Healers supposed to DPS too in BGs?

[dragonhawker]

Hey ladies,

Sorry to bring my insecurities here, but basically I'm wondering if I'm doing PVP wrong.

Comments

[the__ivorytower]

I assume that the DPS numbers are either people fooling around or desperately trying to add damage to close fights. I don't think there's any *obligation* to do it.

[dragonhawker]

I kinda wonder sometimes about the healing vs damage numbers I see on those charts. Self-healing counts, right? So I think some of the people who hover near the top of the healing charts are actually DPS warlocks/DKs or something whose self-healing racks up the numbers...

[frieliegh]

also hunters - my daughter runs BGs on her BM hunter a LOT and the passive heal of spirit mend keeps her routinely in the top two or three "healers" in the BG. The few I did with my DK I was in top three of both heals and DPS which really blew my mind... especially since I was running frost not blood.

Also, it's possible you're looking at smite specced priests who heal by doing damage. Or a healer under duress trying to keep themselves alive...

there's a lot of different ways you can end up with dps AND heals done. If you're paying attention to your heals and have people watching your back so you can do so without getting into a kill or be killed duel - go for it! Heal away and don't worry about 'letting the team down'. God knows I wished we'd had healers who spent more time healing and less time screaming into BG chat how everyone sucked!

[okojosan]

I think CC is more important than dps... If you can silence or stun or hex the other side, that helps. I play a rest shaman in pvp and sometimes I might throw out a chain lightning or flame shock/nova but most of the time I heal or wind shock or hex or slow.

[dragonhawker]

I try to CC more, but I feel so clumsy and slow. Roots has such a long cast time, usually by the time I've picked my target and cast it they're out of range. And I always seem to cast Cyclone at the worst possible time (i.e, just before one of my teammates was about to launch an attack on them, which they're now suddenly immune to.) Maybe I just need more practice, but I get so easily confused when I'm trying to bounce back and forth between targeting enemies and targeting allies. @_@

[okojosan]

That's okay, it just takes practice. If you're most comfortable just healing, then just do that. My brain gets overloaded sometimes in pvp and then I remember "oh yeah, I could hex that annoying (class)" so I do, then go back to healing.

Often I've found I'm the only healer in on our side, so just healing alone keeps me busy.

[dragonhawker]

Concentrating on CC definitely seems to be the way to go. Maybe I'll do some more Strand of the Ancients -- I was delighted to learn that those demos can be rooted!

[dawnshadow]

Your first priority is healing. If you can throw in some DPS, great-- my disc priest is atonement specced, and if I can I'll sometimes toss out Hammers of the Righteous on my paladin. :)

[dragonhawker]

Since my other spec is feral, I find the problem is I don't even know WHAT offensive spells I have. They all look like sparkly lights in my spellbook anyway. So there's... starfire and moonfire and wrath, right... which of those is instant, again? Wait, what does Faerie Fire do??

[dawnshadow]

Faerie fire is acutally useful. It reduces armor and keeps the target from stealthing. So you want to put it on rogues and enemy druids, mostly rogues. ;)

[moonbeamdanser]

I have been PvPing on my baby druid Pie the last few days because AV WEEKEND woo, and I have to say aside from popping tree form and making myself nigh impossible to kill (at least for a short time) my favorite thing EVAR is Faerie Firing rogues and kitties. >:3

[commabut]

It helps but you're not obligated to do it. DPS when appropriate to help your teammates (or yourself). When appropriate would mean anytime someone doesn't need heals/dispells/etc and you aren't directly underfire, and you're not low on mana. Dotting any stealth classes so they can't restealth is especially helpful.

On my healers I usually just try to support rather than directly DPS, e.g. on my shaman I'll use frost shock, purge, slow with earthbind, CC etc. On my priest, I'll fear when it's called for, DoT players, dispel stuff etc. On my druid I'll root enemies, efcs, and so forth.

There will be times you'll have to DPS like if you're 1v1ing someone, don't just spam heal yourself, little things like DoTs, thorns etc can add up. When it doubt, chicken out though haha, and try to kite the person to your teammates.

Don't overthink it. Play how you like. DPSing in dungeons as a healer is less appropriate than in BGs, unless you're a smite healing priest or TC shammy build.

[dragonhawker]

I put Faerie Fire on my bar to throw it on rogues, but that's usually as far as I get. By the time I'm finished casting Roots they're usually out of range. >.

[commabut]

FF is great! Rogues and ferals hate it so much, haha and it forces rogues to use their Cloak c/d. As for rooting, I usually use Nature's Grasp since on myself when it's up. Anyway, like others have said, it will come with more experience and practice.

[pockethealz]

Yay another pvp healer! - E - High five-
Like Okojosan said, CC is the most important thing after healing of course.
I'm a paladin Blood elf healer which means i have a long stun, an interrupt and a AoE silence. which i roll on healers or heavy nukes.
I have also specced in to Denounce which renters a players ability to crit which is something i spam on heavy dps.

But I do all of this when i dont need to heal heavily as i am a healer and healing is my job. Then CCing and battleground tactics. Defendin towers/capping/protecting flag or whatever and if all of that is done and im not doing much, Ill dps.

No one should expect you to dps though, however they will expect you to CC.
Happy facemelting <3!

[dragonhawker]

Argh, battleground tactics... I want to play the field and cap stuff and defend, I really do, but this inevitably ends up in disaster when I get caught out alone by the enemy team as the only one sitting on a flag/node. The best I can hope for is to keep myself alive while spamming BG chat for help.

I have to remind myself that I'm only effective when I'm in a crowd and have other people to heal, but it really sticks in my craw when we lose AV because alliance recapped SHB and no one was guarding it. NO ONE! >_

[redrosebeetle]

You'd be surprised. The other day, I defended myself in Tower Point with another healing priest against the world's worst 4 boxing shammy on my disc priest (fear/ holy nova-ing on the flag). You don't have to kill the opposition, you just have to stay alive for 3 mins. Bit it shortly after TP capped and their warlock friend showed up, but, it did cap.

[pockethealz]

Yeah duo healers are the best node defenders since they cant be killed (they can, heavy CC and dps but still) and all they have to do is interrupt whoever is on the node so they dont cap

I've held my defense with a fellow healer this way a lot.

But alone, we arent very good. :< work as a team!