As Nisaa creeps her way up to level 70, I'm finally learning to keep myself away from major overheals. It's not a simple task for druids, with all of our HoTs, but I like to think I'm getting better. Nisaa 2.0 is turning out better than the original. And this time, I'm leveling without heirlooms. In instances that usually suck my mana dry (Mana Tombs, anyone?), I'm suriving and keeping my party alive. It's a proud moment in Nisaa history. I'd like to believe it has something to do with my tree!skillz, but I'm sure we can blame most of it on Blizzard changes... not that I'd admit it publicly. If you happen to be a resto druid who finds him or herself running out of mana too quickly, sometimes even on trash pulls, here are a few tips* and other basic information about how I play Nisaa.

(*Reader Beware: I could be completely wrong and you might have more experienced healers calling you a noob, but this is what works for me. Taking actual advice is your choice and Nisaa cannot be responsible. Also, please remember that Nisaa is not a raid healer and this blog is intended for players who are still leveling.)

Nisaa, at level 65
Mana, self-buffed: 7992 (Mark of the Wild)
Intellect: 431
Spirit:186

I stack intellect and spirit on Nisaa like there's no tomorrow. I won't get into haste, because this entry isn't about how quickly one should heal, but how efficiently. Buffs from other party members are not included, because those vary each instance (unless of course you are running with friends and/or guild members, as I usually run with my tank/husband and get a shiny Blessing of Might.) For the time being, let's focus on our own, self-buffed stats. Every healer should know this from day one, but I'll say it again: Intellect and spirit are your most important stats. Why? More intellect = more base mana. The more you have, the less you run out of. Spirit causes faster mana regen, so while you are using your mana you are also gaining it back. Don't skimp on these stats!

As a druid, it's not always easy to find leather gear with those stats, especially now in BC instances where we can't roll on cloth gear anymore. We do what we can and we make it work. Things will even themselves out later on. If you find yourself in an instance without any squishies (mage, warlock, priest), or if none of them need the cloth drop, don't be afraid to ask them for a trade! You can still wear that piece of cloth, even if you can't need on it in a loot roll. If you can't find decent leather gear or if mages need on all of your wanted cloth drops, go for item enhancements. Search the AH for stat boosters, scrolls, elixirs, buff foods... anything you can get your druid paws on. Maybe you'll be one of those lucky players who has friendly guild members willing to make them for you! Or you could be self-reliant and make them yourself. Choose professions that benefit you instead of those that make you lots and lots of gold. Gold doesn't give you more mana, my friend. Well, unless you are buying things from the AH. Now I'm just talking in circles. Moving on!

Believe it or not, addons can help in conserving mana. Choosing addons that cleanly and effectively give me a clear view of my mana pool and how much I'm using has drastically changed how I heal. I'll save my detailed post about addons for another time, but I'll leave you with this: Try out a few healing addons until you find what works for you, and a simple UI change can make all the difference. In my next entry, I'll list the addons I use and why I use them, and post a screenshot of how they are set up. Fun times!

Let's talk about the most important part of this entry, shall we? How overhealing can quickly turn into "WAIT GUYS, I NEED MANA!" and you panic and waste a potion (if you have them with you, WHICH YOU SHOULD).

Know your priorities: The way your prioritize is your own choice, but I'm at least going to show how I choose who gets a heal and who doesn't. In order from most important to least important... (in my own opinion, of course)

- Tank
- Healer (self)
- Squishy DPS (cloth-wearers; although priests usually take care of themselves)
- Surviving DPS (wearing mail and plate)
- Leather-bound DPS (other druids or rogues)

My reasoning for this is quite simple. Obviously, the tank is my top priority. He/she should be every healer's number one guy. Otherwise, you're doing it wrong. Second, you need to watch out for yourself. It's easy to get healing aggro, random targeting, or AOE damage. If you die, there is a much higher chance on wiping, which only ends in being lectured by the rest of the group for letting it happen ("Sorry, lag!"). Making the tank and yourself your top priority is an obvious tip that every healer should know.

Healing DPS is different, depending on the situation and/or your own personal opinion as a healer. You decide who is most important and who can be sacrificed for the sake of the instance. I won't get into all the mistakes DPS makes, because we'd be here all day, so I'll base this solely on class and gear.

Obviously, a squishy is going to die quickly when taking too much damage. If you can spare the time and mana, throwing a Regrowth on them is probably your best option. Everyone likes an instant Rejuvenation, but it might not be adequate with their cloth armor and high amount of damage taken. You'll only panic and waste another spell on them. Regrowth and move on.

