rolled a shaman for healing but why do we suck at it.

[Gestopft]

Don't associate yourself (sucking) with me, as "we." I knew going in I'm not going to expect big HPS, but the point of the game is people staying alive and the boss dying. As long as I'm keeping the raid group up along with the other healers, I'm doing my part.

This is a great attitude to take as a healer. But once it becomes obvious that a raid leader could bring any other healing class and improve the raids chances or ease of success, asking for improvements doesn't mean abandoning that mentality.

[Xarganthos]

we are 2 resto shamans and 1 holy/disc priest in our 10m raidgroup. we are at 6/7 hc and have already started ragnaros hc progress. i like this class, even though its "weak".. we are downing everything, and also ragnaros will bite the dust~

and btw my shaman is just an alt

shaman isnt the best, but its the most fun to me

pardon my english i suck :O

[Deleted]

blizzard basically lubed up the broom handle and shoved it right up the resto shamans ....
we're basically the jacks of all trades and masters of none at the moment. We can do our job to the level that is required in a raid but we will not excell at either tank or raid healing (on the metres).

The best way to measure your current ability as a resto shaman is wether or not your assignments are dying in the encounters. If they're dying then you need to be doing something better, if they're living and the bosses are dying then you are doing fine.

The problem is that in most 10m scenarios, 2 healers are the way to go. And that's where HPS does simply matter when you aren't overgeared or the encounter is undertuned. A perfect example is still ragnaros heroic.

We consider Palas being tank healers, yet they also have a very very good HPS. Shamans simply are simply weaker and two healing a boss is simply a lot easier with no resto shaman.

In a 10man scenario, it's about druid > pala > disci ( but all in a small margin of about 5-10%) and resto shaman and holy are definitely a lot worse (another 10-20% behind disci, depending on fight and raid stacked). In 25man, druid is the best healer, then disci/Pala still very close and (what a surprise) resto shaman again far behind, even a lot behind holy.

The downsides are pretty big: weak single target heals, slow heals, very very range limited! and no compensation for not having beacon or great aoe heal.

Resto is still a good third healer, especially if we get the ancestral healing buff. And of course you can still two heal when you are overgeared/ the encounter is undertuned healingwise.

[heinevilla]

Raid isn't about HpS mate. As a holy pala im pretty much always at the top, but I couldn't care less if I was number three? Doesn't dependt on which healer who heals the most.

[Deleted]

Shamans are known for their fight-dependent healing, but, in my 10m guild raid, where i often compare my hps with others (paladin, holy priest), it's pretty the same and sometimes higher.
I've tried all kind of spec and class about healing, and i can say that no one could be comparable with shamans.
Druids can do the higher hps but they couldn't afford frequent spikes (except when tranq or tree form), priests are mana-dependent and paladins must use their twenty cooldowns for a good heal.
Shamans can afford lot of spikes (even if group is stack, but as you know, more often spikes=stacked) by simple HR plus CH, they are not mana-dependent (telluric currents), and can do 120k in a single heal without cooldowns.
It's just skills and fight knowledge, you must know when using TC for get your mana back, or precasting HR in the stack zone, or use Shock+Unleash for make your GHW like a Lay on Hands when tank are getting a big spike, or using your pretty cooldowns (SWG) during moving phases.
Remember also that high hps means that you are healing before other healers, and this is why druids are better with their hots. But doesn't mean that you are worst than other: if you can cap a player with a single GHW and then doing nothing for seconds with your hps drasticaly going down, probably that player would die without you. It's just our mechanic.
Shamans are the most difficult class in my opinion and this is the reason to make them fun to play.

[Eliot123]

It was hard for blizz to buff shamans because they are really good in pvp

Except that issues resto shamans are facing in PvE aren't related to them being really good in PvP.

Druids can do the higher hps but they couldn't afford frequent spikes (except when tranq or tree form), priests are mana-dependent and paladins must use their twenty cooldowns for a good heal.

Wat? o.O... Er, no.

Also, I really, really wish people won't stop referring to shamans as ''support healers''. -.-

[heinevilla]

twenty cooldowns? Go read about pala healing dude.

