There is much debate over how to measure a healer’s performance. Some utilize healing meters, some go by the old adage that “if no one dies the healer must be good,” some actually attempt to run prospective healers through trials and see how they fare, and some don’t even bother to think twice about it. Obviously there is not a clear, concise test that can objectively be applied to any healer and gauge their ability. How, then, can a healer be measured?

Step One: Forget About Healing Meters

Typically a druid or holy priest, and occasionally a shaman, will top the healing meters. This is due mostly to the nature of their abilities, and being able to quickly put out a lot of healing energy. While meters can be useful, and often encourage friendly competition among healers, they cannot provide an adequate idea of how a healer will perform.

As an example let’s examine a basic raid (25-man) with five or six healers. A druid could do nothing more than toss Lifebloom as much as possible in between Wild Growth cooldowns and easily be at or near the top of the healing meter. In fact, if their sole responsibility is raid healing this might even be the method used. Does this necessarily mean they are a good healer, or even that they adequately performed their duty? Not necessarily. Certainly they contributed a significant amount of healing to the raid, but at what expense? Were the other healers feeling pressure to heal as a result? The meter alone does not provide us with any answers.

Take the same scenario to a ten-man raid with two healers and the results may vary significantly. There is much less room for error, and a single lifebloom or wild growth may prove to not be anywhere near enough to heal the members of the raid.

Step Two: Don’t Forget the Value of Mitigation

Discipline Priests often get snubbed by those lesser-versed players who think meters matter most, or by most anyone who does not understand what the spec brings and then looks at healing meters. Fairly simplistic, but think about it in terms of damage absorbed equals healing done. Although it is not really a direct correlation, it gets the point across. On fights where large amounts of damage are being absorbed and healed through (think fights like Patchwerk) or fights where mana conservation is of the utmost importance (think fights like General Vezax), a discipline priest can make a significant impact on whether a group is able to complete the encounter smoothly by lessening the strain on the other healer(s).

Step Three: Situational Awareness. Situational Awareness. Situational Awareness. Situational Awareness.

I cannot emphasize this point strongly enough. It is the same value that contributes to making good tanks and good damage-dealers. If a healer does not pay attention to their surroundings and stays in the “big circles of hurt” that are prominent in so many encounters then they are not a good healer.

I do want to mention an exception to this particular one, however. There is one trait that relatively few healers, or at least those I have been exposed to, possess: self-sacrifice for the survival of the group. If a healer dies to an environmental ability due to a decision to get that extra healing out to a party member in order to finish an encounter, knowing that they will not be able to escape the damaging ability in time and will subsequently die, I can support that decision. Sometimes it happens. However, if the healer constantly dies doing such an act they need to reevaluate their healing style and adjust to not be constantly in such a situation.

Step Four: Observe Reaction Time.

Any healer should be able to swap assignments on the fly in a raid situation. They may not be best suited for the change in assignment compared to someone else, but they should still be able to adjust quickly to the situation as it unfolds.

In <devnull> there have been numerous times where our healers have had to adjust, and even times when our tanks have had to pull off some pretty miraculous saves working in conjunction with our healers. That type of synergy will obviously not be present in random groups, but in groups that run content together often it is a wonderful thing to see, and it is directly a result of adaptation and reaction time.

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While there may not be a clear-cut method for measuring a healer’s performance, it is easy to see where simply the knowledge and application of some basic concepts will produce good healers. Over time those that apply that knowledge and adjust to find what works best for them will be the healers people remember.

Great healers are an entirely different story, and one that I’ll address soon… ish… probably… *grin*

There is one indispensable tool within my arsenal of abilities in World of Warcraft: the macro.

