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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsHealing's evolution in Cataclysm
by Allison Robert 
Dec 23rd 2009 at 2:00PM
The model that Blizzard's looking to move towards is getting a test run of sorts in Icecrown Citadel -- lower tank avoidance, bosses hitting for more reasonable amounts, and -- in Cataclysm -- higher health overall. In other words, we'll be healing for roughly the same amount we're healing now through less damage that nonetheless occurs more frequently. This will lead to a greater risk of running OOM as the encounter progresses if you dump a ton of mana on damage that should have been healed more efficiently. Even now, there are encounters like hard-mode Vezax where you do have to do this, which I thought made for a pretty interesting fight.
But while I think it's a good solution to both of the current "Oh crap the tank died in 2.7 seconds" and "Blanket the raid in Rejuvenation and never hit 40% mana" problems, I have a lurking suspicion that it's going to make hard-mode raiding even uglier than it can be now. One of the consistent features of current Wrath hard modes is the degree to which the heal team can be made utterly miserable (Firefighter, 3-tree Freya, heroic Twins-25, phase 3 heroic Anub'arak-25), and that's without much risk of going OOM. Introducing that element when Blizzard is so fond of encounters with everyone in the raid taking hideous damage worries me more than a little.
Filed under: Druid, Paladin, Priest, Shaman, Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Forums
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 4)
ToyChristopher Dec 23rd 2009 5:11PM
This effects more than just healers. Hopefully things will be more fun for tanks and dps too as they won't be dropping from 100% to dead in mere seconds. Of course it might make the complaint/excuse of "I didn't get any heals" actually valid in some circumstances.
As a healer I am really looking forward to cataclysm. I also hope that healers are drawn into the fight and made more relevant even when there is no healing to be down via an emphasis on short duration buffs like Power Infusion and Hand of Salvation.
Marcosius Dec 23rd 2009 6:30PM
I play a priest, both Holy and Disc I have played it... And to be completely honest yeah I wouldn't mind if they make healing somehow more interesting, but as someone above me has pointed out, I do not find it fun to have the bosses throw up abilities that reduce the tank to 10% of health and then AoE rest of the Group (or Raid) to half health. Oh uh, just so you know I don't raidheal much, because I never found the raiding aspect of WoW very appealing and even though my guilds have goaded me in to them a few times, I just haven't found it a fun experience.
Buuhh... The point in my post? I'd like to see something that makes healing interesting and challenging, but something that wouldn't make it living hell if you can't stretch yourself to every direction the damage is coming from and miss one heal.
Daod Dec 23rd 2009 6:48PM
Healing, as a war to keep the little green bars at full, sucks.
In Wrath Blizz has made the previously key tanking proficiency (gathering aggro) into a core competency -- something the toon does practically on auto-pilot as long as you sit at key and roll your face around. The skill element for tanks has shifted almost entirely to timing CDs to resist boss effects, or to halt a spell before its cast.
That's cool. It's fun, and its a pretty crisp play experience.
Healing's core competency is moving little green bars back toward 100%. If I had Blizz's ear, I'd turn that relatively low-skill / low-reward activity into something that is done nearly automatically -- hit the tank with a power like stone skin or a shield, have that power do most of the needed raid healing, maybe pop a pet on proc that heals everyone in raid for a few second, but turn the healer's attention to reacting to the boss's incoming damage cues for big heals on a variety of targets (not just the tank), give them the ability to buff allies, or give them a damage roll (analagous to tank dps). In other words, make the component that everyone in the raid depends on for survival easier, and give them other tasks to challenge and excite them.
2c
Tridus Dec 23rd 2009 7:06PM
I totally agree that some of the hard mode fights are balanced primarily around making healers miserable. Anub 25 HM is a great example, god that fight sucks so very much as a healer.
I'm looking forward to the changes. Healing was more fun when mana actually mattered and it wasn't just a mindless spamfest. Sunwell was terrible for healers because at that poitn everybody had endless mana, so you just spammed and hoped the tank didn't get instagibbed by Brutallus in between heals.
