Healing interface for PVP

[Istrebitel]

Greetings.

I have recently tried to heal (before i always played rogue in pvp) and i find it very much fun and actually much more intersting than being a pvp dps.
I have watched PVP heal videos and read some guides and installed Grid, whch is set to be in the bottom middle of the screen, and i changed my heals to work @mouseover so i can heal faster (dont need to select the target, just hover its box in grid and press a heal).

However, i think i might be missing something to do even better? Like, maybe i shall change how my grid works (I use grid to display if the unit is affected by my rejuventaion (pink) border and lifebloom (square in bottom right, which turns orange when lifeboom is 4 sec till expiration and red when 2 sec till expiration, and everything else is default - icon in center for debuff, square in left bottom for incoming heals, square in right top for debuff type)

Can someone suggest some good ui tweaks, addons, or general guidelines for PVP healing. I'm playing druid if it matters. I heard about addons like healbot or clique, would this be of any use to me? What would i generally need to track as a healer in competitive PVP (RBG/Arena) and what addons would help me do it? (i'd like to start practicing now while i'm nearing my max level so i wouldnt have to re-learn).

Thanks!

[lawomous]

Generally people who use Grid also use it with Clique. This allows you to click-cast different combinations to heal with, like for example, when you put your mouse over a frame:

Left click casts Rejuvenation
Middle click casts Swiftmend
Right click casts Nourish
Button 4 (a thumb button) casts Lifebloom
Shift + left click casts Regrowth
Alt + left click Dispels

You can of course set up whatever combinations feel good to you.

Another option entirely is something like Healbot or Vuhdo which both have click-casting capabilities and many other features built-in, and don't depend on using Clique. The original Grid also needs additional plugin addons to make any kind of major changes to grid like showing mana bars or raid debuffs. Healbot and Vuhdo generally have this stuff built-in to the options too. They are also usually easier to set up as far as changing minor things around.

A good addon for arena is Gladius and maybe LoseControl to show you instantly how long you or your party members are CC'd for and with what so you can react better.

[Istrebitel]

Hmm, so this actually means i do not bind heals to any hotkeys ever but use mouse to heal myself, and keys for other abilities? Good idea, need to test that, since right now my Logitech G700 + Razer Nostromo is full with keybinds, no spare button (both nomod and shift+ are used).

So healbot/vuhdo is actually a grid+clique+showing other bars than health? so if i'm statisfied with what grid gives me (right now i dont care about their mana, i need to watch their health) and install clique i dont need to use healbot/vuhdo?

[lawomous]

Errrr

Yeah, if you choose to heal using click-casting and want to stick with Grid then get Clique.

I guess it was a bad example of mana bars but that's not what I meant.

To make changes to Grid you need to download Grid plugins like these: http://www.curse.com/search?search=grid
There are about four pages of them.

Healbot / Vuhdo can do most all of that stuff without requiring Clique or any additional plugins because it's already built-in things that you can turn on or off, and they are easier to set up out of the box (literally 5 minutes of time to set it up the way you want, after installing it). Whichever one you choose is up to you, they can all "get the job done".

Grid is generally more "do-it-yourself" and Healbot and Vuhdo rely more on premade templates that can be customized if you choose.

[Istrebitel]

I see now, i watched healbot and vuhdo tutorial videos and i understand.

I think i will use vuhdo then with mouse, the only problem i forsee is that if i'm overusing mouse to cast, gotta learn to move more with the keyboard (i mean, as a rogue, i was using mouselook - right mouse- alot to control my movement direction, but if my mouse is used to heal, i'd have to use the available left-forwardleft-forward... directions effectively...)

[Speedtrax]

You don't have to use your mouse to click-cast with Clique, I'm using Clique on my shaman and I have my heals bound to my hotkeys. My main spec is Elemental, so I have chosen not to have any heals on my Actionbars, instead I'm using Clique to do the healing, I've bound my heals to say 1,2,3,4 and 5. but I use those same keys for my Elemental abilities, but as long as your mouse hovers over a friendly frame it will choose to cast a heal instead of damaging ability.

So binding hotkeys works just as good in Clique

[DrunkenBeard]

I see now, i watched healbot and vuhdo tutorial videos and i understand.

I think i will use vuhdo then with mouse, the only problem i forsee is that if i'm overusing mouse to cast, gotta learn to move more with the keyboard (i mean, as a rogue, i was using mouselook - right mouse- alot to control my movement direction, but if my mouse is used to heal, i'd have to use the available left-forwardleft-forward... directions effectively...)

Not really. You can still do both : use the right-button to move and when you need to cast a spell while still moving you just keep going forward/strafing and you click the unit frame of the player that you want to heal. It might sound complicated but with practice it becomes natural. Just keep in mind that Clique/Vuhdo react only to clicks on unit frames, you can still use your mouse to move if you click on anything else.

[Istrebitel]

I see, its a matter of getting used to.

And i think Speedtrax's idea is great too. However, thats what i want to go away from since right now i have (dedicated but still same problem would occur) binds to heals @mouseover and i mouseover a bar in grid to heal.

Problem is, if i miss or hit a button too early, i place Lifebloom on a wrong target and that might mean that i now have to cast 3 LB on tank again which is obviously not good, so i wanted to change to click-healing so that i'm sure i'm healing the right person. Also, its good not to make syncronous actions with both hands since it is naturally hard for the brain. I mean, its easier to point and click with the mouse, syncrhonising the click of the mouse button with the distance the hand travelled, rather than clicking a keyboard button with left hand the very moment right hand has travelled the desired distance (meaning the cursor should be over the required tab now and healing spell can be pressed)