[I detect a topic drift... :-) ]
That is good to know -- the specifics of how you heal as a druid.
You do a great job swapping back and forth when I group with you.
I feel almost invincible when you are there :-).
It sounds kind of tough being the primary healer as a Druid. Like
you said, it can be done but only if the rest of the group is really on
top of things.
As a priest, I use 3 healing spells:
Renew: heal over time, instant cast, approx 900 over 15 secs.
Flash Heal: target heal, 1.5 sec cast, approx 1000 healed.
Prayer of Healing: group heal, 3.0 sec cast, approx 1000 to all party members.
I have a Greater Healing spell that heals like 3000 points at lvl 60,
but it is too slow (4 sec cast) and heals too much. You can't
really afford to let someone drop 3000+ hitpoints in any of the high
end instances while trying to time a 4 second cast. Criticals
heals using that spell are mostly wasted too. Most priests don't
use that spell anymore at lvl 60. Casting Flash Heals more often
tends to trigger more critical heals. Critical heals trigger my
Holy talent called Inspiration that boosts the target's armor from
items by up to 25% for 15 seconds -- a very nice tank supporting talent.
Unless we are fighting something tough like a boss, or taking on
multiple mobs, my Renew HOT usually causes someone to hold their ground
on their health bar (the spell heals about what the enemy is
damaging). It is very efficient and never pulls agro except on
totally untagged mobs. They will agro me because I am helping
their target and nobody else is on their hate list.
Oh, I almost forgot Power Word: Shield. That is a shield that
absorbs around 1000 points of damage and prevents casting interruption
from normal damage (not special moves or knockdowns, etc.). It is
not as mana-efficient, so I use it in emergencies because it is instant
cast. I also cast it on mages and warlocks when I see them draw
agro. It gives them another second or two to cast without
interruption while I prepare to heal them if necessary.
I have a Holy talent that reduces healing threat by 20%. When I
do pull agro, I have an ability called Fade. It makes me visually
turn sort of transparent. The effect is that it temporarily dumps
an enormous amount of hate with all enemies. It is very rare that
anything is still after me. The spell lasts 10 seconds, BUT it
has a 30 second cooldown. A big part of managing agro is timing
heals and the use of Fade.
If fade is down, I can instant cast a shield on myself and then instant
cast a HOT. I also have the Discipline talents that give me an
ability to activate a talent the prevents casting interruption.
As a last ditch effort, Human and Dwarf priests have a racial spell
called Desparate Prayer. It is a mana-free instant self heal on a
30 min. cooldown timer. It heals me about 2/3 of my health bar.
hehe. I guess I will end my treatise on priest healing now. gotta get back to work
