(Note: These are my impressions based on the beta, and from a raiding cleric perspective) The extra spell slot, as mentioned, is huge for us considering how many spell gems we need to devote to just healing and is probably the best thing we received this expansion. Closely behind (and possibly ahead for some) is the addition of another unlinked Remedy (0.5 cast time heal), Merciful Remedy. This now gives us three such Remedies (Merciful, Spiritual, and Graceful) that, if we are willing to devote the three spell gems to do so, allow us to cast Remedies continuously without the short pause that existed when there were only two. So we go from Remedy 1 (0.5 sec) --> (1.5 sec global recast) --> Remedy 2 (0.5 sec) --> (1.5 sec global recast) --> Pause (waiting for Remedy 1 to refresh 1 sec or so) --> Remedy 1 (0.5 sec) to Remedy 1 (0.5 sec) --> (1.5 sec global recast) --> Remedy 2 (0.5 cast) --> (1.5 sec global recast) --> Remedy 3 (0.5 cast) --> (1.5 sec global recast) --> Remedy 1 (0.5 sec) Many of us filled that "Pause" with another heal (like an Intervention or a Renewal) and since those took 1.5 sec (or 1.8 sec) to cast, we can now get the third heal out about 1-1.3 sec faster with the new Remedy. What's great about having three Remedies as well is that we can cast through this sequence even when at max spell haste (through Celestial Rapidity) without much of a pause. This pretty much eliminates one of the advantages the Light line offered in that (prior to this) it was the only single-target heal that we could continuously spam without a pause (other than the one enforced by the global recast timer). This is something Remedy now offers, though it requires two additional spell gems to do so. Light's only advantages now are the fact that it only takes 1 spell gem slot to offer that continuous healing (which might be useful for clerics wanting to memorize a ton of DPS spells like multiple Contraventions/Interventions that heal while providing damage) and that's it's a slightly larger heal (16,729 compared to 11,783 for the newest Remedy). Given that it takes 1.7 sec longer to cast, though, it otherwise is (now more than ever) the inferior heal. The state of Remedies might seem overpowered to some, and while some might feel that all clerics should do is cast Remedies, the reality is that they are still small heals in comparison to larger heals like Interventions and Renewals. I wrote a longer post about this on the beta forums but the gist of it is that spell sequences utilizing the larger heals, I feel, will still be important when solo healing a target, especially when you anticipate that the target will need a larger first heal than a Remedy might provide. If there is ample healing support to the target in addition to yourself, however, then Remedies become quite effective, as the sometimes low heal amount is offset by the increased frequency at which the heals land (and the fact that others casting at the same rate as you do with different timing will make up for any low heals). The other thing to note is that the third Remedy really only becomes a factor when you have time to spam a bunch of single-target heals without interruption. If you have to move or cast something else after the first or second Remedy often, you will not cast the third Remedy much because the extra non-Remedy casts give the first two time to refresh. Or, if you go through a sequence like this: Remedy 1 --> Remedy 2 --> Syllable (1.8 sec group heal) the next Remedy you cast will be Remedy 1 because the Syllable and the global recast after the cast allowed it time to refresh. So the only time you will cast through Remedy 1 --> Remedy 2 --> Remedy 3 is when you don't cast anything else spell-based in between. Without spoiling too much about the raids this expansion, I'll also say that the designers really want us to move around a lot and deal with several mechanics (roaming goos, deadly auras, and AOEs included) that make it difficult to just stand in one spot and spam single-target heals too much. As far as the rest of the spells go, it's the standard 20% upgrade to existing lines, with some omissions (like Retort, Anticipated, and the Viral Reverse DS line that were given upgrades last expansion). Nothing new or changed. Unfortunately, we did not receive much on the AA front besides the additional spell slot (aside from the survival improvements everyone else got and the usual one-rank upgrades to our activated heal lines, some of which are still woefully under powered, and stuff like Mastery of the Past/Gift of Mana that are standard with new levels). Our Focus AAs continue to be mostly irrelevant when it comes to targeting heals that most clerics actually use, with only the new focus ranks for Remedy and Syllable and the additional rank in Templar's Synergy being useful in regards to direct healing. The upgrade to Tunare's Grace is cheap and fine as well, but it only provides a 1% increase in proc'ing the group heal from heal casts. The main heal lines like Healing Gift