Beacon Usage - Targets and When To Switch

[Icukilup 0]

Hi all!

 

I've been using the Beacon of Faith talent in raids, but I know my beacon usage is subpar and can be improved.

 

So, I have some general questions for us holy pallys to discuss: How do you use your beacons, when do you switch the player they are on, and how often? How can we maximize its potential?

 

Personally, my subpar usage has been to apply the beacons to the two tanks, and leave them there almost the entire fight. But as we know, both tanks aren't always taking damage at the same time, and often we may be spamming heals on another raid member.

 

An interesting (terrible?) usage I've seen a paladin do is to apply one beacon to the tank, and one to themself for the whole fight. This paladin healed himself more than any other raid member, and he didn't last long in the group.

 

With the increased healing to the beacon and the reduced mana costs of heals on the beacon target, it may make sense to be apply the beacon to any raid member you know you will be spamming heals on for a little bit, while leaving one on the current tank. This comes with a few tradeoffs though, namely: A gcd if your beacon isn't glyphed, a minor mana cost, increased risk if a tank swap is occurring soon, having to switch the target soon after.  When is it worth it?


I'd love to hear the opinions of the players on this forum. Beacon is a powerful tool - how can we make the most of it? What is the optimal usage? What is its potential?


(Thanks for reading!)

[Kenthalas 0]

I've generally been keeping beacon of light on whoever the main tank of the moment is, and moving beacon of faith around as I need for certain contingencies. For example, if I know a raid member is about to take a ton of damage, I move it to them, or if I know I'm going to need a big spam on them for anything. It not only gives them 10% increased healing, but also gives me a 40% mana cost refund if I directly heal them, or just lets me heal someone else entirely. A couple examples would be when a raid member called out that he had accidentally gotten too many stacks of blaze on Twin Ogron, I beaconed him and spammed him until it faded to keep him alive. Another example is on Koh'ragh when one person stands in the shield to get the bubble-y thing so they can get the green swirlies (whatever it's called), I beacon that person so I don't have to directly heal them at all but all my general raid healing is duplicated onto them. Then there's Butcher, where both beacons go on both tanks and I heal whichever melee group is currently taking the bleeds without ever having to directly heal a tank at all. It's entirely up to you how you use or move it, but anything to avoid useless overhealing seems a good use for it.