34 defiler having some trouble

[casedwards]

<p>Hey guys</p><p>I did some mild searching and it seems most people are asking how to solo better or they are talking about raids.   I never plan to solo my defiler and it will be a long time before I get to be in some raids.  I have a level 34 defiler I play on occasion and I am having trouble healing a group.  I am not sure how bad the problem is exactly because I always seem to have a back up healer but it seems at times that if I didn't have a back up healer the tank would die.  </p><p>I've worked with Shadowknights and Bruisers mostly as the tank.  We tend to fight yellows.  Im at a loss though...surely I am doing something wrong because I know other healers could solo heal a tank without any trouble.  I really run into trouble if the group takes the aggro from the tank.  It seems to be the long cast times...I always have tons of power but the people go down to fast.</p><p>My general strategy is to cast a group ward during the pull so that about the time the tank gets aggro it lands.  I then stack that with a single target ward and debuff the mob.  I try to keep that debuff that has a chance to ward the group up at all times.  My second debuff is the one that decreases attack speed, then the one with the dot and attack speed.  I usually dont get all those off before I need to throw in another single target ward then I debuff again or single target heal if need be.  Once something goes bad though I cant keep up.  </p><p>Oh...I know some of you will ask... My spells are mostly app 4's.  I know I really need better but I am not asking to raid or anything just standard group content at a low level.  Ill start buying adpt 3's after 50...maybe apt 1's in the 40's but they cost to much with the transmutters jacking up prices.</p>

[TheSpin]

<p>I'm only a 30ish level defiler, and I do have adept 3 group ward and some other upgraded spells so I might have an easier time than you, but let me give you a little info on how I heal.</p><p>1.  I have the strength line maxed and the extra heals from the dog are great...it's about 150 damage when it goes off and it goes off a ton (I rarely use any heal on myself when I solo and this ward does the trick)</p><p>2.  I only preward on very special occasions, that is when we are about to fight a single named mob and there is no body pulling required so that the tank can start taunting and attacking right away.  If you put up a ward before, or at about the same time as the pull you risk getting aggro on yourself before the tank locks in aggro.  (If something attacks someone with a ward they will go after the person that cast that ward unless there is other hate involved).  </p><p>3.  I usually use the single target ward asap once aggro is locked in and then follow up with the aoe ward.  If the tank took damage before the aoe ward is finished I cycle through my direct heals and then use the single target ward again so that it's up and in place before the aoe ward expires.</p><p>4.  The AoE ward is your best friend and should be kept up as much as possible.  It is by far the most mana efficient thing you have.  The single target ward is the next best thing and usually casts fast enough to get on a group member if they steal aggro.</p><p>5.  Don't forget about distilled souls and encourage your groupmates to use them when they get them.  Also, use your group heal if you have to.  We have a pretty big power pool and our direct and group heals are much more mana efficient than the ones some other classes have (like my inquisitor).</p>

[Kari]

<p>I would really recommend that you keep your group and single wards up all the time, if you are having a problem keeping your tank up. That may mean slightly less debuffs because you would be casting them between the wards. Also if you see any conditions on the tank, cure them imediately. The power you spend on the cure can prevent more damage than the heals would give back.</p><p>If you have harvesting skills, I would recommend that you harves two rares and then ask a crafter to make you the adept three for your single and group ward. Those are your biggest heal spells and would make the most difference, even if you wanted to keep the rest app 4. </p>

[Raca]

I've got adept 3 wards and i rarely use my heals and rarely see the tanks hps get lower than 85%. Remember our slow debuffs not good enough to take priority over your wards, make sure wards are up and will last long enough for you to debuff.

[TheSpin]

<cite>Raca wrote:</cite><blockquote>I've got adept 3 wards and i rarely use my heals and rarely see the tanks hps get lower than 85%. Remember our slow debuffs not good enough to take priority over your wards, make sure wards are up and will last long enough for you to debuff.</blockquote>I have a hard time even cycling through all my debuffs before the mob is dead when I group.  I plan on going down the cursing line so I can cast my debuffs fast enough to matter.

