Raid healing - Are you using Holy Chakra or PoH Chakra?

[Honen]

Hello, I'm a holy priest that's 6/12 (would be 8/12 but was absent for a couple raids where my guild pushed and got 2 more kills).

Our healer composition is Holy Pally, Resto Shammy, and Holy Priest or Holy Pally, Resto Druid, and Holy priest.

The problem I have is that I find myself usually 3rd on the healing meters at around 8-9k HPS. The Holy Pally is usually 10-14k HPS (spikes some fights to 16k) and the Shammy/Druid are usually 9-11k.

I usually stay in Holy Chakra for the Serenity CD I throw in the tank to help with the Pally healing.

Should I be in PoH chakra? What else might I be doing wrong that would increase throughput?

Doesn't seem to matter my role. On some fights I tank heal with the Pally and throw some AOE in the mix and other fights I am straight up raid healing. The charts don't really show a difference in throughput. I understand charts aren't everything.... yet it seems odd to me that I'm so much further away from the other healers. I am slightly undergeared to compared to the shammy and druid (the pally is in all 359 so I'm not trying to reach him) but I feel that I should still be able to be hanging with them based on my abilities

[ZippyDoodle]

For the most part stay in AOE chakra, since the majority of your healing comes from aoe spells like PoH/PoM/CoH/Renew.

Some good tips for holy:

Use circle of healing on cooldown
Use PoM on the tanks on cooldown
Pre-Renew people if you can predict aoe damage
Use the lightwell, and encourage your guild to use it as well (Esp in 10 mans)
Keep renew on the tank
Glyphs should be PoH/Renew/Lightwell/PoM/CoH/Dispel


Goodluck hope this helps!

[crazyb]

I would agree that staying in AOE Chakra is a great idea. Up until last night, my raid comp generally included a rest druid, shammy, and myself (holy priest). I was often on Tank healing duty, and my HPS was horrid. Last night we ended up with a Pally, Shammy, myself and I was able to go raid heals.

Now this particular fight was Maloriak, so knowing the fight I was able to time my chakras and did use Heal chakra sometimes, but mostly it was AOE. My HPS went up about 35% from our attempts on Sunday to last night. 1) because I could focus on using my spells to their fullest (AOE), and 2) because I didn't have to tank heal other than support, renews, bubbles if needed, etc.

So I really think the AOE chakra is the way to go. It will increase your heals a whole bunch and will let you get the most out of your AOE.

[Mazi]

The only time you're going to want to be in Serenity is if you're fulltime tank healing or special cases like P2 Nef, Caustic Slime healing Chimaeron. Other than that you should always always be in Sanctuary. Your buffed Renew is going to assist more in tank healing than your Serenity was - and it buffs every other common spell you use.

[Theotormon]

By the sound of your progression, I would say don't worry about HPS. All that matters is success in encounters. Your chakra state should be based on knowledge of the fights. Raid healing? Probably sanctuary. Tank? Serenity.
As long as your guild has no problem with meters - which are far from indicative of your effectiveness as a healer - then you shouldn't wither. Your guild's progression speaks for itself.

Example: To use a simple fight (I'll link logs when I'm not at work), my guild usually runs with holy pally, resto druid and holy priest (me). On Magmaw, the pally and druid are each pushing 10-13k HPS, tabnk healing and raid healing, respectively. I am hovering at around 8k or 9k each time we down him. However, a quick look at overhealing (a VERY telling stat) shows them at about 20% apiece and me at around 5%. Being slightly less mana efficient than either of those healers, I have to be much more selective with my healing. That does not make me any less effective, though.

All that matters is noone is dying.
As has been stated in earlier posts, deaths tell the tale.

EDIT: My HPS can go up by as much as 1k when people are using the lightwell. take that into account. It may be a heal other people have to seek, but it's all the same to meters.

[Darkener]

Since I only do 10-mans I tend to raid heal in Serenity mostly because it I don't have to do massive amounts of raid aoe healing, and the crit increase on my heals is very dramatic. I find Serenity is much better for emergency healing, and if I need to go into Sanctuary spam PoH mode I can (Magmaw, sigh).

As far as raping meters goes there is no reason to ever want to do that. The only thing you are doing is moving numbers from other healers to you for no purpose other than to feel like you are the best, which you are not if that's the way you behave. A true healer plays as a team and not as a solo meter hogging jerk.

[Zodisius]

I only run 10-mans but I find that the Chakra:Serenity is the best for what I'm doing. The only fights I use my PoH chakra is Chogal(P2), H Chimaeron, and Al'Akir. Even those fights I spend more time in Serenity. The 10k mana cost of a spell that healz 500-600 per tic is extremely bad (speaking from 10-man perspective).

