Prognosis strode confidently into the inn, turning and taking the ramp to the upper levels. There, in the middle of the room, lay Sangrias Stillblade’s limp body. There was no life left in him, and his skin was already pale and cold.

‘The Magister seems quite confident that this vial will resurrect Stillblade, but how can such magics exist and not be corrupt and vile? Are we not twisting the powers of the light by our inability to wield them naturally and thus bending them to our will?’

Prognosis kneels down, setting the vessel on Stillblade’s chest and whispering for guidance. Taking a deep breath, Prognosis opens the vial and closes her eyes. A flash of light radiates from the vessel with a force so strong that it almost knocks Prognosis over, and with a warmth so comforting that any thoughts of the magic within being corrupt are immediately banished from thought.

‘By all that is holy, how can the power of the light be so strong when the magisters that this magic was pulled from are so weak and lifeless?’

Only a few seconds passed, but to Prognosis it felt like years. So many unanswered questions now consumed her thoughts, and yet a confidence previously unknown filled every fiber of her being.

“I must speak to Bloodvalor about my duties. Death is not an experience I want to relive, and I am certain it is not an experience that could grow more pleasant with time,” grumbles Stillblade, the color having returned to his skin. “I will admit, I thought I had you at first. You are the first to beat me, Prognosis, I will be quite interested in hearing of your progress within the ranks of the Order.”

Not waiting for a reply, Stillblade walks down the ramp and out of the inn and leaves Prognosis kneeling on the floor, her head still reeling.

‘To what end will this path take me? I know very few of our people have been able to wield the powers of the light proficiently… a fact that is evident by the dwindling numbers of the Blood Knight Order. Never before have I felt such power, such pure and righteous power, as was unleashed mere moments ago. Could this be our race’s path to redeeming ourselves for the many years we were misled under Kael’thas Sunstrider’s rule?’

Prognosis slowly rises to her feet. An unfamiliar power flows within, a power that not only conveys warmth and confidence but also a sense of protection and retribution.

‘I have made the right choice. Whether this path leads me to destruction or salvation is yet to be seen, but there can be no denying the true, pure power the light conveys upon those who walk the path of the holy.’

Prognosis emerges from the inn and turns toward the Blood KNight Headquarters. No longer driven by a strange paranoia, or a fear of being attacked at random, she strides toward Farstrider’s Square calmly and confidently.

‘Bloodvalor, you have some explaining to do.’

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DISCLAIMER: The events in this story are based upon actual elements of the World of Warcraft game, although I am taking liberties wherever I decide to make the events fit the story I am crafting.

Table of Contents:
• Installment One – (RP) Blood Knight
• Installment Two – (RP) Blood Knight: Acceptance
• Installment Three – (RP) Blood Knight: Redemption

Darkness envelops Prognosis as she moves into the cave, causing an almost electrical sensation to course through her body. Undaunted, however, she continues steadily onward in search of the brazier Knight-Lord Bloodvalor described, eager to undertake The First Trial and prove her capabilities, subsequently becoming inducted to the order.

Breathing deeply, Prognosis peers into the darkness. The faint outline of a steel ring is discernible just ahead. She moves closer and kneels before the brazier, calling upon the energies of the light to create a small flame. As the fire grows Prognosis peers closer, focusing on the flame as Knight-Lord Bloodvalor instructed.

‘Something feels wrong,’ Prognosis thinks as she peers into the flames.

The slight glint from a blade warns her of danger a mere second before the blade is thrust straight forward, nicking Prognosis’ throat as she rolls out of the way and leaps to her feet.

“Perhaps you aren’t as worthless as it appeared you were about to be,” states her attacker as he lunges forward again, the blade of his polearm aimed straight at Prognosis’ exposed neck.

Her sword suddenly in hand, Prognosis manages to parry the attack, twisting her wrist at the last moment and turning in closer to her opponent. Her words barely audible, Prognosis channels her meager control of the light in an effort to weaken her obviously surprised attacker and inflict enough damage to pause his attacks.

