience. Gd luck to all!

By: Macoy

Macoy — Wed, 28 May 2008 04:56:07 +0000

I also find that having good CC is very important to making a heroic easier for a tree healer but I guess that goes for all healers. But with our lack of repeatable quick heals it’s important to minimize as many attacking mobs as possible.