What Makes Healing Rewarding To You?

[Donimic]

Keeping everyone alive... and sometimes getting to decide if someone dies

lol i love using BoP during Lust/Burst phases on a smartass rouge who thinks he gets to talk shit to other DPS because he is #1 on the meters... either that or all the healers talk in our own little channel and let him die. Took him weeks to catch on.


....and it's been many years but i remember using BoP on the tank in order to kill a mouthy warlock in BC pre-soul-shatter..... good times.

[Cheze]

I started healing back when I was leading a 10m strict raid, because I felt like I got a much better feel for what was happening in the fight and/or wiping us. In current mythics I like the dynamic of working with a smaller 'heal team' to solve problems, as opposed to being one of 13-14 dps

I always chuckle at the whole 'you just stare at boxes' complaint. This is different from playing DPS how, exactly?

[-Raer-]

lol i love using BoP during Lust/Burst phases on a smartass rouge who thinks he gets to talk shit to other DPS because he is #1 on the meters... either that or all the healers talk in our own little channel and let him die. Took him weeks to catch on.


....and it's been many years but i remember using BoP on the tank in order to kill a mouthy warlock in BC pre-soul-shatter..... good times.

This is why all my rotational abilities have /cancelaura Hand of Protection

I like healing because it's a different pace than DPS, a different mindset. That and healing in PVP is more entertaining.

[Trollfat]

What makes it rewarding to me? When shit hits the fan, and everybody in the raid is <20% health while the boss is at 5%. I'm oom so I'm using mana pots, health stones, and *every* remaining cooldown I have to keep the raid alive for 20 more seconds. Those are the moments I live for as a healer. I feel much more adrenaline in that situation than I would if I was a DPS.

As a healer, there's significantly less pressure on you. As long as you're pulling good numbers on the healing meters, if someone dies - you usually won't get called out, they will. If you fuck up and can't heal somebody fast enough, nobody can really tell but you. This makes it much more about personal accountability.

[Deleted]

When your heal lands that split second before the player takes the damage that would kill them... good feels.

[Cien]

when im not healing, i always feel guilty when i see a player die (especially in BGs) i feel i could've prevented it.

in raiding, a similar feeling but its also really challenging at times and i think healers are quite undervalued these days, so its really fun to keep up with mechanics AND stop others dying in addition to yourself, as opposed to lolderpz just stand out of fire, or perhaps kill an add every now and then before switching back to boss.

just an element of fun and challenge really and slight OCD too, i LOVE seeing those bars topped off ;D

[Caliph]

It's easier than great dps and far less stressful than tanking. I just find it easy.

[Daffan]

Healing makes it easier to get into raids, and usually players blame the low DPS for wipes and not the healers.

I heal in PvP because it is much more challenging I find compared to DPSing. Trying to keep myself and my allies alive while (sometimes) running away for my life from my enemies. I prefer to DPS in raids because then I can compare how I am doing to the other DPS players and push myself to do better. I find that figuring out how to heal better in raids because it depends on many things - tanks gear and skill, raid composition, DPS gear and skill, other healers gear and skill, boss fight, and boss strategy.

everything full stop is harder in PvP. Way more abilities

[Vark]

I like when all bars on my VuhDo are filled up

Besides, healing is the most flexible role.

I agree that healing in WoD is terrible - big hp pools, low heals early, "raid cds" (oh god i so hate that), I miss WotLK healing so much. Maybe healers were too powerful but look now, one person can solo heal Archi mythic. It's ridiculous.

[dexx]

Its easier to get a spot in a guild or raid group as a competent healer compared to a competent DPS. I'd prefer to dps, but something is better than nothing.

[Templar 331]

Since all the videos I've watched about raid healing make it look pretty much like a challenging mini-game compared to Tanking and DPS, what is it really like for you?

That's pretty much it really. Wack-a-mole with heals and hope your cast gets through before they die.

What makes avoiding fire and clicking on the raid box over and over rewarding for you?

The fact that I can sit back and not stand next to the boss and other dangers.

Is that presumption of what's involved with healing accurate?

Yeah.

Are there mods out there, that you'd suggest, to make healing more manageable and a more enjoyable experience?

I use Vuhdo and a gaming mouse. Haven't figured out all the buttons though. Even if you only have a 3 or 5 button mouse it's worth it.

How do you cope with entire raids blaming you for a wipe, especially if it's not your fault alone?

