18 Questions - A Response to a Tag

Morning blog lovers

Last week I got tagged by Ruhtra over at Holy Shock. Nothing spectacular, just a some questions about healing and my thoughts on the subject. So if you don't like reading about Shaman healing, I will still try to add some entertain value to this post and my answers.

Such as this random quote...

When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.

I know, I know, that was distasteful...but don't act like you didn't chuckle a little bit.

I won't tell anyone...me promise

Anyway....onward to the questions!

1. What is the name, class, and spec of your primary healer?

Teknizzle, Shaman, Restoration

2. What is your primary group healing environment? (ie raids, 5 man, PVP)

Raiding. I used to be a 10 man healer solely, but I have since moved on to the 25 mans. At this point, all 5 mans are a joke to heal with everyone over geared for them. I usually ask the tank to take off his pants and tank to make things interesting, but most of the time they think I am joking.

So I mostly dps when I heal 5 mans. Riptide + totems are sufficient most of the time.

3. What is your favorite healing spell for your class and why?

My favorite healing spell is Riptide. I know, its not chain heal...

Ok, you're right...its chain heal. I like seeing lots of numbers and in a 25 man raiding encounter like the Twins Val'kyr fight in ToC....it really makes me giggle uncontrollably. Especially if you been stacking haste like a fat kid stacks pancakes during the early morning special at IHOP.

4. What healing spell do you use least for your class and why?

Well, Shamans don't have a ton in there arsenal, but I would say that I use Healing Wave the least.

Riptide + Lesser Healing Wave isn't as fast as it used to be, but it gives me 30% more chance to crit. A crit gives the person I was healing a 10% less physical dmg buff....so I tend to try and kept that buff up at all times.

I use Healing Wave alot, but it would definitely rank lower then my other spells in terms of use.

5. What do you feel is the biggest strength of your healing class and why?

The buffs we bring and how much we rock face in terms of healing assignments. Raid, single target, free lance...we excel at all of them.

Not to mention all the buffs we give people with our totems. Need more haste Mr. Caster? Sure...here is 3% more haste...nbd.

Need 200 more spell power? I got you. What about more strength/ap? Yeah, thats right...you know the big sexy cow has your back.

6. In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel is the best healing assignment (in general) for you?

That all depends on your healing core and what classes you have. Truthfully, the best healing assignment for me as a Shaman is the melee group (including healing the tanks, but not on tank duty solely) and free lancing.

When I say free lancing I mean just an extra healer doing whatever is needed. I don't dislike straight raid healing or single target healing, but I think the best healing assignment for me is to take care of the melee group while doing my own thing for everyone else.

7. What healing class do you enjoy healing with the most and why?

I don't really have an opinion on this one really. In a 25 man I like to have atleast one good druid and some sort of priest for fort. Other then that I could care less.

All healing classes bring something to the table and if the player is skilled, it should be smooth no matter the combo.

8. What healing class do you least enjoy (hate) healing with and why?

Well, like I just said...I don't have an opinion. As long as the healer is skilled and knows what to do. If I had to pick one I would say Paladins because there are just too many of them who are down right horrible...atleast on my server.

9. What is your worst habit as a healer?

Not paying attention to my own health bar...lol. Sometimes I just get into that mode of looking at health bars and because of my UI setup....usually in 5 mans...I forget about myself lol.

I used to do this all the time when I first started healing 5 mans, but now it rarely happens.

10. What is your biggest peeve in a group environment when healing?

People killing themselves and then blaming the healing core or myself. Look, I will take the blame if something is my fault. However, when people run out of my line of sight or stand in fire for too long and die. Then they talk shit about the healers?!?

I start seeing red and the nerd rage comes out of me. I am not proud of this, but my nerd rage has single handedly destroyed a 25 man pug before. As well as countless 5 mans and a few 10 mans.

You know the kind...everyone is doing good. We are killing shit for over an hour with no wipes. Then we wipe twice on a boss. Some dumbass wants to blame everything on the healing core.

The other healers (aka normal people) just let it slide because they don't want piss anyone off and have them leave the raid....

WELL F THAT!

I will start it off with a sarcastic comment like..."yeah...you healers fail. I can't believe you let all those people that were standing in the fire die...."

That will get it started and depending on how far the guy who originally made the comment takes it, is how far we are going.

It is a bad habit, but F it....I am a healer. Without me you would still be standing in Dalaran with a thumb up your nose waiting for the raid to find a healer.

ok...end rant....NEXT!!!

11. Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other healers for PVE healing?

I do. Given the same gear I think I will be able to hang with anyone given the situation. The Druid 4 piece T9 set bonus is slightly OP and even in the best gear I don't think I could touch 7k HPS in a 25 man.

12. What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a healer?

I know a few Shamans on my server that are excellent healers, so I armory them to see what they are doing. I do research at places like "plus heal" and Elitist Jerks. Healing meters, ect...

13. What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your healing class?

That people think that we are not good single target healers and that we can only be assigned to the raid.

You can say what you will about other Shaman failing at it, but that is because they didn't know how to do it or were geared completely wrong.

14. What do you think is the most difficult thing for new healers of your class to learn?

Urm....

I would have to say learning how to balance your stats and how your stats actually work. Basic theorycrafting.

15. What add-ons or macros (if any) do you use to aid you in healing?

I can not live without clique. Seriously....if I don't have that little addon, you might as well consider me dps, because I have gotten so accustom to it that my hps would DROP dramatically.

18. Do you strive primarily for balance between your healing stats or do you stack some much higher than others? Why?

Mostly a balance. I do have several sets of healing gear that I wear depending on the healing assignment and the situation. Such as a mana regen set, throughput set, raiding healing set, ect.

There was a few more, but I didn't like the questions or I felt like I was repeating myself. If I had to tag someone I would be interested to hear Kry over at Casual Hardcore responses. Only because he has a healer of every class I think....

Until next time, I'm WTFout!