Yes, you do still have those healing spells
by Mike Schramm 
Feb 8th 2007 at 1:03PM
We've written a lot here about offspecs, and it seems that with the Burning Crusade, players who choose to offspec are finally getting their due-- druids can play as rogues, shadow priests can play as warlocks, and dual-wielding shaman can play as fury warriors if they want to.But there is one problem. Some players are, unfortunately, forgetting exactly not what they're supposed to do, but what they can do (excellent rant there, definitely worth a read). If you're a shadow priest, please remember that it is possible to get out of shadow form and heal if necessary. You may be a feral druid, but sometimes it's time to step back, drop out of cat form, and heal. And sure, as an enhancement shaman, you may have loaded up on strength, stamina, and agility rather than +healing, but when the healer is going down fast, every bit counts, and it's time to get out Lesser Healing Wave and start spamming.
I don't mean to force you to only do things you aren't specced to do-- if you're shadow, and someone asks you to main heal an instance, you have a right to say no. As I said, we here are all for offspecs-- they break the cookie cutter molds built around characters and show us things in this game that have never been done before. But in this case, necessity is the mother of non-invention-- if necessity calls you to fill a traditional role, even for one fight, please, fill it.
Filed under: Druid, Priest, Shaman, Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Talents
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
liz Feb 8th 2007 1:21PM
Hands up who thinks that the writer of this article isn't a healing class?!?
Jonathan Feb 8th 2007 1:14PM
I had this experience with my new BE warlock alt. I was looking to run RFK and managed to find a group that was 1 man short. I asked for an invite, but the group of 3 paladins and 1 shaman declined because they were looking for a healer.
Ahko Feb 8th 2007 1:37PM
I completely agree. It is is a mjor pain when people do not play their character to the fullest of their class abilities.
Ahko
Sylythn Feb 8th 2007 1:34PM
I was running with another pally and a warlock. It was a darn good thing I was ok with healing (despite being Ret) - because the other pally would not heal, ever...not us, not herself - I even had to Purify/Cleanse her. It was like that part of her class didn't exist.
Kompost Feb 8th 2007 1:41PM
My friend and I were doing some of the quests out in Zangarmarsh. She plays a shadowpriest, and I play feral druid. She got shackeled and couldn't do anything, so I shifted our of bear, threw HoTs on me and her, and then went back to tanking. +Str/Agi gear doesn't mean everything else is worthless, just less effective.
Chris Gardner Feb 8th 2007 1:42PM
I'm a Druid. I make it a point to cast heals on other party members in-between fights when I DPS/tank. Even if we already have a solid main healer.
However, here's the thing: some people ask me to heal when I *shouldn't* be healing. Case in point: while I'm tanking. Don't ask me to heal you while tanking a mob. :P Ditto if I have 5 combo points and I haven't gotten my rip off.
You should expect hybrids to heal, but you should also trust that they will heal when appropriate. Bad experiences as a healer when people lead to future bad behavior.
Thomas Feb 8th 2007 1:50PM
If someone plays a supporter class (those who are able to heal) and specs full dmg and doesnt heal when its needed, is
1. playing the wrong class
2. is a unskilled player
3. hasnt understand the game.
Flit Feb 8th 2007 1:56PM
Druids seem to be the worst at this lately. (I haven't ever run an instance with a shadow priest). Most enter a fight in a single form, and stay in that form until the fight ends, regardless of what is going on. You guys can change forms during a fight ya know.
FerrianX Feb 8th 2007 2:05PM
I play an elemental shammie, in 5-mans I whisper the main healer and fyi them I'll help with off-healing, they focus on the ones nearing empty, and I'll top off the others. Its worked well and haven't had any horrible fall outs from it, short of running out of mana.
jubei Feb 8th 2007 2:05PM
Seriously you should play a healer before posting this type of flamebait.
It is much easier to tell someone that they aren't playing their class as intended than it is to actually play that class.
What I'm guessing is that someone spent too much time looking for a group when they had a "potential healer" in their group and were frustrated that said "healer" wasn't sacrificing his fun for the good of the group.
Dave Feb 8th 2007 2:05PM
Some of you have complained about an offspec not wanting to do X for a whole instance -- that wasn't the point of the article.