[Saved]

Stop looking to recount and start looking for raid frames ... just dont let anyone die and its ok

[Deleted]

I have both a paladin and a shaman healer, both having FL gear.
Right now, there is no other class that can beat HPS of a shaman on a bunched raid (inb4 resto druid in tree form casting tranquility).
About single target healing - shamans can easily pull bigger numbers on their heals than paladin, I was doing bigger heals(number-wise) on my shaman when he dinged 85 than my full firelands geared paladin. So in tank healing a shaman might need to cast only 1-2 spells to top a tank while a paladin will have to do 3-4. On the other hand paladins have more instant spells and usually can throw more heals HPS-wise, however no other class can achieve as big heals as a shaman stacking mastery and if you guys think that is insignificant or "bad" in raids - roll some healer classes and try it yourself instead of spamming /2 with LF HEALER LAST SPOT.

[Crashdummy]

So I got my shaman up to 85 and hes geared a little but in raids i always have the lowest hps. Where as my priest Im always on top, I am really sad about this u get a toon all the way up the grind only to find out we have the weakest heals in the game. Yet I always see people looking for a shaman heals yet are numbers are always at the bottom. Whats the issue. Even when I raid with other shamans there always at the bottom whats going on here.

We have the lowest HPS of all healers, and by a significant number.

That being said, we can still succesfully heal those raids, the group just have a better chance of success with other healers, thats all.

We are great at raid stacked healing, thats all. Apart from that, you will heal less than others.

[Seriss]

I have both a paladin and a shaman healer, both having FL gear.
Right now, there is no other class that can beat HPS of a shaman on a bunched raid (inb4 resto druid in tree form casting tranquility).
About single target healing - shamans can easily pull bigger numbers on their heals than paladin, I was doing bigger heals(number-wise) on my shaman when he dinged 85 than my full firelands geared paladin. So in tank healing a shaman might need to cast only 1-2 spells to top a tank while a paladin will have to do 3-4. On the other hand paladins have more instant spells and usually can throw more heals HPS-wise, however no other class can achieve as big heals as a shaman stacking mastery and if you guys think that is insignificant or "bad" in raids - roll some healer classes and try it yourself instead of spamming /2 with LF HEALER LAST SPOT.

I can cast huge heals, yes. If I crit at the right moment. You're depicting paladins as weaker than they are.

I cannot for the life of me sustain the healing that a paladin does on a tank. Even with almost full BiS gear. There is no way to even come close to a BiS paladin.

And that's only in hps and longevity. We haven't even touched upon the subject of utility - where, ironically enough, a paladin will just leave a shaman so far behind that you start to wonder how you could ever get a raid spot when practically all that you bring to a raid are your hps... and not many of those little buggers at that.

We have the lowest HPS of all heales, and by a significant number.

That being said, we can still succesfully heal those raids, the group just have a better chance of success with other healers, thats all.

We are great at raid stacked healing, thats all. Apart from that, you will heal less than others.

We are great at raid stacked healing - but even then, other classes who don't care if it's stacked or not, heal at least as well as we do. We have no niche where we can shine. Sad but true.

The only moments where we can pat ourselves on the back are those that nobody notices. When we throw a heal at someone who was almost dying and are lucky enough to crit them to full health... Yes, I pat myself on the back in such a moment for my good timing - pity, my smile and my short-term pride disappear instantly when praises are heaped on the high-hps healers

[Crashdummy]

I have both a paladin and a shaman healer, both having FL gear.
Right now, there is no other class that can beat HPS of a shaman on a bunched raid (inb4 resto druid in tree form casting tranquility).
About single target healing - shamans can easily pull bigger numbers on their heals than paladin, I was doing bigger heals(number-wise) on my shaman when he dinged 85 than my full firelands geared paladin. So in tank healing a shaman might need to cast only 1-2 spells to top a tank while a paladin will have to do 3-4. On the other hand paladins have more instant spells and usually can throw more heals HPS-wise, however no other class can achieve as big heals as a shaman stacking mastery and if you guys think that is insignificant or "bad" in raids - roll some healer classes and try it yourself instead of spamming /2 with LF HEALER LAST SPOT.