The best way to really effectively AoE heal is to spam PoH, PoM and CoH on CD while using the Holy Word to keep renew active on the tank. Sometime I don't even use CoH and PoM on CD because PoH is so strong. I will PoH till everyone is almost topped off, then CoH to finish the lowest healthed and get back into my Heal spam.

[Lilariel]

The best way to really effectively AoE heal is to spam PoH, PoM and CoH on CD while using the Holy Word to keep renew active on the tank. Sometime I don't even use CoH and PoM on CD because PoH is so strong. I will PoH till everyone is almost topped off, then CoH to finish the lowest healthed and get back into my Heal spam.

You do realize that what you just described IS best done while in the AoE chakra, right?
The extra spell you get is not the only thing chakra gives, it also gives other passive effects to AoE heals, or single-target heals depending on which you stay in. If you hopped into the AoE chakra while doing exactly what you described, you'd heal for a lot more. :P

And healing meters are in my opinion mostly a pile of bull, topping them does not neccessarily make you a good healer at all. Healing is entirely about when and where your heals go and how fast you get them there, not how much healing you did. Taken to the extreme; a healer that spamheals the raid with AoE heals while the tank dies may win at healing done, but he's wiping the raid aswell.

[Zodisius]

Yes, but then having to wait 15-20 seconds before you can switch back into Serenity, which could then put chakra on CD to switch back into PoH before the next AoE wave. This makes it better to spend most of your time in the Serenity state since PoH state isn't worth it for 15 seconds of massive AoE healing.

Although I do agree with you on healing meters being overvalued they are helpful to a point. They allow you to examine your heals and alternate play styles per attempt to find out which works best.

[Kaysha]

Since I only do 10-mans I tend to raid heal in Serenity mostly because it I don't have to do massive amounts of raid aoe healing

What fights are you referring to? I am guessing you're somewhat better geared for the encounters you're doing. My guild is somewhat slow, we're at 5/12 Normal at the moment, but I find that all bosses have some form of AoE damage that requires my attention. Maloriak on Frost comes to mind as one where it isn't the case, and Omnotron besides Magmatron, but on other Maloriak phases and other Trons, Magmaw, Chimaeron, Halfus and the twin Drakes, AoE damage is not trivial.

Personally, I prefer being in Sanctuary. Only on special occassions will I switch to Serenity instead.

[Danner]

Totally depends on the fight.

For fights with massive amounts of aoe healing, the PoH chakra is of course the best choice.
For fights with massive amounts of single target healing, the heal chakra is the best choice.
If it really don't matter, then I tend to stay in neither. Maintaining chakra for no good reason is a hazzle.

[Archicortex]

Totally depends on the fight.

For fights with massive amounts of aoe healing, the PoH chakra is of course the best choice.
For fights with massive amounts of single target healing, the heal chakra is the best choice.
If it really don't matter, then I tend to stay in neither. Maintaining chakra for no good reason is a hazzle.

You will change that stance of yours once you get 4pc T11

[keik12]

You will change that stance of yours once you get 4pc T11

There becomes a point, where the extra regen of the 4 piece becomes completely useless. I got rid of my 4 piece cause I have learned exactly who to manage my mana cds and I dont have to even worry about mana at anytime, and this is even into heroic modes. Plus this allows you to pick up pieces (i.e. the tier helmet and chest) that give crit, which is a 100% useless stat to a H priest. This could also be said to the OP, make sure you find a good groove about using your mana cd's for instance using SF in the beginning of a fight will bring it back up at the end, that paired with any other trinkets/racials (if your a BE) can keep your mana pool high, thus helps out your healing a lot.

[Archicortex]

There becomes a point, where the extra regen of the 4 piece becomes completely useless. I got rid of my 4 piece cause I have learned exactly who to manage my mana cds and I dont have to even worry about mana at anytime, and this is even into heroic modes. Plus this allows you to pick up pieces (i.e. the tier helmet and chest) that give crit, which is a 100% useless stat to a H priest. This could also be said to the OP, make sure you find a good groove about using your mana cd's for instance using SF in the beginning of a fight will bring it back up at the end, that paired with any other trinkets/racials (if your a BE) can keep your mana pool high, thus helps out your healing a lot.