and Healing Adept did not receive new ranks (though we did get a rank in Healing Boon for HoT crit chance improvement). We did get one new AA, Saint's Unity, that when maxed, allows us to cast our best self-shielding spell (think the rank is based on the highest one you have scribed) for a 4k mana cost and a slightly longer cast time. Some clerics might think it utterly useless but for clerics like myself who actually use the self-shielding, it is nice to have for rebuffing purposes, at least. I of course wish it was something better, but since all classes got a similar AA for some self-buff (meaning it couldn't be something that could be cast on others), the choices for us were probably limited. Items fared a bit better as we finally have a decent breastplate that is not a copy/paste of the old one. It has the same focus boost to Remedy, but now focuses all Remedies, not just the most recent one. That's pretty huge, as clerics will likely be using all three at least some of the time. It also has a click effect called Merciful Shield on a 10 minute recast timer that absorbs a nice amount of melee damage, then recasts it when it breaks: [45750] Merciful Shield Target: Single Range: 100' Resist: Beneficial, Blockable: Yes Focusable: No Casting: 0s Duration: 3m (30 ticks), Dispelable: Yes 3: Cast: Recurrent Merciful Shield on Fade 4: Absorb Melee Damage: 100%, Total: 187500 Protects against melee damage until @4 damage is absorbed then casts *#3%N. [45751] Recurrent Merciful Shield Target: Self Resist: Beneficial, Blockable: Yes Focusable: No Casting: 0s Duration: 3m (30 ticks), Dispelable: Yes 4: Absorb Melee Damage: 100%, Total: 187500 Protects against melee damage until @4 damage is absorbed. It's sort of like Ward of Surety/Assurance but unlike that spell, it absorbs all damage until its cap is exhausted (Ward only absorbs a certain amount off a set number of hits). It still won't last too long on a target taking meaningful damage from a raid mob, but it is slightly more effective at stopping damage for a longer period of time than the 2-3 second Ward usually lasts due to its hit limit. We also got the "Sympathetic Invigorating Burst" (mana return off heals) proc back on a raid weapon after it was omitted from 1HB weapons last expansion. There's also a nice new familiar with a healer-friendly boost to heals that is obtainable just through regular progression. Shields still lack a useful proc effect (though they never have for us minus the Hate's Fury Anniversary Event shield for casters/priests, Dark Shield of the Scholar) and Arms have been stripped of the heal focus for some reason (presumably to reduce availability of the focus to necks) without anything to replace it. In short, Spell Slot + New Remedy + BP and 1HB (and Familiar) = Awesome (and worth getting the expansion for) with everything else being a letdown. I suppose, though, that the work involved in upgrading spells and abilities (just creating all the new scrolls and adding in all the new ranks of old abilities) didn't leave much time to actually add anything new or consider changes to existing abilities. I can understand that, but it still doesn't ease the disappointment for me when I know there are many things about the class which could use improving but not enough time (presumably) for the designers to address it or answer the posts myself and others have written if they have decided and just don't feel the changes are worth making.
I agree with Clarisa, the BP is a pretty huge deal. It not only is another 'oh ' button to save the tank, but can also be put on a tank to allow for rezzing / buffing / DIing somebody without having to worry about the tank for a sec.
I'm wondering if you've (Clarisa) noticed a down turn in healing power against increasing tank HPs on raids? Spells just don't seem to cover HPs well, particularly remedy, even with 3x and new spell slot! (Which I incidentally have used for the new DD spells /grin / chuckle) The new repudidate undead bonus hit is VERY nice.
It’s been couple years since I raided with cleric, and hopefully the AA combinations didn’t mess it up too bad, but you used to be able to boost your heals, if do a good activated AA rotation for like 80% or more of total time. NONE of my fellow guild clerics utilized their ACTIVATED boost healing AA worth a darn. I would guess using good timers, triggers, etc and ensuring your heals are almost always being boosted by an activated AA, will help tremendously when utilizing 3 remedy rotation. I would generally use more activated AA in a single event than the rest of the clerics, usually 5-6 more, total. Many never used ANY... It’s sad... clerics not using their activated heal boost AA is like a wizard not using Improved Twincast... In short, if your entire heal team were to set up timers and use activated heal boosting AA, to almost always have something running, 3 remedy multibind with a separate 2 intervention multibind for big heal fillers, should be awesome for 90% all single target healing needs...
