Holy priest Rotation?

[Choshu]

Hey guys, I need some help with my rotation and mana management, im not sure what im doing wrong really.
Just recently got out a fight with chimaeron, and I was the lowest healer, with our druid coming first and paladin second. The margin is pretty large too, im 500k behind the pally and 1.0 mil behind the druid.

To preface, our pally has tsunami/ripeness trinket with a few epics, and druid also has about 5-8 epics. I am in full heroic gear, minus my pants and wrists which are pvp. Im using blood of isiset trinkets and tears of blood trinkets.

My rotation looks as such for heavy raid healing fights. POH, COH on CD, and POM on CD. Im using inner will buff instead of Inner fire. I stay in sanctuary state for the 15%+ aoe heals, I keep renew on the tanks only as it seems really expensive to spam. at about 40% mana I pop shadowfiend and use hymn at same time, however after that I find myself running oom when the boss is about 30%(when I did maloriak I was completely oom when he was at 15%).

So I was wondering could anyone help me out with my mana efficiency and rotation? Also should I be using mana pots on CD?

[Vook]

There is no "rotation" to healing. Healing =/= DPS. You use your heals based on what you need to do.

Also, chimaeron is not a good fight for comparing healing, seeing as it's very easy to pad the meters, especially for druids.

And going OOM on Maloriak? Are you 2-healing it or are your DPS taking shittons of avoidable damage?

[tehmark]

Link your armory, first thought would be to get rid of your pvp stuff

[Choshu]

There is no "rotation" to healing. Healing =/= DPS. You use your heals based on what you need to do.

Also, chimaeron is not a good fight for comparing healing, seeing as it's very easy to pad the meters, especially for druids.

And going OOM on Maloriak? Are you 2-healing it or are your DPS taking shittons of avoidable damage?

Rotation was a horrible choice of words, what I meant was, what specific skills are you guys using for sitautions such as large damage to the party(red vial on maloriak as an example) After raid takes 40k ea, are you guys spamming regen on everyone? Simply spamming POH w/COH on cd?

[Deleted]

For chimaeron, remember that it's only after massacres and in feud phases that you need to "spam" the raid. until then you should only focus on bringing the 2 people being hit by caustic slime up above 10k (I'm assuming you're on the raid).

[Deleted]

Amusing from what you have said you are raiding 10 mans. Since you got pally I can assume as well that he's on tank keeping duty as well as druid (I hope you are using the "easy" strategy of having one tank eat brakes and other double attacks). When I do 10 mans I always ask to be allowed to stay on the raid healing, since as holy it's really mana intense keeping tanks up.

Anyway, on Chimeron I don't cast anything on the tanks except heals to extend chakra state when everyone is toped of. Since I'm on the raid that means I have to bring 2 persons above 10k every 3-5 secs (when boss spits on them), so I stay in heal chakra most of the time since it's holy word can bring one person above 10k in 1 GCD and save the other one with flash heal. It's mana intense if you are not careful. We also use raid heals during system failure to top ppl of faster. We try to have at least 3 available, since we usually hit phase 2 before 4th one. During failure I swap to AoE chakra if I have CD and just spam CoH/PoH till people are toped off and usually stop healing 'till massacre to save mana. And on massacres it usually takes one PoH to bring a group above 10k, and than I help with the second group with CoH and flash heals.

Alos, don't pop both mana CD's at the same time, just use fiend when you are at 60 or 70% and use hymn when everyone is toped off during failure phase. IF you are still struggling with mana, consider getting some concentration pots and use it during other stack.

Generally it's rather fun and easy fight when you get used to it.

[Deleted]

Amusing from what you have said you are raiding 10 mans. Since you got pally I can assume as well that he's on tank keeping duty as well as druid (I hope you are using the "easy" strategy of having one tank eat brakes and other double attacks). When I do 10 mans I always ask to be allowed to stay on the raid healing, since as holy it's really mana intense keeping tanks up.

Anyway, on Chimeron I don't cast anything on the tanks except heals to extend chakra state when everyone is toped of. Since I'm on the raid that means I have to bring 2 persons above 10k every 3-5 secs (when boss spits on them), so I stay in heal chakra most of the time since it's holy word can bring one person above 10k in 1 GCD and save the other one with flash heal. It's mana intense if you are not careful. We also use raid heals during system failure to top ppl of faster. We try to have at least 3 available, since we usually hit phase 2 before 4th one. During failure I swap to AoE chakra if I have CD and just spam CoH/PoH till people are toped off and usually stop healing 'till massacre to save mana. And on massacres it usually takes one PoH to bring a group above 10k, and than I help with the second group with CoH and flash heals.

Alos, don't pop both mana CD's at the same time, just use fiend when you are at 60 or 70% and use hymn when everyone is toped off during failure phase. IF you are still struggling with mana, consider getting some concentration pots and use it during other stack.

Generally it's rather fun and easy fight when you get used to it.

