Just want to chime in with my anecdotal experience as a healer. I pushed keys in s3 & 4 BFA and s1 & 2 SL. Took a two year break, then returned about a month and a half ago. Hit 70 about a month ago, took my time finishing up campaign storylines and just gearing up on world content. Ran my first very low keys about 3 weeks ago, then actually started pushing my own keys about eight days ago.
I acknowledge as an hpal I apparently have the best toolkit for keys. That said, I’m also relearning that toolkit after a long break plus spec redesign. I’m also learning most of the dungeons and mechanics as I go, though I have watched some videos and read some guides. Additionally, my tank and a dps we run with are in the same boat - returning players, learning all over again. We timed some 16s this week, completed some 17s and crossing our fingers for some good loot today!
I can definitely tell the difference in healing now as opposed to BFA and SL. Damage is crazy spikey. But overall, it feels pretty good. I can’t dps as much as I used to ( ) because I am healing way more. I’m leveling my other healers because I’d love to see how they feel in higher keys.
For me, the biggest issue with performing well as a healer is communication. I tell my tank when I’m providing external CDs, he tells me when he’s using defensives so I don’t panic-use my CDs when I see his hp drop. Dps mark their interrupt targets and have been amazing at helping me snipe afflicted spirits. I perform well because they perform well.
It is literally a generalization. But I’ll bite. I had 2 wyrm crests and 12 fragments yesterday. I’d like to craft my bracers, but need a 3rd crest. So I needed 3 fragments. So I deliberately ran a 15 for fragments. But also because it was a key that would greatly boost my io that I hadn’t timed as a 15. So it worked out well.
Healing is worse at low levels. Anecdotally, I often wait longe to find a healer for a 18 than I do for a 25. But more data driven, that’s about the range where mistakes can overlap non-avoidable damage and global someone, and anyone in that range at this point of the season is likely not a serious m+ player.
Healing and mob damage are both too high relative to our HP pools. Devs blame the latter on the former, however in the case of healing, speaking for the kind of people who enjoy healing as an activity, they’d rather not be challenged if the only way to do it is through spike damage. Having a tier where healing is too easy is the lesser of two evil, between low skill ceiling and spiky damage profiles.
And? Lol, maybe they all have good reasons for doing a 15. Regardless, it’s a generalization. Not that it doesn’t fit some people, some times, but it’s still generalizing. Kind of like how folks come to the forums and generalize that all m+ is toxic.
Slightly off-topic, but I enjoy your dedication to arguing that nothing is wrong with healing. You have made more than 25% of the posts in this thread…repeatedly telling people that their opinion of the current state of healing is wrong.
This is the truth. Healers are fine, we are NOT underpowered. The only REAL problem is players in the group not doing what they are supposed to do. People standing in bad, missing interrupts (or not interrupting at all), tunneling and completely missing mechanics, etc. Going into a dungeon with the mindset affixes are the healer’s problem.
When you are lucky enough to get into a pug group with four other people that perform as they should, the runs are smooth and healing is fun. Its when you are with the “typical” pug group that healing feels underpowered because we can’t heal stupid.
It’s like just this past Sunday, I was doing brakken with 2 hunters, a Dh, a warrior tank, and me a monk. The healer asked me to take care of one of the affixes every time. It really took a toll on my dps, but I typically waited to pop cool downs until right after an affix spawned.
We were just short of timing it. But the group was relatively smooth. Personally I prefer to have a healer doing it, and one ranged dps doing it, and a melee dps or a tank for back up.
Sometimes those affixes spawn out of sight like way out of sight and for a melee they are hard to see way behind you
But I’ll humor you, the camera only spans back so far. When you are dpsing as a melee and an affix spawns like 2 miles behind you. You have to stop dpsing run until it is in range of your cast then run back to the group. I am saying it is easier for a ranged to see who is already within cast range without having to span the camera around 360 degrees to see where it spawns.
Can I do it sure, is it easier for a ranged to do it? Sure. Both can be true
People crying about your image lol. There isn’t a healer shortage. I play like ten characters across 5 realms. 0 issues doing mid to high keys, and even I (shocker) will heal on my priest and druid.
The ISSUE is the playerbase, not understanding a healer cannot heal you through damage that insta-kills you.
Playerbase needs to wake up.
It’s equal difficulty for ranged vs melee. Sometimes it’s far enough away that melee is in range, and ranged isn’t.
Can spawn behind ranged too, and melee would see it because they’re already looking in that direction.
The only role that shouldn’t do them as a priority is a healer because magic dispel is prized. Creating a list of when it’s okay for a healer to do them is more trouble than its worth.
This is where the vast majority of people are. If you design the game for people doing 25’s then m+ is going to die pretty fast. For example, I just stopped doing it this season around that range because I don’t want to put up with it.
) because I am healing way more. I’m leveling my other healers because I’d love to see how they feel in higher keys.