Laughing, her opponent reveals his identity as a member of the Order when he starts to call upon the powers of the light to heal his wounds. Realizing this may be her only opening, Prognosis thrusts her sword forward, the blade sinking deeply into her opponent’s exposed side.

Staring at her in disbelief the Blood Knight drops his weapon, and then sinks to the ground.

“I take no pride in killing a fellow paladin. May the Light watch over you in death.”

Gathering her belongings, Prognosis turns back to the entrance of the cave. As she reaches the entrance she glances back at the lifeless body of her opponent, and an onslaught of thoughts rush through her head.

‘One thing is certain, the journey back to Silvermoon should give me time to reflect on the events of this day. It is quite obvious this task was designed to be my end.’

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DISCLAIMER: The events in this story are based upon actual elements of the World of Warcraft game, although I am taking liberties wherever I decide to make the events fit the story I am crafting.

Table of Contents:
• Installment One – (RP) Blood Knight
• Installment Two – (RP) Blood Knight: Acceptance
• Installment Three – (RP) Blood Knight: Redemption

It has been a while since I requested input regarding changing my interface yet again, and I have finally tweaked my UI to a point that both provides a good view of everything going on, is fairly minimalistic, and provides me with all of the pertinent information I need across any character I play. Read on for the details:

Uploaded with plasq’s Skitch! – Click to enlarge.

Uploaded with plasq’s Skitch! – Click to enlarge.

My goals were simple in reconstructing my UI: I like to see the game instead of having a screen full of information that blocks my view of what is happening, I wanted everything to mesh well together aesthetically, I wanted to be able to completely customize any aspect of the UI as time progresses, and I wanted to be able to use the exact same setup among any of my primary or alternate characters. In looking at various packages I found things that I liked, but then in practice I would find minor annoyances (such as blocking just a little too much of what I could see, or with one class or another having some unnecessary information), and eventually settled on taking individual addons and constructing an experience that met each of my goals.

The Addons

Bartender 4 – Anything I use regularly is bound to a key press, but I still like having the option of mousing over an ability or using a mouse click in the event I have some reason to do so. I’ve been using Bartender for a long time to achieve these goals, and the ability to customize visibility, bar changes based on any number of factors, and relocation of the bars however I see fit is ideal. (Note that I use ButtonFacade in order to customize the appearance of the buttons to ensure it meshes well with the UI.)

ag_Unitframes – I like minimal unit frame cluster on my desktop, and ad_Unitframes allows complete control over which frames are shown and when they are shown. Again, ideal for meeting my goals, and the look of the unit frames meshes well with the other UI elements present on screen.

DoTimer – It took a while to figure out how to customize DoTimer the way I wanted. I have one “anchor” for general buffs, one for debuffs, one for cooldowns, one for the targets of any spells or abilities, and one for specific self-buffs that I need to watch (like Savage Roar, Horn of Winter, Berserk, etc.). Not all of these are visible in the screenshots above, so I’ll try to remember to grab a screenshot while on my Druid that shows the way the target frame and associated timers behave.

Grid – I have long been a proponent of using Grid because of its sheer customizability. Again, it will take a while to configure (especially if new to using the addon), but having such a wealth of information available at a glance, and in such a minimalistic fashion, is ideal for my use and preferences.

Parrot – The benefits of showing scrolling combat text shouldn’t be overlooked, but having all of that text on the screen constantly is extremely annoying. Parrot allows the customization of not only how long the text stays, but whether crits should be shown differently, what direction any aspect of the combat text should be displayed (such as the way I have it set up, where heals go to the right, damage to the left, and cooldowns/procs/etc. go up) and what size text should be used. Another huge win in the customization department, and it fits well with the overall look and feel of the interface.

Decursive and Clique – I try to reserve keybindings for things I use all the time, so the ability to customize keypresses plus mouse clicks allows me the flexibility to have quick access to those things that are needed at a moment’s notice, but not always used. In addition, adding Decursive to the mix means I do not have to use precious keybindings or key plus mouse combinations for cleansing.

