The Healing Book - Secrets from Another Dimension

Dan

Architect
Founder

The Mighty Healing Book​

Secrets from Another Dimension

Before you continue reading, you should know, that healing is not something that can be perfected, merely mastered.
You do not chose healing, healing choses you.
It's the unknowing grasp between your toes, and not the knowledge of a thousand soldiers.
To heal... Is to feel.



First of, this will hopefully not only improve your senses ingame,
but hopefully teach you something you can carry alongsides with you in your lifespan.

I'm not gonna tell you what gear to get, nor will I explain the common sense behind races and other rational decsisions you will figure out yourself. This is a guide, goodwillingly trying to make you come as close to heaven as humanly possible.

This is a big mouthful, so it is sugested that you digest bits of the information at a time to process it properly, and to not throw up along the way. Perhaps read which skill section you feel comfortable improving in.
If you're openminded, and have run out of things to learn in your wow experience, I suggest despite the tl:dr, that you give it a try.
Best of luck.​

________________________________

The guide may contain inappropriate content for children, viewer discretion is adviced.
The guide is organized after which action you'd most commonly engage in first.
And is valued in skill level from Beginner to Advanced & a rare Jedi edition.
It's rated in the sense, that if you master & perfect the color chapter, you'd be judged as the title.




Beginner: Yellow

Mediocre: Orange

Advanced: Red

Jedi: (Lightsaber) Blue


aaPCtpY.jpg



Everything I know about healing, I have learned from people and the surroundings throughout my life.



I was raised in a place what many would consider a "tough" neighbourhood.
Being the place I grew up, your life was determined to go in a certain direction.
Gangs, gunshots and basketball - 3 words describing my childhood pretty well.
Despite being in this area, and being affected by this lifestyle, - 'cause of my genes (I assume?) I had the stupidity to fight back.
Instead of giving in, I chose to take my own steps in life.
Not be driven by rage or fear, keeping my eye on the ball.
Keeping my head cool.​



Self control & discipline​

Fighting back and not backing down are 2 completely different things...​

The first advice I'd ever wanna share, and not just healer specific but in general. That nomatter how deep in the sea you are drowning, nomatter how dark it is, there will always be a way out. The bigger the whole, brigther the light shall be. Getting frustrated and panicking about it, is not gonna help the situation. Keep your eyes on the ball. Regardless of how big the obstacle is, panicking and giving in is never the way.
As the healer you keep order in the chaos, you keep the people alive.
Keep your head in the game, remain cool.
Never give up.

giphy.gif
________________________________




In highschool, there's this girl. Her name is Laura. She has a hard time, academically and socially.
Laura is a lovely girl, caring, kind, but also socially distant.
Due to her being shy, the class consideres her nonexistant, they think she's stupid.
One day Laura goes to visit the doctor, she finds out, that her eyes are hindered, and that her cells send the wrong signals back to her brain.
Where some people see blue, Laura sees something else.
Laura gets opperated, and returns with glasses. The world has never been prettier she says.
The colors have never been brighter.
Now, no one thinks she is stupid.
She's extended her potential, and she is now blooming.
Laura is happy.


Extending your light - The interface

Similar to Laura, you never know what you're capable off, before you give it a swing. Some of it might feel like cosmetics, but give it a chance, and you might bloom more than you allready do.
Think of it as pre-workout, or shaving your balls before the big night. Hey it might not float your boat at first, but it makes stuff way more convenient, and surely the one touching them will agree. No need to piss against the wind bro, that's for... Well, thats not for you, let me asure you.

You have one job. Your job is to heal. Better put, your job is to keep people alive.
First of, you're gonna want to make your job as easy and quick as possible. This is the minimalistics bracket. Every single freaking split second matters. Speed counts. In fact; speed and reaction time is everything as a healer. We're gonna make your job as convenient as possible.
UI, what is this you might ask? Unit Interface. The cosmetics of how you play your game, and it's subjective of how you wish this to look like. Some have alot of addons, some have wierd keybinds... Whatever. That's how you play, and that suits you. But is this all subjective? NOPE.


