Healing Guide

[Damien 1,514]

This thread is for comments about our Healing Guide.

[Guest Jerrad]

I just wanted to say this is a great guide =) Awesome info

[Guest Guest]

Too many 'W's in the link to tukui, but it is a great guide.

[Supafist 0]

this was an amazing guide ty so much some great tips on add-ons as well

[Rhyannon 3]

Great guide, although I found the section on key binding a little discouraging, for lack of a better word. I've been playing for 7 years as a healer (mainly as a shaman and druid) and I learned to play as a clicker, my husband however binds most of his spells and has tried to get me to play with binds. But as the old saying goes, you can't teach an old dog new tricks and for the life of me I just can't get used to it. I click my target, click my spell and move on to the next target, etc. all in the blink of a GCD.

In your guide you state that "Having an excellent reaction time is a key requirement of good healing, and this cannot be accomplished without the use of keybinds." This is a very biased statement, obviously written by someone who binds. Yes, excellent reaction time is a key requirement of good healing, but binding is not the be-all and end-all. I top the heal meters on a regular basis as a clicker, and when most people find that out they are somehow even more impressed with my healing. If I were new to healing and a clicker looking for guidance I would be very discouraged reading this section. You make it sound as if those of us that never learned to bind can never be healers. And maybe some of the younger players can learn to bind, but some of us more "mature" players would become overwhelmed at the thought of having to memorize all our spells on the keyboard. There are plenty of talented players out there that are clickers, please don't deter them from healing with your bad choice of words. Binding is NOT the only option.

Aside from that little statement, I think the guide is great with plenty of details to get people started in their journey to healing the wonderful World of Warcraft.

[Tyrendorf 1]

Rhyannon, agreed. The guide could say something like: "Most of people prefer to bind keys and use addons to improve the reaction time..."

But i think you are one in ten thousand.

Tyrendorf

[Stoove 347]

That's a well worded comment on keybinds and I think that you're correct that you can be a perfectly good healer by simply clicking. I understand completely that a word on a site such as IV can be a bit discouraging when phrased the way it is, so perhaps a perspective change could be in order.

Having said that, moving from clicking to (learning to use) keybinds is a massive change to your healing. Providing that you learn how to do it effectively, it is a direct upgrade over selecting your targets by clicking them. I would say that you don't HAVE to make mouseover macros and bind your heals to a keyboard! You can use an addon such as (for e.g.) Vuh'do to bind your heals to mous-button clicks with simple modifiers.

Example: I want to heal someone using a normal heal. I just have to click their healthbar once. I want to cast Riptide on them; I right click their healthbar once. I want to cast Chain Heal; I hold down Ctrl with my little finger and left click their healthbar once. None of these binds take up space on my ability bars or on my keyboard. This is a really fantastic way of healing and it's a lot simpler (IMO) than using mouseover macros for your keyboard. I found it extremely easy to learn! Once you do learn it, the actions become almost intuitive - I don't even have to think about where I'm putting my little finger at all any more.

So in summary I think that a change from "is needed" to "is a huge improvement which will dramatically affect your gameplay" - you CAN do it perfectly well without, but I cannot personally envisage not wanting to. If you're a minmaxer, you will learn to do it.

[Shine 144]

Let me start by saying I am a binder.

Great guide, although I found the section on key binding a little discouraging, for lack of a better word. I've been playing for 7 years as a healer (mainly as a shaman and druid) and I learned to play as a clicker, my husband however binds most of his spells and has tried to get me to play with binds. But as the old saying goes, you can't teach an old dog new tricks and for the life of me I just can't get used to it. I click my target, click my spell and move on to the next target, etc. all in the blink of a GCD.

In your guide you state that "Having an excellent reaction time is a key requirement of good healing, and this cannot be accomplished without the use of keybinds." This is a very biased statement, obviously written by someone who binds. Yes, excellent reaction time is a key requirement of good healing, but binding is not the be-all and end-all. I top the heal meters on a regular basis as a clicker, and when most people find that out they are somehow even more impressed with my healing. If I were new to healing and a clicker looking for guidance I would be very discouraged reading this section. You make it sound as if those of us that never learned to bind can never be healers. And maybe some of the younger players can learn to bind, but some of us more "mature" players would become overwhelmed at the thought of having to memorize all our spells on the keyboard. There are plenty of talented players out there that are clickers, please don't deter them from healing with your bad choice of words. Binding is NOT the only option.

Aside from that little statement, I think the guide is great with plenty of details to get people started in their journey to healing the wonderful World of Warcraft.