I utilize key bindings that call macros to perform actions on my target for practically every healing ability, but there is one in particular that I would be extremely lost without. Quoted below is the macro, with an explanation of the functions following:

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TEMPLATE

#showtooltip spell name
/script UIErrorsFrame:Hide()
/use trinket slot
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear(); UIErrorsFrame:Show()
/cast [help][target=mouseover,help,nodead][target=player] spell name

EXAMPLE

#showtooltip Regrowth
/script UIErrorsFrame:Hide()
/use 14
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear(); UIErrorsFrame:Show()
/cast [help][target=mouseover,help,nodead][target=player] Regrowth

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Basic Explanations

• #showtooltip spell name
  This line is merely used to show the tooltip of the specified spell when hovering over the button with the mouse. In addition, if using the question mark icon when creating the macro this will change that icon to be the icon of the spell specified. very helpful if you want to ensure you know the icons of the spells you want to cast in the event you ever have to do so with a completely unmodified user interface, though not nearly as much of an issue now that macros are stored server-side.
• /script UIErrorsFrame:Hide()
  This handy little line of code simply suppresses errors relating to the next line. Basically, there will still be a warning if the trinket is not available for use yet, but no annoying boxes to become distracting.
• /use trinket slot
  The trinket slots are slots 13 and 14. Be certain you have trinkets where you want them and tied to the spells you want them tied to if using these macros. My personal preference is to “pop” trinkets that increase spellpower as often as I can, thus tying that trinket to whatever spell is cast most often (on my Druid I actually tie it to Rejuvenation, and on the Priest to Prayer of Mending).
• /script UIErrorsFrame:Clear(); UIErrorsFrame:Show()
  This section clears the error “boxes” and turns them back on, ensuring any pertinent errors you may need to see are shown. To be honest, it has been so long since I’ve seen any errors other than lua errors related to addons I’m not even sure this script is still needed. I’ll continue to keep it in every macro I make that calls trinkets anyway though.
• /cast [help][target=mouseover,help,nodead][target=player] spell name
  This is the “meat” of the macro, and the most important part. As such, the components are broken down a little further:
  • [help]
    This portion merely means the recipient has to be friendly in order to cast the spell, and the ordering of these sections is important. Having this section first means that if I have a friendly target actually targeted then the spell will go to them, regardless of where my mouse is on the screen. Further, if I have an unfriendly target actually targeted, it will proceed to the next portion of the macro (very useful for keeping a boss targeted and still healing without any issue, reducing the number of additional unit frames I need on the screen to be effective).
  • [target=mouseover,help,nodead]
    This portion means that the target under my mouse, if friendly and alive, will be the recipient of the spell called upon in the macro. The beauty of using a mouseover macro is that there is no need to click on the target first, they simply have to be highlighted under the mouse.
  • [target=player]
    Closing out the macro, this portion casts the called action on me if neither of the first two conditions are met.

Quick and dirty, but hopefully beneficial. This post was unplanned, but after having mention made from a guildmate about wanting to talk to me about the macros I used I figured I would add a post also, giving a good place to reference while explaining macros used. Enjoy!

UPDATE:

The original post had a couple of errors, which may have caused some frustrations. The editor I use converted some characters when I sent it to the blog. This was caught by a guildie attempting to use the macro, and subsequently any post I place macros in I will ensure I proofread the post from the website instead of just my editor from this point forward.

There are numerous places for people to find mountains of semi-useful and useless information with regards to class mechanics, how-to guides on end-game playing, quick ways to level, and breakdowns of talents and spells. While the end-game is certainly an important aspect of play, especially given how quickly a determined player can reach the level cap, acquiring the skills to be effective at the end-game level is not always as simple a concept as reading the aforementioned material. I’m going to focus on developing a healer for this particular post, primarily because of the numerous times I’ve encountered people with questions or misunderstandings about the role as of late.

Step One: Deciding to Heal.

It sounds simple enough. The thought process may even be along the lines of “well, I’ve gathered this gear set and have this other spec I never use, I’m going to give it a whirl and see what happens” to the far more determined who research everything before they even create the character. The primary point is, quite simply, that you have to want to heal in order to be a good healer. Certainly being effective is important, but the mindset of a good healer will translate into the development of the skills to become a good healer.

