Grid Updates

If you haven't noticed, Grid has received some great updates with Cataclysm. Clique has been updated many times but Grid has just recently been given a face-lift (well, the options have). The interface is much easier to understand and much more intuitive. I encourage you to take a look if you were puzzled by the interface in the past. Personally, I like the mass amount of options and wouldn't trade it for Healbot any day of the week. The new interface really makes those options more available and easy to understand. Go try it out, NOW!

Grid and Clique: a healer's dream.

Raid Rx: Is addon-less healing possible?

It's not impossible, just harder. And why make things harder just to prove you can? I use Clique to make it easier and avoid huge cumbersome macros. Does that make me less of a healer or just lazy? I use Grid because it's just easier to set up compared to the default raid frames.

I don't think it changes your knowledge or performance. It's just a matter taking shortcuts or a different route to get to the same place.

Raid Rx: Is addon-less healing possible?:

Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand pooh-bah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI-, macro- and addon-related.

I see a fair number of emails and messages about this topic. Is it possible to heal without using any addons of any sort? Naturally, the default user interface (or UI) includes a limited number of features where this is possible. Is it recommended in dungeons or raid instances? No, not quite. I've seen opinions from some players where they practically insist that healing without addons should be the way to go. Anyone who does use addons is relying on a crutch. I don't think that's quite fair to say. It's not like these addons are scripts or anything that can 'think' and heal for you.

More Power Auras tips for hunters

More Power Auras tips for hunters: "

Huntsman's Lodge has a terrific set of tips for running Power Auras as a hunter. I'm not running this addon (yet) on my hunter, but apparently it's pretty old news -- our old friend BRK had some ideas on how to use it a while back. But HL goes even farther, and I like a lot of his ideas, like a star that lights up when Dragonhawk isn't turned on -- I'll admit I make that mistake from time to time -- and warnings for 'special circumstance' spells like Lock and Load and Kill Shot.



You can mix and match them all to fit your own gameplay as well, so maybe use some from HL's list and throw in one or two from BRK's old setup. And even if you're not a hunter, the addon is helpful for any class that needs a heads up on buffs and debuffs coming their way. We hunters can get all the help we need though -- HL's list is a great resource for using the addon with our class.
Filed under: Hunter, Tips, Tricks, AddOns

More Power Auras tips for hunters originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Miss Medicina's Web Ring

This is a response to Medicina's Healing Questionnaire.

First of all let me say that I am a Disc Priest but I rarely have time to raid. I have a wife who works full time and 4 kids that keep me busy IRL. I haven't made it to anything outside of Naxx 25. When I do get to raid my guild has more than enough healing to keep things going. I am usually just along for the ride. So, that said, I am just providing my limited view of healing. I have done my share of Heroics but have very little large raid healing experience.

• What is the name, class, and spec of your primary healer? Wilgrin, Disc/Holy Priest.
• What is your primary group healing environment? (i.e. raids, pvp, 5 mans) 5 mans really. An occasional raid.
  
• What is your favorite healing spell for your class and why? Penance - just because it's fast, easy and pretty to look at =)
  
• What healing spell do you use least for your class and why? Divine Hymn - Same reason as Medicina I guess. Can't seem to find a situation for it.
  
• What do you feel is the biggest strength of your healing class and why? Single target non-stop healing. Between Penance and Flash Heals... I can dump a lot of heals quickly. If I can't heal through it, something is wrong (at least in heroics).
  
• What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your healing class and why? Mana Recovery - With a huge mana pool, all we can do is sit and drink.
  
• In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best healing assignment for you? Single target MT or OT.
  
• What healing class do you enjoy healing with most and why? Holy Pally - They are great at keeping people alive when the fit hits the shan.
  
• What healing class do you enjoy healing with least and why? Druids - Mainly cause I'm jealous =) I have one up in the 60s now so we'll see how that works out. I guess also because they utilize HoTs and they are hard to keep track of.
  
• What is your worst habit as a healer? Not keeping track of HoTs and not shielding enough.
  
• What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while healing? Over zealous DPS. Usually a hunter or a specific mage that pulls aggro.
  
• Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other healers for PvE healing? Yeah, it's improved greatly during Lich King.
• What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a healer? How smooth things go during the encounters. When the healing goes well things can be surprisingly calm and controlled.
  
• What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your healing class? That we can't raid heal. It seems people think we can't AoE heal at all. Using the proper Glyphs, we have a decent amount of AoE heals and aside from crazy stuff
  
• What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new healers of your class to learn? Just healing the MT and ignoring everyone else. Or pulling aggro and not knowing what to do (fade, shield).
  
• If someone were to try to evaluate your performance as a healer via recount, what sort of patterns would they see (i.e. lots of overhealing, low healing output, etc)? Low healing output I guess. I don't have great gear and I am usually low in overall healing. I guess that comes with the territory too. I also don't keep my shield up enough.
  
