Holy pala or DPS as a warrior?

[Deleted]

Ok guys, so i really am struggling as to what to make my main in cataclysm.

Ive always wanted to be a holy paladin, but ive always been abit "scared" that i would fail in raids and let people down. So ive always gone as a dps, which happens to be on my warrior.

I race changed my paladin into a Tauren and it seems a waste of money if i dont play him now, so i was wondering if i could have some advice as to what would make me not "fail" in healing. I am planning on going into raids and finishing all the new raid content, but as i mentioned, i feel abit nervous in letting people die, for example not keeping the tank alive.

So i ask you, what could i do to make me a better healer in cataclysm?

[Brashara]

Practice. Nobody is instantly good at healing. There won't be strict healing rotations at 85. Just practice a LOT and eventually you'll get into your groove.

[Llunai]

Read as many resources about holy paladin healing as you can get your hands on. Remember that everything changed in 4.0.1 so you need to make sure what you're reading is up-to-date.

[Malthanis]

At the moment, with so many people outgearing heroic content, you may want to just grind out heroics for practice. Tanks don't take much damage (I tank, so I've noticed this), and DPS tend to burn things down fast enough that you don't need to worry about long fights.

Unless you're in one of the ICC 5mans, you'll be fine. Just stay calm, and don't panic. Also, don't forget your towel.

[Llunai]

Unless you're in one of the ICC 5mans, you'll be fine. Just stay calm, and don't panic. Also, don't forget your towel.

Proper towel use

It's important

[Deleted]

thanks for this comment, was wondering if you or anyone else have some useful addons that would be good for me??

[Elovan]

If you aren't familiar with using mouseover macros, I would definitely suggest getting a set of raidframes such as Healbot or Grid+Clique. They'll help give you information in a more convenient manner than the default frames, and will help you adjust to using keybinds/clicking on health bars to heal. I also recommend Power Auras, the most imba addon out there imo. It will really help you keep track of your various buffs and procs, and is insanely useful for tracking Holy Power without glancing up at your character portrait every two seconds.

[Ummagummas]

If you aren't familiar with using mouseover macros, I would definitely suggest getting a set of raidframes such as Healbot or Grid+Clique. They'll help give you information in a more convenient manner than the default frames, and will help you adjust to using keybinds/clicking on health bars to heal. I also recommend Power Auras, the most imba addon out there imo. It will really help you keep track of your various buffs and procs, and is insanely useful for tracking Holy Power without glancing up at your character portrait every two seconds.

Like Elovan said, Grid and Clique together is a miracle for almost any healers. That is what I use on my Holy Paladin. Been playing holy since 2006 and never changed to any other spec since then. I have tried many other addons, but Grid with Clique is possibly the best way to go. It is very simple design and easy to configure to your liking.

Another add on that I recommend is Decursive. It's a one button click way to cleanse your fellow raiders and is also very helpful and requires no configuration to set up.

And like it was stated above, all you have to do is practice and eventually you will know the great power of triage when it comes to healing raids. Using the correct heal at the right time is going to be important in Cataclysm. Unlike Wrath, spamming a certain heal will not work anymore. It looks like healing is going to be fun again come Cataclysm raiding, and even heroic 5 mans.

[Malthanis]

One of my guild's raid healers has said that with the new raid frames, grid isn't necessary anymore. He just uses the default raid frames and Clique.

[Deleted]

thanks for this! it was really helpful

[GLRockwell]

thanks for this comment, was wondering if you or anyone else have some useful addons that would be good for me??

I recommend learning to heal with the standard UI. It's more than enough to get the job done and it won't hinder your development like many of the popular addons. Grid, Healbot and the like are messy, confusing and complicated if you're just starting out. You don't need them. Anything in the game can be healed with the standard UI.