Mouseovers/Clique vs Target Healing

[Deleted]

Until recently I've thought that pretty much everyone just uses mouseover macros or some form of mouseclick like clique/vuhdo/healbot to heal, but most people I speak to and a lot of the pov vids I watch don't use them or don't even know what they are and instead click to target and then mash the spell.

Now I'm a strong believer that mouseovers are best, but even the likes of Jhazrun and Xabok do the whole targeting first thing which leads me to doubt there's a big difference between the two styles. Specifically to paladins however, I feel it's just overall better since we use mostly targeted heals.

What do you use and why?

[Avelii]

I use mouseover macros with keybindings. It just feels way slower and clunky otherwise. To the point, that I don't enjoy healing in other MMOs which don't have a macro/mouseover system.

[Ethes]

Clique since for like forever!

As for what they're doing, I'm pretty sure they use some kind of bindings as it is just that much more efficient.

[XDurionX]

I´m sure they use bindings, otherwise targetting as an additional and thus redundant click.

[Xs]

On my Paladin I use a combination of both, to allow me to not have to move my mouse around too frantically (my right wrist is quite prone to RSI, so I have to be careful not to move it excessively).
Most other classes I use target heal and do just fine with them, although it does feel a bit clunky at times and I'm sure if I switched mains to use them in PvE properly I'd use the same style as my Paladin on them too.

[franto]

I'm mouseover macro healer (mainly because you don't need any addon for this and i found it superior to healbot - 1 less click to press ).

But this is mainly in PvE. I can imagine, that in PvP you can probably play successfull using target/nameplate healing.

Why? => Because when you heal via raid frames, you don't know (by the frames) where the person is and what is he doing. (You just see his raid frame, maybe debuffs and arrow indicator, and that's all).

[TEHPALLYTANK]

I use mouseover macros and target healing, my macros are set up that they'll heal my target if there is no mouseover target. So I usually end up targeting the tank the whole time while using the mouseover function in my macros to heal others. I did just simply target heal up until MoP and had no problems with it though, the only difference is a single click.

[Shuperstar]

I use Vuhdo and it works out great for me.

[nightfalls]

Why? => Because when you heal via raid frames, you don't know (by the frames) where the person is and what is he doing. (You just see his raid frame, maybe debuffs and arrow indicator, and that's all).

As far as I know, in PvP most people use either mouseover or @partyX macros.

[Xs]

As far as I know, in PvP most people use either mouseover or @partyX macros.

This, you need to have enemies targeted to be offensive. Also not targeting your allies to heal them gives you a slight tactical advantage.

[Freia]

Until recently I've thought that pretty much everyone just uses mouseover macros or some form of mouseclick like clique/vuhdo/healbot to heal, but most people I speak to and a lot of the pov vids I watch don't use them or don't even know what they are and instead click to target and then mash the spell.

Now I'm a strong believer that mouseovers are best, but even the likes of Jhazrun and Xabok do the whole targeting first thing which leads me to doubt there's a big difference between the two styles. Specifically to paladins however, I feel it's just overall better since we use mostly targeted heals.

What do you use and why?

Pretty sure both of those healers use a macro system,when I briefly looked at Method's logs, Xabok seems to just atonement and Spirit shell every now and then which doesn't really require much targeting.

That said, use the system that is most comfortable for you. Don't worry about what everyone else is doing.

This, you need to have enemies targeted to be offensive. Also not targeting your allies to heal them gives you a slight tactical advantage.

I have never watched an arena stream (of a high rated healer that is) where the healer actually uses raid frames to heal off of(they have frames up but not to directly heal off of, just to get a quick look at debuffs and such), especially considering they have to use the default UI in sponsored tournaments. There are other ways they can see what their enemies are doing other than directly targeting them. It usually is partyx macros, or other similar macros.

[Shahad]

Never understood the point of mouseover healing. It's not more time efficient and doesn't improve response time. I started healing with manual targeting and never found a reason to change that.

[Basemath]

You can't really move your character freely with mouseover healing, especially if you're someone who holds the right mouse button to look around n change directions. With mouseover you'd need to keep the cursor on the player/frame you want to heal, thus limiting your movement options. You'll find yourself stationary more often, prone to standing in fires 1-2 seconds more than necessary.

Of course you can use mouseover macros that would otherwise heal your target, but then it could still act funny. You have your target, you're mashing the button, but the cursor accidentally hovers over a different target the moment the heal goes off. Think accidentally using Lay on Hands on someone other than your target cuz of mouse over. Targeting is just way more reliable and, when used to, is essentially error free.