[OpMindcri]

<cite>Iezer@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Oh...I know some of you will ask... My spells are mostly app 4's.  I know I really need better but I am not asking to raid or anything just standard group content at a low level.  Ill start buying adpt 3's after 50...maybe apt 1's in the 40's but they cost to much with the transmutters jacking up prices.</p></blockquote>Don't bring a knife to a gun fight. Frankly, I wouldn't group with someone who doesn't take enough pride in themselves to upgrade their spells, regardless of the level or cost.

[TheSpin]

<cite>OpMindcrime wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Iezer@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Oh...I know some of you will ask... My spells are mostly app 4's.  I know I really need better but I am not asking to raid or anything just standard group content at a low level.  Ill start buying adpt 3's after 50...maybe apt 1's in the 40's but they cost to much with the transmutters jacking up prices.</p></blockquote>Don't bring a knife to a gun fight. Frankly, I wouldn't group with someone who doesn't take enough pride in themselves to upgrade their spells, regardless of the level or cost.</blockquote><p>While I level up I prefer to do it in mostly treasured gear, no matter what class.  My high 30's guardian is only down about 50 mitigation compared to someone in mastercrafted and my gear was all 5 gold or less instead of 20-30 gold or more per piece.  Adept 3s and masters are only important for key spells.  </p><p>I would suggest you try to keep your group ward adept 3 and if possible the single target version, but as long as everyone else is properly equipped and playing their role you shouldn't have any problems.  I think you'd be suprised at how poorly geared some players are.</p>

[silentpsycho]

<p>With less that AD3 wards, you are going to need to master the art of Ward cycling.  The key to this is: you can cast your single target ward twice in the time it take the group ward to recycle, and you have a few decent direct heals to throw into the mix.  If you get the timing down and have a solid tank who can hold aggro, you will be fine.  Things get interesting when taunts get resisted and nukes don't and aggro starts bouncing around the group, but if you look at your spells closely, you'll see you have a lot of tools to use to keep a group up - more than most other healers.</p><p> For that aggro bounce situation, one thing I do is I always set up two macros in my hotbar.  One targets the MT directly, the other does an /assist on the MA (I don't use this one a bunch, when I debuff, its usually clear who the target should be).  I also have a key set up to assist my target (I use alt+my current auto attack key).  What I do when aggro starts bouncing around is I'll target the MT and then /assist him to directly target the mob that he lost aggro of, so I can see who it's attacking.  Then I get my single target ward on that person as quickly as possible (usually before the group ward is used up), then I monitor the health of the group and either switch targets if somone else's health is droppin fast and single target ward again, or, if I've stopped the hemmorage, I'll work on bringing people back up to full health with group/single target heals and re-apply group ward, retarget the tank and hope he got aggro back under control.</p><p>I don't know if any of this helps other than to illustrate that you have a lot of tools at your disposal.  Your job gets immensely easier if you upgrade your wards and heals above adept1, but I think your skills improve faster doing it the hard way.  If people start dying because your undergeared and your skill isn't there yet, it's time to start looking for upgrades... or your group will.</p><p>Edit: I forgot to mention that 9 times out of 10, you can see who's getting whacked in time to save them by watching the health bars closely and using the appropriate function key to target them and get your single target ward off.  This is another skill you have to master.  Targeting heals/wards through the mob thats bouncing around with aggro gives you somewhat of a head start - don't get lazy with this or you will not do well with multi-mob encounters.</p><p>Hope this helps someone</p><p>Locus - 70 defiler of Nagafen</p>

[casedwards]

Thanks for the replies guys.  It sounds like I am doing everything right based on what you are saying.  I cycle my wards just like you describe.  I put the wards in priority over the debuffs.  I put two single target wards per every group ward.  I cure anything that gets on the tank.  I do the marco part a little different.  For me its faster to just hover over the health bars with my mouse because I dont use my mouse to cast spells.  I have a nostroma pad with all my spells hotkeyed to it and know exactly where they are so I can click and instantly cast whatever is needed.  I do actually have the master single target ward and my group ward is ade[t 1 but I suppose I could upgrade it to adept 3.  I think I just need to get used to being a slower caster.  I could be totally wrong about not being able to hold a tank up...ive still not had the chance to solo heal so I dont know.  Ive saved a few groups when the healer goes down because of lots of adds...kept them all up alone then but outside of that Im just not sure.