Raiding / Grouping without dogdog

[Caskorak_62]

<p>I am finally cutting my teeth into my 70's after 5 long years.  I have to say, ever since they added dogdog I have never been crazy about him.  I have a long road to go to the T3 raids, but just to be prepared I wanted to ask the question.  Is is possible to raid/group at high levels without using the STR line? </p><p>My current spec looks like this:</p><p>Summon Spirit Companion: 1</p><p>AGI: 4-4-4-8</p><p>STA: 4-4-6-8-1</p><p>WIZ: 4-8-4-7-1</p><p>Have I gone completely off the reservation or is this a viable spec for non-dps full heal?  Also for high level mob fighting and raiding, how dependent are groups on my having dogdog?  Is he really worth the AA points? </p><p>Most forums other mystics are saying that he is usually only 2-4% of their heal parse.  Also from what I hear his AOE dodge radius is rather small and they are having a hard time positioning him.</p><p>What specs are working really well for other mystics, and is there any advice out there?</p>

[Gisallo]

<p><cite>Caskorak_62 wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I am finally cutting my teeth into my 70's after 5 long years.  I have to say, ever since they added dogdog I have never been crazy about him.  I have a long road to go to the T3 raids, but just to be prepared I wanted to ask the question.  Is is possible to raid/group at high levels without using the STR line? </p><p>My current spec looks like this:</p><p>Summon Spirit Companion: 1</p><p>AGI: 4-4-4-8</p><p>STA: 4-4-6-8-1</p><p>WIZ: 4-8-4-7-1</p><p>Have I gone completely off the reservation or is this a viable spec for non-dps full heal?  Also for high level mob fighting and raiding, how dependent are groups on my having dogdog?  Is he really worth the AA points? </p><p>Most forums other mystics are saying that he is usually only 2-4% of their heal parse.  Also from what I hear his AOE dodge radius is rather small and they are having a hard time positioning him.</p><p>What specs are working really well for other mystics, and is there any advice out there?</p></blockquote><p>Not everyone goes dog dog.  I find dog dog works well for me, others insist that the stam end line is great.  I just think if you need extra unconscious heal that much there is a problem.  The only time I see a problem is like what I saw last night.  Was trying to figure out what was going on with a Mystic, checked them out on players and I was like "OMG Int spec?  Nothing else maxed out in shaman?  points in everything BUT combat line in Mystic tree and nothing maxed out there?  Jeez."  Now admittedly they don't have even 160 AA's yet BUT my philosophy has always been a good character is built on a good foundation.</p><p>Try it out, see how you do on the parse.  If you and your raid are happy with your place on the parse its all good.  I know If I was to drop dog dog I wouldn't do as well so thats where I stay.</p>

[Banditman]

<p>You'll find that the dogs effectiveness is based in large part on the content you use him in.  He becomes more and more effective as you face mobs with greater numbers of AE's.  Against Trak last night he was 10% of my healing.  If all you ever do is group, the dog is probably worthless.  You just don't see enough AE damage to make him effective.</p><p>From a raiding perspective, if you are the only healer in a melee DPS group, you probably want dogdog.  Those guys are gonna take a lot of damage.  If you are in the MT group, it's probably a little less important.  OT group?  I dunno, I would probably keep the dog since most of the time the OT group is just a DPS group.</p><p>Yes, it's "possible" to do it without the dog . . . but honestly there is no reason to do so.  From a strictly healing perspective, there just isn't a better way to spend those AA's.</p>

[Thunderthyze]

<p>I've got a couple of specs which I swap depending if I am soloing/grouping or raiding.</p><p>Raiding sacrifices dps with AGI 44681 STR 4448 WIS 47481</p><p>The thinking here is:</p><p>1. Max heal crit</p><p>2. Group ward</p><p>3. Minimise reuse speed</p><p>4. Ritual of Alacrity</p><p>I could maybe tweak the spec a bit by doing away with Tribal Rage and putting more points into Ritual but overall it is reasonably well balanced. SoH trash could give you 2k dps and top the heal parse. The other thing worth considering is getting gear with the Hateshield proc. It will provide significant heals.</p>

[Banditman]

<p>And Runic Cover, aka Dreamweave Ringmail Leggings.</p>

[Thunderthyze]

<p>^^^ That too. And Savage Healing gear on the understanding that one day its proc will be fixed.</p>