Remember Miss Medicina's healing questionnaire from about two years ago? No? Well, either way, Saunder from Non-Squishy Heals would like to revive it, and he asked me to fill it in as well. Why not, I thought, the game has changed quite a bit since then and it should be interesting to see whether my answers to the questions have changed as well compared to last time. So, without further ado:
Now to me filling it out.
1) What is the name, class, and spec of your primary healer?
- I don't share names, but she is a restoration shaman.
2) What is your primary group healing environment?
- As an alt she gets more use in healing 5 mans to help DPS with queue time but is a raid healer in 10 man when we need one.
3) What is your favorite healing spell for your class and why?
- Riptide. It is a nice little heal itself but the haste buff to the next two heals are nice and quick after it. It is more then just itself. I like spells like that.
4) What healing spell do you use least for your class and why?
- The spirit link totem. Quite honestly I have yet to see a need to use it. So much so, I changed my spec back to not have it so I can use that point someplace else where it could be of more use to me. It does seem like it will be very useful when you are pushing raid progression for server firsts and everyone does not have perfect gear yet but my guild does not move that fast. We are usually over geared for each boss by the time we pass it.
5) What do you feel is the biggest strength of your healing class and why?
- Raid healing in a 25 man or any group up fight. BH, Chim, etc. Shaman healers are great when everyone is close together.
6) What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your healing class and why?
- No instant heals with zero cooldown. We are really up shits creek when there is a heavy movement fight and a few people need some patchwork done. Natures Swiftness and Spiritwalkers Grace are both fine cooldowns but with a 2 minute cooldown each they are not exactly something you can use often or even depend on being available when you need it and neither one solves the problem of having no instant heal without a cooldown.
7) In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best healing assignment for you?
- Raid healing, no doubt. There will always be people grouped up enough for healing rain and chain heal to go from a decent spell to a very good spell.
8) What healing class do you enjoy healing with most and why?
- Druids. They bandage the wounds and I do the stitches.
9) What healing class do you enjoy healing with least and why?
- Hard to say. Class means nothing. The skill of the player behind the class is what makes the class easy or hard to heal with. Also the time you play with them makes it easy or hard. I always have a hard time healing with someone I've never healed with before and had an easy time healing with someone I healed with before. It is about knowing the person. What class they play really means nothing.
10) What is your worst habit as a healer?
- I sometimes forget about healing myself. I think that happens to us all.
11) What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while healing?
- You want one? Sorry, can't do that. Maybe I can if I sum it up into one big ball and call it bad players. Tanks still stacking stamina. Melee DPS that will still attack from behind even if there is fire there. Ranged DPS that see things flying at them and don't move. People that do not use cooldowns when it will save them thinking instead that I will always save them. I can go on, but I do not think I need to. Bad players sums it up.
12) Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other healers for PvE healing?
- Absolutely. While I do wish I had an instant with no cooldown even if it was a crappy heal I have to say that over all Shaman healers are in a decent place. I've been able to do things on my shaman I can not do on my priest and I have a lot more experience on my priest.
13) What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a healer?
- If you are looking for numbers go talk to a the damage dealers. I do not care if I do 7K HPS or 70K HPS. I do not care if I did 2% over healing or 90% over healing. When the fight is over I ask myself a few questions. Is the boss dead? Is everyone alive? Do I still have mana left? If the answer to all these is yes then I did a good job. You can look at numbers to improve your effectiveness and that is fine but no matter how much you improve your effectiveness you can not end a fight in a better position then having a dead boss, all players alive and still having mana left.
14) What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your healing class?
- I think most people think of shaman as a weak healing class but they can hold their own.
15) What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new healers of your class to learn?
- Spell selection. Could also be called mana management. When starting you will over heal a lot because of fear of people dying. This will run you out of mana quickly and mean when you need the big heal for real you will not be able to cast it. Choosing the right spell for the job is the hardest thing to learn.
16) If someone were to try to evaluate your performance as a healer via recount, what sort of patterns would they see (i.e. lots of overhealing, low healing output, etc)?
- Over healing for sure. Healing stream totem starts over healing the second I put it down and usually will continue to do so the entire fight. Ticks from healing rain once someone is max will also ring up those over healing numbers. They might also see a low healing output because the more I use the character the better I am becoming at healing when healing is needed and choosing the lesser spell most of the time if I know that no additional damage is coming later. This will lead to a lower HPS but it saves my mana for when I need it so I do not mind.
17) Haste or Crit and why?
- I have a love affair with haste. I've played with the same group with different levels of haste doing the same content. Having a cast time .2 faster seems to make a huge difference. .2 seconds can turn a hard fight into an easy one sometimes. Critical however is starting to peak its head out because everyone likes big numbers and seeing 75K-80K heals now is pretty darn fun.
18) What healing class do you feel you understand least?
- Paladin. My healing experience as a paladin leaves something to be desired.
19) What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in healing?
- I use healbot but not for all clicks like many do. It is just there for some simple stuff, my dispel, riptide, and my small heal for example. All my spells are in mouse over macros. I could just as easily use the in game raid frames and never miss a beat. You would not even notice I do not have a healing addon if I did that. I can not live without my mouse over macros.
20) Do you strive primarily for balance between your healing stats, or do you stack some much higher than others, and why?
- I stack to meet certain haste plateaus based on theory crafting but if I feel a tiny bit more haste makes me more comfortable I will still add it. Being comfortable with your healing means you heal better. So if I go for 1% more haste then recommended it is not because I do not know what I am doing, it is because that is what makes me feel comfortable. In the end, you will notice the difference if you run with me and I am not comfortable with the speed my heals are going off at.
Thanks for joining in!
ReplyDeleteAcademically speaking, it isn't stealing if, as you have, you attribute it :)
As to whether everyone is alive at the end of the fight, that refers back to bad players :D
Excellent post, thanks for sharing this professional and effective post. IT very cool and easy for learn.
ReplyDeleteSample Questionnaire