There are, obviously, more addons in use. The above are the central addons that comprise my UI however, and the driving forces behind what is presented onscreen at any given time. By all means ask if there is an aspect of my UI you are interested in that I did not cover!

Forward: I have been giving a lot of thought to various styles of leadership, with regards to general guild implementation, raiding, battlegrounds, and social events. This is designed to be the first in a series that explores the ups and downs of each, and to generate discussion and ideas that any smaller guild can, hopefully, use to benefit their in-game experiences. This is planned as a community assignment of sorts, although no participation simply means I go through each of the topics myself without the benefit of others’ insight and hope that people find my comments useful.

Note: If you would like to participate but do not want to publicly provide any information please feel free to email me and state not to post who the information is from. Everyone has their right to remain anonymous!

The Goal:
Design a casual guild atmosphere that still provides serious raiding (2-3 nights a week, 3 or so hours a night), character development (as in helping others), and does not seem too “strict” to the average player. Assume 15 guild members.

The First “Assignment:”
Present an idea for guild structure, specifying officer roles and reasons for needing those roles (includes responsibilities, how to pick officers, etc.).

The Second “Assignment:”
Present the “guild rules.” This may be as simple as a handful of requirements for raiding, or even the one-liner “Have Fun!” The idea is to see how other smaller guilds are addressing guild organization and the underlying reasons.

The Third “Assignment:”
Focus on character development. How would you approach helping others become better players, or understand more about their class? (Note that saying “go read this website” is not what I’m looking for, I want to know how other guilds have addressed this issue themselves. Forum posts? Talking things over in vent/guild chat? Denying entry into instances until certain requirements are met?

The Fourth “Assignment:”
Focus on raiding. How do you establish who goes and who does not? Sign-ups? Are there requirements? How do you promote solid performance? Do you mark targets? Do you use crowd control? Basically, I want to know all about how other guilds approach raids from a high-level vantage point.

The Fifth “Assignment:”
Putting it all together. This is where I’ll take the best ideas presented, or the most popular, and pull together everything in the presentation of a guild charter/code of conduct/ruleset/guidelines… you get the idea.

As you can see, this project really does rely on participation from as many people as possible. I have the idea of starting up a new project that this may be related to (and no I do not mean starting a new guild somewhere, I’m content where I am) depending upon the level of interest out there. Hopefully I’ll garner a lot of input on these, and by all means if you want to participate and are unsure what I am after please ask for clarification. I’m going to try to wait two weeks to get the first “assignment” posted to allow enough time to get feedback to incorporate into the post, so spread the word!

Descriptors: Socially Inept, Inadequate, Immature, or “Simply Unintelligent.”

Classification: “Dumbass.”

Technical Definition: (1) One who not only lacks the social skills to interact with others in any meaningful manner but also cannot understand why they are perceived as inferior. (2) One who, through lack of socialization or out of spite of social norms, causes grief to the generally competent people with which they interact.

Guidelines for Interaction:

• Accept full responsibility for being superior to the dumbass by professing how much better the dumbass is than everyone else.
• Compensate for being “a subpar player” compared to the dumbass by picking up the dumbass’ responsibilities in the group, thereby supplying positive reinforcement to the dumbass in question for being a dumbass.
• Laugh with the dumbass at every conceivable chance, including the dumbass’ obviously superior social skills and performance.
• Consistently provide positive reinforcement of the dumbass’ choices by showing damage/healing meters in every encounter, praise the gear and talent choices made, and recommend the dumbass to every person encountered in-game.

Unfortunately little is known about the origin of the dumbass, or why they thrive so much in virtual worlds. Science has attempted to provide social and psychological profiles in order to better understand and appreciate the dumbass subculture, and yet best guesses indicate nothing more than what is presented here.

