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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsSpiritual Guidance: Macros for healing priests
by Dawn Moore 
Apr 18th 2011 at 7:00PM
Some time last year on Spiritual Guidance, I wrote an article on macros for healing priests. Overall, it was a simple approach to the topic, touching on some basics like binding consolidation, communication, and a couple of utility macros. The article generated a lot of discussion, and several readers submitted some quality macros for their fellow priests.
Since a few of those macros are now outdated and I've added a few new macros to my spellbook in the interim, I thought now would be a good time to revisit the topic and look at what I've dug up in the past few months. Since these were accumulated over time, I haven't kept track of all the original authors of these macros, so if you see something in here you wrote, feel free to shake your fist at me.
Just like last year, if you have a helpful macro you'd like to share, be sure to leave it in the comments.
General use priest macros
There are are a lot of different styles of macros out there in the WoW community, but not all of them will be relevant to a healing priest. Macros that DPS and tanks might use, for example, are written to improve targeting and target swapping so that very little time (and thus, damage) is lost when performing raid duties such taunting an add, interrupting a mind-controlled ally, or just life-gripping your best friend out of an embarrassing mistake.
Since we healers spend most of our time switching targets, however, we won't have much need for macros to automate targeting for us. Most of our macros will generally be for some sort of utility or spell sequence. Here are some examples.
Shadowfiend attack macro
This macro will select the closest enemy or neutral target 40 yards in front of you and cast Shadowfiend on it. This means you won't have to take any extra time to select a target for your Shadowfiend to attack while you are busy healing your allies.#showtooltip Shadowfiend
/startattack
/cast Shadowfiend
/petaggressive
Line 4 creates an additional function to the macro but requires that you push the macro's keybinding more than once; a second press will set your Shadowfiend to aggressive stance, if he happens to be in a passive or defensive stance when you summon him. In aggressive stance, he will automatically move onto another enemy target if his target dies while he is attacking it. (Remember that your pet will typically remain in the stance that he was in when he despawns, so once your Shadowfiend is set to aggressive, you will not usually need to hit your binding more than once in the future.)
Self-dispel and self-shield macros
or/cast [target=player] Dispel Magic
A self-target macro is ideal for players who do not like to use alt (or whatever key they've selected as their self-cast modifier) to cast a spell on themselves. Both these macros will cast the written spell on your character; however, the function of these two macros is different. The first macro will cast Dispel Magic on your character without dropping your current target (this mimics the function of your self-cast modifier), while the second macro will change your current target to yourself, then cast Dispel Magic. The second macro is ideal if you need to cast more spells on yourself after you've cast the initial one, such as additional healing or dispels. The setup of the second macro is ideal for self-survival./tar player
/cast Dispel Magic
Survival cast sequence macro
Though [target=player] can be used with a castsequence macro, if you want to follow up your sequence with additional healing (perhaps a Flash Heal?) you won't necessarily have yourself targeted, which means you'll either have to target yourself or use your self-cast modifier before you can start the cast./tar player
/castsequence reset=1 Power Word: Shield, Prayer of Mending, Renew, Desperate Prayer, Fel Healthstone, 6
Anyway, I don't use this particular macro myself, but the priests in my last guild swore by it whenever they were worried about dying. You can arrange the spells into whatever priority you want, though spells with longer cooldowns should be kept at the end of the sequence so it cycles properly (an ability that is on cooldown or unavailable will screw up your sequence.) Power Word: Shield comes first in this particular example because it's very handy for priests of either spec; it's the highest HPS instant-cast a disc priest can cast, and with Body and Soul, can quickly get a holy priest out of a sticky situation.
/use and /cast are interchangeable, so items and spells can both be used in a sequence. That's why you see Fel Healthstone and 6 in this sequence. 6 corresponds to your belt slot, which if you're an engineer will activate your Nitro Boosts or Grounded Plasma Shield. If you want to incorporate another use effect from a piece of gear you have equipped, use this chart to find the corresponding slot number.
