Totem Talk: Resto shaman advice for healing groups, DK tanks, and heroic instances
by Joe Perez 
Nov 8th 2011 at 3:00PM
Man, the last few weeks sure have been fun and full of interesting information regarding our future. Speculation has already begun as to how we're going to be doing when the next expansion is poised for release, and we leave this world of Cataclysm behind us. Let's take the time to bring the focus back to current-day concerns and the most important thing of all, questions from you the readers. Restoration shaman have been a class in flux throughout Cataclysm, and as a result, there are numerous questions from those who are pushing raid content all the way to those who are returning to the game after a hiatus. So this week, let's get started with Ask a Restoration Shaman!
Welldead asked:
What is the best healing spell for Death knights?? I've been struggling just to keep a blood dk and its just getting on my nerves even though they are great tanks i just don't know if its me or is it the spell I'm casting wrong? I usually keep my riptide and earth shield up as long as doing chain heals and throwing healing rain when ever it gets messy.
Well, tank healing is a much different animal than group healing, but I'm sure you already knew that much. Each tank has a different style, and as a result, incoming damage can vary in levels from "Oh, this isn't so bad" to "OMG, why are you taking so much damage!?" In my experience, blood death knights tend to fall in the latter category. Blood DKs tend to dip pretty low and require big heals in steady increments. It seems to just be how they work.
You're doing the right thing as far as keeping Riptide and Earth Shield up on the tank, but I would highly recommend moving away from Chain Heal and Healing Rain when tank healing. Greater Healing Wave and Healing Surge are more appropriate for tank healing, unless under some very specific circumstances you have enough people standing close enough to the tank for CH to bounce.
Personally, I love healing blood DK tanks, mostly because while they certainly take their fair share of spiky damage, they are very capable of stabilizing themselves and giving you time to heal them back up. Also, unlike the other tanking classes, they can let you take full advantage of your Deep Healing with the understanding that they won't die (that is, unless you don't heal them at all). For added punch, add in a Glyph of Earth Shield and add points into Nature's Blessing if you haven't already.
Honestly, it's all about learning the rhythm of the damage on the tank for each boss fight and filling the gaps accordingly. I know personally for most fights, GHW is my best friend for blood DK healing.
Part of the group
Shinae asked:
Group healing is something that restoration shaman have always excelled at. I mean, it's been our specialty since The Burning Crusade. Healing Rain is more effective in a lot of circumstances, but that's mainly because it is an amazing delivery system for Earthliving Weapon's proc Earthliving.My question is about group heals. I understand that Healing Rain is a more effective group heal than Chain Heal. Does this mean that I should mainly be using CH for group healing when HR is on cooldown? (I'm thinking I've been using CH too much, anyway, as I haven't completely shaken off Wrath habits.)
Also, when are good times to use Unleash Life? (You probably have already talked about this before, but I forget.)
The key really is using both HR and CH together to get the most out of your group healing. I know that sounds hokey, but it really is true. They are the tools that are specifically designed for group healing in our tool kit, and when you find yourself in a group healing fight, that's exactly what you should go to. Drop HR, lay out a Riptide, and keep casting CH and Riptide until HR is off CD.
As with everything, making sure you're doing the right amount of healing and spellcasting is a matter of experience based on your healing team and the boss fight in question. So basically, if you're using CH while HR is on cooldown and the fight has the AOE damage to heal, then you're doing it right.
As far as Unleash Life, well honestly, the best answer is always. It's an instant heal on a decent cooldown timer, and it boosts your healing done. You should be using it every single chance you get!
Luotian asked:
Well, when you're first starting heroics, even in all the purchasable tier 11 resto gear, there are a few things that need to be done. First of all, you need to make sure you're triage healing. Let's assume that your entire group is at the same gear level; some mechanics will still punish you. The room swallowing darkness in the Erudax fight and the lightning storm during Asaad -- these mechanics will kill you, and often no amount of healing will compensate for it unless you really outgear the the instance. So if you see someone standing in the middle of something that will kill them, don't waste the mana.Hey there, Joe, its me again :D. So, I've finally gotten my first little resto shaman up to 85 and she's pretty well set in all the purchasable Tier 11 resto set gear. Here's my big problem, though. I've run a couple of heroics with guildies to have her healing (just the reg heroics, mind) and, while not terrible, I was far from good. We wiped multiple times and my poor tanks had huge repair bills because I'd simply oom halfway through fights.
I know without actually watching me play you probably can't do much, but is there some trick I'm missing that makes healing heroics so much harder? It just seems like everyone is taking much more damage and Healing Wave doesn't cut it like it used to anymore.
Make sure you're choosing the right heal for the right job, as well. Don't use CH or HR when you're healing only one target, things like that. Make sure Healing Stream Totem is down at all times, and try to ration your healing slightly. While at higher gear levels and later content you should always be casting, when you first start out in heroics, try to take things a little bit slower. You're not expected to power through the heroics, even in tier 11 gear. Also, one last suggestion: If you find yourself running out of mana, make sure you're using Mana Tide Totem aggressively to keep getting your mana back.
If you need some more information, or if you want to set up a time for me to hop on and maybe run a Real ID dungeon with you, email me.
That's it for this week's Ask a Restoration Shaman. As always, I'm available through Twitter and email to answer your questions. You can also find me in game as Lodur on the Ner'Zhul server. Feel free to drop by and ask any questions, and I'll be more than happy to answer them!