Step Two: Heal an Encounter.

Whether successful or not, the man thing to remember is that nothing can prepare you for actually healing in-game. Stress will manifest itself in numerous ways, sometimes even on the part of other group members hurling insults toward you (or even potentially being replaced). This is where many people give up or develop a fear of healing again (it is worthwhile to note that new tanks are often subjected to the same experience).

While certainly it does not feel good to be ridiculed or replaced, everyone had to start somewhere. Some people show a natural propensity for certain roles (or bring comfort with similar roles in other games) to the table and seem to have no issue adapting. Others need assistance or guidance in figuring out the best way to progress. Regardless of where you fall, if you want to heal don’t stop at this step because of the idiotic tendencies of the general player (and if you’re that concerned feel free to look me up in-game).

Step Three: Objectively View Your Performance and Learn.

This is a never-ending process. You have to be able to step back and look at a situation that went wrong and know whether it truly was something that could have been avoided with some changes on your part or not, and yet at the same time you have to be able to assess a successful encounter and know whether you contributed to the success or just tagged along. There is a fine line within the scope of this debate that I want to address as an entirely different subject all-together (next post), so I won’t elaborate much on it here. Suffice to say, it is possible to be a healer in a 25-man raid with significant healing numbers without actually being anything other than a heal “spammer.”

Step Four: Understand Exterior Sources of Information and How to Use Them.

This one gets a lot of people in trouble. Certainly the WoW Community is very good at providing places to go for very detailed levels of understanding all things in the game. However, just because something is mathematically more efficient or effective does not mean it is the superior way to do things. The same concept applies to everything you read: authors of any type of material provide guidelines and thoughts that are applicable to their experiences in the game and/or are rooted in scientific/mathematic theory. Use them as places to get ideas and experiment with new processes, but never think of them as the only way to achieve something in-game.

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!

There are two major skills that good healers and good tanks share: situational awareness and adaptive response. When combining these traits with a thorough understanding of game and class mechanics a player is easily spotted and remembered among those with whom they have grouped. Druids have always been quite a versatile class to play, but with the implementation of dual-specializations druids (and Paladins) now have the opportunity to truly shine. This guide is designed as a starting point for those interested in merging their beloved feral or restoration role with its counterpart.

Contents:

1. Feral Talent Spec, Tanking Emphasis
2. Resto Talent Spec, HoT Emphasis
3. Important Skills and Talents, Feral
4. Important Skills and Talents, Resto
5. Tanking a Basic Encounter
6. Healing a Basic Encounter
7. Situational Awareness
8. Adaptive Response
9. Learning and Improving

Feral Talent Spec, Tanking Emphasis – Wowhead Link

Druids have some versatility in specs used as long as the core tanking talents are taken. Plenty of sites delve into the specifics of choosing talents and do an excellent job. For detailed analysis of feral talents and abilities I’d recommend taking a look at Karthis’ excellent posts over at Of Teeth and Claws. For the sake of this guide (and primarily to keep this from becoming many, many pages long) the assumption will be that the above spec is used as a starting point and adjusted according to personal preferences.

Resto Talent Spec, HoT Emphasis – Wowhead Link

The same versatility in tanking specs applies to restoration specs. This guide reflects my preferences in playstyle in emphasizing the strength and power of our healing over time spells. Again, the spec linked above can easily be modified to suit individual preferences, though I’ll highlight the talents that are strongly recommended for restoration druids in the Important Skills and Talents section.

Important Skills and Talents, Feral

• Thick Hide
  For tanking ferals this talent is a necessity. The armor contribution from armor is increased by ten percent when three points are spent, and this makes a very noticeable difference in survivability.
• Natural Reaction
  Another necessity, increasing dodge is very important as a bear tank. The only options feral tanks have to avoid damage are by dodging the attack or by way of the new Savage Defense ability.
• Heart of the Wild, Survival of the Fittest, and Improved Mark of the Wild all provide bonuses to attributes that increase survivability. When looking at maximizing the ability to live through an encounter these talents are absolute necessities.
• Protector of the Pack is also an absolute must. Reducing damage taken by twelve percent is a huge boost to survivability, and with some bosses hitting for huge amounts of damage this one cannot be ignored.

