Raid Rx: Healing at level 80 in 4.0.1
by Matt Low 
Sep 16th 2010 at 2:00PM
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand pooh-bah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI-, macro- and addon-related. If you're looking for more healing advice, check out the Plus Heal community.
I think the biggest question on the mind of everyone is how badly patch 4.0.1 will affect healing and raiding at level 80. The last major transition period was the month leading up to Wrath of the Lich King. I remember players were panicking and worried. Why? Because they were unsure, and they didn't know what was going to happen. As such, that's going to be the way here again -- although, to be fair, the entire healing model is changing to something that most of us may not be used to at all. I figure that healers who spent the early part of the game working with downranked spells might have a slight advantage over those who haven't, but it'll be easy to pick up. I remember using rank 3, rank 5 and rank 7 Greater Heal. Now multiply that by the different Flash Heals.
Trust me, it won't get that hectic.
The first thing you want to keep in mind is that everything is being balanced around level 85, not level 80. We're only going to be level 80 fo a few weeks, anyway, before the expansion goes live. Among other changes, you may notice that health pools and mana pools have increased. Yet despite these increases, you may also have heard that some players are having difficulty getting past the first trash. That's actually unintentional, according to Daelo:
DaeloAll the ICC dungeon and raid content is MUCH harder on the PTR that intended. We changed some behind the scenes creature damage values and I haven't modified the WotLK content to account for those changes yet.
In other words, don't stress over it.
Other than that, any questions about not knowing how to heal or running out of mana or being unable to adapt to the new game? Unfortunately, I can't help you.
I'm probably in the same shoes as you. Beta experience helps a little, but that might not be applicable here. There are just too many unknowns. I know there are probably a number of you who are still working on Lich King or other heroic bosses. I think these changes might end up making the job easier and putting you and your raids over the top. I can only draw on my experiences when I transitioned from classic to The Burning Crusade and from The Burning Crusade to Wrath. Encounters and mechanics were adjusted accordingly. I wouldn't be surprised to see a similar change come in the weeks leading up to the release of the expansion.
With that being said, I do have some advice.
Sniff out the new talents
Scout out those talents carefully! All your talent points will be resetting, anyway. Take your time and read through everything carefully before investing them. My respec costs on the beta rose higher than the cap that's currently live in the game right now. I'm not sure if that was intentional or not. Either way, the new talent trees should be fun to mess with!
Readjust your gems
The first thing I noticed when I logged on the test realms is that my Runed Cardinal Rubies instantly converted to 20 intellect gems. You may wish to convert any gems that are out of place into something useful. Remember the stat changes! Spellpower gems aren't something you can get anymore. Intellect automatically converts into spellpower for you. If you find yourself needing more mana regeneration, invest in a few spirit gems. That is now the main go-to stat for regeneration.
Pay attention to the basics
So I mentioned a little earlier in the piece about the increase to health and mana. Don't rely on that to be a crutch. No matter how much health or mana you have, standing in Defile is still going to destroy you. You still need to run out of fires, stay out of void zones and avoid getting cleaved by stuff. Pay attention. It isn't the weapon swings of the boss that are going to crush your group. It will be the shadow priest who got pulled into the middle and couldn't avoid the explosion or run out fast enough.
Yeah that's right! A shadow priest (although really, it could be any class).
Manage your mana
I have no way to know what to expect. I hustled my way from 80 to 85 and jumped into instances when I had the chance. You can't simulate the environment of a raid from a normal 5-man instance. All I can provide is the "no, duh!" answer of guessing and checking. Keep healing however you see fit, but make adjustments on the fly. Obviously, if you're draining your mana, ease off the gas for a while. You still have potions and cooldowns to use, right? I know you may not have had to use them in a while.
Should you use Heal?
Last I checked, no. That particular healing model is supposed to kick in once we all hit 85. Stick to your normal spell usages for now. Unless they throw us a curve ball, I don't expect that to start using our new and efficient heal.
If you wanted to summarize everything, I can easily do it in three words: I don't know. The numbers are being changed so often that by the time I can write something conclusively, it would be outdated anyway (or incorrect). But I do think that things won't be as terrible as some players are calling it.
Need advice on working with the healers in your guild? Raid Rx has you covered. Send your questions about raid healing to matticus@wow.com. For less healer-centric raiding advice, visit Ready Check, and don't miss our strategy guides to Icecrown Citadel and Halion/the Ruby Sanctum.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Xtofer Sep 16th 2010 2:19PM
As a resto druid, there's still a lot that needs to be addressed in terms of our throughput and mastery. I'm hopeful that things will work out though.
elvendude Sep 16th 2010 3:13PM
I transferred my resto druid over to the PTR a few days ago and got to play her last night.
If anything, I feel *less* mana dependent than ever. I don't think I ever dipped below 95% in a heroic FoS and PoS.
My throughput was just fine, too. We breezed right on through.
Xtofer Sep 16th 2010 3:29PM
That's encouraging to read. Hopefully that holds true. Our mastery still needs work though.
Molly Sep 16th 2010 5:58PM
I totally agree with you elvendude. I literally spammed heals (for some reason the tanks were taking massive hits? no idea why this was happening in heroics) and never ran out of mana. I
Molly Sep 16th 2010 6:02PM
I... was cut off by the comment system.. word.
