The Time is Now, Part Two: Finding a Guild

The Time is Now is a five-part series on joining a raiding guild before the expansion. Part One covers reasons that now is the best time to join. Part Two details how to go about finding what you’re looking for in a raiding guild. Part Three describes how to get noticed by and join your chosen guild. Part Four goes into further detail of the pros and cons of joining a guild pre-expansion. Part Five is a cheat-sheet summary with final thoughts and response to any reader commentary or questions.
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So, you’ve decided you want to join a 25-man raiding guild before the expansion, but you’re not sure how to go about it. You’ve geared yourself up as best you can with badge gear, content available to you, rep grinds and crafting. You know your class and how to play it, you just need the guild to get you into content. You have several resources available to you on your quest.

Realm Forums
Yes, a majority of the players avoid the official WoW forums like the plague due to the high percentage of trolling, nonsense, drama and keyloggers. However, it is one of the most valuable assets in your search for a guild.

Most servers have a Guild Progression thread, and they’re generally well-maintained by the player who starts them. They can detail everything from simply progression to also listing guild leaders of the main guilds and websites in which to contact them. This is the simplest, most straight-forward description of a guild. It doesn’t tell you much about a guild past how far they’ve been able to come pre-expansion, but that’s a great place to start.

After that, check the rest of the forum. Look at @ threads (like @playername and @guildname) about the guilds in the area you’re looking for. Take what people say with a grain of salt, but look at how the members of various guilds conduct themselves. Do they respond to abuse in a way you agree with? Do they make abuse threads? What are players in the same tier of progression saying about guilds and members of those guilds they’re not in? Basically, do you want to be associated with a guild or players that has stigma or creates stigma?

Most importantly, check who is recruiting. If they’re not recruiting, you need to look elsewhere.

It’s your choice, of course, and different people look for different things. But it’s important research, if you’re able to stomach the forums for that long.

Guild Recruitment Forums
If you’re on a low pop server, or are willing to transfer, the guild recruitment (Alliance and Horde) forums is also a good place to find a guild in your range. If you’re unwilling to do the work to read all the posts (and there are quite a lot), you can often post your own character and what you expect from a guild (raiding times, nights, attendance requirements, loot system, raiding expectations for WotLK, etc.) and guild leaders/recruitment officers will often reply.

However, don’t expect many personalized responses, as the guild recruitment forums is too big and there are too many hopefuls for a player to use their time to personally respond to everyone. However, they will leave form descriptions and contact information so you can check them out on your own time.

If you find some you like, check out their realm forums. Do the same search within theirs you did on your own. It’s perhaps even more crucial to check their server size and how many guilds of the appropriate level there are available on that server. If you end up transferring but not liking your guild, it’s good to know what other options are open to you.

The Level One Alt
Whether you’re looking at a new server or scoping out your own, creating a level one alt and heading to a main city can be helpful. Once you’re in a main city, ask in trade (the most commonly spammed and open channel) questions about the raiding guilds on the server. Anything from questions about progression, to who is the best-geared rogue, if anyone has the legendary bow, who is recruiting, or who is breaking up.

The responses you get will be interesting. Some will be ridiculous, like the level 45 rogue claiming to be the best-geared on the server. However, you’ll see how members of various guilds talk about themselves and others, and you’ll get a general feel for a new server. Do you want to be in a guild that openly trashes other guilds, or who doesn’t defend itself in trade, or who does defend itself? Do you want one that doesn’t have the best geared (insert your class here) so you can be of a more comparable level or do you want one with the best geared (your class here) so you have less loot competition?

If you’re so inclined, take notes. Who has a trash mouth, who spams trade, who provides helpful information, and who talks completely different to an anonymous level one alt than they do to you on your 70 may be important to remember. Note what guilds they’re in. You may notice a trend, or you may find that a guild has a wide variety of attitudes within it. No matter who you prefer to raid with, you should find a group of people who suit your attitude.

While you’re in trade, take note of the high level crafters and what guilds they’re in, as well as who is selling bear mounts, Hearts of Darkness, Marks of the Illidari, Sunmotes and epic boe patterns. It’s nice to be in a guild that has enough HoD’s to get you your SR set right off, and who have enough people with the epic patterns that they’re able to sell them. Most high level guilds have a crafter with everything you need, but it’s good to know who is actively in the market. Guilds selling bear mounts can generally blow through ZA with no problem, and may be willing to take you in for your own (and gear upgrades, where applicable).

Your Friends
Ask around your circle of friends on your server. You can often find out more “insider” information about various guilds and players in guilds. This way you can find out who had to bug out Archimonde to get their kills (and haven’t killed him since the fix) or what bosses a guild is stuck on. You can find out things like their loot policies and flubs, how DKP is accumulated or who is on the loot council. Perhaps a known Skettis Tree ninja is in one guild, or in another guild is the only crafter of such-and-such an epic item. Maybe every member of X guild is on every Horde guild KOS list.

Though your friends and other players can be perhaps the best sources of information outside of being in the guild itself, they can also be biased (perhaps Friend Y got kicked out of Guild Z), have misinformation, or be blowing things out of proportion. They may also simply be passing on second-hand information and not actually know what they’re talking about.

Take all the information in, keep a grain of salt handy, and learn all you can.

Guild Websites
If you’ve found a guild or two you wish to join, check their guild websites. Read their charters (if they have one), see their loot system, check their roster (especially those members who are your same class and spec), and look over their forums. If you have access, look at their sign-ups. It may be important to check how much of a waitlist they have for raids and which ones have the best turn-out. It’s good to know, also, which raids are required and which have no penalty for absence. It can also be helpful to know how long the guild has been around to check for stability. If it doesn’t look like it’s going to survive the expansion, it won’t be worth your time.

Read whatever part of the forums you can access. See what threads are available, what people talk about, and how the guild interacts on its website. Also check which forums and threads are locked from your view. What the guild chooses to share about itself and what it keeps from the public can be very telling.

Whether or not you’re ready to apply to a guild, check their application forums, if they have one. Check how active it is, what classes and specs they’re recruiting, if it is well-maintained, frequently updated, and if applications are responded to promptly. If they have a denied/accepted applications forum, read it. This is a gold mine. You can see who was accepted and who was denied. If it’s not stated why they were denied, check them out and see how you’re different from the applicant, and if you can spot any potential problems with their application.

It seems like a lot of work, but not everything is necessary to find a good guild. However, a combination of these tactics should work to give you some options to find your guild.

Druids Are Complicated

I often forget how far I’ve come in understanding the druid class (and how far I still have to go). I almost assume that almost everyone else knows the basics of gearing and talenting their druid, despite writing a blog designed specifically to help people with their gameplay. But druids really are multi-faceted and much more complicated for first-time players than many other straight-forward classes (like the rogue, mage, hunter or warlock).

I was reminded of this on Saturday when I went to my aunt’s house to celebrate my father and uncle’s 50th birthdays. My father’s cousin, a woman 35 years older than I, also plays WoW with a 50-something druid as her current main. An enjoyer of the infamous disease known as “altitis,” she has no 70’s and only plays the game about a half hour to an hour each night due to taking more college courses for a degree.