This matters: Your party frames. Having golden midgets around you and your teams healthbars might not matter, but HAVING HEALTHBARS SURE DOES. Behold rookie, it's okay, don't be shy. Gonna spread my legs for a moment and let you have a look.
Most people have adapted to this kind of UI allready, but if you haven't - fear not. It's still on sale - buy it while it's hot! (I'm just kidding, its obviously for free).
While in a party or raid, on the left side of your screen, there is information about you and everyone else in the party or raid.
As far as I'm concerned, this option is a default setting, meaning that you should allready have the basics available. But just incase this is not the situation: Go into options/"Game Menu"(Esc)--> "Interface"--> "Raid Profiles" --> Now all the fields are most likely unchecked. Now, man up and click it all, by all I mean EVERYTHING, except for the "Auto-Activate On" & the "Display Only Dispellable Buffs" - use those with own risk.
EVERYTHING ELSE GETS CLICKED. You're a healer, you want as much information as you can get.

Just having small information such as which #/number group you're in, MATTERS. On a slightly advanced level, cordinating with your team which 2 players place the battle standard in each group (yes, if you didn't know, the 15% battle standard only affects 5 people = your group). Get it all.
Now make those frames bigger, the bigger the better. Now here's the important part, and even tho this might once again, feel as if it's a matter of personal preference, I would highly debate the opposite. The SIZE and STRUCTURE of your Raid frames matter.


ZbQ91zU.jpg

THIS RAID UI IS YOUR HOLY BOOK. Your bible, your Torah or your Qur'an - yeah I said it.
It shows almost all information you'd wish to know as a healer.
Health status, which you may change depending on personal preference; current health, remaining health to 100% and so on.
Buffs, debuffs, and the SECONDARY bar (mana, energy, rage, focus etc) which is far more useful than you think.
"Yeah, I know how much energy my teammates have, big deal". WELL, it IS a big deal. Few examples regarding energy occur, but knowing and being aware of teammates current mana status, can alter the game COMPLETELY. By you playing differently. I.e being aware of low mana casters, preparing you for what could potentially happen - a potential wipe or similar. Knowing this before hand, can allow you to back out before trouble finds you.


You are allowed to have 2 or 3 colons MAX. The reason for this is that, 99% of your game whilst being near teammates, your MOUSE should be in the middle of your raid frames. THIS IS YOUR BASELINE - as showed on the picture. Having 2 or 3 colons reduces the travel time from the middle to any teammember alive, as fast as possible. Having more than 2 or 3 colons makes your mouse travel time far longer. Speed is everything.

I am not the person to chat about macros and such, and this is everywhere, but incase you missed golden tools like this. Mouseover macros is for healers what chicken is for black people! It's delious, might feel weird at first, but I guarentee it will improve and boost your gameplay.*
*I.e:
#showtooltip
/cast [target=mouseover,help,nodead][help][target=player] Riptide​

______________________




I was a bad student in highschool. If it was 'cause of lacking interest in the material we recieved,
or not quite on the same page as my fellow classmates. I never payed attention, if I was even attending in school.
I'm at my final exam, psychology, a teached I actually respected.
I'm too lazy to prepare for the exam like every other class clown.
Either too proud - felt intellectually superior (clearly a joke), or I was just simply too lazy.
I get in there... Do what I gotta do. Went allright...
I get my verdict; decent grade, the mentor next to him seems pretty proud.
I'm out cheering with my fellow classmates - just outside the examroom.
My teacher walks out, looks at me. I run over to him, only to recieve the single most deadly comment I've ever recieved in my life.
He wasn't angry at all, simply looked in my eyes, and said: "I'm disapointed in you."

...
Genuine tears were in my eyes.


Brace your upcoming glory

Match prep. I'm not telling you to visualize the battle field like a good FC would be doing - before the gates have opened. But there are sertain aspects you should take notes for. When you've entered the match, THE CLOCK IS TICKING. Utilize the time given, instead of putting down campfires and browsing your own character info.
"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail" - Benjamin Franklin.
In order to succeed as a team, EVERY single player/class has their own job description.
If everyone furfills their job in the group, you will have succeeded as a team.
Everyone plays different, and has their own flair to their playstyle - but in order to master yourself as a player, it's important to know what your job withholds.
As a healer, you're the unspoken glue, that holds everything together. You're the teamplayer, sacrificing anything possible to save the day. You've humbly forsaken this role upon yourself.
Behold the nobrainer; your job, is to heal. Your task, should you chose to accept, is to keep everyone alive for aslong as humanly possible.

