Comments on: How to be a Tree in 3.1 http://www.worldofmatticus.com/2009/04/21/how-to-be-a-tree-in-31/ Practical advice for World of Warcraft healers and leaders Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:13:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Toops http://www.worldofmatticus.com/2009/04/21/how-to-be-a-tree-in-31/comment-page-1/#comment-20844 Toops Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:08:04 +0000 http://www.worldofmatticus.com/?p=4645#comment-20844 Yes totally agree Seboyna, totally. There is very little scope for Nourish and Regrowth within current Ulduar content - unless you are ofc primarily a tank healer. I would also like to correct my earlier statements in regard to the importance of Lifebloom. This is still an important spell (i've yet to fully test its use in Vezax 25 casting it while on places where Shadow Crash has hit but if the mana cost of LB is reduced upon its initial cast while on it, I'm hoping that when I step off the bloom will heal for its full amount and if so is an amazing spell for that fight as you get mana back as well - Can anyone here clarify the use of Shadow Crash?). Having said that however, yes the main spells that usually feature heavily on healing meters are WG and Rejuv - depends on the fight but these feature very heavily. Rejuv is my most powerful hot. LB can be great in certain situations like Kologarn and Ignis where you know when the whole raid will take damage at certain points throughout the fight and so you can cast it bloom accordingly when those hits come. But anyway keep us informed Seboyna and would like feedback from the Sydera on Lifebloom and the new skins :D Yes totally agree Seboyna, totally. There is very little scope for Nourish and Regrowth within current Ulduar content – unless you are ofc primarily a tank healer.
I would also like to correct my earlier statements in regard to the importance of Lifebloom. This is still an important spell (i’ve yet to fully test its use in Vezax 25 casting it while on places where Shadow Crash has hit but if the mana cost of LB is reduced upon its initial cast while on it, I’m hoping that when I step off the bloom will heal for its full amount and if so is an amazing spell for that fight as you get mana back as well – Can anyone here clarify the use of Shadow Crash?).
Having said that however, yes the main spells that usually feature heavily on healing meters are WG and Rejuv – depends on the fight but these feature very heavily. Rejuv is my most powerful hot. LB can be great in certain situations like Kologarn and Ignis where you know when the whole raid will take damage at certain points throughout the fight and so you can cast it bloom accordingly when those hits come.
But anyway keep us informed Seboyna and would like feedback from the Sydera on Lifebloom and the new skins :D

]]> By: Seboyna http://www.worldofmatticus.com/2009/04/21/how-to-be-a-tree-in-31/comment-page-1/#comment-20820 Seboyna Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:52:48 +0000 http://www.worldofmatticus.com/?p=4645#comment-20820 after healing different styles for a few weeks in ulduar, i found the best method for druid healing almost completely ignores Nourish for Regrowth. I still use it in some situations , like in case my NS+HT is on cooldown because nourish does have a .5 sec less cast time if i need to ge a heal off fast, but i am more of a proactive healer and throw most of my heals down before they take the damage, and pound for pound Regrowth will bump your HPS up by around 400-500, 1000hp a tick every 3 sec for a long duration is a LOT if healing and helps a ton on fights where health loss is a consistant rate. I actually replaced my swiftmend glyph with regrowth recently and it seems to be a huge boost considering regrowth is cast much more often than swiftmend. For other spells i always make sure rejuv is up on tanks or ppl taking constant damage, and now lifebloom is nice but only effective anymore rolling 3 stacks and leting them drop, i put less importance on lifebloom anymore but if i have both rejuv and regrowth ticking i will try to throw lifebloom up on them for sure. My biggest HPS spell that grants me the most healing is wild growth, but to get the most out of that one, u would suggest using the glyph and knowing who to cast in on, on MOST boss encounters you will come across, mellee will be grouped together and ranged likes to spread out a bit, therefore casting your wildgrowth on the mellee seems to be the most viable option for it. ( the tank is usually near mellee so casting on tank lets you not have to switch targets and give him an extra HoT). If mellee doesnt take any dmg but the ranged does, i suggest moving around to a grp of ranged and casting on yourself, that way you get some heals and spread it to 5 others (glyphed). Macro for NS+HT -- the only time i will use healing touch is when i pop natures swiftness, i have this macroed /cast Nature's Swiftness /cast Healing Touch this works great for "oh shit" heals. <abbr><em>Seboynas last blog post..<a href="http://www.shameless-guild.com/?p=32" rel="nofollow">Acheivements!!!</a></abbr></em> after healing different styles for a few weeks in ulduar, i found the best method for druid healing almost completely ignores Nourish for Regrowth.

