Raid Rx: Handling healer mana in raids
by Matt Low 
Jan 7th 2011 at 6:00PM
Nothing brings a healer down more than realizing that he screwed up. It gets worse when the healing lead is the one who messes up such a simple oversight. I'm really beating myself up over this, because it was such an easy fix. In fact, it should be the first thing that should be checked before entering encounters.
I'm going to share the conversation I had here with my fellow columnist Joe Perez. I hoped that confessing to him might help alleviate the despair. (It didn't.)
Matt: Hey Joe, can we talk for a sec? I think I goofed yesterday.
Joe: Again? What did you do this time, son?
Matt: ... I uh, forgot to put the resto shaman in the healer group.
Joe: <10 seconds of silence> ... You know how bad that is, right?
Matt: Yeah. Realized it after the fact. I'm surprised the WoW Insider editors haven't fired me yet for making such a rookie mistake.
Joe: I think you need a re-education. Take a seat.
By the way, my guild scored the Critter Kill Squad achievement finally. Next step? Crittergeddon.
Personally, I've found mana management in 25-player raids to be far more forgiving in comparison to 10-man raids. Would you agree with that? I'm basing this on my own experience, but it does make sense. With more raid slots, it means there is a higher likelihood that additional players can be brought in for mana cooldowns.
Think about it as a form of opportunity. When building a raid, a 10-player raid group might not have a shadow priest. However, in a raid involving 25 player slots, the odds of having a shadow priest are higher. Having that class and spec means another Hymn of Hope is available in the event the raid needs it. Perhaps there are extra restoration shaman with additional Mana Tide Totems at their disposal.
Personally, I'd try running a raid composition with five healing priests and five shadow priests. But that's an excellent reason why I'm not in charge of the raid roster.
The deal with resto shaman
What is up with resto shaman? Well, they're the new hotness right now when it comes to mana regeneration. One simple drop of Mana Tide Totem can reset the mana of every healer in the party. Couple it with a Core of Ripeness from the Valorous Quartermaster for even juicier mana.
Yes Joe, I know you're right.Mana is an issue, right? Restoration shaman are the new mana battery. It isn't Innervate anymore; it's the totem. It should be the first thing you check before the first pull. Ask yourself: Do you have a restoration shaman? More importantly, is he grouped with the healers? If not, then you're creating your own hard mode which you don't have to.
-- Joe, to me
I just don't know what caused me to make such a mistake. So make sure you park your shaman with the rest of the healers. I tend to place them together in group 5 (and I do notice multiple raids and guilds place their healers in group 5).
One thing I do want to add is that your shaman should set up a macro or a warning in such a way that the rest of the healers know a Mana Tide totem is about to be dropped. The other healers can then set up their spirit procs or trinkets to really maximize the return.
Are any classes running out of mana during raids?
Nothing excessively bad is going on that I can see. If all healers are timing their cooldowns and consumable usages at the right times, there should be enough mana to get through it all. I've noticed discipline priests seem to have more mana throughout fights. With six healers, I would then place the discipline priest in the non-healer group, since it seems to me that he or she doesn't need mana assistance as much. Agree or disagree?
Holy priests? Yeah, despite the regeneration buffs, I'm still chugging through mine at a nice clip. That's most likely due to my own playstyle, however. During the intense AoE periods, I'm casting Flash Heal on player A, Flash Heal on player B, then following up with a Prayer of Healing.
The upcoming 4.0.6 patch offers a variety of fixes that will be affecting the costs of numerous healing spells and talents. Some of these have already been hotfixed into the game.
- Rejuvenation is now trained at level 3, down from level 8. In addition, its mana cost has been reduced from 26% to 16%.
- Divine Plea now lasts for 9 seconds, down from 15. It grants 4% mana per tick instead of 2%, for a total of 12% mana, up from 10%.
- Glyph of Divine Plea now adds 6% mana, for a total of 18% over 9 seconds.
- The mana cost of Renew has been reduced by 24%.
- The mana cost of Power Word: Shield has been increased by approximately 31%, but its effect has been increased by 208%.
- Holy Concentration now increases the amount of mana regeneration from spirit while in combat by an additional 15/30%, down from 20/40%.
Lastly, remember that another way to lighten healing mana load is to ensure that fights go more quickly. Press your DPS players to do everything they can really bring it. The faster boss fights go, the less mana you need to use.
Joe: So what exactly compelled you to set up the healing groups in such a way that your shaman was isolated?
Matt: I wish I knew. I'm going shadow from now on.
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 for advanced tactics and advice for the endgame raider.Filed under: Raiding, Raid Rx (Raid Healing)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
WaterRouge Jan 7th 2011 6:29PM
What happened after you took your seat? Did Joe go crazy Healer Schoolmaster on you?
yonwater Jan 7th 2011 6:37PM
Pease tell us he used a belt and made u call him professor!?!?!?! or at least wore a plad mini skirt and some librarian glasses.
On a related note awesome article getting ready to hit raids soon and hadn't thought of this. I usually just put 5 healers in group 5 and leave one hanging.
Joe Perez Jan 7th 2011 6:38PM
It was more concerned parent. As the elder in the friendship, I feel it is my responsibility to make sure Matt makes the best choices possible.
Or the most hilarious.
:D
Eberron Jan 7th 2011 8:29PM
Well after talking to Matt at the Cata release, I want to see some DPS parses after he goes shadow.
I suspect it'll be the funniest thing we've seen in awhile. :D
Rakah Jan 8th 2011 2:27AM
i guess you could take that disc priest out of the healer group and stick your best mage in there instead giving them a chance to do some serious dps.
