Posts Tagged ‘post of some value

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

01
Dec
10

Hunters: Don’t Be Like This

By Pyo 5 Comments
Categories: World of Warcraft
Tags: , , ,

Really, that is the best title for this post.

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

 

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

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!-

04
Feb
10

Levelling A Druid!

By Pyo 4 Comments
Categories: Healing
Tags: , ,

Happy Thursday, folks!

I’m taking a page from Ambrosine’s book here.  As the ‘fount of druidic knowledge’ in my group of local WoW playing friends, I often get bombarded with questions about playing a Druid:

- What gems should I be using? 

- Show should I enchant my gear?

- Should I use a Staff of a MH/OH combination?

- What stats should I be stacking?

- How do you heal, Aanthe/ Koko?

Most of these questions are pretty easy to answer.  But recently, one of my close friends was contemplating an alt, and asked me:

‘Pyo, how did you level Aanthe/ Koko?’

And I looked at him and said, ‘That’s a good damn question.’  This post is for that person, and everyone else contemplating walking the Druidic Path, whatever you choose to be- Bear!Tank, Panzerkin, or Tree!Druid.

Levelling a Druid: A Guide

So, you want to level a Druid?  Good for you!  There’s a few things you need to know about levelling a Druid:

1.  If you have an 80 with the Emblems to spare, get the Heirloom Gear.  Color me spoiled, but the Heirloom Items are the BEST THING you can give an alt.  It makes levelling so much easier with the 20% XP boost, and its 2 pieces of gear that don’t need repaired and won’t need to be replaced until you’re 80.  Get the shoulders and chestpiece for sure, the weapon is nice, as well.  The trinkets are ok, but you can do without them.

2.  Your Forms are going to SUCK ASS when you first get them.  I am not kidding.  You’re going to hit level 10, do your Bear Form quest, go ‘Oooooo!  *poof*  RAWR!’ and promptly get your ass kicked by a mob because you have 2 Bear Form abilities.  Hit level 20, and its the same thing with Cat Form.  Levelling a Druid in the early stages is not easy.  You will die a lot if you use your Forms before you hit level 25-26, because they just aren’t that good at this point in time.  You would have better luck just staying in Caster Form and Wrathing things to death and tossing the occasional Rejuv on yourself to stay alive.  Zones that ‘meh’ for most people will be TERRIBLE for you- I’m looking at you, Hillsbrad Foothills and Redridge Mountains.  Mob respawn rate and pack pulling will be responsible for your death at least a dozen times.  This discourages a lot of people early on.  If you’re thinking of levelling a Druid, you need the mental fortitude to push on through the aggravation of getting your butt kicked all over the zone.

3.  Despite all of this, if you’re going to level a Druid, level as Feral.  Low level leather gear is itemized more for Feral than it is for anything else- and while levelling Balance may seem like a good idea at the time, levelling Feral will make it a hell of a lot easier.  With the introduction of Heirloom Items, going the Balance route is a little more viable, but those pieces that aren’t Heirloom are still not going to be itemized well.  And only a real glutton for punishment levels as Resto.  Get your ‘of the Wolf’ greens and go go Kitty Form (once it gets some worthwhile abilities.)

4.  Upgrade your gear every couple of levels or so.  The difference is noticeable.  Obviously, this is limited by the amount of money you have and what’s on the AH/ what randomly drops for you.  But there’s no reason you shouldn’t be trying to upgrade once every 2- 3 levels or so.

5.  Level two gathering professions.  Yep.  Now, I know what you’re thinking- ‘But what about all of those neat Leatherworking patterns for useful stuff I can actually use?’  Honestly, its better just to get 2 gathering professions.  Do it for the money.  Set yourself up early for success- the more money you have when you hit 80, the less you’ll have to farm.  My suggestions?  Herbalism and Skinning, as you can do these in your Animal/ Travel Forms.  Alternately, if you’re really good at spotting mines, go Herbalism and Mining, since both of those gathering professions are associated with at least 2 crafting professions (Mining is 3!)  Also, consider downloading Auctioneer, and remember to do an AH scan at least once a day the first week you have it, then twice a week after that.  It’ll allow you to follow market demands for specific items and lets you maximize your profits.  When you hit 80, you can choose to dump a gathering profession for a crafting professi0n and powerlevel it.

