The Secret of Discipline Healing-PartI

Normally I try to not go into specific classes or roles on this blog, especially since I seem to do things just that little bit different than most of the 'specialist' sites tell you to do stuff. However, I was asked to write a post about disc priesting.

The problem is that I DO priesting, I'm not used to talking about it. So I could try to explain how I make things work for me. What works for me might not work for you. I could tell you all about specs, talents, spell rotation, etc

The simple truth is that while I have it all figured out for me, I find it impossible to explain it to someone else in detail. Healing is not about rotation, spec, or talents. Sure, those things count, but they're not the basic idea of healing.

Healing, like every other role, consists of seeing what to do, and when to do it. Knowing exactly where your buttons are, and matching the right spell with the right situation in a split second.

So instead of writing a post about how you should spec, gem, or glyph I will give some general pointers on how to heal.

Decision Flow Chart.

(Click image to enlarge).

The only time you're not casting is when you're not in combat, or when all targets in the raid are at full health.

When in 10s your targets are all people in your raid. In 25s you can stick to your assignments a bit more, but don't ever, ever let people die because they weren't your assignment. If you see your fellow healers struggle on the main tank, assist them. If your on the MT, and you see that raid healing has difficulty keeping everybody up, throw some shields out to buy them time.

Just don't ever say that it wasn't your assignment so you didn't heal.

I know, I know, this way of thinking has been completely spoiled by a lot of those know it all raidleaders out there who think they know best. All the mumbo jumbo about healers trying to snipe healing.

Who gives a damn, if everybody is alive, I don't care one bit about sniping.

However!

Priorities / Target Decision.

In every raid there is a certain priority of healing targets. You have your assignment first of course. If your assignment is dead you failed at your job. But outside of the assignment, and sometimes above the assignment there are certain people you really want to keep up.

I could now mumble some stuff about MT first, then OT, then healers, ladida, but that would be me assuming that you have only good players in the raid. In reality what you want is that your good players survive. If the person officially being my MT is screwing up, I am very capable of spending more time on that excellent OT, trusting that he will pick things up if it goes haywire.

So yes, heal your assignment, but don't tunnel vision only on that assignment. Communicate with your fellow healers, and know what the situation is throughout the raid. And oh...if someone is just standing there in the fire, nicely keeping his feet warm. Don't be afraid of just aiming your heals elsewhere.Remember:

You can't heal through idiocy

For this post I think this has been enough to deal with I think, next post about this will be about spells, communication, and probably some about UI.