Newbie Healer looking for guidance

[Rhyxus]

Hello guys,

as the title says, this is my first time as healer and i've chosen a shaman for this job.
I won't ask about the basics, the guides already helped a lot.

Well, tbh, i don't know if the guides already answered my questions... Apologize in advice, so here we go:

1. Should i use addons like Vuhdo and Clique; or macroing the the spells with mouseover is enough?
2. On a raid group, my job is to heal the most injured?
3. If the raid is OK; can i use the free cost damage spells to "help" the dps?
4. Wich cooldown i must track with weakauras (or another addon)?

(sorry for the english >_<)

[Nepinator]

I use Grid & Clique and mouseover macros for the rest. Clique is for my bread and butter spells (Healing Wave, Chain Heal, Riptide) and I mouseover everything else.

As a Resto Shaman your job is just to heal. You will shine when there is massive AoE damage going out on the raid. Don't be afraid to throw Spirit Links on the tanks when they're taking heavy damage, especially if you take Echo of the Elements which lets you have 2 charges on SLT. Pop Healing Tide when shit hits the fan and don't be afraid to pop Ascendance on cooldown when damage calls for it.

Many of us may use Spirit Link in conjunction with Totemic Projection so we can throw Spirit Links on tanks even if we're far away. The macro I use is here:

/castsequence reset=10 Spirit Link Totem, Totemic Projection, Totemic Projection

You'll need to press it twice, but it works well.

If there is no damage going out don't be afraid to DPS. You've got Elemental Blast, which is essentially a requirement for us right now. Dat 1000 spirit.

As an experienced Resto Shaman I will say keep a weakaura up for Healing Stream Totem. Using that as much as possible is the best thing. If it's obvious on your screen when it's off CD and you can cast it again, get a WA for that.

Always keep HST up, always keep Healing Rain up when possible, always keep Earth Shield up on tanks. If you have the BRF 4 set bonus, get a WeakAura for when Chain Heal costs less mana. This is my shitty WA:

d4JueaWnsQhRQ2LIkBdQmkveNhsMlKQzlYPvPBkkXTKI62sLNsStuAVu7wW(r1pvr5Vqv)wORkkPllzWKA4q4GkOtP I0XqX5uuwOuWsvr1IHIwoOXjQyvIISmf45atKKutvvMSuA6ixuuLxjkQNbLUUu1gHcttf2SISDss8rssAwKeFwH(UO qJukYyLcnAiA8qkNuuQZkQQRjQ09efSsfvnmsCyL2m(z5Aj7avWP9xON9pgaOVyEtxcfEaYTBd4xWVcTB4xwawgmNY CZMtTLolTwA9ZYpMIq)mlJXihSyXPO(aNYb2CuR(qTNAo3dZI1SkMSaRXBm8qHOSqfAupSSGzQcTzj2wwgQAvBz)0n ga(zz6gUaK(zPnIFmfZOX0KjluHg1dllcIkLaOpmRNp88SYMh(Hwq7SPjqrMfBUwqD20eOiJbUCNHLzWaCZyuZOmB2 HNA(ixlB42T0ng8ZcGwi5NLFmfHNBwgl9GcpmslvgtlT9WLUXGfgflWiTu9qHOSai4Ehrsw(XueQQMLXspOWtWnasl vUblekeLLFpGIDwi4gaPLkm6dFlCnxZ1CnSOEyGRN6dF6gdNGaghHfaOcxdOfsnQcxdOfs5Rcx3wjABufUUTs0M)P8 55AUMR5AUMRHf1ddCnGwi1ixNzU(eeW4iSaaUotCDBLOTXtvHRb0cP856mZ1NGaghHfaW1zIRBReT5FkFEUMR5AUUc T855AU2c4VPcLzzSSjeixZQybLzvSGMzvSa(BQqZSmwi4gaPLQhkeLfab37is6b3aiTuzbgPLkZQy5htrydMLXYpMI WHMLXKjl3wlnfP8SKXBlH0yOMzWroyXDmGrnwfSkkEQ5JdlH(Uh8oowqGzzSGSUJijJHAgLz4WPGBgdoCk5OmWtnFC yjf3w)S0dk8)0caUblWyQ8ZsxFIU(zYKLEqHhGO(Ubl0MQa5NLU(eD9ZKjlae13plGBymvMfRjl)0ca(zbCdJPYI00 WSmK1Kf4(l)S01NORFMmzYcbVJJf0plWQZcJIfy1DgIcUueAjdzWsy7kGFMLXstlSlgqX1XjUMqwCDEPQRceWKjtww )S00c7IbuCDCIRjKfxNxQ6QabSKDGk40(l0Z(hda0xmVPlHcpa52Tb8l4xH2n8ltwufZYCmqXKn