Recognizing the “Dumbass” in World of Warcraft:

Thankfully this is far easier than many scientists believe. Typical behavior will include excessive use of “leet-speak” or other variations of incomprehensible grammar, damage/healing levels comparable to those attained by other players at a disparity of ten levels lower, attempts to enter content designed for level eighty players in epic gear while wearing combinations of easily attained “greens and blues” (as described by peers), and a complete lack of knowledge (sometimes to the level of barely understanding basic use of a mouse and keyboard).

When contact is established one must be wary, as the dumbass will typically not reveal its true nature until a critical moment, thus providing almost insurmountable levels of frustration to unprepared players that can result in severe emotional and psychological trauma, vehement language, rage, diarrhea, schizophrenia, alcoholism, depression, legal and illegal substance abuse, and possibly even self mutilation.

Now back to the exciting news of new druid forms!

Druids and Priests are known for their sheer healing power in a multitude of settings, but they achieve results with quite different healing styles. Even among themselves there are many different ways to approach healing, such as the Druid who emphasizes HoTs versus the Druid who emphasizes powerful direct heals, or the Holy Priest versus the Discipline Priest, or even the Priest who decides to heal Shadow and the Druid who decides to heal Balance.

What makes these two classes such strong healers, and yet have so little in common from the way they approach healing? Part of it is simply the tools available, but the primary reason healers who excel with one or the other of the two classes, or those who find healing enjoyable on one and not the other, is absolutely related to the style of healing and the challenges each style poses to the player. Neither class is easier or more difficult to play than the other, although going from one to the other will definitely seem as such. Neither class is drastically better or worse than the other, or even marginally better or worse.

There are some very distinct areas where each class excels and some abilities that each class possesses that are easy to fall in love with and prefer to have than not. This is where most healers develop a preference for one class or the other and become markably better with either Priest healing or Druid healing (or Shaman or Paladin, but this is aimed at differences in the other two classes).

Ability Differences:

Druids are king when it comes to fights where stuns, fears, silence effects, or any other form of crowd control is a dominant component of the encounter. The ability to have continuous healing on a player, even if the Druid is unable to cast at that moment, plays heavily into the Druid’s ability to survive such an encounter with relative ease. In addition, tools such as Nature’s Swiftness and Swiftmend allow a Druid to easily catch up on healing when the CC effect has passed.

Priests, on the other hand, have two abilities that make it really tough to discount them as strong contenders in heavy crowd control encounters: Guardian Spirit and Prayer of Mending (and a slight nod to Fear Ward). Although Prayer of Mending relies on damage being done to players during this time, and is somewhat reliant on luck, it is a very strong spell in any encounter where damage is being taken across the party.

Priests are much stronger AoE healers than Druids. As powerful as Tranquility is, especially when talented, Druids simply do not possess as strong an ability to heal strong AoE damage across the entire party. Druids compensate by way of instant-cast HoTs and a subpar equivalent to the Priests’ Circle of Healing in Wild Growth. Yes, Wild Growth heals for more (using base values), but in an encounter where there is more than one healer the trailing ticks of Wild Growth will almost inevitably be overwritten with another heal.

Style Differences:

This is perhaps the most difficult difference between the two classes to attempt to explain. Both classes lend themselves to adaptive healing strategies, and yet both can be somewhat successful skating by with a heavy reliance on “spamming” direct heals. Both classes have a multitude of tools at their disposal, and both classes are generally looked to as the go-to healers for difficult encounters.

What, then, makes these two classes so different?

Without firsthand experience “behind the keys” it is difficult to relate the feelings and thoughts that go on in a healer’s head to others. In many ways it is comparable to the nervousness and anxiousness associated with the first few, or many, times someone has sex. Everyone has some type of idea of what to expect, but no idea how things will actually go. With some practice things start to feel far more comfortable, and then one can focus on improving instead of simply surviving. The parallels do not end there, however. Experimentation and spontaneity in both can prove to be immensely rewarding, but can also go horribly wrong.

