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Healing in MC

Healing in MC is not quite the same as healing in other instances. This guide is to help you get the basics, but as you gain experience and develop your own personal style, you will figure out what works best for you and how to adapt what you are doing based on the situation.

Mods

The first thing you need to do is install CT Raid Assist if you haven't already. Take the time to go through it and see what options there are. If you need to, create a raid (you only need one person in your party to convert it to a raid) and see what the various settings will do. There are a lot of options in CTRA and it can make your job a lot easier when you use it!

Personally, I have CTRA set up to show me the health bars of everyone in the raid (yes, that is 40 health bars on my screen!) as well as an emergency monitor to show who is most in need of a heal at any moment. I organize the health bars by groups because it helps with buffs, some people prefer to organize health bars by class--do whatever makes the most sense to you.

You also want to install Decursive if you haven't already. You first want to bind the mod to a key (in game, click the computer icon and go to "key bindings" scroll down and you will see the option to do this). Once it is bound, any time you hit that key, decursive will attempt to remove any adverse effects you are capable of removing from people in your raid. At the start of the raid, you want to set your priority list for decursive (you can bind this list to a key as well if you want). The very first person on your priority list should be you! Do not try to put everyone on your priority list--decursive will start with those on the priority list and then attempt to decurse everyone else in the raid. On my priority list I have myself, the MT, OT, and other healers (with the healers in groups 1 and 2 listed first).

There are other mods out there that may make your job easier depending on your class, but anyone who heals in MC should have these two!

Buffing

If you have a group buff, you need to decide with the others of your class who is responsible for buffing each group. Paladins may split up responsibilities by who does which buff rather than by groups.

You should take 2 stacks of reagents with you when going to MC if you have a group buff. Hopefully, you won't be the only one from your class and won't need to use them all but you should be prepared.

Buffing should be done before a pull and after if necessary. Do not cast buffs in the middle of a fight--your mana is better used for healing!

In the event several people died in a group you are responsible for buffing, you will want to cast your group buff on them rather than the shorter individual buff. If only one person needs the buff, use the individual cast.

Prioritizing your heals

There may be times you are instructed to rotate healing with other healers or to heal a single person or class only. If you haven't gotten specific healing instructions then this section is your basic guide.

Cross healing in MC is a priority for everyone. Because of the amount of damage tanked by the MT and OT, all healers should be watching them closely. If you are in an odd group (1,3,5,7) you are responsible for helping to heal the MT. Healers in even groups (2,4,6,8) are responsible for helping to heal the OT. If you aren't sure who these two people are, please ask! You need CTRA so that you can see their health bars! Trying to find them otherwise is going to be difficult in a mass of 40 people and several mobs.

Next on your priority list is your group. You are responsible for helping keep the MT and OT alive along with several other healers--but unless assigned differently you may be the only healer assigned to your group and need to pay attention to them. If you die or are having trouble keeping your group up, ask the other healers for help.

Beyond the MT, OT and your group, you want to watch the other healers. It's important to keep them up unless you want to heal your group and theirs as well!

If all of the people above are doing fine and you aren't short mana, you can start looking at the rest of the raid. I generally use the emergency monitor from CTRA for this.

Mana efficiency

There are different types of fights in MC, and experience will help you figure out the best way to conserve mana so you have plenty to make it through even the longest battles.

You need to consider several things when making your mana pool stretch as far as possible. What kind of gear are you wearing? The more int you have, the higher your mana pool (and chance to crit). Some people choose to focus on + heal gear, this lets you cast smaller heals (requiring less mana) while still healing for large amounts. High spirit will regen both mana and health at a faster rate. Research gear available to you and experiment in other raids with different gear to see what works best for you. I have found that a balance of + int and + heal is more effective (as a Resto Druid) than going all out in either direction. Don't forget about weapons, trinkets and enchants on your gear--there are a lot of options out there!

The biggest waste of mana comes from over healing. Over healing is when you heal for more than a person needs. Sometimes this is difficult to avoid, you cast a heal that should top a person off and it crits. Or you and someone else land a heal on the same target at the same time. But knowing how often you crit as well as being careful to choose the smallest heals needed to get the job done will help a lot.

