Saturday 21 August 2010

Shaman Healing - an Update


My Shaman healing apprenticeship has been progressing slowly as I heal a few dungeons when I can.

I had a bit of a break from healing for a few days after a particularly nasty Nexus run where I failed several times on Keristrasza and ended up dropping group with my tail between my legs. I just kept running out of mana, the dps wouldn't move to drop the debuff, and it was generally not much fun.

I decided to wait until I picked up a few more quest pieces with either mp5 or an upgrade in Intellect for the juicy manas. Once I did that, I got through a couple of Old Kingdom and Azjol Nerub runs without too much trouble, so I've got my confidence back again.

At the moment my healing seems to go like this:
  • Keep Poo Shield Earth Shield on the tank at all times.  I have Grid set up to show me how many charges remain with a dot that changes colour.  
  • Chuck a bucket of water Riptide on anyone who takes moderate amounts of damage.
  • Try not to spam heal with Lesser Healing Wave - I think this is what was running me out of mana before. Wait a bit longer until Healing Wave is worth it, if there's enough time to cast it.
  • Use Jesus Beams Chain Heal sparingly - and not at all if less than three people are going to be healed by it. 

I'm still trying to work out the sequencing a bit - spells that are improved by others. This list is partly for my own reference!
  • A Chain Heal cast on a target with Riptide on them will be increased in effectiveness by 25%.
  • I have Tidal Force macro'd to Lesser Healing Wave along with my trinkets. Tidal Force increases the crit chance of Healing Wave, Lesser Healing Wave and Chain Heal.
  • Tidal Waves procs from Riptide or Chain Heal. It lowers the cast time of Healing Wave by 30% and increases the crit chance of Lesser Healing Wave, for the next two casts of either of those spells. It also increases the amount of healing done for both.
It's all still a bit of a juggling act, but I'm getting it under control gradually. I'm sure learning to Druid heal wasn't this complex!

As before, please feel free to comment with any advice you have, or let me know if I got something wrong or left anything out.
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