See new thread for 2.0 Changes - Sorcerer / Sage Healing Compendium Updated for 1.2!)

[Petrus]

Quote:From my experiences last night, I'd agree with Adam that this isn't really a big deal. A far bigger deal, certainly in terms of healing spike damage, but also with regard to healing-ouput in general, is the change to force-bending's effects on DI. I'm wondering how this changes the crit vs alacrity argument. I used to favour crit, but am starting to feel that I should go the other way. It certainly increases the need to be able to predict damage rather than healing reactively.

1. As far as consumption, I've gone a step farther and put 0/2 in it. This is how I raided HMs on the PTS and I had no issue. I put my last point into the 10% affliction slow, which is useful in PvP, and in certain boss fights - like HM Minesweeper where you have to burn targets before they get to you. The 10% slow is noticeable.

2. You're right about the lack of an emergency heal being our largest issue, but personally I still wouldn't touch alacrity, for two reasons: A. Even with max alacrity you're only going to get the spell around 2.0 seconds. That's not enough to make it an emergency heal. B. We AREN'T Emergency healers. It's just a fact right now. It's far more beneficial, in terms of your overall raid - to spec for your sustained heals, and let a merc or Op spec into the emergency heals. It just comes down to the fact that we're always going to rely on our other healer for emergency heals, and trying to fix that, IMO, is just going to hurt us in the long run. 1.2 is all about execution and working together, and healing is no different. The three healers have very different roles in a fight now, and we need to play to our strengths, not try to make up what we lack. (Although that said, I'd kill for some type of emergency ability.)

Quote:My thinking was that it still gives you the good single-target heals and boosted static barrier, but you trade off the AoE heal for Parasitism, which combined with reduced health loss from Consumption, would help off-set the damage you'd take from regenerating.

DarkLord - while both of those specs may be viable on PvP, I think they'd both struggle to perform in a HM FP, and I can guarantee you they'd never work in an Op. Our AoE makes up between 25 - 55% of my heals in an 8m operation, and even more in a 16m. It's our strongest spell - not just in terms of healing done, but in utility. You can drop it under just the tank, along with a resurgence, as a buffer them when they're about to take a lot of damage. You can use it to negate pulse damage, or heal a group up that takes large damage, but rarely. It's an invaluable tool in any situation - even in PvP, but certainly in PvE.