- 0 Ammo
- 1 Head
- 2 Neck
- 3 Shoulder
- 4 Shirt
- 5 Chest
- 6 Belt/Waist
- 7 Legs
- 8 Feet/Boots
- 9 Wrist/Bracers
- 10 Gloves
- 11 Finger 1 (top slot)
- 12 Finger 2 (bottom slot)
- 13 Trinket 1 (top slot)
- 14 Trinket 2 (bottom slot)
- 15 Back/Cloak
- 16 Main Hand
- 17 Off Hand
- 18 Ranged/Relic
- 19 Tabard
Though this is more of a PvP macro, it does have occasional use in raiding. If you ever need to use Mass Dispel multiple times, this will allow you to spam press your Mass Dispel binding without constantly resetting your casting reticle. Though this doesn't do too much for allowing you to get your next Mass Dispel out faster, it will allow you to better position your next spell since the reticle will stay in view. You can use the ! modifier before a cast command for any spell with a reticle, though you won't necessarily be spamming Lightwell, Holy Word: Sanctuary or Power Word: Barrier.#showtooltip Mass Dispel
/cast !Mass Dispel
Talent-specific macros
Greater Heal with Inner Focus macro
#showtooltip Greater Heal
/run SetCVar("Sound_EnableSFX", "0")
/cast Inner Focus
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear(); UIErrorsFrame:Show()
/run SetCVar("Sound_EnableSFX", "1")
/cast Greater Heal
This macro will automatically use Inner Focus with Greater Heal in a single key press, something many priests have started doing since the talent Train of Thought reduces the cooldown of Inner Focus each time Greater Heal is cast. Lines 2, 4, and 5 remove the error messages your UI and character give you when Inner Focus is on cooldown, which should alleviate any distractions when you are using Greater Heal normally. The sequence of this macro works properly because Inner Focus is off the global cooldown and thus doesn't require more than one press.
Keep in mind that this kind of automation takes a bit of control away from you as a healer. It's a great macro if you never remember to use Inner Focus or you want to forget about using it, but if you prefer to use Inner Focus selectively, this macro isn't for you. I personally don't like to use this macro because I don't like it overlapping with the mana cost reduction I get during Power Infusion, and I also like to use Inner Focus with Flash Heal, Prayer of Healing, and Binding Heal, depending on what part of the fight I'm in.
Guardian Spirit or Pain Suppression macro
If you have auto self-cast turned on and go to cast Guardian Spirit or Pain Suppression on a target who happens to die before you get the cast off, you'll automatically cast the spell on yourself. This isn't especially ideal if the attempt is still salvageable, so it's good to override your auto self-cast with these target macro.#showtooltip Guardian Spirit
/cast [target=target] Guardian Spirit
Mouseover macros
I occasionally receive questions from other priests asking about mouseover healing and macros. Unfortunately, I still can't answer those questions, since I do not use mouseover healing. I personally find the priest toolbox lends itself best to clicking targets, since its core is made up of both casted and instant-cast heals. Mouseover healing is extremely effective for players who are primarily using instant-cast spells (druid raid healers, for example), while clicking targets is preferred for casted healing, since it allows you to better utilize the time between your casts. Please do not interpret this as leading a crusade against mouseover healing; it is simply a playstyle preference.
As always, if any readers know of a thorough and (most importantly) up-to-date guide on mouseover healing and macros for priests, please let me know so I can link it in this subsection. Further, if you wish to comment on this issue, please consider that it is a lot more helpful to give actual advice on using mouseover healing than it is to simply advocate it.
This all said, there is one mouseover macro I do use, which is a Leap of Faith macro. I have two bindings for Leap of Faith; one is click target-based and ideal for life-gripping anyone on my grid who I'm planning on life-gripping either because of a strat or a debuff they might have (like Twilight Meteorite on Valiona and Theralion, or Shadow Conductor on heroic Omnotron Defense System.) For saving someone who I just happen to see standing in something bad, however, a mouseover macro is ideal.
Mouseover life grip macro
/cast [@mouseover] Leap of Faith
Simple enough, right? If you have any questions, comments, additions or corrections, let me know in the comments.
Spiritual Guidance has the inside line on pre-raid gear, valor point and raid gear, and healing strategies for bosses such as Atramedes and Chimaeron. Newcomer to the priest class? Look into Discipline Priest 101 and Holy Priest 101.
Filed under: Priest, (Priest) Spiritual Guidance
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 4)
Pinochet Apr 18th 2011 10:56PM
It's worth noting that if you're using a mouseover setup, you'll still be able to use normally-targeted healing whenever you feel like it. A correctly written* mouseover macro will still cast on your target if you don't have a friendly mouseover target, or whatever focus conditionals you end up using.
There is still the possibility of accidentally mispositioning your mouse over a player/nameplate/raidframe when you intend to cast on your target. This is a fairly legit concern, and is definitely a good reason that a mouseover setup can't be called superior-in-all-cases to a target-only healing style.
I'd say it is pretty close to 100% superior though, as long as you intend to use mouseovers for at least half of your normal healing.
On an unrelated note, my solution to the Inner Focus problem is an opt-out conditional. My GH-IF macro would look like this:
#showtooltip Greater Heal
/cast [nomod:alt] Inner Focus
/cast Greater Heal
...this automatically uses your underused cooldown when it is available, but gives you the ability to opt out of using your cooldown by holding the alt key if you have a pressing reason to save it (e.g. end of a trash pull right before a boss). It's handy to do the same with macros for using trinkets automatically too.
