WTB mandatory healing seminar!

Yeah, so we need healers. As in not want, but need. This post isn’t me bragging or anything though it certainly sounds like it, but our guild has upwards of 3 maybe 4 actually good healers. One paladin, two priests and myself. And don’t even get me started on how I’m the only shaman 99% of the time.

See the problem is we’re getting into content that requires a lot of healers. Before that we only ever needed maybe 3. So we’re sitting on a bunch of Shadow Priests, Ret Pallies, etc. who either don’t want to heal or don’t think they’re “good enough” to heal. Which of course is just their way of saying they don’t want to heal. A while back a couple of them bit the bullet and respecced, one in particular I thought was going to be good because he (allegedly) used to play a t6 druid on the alliance side. He’s a priest now, and dear lord is he awful. He’s blaming it on the fact that it’s a priest not a druid, but here’s the kicker. He was a Dreamstate druid, which means that he mostly, if not exclusively, cast Healing Touch! So what’s the transition problem here?

Basically this just shows to me he lacks the basic knowledge of healing in general. It doesn’t matter what class you play they all require a basic understanding of how to heal. Only after you know that can you understand the mechanics of your specific class. Now this should be something you learn from levels 1-70. If you’re a healing class and you never heal in a group in your 69 levels throughout the game – that’s a huge problem. Do you have to make the character a healer just because you have healing spells? No, absolutely not. Play what you want to play. However when it comes time for a guild to progress into larger content, sacrifices must be made. I’m sorry Shadow Priests, we can’t keep bringing FOUR of you to ever raid. Is this awesome? Yes from a mana standpoint, but frankly a couple of you could be substituted for melee who don’t need mana.

Basically the point of this rant is that if you can heal, learn how to do so. You may not ever have to be a specced healer, but if your guild needs you – suck it up and respec. Would I rather be enhancement half the time I raid? Hell yes, it’s basically auto attack/drop totems/afk/collect epics. But I heal, because when I don’t we wipe on content we’ve been farming for months. The best thing I ever heard as a healer was when my guild master (feral druid) said to me and our paladin healer:

“I used to think I was an awesome tank, being able to chain pull left and right in Kara and never die. So I tried it when you guys weren’t around and we wiped. Then I realized it wasn’t my tanking that was epic, it was your heals.”

So that’s why I heal. I love it of course, it’s challenging and very rewarding. I also love to dps, and tank. I don’t complain when I have to respec, and I try my hardest with whatever job I’m asked to do. I sadly can’t say the same for a lot of the other potential healers in the guild. If you suck at healing, get better. Respec and run some normal or heroic 5-mans. Get the basic skills you need to heal with and then start healing in 25-mans. Learn how to pro-actively and not re-actively heal. Learn to watch your target closely and not let your mind wander as you attempt to spot heal when it’s not your job. Learn to minimize overheal and work together with others healers on a Main Tank. Is healing hard? No, but being a good healer is.

All it takes is the time and the effort to become one.

~ by Anhydrous on July 31, 2008.