OK, so, there was a discussion on guild forums about the Anticipated Interposition spell, and it's merits/usefulness while raiding. This is a slightly edited version of what I posted. Please, though, if you don't understand what I feel is 'max' healing, please read the post here I started, with that title. This is another spell that I guess many guilds do not utilize to it's maximum potential. "A melee round lands about every 1.8 seconds. A cleric or druid max healing casts a heal every 3.2 seconds ish on average. (Shaman is about 4.0s average) This means, that 4 dedicated healers on one tank will cast 2 heals on that tank between every melee round, almost all the time. 5 dedicated healers, and it's almost a guarantee the tank will get minimum 2 heals, plenty to completely heal them, between every combat round. So, anything more than 5 dedicated healers on one tank (assuming they are all max healing, that is, prioritizing and spamming their fast cast heals as main heals, not 'saving' them), is pretty much useless. What AI/DI/Ward of Certitude does, that no other normal heals can do, is they heal BETWEEN HITS in a single combat round. On average, a tank avoids 50% of all melee attempts by a mob. A mob generally attempts to 'quad', or hit the tank 4 times with melee, every combat round (plus special abilities, spells, etc). However, about 1 out of 5 melee rounds, the tank will be hit by ALL FOUR attempts. THIS is when AI is important. IMO, if a mob hits weak enough that it cannot possibly kill the tank in a single round, even if it max quad hit the tank, then AI is mostly useless, because they will receive enough heals before the next melee round to heal them to full, with just normal heals. HOWEVER, if a mob CAN kill a tank in a single combat round if it quads them for max each time, then AI should be utilized by all 'excess' healers (meaning any more than 5 priests, total) healing the tank. The reason for this is, as I said, AI heals DURING the combat round. Normally, a combat round damage is all calculated and then applied at once, without the ability for a heal to be applied between the hits. So, if a tank has 180k buffed HP, and they get hit all 4 times with a quad round of 50k each, they're going to be dead. BUT, if they had AI buff, they wouldn't. They'd be hit for the first 50k, AI would fire, instantly healing them, then the next 3 hits of 50k applied and calculated, the AI heal having saved the tank, so that they COULD get the incoming heals. The same way DI heals work, and why it's so good. AI cycle time is 5.8 to 5.9 seconds. 3.5s modded cast time plus 1.8 to 1.9s global cooldown (depending on connection speed). This means that 2 coordinated clerics can keep AI up on the tank for EVERY melee round, with 3 dedicated clerics easily doing so. IMO, if there is only 1 tank/1 mob that CAN one round the tank, and 8 or more total dedicated healers, then 5 healers should be dedicated to healing the MT, with 3 dedicated to AI rotation. This ensures plenty of direct healing to the MT, while also ensuring every melee round will be protected with an AI. I have assisted in healing a single war for over 8 minutes vs Commander Galenth in WK2 raid using this very method, LONG after their Last Stand had faded and even after all their 'good' secondaries had faded."
Isn't the hit rate higher for the things that can actually round a tank? I thought it was around a 25% miss rate for the full strike-through mobs? Dzarn raids function correctly, but for the most part, anything that hits hard enough to one round a tank is going to be a boss that bypasses defensive abilities. As for the tactic, at some point you have to make a choice if 8 dedicated healers on one out of disc tank is the actual optimal choice to win that raid. I know I'm roi and all that, but 8 healers is a huge chuck of our heal force. Every tank group healer, plus all our caster group druids. Bad things happen, but this is the kind of situation where people are blowing vet AAs and every little advantage they can. I don't think I've seen a situation where we've wanted to keep one non-disc tank alive that badly and actually had 8 healers alive with enough mana and time to run full heal weaves. Most of the time, if it's a fight with low enough AE damage that I can ignore my group to focus on a tank that isn't on adds, with nothing tricky happening, we should be tank swapping and I could be burning to end the fight sooner. I burned on our first WK2 win, and most of the ones after that. Tank and spank fights don't need heavy strategy, they're the easiest raids in EQ. This is fine theorycrafting, but if you're in full desperation mode and somehow have your full heal crew alive and well often enough for this to be a thing, your raid crew probably has some deeper issues that need to be addressed. AI is a good spell and worth using, but it shouldn't be based on times when 2/3rds of your heal force can be dedicated to a tank. Those situations are exceedingly rare.
This was for those type guilds that actually have issues keeping tanks alive and do get 1 rounded. With 12 priests, we still could not keep a war, under last stand and constant 3rd spire alive for the duration of LS, against Galenth before utilizing AI. I am sure RoI and many other guilds do not have that issue, however, for some guilds, I would guess AI could assist them when priest numbers are not the issue, but the tank still dies. Possibly it was due to the war, or other classes not doing something they could/should be doing, I don't know them we'll enough, but can definitely say AI was the crux to allow us to tank the hardest hitters (and what am expecting more of next expansion). It definitely could be higher than 50% hit rate wars vs raid bosses, esp with the strikethrough bug, but guessing while under discs it's still around that? Dunno for sure though.
Heck, get creative if you have to do get it done. If AI wins you raids, do it, if other guilds beat raids without it, so what.
Think you need to have a sitdown with your warriors, paladins, and enchanters then. Group armour + first spire + runes and you can do this event with far less then 12 healers.. And cast AI exactly 0 times.
