PvE Healing

Healing advice and suggestions for in game encounters.

A Real Last Ditch Effort Between a Druid and a Priest

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I had the pleasure of ringing for Sinful Intent in their Karazhan run (Carnage demoted it to an off raid night). Going into Karazhan for the first time was so long ago. It’s been a while since I ran with a Karazhan team that had not been able to take down Prince within the coveted 3 hour mark. Attumen, and Moroes were easy take downs.

Maiden became an interesting fight. We did not have a Paladin running with us. Our healing Matrix consisted of two Holy Priests and a Resto Druid. No Blessing of Sacrifice. This was going to be tough. I volunteered to run into the Consecrates. Needless to say, it worked. I came very close to death. I think my health even dropped to the double digits at some points. Our only casualty was the Resto Druid who was too far back behind the pillars and out of my line of site. She perished from a Holy Fire. Let this be a lesson guys. If you can’t see your other healers or dispellers, they can’t see you. When you’re executing a take down on Maiden, always move in front of the pillars within that circle.

Big Bad Wolf was rocked with several minor deaths (mine included, but a soul stone negated that effect).

The clear to Curator was very swift and very disciplined. It was perfect. I maintained a 60% plus mana reserve at all times with my shadow fiend. Ghost, after ghost, after ghost fell. Quickest chain pulling I’ve seen yet. The fight with the big boss bot was interesting. DPS was suuuuper slacking. I think we got up to the 3rd evocate. Someone forgot to eat their Wheaties that morning.

So here’s the play: At the conclusion of the 3rd evocate, I think Curator was sitting somewhere around 20%. The other Priest was dry. Our resto druid was dry. I was seconds away from being dry. A quick glance to my timers indicates my Shadowfiend has one minute remaining. My potion has 45 seconds. All THREE innervates were blown (Boomkin, Resto, and Feral). My 2 minute mana regen Shade of Aran trinket had 1:30. One of Curator’s minisparks shows up and my screen flashes red signifying that I’ve pulled aggro. The tank was at 80% health and there was no way he was going to survive the next 6 seconds with all of his healers out of gas in the tank.

Then it dawned on me.

I scream out over vent: “DON”T HEAL ME”. I had enough mana for 4 more flash heals… which I dumped on the MT to build up even more aggro. Sure enough, Curator targets me and fires a Hateful Bolt (Remember, no Paladins for salvation). I collapse. The Feral Druid understands what I’m trying to do and before I even call for it, he Battle res’s me. I’m back in the game with 33% mana. At this point our tank is nearing death and Curator is at 10+%. I execute my OH $#@& sequence of moves and is able to bring him back up past the point of no return. Curator is now in the single digits. Everyone’s wanding and trying to apply as much pressure as possible. Curator at 2%, I’m out of gas again. Tank buckles and dies. Last ditch nuking ensues. Curator… no longer… operational.

That was the most fun I’ve had for a while yet. There’s nothing like the adrenaline rush of a do or die boss take down in WoW.

Leotheras the Blind Down

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LEO DOWN

And let it be said, that Matticus’ computer did strike fear into the hearts of the blind. Resist, he attempted! Carnage members were strewn across the battlefield. Hope wavered. Dwarf and Dranei fell one after the other. So did Mallet cast one final Power Word: Shield and threw himself willingly into the his Whirlwind. Then the ground trembled, the clouds parted, and the power of the Paladins spoke in unison with their hammers of justice! When the dust settled and the smoke cleared, there laid Leotheras the Blind… Another casualty to that known as Carnage.

Loot:

[item]True-Aim Stalker Bands[/item] – Florandraa
[item]Gloves of the Vanquished Defender[/item] – Langsaebel
[item]Gloves of the Vanquished Hero[/item] – Troen

1% wipes are not fun

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We took on Leo yesterday and got him down to about 12% on the first try. Five straight attempts saw Leo float around during phase 3 between 15% and 1%. The last one of the night had him at 1% with two of our priests doing everything they can to kill him. Sadly, Smite rendered ineffective. Must make a note to Blizzard to buff Smite.