Important Skills and Talents, Resto

• Nature’s Swiftness provides a restoration druid one “guaranteed” emergency heal. While not necessarily a must-have talent, this is definitely one that is strongly recommended.
• Swiftmend should be a part of any restoration druid’s arsenal. I’ve written one guide to swiftmend already so please look at it for more information on why the spell is so important.
• A number of talents in the restoration tree increase spellpower, and all of these talents should be included regardless of a preference for healing using HoTs or direct heals. With the bonuses provided by the Improved Tree of Life talents it is quite clear that resto druids should feel the form to be required. While it is possible to be successful without using the “wilted broccoli” look, it is not recommended. With that thought, Living Spirit becomes a very highly recommended talent as well.

Tanking a Basic Encounter

How a pull is conducted will be determined by a number of variables. Are the mobs close enough together to gain and maintain threat without repositioning them? Will crowd control be involved? Is there concern of pulling additional mobs beyond those which are intentionally being pulled? Should a “line of sight” pull be used?

Without practice deciding how to engage the intended mobs can be a difficult decision, and one that will not become comfortable without time and practice. As a general rule of thumb, the simpler the pull the better the chances nothing will go wrong. This is one area of tanking that is quite open to experimentation and learning what works best for the group composition, as well as being a skill that can only be developed and not simply read and understood.

One the mob is engaged, however, things become much more simple. As a druid there are not many skills that will be used to maintain threat, though where each skill is most effective depends largely upon the number of mobs present and the power of the damage-dealers involved. For the most part, pulling with Faerie Fire and following up with a combination of Swipe and Maul will be more than sufficient to hold threat on practically any mob in the game currently, with the exception of raid encounters. Practice in some heroics and get a feel for the skills available and the amount of threat generated from those skills. Just like healing, tanking can only be truly understood and appreciated when done.

Healing a Basic Encounter

There are two major schools of thought when it comes to healing strategies: adaptive/responsive healing and assigned healing. In general, assigned healing simply means the healer has one or two targets they are responsible to keep alive, and they do not worry about anyone else in the group. For five-man encounters this same approach applies, although it is not ideal. Typically a person accustomed to assigned healing will ensure the tank stays alive, and hopefully be able to toss the occasional heal on other group members as needed.

Adaptive/Responsive healers distinguish themselves from others by being able to read a situation and respond quickly and efficiently. Typically these are the types of players who actually enjoy healing and yearn to excel in an area that is, much like tanking, easy to distinguish between those who truly are good healers (or tanks) and those who are simply able to do what is necessary.

For Druids (and Priests) healing any situation is not just a simple matter of using (x) or (y) skill, although many approach it in such a fashion. For the sake of providing a reference point, most encounters can be healed simply by using a single, strong, direct healing spell (such as Nourish or Healing Touch).

Any restoration druid who understands the class and uses the adaptive healing approach can attest to one statement being absolute fact: no two healers heal exactly the same way. For a basic encounter one may choose to use any combination of heals available to them, and will choose the next spell based on an almost instantaneous decision that factors in a number of variables about the encounter at hand.

Situational Awareness

This is the most important skill to develop as a tank or healer. Understanding what goes on, and being able to read an encounter as it plays out, has the ability to save the group from certain failure. This is also the toughest skill to master given the sheer amount of information available in-game thanks to the proliferation of addons. Watching threat, cooldowns, timers, health and energy bars, abilities, pets, potential harmful effects, buffs, debuffs… the list goes on practically as far as one wants to take it.