6.  Don’t be afraid of the LFG tool.  Instances, especially with the Heirloom Items, are a quick way to get your levels and better gear.  Also, don’t be afraid to click the Tank and Healer options- even as Feral you should be fine in the lower level instances.  I wouldn’t recommend this in Outlands and Northrend, however.

7.  Don’t be afraid of taking advice from others.  Especially other people who play druids- for the most part, we do know what we’re talking about.  Alternatively, doing some research- like looking at levelling guides that are more in depth than this one, blogs such as Big Bear Butt, and Armorying your Druid friends- will prove to be quite useful.

8. Don’t worry about Dual- Speccing until you’re at least level 60.  Yes, I know the option is available at 40.  If you’re doing the ’2 gathering professions’ thing I recommended, you will probably have the 1000g to fork over.  SAVE IT.  You’ll thank me when you’re higher level and can afford to buy Epic Flight Form and Cold Weather Flight as soon as you get to Northrend (YaY Heirloom Flight Book!)

9.  Level First Aid.  Bandages can be made- and applied- in your Forms.  Honestly, there is no reason that any character you choose to level should not have First Aid.  Level it, and make sure you maintain it as you go.  When you go to buy the First Aid books, buy them all (if you have the money for it) and stick them in your bank.  Whenever the bandage you’re currently working on goes green, go back to a major city and get the next bandage.  Don’t forget about the First Aid quest guy in Hammerfall/ Theramore Isle!

10.  Have fun!  Don’t worry about endgame content until you’re level 80 and rocking your way through Heroics for Emblems of Triumph and Tier 9 armor pieces!  After you’ve done that, then you can decide if endgame raiding as one of the most OP classes in WoW to date is what you want. 

LOL Druids

Well, that’s all for now, folks!  This isn’t an all- inclusive guide to levelling, but I hope these points helped someone.  Have a great weekend, and stay angry, healers!

~Pyo

29
Jan
10

The Dangers of Recount

By Pyo 5 Comments
Categories: Healing
Tags: , ,

I know, I KNOW, I said I was going to do posts Mondays and Thursdays.  And today is Friday.  Sue me- I had stuff to do yesterday tha involved pulling a 12 hour shift at work.  Whatever.  Time for a post!

Ok, who here is familiar with Recount?  -waits for the raised hands-  Good.  That should be most of you.  For those of you not in ‘the know’, Recount is an Add- On that shows DPS/ Damage Done/ HPS/ Healing done/ etc.  It is an excellent tool for raid/ class/ healing leaders. 

AMG LOOK AT MAH DEEPS THEYRE SO LEET

The image above is the pic that everyone normally sees.  However, there are dangers associated with this view- both the DPS and HPS versions.  The first thing to rememeber when staring your Recount window in the face is that Recount is rarely- if ever- completely accurate.  There are going to be things affecting your numbers that you can’t account for or have any control over- buffs and debuffs, who’s alive, who’s dead, what cooldows you’ve blow, etc.  Recount is NEVER EVER going to be a 100% accurate representation of your Heals per Second.  All this format can really be used as is as a guideline- it lets you compare yourself to the other healers of your class, and should give you a very masic idea of what you need to work on.  Take myself, for example- I’m usually one of 3 trees in the raid.  I’ve been either 2nd or 3rd overall- but that is because my two Tree comrades are in at least 2pc T10, while I’m still rocking 4 pc T9.  I also have some gems that can stand to be replaced.  Do I let myself get discouraged because I’m not #1?  No way.  Negali and Ellestrela are amazing Trees, and awesome friends.  BUT looking at the Healing Done window of Recount shows me that its not skill, but gear, that’s holding me back- because I’m doing as much HPS as they are, but not as much overall Healing.  There is absolutely no reason for you to take Recount at face value- definitly don’t let it discourage you.  Recount is a tool to help you improve.   Figure out what you need to change, and change it. 

So you can tell that guy in your guild who constantly links the meters that, in actuality, his DPS sucks, his e-peen strokage is lame, and he just needs to move on with his life.

