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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria news10 ways to build a healing mentality
by Justin Igo 
Jun 6th 2010 at 2:00PM
The below could probably be applied to most things, though it's targeted to healing and PvE. My advice is general, because if you have the attitudes and habits of a great player, you'll find the specifics. Some might claim my advice is also targeted at newer healers; while this is true in a sense, having trouble with the issues below is common even amongst veterans.
1. No, you didn't have lag -- accept responsibility. Lag is to healing as dogs are to homework. Let's take a moment to be honest with ourselves: Most of your healing errors occurred because you messed up. Step up and admit to your group that you mistimed, misjudged, zoned, went AFK, etc. People appreciate others who take responsibility. "I'm sorry about that, everyone, it won't happen again," will earn you respect much more than, "I had lag -- don't look at me!" How will you progress as a healer if all your healing mistakes occur at the same time as "OMG LAG"?
2. Be critically positive. When I used to raid lead, I tried to foster an environment of taking responsibility. After one wipe, the other healer whispered me to list every mistake she made. Five minutes later, I got her calmed down and we won. Hooray, loot for ... oh no! Five more minutes ... Next boss ... We wiped ... Elune, please not again! Ten more minutes of said healer apologizing for every mistake. I considered what I could say to restore her confidence and make her more positively critical. Ahem: "Get over yourself. You will make mistakes."
3. Mistakes = Opportunities. The third thing that healers should realize is that mistakes are learning opportunities. The very first raid I ever healed, I was pathetic. I spammed Greater Heal for 30 seconds and spent the rest of the fight wanding. Afterward, I sat down determined to learn from my mistakes ... and eventually, I did. Every mistake is a chance to not make it again and get better, if you will pursue it as such.
4. Patience reaps rewards. To prevent burning out faster than a Roman candle, all healers need to understand that even if you play perfectly, the team can still fail. No, that doesn't make it a fail team that you should swear at, then drop group. There will be times where a group has to wait for you to learn. When another member of your team is learning, realize that he waited for you and that the best thing you can do for your team is to be patient.
6. Find your rhythm. A funny thing happened to me once; I happened to be raid healing while my wife played piano a few feet from me. When she finished, she turned and stared at my hands on the keyboard. "Are you sure you don't know how to play?" My epiphany: Good healers are constantly in motion, and when healing, their hands dance across the keyboard with a distinctive rhythm. To play a healer well, you need to be able to get in sync with how healing flows. To do this, practice healing, alter your UI setup, change your keyboard. An excellent healer's goal is fluidity, to make healing music.
7. Seek out senseis. There will always be someone better. Take time to learn about your class and keep up to date. You will never know all you need to about healing. Find the best healers and figure out how to become just as good. Being able to identify a great healer makes you a pretty good one, too.
9. Forgiveness is a virtue. I have noticed an antipathy between healers and DPS. Realize that DPS are not all running to stand in a fire to irritate you. They don't all blame you for their mistakes, and they're trying to get better too. As a healer, your place is to heal, not judge. Falling into seizures for having to heal the DPS, stupid or not, takes away from what a classy healer you are.
10. Tanking is a responsibility; healing is a job; DPS is a game. If you said, "Definitely!" -- you shouldn't be healing. Play a healer because you love healing. That love of healing will make you into an amazing healer. If you hate what you're doing, I doubt you will ever measure up.
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Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)
Nighthavk Jun 6th 2010 3:19PM
Exactly, even if #9 was still carrying the shadow of "It's OK; I forgive you." meaning that DPSers owe an apologize to healers for not immediately reacting out to fires in an entirely new content on a progress night. I believe it's to Raid Leaders that DPSers who fail at fires should apologize to and not to healers - but agreed, just because raid takes more damage just from avoidable damage in progress nights, doesn't mean healers should have a problem.
And even, one time, when I was on cube duty at Magtheridon, I died, because Healer Leader told "No one heals DPS!" and other four clickers were the tanks. That was... Fun.
Shameless plug, but to counter the demonization of DPSers and to implore them to their pride and their usefulness in my new blog. http://dpsmeter.blogspot.com/
toddless Jun 6th 2010 5:02PM
As a healer, I think my main disliking for dps comes when I sit there spam healing like a good pally and watch dps just sit in void zones, I call them out on vent, they sit there in void zone, I /poke them, I call them out in vent, they sit there in void zone, I sigh really loudly in vent, they move into fire, they die. This all happens within 6-7 seconds.
As a healer I have to keep on spamming my heal in order for tanks to live. I can't cast while moving - however, I manage to immediately move out of anything that could potentially kill me. All I ask is that DPS stop worrying about their meter for 1.5 - 2 seconds and move. This is especially frustrating during sindragosa - how hard can it be to move to the left or right of the group? It's not - I've done it.
