Healing input: Ranged vs Melee

[Junnia]

I know we've seen a few of these but I'm just looking for people's experience with their Mistweaver. Since they say the class can be played either way (melee or ranged) do we find this true?

I try to melee enough for the 2 buffs but especially for the free heal. I have been working on slowing down the melee so I just autoattack more as long as my buffs are active. IF I have a good tank/group I can melee so much and it's incredible fun (keep renewing mists on CD just in case)! If I don't have a good tank/group I find meleeing to be quite difficult to get in and I end up ranged and not nearly as effective with mana but I keep the group alive. Then again, a friend is strictly ranged and says she never has mana issues, it's completely OP and is sustaining high hps through the fights.

Anyone favor one way over the other? I want to play the monk to it's full potential and not sure if I'm doing it right.

Edit: Raids ... will that be more ranged healing?

[DirewolfX]

Short answer: The best way is to use a mix of both, depending on fight mechanics, group composition and healing role (in raids).

Fistweaving offers superior chi generation, which can be pumped into more Uplifts and usages of Mana Tea. It's great for raiding healing, because you can pump out a ton of Uplifts, which heals for a ton (like 50k at 90 on up to 8 people without using Thunder Focus Brew). If you make sure the tank is always one of those people, it's pretty solid tank healing, but you'll likely also need to supplement it with direct heals, if you are responsible for the tank.

In 5 mans, you're responsible for most or all of the healing, so naturally you will tend towards a more mixed approach, unless the group outgears the content.

[Grubjuice]

trying to using only ranged or only melee heals is like trying to walk with only one foot. The combination of the abilities together make the monk healing toolkit work. For example our two basic fillers (soothing mists and eminence) work like a left foot and a right foot: SM provides guaranteed targeted healing and random chi generation, and jabs provide guaranteed chi generation but random targeted healing. Relying on SM for Chi generation or Eminence for directed healing is foolish, using both appropriately is the best strategy.

For raid healing, Spinning Crane Kick requires that you stand within the cluster of targets you need to heal (most likely only the melee cluster). Uplift and Glyphed Renewing Mists have no positional requirement and can be used where ever you stand, but since Jab and Spinning Crane Kick are the best way to generate chi while RM is on cooldown, it will probably be a good idead to stand near a puncheable target and/or the melee cluster if you can.

Basically you should use both ranged and melee if whenever both are possible, only cut out an ability when it would be absolutely deadly or practically impossible to do so.

[Junnia]

So chances are I am doing it right then. And my "ranged" healing is in melee so I can keep my quick jabs up for the buffs.

[Grubjuice]

pretty much. yeah.

[Moxal]

So chances are I am doing it right then. And my "ranged" healing is in melee so I can keep my quick jabs up for the buffs.

Unless there is something particularly unfriendly to you in melee range (and thus creating more damage to heal on yourself), yeah.

The best example I can think of is a boss/mob that drops stuff in melee like bombs or AoE circles, etc. Those I would personally spend more time at range than in melee, but that is just me.