Talking to her, she admitted she was having problems with her druid. Due to my interest in the druid class, we got in a discussion about how she was playing and why things were going so slow for her. In the end, it turned out she was restoration spec, equipping any leather (and maybe cloth) that was an upgrade for her, and trying to kill things in kitty form. She didn’t know how respeccing worked, or what stats to look for.

I did my best to give a quick rundown, but I think I confused her more than helped her. I tried to tell her which stats were important for which spec, and how the druid class, like any hybrid, is a little complicated and requires different gear and talents for different roles. I think I may have accidentally overloaded her with information. I didn’t mention my blog; I’m not sure it would have helped her as much as I would like it to, just confuse and overload her more.

That night, after I arrived home, I offered to heal a heroic Steam Vaults. It was me, two feral druids, a mage and a rogue. After we arrived and people had grabbed the keys, we set off, one of the feral druids tanking. It was a near wipe, with me running out at the end. The tank had pulled with Faerie Fire, and there was no initial aggro to stop my heals from pulling threat. No one could stay under the tank and do their jobs. Another bad pull and we switched tanks.

Again, the same problem. Pull with Faerie Fire, an odd threat rotation, few swipes, and I ate dirt. Everyone else survived, so we tried again after I was rezzed (I was running back, but one of the other druids gave me one). This time, full wipe. We broke up; it obviously wasn’t happening.

I had suggested to the tanks to pull with a tick of hurricane for initial aggro or to use a starfire-moonfire-bear form pull for threat, but it was shaky, uncoordinated, and it seemed the two bears, both in the same guild, were quite used to Faerie Fire pulling. I had even put on some T4 to make my Lifeblooms less intense, and they still couldn’t hold aggro.

In the case of the tanks, they weren’t bad players. They knew how to itemize, what gear to get, and the basics of tanking. They just didn’t know the best way to gain aggro, to hold threat, or how to keep the mobs off a healer whose Lifeblooms gave her a steady stream of threat on all targets.

Every once in a while I see someone in trade chat looking for help on switching over to a Resto spec. I help if I’m not going to busy for a while, but there is so much involved in the druid class that it often does take a long while. Speaking with my cousin brought back memories of my own trip to 70, of the times I dps’d the wrong add, or melee’d from the front, equipped whatever I could get an used attacks after only glancing at the tooltip.

I’ve come a long way since then, but I have a long way to go still. I don’t know the raw healing conversion for any of my healing spells; that’s the next goal. I should get them down just in time for WotLK to come and give me more to learn.

Sometimes, though, it’s good to sit back and gain perspective on how much you’ve learned, how much you still have to learn, and empathize with the fresh-70 tank who doesn’t quite know how to use all his skills to max effect or the Boomkin who hasn’t learned the best spell rotation for mana conservation with high dps and no front-loaded threat or the Tree who spams Regrowth as their main heal.

It’s all too easy when you know what you’re doing to look down on someone who doesn’t. Not everyone can be naturally amazing at a class (though there are those out there), and not everyone knows there are web resources or has the time to root through them. So next time someone doesn’t know what they’re doing, bite your tongue on the word “noob” and help them learn.

Restoration Raiding Consumables

Yes, it’s another of those posts. Inspired by Bear’s consumables post for Feral tanks, I want to take an in-depth look at all consumables available to a Restoration Druid. There’s a variety of these things to choose from, so let’s get cracking, shall we?

Elixirs and Flasks
For at least every boss fight, and perhaps some of the trash, you’re going to want either both a Battle Elixir and Guardian Elixir or a two-hour Flask. Generally, Flasking is cheaper, especially on new content, while Elixir combinations are more powerful, but fade when you die. It’s often a good idea that, if you expect to die a lot with little or no progress, Flask. Let’s take a quick look at all your options available to you.

Elixirs
Battle Elixirs
Elixir of Healing Power – This is hands-down the best Battle Elixir you can chug. It’s a straight-up +50 healing to you, and everyone loves the higher healing. However, when WotLK rolls around, it seems like…
Adept’s Elixir - …this sort of elixir may be a better all-around choice. Phaelia revealed that critting with heals will give a great bonus to a Tree’s spells. Though I am sure WotLK will bring all new alchemy recipes, including probably a better version of this. Still something to consider bringing along if you run out of mats for Healing Power; it does have a bonus of +24 healing.

Guardian Elixirs
Draenic Wisdom – Thanks to the changes in mana regen from patch 2.4, this has become the premiere raiding Battle Elixir. Increasing both your Intellect and Spirit by 30 helps your mana regen, increases your mana pool, and adds about 7 +healing to your tree aura. A triple threat!
Elixir of Major Mageblood – This elixir is a straight 16 mp5. If you’re going to be out of tree form for a while, this is arguably a better Elixir for the job than Draenic.
Elixir of Major Fortitude – Sometimes, you just need a boost to your health. Many upper level encounters have large AoE burst damage you just cannot mitigate, such as Naj’entus in BT, who deals an unavoidable 8k+ of pain when you burst his bubble. If you don’t have enough stam, consider bringing this along for 250 extra health and 10 hp5.

Flasks
Flask of Distilled Wisdom – There is some debate over this Flask. After 2.4, an increase in Intellect is an increase in the mp5 benefit of Spirit. This also has the added benefit of giving you a larger mana pool, which is almost as good as mp5. And for fights like Kaz’rogal, where your mana is drained and a lack of mana to drain results in someone exploding for over 10k damage, starting with a bigger mana pool can never hurt.
Flask of Mighty Restoration – This is a straight-up, no math required addition of 25 mp5 to your mana pool. This is a huge amount of straight mp5, so if you’re down on this vital stat this isn’t a bad flask to pick up.
Shattrath Flask of Mighty Restoration – This flask is exactly the same as the above mentioned buff, but it can be purchased using a Mark of the Illidari from those snooty guys in your Scryer or Aldor bank. However, you must be exalted with either the Scryer or the Aldor, the Sha’tar, and the Cenarion Expedition.
Flask of Chromatic Wonder - This flask was recommended by ryfo in my comments. He lists many great reasons to use this flask: it's cheap, it stacks with Blessing of Kings, it gives resistances, and is an all-around well-balanced flask. Consider this alternative, especially if you're going to be hitting Mother Shahraz or other resistance-sensitive fights.

Food
Food buffs are delicious, but perhaps only if you’re into seafood. Though you’re generally not supposed to exercise on a full stomach, being well-fed should ensure you’re never running out of steam.

Golden Fishsticks – This is the best food buff for both healing Priests and Druids. +44 to your healing and 20 spirit. The spirit adds to your mp5, as well as gives your aura another +5 to healing. Beneficial and well-rounded, this is almost always the food of choice.
Blackened Sporefish – This is a more situational bit of fish, as the straight 8 mp5 is not as beneficial as the spirit to a Tree druid, but that extra 20 stam can be a boon if you’re lacking health.
Spicy Crawdad/Fisherman's Feast - Providing a +30 stam buff and a +20 spirit buff, this is also a great option for when you need more stam than regen, and +20 just isn't enough. These were also suggested in the comments by kaaylia.
Feltail Delight – Though there are many food buffs that supply the same +20 stam/spirit combination (Mok’Nathal Shortribs, Talbuk Steak to name a few), I like this one because I can get it at the same time I fish for the other food buffs. It’s great for farm content/trash, and is generally much less expensive than the other two.