Situational awareness does not simply mean know what happens in the encounter and what role one is supposed to fulfill, but to also know what happens in each individual encounter with the group. Tanks need to be aware of who may pull enough threat to require the tank to intervene in some fashion, or if a threat table resets, or if adds spawn and need to be intercepted. Healers need to understand the same concepts in order to predict where healing will be needed on the fly, all the while monitoring the health of all other group members.

It is extremely easy to get trapped in a state of “tunnel-vision.” Many healers become so focused on health they fail to notice a mob that is a little too close, or a void zone they happen to be standing in. Tanks sometimes become so engrossed in maintaining threat on a mob and keeping the DPS from pulling the mob off they fail to notice the same things. Damage-dealers become so obsessed with squeezing out that extra little bit of damage and hitting number one on the meters that they don’t see the bomb at their feet.

In short, maintaining an awareness of what happens and being able to react accordingly is, by far, the most recognizable trait that distinguishes good players from the rest.

Adaptive Response

WoW has seen article after article regarding set “rotations” that should be used to maximize damage or efficiency. While understanding the concepts involved is extremely important, becoming locked into the mentality that a rotation must be followed is detrimental. This allows no room for innovation, for reacting to a change in an encounter on the fly, for seeing something that should be taken care of and adapting to fill that role, or for being able to analyze an encounter and suggest changes due to group composition (or for learning a new encounter and reacting in a manner that benefits the group).

If situational awareness is the most important skill, adaptive response is literally right on its heels. In order to effectively respond to a change in an encounter a decent understanding of game and class mechanics is required (imagine a rogue using Eviscerate instead of Feint or Vanish when they are about to pull threat from the tank. Knowing not to do so does not require extensive knowledge of game and class mechanics, merely competency with how they work).

It is easier to see examples of adaptive response when familiarity with an encounter is already present and on a specific run things go horribly wrong. In these situations tanks and healers who rely on a given set of rules and who are not accustomed to responding to changes “on-the-fly” typically freeze, unsure what to do now that their comfort zone is gone. In many cases this is still a situation that can be recovered from, especially if the group members involved are capable of quick thought and reaction.

Learning and Improving

So how does one practice such techniques? PUGs are excellent sources of such instruction, as are organized guild/friend runs. Both have their advantages, and both should be used liberally. Make it challenging by instructing group members to help hone your skills by doing random things (though I highly encourage this not to be done outside a group of friends/guildmates). One of our most interesting examples is a particular warlock who, thanks to a comfort level and understanding with the tanks/healers, does everything possible to pull aggro. This keeps our tanks in practice intercepting mobs (or simply letting the warlock die on occasion) and responding to changes in the situation on the fly, and keeps our healers from just watching health bars and actually watching the fight unfold in order to predict when to shift focus for a moment and how much effort to put into saving him.

Practice, as the cliche goes, makes perfect. Do not be afraid to give something a shot just because you are not the best player to fill a role. I’m definitely not even close to being the best tank, healer, or damage-dealer around, but through hard work and practice I am recognized and remembered as a good tank and a good healer. What more could I possibly want?

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).

Phaelia over at Resto4Life has a post up (link) that summarily explains why utilizing the Tree of Life form is a no-brainer. Honestly, I would never recommend being a restoration druid without taking the Improved Tree of Life talents either, but I’m setting my opinion aside for a moment to address healing without the “wilted broccoli” look:

It is possible, albeit much more difficult, to be an effective healer without using the Tree of Life form.

