Archive for the 'angry healers' Category

04
Dec
10

A Look at Mastery: Symbiosis Broken Down

By Pyo Leave a Comment
Categories: angry healers, druid and Healing
Tags: , ,

OMG AN ACTUAL INFORMATIVE POAST!

What am I thinking?  I should just stick to snark.

I am.

LOLcat asks me this.

Ok, now as I’ve said before, I’m not a number- cruncher, theorycrafter, or mathhammerer.  NOT.  Right, so what’s my business trying to discuss this newest of new shiny things in the Resto!Druid arsenal?

Because I can.  Because I can take all of the technical talk and put it into a language casual people- like me- can actually understand.  You know, make the information usable for the masses.  And because, ultimately, while the post will be informative, I will snark something.  And who doesn’t love that?

Ready to go?  I sure am.

A Look at Mastery: Symbiosis Broken Down

Let us take a look at Symbiosis, shall we?

DISCLAIMER:  Nothing I’m going to say here is LAW.  This is my personal opinion about how Symbiosis works and what I believe its supposed to be used for.  Do not take my words as the end all, be all of Druid opinion of Symbiosis.

Symbiosis:  Increases the potency of your healing spells by 10% on targets already affected by one of your heal over time spells.  Each point of Mastery increases heal potency by an additional 1.25%.

Now, I’ve heard and seen the arguments.  But lets break it down a bit.  This is basically saying, ‘if you cast a Direct Heal (or a DH effect) on a target, make sure they’ve got a HoT on them first.’  A lot of people seem to think that this is going to push us Trees more towards the ‘tank healing’ side of the healing universe and away from the ‘raid healing’ niche we’re so fond of.  Eh.  I can’t really say I disagree, but I don’t think that the reason Blizzard gave us this Mastery is to make us tank heal.  I think they did it to make us a little more flexible.  I remember my time as healing lead, and I ALWAYS put the Holydins on the tank.  ALWAYS.  You can probably still ask them, and they’ll tell you that- no matter how much they begged me to raid heal.  Now, us Trees are freakin’ amazing raid healers… but we were always a little weaker on the tank healing side since Blizz nerfed Lifebloom into the toilet.

Yeah... what happened to my Lifebloom?

Here’s why I think they did it- to balance druid HoTs and Direct Heals.  Remember, now each of our heals is supposed to have a niche (even if Healing Touch and Nourish have a RIDONKULOUSLY long cast time, even reduced with Haste.)  Let’s say you’re healing someone and you tossed a stack of Lifebloom’s on the target.  If you cast a Nourish on that same target, you’re going to get the additional healing- plus a refresh on the Lifebloom, according to Nourish’s new mechanic.  If you’ve got 8 points of Mastery (which is low, but you can reforge your gear to get at least that much now), that’s an additional 22% healing done by that Nourish- not to mention all the EXTRA healing the refresh of Lifebloom is going to give that person.  Its important to note that this will only work if you cast a DH effect over a HoT of some kind- this includes Swiftmend.  This is, in fact, giving us a reason to use those DH’s, because there is the potential for TONS of bonus healing.  Sure, you’re not going to want to use DH’s for everything, but that’s not what Symbiosis is there for.  Its there for you to be used during tougher fights to help you manage your healing and your mana more effectively- which we will have to do now that our damn near infinite mana pools are a thing of the past.  22% bonus healing for the same mana cost as a HoT and a DH?  I fail to see where there is an issue with this, especially since there will be MORE bonus healing with more Mastery points.  I’ll be in the throngs of druids who will be stacking Mastery at every given opportunity. Is Symbiosis the greatest Mastery talent?  Certainly not.  But its ours, and we have to learn to play with the cards Blizzard has dealt us.

Druids, we have always been great healers.  But, I forsee that these changes in our chosen healing class are going to separate the good Trees from the one’s who were just spamming Wild Growth and Rejuv on the raid and not caring about anything else but topping healing meters.  Times, they are a’changin’, and we are changing with them. The bottom line is that its time to separate the Pro!Trees from the Nub!Branches.

Tree!Druids UNITE!

Now, let’s show Blizzard we can handle anything they throw at us!

And now, for a new addition to the blog:  around the Blogosphere!  Let’s see what others have blogged about recently!

Blogosphere

That’s it for now!  Be cool, and stay angry, healers!

~Pyo

02
Nov
10

Talent Trees and Spellz and Skillz… Oh My!

By Pyo 2 Comments
Categories: angry healers, Cataclysm, druid, Healing and World of Warcraft
Tags: ,

And Happy Tuesday, healers!

Now... to move Tuesday next to Friday...

First off, I’d like to put a call out there to all WoW related blogs!  I’ve cleaned house recently, if you couldn’t tell, and removed all of the inactive blogs from the blogroll.  If you own a WoW blog- healer related or not- tell me!  You can either leave a comment here, or send me an email at sightlessone@gmail.com.  NEED MOAR BLOGZ!

Also, if you’d like an opportunity to guest post here, let me know!  The post doesn’t have to be about druids.  Or healing.  But snark is a MUST.

That email address again is sightlessone@gmail.com.  DOO EET!

Ok, now that I’m done with that… onto the post.  I know every druid that has a blog has done a ‘Healing post- 4.0′ post.  This isn’t going to be exactly that.  This is going to be more along the lines of me either squeeing, contemplating, or yelling WTF.  Because there is some serious WTFery going on.  Now, without further ado…

Talent Tree Focus:  Restoration Druid!

For the record, I always list references.  For this post, I parused MMO-Champion for the actual spell list; Treebark Jacket and Dreambound Druid , both of which are blogs I’ve favored for some time; and some stuff from Revive and Rejuvenate, Restokin, Falling Leaves and Wings, Rustled Leaves, and Cannot Be Tamed, which are all recent additions and addictions. So thank you all for being smart so I can sit here and be snarky and entertaining.  (Yes, I know, I’m smart… but I like to give credit where credit is due.)

ONTO THE POAST!

Fist off, lets look at the new stoof we’re getting.

  • Gift of Nature (Passive) – Healing increased by 25%.- Ok.  Me likie.  This is, undoubtedly, the bonus healing we’re getting to offset the fact that Tree of Life form is on a CD now.
  • Meditation (Passive) – Allows 50% of your mana regeneration from Spirit to continue while in combat.- Now we’re talking.  I’ll actually need to see how this plays out this weekend, when I get some time to play, but mana regen = win, IMO.
  • Symbiosis (Mastery) – Increases the potency of your healing spells by 10% on targets already affected by one of your heal over time spells. Each point of Mastery increases heal potency by an additional 1.25%.-  HELLO BABY WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!  This plays right into my healing style- layering HoTs- and appears to be the niche Resto!Druids are going to be filling.  I suddenly feel justified about all of the choices I made as a raiding Treekin.

Ok, how about we look at some Skills?  Lets see what’s been revamped, what’s great, and what sucks.

