So, to be perfectly clear: I have not yet attempted heroics. My gear is there but last night we elected to do some normals so we could play with friends who are not yet 85. This may change entirely when I hit heroics, but I suspect the cycle will be the same.
The first few dungeons on the way up healed like Wrath dungeons, IMO. People took big hits and had to be healed up all the way or the next big hit would kill them. I saw places where they were taking damage that they didn’t need to – spikes, boulders, fireballs, shadow blasts, things that they needed to move out of. And everyone seemed to be working hard to learn what the tells were for those, and not take that damage again. Still, the health wasn’t there.
Around 84 the health pools suddenly got big enough to take a hit or two, but at the same time my mana regen went through the floor. I had thought it was bad before; now, some of my spells were using 5% of my mana, or more. I was ending every fight OOM, begging for another druid’s inervate, using spirit buff food and flask, and desperate to know what was wrong.
We hit 85. I started getting gear and tweaking performance. I’d already trained myself that pre-hotting was bad, that using hots on slightly damaged people was bad, that I needed to use Nourish and Healing Touch more. Now I really worked at it. I learned fights, tried to find time to use Thorns on Reversion, and just didn’t know what I was doing wrong.
Then I read this post. If you’re a resto druid, or run with one, or just want to know how we work, read this. It told me all the things I already knew, but gently, in a well put together way that just got through my thick skull and told me, oh, this is how.
It made all the difference. I switched to using Lifebloom all the time, no matter what. I remapped a few mouse clicks, and the next set of dungeons I ran, I was sitting on a happy mana pool. I made people eat between fights and all was well.
Only now I have a different problem. If I’m not healing all the time – and I’m not – and I’ve learned the triage game, so I don’t need to sit there thinking that much, what am I doing? I am not amused by standing around waiting for someone to take the magical amount of damage that means I’ll actually throw them a heal. Keeping the tank up doesn’t take all my GCDs. If I don’t do anything, I get distracted and then miss my cue when I do need to heal.
My solution? Put two talent points in that crappy talent that gives you free Wrath, and stand there and cast stupid green balls of minor, tickly annoyance at mobs.
Yeah, so I’ll probably switch back as soon as we run raids, or maybe even heroics, but it is far too annoying for me to be standing around twiddling my thumbs waiting for something to happen.
I really hope that when the difficulty ramps up, it means I have more to do, not less to do it with – but with Blizzard making everything about the mana game, I don’t see that happening. News flash; I think the mana game is boring. There is nothing fun about staring at blue bars as opposed to green ones.
But at least I see why they put that stupid talent in there. Great, Blizzard, you’re making me dps. This is why I rolled a healer, right?
That sounds really negative. I’m having a lot of fun with the new dungeons and I do enjoy learning the new healing model – but I wish there was a middle ground between Wrath and Cataclysm as far as healing goes. Wrath fights got my adrenaline up. These fights …. yeah I’m seeing boss mechanics and I can tell you what bosses look like but I’ve made a terrible realization that I really really like the game of Whack-A-Mole Health Bars.
Ah well. Too early to pass judgment yet! Anyone else have insights or opinions? Anyone else find yourself dpsing to fill the time?
OMG, don’t go disc then!! My trouble there is that I want to smite all the time!! Healy damage is fun!! You just haven’t discovered it yet. :P
Oh, my little gnome priest is disc/shadow and has enjoyed smite healing as she leveled to 80 – I don’t think that will change. Druids just get free wraths, no healing.
Yes, but even when smite didn’t heal…I was still using it or mind sear! :P
The difference I suppose is that priests have always been able to use all their spells, regardless. Previously druids in tree form could only heal, so it was probably just all you did, all the time. So my guess is it’s a bigger challenge for you to make that shift to be able to do anything as a healer, where other classes have always been able to do everything anyways.
There were a few times where I was the only one left with the tank so I would heal and DPS or on really rare occasion my DoTs on the boss or a last effort attack killed the boss just in time! I know other priests had similar experiences. So it’s always been “hybrid” for us. Heal when you need, smites for fun!
If it’ll make your runs more interesting, I can always make sure to be standing in stuff when I run with you! Just trying to be helpful…. ^_^
Aww, thank you! No, squishy mages should stay out of stuff. Let the dps warriors and paladins keep my life interesting!
Okay then… I’ll stand in all the bad stuff. After all, that is what floor pallies do :)
Keeva’s post saved me too. Unlike you, I found healing very fun in 85 normals (I haven’t tried heroics either). I didn’t have “brain downtime” since I still haven’t trained my muscle memory to click the right buttons, so I have to keep thinking ‘LB LB Nourish now before it expires” etc. I also like that even when the boss is doing DeadlyAoEOfDeath the group doesn’t just *die* instantly, I have time to think about what I’ll use. The few times I’ve panicked and Regrowthed my heart away I was out of mana faster than I could tell.
That being said, I loved the Wrath healing and I’m sad to see it go. But I’m also happy that I’m enjoying the new style – I was afraid I’d lose the enjoyment I get with my druid and there just isn’t any other class that comes close to it for me.
Oh, I’m having fun, learning new skills is always fun, I think we should just have been onto heroics last night probably. And I get antsy not casting. I’d rather be casting while I do the “figure out next step” thing than have lots of time to think.
I’m scared of heroics, though my guild keeps pestering me to get geared for them (I’m 1 point away, grr). I healed Stonecore normal with an undergeared tank (a friend of mine wearing half DPS gear) and it hurt, and it should’ve been easier for me at 85… so yeah. I think I’ll wait for our one lvl 85 tank to get back from holiday before I try heroics :P
If you’re up for running some roics tonight Falahla and/or I would love to tag along. There are a few I haven’t seen as the random likes to give Halls of Orgination and Shadowfang keep to me a lot. Also, having sheep and hunter CC makes for easy trash pulls :-)
As shammy, I fill my time using Hex, Bind Elemental, interrupt and DPS…
Cata increased our job a lot :)
Peace,
Salanira, shammy-resto@Aerie Peak-US
Heya, a friend linked me here and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read so far. I just wanted to chime in on heroics. I’ve been doing them for a while now and they are really where the Cata model shines. I run with an incredible warrior, and my group always has good CC, yet it is still very intense. Don’t worry about not having anything to do!
Switching gears, I think that what will seperate good druids from poor druids is how you utilize clearcasting. It really is such a fun mechanic, and let’s us use “guilty” heals like regrowth, and feel good about it. On some fights you have to spam Healing Touch on the tank, and clearcasting is the only thing that let’s you get away with it. On others DPS can take a lot of damage and a clearcasted Regrowth Swiftmend with Effloressence just feels so good. “Totally saved him, topped off the two guys next to him, AND conserved my mana!” I think the new fun in Cata is moments like that, where a smart play really makes you feel like a winner.
Anyways just my thoughts, keep on HoTtin’!