When I play Gnomeaggedon, it’s on from the moment I enter an instance or raid.
Buffs, tables, scorch, Living bomb, Frostfire bolt, Flamestrike, Blizzard, Hotstreak, drink, loot, move, scorch….
I always assumed it was the same for the other roles, never a dull moment, but nothing that can’t be handled by doing things right.
I dare say it’s pretty much the same for tanks. Mark, pull, gather, pump cooldowns and specials, watch and stop the runners, take opportunities as they come up… “Rage” bar full… let’s pull!
The other Extreme
It’s not the same for healers, particularly Shaman healers, from my experiences (as limited as they may be) and my reading.
See we don’t buff in the traditional “buff and forget” model. We plant and pluck our buffs in the form of totems. They don’t go down until just before the pull.
When it comes to healing there seems to be 5 distinct states.
- Snoozefest
- Odd jobs
- At last
- Oh shit
- OMFG, you must be joking.
Snoozefest
Snoozefest is 80%+ of a healers life. Earth Shield is up with riptide on the tank, the tanks got all the aggro, no AoE damage incoming… Time to stare at the walls, watch YouTube, redo those toolbars.
I can’t get my mind around this stage… It is like logging in and sitting at the bank in Dalaran. Or going to the AH and doing an Auctioneer scan. It’s automatic.
Odd Jobs
- Yay the Mage pulled Aggro!
- The DK Deathgripped the next group!
- Someone did something stupid!
Once I peel my eyes back open I go a quick assessment and click, it’s done. Ok maybe there are 2 or 3 clicks. If I’m lucky Riptide or ES have dropped off the tank.
Good, something to do!
At last
Lots of manageable incoming damage.
Things are still going fine, it’s all going to plan, but now I have 3 plus party members to get my regular attention.
This is more like DPS… Yes it’s still reactive, but it’s constant.
I get to press buttons like everyone else!
Oh shit!
I am still not the best at these, I have spent too much time in Snoozefest I think (and maybe too much time in BGs not caring exactly who lives and dies, as long as someone lives).
But when they happen it’s like a DPS knowing there is 30 seconds till an enrage timer.
It’s like a Fire Mage attacking a boss that’s just reached 35% health.
It’s pop the cooldowns, the trinkets and go balls to the wall.
It’s exciting, challenging, but possible.
I don’t want every moment to be like this, bit I like my adrenalin to pump occasionally as well.
Bring it on!
OMFG, you must be joking
I haven’t really experienced this yet, but I’ve read a lot about how the Northrend encounters are made harder by putting the pressure on the healer.
No more Snoozefest 80% of the time, let’s have Oh Shit 80% of the time.
Then for that final 20% let’s make you wonder why you ever rolled a healer, let’s make the party hate you for not keeping them alive.
From what I can work out from my reading, Blizzard has adopted a healing difficulty approach to make the encounters more challenging.
Sure there is more goo for the party to get out of, more tricks for the DPS to do/avoid, but it all amounts to one thing…
Pressure on the healer.
Yes the healer could let the goo-covered, puddle-standing DPS die to teach them a lesson, but do they let all 3 of them die?
What, the healer has to get out of the fire too? They have to run around like headless chickens finding 2.1 second windows to cast 2 second spells?
I’m loving healing and can’t wait to try the Northrend instances and raids from a different “back of the room” perspective.
But, I swear if my balls get busted by Blizzard in PvE, I will camp the BGs instead.
At least there I have less attachment to the noobs going down in a rain of fiery hell.
Gnomer and Out, Squidly and Stout!
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http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/10/15/two-extremes-healing/
The five states you’ve described, with 80%+ spent in snoozefest, sounds like what the right fielders go through in baseball.
or 9 of the players on a cricket field
I have done heroics with a pally tank that left me wondering whether a healer was required. Ok bosses can get messy.
Now I try and set the tempo. when you don’t know the tank over heal the shit out of them for the first few pulls. i heal any damage as if our lives depend on it. Even temporary pets like DK’s zombies and shaman dogs. If the tank drops below 90% in a heroic on the first few pulls i feel embarrassed.