Weapon Oils
Brilliant Mana Oil – This is the best oil for the job. Well-rounded, with 12 mp5 and +25 to healing, the only problem with it is the cost. It’s an old-world recipe (Zandalar Rep), and rather rare, so expect its price to be gouged in the AH when you can find it, and the mats to be a bit more difficult to come by.
Superior Mana Oil – Acceptable and a nice mp5 boost, this is the most commonly used mana oil. 14 mp5 is nothing to scoff at, and every enchanter worth their salt will have the recipe.
Superior Wizard Oil - thanks to my amazing readers, this oil has been pointed out to have an unstated +42 buff to healing. Which is great if your mp5 has been soaring up but your base healing has been lagging behind. Thanks guys!

Scrolls
Though these don’t stack with player buffs, it’s nice to have something to spot-buff yourself with in-between chain pulls should you be unfortunate enough to die or after a Rebirth. This is particularly helpful with streams of pulls like in Mount Hyjal, where all pulls are timed and there are no/very few breaks for rebuffs. Included in this are Scroll of Spirit V, Scroll of Intellect V, and Scroll of Stamina V. Not necessary by any means, but, should you pick some up, they’re worth hanging onto.

Potions
Super Mana Potion – This is the mainstay of all mana-users. It’s a straight return to your mana, and therefore keeps you going when you’d otherwise be basically useless.
Auchenai Mana Potion - Just as good as a Super, this potion is purchaseable with two Spirit Shards. A nice, money-saving alternative.
Mana Potion Injector – This is a primo item. It saves bag space (something druids are always in desperate need of). There are a few mats needed besides just 20 Super Mana Pots, but I believe the space saved is well worth it. You need the room for all those epic loots.
Super Healing Potion – It’s always a good idea to carry a couple of these around. Sometimes, your mana pool is just fine, but you desperately need a boost to your health.
Auchenai Healin Potion - Just as good as a super, and purchaseable with two Spirit Shards.
Healing Potion Injector – Since you shouldn’t use so many Health Pots, this isn’t really necessary, but once again nice for the bag space.
Super Rejuvenation Potion – These suckers are great when you need health and mana! Just suck it down, enjoy the lovely grape flavor, and get back to healing without having to heal yourself. As much, anyway. Their mats are a little more extensive than a Health or Mana pot, however, so if you have the choice it might be better to go with…
Mad Alchemist Potion – Only for alchemists, these are like Super Rejuvs only with way less expensive mats and an interesting side-effect: a random elixir buff. The random buff won’t replace your current buffs, so feel free to use the whenever.
Fel Mana Potion – Though this potion supplies a debuff to your healing, its Mp5 value is arguably greater than a slight momentary drop in heal value. Obviously, this depends on the fight and your own gear, so it’s a judgment call. Phaelia did an article on the advantages of the Fel Mana Potion, but it may be out of date with the changes to mana regen in 2.4.

Remember, when available, to use raid-specific potions such as Cenarion Healing Salve and Cenarion Mana Salve for SSC (purchaseable with Coilfang Armaments right outside the instance, if you are Exalted with CE), and Bottled Nethergon Vapor and Bottled Nethergon Energy for TK.

Other
**Be aware: all of the following share a cooldown with your Healthstones**
Fel Blossoms – These mini-shields are handy for times when your healing isn’t going to do anything; such as the first phase of Reliquary of Souls, where all healing is effectively reduced to zero, including that of pots and stones. They can help keep you alive for just a bit longer. They are also only available to Herbalists.
Charged Crystal Focus – If you’re out of healthstones and there’s been no time to lay down a new soulwell, these work nicely in a pinch. You should find one or two every day you do your dailies in Blade’s Edge, and they only take a few Apexis Shards to charge up.
Demonic Rune – These are good for “oh no my mana pot is down but I really need some mana NOW” situations. They hurt you, and the return is small, but with how inexpensive Lifebloom is, it’s basically worth it to squeeze out another few if you’re in danger of going OOM. They're easily farmed from satyrs in Felwood.
Luminous Bluetail – A very small amount of mana, it may not be worth the healthstone cooldown. However, this one doesn’t hurt you like the Darkrune does. They're fishable on the Isle of Quel'danas, so you can snag some while you're doing your dailies, if you don't have to worry about being stabbed in the back.

Now that I'm done critting your face with my wall of text, I hope that's helped you decide what you need for raiding!

EDIT: i r dum when it comes to Mana Injectors. They are splittable. Thanks, Jon!

A Fresh Look at Healing Meters

Once upon a time I wrote a very near-sighted post on healing meters. While some parts of it are fundamentally true, I've come to find that, like most things, situation is key. The instances and fights which a resto druid comes out on top widely varies due to group make-up, healing assignment, and encounter. Resto druids, though always maintaining least overheal (hopefully), will move up and down the healing charts based on those items. If you're wondering if you're at the proper place on the healing charts for an encounter, ask yourself a few questions:

1) Which part of the WWS am I looking at?
Are you looking at overall? A certain boss? Trash mobs? Did you have the same assignment for overall? If you look at the entire WWS report, it may not reflect your actual healing prowess, especially if your healing assignment changes throughout the raid. A change in healing assignment almost always changes effective healing.

2) Which instance were you in?
Some raids just work better at letting resto druids shine than others. Mount Hyjal, for example, will always have at least three tanks taking damage during trash pulls, and the pulls are much longer fights than the bosses. With multiple Lifebloom stacks rolling, it's easier to get seen on the healing meters, especially as other healers won't be able to focus-fire the main tank an overwrite your HoT ticks as much. Unlike in fights that have only one tank and minimal/predictable raid damage; your HoTs will more often be overwritten than not.

3) How big was the raid group?
In a ten-man, it is easier to shine than in a 25. Besides the amount of people you have to compare to, the tasks in a ten-man are much more focused and reliant on people doing their specific jobs. That priest may not have time to raid heal; that shaman may be too busy with chains to snag the tank except through bounces. Also, in a ten-man, the damage is such that it is easier for a full stack of HoTs on the MT to make the other healers' jobs much easier.

4) What was your assignment?
Druids are good at raid-healing in tens, but not very efficient in 25's. With five/six/seven other healers besides yourself AoE healing and assigned to certain groups, your HoTs get overwritten. And sometimes, there's only one tank to stack HoTs on. Other times, you'll have duties such as decursing, removing poisons, or you'll have to stop your HoT rotation to hunt down a dead body and breathe new life into them. Take into account what you were assigned to do and how well that assignment meshes with what your class was designed to do.

