James' guide on How to be a Good Healer (Druid)
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When I first began playing WoW, I became a Druid. I chose this class because I wanted to heal. The trouble is, I wasn't very good at it, so this guide is designed to help you heal at a low level on a druid. First, I will talk you through a few useful spells.
Healing Spells
Healing Touch: Your basic healing spell. Has a 1.5 second cast at the start, which increases to 3.5, so make sure that you don't use this at the last minute.
Rejuvenation: Instant cast Healing-Over-Time spell. You might want to put this on the tank at the start of a big pull or boss, just to be safe. This spell can be effective if used properly, as you can put this on whoever is losing health, and then Healing Touch.
Regrowth: Probably my favourite healing spell in the Druid's arsenal, as it has a fast cast time, and it heals both instant and over-time. Very useful for making sure a tank stays alive. What you might want to do in a very big pull is, put Rejuvenation on the tank, followed by this, followed by Healing Touch.
Cure Poison: Does exactly what it says on the tin.
Rebirth: Druid ressurection spell. Fast cast time, can be used in combat, BUT it has a 20 Minute Cooldown and take Regeants. If everybody but you dies, make sure you Ressurect another healer to get the rest Live and Kicking!
Abolish Poison: Exactly the same as Cure Poison, but this makes you lose poison effects for 8 seconds afterwards.
Remove Curse: Dispells a curse...
Tranquillity: VERY useful spell when used correctly. It's an AoE healing spell, with high mana cost, high threat and 10 minute cooldown. Really if you want to use this spell you should invest two talent points in Improved Tranquillity, which will basically delete the Threat.
Lifebloom: Don't get this spell till level 64, so I have never used it. Basically, it is an instant cast Healing-Over-Time that when the duration finishes, it heals the target. Kind of like a Backwards Regrowth.
Buff Spells
Mark of the Wild: Your basic Buff. Gives the Target Armour, Stats and Reistance. What more could you ask?
Thorns: Makes anyone that hits you hurt. Very low damage, I don't know why I bother using it.
Gift of the Wild Don't learn till 50. Just a better version of Mark of the Wild.
So that just about covers all the spells you'll need for healing in Instances. Let's move onto Gear now.
Gear
For a Healer I reccommened HIGH Intellect, and HIGH Spirit. Also you might want to get some +Healing items. But while you're concentrating on these stats, make sure you get some Stamina (to make sure you stay alive).
Weapon: For a weapon I suggest a staff, as they mainly have good Intellect and Spirit boosts.
Armour: As far as armour goes, all a Druid needs is Leather. Some Druid healers like to get cloth gloves and/or boots, because they have the least armour in the first place, but I prefer to just stik to Leather. If your buying things off the AH, I recommend that Armour is the last thing you look at, but that doesn't mean you should completly neglect it.
Rings/Necklace: I tend to get +Healing and Damage spells on my rings, and just normal stats on Necklace, No real reason for that, it's just what I do.
Trinkets: If your getting a Trinket, you have to ask yourself 'Am I actully going to use this?' because most Trinkets you have to use. I stay away from the Use ones, and try to focus on the Equip ones.
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Getting there
Yeah, I definitely would not put a HoT on the tank before or during the pull. It may not hurt you too much at level 20 or 30, but if you do that when you get to some Outland instances, you'll pull aggro immediately and die just as fast.
As for Thorns, you don't want it on yourself (as a healer) or on the dps, but always put it on the tank. The more damage the tank can do, the more threat he will cause. The nice thing about thorns is that it isn't limited by charges, so even though the damage is relatively low per hit, you get a lot of bang for your buck over the duration of the spell.
Gift of the Wild is not necessarily a better version of Mark; it is the group version. Instead of having you buff each person individually, you cast it once for the entire group. It takes a reagent though, but no biggie.
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Some remarks: HoT's on a
Some remarks:
HoT's on a tank during the pull will kill you, wait a sec or 2 till the tank has a firm grip on the boss.
Lifebloom's main benefit isn't that it's a reverse Regrowth, but the fact that it stacks 3 times, making the amount of health healed per second larger. Once 3 Lifeblooms are on the target, you can keep them there by simply renewing the buff before it runs out (renewing a Lifebloom stack of 3 will renew all 3 Lifeblooms).
You also forgot some other stuff like Swiftmend, Tree of Life, ...
Thorns is very usefull to put n a tank, as everytime the boss hits the tank, Thorns provide an extra source for tank threat.
And while Int and Spi may indeed be the most beneficial raw stats for a resto druid, you should also get some + healing, mana per 5 secs and some Sta (dead healers don't heal well).
J