I totally get your point here, though, I would like to say that click>click is always slower thank click>press.

when I heal, I have my most used abilities on the numbers 1-6 and F1 to F4, this is in almost all classes enough to bind your key abilities to.

when I heal I click and press the button 4, hey I have cast a flash heal on my target. when I click and then have to move my mouse to my actionbar to click again, I don't know, it just doesent feel very fast or reactive to me.

my click>press is pretty much in an instant, and click>click just isn't for me.

Please do not think I'm trying to tell you how to heal. if you are topping the healing lists, keep up the good work. I'm just sharing my personal experience.

That's a well worded comment on keybinds and I think that you're correct that you can be a perfectly good healer by simply clicking. I understand completely that a word on a site such as IV can be a bit discouraging when phrased the way it is, so perhaps a perspective change could be in order.

Having said that, moving from clicking to (learning to use) keybinds is a massive change to your healing. Providing that you learn how to do it effectively, it is a direct upgrade over selecting your targets by clicking them. I would say that you don't HAVE to make mouseover macros and bind your heals to a keyboard! You can use an addon such as (for e.g.) Vuh'do to bind your heals to mous-button clicks with simple modifiers.

Example: I want to heal someone using a normal heal. I just have to click their healthbar once. I want to cast Riptide on them; I right click their healthbar once. I want to cast Chain Heal; I hold down Ctrl with my little finger and left click their healthbar once. None of these binds take up space on my ability bars or on my keyboard. This is a really fantastic way of healing and it's a lot simpler (IMO) than using mouseover macros for your keyboard. I found it extremely easy to learn! Once you do learn it, the actions become almost intuitive - I don't even have to think about where I'm putting my little finger at all any more.

So in summary I think that a change from "is needed" to "is a huge improvement which will dramatically affect your gameplay" - you CAN do it perfectly well without, but I cannot personally envisage not wanting to. If you're a minmaxer, you will learn to do it.

I can understand the appeal here. I must say I would favor click healing over mouseover healing. yet I have tried and cannot get used to the ctrl>rclick Shift>lclick combo's. I always forget which spell I assigned to wich button (with or without modifier) and I always end up casting spells that are totally useless.

I suppose it would be just getting used to it, yet Im gonna stick with my very own click>press technique.

like Rhyannon pointed out so perfectly

you can't teach an old dog new tricks

Shine

[Dia 7]

Ok. First of all you can perform good using clicks. And I am not here to teach you how to heal. But using clicks makes you slow comparing to what you can achieve using binds, macro and addons. There is one thing that makes clicks worse. That moment when you take your concentration off the battlefield and health bars to your skill panel. It could take a moment but it can be a crucial moment for your encounter. I thing you really should consider moving on to using keybinds.

[Stoove 347]

I can understand the appeal here. I must say I would favor click healing over mouseover healing. yet I have tried and cannot get used to the ctrl>rclick Shift>lclick combo's. I always forget which spell I assigned to wich button (with or without modifier) and I always end up casting spells that are totally useless.

I suppose it would be just getting used to it, yet Im gonna stick with my very own click>press technique.

Yes, it's really just a matter of practice, practice, practice. :)

I think that those who've decided conciously not to use binds of some sort are fine; it's those who have never considered it who should be informed of it. If someone decides that they can't or don't want to do it, then that's fine provided that they are good enough without.

[Rhyannon 3]

I'm definitely not against binding. I know and understand that someone who binds will probably get the heal out faster than me. I'm not in denial lol. I simply wanted to point out how bad this section of the guide would seem to someone new to healing that happens to be like me, a clicker. We're not a rare breed, although most clickers I've met play DPS classes, which is a heck of a lot easier than clicking as a healer, but we do exist :)

I might be more inclined to try binding if I had the time to practice and an easy setup to remember. At the moment I have one bind that I attempt to use on a regular bases, and even that I click most of the time because I keep forgetting it's bound >.<

If there's a Keybindings 101 guide somewhere, please point me in it's direction.

[Shine 144]

I'm not sure if there is a keybind 101 guide anywhere, but its not really that hard. just think of what spells you use most of the time and bind them on keys that are close together.

I always bind all my keys on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, F1, F2, F3 and F4.

the position of my hand is

Pinky - Tab

Ring - 2

Middle - 4

index - t

thumb - space.

imo this is a very relaxed position, and using tab and t is easy for switching between targets and start/stop attacking. when I'm healing (that last part was not really from a healers pov) I use this same position of my hand, and I click the target I want to heal.

Also, you can assign buttons to auto target one of the tanks ans/or healers. another possibility would be to make macro's that target and cast in the same command (for raid healing I would advise an addon call TargetRole here, it allows you to use TANK, HEALER and DPS as valid units in macro's)

for the rest it would just be figuring out what you need where and getting used to it.

But you shouldnt become a binder just because the majority thinks you should. if you're more comfy with clicking, be my guest.