  • Nourish now costs 10% of base mana, down from 18% of base mana. Cast time increased from 1.5 sec to 3 sec. Now heals for 2153 to 2502, up from 1883 to 2187.-  And here we go… W.T.F. Blizz?  3 second cast?  Where in the hell is that going to be useful?  You do remember all of the complaints we had about Healing Touch and its ridonkulous cast time, right?  You didn’t even increase the heal all that much.  Decreasing the mana cost by 8% doesn’t change the fact that you BORKED this spell.  I understand, this is supposed to be used with Nature’s Bounty and Empowered Touch, but seriously, unless you plan on throwing us nothing but a bunch of fights where you have to stand still throughout the entire encounter (boring!), I can’t see this- or Healing Touch- being used.  Thank you for breaking one of my favorite spells.
  • Lifebloom now costs 7% of base mana, down from 28%. Now heals the target for 2045 over 10 sec, up from 371 over 7 sec. Lifebloom can be active only on one target at a time. ( Tree of Life : Can be cast on unlimited targets. )- OK.  This is more like it, Blizz!  The ridiculous mana cost it had before wasn’t worth its low heal factor.  Not only did you reduce the mana cost to a quarter of its former value, you jumped the healing by 82% and increased its duration.  This is the shit I like to see from you, Blizz!
  • Tranquility now costs 32% of base mana, down from 70% of base mana. Reworked – Now heals 5 nearby lowest health party or raid targets within 40 yards with Tranquility every 2 sec for 8 sec. Tranquility heals for 3478.7 plus an additional 307.65 every 2 sec over 8 sec. Stacks up to 3 times. The Druid must channel to maintain the spell.- And, finally, this spell has a place in Druid Healing again!  I’ve been waiting a long time for this spell to make a comeback, and I’m glad it has.  Spell prioritization of lower health allies is nice, even if it does make healing just a bit easier.
  • Rebirth now resurrects with 20% health and mana. No longer costs mana. Range increased from 30 yards to 40 yards. Cooldown increased from 10 min to 30 min.- See, now I know druids who are going to be mad that you increased the CD back up to 30 minutes.  But I’m not one of them.  Removing the mana cost and upping the rezzed one’s health and mana totals, especially if you’re going to allow us to keep the Glyph of Unburdened Rebirth, was a good idea.  Yummy.
  • Regrowth now heals 3030 to 3383 and another 970 over 6 sec, up from 2234 to 2494 and another 2345 over 21 sec. Now costs 35% of base mana, up from 29% of base mana. Cast time reduced to 1.5 sec, down from 2 sec. ( Tree of Life : Instant cast. )- Not really much I can say here but BOOYAH INSTANT CAST IN TREE OF LIFE FORM.  I will abuse this spell as a Tree.  Watch me.
  • Rejuvenation now heals for 1171 every 3 sec for 12 sec. Up from 1690 over 15 sec. Cost increased to 20% of base mana, up from 18% of base mana.- Ah, my staple spell, my beloved Favorite HoT, you just keep getting better. I’ll take the 2% base mana cost increase for the 2,994 extra healing you now give.  -love-
  • Healing Touch now heal for 6461 to 7630, up from 3750 to 4428. Cost increased to 38% of base mana, up from 17% of base mana. Cast time increased to 3 sec, up from 1.5 sec.- STILL NOT USING IT, BLIZZ.  I can’t see me using it, especially now that it costs 38% base mana.  Fuck.  That.
  • Mark of the Wild now increases the friendly target’s Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Intellect by 5%, and all magical resistances by [ ( Level 1-70 : (Level/2) / Level 71-80 : (Level/2 + 0.714 * (Level - 70)) / Level 81 or above : (Level + 2.5 * (Level - 70) + 3.5 * (Level - 80)) ) - 3.5 ], for 1 hr. If target is in your party or raid, all party and raid members will be affected.- Um.  Still the worst buff in the game.

Ok, OK.  Moving on- Talents and Talent Changes!  We’ll look at the changed Talents first, then the new ones.  Here, have a Talent Tree.

  • Wild Growth is now a Tier 5 talent, down from Tier 11. Cost increased from 23% of base mana to 27% of base mana. Cooldown increased from 6 sec to 10 sec. Now prioritizes healing most injured party members. Now heals for 2568.14 over 7 sec, up from 1442. ( Tree of Life : Affects an additional 2 targets. )- No complaints except for the increaded CD, which I assume is supposed to be offset by Tranquility being useful for the first time since vanilla WoW.  AoE heals look like they’re covered.
  • Gift of the Earthmother is now a Tier 6 and 3 Ranks talent, down from Tier 10 and 5 Ranks. Revamped – Increases the healing done when your Lifebloom expires by 5/10/15%, and causes your Rejuvenation spell to also instantly heal for 5/10/15% of the total periodic effect.- I like, I like!  Still need to determine if Lifebloom is going to be better if its allowed to fall off or not, but the bump to Rejuv is always nice.
  • Tree of Life is now a Tier 7 talent, down from Tier 9. Revamped – Shapeshift into the tree of life, increasing healing done by 15% and increasing your armor by 120%. In addition, some of your spells are temporarly enhanced while shapeshifted. Lasts 30 sec. Enhanced spells: Lifebloom, Wild Growth, Regrowth, Entangling Roots, Wrath- Still trying to figure out this whole ‘casting Wrath in ToL form’ thing out.  Is there a reason?  From my understanding, ToL is out new ‘OSHIT’ button.  If I pop it, why the hell would I be casting Wrath?
  • Natural Perfection is now a Tier 5 and 2 Ranks talent, down from Tier 7 and 3 Ranks. Renamed to Nature’s Ward and reworked – Whenever you take an attack while at or below 50% health, you have a 50/100% chance to automatically cast Rejuvenation on yourself with no mana cost.- I don’t care who you are, THIS IS NICE.  Much better than its predecessor version, as I could not only relish in constantly healing myself in BGs, this may actually have some PvE use- if I have an off day.  Either way, its an ass saver (like Resto!druids need any more help in that department AMIRITE?!)
  • Empowered Touch is now a Tier 4 talent, down from Tier 6. Reworked – Increases the healing done by your Healing Touch and Nourish spells by 5/10%, and your Nourish spell has a 50/100% chance to refresh the duration of your Lifebloom on targets.- This might have had some promise if you hadn’t TOTALLY SCREWED WITH NOURISH, BLIZZ.  Yeah… I look forward to being bitter about that until its fixed.
  • Nature’s Bounty is now a Tier 4 and 3 ranks spell, down from Tier 6 and 5 Ranks. No longer increases critical effect chance of Nourish. Now increases critical effect of Regrowth by 20/40/60% (Up from 5/10/15/20/25%). Also, you have a 33/66/100% chance when you critically heal with Healing Touch and Nourish to reduce the remaining cooldown of your Swiftmend spell by 0.5 sec.- I reiterate: not until they reduce the cast time of Nourish and Healing Touch.  I only want a second, Blizz!  Just take of 1 freaking second!
  • Improved Rejuvenation is now a Tier 2 talent, down from Tier 4. Now also affects Swiftmend.- Yay for affecting Swiftmend!
  • Naturalist is now a Tier 1 and 2 ranks talent, down from Tier 2 and 5 Ranks. Reduces the cast time of your Healing Touch and Nourish spells by 0.25/0.5 sec.- NOT ENOUGH BLIZZ.  Change it to .5 sec/ 1 sec and I’ll shut up about it.
  • Natural Shapeshifter is now a Tier 1 and 2 Ranks talent, down from Tier 2 and 3 Ranks. Reduces the mana cost of all shapeshifting by 10/20%. (Down from 10/20/30%)- Boo.  I liked the 30% reduction, but I’ll take 20%!