Something I should have mentioned in the original post is the importance of maxing out Templar's Synergy before using the new Syllable of Mending spell. If you don't, it won't proc Templar's Synergy (which is a nice boost to all heals) so you'll want to use the older Syllable spell until you do. Otherwise (and I have not done the math for all the spells but for most), using the new spells (even Rank I from vendors) should be better even if you don't have the new focus rank for the respective heal. When solo healing and the tank's best defensive abilities are down? Definitely. Though I have gained a few new spells to use with the expansion, the actual increase to heal amount isn't that big. Last Expansion's Single-Target Heal Set Spiritual Remedy 3 (9716) Graceful Remedy 3 (8392) Fervid Renewal 3 (19670) Mystical Intervention 3 (18056) Virtuous Intervention 3 (15597) This Expansion's Single-Target Heal Set Merciful Remedy 2 (11222) Spiritual Remedy 3 (9716) Graceful Remedy 3 (8392) Merciful Intervention 2 (20855) Mystical Intervention 3 (18056) Virtuous Intervention 3 (15597) Note that I didn't include Furial Renewal because there are a couple of no-cure events (or points in events when curing is detrimental), though I would otherwise consider using it in place of an older Intervention. I also don't have raid versions of Remedy or Intervention yet, so those aren't as high as they could be, nor do I have the new BP that would add more base healing to Merciful Remedy or the new heal neck that would add about 3% more minimum hit points to each heal. This also doesn't include things like Type 3s so this is more of a relative comparison than an actual one. For single-target healing, I typically go with Merciful Remedy -> Spiritual Remedy -> Graceful Remedy as long as I feel I have the heal support, and I can gauge that using a heal window in GINA that shows me the heals as they land. When I begin to lose heal support and the tank is getting less outside healing, I switch to Merciful Remedy -> Spiritual Remedy -> Merciful Intervention -> Merciful Remedy -> Spiritual Remedy -> Mystical Intervention -> Merciful Remedy -> Spiritual Remedy -> Virtuous Intervention to supplement the Remedies with the larger Intervention heals. This is not set in stone, however, and I often do different sequences using all of these heals depending on the damage I am seeing and whether I am under a heal boosting ability (Celestial Rapidity, Healing Frenzy, Channeling the Divine, Flurry of Life) or Imperator's Charge (warrior spell haste thingy) is running. With a max spell haste boosting ability, for instance, the "Triple Remedy" sequence is very potent, delivering those heals at 0.3 sec per cast with no pause necessary if using all 3. The difference in raw heal power even with all the boosts available, though, isn't very big. It's definitely important to get all the focus upgrades available, along with upgrading Type 3s for the new spells, but the thing that makes healing easier is tanks upgrading their mitigation along with their HP through gear and ability upgrades and DPS improving their ability to damage. Modern raid design just doesn't allow raid forces to extend events through sheer healing and tanking power. There are always mechanics forcing a quicker end to the event and the longer healers have to heal, the worse things usually get. As I mentioned in the original post, there are also many events where healers have to constantly be on the move, and movement generally doesn't lead to consistent healing because the heal - move - heal pattern doesn't allow one to cast through a regular heal sequence meaning that the heals you are able to cast need to be fast, timely, and impactful. That being said, I do find it more important than ever to do things besides direct spell healing like: - Using heal boosting abilities like Celestial Rapidity, Healing Frenzy, Channeling the Divine, Flurry of Life, and Intensity of the Resolute (Vet AA) throughout events to boost heals when necessary. Some clerics like combining these, which is fine, but I prefer using them separately so I increase the amount of heals affected by them in total (and some things like guaranteed crit and twincast are powerful enough on their own). - Tossing out Ward of Assurance and Divine Guardian constantly on tanks before they engage and as they become available during the course of an event to shield them from a good chunk of melee damage and provide a sub-30 percent 79,000 point heal, respectively. - Tossing out Promised Remedy 2 so the tanks have a chance to not only receive a 42251 base heal (54927 if it lands under 20 percent, which is doubtful but can happen) after 15 sec but also an immediate 13000 point Promised Interposition heal after they take 15000 melee or spell damage. - Tossing out Focused Celestial Regeneration on tanks when Celestial Regeneration isn't active on the raid. I also use Celestial Regeneration on my group when my MGB is down and it is not active (remember, it has a shorter recast than MGB does). - Using Undying Life not bound to a key and cast whenever it is up but either when my group is in desperate need of a large group heal (because it is the fastest one available) or when a tank needs the additional HP to survive (though this requires some coordination/the cooperation of other clerics to prevent frequent overwrites). - Using heal clickies, instant heal abilities, and health balancing abilities (Manisi Balm from Branch, Pious Light from Mane, Burst of Life, Beacon of Life, Divine Arbitration, Divine Balance) between heals during the global recast timer to reduce healing gaps or recover from non-healing actions. - Watching for falling DIs closely and having a key set up to alert other clerics when my tanks (or others) need a DI and mine is down. - Attempting (I am not the best at it, but I try) to re-buff tanks when they die and resurrect dead people (using Rez Stick along with AA Rez so I can resurrect faster), while using my 1 Divine Rez to best effect. These actions, along with a few others, can help me keep tanks up while they (and our DPS) improve their tanking/damaging ability and we get to the point where I have to heal less because healing for less time generally improves tank survival. When I do have to heal, though, something that also is important is that my partner (unless I am healing a group alone) is doing all these things as well. If they aren't or their heal output/selection isn't as optimized as mine, that obviously puts a lot more pressure on me and may put me in situations that are literally impossible for me to heal alone because there are times when my heals won't cover the gaps from excessive damage and another healer needs to be there to fill and help me keep that person alive. I am also human and may not make the right decisions or have the perfect-timed reaction to something happening that I did not expect, so having someone almost as good as I am healing with me is important because hopefully both of us won't fail at the same time and one of us will pull off the save. There's an event in Sathir's Tomb where our undead DPS might have some impact (of course, if able to do so while not sacrificing healing) so those of us who like to DPS (and honestly even those who don't should at least be using Turn Undead during that because it can be tossed in between heals) do have that to look forward to!