I still use it in some situations , like in case my NS+HT is on cooldown because nourish does have a .5 sec less cast time if i need to ge a heal off fast, but i am more of a proactive healer and throw most of my heals down before they take the damage, and pound for pound Regrowth will bump your HPS up by around 400-500, 1000hp a tick every 3 sec for a long duration is a LOT if healing and helps a ton on fights where health loss is a consistant rate.

I actually replaced my swiftmend glyph with regrowth recently and it seems to be a huge boost considering regrowth is cast much more often than swiftmend.

For other spells i always make sure rejuv is up on tanks or ppl taking constant damage, and now lifebloom is nice but only effective anymore rolling 3 stacks and leting them drop, i put less importance on lifebloom anymore but if i have both rejuv and regrowth ticking i will try to throw lifebloom up on them for sure.

My biggest HPS spell that grants me the most healing is wild growth, but to get the most out of that one, u would suggest using the glyph and knowing who to cast in on, on MOST boss encounters you will come across, mellee will be grouped together and ranged likes to spread out a bit, therefore casting your wildgrowth on the mellee seems to be the most viable option for it. ( the tank is usually near mellee so casting on tank lets you not have to switch targets and give him an extra HoT).
If mellee doesnt take any dmg but the ranged does, i suggest moving around to a grp of ranged and casting on yourself, that way you get some heals and spread it to 5 others (glyphed).

Macro for NS+HT — the only time i will use healing touch is when i pop natures swiftness, i have this macroed

/cast Nature’s Swiftness
/cast Healing Touch

this works great for “oh shit” heals.

Seboynas last blog post..Acheivements!!!

]]> By: Toops http://www.worldofmatticus.com/2009/04/21/how-to-be-a-tree-in-31/comment-page-1/#comment-20355 Toops Wed, 13 May 2009 23:27:42 +0000 http://www.worldofmatticus.com/?p=4645#comment-20355 Well Rejuv is a very strong spell indeed - quite surprised at that because its not a fast-acting spell. A Keeva. Lifebloom is still a great spell too and very often it is LB followed by Rejuv that tops my healing meters (which I can afford to do as I have found balance at last between required spellpower and mp5 - just need more haste atm but im happy). The reason tho is specific to how my guild 'play'. For instance we have great priest and pally healers that are fast, so I have made it my roll to act as support healer with such hots buffering damage - as Sydera says we specialize in HOTs, not direct heals. That said Nourish is a great spell but in many cases we just do not have the time to cast it AFTER having cast a few hots on that target first - by which time the priest has healed them with flash heal. Why fight against them when you should be supporting each other in different ways? Ofc it depends on the fight, but at last night's raid my LB stack of 3 crit for well over 19k on bloom. If you can preempt when raiders will take damage LB can be extremely useful together in conjunction with the other HOTs. Mainframe (Kul Tiras EU) Well Rejuv is a very strong spell indeed – quite surprised at that because its not a fast-acting spell.

A Keeva.
Lifebloom is still a great spell too and very often it is LB followed by Rejuv that tops my healing meters (which I can afford to do as I have found balance at last between required spellpower and mp5 – just need more haste atm but im happy). The reason tho is specific to how my guild ‘play’. For instance we have great priest and pally healers that are fast, so I have made it my roll to act as support healer with such hots buffering damage – as Sydera says we specialize in HOTs, not direct heals. That said Nourish is a great spell but in many cases we just do not have the time to cast it AFTER having cast a few hots on that target first – by which time the priest has healed them with flash heal. Why fight against them when you should be supporting each other in different ways?

Ofc it depends on the fight, but at last night’s raid my LB stack of 3 crit for well over 19k on bloom. If you can preempt when raiders will take damage LB can be extremely useful together in conjunction with the other HOTs.

