This here is Minalias, my holy paladin I’ve been leveling and just recently dinged to 80. I have since gotten him some gear, ran some heroics and have tried to gain a new perspective on the game. To say the least, healing is a whole different game than the pew pew.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the healing but I must say, it’s a lot of pressure. If a DPS is slacking, you can still get by though it is just harder. If the healer is slacking or their gear is not up to snuff, it’s obvious and everyone looks in your direction as to why their spirits are trotting back to the instance. However, as everyone knows, it is not always the healers fault.

What every DPS can learn from healing
All DPS, be it ranged or melee, should try their hand at healing. This is easiest for a hybrid class (paladin/druid/shaman/priest), that can switch without leveling a new toon to 80. However, if you have the opportunity to heal, I highly recommend it.

1. The importance of not standing in shit.
I’m pretty good at not standing in fire, void zones, blizzards, etc. However seeing how important this is from a healing perspective emphasizes it a great deal. Being a holy paladin, with no AoE heals, this can become an issue quick if the raid is taking a lot of unnecessary damage. My point…MOVE! Don’t worry about the DPS meter or getting that one more shot off, get out of the shit! Your healer will like you a lot more for it.

2. The importance of staying in range.
Several times in my healing endeavors my ranged DPS, while I applaud their movement skills, are moving way the hell away from me. My priority is the tank, if you run clear across the room I’m not coming to you. Stay close to your healers. Not only can you be assured heals when needed, but you can jump in the way in case a mob starts heading for the healer to chew on their face.

3. The importance of not pulling aggro.
Again, this makes it more difficult for the healer to get everyone if you’re running from a mob away from the group. If you pull aggro (which is very easy to do as an SV hunter, I know), take the mob back to the tank, not away from him. Several times already I’ve had mages or hunters pull a mob at them and they start running around like a Benny Hill skit. Return to sender!

Granted, not all of these things are the fault of the DPS. A healer still has to assess the situation, adjust and try and keep everyone alive no matter what. In addition the tank has to do their job effectively too. However, anything the DPS can do to make the run easier on the healer/tank combo will make the run more enjoyable in the end and much faster.

I’ve also been trying to put a tanking set together on the side. So, as soon as 3.1 hits and it’s not such a pain in the ass, I’m going to try pally tanking (the easiest of the tanks so I hear).

Anyone else out there get a better understanding of their DPS role by trying out a different one?

And as an aside, though I love my paladin and am enjoying the healing game, I am and will always be a hunter.

Categories: alts, strategy
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