Healer Instance Guide

The Healer

Classes: Priest, Druid, Shaman, Paladin

Every instance group will have at least one healer. Priests are considered by many to be the most versatile healers, but Druids, Paladins and Shamans are also capable of being primary healers, especially when correctly specced and geared. The primary healer's job is to maintain the health of the rest of the group throughout the instance.

Often in a five-man group there is also a secondary or off-healer. This character is usually a dpser who will switch to healing when the situation demands it.

As a Healer

-Don't waste mana on anything but keeping group members alive, unless you are absolutely sure you won't run out of it before combat is over.

-The most important party member to keep alive is you, the healer. Don't be a hero, you can't heal anyone if you're dead (unless you're a priest, and then not for long).
-The second most important member to keep alive is the tank, they will always take damage, but at a (relatively) slow and predictable rate. Hopefully. Help them build threat by not healing them at first (or if you're a priest, casting Prayer of Mending on them before combat begins), as immediately after the pull it's easy for you to pull aggro by being overzealous in healing.

-Your job isn't to keep everyone at full health, it's to keep everyone alive. If, at the end, everyone has 2% health, it's better than one character dead and everyone else at 100%. Keeping party members from dying can also save you an aborted run or wasting time by characters leaving the instance to repair. This is especially important if you're a druid, as you can only rez once a half hour.

-However, there will be times that someone will die while you're saving the rest of the group. When it happens, apologize and, if necessary, explain why you did it.

- Be prepared to quickly heal and/or Power Word: Shield clothies, especially mages when they cast AoE spells, as their health bar drops like a stone when they're attacked. (Warlocks and druids also have AoE attacks, but these tend to be weaker and these classes also have more survivability – warlocks usually have a lot of health because the class revolves around using health as a source of mana, and druids usually have more armor from wearing leather armor and/or being in moonkin form.)

-It's true that mail and plate wearers are going to be lower on your priority list than leather and (especially) cloth wearers. However, armor doesn't protect against spell damage, so against the wrong mob they can die just as fast (or faster) than cloth wearers. Be aware of who's getting hit by what.

-As much as you can, keep an eye on what's going on around you, not just the party's health bars. Watching a mob suddenly run across the room can give you a hint on who will soon need healing. This will also help make sure you keep line of sight and range on party members – this is more their responsibility to maintain, but running into an alcove where you can't see anyone is not going to make you any friends.

-If for any reason you have aggro, stand still – or better yet run to the tank – and let the party know. Keep your emergency skills (Fade, Divine Shield, etc.) at hand and use them quickly. It is difficult for party members to get the aggro of the mob off you if you (and it) keep running away from them. If you don't know where to go, then stay put. Be aware of the difference between having aggro and a mob that randomly charges party members then goes back to the person with the most threat.

-It's a good idea to keep an eye behind your back for patrols coming up from behind the group, since you are usually hanging behind the others. It might take a while for the tank to realize you are under attack by another mob. Also you are often the person best suited to watch crowd-controlled mobs and make sure they don't escape it.
-Consider making a macro such as:(Macros help a lot when your a healer)

/cast Holy Light(Rank 3)
/s <<< Casting Holy Light on %t >>>

This macro lets the party know who's getting heals, so that they don't drink a potion or a secondary healer doesn't start a heal on them. If you do this, make sure that from where you'll be standing, the comment will reach the relevant people. (The reason for the /s is that in most cases, people will be talking in party chat, and healing should stand out for anyone to see.)

An off-healer should start healing if:

-The primary healer goes out of mana. The primary healer should notify the group as soon as (or better yet before) this happens, by typing /oom, having a macro that says something to that effect, or simply typing 'oom' in chat. (Depending on your party makeup, this may also be the time for a druid to Innervate the healer.)

-The primary healer is being attacked. In this case, the group's first priority must be to pull the mob's aggro off of the primary healer. Not only is it difficult to heal when being attacked, but if the healer casts more heals, it will generate more threat and thus make it even more difficult for the group to pull the mob(s) off. (See Aggro lock.) So you as secondary healer will heal the main healer, thus saving their threat generation for until the tank has re-established aggro.

-It is a tough pull and the healer can't keep up on the healing. Some boss fights in particular are difficult for one healer, especially healers on the low end of the instance level range, to keep up with.

-The primary healer dies. Guess who's the new primary healer?

Working with a Healer

-On most fights, the healer should be sending at least 90% of their heals to the tank. If this is not the case, or worse if the healer is pulling aggro from the amount of healing done, there is something seriously wrong. DPSers need to ensure they are managing their threat and are not pulling aggro off the tank or otherwise being damaged needlessly. (Note that many boss fights, and in some instances even the trash pulls, will not follow this guideline.)

-Healing causes threat differently than damage, as all mobs in combat accumulate threat from healing. To assist the healer, keep aggro off of them – if there's even a small non-elite on the healer, his healing capability will be drastically reduced. No matter who you are, it's better that the mob is attacking you than the healer.

-Stay in range and in line of sight of the healer. Your healer can't heal what he can't reach or (with a few exceptions) see.

-Also remember that the healer likes to gain experience, loot bodies, and activate quest items, just like you. Since the healer is in back of the group, he/she has to do all these things after the battle is over, so do not simply run off looking for the next group of monsters. Also be aware that while the Healer is filling your Health bar, they're draining their mana bar. Be considerate and allow them to recharge.

- If a priest and a druid are to be working together, use mana effectively. In raids, some over-zealous priests take the challenge to constantly heal everyone around and therefore burn mana fast, leaving druids (and their slower heals) at almost full mana at the end of a mob. Don't let these awkward situations take place, work with each other by dividing the group between healers. The druid is not as versatile in their abilities as a priest is, lacking quick saves such as Power Word: Shield and Flash Heal, and cannot respond as quickly to heal a clothy, but are generally very capable healers on tanks and other well-armored group members.

- If a fight is going badly, try to work with the healer(s) to find a better way of organizing the fight. It can be simple things, like where the boss is fought or the direction it's facing, that turn a wipe into a victory.