And for the New Talents…

  • Swift Rejuvenation – Reduces the global cooldown of your Rejuvenation by 0.25/0.5 sec.- Anything that reduces the GCD of mah Favorite HoT is good in my book.
  • Efflorescence – When you heal with your Swiftmend spell you also sprout a bed of healing flora underneath the target, healing all nearby friendly targets within 8 yards for 20/40/60% of the amount healed by your Swiftmend over 7 sec.- Again, I’m assuming this is another offset for WG being on a 10 second CD.  The graphics for it a pretty, even if it is liable to confuse the non- educated.
  • Malfurion’s Gift – Whenever you heal with your Lifebloom spell, you have a 2/4% chance to cause Omen of Clarity.- A Gift, indeed.  Thanks, Furion.  We’re glad you’re back, too, even if we can’t figure out how you and Tyrande manage to get anything done.

Get a room. No, seriously.

  • Fury of Stormrage – Reduces the mana cost of your Wrath spell by 50/100%, and when you deal damage with your Wrath spell you have a 6/12% chance to cause your next Starfire to be instant cast within 8 sec.- WHAT IS THIS I DONT EVEN.  Again with the casting of damage spells as Resto.  I don;t understand what you’re going for here, Blizz.  You implemented Dual Specs for a reason.  And then you made it a prereq for Malfurion’s Gift?  Seriously?
  • Blessing of the Grove – Increases the healing done by your Rejuvenation by 2/4% and the direct damage of your Moonfire by 3/6%.- Mmmmm Rejuv healing but… Moonfire?  At least its high enough in the Resto Tree for the Boomers to get it.

And, for the record, here’s what’s been removed:

Well, I hope this post has been entertaining and given people something to think about while they’re out there Treeing it up.  Once me solid playtime, I’ll be able to sit down and give a good Tree Healing Guide for those who may be looking for it.

That’s it, then!  Come back on Friday, when I’ll be discussing a topic very near and dear to my heart:  ‘If the DPS Dies, Its Their Own Damn Fault:  When This Is and Isn’t the Case.’  Until then though, cheers, and stay angry, healers!

GARROSH IS STILL A MORON!

ANGRY!

~Pyo

26
Oct
10

How To Make Your Healer’s Life Easier

By Pyo 1 Comment
Categories: angry healers
Tags:

Happy Tuesday, Angry Healers, and welcome back.  This is what I hope to be the first of my regular posts again, now that my life has returned to some semblance of normalcy.  Still not really raiding, but now I’m in the beta, and I can sit down and analyze all the good druidy data I’m getting there.

Anywho… lets get on with this, shall we?  The title of the post says it all.  It pretty much applies to most instances, but I wrote it thinking about healing random 5-man Heroics.

How to Make Your Healer’s Life Easier- A Guide by Pyoska

1.  Bring lots of food and bandages. No, seriously.  Do this.  We like not having to worry about any minor damage you may have received that is most likely your fault because you decided that jumping off that cliff was the fastest way down to the bottom of the instance.   That, and food buffs are good for you.  And everyone should have maxed First Aid- there’s honestly no reason not to.

2.  Don’t tell us what heals to use when, ESPECIALLY if you’ve never healed as whatever class we are. I know what each and every one of my HoTs is good for, and I will apply them thusly.  It many not be ‘what your druid in your big raiding guild’ does, but it works for me.  I don’t care what ‘your druid buddy’ does.  I will ask if you, personally, have healed as a druid, and when you tell me NO, I will consider  my point made.

3.  If you’re DPS, do NOT grab aggro from a mob… then suddenly drop it. You realize that is a healer death- sentence, right?  And it generally means we have to revert to screaming at our screens because you are a total moron.  If you don’t like us, just say so.  Don’t torment us by being a fuckin’ noob moron.

4.  TANKS- if we’ve got aggro, and we can see you and aren’t too far away, STAY PUT.  We’ll come to you. Chasing you around while we have mobs smacking on is is tiring and it makes us doubt your abilities.  And we don;t like not trusting our tanks.  We need you to be great tanks so we can be great healers.  See how that works?  Now stand still and drop a Consecrate/ Thunder Clap/ Whatever AoE Aggro Mechanic You Have.  We’re not so incompetent as to toss up a bubble/ drop a totem/ switch to bear form and run to you to get the mob off of us.  However, please remember that we will be trying our hardest to not pull threat from anything and that, in some instances, you may have to come to us due to fight mechanics.

OH THE TREEMANITY!

5.  Do not ask us to blow cooldowns we normally reserve for ourselves on  you- I’m looking at you, mages asking for my Innervate. I’m sorry,  but the likeliness of me requiring that spell is far greater than you.  Its my ONLY mana regeneration spell, where as you have Evocation and ‘locks have Life Tap.  I’m not Innervating anyone but myself unless we happen to be raiding a 25 man and I just had to brez you during an encounter.

6.  Don’t queue as a tank in non- tanking gear. You are not a tank.  I know people who won’t take someone who’s queued as a tank if they have less than a certain amount of health, because it indicates they are not in the proper gear.  The only excuse for this is if you are just now gearing up for a tank, and this is only acceptable in lower level Heroics.  If this be the case, warning us healers ahead of time that you are not geared properly will help a lot, as we can be completely prepared to keep you alive knowing the gear you’re in.  So please, be kind- tell us the truth.

7.  Do not for a second think I am not paying attention to your health bar/ box/ etc. This is just a rephrase of ‘Don’t tell me you need heals.  I fucking know.’  I’m sorry, it needs to be said often.

8.  If I, or anyone else, needs mana, for the love of all that’s good DON’T FUCKING PULL. Going off half- cocked into a boss fight = wipe.  And I will not be blamed.

9.  Do not tell me to use my brez on you during an inconsequential mob fight. I don’t care about the significantly smaller cooldown, its lame, and I may need it in that short time frame.  Brez is for bossfights only.  You can wait until we’ve downed the mobs.  Then I’ll rez you.

10.  If we wipe, run the fuck back. I don’t rez lazy fuckers.  I had to run back.  So do you.  Get back here so we can continue instead of waiting for me to get my mana back.

And remember- always give your healers the love they deserve.  We love our jobs, but sometimes… you people aggravate us.

Well? Have you?

Well, that’s all for today folks.  Tune in next time when I’ll be bringing you Druids of BlizzCon 2010 and Beta goodness!  Until then, stay angry, healers!

FOR THE HORDE!

~Pyo

06
Aug
10

Sneek Peek: Druid Changes in Cataclysm!

By Pyo Leave a Comment
Categories: angry healers and druid
Tags: ,

Hello, Angry Healers!

You didn’t really think I’d abandoned you for good, did you?  Oh ye of little faith.

Me? Gone for good? Nah, I'm just being sneaky.

