I race changed Aanthe to Worgen- and changed her name to Ellspeth.  So, that will explain the few changes I’ve made to this page a bit.  I’ll toss up a screenie of her soon.  She’s also hit 85 and is working on instances to get some leet healing gear.

Yeah, I think that sums up my week pretty well.

So, I gotta say, my favorite things about Cataclysm?  Uldum and the Harrison Jones movie- like questline; WORGEN; and the Visions of the Battle Maiden quest line Vashj’ir.

What about you?

-runs back off to jump back into WoW-

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

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

• Wugan over at Flow talks a little bit about Shaman CC and macros.
• Leesah over at R&R has up a list of Pre-Raid Resto Gear that’s very useful.
• mah buddy Dreddnought has a sneak peek cheat sheet of some of the new Cata instances!

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

~Pyo

Greetings and Salutations, all!  I hope Thanksgiving found everybody at home with family, stuffing yourselves dumb, like I did.  As you contemplate the mountains of leftovers in your fridge and squeeble over the soon- to- be release of Cataclysm, let’s talk about something near and dear to my heart.

Hunters.

Yes.  I AM A HUNTER AT HEART.  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE druids.  LOVE.  But my DPS class of choice is- and always will be- a Hunter.  I will, in fact, be rolling a Worgen Hunter next week- Sethserra.  And one of the things that always pisses me off about Hunters is this- the sheer amount of Huntards out there.  Hunters are, indeed, one of the easiest classes to play.  But it takes something special to be a GOOD Hunter.  I was a good Hunter.  I raided TBC as a BM Hunter.  I know, I know, all I had to to was keybind Steady Shot to my mousewheel and weave it between Auto Shots to get top DPS, but that’s not what made me a good Hunter.  And, frankly, the overabundance of Huntards I see is disheartening.  Huntards are a plague on WoW society- they make us grind our teeth when they don’t take Growl off (unless the Tank can’t tank), or when they complain that us healers should be healing their pets (you have Mend Pet, don’t you?  USE IT.) or when they frontload enough DPS to pull aggro off of a pro!tank… and then whine when they die.  Something needs to be said to stem the flow of Huntards.  So, here it is!  This is for you, pro!Hunters who are sick of having your good reps destroyed by these noobs, and you, new WoWers who want to play a Hunter.

The Classic Hunter

Hunters:  Don’t Be Like This

1.  Don’t complain about your Resource. For fucking serious.  Focus is AWESOME in a bucket.  It beats the shit out of having Mana.  I am sick to death of listening to Huntards complain that ‘Focus doesn’t work.’  It DOES work, you just have to learn how to use it.  Know what abilities generate Focus, which ones use it, and which ones have no cost.

2.  Put your damn pet on Passive in instances.  Really, this is something you should be doing anyways.  Your pet should be under your control.  The best way to do that is to command it to attack when you do, that way it always attacks your target (which should be the tank’s target) instead of running around attacking everything else.  And under no circumstances should your pet ever be on Aggressive.  The only possible exception to this should be when you’re trying to find that sneaky ass rogue who keeps ganking you or during a duel.

3.  Always be aware of your pet’s location.  This will prevent a lot of heartache- and wipes- in instances.  Pet management is key to being a good hunter- know where they are and what they’re doing at all times, so they don’t pull a group of mobs you’re not ready for.

4.  Turn Growl off.  There is no reason you should have Growl on during an instance.  The exception?  If you’re saving the healer’s life by having your pet pull aggro off of them.  That’s the ONLY time you should have Growl on in an instance.

5.  Don’t forget about Traps! You’re Traps are great CC, especially since they now can be delivered via a shot.  Just don’t forget about ‘em once they’re set.  Remember their duration, and remember to refresh them if necessary.  Also… don’t break your own CC.  That should go without saying, but… I’m saying it.  With how important CC is going to be in Cataclysm, you can’t afford to fuck up like that.

6.  Learn/ remember how to kite properly.  I know, I know!  Its been a long time since the days when we had to kite General Drakkisath  in UBRS, but you will NEED to dust off (or gain completely) those kiting skillz.  According to rumor, there is going to be a boss in Cata that will have a mob that will need to be kited the entire fight, so get ready.

