What kind of healer are you?

[Liliornin]

I saw this topic awhile back and am curious how every does their healing. If you would be kind, can you please reply to this topic with how you see yourself? Thanks. Also, please excuse the pasted information below focusing on clerics... it came from a cleric forum.

Chain Healers
A cleric who is a "chain healer" is one who exhibits the following characteristics:
- Is adept at watching the channel to see if the person above/below them is in synch and adjusting if necessary to compensate (might mean speeding up the cast for example of someone before them is lagging).
- Is adept at counting to keep the chain going (whether using hard pause or manual count).

Spam Healers
A cleric who is a spam healer has the following characteristics:
- Ability to utilize remedy and light lines (as well as desperate renewal and promised renewal as applicable).
- Is adept at watching the channel to see if there is overhealing or underhealing and helps pick up on the raid/say "heal please" messages.

Group Healers
A cleric who is a group healer has the following characteristics:
- Uses word of replenishment, word of vivification and word of redemption appropriately.
- Is adept at mana balancing by using a heal when it will hit for strong effectiveness as well as efficiency.
- May use the health balancing abilities to make their group heals more effective.

Elixir Healers
A cleric who is an elixir healer has the following characteristics:
- Is adept at pre-timing elixirs so it lands on rampage tanks, pullers, main tanks, etc. before engage (so as NOT to get on rampage).
- Is adept at mentally counting so the elixir cast takes place as the elixir is about to wear off (not relying on the worn off message to tell them to recast.
- Understands that there are other classes who can also elixir and working with them so mana wastage does not occur (one of shaman's pet peeves).
- Knows when it's appropriate to elixir versus not elixir.

Assist Healers
A cleric who is an assist healer has the following characteristics:
- Understands that there are social and option keys that can be set for targeting NPC and PC.
- Understands and utilizes an /assist (nothing else, just /assist) hotkey.
- Utilizes cycle nearest target, cycle nearest PC, F8, tab key (for keeping secondary target in memory), tab key for targeting himself/herself, etc.
- Consistently cycles through to see who needs heals.

Emergency Healers
A cleric who is an emergency healer has the following characteristics:
- Remembers they have a DvA and Epic and when a group member (perhaps themselves) need a very fast heal, they reflexively turn to that instead of remedy.
- Remembers they have Divine Aura, Divine Barrier, Divine Custody (if done TBS spell missions) and Bestow Divine Aura and uses them when needed to save themselves or someone else.
- Uses tools (like the AA Rez and Rez Stick) and knowledge of the situation for battle rezzing to get dead raidmates back up and in the fight quickly and safely.

MUD Healers
A cleric who is an MUD healer has the following characteristics:
- Reads battle spam.
- Uses /tar to target their healing targets.

DPS Healers
A cleric who is a "DPS Healer" is one who exhibits the following characteristics:
- Understands the functionality and use of both the Intervention and Contravention spell lines
- Knows which members of the group should and should not receive these spells (i.e. never heal/nuke a puller)
- Can balance the use of Heal/Nukes and Nuke/Heals with Traditional Heals and Nukes to maintain constant DPS and survivability of the group as well as mana levels for regular healing

[Liliornin]

I pretty much see myself as a spam healer these days on raids. I have all the tanks on extended targeting and just spam the heals.

[Inanna]

Even though I'm not a cleric I pretty much spam heal too...I live by my extended target window now. I must admit though that I loved a good old fashioned chain heal on raids back in the day.

[Ulaian]

Spam healer as well, for the most part. The only nod towards old-school chain healing that I still use is trying to make sure my heals aren't exactly synced with those of the other MT healers. That is, if the tank is regularly going 80%->50%->30%->Healed to full by three heals landing simultaneously, I'll thread in a faster-casting Fraught Renewal or even Graceful Remedy instead of the staple Reverent Light to put the heals a bit out of sync with one another and hopefully keep the tank at higher average health.

For healing the rest of my group, I largely rely on group heals so I don't need to switch my target off the current tank, normally preferring Syllable of Renewal if it's up for the slightly faster casting time, or Word of Reformation if syllable isn't up or if cures are needed (though not in Shadow, obviously ). I only ever use assist healing if the tank order breaks down and chaos reigns. I do have an assist key that's always set up to assist the current mob(s), but if I have to use it that's normally a bad sign.

One thing I almost never care about is preserving mana. I'm never NOT casting a heal, even if the tank doesn't seem to be getting hurt right at that moment. With bards, mod rods, QM and a cleric's self-only QM, mana is effectively a non-issue on raids. Well... Azraels crazy 22-man Feshlak fights nonwithstanding, anyway - I actually needed to med after that one