Spiritual Guidance: A Lightwell primer
by Matt Low 
Aug 10th 2009 at 3:00PM
Every Sunday (usually), Spiritual Guidance will offer practical insight for priests of the holy profession. Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a UI and addons blog for WoW. What exactly is Lightwell? How is it used? Why does no one use it?
Oh Lightwell. The things you could have been. Misunderstood by many and under-talented by a large number of Priests. Will you ever see raids?
Perhaps not. But we can try!
Lightwell
The first thing Lightwell novices need to understand is the purpose of the spell. It creates a Holy Lightwell wherever you want it that any player can interact with. A player who uses it gains a charge that heals them for more than 4500 health over a period of 6 seconds. It's got a 40 yard placement range. Be sure you pick up the Lightwell glyph for it. A 20% boost to Lightwell ticks go a long way and will help make this talent even more worthwhile.
There is a slight downside. If the player under the effect of a Lightwell charge takes a hit that's 30% of their total health, the effect disappears.
Lightwell talent spec overview
This particular build doesn't use a maxed Improved Healing (Not much use of Greater Heal anyway). It doesn't pick up Holy Reach or Healing Prayers either. It also happens to be 1 point short on Test of Faith. Anyway, feel free to play with it some and to come up with a particular spec that accommodates you. The important part is obviously investing a point in Lightwell.
Placement
There's two parts to Lightwell usage. I'll get to the second one in a moment. But the first part of Lightwell is where you place it. It makes all the difference in the world. Drop it too far away and the players who benefit the most from it won't be able to use it.
There's a few things to consider before deploying the Lightwell:
- Make sure the players who need to use them are able to use them. Doesn't matter if it's melee players or ranged players. Keep it handy close by for them to use. If they're in a fight where there's a ton of movement required, try to pick a location where the players who need it most can access it easily.
- You won't have to worry about healing them as much. Sure you'll want to keep some Renews or Shields on them. But it is a fire and forget type of spell. Ideally you'll want to cater towards the players that healers will not be able to cover as well. For example, a Priest could drop it on one side of the room and heal from the other side because they need to be well out of range for some reason. The Lightwell should last long enough to buy several seconds.
Getting players to use Lightwell
This is the second part of Lightwell effectiveness. And if anyone figures out how to encourage players to use Lightwell, get back to me.
Heh, in all seriousness, many players do not appreciate (or even know) what Lightwell is. They don't understand its capabilities or strengths. If you want to start encouraging its use, just spec into the talent and use it keeping the above points in mind.
What you will want to let the other players know is that the best way to effectively use Lightwell is to simply click it once and then stay away from danger for a few seconds while it works its magic. Remember the 30% threshold. If enough damage is taken, the Lightwell effect is removed. Stay away from any abilities or effects that will deal damage until Lightwell finishes the patching up process.
The really limiting factor on Lightwell is that it requires other players to use it. It's just unfortunate that it isn't utilized by players often enough.
Fights where Lightwell is useful (or at least, not completely useless)
I know Priests can heal these fights without the use of Lightwell. but I'd figure I'd throw out a list here for raid encounters where it's "nice to have".
Loatheb. Great for the times when Loatheb temporarily lowers his no healing aura. Dropping the well on top of Loatheb means you won't have to stress over melee players. You can stick to the ranged.
Four Horsemen. Healing the two tanks on Sir Zelik and Lady Blameaux? Drop a Lightwell between the two of them so they can snag a tick as they tag back and forth.
Gluth. Plant it in the back of the room for your zombie chow kiting raiders. They'll appreciate as they randomly get bitten and attacked by a zombie or two as they' do their job.
Malygos. Players about to get vortexed? Go ahead and pre-Lightwell yourself just before you get thrown around.
Razorscale. Anytime while Razor is in the air is a perfect time. Players are going to take damage whether it is from some whirlwind or from random trash hits.
Deconstructor. Tympanic Tantrums. Enough said.
Kologarn. Ouch. I'm sure players would love to use it after getting swept by that pesky Left Arm.
