Holy Priest 101 part 4

Healing with higher latencies: (written by Eleanor of <Driven> on Hyjal-US)

If you are like many of us who aren't blessed with sub 100ms ping but instead play from Australasia or on a slow connection you can still be a top notch healer. However you will find that you may have to adopt a different healing style to healers with lower latency. These notes are mainly aimed at those with latency in the 400-800 ping range. This is high enough to be really noticeable but not so high as to render the game unplayable.

Effects of higher latency include:
1. Increased overheal
2. Increased environmental damage (charred earth, void zones etc)
3. Slower reaction times
4. Less time for time critical tasks such as killing your inner demon

Overheal: this is increased because while the target looks like they are down in HP when your heal goes off on your client they have in reality been healed by someone else in the half second it takes for that information to reach your computer.

Increased environmental damage: You will inevitably take at least one tick of damage from environmental effects that are randomly targeted on you. This is because of...

Slower reaction times: Most environmental abilities give you about 1.5 seconds before you take damage for standing in them but latency will totally eat up this slack time. Typically you will be notified 1/2 a second after the server places you into the effect. Recognition and reaction to the effect takes at least 1/2 a second and then the return trip to the server will take up another 1/2 a second before your character actually starts moving. You may find that extra stamina and defensive talents such as spell warding an asset for these events. Aditionally if moving your character is often not where you think it is and if you die you experience a jumpback effect as the client repositions your corpse where the server thinks you are.

A /stopcast strategy is much harder to use effectively with higher latency as even using a mod such as quartz you often have to stop your heal over a second before it is due to complete. This is because of how casting latency can build up during intense fights. Also you can't put as much trust in the reported life totals of the target.

While such a strategy can still be employed you may have more luck with a spamming greaterheal 1 or 2 strategy where you just let it land regardless. You will find with a strategy like this that the tank has in fact taken damage in the lag gap between you and the server and you have actually landed a useful heal.

To be an effective healer with higher latency you really have to be constantly acting/planning ahead of the action as much as possible. E.g. moving earlier than others for predictable effects and making sure you have your next heal planned and the recipient selected before your current heal finishes. obviously all healers should be doing this but your margin for error is much lower with higher latency so it becomes more important to you.

Try to ask for healing assignments that play to what you can do well such as healing the tank or predictable damage and try to avoid tasks that require fast reactions such as dispelling or fast spot healing, players with lower latency will always carry out these tasks better than you can.

The T5 2-piece Set Bonus
... is sexy. Oh-so sexy. If you are using GH as your primary spell in any fight, put 2-piece T5 on. 100 mana back from every single GH that actually tops up a tank works out to the equivalent of 2 mana pots over a typical 10 minute fight. It also reduces the cost of GH:1 to 214 mana (talented) ... which is less than most priests' Mp5 I5SR. It's amazing. Get it. Use it. Love it. Even in 2.4, with our massive new regen, this is a useful thing to have. There is a point where it isn't worth wearing yet, but I'm not sure I've found the exact cutoff.

Consumables
Food: [Blackened Sporefish] or [Golden Fish Sticks] (fish sticks are MUCH more powerful in 2.4)
Oil: [Brilliant Mana Oil] or (easier) [Superior Mana Oil] or (for +heal) [Superior Wizard Oil] (dmg+heal works)
Flask: [Flask of Mighty Restoration]
Potions: [Elixir of Major Mageblood] or [Elixir of Draenic Wisdom] *plus* [Elixir of Healing Power]

The best consumable of all:
[Super Mana Potion] (equivalent to 100 Mp5 if chain-used)

Other things you can use:
[Dark Rune] or [Demonic Rune]
[Charged Crystal Focus] (additional healthstones in your bags)

Note that in 2.4, you don't want to use [Flask of Mighty Restoration]. In 2.4 terms, given raid-buffed stats of 600 intellect, 715 spirit, assuming a 10-minute fight, and IDS, for a priest:

#1: [Flask of Distilled Wisdom] : 23 Mp5 I5SR, 56 Mp5 OO5SR
#2: [Flask of Mighty Restoration] : 25 Mp5 I5SR, 25 Mp5 OO5SR
#3: [Elixir of Healing Power] + [Elixir of Draenic Wisdom] : +62 Healing S&E, 23Mp5 I5SR, 67 Mp5 OO5SR
#4: [Elixir of Mastery] + [Elixir of Draenic Wisdom] : +18 Healing S&E, 40 Mp5 I5SR, 118 Mp5 OO5SR




I hope this helps you guys and girls as much as it did me....

Tony "Dragon"