Generally speaking, the best way to describe the difference in styles of healing between these two classes comes down to a very basic idea: Druids have to be proactive in their healing because they do not have the healing power to “catch up” if they fall behind, whereas Priests blend a combination of proactive and reactive healing.

Concluding Thoughts:

Both classes are very strong healers. Both classes can easily heal the same encounters in the hands of a capable player and when combined with a competent group. Both classes can be extremely fun to play. The primary reason players choose one class over the other generally comes down to which class feels more comfortable to play.

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This is an interesting time for me, because as of late my roles have changes somewhat on my characters: Byaghro has become a dedicated tank/off-tank and damage dealer, and I have migrated healing to Deamhan (my priest). There will definitely be more information coming for both, and for now Byaghro will maintain a dual-spec feral/restoration combination (until Deamhan’s gear is at an equivalent level). Talk about a huge departure from my norm!

If you are just joining us please start with CREATE YOUR OWN AZEROTH: PRELUDE from Hardcore Casual.

This segment is a continuation from Create Your Own Azeroth: The Southern Gate. over at Circumspect Snug.

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Corrigan lets out a low sigh, heard only by Rondrey. Without another moment’s hesitation he looks at the possessed citizens moving toward them with emotionless eyes and issues the command none wanted to hear: “Men, attack!”

I have failed yet again… not only could I not protect the woman I loved, but I cannot even protect a handful of citizens from death, and by my own hand no less! Sylphine, have mercy on me.

“Commander…” Rondrey’s voice trails off as Corrigan brushes him aside, launching his hammer into the mass of banshees moving toward them.

“It is too late old friend, hesitation will surely get us killed,” Corrigan states, his voice lifeless. The remaining stupor from the rum washed away by the realization that those he was supposed to protect were dying by his own order.

Laughter emanates from the treeline as the Necromancer reappears. The clanging of metal and the screams of men, women, and even children dying in the scuffle with the banshees failing to drown him out. Blood flows freely around the remaining soldiers under Corrigan’s command as Rondrey focuses his undivided attention to the handful of citizens left.

“Feel the despair and fear coursing through your very souls,” the Necromancer taunts, his icy glare fixated on Corrigan. “See the futility in fighting my forces now foolish paladin?” He laughs as legions of ghouls, skeletons, and abominations appear through the trees, surrounding the small band of people that remain.

With a roar that seems more bestial than dwarven, Rondrey suddenly breaks into a charge toward the Necromancer, “Filthy, stinkin’, no-good scourge!” Rondrey’s charge catches everyone by surprise, bolstering the spirits of the men and inciting a rage and determination that shines through as they cut down every miserable, vile creature in their path. Limbs fly as the stench of ghoulish blood fills the air. The men seem invincible, parrying or avoiding every incoming attack and responding with unprecedented accuracy in dealing certain death to their foes.

What seems an eternity passes before their charge is slowed, a wall of dead scourge practically surrounding them. Regaining his senses Rondrey turns to look at Corrigan, still standing motionless where he was when Rondrey’s charge caught them all by surprise. A feeling of loss sweeps through every shred of his being as he realizes the reason for Corrigan’s lack of movement, and the small blade protruding from underneath the plate armor on his chest. Corrigan’s body finally falls to its knees, staying there as though locked in prayer as Rondrey looks away with a tear falling down his cheek.

“Yer gonna pay dearly for that,” Rondrey growls at the Necromancer.

A deep, gravelly voice booms from all around them as the Necromancer laughs. Arthas’ image appears before the men, practically draining their strength and replacing it with fear. The image speaks, its gaze locked firmly on Rondrey, “You will wish for a quick death soon enough, priest.”

Rondrey starts to issue a challenge, but is shocked into silence as he hears a sudden cold, soulless laugh from behind. Rondrey whirls around, and in the brief moment it took to realize what he was seeing he lost all hope. They were surrounded still, and although they fought well there was no way they would be able to defeat this newcomer…

The men gasped, and weapons clattered to the ground as fear sucked every ounce of strength left from them. They watched, hopelessly, as Corrigan slowly stood up from the ground where he fell. Corrigan’s skin was now pale, his lips lifeless, and his eyes burning bright with the stare of the undead.