There is an option in CTRA that will stop you from casting a heal if your target gets a heal before yours is cast (to keep your mana efficiency up). You'll find this under "Misc Options" and it is called "mana conserve." I use this option and it helps. Experiment with the values (I have it check for 80% health .5 secs before my heal) to see what works for you. Lag can cause the check to go haywire--so be sure to test the feature and adjust as needed.There are also mods that will select the appropriate rank heal for the amount of damage a person is taking. I don't use any of these personally, but some people find them useful. If you want to try them, I recommend you test them out in other instances before relying on them in MC.

There is a mod called Recap that will help you determine how much healing and over healing you are doing in addition to your crit rate. I highly recommend you get it and use it both in MC and in other raids. It's a great tool for helping you become more aware of how much healing you are doing. The more aware you are of your capabilities as a healer, the more you can improve and adapt yourself to a variety of situations.

When you are out of mana

No matter how careful you are, eventually you will run out of mana. When this happens, let the other healers know so they can attempt to keep an eye on your group.

If it is a long battle, you may need to just step back and regen as much mana as possible. If the fight is almost over, cast small heals where you can, as they are needed.

Resto druids can cast innervate, but need to choose when to use it and who gets it carefully. First priority for innervates goes to the healers on the MT and OT. If they have plenty of mana and you don't anticipate needing to cast it on them, you can put it on another healer. This is another area where I find the Recap mod very useful. I know who is doing the most healing and that is the person I want to make sure has plenty of mana. It is rare that you will want to cast innervate on a pali. Their heals are useful and they definitely contribute to the success of the raid, but they generally have less healing power than priests and druids.

Agro Management

This is key for healers. You are going to be healing constantly and chances are, you won't hold up well against the mobs in MC. It's very important that you control your healing so you don't get agro! Hopefully there is a paladin around who will give you salvation to reduce your threat.

Be careful to not heal too much or too soon as this can trigger agro. Learning where that line is comes from experience and it may take a little time before you have it down.

In the event you do get agro--do not go running around like a madman! Stand still and let the tanks pull the mob from you. If you must run, run towards the tank--do not run towards the rest of the group!

If a mob is next to you and you are not getting direct agro but are being affected by an AOE (either damage or a stun of some sort) step out of range of the mob if possible. Move where you need to in order to protect yourself if you can do so without getting agro from another mob and can still keep line of sight for healing. If you can't get out of range of the mob without getting in range of another--just stay where you are.

When they die

Druids are the only class that can res in battle. Unless there is a surplus of druids in the raid it is important that they hold off on using their res until it is absolutely needed. As a general rule, this means res'ing the MT or OT in the event they die mid fight.

In the event there is a wipe, paladins and priests should res other paladins and priests first so they can help res the rest of the raid. Res druids next so they can begin getting mana and healing/buffing other players as they are res'd.

People are going to die in MC. A good healer will try to keep everyone alive and may be tempted to attempt to save the rogue who got agro rather than focusing on their priority list! Let your group know your healing priority and encourage them to use bandages, potions and healthstones to stay alive.

Talent Spec and Gear

Regardless of the talent build you choose, everyone who can heal is expected to heal in MC. You may not be required to have a specific talent spec in order to go--but you are required to contribute to the success of the raid. Even if the raid leader says you can dps, you are expected to adjust and heal when it is needed.

This guide can't focus on talents for all classes. You should research what abilities are available to you and find a spec that fits your playstyle. If the build you use has special abilities (Divine Spirit, Innervate, the ability to cast more frequent PW: Shield, etc) you should let your class leader know as this could alter what you are assigned to do in the raid.

Gear was discussed briefly before, but depending on your build, it may make an even greater difference in your ability to heal effectively. Research what is available by looking online and talking with others of your class. There are a lot of options available and what many consider the "standard" may not be what is best for you.

A great example is with the blue set pieces most new 60's spend weeks and months collecting. Your set gear may very well not be at all the best gear for you to have! Test your options. Having a spare set of gear is never a bad idea and it's worth it to collect various pieces to see what makes the most difference for you.

The one item that every healer, regardless of spec or class, should have for MC is the Hide of the Wild. This is a crafted epic cape and well worth farming the mats to get. Even if the only place you wear it is in MC, it's worth the investment.

There are also options in weapons, off hand items, wands, trinkets and enchants that can make a big impact on your ability to heal.

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