I agree with almost everything Bolty has to say about healers in groups. But I do have a bit of an issue with not wanting other classes to heal.
I play a Druid, I'm level capped, and I've been there a while now. Most Druids at this point are Restoration specced, because they are usually called on to heal. My problem is that many parties will not let the Druid play as a Druid. The tanks don't want you playing off-tank, even though in many cases I have more hit points and armor than the pally they might be using in the role, and the Priests don't want you to heal since that's a 'waste of mana'. This leaves me standing at the back of the group, doing my measly 45-60 caster DPS and wondering how to explain things to people.
If there is a Priest and a Druid in the party, they should almost always split the healing duties. I often pair with a holy specced Priest, and when I'm along he's free to use mind control to great advantage, since he doesn't have to worry about the healing. He'll let me use the bear form when it's needed, and move himself into a healing role. This makes a great combo, one that along with a Mage, a Rogue and a Warrior was able to easily and quickly handle the BRD escort quest.
It's also quite viable to let the Druid do the initial healing, and then have him drop into bear form to deal with the ensuing aggro. This keeps the Priest alive and at full mana later in the fight, and gives him two tanks to help him out.
But when the Priest has told you 'Don't heal', and the main tank has told you 'Don't use forms', it's simply a complete waste of my abilities. And a pet peeve, as you can probably tell. :)
-DarkCrown
I play a Druid, I'm level capped, and I've been there a while now. Most Druids at this point are Restoration specced, because they are usually called on to heal. My problem is that many parties will not let the Druid play as a Druid. The tanks don't want you playing off-tank, even though in many cases I have more hit points and armor than the pally they might be using in the role, and the Priests don't want you to heal since that's a 'waste of mana'. This leaves me standing at the back of the group, doing my measly 45-60 caster DPS and wondering how to explain things to people.
If there is a Priest and a Druid in the party, they should almost always split the healing duties. I often pair with a holy specced Priest, and when I'm along he's free to use mind control to great advantage, since he doesn't have to worry about the healing. He'll let me use the bear form when it's needed, and move himself into a healing role. This makes a great combo, one that along with a Mage, a Rogue and a Warrior was able to easily and quickly handle the BRD escort quest.
It's also quite viable to let the Druid do the initial healing, and then have him drop into bear form to deal with the ensuing aggro. This keeps the Priest alive and at full mana later in the fight, and gives him two tanks to help him out.
But when the Priest has told you 'Don't heal', and the main tank has told you 'Don't use forms', it's simply a complete waste of my abilities. And a pet peeve, as you can probably tell. :)
-DarkCrown