The point was: I as a shadow preist can play a warlock all instance but then if on the last boss the main healer pulls agro on an add and dies I can drop shadow form and heal for the last 10% to save from wiping. Off specs are incredibly valueable in the respect that while in the heat of battle they can switch roles for the good of the group --- that is when people aren't too stuborn/are good enough to pay attention to whats going on around them.
Chawkwinter Feb 8th 2007 2:08PM
I dont get it...
I play a Ret Paladin and a Enh Shaman.. I have DPS sets and Healing sets..
You don't need to be spect'd for healing to heal well, just learn to heal as well as DPS...
I dont know how many times I have droped back to heal when out main healer cryed "OOM"
This is a group focused game, Teamwork FTW..
Bunkai Feb 8th 2007 2:10PM
Lol, ths made me think back to when I was playing a dr00d on a PvE server.
I was 0/20/31 spec'd and besides always landing in the top 3 on the healing charts for healing done (and never above 10th in overhealing), our raid leader couldn't get it through his head that I was not feral spec'd. Especially when I was off-tanking mobs and bosses in MC.
More than once I heard "Yeah, Voldin is an awesome healer, even though he's spec'd feral for tanking."
So... yall keep looking for those hybrid-playing peeps out there that CAN play the full range of their class's abilities...I assure you, we DO exist :-)
Happy Hunting!
Ehrgeiz Feb 8th 2007 2:21PM
It seems to me the people that are upset by this article are the people its directed at. I play a warrior but my shaman friend is almost always our dps class but when the fight gets hairy he will always drop back and heal. Nothing in worse then a wipe because of a class that can heal and dps doesn't help with the healing.
Jamus Feb 8th 2007 2:24PM
Hehehe, I have actually gotten scolded for my druid popping out some healing!
No combat going on, no big bad about to drop on us, but just thought I would top off some health bars and BAM! Needless to say, I kept the heals and MotW to myself and stayed in cat form for the rest of SFK.
Zuuler Feb 8th 2007 2:35PM
I see several people commenting here that "if you haven't played a healing class then don't tell us how to play" kind of posts. But if you also look you can see many offspec healing classes saying that when tanking/dpsing they will shift to healing when needed. So its obvious that this can be done, so don't come in here saying "you don't know what you are talking about".
A good hybrid class player will know when to switch out to healing. I have grouped with druids/shamans who swap from tanking/dpsing to healing when needed.
To all you offspec priests/druids/palladins/shamans, you have healing spells, use them, if not to heal the group then to at least heal yourself and take some of the pressure off the main healer.
shadowy Feb 8th 2007 2:38PM
yeah i agree with 11. sounds like the OP has a case of the grumpies after a PuG went south. want a tissue? :P i play a shadow priest after being a healbot through naxx, and i *love* being able to pop out and heal when necessary. i like tellin the main healer to let me handle the shields when the ____ hits the fan and let imp VE take care of the rest. sorry you had a bad hybrid in your group... don't hold it against those of us who know wtf we're doin though! :)
Kryz Feb 8th 2007 2:39PM
I feel like the main hybrid classes (Druids/Pally) are expected to heal in an emergency. But, it shouldn't be required. If the person wanted to heal exclusively, they would roll a holy priest.
And ever then, people need to understand it's a game that lets you play how you chose. Some people chose against the norm, and getting mad at them for doing that is just insane.
I only get mad when someone claims they can do something, when they clearly cannot.
qqmorel2p Feb 8th 2007 2:40PM
Of course, I'd expect a dpsing shaman, paladin, or cat druid to switch over to healing when they see that the main healer is going oom or dying. However, there are still those fools who expect the bear druid who is main tanking to switch out and heal himself...
Seamus Feb 8th 2007 2:53PM
As a rogue as my main, I wish I had those problems of being able to do more than 1 thing in a group. In a group setting, if I'm doing the LFM, I usually ask for a healer and whomever we get is expected to heal regardless of class.
In my groups, I expect hybrids to play to their class. As a rogue, I have to play to my classes full abilities in order to stick around in a group, I don't have the luxury of having some other role I can specialize in. I expect the same from everyone else. If we have a priest as our main healer, and a paladin, druid or shaman also in the party, I expect them to heal when it's needed, but to do everything else they can do as well while in a group.
I've had paladins and druids kicked out of my group when they refuse to buff or heal because thats not how they are spec'd. Tough crap...enjoy the fact that hybrids have as much functionality as they do, and do everything you can to make the party better. Just one siding, like not healing when you can, makes you selfish and childish.