No, I am still here, and still alive, and I am still playing WoW, even if it is sporadically.  Sadly, I am still not in the Cataclysm beta (though I’m SUPPOSED to be in the Beta Club) so… we’ll see about that.

Until then, I’m just gonna have to go off of MMO Champion.  -shrug-  So bear with me as I bumble my way through some of the new, exciting or otherwise, changes Blizzard has in store for us Tree!Droos!

First off, we’ll start with the obvious: Tree of Life form.  Its the raid- comforting form- everybody loves a good Tree!  Tree of Life form is getting some HUGE changes made to it.

WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN

So.  YEAH.  5 minute cooldown.  Lasts 45 seconds.  Ladies and gentlemen, Trees of All Colors, they have decided that Resto needed to be the spec where you could see all of the pretty Druid armors.

RollingHots.com hit the nail on the head here.

Here’s what Blizzard had to say:

Tree of Life is changing from a passive talent to a cooldown-based talent, similar to Metamorphosis. Mechanically, it feels unfair for a druid to have to give up so much offense and utility in order to be just as good at healing as the other classes who are not asked to make that trade. We are exploring the exact benefit the druid gets from Tree of Life. It could strictly be better healing, or it could be that each heal behaves slightly different. You also will not be able to be banished in Tree of Life form (this will probably be true of Metamorphosis as well). Additionally, we would like to update the Tree of Life model so that it feels more exciting when you do decide to go into that form. Our feeling is that druids rarely actually get to show off their armor, so it would be nice to have at least one spec that looked like a night elf or tauren (and soon troll or worgen) for most of the time.

Ok, so… when I first heard about this I, quite literally, found the first thing in arms reach and threw it across the room in frustration.  Sure, tree!form has needed some updating, since Moo!Trees and Elf!Trees looked exactly the same.  But why- OH THE HUMANITY- did Blizzard decide that it was our favored form that needed to be put on the CD?

Ok, so I can see why not Feral.  I mean, frankly, who didn’t think this was funny?

Blizzard's modelling of certain things is just the bestest evar.

I suppose, on the upside, tree!form is supposed to be getting one helluva makeover.

Bigger is Better, after all.

And our healing is going to be boosted in ‘Look At My Armor Isn’t It Shiny?’ form, to be in line with what it used to be in Tree!form.  Which makes shifting into ToL form more of an ‘OH SHIT’ button than Nature’s Swiftness and Healing Touch used to be.  So… I reserve judgement on the new CD on ToL form until I’ve actually gotten a chance to mess around with it.  (You hear that, Blizz?  LET ME INTO THE BETA!)

Ok, how’s about we take a peek at the new Talent Tree?

Now, first off, in Cata, you’ll only be getting Talent points every other level- not that it should matter for most of you kids out there, since you’re almost all already 80.  But, its good to know.  Now, from what it looks like, they’ve pruned the ‘Why are you making me take this, Blizz?’ talents out of the tree, a la ‘Naturalist’, and added some stuff- things I’m kinda not so sure about.  It looks like, at least for druids (not sure about you other healy types) they’re trying to keep us from focusing on just healing by giving us talents that will entice us to- *gasp*- DO DAMAGE.

-facepalm-

Let’s look at some, eh?

Blessing of the Grove (2 ranks): Increases the healing done by your Rejuvenation by 4%, the direct damage of your Moonfire by 6% and the damage done by your Claw and Shred by 4%.

O_o?  Ok, Blizz, just what are you going for here?  This is a first tier Talent, and- clearly- not intended for use solely in the Tree! tree.  Or is it?

Furor (3 ranks):  Givess you 20% chance to gain 10 rage when you shapeshift into Bear or Dire Bear form, and you keep up to 20 energy when you shapeshift into Cat form. In addition your Intellect is increased by 2% while in Moonkin form.

I ask myself ‘Why?’ every time I see this in the Resto Tree.  I mean, seriosuly, it does NOTHING for Resto Druids, WHY IS IT STILL THERE, BLIZZARD?  For cryin’ out loud, remove it from our tree if your not going to make it at least somewhat useful for us.

Fury of Stormrage (2 ranks): You have a 10% chance when you cast Nourish or Healing Touch to cause your next Wrath spell to be instant cast and cast no mana. Fury of Stormrage lasts for 8 sec.

See, this is the first Talent I came across that gave me the idea that Blizzard did, in fact, intend for Resto!Druids to do some damage during encounters- and I do not think for a second this is supposed to be a PvP only thing.  I mean, we have enough to worry about normally with encounters with crazy, raid- wide damage- which I understand is also supposed to be changing?  Once again, I’m going to reserve judgement for when I actually get to see these Talents in speaction, but… I have my doubts about the whole situation.

However, this has piqued my healy interest in a good way.

Efflorescence (3 ranks): When you critically heal with your Regrowth spell you also spread a bead of healing flora underneath the target, healing all nearby friendly targets within 15 yards who stand on them for 30% of the amount healed by your Regrowth for 7 seconds.

I am intrigued!  Its not a new spell- we aren’t getting anymore, for some reason, Blizzard things we have enough.  HA!- but a new mechanic that looks like it could be a lot of fun to play with.  This, on top of HoTs benefiting innately from Haste and Crit, and Haste not speeding up the duration of the HoT, but ADDING ticks into the normal duration of the spell, is just awesome.

And, working hand in hand with the new Talent trees, Blizzard is introducing Mastery, which is associated with the Talent tree you choose at level 10.  The Resto Masteries include Healing and Meditiation, which are shared with Priests, Shammies, and Pallies, and HoT Scale Healing, which is Druid only.

HoTs will do increased healing on more wounded targets. The mechanic is similar to that of the Restoration shaman, but with HoTs instead of direct heals. In Cataclysm, we anticipate druids using a greater variety of their spells so there is a distinction between healing and HoT healing.

HA!  How’s that for a post after a loooong hiatus!  Well, folks, that’s all I have for now.  I plan on posting more regularly here again, as well as maintaining my posts over at Milady Geek.  Hope you folks are prepared for my insanity!

Have a great weekend, and stay angry, healers!

I'm back!

~Pyo,  who is BACK FROM HER INSANE SCHEDULE!!!!!!  -woot!-

25
Jan
10

Top Mistakes Healers Make

By Pyo 7 Comments
Categories: angry healers, druid and Healing
Tags: , , , ,

It’s Monday! 

O_o

Yeah, I know.  But this Monday is special- this is the Monday I put my ‘Pyo Starts Posting Twice A Week’ plan in effect!  (I have been working on this for a while.)  Because I believe in quality posting- and posting only one day a week bores me.  I bore easily.  So, I will be posting Mondays and Thursdays.  YaY for us!

But I digress.  Let us have a post!  Today, I have chosen- from My List of Topics- to discuss-

*cues dramatic music*

Top Mistakes Healers Make.

Say it ain't so!

That’s right, Angry Healers, I said it- this post is about the mistakes WE make!  Well, not all of us, I suppose.  But I’ll be covering the mistakes we make when we get better- and know it.  Not the beginner mistakes.  Let’s begin, shall we?

