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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Shaman Healing: First Impressions

So, I finally had the chance to heal in a 25 man raid on my shaman last night. Although it was only Naxx I think it was a good starting point. I was pleasantly surprised that I wasn't completely bored out of my mind, and maybe that was because we chose to have only four healers. I have been anticipating healing on my shaman for some time now so that I could compare it to druid healing.

On some fights i was reaching 5k hps, which my druid rarely reaches. I know hps is not a great way to see how well you are healing, but it is fun to look at anyway. I was lucky enough to run with a druid healer that I trust very much and I know she is very competent so I was keeping an eye on comparing myself to her, since I can't heal on both my toons at the same time. In some fights the druid beat me in healing, but for the most part of the night I was out healing her and I don't think that really means a whole lot, except to know that shamans are just as good at group healing as druids. When I first healed on my shaman in five mans, I thought they would be amazing main tank healers because of the huge crits, overall I think shamans are pretty versatile and can fulfill any role the raid needs.

Overall this new healing class was loads of fun, and I think I did well for my first big raid. Some things I missed about my druid, was that precious instant group heal Wild Growth. I also missed being able to run around arms flailing about, all while throwing heals to people. Shamans really can't heal on the run which is a huge drawback in many fights, and I think druids excel at these type of fights over any other healing class. I also missed my innervate, because I suck at keeping my mana shield up and I was having mana issues on a few of the fights. I actually had to ask for a druid's innervate at one point, which I hate because I don't want to have to rely on others if I can help it.

I am glad to finally have two raid healers at my disposal. I can't say that I love one more than the other, because so far my shaman is tons of fun. I think it is beneficial for me to have both because I like being able to see where different classes are coming from, as far as bragging and complaints. I am sure once I truly become and expert at shaman healing I will be able to write about the ins and outs in more depth, but for now I am having a blast learning this class. O and BTW I am dual speccd elemental, and from running a few ten mans and many five man heroics I can see the potential this class has for Amazing dps, so lots to look forward to on my new raider.

5 comments:

Miss Medicina said...

Elemental has amaaaazing dps. Just take a look at Idhitit, he's pretty awesome.

You mentioned a lot about healing output, but that really doesn't mean much unless it's effective healing output. Did you get a chance to look at how that output compared to overhealing? I'm curious as to how it looked compared to druids, because unfortunately a huge chunk of druid healing gets wasted in overheals :( That's just sort of one of the negative side effects of HoTs.

LawGirl said...

Yes, I did check my overhealing, and I thought it would be very high because of all the spam healing I was doing. I was pleasantly surprised and my over heals were sitting around 30ish% and I was about third down on overheals, under the pally, druid, and above the disc priest.

Miss Medicina said...

That's awesome - that's sort of the impression I'm getting from other resto shammies as well, that you can get a high healing output with a low overheal amount.

Fuubaar/Abigora said...

Woah?

Was this from Naxx? With me there? HEALING?

You're telling me that I didnt have loads of overheals? Was I asleep? lol

I always knew that Pallies are one of the top over healers but are Disc Priests & Druids suppose to be on the lower end of that? I guess you can't call mitigating bubbles for over healing (*smirk*)

I really need to get Recount loaded on Abi so I can pay attention to what I'm doing. I didn't want to have it before because I didn't want to discourage myself when I started off. Now that I'm feeling a little more confident, I should be able to look at improving my heals :)

PS: Jess, missed you last night. I was a scared Priest & drunky kept inspecting me. I just felt violated :P

LawGirl said...

LoL poor Fuu, don't mind Drunky. Yes this was from Naxx, and I was happy to heal with you Fuu. As far as overhealing goes, I would imagine that disc priests will always be pretty low, even as holy you should be below pallys and even druids now. Since HoTs now count as overheals druid overheals have gone from the lowest to right under pallys.

You did great last night, and yes recount can help you compare your class to your class only, plus keeps you in line knowing your overheals. I also use it to look at dispels so that when I ask people to dispel I can make sure they are doing their job.

I agree, I missed Jess last night, hope to see you next week MIss Medicina!