06-11-2008, 05:19 PM
* What stats do I need to be useful at all in T6-level content, +heal/regen/manabowl wise?
Too many people put an emphasis on +healing, and they're incredibly stupid for doing so. Stamina and mp5 (particularly spirit-based regen) are THE most important stats in T6 content. You can't top the healing charts if you're dead or out of mana, it's that simple. I'd say once you hit around 2000 bonus healing, you can really start looking into maximizing your other stats. Having over 10k health and 10k mana is a good target depending on your play style.
* How much +heal should I give up to get a point of Spirit, Int, Mp5, etc?
I'd say as long as you're above 2000 bonus healing (the target I set for myself, at least) then you can start swapping gear, enchants, and/or gems to maximize your other stats. I'd prioritize stamina -> spirit -> mp5, because in BT, you'll need the stamina to stay alive.
* What spells do I use? If I'm assigned to keep up a tank, should I be using flash or greater heal? Should I keep up a renew? What are the basic tradeoffs between heals now?
I heal with GH3 unless my target is really taking a beating, in which case i switch to a max-rank GH. Flash Heal is really a situational thing, and I only use it when my target needs a heal NOW. Keeping up a renew on the tank is always advisable, but don't waste the 1.5 second global cooldown if you can't afford to. It's better to heal your tank than put a Renew on him if he's going down quickly. As far as tradeoffs between heals, they're the same as they always were: FH sacrifices mana efficiency for speed, and GH sacrifices speed for big numbers.
* Should I be using downranked spells? How do good healers go about deciding which downranks to use?
Downranking is king in raid healing. Which rank you use is entirely up to you. I use GH3 for about 3.9k - 4.1k when raid-buffed, but it's entirely possible to use GH4 or GH2 if you so desire. However, I would say never downrank any other spells - you'll need all you can get from FH in the event that you need to use it.
* Is queueing up and cancelling heals to stay inside the 5SR something I should be doing normally, or only when I'm desperate for mana?
I cancel heals a lot, but not because I'm worried about mana regen. In all honesty, most fights don't pose too much of a regen problem for decently-geared (and moderately intelligent) holy priests now that regen has been significantly changed. I cancel heals because I don't want to overheal. If I line up a GH3 (3.9k - 4.1k on average) and notice that my target is now only down 1000 health, I cancel my heal. The fact that I am probably now outside the five second rule is just an added bonus.
* What non-25 man content, if any, would be the best practice for healing in Hyjal or BT?
Nothing will ever duplicate the experience of healing a 25-man raid, but whatever you choose to do, do it with the people you normally raid with. It gives you a great opportunity to get to know the people around you, to learn their bad (and good) habits, and to become more comfortable with them. If you run Kara for badges, ZA for timers, or whatever else, it gives you a chance to notice that maybe your normal 25-man OT is slow to generate threat, or that your mages are slow to iceblock when they pull aggro, or that your hunters perpetually forget to turn off their pets' taunt. Little things like that will give you an edge over other healers when you hit 25-mans.
* What do good endgame priests know that inexperinced priests don't even think to ask about?
Most inexperienced healers simply don't put themselves in a position to succeed, either because they are too lazy, too arrogant, or too dumb to make the adjustments to their UI, keybinds, etc. Make sure everything you need is accessible, even if you might only need to use it once during an encounter. That means hotkeys for Fade, Abolish Disease, Mass Dispel, Dispel Magic, several ranks of GH, CoH, PoM, etc. and so forth. If you use different unit frames, set them up so that you can easily see who has aggro, who has magic/disease debuffs, who is missing your buffs, who has PW:S, etc.
The single best piece of advice I can give is this: PAY ATTENTION. Inexperienced priests will often ignore (or fail to notice altogether) things like curses, poisons, magic/disease debuffs, and other factors which might cause decreased healing, movement impairment, slowed attack/cast speed, etc. Ignoring these things on tanks can often lead to either a dead tank or a DPS class pulling aggro, and ignoring these things on a DPS class can lead to (big surprise) a dead DPSer. Failing to notice that your tank has 3 mobs instead of 2 will lead to a dead tank very quickly.