There are dusins of factors in the game that will block you from doing your job. Opposing enemies are obviously one of them, not just that, but the allied players on YOUR team actually make the biggest factor. Prepare yourself as welll as you can for the possible situation which might occur.
The 2 teams on the battlefield are gonna judge how your whole game will be played. Before the game has even started, you should know who the primary healing targets are, and who on the opposing team might hinder you from doing your job.
Are you facing classic lockdown classes such as mage or hunters? Have in the back of your head, that your plays should be cautious. Don't take any fight you cannot win. I'm not telling you to be a pussy, but there's being a hero and just being plain dumb. Respect your opponents.

Count the dmg output your opponent team might be able to put out, but must importantly value your OWN teams potential, as this is far more how you'll be playing. Valueate how and which fights you will be able to take, before they happen. Doublecheck your TALENTS, to see if they allign with what the opposing team is bringing to the table. Prepare to position yourself ~30-40 yards from your teammate, and no more than 30 yards from local LoS assistance whilst in the battle.
Fasten your seatbelt and get ready for a bumpy ride. Knuckle up.
giphy.gif

______________________​




My granddad was an odd human being. He had a difficult life I always assumed. I liked him, apperently being one of the only family members who did. I was young when he died. He was intelligent and unwise at the same time.
If there's something that gets through to a young kid, its a dieing mans bad habbits - that you don't want to repeat.
My granddad had issues with money, not the fact of getting it, but he couldn't keep it. He was addicted to a long list of things, that shortened his life a whole lot. If only he had been able to save up, stay alive longer and spend it when it really mattered?


Resisting temptation

Cooldown Usage. If not one of the most important parts, this is what separates a good healer from a great one. Resist the urge to use your 'big' abilities unless it really matters. It's tempting, its hard... - but it's important. You've been in this situation before, something happens, you're stunned, you're kicked, you're CC'd?
Déjà vu is french and means "allready seen".
By being in the same situation before, the future ahead you is likely to be as it has been in the past. In order to change the outcome of the future, you must comprehend of changing the present.

The most Important cooldown any player has by hands, is the "Insigna", in order to master the idea behind cooldown usage, you need to master the idea of this ability. "The Insigna", more commonly known as the "Trinket"*.

*Removes all movement impairing effects and all effects which cause loss of control of your character.​

This is the single most gamechanging ability in the game. The basics of this, and especially as a healer, this button is a LAST RESORT. It's all about trust. Despite the human racial being granted the name "Every Man for Himself", this is the by far NOT the case, or anything close to how you should use this ability. In fact, it's more like irony.
Think of it this way; you've just been cc'd, yes - you're trinket is off cooldown, pressing that juicy bind will allow your partner to survive and you can continue struggling back and forth with the enemy. Would your partner, or that one person have survived if you were able to save your trinket for a better situation?

This is basic understanding by now, lets speed it up. Think of it this way. You're in a bg, you're in the mist of battle - you're either struggling a 1v1, or in the heat of battle helping your team. Regardless of the situation, YOU HAVE BEEN IN IT BEFORE. Something alters your gameplay, you feel commited to trinket at that current time, if it's either 'cause of instinct or pride of risking your death or whatever the situation might be - THINK TWICE. You spend your trinket, you get the kill, a teammate might stay alive, 1 minute later you're cornered in another situation (let's say mid-field) where your trinket is needed, - woops... It's on cooldown? Someone important in the game dies, or some significant situation happens that loses you the game. You'd NEVER wanna have the feeling of needing something when you don't have it avaible. Oh, you know that feeling? Yeah it sucks. Use your brain, save your trigger happy nerves.
Predict the future, will you be in need of your this later? Often sacrificing yourself for the course of saving your trinket can alter the game. Besides from arena - where your life is important, this is most commonly always the case in battlegrounds. Sacrificing your life for the case of having the ability to save others further on in the future. Think ahead. Godlike.
A rule is made before you - UNLESS there are valuable seconds, and your among heated battle with any flag carrier - you will NEVER EVER EVER trinket while you are alone. NEVER EVER.

Use your money, buy a chair. Save up your money, buy a house.

It's all about trust. Trust your teammates to cover your back while you're no longer available to cover theirs. Save what you might need for later.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Be aware of the situation occuring infront of you, what does your teammate have left of defensives? What does your opponent have left of effects that will alter your gameplay in the future? Think ahead, be patient - keep it cool.