Mainframe (Kul Tiras EU)

]]> By: Allindra http://www.worldofmatticus.com/2009/04/21/how-to-be-a-tree-in-31/comment-page-1/#comment-20010 Allindra Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:00:42 +0000 http://www.worldofmatticus.com/?p=4645#comment-20010 I usually play a dual specced holy/disc priest (Allindra of Smolderthorn) and as such my druid (Rivellana of Smolderthorn) has fallen by the wayside...she is an alt and her gear reflects it although I've tried to get the best that I can get for her from the content I'm able to bring her in for. However when we had the second talent point refund, I decided to go with Sydera's HT raid healing spec to try it out. My druid's SP is not all that high and her mana regen is not all that great, however I've used her a few times this week with this spec and I have to say I love the results. A few nights ago we ran a Naxx 10 with a bunch of alts, and my healing came very close to that of a cookie-cutter spec resto druid that had much better gear than myself. Last night we ran an OS 25 (no drakes) with three resto druids, a holy priest, and two holy paladins. The other two are guildie resto druids and very good and their gear is MUCH MUCH better than mine and I have to say I was surprised with the results on the healing meters at the end. My undergeared resto druid was at the top of the meters for both overall healing and for the boss fight, and at the very very bottom of the overhealing meters. Now I'm finding that where before 3.1 I stacked and rolled lifeblooms and tried nourish where I could, after 3.1 I am barely touching lifebloom or nourish. Most all of my healing has been done with rejuv, HT, regrowth, and swiftmend. I just find it very interesting but I think for someone whose gear might not be up to par this raid healing build is excellent. I usually play a dual specced holy/disc priest (Allindra of Smolderthorn) and as such my druid (Rivellana of Smolderthorn) has fallen by the wayside…she is an alt and her gear reflects it although I’ve tried to get the best that I can get for her from the content I’m able to bring her in for.

However when we had the second talent point refund, I decided to go with Sydera’s HT raid healing spec to try it out. My druid’s SP is not all that high and her mana regen is not all that great, however I’ve used her a few times this week with this spec and I have to say I love the results.

A few nights ago we ran a Naxx 10 with a bunch of alts, and my healing came very close to that of a cookie-cutter spec resto druid that had much better gear than myself. Last night we ran an OS 25 (no drakes) with three resto druids, a holy priest, and two holy paladins. The other two are guildie resto druids and very good and their gear is MUCH MUCH better than mine and I have to say I was surprised with the results on the healing meters at the end. My undergeared resto druid was at the top of the meters for both overall healing and for the boss fight, and at the very very bottom of the overhealing meters.

Now I’m finding that where before 3.1 I stacked and rolled lifeblooms and tried nourish where I could, after 3.1 I am barely touching lifebloom or nourish. Most all of my healing has been done with rejuv, HT, regrowth, and swiftmend. I just find it very interesting but I think for someone whose gear might not be up to par this raid healing build is excellent.