Corrigan laughed menacingly as he looked to Arthas’ visage, “What is your command, Master?”

Arthas’ voice boomed around them once more, “Kill them, and bring the priest to me. This is your test, Death Knight. Succeed, and you will have earned your place among my ranks.”

Arthas’ visage disappears as the sky suddenly darkens. Rondrey falls to his knees, and utters a final prayer to the Light for mercy on Corrigan’s soul.

Corrigan advances, slaughtering the remaining soldiers and citizens as he makes his way to Rondrey’s still kneeling form. Corrigan raises his hand toward Rondrey, unleashing an assault of icy energy point-blank into the priest. Rondrey is knocked back, but with a grim determination he finishes uttering the last of an incantation he began moments before. Surges of holy energy fill Rondrey’s body as he stands, and in a final moment of desperation he unleashes e wave of light so powerful it incinerates him in the process.

As the dust settles the Necromancer surveys the field before him. Not a single man, woman, or child remains breathing, though any of his scourge minions that were within ten yards of that priest’s range were vaporized as well. He looks over to where Corrigan stands, and begins a wild cackling that could barely be described as laughter.

Corrigan looks up at the Necromancer, not a single trace of emotion even beginning to soften the edge in his voice, “A futile gesture, foolish priest,” he whispers. Corrigan turns and starts the trek to Icecrown Citadel, pausing momentarily to look the Necromancer straight in the eyes, “Gather your minions, you report to me now.”

The End

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I hope you liked the story! If this seems like something you want to see again or to get involved with please let us know over on the CYOA Message Board.

If you are just joining us please start with CREATE YOUR OWN AZEROTH: PRELUDE from Hardcore Casual.

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Grabbing his Hammer, Corrigan turns to exit the tent. He pauses, and kneels briefly at the door.

May the Light bring us strength on this day.

Corrigan rushes out of the tent, and charges to the front lines. As he runs murmurs of surprise spread throughout the lines. Merely having Corrigan’s presence among them seems to bolster the soldiers’ spirits. As Corrigan reaches the front gate and realizes just how close the walls are to crumbling he stops and turns to the men and women under his command.

“On this day we will deliver a message to our enemies. On this day we will show them the strength of Azeroth’s people. We will stand and fight the corrupt, the vile, the Scourge. Cleanse the fear from your hearts! Stand with me, and let us show Arthas’ minions that we shall not falter!”

How can we withstand such an onslaught? There is no doubt that many will die here today.

Corrigan shakes the last of the cobwebs from his mind as the gates fall. Wave after wave of disgusting Scourge soldiers collide with the polished armor of Corrigan’s troops. Blood flows freely, staining the ground in a matter of moments. Cries of strength and honor are cut short, twisting into barely audible gurgles as windpipes are smashed or torn.

“For the Light!” Corrigan yells as he rushes into the fray, his hammer felling three and four Scourge at a time. “Stand fast! Drive these vile creatures back through the gate!”

As the battle rages it becomes clear the Alliance forces are horribly outnumbered. Without some miracle Corrigan and his troops will be fatefully overrun soon. Rondrey makes his way to Corrigan’s side, assuring him the last of the civilians have been evacuated, or are at least as safe as possible with the remaining soldiers.

Breathing heavily, Corrigan turns to Rondrey during a brief lull in the attack, “Old friend, we cannot keep them at bay much longer. Take the remaining soldiers and retreat, I’ll do what I can to buy you enough time to get away. With the entire regiment you should be able to make it through any remaining ambushes blocking your path”

“There be no way to make it outta here alive without help,” Rondrey protests, “I’ll not leave ye alone!”

Maybe this is the price I have to pay for not being able to protect Sylphine… death would almost be a warm welcome, a change from the persistent nightmare I have been plagued to live.