------------------------------
* Correctly written, in this case, refers to adding a pair of square brackets [ ] at the end of all the conditionals, fwiw. This is something that a macro-writer should be adding automatically to all macros using conditionals, because it essentially tells the game to "try using the spell normally" if all the other conditionals evaluate to be false/invalid.
For example, the lifegrip macro in the article (/cast [@mouseover] Leap of Faith) will FAIL if you don't have a friendly mouseover, even if you have a valid target. You can fix this by changing it to:
/cast [@mouseover,help][] Leap of Faith
...which will try your mouseover first, but still LG your target normally if you don't have a mouseover. Those two little brackets are pretty helpful for writing macros that don't misbehave.
Pinochet Apr 18th 2011 11:04PM
...That was meant to be in reply to the first post which was debating mouseover vs. target healing, but w/e.
Robert Rouland Apr 18th 2011 11:38PM
I use Focus quite a bit with simple macros. I will typically put the tank on Focus (and leave it there), and then I have a macro that reads:
/cast [target=focus] Guardian Spirit
If I see the tank going down, I press it and I'm the hero.
Powell1819 Apr 18th 2011 11:50PM
Hello all. Perfect timing for this article. I'm slowly leveling a holy preiest and looking for any tips or guides like this. I'm focusing on BG healing and still have a lot to learn. I mostly use Renew, Flash Heal and PWS, with a lightwell when defending a node. Can anyone point me to any good pvp focused resources or have any tips or macros for a pvp leveling priest? I'm currently level 54 and have been using Vuhdo.
Dvi Apr 19th 2011 1:01AM
It seems to me that one of Dawn's hidden assumptions about mouseover healing is that a person must use a mouse to move the character out of the badness instead of using the keyboard.
This seems strange to me because when a person uses the mouse to move, how are they selecting other targets to heal?
What I particularly like about mouseover healing is that you can run (using the keyboard) while healing others without having to click other targets.
Even though I recognize that moving with the mouse is more effective, there are times when moving with the keyboard is useful too.
Dawn Moore Apr 19th 2011 1:11AM
No. It's perfectly acceptable for a healer to move with the mouse and the keyboard. I've said this on various occasions across times. To do either exclusively as a healer would limit what you can do while moving. There are certain things that demand mouse movement, but small things do not and if that's the case it's fine to strafe. Melee DPS are the only class I've played that benefit from mouse movement exclusively, and I'm sure even the masters of that could tell you of instances where keyboard movement works. Typically as a healer you're using the mouse to start your movement in the right direction, then auto-running while you continue to heal.
markus.juopperi Apr 19th 2011 10:23AM
With proper mouseover macros nothing stops you from turning with the mouse while healing. The heals are just cast at your target when not mousing over anything.
Xantenise Apr 19th 2011 2:05AM
Stupid question: What, exactly, is mouseover healing? Exactly what it says on the tin? Sounds like I could accidentally set off a lot of casts that way if so...
Katherine Apr 19th 2011 2:31AM
Your heals are cast on the target that your mouse is pointing at, not at whatever you have targetted. So you put your mouse on someone and then press your healing keybinds or wev.
Matthew Apr 19th 2011 3:43AM
Hey Dawn et al,
I don't play with macros, is that still ok? Or is it like, not using a healing mod.
(actually with the 'new' cat UI, I no longer use grid!) I'm peachy keen with the default UI!
jemjem.nightfall Apr 19th 2011 4:05AM
I think it comes down to if you feel effective in your play. I found I started using things like the shadowfiend macro because I was not getting htat spell effectively used due to having a friendly target. It was easier for me to get the result I wanted with the shadow fiend macro. I used to tie inner focus and divine hymn together because it was quicker and usually when I wanted it I was short on time.
I'm fairly resistent to mods and macros, I dont' like learning the new stuff - although I recommend a BG for practising new keybinds. So I tend to add things here and there over time. Swapping to grid + clique was a change but one I felt gave me a better result ocne I adjusted.
So if you can do what you need to do and your'e happy with it, then you don't have to have macros in my opinion. If you find some things annoy you and you'd like a better option, there may be a macro out there that helps you.
Revnah Apr 19th 2011 4:20AM
I'm probably really slow and stupid but like a previous poster, I have no idea what you mean by mouseover versus targetting. In any case you "target" the toon you're healing, don't you?
Example: I use Healbot. My mouse hovers over the Healbot bars at all times. When I left-click a healthbar, that toon gets a Renew. When I right-click the bar, I cast Heal on him. Shift+left-click is Greater Heal, and so forth. When I have to move, I either move with the keyboard or help with turning with a right-click of my mouse just next to the healthbars.
