Triage Healing – Lightwell and an Open Letter to DPS

Traige healing is here! What does this mean to you? Mainly, it means you need to get used to the fact that you will not see your raid at 100% HP at all times. This could take you some time to get used to, and you’ll have to resist the urges to immediately top off all the members of your raid — if you try to, you’ll find mana pool bone dry and your tank getting decimated by the boss. Mana conservation is the name of the game here.

Not only do you need to get comfortable with always seeing your raid not at 100% HP, but also your raid does too.  I am looking at you, DPS… Everyone has exceptionally higher health pools than we did in Wrath. This means we can take a hit, or two, or three before we die. This allows healers to prioritize their targets better, and know if a DPS will die in 2 seconds or if you can wait a moment before you get to them. This “choice” is a huge component of Cata healing.

Ok, I’ll say it:  I have officially done a 180 on my thoughts about Lightwell. If you asked me what I thought about Lightwell a month ago, I would have whined and complained about how it requires too much external interaction, and that very few people actually clicked it. With how mana conservation works (especially early in Cata), we’ll need to strongly consider speccing into Lightwell– if not for just the mana efficiency.

Dear DPS,

It is a different world out there to the healers, we need to make tough decisions and sometimes those choices mean putting off healing you in favor of someone who needs it more urgently. If you see that you are low on HP, and the healers are preoccupied with a lot of tank damage, boss abilities, mobility, what have you… and you feel that you are in an urgent need of a heal, you have options available to you: Healthstones, Health Potions, Bandages, and… Lightwells. Click the Lightwell. Lightwell is put out for you to use and be able to contribute to the survivability of the raid. Dead DPS is no DPS.

No, really… click it. If you die, and you are not taking responsibility for your own health, it’s on you: not on the healers.

A few things you should know about Lightwell:

– Lightwell has a finite number of charges. (10 or 15 when glyphed).

– Lightwell’s HoT will break if you take damage equal to 30% of your HP.

– Lightwell can be clicked from 20 yards away.

– You cannot get another charge of Lightwell Renewal until after your existing one expires.

– Lightwell does NOT change your target.

– Lightwell has a 3 minute cooldown, sometimes the charges are used up before the CD is available again.

– We don’t expect you to run clear across the room to click Lightwell, if we place it poorly that is on us; but if it is within a reasonable distance from you and it requires you to take a step or two during your GCD, do it.

Much Love,

Your Healers

Now, priests just because you put the Lightwell out in the battlefield, it doesn’t mean you are home free. You need to remember a few things yourself:

– If you can safely precast Lightwell before the pull, do so. You’ll be back at 100% mana and have your Lightwell out.

– PLACE IT IN AN APPROPRIATE AREA! Having a Lightwell in a place that no one can easily get to isn’t going to help anyone. Consider placing it in spots that you know will be in reach of many people as the fight goes on, and in spaces that you know people will be taking damage.

– Recast Lightwell when it is off cooldown– it is cheaper to cast Lightwell than it is to cast a couple Renews!

– Pre-pull Lightwells should be cast with Inner Fire active for the spellpower buff. Remember: Inner Fire/Will costs no mana. This means if you want to switch, you can swap mid fight to recast Lightwell.

– Remind people to use the Lightwell. If you are running OOM, and your raid needs heals, remind people to click the Lightwell.  (I might have yelled at people who needed heals and were standing right next to it…. might have.)

Lightwell has the potential of being a great tool for you and your raid to use, you simply need to get EVERYONE, priests included, in the habit of using it and understanding how it works.

How have you been fairing on getting your raid to use the Lightwell?

Tip: Click the lightwell.