“There’s no time for debate, Rondrey,” Corrigan whispers, “I cannot lead them to certain death!”

Rondrey pauses, accepting that there is but one way to sway Corrigan’s decision, “Sacrificing yerself won’t change the past. Ye can save these people, Corrigan, and I’ll be damned if yer goin’ to give up so easily!”

A fresh wave of abominations and geists fills the courtyard as Corrigan hefts his hammer, the Light feeding him the strength to fight fiercely. Rondrey hefts his small mace and sends bolt after bolt of holy energy into the fray, healing those in need and burning the remaining flesh of the Scourge invaders.

Rage swells inside Corrigan as he crushes the bones of his enemies. Just as the battle appears to be turning in the favor of the Alliance forces the attackers pull back, making room for something coming forward from the back of their ranks. Corrigan’s eyes follow the hooded figure as it steps forward and becomes plainly visible.

Rondrey curses and Corrigan’s rage merely explodes as the hood falls, revealing the icy pale skin of a death knight. Corrigan feels Rondrey grab his arm and hold fast as he whispers, “Steady lad, ye cannot simply rush in against the creature and abandon our defenses!”

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You control Corrigan’s fate!

If you choose to attack the death knight immediately Corrigan will charge, leading the rest of his men into a last ditch assault against their attackers. For this option go to Creeping… (Update, continuation link is here)

If you choose to hold the lines steady Corrigan will listen to Rondrey, hoping to outlast the assault and gain victory. For this option go to Hardcore Casual (Update, continuation link is here)

The story will continue on those blogs next Wednesday, April 22nd.

Part one set the stage for delving into the single most important skill any healer should work to master: adaptive healing. With the proliferation of ten man raiding there is no longer a strict set of healing assignments, but rather a reliance on healers who know and understand their class and skills well enough to quickly react to any given situation. Two well-geared and competent healers should have no problems in any of the ten man raids, the Obsidian Sanctum encounter plus drakes aside.

Many healers look for “rotations” to use, or on specific instructions detailing how to heal every encounter. While Shaman and Paladins may very well have a very structured approach to healing, given their overall lack of variety in available heals, Druids and Priests do not. Certainly either of the latter classes could simply use one or two heals and manage to make it through an encounter without too much difficulty, but the mark of a good healer lies in their ability to utilize their entire arsenal in the best possible way.

“Adaptive healing” is nothing more than what many describe as “healing by feel.” In essence, it is simply the possession of an intricate knowledge of the skills and abilities at their disposal, and an ability to apply those skills and abilities where they are best suited. For example, using Lifebloom for raid healing in conjunction with Wild Growth will most likely be the ideal approach for both efficiency and sheer healing throughput. On a similar note, using Healing Touch to raid heal will still get the job done, but at a much higher cost to efficiency as well as potentially not allowing time to react to any change in the encounter.

In twenty-five man raiding this becomes even more important. Healing assignments are more often used than not in the larger raid groups, but an “adaptive healer” will be able to compensate and help cover other assignments in addition to their own. In many cases this proves to be enough of a difference to save a group from probable death. Loatheb is a perfect example, where a skilled Druid will be able to cover not only those they are assigned to keep alive but also aid others who are struggling to heal their assignments.

“Adaptive healing” is not something that can be taught, but instead must be developed through practice and familiarity with the class played.

This is not to say that rotations are necessarily a bad thought. Most healers find a rotation of sorts that works well, especially those that heal the tanks specifically. What rotations breed, however, is a sort of tunnel-vision that locks a healer into not being able to react quickly and adapt to a situation.

The topic has already been written about in a general sense before, but after running multiple ten and twenty-five man raids it is quite apparent that things are not nearly as difficult from a single player’s perspective in a twenty-five man raid. Instead of rehashing an existing debate, however, this post is meant to provide a solid understanding of the different techniques that restoration druids will most likely utilize in the two, very different, raiding situations.

