Awhile ago I made a post about how I had read on EJ that while in BC it was all about Spell Power (+Healing) and laying on the Flashes of Light, in Wrath Pally Healers should be stacking Intellect and using Holy Light as their main heal. I talked to Ayrel about it and he assured me this was true, not to mention that I found healing to be easier for me as well when I changed what I was doing. I thought I had it figured out and was content in my gear/gem/enchant choices.
I was loitering the bank steps in Dalaran yesterday to see a fellow Holy Pally stroll by. This particular paladin being in the 3rd progressed Horde guild on our server. I wanted to look at their gear, which I am prone to do for no real reason other than I like shinies. I was shocked at what I saw to say the least.
Nothing but Spell Power Gems. Big ones too. They had only 200 more mana than me. What the hell? Now granted just because theyre in one of the top 3 guilds on our server doesnt mean that they are incapable of being wrong but it does make it less likely. I tried to armory them again to check their meta but they have apparently respecced Ret >.> I pretty much put it out of my mind and continued on about my day.
Today I woke up with the intention of locating a 10-man Best in Slot gear list (which I still havent found) so I tromped over to Plusheal.com to see what the pallies were saying over there. Again I was met with more questionable spell choices and conflicting ideas on this matter. Some people would say that Flash of Light is “obviously more efficient” while others would state that the “changes to Intellect are undeniable.” Boggled, I decided to give the Wow forums a gander and again read that Holy Light is the way to go.
Honestly this is really starting to frustrate me.
Let me start with what I do know. First of all, there really is no spell rotation for healers. I don’t solely use Holy Light, I use Holy Shock every CD and will toss out a Flash if someone only needs a spittle of healing, but on fights that are healing intensive its Holy Light all the way. I honestly think this is the correct way to go about things. They give healers multiple spells for a reason and I like to utilize all of them.
I’m also wondering if people have been sticking with FoL to stay competitive on the meters. I lot of people were saying that there heals would get “sniped” by other healers with faster spells and therefore render their heal as a pure overheal. Some of them also mentioned using Click 2 Cast addons etc. I’ve never used a Click 2 Cast addon… the whole concept sounds so dirty to me. I could see how it would be easy sure, but still it just sounds like cheating. Its really not that hard to heal without one.
Click 2 Cast aside, healing meters lie. I admit I do look at them and smile behind the secrecy of my monitor if I’m outhealing someone else, but really they don’t matter. For example, if you are 2-man healing Naxx with a paladin on the tanks and say a druid healing the raid, the druid will come out on top due to the sheer difference in the number of targets being healed. If people arent dying, the bosses are downed and loot is collected, does it really matter who outhealed who?
I suppose the short answer to at least one of my questions is to do what feels right and that a lot of it is based on personal preferance. This of course really only applies to which healing spell to use, it still really doesnt answer my questions on gemming and enchanting.
Which brings me to the second thing that I do know, you can’t argue with math. The post on Elitist Jerks clearly states the numbers on Intellect. You get everything you need out of the one stat. So I suppose I’m more confused on when you’ve crossed the line. When is the point where you need to stop stacking Intellect and focus more on your Spell Power. Is my Spell Power too low and my Intellect too high? Is that even possible since you get spell power from Int?
My gut tells me to go with Elitist Jerks, especially since I’ve found healing to be easier after gearing how they say. But again I wonder if its only gotten easier because my gear is far better than it was before.
I really wish there was a clear answer to this somewhere, but I’m 99% sure there really isn’t one. I am sure group makeup and etc is a factor for some of it as well. Regardless, you will always have people who go against the grain and since it works for them they will think its right.
I suppose I will just have to stop putting so much thought into it and keep myself versatile in the event that Paladin mechanics change.
For now, back to looking for this Best in Slot 10-man List.
