Three Tips for Struggling Healers

I responded to a thread asking if healing could be fun the other day, and though I think a person who doesn't enjoy healing probably shouldn't play a healer, I tried to give a little feedback. The advice is pretty standard fare, so I though I might as well post it here too. So. Advice to make Pally Healing Fun, for the newly dinged (and overwhelmed by zerging tactics in heroics that blame new/undergeared healers for not being God when they massively overpull). These tips are pretty much General Healer Tips, and not Paladin specific, per se. Healing has certain common objectives (keeping healthbars full) and different styles to achieve them (hots, direct heals, reactive heals, shields).

I healed on a Holy Pala until recently when I switched to Disc Priest. While I enjoy the priest more, the pala can be lots of fun. Its abilities synergize well and you are the unrivalled master of pure powerhealing. However, I can understand that for a new paladin, it can seem... not so fun. Especially these days, when cross-realm pugs are expecting to be able to zerg heroics regardless of the healer's ability to cope, and DPS in marginal gear want to bypass queue waits by signing as tanks, thinking that a couple of items with +defense makes them capable tanks. In such situations, healing can be very stressful, especially on a pally. You don't have hots to help "buffer" spikes, or shields to buy time until your heal lands, but you do have an arsenal of oh-*!!# talents that you might not think to use if you're new to healing on a pally. If this sounds at all familiar (and even if it doesn't) you might want to try this out:

1. Intelligent but frequent use of cooldowns - don't be afraid to use your abilities! Spam Divine Illumination and Avenging Wrath, along with whatever trinkets you have, to help you heal more aggressively rather than reactively, and Lay on Hands sometimes is forgotten by pallies because they're so used to always "saving it" that they don't instinctively use it. You may already be doing this so forgive me if I'm telling you something you already know, but many players tend to think in terms of saving their cooldowns. Instead, try to think along the lines of: Any second something is off cooldown and I'm not using it, I'm wasting it. It can help shift the perspective and let you get a good feeling for how often you can get away with using them.

2. DPS Deaths and the Blame Game - If you have confidence in yourself, others will too. That said, people can be jerks. There's no way around it. While validation means a lot when you're learning, ultimately experience and practice are the best way to gain confidence. Some DPSers are entirely worth keeping alive even though they take a good deal of damage - others are not. If your 900dps DK keeps standing in a void zone, just let him die. If your 8k DPS on group pulls AoEer is blasting mobs to oblivion in record time - they're worth a little love. Always prioritize keeping the tank alive. If a tank and a DPS are going down equally fast, keep the tank safe first and foremost. Make your decisions to the best of your ability and be confident that you a) know what you're doing but b) are also open to learning and adapting.

3. Healing is a "mini-game" but don't get tunnelvision. This is particularly dangerous for pallies because we, well, spam! You don't have AoE heals (well, not "really") so while the stress and chaos of healing a challenging run can keep you staring at the health bars, you may want to take a moment every now and then to just sit back and see what is happening around you. Seeing a big ball of lightning flying towards that mage can give you the reaction time to save him when otherwise he'd be dead. Seeing that patrol hovering closer can give you the heads up that means the difference between feeling accomplishment and pride in your healing abilities as you save the day, and just feeling awful for a wipe. Your abilities are the same in those two scenarios, but your situational awareness would make the difference.

Advent

The first post of a blog is always an "in anticipation" post. I have several topics I wish to discuss (read: rant?) regarding healing in general, disc priests in particular, healing heroics with the new LFG tool, outdated concepts regarding healing style, healer roles, priorities and "pace", as well as to post tips I see far too many new healers unaware of and older talented healers forgetting.

Clearly, I am an insufferable know-it-all. What, you may ask, are my qualifications?

I've been a guild officer, raid leader and lead healer on two out of the four healing classes in WoW. I raided as Holy Priest in classic and TBC, and then Discipline Priest and Holy Paladin in WotLK. I've also raided extensively as Rogue and Mage, and I was the guild offtank as Prot Pally for Naxx/Ulduar (in between the heals - we were a versatile bunch).

That said, I'm no math expert. I have one on hand for when it's needed, but I generally rely on other people's calculations. I am also not a hard core raider. I raid 3-4 times a week. It's enough for me, as I also have a demanding job and *gasp* other hobbies than WoW. But I do play, and I play a lot, and the priest has always been my favourite (rogue is a close second, pally is fun, if a bit righteous, and mage... is for other people).

So listen in, you might find something of interest.