I know, I know… I usually do this in groups of 10, but I think I’ve covered just about everything.  Come back later on for an Introduce an Alt post before Cata’s release.  Until then, stay angry, healers!

~Pyo

I was gonna do a whole Huntard post… but I actually raided tonight.  For the first time in almost nine months, since school began.  And you know what?

I missed it.

WOOHOO! I'm back in the game, baby!

I gotta tell you- I’m just glad that, despite all of my T9- and less than- gear and trinkets, I can still hold my own as a tree.  My guild, The Grim Covenant, cleared up through Valithria Dreamwalker.  We got one of out Retadins his Shadowmourne.  I even managed to score myself some upgrades.  But I’m back, baby.  For real.  I get to do it again tomorrow, too!

Seriously, that’s my whole post.  Me being squeetastic at raiding with my uber-awesome guild again.

I’ll be back later this week with a real post.  Tomorrow, I graduate from my final class, and I go on a nice, long break.  Maybe my post will be about Huntards.  Or maybe it will be about Cataclysm.  We’ll see.  Until then, stay angry, healers!

~Pyo

Tanks- this is for you!

Tanks: Dumb Things You Do (Or Say)

Now, this is mostly from the perspective of instance tanks- I’ve had the honor and pleasure of healing and DPSing alongside some of the finest tanks I’ve ever seen in raids.  But in random Heroics, I am rarely surprised that some of these things happen.

1.  Wait for us to mana up. This isn’t just for the healers- that poor mage that just cranked out 20 bag slots worth of Conjured Cinnamon Rolls and Conjured Sparkling White Wine needs mana to make things explode.  Let him, cuz he’s a fireballin’ M-A-G-E.  After a fight, if I need mana, I’m gonna sit down and drink.  Good tanks wait for their team to be ready before moving on.  It ensures our mutual survival.

2. If that huntard’s pet is Growling, SAY SOMETHING.  Seriously.  Be nice the first time, be mean the second, and kick the moron the third.  Shit.. maybe I should do a post just for Hunters… hmmm.  -seriously ponders-

3.  Make sure your gear is repaired. This is especially important for the one taking the facepunches, though it’s a good overall rule for everyone.  PLEASE make sure your gear isn’t about to go red on you, you’re whole party will thank you.

4.  Make sure you have the right gear on PERIOD. I don’t care if you’ve ‘tanked this in your DPS gear.’  Don’t.  Just strap on your Stamgear and your big ol’ shield and lets make this as easy as we can on everyone involved.  I HATE healing tanks in nontank gear.

She's ready to Consecrate... or is that Bubblehearth?

5.  Check your spec. Accidentally forgetting to switch to your off- tanking- spec is ok.  ‘Accidentally’ forgetting to switch to your off-tanking-spec (lol) is not.  Yes, we- the others in your party- can tell the difference.

6.  Tell your party how you operate.  I say this from my own meager experience as a tank.  My little Vissa would tank on occasion back when she was in her 30′s and 40′s, and I always told whatever party that got the dubious pleasure of having me tank for them that I would put down 3 Sunders and to kindly wait to blow the boss up until then.  For the most part, they respected my call- some actually thanked me for telling them my plan ahead of time, so that they knew when they could go nutz.

7.  If someone pulls aggro, tell them where you are so they can find you. There are enough warning devices out there now that will allow someone to know when they’ve overdone it.  Slap down a Consecrate, or wait for them to get next to you and Thunder Clap or whatnot.  Don’t run to them!  If you absolutely must get to them- i.e. they are Rooted into place- just go backwards so you don’t miss your Parries and Blocks.  But always insist that if someone grabs aggro that they come to you.  Think of this as our way of making your life easier.

8.  Don’t berate your healer for a little pre-pull HoT love.  Really, its not going to cause enough aggro to pull the mob/boss from you.  Yelling at me for tossing a quick Rejuvenate on you because you think its going to hinder your ability to gran aggro is ridiculous.  I have not healed people for less.  And, yes Healers, this HAS HAPPENED TO ME.  -facepalm-

9.  Don’t refuse to run an instance simply because you don’t like the class of healer you got.  Again, you would think this wouldn’t happen… but it does.  A LOT.  Gee, Mr. Mean-Tanky-Pants, you don’t like druids healing you… so you’re going to drop group?  Really?  This is a special form of asshattery you cannot afford, my friend- tanks can rarely afford to be picky with their healers.  We druids can keep you up, don’t worry!  ALL HEALERS have some tank healing capability.  Trust in the leaves and totems and bubbles and sparklies.