5) What were the other healers' assignments?
Just like how AoE dps shoots off the charts, AoE healing is going to have you beat. CoH and Chain Heal are, in some encounters where everyone is tightly clustered and taking continuous damage, going to kick everyone else off of the charts. With only one MT and little raid damage, Paladins should "beat" everyone else.

6) What other healers did you bring with you?
Do you have a deluge of druids? A plethora of paladins? A surfeit of shamans? A profusion of priests? This may not seem to matter at the moment, but as each healing type has different strengths and weaknesses, bringing different healers to different settings will change the outcome of any healing meter. Combine this with the different styles needed for different fights, and your place on the WWS will fluctuate.

7) How does your gear match up?
Most of this has been assumed with equal or close-to gear. However, gear will make a difference if the gulf is wide enough, so keep that in mind if you feel like you are "not where you should be" on the meters but are doing everything right.

Please, however, do not take this as a guide to how to get to the top of the meters all the time. Trying to "win" at healing meters is almost as bad as doing everything you can to top the DPS meters. A healthy sense of competition is fine, but make sure you examine your reasons for trying to get to the top. There's nothing wrong with being proud when you get there, but stay humble; next week you may not be so lucky. Just work with, and trust, your other healers. And remember: all these charts mean little to nothing if you don't have fun, your raid members and friends don't have fun, and the boss doesn't go down.

Karazhan Healing Cheat-Sheet

I realize now that I have not talked very much about Karazhan, which is quite surprising. Prior to my inception to Sunder, I had spent many, many months farming Kara over and over, almost exclusively. In doing so, I learned quite a lot about the different bosses and how to navigate them on a Restoration spec’d druid. This was requested by Kakalaki.

Attumen the Huntsman
Attumen is a very straightforward fight. A well-geared Restoration druid (or any healer, really) can solo heal him, but it’s not recommended if you’re uncomfortable with the fight. The basic idea is to keep HoTs ticking on the tank(s) (depending on your guild’s strategy). As soon as Attumen and Midnight combine, hug the horse’s butt. If you are too removed from Attumen, he will charge you, and sometimes one-shot you. To make things easier, it’s recommended to mark someone with a raid symbol and require everyone to stand on them.

Moroes
As a Restoration druid, this fight for you is very, very straightforward. Keep HoTs on the tanks, throw some heals on anyone else who needs it. If your group runs out of ways to eliminate the garrote, stack Lifeblooms on those affected. You don’t have to watch them too carefully; usually one Lifebloom is fine, and you can even let it bloom. It’s more important to keep your tanks up and those in charge of CCing the adds. Abolish Blinds when they come up (a mod like Decursive makes it very easy to see when this happens).

Maiden
Maiden is also very straightforward. You cannot dispel the Holy Fires, so you are purely healing. Watch your melee and keep them alive through the consecration, but more importantly keep your tank up. Watch for the Repentance and make sure your HoTs are fresh before it goes off. Staying in the consecrate will give you a silence debuff; however, if you can time it well, it’s helpful to jump into it right before a Repentance so the consecrate ticks knock you out of a stun. Be careful of doing it too early, or an ill-timed Holy Fire can kill you. Another option is having your tank aware of where you are standing and having him draw Maiden over to you for a consecrate tick.

Opera
Romulo and Julianne
This fight can be summed up simply as: heal the tanks. Throw a HoT on those hit by Julianne. Keep Abolish up on the Romulo tank.

Big Bad Wolf
Make sure you are prepared to Swiftmend or NS+HT the little Red Riding Hood. If you become Little Red Riding Hood, be aware of your surroundings and where to run. Pop Barkskin and pray for healing or a BoP. Otherwise, heal the tank.

Wizard of Oz
Like the Moroes fight, you cannot do much but heal and stay out of the way. If you have a Paladin, have him Judge Wisdom on the tin man once all the others are dead, and chase after him, giving him a little whack with your tree fists. Avoid the cyclones with the crone, and you’re home free.

Curator
Heal the tank on Curator, and throw some HoTs on the dps snagging the flares. Keep an eye out for who takes hurtfuls, and give them some Resto love. At 20% he will Enrage; watch his health and prepare to put all your HoTs on the main tank. During his Evocations, no one should be taking damage. If no one is in desperate need of healing, take advantage of a Dreamless Sleep Potion or simply your 5SR to regen some mana.

Illhoof
Your guild should give out raiding assignments. If you have three healers, the assignments generally go Tank, Raid or Warlock. Keep your assignment up with as many different HoTs as you need. If you can spare it, throw some HoTs up on those not your assignment, as they are always a help. Heal the person in Demon Chains, and if you start to be sacrificed, pop your Barkskin and pray your DPS is on the ball.

Shade of Aran
Resto Druids are very, very sneaky for this boss fight. Every other healer cannot stand close to Shade because of his counterspell ability he likes to spam. However, due to the instant-cast nature of Druid healing, you can stand basically on top of him, spam heals and never worry a bit about Blizzard. If you need to do anything with a cast time, simply back up, get it off, and go back in. When he pulls everyone to the middle, shifting forms will dispel the debuff. If you have the mana for it, while you’re at the wall, throw a Moonfire onto him.

Netherspite
Netherspite and I have a love-hate relationship. The Green Beam is excellent for healers, as it increases your healing output by a very large amount. However, as time goes by, it reduces your mana pool and, if your pool reaches zero, the beam continues to heal Netherspite. Most guilds assign a non-mana using dps for the Green Beam. If you have a Beam assignment, watch for the black circles opening up beneath you. Only move forward or backward. If you do not have a beam, still stick close to Netherspite, and remind your whole guild to do so as well. Everyone takes AoE damage, and if they are out of range of their healers, they die. When you run to the wall as Netherspite banishes, encourage everyone to bandage so you can conserve your mana.

Chess
Pick a piece. Use its abilities. Kill the enemy’s King. Win! (Our Chargers seem to always be the pieces which kill the King, go figure.)

Nightbane
Keep yourself at max range from the tank; this will help you avoid any and all AoE fears. Barkskin during rain of bones and try to keep HoTs ticking on as many people as you can. Move out of the Scorched Earth, and keep on your toes. Nightbane loves to decimate unwitting raids.

Prince
Prince can be a jerk in more ways than one. To eliminate most of your infernal problems, keep most of your ranged at the doorway and put the tank at max distance along the left wall. During Phase 1, feel free to throw HoTs on the melee and anyone else taking damage. Watch for Phase 2 at 60% and get every HoT on the main tank. Tell your melee to bandage if necessary, but your tank must be fully HoTted at all times. When Phase 3 arrives, you can relax a bit on your main tank. Barkskin when axes come for you, and make sure everyone who takes damage from them calls it out so you can throw them a heal or two.

Well, there you have it! A quick overview of all the bosses in Karazhan, except the animal bosses. But, ah, not many people do those, and I personally never have.

Good luck, and happy raiding!

Anzu and Utilizing the Spirits; a Healing Guide

So, you've got yourself the epic flight form quest, and you're off to Heroic Sethekk. Or, in my case, a fellow druid has, and you have offered to heal. This is excellent; a druid is the most efficient healer for the Raven Lord fight due to certain peculiarities.