I've been doing it long enough to know how not to suck. Though there are times when I get brain lock when shit hits the fan. :/

Do you find you have an easier time getting gear, acquiring enchantments and such, and clearing content as a healer?

In a raid, yes. Outside, no.

(Please bear in mind I've NEVER healed before on a raid level and I'm interested in trying out a Holy Priest and Restoration Druid in Legion.)

Haven't done Priest, but Druid was fun in Wrath. Haven't done it in WoD yet and haven't seen the changes in Legion. I've normally stayed with Pally heals. Don't really like how weak heals are in general in WoD, but once you get some good gear on you can pull some numbers.

[Deleted]

Saving people doing big errors and yet letting them leave through intensive/well-though heals.

[Simulacrum]

I don't really see healing any different from DPS. As DPS, enemy healthbars pop up that you're trying to bring to zero, while as healer friendly health bars pop up that you're trying to keep from reaching zero. There are a lot of people who deny that it's that simple, but usually those people are apologists trying to explain away their own poor performances by saying things like that HPS is irrelevant.

As for why I find it rewarding, well, it's mainly just because there are fewer healers than DPS in a raid, which means that you've got more individual power relative to the raid as a healer than you do as a DPS. Most healers are also really shit at healing, likely because they don't understand that healing and DPS work the same, so it's really easy to stand out as a healer, compared to standing out as a DPS where most of them at least understand what their job is and so try to perform it well.

As for why I play one, well, it's really easy to be a healer. Y'know, when you're a DPS, your relative performance is basically entirely down to your gear. Most of the other DPS in your raid will know what they're doing, so if you're worse geared than them then you just can't compete. As a healer, things are different. Because most healers are such shit, you can usually easily outperform them even in really bad gear if you know how to play your class. So you'll always have a raid spot as a healer, and if you're good you'll always perform very well even if your gear isn't the best in the raid.

The main downside to playing a healer, though, is that healers and DPS have this sort of weird dynamic with one another. Basically, the stronger your healers are, the fewer of them you need, which means that as you start farming content waiting for the next tier or at the end of an expansion, you'll often have to respec to DPS just because the raid'll be carrying way more healers than it needs for the content it's doing. It can also be really boring to play a healer if your raid is overly cautious and runs more healers than are actually required to complete a fight. This is especially annoying in small-scale content, wher you might be able to do a fight with 2 healers with minor risk, or do it with almost zero risk with 3 healers. Most of the time, people will choose to do it with 3 healers there, which leads to an incredibly boring raiding experience.

[CloudedInSanity]

Since all the videos I've watched about raid healing make it look pretty much like a challenging mini-game compared to Tanking and DPS, what is it really like for you?

What makes avoiding fire and clicking on the raid box over and over rewarding for you?

Is that presumption of what's involved with healing accurate?

Are there mods out there, that you'd suggest, to make healing more manageable and a more enjoyable experience?

How do you cope with entire raids blaming you for a wipe, especially if it's not your fault alone?

Do you find you have an easier time getting gear, acquiring enchantments and such, and clearing content as a healer?

(Please bear in mind I've NEVER healed before on a raid level and I'm interested in trying out a Holy Priest and Restoration Druid in Legion.)

1. I find it rewarding because it is dynamic and more challenging then DPS or Tanking. There is a lot more thought that goes into hitting what ability when and on who.

2. What presumptions?

3. Good unit frames (Elv, Grid), Weak Auras, CD tracking addons.

4. Generally they don't blame you, granted I haven't really ever been in situations where it is constantly the healers fault for wiping a raid. But if they are dying and it is their fault and blaming you, simply link them their death recap of them dying to avoidable mechanics.

5. No, no, and no.

[Floopa]

It's easier than great dps and far less stressful than tanking. I just find it easy.

this.

it's just the best role because you can't fuck it up.*

*unless you are a colossal idiot

[Deleted]

Healing has never been as bad as it currently is, mostly due to how raid fights are designed, but also because of how classes have been made and how mana is almost never an issue (even on mythic). I find it plain boring and nobody really gives a shit about you. These days it's all about the dps and rankings - It's pretty much impossible to rank good due to your HPS is capped at the level of your raid's stupidity. It's also kinda weird because it's often stressful during progress, since people fuck up a lot on new fights and take tons of extra damage. As the fights become farm content, you can cut 50% of the healers.