[Rhyannon 3]

I don't believe that I will ever become a full fledged binder, but it wouldn't be terrible to bind a few of my most often used spells. I just need to get a few friends killed in heroics while I practice lol.

[sessanta 4]

idk if you guys are only talking about keyboard binding but another way to bind that i find super simple is using a mouse with buttons on it my mouse right now has 6 buttons on the side plus you can use the mouse wheel as a button (e.g wheel up/wheel down) but that is just me i think it is easier then pressing the num keys above the letters imo

[Rhyannon 3]

We're actually talking about the healing guide... My apologies for getting this topic off track.

[Shine 144]

idk if you guys are only talking about keyboard binding but another way to bind that i find super simple is using a mouse with buttons on it my mouse right now has 6 buttons on the side plus you can use the mouse wheel as a button (e.g wheel up/wheel down) but that is just me i think it is easier then pressing the num keys above the letters imo

maybe we are talking only about binding, yet this is a major part of healing tactics.

Healing is all about proactive and reactive ability usage, and the manner of binding/clicking is a great factor in this.

You are right this is the comment section for the Healing guide, and maybe we should therefore stop talking about binding here. if anyone still has any questions about it, I think it better to make a new topic in either your class section of the forum or the general section.

Cheers

Shine

[sessanta 4]

We're actually talking about the healing guide... My apologies for getting this topic off track.

i actually did not care bout the topic i was offering a suggestion to help you guys out with the key binding toipc (which definatly can belong to the healing guide since they mention it) sorry if you thought i was being rude

[Vlad 411]

Hi, Rhyannon, and thanks for your comments! I wrote and maintain the healing guide, including the paragraph in question, so I'll try to explain myself a bit.

 

In the guide, I said "the next step is making sure that you can deliver your healing spells in the shortest possible amount of time." I think this part is important because it qualifies everything that follows. The implication of the guide is not (meant to be) that if you don't use keybinds (or mouseover macros) you can't be a good healer. Rather, the implication is that to have the shortest possible reaction time, you need to use keybinds.

 

I agree that the next sentence implies that you "cannot be a good healer if you don't keybind", which is not true, and I'll make sure to edit that so it no longer reads that way.

 

Now, about the issue itself, I do stand by the guide in principle. You need to use keybinds if you want to reach your maximum potential in World of Warcraft, regardless of role but especially as a healer. There are a few things to keep in mind though.

 

• Exactly how "good" you need to be depends on your raid group and your setting. If you're just healing dungeons and you're a fairly experienced healer, or if your group is over-geared or just good, then you don't need to keybind. Likewise, if you're one of several healers in a raid group progressing through content that is not particularly difficult (again, due to your gear or experience/skill), you don't need to keybind since the other healers will pick up the slack.
• If you are just transitioning from clicking to keybinding, you will probably have a lot of trouble. Effective use of keybinds relies a lot on muscle memory, and the only way to build that up is through practice. So, if you've been clicking for any length of time and then you suddenly switch to keybinds, you're going to have horrendous results on the first few days. People will die. You may even wipe. You'll feel totally confused and powerless. So in other words, clicking well is better than using keybinds poorly.
• Even if you are the most awesome clicker in the world, you will always lose time when clicking, compared to what you could be doing while using keybinds. Not only are you not able to keep your mouse constantly hovering over your raid-frames for quick reactions to changing targets, but with each new target change, you have to effectively "aim" at the desired action button. If you're just healing the same old tank, for example, this might work alright, but if you've got to raid heal or spot-heal (especially in a 10-man group), you are losing out so much time over the course of an entire fight. Not to mention, of course, that you lose even more time if you "misclick" an action button, for example.
• The lack of efficiency may not always be evident. You may think you're doing well because no one is dying (and that's surely the principal benchmark for any healer), but that may only be because other healers are cleaning up after you, or, more accurately, cleaning up before you. If you're constantly slower than you could be in healing players, a lot of your heals could end up as overhealing because they land very shortly after another healer just saved the player in question.

 

As a final point I'd like to mention the extreme disadvantage that if you are clicking as a healer, you are effectively deprived of usage of your mouse. If the encounter requires you to click a crystal, click a raid member to pull them out of a harmful effect, or use your mouse to lead your character from some kind of "maze" effect, you are unable to heal *anyone* while that's happening. Someone with keybinds (and, if using mouseover macros, with the appropriate contingencies to be able to heal their current target, not just their mouseover target) will be able to merrily cast heals (instant cast if moving) on their target while performing whatever task they need to perform with their mouse.

 

In other words, if you're healing well enough for whatever you're doing, then you don't need to change anything. But if you feel your performance is not satisfactory, making sure you are using keybinds is a top priority, right up there with making sure you are using the correct spells.

 

I hope that clears it up.

