How to add complexity and depth back to healing ....

[Shelly]

Bring back spell rankings.

Stop trying to balance out this whole "fast expensive spell vs slow cheaper spell vs medium medium spell" kinda stuff. Just bring back the days when mana management really relied on knowing which spell rank to choose.

[fengosa]

There isn't much difference between the 3 base heals and ranking aside from the number of spells you'd actually need to bind. They're actually moving away from that with only two base heals from this point out. In my mind they need to move away from spike damage and more talents which add depth like soul of the forest for druids.

[Tenjen]

yeah lets fill up the spellbooks 10 fold when we are in the middle of reducing them. Lets apply an unintuitive ability system when we've been attempting to make things intuitive.

what you're suggesting is the complete opposite of what they've been doing in more ways than one.

[Amerissis]

Bring back spell rankings.

Stop trying to balance out this whole "fast expensive spell vs slow cheaper spell vs medium medium spell" kinda stuff. Just bring back the days when mana management really relied on knowing which spell rank to choose.

That was fun. And the 5 second rule, loved that Healers really had to coordinate their healing so they could take time off to regenerate, unlike now, where everyone but the most progressed raiders just spam heal everyone.

[Ferocity]

Bring back spell rankings.

By looking at thread title, I wanted to post "Bring back spell ranks period". But it is exactly what you suggest :)

[Deleted]

It won't bring back complexity (that never existed). All it will do is change your hotbars a bit.
There will still be 1 or 2 ranks that are "the best" after some math.

Coming as a pala in tbc you simply switched out flash of light for holy light rank 4 or 5 if you had enough haste.

The complexity is truly staggering.

[Sansnom]

Bring back spell rankings.

Stop trying to balance out this whole "fast expensive spell vs slow cheaper spell vs medium medium spell" kinda stuff. Just bring back the days when mana management really relied on knowing which spell rank to choose.

But isn't choosing the spell rank just to be able cast a mana efficient heal? Using the holy priest as an example, there is already, flash heal, heal, greater heal. What would having 10 ranks for each heal actually add to the current repertoire?

[ItachiZaku]

Bring back spell rankings.

Stop trying to balance out this whole "fast expensive spell vs slow cheaper spell vs medium medium spell" kinda stuff. Just bring back the days when mana management really relied on knowing which spell rank to choose.

and bring back having to go and buy the skill ups as well.

I always run out of mana on my disc priest. I just never bothered to learn how to heal on her. Someone said "just DPS and bubble" and I'm like... I do, holy fire, smite and penance spam, already used fiend, hymn, and arcane torrent, still OOM 90 seconds into a raid boss fight. Oh well, that's why we have 6 heals in there.

[Bosen]

I support this idea for the Healing Classes only.

It would give more options and control to healers, if they wanted it.

[Bashari]

Just bring back the days when mana management really relied on knowing which spell rank to choose.

How is knowing which spell rank to choose any different than knowing which spell to choose? Seems like the exact same thing to me, minus all the extra buttons for different ranks of the same spells.

[Deja Thoris]

OP, do you even know what depth and complexity mean? "Knowing what rank of a spell to choose" is neither deep nor complex.

[judgementofantonidas]

I have an idea. How bout we stop trying to make the most scarce to find skilled players in roll, more challenging, more anything. Stop screwing with it. I am not much for wrath, but at least in wrath we did not have to worry that are most skilled players were behind the heal button.

[Shelly]

OP, do you even know what depth and complexity mean? "Knowing what rank of a spell to choose" is neither deep nor complex.

I disagree, obviously.

It's a system that scales with gear - better regen on higher tier gear means you can cast more powerful spells. The complexity really comes in the progression of gear where you have to decide your mana efficiency.

Since it scales with gear that means it scales with your progression through each tier as well, which removes the problem they constantly have where at the start of the expansion healers and tanks are pretty weak but by the end of it healers can basically spam forever and tanks are only threatened by gigantic spike damage.

As it stands though that's right where we're going to be again. Same place we've been since LK when they opened up progression through multiple means to everyone, maybe with the squish things won't be quite as bad but for I think it'll remain the same where Blizzard doesn't properly anticipate the power curve and we end up with more long boring fights because everyone outscales the content in gear from the prior tier.

[Iflash]

I do miss the 5 second rule, it was fun.

[Stormspark]

Spell ranks add complexity? I remember in BC I would just spam rank 1 chain heal, it cost nearly no mana and kept everyone at full health. It could heal through anything.