I have a sinking feeling that we could’ve killed the boss had I gone to repair when the raid leader called for it. But the only that was broken was my enchanted, gemmed T5 shoulders! SURELY it would not have made a difference between 1% and death! …Right? :O

Calling the Wipe

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This is one of the toughest calls for any raid leader to make. But it’s one of the best ways to optimize your raiding time and not waste any more effort or consumables trying to prolong a fight that’s already lost. I know some of you may think “Never! No surrender!” but really, it is a futile effort if your MT dies or over 50% of your healers are dead, or some other crap hits the fan. I want to give an example of a wipe procedure since not many young Guilds have such a concept in mind. Many inexperienced Guilds will continue to engage to the bitter end.

Wipe Preparation

What, you thought Warlocks were only good for Healthstones and DPS? No, they have Soulstones which when applied to any player allows them to resurrect themselves whenever they like. If that player falls in combat when the entire raid is still alive, it’s best to blow it. When you are engaging raid bosses, operate as if you are not going to wipe unless it is painfully obvious. So again, blow the stone. If you’re the last man standing, don’t blow the stone.

Wipe Calling

I sympathize with the Raid Leader when it’s called. It’s not a very decision to make and a false call will involve a waste of over hundreds of gold in repair bills and consumables. The correct call will save time and allow for more attempts. Typically, your Raid Leader will announce a wipe. When that happens, the following should happen: Ranged DPS would run to a location where they can be easily picked up (Such as the Gate when engaging Gruul). Try to get a Priest, Shaman, or Paladin in that same position and have a Paladin use their Divine Intervention to render that player immune. Shaman’s have the ability to self resurrect themselves, but that is an ability which should be used if the other two options are available. If you want to be really crafty, get a Druid outside in a clear position from where he can Battle Res a healer. Generally that is not recommended since it can be put to better use during combat. But if you’re in a raid instance and mobs start to respawn in ten minutes, you may not have the time or energy to reclear it all. Make sure that healer doesn’t accept it until after the encounter is reset. The moment wipe protection is utilized, make sure it’s called in vent so that players know. If there isn’t one, the last thing to do is the walk of shame back from the graveyard.

So to summarize in the following order:

* Soulstone
* DI
* Shammy Res
* Fancy Druid maneuver

Post Wipe and Analysis

Your Stoned healer picks himself up and starts ressing other healers OR Your DI’d player clicks off the buff (debuff?) and starts ressing other healers OR Your Shaman activates his self res and starts ressing other healers OR your Battle Res’d Healer wakes up and starts ressing other healers.

See a pattern here? Let your tanks and melee run back since most of the time you won’t be able to pick them up without drawing Aggro. If you can get a player, call it out in vent so they don’t zone in and be forced to run the gauntlet.

As players are being ressed, buffed, and positioned for the next attempt, go over the encounter and figure out what happened. What is a badly timed misheal? A crit from a mage which pulled aggro? The tank not eat his Wheaties that morning? Figure out what the problem is and remedy it, or else it will happen again. Raid Leaders should not be afraid to reassign healers to different assignments. Some healers are better tailored for certain jobs then others. Maybe you want your veteran healers to focus more a bit on the clothies during some phase where they take damage (Mage tank in Gruul’s lair). Sometimes you need to mix and match. But more importantly, analyze what your mistakes were so that they don’t happen again. If the fault was the result of a player, don’t call it out in raid but allow them to speak up and take responsibility. It shows signs of maturity and trust. If no one admits fault but you know who it is, send them a light whisper letting them know that they forgot an assignment or made a mistake because some players just aren’t aware that did anything wrong.

Sometimes, I wish Blizzard would implement an Instant Replay function with speed up and slow down functions so certain phases can be analyzed.