]]> By: Sydera http://www.worldofmatticus.com/2009/04/21/how-to-be-a-tree-in-31/comment-page-1/#comment-19951 Sydera Sat, 25 Apr 2009 13:34:28 +0000 http://www.worldofmatticus.com/?p=4645#comment-19951 @Lissanna: I might not have made this clear enough. I only take glyphed HT in my secondary healing spec, and I only use that spec when I'm assigned to raid healing (no tank duties, neither MT or OT). I need different tools to heal tanks. However, in a guild that's very competitive and very attentive to healing meters, I'm always looking to see if what I cast repays me in effective heals. For that, glyphed HT is best for situations like Slag Pot, Light Bomb, and Gravity Bomb. If I had a lot invested in a Moonkin set or a Moonkin playstyle, I might scrap the minor gains of an HT spec in favor of a dps spec, but I don't. Healing is really the only thing I like to do in raids, so it suits me really well to have an only slightly different second spec. I'm certainly not advocating that everyone glyph HT. I'm just saying that if you do, it pays off in certain ways (live players and good meter performance). In comparison, I find that with my particular group, if I use Nourish to heal targeted damage on random raid members it leads to my making an overall lesser contribution to the raid. However, Nourish is very nice on a tank stacked with HoTs--hence my primary build. @Smarteaus: I always wonder when people say that the dps love Revitalize. The gains from mine are so small, even when I'm using a Rejuv-heavy strategy, that no one's noticed. @Lissanna: I might not have made this clear enough. I only take glyphed HT in my secondary healing spec, and I only use that spec when I’m assigned to raid healing (no tank duties, neither MT or OT). I need different tools to heal tanks. However, in a guild that’s very competitive and very attentive to healing meters, I’m always looking to see if what I cast repays me in effective heals. For that, glyphed HT is best for situations like Slag Pot, Light Bomb, and Gravity Bomb. If I had a lot invested in a Moonkin set or a Moonkin playstyle, I might scrap the minor gains of an HT spec in favor of a dps spec, but I don’t. Healing is really the only thing I like to do in raids, so it suits me really well to have an only slightly different second spec. I’m certainly not advocating that everyone glyph HT. I’m just saying that if you do, it pays off in certain ways (live players and good meter performance). In comparison, I find that with my particular group, if I use Nourish to heal targeted damage on random raid members it leads to my making an overall lesser contribution to the raid. However, Nourish is very nice on a tank stacked with HoTs–hence my primary build.

@Smarteaus: I always wonder when people say that the dps love Revitalize. The gains from mine are so small, even when I’m using a Rejuv-heavy strategy, that no one’s noticed.

]]> By: Smartteaus http://www.worldofmatticus.com/2009/04/21/how-to-be-a-tree-in-31/comment-page-1/#comment-19945 Smartteaus Sat, 25 Apr 2009 05:08:01 +0000 http://www.worldofmatticus.com/?p=4645#comment-19945 What I have noticed as maybe the strongest heal for the fights with large amounts of raid damage, such as Deconstructor, Ignis, Hologarm, etc., is rejuv. I know its not the best heal to pick up individuals, but basically, I just "roll" a rejuv on as many raid members as I can. I won't roll on the thanks, and I won't roll on the groups that have holy priests. But everyone else, the rejuv provides a great buffer. Right after the big aoe hit, I'll also throw a wild growth into the mix, but then go back to rejuvs. This strat is also great on mana conservation because with the rejuv idol, its practically free (when regen is built in). Granted recently, on Ignis, I've been stuck on OT duty....Probably one of the hardest healing tasks I have ever faced. P.S. Did I mention that the DPS love me for the revitalize from rejuv and wild growth? What I have noticed as maybe the strongest heal for the fights with large amounts of raid damage, such as Deconstructor, Ignis, Hologarm, etc., is rejuv. I know its not the best heal to pick up individuals, but basically, I just “roll” a rejuv on as many raid members as I can. I won’t roll on the thanks, and I won’t roll on the groups that have holy priests. But everyone else, the rejuv provides a great buffer. Right after the big aoe hit, I’ll also throw a wild growth into the mix, but then go back to rejuvs. This strat is also great on mana conservation because with the rejuv idol, its practically free (when regen is built in).

Granted recently, on Ignis, I’ve been stuck on OT duty….Probably one of the hardest healing tasks I have ever faced.

P.S. Did I mention that the DPS love me for the revitalize from rejuv and wild growth?

