Raid Rx: 2009 Boss healing awards

Every week, Raid Rx module help you backwards your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a originator of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for every things UI, macro, and addon related.

Welcome to the 2009 sanative awards where we countenance backwards on some of the craziest sanative encounters introduced in Wrath of the Lich King. Which fights frustrated healers the most? Which ones involved a undignified turn of healing? Which politico went direct against our persona as healers? The judging commission should hit consisted every of gnomes, but Wilfred Fizzlebang was unable to make it at the terminal minute and I was asked to step in at the terminal minute to help finalize the results.

Most cell heals spammed

Patchwerk (Naxxramas)

An early effort for raiding healers, Patchwerk was a manoeuvre of pure expert throughput and mitigation. There were no gimmicks. There were no tricks. No fires to avoid, no primary abilities to check for, and no mobs to separate absent from.

It was every pure healing.

Your assail group lived and died by the knowledge of the healers to ready your tanks alive. And man, at the time, Patchwerk impact same a transport train. The Abomination provided an excellent method for testing the discipline and trust of healers to not intersection or differ from their assignments.

Most sanative needed

Deconstructor (Ulduar)

The pre-nerf process of Deconstructor was the prototypal real contest of Ulduar. My guild was healthy to take this containerful of bolts downbound during hebdomad 2 (largely cod to computer instability plaguing hebdomad 1 of Ulduar's release). What was really primary most Deconstructor was during his Tympanic Tantrum phases. I knew that sanative this, I wouldn't be healthy to intend more than digit band up to flooded health. Healers had ordered band assignments with the content of keeping the band aware as anti to superior them off.

His hornlike fashion was a enthusiastic indicator of expert endurance. Healers had to care with the Tantrums, Sparks, Void Zones and another nasty stuff. I distinctly advert digit of our kills actuation us downbound to the terminal 5 seconds before his maddened official expired. Most of the healers were streaming on waste at that point. I had to stop in visit to regenerate mana. My fingers hovered over Guardian Spirit with the cell targeted meet in case.

Most raiders saved

Hodir (Ulduar)

How some nowadays do you advert bailing discover players who were caught with an Icicle dropping on their head? How some players unsuccessful to reach the deceive mounds that you complained most patch disagreeable to ready them aware daylong sufficiency for your DPS to fortuity them out?

The bounteous chromatic man represented a stumbling country for some guilds as they were progressing finished Ulduar. Healers had a thickened instance disagreeable to outheal the various frost attendant damage. Not exclusive that, Dispels had to be concave discover as alacritous as doable to intend players discover of the firing zone of some dropping icicles. I went Discipline specifically for faster Mass Dispels. Unless you were healthy to connexion a campfire nearby, you had to ready agitated around to stir the stacking Cold debuff. For Druids and Priests, it wasn't that bounteous of an issue. The Paladins and Shamans who were with me became discontent at the turn of streaming they had to do.

Of course, whenever they were impact by dropping icicles, I prefabricated them do laps around Dalaran.

Most chaotic

Mimiron (Ulduar)

Want to undergo what it's same to ameliorate chaos? This would be it. Pre-nerf Mimiron was recreation and elating fisticuffs for advancement healers. The prototypal form was easily handled. Anything after that was a crapshoot. How hornlike and alacritous crapper you ameliorate finished the Heat Wave and Rapid Bursts? Can you falsity Rocket Strikes? The prototypal few times, I managed to intend drilled mostly cod to tunnel exteroception (and I haven't been impact by them since). Could you appendage the inbound mechanical robots of form 3? More importantly, could you adapt hurried sufficiency to ameliorate the irregular danger pull by DPS? Yes, the imperfectness of actuation aggro module forever be a speaking between tanks and DPS players. Reflexive and strong heals would directly vanish that as a problem.

And then there was form 4 which was the grand-daddy of movement and standing-out-of-crap fights for Wrath of the Lich King. Spinning up? Move. Incoming rockets? Move. Is he most to explode? Move. Tank on the another side? Move. If you had a hornlike instance watching discover for little things, this fisticuffs was not going to be easy.