10.  When all else fails, talk to your party.  I have seen amazingly bad pulls be survived through simply because the tank and the healer and the deeps effectively communicated what they expected of each other.  Don’t be afraid to tell us something, especially if it could spare us all a run from the graveyard and a repair bill.

Well, I hope this adds some balance to the snark I present to you here.  Stay tuned later this week for a post for hunters- I know, they’re not healers, but I’m an experienced hunter, and Azeroth could use a few less huntards.  Until then, stay angry, healers!

FOR THE HORDE!  (Sorry, Alliance, you guys will never have as cool a battlecry as that… though ‘HAVE MERCY!’ is an appropriate response.)  XD

FOR THE HORDE!!!!!!!!!!

~Pyo (who’s druid is a Night Elf, but who PvP’s FOR THE HORDE!!!!!)

BHAHAHA!

-clears throat-

Anyways, I am typically of the belief that if you are DPS and you die on a non- boss fight… it is your fault!  Let’s face it, DPSers- there is no excuse for it.  If you’re dying during a mob pull, you’re not paying attention to what’s going on around you.

So, lets pick out a few normal, every instance situations and weigh the details.  And we, the Angry Healers who have to watch your health bar dwindle to nothingness, will determine whether or not your death is your fault- or ours.

If the DPS Dies, Its Their Own Damn Fault:  When This Is and Isn’t the Case

So, let’s look at some common scenarios encountered in your typical instance/ Heroic/ raid:

1.  Standing in the Fire- DPS’s fault?  You betcha.  I’m sorry, it’s the classic complaint of all raiders.  This goes along with Void Zones.  Don’t stand in them.  Don’t stand near them if you’ve got a shitty machine and need to turn down your spell graphics to run WoW smoothly.

Don't blow up the raid. It will make me hate you.

2.  Running up to a mob and Pyroblast critting it for half of its life-  DPS’s fault?  Hell yes. There is this thing.  Its called aggro.  If you hit the mob first, you will get the aggro the tank wants and die.

3.  Letting a tank get aggro, but blowing all of your cooldowns to get that BIG CRIT to blow up your Recount and report repeatedly in party chat, only to pull threat- DPS’s fault?  If you do this, you should go stand in the fire.  Seriously.  No one cares about your Recount if you continuously pull threat.  Scoring that BIG CRIT just to stroke your own e-peen is annoying at best.  It gets you killed in my party- I do NOT heal fools like you.

Pay less attention to this and more attention to your surroundings.

4.  Watching General Vezax launch a Shadow Crash at you… and not even bothering to move.  DPS’s fault?  Fuck yeah.  This goes for all forms of ‘avoidable damage.’  If it can be avoided, it should be, especially something as easy to dodge as Shadow Crash, or Void Reaver’s Arcane Orbs.  Its damage you are taking that’s making me expend unnecessary amounts of mana to fix.

Yeah, you see that? AVOIDABLE. Don't make me let you die because of this.

You know what?

DPS, the only time its not your fault is when you’re taking damage that is  unavoidable, like Gluth’s Decimate, or Stinky’s poison cloud attacks.

Other than that… be prepared to have it blamed on you.

Cap'n Jack can get away with it on occasion. You can't. So don't try.

That’s it for this week, folks.  Tune in again on Tuesday where I’ll rant about something that I have yet to determine.  Until then, stay angry, healers!

~Pyo

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:

• Improved Barkskin has been removed from the tree.
• Improved Tree of Life has been removed from the tree.
• Empowered Rejuvenation has been removed from the tree.
• Living Spirit has been removed from the tree.
• Gift of Nature has been removed from the tree.
• Improved Tranquility has been removed from the tree.
• Tranquil Spirit has been removed from the tree.
• Intensity has been removed from the tree.
• Omen of Clarity is gone. (Now passive)
• Improved Mark of the Wild has been removed from the tree.
• Nature’s Focus has been removed from the tree.
• Furor has been removed from the tree.

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

But first… have some Druids, fresh from BlizzCon 2010!