Section One: Talent Build – HoT Based Healing Wowhead Link (28/0/43) – HT Based Healing Wowhead Link (28/0/43)

These talents are not optional for healing without Tree of LIfe form (the other talents in the build above may be applied differently if one is so inclined):

• (5/5) Genesis
• (3/3) Moonglow
• (2/2) Nature’s Majesty
• (1/1) Nature’s Splendor
• (3/3) Lunar Guidance
• (3/3) Dreamstate
• (5/5) Naturalist
• (3/3) Intensity
• (1/1) Omen of Clarity
• (5/5) Tranquil Spirit
• (3/3) Improved Rejuvenation
• (1/1) Nature’s Swiftness
• (5/5) Gift of Nature
• (5/5) Improved Regrowth
• (3/3) Living Spirit
• (1/1) Swiftmend
• (5/5) Empowered Rejuvenation

In looking over these talents two primary themes should be quite evident: mana conservation and increased healing power. Without the reduction in healing cost provided by the Tree of Life form mana conservation will be much more important, just as the lack of the increase in healing power from spirit means increasing spell power through gear, gem, and enchant choices will be a very close second.

The only difference in the two builds above is the migration of two points from Empowered Rejuvenation to Empowered Touch in order to boost the healing of Healing Touch by an additional forty percent.

Section Two: Overall Healing Approach

Aside from the lack of any AoE healing (Tranquility is a great spell, but it is not going to be able to fill the hole Wild Growth fills. With this build / style go ahead and accept that there is no AoE Healing potential), the approach is basically the same as any other resto druid. The main differences lie in the need to really, really be mindful of mana consumption and regeneration and the need to really stack as much intellect and spirit as possible to boost mana regeneration and spell power.

Emphasis: I do not, in any way, recommend this build for raiding. Repeat, I do not recommend this build for raiding. Ever. Under any circumstances.

Keep the above statement in mind now, as the following is pretty much contradictory: this could be a viable build for all of the current content in the hands of a capable player.

Leveraging a combination of increased mana regeneration from Living Spirit + Dreamstate, reducing mana cost of as many heals as possible through talents, and increasing spell power with Lunar Guidance actually makes a solid combination for healing. This becomes even more pronounced as gear levels change, and allows quite a bit of flexibility in gem and enchant choices as one becomes more comfortable healing in this manner.

Section Three: Miscellaneous Notes

• I highly recommend Tree of Life + (3/3) Improved Tree of Life if you want to play a restoration druid.
• With enough spell power and mana regeneration any talent spec can work, technically. Just because it can work does not mean it should be done. Remember that there is a reason one typically sees restoration druids in tree form.
• Using the above talent specs, you could heal any heroic currently in the game in caster form as long as the tank is adequately geared and can keep you from being one- or two-shot.
• One of the main concerns with attempting this scenario is survivability. There is a very good reason why Improved Tree of LIfe grants an armor bonus also.
• Did I happen to mention I highly recommend Tree of Life + (3/3) Improved Tree of Life if you want to play a restoration druid.

Conclusion

Yes, healing without tree form is possible. Yes, a person can be effective without tree form. It is not, however, the most efficient or most effective method of healing as a druid, and certainly not something I would recommend.

The question comes up more often than one may think: “what is harder, tanking or healing or dps’ing?” Over the course of dabbling with many different classes and builds some things consistently show up in conversations, regardless of class, build, or role.

1. Lack of appreciation for the “other” roles.
2. Lack of understanding what the “other” people go through.
3. Awe or shock at how well one of those “other” people perform.
4. A desire to learn how those “others” got to where they are.
5. Seeing one of those “other” people do something that isn’t understood.
6. Trying to figure out how an “other” couldn’t do something some “other” could.

This list is, by no means, exhaustive or all-inclusive. Plenty of conversations have revolved around the starting lines of “I could do better” or “How could I help them” or “Could I do that?”

Every class, every role, every spec brings forth some measure of difficulty and stress. Some tend to appear much easier to perform in due to their design, such as an average damage dealer being able to perform quite well simply because the class is capable of so much. Some seem to be far more difficult simply because of the sheer number of tools at their disposal. Eventually, though, someone fulfills a role in a way that shocks the people around them. Sometimes for the best, sometimes lending itself strictly to cries of how horrible that player appears to the eyes of those present.

