You hear this joke all the time: “Oh the game has sound?” or “I haven’t had game sound on in years!!”. I know a LOT of folks play the game without the sound on, and I understand that the game does have a good deal of superfluous sound effects and/or sounds that really do not contribute to your gameplay. I have to admit that there is a certain amount of satisfaction hearing your Prayer of Healing go off, or the BWONG of a Prayer of Mending bounce, or the thwump, thwump, thwump of Penance… but does it really provide added benefit to your performance? No, probably not. Does it add to the immersion aspect of the game? Yep! However, the biggest benefit that audio cues can provide healers is likely boss mods and …

So many classes have tank and raid saving cooldowns, but one of my biggest pet peeves is when you see these cooldowns overwritten or unintentionally stacked. This simply is not the best use of the cooldown– generally, it is far superior to have cooldowns one after another, not in tandem. (Of course, there are certain mechanics that can require simultaneous cooldowns). Nothing drives me more crazy when I cast a cooldown on a tank, to then see (moment’s later) a 2nd cooldown used, only because the person didn’t realize a cooldown was used— so wasteful.  DON’T DO IT!! Spells like Guardian Spirit, simply cannot be stacked– they just overwrite each other. Meaning, if I cast a Guardian Spirit on a tank and 3 seconds later someone else casts GS on …

This post title has far too many C’s in it (Yay for alliteration!?) It’s time for another contest and giveaway here at Tales of a Priest! As many of you know, I am a little obsesed with my UI… I love mods;, I love seeing what they can do to improve my gameplay. One of the most annoying things about having a UI that you love: is keeping it updated. The Curse Client is a great  application that lets you search for mods, read the description, install them, and helps you be sure you have the latest and greatest version. If that was all that the Curse Client did, I would be happy. But wait –– There’s more!! The Curse Client also helps you keep your mods synched up across …

Communicating to your raid the strategy you will be using is a key part of being successful in a raid. Well, duh. How many times have you gone over a fight and said, “ok if you get the bad stuff… go run over here. You are the bomb!!!” (Molten Core reference, anyone?) Let’s tell a story… a long time ago, in a raid far far away…. Raid Leader: “Ok now everyone remember, if you get the Super Bad debuff, you go over here.” *pings map* The encounter begins, and Raider Joe is targeted by the Super Bad debuff and runs off to the wrong location. Raid Leader: “Joe! Joe! Wrong way! Run to the east!!!!” *pings map incessantly* Debuff goes off, and wipes the raid. The End. Now, in a …

It has been a long time since I’ve done a post about AddOns, but I decided to do one since I get a number of emails asking me about this mod by people who have either seen my UI screenshots or watched any of my YouTube videos. One of the most common questions I get is “What is that Bar that is showing your cooldowns, and when they are up?”. That my friends, is a mod called ForteXorcist.

I’m really slacking in my posts lately & I do apologize. Work has the unfortunate consequence of getting in the way of my personal shit, and Derevka is making me look bad because all he does is sit in his posh office all day, sipping lattes and writing articles while engineers like me have to put out the fires people like him create. Anywho….these are a collection off PowerAura import codes I’ve been using for ICC. I have a bad habit of running in the door 5 minutes beore a raid starts and asking Derevka for an import code, because 98% of the time, he’s already made what I’m looking for. I also borrowed some from many of my DPS playing guild members that, while I personally don’t use as …

I’ve updated my UI. Though the first incarnation earlier this weekend I FORGOT to include my Saved Variables! (DOH) This version should work for those following the installation instructions. Please go to the Derevka UI section of the blog to get download instructions. You can comment on that thread, or email me at derevkapriest@gmail.com. Don’t miss a single post! Remember to sign up for our RSS feed.

First I want to share a video I made this past weekend after I finally decided to go out and buy Sony Vegas. (I got a steal on Vegas 8.0 at Best Buy) that shows off my UI in action, as well as plugs Avalonna and my guild. (We are looking for a Holy Priest, Holy Pally, and a Hunter!) I hope to have my UI uploaded and available on the site here, as well as over at WoWInterface later this week! You can also view this video over at YouTube and clicking here to see it in Full Screen/HD or in a wider view as well. BIG BLOG NEWS!!!

It is my opinion that if you have to install only one mod as a priest healer, it is Clique. Clique is very similar to mouseover macros, however it is a bit easier to set up, assign keys and buttons functions to, and can have saved profiles for different set ups or for different specs (i.e. PVP vs PVP). If you aren’t familiar with the benefits of being able to just have your mouse over the raidframe of a target and clicking or shift-clicking a mouse button to have the spell cast, instead of clicking to target that player, then hitting your hotkey for that spell – you really should give it a try. Further you can keep your current target while still mouseover healing another. Very handy.

Is your UI set up contributing to tunnel vision? As a raiding healer, and perhaps a moderately obsessed UI fan – I find it always important to be certain that my UI is providing me the information that I need. The most important piece of information is the health and well being of your raid through raidframes. I would say the vast majority of healers use either Grid or Healbot as their raidframes. Personally, I prefer Grid over healbot for a number of reasons, but that is not what we really need to discuss here today.