The pre-expansion lull is here and with summer coming, we're recruiting like mad. I've been looking at apps of all kinds and I'm surprised by the interesting things that can be learned from one or two ganders at the armory.
The first thing I look at when I'm looking at a healer app is their haste. That one little (or big) number tells me a lot about how much research a player has done about their character (and is the first clue among many that you know your gearing).
That's not to say I have extremely high requirements or I expect ridiculous levels of gear. My guild is casual, we're still a few bosses away from Kingslayer, so I am realistic. However, I don't equate 'casual' to 'I don't have to understand how haste affects my healing'.
With that in mind, the haste cap for the healing classes (provided with research from some of my favorite bloggers)...
Discipline Priests. Thanks to borrowed time and bubble spam, haste stops being great earlier for disc than most other healers. Penance Priest suggests 150 for a bubble bot with ideal raid buffs. I'd be willing to forgive a bit more (raid comps are often less than perfect) but a haste-gearing (especially -gemming) disco is a red flag to me if that player is serious about 25s.
Holy Priests. After several days of research I have to say I'm still clueless as to what haste "cap" is for holy priests. With lots of instant casts, cooldowns, and serendipity, I understand that haste is valued much lower than other stats for holy priest. Bobturkey has the math in his 3.3 gearing series.
Resto Druids. Restoration Druid has a chart detailing the amounts of haste needed with all levels of raiding and talents spent on haste-goodness (with 775 being the catchall number). Suffice it to say, a resto druid with less than 500 haste is a red flag for me. If that seems steep, I think that less than 700 haste either indicates low overall gear OR prioritizing too much critical strike rating.
Resto Shamans. Since raid healing shamans are supposed to stack haste with their haste cap being a lofty 1269, I look pretty closely at haste for Shamans. Less than 800 is a red flag that gems or itemization aren't in order. Like paladins, I'm looking for enough yellow gems to blot out the sun. Tank healing shamans are another beast, but I have yet to run into one.
Holy Paladins. Ah, this one is tricky. I have almost 1000 haste now. I've admitted I'm a haste snob, and I would really try not to label someone a failadin just because I'm picky about my upgrades. But seriously. If you're a holy paladin and you want to raid, get 700 haste if you don't have it. 676 haste is haste cap for FoL with proper raid buffs, but you can keep stacking haste to get faster and faster Holy Lights - more haste is always better for a HL spammer. But Enlynn, you're wearing cloth and mail!
Yes, yes I am. I'm a haste-snob. The amount of haste on your gear says a lot about how much you read up on your spec. That's not to say that more is always better, considering that there is too much for some classes and not enough for certain others. But I'm not kidding: the first stat I look at is haste. I can make a snap judgment from that one number that will be confirmed by the rest of a character's armory.
One thing I would say about Disc priests - if for some reason the Disc Priest in question has a LOT more haste than what you would expect, you might want to check and see if they were accustomed to tank healing.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Disc Priests are great tank healers in 25s, but I'm a solid tank healer in 10s, and I stack a lot of haste for that reason. If an applicant is coming from a guild that didn't have solid pally tank healers (for shame!) they might have been expected to tank heal as well.
I have a tank healing set and a raid healing set (which is also my 25s set) - the tank healing set has a lot of haste.
I love you. Marry me. That is all.
ReplyDeleteJust one thing to keep in mind, and I know we haven't seen the full details, but whilst taking Kurn and others' advice on upping haste for Healadins, wearing cloth/leather/mail may be more of a penalty in cata due to mastery than the benefit from the haste. ATM I am trying to stack haste, but keeping at least one half decent plate bit per slot - At least till I see what the penalties will be for non-plate.
ReplyDelete@Miss - Thanks for the comment! Like I said with Discipline, I would be more flexible with their haste (it would be really hard, with the gear available today, to limit yourself to such low haste, more would just happen naturally), and a player's style will affect how much haste they find necessary. How much haste would you recommend for a tank healing disco?
ReplyDelete@Kurn - <3
@Saunder. You're right, there will be some changes for us in Cataclysm, where Blizzard is going shove plate down our throats. When I have to make those adjustments, I certainly will, but I do think we have at least a few months to enjoy our lesser armors. We'll also have plenty of time to switch out our gimpy stuff before we raid again at 85, where mastery effects will be noticeable.
For those that can grab extra plate in the meantime, it might not be a bad idea, but I'm going to worry about mastery until it's here. Lots of things can and will happen before then. :D