Top Mistakes Healers Make

1.  Just because you are the healer, doesn’t mean that they won’t drop you from the group.  This is, quite possibly, this biggest problem I have seen with level 80 healers while I play on my Shadow Priest of Doom- especially all of you rolling in full epics.  Just because you’re fully epicced out in your shiny ICC/ ToC gear, doesn’t mean your place in a party is guranteed.  Yes, that means that if you’re acting like a total asshat, you can expect to be rapidly replaced, because nobody likes dealing with the ‘leetsauce’ attitude.  If you colossally fuck up, prepare to be kicked.  If you have no clue what you’re doing, prepare to be bounced.  This leads me into my next points:

2.  If you sign up as a Healer for instances, be specced properly for it.  This mainly applies to Heroics and higher level instances.  No, Mr. Enhancement Shaman trying to heal Heroic Halls of Lightning, you are NOT A HEALER.  Be prepared to be bitched at and/ or Voted to Kicked.  I, seriously, don’t know why you bothered- yeah, Healers tend to queue up quickly- but we sign up for the job we are specced and geared for.  We can do it- you can’t.  Congratulations- you just made yourself look like an ass.

3.  Know how your class heals.  By the time you hit Heroics, you should have half a clue how to heal with your chosen class- I’m not saying be a pro!healer.  I’m saying have some damn sense.  Know what spells do what, which spells can proc special abilities, understand which spells are better than others.  I habitually smack Druids that use Healing Touch- unless they combine it with Nature’s Swiftness- because we have SO MANY OTHER MORE USEFUL SPELLS.  You want a direct heal?  Use Nourish!  I cringe everytime I see a tree Tank healing with Healing Touch.  Yes, Heroics are not SRS BZNS, but that’s no excuse for not understanding the basics of your class.

4.  Don’t try healing in gear for another spec.  This is slightly (only very slightly) forgivable, especially if you’re trying to gear up for Healing, and your gear could remotely be used for healing (i.e. some Boomkin leather is ok for Treeing it up, as well.)  However, if your previous spec has absolutely no stats in common with your Healing spec, DON’T HEAL.  That means No, Feral Druid, you CAN’T heal Heroic Halls of Reflection in your Feral leathers.  You WILL fail and piss off your party, who are trusting you to not only know what you’re doing by this point in time, but to do it well. 

5.  Don’t refuse to heal a certain class because you don’t like them.  OMG.  I don’t care if you don’t like Rogues, if that Rogue is doing their job and not pulling threat, HEAL HIM/ HER.  Not healing a person of a certain class persuasion just because you don’t like their class is fucking stupid, and it makes you look like a total jackhole.  That being said,  if said Rogue keeps pulling threat and pulling mobs, you have my permission to let them die, watch them QQ about not getting heals, then bitch at them for pulling threat.

6.  Don’t rez the lazy fuckers who are just chilling out after a wipe.  If it’s a wipe, everyone runs back.  Not ‘everyone- but- the- lazy- party- member- runs- back- waits- for- the- healer- to- mana- up- then- expects- a rez.’  Let that fucker sit there until he hauls his ass back.  On the contrary, if only one or two people die on a pull, REZ THEM.  Don’t be a jerk.

7.  Don’t constantly post healing  meters after every fight.  This applies primarily to raids.  Yes, Tree!Druid, we know your heals are awesome.  That does not mean you need to post the healing meter in the healers channel (or in /say… that’s just tacky.)  Incidentally, any and all DPS who might be reading this, its the same for you- we don’t care how leet your DPS is, posting the meters repeatedly to show how badass you are is stupid.

See, I like to think I hate all stupid people equally- just because you’re a healer, doesn’t mean your immune to being bashed.  Bad healers are just as bad as bad tanks and bad DPS.  Don’t be bad!

Thats it for now, lovelies!  Have a decent Monday (Monday is an awful way to spend 1/7th of your life), and stay angry, healers!

~Pyo

13
Jan
10

Healer Vs. PuG: A Survival Guide

By Pyo 3 Comments
Categories: angry healers, Healing and World of Warcraft
Tags: , ,

Catchy title, eh? 

I thought this would be a good topic to cover, now that everyone is happily (or maybe, not so happily) fiddling around in the new, shiny, cross- realm LookingForGroup System.  I was gonna do some ICC25 bosses and strats, but frankly… it can wait.  (Go to Tankspot.com- they have the best strat vids, anyways.)

PuGs.  PuG, in case you didn’t know, stands for ‘Pick Up Group,’ which means that you are grouping with people you’ve never seen or heard of before with the intention of killing bosses in instances or, less often, raids.  Now, PuGs have a sinister, underlying negative tone to them- and with good reason.  How many times have you joined a PuG where The Tank couldn’t hold threat, resulting in your poor, squishie healer butt being pwned thoroughly by a group of mobs?  How about Those Huntards who don’t turn their pet’s Growl off, then bitch at you because ‘my pet died?’  Or the Mage Noobs that don’t check their DPS, pull threat from a decent tank, take a couple of whacks, then Ice Block to drop the aggro- which YOU, the squishy healer, promptly pick up?  Let’s not forget that hyperactive Warrior- Who- Is- Not- A- Tank that insists on pulling the mobs before the rest of the group is ready, or that Shadow Priest with the happy Psychic Scream finger.  And, of course- the shortening- flavored icing on this cake of fail- the ‘leetspeakin’ 12 year olds who are happily LOLing and calling you a  noob in /party, when they’re meleeing instead of spellcasting.

If your chat looks like this, you should probably run.

Gee, I haven’t seen all of these things, have I?  But there is hope!  You can survive a bad PuG!  All it takes is a little time and a lot of patience.

Pyoska’s Guide To Surviving PuGs as a Healer

The first thing you need to remember is this- it will, eventually be over, and all you have to do is what you do best.  This applies to you at every level, from lowbie instances to Heroic raids.

Things you should do to ensure you survive a PuG with most of your hair still on your head:

1.  Bring your ownrefreshments.  Seriously.  Go and spend the silver on a couple of stacks of level- appropriate water and food and put it somewhere on your action bars, for easy access.  If there is a mage in your party, and he/ she is willing to make you some food and water, then take the conjured stuff and use it first- save the stuff you spent your hard earned money on for later.  NEVER expect or demand that the mage make you refreshments- they will do it if they want to, and it will save you an argument.

2. Make sure your bags are empty.  It sucks having to destroy free money (grey loot items) because you ran out of room.   I don’t care if they’re crap- if its an item that can be sold, PICK IT UP.  You’ll thank me later.  And, while we’re on the subject of bags…

3.  Keep your bags organized.  Grey items always seem to clog up those random bag slots in an attempt to camoflage that shiny new piece of gear you just picked up, regardless of color, and you always lose that quest item or potion in the mounds of stuff you’ve gathered/ ferretted away in your travels.  Don’t be afraid to toss all of that Silk Cloth in your bank to use later for mass bandage crafting.  Toss that quest item in there, as well- its just eating up space that could be used for sellables.  And don’t let the big, bad price of extra bank slots scare you.  They are worth it!

4.  Make sure you have (if you want them) all quests available for the instance you are about to run.  And don’t be aftraid to share.  Everyone wants more experience, and sometimes, a clearly definable goal is the best way to get a PuG moving in the right direction.