Surviving DPS is in the middle for two reasons: 1. They can take more damage than a squishy, therefore need to be healed less often. 2. They can temporarily tank (maybe) if your tank dies, which makes them slightly more important than a class wearing leather. These guys can normally take quite a bit of damage, if they have a decent amount of armor and stamina. A quick Rejuvenation should solve the problem if they take a bit too much damage. By the time the HoT wears off, the tank should have aggro again.

To be honest, I don't have many problems with rogues and druids taking too much damage. They've ranked 'least important' on my list because they have more survivability than a squishy, less armor than a could-be tank, and their AOE attacks (aka, aggro-heaven) are slim-to-none. As for hunters, their pets are most likely going to get aggro before the hunters themselves, and I don't heal pets.

Last, but far from least, heal wisely. Watch health levels and don't waste a heal if you don't have to. A small amount of health will regenerate quickly on DPS, so keep focusing on your tank. A heal isn't necessary if their health is above 75%, and that's being generous. And you should have no reason to heal out of combat. If they don't have food to eat while you are drinking up more mana, that's their own fault.

Happy healing!

Because of personal reasons, I have a new Warcraft account. This has been a sad time for me. After all the work I've put into Nisaa, I've had to start fresh. But with a new beginning comes new blog posts! 

Some things we missed before Old Nisaa was retired: Level 80! Nisaa the Explorer! Cataclysm! Tier gear!

First and foremost, I've remade Nisaa on a new server. Come visit me on Nesingwary! Healing without heirloom items is a whole new thing. I can't say I've done much, because I've been leveling her on Recruit-A-Friend, and I apologize for that. I can at least say that the first 25 levels or so of healing absolutely sucked. I was constantly OOM, and now I can really see the negative changes Blizzard made to druids. Once I started to seriously stack intellect and spirit, not to mention obsessing over my overhealing, I've gotten better. I suppose starting over with nothing has humbled me, which in turn has made me a better healer. Or not.

Good news! I've found my own personal tank, and he's actually quite excellent. No more will I have to deal with paladins who don't know how to buff or warriors who don't give a second thought to how much mana I have before pulling. Insta-queues are spoiling me rotten.

Tonight, I got Scholomance in the random dungeon finder for the first time ever. This was my third time completing the instance, but my first doing it at-level. I've got to say, I enjoy this dungeon. It's easy to get lost, but Blizzard finally realized how easily confused some of us can be. We have dungeon maps now! The bosses in Scholomance are aplenty, raising the chances of each party member to get shiny new gear. With the right tank, I can spend less time panicking and more time killing rats. And let's face it, that's much more fun.

As I said earlier, I've been watching my overhealing like a mad woman. Since I no longer have heirloom gear to give me mass amounts of mana, I have to rely on strategy. I've managed to cut my overhealing down from 80% to 50%. I've also convinced myself that I don't need to heal the tank if his health is at 95%, and that dps health is a lot less important. I now only throw on a Rejuvenation if health is below 80%, and I won't remove a poison or curse unless it's absolutely necessary. Think of it like we're in a mana recession: only use what you must; conserve the rest in case of emergencies.

I'm becoming more tolerant of faildps, but entirely less tolerant of worgen. Druids used to be something special; you had to be a night elf. It was unique and based on lore. But don't get me wrong, it's not just the "Oh poo, I'm not special anymore. Worgen are druids too." It's also the fact that wherever I go, there are worgen. The ratio is about 10 worgen for every half of a night elf. That's truly sad. And this is only on Nesingwary, a low populated server for new players. I can't imagine what high population servers are like. I've yet to queue for a dungeon without getting at least 2 worgen, although it's usually 3. Even 4, if I'm queuing without my tank. It's unoriginal and boring. Night elves are becoming even more of a rare breed, but I will not let them die! I won't sit here and say I'll never play a worgen, because I certainly will, but I will not partake in the worgen spam. I will not pay to have a race change. I will not have a worgen of every class possible. And I certainly will not have a worgen druid.

Worgen spam is not the only thing about Cataclysm that has been bothering me. My first day playing when the new expansion was released, I saw countless level 85s, some of them being worgen and goblins. First of all, paying for a race change is probably the biggest waste of money I've ever seen in-game. Where is the fun in that? You just jump right into a brand new race without enjoying the leveling process? I'm probably one of the few out there who actually enjoys leveling, but I'll stick to my side of the argument: rushing to 85 is the quickest way to get bored with the game, and the easiest way to convince Blizzard that nobody wants to play the old school parts of the game. Don't do a race change. Start from the beginning and enjoy it. Also, level 85 already? Really? I get it. You have to be 1337. You have to get to the top as quickly as possible so you can laugh at the little ones and say "LULZ I R FASTR THAN U." Know what we're thinking when you taunt us with your level 85s? "At least I have a life away from my computer."