Now, when dealing with Recount, you want to look at this window:

What is this I don't even-

Now, would ya look at that… a comprehensive breakdown of where all of your damage and healing is coming from, and how that damage/ healing is being dealt.  This is what you want to look at- this will tell you if someone is not doing what they’re supposed to be doing.  Just click on your name, and this will pop up.  This is the window of Recount you should really be giving a good once- over.  It is the one that tells you what spells you’re using, how often you’re using them, and what they’re doing in comparison to all of the other spells you’re using in an easy to read pair of pie chart format.  The first pie chart shows the spells/abilities you’re using and how much healing/ damage they’re doing in comparison to each other.  The second shows what those spells/ abilities are doing- ticking (if applicable), plain hits, and crits.

Druids, for raid healing, your most used spells should be: Wild Growth, Rejuv, and Nourish (the last 2 can be switched around, it depends on you.)  Swiftmend can also be up there.  I, as a Druid Healer, should NEVER SEE Regrowth, Lifebloom, or Healing Touch in the top 3 spells AT ALL.  I rarely use those spells, unless I happen to have picked up a Tank to heal (*waves at Thazz, Banderas, and Aurelius*  LOVE YOU GUYS!)  Even then, those 3 spells have a hard time getting into the top 3- there is no reason, as a Tree!Druid, that you should ever not cast Wild Growth and Lifebloom- its just criminal if you don’t. 

Discopriests!  You should NEVER look at the Healing Done section of Recount.  Go here!  Kivuli, the Troll Priest of Bubble Flinging Awesome, wrote a wonderful Discopriest Guide to Recount that you guys should use.

That’s it for now!  Happy Friday, Happy Weekend, and stay angry, Healers!

~Pyo

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

20
Jan
10

Top Misconceptions About Healers

By Pyo 7 Comments
Categories: Healing
Tags: , ,

Happy Wednesday, Angry Healers!

First, I hope you enjoy the new layout and header!  I know everyone liked the buck- toothed Draenei one that was up here before, but as I’m taking more ownership of this blog, I decided to replace it with one of my own devising (not that I don’t appreciate your work, Ambrosine… but you’ve already got a cool header on your blog.  Time for some tree love on mine!)

Anyways.  Post.  Let’s discuss.  This post is for you, you ‘taking- boss- hits- in- the- face’ tanks and ‘pewpewLAZORZ’ DPS. 

Top Misconceptions About Healers

We know what you guys are thinking- no, really!  We do!  Chances are, everyone you know that is currently running in your parties/ raids as a healer started off in their WoW life as DPS.  Maybe a tank.  But usually DPS.  And we thought the exact same thing back then that you do right now.  I am here to set you guys straight, and clear up some of those common misconceptions about healers.

1. Not all healers are female.  Not all people subscribe to this incorrect chain of thought- but enough do to make it annoying.  This is along the same lines of ‘not all female toons are played by girls.’  Next time you’re around Dalaran, ask that hot female Blood of Night Elf who’s really sitting behind that toon.  Or go watch Gamer- and think of that perverted fat guy in the wheelchair the next time you want to hit on a female toon.  Some of the best healers I’ve had the privelage of healing with have been guys- in my old Horde guild, there was this female Blood Elf Priest (of the Holy persuasion) named Iridice who just rocked the healing game like no other- and is a guy, one of the best guys I have ever met.  He is the best damn Holy Priest I have ever encountered (props and <3 to you, Iri!  I still luv ya!)

2. Not all healers are good.  Once again, not an idea all people subscribe to, but enough that it makes it annoying.  Its not a matter of class, or spec, or race.  Its a matter of knowing enough about your chosen healing class to know what you can and cannot do, not to mention should and should not do.  Sure, I, as a tree!druid, can heal a tank with little to no problem- a healthy helping of HoTs and a quick Nourish and Swiftmend finger is plenty.  But am I using Healing Touch?  HELL NO.  Why?  It takes too damn long to cast- so long, in fact, that a well geared Tank could DIE before it pops.  Not all tree!druids know this- or they think ‘its still a good spell, why shouldn’t I use it?’  There are some trees I’ve encountered out there who- I hope you’re sitting down for this- DON’T USE HOTS.  If you think I’m joking, you are wrong.  I have been stuck in PuGs with trees who thought it was perfectly acceptable to use HT and Nourish only.  As I’ve stated before, the reason I don’t PuG instances all that often is because, frankly, I’m afraid of the bad healers I might end up with.  I pride myself on being considered a good healer, despite the occasional oddities in my gear.  Now, keep in mind- some of these guys aren’t very good because they’re just now levelling a healer TO heal, and need gear.  Cut these guys some slack, and give them the benefit of the doubt- help them out as much as you can.  Teaching them to be good healers now will save a lot of people a lot of heartache in the future.