5.  Make sure your gear is completely repaired.  Nothing is worse than having someone die and watching them go, ‘Oh, shit, my gear’s red, I need to repair lol can you guys summon me back?’  Don’t be that person.  Most people in PuGs HATE that person (but not as much as we hate the Huntard Who Forgot To Bring Enough Ammunition.  We REALLY HATE that guy.)

6.  Make sure your bars and hotkeys are set up for HEALING, not DPS.  This is especially true in those lower level instances, when you probably aren’t Resto or Holy- unless you’re into self- inflicted torture.  In which case, rock on.  Either way, when you are healing, your primary hotkeys (the ones your fingers hover over for mashing purposes) should be replaced with whatever heals you posses.  Better yet?  Get an addon to help- like Grid and Clique or Healbot- and only have it up if you are healing.

7. Expect a certain amount of stupidity from a PuG.  After all, we do need to consider Wizard’s First Rule when it comes to dealing with others, no matter what the situation.  Expect the worst, and you will be pleasently surprised if you get into a good group with good people, instead of disappointed with being stuck with the dredges of WoW society.

8. Do Your Job.  Yep.  That means heal to the best of your ability, doing whatever it takes to ensure it can’t be blamed on you.  I know, I know, that does mean you have to heal that moronic DPSer who just pulled threat.  I’m not saying keep him alive- but you should at least try.  The first time, anyways.  What kind of Angry Healer would I be if I told you to try more than once.  Clearly, if it happens more than once, its him, not you.  You can probably deal without his DPS, anyways. 

9.  Be Patient with the Newbs.  I said ‘newbs,’ not ‘noobs.’  There will be people in your PuGs who haven’t played WoW until very recently.  We will call them ‘newbs’, short for ‘new player who needs help learning how to be a good player’, NOT ‘noobs’, which is short for ‘fucking idiot who can’t play.’  Give the Newbs your assistance, especially if you’ve played their class at their level- trust me, your help now will mold them into better players you’ll actually want to play with later.  And who doesn’t want that?

10. Try to keep an open mind.  You’ll be dealing with lots of people from lots of places (even other countries!)  Those people have different ways of thinking and communicating that you might not be used to.  So if someone says something you find a little off, don’t go flying off the handle and TYPING IN CAPSLOCK to show how mad you are.  That doesn’t help anyone- capslock is NOT cruise control for cool.  Instead, calmly adress the person and ask them what they meant.  If they reply in kind, then its all good.  If they answer with, ‘LOL UR STUPID’, slap their ass on /ignore and continue on.  If they say something that’s obviously offensive, tell them to knock it off and don’t hesitate to report them.  After all, if they’re doing it in your PuG, they’re doing it in Trade, and General, and LookingForGroup, making asses of themselves and, undoubtedly, pissing all sorts of people off.  And while a 72 hour ban is unlikely to change their attitude, at least no one will have to deal with them during that time.

All this aside, know when you’ve had enough and don’t be afraid to tell a group of morons that they can jog on.  Have fun- isn’t that what playing a game is all about!

Well, thats it from me for now.  I hope this helps someone out.  Cheers, and stay angry, healers!

Obligatory Tree!Druid Shot.

~Pyo

07
Jan
10

Welcome Back! Here, Have a Prima Donna Tank and Healer Post!

By Pyo 20 Comments
Categories: angry healers and World of Warcraft
Tags: , , ,

I hope everyone’s holidays brought them everything they wanted, and then some.  Mine brought me friends from up north,  a faction swap of my priest back to the Horde to play with them, and a hangover (no, nothing as epic as The Hangover.)

But now, its time to get angry, healers.  And its time to show some appreciation.

Whilst parusing teh intarwebz this morning, I came across a post in a snark community (no, I’m not snarky, not at all… ) I frequently post in about ‘DPS being a dime a dozen’ and that ‘Healers and Tanks deserve loot drops more than DPS.’  What made this worst, perhaps, is that this was guest posted over at World of Matticus. 

Hooboy. 

Rage, incoming as  I step back from my favored role as a raid healer… and put on my ‘I was a successful DPSer’ robe and hat.  (Hunter, Boomkin, Shadow Priest, and Rogue GO GO GO!)

First off, guest poster, DPS are not a dime a dozen.  Them being a dime a dozen implies that they all do the same amount of DPS, no matter what their class, have no utility whatsoever, and are pretty much required to stand there and auto attack while the tanks and the healers do all the work. 

-ahem- No.  In the words of the XT-002 Deconstructor: ‘ no no No No NO NO NO NO NO.’  Seriously, dude, wth?  What do you mean the DPS are just ‘meat in the room’?  Who’s killing the boss?  Not the healer.  Not the tank (for the most part, though I do applaud Blizzard for giving you guys some DPS capabilities now.)  The Deeps. 

Who’s interrupting the brutal Frostbolts on Lady Deathwhisper?  Probably your kicking Rogues. 

Who’s interrupting the problematic Sentry Blast that could wipe your raid in Ulduar?  That’s probably a combination of your rogues, shaman, and warriors.

Who’s helping your Tank frontload asstons of threat?  That Hunter back there, with her Misdirection. 

 Who’s taking down the gangs of trash mobs that pull together?  That Shadow Priest using Mind Sear, that Mage using Blizzard, that Warlock using Rain of Fire, that Boomkin using Hurricane. 

No- NOT the Tank.  Or the Healer.  The DPS.  Their whole job is to slam the boss and mobs with enough damage to kill them.  There are fights in game that REQUIRE the DPS to have a minimum personal DPS of 7.5k.  Can a Tank do that?  No.  How about a healer?  Nope, not them, either.  Do you not remember fights like Reliquary of Souls in Black Temple, where abilities HAD to be interrupted?  Where if you didn’t have a Rogue kick rotation, you wiped?

Now, please keep in mind- this isn’t to say that there aren’t idiots amongst the DPS.  There are, and there are such a large number of people that play DPS that it seems that most of the idiots are concentrated there.  But I’ve run with some pretty fail tanks and healers, so I can say with confidence that its not just them.  And its not just being DPS that makes those special cases idiots.  Some people just aren’t very good.  But idiots are not limited to DPS.  Oh no.  You would be surprised at how often I get complimented on my healing in PuGs because some people just can’t get it.  And how often do I find myself beating my head off of my desk because the tank can’t hold threat?  I assure you, its fairly often, and the majority of the reason why I just don’t PuG anymore.

And its not just this- groups are a machine.  Everything needs to be there in order for it to work.  No heals?  Tank dies.  No Tank?  Everyone dies.  No DPS?  The healer runs out of mana before the tank gets a chance to get the mob down.  Raids are even more so, because everyone is expected to perform at a level much higher than expected in a 5 man instance, where- literally- failing to put out the proper amount of DPS or do any of the other utility abilities DPS classes possess can, and will, wipe the raid.

LEAVE THE DPS ALONE.  Sure, DPS are everywhere… but good DPS are just as hard to come across as good Tanks and Healers.  And I don’t say ‘good’ and mean ‘have really good TPS/DPS/HPS and thats it.’  I mean ‘have really good HPS/TPS/DPS, don’t stand in the fire, can dance with the best of them, and can smile after its all said an done.’

