Healing my first Heroic raid, help?

[Lestrang]

Sort of new wow player, i have not done a lot of raids because i can't find any good raiding guilds in my PvP server or any good ones willing to take me, so i usually end up pugging, and rarely going with my guild if the main core player is not around, which doesn't happen a lot.

Recently i applied to a really good guild in our server, and to my surprise they accepted me, but i was shocked when they told me we raid next Wednesday, and we start with heroic halfus(25 man).

I hope you have any tips for me i can make use of, improving spec, healing or anything, here is my armory: http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/characte...estrang/simple

I've watched the videos for heroic Halfus on youtube, and i hope tactics will be my least concern, don't want it to be under healing.

I heal in normal modes for 10~16k HPS. Also i am trying my best to get a Tyrande's favorite doll but not much luck.

---------- Post added 2011-03-21 at 01:58 PM ----------

Oops, sec will equipe PvE gear. >.<

[Aldiron]

Just do what you've been doing in pugs in all honestly. Just watch the fights, heal who's taking damage. Paladins are super easy to heal with (and im sure you know that) and im sure that you'll do just fine. Its an easy fight, just can be bursty damage on the tanks (coming from a 10 man healer, so im not sure about 25s) so just stay on your toes, as always. Main's not a paladin, but my alt is a holy paladin with terrible gear, so my advice on speccing may not be the best.

[Howard Moon]

Be prepared for the Halfus tank to take a LOAD of damage at the beginning. Hand of Sacrifice him a few seconds into the pull. Move from the meteors. Again, a TON of damage at the start.

[eternalwhitemoon]

Be prepared for the Halfus tank to take a LOAD of damage at the beginning. Hand of Sacrifice him a few seconds into the pull. Move from the meteors. Again, a TON of damage at the start.

Basically this. The worst of the damage is right in the beginning of the fight; I promise, it tapers off as the drakes die.

Personally I HoS one add tank, have the other Beaconed, and directly heal the Halfus tank, but that's all personal preference. Regardless of who you use it on, make sure to utilize it. It can save wipes (and has, for me).

Move from Fireball Barrage. If you want to help with raid damage you can focus the Proto-Behemoth and pop Aura Mastery when he starts to do Scorching Breath.

Most of all don't panic. I know you want to make a good first impression, but there's a reason they invited you in the first place. They wouldn't have done so if they were unsure of your ability.

Your spec is identical to mine, so yay for that! lol

I would honestly switch out Glyph of Cleansing for Glyph of LoD though. You can sneeze and hit 6 people with it in a 25-man.

You WILL go through mana like it's water in this fight. Just don't panic, and manage your mana as best you can.

[Deleted]

If you want to make a "good impression" make sure to ask them about the HoP rotation or which target you should use yours on .

[eternalwhitemoon]

If you want to make a "good impression" make sure to ask them about the HoP rotation or which target you should use yours on .

Yes, that too, although not every guild uses this strat it's a nice one. If they use BoP, please do yourself a favor and pretend LoH doesn't exist. >.>

Stupid Forbearance.

[Nillo]

Yes, that too, although not every guild uses this strat it's a nice one. If they use BoP, please do yourself a favor and pretend LoH doesn't exist. >.>

Stupid Forbearance.

In 25 man you will have plenty of tanks to use it on.

[Lestrang]

Thanks for the replies guys, ill try my best!

Basically this. The worst of the damage is right in the beginning of the fight; I promise, it tapers off as the drakes die.

Personally I HoS one add tank, have the other Beaconed, and directly heal the Halfus tank, but that's all personal preference. Regardless of who you use it on, make sure to utilize it. It can save wipes (and has, for me).

Move from Fireball Barrage. If you want to help with raid damage you can focus the Proto-Behemoth and pop Aura Mastery when he starts to do Scorching Breath.

Most of all don't panic. I know you want to make a good first impression, but there's a reason they invited you in the first place. They wouldn't have done so if they were unsure of your ability.

Your spec is identical to mine, so yay for that! lol

I would honestly switch out Glyph of Cleansing for Glyph of LoD though. You can sneeze and hit 6 people with it in a 25-man.

You WILL go through mana like it's water in this fight. Just don't panic, and manage your mana as best you can.