Rant: Raid Selection

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BC raids mostly consist of 25 players. Gone our the days when one or two guys could sit in MC afk and accumulate DKP by wanding and not doing anything (Alterac Valley is a shadow of what it was like then). Most Guilds either have under 25 players and struggle to fill raid spots, or have over 30 players and are placed in an unfortunate situation where they need to choose.

Hockey teams are no different. The NHL season is starting up soon and training camps are underway. The point of the camps is to determine who gets to suit up for the big leagues and who gets to sit in the press box watching or play in the minor leagues. Players who are too lazy on the backcheck get released from camp.

As a Guild, you want to bring the very best possible players to your raid. How do you determine that? You could base it on gear, skill, talent, personality, and so on. But consider another point: consistency.

Players should be fighting over raid spots. I’ve seen lack of dedication and consistency mean the difference between a guild invite and a guild boot. What, I ask, is the point of being in a raiding guild if you don’t raid? Bloggers blog, runners run, beer drinkers drink, analysts analyze. You obviously applied for a raiding Guild with one purpose in mind: to raid. Would you want these kinds of players in your 25 man raid?

The Druid tank who decides to show up 30 minutes late and hold up the whole raid to finish up a non-heroic Merchanar.

The Priest who decides not to raid one day for some stupid reason and comes back the next day whining why he’s not allowed to raid.

The Paladin who refuses to raid with a “weak” Kara team because they can’t clear it in 3 hours.

The Rogue who is frequently AFK for a ready check because he’s too busy occupied watching Naruto reruns.

Seriously, who the hell are you people and why are you here? A better question is what do they all have in common? What one trait do they all share? They want better loot without having to work for it.

Thankfully, life does not operate that way otherwise Communism would have succeeded a long time ago. You need to earn the right to play. You have to compete to win. I’m very glad Blizzard trimmed the raid instances from 40 to 25 because it truly separated the men from the boys.

There are 25 raid spots that are open. Most guilds have 30 active players. Do the math. Some players will get the call up, some players will get benched. It astounds me how people expect a free ride. There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch as my dad always told me. WoW is no different. I find it hilarious when players don’t want to do something when a Guild leader asks them to do it, and then begin to whine about not getting a raid spot. Well no kidding, moron. The boss doesn’t have a reason to. You were asked to be more responsible and you turned it down. You are aware of when the raid time is yet you make a choice not to show up. Do not be surprised if the next time you show up, you don’t get the invite. If you can’t handle something so minor why in Zeus’ name should you be given more responsibility that you clearly are unable to handle?

Performance and attendance is the key here, people. If you want to raid, the first step is to show up. You can’t clear Kara with 3 players (yet). I don’t care how geared you are. I don’t care how good you think you are. I don’t care how much you pay me. If you don’t show up once, you don’t get another chance. No I’m not referring to excuses with medical emergencies or academic reasons or what have you. Those are understandable. Sometimes life deals you a pair of Aces and you get beat with a Flush. These things happen. The important part is that you’re not afraid to buy in and ante up. It’s one of my biggest pet peeves.

Alain Vignault is the coach of the Vancouver Canucks. Last year he turned a struggling Canucks team at Christmas break into a Playoff contender. Why? Because he would start players that would perform and bring their A game. His philosophy is this: It doesn’t matter what name is on the back of your sweater, if you are there, you will see significant ice time. During games, he gave more ice time to players who he thought was performing. You see, he doesn’t play favourites. He plays whoever shows up.

Jeff Cowan, a 4th line grinder, got to play on the top line because he was contributed energy and his presence was felt.

Coach Vignault also won the Jack Adams award. That means he was widely considered as the Coach of the Year.

The next time you start your raid invite, pause for a sec and think to yourself if the names you want on your list are really the ones you want. If you’re a person whose sitting there scratching your head wondering why your Guild pulled someone outside into the raid of inviting you, it’s because you’ve proven to him that would not be useful in anyway.