• Haste or Crit and why? Balance just because I don't have a lot to choose from. I need a little more crit before I'd be happy enough to pass it up for haste.
• What healing class do you feel you understand least? Shamans by far. I just haven't played enough since they have been around.
  
• What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in healing? Grid and Clique. I wish Blizzard would work on getting ALL of their functionality into the default interface. It's really needed and practically there already. Oh, and a Shield-Me macro, but that's old and not really needed with Grid and Clique around.
  
• Do you strive primarily for balance between your healing stats, or do you stack some much higher than others, and why? My gear isn't that great so I just work for a balance. I suppose I am working on crit at the moment but my other stats are lacking as well.

Addon Collection

I don't use many add-ons. I try to be as purist as possible. But some things just require a little bit more attention. I have tried the new raid frames and dragging party windows all over. I've tried to set mouseover macros but I just can't get the same feel as the Grid and Clique combo. Believe me, I've tried. And we all know Deadly Boss Mods is just a no-brainer. I think I also have a bag mod but it's getting annoying without any recent updates. It appears to work fine but there are quite a few warnings. I think I also added alt-o-holic to the list now that Cata is in full swing.

• Grid
• Clique
  
• Deadly Boss Mods

Mods to look into...

A guildie just told me about Lightheaded and Doublewide. A couple mods for leveling alts. Gonna have to check them out. I'll update after checking them out.

Well, both mods are very well done. I must say they are among the most impressive mods I have seen. Almost seamlessly incorporated into the default UI. A must have for anyone with alts or actively working on quests.

Lightheaded links quest information to comments on Wowhead.com. Along with clickable locations that turn into waypoints (a very nice feature), there are usually multiple pages explaining each quest.

Doublewide simple allows you to view quest text along side the quest window. It essentially makes the quest window "double wide".

Both mods are very well done and should be a part of the default interface in my opinion.

Grid and Clique

Update - 01-11-23

So, they finally rolled this into the game via Keybindings. You can finally configure Click Bindings in the game. I'm not sure when it was added, but it works fairly well aside from Macros. The frames seem to eat the click when using Macros so the spell is just cast on yourself. Maybe I'm just not doing it right. I'll keep experimenting. But for now, one less addon!

UPDATE - 06-23-2018

I no longer use Grid, but Clique remains a part of my Addon list. I just don't think Blizzard will ever bake that functionality into the game.

First let me say that I am not a huge Addon fan. I have a few but I consider myself a minimalist at heart. Currently I use Auctioneer, Bagnon, Recount, Grid and Clique. These are the few Addons that I have been unable to do without or replace by some function of the default GUI.

I have a Druid, Priest and Pally all in their 80s so I've been around the block when it comes to healing. I don't have a lot of Raid experience (outside of Molten Core) but I've done my share of heroics (haven't we all).

I have heard it all before "If you can't heal without mods then I wouldn't want you healing in my raid..." blah blah blah... Well, I am sorry but using the default interface just limits what you can do. If Blizzard didn't want you to be able to change how targets appear when they were out of range, they shouldn't have built the function into the GUI and made it available to Addons.

The main reason I use Grid is because I can see all the raid targets and know who I can and can't heal/decurse/dispell with 1 single click. I can tell if they are out of range. I can tell if they have a HoT on them. I can even tell if they have aggro. That just can't be done with the default GUI. Cataclysm has brought some improvements on this but it's just not hte same clean interface you get with Grid.

With the default UI raid window sure I can drag groups out. I can even drag classes out to be on my screen. But, I can't tell when they are out of range and I can't tell what buffs/dots they have (without targeting them). Grid allows me to do that very easily. It can even filter DoTs to show only the ones I need to worry about.

Clique allows me to assign up to 8 spells to each mouse button (left or right). At first you want to disable all unit frames aside from the ones associated with Grid (under Clique's options). This way you can still target and right-click targets just like normal and mouse-overs only apply to the Grid.

Click
Alt-Click
Shift-Click
Cntrl-Click
Alt-Shift-Click
Alt-Cntrl-Click
Cntrl-Shift-Click
Cntrl-Alt-Shift-Click

This gives you an amazing array of options for single click mouse-over casting. You don't have to worry about targeting or even pressing a function key. This can also be done via macros but you have far fewer choices. I can leave my left hand on the keyboard and my right hand on the mouse and heal, heal heal!

I try to make all my actual healing spells different variants of the left-click and utility spells all on the right-click. This way I can have renew, gheal, flash heal, PoM, penance/CoH, and binding heal all on my left-click and buffs, shield, dispell and cure disease on right-clicks.

Couple this ability with Grid's status display and it makes healing very easy and efficient. I am constantly on the top of the healing chart in any BG (unless I defend a tower or something).

Give it a shot. I guarantee you'll be hooked.

--Wil

Tankspot Grid Tutorial
Basic Grid Options
Shadow Weaving Grid Config
Configuring Grid - Youtube