It is not a difficult fight by any means, and can easily be done in your first try as long as everyone is on top of their game.

Anzu has two phases.

In Phase One, he is, mostly, a tank-and-spank. I would suggest being out of tree form unless you have a mage or moonkin who is capable and willing to multi-task; there is a dangerous ability Anzu has called "Spell Bomb." Spell Bomb is a curse which causes the target it affects to be mana burned for a high amount of mana and health whenever the person who is affected by it casts a spell. The only safe spell to use while affected is Decursing spells. Since this ability is not available in tree form, it is better to conserve mana by staying out of tree rather than switching in and out.

Besides Spell Bomb, Anzu has several other abilities. One is called "Cyclone of Feathers," which should be interrupted whenever it is cast. It is much the same as a druid cyclone, and it affects random members of the group (besides the tank). This can be extremely detrimental.

Another spell is Paralyzing Screech. While this has a cast time of five seconds, it is not able to be interrupted. This will stun the entire group for six seconds, so it is imperative that you keep HoTs stacked on the tank before this happens. Your Lifebloom will, more likely than not, expire in this time, so be aware it will have to be restacked.

At 66% and 33% life, Anzu will Banish himself and summon a group of non-elite crows. It is imperative at this time that you keep any AoE dps up, though the whole group will likely be taking damage. Anzu will still cast Spell Bomb at this stage, so this is another thing to watch out for. An addon like Decursive is very helpful in quickly identifying and eliminating the debuffs.

But wait, that sounds like a normal boss fight, not much more intricate than others. You said there was something peculiar about it that made druid casters great healers for this boss. And that I did!

When Anzu is summoned, three friendly NPC's are summoned with him. They are three bird spirits: Hawk Spirit, Eagle Spirit, and Falcon Spirit. These Spirits are arranged in a triangle around Anzu, and it's imperative you're within range of all of them. Standing in the middle of the room becomes a Good Idea.

Why is it important, though? Well, the spirits at the time of summoning are "stone" and require druid HoTs to wake them. As long as a HoT is ticking on them they will be awake and provide certain buffs to the party, or debuffs to the enemy. These are as follows:

Hawk - Players receive 500 less damage from attacks
Eagle - All enemies in the room receive 300 periodic damage (300 damage per second)
Falcon - 25% increase to movement speed, melee haste and casting haste

The most important Spirit to keep up at all times is the arguably the Hawk. This will make your healing job easier, as you will have to split your focus between keeping HoTs on your Spirits, your party, and decursing.

The Eagle is most important in Phase 2, but Anzu has a smaller health pool than many heroic bosses, so it is still worth the druid HoT otherwise.

Falcon is useful in all cases, and, with the change of spell haste lowering the GCD, may be more beneficial for druids in the long run.

There are several accepted macros for making this much easier. They are:

/target Eagle Spirit
/cast Rejuvenation(Rank 1)
/targetlasttarget

/target Hawk Spirit
/cast Rejuvenation(Rank 1)
/targetlasttarget

/target Falcon Spirit
/cast Rejuvenation(Rank 1)
/targetlasttarget

OR

/target [button:1] Hawk Spirit
/target [button:3] Eagle Spirit
/target [button:2] Falcon Spirit
/cast Rejuvenation(Rank 1)
/targetlasttarget

The first allows for a set of three buttons you can click depending on which Spirit you wish to target, and then it will return to your last target so you have no downtime in healing your party. The second allows for one macro which changes targets based upon which mouse button is used to click it. Left mouse is 1, right mouse is 2, middle is 3.

Unfortunately, past the end of your epic mount quest, there is not much to look forward to in drops from Anzu for a resto druid. There is a socketable leather dps belt, and there is the rare and coveted mount, but otherwise it is merely for the sake of another badge and some drops for your party members. Which isn't a bad thing, no?

Relaxation

This is to help people with a high level of anxiety or tension who have difficulty relaxing. It also helps me to get to sleep.

Start by either lying flat on your back with your arms at your sides with the palms down, or sitting up straight in a chair, feet flat on the ground and palms flat on your legs.

Begin breathing slow, deep breaths. For these to be "properly deep" breaths, your stomach area should move and fill before your chest starts to move. This can take some practice, and some do it easier than others. Don't work too hard at it, though, or get frustrated by it; that will ruin the point of the exercise.

Think about somewhere warm. This sounds silly, I know. But even thinking about being warm can increase your circulation marginally and help you relax.

Now, starting from your toes and working your way up, tighten and tense your muscles. Hold, for example, your toes/feet tense for a couple seconds, then release. This helps you to realize what parts of you are tense, and the difference between relaxed muscles and tense muscles. Sounds silly, but you can be tense and not know it. Slowly work your way up your body, doing everything from your lower back, hands, arms, to forehead. Do it slowly, take your time. Then work your way back down, making sure to fully release your tension each time.

Done properly, this whole process can take about fifteen to twenty minutes.

I hope this helps someone. I'm really swamped with work at the moment, so this is all you're getting out of me for a few days!

Speech 101

Communicating is hard to do. I’m not kidding; to do it right is an absolute art. To not say too much or too little, or to convey the proper message, can take a lot of tact and social awareness. And then you can say things exactly how you mean them and people will take it and make it mean something else, just because they can.

[16:29] Bellwether: augh i can't unpeel my banana
[16:29] Nightravyn: ...
[16:29] Fimlys: ahem.....
[16:29] Fimlys: can't comment on that
[16:29] Nightravyn: soooo many ways to take that Bell
[16:29] Bellwether: The banana won't unpeel T_T
[16:29] Nightravyn: again... sooooo many ways
[16:29] Annas: *ponders how to answer*
[16:29] Bellwether: there's so many ways to take YOUR MOM
[16:29] Matticus: i just use my bare hands
[16:29] Nightravyn: haha
[16:29] Fimlys: LOL
[16:29] Nightravyn: we know Matt /pat
[16:30] Fimlys: good timing matt
[16:30] Matticus: you have to apply lots of pressure sometimes
[16:30] Matticus: it depends on the size of the banana
[16:30] Matticus: but be careful
[16:30] Bellwether: really? i'm trying to rip off the stem.
[16:30] Matticus: too much pressure, and you might exert too much force.
[16:30] Fimlys: it could explode
[16:30] Matticus: ah but if you do, then the tension becomes loose and whats inside will explode out
[16:30] Bellwether: i think i'll go get a knife
[16:30] Fimlys: lol
[16:30] Nightravyn: /dies laughing and gets weird looks
[16:30] Bellwether: oh wait, i cut off part of it with scissors
[16:31] Fimlys: ouch
[16:31] Bellwether: all good now
[16:31] Annas: that's what I was going to suggest Bell

As I write this I am enjoying my banana, thank you very much, but the point of this is not to show you how everyone in the BA chat is a goof with a smutty mind, but rather because there has been a problem lately I wish to address. This problem is: people don’t want to talk to each other because they’re afraid they won’t know what to say or how to say it or maybe the other person will take it the wrong way or I don’t want to start a conflict augh fret fret worry worry stress.