Healers are looking at raid health bars - dps are rolling over their rotation - they should have a higher awareness ability because they don't have to look at anything other than warnings popping up and crap under their feet.
sooper Jun 6th 2010 8:23PM
Where do you think this attitude came from? It's a defensive one that stemmed from being blamed for every single avoidable death in the world throughout BC.
Of course many of us may carry a mindset that categorizes DPS for being DPS. We may come off as elitist jerks in every encounter like our shit don't stinks. But all of that is a defensive mindset that develops after you're constantly blamed for not carrying the team.
I've struggled with the mentality myself but luckily I can suck it up and either say, "I goofed." or say nothing at all to avoid coming off like a prick. I'm not a prick. But when I get tired of being the only one willing to 'fess up to my shortfalls, I become critical of others. And you will find that human response everywhere in life, government, religion, war, sports, .etc
The list goes on.
There should only be two allowable ways of criticism:
1. What did I do wrong and what could I do better? - If that fails to yield results. Proceed to #2
2. What are others like me doing to succeed and am I willing to do what I can to change that?
There shouldn't be any articles on how to be who you are, do what you do, or how to fill your roll in the context of "this is why people like you are failing". Instead it should only be, "I am like you and here's one way I succeeded and here are others like us that succeeded in their own way."
That may not eliminate all of the blaming games and elitist attitudes that emerge but it would surely cut back on how many people jump on a finger pointing trend without understanding the impact and implications being made.
zdave Jun 6th 2010 2:59PM
sniping druid hot's is such a non issue. if druid's are getting upset that you sniped their heals, then they are looking out for their own healing meter. and if a druid is looking for healing meter action, they shouldn't be a druid.
toddless Jun 6th 2010 5:04PM
lol in ICC, at least the final 5-6 bosses Druids rule the world.
Arbolamante Jun 6th 2010 5:57PM
Yeah I take it for granted my HoTs will get overwritten half the time by other healers. For one, it's just not in the healer mentality to say "I'm going to ignore the fact that Healzmenowz is at 60% health, because he has three hots on him and will be back to 100% in just a few seconds." No, anything less than 100% and suddenly OCD sets in. Gotta heal, gotta heal!
Sargenus Jun 6th 2010 6:09PM
@Arbolamante
I am so guilty of this. When I'm MT healing on my Druid(Yes, I heal the main tank on my Druid, don't mock me.) I sometimes find myself putting Rejuvenations and Regrowths on the raid when the tank isn't taking much damage. It's a good or bad habit, good if I help the other healer(s) out, bad if the tank dies because of it.
=X
zdave Jun 6th 2010 6:18PM
@arbolamante: yeah it's not in the healer mentality to ignore somebody with less than full health. i wouldn't want my healers in that mentality. i don't care how much overhealing druids/shamans are doing if it's a successful raid. that's just the fall back of those healing classes. just like paladins are never going to be viable raid healers, and priests recently fell down a little as tank healers. gotta roll with those limitations.
Faryon Jun 6th 2010 2:59PM
"... The very first raid I ever healed, I was pathetic. I spammed Greater Heal for 30 seconds and spent the rest of the fight wanding. ..."
Had a similar experience back in TBC. My friend was healing in a Kara raid, but was called away for personal reasons so he figured it would be a good idea for me to take over while he was gone.. Got a 2min crash course in his UI, keybinds and who to heal.. 10 seconds after he was out the door the tank died :D
In my defense I had never played a healer before and the tank was supposed to be someone elses responsibility, but it was still totally my fault for not paying attention.
I can safely say that the following 30 minutes was the most uncomfortable experience in my WoW-career.
Oreet Jun 6th 2010 3:20PM
I love this article. It helps to reinstate my love for being a holy priest. I'm going to make sure to post a link to this on my guild's website.
logicalfundy Jun 6th 2010 3:32PM
#1 - yes and no. It is still the case that the Internet is not perfect, and some people are indeed playing on some pretty poor machines or with poor connections. But - you should generally warn the group if you know you're prone to issues, and if something happens, just pick yourself up and start healing again.
But otherwise, I agree with your assessment.
We are human, we make mistakes. Stuff happens.
Had a group that kicked me at the last boss, after a single wipe. The group did seem a bit weak, though - I was having troubles keeping up with the damage.
Next time I played that dungeon, there was no wipe. Not even close. It definitely makes a big difference with a stronger group.
Sometimes, it's just a weak group.
ALSO - realize that, like everybody else, we have to deal with cooldowns, being silenced, or otherwise being disabled. If you're being knocked out by the enemy, chances are your healer is too.
