How much do you guys use Healing Rain?

[Tolian]

I find that I've gotten out of the habit of using it, perhaps because I felt that it just wasn't contributing that much, whether that was really the case or not. Also it seemed like every time I would put it down the melee pack would move. As if they confused it for some kind of fire that they didn't want to stand in...lol.

In looking at a brief sample of logs I see kind of a mixed result of people using it versus not using it. Just curious if anyone still uses it as a staple of their healing repertoire and casts it on cooldown, or if most of you have moved away from it. Thanks for the responses.

[Cookiecutters]

I find that I've gotten out of the habit of using it, perhaps because I felt that it just wasn't contributing that much, whether that was really the case or not. Also it seemed like every time I would put it down the melee pack would move. As if they confused it for some kind of fire that they didn't want to stand in...lol.

In looking at a brief sample of logs I see kind of a mixed result of people using it versus not using it. Just curious if anyone still uses it as a staple of their healing repertoire and casts it on cooldown, or if most of you have moved away from it. Thanks for the responses.

Hi Tolian! There isn't a set amount of HRs that should be cast per encounter. I have not had the opportunity to armory you and that is if your character name is even the same. But, what I can tell you is-- how many casts of HR is dependent on the boss encounter (raid strat) itself as well as your spirit/mana regen. level and or play style.

For example, if you're a new healer in need of upgrades and run oom quickly, you prob would not want to cast HR on CD (ESP in spread fights or in your case, where they run out). In this situation you have the option to run the Conductivity talent, which would show fewer amounts of HRs cast but with a longer duration (as long as you are casting the appropriate spells in between).

As for myself, I find that I use my HR on CD most of the time either on Melee or Ranged again depending on the situation. I am at a comfortable place w my regen to where I can still cast it on CD, but that is just me. There are a few exceptions in HFC where I'm not casting it on CD but it isn't too far off. As for it being a staple heal, it still is.

What I would advise or suggest you do is, pull up a Warcraft logs window and go over multiple logs of Resto Shamans to see the breakdowns of their usage and do a comparison to your own logs. You might also want to speak w your raid team about running out of your rain unless that is the strat, where there is a lot of movement, in which case you'd want to go to other means of AoE healing, like CH. But basically research your fights, take note if they are spread fights, highly mobile fights etc. and get a feel for what works for you.

Good luck and hope that helps!

[Deleted]

Like said above pretty much on CD if you are comfortable with your mana. On stacked fights you want to do this.

On fights where there are periods of burst damage then no damage to burst again i would save it until then. For example on Mannoroth you can drop a rain pre imps or pre fear rather than use it 100% where it might just overheal. You are better off just healing a tank or doing some dps.

Knowing the fight and preplanning your rain is kinda important otherwise it is just a wasted global if you move from it 1sec later.

[Joozt]

Like said above pretty much on CD if you are comfortable with your mana. On stacked fights you want to do this.

It almost costs no mana to there is really no reason to not use it.

[Deleted]

It almost costs no mana to there is really no reason to not use it.

What i meant is when you are comfortable with mana it can become a fire and forget spell rather than a choice where you need to think about overhealing/lack of healing/people standing in it etc.

Although yeah you are right it is a really small cost and our most efficient aoe heal i think,

[Alltat]

It's decent, but not nearly as powerful as it was in previous expansions. Worth casting if a lot of people will be standing in it for most of the duration. Not worth it otherwise. It depends on the fight, really. Looking at the most recent logs, I had two casts on Hellfire Assault and 22 casts on Socrethar. So it varies a lot. You just have to learn the fights to predict movement and avoid casting it right before people have to move.

Regardless of how much it heals for, Healing Rain is still worth casting due to the "cast now, heal later" aspect of it. You can cast it before predictable damage and/or Ascendance, allowing you to turn otherwise useless casting time into useful healing (+100% healing if you use it just before activating Ascendance). Again, you pretty much have to learn the fights to figure out what works.

It almost costs no mana to there is really no reason to not use it.

It does take time to cast and does cost some mana, so you still only want to use it if a reasonable number of people will be standing in it for a while.

[Pua]

It's wholly encounter dependent, really.

I personally get pissed off with it. The amount of time people deliberately ignore it, when they don't have to, makes me sore. >.<

[Deleted]

I cast Healing rain on mythic assault so we can disco inside it inbetween the 8second long breaks of no adds =p

[Nyoken]

Pop it on CD if ur raiding mythic. If your a LFR raider, do what feels the most fun!

[Doomislav]

On my shammy, everytime I can!

[Shockeye]

I use it on CD, not much reason not to (unless there's serious damage going out that needs direct heals). Generally speaking I place it in either the melee or ranged group when the raid is not needing to move and can group, or for movement I try to drop it where I know people will run through a lot, just for a shot of healing as they move.

That said, if mana does become an issue then Healing Rain is the first casualty and I stop using it.

- - - Updated - - -

If your a LFR raider, do what feels the most fun!

Cast HR and go make a snack?

Also, *you're

[Tolian]

First off, thanks for all the replies guys! It sounds like I probably should start using it more often I guess. I played with it briefly last night and saw some improvements in my numbers, so I'll keep at it and try to get back into the habit of using it. And coaching people to stand in it again, lol.

[Ximaus]

I don't use Healing Rain at all unless I know the group will take damage and there are at least 6 people stacked up for the duration. It's not what it used to be in Mists so it does less overall healing than one cast of Chain Heal. Healing is mostly preferential but I find the only time it's not a waste of mana is if it goes out in anticipation of damage on a stacked group (usually melee). I typically only use it on Kormrok (before the hands), HFC (before wailing horror), Kilrogg (before Death Throes), Gorefiend (during Feast), Iskar (before Focused Blast), Tyrant (on the Font group), Xhul (phase 3/4 on the melee only).

It's rarely a lot of healing for me but if I can cast it in anticipation of the certain damage of those mechanics I find it's a bit of a mana saver. Considering it has no interaction with your tier bonus using it on CD when people don't need the healing is a waste. If a few people drop low you can bet your other healers will get them up faster than Healing Rain. The only thing it's good for outside of anticipating damage is sniping heals and that's not really productive.

[Shammyspice]

For me, it depends on the fight. Fights where at least the ranged/heals are grouped up most of the time or on fights where the entire raid group is grouped, I do my best to keep it down 100% of the time. Even on "spread" fights, I tend to keep it down as often as possible(without sacrificing my mana pool) and usually stick it where tanks/melee are located.