We need less of that, and more "should I actually heal that DPSer who won't get out of the fire?" situations. When mana matters, you need to make more decisions.
Chamual Dec 23rd 2009 7:56PM
I think the problem isn't that healing is simple and boring now, it's pretty much the same that it has always been, it's that the encounters seem to be getting more and more simple as the expansion rolls on. To much of healing now is stand there spamming the tank and spamming the raid when needed. There isn't the complexity or depth to the encounters that required you to actively be in the right place at the right time to keep the raid going.
Considering we are getting towards the end of the expansion I think it's a terrible mistake on Blizzards part the way they have designed the encounters. Pretty much every fight in ICC and ToC is a matter of stand in the middle of the raid and spam them. There is none of the movement or organisation required ala Sunwell. I'm thinking of the portal rotations of Kalecgos, or the constant movement of Sarth3d or Felmyst, the seeminly pure brute force but actually very delicate healing of Brutallus, the tricks and gimmicks of Black Temple or the Spouts of Serpentshrine cavern.
The problem isn't that healing has gotten a little dull, its that the fights themselves simply aren't involved enough for a competent raid, and by the time you are doing HMs you have basically practiced the fight on easy enough times that you can have it all planned out in your mind. It leaves healers with nothing more to do than spam heals rather than actually participate in an active fight that requires more from them than simply spamming the tank endlessly.
themightysven Dec 23rd 2009 8:34PM
It would be nice for different healers to heal in different ways, that would add necessary strategy to healing, certain things your raid heal team would ace, and certain things that would be hectic for them.
for example
Holy Priest good at everything, but not the best at anything
Disc Priest great at mitigation
Druid great at HoTs
Shaman great at splash healing
Paladin great at single target
I'd like to see Ret refitted as heals/dps (a lá druid feral) and have them great at AoE melee heals. talents to bulk up Divine Storm's healing (at the expense of damage) and maybe a healing carpet that shares a cool down with consecration. this would bulk out their talent tree and (ironically) counter people's #1 argument that ret can take all their talents so they faceroll and do everything.
Aeternal Dec 23rd 2009 10:30PM
Either way I still want a firefox extension for grid.
Clown Dec 24th 2009 3:18AM
going oom? people serious.. just do content your geared for, gem stuff other than just intelect, look into trinkets, bring mana potions, and shout at druids/priest for mana if you get really stuck.. most the time people go oom its because one or more of the above..
im a disc priest with over 30k unbuffed mana i have not 1 pure intel gem and almost 1000mp5 unbuffed never have a problem with going oom. i used to when i was gemed wrong and didnt bring potions with mem or when i was trying something i clearly wasnt geared/skilled for..
only class i feel thats in a badplace for healing and mana atm is a holy priest they do have a SF and HOH but most spells cost a heck of alot of mana and you can easly go from 100% - 0% within 30secs if other healers ant doing there jobs right. disc i feel gives room for error holy kinda dont.. can get less overhealing on my disc priest than a shadowpriest and still come high on healing meters in icc :P
Fairlane Dec 24th 2009 5:32PM
It occurred to me the other day that I have this gorgeous game running on a very nice 19" widescreen monitor, at a wonderful resolution, and powered by an impressive videocard. And I look at the 3"x8" HealBot raid window on the left side of my screen 90% of the time.
katyanna Dec 24th 2009 7:30PM
I'm not gonna read all the comments but I don't know who said running out of mana wasn't an issue in Wrath. I can name bunches of bosses off the top of my head that I consistently ran out of mana on...there were plenty that weren't hard healing fights but I like the variety of one boss being more of a melee fight, one being a spellcaster's fight, one being a healing challenge....
having said that, I do think changing it up is going to be exciting and fun.
JackNovak Dec 25th 2009 12:58PM
Less, but more frequent damage to tanks? Sounds like Druids are REALLY gonna shine.