]]> By: Lissanna http://www.worldofmatticus.com/2009/04/21/how-to-be-a-tree-in-31/comment-page-1/#comment-19909 Lissanna Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:14:51 +0000 http://www.worldofmatticus.com/?p=4645#comment-19909 If I had a tri-spec option and could pick 2 healing specs along with my moonkin spec, I might pick up the HT glyph & talents, but with only one healing build, I really can't justify it. Wild Growth actually works as a HOT to buff nourish, so in raid healing on 25-mans, I've been trying to use wild growth and nourish together, which is a good way to get easy HOTs on the target. In some cases, nourish without HOTs works okay just to top people off fast, but it's a poor long-term healing strategy for raid healing purposes. You can also pre-HOT in some cases, or throw a Regrowth on someone as a direct heal, and then you've got over 20 seconds that you can use the HOT to buff nourish. I haven't tried a glyphed HT build because it's too situational for me to waste the points/glyph slots for it with my resto-moonkin dualspec. It is, however, incredibly interesting to see someone actually using a glyphed HT strategy, since I counted on mana regen problems as the reason I didn't think it would work (and we're having less mana problems than I anticipated). I'll need to keep an eye on how this strategy progresses, and maybe I'll stop judging it so critically... If I had a tri-spec option and could pick 2 healing specs along with my moonkin spec, I might pick up the HT glyph & talents, but with only one healing build, I really can’t justify it. Wild Growth actually works as a HOT to buff nourish, so in raid healing on 25-mans, I’ve been trying to use wild growth and nourish together, which is a good way to get easy HOTs on the target. In some cases, nourish without HOTs works okay just to top people off fast, but it’s a poor long-term healing strategy for raid healing purposes. You can also pre-HOT in some cases, or throw a Regrowth on someone as a direct heal, and then you’ve got over 20 seconds that you can use the HOT to buff nourish. I haven’t tried a glyphed HT build because it’s too situational for me to waste the points/glyph slots for it with my resto-moonkin dualspec. It is, however, incredibly interesting to see someone actually using a glyphed HT strategy, since I counted on mana regen problems as the reason I didn’t think it would work (and we’re having less mana problems than I anticipated). I’ll need to keep an eye on how this strategy progresses, and maybe I’ll stop judging it so critically…

]]> By: Sydera http://www.worldofmatticus.com/2009/04/21/how-to-be-a-tree-in-31/comment-page-1/#comment-19887 Sydera Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:38:56 +0000 http://www.worldofmatticus.com/?p=4645#comment-19887 Effectiveness of spells has to be decided not only by the math, but also by your personal usage and the makeup of your raid group. Keeva, for example, plays in a server-first type guild. That's a very competitive environment. I can see how Nourish might work better for her than it does for me, based on some guesses. For healing something like Slag Pot, which needs both quick and high throughput heals, HT is better if you're doing it alone. It's simply stronger. However, if 1)you and your computer are fast or 2) your other healers are on the spot, Nourish is fine. It's those situations, where conditions are too fast and too random to let the druid get even one HoT on the target, HT glyphed shines. Maybe Keeva can get in a HoT where I can't. In my case, my computer and my 30-year old reaction time both work against me...though the computer is in for repairs, I'll still have to compete against players with many more years of gaming experience and faster reflexes. I will note, though, that I don't glyph HT in my tank-healing build. For raid healing on the side of tank healing, Wild Growth and Rejuv are best. The Ulduar content has seen me doing more raid-only healing than tank healing, however. Nourish just isn't as strong if you can't predict who will take damage. At some point, I'll make a post on reading healing meters. It seems that many people have thrown them completely out the window, but I believe they have something to teach. Effectiveness of spells has to be decided not only by the math, but also by your personal usage and the makeup of your raid group.

Keeva, for example, plays in a server-first type guild. That’s a very competitive environment. I can see how Nourish might work better for her than it does for me, based on some guesses.

For healing something like Slag Pot, which needs both quick and high throughput heals, HT is better if you’re doing it alone. It’s simply stronger. However, if 1)you and your computer are fast or 2) your other healers are on the spot, Nourish is fine. It’s those situations, where conditions are too fast and too random to let the druid get even one HoT on the target, HT glyphed shines. Maybe Keeva can get in a HoT where I can’t. In my case, my computer and my 30-year old reaction time both work against me…though the computer is in for repairs, I’ll still have to compete against players with many more years of gaming experience and faster reflexes.

I will note, though, that I don’t glyph HT in my tank-healing build. For raid healing on the side of tank healing, Wild Growth and Rejuv are best. The Ulduar content has seen me doing more raid-only healing than tank healing, however. Nourish just isn’t as strong if you can’t predict who will take damage.

At some point, I’ll make a post on reading healing meters. It seems that many people have thrown them completely out the window, but I believe they have something to teach.

