I play 3 classes in solo shuffle. My mistweaver monk is now in the 900s and I’m really lost what’s going wrong. I feel like the meta, sub 1000, (if you can call it that) is just random button presses and random targeting. I’m averaging something like only 1 round out of 6 where I even get attacked seriously. I have two distinct problems: I either can’t heal someone enough (usually because they don’t have c/ds or don’t know how to use them), or I end up oom. (I may also be failing to use my abilities appropriately.) I also have issues with los and being cc chained, but I feel like those are common to all healers.
Lately, I’ve been just getting in and fighting. But, some of my abilities leech mana… so I have to avoid using those. I feel like I have to do this because my build is primarily fistweaver. But, at low level, my dps teammate is going to do this fighting in the open so that we now become a ranged cleave target.
Here’s my question: given the problems I’m having, should I just go to an efficient build where I can stay away (does such a thing actually exist for monk)? Then I’ll have 3W/3L games most of the time and (slowly) climb the ladder, hopefully. Or am I just missing something, like “with monk, you want to do x, y, z, then the 2nd time your team’s c/ds come up, go all out and help dps”?
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Watch meepmonk play caster, or bankmw as fistweaver.
Mystical the monk also has good guides.
For caster MW stay back and PVE heal for the most part (it’s not that simple, but you can climb a bit higher than 900 by doing that).
Agree on watching the Mysticall guides (check YouTube); they are very helpful. He’s been Fistweaving a lot lately and has a lot of tips on making it work. He also has good guides on Castweaver.
Fistweaver
Fistweaver is very difficult to make work in Solo Shuffle IMO; it basically requires some degree of team coordination which is not always present. A Retribution Paladin to assist you with blessings and off-heals can really change the situation, but IMO this is more for regular 3s. If this is the way you want to go, though, here’s a short list of tips:
- make sure your JadeFire Stomp is where the enemy you’re hitting is at all times
- ensure that you’re using Chi’Ji strategically
- always have your port in range, as you may need it if you get focused. You can get out, heal yourself up, then port back in
- be ready with defensives always
- realize that this works better in some matchups than others (classes with pets or totems, both of which you can hit, tend to be easier for Fistweaver.) Castweaver is, IMO, going to give better results against, for example, all-melee lobbies. If you’re getting cleaved by the latter, consider whether you should be Fistweaving for those matchups
- be ready to roll out and use Soothing Mist + Vivify in certain situations, though this should be more of a desperation move. You really do want to rely on Ancient Teachings and the reduced-mana Enveloping Mists that Chi’Ji gives you
- stack haste as much as possible
Castweaver
The Castweaver mana situation is definitely a problem (more than Fistweaver, unfortunately), but the next set of buffs should indirectly help a bit.
Some tips (many of these apply to FW as well):
- stay at max range unless you’re pushing in for some reason
- if you have the opportunity, try cc chains against the enemy healer (Paralysis → Leg Sweep → Torpedo out) to control their output and stop heals at critical times. Takes a good amount of practice, but really helpful. This would be an example of a good reason to push in
- Song of Chi’Ji can be very clutch in certain matchups (especially ones where you’re worried about getting focused), so analyze what other players do in the early rounds to figure out if you should switch from RoP
- save your ranged teammates, interrupt enemy casters, trap opponents against walls and in rooms, and cause chaos for the opposing team with Ring of Peace
- use LoS vs ranged opponents as best you can (strafing in and out of an obstruction like a pillar is very helpful if you can manage it)
- make sure your 2-set (Renewing Mist on each party member) is up so there’s benefit from cross healing via Invigorating Mists (you get this built-in with Fistweaver so no need to cast with that)
- make sure Enveloping Mist is always up on your main target. The healing bonus is amazing. I generally like to do Renewing Mist → Soothing Mist channel → Enveloping Mist once they take some damage → Vivify
- weave in Mana Tea with your regular casting, and definitely try to use it before expensive spells if you can (like Yu’Lon.) This will save you a good amount of mana over the match. I like to use it at 3-5 stacks
- make use of Thunder Focus Tea for both the free Vivifies (used while normal spam casting with Soothing Mist) and double Enveloping Mists. The former will really help with mana, and the latter can be a game-saver
- use Expel Harm as your first self-heal
- always have your port down, always be in range of it, and be ready to use it to escape attacks, CC, or to reposition. This will save you more than almost anything else
- be ready to reset your port position multiple times in many fights, especially ones where the teams are moving around a lot, which is not uncommon
- be ready to move a lot. We’re the most mobile healer, and we have to use that mobility to avoid CC and stay with our team. You should be ready to Torpedo when the enemy healer (often) starts heading toward you (or you can be ready with your own counter-CC.) The reality is that you will get CCed sometimes, but moving, staying max range, and using LoS will help reduce the frequency
- getting chain CCed can sometimes work to your advantage if you get DRed early (e.g., with Cyclone)
- sometimes you want to strategically eat a CC (for example, early game when everyone is healthy is a good time to Diffuse nasty DoTs that can CC you) or to save yourself from getting hit with a different, potentially worse, CC (e.g., Cyclone instead of fear)
- if there’s lots of damage on your primary healing target, you can buy yourself some breathing room by paralyzing the DPS that’s not being focused (but try to avoid with teammates that DoT them, as it will clear those.) Your teammates should of course be helping here
- make judicious use of Diffuse Magic if you get DoTted; just be mindful that certain things (like UA) can be dangerous to Diffuse. Sometimes you have to, though, so be ready with Zen Focus Tea (before the fact to avoid the silence), Expel Harm, port, and self heals in general
- Yu’Lon should generally be your first major cooldown. With the cooldown reduction from Gift of the Celestials, you don’t have to worry about “wasting” it
- use Zen Spheres whenever possible. Try to keep it on the focused enemy target, and the teammate your healing. You can also put it on someone that’s hitting you to reduce their damage against you
- disarm warriors, especially during Avatar. Also good against Rogues, Marksman Hunters, and Death Knights
- use Counteract Magic in DoT-heavy fights to add healing
- use Eminence when there are multiple stuns on the opposing team. With just one, you can probably do without it, but once there are two, three, or more, it’s practically required
- Peaceweaver is a lifesaver is many situations, and is often worth taking
The biggest thing you’re likely to have to deal with is teammates breaking line of sight or outranging you; there’s a limit to healers’ ability to control this, so we just have to do our best to try to keep up with them. I have a macro that tells my team when I can’t heal them due to LoS or range, and I’ve had some degree of success with it. I’d recommend creating one as well, but realize that sometimes people will just tunnel and die no matter what we say or do. (Fistweaver does not generally have this problem, though.)
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excellent post. thank you for the tips.
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