Totem Talk: Restoration lets you Ask a Shaman about the tricks of the trade. We'll introduce you to the very latest pre-raid gear and show you how to manage your cooldowns. Happy healing, and may your mana be plentiful!
Filed under: Shaman, (Shaman) Totem Talk
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Docseuzz Nov 8th 2011 3:19PM
Additional advice for starting resto heals
- always make sure water shield is up
- regular healing wave is your friend. 'maintainence' healing on tank for me is typically, riptide, healing wave, healing wave, riptide (other party member), healing wave, healing wave...
R. Nov 8th 2011 3:30PM
This. So much this.
With Resurgence, Water Shield is the biggest source of mana return that we have. If you let it drop in the middle of a fight and forget to refresh, you will be oom very quickly.
During a low damage cycle, my casts look like Docseuzz with an occasional CH if there has been some random damage.
Docseuzz Nov 8th 2011 3:51PM
plus with resurgence, a regular healing wave crit actually generates mana. Another option, although it takes some practice, and knowing the fights, is to talent into telluric currents, and whenever you're not healing, throw a LB or two at the boss. I try to slide one in between every third or forth heal to greatly reduce my mana burden.
Cbeefman Nov 8th 2011 4:05PM
i second the importance of keeping water shield up
i set my healbot buff monitor to watch for it and also have it bound so once my bar changes red i hit it.
Jeff (Not that one ^ ) Nov 8th 2011 5:44PM
Water Shield's 3 charges + near-constant AoE damage = sad shaman constantly wasting globals refreshing his shield instead of healing people
fabriciomind Nov 8th 2011 5:52PM
@Cbeefman
I LOVE U!
goldeneye Nov 9th 2011 2:56AM
Now Cbeefman needs to chime in with "I love you too random poster!"
:-D
phfantunes Nov 16th 2011 6:01AM
I disagree on Unleash Elements. The healing component is so minor that it's usually not worth the wasted GCD. I only use it during movement or when there's an incoming huge damage spike.
Cambro Nov 8th 2011 3:41PM
I tend to use it when people are spread out and chain heal probably won't hit everyone, or if things are chaotic enough that I see health bars going down but I don't know exactly where the person is. Unleash on 1 person, riptide on another person, then spells with a cast time. Two instant heals right there, and since the tank usually has my earth shield, and also usually a riptide, I can keep up other party members pretty well.
Mahram Nov 9th 2011 12:33AM
I disagree on your disagree. Unleash is a VERY nice, small heal you can toss out basically for free. It's not for big damage, but it's good for topping off someone who's taken minor damage, and the bonus is very nice. I've seen Unleash crit for 20k once or twice - it's a good heal to get in the habit of using.
You have a point about using a GCD - if you don't have the GCD you don't have it, but for the most part it's an extremely good small heal in my experience.
Welldead Nov 8th 2011 3:25PM
Ty So much Joe! ^^
Shinae Nov 8th 2011 3:26PM
Thanks for answering my question!
/me gapes in awe at the prospect of running a dungeon with Lodur, then is crestfallen because he's Alliance. D'oh!
You're so helpful! ^_^
Joe Perez Nov 8th 2011 3:39PM
I have horde toons as well you know :D
Shinae Nov 8th 2011 3:59PM
:o
djsuursoo Nov 8th 2011 3:29PM
good stuff.
i recently returned to my slightly neglected shaman(for a while she was my main just because healing and elemental were FUN till 4.0 dropped and i felt lost for a while).
i'm currently rocketing through the end of northrend, healing dungeons, questing, etc. the resto tree, when filled out, is wicked overpowered for dungeon purposes to the point where i demanded a swap from the paladin who was tanking to the mage who was tearing it up, mostly to make things interesting. the pug i was in had done three dungeons in a row to that point so they had faith in me, but i got a moment of 'uhhhh....'
but enough of that.
i've been looking foraward to cata dungeons like you wouldn't believe, as it means a return to actually WORKING at healing.
seems mana is a common issue/theme in these dungeons. how's telluric currents look/feel for mana regen during fights? is that cast time a dangerous thing, or is it worthwhile to throw in if you think the tank's fine for a moment?
Joe Perez Nov 8th 2011 3:38PM
Even in heroic tier 12 raids I rock TC like it was going out of fashion. It is a viable source of mana return, especially if you know your targets are safe. Weaving a LB here and there can be a big boon to your overall healing longevity.
djsuursoo Nov 8th 2011 3:52PM
joe:
yeah, i figured as much. when i started healing again at the beginning of northrend content mana supply was a minor issue(i also had to learn the new specialization, hah), and TC was solid for gains back then. it's good to know it's still usable now.
i'll have to pray i'm lucky and snag tanks that don't go smoosh.
themark0fevil Nov 8th 2011 3:31PM
I don't think that link to Lesser Healing Wave is right.... :x
Joe Perez Nov 8th 2011 4:03PM
No it was not! thank you for catching it. I tend to live in the Glory days of shaman healing in my mind sometimes >.>
R. Nov 8th 2011 3:44PM
Also as far as DK tanks:
Set your raid frames to show tank cooldowns. If your DK isnt cycling through Bone Shield, Rune Tap, AMS (as needed for casters) and Vampiric Blood on a regular basis, you need to talk to him about it. Those are fantastic cooldowns for saving healer mana if used on a regular basis.
Even using those 4 minor cooldowns all on 30 sec-1 min timers, still leaves Dancing Rune Weapon, Icebound Fort, and LIchborne/Deathcoil heals for when it really goes to hell
DK's are designed to be much more proactive in their own survival.