Anywho... I was spamming heals and
Molly Sep 16th 2010 6:03PM
Oh forget it! Hellfire=heart attack!
greg Sep 18th 2010 8:29AM
that was the most wishy washy article i have ever read on wow insider. wtf? seriously, a complete waste of time
Jacob Parsons Sep 16th 2010 2:24PM
Not to be critical, as absolutely this is a time in which we must test these things for ourselves instead of relying on our experts, but I would like to submit a few tips from what I've learned, read, and done for myself.
1. Your middle heal can be spammed forever, assuming you've got normal amounts of spirit.
2. Your quick heal is powerful. It's not Flash of Light given to priests and shamans. It's a quick and very expensive heal. Don't spam it or use it to top someone off.
3. Use the new stuff. It sucks that some of us don't get our newest healing spells (Healing Rain, Healing Radiance, etc.), but those you get, use them. They're fun, and the devs want us to use them to their fullest.
4. Druids are weird. I'm sorry, but they/you are. I don't understand how the new healing model applies to my favorite HoT-centric class. I hear good things though, and seeing 3-4 stacked circles of Efflorescence around the training dummies on the PTR is some crazy-strong healing.
Jacob Parsons Sep 16th 2010 2:25PM
and seeing 3-4 stacked circles of Efflorescence around the training dummies on the PTR makes me giggle as it is some crazy-strong healing.***
Minor Correction.
Molly Sep 16th 2010 6:04PM
efflorescence=amazing!
kerese Sep 16th 2010 2:31PM
I just started an ICC10 guild (a little late, I know) and we were hoping to get to LK before cata. I'm a pally healer and the other healer is a resto druid. Are we screwed? I understand that ICC is hard on the PTR, does that blue post mean it wont be hard on live servers, or that its going to stay hard and that we shouldn't whine? This is really a huge problem for us because the healing changes are especially huge and readjusting to a completely new healing style isn't ideal when facing LK for the first time. Anyone have any thoughts? Do we have any estimates on when 4.01 will drop?
Jacob Parsons Sep 16th 2010 2:51PM
It's six weeks until the estimated release of Cata (November 2 according to the guy who runs MMO-Champ and is usually accurate), although if we go another 2-3 weeks without official confirmation of that, I doubt it'll stay relevant. Given that, we can assume that 4.0.1 should drop in the first Tuesday of October (or maybe the week before), with the second pre-Cata patch 2-3 weeks later. Honestly though, looking at these dates and considering that we don't have an official release date yet is making me skeptical of the November 2 release date estimate.
Wild Colors Sep 16th 2010 3:08PM
The druid's style will change a bit. I need to go back and check what it's like at 80. At 85, druids are not in great shape at healers at the moment (caveat: balancing is still occurring, and we can only make estimates based on relatively poor gear, since we don't have access to good gear in the beta yet).
Druids, even at 80, will need to relearn healing with significantly less reliance on HOTs. Regrowth doesn't have much of a HOT attached to it any longer, and Lifebloom is limited to a single target. In addition, Nourish is no longer a fast heal. Regrowth has taken that spot, but is mana intensive enough that it really cannot be spammed (though this may be less true at 80).
It is possible that, at level 80 after the 4.0.1 patch, the druid will make a better tank healer and the pally a better raid healer. I don't actually think this will be the case at 80 (though it seems to be true at 85), but don't be scared to give it a try if you find that the healing just isn't working post-patch.
Essentially, you're definitely not screwed, but you'll need to play loosely, try new things, and adjust as you see how different strats work. It will be a bit like the first time ICC was released.
Pyromelter Sep 16th 2010 3:39PM
You're gonna need a disc priest for LK. It can be done (and has been done) without it, but having a disc priest makes the encounter a lot more manageable on the healers. Most setups (even on normal) go for 3 heals on sindragosa, and having a priest there is also very valuable. Paladins get some more shielding type effects (similar to val'anyr), but are still big time tank healing powerhouses, and druids are still fine at raid healing. Having a priest will really make life a lot easier though for you.
Worldasunder Sep 16th 2010 3:11PM
Love the changes/difficulty. Healing of late has become...well...boring. I find myself playing "I wonder what happens when i do this" to keep myself entertained. Not that some fights arent Intense, its just that there are many (lootship anyone?) that are like "OMGWTF is it over yet"
Neyssa Sep 17th 2010 4:29AM
When I am bored in an instance, I always go do some useful stuff, like trying to beat the tank in dps. It helps the group, its fun, you dont have to stick to your treeform if you are overgeared for the content. Drop a few heals, and go spam Moonfire and Wrath. Plus roots. Everyone loves roots.
Neyssa Sep 17th 2010 4:29AM
When I am bored in an instance, I always go do some useful stuff, like trying to beat the tank in dps. It helps the group, its fun, you dont have to stick to your treeform if you are overgeared for the content. Drop a few heals, and go spam Moonfire and Wrath. Plus roots. Everyone loves roots.
Mrderanged Sep 16th 2010 2:39PM
Why on earth would we care about avoiding the explosion or running out? That's what dispersion is for. Silly healers.... ;)
Capnwinters Sep 16th 2010 2:41PM
Eh, they'll work it out
Mcdreamy Sep 16th 2010 2:54PM
What's happening in that picture? I can't quite wrap my eyes around it.