So, Mr. DPS- Are- Meat- In- The- Room… tell us again exactly why it is that you feel that Healers and Tanks do all of the work?  Sure, we’re underappreciated at times… but I think your post show how even the DPS can be taken for granted.  I stand by the outstanding DPSers in my guild, who attend my raids, and make my job easier.  Cheers to you folks who continue to prove posts like the one over at WoM wrong.

What a better way to start the year at Angry Healers than with an Angry Post!  =D

Stay angry, Healers!  Up next: Icecrown Citadel strategy posts!

04
Nov
09

Druids: Patch 3.3 and You

By Pyo 3 Comments
Categories: angry healers, druid and Healing
Tags: , ,

Hey, look!  A post that isn’t a non-meme and me being stunned repeatedly by the Sunreavers!

Hey, shut up, I finally started getting it right!  -grumble-

Anyways, yesterday was raid night.  As we were preparing to roflstomp our way through normal ToC25, I see this blaze across our healer channel.

So, did you see that Haste will affect Rejuv ticks in 3.3?

I can’t say for certain what happened next- I think I fainted from healer happy.  As soon as I shook off the shock, I started drilling my informant for questions- how will haste affect it?  What about the ‘bug fix’ (let’s not beat around the bush here, Blizzard, you’re not fooling anyone by calling it a ‘bug fix’- its a nerf, OWN UP TO IT!) Blizz is planning on implementing on Rejuv?  What about the Gift of the Earthmother nerf?

The only answer I got for certain is that haste will only affect Rejuv with a glyph.  Of course, no one could tell me what the glyph was (though ‘Glyph of Super Fast Rejuv’ made me chuckle.)  Its ok, dear other trees in The Grim Covenant- thats why I’m here!

So, we raided- got some loot, got some Emblems (and 3 upgrades, woot!), got the shiny Heirloom 2H Axe for my Warrior/Paladin/Death Knight to share, and promptly went to do some research. 

Rejuvination: deals 1352 health over 12 seconds (down from 1690 over 15 seconds)- ok.  OK.  So, yeah, its a nerf.  They’re removing one tick and dropping the amount healed by 338.  Way to mess with my raid healing Rejuv spam tactic.  Once again, this is a ‘bug fix’ that Blizzard isn’t even sure if they’re going to implement (or keep, if they do.)  However, lets go out on a limb here and say not only do they implement it, they keep it.  Time to find another heal spell?   EDIT:  Blue post verified!  They are NOT nerfing Rejuv!  -does a happy dance-

Glyph of Rapid Rejuvination: causes haste to affect the time between ticks of Rejuvination- Haste.  Affects.  Rejuv ticks.  -waits for the chorus of happy!druid squees-  YES!  Ladies and Gentlemen of the Restoration Druid Persuasion, OUR PRAYERS HAVE FINALLY BEEN ANSWERED!  A glyph that increases the speed of the ticks of Rejuv based on haste rating?  The thought makes me shiver- can you imagine the amount of healing we’ll be doing then?  More healing faster, which will mean an increased in reapplication, but more damage being healed faster.  Which means more health recovery, which means less chance of people dying, which means success! If you weren’t stacking haste for the elusive 1 second GCD/ 1 second Nourish cast, now you have a reason!  -happy tree dance-

Gift of the Earthmother: Increases haste rating by 10% and decreases the GCD of Rejuv/ Wild Growth/ Nourish by 10% (5/5)- ok, admittedly… GotEM was broken.  It was pretty much stomping haste into the ground for those three spells (I think I got them right- damn work for blocking WoW sites).  But, I can’t help thinking that maybe this is taking it a little too far.  Only time will tell, I suppose.

Rebirth: cooldown reduced to 10 minutes- 10 minute battlerez?  I can live with that.

And, last but not least… images of Druid Tier 10 Armor!

Can I have a 'Hide Belt' option?

What the shit is up with that helmet?!

I haven’t seen anything on released stats for it yet, so I’m waiting on that to determine just how much I’ll despise that helmet (which is soooo getting hidden).  I kinda like my corseted Tier 9… and really?  That belt is AWFUL.  WTB my waistline back, PST.  And while I’m not too hot on the T9 shoulders, at least they don’t look like they’ll eat the next person I walk past- though that will likely grow on me.  -has a flashback of the Little Shop of Horrors-

Anyways, I’ve bothered you enough for one day.  There will be more as I catch updated info on patch 3.3, so stay tuned and stay angry, healers!

~Pyo

19
Aug
09

Druid Healing: From Nub!Branch to Pro!Tree

By Pyo 6 Comments
Categories: angry healers, druid and Healing
Tags: , ,

Argh!

Sorry for not updating in so long, loyal viewers, but with BlizzCon just around the corner, my husband and I have been working our tails off on costuming and such (if you’re going to be there, I’ll be dressed as Lady Onyxia!  Feel free to grab me and say HI!) and I have been sorely negelecting this most beloved of healer blogs.  And for that, I apologize.  Rest assured, however, that I have been coming up with post topics and have managed to achieve some time to take care of business!

As I’m sure you know, I am a member of the WoW Ladies Livejournal community, and, as of late, I have seen a lot- and I do mean A LOT- of  ‘OMG I’m a new tree HALP’ posts.  And while I’m sure everyone has seen my previous post on the subject, I decided that a little more indepth take on how a tree!druid heals is probably what’s needed.  Now, please keep in mine, I’m not theorycrafter- I flat out suck at math, and I refuse to redo the work the people over at Elitist Jerks have put so much time into.  But you didn’t come here for theorycrafting- you came here for angry healers explaining whats up with our classes.  And that’s just what I’m gonna do.

DISCLAIMER:  All of the following information is based on my experiences as a tree!druid.  Please note that this is not the LAW of Tree!healing, nor should it be treated as such (though I would be extremely flattered if you are assisted at all by this.  I am verry passionate about druid healing.)

We’ll start simple- how do druids heal?  Now, I’m sure you’re wondering, ‘Well, isn’t that what this is about?’  Yes, it is.  But if you think that druids heal like priests, paladins, and shaman, you are incorrect.  Think about it- watch that priest the next time you run with one.  When does he/ she heal?  Typically, its after the damage has been dealt.  We like to call this reactive healing- healing the target after the damage has been taken.  Now, if you were to watch me heal a fight, you will notice that, while I do throw HoTs on targets reactively, the majority of my healing is done when I know there is damage incoming- preemptive healing.  This is the key to being a pro!tree- not waiting for the damage to happen, but planning for it and taking precautions.  This is a totally different mindset than that of a priest/ pally/ shaman healer- we can’t heal like they do, so we can’t think like they do.  HoTs are designed to heal when damage is taken, not after.  If you can wrap your brain around this, then you are ready to tree!heal.