So what "form" of healing am I using?
Oznla Apr 19th 2011 10:27AM
I don't use Healbot (another happy-with-the-new-default-raidframes-healer here) but if what you do is just hover over the player frame, and not actually click on it and select (so that it becomes your target) then you are mouseing over.
I use mouseover healing, and do have trouble moving, so I understand what Dawn is talking about. My main is a boomkin so I changed to mouse moving when I found out that keyboard turning was considered terribad. Doesn't work so well for healing as caster dps, I can tell you that, lol. I am afraid to change to Clique because I will never remember all the combinations...and yes as disc priest (my main healer) and resto druid (heal if I have to on the aforementioned boomkin) I use ALL my spells. I guess keyboard moving will come with practice...
Revnah Apr 19th 2011 10:46AM
Thanks for the clarification. Funnily enough, movement is no issue for me, or rather, it only was when I crammed my heal frames below my character on the bottom of the screen. That's when I suddenly found myself standing in fire, not dodging enough of Cho'galls corruption abilities etc. I moved them (back) to the left of my character, and now I don't have a problem anymore.
I suppose it really is a matter of individual preference, there's no one way of doing this "right"!
Pryn Apr 19th 2011 5:09AM
I like to pair some of mine, but I tend to favour help/harm combos so the spell will be defined by the nature of my target;
#showtooltip
/cast [harm] Devouring Plague; Renew
#showtooltip
/cast [harm] Holy Fire; Greater Heal
HoT>Dot and BigHeal>BigHarm and so on, so that its fairly intuitive for me to know which to us. The exception I use though is DP which I keep on harm target or friendly target's target. Great for the likes of Ozruk that you can stick with your tank as target and easily keep this up.
#showtooltip
/cast [target=targettarget,harm] Devouring Plague; Devouring Plague
bldavis59 Apr 19th 2011 5:10AM
i am still in heroics but i use
/use [target=player] 13
with [url=http://www.wowhead.com/item=56463]Corrupted Egg Shell[/url]
it casts it on myself, dont have it tied to a heal specifically, but that can be done just to make sure its used on cd
Pryn Apr 19th 2011 5:21AM
In terms of binding things like Inner Focus into certain heals, I havent seen this mentioned yet and its something I loooove!
#showtooltip Prayer of Healing
/cast [combat][@player]Power Infusion
/cast [combat]Inner Focus
/use 13
/cast Prayer of Healing
The [combat] means I won't waste a PI or an IF when I'm casting topup heals between pulls.
Arcane Death Apr 19th 2011 6:48AM
I think either I am misunderstanding what a lot of people are talking about... or possibly others are misunderstanding how some people heal.
I have not yet set up any mouseover macros, but I certainly don't find a target, click to select them, THEN press a keyboard key to heal as some people are suggesting as the alternative!
I simply have grid set up with clique so that left click on a grid unit frame is heal, right click is renew, and so on. This is how I thought Dawn was explaining her heals vs mouseovers. It appears that some commenters thought that it was a case of selecting a target by clicking on them, then pressing a keyboard key to heal them... which admittedly does seem like extra hassle than what is necessary.
I generally have the boss targeted so that I can see the boss cast bar and click on grid to heal people as needed as I don't require to have a target selected to be able to heal them.
However, one mouseover macro I am interested in using is one so that I can hover the mouse over a unit frame group in a raid and cast Prayer of Healing on that group rather than always defaulting to healing the 5 players from my own group. Would that work?
Lastly for a question...
Are there any good macros to be able to manage the chakra spells? Can I use Holy Word: Serenity as a normal macro so I can put it on a mousebind for clique? I currently select my target first, then press a keyboard key to cast Holy Word: Serenity which is a very inelegant way to casting it I admit!
Alternatively, can I use a macro to always cast Holy Word: Serenity on a focus target if I have no other targets selected at that time and want to heal the tank with that spell 9/10 times?
Anyway, thanks for these macros Dawn. I have never really used many in the past, but ones like the Shadowfiend one look ideal. My shadowfiend is often just hanging around after tickling a mob rather than attacking the next one, so will be good to force a bit of work out of the lazy bugger! :)
Wanda Apr 19th 2011 9:18AM
Actually, I think Dawn was referring to just that. I know a couple of healers that use Grid exclusively, but do not use Clique or anything else with it. They select their target, cast a heal, and move on. And these are excellent, accomplished healers, I might add. It works for them.
Tish Apr 19th 2011 12:17PM
I use Vuhdo not Grid and Clique, and this forum post is about that, but I think it might be transportable to Grid/Clique. It might help you with your HW:Serenity
http://www.plusheal.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=7989