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This, you need to have enemies targeted to be offensive. Also not targeting your allies to heal them gives you a slight tactical advantage.

Not targeting your allies does give you a tactical advantage, but not when you're doing it mouseover style. It's an advantage when you have /cast@player macros. In fact, in PvP especially, mouseover is such a huge disadvantage at competitive levels. Kind of for the same reasons it is disadvantageous in PvE, only in PvP the consequence is much worse.

[Freia]

You can't really move your character freely with mouseover healing, especially if you're someone who holds the right mouse button to look around n change directions. With mouseover you'd need to keep the cursor on the player/frame you want to heal, thus limiting your movement options. You'll find yourself stationary more often, prone to standing in fires 1-2 seconds more than necessary.

Of course you can use mouseover macros that would otherwise heal your target, but then it could still act funny. You have your target, you're mashing the button, but the cursor accidentally hovers over a different target the moment the heal goes off. Think accidentally using Lay on Hands on someone other than your target cuz of mouse over. Targeting is just way more reliable and, when used to, is essentially error free.

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Not targeting your allies does give you a tactical advantage, but not when you're doing it mouseover style. It's an advantage when you have /cast@player macros. In fact, in PvP especially, mouseover is such a huge disadvantage at competitive levels. Kind of for the same reasons it is disadvantageous in PvE, only in PvP the consequence is much worse.

I move just fine using mouseover macros. I use my mouse to move and strafe as well as autorun set to an easily accessable key. I can easily cast instants on my raid, I am not going to be moving when I am casting a heal anyways(I will stop casting and move). If you think someone who clicks the frame to target and then hits their key cast a heal can move better, you are dreaming. It is the same actions with an extra step.

[Shahad]

I move just fine using mouseover macros. I use my mouse to move and strafe. I can easily cast instants on my raid, I am not going to be moving when I am casting a heal anyways. If you think someone who clicks the frame to target and then hits their key cast a heal can move better, you are dreaming.

Are you implying mouseover makes someone move better?

[Freia]

Are you implying mouseover makes someone move better?

No where did I say that. I said that someone clicking their target then casting a heal isn't going to move better.

[Shahad]

No where did I say that. I said that someone clicking their target then casting a heal isn't going to move better.

It could have been interpreted as saying that, just making sure before writing a ranty post.

[Freia]

Of course you can use mouseover macros that would otherwise heal your target, but then it could still act funny. You have your target, you're mashing the button, but the cursor accidentally hovers over a different target the moment the heal goes off. Think accidentally using Lay on Hands on someone other than your target cuz of mouse over. Targeting is just way more reliable and, when used to, is essentially error free.

Also on this point, this can happen with click targeting as well, you can end up targeting the wrong person and then have to retarget the correct person. You already are taking longer to use your spell that someone using mouseover macros, so the target could very likely be dead by the time you get your lay on hands off, without even messing up targetting. So no it isn't error free. Neither method is error free.

[Shahad]

Also on this point, this can happen with click targeting as well, you can end up targeting the wrong person and then have to retarget the correct person. You already are taking longer to use your spell that someone using mouseover macros, so the target could very likely be dead by the time you get your lay on hands off, without even messing up targetting. So no it isn't error free.

It doesn't take longer to get a heal off with manual targeting. With the amount of GCDs and cast times there are, there is more than enough time to retarget.

[Basemath]

No where did I say that. I said that someone clicking their target then casting a heal isn't going to move better.

Targeting and mousing over, they both limit movement to an extent, because any action taken limits another. But that's not the point. I didn't say mousing over makes a worse player. A lot of times, someone who mouses over is better than a target-er. I was trying to clear up why targeting is only a slightly higher edge. While mousing over, you need to stay moused over, during whatever. While targeting, you don't need to worry about unmousing over anything, or accidentally mousing over the wrong target at time of cast.

The difference is negligible at best. And I was just trying to clear up why targeting is preferred at more competitive levels. Hence why you don't see top PvPers mousing over, or why you see some top healers preferring to target. This is of course not set in stone. Again, targeting doesn't necessarily make a better player. To this day, you may still see crazy good players who click.

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Also on this point, this can happen with click targeting as well, you can end up targeting the wrong person and then have to retarget the correct person. You already are taking longer to use your spell that someone using mouseover macros, so the target could very likely be dead by the time you get your lay on hands off, without even messing up targetting. So no it isn't error free. Neither method is error free.

I was more thinking of your cursor actually hovering over the body of someone else rather than their raidframe, thus landing the LoH on them. Perhaps at a moment of chaos where you needed to move but also cast LoH. N you're right, neither method is error free. I just meant one is more prone to error.