______________________




Despite having some not so fortunate memories with my father, there was a list of things I truely appreciate him for.
Passion for strategy. Back then there wasn't worlds like the one we live in, so it was board and card games.
More accurately; Poker and the playing field of chess.
As soon as it hit my veins, I was hooked.
Ancient games of strategy, on so many levels.
Within strategy alot of sub words appear, one of the biggest ones to games like this; Mindgames.
Tricking your enemy, truely requires a set of skills.
Making the people among you believing you're real, when you're not.
Bluffing your opponent.
Nothing is as it appears.
Faking...


Mindgames of the guardian

Just like cardgames, and ancient board games, that have roamed our existence aslong as numbers have existed. Strategy has been in the blood of mankind, infact even in animals.
Almost everything you do in this game or the next, interacts with strategy. But in order to master it as a whole, we're gonna have to narrow it down a little. Just like the popular cardgame poker, bluffing is half the game. Here we don't call it bluffing. We call it faking.
More specific; fake-casting. You've heard of this I hope? Despite being a term that's been used since the birth of the game. Being back then, slightly unusual, only for people in PvP, who were above the average player among them. Now it's one of the most common mindgames in the entire game. You've most likely been in situations where commonly used phrases like this has been used:

"LOOOOOOOOOL GET FAKED!!",
"JUKED YOUR WHOLE LIFE AWAY BRO!!" &
"Faked ya nan, you mad???"

a0LdNx.gif
Well no. I aint even mad.
It's become a common term, that the bigger population of players use. But just like all things, there's improvement towards perfection. Something which the fewer players master. You've probably heard of faking between 40-60% of your cast. Without saying this is wrong, I'd rather lay down some groundrules and perfect this situation, as the statement above is meant to be easy on the eyes.
FIRST RULE of faking is that you Fake DEPENDING on the intensity level of the situation*
*(this rule dertermines, and can be controversy to some of the other rules in certain situations).​
This means, that whoever is taking heat, being yourself or the next man, YOU (the healer ... duh?!) should be prepared. Value the situation. The MORE suspense the situation furfills, the more trigger happy opposing players (capable with kicks) are gonna be. Aswell are you gonna be, but stay calm. Despite being on low health, you or the next man, getting kicked is surely not gonna help the situation. You're gonna have to land the fake. Grab that pair of family jewels from your pants, be they there in real life or not, you need to grow the virtual stones for this situation.
Short story; in high suspense matchups your opponent has the blood on his tongue, and wants this kill. So the fingers are ready for your cast. But the brain does not have enough time to comprehend the situation. The eye cells see danger before the brain processes it. There will be no thinking, just doing. Make them desperate, make them hunger for the kick to land and lure them in with a quick mindgame.
Land the fake and you save the village!


The SECOND MOST IMPORTANT RULE of faking is that you should not just sometimes, but ALWAYS throw a spell during your faking duration.
"Well how about this situation" - NOPE. Not now, not ever. Utilize every single second, if you cast, fake, and cast again - AND get kicked on this cast, you've succesfully waisted atleast 2 seconds trying to juke, and atleast 3-6 more seconds running around like a headless chicken without having ANYTHING positive out of this situation. And you suck. Sorry. Faking into another fake right after interacts with latency. Casting and faking, and then casting straight after, raises the posibility of you banging you ruining your computer because you got kicked while you were not casting. Sounds like fun? No, I didn't think so either.
Cast>STOP>INSTANT ABILITY>cast again, rinse repeat bro.


Just like poker, the THIRD RULE of faking is that you should NEVER EVER show your tell first.
Bluff or die tryin' yo.
Aswell as most things in life, some more unfortunate than others - they are just bound, doomed and inevitable to happen. Eventually the opposing player will catch your poker face, and kick you where it hurts. But it is your job to expand the time before this happens as much as possible. Catch him first!
Aswell as helping you on the playing field, hindering future embaressments with women, - this might help too?! Make sure you know where you stand before you go in for the kiss. Don't get me wrong, having the balls is a good thing, but don't dive in on strangers you've barely glansed at.
MAKE HIM KICK BEFORE YOU actually land the first real cast. Find his break point, and thereafter, confuse the fuck out of him. Enjoy.