Minstrel Jan 8th 2011 4:08AM
The mana tide totem is a huge spirit buff...it would do no good for a mage, since non-healers get no mana regen benefit from spirit during combat.
isqueak Jan 7th 2011 6:30PM
I'm looking forward to the Rejuv changes. As a Resto Druid in Cataclysm I had pretty much abandoned my one-time love affair with Rejuv & Regrowth, which along with Wild Growth were my go-to heals in Wrath.
Now it's all about Lifeblood-stacking on the tank + Nourish (or Healing Touch) to renew it, and Wild Growth or Rejuv + Swiftmend for most others. I miss having a reliable heal-over-time I could spread around at my discretion, now that Lifebloom can only be dropped on one target at a time. Rejuv costing 38.5% less to cost might shift that a little. I'm tired of running OOM during big fights, and that's in heroics with 94K, self-buffed.
Hillazon Jan 7th 2011 6:39PM
Been healing (smite/atonement disc priest) heroics without major mana problems. Mana conservation when I was healing in regular 5s was very difficult until I started getting gear with spirit on it. With 1700 spirit (more or less) and high int, been getting 3K out-of-combat regen & 2K in-combat, which seems to be more than enough for heroic 5-man boss fights coupled with evangelism, rapture, and my trusty shadowfiend.
razion Jan 7th 2011 6:39PM
Yes, Matt. Give in to the dark side...
Manadar Jan 7th 2011 6:49PM
I really agree on the 25vs10-man statement. You got more spriests and moonkins that can innervate, and more healers means more CDs to cast on the tanks. It's sad how 10-man raids are looked down upon.
Hih Jan 7th 2011 7:32PM
"The upcoming 4.0.6 patch offers a variety of fixes that will be affecting the costs of numerous healing spells and talents. Some of these have already been hotfixed into the game. "
I was under the impression that all those changes were coming only in 4.0.6. Do you know specifically which ones have been hotfixed into the game already?
Snouty Jan 7th 2011 7:52PM
I've just started running 5 man heroics on my resto shammy and one thing that stood out to me was how underpowered my manatide totem seemed. During the 5 seconds or so it is pulsing I seem to regen about 10% of my mana tops. Am I missing something obvious? I currently have 3889 Int and 1297 Spi. I was quite surprised to see the totem referred to as a mana reset for healers.
Any advice from other readers?
Hih Jan 7th 2011 8:25PM
Your spirit is really low, which is likely why you're not seeing good results. With heartsong up (it usually is), I have very nearly double your spirit. People using things like http://www.wowhead.com/item=58184 and http://www.wowhead.com/item=59354 and having spirit on every item (I don't, I'm fairly comfortable with ~2500) could have roughly *quadruple* your spirit during MTT.
Kittens Jan 7th 2011 8:29PM
Hm I don't think any mana tide lasts for only 5 seconds, it's 12 secs by default :P
Did you spec into Totemic Focus? http://www.wowhead.com/spell=16222
Another thing you could do is as mentioned in the article: get a trinket that gives spirit on use, and pop your mana tide right after using it. Currently I am using the JC trinket (Figurine - Dream Owl) and I seem to get about 1/3 of my mana back using those in combat.
Also use your trinket + totem combo early; when you get to that point where it will restore you to nearly full mana. If the fight takes long, you'll then be able to use the trinket and maybe the totem a second time.
Ice Jan 7th 2011 8:45PM
http://www.wowhead.com/spell=16222 = 16.8 second mana tide totem + 7 minute totems overall. Must have.
Just tested. No water shield, tide, combat, 2249 spirit(2422 combat regen) pre-tide.
25% mana gained or so.. Totally un-scientific, un-theory-crafted number too.
Snouty Jan 7th 2011 8:48PM
The 5 secs of pulsing is probably me misjudging the time during the action :P
I currently have my Mastery pieces reforged to haste so will try changing that to Spi. I'll also redo my gems now that my gear is settling down a bit. I'd made do with any old green gem whilst levelling.
Thanks for the suggestions so far. Any more always appreciated.
Also can anyone recommend a good resto shaman forum / blog please?
Rahana Jan 10th 2011 7:11AM
Hey, there is plenty of good resource sites around. Not sure how Insider feels about plugging in outsider links, so feel free to hit me up for them at probebu [at] gmail [dot] com.
Vogie Jan 7th 2011 10:07PM
An added benefit of 10mans : Having the resto shaman in the same group as the tank. Healing stream totem is like having a level 68 Resto druid channeling Tranquility the entire fight. If you have well-geared Holydin or a Atonement priest you can leave out of the healing group for mana purposes, I suppose you could even pull it off in 25s.
Radiophonic Jan 7th 2011 10:24PM
I don't understand why they're letting mana get to this point in the first place. We've got massive mana pools, high mana costs for spells and, spirit that doesn't scale the way it should. Cataclysm is a real letdown considering a good 70% of the pug groups I've been in via LFG think they can just run into an instance, pull everything and the healer will just heal it. Healers were fine the way they were, even in BC. Now it's just frustrating and not "more fun" as Ghostcrawler wanted to make it.
Jason Ralph Jan 7th 2011 11:37PM
Maybe I'm literally insane after having got my Insane title a couple weeks ago, but I find healing way more easier now than I ever did in Wrath. It might have to do with the fact I tortured myself and leveled as my healing spec where every mob I agroed I had to bring my A game. Where every dungeon I went into I had to be top of it as I soon figured if it went wrong 99% of the time it was my fault. Most brutal healer to level? Holy paladin. Your mama bar is not your friend. Ever. Now that dungeons have gone back the way they were when I was leveling, where CC is a most, I once again feel right at home, and loving every minute of it. Then again, I did say I maybe literally insane.