One last complaint, but I will save my detailed rant for another entry. Three words: Night elf mage. Really? REALLY? Mage = Arcane. Night elves = ANTI-ARCANE MAGIC. READ LORE. Blizzard, you wrote the damn lore. You made the night elf history. You created blood elves as a way to PROVE this anti-arcane magic. You are contradicting yourselves in the worst possible way, and pissing off the fans of night elf lore.

Onto the positive sides of Cataclysm!

I'm a huge fan of guild changes. I created a guild, United Underworld, to check out how things work. Guild reputation? Took me a while to figure out how it works, but I like it. Guild experience? A+. Guild rewards? Already working towards the Armadillo pup. I know, I know. It's going to take forever until I get a full guild going, but I might as well get started! For the time being, United Underworld only consists of my personal tank/soon-to-be husband, a close friend, and our alts. After this weekend, I will be AFK for a short time and the guild will be put on hold. I won't start recruiting until my mini-vacation is over. Until then, I'm super excited to get it started. For those who might be curious, United Underworld is a tribute to 1966 Batman. If you figured out the reference before reading the previous sentence, you win at life.

Along with Nisaa being reborn, my other characters are also coming alive again. Persephone, the warlock, is now a gnome instead of a human. I wanted the intellect boost, and I've become less anti-gnome. Allyena is no longer a death knight, but now a human priest. I'm still going shadow. Kaileen will be recreated as another mage, but I've yet to decide what race I'll make her. Aerha will no longer be a priest, as I've made Allyena my priest, but I'll eventually find a use for that name. I love it far too much to let someone else have it. One of these days, I'll play a melee class instead of spamming casters. And I'll eventually try my hand at tanking, and most likely fail.

But for now, Nisaa the epic tree-healer has returned!

First of all, if you are or have ever been a healer, you might know what the "healer's curse" is. But I will explain anyway.

Healer's Curse: When a healer plays a non-healer character, and still ends up healing.

I can't be the only one with this problem. Can I? I've been playing Nisaa for a year now, healing since level 15. I know druid healing like the back of my hand. When I play my other characters, I find myself watching health bars obsessively. Even though it's NOT my job. On a non-healing class, that's usually okay. I can force myself to ignore it and continue my shitty dps. But lately, I've been playing more and more of my shadow priest. She is not a healer at all. Shadow cannot be a healing spec for priests. Yet, I end up healing in dungeons. There are two reasons why I've been doing this:

1.) I get in groups with bad healers. Aerha, my priest, is a very low level. In low level dungeons, you are likely to get tanks and healers who are either new to the game or new to the class. Meaning, they don't know wtf they are doing. I don't like to see a tank die, out of habit, so I end up turning on Healium, my preferred healing addon, and either helping the healer or taking over completely. A few times, I've even had healers who yelled out, "HELP ME!".

2.) I heal without thinking. Like I said, I watch health obsessively. I've been pissing off the ACTUAL healers, because I accidentally take over. Not just healing myself, but the tank AND the healer also. I should really break this habit, because I've been on the other end of this at times. It's not fun to watch your DPS heal while you stand there doing nothing.

I'm stuck with the healer's curse and I'm trying desperately to cure it. Turning off Healium on Aerha would certainly help, but I'm paranoid that I'll need to help another shitty healer and won't be able to.

This curse is similar to, but not related to the tank's curse: a tank who tries to tank while he's dpsing. This happens quite often to warriors, paladins, and death knights who have a dps spec, but insist on pretending to be a tank.

GUESS WHO'S BACK

I took a break from Warcraft and WoW blogging, but I'm back! :D I've been playing again for about a month. I've come across more things to complain about, so it's time to start this thing up again. I'm going to try posting about once a week, but I can't promise anything.

In two months or so, my personal life will become quite hectic. I don't know how much free time I'm going to have to play and/or blog, but I don't want to disappear again. I will do my best to balance things out and make time for my favorite hobby!

A lot of things have changed and I'm not completely class-racists anymore. I've officially TRIED OUT every class at least once. Even warlocks! Nisaa has changed drastically. When I last posted, she was in the 50-60 range. Today, Nisaa is level 76! She's well on her way to her destiny as an epic raid healer. The sad truth is, I am no longer a tree-healer. SADFACE. Trees are (mostly) gone. Tree Of Life still exists, but it is now a 30 sec spell with a 3 min cooldown. Blizzard failed. Also, I hear rumors about a ~new~ tree form. I dislike it completely. That is all.