Okay, stop right there, take a deep breath, and I will now demonstrate how to have a mature discussion of differing opinions without causing an argument. This is done by not accusing the other person of doing anything wrong. Please repeat that. You do not accuse other people of having done something wrong or hurtful. Why is this? Because it immediately puts people on the defensive, and they feel they must protect themselves from you. This leads to arguments and a distraction from the original purpose.

Let’s look at a situation. Let’s say Shaman A and Hunter B are doing Arena together. Throughout the course of their ten matches, B keeps up a running critique of A’s abilities. B also becomes frustrated and upset at a few points with matches they “should have won” and takes it badly if A challenges him on something he has said with offhand comments like “well, that’s how I know it, but if you think you know better…”

Now, many people will think “B is a jerk; A, go find another partner.” Well, let’s throw this variable in the mix: A and B have been good friends for a while, and A knows B doesn’t usually act like this. What he does notice is that it mainly happens while they are doing Arena. B has a few options: ignore it and hope it gets better, decide it’s not worth it and find or a new team, or talk to A about how he feels.

Assuming A values his friendship with B and is a mature, responsible adult, we’re going to assume he decides to talk to him. Let’s look at two ways to approach it.

A: Hey, I didn’t appreciate how you were talking to me before. That wasn’t just mean, it made arena suck (expletive). Why did you do that?! I know how to play a shaman, you don’t have to (expletive) tell me how to (expletive) play my (expletive) class!

Or…

A: Hey, what’s up? Are you okay? I’ve noticed lately you seem kind of stressed out and upset when we do Arena. I know you’re just trying to help, but it seems like you’re not enjoying it anymore. What’s going on?

While attempt one might seem more personally satisfying from the beginning, it isn’t likely to cause things to end well. But hey, you say, the second one doesn’t address the things that would really be bothering A! He didn’t mention the controlling nature of B or B trying to tell him how to play his class or how B is being overly critical!

That’s right, A didn’t. Because if you start out with everything that is “wrong” then you will automatically put the person on the defensive, as I said before. Whereas if you start by asking if everything is okay, if something is wrong, if they’re not having fun, B will realize “Hey, A is concerned about me. Let’s talk about it.”

Face it, people like to talk about themselves, but they either want to be “good people” or “hurt people.” Not many people like to see themselves as the “bad guy.” If you don’t make them the “bad guy” they are more likely to engage in conversation and discuss things with you reasonably. You can slowly work in something like “Hey, I know you’re just trying to help, but when you try to tell me how to play my class it makes me feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. Do you think we could talk about what you think I’m doing wrong, and I can give you reasons for why I’m doing it? If your idea is better, I promise to give it a try.”

Now, if you say that, be aware. You have just made a promise to actually listen to the other person, and to concede the point if they understand it better than you, or give you a new facet of information you had never discovered before. That is part of a mature conversation. If you notice the other person is not giving you the same courtesy, gently point it out in a non-confrontational way, and continue on.

Something else to keep in mind is the fact that text does not always convey the proper tone, so if someone says “that’s not how I took it,” please believe them, and clarify how you meant your words to come across. Even over the phone or Vent etc., you’re missing out on a lot of non-verbal cues. So if misunderstandings arise, try not to think of it as you being “misquoted” and do your best not to become upset. Simply use this line, “I am sorry you took it that way, but that was not my intention. This is what I meant to come across to you.” Do not say it condescendingly or in a patronizing tone, and hope the other person is rational enough to realize you truly did not mean what they thought you had said.

If at any point the discussion breaks down into an argument, take a step back and decide to address the situation again when you’re both more cool-headed. And please, remember, a difference of opinion does not always equate an argument, and it takes both people in the conversation to allow it to escalate. Do not be a part of it.

Lifebloom 101: A Guide for the Saplings, the Unseasoned, and the Stupids

It's come to my attention that not everyone knows how Lifebloom works! /gasp

This is of course me being in my own little druidy world assuming everyone's got the lowdown on the HoTtest heal ever. However! I think I can write well enough about it that I can lay it out, give it a good going over, and hopefully my faithful readers (I'm assured I have more than one!) can point out any errors I make, as I can be prone to them.

Let's begin, shall we?

To start off, it's called Lifebloom! Aw, how cute. It's your life, and it's blooming up, up and up! Just the way we all like it. I'm not sure many people like when their bar starts dropping, unless they're a mana starved tankadin. Even then, they want it to go back up. Mmm, delicious heals.

Right, moving on.

Next, let's look at the mana cost. There's only one rank of Lifebloom (at the moment...WotLK may change that) and it has a fixed mana cost of 220 mana. If you factor in Tree Form's 20% reduced mana cost, it becomes 176. That's really inexpensive, which is really helpful, but we'll go into that more later when we start talking about how it's used.

40 yard range, that's pretty standard. Instant cast, too, is fitting in with the druid's unique playstyle. And now we're on to the meat of the skill.

"Heals the target for 273 over 7 sec. When Lifebloom completes its duration or is dispelled, the target instantly heals themself for 600. This effect can stack up to 3 times on the same target."

What does it all mean, Bellwether?!

I'm glad you asked! See, Lifebloom is a HoT. What's a HoT?

Heal
over
Time

Still with me? Okay. So, Lifebloom is a HoT which is applied to a target for the sole purpose of healing them. It can stack up to three times, and heals for more each second with each stack. Like this:



Now, that's not the most optimal casting order when you have one target. That would look more like this:



Or:



And so on with many variations and Swiftmends thrown in at opportune moments.

But it all really depends on what your tank needs at the time! We won't get too picky about that now. Especially since it's dragging in other skills and I'm focusing on just Lifebloom.

Now, Lifebloom lasts 7 seconds. And if you let it expire within those seven seconds, it "blooms." The HoT buff disappears and the target heals themself for a set amount. This bloom amount does not change with varying stacks. A stack of one will bloom as much as a stack of two as a stack of three.

Now, let's take apart what I just said.

First part: the disappearing of the buff after seven seconds. You want to keep the Lifebloom rolling at 3 stacks constantly. This is the most efficient (PvE) use of Lifebloom. With multiple tanks, this is up to 4 tanks with three rolling lifebloom stacks (depending on your latency) due to global cooldown and ignoring any need to use another skill within that rotation (Innervate, emergency Nature's Swiftness plus Healing Touch, Rebirth, etc.) This makes the mana efficiency of Lifebloom all-important due to a Resto druid never being outside of the 5-second rule. Never.

Next part: The bloom. The bloom counts as the healing of the target it blooms on. Basically, this heal will not show up on your healing meters, and will give the person it blooms on threat. This sounds good in theory, but in PvE cases Lifebloom should not be allowed to bloom as much as it is in your power to keep it rolling. It is highly mana inefficient to allow the spell to bloom, but that part will also be explained a bit later in the post.