]]> By: Stifmeister http://www.worldofmatticus.com/2009/04/21/how-to-be-a-tree-in-31/comment-page-1/#comment-19886 Stifmeister Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:43:30 +0000 http://www.worldofmatticus.com/?p=4645#comment-19886 I am thinking if Glyph of Rejuvenation and keeping Rejuvenation up on as many as possible could be an option. The +50% healing while below 50% health would help when they take big hits. One could always patch up with Swiftmend or Nourish if they have a Rejuvenation, or Regrowth if they don't have it (with the possibility of planting a Living Seed in case they take damage soon again). With the full T8 bonus this could be even better with bonuses to both Rejuvenation and Swiftmend. I am thinking if Glyph of Rejuvenation and keeping Rejuvenation up on as many as possible could be an option. The +50% healing while below 50% health would help when they take big hits. One could always patch up with Swiftmend or Nourish if they have a Rejuvenation, or Regrowth if they don’t have it (with the possibility of planting a Living Seed in case they take damage soon again). With the full T8 bonus this could be even better with bonuses to both Rejuvenation and Swiftmend.

]]> By: Keeva http://www.worldofmatticus.com/2009/04/21/how-to-be-a-tree-in-31/comment-page-1/#comment-19868 Keeva Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:19:25 +0000 http://www.worldofmatticus.com/?p=4645#comment-19868 I disagree with 4 & 6. I'm finding Nourish to be a great raid heal, and Lifebloom to be poor - a single stack is far too weak and quickly gets stomped on. Rejuv is still king (and will be even better when I get some more T8!). WG, Rejuv and Swiftmend come first, but throwing a few Nourishes around when there's heavy damage on trash or when someone is taking fast damage - it's working really well. Most of the time though, WG, Rejuv and Swiftmend are enough to cover you on raid healing. I used the Innervate glyph for the first few fights and then ditched it when I got my grubby little mitts on the WG glyph. I haven't missed it yet - I haven't even had to use unglyphed Innervate much yet, which pleases me a lot. I'm currently Swiftmend, WG, Nourish. I hadn't planned to get the WG glyph because I prefer to primarily be a tank healer - but now I won't give it up. It's just too good. Revitalize IS weak but I've had it as a "might as well" talent. When you get deep into the tree it feels like the last few options are all pretty bad, so it's a case of taking whatever you think sucks the least. I don't like that. I've had some raid members tell me they're loving Revitalize (despite it being weak), so I kept it with a shrug. If they like it, and there's nothing much else very good to take, I don't mind taking it. But now that we've had another free respec, I'm going to have a fiddle and see if I should rearrange things a little. I've been very happy to far, though. <abbr><em>Keevas last blog post..<a href="http://treebarkjacket.blogspot.com/2009/04/arbor-day-not-much-time-left.html" rel="nofollow">Arbor Day - not much time left!</a></abbr></em> I disagree with 4 & 6.

I’m finding Nourish to be a great raid heal, and Lifebloom to be poor – a single stack is far too weak and quickly gets stomped on. Rejuv is still king (and will be even better when I get some more T8!). WG, Rejuv and Swiftmend come first, but throwing a few Nourishes around when there’s heavy damage on trash or when someone is taking fast damage – it’s working really well. Most of the time though, WG, Rejuv and Swiftmend are enough to cover you on raid healing.

I used the Innervate glyph for the first few fights and then ditched it when I got my grubby little mitts on the WG glyph. I haven’t missed it yet – I haven’t even had to use unglyphed Innervate much yet, which pleases me a lot. I’m currently Swiftmend, WG, Nourish. I hadn’t planned to get the WG glyph because I prefer to primarily be a tank healer – but now I won’t give it up. It’s just too good.

Revitalize IS weak but I’ve had it as a “might as well” talent. When you get deep into the tree it feels like the last few options are all pretty bad, so it’s a case of taking whatever you think sucks the least. I don’t like that. I’ve had some raid members tell me they’re loving Revitalize (despite it being weak), so I kept it with a shrug. If they like it, and there’s nothing much else very good to take, I don’t mind taking it.

But now that we’ve had another free respec, I’m going to have a fiddle and see if I should rearrange things a little. I’ve been very happy to far, though.

Keevas last blog post..Arbor Day – not much time left!

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