Bullshit, Shamans dont have bigger single target heals than paladins. I also have both.

I think you are not counting paladin mastery and you are counting shaman mastery.

[taheen74]

This is what you tell them:

HPS doesn't matter unless people are dying.
Also, you don't read HPS like you do a dps meter.
Even then:

High HPS= means people are taking tons of avoidable/unavoidable damage
Low HPS: people are staying out of the bad stuff meaning you don't have to heal them as much

I once did an Atremiedes fight pre nerf in which no one but the tank took damage. Think all the healers averaged about 4K heals that fight (we were so bored).

[Poysonivy]

The difference with other healers is that you have to shower after each raid.

But thats the challenge I like now. I really feel like a triage healer now compared to my Rdruid.

[Jinto]

I have both a paladin and a shaman healer, both having FL gear.
Right now, there is no other class that can beat HPS of a shaman on a bunched raid (inb4 resto druid in tree form casting tranquility).
About single target healing - shamans can easily pull bigger numbers on their heals than paladin, I was doing bigger heals(number-wise) on my shaman when he dinged 85 than my full firelands geared paladin. So in tank healing a shaman might need to cast only 1-2 spells to top a tank while a paladin will have to do 3-4. On the other hand paladins have more instant spells and usually can throw more heals HPS-wise, however no other class can achieve as big heals as a shaman stacking mastery and if you guys think that is insignificant or "bad" in raids - roll some healer classes and try it yourself instead of spamming /2 with LF HEALER LAST SPOT.

*facepalm*

Go learn to play a paladin before you comment on both. Actually go learn both paladin and shaman healing.

[karrad]

This is why LFR is going to be awesome.

[Kenai]

Eh. It's not any one thing about Shaman that bothers me.

But honestly:
1) Weak (weakest?) mana regen
2) Least (on average) overhealing
3) (Worst?) mana problems
4) Lowest (overall) HPS
5) Worst raid healer at a spread out fight
6) Great (not best) raid healer at a stacked fight
7) A few incredibly situational (the most situational?) cooldowns
8) Worse than two specs at overall tank healing (better than two others), same with raid healing (generally)

Other things are debatable (and I don't want to get into the TC and totem love/hate thing), but the four bolded (mostly) negatives SHOULD NEVER be an issue on the same healer spec, and yet they are for Resto Shaman. It is absolutely stupid. It shows that we aren't wasting our mana as much as the other specs (due to skill or design or otherwise) yet for some reason still have terrible mana issues and are rewarded for that by the same (at best) result if we are more skilled and mediocrity if the other healer's skill is comparable. I still don't think Shaman is "broken", especially compared to the start of the expansion, but just because we are far better than before does not make it acceptable (to me).

5 and 6 are also stupid because if Shaman is not the best raid healer on a stacked fight (and it's not, it's just a good healer on a stacked fight, maybe even great), then it is not a Resto Shaman "niche", by definition. It is more like "all of our abilities are useable instead of a third of them being useless" on a stacked fight. And I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want that niche anyway.

[Garbles]

Learn how to play.

[Asotcha]

instead of looking at the hps, check out the healing done.

i thought that was really zen and profound until i realized you were talking about two different meters xD


but yeah---i mean just focus on the healing itself, screw the meters and have fun with it. resto sham has many paths to success and tools at our disposal---we get to play whack-a-mole with our heals :3

you may yet develop a taste for it---play around, discover and hone a good style that suits you, and enjoy

[Shamygandof]

So I got my shaman up to 85 and hes geared a little but in raids i always have the lowest hps. Where as my priest Im always on top, I am really sad about this u get a toon all the way up the grind only to find out we have the weakest heals in the game. Yet I always see people looking for a shaman heals yet are numbers are always at the bottom. Whats the issue. Even when I raid with other shamans there always at the bottom whats going on here.

You roll rshaman for arena healing, not raid healing lol.