Final part: Since one Lifebloom will bloom as much as a stack of two or three, it is important to realize you should not stack it if your plan is to allow it to bloom (such as giving the tank one lifebloom before he pulls, giving him bloom threat).

That's all well and good Bellwether, but why do we care?

I'll tell you why!

Once you get into 25-mans, Lifebloom will become 80-100% of your healing. Multiple Lifebloom stacks rolling on multiple tanks. Druid healers fill their own special little niche called "damage mitigation." Our job is to give the tank a steady supply of regenerating health while the other healers (priests, paladins and shamans) take care of burst/spike damage. Basically, we're a living Major Troll's Blood Potion on crack and caffeine with ADHD.

Now, let's address the bloom. That little bugger has its place, sure enough as I type this now. This place is snuggled securely in the (un)welcoming arms of PvP. You see, when Lifebloom is purged or spell-stolen, it blooms automatically on its target, granting them that last spurt of life as a sort of consolation prize. However, this will only work on the last Lifebloom in the stack. You can have two out of three purged from you and get nothing in return, so don't get too cocky. They're also handy when you're being forced to turtle in bear form and can't get to your buddy to give him or her a good heal boost.

So, let's summarize!

Lifebloom is mana efficient and low cost as long as you keep your stacks rolling. You don't want it bloom unless you have no other choice or are giving your tank initial aggro on a pull, and then it's best if it blooms on a stack of one. If you do it at any other time, congratulations! You just casted the longest delayed-time heal in the game for minimal results.

Any questions?

EDIT: It turns out there were questions! What follows is a conversation I had with my fellow bloggers to clear up some of the misconceptions about Lifebloom!

Matticus: since it expires afte 7 seconds
Matticus: dont subsequent lifeblooms like trigger the bloom when it overrides previous blooms?
Matticus: like, bloom, bloom, bloom, bloom OH SHIT HE BLOOMED and start over?
Bellwether: you just keep refreshing the three stack
Bellwether: the timer starts over when you add a new lifebloom
Matticus: one timer for ALL three stacks?
Matticus: not one time for EACH stack?
Bellwether: you can stack lifebloom three times on one person. so it's one stack of three individuals.
Matticus: and adding a 4th does ntohing
Bellwether: just refreshes the timer to keep it from blooming.
Matticus: *scratches head*
Twalkins: Are you familiar with sunder armor, Matticus? Maybe lacerate?
Matticus: *blink*
Matticus: healed my whole career
Twalkins: Ah...guess not.
Twalkins: Hm.
Twalkins: Lifebloom stacks on a single target up to three times.
Matticus: that part i get
Twalkins: So if you hit someone three times with LB, they will have three stacks for seven seconds.
Twalkins: If you hit them again with LB, it won't add a fourth stack. It will simply refresh the duration of the third stack, bringing it back to 7 seconds.
Matticus: like a judgement..
Leafshine: So each cast of Lifebloom resets the timer.
Twalkins: Like a judgement.
Matticus: otherwise i have to recast the seal and judge it again..
Twalkins: Right.
Twalkins: Instead of having to rejudge, a druid has to re-LB three times to get the three stacks.
Leafshine: Yes.
Twalkins: Once LB blooms, all three stacks go away. You'd have to start over.
Leafshine: Yes.
Twalkins: And no matter how many stacks you have, it will always bloom for the same amount.
Matticus: and when it booms, the amount healed makes no differennce be it one boom or three booms
Twalkins: right.
Matticus: and i dont understand this 5sr stuff and how it relates to druids. depending on the encounter, i stay inactive for a while to try and spirit regen my mana
Twalkins: it'd be pretty cool if you could choose when to bloom lifebloom.
Bellwether: We can't be inactive.
Bellwether: It's not how we work
Twalkins: 5 second rule means that you won't regain any spirit-based mana until after five seconds pass of no casting.
Bellwether: We're keeping the tank with a steady regen going.
Matticus: right, that part i get
Bellwether: If we "take a break" the tank loses that steady regen
Siha: Priests are the only ones who _can_ be inactive, really.
Twalkins: So you don't have time to stay out of teh 5sr when LB is only 7 seconds.
Phaelia: druids are pretty much always in 5SR but we have tools that make up for it
Bellwether: especially with multiple stacks
Phaelia: such as lower mana cost spells, Innervate
Phaelia: and general awesomeness
Matticus: you cant just like... sit there for 10 seconds and rely on other healers to do stuff?
Leafshine: And we stat heavily for Spirit if we're seep enough Resto to be trees.
Bellwether: That's not what we're there for
Phaelia: we are healing stream totems
Bellwether: We're there to keep the tank steadily regenning life while other healers care for the spikes.
Leafshine: We are the steady buffers.
Leafshine: We keep Prot Pallies happy with constant mana regen…
Phaelia: when I heal on tough encounters with multiple stacks rolling, my face is about two inches from my monitor and i rock back and forth to keep my rhythm ... you would think me autistic to see me heal ^_^
Leafshine: *nods*
Matticus: okay, so hypothetical scenario.
Leafshine: My attention rarely wavers from the top left hand few inches of the screen...
Bellwether: and if it ever blooms you're like "Dammit! My whole rhythm is out of whack!!!"
Matticus: 3 tanks on a boss. all three tanks are steadily taking damage.
Matticus: do you go from tank 1, to tank 2, to tank 3? or do you stack up 1, then move onto the next?
Matticus: or just not care about 2 of them?
Bellwether: you stack on all of them
Twalkins: You can easily keep three stacks up.
Phaelia: i do 1, 2, 3 ... i rarely worry with spamming 3x
Twalkins: four depending on latency.
Bellwether: and you stack 1,2,3
Phaelia: especially at the beginning where other healers are likely to be on top of things
Matticus: lets assuming you're on lan
Matticus: and latency means nothing
Bellwether: 1,2,3
Twalkins: You'll have no problem 1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 lifebloom stacking.
Phaelia: besides doing 3x on 1 then 2 then 3 would be so expensive ^_^
Bellwether: And you would interrupt stacking three on one of them to refresh on the others and it would be a mess.
Phaelia: i have trouble with 3 tanks + rejuv cycles
Matticus: i see

And then another conversation, only a bit later, with a former guildy:

Harl: so spellsteal counts as a "dispell" effect in terms of whether lifebloom blooms or not?
Bellwether: yep.
Bellwether: had Alt help me test it out
Harl: interesting... does that mean the mage doesn't actually steal anything?
Bellwether: i don't know
Harl: or does the target and the mage benifit?
Harl: er, benefit even
Harl: does it still the whole stack?
Harl: er, steal
Bellwether: just one
Harl: the target gets credit for the heal when it blooms, right?
Bellwether: yes
Harl: so you could drop a single cast on the tank and let it bloom at the start of a fight as a minor agro gain?
Harl: or is that even significant?
Bellwether: yes
Bellwether: as long as you drop it before the tank actually pulls
Bellwether: otherwise it just negates your aggro
Harl: I'm fuzzy on how much threat healing generates
Bellwether: one sec, I'll find you the article
Bellwether: http://www.resto4life.com/2008/01/21/mailbag-bestowable-threat/
Harl: oh, you even mentioned that part in here. I just hadn't read that far, yet

The mage part is an interesting question. I'm going to assume when a mage spell-steals a lifebloom, they get it and the person losing it gets the bloom. Anyone know otherwise?