I have found it gives them the message that they can speed things up a little. pull a few more mobs in at the same time. Run to the next group whilst my mana is 25% full.
A good tank who is confident in your heals should give you very little time for navel gazing. Run heal run heal
I have been getting some faster paced runs now… I worry less about the high mana in the tank as I know it might get used next pull
Still being a noob at all this, I can’t say I mind snoozefest.
But I’ve healed four northrend instances: Nexus, UK, AN, and OK (granted, about the lowest four) and I haven’t had any significant difficulties yet.
I still have so many strange and unfamiliar cooldowns I’m not quite sure what to do with them all (so I’ve taken the lazy way out and macroed some of them just to pop whenever they’re off cooldown… I should nip that in the bud actually.) I mean, I’ve got Hand of Salvation and Hand of Sacrifice, one of which is a threat dump you should NEVER put on the tank, and one of them diverts damage to me and I should OFTEN put on the tank, but I’ll be darned if I know which of them is which…. Next level at the trainer I could get Hand of Macaroni Noodles and I doubt I could be any more boggled.
No better way to learn than do.
That said, I’m picking one new ability at a time and working it in until it’s second nature. Started with the heals themselves, then I went to keeping a judgement up, then to keeping Beacon of Light up… now it’s those silly hands of stuff.
I meander. But I can’t help it, I’m just really enthused about the whole healing thing… and since you are too it somehow frees me to blanket your blog in walls of enthusiastic text.
I can handle snoozefest… as long as it is consisten enough that I can go make a sandwich…
But I need a bit more of a challenge just so I cna practice my skills… ES & Riptide every 3 minutes isn’t waking up my Oh-Shit finger
[...] I came across a mage blogger and read his most recent post about the way a shaman heals. Beeing used to play a mage, he sees healing true a different pair of glasses. I’ll repost his way of thinking and comment with my personal view. You can find the original post and blog here. [...]
where’s the squidly and stout? This post was not properly finished… I feel like I can’t leave yet.
/loiter
but ya, that is exactly what it’s like healing on my shammy.
Stay hordecore
fik
Whoops… can’t have that.. corrected and emphasized.
Just healed UK…
Well Earth Shield and Riptide healed UK, I chatted to some strangers my wife picked up off the street and brought home.
It wasn’t until they asked if I wanted to go outside while they had a smoke that I had to think about whether to be there or not…
Mind you.. great tank. DPS didn’t beat him for the run, but at least they weren’t stupid, the only death was on the last boss when I was silenced and they were non-LoS…
[...] words to express Just how much I hate healing, and for several reasons, but Gnomeaggedon expresses it so much [...]
Snoozefest
*earth shield*
Odd jobs
*earth shield*
*riptide*
At last
*earth shield*
*chain heal*
Oh shit
*earth shield*
*riptide*
*chainhealchainheal*riptide*chainhealchainheal*
OMFG, you must be joking
*earth shield*
*riptide*
*lesserhealingwavelesserhealingwavelesserhealingwave*
*naturesswiftness* *chain heal*
*lesserhealingwavelesserhealingwavelesserhealingwave*
You been looking over my shoulder… err between my legs?
Don’t you remember? All Gnomes are psychically linked. I see what you see. I hear what you hear. I know what you know. Even when I’m on my troll and you’re on your space goat. Cause we’re Gnomes at heart.
damn, I thought I left my psychotic link at home…
There are two types of damage in a boss fight: avoidable, and unavoidable. Most of the damage a tank is going to take is unavoidable. He can mitigate to some degree when things get hairy but he is supposed to get pounded on.
Almost all major sources of raid-wide damage in a fight are avoidable. With few exceptions, if the individuals in the raid are doing what they are supposed to do, you should rarely be in a OMFG situation.
Unless we are down to the wire on an enrage timer, if I see dps standing in a fire and not even bothering to try to move out of it … I just let him die.
Little by little I am getting to the point of smiling mischeviously when I see dps in the BAD.
Sometimes I heal, sometimes I take joy in watching their avatar go grey
Sent from my iPhone
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