Speaking simply, when one surrounds themselves with above-average players it tends to skew their perception of the average player, sometimes even to the point of making the average person feel worthless or sub-par. More often than not, however, it is simply a misunderstanding of a class, or of a specific talent spec, or the “know-it-all” who doesn’t actually have a clue about what they are seeing that starts the conversation.

Let’s get this out of the way quickly: no role is actually more difficult than any other role. Certain roles, like those of tanks and healers, are generally regarded as more difficult or more important simply because they are the most visible. It is not really the role itself that is any more challenging, it is merely that these roles need a specific type of person to fulfill them effectively.

In order to understand the point a little more easily, let’s look at one specific class and the ability to fulfill any of the three roles: the druid.

Tanking

Feral combat has come a long way since the early days of World of Warcraft. Far too often statements are made that belittle the ability of the player behind the character, especially with the implementation of easier content, easier threat generation, and the proliferation multi-mob attacks and abilities. Still, a good tank will be noticed more often than not due to a number of other factors. Some of the things most often noticed are responsiveness to changing situations, reaction time, and understanding their limits and gear enough to make quick decisions in groups and raids.

Tanking itself is not actually that difficult. Those other factors, the ones that actually require something the game does not provide at the press of a button, are what separate the bad, the average, and the good tanks.

Do not be fooled. Tanking is stressful, and it is quite rewarding to know that the rest of the group is looking to the tank as their anchor in rough waters. The same is easily said of another role:

Healing

Restoration druids have been fairly easy to find since the beginning. Their arsenal of spells, and the quite different nature of their abilities, have long garnered them at least one spot in a raid. Being a druid healer is a challenge in and of itself, however, primarily due to the general lack of being able to compare their style of healing directly to any other class’s play style.

This does not make it more difficult to be a restoration druid. Again, the person behind the character makes all the difference in whether they are a bad, average, or good healer.

Healing in general is a very different game than what most people can understand and apply. In a world where “rotations” are dominant, filling any role that does not really lend itself to such a concept immediately seems alien and hard to accomplish. In truth, it is for this specific reason that healing could be considered more challenging than any other role, although that is simply not the case.

Just like tanking, healing requires a different type of person to fulfill the role in an efficient manner. Typically, the same general concepts apply from those who tank: focus, reaction time, the ability to adjust on the fly, and the intricate understanding of their limits based on the group composition. These same thoughts loosely apply to “that other role,” but on the same token one can be quite successful even without those traits simply because of the nature of that role:

Damage Dealing

“DPS is a dime a dozen.” Everyone has heard that phrase, and possibly even uttered it themselves. While true, the idea behind any game that focuses on an ability to kill entities in order to progress lends itself to an abundance of damage dealing roles.

A player can be successful in any DPS role simply by pressing buttons randomly. That is a byproduct of the way damage dealing abilities are designed. Without focus, and without an awareness of what is going on around them, and especially without a concept of “rotations” and maximizing damage output however, no one will actually be a good “dps’er.”

World of Warcraft is designed in a way that all three roles are absolutely necessary to succeed in beating a significant portion of the game’s content. It is quite easy to see instances where the tank(s) and healer(s) are quite capable, but the content could not be finished because the damage dealers present were not. Although it seems much less difficult, and significantly less stressful, the knowledge that one has to perform at their best generates its own challenges and type of pressure.

Overall Playability

Druids are, by nature, one of the more difficult classes to leverage efficiently. When only looking at one facet of the class it is easy to forget how versatile druids truly are. In order to actually master the class, and in order to honestly appreciate the levels of dedication and hard work that go into being good players, one should at least be familiar with all of the available talent specializations and have a general understanding of how to apply them.

Is mastery of any class necessary? Absolutely not. Generally speaking, very few people will ever take the initiative, or have the ambition, to do so. Without attempting that process, though, it is much, much harder to appreciate what people go through when fulfilling any of the roles available in the game, and fulfilling them well (just as it is difficult to appreciate the hurdles other classes go through without firsthand knowledge of those classes).