I'll admit it. I have dps-ism. Think of it like sexism, racism, or any other -ism. There are certain dps classes that I absolutely hate healing, except on the rare (very rare) occasion these people actually know what they are doing. I refuse to believe I am the only healer with dps-ism. Hell, I'm sure some tanks even have a little bit of dps-ism. The stereotypical dps = idiot. This, of course, does not include brand spankin' new player who don't have a clue. I'm talking about those level 50s who have somehow managed to work their way up without knowing how to play their class correctly. In short, if you don't know, learn. Don't jump into randoms and expect us to take care of you while you are screwing up. I'll break it down by class:


Warlocks. This is the big one for me. I have yet to see a leveling warlock that knew what the hell he was doing.

1.) Let the tank get some aggro before you spam your aoe. Seriously. Omen is your friend.
2.) If you life tap between pulls, you can heal yourself back up to full. I will not waste my time or mana on you. Stop being cheap and lazy. Bring water.
3.) If you life tap, then immediately get attacked and die, that is your fault. Stop blaming your healer.
4.) In a group, don't ever EVER put the soulstone on YOURSELF. When the group wipes, and you can rez yourself, how is that going to help us? Put the thing on your healer. Always. I cannot stress that enough.


Hunters. *waves to my second least favorite dps class*

1.) There is a thing called Defensive mode for your pet. Use it wisely.
2.) No, your pet cannot tank. Get over it. If we want a bear tank, we will find a druid.
3.) I don't care if your pet died. Your pet is your responsibility. If your pet had enough aggro to get itself killed, you are doing something wrong.
4.) Ammo is your friend. Its cheap. Buy it. Bring it. Stop running out half way through Blackrock Depths. You're in the 50s now. These instances are long and painful. Be prepared, please. Ammo no longer exists! Consider yourself lucky. Blizzard might actually care about hunters.


Mages. Don't get me wrong. I love mages. But some of you need to learn.

1.) RE: See above. Omen is pretty much mandatory these days.
2.) Stop QQing when the healer also needs on a piece of clothy intellect gear. Thats the whole point of using the need or greed system. You can't always win.
3.) We know you are top dps. Stop telling us.
4.) Share the love. Offer food and water before we begin.


Warrior and Paladin DPS
1.) You came into this group as dps for a reason, right? Stop trying to double-tank.



To all of you dps out there, take this wisdom and put it to good use. You'll thank me when you stop getting kicked from groups. :)

 1.) How do male gamers treat you when they find out you are a female gamer?
Most of the time, they don't act any differently. But of course there are always those who hit on you, or tell you that girls shouldn't and can't play. In my opinion, they are all 12 years old.

2.) Why do you think that male gamers like to play female characters in games?
I've heard different reasons from different people. Some have told me they don't want to stare at a man's ass all day. Some have admitted they like the lady bewbs. And others, like those who play casters, don't think the masculine characters suit their class.

3.) What Gender do you play and why?
I have always and will always play female. I don't like the male figures. They are all so... hefty. It would be awkward to run around with giant shoulders when I'm so used to my own girly shoulders. Besides, the girls are pretty. :D

4.) When playing a game that typically has more male players do you use a mic or just type out all your messages?
The few times I've had to use ventrilo for situations, I didn't have a problem speaking.

5.) What type of games are female gamers more likely to play and on what platform?
This is a matter of opinion and would depend on the girl. For example, I love Warcraft but I also enjoy Animal Crossing.

6.) What got you into gaming?
I grew up on the classics, like Mario and Donkey Kong. Not that those count as "gaming", but everyone starts somewhere, right? I didn't start playing WoW until after I met my fiance, but I was way into RPGs and MMOs as a teenager.

7.) Are you ridiculed for your hobby?
Absolutely.

8.) Do you "trash talk" others like male gamers do?
Hell yes. And I don't try to hide it. I'm not a nice girl in-game.

I've been meaning to start a blog where I can store all of the crazy from my brain, and I figured why not use the beloved Livejournal? I don't want to go into a lot of blah blah detail about myself, my blog, or my love of funyuns, so I'll just cut to the chase.

I'm Nisaa. I am a Night Elf Restoration Druid. I will not sit here and pretend I know anything at all about the World of Warcraft, nor will I pretend I am even level 80. >.> Yes, its true. Nisaa is only level 58. I do, however, have plenty of healing experience, as I've been jumping randoms since level 15. This blog isn't necessarily about healing, nights elves, or druids alone. This blog is totally and completely (and sarcastically) my opinion on the people and things I encounter on a daily basis. I don't mean to disappoint, but I am (obviously) not a raid healer. If you are in the market for a blog of that kind, you can find plenty of them out there. I've even listed a few of my favorites for your convenience!



I do not recommend that you take my advice on healing whatsoever.