EDIT2: Helpful commenter celimos replied:
"when a mage steals it it blooms on the original owner, the mage get the buff, and it will bloom again on the mage afterwards."

The Myth of Selflessness, or Why Selfishness is Good for You

People tout the works of those who do things altruistically, or selflessly. Doing things for others without expecting anything in return is something respectable, admirable. It can give you a good, warm feeling inside. I am here to break it to you that there are very few truly “selfless” acts. And that, contrary to popular belief, this is not a bad thing.

The word “selfish” has a very negative connotation practically glued to it, with flashing lights and a siren. A selfish person thinks only of themselves to the exclusion of others, doing things they shouldn’t or wouldn’t had they thought of others’ feelings and reactions. This is on some parts deserved. At the same time, it is undeserved. Being "selfish" is healthy, when applied in the correct circumstances. Allow me to explain.

When you perform a “selfless” act, there is something you generally get out of it, even if it is simply the satisfaction of having helped someone or having done something you didn’t have to but that bettered someone else. This is great! Some people question if they’re doing things for others simply because it makes themselves feel good. Short answer: yes. Long answer: No, not really, it’s more complicated than that. You care about these people to some extent, or this cause, or you are troubled by an event, the list goes on and on. You have some motivation. But without the return feeling, it becomes unhealthy. Using WoW, I will now detail what I mean.

Let’s say, hypothetically, you are the main tank in a small guild. You are the best geared tank and so therefore many people want you to help them run five-mans, both heroic and normal, and are always called on when a Kara group is thrown together. You are a tank, you like tanking, so you readily agree. You’re so well-geared that these five-mans give you nothing, but you want to help your guildies. It gives you a sense of satisfaction, a warm glow. You’re the best tank in your guild. Everyone wants you, needs you, for their instances. You feel great! This is considered a “selfless act.” You don’t know these people too well, or maybe you do, it doesn’t matter. You like the thrill of being helpful.

Now, let’s fast-forward. Guildies are still asking you for runs. They’ve become over-confident, running here and there and becoming lax and lazy during the runs. Your repair bills mount because they pull stupid stunts. Your epic mount is farther and farther away. You lose the happy feeling and instead start to feel like a babysitter, ushering people through instances who simply smile and fool around while they wait for you to make the epics fall in their laps. You begin to feel used, worn out, and exhausted. You are no longer getting anything, either satisfaction, loot, or happiness from these runs. That’s right, you are now doing these runs with a hope of nothing in return. You have become truly “selfless.”

Does that second scenario seem familiar? Does it sound like that tank is about to burn out and blow up in disgust at his or her guildies and their runs? But that’s selfless! That’s the epitomy of selfless. The action is being done with no hope of anything in return. Selfless means “without self.” Does that sound optimal?

When you get nothing out of something, you begin to burn out. There’s no return. When you give and give and receive nothing back, you are “emptying” yourself of energy without reciprocation you burn out.

Being moderately selfish is better for you in the long run. And it is not bad. It is not evil to think “I won’t have fun, I don’t need this and I don’t want to do it,” and based on that decide not to. It’s healthy!

When I talk about selfishness, I want to make it clear. I mean benign selfishness, that which does not slight or hurt others overtly. I am not advocating ninjaing loot or stonewalling guildies. I do not mean you should demand compensation for what you are doing for other people. I am saying examine your reasons for doing something. Are you doing it because you want to? Or are you feeling pressured, guilted or pulled into it?

Encouraging Bad Habits with Good Healing

I have an obsessive need to see everyone's hp bars at full. It's true. I was running Steamvaults with a mix of PuG and guildies when one of our members had to go (it was kind of late). So, we asked our Hunter CO, Harl, to fill in for us. He was nice and gracious and logged off his little priest so we could use his amazing BM dps. Now, I knew he wasn't in the group prior, I knew he wasn't in the instance and he wasn't even in the same zone, but, since we were in battle, immediately as he joined I noticed there was a small chunk of his life missing and I tried to toss him a lifebloom. I was upset when it said "Out of Range." I told my guildmates and they laughed, and Harl thanked me for trying to save him.

You might be thinking, "That's all well and good, but what does it have to do with the title of the blog post?" Well, I'm getting to it.

Due to my excessive need to make sure everyone is alive and well and performing optimally, I cover for others' mistakes. I do overgear for 5-mans. I'm at 1299 +healing with enough mana to ride through most bosses with no innervate or trinketing. Now, some mistakes are honest and unavoidable. The pet got feared into another group. That's what I'm here for, the honest mistakes. I'm geared up as much as I am so that I can keep you alive. It's what I live for, honest. I tried to BG on my hunter and was frustrated with my inability to fill the flag carrier's health bar while he was being attacked.

What I'm really addressing is the attitude that occasionally carries over with a healer who is well-geared and over-geared for an instance. People start to get sloppy. "I can handle the threat because of my gear." No, handling the threat implies you are making sure you are not generating more than the tank, especially when it's a tank who needs practice and wants practice. Making things hard on him is not going to instill confidence.

Unfortunately, due to my obsession with not letting people die and my fear of being yelled at, I cover for others' purposeful mistakes as well as innocent ones, as I'm sure many do. It's difficult sometimes to just let your teammate die because they are playing the "who has more threat" game, because healers tend to feel responsible, and they are often held accountable when the group dies. Unfortunately, when people see that they can pull these stunts and get away with it, it just reinforces the idea that they can do it again, and that it's acceptable. Meanwhile, the healer is chain-chugging pots and innervating and working their butt off to make sure everyone in the party stays in tip-top shape in case another pat is pulled. At the same time, the feral druid shifted from kitty to bear to play taunt tug-of-war with the warrior and the hunter is meleeing with his pet unrezzed for half the instance, while the mage wands the CC.

Maybe these are your guildmates, and they're just trying to have some fun and relax. Explain, calmly and clearly with no accusatory language, that you are not having fun, you are not able to relax, and you are using valuable consumables to try and keep them alive while they have their fun. If there is a guildie who is being "trained," as it were, explain that this is setting a bad example and is not helping them to improve their skills. Help them understand that it is not a good idea to screw around in level 70 instances, even if they're geared from SSC and beyond, especially when there are lesser-geared members along. If they continue along the same path, let them die. When they become upset, tell them you explained it and you cannot use your time in such a way. If you're feeling charitable, give them one more chance to fix it. But remember, your repair bill, especially as you start getting to the point where you over-gear for instances, is oftentimes more expensive than what you will get from the instance. Remind them of this.

If it is a PuG, you owe them nothing, and you do not owe them an increase in your repair bill. Explain that you cannot finish it with the group, and leave. Do not be derrogatory or accusatory, simply state that you cannot finish, and leave. If you feel like maybe they will listen, then explain the situation. If it does not improve, you can leave with a clear conscience.