3.  Not all healers want to be healers.  Seriously.  A lot do- take me, for example.  I only have an offspec so I can do dailies.  But some are healers for several reasons- its the only way they get to raid (since healers seem to be a vast minority) seems to be the answer I get most frequently.  I can’t count how many times I’ve seen ‘I didn’t even want to be a healer’ in party chat.  Occasionally, I’ll see ‘I heal in Arenas’ or ‘I did it to queue faster for LFG.’  But seriously… if you don’t want to heal, then don’t heal.  I find the best healers are the ones who want to heal, not the ones that are forced to.

4.  Not all healers care about you.  This is especially true in 5- man instances.  Remeber the old saying, ‘If the Tank dies, its the Healers fault. If the Healer dies, its the Tank’s fault.  If the DPS dies, its their own damn fault’?  More people believe this than anything else, and this simply isn’t true in a lot of cases.  Sure, I raided in the old ZG 40 man raid days where, if you were in the all- DPS group, you didn’t get heals.  You were expected to watch where you were standing, move where you needed to be, and bandage your ass if you took damage, because the healers were too busy keeping the tanks alive.  But that’s really not the case anymore- ok, there are instances where it’s still true (if you see Rotface getting ready to Slime Spray, run behind him, pl0x, melee?), but for the most part, keeping the raid or party alive is just as important as keeping the tank alive.  And some healers just don’t get that- they keep telling themselves that the DPS doesn’t need to live, as long as they keep the tank alive, they’ll be fine.  News flash, kids: you won’t.  That’s why Blizzard gave everyone AoE heals.  Use them.

5.  Not all healers use healing mods.  Though, seriously?  I can’t say why.  I can’t live without Grid and Clique- playing healer whack- a- mole is great.  Healbot is good, too, but my first love will always bee Grid + Clique.

And finally, and quite possibly the most important misconception and the whole purpose of this blog…

6.  Not all healers are nice.  We’re not.  We may be all smiles and happiness when things are going right, but when the shit hits the fan, and the ‘blame the healer’ game starts getting played- we get ANGRY.  I mean rage-tastically ANGRY.  If you’re in a raiding guild, check to see if you’re healers have their own channel.  Chances are, they do, and when you wipe and you’re blaming them, they are blaming you right back, and coming up with the facts to prove it- screenshots and cutpastes from the Combat Log, etc.  We are yelling at you through our computers when you take avoidable damage, we are cursing at the screen when Stinky Decimates and then immediatly puts out a stinky cloud that kills 4 or 5 people, we are verbally abusing Blizzard and their 6 second Wild Growth/ Circle of Healing cooldowns when the Twin Val’kyr’s damage starts stacking too high.  We are NOT VERY NICE AT ALL.  The header pretty much says it all- our rage is blue, and we start the fight PISSED.  There really is no rage like Healer Rage.

I give up!

Its' all your fault, Tree!

Oh, and the thing that annoys us (maybe this is just me, but maybe not) the most is saying ‘I NEED HEALS’ in every available channel you have, including Vent.   For the love of all that’s holy, WE FUCKING KNOW YOU NEED HEALS.  We spend the entire encounter watching your little health bar for any sudden drops that indicate you have taken some form of damage and have a heal ready for you.  STOP TELLING US.  Those of us who pride ourselves on our healing are good boys and girls who do their research, check gearscores, BiS items, spec and glyph changes, research bossfights, etc.  We know what we’re doing.  We don’t tell you ‘DPS Harder’ (Ok, maybe we do, but we’re usually not serious about it.)  So don’t tell us that you need heals.  We’ll get to you.  Unless you’re taking avoidable damage- then you’ll just have to wait until we heal up the people who took the unavoidable punch- to- the- face.

That’s it for now, folks!  I hope you enjoyed the post!  Stay safe, 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

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Ellspeth, the Angry Tree

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!)

Header art by Triggerman @ dA.

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