I use a different approach using Chakra Sanctuary. Staying in that state all the time I cast a POH on my group if two people are below 10k health, or a flash heal if its just one. Use BH if its you and another that need the boost above 10k. Then during a feud pop the Holy Word and deploy a lightwell, heal with a POH/CH or two and thats about it. I helped out on the off tank a bit but thats it really.

Its quite a gimicky (sp?) fight, so topping the healing metres isn't ther way to go. If your assigned a specific healing task, you perform it well, and you take down the boss - you've done your job. You can then look to improve yourself trying to heal more whilst being efficient etc, though this fight probably isn't the one to look at for it.

[Deleted]

There are rotations for healers, I don't know what these guys are talking about. For example during a mass aoe such as chimaeron or after asphyxiate in SFK or when doing Going South in Tol'Vir. You want to do as much AOE HPS as humanly possible, just like a DPS who wants to do as much dps as possible. Therefor, enter rotation.

Indeed what should be used in an aoe situation is chakra: sanctuary, holy word: sanctuary under the stacked group and then PoM/CoH on cooldown while spamming PoH. People who claim there are no rotations are probably playing badly since when you need as much HPS as possible, you can't be reactive. You can't waste GCD using other spells when you need HPS. "Man, this dps is slightly lower than the others, maybe I should put a renew on him" NO. The rotation for the fastest HPS AOE does not include any free GCD to cast renew and you will lose a lot of HPS doing so (if you can put up renew before the actual rotation has to start though, that's great).

[[-Spiritus-]]

Its a matter of semantics, which is actually quite important in this case. "Rotation" has been a DPS term that signifies the absolute BEST thing to do in ANY given situation to obtain max DPS, which is their primary function.

Healers don't have "rotations" because we deal with damage patterns, which, unlike healthbars, are not the same in any given situation. However, you are right that there is optimal spell selections for every given damage pattern, it just always isn't the same.

That is why I like to refer it as healer "combos." You will rarely see a fight where casting a certain sequence of heals in a loop is optimal for the entirety of the fight. Instead, you will see several damage patterns within a fight where certain unique "combos" are best.

[Dumonyu]

For Chimaeron, I was assigned to heal 4 people including myself. What I did was put renew on all four, and then Chakra+heal to keep renew up, with circle of healing thrown in just after caustic. For feud I used lightwell, mending, flash+prayer, and circle. This seemed to work very well, and in fact was exceedingly easy.

[Appa]

I understand the concept of rotation for healers, but the variable determining which you use is the actual fight itself, and that makes it hard to really define a standard.

The following is based off 10man raids.

Here is what I do for Chimaeron:

Make sure lightwell is up right before the fight even starts. Your raid can tap into it during first stacking phase, and you can have a new CD before second phase. My raid know whats up with lightwell, and if they dont use it correctly then they feel the wraith of holiness. Pretapping before a fight results in near-castration.

Start in holy word: Serenity until stacking time. This allows for you to pop serenity on one of the low hp people. I personally think flash heal is really not very effective in this fight compared to binding heal. Youll find yourself being one of the people under 10k, just pop a binding heal and two of you are fixed. Serenity is an instant heal that brings someone over 10k (if it is not then you need to take a look at your spellpower during combat)


Watch your DBM and a few seconds before stack pop into Holy Word: Sanctuary using a fresh PoM. Start off with CoH. Binding heal the two lowest members, then PoH the lowest group. Wait until the second wave of damage while stacked before dropping sanctuary down. I feel that rewew is useless during this fight except on main tank or off tank. It does have the instant heal but its usually not enough to make a difference in the time needed. The raid also hits the lightwell during the second wave of dmg, which allows for its full effect. Thats about all you need to put into it before masscre.

Basically just rinse and repeat. If the boss is tipped correctly then everyone should be at managable health. Towards the end of the fight you just need to make sure the two tanks are topped off before going into smite mode.

You should NEVER pay attention to healing numbers for Chimaeron. Anyone can blow their mana like a champion and top the charts when the entire raid is at 15% health most of the fight. This fight is about timing your CoH, PoH, Sanctuary, and Serenity. Also, dont lose faith in echo of light because it will bring people over 10k, especially when you are critical hitting with your CoH.

Some other personal thoughts and opinions on working toward a goal of mana efficiency and regen:


Mana issues: Triage - Be proactive and reactive at the same time.


If you do not believe, understand, and cherish the idea of triage then you will run out of mana in every fight.

I personally think holy priests are by far the most successful and mana efficient raid healing class (although sometimes druids slap me in the face). The biggest enemy you will face is overhealing (with the exception of spamming heal, whether for procs or renew refresh), with its hardest hitting weapon being PoH. Make sure that before you cast PoH that its going to be effective.

The DPS does not have to be at full health right away. If they are doing fight mechanics correctly then you should never have to rush to heal them with inefficient heals. Is it realistic for DPS to be perfect? Absolutely not, but if they are consistent then your mana regen will be consistent as well. If someone is standing in fire consistently and not moving out fast enough you just have to let them know how it is affecting you.

Control Your Raid: -

• Best practice -Listen to "Lean on Me" before or during a fight.
  