Priest healing is, in my quite humble opinion, the most difficult and therefore the most rewarding when done well. So go do it well, and be rewarded:)
Too many people put an emphasis on +healing, and they're incredibly stupid for doing so. Stamina and mp5 (particularly spirit-based regen) are THE most important stats in T6 content. You can't top the healing charts if you're dead or out of mana, it's that simple. I'd say once you hit around 2000 bonus healing, you can really start looking into maximizing your other stats. Having over 10k health and 10k mana is a good target depending on your play style.
* How much +heal should I give up to get a point of Spirit, Int, Mp5, etc?
I'd say as long as you're above 2000 bonus healing (the target I set for myself, at least) then you can start swapping gear, enchants, and/or gems to maximize your other stats. I'd prioritize stamina -> spirit -> mp5, because in BT, you'll need the stamina to stay alive.
* What spells do I use? If I'm assigned to keep up a tank, should I be using flash or greater heal? Should I keep up a renew? What are the basic tradeoffs between heals now?
I heal with GH3 unless my target is really taking a beating, in which case i switch to a max-rank GH. Flash Heal is really a situational thing, and I only use it when my target needs a heal NOW. Keeping up a renew on the tank is always advisable, but don't waste the 1.5 second global cooldown if you can't afford to. It's better to heal your tank than put a Renew on him if he's going down quickly. As far as tradeoffs between heals, they're the same as they always were: FH sacrifices mana efficiency for speed, and GH sacrifices speed for big numbers.
* Should I be using downranked spells? How do good healers go about deciding which downranks to use?
Downranking is king in raid healing. Which rank you use is entirely up to you. I use GH3 for about 3.9k - 4.1k when raid-buffed, but it's entirely possible to use GH4 or GH2 if you so desire. However, I would say never downrank any other spells - you'll need all you can get from FH in the event that you need to use it.
* Is queueing up and cancelling heals to stay inside the 5SR something I should be doing normally, or only when I'm desperate for mana?
I cancel heals a lot, but not because I'm worried about mana regen. In all honesty, most fights don't pose too much of a regen problem for decently-geared (and moderately intelligent) holy priests now that regen has been significantly changed. I cancel heals because I don't want to overheal. If I line up a GH3 (3.9k - 4.1k on average) and notice that my target is now only down 1000 health, I cancel my heal. The fact that I am probably now outside the five second rule is just an added bonus.
* What non-25 man content, if any, would be the best practice for healing in Hyjal or BT?
Nothing will ever duplicate the experience of healing a 25-man raid, but whatever you choose to do, do it with the people you normally raid with. It gives you a great opportunity to get to know the people around you, to learn their bad (and good) habits, and to become more comfortable with them. If you run Kara for badges, ZA for timers, or whatever else, it gives you a chance to notice that maybe your normal 25-man OT is slow to generate threat, or that your mages are slow to iceblock when they pull aggro, or that your hunters perpetually forget to turn off their pets' taunt. Little things like that will give you an edge over other healers when you hit 25-mans.
* What do good endgame priests know that inexperinced priests don't even think to ask about?
Most inexperienced healers simply don't put themselves in a position to succeed, either because they are too lazy, too arrogant, or too dumb to make the adjustments to their UI, keybinds, etc. Make sure everything you need is accessible, even if you might only need to use it once during an encounter. That means hotkeys for Fade, Abolish Disease, Mass Dispel, Dispel Magic, several ranks of GH, CoH, PoM, etc. and so forth. If you use different unit frames, set them up so that you can easily see who has aggro, who has magic/disease debuffs, who is missing your buffs, who has PW:S, etc.
The single best piece of advice I can give is this: PAY ATTENTION. Inexperienced priests will often ignore (or fail to notice altogether) things like curses, poisons, magic/disease debuffs, and other factors which might cause decreased healing, movement impairment, slowed attack/cast speed, etc. Ignoring these things on tanks can often lead to either a dead tank or a DPS class pulling aggro, and ignoring these things on a DPS class can lead to (big surprise) a dead DPSer. Failing to notice that your tank has 3 mobs instead of 2 will lead to a dead tank very quickly.
Priest healing is, in my quite humble opinion, the most difficult and therefore the most rewarding when done well. So go do it well, and be rewarded:)