Fourth RULE of faking, is that you will NEVER EVER land your first cast.
Don't get me wrong, there are certain situations, like being away from danger @full hp, or knowing your enemy, when you might wish to take another path, BUT THIS IS NOT THE CASE in 80% of situations. So prepare for this.
In order to succeed with the 3rd rule, you're gonna have to understand this aswell. Touch base. Cast, fake, land the instant spell, and see whats triggered in the meanwhile, touch ground before you stick your dick in the fan, ok?
Like I said, you don't dive in for the kiss within the first 10 seconds. You WAIT for your opponent to show his tell. Depending how ballsy you are feeling, there are different ways to do it, but a system is made before you.
YOUR FIRST CAST is the faster one, don't give out your tell, but your opponent will think that you are. Cast and stop @ 30-60%, the average player with awareness of even having the kick button, will kick during this time. You'll stop your cast during this duration, any moment should be fine, and you will succesfully have avoided the interrupt. The slightly smarter player will most commonly wait to kick you @ 70-85% of your cast. Kicking you above this % line runs over in latency, and is rarely, if at all, possible (so the possibility of anyone kicking you @90-99% is out of discussion).
The slightly smarter enemy has not kicked your first cast, and is aware that you have the knowledge of faking. You're gonna take your time and stop your cast at around 60-80%, he will if not always then almost always, every single time go for it during this.


YVJBLj.gif
So: 30-40% fake>instant spell>60-80% fake(where he kicks)>instant spell-->home free
SPEND YOUR TIME WISELY, don't forget to NOT overlap fakes. Fake into another spell, not fake on top of fake... comprende?!
Bro tip: If you're opponent is rushing towards you,
the intensity level increases,
and the chances of him wanting to kick, become higher.​

Last but not least, in longer sustained fights the mindgame is still going on, but you are no secret. Don't go thinking you're james bond or anything, this guy has kicked you, and you've faked him. He's grabbed your sack of potatoes and the other way around. The best way to make him feel uncomfortable about it, is casting in his face. Who da man? That's right - YOU da man. Cast in his face. Land those casts. He's been trying to catch your bluffs the whole game, throw some irl dazes at him. Show him who has the stones.
Be unpredictable.


______________________




I have a sister.
Shes beautiful, talented & a smart lady. Besides teasing me half my lifespand alongsides with my other siblings.
There was one thing that I would really admire her for, it would be her ability to handle alot of situations at once.
As a male, multitasking... Well, let's be real, it just doesn't exist.
But she understood the concept.
Not only doing more than one thing at a time, but scheduling assigments, and being productive with everything she did.
She would always position herself, so she had time to do everything.
Being effective with the time between her hands.
Be efficient...


Efficiency, consistency and movement - Ways of the spirit

"Walk and talk", a commonly used phrase, what does it mean? It means you use your time as efficiently as possible. It's all about the details. Whenever you use a spell, you trigger the global cooldown. This ensures that you will not be able to cast, for atleast another second - (depending on your haste procentage). Regardless, there will ALWAYS be a global cooldown, as a healer you're going to be wanting to maximize / securing the heals that you truely care about, won't be interrupted. If there's something that continuesly gets adjusted, its the positioning. Whenever you've casted a spell and the followup is an instant cast, move into another positioning, so you're ready to cast the spell after that, without having to risk injury on yourself, or on your team. Meaning; spending time, aka globals while you're not available to do anything anyway. Utilizing you're travel and journey in the game. You're gonna want to be away from danger when you throw your casts. Moving away to get in position could cost your team a life or maybe even the entire game. Be potent.

Use the scenary to your advantage. Ever heard of LoS*? Big obstacles around the place, infact theese are not obstacles, they are your friends, and they are called pillars! Hug those pillars baby... right there baby, yeah thats the spot.
*LoS = an abbreviation/internet slang for Line of Sight.​

As a healer positioning yourself makes half the match. If not always, then almost always, should you NEVER PICK a fight directly in the open. You're the team, tell your teammates to pick another spot. You do not wish to be at deficit before the match has even begun. Rather fight another day. And should you be in a position where there are no teammates near by to tell to back off? WELL GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE. Stop waisting your time. You multiply your efficiency when you are with your team, you are the team. Go team!

______________________

uIdhOJa.jpg


All the tips and tricks making you the superior force between friends and foe.

The guide is NOT yet completed, and will be under maintenance the next few weeks till all the chapters have been released.
Coming soon to theatres near you!
In progress...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Last edited by a moderator:
Very long, good and detailed guide, keep up the good work! :) This is what TI needs^_^
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top