  
• The entire raid depends on a raid healer for control, support, and understanding of every situation. You are the heart and soul of progression and your primary purpose is to promote efficiency through anticipation and just plain love for your peeps.
  
  
• Let echo of light work for you, don't overheal it. Watch the raid and understand what is happening. Just calm down and look at what is going on and who is doing what. You can anticipate a lot of the damage just by, i.e. knowing when Magmatron is about to AOE. Time your PoH to go off a split second after his AOE does damage. Watch your echo of light work naturally, then CoH for more. By the time he is ready to AOE again, everyone is almost full or a CoH before his AOE will put them there. You casted 3-4 predetermined, efficient heals instead of 5-6 hectic,inefficient heals.
  
  
• I use leap of faith religiously not only to keep DPS from taking a huge dmg spike, but it also demonstrates to the raid that someone is taking damage that is not mandatory. Control your raid physically and mentally, and not only will you have 65-85k mana at the end of a fight (except the hard ones ), but you will have had an insane amount of fun doing it. Toxitron add coming at your tank and for whatever reason the raid is caught up watching Glee or Teen Mom 2, be in position to pull him away. Sure it messes up positioning, but you saved a wipe singlehandedly just by understanding and following the fight. Proactive and reactive together as a team.
  
  
• Trust your tank healer. We have a healing chat channel just for talking before and after fights about what is going on (to avoid clogging vent). Know your healers and know what they can do. You do not want to waste any mana on the tanks except for an occasional renew, or emergency situation. Communication is key, if they are low, they need to just say one predetermined word on vent (or just watch their mana, control that raid!). That allows you to start helping with LESS CHANCE for overhealing on tank. This may sound nitpicky, but when its done consistently during every fight, you would be surprised how fluid healing becomes. You don't want to fight your fellow healers over who can get higher numbers, you want to help them keep your raiders alive, and you do that by conserving mana. Throwing a renew on a full hp tank just wasted you 3k mana, when he is probably being spam healed by the tank healer's low mana, efficient heal anyway. 10 wasted renews all of a sudden is 30kish mana wasted. It's great to aide in healing the tank, but its not great when you don't do it efficiently.
  
  
• Someone already mentioned potion of concentration. I keep 20 on me at all times for raiding, sometimes more if I remember. Every single fight has a moment for one of these awesome potions, ESPECIALLY being a raid healer. 22k mana over 10 seconds is a thing of beauty and shows you have control enough to idle for 10 seconds. You don't need to save this potion for when you are empty because chances are you won't have time to channel it fully. Again, be proactive, use this badboy when there is a need for mana but not a critical need for it. Allow yourself time to relax while you idle for 10 seconds. Waiting till you are down to 15k mana and depending on your mana regen CDs is no way for any raid healer to live. Stress is not healthy!
  
  
• Do not depend on hymn of hope as it is really not that effective. I normally do it only when other healers call out for mana support (and I have the time to channel), or if mechanics were not done correctly and we grunt our way through a fight and I am absolutely dry.
  
  
• Don't be afraid to use shadowfiend. You'll find more often that not that you can use it twice during a fight, and the second time is usually a godsend. You do not need to wait till you are at 20k mana to use it. Use it at 65 or 70.
  
  
• Guardian spirit - Too many times I have seen this not used effectively, and sometimes not at all. You can use this as an "OH CRAP" button, but I believe it has much more potential. Tank healer calls out for assistance (he does this when he has 30-40% mana, not when he has 100 mana). You react with guardian spirit. No communication needed other than tank healer acknowledging the spirit and the fact that his mana efficient spells are 40% stronger. A great deal of healers use guardian spirit to prevent death, but I find that if a tank is dying then his healer is out of mana or dead, and even when he is spared death he will just die in the next 5 seconds anyway (There are exceptions....proactive and reactive). Be proactive with this spell as a best practice, 40% healing for a generous amount of time is quite amazing. "But Appa, I save for when I need to keep a DPS or healers from dying!!" Why are they dying in the first place? Manage your peeps! With love and tenderness of course, but manage nonetheless!

Alright sorry for the book but its Tuesday morning and work is slow.

PS: Check your stats and make sure you are running enough mastery/spirit. I personally thrive on spellpower procs off lightweave, power torrent, and trinkets. Check your average spellpower during a fight and make sure your throughput is strong.

[notdryad]

Appa's advice is good. Just remember that, with PoH, you can rely on the glyph and Echo of Light to help bring people up to a comfortable percent. Most mechanics don't demand that the raid is always 100% topped off, so just let DPS float at, say, 85%. 85% HP raid buffed for anyone is a considerable amount of HP; if someone drops from 85% to 0%, then you can safely assume that someone did something wrong.

[QQmoore]

PoH + circle one time is all you need to keep your party over 10k for chimaeron. It's quite efficient for handling massacres, and let's you keep your mana up for fueds when you are going to be doing a lot more healing. On Chimaeron the only time you need to keep anyone topped off is when you're pushing into the final phase. Just over 10k health is good for everyone else except the double strike tank.