Note that this does not mean one has to be extremely well-versed in all of the functionality of the class, or even the best in any of those roles. For the purpose of this discussion mastery is quite strong a term, but the concept applies nicely. Realistically, if one simply remembers the following points and watches for the traits outlined above, appreciation and understanding is almost inevitable:

Points to Remember

1. Thank the people who perform well in their chosen role, or who step up to fill a need and do well.
2. A class may have an upper hand in one setting, but they’ll have the short end of the stick in another. Even with the idea of homogenization that has been introduced in Wrath of the Lich King not all classes are equal.
3. Sometimes things just do not work. Group composition, although less of a factor than before, is still something to take note of when a wall seems insurmountable.
4. A good player can leverage any role successfully. A great player really shines. Learn from them, observe how they approach a situation, and do not be afraid to ask for clarification if something seems out of place. Everyone makes mistakes or forgets to do something on occasion.
5. Frustration is never an ally. Belittling a role only serves to create undue tension, further impairing one’s ability to learn and understand what could be done to be more like “those good, other people” that someone would rather be running with.
6. Every role has its own set of challenges, of difficulties, and of stress. Every role is necessary. Every role is difficult to fill if approached with the incorrect mindset.

Personal Note: Part of why some blog is because we want to provide information that potentially helps people perform better. Sometimes people get the wrong impression, thinking that we’re out to prove that we are what others should aspire to be. This happens even more often as a result of guides, even though the intent is only to provide an easy understanding of something for those who are having a tough time figuring it out on their own, or in some cases who would rather be told how to effectively leverage a skill, ability, or even class instead of experimenting themselves.

We often forget to look at the other side of what we can provide, though: an insight into the things that some people may never experience or attempt to understand themselves. A glimpse at why one person seems better or worse than another, when it could be as simple as not understanding the way that particular class performs in a specific scenario.

In closing, remember one key point if nothing else: all of the roles require a certain type of person to effectively do the job. Some people are simply not cut out for a class or role they have found themselves in, but with help they can still be successful and enjoy the game.

Swiftmend is an oft-overlooked spell in many a druid’s arsenal. Exactly why I’m not certain, as it is one of the best direct heals in the game. Combined with the Glyph of Swiftmend this spell becomes even more heavenly.

On average my Swiftmend will heal for about 8k (we’ll be conservative with 8k, but its crit heals have been up to 12k, and it actually crits fairly often. The lowest I’ve seen has been just shy of 7.5k). With a mere fifteen second cooldown, this definitely places Swiftmend in the realm of mostly being available whenever it is needed.

With a full compliment of HoTs on a target, more often than not, Regrowth will be more than strong enough of a direct heal to offset the excessive damage being taken. There are some fights, however, where constant direct heals are the only way to keep a tank alive. In these instances it is very easy to work Swiftmend into your workflow.

Let’s look at a breakdown of my healing in one night (click for full size):

It is obvious from the chart that my preferences lie in using HoTs in the most efficient way possible. Healing Touch doesn’t even make an appearance in this particular evening’s use, although I do make use of it when necessary.

What I really want to point out, though, is Swiftmend’s numbers (click for full size):

Although I did not have a need to use it often, the effective healing done was substantially more than my average Healing Touch hits for, even when it does crit. At a lower mana cost, it is easy to see why Swiftmend, unless one takes the Healing Touch talents, is a superior choice under most circumstances. Playstyle differences aside, the only time I strongly advocate the use of Healing Touch is when the damage a tank is receiving is so great that the only way to keep them alive is to use back-to-back-to-back-to-back direct heals.

I had planned to actually attempt some mathematical analysis and comparison of Swiftmend to Healing Touch, but not only is that not really an area I even truly know where to begin, it is also not something I could really do much justice. Of course, my general approach has always been by “feel” and not mathematical efficiency or effectiveness. If someone would like to help me out in this area I’d love to have that knowledge to add to my repertoire, and I’ll update this article (or post a new one most likely) with those details.