Section One, The Spells:

• Lifebloom – Even with the upcoming changes in 3.1 (Nerf this Druid has a wonderful write-up on her testing numbers on the PTR) Lifebloom is still going to provide a significant role in raid healing.
• Rejuvenation – Especially with the Tier 8 Set Bonus forthcoming.
• Regrowth
• Healing Touch
• Wild Growth
• Nourish – This may become a larger part of a druid’s healing profile, though not until playing more with the changes once patch 3.1 hits live will we know for certain to what extent.

Section Two, Healing Setup:

• Glyph of Rejuvenation
• Glyph of Swiftmend
• Glyph of Regrowth
• Talent Build (Wowhead link)

Section Three, 10-Man Healing Style:

There are multiple ways for restoration druids to heal, of that there can be no doubts. For those that utilize different talent builds (typically the Dreamstate based builds or those that place more emphasis on Healing Touch) things will be a little different.

The Raid Healer – Currently will utilize Wild Growth, Rejuvenation, and Lifebloom the most, except in cases where heavy, direct damage is being taken (which, honestly, is a great time to use Nourish for a nice, quick heal). After the 3.1 patch it is doubtful this will change much.

The Tank Healer – Currently utilizes a rolling stack of Lifeblooms, Rejuvenation, and Regrowth most often, with the occasional Nourish or Healing Touch to make up for the difference in damage versus what the HoTs will heal for. Note that this is where Swiftmend is extremely useful, and should be a large component of any restoration druid’s direct healing arsenal. After the 3.1 patch there will be some modifications to this approach, although depending on gear and the duration of the encounter it is quite possible to see no changes on this style.

The Mixed Healer – In a typical 10-Man raid many groups only utilize two healers. In this type of situation things change greatly. Typically Lifebloom will be rolling on the tank or tanks, with the occasional one tossed on raid members. In addition, Rejuvenation, Wild Growth, Regrowth, Swiftmend, and Nourish all end up being utilized in varying degrees across encounters. This is where the ability to adapt and react quickly becomes most important, especially in a situation where one healer could end up having to heal through an entire encounter due to death, a disconnect, random patrols, lag, or even a zombie outbreak.

Healing assignments are helpful in this situation, but not necessarily able to be followed. When two healers know their class(es) well assignments are often ignored anyway, aside from making certain their primary healing focus stays alive. A well-adjusted healing team will not normally need to communicate much, aside from something as specific as “when melee dps one and melee dps two get frozen by KT I’ll heal one and you heal two.” Granted, this will contribute to a lower overall efficiency and more overhealing for the raid totals, but those numbers should be ignored on an overall raid level unless there is a very, very specific reason for needing to evaluate those topics.

Section Four, 25-Man Healing Style:

The Raid Healer – Currently will utilize Wild Growth and Lifebloom the most. Not only is this extremely efficient, but in most cases is all that is necessary for the typical 25-man run. The occasional Regrowth as needed rounds out the primary abilities used.

The Tank Healer – Currently utilizes a rolling stack of Lifeblooms, Rejuvenation, and Regrowth most often, with Swiftmend tending to make up the difference on damage taken versus what HoTs or another healer has healed. Many druids go to Healing Touch in this scenario, but without it’s cast time reduced it is not very efficient, and will lead to a lower healing output.

The Mixed Healer – Practically the same as the raid healer in a 25-man, with the difference of adding Swiftmend and Nourish where applicable on the tanks or on a raid member suddenly taking abnormal damage. The primary difference in this scenario is that the mixed healer will most likely be maintaining a rolling stack of lifeblooms on the main tank in order to help absorb the damage while using the other time available between refreshes to heal raid members as needed.

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Part two, which will be posted later this week, will go more into the difficulty of 10-mans versus 25-mans. This series is not intended as a definitive guide, especially with patch 3.1 looming close, but as an overview of what abilities fit well for the types of healing one will encounter in T7 raid content, and to provide a basis for understanding “adaptive healing” (which will also be detailed in part two).