GnomeDruid

They may just make a Healer out of me yet.

I haven’t been able to play much on either toon due to the end of the semester (one final down, one to go.) Yesterday, however, I was able to get Timov into a Naxx25 run with a semi-pug that I had run with before.

The guild has a core group of folks, and they have some core-group Pugs that are there nearly every week. Having run with them before on Caliban, and knowing a couple folks already in the raid, I got an invite, ostensibly to DPS as they already had a full roster of healers.

Well, after doing Farelina as boomkin I came to the realization that they really didn’t need me as DPS any more than they needed me as healer. So I figured “what the hell, I need the experience” and I went tree.

It was a little … annoying at first, because the priests were doing whatever they do to quickly top folks off. And probably the shaman with Chain Heal. It was just too fast for me to really be effective on the trash. On the bosses I had a bit more of a chance to actually do stuff.

But by Kel’thuzad, I felt I’d got in the rhythm of raid healing, and actually ended up 3rd on the heal meter for the fight, 7th on the overhealed meter. (Obviously subject to whatever value you put on meters.) I thought, for my first night out Raid healing, with MUCH more experienced healers in the group, that that was pretty darn good.

In retrospect, I think that going into a raid like that as a “fifth-wheel” healer was an EXCELLENT choice for me for learning.

Lack of Pressure

At first, there wasn’t pressure on me to succeed. Because they were over stocked with healers, the life/death of the raid was not on my shoulders. This gave me time to get into the rhythm of things, to figure out that the priests/shammies would top up the little stuff and I could be dropping HoT’s on the tanks and getting a sense of the bars.

Knowledge of the Encounters

Having raided Naxx extensively on Cal, I know the fights pretty well (from a DPS perspective.) I knew which fights I’d have to be environmentally aware on, and which fights would require movement, etc.

So all that movment, etc was already “programmed in” and I could essentially backbrain it which let me concentrate on healing.

Some Experience

I did not go into the raid completeyl cold, attempting to heal for the first time. I had healed a few 5-mans, (literally a handful, probably less than 10) and had been doing a lot of reading on the subject. So I felt I had the basics down. The raid, due to the other two factors, gave me a chance to work on applying them and figuring out my own rhythm.

There’s a great quote from I think it’s Will Rodgers that I’ve kept in my mind ever since I first heard it. My recollection may not be quite right but in essence:

“There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of us have to pee on the electric fence for ourselves.”

I’m normally towards the reading/observation end of the spectrum. Certain things tho, you just have to DO to get a feel for it. Cooking, for example. And healing. Looking forward to my next dip in the pool.

Gear

I was also lucky enough to not walk out empty handed. Managed to pick up:

Ceaseless Pity
Mantle of Shattered Kinship
Forethought Talisman

And a guildie gave me Combustion Bracers which they’d gotten in Ulduar Normal. (Thanks!) So, I think that was a pretty decent gear up.

I can’t raid too much this week due to finals, but hopefully I’ll be able to get some runs in over the holiday weekend.

Be safe!

No Comments »

Well, my little spam blocker add-on tells me it has blocked 28 spam comments. But of course it doesn’t let me LOOK at them. If you have tried to comment for reals and have had an issue, please let me know at

Also, for folks who use Dreamhost they’ve dropped their monthly plan fees, but the new prices won’t take effect automatically, you’ll need to adjust them manually.

The Gnome

Caliban has gotten a couple up/side grades from Ulduar. Not represented there is the Leviathan Fueling Manual which looks really cool, in addition to it’s nice stats. However, as one of my guildies told me, “I’m already drowning in hit.” Which is true.

I personally have like 475 Hit Rating and none of it is gems or enchants, its all on the gear. In my affliction spec (more on which in another post) I have one point in Suppression, which is going to get dumped into Amplify Curse.

I have also (finally, yes Jason) finished Storm Peaks and am working on my Hodir rep. More on achievements in a bit.

Continue Reading »

1 Comment »