Hope I've helped you a bit!

[Alltat]

1. Should i use addons like Vuhdo and Clique; or macroing the the spells with mouseover is enough?

I use Vuhdo and mouseover macros (it's sometimes useful to be able to heal a player by pointing directly at them rather than their healthbar). You really only need the mouseover macros, and I mostly just don't like how the default raid frames look. While you technically don't need the macros either, having to click one less time is going to make your reaction times noticeably faster and is very strongly recommended.

2. On a raid group, my job is to heal the most injured?

Well, kind of. But not really. Your job is to heal everyone, while making sure no one dies. On most fights, you're going to have to use AoE heals to achieve that, as casting single target heals on people generally isn't enough to keep up with incoming raid-wide damage. Unless someone is likely to die in the next few seconds, them being more injured than other people isn't really a problem. If you're using Riptide and Healing Stream Totem on cooldown, you'll usually be able to keep people's health somewhat stable without too much effort. During periods of high damage, Healing Tide Totem and Spirit Link Totem are very effective at stabilizing raid health. Ascendance is also quite useful for this, as it basically turns those single target heals into AoE heals.

There really aren't any good rules for this, but knowing when to keep using AoE heals and when to stop and cast a single target heal is one of your most important skills as a healer. Just keep in mind that your job is to prevent people from dying, not keep everyone at high health. Also keep in mind that one of your strengths as a shaman is that Chain Heal is both a single target heal and an AoE heal at the same time, and can be targeted at injured players to get their health back up while still also healing the rest of the raid.

3. If the raid is OK; can i use the free cost damage spells to "help" the dps?

If you're new to raid healing, I wouldn't recommend it. That damage isn't going to actually help much, and there's probably something healing-related you could be doing. Cast Riptide if it's off cooldown to have the HoT effect up for later (especially important if you're using the High Tide talent). Cast Elemental Blast to regenerate some mana. Refresh Earth Shield early so you don't have to do it later. Drop a Healing Rain or Healing Stream Totem in advance if you expect people to start taking damage soon. Most of the time, there's something more useful you can do.

One exception is Fire Elemental. You should definitely be using that at the start of every fight and then again when it comes off cooldown. It's a lot of damage for very little effort, and if you start a fight with elemental followed by Elemental Blast, you'll have recovered that mana again by the time people start actually taking damage.

4. Wich cooldown i must track with weakauras (or another addon)?

The most important ones are the short ones: Riptide, Healing Stream Totem, Healing Rain, Elemental Blast, and Earth Shield charges. They really need to be near the center of your screen so you always know what's coming off cooldown in the next few seconds. Whether you cast Riptide just as it comes off cooldown or notice it 1-2 seconds later is going to make a huge difference to your healing done. WeakAuras is great for this, and there are plenty of ready-to-go setups posted here.

You also want timers for Healing Tide Totem, Ascendance, Spiritwalker's Grace, Spirit Link Totem, and Astral Shift (if you use that talent). You'll want to use those multiple times on each fight, and knowing what's coming off cooldown in the next 30 seconds is helpful. You don't really need an addon for this, but make sure their icons are grouped together somewhere you can easily look at them.

Also useful to track are Unleash Life (use it for the speed boost), Purify Spirit, Capacitor Totem (many bosses have stunable adds), Wind Shear (lots of stuff can be interrupted), Fire Elemental Totem, and Hex (mostly for trash, but you can use it on some boss adds).