Hodir. I'm thinking Frozen Blows here. Park it near the melee. If Hodir isn't being moved around, then it's great for those up close to be able to use it. Most of the ranged players are moving around doing the whole buff management thing anyway.
Mimiron. I'd use Lightwell extensively throughout phase 2. Heat waves and his twin cannon arms will ensure that Lightwell becomes popular by the raiders.
General Vezax. Set it up on the outside for your ranged players. Any stray raiders that manage to eat a Shadow Crash or take a tick or two of the General's Mark of the Faceless ability will cherish the well. You might even see it disappear before the 3 minute expiry kicks in!
Yogg-Saron. Phase 3 is a good candidate. The raid will be standing on one side of the room fending off those Immortal Guardians. Drop it and go!
Bonus use! One more thing that Lightwell is incredibly useful for. Trying to find someone in a capital city? Drop a Lightwell! It functions as a perfect beacon. It just can't be missed. Your associates will be able to find you with no problem.
Yes Lightwell isn't exactly the most optimum spell to use in raids. It does have its uses, I will admit. But it's going to take some more time and possibly more buffs before it will see "mainstream" usage. For the present, give it a spin and inject a new spell into your lineup!
Want to find more great tips for carrying out your Priestly duties? Spiritual Guidance has you covered with all there is to know! And don't forget to check out our other Leveling Guides as well as our Wrath Guides and Galleries!Filed under: Priest, Tips, Tricks, Raiding, Talents, (Priest) Spiritual Guidance
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
foofer4ever Aug 10th 2009 3:13PM
Make lightwell restore mana as well and you would see it a must have tallent point.
JaneLame Aug 10th 2009 4:53PM
That is an excellent idea, actually. Also, the beacon suggestion in the article here is redundant. Nobody needs that. If you're having difficulties finding someone you're grouped with, as a priest you can mind vision that person.
chipersoft Aug 10th 2009 7:05PM
You're assuming that they're grouped. There have been many times I've been running around dalaran trying to find someone in my guild to trade something.
Although personally I've found the JC beam crystals to be much more effective. /tar person, use crystal. Nice beam pointed right at them.
Bubsa Aug 10th 2009 7:10PM
Maexxna and the webbing is another good use.
Eisengel Aug 10th 2009 7:35PM
Actually in another article Jack Spicer had the best suggestion, namely to make Lightwell give a 5% DPS increase over the course of the heal. You know if that happened DPS would be clubbing each other to death racing to the Lightwell.
Bod Aug 10th 2009 7:58PM
you don't need 5%, something inconsequential like 1% would be enough. Good suggestion.
evanmbunnell Aug 10th 2009 11:03PM
But then you would have people using charges when they don't need them, so when people do actually need them, they're all gone.
Madwand Aug 12th 2009 4:25AM
How well would it fit into the whole "bring the player not the class" philosophy in that case?
Vampiric touch and the whole replenishment business was a huge disappointment to me. I'd rather see it stay like this than get it nerfed in the next patch/expansion.
Gothia Aug 13th 2009 7:33AM
Use it as a marker? Totally useless spell that has been nicknamed lolwell because nobody will use it. As far as healing utility it is very nice, but no one will stop dpsing long enough to click tht thing and wait until healed. I tried everything to get people to use it when I 1st started playing, dropped it by the boss, dropped it by ranged dps, drop it in the middle, explain what it is and how to use it - the one and only time I ever seen anyone using it was a warrior that kept on clicking it until gone.
If I have a spare talent point, I don't, I surely wouldn't waste it on lolwell
jasonkidd1234 Aug 10th 2009 3:13PM
I've found it's amazing for leveling as well.
I'm using a holy leveling spec, and for soloing elites, or taking on a lot of mobs at once, dropping a lightwell lets you save your mana that you'd use with flash heals/greater heals for extra dots/holy novas.
It's a good spell, that nobody ever seems to use. In instances I'll throw one down near the dps for a boss battle, and tell them more or less "If you die it's your fault" as when you first get lightwell the 800 over 3 seconds is overkill for the kinda damage you take from adds and stuff on lower level bosses.