Next up for discussion are druid healing spells and their uses.  Druids have 2 kinds of healing spells: Heal over Time spells, or HoTs, and Direct Heals.  It is important to understand these concepts, as it is core to how a druid heals.  Druids have an abundance of HoTs, and limited Direct Heals, which gives us some fairly enormous flexibility when it comes to healing assignments.  I am a firm believer of the idea that druids are for raid healz.  I’m not saying we can’t tank heal, because we can.  We do, however, excel at raid healing, and I will almost always put any and all trees in a raid with me as a raid healer.  We’ve come a long way from the ‘MT healzor ZOMG bind all of your keys to Lifebloom and faceroll’ days of The Burning Crusade.

Now, how about some spells? 

Heal over Time spells:  A druid’s primary HoTs are Rejuvenation, Wild Growth, Regrowth (direct heal with a HoT), and Lifebloom.  I’ve listed them here in the order that I use them (I am spazzy with Rejuv, I swear.)  HoTs are, for lack of a better phrase, the heart and soul of a tree!druid- love your HoTs, for they are your strength as a healer.  All but Regrowth are instant cast.  It makes tree!druids very mobile (now that they fixed Tree of Life form’s speed nerf), and they do quite a bit of healing.  Rejuvenation and Wild Growth are the majority of my heals in a raid situation, and I rely heavily on them.

Direct Heal spells: Swiftmend, Nourish, Regrowth, Lifebloom (when it blooms), Healing Touch.  All of these spells can proc Living Seed, if you’re specced into it.  These do not get used as often, as that is not my particular style of healing, but I do abuse Nourish occasionally- its nice in a pinch, especially with the glyph.  SWIFTMEND OMG.  Love your Swiftmend- its an amazing way to heal up quick spike damage (get the Glyph for it- will explain later.)  I have saved many a pixellated ass with Swiftmend.  It is one of my most used (and useful) spells, next to Rejuv and WG.  Be wary of Lifebloom, Blizzard keeps nerfing its healing bonus and increasing its mana cost- making it practically useless, in my opinion, but I will occasionally throw a stack if needed.  Regrowth and Healing Touch rarely, if ever, get used.  I’ll use Regrowth on the tank during the Vezax fight, but thats about it.  I try not to rely too much on these spells.

 Now, druid stats.  What a tree!druid should be looking for in gear is this (in order of importance):

Spellpower:  This is pretty easy to understand.  The more spellpower you have, the better your heals are.  Koko is currently rocking 2200+ spellpower in treeform- some might say thats a bit low, but I seem to manage just fine.  I tend to top my guilds healing meters (including beating out those 2.5k spellpower holy paladins), so I must be doing something right.  But spellpower should be your TOP stat concern. 

Haste:  Why?  Well, a couple of reasons. 

1.  Getting to that elusive 1 second Global Cool Down (GCD), and

2.  Reducing your Nourish cast time close to 1 second.  You may not use it often, but its nice in a pinch.

Shorter GCDs = more HoTs you can throw = more healing done = less people dead at the end of the fight.  Always a good thing. At the moment, I am currently unsure of the exact soft haste cap for either the 1 second GCD or the 1 second Nourish cast, though I am pretty sure the GCD soft haste cap is near 420.  Don’t quote me on that. 

Crit:  Now, Crit is kinda controversial.  Sure, its nice to have some Crit stacked (Living Seed is ok), but HoTs don’t crit, unless you happen to be the lucky tree wearing 4 pieces of Tier 9, which allows your HoTs to crit (sexy set bonus is sexy!)  So, really, I wouldn’t worry about trying to stack this.  If a piece of gear drops and it has crit on it, by all means, take it if you can.  But leave the crit clothie pieces to the clothie casters (don’t make your clothies cry.)

Intellect:  For the standard reason all spellcasters stack Int- MOAR MANAZ.  (Mana mana DO DO DO DO DO…)

Stamina:  Again, same standard reason- moar health = you stay alive to heal people longer.  Again, not worth stacking, but don’t pass on a piece of gear that happens to have quite a bit of Stam on it, you’ll be thankful one day.

Spirit: Okay,  OKAY.  I KNOW.  Blizzard nerfed Spirit (I growled and yowled and cried about it, too) but, really?  Your mana regen probably isn’t nerfed too badly.  I’ll have to Innervate on those long, drawn out fights (piss off, Hodir and Ignis), but I don’t really notice that much of a drop in my regen.  Also, you gain +healing in Treeform equal to a certain percentage- 15? 20?- of your total Spirit.  So its still worth having, in my opinion.

Now, one of the more fun things to discuss (and a change I’m damn glad they made), Glyphs!  There are 3 Major Glyphs that are widely accepted as the raiding tree!druid’s healing glyphs:

Glyph of Swiftmend (Major):  does not cosume Rejuv or Regrowth.  I can’t emphasize how hawt this glyph is.  It just is. 

Glyph of Nourish (Major):  Increases the healing done by Nourish by 5% per HoT on the target.  This results in OMG nice Nourish numbers (for the record, a stack of 3 Lifebloom only counts as 1 HoT.)

Glyph of Wild Growth (Major):  Increases the number of people healed by Wild Growth to 6.  One more person in the circle!

The Minor Glyphs are pretty much pick and choose, but these are the ones I use:

Glyph of Unburdened Rebirth:  Removes the need for a reagent for Rebirth (battle rez).  I won’t say it saves money (it does, a bit).  Its true value lies in not having to say, ‘Oh shit, I’m out of seeds, sry healer, no brez 4 u,’ and having people not call you a nub!branch (by the way, you can blame tokudama from lj for that phrase.)

Glyph of the Wild:  Reduces the cost of Mark of the Wild and Gift of the Wild.  Now if only they’d remove the reagent for this, too…

Well, I suppose this is really all I have for now.  I’m sure this will be updated and changed as time goes on, but I hope this helps those of you struggling for tree!healing help.

FOR THE… everyone?

~Pyo

13
Aug
09

Things the DPS Aren’t Allowed To Do Anymore

By ILikeBubbles 7 Comments
Categories: angry healers and World of Warcraft
Tags: , , ,

Things the DPS Aren’t Allowed To Do Anymore

  • Misdirect onto the priest/mage/other non-tank like person
  • …or ToT onto a non-tank like person
  • Throw trash items into the bank spelling out my name to irritate officer
  • …even if I am an officer
  • Stand in fire to see if the healers will really let me die (they will)
  • Hug mobs that whirlwind
  • Alt tab upon death and wait for a rez…then miss the first three, tab in, and ask for another
  • Announce my death despite the very obvious word DEAD across my box on every healer’s screen
  • Announce that I have X debuff that the healers have painstakingly set up their UIs to show
  • Panic and scream for heals
  • Otherwise blather nonsense on Vent I have been asked not to blather, thus drowning out actual important information that we didn’t already know
  • Post meters in /raid
  • Post meters in /say (it’s not magically less annoying)
  • Instantly blame the healers for every death

This list brought to you by stupid wipes in Ulduar.

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The Angry Healers is a World of Warcraft blog dedicated to the underappreciated and often overlooked role of The Healer (c) from the perspective of a (mostly) angry Tree!Druid. Here will be discussed talents, gear, spells, specs, and other healing related topics, as well as snarks, rants and general grumpiness about my chosen role in WoWlife, and patchnotes, changes, nerfs/ buffs, and expansion myths and legends (and maybe even facts!)

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