Great post Clarisa. It's like a graduate course in being a top raid cleric. Thanks for taking the time and making the effort to write it up! I try to implement all the good ideas you have. My guild is blessed with some top shaman who work very hard to keep Alliance on all our plate tanks so I try to maximize my casting of remedies so that I'm firing as many alliance pulses as possible. Which means my remedy bind is hard spammed whenever I can, even when the tank may not need it. I subscribe to the theory that unless you're medding after a wipe a cleric should always be casting something. As your post demonstrates there are many things we can be doing. My biggest gripe currently is the icons for DI, Promised, and Undying are identical to things cast by other classes. For example the enchanter epic casts a rune on them that looks just like a DI. And the icon for Promised Renewal looks just like Undying Life and also some other regen-type buff cast by another class. (I'm using old icons, not default. I can't make any sense out of the default icon set.)
Yeah, the new breastplate is clutch. One of the first things I did when I got ore was making breastplates for all our clerics.
To add to the list of good cleric stuff to obtain in the Ring of Scale expansion, there is also this new heal clicky for clerics: There is also a group version of this hammer and both it and the raid version share the same recast timer as the Small Manisi Branch from an expansion or so ago. The group version heals for the same amount as the Branch (40,000), but the raid version above is a slight upgrade, healing for 10,000 hit points more (bringing the total with a critical heal over 100k). To obtain the group version you'll need to gain access to Veeshan's Peak via this quest (https://ros.eqresource.com/scaledkey.php) which among collecting medallion pieces via missions or specific named also involves completing nearly all of the partisan quests for Ring of Scale (minus Veeshan's Peak). Then, you'll need to obtain a "Faded Apothic Dragon Spine Hammer" from this named mob in Veeshan's Peak: https://ros.eqresource.com/travenrotheskygazer.php Then you can use that hammer to start this quest: https://ros.eqresource.com/apothicdragonspinehammer.php which involves killing a bunch of trash skeletons in Howling Stones until you get an update and an essence bottle. When you turn that in, you get the group version of the item pictured above. To upgrade that to the raid version, you'll need to obtain a "Flawless Conflagarant Diamond" (https://items.eqresource.com/items.php?id=152463), found in every Ring of Scale raid chest. I think several of these currently drop on every raid event, so assuming your guild can at least complete a few Tier 1 events every week, it shouldn't be too hard to obtain. Once you get the diamond, toss and combine it in a forge along with 2 Mana Battery - Class Six (purchasable in Plane of Knowledge off Nelin Signus), the group version of the hammer, and a Smithy Hammer (purchasable in Plane of Knowledge off Blacksmith Gerta and others) to obtain the raid version of the hammer with the upgraded clicky. I'm not sure how effective the hammer is as a weapon, but it's definitely worth obtaining for the upgraded clicky heal alone, provided your guild is able to down a few Tier 1 events in Ring of Scale and you have the resources to gain access to and fight in Veeshan's Peak. The group version may also be worth it if you never obtained the Small Manisi Branch and want something with the potential to upgrade in the future. The raid version may only heal for 10,000 hit points more, but given how infrequently we receive good heal clickies, it's a nice upgrade to something that may not be upgraded again for a good, long while (if ever).