Lemons Jun 6th 2010 4:00PM
I actually knew a guy in a previous guild who would always claim to have lag and and he'd do horrible dps. I always used to think it was just an excuse for being a baddie. Then one day he told us he switched providers or upgraded his service or something and he was actually not a bad dps, at least in the top 5 on most fights. So I think lag/computer troubles is a real issue for some people.
But other people play on awesome computers and smooth connections and still manage to be bad though.
Voodie Jun 6th 2010 3:43PM
Number one isn't necessarily true. I suffer from lag issues, but I always pop a note in our healing channel as soon as I see it rather than bringing it up after a wipe as an excuse/reason. (The most annoying part is that I spent more to get a beefier computer than my BF and he'll be totally lag free while I'm all herky-jerky. So not fair!) It's not a terrible issue for my healing since I'm on a raid healin' resto Druid, but it has resulted in a few occasions where I couldn't get a nourish off on someone for example, and they died.
Rather than just saying lag is a myth I think we should acknowledge that bad lag can happen to good players, but the good healers find ways to heal through it.
On Sindragosa for example, if I'm being laggy I do not run up the stairs with the rest of the raid when she goes into her air phase, I just wait out of range of the base of the stairs until the tombs are created and then run behind them. In addition to keeping me from possibly spiking and getting stuck in an extra tomb, this also lets me throw fresh rejuvs on the people who are getting ready to become Popsicles.
aprilscom Jun 7th 2010 8:33AM
I so sympathize with the bf better computer thing. We are on the same Internet connection, my computer is much newer with better specs and I still have more lag. I think my problem is Windows Vista, while he still has XP.
mistairdvant Jun 6th 2010 3:58PM
And what if I seriously did lag?
Like I don't remember the last time my dog ate my homework, as I don't even remember the last time I did homework or owned a dog...
But I do remember multiple situations where I hit a random lag spike in a raid, sometimes causing wipes. :(
Vaeku Jun 6th 2010 4:01PM
Good article. While my main will always be a hunter, and I love the hunter class more than any other, I play a healer (a priest) as a break from DPSing, and I love it. I always aspire to be a good healer, and while my priest is only in the low levels, I always follow these rules. The only time I don't heal someone is if I'm low on mana and I need to keep healing the tank, and I always heal pets. I also make sure to apologize if we wipe and I know it's my fault (usually it happens when I misclick on Healbot or something).
The rhythm thing is also a good point. What I've noticed is that when I mess up it usually happens right after I had to AFK for a second (to let the dogs out, get a drink, etc.), since it breaks my rhythm. Although I haven't tried listening to music yet as it's a bit distracting.
trefpoid Jun 6th 2010 4:18PM
U kow, I do get lag when I'm healing.. I play on a PC with a wireless conection and my pc is 5 years old.. I do get huge lag spikes or get disconnected.. I get really frustrated cause I love healing and if someone dies because of a goddam lag spike, I get really upset. Of course, I won't tell anyone I got lag, 'cause no one believes me. It's hard playing like this, but it's what I have and I must manage.
Anyway, great article!
rkaliski Jun 6th 2010 6:57PM
As a tank I find that sometimes in crucial situations the heals seem to dry up. Usually you blow cooldowns and trinkets and live through it. Sometimes it's lag spikes but other times it is the healer trying to cover up for a weaker healer and spreading themselves too thin. Let the raid leader know you are covering for this guy and find out what their problem is rather than put the whole raid at risk.
Also, as much as it may pain you to watch someone bite the dust, if the raid leader says "keep the tank alive at all cost" then please, let the dps die. On the Professor Putracide fight, if one of the tanks dies in phase three, its a wipe. The dps dies you normally have enough time left on the enrage timer , it just takes a few seconds longer.
BTW I have a druid who has healed as offspec so I have been on all sides of the tank, spank and heal coin.
Ahoni Jun 6th 2010 4:35PM
I have been healing a lot of randoms on my Tree lately. It is the first time I have done any significant healing in WoW. I have come up with one hard and fast rule for healing 5 mans: healing is either really really boring, or really really exciting. Either I am getting by with the standard tank heals and an occasional Wild Growth, or I am having to heal everyone from near death every 15 seconds.
Glacios Jun 6th 2010 4:44PM
Yeah...I may not heal, but lag does exist. I fixed mine to a certain extent but before I reformatted my laptop, I was running an average of I'd say 2 frames per second at best. Worse lag would put me under 1fps...let me tell you...necrotic plague isn't fun when you're lagging that much.
Still...I'll have to keep some of this in mind if I ever go back to leveling my priest.