Wrong on so many levels you're forcing me to correct you for the sake of the OP actually not believing the nonsense you just wrote:

1. The comment was based around the quote regarding "Not being in a chakra state is better than being in one when not needing either (healing downtime)".
2. If you don't need the extra regen from the 4-piece, and you've got BETTER items for the slots i.e higher ilvl gear or more favorable stats, then by all means. Usually, and especially during progress, the 4set bonus is a pretty good help as it allows you to reforge Mastery/Crit -> Haste to further boost your throughput while still having sufficient regen.
3. Crit isn't a useless stat, it's simply unreliable, especially at current gear levels. Stating it being useless is plain wrong.
4. He raids 10mans by the looks of his healer setup, so mana is always going to be an issue. You are either raiding 25man or are still not too far into heroic modes to feel the pressure on your manapool when healing.
5. I don't need the head piece to get the 4pc bonus, and the chest is fine to be honest. Considering the 4pc bonus, the amount of crit i am getting instead of a more favorable stat is negligible.

[Malania]

Since I only do 10-mans I tend to raid heal in Serenity mostly because it I don't have to do massive amounts of raid aoe healing, and the crit increase on my heals is very dramatic. I find Serenity is much better for emergency healing, and if I need to go into Sanctuary spam PoH mode I can (Magmaw, sigh).

As far as raping meters goes there is no reason to ever want to do that. The only thing you are doing is moving numbers from other healers to you for no purpose other than to feel like you are the best, which you are not if that's the way you behave. A true healer plays as a team and not as a solo meter hogging jerk.

Except when it's me. True story.

---------- Post added 2011-03-05 at 07:28 PM ----------

Wrong on so many levels you're forcing me to correct you for the sake of the OP actually not believing the nonsense you just wrote:

1. The comment was based around the quote regarding "Not being in a chakra state is better than being in one when not needing either (healing downtime)".
2. If you don't need the extra regen from the 4-piece, and you've got BETTER items for the slots i.e higher ilvl gear or more favorable stats, then by all means. Usually, and especially during progress, the 4set bonus is a pretty good help as it allows you to reforge Mastery/Crit -> Haste to further boost your throughput while still having sufficient regen.
3. Crit isn't a useless stat, it's simply unreliable, especially at current gear levels. Stating it being useless is plain wrong.
4. He raids 10mans by the looks of his healer setup, so mana is always going to be an issue. You are either raiding 25man or are still not too far into heroic modes to feel the pressure on your manapool when healing.
5. I don't need the head piece to get the 4pc bonus, and the chest is fine to be honest. Considering the 4pc bonus, the amount of crit i am getting instead of a more favorable stat is negligible.

As a side note I should state that haste is only a bigger throughput stat to mastery if you're GCD locked. If you aren't it's wasted. That said, you are correct, the 4 piece is favourable for new content. New content is always spikey, your healing is always going to be higher due to people familiarising themselves with mechanics and you should want a larger regen pool for this kind of stuff. If it's farm content, sure.

[Deleted]

There becomes a point, where the extra regen of the 4 piece becomes completely useless. I got rid of my 4 piece cause I have learned exactly who to manage my mana cds and I dont have to even worry about mana at anytime, and this is even into heroic modes. Plus this allows you to pick up pieces (i.e. the tier helmet and chest) that give crit, which is a 100% useless stat to a H priest. This could also be said to the OP, make sure you find a good groove about using your mana cd's for instance using SF in the beginning of a fight will bring it back up at the end, that paired with any other trinkets/racials (if your a BE) can keep your mana pool high, thus helps out your healing a lot.

I suggest you rethink you this. If you really believe spirit is useless you could just reforging it away instead instead.. 540 spirit is fucking HUGE!

Also calling crit a 100% useless stat goes beyond dumb. You do know that most heroic encounters are quite healing intensive? You will have plenty of non-overheal crit heals. Yes, crit might not be as usefull as haste or mastery, but useless, not even remotely.

As for chakras here's what i'd do on normal 10:
Ominitron: serenity forever.
Magmaw: sanctuary forever.
Chimearon: start serenity switch to sanc on first feud then stay in that till last phase zerg phase when you go smite chakra.
Atramedes: stay in sanc forever.
Maloriak: stay in serenity for all but red and P2, go sanc there. (Disc is usually better on this fight, because of the shields effectively killing the red phase)
Nef: Start in serenity. Once you start electrocuting people on nef, switch sanc, then when you go on platform go serenity. Then depending on wether you're healing the add tank->serenity or raid->sanc.
Halfus, always went disc, so no clue.
V&T, sanc forever.
Council, serenity in first two phases, then switch sanc for 3rd phase.
Cho'gall, serenity for first phase, then sanc for last phase.
Conclave, serenity all way, though it could be an idea to go sanc if you're jumping to north doing ultima.
Al akir, start in serenity then switch to sanc as you start healing in p2.