I was thinking about it, since i read in the other "critique my holy paladin" thread that i won't be on cleansing duty on 25 man, i was even thinking about removing a point from sacred cleansing since it will be 100% no use, but i can't think of anything else to add it to so.
Mana management is really scaring me but i guess if i make it through the first phase, i can get mana through divine plea/arcane torrent + some judges for the end of the fight, hopefully. thanks for detailed reply i feel more confident.

If you want to make a "good impression" make sure to ask them about the HoP rotation or which target you should use yours on .

Okay, will do, but can you explain how is that useful? unless i got it wrong, HoP = hand of protection right? Then who will i use it on, tanks? don't think they want to lose aggro, melee dps? maybe if they are about to die, ranged dps? don't see them taking physical damage, i am probably thinking the wrong way, so please feel free to explain to me the point.

[Dragtank]

Okay, will do, but can you explain how is that useful? unless i got it wrong, HoP = hand of protection right? Then who will i use it on, tanks? don't think they want to lose aggro, melee dps? maybe if they are about to die, ranged dps? don't see them taking physical damage, i am probably thinking the wrong way, so please feel free to explain to me the point.

HoP will remove the stacking debuff that is placed on the Halfus tank. The general idea, and how the guild i'm in does it, is an OT will taunt Halfus, you will HoP the MT (removing the debuff) and he will then taunt the boss back.

[Nillo]

Okay, will do, but can you explain how is that useful? unless i got it wrong, HoP = hand of protection right? Then who will i use it on, tanks? don't think they want to lose aggro, melee dps? maybe if they are about to die, ranged dps? don't see them taking physical damage, i am probably thinking the wrong way, so please feel free to explain to me the point.

Tanks obviously - this way you can delay the first tank swap until one of the drake dies (by letting the first tank get a high amount of 8+ stacks) and at the same time ensure that noone needs to tank a drake with Halfus stacks on him.

Btw you really ought to spec out of Eternal Glory and get Pursuit of Justice instead, because you won't be using WoG over LoD much in 25 man (Chimaeron may be an exception, but that's about it)

[Lestrang]

Tanks obviously - this way you can delay the first tank swap until one of the drake dies (by letting the first tank get a high amount of 8+ stacks) and at the same time ensure that noone needs to tank a drake with Halfus stacks on him.

Btw you really ought to spec out of Eternal Glory and get Pursuit of Justice instead, because you won't be using WoG over LoD much in 25 man (Chimaeron may be an exception, but that's about it)

I dont understand how eternal glory is not useful, if i am focusing a tank, double word of glory would be nice, or lets say, a word of glory then a free LoD? And is there any other options than pursuit of justice? i have speed enchant on my boots ._.

[Sadinar]

With glyph of LoD and beacon on a tank, WoG will heal for substantially less than a 6 target LoD will. In 25 man, its incredibly easy to hit 6 targets with LoD, making it far superior.

[eternalwhitemoon]

With glyph of LoD and beacon on a tank, WoG will heal for substantially less than a 6 target LoD will. In 25 man, its incredibly easy to hit 6 targets with LoD, making it far superior.

To clarify, it's because all those heals transfer to the Beacon target, and you can basically sneeze and hit 6 targets, that makes LoD better in 25-man. In 10-man, it's not so clear cut and I do 10m Heroic, so I go for WoGs. If you want to remove your WoG glyph, you can swap with Glyph of HS for more Infusion of Light procs.

Also, I recommend you don't spec out of Sacred Cleansing, just in case your dedicated dispeller dies, gets silenced/immobilized, out of range or shit otherwise hits the fan. It's perfectly fine to not glyph it though.

As for where to put the points, you can take the speed enchant off your boots and go PoJ with haste to boots, or you can leave it on and go Blessed Life. There's lots of unavoidable damage that procs it, and it's better than nothing. :P

[Obsession]

Just remove it. There is no reason to waste that talent point for 25m raids. If the dedicated dispeller dies, there are other problems than that. And usually there are fight mechanics that deal with dispelling (see: heroic lich king, and the magic buff on council) so they are the best at it, and usually wont dispell early or even miss.

[Nillo]

I dont understand how eternal glory is not useful, if i am focusing a tank, double word of glory would be nice, or lets say, a word of glory then a free LoD? And is there any other options than pursuit of justice? i have speed enchant on my boots ._.

Pursuit of Justice is significantly better than the boots enchant and also allows you to enchant haste on boots.
Compared to that all of the other talents are just minor improvements to your holy power generation which doesn't do all that much - WoG just isn't that great except for Chimaeron or solo healing tanks for free everywhere else - especially in 25 man LoD is a lot better.