Chirri Aug 10th 2009 4:20PM
My lightwell hits for 3252 per hit. That's about 9700 if the entire spell ticks through to the end. That's a Greater Heal in small, Penance like increments. Since the change, and presuming people are hitting the lightwell AFTER the big damage hits, there are very few reasons anyone should get the effect knocked off of them besides the MT.
I use it on Kolo, in the middle of the five rows, for people who are running from eye beams, or are in the general vicinity and need a quick touch up. In Naxx, toss it next to Maex's tank for heals during the webbing. Soloing, when fighting stuff and I don't want to bother wasting mana on a heal when I could be lolsmiting. Iron Council, in the small pocket all the healers hang out in. Freya, just about anywhere for the people with that stupid zappy debuff when everyone's hiding under shrooms. Ignis, tossed beside one of the water pools so the shatterers and OTs get some extra love.
A good half of the reason Lightwell is so underused is general Priest bias against the poor thing. If you use it well, it's fabulous. It sort of reflects WoW players and their characters as a whole - you can jam all of the best talents in their class on a character, but you can't make the player use them properly.
My only complaint about the thing is that you target it when you use it. If it functioned like Soulwells, it would be perfect.
Theyas Aug 10th 2009 3:13PM
Watching Lightwell being teleported out of the Silver Covenant/Sunreavers(if you're Horde/Alliance, respectively) areas in Dalaran is more than enough reason to spec into it.
Correlation Aug 10th 2009 3:16PM
As a non-priest player, I can only think one way to attract attention and get the rest of us raiders to utilize the Lightwell, and I'm not sure about it's dependability.
Utilize the Macro: Just like how there are macros to indicate a Polymorph or Hex, add a yell tag to indicate the Lightwell being placed and to indicate how to use it.
I can't think of any other ways than that, other than for the raid leader to tell people when the Lightwell is out.
Dere Aug 10th 2009 3:56PM
It's kind of hard to miss a big yellow beam of light, but that would be a good idea anyways. I think what the writer was more trying to say was that people are to worried about the recount epeen contest to take the few second to target the light well and heal themselves. Much like not shielding the tank as a discipline priest even though that is the main way a disco priest keeps a tank golden some will still want you to play your class their way.
nav Aug 10th 2009 4:50PM
If you are going to macro it, you really really should download the aftercast mod. It's not been updated for a while but still works great.
All it does is do the macro after a successful spell cast, not before. So if you had
/ra *Lightwell placed*
/cast Lightwell
that would announce the lightwell before you had even clicked to place it, and you might decide now wasn't a good time after all or something, or people might start looking for it too soon.
Instead you do
/aftercast /ra *Lightwell placed*
/cast Lightwell
and it only announces once the Lightwell is successfully down. Massively better.
dgcollins274 Aug 10th 2009 7:21PM
It's not about Dps not knowing it's there. It's about dps worrying about their own HP. Too often these days all a Dps is looking at is their rotation and making sure they are within reach of the mob. If you're lucky they'll watch out for fires IF YOU ARE LUCKY.
Now to expect them to not only watch out for fires, but to also go heal themselves... that'll be the day.
I think someone had the right idea in an above post. It needs to give a dps and or mana/energy/rage boost. That is the only way a Dps will click it.
Creid Aug 10th 2009 3:18PM
I've said this somewhere before but, instead of clicking the lightwell, couldn't it instead have like a very small range aoe heal every few seconds that dps have to stand near. It makes the lightwell more appealing without losing it's feel or design.
awwjwah Aug 10th 2009 3:27PM
Ironically Cried the lightwell that gets cast by the Argent Crusade Confessor in the 5 man Trial of the Champion instance does something almost exactly like that. Instead of sending a straight AOE heal to everyone it appeared to rotate through each NPC in the fight, regardless of them taking damage, and it would hit them with fast "small" heals. It was also immune to damage. Even that would be better than clicking and hoping you don't get damaged.
Fluffywumpki of Kilrogg Aug 10th 2009 5:22PM
It actually isn't immune to PHYSICAL damage. Hunters can DPS it down fairly easily.
Bod Aug 10th 2009 8:31PM
hmm like a stream of heals, coming ever so often...a "healing stream" you might call it.
no...
wait...
hmm