Most confusing

Anub'arak (Trial of the Crusader)

Anub'arak on courageous was my individualized Achilles heel. For some reason, I had the hardest instance sanative the test 30% form and it would take multiple repeated attempts before we eventually got it down. Anub'arak gave us a slight looking into what sanative in Cataclysm would be like. The content is not to wind players to flooded upbeat as he would pipage more of it. The objective is to ready players high sufficiency that Penetrating Cold wouldn't defeat them but low sufficiency that his Leeching Swarm wouldn't drive him to acquire likewise much upbeat backwards either.

I undergo I did a threefold take the prototypal few nowadays when I was asked specifically not to ameliorate at certain points.

Most boring

Loatheb (Naxxramas

A politico that was early in the Wrath treatment was this guy. Traditional cell and beat right? Except, you know, healers crapper exclusive do their employ for seconds at a time. The rest of it was spent twiddling our thumbs wanding or DPSing. Disc Priests had the slight bounds since shields could ease do something most of the time. Many advancement healers started employed on perfecting the timing of their heals so it would realty meet as the debuff wore soured allowing another ameliorate to go soured within that pane of opportunity.

Most frustrating

Faction Champions (Trial of the Crusader)

And the honor for most frustrating sanative fisticuffs goes to these guys! You can't really organisation a strategy around them. You hit to rely on your want to live, your knowledge to think on the fly, and your knowledge to run. Every endeavor could end up being different than the digit before it. Causes of pass1 would vary. The fisticuffs was easily won within the prototypal few minutes. For healers, that was the breaking saucer where every cooldown had to be utilised and the activity of everyone actually mattered. I undergo I poor downbound erst because it was either our Warlocks or Druids that would intend meet intend concern convergent by every of the Champions. Sometimes we meet had to helplessly defence and check them expire cod to favourable Silences or Counterspells.

Most technical

Sartharion with 3 Drakes (Obsidian Sanctum)

At the time, I viewed Sartharion as the most technical fight. There was an staggering turn of cooldown coordination required between tanks and healers. This was especially genuine if your guild did not hit a Death Knight cell acquirable to cell Sartharion. His supercharged up respite could digit shot tanks. Pain Suppression, Guardian Spirit, Hand of Sacrifice and another tanking cooldowns needed to be utilised and timed with inferior than seconds of advance warning. This connexion unnatural healers to clear more tending to the function of his nous then the assail frames (if his nous snapped up, he was most to breathe).

Most sanative efficient

General Vezax (Ulduar)

If your healers hit yet to wager how to confiture mana, the General here presented a enthusiastic warning on that topic. Mana regeneration simply was not possible. Cooldowns and potions were impotent in restoring mana. You had to rely on puddles to defence in to acquire mana backwards at an function evaluate that was also toxic to your health. I bet more than a few healers learned that greed is intense when they proven to stay in for an player stitch intellection they could survive it. I was digit of them. I couldn't do more than 7.

Good friggin' luck if your DPS players weren't up to par or if they fell early on in the encounter.

And those are your winners for 2009! Let's every give them a round of applause before we downbound them next! We ease hit more Icecrown Citadel bosses to take care of in the weeks ahead and let's wager what category of newborn encounters 2010 holds.

Are there some honor categories or bosses that you would hit appointed instead?

Want some more advice for employed with the healers in your guild? Raid Rx has you awninged with every there is to know! Need assail or guild sanative advice? E-mail me at matticus@wow.com and you could wager a forthcoming post addressing your question. Looking for inferior healer-centric raiding advice? Take a countenance at our raiding article Ready Check.

Tags: anubarak, deconstructor, faction-champions, featured, guide, healing, healing-guide, hodir, how-to-heal, icecrown, loatheb, mimiron, naxxramas, raid-guide, raid-healing, raiding-guide, toc, trial-of-the-crusader, ulduar, vezax, wow-guide, wow-healing, wow-raid-guide, wow-raid-healing