[Guest eggsio]

A good read here. I reckon i fall into the " clicker " ... minority ? dare i say minority ? !

 

I think i could maybe learn to mouseover / keybind but it does just feel alien to me. Like Rhyannon said you cant teach an old dog new tricks. You might well be able to tell me what to do and how to do it .... but it just doesnt sink in lol.

 

Keybind 1 thru 6 .... put spells on !!! i probably forget which spell is on what button. i think i need the visual reference to the spell being cast.

 

i have started to use vuhdo and its been good. At least im learning to heal ..... not just dps

 

Many thanks for all the info on here ... its good advice

[Guest jerkface314]

I apologize for nit picking (and necroing a very well thought out guide), but I have an opinion about the raid frames. 

 

I believe that the default raid frames can serve perfectly well as the raid frames used for healing. I have tried all the raid frame add-ons listed and not listed, however I have come to the conclusion that I can find all the information needed for a healer to perform their best.

 

1) They're already built into the game, so no consistent updating is needed (unless there's a huge out cry for it in the forums) or waiting for the add-on to update during patches. No need to download the primary add-on and then several others to get everything you need, or the complete opposite: getting way more than you need thus taking up memory, thus potentially decreasing performance.

2) Very simple to customize; no need to figure out where to put the (de)buffs or what size to make them, being able to save the position and size, and what specific scenario you would need to use the frames, etc.

3) All the relevant information needed is available (or can be customized in the raid frames window; I understand not everything, but I'll explain more about that flaw): name, class, role, (de)buffs with timers, stacks, and tooltips (something I find very important, but rarely find, or have not lately seen, in any add-ons). How you want to view the health pool (for fights like Chimaeron in Blackwing Descent).

 

Now this isn't to say that these are perfect. Far from it.

1) In the middle of combat if someone leaves the group, the frames will not adjust to that person leaving. So selecting one person to heal will select a different person to heal, then you will be trying to catch up to find the person you needed to heal as they continue to lose health or risk dying from being at low health for too long.

2) Even though I did say they provide all the information, they wont provide that one piece that you will find important. For example, a holy paladin may want to know the timer for their Illuminated Healing buff, but it is not located in the buff bars of the default raid frames.

Now I don't want this post to come off bashing anyone who uses raid frame add-ons (or even their creators who put hard work and ideas into their work). I just noticed that the same work and ideas were already put into something that comes standard with the game, and should be worth mentioning in the same subject as any other raid frames.

[Guest lichdeth]

this was a great read, i also am i clicker healer and use an addon called healium, i find using healium faster than binding.

i also learned to heal using the addon.

 

just thought i'd add this incase anyone wanted to try different addons to get going

[DrFGoodman 0]

The mouse-over macro listed in this guide don't seem to work for me. Below is the macro that I am referring to (modified for my Holy Shock spell)

#showtooltip Holy Shock

/cast [@mouseover,exists,nodead,help,][exists,nodead,help][@player] Holy Shock

When I select a friendly or non-friendly target, Holy Shock will always be cast on the target even if I am hovering my mouse cursor over my one frame in Grid. Did Blizzard change something about their macros or am I doing something wrong?

[Fouton 266]

#showtooltip Holy Shock

/cast [@mouseover,exists,nodead,help,][exists,nodead,help][@player] Holy Shock

 

I copied your macro exactly onto my Holy Paladin and it seems to be working fine. Can you give me a specific example where it fails to heal the mouseover target?

[DrFGoodman 0]

I copied your macro exactly onto my Holy Paladin and it seems to be working fine. Can you give me a specific example where it fails to heal the mouseover target?

So I'm outside Orgrimmar, I target one of the random players that usually hang out there and I cast Holy Shock while hovering over my name in Grid. Holy Shock gets cast on my target and not on me.

[Fouton 266]

Perhaps your spelling is slightly off? I'm doing the same thing in shrine and I am not getting any issues.

 

The thing about that macro is that you can consider it very redundant. If you want your spells to be set up so that it goes Mouseover, then target, then yourself, you can simply turn on Auto Self Cast in the combat tab of Interface options.

 

This will cause the exact same effect. If I mouse over something that can be healed by my spells, it will heal it, if not, it will try to heal my target, with no target it will just heal myself.

 

Of course, you happen to be using one of the few problems with my setup. Any spells that can also hit an enemy player will be hit, instead of just trying to heal the next in line player. Honestly I've never run into a problem using

 

#showtooltip Holy Shock

/cast [@mouseover] Holy Shock

 

because you never mouseover enemies when healing since that would just cause downtime.

 

Basically what I'm saying is: Try to find the error in your macro, I can't imagine why it doesn't work without there being one, and if there isn't one, consider using the simple version I listed. It should provide the same effect you want.