---------- Post added 2011-03-21 at 06:10 PM ----------

To clarify, it's because all those heals transfer to the Beacon target, and you can basically sneeze and hit 6 targets, that makes LoD better in 25-man. In 10-man, it's not so clear cut and I do 10m Heroic, so I go for WoGs. If you want to remove your WoG glyph, you can swap with Glyph of HS for more Infusion of Light procs.

I don't see a reason to ever glyph for WoG (well except for chimaeron maybe if it is needed to bring you up to 10k heals), because it's a really minor bonus on a heal, that even in 10 man won't do much healing - the Infusion of Light procs alone from using the HS glyph are better than that.

---------- Post added 2011-03-21 at 06:12 PM ----------

Just remove it. There is no reason to waste that talent point for 25m raids. If the dedicated dispeller dies, there are other problems than that.

Agreed - unless you are running without capable Shamans and Priests you shouldn't need to be able to dispel in current content.

[eternalwhitemoon]

I don't see a reason to ever glyph for WoG (well except for chimaeron maybe if it is needed to bring you up to 10k heals), because it's a really minor bonus on a heal, that even in 10 man won't do much healing - the Infusion of Light procs alone from using the HS glyph are better than that.

Maybe it's my playstyle or my gearing, but I had HS glyph for a while, and then I switched to WoG glyph. I gained a decent bit of throughput without losing many IoL. So, for me personally, it's worth it, but I find either to be viable.

I toyed around with the idea of ditching my Divine Favor glyph to have both HS and WoG glyphs...but I just couldn't do it. I really like having that extra time on DF.

[Howard Moon]

To the OP: also, once all drakes are down there will be a lot less healing required, so you might be called by your RL to start dpsing Halfus. So make sure you have Inquisition and Exorcism somewhere in your action bar. And remember that Holy Shock is a damage spell also.

[Magicochon]

USUALLY, Raiding guild doing 25man will assign healers.
For instance
Healer1: Tank1
Healer2: Tank2
Healer3: Tank3
Healer 4: Group 2-3
Healer 5: Group 3-4
Healer 6: Group 5+ Anygroup
They will also tell u on wich target to put your beacon. Beside that, Your goal is NOT to top the meter. Your goal is to do the job that was assigned, if AND ONLY IF, u can do more, you do more.
So let say they put you on a tank.
The tank si 100% hp, and decide too do some cross heal, your tank drop suddently, you start a divine light but he died before.
You just failed. Even if u only wanted to do more (aka, cross heal to help other healers) your tank died. So you failed.
So it is really really really important to focus on your assignement.
But it's not because you have to focus that u can't help other healer with Smatr heal (Holy Radiance).
Halfus, as you should know, is only extremly intensive the first few minutes. So do not hesitate to burn your mana. (without overheal if possible).
Once the Drakes are downs, the healing should become much smoother and then u'll can keep ur tank alive + cross heal. (mainly when he won't tank).
Be ready to pop cooldown like aura mastery. You always look smart when u do it during a breath.
WEll... about spec and enchant, OP answered.

But I did all hardmode in Wrath and BC and the most common mistake that new player do is : I want to do more than I can to impress you but I lost my tank / 1 dps in my group.

Good Luck and have fun !

[Lestrang]

I hate this server so much, yet another guild disappoints me.
They kept asking me to watch videos, memorize tactics, i studied everything, i respec'd (go check it) i got the best glyphs for the fight, i dropped mining and herbalism and upped enchanting and jewelcrafting spending at least 15k just to be in most optimal stats, then when we are inside they tell me we are to many, you have to leave, if you have a full signed up group then why invite me to raid? i am okay with not joining a raid that i didn't sign up for, but signing up before many others, being told once and twice what to do like a real part of the raid, then just kicking me off out of the blue is not benching, its rudeness in my opinion.

Thanks for the tips everyone, i had 100% confidence cause of you that i will be able to heal through this.

[Howard Moon]

Aww that sucks

Any decent raiding guild won't pick players for a particular raid night based on "who signed up first", though. The RL will look at who was put on the waiting list last time, and adjust accordingly for the matter of fairness. If it's a 25-man guild, then raid composition shouldn't be an issue or a reason for benching you. In any case, those players put on the bench will usually be awarded a few DKP for signing up and showing up.

Kicking you out of your first raid at the last minute was not cool :/