BlizzCon!Druids

Isn't this just a magnificent cosplay? <3 U, girl!

OMG ITS A TREE

Of course the Tree!Druid was making it into the post.  Duh.

Its made form a wreath! How creative!

Boomkin representin'.

These druids deserved some blog love.  They all looked fabulous.  Almost makes me wish I was planning a druid cosplay for my next BlizzCon cosplay.  But I’m not.  And, no, I’m not telling.  XD  You’ll just have to wait and see, like everyone else.

But, now onto the meat and potatoes of this post:  CATACLYSM.  Well, mostly beta stuff, since that is currently all that’s really available for play.  I’ve been on the beta servers (The Lost Isles: US-PvE) for some months, on and off.  And from all of that, I’ve compiled a list of the things I”m looking forward to the most- and some of the things that can, frankly, die in a fire.

What Pyo is Looking Forward to the Most in Cataclysm

1. The first thing is probably the most obvious- new player races.  Yep, I even have plans.  The first is a Worgen Hunter named Sethserra, complete with Worg/ Wolf pet named Little Brother and the Worg Pup noncombat pet.  XD  The second is a Goblin Mage or Warlock named Nazzmoree.  I haven’t decided yet.  And, despite knowing where they came from, I LOVE the new dances they have!

And, of course, we can’t forget the female Worgen, just recently released!

Personally, I would have liked to see them do the dance from Bad Romance instead… but I have a weird love of Lady Gaga, so I’m still happy.

2.  Flying in Azeroth.  Really?  Nuff said, there.  Though I am not looking forward to the imminent ‘flying gank’ I know is going to be coming.

3.  Vash’ir.  This zone is absolutely the most beautiful new zone they’ve added to the game.  See, I’ve always wanted to go diving, but I really can’t- inner ear issues.  So, this gives me a glimpse of the underwater world I’ve always dreamed of.

Oh yeah.  And there are seahorse mounts.

WAT

Seriously?  Most awesome mount evar until I can get my hands on Invincible.  BWHAHAHA!

4.  NEW TREE FORM.  WAT.

We can haz player slots?

5.  Archaeology.  Ok, so I’m, first off, a total history nerd.  And my not- so- secret ambition is to go to school for Archaeology and go dig up an ancient city.  And while doing it in game isn’t nearly as exciting as plunging the depths of a pyramid, I’m still gonna do it.  Undead Raptor mount, FTW.  And along the lines of my love of history…

6.  The desert lands of the Tol’Vir.  EGYPT.  ITS FREAKING EGYPT.  -dies of happy-

7.  Sylvanas recruiting the freed Scourge undead.  WTB some Val’kyr as Undercity Guards instead of Garrosh’s Kor’kron.  Also, WTB back Thrall as Warchief of the Horde.

8.  Questing in Zul’Gurub.  OH YEAH.  I defeated that raid way back in the day, and I will love running through there as a levelling zone.

9.  Growing Zones.  Like Desolace!  It might finally be a zone I like, instead of the zone that depresses me to level in.  Or the Plaguelands!  Andorhol!  SCHOLOMANCE!  =D

And last, but certainly not least…  (drumroll, please…)

10.  DEATHWING THE DESTROYER HAS RISEN, AND ON WINGS OF FIRE HE WILL BURN THE SKIES OF AZEROTH FOREVER!

My pain will tear the world asunder!

Words cannot describe how glad I am to finally see this guy in action.  At long, long last, an enemy who is nigh undefeatable, who’s anger shakes Azeroth to its very core.  The once kind Neltherion, Earth Warder and Lord of the Black Dragonflight, corrupted over the centuries by the Old Gods trapped within Azeroths molten heart, the mighty Deathwing has risen again to punish the world for the sins of the past.  With Malygos dead, Nozdormu trapped in the Time Stream, Ysera fighting a war on two fronts, and Queen Alexstrasza trying desperately to hold everything together, will Deathwing the Destroyer finally be able to wreak the vengeance on his fellow Dragon Aspects he has been denied for so many centuries?

Only time will tell…

And that’s it for tonight, all.  I’ll be back on Tuesday with a post about the new Druid Talent trees.  Until then, stay angry, healers!

Don't worry, old Tree!form... we still love you!

FOR THE HORDE!

~Pyo

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